Previously on Invasion…

After Kid Danger's crushing defeat against Captain Man, the gang has decided to split up, take time to recover, and do what they can to keep the rebellion going. Jasper visited Althea at the hospital, and he's learning to help. Charlotte recruited the Boom Brothers into the Alliance. Piper and Max tagged some buildings and left a message for Minyak that he couldn't ignore. Now we check on the hero himself and if he's found his fight again…

Good news, it's not a broken rib.

There was a good chance that it wasn't even a bruised rib. At least, that's what Henry figured when he forced himself out of bed a few days after the fight, and his side was only sore. Horribly sore, wince-every-time-you-walk sore, but still. Only sore.

He vaguely remembered getting into bed the morning after he called things off. Schwoz was there—the only one there—to help him to a guest room. He didn't say much, which was weird for Schwoz. Then again, Henry didn't say much either. Their bodies were filled with lead, and their words… they didn't form right. No matter what, Henry couldn't figure out what to say. What was he supposed to say? "Give me a few days, Schwoz. I'll be fine" or "We'll get him next time"? He didn't want to lie.

He felt better leaving his room that day than he had first entering. His mind was still fuzzy, limbs were heavy—everything was heavy. Did his bones turn into rocks while he was sleeping? He dragged his feet when he walked and used the walls for support. At some point, he changed back into Henry Hart. When did that happen? Before or after he got to bed? He'd been wondering for a few days. He could've asked Schwoz when he brought meals up—three times a day, even when Henry didn't eat it. Schwoz was definitely getting a raise when things went back to normal—but really, he liked wondering about the cloudy spots in his memory. At least he could speculate on that instead of how things were going outside.

How Charlotte, Piper, and Jasper were.

What the Alliance was doing in his absence.

If Dr. Minyak had already taken over his next target.

Yeah… it was more relaxing wondering when he'd changed his clothes.

Schwoz took over the main room in the Man Cave. The couch was covered in blueprints and spare parts. Weapons and gadgets littered the floor. A folk song with foreign words played over the speakers, and the small scientist danced happily as he shuffled from one workstation to another, a blow torch in one hand with a welding mask pushed over his face.

Henry hobbled down the stairs, careful to avoid stray hardware and pieces of metal. He cursed himself halfway down for not putting on a pair of shoes. He should've known: you can't brave the Man Cave without proper protection.

He sat in the chair in front of the computers with a sigh. He missed sitting in that chair, checking for alerts, watching the cameras for any crime to thwart. His throat closed with nostalgia. He hit a button, and the music disappeared.

"Holy shit, Schwoz," he said with wide eyes.

Schwoz spun around while tearing the mask off his face. "Henry!" he cried. "What are you doing down here?"

Henry looked around at the mess—project—Schwoz created. "I was tired of lying in bed all day. What're you doing?"

Schwoz's shoulders slumped. He sighed. "Dr. Minyak attacked another city yesterday. He's taken it over, just like Swellview."

Henry's jaw clenched. "Have you heard from the others? How are Charlotte, Jasper, and Piper?"

"They came by two days ago to check in. Charlotte says she talked the Boom Brothers into joining the Alliance—somehow. When I told them you weren't up yet, they decided to lay low. I think they're taking care of the elementary kids or… something."

"The Boom Brothers, huh?" Henry poked his tongue into his cheek. "I'm surprised she talked them into it. Hope she knows they're not the most reliable people."

"You have more numbers now, though."

"Still not enough. It's us against the entire city, Schwoz." Henry rubbed his face. When he opened his eyes, Schwoz was grinning at him. "What?"

"Are you finally thinking about getting back in the fight?"

He shook his head. "No, I—I don't know. I'm not feeling as hopeless as a few days ago, but… Schwoz. It's Ray—it's Captain Man. I can't beat him."

"Sure you can. You just have to disable his powers."

"Even if I can get close enough to do that, he's still being mind controlled by Minyak. I'd still have to beat him in a fight, which I also can't do. He's stronger than me."

"But you're faster than him. You've fought guys bigger than you and won. Once his powers are disabled, he's not so different from anyone else."

Henry sighed. "I guess… but he's only one obstacle! What about the thousands of adults in the city? The entire city, Schwoz. We can't handle all of that."

"Not to mention the sleeping gas."

"The what?"

"Minyak's minions have started throwing sleeping gas into crowds they see on the streets. They hit anyone on the ground."

"Which means…" Henry's eyes widened. "He has some kids now."

Schwoz nodded solemnly. "Yes, but… there are more children in the city." He perked up as he spread his arms out and gestured toward the inventions sprawled across the Man Cave. "And we finally have the firepower to fight back! Or, we will. Still working on it."

Henry's eyebrows furrowed. "What're you getting at? What, d'ya want me to go… go recruit my whole high school?"

Schwoz shrugged. "Why not?"

"I don't know, Schwoz." Henry groaned. He dragged his hands down his face and shook his head. "I don't know, I don't know. Everything's just… it sucks. Everything sucks. I'm suddenly responsible for the whole freakin' city, and… and I don't want to get anyone else involved who doesn't have to be. It's dangerous."

"You're not responsible for the whole city. You're responsible for… not even half. And they won't be unnecessary casualties. We need numbers."

"First, I don't think any casualties are necessary. Second, I'd rather finish this without any."
"There won't be! Hopefully! Not with my full-proof inventions!"

Henry smiled. It was tiny, a bit forced, but still a smile. "I have total faith in you, Schwoz."

"Yeah? Prove it." He waved Henry over. "I still need to test these."

"Fine. Go easy on me, okay?" Henry winced when he pushed himself up. He hobbled down the stairs and met Schwoz by the couch. He smirked. "I still have a questionable broken rib."

Schwoz hummed and rolled his eyes. Henry snickered.

They got to work.

•••••

After testing every weapon and other invention Schwoz created over the last few days, Henry felt a tad better about the idea of recruiting his classmates. He still didn't want them involved for one reason or another—mainly, that was a lot of people to deal with. Meaning a lot of things that could go wrong. Meaning putting people in harm's way. Meaning— … but he was coming around. As long as he could stay out of his head, anyway.

He sat on the couch, turning his walkie over in his hands. Schwoz was behind him, packing up his inventions. A new folk song played softly through the speakers, and it was the only noise besides the occasional clang of metal.

He missed his friends. He wondered, more than once, during his time of recovery if they were mad at him. In the back of his mind, he knew. He remembered how disappointed they were the last time he saw them. Their faces… His heart clenched. He didn't ever want to see them like that again.

"Hey, Schwoz?" he called.

"Hm?"

"How fast do you think I can heal up and get back in the fight?"

Schwoz raced around the couch. His face was lit up with a wide grin. "You want to keep fighting?!"

Henry nodded slowly. "Yeah. I don't think I could ever give up completely. Ray wouldn't." He turned to the table as Schwoz sat across from him. "Speaking of, I still have to fight him—Captain Man. And I'm scared. I'm not…." He sighed. "I'm not strong enough to beat him."

"Maybe not now, but…" Schwoz grinned. "There's something I've been working on while you were out."

"What is it?"

Schwoz glanced at the walkie talkie. "Do what you need to do, then come into the elevator. The button will be waiting to take you to the second Man Cave."

"There's a second Man Cave?"

"There's seven."

Henry's jaw dropped as he watched Schwoz disappear in the elevator. Seven more Man Caves? How deep did that tunnel shaft go? Surely they had to hit the mantle at some point.

He shook his head. Alliance conversation first, mysterious Man Cave later. He hesitantly lifted the walkie talkie to his mouth. It lingered there for a moment before he worked up the nerve to press the button. When it cackled to life, his heart skipped a beat.

"Hello?" he said. "Anybody out there?"

For a long moment, there was nothing.

"Hellooo?" he tried again. Silence followed the release of the button. He began feeling nervous. What if no one answered? What if they'd given up on him too?

"Kid Danger to the Alliance," he said. "Come in Alliance." Silence. "Please. Please answer, I… I need you guys if we have any chance of winning. I can't do it alone."

A pause.

Then a voice crackled over the line, "It's about time!" Veronica. He sighed with relief. "I was beginning to think you forgot about us, Herbert."

"Kid Danger?" Althea said. "Is that really you? Are you okay?"

"Finally!" Mitch yelled. "I've been talking to these bitches for two days."

"I'm going to kick your ass when we meet in person," Veronica warned dryly.

"Yeah, right," Mitch scoffed.

Henry huffed a laugh. He dragged a hand down his face and shook his head. "Guys," he said. "Focus. We have a city to save." He lifted his finger off the button just to take a deep breath, and across the line, he heard hushed cheers in the background. "Mitch, welcome to the team. No fighting other teammates. We're all on the same side here."

Mitch scoffed. "Whatever."

"Hope you have a plan, Kid Danger," Veronica said. "It's getting bad out there. We've lost a few Wall Dogs to the sleeping gas."

"That's what I hear, and I'm sorry about that. We're working on a fix around it. Actually, we're working on a lot of things. My friend is inventing defensive weapons, and he's making a ton of them, so I'm thinking we expand our numbers."

"Who else is there?" Althea asked. "I can't think of any other group in town."

"There aren't any." Henry sighed. "I think we need to meet and talk about this in person. Three days from now at Glass from the Past. Six o'clock. Mitch, you have to stay quiet about this. At these meetings, only you show up, not your whole group. That goes for you too, Veronica. Things are getting more dangerous out there, and we can't risk losing anybody else."

"Fine," Mitch grumbled.

"The Alliance is back!" Althea cheered.

"Hell yeah," Veronica agreed.

Henry grinned. "Stay safe, guys. I'll see you all on Thursday." He took a deep breath and slowly rose from the couch. Everything still ached, but at least standing and walking was getting easier. With his walkie talkie still clenched in his hand, he made his way to the elevator and stepped inside.

Two miles down, the elevator opened to what should've been a familiar setting: The Man Cave. But it wasn't. The layout had been changed into a downtown city scene with fog rolling across the floor and poorly drawn obstacles of dumpsters and mail boxes spotted the floor. The lights were dim yellow bulbs that reminded him of the streetlights after dark. At the other side of the room stood a dummy robot with a picture of Captain Man's face taped to its head.

"Whoa," Henry said. He searched for Schwoz in the mess and found him by the giant gear in the back, eager and holding a control box. "Schwoz! You did all this?"

Schwoz shrugged. "Just something to get my mind off things."

"You distracted yourself from what's going on in the city by… recreating what's going on in the city?"

"No, I distracted myself by creating something to help you train… to stop what's going on in the city."

Henry blinked in surprise. "This is a training course?"

"Yes! With Captain Man as the goal. Your choice of weapons and defense are behind you. Make sure you grab a stack of sticky notes as well."

Henry frowned at the request. He turned to a long table lined with blasters, gadgets, and masks. He'd just helped test these out with Schwoz earlier that day. "Cool," he said in awe as he grabbed a gun. It was a lightweight blaster with a scope, but it definitely packed a punch. Next, he grabbed a mask that only covered half of his face and had a small oxygen tank attached under his chin.

When he turned toward the room with his weapon in his hand, a pack of sticky notes in his pocket, and fresh oxygen constantly flowing into his mouth, he was met with a new army of robots blocking his path to Captain Man. There were only four, but they towered over him like shadows and nightmares. Schwoz even taped familiar faces to them: His geography teacher, his old karate master… his parents.

"Did you have to bring my parents into this?" he whined.

"You have to be prepared for anything!" Schwoz defended. "Now, your goal is to get to Captain Man and hit him with a sticky note before he takes you out. The sticky note would be the beetle tears to disable his powers."

Henry nodded. "Got it. Remember to go easy on me, okay? I'm still hurt!"

Schwoz laughed evilly. Too evilly, Henry would argue. Sometimes, he really sounded like a villain.

That didn't sound promising, but Henry trusted Schwoz. He wouldn't kill him… at least, not intentionally. Henry huffed. He had more than robots to worry about with Schwoz at the controls.

"Ready?" Schwoz yelled. He pressed a few buttons, and the robots came to life. Their heads rose, and they began marching toward Henry.

His stomach leapt to his throat. He tightened his grip on his blaster.

"Get set…."

Henry took a deep breath. This was for his friends, he remembered. For his family. For all of Swellview. Henry bounced on his feet. He narrowed his eyes at his target in the back.

This… This was for Ray.

"Fight!"

I know, I know it's been forever and I'm sorry. i really really want to see this to the end, so update might/will be slow, but i'm going to finish this. I promise to all of you reading and to myself. This story will have an end. I figure with everything going on, especially with the Black Lives Matter movement, this story deserves an ending because it's about kids fighting to regain their freedom, and i feel like we need happy endings to those stories sometimes j.