There was a place London Tipton always went to whenever the world felt particularly big and confusing for her (like when she would do press tours for her father's company along with many, many other times).

Said place, of course, was her own little slice of the Tipton, made up in her head, complete with the twins causing their usual brand of chaos, Mr. Moseby and Carey trying to deal with them as best they could, Maddie handling the candy counter, Esteban doing...doorman things, Arwin testing out some gizmo...

Pretty much all she could want there. She could spend, do, and draw whatever she wanted and enjoy every minute of it. No stupid sea school she had to go to, No Maddie moving away to college...

...no people younger than her making her look and feel stupid...

...no tabloids mocking her behind her back...

...no nagging concerns about inheritance...

...no unshakable feelings of loneliness no matter how many people are around...

...no secret fears about being rich...

...no need to hide who she truly was.

Here, she felt natural, normal. Everything made sense...

...which was why what she saw around her now immediately set off alarm bells.

"Where...? T-This isn't home..."

The template of the hotel was there, but the lime green and gold she was used to had decidedly taken on a more white and yellow appearance.

It certainly wasn't her color.

What was this?

She found herself putting in effort to try and ignore the creepy, piercing gazes of a face she didn't recognize as she made her way past them and through the elevator and to her room.

...or at least, what was supposed to be her room.

Her massive penthouse suite was replaced with a blank, white void. In the middle of it was yet another copy of that face, only this one was clearly the leader, as it looked the most like a person instead of a robot.

Honestly, part of her wanted to get ahold of the designer of that beautiful white three-piece suit he was wearing, not to mention that gorgeous golden gemstone around his neck...

No! She shook her head to snap herself out of it. Focus, Londie, Focus!

"Who are you, and why are you in my head?!"

The pale skinned man, who didn't look much older than her, casually ran a hand through his black locks. "Me? I'm no one too special. As for why I'm here, well, why not?"

To her, this guy was only getting more unsettling by the second. "Get out. Now. This is my home, not yours. Take your weirdo clone things with you too and change everything back to the way it was before!"

"What if I like it here?" The man asked in an innocuous tone, stirring a finger around what should've been the blanket of her bed.

The heiress warily took a fighting stance. "Then I can just kick you out by force, Buster. I know martial arts!"

"You don't want to do that."

She hesitated for a split second before responding. "Y-Yes I do. If that's what it takes..."

"Really?"

"Really."

"What a shame..." The man seemed to stare off into space. "And here I wanted to think we could have helped each other."

The Asian girl raised an eyebrow at this, getting annoyed. "What the heck are you talking about?"

"I could offer you something you lost here. Tell me, you were wealthy in the world you came here from, am I correct?"

This freak was reading her mind now? She stepped back in genuine fear.

Her reaction told the intruder all he needed to know.

"I can give you power even beyond that. Tell me, have you ever wondered what it would be like to own everything?"

She did. From the time she was a little girl, she knew of her destiny to inherit her father's company. It used to be that she couldn't wait to have all that stuff to do whatever she wanted with it...

...and then she got older.

It took a long time, but she slowly began to understand that there was much more to running a company than merely spending money (something she was really, really good at). It involved a lot of investments and board meetings and mumbo-jumbo that she was sure that Cody, Maddie, Bailey, or even Zack would understand it all better than she ever would.

Though she wouldn't tell her father this, the thought of all that power frightened her now.

That was all to say...

"Not interested." The girl replied, shaking her head.

The man looked shocked for a moment before adding solemnly, "Is that your final answer, girl?"

Gathering up her courage and trying her best to act as unbothered as possible, she nodded the affirmative, crossing her arms for added effect.

After a period of silence, his expression turned completely neutral.

"Fair enough. I didn't really need your permission anyway."

London's blood ran cold, her bravado running for the hills. "I... I won't let you!"

"You cannot stop me, foolish girl."

Her voice was growing more unsteady by the moment. "I'll...I'll tell the Hunters on you."

A twisted grin made its way onto his face.

"Go ahead and try! They'll simply label you a Maverick and kill you."

She hesitated. "They wouldn't..."

"Oh, really? Would you bet your life on that, girl?"

She didn't want to die...but she didn't want him to win either. He was clearly a bad guy.

"What are you up to?"

His eyes suddenly glowed a piercing red. "You'll see soon enough, and I'll be back for you, whether you want me or not. Until then."

As the dream faded away, London felt she needed the last word. She screamed hers into the void.

"Whatever you're planning, I'll stop you!"

She thought she heard a scoff before...nothing.

-000-

A chorus of voices welcomed the gold-plated reploid back to the land of the living.

"She's waking up. Stand clear!"

"London!"

"Londie...?"

That last one could've only come from one of the twins, as only they knew that name. They used to use it before they'd learned how to say her name.

It turned out to be the taller of the two, as his, along with X and Bailey's clearly relieved and happy faces surrounded her. She was on an operating table of some sort in what looked like some sort of hospital.

That was just great...

After the doctors (and some candy person) looked her over one last time and left, it took her a few minutes of getting her bearings (she felt perfect, as if nothing had ever happened) and looking around the room to realize that one person was missing.

"Cody, do you know where Zack is?"

The smile vanished off the boy's face. "Um... We kind of had a fight after he brought you in. He ran off." He tried to put a smaller one back on. "But I'm sure he'll be glad to know that you're okay."

Something didn't look right with his expression as he said this. London didn't know what, but something else was clearly bothering him.

Oddly, she felt her "adult mode" kick back in again. "Cody, are you sure you know where your brother is?"

"I... I don't know. I just feel like something's wrong. I can't explain it."

There's more," Alia, who had just walked into the room, continued. "We just got security footage from one of the cameras, and, well, none of you are gonna like this."

She held out a tablet and showed the group a feed of Zack being cornered, knocked out cold, and warped away by...

...what appeared to be Ruby and Sapphira.

X's grim and disappointed look contrasted with the others' surprised ones.

"I really hope I'm wrong..."

"About what?" London questioned.

X didn't answer, but instead turned to Alia. "Can you pinpoint their location?"

Alia sighed and shook her head. "There's nothing to lock-on to, X. It's as if they've fallen off the face of the planet."

"Signas is still tied up at Point Oasis, right?"

"He went to check the situation out an hour ago. We haven't heard back yet."

"Axl and Zero are still dealing with Rhino, right?"

"Yes." She checked another feed to confirm, and sure enough, she was right.

"Okay then." He thought for a second before coming to a decision. "I'm going to go see if I can't get into contact with Palette and Layer at Oasis. Make sure everything's okay."

He looked towards London and Cody.

"You two need to head off to deal with Wind Crowrang."

The brunette spoke up. "And how, exactly, do you expect him to focus on that when he's busy worrying about his brother?"

The Azure Hunter's words to her were stern, yet compassionate. "Just sitting around here isn't going to help him or us, Bailey. He needs something else to do."

"He's right," the teen in question admitted painfully. Cody looked uncharacteristically antsy. "I'm pretty sure I'd go crazy in here when there's...there's nothing I can do to save him."

He outright begged his mentor from there. He knew he sounded much younger than his 16 years at that moment, but he didn't care. "Please save Zack. I... I want to fix things between us. I want to fix him. I want my brother back. I need him!"

The blonde navigator offered a soft smile as she looked up from her tablet. "We'll do everything we can."

"Absolutely," X smiled confidently. "We aren't considered the best for nothing."

There was something on London's mind, however. "What's gonna happen to Ruby and her sister?"

Any good feelings left the room in a hurry as the grim look returned. "They may very well be branded as Mavericks and... You're smart enough to guess what happens from there."

The rich girl suddenly wished she was stupid enough to not understand what he was talking about.

It didn't work.

Her hands were over her mouth in shock, mirroring those of her female friend, and she was dead silent with her.

"I just hope it doesn't come to that."

"Me neither," she said, shaken.

With that, X solemnly ushered the gold girl with him to the Armory to catch her up on weapons before her mission, and all the while, a certain someone's threat still rang in her ears.

They'll simply label you a Maverick and kill you...

-000-

WEAPONS ACQUIRED

Noble Blades (London): Dual electrical blades useful in melee combat. Can be charged to shoot an electrical discharge.