Later that night when Dan awoke to fetch a glass of water, the halfa found Mother's portal open and gleaming; which wasn't unusual considering the passed couple of weeks but he swore he could hear voices coming from inside. Stepping across the threshold with glass in hand as he dewedged his boxers, the halfa made his way towards the control room where the noise was coming from. It's probably just Aja again. Dan mused, scratching at his belly beneath his t-shirt. The young royal had taken to watching Vex's personal logs in the middle of the night because she missed him so much. The halfa mostly left her to it, but more often than not, he found himself carting her back to bed when she fell asleep in front of the monitors.
"…Log…pulling up Commander Vex's logs…" Mother crackled as Dan entered to find Krel frustratedly typing away at the monitors whilst Aja led a timid Steve up the aisle and Eli & Toby spun around on the floating chairs.
"No! Not logs!" Krel despaired as the windowed popped up anyway.
"…Delson one: Commander Vex reporting" Vex's logs intoned. "Or should Varvatos say, Nanny Vex?"
"Mother get him off the screen!"
"Next screen"
"No!"
"…Delson seventeen: Varvatos met Nancy Domzalski…" Vex sang as he dusted down the mantelpiece in a bright pink apron.
"My nana?!" Toby exclaimed in horror.
"…She captured my rook, my queen and my core. She is how the humans would say 'hot'…"
"Hot?! Ew! No, no, no! She's not hot! She's nana!" Toby panicked as he flew forward to turn off the video before anymore secrets about his grandmother were revealed. The next screen that popped up showed Vex skillfully flitting about the screen as he trained; something to even the untrained eye was impressive.
"Wow! He's a really good fighter!" Eli commented as he readjusted his glasses. Even from the back of the room, Dan noticed how Krel's shoulders hunched in on themselves and his fingers gripped tight to his arms like he was trying not to lash out. "Who is that?"
"Nobody" Krel growled as he finally got rid of the personal logs.
"I-it's a long story" Aja amended, looking away but spared Steve a small smile when he placed a hand on her shoulder in comfort. "Mother—any information on a bounty hunter with a giant hammer-thing?"
"…Searching…Searching…Searching…Searching…" Mother buffered.
"Ugh! She's still rebooting" Krel groaned into his hands.
"…Your order for red boots has been shipped and will arrive in two to five business delsons…"
"No!"
Eventually Krel was able to weave his way through the maze of pop-up windows and buffering updates until he found Mother's collection of information on known bounty hunters. Dan recognised a few of the data entries as they flickered passed—Foo-Foos, Zerons, Halcons—until it eventually landed on some volcanic-looking monstrosity.
"…Bounty hunter identified: Magma-Tron. Hails from the planet Cindor" Mother informed them. "All right, wasn't expecting that" Dan muttered to himself as he blinked dumbly at the scene before him. It was just always bounty hunters and trash talkers with these ones, wasn't it? And with Zadra out doing…whatever it was she did at night, that made him the only adult in the room, didn't it? Crap.
"Cindorites are an almost indestructible violent race of mechanised beings known for the wanton disregard for life. They are prone to quips, ruthlessly cruelty and what humans refer to as 'trash talking'…"
"Mother" Aja hesitantly crept forward as if she was worried that the hunter would burst from the screen. "Any information on how to defeat this guy?"
"…Searching my data base…the only known weakness if w-w-w-w-w…System rebooting…"
"Ugh! This going to take forever!"
"Ooh, sounds like Skulker" Dan greeted, finally making his presence known.
"Jesus! Danny!" Toby exclaimed in shock, hand on heart as he spun to face the half-dressed halfa nonchalantly sipping from his glass of water. "When did you get here?!"
"Eh…Couple of minutes ago"
"Who is the Skulker?" Aja queried, sparing a glance over her shoulder as the halfa shuffled up to join them. "Is he one of your Guys in White?"
"Nah, he's just this dead ghost hunter that wants to stick my pelt on his trophy wall"
"A ghost that hunts ghosts?" Eli's brows furrowed in confusion.
"Sounds familiar, doesn't it?" Dan winked in Toby's direction as if the pair were sharing in a secret.
"Wait—! You're a ghost?!" Steve panicked, ashen-faced.
"Boo"
"Ah!" Steve cowered behind Aja and Dan couldn't help the teasing grin that spread across his lips. An expression that he appeared to be mirrored with the other boys, however badly hidden.
BEEP-BEEP! BEEP-BEEP!
"Hm?"
"One of the alien traps went off!" Eli happily exclaimed when he pulled out his singing phone. "It caught something in the sewers!"
"It could be Magma-Tron!" Krel grinned before turning to the bespectacled boy as if a thought had just occurred to him. "Wait—! Were you trying to trap us?"
"Yeah, but only because someone never told me you guys were cool" Eli then turned the blame to Steve who easily snatched the phone from his hands before he sent the chair spinning off to the other end of the room.
"We must stop Magma-Tron before he hurts someone!" Aja decreed as she snatched the phone from the air.
"Or us!" Krel amended.
"Still happy Vex's gone? Eli the Pepperjack, take us to the sewers!"
"Yeah all right" Dan sighed, shoulders slumping slightly as he realised he was going to have to play babysitter for the evening. "Lemme just put some pants on"
Once everyone was kitted out in their various forms of battle wear—Toby in his armour, Steve & Eli in their Creep Slayerz outfits (complete with ninja throwing stars & face paint) and Dan in his pyjama shirt & a pair of sweatpants—they eventually found themselves traipsing through the sewers with Eli at the helm. "The trap is just around this corner" Eli warned them when they eventually came to a stop after Steve had hit his head for the umpteenth time since coming down. The blonde was just glad for the helmet. Odd sounds of struggle could be heard echoing down the tunnel, but they reminded Dan more of the noises his mother would make when she couldn't reach something, than anything actually in distress.
"We'll take it from here" Aja whispered as both serators sprang to life.
"Ahem" Toby coughed, popping up his own flaming War Hammer which received a note of appreciation from Eli who considered his weak ninja stars in comparison. Aja silently counted down before running into the cavern with a war cry on her lips and the others behind her.
Kids. Dan smiled fondly before he leisurely strolled after them with his hands in his pockets. Although wary of what they would find, Dan was sure that whatever was dumb enough to get caught up in one of Eli's traps, was nothing to worry about. Also the Mortals never seemed to be able to hit as hard as the Dead. Maybe because the Dead had nothing to fear? They were already dead.
"…Zadra?" Krel blinked dumbly at the sight of the lieutenant doing her utmost best to reach the broken candy on the floor beneath her. It reminded Dan of a pregnant woman trying to reach something she'd dropped. "What're you doing here?"
"You know her?" Toby blinked as the two Tarrons sheathed their weapons and wandered closer.
"None of my battlefield training prepared me for the temptations of these delicious confections!" Zadra drooled as she hooked a nail under one half of the wrappers and scooped it up. Dan gagged slightly as she bit into the soggy chocolate bar, no doubt drinking half of sewerage water along with the chocolate.
"Yeah! The Nougat Nummies! They worked!" Eli cheered as he and Steve brought up the rear.
"I ordered you not to leave the ship for your own protection!" The scolding would've sounded more threatening if she hadn't been scrabbling to reach the other half of the candy still below her.
"Is there some kind of cheat sheet we could get?" Toby mused as he shouldered War Hammer. "Like, how do we tell who's a good alien or a bad alien?"
WHIRR!
"DOWN!" Zadra commanded as a large volcanic hammer came whistling through the air towards them. As the others hit the ground on her command, Dan became intangible almost instinctively and the offending weaponed sailed right through him, just barely brushing the tops of the juniors at his feet. The hammer whirled around the corner and out of sight before it seemingly made a U-turn.
"COMING BACK!" Toby cried, sparing a glance over his brass shoulder.
"Give up your cores, Tarrons, before I rip them from your bodies!" The bounty hunter—Magma-Tron—decreed.
"That is clearly a bad alien!" Eli squeaked.
"Oh, you definitely sound like Skulker!" Dan mused aloud as he watched the giant hammer magnetise with its outstretched limb. "Y'know I'm convinced he's gonna knit me an entire exoskeleton like his"
"Doesn't he want to put you on his wall?" Steve squeaked.
"What's your point?"
"A Cindorite?" Zadra questioned, ignoring the side-comments from the halfa. "My royals, run!"
"With Varvatos Vex off-planet, no one can save you now!" Magma-Tron prowled forward swinging his double-ended hammer.
"Off-planet?" Aja pursued. "You know where Varvatos is! Where is he?"
"Not here to protect you!"
"We don't need that traitor to protect us!" Krel sneered as both serators flared to life.
Not one to be left out of the fight, Toby charged forward with a war cry and hammer flaming behind him, only to find that cursed hammer tends to lose to volcanic alien. "You idiot!" Said Dan as Toby practically shook with the ringing that ran through his brass-encased body.
"Gee, everything hurts!" Toby whined.
"Say goodbye to your teeth!" Magma-Tron laughed before he swiped his hammer towards the stocky boy, sending him flying backwards towards the Tarrons.
"Toby!" Aja worried as he rolled & skidded along the ground before coming to a dizzying stop.
"Uh…a little rusty since Jimbo left, huh?" He muttered, trying to see straight. Behind them, Zadra had yanked Eli up to her eye level and demanded that he release her before resetting the trap with the help of Steve & Toby (whose enthusiasm did not instil confidence in the lieutenant) whilst Aja & Krel tag-teamed the bounty hunter.
"You've seen Varvatos, where is he?" Aja demanded now that his double-ended hammer had been sliced neatly in two.
"Hahaha!" Magma-Tron cackled as he summoned the weapon back to hand and continued to swing about with reckless abandon.
Oh great! Dan worried, Now he's got two hammers!
"Our serators have no effect on him!" Aja panicked as the two teens dodged and weaved. Dan wanted to help, but there was no openings and with very little space to move about, would prove catastrophic if done incorrectly.
"Because Cindorites are indestructible!" Zadra spared over her shoulder.
"Danny! Can't you do something?!" Toby grunted as he stood strong beneath the combined weights of Steve & Eli.
"Ghosts & technology don't tend to mix…" Said Dan. It was true, despite the flimsy excuse. Where orbs could be captured on film and scratchy voices heard through spirit boxes; the stronger ones, like Dan, caused things to glitch & spark, their faces blurred & fuzzy. And the more extreme cases, the technology themselves would explode or shatter into pieces at their touch. He suspected however, that the Fenton Works gadgets only held up against this phenomenon because of the liberal use of ectoplasm in their designs. Perhaps it would be the same with the Cindorite? Alien cores weren't that far off from ghostly ones afterall.
"DANNY!"
"Alright! Alright! Alright! But don't blame me when you've got metal shards sticking outta your face!" Dan shook out his hands as he moved to the front of the pack, muttering to himself. "God, this would be so much easier if I didn't have to worry about Mortals!"
Squaring up against the volcanic being, Dan flexed both of his hands before he shot off a beam of ice that quickly encompassed everything it touched. The sewerage water at their feet quickly froze over, even going so far as to climb up the walls and freeze the drop hanging from the ceiling. "Brr! That's c-c-cold!" Toby's teeth chattered as the temperature in the sewers dropped several degrees below freezing and turned the area into a miniature ice age. Unbothered by the cold, the halfa easily forgot who susceptible Mortals were to the feeling. "An em-em-emperor fighting a b-b-bounty hunter? So c-c-cool! So c-cool! So c-cool!"
Thankfully, the icy blast was strong enough to throw the Cindorite from its feet and towards the other end of the tunnel before it rolled upright and charged headfirst through the ice. Dan grit his teeth in frustration and pushed harder against the volcanic being fighting his way through the frost.
It became like a strange game of Chicken to see who would back down first, the volcanic alien or the ice-wielding halfa. At least until Dan had had enough and switched it up, flinging one of his ice-covered fists to the side where he shot a beam of ectoplasm at the ceiling and knocked free large icy stalactites that crashed down upon Magma-Tron, taking him to the floor. More ice latched onto the fallen bounty hunter and Dan wasted no time in launching himself up onto its chest in an effort to pin him to the ground. Although not as physically heavy in comparison, Dan knew that he carried this aura (one that followed most ghosts, but tripled because of his status as Emperor) that tended to frighten Mortals, although he couldn't quite explain it beyond that. Like when prey knew they had been caught by the predator & froze in hopes to survive.
"I-I'll ask you o-one more time!" Aja shivered as she cautiously crept forward, slipping and sliding over the ice, when the fight had been deemed done. "Where is V-Varvatos?"
"Haha! He's on Earth's moon, rotting away in some prison cell!" Magma-Tron laughed, unbothered by the ice as well.
"We have a prison on the moon?" Dan's eyes lit up at the notion of anything space-related. "Cool!"
"V-Varvatos was captured?" Aja, far more serious than the halfa, appeared taken aback by the news of their former guardian.
"He—he didn't l-leave us?" Krel stammered coming to stand next to his sister with much difficulty. "He was taken"
"By whom?"
"Zeron Alpha!" Magma-Tron cackled. "Commander Vex is heading home to Akiridion-5 for his execution!"
"Execution?"
"You'll be reunited with Varvatos in death!"
"Son of a biscuit!" Dan yelped as he was suddenly thrown from the Cindorite's chest and through the closest wall, just as the twin hammers came flying back. He should've known better; even a cornered mouse fights back when threatened.
The tinkling sounds of diamonds hitting the floor filled the air as the ice shattered and disappeared as if they had never even existed in the first place. Magma-Tron shot to his feet, swinging his hammers every which way, making it hard for them to fight back without getting decapitated or bludgeoned. "K-Krel!" Aja cried upon noticing that her little brother had fallen where he had landed and she raced to defend him, only to have her serator thrown aside as well.
"S-Sister!" Krel cried as she too was tossed aside in a similar fashion. Across the way, Zadra & her three human charges were still climbing to their feet whilst Dan—who had turned intangible just before he impacted with wall—had yet to return.
"It will all be over soon, princess!" Magma-Tron laughed as he summoned her hammers back to hand, or he tried to.
"G-Grab the hammer!" Zadra called over the roar of the hammers as she launched for the closest hammer with the Tarron siblings doing the same on the other side. "D-Don't let him get his w-weapon!"
In the meantime, it appeared that Toby had finally returned to the land of the living as he began to babble on about frozen water pipes as the two parties struggled to hold back the twin hammers. They were sorely losing. "S-Seklos! Where is the D-Daniel when you need him?" Krel grunted as he tried (and failed) to find traction on the ice. And then as if summoned by name, Dan reappeared, flying straight back from the wall he had disappeared through and into the Cindorite stood T-posed before them.
It was odd watching the Overshadowing of the Cindorite play out. The alien sort of twitched & sparked and grumbled & roared as if it was trying to retrieve whatever had crawled inside. There was moment when Magma-Tron seemed to freeze up before the golden light that danced between the cracks & crevices of the vessel turned to an illuminating green only ever associated with the halfa. For Dan, it was an equally odd experience, having only ever Overshadowed Tucker, Dash and his dad in his previous life as a superhero. He was a bit apprehensive at first, owing to the whole ghosts-and-tech-don't-mix thing, but he was also a little PO'd at being chucked through a sewerage wall because who knows how long it would take to get that stench out.
It was easy enough to find the alien's core because of how similar the feeling of it was to a human's core. In all instances, they were more or less the same thing. Only, aliens like the Tarrons, appeared to be able to regenerate their bodies from their cores in ways that humans just couldn't. Faintly, Dan registered Aja's call to release the hammers, so he knew it was time to get out of there before he became a quarter instead of a halfa. And just in time too, because no sooner had Dan escaped with the Cindorite core jammed firmly between his teeth did the beast explode into a fiery and gruesome death.
"That was awesome sauce!" Toby sang as the heat from the volcanic creature melted away the remnants of Dan's ice.
"Yep! That's my girlfriend!" Steve puffed up proudly as he hooked an arm around Eli, pulling him close so they could do their little secret Creep Slayerz handshake. "And you are my friend, Pepperjack"
"Yes!" Eli cheered.
"Creep—"
"—Slayerz! Best friends? Bros?"
"Yeah, okay, Pepperjack, bros…But you're still a buttsnack!"
"Hey, where's Danny?" Toby glanced about, looking for any signs of the ghost boy who they had briefly seen in between.
"Hullo~!" Dan sang, popping up next to the brass-laden boy as he chewed on the Cindorite's core, ignorant of the ectoplasm covering his face or the strange looks he was getting.
"Did you—are you—did you just eat his soul?!"
"…No" It would've sounded less guilty if his chin wasn't splattered with ectoplasm or his cheeks weren't puffed up like a chipmunk.
"What's a soul?" Aja queried.
"It's like a core" Dan replied, licking his fingers clean. "But for humans"
"Oh. Oh"
"Sorry we snuck out" Krel apologised to Zadra, occasionally sending Dan wary looks. "And were nearly killed. Again. You were right—"
"—You were right as well" Zadra haltingly interjected, "If you hadn't left the ship, I might've been killed and I see now there aren't just enemies out there. These…humans can be out allies—our friends"
"Hm, this is pretty nice as a lightweight thruster" Krel hefted one of the large hammers that had been the cause of Magma-Tron's demise. "Heh, I can put this to good use"
And with that, the group traipsed back towards the sewer's entrance, pausing occasionally to catch their breaths as they hauled the large hammers home with them; until they were met at the grate by a Civil War Soldier. "You!" Toby gasped as he pointed towards the ghostly soldier in question. The others, meanwhile, appeared far more on edge with his sudden appearance.
"General?" Dan cocked his head in question at the soldier who stood to attention.
"You know this man, Daniel?" Krel grunted as he plonked the hammer in his grasp down and leant on it to catch his breath.
"Know him?" Toby gasped, spinning wide-eyed to face the others as if what he was about to say needed their utmost attention. "Danny's his King!"
"You're—you're a king?!" Krel spluttered.
"That's Emperor, to you, Mortal" General sneered.
"Hm" Dan hummed. "It's more of a guardianship than a kingship, really"
"You are far too humble, Sire"
"How long have you been an emperor?" Aja asked.
"Uh, about…hm, ten years now? Yeah? That sounds about right"
"But—but that means you would've been three when you started, right?" Steve choked, likely thinking about his own felt-made crown and fake sceptre awarded to the Spring Fling King.
"What part of Emperor of the Dead did you not understand?" Dan sent a disbelieving look at the blonde before turning back to the uptight soldier in front of him. "Report"
"Sire, the final reports have come in. 40% of the reaped souls have stayed, 60% have passed on.
"Tch" Dan hissed as he ran through the numbers. Almost half of the reaped souls from the Eternal Night a fortnight ago had chosen to hang around the Mortal plane, which wasn't going to be good for them—emotionally or physically.
"Of this, 62% of the reaped souls were saved, 24% were corrupted and 14% were lost"
"Hm, right, thanks"
"Sire" General took the dismissal for what it was and bowed low before he disappeared.
"What was that about?" Eli asked.
"More work" Dan sighed, running a hand through his hair before they continued on their way once more. Only this time he was pestered with numerous questions regarding his 'secret' kingship.
With the aid of Stuart's taco truck, Magma-Tron's twin hammers and Toby's cursed War Hammer, they were finally able to return the Mothership back to place on the street. Dan had disappeared at some point to visit his kingdom (likely to escape all the needless questions of his peers), Toby & Eli had returned to their homes, Aja had gone on a date with Steve and Zadra had spent most of the next day gleefully running around the house in the tall red boots that she had accidentally ordered. Which meant that Krel could finally get to work on fixing Mother.
"This better work" Krel grumbled as he rooted around in the wires beneath the console, "Your glitching is starting to get more annoying than the Blanks and that is saying something"
"…Security protocols disabled" Mother's tone drastically changed as she was reset to normal.
"Um, Mother?" Krel sat back on his haunches, hesitantly waiting to see if it would work or not.
"…Good evening, my royal" Mother's icon appeared over Krel's shoulder.
"Aha! It worked!" Krel spun to face the icon. "How do you feel, Mother?"
"I feel well, I feel almost alive"
"Would you perhaps, feel like…accessing Varvatos' personal logs?"
"Are you sure you want to view them, my royal?"
"…Yes, I am sure"
"Accessing Commander Vex's Personal logs" Along with the personal logs recorded by Vex, several videos taken from Mother's security logs were also presented to the teen. An issue, that Krel wasn't quite sure was a glitch or not, but sat back to watch them anyhow.
"Delson thirteen:…498, 499, 500!…" Luug sat perched atop the commander as he trained.
"Is the uh, transformations like glamours or are they full transformations?" Dan questioned as Aja lay in her human form curled up & groaning in pain on the couch.
"A full organic transduction is used to change the appearance of my young royals" Mother replied as Krel panicked over his sister's strange actions.
"Ooh boy"
"Am I dying?" Aja moaned.
"You're not dying" Dan replied, although appeared unsure.
'I feel like I am dying"
"Yeah, I'm told that tends to happen"
"Wha—am I gonna die too?" Krel panicked.
"No, no, it only happens to girls. It's called a period and that's about as much as I know"
"Why would girls choose to do that?!"
"I 'unno, but you could always search for stuff online—there's bound to be something there"
"I will murder you!"
"The princeling has become quite good at this Earthly music! Varvatos Vex is feeling the beat!…" Vex danced about the living room with a pair of headphones that had been stretched to fit his head.
"I—I did it again! I'm so-sorry! Please! Please! You have to listen! Please! I didn't mean to…!" Dan wept into his arms, the night illuminated by teary green eyes.
"You would be proud of Aja…"
"…Stronger~! Bet'cha thought I was dead, but I'm not dead, I'm not dead! Stronger, stronger, stronger, stronger. Bet'cha didn't think I'd come back to life!…" Dan & Mother bellowed at the top of their lungs as they danced about the kitchen, one using a whisk as their microphone and the other blaring the song in question.
"Again?" Dan glanced down at Aja who appeared to have fallen asleep in the control room.
"My royal misses the Commander" Mother replied as Dan bent to scoop her up in his arms.
"I know"
"A glorious victory, to be sure!" Vex & Stuart cooking breakfast in the kitchen behind a stack of pancakes. LU—C appeared rather incensed as she watched from the corner.
"What is this glorious monstrosity?" Dan, Mother & Vex were in the kitchen as little snowflakes fell from shot up from the halfa's hands and rained down on the commander's head.
"It's called snow!" Dan laughed in reply.
"Commander's log, delson twelve: The king-in-waiting continues to struggle fitting in with the humans. It pains Varvatos that they do not understand him. Perhaps Varvatos can beat the children into befriending Krel? Haha!"
"Quite the project you've got going on" Mother's laugh tinkled as Dan was shown floating close to the ceiling as he placed glow-in-the-dark stars on the roof whilst Vex stood off to the side with a map of the constellations in his hands. "Do you require any further assistance?"
"He's not going to let you help—" Vex replied, showing the map to the ghost boy as the room slowly became illuminated by tiny plastic stars.
"Hey!" Dan replied indignantly.
"—The ghost boy barely let me help"
"It's easier if I do it, I float"
"He made a map"
"It's more fun if it's accurate! And I totally let you help! Mother do you want to put the last one on?"
"I'm not—I'm not a monster! I'm me! I'm still human! I'm still human! Please!"
"Is that a…wrench in his hand?" Dan whispered, looking down upon Krel who had fallen asleep hugging a left-handed wrench like it was a teddy bear. "That's so cute! Ooh! I wish I had my camera right now!"
"Why do you do some much for them, ghost boy?" Varvatos peered down at the tired and battered form of the halfa as he lay snoring on the couch. There was no reply.
"Y'know I wanted to be an astronaut when I was younger" Dan twirled one of Krel's tools between his fingers as he mused aloud. "I wanted to see the stars, other planets—oh! It would've been so cool!"
"Then why didn't you?" Mother asked.
"Death and destiny got in the way"
"Aja & Steve sitting in a tree~!" Dan sang as he was chased about by an embarrassed Aja.
"How did you know?" Aja cried, chasing after the halfa with serator in hand.
"K-I-S-S-I-N-G~!"
"Daniel! Shh!"
"First comes love! Then comes marriage~!"
"Marriage?!" Krel choked, coming into the room at the wrong time. "Sister! You are not marrying that blonde oaf!"
"Then comes the baby in the baby carriage~!"
"Baby!" Krel's eyes seemed to pop from his skull as he passed out.
"That's not all! That's not all! I saw them shagging in the banquet hall~!"
"Daniel! Get back here!"
"As your Commander—"
"—Exactly Commander, you are NOT my Papa and this is NOT my home!" Krel winced as he watched himself slam the door in Vex's face.
"Varvatos is trying his best Mother, but he swears battling larvoxen is easier than raising teenagers"
"Varvatos does not feel like this is babysitting anymore; Aja & Krel, they are like family now"
Krel hugged his knees close to his chest in comfort. He had no idea that the Commander—that Vex—felt this way. The guilt pricked at his heart, the tears in his eyes. Aja, who had appeared as if summoned by the sounds of the videos, crouched down next to him in comfort. "Spending time with Varvatos & Daniel?" Aja asked.
"I want to hate him, Aja" Krel admitted, a little teary-eyed. "I want to hate him so much, but he really loved us…"
"I know he did. Varvatos would be here if he could"
"…We'll get him back" Krel breathed a heavy sigh as he rose to his feet. "We're going on a rescue mission to the moon!"
