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Chapter Text

“Okay guys, this Raelo we’re hopping into is known for its unpredictable games.” Shiloh explained to the group. “Be prepared.”

The others nodded before heading in. Mary was quick to pull Shiloh back from stepping in the Arxis to tell her something. “Shiloh, be careful. This is one of the more rougher ones Elijah has told me.”

”Wait, then why are we going in there?” Shiloh asked.

Mary wrung her hands. ”The more rough the Raelo is, the stronger the artifact is unfortunately. Elijah actually came to this Raelo. He… he told me it wasn’t the best to say the least.”

Shiloh nodded slowly. “Got it.”

///

The group had landed in was seemed to be a gladiator ring. There was a huge crowd that stood around and above the ring cheering. Up on a giant pillar was what appeared to be the ruler or king of the Raelo.

”Welcome to the Gladiator’s Annual Ring!” The King announced to the crowd with a giant smile. It wasn’t a friendly one for sure.

”Gladiators? LIKE THE MOVIES?!” Judah and Micah shouted at the same time.

”We welcome our newcomers for participating in here today.” The King gestured to the M.O.M agents.

”Wait, we didn’t sign up for this!” Michelle shouted angrily.

The King laughed, the crowd soon copied. “You don’t need to sign up to participate! You get picked! And lucky for you, you appeared in the ring itself!”

The agents were about to protest when the King snapped his fingers. Suddenly, the agents were warped into different sections and partnered up. Walls grew out of the ground. The King laughed boisterously before announcing in a low voice. “Let’s see you escape this.”

///

Micah was partnered with Josiah. They seemed to be on the western side of the ring. They were equipped with maces and crossbows.

”Alright, we eliminate everyone in here to win, got that?” Josiah stated as he handed his brother a crossbow.

”Got it.” Micah huffed. He stared at the chest of armory, not picking anything out.

”Micah what are you doing? We need to go!”

///

Elijah was quick to ransack the station of weaponry and armor that was given to him and Judah. Judah grabbed out a fireworks launcher and a helmet while Elijah armed himself with a sword, a slingshot and a chest plate.

”Alright, you’ll take right and I’ll take left. If you’re in danger, launch your fireworks up and I’ll meet you up.” Elijah said quickly.

”What if you’re in danger?” Judah asked worriedly.

”I can assure you I’ll be fine.”

///

“I didn’t want to do this in the first place!” Michelle exclaimed angrily as she pulled out a giant bladed staff from the hook on the wall.

Shiloh shook her head. “Well this is happening now. Come on, the faster we finish this game the sooner we can leave.”

The two girls nodded before hearing a new announcement from the King. “It seems like the Warriors have arrived! This will be much more action than I- wait, who are you?! ARGHH!”

Michelle and Shiloh looked at each other with wide eyes. They looked back up at the tower where the King was. All that was there was black smoke. The angle didn’t help them see any better but they could guess that something attacked the King. A new voice echoed in the arena. That same accented voice.

”Hello Shiloh.”

Shiloh’s face dropped into a frown.

”Malduum.”

///

“WHAT’S HE DOING HERE AGAIN?!” Judah shouted angrily. “Come on!” Judah looked at his fireworks launcher in his hand but Elijah was quick to tell Judah off to not shoot at Malduum.

Malduum chuckled. “Oh you poor things. So scared. Luckily the Warriors have been replaced by a familiar face. Or, more so screen.”

Elijah turned to Judah with a serious face. “It’s the robots.”

Judah gasped. “But we barely beat them last time! You, Shiloh, and Josiah even got stuck with them!”

Elijah smirked. “But they can’t put a temporal loop on us and we got the experience.”

///

Josiah turned to Micah. “I don’t think we should eliminate our teammates first.”

”Agreed.” The brother in green nodded. “Take out robots, then the others. Alright, let’s do this!”

Josiah was quick to pull Micah quick. “But you won’t be thrown out if you get hit. Once you’re hit, you’re gone. These robots… they won’t spare you.”

Micah gave a firm nod before the two brothers ran off.

///

Shiloh and Michelle had managed to run into the center of the maze. They held their weapons up, ready to start attacking on any intruder that approached them.

“Shiloh… on my mark.” Michelle hissed to the girl in purple. There was the sound of pounding metal footsteps coming towards the two girls.

Shiloh turned around and gave a nod. She pressed her back against the wall, her sword in hand.

”NOW!” Michelle shouted. Shiloh launched herself ontop of one of the robots while Michelle started to fire her arrows at the other robot. The robots were flinching, but they still clearly had the upper hand.

”RUN!” Shiloh shouted as she got flung off the robot. Michelle helped the girl in purple up before the two started sprinting down one of the halls of the maze.

”HOW ARE WE GOING TO BEAT THEM?!” Michelle shouted as she continued to blindly shoot arrows behind her to the robots chasing them down.

Shiloh turned to see a maze trail of quick sand. “Michelle, throw your crossbow into the sand. Take my daggers.”

Michelle nodded before doing what Shiloh said. The two then turned into one of the tunnels. They pressed their ears up to the wall and could hear the robots struggling and soon succumbing to the quick sand. The two girls looked at each other with big grins before running out.

Chapter Text

“BEHIND!” Micah shouted as he grabbed Josiah by the arm before sprinting. A pair of robots had found them in the maze and started chasing them down.

”How are we going to shake them off?!” Josiah shouted.

”To the middle!” Micah replied before skidding around the corner.

Before they made it to the middle, one of the robots managed to grab Micah’s coattail and drag him down. Micah fell to the floor with a loud thud.

”MICAH!” Josiah shouted.

”JUST-.” Micah was cut off as he was suddenly warped off from the robot shooting him.

Josiah’s face dropped in horror as he stared at the empty spot. He shook his head as he continued to sprint. He couldn’t let Micah’s sacrifice go to waste. The robots continued to chase Josiah down but thanks to the many halls of the maze, Josiah managed to shake them off his tail. The member in black started to catch his breath before looking up and seeing Elijah running towards him. Josiah was quick to hoist his mace up, ready to swing at any moment.

“Woah! I’m not gonna attack! W-Where’s Micah?” Elijah stammered as he caught his breath.

Josiah grumbled through gritted teeth. “Malduum’s robots got to him.”

”What?!”

”What about Judah?”

”. . . The robots got to him too.”

Josiah looked up at Elijah with wide eyes. “He’s got both Judah and Micah?! We have to find Shiloh and Michelle then.”

Elijah nodded. “Right. Take down the robots, then each other. Wait, that sounds wrong.”

Josiah shook his head. “Come on, we need to focus!”

///

Michelle had resorted to hiding in the hidden spots of the maze. Shiloh had been taken by the robots. She didn’t know what to do when suddenly Josiah was looking right at her. She screamed loudly and swung her sword around, though it luckily did not hit him.

”Michelle it’s me!” Josiah screamed as he jumped back.

”Oh my gosh! You guys are alright?!” Michelle gasped. “Wait, where’s Micah and Judah.”

”The robots got them. Where’s Shiloh?” Elijah asked.

”The robots got her too.” Michelle replied solemnly.

The three went silent as the reality slowly sunk in. Three of the six agents were now gone to who knows where. The robots were still on the loose and the three agents remained had no idea what to do.

Elijah seemed to have a light bulb turn on in his head. “Guys! We’ll take out Malduum’s robots. Those are the only reason why we can’t leave. Once we get those robots out, only one of us needs to win to get this round over.”

”But what about Malduum himself?! He’s still here!” Josiah pointed out. “As long as he’s here, we are still going to be hunted down!”

”We can take him.” Michelle said through gritted teeth, a fury burning on her face. “In fact, one of us already can overpower him in the first place.”

Josiah nodded. “Right then. Let’s go.”

///

“AHHHHHHH!” Shiloh screamed as she fell from the storming sky and landed in the sand.

”SHILOH?!” Judah exclaimed loudly. “I’M NOT ALONE!”

Shiloh groaned as she got to her feet. She was quick to realize that the two were basically in a wasteland. “Wha-… where are we?”

”I dunno. I just got blasted by a robot and ended up here.” Judah shrugged. “Whatever it is, we gotta get outta here.”

Shiloh agreed as she brushed off whatever sand remained on her clothes. “We better move. It’s getting dark and-.”

The two froze as they heard a low groaning sound behind them. Judah slowly turned to see his sister. “Zombie..?”

Shiloh nodded slowly with wide eyes. “Once I grab my sword, we sprint to that hut over there.” She pointed at the small worn down hut that was just barely visible.

Judah gave a slow nod as he watched his sister slowly bend down to grab her sword. The moment she did, the two made a beeline straight to the hut. They could hear the groans and screeches of the zombies chasing after them. They just barely managed to stumble into the hut and slam the door shut right in their faces.

”W-We did it!” Judah shouted happily as he punched a fist into the air.

Shiloh collapsed on the floor with a big sigh of relief. “Now all we need to do is get out of here.”

///

Michelle, Elijah, and Josiah had managed to take control of the center of the maze. They had taken down all but the leader robot.

”I think I hear him!” Josiah shouted to the two.

Elijah nodded before siding over to Josiah, his crossbow aimed at the direction to where the robot was coming towards them.

Malduum rolled his eyes from his pillar before shouting. “Boo! Everyone! Boo!”

The crowd seemed to pick up on what Malduum was doing and started to copy, shouting random insults and ‘boos’ to the three agents in the maze. Malduum snickered as he looked down at the three.

Elijah looked up with a scowl. “You’ll regret this.”

///

Micah held on to his crossbow and his last stash of arrows close to himself. Where did he suddenly fall into?! Last thing he remembered was being shot by Malduum’s robot and suddenly falling from a storming sky. It was now nightfall and he could only see darkness and vague shapes resembling dunes of sand. He jumped as he heard the loud claps of thunder and the sudden flashes of lighting. Something felt off about this storm but he was too focused on survival.

”Come on Micah, let’s get out of here!” He huffed before freezing.

Right behind him were the sounds of low growls right behind him.

”Zombies…” Micah whimpered. He looked down to see his crossbow and stash of arrows. “No no no…”

He looked up to see a spot that was just barely glowing. Was that a fire? Whatever that was, it was his best chance of survival. Any source of light meant another survivor. He had to talk himself up before he started sprinting towards the speck of light.

”You can do this Micah, come on!” Micah spoke to himself through gritted teeth.

He was not about to get attacked by a bunch of zombies. He was about to reach the door of the hut when his legs gave way and he fell flat on his face. He scrambled to his feet and pounded at the door, screaming for the person inside to let him in. By then it was too late as he felt a cold and clammy hand grab him by the shoulder.

”MICAH!” He could hear Shiloh scream as she opened the door to see her brother being taken down by the zombies.

Chapter Text

Shiloh stared out of the hut’s window with a mortified expression on her face as she watched her older brother become infected and dragged away.

”Shiloh! I- woah woah woah, are you okay?” Judah asked as he saw his sister staring out and looking like she had seen a ghost.

”Micah was out there…”

Judah’s eyes grew wide as he looked out of the window to see the cluster of zombie moving away. “Oh no…” Judah shook his head. “Shiloh, look what I found!”

The girl in purple turned to see her brother handing her an old leather journal. “What’s this?”

”I think you’ll like it.” Judah said with a smile.

Shiloh looked at her brother, unsure what to make out of that. She slowly opened to see the cover of the journal to see her mom’s name written as the owner.

”Mom?!” Shiloh exclaimed before looking to her brother. ”She was here before. Judah! Do you know how big this is?! I have to tell the others about this!”

///

Josiah huffed as he looked up to see Malduum staring down.

”I played your dirty game. Now get down here and fight, unless you’re too chicken to.”

Malduum warped down to Josiah, black smoke swirling around him. “You can leave now.”

Josiah shook his head before shoving his mace right up to Malduum’s face. “Give back my siblings!”

Malduum rolled his eyes. “Why should-.” He was soon pinned to the wall by the mace’s handle bar and an angry Josiah staring him down.

”I said, give them back.”

Malduum growled before snapping his fingers. Only Michelle and Elijah popped next to the black clad agent. “There.”

”Where’s the others?” Josiah asked again, shoving Malduum up to the wall mire forcefully.

Malduum gave a grunt before speaking through gritted teeth. “They’re in a wasteland that you’ll never find.” And with that, the blonde teleported away.

The three stared at the spot where the blonde was. Josiah didn’t even turn to face his brother in blue. “Start up the beacon. The moment we get back to the base, we start searching through the Raelos.”

Elijah nodded. “I’ll call Daniel.”

///

Judah stared out of the window. “Man, the sky really is storming…”

Shiloh looked out before looking back in the journal. “Wait… the storm Mom’s describing in here is exactly like the one out there. Is… is that the Sky Plague?”

Judah looked out once again. “But that doesn’t make sense. The Sky Plague kills off everything. How are there zombies here then?”

”And why was Mom here?” Shiloh asked, mainly to herself.

”And what about Micah? How are we going to get him back?! We don’t have a cure for him!” Judah pointed to the window.

Shiloh flipped through the journal to see if there was anything to help. “Here! It says that Mom was working on a cure before she had to… Raelo hop.”

”What? Why are you doing that trailing off thing?!” Judah asked frantically.

”Mom has to be alive and around then!” Shiloh exclaimed excitedly.

”But when was that written?” Judah pointed out. “We don’t know when it was written so we won’t know if it was really recent or like- years ago.”

Shiloh shook her head as she went to grab her communicator out of her pocket. “I bet Daniel would be able to figure- hey, where did mine go?”

Judah patted his pants down before pulling out his communicator. “Here, try mine.”

Shiloh took it before the two of them stared, watching as an impossible amount of sand started pouring out of his communicator. “Yea… I don’t think it works.”

///

Josiah was quick to get on the Arxis control system and started to scan through any and all Raelos that were classified as ‘wastelands’ like what Malduum said.

”Daniel says he’ll be coming as soon as he can.” Elijah huffed as he closed his communicator. “Have you found any possible Raelos?”

Josiah shook his head. “Malduum must’ve messed with their trackers.”

Michelle finally spoke up to the two boys. “Use Raver’s tracker! Surely that would work right?!”

Josiah thought about it for a bit. “That tracker needs a lot of artifact power to charge it up and use for one person. We’re lucky enough to even have it charged up in the first place.”

”So? If we manage to track one of them then most likely we would find all three of them!” Michelle pointed out.

”No, I see what Josiah is saying.” Elijah mumbled. “This tracker was supposed to be used for Mom. The charge power for the tracker is insanely high and to use it now would mean it would take forever to charge again to find Mom.”

Michelle groaned as she ran a hand through her hair. “If I ever get my hands on that stupid Malduum, he’s gonna get it!”

///

Micah managed to sprint away from the group of zombies thanks to using the arrows like dagger instead. Unfortunately, they had dragged him out too far from the hut for him to run to as it was too dark to see anything.

”Come on Micah! You were this close!” Micah spoke to himself. He pulled up his coat sleeve to see a giant bite mark on his arm already swelling and darkening. He was about to scream but forced himself to squeak. “Oh my gosh-. Does this mean I have to chop my arm?”

Micah slapped himself as he stood up to try and see his surroundings. “No time to get distracted! Okay, what would Shiloh do if she was stranded. She’d make a base! Let’s do- HURK!”

Micah crumpled to the ground as his body suddenly started convulsing. He hissed through gritted teeth as he curled up into a tight ball in hopes it would help something. It didn’t help anything. Just as quick as it started, it stopped. Micah slowly got up and caught his breath.

”That is not good.”

Chapter Text

It had been three days. Or more, the three brothers were staying up so late sometimes they forgot the dates. Elijah, Josiah, and Daniel had been working non-stop to hunt their siblings down. They continuously came out empty handed with no new information.

”This doesn’t make any sense! We’ve tracked every Raelo we’ve been to!” Elijah groaned.

”And we haven’t checked any of the ones we haven’t been to.” Josiah added on. “You know what. I’m using the tracker. Go get some of their hair. That sounds so weird.”

Daniel and Elijah both agreed before turning around to see Jocelyn looking up at the two. “Where’s Micah?”

The two brothers looked at each other, unsure what to say. “Uhhh… why ya asking?”

“I’ve been trying to be nice to Michelle so she would tell me where Micah is. But she’s doing the same thing you two are doing right now!” Jocelyn squeaked angrily. “Why won’t anyone tell me anything? I just wanted to talk to him.”

Daniel tightened his lips and whispered to his brother in blue. “I can’t tell her, she’s too cute. You tell her.”

”Wha-?!” Elijah stared at his brother with his mouth open. He grumbled under his breath sarcastically. “You’re so helpful you know that?”

Jocelyn stood there, waiting for the two brothers answer. Elijah was about to reply before suddenly sprinting off. Daniel sputtered before looking at Jocelyn and sprinting after Elijah. Jocelyn just gave a loud huff of annoyance before stomping away.

///

Micah’s arm by now had mutated in a grey-green color. The wound on his arm had been scabbed over but looked gross. He had tried to wrap his arm up as much as he could but it wasn’t the best. Surprisingly, he was surviving well without needing to eat. Maybe it was the side effect of being infected, he wouldn’t know.

”Man… it’s been storming this whole time.” Micah muttered to himself. “I really am lonely huh.”

He was quick to go silent as he heard zombie sounds nearby. He snatched his stash of arrows and started off.

He managed to get away from the sound pretty quick before stumbling at what seemed to be ruins. “Woah, that’s new.”

He looked left and right before slowly walking in. He glanced around before spotting someone run past. Micah’s eyes widened and suddenly it was as if a switch was flipped in his head. He crouched low with his mouth open in a snarl like an animal. He started prowling to follow the person before spotting her. She was holding what seemed to be a jar of food.

”I was so close!” She groaned before turning around. “Micah!”

Micah only growled back as a response. He slowly stalked towards Shiloh like an animal stalking its prey. “Food…”

Shiloh’s eyes widened as she slowly backed away from her brother. He looked feral, his hair sticking out everywhere and his coat frayed out. His grey-green colored arm hung limp by his side. “Micah…?”

///

Shiloh had returned with the bare scraps of food that had somehow survived and was still okay to eat. Judah gave a sigh of relief.

”Thank goodness you’re alright!” Judah sighed loudly. Shiloh was quick to roll the jar of food away and scramble to her feet. “You good?”

Shiloh took a shaky breath in. “Micah… I don’t know how we can save Micah without a cure.”

Shiloh pointed to the window where Micah was scratching at from the outside. He looked terribly gaunt and like a feral animal. After a few moments of stunned silence, Micah seemed to have slunk off.

Judah took a step back in stunned horror. “He… he got infected. Oh my gosh… no no no. We have to help him.”

///

Michelle was lounging in the lounge and snacking with Jocelyn by her side. They were binging some random show when Michelle felt her communicator buzzing.

”Huh? Who’s calling me now?” Michelle mumbled under her breath. Jocelyn leaned over, curious as to what would happen.

”Uhh…” A glitchy holographic image of Micah popped up from the communicator.

”MICAH?!” Michelle and Jocelyn shouted at the same time. “Where are you?!”

”You look terrible.” Jocelyn pointed out. “In fact, have you been eating?”

Micah seemed to not be able to form coherent sentences. “It hurts… Michelle- Shiloh and Judah- Here- they-. GRAHHHHH.”

The only clear words Michelle could make out through the groans and grumbles were ‘help’, ‘sand’, ‘bad’, and ‘hurt’.

”Where. Are. You?” Jocelyn asked slowly.

Micah seemed to give up and end the call on his side. Michelle stuttered before quickly getting up. “Come on Jocelyn!”

///

The two girls went to the three brothers.

”Elijah! Daniel! Josiah! Micah called!” Michelle said excitedly.

”Really?! Did he say where he was?!” Elijah asked excitedly.

”No. Either he couldn’t speak or the connection was really bad. I could barely make out any words from him.” Michelle said sadly.

“Well then what were the words?!” Elijah asked.

Michelle stuttered as she remembered the words. “Uhh, help, sand, bad, and hurt.”

”Wait, Judah and Shiloh and Micah are all in a different Raelo?” Jocelyn looked up at Michelle stunned. “And you didn’t bother to tell me they were gone?!”

”We didn’t want you to know.” Elijah admitted.

Josiah and Daniel were focused on the tracker when Daniel looked up at them. “Wait, sand and hurt?”

Michelle nodded. At the same time, both Daniel and Josiah exclaimed at the same time. “They’re at the Serantos Forest Raelo!”

”Wait, that’s not a wasteland Raelo.” Elijah pointed out.

Daniel shook his head. “The Sky Plague made it.”

Chapter Text

By now it had been who knows how long since the three agents ended up in the wastelands. Judah basically accepted his fate while his sister had found Mom’s unfinished cure.

”I have a feeling that the Sky Plague has something to do with the zombies.” Shiloh muttered to herself as she stared outside. “Mom made two versions of the cure. I’ll take this gas bomb one. You try and replicate this one.”

Judah stared at the vial of liquid given to him. “But I don’t know how to make a cure! I’m the funny guy, not the scientist!”

Shiloh smiled at her brother. “I trust you.”

///

“What’s going on?!” Josiah exclaimed angrily, slamming on the control board of the Arxis. “The connection shouldn’t be getting messed up! The Raelo is close enough for nothing to interfere with the connection.”

Daniel looked a bit confused. “I didn’t tell you? The Sky Plague is there.”

Elijah and Josiah both turned to Daniel with wide eyes. “That means… Shiloh, Judah, and Micah are stuck with the Sky Plague.”

Elijah shook his head. “We have to get them out of there.”

///

Shiloh wandered around in the ruins once again. She didn’t know where Micah would be but this was her best bet. She had brought her sword along and a make-shift shield.

”Micah? Where are you?” Shiloh shouted hesitantly. She didn’t want to draw too much attention to herself as there could be zombies still lurking around.

She heard a growl and something clattering to the floor. She quickly whipped around, pointing her sword at the direction. She saw tattered green coattails fly around the corner. She was quick to follow. It wasn’t long before she managed to trap Micah in a dead end.

He looked really infected. His skin was mottled grey-green, hair sticking out everywhere, his left arm was wrapped in what seemed to be scraps of cloth, and his green coat was terribly tattered. If he wasn’t infected, Shiloh would’ve thought Micah was some badass zombie hunter. His silvery eyes stared down at the girl in purple, back hunched like an angry cat.

”Micah, it’s me, Shiloh. I really need you to follow me right now.” Shiloh said slowly, hoping he would still be able to understand her.

Micah growled at her before clutching whatever he had in his hands more tightly. “You…”

The girl in purple slowly went closer to her brother. Behind her back was the gas bomb, ready to be set off any moment. Micah stared her down, his mouth in a wide snarl. One wrong move from Shiloh and Micah would be barreling down at her. As quick as she could, she threw the pink gas bomb at her brother. Micah yowled loudly as he ran right towards her and, coincidentally, into the gas bomb. Micah screeched and tumbled backwards.

”BURNS!” Micah would scream repeatedly as he rubbed his face.

Shiloh would peer through the pink gas and see some of the mottled spots of skin returning back to normal. A smile grew on her face as she relaxed. She quickly had to get back into action mode as Micah started barreling towards her. She held her shield up, anticipating for him scrabbling at her. Instead, she felt nothing. She slowly opened her eyes to see Micah lying on the ground, panting and shivering.

”Stuck…” Micah mumbled.

///

“Shiloh, I- woah.” Judah stared at his younger sister dragging a paralyzed Micah behind her.

Judah was quick to help Shiloh get Micah on what was the best of a bed. Micah grumbled under his breath the whole way through, though neither Judah nor Shiloh could guess as to what he was saying.

”How’s the cure going?” Shiloh asked her brother in orange.

”I’m really not sure. I definitely made more of it, though the problem is whether it works or not.”

///

Elijah didn’t understand. Why didn’t Daniel want them to go to Serantos Forest with him? Josiah and Elijah were more than capable to go help in a wasteland Raelo.

”I’m serious. You two stay here and keep the place running alright?” Daniel sighed, exasperated at his younger brothers insisting on coming along.

”No, you’re going to tell us what’s so dangerous over there or you’re going to let us come with you.” Elijah stated firmly.

Daniel shook his head. “I-I can’t tell you. You’d hate me for saying.”

Josiah shook his head. ”What are you talking about? It can’t be that bad right?!”

///

Shiloh and Judah had strapped Micah down to the bed. The two siblings were unsure what to do.

”I’ll go read through Mom’s journal. Maybe that would give us something!” Judah suggested.

Shiloh nodded and handed Judah the journal. She then noticed Micah holding onto something. She swiped it out of his hands despite his cries of protest. “Judah! Micah still has the communicator!”

The boy in orange gasped before running up to his sister’s side. “Contact the others! Hurry!”

Shiloh opened the communicator to see the most recent contacts being from Michelle. It seemed as though she had spammed him calls but he had not replied to them. Shiloh pressed on the contact. Michelle picked up instantly.

”Mi- Shiloh? Judah?” Michelle was definitely stunned to say the least.

”Hi..?” Shiloh waved with a cheesy smile.

”I HAVE TO TELL THE OTHERS!” Michelle exclaimed before sprinting to where the others supposedly were.

///

“GUYS! I HAVE SHILOH AND JUDAH ON RIGHT NOW!” Michelle shouted in the halls. Elijah, Gala, and Josiah were quick to run out to Michelle.

”How?! That’s incredible!” Elijah couldn’t contain his smile.

”Elijah! Josiah!” The holographic image of Judah waved to the two brothers eagerly. Daniel also had just arrived.

”Wait, you have Micah’s communicator. Where’s he?” Michelle asked slowly.

Shiloh and Judah seemed to have frozen into place before the one in orange chuckled nervously. “Uhhh, he’s with us, yea…”

Josiah crossed his arms. “What are you hiding?”

Shiloh’s lips tightened into a line. “I really don’t-.”

”Just show us already.” Daniel sighed.

”Fine fine!” Judah squeaked before moving out of frame.

”Is Micah sleeping?” Elijah asked. The hologram was in a monochrome blue so they couldn’t tell if there was something wrong.

”Oh yea!” Judah snapped his fingers and went to roll up Micah’s sleeve. Immediately everyone cringed seeing the infected wound.

”There’s zombies?!” Josiah exclaimed. “Oh man, that’s even worse!”

”I don’t think Micah’s full gone yet though, he’s still been able to contact me at times.” Michelle added in, though it sounded more like she was trying to convince herself that he was going to be alright.

”Micah’s infected.” Daniel muttered. “How long has he been infected for?”

Shiloh stuttered. “I-I would say about the whole time we’ve been here? He didn’t make it to the hut in time.”

Daniel seemed confused at the last part. “Hut? I don’t remember… oh. That hut.”

”Would Micah be a full zombie by the time we get there?” Gala asked nervously.

”But, it’s alright if he stays like that a little bit longer right?” Elijah asked. “We still have some of the zombie cure leftover.”

Daniel shook his head. “That won’t work. We need that Arxis connected and fast.”

Chapter Text

Micah woke up in the middle of the night to see Judah at a desk. He tried to fall back to sleep but the lamp on the desk was just too bright for the man in green to ignore. He tried to get Judah’s attention but was quick to realise that he couldn’t speak. He slowly attempted to prop himself up only to feel a wave of sudden nausea crash into him. Micah gave a small grunt as his head fell back on the pillow.

”Jahhhh…” Micah groaned a failed attempt to say Judah.

The brother in orange turned around with wide eyes and a big smile. “Micah! You’re awake!” Micah would try to speak again before pointing at his mouth and making an X with his fingers. “Ah, you can’t talk?”

Micah would nod. He would then pat his coat down to realise his communicator was not in there. He was quick to tap Judah on the shoulder. He made what would be a phone with his hands and brought it up to his ear. He would then shrug his shoulders as if to say, ‘where?’.

”Oh! Your communicator?” Judah would tilt his head. When Micah nodded to Judah’s answer, the brother in orange chuckled. “Oh, Shiloh has it. She used it to call the others. Oh! You were asleep. Elijah, Daniel, and Josiah said they’ll be coming over to bring us back home!”

Micah would gasp and put two thumbs up. He would attempt to try and sit up only to feel the wave of nausea crash into him again. Judah would notice Micah faltering and was quick to help him rest back on the bed with ease. Micah would look down at his infected wound on his arm, an unreadable expression marked on his face. Judah would cringe looking at the wound as well. “Did… did it hurt?”

Micah’s lip would tighten into a line as he tapped his finger on his chin. He would then shake his head. Judah would nod slowly before being tapped on by his brother in green. Micah pointed at Judah before making the motion of eating before shrugging his shoulders again. “Oh, you’re asking how we ate?” The older brother would nod.

Judah would point to a jar to the side. “Shiloh found some preserved food that wasn’t affected by the Sky Plague.”

Micah’s eyes would go wide before he looked out of the window. The sky was storming purple and green with visible streaks of bright blue lightning. Micah would shiver as a loud thunder clap would go off. Judah then looked to his older brother. “Hang on, how did you survive without eating?”

Micah would shrug before pointing at his wound. Judah would guess that Micah was probably thinking the infection had something to do with it. The brother in green would then point to the desk that Judah was sitting at and shrug. “Oh, what was I doing there?” Micah would nod again.

Judah would be hesitant to answer. He had been reading through Mom’s journal and had found some… interesting information. He didn’t want to tell Micah. In fact, he didn’t want to tell anyone what he had read. “I… I couldn’t sleep. I made some drawings though!”

Judah would bring some scrap paper that he had been doodling on and show it to Micah. Micah would chuckle silently before his eyelids slowly started dropping down. Judah had a soft smile on his face as he helped his brother rest on the bed more comfortably. Man, maybe the brother in orange should also get some sleep.

///

“Finally the Arxis connected!” Elijah exclaimed loudly as he walked up to Josiah who was working on the control panel.

“No, you and Josiah are staying here to run the place. I’ll be bringing them back.” Daniel said as he brushed past his two younger brothers.

”Wait, what?!” The two younger brothers shouted at the same time. Elijah walked up to his older brother’s side, grabbing him by the arm. “No, we WILL be coming with you and you WILL say yes.”

Daniel shook his head as he pulled his arm away. “It’s too dangerous to have all three of us going into Serantos Forest. I’ve already been there once.”

Josiah walked up to the two. “They’re also our siblings! We deserve to go and save them too right?! And besides, Mary, Brittney, Gala, and Michelle can run the agency just fine while we’re out!”

Daniel grumbled under his breath. “Fine. But I’m warning you.” He was quick to brush past the two and stand in front of the Arxis which was charging up.

The three brothers were about to jump in when one of the Arxis operators shouted for them to stop. “The Arxis‘s connection to this Raelo is going to be weak, so be ready if it takes a while.”

The three brothers nodded before stepping inside.

Chapter Text

The three brothers all stumbled to their feet. Who knew falling from a cloud of Sky Plague would be so bumpy yet ticklish at the same time? Josiah turned to his brother in blue who was dumping sand out of his shoe.

”Hey Elijah… do you see that?” Josiah whispered as he brought a shaky finger to point over the horizon.

Elijah turned around to see a hoard of zombies slowly staggering their way towards the three. “That’s… That’s a lot more zombies than I thought.” Elijah would take a second to look at his surroundings before looking to Daniel. “Hang on, this is the Serantos Forest? Are you saying that the Sky Plague made a forest Raelo into this… desert wasteland?”

Daniel shrugged. “I mean, yea.”

Elijah remained stunned before hearing Josiah opening his communicator. “Shiloh! Judah! We’re here! Can you send us the coordinates of the hut?”

”That’s great!” Shiloh’s voice echoed through the blue hologram. “I… actually don’t know what the coordinates are. Whatever the case is, we’ll be waiting for you at the hut. You should see it about now actually. Daniel should at least know where it is.”

Elijah and Josiah were quick to start turning around in search for a hut. They soon realised that Daniel was already trekking, almost as if he knew where it was from the beginning. Elijah and Josiah quickly pulled up their goggles to block the sand from whipping into their face. During the trek, the blonder brother remained silent. The two younger brothers were unsure what to make out of this but followed anyways. The three soon arrived at what would be the hut Shiloh was talking about. Before Daniel could even knock on the door, it was flung wide open and the three brothers were dragged in by their grinning younger siblings.

”FINALLY! I was worried the zombies had gotten to you.” Judah exclaimed happily as he released his brothers from the hug.

”Thank goodness you’re here!” Shiloh grinned before turning to see Micah groaning loudly on the bed. Shiloh and Judah had been staving off the infection in Micah for as long as they could with what little cure they had left. “We better leave now.”

Elijah turned to see his brother in black typing away on his communicator. Josiah closed his communicator and was quick to take off the beacon set that was strapped to his back. “Alright, the crew said the Arxis should be setting up soon but the Ancient Pathway is broken off. As long as our beacon is set up, we have a chance on leaving safely.”

Daniel gave a sharp nod before quickly pulling Judah to the side. Shiloh, thankfully, had brought Josiah and Elijah over to Micah. The brother in orange looked up to Daniel. “What’s up?”

”How far did you read in here?” Daniel asked in a hushed voice as he yanked Mom’s journal from the desk.

Judah’s eyes went wide, startled at this sudden interrogation. “What do you mean how far?”

Daniel took a deep breath before looking at his younger brother straight in the eyes. ”Did you read up to the Sky Plague?”

Judah seemed to take a minute to load what he was just asked into his head. Daniel could see the moment Judah realised what he was talking about as the orange brother’s face went from confused to serious. Daniel repeated his question once again in a stern voice. “Did you read this journal before?”

Daniel gave what sounded like a disappointed sigh. “Yes…”

Judah looked down to the ground. “I don’t want to believe it. Why would Mom do that? Mom saved Raelos, not destroyed them.”

Daniel shook his head. “I know for a fact Mom did not destroy Raelos, intentionally at least. When we get back home, I’ll explain everything to you. I have way more things to show you that would make more sense. Has Shiloh read the journal?”

”Only the first few pages and the part about the zombie cure.” Judah replied, still sounding a bit nervous. “If she had read through the rest of the journal, she would be acting a whole lot different right now… heh.”

”Guys! The Arxis is coming up!” Josiah exclaimed happily as he watched the beacon start up.

”And so are the zombies…” Elijah pointed out of the window to reveal the hoard of zombies suddenly much closer.

Shiloh turned around to see Micah thrashing on the bed as well. It was almost as if the beacon starting up had sent out a signal for all zombies to come charging at it. Shiloh and Elijah were quick to pin Micah down to the bed while Judah looked out of the window a bit more. Josiah was practically begging for the beacon to charge up faster while Daniel was taking something out of his bag. Elijah tilted his head to the side before gasping. “YOU BROUGHT A BLASTER CANNON?!”

///

Shiloh and Elijah practically tumbled on top of each other as they fell out of the Arxis doorway. Judah staggered around for a bit before promptly throwing up. Josiah was carrying Micah and was calling for the medical team to help out. Daniel was the last to warp in, looking all cool with his goggles and gear and a giant blaster cannon in arm. The Arxis Bay was silent for a good minute before the crew erupted into the loudest cheers.

”Oh my goodness!” Mary gasped as she covered her mouth with her hands. “What happened to Micah?!”

Josiah shook his head. “No time to explain. We just need him with the cure now. Shiloh gave me a vial of the cure that supposedly works on him. If you could clone it or replicate it in some way then that should work.”

Mary nodded as she took the pink vial from her brother. “On it. Don’t worry about Micah.”

Josiah nodded slowly before turning around to his siblings with the biggest smile of relief. “You guys must be starving. Let’s get some food.”

Chapter Text

Elijah yawned as he grabbed his cup of coffee. Usually he would have had his coffee with breakfast, but he was too impatient to wait until breakfast.

”Elijah!” He turned around to see the pink fairy, Lila, greeting him.

”Lila! How ya doing?” Elijah asked as he leaned on the counter.

He could hear Josiah and Shiloh bantering with each other in the kitchen as they made breakfast. Judah and Daniel seemed to be talking about something Elijah didn’t bother to care for. Mary, David, Gala, and Brittney were all awake and chatting with each other while Michelle was doing Jocelyn’s hair on the couch.

”How’s Micah?” Michelle asked Mary.

”Oh, I’m not sure actually. The staff over at the Medic Bay didn’t want me in for some reason.” Rosco tapped her on the knee to tell her something. “Rosco, just because they don’t let me in doesn’t mean I’m fired.”

Micah wasn’t around since he was still admitted in the medical bay. The others didn’t know when he was allowed out soon. Last time they checked in on him, he was flailing on the stretcher and fighting against the staff giving him the cure.

”Breakfast is ready!” Shiloh shouted from the kitchen. The others were quick to go in and grab a seat at the table before seeing Micah sitting in his seat. He gave them a small wave.

”MICAH!” The others exclaimed happily.

Micah gave that big goofy grin of his. “I’m all better now and I can finally talk!” He then started coughing at the end. “I shouldn’t be talking though.”

Judah giggled happily before taking his seat right next to his brother in green. “Ooo! Can I see your arm now?”

”My arm?” Micah looked at his younger brother confused.

”He means your injury silly.” Jocelyn giggled with a smirk.

Micah’s mouth turned into a shape of an ‘O’. He rolled up his sleeve to reveal a large oval-shaped scar. Some parts were a darker shade of tan while other parts were still mottled green-grey. The others cringed seeing it. Micah chuckled before pulling sleeves back down. “Man I’m starving!”

The others agreed before digging into breakfast. The table was filled with loud chatter and laughter.

Josiah then asked the question everyone was wondering. “Hey Micah, what was it like being half infected and whatever?”

The table went silent as all attention went to the brother in green. “Oh… I mean, I don’t remember much of it.”

Daniel raised an eyebrow as he glanced to his younger brother. “Are you sure? Or are you just lying to us to make us feel better?”

Micah’s lips tightened into a line. “Both?” He said in a squeaky voice.

///

After breakfast, Judah and Daniel went into Daniel’s office.

”So, what is it you want to show me?” Judah asked as he crossed his arms.

Daniel started rummaging around his office. Before pulling out a box containing more journals and a few laptop. “When I was Raelo hopping to find the different contacts, I found these journals and journal entries from Mom. Coincidentally, all these entries were found in those Raelos that had turned into wastelands from the Sky Plague.”

Judah grimaced. “This is not helping Mom look like the good guy right now.”

”I know,” Daniel sighed as he handed one of the journals for Judah to read. “But when I pieced all of the notes together, I figured out that Mom indirectly caused it.”

”How?” Judah was now even more confused.

”This is going to be a long talk.”

///

“So… Mom took the artifacts even though she knew about the explosive run-away energy. Then, when she went to return the artifacts, all of the artifacts remaining energy swirled together to basically form the Sky Plague. Since Mom still held onto the artifacts while hopping around to different Raelos, she basically brought the Sky Plague with her??” Judah asked, waiting for Daniel to confirm.

Daniel gave a nod. “That’s my theory at least. Nothing else makes sense other than that.”

Judah gave a long sigh. “Then where could she be hiding? If she was basing herself in one Raelo with that much energy, we would have found it by now!”

“That’s what I thought too!” Daniel exclaimed. “But remember this, the Sky Plague blocks out connection to any of the Ancient Pathways, resulting in that the Arxis can’t connect there either.”

Judah gave a loud gasp as he pointed to his brother. “So that means Mom is still probably alive and hiding somewhere!”

Daniel gave a nod before looking at his brother in orange. “Just don’t tell Shiloh about this. If she knew what we know, she would not rest. You and I both know how stubborn she can be when she sets her mind to it.”

Judah gave a small nod.

///

Micah sprawled on the couch as he flicked through the different channels on the TV. Before he landed one he liked, Shiloh sat by his side.

Micah glanced at his sister, unsure what she wanted. Shiloh turned to Micah with a serious expression on her face. “Micah. I’m so sorry.”

The brother in green looked confused as he sat up straighter. “What are you talking about?”

Shiloh had a guilty look on her face. “If I had reached out sooner before the zombie hoard had gotten to you, you wouldn’t have been infected!”

Micah shook his head with a weak chuckle. “Shiloh, if anything it was my own fault for not getting into the hut in time. I tripped right before I got to your place! Besides, it a was a freaking desert wasteland, running on sand is basically impossible.”

”But still…” Shiloh mumbled under her breath. “Seeing you infected… ugh, I don’t want to think about it.”

Micah smiled before pulling his sister in purple into a hug. “You don’t need to blame yourself. We’re all back here and that’s all that matters.”

Shiloh couldn’t take it anymore and hugged her brother tightly, a few stray tears trickling down.