Battle Heroes X Vetera: S01E08

Into the Lion's Den is the eighth episode of Battle Heroes X Vetera. The episode's plot revolves around the heroes going to Revolutech for a field trip, but also to gain information on the organization.

A school field trip leads the heroes straight into Revolutech.

## The Episode

Zack was in the house, alone. Neither Julius, nor Cloud, nor Popple were to be seen. He was sitting at the table, polishing his weapons. Finishing the wipe down of a blaster in his hands, Zack inspected his handiwork and set it down, moving on to the next weapon, his katana. Summoning it, Zack began cleaning it, looking along the silver blade. He was pretty impressed with the slight green tint. It almost hinted at the power housed within…

The front door opened and Cloud ran inside, looking around the living room meticulously. “Alright, Cloud, there’s no need to panic, remain calm..."

Zack got up from the table, still holding his katana. “Everything alright, Cloud?”

“Yeah, I’m all good. Do you mind if we have company?”

Zack shrugged. “Not really, who’s coming over?”

There was a knock at the door. “Hey, Cloud? You there?”

Ronnie. Zack whipped his head to Cloud. “You brought her here?” He whispered.

“She really wanted to hang out at the crib!” Cloud replied hurriedly.

“Alright, go open the door. I gotta get rid of my stuff,” Zack answered, pointing at the katana. It disappeared in a flash of light and he picked up his blaster, dismissing it just before Cloud opened the door and Ronnie walked in, looking around the house. At first, she was speechless.

“Wow! It’s so...so rustic!” She began, amazed.

Zack struggled to see why she was so mystified with the house. “What’s that mean?”

“Rustic! It means it’s simple with a homey tone. It’s so plain, it’s cool!” Ronnie looked at the GameCube. “Wow, a GameCube!”

An amused look grew on his face. *Here we have a yuppie rich kid looking at a normal house for the first time.* “She’s impressed with the GameCube, Cloud. She’s a keeper,” Is what he actually said.

Ronnie laughed. “So where are the others?”

“They went to Popple’s house.”

“Aw, was hoping the six of us could get together and stuff.”

“I’ll text them and see if they can,” Zack said, walking towards the stairs. “You two hang out, I’m going upstairs to get some work done.”

Across the street, Julius and Popple were watching TV together on the couch.

"Man, I could get use to this whole break thing," Julius said, stretching his arms.

"No after school meetings about the you-know-what with you-know-who," Popple continued, resting on Julius' shoulder. "It's like we're normal kids again."

He put his arm around her and the two exchanged looks. Slowly, they leaned in to kiss, until the door opening interrupted them. Popple stopped leaning on him and Julius took his arm from around her. The teens turned and saw Harold enter the living room, groceries in hand.

"Hey, dad," Popple greeted.

"Hey, Popplecorn. Your mom and I went shopping. Mind helping us with bringing the goods in?"

She got up. "On it." Julius got up as well. "I could help out, too."

As Popple walked past him to leave, Harold got in front of Julius. "I don't think that'll be necessary, Vladmire." Harold answered gruffly, walking towards the kitchen.

Julius followed him. "I have to know, sir, what is it about me that you hate?"

After setting the groceries down on the counter, Harold turned to him and crossed his arms. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, I've been heeding the warning your gave me when I came to pick up Popple. I've crossed no boundaries and have been respectful to both her and you. Why don't you like me?"

Harold remained unfazed. "Because I don't think you have what it takes to take care of my daughter and defend her. Because of your true colors. When someone is put into a dire situation, their true colors tend to show. You haven’t shown me your true colors quite yet, but when that dire situation happens to you, I have a feeling you’re going to disappoint."

"You're judging me on things I haven't even done yet?"

"I've been in the Navy for years, Vladmire. I've learned to read people, and I've seen the best and the worst they've had to offer."

The house door opened and Popple returned into the house with groceries, followed by her mother. Julius' phone rang and he took it outside to answer the call while Harold went to help his family.

"Ronnie's at the house," Zack said. She wants to see you and Popple."

"Why? We're kind of busy here."

"Cloud, clout, remember? Just get over here." Zack hanged up.

Julius rolled his eyes, then headed for the door. "Hey, Popple, Ronnie is at my house, somehow. Wanna come over and say hi?"

Popple began to say yes and walk towards him, but turned around to look at her dad for his verdict.

"Go ahead, honey," He responded, smiling. She went to the door and walked out and as Julius followed her out, he felt Harold's eyes on him.

Back at the boys' house, Zack returned downstairs and was watching Cloud play a game while Ronnie was on her phone. Suddenly, the front door opened and Julius and Popple came in.

Ronnie looked up. "Oh, heyy, guys!"

"Hey, Ronnie," Julius returned. "What brings you here?"

"I came to hang out with my boyfriend...but he's busy playing," Ronnie huffed.

"C'mon, Ronnie, I asked you if you wanted to join!"

"You beat me in every game we played!" Ronnie looked at Popple. "Does Julius ever get like that? Wait, don't tell me. When we go out shopping at the mall with the other girls, you can spill the beans!"

Popple's face brightened up. She pointed at herself incredulously. "Me? Go shopping with the girls?"

"Of course! You're all the best friends of my boyfriend, so you're part of the 'In Clique' family! Which also reminds me! I--" Ronnie's phone rang and she checked a text. "Aw, I have to get home soon! I have to show the hired help where to clean. Cloud, can you take me home?"

He got up. "Sure!"

"Alright, I'll see you four tomorrow on the physics field trip!" She and Cloud left the houses, leaving Zack, Popple, and Julius alone.

"Oh yeah, the field trip. I think we're gonna have to spend some time talking about that," Julius said after a few seconds.

"We need a solid plan. When we're in there, we need to be quick and precise. No screw ups like in Nova Scotia," Zack added.

Popple agreed with both of them. "Looks like our next stop is gonna be Revolutech..."

...

A school bus was driving through the city. The inside was filled with high school students, giddy at the thought of missing class. As the bus drove towards a parking lot, it passed by the Revolutech building, which was a towering skyscraper that looked like it lorded over everything around it. Before the skyscraper was a courtyard filled with people in business attire going about their days and moving to other places.

As the students walked into the building, they were treated to the sights of the headquarters. Hanging from the rafters were contraptions of all shapes and sizes.

Everyone oohed and ahhed at the marvelous display.

The Physics teacher, Mr. Bonduxe, turned to his students. “Alright guys, before we start the tour, I want you all to buddy up with a classmate. It’s very important that we stay together and not let anyone get lost. You two will also be responsible for completing a worksheet due at the end of the day.”

The students looked at each other and quickly began to partner up. Everyone seemed to have someone in mind.  Julius and Popple partnered up, then glanced at Zack and Cloud, expecting them to partner up. However, as Cloud walked towards him, Ronnie swooped in and took his hand.

“Let’s partner up, babe!” She said perkily, much to every hero but Cloud’s dismay.

Everyone in the class was paired up. Everyone but Zack and another student, that is.

“Since everyone already has a partner, Zack, we'll have to stick together!” Mr. Bonduxe said. Zack nodded and looked away, rolling his eyes.

After pairing up, the school group was greeted by a cheerful blonde man in a grey suit and a blue tie.

“Welcome to Revolutech, everybody!” The tour guide announced. “My name is Conway and I’m gonna be your guide today. If you would just follow me, the tour can begin!”

Everyone followed Conway as he led them into a hallway. One of Ronnie’s friends waved her over and the two began chatting away. Julius, Zack and Popple walked with Cloud.

“So how are we going to go about investigating this place?” Popple began.

“We’ll need to sneak out one at a time, with one of us covering the other,” Julius explained.

“What about Cloud and I?" Zack asked. "It’s gonna be really hard to get away from our partners.”

“If we need to probe more, we’ll figure something out. Until them, I’m gonna try to get out first."

The guide stopped in front of a large TV monitor that hummed to life. Two people in yellow hazmat suits stood next to it. An image of the Earth appeared and a voiceover began to speak.

"A problem that has plagued our species for generations, and continues to plague us, is energy. We use it for every, from the tools we use to the vehicles we drive. A question we here at Revolutech ask ourselves everyday is *what* are we going to leave behind for the next generation, that's you, to power civilization? As we speak, a sample of what is indisputably the most important discovery of this century is being sent for!" The two hazmat people walked out to the left.

As the presentation continued, Julius slowly crept away from the group and walked back through the hallway to the main lobby. He walked to the receptionist desk and put on his best confused expression for the older lady at the desk. "Excuse me, do you know where the elevator is? I need to use the bathroom."

"Why sure, but the bathroom is on the first floor!" The receptionist replied, pointing to the left. "Go through that hallway, past the elevators and take a right."

"Thank you!" He followed the directions, walking through a mass of employees also commuting through the building. He entered the bathroom and remained at the sink near the door, occasionally peeping his head out. Finally, while staring at himself in the mirror, he heard the sound he wanted to hear.

"So we're gonna be showing those kids the material, huh?" Someone said outside.

"Yup. When we get down to the lab, grab the inert vial."

Julius peeped his head out of the door slowly and saw the hazmat men from earlier. They clicked a floor on the button panel and Julius paid close attention to it. 8. Then they clicked another one. 5. 14. 26. 15. 22. 29, and lastly, 36. They entered the elevator and the door closed. The red ranger began to walk back to where his class was, but something stopped him. Popple’s dad’s voice filled his head. *But when that dire situation happens to you, I have a feeling you’re going to disappoint.* At that time, his phone buzzed and he ducked back into the bathroom, rushing into a stall and checking the phone. It was a text from Zack.

“whats going on,” It said.

“Found out where their lab is, I think,” Julius replied.

"you think?"

"It was some weird combination of numbers instead of one floor. I’m heading there now."

“are you sure about that? sounds like a bad idea, especially since you’re rocking one functioning arm right now.”

Julius began to respond, but stopped midway through. Slowly, he walked back out of the bathroom and speed ran to the elevator, trying to remember what the combination of elevator numbers was. *Come on come on...* He envisioned a mental image of what happened. *8...8...what came after 8? Oh yeah! It was shaped like the letter P!* Julius entered in the combination of numbers and entered the elevator. Once the door closed, he felt the elevator going down instead of up. *Alright, Julius. Time to make some magic*. When the door opened, Julius was treated to the site of a large underground warehouse full of large shelves. He quickly scurried behind a stack of four cardboard boxes that were stacked up next to the elevator. At the back of the room was the machine from Nova Scotia. It had multiple wires and tubes attached to it. One tube was connected to an assembly line machine, which had the purple gas moving through it via a tube. The assembly line then outputted a reinforced glass jar filled with purple. The wires were connected to what looked like electric generators. Julius sat in waiting, hoping to catch or hear a glimpse of anything useful.

"Aha! Found you!"

Julius' blood turned cold. Caught already? *So much for being preemptive*. As he considered coming out of hiding, he saw the two hazmat suit people walking back towards the elevator.

"Told you it was on the shelf," One of them said to the other. The two stood in front of the elevator and waited for it to open.

"Make sure that vial comes back safely," A third person said. Julius turned and saw a man in a suit and a gas mask. The voice sounded familiar.

"Of course sir, no one's going to want to steal this stuff. Especially since they'd have no idea what to do with it."

The elevator door opened, and an unexpected guest stepped in. It was the void monster. They leaned on the side wall of the elevator and stepped into the warehouse, looking all around them. Everyone took a step back as they entered, except the man in the suit.

"Where the *hell* have you been?!" He exclaimed. Julius recognized his voice now; it was guy in the suit from Nova Scotia!

"Taking care of business, Burnell," The gravelly voice of the monster answered.

"Oh, taking care of business, huh? Well, I've been taking care of *my* business, and *my* business relies on you not disappearing for almost two weeks!"

"And everything I've done in those two weeks has been to make sure that when the cloud drops on this city, Revolutech comes out on top." The monster stepped towards Burnell. The tension was thick in the warehouse and Julius became anxious. Security guards in gas masks ran to their boss' defense, pistols aimed and ready. To everyone's surprise, Burnell himself was completely unfazed. In fact, the corner of his mouth lifted in a small smile. He put a hand up and the security guards backed down, no longer aiming their pistols at the monster.

"One of my security guards filled me in on what happened at the Nova Scotia site. The trespassers, what you told him and his men to do, and what happened afterwards." The smile faded as fast as it came. He turned around to an employee. "Bring the object."

The employee complied, walking towards a large shelf and grabbing a small glass display. Bringing it back, he set it on the ground next to his employer and opened the top. Burnell reached in and took out a slender, red whip. The Delta Lasher! Julius gasped, then rushed to cover his mouth.

"When we arrived, the intruders were gone, *you* were gone, and we found this in a nearby tree. So I'm going to ask you this once. Who were they?"

"Some people who got in the way. They're not going to be any trouble to us."

"I'd believe you, but if they're strong enough to stop you, they're enough to be a threat."

The monster turned around. "I don't need this. You know when the cloud's dropping, we'll meet then."

As they walked to the elevator, they passed the stack of boxes and paused. Julius felt nervousness and anxiety like he had never felt before. If he got caught here, there was no way he would be able to escape or fight, especially with his shoulder. He shut his eyes tight and curled up, mentally praying that the monster wouldn't turn in his direction. After it felt like an eternity had passed, the void monster kept moving forward and away from Julius. The hero leaned his head on the cardboard box stack, exhaling silently in relief. Unfortunately, the stack of cardboard boxes wasn't stable and the box he leaned on fell forward, sending the ones above it tumbling down. Everyone's attention turned towards this commotion and when the boxes had fallen, Julius was revealed in the open. He turned around, panic in his eyes. The void monster looked upon him and their eyes narrowed. However, after a few seconds the eyes widened a bit.

"That shoulder, it's him!" They said furiously. They stomped towards him and Julius tried to back away, but wasn't fast enough. He was grabbed by his backpack and was flung away from the boxes and across the warehouse, landing on the floor with a resounding thud. He groaned and slowly got up onto his knees, just in time for the void monster to reach him and slam his foot on Julius' injured shoulder, knocking him back down and pinning him. Julius cried out in excruciating pain. The weight of the foot became heavier and heavier as the pain became unbearable.

"What in god's name are you doing?!" the voice of Burnell yelled.

Julius turned his head to the side to see Burnell running over.

"This is one of the intruders from Nova Scotia. I'd know, because he injured his shoulder flying at me with that whip you found in the tree," The monster explained, pointing an accusing finger at Julius.

"He's just a kid! What are you talking about?!"

The foot on Julius' shoulder twisted and he cried out again. "Let me deal with this right now, Burnell. I'll be doing both of us a favor."

"You're not 'dealing' with anybody! Especially on my property! We have a school full of kids here for a presentation! We humans have something called 'publicity', and I'd get a whole lot of negative publicity if on the day where these kids came to the Revolutech headquarters, one of them went missing! Now get your foot off him now!"

Giving his shoulder one more stomp, the foot was removed from his shoulder. Burnell got closer and squatted next to the injured teen.

"The only way you could have reach this part of the building is if you were snooping around. I want answers." He got up and gestured for his guards to come over. "Detain him." One of the guards took Julius' arm and yanked him to his feet, then walked with his colleagues deeper into the warehouse.

...

Back upstairs, the students were in a cafeteria within the Revolutech headquarters, having a lunch break. Popple was sitting at a table with Cloud, Ronnie and some of her other friends. Mr. Bonduxe walked to the table.

"Popple, where's Julius?" He asked.

She shrugged nervously. "He told me he was going to the bathroom. It's pretty hard to go to the bathroom with an injured shoulder and everything..."

Mr. Bonduxe looked at her for a few more seconds before nodding. "Alright, but keep an eye out for him and let me know when he comes back." Zack walked over to the table and Mr. Bonduxe turned his attention to him. "How's the worksheet going, Zack?"

"I'm almost done!" He said pleasantly.

"Well, keep going. Remember, they're due at the end of the day," He said, moving on to check on the other students. As soon as he left, Zack's smile disappeared. "Any word from Julius?"

"Nothing at all. I'm starting to get worried," She said.

Back in the warehouse, Julius was being escorted by the guards. As he walked, he looked up at the roof of the warehouse. Stacked to the ceiling were metal containers that glowed purple. *That's a whole lot of stockpile*. The four stopped in front of a shelter built with a silver metal. There was a see-through window on the front door. One of them opened the door and everyone walked in. Inside, there was nothing but a metal chair. "Hand over your phone."

Julius sighed and reaching into his pocket and dropped the phone into the guard's outstretched hand. The phone went into their pocket.

They all walked out and two guards walked away. The third stood in front of the shelter. Julius quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out his morpher, clicking the call button. *I won't have much time..*

Upstairs, Zack's morpher rang and he took it out. Zack got up and quickly left the cafeteria to answer the call. "Julius?"

The red ranger's relieved voice began to speak. "Zack, great, I got you! Listen, I don't have much of time! I got caught and I'm being held hostage!"

Zack sighed. "Nice work, Julius. I told you it would be a bad idea."

"Zack, can you chew me out later? They have me in some kind of lab--"

"Hey! What are you doing!" Someone said on Julius' side. "We told you to give us your phone!"

"Julius? Who's that?"

"Crap, they're coming in! Look, the floor level is...uh...19? No, it's..."

"Give me that phone!" The other voice commanded.

"P! Zack, it's a P!" Julius managed to say before the line went dead.

Popple came running over, her face full of worry. "Is he okay?"

"Julius got himself into a mess, and we gotta get him out," Zack replied.

"I'd worry more about yourselves."

Zack and Popple turned around and saw a very angry Mr. Bonduxe. "I should've put it all together when Julius went to the bathroom and never came back. Now I know the truth! He's playing hooky and you two are covering for him! When he gets back, there are going to be consequences! As for you two, I'm not taking my eyes off of you for an instant! Now come on, the special speaker is getting ready to present!"

Zack and Popple reluctantly followed Mr. Bonduxe back into the cafeteria, where the tables were being moved to the corners of the room to make room for open space.

In Julius' cell, a guard was snatching his morpher and shoving it into their pocket. Mr. Burnell stood outside. "I told you to take away his phone! What do I pay you?!"

"Sorry, Mr. Burnell," The guard apologized hastily.

"Stand outside, I need to ask our intruder here some questions."

The guard left the shelter and closed the door behind them. Burnell turned back towards Julius.

"Only my employees know how to find this floor. How did you get down here?"

"I...got lost while trying to go to the bathroom!" Julius lied.

"That's ridiculous. The bathroom is right next to the elevator. If you're not going to tell me anything, I have no problem turning you over to the one who roughed you up. Obviously, you won't die, but there are fates worse than death."

Julius remained silent. From behind Mr. Burnell, a security guard walked in. "Sir, your presentation is beginning."

Burnell gave Julius one last stare. "I'll give you some time to reconsider my offer." He left the cell, leaving Julius alone once more.

In the cafeteria, the entire room had been reorganized into a stage-like area. Rows and Rows of chairs were aligned in front of a stage with a large TV. Along with the Belview High students and Mr. Bonduxe, some news people had also set up their equipment. Zack and Popple were sitting with Cloud, explaining Julius' situation.

"So he got--"

Popple cleared her throat and pointed her head behind her, where Mr. Bonduxe was. He was watching them intently. Cloud rephrased his sentence. "Into the bathroom?! What're we gonna do?!"

"Simple. We're gonna..." Zack punched his open palm and mouthed the words 'rescue'.

"I don't think I'll be able to help, 'cause of Ronnie and everything..." Cloud said. Ronnie walked over and sat next to Cloud. "Hey, you!" He smiled sheepishly at his friends.

The lights in cafeteria darkened, save for the ones over the stage, and everyone had a seat. A walked onstage. He looked exceptionally well put together and groomed with an Italian cut suit.

"Welcome, everybody, to the future. Even as I talk now, we are already in the future. As each second passes, Revolutech gets closer and closer to its destiny. And that destiny is within Project Prometheus." He withdrew a see-through container filled with the void. "Our goal? Creating a new, sustainable energy source that will fuel our civilization for years to come. We named the project after Prometheus, the titan of Greek mythology, who was the first to divulge to humans how to make fire..."

Popple glanced behind her and saw that Mr. Bonduxe was intently watching. She then nudged Cloud. "We have to go, Julius needs us!"

"If Mr. Bonduxe asks where we are, stall!" Zack whispered as well. The two slid out of their seats before Cloud could protest and scurried out of the cafeteria. They walked through the hallway that lead to the bathroom and saw the elevator. Popple ran to the dial. "Which floor is he on?"

"He's on..." Zack drew a blank. He turned on his phone and looked through his texts with Julius. 'It was some weird combination of numbers instead of one floor', he had said. He then recalled the short call he had with Julius. *P! It's P!* He examined the floor numbers and slowly began clicking them one by one. 5. 14. 26. 15. 22. 29, 36. The elevator door opened and the heroes stepped in. They descended and armored up.

"Any clue what to expect down there?" Popple asked.

"It's a laboratory, so I'm guessing it'll be filled with some defenseless scientists. We just find Julius and go."

The elevator stopped and opened. Zack and Popple entered and laid eyes on the warehouse. They ran behind a shelf for cover and stealthily crept through.

"So this is where the magic happens," Zack whispered. "You think the void monster is here, too?"

"No idea, but we need to find Julius and get out of here."

In front of the shelf they were behind, they happened upon the metal shelter. Through the window, they could see Julius inside. A guard was stationed in front of the shelter. Zack and Popple looked at each other, putting together a plan.

"We can't just knock out the guard and free Julius, that'll draw any other guards' attentions," Popple said.

Zack looked around and noticed an empty container on the ground next to him. He picked it up, looked at the guard, then tossed it ahead to his left. The guard looked up, alarmed by the sound and running in the direction. When he ran past the shelf, Popple crept out into the open. Julius, also hearing the sound, looking outside and saw Popple. His spirits lifted and a smile emerged on his face. Popple pointed at the guard and ran back behind the shelf. The guard returned and went back to his post. Julius, getting an idea of what she wanted, cleared his throat and began to groan.

"Ooh...ohhh...." He let out, bonking his head on the side of the wall of the shelter for emphasis.

"What's your problem?" The guard inquired roughly.

"My shoulderrrr...it hurts, man! Can you come check it out?"

"I'm a guard, I get paid to guard stuff. Bad enough I'm here babysitting."

Julius continued to moan loudly. His patience diminished, the guard sighed. "Alright, fine. If it'll get you to shut up." turned around and unlocked the door, entering the shelter and walking towards Julius. As he reached the teen, Julius got up, grabbed one of the guard's hands, yanked him forward, then moved his right foot behind the guard's left leg and tripped him down. Bending over him, he aimed a punch and hit the guard in the face, knocking him out. Or so he thought.

The guard was more durable than he thought. He grabbed Julius' injured shoulder and he hissed in pain. "Why you little--"

Julius panicked and brought his fist down on the guard's face again, knocking him out this time. Rummaging through his pockets, Julius found his phone and morpher. Returning his phone to his own pocket, Julius stepped out of the shelter slowly, laying eyes on a group of four guards on their way. *They must have heard the commotion...*

"Ah crap..."

From behind him, Zack and Popple ran to his side.

"What the hell's going on here?!" A guard asked, completely confused.

"Looks like some color-coded posse managed to break in!"

Julius looked at his friends. "Guys, y--" He started before stopping. He couldn't let the guards know that he was with them. "Help! They beat up my guard and now they're trying to kidnap me!"

"We can't let them take that kid! The boss wants him!"

"Come and get him," Zack simply said, putting his fists up. Popple did likewise. The guards charged at the heroes and a fight ensued. Julius took the opportunity to retreat behind a shelf and morphed up, becoming the red ranger. When he flexed his arm, he immediately hissed in pain. Looks like some things don't change.

Upstairs, Cloud was still watching the presentation. The business suit guy had just finished and now some other people were going through charts. In other words, he was totally, completely, bored. Apparently, everyone shared the same feeling, because they were all in differing states of boredom at the time. Some students kept on staring with glazed-over eyes. Others had fallen asleep or were close, including Ronnie. When his morpher rang, he grinned and turned to Mr. Bonduxe.

"I gotta go to the bathroom."

Mr. Bonduxe was startled by the statement, as was also drifting off. He shuffled in his chair and yawned. "Hold it, they're almost done."

The presenters finished talking about a chart and moved on to another chart.

"He just started another one! It's an emergency!"

Mr. Bonduxe sighed in exasperation. "I'm timing you, Cloud. If you're not back in 5 minutes, it's a detention."

Cloud pumped his fist and ran out of the cafeteria, answering the call.

"Hey, Cloud, it's me!" Julius began.

"Julius! I thought you got captured and everything!"

"I'm free now, thanks to Zack and Popple!"

Cloud could hear the fighting. "What's going on there?"

"We're kind of getting into an altercation with the guards. And by we, I mean Zack and Popple. Dislocated shoulder and everything."

"We need backup! Someone go hit the alarm!" A voice that wasn't Zack, Julius, or Popple yelled.

Cloud thought of something. "Ooh! Remember the last time we were here!"

A pause. "Yeah! Wait, are you gonna go--"

"Bingo! Get Zack and Popple and run to the elevator. I'll give you the signal!" Cloud started running towards the main lobby, then turned and ran through a hallway different than the one that led to the elevator. Dodging past people in suits and ties, he soon found himself in front of a wall, but more importantly, a fire alarm. Looking to his left and right to see that he wasn't being watched, he put his hand on the lever. "You guys at the elevator?"

Yelling and more blows being dealt. Finally, Julius answered. "Yeah! It's opening up!"

"Alright, get in. Let me know when you're ready!"

A few seconds later, Julius responded. "We're in! Hit it!"

Cloud pressed the button and all of the overhead lights around him changed to a deep red color. An alarm horn began to blare loudly. He casually walked at a brisk pace, as not to raise suspicion. As he walked, people began to flood the hallways. When he arrived back in the main lobby, even more people were briskly walking like he was to the door. Security guards were herding everybody out.

"Nothing to worry about, people, remain calm!" One said.

From the other hallway, Zack, Julius, and Popple exited, now in their normal clothing. They blended into the crowd and Cloud jostled his way through. "Hey, hey hey! Looks like operation jailbreak worked out! Did they follow you?"

"They couldn't, elevator shuts down when the lockdown happens," Popple replied.

"So Julius, what have we learned today?" Zack asked.

Julius rolled his eyes and said nothing.

Mr. Bonduxe and the rest of the class were leaving the cafeteria and the Physics teacher was not happy when he saw the four. "Where in the world have you all been! Know what, we'll go through it later! We need to leave, something happened during the presentation!"

As everyone exited the headquarters, metal panes began to slowly drape the building's windows and entrances, making it look like an impenetrable medieval fortress.

...

"John Prow here, live with the Belview News. I'm standing at the Revolutech skyscraper, which seems to have entered a lockdown phase during a press release. Everyone was evacuated, save for a few workers who were in high-risk zones. They're currently running diagnostics to see if the building is safe to enter again, says the CEO of Revolutech Steven Burnell..."

The students watched the news broadcast from inside of the bus as everyone was being accounted for. When Mr. Bonduxe got to the four, who were seated at the back of the bus, he looked at them with confusion and exasperation in his eyes. Cloud was sitting with Zack and Julius was with Popple across from them.

"Who wants to explain to me what happened?" He began.

"I think I can help with that..." Julius began, taking off his cast and lowering his shirt, showing his bare shoulder to Mr. Bonduxe. "I slipped and fell in the bathroom."

Mr. Bonduxe winced. "Ooh, that's some swelling."

"Yeah, I went go look for some ice and got lost..." Julius said innocently.

"Yeah, and we went to go look for him," Zack said, pointing at Popple.

"Sorry, Mr. B," Julius added.

Mr. Bonduxe sighed. "No problem, Julius. You should've come back to the class and asked me, though, instead of getting lost. Now that I know the story, you're all off the hook. Let me leave you kids alone, now," He got up and walked away to the front of the bus. The bus driver began to drive away from the headquarters. The teens breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed. In front of Cloud and Zack, Ronnie turned around in her seat to look at the teens.

"Wasn't that a crazy field trip, huh? It got boring near the end, but this more than made up for it!"

The teens collectively nodded tiredly.

As if it couldn't brighten up even more, Ronnie's smile widened. "Oh yeah! I just remembered what I was going to tell you guys yesterday! All four of you are invited to a little get-together I'm hosting at my house.

Cloud's jaw dropped. "No way. You don't mean..."

"Yup, you're invited to the annual Ronnie Jacobs Halloween Bash!"

Zack, Julius, and Popple perked up. "Us?! Invited to a party?!" Julius asked.

"Don't sound so surprised, Julius! Wait, is this you guys' first high school party?!"

"Uh, yeah!" Cloud replied.

"Well, then! What better way to start then at one of *my* parties! I'll be seeing you there?"

The teens took no time to answer. "You'll be seeing us all there!" Cloud answered happily.

Ronnie turned back in her seat and Julius, Zack, Cloud and Popple were now all hyped up and excited.

"The dream...has become a reality," Cloud said, pumping his fist. "We. Are. In!"