“What’s next, Itzel?” Janus asked as Gurk stared into the long corridor that Zuwya vanished into. His arms dangled by his side while Eva remained chipper, continuing to wave to the scientist from atop Gurk’s shoulders despite the woman having long since vanished. “Did you still want to go to Sano Mosado?”

“Of course I do,” Itzel said with a sigh. “It’s not that long of a trip. And I’m sure Dallas’ backup would be more than willing to give us a ride the rest of the way there. But there’s someone that we need to consult first.”

“Your dad?”

Itzel nodded as she activated her projection. “Yep. Without him, we probably wouldn’t even be alive. I know he must be worried sick right about now.” The fighter pressed a few keys on her screen. Within a second Galo’s face appeared on screen. His opened wide with sagging lids. He inhaled rapidly as he looked into Itzel’s eyes.

“Itzel!” he exclaimed with relief.

“Hey dad!” Itzel replied with a smile and a friendly wave.

“Where’s everyone else? Are they all right too?”

“Yeah. Everyone made it out just fine.” She turned to the side to let Janus fit on the screen before waving at Gurk. “You two need to come over here.”

The crocodile came marching forward, towering over the other two and waved at Galo. “Hi,” Gurk mumbled.

Galo placed his hand over his heart and huffed. “Oh. You three don’t know how worried you had me for the past two days. You promised you’d call every single day, and within the first twenty-four hours you had already broken it!”

“I guess it’s a good thing that you’re an overprotective parent!”

“I can’t afford not to be! You’re all that I have left in life.”

“I know, dad,” Itzel replied. “I’m... sorry that we got you so worried.”

“I... assume it wasn’t your fault...” Galo said. “Ringa and Brielle told me about your encounter with the Sand Carver. I’m guessing your recent disappearance had something to do with that?”

Itzel shrugged her shoulders. “To a certain extent, yeah. But it’s a long story, dad. Very long one.”

“I’m all ears. Not like I got anything planned for today. Or tomorrow.”

“That’s perfect then. That means we can give you the full story after a bit of rest and once we’re out of this scorching heat.”

“That’s fair. But could you at least give me just a brief summary of what was going on with you over in Sano Mosado?” Galo asked while pinching his pointer finger against his thumb.

Itzel and Janus looked at each other. “You want me to explain?” the physicist asked.

“Go for it.”

Janus stood in the center of the screen. “We... came across a group of... dangerous individuals.”

“What?” Galo snapped over Janus’ sentence. “I knew letting you three travel alone was a big mistake!”

“You act like Labrisson is a safe haven!” Itzel interjected. “Keep in mind that we’re exterminators, dad. We make our living killing deadly monsters. Remember?”

“Right. But I didn’t expect you to be going from one dangerous town to another! I’d rather you be risking your life close to home!”

“Sano Mosado has no one in it, dad,” Itzel replied. “We were on our way there. But this lunatic rich guy and his equally crazy family put us on a detour. It was a one-in-a-million kind of thing. Trust me, Sano Mosado is going to be like a day in the park. Without the threat of Essencima.”

“Oh, yeah?” Galo said as he put his face closer to the screen and raised an eyebrow. “What makes you so sure of that, huh?”

“Because the Rumble Circuit Committee is going to be overseeing everything! You think they’re just going to let some monsters or criminals get in the way of their event?”

“They almost did! You just said you three had your trip interrupted by some crazy family.”

“That’s... different.”

“Uh-huh.”

Itzel lips formed a long frown. “I’m sorry, dad. I really am. We didn’t mean to get you so worried.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“I know. But I’m still apologizing because we’re going to finish our trip to Sano Mosado. We’re closer to that town than we are to Labrisson. And even though our arrival was delayed, we can still make it to the exhibition on time if everything goes well.” The fighter leaned in closer to her projection, maintaining eye contact with her father’s. “I get that your worried. And... I love you for that. But this could be our one shot to change everything.”

Galo sighed. He kept his eyes focused on his daughter, unable to move them away. He grumbled again before leaning back in his seat. “All right, all right. You’ve made some valid points, Itzel. Should have been an attorney instead of an exterminator.”

“So you’re fine with us going?” Itzel asked as she smiled.

“Fine? No. I’m still worried sick. But life’s all about taking risks. That’s something I never did when I was your age and look where it got me.” Galo pointed to his chest before letting out a cough. “It should be every parent’s goal in life that their kid ends up happier than them. I can see by that light in your eyes that this Rumble Circuit means more to you than anything else.”

“Thank you, dad. I know it must be hard staying at home all by yourself.”

Galo chuckled and winked. “Would be a lot easier if you actually called me like you said you would.”

“That’s fair. We’ll be sure to give you daily updates.”

“Maybe more than once a day. At least twice. Does that sound fair to you?”

Itzel nodded. “Sure. We can do that.”

“Good. I’m going to hold you up to your promise now,” he said with a wag of his finger. “Do you have an idea of when you’ll be heading out to Sano Mosado from wherever you are right now?”

All three looked up at the top of the estate. Dallas guided a groggy Evelyn by the electric tether that kept her cuffs fastened. “We’ll be leaving pretty soon. And it looks like we’ll have to talk to an enforcer for a bit.”

“Sounds like you’re still busy,” Galo replied. “I’ll let you go then. I’m sure you’ll have plenty of time to talk once you finally board your carrier.”

Itzel winked. “We’ll call you the moment we step on board.”

“But there’s one more thing I wanted to ask.” Galo’s eyes drifted to the duckling perched on Gurk’s shoulders. “Who’s the kid you got with you?”

“My sister!” Gurk said with glee. He lifted Eva off his shoulders and held underneath the arms and dangled her in front of the projection. “Say hi!” he said to the duckling.

Eva opened her beak wide and made a friendly sounding chirp.

“She’s adorable!” Galo said as he focused on the child’s eager bouncing. “Wait. Did you say, ‘sister?’”

“Like I said, dad. It’s a long story. We’ll tell you everything once we’re on our way to Sano Mosado.” Itzel turned to the side and watched Dallas usher the other Grani to the crumbled remains of his carrier. Galo angled his head to look past the group and watched as the enforcer fit the captive into the vehicle. He blinked twice and wagged his head.

“This is a lot to take in. I’m going to need something to drink to calm my nerves.”

“Not a bad idea. And I’ll even send you a few tokens to cover a meal, too. Get whatever you want dad. On us.”

Galo took in one last deep breath and extended one hand towards his projection. “If you say so. But I expect a call. Soon.”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Itzel said with a wink.

“Talk to you later.”

“Bye,” Gurk said as he waved. The call ended, making Itzel’s screen vanish with it. By the time the projection fully faded, Dallas stood behind the group with his arms crossed.

“That’s all of them, right?” the enforcer asked. “Besides, Mag of course.”

“Yes,” Janus said. “Everyone else that participated in the event didn’t make it out of the dome.”

“What a shame. There’s nothing I love more than seeing criminals brought to justice. But at least you three made it out all right.” Dallas then looked around the area. “Wasn’t there another one of you?” he asked with confusion.

“She booked it,” Itzel replied. “I can give you her ID if you need to get in touch with her.”

“Nah. The fewer people I have to include on the report, the better. Especially after how we... bent the rules.”

“Fair enough,” Janus said. He placed a hand over his head to mitigate the bright light that beamed down on his forehead. “And you said that reinforcements are on their way to pick us up?”

The enforcer activated his screen. “Yeah. They’re en route. Should be here any minute now. We’ll be heading to Sano Mosado. Where are you all from again?

“Labrisson,” Gurk said.

“You don’t mind going to Sano Mosado first, do you? I know it doesn’t have the bright lights that your city is known for, but it’s a shorter distance from here and it’ll make it easier for us to get questions answered for the reports.”

Both Itzel and Janus turned to each other, both bearing a smirk. “Actually, that’s exactly where we were heading,” Janus said.