Later, when they all regrouped together at the chosen warehouse, Toby found himself silently cursing the bronze armour he wore and the several buckets of sweat that were currently running down his back. Today had been a day filled with way too much cardio. But as he stood blinking rapidly at the sudden change of light after Krel's last minute test of the thingamajig, he couldn't find it in himself to care. He'd likely never admit this out loud, but he had been dearly missing the life-or-death adventurous situations that he oft found himself in alongside his friends. Sure, aliens weren't trolls, but the schematics were more or less the same. Plus ghosts! Who didn't love ghosts? They were a classic!

"…Think you could build me a flying bike? I never liked pedalling…" Toby rambled as he helped Krel to shift around the last of the boxes, whilst Aja hung up the last of the fairy lights in an effort to make sure that Tronos would target them, and only them. "How about a wormhole between my house & yours? Imagine the sleepovers!"

"I can't even fix our ship" Krel chuckled lowly, "Much less open up a scientifically impossible quantum gateway"

"Why not ask Danny then? He's always disappearing into portals, and dragging us out of them. I couldn't tell you how many times I ended up with skeleton-see-through fingers…"

"The Daniel knows how to open up wormholes?"

"Oh yeah! There's loads of them all over the place, but they only ever take you to the Ghost Zone and Danny says we're not allowed in there 'cause it'll kill us. But I reckon he just says that to—"

"—Target approaching!" Zadra suddenly appeared in the doorway, which had them all running for different corners of the brightly-lit warehouse to hide (and, no, he didn't yelp like a little girl!).

One-by-one the lights began to flicker dangerously before they blew out with a spark. No one moved, no one dared breathe as they waited for the inevitable to arrive. Toby silently hoped that the great hulking stone mass that stood over him would be enough of a force to stop the electricity from getting to him because he may be failing high school, but he was pretty sure bronze was up there as a good conductor. And the bounty hunter was there, appearing dramatically in a flash of lightning that illuminated the entire square block and blinded him for a moment or two.

"What is this place?" Tronos hissed as he prowled around in the dark, with ember eyes that pierced the dark and Toby swore were looking straight into his soul. For a moment no one moved, in fact a sense of eerie calm seemed to settle over the building and the stocky boy was starting to question if the dead silence was in his head or was actually happening. Toby didn't see it—the moment Tronos detected something outside which caught his attention, caught between Aaarrrggh and the crates as he was—but he was able to hear a feminine voice declare the presence of a core nearby and Zadra's harried order for Aja to attack.

The next thing Toby knew, he was scrambling over stone limbs in an effort to join in on the fight only to find everyone rushing outside where Tronos appeared to have discovered a more powerful and worthy bounty than the two highly coveted royals hidden in the warehouse with him. He saw the strands of white hair first, blue & green heterochromatic eyes gleaming with curiosity turned to face the electro-thermal creature with a hum on his lips. That curiosity quickly retreated in exchange for fear, true unbridled fear, that seemed to surge throughout his body so quickly that Toby could almost feel Dan's horror.

Toby had never seen Dan so scared before; not when he faced down Morgana, not when he read of his exploits against his evil twin or even when he slew Pariah Dark. But here, right here, as he stood frozen against a creature that crackled with each step, he almost looked like the terrified teen he appeared to be. Wasting no time, Tronos—made of naught but electricity—pounced on the young emperor with the intent to capture or kill clearly branded on his face. And then the screaming—or more accurately, the wailing—began.

The plastic bag containing a very familiar burrito logo was tossed to the side as Dan collapsed to the ground with hands scratching at his chest like he was trying to rip it open, where he writhed and wailed in agony beneath Tronos' claws. He sounded like he was dying. Even with his hands slapped over his ears, Toby could still hear the window-rattling screams that were making his ears bleed, could still smell the stink of cooked flesh which made his stomach turn. He wasn't the only one. Even with his eyes glued to the sight in front of him, Toby absently noted that the Akiridions and Aaarrrggh had fallen into similar stances as he had—wide-eyed & in pain. On the plus side, Tronos wasn't fairing any better.

Toby wasn't sure how long Dan continued to wailed & writhe, he only knew that cracks had begun to form along nearby buildings & down the street, ice spread rapidly over broken asphalt & metal in the most unnatural of ways, Tronos was forced to back up in order to avoid the harsh sound even as he quickly located his original prey cowering before him, and dogs all over the city had joined in with their high-pitched howls like some macabre kind of serenade. Eventually after what seemed like an age, the electricity danced down the ice and away from the pained halfa who collapsed back against the asphalt, eyes rolled up into the back of his head.

Momentarily distracted, Tronos took the opportunity to lunge over Dan's prone body and snatched up the two Tarron siblings from where they stood recovering. Neither Zadra nor Vex (who had arrived at some point) or Aaarrrggh were fast enough to stop the bounty hunter from disappearing into the power lines, cackling gleefully even as his ears bled.

Two rings of white suddenly appeared around Dan's waist before they ran up & down,

transforming him into something Toby had a hard time trying to figure out. It wasn't anything like what he'd thought those transformations would be; instead Dan seemed to be pulled inwards at the belly button, like a vacuum cleaner had grabbed a hold of him. And then there was the transformation itself. He did not change into the black & white jumpsuit of his superhero alter ego, nor was it the green & black tunic of his kingly visage; but instead an orb roughly the size of a softball.

With Dan's wail still ringing in his ears, Toby cautiously—curiously—shuffled over to the orb, with Aaarrrggh on his heels. There he found an almost glass-like structure that was coloured in varying marble tones of red, blue & green and gave off this great aura of pain & suffering. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that he could see several jilted snapshots which showed a young Dan in a laboratory of some kind, wearing a rather familiar jumpsuit and writhing in pain just as he had done moments earlier.

Just as he reached out to pluck the orb from where it lay, Cujo suddenly appeared much larger than before—almost matching Aaarrrggh in size—making Toby jolt back in surprise and falling ass over kettle in the process. The ghost dog (likely answering his master's pained cry) stood protectively over the orb and would growl when anyone would so much as look in their direction. Eventually—after much coaxing & promises not to touch the orb—Toby was able to shoo Cujo (& Dan) back to the Mothership to rest and recover whilst Vex & Zadra went on in search of the two royals. A few times, Toby was sure that the dog was going to bite his head off (although that would be hard to do around the orb gently gripped between his teeth), so he was glad that Aaarrrggh was there with him, even if he had made a bit of a fuss about being strong enough to walk back by himself.


"…Mother's log: When Tobias of House Domzalski and Aaarrrggh of Trollmarket returned to the mothership with Daniel encased in an orb, I found myself unable to even process what was going on…Scouring my databases brought up no such information as to how to help the ghost boy—this was clearly no job for the healing pods—but the emperor's dog appeared to know what to do…"

Toby watched dumbfounded, mouth gaping and eyes wide as Cujo seemed to shrink with every step; first to enter the Tarron home through the door and then again when he clambered over the couch to rest on the rug in front of the roaring fireplace. The canine appeared almost nonchalant as he spat out Dan and set about slobbering all over the orb, in a manner that was surprisingly soothing for both parties. It was rather similar action to that of a pair of puppies caring for each other.

In turn, the stocky boy was directed towards the bathroom where LU—C quickly set about fixing up his burst and bleeding eardrums. Even from the living room, Mother could still hear the Blank's incessant chatter that was peppered with '60s slang. It was something that had quickly become annoying, but the children seemed to like it (and with limited power still left in her tank) she had left them as they were.

"It fascinated me greatly…I have only ever encountered Akiridion cores and those of similar make in my time as a mothership, so to see one so different like that of the once human ghost boy really twisted my gears…"


Soon enough, everyone (including Stuart, the Tarrons self-proclaimed uncle, who seemed to live part-time at the Mothership now too) had returned to the mothership to get patched up and calm down after the whole fiasco. Both of the Tarron siblings appeared in good health, apart from the ringing in their ears and LU—C quickly set herself upon them in much the same manner as she had done with Toby an hour or two before. Daniel, still orb-like, remained glued between Cujo's paws as he curled up protectively around it; growling at even Luug when he came to investigate.

"Uh, why is the table set for a ceremonial banquet?" Vex inquired as he eventually emerged from the depths of the ship. "Has someone died?!"

"You haven't been working together as…cohesively as you should be" Mother replied as her icon popped up between the commander & the lieutenant. "I thought it might be smart for everyone to participate in an Earthly bonding ritual known to foster interpersonal connections"

"The humans call it 'dinner family" Zadra haughtily supplied, barely glancing the commander's way.

"Who's hungry for Mom's favourite meatloaf?" LU—C sang as she zipped into view with a smoking loaf that she slapped down on the table.

"No thanks, I'd rather eat my own face" Vex declined, scrunching up his face in disgust.

"Easy does it, big fella!" Stuart replied slightly put out by the image planted in his head, but eagerly awaited the meal nevertheless. "Count me in! This smells delicious!"

"Everything smells good to you!" Aja chuckled as she spooned a heaped helping of mashed potatoes onto her plate.

"And better than you!" Krel snorted into his glass.

"Now, now, my royal. Be nice" Mother scolded, catching the remark.

"Sorry Mother" Krel apologised sheepishly as Stuart happily dug into the meatloaf.

"Perhaps…" Zadra began hesitantly as the two watched the 'dinner family' play out rather amicably before them. "Perhaps it is unwise to keep questioning your loyalties. You have proven yourself loyal to the royal heirs, and I'm—I'm…um…"

"I believe the human expression you are looking for is 'I'm sorry" Mother suggested softly.

"Let's not be hasty, Mother"

"…Varvatos knows a thing or two about making mistakes himself" Vex scratched at the back of his neck as he watched Aja fling a pea or two across the table at her unsuspecting brother and the affronted look he got when it landed in his hair. "But it is how one makes up for those mistakes that matters—"

"—How about a toast?" RK—Y rose his glass in the air, one arm loosely looped around his wife's waist. "Cheers!"

"Mazel tov!" Stuart thrust his glass upwards, sloshing some of the wine down onto his wrists.

"To fighting together!" Aja added.

"Kanpai!" Toby added his two cents.

"And not each other" Vex chuckled. "Huh, y'know, Varvatos thinks maybe this 'dinner family' tradition isn't so bad"

"While we're making tributes, let us toast to my scientific genius! We're going home!" Krel declared smugly.

"You fixed the ship?" Aja gasped. "Mother you can fly?!"

"Not likely" Mother replied sadly. "I fear my flying days are over. I'm sorry"

"Oh Mother, we don't love you because you can fly. We love you because you're…you. You're a part of the family"

"We call you 'Mother' for a reason, y'know" Krel continued.

"Thank you" Mother replied wetly and wholeheartedly meant it. "I—I don't know what to say, my—my children…"

"It's okay, I do! We cannot fly, so we're going to walk home instead!"

"Walk? To Akiridion-5?" Zadra retorted in disbelief.

"More like into Akiridion-5" Krel chuckled as he pulled up a hologram of the prototype that had occupied his thoughts ever since Toby had brought it up earlier. "One of Toby's over-enthusiastic ramblings actually proved to be quite useful today—"

"You're welcome" Toby offered around a mouthful of meatloaf, making it come out all garbled.

"—I might be able to build a wormhole connecting Arcadia to Akiridion-5!"

"Whoa! So cool! So cool! So cool!"

"What? I thought such a scientific feat was impossible!" Vex breathed in awe as he studied the image before him with wide eyes.

"It might be, but now it's our only chance to return home" Krel replied.

"I've seen you do the impossible before, little brother" Smiled Aja, "If anyone can build this, you can"

"We can figure this out together"


Mother's control room that night found itself illuminated by the image of a thousand stars, serenaded by the Earthly lullaby playlist that Mother had played on occasion for her royals and a little ghost boy who sat tucked away in one of the chairs that hovered between it all. At some point in the dead of night, long after everyone had retired to bed & Toby/Aaarrrggh had returned to their homes, Dan had eventually emerged from the orb and shyly made his way into the depths of the mothership with a wariness that she had not seen in him before. Dan's dog, Cujo, sat guarding his master from his lap and bared his teeth at Mother's icon whenever she came too close. Mostly though, the ghostly pair just seemed content to sit beneath the stars and listen to the lullabies played over the speakers, whilst Dan threaded his fingers through Cujo's fur.

"…My royals were rather concerned about you today" Mother began as she tried to decipher what was wrong. There was clearly something wrong.

"Yeah?" Dan hummed absently, his voice still hoarse from all of his earlier wailing. His lips quirked up slightly as Cujo licked at the electrical scar that decorated his palm; the scar that signalled what started it all. "What'd they say?"

"They were worried about how you reacted to the bounty hunter today…I have never encountered such a reaction before. What brought it on?"

"…I—I—It's…It's how…" Dan choked on his words, but Mother was patient, she would wait. Behind him, Mother noted the arrival of two sleepy royals peering around the corner and curiously eavesdropping. She also noted that they both seemed gleefully happy that the ghost boy was awake and talking; she had not been lying when she said they had been very worried. "It's—it's how…how I died…"

"How you died?" Mother did not need to look to know that her charges had frozen at those words. They had been told countless times that Dan was a ghost; it had been inferred several more that he was dead, but to actually hear it stated plainly was shocking.

"Several hundred volts of electricity—enough to stop my heart—ran through my body when I was fourteen, and all because of a stupid mistake! I—I was clinically dead for five minutes! I died!…There was so much pain—! And—and…some—sometimes I—I can still feel it!" Dan wept shamelessly, big fat tears rolled down his cheeks as he pulled his legs up to his chest, mindless of Cujo who had to wriggle around into a more comfortable position.

"I'm sorry" Mother apologised profusely, "I did not mean to bring up bad memories"

"Mother…!" Dan pitifully whined, "I'm scared! Please—please don't make me do that again!"

"I promise you are safe here"

"Really?"

"Really"

"…Can—can I stay here with you, Mother?"

"Of course, my child"

"Thank you"

"…And that is what I learned today; the power of not only human emotions, but the need for human connections. What a family is like and what it feels to be a part of one. And finally, what it means to be Mother"