Chapter 2! Woo!

So, yeah. I don't really have much of a note to put here. Except for one quick point: for this story, the parents do not know about the MBC. I don't know if they actually do or not, but in this one, the parents of Danny, Chris, and Sam have no idea that their kids fight aliens. Just saying.

Also, I'm envisioning the characters as 14-15 year olds in ninth grade. Again, just saying.

And I'm sorry for the long break between chapters, I actually had this one written when the first one was published, but I wanted to get a jump on the next one before I published this one. Yeah, that didn't exactly happen and I will be out of range for the next couple of days so I apologize in advance for that wait, but I promise to get back on it as soon as I can!

And now, please enjoy the second chapter!

Chris' POV

I tried my hardest not to slam the door as I came in from our third and final mission of the night. I wanted to make sure that the door was closed securely; you couldn't be careful enough after that last encounter. After I was sure that the door was closed tightly enough, I flipped the lock and moved to pry the soaking wet sneaker from my feet.

Yes, the alert had come from the factory, but it only took about ten minutes for the threat to pour out into the rain after we'd arrived. And this wasn't just a single, individual threat. No, this had been a swarm of mutated alien rats. They weren't very strong, and they weren't all that harmful, but their sheer numbers were all they needed to be a prominent threat. It took as at least two hours to contain them all. And I think it's safe to say that all four of us would be perfectly fine if we never saw another rat again for the rest of our lives.

Just as I pulled off my second sneaker, I heard footsteps from the hall just up the stairs. John's head peaked around the corner, a small smile lighting up his face.

"About time you got home," he said. "We were starting to get worried. Where were you? I thought you guys got the call at around six."

"We did, but then we got two more calls after that," I replied, glancing quickly around the hallway. "Where are Mom and Dad?"

"They're at a meeting for my school about a new online grading system or something," John explained. "What happened on your missions?"

"First, we faced a demonic werewolf thing named Vasilis who talked in third person. Second, we had a crazed hypnotist who spoke in a really inverted English. And third, we had a swarm of alien rats," I answered, wrapping my arms around myself as I moved towards the steps. I'd never realized how cold it was inside my house before. Maybe that's because I'm not thoroughly soaked on a regular basis. "We neutralized all three of them, but it was a real pain. And the first two both mentioned being sent by a master."

John nodded, thinking over my last statement as I walked up the stairs to join him. "Think they're connected?"

"Counting on it, but there's nothing we can do now," I said with a shrug. "We caught them, and they'll be on their way to the intergalactic prison soon."

"Good," John nodded again. That's when I caught the sight of blood on his wrist.

"John, what happened?" I asked, everything about the night dissolving into my memory. My brother glanced down at his wrist as if he hadn't known anything was there.

"I got caught by a branch during science today. We went in the woods behind the school to study the ecosystem back there," John explained, meeting my eyes with a reassuring smile. "It had stopped bleeding a little bit ago, so I took the band aid off, but I just scraped it against the corner of the counter top on accident and… yeah." I took ahold of John's arm gently, examining the cut closer. It didn't look too deep, just painful.

"Ok. Go wash it off and put another band aid on it," I instructed, carefully letting go of his arm. "We don't want that getting infected."

"Alright, but only if you go change into something that isn't soaked all the way through," John agreed. "We don't want you getting infected." I rolled my eyes as John moved towards the hall closet to retrieve a bandage.

"That's a fair deal," I replied, moving off towards my room. I had planned to change anyway. Not that I didn't absolutely love shivering like it was the middle of January and I was stuck in the middle of a snow storm, with my wet clothes sticking to me and my hair falling my eyes. Because I completely enjoyed that feeling. Just kidding. All of that was sarcasm. Tonight had not been the best night.

"Do you think the rats were sent by the same master as the other two?" John's voice carried down the hall.

"Probably," I called back, prying my shirt off with some difficulty. "But I don't really have anything to prove it with."

"Sam will believe you," John responded. "All of them will."

"It's not really a question of if they'll believe me or not," I replied, pulling off my jeans and reaching for the sweatpants and t-shirt I conveniently hadn't put away yet. "It's more of a 'what if I'm actually wrong' sort of situation."

"I see," John said. He was quiet for a few moments, just enough time for me to pull the dry clothes on and reenter the hallway. As soon as I opened the door, John threw a towel at my face. I flinched, but caught it and set to work forcing my hair to dry. "How can you figure out if you're right?"

"Wait for a fourth attack and see if they're carrying on about a master," I answered, leaning against the doorframe. "Then maybe they'll reveal the identity of said master, and we can see if there's any connection."

"Sounds intriguing," John replied with an interested nod.

"I'll keep you posted," I said. "How's the wrist?"

"Fine," he answered, holding up the now bandaged wrist.

"Doesn't hurt?" I questioned.

"A little, but not too much. Only if I press on it," John answered. "Don't worry about it. I'll be fine. I'm more worried about you getting hypothermia." I laughed. "What?"

"John, there is no way that I could possibly get hypothermia from one night in the rain," I replied. "I wasn't submerged in freezing cold water, and I honestly didn't feel a temperature difference till I got inside. Plus it's the end of March. It's not even that cold out anymore."

"Chris, you're still shivering. I can see it from here," my little brother deadpanned, leaning on the wall next to the hall closet.

"I'm still wet," I said, pointing to my hair. "I'm gonna be fine, John. Don't worry about me." He didn't seem convinced. "Trust me, buddy. It's my job to worry about you; I'm the older brother."

"That doesn't mean I can't look out for you sometimes," John countered. "And on that note, you left your history binder out on the kitchen counter. Don't forget it."

"Thanks bro," I said. "Is all your homework done?"

"Almost," John replied, looking off at the ceiling and inching back slowly towards his room. That was his guilt tell.

"John," I said slowly, trying to mimic the voice our mother used whenever one of us got in trouble, (which wasn't very often, but enough that we could use the voice.)

John sighed. "I promise it's only one worksheet," he insisted, disappearing into the room on the right side of the hallway.

"I do this because I care about you," I called after him.

"Uh-hu," John called back, sounding very unconvinced. I smiled to myself as I moved back into my own room. Tomorrow was Wednesday, but it wasn't just any old Wednesday. Tomorrow was the third to last official day of school before the annual assessment tests. That meant that teachers were going to be a little homework happy the next two as they wouldn't be able to give us any next week. But a little extra work wasn't too bad, and the assessment tests weren't really anything to be scared of; they were just really long exams that were meant to test if you'd learned everything you were supposed to. No big deal. But what was a big deal was the unofficial competition the students in each grade had to see who could get the highest scores on each test.

Hopefully these multiple alien attacks wouldn't become a usual occurrence. Not that I could really prepare for the assessment exams, as we had no idea what was even on them, but I didn't really want to spend the entire night before running around chasing aliens. And Danny rarely does his homework on a good day, let alone a day with one alien attack. I would hate to see his grade suffer from multiple nights of alien busting. Actually, my conscience would hate to let him copy my homework after multiple nights of alien busting. Either way, I hope that these multiple attacks end soon. And if there is an evil mastermind out there somewhere in the universe bent on taking over Earth, I hope that we find him soon and stop him before he sends more scouts who can actually cause some real damage.

…Eh.

I'm not thrilled with this chapter. But remember what I said last chapter in my ending author's note? Yeah, remember that again now. This chapter is kind of only in here for that reason, so remember the little things.

As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts, so please press that magical blue button and share!

Read on!