"Hello, alien friend," General Peter said, walking forward with John by his side. "It's been a while, and I'm surprised how long it took us to track you down. You must be very sneaky," Peter remarked.
"Keep your guard up!" John advised his soldiers. "He's fast, very fast," John said, his brows furrowed.
"How did you find us?" Steven asked, his fist clenched, ready to attack at any moment.
"We wouldn't have found you if not for the files we had on you and your old friend who lent you his boat," Peter replied with a smirk.
"But why here and now? I thought I could have some time with my family, and here you are, ready to ruin everything," Steven said.
"I'm sincerely sorry to ruin your family moments, but there's nothing we can do about it. I promise taking you out won't take long," Peter said.
"And mister alien, I have a surprise for you," Peter said as he signaled his soldiers to fire.
"Incoming! Watch out!" Sam shouted from behind Lucas and Steven.
"Take cover!" Lucas screamed.
The soldiers raised their guns and began firing at the trio.
In an instant, everything paused as Steven's body crackled with lightning. He turned, picked up Sam by the waist, and dashed out of the soldiers' sight. He ran a distance away from the house and put Sam down.
"Stay here for a while; it's for your safety," Steven said to Sam.
"Kick their ass," Sam replied and hid behind a tree.
In the next moment, Steven was by Lucas' side. "Let's party!" Steven screamed.
They both dashed forward. Lucas hit two soldiers, sending them flying through the forest, while Steven dashed around, disarming the soldiers one after another.
"Whirlwind!" Lucas screamed as he clapped his hands, releasing shockwaves across the forest. The waves blew many soldiers away, sending them into the air. Lucas then lifted a military van and hurled it at the soldiers in the air.
The van hit most of them, sending them crashing against the forest trees. The van exploded, and instantly some trees caught fire.
"Steven!" Lucas shouted. "Move the fallen soldiers to a safe place," Lucas ordered.
"On it!" Steven replied and dashed off, picking up soldiers that were in the fire one by one. He carried them to another location in the forest.
"Oh no! Alien boy, it won't end this way. Like I said, I have a surprise for you!" Peter yelled.
Immediately after saying that, he pushed a button on his wristwatch, and the top of the van he stood beside opened up, revealing two mech robots. General Peter immediately climbed into one of the mechs. "Let's get on with this," he said.
John also hurriedly climbed into his mech robot and activated it.
The two mech robots' eyes lit up with a strong red light. The mechs were dark in color, with muscular builds covered by strong metal steel. They had a humanoid shape, with one arm in sword form and the other with sharp claws that reflected the dim light of the moon.
"Let's get down to it!" Peter said from within the mech. Peter charged forward, swinging his claws toward Lucas' neck, but Lucas was fast. He dodged the attack by bending down and followed with an uppercut that sent the mech crashing to the ground.
"What! How is this happening? Zane added more power output to the mech, but how is he still matching my speed and power? Oh no, please don't tell me he has gotten stronger," Peter thought, gritting his teeth.
"Haha, miss me?" Lucas said, smiling as he dashed forward, gripping Peter's mech by the arm, pulling him to the ground, and slamming him into a van that exploded on impact.
"Wow, you really underestimated me. Too bad for you, that might be where you fail again," Lucas taunted.
"That's fine; it won't happen again," Peter said as he emerged from the wreckage of the van. He immediately charged forward, swinging both arms at Lucas, but Lucas blocked the attack with his arms crossed above his head and leaped up. Lucas descended with a punch powered by his brute strength, striking the mech on the head and sending it crashing to the ground, creating a crater beneath.
When the dust settled, Lucas stood above the mech robot, part of its face shattered, revealing Peter's face as blood gushed from his mouth.
"Why did you come after me again?" Lucas asked in a low voice.
"Like I said, you are a threat to us. We don't know what your true intentions are, and we can't trust you that easily," Peter replied, coughing up blood.
"I've told you, I mean no harm," Lucas said, still looking down at Peter.
---
Meanwhile, John had launched himself at Steven, who had finished moving the soldiers. John, in his mech robot, unexpectedly caught onto Steven as they both stumbled across the ground. John immediately pinned Steven to the ground using his clawed arm.
Steven struggled to break free, but the power of the mech was stronger than him.
"Okay, you asked for it!" Steven said. His body began to vibrate uncontrollably, and he shot out a surge of power that hit John's mech, sending it crashing into the forest trees.
Steven immediately got to his feet and dashed forward, picking up a sharp piece of metal and thrusting it into the mech's shoulder.
"Arrrgh!" John screamed in pain. "I'm still losing even with the mech robot. What is this power, and where did they get it from?" John thought, gritting his teeth in pain.
"That should keep you down, to buy us time to escape," Steven said.
---
Sam had been in the forest for some time, waiting for the battle to end, but he felt it was taking too long.
"I thought Lucas had gotten stronger, so what's taking him so long to finish off those bastards?" Sam said as he got up to head back to Steven and Lucas.
Sam walked through the forest, navigating his way around by the battle cries and echoes. He had walked for some minutes and started dripping sweat. "Damn, Steven must have carried me far away from the battle. It's not fair; they should let me fight too. I can do it. It's not that hard, is it?" Sam thought.
After some time, he finally arrived at the battle. He could see Lucas standing above a mech robot. "Where's Steven?" he thought as his eyes scanned the burning forest.
He soon caught sight of Steven, who was also standing above a mech robot.
"Hey guys! We should get going!" Sam shouted as he headed out of the forest.
In an instant, Lucas and Steven were by his side.
"We have to get to my family and get them far away from this place," Steven said.
"Got it, I'll find them," Lucas said as he took to the sky. His eyes scanned the forest and soon caught sight of Steven's family at the edge of the forest.
"Seen them! They are at the edge of the forest, straight ahead," Lucas said as he flew towards them.
"Got it," Steven replied as he picked up Sam and dashed off, heading for his family.
They eventually arrived at the edge of the forest.
"Ellen!" Steven called out. He walked up to her, and they stared at each other without saying a word.
"I'm sorry I left you," Steven said, finally breaking the silence.
"What now?" Steven asked. "I'll be heading to my dad's," Ellen replied in a calm voice.
"Okay then," Steven knelt to Lila's level. "Hey, take care of your mom for me," Steven said, rubbing her head. Lila stared at him for a while before nodding.
Steven hugged them. "Run along now," Steven said as he wiped away the tear rolling down his cheek.
Ellen and Lila boarded their boat and sailed off, waving at Steven.
"Nice, sorry to interrupt your moment, but we have to go before they catch up with us again," Sam reminded.
They all got on their boat and sailed off. "Where next?" Steven asked with a stern voice.
Lucas turned and smiled. "Groot. We're heading for Groot," he replied.
"Groot? Where or who is that?" Sam asked.
"He's the king of the forest, and he has alpha energy. We need to get there fast. I can sense I'm running out of time."
---
Back in the forest, Peter, John, and his soldiers had gotten to their feet.
"Quick! To the edge of the forest. Don't let them escape," Peter commanded.
The soldiers immediately stormed out, rushing to the edge of the forest with Peter and John slowly following.
They eventually got to the edge of the forest, but the alien had escaped long ago.
"Damn!" Peter screamed. "I'm coming for you, alien," Peter said, staring at the vastness of the ocean