The Kur Stone, Part 2

**The Kur Stone, Part 2** is the third chapter of Zak Saturday's Immortal Love Life. It was first published on January 3, 2016.

## Chapter

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**Zak's POV**
Me, my family, and Sarah are on our way to Mannose, Brazil to stop Argost from getting the last piece of the Kur Stone.
On the way there, Dad was telling me that the reason he and Mom are bringing me along is because there’s these cryptids called Tapire-laura, one of the most dangerous cryptids in South America, and my parents need to me distract them with my powers long enough for them to get the stone.
“I’m hoping we won’t even need your special abilities, Zak,” Dad said.
“But, of course, you will,” Sarah said.
“How do you know that?” I asked her.
“Because it’s obvious. When you say something like ‘I’m hoping we won’t even need your special abilities,’ you *always* need your special abilities. It’s just typical.”
“And just in case we do,” Dad continued, “I’ve been working on something to help you use them.”
He went to the weapons closet, put his hand on the touch pad next to it, and the doors slid open.
He pulled out a two-foot-long stick with what look like the head of some kind of bird on the bottom.
I was confused.
“It’s, uh, stick,” I said. “That’s really, uh . . . what’s it suppose to do?”
“Let’s go find out.” Dad placed the Hand of Tsul ‘Kalu on top of the stick, then gave it to me, and showed me how to use it.
We went to a different room on the airship that was larger.
Dad moved about twenty feet away from me and made a *come at me* hand gesture toward me.
I knew what to do.
I spun the stick over my head a few times, pressed a button on the side of it, and slingshot the Hand of Tsul ‘Kalu at Dad with a tough cord tied to it.
Dad grabbed it with his hand.
“Huh,” I said. “Zak like.”
Dad pulled the cord, and it lifted me off the ground.
I flew toward him, landing behind him.
The cord retracted back into the stick.
I ran toward Dad, fighting him with it.
He was dodging my attacks one after the other while also explaining what the stick can do.
“Unloading cable, grappling hook, vaulting and retrieving functionality,” he said. “I’ve been calling it the multi-function-adaptive-combat-defensive-enhancement. A mouthful, yes. But maybe you can give it an acronym name, like . . . ‘Mfacdi.’”
I thought of a better name.
“Or the Claw,” I said.
“That sounds better,” Sarah agreed.
I’m glad she agreed.
“With the Hand of Tsul ‘Kalu on the end, it should still help you focus your cryptid influencing powers,” Dad said.
I noticed Komodo sleeping a few feet away from us.
I focused on him and activated my powers, my eyes glowing orange, and Komodo’s too when he woke up.
I used my powers to lead Komodo over to Dad through telepathy, and he jumped on him, knocking him to the ground.
“Very good, son,” Dad said.
I deactivated my powers.
Komodo got off of Dad, looking pretty mad.
“Sorry, Komodo,” I told him. “It was for science.”
“No animal likes to be used for science,” Sarah said.
She held out her arms to Komodo, and he went to her.
I still didn’t understand why he grew a liking to her so quickly.
Dad got up from the floor.
“Now, this doesn’t change the family rules,” he said. “The minute there’s any sign of a fight, your mother and I take over.”
“Are you saying Argost is tougher than Doc Saturday?” I asked challengingly. “Because I seem to be doing ok against you.”
“Oh, really?” Dad asked incredulously.
To prove it, I slingshot my new claw toward him.
He caught it with both his hands, which is what I was hoping for.
“Who’s still the big dog?” he asked.
I pressed the button on the side of the claw to retract the cord while Dad was still holding it, and I jumped over him, landed behind him, and kicked him in the back, knocking him again to the ground.
“I believe Zak is the new big dog,” Sarah said, laughing.
“Woof,” I said.
Dad got up from the floor. “You’re still not fighting Argost.”
That surprised me.
“Are you kidding?” I said. “That was—”
I was interrupted by an explosion, and the airship pitched to the side, then became level again.
Alarms started to blare.
Me, Dad, Komodo, and Sarah ran to the control room to find out what was happening.
We found Mom at the controls.
“Zak, Sarah, strap in. Doc, weapons.” she said. “We found him.”
I looked outside and saw Argost’s war plane fly by, then he shot three missiles toward us.
“Grab something,” Mom said.
She made a hard left turn.
I grabbed the rail in front of me.
Sarah almost fell to the ground, but I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her next to me.
She grabbed the rail. “Thanks.”
“No problem,” I told her.
After Mom did that sharp turn, she did another one, and the missiles exploded together.
Argost’s war plane was no where to be seen.
“Where’d he go?” Mom asked. “Doc!”
“I’m looking,” he said.
He had on a helmet that had a special way of looking for things.
After a few seconds, he said, “Behind us.”
Argost shot more missiles toward us, and Mom was having a hard time dodging them.
“I can’t get rid of ’em,” she said. “Unless somebody calls in a miracle, we’re—we’re losing this dog fight.”
I didn’t want that to happen.
I came up with a plan. A stupid plan, but a plan nonetheless.
I ran to the back of the airship.
“Fisk?” I called.
He walked out of a small sound proof room built into the wall.
The airship shook again from another explosion, and Fisk whimpered.
“Nothing to worry about, buddy,” I assured him. “I’ve got an idea.”
I told him a small part of my plan, because I knew that if I told him all of it, he wouldn’t do it.
Fisk got some head gear, I climbed onto his back, and we climbed onto the right wing of the airship.
Fisk let me off his back gently, and we held on to the edge of the wing.
“You throw me toward Argost’s war plane,” I told him. “Me and the claw will do the rest.”
Fisk looked shocked. *That plan isn’t going to work.*
“What?” I asked. “How do you know it’s not gonna work?”
Argost was shooting more missiles at us, and I almost fell off the wing, but luckily Fisk grabbed me and held on to me.
But he still wasn’t going to throw me.
“You owe me,” I reminded him. “Remember Fiji? You’d still be cursed if it wasn’t for me.”
Fisk protested and crossed his arms.
Suddenly the wing tipped over to the left, and we fell back inside.
I heard a big explosion, and the airship crashed to the ground.
Me and Fisk climbed outside through a hole and found Mom, Dad, Sarah, and Komodo ten feet away.
“Boys!” Dad said.
“Zak,” Mom said.
They ran toward us.
“Mom, Dad,” I called.
I ran to meet them, and embraced my mom in a hug.
Then she pushed me back, holding my shoulders at arms length. She didn’t look happy.
“What were you thinking?” she asked. “Are you legally insane? Never—*ever*—do that again.”
“I had it handled,” I told her. “You turned that plane on purpose, didn’t you?”
“I can’t believe you’d try a stunt that stupid.”
“I can’t believe you messed up my stupid stunt.”
We heard Sarah laughing and turned to look at her.
She stopped laughing and became interested of her feet.
I turned back to my parents.
“Why do you guys always have to be the heroes? I got what it takes if you’d just give me a chance to prove it.”
I turned away from them and crossed my arms over my chest.
“Drew,” Dad said. “Why don’t you see what supplies we can salvage? I’ll take this one. Father-son bonding time.”
He walked over to me and put a hand on my shoulder.
“Do we have to?” I asked.
I looked him in the eyes, and I knew we did.
We went a little farther into the woods.
We found a couple logs, so I sat down on one, and Dad sat on the other across from me.
I started the conversation.
“I’m not a little kid anymore, Dad,” I said. “I can handle myself in a fight.”
Dad sighed. “Do you ever wonder why you have the powers you do? That gift with cryptids?”
“Sometimes,” I admitted.
“Your mother has a theory. In every ancient legend, there’s a balance. Or in terms I’m more comfortable with, for every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction. Your mother and I brought the potential for great evil to the world eleven years ago. But that was also the year you were born.”
“I—I don’t understand.”
“We told you Kur is the key to unlimited power, but we didn’t tell you how. If Argost can find and control Kur, he’ll have the power to raise an entire army of cryptids. What kind of power could stand against a man with an army of cryptids at his disposal?”
I felt like I knew the answer.
“M-Mine?” I asked.
Dad put his hand on my shoulder again. “Equal and opposite. Forces balanced. Zak, we’re afraid that if this Kur madness gets out into the world, you may be the only one who can stop it. And that’s an awful lot of pressure to put on an eleven-year-old boy.”
“So, I should just let you guys know when I’m ready to save the world?” I asked.
“Like I said, it’s only a theory.” Dad tousled my hair. “Try to keep your ego in check for now.”
All right. I understand now. And even I have to admit that it *is* a lot of pressure. But that still doesn’t mean I have to like it.
“Doc!” Mom called. “I think you’re gonna wanna see this.”
We ran back to our crash sight.
When we got there, we found some kind of prehistoric bird descending from the sky, and it looked mad.
It landed on the ground, and walked toward my family in a threatening way.
“Now may be a good time to test that new equipment,” Dad suggested.
I grabbed the claw hanging from my belt, held the claw end toward the cryptid, and activated my powers.
Unfortunately, the bird noticed and came at me before I even got a chance to get it under control.
It knocked the claw out of my hand with its beak.
I tried to run from it, but the bird took flight and picked me up by the back of my shirt with its beak, lifting me into the air with it.
“Zak!” Mom called.
She ran and jumped, grabbing onto the bird’s foot with both her hands, but the bird shook her off, and she fell.
Luckily, Dad caught her before she hit the ground.
But the bird still had me, and was flying me deeper into the woods.
I had to think of something to get away quick.
Then I heard my mom unsheathe her fire sword.
“Give me back my baby boy,” I heard her say.
It’s really embarrassing when she calls me her “baby boy.”
Anyway, she shot a fire ball from her sword.
It hit the bird directly in the back, and it dropped me.
I fell into a tree, hit a couple branches, and landed on my back pretty hard. But surprisingly, I only had a few scratches.
I stood up from the ground.
“Zak, are you ok?” Sarah called.
“Yeah,” I called back, brushing myself off.
Sarah appeared across the way behind a few trees.
“Where’s the bird?” I asked.
“Your parents and your pets are dealing with it,” she said.
I noticed she had the claw in her right hand.
She noticed me looking at it, and handed it back to me. “Here. I grabbed this for you.”
For some reason, I was skeptical of that, but I took it. “Thanks.”
“We should probably go back and help your parents,” she said.
“Yeah.”
We ran back to where we last saw them.
When we got there, both of my parents, Fiskerton, and Komodo were tied up in vines against a large tree.
The bird was about to eat Dad’s head.
I raised my claw and activated my powers.
The bird’s eyes glowed orange.
I mentally told it to leave my family alone. It seemed to be so much easier this time.
She backed away from them.
Sarah and I walked over to my family.
“Hey,” I said. “This thing works great.”
“I’m so glad,” Dad said, choking through the vine wrapped around his throat. “Would you mind—” He was cut short when the vines wrapped around his mouth.
Sarah unsheathed her sword and sliced the vines away. Then she put it back in its scabbard.
I went over to the bird, sitting only a few feet away, and I started petting her, while Dad was scanning her with his transmitter.
Sarah came over and petted her too.
“Hey, there,” I said to the bird. “Who’s a good birdie?”
She cooed, obviously liking it.
“I don’t see anything like it in any of the cryptid zoology data bases,” Dad said. “It looks like some hold out from the prehistoric era.”
“Cool,” Sarah said. “I really love animals. Every time I see one, I just have to pet it.”
“Do you have any of your own pets at home?” I asked her.
She nodded. “Yes. Eight, in fact.”
“That’s a lot of pets.”
“I know. But they’re all really friendly when they don’t find you threatening, and most of them are related.”
“Cool.”
We continued to pet the bird, but Mom didn’t like it.
“Zak, stop petting it,” she said. “That thing tried to eat your father’s head.”
“She was just defending herself, Mom,” I said. “Look.”
I pointed over to the bird’s nest ten feet away, next to the airship, that was completely destroyed.
“We went right through her nest when we crashed,” I said defensively. “Could you blame her for thinking we were the enemy? Poor girl.”
“Most animals are highly territorial,” Sarah said.
We petted the bird comfortingly, and she cooed again.
Then we heard what sounded like an engine.
The bird spread her wings and flew away.
“Hey, wait!” I called after her, but she was gone.
Argost’s war plane flew over us, heading farther into the forest.
“Let’s go,” Dad said. “We’ve got a piece of stone to recover.”
We ventured into the rain forest.
Sarah was walking beside me with her sword in hand.
I wondered something.
“Why were you laughing earlier?” I asked her.
“Because it was funny,” she replied with a smile.
“What was so funny about it?”
“Well, your mom said that she couldn’t believe you’d pull a stunt that stupid. You agreed, and yet, you still did it.” She laughed at the memory of it.
“It wasn’t funny,” I said defensively.
“Yes, it was.”
“No, it wasn’t.”
“Yes, it was.”
I had a feeling this was going to go on for a while, so I decided to change the subject.
“That sword of yours,” I said. “Where did you get it?”
“From my mom,” Sarah answered, as if it was obvious.
“Where did she get the sword?”
“Umm, I’m not sure. But she’s had it a long time.”
“Ok. Why do you use it?”
“Well, when my brother and I were five years old, our mom told us that we needed to learn how to use a weapon. The earlier we started learning, the better. She gave us a few suggestions, had us choose one, and we both chose a sword.”
“Why did you need to learn how to use a weapon?”
“Because of our evil-clones. They’ll start attacking us by the time we’re six, and we need to learn how to fight if we don’t want to be beaten up.”
“Well, you’re really good with that sword,” I said.
“Thanks,” Sarah said. “Every single day, me and my brother sword fight. Half the time, I win, the other half, he wins. And by the way, you and him have the same first name.”
“Zak?” I asked.
“Yeah. But his name is spelled Z-A-C-K. How’s your name spelt?”
“Z-A-K.”
Sarah nodded.
“Umm, when my parents told you they were scientists, why did you look scared?”I asked her.
She hesitated. “Well, when my mom became Protector of America, the government captured her, hiring scientists to do it. But by doing so, my mom wouldn’t have survived the . . . what? Experiment? I can’t remember what they called it, but ever since then, my mom has stayed away from the government and scientists as much as she can. She told me and my brother about that, and that we should stay away from them too.”
“Wow. But not all scientists are like that.”
“I know. But you could never be too sure about one you just met.”
“True.”
Sarah was silent for a few minutes.
“Umm, can I ask you a question?” she said hesitantly.
“You just did,” I teased.
She glared at me. “Ok. Can I ask you *another* question?”
“You just did.” I chuckled.
Sarah was getting really agitated.
She lifted her sword and pointed it at me, only an inch away from my chest.
My family watched with concern.
“Will you stop it?” Sarah said.
“Ok, ok. I’m sorry,” I quickly apologized, my heart beating fast. “But now you know how I feel.”
She narrowed her eyes, then sighed. “I guess so.”
She lowered her sword.
“Do you always do that when someone makes a joke you don’t like?” I asked.
“No,” she said. “Only when someone makes an offensive or rude joke. That’s when I bring out my sword. And besides, you shouldn’t say those kind of jokes to someone holding a weapon. Even my friends know that.”
“Well, you shouldn’t do that to me since I also have a weapon. My parents do, too. And you’ve already seen how protective they are of me.”
“Zak, you just got your weapon.”
“So what? My parents have had their weapons a long time and their very good with them.”
“That may be true. But I can defeat you and your parents without any help at all.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“How so?”
“Because my mom trained me on how to defeat someone twice my size and being outnumber. I mean, you saw me defeat those two mercenaries earlier, didn’t you? And, as I recall, you and your family got beat by them. That’s how I know your parents are gonna be easy to defeat. No offense.”
“We did injure them,” I said defensively.
“Barely even a little bit,” Sarah said.
“Well, you didn’t mention Fiskerton and Komodo. I’m pretty sure they’ll help us. They’re really tough.”
Sarah laughed. “They’re not gonna hurt me.”
“How do you know they won’t?”
“I’ll prove it.”
She turned toward Komodo. “Komodo, would you attack Zak, please?”
“He’s not gonna—” I started, but I was wrong.
Komodo jumped on me, knocking me to the ground with him on top of me.
Sarah smirked.
I was completely stunned.
“How did you do that?” I asked her, while pushing Komodo off of me and standing up.
“I was born with this aura that effects animals, and once an animal feels it, they’ll feel protected of me, and do whatever I ask.”
“So if I attack you, Fisk and Komodo will stop me?”
“Probably. Unless I tell them not to intervene. And I still think I can beat you and your parents.”
“Really? My family fights enemies all the time. We have tons of fighting experience.”
“So does my family. And I’m positive that my family’s enemies are a lot tougher than yours.”
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. There’s just no way you can beat me and my family.”
“I love how confident you are about that, but no matter how confident you are, I can still beat you all.”
“Oh, you wanna bet?” I challenged.
“Hell yeah. I’ll be done with you in ten seconds. Your parents will take a little longer, but not too much.”
I was about to say something more, but Mom stopped me.
“Guys, stop,” she said. “It doesn’t matter whose family has more fighting experience, or whose enemies are tougher.” She turned toward me. “And Zak, you were being rude with that joke. She just wanted to ask you a question. And Sarah, you don’t always have to threaten someone with your sword just because that person’s being rude.”
Sarah and I looked at each other, and sighed. “Fine.”
But neither of us apologized.
Sarah turned away from me and started walking ahead of us.
I turned to Mom. “Do you really think she can beat you, me, and Dad together?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “But I don’t think Sarah would keep saying that she can unless she was absolutely positive. She did defeat Van Rook and his new apprentice.”
“I know. But we were just taken off guard. We didn’t know what Van Rook’s new sidekick could do.”
“Right,” Mom said. “But Sarah is obviously very skilled at that. Her mother seems to have taught her well.”
“Yeah,” I agreed.
We followed Sarah, making sure we didn’t get separated from her.
She seemed to know where she was going, but my parents were the only ones who knew where they hid the last Kur Stone piece. Every once in a while, she’d turn around to make sure we were still behind her.
Nobody said anything the rest of the way.
I kept replaying mine and Sarah’s argument in my head.
I guess I was being rude, but I was just kidding around.
She didn’t have to threaten me with her sword like that. She could have just told me to shut up and ask me her question. I wonder what it was, anyway.
After a little while longer, we finally found the watering hole.
“This is it,” Mom said.
Dad turned toward me. “Zak?”
I understood.
“Doin’ my thing,” I said.
I grabbed the claw from my belt and activated my powers.
I didn’t sense any cryptids nearby.
“No Tapire-laura,” Dad said. “We’re in luck.”
“Yeah, we’ll see about that,” Mom said.
She walked toward the water, followed by Fisk and Komodo.
They stopped a few feet from the water and started to dig in the dirt.
After a few moments, Mom picked up a cloth-covered thing, unwrapped it, and sighed in relief.
“It’s still here,” she said.
“Wrap it back up,” Dad said. “We’ve pushed our luck here long enough. Let’s get—”
We heard a plane’s engine again, and Argost’s war plane descended above us.
“They followed us,” I said, which was obvious.
“Drew, go!” Dad said. “Save the stone.”
Mom tried to leave, but it was too late.
Argost jumped from his plane, laughing his evil laugh, opened up his cloak to unleash a lot of weird looking long bugs on all of us.
A few clamped onto my skin with their teeth, and I immediately felt like I was lifting a hundred pounds.
My family and Sarah seemed to feel the same way, some of the bugs on them as well.
Argost landed on a branch in a tree nearby.
“No more secrets, Saturdays,” he said. “You can’t keep me from what I was meant to have.”
The bugs felt like they were sucking my blood, which they probably were.
My eyelids were feeling heavy, but I forced them to stay open.
I was afraid that if they closed, they might never open ever again.
“Oooo. I’m going to find Kur,” Argost continued. “I only wish you could live long enough to see your own precious cryptids turn against you. But sadly, A Salamo.”
Dad, Fisk, Komodo, and Sarah fought to stay awake, but they just couldn’t.
I tried to grab for the claw, but I then I heard Mom collapse on the ground.
I turned and walked over to her. “Mom.”
I knelt beside her, putting my hand on her back.
“Zak—” she tried, but passed out.
The stone piece was a few inches away.
Despite how weak I felt, I stood up, grabbed the stone piece, and tried to walk back to the airship.
But Argost stopped me.
“Stay . . . back,” I said weakly.
With every step I took, these bugs felt like they were sucking my blood even harder.
“They’re called Devonian Annelids,” Argost explained. “Filthy little brutes, but they do so love the taste of human essence.”
Argost started walking toward me.
I tried to walk the other way, but Argost’s assistant stopped me.
My head felt dizzy, and my eyesight was becoming blurry.
I dropped the stone piece out of my hand.
“No!” I said.
I tried to pick it back up again, but I collapsed onto the ground, no longer able to hold my own weight.
Argost’s assistant picked up the stone, and he and Argost started walking away.
“Sweet dreams, little Saturday,” Argost told me.
I slipped into unconsciousness.

When I awoke, I found myself wrapped up in vines against a huge tree.
I noticed Sarah and my family beside me, fully awake now, and struggling to break free.
“Mom, Dad, what’s—” I started to say, but I was interrupted by someone clearing their throat.
“Greetings and bienvenue, young Saturday,” Argost said, holding the stone piece, and my mom’s fire sword in his hands. “I don’t believe you have the pleasure of meeting my man servant—”
“Munya,” I said. “Yeah, I watch—” I noticed my parents looking at me. “—all the most wanted list for the latest—” I sighed, giving up. “I’ve seen your TV show, ok? It’s wrong. You’re evil, I know. It’s still good TV.” I mumbled that last part.
“What’s so good about it?” Sarah asked. “I’ve honestly never even heard of it until today, and I don’t think I ever want to watch it.”
“You should. It’s not bad. Maybe we can watch it together sometime.”
“I might take you up on that for just one episode.”
“Well, as long as we’re all fast friends,” Argost said.
“You got what you wanted, Argost,” Mom said. “Why are you still here?”
“Dear lady, would anyone ever visit the circus if they didn’t secretly hope to see the lions eat somebody?”
As if on cue, we heard a roar nearby.
“It’s been a dry season,” Argost continued. “Poor hunting for the unfortunate Tapire-laura. Won’t they be thrilled to see the ordervals I’ve prepared for them.”
Another roar came from in front of us, and three Tapire-laura came out of the bushes, one white, the other two red, and they definitely looked hungry.
They stalked toward us.
I looked around desperately for the claw.
I found it lying on the ground just a few feet away from me.
I looked back toward the Tapire-laura and activated my powers.
“Zak, no,” Mom said. “Don’t let Argost see—”
Too late.
“Oh, dear boy,” Argost said. “That’s an unusual gift you have.”
“It’s ok, Mom,” I assured her. “I don’t care if he knows what I can do. I’m ready for this.”
“We’ve never pushed your power this far,” Dad said. “You might only make them angrier.”
“And since they’re hungry,” Sarah added, “you probably will.”
“No, Dad,” I said, giving him a confident smile. “I’m ready.”
He smiled and nodded.
“Doc,” Mom argued. “I—”
“Give him a chance,” Dad insisted.
I focused back on the Tapire-laura.
I got in control of them, barely, and forced them to back off.
“Now, now, my pets,” Argost told them. “No playing with your food. “Attack them! Now!”
The white Tapire-lauara charged at us.
I still had my powers activated, determined to fight control for it.
“It’s not working,” Dad said. “Cut it off.”
“Just—about—”
I had to time this right.
It was getting closer.
It jumped at me, it’s claws extended, and I had it guide them to the vines around me.
It obeyed just long enough to cut the vines, and I moved out of the way.
“Got him.”
Argost wasn’t happy about that.
He turned to his assistant. “Munya!”
What Munya did next really surprised me.
What looked like spider legs started to break through the back of his shirt, and he ripped it off, revealing himself to be half-human, half-spider.
I looked at my family.
“Did anyone else know that he could do that?” I asked, whimpering a little.
I ran to my mom, and tried to pull off the vines from around her, which was useless.
Munya grabbed me by the back of my shirt and threw me into the mud behind him.
“Don’t try to take him alone, Zak,” Mom said. “He’s too powerful.”
I really don’t like the lack of faith my parents have for me.
Munya started walking toward me.
I had to think of some way to defeat him, and quick.
Before I could come up with a plan, all of a sudden, Sarah came out of no where and kicked Munya to the ground.
She turned toward me.
“You ok, Zak?” she asked.
“Yeah.” I stood up from the ground. “How did you get out of the vines?”
“They had sheathed my sword and left it with me,” she explained. “My arms were free enough for me to grab it and slice the vines away.”
“Ok. Thanks.”
“No problem. I’ll deal with Munya. You go stop Argost.”
I nodded. “Right.”
I ran to retrieve the claw still lying on the ground.
Once I got it, I noticed Argost running away with the stone and Mom’s fire sword.
I slingshot my claw toward him, and the aim was so perfect, that it hit his hand and he dropped the stone piece.
The piece hit branch after branch, unraveling from it’s cloth, and landed in the mud across the river from me.
Argost growled in frustration.
I was about to go and get it when I noticed Sarah having trouble with Munya, him spitting webs from his mouth at her, and her trying to dodge them and fight him at the same time.
I aimed my claw at the Tapire-luara, activated my powers, getting control of them much easier this time.
“Sick him,” I told them, pointing at Munya.
They obeyed, running over to him and attacked.
Satisfied, I ran to get the stone.
“Zak, look out!” Mom said.
I looked above me and saw Argost throw some green steaming balls at me that looked like acid.
I dodged them, caught one with the claw, and threw it toward my family, hoping that it would land on the vines and not their skin.
Luck was on my side.
The acid ball landed on the vines wrapped around Fisk’s legs, melting half of them away, but not enough for Fisk to be able to get himself free.
“Mongolian Death Worm Venom,” I called.
My parents looked at me in surprise. “How did you—”
“Saw that episode.”
Suddenly, Mom’s fire sword slashed down in the tree bark from behind, missing my head by a few inches.
I backed away and saw Argost standing on the big branch.
He slashed at me again, and I deflected it, then extended my claw another foot long.
He slashed at me again, and our weapons collided.
I pushed against him, he pushed against me.
I kicked him in the leg, and he backed away.
I slingshot the claw at him, but he dodged it.
He slashed at me again, I deflected, taking a few steps back, but I tripped over a log and landed on my butt.
Argost held the point of my mom’s sword at my chest for a few seconds, then jabbed it at me, but I rolled away, got back up on my feet, and ran.
Argost chased me.
I ran by Munya, who was trying to fight Sarah and the Tapire-luara while shooting webs at them.
He grabbed my claw, lifted me off the ground, threw me over his left side, and I landed in some vines, my claw falling out of my hands.
Argost came toward me.
I tried desperately to get out of the vines, but I couldn’t.
Luckily, the white Tapire-lauara came to the rescue.
Still half covered in spider webs, it roared at Argost.
He ran from it, and it chased him halfway up a tree.
I got out of the vines, retrieved my claw, and ran to get the stone still lying in the mud.
I bent down and picked it up.
“Zak, above you!” Dad called.
Before I could register what was happening, I heard a caw over my head, and Mom’s fire sword suddenly landed in front of me.
“Huh?” I wondered.
I noticed the bird from earlier and Argost in a tree a few feet away.
The bird got it’s beak stuck between two branches.
She cawed in protest.
Argost held her mouth open, holding a Mongolian death worm venom ball in his hand, threatening to drop it in and melt her mouth.
She cawed in horror.
“No!” I said.
I had to stop him.
But before I could, Munya shot his web at the stone piece from the tree of a branch behind me, and took it out of my hand.
Then he climbed up higher in the tree.
I wanted to go after him, but I cared more about saving the bird than the stone.
Argost was holding her mouth wide open, about to drop the venom ball into her mouth, she struggling to get away.
I slingshot the claw at Argost, hitting his hand again, knocking the venom out of it.
By luck, the venom ball hit one of the branches that was holding the bird’s beak, melting it away, and she was free.
She flapped her wings a few times, looking like she was flying away, but she circled back and tried to attack Argost.
But then Argost’s war plane descended above us, the jet engines causing a strong wind that blew away the bird.
Sarah helped my family out of their vines, and we regrouped.
A slot opened up at the bottom of Argost’s war plane, and he climbed up the branches of the tree he was in to reach it.
“At last,” he said. “ ’Tis the hour of anew. Many unhappy pestilences to you all!”
And with that, he jumped into his plane.
It took off, and he was gone.
“They got the last piece of the stone,” I said. I fell to my knees. “Sorry, Dad.”
My family came toward me.
“I saw what you did, Zak,” Dad said. “You made an impossible choice in an impossible situation. And as far as I’m concerned, you made the right one.”
The bird landed on the ground ten feet away, walking toward us.
“I can’t speak for the rest of the world,” Dad continued, “but you’re definitely my hero.”
The bird reached me, bent her head down, and I petted her.
Then Fiskerton picked me up and embraced me in a hug. Komodo licked my feet, tickling them.
“Hey, easy, fuzz face,” I said while laughing.
Mom walked over and gently touched my chin. “More importantly, you’re a Saturday. And things always seem to have a way of working out for Saturdays.”
She was staring at something on the ground.
I looked down and saw what she meant.
Right in the ground below us was a mud imprint of the stone piece that must’ve been made when the piece landed there after I made Argost drop it.
Dad knelt down next to it carefully. “Ok. Nobody touches that spot.”
Fiskerton put me down.
I went back to the bird where Sarah was petting her, and petting her more myself.
She cooed.
“Looks like we’ve got a new Secret Saturday, huh?” I said. “I’m going to name her Zon. You know, like AmaZon? She’s coming home with us, right?”
I looked at my parents.
They looked at each other.
Fisk was waving his hands in an obvious gesture that he doesn’t want them to say yes, but my parents ignored him.
They looked back at me and nodded.
“Yes!” I cheered.
Zon cawed in agreement.
“I’m really glad you’re taking Zon home with you,” Sarah said. “Because if you didn’t, I would have.”
“I think we have enough pets at home, Sarah,” a voice behind us said.
We turned around and found a woman standing behind us, thirty feet away.
She looked like an older version of Sarah.
She had long, slightly frizzy golden-brown hair; brown eyes; tan skin; was wearing a yellow T-shirt, light blue jeans, and white sneakers.
On her shoulder was some kind of big yellow mouse with red cheeks, and its tail in the shape of a lightning bolt.
Standing beside them was a boy about the same age as me.
He had brown hair, blue eyes, was wearing a dark blue T-shirt with dark blue-and-black shorts, and black sneakers. He also had a sword in a scabbard strapped to his waist, just like Sarah’s.
They also had six cheetahs and a pure white wolf with them.
They must be Sarah’s family.
“Hi, guys,” Sarah said. “You took longer than usual to find me.”
“We know,” her mom said. “But since we’ve never really traveled outside of the U.S. before, it’s hard to know where to look.”
“Don’t the animals have a strong sense of smell?”
“Yes, but we couldn’t catch your scent,” one of the cheetahs said with a female’s voice, which really surprised me.
“Well, then how did you guys find me?” Sarah asked.
“When we heard the Saturday’s airship a few miles away,” The boy, who I assumed was Sarah’s brother Zack, said.
“Really? And you guys didn’t show yourselves until now?”
“We wanted to find out the kind of people that the Saturdays are,” Sarah’s mom said, turning her gaze on us. “They seem different from most families, and I think that they’re the family we’ve been looking for.”
“I think so too,” Sarah agreed. “I realized it once I saw Zak use his powers.”
That worried me a little, and I became very cautious. My family seemed to feel the same way.
“Why were you looking for us?” Dad asked them.
“Well, a *friend* told me that there’s a family on earth whose lives are kind of similar to ours,” Sarah’s mom explained. “And that the only child of that family has these unique powers to control animals, but his parents don’t have powers of any kind. So my friend thought that we’d be interested in looking for this family. We were, and we’re positive that that family is you guys.”
“Ok,” Mom said protectively. “So now that you found us, what do you plan on doing to us?”
“Not much,” Sarah’s mom assured her. “We’re not going to do anything harmful to you guys. We would just like to know how your son got the powers that he has.”
Mom and Dad looked kind worried by that.
“It’s not really any of your business,” Dad said.
Sarah’s mom put her hands up. “I know. We’re just curious. But it’s ok if you don’t want us to know.”
Sarah hesitated. “Umm, I guess I should introduce you guys. Mom, Zack, and the animals, this is Doc, Drew, Zak, Fiskerton, Komodo, and Zon. Saturdays, this is my mom, Raylee; her partner Pikachu; my twin brother, Zack; and our pets: Amber, Kimbia, Kika, Chewie, Toto, and Honey the cheetahs; and Shillow, the wolf.”
“Hi,” I said. “Umm, your pets can talk?”
The animals didn’t see to like me asking that question.
“You know, animals *can* talk,” one of the cheetahs said angrily. “People just can’t understand them.”
“Ok. You don’t have to be so rude, Amber,” Raylee said. “But anyway, Zak, yes, they can talk.”
“How?” I asked.
“I designed special collars for each of them. It allows them to talk, and it also gives them a few special powers of their own.”
“Like?”
“Like, they can fly, have super strength, super hearing, super sense of smell, super speed—even though they’re already the fastest land animal on the planet—and they can extend their tails to about a mile long.”
“Wow,” I said in awe. “But how can you tell which of them is which?”
“By their collars,” Sarah said. “You see, each one of them has different colored collars. Amber has a dark orange one. Kika’s is pink. Honey’s is purple, my favorite color. Kimbia’s, black. Toto’s, blue. Chewie’s, green. And Shillow, well, she’s the wolf, so you don’t really need to know what collar her color is.”
“Ok. What about that yellow mouse? It doesn’t look like a cryptid, or even from this world. What kind of creature is it?”
“You don’t already know?” Sarah asked.
“Umm . . . no.”
“Huh. I thought every kid on earth knew about Pokémon. Well, anyway, Pikachu is a Pokémon, and can mostly use electric type powers.”
“What kind of other types are there, besides electric?” I asked.
“Well, there’s Normal, Fire, Water, Grass, Rock, Ground, Flying, Dark, Ghost, Psychic, Poison, Steel, Bug, Ice, Fighting, Fairy, and Dragon. Some Pokémon have two types, some only have one.”
“Cool,” I said. “And I’m guessing that those dragons you summoned earlier to save us after we fell off the cliff are Pokémon, too?”
Sarah nodded. “Yes. Charizard and Latias. They’re my Pokémon. Charizard is a Fire/Flying type, the one we were riding one; and Latias is a Psychic/Dragon type.”
“What about that ball you put them in? How did you even do that?”
Sarah reached into her pocket and pulled out the red-and-white ball. It was really tiny, but when she pressed the only button that was in the center of it, it expanded to fit her hand.
“It’s called a Poké Ball,” she explained. “This is what people use to catch Pokémon. It, I guess, kind of sucks the Pokémon into the ball to make it easier to carry it anywhere. Especially if the Pokémon is too big.”
“Cool.”
Sarah’s Pokéball shrunk again, and she put it back in her pocket.
“I’d really like to thank you guys for helping my daughter,” Raylee said.
“Yeah,” Zack agreed. “We had no idea how far Danielle threw her.”
“We were happy to help,” Dad said. “Zak’s the one who found her.”
Sarah gave me a thankful smile, and my face felt a little hot.
“Then I guess I should thank you personally,” Raylee said. “Thank you, Zak, for finding her and giving her some help.”
“It was no problem,” I said.
“Now that we’ve found the mystery family, let’s go home, Sarah.”
“Wait, Mom,” she said. “Can we stay and help the Saturdays stop Argost from finding Kur?”
Raylee looked confused. “Stop Argost from finding who?”
“I’ll explain later. But can we?”
“Until I know more, I’ll think about it.” She turned toward my parents. “Would you guys mind us staying and helping with, umm, Argost and Kur?”
Mom and Dad looked at each other, and seemed to come to a silent agreement.
“We could use the help,” Dad admitted. “But we’re not sure if we would like you and your family to stay with us.”
Raylee nodded. “That’s understandable. How about we discuss this more on the way to your home?”
“Alright. But first I need to make a copy of this mud print of the stone piece. Then we have to repair the airship.”
“Ok. We’ll be waiting at your airship. Come on, Sarah.”
Sarah leaned into me and whispered in my ear. “Well, this isn’t what I expected. Looks like your family and mine aren’t going to get along for a while.”
I nodded in agreement. “Yeah.”
Sarah followed her family into the rainforest.
After Dad had made a copy of the mud print, we headed back the way we came.
When we got to the area where our airship was, we saw Sarah and her family, but what really surprised me was the fact that our airship was hovering twenty feet in the air, and the ropes were hanging down from the slot on the bottom of it.
“Umm, I hope you guys didn’t mind, but we repaired your airship for you,” Raylee said.
My parents looked just as stunned as I was.
“How did you repair the airship?” Dad asked her.
“With our powers,” Zack replied as if it was obvious. “Our powers can practically repair anything.”
“Impressive,” Mom said. “Thank you.”
We all climbed into the airship, Sarah’s whole family flying into it as if they had wings, and we headed home.
On the way back, Sarah and Zack decided to have a sword fight in the back, and Fisk, Komodo, Zon, and I watched them.
Most of the time they dodged each other’s attacks, but they got in a few cuts.
Sarah did a couple of back flips while dodging Zack’s attacks.
He slashed with his sword, Sarah deflected with hers, and vice versa.
Then she did a roll, slashed at his side, and he groaned. Blood started to pour out.
Zack backed away a few steps, and Sarah smirked. Then she charged at him.
He dodged to his right, slashed at her back.
She screamed in pain, and fell to the ground.
“Sarah, are you ok?” Zack asked her.
He went to her, but it was a trick.
Once he came too close, Sarah slashed him in the face with her sword, and he fell to his knees and clutched the new cut on his face that was pouring blood, groaning in pain.
“That’s for slashing me in the back,” Sarah said.
“I should have seen that coming,” Zack said.
“Yeah, you should have.”
Zack’s face with all the blood on it looked really disturbing.
Then he put one of his hands on his side, the other on his face, and they started to glow white.
The cuts on his face and side had disappeared when he moved his hands, and so did the blood.
He put his hands on Sarah’s cuts, and healed them too.
“Want to call it a draw?” Sarah asked him.
“Yeah,” he agreed.
They shook hands.
That was so cool watching them sword fight.
I’m surprised that Sarah could even do flips with a sword in her hand.
Maybe she could teach me how to do that.
“You guys really know how to use a sword,” I said.
“Yeah,” Sarah agreed. “Our mom taught us how to do all that.”
“Does she have a sword of her own?”
“Of course she does,” Zack said. “She made hers enchanted with electricity, but she doesn’t use it much.”
“Well, you both look cool with your swords.”
“Thanks,” they both said in unison.
Everyone was quiet the rest of the way home.
The Hollingers are a pretty interesting family. I really hope they will be able to stay with us.

**Sarah’s POV**
Fine.
I’ll admit it.
I think Zak is a little cute. But also a little rude.
Once we got back to the Saturday’s home, Zak went off to build Zon a nest, and me, my mom, Zack, Pikachu, and the animals went into the woods next to their house to talk in private.
When we found a quiet spot, Zack and I climbed into a tree and sat on one of the branches while everyone else sat on the ground.
“Ok, Sarah,” Mom started. “What’s the real reason you want to stay with the Saturdays?”
“I already told you,” I said.
“Yeah, and we believe you,” Zack said. “But we have a feeling that there are more reasons than that, so what are they?”
“There are no other reasons,” I lied. “I just really want to help them with this Kur stuff.”
Mom studied me for a second. “You like Zak, don’t you?”
I sighed.
Their powers have a mind of their own, and they always tell them in their heads when someone is lying, so it’s practically impossible to keep a secret from my mom and twin brother.
“I just met him,” I said. “It’s too soon for me to tell if I like him or not. But I do think he’s a little cute.”
“I knew it,” Zack said.
“Shut up.”
“I think he and his family are a little weird,” Toto said.
“Yeah,” Chewie agreed. “I mean, what are cryptids?”
“They’re mythical animals,” Mom said. “Like Big Foot, or the Lochness Monster.”
“How did you know that?” I asked.
“My brother use to like cryptids when we were young.”
“Why doesn’t he anymore?”
Mom shrugged. “Who knows. But anyway, Sarah, my powers are telling me that there’s another reason than what you’re saying.”
“Mine are, too.” Zack agreed.
Damn those powers. Why won’t they mind their own damn business?
“The other reason is, is that I want to get away from all the boys from school,” I said.
Every single boy at my school who are older than me won’t stop hitting on me. Even though there are some pretty slutty girls, which is surprising given how young we still are, they’re all paying attention to me.
Now I don’t know if it’s because I’m the daughter of the Protector of America, or they’re just assholes.
I’m not even eleven years old yet, and I’m already dealing with boys.
I don’t like it.
Everyday I’m asked to any upcoming dance our school’s having, or just some time to hang out somewhere else other than school, and I always so no.
But do they stop asking me? No.
I wish they’d just leave me the hell alone.
Pikachu interrupted my mental rant.
“Pika?” she asked me, but I didn’t understand.
“Pikachu, you know I can’t understand you yet,” I told her.
She looked over at Mom for her to translate.
“She’s wondering why you like Zak,” Mom said. “And that that white part of his hair that looks like a star makes him look weird.”
“I think that makes him look more cute,” I said defensively. “And I haven’t known Zak for a whole day yet. But the little I know about him, he’s kind, he obviously cares about his family as much as I care about mine, and he never backs down from a fight no matter how scary it is.”
“Ok,” Zack said. “But what about the fight you two had earlier?”
“I think that was a stupid argument,” Mom said. “Who the hell cares who’s stronger?”
“Well, I guess you’re right,” I admitted. “But, Mom, you taught me how to fight people who are bigger than me.”
“I know. But it doesn’t mean you have to prove it. Especially if you get into an argument about it. It’s not worth proving. Just do it when absolutely necessary.”
“Speaking of which, you defeated two mercenaries?” Zack asked.
I nodded. “Yeah. It was awesome. I’ll tell you more about it later. So, can we stay and help the Saturdays with this Kur stuff?”
“Well, first you’ve got to explain to us what Kur even is,” Zack said. “Besides the fact that it’s a cryptid.”
So I told them everything that happened from the moment I woke up to the moment they found me.
They seemed to understand most of what I said.
“The Saturdays could use our help with that,” Mom said.
“So we can stay?” I asked.
She nodded. “Me, Doc, and Drew have already discussed this on the airship, and they agreed to let us stay and help them stop Argost from finding and controlling Kur.
Zack and I were stunned to learn that.
“Well, that’s surprising,” Zack said.
“I know,” I agreed.
The animals nodded in agreement.
Mom, on the other hand, was confused. “What?”
“Mom, you do know that Doc and Drew are scientists, right?” I asked.
“Yeah. So?”
“You always told us to stay away from scientists because of what happened with you and the government,” Zack said.
“I know. But I can tell that they’re not like those scientists. I’m sure of it. We’ll be ok with them.”
“Let’s hope so,” Shillow said.
“Anyway,” Mom continued. “Sarah, the fact that you said that one of the reasons you want to stay is because you want to get away from the boys at school, even though you’re out of school for the summer now. You do realize you won’t get away from them forever, right?”
“I know,” I said. “I just want to get away from the them for at least through most of the summer.”
“Well, I don’t blame you there. But the other reason, that I want to talk to you about, is that fact that you like Zak. Do you remember what I told you about dating?”
I nodded. “Yeah. You told me that I should get to know the guy first before I let anything happen between us and see if I like him for who he is.”
“Exactly. Don’t let it go too far. I mean, Zak might like you too, and I want you to be careful.”
“He’s eleven years old, Mom. What can he possibly do to me?”
“You never know, Sarah. He might just surprise you.”
“Maybe. But I will tell you that I’m going to do just that. I’m not like Zack here.”
“Hey,” he protested.
“Oh, come on, Zack. You and Selena got together immediately after you two found out you liked each other. And you didn’t even get to know each other before you did.”
True story.
“Yeah,” Zack agreed. “But me and Selena have known each other since we were born.”
That was also true. Our parents and Selena’s are really good friends, and they’ve raised us together.
“He’s right there, Sarah,” Mom said.
“I know,” I admitted. “But, as I’ve already said, I’ve only known Zak for a day, and I’m not going to date him just because I think he’s cute.”
“That’s smart. But be careful. I don’t want him to hurt you.”
“And if he does,” Kika said. “We’ll make sure he gets a good punishment.”
The animals nodded in agreement.
“Yeah,” Zack agreed. “He’ll regret ever hurting you if he does.”
I smiled at all of them.
I have such a caring family. They’re the best family a girl like me could ever ask for.
“Speaking of which,” Honey said, looking off into the distance. “Here he comes now.”
I looked in the direction she was looking, and sure enough, Zak was walking over to us.
I wonder why.
My brother, apparently, read my mind, and Zak’s too. Another thing he can do with his powers.
“He wants to know if you can stay,” Zack said. “And if you can, he also wants to ask you something.”
“What?” I asked.
“I’ll let him tell you.”
Figures.
“We’ll let you two talk alone,” Mom said. “I’m going to go call your father and tell him what’s going on. Come on, guys.”
“I know you guys will be listening,” I said, “considering the fact that you all have super hearing.”
“Of course we’ll be listening,” Zack said.
With that, they left using their teleportation power to who-knows-where.
“Hey, Sarah,” Zak said.
I jumped.
“Jeez.” I sighed in relief. “You scared the hell out of me, Zak.”
“Oh, sorry,” he said sheepishly. “But didn’t you see me coming?”
“Yes. You just took me by surprise.”
“Sorry,” he said again, hesitating. “Umm, I was wondering if you can stay?”
I smiled. “Yes, I can. My mom thinks you and your family could use our help.”
“Awesome. Umm, can I ask you a question?”
“You just did,” I teased.
He glared at me.
I smirked. “Payback. Now you know how rude that is.”
Zak laughed. “Ok. Can I ask you my question now?”
I sighed, knowing what he was going to ask me. “Sure.”
“Can you teach me how to use a sword like yours?”
“I don’t know, Zak. I just met you, and . . . wait. What?” I realized what he just asked.
“I was just asking if you could teach me how to use a sword like yours,” he repeated, confused.
“Oh. Yeah,” I said. “I’d be happy to do that.”
“Cool.”
“How about we start tomorrow morning?”
“That’d be great.”
“Great.”
Awkward silence.
Zak shifted his feet nervously. “Umm, I’m going to go see how my parents are doing with the stone piece.”
“Ok,” I said. “How does Zon like her new nest?”
“She loves it.”
“I’m really glad she does.”
“Yeah,” he said. “Well, I’ll see you later.”
“Alright,” I said. “Bye.”
“Bye.”
After Zak left, I breathed a sigh of relief.
I thought he was going to ask me out. But I’m glad he didn’t.
I wonder why he wanted to learn how to use a sword, though.
I mean, he just got a new weapon, and he already wants to learn how to use another one?
Well, I’ll find out tomorrow.
I couldn’t wait until then.

I hope you guys liked this chapter.
Did any of you guys figure out the answer to my quiz last chapter? Sarah told you the answer after her family appeared, and the answer was:
**Charizard and Latias**.
I'll post a new chapter tomorrow.
Please review **here**.

**Nobody edit above this box**
## Character Appearances

### Main Characters

* Zak Saturday
* Sarah Hollinger
* Drew Saturday
* Doc Saturday
* Raylee Hollinger
* Zack Hollinger

### Pets

* Fiskerton Saturday
* Komodo Saturday
* Zon Saturday
* Pikachu Hollinger
* Kika Hollinger
* Honey Hollinger
* Chewie Hollinger
* Toto Hollinger
* Amber Hollinger
* Kimbia Hollinger
* Shillow Hollinger

### Enemies

* Argost
* Munya

## Trivia

* Sarah's family makes their first appearance.