Alarm!

After escaping from Winters, the group use the limited light and their memories to navigate their way through to the Frozen Cave unaware of the mutants hot on their tails.

On their way to the cave, they reach the community centre, the site where everything went downhill for Platinum Valleys, paused and looked at the ruined ice-rink with squinted eyes.

Almost as if it sensed their thoughts, the wind that was gusting ceaselessly and hindering their vision calmed down, enabling them to see their surroundings clearly.

Around them, were burnt buildings and broken stalls and the only thing still standing in perfect condition was the colossal pentagonal glass prism that embodied a stellar dendritic snowflake carved out of ice with a platinum finish and a mechanism that released tiny snowflake particles to create a snowing effect.

This was the official statue of Platinum Valleys which was named 'Frozen' and represented the present, past and future of Platinum Valleys.

'Frozen in time, it represents all of us here at Platinum Valleys actually. It means just like how the ice on that snowflake does not melt, Platinum Valleys will never melt or fade away with time. And even if it does, it will always come back, stronger and more solid.'

'So never lose hope Penny. If ever you get tired and weak, never give up but rest and ready yourself to come back stronger. Why because, your gift will never fade but remain frozen in time waiting for you to use it.' Davis said as he patted 10 year old Penny on her head that was already prettily covered with her silver hair.

As Penny remembered the exact words her Dad told her 10 year old self when she asked about the statue, she took a deep breath with her eyes closed and opened them with deep motivation replacing her saddened self. She still didn't know how the statue didn't melt yet over the years but that wasn't important now.

She was about to tell her friends who were also downcast about the present situation of Platinum Valleys to hurry on with their journey, when she heard something faintly.

She wasn't sure what it was but she just felt the great urge to run!

Grabbing Avi's hand, she yelled at Timmy and Cyrus, "Run!" before she took off running with Avi.

Surprised at her sudden outburst, Timmy and Cyrus glance at each other but quickly follow after them while glancing back..

"Penny, what..."

"I don't know! Just run! Fast!" Penny interrupted Avi who was about to ask what she saw to gain such a reaction.

She herself didn't know what she heard but it invoked a feeling in her to run and so she did. Looking back out of curiosity, she, Timmy and Cyrus happened to catch a glimpse of 3 shadows following them.

With widened eyes, Penny held Avi's hand tighter and tried to run faster.

Seeing this, Cyrus and Timmy flanked Penny and Avi on both sides whilst grabbing both their hands in order to increase their pace.

"We're being followed! Three huge men! Forget about the weapons, they're useless." Cyrus said to ease Avi's curiosity who also got shocked by the new development.

"We need to get to the Frozen Cave and fast! Let's take the shortcut! At least it's easier to see now!" Timmy yelled while glancing at the back.

Behind Penny and her group, 3 shadows stood at the exact spot the group were before.

With S6 & S7 glaring at S8, S6 yelled, "You alerted them with your huge foot and heavy breathing!"

"What...?" S8 was stumped for words. He only tried catching up to them cause they left without him and while doing so, he couldn't control his strength and ended up making 'thump' sounds on the ground while running.

But it was really little and almost undistinguishable for non-mutants and S6 knew this yet he blamed him. And what did he mean by heavy breathing.

"I...."

"Let's go after them! We have no idea what or where this Frozen Cave is and losing them is a ticket to our heads being donated to the Marson's laboratory," S6 interrupted S8's explanation and hurried after the 'brats' with S7 in tow.

Surprised at how they left him hanging again, S8 ran after them, feeling goosebumps crawl up his neck at the mention of the Marson's laboratory.

Back at Winters,

Just as S3 saw S8 off, he turned back into the garage and woke S1 and 2 up.

After filling them in on their current situation, they started to make their way towards Winters when an ear piercing sound permeated through the air, catching them off guard and making them fall on their butts with their hands covering their ears.

Along with the ear piercing sound, the glass doors of Winters flew open and people flooded out like bees, surrounding the three guards sitting on the floor.

When majority of the people were out, four men in tattered and bloodied clothing came out one after the other and walked towards where the three guards were encircled.

The people who comprised mainly of the men of Platinum Valleys, immediately paved way for the men into the encirclement showing the great respect they had for them.

Staring at the men who seemed to be in their mid-forties but still looked so handsome that even the tattered clothing did nothing to diminish their beauty, S3 thought with a gulp,

'I had a bad feeling about today but right now I'd really prefer the lightning strike than having to deal with these devils.'

The four men smirked evilly before moving in on the 'silvery' guards.

Thomas, one of the four men, squatted in front of the guards and asked with a friendly smile on his unshaven face, "Where is Davis and Jerry?"

But, although he had a beautiful smile on his face, how he positioned the key card on S3's carotid artery showed that he was no where near being friendly.

Being less observant and seeing S3 being threatened, S1 and S2 were ready to damn all consequences and attack.

'They were trained mutants, what could these measley humans do to them?' S2 thought.

Feeling superior and even a bit gutsy, they got up and were set to attack Thomas when they noticed an emblem on his torn shirt.

»A snowflake trapped in a box that emitted a silver light.«

The logo that symbolised the rank of the highest and most dangerous trained mutant in Platinum Valleys.

Glimpsing at the shirts of the other three men, S1 and 2 saw the same emblem but the only difference was theirs emitted a purple light instead of silver.

'The three keepers of Platinum Valleys!', S1 thought.

These four were the 'devils' that S6 informed them about during their brief on The Cube island and they were to be recognised by the silver and purple emblem on their shirts.

He specifically reminded them again and again not to go head to head with any of the four men, either alone or in groups.

He also remembered S6 telling them that he would need the assistance of both S7 and S8 in defeating them but even with that, they would still need to use an underhanded trick.

That was why they took custody of the children first in order to use them to threaten the four 'devils'. But that didn't mean they went down without a fight, S7 and 8 almost lost to them if not for the interference of S6 who suddenly grabbed a four year old child and placed a knife at his neck.

That was when they surrendered and 'willingly' went into the room cells.

Thinking back to those times and seeing the dried blood of their leaders on their shirts, S1 and S2 knelt on the ground slowly while Thomas just gave them a lazy side glance.

Obviously, they weren't worth his time.

The transition of their reactions was akin to an inflated balloon that was suddenly popped with a needle.

You could even hear the deflated sounds.

"Let me ask you again one last time, where is Davis and Jeremy? Plus the kids that just left here now, where did you keep them?" Thomas asked again with his teeth clenched and the key card still on S3's neck which was already bleeding.

"I know where Davis....Mm..Mr Davis is," S3 said as he stammered and corrected himself when Thomas increased the pressure of the key card on his neck.

"Hmm...take me to him then," Thomas smiled.

Dragging S3 to his feet, Thomas kept a strong hold on him before looking back,

"Matéo, you know what to do." he said to one of the keepers then he dragged S3 along with him.