Carol sat down on the couch and put her chin on her hands.

"Carol…" Gar began. "I-I'm…"

"They told me it wouldn't be easy, Gene," Carol responded.

"Who said what?" Gar asked in confusion.

"After what happened to Laserblast, I was devastated. But soon after I left P.O.I.N.T., I found out I was pregnant. Some people told me I should give the baby up for adoption and continue fighting. I didn't want to. Everyone told me it wasn't going to be easy, even my mother, who was the only one who told me to raise the baby."

Gar sat there in silence. He had left P.O.I.N.T. after the incident as well but had no direct interaction with Carol again until years after.

"I knew it was going to be rough, but I wanted to have this baby," Carol said. "And I did. K.O. was born a healthy, baby boy. I swore I'd protect him, and raise him to be a kindhearted, compassionate boy. For his age, he's become so strong, but I still worry sometimes. Things like T.K.O., school bullies, and the number of villains out there that want his head. But no matter what, he's always had someone there as support, whether it be me, you, or his coworkers."

"Where are you going with this Carol?" Gar asked, concerned.

"As a mother, often I've feared what might happen to him. Even with all his support, I still worry. He's my boy, Gene. He's all I've got. And now he's out there, alone, scared, and no idea how to get back…" Her voice trailed off. Tears began to stream down her face, and she began sobbing.

"Carol don't be sad," Gar said as he sat on the couch, and wrapped his arm around her. "He's ok right now. Seeing your face and hearing your voice gave him rejuvenation. Now that I know he's alive, I have faith he'll make it back. While we can't be there to help me physically, we can still help keep his spirits high."

"I don't know Gene. This is something that's too big for someone his age. Grown adults have gone into that place and never been seen again. I know I gave K.O. encouragement to make it out, but that was just a face. I didn't want him to think I have doubts."

"Just remember, Carol: K.O. isn't your ordinary kid. He's your son. He's got your blood, your genes, and your courageous spirit."

Carol stopped crying and smiled. "Oh Gene…"

"He'll be fine, Carol," Gar said. "Just believe in him."

THE NEXT MORNING

Enid was walking to work, lost in her thoughts. It had been two days since she had seen K.O. Usually if K.O. was launched after an explosion, he'd show up a few minutes later, usually all chipper and happy for winning the fight.

As she walked into the plaza, Rad had parked and was climbing out of his van. "Oh, hey Enid," he said in a monotone voice.

"Hey…" Enid responded. The two walked together through the parking lot up to the bodega.

"No sign of him yet, huh?" Rad asked.

"As far as I'm aware," Enid said. "I just don't understand. He usually comes back so quickly. You know how much he hates missing work. He even came to work when he had the flu."

"And he stayed after hours so he could mop the bathrooms," Rad said. "I miss the little dude. I really hope he's ok."

"I've heard you speak so somberly, Rad."

"Yeah well, I'm just not feeling myself today," Rad said. "What's the point of acting all cool when your greatest fan is nowhere to be seen?"

The two walked into the bodega and began setting up for the day. Mr. Gar was nowhere to be found. The two got everything set up and opened the store. They sat and waited for a customer, but no one was coming in.

"I guess yesterday was the day everyone did their shopping," Rad said. "My arms are still sore from yesterday."

"I think K.O. had it the worst," Enid responded. "He was getting run over, tossed around, and I think a few people even screamed at him for one reason or another."

"Yeah, I felt bad for the kid. Then we had to fight that dumb giant Daryl robot and… Do you think he might be dead?"

"Rad! Why would you say that?!" Enid shouted angrily.

"Woah! Calm down Enid!" Rad said. "I didn't actual mean that."

"Then why say it?! You know how worried I am? We don't know where he is, and he's just a kid. I lost my mind getting lost at a superstore when I was seven. Imagine what he's going through out in the wild, or wherever he is?"

Rad tried to respond but ended up rubbing the back of head. "I'm… sorry. I miss the little dude too."

The two then sat in silence for a while they waited for customers, their boss, or something to happen.

Meanwhile, earlier that morning, K.O. woke up with newfound energy.

"Alright, time to find my way out of here, and home to the Plaza!" he exclaimed. Then his stomach rumbled. "But first I need to find some food."

He jumped up and began walking. He once again found himself surrounded by many trees. He punched a couple of them to see if they had that fruit, and eventually got lucky, knocking one out of a tree. He immediately ate it.

"Not as good as spaghetti but gets rid of my hunger." He continued to walk, occasionally pulling out the mini hackpack to see if anybody would pick up. It was still relatively early, so he wasn't too surprised when no one picked up. "Probably asleep. Kinda wish I had someone to talk to."

Another monkey came up to K.O.'s side, and it looked like it was ready to attack, but K.O. immediately gave it a punch. "Not you!" he said loudly. He then heard a mighty roar behind him. He turned around to see another bear charging at him. "Oh, come on! This time, I'm not backing down!"

The bear charged at K.O. on all fours. As it got close, K.O. jumped over it, and shot a power fist at his back. While his power was still weakened, he managed to do some damage to the bear's back. It turned around, roared again, and started swiping at K.O. K.O. dodged from left to right as the bear swiped at him, and he also blocked a few of the swipes.

"I'm getting sick of this!" K.O. said. He slid under the bears legs and began to run. "Come and get me!" The bear once again charged at full force. K.O., who was running with his arms spread, quickly ran straight towards a nearby tree, where he took a few steps up it before somersaulting off. The bear banged against the tree, temporarily dazing it. As K.O. was falling towards the ground, he spun around and shot another power fist at the bear, hitting it and jamming its head into the tree trunk.

The bear's electrical circuits shorted out and his body combusted. "Woohoo!" K.O. said, putting his arms into the air. His celebration was cut short by a fruit that hit him on the head. "Ow! At least I have more food." He ate the fruit as he continued walking. He eventually made it out to another clearing, where he rested against a tree. He decided to try giving his mom another call.

Meanwhile, Rad and Enid were still waiting for something to happen at work. Mr. Gar had still not come into work yet.

"Where do you think he is?" Rad asked Enid while he was stocking a shelf. "Whenever I'm three seconds late, he lays into me."

"He's probably with K.O.'s mom," Enid said. "She's probably incredibly worried."

Mr. Gar finally came walking in a few minutes later. He stood in front of the counter, saying nothing.

"Uh, Mr. Gar?" Rad asked.

Gar said nothing still. But a few moments later, Carol came walking into the store, with Dendy's hackpack on her shoulder.

"K.O.'s mom…" Enid began. "Are you doing ok?"

"I'm alright," Carol responded.

"Why do you have Dendy's hackpack on you?" Rad asked

"Because someone wants to say hello," Carol responded. She put down the device and hit a button. The hologram screen popped up again, and a few moments later K.O.'s face emerged.

"Hi mommy!" K.O. said.

"K.O.!" Rad and Enid screamed in unison. They screamed so loud the whole store shook.

"Oh, my glob K.O.! Are you ok? Where are you?" Enid said rapidly.

"Yeah man, you disappeared!" Rad said interrupting Enid. "What happened?"

"I guess that explosion from the Giant Daryll was really strong," K.O. said. "And don't worry, I'm fine. A little weak, but I'm alright. This forest has a lot of food."

"You look roughed up, dude," Enid said. "What has been happening?"

"Well Mr. Gar said Boxmore dumped cyber animals here, and I've been having to deal with them," K.O. said. "I just beat up another cyber bear. Look!" K.O. walked back over to where he lodged the bear into the tree. Everyone in the store let out a collective "Oooo!"

"Good job puddin'!" Carol said.

"Pretty gnarly their little dude," Rad said.

"Good to know you're holding your own buddy," Enid said. "Where are you?"

"He's in the Kunai forest," Gar said. "Not the most ideal place to be."

"It's pretty rough, but I think I can make it," K.O. said.

"Enid hun, you're a ninja," Carol said. "Think you can tell us anything about this place?"

As she asked this, K.O. began walking forward.

"I'm more familiar with the ninja arts than its history, Ms. Carol," Enid said. "But I do know that the ninjas there were very protectful. They'd take out anyone who set foot on the island. Some even believe they still exist on the island and are the reason some have gone missing. What I want to know it, what were they protecting to make them act so violent?"

"I haven't seen anyone since I crash landed," K.O. said. "So, I think I'll be A-Okay!" He did the "ok" symbol with his index finger and thumb, and then immediately tripped off a short ledge. He landed face first into some dirt and dropped the device."

"Ouch," Rad said.

"K.O.!" Carol shouted. "Are you alright?"

K.O., who was still face down, put up his arm and gave a thumbs up. He pulled his face out of the dirt and wiped some of the dirt off. As he did so, another monkey came up to him and threw the mud, hitting K.O. in the face with it. K.O. immediately punched the monkey, destroying it.

"Geez! Why does this mud smell so bad?!" K.O. said annoyed.

"K.O., I don't think that's…" Rad began. Gar immediately put a hand on Rad's shoulder and stopped him from elaborating further.

"I don't think he needs to know that right now," Gar said quietly. K.O. picked himself back up and started walking again. He walked for a long while, keeping conversation with his friends and mom. He didn't encounter anything unusual for a while. The sun even was starting to shine. He eventually made it to another clearing and sat down against a tree stump.

"You're doing great so far, hun!" Carol said encouragingly.

"Yeah K.O., you're making some good progress," Enid said.

"Not bad for a scrub," Rad said. "I'm a little impressed."

"Hehe, thanks guys," K.O. said. "Hopefully I'm not too far from being out of here." A few moments later, Dendy walked into the store, greeted by the usual cheering of kids. "Dendy!"

"Greetings everyone," she said. "How is your progress coming along, K.O.?"

"I think I'm doing ok," K.O. said. "Mr. Sun came out, so I think I'll be ok," he said as he gave the ok symbol with his fingers.

"Glad to hear it," Dendy responded. "Now I'm going to see if I can track your location with some code, I researched last night." She cracked her finger joints and got right to work.

"Anything we can do to help?" Carol asked.

"The best thing you can do is keep watch over K.O.," Dendy said. "This code is too complicated for most people. Possibly even for me." She got to work typing and tapping on several screens of code.

"I think I'm going to start walking again," K.O. said.

"K.O., I should tell you that the mini hackpack has a feature where you can have it float beside you as you walk," Dendy said. "It should be in the options menu." K.O. stood up and swiped over to the options menu. After a few minutes of browsing, he finally found the option he was looking for. He flipped it on and the hackpack began floating beside him.

"Woah!" K.O. said. "Technology is amazing!" K.O. put his arms in the air in celebration. He then suddenly felt a tremor. The ground started to shake heavily as the sound of very heavy footsteps came into hearing. The steps felt like they were getting closer and closer.

"Uh, mommy, Mr. Gar, what is that?" K.O. said concerned.

"Be on you guard son," Gar said. "That doesn't sound friendly." The heavy footsteps got closer and closer. The nearby bushes began to rustle loudly. K.O. looked over at the rustling bushes and noticed something long and pointy began to emerge. When the creature came into view, Carol let out a loud gasp.

"No way!" Rad said loudly.

"How is it still alive?" Enid said.

"It's back," Gar said.

Carol couldn't say anything as she stared on in shock. She had seen this creature before too.

The creature was a giant mechanical rhino. It was a huge, metallic beast, with a sharp horn. It turned its head and looked at K.O. with a glowing red eye. The eye glowed, and the creature let out a huge, blaring roar that blew K.O. back a few feet as the boy attempted to cover his ears. The boy stared at the beast in horror.

"The beast… after four years… K.O. LOOK OUT!" Carol shouted.

The rhino began charging at K.O., who was paralyzed with fear.