The Search

Avant Gardens

Raven's Bluff

Krill Matthias

Sergeant Ghost Mustache

Intrepid Fusion Eclipse

Rover

Blade

Dark, daunting shadows danced across the landscape of Forbidden Valley and a lone Sentinel Samurai stepped out of the shadows. From an overlook she surveyed the Dark Ronin stalking the abandoned fields, while in the distance horsemen pounded across the landscape and distant dragons ruled the
skies.

She dropped down into the clearing and brandished her sword, its gray glint reflecting the Darneu in the sky, and charged towards the Dark Ronin.
Weapons clanged, she moved fast and silently, and one-by-one the ghostly lights of the Ronin flickered out, their pieces of armor clattered to the ground lifeless of Maelstrom.

The sound of hooves pounding on the stone ground grew, and in short time Horsemen reinforcements arrived over the ridge. Turning to face, the Samurai let them charge until the last moment. She was close enough to feel the skeleton horse's cold breath when she jumped to the side and swung her arm to slam the rider with her shield. The Ronin fell, and the Sentinel performed similar stunts against the
other horsemen.

In time the battlefield took on a typical forbidding appearance: armor, swords,, bones and horse skulls laid on the ground, and no life. The one Samurai was departing down the path. Once out of the clearing, she strung a fan of three arrows to fire into the graveyard. They were not ordinary arrows - on impact they released walls of flame to encompass the full surface of the clearing, smashing the Ronins' armored remains so they could not be used again.

Her mission over, the Samurai sheathed her sword and pulled off her helmet, letting her long, copper red hair catch the moonlight. Kate checked the timepiece on her wrist, she'd made good time, and surveyed her surroundings, the cleared clearing, and the dark shadows that loomed overhead. A single Dragon flew on the horizon.

Kate put her helmet back on, lowered the visor, and set off back to the mountains.

## Chapter One

Kate awoke with a start. Light flooded into her eyes from the
ceiling lights, while air conditioners hummed in the background.

She sat up from the couch, brushed her hair from her face, and looked around the white-walled Nimbus Station apartment in which she, Gallant Strong Cyclone, Cheerful Power Rover, and Master Blade Nine were currently residing in. The sound of shuffling cards and moving pieces came from a nearby table Cyclone, Rover, and Blade sat around, playing a board game. From the couch, Kate had a full view of what was going on.

Over a month had passed since Cyclone, Kate, Rover, and Blade were disinfected. Their time together began when Cyclone and Kate had met each other as Stromlings, and set out on a quest to get themselves disinfected. Along the way they met Rover, at first an antagonist to them, but he came to their side after Cyclone accidentally infected him on Crux Prime. Then they met Blade, a Sentinel who Rover infected, again accidentally. After the four of them broke into Nexus Tower, Vanda Darkflame and Dr. Overbuild helped disinfect them, and merge Cyclone and Blade with their newly discovered Imagination versions of themselves.

As Doc Overbuild had explained, minifigures with rare overpowered imagination sparks could rebuild disinfected clones of themselves when faced with Maelstrom infection, and apparently Cyclone, Blade, and Kate had these overpowered imagination sparks. Rover had a normal-strong imagination spark, so while his Maelstrom infection affected him more, he remained whole.

Cyclone's doubles were joined back into one person thanks to a ring-shaped device made by Overbuild, and the same was done for Blade. But they had still not found Kate’s imagination twin.

As Vanda Darkflame had said, “The Nexus Force is huge. There are several minifigures out there named Kate, and several of them are Sentinel Samurais. The Sentinel Faction is quite popular, anyway, and Kate is a pretty name.” Like Cyclone had three-part Nexus Force name, it was possible Kate's double had taken on such an identification as well, but it must have happened after Kate was infected since she had no recollection of doing such a thing.

Another problem was that ever since Kate's disinfection, the inter-conscious dreams which used to show her what her double was up to were no longer up to date. When they happened they were repeats, sometimes the one of her fighting at Forbidden Valley, over and over again. Unable to track what she was doing, it made the search for her double harder.

Having overpowered imagination sparks also made them interesting subjects to study, and protect. So now, Cyclone, Kate, Rover, and Blade stayed in an apartment in Nimbus Station, waiting for the Nexus Force to track down and find Kate’s double. The wait was excruciatingly boring.

Kate leaned back on the couch, watching as her friends played their
board game. The game was more or less Risk, titled Faction War. Worlds such as Avant Gardens, Nimbus Station,
Gnarled Forest, and other places in the Nimbus System were conquerable on the board, and inside these worlds were smaller areas, connected by bridges or rocket routes. The goal was world-conquest, by moving little plastic pieces across the board and rolling dice for luck-based results. "It's Risk." Kate had said when she first saw it.

Blade grinned when he rolled two sixes on his dice, and moved his pieces to an Avant Grove taken from Cyclone. He picked up a card and passed the dice to Rover. Cyclone frowned as Rover took another Avant Grove and the Venture Explorer, and soon Cyclone’s battle for Avant Gardens was a lost cause. Grumbling, Cyclone retreated his plastic Paradox back to the launch area, but even that was short-lived, as Blade chased him away from the launch area and into Australia- I mean the Block Yards.

Kate watched as Cyclone stood up and resigned dramatically. “Alright, fellow faction leaders, you win! I hate Faction War.” He kicked the table.

“Calm down Cyclone.” Rover said, reaching out to stabilize the table while Blade saved the soda from tipping over.

Cyclone mumbled something unintelligible, and stormed out of the room. Rover raised his eyebrows and Blade shrugged. They then returned to the game, and commenced talks to split up Cyclone’s remaining Raven's Bluff properties.

“Wait.” Kate strode over to them. “Mind if I take over for Cyclone?”

Blade glanced at Rover, who glanced back at him, before they looked at Kate. “Sure.” Rover said.

Half an hour later, Kate won.

## Chapter Two

Cyclone stepped out of the apartment building into the cool night
sky. Stars appeared to be twinkling up in the sky, the atmosphere of
Nimbus Station bending their light. Cyclone readjusted his jacket,
and walked down the stone path. Crickets chirped, and frogs sang as
he strolled through the garden.

Cyclone kept walking, not really paying attention to his
surroundings. He walked on for ten minutes, until he found himself
in Nimbus Plaza. The plaza was full of minifigs selling and buying
stuff, choosing factions, chatting with friends, and other things.
Cyclone walked around the border of the path. He stopped at the
Paradox Faction Vendor, Cog Blammo.

“Hey, kid.” Cog called to him. “Looking for something to buy?”

Cyclone shook his head, and continued walking. After walking around
endlessly for a long time, he happened to check his watch. Cyclone’s
eyes bugged out. He had been out later than he had thought!

Soon he was headed back to the apartment. A cool breeze slapped his
face as he stepped through a dark alley. He had just passed by a few
trash cans, when someone jumped him.

The person slammed into his side, sending Cyclone tumbling to the
ground. He wrestled with his attacker, but had been caught off
guard. Cyclone was at a disadvantage. He rolled away just in time
as a stun beam was absorbed into the ground where he had just been.
He stood up, but not for long. The attacker was on him again, and
Cyclone was knocked back to the ground. A low buzzing sound reached
his ears, and Cyclone realized he was staring up the barrel of a
Sentinel Space Ranger gun. Just it wasn’t a normal Space Ranger
gun.

Cyclone jerked his head to the side just as it fired. The energy
seeped into the ground, and the force of the shock wave sent Cyclone
flying away. He landed in a pile of garbage bags, which cushioned
his fall. Cyclone quickly got to his feet, and pulled an Pneumatic
Drill of Blasting from his backpack. He aimed it around, trying to
find his attacker. The night was silent, and the path back out from
the alley was clear. Cyclone darted out of the alley, and making
sure no one was following him, he made his back to the apartment.

And back in the cover of the shadows, someone was watching him.

## Chapter Three

“Aww!” Rover groaned as he thumped his head into the table.
Blade fell out of his chair, and Kate grinned as she wiped Rover’s
last piece off the board.

“How- did- you- do- that-” Blade gaped at her.

Kate shrugged. “Beginner’s luck.”

Then the door banged open, and Cyclone ran in. He glanced at them,
then ran towards the bathrooms, where the sound of a shower was
heard, and a minute later he came out looking more presentable.

“What happened to you?” Kate asked. “You look like you’ve
seen a ghost.”

Cyclone’s face was white. “I was attacked.” he stammered.

“Attacked?!” Blade exclaimed, now conscious again.

“What happened out there?!” Rover questioned him.

“Well, I had entered an alley when something, or someone jumped me.
 I barely escaped.” Cyclone told him.

Rover jumped over to his backpack which lay by the wall. A second
later, his Rank Three Venture League Buccaneer gear was equipped. He
jerked his chin in Blade’s direction. “Come on Blade.”

Blade equipped his Rank Three Sentinel Knight Gear, and followed
Rover out the door. The room was empty except for Cyclone and Kate.

Cyclone made his way over to the couch, and sat down. Kate went over
and sat down next to him. “Tell me what happened.” Kate told
him.

Cyclone sighed. “Okay then,” he said. “Well, I went out for a
walk. I guess I got sort of lost, since I went through a back alley.
 Then someone dressed in black with a Sentinel Space Ranger Gun
attacked me there. At first he shot a stun beam at me, but later it
was a normal energy blast.”

“But why would someone attack you?” Kate asked.

“I don’t know,” Cyclone replied. He frowned, then added
darkly, “but I’m sure, whoever he was, he wanted me dead.”

## Chapter Four

In all his years of being an experienced bounty hunter, assassin,
put-ninja-to-shame-er, and other things, Krill Mathias had *never*
lost his target. Until now. He had failed in apprehending Gallant Strong Cyclone, and had watched angrily from the shadows as his
target had escaped. Krill had let him escape, he knew it wasn’t
time to attack. The target was already cautious, so he would have to
wait for him to let down his guard.

Krill pulled his holo-projector from his utility belt, and contacted
his employer. The identity of his employer was unknown by him. His
side and allegiance were also concealed from him, though he had his own suspicions, that maybe the job was related to the Faction War. What really mattered: so long as he paid, Krill would do the job. His mission was simple, and hadn't appeared difficult. His directions were bring Gallant Strong
Cyclone to his master, alive, or dead.

The flickering blue image of a caped figure, his face obscured by a
cloak, appeared. “You have failed again, Mathias.” the cloaked
figure berated.

Krill was surprised that his caped employer knew of his predicament,
but didn’t show it. Even if he did, his stolen Sentinel Space
Ranger Helmet would have obscured any facial expressions. “Then I
assume that you needn’t receive the knowledge of my upcoming
plans.” Krill said coolly.

His employer’s hologram laughed, his voice
distorted by the hologram. “Oh, I know your plans, Mathias. After
all, I-”

Krill flicked off the holo-projector and stuffed it back into his
utility belt. He had heard a noise, and within seconds had dived
into a darker, more shadowy part of the alley.

His helmet’s HUD showed two infrared signatures of two minifigures
approaching from the apartment complex which his target had escaped
into. One was a Venture League Rank 3 Buccaneer, and the other was a
Rank 3 Sentinel Knight. They were headed in his direction.

Krill doubted that they knew he was there. They had probably chosen
their direction by chance. Either way, Krill’s instincts told him
they were searching for him. Krill trusted his instincts.

Krill ducked back into the alley, and stealthily took off. He would
do his job, but not right now. He would have his time later, a time
when he would succeed.

Rover scanned the area thoroughly. There was no one else besides
himself and Blade out there. Whoever had attacked Cyclone had made
his getaway, and was probably halfway across Nimbus Station by now.

“He’s gone,” Rover said. “whoever he was.”

“We *have* to find him.” Blade said firmly. “We can’t
let someone like that escape.”

Rover shook his head solemnly. “It’s no use. He’s probably
all the way across Nimbus Station by now. We’ve lost him.”

Blade gritted his teeth, but said nothing. Unhappily, the two turned
around and made there way back to the apartment building.

## Chapter Five

Vanda Darkflame stared at the new list that her guard, Meyer
Muckrake, had made for her. On the list, pictures of several
minifigs by the name of ‘Kate’ and names just like that were
placed next to their faction, age, basic appearance, and other forms
of identification. Vanda skimmed the list for a second time with the
same results. There were no red haired Sentinel Samurais by the name
of Kate.

Annoyed, Vanda crumpled the list into a ball and through it across
the room, where it landed smack in the middle of dartboard with a
picture of a Stromling, with the center of its face as the middle of
the board. Vanda sighed, got up, and turned the dartboard around to
face its other side, with instead of a Stromling, had a picture of a
smiling Duke Exeter. She returned to her desk, and began throwing
darts at the picture. Thump. Thump. Thump. They all hit Duke’s
nose.

The door opened, and Meyer stepped in again, carrying another,
longer, list of names. “Here they are, Ms. Darkflame.” Muckrake
said as he placed them on her desk. As he left the room, he noticed
the Duke Exeter dartboard on the wall. “Excuse me Ms. Darkflame,
but what is this?” he asked as he eyed the three darts which
punctured the cardboard Duke’s nose.

Vanda rolled her eyes, and made a shooing motion with her hand. “Oh,
it’s nothing. Thanks for the list, by the way.” she told him as
he left the room.

More random people named Kaitlyn, Katherine, Kataroombla, and other
variations of the name Kate. She cracked up at a certain girl named
Kimi-golapa-exmasa. That name didn’t even sound like Kate. Then
she stopped at one picture, taken in very low resolution, probably
from a security camera, which showed a very blurry scene of a
red-haired Sentinel Samurai standing in Nimbus Station. Despite the
terrible picture, Vanda could just barely make out some key features
exactly like Kate’s. The date of the picture was just a few hours
ago.

Vanda grabbed her phone and punched in the number of one of her
secret Paradox Agents currently in Nimbus Station. “Hi Hu Where,
yes, this is Vanda. I’ve got an important mission for you, yes,
very important. I need you to bring me a girl named Kate. Uh huh.
She’s a Sentinel Samurai- yes, a Sentinel. Red hair, brown
eyes, not green.... yes. I suggest you put on that picnicker disguise again. And don’t do that, ‘You can’t see me,
so come with me’ thing again. Yes. Thank you.”

Vanda smiled as she hung up the phone. Hu Where was a trusted agent,
and she could count on him to get the job done, even if it involved
pretending to be a lowly picnicker.

## Chapter Six

The sun rose over the horizon, beginning the morning hours. Sunlight
bathed Nimbus Station, as its inhabitants awoke to the start of a new
day.

Meanwhile, Cyclone, Kate, Rover, and Blade were strolling through
Nimbus Circle. The plaza was packed with people, as usual. As they
walked towards one of the vendors, Cyclone bumped into a familiar
looking ninja.

“Ow, did you have to bump into me?” Hu Where moaned.

“Hey Hu Where.” Cyclone greeted him.

Hu Where squinted at him through his ninja hood, then recognized him.
 “Ah, Gallant Strong Cyclone. I remember you. You helped ferry
quite a lot of Maelstrom cubes between me and Wisp Lee.” Hu seemed
to be thinking, whens suddenly he exclaimed, “Wait, you can see
me?!”

Cyclone nodded. It took him a moment to recall ever giving Hu Where
Maelstrom Cubes. It was his imagination-self's having done so.

“Can you really see me?” Hu Where whined, getting on his knees.
“Please say you can’t see me. Please please please say you can’t
see me....”

Cyclone stared at him. “I can see you, bright and clear.”

Hu Where screamed, and pulled a Teleporation Flash Bang from his
pocket. He was about to activate the TFB when he noticed Cyclone’s
companions. But the person he was most interested in was Kate.

“Wait, aren’t you that girl who Vanda sent me here for?” Hu
exclaimed, shoving past Cyclone and stepping closer to Kate.

“What? Vanda sent you to get me?” Kate asked.

“Yes. I am a Secret Paradox Agent, so of course Vanda sent me.”
Hu said matter-of-factly. “Just don’t tell anyone that I am a
Secret Paradox Agent.” he added loudly.

“Um, I think you just did.” Blade told him.

Hu Where seemed to be examining Kate, before saying, “Well, since
you can’t see me, you should come with me. I am invisible. Wait,
Vanda told me not to say that.”

Kate glanced at Rover and Blade, and then at Cyclone. Who was this
guy?

“Oh no! I violated Master Darkflame’s instructions! Oh, dear
me! What shall I do!” Hu Where went back to screaming his head
off.

“Why did Vanda send you here to get me?” Kate asked him.

“She said it was important that I catch a Sentinel Samurai matching
your description and bring her to her!” wailed Hu Where.

“Sentinel Samurai?” exclaimed Kate. “You mean she’s here?”

Hu stopped rolling on the ground clutching his head, and nodded.

Thoughts of confusion swirled around Kate’s mind. If what Hu Where
had just told her was true, then her double was in Nimbus Station!

“No, wait!” Cyclone called after her, but Kate had already activated a quicksickle, and was speeding through Nimbus Plaza, searching
for her alter-ego. As she sped through the crowd, she noticed a few
flashes of red hair, but none of them belonged to any Sentinel
Samurais, and no one in the crowd had any resemblance to her.

The
quicksickle wore out, and she came to a stop, panting. Kate looked
around, with the same results as before. She had sped around the
whole plaza, and she still had not found her double. She was about
to make her way back to Cyclone and the others, when a commotion by
the Avant Gardens launch pad caught her attention.

A minifig dressed in a Breastplate of Armored Inspiration, Flight
Suit Legs, a Zippered Leather Jacket, a Wizard’s hat of Whirlwind,
and carrying a Shield of Shielding and Elite Force Blade of Lightning
stood by the launchpad, while a Nexus Force commando squad surrounded
him. Kate caught a few snippets of conversation. What she heard was
not to her liking.

“You're not authorized to have come here.” the commander of the
squadron was telling the minifig, who from the looks of him was one
of the Nexus Force limited recruits who battled the Maelstrom on
Avant Gardens.

Limited Recruits were the unlucky minifigs confined to the world of Avant Gardens, and
could not join a faction. The Nimbus Station launchpad was blocked
to them, and Kate wondered how he had even gotten this far to land in
Nimbus Station.

“But I *want* to join a faction and fight the Maelstrom where I'm actually needed, we all do! Avant Gardens is like a freshly laundered shirt compared to the other worlds. Even the Spider Queen is tired of getting smashed by everybody that she's packed up too.” the Limited Recruit was saying.

“Get him out of here.” the commander said gruffly. "He could be a Rogue spy." Two of the soldiers moved forwards and placed energy shackles around the recruit's arms, and escorted him to a transport shuttle. The shuttle took off back
towards Avant Gardens.

As Kate watched the scene wrap up, a Sentinel Samurai walking by accidentally bumped into her arm.

“Sorry,” the Samurai said, as she headed to the Avant Gardens
launch pad as well.

“No problem.” Kate replied, before realizing what just happened,
and who she had just spoken too. She lunged towards the Avant
Gardens launch pad just as the Samurai climbed into a Sentinel rocket
and took off. Kate quickly produced a rocket out of her backpack,
and took off.

## Chapter Seven

“Noooooo, Kate!” Cyclone yelled as he charged towards the launch
pad which Kate had just taken off from. He set his rocket on the
launch pad, and called to Rover, Blade, and Hu Where, “Come on!”
before climbing into his cockpit and taking off.

Rover and Blade climbed into their own rockets and took off as well,
leaving Hu Where standing in the dust.

“I hate this job.” Hu Where grumbled as he set his Paradox
Darkwarp rocket on the launch pad and took off.

Just after Hu took off, a dark figure stepped over to the launch pad
and produced his own rocket. Krill Mathias took off after the group,
and once he was out of Nimbus Station’s atmosphere, homed in on
Cyclone’s rocket. He would have blown Cyclone’s rocket into
oblivion if his employer’s instructions hadn’t been to bring
Cyclone to him.

Krill set his rocket into a position behind Cyclone’s, Rover’s,
Blade’s, and Hu Where’s rockets where he would be in their blind
spots. He activated a cloaking device either way, and pulled down the blinds on
his rocket’s windows, blocking out the glare of nearby stars as he
set his rocket on autopilot, before taking a nap.

Kate guided her rocket into a descent over the oceans of Avant
Gardens. She passed by the area where the waters flowed off into
space and turned to ice, producing rainbows and distorting the light.
 Her rocket skimmed over the vast oceans, and the Avant Gardens
launch area came into view. She guided the rocket a into a climb
just near the platform where the vendors stand, and jumped out of her
rocket, landing on the ground face-first with a *thwump,* while the
rocket gracefully disassembled into her backpack.

Kate stood up, and surveyed her surroundings. The Sentinel Samurai
was no where to be seen. She looked over to the Nimbus Station
launch pad, and noticed the rocket used by the Nexus Force commandos
take off. The recruit whom they had forcefully left in Avant Gardens
stood near the vendors, explaining his predicament to a few other
Limited Recruit minifigures. They stared at him in awe at how he had
got to Nimbus Station.

“And then they had hauled me into their rocket, and left me here!”
the recruit finished.

“That’s so unfair. I can’t believe how they would do that.”
one of the minifigures protested. “Why are we even fighting for an
organization that acts that way?”

“Yeah! After what they did to SergeantGhostMustache, why should we
help them?” another minifigure said.

"It's them or the Rogues."

Kate stepped over to them. SergeantGhostMustache had most likely
arrived at Avant Gardens before her double did. If that was so, he
might know where she went, and maybe even help her find her.

“Excuse me?” Kate asked. “Did you happen to notice a Rank 3
Sentinel Samurai?”

The minifigures stared at her. “Rank 3 Sentinel Samurai?”
Sergeant asked, scratching his head. He shrugged. “If the Nexus
Force actually accepted us into their main ranks, I might be able to
recognize what a Rank 3 Sentinel Samurai looked like. What about
you, Intrepid? You say you’re pretty knowledgeable in the main
parts of the Nexus Force.”

The minifigure called Intrepid wore Bat Lord gear and had a Black Owl
perched on his shoulder. Through the eye-holes in his helmet, Kate
could see Intrepid scrunch his eyebrows together in thought. “Yeah,
I saw a Sentinel Samurai head up that way to the monument.” he
said, pointing up the road.

Sergeant suddenly raised his eyebrows in recollection. “Oh yes, I
remember now. Yeah, I saw a Sentinel head up that way too.” he
told her. “She had long red hair, just.... like.... you....” he
added slowly.

"I'm looking for my sister." Kate said. Considering she, Cyclone, and Blade were supposed to be kept safe, given their conditions, she wasn't sure Sergeant,
or Intrepid, or anyone else there would believe her if she told them
her story.

“Okay.” Sergeant replied, accepting her excuse.

“Hey, want us to help you find her?” Intrepid offered suddenly.

“You got to be kidding me!” Sergeant exclaimed. “Why should we
have to help find someone in the Nexus Force, after what they did to
me?”

“Aww, come on.” Intrepid assured him. “You can’t blame the
rest of the Nexus Force on the actions of a bunch of commando dudes.”

Sergeant slumped his shoulders. “All right.”
 To Kate, he said, “We’ll help you.”

## Chapter Eight

Cyclone leaped out of his rocket over the Avant Gardens launch area.
He landed lightly, and quickly sprinted towards Oliver Sudden hoping
for directions.

Rover, Blade, and Hu Where arrived soon after he did. Their
rockets all collided with each other, sending the three of them
tumbling out of their rockets and onto the ground, causing Rover and
Blade to smash on impact. Their rockets then flew into their
backpacks.

Hu Where climbed out of the pile of minifig pieces and made his way
to Swabby Bilgebarrel, his picnicking partner. Hu Where normally
disliked talking to pirates, but Swabby Bilgebarrel had earned his
trust and friendship. “Swabby,” Hu greeted him, “Have you
happened to notice a girl with bright red hair near here?”

“Oi, yes I have, Hu.” Swabby said, before erupting into a
sneezing and coughing fit. He rubbed his nose with his sleeve, and
then pointed in the direction of the road. “She went with two others, mate.”

“Thank you,” Hu said, about to head up the road.

“I just have on“No idea.” Cyclone replied. Finding her alternate self must be important to her, or her halves had some subconscious attracted like magnets.

Hu Where facepalmed. “Oh, stars and cookies. Why didn’t I think
of that?”

Cyclone glanced at Rover and Blade, who had just rebuilt themselves.
He gestured to the road, and they walked up the road towards Vector
Longview, leaving Hu Where to whine with Swabby.

“Why did Kate have to just run away like that?” Blade asked once
they were out of Hu Where’s hearing distance.

“No idea.” Cyclone replied. Finding her alternate self must be important to her, or her halves had some subconscious attraction like magnets that overrode rational thought.

The trio continued walking, until they arrived at the end of the
road, where they jumped off. Just as they touched the ground,
Cyclone grabbed his companions and pulled them under the overhanging
part of the road. Cyclone covered their mouths so they wouldn’t
make a noise. They watched, tensely still, as a dark figure jumped down from the road ahead of them. The
dark figure looked around, somehow didn’t notice them, and continuing on. Cyclone slowly took his hands off his friends’
mouths.

“What- who was that?” Blade asked.

“That was the person who attacked me in Nimbus Station.” Cyclone
said slowly. He, Rover, and Blade all shivered. “I’m sure of
it.”

“What do we do?” Rover said, just as frightened as the rest of
them.

“I don’t know, but we’ll have to think of something.” Cyclone
replied. “Fast.”

## Chapter Nine

Kate, Sergeant, and Intrepid ran around the Avant Gardens Monument.
They had formed a team, and currently were searching the different
paths of the monument. Kate had taken green path, while Intrepid
took yellow, and Sergeant took orange. They had asked Rusty Steel,
the engineer in charge of the monument, if he had seen Kate’s ‘twin
sister’. Rusty had said that he had seen her up in the monument.

Given that information, the trio had begun searching the monument.

Kate jumped onto a platform, but landed at the very edge. Her feet
slipped off, and she shrieked as she fell off the platform. One of
her arms reached out and grabbed the edge just as she was about to
plummet to the stones below. Kate panted, and as she pulled herself
onto the platform, she came face-to-face with a pigeon.

The pigeon stared at her, and ruffled its feathers in her face. Kate
swiped her hand at the bird, and it took off, cooing as it went.

Kate climbed the rest of the way onto the platform, and once she was
securely on, looked around. She recognized Intrepid by his Bat Lord
Gear all the up near the top of the monument, and she could see
Sergeant being chased by birds over at Orange Path. There were no
Sentinel Samurais in sight.

Intrepid’s Bat Lord gear was interesting to Kate. From what she
knew, Bat Lord Gear was rare and only found on Crux Prime. When Kate
had asked Intrepid about it, he had answered her saying that a
friendly Mythran had given out Bat Lord gear a while back.

Kate looked around once more, and was then certain that her double
was no longer on the monument. She called to Sergeant and Intrepid,
“She’s not here!”

“Oh well!” Sergeant called back. “Where should we look next?!”

“How about the Sentinel Base Camp?!” Intrepid called a
suggestion.

“Good idea!” Kate replied, and the three of them made there way
down the monument.

Cyclone, Rover, and Blade roamed around the Avant Gardens
battlefield. They still had not found Kate, and had pretty much
searched almost every other part of Avant Gardens.

“She has to be here somewhere!” Cyclone exclaimed. “She can’t
just disappear like that!”

“Maybe she’s invisible, like Hu Where.” Rover suggested. When
he said this, Blade cracked up and started laughing.

Cyclone found himself laughing too, when he noticed a bright flash of
red run by. Cyclone turned, and found himself staring at Kate.

Just it wasn’t Kate, it was Kate’s Sentinel Samurai double.

“Whoa.” Cyclone mumbled.

Rover was the one who broke the silence. “Hey, Kate?” he called
at the Samurai.

Kate’s Samurai Alternate Ego turned towards them, startled. “Who
are *you*? How do you know my name? I don’t know you!” she
exclaimed.

“Um, well, if you’d come with us, we can explain.” said
Cyclone.

Kate’s double just stared at them strangely. “Listen, I don’t
know who you are, or where you came from. I don’t really like
talking to random strangers, so just leave me alone!” She ran off,
and soon Cyclone couldn’t see her anymore.

“Well, Kate’s going to smash us when she hears that we scared her
away.” Cyclone joked. Nobody laughed.

## Chapter Ten

Kate solemnly walked through the Sentinel Caves which connected the
Sentinel Base Camp and the Monument, with Sergeant and Intrepid
behind her. They had searched the entirety of the monument and its
surrounding areas. Avant Gardens was a large world, though Kate
doubted much of it would be of much interest for a Sentinel Samurai.
Sentinels were good for battling, so a Sentinel Samurai would
probably be somewhere on the battlefield.

“That’s it!” Kate exclaimed. She ran towards the exit of the
caves and entered the Sentinel Base Camp. From there she darted
under the bus and into the battlefield. But the peculiar sight of
the battlefield made her stop in her tracks.

There was an evident lack of Stromlings in the battlefield. The only
Maelstrom objects out on the battlefield were Stromling Mechs and a
few of the mindless Hammer Stromlings- wait, *Hammer*
Stromlings?

A few Hammer Stromlings noticed Kate and charged, swinging their
obnoxiously large hammers into attack position. They were about to fling their hammers on her when
Sergeant and Intrepid dove into them. Three of the five Hammer
Stromlings instantly smashed, and the other two engaged in
hand-to-hand combat with Sergeant and Intrepid, since their weapons
had either fallen to the ground or had smashed.

Sergeant punched at his Hammer Stromling, but the Stromling dodged
out of the way. Sergeant then delivered three upper-cuts to the
Hammerling, which smashed.

Meanwhile, Intrepid jumped around while his Hammerling started
punching at him repeatedly. Intrepid transformed one of his into a
flying kick which stunned the Hammerling. Sergeant ran over and
picked up his Elite Force Blade of Lightning, landing the final blow
on the Hammerling. The Stromling never saw it coming, and never saw
anything again after Sergeant made the fatal blow.

“Thanks Sergeant.” Intrepid said as he retrieved his Bat Lord Staff.
 He turned to Kate. “How come you didn’t assist in fighting or
anything? Do you even know how to fight?”

Kate didn’t answer, and instead asked her own question. “What
happened to all the normal Stromlings around here?” she asked.

Sergeant and Intrepid shrugged. “I don’t know. One night they
all vanished, and were replaced by these guys.” Sergeant said,
gesturing to the Hammer Stromlings madly chasing a bunch of recruits
around.

Kate raised her eyebrows, but then heard someone calling her. She
turned, and saw Rover running towards her. “Rover?” she called.

“Kate!” Rover called as he ran over to her.

Kate glanced at Sergeant and Intrepid. “Hang on guys,” she said,
before walking over to Rover. “What it is? How did you get here?”

“Kate,” Rover panted. “we found your double.”

“What?” Kate exclaimed. “And you didn’t tell me!”

“Well, how were we supposed to know where you were? You just ran
off without telling us anything.” Rover retorted.

Kate blinked. "I did." she admitted, and asked, “Where’s Cyclone and
Blade?”

“Well, they went off after your double. In the meantime, I went
off and found you.” Rover explained. He looked past Kate’s
shoulder and saw Sergeant and Intrepid standing there. “Who are
they?” he inquired.

“Oh, they’re Sergeant Ghost Mustache and Intrepid-something.”
Kate replied.

“I see.” said Rover.

Kate turned to her other two friends. “Come on over guys. This is
Cheerful Power Rover.” she said, gesturing to Rover.

“Hi!” Intrepid said. He pulled a Retro Movie Camera out of his
backpack, and aiming at Kate and Rover, he activated its ability.
“Hahahaha! I made you guys wave.” he said, giggling as he
watched Kate and Rover confusedly wave at him.

Sergeant shrugged. “He got it from a Survival Achievement, and has
been doing that ever since.” he informed them.

Using a lot of willpower, Rover wrenched his hand out of its waving
position and clamped his other hand over it. Kate still seemed to be
caught in waving her hand, so Rover grabbed hers and jerked it down.

Intrepid was still giggling like a maniac so Sergeant said, “Well, what shall we
do now?”

Kate glanced at Rover, Sergeant, and at the maniacally giggling
Intrepid, before saying, “Well, Rover. Mind leading us to where
Cyclone and Blade are searching for my *twin sister*?” She
said the last words in a “don’t ask any questions” sort of way.
 Rover replied by raising his eyebrows, and silently led the other
three to where Cyclone and Blade were.

## Chapter Eleven

Krill Mathias watched from the cliffs as the person named Rover led
three other minifigures to where his target was. He had lost track
of Gallant Strong Cyclone, and now was going to use his friends’
skills to find him.

He made his way across the clifftop plains, using his radar to
help him follow where Rover and his group were headed.

He passed by a bomb crater which he estimated was about a month old,
and also by the remains of a old campfire, all the while checking his
radar to make sure he was on course.

After following the group on a parallel course for about five
minutes, they stopped, and Krill could hear snippets of a
conversation from the edge of the cliff. He leaned over the edge of
the cliff, and could see Rover, his group, Cyclone, and another
person down there. Cyclone and a girl had stepped away from the
group, and now were talking quietly. The girl seemed unhappy by the
way she waved her arms around, and stormed off, leaving Cyclone
alone.

Now is the chance, Krill thought, and he swung his customized rifle
off his back. He placed a silencer on, and aimed it at Cyclone.

His target was still. Krill’s pulse quickened as he cocked the
rifle, and placed his finger on the trigger. The time had come for
him to complete his mission and earn his bounty from his mysterious
employer, which would give him enough money to lead a more, normal
life. He pulled the trigger.

Cyclone stepped out of the way just in time, whether it was
deliberate or purely coincidental, Krill didn’t care. He failed and he had to try again. He fired
again, but Cyclone chose to move ever so slightly at the same time
that Krill pulled the trigger. The bullet ricocheted off a rock, and
Cyclone whirled around, now aware that someone was shooting at him.

“Wha-?” Cyclone mumbled a bullet thudded into the ground in front
of his right foot. He spun around and ran jaggedly in the marginal
direction of Rover, Kate, Blade, Sergeant, and Intrepid, screaming as
he went.

May as well end this a lot easier, Krill thought, as he produced an
extremely modified Wormholer from his massive array of weapons. He
aimed at Cyclone and unleashed a storm of energy bolts which impacted
the ground around Cyclone, who was doing something that looked like a
chicken dance to avoid the deadly bolts.

Krill rolled his eyes as Cyclone kept evading his weapons-fire. No target was supposed to be this lucky. No matter, he thought as he
ceased firing with the Wormholer. He instead produced his rocket
launcher, and aimed it at Cyclone. He fired two missiles, which
streaked down towards his target. Finally, you smash! he thought, as
the rockets neared Cyclone.

Of course, all attempts at killing the main character in a story
always fail. Just as the missiles were about to obliterate Gallant
Strong Cyclone from the story, a hail of arrows flew towards the
missiles, sending them off course and instead flying into the ruins
of the Paradox Lab, creating a tremendous explosion and unleashing a
bunch of strange Maelstrom creatures into the wild.

“Dagnabbit!!!!” Krill cursed at his last failed attempt at
destroying Gallant Strong Cyclone. “I will end you, Gallant Strong
Cyclone! Mark my words!!!” he screamed into the air, before
turning on his heel and running into the plains at the top of the
cliff.

Down on the ground, Cyclone turned to see his saver, and found
himself staring at a familiar Sentinel Samurai. “Well, you’re
back.” he said to Kate’s double.

## Chapter Twelve

Kate’s jaw dropped. Cyclone quickly got to his feet.

“Yeah, guess I am.” Kate’s double was saying. She was mostly
staring in Cyclone’s direction, which was a good thing, because if
she had happened to turn and see Kate standing there looking
petrified, well, something bad would have happened.

“Well, erm, uh, \*cough\* there’s something we need to explain.”
Cyclone said.

Samurai Kate shook her head. “Sorry, but I’ve got to run. You
see, I’ve got a full team back there waiting for me at the Spider
Caves. I’m on a smashing spree.” She quickly turned on her heel
and ran off towards the entrance to the Spider Caves. “See ya’
around!” she called, before disappearing behind the entrance.

Cyclone turned to Kate, and stormed towards her. “Why didn’t you
SAY anything?!” he shouted at her. “You led us all the way here,
and then you just freeze up?!”

“Hey, it must be pretty shocking seeing oneself.” Rover said.
“I’m lucky I’ve got a normal imagination spark.”

Kate mustered enough courage to speak. “I don't know what's happening to me. It's like the actions I'm taking aren't my own. Maybe you’re right, Rover.”

Sergeant and Intrepid looked at each other, at Kate, and then at
everyone else. “You got to be kidding me!!!” Intrepid exclaimed.
 “I thought we were looking for Kate’s twin sister, and now
you’re all talking about meeting *yourself*! What’s going
on?!”

“Yeah, tell us the real story!” Sergeant agreed.

“Fine.” Cyclone said. He then went on to tell Sergeant and
Intrepid the whole story, from the very beginning. All the while,
Sergeant and Intrepid had their jaws dropped, and stared in awe at
Cyclone as he told them everything that had transpired. Rover and Blade, and Kate filled in their parts as well.

“Wow.” they both said, when Cyclone had finished.

The planetary rotation of Avant Gardens had turned it in a position
so that for Cyclone and the rest of them, it was now evening. The
sky was darkening, and Avant Gardens was entering its nighttime
stage.

“Well, it’s dark now.” Blade pointed out. “Why don’t we get
back to the Sentinel Base Camp, and wait out there till the morning?”
 No one objected, and they went back to the Base Camp for the night.

## Chapter Thirteen

Sergeant huddled around a campfire with Cyclone, Kate, Rover, Blade,
and Intrepid, while they ate dinner in the Sentinel Base Camp. Stars
twinkled overhead, and the tireless Sentinel Guards occasionally
fired at an unlucky Hammer Stromling who attempted to enter the base.

Sergeant had a lot of trouble believing Kate’s story, but he knew
it was true. He sighed, and snuggled into a sleeping bag. Just as
he was about to fall asleep, he felt hands grab and shake him.

“What now?” he asked sleepily.

“Your double is back.” he heard Cyclone’s voice saying.
“Let’s see how this plays out.”

Sergeant raised his head, and saw a Sentinel Samurai entering the
base camp. He turned and saw Kate asleep inside her own sleeping
bag. “Why did you wake me up, and not Kate?” he whispered to
Cyclone.

“What? Oh wait, you’re not Kate!” Cyclone exclaimed. “Sorry,
woke up the wrong person. Go back to sleep.”

Sergeant lowered his head, and went back to sleep. Cyclone crawled
over to Kate’s bag, and began shaking her.

“I don't want to wake up.” Kate mumbled.

“Come on,” Cyclone grumbled. “Your twin is here.”

Kate jerked awake.

“Yay, finally.” Cyclone said. “So, what are you waiting for?” Cyclone asked her.

“Waiting for what?”

“Talk to her.”
Cyclone clarified.

Kate set her eyes on her Sentinel
Samurai alter ego. She turned back to Cyclone. “I’m nervous?”

“Listen,” Cyclone gripped his hands on her shoulders. “you
brought us here all the way to Avant Gardens in search of *her*.
 And now it’s time for you to do what you were planning on doing
when you first came here. You’ve got to do this.”

Kate shivered. “Fine.” she grumbled, and she got up, pulled on
her backpack and walked over to behind some trees. When she stepped
out again, she was dressed in a face concealing helmet and bunch of
other gear. Cyclone ran over to her.

“What are you DOING?” Cyclone hissed.

Kate didn’t answer, and slowly zigzagged her way to the Sentinel
Samurai standing by the cliff wall.

Cyclone rolled his eyes. “Do it!” he screamed.

Kate jumped, and then quickly said,
“HiI’mKateandIamyouralternateegowhichmeansyouarereallymebye!”
and ran back to the campfire. On her way there, Cyclone intercepted
her.

“Seriously, can’t you actually DO anything?!” he snapped.

Kate stared at him through her helmet’s visor. “There's something off about all this. I know we're not meant to be separated, but it's like some invisible force is pushing me away, like a magnet."

“Well, you have to, and I know you will.” He gripped her and half-dragged
her back to the Samurai.

“Did you say something to me?” Kate’s double asked when they
got there.

Kate didn’t answer, so Cyclone said, “Yes, she did.” And Kate took off her helmet. The other Kate gasped.

Cyclone stood there, looking proud. “Okay, now you both know the
truth. So now, why don’t we get back to Nexus Tower?”

Both Kates just stood there staring at each other. Then one smashed.

## Chapter Fourteen

The one who was smashed was the Stromling Kate. Both Cyclone and the
other Kate stood there staring.

Then she fled back out to the battlefield.

Cyclone blinked. “That’s not what I expected he said to the air.”

Kate rebuilt near the back of the Base Camp, and Cyclone strode over
to her. “Sorry about that.”

"That HURT.” Kate groaned, and she shoved Cyclone aside
before she slung her backpack on and headed towards the path to the
monument.

“Wait, Kate! Where are you going?”

"I'm looking for my mind, I think I've lost it." Kate broke out into a run. Cyclone watched
miserably as she jumped onto the bouncer and disappeared from his
view. He shook his head sadly, and made his way back to the
campfire.

Kate ran faster than she had ever run before. She kicked up gravel
as she tore up the monument. She chose the fastest path, Yellow
Path, and quickly built the moving platform. When she arrived at the
top, she jumped down to the bouncer below and was sent flying to
Vector Longview, where she resumed running down the road to the
Launch Area.

She hurried to the closest launch pad. Her fastest rocket available,
a pod rocket, appeared over the pad. Kate climbed into it, and
quickly launched into the air. The rocket picked up speed as the
atmosphere thinned. The retractable glass canopy slid over and
pressurized the cockpit, just as it left Avant Garden’s atmosphere
and roared into space. Stars zipped by as Kate set the rocket on
autopilot, and took her hands off the flight yoke. They were wet,
and Kate realized she was sweating. She turned on the air
conditioner, and reclined her chair before setting the rocket on a
course to Nimbus Station.

Kate sighed, and looked back at Avant Gardens as it rapidly grew
smaller behind her. Soon it was nothing more than a speck behind the
roaring engine module, and Kate turned back to stare out the front
window at the stars, and beyond. Nexus Tower was ahead.

## Chapter Fifteen

The morning sun began to rise over Avant Garden’s horizon. Krill
Mathias was awake now, he gripped his rifle, and made his way to
the entrance of the cave hidden among the rocks. The Sentinel Base
Camp lay below, with Sentinel Guards who repelled the constant stream of
Maelstrom attackers, and Commander Beck Strongheart who stared over his
map, like he always did day in day out. Get lives, thought Krill
with annoyance, as he shifted the rifle.

Cyclone lay sleeping by the remains of an old campfire. Krill was
about to fire his rifle and silence Cyclone’s incessant snoring
once and for all, when his holo-projector vibrated, announcing that
someone was attempting to contact him. Krill sighed, and pulled the
projector out of his belt. A blueish hologram of his mysterious
employer appeared, and Krill grunted.

“Well well well, Krill.” it said. “It seems you haven’t
succeeded yet.”

“I was about to bring an end to him, if you hadn’t distracted
me.” Krill snapped.

“End, you say?” his employer chuckled. “In case you do not
recall, I gave you clear instructions to bring him to me *alive*.”

“I figured it would be a lot easier for you if I just brought him
to you smashed. Then you can just rebuild him. He’s brought me enough strife already.” Krill
replied.

His employer stared at him under his hood. “We shall see. I want
Gallant Strong Cyclone with me before the next night ends.”

“You will have him, employer.” Krill said, before turning off the
holo-projector. He placed a sleeping dart into his rifle,
and aimed it at Cyclone.

Just Cyclone wasn’t there anymore.

Krill muttered something, and looked around for Cyclone. He was not
in the Base Camp. That was when Krill sensed someone approaching him
from behind.

Krill rolled to the side and quickly was on one of his feet. His
other leg had kicked out and slammed into the person behind him.
Krill stared down at his opponent, and found Gallant Strong Cyclone
unconscious at his feet.

And a bunch of people, Cheerful Power Rover, Master Blade9, Sergeant Ghost
Mustache, and Intrepid behind him.

Krill Mathias swung into action. They engaged
him, and Krill knew he was outnumbered, and to win he would need to tip the odds to his favor. He
gripped his Wormholer and swung it around, causing them to retreat
from his extended chainsaw. Energy bolts slammed into the cliff as
they scattered to avoid them.

Krill felt a presence to his right, and swung his Wormholer.
Intrepid, dressed in full Bat Lord Gear, ducked and swiped at him
with his staff. Krill double jumped over him, and received a Bat
Shield to his head. His helmet protected him, but it still hurt.

A revolver shot rang out, and Krill ducked just as a bullet flew over
his head. He saw out of the corner of his eye Rover preparing to
fire again with his Buccaneer sidearm. Krill evaded another swipe from Intrepid’s
staff, and slammed an armored fist into the Bat Lord’s chest.
Intrepid fell off the edge of the cliff towards the Sentinel Base
Camp.

There was no time to celebrate. Krill was back in action parrying
blows from Blade and Sergeant, while constantly moving so that Rover
couldn’t shoot him. He spun a cleaver he held in his left hand,
sending Blade’s sword flying, and kicked out at Sergeant who raised his Force Blade, and Krill just barely jumped out of the path
of a huge lightning blast. He sent a shuriken in Sergeant’s
direction which knocked his shield away, before turning his attention
to Rover.

A bullet slammed into his armored chestplate and bounced off. Krill
charged at him and slammed Rover into the wall. He was about to land
another blow when he heard a low droning sound from behind him. He
turned to see Intrepid floating just over the edge of the cliff, a
jetpack on his back.

“Jetpack.” Intrepid repeated, before using his Shield Slam ability.
 He slammed into Krill and sent him flying up into the air. Intrepid
was about to give chase when he realized his jetpack was gone. He
looked up again, and saw Krill flying away on *his* jetpack.

“Hey!” Intrepid screamed. “That’s my jetpack!”

"There’s no way he’s
going to give you your jetpack back.” Rover said, grimacing, as he
picked himself up from the ground. Blade ran over to help him, and
they all looked up to see where Krill was going. He was nowhere to
be found, but then they heard a scuffling sound from behind them.

They all turned to see Krill holding the unconscious Cyclone.
“Farewell, you fight well, and I don't intend to meet again.” he sneered, before flying away with Cyclone.

## Chapter Sixteen

“Oh no!” Blade shouted. He jumped into the air, and missed
grabbing Krill’s boots by inches. He fell face first with a splat
in front of Rover’s, Intrepid’s, and Sergeant’s feet.

“Cyclone!” they all yelled, as Krill carried him away to
who-knows-where.

“Quick, we’ve got to do something!”
Rover said, taking charge. “Intrepid, do you have any more of
those jetpacks?”

“Yeah, follow me.” Intrepid
replied, and he led them down a path to the bottom of the cliff.
Once there, he broke out into a run using his Bat Lord Speed Boost
ability, and arrived at the mailbox in the Sentinel Base camp. He
pulled out four jetpacks, and handed them out. “Here, take these.
There’s an extra for Cyclone.”

“You got to be kidding me!” Sergeant exclaimed as he tried to put
his on. “How are we supposed to fly these?”

“Just jump, and you’ll start flying.” Intrepid instructed.

Rover strapped his jetpack on, and tried jumping. Suddenly he was
floating in the air above their heads. “Whoa!” he shouted as he
tried turning, and ended up flying all over the place.

“Be careful!” Intrepid called as he began flying as well. “Flying
these is like moving in a zero-gravity environment, since it uses some gravity-reducing tech. One move and
you’re bouncing all over the place!”

Rover tried to turn and ended up banging into the wall. He fell down
on top of one of the Sentinel Guards, who didn’t make any movement
as Rover slid off.

“Ow.” Rover groaned as he stood back up.

“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Blade shrieked as
he flew up into the air. He rotated around and ended up slamming
into the wall too, where he fell on top of Rover.

Meanwhile, Sergeant quickly mastered flying, and giddily flew through
the air. “Wow, this is awesome!” he cried as he zipped around
the sky.

“No time to lose, guys!” Intrepid called. “We’d better hurry
if we’re going to catch Cyclone’s kidnapper!” Intrepid
rocketed into the sky, and Rover, Blade, and Sergeant followed him.
Soon they were flying over Avant Gardens, the mountaintops whizzing
by underneath them and the clouds just overhead. A few parrots
intercepted them and flew alongside them, before diving back down to
their trees.

Intrepid guided them to the launch area, where he could see Krill
loading the unconscious Cyclone into a creepy looking rocket. Krill
placed the rocket on the Nimbus Station launchpad, and took off.
Intrepid landed and quickly pulled out a strange looking rocket that
resembled a pencil, and launched after Krill. *Show off*, Rover thought, although he, Blade, and
Sergeant followed suit, and soon they were in space pursuing Krill Mathias.

Hu Where had happened to look and see the rockets launch. “Hey,
those guys look familiar. I’d better follow them. See you,
Swabbie.” he said as he pulled out his teleporting flash bang. He
lifted it up, but it accidentally slipped out of his hand. He
juggled it for few seconds before it flew through the air to Eekums’
and PRDX-4’s table.

“V15ual 53n50r5 p1ck1ng up fly1ng 0bj3ct. Pr3p4r1ng t0 0bl1t3r4t3
fly1ng 0bj3ct.” PRDX-4 computed. “F1r1ng.”

PRDX-4’s sensors were pretty jumbled, since he began firing
pancakes at the flash bang as it soared through the air, and due to
his being all mixed up, firing in the first place. “Noooooooo!”
Hu shouted as he lunged at it, but ended up getting shot in the face
with a pancake.

One pancake hit the flash bang and wrapped it up like a burrito. The
pancake, and flash bang inside it, landed in front of Eekums, who
always looking for a snack, picked up the flash bang burrito, and ate
it.

Hu Where pried off the gooey pancake from his face, and watched as
Eekums made a lunch out of his flash bang. Hu sighed, and stepped
over to the launchpad, taking off as well in his Paradox Darkwarp
Rocket.

## Chapter Seventeen

It was nighttime when a pod rocket landed at Nexus Tower. The
tower’s lights blinked on and off to signal approaching rockets and
starships. Kate climbed out of her rocket’s cockpit, and headed
towards the hanger’s exit. A few minutes later, she exited an
elevator and set off down the halls. It was time to talk with Vanda
Darkflame.

Vanda lay sleeping on her couch when a knocking sound abruptly forced
her from her dream of her and Duke Exeter standing on Hael Storm’s
pirate ship in a lake, looking at the stars. She stood up, and
opened the door. Kate stood there. “Come on in,” Vanda told
her, and closed the door behind her. The way Kate looked told Vanda
that something serious was going on. Kate’s face was pale, and she
seemed shocked. She could tell something was wrong.

They sat at the couch. “Tell me what’s troubling you.” Vanda
started.

Kate breathed deeply, before responding. “Well, you see, we found
my double.”

Vanda stared at her thoughtfully. For a whole month, Vanda had her
most trusted agents searching the whole Nimbus System, and then Kate
comes and tells her that she has done what Vanda has been unable to
accomplish.

“And? Why isn’t she here now?” Vanda asked.

“Um, something strange has been happening each time we meet,”
Kate told her. “The first time, I had a strange feeling, I can’t
explain it. The next time, I actually began to feel weaker. And, most recently I smashed.”

“Smashed?” Vanda questioned.

“Involuntarily,” Kate answered. “I don’t know what happened,
I thought it was just the strangeness of meeting oneself, but there's something else going on. One minute I’m standing there, the
next I’m smashed and rebuilding myself. I have, multiple times
even, been smashed, either by falling off a cliff or getting blown up
by a Stromling Mech. Each time I just rebuilt with no trouble at
all, but this time it felt harder. More painful.”

Vanda was puzzled. She knew that someone with a weak imagination
spark would find it extremely difficult to rebuild after a smash.
They even had trouble with quickbuilds, or building at all. Someone
with such a low imagination spark that it pretty much was
none-existent would never be able to rebuild after a smash, and any
type of building was impossible. What Kate had just told her was
consistent with the symptoms of someone with a weak imagination
spark, but when Kate had been tested, the highness of her imagination
spark level was off the charts.

Vanda felt Kate's forehead, it was hot with a fever.

“I need to run some tests on you, okay?” Vanda said, as she
picked up an Imagination Level Reader from her
desk. Most medics had them, but they were commonplace anyway. When she hovered it over Kate's arm, Vanda gasped as she watched the
reading.

“What is it?” Kate asked, panicky.

Vanda took a deep breath, and as calm as she could, said to Kate,
“You’re losing your imagination spark.”

## Chapter Eighteen

Rover sucked in his breath as Krill’s rocket vanished from the
space in front of him. Not vanishing as in disappearing as it moved
so far away, but as in just disappearing. Like with a cloaking
device.

“A cloaking device!” he shouted into the inter-rocket
communications device. “He has a cloaking device!”

“Great.” he heard Intrepid moan. “Now how are we supposed to
rescue Cyclone?”

“Well, was it a visual cloaking device, or a sensor cloaking
device? If both, then we are facing a major problem.” an uninvited
voice said.

Rover face-palmed. “Hu Where?!!?? What are you doing here?”

“Eekums ate my teleporting flash bang, so I have to use my rocket
to follow you instead of meeting you in Nimbus Station, if that is
where you are going. I still have a mission to complete for Master
Darkflame.” Hu Where said matter-of-factly.

“Then why didn’t you just use Eekums as a teleporting monkey?”
Sergeant asked.

Rover heard a sound like someone smacking his face from Hu Where’s
comm. “Stars and spangled banners and chocolate chip cookies. Why didn’t I, the most stealthy ninja
ever, think of that? I am, after all, invisible.”

Rover snorted. He turned and saw Hu Where’s rocket out from his
canopy glass. He could see inside Hu’s rocket, and see Hu Where
himself. The ninja was certainly quite visible.

“Actually, I can see you bright and clear.” Blade said.

“Oh no!” Rover heard Hu Where scream. “If what you said is
true, then I am doomed! I have to be the most stealthiest ninja in
all of the Universe!” Hu wailed.

Rover jammed his finger
into the mute button. The last thing he wanted to hear was a crying
ninja. “Get out of here!” he shouted, before turning off his
radio entirely. Even if Hu Where had any useful information to give, he was incapable of giving it. Rover gave the engines some extra power, and then
checked his sensors. Whatever cloaking device Krill had used, it was
invisible to both visuals and sensors. It was more invisible than Hu
Where would ever be!

Rover shivered. He knew that he and his friends were at Krill’s
mercy. With his cloaking device, he could just pick them off one by
one. Rover knew that he was taking a great risk going after him, a
risk to his and his friends’ lives. But Krill had Cyclone, and
whatever he wanted with him, Rover wasn’t going to just let him
disappear with his friend.

Determined, Rover gunned the engines of his rocket, and headed
towards the Raven’s Bluff properties which surrounded Forbidden
Valley. Dark and mysterious, with numerous properties unclaimed, the Raven’s Bluff sector was bound to be the
most likely place for a dark and mysterious bounty hunter to have set
up his HQ. After signalling the others, Rover set his rocket on
autopilot, and following his reclining his seat, Rover fell asleep.

## Chapter Nineteen

Krill contacted his employer as he neared the rendezvous point. The
rendezvous point happened to be on a deserted Raven’s Bluff
property. His pursuers were far behind him, and having used his
cloaking device, they were probably all the way on the other side of
the Nimbus System by now. He cut the engines, and guided his rocket
into an unpowered descent. He landed by the launchpad and hopped
out.

Krill cautiously crept over to the edge of the clearing. A large
group of Dark Ronin Invaders stood surrounding a swirling purple
cloud. No problem, Krill thought as he raised two of his customized
Wormholers. He held both in his hands, and opened fire on the Dark
Ronin horde.

The Ronin were quickly dispatched. Krill crept over the cloud, which
parted, to reveal a dark, mysterious, caped and hooded man. His hood
cast a shadow on his face which hid any features. His black cape and
scepter added to his mysteriousness.

“I see you dispatched my escorts.” his employer complained.

Krill's heart stopped. He hadn't expected
his employer to be affiliated with the Maelstrom. A shady politician hunting Paradox Rogues, maybe; or a Rogue commander wanting a deserted punished. He
gripped his wormholers. He didn’t care for the Maelstrom as much
as he didn't care for the Nexus Force, but he still disliked them both.
The Maelstrom was also evil. He reminded himself that as long as his employer paid, it shouldn’t matter.

Krill said tersely, “Pay.”

“Bring me Gallant Strong Cyclone, and I might consider paying you.”
his employer countered.

Krill transferred one of his wormolers to the other hand, and with
his free hand pressed a button on his wrist armor. The cargo door
slid open on his rocket, and a hover-bed floated out with Cyclone
lying unconscious on it.

“Ah, good, I see you have finally succeeded.” the caped man said. He
waved his hand, and a huge dragon descended from the sky. “You may
leave.” he said, before walking to the dragon.

Krill couldn’t believe his ears. This Maelstrom man was just going
to leave without paying him! “We had an agreement." he reminded.

“There is no need for that anymore,” the caped man answered him. “and I have no need for your services anymore. I have spared you your life and given you the chance to *leave*.”

Krill stood his ground.

The hooded man turned to face him, suddenly seeming more menacing than before. “Then we will have to do this the hard way.” he
said coldly, before whipping off his hood. Clouds of Maelstrom
surrounded him and he grew ten times in size. Under his hood had
been a black top hat, and the face belonging to this menace was red
and skeleton like. Baron Typhonus, the Darkitect.

## Chapter Twenty

Kate couldn’t believe what Vanda had just told her. Her
words still rang in her ears. “You’re losing your imagination
spark.” Vanda had told her.

“Okay,” Kate said. "What happens if I lose my imagination spark?” she asked, although she could imagine the answer...

Vanda shook her head sadly. “Your imagination spark is weakening. Each time you smash now, your imagination spark
will become more depleted, and the rate of its decreasing will
increase.”

“Is there any way to reverse the process?” Kate asked.

“Not that I know of. It may be too late to merge you back.” Vanda answered her. She didn't need to add that once her imagination spark was completely gone, Kate
would smash. "Just stay safe. You can stay here, if you like, while we keep searching for your double."

Kate stood up. “I’ll head back to Nimbus Station.” she said as she headed to the door. “Also, she was just in Avant Gardens.”

“Thank you,” Vanda replied. "Stay safe." she repeated.

Kate left, closing the door behind her, revealing a Duke Exeter
dartboard. With a sigh, Vanda picked up a dart and threw it.

Meanwhile, Kate climbed back into her rocket and took off, heading
back for Nimbus Station. As her rocket soared through space, her HUD
suddenly displayed that an urgent message from the Nexus Force had
been received. Kate played it, and a computery voice was played
through.

“This is a Code Black warning involving all rockets passing by and
leaving Forbidden Valley and Raven’s Bluff property worlds. The
Darkitect has been sighted at Raven’s Bluff. Repeat, Code Black,
the Darkitect has been sighted at Raven’s Bluff. This is not a
drill. All available Rank 3 plus Recruits report to Raven’s Bluff.
 Valiants recommended. Code Black, this is not a drill.”

Kate’s eyes bugged out. The Darkitect? On Raven’s Bluff? What
was he doing there?

Kate overrode the autopilot, and set a new course for Raven’s
Bluff. She may not be a Rank 3, and she certainly didn’t have a
valiant. She hadn’t even joined a faction.

But after losing control of herself and doing things that weren't her, Kate knew she wanted to find herself again. Her real self. She knew she was courageous, and smart, and good with a sword, and if the
Nexus Force was headed to Raven’s Bluff to smash the Darkitect, they would need all the help they could get. And they needed help fast.

## Chapter Twenty-One

The Darkitect towered over Krill and raised his staff. Maelstrom
lightning conjured from the sky, and descended to the ground. Krill
dove out of the way of the lightning, firing his Wormholers. They
had no effect on the Darkitect, as he laughed at Krill’s failing to
even bother him. Like they said, the Darkitect was invincible.

More lightning shocked into the ground. The property shook, and the
Darkitect’s red dragon rose into the sky, disturbed by the quakes.

Krill knew he was no match for the Darkitect. He took off towards
his rocket, and ran faster than he thought he could. With the help
of a few quicksickles, he just managed to outrun the lightning which
descended behind him, scorching the ground.

Just as he neared his rocket, a bolt of lightning smashed it, spewing
flames and bricks into the air. The force of the explosion sent
Krill flying back to the Darkitect. The Baron laughed. “You fool,
to believe you could fight me, the master of chaos and the
Maelstrom, and live. I shall enjoy smashing you.”

The Darkitect raised his staff again. He
was about to end Krill's life when a missile slammed into his chest. The
Darkitect reeled back, clutching his heart, saving Krill from certain
smash. Taking this chance, Krill rolled out of the way, and found
himself face to face with a Maelstrom dragon.

Three more Maelstrom Dragons rose behind the first. Butterscorch's crew had arrived.

The named Dragon Invader, normal Dragon Invader, two normal Dragons,
and the Darkitect’s personal Red Leviathan took up defensive
positions around their master, ready to face the Darkitect’s
attackers.

More missiles collided with the Darkitect, and then a bunch of
rockets roared out of the sky. The Nexus Force had come.

Imagination Machine-gun rounds clattered out of the first few
rocket’s wing guns, which peppered the Baron, whose cloak acted like a shield. More missiles
launched into him, knocking him off balance. Two larger rockets
soared above the Darkitect and dropped bombs on him. The Darkitect shifted on his feet and raised his staff. All of a sudden his wounds
disappeared, and the Darkitect was back to full strength.

The Baron raised his staff again, and lightning swirled around the
orb at its tip. It glowed bright purple, and after a bright flash of
white, half of the rockets were crashing to the ground.

No one could defeat the Maelstrom.

## Chapter Twenty-Two

“Whoa! Is that who I think it is???” Sergeant called over the
comm.

Rover’s eyes bugged out. “I can’t believe it! It’s the
Darkitect! AND HE’S GONNA SMASH US! AAAAAAAAAA-”

“Stop screaming and land!” Blade snapped. “We’ve got to
rescue Cyclone. Wherever he is.”

“I see him,” Intrepid said. “He’s in a cage on the back of
the largest dragon.”

“-AAAAAHHHHHH!!!” screamed Rover. “AND HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO
GET THERE?????!!!!!!! YOU DO REALIZE *THE DARKITECT* IS BETWEEN US AND HIM???”

“We get there like this,” Intrepid replied, and he spun his
rocket into a barrel-roll headed straight for the dragon. The brave idiot's pencil
rocket swooped by the Darkitect and narrowly missed a swipe from his
staff as heskimmed over the red dragon’s back. As he passed by the
cage, he noticed Cyclone inside, coming too, before roaring off back
into the sky. “Cyclone’s waking up.”

“Oh noooooo!” Sergeant cried out. “The Darkitect is blowing up
the Nexus Force rockets, so how are we supposed to survive this?”

“We’ll think of something,” Blade said. “Rover, can you stop
screaming?”

“Nooooooooo!” Rover screamed back at him.

“Okay.” Blade replied. “Do any of our rockets have tow
cables? We might be able to get a hold on Cyclone’s cage.”

“No.” said Intrepid.

“No.” said Sergeant.

“Yes!” shouted Rover.

Blade face-palmed. “Why did if have to be you?” he groaned.

“I will do it!” Rover yelled, as he opened the cargo bay
doors below his rocket’s fuselage. A hook connected to a long rope
retracted from inside the cargo bay, and it trailed behind Rover’s
rocket. “So, what do I do?”

“First,” Blade instructed him, “stop screaming!!!! Second, try
and fly just over Cyclone’s cage so that your tow cable can latch
on! Third, get ready, and....”

“And what?!” Rover shouted.

“Four, go man go!” Blade finished. “So go!”

“Okay, okay, and okay!” Rover said, now not screaming. He
swung his rocket around so that it was headed straight for the red
dragon. A burst of fire streaked towards him, and he dodged it just
barely. Some of the flames caught onto the rope which connected the
hook, and Blade maneuvered his rocket alongside the flaming hook. He
retracted his canopy glass, and blasted the fire with a water gun.
The fire sizzled out.

Rover’s rocket streaked towards the cage at a speed faster than it
normally should go. The tips of its wings began to disintegrate
slightly from the abnormal speed, just as the hook latched onto the
cage. The rocket abruptly slowed down, and the cage flew off the
dragon.

Cyclone, who had just woken up, nearly passed out again from the
immense lateral force of being in a cage that was just wrenched off a giant
red dragon. He slowly opened his eyes again to find himself staring
from one end of the cage all the way to the other end, with a hook
connected to one of the opposite bars connected by a rope to a fast
moving rocket. He smiled weakly when he recognized Rover in the
cockpit of that rocket.

As Rover decreased his speed, Cyclone’s cage began to plummet. It
landed with a bone-jarring bump near the launchpad, and Rover’s
rocket soon landed afterwards, after disconnected the hook of course.

“Well, you’re free.” Rover said as he sawed away at Cyclone’s
bars. “Any idea what the Darkitect wanted with you?”

“THE DARKITECT?” Cyclone yelped. “He’s here?”

“Yep.” Rover said, jerking his chin the direction of where the
Darkitect stood with his dragons, fending off the attacking Nexus
Force rockets. Cyclone turned and nearly passed out again.

Rover sawed through the last bar, and reached in to help Cyclone out.
 Cyclone grasped his hand, and Rover helped him out. Just as Cyclone
cleared the edge of the cage, Rover sensed a presence behind him. He
turned, sword out and pistol at the ready, to face a weathered and
beaten, his helmet cracked, armor shattered, and exhausted bounty
hunter, Krill Mathias.

## Chapter Twenty-Three

Kate’s rocket descended into that Raven’s Bluff property’s
atmosphere. As she passed through the clouds, she noticed a large,
lightning spewing, purple cloud of Maelstrom. Stromlings, Mechs,
Spiderlings, Ronin, and Horsemen were plummeting from it to the
property world below. The Maelstrom’s aim wasn’t perfect, as a
few of the Maelstrom creatures that descended fell off the edge into
the depths below.

Nexus Force troops had deployed tanks and soldiers on the ground,
while rockets continuously buzzed around and fired at their main
target: The Darkitect, who stood in the center of the property,
swinging his staff and using Maelstrom Magic.

A bunch of artillery vehicles rolled up near the launchpad, and sent
huge balls of energy flinging at the Baron. A swing of his staff and
the missiles disintegrated. Another swipe and the tanks smashed.

Kate landed her rocket by the launchpad, and just after she jumped
out, it was blown off the edge by a burst of wind. She clutched at
the ground, just managing to hold onto a rock to avoid being swept
off herself. The wind died down, and she stepped over to the edge of
what would have been the property’s build barrier. She prepared to
step into the battle, when she noticed a cage and three familiar
minifigures standing by it.

“Cyclone!” she called, and she ran over to him, Rover, and
Krill Mathias.

“You!” Rover shouted at Krill, and he jabbed his sword into
Krill’s shattered chest-armor. “You’re the cause for all this!
 Don’t try any tricks here, since I wont hesitate to poke
Hesevalintes into your chest any further, after what you’ve done!”
 He looked ready to throw Krill off the edge of Raven’s Bluff, but
Cyclone restrained him using the limited strength he still had.

“Wait,” Cyclone said. “Why don’t we at least hear what he
has to say?”

Rover gritted his teeth, but still with his trusty sword poking at
Krill’s chest, muttered, “Fine.”

“I’m here to make a proposal,” Krill said. “But first, take
that sword away.”

Cyclone nodded to Rover, and he unhappily lowered his sword. “No
one should make me lower Hesevalintes.” he grumbled.

“The Darkitect has betrayed us all, again, and I propose a
temporary alliance between us.” Krill told them. “Don’t take
this the wrong way, I don't care for the Nexus Force, and my allegiance is with myself, but after what the
Darkitect has done I'd like to give him a taste of my revenge. I can’t do it alone.”

“Great,” Rover said sarcastically. “So you’re just going to
use *our* strength and *our* abilities and of course, yet
again, *us* to give Darky over there some payback. I’d sooner
plunge Hesevalintes’s nice sharp blade into your-”

“I thought you were with the Nexus Force.” Krill interrupted.
“Isn’t it your goal too to defeat ‘Darky over there’?” he
questioned.

“Yes....” Rover relented.

“Good.” Krill finished. He stuck out his hand, and Cyclone shook
it. “Now how do we smash him?”

“WHAT?! You mean you don’t even have a plan?” Cyclone
yelled.

“Hey, what about me? You’re all practically ignoring me.” Kate
said, announcing her presence.

Cyclone turned to her. “Kate! What are you doing here?!”

“What are you doing here?” she retorted. “It’s not like you
have to take care of me and everything.”

Cyclone sighed, and he was glad to see her, when Rover said to Krill, “So, what are we doing?”

Just then, a loud roaring sound was heard. They all turned to see
the Darkitect floating into the sky, and his Maelstrom army being
sucked up into a purplish vortex above him. Several rockets were
sucked into the vortex as well, and Cyclone, Kate, Rover, and Krill
held onto a few rocks for dear life to try and avoid being sucked
into the portal as well.

Their grips failed, and they along with a few other minifigures were sucked
through the sky into the vortex.

All Cyclone saw was darkness inside the vortex, the only light coming
in purple waves from the hole which they had entered from, now so far
away. Wind tore at him, buffeting him this way and that through the
vortex, as the entrance closed ahead of him, blotting out all light
and plunging the wormhole in darkness. The wind was the last thing
Cyclone heard, before he was slammed into cold, hard ground, and
falling unconscious.

**To be continued**