Note: This episode takes place during Into the Fire Parts 1 and 2. And I've skipped the parts where they're in the Fire realm because they haven't changed at all.
"Okay good, tighten that, and put that there," Gabe instructed Gargle. He turned to Allie. "We shouldn't've done this! Master Chavez never authorized us to—"
"Essence Elf!" Allie called, doing a Nature summons. "It was your idea to make us leave the mall and follow the stupid van in the first place!" The Essence Elf appeared, but within two seconds the huge lizard-with-armor thing they were fighting stepped on it, defeating it. "Hey, not cool!"
Ray, meanwhile, had Bob charging the lizard-with-armor. After stunning it with Bob's chains, he turned back to say, "You gotta admit Gabe was right though, Allie. And we have the evidence to prove it. Whoa!" The lizard had taken advantage of his distraction and shot a blast of flame at them.
"Focus, Ray!" said Bob, his horns smoking.
"Sorry. A little help, guys?"
"I'm trying!" Michaela yelled. She had been trying to call one of the Masters to come and help, but the blasts from the battle kept knocking her phone out of her hands or making her press buttons she hadn't meant to. So far she had almost made three wrong-number calls and had hung up with every one of the Masters before they could answer.
"Gargle, you ready to bring the pain?" Gabe said, as he added the last adjustments to the pile of random things he and Gargle had made into a weapon of some kind.
"Gargle bring pain?" his partner creature replied. "Gargle only bring Gargle. Gargle make the pain."
Allie tried to do another summons. "Steam Star Grappalog! Flush 'em out, Steamy!" Unfortunately, this creature lasted no longer than the one before it. The lizard grabbed it with its tongue, which it then set on fire, defeating Steam Star. "Ugh."
The lizard shot another blast of flame at Ray and Bob, making Michaela jump out of the way again. Ray and Bob dodged and Bob picked up a nearby car to use as a shield.
"Gabe!" Ray yelled. "The guards!"
Gabe fired his makeshift weapon, which effectively knocked the guards out of the way. Bob took his chance and smacked the lizard across the face with the car. That final blow was enough to defeat it. Allie ran forward, looking triumphant. Then, at the last second, the lizard shot out its tongue and grabbed her, pulling her into the Fire civilization with it.
And just like that, she was gone.
Snap-tongue Lizard
"We have rules for a reason," Master Brightmore said. Ray, Gabe, and Michaela were standing in front of the Masters in the council chamber. Michaela hadn't said a word since Allie was pulled into the Fire realm, and she still looked very pale. "And this is one reason for a rule: that you not touch the creatures!"
"It grabbed her, Nigel, and she's in grave danger. Let's focus on how to get her back."
Kimora looked at the tablet the Masters had passed around. "It seems the question is where to start the rescue process."
"I have maps covering most of the Fire realm." Nadia said. "Chavez, you've been there. You can check their accuracy."
"You're going to do research?" Ray asked angrily. "We need to go over there now!"
"The Fire realm is vast and deadly," Jaha explained. "One doesn't just 'go over there.'"
"Trying to rescue Allison without any idea of where she is, or a plan, is courting disaster." Brightmore said.
Suddenly Michaela spoke. "We can't just leave her there!" she shouted. She seemed on the edge of hysteria. "She's been here barely a week! I'd been here four years and I barely made it back!"
"Michaela," said Nadia in a slightly warning tone.
"Fire isn't like Nature! There's no food, no water, nowhere to hide, nothing to help her at all except us!"
"Michaela," this time it was Nigel warning her.
"The only reason I survived was because I stayed away from creatures! She can't do that, Snap-Tongue Lizards are pack creatures, she won't have a chance to get away. And her mana was low, she won't be able to fight or put up a shield for a while, and if she hurt herself—"
"Michaela!" said Nadia, standing up. Michaela put her head in her hands; she was breathing heavy, but she didn't seem to be crying, just trying to control herself.
After a moment she lowered her hands. "I'm sorry." she said quietly, looking at the floor. "It just—" her voice broke. She swallowed, then continued. "It just brings back bad memories."
"I know." said Nadia, in a surprisingly gentle and understanding voice. Michaela nodded, and then turned and left the room without another word. Nadia sat down again, and after a moment the discussion continued.
"As I said, we need to find Allison before we go after her." Brightmore said. "I will summon my Stalker Spheres."
"And I my spies of Darkness." Jaha added.
"How can we help—" Gabe started to ask, but Ray stopped him from finishing. He pointed outside, then led Gabe out.
They ran out of the dojo, Ray pulling Gabe behind him, but stopped when they saw Michaela leaning against the fence, looking at the forest behind it. They walked up on either side of her.
"Are you okay?" Ray asked.
Michaela nodded, still looking at the forest. "You never notice things like the kind of trees around you until you think you might never see one again." she said. "And then once you start to notice, whatever happened to make you notice them makes them never seem the same again." Ray and Gabe exchanged a look. Michaela finally turned away from the trees to look at them. "Sorry, I'm rambling. Happens sometimes."
"So… you mentioned this bringing back bad memories." said Gabe. "What exactly happened?"
She sighed, but her previous faraway look had fully disappeared. "A few months ago, I got trapped in the Nature Civilization for three weeks."
"Three weeks?!" Ray and Gabe said together.
"Yeah. I was low on mana from the start, and I hurt my ankle within an hour, so I couldn't even power up my gauntlet."
"That's why you started teaching! Chavez said you started a few months ago."
She smiled, but it wasn't her usual bright one. "Yep. Nadia and I had been doing one-sided duels for years, because it takes an unusually long time for me to regain mana, but after that I decided I wanted to teach the others how to manage without a gauntlet." She looked at them again, and something seemed to occur to her. "You're going to try and get her back, aren't you?"
"Yep." said Ray.
"Don't." she said.
"Why not?" Ray asked, "You just said how you had trouble getting back—"
"I know that. But if you two go out there alone you put Allie in even more danger than she is now. Nadia should be able to figure out where she is in no time, especially since she has Master Chavez to help. But if you go, that's two groups they have to find. So don't."
Ray sighed. He was silent for a moment before he said, "Alright. I just have to dismiss Bob."
"Good," said Michaela. "I'm going to go inside, Nadia could use all the help she can get." And so she left.
As soon as she had gone inside, Ray ran through the gap in the fence, pulling Gabe behind him.
A short way into the woods, they met Bob.
"Your female friend won't last long. Return me and I'll find her. If there's anything let to find."
"Let's go—"
"Not this time." said Gabe determinedly. "You got into the fight with those Choten guards, and now you're going to do something even more foolish? The Masters know the Kaiju realm, Ray. They'll figure it out."
"You're right Gabe." said Ray. "I am going to do something more foolish." And he dismissed Bob, grabbed Gabe's arm, and pulled him into the Fire realm.
After crossing back through the Veil, Ray, Gabe, Allie, and the Masters stood in the stables, discussing their most recent adventure.
"I get it now," Allie was saying. "I understand how you feel about Bob. And how Gabe feels about Gargle. I even liked it when she turned inside out." Allie giggled, hugging Squeaky.
"These children just won't stop touching the creatures." Nadia sighed.
"It's not always bad," Kimora commented. "We did ride an attack raptor in the Fire Realm."
"Thanks Master Brightmore, for not giving up on us." Chavez said.
"I may not show the same passion as you, Chavez," he said. "But it doesn't mean that I care any less."
Just then there was a sound of running footsteps behind them, and Ray and Gabe suddenly found themselves face-down on the floor.
"What," said Michaela, sounding like she was barely keeping herself from yelling, "were you thinking!?"
"Oh no," sighed Ray. This seemed to push Michaela over the edge, and she started yelling at them.
"I trusted you not to go after her! I trusted you to think, at least a little bit, about what you were doing! And you had to go after her, had to put her in more danger, all because of your STUPID HEROICS!"
Gabe spoke up. "In my own defense, I would like to say that I was dragged unwillingly into this."
Michaela looked at Ray, anger still etched onto her face.
"Um… yeah." Ray said.
She glared at him for a moment longer, then helped Gabe to his feet and left, muttering 'stupid heroics' under her breath.
"She's not actually that mad at me, is she?" asked Ray, getting up.
"Oh, she's that mad at you, all right." Nadia said, and she and the other Masters left. Chavez stayed behind.
"Don't worry," he said. "Chances are if you give her a little time and apologize, she won't stay angry with you."
"'Chances are'?"
"She barely spoke to me for a month once because I let a civilian get hurt instead of her."
Ray sighed. "Oh great."