In the days following Dan's recovery from the blood blossoms' poisoning, Mother had forcefully quarantined the ghost boy to the ship as he fully recovered (despite having already done so). She was concerned that even with the help of the healing pods he, as a human, would take longer to heal. Something that the Tarron siblings had taken great pleasure in apparently, because Dan felt like he had been sidled into the category of house pet alongside Luug and Cujo.

It was still weird all these years later, having people patch him up after a fight because he was so used to hiding his…extra curricular activities from everyone. To know that someone cared enough to fix him up was unsettling in a way that he couldn't quite describe. That afternoon however, he was finally able to slip free from Mother's overprotective clutches and he used the time to go into town and collect his pay cheque from Stuart that was way overdue.

The secondhand tech store on Delancey Street was one of those stacked-to-the-ceiling-with-junk kind of stores that held both a nostalgic/homey and a lost feeling as you wove your way through the towers of vintage tech. In all senses however, it was just a home for all of Stuart's stuff that he usually refused to sell. In actuality, it was more like a large storage locker with a storefront window that experienced the occasional break-in from drunk teens or hungry trolls.

The bell above the door dinged when Dan shoved it opened, letting himself into the shop after a few minutes of trying to wrangle his key from the lock (it was a master key that also opened the taco truck as well). "Hullo?" Dan called out into the silent shop, his voice bouncing back and forth through the wobbily stacks of CDS and old radios. "Boss? You there?"

"In the back!" Stuart's voice faintly called back, leading Dan through the organised chaos and towards the hidden back room that he'd used once or twice to nap in. Not that he needed continuous sleep mind you, he just enjoyed it—in fact, it was one of the few human experiences that he still enjoyed taking part in.

"Daniel!" Aja happily greeted as her brother stood next to her, far more interested in the Lego creature that had been tossed to the ground. "You are here!"

"Mother finally let you out?" Krel glanced up with a brow quirked in question as Dan trudged into the back room where they were all gathered around the little craft project that stood center stage. He thought it might've been a prison of some sort, but it was hard to tell with the childlike craftsmanship.

"Er…more or less" Dan shrugged as he winced slightly at the memory of house alarms going off and Mother's voice following after him when he had phased through the kitchen wall & out into the front yard in an attempt to avoid the sentient vacuum cleaners chasing after him. It was from that experience that he could kind of see why animals were so afraid of the devices in question; Henry the Hoover was an angry little sucker, indeed.

"What're you doing here, Dan?" Stuart puzzled as he snatched the creature from Krel before he tenderly placed it on one of the higher shelves behind him, ignorant of the pouting Akiridion to his left.

"I, uh, just came to pick up my pay cheque" Dan replied. "Y'know that thing that you owe me?"

"Ah, right. Just a moment, I'll be right back" His boss shuffled around them with slippers squeaking against the linoleum and moved back towards the main room to retrieve the desired object in question; leaving Dan to the mercies of the Vex & the Tarrons.

"So…" He rocked back and forth on his feet in the awkward silence. "What's going on in here?"

"We are planning the most dangerous heist to break into the Area 49B Laboratories" Vex chirped, his eyes gleaming with determination and fist pumped. "To retrieve the Osmosis—"

"—Osmic—" Krel tiredly corrected.

"—Osmic circuit from the Stuart's rental ship inside the human facilities!"

"The Stuart has created a scale model of the laboratories for us to use in planning" Aja gestured to the craft project in front of them.

"Oh, is that what that is?" Dan's brows furrowed together as he looked over the contraption once more.

Four foam green walls stood around the perimeter of the 'prison' with each outwards facing wall graffitied with cross-hatching that mimicked a chain-link fence. All of the gates were presented as thin slips of cardboard taped on the outer wall with the words 'BOOM GATES OF HELL' written on the front of them in messy scrawl. In the center stood a loo roll hut inscribed with the number three and several lonely trees stood scattered about, only interrupted by the occasional cut-out soldier in green.

"Y'know…" Krel stroked at his metaphysical beard in contemplation, "Your abilities would be most useful in this endeavour with the infiltration of the laboratories"

"Mm" Dan hummed as he fingered the foam green wall of the model on the table. It took a moment for all the information thrown at him to sink in and when it did, his eyes blew wide with fear and his core thrummed loudly like a wildly beating heart. "Wait—! Did you just laboratories? Laboratories? As in plural? No thanks! Nope! No, no, no, no way!"

"What's going on?" Stuart returned, handing Dan the envelope with his pay.

"Krel thinks that the Daniel's powers would be useful in surpassing the security measures that the humans have implored around the base" Aja promptly replied.

"Well, he's not wrong…" Stuart contemplatively mused, thinking it over. "And another pair of hands couldn't hurt…"

"No! No way am I going back in one of those things! You know what happened last time!" Dan immediately rejected, furiously waving his hands in denial. He could practically feel the Y-shaped scar on his chest burn at the memory of it. That had been a very, very dark day.

"What happened last time?" Aja inquired. "Have you done this before?"

"Boss! C'me on!" He implored as he turned his pleading gaze to Stuart.


"This is a bad idea!" Dan groused for the umpteenth time since the taco truck had been parked on the outskirts of the secure property. He sat behind in the driver's seat, hands clenching around the wheel as he watched the imposing concrete walls with trepidation. Just being this close had his core thrumming with fear and adrenaline. "This is a really bad idea!"

"Just stay with the Blanks" Stuart's voice crackled over the intercom system (created through a series of televisions stacked atop each other) set up in the back where the buckets of greasy ingredients usually lived.

The sound of the rumbling science truck that the aliens had stolen from the captured military recon agents (using Luug as bait) rolled across the threshold with its cargo inside and Stuart sat comfortably in the driver's seat where he had stuffed himself into one of the toxic orange hazmat suits with the flip-top helmets.

"I still say the Daniel's powers would have been of more use to us inside the laboratories" Krel grumbled as he hacked into the base's surveillance feed and shot it back to the taco truck. Thankfully it didn't take long for the video to join up with the audio.

"Enough grumbling, little brother" Aja scolded. "We are on a mission"

"And now that we have eyes in the sky…" Stuart trailed off as he parked the truck in one of the docking bays before disembarking with as much subtlety as possible.

"We'll be that little voice in your head pointing you in the right direction" RK—Y chirped as he rolled his little chair over to the monitors.

"Just like your conscious!" LU-C was not too far behind.

KNOCK KNOCK!

"Ah!" Dan blinked from visibility when the sudden knock caught him off guard. His mouth had shrivelled up dry with his core trying to make its way up his throat. He could picture the torture already.

"Gee-willikers!" RK—Y startled, sparing a worried glance towards his wife and then at the other end of the bus where the faint infrared signature of Dan could be made out huddled frozen in his seat. "Are you expecting anybody?"

"Not me, honey" LU—C shook her head in reply as the beam of a torchlight was shone in through the windows.

"Hullo?" Came the tough masculine voice of the military man who had discovered them. "Hey! You can't park here!"

Don't. Move. A. Muscle. Don't. Even. Breathe. Dan remained frozen in his invisibility like a deer in headlights as he stared straight into the eyes of the unknown man. He was sure the man outside could hear his core by this point—hell—he could probably see him too! Oh they were going to hell in a hand basket—!

"Howdy-doo there, Fuzz—I mean, Officer" Thankfully RK—Y stepped up to the plate and strode over to the service window where he leant out to talk to the military man.

"You can't park here, mister!" He aggressively replied, turning off his torch. "This is a restricted area. You have any clearance?"

"I'm afraid we don't Mr Security Man. Only tacos" RK—Y replied glibly, pausing to sniff even though he was an android and the grills were not on. "You smell that tomatillo?"

"Mmm…I'm gonna have to ask you—" Dan felt his insides shrivel up too as he waited for the inevitable. "—For the two taco plate!"

What? Dan blinked dumbly at the sudden twist; particularly as LU—C fired up the grill and RK—Y snatched the cash from the military man without question. WHAT?


Some time later, when word had gotten around that the taco truck out front was open and selling, a call came over the intercom. "Ops team!" Vex greeted over the sounds of panic and Stuart's repeated apologies.

"—He wants carnitas and extra guac. 80-60 onions, Daddy-O" LU—C chirped from the service window.

"No onions! On it, Mamacita!" RK—Y replied as he handed over the previous order to LU—C before turning back to the monitors.

"Any sign of the ship on the surveillance feeds?" Vex interjected.

"Nope" Dan replied, popping the 'p' as he spared a glance over his shoulder from where he had been scraping onions off of the grill to inspect the precariously stacked TVs in behind him.

"And you know how much it breaks our hearts to disappoint you children" LU—C leant against her husband in apology before she slapped the ticket for the next order into the ghost boy's hands. "Next customer!"

"Does there appear to be extra security around any particular building?" Vex tried again.

"Hmm" RK—Y squinted at the grainy footage on the monitors. "Yes! Two buildings are chocked-full of death traps. Looks like the base hangar and a lab of some kind, buckaroo!"

"If the ship is here, then it's most likely in one of those buildings" Krel summarised as he pointed to the buildings in question.

"All clear, Daddy-O!" RK—Y chirped as Vex leant around the corner to scout for any passersby. When none were found, the group scampered across the yard to the nearest building that lay out of sight of the main drag.

And with that, Dan's attention turned back to shovelling tacos into the tummies of the military men; a petty part of him toyed with the idea of purposefully botching the cooking just a little so that they would have tummy troubles later on. Being so close to the enemy who wouldn't blink an eye at shoving them under a microscope put him on edge and now he was feeding them too? It didn't feel right.

But another part of him felt that doing so would tarnish the company—and Stuart's—name if he did. Plus there was no way he was going to let either of the Blanks near the stove, particularly as LU—C had tried to feel the heat of the grill by placing her hand straight onto the burning flame. Logically, he knew they weren't real or human, but it was the principal of the thing or so he told himself; mostly he just wanted something to keep his mind occupied from the stupid, stupid thing that they were doing.

A few more grease-filled tacos later, Dan paused to wipe the sweat from his brow and push his sleeves back up his elbows; it was hot work slaving over a burning grill after all. He was thankful for the lapse in customers as it gave him time to relax for a brief moment and check the monitors. His core had calmed some over the last hour or so as he scrapped together tacos; it was familiar and mindless work that let him just zone out for the time being, but as his gaze fell upon Aja & Stuart winding their way through endless hallways he found himself once again frozen to the spot.

"M̴̨̧͍͊ȉ̴̝̝̜ͅá̵̯̱̝̩̤͕̺̳͗͊̏͂̕͝ ̶̰̝̲̪̗̑͆͂͋̕͠D̶̨̻͔͈̯́̽͋͂i̷̧̨̩̬̫̤͇̱̫̮͇̩̽̽̃͘͝͝ō̸̟̥̦̳̪͙̠͚̥̣͚͂̈́̍̏̒͗̈́ͅ…" Dan breathed, the Ghoulish slipping from his tongue as his hands gripped tight to the back of RK—Y's chair.

"Something wrong, slugger?" RK—Y queried as he spared a glance back at the boy hovering behind him. But Dan didn't reply; instead his eyes remained glued to the screen which held the image of an old friend. An old friend in chains and muzzled; one who bore a tattered green hoodie and canine features that had his heart skipping a beat.

"Wulf?" It had been a long time since he had seen his old friend. The whole Phantom Planet episode likely being the last time. But what was he doing here?

Wulf appeared to be locked inside some kind of laboratory with a variety of surgical instruments and scientific tools strewn about the place like a child's forgotten toys. The cage was small, Dan could tell because Wulf appeared to be bulging from between the bars and a look of utter defeat lay plastered on the ghost's face even as he slept. How long has he been here? Why couldn't he go home? Why didn't I sense him before now?

Dan had barely registered his own departure from the van as he tossed aside his apron & tongs before bursting out of the truck and into the night like a shooting star. The Blanks' protests rung in his ears as he flew over the large concrete walls and made his way towards the building in question. As he drew closer, his Ghost Sense—which he had overlooked in his initial fear—grew stronger, pointing him the right direction until eventually he descended through the roof and made his way towards to his friend, passing by Krel & Vex in the process as they balanced atop of Aja's hover board mere centimetres off the ground.

"What is the ghost boy doing here?" Vex puzzled as the pair of Akiridions turned to watched Dan slip from one opposing wall to the other.

"Daniel?" Krel cocked his head to the side as he clutched the osmic circuit close to his chest after having just wrenched it free from Stuart's old ship. His voice carried across the room, calling out after the senior. "Daniel, what are you doing? We have the osmic circuit! We can go home now!"

Neither received a response nor a sign of recognition from the halfa who disappeared with nary a word nor a flick of his tail. Dan would be the first to admit that he had likely succumbed to his tunnel vision rather quickly and he allowed himself to become awash in protective and vengeful emotions because doing otherwise would likely mean complete and utter breakdown inside enemy territory. Ghosts and laboratories didn't tend to mix.

Dan kept slipping from room to room, searching for the one that held Wulf until finally he hit a wall. "Ouch! What the—?" He recoiled, rubbing at his sore nose from where he had head butted the concrete, before turning to press his hands against the wall in front of him. Try as he might, his intangibility would not work. There was some writing stamped onto the wall in a familiar font that his eyes barely glanced over, but that didn't stop the tension from residing in his shoulders at the sight of it:

FENTON ECTO-DEFLECTOR CHAMBER.
PROPERTY OF GUYS IN WHITE.

"Mum & Dad, at it again" Dan ground his teeth together at the sight of the letters intermittently dispersed along the length of the wall as he searched for a way in. "Oh c'me on! I don't have time for this! There has to be a door to this thing! Where is it?" Thankfully, a quick search of the room's perimeter found the door in question and Dan wasted no time in blasting the damn thing off of its hinges before he raced inside. He dropped to the floor as chamber's anti-ghost security measures took a hold of him, but Dan paid them no mind as he stumbled as fast he could over to the cage that held his friend.

"Wulf? Wulf? Wake up, mia amiko! Vekiĝu!" Dan called in broken Esperanto as he rattled the lock and clung to the bars. It appeared that the facility believed with the all the chamber's effectiveness in thwarting ghoulish powers, then there was no need for further restraints. They weren't far off; it was hard to move when you felt like gravity had taken a hold of your core and pulled you downwards like a ten tonne elephant. Dan felt himself wanting to curl up into a ball and sleep forever. If he felt like this after a few moments, he could only imagine what his friend felt after however long he'd been trapped here.

With no key in sight, Dan wasted no time in blasting the lock off of the cage and pulled his friend free of the cage & out of the chamber. Once back out in the hallway, Dan leant over Wulf and tried to awaken him; doing everything from shaking his large shoulder and slapping him across the face, all the while he pleaded for the canine to awaken with fingers threaded into his coarse fur as if he was afraid to let go and tears beaded in his eyes. "Wulf? Wulf! Vekiĝu! Please! Wake up! Please…! Mia amiko, I can't lose you too…"

"…Nngh" Wulf groaned low and hoarse as he came to as Dan clung to him and cried tearful pleas into his fur. "Hundido?"

"Wulf!" Dan's head jerked up with a snap before he launched himself towards his head and wrapped the canine up in a tight hug. "You're okay! You're okay! I—I th-thought—I'm so sorry! I—I should've known you were here! I—!"

"—It okay, Hundido" Wulf replied in broken English as he tiredly returned the hug, "You not know, not your fault"

"But I should've—"

"—Not Hundido fault"

"But—""

"—Not Hundido fault"

"…Okay" Dan slowly pulled back to rest on his haunches with head bowed and fiddling fingers. "Wulf? Why—why did you come here? Why didn't you go home?"

"Hundido lost" Wulf replied as if it were obvious, pushing himself up into a sitting position. "Find Hundido, take home"

"I wasn't—I'm—I'm not lost"

"Lost here" He placed a paw over the halfa's chest where his weak heart still resided.

"I'm sorry…"

"No sorry"

"…Okay"

There was a beat of silence as Dan sulked in his guilt with fingers threading themselves over and over in Wulf's fur upon the large paw in his lap. As he usually did, Dan felt an immense sense of responsibility for his kind and all that entailed, including whenever they got hurt or in trouble. He was the halfa, keeper of gates and technically the Emperor of the Infinite Realms. He could handle more than his fair share of pain and torture on his own, but when people threatened his friends? His family? Mercy was not in the question. Anger began to build in his gut, roiling deep and fuelled by the guilt already lying there in thick layers. "Wulf?" Dan quietly questioned as tears burned in his eyes.

"Hundido?" Wulf cocked his head in question; ears flopped to the side and nose flaring at the scent of salt in the air.

"You said it wasn't my fault, right?

"Jes"

"Then who did this to you?"


"As the commanding officer of this military base, allow me to offer you your first lesson in earthly etiquette" Purred Colonel Kubritz as she proudly strode forth through the rings of armed hazmat and military men. "Before you walk into someone else's house, you knock"

"Kleb!" Aja cursed under her breath as Krel backed away from the armed woman and bumped into her. Not that it would help much. There was no where for them to go, having been surrounded on all sides by armed men with neurometers which would, as Stuart put it "…Knock you out six ways to Sunday"

Thankfully, Vex had the foresight and reflexes to put up a shield big enough for all of them to hide behind. But that wasn't Aja's only worry. Upon regrouping, her little brother had mentioned seeing Daniel inside the facility and looking particularly frantic as he searched for something. The Blanks had said he must've seen something on the monitors that had worried him enough into action and now they had no way of communicating with the ghost boy. It both worried and frustrated her, especially as Mother had only just finished healing him. Did that boy not have any self-preservation?

"Ooh! Ionic energy weapons!" Kubritz cooed as her attack connected with the shield, destroying it. "Fascinating, y'know, we learnt about those twenty years ago from the previous invaders. But I've never seen one in person"

"Invaders?!" Aja spat indignantly. "You don't know why those life forms came here!"

"Either way, we didn't invite them" Kubritz's pacing put Aja on edge and she wasn't the only one. Stuart was so frightened that he cowered behind Vex's larger frame and clung to his arm like a child. Clearly whatever they had done to him in this facility was far beyond what he had told them. "Ah! Welcome back, Stuart of Durio! I should've smelt you coming! Oh! But don't worry! Your cage is still waiting for you and it has plenty of room for all your new friends!"

BOOM! CRASH!

"BUSTER!" Aja cheered upon spotting the rampaging beast whom she and Stuart had tried to break out of the facility only moments before.

Seklos and Gaylen!" Vex smiled as he watched the beast tear through the hordes of humans like they were nothing. Some were tossed aside whilst others fell faint at the impressive roar that pounded on their eardrums.

"He was grown so much!" Stuart agreed like a proud parent who watched as their child grew. Although he didn't fully emerge from Vex's shadow. Despite Buster's appearance, Aja still worried for Daniel who had yet to return. But that worry didn't last for long.

Ä̵̧̢̧̝͕̳͈̼͇̱̟̩́̿̕͜L̷̢̹͚̲̖̠̤̺̻̰̬̫͉̹̏̈͂̈́̍̌P̵̛̯̻͇͇͓̖͐͋̆̃͑̀̈́̂̊̈͋͘H̶̡̛͎̬̤͇̰̪̎̇̀́͜͠͠A̸̢̱͈̻̖̬̠͚̼̪̮̕!̵͇̘̪̄̍̈́͑̑͌̓̀́͌͂̉̄ Daniel's roar bellowed high and loud, far more so than Buster's had done. It was a call that so powerful it rattled her core and set her blood racing, like prey wary of the predator hunting them.

"What the kleb was that?!" Krel cursed as he backed further away, still clinging to the osmic circuit with a look of trepidation upon his face. He likely felt the same power as she did.

At the call of his name, the human dressed in white before them—Alpha—spun on his heel to face the enraged ghost boy calling for his blood. When Daniel emerged from the smoke left behind in Buster's wake, Aja could barely recognise him. He had taken on a greenish hue that usually would've made him appear sickly, but paired with the ferociously fanged snarl and glowing red eyes he looked more like something from one of Mary's bon-bon stories.

Daniel narrowed eyes zoned in on Alpha as he tossed aside the approaching enemy with ease, sending a large truck flying towards the closest building where it exploded into shards of ice and each measured step that he took, a patch of ice was left in his wake and spread across the ground like rabid mould. Those who were unlucky enough to come in contact with ice were turned into statues frozen in fear, leaving them to shatter or stand as he passed by.

His hands had curled up into claws at his sides and were encased in a viridian energy that hurt to look at and mirrored the quality of flame-like hair that now sat atop his head, defying gravity & logic. Behind him, a large green & black canine creature emerged stumbling over his feet and followed after Daniel like a lost puppy. Although Aja could not hear what was being said, Daniel waved urgently towards Buster and the canine soon launched himself up onto his haunches and hung on for dear life. The canine had barely breeched Buster's mandibles when the alien jumped in and knocked away the remnants of the offenders.

"Oh no…!" Stuart breathed with his eyes blown wide as he locked onto his employee's change in appearance. Whatever fear he held towards this facility was now overshadowed by the sight before him.

"Young ghost boy!" Vex greeted with a cheer. "Come! We must depart!"

"Capture the specimens!" Kubritz ordered as she clambered to her feet, pulling a forgotten neurometer to her side.

"No!" Back! Get back! Get back! Everyone back! Go, go, go!" Stuart surged forward to grab a hold of Aja & Krel's wrists and pulled them over to where Buster had joined them. He pushed them towards the awaiting limbs of the beast who stood protectively over them and spared a glance over his shoulder at Dan who had zeroed in on Alpha.

"Stuart?" Krel peered around the leg he clutched to. "What is going on? What's happened to the Daniel?"

"He's rampaging" Stuart audibly swallowed as he grabbed a hold of his old friend's tail so as to not be left behind.

"Hundido lost, angry" The canine suddenly appeared, leaning down from the top of the leg joint that Aja had clung to. "Not fault"

"Seklos!" Krel swore at the sudden appearance, one hand going to his thumping core and the other three still clung to both the leg and the osmic circuit.

"Hundido? You mean the Daniel?" Aja puzzled.

"Jes" The canine nodded in agreement, although Aja could not understand what he was saying.

"Who are—?" Krel began but was cut off as an attack went wide, hitting Buster and sent them all flying mere metres from the front gate.

"Eurgh!" Aja clutched her pounding head as she pushed herself up onto her elbows. Her head rang a little from the impact and her wrists ached from landing at an odd angle, but otherwise she appeared fine. Her little brother on the other hand, did not.

"No!" Vex cried upon spotting Krel unconscious a little ways away, but still clinging to the osmic circuit.

"No, no, no, no!" Aja ran to her brother's side and collapsed, cradling him close to her. "Krel!"

"—Hundido!" The canine whined pitifully, catching Aja's attention as turned to watch the ghost boy fling Kubritz aside like a ragdoll and over towards where Buster had been captured again. Daniel then moved onto Alpha, his prime target, where he latched a hand around the man's throat despite being taller than him.. In turn, the remaining white suits locked their weapons onto the pair and all grew still.

"Phantom" Alpha rasped as he locked eyes with the halfa holding him hostage. "You're a serious…pain in…my ass"

"W̷̖͇̫̱͈̖̻͉͊͛̿̃̒̐͜͝ë̴̢̢̛̹̟̙̩̙̠͙͎́̌́͆̈̓ͅl̵̦̻͔̜͛̇̾̉͂̈́͆̏͂̋̅̈́͝ļ̷̡̳͙̫̗͈̝̗͈͕͉̼̋͜ͅ" Daniel smirked, the strange language grated on her ears. "Į̶͙͉̹̫̠̘͊̄͛̃͜ͅ ̶̦͔̞͔͗͛̇̏͑̾̚͠͠ả̷̟̯̙̐̉̉͑͌̄̉̔̚͘͠ī̴̟͇̞͔̹̠̮͖̙̬͚̍͂͒͂͑̉̈̌̇̓̇̕̚ͅm̷̳̣̰͊̋̇͊̈̏̌̅͐̓̆̕̕͝ ̸̝̘̤͚͖̌̾͛͋̊̔͛̽̚͝t̷̻̖̫̘̮͍̍̆̓̎̾̾̏̂̈́̒̈́̊̕ȯ̸̩͔͕̣̩̒́̂ ̸̣̼̩̪̪͈̗͈̻̠̀̂̆̇̒p̷͍͂̊̇̀͊̉́̓͛͆̀͋́͘̕ľ̷̨̦̘͇̲̹͈̰̽̾̅̍̆͊͊̌̚ę̵̪͚͖̥͔̞͉̲͉̝͖͂ͅa̴̢̢̧̮̲̮̟̥͇̩̗̤̭̘̋̈s̵̢̧̯͈̞̹̤̱̯̮͓͙̞̼̈́́̽̏͊̌͊̊͒e̸̛͎͒͋̏̂̃̕"

"Haha! You're shit outta…luck now, brat! See those…neurometers?" Daniel's eye followed the line of the man's finger, side-eyeing the agents on all sides, surrounding them. "One twitch and you'll be…sucking up ectoplasm through a straw! There's nowhere…left to run!"

"Who said anything about running?" Daniel leant in close as his grip tightened on Alpha's throat, choking him further. The sound was horrible in Aja's ears and she wanted it to stop, but another part of her felt that it was right for the man to suffer as her brother still lay wounded in her arms. "Let's fly!"

And with that Daniel launched into the air, taking Alpha with him. Aja tumbled back at the small shockwave and crater left behind by the normally docile boy and clung tightly to her brother as she warred over avenging him or fleeing to safety. But in the end, it didn't matter what she thought because Vex stepped in once more."We must leave at once!" Vex cried as he scooped both Tarron siblings from the cracked ground whilst Buster broke free of his restraints and Stuart fled from their pitiful coverings behind the broken asphalt.

"Not yet—!" Aja tried to wriggle free but Vex's arm had her locked in place. Even if they were just inches from escape, there was still the blast doors to deal with.

BZZT!

"You'll be perfect lab rats for my collection!" Kubritz reappeared, with a maniacal grin on her face as she stood between them & freedom and fired at them once more.

"Seklos!" Vex cursed as he dodged the best he could with arms full. Mercifully, the shot missed Aja's crown and grazed his shoulder. Aja could only watch helpless, as Kubritz retrained the weapon on them with a smile.

"Beep beep! Here comes a monster truck! Ah!" Stuart decreed from behind the wheel of one the science vans.

"Stuart!" Vex swore, jumping out of the way just in time. Aja could feel the breeze blow through her bangs as the vehicle passed, zooming towards the front gate without mercy. "That wall is rigged to—"

"—Explode, yes! I'm well aware! Then I guess I'm the bomb!" Stuart dove from the truck at the last second, using the truck to blow the gate into smithereens.

KABOOM!

"Come, mia amikos" The canine reappeared in a flash of green from beyond the smoke and Aja absently wondered where it had disappeared to. "Go now"

"But the Daniel—!" Aja tried, turning her face to the darkened sky and Buster disappeared off into the night.

"The ghost boy will be well" Vex replied as the taco truck came to a screeching halt in front of them. "He is most skilled in the art of combat"

"Ahoy-hoy!" RK—Y greeted cheerfully, his face soon falling at the sight of Krel. "Oh no! Mi principito! He needs help!"

"DRIVE!"