"Is everyone in one piece?" Mentos puffed out, his frame sagging like a puppet with its strings cut and arms draped heavily over his knees. His breaths were ragged from his recent clash. His question was a lighthouse of worry in the storm of uneasiness around them.
"Seems like everyone's ticker is still ticking," Hao interjected after his sharp ears caught up to the frantic drumming of their hearts. His attention landed on Wheelz, steam was still seeping from its metallic body as it shrank back to its regular size. "Looks like the arm's on the fritz," he pondered, attempting to manipulate Wheelz, but it remained as responsive as a brick wall.
The group came together in the heart of the shack while sweeping their gazes over the wreckage. The floor was a gruesome cocktail of green slime and acid, a stark reminder of the beasts they'd just squared off against.
"Blimey, look at this mess," Mentos sounded a bit horse. The adrenaline he had built up from the battle was now slowly ebbing away.
"Could have been worse," Hao replied calmly while lifting his foot out of a slime puddle.
"Could have been worse? We were nearly chomped by those...those things!" Boulder exclaimed while pacing back and forth with his sword slung over his shoulder.
"Easy there, Boulder," Lanor said soothingly. She was standing near the children. "We survived, that's the most important thing right now."
"But what if they come back? What if there are more of them hiding in this dust?" Boulder kicked a portion of the grey dust from underneath him.
“Easy mate.” Mentos tried getting him to calm down.
Hao spoke up. "We’ve destroyed the Grey Orb, so it’s unlikely they would come back. And if by some miracle they do, then we'll deal with it, just like we did now. We're not defenceless."
“Speaking so confidently for a blind bat.” Boulder got closer to Hao, “If you could see what’s around you with much clarity as I am seeing then I bet you wouldn’t be saying that.”
“I can… huh?” Suddenly, Hao's ears twitched. "Catch that?" He listened to a particular spot on the ground.
The others began to see what was taking place. The grey dust was gradually amassing at one point, a spectacle that left them all flabbergasted.
"Are those monsters going to respawn?" The children's voices quivered with dread. The prospect of another round with the Grey Biters was a nightmare, as a result, they scampered out of the shack, leaving only Hao, Mentos, Lanor, Boulder, and the Bastians behind.
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“See, I told you.” Boulder jerked his sword from his shoulder and prepared for a fight.
As they observed, the grey dust coalesced, even sucking up the green slime and morphing into something alien to the spectators. A grey bone, oddly shaped, with vibrant pink tissues coiling around it, lay on the floor. It was a sight varying from the earlier transformation.
"What's that monstrosity? It's not going to go berserk on us, is it?" Boulder’s grip around his sword was tightening.
"It's akin to a pinkish tissue wrapped around a hardened surface," Lanor noted with her gaze glued to the bizarre object.
"I don’t sense anything else happening. We should quarantine it while it's still a sitting duck," Hao proposed.
“Quarantine?” Boulder wasn’t liking this idea. “It would be easier if we just burn the damn thing.”
Hao responded, “It would, but we don’t know what reaction that might have on it. It might even cause it to open another portal somewhere. And we don’t want that.”
"I'm with Vee on this," Mentos chimed in, swivelling towards Lanor. "Got any sort of containment that can cage this beast?"
"Mum's workshop should have something suitable," Said Lanor, already making a beeline for the door.
"Brilliant, fetch it and hustle back here," Mentos directed.
"Hey, you're not my boss. I'm only fetching it because I care about this place and the kids," Lanor retorted, vanishing out of the shack.
"I'll tag along," Boulder volunteered, trailing after Lanor. His decision was more out of fear than anything else. He wasn't keen on any more unexpected monster brawls.
Hao and Mentos were left in the shack with the Bastians, and the ominous Grey Tissue.
"What's your take on it, Vee?" Mentos queried while sidling up to Hao. "Think it might be morphing into a Tokyo like the one we encountered at the Conclave?"
Hao shook his head. "Haven't got a clue. If I had my Vibe Edge with me, then maybe I could dive deeper with my analysis."
“Sure…” Mentos kept his eyes fixed on the bizarre entity before him. Shortly, the sound of hurried footsteps heralded the return of Lanor and Boulder with a large transparent container in tow. Boulder was the one lugging it. Mentos also noticed the kids by the shack's entrance, still lingering with curiosity.
"Gently place it there, and I'll scoop it in," Hao instructed Boulder where to set down the container. Afterwards, he began extending Judgment Day towards it. He used the sword to gently scoop the Grey Tissue into the container. "It's in," he announced, stepping back as Boulder quickly sealed the hatch.
They all stood there observing the container. The Grey Tissue was bleeding green slime that was slowly filling up the container.
Drip! Drip!
“That’s so weird.” Commented Mentos.
"Now that it's caged, what's next?" Lanor’s eyes shifted from the container to Hao. "This mess is on you, so you better figure it out. I'm off to shower. I'm plastered in green gunk and dirt." She stormed off while brushing off her apparel, leaving the men with the container.
Hao listened to her footsteps as they faded. His mind was already churning with what to do next. "The Grey Tissue stays in the container until I can properly study it to figure out what it is," he finally declared then turned to Mentos and said, "I have a mission for you mate."
“A mission?” Mentos was eager to know of its contents.
Boulder stuck around to keep a vigilant watch on the container.
And with that, the shack fell into silence, the only sound being the soft drip of the green slime from the Grey Tissue.