Why was he like this though?! Dexter always seemed like the type to consider anything that wasn't an academic pursuit a waste of time. It took weeks before he even remotely loosened up around her and the other research participants—and only because they had roped him into their fun against his will. Now? It was as though he'd been possessed by the ghost of Jungle Jim! 

"Is there some kind of chemical spill in here that we need to worry about?" Amit questioned almost at the same moment a similar idea entered Silya's mind. He followed after her. "Did he breathe in some weird fumes?"

Computress was quick to put both of their imaginations to rest. She met them at the top of the ladder and shook her head. "Please remain calm. Physically, Dexter is fine. This is merely a stress response." 

In contrast to her steady voice, the entire catwalk rattled as Dexter swung himself over to another support railing, making chimp noises as he fled from his subordinates. 

Silya was stressed just from watching him. While their employer might not have been the stereotypical geek incapable of doing a single push-up, he wasn't a top-tier athlete either. If they didn't find a way to settle him down, there was a good chance he could hurt himself.

"How much stress do you gotta be under to turn into that?" Amit pressed further, "It's like his brain's completely shut off!" 

The young woman scrambled to come up with any ideas. After half a minute, she turned to her Eduardo nano, "Beni, Papas Fritas! Quick!"

"How are french fries supposed to help?"

"We have to try something!"

They didn't have any of the imaginary food on hand. It would take a little time for Beni to make them. He flew off into an isolated corner to get started while the two research participants rushed over to help pull Dexter to safety. Dexter jumped before either of them could climb around the railing to grab him, somehow landing in a roll atop one of the assembly's conveyer belts and riding it until he reached an automated lift.

There was a tablet lying on a nearby command panel. As he picked it up, his voice pitched in a similar, forebodingly sing-song manner as his sister's, "Ooo~! What does this button do~?"

It disengaged the lock mechanism on a crane holding up a tank barrel. A Dexbot standing beneath it whirled out of the way as it fell to the ground with a booming clang. Even though he was cause of it, the noise seemed to startle Dexter like a wild animal. He bounced off the lift and began to tumble across the assembly lines.  

Amit and Silya climbed over the railing to pursue him. As they landed on the moving platforms, Amit spun at the hip to yell at the others, "Turn off the belts!"

They fought to catch themselves as everything jerked to a sudden halt. Halfway across the large room, Dexter lost his own balance. He fumbled for a moment before giving in to gravity, hurling his body toward a metal chain. He grabbed it mid-fall and resumed swinging around like a simian once more. 

One of the scientists hurriedly took control of the crank the chain was connected to. He tried to carefully lower it toward the floor while Amit and Silya closed in. They were just over three meters away from Dexter when he abruptly took off again, this time heading straight for the open vent that the research participants had entered from.    

Silya grimaced. If they lost him in the vent system, there was no telling where in Dexlabs he'd end up or how much trouble he'd cause. Worse, there was no way that Dexter would ever live it down if his addle minded outburst became public news. She could practically see the headlines already: Fusion Fighter or Fool? Army's Leader Makes a Monkey Out of Himself.

Amit dove past her, charging at their boss at full speed with a loud shout. He football tackled him from behind, dropping Dexter to the floor right before he could escape. Those nearby ran over to help Amit keep him down. 

Silya made it over almost at the same time that Beni did. He'd bundled the fries in a crumbled piece of paper. Dexter was still acting wild, making the nanos too nervous to approach. Silya grabbed a couple of the fries and quickly shoved them path her boss' teeth.

Dexter briefly froze. It seemed to take him a few seconds to register the taste before he erupted into motion again, reaching for the rest. Beni dropped the fries in the inventors' lap and he immediately started shoveling them down.

One of the scientists jogged away for a moment only to return with a can of herbal tea. He passed it over to their employer to give him something to wash the fries down with. The group was relieved to see Dexter slowly relax at he ate, unable to believe that the snack really worked. 

When Amit gave her a questioning look, Silya could only shrug in answer. Brainfood...

By the time some awareness finally came back to Dexter's eyes, Computress had fetched his sweater and lab coat. He was so embarrassed by what had happened that his face turned almost as red as his hair. The group gave him another few minutes to compose himself, the Dexbots and scientists gradually returning to their tasks while Silya and Amit remained by his side. Dexter wouldn't look at either of them, hiding his face with one hand and clutching the can of tea in the other.

Amit sat on the floor beside him. He took a deep breath, averting his gaze as he debated what to say. He was about to show off his nanocomm—likely to tease Dexter about the photo he took earlier—when Silya motioned for him not to with a swiping gesture at her throat.

Revealing that he had evidence would probably just make things worse... 

Amit relented, but still said, "You know, you really owe us an explanation after giving everyone the runaround."

Dexter just shot him a look.

"Since the time travel incident, Dexter has experienced fatigue, frequent headaches, increased irritability, and muscle tension." Finishing her announcement that the lockdown was now lifted, Computress hovered over to their side. Her creator opened his mouth to protest, but she continued, "Symptoms elevated upon Fuse's invasion, then temporarily lowered following the jumpstart of the Nano Project. I believe spending so much time on his recent experiments with the Spinal-ARCH is what elevated them again. I have warned him about the necessity of rest. My advice was ignored."

"Computress!" Dexter turned even redder in the face than before, if that was even possible.

Sitting on the opposite side from Amit, Silya cupped her chin as she rested her elbow against her knee. Well, it made sense. There was no telling how much hot water Dexlabs had been in following their disappearances, and then Dexter was made the key figure for the war effort. And for all of the Nano Project's success, there was still a lot to manage. If the work didn't stress Dexter out, the heavy expectations everyone probably did.

"Come on, Poindexter..." Amit smirked, lightly hitting him in the arm, "I mean, that's the kind of thing us labrats are here for, right? To help you work out all of the kinks before launch day."

Silya felt Beni sit down on her shoulder. By the time she turned her gaze back to Dexter, she nearly missed the searching look in his eyes that he tried to hide. She gave him a reassuring grin of her own, nodding to Amit's words.

"I mean, I'll take my check either way, but you might as well let us do our jobs."

If Dexter caught the joke, he didn't laugh. Nevertheless, after a moment's hesitation, he nodded back.    

END OF TRANSMISSION

This wasn't actually the first time she'd been in this kind of situation, although it was the first time she found herself trapped without either her weapons or her team. The fact that she'd effectively been defanged wasn't lost on her. So, while she was confident that Gwen would be able to take care of herself, Silya wasn't so sure about her own chances. Progress was slow. She must've circled around the same rooms a dozen times before she found herself back near the holding cells, only now on the opposite side of the force shields.

The others had regained consciousness by then. At first, when they saw her emerging from the shadows, they shouted at her, mistaking her for one of their captors. They only went quiet when she raced over to quiet them, eyes flickering between her face and the tentacles at her back. "You-!"

Silya motioned for them to keep silent. Sure enough, upon closer inspection, she recognized one of the other captives as the missing guard. The other two were still hard to identify, but given the mud on their shoes and how ruggedly they were dressed, she thought they might've been independent agents like her assigned to the wilderness. She hurriedly examined a nearby panel to try to shut down the shield.

"Behind you!"

The sudden shout was followed by a harsh blur of movement. Her body was thrown sideways as a teal, webbed hand swiped the air near her face. Three of the tentacles spread apart to catch her fall while the fourth coiled around her attacker's wrist. It was the amphibian from only moments earlier.

He swiped at her again only for another tentacle to grab his other wrist as well. He then jerked both arms down, snatching up the false limbs. Silya's knee buckled as tried to drag her to himself and she fought to keep her legs braced against the floor.

Before he could reel her within his reach, the second set of tentacles lashed out with a punch to his stomach. His grip faltered and the woman was able to scramble away. Once again, she ran for the cover of darkness and somehow found herself crowded among containers. She must've wandered into the cargo hold.

The amphibian's silhouette followed after her. She could hear his respirator easier than she could see him. Each gargled breath pushed her deeper into hiding. She crouched low, almost crawling along floor so not to reveal herself, and ducked behind a wide box.

One of the shorter tentacles looped around her forearm for comfort and she attempted to pat it to calm it down. The last thing she needed was to get tangled up in them right now. Based on where the sound of the respirator came from, the amphibian was taking his time prowling the room—but he made sure never to leave too much space between him and the entryway to his back, just enough so that she couldn't dart by him.

Silya held her own breath. She almost wished he would say something. Hearing him taunt her would've likely been preferable, because it would've given her some sort of read on what kind of enemy she was dealing with. The silence itself felt predatory; the mute patience of a hunter that knew its prey was cornered.

Sinking so low that she might as well have been lying on her stomach, she crept toward the adjacent wall. Maybe if she stuck to the cargo hold's perimeter, she could keep herself far enough away from the mercenary to get around him. Every time she heard him draw close, she rolled around the nearest container to stay out of his line of sight.

She managed to crawl all the way back to the entrance, leaning against its frame in a readied sprint, when something grabbed her from behind. She was lifted off of her feet and then hurled to the floor on her back with enough force to knock the wind out of her lungs. She felt the plates of the Spinal-ARCH bite into her flesh and the tentacles lash out around her for any kind of purchase as she tried to cry out in pain and couldn't. The brutal landing made enough noise though, calling the amphibian back over to her.

"I don't know how you got out, but it won't happen again."

Half-dazed, Silya squinted up to find a different mercenary looming over her. This one was more machine than man, the rise and fall of his chest armor the only sign that he was a living being at all. He blocked her escape one way while the amphibian blocked the other.

"Are those normal?" the latter pointed at what Silya could only assume were the tentacles.

There was pause, then the former's tone dipped in suspicion, "No. They're not."

The armored alien reached down and one of the tentacles lashed out to try to attack him only to get caught under his foot with a heavy stomp. Silya deactivated the Spinal-ARCH, earning a moment's surprise as the limbs vanished. She shoved herself up and tried to swerve around them only for a fist to bury its way into her chest and knock the air out of her again as she collapsed to her knees.

"What if we broke a bone?" the mercenaries continued their conversation, unmoved, "It won't change the way the meat looks too much, will it?"

"No, I don't think we need to go that far." This time, there was a grin in the other's words, as if he could sense her rising terror.

He reached down to resume his inspection when something snaked around her wrist. It almost looked like fabric. In an instant, she was dragged down the hall, coming to a stop several meters away from the pair and in front of the legs of two other aliens she didn't immediately recognize.

Silya didn't get the chance to look up. An ear-splitting howl boomed through the narrow space, and the only thing that kept her from digging her nails into the ground in response was the solid metal beneath her. She felt her hair whip back as though it were blown by a strong wind and kept herself flat to avoid getting swept away.

The newcomers then moved past her. She hadn't yet fully processed what just happened when another strong grip picked her up like a cat. Electric purple eyes scanned over her with concern.

Before she could utter her surprise at seeing Gorben, a trio of red, yellow, and blue streaks catapulted into her arms. "Silya!"

While her team weren't exactly in a fit, three angry faces did stare up into hers. They'd gotten separated from each other before, but they must've thought she'd up and left them to handle a job on her own. Aoi and Clutch were the first to wriggle away from her. "You disappeared on us!" the Demongo nano puffed out his cheeks, the flames on his head flickering indignantly, "No fair! I demand equal notice on all schemes!"

"Are you ok?" Poppy was the only one of the trio openly taking her absence seriously.

As much as she wanted to reassure them and as many questions as she had for them over how they managed to find her, they couldn't wait around. Silya turned back to Gorben, "Gwen's trying to stop them from fixing the engine. We need to keep this ship grounded!"

The Transylian picked up on the urgency in her voice before the explanation itself, steadily setting her back down on her feet. Her entire body ached from the earlier pummeling; however, thankfully, the short breather was enough for her to manage the pain for now.

She naturally gained a little more energy back from Clutch's leech ability too. The mummy and wolfman had already taken out the two mercenaries and were currently setting the other prisoners free. The amphibian was bound by his legs, but only temporarily stunned. He grabbed the gun at his hip, aiming for the nearest of the Anur aliens, when Clutch sped forward and twisted his wrist. The tiny Tetramand then swung the much larger amphibian over himself, Overpowering the mercenary and slamming his head into the floor.    

A familiar piece of tech caught Silya's eye. She recognized her nanocomm among a line of others strapped to the amphibian's belt. Gwen's was also among them, which she stashed in her pocket to return to her superior later. She put hers back onto her wrist and helped pass out the rest to the other fusion fighters as they walked over.

"You do look a little rough," Clutch placed his hands on his hips, "If you need to rest up, you can leave this one to the real heroes."

Not letting his teasing get to her, Silya readied her shattergun. "Not a chance."

The Anur trio already knew their way around the ship well from their journey to Earth. They led the way toward the engine room while two of the other fusion fighters went to find the exit. With any luck, they'd signal for backup or keep any other potential dangers from finding them.

Silya, her team, and the remaining fusion fighter followed the first group. Truthfully, she didn't think they were able to offer much in the way of support. Between the mummy, werewolf, and Transylian, they had a pretty solid match up against any one or two mercenaries they came across at a time: One to constrict their opponents' movements, one to either lash out with an explosive sound wave or brute force their way through, and one to grapple or electrocute anyone left standing. There wasn't really anything left for the humans and their nanos to do except watch the rear.

Whether it was thanks to a vigor for battle, a genuine sense of moral duty, or the knowledge that they could be blamed for the whole mess, the Anur aliens also fought with a certain... gusto.. The engine room was locked, forcing Gorben to short out the door's controls. When it zipped open, they found the large reptilian from earlier blocking the entryway. He spun on his heel and launched himself at the Transylian—only for the latter to catch him by the throat and hurl him back into the room. Metal claws raked the floor as the lizard caught himself. He attempted to charge once more. Sparks and teeth went flying as Gorben grabbed the reptilian by the back of the skull and slammed his snout into the wall until he lost consciousness.

Gwen was a fighter in her own league. Not only had she taken out the engine completely—evidenced by the large slash through the machine that made it look like a laser cutter had torn through it—but she seemed to have been holding her ground against the reptile and yet another mercenary just fine. The one she currently faced off with was a portly, pink alien with no visible features other than a wide mouth and a pair of thick goggles over his eyes. While he didn't appear to be built for combat, he absorbed hit after hit of the multiple energy discs she hurled his way. It wasn't until the mercenary was distracted by his colleague's defeat that she was able to get a proper strike in, changing the shape of her mana into a much larger form and bludgeoning him back into the wall. She fired off an additional beam of energy for good measure, ensuring that he didn't get up.

She looked over the group as a whole as she caught her breath, accepting her nanocomm back from Silya. "Is everyone out?"

"And waiting," the other woman replied.

Gwen's eyes briefly met the mummy's as she gestured to the mercenaries lying out cold. She didn't hesitate to take charge, "Bind them for now. But don't think this means we won't have more to talk about when we get back."

Silya did a quick count in her mind. They hadn't fought off all of the mercenaries, based on what Gorben had said; however, there was a good chance anyone remaining had either also fled in an escape pod like the Anur aliens or were currently out 'hunting.' In that case, it wouldn't hurt to have a couple of fusion fighters stationed around to watch the vessel in secret, in the event that they returned to it so they might catch them by surprise.

No sooner had she mentioned the idea, an all-too familiar, animalistic shriek echoes from the passage behind them. She and the other fusion fighter instinctively moved forward, weapons at the ready. The shadows warped and distorted just ahead of them before erupting into countless spidery legs crawling along every surface. A late warning followed after them:

"We've got Alpha Arachnids! There's too many of them—look alive!"

It was a swarm. Had the unexpected buzz of activity following the crash attracted them?! Silya clenched her jaw. Whatever had, they couldn't let the wave of fusion monsters corner them. "Poppy! Aoi!"

At the cry of their names, the two nanos shot ahead of her, each casting their unique ability against the approaching mob. The passage ignited in a spiral of blue flames and the monsters temporarily halted. The other fusion fighter unleashed a volley of bullets against the spiders, while Gwen followed suit with her energy blasts.

Silya activated her Spinal-ARCH once more. The Nergal tentacles shot out from her back and latched onto a grate above, yanking her up. She planted her feet against the wall added her own firepower to the mix, targeting the Alpha Arachnids clinging to the ceiling.

For a while, all that could be heard were the spiders' shrieks, the splatter of fusion matter, and rapid gunfire. In the confining space, the chaos was almost deafening. Then, just as suddenly as it began, it stopped. As Aoi's Demon Fire died down, all that was left were large pieces of wood, oozing green puddles, and acidic burns in the metal.

The ragtag group glanced around at one another. Now that the worst was over, a sense of relief washed over them, but also trepidation—both sides still finding that their newfound allies were certainly a fright to behold. 

....

By the time they returned to the base, Silya was ready to pass out. Unfortunately, a necessary stop by the medic's cabin would delay her rest even further. As expected, there were bruises; massive ones, covering both her chest and back. The medic seemed at a loss that the beating Silya took hadn't resulted in a fractured rib or some other internal damage, and all she could really do for the bruising was offer some cold compresses and pain medicine. 

Meanwhile, her nanos could only offer their help in the form of their usual verbal jabs.

"It could've been worse," Aoi shrugged after hearing the full story of what happened, "You should count yourself lucky that those mongrels didn't want to sample the local cuisine first..."

"A free sample is about all they could make of her," Clutch added, "I always knew you were short, but you're a shrimp compared to those guys!"

"Are either of you gonna shut up?" Poppy scowled at them. It wasn't that she was against teasing her IE Donor on occasion, but this wasn't one of them. Maybe it was because of all they went through together in the Future, but she was a lot more mature than many of Silya's other nanos.

At the same time, deep down, Silya knew that Clutch and Aoi didn't truly mean anything by the ridicule. This was their way of overcoming the bleaker moments of their job, poking fun and trying to have a laugh.

"Speaking of giants..."

Returning to the barracks, Silya paused mid-step and followed her nanos' gaze. The Anur system aliens stood clustered together with Gwen and some of the other leaders at the base. At that distance, it was hard to tell what exactly they were talking about, but the young woman imagined it had something to do with ensuring that they were indeed trustworthy. First there was the rough history between their worlds, then the alliance their planet already had with Fuse, and now this incident... It would likely take a while for both sides to come to some kind of agreeable terms.

Spotting her, Gorben found a way to excuse himself and began to approach. Silya might've pretended not to notice and kept walking were it not for how nervous he seemed as he drew closer. She still didn't buy how anything about her was remotely terrifying to a towering hulk like him; however, if he was going to go out of his way to act friendly, then she figured the least she could do was not flinch at the sight of him.

Gorben stopped directly in front of her, "How are you feeling?"

"Don't worry. My wounds aren't anything I can't walk off."

"That's good."

A thick, awkward atmosphere settled between them in the absence of words, just like it had back in the forest. The longer it dragged on, the more a nasty, delighted grin began to spread across Aoi's face. As Gorben evaded her eyes, struggling to add anything else, Silya shot the Demongo nano a look in a mute order to keep his mouth shut.

She cleared her throat, "Really, I'm fine. And a large part of that is thanks to you. If you hadn't caught me, I probably would've splattered at the bottom of the satellite tower... So, thank you."

She hoped she didn't paint too grim a picture, but if it upset him, the Transylian didn't show it. If anything, he merely looked stunned. "N-no problem."

Neither of them could eke out much more than a few words after that and it was only small talk: Checking to make sure that they had gotten through the recent fight relatively unscathed and had each settled in. The non-conversation dragged on long enough that Gorben was eventually called back—to both of their relief.

With that, Silya went on her way, eager to hit pause on the long nightmare that was the recent events and enjoy a deep dream.

END OF TRANSMISSION

Part One Part Four

...

Author's Note: Now that I'm done with this fic, since it'll probably be a long while before I get to draw it in comic form, I want to talk about Gorben's characterization a bit here, because he was honestly a lot of fun to write. I wanted to bring in the canon from Omniverse where, unlike the aliens who work directly under Zs'Skayr, much of Anur actually thinks of the people outside of their system as monsters. We don't get a ton of development at times and I'm a stickler when it comes to things like that... except I didn't want to amp up the fear factor as much as the show played it for laughs.

As a result, Gorben ended up being this character to kind of tightrope between genuine fear and a rational understanding. He's a good guy and his people need the kind of firepower humans can wield against Fuse through imaginary energy, so he goes into the situation trying to set his feelings aside while also grasping that humans will either be scared of him as well or possibly even hate him for what Zs'Skayr has done... But then, the more he learns about humans, the more they kind of freak him out. XD

"What do you mean they're winning against Fuse? No one's won against Fuse!" "What do you mean they're beating him back through pure imagination and sheer will?" "Isn't that coffee stuff they drink literal poison to most species on their planet?!"

Then he sees Silya, and he not only realizes that she and most other humans are total lightweights compared to the majority of his own kind, but that, yes, he could, in fact, snap her in half if he wanted to. And he starts to feel bad... right up until he watches her take down a fusion monster two to three times her size and all of those walls of his immediately go back up.

I'd like to think that, mentally, he's both sides of this argument:

As the hours ticked by, she gave up on the idea of sleep completely and instead made plans to hurry to the base as soon as the satellite was repaired. Gorben had mentioned that others had made the trip to Earth with him. If that was true, they might need to send out a search party.

"How many people were with you?" she asked.

Gorben flinched at the suddenness of her question, "There were three of us from Anur. We hired a mercenary ship to get here, so there were maybe about a dozen of us altogether?"

That was a big group to get separated. "How'd you end up by yourself?"

"I was one of the last ones off the ship. I ended up taking an escape pod alone."

Guess there's not much of a reason to go to the crash site then, Silya thought, reflecting on the broken trees from earlier. The area would need to be cleared before some fusion spawn found the busted vessel and tried to make a new monster out of it, but again, that made hurrying to the base their biggest priority. She doubted that just the two of them would be able to move the pod.

Once the storm lightened up, they ventured outside again. It was only sprinkling now and the Cavern Wolves appeared to have scattered. Since she wouldn't be climbing anything this round, the young woman switched out her pistol for a shattergun. They carefully made their way back to the tower.

She didn't think to compare the ladder to Gorben's daunting own size until they arrived. "Are you going to be fine getting up there...?"

She felt he misinterpreted her concern. Gorben hefted himself up the rungs at a bullet's pace, stopping only to glance once over his shoulder to show that he was fine. She was half-baffled that the ladder held his weight, or that the conductors at his back didn't catch onto anything.

Meanwhile, that speed of his was nothing short of intimidating.

The Tetramand nano crossed his arms over his chest. "Do you think we can trust him?"

Picking up on her IE Donor's cautious stare, Poppy raised an encouraging fist. "Well, if he tries anything, I'll stop him in his tracks!"

"I can set him on fire," Aoi added, a little too proudly.

Brows furrowing, Silya hoped that the Transylian didn't have super-hearing too... She cut the trio off by giving them their orders. "Clutch, fly up there in case he needs any help. Poppy, Aoi, stand guard."

They took the hint and moved to their separate positions. After several quiet minutes, the young woman caught herself occasionally glancing at Gorben while she kept watch. Her back and legs had indeed begun to bruise from where he'd caught her fall. As grateful as she was, that had been him trying to help: Who knew what he was like when he tried to hurt.

She tried to remember all that she'd heard about the Anur system and its aliens. Most of that talk involved the ghostlike Ectonurite species or what a threat Zs'Skayr was. He supposedly attacked Earth and was beaten by the Tennysons years ago, back when Silya was still a kid. However, she didn't recall anything like that ever happening, so it might've been a contained incident.

Every now and then, Clutch glided back down to borrow a new tool out of the assortment she'd brought along and carried it to the Transylian. Gorben seemed to be making quick work of the repairs. Balancing her weapon on her shoulder, the young woman contacted the base through her nanocomm. "This is Silya. The satellite should be fixed up soon. Does anyone copy?"

"You're faint, but we hear you," came a male voice on the other end of the line, "What did the damage look like?"

"Worse than we expected." She briefly explained the situation. Once her story was finished, the other fusion fighter agreed to alert anyone else in the Haunted Ridge to look out for more aliens wandering around the woods.

"Nothing showed up on our sensors, but if they managed to break through Fuse's blockade, then that doesn't mean much," the soldier explained through a few seconds of static, "We'll keep scanning and get a team ready. Get back as soon as you can. And stay on your toes. Anur's a pretty isolated system. They don't like outsiders. All things considered, it's going to be hard to judge whether your new friend is really friendly or not."

That's what she'd been afraid of... If the Plumbers stationed there couldn't give her any further advice, then she would just have to rely on her gut. "Understood. With all luck, we'll be back within a few hours at the latest."

She hung up the call. Just as she lifted her head to tell Gorben that the signal was working, a scuttling shape in the darkness caught her eye. Aoi noticed it as well, chasing after it to launch a blue fireball. A vicious, animalistic screech tore through the shadows as the silhouette of an Alpha Arachnid erupted into view.

It dove for Silya. Throwing her body out of its range, she fired. It was enough to stall the monster, but not enough to take it down, so she quickly circled a nearby pine tree for cover. Long, stake-like arms pierced the air behind her as she pulled her body up its branches. Needles and bark exploded around her as the Alpha Arachnid struck the trunk.

She didn't need to climb up very high, just high enough to stand over the Alpha Arachnid's large form. She clenched her jaw as it stretched after her, jumping through its reaching limbs and landing on its back. Locking her legs around its abdomen, she let off a volley of fire at point-blank range.

A moment later, the monster collapsed. Silya braced herself as the wood gave way beneath her, careful not to touch the fusion matter that pooled from its fatal wound.

The pack was finally beginning to respawn. If they hung about for too long, they'd have more than one or two of the insectoids to deal with. Not eager to fight through them a second time, the young woman looked up to call out to Gorben yet again only to find him already staring down at her from the tower, frozen and wide-eyed.

When he snapped back to his senses, he jumped down. The patch of ground around them almost seemed to quake as he landed on his feet with a deep thud. He walked over and could only stare at the remains of the Alpha Arachnid for a few seconds, his eyes flickering to Silya, then down again.

"Well, I did what I could," he eventually muttered, "If you're ready to go, lead the way."

The two took a step away from each other as Silya stood back up. Then, a barely contained giggle burst out of Aoi. His eyes were flickering with mocking, impish delight, like a child keeping a secret or a fae watching some drama born from mischief. Both human and Transylian shot him a look, then prepared to leave the area.

Ducked under part of her jacket, her Demongo nano, Aoi, peeped out to spy on the ever-increasing rain with a sour expression. Maybe it was because he was basically a fire elemental, but he didn't enjoy getting wet, or at least not having anything poured over the flames on his head. It was only drizzling at the moment, but the occasional flash in the distance hinted at something worse coming soon. 

"Let us hurry and get this over with!" he frowned at her, "Sometimes, you pick the worst jobs!"

"I'm sorry I can't control the weather," she snarked back. If she had known that there would be a storm, she would've delayed setting out for at least another day. The Haunted Ridge was one of the worst places to receive any kind of news though. It was isolated, cast in constant darkness with little difference between day and night, and any kind of signal struggled to make it across the nearby mountains.

However, that was also exactly why fixing the satellite was so important to begin with. Fuse and his army had already wrecked a lot of communication networks when he first invaded the planet, so much so that Dexlabs had to make one entirely from scratch. With teams in this region being so scattered throughout the rough wilderness and so many threats lurking within its depths, they needed a fast and reliable way to reach out to each other.

Poppy, who had flown above them for a better look around, finally descended. The Buttercup nano pointed in the direction of the woods ahead. "I think I saw the satellite tower that way, but are you sure you know what you're doing?"

She wasn't confident initially, but the superiors who had asked her to go check it out said they didn't think the issue was anything major. There weren't any fusion monsters in its vicinity capable of damaging it and this storm was the first one that had cropped up in the while. Thanks to her experiences working at Dexlabs, if the problem was something small, she thought she could manage it.

"You could've swapped us out for any of the eggheads," Clutch, her mini Tetramand, said. "They'd have it fixed in a snap!"

And almost none of them were capable of roughing it in the great outdoors for very long. "I need you three to watch my back. There's no telling what we'll run into out here."

They entered the woods on foot, the tightly-packed trees and thick underbrush making it impossible to get to the satellite via hovercar. The tower was around a fifteen-minute walk from the campground. It was an old structure that too had been repurposed when the Fusion Fighters came to the Haunted Ridge, not much taller than the trees themselves. Unfortunately, it also lacked the rope grabs used in modern equipment.

"Spot me." The young woman practically held her breath as she began her careful climb up the tower's ladder. Her teammates stayed close to her side the entire time. Every now and then, she had to pause to brace herself against the wind, which only seemed the worsen the higher she went.

In hindsight, maybe she would've been better off bringing a nano with a rocket or recall power. 

Silya spotted the problem immediately and cringed. The satellite dish had snapped off the top of the tower and was now dangling uselessly by a thick cable, swinging in the wind. She hoped by some miracle that the cable was fine. She could snap the satellite back into position, but she wasn't sure about repairing a torn wire.

Clutch flew over to grab the dish and Poppy helped stabilize it. The damage was somehow worse than the young woman had thought. As the pair brought it to her face, while she noted that the dish was intact, it had a large indention in one side, as if something large had smashed into it. She could probably buff it out, but it would take time and she couldn't promise success. While the rain had washed much of it away, she also noticed... scorch marks?

"What...?" Just as Silya was about to point them out to the others, the nearby trees caught her eye as lightning struck in the distance. Something had crashed through them, tearing apart the canopy before landing deep within the forest.  

Distracted by the damaged dish and the worrying sight, she wasn't prepared when the wind suddenly picked up. A forceful gush pushed her sideways and her fingers slipped from the wet rungs. Clutch and Poppy had their hands full and Aoi wasn't strong enough to brace her weight by himself. The next thing she knew she was airborne. The wind carried her just far enough from the satellite that she couldn't grab back onto it before she fell.

She snapped her eyes shut. Knowing that she'd open them again at the nearest Resurrect 'Em did not make her feel any better.

There was no deadly landing. Silya winced as she fell into something and it was certainly hard enough to bruise, but whatever it was caught her in a cradling position, nesting her safely against its shape. This moment's good fortune, however, did not keep her nanos from panicking any less as they shouted her name.

It took her a second to get over her shock. As she lifted her gaze to tell them she was fine, she came face-to-face with the true source of their terror. Peridot eyes meet electric purple ones as she found herself trapped in the grasp of a humanoid with bolts in his shoulders, metal pillars protruding from his back, and a mean-mug. He towered over her small frame, a giant by any comparison.

She screamed. What she didn't expect was for the behemoth to scream back, dropping her at almost the same instant she tried to scramble out of his hold. She landed on her feet in a clumsy crouch, hurriedly backing away as she tore the pistol off her built. Her nanos dove down to join her side.

"I don't want a fight!" the stranger hurriedly protested, his hands raised in front of him.

Silya held her ground, unsure. The Haunted Ridge was known not only for its dark atmosphere, but for its paranormal phenomena. She wasn't about to blindly trust someone she'd randomly met in the woods.

There wasn't time to talk things out. A low rumble of a growl dragged their attention toward a group of cedars to Silya's left. The woods seemed to come to life, walls of bark shifting in the darkness until multiple red eyes began to appear. There was the clank of metal and a digger claw of a foot stepped out from the shadows.

Cavern Wolves moved toward them—not just the usual two or three hunters, but an entire pack. The young woman cursed under her breath, wondering if their screams earlier may have attracted them. She tried to keep track of where each of the fusion monsters stood as they attempted to circle their prey.

When the last one crept out, she gave her command, "Stun and Gun!"

Her nanos moved in-sync to the ready strategy. Poppy launched her Miss Fire at the pack while Clutch and Aoi simultaneously used Overpower and Demon's Fire on the nearest monsters. Combined with Silya's own firepower, the first wolf was taken down almost immediately.

One of the wolves that hadn't been in-range of the stun attack lunged at the stranger. Due to his size, he was able to hold the monster off, its claws scraping at his protective gauntlets, raw strength against raw strength. Suddenly, the pillars on his back sparked with a purple energy. It coursed through his body, channeled, through his arms, and electrocuted the monster.

There were too many to beat one by one. Silya yellled at him to follow her, "This way!"

She led the retreat back to the campground. They hadn't even made it to the clearing when they heard howling behind them. Ever the predator, the Cavern Wolves would hunt them down like an easy meal. She ordered Poppy to the back to get ready to stun them again and for the others to keep going.

The Alpha Arachnids still hadn't respawned in the area when they made it to the cabins. Silya raced up the steps of the nearest one and pressed her nanocomm over the lock. She heard a click and bludgeoned the old door open with her shoulder.

Poppy appeared at the edge of the tree line, swerving as she flew to avoid the claws and teeth at her back. Only three Cavern Wolves jumped into the clearing after her. Clutch and Aoi swapped out with her with a ready defense, the latter casting flames in a long trail to cut the monsters off where they stood.

"Inside! Now!"

They obeyed: First, the stranger, his large steps almost rattling the porch and they boomed past her, and then her teammates. Silya entered the cabin last, slamming the door shut and reactivating its locks. That should've been enough, but the stranger shoved cabinet in front of the entrance for good measure.

They stood silent for a long moment, hearing the raking of the Cavern Wolves' feet against the porch. Something broke—maybe a railing—and they waited to see if the fusion monsters would try to break in. A large silhouette passed one of the windows and they shuffled toward the center of the room, keeping watch of each other's backs.

Finally, the sounds faded a little and they relaxed. However, once they were able to catch their breath, a new unease fell over them. At the same time, both sides realized they were locked in the cabin together.

...

They kept the lanternlight low. There was a chance that a fusion monster might see it through the windows, attracting them again, and anything too bright seemed to hurt the stranger's eyes, as if they'd grown used to the dark for a lot longer than hers. They sat in the floor, having taken out some of the stashed supplies to relieve a bit of the awkwardness that hung thick in the air. While Silya's nanos took turns drying themselves off with a towel, she set up ration heaters to warm a few MRE packs. The stranger remained quiet.

By now, the storm was on top them. Even if the Cavern Wolves had completely left the area, it wasn't a good idea to go out.

This would be just her luck: Trapped in the middle of a dark forest; in the rain; with a big, creepy, shirtless guy... If it was any consolation—not really—he looked almost as uneasy about the whole situation as she did. Every time he met her eyes, he'd pull them away again, directing them anywhere else in the room as if he were a scolded puppy facing a stern Dobermann. 

Or more like an uncomfortable Dobermann facing a growling Pomeranian...   

Her nanos also seemed at a loss for what to do. Whatever he was, he wasn't human. Maybe he could've been once, because he actually looked like an Underworlder, except he had four fingers on each hand instead of the typical five. His steampunk-like outfit actually seemed to be meshed with his body, with and one of two gauntleted arms appearing scarred or stitched together. The other arm was covered in a black, skintight sleeve. Despite his currently mild demeanor, his body was toned as though he were built for combat. It was hard to know what to make of him.

She figured they might as well start by introducing themselves. "I'm Silya. This is my team, Poppy, Aoi, and Clutch. And you are...?"

"Gorben," he said after a second's hesitation, then he became mute and evasive again. A crash of thunder gave him an excuse to stare out the nearest window.

Right... So, she guessed the two of them would just be sitting here in silence all night, listening for the cries of the Cavern Wolves in case they tried to break in again.

Registering her continued, heavy stare, the stranger flinched and at last began to explain, "I'm a Transylian. When word reached the Anur system about Earth's success against the invasion, a few others and I were told to sneak on-world and try to get into contact with the Plumbers. We didn't think about a blockade though. We crash landed and got separated."

There was a limit to what Silya could take at his word. She didn't know what a Transylian was, but the Anur system had come up in discussion on several of her assignments. She knew that it was one of the few systems that had survived Fuse's invasion a long time ago by keeping the fighting to a stalemate. She also knew that its denizens had allied with Fuse, and that one of its rulers—the alien behind Ghostfreak's DNA sample—was a menace in his own right.

"We're on your side, I swear! Not all of us in Anur bow to Zs'Skayr and I can't think of anyone who'd willingly bow to Fuse! There's still places on our worlds left in ruin from when he attacked us." Reading into her leery expression, Gorben was quick to defend himself. His hands curled into fists in his lap. "But you humans can actually hurt him. No one else has managed to do that."

At least hearing that his people had their own vendetta against the alien goop lord made some kind of sense. Most of the help Earth was receiving from off-world wasn't purely out of charity. There were plenty of civilizations that wanted to take out the intergalactic threat.

Aoi floated close to Silya's ear with a giggle, "I think you're scaring him."

"Shut it," she hushed back. Scaring him? He was easily three heads taller than her and could crush her like a soda can!

Nevertheless, whether it was because of her, his missing companions, or the fusion monsters prowling outside, Gorben was clearly nervous. Since he'd saved her from a bad fall and they could cover for each other if more monsters showed up, she decided to give him a benefit of a doubt.

"There's a Fusion Fighter base not too far from here," she told him, "I can take you there, but I've got to fix that satellite you saw first. And that's going to have to wait until after the storm calms down. Maybe you can survive a lightning bolt, but I'm not sure if I can."

He nodded, relieved.

Good thing I rented a hovercar this time... The vehicle only had one seat, but it was capable of handling heavier loads than most other available rentals, so he could probably ride behind her.

Unexpectedly, the Transylian offered, "Maybe I could help you fix it." He paused awkwardly as she gave him a more curious look, then added, "I've done repairs. I should be able to do it."

After thinking it over for a moment, Silya agreed to let him help. The storm wasn't letting up anytime soon though and she would prefer to be out there, weapon ready, in case they got swarmed again.

Taking advantage of his moment's astonishment, she quickly gave her orders, "Skully, I need you on guard. Aoi, make sure no souls actually escape the building. Risk, you're up!"

Risk had a sonic attack that could harm foes across a wide area. Ideally, she'd rather not have him use it in close quarters like this, but with Aoi on wrangling-duty, that didn't leave them with many options.

However, the Boogieman was not so hesitant with the Soulos and their explosive power. Gritting his teeth, he moved back behind them, "What are you waiting for? An invitation?! C-clear the way even if you have to blast them to bits!"

One of the three fusion monsters ambled forward, calling a Soulo Shell into its hand. The living bomb laughed in-sync with its creator and was hurled at Silya and her team. Cutting down the first Shell was easy—all it usually took was one hit, so long as they were destroyed before they could detonate—but three more soon followed. She sliced through the second and third, then sensed a massive presence overhead and scooped up the fourth. She threw it upward and tossed herself out of the way just in time when the Shell erupted and the large jackal it struck in her place fell right where she'd been standing. It howled in anger, now missing a granite leg and no less deterred.

In the distant background, Silya could hear an alarm blaring from somewhere. Now that she'd caught her culprits, she hoped someone would find them before the stone guardians tore them apart first. She risked another glance down to the level below to check on Jack, who was holding his ground against Fusion Grim better than she would've thought. The two scythes clashed hard enough to send sparks flying and he was so consumed with the fight that he hadn't seemed to notice the rockfall.

The Soulos reorganized themselves. One continued to lob its explosive creations at the team to keep Silya busy while the other two spread out to either attack her from the side or deal with the additional threats. One of the latter didn't last long. As the Soulo farthest to her right closed in on the damaged jackal, expecting an easy victory, the jackal suddenly threw itself forward. It pinned the fusion monster to the ground with the whole of its weight and immediately targeted the throat.

Getting another creeping feeling from behind, Silya shouted, "Risk!"

A red blur dove close to her head as the Him nano centered himself between their enemies. He released a bellowing laugh that seemed to shake almost the entire platform they were standing on. The powerful sonic waves pushed their opponents back, but wasn't enough to do serious damage. It mostly bought Silya a split second to charge ahead, cutting around the monsters in front of her to directly target Boogie.

Caught covering his ears, the Underworlder released a surprised squeak. This particular blade was useful against the undead and similar forces, but dull by design. In the nick of time, Boogie manage to catch the end of it with a swift clasp of his claws that appeared to bewilder the both of them. Astonishment turned to a dark, prideful smirk as he then tried to lurch the weapon out of her grasp.

His arms bulged to an unnatural degree as he again shapeshifted, pouring more strength into his grip. Silya gritted her teeth as she fought to keep her sword. She risked losing her balance entirely when Aoi snuck up on the Boogieman from behind and cast a small fireball. It ignited his clothes, startling him enough that he let go with one hand. The young woman drove her foot into his knee with a fierce kick to break away. She nodded to Aoi to let him know she could handle the fight from there and that he should return to the task she'd given him.

From the looks of it, he'd already wrangled most of the souls into circles of flames that hovered above their heads. It was an eerie sight—and a part of her worried that she was only risking tempting him, like telling a child to prepare a table of sweets—but he'd done a good job. Skully and Risk effortlessly weaved themselves around the stone guardians, who soon turned their attention to the much easier, closer targets that were the two remaining Soulos.

One of the monsters managed to successfully plant a Shell inside the mouth of the jackal that attacked it. The living bomb went off before the guardian could think to break it, its jaw going slack while more flecks of rock rained down to the levels below. Jack's annoyed cry rose to meet them, "Watch it up there!"

The Boogieman put himself out, not paying attention to Silya looming over him until the last minute. Once he'd dealt with the fire, he looked up from the ground to find her blade aimed for her throat and gulped. His gaze flickered back and forth between her and the stone guardians, as if debating which threat what the worst. "Hey, come on! Let's try to be rational," he chuckled nervously, "We'll all be Fido's chew toys if we don't scramble! C-can't we just postpone the swordplay for now?"

Silya narrowed her eyes at him. She was getting really sick of every demon-like entity on the planet treating her life like a game. Seeing him flounder between a bullying, false bravado and pure cowardice only irritated her more. "I've already died more than once. My team can bring me back," she answered darkly, "Can you say the same?"

Squish!

The loud, gooey splatter jolted her out of her growing anger. Silya's mind went to the worst possible outcome and she spun around, "Jack?!"

Jack was alright: Although he had a few acidic burns, it wasn't his head she needed to worry about. There was large pool of fusion matter where Grim's doppelganger once stood, his body having rapidly disintegrated following his defeat. The expression of vengeful satisfaction on the immortal's face rattled her a bit.

Boogie took advantage of the distraction. Pushing himself off of the ground, he shoved her aside as he returned to his usual form and attempted to run between the Soulos and stone guardians. He'd barely planted a foot on the stairs leading to the levels above when a quartet of unfamiliar voices blocked his path. Support had arrived.

Of course, it was no picnic for anyone to try to explain their presence to the Underworld authorities. However, between Jack's snappy wit, Silya's verification as a veteran fusion fighter, and the clear evidence of fusion matter smeared across the walls, they were able to prove their innocence well-enough. All focus turned to capturing the Boogieman and repairing the damages caused during the fight, with Silya using Dexter's reputation to hide behind for the time-being. All that was left was to wait as the authorities made a few calls before they could be released.

Glad that the worst of things was finally over, standing back outside of the judicial building, Silya pulled her arms back in a long stretch. The Boogieman had no power or influence to pull the stunt that he did. The people he'd paid off to help him and the fusions to cover up the stolen souls of fusion fighters would be caught eventually. With this, hopefully no one else would end up an unsuspecting victim of a broken soul contract.

"Finally, I can actually enjoy my retirement," she sighed to her nanos after putting away her weapons, "I just can't wait to go home and scrub all of this makeup off."

A loud snort erupted behind her. Silya glanced around to find Jack with his back to her, stifling a laugh.

"...The makeup comes off. Right, Jack?"

The immortal darted away faster than Silya could react. Right when she attempted to give chase, a green flash of fiery light behind her made her made her jump. A bony hand emerged from it and gripped her sternly by the shoulder. 

"I s'pose we know who t' blame for teachin' ya how t' trick death, don't we?"

...

"This is the second time he's pranked you like this. At this point, it's your own fault for thinking he wouldn't play the long game."

Back in what should've been the comforts of their new home, Silya sat neck-deep in a bathtub filled with bubbles and floating splatters of dark face paint. She'd already been soaking for a while and barely half of it was off her face: The other, clear cheek was practically rubbed raw from how fiercely she and her nanos had been trying to scrub it off.

Her Dee Dee and Juniper Lee nanos took turns sudsing her face and wiping it down. At first, they found the whole mess funny: Now, after going at it for over an hour, they began to attack the makeup with the same fierceness they might have used against fusion monsters on the battlefield. Silya could hear barely hidden snickers of laughter from the cracked doorway as other members of her team occasionally checked in. Meanwhile, Skully, Aoi, and Risk kept themselves an appropriate distance away as they recapped the recent events.

Grim had given her an earful about tricking him and going off on her own. She'd argued back that he hadn't given her much of a chance to state her case before sinking his scythe into her. Maybe she should've waited for the 'proper procedures' and for someone with more experience in the Underworld's affairs to solve this whole mess; however, if she had, she likely would've been swiped away with the rest of the souls his fusion had tried to creep off with.

Either way, there was so much that could've gone wrong. From what Dexter explained to her after she'd made her report, officials would be combing over every record of those who left the Fusion Fighters to make sure that everyone was accounted for—alive. Silya had personally been making calls to some other retirees she knew of to make sure that they were alright. 

"It doesn't feel like it's been that long since we took out Fusion Demongo last time," Risk mused aloud, "and yet he's already back to scheming. You at least have to admire his work ethic..."

Aoi crossed his arms, holding his head high, "While he may be an inferior copy, he is still a copy of the great Demongo. It's little wonder Fuse favors him."

"It's likely tanks t' his demonic side dat he's able t' spawn back int' de world faster den more other fusions," Skully offered, "His personal memories might be more intact, like ours."

Silya lowered herself deeper into the pile of bubbles as she silently thought things over. After the way their side had stolen back the souls that Fusion Demongo took and returned Earth's missing heroes to the world, she also wouldn't have figured that he'd jump to a similar plan so soon. Then again, the Fusion Fighters had to sabotage constant efforts to build up Fusion Demongo's might in the past. The ability to steal the strength of others and force them to join an eternal army was overpowered to say the least. She could see why Fuse wouldn't want to give up on that power, even though Earth's forces had already bested it once.

Fuse didn't typically rope members of other species into his schemes, especially the Earthlings he was currently targeting—not unless he and his fusions were simply manipulating others into doing what they wanted. This plan with the Boogieman though was a bit different than usual. Moreover, the quiet cunning with which it was enacted was scary. When Silya had encountered Fusion Demongo, he'd come off as just as boastful and arrogant as the original. That played a large role in how they were able to beat him.

If he did build up an army again, if he did get stronger and tempered that pride...

"Maybe the next fight won't be so easy."

Hearing this, her nanos paused. Realization slowly dawning, Aoi began to beam with excitement.

The war was everywhere. No one could escape it completely, but Silya had at least thought that her days fighting on the frontlines were over. She thought she was fine going back to being a normal civilian, because it wasn't as if there had ever been anything special about her in the first place. She wasn't a genius like Dexter, or a spy like members of the KND, or a superhero like the Powerpuff Girls. She was just someone who got caught up in a freak accident and felt like she had to finish the battle she'd joined back in that ruined future.

Clearly, her fight wasn't over. She'd tried to walk away and, while she may have been far from the only target, Fusion Grim and Demongo had aimed at her personally. The role of 'civilian' was not going to protect her or her team, and she was not about to take a hit like this lying down. She'd have to pick up her shattergun and take on the role of fusion fighter once more.

....Besides, it wouldn't hurt to keep her soul tied to the Resurrect 'Ems. Just in case.

END OF TRANSMISSION

It was just the two of them in there until a familiar face entered. Amit, a fellow research participant, smiled at her as he stepped through the door. Although they saw each other far less often than before due to their separate roles in the Fusion Fighters, they still maintained a close friendship. "Here for an appointment too?"

Silya nodded, then asked, "Where's your team?"

“Already with the scientists. When did you get here?”

"Probably around an hour ago." She checked the time on her nanocomm. Beni's check-up likely wrapped up so quickly thanks to his more agreeable nature and limited powers. He acted as both a medic and cook for her team, so there was little need to test his combat ability. The others would take a while longer still, but she wasn't sure when they'd be finished since it all depended on how many tests the scientists wanted to conduct.

Amit quietly calculated the time in his own head. After a moment, he suggested, "Do you want to take a walk? I heard the bots outside have some new jetbike rentals. Or we could grab something from the convenience store down the block."

Silya cast a sidelong glance at Beni, reluctant. Although someone would let her know via comm when her other two nanos' tests were done, it was better if she didn't go too far. Somewhere within the facility's grounds would be fine, but she was also hesitant to drag Beni with them or leave him by himself. He could get nervous around strangers, so if somebody else walked into the room while she wasn't there, she wasn't sure how he'd handle it.

"Maybe just a quick circle around the labs," she compromised. Amit agreed, offering to hold the door open for her as they began to walk out.

Before they could leave, however, Silya heard the rustle of papers behind her. She looked back a second time to find Beni gathering his drawings into his arms in a messy pile.

She raised a brow, "Do you want to come with us?"

He nodded rapidly.

With a faint smile, she momentarily turned back to help him tuck the papers away. Beni's own grin widened and he muttered as he floated close to her head, "Gracias."

Despite this, he kept himself a few steps behind them as they moved. The young woman couldn't help but partly blame herself for the distance. Since he didn't play as heavy a role as some of the others did on the team, Beni was often sidelined—especially when they were stuck in the Future. While her Buttercup, Numbuh Two, and Eddy nanos regularly had fought alongside her on missions, Beni stayed at ration depos where his skills were best utilized. It had been the most logical strategy at the time, but it meant that he got used to being alone. Now that they were back in the past, growing their team and taking on a wider variety of assignments, maybe he could be more involved. 

Trying not to exclude him, Amit voiced over his shoulder, "It's been a while since I've had your fries. I've been missing them. Do you still make them?"

His grin growing wider, Beni nodded a second time. Along with the imaginary food he could create for healing, back in the Future, he'd gotten pretty good at throwing together a meal despite the limited resources everyone had. He experimented with more recipes now, but fries were his specialty.

Eventually, they reached a long observation window revealing one of the more public labs. On a normal day, this area would've been open for tours. Today, this specific part of the facility was being used for some of the nanos' tests. A group of Dexbots and scientists guided them through multiple, simple fitness exercises without the use of their powers. Silya and Amit tried to find their own teammates among them, but they must've been with another group.

"Looks like they scheduled a lot of people for today."

"Can you blame them? The research team was practically drooling when we brought those blueprints." The young woman didn't envy the scientists' jobs one bit. Earth's survival hinged on the Nano Project's success and imaginary energy wasn't the easiest subject of study. They'd been working nonstop ever since the Dexlabs' labrats returned from their jump through time.

"Still, it kinda makes me feel bad that we're the only ones getting a break," Amit countered with a knowing twinge of a smirk. 

"What break?"

Silya was about to quip at him a little more when an alarm cut her off, nearly making the trio jump out of their skin. Beni squeezed himself against his IE Donor's back to hide. It wasn't the first time they'd heard Dexlab's emergency system—it had actually gone off an egregious number of times since their employments—but it had been a while and it was the first time they'd heard it since joining the Fusion Fighters. The flashing alarm lights and the sound of mechanical locks clicking underneath the blaring sirens as the facility shut down weren't as easy for them to shrug off as the result of a bot gone haywire or DeeDee breaking in.

"Facility on lockdown. Repeat. Facility on lockdown," Computress' voice filtered through an intercom, "All visitors, please follow the instructions of nearby personnel. All personnel near Assembly, please secure doors and remain where you are."

Assembly. That was one of the newer sections of Dexlabs, brought about for the mass production of machines and weaponry following the initial days of Fuse's invasion. At first, Dexlabs' scientists and engineers made a lot more robots and tanks to combat the toxic army of fusion monsters. That had backfired spectacularly, but the automated lines were kept active; fashioning equipment and smaller vehicles for individual soldiers. It was still an integral resource. 

Had a fusion snuck in to sabotage the lines? Were they being attacked?

Either way, Silya and Amit rushed toward Assembly. All Dexlabs staff was familiar with the various tunnels, tubes, and passages that connected each section of the facility. Thanks to their experiences crawling around shuttered and dilapidated buildings in the Future, anywhere they didn't get through with their clearance or thanks to the locked doors, they snuck around using the vents. Nothing, however, could've prepared either of the two fusion fighters for the sight that awaited them when they reached the area.

It was chaos, but not thanks to any monster that had managed to sneak inside the building. It was their boss, Dexter. Their ever articulate, ever stiff and straitlaced leader was swinging from the railings of one of the assembly line catwalks as if it was a series of monkey bars—howling like a wildman with his glasses miraculously hanging onto his face, if barely. His pristine labcoat and shirt were gone. He was missing a shoe. Several meters beneath him, a small crowd of Dexbots had stretched out a tarp to try to catch him if they fell. Meanwhile, a few scientists standing on the catwalk did everything in their power to try to beckon their employer onto the safety of the platform without success.

Silya and Amit absorbed the scene for a minute. Then, Amit raised up his wrist, pressed a few buttons on his nanocomm, and took a quick picture.  

This was the kind of thing Silya enjoyed most about being a research participant, trying out all kinds of innovations—granted, it wasn't anything new or groundbreaking, like the time-travel experiment or Nano Project. She hadn't expected anyone to ask her to test anything outside of Dexlabs either, but she and two other labrats she worked with, Naomi and Ella, had been passing through Peach Creek when they got the request. Now, all three of them were in matching suits of different colors, spotting each other as they took on a mix of Pesky Ponies and fusion spawns.

"On your left!" Naomi's warning was unnecessary. A holographic alert flashed within the corner of Silya's full-faced helmet, letting her know about the charging quadruped at almost the same instant. The fusion monster was a bit larger than the others, so she swerved out of the way. Its vacuum nozzle of a mouth launched out at her at the last second and she stumbled further back. Unable to turn fast enough, it raced harmlessly past her.

They were in a nearly vacant field wide enough to give both sides plenty of room to run circles around each other. It wasn't far from the suburbs; what might've been a plot emptied for further development at some point but was left overgrown. The nearest homes were only a minute-or-two walk away, with drainage pipes feeding an unnatural, rainwater pond. With no obstacles in its path, the Pesky Pony just slowed, trotting in a U-turn to face the fusion fighters once more.

They'd decided not to bring their nanos with them. Peach Creek was relatively safe and the trio could cover each other's backs against the weaker monsters that typically roamed the area. Besides, for their evaluations to be as accurate as possible, they wanted to handle the monsters for themselves. For that same reason, they mostly kept their weapons at their sides, not drawing them except in the case of a surprise attack or to deal the final blow.

Silya took notes in her head throughout the fight. Mobility. None of them seemed to have any issues there. Even though their bodies were covered from head to foot in heavy material, the armor wasn't too stiff or cumbersome. Silya evaded the mob with ease, imagining herself as a matador, in her blazing red gear, as she dodged the same Pesky Pony a second time. A blurry orb went flying as Naomi—dressed in blue—kicked away one of the spawns like a soccer ball. The group's green Dynamo, Ella, had managed to grabble one of the other Ponies and was splayed atop its table torso, her gloved hands wrapped around its elastic hose of a 'neck' as if she meant to twist it into a knot.

Durability and Absorption. Although the Fusion Fighters' armorers thoroughly tested both before even allowing anyone to wear the suits, these were always the riskiest to analyze, especially faced against toxic monsters. They had to get hit. A spawn suddenly leapt at Silya from a nearby patch of tall grass. She instinctively raised an arm to block the attack, its sharp fangs struggling to sink into the thick gauntlet while an acidic spray akin to drool rolled off its surface. She heard a faint hiss as fusion matter attempted to burn through the armor, but as she ripped the spawn off of her, she only saw the tiniest of scratches left behind by its teeth. She held it up by its headtail and, before it could ooze from her grasp, swung it at the Pony that had been chasing her for the past few minutes. A mechanical whine whirred from the latter as it accidentally sucked up part of the spawn's goopy form, bucking wildly. 

Weight. It was one of Silya's few complaints about the armor. Nevertheless, it wasn't one she could reasonably put to paper—she just wasn't a fan of heavy armor in general. She wasn't the strongest, so it always wore down her stamina in a short amount of time. She also hated how blind and caged she felt in most helmets. The Dynamo suit was probably one of the better sets she'd worn. Save for the bulkier gauntlets, its weight was distributed evenly across her body and it wasn't unbearably heavy. However, again, the helmet was a completely different story, built with so many functions that it felt almost like she was wearing a bobblehead. Its tracking system was also a blessing and a curse; useful until multiple alerts danced across the visor in a distracting parade of holograms. 

After clearing the fusion monsters out of the area, the three young women stepped over to each other and removed their helmets for a much-needed breather. Three sweaty faces with long, tangled manes of hair appeared, chuckling at their own, tired appearances. 

Naomi was almost a head shorter than the other two. Light, cotton candy pink locks stuck to her equally fair skin. Maybe her hair used to be blonde, but Silya had only ever known it to be pink. Her eyes were a watery blue, almost perfectly matching the Dynamo suit she was wearing. Ella was a handful of centimeters taller than Silya, and she had cool, medium-dark skin; rich, brown eyes; and springy hair that she usually kept styled in a bun. Since the two were the type that could get along with just about anyone, she found herself easily meshing with them whenever they happened to meet up. 

"How long have we been at this?" Ella asked, then nodded at the piles of fusion matter and broken wood and appliances around them, "How many does that make?"

"Don't know. Lost count," Naomi replied.

The pink-haired woman looked to Silya, who just shrugged, equally as lost on the numbers. Perhaps they were treating it too much like a game, but they needed some levity and it was hard for them not to feel at least a little playful in their current gear. Almost all of Dexlabs' research participants had some kind of adventurous streak and had grown-up watching the Powerpuff Girls and other heroes on the news. All things considered, the Dynamo suits felt more like cosplay than armor.

"Well, I think it's safe to say these are a success," Naomi continued, pointedly bouncing her helmet once in her hands. "Should we call it a day?"

Silya looked to where the sun was in the sky, guessing the time. "Probably. It'll take a bit to write our reports and I need to get back to my nanos." Technically, she could call them from anywhere that had a nano station, but she'd sent her current team to the Treehouse in Sector V and said she'd meet them there. 

Her friend nodded in understanding. It was strange to think that, less than a few months ago, all of them only really had to worry about themselves, their biggest concerns being their paychecks and whether or not any of Dexter's experiments would go haywire on them. Now, they all had nanos that had quickly become something akin to family to them in the bleak world that was the Future. In small ways, it'd changed them. 

In others, they were the same eccentric labrats they were when they'd first met. The corner of Ella's lips lifted in a small grin as she suggested, "We're still stopping at Burger Frenzy, right?"

Another round of nods answered her, this time with more enthusiasm. Before Professor Utonium had contacted them, they'd actually meant to take the chance to reconnect after what felt like an age apart. Sometimes, Silya met the others, separately, but she hadn't hung out with Naomi and Ella since everyone returned to the Present.

They'd only just turned around and begun to pass the pond when they heard a scraping in the earth. None of them had the chance to turn around when something rammed into Silya from behind. She went flying forward, landing in the water with the sound of gunfire and a muffled thud erupting behind her.

The large Pesky Pony that had chased her around hadn't had the fight knocked out of it quite yet. Whether it was because the last attack wasn't enough or because the spawn Silya had hurled its way merged with it to give its scrapped together body new life, it had shuffled up on broken table legs and made one more attempt to trample her before the other two fusion fighters put it down for good. The trio stared at it for a moment, making sure that it and the other Ponies didn't get back up.

Naomi couldn't help but snort as she turned to face Silya, taking in her soaked-through appearance. Her eyes squinted with a wince of concern, "Are you ok?"

Silya had gotten over her daze from the blow quickly. Righting herself into a sitting position, pulling her arms free from a tangle of weeds, she thumped her chest-plate with a closed fist. Absorption. It had taken the blunt charge like a dream. "You were right. I think we can give the armor a pass."

She searched for her helmet, which had landed just ahead of her—fully submerged, but only barely, with its bright red patterns making it pop beneath the surface of the pond. She crawled over to it, her mouth twisting as she poured out a stream of water. She hoped the visor wasn't damaged...

Ella waded in after her. "Here, let me help you up."

Silya was able to stand in the pond on her own just fine, but for a moment, her foot felt wedged in the muddy earth beneath her. Ella moved into the water until it reached her calves, stretching out to brace her friend. There was a suctioning sensation and Silya's leg finally pulled free.

The water quickly evaporated in the midday heat, leaving dirty smears on the armor. Silya could feel where it had leaked through to the bodysuit underneath her gear, nevertheless leaving her chilled. She took a look at herself, then found the two other young women staring at her, wide-eyed, as if they'd seen a cryptid emerge from the pond in her place. "What?"

Wait. She felt it now: A presence that wasn't that before, clinging to her back. She turned her head slowly, casting a glance over her shoulder. Her nose was hardly a breath away from a round, red face with seven bulbous fisheyes and a wide, all-consuming mouth. It wasn't a fusion monster.

It yipped a high-pitched gurgle of a sound at her.

Silya whirled around in a voiceless panic, arms flying back to try to claw the creature off of her. The sudden jerk of motion was enough to pry it away, but as it fell, it captured her leg instead, hanging on with a tight grip until she lashed out with her other foot. The impact sounded almost like a kickball striking a gym floor and it landed back in the water with a splash.

"Where...?!" Silya sprang up from the ground, racing to try to get her bearings. There were no windows and the hall outside of the cell was so dim that she couldn't see the end of it. However, in the quiet, she could just barely make out the patter of heavy rainfall. The storm from earlier had lifted, but not fully disappeared, so she hoped that they were still somewhere within the Haunted Ridge, wherever here was. As far as she was knew, none of the structures within the wood had this kind of futuristic look.

There wasn't any lingering pain from the attack, but her weapon and her nanocomm were both missing. There was nothing in the cell that they could use to fight off their captors or any obvious control panel to try to override. Another sealed cell stood across from theirs. Although the Skyway Agent was nowhere to be seen, there were three other humans—all dressed differently, but Silya suspected that they were all fusion fighters—locked up.  

Gwen brought a finger to her lips, motioning for Silya to keep her voice low as she turned to face her. "It looks like those missing mercenaries of yours found us instead. I think we're on their ship."  

"You're sure?" It wasn't that she didn't believe Gwen. It was simply all she could ask. Her mind was still trying to catch up. Weren't the mercenaries on the Anur aliens' side and weren't they just supposed to bring the trio to Earth? Well, she supposed the answer was in the job description: Mercenaries didn't necessarily have loyalties to anyone. She didn't want to assume yet that the Anur aliens themselves had anything to do with this—although that was still an option. Maybe the mercenaries figured that their work was done the minute they dropped onto the planet, but even in that case, why go out of their way to target Earthlings? Surely Fuse wouldn't have attacked their ship if they'd somehow struck a deal with him.

"Fuse's blockade might prevent a lot of aliens from touching down on Earth, but there have been more attempted abductions since the war started. Some see the invasion like a closing window, in the event we go extinct." Gwen's explanation to that unspoken question was unsparing. "Certain species see humans as... 'delicacies.'" Her tone dipped on that final word, hinting toward some experience.

The other young woman went still, panic slowly rising in a way that it hadn't since the time-travel incident. So, what then... They were treating the invasion like a fire sale? 'Come and get them while they last?!' Her lips curled in disgust, her imagination working overtime against her as ideas of their abductors' intensions entered her mind.

Gwen called her name twice to snap her out of her it. "We need to get everyone out of here before the ship takes off. Do you have anything to fight back with?"

The only thing Silya had left on her was her Spinal-ARCH. The device was hidden under her clothes, meshed to her body, so their captors likely didn't think to remove it. She was glad that they hadn't. The technology was still relatively new and there was no telling what the consequences would be if somebody tried to forcibly rip it off of her back. 

The Spinal-ARCH used her imaginary energy and pre-existing data to manifest various creations from her body. The issue was that most of said creations were closer to costumes than true extensions of herself. For example, there was one code for butterfly wings, but they couldn't bear a person's full weight enough to lift them more than a couple of centimeters off the ground for a second. She tried to think of anything in her datalog that would even be remotely useful. 

There was one thing... An Underworlder called Nergal had been almost elated to help work on the Spinal-ARCHs. The data he volunteered to the project allowed fusion fighters to manifest dark tentacles similar to his. These were a stark exception to the usual rule, as they were fully capable of lashing out on command like an additional set of limbs. However, they also... kind of had a mind of their own...

They really didn't have a lot of options. Closing her eyes, Silya recalled the shuddering feeling of something pebbled and warm—like snakes basking in the sun—creeping along her back. A familiar tingle coursed through her bones as the Spinal-ARCH activated. Four black tentacles with a dark emerald sheen emerged over her clothes, tethered to the device via mental connection. They stretched and coiled in the air, testing the limits of their range.

Then two of them looped around Silya's neck. She felt one of them slide up and down her cheek while the other rested along her collarbone. It felt almost as if they were purring, as though they were glad to be called to her side after so long. The tentacles weren't really sentient, but they sometimes acted like they were, which made them unreliable. She couldn't count the number of times they'd reacted or grabbed onto something without her input, and the strange shows of affection they made were beyond her.

She then looked around. There was a vent cover high above them. The ends of the tentacles split apart like sharp fingers, grabbing it and pulling it free. Gwen created a stairwell of mana for them to reach it and Silya snapped the cover back into place behind them.

"They took your nanocomm too, didn't they?" she asked.

Gwen nodded, then led the way deeper into the vents. Ideally, they needed to get the devices back. It was the most direct means of contacting other fusion fighters and Silya's connected to all of her equipment.

Whether the ship's lights were low due to some damage taken or if they were left low from traveling with their Anur system clients, the pair had to crawl through near total darkness. Several minutes of aimless wandering eventually brought them in-range of an argument echoing from some kind of common room.

"...wasn't a town! That was a base, you dolt!" a gruff voice barked, "This is exactly why I told you to wait!"

"Hey, technically, I didn't attack the base! They were outside of it," a synthesized, garbled voice countered, "And it's not like anyone saw me."

"Well, thank the stars for small favors!" the first alien shot back sarcastically before continuing his rant, "I swear, if the Plumbers catch on, I'm throwing you straight into the line of fire!"

The two women wriggled close to peer into the room though a grate. Three of the mercenaries stood below them: A giant, orc-like alien with orange skin and pinchers framing his jawline; an ichthyoid with a respirator covering the lower-half of his face; and a tailless reptilian with cybernetic features.

The reptilian got between the larger and smaller aliens, "Enough! What's done is done, but no more risky moves. We're lucky that it isn't uncommon for people to go missing in the area. Let's just finish the repairs as soon as we can and grab what we can before we're noticed."

Gwen and Silya shared a look. They needed to escape the vessel before it took off. If they died here, at least they had the security of the Resurrect 'Ems to rely on. The same couldn't be said if they died off-planet. If the mercenaries slipped past the blockade a second time, that would likely be the end of it. Moreover, if they didn't make it through, then they'd just be left at Fuse's mercy—out of the frying pan and into the fire!

Once the mercenaries parted ways, Gwen gave her orders, "I'll try to sabotage those repairs. You try to find a way around to free the others."

Silya reluctantly agreed to split up. She may not have liked the idea of it, but it was their best chance to get everyone out of there quickly. They waited for the trio of mercenaries to leave before slipping out of the vents.