When I landed at the bottom of the stairs and looked towards the end of the corridor all I could see was a raging inferno consuming the kitchen.

CLANG!

WOOP-CRASH!

Beyond the living room doorway directly ahead of me I saw Soaks's huge chimeric mass come crashing backwards onto the ground.

Soaks was dazed for a moment but recovered quickly. He rolled and sprung back up onto his draconic legs. His form was a head bigger than I had last seen it; his salamander head larger with even longer fangs; his body broader and rippling with leathery muscle; and his mis-matched arms longer, wriggling, and dripping yet more rainbow-hued acid onto the floorboards.

Soaks's reptilian eyes caught a glimpse of me for an instant, but then looked away.

HISS.

THUD.

THUD.

Soaks was retreating backwards and facing his enemy.

It was then Clang stepped slowly into view at the doorway, but not as I remembered him.

His body was no longer covered in the hoodie he had put on before. Presumably because it had been eroded away by Soaks's acid attacks.

And Clang's face was no longer covered with the spherical swirl of steam, nor the floating gold and silver particles.

Instead, every visible inch of Clang was covered in a layer of gleaming sand-textured gold like a second-skin.

Sections of this golden layer were broken up by large portions of shining silver, as if the silver were the substance keeping the different sections of gold fixed together.

And Clang's face was covered in a mask of gold, with silver in the cracks in the vague likeness of a handprint. And at the eye sockets, which burned with a bright gleaming white, steam rose out.

And Clang looked in a bad mood. He readied himself into a fighting stance.

And then Clang took notice of me. He grinned.

"Hey, Slip," his voice rang, "Don't worry about me. I got this handled."

"Where's Miss Toontastic?" My voice resonated.

Clang broke into an even larger grin, "She left," His voice rang.

"Where?" I resonated.

"To figure out our escape from here," Clang rang, as if that really explained anything.

A hiss from Soaks drew our attention back to him.

"Where's Chips and Lure?" hissed Soaks.

"Upstairs," I said resonantly, "I suggest you go get them because they're out cold and this fire's only getting worse by the second."

I saw the recognition in Soaks's eyes. He looked from me, to Clang, and then inward as he found himself forced to come to a decision.

"Move!" he hissed, and he sprang towards me.

I stepped aside, and Soaks raced by me and up the stairs.

I had braced myself to fight if Soaks were merely pretending to go and help his friends. With Soaks upstairs, I lowered my guard.

KONG, KONG, KONG, KONG.

Clang reached the doorway and offered me a bro's-handshake.

CLANG!

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"Toontastic asked us to get the supplies she brought," Clang rang, "She's already doing her thing, we just need to get our stuff and hold out until she's ready to meet us."

"Where?" I resonated.

"Outside," Clang rang, "But she sounded like she knew what she was doing – why, want to go with a different plan?"

I thought about it for a second.

"No," I resonated, "If she sounded like she knew what to do, then let's try whatever it is – man you look badass."

"Yeah," Clang rang, "The steam-head-thing weren't working - this is better."

Clang pointed to the raging inferno drawing closer from the kitchen.

"Let's go that way. Take the fight to them - Yeah?" Clang rang.

Again I considered whether it was smart to hand over what to do next to Miss Toontastic's idea, whatever it was, and Clang's decision to take the fight to the Pipers.

Give them a chance, resonated Slip inside my head.

"Okay," I resonated, "But remember to pull your punches, okay?"

"All good," Clang rang

I clapped Clang on the shoulder and nodded, and then broke into a sprint. Clang matched my pace, and together we built momentum as we raced towards the kitchen fire.

At the threshold of the kitchen we both jumped, soaring, both using what we remembered of the kitchen layout before to our advantage.

After a second of soaring through the kitchen, and the pocket of unfathomably hot fire, we both sailed through the shattered remains of the burning window and out into the crisp, rainsoaked open air.

RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!

We came under fire pretty much immediately. There were at least a dozen or more Pied Piper Task Force officers ready and waiting with rifles raised.

Further to the right of the stone wall the backyard opened up to an enormous overgrown stretch of open grounds which the Pipers had made their way into – though they didn't have their vehicles like they did with their blockade at the driveway side of the mansion.

Sprinting ahead of the hail of gunfire catching up to us, Clang and I continued towards to the nearby stone wall.

Since we weren't yet fighting the Peepers head on, it was easy enough to run and jump over the stone wall and to continue on through the forest.

Clang led the way and I followed his lead.

After thirty-seconds of high speed running Clang slowed and came to a stop at a particularly large tree where the supplies, all in hefty and familiar-looking carry bags, which Miss Toontastic had brought back from her expedition, were set beneath a tree like Christmas presents.

We wasted no time scooping up the carry bags until we had three each. Combined, their weight was heavy, and were going to slow us down a fair bit, but I was prepared to leave all the supplies at the drop of a hat should I need to.

"Now what?" I resonated to Clang.

Clang, holding his share of the carry bags, simply shrugged.

"Don't just shrug, the Peepers are going to be on us any second!" I resonated.

"I dunno what's she's doing," Clang rang, "I dunno what we've gotta do next."

The unwelcome sound of the helicopter which had flown close to the mansion before, and I had attached myself temporarily to the underside to, rapidly grew near from afar.

"Crap!" I shouted resonantly, "We're out of time! There's a gunner on the 'copter! We've got to go!"

Spittling rain was falling, and though the weather had cleared up compared to the heavier rain earlier, it appeared as if a great storm were building because of the approaching helicopter.

Hundreds of leaves ripped from the tree canopy, and the trees swayed under the pressure from the nearing helicopter's powerful spinning rotor blades. The sound of it was deafening.

I looked back to the way we had come.

BOOM!

The stone wall had been pulverized by an explosive.

Clang shouted something which I could only vaguely hear – I think he said 'They're coming!' but I couldn't be sure.

The helicopter swung round into view ahead of us from between an open section of the forest canopy; looming big and heavy against the dark cloudy sky.

I flinched, readying myself to be fired upon by the gunner that had shot at me before.

But this time there was no gunner. The huge gun was still at the side opening of the helicopter – but with no gunner to use it.

Clang and I both looked to the cockpit of the helicopter and we both finally understood.

There, in the cockpit, was Miss Toontastic with her arm around the neck of the pilot.

Miss Toontastic spotted us, she smiled and waved with her free arm. She then pointed towards the mansion, which was rapidly burning to the ground.

And I understood what Miss Toontastic wanted us to do.

"Clang, follow me!" I yelled, adding as much resonance to my voice as I could to overcome the shrieking helicopter noise.

I broke into a sprint again, working even harder to keep an unrelenting sprinter's speed in spite of the carry bags weighing me down.

Clang, who must have been in his Tension state this whole time, or some new form of it thanks to the addition of the gold and silver layering across his body, was able to remain just one step behind me as we raced onwards at high speed.

Pied Piper Task Force officers emerged from the newly made hole in the wall ahead of us.

We met them at that entrance.

I leapt for the stone wall, and so did Clang.

CHOOK-CHOOK-CHOOK-CHOOK!

The helicopter swung into view ahead of us just in time for us to leap into it from the side opening.

The helicopter moved forwards, and climbed higher into the air. Clang and I moved further into the helicopter to avoid being easy targets. For a moment the helicopter shuddered hard – maybe it had hit the stone wall – but it quickly right itself again.

The adhesion at my soles made it easier to remain steady, though Clang held onto a hanging tether to stop himself from being thrown about.

Higher and higher the helicopter went, and very quickly the burning mansion, the Sub-Divisioners, and the Pied Piper Task Force (with the exception of our hostage pilot), were left behind with the distance increasing with every instant.

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