After Jay left Nya alone with the ill Master of Poison, he made a quick pit stop at his own apartment, remembering that he had forgotten his wallet. Also, it was to check up on his robotic roommate.

Unsurprisingly, though, he found his apartment empty upon reentry. Even the mug Zane was drinking earlier hadn't moved from its place. Jay swallowed hard. The harsh tone Zane had given him before rushed to the front of his mind and chills suddenly ran down his spin.

"He knows..." Jay muttered before racing out of the room, nearly forgetting to shut the door behind him.

...

As Lloyd made his way down the sidewalk, his fingers burned from the chilly air. He buried his hands deep into his pockets while the late afternoon sunrays hit his back. His mind wandered to his uncle. The conversation he had with his father a few weeks ago still rang through his thoughts, causing his expression to darken.

Is uncle really on the run?

Did he really try to expose us?

His body shivered even harder at the what ifs that been haunting him for weeks. However, Kai's words jolted to the front of his mind.

But, I teased you, so you'd loosen up. You look so stiff all the time. I mean if I had to spend all day acting twice my age, I'd go insane!

A small smile broke Lloyd's withered expression. He shook his head and continued his path down the sidewalk.

Just breathe, Lloyd. Just... breathe.

Snap!

Lloyd stopped in his tracks. His attention was pulled towards the forest to his right. The same huge forest that rested behind the college. His eyes trailed over the shadows while the wind rustled the trees. He managed to spot a figure dashing further into the woods. He let out a sigh.

Probably some students messing around in the forest...

He shook his head before turning towards the woods, heading deeper as well.

Better make sure they're not doing anything stupid.

...

Meanwhile, Cole and Seliel could be seen inside the supermarket. The two strolled through the isles with the pink-haired warrior snatching flour off the self. She then waved the ingredient in the earth master's face.

"See this? It's flour. It goes in several recipes, including cake," she mocked before Cole pushed it away.

"Oh really? I thought it was salt," he replied as the two headed down another isle.

"That explains why the cake you made was so dry," she countered with a smile.

"So tell me all knowing Cooking Sage, what's the next ingredient we need?" he asked, growing a smirk. Seliel glanced around the isle before returning the smirk.

"Well, since we're already down here, might as well grab the frosting and--"

She didn't even get to finish before Cole made a beeline straight for the dozen different flavors of frosting. Seliel rolled her eyes before following the excited elemental.

"Should we do chocolate or vanilla?" Seliel asked as she scanned over the flavors.

"Why not go crazy and make mermaid splash flavored or something?" Cole teased, showing off the container with the picture of a mermaid tail.

"What the heck kind of flavor is that? Is it gonna taste like fish?" Seliel remarked, grabbing the bottle and reading the back.

"No idea but why not try it?" Cole asked, sounding serious now.

"Hey, we can start adding weird ingredients after you get the basic ingredients right," Seliel stated while setting the frosting down.

"Ouch, wayda hurt my pride," Cole replied before grabbing the chocolate flavor.

"Says the guy who wanted mermaid splash for their cake," Seliel mocked, causing Cole to laugh.

"Fair point." The two strolled further down the isle, walking closer this time. "So what's the next ingredient?"

Seliel was about to answer, but her eyes trailed over to the several customers they passed by. Their gazes were harsh while they whispered to one another.

"Are they dating?" she heard someone ask.

"Isn't she a regular human? Gross!"

"Ugh, why is she dating an elemental? He's not even good-looking..."

"He can do so much better."

Seliel gritted her teeth, glancing behind her at the rude customers.

"Uh, Seliel?"

"Yeah?" she asked, but her eyes were still glued to the bad-mouthing students.

"You... o-okay?" The pink-haired girl snapped out of her death glares and turned back to Cole. However, she noticed his cheeks were a tad pink. She raised an eyebrow at his sudden shift, but her gaze trailed down to their hands. Her brain finally connected the dots once she saw her own hand latching onto Cole's. Her face heated up before breaking the hand-holding.

"S-sorry!" she stuttered, stepping back. Seliel, though, was suddenly pulled towards the earth master again. Cole had grabbed her hand, and the two were shoulder to shoulder once more. He smiled down at her. She watched his chocolate brown eyes, once again seeing the sincerity in his grinning face. Her guard melted, and she blinked away the confusion. Her face broke into a smirk as the two stared for a moment more. In that moment, Seliel's wall was falling back down as she squeezed his hand tighter. After their staring contest, Cole glanced back down at the list Seliel held.

"So... the next ingredient?" he asked again. Seliel turned towards the list.

"Eggs. You know what those are, right?" Seliel teased as the two continued their walk, still holding onto eachother.

At the same time, Skylor and Kai were sitting down at a table in a rather fancy restaurant. After the two finished their orders, Skylor crossed her arms towards her boyfriend.

"Okay, what's your deal?" she asked with clear suspicion in her eyes.

"What?" Kai questioned, sitting across from his date on the white clothed table.

"You barely ordered anything. I thought you were gonna order the whole menu or something. You know... to rub it in my face or something." Her gaze hardened.

I mean, that's what I would have done...

"I already ate earlier," Kai answered, snapping Skylor out of her thoughts. The red head's face contorted. She then scoffed before pinching the bridge of her nose.

"You're unbelievable," she answered, but her tone was light.

This idiot... why even make the bet if--

"You know... I did mean what I said before..." Skylor turned back to the flaming young man.

"What?" she asked.

"That you're so beautiful... confident.. strong..." he muttered, but he kept eye contact with her. The back of Skylor's neck burned. Silence grew between the two before Kai coughed to clear his throat. He then glanced down at the table as his face reddened.

"I uh... just wanted to make sure you knew I wasn't joking. We do that so much, and I'm uh... you know... not one for sharing my feelings that well... heh," Kai remarked while rubbing his neck. Skylor stared at the young man. The heat reached her cheeks before she dry-washed her face, not even caring if she smudged her make-up.

"I'm not any better at doing that either... but why did you eat before--"

"I don't know... I guess, I was just... glad to be going out with you. Didn't really care about the bet, you know?" Kai finished before taking a sip of his drink. "Plus Zane made lasagna last night, and I wasn't about to let Cole scoff down the left overs."

Skylor let out a laugh in response while her cheeks were still flushed with pink. She then placed a hand over her boyfriend's.

"You're adorable~" she replied.

"Oh really? I thought I was your hot tamale?" Kai furthered while wiggling his eyebrows.

"Oh! Now you like the name?" Skylor mocked before the two shared a laugh that carried throughout the busy restaurant.

...

Whoosh!

Jay landed on the large mattress to find himself back in Borg's lab.

"Pixal?" Jay called out. He searched around the small room, but there was no one in sight. "Pixal!?" His eyes trailed over to the metal door on the other end of the room. He headed over to tightly secured entrance, and there was a keypad on the wall next to it. He tried a few different number combinations, but the keypad flashed red. He groaned before pounding on the door.

"Pixal!? It's Jay! I need to talk to you!" he shouted, waiting for a reply. However, silence carried on more and more. Jay bit his bottom lip and scanned the room behind him.

Where the heck is she?

...

Zane dashed through the woods, following his falcon friend. He zigzagged around the trees, finding that it was getting harder and harder to see any sign of the college or the town. The forest was thick and deep. He had been running for quite a while now, so he figured that he was reaching the edge of the barrier that protected his school.

ROAR!

"Gah!" Zane jumped by the sudden noise. Even the falcon had stopped. The andriod stared at his flying friend before sprinting past him to find the source.

ROAR!

The andriod's mind raced with several thoughts before he spotted a clearing. His feet raced closer to it find a creature in the center. It carried tentacles but held the body of a crustacean. Purple splotches scattered all over its tangerine skin. One of its spikey tentacles slashed towards a warrior dressed in metal armor. They sprinted towards the beast, slicing the tentacles with their swords. Zane drew closer once he saw another tentacle sneaking up from behind the masked vigilante.

"Watch out!" Zane exclaimed before blasting the deadly thing with ice. The warrior jumped out of the way while taking out a small device.

"Leave now!" their deep voice shouted towards Zane as they slammed the device on the ground. However, the ice master refused and instead raced infront of the warrior. He protected them with an ice shield.

Whoosh!

Zane blinked at the sight of a force field that zoomed out of the tiny contraption and covered the whole clearing. Now, Zane and the warrior were trapped--

--with the monstrous creature only a few feet away from them...

A/n: Whoa! Long chapter! Really wasn't expecting to write so much, but I did want to make it long since it was chapter 20. See you guys next time!