Chapter 5: Missing in Action

There we were in a crystal-based Battle Zone, we had just gotten the Battle Key and we were on our way home. Though we had to be careful with this trip home. The portal was at the top of steep ramp and these crystals weren't exactly stable. One false move and we could find ourselves falling into a crevice. Which was assured with how we had a run-in with the Vandals and they were on our tail. And they had three members of the Dark Gang with them: Kaze, Berthona, and Silvian.

"I've got a good visual on the Earth portal!" Vert said over the comm. "In fact, clear as crystal."

"Oh, I see." Spinner said, getting it. "Almost a joke. So can I use it?"

"Don't even think about it, Spin." I said to him, already sick of crystal jokes after all the ones Mari told. "I'm not in the mood for any more crystal jokes."

"Oh, I wish we didn't have to leave." Tricha said, sounding disappointed. "This Battle Zone is just so…marvelous!"

"Don't worry, Trich." I said to her, reassuring her. "Once we clear this Zone, we can come back to it."

"I sure hope so." Tricha said to me, sounding more relieved. "These crystal would be perfect for my new line of fashion."

Trustin's view

While we were driving up the ramp, we hit a turn and I looked to see Zoom had skid his back tire off the edge. If he didn't get out of there, the crystal was gonna break.

"Zoom!" I said as I stopped and got over to him as quick as I could. "Don't worry, I got ya!"

Using all the strength I had, I managed to lift the Chopper and get its wheel back on the bridge. Good thing I was there. That crystal was already starting to crack.

"You okay, little bro?" I said to him, making sure he wasn't hurt.

"Trust, I'm fine." My little bro said to me. "I just got too close to the edge. I could've gotten out of there by myself."

"You can't be too careful." I said to him, reminding him what Axel said about this Zone. "Axel said that these crystals aren't sturdy and anything could cause them to break at any moment."

"Even if I fell off the edge, I can just get back up easily." Zoom said to me.

"Yeah, but…" I wasn't even able to finish what I was about to say before he drove off.

As I got back to my Ice Bike and tried to catch up to the others. The way he looked at me, he looked kind of upset. He had been giving me that for a while, just about every time I tried to help him. I just couldn't figure out why he was getting so upset. I was only trying to help.

Axel's view

"Ooh!" I heard Spinner say over the comm. "Close call for the kid."

"Don't call me 'kid'!" Zoom said, sounding really offended by Spinner's comment.

"Sure, little guy." Spinner said to him before saying "Hey, does anybody want to hear a joke?"

"No." the rest of us said, not really into the idea of hearing one of his jokes.

"I'm not saying Zoom's a baby or anything," Spinner said, ignoring our answer to him telling a joke, "but that rattle in his Chopper is a real rattle."

We all groaned at that terrible joke as he sounded the rim-shot effect on the Buster.

"I will so dominate open-mic night at Zeke's." Spinner said, feeling proud of his joke.

"Dude, enough of the lame baby jokes." Zoom said to him.

"Oh—whoa! Somebody missed his nap time!" Spinner said, making another joke.

"Okay, one more baby joke from you, Spinner, and I will give you an icicle right where the sun don't shine!" Trustin said over the comm, sounding enraged.

"Spinner, cut it." Vert said over the comm. "Let's just get this Key home."

"Got it." Spinner said to Vert before speaking to Zoom. "Sorry, Zoom. When we get back, I'm buying you a tall, frosty soda. But I draw the line at burping ya!"

Trustin's view

"Spinner, I'm gonna…" Zoom said as he drove next to the Buster, shaking his fist in anger.

"Zoom, look out!" I yelled out as I drove out and got us both out of the way of an arrow that landed in front of the Chopper.

Axel's view

As we dodged the arrows raining down at us, I looked to the side and found out who was shooting at us. The Vandals had managed to catch up.

"Ambush!" I said as I watched the Vandals driving on a crystal bridge beside us with Kalus and Kaze leading them, the Vandal warlord using his crossbow to shoot at us.

I looked at watched as the bridge the Vandals intersected with the one we were on, allowing them to tail us. I tried to keep looking forward, but looked back when I heard singing. What I saw was Kaze singing. I was confused at first, but when his voice became discordant, I realized what he was doing. It was already too late to stop him as he used the Aria of Doom, a type of sonic roar so powerful that it can break through solid stone. From what I've read, it was discovered by a Dargon who sang in the opera somewhere between the golden age of opera in the 19th century and the early 20th century. I then watched as the aria hit a large crystal pillar, causing a large chunk of it to land in the middle of the bridge ahead of us. We all managed to dodge it, but I knew what Kaze had done would no doubt cause the entire bridge to collapse.

"Guys, we can't go through the portal yet," Vert said to me, making a good point, "not with the Vandals close enough to follow."

"Right. I'll stay back and draw them off while the rest of you get the Battle Key back to Earth." I said, all ready to fight the Vandals.

"No! I'll draw them off!" Zoom said, volunteering to handle the Vandals. "Protect the Battle Key!"

"No way, kid!" Vert said to him. "It's too dangerous!"

"'Kid'? You too?" Zoom said in anger and disbelief.

"Zoom, go on ahead, but take Trustin with you!" I said to him.

"No, I can handle this by myself!" Zoom said in defiance.

"No! Kaze, Silvian, and Berthona are back there." I said to him, reminding him that he would be dealing with three Dark Gang elementals if he went out alone. "It's too dangerous for you to do by yourself. Trust, keep those crooks away from Zoom. After you bump and dump them, catch up to us."

"You got it, cap!" Trust said to me as the rest of us kept on going towards the portal.

Trustin's view

As the others kept on going and got through the portal, me and my bro stopped and turned to get ready to strike.

"I don't need your help, you know?" Zoom said to me. "I can do this by myself."

"And what? Leave you to those maniacs?" I said, talking about the Vandals. "No way. I'm not leaving my little brother behind." I then put my fist up, ready to do our fist bump. "Ready to go, little bro?"

"Let's just get this over with and go home." Zoom said before he drove off toward the Vandals.

He wasn't gonna do our fist bump? Now there had to be something wrong. He loves doing our fist bumps. It's one of the first things we did when we became brothers. Why was he so mad? Putting that off for later, I then drove off to make sure Zoom didn't get hurt.

Kaze's view

As we closed in on the portal, we looked to see Trustin and the Battle Force 5 scout closing in on us. Sending those two to fight us? Now the Element Gang was really pathetic.

"So they send in their scouts." I said, not at once feeling threatened by this. "It seems the Element Gang have gotten careless to send in their weakest links."

"Hey, the little one is Trustin's brother, right?" Silvian said, smiling anxiously. "Oh, I'm going to enjoy ripping him apart in front of that waste of ice power!"

Just when we thought we would clash, we watched as the younger scout then jumped and landed on the crystal I put there. Now I was regretting it as I knew what he was doing, especially with their back wheels facing us.

"No! Stop! It's a trap!" I said, managing to get Berthona and Silvian to stop, but Kalus and the others kept on pushing forward, not hearing me or realizing what they were doing.

We then watched as those rats drove on the crystal, pushing it deeper into the ground and causing the bridge to crumble. Even though his brother was taken down with it, but he got back up with that hover mode on his vehicle while the others just kept on falling.

"They're getting away!" Silvian said in frustration.

"They're not getting away that easily!" I said as I left my Primal Bounty, already knowing what to do. "Berthona, get into the air! Silvian and I will join you shortly."

"Yes, sir!" Berthona said before she drove off the bridge only to start flying a moment later, going after the scouts.

"Silvian, get ready for battle!" I said as I then transformed into my Dargon form. "No more Mr. Nice Guy!"

Trustin's view

As I tried to get back on the bridge, I managed to hear Zoom cheer out in victory. He might've enjoyed that, but that was still dangerous. What if he couldn't get off that crystal in time? He would be falling into the crevice.

"That was awesome!" I heard Zoom say as I tried to get back on the bridge with him. "Aw! They never see me do the cool stuff!"

"Zoom, that was not cool!" I said to him, angry for him being so reckless. "That was rash and dangerous!"

"Oh, chill out, Trust." Zoom said to me. "We got rid of the Vandals right?" Hearing cracking, we both looked behind us and saw the bridge was already crumbling and closing in on us fast. "Uh-oh!"

"The bridge is coming down! Punch it!" I said as we both drove as fast as we could to the portal. "Come on, come on!"

Just when we were close enough, the bridge caught up to us and we started falling. As we were falling, I managed to put the Ice Bike into hover mode. I looked to see Zoom trying to do the same with the Chopper when I saw a piece of crystal heading straight for him. Acting fast, I flew over and managed to get us both out of the way of that crystal.

"Thanks, Trust!" Zoom said to me as he finally got the Chopper in hover mode. With that, we both flew right back up.

"Phew! That was close!" I said, relieved that we made out alive as we headed to the portal.

"Yeah. Let's get back home and get this Zone closed down." Zoom said right before an electrical blast came by.

Luckily, we managed to dodge it, though we were now in trouble after we looked back and saw where it came from.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Berthona yelled out as she come up fast. "Neither of you are gonna make it out of here alive!"

"Oh, no! It's Berthona!" I said, afraid that we now had that electrified killer on our tail. "Evasive maneuvers!"

We then split up and I was hoping she would go after me, but Berthona went after Zoom instead.

"Zoom, look out! She's right behind you!" I said to Zoom over the comm.

Zoom's view

After hearing that from Trust, I looked behind me and saw that Berthona was following me. Though this didn't scare me. This actually looked like it would be fun.

"You want a piece of me?" I said to her, trying to keep her focus on me. "Then come get me!"

With that, I then let her chase me down so I can be able to knock that Goth out of the sky. Dodging her blasts was easy. She was only using one hand.

"Zoom, what are you doing?" Trust said to me over the comm. "Get back to Earth! I'll handle Berthona while you get out of here!"

"No! I can handle this!" I said to him, finally doing something for myself for once. "Just watch! I'll get rid of this chick and be back before you know it!"

"Zoom, wait…" I then cut off my comm, not wanting to hear anything from him now.

If Berthona wanted to fight me, then I'm gonna let her have it. This was my fight, not my brother's. It's time to show Trust I'm not a little kid anymore. After a while, I finally got my chance and gave the slip.

"Oh! Where'd he go? Where'd he go?!" I heard her yelled as I finally got in the right spot.

"Right here, little Ms. Grim!" I said as I turned and charged at her head-on.

"Big mistake, kid!" She said as she charged up for a blast, the purple electricity shining bright enough for me to see. "It's lights out for you!"

Just when I was gonna be able to get her…she suddenly turned into a big ice cube, and started falling down to the ground. I already knew who was responsible for this, one of the only two people I know who haves breathe that can turn someone into an ice sculpture. Darn it! Can't he least let me do one thing on my own?

"Zoom, it's time to go." Trust said to me, talking to me like Mom and Dad. "Head to the portal now!"

With that, we both then started heading back to the portal. I just couldn't believe it. Why can't he see that I don't need his help all the time? I'm tired of him babying me! I can do things on my own!

"Trust, I had her!" I said as my brother flew over to me, not really much appreciating him taking my win.

"And I told you to head back to Earth, not take Berthona head-on!" Trust said to me. "Any member of the Dark Gang is way too dangerous for you!"

"Oh, here we go again!" I said, can't believe he was doing it again. "Seeing me do something you think I can't handle and then swooping in and taking care of it for me!"

"Zoom, you know think I'm doing this for fun?" Trust said to me, treating me like a little kid again. "This is not a game, Zoom! Can't you grow up?"

"You know, you're starting to sound like Mom and Dad right now!"

"Well, somebody haves to be the adult here and it apparently can't be you!"

Just when he said that, we heard some clanking, looked back, and saw his Ice Bike's back rotors were stabbed with icicles.

"Trustin!" I said as I watched Trustin beginning to fall before I then flew off to save him. When I got close enough, I then put out my hand for him to grab on to. "Trust, grab my hand!"

Just when Trust was gonna grab my hand, I watched as some metal clamp and this big metal hand grabbed my bro and pulled them up.

"No! Trustin!" I said before I then turned around and went after them.

When I finally caught up, I saw that my bro was stuck in the grip of this large purple dragon who turned out to be that giant hand and that clamp that caught my bro, the clamp on its tail. On that clamp, I also saw this big purple wolf holding onto it. It kind of looked like my bro when he's FrostFang. Both of them had these piercing red eyes.

"Ugh! Let me go, Kaze!" I heard my bro say as he tried to escape.

Hearing him say that, I had to guess the dragon I was seeing was Kaze's Dargon form and the wolf was Silvian as DarkFang.

"Sorry, but we're going to need you for what we have planned." Kaze said to him, speaking a real twisted voice that made him sound like a demon.

"Let him go, you overgrown lizard!" I said as I tried to charge him and rescue my bro, but he ended up dodging it. I had to get him. I had to save my bro.

Kaze's view

Okay, now I was getting annoyed. Doesn't that brat know that it is hopeless for him to take on two powerful elementals like me and Silvian? Guess he needed to learn that lesson.

"Silvian, get rid of that rat!" I said to my fellow elemental as that rat charged at us.

"With pleasure!" Silvian said before I then swung my tail to give him moment to jump at him.

Zoom's view

As I kept on going at Kaze, I saw him swinging his tail back and forth and Silvian looking like he was ready to jump, that ice-cold crook smiling for some reason. It was only a moment before Kaze really swung forward and Silvian jumped off, heading right at me right before he got on my Chopper, trying to toss me out of it.

"Hey, get off me, you creep!" I said as I tried to get him off.

Trustin's view

I was horrified as I watched Zoom being attacked by Silvian, the Chopper flying out of control from the struggle.

"Zoom!" I said before trying to convince Kaze to leave my little bro alone. "Leave him alone! He haves nothing to do with this!"

"Save your breath." Kaze said to me in with that Dargon voice, talking in a harsh tone. "I haven't forgotten that he is a member of Battle Force 5 and, just like you, he will pay the price for interfering with the Dark Gang and the Vandals!"

I was now terrified. I knew the Dark Gang were ruthless to those who are not willing to serve them.

Oh, Zoom. I thought to myself. I hope you can get that darn deceiver off ya before it's too late.

I then watched as the fight between them kept on going, the Chopper now heading for me and Kaze.

Zoom's view

After finally managing to get him off and getting ready to push him off, I then watched as he just smiled.

"What's with the smug?" I asked him, confused by this as I tried to push him off. "You happy or something?"

"Yeah, because your flight is cancel, kid!" he said before he then kicked at the Chopper's front rotor, breaking it. He then got my arm off him and got in front of me, his feet on the hood. "Have a nice fall!" He then jumped off, knocking me away while getting back over to Kaze's tail.

"No! Zoom!" I heard my bro scream as I fell with my Chopper.

Trustin's view

"Zoom!" I yelled out as I watched my little brother fall with his bike until he was completely out of sight. "Zoom! Nooooo!"

"One rat down, 10 more to go." Kaze said, sounding proud of himself. "Now let's head back and prepare."

"What about the portal? It's still open." Silvian asked him, sounding confused.

"Don't worry. We'll get to it and our new prisoner is going to help us ensure our victory." Kaze said before he started flying away from where Zoom crashed.

"No! Let me go!" I said as I tried to break free, wanting to get over there and to make sure Zoom was okay. "Zoom! Zoom!"

Zoom's view

As I fell to my doom, I quickly got a good grip on my Chopper and braced for impact. The Chopper crashed on some crystals before it finally landed on the ground, knocking me off my bike. Luckily, those crystals slowed me down, so the landing wasn't so rough. I got back up and was relieved I was alive. But, when I looked up to see Kaze and Silvian leave with my big bro, I was feeling worried about him. About what the Vandals would do to him.

"Trust, come in." I said as I tried to use my comm. "Trustin, can you hear me?" There was nothing but static, which meant only one thing. "Comm's busted."

With that, I knew I had one thing to do: get to the portal and get the others to help rescue Trustin.

[Earth]

Axel's view

After getting through the portal, we all watched as Vert leave the Saber and went on to close the portal, but only just stood in front of it. I had already known the reason.

"Vert, what are you waiting for?" Jay said to the BF5 leader. "Close the Stormshock!"

"No, Zoom and Trustin are still in there!" Vert said to him, just when I decided to leave my Fire Cycle and check the other side of the portal. "Anytime now."

"Maybe the Vandals caught them." Sherman said.

From poking my head through the portal, using my metalbending to extend my eyesight, and looking around, I looked down and was shocked to see that the whole bridge was gone and the portal was now on top of a crystal pillar.

After retracting my eyes and getting my head out of the portal, I managed to hear Vert say "I'm going back!"

Seeing him running to the Saber, I used my super speed to stop him.

"Vert, no!" I said as I got in front of him. "I just took a look back there and I got some bad news. The bridge's gone!"

"What do you mean it's gone?" Basar asked me, confused by this.

"I mean, it's destroyed!" I said to him, making him and the others shocked from heard that. "The crystal Kaze knocked into the bridge made it too unstable and it crumbled apart. The whole portal is on top of a pillar now." I then looked to Vert. "Which means, if you go back there, you end up stuck there with the Saber!"

"Are Trust and Zoom okay?" Mari asked me, worried about the scouts.

"I don't know." I answered her, feeling just as worried. "I can't see them anywhere."

"Oh, dear." Tricha said with worry. "I sure hope they are alright. Even if they manage to escape such a thing, the Vandals are still there waiting for them."

"Calm down, everybody." Vert said. "Those two are skilled martial artists and they both have gotten out of things worse than this. I'm sure they're okay."

"This is terrible." Spinner said with a look of worry. "Without Zoom…" He then regained his usually smile and spoke like there was nothing wrong at all, "who am I gonna make fun of at Zeke's open-mic night?"

With him joking like that and just about everyone glaring at him, I then gave him one good smack in the head for it.

"What? I was just joking." Spinner said to me. "I love the little guy."

We all then looked to the portal, hoping Trust and Zoom can make it back.

[Crystal Battle Zone]

No one's view

Towards the ground to where the crumbled edge was, the Vandals are seen lying there from surviving the fall off the crumbling bridge, groaning as they recovered from it.

"You fools!" Kalus said to his Vandals, speaking with rage after getting the large chunk of crystal off his chariot.

"We are the fools?" Krocomodo said to the Vandal warlord, speaking just as enraged as Sever helped Hatch to his feet. "You are the one who missed the human with your crossbow!"

Kalus then roared out, spooking the three as they felt coming from him.

"But it was a really good try." Hatch said, trying to lighten the mood. "Three cheers for Captain Kalus! Huzzah! Huzzah!" Seeing as Krocomodo and Sever did not cheer with him, he soon quieted down. "Huzzah."

"This battle is lost." Kalus said after recovering from his confusion and becoming serious. "Let us return to Vandal and prepare for the next. Wait, where are the others?"

"Right here, Captain Kalus." Berthona said as she managed to drive over to the Vandals. "Berthona Delaurenti, reporting."

Trustin's view

While Silvian was driving, I tried my best to get myself free from the restrains on me. After those crooks caught me, they had me restrained with these wooden handcuffs and ankle cuffs made with Vengestone and then decided to take me back to Kalus. I wasn't even able to get myself close to being free when I heard Kalus voice.

"And where is Kaze?" He said.

"Captain Kalus!" Kaze said as those two finally stopped.

"Kaze, where have you been?" Kalus said to him as I could hear Kaze get out of his chariot and walk over to Kalus.

"Oh, we were just getting something that might help us in this situation." Kaze said before he snapped his fingers.

Right from there, I watched as Silvian got out, grabbed me, and then tossed me over to where I was now in front of Kalus.

"May I present our newest prisoner: the Element Gang's own scout." Kaze said with a smug look on his face.

"Let me at him!" Berthona said as she got out of her car and walked over with her hand sparking with purple electricity. "I'm gonna fry him!"

"Easy there, Berthona." Kaze said to her, losing that smug and making her stop. "We need him alive."

"Kaze is correct. Well done." Kalus said after Berthona put her hand away and cut off the electricity, causing Kalus to regain his smug while that lion gained his own. "But what about the human?"

"We already took care of him." Silvian said, having that same smug. "Knocked him out of the sky and sent him crashing into the ground! There's no way that human could survive that."

"Captain Kalus, the human still lives!" Krocomodo said, pointing down.

I looked and saw that he was right. Zoom was still alive! I was so relieved to see that little bro was okay.

"You said you took care of the human." Kalus said as he glared at Kaze, actually scaring the Dargon.

"Well, it's just an assumption." Kaze said nervously. "Besides I think he's gonna be much trouble without his vehicle."

"I think I'll eat him." Sever said with that jagged-toothed grin of his.

"No!" Kalus said as he got out of his chariot. "We catch him and use them both as bait. The subspecies will return to save two of their own and when they return through the Stormshock, we will be ready. Kaze, you, Silvian, and Berthona take our prisoner and ensure he doesn't escape."

"Yes, Captain Kalus." Kaze said to him.

"Vandals, we start the hunt now!" Kalus said to the others.

I heard Hatch chuckle and looked to him, wondering what exactly had him laughing.

"I get chills every times he says that." Hatch said. "Anybody else get chills?"

Even I had to agree with the crooks and their other mutant pals. Hatch getting chills from that? That is just weird and wrong.

"Come on, you!" Silvian said as he dragged me away. When he got me back into the back seat, I glared at him. "Hey, look on the bright side. At least your brother will be joining you soon enough."

As Kaze and his fellow crooks drove off, I watched as Kalus and the other Vandals went off to go after Zoom. I was now hoping for Zoom to be able to escape them.

Zoom's view

After failing to get up that pillar, I then tried to fix the Chopper. It was my only shot back up there. I crossed some wires and…got some smoke puffed in my face.

"Great." I said as that was my last shot to get some help. "Everything's busted."

"Oh, man. What am I gonna do?" I said to myself. "Without the Chopper, I'm never gonna save Trust from those two."

I was worried about what was happening to my big bro. I knew I had to save Trust, but how could I? Without the Chopper, I stand no chance against Kaze and that ice element creep.

Just then, I felt something. I had no idea what it was, but it felt like…something was calling out to me. I looked around to find where was it coming from until I saw something wedged into all those crystal. To figure out what it was, I went over and tried to pull it out. It was stuck in there good. Just when I thought I wasn't gonna get it out, I finally did…and got flat on my butt. When I got a good look at it, it looked like…a bow. It looked like a composite bow, a pretty beat up and pretty old one. Thanks for the weapon's history lesson, Basar and Axel. Though it looked more different than a normal composite bow. It had this weird riser with a strange symbol on it. It looked like an arrow with a line in the middle of it.

"A bow?" I said as it was pretty weird to find a bow around here. "What's a bow doing here in a Battle Zone?"

And just when I thought it couldn't get any weirder, after I got back on my feet, I got this feeling inside of me, something that connected me with this bow. Almost as if…it belonged to me. I snapped out of it when I heard some cars and looked behind me to see the Vandals heading my way.

"Oh, man!" I said before I then slung the bow over me and got running. "I might not have a Chopper, but I still got moves."

I don't know how, but I was gonna to save my big brother.

No one's view

After driving to the crystal where Zoom was at, Hatch was the first to arrive as he stopped in front of the broken Chopper. He then used his car's stinger and mandibles to grab the motorcycle and slammed it into the ground three times as Sever and Krocomodo finally arrive.

"I found the shell," Hatch said to his fellow Vandals before he gained a disappointed look on his face, "but the soft parts are missing."

Sever steps out of his car and sniffs the air. He looks down to see Krocomodo out of his car as well and sniffing the ground as if he was trying to find a trail like a dog.

"His tracks lead…that way." Krocomodo said as he pointed towards a path within two rows of piles of crystals.

As they walk forward, the three find a small opening but get stuck as they all try to go through at the same time.

"I'm really hungry." Sever said as he tried to push his way through.

"You're always hungry." Krocomodo said to him before Hatch then tried to push his way past the two.

The three then began struggling as they tried to exit the opening. As they continue, Kalus pulls up behind them with a look of anger.

"Fools!" Kalus said to them, making the three stop and back away from the opening to turn and look at him. "You're wasting time."

Zoom's view

While that overgrown cat talked to his fellow mutants, I was waiting behind one of the crystals above them for the right moment to strike. I was able to hear what he was saying from all the way up there with his voice echoing.

"Do you think the human is simply gonna wait for us?" Kalus said as I was ready to give him that answer.

"Actually, I am." I said to myself, speaking so quiet they couldn't hear me before I pushed on the crystal, sending it falling on them.

I was able to hear the croc call a retreat as I watched them run away from the falling crystal. With that, I then jumped right at Kalus.

"Whoo-hoo!" I said as this was actually pretty fun.

When Kalus tried to throw a spear at me, I managed to catch and sent it back at him by using my skill. It was stabbed right in his chariot. With him distract, I was able to get in a good kick and knock him out of his chariot.

"And the score is…Fuzz-face: zero!" I said as I stood in front of that furball, feeling pretty proud of myself.

Though that moment didn't last longer before Kalus' goons caught me in chains. Just when I thought I could save my bro, I end up caught by the Vandals.

"Hey, listen," I said to Kalus as he stood in front of me, looking pretty mad, "about that fuzz-face crack…"

"Silence, sub-creature!" Kalus said to me before looking to his goons. "I will contact Kaze and the others to bring the other prisoner. Make sure this one does not escape."

After that, those three removed the chains and got me on one cuff that had the end of its chain nailed to the ground. The croc, the shark, and the bug tried to crash into me with their cars, but they should've done better than handcuff one of my hands or make my chain so long if they wanted to get a hit one me. I was able to dodge them easily.

"Stop moving!" Krocomodo said to me after I managed to get onto his car. "You're not making this any fun."

"It's fun for me." I said to him before I got off and watched as he crashed into Sever and then had Hatch crash into him. "Yeah!" I then walked over to Kalus who was looking through a telescope. "Now tell me, where is my brother?"

"He will be here shortly." Kalus said to me, looking pretty smug. "Much like the rest of your companions when they come looking for the two of you."

"The Element Gang wouldn't risk going back here to let you and your goons get to Earth." I said to him, knowing the guys wouldn't let the Vandals get a chance to invade Earth. "The Earth is safe as long as you guys can't get to it. Besides, I'm the least important guy on Battle Force 5."

"Your team will be back, small one." Kalus said to me. "They suffer from the same thing your whole feeble race suffers from."

"Cat allergies?" I said, really finding it funny that furball thought he could win.

"Compassion." Kalus said to me and then I realized it.

"He's actually correct!" I then looked as I saw Kaze and his own goons pull up. He then got out of his chariot and walked over to me. "Just like the pathetic excuse for warriors before them, they all let their compassion to hold them back and force them to do the most foolish of acts for those beneath them." When he got close enough, I was able to see the smug look on his face. "Individuals such are yourself. Your brother proves it." With that, I then watched as that ice elemental poser get grab something on the seat of his bike. I then watch Silvian pick up Trustin from the back before he tossed him over to me.

"Trust!" I said as I got over to him, shocked to see him cuffed by the hands and feet and with a muzzle on him.

"Zoom!" Trust said to me, sounding pretty relieved even with his voice a little muffled. "Thank goodness you're okay."

"And this proves my point." Kaze said as I then glared at him. "Friends are for the weak. Compassion is for the scared. In times of war, you must never show any weakness. Those are the words that my ancestors and I have followed for centuries. This is why we will be victorious. We are the mighty! We are the Vandals!"

"You're wrong." I heard Trust say as I looked and saw him glaring at Kaze who lost his smug and looked at him. "You will never win. Compassion does not make us weak. It makes us better people, people with humanity. Something you guys will never understand. For that is the strength of the human race!"

"'Strength of the human race'?" Kaze said before he scowled, brushing it off. "Those are such words of weakling. This is why your world will fall. You are weak."

Us? Weak? Now that was so wrong. Us humans might be a lot of things but we are not weak. Me and my bro had to get away from these guys and back to Earth. Just needed to figure out how.

[Earth]

Axel's view

After waiting for a while, we were all starting to get worried for Trust and Zoom. Neither of them came back for an hour. None of the Vandals showed up either, not even the Dark Gang elementals with them.

"I don't like this." Basar said to me, trying his best to look brave to conceal his worry. "Not a single Vandal popped through yet and Trust and Zoom are still not back."

"Crazy kid." Spinner said, sounding concern for Zoom. "Trying to take on the Vandals all alone. Probably got over his head." He then switched to telling a joke. "Which considering Zoom's size, probably happens every time he steps into the tub!"

"Uh… hey, big bro." Sherm said to Spinner. "It's my job to keep you out of trouble, right?"

"Well, yeah." Spinner said, sounding a little confused.

"I calculate that you've gone too far." Sherm said and he wasn't kidding about that.

"Understatement of the year." Stanford said as we all agreed with Sherm.

"Spinner, this is serious!" I said to him, sternly.

"Hey!" Spinner said, trying to defend himself. "All I did was tell a few jokes about the kid being a kid."

"Your jokes are what caused Zoom to try and prove himself back there!" I said to him.

"Wait, prove himself?" Vert asked me. "Axel, what are you talking about?"

With this, I then took a deep breath and calmed down as I started to explain.

"Guys, Zoom has been having some…issues lately." I said, explain to BF5 as my fellow elementals joined me.

"What's wrong with Zoom?" Agura asked with concern.

"It's not really him, it's Trustin." I said before I tried to be explain the problem without really insulting Trustin. "He's… You see, Trustin has been…"

"Trust's been babying Zoom." Basar said, telling the harsh version of what I was trying to find.

"Yeah, Trustin's been trying to keep Zoom safe for weeks." I said before getting to the times he's tried to help Zoom. "Like the time Zoom and I spared each other and Trust made me slip on his ice."

"Or the time Zoom decided to workout with us and Trust gave him weights that were too light for him to lift." Basar said, putting out another example.

"And let's not forget the time Zoom tried to do Trust's part of our training course and Trust tried to make him sit it out while he did it." Jay said, putting out another example.

"Basically, Trust has been overprotective of Zoom." I said, summing it up.

"And why on Earth is he being like that for?" Stanford asked to me in disbelief. "Isn't that the man who is basically as bloody mad as Basar?"

"Well, I think Trust might be having some doubts for having Zoom with us." I said before I explained the reason for Trustin being so cautious around Zoom. "Trust told me that when they were little, he tried his best to keep Zoom safe. He was always there for him and always managed to keep him out of trouble. When Zoom decided he wanted to be able to fight like him, Trust decided to help Zoom learn how to fight. Trust was basically a hero to Zoom back then, somebody that Zoom always looked up to." I could see everyone was beginning to understand as I continued. "Zoom might be adopted, but to Trust, he's still his brother. And family helps family. We all should know that. It's kind of the same way Sherm looks out for you, Spinner. Though it seems that Trust hasn't realized that he's overdone it."

"But if he's just looking out for his little bro, why is Zoom getting so upset about it?" Spinner asked me.

"The answer would be quite simply." I said, explaining the reason for Zoom's attitude. "Like Vert said, Zoom is as a capable fighter as Trust. He likes the idea of working with Trust and being a hero like him, but he doesn't want his brother constantly looking over his shoulder like that. More likely, he's trying to prove to Trust that he's not a little kid anymore. Which is why he was taking those baby jokes personally, Spin."

"Guess I should've took it easier on him, huh?" Spinner said, no doubt feeling guilty.

"You can apologize to him once he and Trust get back." I said before I then decided that it was time to take action. "After I find them."

"Axel, what are you doing?" Agura asked me as I then got back on my Fire Cycle.

"I'm going back to look for Trust and Zoom." I said to her before speaking to Tricha and Mari. "Trich, Mari, come with me. We might need the Torn Jet and the Storm Glider to get our scouts home." They both nod in agreement.

"I'm coming too!" Vert said, getting ready to go back to the Battle Zone.

"Vert, no!" I said to him, stopping him. "With the Vandals over there, there's no guarantee that the Saber can make the trip back to Earth. The three of us are the only ones capable of flying. You stay here with the others in case the Vandals try to get Earth."

"You sure you want to do this, Trich?" Basar said, worried about his girlfriend.

"Oh, Basar, darling." Tricha said to him, reassuringly. "There's no reason to fret. I can handle myself."

"Be careful, Axel." Agura said, the concern sounding in her voice.

"Don't worry, Agura." I said to her in reassurance. "I'll make sure we all come back in one piece."

"You be careful too, dear." Stanford said to Mari in concern.

"Don't worry, Stanfy." Mari said to him, not even once sounding nervous. "This will be a piece of cake."

"Okay, girls." I said to Trich and Mari as the three of us got ready to go. "Let's roll!"

With that, we then drove on and went straight through the portal.

[Crystal Battle Zone]

Zoom's view

I sat there with my big bro, trying to figure out a way to escape with the Vandals watching us. I would've gotten the muzzle and cuffs off Trust if Kaze and his two goons weren't ready to fire at me if I tried.

"You know, I find it hard to believe you two are brothers. You don't even look like." Silvian said with a smug. "Let me guess: adopted by your folks, Trustin?"

"Something came through the portal!" Kaze said as we looked to him. "It's that red rat and he's brought his Air and Lightning elementals. Looks like search party has come for the brothers."

"Excellent." Kalus said before he looked at me and Trust. "They will hold the Stormshock open until they find you." He then looked to the rest of the Vandals. "Vandals, prepare to attack!"

As those scumbags cheered, me and Trust were now worried that the guys did what the Vandals wanted.

"No!" I said, now worried of what was gonna happen now. "The Vandals are gonna get to Earth and it's all my fault!"

Axel's view

After getting through the portal, we all then went driving down the pillar, feeling a few bumps along the way.

"Hey!" Mari said over the comm, sounding like she's enjoying it with the vibrations from the bumps causing her voice to shake. "Is it just me or does my voice sound really funny like this?"

"It's just you, Mari." Me and Trich said to her, not really into hearing her brand of comedy right now.

"Okay, sheesh." Mari said, sounding depressed. "Tough crowd."

"I think we may have just invented extreme car slalom." I said, making a joke of my own.

"Ha-ha! Good one, Axel." Mari said with a laugh.

"Looks like my only chance to ride my Fire Cycle back home is to go from there," I said as I pointed to the other side of the ruined bridge that made a good ramp over to the portal to which I then pointed to, "to there. Good thing I brought you two. Structurally, it would be risky for the whole team to run out of here on that ramp. Seems like it can only take one vehicle at a time." Just when I said that, I saw a bottom crystal fall right off it. "It's also good that the Vandals don't know about it. The pass is the only way up and, knowing the Vandals, they'll put too much weight on it before they can even get close to the Stormshock. After we find Trust and Zoom, I can lead them onto it. We'll be able to get to the portal and they won't be able to follow us. And with the others standing guard, we'll be free to search. Now let's go find Trust and Zoom and get back home."

"Okey-dokey!" Mari said in confirmation.

"I sure hope they haven't gotten into any trouble." Tricha said before we then drove on to look for them.

Zoom's view

After Axel and the girls got through the portal, Kalus sent Krocomodo to scout ahead to tell him if the guys were coming.

"Captain Kalus, the portal remains and the sub-creatures are heading this way." Krocomodo said over Kalus' radio.

"I have old business with the leader." Kalus said, still looking smug. "He's mine to snare." He then looked to Hatch and Sever. "You! Destroy the other two!" He then looked to Kaze. "And I will leave the leader's end to you, Kaze. Just make sure you take the Stormshock portal."

"It would be a pleasure, Captain Kalus." Kaze said to him with a bow, having the same smug. "With most of the Element Gang gone, whatever is left will not stand a chance." He then looked to me and Trust as he lost that smug. "Though these two still provide a problem, especially with how you restrained the young one." He then looked Silvian. "Silvian, stay here and make sure they don't try to escape. Berthona and I will secure the portal."

"Seriously? Guard duty?" Silvian said, sounding and looking like he didn't really like the idea. "But I can't kill either of them." I then gave a look of shock as Kaze glared at him. Silvian then bowed his head in fear to him. "Yes, sir."

"You sub-creatures are so easy to hunt." Kalus said to me and my bro as he then grabbed me before he chuckled in my face.

"Ugh!" I said, not really like the smell of his breath. "One word: mouthwash!"

"Joke all you like, kid." Kaze said to me. "It's not gonna change the fact that you nor your brother can be able to stop us as we destroy your friends and take over the Earth!"

With that, I then watched as those guys got in their rides and drove off, leaving Silvian with me and Trust.

Axel's view

After a while of driving and searching, I finally managed to get signal. Two of them to be exact. I used my specs and saw a ledge in front of us, right where the signals were coming from. It was the tacking beacons from the Ice Bike and the Chopper. Though I wasn't getting any sign of Trust or Zoom.

"I got a reading on the Ice Bike and the Chopper's tracking beacon!" I said to the girls.

"Are there any signs of Trustin or Zoom?" Tricha asked me.

"No, I can't get a good read on them." I said to her. "This crystal maze must be blocking the communication signal."

"I think I can see if Zoom is there." Mari said as she gave us her suggestion. "Maybe if I make one of Spinner's jokes, Zoom will respond when he hears it."

"Mari!" Tricha said, just as shocked that she suggested the one thing that caused this mess in the first place.

"Don't even think about it, Mari." I said to her before I used my specs to get a closer view on the ledge and found the scouts' motorcycles. "There's the Ice Bike and the Chopper. Let's go find Trust and Zoom."

With that, we drove over and parked in front of the bikes. When we got out and got a closer look, we saw that both the Ice Bike and the Chopper were damaged. When I looked behind it, I saw some tracks and knew they were from a Vandal vehicle.

"The Vandals were just here." I said as then came up with a plan. "You girls take the Chopper and Ice Bike back to the portal. I'll go after Trust and Zoom." With that, I got back on my Fire Cycle and went on to follow the tracks.

"Are you sure you don't need us, Axel?" Tricha said to me over the comm, speaking with concern. "We still need you."

"We need Trust and Zoom too." I said to her. "Don't worry. All three of us will be back."

Tricha's view

"Well, if you're sure." I said as I got off the comm with him and went on to help Mari get our companions' motorcycles onto the Torn Jet and Storm Glider. "Let's get these back home. Surely, Sage can repair them."

"Wow! He took off faster than Jay's last date." Mari said, speaking for how Axel had drove off, something we both had quite a laugh about as it was true. "Okay, I'm so using that for open-mic night!"

Axel's view

After a while of following those tracks, I was starting to see signs I was getting closer to finding out where the Vandals were heading. I was sure I was getting close. At one point of the search, I looked ahead and saw Kalus driving on the same path I was. We both stop with a great amount of distance between us.

"Sorry, Kalus!" I said to him making sure he heard me. "Only room for one of us on this road!"

"Excellent observation, sub-creature." Kalus said before he shot at an arrow but missed me and only got the ledge beneath me.

"Ha! You missed!" I said to him.

"I hit what I aim at." Kalus said, still having that smug.

I then realized what meant when I heard some cracking and knew that the ledge was breaking. Before I could move, the ledge gave way and sent me straight down. Luckily I was able to get onto the crystal walls, but was still heading to ground level fast. I heard Kalus before seeing him leave in the opposite direction. Thinking fast, I then turned used my metalbending to turn my hands into hooks and used them to latch onto the walls to slow me down.

"Come on!" I said to myself as my hooks were scraping through the walls.

Looking forward, I saw I was heading straight for a cliff. I then turned myself around and used my hooks to latch on forward to stop from going over. Luckily, I was able to stop or else I would've been impaled by the crystal spikes below. Even though I could fly, I wouldn't have enough time to get them out and lift myself and my Fire Cycle back up. Still need it in case I would be dealing with Kaze. With that, I pulled myself back on and got ready to get myself back on the road. Hopefully the others weren't having as much trouble as me.

Tricha's view

After managing to get the Ice Bike and the Chopper onto our vehicles, we got them to the portal where we handed them to the others to keep them safe.

"There. Now that their vehicles are safe on Earth," I said after getting the motorcycles back to Earth, "we can rejoin Axel and help him search for Trustin and Zoom."

"Just make sure you all get back here safe." Vert said before Mari and I went on to return to our vehicles.

After getting into the cockpits, we then placed the Torn Jet and Storm Glider into flight mode and then flew off from the portal to rejoin Axel. Though, just as we about to go beyond the pass…

Boom!

With the sound of explosions, I looked to see that the Torn Jet was falling. Trying to see what was the matter, I discovered the reason. Somehow the engines were destroyed so it couldn't be able to fly. Looking to my right, I saw that Mari was suffering from the same cause.

"Mayday! Mayday!" I heard her panicked voice from the communicator. "We're going down!"

Luckily, we were able to make safe emergency landing and didn't receive any more sufferable damage.

"Ohhh! What happened?" Mari groaned as we both recovered from the landing.

"I have no idea." I said to her, just as baffled as her for what caused this event. "Though it seems that we will need to drive with Axel in order to return to Earth now. Let us regain our wheels to rejoin my cousin in the search."

"Good idea." Mari said as we then placed our vehicles back into their land mode. Just when we were about to leave…

"I think you should be more concerned about yourselves than for the rat." Said a demonic voice that I knew all too well.

Just after hearing that dreadful voice, Mari and I soon found ourselves being fired upon from behind.

"Mari, move!" I said as we both drove away from the blasts, managing to turn ourselves around to face the worst villain we ever had to face along with the lightning elemental counterpart that Mari was unfortunate to have any blood relations with.

Though I found it odd to find only the two of them as well as Berthona using her elemental form to fly and Kaze being the only one with a vehicle which he carried on the clamp made from his tail spike.

"Not so fun getting your wings clipped, huh, Mari?" Berthona said as Kaze set his bike on the ground, that cold glare no doubt focused on Mari.

"Really have to suck the fun out of everything, don't ya, cuz?" Mari said to her, speaking with a sarcastic tone.

"Kaze, you cur!" I said to the Dargon, infuriated by his awful tricks. "What have you done with Trustin and Zoom?"

"The scouts?" Kaze said as he turned back into his human form, looking down at us with a smug as he flew closely above his vehicle. "They're breathing…" He then let himself fall and land on the seat of his chariot before he then began speaking to us in his normal voice, still having that smug on his face, "for now. They make wonderful bait, just like I thought they would."

"Bait? What do you mean bait?" Mari asked, not understanding what the villain had meant.

I love the dear, but she did have times of late realizations in these kinds of moments. A habit that I've come to know from the years I've spent with her.

"It's all a trick!" I said, already realizing what he had meant. "You kidnapped Trustin and Zoom because you knew we would come looking for them!"

"And leave a portal open for me and my fellow elemental here to go through and clear a path to Earth for the army waiting back on Vandal." Kaze said, not once losing that smug.

"Well, this will never work!" Mari said, sounding very confident as she spoke. "You only got me, Trich, and Axel back here! Everybody else is still back on Earth, ready to kick your scaly butt!"

Kaze laughed before he said "And you think I'm afraid of them? From what I can see, with you two, the rat, and the scouts here, that only leaves two elementals surrounded by humans. You may have best us before, but that was only with the six of you together with the help of your allies. The two of us clearly have the advantage and they will all be terminated once we get there."

"Not if we have anything to say about it!" I said as Mari and I brought our vehicles' weapon systems online, ready to fire upon them.

"Yeah! If you want to get to Earth, you will have to get through us!" Mari said, ready to battle our foes and prevent them from traveling to the portal.

"Brave words from those so foolish." Kaze said to us. "Though I think you might want to hear what our friends have to say about that."

Turning the Torn Jet from hearing the sound of laughing, I was able to look behind and saw Krocomodo, Sever, and Hatch approaching us.

"Oh, no." I said as I knew that Mari and I were now surrounded with those vile creatures parking behind us.

"Now this is going to be quite the show." Kaze said before yelling "Have at them, boys!"

With that, the three mutants drove right toward us, ready to attack us.

"Mari, evasive maneuvers!" I said as the two of us drove to avoid the three, preparing to fight them.

Kaze's view

Watching those two getting swarmed by Hatch, Krocomodo, and Sever was quite enjoyable. I would even like to see my allies pull those pathetic weaklings from the wreckage of their cars. Though I then remembered that Berthona and I still had a job to do.

"Well, now that those two are out of the way, let us continue to the portal." I said before we both went off towards the portal.

Tricha's view

When I got the chance to look, I saw Kaze and Berthona heading toward the portal.

"Kaze and Berthona are going to get through the portal!" I said to Mari over the comm. "We have to stop them!"

"I'm on it!" Mari said as I was able to see her aim her cannons at the two villains.

While she did that, I went on to keep the three Vandals away from her. After a moment of dodging their advances and managing to push them away with a dual blast from my Torn Jet's cannon, I was able to look behind me as Mari fired upon Kaze. After she had, strangely enough, I saw Berthona fly over on got behind Kaze, standing between him and the blasts with an arm up. Why would she move in to the line of fire? The blasts made contact and Mari cheered out for we both thought that stopped them. But, when the smoke cleared, we were shocked to see them both unharmed. It was like the blasts weren't even there.

"What the…?" Mari said, shocked by her blasts not having much of an effect on the villains. "That should've sent him flying like confetti out of a party popper!"

Just after she said that, we looked behind as we saw Sever and Hatch swiftly approaching us, the teeth of Sever's vehicle ready to cut into our own. Luckily, we managed to the two and Mari was able to blast and blow away Sever.

Kaze's view

"Glad to see this thing works." Berthona said to me as she flew beside me, referring to the new bracelet I made for her.

The bracelet is one of my latest inventions. It's powered by her elemental power. Whenever she charges it, it creates an energy shield that protect her and anyone behind it from any kind of attack. With seeing how the Element Gang had managed to gain new weaponry, we would need more ways of countering them.

"Yes, I made perfect timing in bringing the electron shield projector." I said to Berthona, proud of my work. "Now no one can interfere as we claim the portal and be rid of our enemies once and for all!"

Tricha's view

After a moment of having been chased by that disgusting bug and avoiding the stabbing from his car's stinger, I was able to turn the tides and blew him away with my cannons. Though it seemed like we weren't doing much to stop them. Even when knocked them away, they kept coming back. I wasn't sure if we were able to keep this up any longer. Right there, I was hoping Axel would find Trustin and Zoom in time.

Axel's view

A while after I got myself back on the road, I was driving while I looked for Trust and Zoom when I heard Mari and Trich over the comm. It sounded like they were in a large battle.

"Hey, back off!" Mari said before I heard the sounds of Trich grunting, metal clanging and clinging, and tires screeching.

"The girls' are in trouble!" I said to myself, worried about them. "I got to find Trust and Zoom quick!"

With that, I then revved up the speed and tried to find Trust and Zoom as quick as I could.

Zoom's view

While we were still prisoners being watched by Silvian, Trustin tried to get himself out of his cuffs or at least get that muzzle off.

"Give it up, Trust." I said to him as I got him to stop. "You've trying that for hours. None of it is coming off."

"Well, I got to do something." He said to me. "I can't just sit around while our friends are in trouble."

"Why even bother?" I said to him, already knowing there was no point in trying to escape especially since Silvian was watching us. "Every time we try, that creep shoots icicles at us. We'll never get out of here."

"Zoom, don't quit!" Trust said to me.

"And why not, Trust? Why can't I quit?" I said to him before pointing everything that went wrong. "We're both being held prisoner by the Vandals, the guys are now in their trap, and they are going to take over the Earth! And it's all my fault! I should listened to you and went back to the others. If I did, none of this would've happened."

"Zoom, we don't know that." He said.

"But if I went back, then neither of us would've been caught, the guys wouldn't come back here, and the Vandals would've gotten to Earth." I said as I then accepted of what everybody thought of me, even my brother. "You were right, Trust. All of you were right."

"Zoom, what are you talking about?" Trust said to me, sounding confused.

"I mean, about me." I said to him. "You were right. I shouldn't have tried to fight the Dark Gang. I wasn't ready for this. I am just a kid."

"What? Zoom, if this is about Spinner's jokes…" Trust said to me.

"No, it's not!" I said to him. "It's not that."

After a minute, Trust finally said something to me.

"Zoom, what's wrong?" he asked me.

"It's just… ever since we were little, I wanted to be a hero like you. When I joined Battle Force 5, I thought I could actually be one." I said to him, telling him everything. "But everybody has only saw me as a kid. Even you. Every time I did something dangerous, you just went on doing the stuff for me. I just thought if I showed you that I could do things myself, you'd stopped treated me like a kid. I know that you were there for me before, but I can now do things for myself."

"Zoom, I don't think you're a kid." He said to me. "I know you can think for yourself."

"Then why have you been babying me this whole time?" I asked him.

"Zoom, I did that because I'm worried about you." He said to me. "I know that you're not a little kid anymore, but it's a dangerous world out there. Especially in the Battle Zones. For what is going on right now, you could get hurt or worse." Even with that muzzle on him, I could tell his voice was breaking, especially with those tears leaving his eyes. "I just…can't…stand the thought…of you getting hurt. I could never…live with myself…if I lost you. You're my little brother and I don't want to ever lose you."

As he started crying, I now got on why he was babying me. He was treating me like a little kid, he was…trying to protect me. He was only looking out for me. He knows how dangerous his job was and was making sure I didn't get hurt because of it. He cared for me and didn't want to lose me. I know because that's was why I wanted to be a hero. Trust was there for me growing up, he always helped me. I wanted to be a hero so I could keep everyone safe, including him.

"Trust…" I said as I grabbed his shoulders and smiled at him, Trust stopped crying as he looked at me. "You'll never lose me. I get it. You've done this longer than I have, but it doesn't mean I can't learn. I want to help in any way I can because I want to protect everyone. Mom, Dad, Master Takeyasu, even you. I know you're trying to protect. I don't want to lose you either, Trust. You were always there to help me. Now I want to be there for you. Do you think you can trust me for that?"

It was only for a moment before Trust said "Zoom…I always did trust you."

With that, I then pulled Trust…no, my bro into a hug. It was great we got our problems solved and we know that, no matter what, we will always have each other's backs.

"I love you, big bro." I said to him.

"I love you too, little bro." Trust said and I had no doubt he was smiling.

It was only for a short time where enjoyed this moment before Silvian spoke up and made us break up the hug.

"Well, isn't this just nice?" that creep said as we glared at him. "Two brothers making up. It is so touching."

"Oh, go choke your own ice, Silvian." Trust said to him. "Unless you have something nice to say, then shut up."

"Nice?" Silvian said to him. "You mean the same nice that got your friends to fall into our trap? The same nice that made them leave the portal open for us to get through? The same nice that made you and your brother my prisoners? Face it, Trust. 'Nice' doesn't win wars."

"My bud Axel told me that a wise emperor once said 'in times of peace, never forget the potential of war. In times of war never forget compassion.' Something you consider of showing."

"Your compassion weakness. It's the same weakness as your friends" Silvian said to us. "In returning to save you, your friends have doomed the Earth." He then lift his foot up and pointed it at Trust. "Don't you see? All your compassion is nothing but a weakness!"

"Trust!" I said as I went over to him after Silvian kicked him away.

"You see?" that creep said to us. "Being nice to everyone who's weaker than you is what makes you weak. If you want to survive in this world, you must never show that. That is why the Vandals are strong and why we will win!"

"You're lying!" I said to Silvian, not believing a single word he said. "There's no way you'll ever win! All you ever do is lie!"

"I don't lie about that, kid." He said to me. "Lying has only been a tool of mine to which I can be able to get what I want. Using honest for it leads to only losing everything you have." He then turned his back to me. "The only place for honesty is for revealing the harsh reality we all live in. In order to live in this world, you must show absolute strength. Showing any weakness will only lead to scavenging around like a filthy rat." I then watched as he put his hand in the air. "It goes the same for every dimension in this entire cosmos. This entire multiverse belongs to the strong and the strong alone!"

"No!" I said to him as I then stood up, making him turn to me. "The multiverse doesn't belong to you! It belongs to everyone! You can't take that away from anyone!"

"Bold words, kid… but pointless." He said before he then roundhoused kicked me to the ground.

"Zoom!" I heard my bro say as I laid there on the ground, all while I heard that creep Silvian walk over to me.

"You think you have any reason to talk to me, kid?" Silvian said before I then felt him take the bow I found off of me. "You're just another sheep in society." When I heard him walking away, I got myself up and tried to look at him. When I did, saw him holding the bow at the riser with both hands. "It's just like you and just like this bow. Just one simple that changes its plans, and the whole thing just breaks!" Just when I thought he was going to snap it, he stopped for some reason and raised a brow. After a quick look at me before he tried to break it again. "It just breaks!" He then tried to break it again and was trying harder to do it. Didn't think I see someone like him having trouble breaking a bow.

After only a few minutes, he then started smacking the bow on the ground. But after a few whacks, it was some of the ground that broke instead of the bow.

"Thing's harder than it looks." He said as he held the bow with one hand. After he looked at the ground for a little bit, he then smiled as he looked back at the bow. "Okay, instead of the body, I'll just use the string." He then grabbed a chunk of crystal off the ground, it kinda looked like a piece of glass. I then watched as he held the crystal at the string and I knew he was gonna try and cut the string. "You and the rest of humanity are like this strong, do enough to ya and you just snap like a twig!"

He then pulled back the string with the crystal and it looked like it was cut right through, but after a minute…the string pushed through the crystal, slicing it in half. We were all surprised by this. Looks like the bow wasn't the only thing that was strong. Silvian growled before he then held the bow at the riser again. This time, he put it closer to the ground before putting his feet on the string. He then pulled on the bow and I saw him tried to make the string snap from bending it out. It seemed like he was gonna do it until…

"You…just snap…like a…" He said, sounding like he was having trouble with it before he got launched like an arrow by the bow. "TWIIIIIIIIIIG!"

After he crashed into the wall behind him, I went over and took the bow back before I went back to Trust.

"Ah! Can't break the darn thing!" Silvian said as he got back up. "What is that thing made out of?"

"Yeah, where did you get that bow?" Trustin asked me, just as surprised as I was about how tough this bow was.

"I found it." I said to him. "Didn't think it was so tough."

"Okay, kid, now you're gonna get it!" Silvian said as he looked at me with an angry glare. "I don't care if Kaze wants me to keep you alive! No one makes a fool out of Silvian Cheff!"

After he said that, I was starting to feel a little scared. But then I looked at that bow and got that feeling again. With that, I then remembered that I couldn't back down to this creep. I went up against mutant animals and killer robots in all kinds of crazy places. And what he did to my big bro…well, that just made me mad. I wasn't a little kid anymore. It was now time to fight…as the hero I am!

Trustin's view

"The only guy who's gonna get it is you, dude!" Zoom said as I watched him stand up and go in front of me, looking ready to fight. "No one does that to my big bro!"

While I was surprised by Zoom challenging him like that, Silvian laughed like he was telling a joke.

"Ha-ha-ha! And what are you gonna do?" Silvian said with a smug. "Flick me with that bow string? In case you've forgot, you're still chained to the ground and have nothing to shoot with that thing. Unless you got power like us elementals, then you have no chance in beating me."

"I might not have any powers, but I'm still enough of a fighter to take you down!" Zoom said to him, not once losing that seriousness in his voice.

Just after he said that, this light appeared out of nowhere. When I looked to where it was coming from, I saw the bow was glowing yellow. It kind of reminded me of the first time Mari had her first evolution. Seeing how neither Silvian and Zoom noticed it, I had to guess the light wasn't bright enough for either of them to see.

"Ha! Yeah, right!" Silvian mocked before he then went into his elemental form, purple ice covering him whole for a minute before it busted away to show him as that demonic man-wolf DarkFang. "As if you can stand up to DarkFang! Without your big bro there helping ya, you'll have full-blown frostbite before you can even take a step!" Though I was worried about Zoom, I was still wondering on what the heck was going on with that bow Zoom had. First, the thing shows to be unbreakable, and now it's glowing like a traffic light? What kind of bow was that? "It's the same as all your little friends. Without the Element Gang, you all are nothing! I mean, seriously? How could a couple of humans hope to beat the Vandals and the Dark Gang, especially when one of them is just a stupid kid?" He then started laughing again.

"I'm not some stupid kid, you cold-hearted liar!" Zoom said and bow's glow suddenly got brighter. "Yeah, I do need my bro sometimes, but I know he needs my help too. We might not share blood, but I know that we'll always have each other's backs, no matter what! Same goes for my friends! For my team! For Battle Force 5!"

"Ha! Even if his family just took you in, you sound just like him! Believing such false truths when the real truth is standing right in front of you!" Silvian laughed and that's when I watched as Zoom snapped.

"No, the only truth that is false is your own!" Zoom yelled out with determine tone, the bow glowing brighter by the minute. "You creeps will never rule Earth! As long as we're together, the Element Gang and Battle Force 5 will stop you! No matter what!" After he said that, the bow started glowing in a yellow light so bright, me, my little bro, and even Silvian had to cover our eyes. "Whoa!"

"Aaah!" Silvian yelled as he was surprised by that as the light turned into a flash.

The flash lasted for a little while before it started fading away. When I looked back, I was shocked to see the bow had changed. If this muzzle wasn't on, I swear my jaw would've hit the ground. The bow looked brand new. Now this was getting freaky. First, we find out the bow was unbreakable, then it started glowing, and now it changed from some old worn out, rusted gold and black bow into a brand new, awesome-looking bow? Just what kind of bow did my little bro find?

Zoom's view

Okay, I had to say it, this bow was wicked! I just couldn't believe it went from being an old worn-out bow to being this totally awesome bow just like that! It had the same colors as my Chopper. The riser was blue and the limbs were yellow. It looked like it was wearing armor. Looking at both sides, I saw that the weird symbol was on both sides of the riser, glowing yellow. The limb tips had this small blue disks on them, being placed on their sides. The disks had the same symbol that was on the shoulder of my shock suit, glowing yellow like that symbol.

"Whoa!" I was amazed by the bow's sudden transformation.

"What the…?!" Silvian shouted, shocked from seeing what happened to the bow.

After a while of looking at it, I suddenly saw images of this guy holding the bow that I had, but it looked different. It looked like when I first found it I watched as he then pulled back on the string and a glowing arrow formed from it. When he let it go, the arrow was fired. With the light of the arrow filling my eyes, I shook my head a bit as I looked to see Silvian still there. What was that? Brushing it off, I then shook my head to clear it a bit and then got back to the mission: stopping the Vandals and the Dark Gang from getting to Earth.

"Neat trick, kid." Silvian said to me as he then glared. "But changing that bow isn't gonna stop me. Better back down if you know what's good for ya."

"There's no way I'm backing down to a creep like you." I said as I then got ready to use the bow.

"Very well." Silvian said as he got ready to attack. "Then prepare for the worst frostbite of your life!"

As he got ready to send out an ice blast, I then pulled back on the bow's string. As I pulled it back, this strange, glowing, yellow orb appeared in front of my hand. When I got the bow back far enough, the orb turned into glowing yellow arrow. When Silvian fired his blast, I let go the string, letting the arrow fly towards Silvian at high-speed. Surprisingly, the arrow actually cut through his blast and kept on going. I knew it had gotten close as I saw an explosion right in front of him. The explosion was so strong that it blew Silvian away and sent him slamming into the wall. After he did, he then turned back to normal, slid right off, and landed flat on the ground. He was now out cold and there was now a new elemental hole in the wall.

"Whoa! I am so keeping this!" I said before I then used it to break the chain on me.

After I did that, I then used my arrows to get my big bro's cuffs off. Guess this thing could tell what I was think as the arrows didn't give much of an explosion when they hit the cuffs.

"You okay, big bro?" I asked Trust as he got up and got the muzzle off his face.

"Yeah. I'm good." He said as he smiled at me. "And, Zoom, that was amazing! You're a natural at this!"

"Thanks, I learn from the best." I said to him, before we turned to the sound of an engine coming from behind. It wasn't long until we saw Axel pull up to us.

"Trust, Zoom, there you are." He said to us. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Axel, perfect timing." Trust said as we walked up to him. "Thought we were gonna have to take Silvian's ride down the trail."

"Well, I hope you guys are ready to fight." Axel said to us. "Mari and Trich are being attacked by Vandals."

"That's not the only problem we have." Trust said to him.

"Yeah, we need to get back to Earth quick." I said to him. "Kaze and Berthona are going there to attack the others."

"Then let's get rolling!" Axel said before he pressed a button on his bike.

After he did, we watched as a rod formed from the side and turned into a sidecar. Really needs to be said, Sentient tech rocks. Both of us were surprised by this.

"You got a sidecar?" I asked him, wondering when he had a sidecar.

"Yeah, Sage and I managed to add it to my Fire Cycle." He said to us. "Thought I might need it for this kind of situation. There's enough room for two."

"Really, Axel?" Trust said to him with a grim look on his face. "Making us ride in the sidecar?"

"Hey, like with riding on my back, the only person on this team I'm letting riding behind me is Agura." Axel said to him. "This is no time to complain. We need to help out the girls and stop Kaze from getting to Earth."

"Hold up." I said as I got an idea to ensure Silvian couldn't give the Vandals backup. I then used the bow and shot an arrow at Silvian's bike, wrecking it with an explosion. With that, I then turned back and strapped the bow on. "Okay, now let's roll."

"Do I even want to ask about that bow?" Axel said as me and my big bro got into the sidecar, looking a bit shocked.

"We'll tell you later." I said after we got into the sidecar. "Let's just get going."

"Well, you better have your seatbelts on and a good grip on the sidecar, we're gonna have to take a shortcut." Axel said, which got me and Trust confused by what he meant.

Silvian's view

Boy, did that arrow pack a punch. Can't believe it could cut through my ice like that. When I woke up, I looked up to see Trustin and the kid getting away with Axel. By the time I got back on my feet, my cousin already drove off. And by drove off, I mean he actually drove off the ledge. When I got over there, I saw they were heading towards the others. I was gonna go after them, but…when I turned around, I saw that my Bone Hunter was wrecked. I couldn't believe they actually busted up my Bone Hunter.

"My Bone Hunter! My precious Bone Hunter!" I said to myself before I then realized that the prisoners I was supposed to watch were now gone and I had no way to catch up to them in time. "Oh, man! Kaze and Kalus are gonna have my hide after this."

Axel's view

After getting off that ledge, I started driving down the crystal wall, Zoom and Trust screaming as they held on to the sidecar. As luck would have it, there was a crystal formation that formed the perfect ramp for us. Checking the trajectory, I saw it was aimed right at the bridge. Using my specs, I was able to see what was going on. The girls were having a lot of trouble with the Vandals. It was just the two of them against Krocomodo, Sever, Hatch, and Kalus. Those mutants were attacking Trich and Mari left and right. While they were busy with that fight, Kaze and Berthona were closing in on the portal.

Kaze's view

As we kept on driving to the portal, I decided to use my radio to see how Captain Kalus and the others are doing.

"Captain Kalus, I assume you and the other are enjoying yourselves?" I said with a smile on my face.

"It has been much enjoyable." My captain said to me over the radio. "These two are dropping like Vandalian rock flies. Are you nearing the portal?"

"The portal is right in our sights." I said to him. "As soon as we enter it, the Earth will be defenseless and will be ours for the taking!"

Axel's view

"Kaze and Berthona are almost at the portal!" Zoom said with worry. "What are we gonna do?"

Seeing all this, I was able to come up with a plan, one where I would need Zoom and his new bow.

"Zoom, when I give the word, start shooting arrows!" I said to him.

"What? Why?" He asked me in confusion.

"Just get ready!" I said to him.

"Okay!" He said as he got ready to shoot.

With this, we then jumped the ramp and, thanks to the velocity, we were able to reach Kaze and Berthona. We actually managed to get right in front of them.

"Zoom, now!" I said after I managed to park in the path, facing the two villains.

With that, Zoom got the idea and sent two arrows at Berthona and Kaze. Berthona moved to the front and somehow managed to put up an energy field in front of her. Though the field wasn't enough. After the arrows landed, they created a powerful explosion that sent the two flying. I could hear them screaming as they going through the air. Though it was amazing to see, the explosion caused a shockwave that destabilized the bridge a bit. Any more shockwaves like that and the bridge might come down.

"Whoo-hoo! Yes!" Zoom cheered out.

"Way to go, little bro!" Trust said to him.

"It was good effort and managed to keep Kaze and Berthona from getting to Earth, but you'll need to be careful with arrows." I said to Zoom, explain the situation. "This pass is our only way back and I don't think it can take the impact."

"Go easy on the arrows, got it." Zoom said to me.

"Now let's go help Mari and Tricha." I said as I then drove off towards the girls.

Tricha's view

Okay, now I was praying that Axel would return quickly. I wasn't sure if we could fight anymore. Seemed like this would be our final curtain call.

"Well, Mari, as much as it pains me to say this," I said to my friend as the Vandals surrounded us with Kalus and Krocomodo on our left and Sever and Hatch on our right, "I'm afraid this is the end."

"Looks like I won't be keeping my promise to Stanfy." Mari said as she had lost hope.

Just when Kalus was about to attack us, the sound of screaming came to our ears and we both looked around to find where the screams were coming from. When we looked to the sky, we saw that it was…Kaze and Berthona falling towards us? We barely had time to process this before two went crashing into the Vandals, Kaze crashing into Kalus and Krocomodo and Berthona crashing into Hatch and Sever. Whatever sent them toward us was strong enough for them to push Kalus and Sever into the Vandals beside them. With the sound of an approaching vehicle, we looked to see…Axel driving over to us with Trustin and Zoom in tow.

"Hey, Trich! Mari!" Trustin said to us after Axel parked partly ahead of us.

"Trustin! Zoom!" Mari said as we then drove over to them, that joyful tone of hers returning. "Boy, are we glad to see you."

"You girls okay?" Zoom asked us.

"Yes, we're fine. Thanks to you." I said to him, speaking our gratitude to them for saving us. "We're just glad that you two are okay."

"Now that we got everybody, let's head back to Earth and close this place down." Axel said to us.

"Indeed." I said to him in confirmation.

"Yeah, let's go!" Mari excitedly said before we all then drove our vehicles towards the portal.

Kaze's view

After recovering from that fall, I was able to get myself up to see Berthona recovering as well. Hearing an engine revving, I looked forward and saw the rat, the scouts, and the other two Element Gang elementals driving away. Didn't have much time to glare at them when I heard growling behind me, one I knew too well. I slowly turned around to see Captain Kalus glaring down at me. He was no doubt angry with me for not just allowing the rat and his friends escape, but allowing them to escape with our prisoners. To be honest, I was scared of him. After he managed to best me at my full power during the countless times I challenged him, he became the only being alive who could strike fear into me. It was hard to think that a being like himself would exist with the strength to outmatch a great Dargon such as myself.

"Captain Kalus!" I said as I tried save myself from his fury. "Let me explain. I know this looks bad, but…" With the sound of his roar, I silenced myself.

"I will not take another excuse for you failure!" He said to me with that threatening tone of his. "If you wish to redeem yourself, then ensure that the sub-creatures do not escape!"

"Yes, Captain Kalus." I said as I then went on to get my Primal Bounty ready to chase the rat.

"Vandals! After them before they reach the portal!" He said as we all then mobilized and went after the rat and his friends.

Axel's view

After managing to regroup, we all drove straight to the portal. Seemed like we were home free until…we looked behind and saw the Vandals catching up to us with Kalus taking the lead.

"Oh, man! The Vandals are right on our tail!" Trust said with worry.

"I got them!" Zoom said as he got ready to shoot with the bow.

"Zoom, no!" I said as I stopped him, knowing the consequences of using that bow. "Those long-range attacks will cause the bridge to collapse."

"I got this!" Trust said as he got up in the sidecar before he jumped off, heading towards the Vandals.

"Trust, wait!" Zoom said as he tried to stop him, but it was too late.

Trustin's view

After getting out of that sidecar, I managed to land on Kalus' chariot and was ready to throw down with him.

"Care to carpool, Kalus?" I said to that ugly fur face as he roared at me.

When he looked behind, I looked there to see the other Vandals along with Kaze and Berthona trying to get close.

"Keep your distance, fools! I shall deal with him myself!" Kalus said, making them to stay at the distance they were at.

With that, me and Kalus then started out fight. If I could make him crash, it might start a pile up with his goons. It was harder than it looked. At one part of this, when Kalus brought out one of those ball things, I quickly got one of his spears and managed to block that attack. When I saw we were getting close to the edge, I then got an idea. If I couldn't stop them here, then I would send them off the cliff.

"Guys, get behind Kaze and the Vandals! I'm gonna stop these guys in their tracks!" I said as I used my comm and I watched as they all pulled back.

"Fool! With your friends out of the way, there is nothing to stop us from conquering your world!" Kalus said to me with a smug.

"Man, you talk too much!" I said to him before I punched him, making him let go of his weapon. After managing to tie one end of it to the spear while also dodging his attacks. I kicked him back and got ready to put my plan into action. "Hey, Kalus!" He then glared at me. "Let's see if you land on your feet!" With that, I then jumped off, used the other end of the weapon to hook up his chariot to the spear, and then slammed the spear into the ground. "So long!"

Once the line reached its limit and with a firm hold on the spear, I watched as Kalus was swung around and sent towards his goons, causing them to crash around and fall off the edge. Pretty sure Berthona got knocked out and Kaze couldn't stop himself from falling. Just when I thought my plan worked, I got into a snag when Kalus came back around. I was gonna cut him loose and let him fall with the other Vandals, but the spear lost its grip and I ended up dragged with him. I tried to cut the line, but when I did, it was already too late. Thinking fast, I managed to jab the spear into the nearby wall. After a while of skidding, I finally stopped. Though I was so far down that not even a jump would be enough to get me back up.

"Now that's what I call a crash course." I said, making a joke with how I made the Vandals crash.

Though it didn't really helped me there. I was now stuck hanging from a wall with the ground hundreds of feet below me.

Axel's view

After watching Trust get dragged off the edge, we went over to make sure he was okay. Luckily, he was able to use the spear to stop himself from falling.

"Trustin, are you okay?" I said to him, speaking loud enough for him to hear me.

"I'm fine." He said to me, his voice echoing from the distance. "Just dangling for my life here."

"Hang on, big bro!" Zoom said to him.

"Like he's got a choice." Mari said before the ground started to shake.

Looking around, I saw that the bridge was starting to collapse. Having all those cars driving on it along with addition of that arrow's shockwave must've made it too unstable for it to sustain itself.

"Guys, forget about me!" Trustin said to us. "You gotta make it through the portal! The whole place is coming down! Go!"

"He does have a point." Tricha said to us. "If we stay here any longer, we could be trapped."

"No way! I'm not leaving my brother here!" Zoom said, not willing to leave Trustin behind. "There's gotta be a way to save him and get all of us out of here."

"I'm afraid not, Zoom." I said, seeing there was only one option for us. "At our distance, we won't be able to save him. That spear will break before we can even get close to him. And even if we did, we'll lose our vehicles. Even if we take the power cells from them, the Vandals will just use their tech against us."

"Guys, if we're gonna do something, we better do it fast!" Mari said to us. "So do we get Trust or leave him hanging?"

"Hanging…" I said as I then got an idea. "That's it! Trich, Mari, extend your winch cables! I got an idea! No man left behind!"

With that, we all then got to work. By connecting our vehicles' cables to each other, we could be able to form a chain long enough to get down to Trust and get him out of there.

"Okay." I said after we were done. "Now we got ourselves a chain."

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Tricha asked me, sounding unsure of the plan.

"Of course." I said as I explained how the plan will work. "The Fire Cycle is a smaller build that the Torn Jet and the Storm Glider, so we won't have much trouble lowering me down to get Trust."

"I'm going too." Zoom said to us. "I got Trust into this mess, now I'm gonna get him out of it."

"Okay. Then let's do this!" I said as we then put our plan into action.

After getting to our vehicles with Zoom riding with me in the sidecar. Slowly moving towards the edge, I was able to get off the bridge. It was a bit of a scare going off the edge. Lucky the cables worked. The plan was simple: by linking our cables together, Tricha and Mari can keep us from falling while me and Zoom lower ourselves to save Trust. Once we got low enough, I would use my wings to create some momentum and swing us over like a pendulum. Then we can get Trust, pull ourselves back up and drive the heck out of there. With that, I then released some of my cable and was able to get down to Trust. I then used my wings to give us some momentum.

"Hey, Trust!" I said to the scout as we kept swinging, getting closer to him with each swing. "Need a lift?"

"What I need is a jetpack." Trust said to us as he hanged onto that spear.

"Trust, grab my hand!" Zoom said, putting out his hand.

Trust then started getting his own momentum, getting ready to swing off the spear. But, before he could swing off, the spear snapped and he began to fall.

"No!" Zoom said before he jumped out of the sidecar towards Trust. "I'm coming, big bro!"

"Zoom!" I said as I thought quickly.

Using my metalbending, I then stretched my hand out to try and grab Zoom. While I did that, I watched as Zoom and Trust tried to grab onto each other. It was cutting close and I wasn't sure if they were gonna be able to do it. But, after a moment…they managed to so, around the same time I managed to grab onto Zoom's ankle and saving both of them from falling.

"We got Trust! Girls, full reverse!" I said to Trich and Mari through the comm.

After they managed to pull us back up, we then back up a bit as part of the bridge ahead of us gave way, a sign that we were running out of time before the bridge collapsed.

"Trust, get into the Torn Jet! Zoom, get to Mari's Storm Glider! Hurry, I don't have much time!" I said to the brothers and they did as I asked. With the, I then began speaking to the girls. "Trich, Mari, focus! We only got one shot at this. When I give the word, go full throttle. Ready?" I said as we all got ready to make a leap of faith with our vehicles. "Floor it!"

With that, we all hit the gas and moved as fast as we could to the portal. The bridge was almost ready to collapse as we closed in on the portal. It was getting close…but we managed to make it and got through the portal before it completely collapsed.

Kaze's view

After recovering from that fall, I looked around to seeing everyone else recovering too. Can't believe we fell for that. I tried to get back up there, but Sever's car landed on me. After getting that overgrown shark off me along with getting back on my feet, I thought it couldn't get any worse than being beat by that rat again. I was corrected after seeing a piece of crystal land in front of me. Looking upwards, I saw large chunks of crystal heading towards us. Luckily, it was only parts of the vehicles that got crushed. Once we got back to Vandal, I was gonna throttle Silvian for his incompetence.

[Earth]

Axel's view

"Zoom, lock her up." I proudly said after we got through the portal.

"All over that!" Zoom said as he then closed the portal.

With that done, the rest of Battle Force 5 moved in to express their relief for their scout's safe return.

"Welcome back, kid." Spinner said to Zoom.

"Yeah, thanks…pops." Zoom said to him.

"Nice." Trust said as he and his brother shared a high-five.

"Hey, guys! I got a killer joke!" Mari said as we all looked to her. "How many Vandals does it take fall off a mountain?" We all waited a moment for her to give the answer. "All of them!"

We all laughed at that. That was a pretty good joke.

"Hey, Mari, do you think I could use that for open-mic night?" Spinner asked her.

"Knock yourself out. I got plenty of jokes to spare." Mari said to her.

"Okay, guys. Now let's rev up and roll on home." I said as we all then got back to our vehicles and drove back to base. "Now, Zoom, mind telling me where you found that bow?"

After getting back to base, Zoom finished telling me how he got that bow. I just couldn't believe what I was hearing. A weapon like that just lying around in a Battle Zone? I was speechless.

"So let me get this straight," I said to Zoom as we walked up to Sage, still couldn't believe what he was saying, "you found that bow in the Battle Zone and, somehow, it managed to transform when you stood up against Silvian?"

"Yeah, that's about it." Zoom said to me as he held the bow. "Still have no idea how it got there."

It was only when we heard Sage gasp that we look to her as she came over to us, looking pretty surprised.

"How did you acquire this?" Sage asked us as she took the bow and examined it.

"I found it in the Battle Zone we just cleared." Zoom answered her.

"Wait, Sage, do you know what that bow is?" I asked her as I realized it.

"Indeed." She answered me. "This is no ordinary bow. This is the Bow of Sagittarius."

"Bow of Sagittarius?" I asked, now getting interested about this bow even more. "Seems like fitting name. Sagittarius was known as an archer. Plus, it haves the symbol of Sagittarius on the riser."

"What's so special about this bow?" Basar asked, speaking to Sage.

"The Bow of Sagittarius is one of the Sacred Cosmic Relics." Sage answered him.

"What's a Sacred Cosmic Relic?" Zoom asked her.

"The Sacred Cosmic Relics are ancient artifacts of that hold untold power." Sage said as she explained. "They were created along with the multiverse."

"Wait, Sage, are you saying that Sentients made these relics?" I asked her as we were all shocked by this.

"Not on purpose." Sage answered showing us a holo-screen which showed a pitch black area before a light expands to reveal an image of space, to what I had to believe was the birth the multiverse. "When my people created the multiverse, an unknown cosmic force that formed within it caused these relics to form."

"Whoa! Cool!" Zoom said as I looked to see him smiling. "So I found a wicked weapon?"

"I would say so." I said to him.

"Yes, and we are fortunate that it has chosen you as its wielder." Sage said to Zoom. "If a Sacred Cosmic Relic were to ever fall into the wrong hands, the multiverse would've been at risk."

"What you mean 'chosen'?" Trustin asked her.

"After the relics came into existence, they scattered themselves across the multiverse and were found by beings within each dimension." Sage said as she then brought up the holo-screen, this time showing the bow Zoom found falling from the sky and landing in a desert area. Someone or something comes around and finds the bow. From picking it up, the bow gives off a bright flash that consumes the whole screen in a white light. "Many had tried to use them, but only a few could wield their power." When the light fades, it reveals five different beings in fighting stance with a different weapon with a cosmic background behind them. "It was soon discovered that the ones who could wield these powers were chosen by the relics themselves. The ones they chose soon became the great protectors of the multiverse, defending it from all evils that threaten it. They were known as the Zodiac Guardians."

"The Zodiac Guardians?" My team said in surprise as they looked at each other.

"I've never even heard of such warriors." I said before trying to see if Sage could tell us more about them. "Is there anything else you can tell us about these Zodiac Guardians, Sage?"

"I'm afraid not, Axel." Sage answered. "As you all know, I had lost much of my memory from my travels through the Stormshocks. I have managed to recover some of my memory, but only parts of them." She then held up the bow. "Seeing the Bow of Sagittarius caused the memory of what I know of it to resurface."

"So what makes you think that the bow chose my little bro?" Trust asked her.

"When one of the relics selects its wielder, it changes form in order to indicate who is worthy of its power." Sage answered him.

"Actually that would explain it." I said before I spoke to Zoom, seeing how that makes sense. "Zoom, you stood up to Silvian, one of the most dangerous criminals anyone's ever known, just to protect Trust. The bow must have reacted to your determination to fight. It changed its form to match you, a sign it has given you its power."

"Seriously? Awesome!" Zoom said in excitement. "I got to take down a member of the Dark Gang and got my own cool weapon!"

"Is there anything else about this bow we should know about?" I asked Sage, just wondering what kind of power the bow had.

"For what power it possesses? No." She answered me. "But I can tell you of the Guardian who wield it." The holo-screen then changed to show us a man wearing golden clothing and armor that I couldn't recognize. The ensemble looked like a combination between Sumerian attire and a shock suit. "Zodiac Sagittarius, the youngest of the Guardians. With his great determination and sharp focus, his time using the bow earned him the title 'Sagittarius the Star Archer'."

"Hey, he kinda looks like you, Zoom." Trustin said as we all took a closer look at the archer showed on the holo-screen.

"Hey, he's right." Vert said, agreeing with him. "He does kinda look like Zoom."

"Okay, I'm confused." Jay said as I was trying to figure that out as well. "Why does that archer look like Zoom?"

"Well, it might be possible that Zoom was once Zodiac Sagittarius in a past life." I said as I spoke out my theory to everyone. "Sagittarius was the youngest of the Zodiac Guardians, much like how Zoom is the youngest member in Battle Force 5." That's where I was going to get the answer for the first question about the bow. I then spoke to Sage. "So what happened to Sagittarius and how did his bow get into a Battle Zone?"

"Sadly, Sagittarius, along with the rest of the Zodiac Guardians, sacrificed themselves in one battle against a powerful enemy, the relics were lost." Sage said, having despair in her voice before she speaks out in relief. "We are fortunate that the Bow of Sagittarius had made its return along with finding its great champion."

"Way to go, little bro." Trust said, giving Zoom a pat on the back.

"Thanks, big bro." Zoom said as he smiled at Trust. "I can't wait to use that bow in the next Battle Zone."

"I'm afraid you're gonna have to wait for that." I said to him. "Until we figure out how this bow works and what powers it haves, the bow will have stay here at the base for the time being." Zoom looked a little disappointed from hearing that. "Don't worry. You'll get to use it again. That's why we're keeping it here in the base. If we come across an enemy or a situation that might be overwhelming, then we will need you to wield the bow and helps us fight." I then went over and put a hand on Zoom's shoulder, smiling proudly at him. "You've truly proven yourself as a hero, just like Trust."

With that, Zoom smiled proudly at me, no doubt feeling pride from hearing me say that.

After Sage managed to create a room for us to keep the bow (along with any other Sacred Cosmic Relics we find) and placing said weapon inside it, we all then went to Zeke's diner for the open-mic night. Mari was the first to go up and she brought in a lot of laughs with comedy act and her jokes, especially with that little Jay joke there. She did one of her old routines: juggling three pies while balancing on a ball. Zoom went up next and, to our surprise, he was a riot. I couldn't believe he had all those good jokes with him this whole time.

"Thanks for all the laughs everybody." Zoom said after he took a bow.

"Geez, that Zoom's a tough act to follow. Glad I'm not you." Sherm said as he nudged Spinner, who was now looking a bit worried. Sherm must have saw it too as I watched him try to be supportive. "Oh, you're gonna do great too." He tried to whisper, but I managed to hear him. "Um…can you juggle?"

"And now, Spinner Cortez!" Zeke said as Zoom walked off the stage and went over to us. "Let's just hope he's as funny as he looks."

That little joke got a laugh from the crowd. From there, I then decided to give Spinner a little advice before he went up.

"Just take a deep breath and smile." I said to him as he then started walking up to the stage. "Knock them dead."

When he met up with Zoom, I was able to hear Zoom say "Good luck, kid."

With that, we all watched as Spinner got up stage and seemed to be taking my advice. Up until he spoke.

"Thanks, Spinner." Spinner said before he adjusted the mic, sounding nervous with that smile. "I'm Zeke—duh! I mean, uh… he's, I'm…" Though I knew I was a little mean, but I just couldn't help but try to hold in a chuckle from the way he messed up that introduction. I could see Basar and the others doing the same. "Hey, uh…how many Earth-invading aliens to fall off a cliff in a crystal Battle Zone?" a pause as he got ready to deliver the punchline, a cough coming from the audience. "All of them." There weren't much laughs…well, except for one.

We looked to see Mari laughing up a storm. When Vert and the others looked at me, I knew there was only one answer for this.

"What? That's just how Mari is." I said to them. "Even when she heard the joke once, she still finds it funny."

When we saw the crowd look to Spinner, we then focused on the Cortez twin as he cleared his throat in order to speak.

"Guess you had to be there." He said, keeping that smile.

After that, we all watched as Spinner stepped down to join us as someone else stepped on stage to do his own act. With that, I then went on to talk to Zoom. When he bowed, I managed to see something on his right hand.

"Hey, Zoom?" I said to him as I got his attention. "Why do you have that mark on your hand?"

"What?" Zoom said as he then looked to his hands before he showed the one with the mark. "Oh, you mean my birthmark? I always had it."

"Yeah, that mark has always been there." Trust said as he explained. "When we found him, he was covered in dirt. We thought that mark on his hand was some the dirt, but when it didn't come off, we found out it was a birthmark. Why are you asking about it?"

"Well, just so you know, that birthmark's shape is the symbol of Sagittarius." I said, shocking the brothers.

"Whoa! Seriously?" Zoom said as he looked at his birthmark, amazed by this.

"There's no doubt about it." I said to him. "You're the reincarnation of Sagittarius the Star Archer."

"Looks like I was born to be hero just like you, big bro." Zoom said to Trust as he smiled at him.

"Hey, reincarnation or not, you're always gonna be a hero to me." Trust said to him, returning the smile. "I couldn't ask for a better little brother."

Author's Note: Hey, guys. Sorry it took me so long, I had a lot of stuff to do before getting this done. I'm just glad to have made it. And I like to give a special thanks to FoxyKhai0209 for her idea of the Bow of Sagittarius, Sagittarius the Star Archer, and the Zodiac Guardians which had helped put this chapter together. Give her a hand of applause everybody. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Don't worry, Zoom will use the Bow Sagittarius again in time, you'll have to wait and see. More surprises for the Element Gang and BF5 in the next chapter!