Storm Hawks Fan 3rd Season - Episode 58 - Part 3

Episode 58 - Clueless

Part 3 - Stranger Danger

The Storm Hawks and Kaya entered the VIP area. The first thing they saw there was what seemed to be some kind of fancy bar. The walls were dark and some colorful small lamps were the only source of light. There were quite a few people in there, all sitting on tables, not paying attention to anything around them. There they also saw someone they had met earlier: elite detective Fire.

She was interrogating someone near the bar counter. The person soon left, after being dismissed by the detective. She rested her head on her hand as she studied her notes carefully.

"One blue flame liqueur, please." - she asked the barman, then she sighed - "So far the progress's really slow here."

The others approached her.

"Detective Fire." - Aerrow greeted.

"Oh, it's you guys." - she smiled - "I didn't know you had VIP access."

"Piper here's a crystal mage." - Kaya told her - "With her on the team we'll have free pass anywhere."

"That's nice. I'm allowed to come here only because I'm an elite detective, so I can bend some rules." - she said.

"How's your investigation going?" - the navigator asked.

"Pretty bad I gotta say. It's being a pain. I've been interrogating people all day long and got no good information from them." - she explained - "This guy's squishier than slime worms. I visited five locations where he's been sighted, but I didn't get close to him yet."

"Five locations... Inside the VIP area?" - the Grandmaster asked.

"Yes. This place's bigger than you'd think." - the woman said - "The only lead I got was another one of the cards he keeps leaving behind right in the middle of the main square, so that doesn't really help me track his exact position." - she pulled the scorpion card out and tossed it on the table.

The little girl stared at it, then she looked around, observing the place.

"I think I know where he might be." - she suggested - "At least... I have a few hunches."

"I'm all ears here. I'll even go there with you." - the detective said - "I'm not making that much progress by myself, so I'll gladly accept any help. Still, we should ask around on the way regardless."

Kaya nodded. Even if she had a few intuitions, Fire was right about confirming her hunches while they headed to those places. They all followed her towards wherever they'd most likely find the doctor. But as soon as they got to the entrance of the bar, someone stopped them.

"You're definitely not from here." - the person commented - "And yet you've been allowed to enter the VIP area. You must be really important people. Why was your pass granted?"

Before any of them could respond, Fire stepped in front of them.

"I'm an elite detective, and they're with me. That's reason enough to let them in." - she crossed her arms.

Somebody was poking their nose where they shouldn't. The man was wearing a white stylish hat that covered his face. But his hands could tell he wasn't human since he had claws for fingers. He wore a white tuxedo and shoes, and a light gray social shirt underneath with a black tie. He had a cigar on his mouth. He calmly pulled the cigar out of his mouth and blew some smoke in the air.

"Ms. Detective, I'm not easily fooled. I noticed you've been around long before they came in. And I know not even the Grandmaster has a free pass in here." - he guessed accurately, which made the others blink surprised - "So which one of you was the big exception?" - he glanced at the Storm Hawks, without revealing his face.

"It was me." - Piper gestured to herself - "I-I'm a crystal mage."

There was no point in hiding anything from that guy, so she told him who she was right away. He lifted his head, allowing them to see his face. His head seemed to be... Pure nothing, hollow. The only thing they could see were his glowing white eyes.

"Hm... A crystal mage. That's a rare talent these days." - he commented - "Why don't you sit here with me for a moment? Let's talk a little while your friends go on with their investigation."

"W-What? I... I'm sorry but I can't, I really should go with them." - she told him.

"Listen..." - he leaned closer to them, so he could whisper - "There are a lot of people in here that are interested in your skills. And we all should know that you won't like their... Personalities."

He was hinting at the fact most of the scientists there were the ones who did unethical things.

"She'll be fine with us." - Kaya said.

"I'd not be that confident, Ms. Grandmaster." - he said - "Since she's being accompanied by you and an elite detective, that'll attract much more attention. And eventually, you'll be overwhelmed."

"Are you saying those people would try to... Force Piper to join them?" - Aerrow asked.

"Not even join them, she'd just be a test subject." - the man told him - "I'm offering to help you prevent that from happening."

"And why'd you do that?" - the sky knight didn't trust him - "When you could be doing the same as them?"

"I'm not one of them. They're not even comparable to me." - the man said - "I'm the most influential person you'll find here. I can bend even more rules than Ms. Detective there. Nobody here would dare defy me, knowing what I'm able to do. I can guarantee your friend'll be safe with me. Besides, I swear I won't do anything to her, I just want to talk."

The boy stared at her, to see what she thought about that. She looked at him a little unsure but nodded.

"Well, if this will avoid trouble for them, I'll stay here." - she said.

"I think one of us should stay too, just in case." - the leader suggested.

"That won't be necessary. I just told you I can keep her completely safe. Don't you trust me?" - the man asked - "Ms. Grandmaster, Ms. Detective, use your abilities and tell them if I'm being honest." - he said very calmly.

The two looked at him, studying him. Kaya read his aura, while Fire analyzed his manners.

"He... Is telling the truth." - the little girl noticed.

"Yes. I second that. He's definitely not lying." - the woman commented.

"Then I'm gonna stay." - the navigator said as she sat in front of the man.

She frowned. She didn't really like having to stay behind, but if it was necessary, she'd go through with that. The sky knight noticed her upset mood, so he knelt near her seat.

"We'll come pick you up soon. I promise." - the leader said to her.

"I know." - she smiled weakly - "Don't worry about me, I'll be okay. Focus on the mission." - she put a hand on his shoulder.

He nodded determined, then stood up to address the others.

"C'mon, let's go." - he told the group.

They all sprinted out of the bar, heading to the nearest place where they could find some clues. Piper watched them go, then she turned to the man.

"Are you served?" - he asked as he picked up a pack of cigars.

"Hm, no... I... Don't smoke..." - she declined.

She was a young girl... Why in the world would she think of smoking?!

"What about a fancy drink?" - he suggested.

"I think I'm fine for now." - she said.

He wasn't really doing anything against her, but she just couldn't shake the sensation of being in the presence of someone kinda... Creepy. He didn't have a face for Atmos's sake! He noticed her behavior.

"You know, not everyone that looks shady is shady." - he told her.

He managed to sense her hesitation towards him. She felt a little caught off guard by that. That guy was extremely observant, he could pick the slightest reaction from her.

"I don't think you're shady. You're just mysterious." - she replied - "I told you who I am. So I'd feel better if you told me about yourself too."

"Fair point, young lady. Very well." - he closed his eyes - "What do you want to know about me?"

"Well, you could start by telling me your name." - she said.

"My name is very long and hard to pronounce, so I'll just give you my nickname: Kyx." - he told her - "I'm pleased to meet a crystal mage like you."

"Uh, thanks. I'm Piper." - she said a little hesitant - "So... Kyx... What do you do here?"

"My business in the Praetora province? Hehe, well, I own this place." - he shrugged casually as if that was no big deal.

"Y-You own this place?" - the girl was quite surprised - "But... I didn't think a free province like this would... Belong to someone."

"It's not a free area. The researchers that live here have to pay rent. In turn, I give them complete creative and scientific freedom, something they'd never find in the reigns they come from." - he explained - "They can do anything as long as they don't try to cross me."

"What happens if they do?" - she asked.

"They'll have to face me. And nobody that's faced me came back to tell the story." - he took a sip of the glass that was on the table - "As you've probably noticed, I'm... Well, hollow." - he pulled his hat out for a second and only his eyes floated in thin air - "And that's why nobody ever comes back. I'm like... A walking black hole, if you say."

"So... Is this why you cover yourself like that? I can see those claws aren't real." - Piper commented.

"Precisely. If I touch something directly, I'll just pull it inside like a vacuum cleaner. The clothes I wear are specially made to prevent that from happening." - he explained - "But you don't have to worry about being at risk by sitting near me. I can control myself, so you'll be fine."

"Oh, I wasn't scared. I'm actually more comfortable now that I know something about you." - she told him - "And I can see you're being serious with me."

"Hehehe, didn't I say we'd just talk? See? I just wanted to chat, really." - he said - "And you looked like the kind of people I enjoy having long conversations with. You'll see, when your friends arrive to pick you up, we'll have bonded quite well. And you won't have even noticed the time flying by."

She smiled. That Kyx guy wasn't bad at all! He was an interesting man. And he had a certain elegance in his manners. Plus, he was willing to share his knowledge with her. Maybe she could learn something useful for the squadron from him.

~~~

The group ran by the street until they arrived at the main square. That place was quite big with some benches, a tree near the middle of the square and smaller roads leading to lots of other locations all around the area.

"This is where you found the card, right?" - Junko asked.

"Yes." - Fire nodded - "It was lying exactly in the middle of the square. Because of that, I couldn't figure out if the card was hinting at any specific place."

"How come?" - Finn didn't understand.

"For example, if the card had landed closer to that road over there, it'd mean one of the two things: the Dr did go there or he went in the exact opposite direction." - she explained as she pointed at the smaller street she was referring to.

"Ah, I see. It could be true that he went that way. But it could be a bait." - Stork put a hand on his chin - "Just one question... Why do you say he'd have gone in the exact opposite direction?"

"Because that's the most obvious bait." - she said as she put her hands on her hips - "People normally investigate the most obvious things last, so the criminal might choose that option to buy him more time." - she told him.

"That makes sense. You do think ahead of everyone, detective." - Kaya commented - "No wonder you've become an elite class."

"I try." - the woman smiled - "But now we have a bigger challenge: what does it mean when the clue is left right in the middle of the way?"

They all thought for a moment. That was quite the charade. The card was in the middle of that mess of roads. What could that mean?

"See? This is why I hate puzzles. They're always way too hard." - Finn commented.

"You didn't seem like you hated them when you got that annoying shapeshifting puzzle." - Stork pointed out.

"Uh, that one was an exception." - the boy said - "And I almost mastered it. I was so close! But it just vanished. I still don't know what happened to it."

"Good thing Stork took ca..." - Junko was about to say when Radarr immediately leaped on his shoulder and pressed his paw against his mouth.

Phew! He almost told him Stork had melted that puzzle for good along with the Suit of Untold Vengeance! Really, it was better if Finn never found out about that, otherwise, if one day he ever gets to have an even more annoying toy than that thing, he'd hide it so the others wouldn't be able to get rid of it! Some things are definitely better left in the dark.

"Hm... According to your logic of it meaning one of two things..." - Aerrow began, smoothly changing the subject - "He went back the way he came from or... He went right here. Maybe underground?"

Fire blinked. What a theory!

"That's really smart thinking! I hadn't considered the possibility of him going underground yet." - she said - "You sure you don't have a part-time job as a detective, boy?"

"H-Huh? Ah, no! I'm only a sky knight." - he put his hands in front of himself dismissively.

Him an investigator? Nah, that wasn't for him. Not that it was a job he couldn't handle, no. Neither was it too easy for him. In fact, there was nothing wrong with that position, at least, nothing that bad.

"What? Being a detective isn't a boring job. It's filled with action. You like action, don't you?" - she asked.

"Well, yeah, but..." - he didn't really know how to put it.

He didn't have anything against being a detective, he just... Preferred to stay a sky knight and the leader of the Storm Hawks. And the reason? He'd spend all day listing why he wanted to stay like that.

"I see, you like where you are right now." - she crossed her arms - "You're a leader and you have a great team. And they're your best pals in the world. If I were in your position I'd not trade that for a lone wolf kind of job like this either."

He smiled. She understood that just as well as he did. Having a squadron was like being part of a family. Whenever something bad happened, the family can stand together through the hard times. Anything was better when you do that with your friends. And he definitely had an aversion of being alone, he already had his fair share of loneliness for years a long time ago. He never wanted to have to go through that again.

"Well, out of those two options, which one is more likely?" - Kaya asked, bringing their attention back to their investigation.

"Well, he doesn't look like he's wandering around, so he must've gone underground. But how do we follow him?" - the detective put a hand on her chin.

"Maybe he used some secret passage?" - the wallop shrugged.

"Where could a secret passage possibly be in here?" - the sharpshooter asked as he leaned against a light pole.

When he did that, the pole actually leaned along, like a lever, causing him to fall on the ground. Everyone felt the place shaking a little, then a door opened on the floor, revealing a stairway leading underground. The group blinked, and Aerrow stared at Finn.

"Is it just me or you've been stumbling on clues lately?" - he commented.

"Guess I'm a magnet for more things than I thought." - the blonde said.

Yeah, he did attract disasters, but it seemed he also attracted clues. Maybe he had found a wave of good luck when he got to the Far Side. Some good news for a change. Radarr sniffed the air a bit and confirmed the Doctor's aura could be sensed. He had been to that passage.

"Did you pick his aura?" - the Grandmaster asked.

He nodded. But he didn't look very excited. He tried sniffing the air again. And he noticed the aura was... Strange. It seemed to be mixed with something else entirely. It was like... The Doctor was emanating more than one aura at once! But... Was that even possible? And what did that mean?

"Radarr, lead the way. Let's find out what's going on." - the sky knight said.

The co-pilot sprinted ahead and everyone ran after him. They all went down the stairs and into the secret passage.

~~~

The group ran by a dark narrow corridor. It almost looked like a mix of sewers and some kind of dungeon corridor. They could hear the sound of rats lurking in the shadows and there were tons of spider webs on the corners of the walls with the ground and the ceiling.

"This place makes Ulok's office seem clean and tidy in comparison." - Kaya said.

"You mean the information broker?" - Fire asked.

"Yep. He's an old friend who owes me a favor or two." - she told her.

"I wish I had an information broker at my disposal. I'd have finished my investigation already." - the detective said.

"When this is over, come with us to his office. I'll get him to give you some useful data for your cases." - the Grandmaster offered.

"Thanks, that'll be a big help." - the woman said.

They ran some more until they got to a place that was absolutely devoid of light. It was pitch black beyond that part of the corridor.

"How come that's even possible? Light doesn't just... Stop." - Aerrow commented.

"The light didn't stop, there's something preventing it from going further." - Stork pointed out.

"What? I can't see anything." - Junko squinted his eyes, then he stretched his arm in front of himself into the dark area - "I can't feel anything either."

"Maybe a spectral barrier? I know it can block light from coming in and out." - the little girl suggested.

"Well, let's find out." - the sky knight said as he walked a few steps towards the area devoid of light.

"W-Wait, you're gonna step in there just like that?" - Finn asked in disbelief.

"Uh... Yeah?" - the leader shrugged - "What other choices we got?"

"Maybe not wandering into the pitch black without checking what's there first?" - the sharpshooter said.

Aerrow sighed.

"You're not afraid of the dark, are you?" - he asked.

"Of course not!" - the blonde quickly denied - "But we can't see anything at all. What if the very first thing in there is a very big hole and we fall right into it?"

"He has a point. Who knows what could be waiting for us?" - Stork pondered - "There could be several insane scientists hiding in there and when we step inside, they'll knock us all out, replace our organs with bombs, mind controlling and tracking devices, then send us on an unending path of random destruction. And did I say that's the best case scenario?"

The others stared at him unimpressed, while Fire blinked creeped out. That guy had a way of always pointing out such depressingly bad outcomes. The most incredible was that it wasn't even something to be mad about, that was actually impressive. He could definitely predict the worst, and at least that would make the others prepared for it. Even though they normally just dismissed what he said as his paranoia, deep down they knew there was a chance of something awful happening.

Mr. Softy jumped in front of them and crawled towards the dark area. He shoved his head beyond the pitch black barrier then spat on the ground a little. He wriggled his bun and turned to the others, smiling happily. They exchanged glances and walked near him. They poked their heads inside the area devoid of light and saw what the little guy had done.

"He's using his glowing saliva to mark the ground, so we can predict what's ahead of us." - Kaya commented.

"This caterpillar is certainly a lot smarter than it looks." - Fire said as she knelt near him - "What an ingenious little thing you are!" - she petted him.

"Second time you're saving our lives today, Mr. Softy." - Aerrow told him - "Not bad at all for our new mascot."

Radarr nodded in agreement. Their new animal friend knew quite a few really useful tricks. The co-pilot walked near him, then he proceeded to sniff the air again, looking for the Doctor's aura. He chirped, then pointed ahead of them.

"Cool, we're still on his track." - Junko said.

"Alright, let's move." - the sky knight lit up his blades to illuminate their surroundings - "And stay close, there's not much light, so it's easy to get lost."

They kept walking, slowly and carefully, with Mr. Softy helping them see the ground way ahead of them so they'd know what was coming.

~~~

Meanwhile, Piper just sat on the table of the fancy bar with Kyx. They were talking about the Praetora province.

"How are the people from here? And what do they search?" - she asked.

"Well, they're your average people you find anywhere. There's nothing really special about them. As for what they're looking for..." - the man took a sip of the glass on the table - "The most common researches are immortality, godhood and how to bend time and space."

"Kind of narrow-minded..." - the girl commented - "And why bend time and space?"

"One thing about what you'd call 'time traveling' is that it's not only a matter of time but of space too." - he told her - "That's why they're studying warp crystals. And why they'd love the help of a crystal mage."

"Hm, that's true, because you'd not only travel to another time, but to another space as well." - the navigator said - "And... Now that you said it, teleporting has to do with time too. Because you travel somewhere else when you weren't supposed to be there."

"Exactly. I'm pretty sure a skilled crystal mage'd be able to time travel using a warp crystal since they necessarily bend space and time." - he said to her - "The scientists think that's a hidden ability from those crystals, and they want to watch some mages using them to figure out how to trigger it."

"That's where their interest in crystal mastery comes from... So they can fulfill their own purposes." - she said in thought - "Kyx... Isn't it tiresome to keep the order in here?"

"Hm? What do you mean?" - he didn't get what was she suddenly going on about.

"The people from here." - she spoke, gesturing to the rest of the bar - "They're doing researches of all kinds. And even unethical experiments. Don't you have to... Well... Establish a limit?"

"I see... You're probably going to think I'm an awful person now, but the thing is... I simply can't make up a limit." - he told her - "The scientists from here pay me rent and in turn, I give them some sort of protection and freedom to do whatever they need to achieve their goals, as long as they don't cross me."

"But... What about the bad things they could be doing? What if they're causing a lot of trouble for other people?" - she questioned him.

"Not all of them work only for themselves. There are quite a few who have noble goals." - the man explained - "Even though they're not righteous, in the end, they're trying to do something good."

"You can't let them get away with it just because they claim to be doing something for the greater good." - Piper retorted - "The end does not justify the means."

"I beg to differ. Sometimes it does." - he responded.

"No, it doesn't. There's no excuse for evil doing." - she said firmly - "And you should make a stand against that."

"Ms. Piper, I'm not a ruler. I'm a... Businessman." - he gestured to himself - "I won't just impose something out of nowhere. This province is a big investment, and I have to take care of it like what it is: an investment. If I suddenly start making rules, I might lose clients and money. Then this place'll go back to what it was: an empty ruined city."

"That's... So selfish..." - she commented.

"I understand your opinion on this. But you have to see things how they really are." - he told her - "The world is an unfair place. It's a huge market where trading is all that matters. If you want something, you need to lose something else of equal value at the same time."

Piper stared at the table, reflecting about what he said. He had a valid point... But still... That couldn't be how the world worked. There were selfless people, her team was an example of that... Well, almost.

"This might be true for most... But I know not everyone's like that." - she said - "My squadron... They're something else. We help others and ask nothing in return."

"But you still gain something from that, don't you?" - he asked - "The value isn't solely on money, it can be something you can't buy, but you can earn. Like... Friendship."

"Maybe, but we don't help those in need expecting them to be our friends later." - she told him - "I've saved an enemy before for an instance... Twice."

She was hinting at the fact she saved a Cyclonian from a parachute failure. Turns out that Cyclonian was Lynn in the end, but at first, it was just an enemy. And also at when the squadron helped bring the Dark Ace back to his senses after he got completely mind controlled by the Medulla Crystal. He definitely didn't become their friend after that.

"Then why do it?" - the man asked bluntly.

"Because no matter how evil and despicable the person might be, nobody deserves to suffer." - she said - "Bringing criminals to justice is important, but there's no excuse to torture them for what they did. That won't make them any better people, it'll only fill them with rage and they'll seek revenge. Why create a world like that?"

Kyx blinked.

"You're a wise young lady, Ms. Piper." - he complimented her as he smiled - "It's being a pleasure talking to you." - he took another sip of his glass - "Please, allow me to order something for you." - he lifted his gloved hand - "Waiter, bring me the menu!" - then he turned to her - "Choose anything you wish."

A robotic waiter came to the table and left a pair of books, the menu.

"Thank you." - she said as she read the menu - "Hm... I'm kind of unfamiliar with the food from the Far Side. I only know a few things from the menu I read in a restaurant from Warmya Reign."

"Oh, so you're not from here." - he realized - "Don't worry, though, I know what'd be harmful to a human. I recommend choosing from these options here." - he pointed at some pages of the menu.

"Ah, thanks. I think I'll choose this." - she showed him the meal.

"Excellent taste. That just happens to be one of my favorite meals from here. I'll order another one for me as well." - he told her as he signaled to the robot waiter so it'd fetch their food.

"I guess great minds think alike." - she commented.

"Oh, that's the most absolute truth there is." - he agreed - "Now, I see you've come from outside. I'd really like to hear what it's like beyond the Great Walls."

"The rest of the Atmos is really big. But the Far Side is a really surprising place too." - she said.

"Do tell me about the unknowns of the Atmos." - he said interested.

"There's so much to talk about, I don't even know where to begin." - she was quite excited herself - "Let's see..."

She thought for a moment. Maybe she should start by commenting about how the world was divided into terras. Yeah, that was most likely the best way to begin that new topic. She proceeded to speak about the many mountain-top kingdoms scattered all over the Atmos. And how each one of them was protected by a sky knight squadron. That was going to be one long conversation. The guys would probably arrive before she was even finished!

~~~

The group walked by the seemingly empty and dark corridor. Mr. Softy kept spitting on the ground to check for holes or any kind of obstacle that someone could trip over.

"How long is it gonna take to get there? It's freezing in here." - Junko commented.

Everyone blinked. They hadn't noticed the temperature had dropped until he said something!

"Wow, now that you said it, it got pretty cold out of nowhere." - Kaya rubbed her arms with her hands.

"What could be causing this?" - Aerrow asked.

"From what I know, when a place becomes cold all of a sudden it's not a good sign." - Fire said.

"Yes. It normally means all we'll find ahead of us is imminent death." - Stork spoke.

"And why's that?" - Finn questioned unimpressed.

"Because we're going to an area devoid of light and heat. That means there's nothing alive for at least a few miles ahead of us." - the merb explained.

"It doesn't mean we'll find death so close by. It's not like this place is smelling like corpses." - the detective pointed out.

"Hm... You have a point. Unless... When you die your corpse disappears." - he said.

"So it'd just disappear into thin air..." - the woman was skeptical - "No solid evidence, no proof."

"How can there be solid evidence left when something just disappears?" - the sky knight asked.

"There's always something left. Warp/teleportation residual energy or particle remains from the body or whoever got rid of it." - she told him - "Something a detective doesn't lack are clues. There are plenty of them in any investigation, the hard part is making sense out of them. They're like puzzles, charades."

"And by particles you mean atoms. Do you have tools to figure out whether those atoms ever belonged to a dead body?" - the carrier pilot inquired.

"Of course! Why do you think I'm an elite detective?" - she pulled out some kind of hi-tech scanner - "This device can identify absolutely anything. Check this out."

She pointed it to some saliva Mr. Softy had left on the ground. The scanner detected it.

"Organic residual: slightly acid, sticky, denser than water, bioluminescent." - the device said - "Produced by Gloom Caterpillars, usually found in the former province of the Wonderlands. Scanning for the specimen." - the device produced some light and scanned the whole area, then a beam of light narrowed down right on Mr. Softy - "Specimen found: male, 2 weeks old, first stage of metamorphosis."

"Wait, what did it mean by metamorphosis?" - the wallop asked.

"Well, Mr. Softy's a caterpillar, he'll later turn into a butterfly or a moth." - the Grandmaster explained.

"How can he turn into two things?" - Finn questioned.

"We call the first stage of their metamorphosis as caterpillar, but they can be two kinds of caterpillar. We can know whether he'll be a moth or a butterfly when he reaches the second stage." - the little girl told him - "If he turns into a cocoon, he'll be a moth, if he turns into a pupa, he'll be a butterfly." - she used a hologram to show him what could become of Mr. Softy.

"But the second stage looks pretty much the same. How do you even know the difference?" - the sharpshooter asked.

"Why don't you save those questions for when Mr. Softy actually goes through the metamorphosis?" - she said - "It'll be more fun if we keep this a surprise."

"Cool! I can't wait to see what Mr. Softy'll turn into." - the flight engineer smiled.

The little mascot shook his bun, then he turned around to go back to spitting his glory saliva on the ground. However, he ended up hitting something else, since the glowing mark wasn't on the ground but on the "wall". Finn didn't notice that so he kept moving forward and bashed his face against the wall. He leaped backward from the fright and screamed for a second. Once he was within Aerrow's blades' light range, everyone could see what had happened to him: his hair was completely covered with spider webs and his face had wet dust all over it.

"Ugh, dude, gross!" - he complained as he tried to wipe the webs away from his hair, without much success.

"You do have a knack for stumbling on disasters, no kidding." - Kaya commented, and he mumbled as he tried to pull a web away but it just ripped in half so most of it remained glued to his hair - "I guess I'll just make you a good luck amulet later."

Aerrow walked past them and put his hand on the wall.

"It's... It's a dead end!" - he said as he kept feeling the barrier in front of him.

"So there's a wall in the middle of the way for no apparent reason?" - Stork asked - "Yeah, I had a feeling we'd all end like this. Now another wall will come down behind us and we'll be stuck in here forever."

Just as he said that, a wall did come down behind them, locking them in a tight space. All of the others stared at him with wide eyes. It was like everything he said happened!

"See? It's just a matter of time before..." - he began.

"Okay, not another word." - the sky knight stopped him - "The more we talk the worse things get. Let's just focus on the solution and nothing else for now."

"You're right. This looks like a pattern." - Fire said - "We better not let our thoughts wander off finding a solution."

"Alright, guys. Let's figure out what we can do." - the Grandmaster stimulated.

Everyone just stopped for a while, so they could think of what they could try to get out of that situation.

~~~

In the depths of an unknown place, there was a small research facility. The whole area was dark, except for a flickering light coming from one of the windows of the tiny building. Inside it, there were several tables and desks, with many glass pots filled with all kinds of things. Several lab tools laid on top of the tables. There was a silhouette on a ladder, adjusting a lamp. The light stopped flickering and was finally constant.

"There, that should do it." - a man's voice said.

He was none other than the doctor that was being pretty much hunted down. He climbed down the ladder and proceeded to work on an experiment that was on the desk right in front of him. Beside whatever he was working on was a flask that was quite familiar: it was the very package Ulok had told the others about! The scientist didn't pay attention to it, though, he was completely focused on the experiment.

He was stitching something. When he was done, he lifted his hand: there were some stitches on one of his fingers. He picked up a nil crystal and used it to heal the scar. That made it look like he hadn't even stitched anything in the first place.

"That should be enough for a while. Soon I'm going to need to look for other replacements." - then he turned to the flask - "Now I need to use this to get rid of..." - he stopped once he got a better look at the flask - "Wait, this isn't the acid I used to... Oh, that fool! Why put something so useless in such a package?!"

But before he could do anything, he heard a knock on the door. He glared at it but didn't answer. Maybe they'd go away if he pretended there was nobody inside. To his annoyance, the knock was repeated. He stood up and went to check who was there. He saw a hooded figure standing in front of the door, which made him blink.

"So it was true... They were after me." - he pondered, then clenched his fist - "I thought I had led them to my trap with the cards!"

There was a knock once again. He opened a small hatch on the door.

"Speak quickly, I'm really busy right now, I don't have time to waste!" - he said harshly.

"I have something that mind interest you." - a female voice said.

That caught him slightly off guard, he was expecting to hear the usual voice of a Hooded Shadow. Yet he wasn't about to let that put him in any further disadvantage.

"I have my own research already, now go away!" - he shouted then shut the hatch.

He walked a few steps when he heard another knock on the door. He growled irritated as he stomped his way to the door again, this time, though, he slammed it open.

"I told you I'm not interested!" - he yelled.

"Oh, but you haven't even heard what I have to say yet." - the hooded figure said as a few Night Crawlers appeared beside her and aimed their guns at him.

Her hood opened up in a familiar way: standing in front of the Doctor was none other than Master Cyclonis. He stared at her and her little particular army unimpressed.

"You don't intimidate me." - he crossed his arms - "I have some tricks up my sleeve as well."

He pulled out a whip and in the blink of an eye, he used its bladed tip to slash the Night Crawlers' guns off their armor. They blinked at that and glared at him. The young Empress just laughed.

"Impressive. You do have combat skills, the files I've got on you weren't lying." - she showed him a folder that had secret information about him.

"Where did you get this?" - he inquired.

"I stole this from an information broker's office. And replaced it with a fake dossier." - she told him - "I can keep this only between us or I can just give it away to anyone that might find use for it."

"You're trying to blackmail me?" - he asked - "You actually have guts. What do you want?"

She smirked evilly. Whatever she was seeking from him, it definitely meant bad news.