"Stop running!" I yelled as we ran down the hallway we last saw Phantom in. "He's clever... He has a trap planned." said Dakota. "Let's spring it." James clenched his fist. Doc pulled out his notepad. "A Taken that has kept his mind separate of Oryx.. Interesting. With the success of my..." Doc swirled towards Blake. "Just a sample of his mind could be promising." "Doc, not now. I promise once we kill him you can tear his corpse to pieces if he doesn't evaporate into smoke." Blake tried to compromise with his mumbling ghost. "Oh, no no no. Keeping him alive would be much better! We need to keep his mind intact, then we can learn how Oryx 'Takes' people." Doc stared at his notepad as he jotted something down. "And how will you restrain a Taken smoke? Huh?" asked Blake. "A lighter?" I butted in. "That depends on the gases that makes up Phantom. Hydrogen, methane, and oxygen, which is most likely, would turn him into a fireball." explained Doc. "Huh?" asked James. "No fire or big a** explosions without me!" "What could we do with any gas? It is a state of matter..." Doc smiled. "Blake, do you still have heavy ammo?" Doc looked up. Blake looked at his side. "Uh... Well ah..." he pulled out his empty sword hilt. "Nope. And don't have any Synth on me... Do we?" Blake looked at Doc. "Luckily, we have one more... I'm going to have to give you another dose of my Experiment 777." Doc gave out a heavy synthesis and drew one of his syringes. "Uhh, no thanks... I still have a reeling headache..." Blake took the cartridge and placed it into the hilt, allowing Dark-drinker to form. Blake placed the sword on his back. "At least save it as a last resort." Doc pulled the needle away. "Ah, you're right. I probably shouldn't overdose.. could lead to death.. ANYWAY, when we find Phantom, freeze him." Blake glared at Doc. "Thanks.. for the concern..." We spotted Phantom down a long narrow hallway. The hallway opened up into a large cylindrical chamber where he stood. "I will deliver you to your King. He will give you new shapes to wield." "More like: leading cattle to the slaughterhouse..." said Dakota. "I thought we were smarter than the average cow." Morin cocked his head to Dakota. "That's why we won't enter the slaughterhouse..." continued Dakota. Phantom faded away. Dakota signaled us to slowly walk down the hall. Phantom appeared behind us and tossed a Taken grenade at us. He dissapeared before we could do anything about it. We jumped to the ground as the grenade exploded. We stood back up as Dakota yelled into the foul air. "Phantom, wouldn't you rather prove to Oryx you're stronger than this?! Don't you want to prove your might to your 'king'?! Come and fight us!" "What are doing?! Don't make him mad!" I shouted. Phantom stood in front of the Guardians, he formed in his most solid form. After a second, he was no longer visible. "Uh oh..." I thought to myself. Phantom appeared behind Blake, about to snatch his throat but Blake spun around with Dark-drinker, forming a vortex around him. Ice built up on Phantom's hand. When he faded away, his frozen hand stayed. "Yeah!!" I cheered. "Now we got a plan!" Phantom stood in front of us, he held up his arm as smoke formed around his wrist. "Come freakin' on!" I yelled, throwing a tantrum. Phantom took a shotgun from off his back. Phantom ran towards Dakota, and slid under his force push. Phantom stood up and aimed the shotgun at Dakota, but Dakota took the barrel and pushed it to the side, allowing Phantom to take the stock and hit Dakota across the face and to the ground. Phantom aimed the gun at the lying warlock. Blake raised his Chaperone, sending a single slug towards Phantom's head, who was merely a ghost when the bullet reached him. When Phantom reappeared he was behind James, holding the shotgun around his throat. James tried to pull against the shotgun, but then backed up into a wall, crushing Phantom. I looked around the room for the Taken. Nowhere. Suddenly, Phantom force pushed me into a wall. He tried to Take me, but I threw up my bionic arm blocking his grip. I looked up, but Phantom had vanished just. The best thing I saw was Morin flip Phantom over his back. Dakota helped Morin and force pushed Phantom into the wall. Blake pulled out his Dark-drinker and spun around! The room began to cool down. Fast. When the vortex ended, Phantom was an ice cube, up to his head, that is. "Great! Now, just a sample of his 'tissue'." Doc flew up and stuck a syringe in Phantom's neck. Phantom tilted his head away from Doc, but it was no use. He looked to the ghost as he flew away with a bottle of the mysterious material. "I wouldn't try to 'phase' away, Phantom. You'd decapitate yourself." Dakota shifted his stance as he looked at the former warlock. "I don't think it would be safe to keep Taken glop in the lab." I said staring at the needle. "It will be quarantined..." Doc was studying the substance. "May we kill this bas****, now?" asked Blake as he held the Chaperone in Phantom's face. "Watch the.. uh... freakin' language!" cried Susan. Doc simply nodded as he looked at the substance. "I have a sample, he is no use to me now..." Blake flipped the shotgun around his hand, loading the next shell. "About d*** ti-" "WAIT!!" cried Doc. "I could give him a dose of Experiment 777 and see how he reacts..." Doc slowly approached Phantom, but five black orbs appeared in the room, pulling in matter and other substances. We all looked around as the orbs surrounded us. "Now what?!" exclaimed James. Five Taken knights surrounded Phantom. Four of them deployed a wall of fire, blocking us. The fifth knight melted the ice entrapping Phantom, letting him escape to who knows where. "Really? Really?!" Blake yelled as he let the Chaperone dangle from his grasp. After Phantom vanished, the knights focused on us. All five of them launched their fiery motars at us. We would have been burnt to a crisp, but Blake deployed a ward of dawn. The fire raged just outside of the shield. James ran past the knights and punched one in the back. The knight's spine made a loud CRACK as it fell to the ground. Blake ran out, grabbed one knight by the arm, and flipped it over his back. The knight tilted its head to see the ominous blackness of the Chaperone's barrel. Morin jumped in the air, clapped his hands together, and smashed his knight's head inward. The last two knights tried to retreat. "Well... That happened." I said. Dakota spawned a fusion grenade and tossed it onto one of the knight's arms. First, it melted into place then exploded. The knight had covered the walls. The last knight was mine. As it ran, I shot its leg. It stumbled and fell. When it got back up, my knife stuck into his head. As we walked on, I retrieved my knife from the corpse. There he was, Phantom again... Another victim in his grasp. There was little we could do. Just watch. The Guardian captured had a robotic voice, and he didn't sound like he was choking. "What was that about 'Taking exos'?" Dakota asked. "Um, to Take something one needs a direct connection to a biological maaa- Ooh." I understood what he meant. "I am your deliverance. Your King is expecting you... He will Take you..." Phantom stared at the hunter. Taken substance seeped into the hunter's gear, but the man didn't flinch. Phantom looked at the man's chest, where he should be Taking him, but nothing was happening. He looked back up in concern. "Surprise mother f***er!" the hunter punched Phantom right across his face. "Yeah!!" I cheered. Phantom spiraled to the ground but disappeared before landing. He appeared on an odd rafter. "How? How have you learned to resist the grasp of the King?!" Phantom left before any of us spoke. We walked up to the hunter, who was dusting off his cloak which bore the symbol of Osiris. "Hello, I'm Captain Dakota." Dakota held out his hand. The hunter looked to us awkwardly. He looked down at Dakota's hand and slowly reached out. "Uh.. I'm Arc-21.... Nice to meet you." Arc took a step or two back. "Are you okay?" asked Dakota. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm tracking down a Vex, or Taken Vex now, when that bas**** attacked me." Arc put a shell into his rocket launcher, a model from Crux-Lomar, the Truth. "Oh, father... please teach your followers some better vocabulary." said Susan, almost praying to the Traveler. Dakota turned away from us and back to Arc. "Do you need any help tracking down this Vex?" Arc was nervous about the question. "Uh, no. I can handle it." Arc looked at each of us. "Are you, by any chance, [i]Wolf Pack[/i]?" Dakota quickly looked over us again, then back to Arc. "Yes? What seems to be the problem?" "The Vanguard have been trying contact you for four days." he said. "It hasn't felt like four days." I said astonished. We all stood there looking at each other. What could be the Vanguard want this time? Dakota removed his helmet. "What was the call about?"