A/N: Sorry for this spastic little mess of OOC-ness, but I've had this theory in my head for a few weeks.

Anybody else want Alpheus to return in season four? I wasn't too fond of him in season two, but season three just made me so curious!

"Booby trapped ruins," Ant said drily. "That's a new one."

Fontaine rolled her eyes and yelled over the rumbling, "The only new thing is that you weren't the one to set it off!"

The siblings glared at Alpheus, who stood ten feet away with his hand still against the odd carving on the wall. Alpheus, staring at the runes on the wall, didn't notice.

"Kids!" Will called over the comms. "What happened?"

The Nektons had foundsome ruins they'd discovered in a tunnel inside a mountain. Lemurian runes at the entrance had prompted them inside, and they'd split up in their distraction. The last thing Ant and Fontaine had expected to encounter, though, was Alpheus.

"Alpheus is here, and he touched something!" Ant said.

Alpheus spun and ran, shoving between the siblings. "The ruins aren't Lemurian!"

"Pretty sure they are!" Ant yelled, just because. "Uh… Dad?"

"The runes at the entrance were Lemurian," Will confirmed.

"Can we discuss this outside?!" Fontaine asked.

"Oh, right!"

Ant and Fontaine darted out of the room after Alpheus. Once they were in the stone hall, the shaking wasn't as bad. At the end of the hall, Alpheus ground to a halt in front of a doorway.

"What are you waiting for?" Ant called.

"The door is booby trapped as well," Alpheus said.

The sibling exchanged dubious glances, but stopped as well. Alpheus grabbed a rock and threw it through the opening. All three jumped when a blade slammed to the floor.

"See?" Alpheus said.

"How did you know that?" Ant asked. "We came through that doorway earlier, and there wasn't anything there!"

"I've been in this sort of ruins before," Alpheus said.

The trio ran through the doorway into another room. While the stone walls and ceiling had been blank minutes before, more odd runes glowed blue in the stones.

Fontaine jumped as a solid slab of stone crashed down over the doorway leading deeper into the ruins. The rumbling died down, leaving them in eerie silence.

"It's going to be touchy getting outside," Alpheus grunted. "Stay behind me, and do what I do."

"You're helping us?" Ant asked suspiciously.

"If you set off the wrong trap, you'll bring the whole place down on me, too," Alpheus said. "Now be quiet."

Alpheus found another rock -luckily the crumbling ruins provided plenty of ammo- and threw it through the doorway. This time, nothing happened.

"This one's clear," Alpheus said, reaching a hand out. "Now, I'm serious; stay behind-"

Something clicked under Alpheus' foot. Before anyone could move, there was a whooshing sound, then Alpheus jerked to the floor.

"Alpheus!" yelped the siblings.

"Stay back!" Alpheus said, waving a hand behind him. "There's a… great, just great."

Ant and Fontaine couldn't see what Alpheus saw, but they didn't get closer. Alpheus did something on the ground, then stood with a grunt. He turned with an annoyed frown.

Fontaine's mouth dropped open. "Uh… Alpheus?"

"Yeah?"

"You… you have a spear in your arm."

"Real observant, aren't you?"

Alpheus stared mildly at the siblings, apparently unconcerned that he had a three-foot spear through his arm.

"He has what?!" Kaiko demanded, having heard Fontaine.

"He has a spear through his entire arm!" Ant exclaimed. "Alpheus, whatever you do, don't-"

Alpheus grabbed the tip of the spear and pulled it completely through his arm.

"-pull it out!" Ant yelped. "Are you crazy?!"

Still wearing an annoyed frown, Alpheus lifted his injured arm without issue. He raised an eyebrow, waiting.

"I don't get it," Fontaine said, confusion warring with concern. "You… aren't even bleeding."

Alpheus flexed his fingers, then the hole in his arm sparked.

Fontaine jumped. "What is that?!"

"You're a robot!" Ant squealed.

"What? No, don't be ridiculous," Alpheus said, lowering his arm.

"Alpheus, you aren't bleeding and your arm sparked," Fontaine said. "How do you explain that?"

"I'm not a robot." Alpheus said "robot" with a grimace, as though the word tasted bad. He hefted the removed spear. "This will help test our path. Make sure you step in the exact same place as me."

"How can you say you're not a robot?" Ant asked as they moved on. "You have a robot arm!"

"That doesn't make me a robot, Ant," Alpheus said, poking at the stone floor. "It's just my arms."

"And your hands," Ant said smartly.

Alpheus paused, shooting Ant an annoyed glare over his shoulder. "Only one hand."

"How did that happen?" Fontaine asked.

Alpheus turned. "I've been in ruins like this before. Put it together."

"Oh…" Ant shifted so he was slightly more in Alpheus' footsteps. "So, you set off a trap and lost your arms."

Alpheus sighed in exasperation and turned, talking as he walked on. "Yes. Lucky I didn't lose my head. I've since learned that these ruins are traps for Lemurians."

"Why Lemurians specifically?" Fontaine asked.

"How should I know?" Alpheus said. He pointed at the glowing runes. "But I suspect the traps were put in by Atlanteans."

Fontaine stopped. "Say again?"

"Don't you know that Lemurians and Atlanteans were constantly at war?" Alpheus said. Despite his annoyed tone, Fontaine got the sense that he liked knowing something the Nektons didn't.

"These ruins…" Will said slowly. "Were set up by Atlanteans to trap Lemurians?"

"Kill, more likely."

Alpheus' prodding caused another stone to sink into the floor. Alpheus jumped back, avoiding another spear.

"Lucky for us, Atlanteans weren't particularly creative," Alpheus said, stepping forward.

Right into a second spear flying from the other way.

Fontaine yelped when Alpheus was jerked to the floor again. He sighed, pulled the second spear free, then stood. He lifted his damaged hand arm, which sparked once, then went limp.

"This is going to take ages to repair," Alpheus grunted.

With no further comment, Alpheus continued down the hall. Four traps later, the trio reached the doorway to outside. Will and Kaiko, who had found either a section without traps or simply hadn't set off the trigger, waited anxiously outside.

Alpheus waved back Will and Kaiko when they stepped toward the doorway. He cocked back his good arm, then threw his spear through the opening.

When the spear was only halfway through, a blade dropped and cut the spear in half.

Alpheus clicked his tongue and didn't move. When several uneventful minutes passed, Alpheus grabbed the spear half still on his side of the doorway and threw it. This time, nothing intercepted it.

"We're clear," Alpheus said, stepping outside.

Ant and Fontaine darted out of the ruins and into their parents' arms. The Nektons were too busy making sure the rest of their family was intact, that nobody noticed Alpheus.

Alpheus stared at the Nektons with a scowl. His mouth twisted in a grimace as he dropped his gaze to his limp, bionic arm.

Alpheus turned and walked toward the tunnel leading back to ARIA. He moved quickly, wanting to get away before the Nektons remembered they were in the same place as their nemesis.

Knowing them, they'd offer to help Alpheus fix his arm. Which would be foolish on their part, but they never really seemed to care when they were helping the enemy.

Alpheus hesitated at the mouth of the tunnel. He twitched as though he was going to turn, but only walked forward at a quicker pace.

He didn't need help from anyone.

A/N: Thanks to his glowing in the season two finale and odd arm markings in season three, bionic Alpheus is my new official theory.

General messiness aside (I might return to clean up and expand it) what do you guys think of bionic Alpheus? It's currently on the drawing board for Interning, so I'm curious about your thoughts!