“So Guy Phoenix got himself a whole new life story?” Brad mumbled, thumbing through the report Dylan got from Sir Ron.

“Yeah, but Ron’s investigations not only saw through it all but knew that it was Anton, and who Anton was. No one knew who Anton was. No one except us,” said Dylan.

“Does any of the made up shit match up to what you know of him?” The Secretary asked, propping her elbow on the table and pinching the bridge of her nose.

“No, there’s nothing remotely similar,” Brad said.

“Right," she said before sighing. "No worries. Dylan, you said there was something else?” The Secretary asked.

“Yes. He warned me of something coming.”

“It wasn’t winter was it?” Brad scoffed.

“No it wasn’t, nerd. He couldn’t say, but only because he wasn’t sure. Not because he didn’t want to. Just that something was coming.”

“Hmm, vague and unhelpful,” muttered Brad.

“Is that it?” The Secretary asked.

“Ma'am. He’ll let us know if he hears anything more,” Dylan said, a little defensively. He trusted Sir Ron, but he accepted how unhelpful it was.

“Ok, good. Fine," she said before sighing. "Hopefully it’ll give us a chance to deal with ‘it’ in time.”

***

Two months later. New York.

“Hey! Sorry I’m late, have you been waiting long?”

“Not at all. It’s usually me who is the late one, anyway,” Brad said, getting up from the bench to warmly greet his date, social media influencer Kellie Valentine. He gave her a polite cheek kiss as they embraced. “I bought these for you,” he said, giving her the bunch of flowers he had with him.

“Oh Brad, they’re beautiful. I love them, thank you,” she gushed. They were a mix of yellowy orange tulips and blue hyacinths displayed with green architectural leaves and other white flowers. “Is this your puppers?” she asked, referring to the French Bulldog sat by his feet.

“Um not quite. I'm looking after him for a friend. His name’s King. Don’t ask.”

“Ok, I won’t,” she laughed. “It was a great idea meeting here. I love this place and it’s waaaay less pressure than a dinner date.”

“Oh definitely. People stare too. I can’t stand starers. At least we can be a bit more anonymous out here.”

He’d suggested they meet in Washington Square Park to then walk around Greenwich Village for a coffee, and having recently moved to New York City, she loved the idea.

After a while of strolling and chatting, the topic of conversation moved onto work. “I’ve probably read the answer dozens of times in interviews, but… what is it really like being in The Collective?” she asked as they crossed a street.

“Well yes, there've been many interviews. But I always give the same answer, and I'll let you in on a secret, it’s not the real answer I give.”

“No?”

“No. I always say how great it is to be part of something, to represent the country. To save lives… yadda yadda yadda.”

“And it isn’t?” she asked, confused.

“Oh no it is, but what I miss out is that it’s hard. Physically, emotionally. Mentally. I don’t say how the loss gets to you, or the fear that today could be your last. I don’t say how doing this doesn’t make you a better person by any means and that we still grapple with the choices we make.” He smiled shyly, embarrassed to have been so up front so quickly. She probably thought she was with someone braver, he thought.

“Well I can understand you not answering with that in interviews!” she replied sympathetically. "You have more on your plate than we can even imagine to have to deal with. It's been a whirlwind few years for us all, let alone you, in the thick of it. Finding out that there are other earths, then the attack in London... It's just honestly been so reassuring to know that we managed to secure that deal that stopped travel between us and the other earths. I just hope that Council thingy, that they stick to it."

"You don't know the half of it," Brad muttered, almost without thinking. He felt his face go red as he realised what he had said out loud. It was true though, they didn't know the half of it. The world had been put at ease by the news that a diplomatic convoy had secured the halt of travel between the earths with the Council of The Universe, but the rest of the deal was kept out of the press announcements. They just wanted enough information out there to be able to put people at ease over what has ultimately been a massive shake up to the life that they know. “But what about you? You must love your work!” Brad said enthusiastically, steering the topic away from things that could get him fired.

“Yeah, I do. And whilst I’m no way comparing what you do with what I do, it can also get tough. My content has to make it look like I do love it. All the time, whatever I’m doing. Push products and hashtags when I might just feel crap and want to stay in bed catching up on my shows. So it can be tough, but in a different way. I have to be on my guard all the time and constantly be thinking two steps ahead about my image. I’m being paid to share certain thoughts and God forbid I have my own thoughts that someone could take offense to and try to cancel me over.”

“But I bet it pays well?” he said cheekily.

“Oh the money’s sooo good!” she laughed.

Brad’s phone started beeping.

“Oooh, is that work?”

He fumbled in his cargo pant’s side leg pocket. It wasn’t the usual work sound.

“Yeah, but this one isn’t a good sound,” he muttered unlocking the screen. “Oh shit. I have to go, I’m so sorry. Please can you look after King and I’ll call you? I swear!” He thrust the dog’s leash into her hand before she could even answer, gave her a kiss on the cheek and ran as Kellie Valentine looked on a bit taken aback.

“Please don’t poop, King," Kellie said in a dog friendly tone, crouching down to give the dog chin scratches. "He didn't leave me any poop bags.”

***

The Lodge, Vermont. Four minutes earlier.

Tobias Torres leant back in his computer chair and groaned at the page of math he still had to do. He’d been at it for the last forty minutes and his tolerance was waning.

He took the rubber band ball on his desk and tossed it from hand to hand as he spun in his chair.

All of a sudden, an almighty explosion shook the walls of the underground base. The fourteen year old instinctively jumped out of the chair, staggering a bit due to the chair spinning. He leaned with one hand to grab his signature stars and stripes tactical vest and reached with the other to whack the door open button.

A second explosion erupted as he ran down the corridor towards where it came from. He was throwing the vest over the orange sports hoody he was wearing as he entered the hangar of The Lodge.

He stopped and looked up in horror.

The hangar doors, which formed the base of the lake they were under had been hit and fallen partly into the hangar, the lake water gushing down through the hole.

The whole scene was disorientating- the smell of burning oil, heat from the ravaging fire and the sound of the panic alarm and a continuous jet engine buzzing from above the hole all hit Tobias hard.

There were armed men abseiling through the hole. Grizzly George reared up on his back legs and was savagely attacking some of the invading forces, whilst Nova had expanded to his unnatural size to back up George. Lying on the ground was Ulrika next to a sheet of mangled metal.

He started to run to her, but George turned to shout, “No! We need you to make sure a distress signal has gone out! We need backup!” Tobias hesitated but knew George was right.

He ran off, in a flash of orange and blue from his matching two piece tracksuit and the patriotic tactical vest. He skidded into the war room and hit the distress button. Protocol was to follow up the alarm with a voice transmission to confirm it’s authenticity. “Vermont to Kansas. This is NOT a drill! We've been breached. This is not a fucking drill!” he yelled desperately.

As quick as he had got there, he was out, heading back to Ulrika’s lifeless body. “Ulrika?” he shouted as he shook her shoulders. No response. He didn’t have time to try again, so instead scooped her up under her armpits and dragged her to a slightly safer area.

Grizzly George and Nova were doing a decent job of keeping the invaders back but they were outnumbered. Tobias jumped in, charging towards a group of invading soldiers who were heading towards the corridor leading out of the hangar.

He leapt into the air, knocking out three of the seven like bowling pins, leaving him with other four to surprise attack, using his tail to whack and smack the life out of them. He couldn’t let them infiltrate the war room.

Tobias turned back and breathed a sigh of relief at the sudden appearance of their first saviour. “Fuck yeah, Bao! Glad you could make it!” he yelled out to the large white striped gray tiger.

She simply roared and bound into the cascading water from the lake above to fight off some attackers.

We’ll keep the line if you can take out any who get past us three, she instructed telepathically.

With his tail out, he, Boy Beaver, did just that. But despite their best, they kept coming.

They couldn’t do this all day.

Soon enough, after what felt like ages, a churning engine sound and another explosion signalled the arrival of their next back up. A Collective branded jet slipped through the hangar doors and haphazardly landed in the hanger next to The Warrior’s smashed Vulture-One ship.

“Proten! Am I glad to see you here!" Boy Beaver cried out, visibly relieved.

“We got your back kiddo. Agwé and The Sheriff are en route and Terri’s not far behind me!” Proten’s long snaking arms extended out, grabbing at two precariously close soldiers and smacked them into each other. These guys are the same as Du Zan’s, he thought to himself very quickly.

He reached out at other soldiers and one by one started throwing them up and out of the hole they had come through.

“Terri here, coming in hot!” she announced through the communicator.

“Can you entertain our friends top side Terri? Prevent them from coming in?” Proten asked.

“I’m on it. How are you doing inside?”

“The Warriors have done… Oh, hold on…” He stopped to save Boy Beaver being overwhelmed, then continued. “They’ve done a top job but we just need to help them take out the trash!”

“I hear ya. Agwé and The Sheriff are here now,” she updated.

“Agwé, I have an idea and I’m going to need you for it,” said Proten.

“Ok, just tell me what you need.”

Proten continued. “BB, I need you to get Ulrika to safety and then shut off the exits out of the hangars.”

“Once I shut off the doors, I wont be able to get back through though,” the boy said.

“I know. Get Ulrika out into your safe room and then shut the doors down. Let me know when you’re both safe!”

Proten was one of the few that Tobias would never argue with and ran to Ulrika’s body, lifting her up, and putting her over his shoulder this time.

“Good man, now get going!”

Proten continued to fight on whilst he waited for Boy Beaver to acknowledge he was safe. “Agwé, when the doors are shut off, we will try and get all of these soldiers down into the hangar and then I need you to flood it and generate a whirlpool. We’ll drown them out! Does that work for us all?”

“Yeah, good plan!” called out The Astral Sheriff in agreement.

Proten watched as the doors connecting the hangar to the rest of the areas of The Lodge slid shut.

“We’re locked down, Pro,” the teenager announced.

“Agwé, flood it! Everyone else, make sure you get out!”

Over the next few minutes, The Collective members made sure to make their way out of the hangar and to ensure the invaders were in it and unable to get out.

Nova flew Grizzly George out whilst Bao disappeared and reappeared with the others on firm ground. Proten pulled himself out to join Terri, The Sheriff and Agwé, all stood on what had been the bottom of the lake which was completely dry now. She was already controlling the water in the hangar, causing it to swirl furiously around. The gargled shouts and screams from the trapped were just about audible over the water.

An urgent alarm sounded from their communicators, the same sound that had cut Proten’s date short earlier.

“This is Kansas. We are under attack! We need help here now!”

“Holy shit, what’s going on today?” Terri asked gravely.

“We’ve got to go. Agwé can you stay here with the Warriors? Make sure Ulrika gets evacced? The rest of us, pack up. We can’t let The Facility fall,” Proten said.

“My boys are there, you don’t need to tell me twice,” The Sheriff called out, already running to his jet. The others did the same, leaving Agwé stood on the lake bed, looking bemused at the huge white tiger, the grizzly bear and the pterodactyl sized crow.

“Terri, my jet’s in the hangar sloshing about, can I come with you?”

“Jump in.”

Once the jets disappeared into the clear blue sky there was a bit of an awkward silence.

"Hi, I'm Agwé. It's nice to meet you all. Sorry about your... home?"

No one said anything back, except Bao who purred loudly as she rubbed up against the bear.