Last of My Kind

And it Must Stay That Way

        Kite detached from Orbital's glider and landed not far from my left. Tori was rather confused as to what he was doing and why he was here. She made somewhat of an attempt to ask Kite what he was doing here. He didn't reply to Tori's questions and instead approached Yuma.

"Yuma," he questioned. "What's wrong? What happened here?" Yuma rushed up to Kite as I heard Shark also come running in.

"Ray's gone. He's gone! Vector just came and took him away! The Barians have him now. Please Kite, we gotta get him back." He grabbed the blonde's collar in desperation, much to Kite's displeasure. "You gotta help me Kite, I'm begging you! I need your help; please Ki --"

Yuma was cut short when Kite slapped him in the face, knocking him to the ground. "Calm down," Kite admonished calmly. "Control yourself."

"... Sorry," Yuma apologized meekly.

That night, Kite had brought us to the walled-off area of Heartland and to the intact area of Heartland Tower. By "us" I mean Shark, Yuma, and me. He left the rest of Yuma's friends outside, and Tori and the others were definitely not happy about it. The four of us were in the living room; Kite leaned on the window/wall, Shark was on a couch, Yuma stood between them, and I sat on the opposite couch. Yuma explained to them everything he found out about Vector, even though I already knew about it.

"So wait," Shark inquired once Yuma finished. "This 'Vector' guy who kidnapped Ray; he's the same Barian who controlled Dr. Faker and Vetrix?"

"Yeah," confirmed Yuma. "After we beat him in a duel, I thought for sure he was destroyed." I saw the whole memory replay from all three boys. I remember Vetrix telling me about that duel when I was recovering with his family; the duel must've been brutal for those three.

"Well you were wrong," Kite observed. "And now it seems he's decided to cause some more trouble."

"Indeed he has," I agreed. "I've already seen all sorts of nasty things going on in that psychotic Barian's head. As far as I can tell, none of the other Barians we've met are like that; not even close."

Kite nodded secretly. Quinton and his family gave us a heads-up on your powers, and I think it's safe to believe you on that. Neither of the other boys seemed too surprised with what I said; their minds were on other matters.

"Vector messed up my sister and he's gonna pay," snapped Shark as he stood from the couch. "I'll hunt him down like the dog he is."

"Sounds good," Kite approved. "But how're you going to find him? These Barians aren't exactly easy to keep track of."

"Who cares? It's time for this Vector guy to pay! I'm gonna find him and give him what he deserves!"

"A simple plan from a simple mind," Kite stated simply.

Shark growled, "Why don't you shut your --"

Beeping started filling the room, with a red light from the alarm. A screen appeared, showing Orbital's worried expression; if that's even possible for a robot.

"Uh, m-master K-K-Kite, there's big tr-trouble," stuttered the bot. "There's a ginormous g-gravitational force directly above the t-t-tower!" I casually stood up as the boys practically jumped.

"It's the Barians," Kite presumed with surprise. I looked up and found no Barian minds up there whatsoever. I couldn't detect anything or anyone up there, much less any of the Barians I've met.

All four of us ran up the stairs to the top of the intact tower. We were quite taken by surprise when we saw what was happening. Clouds were swirling together in an ominous fashion, slightly creeping out the boys. The center of those clouds seemed to be perfectly centered above the tower; more specifically, above Yuma.