Toby figures Ikram must be pretty confident in how they've contained BK, because otherwise he highly doubts that he and Krel would have been left in charge of guarding the door this afternoon while the others go out to get lunch. Even Krel clearly isn't that worried, content to stay in his human form. They drew the short straw, honestly. It's actually kind of boring. They both end up sitting on the ground playing a video game on their phones against each other.
"I don't see why we even need to stand guard," says Toby. "BK's not getting out of there."
"Well, BK is very dangerous," reasons Krel, who, so far, is the only other person to pick up Toby's brilliant nickname for the Knight. Toby appreciates it. "It's better not to risk it."
"Magical shackles, dude!" Toby insists. "I say we go get milkshakes or something."
"The others will be back with lunch soon," Krel says. "It's not that long."
Toby shrugs and focuses his attention back on the game. He's winning, actually, which is a first on this particular game because apparently, it's built for math people. Toby is not a math person. Krel is. There's a distinct disadvantage there.
"I'm still going to win," says Krel, with a sort of smug confidence that would be really annoying on anyone else but is actually kind of endearing on Krel.
"Sure you are, buddy," Toby shoots back.
A few minutes later, Toby's won for the first time in ever. It's very satisfying to see Krel's face morph into disbelieving horror at losing a math-related game like this. Especially to Toby's pure dumb luck. Maybe he's too pleased about it. Nah. It's about time he won one of these.
"How did you – but – no fair," Krel blurts. Toby cackles. "Rematch. You got lucky."
"Or maybe you're slipping," Toby teases.
Krel scoffs. "I'm sitting down, I'm not slipping on anything."
Before Toby has the chance to respond, there's a thud from the other side of the door. They exchange wide-eyed looks, then pocket their phones and hop to their feet. Toby activates his war-hammer as Krel activates his serrator.
Another thud, and then the door flies open. Krel and Toby both jump backwards. The Black Knight stands smugly in the doorway, flexing his wrists. Well, at the very least he'd been uncomfortable, but apparently not held well enough.
"You honestly thought you could hold me," he says scathingly, eyes shining with malice. Man, Toby really hates this guy.
"Yeah, kinda," Toby admits.
The Black Knight moves faster than they can react. He grabs Toby's war-hammer and uses it to throw Toby across the room, then turns on Krel. A rapid, hard jab to Krel's stomach crumples him, and the Knight grabs him and tosses him over his shoulder.
"Oh, no, you don't!" Toby exclaims, pulling himself to his feet and chasing after the Knight as he goes to leave. He grabs Krel's dropped serrator on the way. Krel struggles in his grip, pounding his fists on the Knight's armoured back.
"Let me go!" Krel cries.
Toby, for once, is happy that the area under Nimue's shop can kind of be a maze. He wishes the halls were less narrow. He also wishes he could run faster. Flying in here will only end in disaster. Toby's tried.
Krel's struggling seems to be slowing the Knight down, but as it turns out, that's not a good thing. The Knight stops and slings Krel off his shoulder. Toby runs as fast as he can to catch up. Krel tries to lash out. The Knight grabs him and slams his head into the stone wall. Krel slumps immediately into unconsciousness. Toby ignores the burn in his legs to speed up. The Black Knight carelessly tosses Krel back over his shoulder. Glowing blue blood drips onto the floor. Toby feels sick. The Knight takes off running again.
"Let go of my friend!" Toby yells. Okay, it's flying time. It'll be difficult but if the Knight escapes with Krel – well, that's it. Toby might never see him again. He can't let that happen. He makes to throw his hammer at the Knight, then doesn't let go, clinging on and letting the hammer propel him forward.
The hammer flies right into the Knight's head. It's not enough to knock him out, but it disorients him into dropping Krel. Toby hits the ground and grabs his friend and drags him away from the Knight. Krel is still out, blood saturating his dark hair from a gash on his forehead. Toby stands between him and the Knight, trying to look more confident than he feels.
"I won't let you touch him," he growls.
The Knight narrows his eyes. Toby transfers his hammer to one hand and activates the serrator-gun with his other. He's had no practice with this thing, but it might give him a chance. He shoots. At point-blank range like this, even he can't miss. The Knight flies backwards. He pushes himself to his feet. Toby prepares to shoot again. The Knight snarls, then turns and runs the other way. Toby waits until he's certain the Knight isn't coming back before letting his guard down and kneeling beside Krel. The Akiridion's face is lax, and the blood has started to coat the side of his face as well.
"Krel?" he says hesitantly. "Krel, buddy. Wake up."
There's no response. Toby swallows. There's a lot of blood. Should there be that much blood? Head wounds bleed a lot, don't they? Ugh, Toby's not a doctor, and he doesn't know if Akiridions in disguise as humans work differently. Would it help if Krel was Akiridion right now? Or would that make it worse? At least he knows Krel's not dead. He's breathing, for one, and supposedly, dead Akiridions don't have, well, bodies. That's a morbid train of thought, so Toby forces it back.
Ultimately, he carefully scoops the unconscious boy into his arms and walks back to Mort's. It's kind of slow going, but Toby would rather not run and, like, accidentally drop him. Archie looks alarmed as they enter. Toby lays Krel on the floor, trying to arrange him as comfortably as possible. Archie nudges Krel's hand with his head.
"What happened?" he demands when he receives no response from Krel.
"The Black Knight escaped," Toby says weakly. "I – we couldn't stop him. He almost got Krel."
"Well," says Archie, "a life of almost is a life of never. Krel is safe now."
"Huh. Blinky told us the same thing." Toby manages a feeble laugh, then winces. "I gotta call someone. I gotta – hang on."
He pulls out his phone and dials Steve, if only because he's certain Steve will be the quickest to pick up. It rings once, twice, then Steve answers, "Hey, Tobes! Let me put you on speaker, hang on."
"Steve!" Toby exclaims. "It's an emergency! The Black Knight got away and Krel's hurt and I don't know what to do!"
"What!?" Steve cries.
"Krel's hurt?" Seamus asks in alarm.
"You guys need to get back ASAP," Toby says. "Krel needs a doctor, but I think Mort will probably do."
"We're on our way," says Mort. There's a shuffling sound from the other line, then Mort's voice sounds closer. "What's wrong with Krel? I can walk your through first aid."
"Uh, he's bleeding a lot," says Toby. "BK, like, slammed his head into the wall to knock him out."
"That's… not good," says Mort. "Try to stop the bleeding, but be careful with pressure until I get there. Is he awake?"
"No. And I don't think we will be for a while. He got hit pretty bad."
"Okay. If he wakes up, don't let him panic. We'll be there soon."
Someone – whoever's holding the phone, probably Mort – hangs up. Toby returns his attention to Krel. Archie has dragged a washcloth over and offers it to him. Toby takes it and gently presses it to the wound on Krel's head, watching blue soak into the white fabric. He should probably clean up Krel's face, but that can wait until after the bleeding's stopped.
"Don't feel too badly about this," says Archie. "There should have been more protections. This is in no way a failure on your parts."
"Sure feels like it," Toby mutters.
"If it would make you feel better, I could tell you some of the dumbest mistakes Douxie has ever made," Archie offers. "I really do think it would make you feel better. He's made some very foolish mistakes. Much worse than this."
Toby chuckles. "Maybe another time."
"Hmph, very well," says Archie. "And this wasn't a mistake on your part. More so on Mort's, really. Shoddy protections, sounds like."
"Thanks, Archie," says Toby. Archie nods, then sits patiently beside him as some form of comfort.
It's not much longer before the trap door burst open and Mort runs down the stairs; he glances at Krel briefly, then makes a beeline for his potion lab. Seamus is close behind him, but he stops by Toby and Krel and kneels beside them.
Ikram, Douxie, and Nimue enter soon after – if Toby has to guess, Mort probably ran back in case Krel's injury is something serious, and Seamus probably ran back because he was worried about Krel. The only reason Steve enters last as opposed to also having run back is because of his crutches. Otherwise, Toby knows he would have been here before anyone else – Steve may try to hide it, but it's obvious he cares about his friends.
"How is he?" Steve asks as he makes it down the stairs. "Is he okay? He's breathing, right? Uh, does he need to breathe – they went to the moon, didn't they, so maybe that isn't what we need to worry about? Does he have a pulse – wait, Akiridions don't have pulses. Ugh! Why is it so hard to make sure he's okay?"
"Steve, stop panicking," says Mort as he walks back into the room. "Toby, out of the way. Why haven't I made friends with any healers? I've lived here for sixteen years and I don't know any healers."
He takes one blood-soaked corner of the washcloth and presses it to the corner of a piece of paper he's brought out. Toby watches curiously as it fills with information. Magic is awesome. Toby wishes he had magic.
"Alright, alright," says Mort, visibly calming down. "It looks worse than it is. Krel's going to be fine. I'll make a potion for his concussion and he'll be right as rain. I'll go do that."
He stands and folds the sheet of paper before walking back into his potion lab. Toby is relieved that Krel's not badly injured, but it doesn't make him feel any better about the BK situation.
"You kids were lucky," says Ikram, looking briefly at Steve, who's finally sat down upon learning Krel's not dying or anything, then back to Toby and Krel. "We should have known better than to just leave you two alone with him."
Toby knows she doesn't mean anything by it, but it does kind of hurt that she obviously doesn't think he and Krel are capable, even working together. Yeah, Krel got a bit banged up and the Knight got away, but Krel's still here, isn't he? And Toby also isn't dead. It's the best worst case scenario they could have managed.
"So now what?" says Steve. "Once again, we have a crazy Knight running around Arcadia trying to kill us."
"Two, possibly," says Ikram with a wince.
"Two!?" Steve shrieks.
"Not two," groans Toby.
"It's likely the wizard has noticed the Black Knight's temporary absence," says Ikram. "Be on the lookout in case he has sent the third. I have little experience with him, but he will be as dangerous as if not more so than the Black Knight. The same trick will not work twice."
Steve rubs his hands down his face. "We're screwed. We're completely screwed."
"We'll–"
"Don't say up training again," says Toby. "Training is as upped as it can get. Face it, we're not going to learn how to fight any faster."
Ikram purses her lips and nods. Nimue sits down in one of the armchairs and crosses her arms.
"You're better than you were," she says. "It's going to have to do. You can't spend every day for the rest of the summer just training. We need to start preparing for the endgame."
"The end of the world," says Douxie grimly. "We need to start figuring out what it is and how to stop it. You all are safe here. Your homes have also been protected."
"Yeah, but how do we get home?" Steve bites out. "Even if all three of us stick together, I'm practically useless, and Toby and Krel are mediocre fighters at best. Two Knights against the three of us? We're dead."
Toby's definitely going to come back to the "practically useless" comment at a later time, but otherwise, Steve does have a point. They wouldn't stand a chance against all three Knights.
"Until I can figure out a safe escort system, I ask you three to stay here for now," Mort says as he walks back into the room, syringe in hand. "Excuse me, Toby… here's hoping Akiridions have a circulatory system halfway like a human's."
Toby shudders and looks away while Mort administers the shot. Shots kind of freak him out, okay? A few moments later, Krel stirs and slowly blinks awake. He looks really disoriented and confused at first, but then his eyes widen and he shoots into a sitting position.
"The Black Knight!" he blurts, swaying dangerously as he tries to push himself to his feet.
"Woah, woah, take it easy," says Mort, grabbing him by the shoulders and coaxing him back to sitting. "You're alright."
"The Black Knight got away!" Krel exclaims. His eyes dart around the room in alarm. "We have to do something! He could be back any moment!"
"You're safe here," Mort says. "The Black Knight can't get past my wards."
Krel relaxes somewhat at that. He puts a hand to his still sluggishly bleeding head, then hisses and pulls it back. "Not this again."
"You got a little bit banged up," says Toby.
"Let me get you a band-aid," says Douxie.
"How are you feeling?" Archie asks, pawing lightly at Krel's leg. When he determines Krel isn't injured there, he climbs on and perches on his thigh. "Headache gone, I hope?"
"Yeah, mostly," says Krel. "What happened after he knocked me out?"
"Uh," says Toby, "I hit him, he dropped you, then I shot him, then he ran off."
"Good job, by the way," says Mort. "You managed to prevent this whole thing from ending in tragedy. Well done, Toby."
Toby's cheeks warm. He guesses he did, sort of. It was more just panicked reacting than anything else. Krel offers him a smile and pats his shoulder. "Thanks, Toby."
"Anytime, man," Toby says.
"So we're here for the next bit?" Steve asks glumly. Toby shares his lack of enthusiasm. It had been nice to sleep in his own bed and see Nana and Aaarrrgghh! again. There's really not room for Aaarrrgghh! in Mort's upstairs apartment. It only barely fits all five of them. An extra giant troll would be way too much.
"I'll figure something out," Mort says. "But until then, yes. I'm sorry."
"Wait," says Krel, brow furrowing. "We need to get Gaylen's core."
Toby and Steve exchange uneasy looks. Mort's lips press in a thin line. Clearly, he doesn't like the idea of having Gaylen's core here any more than Steve and Toby do.
"I thought you said it was a dead end," Nimue says.
"It – it is," says Krel. "But it's still a dangerous dead end. We can't let it fall into the wrong hands."
"The wards around your house are as secure as the wards here," Mort says. "No one will be able to access Gaylen's core. It stays."
Krel's brow furrows and he frowns, the type of frown that tells Toby to be suspicious, the one Jim always got when told a bad idea was, in fact, a bad idea. Mort sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose.
"Krel," he says, "promise me you won't sneak out in the middle of the night to get Gaylen's core."
"I promise," Krel says, way too quickly.
Toby meets Seamus's eyes. Seamus shakes his head. Good. Toby's not the only one who picked up on that. At least Krel's a bad liar. They know he'll try to sneak out so they can stop him. Probably. When Krel gets his mind set on something, not even the laws of physics can stop him.
"Okay, well, since we didn't get lunch, I say we order a couple of pizzas," says Nimue. She glances at Ikram. "I know a good place that even makes them halal, so we'll all be good."
"Pizza sounds excellent," agrees Krel. He looks pleased with the subject change, which only makes Toby more suspicious.
Well, whatever his dumb plan is, he's sure they'll all find out tonight. Hopefully in time to find a way to stop him.
They left to their own devices for the rest of the afternoon, provided they don't leave the premises. Toby helps Douxie in the shop downstairs after he calls Nana to tell her he won't be home tonight. She's worried about him and he feels bad, but there isn't much he can do. Part of him wonders if he could go home. After all, the Knights aren't after him. He won't, though, even if he can. He'll stay for solidarity. If Steve and Krel can't go home, neither can Toby. Seamus decides to stay too, claiming that they're all in this together. Toby knows Steve and Krel appreciate the support.
There's not really room in the guest room for all four of them, but they'll make it work. Douxie finds an old sleeping bag and offers it to them. Krel very questionably is the first to offer to take the sleeping bag. Toby suspects it's because the air mattress creaks and he'd be sharing the bed with someone else.
"We really need to figure out an advantage soon," says Seamus, sitting up on the bed against the backboard.
"You're telling us," Krel grumbles. "You've only been dealing with this for less than a week."
"Point," admits Seamus. "Even more then. How long has this been going on? It's been since the Morando thing, hasn't it?"
"Yeah," says Steve, also on the bed but grouchily laying down. "It sucks."
"Honestly, after this, I don't think I'll ever want to see another apocalypse movie," Toby says. "We've had three. In real life."
"Maybe I should have gone back to Akiridion-5," says Krel. "Maybe we all should have gone to Akiridion-5. We've never had any world-ending events there. The worst we had was a coup, and now it's over."
"Would you count the fight between Seklos and Gaylen as a world-ending event?" Toby asks.
Krel frowns. "Hm. Good question. I don't know."
"Maybe we need to invent some sort of magic tracking spell," says Seamus.
"There isn't one already?" Krel says. "That's dumb. You'd think you'd have something like that."
Seamus shrugs. "I bet we could think one up, and then we just find all the really powerful wizards and interrogate them to figure out who our bad guy is."
"That seems really inefficient," Steve points out.
"I still think it's Mordred."
"Yeah, we got that," says Toby.
"So we're probably looking for some old white guy," Seamus continues as if Toby hadn't spoken. "He might not be old looking, I guess. But almost definitely white. I bet he has a beard."
"Why?" Krel asks.
"I dunno," says Seamus. "Seems like he'd have a beard."
"That doesn't make any sense. He didn't have a beard in the book."
"I just imagine he'd have a beard, okay? It doesn't have to make sense."
"I'm just saying, it's irrational to assume someone has a beard," says Krel. "So is – what does that mean, anyway, white? His skin is the colour of a sheet of paper? That would look very unhealthy if you ask me."
"No – it doesn't – I don't know how to explain this to you," Seamus says. "Me and Steve and Toby, we're white. You're not. It's why my dad hates you so much."
"That makes even less sense," says Krel. "You're all, like… light orange or pink or something. And why would someone hate someone else because they look different? I thought your dad didn't like me because I'm good at math."
"We're – never mind," says Seamus. "Don't worry about it. I'm just saying that Mordred is from medieval Britain."
"What's a mid-evil Britain?"
Seamus sighs. "Medieval, not – it's way too late at night for this."
"Yeah, we should probably hit the sack," says Toby. Then, before Krel can ask, he clarifies. "Go to sleep, I mean. We'll figure something out tomorrow."
Steve yawns dramatically. "Yeah, sounds good. Night, guys."
"Goodnight," Toby chirps back.
"Night," Seamus adds.
Krel follows quickly with his own, and Seamus reaches over to turn out the lamp. Toby is fully intending on staying up to make sure Krel doesn't try anything, but it's also been a really long day. Despite his best efforts, he finds himself drifting off and hoping Mort has trip-wires on the door or something.
Toby wakes to the sound of a window opening, but he's too tired at first to realise it's a window opening until he hears Seamus yelp Krel's name and fall out of bed. He sits up and runs to the window and Seamus pulls himself to his feet, just in time to see Krel hoverboarding away.
"Dang it, Krel," he mutters.
"Huh, wha?" Steve mumbles as Toby flips the light on. "What's going on?"
"Krel snuck out," Seamus says. He sounds kind of impressed. "I didn't know he had it in him."
"I'm getting Mort," says Toby. "He's gonna get himself killed!"
Mort is already awake and leaving his room when Toby arrives. He motions for the three of them to follow him.
"I set a ward to alert me if one of you left," he says. "I was expecting this. Come on, I'll drive and we'll try to catch up with him."
He grumbles something about foolish children under his breath. Douxie appears from his bedroom and groggily follows them down the stairs. They pause only long enough that Steve can make it down without falling, then rush out the door and to Mort's truck.
Toby is going to kill Krel. Metaphorically. Seriously, Gaylen's core is perfectly safe. It doesn't need to be at Mort's. Is it really worth risking his life like this? If Krel gets attacked by the Black Knight alone, that's it. Game over, they lose.
Whatever route Krel took to his house – assuming he's at the Mothership at all and not kidnapped by BK – isn't near the roads, so they don't find him on their way. When they reach the Mothership, Ricky and Lucy are as eager to see them as always.
"Is Krel here?" Toby demands before they can start on their 1950s parents routine.
"Sure is, champ!" Ricky says. "Just headed downstairs."
"Isn't it a little late for you children to be out?" Lucy waves a wooden spoon at them accusingly, then turns on Mort. "It's ten PM, do you know where your children are?"
"All accounted for here, evidently," Mort replies dryly. "Come on. Let's go yell at Krel."
They don't have to wonder where on the Mothership Krel is. They go straight for the lab where they'd been keeping Gaylen's core. Sure enough, Krel is in there, slowly approaching Gaylen's core with outstretched hands.
"What do you think you're doing?" Mort snaps. Krel yelps and spins around, eyes wide, holding all four arms up in a picture of innocence. "Get away from that. Do not touch it."
"I have an idea," says Krel. "Please understand. It's the only idea we have."
Toby's eyes dart to Gaylen's core, then back to Krel, and he understands what Krel's plan is. He shakes his head and tries to find the words to tell Krel just how much he hates this plan, how he can't go through with it.
"No way," Steve says. "No. That's a crazy plan, Krel. It's a bad idea. You saw what that thing did to Morando. Get away from the core."
"This is my choice," Krel insists. He looks a lot less sure than he sounds, hands trembling and brow knitted above his eyes, contorting the crest he'd once told Toby was the mark of his ancestors. "It's the only choice."
"If it's the only choice, then it isn't your choice," Toby says. He remembers another only choice – the only way to beat Gunmar, according to Merlin – the choice that was never a choice to begin with. "I won't let you do this. I won't let another friend do something like this."
"Toby, this isn't like that," Krel says.
"How is this not like that?" Toby snaps. "You merge with the core, and we could lose you. This is worse!"
"I'm sorry," Krel says.
"Krel, we'll figure something else out," says Douxie. "This isn't the only choice. This isn't in the running. Okay? We'll figure something else out."
"We've been trying to figure something else out!" Krel exclaims. He throws his hands out and shakes his head, eyes blown wide. "We haven't! We're not going to! At least if I integrate with Gaylen's core, we might have its power on our side."
"Or you'll go crazy," Steve shoots back. "And then what?"
"I don't know!" Krel shakes his head and takes a step backwards, towards Gaylen's core. "Then I guess you'll have to figure out how to kill me."
"No!" Toby and Seamus both cry. Steve moves his mouth like he's trying to say something, but he seems to horrified by the very idea to come up with a response. Douxie looks between his frowning uncle and a desperate Krel in what seems to be growing alarm.
"I have to do this," Krel whispers. He blinks rapidly, and Toby realises Krel's scared. He doesn't want to do this as much as they don't want him to. Still, he raises his voice again and insists, "I have to do this."
He starts to turn, and Toby shoots forward and tackles him away from the core. They hit a table, and it rolls away from them and scatters its contents on the floor. Toby pins Krel to the ground and swallows back tears.
"Toby, please," Krel pleads.
"I won't let you do this." Toby uses all of his strength to hold his friend down, to prevent another friend from making the only choice and possibly ending up lost to Toby forever. "Not like Jim. Not again. You can't, Krel."
"This might be the only way we stand a chance," Krel implores. "I – I don't like it either, but it's the only way."
Toby tries to speak, but the only thing that comes out is a weak sob. Tears drip down his cheeks. Krel's mouth tightens. Toby knows he isn't meaning to hurt him, or anyone, or even himself, but he is. This isn't fair. This choice shouldn't be something Krel ever even thought of having to make.
There's a hand on Toby's shoulder. He glances back. Mort is stony-faced.
"He's right," Mort says grimly. "We haven't found anything else. This could be essential."
"You can't let him," Toby begs.
"Mort, you know this is crazy," Seamus adds. "We've been studying this thing for days. It could kill Krel, it could make him go completely insane – this is nuts!"
"Sometimes the crazy way is the only way," says Mort. "I don't like it. I really don't like it. But… if Krel's sure."
Krel swallows visibly, then nods. "I'm sure."
"Then it's his risk to take." Mort gently pulls Toby away. Toby furiously wipes at his cheeks, angry at Krel for wanting to do this, angry at Mort for letting him, angry at himself for not being able to stop it. He wasn't able to help Jim, either. He has a history of not being able to help his friends, doesn't he?
"Just – just promise me," Krel says hesitantly as he pulls himself to his feet. "If I go – crazy – like Morando or – or like Gaylen – promise me you'll find a way to stop me. Permanently."
They all know this means kill. The idea of killing his friend makes Toby sick to his stomach. He shakes his head. Seamus opens his mouth, probably to refuse outright, but Mort beats him to it.
"I promise," he says.
Toby sucks in a breath and stares at him in horror. How could Mort promise something like that? Krel nods gravely. Toby feels betrayed. They could never kill Krel. How could Mort promise?
"If this goes completely wrong," says Krel, "tell Aja I'm sorry. And I love her. And – and you guys."
Then he turns and picks up Gaylen's core. At first, nothing happens, and he turns back around to face them, but then the core's light grows blinding. Toby has to shield his eyes against it – it's like staring directly into the sun. A heart-wrenching scream breaks the silence, and Toby almost tries to grab Krel, yank the core away from him. He sounds like he's in pain. It's the worst sound Toby's ever heard, and it doesn't stop, even as Krel's voice grows audibly hoarse.
"It's hurting him!" Seamus yells, lurching forward. Mort grabs him by the arm. "Mort, it's killing him!"
"Stay back," Mort says. Despite his earlier stony-faced promise, he looks pale and scared like the rest of them.
Finally, the light fades, and with it, so does Krel's cries. It probably wasn't more than a few minutes, but the whole experience feels like it took hours. Toby's trembling, and Seamus still looks ready to launch himself towards Krel at any second.
Gaylen's core is gone. Krel wavers in place for a few seconds, then he drops to the floor like a puppet cut from its strings.