It only took seconds before the regular reinforcements arrived from HanomCorp regular security, only for a newcomer to mow them down with zero effort! Slaisionnach seemed to revel in their screams of pain, as they grasped at their envenomed jugulars in a futile attempt to spare their own lives. The continued onslaught of Treaders kept Carlos and Masato busy.

Slaisionnach: "Fools! I take machine now, and truck!!!"

He wasted no time putting the machine into the back of the truck, being careless about not damaging it. As he backed out after hotwiring, he made sure to run over the bodies of those whose throats he had slashed.

Slaisionnach: "Speed bumps!!!"

It didn't take Slaisionnach long to reach the destination, as Carlos and Masato hopped in a car to give pursuit. They knew more Treaders would be waiting.

Carlos (on comms): "Vinny, man! We're in deep crap! Some Russian with dreadlocks has the PercoDome, and he ran over Jones!"

Vinny: "I'm ahead of you, on the way to Gary's! Looks like Hiktomoph's causing some trouble. I'll rendezvous with you soon. Make sure Kayla has a means to pitch in!"



The Golden Lion Cycle quickly shot out some plasma beams from its side cannons, taking out numerous Treaders as Vinny raced toward Hiktomoph.

Vinny: "I'll need a metal horse like this back on Cortascius!"



Kayla arrived via her transporter, and found Carlos there to greet her.

Carlos: "I know you don't have the permit or the list of excuses, but you'll want this gun anyway!"

Kayla: "Don't call the police unless civilian strangers show up! And if that happens, I'll get out of sight!"

Carlos: "Good idea! And watch out; these bugs really really want this one!"



Vinny: "HIKTOMOPH!!!"

The knight took a flying leap off of his bike to assault the Gwirdon general, but was caught midway by the leg! He raised Selshon in ice mode outward, to chill Hiktomoph in place. But to no avail, as Hiktomoph generated a shield of his own and tossed Prince Volkonir a safe distance away.

Hiktomoph: "Nil nach bhfuil tu! An uair seo, aon!" (Translation: "Oh no you don't! Not this time!!!")

Vinny: "Beidh me ag gouge amach na tri mhile de do chuid sul!" (Translation: "I'll gouge out your eyes! All 3,000 of them!!!")

As all parties were distracted, Slaisionnach impulsively entered the truck's trailer and activated the machine.

Slasionnach: "I use machine to KILL THINGS!!!"

Suddenly realizing that Slaisionnach hadn't had it explained to him how the machine worked, Hiktomoph lost focus of Volkonir and instead begged Slaisionnach to back off.

Hiktomoph: "Back away, you idiot! You don't know how that thing..."

A sudden explosion blew Slaisionnach out of the truck, shaken and confused, but still little the worse for wear. The machine was badly damaged, and the truck trailer blown apart. What had just happened???



Hiktomoph retreated, knowing that he and a few other Treaders needed to fall back and be ready to fight another day. If Slasionnach were that powerful, there was no reason for Hiktomoph to still be there. As he escaped behind the bushes, Volkonir went toward the remains to see what had transpired.

Slasionnach (furious): "Ugh! I not feel so good! Who needs to die!?!?!?"

A howling, metallic sound filled the air, causing Team Volkonir and the Treaders to all look around for what was about to happen next. Whatever it was, they all knew they weren't gonna like it!



Unmistakable Percolation beams appeared next to each other by a patch of trees and bushes. Unusually, one was colored a faint purple and another was red. The third was yellow, a normal Percolation color. Were these Xeroxes, or Temps? And if they were Temps, how long were they destined to stay?

Carlos: "Aw, shoot!"

Before he could see what was about to happen next, he found himself being dragged by an opportunistic Treader. The fighting resumed immediately, preventing the heroes from learning much about their guests.



As Vinny continued mowing down Treaders with his trusty sword Selshon, the rest of Team Volkonir lent aid any way they could. Carlos finally got the best of his attacker, and rejoined his friends. The three strangers were ambivalent about what they were seeing. On the one hand, this scene before them looked awfully familiar. But from another angle...what was this?

Zack: "Aw man! Where are we this time? I was about to get something at Ernie's!"

Trini: "It doesn't feel right, at all! Is this more of Rita's doing?"

Jason: "I don't know, but I feel worse about it every second!"