used to get home. Kyle Valenti seems like a villain as he kidnaps Maria's brother Kevin. The Dark One (2000) Starts where #8 left us with Kyle confronting the gang and Michael's brother Trevor appearing to join up with the evil alien DuPris. They get Maria's brother Kevin back and spend much of the rest of the book dealing with DuPris and the fact that Isabel has developed the dangerous akino condition. Max wants her to join the collective consciousness while Michael and Isabel herself do not. Supposedly DuPris is the leader of the rebel faction wanting to destroy the consciousness with the Stones of Midnight. Trevor claims that the condition is survivable without merging. He is telling the truth, although it takes the use of a Stone to do it. DuPris is killed in a battle. The Stones are necessary to survive akino and to destroy the collective consciousness, and the gang now has two of the three stones their world had. Now they've got to save Max- he's now so caught up in the consciousness that he can no longer get out. The Salvation (2000) The Salvation opens with Adam's funeral. Max is lost to the consciousness, in a comatose state. Michael has two of the three Stones of Midnight. Alex, Isabel, and Liz reach out to Max while trying to hide the true aim of the group from the consciousness. Michael, Trevor, and Maria attempt to find a way to shatter the consciousness without hurting Max. Michael and Trevor bond as brothers. Isabel and Trevor are attracted to each other. Michael realized he loves Maria - but as he believes that he will be leaving Earth with his brother, he goes into operation 'Cold Turkey' to prevent Maria from going through a withdrawal stage as he did with Cameron. Liz keeps trying to get through to Max. The group finally figure out a way to shatter the consciousness. They use the Stones of Midnight in their possession to open a wormhole to the alien planet. The consciousness has the third Stone of Midnight. Using a device they get from Kyle Valenti (who is now in a mental asylum for saying that aliens killed his father), they neutralize that Stone. This disperses all the auras, including those of Michael's parents and Ray Iburg. Max is dispersed into his molecules too - but Liz connects with him and brings