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It was Saturday evening. Camp Larkspur had been running for about a week and half. A general malaise had settled on the camp. At the beginning, the Camp was full of life. People were running and screaming, everything seemed to be great. But over the course of the last week, it seemed that almost everyone was waking up feeling positively drained. Their energy only seemed to return somewhat after a few hours and a hearty sugary breakfast or dinner. Sure, kids normally lived off of sugar cereal, hot dogs, and marshmallows; but, normally they were bursting with energy even without sugar.

This is what was perplexing Sam Colt. The young senshi, though not very experienced in the ways of senshidom, was very familiar with his own routine and child ways. Normally on a Saturday morning, Sam would get up at the crack of dawn, pour himself a bowl of serial and sit down to watch morning cartoons. In the evening he'd be fighting his parents to let him stay up late. But, for the last few days, Sam could barely get out of bed in the morning. By the evening, after trying to do various activities, he was ready for bed. It was the strangest thing, and a problem he was noticing with not just himself.

That evening, he was trying to fill up on dinner to help keep his energy level up. As the boy left the dinner table, he spied his senshi and battle companion, Istas Holywell. She was just going to pick up a plate from the table when Sam popped up behind her. “Pssssssst. Come with me.”

That’s all the black-blue-ish haired kid had to say. Then he walked off, and out the door.

"To the woods, where nobody is going to overhear us. We need to talk. I think you know about what." The boy yawned a little bit. He had been playing soccer for most of the day and was feeling fairly sleepy.

Sam began to lead Istas out and away from the Camp. He followed the regular path for a while, but then veered off into the woods. It was still light out, but the trees filtered the light so that it was cool and shady in the forest. He didn't want to risk being heard by anyone, not when it came to senshi business.

When the cost seemed safe, he began to talk. "Is it just me, or is there something weird happening here?" It may have been that being a senshi was making Sam paranoid, but he didn't know to explain what had been happening any other way.

Taking the slice, the boy gobbled it up. Lately anything with high calories was gone in an instant; Sam was practically an vacuum. Sam tried to ignore a desire to yawn once again. He sat himself down on a fallen tree. “It just so weird. Too weird. Something has to be going on."

Sam paused, thinking back on the events of the week. " And you're right. Wednesday was.... I don't even know what it was. One day everyone is tired, and then it rains and we're suddenly alright?"

Did the weather really effect their energy so much? It seemed impossible, but Sam was almost considering that it might be the sun or the air itself that was draining their energy. "I don't think the weather would effect us so much. There has to be something... someone... out here. If not those evil jerks, then what?"

"We're the 'aliens', remember?" Sam couldn't help but laugh. He admitted that yes, aliens did exists, but apparently they weren't the grey ones that people were used to. The real 'aliens' were the senshi, or that was the argument made by the Negaverse. They came from other planets after all.

"What about when we're back home. I don't feel like this there... no matter what I do. It can't just be a coincidence." Sam shook his head and furrowed his brow, as if he was trying really hard to work out this puzzle.

"Maybe..." Sam leaned back a little bit on his comfy tree. Despite being tired, he was almost certain that whatever was going on around here, it wasn't going to stop on it's own. Though the boy had to admit, perhaps it was just that they were tired. It wasn't like anyone was being harmed. Then, he heard a rustling in a bush. The kids were not alone.

Istas smiled at *********, "Hello *********." She said taking out some of the cake she had smuggled and unwrapped it. "I thought you might be hungry."

The was a smile as she sat down the cake and rubbed ********* softly humming. "How've you been?" She asked curiously watching the kitty and the cake knowing it'd disappear before her eyes.

In a nearly cooing manner, ********* couldn't help but let out a simple "Ooooo, cake! Istas, you spoil me!" She toddled on over to the cake and began to chow down quite quickly. She blinked a greeting to Sam as she chewed a mouthful of cake.

However, he asked a question, and of course, a question would need answering, so she tried to chew faster in an effort to get to answering faster. With an exaggerated swallow, she had to pause to take in a breath of air before replying.

"I got smuggled here. I can't help it that I'm popular!" She smiled, her head slowly moving back towards the cake as if she was getting ready for another bite. However, she stopped herself just short of the cake.

"Though, now I'm glad I am here... I have discovered something pretty bad actually." Now she took a bite.

If looks could talk, Sam's would say 'I told you so'. He gave Istas a smug, self-satisfied smile. At least he could take pride in being right! But his smile was quick to dissolve, as being right did have a price. There was something fishy going on at camp and it wasn't in the lake!

Leaning forward, listening intently, Sam turned serious. " Is it the Negaverse? I thought maybe.... but we're all the way out here.... and.... " His voice trailed off, unsure if he really wanted that to be the answer.