A/N: Hello, readers. I have returned once again with a new chapter. It is only the calm before the storm when the serious action starts to come in. Now, sit back and enjoy.

Disclaimer: Here is my sign: "I do not own Killer Instinct nor Carrie."

Darkness reigned in the Andes, alive with chirping crickets and croaking frogs, but an unusual noise echoed in the forest. Aganos trudged through, the leaves and sticks crunched under its feet. Cradled within its stony, green-rusted arms was Thunder. Injured from his fight with Fulgore, Thunder was getting worse instead of better. Aganos must find help, or it would lose its ailing friend.

The City of Dawn remained quiet, with the Night Guard's base lying beneath the partial ruins. The gang lodged two rooms. Orchid, Maya, Pemba, and Carrie shared one place; Jago and TJ shared the other. Jago read his book on health faults with telekinesis until TJ's scream distracted him.

TJ stirred from his sleep. He patted his groin beneath his sleeping bag. "Oh, thank God. My mini-me is still here."

"Is everything all right?" Jago said.

"Sorry, man. I had this dream that Ultratech had that candiru or whatever the hell Maya called. They planned to slip that thing inside me if I did not surrender. What's with that book you're reading?"

"To help Carrie. She has potential, but the power is straining her heart. I was hoping the book provides clues to the cause of the problem."

"Why do you do it, train Carrie?"

Jago bent a corner on a page and closed the book. "Because there's courage in her heart. The old man mentioned that he could not find it, and he placed his trust in me with this duty. With Ultratech aware of her presence, training her is essential. Why you freaked out when I presented you and Orchid to Carrie? You mentioned that her name was familiar to you."

Rubbing the back of his neck, TJ glanced away."Um, I hear things…on the news. There was an incident when someone tried to deface a grave. They mentioned the tomb being Carrie's, but I'm not sure if it's regarding the Carrie we have with us. It could've been anyone with a name like that."

Jago raised an eyebrow. "Really? I'm not too fond of those insulting the dead. It still doesn't explain why you freaked out."

"I guess it must've been a moment for me. Goodnight."

Jago narrowed his eyes while TJ resumed his sleep. He wanted to add pressure on the topic, but he let it be and fell asleep.

Dawn came as the misty clouds covered most of the forest. Carrie stepped outside and clambered on the fallen arch to witness the painted colors in the sky.

"Carrie?" Maya had arrived at the ruined gate. "Mind if I join you?"

Carrie examined her host before she nodded. Maya climbed to the top and sat next to her. "Orchid mentioned that you were a hunter. Are the monsters real?"

"They're more real than you can imagine. One thing I have learned in my career is that monsters can take many forms, even humans."

Carrie fell silent, reflecting on her old hometown and how her peers treated her. She glanced at the burn mark on Maya's left leg. "How did you get that?"

"Oh, this? A fiery creature called Cinder gave me this during the raid from Ultratech. The pain didn't emerge at first until I escaped. I arrived at a local village, and the people there treated my injury."

"May…may I touch it?"

Maya mused but nodded.

Carrie moved closer and brushed the twisting burn mark, its textures mixed with smoothness and leather. "Does it still hurt?"

"Now and then whenever I go onto one of the old messenger routes for cardio. Once the security is back to speed, I'll show you the route. The steps are rigorous, but the view itself is worth it."

"I'm hungry, and I have a headache." TJ scaled the fallen arch, along with Jago, Orchid, and Pemba.

"Morning, ladies," Jago greeted.

"Manhã," Maya said. "I trust you slept okay."

"Apart from that damn candiru dream, it went well," TJ said.

A low toot echoed throughout the City of Dawn as a boat chugged in the river, carrying a month's worth of supplies. Two of Orchid's agents that stayed in South America to correspond with Maya drove the boat.

"Right on time," Orchid said. "We'll start working once we collect the supplies."

The gang spent the day working, from removing junk to having the salvaged equipment online and running. With daylight closing its shift, a rumble echoed in the distance, and clouds gathered. The crew headed inside the base for shelter while Pemba and Maya searched for lucumas.

"So, your mother was a victim of this demonic cult long ago. Was there something else she had told you?" Maya queried.

"She'd have these strange dreams of the experience. I assumed it was her illness," Pemba replied.

"You have my sympathies. If only my clan remained, they'd have given treatment to those in need."

They approached a tree with a fissured bark, boring round lumps of fruit. Maya climbed the tree, followed by Pemba, who changed into a shrew. They plucked out enough fruit and reached ground level. Before they departed, a strange scent hit Pemba, twisting her face into disgust.

"What's wrong?" Maya asked.

"My nose picked up something, and it reeks. The scent traveled this way."

As Pemba pointed in the woods, Maya narrowed her eyes. "Let's find out."

Light encased Pemba as she switched into her Qilin form. Once Maya hopped on her back, they followed the metallic scent, leading them to a cave. Maya slid off Pemba and motioned her to wait.

She armed herself with her daggers and crept towards the cavern until she stopped when glowing cyan "eyes" emerged, and ragged breathing echoed in the darkness. "Who's there?"

"Maya, is that you?" a voice said. A loud boom rang in the cavern as a rock golem with thick vines and ropes surrounding its body came out but remained near the entrance.

Maya sheathed her daggers. "Aganos, what brings you here?" She hasn't seen the war-golem after the attack at the Night Guard base.

"I need help for my friend." Aganos kneeled and revealed to the women a man with war-paint smothering most of his upper body. Two stab wounds leaked blood from the man's stomach. "This is Thunder. A metal monster with claws and gleaming red eyes injured him."

Maya placed her hand on Thunder's sweaty forehead as heat flared beneath her palm. "Oh, no. Let's bring him to Orchid and the others."

Trees rattled as the winds increased their speed, changing the drizzle into a torrent. Most animals hid in natural shelters to ride out the storm. The gang was in the living quarters inside the Night Guard base.

"Today was good." TJ bit into a banana.

"You mean that Ultratech hasn't attacked us yet?" Orchid said.

"Don't jinx it." TJ glanced at Jago doing light training with Carrie. "Aren't you concerned about your brother being around with her?"

"All the time, but I trust my brother. He knows what he's doing." Orchid's mind played memories of her father training her to control her ability to summon the FireCat. Her trip on memory lane was short-lived when someone called to her and the gang. Maya arrived by the door, soaked from the rain.

"Pemba and I found someone, and he's not well," Maya spoke between pants. "Come to the infirmary." She departed from the room as Orchid and TJ followed.

Carrie and Jago pursued them to the sickbay and peeked behind the door. Orchid, Maya, TJ, and Pemba worked on a man lying on a bed, using the sleeping bag as padding.

"Maya and I found him this way," Pemba said. "A friend brought him to us and said a metal monster did this."

"Is that Thunder?" Jago said.

"You know him?" Carrie asked.

"He was in the Killer Instinct tournament to search for his missing brother."

Carrie sensed Thunder's slow heartbeat; whatever was happening to him, he was dying. She crept into the room before Jago could stop her and discovered the source: two stab wounds on Thunder's stomach, with blood seeping into the rags. Carrie planted her hand on Thunder's chest as her powers coursed through him, stopping the blood flow.

"Carrie?" Orchid spoke as she prepared to treat Thunder.

"Don't mind me. Save Thunder."

Orchid studied Carrie until she resumed her work. Hours passed as she wrapped gauzes around Thunder's stomach while Carrie kept him afloat during the procedure. Once Orchid was done, Carrie gently Thunder on the bed.

Orchid wiped her brow. "Thanks for helping, Carrie."

"Will he be okay?"

"Hard to say, but if I know Thunder, he still has strength."

A/N: It seems that Thunder will live to see another day, but how will the gang react to Aganos's presence? After all, Maya and Pemba did bring the golem to the ancient city. Time for my brain to rest, so I'll see you later