(A/N: Well there's not really much to say except that updates will be pretty irregular. Sorry for the long wait, but I have written parts of future chapters to come! Anyway, here's the chapter that you've all been waiting for, inspired by a song titled "Still Here" by Digital Daggers.)

Flashback...

Sky and Deadlox huddled around the campfire, the cold wind nipping relentlessly at their skin. They were unusually silent, and the crackling of the fire was the only sound that could be heard. "What's that?" Deadlox suddenly asked, pointing at the sky. Something was barreling towards the earth at a high speed from way up in the atmosphere, and the sight could be seen for miles.

With a melancholic expression on his face, Sky looked up to see what Deadlox was referring to. "I don't know," he said in a clipped tone before bowing his head again.

Deadlox bit his lip as he stared at Sky's deadpan expression, an expression that didn't fit the 15-year-old at all. Of course, after losing pretty much everything they'd had in the past few days, Deadlox couldn't blame him. He forced himself not to think about that and continued to observe the strange space object, which was now a brilliant ball of fire searing through the night sky, plummeting at a high speed towards the ground. "It kind of... looks like a spaceship..." Deadlox said as the object got closer, his red eyes widening when he realized the implications. He estimated that the object was about to hit the forest just a few miles away. "Sky-" was the only word he managed to utter before the crash cut him off. The two of them clamped their hands over their ears as the deafening blow shook the ground.

They slowly looked at each other, both of them quivering with shock and fear. "Do you think we should check it out?" Deadlox asked after a moment of silence.

Relief washed over him when he saw finally something flicker in Sky's dull golden eyes. "I guess so," Sky said, picking up his golden sword. "Let's go."

---

Quentin let out a rather unnaturally high-pitched yelp and jolted awake when he heard a loud crashing sound and felt the ground tremble. Creeper attack? was his first thought as he looked around the pond he had been sleeping in. Nope, he'd probably be dead if it was. One of his TNT experiments went off for some reason? No, he'd definitely be dead if that was the case.

He swam to the shore and stood up, looking around. In the distance, he saw black smoke rising in the air. "What in the name of..." Quentin said in confusion, trailing off as he stared at the strange sight. "Someone might be in trouble, I gotta see what it is," the mudkip said to himself as he picked up his iron sword and headed towards the direction of the smoke.

---

When he first heard the explosion, Jerome's first instinct was to look at Seto accusingly. The sorcerer threw his hands up. "It wasn't me this time, I swear!" Seto said, despite the fact that he had a reputation for occassionally exploding things on accident. "It sounded like it came from outside!" The bacca looked out the window and saw a thick column of smoke rising from somewhere in the forest. "Does... Does this happen often around here?" Seto asked tentatively. He had only been with Jerome for a few weeks and was still unused to the forest. The confused expression on the bacca's face told him otherwise.

Jerome's black eyes brightened. "Let's check it out!" Jerome said excitedly, picking up his prized iron axe which he had named "Frederick" for some odd reason.

"But... what if it's dangerous?" Seto asked, worried.

"That's what makes it an adventure! It has to be dangerous or it gets boring!" Jerome said, his mischievous smile revealing his sharp fangs.

"If you say so..." Seto said hesitantly as he followed the bacca outside.

---

"Gotta keep them safe," 18-year-old Ian muttered, wringing his sweat-stained hands and huddling underneath a makeshift shelter. "Gotta run away from Mama and Papa. Gotta keep them safe. Gotta run away. Gotta-" He stopped his mantra and looked up, a streak of white-and-orange light reflecting across the dark lenses of his sunglasses. It crashed into the forest and exploded. The sunglasses slipped off his face as he fell to the ground. Ian opened his startlingly blue eyes with alarm, frantically grabbed the sunglasses, and shoved them back on in the nick of time. His heart pounded in his chest as he breathed deeply. That had been a close one.

Ian stared at the smoke rising into the sky. "It... It's none of my business," he told himself. But what if someone's hurt? "You can't risk it. You might lose these glasses and then it wouldn't matter anymore." Yet despite his mind telling him to leave, his legs remained rooted to the spot. He internally battled with himself for a few minutes.

"I... I'm just going to see what happened, and then I'll leave right after, no harm in that, right?" he told himself tentatively as he finally caved in.

---

Jason felt his stomach drop as he lost control of the spaceship. It dived downwards, plunging towards the spinning ground at a rapid speed. He cursed under his breath and opened the door before grabbing Dillon and tossing him out. He desperately hoped that the bat would be able to fly away safely. Jason then reached under the seat for the only parachute in the spaceship. It wasn't much, but it would have to do for both him and Jeffrey.

Jason slipped on the parachute, grabbed Jeffrey, and leaped out the spaceship at the last possible moment. The spaceship crashed into the forest below. Still clutching Jeffrey tightly, Jason plummeted downwards for a couple of seconds before he opened the parachute, slowing his descent. Jason's heart pounded furiously in his chest as he watched the spaceship catch on fire. This is not good. I don't know a thing about this planet. He fervently wished that he was back home, but he was painfully reminded of the fact that his home was gone.

As the space man neared the ground, he could see tiny white figures standing a little off to the side. They kinda look like skeletons... Jason thought for a moment. He let out a shriek when an arrow whizzed by him, barely missing his helmet. He looked down at the ground, where there were now even more of the skeletons. They were all pointing their bows at him. "H-Hey!" Jason yelled anxiously, writhing in a desperate attempt to divert the parachute away from the monsters. "Stop! Don't shoot! I come in peace!"

The skeletons ignored Jason's pleas ("Stop! Stop!") and unleashed a volley of arrows. At first all of the arrows missed him, but Jason soon realized that they weren't aiming for him; they were aiming for the parachute. Jason was completely helpless as the arrows soon found their target, tearing the parachute apart. He and Jeffrey were only about several yards from the ground when the next thing they knew, they were free-falling again, with nothing to slow their descent.

Jason screamed as he saw the ground rise up to meet him.

When he came to, he was staring dazedly up at the night sky. The myriad of stars looked stunningly beautiful as they swirled above his throbbing head. The moon seemed to be two blurred images blending together, and it hurt Jason's eyes just to look at the sight. Everything hurt, in fact. His lungs were aching, his left arm was bent at an odd angle, and his legs were bruised and battered. Fortunately his suit had taken most of the blow, although there were cracks spider-webbing in the corners of his helmet. He was still wearing the parachute, which had been reduced to a bunch of white tatters.

Where's Jeffrey? Where's Dillon? he suddenly thought. Jason's eyes widened in horror when he remembered his beloved pets. Jeffrey wasn't in his arms anymore; the pig had disappeared. Jason needed to get up, he needed to find them. He grunted with pain and exertion as he attempted to move his right arm without disturbing his left one. Tears streamed down his face as he almost blacked out due to the effort and went limp. But he couldn't give up now, he needed to get up!

Jason felt something sniffing him and weakly turned his head to see a familiar pig. "Hey... Jeffrey..." he uttered faintly, cracking a small smile. "You... okay? Is Dillon... with you?" He heard a small fluttering of wings and relaxed, knowing that both of his pets were safe. Jeffrey laid his head against Jason's side, clearly exhausted by the entire ordeal.

Jason heard the sound of footsteps approaching them. "Jeffrey, Dillon, get out of here!" he hissed. The two animals obeyed. Jason turned his head to the side and almost screamed in terror when he saw a strange creature with fins standing there. Was it there to eat him? Was it there to kill him like those freaky skeletons? "Go- Go away!"

"Woah, woah," the creature said, kneeling down, "I'm not here to hurt you, just calm down..."

Jason was anything but calmed at the sight of another strange creature, especially since this one could speak. He flailed about, attempting to get away, but once again pain shot up his arm and he stopped. Jason stiffened when he heard the clacking of bones. "Skeletons..." the creature muttered under his breath as he pulled out a red block that was labeled "TNT" He stuck a flint and steel against the block, which began to flash white and emit a loud hissing sound. "Well take this!" he yelled, hurling the block at the skeletons. Jason didn't see it, but he definitely heard the explosion. "And stay away!" the creature yelled. Jason let out a pained moan as he tried to move again. "Stop moving! See, there's more people coming to help, you're going to be fine!" the mudkip said reassuringly.

Jason saw two more people approach them, concern written all over their faces. Could he trust them? And for that matter, why was it getting harder for him to breathe?

"Ty, go patrol the area, there seems to be a lot of mobs around here," the one with curly hair and a purple-and-gold amulet around his neck. The one with the green headphones nodded and left. "Hey, mudkip, what's going on here?" Amulet Guy asked.

"I have absolutely no idea. I just got here, same as you," the mudkip replied.

Jason let out a terrified whimper and started to hyperventilate when the curly-haired teenager placed his hands on Jason's helmet. However, it was becoming a struggle to breathe that fast. There was now a suffocating pressure on his chest that was increasing by the second. "Woah, hey, I'm not going to hurt you, I'm just-"

"Don't take off that helmet!" another voice ordered. "You don't know if he's from here! For all we know, he needs that helmet to breathe!"

"Who are you?" the amulet guy asked. "And- IS THAT A BACCA?"

"Yes," a voice growled in reply, "I am a bacca, and I'm called Jerome, thank you very much!"

"I'm not sure if I can trust you..." Amulet Guy said.

"There's no need to panic. My name is Seto," the one who had told Amulet Guy not to remove the helmet said. "Jerome and I are here to help. You can trust us."

Jason attempted to say something, but his breath caught in his throat and he began to cough uncontrollably. The pressure on his lungs was becoming unbearable. "Can you breathe?" the amulet guy asked, on the verge of panicking. "Are- Are you suffocating? Is it because your helmet's cracked? Is that it? Tell me!"

If Jason hadn't been on the verge of suffocating to death, he would have found it amusing how Amulet Guy was asking a carbon dioxide-deprived person a bunch of questions and demanding a response.

"DON'T DIE ON ME, DAMMIT!" Amulet Guy shrieked, desperation apparent in his voice. "WHAT DO I DO?! WHAT DO I DO?! TOO MANY PEOPLE ARE DYING!"

Too many people are dying? What does he mean by that?

"Does anyone have some water?" Seto asked calmly.

"This guy is dying and you're asking for some water?!" Amulet Guy yelled. "Are you out of your mind?!"

"No, I'm a sorcerer and I think I've got a way to fix his helmet!"

"Oh, guess I wasn't the only one who saw that thing fall from the sky," yet another new voice said. It was getting harder and harder for Jason to keep track of everything that was going on; his mind felt like it was swimming in frozen slush and his lungs were burning with each futile breath he took. "I... um... guess I'd better get going-"

"Do you have any water?" Seto demanded urgently.

"Um, yeah, here you go-"

"Thanks." Seto said, snatching the water bottle from the newcomer's hands. Amulet Guy stepped aside (or rather, was pushed aside by the sorcerer) and let Seto kneel over Jason, who was wheezing and struggling to stay conscious. His mind was spinning and the edges of his vision were starting to blacken. He needed carbon dioxide! Seto opened the bottle cap and poured a little bit of water over Jason's helmet. His hands hovered over the helmet and his brown eyes began to glow purple as the water sunk into the cracks and froze, effectively sealing them. "There. That should do it, at least for a bit."

Jason blinked rapidly and felt the pressure on his chest start to alleviate. The filters on his suit could now work properly. "Th... Thank... you..." he murmured.

"We need to get him to a shelter of some sort," the mudkip said. "He can breathe, but he's still injured. His arm's broken and he's pretty banged up."

"Why don't we just build a shelter right here?" Jerome said. "We can't move him too far."

There were murmurs of agreement, but Jason wasn't really paying attention. He was far too exhausted and he wanted nothing more than to just drift off. "Hey, I'm Adam, but call me Sky." Amulet Guy said suddenly. "What's your name?"

"J... Jason..." he replied weakly, his eyes half-lidded.

"Hi Jason, I'm Adam, but call me-"

Headphones Guy (Ty, Jason recalled) punched him lightly on the shoulder. "You just said that a few seconds ago!"

"Oh, whoops," Sky said, laughing awkwardly. "Sorry, I'm kind of tired right now..."

Jason smiled slightly and relaxed. He watched all six of the people who had gathered to help him. He had never met these people on this new planet before, and it seemed that most of them had never met the others, but Jason could inexplicably feel a strange connection forming. After everything he had lost-- his home, his family, his spaceship-- Jason had the feeling that he would be okay with these people.

As long as they were here, he was safe.

---
---

Present day...

The sun was only beginning to rise above the horizon as Jason laid on his bed, wondering how things had gone so wrong so quickly. Everything had been going fine just a few weeks ago. Sky, Deadlox, Jerome; they had all been safe. The entire team had all been together.

But now it was falling apart, tearing at the seams, and Jason wondered if the remaining pieces could be salvaged. Only he, Quentin, and Ian were left, and it seemed like the latter two were ticking time bombs. Once they had been inseparable, but now everything had changed. Now all they ever seemed to do was quarrel viciously and accuse the other of being the reason why none of their friends had been found.

It hurt Jason to see them act this way, to see them hurling words that neither of them truly meant at each other like swords. And yet, Jason found that he could blame neither of them. The space man could tell that both of them hadn't been sleeping properly. Most of the time they were hidden, but whenever Ian pushed up his sunglasses everyone could see the dark circles under his bloodshot eyes. He would sometimes zone out, sometimes even in the middle of his sentences, but would immediately snap back to attention when Quentin started yelling at him.

Quentin was constantly jittery, flinching whenever there was a sudden loud sound. Jason suspected this was due to the nightmares he'd have, the ones where the mudkip would start shrieking in his sleep, begging someone to "leave his friends alone" and "take him instead". His screams would wake everyone in the base (by everyone there was only three, a number far too low for Jason's comfort). Unfortunately, this included Ian, who would start berating the mudkip for waking him up, and that would lead to Quentin yelling back at Ian, and then Jason would have to step in to stop the argument and send Ian away.

It seemed that the only words that were said amongst the three of them were from Ian and Quentin's arguments. Other than those times, there was a heavy silence that hung uncomfortably in the air. The home base now seemed too big, too empty. It was just so wrong.

Jason stared at the helmet in his hands before putting it on. He took a deep breath and felt his lightheadedness go away. (When he slept, he only required a minimal amount of carbon dioxide.) Jason glanced at the pig sleeping comfortably on the other side of the bed before standing up and walking out of the room. He didn't really know where he was going at all this early in the day, but he just needed to do something in order to clear his thoughts.

Jason stopped in front of a room and looked at the poster on the door. "NO SQUIDS ALLOWED" was written in big, thick, golden letters. Jason cracked a nostalgic smile; he could almost hear Sky yelling those words in an annoyed voice. But sadness crept back when he realized that he might never hear him say those words again. The space man suddenly had the urge to enter the room and couldn't explain why. He rested his hand on the doorknob for a moment before slowly opening the door. Jason stood at the entrance, petrified. Was he invading his friend's privacy like this? What if he was entering a dead man's room? Jason swallowed before gathering the courage to move his legs forward.

Sunlight shone through the window, allowing the space man to see the state of the room, which had remained exactly the same as Sky had left it all those weeks ago. Various things were strewn about in a typical Sky-like fashion-- the curly-haired teen had never been a stickler for organization. Jason glanced at the golden weapons hanging on the walls, the messy blankets on the bed, and the clothes randomly tossed on the floor. Although Sky was who-knows-where (don't even think about the Aether), Jason could still feel his presence. It was an eerie, uneasy feeling that made the back of his neck tingle.

A book lying on the dresser caught Jason's attention. Curiosity got the best of him as he picked it up and swiped off the dust that had settled on the brown leather cover. "PHOTO ALBUM" was what it said. They were probably photos from Sky's childhood, since no one living outside a city would ever have a camera. What if it's got a bunch of personal photos? Jason wondered. What if he never wanted anyone to see them? But he needed to see Sky's face again. Jason's hands trembled as he opened the book.

The first 30 pages or so fell from the book (for some reason they had been torn out of the binding all at once, judging from the jagged rips and crinkled state of the papers), but Jason swiftly picked up the pile and placed them back as neatly as possible. Jason saw a slightly faded photo of Sky, only he was much younger. He was probably only about 8 or so, Jason estimated. Adam's baby face was dotted with freckles and his brown curly hair was a mess, but the dimpled smile was instantly recognizable. Adam was standing in front of a wooden fence, his golden eyes gleaming as he grinned at the camera. For some reason, there was mud staining Adam's hands and his blue overalls.

He wasn't alone in the picture, though. There was another boy, just a few years older from the looks of it, standing next to Adam with his arm around his shoulder. He was smiling shyly at the camera. Jason assumed that the boy had albinism, judging from the boy's long silver hair and bright red eyes. The boy's hands were also covered in mud, but Jason realized from the cleanness of his clothes that he'd been the one throwing mud at Adam. Who was this kid? Jason wondered briefly, before remembering. It was probably Ethan, Adam's older brother. Adam had been adopted into the family, but he and Ethan had still been extremely close. Then the Squid War began, and Ethan had decided to join the army.

Sky had never seen him again.

Sky had told them that Ethan had only been captured by the squids, but later when Sky had left the room Deadlox had confided that Ethan had probably died in battle, but Sky was stuck in denial because his brother's body had never been found. Still, Deadlox admitted, it was for the best if they let Sky continue to believe that his brother was still alive.

Jason skimmed through the pages and saw Adam and Ethan grow up with each picture. There was no denying the closeness of their relationship. Photographs of birthday parties marked each passing year. Jason stopped when he reached the last torn-out page. The photo it contained had Adam and Ethan standing together. It seemed no different from the rest of the pictures, but in this one Ethan was wearing a brown colored uniform. This had been the picture Adam had taken before Ethan left for the army. The last picture that they would ever take together...

Jason slammed the book shut immediately, closing his eyes. He was going too far, this was an invasion of privacy, this wasn't any of his business! But the urge to see Sky's face was too much, so he reopened the book and turned back to the page where he had left off. Jason felt chills run down his spine when he saw the next photo. Adam was resting his elbow on the shoulder of a familiar boy with long brown hair that covered one of his red eyes. Deadlox, Jason thought with a pang. This must have been when they had become friends. They looked so happy in the picture. They each wore a smile that Jason had seen many times.

It had been several weeks since he'd seen those smiles, and Jason was beginning to think that he never would again. Jason traced his finger along the photo, tears threatening to fall from his eyes as he stared longingly at Adam and Deadlox, before he flicked through the book rapidly. Now he was watching Adam and Deadlox grow up with each picture. They were at school, they were building a snowman, they were mock fighting with wooden swords, they were eating birthday cake.

It wasn't long before Jason reached the last filled-in page, a photo of Adam and Deadlox standing at the very end of a parkour course. They were about fifteen years old. Jason gazed wistfully at the photo, consumed with longing. Then, like a rubber band that had been stretched to its limit, reality came snapping back painfully. The room suddenly felt a lot colder and emptier. What was I thinking? Jason thought as he placed the book back on the dresser and hastily exited the room. Jason stole one last glance before closing the door as quietly as he could. He leaned his forehead against the door, trying to steady his erratic breathing. That was a stupid, stupid idea.

Jason sucked in his breath and collected himself. He couldn't afford to start breaking down, he had to remain calm for Ian and Quentin. Now's not the time to panic, you still have those two. But did he? Were those two people who always fought, the two people who seemed ready to fall apart in any moment due to the copious amounts of stress, the Ian and Quentin he knew?

The space man sighed and began walking away. He didn't get very far before stopping in front of another door, which had a poster saying "KNOCK BEFORE ENTERING OR ELSE". Jason smiled sadly as he envisioned Deadlox's annoyed expression whenever someone came barging in uninvited. But the painful fact was if Jason knocked right now, no one would answer. Jason hesitated for a moment before venturing inside, despite the small part of him that told him not to.

Unlike Sky's room, Deadlox's was orderly, although the bed had remained unmade and there were some occasional weapons tossed carelessly on the floor. Jason slowly approached the bed, where he saw a pair of green headphones. He delicately picked it up with his gloved fingers. Deadlox never wore his headphones during his morning patrol (that would be completely impractical), but otherwise he was hardly ever seen not wearing them. Deadlox never really admitted why, but the rest of them all knew it was because of his fear of sudden, loud noises, brought by that... traumatic experience that had happened to him and Sky. Thus, the headphones were a source of comfort for the brown-haired teen.

Jason suddenly clutched the headphones tightly, trembling as something snapped inside of him. Jason heard a low, keening wail cut into the still silence before realizing that he was the one making that sound. "D-Dammit Ty," he whispered, "why- why did you and Sky and Jerome... Why..." He grit his teeth when he felt a burning sensation in his throat. With a yell of anger, he hurled the pair of headphones across the room. It clattered on the cobblestone floor, skidding a few feet away. "I HATE YOU!" he screamed loudly. "I HATE ALL OF YOU! WHY DID YOU GUYS JUST LEAVE US LIKE THAT?! WHY?!" The space man let out an uncharacteristic snarl of pure rage as he kicked the headphones again and again, finding some sick sort of pleasure in watching them repeatedly hit the wall. "WHY?! WHY?! WHY WHY WHY WHY?!" Then he stopped, panting heavily as all of his strength faded away. "Why..." he whispered brokenly as he began swaying like a willow in the breeze. He sat down on the bed before his legs gave way.

He heard the door open slightly as a certain pig pushed its way inside. The pig trotted towards him, pressing itself against his leg. Jason sniffled as he picked it up and placed it on his lap. It nuzzled its head against Jason's stomach affectionately and oinked. "Hey Jeffrey," Jason said quietly, holding the space pig tightly. "Sorry you had to hear that..." The pig oinked in response. "It's just... I miss them so much..." Jason whispered, tears gathering at the corners of his green eyes. He briefly let go of Jeffrey to remove his helmet and wipe his eyes. "I don't even know what to do anymore... I'm so... lost. There- There must be something I can do, but what?"

Jeffrey merely gazed up at him with startling blue eyes that held far more intelligence than a normal pig's would. Jason sighed and put his helmet back on, already feeling lightheaded from the lack of the air he was used to. He began rubbing Jeffrey's stomach, who plopped down lazily on Jason's lap. "Why did it have to be them? Why couldn't it be-" Jason cut himself off before saying the words "someone else". It wouldn't be right to say something like that, now matter how much he wanted his friends back.

Jason unconsciously let his inner thoughts spill out. He desperately needed someone to talk to, and Husky and Ian weren't exactly in the right state of mind to listen to him. "When we first realized that Sky and Ty were gone, we thought that it would be like all those other times, you know? We thought the squids had somehow found some stupid yet effective way to capture them, and we would easily find out where they were and save them. But... there weren't any clues. The only things the squids gave us was that damn letter and that photo." Jason clenched his fists as he recalled the absolute fear which looked so out-of-place in Deadlox's red eyes. He still had that photo in his drawer, but he never looked at it. It was something that disturbed him to the point of nausea. "We overestimated the squids. We knew they were getting smarter, but this? None of us saw it coming. It's been weeks now, and we still aren't close at all to finding them."

Jason swallowed due to the lump in his throat. "Then we found Mitch. I wish I'd gotten to know him better, but he seemed like he had things to hide. But Jerome... Jerome saw something in him though." Jason closed his bloodshot eyes regretfully at the thought of the bacca. "I should have gone with Jerome. I shouldn't have stupid enough to let him go on his own. If the squids managed to take both Sky and Deadlox, obviously even he was at risk. I should have seen the danger back then. Maybe... Maybe if I hadn't been so careless he'd still be with us. Maybe even Mitch would've stayed. But now I don't know where either of them are..."

Jason hung his head. "What kind of a friend am I? What kind of a friend just lets everything slip out of his hands? They're probably dead already! How can they still be alive, we've found absolutely nothing for weeks! This- This is all my fault! Why am I even here, I should be the one who's dead- OW!" Jason drew his right hand back and clutched his fingers, which were throbbing in pain. At least the space suit he was wearing had lessened the impact. "Did you just bite me?" he asked the pig on his lap. Jeffrey responded by glaring at Jason with disapproval.

"Okay fine, I won't say stuff like that again. Promise." Jeffrey seemed pleased with this statement and resumed resting his head against Jason's lap. Jason stroked the pig and closed his eyes thoughtfully. "You're right Jeffrey," Jason said after a few minutes, even though the pig hadn't really said anything. "I shouldn't give up like that. After all, Seto's coming, right? He said so in his reply! If... If we can't do it, then Seto can. He'll manage to find something, I'm sure of it..."

Feeling a lot better than before, Jason placed Jeffrey carefully on the floor before standing up. He made his way to the door, but saw the headphones still lying on the ground. Feeling incredibly ashamed of his previous outburst, Jason picked them up and wiped the dust off with his fingers. He stared at the headphones once again. "Deadlox, Sky, Jerome, I don't know if you can hear this..." he murmured, "...but we need you. Quentin, Ian, and I, we all do. So please. Please be okay. Please don't be dead..." Jason whispered desperately.

Then the strangest thing happened. The green headphones suddenly changed to glow a teal-blue hue. "I'm sorry..." a voice whispered from the headphones. Jason's eyes widened when he recognized the voice. Deadlox? he thought, too startled to scream or even make a sound. He put one side of the headphones by his helmet and listened carefully.

"This is all my fault..." Deadlox's voice continued. "But please... Do one last favor for me..."

Jason unconsciously held his breath as he clung on to every word.

"Don't... lose... hope..."

A loud fizzling sound filled the air as the headphones reverted back to their bright-green color. Then everything went silent. Jason blinked rapidly and stared at the headphones with bewiderment. "Did you see that?!" he asked Jeffrey, who was standing next to him. The pig merely cocked his head to the side in confusion. "I... I must have been hallucinating or something. Dammit, I've got to get more sleep..." Jason said, knowing full well that it was easier said than done.

For some reason, he had the strange feeling that he was being watched, so he looked around. For a strange moment he swore he saw a blue, slightly transparent version of Deadlox standing by the door, watching him with a mixture of pain, sorrow, and regret.

But when Jason blinked, Deadlox was gone.