"Kelly." The words that escaped his mouth were barely a whisper. She smiled.

"Glad that ya still remember me kiddo. Gotta say, you've changed." She was right. He HAD changed. The last time he saw Kelly, he was barely 5 and she was barely into her teens. Now before him was a tall, blonde and blue eyed women he could only faintly remember. A thought suddenly crossed his mind. Vargus. His expression became serious.

"Where's Vargus." He asked. He already feared the worst. The first time Daniel had met them, Vargus was little more than a rotting, muscle bound corpse. By now, he thought grimly, he must fully decomposed. Suddenly, Daniel felt a heavy hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry little one. I am, as you say, still in one piece." Daniel spun around and his face immediately brightened. He grinned as before him, was Vargus. In the flesh. And skin. Daniel raised an eyebrow.

"How did you get your skin back?" He asked. Vargus let out a deep laugh, which was very clearly heard thanks to his complete neck.

"It turns out that once a subject with my predicament reaches adolescence, the process reverses itself."

"Wait, so how old are you?"

"I am 13 years of age." Vargus said proudly. Daniel was confused.

"So, you're younger than I am?" He asked incredulously.

"Yes. But on an intellectual level I can, put crudely, make Einstein seem like a toddler." Vargus said with much pride. Daniel just chuckled.

"Well its good to see you guys again." He smiled. "So brings you all the way out here?" At this, Kelly's face darkened and Vargus let out a low growl.

"I'm afraid that this is not a social visit." He whispered to Daniel which, for a person his size, was an obvious difficulty. "You see, we only escaped the School 3 days ago. I fear that we are being followed and we came here to warn you." Daniel's eyes snapped open in suprise.

"How'd you guys find me?" He asked. Now it was Kelly's turn to bring some bad news.

"We hacked-" Vargus cleared his throat. "Fine VARGUS hacked into one of th' School's computers. Those FlyBoys that gave you so much trouble on your way out? Well They've been followin' you ever since." Daniel tensed and one thought crossed his mind: If they're following me right now then that means that-

"NUDGE!" He yelled and turned to where she was. Unfortunately, he was greeted with the sight of a FlyBoy with Nudge in a head lock. The FlyBoy's head opened up and revealed a screen. On it, was the smiling face of Doctor ter Borcht.

"One more step," the Flyboy/Borcht said in a voice that sounded like the doctor on auto tune, "and I order this vessel to snap her neck." Daniel turned back to Kelly and Vargus, hoping for some help. Instead, he saw Kelly with her eyes closed and a single finger pointed at the Flyboy. As soon as he turned back, the robot's head imploded. Daniel's jaw hit the floor.

"How did you-" he began but was cut short by Kelly pointing upwards. He looked up and saw, through the malls glass ceiling, that an entire squad of Flyboys had begun to descend upon them. He went into a fighting stance but was stopped by Vargus's hand on his shoulder.

"Go help your friend and get Kelly to a safe place." He commanded.

"But what about you? You can't hold them off all by yourself." Daniel shouted over the sound of the glass ceiling shattering. At this, Vargus turned around and tore of his coat revealing his now complete body and two bionic arms.

"Yes I can." He shouted over the din. By now, Kelly had helped Nudge to her feet and was walking towards the group.

"Do we have a plan?" She screamed, even louder than the horde of Flyboys. Daniel immediately went into battle mode.

"Nudge!," he yelled, "Get Kelly to the house. I'll be right with you."

"But-" Nudge began but was cut off by the crackle of machine gun fire.

"GO!" Daniel yelled. Nudge nodded and took off with Kelly in her arms. Daniel turned back to Vargus who was riddled with bullet holes. He gaped in horror.

"Don't die on me!" he yelled, shaking Vargus who, to his utter surprise, stood up like nothing had happened.

"Like I said little one," He chuckled as new flesh grew over the wounds, "The process was reversed." He grabbed a random Flyboy and crushed it's head with no effort.

"Now go. I will join you soon." he said, turning to face the horde. Daniel nodded and took off. Vargus clenched his fists. The horde surrounded him.

"Borcht, if you can hear this," he yelled at the horde, "you will regret the day you enhanced me." With that, he dove into the fray.

"HAVE AT THEE FOUL CREATURES!," he roared as he swung his fists, destroying countless machines "PREPARE FOR A HELL WORSE THAN YOU CAN POSSIBLY IMAGINE!"

As the battle raged on below, a single Flyboy hovered above the fray. Suddenly, its body contorted and bright yellow static began buzzing around it. As soon as it began, the Flyboy became still. It uttered a single phrase before taking off after Daniel and Nudge.

"ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL."

Heh. Vargus is such a badass. Cookies to whoever can find a possible game reference in this chapter!