The golden glow faded, leaving the four in front of a school. Snow Wood, to be precise. The sign hadn’t worn enough for it to be unreadable.

Buzz Buzz dived back down into Tori’s pocket. The cool air was much cooler to him, being a bug and all.

“Why would the Sound Stone take us here if we’ve already convinced the Starmen and the Pigmasks to stop fighting?” Leicra asked.

“Maybe the world just needs some time,” Gran suggested.

Tori walked up to the large wooden doors of Snow Wood and knocked. A voice sounded from inside, then the left door opened. A slender man stood inside, panting a little. His skin was unnaturally pale, but he seemed well.

“Hi!” he greeted. “Uh, welcome to Snow Wood! You guys from around here?”

“Na,” Tori replied.

The man rubbed the back of his head, glancing away. “Well, neither am I. Or any of us staying here, actually.” He looked back at Tori and began to ask, “So, what can I do…”

Upon laying eyes on Leicra, he screamed.

“Oh no, please don’t be scared! I’m not going to hurt you!” Leicra said, hands raised. The man at the door gave them a skeptical look.

“No, really, Leicra won’t hurt you. They’re with us!” Tori told him.

The man frowned. “…If you say so.”

From inside, an older woman yelled, “Lance! Who’s at the door?” It was a shrill voice, made even more obvious by Lance’s smoother voice.

The man at the door, Lance, turned his body inside and yelled back, “There’s some strangers here- Uh, two of them are aliens…”

“They’re what?!”

“Aliens! One o-”

“No I heard you! I’m just wondering why there’s aliens here!”

The woman’s hasty footsteps came from down the hall and up to the door. She squeezed past Lance and studied Tori, Gran and Leicra. She was taller than Lance, and had a wrinkly face. Her hair was starting to go grey. She was also rather thin herself, and was just as pale as Lance.

The woman glared at Lance. “Why is there a Starman here.”

“I don’t know, but apparently they’re nice-”

The woman scoffed. “A “nice” Starman. What wild story will you make next, Lance?”

“No, really, ma’am, Leicra is nice!” Tori exclaimed. “If it weren’t for them, I probably wouldn’t be here right now!”

The woman raised an eyebrow at Tori. “You mean, they saved your life…?”

“Yes! And I bet they’d do it again!”

“Even at the cost of my life!” Leicra added.

The woman hummed in thought. “If you say so. But I’m keeping an eye on you.”

Leicra nodded.

“So, uh, how would you folk like to come in? It’s much warmer inside,” Lance said.

“It is?” Tori asked.

As the woman headed back inside, Lance replied, “Oh yeah! Chris figured out how to use his powers, and Sean found some wood, and now we’ve got a good fire in the lounge!”

Lance led Tori, Gran and Leicra inside. Once Lance closed the door, they were immediately hit with warmth.

“I don’t know why I doubted you! That fire must be amazing!” Tori exclaimed. She looked down at her pocket and said, “Buzz Buzz! You can come out! The fire in this place is super duper good!”

Buzz Buzz warily stuck his head out of Tori’s pocket, a doubtful look on his face. It vanished after a second as he felt the warmth from the faraway fire. He buzzed out of Tori’s pocket and onto her shoulder. Lance just watched silently.

“Hm. That fire…” Leicra looked at Lance and asked, “It’s PK Fire, isn’t it?”

Lance shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. I don’t have magic powers.”

“Well it certainly feels like PK Fire.”

Lance led the four down to the lounge. It was the warmest room in the boarding school by far, and another three people sat inside. One was the woman from before, another was a stark white man with rather long ears sitting right next to the fireplace, and the third was an older man sitting in a chair. He was just as pale as Lance and the woman, though his ears seemed to be a bit longer than theirs.

Pointing at each person, Lance said to the four, “That’s Susan, you’ve already met her, over there is Chris, and that’s Sean!”

Susan just blinked, Sean waved from his seat, and Chris glanced up from the fire to wave at the four before returning his attention to the flames.

“We’ve been living here since we escaped-” Lance paused during his explanation to think. He scrunched up his face as he stared off into the distance.

“Wait.” He looked down at Tori and thought a bit more. Then he exclaimed, “I THOUGHT you looked familiar!” He laughed to himself before saying, “Wow, I have a terrible memory.”

“Oh, you’re one of the people who were kidnapped from Autumns, aren’t you?” Buzz Buzz asked.

“Yeah! We all are. I guess I just… didn’t remember the rest of ya too well.”

“It’s alright,” Leicra told Lance. “I was just a stepping stool. I can’t blame you for not remembering me.”

Lance continued, “As I was saying, the four of us have been living here since we escaped that Starman base under Stonehenge. We’re hoping to regroup with the others someday… But right now, we’re just making the most of what we can here.”

Lance sat down in front of the fire with a content sigh. Chris frowned slightly at him, then motioned for him to move over.

“What? No way, man.”

Chris’ face scrunched up as he frowned more. Lance sighed.

“Alright, alright, I’ll scooch over a little.”

Lance shuffled over to the right. “Are ya happy?”

Chris nodded.

Tori, Gran and Leicra sat down on the floor a short distance away from the fire. There was a brief silence before Tori asked, “So, uh… Why do you all look so… like that…?”

“‘Cause of them tubes, we reckon,” Sean spoke up. “Dunno what was goin’ on in there, but there musta been somethin’ that was slowly turnin’ us into somethin’ else.”

“It’s also done some other weird things,” Lance added. “Chris didn’t have magic powers the last time we checked.”

Chris shook his head.

“And his vocal chords are ruined,” Susan muttered.

“They are?” Tori asked.

“Ohhh yeah.”

Chris cleared his throat and spoke. His voice sounded more like hisses and screeches rather than anything telligible.

Leicra hummed in thought as they put a hand to where their chin would be. “You said Chris had PSI, correct? Perhaps he could use telepathy to communicate?”

“Telepathy?” Lance echoed. He was silent for a brief moment before replying, “I’m not sure. The only person we know can use telepathy is Rea…”

“Rea? Who’s that?” Buzz Buzz asked.

“‘Nother one of our gang,” Sean told him. “She went out to see if anyone else had come back into the area. She’d usually be back by now…”

“You want us to look for her?” Tori offered, sitting up.

“But you only just got here! At least take a moment to rest in this nice, warm room!” Lance said.

“But your friend has been out there for who-knows how long! She’s probably in trouble!”

The room fell silent.

After a few moment’s silence, Sean said to the four, “Yeah, you prob’ly should go look for her.”

Upon hearing this, Tori stood up and bolted outside. Buzz Buzz, who was not anticipating this, fell off Tori’s shoulder with a small yelp. He soon took to the air and zoomed after her. Leicra and Gran followed.

By the time Buzz Buzz, Gran and Leicra had caught up to Tori, they were already a ways away from the school. There were snow-covered pine trees decaying all around, and the snow had hardened quite a bit. It was quite hard for Leicra and Gran to move around effectively, but thankfully, the soles of Tori’s boots were made for gripping. Once the group had reunited, they marched towards the edge of the nearby lake. It had frozen over.

“Do you think I could walk over that?” Tori asked.

“Over what?” Buzz Buzz asked from the warmth of Tori’s pocket.

“Frozen lake.”

“Oh no, definitely not.”

Tori hummed as she put a hand to her chin.

“Maybe… if I used PK Water to make a path over the lake, and then Gran used PK Freeze to freeze it and make it usable; perhaps that could work?” Leicra suggested.

“It’s worth a shot,” Gran said.

Leicra summoned a wave of PK Water, then let it splash onto the frozen lake. They then brought the water together and shaped it into a path. Gran froze over the beginning of the path with PK Freeze, then Tori, Leicra and Gran walked on. Gran froze the path as the group walked, being careful not to freeze anyone’s toes. Occasionally Leicra had to use PK Water again to extended the path. It was a long walk that nearly drained all of Gran’s PP, but eventually, they had made it to the other side of the lake. Tori, Gran and Leicra poked around, looking for any sign of Rea, but found nothing. They did, however, find an sign with a worn message in front of a cave.

“I feel like there’s somebody in that cave,” Leicra said.

Tori looked over at them and asked, “Did you have another dizzy spell?”

“No, I just think someone’s in there.”

Tori poked her head inside the cave to find a bunch of rocks outlining the remains of a maze. Most of the rocks had been thrown about, leaving not much of the maze left. At the other end of the cave was a young woman with pale skin and elongated ears much like Chris’. She was cowering, with a Starman Junior with regular Starman-coloured limb enhancements standing in front of her.

As Gran and Leicra looked inside too, the former commented, “That was a good guess, Leicra.”

The Starman Junior turned his head. He was silent for a moment as he scanned the cave.

“Hey, tincan! We’re over here!” Tori yelled at the Starman Junior.

“Tori what are you doing,” Buzz Buzz hissed.

The Starman Junior turned fully to face Tori. He had a red emblem instead of the standard black one. “You come to me.”

Tori marched right up to the Starman Junior, and Gran and Leicra followed.

“Hm. Those two behind you, human. I recognise them,” the Starman Junior commented, glaring at Gran and Leicra. “How awful it is to see you again.”

“Cut the crap talk. Who are you?” Tori questioned.

The Starman Junior looked back at Tori. “#100-α. Elex.”

Buzz Buzz set up a PSI Shield Sigma. This did not go unnoticed by Elex.

“You’ve already got PSI Shields. Whoever is doing it for you three must be on edge.”

Tori raised an eyebrow. “Wait. You know it’s not one of us?”

“Captain Astra, as powerful as he may be…” Elex paused. “…Is an idiot. Completely unobservant.”

“Well he seemed to remember us just fine…” Gran said.

“It’s because he wanted revenge,” Elex replied. He raised his hands and said, “But neither of us came to idly talk. Say your prayers!”

Elex let loose a PK Fire Beta. It scorched Tori, Gran and Leicra a bit less thanks to Buzz Buzz’s PSI Shield. Tori retaliated with a PK Fire Beta of her own.

“Tori, what are you doing?!” Buzz Buzz hissed from the safety of Tori’s pocket. “That was all the PP you recovered, wasn’t it?”

“Uh… Maybe.”

Buzz Buzz groaned.

Elex used PK Freeze Alpha on Tori, encasing her in ice for just a second.

Leicra looked over at Gran and Tori. “How much PP does everyone have?”

“I just used all of what I recovered before we set out,” Tori replied.

“About a quarter of it,” Gran said.

“Just enough for another… 2 PSI Shield Sigmas?” Buzz Buzz added.

Leicra frowned. “Hm.”

Elex let loose another PK Fire Beta. And then another.

As Gran rushed to heal everyone, Leicra silently thought. “I have a plan. I think.”

They motioned for everyone to huddle in. Elex squinted at them as the three of his enemies huddled together.

“Okay,” Leicra whispered, “so none of us have much PP. That’s going to make things… a bit harder. But I have an idea. Tori, you use PSI Magnet on Elex at every chance you get. Build up a lot, and don’t go spending it all at once. Okay?”

Tori hesitated, but then nodded.

“Gran, you’ll have to go on the offensive with PK Freeze. Sorry. I would do it, but I don’t have enough PP for more than a single PK Beam Beta. I would rather save my PP.”

“Don’t worry, I understand,” Gran replied.

“Buzz Buzz, you just keep making shields for us.”

“Got it!”

“Are you done saying your prayers?” Elex asked. “You do realise I didn’t mean that literally.”

Leicra looked up from the huddle at Elex. “Oh. I know.”

Gran then raised a hand and used PK Freeze Beta on Elex. He gasped, then shouted, “Rude!”

The huddle broke up and everyone returned their attention to Elex. Elex cast PK Freeze Alpha on Gran, who cast PK Freeze Beta back. Tori used PSI Magnet Alpha on Elex a couple of times while Elex was stomping his feet. Elex was back to attacking, casting a PK Freeze Alpha on Leicra. He followed up with a PK Fire Beta, breaking the PSI Shields the four had. Buzz Buzz quickly cast PSI Shield Sigma again. Tori used PSI Magnet again, and Gran cast PK Freeze Beta again. Elex went to let loose another PK Fire Beta, but the flame fizzled out and died. Elex growled, and cast PK Fire Alpha instead. It barely harmed Tori, Leicra and Gran thanks to their PSI Shields.

From the cave’s entrance, footsteps sounded. They were hurried, and came closer by the moment. Everyone looked at the cave’s mouth to see that one, the woman Elex had been standing before had managed to slip past the battle and just outside without injury, and two, Captain Astra had arrived. Captain Astra glanced down at the woman. The woman backed up to the edge of the cliff. Captain Astra blinked, then looked inside the cave.

“...Elex, what are you doing?”

Elex hesitated, then told Captain Astra, “I’m sorry, Captain, I know I should have kept a better eye on the hu-”

“You were fighting those imbeciles who broke out all the abducted humans from Autumns?!”

“Well, yeah. I mean, it would be great to finally-”

“WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!” Captain Astra marched right up to Elex and yanked his arm. “We have more pressing issues to attend to than fight a human, a rebel and a old Shambler.”

Elex cocked his head a little. “We… We do?”

“YES! Something important’s come up - something very big.” Captain Astra began to drag Elex out of the cave as he shouted, “ We can’t waste any time with searching for lousy humans or fighting imbeciles such as those three!”

Everyone watched as Captain Astra dragged Elex away by the arm. Once they were out of sight, Tori and Gran walked over to the woman, and Buzz Buzz peeped out of Tori’s pocket.

“Are you alright?” Gran asked.

The woman looked up at them, and her voice echoed into the four’s minds as she replied with a small smile, “Yes, I am! Thank you!”

Buzz Buzz frowned as he looked to the side, then darted out of Tori’s pocket and into the cave. The woman took notice, but didn’t say anything.

“I’m Tori, this is Gran, and…” Tori looked over her shoulder. She was silent for a moment before she asked, “Where’s Leicra?”

“U-Uh! Coming!”

Leicra trotted out of the cave and to Tori and Gran. Buzz Buzz was perched on their shoulder.

Tori stood up as she asked, “What happened? Are you okay?”

“Uh, yeah, I’m fine. Mostly. I’d rather not talk about it here in the cold, though…”

Gran helped the woman to her feet, and Leicra looked over at them as Buzz Buzz darted back into Tori’s pocket.

“Oh. You are okay! That’s a relief,” Leicra commented.

The woman’s voice echoed in everyone’s minds again. “Thank you so much for saving me. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t arrived. My name is Rea.”

Tori’s face lit up. “Oh! Rea, your friends back at Snow Wood were wondering where you were!”

Rea slapped a hand to her forehead. “Of course! I should have been back hours ago! I just got so invested…”

Gran placed a hand on Rea’s shoulder. “It’s okay. How about we go back to Snow Wood for now?”

---

The four and Rea returned to Snow Wood. There were hugs between the fugitives, and everyone hung out in the lounge. They chatted for a few hours about little things, like PSI, and the snow outside, and the cool things about their home. For the first time in a while, everyone felt truly relaxed.

Leicra later pulled Tori, Gran and Buzz Buzz aside into a nearby hall. They said it was important.

“So what is it that you want to tell us?” Gran asked.

“Back in the cave, just after Captain Astra left - I had another dizzy spell,” Leicra said. “A really bad one, too.”

“Oh.” Tori inhaled as she glanced at the floor. “Oh jeez…”

“What did it tell you?” Gran asked.

“…I don’t know,” Leicra replied. “It was very vague. But I feel like… something bad is happening somewhere…”