After what seemed like an eternity of reliving tragedy, Synth found himself in... actually, he wasn't quite sure where he was. It looked like the room he and his friends were kept in their whole lives, but everything looked much brighter.

Just then, he noticed an even brighter light approaching him. Synth covered his eyes, at first unable to handle the intense glow, but they widened back up once he realized what... no, who... this light was coming from.

“Aaliyah?" he stammered, choking up with a hand over his mouth. The fiery Troll nodded at him, just as beautiful as the day he lost her.

“Friend."

•••

“It's gonna be okay, Synth," Viva muttered as Synth used up whatever strength he had left just to breathe. “You're gonna be okay..."

“Keep doing what you're doing, Veev," Floyd said. “Plasma, let's get that thing ready to transfer the passkey."

As Plasma attached Ræm's implant to a stand above a screen, Floyd attached the end of a wire connected to the implant into a device that resembled a magnet. Viva took the device with one hand, while rubbing Synth's forehead with the other, and placed the smaller device against Synth's chest, so the passkey could be transferred into the kill switch and override it.

“Here, we go," Floyd said, beginning the transfer as several lines of data appeared and scrolled down the screen. Plasma took a closer look and blinked in concern.

“This isn't right," she said. “It needs to be faster."

“How do we speed it up?" Floyd asked. Viva wasn't paying attention, she was more focused on Synth, whose glowing body dimmed as he winced in pain.

•••

“I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." Synth said tearfully, keeping his gaze away from Aaliyah.

“Synth..."

“I let you down, yo..." he blubbered on. “I got you killed. I got everybody killed..."

“We were right," Aaliyah said as she gently pulled Synth's hand away from his face. “The sky is beautiful, and it is forever."

Synth looked down to notice he was finally holding hands with Aaliyah. Something he had wanted to do for a long time, but couldn't due to her heat burning him.

“And... I've been flying with our friends," she continued, turning her head to look back at two familiar faces behind her. Synth looked past her to find Bumpy and Float waving at him. With a heartfelt smile, Synth raised a hand back at them before returning his gaze to Aaliyah.

“Can I come?" he asked pleadingly, no longer caring about the life he would be leaving behind.

“Yes!" Aaliyah replied, causing Synth to sigh in relief. His pain was finally ending.

•••

After one last painful jerk, Synth's body lost all tension and Viva, Floyd, and Plasma noticed a heart monitor flatlining.

“No," Viva gasped. “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no..."

“Synth..." Floyd muttered in heartbreak as Viva shook his body.

“I'm sorry," said Plasma sympathetically.

“NO! NOOOOOOOO!" Viva screamed in agony. She tossed the device aside and began compressing her hands repeatedly into his chest.

“Viva..." Floyd said in protest. “Viva!"

“I'm not losing him," she said with tears in her eyes.

“He's gone!" Plasma argued.

“I AM NOT LETTING HIM GO!" Viva shouted, and continued her attempts to revive the Troll she loved.

•••

Synth smiled as he made his way towards his friends and noticed Float dancing around happily. After today, it would just be the four of them and the forever, beautiful sky.

Then, without warning, Aaliyah placed a warm hand against his chest.

“But not yet," she warned. “You still have a purpose here."

“A purpose for what?" Synth sobbed. “They made us for nothing! Just some stupid experiments to be thrown away!"

“There are the hands that made us, and then there are the hands that guide the hands," Aaliyah said, pulling Synth down by the neck so she would lovingly press her forehead against his. “The only one who knows what you're really worth is you."

Synth wrapped his arms around Aaliyah, not wanting to let her go.

“I don't... I don't wanna be without you," Synth confessed. “It's why I'm afraid of the dark... because I know you ain't there."

“You don't need a light to stay warm," Aaliyah reassured him. “You just need to remember you are loved. So hold on, for us... and them."

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Viva jumped up in surprise as Synth woke back up and gasped for the water in his breathing mask. Floyd grabbed the device, placed it back on his chest, and more lines of data scrolled much faster until finally, they stopped.

“Passkey successfully transferred," F.I.O.N.A. announced. “You may now treat Synth with an Insta-Heal injection."

Plasma pulled a small syringe out of a drawer, injected it into Synth chest, and watched his vitals return to normal. Once the bruises were gone and the color returned to his body, Viva ripped the mask off his face, accidentally splashing water all over herself and him. Synth coughed as his vision cleared back up.

“Viva?" he groaned. Viva just slammed her lips against his, then pulled away to let him breathe some more. Once Synth caught his breath, they shared a loving embrace with Floyd joining in, relieved his friend was okay. Plasma just stood back and smiled to herself, happy for the three Trolls before her.

“Where's Willow?" Synth asked, breaking the silence. Viva and Floyd looked at each other in worry, unsure how to explain the teen's absence.

“Well, uh, she..." Viva muttered. “She's..."

“Because her face is flashing on that thing behind you," Synth pointed out, pointing to a monitor with a picture of Willow's face on it. Confused, Viva pushed the button on her comm.

“Willow?"

“Where are you?!" Willow asked from inside the Ark, which was miles away from their ship.

“Willow! Oh, thank God!" Viva exclaimed in relief.

“Are John, Hope, and Trollex with you?!" Floyd asked.

“All here and accounted for!" Trollex confirmed.

“We're all here to get you outta here!" John Dory added as he changed Hope's diaper.

“Out of where?" Viva asked.

“The Idealist's ship," Willow answered.

“No, we got off the ship," Viva confirmed.

“You what?!" Willow exclaimed.

“Wait, where are you?" Floyd asked.

“On the ship!" she confirmed.

“On the ship?!" Floyd repeated questioningly.

“I didn't lie."

“Why are you on the ship?" Viva wondered.

“To save you, obviously," Willow huffed.

“No, I told you we'd meet you back here!" Floyd reminded her.

“In Will's defense, little bro, it's kinda hard to know what going on with the rest of the team when an entire planet is being destroyed," John Dory pointed out.

“I agree— OW!" Veneer screamed as one of the children bit him. “Hey, no biting!"

Floyd blinked in surprise. “Is that Veneer?"

“Yeah, but don't worry," John Dory assured him. “These kids got him neutralized."

“Kids, what kids?" Plasma asked.

“Wait," said Trollex, “how did you get out?"

“Uh, that's not really important," Floyd tried to insist.

“We jumped out!" Viva blurted out.

“You jumped out of a ship taking liftoff away from an exploding planet?!" Trollex exclaimed. “I told you to swim, not fall!"

“The important thing is we're all okay," Synth finally spoke up, causing the three Trolls aboard the Ark to look up in surprise. Veneer popped his head up from a dog pile of kids in curiosity. John Dory turned away from Hope to see Willow's stunned expression.

“Synth?" she gasped.

“Yeah, he's here, and he's okay," Floyd confirmed, causing Willow to break down in tears. Trollex, too, wiped a few stray tears away from his own glowing green eyes.

“Synth," John Dory said, holding back his own tears, “we all love you very much, and we're grateful you're alive, man."

“Oh, please," Synth cried softly. “I can take any hit. It's you guys I should worry about."

“He's right about that," said a voice Synth prayed he would never hear again. Viva noticed him shuddering and ran over to comfort him.

In the Ark, Willow, Trollex, John Dory, and Veneer noticed the kids cowering away from them as the Idealist entered the room with Bralø and the owl-droid.

“Back in your cages!" he shouted. As the children ran back into the cages as told, John Dory immediately recognized this man as the same creature who attempted to abduct Branch when he was just an egg.

“You...!" John Dory growled as Willow prepared an electrical blast. However, just before they could do anything, the Idealist let out a wave of energy, knocking the three Trolls off their feet and out of consciousness.

“Dada!" Hope cried out, nearly falling off a short ledge just before Veneer caught her. With one glare from the Idealist, he just nervously lowered the baby Troll back down to her daddy and put his hands behind his head. Hope crawled onto John Dory's chest, grabbed his face, and attempted to shake him awake.

Viva blinked in worry. “Willow? Willow, come in!"

As Willow's body remained still on the floor, the Idealist used a pair of tweezers to pull her comm off her suit and press the tiny button.

“So, you'd like to joust, would you?" he said, growing more and more impatient. Viva just looked over at Synth, who tensed up at the sound of his tormentor's voice.

“Go to hell, you monster," she said angrily. “You killed all of those people!"

“As I will your friends," he vowed. Veneer's eyes widened and looked back down at the four Trolls at his knees, fearing for their lives. “I'm sending you the coordinates. They will die unless you BRING ME WHAT IS MINE!"

Viva shook her head angrily. “Screw you, you giant, stretch-faced, bug-eyed, yellow-toothed, psicó piece of mier—"

Annoyed by Viva's rage-fueled insults, the Idealist simply crushed the comm with his thumb and index finger.

Viva huffed. “He hung up on me, that's just rude."