Mika Meets the Mitchells

Time to begin a new, serious Third Gen ficlet! We're introducing a new villain from the game Evil Within 2, along with another crossover that I've been inspired to add since my vacation.

No restaurant served pre-dinner like Souper Duper, home of the finest soups this side of Kent County, Michigan. With a decorative soup fountain in the center and the décor a lush brownish-orange, the patrons would return home ready for a refreshing dinner. They ate under the somber tune of "Serenade for Strings in C Major."

A charming waiter in a luxurious navy suit, red scarf, and maroon gloves brought out his next order. His right eye was covered by a bang of his dark-brown hair, while his left was a mystic blue. "For you, madame." He spoke in a suave Italian accent.

"Why, thank you, Mr.… Steven." The curly blonde-haired woman smiled graciously, the waiter giving a bow as he backed away.

The woman naturally reached to take the spoon that was in the bowl. "!" No sooner had she bent the spoon that a thin, metal dart was shot up with such speed that it ripped through her face and brain.

"What happened to that lady?!" a customer pointed.

"OH, GOD!"

"Is there a killer?!"

This was enough to send the restaurant into a panic, screams drowning out the music as everyone piled outside.

…

After everyone was gone, a cube of blue energy encased the lying woman and her table. Her corpse rewound back into an upright position and replayed her death in slow motion. "Oh, yes… beautiful." The waiter, 'Mr. Steven' had set up a tripod and camera, photographing every angle of the act. "Such a swift, precise end. Do not fret, my darling… You shall live forever as my art."

When sirens were heard outside, the faux waiter made his leave out the back. The police were baffled as to the cube of chi causing the woman's death to Rewind and Replay on repeat.

Rockford Prehistory Museum

The camera flashed with a click of Mika's finger. "That puts Mr. Brachiosaur in the collection!"

"Let's give him a giraffe neck just for fun." Rudy Tabootie depicted such on his handheld chalkboard.

"He looks very Juraffic~" Snap joked.

Sector RT had flown to Michigan after hearing about the new underground museum, modeled like a Jurassic setting. The dozens of suspended displays were the corpses of freshly deceased dinosaurs from Planet Sauria. "Aren't the Saurian dinosaurs sentient?" Gabriel asked, the monochrome-haired boy painting a triceratops battling a pterodactyl, giving them each laser turrets. "It's kind of cruel to depict fun pictures of their deaths."

"Eh, I'm sure they signed a consent form." Snap shrugged.

Mika saw a spinosaur further ahead and approached it. "…?" Before she had the chance to make it her next subject… duck lips formed around its snout. A top-hat popped on its head. Its right claw was holding a cane. "…" The only clue to this phenomenon Mika had to go by was another girl facing the front of the spinosaur. She had wild red hair, big glasses around wide, almost mad-looking eyes. Her blue jeans had a distinct gap in the right knee, an open cherry-red jacket over a white shirt with a colorful monster. Several badges adorned the jacket, a thunderbolt earring hung from her left ear, and pens hung loosely out of her left jacket pocket. Her gray shoes were long and lanky, and her hands, each with drawings on the back, had red and black nail polish.

Even without the strange phenomenon, the girl's loopy attire might've garnered attention from Mika on its own. However, the girl was doing something on her own, facing it at the dinosaur. A gold "$" necklace hung from its neck, followed by a jewel-glittered spine. Each of these decorations looked and wriggled like some kind of digital paint. "?" With a brief glance to her right, the girl acknowledged Mika. The Filipino's outright dumbfounded gaze let the teen know that someone had caught on to her act. "Uh…oh! Did you… wanna photograph this?"

"Mmmm…I can dig it this way!" Mika flipped up her camera and snapped the bizarre spinosaur. "I call it… Scrooge McSpine!"

"Ka ha ha!" The teen sported a giggle.

"But, like… how're you doing that? Is that like a holo-phone or something?"

"Not exactly, it's… me." With a sideways smile, the girl flicked up her right fingers, sparking a rainbow, swirls, and small sheep in the same paint as the dino's décor. "I'm psychic."

"REALLY?!" Mika's outburst garnered weirded reactions from other customers. Hearing her, Gabriel approached to see what was up. "I mean, I know you can make illusions with psychic, but… I mean, I don't see too many in that style, I guess." She gave an awkward smile. "'Guess I should've known. I'm one, too!" She raised and spun her camera in the air with telekinesis.

"Hah, no way!" The dork beamed. She glanced behind Mika, taking note of the doll-faced boy with dark skin much like her own. "Awe, are you here with your brother, too?"

"What?! Ew, Gabe isn't my brother! He's my little buddy-wuddy!" She picked the shorty up and squeezed him like a big dolly.

"I wonder how well I would sell?"

"Haha, sorry." The girl blushed. "He just looks younger than you, so I assumed…"

"Why, because we're Black?"

"NO! I mean… I'll just leave you alone." Katie didn't know the best way to bounce back from that.

"No, finish the awkward convo!" Mika psycho-spun her around.

"Hahahaha!" Her new friend shook off the tension with a good laugh. "Um…I'm Katie! I'm from Kentwood."

"Katie Kentwood?"

"Katie Mitchell!!" She stuck her tongue out.

"Mikaela, Philippines!"

"Whoa, that's far! Are you, like, studying abroad?"

"You might say that." Mika curved her brows and glanced up slyly. "But, for the record, I'm only 12. Only two years older than him!"

"For real?!" The revelation struck Katie, being the same height as Mika. "I'm only 15! Either you're frickin' tall or I'm puny!"

"The secret lies in the Mary-Janes!" Mika showed off her heeled-up shoes. "Hehe! …Did you say you were with a brother?"

"Our parents, too. But now we're just sort of wandering on our… oh, there he is! Hey, Aaron!"

Rudy and Snap were studying a trio of raptors with spears and tribal headwear. "They wouldn't look half-bad in Mumbo Jumbo, wouldn't ya figure?" asked Snap.

"You guys dino dorks, too?" The duo turned left, somewhat taken aback by the 5-year-old clenching the top of his shirt in his teeth. With messy dark-blonde hair, he wore a blue shirt with a green T-rex, gray pants, and blue shoes with green and yellow laces. "Just kidding! Every kid here is a dino dork." He whipped out a baton with a T-rex head on top. "Did you know that when raptors reach a certain speed, they can skip across water?"

"Get outta here." remarked Snap in disbelief.

"Sounds cool!" Rudy perked up.

"Right? It's how they expanded their habitats across rivers, even to other islands. The most skilled raptors could even tame plesiosaurs."

"Okay, we're givin' these reptiles too much credit, Rudy, I think this kid's off his keister."

"Come on, Snap, we've heard of way crazier things than that."

"You wanna talk crazier?" Aaron asked. "Did you know triceratops can use their collars as helicopters and reach small altitudes? The very foundation of the helicopter was inspired from tricera-copter."

"That's a load of bogus and you know it!"

"I mean, we know these dinos came from a whole planet of dinosaurs." Rudy shrugged. "And other planets already knew space travel way before Earth did, who's to say some travelers didn't land here and tell them about tricera-copters?"

"Don't cater to this kid's ramblings, Rudy!"

"Hey, my 'ramblings' are based on deep digging and research!" the 5-year-old proclaimed. "…Aha! Look! That one's doing it!"

Snap about-faced with a roll of his blank white eyes. "?" True enough, the triceratops display was rising off its pedestal, spinning its collar like a propeller. The customers looked on in awe… "AAAAHH!" and then ruptured into screams, diving out of the way when the tricera-copter attempted to swoop them down. "It's alive?!" Mika exclaimed, trying to crush the beast in a psychic bubble.

"Aninininini!" A green-skinned man with white hair, long nails, red goggles, and mechanical headwear cackled madly on the brachiosaur's back. "How dare you hapless humans make light of the fallen beasts of prehistory? I, Dr. Aloysius Animo (from Ben 10), hereby initiate the Saurian Revolution!" The brachiosaur came to life and swiped its neck at a small crowd.

"Omigosh, omigosh!" Aaron rose to the verge of freak-out, his smile growing. "The pamphlet didn't say anything about a dinosaur attack event! This is seriously so-"

"Come on, Aaron, time to find Mom and Dad!" Katie zipped by, grabbing her brother's and Rudy's hands, and biting Snap's neckerchief to carry him as well. "You kids come, too!"

"Wait, we have to do something!" Rudy shouted.

"Yes, and that's calling the—pleck!" Katie dropped Snap. "Yuck, why are you covered in chalk?! …What even are you?"

"You need to work on your introductions." Snap said.

"You kids won't get away!" Animo turned the brachiosaur toward them. "Strangle them, Brachy!" The dino straightened its neck and tail totally horizontal. POP! And they both SHOT through the body, leaving the legs and torso completely hollow.

"WHAAAAAH!" Katie and the kids were agape at the unexpected action. The brachiosaur's serpent-like body wrapped around the four of them, their heads swelling from strangulation. "Ack…squeezed to death… by a real-live brachiosaur-hiss!" Aaron smiled. "What a way to go…"

"You need to get your… priorities straight, buddy." Snap choked.

Mikaela warped above them and touched her friends teleporting them out of its grasp. The brachiosaur-hiss wrapped around Mika next, but the expansion of her psychic bubble pushed herself free. Mika tried to snap its face with her camera and impart an illusion, but the unaffected beast swat her into the wall. "MIKAELA!" Katie screamed.

"Ow! So, they're still corpses. They have no real conscience."

The snake faced Katie's group again and dove at them, but Mika warped to protect her new friend with a psychic wall. They could feel the shockwave from the impact, but when it stopped, Mika used the wall to push the snake and crush it against the museum wall. "AAH!" The beast's headless torso came stampeding.

"My Trans-modulator lets me command the bodies of the beasts! When the brachiosaur-hiss detaches, the legs just become dead skin, but it matters not to me!" He intended the beast to trample over the kids, but was unaware that Mika was forming psychic steps to elevate it. "You will flatten before my prehistoric pow-"

He rammed helmet-first into the ceiling, crushing his Trans-modulator in. The kids ran to avoid the crushing collapse of the dinosaur. Animo toppled over the side, his gear tumbling off to expose his long ears and unconscious eyes. Katie aimed her phone to apply the affects of birds circling his face, spinning googly eyes, and a "LAZAR" spewing from his hanging mouth.

Gabriel had trapped the reanimated raptors in a Space Block and painted designs on it to confuse them, but the hypnosis had no effect on the corpses. Regardless, he was relieved to see them fall dead after Mika's victory. "That… was… AMAZING!" Katie beamed. "You were so cool!"

"All in a day's work!" Mika flicked up her fingers and levitated her KND badge out of her skirt.

"Oh! KND! That… makes sense! Hah, wow!"

Mika sported a giggle at her awestruck state. "…?" A red, digi-painted art appeared at Katie's chest, throbbing in and out. "Uh…I think your heart dislocated."

"Gyah!" She pressed it into her chest. "Sorry, that… doesn't happen often." Illusory sweat was now trickling down her face.

"Haha! Well, we'd better get this guy delivered to prison." Mika picked Animo up with psychic while the boys handled his equipment. "It was fun meeting you-"

"PHONENUMBER!"

"W-What?"

"Ahem…phone number!" Katie had greatly tensed up. "Email… YouTube… anything?"

Mika grinned. She brought up her fingers and flicked her in the forehead, the head craning back as her mouth hung open for a second. Katie touched her own forehead as she felt the knowledge processing. "KIDS! OH, THANK HEAVENS!" A woman with tannish skin, purple glasses and shirt, and heart earrings came zooming up the room. She grabbed Katie's and Aaron's shoulders, shouting, "Are you hurt?! Physically or emotionally? What in the good gods' name happened here?"

"Huff, huff, wait up, Linda!" A portly man with brown hair, a mustache, and yellow jacket jogged up. "Augh, we heard about the displays going nutso on this floor and got worried. Should've known these weren't real dead dinosaurs. Stupid animatronics, more like it."

"No, you guys, you totally missed it! There was this girl, she…?" But Sector RT had already left. Mika, aware of her sly maneuver, giggled and secretly promised to catch her later.

"Oh, you met a girl?" Linda asked.

"Yeah! She gave me her number…oh, lemme test if it works." Before she could forget, Katie quickly texted the number in her phone. "Okay, it sent. Man, I hope it isn't fake though."

"Sigh, you can find love in the craziest places." Her father, Rick said. "But I'm kind of dinoed out for one day. Let's hit the road."

"But Daaaaaad!" Aaron whined.

"We'll come back next week, Aaron, how 'bout that?" Linda consoled. "I think these dinos need more time to decay."

Aaron huffed as he and Katie followed their parents out. The brother glanced up, groaning at the lovestruck daze on her sister. "Man, she had all the right stuff. I mean, she's still kinda young, but we're not that much apart. We can at least hang out and see if it goes anywhere."

"You know Dad's not gonna like that she's…"

"Shhh, I'll talk it over with him! Besides, he knows I'll have to start making my own choices eventually."

…

The Italian man, "Mr. Steven," watched the crowds leave with disappointment. "No deaths but those already deceased. I didn't expect KND to already be here. Still… perhaps this is an opportunity to improve my gallery."

Moonbase

Dr. Animo: a man of Avalar's Greenling race, he used science and technology to enhance his Animal Telepathy. His genetic experiments were frowned upon by the veterinary science community, but he found appreciation with the Brotherhood of Evil.

"So, this wasn't his first offense?" Mika asked after Perry read the article in the database.

"Only his second." Perry confirmed. "The first time, he attacked a zoo. We'd better send other museums a warning about him. Heh, you know how villains are, they always keep track of any place or event that suits their theme."

"Wouldn't be surprised if he had fans in the Kremling Krew." Gabriel mentioned.

"Yeah. But great job on the mission! You were in the right place at the right time!"

"My psychic works in unexpected ways!" Mika flicked her head. "Speaking of, there's a chance we may be flying back there soon."

"How come?"

"Hehe, tell you later!" Mika wiggled her fingers and slid out of the office.

"Girls, Perry." Snap noted. "Ya can't live with them."

Mitchel House; that night

"And last but not least," Katie announced, her video showing the last dinosaur in her lineup, "we have Scrooge McSpine!" The duckosaur gave an animated raspberry at the camera.

"Oh ho ho ho!" Linda laughed. "That's genius, kiddo!"

"Hah, yeah!" Rick chortled. "Scrooge McSpine! Like the duck, heh…" As delightful as his daughter's sense of humor was, Rick had mixed feelings about her hobby. "Well, uh, let's finish our dinner!" She had chosen this of all times to show her lineup.

"Ah, and before I forget," Katie changed videos, "here's the look of shame and defeat as the villain lay fallen." She showed Animo's shameful moment with the same unconscious expression and special effects.

"Too bad we didn't get any videos of the fight." Aaron said.

"I was kind of fearing for my life!"

"Wait, is that the technician that made the animatronics go haywire?" Rick asked.

"Um, well… I don't think it was like that, per se. I mean, I don't exactly know what he did, but…ahem, it's not important! I need to tell you about the girl that stopped him!"

"Oh, that's right, you met a girl!" Linda beamed. "Tell us about her!"

"Well, like, she's three years younger than me, but she's so tall and professional-looking! She's got a perky attitude and she was so fun to talk to!"

"Hah, just like our sweetheart!" Rick supported.

"Yeah, and she's a photographer! AND a psychicbender!"

"Wow, you have so much in common!"

"I couldn't tell if she was Black or Filipino. Like, she said she's from Philippines and she has the accent, but she also said she's Black, but I couldn't tell if she was teasing because…ugh, I'm afraid to ask!"

"I'm sure you'll work it out eventually." Linda shrugged.

"And, she's… a KND operatives!"

Rick nearly choked on his steak and Linda cringed. "A… KND operative."

"Yeah… she's the one who… beat the bad guy! Well, she and her teammates. Though the little blue guy mostly cracked one-liners-"

"Alright, alright, look…" Rick took back control of the conversation. "I hope this doesn't mean you're thinking of… y'know, joining them or anything?"

"Uh! I just wanna hang out with her! And it's not like there's anything wrong with that, the KND are sort of heroes."

"Yeah, heroes who make weird bases out of Sacred Trees."

"MOST houses are made from trees, Dad!"

"SACRED Trees! They turn them into mutant technological thingamawajits, they got all those crazy weapons and spaceships-"

"That's not even the KND's fault! You realize there are several galaxies where all that technology probably comes from?"

"Well, that's not even the only problem! Those kids get to fly around wherever they want with no supervision, blowing their selves up, getting-"

"Yeah, and they've been around for I don't even KNOW how long! It isn't like they're criminals!"

"I dunno what they are, but they sound like too much for you to get into!"

"Wait!" Aaron gasped. "That's right! The KND can go wherever they want in the universe!"

"Aaron, don't even THINK about-"

"If I join the KND, I could go to the Dinosaur Planet. Omigosh, omigosh, omigosh-"

"The MUSEUM and the ZOO are GOOD ENOUGH!"

"Isn't there a galactic travel line that could take us there?" Linda wondered.

"Yeah, but those are expens-" Katie began.

"NO ONE is going ANYWHERE off this planet!" Rick thundered.

"I JUST want to HANG OUT with her! I'm not going on any missions or saving the planet, or any other planet—and if she wanted to, could she at least take me to France on her spaceship or something?"

"Why France?" Aaron asked.

"BECAUSE FRANCE IS ROMANTIC!"

"Look, Rick, why don't we try to get to know this girl first?" Linda suggested. "I mean, she did save our kids' lives, so maybe she'll turn up nice!"

"Siiiigh…" Rick didn't want to be so controlling, but a father couldn't help but have reservations. "Fine, but she can't take you any farther than the state borders."

"Sigh, alright. I mean, she could probably teleport me home, anyway."

"You can't even teleport!"

"Yah, but she can! And she seems good at it!"

"Well, the shorter distance, the better."

"Fine. I'm gonna see if she wants to hook up tomorrow."

"Alright. Now, can we finish our dinner?"

"Oh, my, gosh!" Linda yelped, checking her phone.

"'Course we can't."

"There was a murder one town over! Woman's face got ripped in half at the Souper Duper! Authorities say there was a trap in the soup, so one of the workers might've rigged it."

"Good thing we didn't make soup."

"Oh, but here's the weirdest part: the murder keeps replaying itself!"

"Uh, Mom, I think you have auto-replay on." Katie pointed.

"No, look!" Mom showed her the phone. Katie studied the weird blue box around the victim, cringing as the murder kept rewinding and replaying.

"That's… interesting. I wonder if Mikaela knows about-"

"Uh no no no." Rick wagged his finger. "You said you were gonna hang out with her, NOT solve a supernatural crime scene!"

"I can at least tell her about it! Then, after our date—er, so to speak, she could tell her friends or something. I won't do anything reckless, okay?"

"You better not. Or neither of you will be hearing the end of it."

Rockford; White Pine Trail

A young man was blissfully riding a boat across a lake near the dam. Relaxing in the twilight hours, the clouds were a luscious orange. There was a distant radio playing "Serenade for Strings in C Major," making a nice ambience. "…Hm?" The man saw a bobber floating close. "Someone lose this? I guess I'll turn it-"

Upon grabbing the bobber, a large piranha zipped out and CHOMPED his face clean off. He had no mouth to even scream through or eyes to see as he flailed about in pain, keeling into the water.

SNAP! "Mr. Steven" took the picture from a nearby boat, tripod balanced. A blue cube surrounded the victim's boat. The piranha would be eating his face off on repeat all night. "To think that's what we all look like on the inside. Now, if those operatives are still in town… I'll have quite the 'trail' for them."

Tomorrow

All set for her date, Katie dressed in her best clothes… which were the same clothes as yesterday. "Phew…how do I look?"

"You look like you, honey!" Linda said.

"And that's all I need!"

Ding dong!

"And that must be the lady of the hour." Rick said, pushing himself up. "I'll get it."

"Ah, should I put makeup on?" Linda asked nervously.

"Come on, it'll only be a second." Katie eye-rolled, following her father.

Mika waited outside with a light tap of her shoe. She had followed the address Katie had given her, parked on the street in front. "And you must be Mikaela!" Rick greeted with an uncomfortably big grin.

"Yeeeeah! And you must be… Mr. Mitchell! And that smile makes me think of someone else!"

"Ugh, I knew I should've answered it myself." Katie peeked around. "Hey there!"

"What's up! You ready to go?"

"About that, where you kids going again?"

Aaron peeked out, "To the Dinosaur Planet?"

"NO!" Rick shoved him back. "Just… nowhere far, alright? Keep it here in Michiland."

"Michiland?"

"He means Michigan." Katie glared. "You know, Dad Speak. So, like, did you bring a ship or something?"

"I brought a R.O.A.D.S.T.A.R.. Check it out!" Mika stepped away and gestured toward the racecar with camera flash designs.

"Y-You drive?!" Rick gasped. "I thought you were only 12!"

"I'm turning 13 this year! But yeah, a handful of operatives drive them. We still take a test and get licensed!" She held hers up.

"That's ridiculous!"

"Boy, do your talents ever stop?" Linda teased.

"In that case, think you can take us to White Pine Trail?" Katie wondered. "We went there a couple times when I was little! It's beautiful this time of year!"

"Then let's hit the road!" Mika took her hand and teleported into the car seats.

"See you later, Mr. and Mrs. M.!" Mika waved. "I'll bring her back before sundown, promise!"

"Have fun, kiddos!" As Linda waved supportively, Rick merely stared flabbergasted that his daughter was riding off with a 12-year-old driver. "Ah…they grow up too fast."

"Yeah… Honey, I need to head out for a bit."

"Where you going?" asked Aaron.

"Oh, Rick, you aren't thinking of-"

"I just wanna make sure they don't get in any accidents." Rick was already fast-moving to grab the keys.

"Yeah, well I'm going to make sure YOU don't cause an accident."

"And I'm going, too!" Aaron declared. "So we can visit the toy store!"

"'Long as you stay quiet so we don't interrupt your sister, kiddo. Let's hurry before they get too far."

…

The major road the Mitchells had attempted to take was clogged by a traffic jam. Rick's face was frumped in aggravation. "…Surely they can't have gotten far in this mess."

"WOOHOOOOOOOO!" Above them, the R.O.A.D.S.T.A.R. was soaring around with Mika's psychic. "SO LOOOONG, TRAFFIC JAAAAAM!" Katie's voice cried out in euphoria as they flew to their destination.

"Uh, Rick-"

"Don't say it."

"Hahahahahaha!" Katie laughed against the wind, awed by all the tons of autumn trees passing underneath. "This is already the best day ever!"

"I'm glad! But you can fly, too, can't you?"

"I tried a few times and… not very good at it." She blushed. "Like, I'm not actually very good at psychic. I can make small things float to me, but it's hard to concentrate enough to do anything… like this. All I'm good at is special effects." She imagined an artsy raincloud sprinkling over the valley and growing giant flowers.

"Okay, gonna put us down, getting a tiny headache." Mika lowered them back to the road. "Hehe! It's okay though, psychic is harder than we make it look. Though I'm kind of proud to know I picked it up faster than my mom. I think part of it entails finding what you're best at. But I think those tricks you use are pretty neat!"

"You think so?" Katie shaped an illusory smile with her fingers. "Thing is, these were inspired by silly videos I used to watch. I just started imagining them in real life and they started happening. I learned that I could focus the chi through my phone, make the effects more long-lasting, and use more at once."

"Oh, that's the same thing I do! I wanted to show you before, but then the… Animo happened. I'll show you when we get there."

They reached the parking lot by White Pine Trail, where lots of police and people were gathered. They hopped out of the car with vigor. "Okay, big smile!" Mika aimed her camera. "I'm gonna show you a trick I do!"

The second she snapped her friend, Katie found herself zooming down an oceanic roller-coaster. "WOOHOO! AAAAAAAAHHHHH-"

Her screaming drew the attention of nearby people. Katie was standing and screaming madly, her hands stretched and grabbing something invisible. Mika blushed seeing them. "Uh…maybe this was a bad place to do it." She flicked Katie's forehead and brought her out of the trance.

She leaned forward from suddenly "stopping" and blinked a few times. "That was nuts! What was that?"

"I can flash illusions into peoples' minds based on pictures I took!"

"That's cool! I…" She noticed the awkward stares, "must've looked like an idiot!"

"Yeah… sorry. …What's going on here?"

They had finally acknowledged the police blockade around the trail. "There should be a lake there…" The girls curiously approached the scene. The sounds of "Symphony of Strings" played from a radio set on the dam. "Hey, uh, is the trail closed today?"

"Wom, yes, I'm afraid." replied a pinkish officer chewing some gum. His badge read him as Officer Gomu. "There's been a most peculiar murder (wom) and we're currently investigating."

"A murder?"

"See for yourself. It's a tourist attraction at this point (wom)."

Viewing across the lake, the piranha was continuously biting the man's face off, from his continuous grabbing of the bobber. "What the…"

"That's just like…" Katie cringed in fear.

"Just like what?"

"Well, my mom actually read an article last night. It was about something like this, but it happened at a restaurant."

"The Souper Duper report, wom?" asked Gomu. "Yes, we believe the culprits are the same. The same music happened to play in that wom-staurant. We're still not sure what that cube is, but we're afraid to go inside it (wom)."

"You mind if I take a look at it?"

"Uh, Mika-"

"I'm a KND operative." Mika raised her badge with psychic.

"Hm? …That glow is the same color as the cube."

"What?! No, no, I only just arrived in town! Can I just take a look at it?"

"Very wom."

Mika took that as a 'yes' and flew over the blockade, Katie reaching for her in silent protest. Mika calmly rotated around the cube, disgusted by the gory death. She worriedly waved her hand through the cube. …Then, she stuck her face in. "!" From inside, the soft twilit sky turned into a darker twilight. Mika set foot on the boat, staying away from the piranha. The police up on the dam were gone, but there was a man and a tripod on another boat. Gasping, Mika approached him, but he disappeared, and everything returned to normal upon exiting the cube.

She returned to the police. "I think that cube is made of Time Chi. It's a grayish-blue as opposed to my psychic light-blue."

"That's hardly much of a color difference, wom."

"I know, there's a lot of blue elements and it's annoying. But when I was in there, everything outside was different; I think it showed the time of day this crime took place. And there was another person photographing it."

"Womt did they look like?"

"I couldn't see their face, but they had a suit and gloves… and I couldn't determine the color with how everything looked from in there. But I think whoever did this is using timebending. That's why the crime keeps rewinding. I hate to disturb the crime scene, but is it okay if I try to pull him out of it? I don't think he appreciates… dying over and over."

Mika focused on the distant victim and pulled him out of the cube before the piranha could take another bite. This broke the cycle and the man's face was left intact. However, soul had already moved on and his body remained dead.

"We still haven't ruled out that you are a suspect. You said there woms someone photographing it, and you have a camera."

"It's just a coincidence!"

"Chief!" A beady-eyed cop called Officer Biteye jogged up the trail. "We lost contact with Officer Finley! Said he was gonna check the Sand Lake, but no one can find him!"

"Let me help." Mika offered; Katie's mouth opened in protest, but no words came out. "I have Aura Sense, I can try to search for him and anyone else that might be hiding."

"I see… and will your 'friend' be joining you?"

"Nononononono!" Katie finally got out. "We were only here on a date! We're not here to solve a crime!"

"A date?" Mika cocked a brow.

"Uh—you know! Ahem, Mika, my parents aren't gonna like it if I end up getting involved in something dangerous."

"Then, I'll just teleport you home."

"I guess, but…" Katie wouldn't want Mika's first venture through the trail to be like this. She wanted to be with her in appreciating the forest's beauty, seeing her twirl in her skirt as she snaps the camera at the scenery around her. "You know what, I wanna go with you. The missing cop thing could be just a coincidence and maybe the culprit is already gone. And if it does get dangerous, you can teleport me then. I was really looking forward to this."

"Well… if you say so. I'm gonna send a call to my teammates, too."

Their walk through White Pine was fairly relaxing, autumn leaves dancing around them. "You see?" Katie pointed at the white pine cones growing on some trees. "That's where the trail gets its name. They always turn that color this time of year."

"Ah, and it's almost Halloween! I wonder if they're possessed by ghosts?"

"I wonder?" Katie used her phone to make cartoon ghosts fly around the cones. …She saw Mika honing her Aura Sense once more, but all she could see were a few cops searching around. "Sigh, Mika, I'm sorry about this."

"It's alright. I'm thinking, once my teammates pass this up to Global Command, they'll get Sector IC on the case. They have timebenders. But this place is really pretty! I'm glad you brought us here."

"You've probably seen a ton of nice places."

"I have, but every place is pretty in its own way! Especially if it's brand new."

"Yeah… You know, my dad used to be a woodsman."

"Did he?"

"Yeah. Even made his own log cabin. But then he met Mom and decided to move to a more urban area. I don't really know the details, but… well, Dad sort of has technophobia."

"Really?"

"Yeah, he always gets antsy whenever we're on our phones and junk… but, like, they got a camera—oh, I gotta bring that next time!—and he loved to make videos of us when I was little. Oh, I don't wanna show you those, yet." She cringed sheepishly. "I mean, he's fine with basic stuff like cars or whatever, but anything to do with computers, robots, or, heck, spaceships, he's kinda huffy about. Always tried his darndest to keep me away from the KND…"

"Oh…did you ever want to join?"

"I remember really liking them. My friends in school always talked about 'em, but Dad was always like, 'No way, Katie, you are not flying on those crazy scrap heaps and shooting mustard ice cream flamethrower things!' I don't know if he just talked me out of it, but I never had a crazy desire to join. I actually wanna be a filmmaker one day. I should show you my videos sometime!"

"You'd be the ultimate special effects artist!"

The girls eventually found the Sand Lake. Quite literally, it was a small lake of quicksand, swirling like a slow whirlpool, and a fence built around it. "This is the place." Katie said.

Mika used Aura Sense. The rest of the environment only appeared black with faint blue outlines. "…?" There was a faint aura underneath the Sand Lake and a few meters away. "Katie, there's an underground area. I wonder if the quicksand falls into it? I'm gonna check it out. You tell the cops."

"Are you sure it'll be safe?"

"I'll be fine!" Mika encased herself in a bubble and flew through the center of the quicksand. She sank ever deeper without drowning herself.

…

"WHAT?!" Rick gawked after questioning the police. "There's a MURDERER in the woods?!"

"Wom, possibly." Gomu chewed. "Currently, a pair of KND operatives are investigating."

"What did they look like?!"

"Wom was blue and holding a camera, another was red and holding a phone, wom."

"WHAT?!?"

"Wellm, the blue wom offered to send the red wom hom first. But the red wom womted to com."

"Can we go hom, Mom?" Aaron whispered. "This guy's messing up my budding vocabulary."

"DAH, I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!" Rick stormed into the woods like an angry bear. "When I drag her out of there, that kid's grounded 'til next year!"

"Sir, you are not allowed to won into…" Gomu tried to tell him, but quickly gave up. "Oh, wom." With a few more chews, he blew a hot-air balloon-sized bubble. Linda and Aaron watched him ascend to the heavens.

…

And speaking of grounded, Mika rode a small sand fall down into a cavern, walking onto the safe shore. The "Symphony of Strings" echoed from up the tunnel. "Someone's really into that music. But… that must mean I'm on the right track."

And right she was: in a few more turns through the cave, she discovered a Fishman in a cop uniform. He had been strung upside-down by a fishing hook trap, and then four spears around the corners were launched up to pierce him. The crime would repeat within the blue cube. "Hold on! I'll get you dooooo…"

To Mika's right, someone snapped a camera, freezing her in time with her arm reached out. The Italian man strolled up and around her, smiling. "Mikaela Gilligan… known in the KND as the Lens Crafter. Your Numbuh is… I don't know, do the KND even still use Numbuhs?"

He slid to her front, posing profile view with his left side facing her. "Who am I, you ask?" He put his gloved hand to his covered right eye, craning backward. "I am Stefano Valentini! But if you need to call me by a villain name, call me… Chrono Lens." He took his hand off and faced Mika. "And I see you've become a fan of my art."

He danced to her side, mirroring the same outreached pose. "You, the hero, reach out helplessly. Despair, knowing you were too late to save him. Truly, the unreliability of youth."

Stefano danced to his camera and had it rewind the clip. Mika walked in once more, gasped, reached out, and repeated. "Ah, but why stop there, when there is yet more art to be had with you?" And so, Stefano dispelled the timebending over Mika.

"UGH!" She stumbled slightly, casting a glare at the villain. Without hesitating, Mika grasped him in psychic, but the eye behind his bang flashed, Stopping her. He escaped her hold, slid behind, and kicked the side of her head. Mika was knocked closer to the dying officer, but recovered to shoot a Psy-Sphere. Stefano Rewinded it back, so Mika formed a shield, withstanding the explosion. "I hoped to catch a few deaths during Animo's rampage." Stefano was behind her, so Mika expanded the shield to push him. "Don't get the wrong idea, I did not put him up to it. But Future Vision comes with my element, so I simply knew to be there." He Rewinded the Psy-Shield and dispelled it, so Mika teleported across the room. She grabbed the four spears, breaking the cycle of Finley's death, and tried to pierce him, but Stefano Stopped them. "Just like I knew of the cave beneath this lake. Plus, I need the extra 'time' to get my contraptions set up. An artist is always tight on deadlines."

Mika struggled to force the spears into him, but Stefano's Rewind wrestled with her grip. "Why would God Dialga make YOU a timebender?!"

"Who knows? Perhaps the gods foresaw my visionary talents. So, who am I to disappoint-"

Mika warped behind and KICKED the back of his head, her foot coated in a Psy-Bubble. Stefano stumbled forward and turned, but was met with another kick to the jaw. As he keeled to the side, Mika caught a glimpse of the eye under his bang: it was a camera lens. "By any chance, do you use your camera with your bending?" Mika asked, clenching the tripod camera in her psychic and compressing it into a ball. "'Cause you're not the only one!" Mika warped above and snapped him, giving him the illusion of racecars zooming around at blurring speed. Mika kicked him in the jaw again, but Stefano Stopped her immediately after.

The villain got up, charged a Chrono Beam, and blasted Mika into the wall near a stalagmite. Stefano Stopped her again. "When you are in that state, any damage that befalls you hits you all at once when you come out." He used Rewind to repair his camera, making the inverse motions from being scrunched up. "The same applies to anything you see or hear." He carefully carried Mika toward the cave entrance like a fragile sculpture. "I'm sure your 'backup' will be following you down this cave any second. They're in for an explosive surprise."

He set Mika against the wall, her expression still winced from the impact. Stefano pulled out four grenades, set them, and threw them each at different heights of the sandfall before Stopping them.

…

"She's been down there for a while." Katie told the police. "She would've teleported up if there was nothing down there. I wonder if she's fighting the culprit."

"Well, you know the drill, men!" declared a cop with a flapping mustache. "Execute Operation: Dive Recklessly Into Sand Pit, just like we practiced!"

"YEAH!" So, the three cops recklessly dove into the center.

"Uhhh…" Katie was a little worried for them.

"KATIE!"

"GAAAH!" She whipped around, arms shot straight up and her mouth elongated. "…D-Dad?!"

"Katie, you promised you wouldn't get involved in something dangerous!"

"I-I didn't know about this before we came here! But Mika was all ready to investigate—I didn't want it to ruin our date, and I didn't think the killer was still around, so—what're you even doing here?!"

"We're gettin' outta these woods pronto!" Rick grabbed her arm and dragged her away.

"No, Dad! Mika's down there, we need to wait for the-"

They felt light quakes, stopping with worrying looks.

…

Once the three cops had come down the fall, Stefano dispelled his Stop on the grenades, exploding the cops once each of them were level with some. He unfroze Mika, who processed the sight in sheer terror and guilt. "AAAAUUUGH!" The enraged psychic squeezed Stefano's neck, her hair and eyes flaring up, but with the snap of his camera, she slowed to a halt. Stefano's neck felt free again as he moved around her, taking in every angle of her anger.

"And here is the face of our heroine as she succumbs to darkness. With fireworks to celebrate her utter disgrace." Twisting around and upward, the frozen explosions of the grenades shone like abstract suns. Stefano Replayed the entire scene until he absorbed every bit that he needed. "But I'm sure you brought more than these clowns. Who else is here… who, indeed. I'm afraid I must take this art down." The cops and Mika were in two separate Chrono Cubes, so he dispelled the one over the cops. With that, Stefano stepped into the sandfall, willing it to Rewind and ascend. A part of it was shaken up by the explosions, but the rest rose up relaxedly. It carried Stefano back up through the pit. "Addio, signora!"

…

"Whaddya mean they freaking jumped in the sand pit?" Rick asked. "I don't know who'd be more cuckoo, the culprit or-"

"Look!" Katie saw someone rising out of the pit. …It was neither Mika nor the cops, but a smooth-looking man with a camera in hand. He walked across the reversing quicksand and stepped onto shore.

"Wait… are you the Sandman?!" Rick asked.

"Sandman? That old legend from 25 years ago? Someone isn't up to date. Though, regretfully, he sounded like a fun playmate. Hm…" Stefano eyed Katie. "I recall seeing you at the museum. You are one of her teammates, aren't you?"

"The museum? …You were involved in that? What'd you do to Mika?!"

"HANG ON!" Rick shouted. "You got the wrong idea, buddy, Katie ain't one of hers!"

"Doesn't matter to me. I am visualizing my next work already! And YOU will be part of it!"

"KATIE, RUN!" Rick dragged her away, and Katie willingly put her legs into gear this time. Alas, Stefano seemed to "teleport" in front of them. He readied his camera, and thinking it was a weapon, Rick threw Katie aside and took the snap himself, moving in slow motion. Stefano ran to kick him up the head, the act angering Katie as she jumped him. She clawed at his face, but Stefano pushed her off. From the ground, Katie made little artsy clouds around his face.

"Bah! What is this?!" Stefano Rewound them out of existence, but after Rick unfroze and registered his kick, he grabbed Stefano and slammed him into a tree. When he seemed to be down, Rick and Katie bolted for it. "Grrr…" Stefano was molding a Chrono Bomb in his hands.

"Honey!" Linda came running with Aaron.

"Linda?! Why aren't you at the car?!"

"We were getting worried! All those pine cones looked like ghosts and we started to think you'd been-"

"You shouldn't be here, there's a-"

"ART!" Stefano chucked the bomb, Katie bolting away in panic and grabbing Aaron. However, her parents were caught off guard and frozen still in the bomb. Stefano moved up to study the adults. "Hmmm…they don't appear to be benders. The girl seems to be something of a psychic, and the boy—ow!"

"DINO CHOMP ATTACK!" Aaron bit Stefano's leg, prompting him to kick him into Katie. Katie caught her brother before trying to form an artsy dinosaur head to chomp him, but he jumped through the illusion and kicked Katie in the stomach, leaving her exhausted on her back.

"The boy is annoying." Stefano twisted and shot a Chrono Beam at both parents, knocking them out once they were out of their stasis. He hoisted them up by the collars. "Sigh…I'm due for some recuperation. Your parents will make beautiful stars! I'll make sure to bring the popcorn." Stefano sped up his own time and zipped his way out of the forest, dragging the parents along.

"Cough…oh…" Katie weakly pushed herself up. "Are you alright, Aaron?"

"Th-That bad guy took Mom and Dad… The police are gonna stop him, right?"

"I don't know… He probably already has a route planned out of here. But what about Mika?!" She ran back to the Sand Lake, seeing no signs of anything else coming out. "I have to see if she's okay!"

"Katie, wait!" The elder sister dove into the sand and let the central area flush her.

The "Symphony of Strings" touched Katie's ears upon crashing in the cavern. Repulsed by the cops' corpses, she found Mika in a perpetual motion of screaming and choking the air. Katie worriedly walked up and, remembering the trick, gave Mika a good nudge to push her out of the cycle. "HUH?! Katie!"

"Mika, I'm so glad you're okay!" She gave her new friend a hug.

"Katie, be careful! I found the murderer, he's a timebender!"

"I know! We just met him, he…he kidnapped my parents!"

"He what?! Wait, why were they even here?"

"They fricking followed me, that's what! You need to help us! If we head up now, you think you could find them?!"

"Yeah!" Mika grabbed Katie and teleported up to the shore where Aaron was. "You know which way he went?"

"I don't know, maybe that way?"

Mika flew above the trees and shut her eyes, skimming the area with Aura Sense. All she found were a few confused cops and no three bodies close together. "Nngh…" Fatigued from her fight, Mika returned to Katie. "I'm sorry… I couldn't find any trace of them."

"Wait, drag marks! He couldn't have carried them without leaving drag marks!" Katie ran to the spot where the scuffle happened. "Let's see, uh…um…aha!" Katie found two pairs of drag tracks, with one matching the width of Rick. The kids quickly began to follow them, but all they found was a large dented area.

"It looks like… this is where a ship landed." Mika deduced.

"A ship?! I didn't hear anything like that!"

"I did!" Aaron perked up. "It was after you went in the pit, I thought I heard an airplane somewhere!"

"How could he get away in that without being seen?!"

"If it was smallish and using a cloak device, it might be possible." Mika said. "From the looks of things, this dude is rich. He seems to afford a lot of weapons, radios, and tapes playing that same song."

"But how are we going to find him?"

"I'm calling my teammates to meet us at the parking lot. I promise we'll get your parents back, Katie."

"Thanks, Mika… Sigh, why couldn't they have stayed at home? Why couldn't they just trust me, I wasn't gonna…oh, who am I kidding."

"Yeah, they're probably gonna chew us both out." Mika blushed. "But we can worry about that after we save 'em!"

A bit later

As twilight started to fade from the county, Gabriel, Rudy, and Snap arrived at the trail entrance. "Are you effing kidding me?!" Mika shouted. "Sector IC's on a mission to a whole different planet?!"

"Is it the dinosaur one?" Aaron asked.

"Dat figures, don't it?" Snap glared. "One time we need them for one in a million timebenders, vamoose!"

"There are plenty more we can call." Rudy said.

"Yeah, but it won't matter if we aren't even sure where Chrono Lens is. Before he left, did he give any sort of clues?"

"All he said was that our parents will make beautiful stars." Katie recounted. "And that he'll bring popcorn. …Wait. Star… popcorn…"

"Star Popcorn?" Gabriel inquired. "You think he's gone to either Mushroom or Zathura?"

"I'm looking up movie theaters…" Katie tapped on her phone. "Hey! There's one called NorthStar Cinema, it's right here in town!"

"Why would he bring them there?" Rudy asked. "They're not closed now, are they?"

"For now, it's our best lead." Mika figured. "Where's the address? We'll go check it out."

NorthStar Cinema

Sector RT rode the R.O.A.D.S.T.A.R. to the theater and found a parking space. "If he did use a ship, he might've parked it…" Mika flew to the roof. There were several vent ducts up here, but using Aura Sense, Mika picked up a plane-shaped outline. "!" Some of the ducts were a holographic disguise. Mika searched the ship, but it had already been cleared out. She flew back down and said, "He's here! I found his ship!"

"Does that mean he's inside?" asked Katie.

"He has to be! Maybe he's trying to lure an audience in to see the crime. Just like how he left chrono fields active for the other crimes, he wants people to see them!"

"Then let's get in there and save them!"

"Whoa, Katie… I think you should stay out here."

"What?!"

"Your parents are in danger because I brought you into the forest. I can't just bring you in there to risk your life again. We'll call the police and have them secure the parking lot. Rudy, Snap, stay out here and help explain the situation, you can show them the ship on the roof. Gabriel, you and I will go in and look for them. Spacebenders are good against timebenders, right?"

"I think?"

"Then let's do this!"

"Wait, I've got psychic, too!" Katie stated. "It's my fault they ended up in this mess, I should be in there, too!"

"They're gonna be pretty mad if you do." Mika shrugged. "Aaron, make sure your sister stays put, okay? You guys won't do anything reckless." She waved at his face.

"We won't do anything reckless…" Aaron repeated.

"Did you just mind-trick my brother?!"

"Hey, don't tell me it's not every big sister's dream. But I won't do you, Katie. Just promise you'll be safe, okay?"

"Sigh…" She hung her head ashamedly as Mika and Gabriel rushed into the theater.

Mika's Aura Sense didn't help well with all the people inside the theater. "'Scuse me," she ran up to an early 20s boy working the counter, "you didn't happen to see a… man in a bluish suit, a scarf, and a camera come in dragging two adults, did you?"

"Uhhhh…no, I don't think I have. Is that movie showing here?" Clearly, this random girl wasn't being literal.

"Uuuuuugh! Fine, are there any theaters here that are, like, closed? Under renovations?"

"Are there any private screening rooms?" Gabriel asked more rationally.

"Um…there's a private screening taking place… in Hallway A. Do you have a ticket or… something?"

"HERE'S your ticket!" Mika slapped her badge in his face. "Now if you'll excuse us, we have a crazy guy to stop!" She and Gabriel raced to Hall A, teleporting behind the ticket guard.

Upon seeing the private screening room, Mika forced open the door. "Watch this be totally wrong." Gabriel said. However, he started to have doubts when "Symphony of Strings" reached their ears.

And the grotesque sight of this theater was enough to confirm their suspicions: fountains of blood bursting from the bodies of the few patrons who had paid for this exclusive screening. The fountains were all frozen in time. "Beautiful… simply beautiful!" Stefano opened his arms toward the fountains, standing in the space before the screen. "Behold, the greed of the moderately rich! Their desire wells up like soda and explodes… like the Combustive Soda I served them! Oh, aren't you lucky… to behold the creation of such art?"

Rick and Linda were gagged and strapped to the wall behind where the screen would be. "Ah! But some were late for the premiere! Let us Rewind." The blood receded back into the bodies, the heads reformed, and the viewers inhaled an inverse gasp before the screen covered the Mitchells. Then, the scene replayed, where the screen rose, revealing the trapped couple, drawing gasps out of the audience, right as their heads burst into fountains.

"YOU MONSTER!" Mika grabbed Stefano, but he slowed time and dodged right. Gabriel warped behind and shot Starbursts, before Stefano Rewound them backward, knocking the boy into the wall. Mika warped above, formed a Psy-Bubble over her fist, and punched down against his skull, teleporting before he could Stop her. Gabriel formed a Space Block over him, and he was unable to Rewind it with Mika telekinetically grasping him. Stefano was able to Stop Mika and Rewind the Block, but Gabriel had already formed several more Blocks around the stage area. He had painted optical illusory flowers designed to hypnotize him, but it had no effect on Stefano's lens eye.

Mika warped in front and dealt a Psy-Stun, dizzying Stefano and kicking him into a Block. She and Gabriel fired a combined Psy-Star, but Stefano slowed time, dodged it, then focused a large sum of timebending over his foes. He Rewound them all the way back to the entrance of the room, undoing the Blocks as well. As they tried to process what happened, Stefano took out two grenades. "Tell me, children: will you save them or pursue me?!" He threw the grenades up, exploding just meters before the Mitchells, but the explosions were slowly expanding.

Stefano swiftly dashed out the emergency exit. "Must be how he got in here in the first place." Mika deduced. "Even the alarm is dead."

"This should soften the blow!" Gabriel formed a portal between the explosion and Mitchells. "I'll save them, you go for Chrono Lens!"

Stefano climbed a ladder up to the roof, but as soon as he did, a chalk bull charged him. Stefano quickly Stopped it, running around to find Rudy beside his ship. "Going somewhere?!" Rudy sprayed a chalk hose from his board, Stefano Rewinding it back, but he was tackled by Snap. The chalk kid dealt a chi-block punch to his forehead, but it wasn't enough as his eye flashed Snap and froze him. Mika flew up to the roof, grabbed him telekinetically, and twisted his hands.

"You're not getting away, Chrono!"

"My career has only just begun!" As his lens glowed blue, a light of the same color brimmed in the sky. The entirety of the movie theater was enveloped in a pale blue ray.

"Sis, what's that light?" Aaron asked, the parking area having gone unaffected.

"The people around the building aren't moving! Is this his timebending?" The source seemed to originate high up in the sky. "Whatever's doing this, I wonder if I can block it?"

"Impressed?" Stefano asked the frozen operatives. "My cyborg components are connected to a satellite. By transmitting my view there, I can transmit my bending, too!" The artist drew his knife and stabbed the trio in the shoulders, then broke their camera and chalkboard. "Now, shall we go down and see how the family fairs? My next firework will find its mark, yet…?"

A giant, yellow smiley face was slowly drawing over the ray, blocking its glow. "Huh? Is it that other girl?" Stefano ran to the front of the roof and could make out Katie, her phone aimed up. "Grr! I'll just zoom further out and-"

With the Stop worn off, Mika shot a Psy-Sphere at his back, blasting him across the parking lot. He fell off and landed in a tree, making a relatively softer landing. Glaring across the lot, he saw the Mitchell kids and zipped over to them. Katie grabbed Aaron and tried to run, but the villain Stopped her and took Aaron. As it wore off, they cried for each other, Stefano slowing time to retreat to the edge of the parking lot.

Gabriel had saved the parents as they all hurried outside. "Let Aaron go!" they could hear Katie yell.

"Aaron?! What happened to Aaron?!" Linda panicked.

"Now listen here, kids…" Stefano sneered, unstable with his knife to the shuddering boy's neck. "For interfering with my work, I will make this boy my next art piece!"

"OH MY, what's he doing to that boy?!" a random woman yelled, garnering the attention of other movie-goers.

"Is he gonna kill him?!" a man shouted.

"Ah, yes…if I gut him in just the right spot, his blood and organs will come flying out as I throw him into the air, spinning! All the younglings will love it! Now-"

"Sweet… BOOOOOY?!" An entirely new aura surrounded Linda Mitchell. She spun her purse and threw it with such speed and force that Stefano had no time to react. It bashed him in the face, and Aaron seized the chance to run. Stefano recovered, grabbing the purse in confusion as Linda came racing. He tried to flash her, but Linda was gone, having leapt into the air to land a kick against him. "I am Linda Mitchell, mother of two!" She reclaimed her purse and furiously bashed him. "Look upon me in FEAR!"

Stefano Rewound her off, his lens lighting up as he was about to Stop the area, but Katie had already formed another smiley to block his satellite. She then formed the classic "LAZAR" face over his own, Stefano furiously slapping it, but Linda ambushed him for the next purse beating. Stefano slowed time in brief intervals to use his super-speed illusion, throwing knife jabs at Linda from every direction, yet she was able to react to his motions. She pulled a Number 3 Robertson head non-slip screwdriver from her purse to clash with his knife like a sword. Then, with a swift twirl and aerial kick, she struck him in the lens, cracking it. "AH! My Camereye!"

"And let me tell you buddy, you don't know what real art is until you've seen THIS LITTLE CUTIE!" She whipped up her phone, showing an image of a light-yellow pug with a brown face, his eyes crossed.

"What? A dog? …Or is it a pig? Almost looks like a loaf of-"

With that, Rick socked him in the head and knocked the villain out at last. "Uh…wow!" Mika beamed. "That was amazing!"

"Ew, no, it's embarrassing!" Aaron whined. "She does it all the time, to my bullies, the guy who made me drop my ice cream…"

"I can imagine it'd get tiring after a while." Gabriel replied nonchalantly, drawing Linda as she massacres an army of robots.

…

The police had arrived to cuff Stefano and sit him in the back of the car. "We sure don't get timebenders every day!" Officer Mankanshoku said perkily. "They're even rarer than rainbows! And that's only 'cause Skypia has bad elevator service! They never get 'em to work right!"

"Ah…such a ravenous beast…" Stefano moaned drearily. "The true form of a woman's scorn…ah, had I but took the kill… what would we see then?"

The operatives were given first-aid for their wounds, but the Mitchells were relieved that neither of them were too hurt. "Dad, I'm sorry I didn't listen to you." Katie said. "I was…I was just upset about our fight the other night, so I really wanted this da-…hangout. But please don't be mad at Mika. She did everything to protect me and I didn't listen."

"We'll talk about this at home, kiddo. Let's just be glad no one died to a mad photographer."

"Cough." Mika choked. "Several people… died to him."

"Ahem, yes… Even so, you really came through for us, Mika. I, uh…might've pegged you wrong."

"How?" Gabriel asked.

"Hehe, you thought I was gonna get Katie to join us, huh?"

"I, uh…somewhere along those lines?"

"That really wasn't my plan at all. Your daughter's really nice and I just wanted to hang with her! But, if I'm being honest… after helping us just now, a tiny bit of training could really-"

"Hang-hang-hang hang on now!"

"Haha, I'm kidding!"

"Well, what do you think, Katie? You ain't thinking of joining, are you?"

"Well… I think that's up to me in the end!" Katie huffed.

"What does that mean?"

"I don't really know, yet, but I'm not gonna let you decide for me. Dad, I'm sorry I got reckless, but… this whole thing was… kind of exciting. I got to hang out with an amazing girl, and we stopped a criminal together! I…I wonder if I would…"

"-Would want to go to a Dinosaur Planet!"

"That's enough outta you." Rick stated. "Ugh…Katie…sigh… you gotta really be sure if this is something you wanna do. I don't want you to join them just to make your point. And, if you do decide… just… stay far enough from the front lines."

"Heh heh heh…sure, Dad. I'm not really sure, yet, but thanks."

"Hehe!" Mika grinned. "So, who's ready to go home? We'll take ya!"

"Nuh-uh!" Aaron whined. "We always stop at Steak 'n' Shake after a movie! I'm hungry!"

"Alright. You guys up for Steak 'n' Shake?" Mika's teammates nodded. "Then it's MY treat!"

"Celebratory dinneeeerr!" Linda sang.

…

Unfortunately, when they entered the restaurant, the speakers were playing 'Symphony of Strings.' "AAAAAH! HE'S BACK!" Linda screamed.

"RUN FOR IT!" Katie cried.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!" And the family was bolting up the highway.

"Uhhh…should we ask the workers to change tapes?" Mika asked.

"Nah." Gabriel, Rudy, and Snap had already picked a table. "Now we can get out faster."

"Hey, waituh," Snap said, "I'll take a chalkolate mocha with a candy cane straw."

…

…

Officer Gomu continued to drift in the sky, the moon glinting off his gum. Passing Nimbi would glance at him in bewilderment.