"Your mom's room?" Ying lowly exclaims. "But Yaya's room is the only area connected to the passageway?"

Yaya doesn't look at him when she speaks. "Is this an indirect way of saying that I've been staying in your dead mother's resting place all this time?"

"Hah, the fact that you call it a 'resting place' doesn't make this any more comfortable," Ying squeaks.

Ocho has more of those unbreakable chains to wrap around another door with. Where does he get all these chains?

Meanwhile, BoBoiBoy never questions a thing, only proceeding to string the chains around his door frames to seal the room from the outside.

That's when she notices. The rage didn't let her see before, but his wounds are clear the more she blinks. He strains to secure them, even when he's being helped. She never noticed what lied beneath the devices strapped on his shoulders.

Nobody knew they were wounds. Slits made by syringes in the devices.

She doesn't know why she's worrying. She doesn't know why BoBoiBoy's stable voice soothes her. "There. We're going to be safe," he says. "I promise."

"And you just happen to be so sure."

That doubtful statement whips all their heads back at her.

Surprisingly, he's already anticipated this. Her trust will be a hard thing to attain, at this point. If anything, he might not even desire it anymore. He doesn't deserve it.

Yaya doesn't regret saying it. Though one part of her yells otherwise. The guilt spreads quick, she pities him still, after all. She never knew why, and she hides it easily.

She was the special type to barely hate for long.

"Okay, you two, I beg of you: chill out," Ying raises hands. "We did not come here to argue. We're here for the marks.

"Though, are you sure it was a mark?" She faces Yaya. "I didn't get to see- wait. You said this was an electric-something incident!"

That pathetic toothbrush alibi.

"Look, yes, I know I said that but- it was for you- not to worry."

"Girl, I don't even know if you made me worry more or less by saying that. But we need answers."

Ying's stare at BoBoiBoy looks like it can pierce through flesh. To her dismay, BoBoiBoy just grunts in response. "With all honesty, I don't know either." Nice. "Believe me, I've had the Sadist mark for years and it still won't go away."

"Wow. All this time, you were keeping this secret and now you're saying it upfront," Ying chuckles. "Unsettling but, yeah, put that behind."

Yaya is forced to set away the urge to bite back.

Unbothered by anything, BoBoiBoy continues explaining, mostly to Ying, given Yaya's uncomfortable apathy. The chat is dull and grey to Yaya's senses. And with that, it all felt lighter for some reason.

"I had my mark...I guess...when I was an infant..." she hears BoBoiBoy mutter. "Like, it's the only reason why my mark would be as big as a shovel now, right?"

Imagining a shovel digging in doesn't ease Ying up. However, BoBoiBoy misinterprets this for curiousity.

"That...is all I can remember. I can't seem to get ahold of why I know these details, but I know."

"How many days did the mark take effect?"

"I believe a day. The effects are always that fast."

Temptation pries at Ying, but she holds it back. "Hm. So a mark that worked, a mark that didn't, and a mark that disappeared."

At the back, Ocho listens close.

"Did you happen to take any herbs, Yaya? Could it have been an antidote?" she turns to look at her, sitting on the seamlessly white floor.

"No."

"Or ointment? Or a potion?" BoBoiBoy suggests.

"No," she grouches. The audacity of this guy to actually ask me if I got a potion, she wants to say, but she holds the thought down.

All of them brainstorm more before Ocho prowls in between and growls. Uh. Just so you guys know, I cemented down the path to the dungeon just enough to distract the guards. So, yeah, we might as well skidaddle please?

"How are you even talking...?" BoBoiBoy raises a brow. "I'm trying not to say something but this is just strange."

"Um? You haven't heard his voice? All this time?" Yaya turns a choleric face at him.

"I'm sorry, you guys have been talking to who-?"

"It's started this morning- wait...Has he always been like this?" BoBoiBoy puffs.

"How do you not know?" Yaya snaps a little. "Don't tell me you can't tell what he's been saying all this time? He said he can talk to me since the first time we met."

"And when was the first time you met?" he asks.

"You guys are talking about the panther, right?" Ying is struggling to catch on. "If that's it, wasn't it the day you ran off to the grassland?"

The grassland. "Ah, yes. That night I told you I wasn't delusional."

BoBoiBoy leans forward on his bed. "And he said, what exactly?"

"I don't reme-"

'Come. Help.' That's what I said, Ocho purrs.

Yaya echoes his words. "He said, 'Come help,' now that he's reminded me." Now that she remembers, he told her this twice.

Oddly, she remembers this call for help thrice.

"Why would you even ask for help?" BoBoiBoy mumbles to his panther.

"No- guys- more importantly- How can y'all- talk to that thing?" Ying barks aloud. She can feel her voice rising, so she lowers her tone. "That's a panther?"

"He's been like this since" is Yaya's reply.

"He started talking just this morning" is BoBoiBoy's reply.

"So you really never knew your panther can talk?" Yaya glares.

"No." BoBoiBoy's face is deadpan. He barely acknowledges how they're arguing. "Did it ever cross your mind to tell me that crucial fragment of information?"

She shoots back fearlessly. "Oh- And did it ever cross your mind to tell me you had my brother's missing ballad page?"

Oh goodness, these two need a break musters in Ying's head, sitting quiet and irate.

"It was with you, and you never told me." Her anger is monotone. BoBoiBoy doesn't know what to fear in that. "How did you get it? By force? Where is my brother? Did you mark him?"

She doesn't stop. She's no longer pretending.

"I never did anything that idiotic and reckless," BoBoiBoy says. This can't be fighting, right? I am only responding.

"And you expect me to believe you?"

"Hey, guys-"

"I only ask that you understand-"

"Woi, I've had it, okay? Would you two stop yelling before we're caught?" Ying cries out, crossing her arms. "Now I don't know what's going on- There's this page, the mark, you're arguing over talking with a panther and that's fine, really! So long as can we at least just take this somewhere else? It doesn't...feel safe here."

Even when arguing, they agree to not blame her. It's normal to feel eerie around an area like this, given it's a dim room of solid white.

"Where do you want to go?"

"To the boys. I mean, it could be best to stick together there, right? In your...room." Ying scratches her neck.

But somewhere in the corner of her eye, BoBoiBoy waves a hand. "We can't do that."

"Why not?" Now Yaya fumes.

"At this time, it will be too risky to even cross the halls without getting caught. Or even with Ocho for that matter. Also, if I leave this room and that man notices, he will be sweeping the area until we're all killed." He looks at Ying, not Yaya. "Besides, can't the boys just come here? Are they armed?"

Ocho meows. I gave them a few stuff when I came. They should be fine.

BoBoiBoy gives another strange look. "It shouldn't be a problem for them to move here, right? I can explain everything...perhaps including Ocho's talking too. Just not there."

Anxiety doesn't stop crawling on Ying's nerves. She remains tense, holding on to her friend. "I don't know about you- I just have a bad feeling-"

Cutting her words, Ocho growls again. One idea, maybe we can just explain after we've run off? Yaya's room has a lot of getaway routes.

"But we need supplies," BoBoiBoy debates.

Ying sighs. "Supplies? We just need to run!"

"Actually...we do need some more stuff if we need to get out..." Yaya murmurs. "Why am I siding with him?"

He brushes the whisper off. "Yeah, and why are you siding with them?" He faces Ocho.

Look, if you need supplies and weapons, there's a path to the basement. Through the passageway.

"Passageway." BoBoiBoy looks down.

Oh, wait. Nevermind. I just realized I jammed it. There's no way. There might be more guards too, Ocho says.

Frustration sparks out of Ying, understanding just about everything except for Ocho's panther noises. "So wait- Do we really need those supplies?" Ying groans.

"I'm as confused as you," Yaya says, bewildered in the chaotic and speedy conversation. "Do we really need them?"

"I'm not certain."

Master, of all times, how could you be so unsure now?!

Finally, Ying can suggest. "Alright, here's an idea," she says, rattling her tongue fast. "Why don't we go to the room, then we...jump off the balcony?" She slouches. "Guys, don't give me those weird looks- It's totally possible!" She knows that truth. She's seen Yaya jump from a tree and land on a leaf pile unscathed once.

For the first time, BoBoiBoy seems to agree. "That kind of makes sense."

"But," Yaya looks over at BoBoiBoy. "doesn't that side just lead to the cliff?"

Now Ying's eyes flutter, dumbfounded. "Excuse me, wait, cliff?"

"Ah, yes, the cliff."

"Hold on, wait- What cliff?!"

"This dwelling is on a cliff and, as far as I know, it's attached to this mountain."

"Oh, good. So is there a way, like, without a fall to certain doom?"

Under a few seconds, both BoBoiBoy and Yaya fall silent. He gets to speak first. "I think so. At this side, there is this abandoned cave system extending until the bottom of the mountain or somewhere far. But that's all I know."

Clapping her hands once, Yaya softens her voice, still trying not to get caught by any guard that might be outside. "Great. So we can go to the room, probably get some stuff from the dungeon, exit though the balcony, then run to the opposite side, make a run, correct?"

There's no other way for BoBoiBoy to counter. It makes sense. There's no safer route than that. The choice is to choose between an impossibility or a gamble.

He doesn't effort siding with her perfect plan. "Fine. Let's go."

"But you promise to say it all," Yaya stands. Her assertance is clear. "Everything...about my brother, especially."

Brother. The word gets to him, pricking at his skin for a while before he bites his lip. "Okay."

It took them three stealthy minutes to move.

※

"They died years ago."

The air coming from the window feels dead. And amidst them all, Yaya gently drops to the ground.

Cruelly, she's thought of this happening before, but now that it's real, her brain dawdles at the nightmare, now a fact.

"Yaya?" Ying takes a hand over her shoulder.

Her cheeks are still dry, but her eyes stare to her knees. She grieves without tears, and BoBoiBoy wants to keep it that way.

This is the explanation they get. The boys can't help but watch all the emotions unfurl, and BoBoiBoy can't do anything but keep his promise. To tell all. "Your brother and I...met years ago...that's when he gave me the page he tore away from the ballad."

"And my father?" Yaya's voice is merely a whisper.

"I-" Tell her the truth, BoBoiBoy. "never knew how it happened to him."

Watching everything boil like this was not what BoBoiBoy wanted, though he can't ask for anything else. In her mind, Yaya looks back to her dreams of finding them, though she knew they were very much surreal. She listens back to the words again, trying to look for an excuse they could be alive. They died years ago, they died years ago...

If only these were just big fat lies.

BoBoiBoy isn't familiar with the broad feeling of grief, but Ying quickly follows through. "Then how did you know her father died?"

"Otoi...told me himself." His lips are new to pronouncing his name. He had never called him like that. They're just like archaic words, eroding though time, meant to be forgotten. And now he brings this up, he wants this story swift.

For him, grief flies quick. Like a nail in your hand, if it hurts, let it go.

"It's true what it says in the page." He has the parchment in his hands now, re-reading the words. "From what I understand, Otoi had encountered my panther, Ocho, before. An evidence was how he described him accurately in the story. Then he took him here, and I held him captive."

Blank of shame, but not wanting to see Yaya's aggrieved face, his head hangs low.

"Ocho called Otoi for help. By what means, I no longer remember. But what I can still do is that he wanted to entrust the page...to me. As far as I'm concerned, he took away the page for you not to discover that I exist." He looks to Yaya. Yaya's dreary face.

"H-H-He entrusted the page to you?" Fang asks.

"That's what he said. Unfortunately, I never got to ask him why he trusted me. Or why he came to me. To see if the vision he had of me was real?"

Yaya's eyes narrow. "Vision?"

"That is only my theory, though," he quickly says to avoid misunderstanding. "It's possible that he had...the power to find me," he shrugs. "Or rather, maybe Ocho came to him first."

Bit by bit, it pieces together in Yaya's head. Her brother had a vision, Ocho called him for help, he met him, gave him the page, then died for an unknown reason.

It all makes little sense, leaving holes of mysteries here and there, yet it's all they have.

Moreover, to her, the call for help didn't seem far-fetched. Ocho called her for help too.

But why her, of all people? Why them?

"Did Ocho...call anybody else for help too?"

Everybody gets it when Ocho shakes his head. No.

"Another q-question, how is it that only Yaya and B-Bo-BoBoiBoy can talk to O-Ocho?"

"That's what we don't know yet, Fang." Gopal stands with his back against Yaya's bed canopy. "Even so, we can discuss that once we get out of here."

"We still need a plan," BoBoiBoy says. "Even if it sounds easy, it's not. Once we cross from this side to the cave, there will be guards flanked all over. We need a fool-proof plan."

"Who needs a plan if we can just, I dunno, run?!"

Ying shushes him for being too loud. They'll never know when reinforcement guards will come to listen in to the room.

"Although the guards are weaker than you all, it's still a battle of weapons, not numbers." These are all BoBoiBoy's words of thinking, not feeling. "That's why I insisted on getting supplies and weapons a while back.

"We need all the protection we can get. As long as we don't get seen by...him...the deal remains," he exhales.

Ying glares. "Deal?"

"Yes, that was the deal he made. As long as you run away without getting caught, he'll set you free."

More questions, except from Yaya. "He?"

BoBoiBoy takes a deep breath.

"The Jaguar. My father..." Many of them gasp. Pain radiates from his voice. Yaya can hear it from the tremors in his throat. She's known every single quirk about him now. She knows when he's purely diabolical, or when he's desperate for trust.

"That was his promise," he straightens his back. "He always promises."

She knows that look too. He's lying.

Lying is what BoBoiBoy is supposed to be good at, so she says nothing for the sake of keeping everyone calm.

Stillness succumbs the place. A signal for the whole thing to halt.

"Okay then, a deal is a deal." Gopal strides to the center of the room, more than eager to climb himself down the balcony beside him. "That said, why don't we all go and bust ourselves out-"

Metallic threads of footsteps come within proximity. Reflexes don't betray any of them. Hide.

It's all they can do. None of them clap the soles of their shoes on the floor, and they all scramble for the balcony, the only place farthest from the door. Ocho doesn't let out a single whimper either. They all crouch against the rails, invisible enough for the guards not to see them from ground level.

All of them pray pretty much the same thing. No one attempts to open the door.

Their whispers shrink tenfold, especially Gopal's, worried he was the one that hinted their presence. "Should we run now?"

"I told you," BoBoiBoy's eyes bounce from the door and him. "we can't do anything rash."

"Then come with us."

That was Yaya's voice. It almost sounds frantic.

"What?"

"You're the one who can get us out of here."

"I can't leave. I have never been that far off the mountain either. I wouldn't be of any help."

"But Ocho told us to bust you out too!" She remembers the first deal she made with him.

Ocho chirps.

"What do you mean BoBoiBoy signed the deal off?" she asks, frustrated.

Fang blinks more. Okay, she definitely just talked to that panther.

He doesn't expect for an explanation. All their toes are frozen of fear, except for BoBoiBoy's. Nothing about this pulls on his hairs, or lets his blood run dry. His blood has always been cold anyway. It isn't anything more special.

Special.

"Deal," BoBoiBoy whispers, leaving a trail of an arousing idea for them to find. "We made a deal. I answer your questions and you answer mine."

Gopal clutches at the rails. "Yes, yes, okay, fine, what's your question then? Make it quick and quiet."

"I want to know why there is a secret passageway here."

"That's it?" Gopal closely shrieks. "For Pete's sake, I thought it was a seriously intriguing one. But it's all about a design flaw?"

"Well, he said this room used to be his mom's."

Gopal furrows his face.

"She's dead now."

"Oh, okay, this thing just went from borderline petty to creepy. Awesome," Gopal chuckles.

More footsteps flood from the outside. They all come in silvery smooth clangs. They keep whispering anyway, proceeding to sit on the floor of the deck.

"It's too s-s-structured to call it just a hollow area, r-right?" Fang guesses. "Did your mother have any wwwweird knack for cramped spaces, or was she the strange s-special one who likes to sneak into dungeons?"

Special.

The word booms in BoBoiBoy's head again. Why, he doesn't know.

Is there even such a knack? Ocho peeps.

Yaya scoffs, as if unamused by the suspension and the out-of-place humor. "As far as I know, no."

When a loud thud of an armored boot thuds outside, Fang slightly squeals. The girls flinch as well. "Okay, I know I may c-come off as rude, but is the mark sort of- affecting your hearing?"

"If that's so, then why can't I hear him too?" Ying motions to Ocho, prowling in front of them like a defensive wall. "I've been marked too."

It doesn't work on you, Ocho thinks loud, enough for BoBoiBoy and Yaya to hear. I speak to special Chosen People.

Special. Chosen People. Mark. Doesn't work.

Each word loudly reverberates in BoBoiBoy head, getting stronger, louder, as if hinting something. Memories he never recalled he had wash him in flurries of indistinct color. A splash of sounds to remind him of something.

Something.

Another chiming of metal footsteps. BoBoiBoy grabs on Yaya's hand.

"H-Hey!"

"Sh, please," BoBoiBoy mutters.

"Yo, be careful, man!" Gopal latches his fingers, pulling Yaya's arm from his as he did before. "If you mark her again, I swear-"

"That's the point."

What? They think in chorus.

There isn't even enough time for Yaya's brain to process. Her mind spins at the sight of BoBoiBoy's face streaming with untold curiosity. Even when he hardly feels it, it shows. The open lips, the blinking, tense, wondering eyes.

It's suspicious once more.

"Yaya, look at me."

Gorgeous hazel meets the center of her sight. They hold her right there.

"What, no?"

Only, she's looking right at him. Nobody knows what's happening, but all she's focusing on is the tiny, clinquant puddles of amber in BoBoiBoy's eyes. No part flashes red as blood, not even the vessels. His irises barely blur to gray.

What is she doing?

"You already are."

She doesn't deny. He's looking at her too. He forces the gaze, an arrowhead digging to flesh. He keeps going until he drenches himself in her bronze glance. And for Yaya, the thought sinks in. Like there's nothing to hate about this person anymore. He looks human...a man that makes mistakes. A man worth forgiveness.

Something throbs by his temple.

"BoBoiBoy, I'm not tolerating anymore of this insanity-" she murmurs.

What seems like static buzzes at their skin when BoBoiBoy attempts to touch at her arm, where the mark was supposed to be.

An aching pulse by his abdomen sends him back, letting out a faint thump against the balcony rails.

Scrambling, Yaya helps him up to his feet. "Hey, you okay?" She's worried. Why? He spaced out for some time.

He's stammering.

"You...You're one of...them..."

"One? Of what?"

Ocho watches him shuffling his eyes down, huffing and catching a glimpse of Yaya's arm. His hand holding on to it.

Carefully, he lets his grasp slide through. His fingers smoothly glide over her warm skin. Deep down, BoBoiBoy can feel it. Her blood flowing like magma, ablaze with emotion. "You're...a HeartBlood..."

HeartBlood. They don't know what that means. Except for one person. Fang.

"N-No way."

Heads turn to his direction as BoBoiBoy mumbles. "So...you know what they are?"

They. Interest perks their spines up, they don't notice the presence of guards growing outside.

"Y-Yes, I do. But they were- supposed to be eradicated by now," he utters, and then proceeds to recite memorized lines. "In d-documents, they were d-d-described as irenic and rare individuals that, not only act upon rrrredamancy, but also happen to express p-positive affection as their s-s-second nature. Th-They were often described as people who cannot find antipathy within their ssssystems and were considered as antibodies to the Sadistic R-Raid."

"God, kid. English please."

BoBoiBoy pants, not being able to look Yaya in the eye again. "He said something about antibodies, and that is correct.

"The HeartBloods were the people that fought against the Sadists, given they were the only ones physically capable of withstanding the effects of the mark. Most of the time, they were labeled as the people that give love without even expecting anything in return.

"If anything, they were called the opposites of Sadists. They can barely hate, but they were rare in number, which is why it took almost all of them to take them down."

They can barely hate.

She was the special type to barely hate for long after all.

"They...must be the Chosen People Ocho keeps talking about, and maybe that's how he can talk to you," BoBoiBoy theorizes, careful with his words.

Ying pounces beside Yaya. "So, wait, if Yaya is a- HeartBlood, and she was called by Ocho to help, then that must mean-"

"Otoi might've been a HeartBlood as well." BoBoiBoy says. "This is why Yaya can't be marked. She's...practically immune."

More than immune. An antibody.

She looks down to her arm again, plopping to sit in front of the man who could've killed her. She runs her fingers through her faultless skin, feeling the mark that should've been there, but now gone.

It disappeared. Unlike BoBoiBoy's.

"Chosen People," she murmurs, tossing her head up. "Ocho can speak to Chosen People. Me...and you. How can you be a Sadist if you're-?"

"More reinforcements called for the second deck. Guards from West Chambers summoned."

Two guards from the bottom of the balcony hum from the guards' knight-looking helmets. Their visors drop and fall like speaking jaws. And their salutes crunch with steel movements as they walk away, leaving the area unguarded.

"Guys...!" Gopal hoarsely breathes out. "You guys, no more guards...! Gah, finally, we can leave this place!"

Yaya groans more. "Gopal, how many times must we tell you it's too dangerous to just barge in and-"

"I change my mind."

BoBoiBoy.

"You're-?"

"I know you're a HeartBlood now. So you must be protected no matter the cost. There are no more guards anyway. You'll need to leave before he finds you."

The boys have their tiptoes scuttering around the room upon command, finding linens, sheets, drapes, and even curtains to climb down with. The plan isn't absolute, but with a discovery, time must be quick.

"But you?"

She's concerned. It's her nature.

"You're- a HeartBlood too, aren't you-?" she yelps.

"I-" Yaya knows this face. I don't know.

And I don't know when I'll be able to meet you again and tell you of it all.

"Master..." They hear the low greeting of the guards from outside.

"Those are the guards-!"

"No, hold on a sec- I can't leave you, can I now?"

Ying pats on her shoulder. A sign. They need to leave.

"Wait, what-" Yaya sputters.

The next thing she sees is BoBoiBoy tapping on his collar. His blasted collar, of course he can't leave with that thing on. "It can track me. So, go."

Like she can feel her heart thrumming in her chest, all the whispers asking her to leave is just the mute wind falling on her ears. Her eyes are fixated on him, a last face, and a last attempt to smile.

It'll be all she will remember once she has left.

"I will be fine, Yaya.

"Just stay alive...for me..."

"WHERE DID HE GO?!"

"God-" BoBoiBoy's body whips back to the sound resonating from the halls.

Even when they're all helping Gopal tie the sheets, they stop, blood running cold as ice. Even Ocho's tail freezes.

The chained door shakes, but still shut.

"Master, the woman's room is locked. Chained," the guard says.

"What?!"

That voice. Boiling with anger as heated as thunder. Yaya might've let out a tiny gasp. It's getting closer.

"Guys...!" BoBoiBoy sounds scratchy, with an arm reaching behind him.

Unconsciously, Yaya grabs hold. They hide.

It doesn't occur in any of their brains to hide together in one spot. Ocho retreats to the enclosed restroom beside the shelf, and Fang, Gopal, and Ying proceed for the hollow table of the vanity.

One nightstand perfectly fits BoBoiBoy and Yaya to hide in. They rush and bend down.

"Yaya, get over here- It ain't safe-" one of their husky voices calls out from the opposite side.

With the sentence unfinished, the door crashes open. The whole thing is thrown off. The chains chip and rattle over the floor, sliding to the end of the balcony.

Yaya choked a breath a little too loud. BoBoiBoy has a hand over her mouth.

Under the tablecloth. Now, BoBoiBoy mouths.

She obeys.

By the floor, Yaya easily sees the shadow of The Jaguar peeking underneath the covers. Her feet cross together in an attempt to be hidden off completely. She can't stop gasping for air, looking if the silhouette is peering behind the vanity on the other side.

A hand over her pounding heart, she hears the raspy growl.

"Where are you, BoBoiBoy...Little girl..."

Creaks sound from the wooden floor being stepped on by the humongous beast. Beside her, BoBoiBoy's hand slowly lets go of her face, slowly falling to hold her hand tight. They both sweat in the cramped spot and with hiding. But for one thing.

BoBoiBoy is hidden outside the tablecloth, only behind it.

He can only resort staring at the wall right in front of him, or to close his eyes, or to control his breathing, or to press on his chest. The pulsations become more rapid.

Another wood creaking.

"You are in there...I know so..."

The smokey, rancid breathing feels so close, too close.

At their side, they can sense The Jaguar stomping and playing at the torn linens.

"You were trying to escape...were you not..." he speaks to nobody in particular.

In the middle of the action, they've been caught. All it needs now is for him to leave.

BoBoiBoy's breaths are very much inaudible. "Don't find them-

"Don't find them-

"Don't find them-"

"There you are..."

The roar bounces through the halls just as fast as BoBoiBoy gets clawed out from behind the table. At the swerve, Yaya shrieks only a little, not enough for anyone to hear. Her sweaty palms clutch at her jaw, desperate for air. He only caught him.

"Did you hide the girl this fast?" There's a yelp. BoBoiBoy. "You are so quick."

"I won't tell you."

"But you are still such a bad liar," The Jaguar hisses, a giant paw dragging at his hair.

"I don't...have them here..."

"Well, I caught you, and that was all that mattered in our deal. And I am an easy man to talk to."

"No-" BoBoiBoy grunts. "Let me go-"

"I will let you go the same way I did yesterday. With you half-dead."

As if hell just broke loose, the threat tears at Yaya's insides, like they were directed right at her. One word swallowed her whole. No.

"No! Don't touch him!" She crawls out of hiding.

The moment she eyes BoBoiBoy, he's being pulled. With fresh scratches. Outside the door. With The Panther. And guards.

"Oh. There you are," The Jaguar hisses, with eyes of menacing lime green.

"Yaya, why...?"

"I shall catch you later" were The Jaguar's final words, before dissipating through thin air with BoBoiBoy.

And one echo.

"Guards. Seize her!"