Author's Note: Sorry this took a long while. I've been out of DC for a while, but I've recently gotten back into it, and hopefully, I can update the next part more frequently. Enjoy the chapter. Any and all comments are welcome.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?!" Victor yelled out. In his fury, he slammed his fist down at a counter and made a massive dent in it. He turned back to his father who nervously tried to explain.
"Victor, calm down."
"Don't tell me to calm down! Look at me! I'm a freak!"
"I did what I could to save your life." Silas said defensively. "Believe me, Argost's associates forced my hand when they blew up…"
"Argost? You mean V.V. Argost? He did this to me?"
"Well… Not directly, but…"
"Where is he?! He needs to pay for doing this to me!"
"Victor, you can't! He's too dangerous! You don't know what he'll do to you!"
"Can't be any worse than what you did to me. Look at me!" Victor pointed to his own robotic body to make sure his father could see. "I can't go back to school! I can't look at myself in the mirror! I can't have a normal life! I'm a monster!"
"You're not a monster, Victor." Silas assured.
"How would you know? You never gave me a second thought unless you had to!"
Silas opened his mouth to speak, but by then, he just processed what his son said and couldn't argue against it. He frowned and lowered his head.
"Son, I'm sorry for a lot of things I've done to you. But don't think for one second that I'm sorry for saving your life. I'd do it again if I had to."
"Dr. Stone." An associate called from outside the open lab door.
Silas sighed. "Just hold on, Victor. We'll talk about this. I'll be right back." He proceeded to leave the room.
Victor sighed. "Yeah. That's what you always say." He looked around until his robotic eye caught sight of the security camera. That's when two words appeared in his eye.
"INTERFACE AVAILABLE"
"Interface?" Victor asked.
Just then, his robotic eyesight changed. Instead of looking at the camera with his normal eye, he was looking right at himself along with the rest of the room from above. At the bottom-left corner, he saw the timestamp displayed. He then realized he was looking through the camera.
"I see… Let's see if we can change it."
What happened next was hard to explain, even for Victor, but he managed to see through the security camera that was pointed at his father and his colleague outside. He overheard their conversation.
"What is it?" Silas asked.
"I just got word. The Saturdays are on their way to the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil."
"Good. Hopefully, they can make it there before Argost does."
Victor's robotic eye changed back to its original sight. "So Argost is going to Brazil, huh?"
Back at the Saturday airship, Cassie made a video call to Themyscira. Queen Hippolyta answered and Cassie gave her the report on her mission.
"So we're on our way to Brazil to find the last stone piece before Argost does."
"I see. This is troubling news." Hippolyta said. "Has Argost told you of Diana?"
"She's alive at least. That much, I do know." Cassie answered. "There's something else. Argost mentioned Donna Troy. Do you know what he has to do with her?"
Hippolyta stared silently before lowering her eyes. "That is something you don't need to know right now. Right now, you need to focus on the task at hand, which is to find the Kur Stone piece."
"All right." Cassie said before ending the call. She stood there and crossed her arms. "Weird. What's going on he… AHHHH!"
Cassie was tackled by Komodo. She was face-first on the floor with the dragon on top of her. She looked up and saw his eyes glowing yellow. Zak walked in with his dad beside him. Like Komodo, Zak's eyes were glowing just like the claw end of a metal stick that he carried.
"What…" Cassie started to ask.
"You like it? My dad made it." Zak said. "It helps me focus my powers. I call it the Claw."
"I call it 'shoved up where the sun don't shine' if you don't get your dragon off of me!" Cassie threatened.
Zak chuckled before dimming his glow. Komodo's eyes returned to normal and he crawled off of Cassie.
"Sorry. It was for science." Zak said. "Gotta practice in case we run into any Tapire-Iaurara."
"You know, you could make it easier to remember if you just call them something like 'water lions' or something." Cassie commented.
"Now, Zak, this doesn't change the family rule." Doc said. "The minute there's any sign of a fight, your mother and I take over."
"Hey, don't forget about me." Cassie said. "I came here to get info about Wonder Woman from that masked maniac."
"Right. Her too." Doc said. "In any case, Zak, just sit back if Argost shows up."
"Are you saying Argost is tougher than Doc Saturday?" Zak asked. "Because I seem to be doing okay against you."
"Oh, really?" Doc asked. He and Zak readied each other for a quick spar. Zak shot his Claw out like a grappling hook, but Doc managed to grab it. "Who's still the big dog?"
Zak pulled himself to Doc by retracting his Claw. He then flipped over him and kicked him down from behind. "Woof."
"You're still not fighting Argost." Doc insisted getting back up.
"Are you kidding me?" Zak asked in protest.
"Look, don't sweat it, kid." Cassie said. "I can kick Argost's butt. You may not know this, but it takes more than just one kick to defeat a supervillain."
"Oh, really?" Zak asked. He shot the Claw again at Cassie who grabbed it like Doc did. Zak retracted and flipped upward, but Cassie flew on up to him and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. She then returned to the ground and pinned Zak down on the floor.
"See what I mean?" Cassie asked getting off of Zak who grumbled angrily.
All of a sudden, Doc heard an incoming call. He answered it and the screen revealed Silas Stone's face. "Dr. Saturday! Thank goodness!"
"Dr. Stone?" Doc asked. "What's wrong?"
"It's my son, Victor." Silas said. "He's gone missing."
"I'm sorry to hear that, Silas," Doc said, "But I don't see how we can help. We're in the middle of an urgent mission."
"That's just it." Silas said. "I think Victor's going to…"
BOOM!
Suddenly, a loud booming sound was heard and the entire airship started to shake. The alarms blared loudly as the sound repeated closer than before.
"I'm gonna have to call you back." Doc said quickly ending the call.
Doc headed to the bridge with Zak, Cassie, and Komodo following him. Drew was already there shifting the steering wheel around.
"Kids, strap in! Doc, weapons!" Drew ordered. "We found them!"
Just behind the Saturday airship was another airship. This one was grayish-blue and armed with cannons firing onto the heroes. It was being piloted by Argost's number one henchman, Munya, while Argost was trying to eat his lunch.
"Grab something!" Drew instructed just as Munya fired three missiles toward them. She flew the airship as best as she could to avoid the projectiles until she made them hit each other. Argost's airship was lost for a second, but it returned from out of nowhere firing at them from behind.
"I can't get rid of them!" Drew said. "Unless somebody calls in a miracle, we're losing this dogfight!"
Cassie knew this was her chance.
Armed with nothing but her lasso, Cassie exited the airship from the hanger and flew on out into the sky until she found herself in the middle of the dogfight. A missile was launched aiming right at the airship, but Cassie used her lasso to catch it before throwing it back at Argost's ship. Munya was able to dodge it throwing it off course.
"Oh, yeah! Take that, you freaks!" Cassie taunted looking back at the airship. That's when her celebratory smile dropped and she saw Zak and Fiskerton latching onto the top of one of the airships wings.
"What the!" Cassie shouted before flying down to the two. "What do you idiots think you're doing?"
"Saving the day!" Zak replied. "Fisk is going to throw me to Argost's war plane! Me and the Claw will do the rest!"
Fisk muttered loudly.
"Oh, come on! How do we know it won't work?" Zak asked.
"Kid, I don't have time for this!" Cassie shouted. "I'm in the middle of a fight!"
"And I'm going to finish it!" Zak argued.
After seeing her son was latching onto the wing, Drew tilted the airship to threw him and Fisk back into the plane. Cassie was uncontrollably caught by the wing as it tilted and fell into the airship with them.
Because Drew saved Zak, Munya found his opportunity to end the dogfight. With one press of a button, he fired more missiles that hit their mark directly in between the airship's rear engines. It fell and crashed into the rainforest below while Argost's ship continued to soar above the jungle.
After leaving the crashed ship, the kids were reunited with the rest of the Saturdays. Drew embraced her son happy to see him safe, but then changed into a lecturing shout.
"What were you thinking? Are you legally insane? Never, ever do that again!"
"I had it handled!" Zak argued back. "You banked that plane on purpose, didn't you?"
"Way to go, Monochrome Dome!" Cassie said. "I got forced back onto the ship because of your ego!"
"Oh, I'm the one with the ego!" Zak shouted. "You're the one who seems to think saving the day's going to be a walk in the park!"
"I never said it was going to be a walk in the park! All I know is that this isn't a place for a kid!"
"Why does everyone else get to be the heroes? I've got what it takes if you just give me the chance to prove it!"
"Drew," Doc said holding onto his wife's shoulder, "Why don't you and the others see what supplies we can salvage? I'll take this one. Father-son bonding time, Zak."
"Do we have to?" Zak asked before following his dad into the forest.
"Anything broken?" Drew asked. Fisk gestured his hands to the airship. "You're hilarious. Besides the airship."
Over the course of the next few minutes, Cassie grumbled angrily to herself while lifting heavy loads from the airship. "Stubborn, childish, egotistical…"
"Hey, what Zak did was reckless, but so is what you did." Drew said sorting through the supplies. "You flew right into the middle of a dogfight."
"I lassoed a missile and tossed it back at Argost." Cassie said. "No offense, but if your son hadn't decided to literally throw himself into danger, then it would be Argost who'd be left wandering the forest, not us."
"I know Zak can get carried away on trying to force himself into adventure, but it's only because he knows he has potential." Drew said. "I'm not saying I approve of what he did. I'm just saying he's just got a lot of pressure on himself already."
"Why?" Cassie asked. "Sure, he's good with cryptids, but I don't see how…"
"It's more than that." Drew interrupted. "The year Zak was born was also the year we unearthed the Kur Stone. And Zak has the power to control cryptids, one that Argost is looking to achieve once he finds Kur. I've got enough of an open mind to believe it's more than coincidence."
Cassie looked curiously toward Drew. "What do you mean?"
Drew lowered her head. "If things go south and Argost finds Kur, Zak's powers might be our last chance to stop him. That's a lot of pressure to put on him."
"Wow." Cassie said lowering her own head. "I guess I never thought of it that way. I mean, I always thought I was destined for a lot after Zeus gave me my powers."
"Zak may have a bit of an ego, but so do you." Drew said. "Donna Troy also went into danger and…" Drew stopped herself.
"Donna Troy? What about her?" Cassie asked without getting an answer. "Mrs. Saturday, what's going on? I feel like everyone's been keeping something from me about Donna Troy and I don't like it. Back at Arizona, Argost mentioned her. Why?"
Drew tried to keep to herself for a few moments, but ultimately, she gave in. "What do you know about Donna Troy?"
"All the other amazons just told me she was gone." Cassie said.
"This isn't easy for me to tell you, but here it goes." Drew said. "The truth is, Donna Troy joined us when we broke into Weird World. And remember when we said that a large majority of us didn't make it out alive?"
Cassie gasped finally inferring what she was saying. "No. You're not saying…"
Drew nodded. "Wonder Woman tried to save her, but she failed. Argost's monsters and traps ensured that there was nothing left of Wonder Girl to rescue."
"Wow." Cassie said softly. "I had no idea…"
RAWR!
The dreadful conversation was suddenly interrupted by an ear-piercing shriek followed by a large pair of black wings covering down from above. The wings were attached to a very large bird with green skin. It looked similar to a pterodactyl except for the rounded end of its beak. And it was looking for a fight.
"Doc, I think you're gonna want to see this!" Drew yelled out. A second later, Zak and Doc returned to the crash site to find the bird landing on the ground ready for a fight.
Zak pulled out the Claw readying to use his powers, but the bird was onto him and knocked it out of his hands. She then grabbed him by the back of his shirt and flew up to carry him.
"Zak!" Drew gasped.
"I'll save him!" Cassie shouted as she flew up from the ground to follow the bird. She pulled out her lasso and wrapped it around the bird's body tightening its wings to it wouldn't fly anymore. Zak fell out of its mouth, but Cassie flew in and caught him before he hit the ground.
"Whoa. Thanks." Zak said once he was back safely on the ground.
"Don't mention it." Cassie said going back to the bound bird. "Okay, Tweety. Time to… WHOA!"
Though the rope was strong, the cryptid managed to power her wings free and knock Cassie to the nearest tree. It then shrieked bringing its teeth closer to her, but Cassie gripped its beak to make sure it didn't chomp down on her. The two of them struggled to be free, but suddenly, the bird's eyes began to glow yellow and it backed away from her. Cassie looked over at Zak who was holding the Claw in his hands and using his powers.
"Looks like we're even." Zak said.
"I…guess we are." Cassie said picking herself up.
Everyone regrouped around the bird while stroking the hair on the back of its neck. Doc pulled out a small, holographic screen from his wrist which he scrolled through.
"I don't see anything like it in any of the cryptozoology databases. It looks like some hold-out from the prehistoric era."
"I could have told you that." Cassie said. "Kid, do you really think you should be petting that thing? It tried to kill us."
"She was just defending herself. Look." Zak pointed at the remains of a broken tree with a nest destroyed. "We went right threw her nest when we crashed. Can you blame her for thinking we were the enemy?"
Cassie cautiously held out her hand and slowly approached the bird before finally able to pet it. "Well, she is kinda cute. And come to think of it, Wonder Woman was always one to promote love."
The tender moment came to a quick end when the sound of Argost's ship took control of all sound in the area. It flew overhead and the bird cryptid instantly flew away out of fear.
"Let's go." Doc said. "We've got a piece of stone to recover."
The journey across the Amazon Rainforest was an eventful trek. The group walked across thick bushes, spider webs, giant trees, and high waters. Their walk stopped when they found themselves at a large watering hole.
"This is it." Drew said.
"Zak…" Doc said.
"Doing my thing." Zak said. He held out the Claw and activated his powers. He waved the Claw around slowly like a scanning device before simmering down his powers.
"No Tapire-Iaurara. We're in luck." Doc said.
"We'll see about that." Drew said.
The family headed to a patch of dirt right beside the creek and began digging. They removed the dirt and grew a hole in it until they found something hard and wrapped in cloth. After pulling it out of the ground, Drew unwrapped it showing exactly what they were looking for.
"It's still here." Drew said in relief.
"Wrap it back up." Doc said. "We've pushed our luck here long enough. Let's go…"
Suddenly, everyone looked up hearing a ship closing in on them. Argost's ship stopped as it hung over their heads.
"THEY FOLLOWED US!" Zak shouted.
"THEY WERE WAITING FOR US TO FIND THE STONE FOR THEM!" Cassie yelled.
Everyone began to run, but they didn't get far. Argost jumped from the plane and laughed maniacally as he spread out his cloak. A swarm of long, centipede-like insects fell from his cloak and showered all over the Saturday family and Cassie. While they were feeling them attach to their skin, Argost landed on a nearby tree watching sadistically at them.
"No more secrets, Saturdays. You can't keep me from what I was meant to have. Oh, I'm going to find Kur. I only wish you could live long enough to see your own precious cryptids turned against you, but sadly, c'est la mort."
One by one, members of the Saturday family were dropping to exhaustion. Only Zak and Cassie were left with the latter holding in stronger than the other. Zak took the Kur Stone piece and tried to escape with it, but Argost jumped in his path.
"Stay… back…" Zak said weakly.
"They're called Devonian annelids." Argost informed talking about the centipede creatures attached to the heroes. "Filthy little brutes, but they do so love the taste of human essence."
Cassie breathed heavily trying to fight the urge to fall unconscious. So far, she succeeded, but she was still exhausting herself. "If you think… this is enough… to put down an amazon…"
"Oh, I know it's a mild inconvenience for your people." Argost said. "Luckily, I brought some extra anesthetic."
Suddenly, Cassie felt the full force of two feet crashing right into her back like a cannonball fired at her. When she fell into the ground, she looked up and saw Cheetah standing over her. Cassie wanted to fight back, but thanks to the annelids, she was unable to. All she could do was watch as Zak fell unconscious and Argost picking up the stone piece. Cheetah then grabbed the front of Cassie's shirt and held her up from her feet.
"Say good night, Wonder Wannabe." Cheetah snarled with a grin before throwing a punch that made Cassie black out.