"Eh, why don’t I show you somewhere to hide," came the offer as Aptom worked to conceal his shock. No Zoanoid he’d ever stalked had ever mentioned family before, and he hadn’t had any reason to think any of the others would be different. Still, eating this guy’s brain would be a good way to learn about him. "I know somewhere."

"Are you sure it’s a good hiding place?"

"Are you kidding me? It’s a great hiding place!" Drawing up what was evidently convincing fake enthusiasm, given that the Zoalord slipped his hand into Aptom’s when the Lost Unit offered it, Aptom grinned as he turned away, thinking, No one’ll ever find you.

"Great! I bet Dad will really be surprised."

Yeah, I bet he will be, Aptom chuckled to himself, pulling the Zoalord along. He’d always thought they were supposed to be smart—hell, old Balkus had been a genius, even if he was a complete asshole—but Aptom wasn’t going to complain about an easy meal, especially when all of his other attempts to find something to eat had gotten him blasted, mangled, or screamed at.

Of course, he didn’t mind the screaming all that much.

Hunger finally winning out over his desire to not get himself blasted into very small pieces while he was trying to digest his meal, Aptom threw off his leather jacket and dove on the dumb little Zoalord, who didn’t manage so much as a squeak or a yelp before he was enveloped, though he did struggle a lot.

Aptom liked that.

XxXxX

Imakarum, striding through the forest searching for his son, was startled by Kenji’s sudden mental scream. Turning toward the feeling he got of where Kenji was, which Kenji would have more than likely considered cheating had he done it while they were playing their game, Imakarum teleported instantly to his son’s side once he had gotten a clear fix on Kenji’s location.

XxXxX

Aptom could hear shouting, though with his liquid form lacking ears as it did, the only thing he knew was that there was someone shouting. The vibrations were kind of distracting, so they were annoying to have to deal with when he was trying to eat, and for about half a minute Aptom considered reforming his head so he could yell back at whoever the hell it was that was babbling at him.

That was when Aptom felt himself being torn off his intended prey, and then torn apart by what was probably an energy attack. The little Zoalord had probably called one of those tasty Hyper Zoanoids from their post digging through the rubble of Mt. Minakami. Through the link that he still had with his four other clones, Aptom gave them all the information they would need if they wanted to have the little Zoalord for lunch.

He knew they’d want to do it; they were him, after all…

XxXxX

Imakarum, after he had disposed of the last remnants of Aptom, took off his long cape and threw it over Kenji, both to keep his son warm and to sop up at least some of the blood that Kenji was covered in. It looked like Kenji’s skin had been torn open in several places, which unfortunately fit with what he had learned about Aptom’s absorption methods. Holding Kenji close to his chest and offering his son at least some comfort, Imakarum teleported them both back into Cloud Tower.

He knew—intellectually, at least—that he had to be in a fairly pronounced state of shock for him to be operating this calmly while Kenji was unconscious and bleeding all over his cape, that there would be a great deal of running around and panicking involved once he actually, emotionally realized what had just happened, but for now he was thankful to be in shock. It helped him function without breaking down.

That would come later.

He couldn’t really remember contacting Lord Hamilcal for help, but he evidently had, since the Second Zoalord had appeared before him. Imakarum vaguely recognized the fact that he was asking for help, telling him that Kenji had been attacked by Aptom, but all the while felt like he was wrapped up in gauze, like he had taken two large steps back from the world and was now watching it from behind a glass screen.

It was probably for the best.