Operation: CLOWN, Chapter 3

Now, everyone, let's board the Rocket-san and get off this island! …If only it were that easy.

Chapter 3: Caesar’s Intention

Punk Hazard; down a building hall

The swarm of kids kept rushing down the hall nonstop, trampling any more of Caesar's minions. "There's the train!" Chimney yelled, seeing the front portion of her train crashed through the wall.

"I hope it has enough room to support everyone." Aisa panted.

"Of course it does, just get everyone on!"

The giants struggled to squeeze in the doorway, but they still managed as everyone piled in. Sector W7 and Dillon's group were trying to keep back Caesar's minions while Apis got in to start the train. "Um, Chimney, we've got a little problem here."

"What is it, Apis-chan?!" the leader yelled.

"The train. The front part's fine, but... The rest of it's dangling over the edge!!" It was true. From outside the building, one could see the huge train dangling from up high over the snowy landscape, with only its front car stuck inside the building. "Everybody's falling toward the back!" Still true, all of the giants and other kids were falling and stacking from the bottom (back) of the train. "If we add more, the whole thing will collapse!"

"Nnnn! Then I'll start it up right now and fly around!" Chimney decided as she hurried onto the train to start it up. The engines roared as she backed the train up, and it fell from its perch.

"AAAAHH!" the pile of kids screamed and clung to each other for dear life.

"HOLD OOOON!" Chimney forcefully pulled a lever, and the train was suddenly flying around the air, becoming horizontal again.

"WHOOA!" The kids tumbled off of each other and rolled along the floor. Some of the smaller kids were crushed under the rears of bigger kids as a result.

Chimney flew the train around the building before coming down to hover beside the hole in the wall, a door open. "Okay! Everyone get on!"

"But we still didn't find Aeincha!" Aisa yelled.

"Isn't she with the kids?" Dillon asked.

"No, she wasn't a hostage! She came here with Mr. Sand-san!" Chimney replied.

"Mr. Sand-san?" Haruka questioned.

That name sounded familiar to Dillon... his eyes widened. "Dad!"

"Oi, you comin' or what?" Chimney yelled as most of the last kids had squeezed onto the train.

"No. I'm going to stay." Dillon decided. "If my dad's here, we should help him."

"I'm staying, too." Haruka followed.

"Oh, gee." Zach sighed, wanting to get off this island already.

"Then I guess we're staying, too." Maddy figured.

"Will you guys be okay?" Mocha asked worriedly as she set Maddy on the floor.

"Yeah, don't worry. We're pretty experienced."

"Well, okay. I'll see you later, Maddy!" Mocha smiled and waved as she hurried onto the train.

"OOLAAAAH! KEEP ARMS AND LEGS INSIDE THE FREEDOM TRAAAIN! HERE WE GOOOOO!" The four kids stood in the open hole as the R.O.C.K.E.T.-T.R.A.I.N. soared away beyond the snowy skies.

"Heh… if there was a yelling contest, Chimney would sure win." Haruka laughed.

"Heh, Panini's got competition." Dillon snickered. "Oh no! !" he flinched suddenly and looked around. "Where's Kaleo?!"

"He probably got on with the other kids." Zach figured.

"Well, I guess that's good, but he could've helped. Oh well. Let's go look for my dad." With that, the group hurried down the hall.

Caesar's Lab

The three villains watched on their monitor as the R.O.C.K.E.T.-T.R.A.I.N. was speeding away from the island. "They are getting away." Vergo said.

"Shurororo! They won't stay away for long!" Caesar laughed confidently. "Any second now…" his maniacal grin showed as he pulled out a tiny butterscotch from his coat, "they'll be DYING to come back…"

Onboard the R.O.C.K.E.T.-T.R.A.I.N.

"Oiii! Apis-chan! Why we no goin' FAST enough??" Chimney shouted, her furrowed eyes focused on the cloudy sky.

"We have too many on here." The Christian replied. "All these giant kids are weighing us down."

"Maybe we should organize a weight-loss program." April remarked.

"You know, I'm not even sure if the Undersea Lab will fit everyone." Aisa said.

"We're just going to drop everyone off at their homes for now." Chimney stated. "Their parents probably miss them. We'll just pick the giants up a few at a time and bring 'em to the lab."

"Well, either way, those kids must be pretty hungry." Apis figured. "I'm not sure what those guys have been feeding them, but, I better bring 'em somethin'." With that, Apis grabbed a little trolley of food as she pushed it down the train aisles.

"Hellooooo!" the Christian girl sang as she moved down the aisles. "Aaaaanything from the trolley! We've got cooked cinnamon rolls and donuts, not much to go along, but, plenty to last!"

A few of the giants grabbed the cooked goods and looked a little concerned. The food looked much too small to satisfy their stomachs, but that wasn't the problem: they were black with soot, like they were cooked in the center of a fireplace. "Ummm… is this edible?" a giant boy; Doran asked.

"Well, I'm not really the best cook, but, they should be safe." Apis said with a frown.

The kids started to eat the baked goods (the giants needed only one bite), and upon consumption, their faces winced. "Ulp! Ooooh…" a few of them held their stomachs.

"They're bad… right?" Apis asked sadly.

"Well…" Mocha began. "They-… OHHH!" Suddenly, she and all the other kids gripped their heads tight.

"Wh-What's wrong?!" Apis asked with concern. "They weren't THAT bad, were they?!"

"N-No!" Mocha yelled, feeling unbearable pain. "I-I…It's… Every day at around this time… Master gives us…"

"What?! Gives you what?"

At that instant, the children's trembling stopped. Their eyes lost all color and became purely white and lifeless. The only image in their heads was that of the butterscotch. "Caaaandyyyy."

"Um… huh?" Apis was horrified by their sudden aura.

"CAAAAANDYYYYY!" Their faces became greedy and monstrous. The carefree auras they once had were long gone.

Apis shuddered with total fear as all eyes were directed at her. The looks on these giant kids, they would tear Apis limb from limb to get what they want. "AAAAHH!" The girl scampered as fast as she could to the front of the train. "Chimneeeey!" She slammed the door behind her.

"WHAT?!" the leader shouted.

"The children are going crazy! They're saying they want candy!"

"Well, don't we have some in reserve?!"

"Gyom-gyoooom!"

"CAAAANDYYYY!" The sector gasped when the door was forced open, and there stood the swarms of multiracial, venomous children.

"Fine, have some!" Aisa yelled, whipping out a G.U.M.Z.O.O.K.A. Dial and blasting endless gumballs at the kids.

"EEEAAAAAHHH!" The kids shielded from the gumball bullets and stomped forward.

"AAAAH!" Aisa dodged away before the giants could crush her.

"CAAANDYYYYY!" They all began to pile around the controls, pushing Chimney away as they took hold of the steering wheel.

"OOOLAAAAAH!" Chimney cried when the R.O.C.K.E.T.-T.R.A.I.N. began spiraling out of control, flying back the way they came. "HEEEY! LET GOOO!" she screamed as she and her friends were flying around and around. Already, the flying train was on a direct course to Punk Hazard.

"We're about to craaaash!" Apis cried.

"Gyaaaah get to the escape pods!" Chimney ordered.

The four girls and rabbit clutched the walls and struggled to crawl to the pods. They were able to, and were sent flying out over the island's Burning Lands.

"GAAAAAAAHH!" The four pods crashed onto safe areas of the flaming grounds while Chimney's pierced straight through a big, steel door. "Uuuuuhh." She fell unconscious as a result.

The sign that read, 'DANGER! Do not, for WHATEVER reason, OPEN THIS DOOR!!', spiraled around on the ground before falling flat.

Inside the building

Nolan York kept rolling along with his tiny companion on his shoulder. The halls were quiet, and nothing was happening, when the entire building suddenly shook tremendously. "What in the world?!" Nolan exclaimed lightly.

"That sounds like it came from outside." Aeincha said.

Doo… do-do, doo. The intercom speakers made a little jingle before Caesar's voice was heard. (It's the same jingle that's heard in Batman: Arkham Asylum; when Joker speaks.)

"Attention all staff and employees! Well, what's the difference? Just a few moments ago, most of our children residents have boarded a flying train and escaped. However, it seems that due to bad piloting, the train made a direct turn-around back and has crashed into our Frozen Lands. All available troops are ordered to get outside and round up the subje—I-I mean, kids! After all, wouldn't want them to catch frostbite before I can 'test' them, shurororo!"

"Ugh… that guy is all kinds of messed up." Nolan said.

"So, is all that true, Mr. York?" Aeincha asked. "Does he really test experiments on kids?"

"As far as I know. I'm worried about what he might be doing to Dillon and the others. Hmmmm…" He decided to phone in Crystal and Yuki, and asked, "Yo, Crystal, did you read anything in that notebook you found?"

"Yah, we did. All it is is basically a bunch of different date recordings for the blood samples of all the kids. Apparently, he's giving them a kind of medicine called 'NHC10'."

"NHC10? What is that?"

"It doesn't say. But by the looks of things, he gives one to each kid every day, and then he takes blood samples from them after a week."

"Hmmm… I'm gonna look it up." Nolan began to type on his tiny wristwatch computer ('cause he's gotta be high-tech like that X) ). He found a small article on the drug and skimmed it quickly, with Aeincha looking over it as well. Nolan gasped.

"What?"

"Sigh, it's not good, Crystal. Is Dillon mentioned in the book?"

There was a pause as Crystal was flipping through pages. "Yes, he and his friends. Apparently, they were each given the drug a few hours ago."

"Phew, then they shouldn't be too bad… for now. Keep trying to find them. The baby I was tracking previously suddenly changed location; he's outside, probably where the train crashed. I wonder if Dillon's group was with them. The two of you head outside and look for 'em. I'm gonna try and track down Caesar." With that, transmission ended.

Dillon's group; down another hall

A swarm of soldiers scurried down the hall, armed with guns as always. They failed to notice the shadow in the wall as Dillon, Haruka, Zach, and Maddy slipped out. "Hooo. It's hard to hold that many in a Shadow Veil." The shadowbender sighed.

"Ohhhh…" Zach fell to his knees, holding his head in pain.

"What's wrong, Bro?" Maddy asked.

"Ohh… I have a headache. And a… weird craving for candy."

"Well, we still have ours." Haruka mentioned, pulling out her butterscotch.

"I'm not letting him eat that." Maddy stated, still feeling distrustful toward Caesar. "Now come on, don't we need to get outside?"

"She's right, we have to see if Sector W7's okay." Dillon said rushedly. "Come on, let's follow them!" They hurried after the direction the soldiers went. (Play "Subway Thugs" from Batman: Arkham City.)


Stage 3: Punk Hazard, Act 2

The four made it to the second floor of a small room, atop a stairway. There was an emergency exit on the other side, but the room was filled with guards. "Alright, secure the room in case any more of the kids come through here." One ordered. "Master Caesar says one of the kids was a shadowbender, so use the Nightvision Specs."

"Yessir!"

The group crouched and watched through the railing as some of the men skimmed the ground using Dark Lights from their suit's eye-windows. Two of the men stood guard at the door, one facing down, one facing the top of the door. "I'm guessing we're not Shadow Veiling out of here." Haruka whispered.

"That's okay, I'll take care of 'em." Dillon whispered. "I'm not a spy for nothin'." With that, Dillon sank into a Shadow Veil and slithered downstairs. Dillon carefully squeezed under the small table to hide from a passing man using a Dark Light. When he passes by, Dillon slithers under quietly, pulls him underneath the Shadow Veil, and knocks him out before tossing him back up, unconscious.

With that, Dillon slithered back to his friends and re-emerges, watching the men to plan his next move. "Someone's missing down there!"

"You heard Master Caesar!" The kids crawled back when the men all hurried to their fallen comrade (except the two guarding the door). Dillon moved along the right wall using Shadow Veil and got behind two of them. Before they could sense him, Dillon popped up and swiftly kicked the two's heads to knock them down. "There he is!" The others were about to shoot, but Haruka blasted a cloud of purple gas from above, forcing Dillon to hold his breath. The gas didn't affect the men, but it blocked their vision.

They started to use Dark Lights again as Dillon crouched and moved around them. He got behind another soldier, pulled him in his shadow, and knocked him out before throwing him up. Dillon slithered up the ceiling as the men tried to track his movements. The three other kids began to feel frantic when two of the soldiers started to head up the stairs.

"Well-p… now or never now." Haruka figured. With that, the group dropped down the railing and fought the three that were below, doing their best to avoid their gunshots.

"WA-WA-WA!" Zach yelped and began to dance silly when one of the men shot at his feet. Maddy simply knocked him out quickly, but the two men upstairs were starting to shoot them from the railing. Dillon got behind the two as he and Mario shoved them over the railing, and they knocked out upon hitting the floor. The two men guarding the door decided to hurry over and managed to grab Haruka and Maddy.

"Alright, surrender now or these two get it!" one threatened.

"What kind of girls do you think we are?" Maddy remarked as she and Haruka flipped overhead and kicked the men's heads from behind. Once on the ground, the four operatives piled on top of them until they were down. (End song.)

The kids stopped to catch their breath as they brushed their hands off. "Shurorororororo! Really, is that the BEST my security can PROVIDE? Hoo-o-o-o, I knew those protection suits were a waste of money."

"Honestly, I wouldn't mind one of these suits." Maddy remarked.

"Well, your birthday's comin' up, I'll think about it." Dillon replied. "Now come on, let's help W7!"

The group stepped out the thick, steel security door, and appeared atop a tall outer stairway on the side of the building. From there, they could see smoke rising in the distance, from the wreckage of Chimney's train. Dillon, Haruka, and Maddy decided to hop over the railing and land perfectly in the soft snow. Zach, however, fell face-flat as Maddy pulled him to his feet. "Brr-r-r. I wish those guys told us to bring coats before we got here." Maddy shuddered.

"No big deal." Dillon said. "Sector W7 should've crashed a few miles that way. Let's go." (Play "Freezeflame Galaxy (Ice)" from Mario Galaxy.)

The kids began their trek across the shivering landscape as White Wolfos were already popping out. Haruka quickly surrounded the group in gas, making the wolves step back. Dillon slithered over with Shadow Veil and pulled one of the wolves down before coming up, and throwing it into another wolf. Haruka stepped out of the gas and used Poison Whip to whip another wolf, and when one came for Maddy, the Murphy girl flipped over to kick its head.

"Ow-ow-ow, hey-hey!" Zach yelped when a Wolfos was tugging on his pants. Haruka hurried over to shoot Sleeping Gas at it and knock it out. With that, the kids hurried forward and arrived at a chasm of icy stalagmites. There was a small ledge along the left side, but there wasn't much use for it as Dillon could just Shadow Glide over. He took his friends one at a time, starting with Haruka, then Maddy, then Zach. They walked down a snowy hill and approached a tall cliff that curved at the top. Again, Dillon carried his friends up using Shadow Veil until they were all at the top. Boy, having a shadowbender is convenient.

The snowy fields stretched for miles before them as they hurried forward. They expected more White Wolfos, but instead, Ice Chuchu were popping up from the snows. Zach ran to punch one of the ice blobs, but was immediately frozen, so Haruka had to knock them out using Poison Whips. Too many were appearing, so the kids decided to bypass them, even though giant ones were appearing in their way. Maddy pulled Zach's frozen body as they moved along, trying to punch his ice open.

They arrived at another frosty chasm with a set of icy, swervy grind-rails leading across. Dillon and Haruka hopped on to skid across, and Maddy set Zach's frozen body on a rail to let it grind on its own, while she followed it. They landed safely on a narrow path between close walls. There were openings in the walls where Armos Freezards were hiding, blasting ice breaths at the kids when they came by. The group stopped just before the breaths hit, and when they stopped, they decided to punch and break the Freezards.

They shortly arrived at a small chasm with a tightrope leading across. Again, Dillon simply flew his friends across, while Maddy spun Zach around and tossed his frozen form to the other side. They then trekked up a thin, straight slope, but it was too slippery for them to make it up. So once more, Dillon carried his friends up using Shadow Veil. They were back in the snowy landscapes as the R.O.C.K.E.T.-T.R.A.I.N.'s wreckage was in sight, set aflame. The four hurried over, worried for the children. (End song.)

"Oh no!" Haruka exclaimed as they arrived at the train. "I hope they aren't hurt!"

"Sector W7! Are you on there?" Dillon called.

A moaning sound was heard from the wreckage, and to their relief, the giants were the first to step off, followed by the other passengers. "Few… at least THEY'RE okay." Haruka sighed.

"Yeah, but where's W7?"

"Caaaandyyyy…" The children moaned.

"Huh?"

"CANDYYYYY!" The craving, lifeless eyes of the children returned.

"Whoa!! You mean THIS candy?" Haruka asked, holding up the wrapped butterscotch.

"CAAAAANNNDYYYYYYYY." Their zombified eyes were all fixed on the tasty treat.

"Aaaaah!" Maddy held Zach's body in front of her and yelled, "Save us, Zach!" She kicked the frozen boy forward as a giant boy; Doran, grabbed him and raised him in anger. He smashed Zach's form against the wrecked train as the ice shattered, and Doran threw Zach to the ground.

"Owww…" The Murphy felt a shadow over him, and looked up with horror. "AAAAAH!!" He dashed like a cheetah just before the giant stomped him.

"CANDYYYYYY!" The four operatives were hightailing down the fields when the kids began chasing.

"Should I give it to 'em?!" Haruka shouted.

"It would save us!!" Maddy yelled.

"What if Sector W7 got eaten!!" Zach cried.

"Do you think THIS is the disease Caesar talked about?!" Haruka asked.

"Who knows!" Dillon yelled. "Ask Caesar if we get back!"

The four slipped down the thin slope into the gorge area and hurried to the tightrope chasm. "Quick, fly us across!" Mad yelled at Dillon.

"No time for all of you!" Dillon yelled as the giants were still on them. "Just balance!"

The four balanced across the rope quickly, but carefully, feeling very nervous. "AAAAHH!" The ground shook when the giants leapt over the pit, and the four immediately dashed forward. They hurried around the close walls, afraid to look back knowing the vicious, craving kids were on their tail, their tremors growing heavier. They made it to the grind-rails and slid straight up, but the giants leapt to their ledge while the normal kids grinded the rails.

They started to cross the field of Ice Chuchu, but bypassed the simple monsters as the giants simply came and trampled them. The four looked up as a Nimbi girl shot down, but they dodged her and kept moving. Maddy looked right as a frantic mermaid girl crawled along the ground like a two-legged tiger, her teeth drooling. She kicked the mermaid forcefully in the nose and kept running.

The kids stopped just before running off the tall, steep cliff. "Uh-oh. What'll we do now??" Haruka yelled.

Dillon looked frantic, knowing he couldn't fly everyone down in time, but looked back at the stampeding, hungry giants. "Jump!!" They jumped off immediately and thudded in the soft snow. They climbed out, looking up frightfully as the kids did the same, recovering and running up the thick snowy hill. They reached the first chasm of spikes, and since Dillon couldn't fly them, they had to sidle along the ledge on the side.

"Whoa! !" Zach slipped and nearly fell, but Haruka grabbed and pulled him up. They kept running as fast as they could as they were almost at the building.

"We can't climb up that fire escape in time!" Haruka yelled.

"Then let's find another entrance!" Dillon yelled as they ran rightward.

They were coming to what seemed like an open hangar area, with a slope leading up to it. They ran up the slope and saw a steel door closed ahead, looking back as the monstrous kids charged after them. "Here it comes!" Zach yelled, shutting his eyes.

Haruka ran to the front and yelled, "Sleeping Gas!!", holding both hands out and blasting a huge cloud of purple gas.

The kids started to cough as the gas filled their lungs. It soon took effect, and shortly, the large and small kids fell to the ground, asleep. Haruka released a sigh, feeling extremely relieved. "Wish I woulda done that sooner."

"I don't understand." Maddy spoke up. "What's so special about butterscotch, anyway? I mean, if they're as dumb as Numbuh 4, but Halloween isn't for months."

"Hmmmm…" Just as curious, Haruka unwrapped her butterscotch. To their surprise, it was a blood-red color, and hardly looked like sweet candy.

"Red butterscotch?" Maddy observed with disgust.

"Probably some kinda healthy candy doctors give us… uck." Zach moaned.

Haruka held the tiny candy close as her midnight-blue eye squinted. She gasped and held it away. "This isn't butterscotch! It's… NHC10!"

"NHC10?" Maddy questioned.

"I read about it in a medical book once. NHC10 is a highly stimulate drug made of all kinds of dangerous chemicals. One of its core ingredients is Bang Gas."

"BANG GAS?!" they all screamed.

"You mean… Caesar tried to feed us MUTANT gas?!" Maddy yelled.

"Exactly." Haruka spoke seriously. "The drug has such drastic results on the human body, it was marked forbidden, and only the top-greatest scientists in only a few selected countries were allowed to use it. It was originally created as a last-ditch medicine to save people from fatal diseases. But its effects on the body structure were too dangerous to be taken more than once. If it's taken constantly, the consumers will desperately crave daily doses, and they won't be able to control their selves!"

"So wait, if it has Bang Gas, does that mean all these kids are mutants?" Maddy asked.

"Would explain why some're giants." Zach noted.

"Kind of." Haruka replied. "But only a little bit of Bang Gas is induced, to help enhance the strength of the other materials. But it becomes so mixed up and tainted by other materials, there's not enough in it to make the users mutated. But having a daily dose of the drugs could really mess up the genes. I guess in this case, the drug has increased the size of the body cells, and that's why these kids are so big."

"So we really DON'T have a disease?" Maddy asked.

"I'm not really sure. But giving us daily doses of this candy is way too unsafe. You guys know what happens when you inhale too much Bang Gas?"

"What?" Dillon asked.

"Well, just one whiff of Bang Gas is enough to alter someone's genes and give them unnatural mutated powers." Everyone pictured Violet McCleary inside the Meta Machine, becoming swallowed in Bang Gas as her nails grew, and cat ears and a tail appeared on her body. "But if somebody sucks in way too much Bang Gas, their internal structure will spin entirely out of control. The gas becomes too much for them, and eventually… they pass out. …" Haruka looked at the candy drug with hate. "This disease BETTER be as bad as Caesar makes it out to be, because a drug this dangerous risks our lives either way."

"SHUUUUrorororororo!" The kids gasped and looked up when Caesar suddenly came floating down. "Whyyy, kiiiids, haven't you taken your candy yet? A disease won't cure itself!"

"Mister Caesar!" Haruka looked fierce. "How could you give kids NHC10?! You know it's dangerous!"

"Shurororo! Anything is worth risking for the sake of SCIENCE, my deeeear! Once you have a taste, you'll see how JUICY it is!" he exclaimed gleefully.

"You're sick! I'm starting to think the only one with a disease is YOU!"

"OF COURSE I'm sick! I'm sick with a lust for ever-expanding knowledge! For years, I've held a curiosity for human and body genes! Why do you think I have all these different RACES here?! Drugs can have all sorts of effects on different bodies! That's why I NEED them! But we ALL know adults aren't dumb enough for this sort of thing, so I have to work with whiny little brats!

"Well, your science experiments end here. For endangering the rights and bodies of innocent children, the Kids Next Door are placing you under arrest."

"Technically, me and Zach are the ones who have authority to say that." Maddy reminded.

"Oh, just do it." Dillon huffed.

"Shurororo! YOU'RE all going to arrest ME?!" Caesar's cocky grin grew wider. "If you wanna play Cop, GO to the playroom with the OTHER kids."

"No big deal!" Dillon smirked. "For kids, nothin' fixes a problem better than beating the crud out of someone! Haaaaah!-" Dillon ran for the white-skinned clown, who only smirked witfully. The boy jumped and threw a kick at Caesar's face, but- "OOF!" he flew right through the face and hit the ground on the other side. Dillon looked up in surprise and tried to jump at Caesar's back, but he flew through his body as a result, coughing the gas up.

"Shurorororo! You'll have to do better than THAT! I'm a LOGIA-type poisonbender!"

Dillon got up and backed up to his friends. "A Logia-type?!"

"What's that?" Maddy asked.

"My dad told me about it. A Logia-type is an element bender who's so in tune with their element, they actually become that element."

"Whoa… is your mom a Logia?" Zach asked.

"Not really, but Ms. Granite is, and a few others. To become a Logia, it usually takes hours of meditation around your element, so that your own spiritual energies merge with those of your element's… or something. And on top of that, you also have to master a lot of abilities with your element."

"But if they transformed into their element, that's the same as mutating, isn't it?" Maddy asked.

"Well… sort of. It's supposed to be the 'natural' form of mutating. But the thing is, there are Logia metahumans, too, like Madame Rouge. She was made of goop."

"You know, Viridi was Logia, too, wasn't she?" Haruka remembered.

"Ha ha, exactly!" As they spoke, Caesar started to become angered. "In fact, I think some of the gods like Hexxus are Logia-types. But most of them actually-"

"OKAY, THAT'S ENOUGH!!" Caesar exclaimed. "Is this whole chapter nothing but explanations?! You know, some readers want more in a story than just DIALOGUE. All in all, though… he's right: I've been around dangerous chemicals and poisons for years, but NONE more than Bang Gas. I'm the only known poisonbender that uses his powers to develop unique ways to CONTROL Bang Gas. And you guys are crucial subjects in my experiments…" his evil grin returned.

"Oh yeah??" Zach exclaimed confidently. "Well, I may not be good in science-"

"-or anything else-" Maddy said.

"-but if there's one thing I learned from failed pranks, it's that GAS IS FLAMMABLE!" And with that, Zach whipped out his S.P.I.C.E.R. and fired a ray of fire straight at the gas-made scientist. "(I wish I remembered I brought this earlier.)"

The flames brimmed in Caesar's yellow eyes as they drew closer, but he still smiled evilly. He waved his arms around, and once the flames came, he held an arm out, hand open, and the flames suddenly disappeared a few inches from his palm.

"Aaah!!" The kids' mouths fell open.

"Shurororororo!"

"But… that's impossible! Poisonbenders can't control fire!" Haruka exclaimed. "And they shouldn't be able to airbend either! They're only supposed to have power over the impure chemicals or materials."

"And fire doesn't fall in that category?" Maddy asked.

"Well…"

"Shuuuurororo! THAT'S the result of YEARS of training and spiritual bonding!" Caesar grinned. "Fire doesn't work, and your NORMAL attacks can't penetrate me! Now I BELIEVE it's high-time for you kids' check-up!"

"Caaaaandyyyyyy…"

"Hnn?" Caesar turned when the swarms of kids began to recover, their faces venomous as before. "Ooooh! Speak of the devils!"

"CAAAAANDYYYYY!" They cried desperately craving the sweet drug.

"Awwww don't worry, kids!" Caesar grinned lovingly. "I'll give you ALL the candy you can ask for! Mmmm-but…" he frowned sadly and pointed at the operatives, "those kids want it all for themseeelves… you'll have to TAKE it from them!" he grinned again.

"CAAAANDYYYYY!" Having no mental consciousness about them, the children charged for the operatives.

"Ahhh!" Haruka yelped, the group terrified by mainly the giants. Haruka hurriedly blasted a cloud of Sleeping Gas, forcing the swarm to stop and cough. "Oh no! They're not falling asleep this time!" Haruka observed.

A couple of Kateenians and Minish were still running for them. Even though she wasn't intimidated by the tiny creatures, Haruka released some gas and was able to put them to sleep. "Aaaaahhh!" The giant kids recovered, however, and kept charging for the operatives in their mission.

Haruka looked down and saw the unconscious Kateenians and Minish, and filled with terror as the gigantic, stampeding feet of the mob drew closer. "GUYS, WATCH OUT!!"

Before their eyes, the tiny creatures were squished like tiny bugs. The four's eyes shrunk, and for a split second, the breath had faded from their bodies.

"CAAANDYYYYY!"

"AAAH!" They were too horrified to move before the giants swarmed them.

"Aaaah! Get off!! Get off!!" Haruka cried as some giants were forcefully tugging her pigtails.

"Aaahh! Mocha! Stooop!!"

Maddy's cries fell to deaf ears as her giant friend clutched her tight.

With Nolan

Things were quiet on the Sandman's end as he continued rolling down the hall. He finally reached a central room that was swarming with Caesar's soldiers. "Intruder!" they all yelled, running for him. These men were unarmed, so Sandman was able to punch and beat them all, while Aeincha helped by blocking their eye-holes and making them punch each other. Two men jumped at Nolan's sides, but he clutched their faces and threw them against two more. Another came, but he used his chair's punching glove to punch his crotch, then dealt the last punch himself. He stood up and dealt a forceful upper-cut against the last one, knocking his mask off.

"Oww." Nolan sat back down as Aeincha ran to him, climbed up his legs, then up to his shoulder. "Boy, if only my legs were normal, I'd be kicking a lot more butt."

"It's okay!" Aeincha beamed. "You kick more butt than me! I'm too tiny!"

"Ha ha!" Nolan chuckled lightly. This girl was kind of growing on him. His serious look returned as he looked to the last man he punched, who was still conscious. He rolled over, grabbed his neck, and held the deer-horn man up. "Now… if you don't wanna find out how a deer feels when his horns are ripped, you should point me to the nearest laboratory."

"I-It's up there!" he pointed up some left stairs. "Please don't hurt me!"

"I didn't say that." With that, Nolan punched his eye and knocked him out. He then used his grappling hook to latch the second-floor railing and pull them up, proceeding to enter the hall. As he moved along, they studied his wristwatch terminal, which showed a map of the building. "By the looks of things, this whole base is made of five connected buildings: A, B, C, D, and R Building." The map showed 5 circles, each representing a building. The biggest was Building B, the smallest was R, which was between D and C. "But it has all sorts of laboratories, and probably each are for different types of research."

"Why do you wanna find a lab?" Aeincha asked.

"Well, it's not the lab in particular, but I'm hoping to grab a sample of that NHC10. Then maybe I could use the materials in the lab to whip up a counter-poison."

They arrived at a door labeled 'COMPUTER LAB' in all caps and decided to enter. "Hmmm… maybe I shoulda been more specific. Well, let's see what we can find." Sandman said as he approached a computer that was already on. "Hey… it's an article on this island's history." The two began to skim it as Nolan read aloud. "This laboratory was established by G.U.N.'s greatest scientist, Professor Gerald Robotnik, in year 2003, shortly after GUN's establishment. His reasons for choosing this location were because of its historical value: he determined that, millions of years ago, it was the battle site for the Gods of Sun and Snow, Solaris and Polaris, to determine the ultimate climate for the planet. Oh!..."

"Oooooh!" Aeincha's eyes lit with amazement.

"Here in this laboratory, research was conducted by top scientists, to study the works of metahuman and alien genetics among other things. The lab was shut down shortly after a terrible explosion of Bang Gas engulfed the whole island. Professor Gerald Robotnik, having been deemed the one responsible, was arrested. However, he escaped before he was given a sentence, using his own Dimensional Traveler to flee to his own dimension. His assistant, Caesar Clown, was mutated in the explosion, but was allowed to stay in GUN for the reason that the fault wasn't his. …Hmmm."

"So?" Aeincha spoke.

"This is an article from GUN's official records. If Caesar worked for GUN… but why-"

"It was not all Robotnik's doing."

Nolan flinched and turned around, while Aeincha hid up his hat. "However, I manage to cover Caesar's tracks."

"Who?..."

"It's been 23 years at least, Sandman." A silhouetted figure stuck out from behind the doorway. "You've grown fast… Nolan-san." he stepped all the way in the room, and the light shone on Vergo's form.

"Y…You…" Nolan was speechless. "General… Vergo?..."

Nolan was 8 years old. He sat quietly on his bed in his room, gazing out the window eagerly. A car pulled up his driveway, and out stepped General Vergo: the man in the white coat he knew as his father's commander. He rang the doorbell as Nolan's mother answered. He told her something that made Kyla York horrified. The general offered his condolences, and left.

Kyla shut the door as Nolan walked downstairs, looking at her with concern. "Mom?..."

"Son… your father isn't coming back."

Nolan still couldn't believe his eyes. General Vergo… after all these years. "Wh…What're you doing here?"

"The answer is simple… I've been working for Caesar… for years."

With Sector W7

"Ohhhh…" The three other girls; besides their leader, finally recovered, carefully navigating the fires to reach the thin stairway.

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!" Aisa hopped around, the ground very hot on her bare feet.

"You really oughta consider wearing shoes." Apis suggested.

"I'm not a shoe person…" she said simply.

"Where's Chimney?" April asked, looking to the huge steel door. The girls stepped up the stairs and found a hole penetrated in the door. They peeked in curiously, seeing Chimney and Gonbe slumped out of their escape pod.

"Oooaaaahh…" Chimney moaned, still grinning. "I knew I shouldn't-a drank so much soda 'fore driving."

"Gyom-gyooooooo…"

"You okay, Chimney?" Apis asked as they stepped in and approached.

"Yah… I think so." She spoke, standing up. She looked around and asked, "Oi, where are we?"

"Somewhere cool, I know that." Aisa said, rubbing her scorched feet.

The girls decided to step forward, the huge, garage-like chamber becoming pitch-black as it drew on. "Oi, ain't there a light switch in here?" Chimney asked.

Apis looked to a red button on the wall, which was connected to the huge steel door. "Let's try this." She went to press the switch, and the huge door came slightly open. It didn't open all the way because of the lock still attached to it.

"Oooooo…"

Gonbe's ears perked. "Gyo!!" He looked frightened.

"Oh?" All the girls faced ahead, wondering where the eerie moan came from.

The way ahead was still pitch-black… but in the darkness, a pair of big, glowing yellow eyes met their gaze. "Wwwwwaaaaaaaabbbbb."