"I'll handle all the paperwork- Mr. Penceworth likes to do things the old fashioned way, you see- and you can just sign on when you're feeling a bit better."

"Oh, thanks, Kelvalde," Bo Briggs sighed with relief. "I'm sorry I'm not more lucid... I haven't gotten much sleep since the Incident, and ever since the party crash, I've been even more on edge."

The husky smiled. "Well, you can relax here, for certain."

"Boy, can I!" She let out a yawn, tears of weariness blotting her eyes as she sat down on the couch of her new living space in Penceworth Estates. "Something about this place just makes me feel so comfortable... and safe. I hope you don't mind if I... just... grab a little..." She drifted off to sleep, lying sidelong.

"Not in the least," whispered Kelvalde, draping a small blanket over her. He walked out the door and shut it, leaving her to her new place. "You did a great thing bringing this lost lamb to me."

Jacent nodded to his friend. "It's good of you to take her in."

He leaned against the wall of the elevator. "Uh-huh. And when, pray tell, are you going to let me take you in?"

"I'm... just not decided yet."

"Jacent. You beautiful, foolish boy." Kelvalde chortled. "It's not a soul contract. It's a free place to sleep. If not with me, get a place with someone- just so I know you're not camping on the street."

The red-haired boy shoved his hands in his pockets, stepping out of the elevator. "... Goodnight, Kelvalde."

As Jacent walked out into the chilly night air, he almost strolled off, stuck as he was in that familiar pedestrian rhythm. Tonight, however, he wasn't walking. "How did she take to it?" asked the PeTra's driver from the window.

"She's sleeping like a baby in there," Jacent responded with a warm smile, climbing into the vehicle next to Samantha.

The bat slowly pulled away from Penceworth Estates, in no particular rush to end her time with him. "That was very selfless of you." She glanced his way. He said nothing, but his face subtly acknowledged her, happily. "... It's quite foggy tonight; apparently they're nowhere near fixing the Weather Unit." She let out a throaty one-off giggle, slowing the trans to a crawl, then stopping in the fog. "I'm not sure how you lived in a time where you couldn't be sure what the weather was going to be."

He turned her way, gazing at her through half-lidded eyes. "We managed." Upon her smile tugging further at the side of her mouth, he gently brushed her hair out of her eye and gazed into both. "Embers." She subtly pursed her lips, curious. "Your eyes glow like deep, orange embers in night," he elaborated. "Carefully inset into your soft, smoothly rounded little cheeks." He ran his thumbs over those cheeks, the velvet-covered flesh smoothly rolling under his gentle touch. "Which frame your full, pouted, glistening lips." She smiled, slightly embarrassed. "And your ears do this swiveling backward tilt when you blush. It's very endearing."

Samantha turned off the transport and took full advantage of her small frame, turning to Jacent, then completing the twist, sitting in a straddling position in his lap. She put her small hands on his chest and looked up at his surprised face with admiration. "Every time I'm with you, you find some new way to say that you like me. But I have only one way." She reached up and around the back of his head, pulling him down toward her as she pressed forward. She arched her back into the kiss, pushing her chest against his, his lips pressing into hers. He stiffened for a moment of surprise, but eased back into it, his hands coming around to hold her lower back, then the back of her neck as each of them found the way they fit.

They explored the kiss together, their secrets revealed to one another in a single moment. The excitement of being so exposed to each other, so genuinely connected was simultaneously thrilling and just a bit overwhelming. They pulled away after too long, a shaky burning in their muscles from refusing to take a breath... breaths that now came out in a foolish, panting, heart-thumping wash over each other, the moist, warm air accompanying a look at one another that was embarrassed and wanting and excited all at once. "I'm..." Jacent managed through a flush face, "... Sorry, but I still don't have any, ehm. Understickers."

"That's okay," Sam assured, face full with mirth and generosity. "I've got something planned that won't require them." She reached out to her sides, hands on his legs as she slid down, sitting in the floorspace. The bat girl settled in until she was comfortable, placing her small hands on the insides of Jacent's spread thighs, rubbing them in a slow rhythm through the fabric. With demure carefulness, she placed a simple heart-shaped sticker on her cheek. She held an air like that of an operatic singer as she cleared her throat, licked her lips until they glistened thoroughly, rolled her folded tongue underneath her teeth and took a breath. When she looked up, however, she frowned. "I'm about to do something wonderful to you, yet you look so unhappy. Why?"

Jacent grimaced. He'd hoped to hide it. "I-... I'm sorry, it's so ungrateful, but... I'm just not ready."

A soft 'aw' escaped Samantha as she climbed back up next to him. "You don't have to be sorry. We'll wait until you're up to it." She leaned over and put an arm across his chest. "... If you're nervous because of me, you could try it with Carrie or Natalie first," she suggested encouragingly.

He bit his lip. "That would feel even more exploitative."

"Exploitative??" Her ears tilted in surprise. "Jacent dear, they wouldn't exploit you..."

"No," he amended, "It would feel like I was exploiting them. Cheapening my friends just for my own selfish pleasures." He shook his head.

"Cheap?" Samantha frowned, the offense clear on her face. "Natalie... has literally dreamed of sharing that experience with you since she was a girl. But don't worry, I won't tell her you think that's cheap."

"No," he sputtered. "I didn't-... that's not what I meant." The boy struggled to find the words. "I just... I don't deserve for either of them to do that for me."

The bat stared, confused. "Of course not. Nobody can deserve something like that. It's not a reward or a goalpost, it's... it's just something you decide to do voluntarily. They-... I... just want to share something happy and meaningful with you." She shook her head. "All you have to do is trust me?"

He winced inwardly. No malice intended, and it still stung. "... I think I'd better go. It's getting late, and the fog won't be letting up."

"I'm-" the door opened, then closed. "... Sorry."

Jacent paced away from the car, hands in his pockets, repeating a litany of self-loathing thoughts. "Good. Imply she and her friends are sluts. Strong work! Well done," he muttered furiously to himself. "That's the best way that encounter could have ended. Bang up job. The only thing you didn't do was punch her in the stomach, you moronic-" His thoughts were interrupted by a fanfare-esque, retro cartoon show theme that he didn't recognize- something Natalie had put on his PET to become his personal ringtone. "Hello." he gruffly muttered out, activating the call function. Nobody answered. "... Hello?" He repeated himself a few times before picking up his PET and seeing that he'd been called for only a moment before whoever it was had given up. "Sometimes..." He huffed, putting the thing away. "I really hate the future."

"Good." He looked up to note another young voice, that of a crow in track gear, his shoes tightly fastened, looking like he was coming home from a late night of practicing from the field at school. "We don't want you here."

"Hey, man," Jace put up his hands. The kid was probably a senior, actually, judging from his stature. "I'm just having a bad night."

The avian boy held up a spray bottle. "It's about to get a lot worse." He spritzed Jacent, who recoiled awkwardly.

He was about to respond, but some of the liquid got caught in his lungs, and he coughed as the crow ran away, his legs taking him far from the scene. "Caghk... ugh. Jerk. Who sprays somebody?" He shook his head. "Apparently someone who doesn't like you. Doesn't think you fit in. It's just like those old, bad times." He sighed. It was time to go find that bench he liked, next to the beautiful water fountain in the park. A nice, quiet resting place, to sleep away his troubles.

 -
- -
 -

On an electric blue guitar, Natalie strummed out a catchy chord progression.

"Oh oh oh, you're my number one stunner
Oh oh oh, you're the grand prize
You snuck up by surprise
On me and the guys
We were spellbound by your eyes"

She ended the song with a flourish. A holographic Carrie smirked. "Juno Blue can play really well."

"Oh, shut up," the wolf laughed, pulling off the wristband she'd caught at a concert some years back. "If you didn't know about Echelon, you'd still think I was amazing."

"I do think you're amazing," Cat countered sweetly. "Even if you steal your way to the top."

"I'm alright with that," Nat admitted with a smile. "Anyway, I better get in bed before Mom catches me. See ya babe."

"Niiight~" Carrie wiggle-finger waved before her image shut down. 

Nat undressed for bed, taking her hairband out and kicking her pants across the room, whereupon they hung on a hat rack. "Boom, four points!" She looked around at the mess on her floor and sighed. "Yeah, I should probably pick this up or something..." She was halfway through sorting out the fabric jungle before a knock sounded on her door. "Yeah come in," she said absentmindedly.

A nasally male voice made itself known. "Hey Natalie, I- whoa, geez!" Wade had caught her bending over to pick up her laundry in just a shirt and understickers. "I could've waited for you to put something on!"

"I thought it was Mom," Nat explained blithely, tossing her lumpy mass of clothes into the laundry chute. "What's the big deal, Uncle Wade? I've known you all my life."

"Well, it's not, I just..." he struggled for words, averting his eyes. "You're a young woman now, and I just want to afford you some privacy, and-"

"You can't look at me without seeing Mom, and that makes you feel awkward," Natalie interrupted with a wolfish smile, wiggling into her white yoga pants and staring at him with playful accusation in her eyes. "Especially considering that time you mistook me for her," she said, making squeezing hand gestures in the air.

"Ugh, I'm never going to live that down, am I?" he asked with rhetorical exasperation.

"If Carrie doesn't, then you don't, either," Lorna said playfully, walking into the room as well.

Wade sighed, rolling his eyes. "Worst. Pack-uncle. Ever."

"Naaah," Natalie retorted, sitting on the bed next to him and giving him a noogie. "You're okay by me. Now what are you guys in my room for? Here to lecture me about bedtimes?"

The two adults looked at one another and a more serious air took over the room.

"Whoa. What's going on, guys?" Nat probed. "Am I in big trouble?"

"You're not in trouble," Lorna clarified gently. "I've just... made a decision, and thought you should know."

"Okay, you haven't talked like this since we moved," she noticed. "What's happening?"

Dr. Grayswift took her glasses off and crouched forward, looking thoughtfully outward. "I quit my job this morning."

"... Oh." Her head jostled as she leaned back. "Wait, really? Are you serious??"

Her mother nodded slowly, meaningfully. "Yep. I no longer work at the 'Brictor."

"What happened??" she asked.

Lorna glanced at her sidelong. "What happened was I realized my life was going nowhere." She turned toward her. "How long have I been trying to further my robotics research?"

"Oh, since before I was born," Natalie laughed. "Forever, basically."

"Yeah." She nodded. "Exactly."

"Oh..." Nat slowly acquiesced. "I guess it bothered you a lot more than you said, huh. What made you finally quit, though?"

Lorna replaced her glasses with care. "It wasn't any one thing. But I kept telling myself that I could deal with the constant rejection, the piecemeal stonewalling of my dreams, if I had the support of my co-workers." She paused. "Then Osoth happened. And I learned that maybe, really, that just wasn't ever a thing."

"Aw, I'm sorry, Mom." Natalie's ears flattened, she leaned over and hugged her sidelong. "What are you going to do now?"

A smile lit up Dr. Grayswift's face, tempered by determination. "Why, follow my brave young daughter's example, of course."

"Huh?"

The light caught the lenses of her glasses. "You wanted to be a hero. The world told you 'no,' that it didn't need one. But when the time came, you didn't ask permission. You just did it, because you knew it was right. And if you hadn't, how sorry we all would've been."

"Well, I... I guess so, yeah." Natalie shrugged bashfully. "... Wait, Mom, what are you saying??"

"I'm saying that my research will continue," she answered simply, with the weight of dropping a bomb.

What seemed like several minutes passed in total silence. Lorna had envisioned many reactions from her daughter- indignance, disgust, uncomfortable acceptance, even pleading. She couldn't have imagined what came next. "My... Mom. Is a supervillain." A smile. A smile?! "That's so cool!"

"Wait, what??" Wade asked in a helpless spiral of confusion.

"Natalie, I'm not a supervillain," Lorna corrected, annoyed.

"Oh hoho no!" Natalie grinned, counting on her fingers. "Misunderstood genius, spurned by her peers, going rogue, illegally continuing research?? You are a textbook supervillain! This is the part where you blow up half the house and exit to the asteroid base on your cyborg robot rocket feet."

"Natalie!" She frowned, becoming irritated. "That only happens in-..."

"Comic books?" Natalie finished her vulnerable trail-off with an eager smile, picking up her PET. "Hello, Jacent? Your existence vindicates me on everything forever?? Wow, thanks!" She pretended to hang up on the pretend call. "I'm sorry, what was that, Dr. Robotski? Something about how you'll show them all??"

"I will show them all!" She gestured helplessly. "... Good things!"

Natalie faked austerity. "'Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to reveal to you my extremely beneficial and not-evil robot.'" She mimicked an explosion sound, walking around stiffly. "'TAKE-OVER-THE-WORLD, TAKE-OVER-THE-WORLD.'"

"I don't want to take over the world!" Dr. Grayswift exclaimed plaintively.

"-But they just wouldn't listen!" finished the girl. "Go, my Swiftbots! Show them the error of their ways!" She picked up a mechanical action figure Lorna had gutted and enhanced with all kinds of special moving parts- a common tradition in gifts for her daughter- making it fly through the air ominously.

"Natalie. I don't appreciate this kind of criticism."

"Criticism??" She pivoted incredulously. "I'm completely on board with this! Ooh, and don't worry, we know each other's secret identities, so we have to both keep them secret while we fight in an extra secret in a game of cat and mouse- or, dog and cat and... mouse or, I don't really know how that works, but we're bound! Oh man, I'm so excited! Are your secret projects in the garage?? I have to see now!" Before anybody could stop her, Natalie had run out of her room, babbling comic lore.

Wade and Lorna looked at each other slowly before the mouse finally blinked. "So... is that the reaction you expected?"

 -
- -
 -

"When thinking about a servomotor, you can remember it easily by the beginning, 'serve,'" A wide-eyed raccoon woman excitedly explained. "Because it's like a motor that does whatever you want it to. Let's observe the difference here." Ms. Mollicher gestured to two mechanisms, both of similar shape, each holding a long stick on the end of its respective drive, which had a big stuffed glove on the end with outstretched fingers. "I want my motor to give me a high five. Let's see how the servomotor does." She activated a remote, outstretched her hand and received the haphazard skin-slap accordingly. "Yeah! Perfect. Let's see this traditional motor try it." She pressed another button, that mechanism started up, slapped her hand a dozen times and fell over, rolling itself off the table and smacking into the cabinet before deactivating. "... Points for enthusiasm, at least." She smirked and shrugged as her class laughed. "For some tasks, an ordinary model will do the trick, with a simple binary input. But for more delicate work, you want a servant." She pointed up at the clock on the wall without looking. "Which is what we'll talk about..." The bell rung twice. "... After a break!"

The class stood up, an amused murmur about them as they shuffled out. "Man, how does she do that??" Max wondered. "You ever think maybe Ms. Mollicher's a robot?"

"No machine could ever love cinnamon rolls that much," Erwin snickered. "But, hey. Don't we usually have this class with Jacent?"

"Yeah, nobody saw him this morning either." He punched in the code for his locker and checked his PET, tuning into a camera he'd put in Gropey's cage; the monocular mound was happily eating celery on the miniature pirate ship in his tank. "He and Sam went on a date last night or something, and it didn't go well. I guess she went too fast for him."

The ferret expressed disbelief. "Are you serious?? First Natalie tells me he's 'not into guys,' whatever that means, and now Sam 'Candlelight Kisses' Masterson moves too fast." He rubbed his nose and sniffed. "Pre-splice people were so weird."

"Oh yeah. I mean back in his time, doin' butt stuff would mean we were dating."

"Eww! Gah!" he wrinkled his nose.

"I know right?!" Max laughed.

"Yeah, gross..." Erwin shuffled his art book under his arm as they walked away. "So anyway, you wanna do butt stuff later?"

"Sure!"

"Sweet."

 -
- -
 -

"Welcome back~!"

Carrie sat next to Bo Briggs as she had for every History class that year. "Wow, somebody's chipper."

"Oh, I'm just so well-rested for once!" The sheep stretched, letting out a contented sigh. "Ever since I started staying at Penceworth Estates. It's so peaceful, it has that alien pacifying thing your friend made, and that Kevin Valdez guy is so nice!"

Carrie snickered. "Oh yeah, Kevin, great guy."

"At first I was a little scared, knowing I've still got that alien in me... that Echelon didn't follow through. But now that I know the school's safe, and there's a safe place to live until they can find a way to remove it... it feels like everything's gonna be okay, you know?"

Cat nodded. "I... wouldn't blame Echelon, though; from what I hear, she wanted to, but... couldn't."

"Oh?" Bo seemed like she couldn't quite decide what to believe. "Well. Maybe that's true, maybe it isn't. But I don't know what to think anymore. I just want my life back."

Those last words echoed in Carrie's head as Ms. Hendrix took her place at the head of the class once more. "Alright, kiddos, break time's over! Get settled in and we'll talk more about the Battle of Greenwood Hill."

A tone sounded over the intercom. "All Remedial Drama students, please report to your designated classroom. Again, all Remedial Drama-"

"Ugh," Carrie gathered up her things, rolling her eyes for effect. "How many times can we go over the same scene?"

"Your homework is on the PET net, Carrie," the skunk noted. "Alright, so when we last left off-"

Cat slunk out the door with lazy reticence, but the moment it closed, she took on a grim determination and speed-walked away.

 -
- -
 -

The meeting place was the same as the last time. Drab rain fell on a grey city full of danger and mystery. In that way, it didn't feel much different from reality, lately. Murphy wasn't standing with her back turned dramatically, this time seated at the table before anyone had arrived, impatiently tapping a child's PET on its faux-wet surface. She counted off everyone as they arrived. One, three, four, six-seven... "Did anyone see Captain Karate today?"

"Not since last night," Samantha answered. "And I admit, I'm getting a bit worried..."

"He's not answering his PET," added Natalie. "But he's probably just roaming around somewhere. I wouldn't worry about it too much; he can take care of himself. Anyway, what's that you have, Ms. Murphy?"

"'Ms. Murphy?'" She sounded like she would choke on the title.

"Teacher now," Max explained. "Part of the deal!"

The labrador grunted. "We've got a hostage situation. This was just dropped in the police box." She put the red and yellow PET on the table and slid it across to Natalie like a seasoned bartender. "Play the latest video."

Flecks of invisible dust popped to life, gaining illumination and purpose as the file played. The sound was eerie, a series of labored breaths- perhaps crying- and trying to hold in any louder sounds. The video was completely dark, save for a hand-written letter held in front of the camera.

[We have the hosts of six Greys. They are unharmed for now. 
Our demands are simple. We want Echelon, alone. Finding her is your problem.
You have until noon. After that, six Greys become six husks. Police spotted inside will hasten this process.
Tell her, to meet us where it all started.
-Authoritus]

"..." Natalie put down the PET like it was going to burst into infernal flames now that its sinister purpose was over. "Well. They did everything short of write 'by the way, this is a trap.'"

Murphy nodded. "Even worse, they've already sent copies of that video to the media. From the police end of things, we're backed into a corner. If we respond and hostages get smoked, the testy unease following that little incident at the beach party shifts into full blown panic. But if we do nothing, we look helpless and they keep innocent people for as long as they please." She leaned forward on the table. "I can't ask you to walk into a trap, but this is a serious moment for Rough and Ref to prove themselves. The Chief- and more importantly, the people- need to know there's an answer to this kind of threat that won't spell social chaos or a draconian police crackdown."

She folded her arms and leaned back in the chair. "They've thrown down their terms. Challenge accepted."

Erwin twitched. "Y-You're not gonna walk right into a trap are you??"

"That's exactly what I'm going to do."

"Nuh-Natalie!" Aren protested as Gren shook her head behind him in solidarity. "But you can't go!"

"There might be dinosaurs!" the goat added.

The wolf shook her head sternly. "I can't just back out because it's dangerous."

"'N what are the rest of us supposed to do?" demanded Carrie. "Sit on our hands??"

"No," she answered. "This is an obvious diversion. All of their tactics up to this point have been to 'Besiege Wei to Rescue Zhao,'" she remembered from Jacent's lesson. "Meaning they draw our attention elsewhere and we're too caught up to get at what they're actually up to. This is our big chance to shut down whatever they're really planning. Meaning that I'm counting on each and every one of you to figure it out while I'm busy dealing with... 'Authoritus.'"

Carrie grimaced, folding her arms. "I don't like it... but, we don't have a choice."

"We won't let you down, Natalie dear!" Sam said, putting on a brave face.

"Right, then. I'm off. Wish me luck." She shouldered her backpack and left the room to the well-wishes of her friends. As she strolled down the hallway, passing other students and teachers, she felt their eyes on her. She put her hood up and increased her pace, making her way out the door. Around the corner, leaning against the wall, was her mother. "..."

"I saw the news this morning," she said simply. "'Echelon is in a lot of trouble."

"Yeah," Natalie agreed noncommittally. "She is."

"Well." Dr. Grayswift reached into her coat pocket. "If you happen to run across her, you should probably give her this."

Nat took the folded piece of black cloth in her hands, the weave of the material and the pattern immediately revealing to her that it was a leotard. "... A gymnastics outfit?"

"Something I worked on with Margaret." She began cleaning her glasses on her shirt. "Cut from the safety patch of a Hydrolathe, it senses, anticipates and corrects inconsistencies in a body of liquid's surface tension. A learning operations system developed by myself." She paused. "For you or me, it wouldn't do anything, but for someone made of fluid, it essentially amounts to shielding."

"Wait." She blinked. "You made inkling armor??"

She shrugged, allowing a clever smirk. "Well, I can't be one hundred percent sure- it depends on whether inklings are comprised of non-Newtonian fluids or not. But, it should help at the very least."

"... Thanks, Mom." She smiled. "I'm sure she'll appreciate it a lot."

"See? Not a supervillain. Learning systems aren't evil." The older wolf hugged her daughter. "Now stay safe, okay?"

"I still say Swiftbots are totally going to be a thing." A more serious expression overcame the girl. "But yeah. I'll try."

 -
- -
 -

Knock knock knock.

"Come on, where is he?"
"I hope he's home."
"He's gotta be!"

The door slid open, and a familiar face popped in the doorway. "Ah! Hello, my friends." Kelvalde yawned, a long strand of his hair coated in a black viscous fluid. Erwin recognized the scent as motor oil. "What can I do for you?"

"Oh Kelvalde, we need your help!" Sam beseeched him. "Natalie is walking into a trap set by some bad people and we don't know what they're really up to and Jacent's been missing since last night and-"

"Whoooa, one at a time, if you please," the husky requested, becoming a bit more serious. "Come, let's discuss this in the requisite place." They took a short walk to the apartment that had been used as their oasis of respite during the Locksmouth Incident. It was largely the same as it was previously, a nicely maintained bit of order amidst the ever-changing tempest outside. "Now, from what you say, there's a couple of inked kids who're up to something nefarious, but you don't know what?"

"Right," Erwin confirmed.

"Mm. I see, I see." Kelvalde nodded thoughtfully. "So what do you know about them?"

"Well, ah... let's see." Samantha thought about it. "One is a rabbit named Sarissa, the other an orca- that one is Khurl. We know they're working in tandem because they've spoken to each other as if that's the case."

The ferret hmmed. "A few other strange things. They seem to be able to make these really weird-looking ghostly black-and-red versions of monsters we've seen before and use them to do things like... store creatures imprisoning inklings and... you know, now that I think about it, whenever those 'Phantoms' appear, everyone's Greys go crazy, too. Like before."

"... Like when Osoth did it," Kelvalde intuited.

He nodded. "It's too convenient to be a coincidence."

"You're the one who knows everything about inklings," Sam pressed, fidgeting. "What in the world are they doing??"

The canine gentleman clicked his tongue thoughtfully. "At the center of every inkling is their... core, you could say. When they imitate our form, it's usually seen in the eyes and face, and is usually a different color from the rest of them. That part is quintessential."

"It's like a brain and heart all in one!" Phactys added, manifesting in Erwin's hand.

"A decent comparison," Kelvalde agreed. "Adding in what we know about the attack on Echelon's castle, it would seem the Greys were driven by revenge to well and truly destroy their one-time oppressor."

"Echelon seemed to think the same," Sam contributed.

"But... what if that wasn't it?" he supposed. "What if they wanted Osoth's core, her 'soul,' so to speak, to do something else?"

Erwin scrunched his brows together, troubled. "Something else? But what else could they do with it? And what does that have to do with Sarissa and Khurl?"

"I couldn't begin to guess what the plan is. Canvas is a crazy place, my friends, nothing works quite the way you'd think. But more to the point, although Greys vary wildly in intelligence, the vast majority of them can barely string a coherent thought together."

"Which suggests there's another player or two," Phactys finished. "Namely, our new friends."

"Exactly." Kelvalde had his thoughts interrupted by a beep from his PET. "Mm, what's this now?"

The image flickered to life in front of them- a now familiar face coming through once more. "This is Milly Evans, reporting to you live from the Locksmouth Commercial Sector! As if the ransom letter from the self-labeled group 'Authoritus' and the renewed debate on the specter of Inklings wasn't already enough to set the town on edge, an outpouring of victims from the previous Locksmouth Incident are now running amok on the streets!" The view shifted to show zomb-inks slowly shuffling in a large group, other citizens running from them in a just barely contained clamor. "These people, infested with what are referred to as 'Greys,' were ironically holding a meeting to determine what measures could be taken to ensure their safety in these unsure times."

Samantha bit her finger. "Oh, no..."

 -
- -
 -

The haphazard wooden board bridge creaked as she crossed a ravine lined with sheet-like igneous rock formation. Fog surrounded the silhouette of the high school, now not unlike a haunted castle. Memories flooded Natalie's mind as she walked onto school grounds for the first time since that fateful night. She'd tasted more fear and danger after she left, but nothing had tested her courage more than those first few hours after she'd woken up in the cafeteria. She hesitated, her palms sweating as she stared at the building.

"It's different this time."

That voice- like hers, but older, more mature and experienced- rung in her ears, and throughout her thoughts. Yes. She'd been alone her first time through the school. But this time, she had someone around, even if none of her friends were there to help. "Together." She held her PET out and crossed wrists. "Echelon."

The ink flowed over her, as it had before. But this time, Natalie took the moment to feel it cover herself. The thick, viscous fluid gave her the sensation of being submerged just under the surface of a body of arcane liquid, filled with potency and possibility. Like a thick oil that never rolled off, the ink was at once attached to her and not there at all. She was simultaneously inside of Echelon and yet nowhere at all, really. In this state, Echelon was more than just a collection of surface tension given form, or a mental hitchhiker... she was a diving suit into a cosmos of altered possibility, a bathysphere for an explorer of a dimension beyond her knowing, powered by conviction. The face she saw reflected in her open palms was one of pink pools amid a sea of black. She ran her hand through her hair, fingers raking over the smooth surface that imitated her long locks, her digits combing through her mane to open tears in the perfect solid shape at the end, only to see those openings, those splits between 'hairs' mended instantly in the way only liquid could.

Stepping forward, Natalie no longer felt like that girl lost in an abandoned school... but a warrior from beyond the stars trudging through refuse in powered armor. "Come on," she dared the foggy open space. "Hit me with your best shot!"

Nothing answered back. Silence.

"Fine." She strode over to the main entrance way, blocked from the inside by rubble. "Arus." The disc in her sock switched out, and with muscles bulging, she slowly pushed the door open despite all obstacles, noisily sliding hundreds of pounds of bricks and mortar out of the way. The liquid wolf stepped inside, an eerie grey settled on every surface from the fog outside. "Phactys." Her senses lit up with information, considerations occurring to her thanks to synapses unfired by the pugnacious patterns of her girlfriend's thoughts. Unfettered by Erwin's fear, she instead felt pathways open to awareness, and considered the possibilities before her. A welcome party would have indicated a full frontal assault, while a gauntlet would have already begun. No, it had to be an ambush in wait for her, which meant that if she could outpace their perception, the trap couldn't be fully sprung.

Natalie began running through the halls, pulling open doors to classrooms and dropping into defensive stances, popping suspicious-looking lockers, and keeping an eye on the windows. Ten minutes of this yielded nothing except the feeling that she was being paranoid. Which was silly, because people were actually out to get her.

The intercom came to life, a young but smooth voice over it. "Will Natalie Grayswift please report to the Library? Natalie Grayswift to the library!" he repeated.

"... Well." She felt almost a little foolish, but naturally this was part of their game as well. "Koralo." She spat glue into her hands and feet, stepped onto a locker door, affixed her hands firmly to it, and pulled herself up. Gravity made the climb unintuitive, but soon she was on the locker tops. With some effort, she slapped her hands to the ceiling and crawled to the center of it. With just a little bit of courage, she trusted the glue on her feet and 'rose' to a standing position, the inverted school around her giving her a perspective normally restricted to Max. "Here we go."

She walked along the ceiling, the action strange and unintuitive, not unlike trudging up a hill while falling somehow. She made her way through the hallways, eyes peeled, and upstairs... though from her position they were less 'stairs' than 'ramps.' After a trip that took twice as long in her mind for the fact that nothing actually popped out to attack her, the door to the library beckoned. She unhooked her toes from the gecko grip glue, landed on her feet with a flip and intuitively absorbed the stuff back into Echelon's mass. She reached for the door. "... Arus." 

 -
- -
 -

"The Locksmouth Chief of Police has instructed- hold on I've got it right here- has instructed everybody to stay inside where it's safe, and says that he'll be deploying countermeasures shortly." Millie breathed a sigh of relief. "Let's just hope they get here soon." She stayed in the air a moment longer before pulling up to higher ground to survey the situation in safety.

Meanwhile, at the bottom of that same building, a green liquid iguana peeked around the corner. "Now?"

"Not yet. I hear something," his fluid cat friend responded. "... Yeah, look."

Sirens wailed as emergency vehicles turned the corner, rushing onto the scene. Police Trans slid to a stop within a few dozen yards of the mob of half-conscious shuffling victims. From the passenger sides of the structurally altered vehicles, police in what looked like heavy full-body armor emerged, complete with massive translucent cylindrical tanks on their backs. From the lead car, an aging orange tabby with a shoe-brush mustache and a serious expression stepped out. "Just like we trained, converge and contain!" he shouted with authority and practiced calm.

When the armored officers met the disorganized mob of Greys, it was almost like both groups had planned it. A Grey would be held at bay by padded armor and augmented strength, and the cylindrical tank would be taken off their back by another officer and used to capture them. They would then walk back to the police trans and detain the distraught victim safely. They operated in assisted waves: capture, carry, store and assist. There was a scary moment where one officer fell due to an especially strong shove by a zomb-ink, but Carrie restrained Max's hand before he could intervene, and sure enough, the group of containment specialists covered their fallen comrade's flank and detained that one as well. By the end, the group had been contained and Milly landed next to the tabby. "Wow, Chief, is this a new team made especially for handling inklings??"

The cat chuckled. "That's right. 'Ink Tanks,' we're calling them. They're a special unit that's been in development, but we finally made enough progress that it was decided field-testing was necessary." He adjusted his collar. "As you can see, both the victims, and our officers are safe."

"It looks like a great stride forward!" Milly agreed. "So what happens now?"

"The victims will be brought to a neutral area in which they'll be safe and comfortable until such a time as they can be separated from these... beings."

"Excuse me," one of the officers interrupted bashfully. "Have to open this tank for a moment, it got in upside down." He elbowed in despite the chuckling and sighs of his peers.

"... Come on, Max, let's get-" Carrie suddenly noticed there was nobody behind the building with her. "W-... Max!"

"Hey, great idea!" The iguana walked obliviously down the street toward the group of authority figures, who regarded him with confusion. "Those suits are super cool, can I mail-order one??"

"Koralo!" Arus hollered angrily, running after him. "What're you doing?!"

The Chief frowned, then looked to a pair of officers near him. "... Bag 'em up."

Max looked back at his friend. "What?? It's fine, they know we're the good-" THUD. "- Guys?" He stared out from inside a tank which had been lowered onto him suddenly. "H-Hey, what's the deal??" he squeaked.

Carrie sighed, exasperated. "We're inklings, you moron. Of course they have to-" THUD. "... Oh, you're just deluding yourselves," she deadpanned as they captured her as well.

"Ah! Chief!" Milly noted. "Those are Arus and Koralo."

"I'm aware," he sniffed. "But in what amounts to a civil war, even an alien one, there are no 'good guys' and 'bad guys,' just different factions."

"Okay, this is cute and all," Carrie said with annoyance, "But you know you can't actually hold me, yeah?"

"Those tanks are far more reinforced than you're probably aware," he returned, unmoved.

She rolled her eyes imperceptibly, if not for the head motion. "I stopped a train, dude. Just saying."

He frowned more deeply. "And I say you can't escape from them."

"Can," she retorted boredly.

"Can't," he replied with irritation. 

"So can!"

"I- HGLRK!" The Chief was suddenly pulled backward, choking on his own collar and brought to the ground.

"Chief! Are you okay??" Milly asked, alarmed.

"What happened?! Who did that?!" He rose, coughing. His question was met with an alarmed series of shrugs and stares.

"Well at a glance, probably me." One of the armored officers had slammed another over his knee, then shoved them aside like litter. "I thought for sure your police work would lead you to the answer." They then metamorphosed into an exact replica of the Chief. "But I guess that's what happens when you're too dumb for a real job, huh?"

"Ngh!" The tabby angrily thrust a finger toward the impostor. "Contain it!"

 -
- -
 -

The door slid open into the familiar sight of the library. In a time with tablets, books were a vanity item, but the visual of tomes of knowledge- even knowledge that had been recorded onto databases accessible by one central item- was a valuable one. Plus, it was nice to have multiple surfaces to reference without having to drag around the customary three tablets every student was given for just that reason. Natalie remembered Carrie recounting that she'd ruined the place when she'd left it, toppling over bookshelves like dominos, but the scene she saw didn't reflect that at all. Every book was in its place, every shelf perfectly aligned. Even the chairs and tables were arranged more neatly than they'd ever been when school was in session. And in the center of the (strangely enough) lit room, sitting at a table, was a crow in a track suit, sitting in a lazy recline, one arm over the back of the chair. "Echelon. Welcome." He gestured to the other end of the rectangular table. "I'm Blane. Have a seat."

"I'll stand, thanks," she said in Echelon's voice- something they both agreed on intuitively. "Where are the hostages?"

"In due time," he promised. "Oh, don't look at me like that, they're fine. We have no interest in hurting them, they were an afterthought, really. A necessity. A ticket to have an audience with the mighty Echelon. The Godslayer."

"The G-" She snorted. "Well, good. At least you're as delusional as I expected. That wasn't a god, it was an insane tyrant."

"Don't be modest!" he riposted. "After all, if it were easy, it wouldn't have taken you so many tries," he twisted. "And the rest of us are so thankful. But this isn't about that; it's about something else you did."

"And what was that?"

He twitched. "Leave an enormous power vacuum."

Natalie winced. "What?"

"Think about it for just a second, if that doesn't hurt too terribly much. You destroyed the one singular being that was keeping an entire world of malcontents under her thumb- most of which can't even think for themselves. And those of us who can- well, we were awestruck! You! You and your insane plan to go up against Osoth actually won; you told a mountain to move and it worked."

Echelon folded her arms. "You're welcome."

Blane gestured wildly. "It was inconceivable! All of Canvas was a-bluster. There were so many theories about what you'd do next: consume her core and become the next Osoth? It made sense, you'd earned it! Eat it and rule with a soft hand? Sure, some believed good things about you, after all." He tittered. "But nobody could've EVER imagined what you actually did- that you would just put it away! The Control Core, locked up in the basement of your house like some ugly rug!" He laughed frantically. "It brings me almost to tears, it was so absurd!"

"I freed us, you fool!" Echelon thundered.

"... Oh, Echelon." He laughed, amused but saddened- how genuine it was, anyone's guess. "So you really did believe in us. You genuinely thought we'd just leave the box alone, join hands and treat each other nicely." Blane shook his head thoughtfully, piteously. "You were wrong to trust us. After all, not all of the Elites are nice like you, and those Greys... well, they need direction from their elders, but not their Elders. They aren't impossible to work with, they just need a little push."

"... You ordered the assault on the castle!"

He clapped. "It was easy enough. A bunch of dumb, angry animals, eager for revenge on the thing that made them suffer? Couldn't be simpler. Very hard to direct, however." The crow seemed annoyed. "They gave us the castle, but ripped the core to shreds. It was barely enough to work with."

"But why?" Natalie shook her head. "Why take either one??"

He nodded. "A fair question, though an obvious one. We needed the castle- and more importantly, shards of the mirrors in it- to get to Earth at all. You may not be able to Mirror Slide, but thanks to a few favors, we are." He smirked. "As for the core fragments, we found someone else who was good at turning Osoth's memories of past hosts into those lovely little spooks you've been encountering. Tough, loyal and they radiate that wonderful Aura of Arifice, making all the sleeping Greys wake up for a little party, offering up their hosts' prana to us."

"WHY?!" she demanded, slamming her hands down on the table angrily.

Blane scoffed. "Let me guess, 'my partner already confessed?' Tch. It must be so nice to think the world is just this great big special stage made just for you." He leaned forward. "You remember that thing you unveiled to the world that you unlocked through the super-special power of friendship or something? Shading, right?" He cocked his head. "Yes, well, about that- we found the same thing could be achieved using a host with compatibly manipulable flaws... and loads, just loads of prana."

 -
- -
 -

As the officers converged on Sarissa, she held out a Grey in front of her. Some kind of horrible exchange happened that seemed familiar to Max and Carrie, and afterward she seemed emboldened, more saturated and impressive. "Catch, fools!" She shoved the unconscious Grey toward them and began shifting once more, into her original lapine form. But she didn't stop at a teenage rabbit- once she reached that point, the transformation took on a monstrous bent. Sarissa's limbs grew into sinewy, knobbed, branch-like extremities, her hands and feet terminating in barbed, nightmarishly long claws. Even her face stretched into a ghastly image, her skin shrinking to the bare details of her skull, her eyes sinking into their sockets until only beady red pinpoints stared out. The nine foot tall abomination opened its mouth and let out not a word, but only a creaking squick, like wood being bent to its limit.

"Oh my god..."

 -
- -
 -

"So you're gonna try to force your rule over the rest of Canvas through force!" Echelon deduced.

"Well, 'soft power,' really. But. Mmyes, basically."

"Where are the hostages??" Natalie repeated.

"Oh, they were released..." He held up his PET as he reclined in earnest. "Ten minutes ago?"

Nat was hunkered down, expecting something, but the fighting tension left her. "... Wait, so what, that's it? You just wanted to talk? Why?"

"Because," he said with what almost amounted to surprise, "Our goals are compatible. Echelon, you want no part of Canvas. I get that! You just want a quiet existence eschewing the responsibilities that come with deposing a despot. Fine and dandy. Natalie! What do you care about a world full of the monsters that tore your town to pieces? It's a messy political situation you don't need to become embroiled in, why invite that kind of complication? I promise we'll just gather a little more prana, then be on our merry way back to Canvas, never to return. Everybody's happy!"

Natalie pursed her lips. Her tail fell and her ears folded back as she looked down at the crow. "... No."

He made a mockingly pouty face. "Aw. And here I was going to tell you where Jacent was as a bonus. But now, you'll have to race me for it."

Nat's eyes widened, her stomach turning as she remembered her own flippant words, unconcerned with Jacent's whereabouts. But before she could even get a word out, Blane had knocked over the table and dashed out of the room, quick as a whip.

 -
- -
 -

"Same orders!" the Police leader insisted. "Take it down, Formation Gulliver!"

The armored officers crowded around the monstrosity, prods and containment lassos at the ready. Sarissa's blind swipe landed one of her long fingers into a loop that tightened almost immediately... which she then used as leverage to pull the officer off of her feet and side-swipe half the contingent, sending them sprawling like empty milk bottles. She cackled, shredding through the loop, grabbing the officer by her head and throwing her upside-down into a police trans with thundering impact and worrying force. After backhanding another away, she grabbed the tank off of one's back, opened it and slammed it downward, stuffing the overlarge policeman into it like a compressed can of soda, then kicking it away to roll down the midwalk. "Too bad I read that memo and attended every seminar, 'boss-man!'"

The Chief winced. "What did you do with Officer Arroyo?!"

She laughed a horrible, distended laugh. "There never was an Officer Arroyo." With that, she returned to smacking around the authorities like dolls, destroying their resolve by the second.

"Damn it!" he slammed a fist down onto the roof of the trans.

"Yeah, what was that about there being no bad guys?" Max dug in.

The tabby grit his teeth, looking up at the towering treelike rabbit monster, then back at the teenagers in their tanks. "You forced my hand by showing up in public, this isn't my fault. Now how do I beat it??"

Carrie deadpanned. "What, do you want a primer in leg drops?" She thumbed toward Max. "You let us out and get the innocents to safety- including the ones that have badges."

"And what if you decide to run on me? Or worse, this cooperation has just been a ruse??"

Cat reached the zenith of sarcasm, where her voice lacked any inflection whatsoever as she gestured to the enormous demonic creature laying waste to the police. "Oh yeah. Because it could get so much worse."

He cursed, mulling over his dilemma only moments before producing a small piece of plastic and motioning over Max's tank in a specific pattern. He turned to do the same for Carrie, but she'd already braced her back and foot against the sides of her own plastic prison and summarily burst it open. She walked past him with a casual, oh-by-the-way look. "Can."

Sarissa cackled with malevolent glee.

"HEY! Long-ears!"

Carrie didn't walk slowly toward the huge nightmare creature- she swaggered like a lounge singer at their last resort. "So that's your ultimate form? Seriously? I've seen scarier shit in those 'Stories to spook your Grandma' books."

Sarissa, for her part, tossed away a groaning officer and faced the inkling. "Ah, if it isn't Arus, here to quip me to death," she said in that unsettling tone, followed by that equally disturbing squick.

"Your shaded power is to look however you want, and you choose something I would've drawn with a crayon up my nose?" She had to reach deeper. Further. Back into the intentionally hurtful repertoire of Scary Carrie. "I don't wanna blow your mind, but I'm dangerous and gorgeous. Maybe you should hang out with someone who's hit puberty for inspiration!"

Sarissa crouched like a dangerous predator. "Tell you what, I'll meet you halfway and wear your head as a hat."

"No, no, it's okay. I know, it hurts. Not being able to come up with anything... original." The nerve was struck, the limb uncoiled, and she caught the claw-extended hand with both of hers. "NOW!" With Jacent's lessons on leverage echoing through her mind, she turned the palm hard left like a steering wheel, wrenching Sarissa's monstrous body to the side, forcing her to use the other hand to brace for balance.

Hearing the signal, Max ran up the creature's torso, jumped off of its neck and extended his tongue in midair. The winching power of the organ stuck to Sarissa's forehead sent the iguana traveling earthward at break-neck speed, sticking the landing as his double-booted kick connected with the thing's awful face. "Zapatos del noche!"

Sarissa clawed at her attackers blindly as she rose, but it was the sound of police trans speeding away that got her attention. "Oh ho." She pounced to dash after them, but Carrie had her leg in a scissorlock. 

It would have brought a normal person falling on their face, but all it managed on the massive bunny girl was a kneel. However, that was enough for Max to run up her back, cling to her spindly neck and swing downward like a pendulum, sending the monstrous lapine forward and down, directly on her face in a sudden Hurricanrana. "Botas de ruinar!"

"YOU IDIOTS." Sarissa grabbed Max in one hand and grasped Carrie's head in the other. "I won't stand... for any... more of... theuhhh-..." Her head drifted from side to side, the massive body she'd created shrinking, her strength leaving her. "Nuh-... nooo..." she raged impotently as the hideous monster soon turned into a teenaged bunny girl once more. "Ugh, fuck you!"

The impotent invalid attempted to bolt for it, but Max caught her with another leg-lock takedown which Carrie followed up with a decisive leg drop. Sarissa reeled... and stopped. The Chief of Police, who'd been watching the action, ran up and slapped a pair of restraint bracers on her.

"So, Chief!" Milly popped up, inquisitive as ever as one remaining officer placed the rabbit in a container. "Does this mean you'll be revising your policy on Echelon's faction?"

He pulled out a tiny comb and calmly brushed his mustache back into place. "I stand by what I said previously." Carrie almost said something, but stopped herself short. "However... in light of their assistance... I see no reason that those five in particular can't be whitelisted. For now."

"Whitelisted!" Milly seemed surprised. "That would imply you consider them innocent until proven otherwise. So, Arus here could just walk down to the store and grab a box of baking milk?"

"We have our hands full going after clear and present dangers," he dodged. "It would be pointless to create more conflicts for ourselves. However! I also expect them to exercise common sense when-" he pointed his finger at nothing. They were gone. "... Right then."

 -
- -
 -

Natalie blasted through the doorway to catch only a glimpse of Blane as he rounded the corner down the far end of the hall. He'd covered three times the amount of ground she had in the exact same time. "Holy shit."

The wolf sprinted down the halls at speeds that teachers and hall monitors would most certainly have disapproved, her heart pounding as she pressed herself as hard as she could all at once. By the time she rounded the corner, it was just in time to hear the door to the entrance slam shut. She scrambled not to hit the wall, tackling the door open to see the crow already a fair distance away. "How is he doing that?! I'm killing myself here!" 

Natalie smacked her hips, Echelon's foot analogues melting away to allow her grav-skiff sneakers to manifest, lifting her an inch off the ground. Leaning forward, she pumped her legs furiously to start building up speed. Concrete, dirt, grass and more pavement passed under her feet as she recklessly sped up, marveling at the fact that Blane was outpacing her sorely and wasn't even rolling on wheels- he was just running! "That's it." There was no choice- even if she potentially had to use the last of it, there was no better reason than to get Jacent back out of the hands of these monsters. "COMET!"

On the wide-open sands of the beach, there had been nothing to really quantify how fast she was being propelled. Inside the city, however, was a different story; buildings, vehicles and landmarks began to blur together as wind rushed past her ears. Using the force shield drained even more of that all-important base prana, which meant that she had to bullet down the midwalk without it. The terror of this became acutely apparent when she had to bank right to dodge a bench, then spun hard left in a complete three-sixty to stop from fatally slamming herself into an abandoned baby stroller- leaving her no time to do anything but jump and ramp off of a PeTra. She barely managed to stabilize herself after the stomach-flopping landing. "Hanh... ah... NaviGuide!" A series of holograms popped up as she gained on the crow, closing within ten yards of him.

[Heading: NW
Speed: 83 MPH
WARNING: Continuing at speed this low to the ground is dangerous and illegal. Slow down or raise altitude.]

"Nngh, if I could go higher I would!" she screamed into the wind, using the heads-up map to stop from barreling into any obstacles.

And then Blane turned right.

If there was one thing Jacent's powers were bad at, it was changing direction. "Hnn, ARUS!" she crouched down and slammed the ground with one claw-crooked hand, sending debris everywhere until she completed the most wide, haphazard turn possible for a person on foot. "Comet!" she yelled hoarsely, blasting herself forward with sudden speed that almost made her sick. "K-Keep it together," she told herself as she closed on him again. However, this time, he simply sped up, running to the wall of a big abandoned mansion from the same area Cedric lived... and stopped. He even gestured to her, as if to beckon inside. Natalie's adrenaline-pumped mind scrambled a hundred different thoughts all at once, but in the end, all she could think to do was to bring up the shield at the last moment.

There was a deafening racket as she blasted through what she could only assume were walls, furniture and reinforcing agents. For a fleeting moment Natalie thought she might never stop, but finally she halted just short of exiting out the other side of the house, a quivering heap amid an impossible amount of rubble and debris that might once have been a couch. She tried to get to her feet, but every time, the attempt ended with her falling down again. The wolf girl panted as she waited for her inner ear to recover.

"So, we killing her?"
"She's only stunned. Proceed with the next phase."
"'Riss got arrested."
"You let me worry about that. Oh, and leave that here. 'She' won't care."
"Right."

Natalie heard a loud thump in front of her, and focused her eyes. What she could only describe as a robotic humanoid shaped vaguely like a young girl laid before her, its eyes aglow, but weakly, its mouth a shape on the face display. A small digitized voice called out with importance. "Ja-Ja-Jacent not s-safe... s-s-s-s-a-afe..." Its face went dark.

The wolf rose, pushing herself up with her arms. She looked around, but sure enough, Blane was gone. "..."

 -
- -
 -

Dr. Grayswift smiled. The garage was a peaceful place for her- somewhere to seclude herself and bury her nose in a project so as to forget about the stresses of life. She happily adjusted the fitting on a little blue robot the size of a refrigerator magnet that looked like a ladybug. It was a simple little device that learned how to navigate mazes with increasingly efficient logic. Something fun, harmless, and progressive. She'd show everybody that A.I. could be something benign, even enjoyable. Small increases in exposure over a long, long time, years maybe- that would be the key to gaining everyone's trust.

~BAM!~ 
The door to her workshop opened, and her daughter burst in, plopping a robot onto her table. "Mom this thing's a person I need you to fix her!"

Lorna slowly looked at Natalie, then the robot, then up at the ceiling with an unbelieving, exasperated sigh. "Really?"