Dark Shapes

((Aaaand, post is up. This week is a little more laid back, so I'm gonna try really hard to get ahead and have a post ready for Wednesday. If not, Sunday definitely, but I'm going to try hard for it!

Enjoy and let me know what you think!))

Elora smirked as she sat in front of the flames, watching things burn. So Null had walked into her game, a few hours ago, and snapped everyone out of it. That was alright, really. After all, it had only been a test run. And such a successful test run, too!

When the time came, she was going to have an absolutely delicious meal.

Konki caught the look on her face, and smiled a little. “Hungry? Don’t worry- stew’s almost done.”

“You could say that,” Tori said awkwardly, stirring the mix in the pot with a small flush. “It’ll be edible, anyways.”

“It smells good to me!” Konki replied. “I mean, I wasn’t looking forward to the canned stuff. But add in that deer and those herbs you gathered, and this is really starting to look good!”

“It’s nothing,” Tori laughed. “Just simple stuff. I’m really no good at cooking- I can make something small that tastes good, but that’s about it!”

“I think we have different definitions of small,” Shan said, coming up to the fire and taking a seat. “All I can handle is microwaveable stuff. By comparison, this seems hardcore.”

“Don’t worry, Tori!” Elora said brightly. “Anything you make is going to taste delicious. I’m sure of it!” Oh, was she sure of it. Such a delicious flavor, the martial artist was giving off. No matter what she was doing, everything tinged with that deep undercurrent of feeling that never went away, as surely as the black rim around her irises…

Akaru crinkled up his rabbit nose, turning away. “I’m sure it will…ugh… Just… give me a minute to turn into something carnivorous, will you? The smell of that deer is making my head hurt…”

They continued on, laughing and talking around the fire with the smells of hot, cooking food drifting out, the stars watching peacefully from overhead. Everything was relaxed and comfortable, in a way it hadn’t been for a while. There was no sign of anyone hunting them, all of their friends were safe (that they knew about), there was good food going to be served soon, and for some reason, they all shared the same, easy buzz of contentment, without really knowing why.

Until Null ruined it all by storming up towards them with a look of fury on her face. “Just what do you think you’re all doing?”

They paused in mid-laughter to some off-handed comment Shan had made, turning to look at her. “Talking?” Aden asked sheepishly, his voice small.

“No, I’m talking about that!” Null yelled, pointing at the fire, burning on freshly-gathered wood, cooking hunted and gathered food items. “Did I not make it completely clear that you weren’t to touch anything in the forest? Stupid!”

“Hey,” Tori said defensively, putting a hand on Aden protectively, even though the remarks were directed at all of them. “It’s just some food, okay? I’m not an idiot- I can tell poisonous plants from the good ones. It’s really not a big deal!”

“Not a big deal? If you can’t even follow a simple order like that, there’s no way any of you are going to survive where we’re going!”

“And who said we needed to obey orders?” Akaru’s serpentine voice was low, a slight tinge of resentment entering it. “Last I checked, this was a democratic group. I don’t recall electing you queen.”

“Null, it’s fine,” Shan said. “It’s just food. What’s the worst that could hap-“

Tkk!

He paused, frowning, as something ricocheted off of his neck, falling into the dirt. Curious, he reached down, feeling for the object, until his fingers locked around something small, cold and narrow. He held it up, trying to see in the flickering light. What-

A startled gasp came from Aden as a second dart suddenly hit him. He slumped, Tori half-rising to catch him. “Aden!”

Akaru whipped around, narrowly missing the dart that had flown for him. “Attack!” he hissed, spitting venom instinctively.

“Great!” Null replied with a hiss of her own, knocking over the pail of water onto the flames, instantly ending the fire- and their dinner- in a cloud of steam. “Shan, take the rear! Tori, pick up Aden and run, and I’ll- hey!”

Konki gritted her teeth as she deflected the darts that had suddenly soared for Null, deflecting more with her second sword. “No time for orders. Everyone run for it!”

~~~

Kate knelt in the ground, staring at footprints with a frown. The tire tracks had vanished not far away. While Leon no doubt still had his car, he was hiding it somewhere, somewhere they hadn’t been able to find. His footprints, however…

“I always told you,” she said with a sigh, under her breath. “You don’t do a very good job of covering your tracks.”

Which kind of made it puzzling, actually. She knew how easy it was to follow him- they should have found him within the first couple of hours, really, distracted or not. Just his watch alone gave off a signal that was easy to follow, and incredibly difficult to turn off. Unless he had found someone skilled to do it for him, there was no explanation for why they weren’t getting a trace on him. But who…

She sighed, straightening, conscious of the three squads of lower-rank Agents watching her back from behind. There was… still no sign of Dextera, the former Captain’s constant companion. But she had left her with Leon. For some stupid, idiotic reason, she had taken a vulnerable, helpless little girl and left her with Leon…

…Maybe it would have been okay, back when Leon was an Agent, bound by all the laws and restrictions she was. But he had gone rogue, and he hated Gifteds more than anyone she had ever met. If there was no sign of Dextera now, when she had last been spotted with him right before the betrayal… She could guess what might have happened. The poor girl.

Leon was a monster. She didn’t know how she hadn’t seen it before. But now, that she saw him for what he really was…

“Alfa. Bravo. Charlie.” She turned back to the agents assigned to her, divided neatly into their three squadrons. “Those are your names, for the duration of this mission, and those are the designations you will use when in all contact through radio or in person. Tell me your mission!”

“Kill the traitor, ma’am!”

Fifteen voices, loud, precise, obedient. And they would carry out their orders without hesitation, she knew. They didn’t know Leon, didn’t care about him. All he was to them was another task to finish, another paycheck to earn.

It was better that way. Surrounded by them, she could pretend that this didn’t feel wrong to her either, didn’t trouble her for some deep reason she couldn’t explain.

“Alright, then!” she yelled, every inch the cool, commanding authority figure. “Bravo, you continue along this track, following the footprints! Charlie, you cover them from the rooftops, guns at the ready. Alfa, you’re with me! Let’s go!”

They jogged out in three separate directions, silent and fatal and disappearing into their surroundings immediately. Leon’s stolen car was somewhere in this city. If they found it, they would most likely find his store of supplies, and whatever accomplice he had in this working the technical angle for him. At the very least, it would be another clue, another large, glaring arrow sign, pointing them towards their target.

“Leon,” Kate hissed under her breath as she ran. “I will find you. And when I do-“

A small knife was gripped at her side, metal glinting in the moonlight for a brief moment before she slid it back into its sheath.

~~~

An attack? What was an attack doing here? Null had said the clearing was safe!

Konki gritted her teeth as she ran through the woods, angry. Of course, leave it to Null, this is what happens. The Agent woman, thinking she could come in and order them around, twist them to her own ends. Nullifying powers? Hah, she was trying to nullify all of them as a threat!

Even as she thought it, she knew there was no stable reason to believe that. But she was angry, and she didn’t want to bother with rationality when she was angry. Just stay angry, get angrier, and you’ll run faster! Faster than-

“Angh!”

The anguished cry came from Akaru, who suddenly stumbled and fell off of Shan’s shoulder. Shan turned, confused, to look back for a moment, and tripped over a root, knocking Konki over as well.

Akaru stumbled up, then gasped with pain and sank back down, the large metal shaft in his arm gleaming in the moonlight, dark red pooling on the gray monkey fur. “Wha…”

“Stay still,” Konki whispered, crawling over to him. Darts had hit Aden and Elora, and Null was a little wobbly from the one that had hit her for a few seconds before Shan had plucked it out. Shan’s clothes were littered with the darts that had tried to pierce his skin and failed. But this… This wasn’t a tranquilizer of any kind. This was just a sharp, metal rod, like an advanced arrow, meant to maim, to hurt-

Akaru let out a shriek of simian pain as the clear cord attached to the shaft suddenly yanked backwards, dragging him along with it.

“Akaru!” Tori yelled, dropping Elora and Aden to the ground and turning to dart after him.

Null staggered up from leaning on Tori’s staff for support, face twisting. “Tori, don’t-“

It all happened quickly. Tori reached forward, grabbing the cord, planting her feet in the ground with a mixed look of determination and concern for Akaru. Her hands came up to snap the cord in half, forgetting that she had left her power-enhancing staff with Null. She pulled, her guard down for only a few seconds, the closest thing separating Akaru and the rest of the group from the hunters hidden within the trees-

And another long, thick, headless arrow zipped through the air, piercing straight through her chest.

Time slowed down. Akaru reached forward, face twisted with pain, and began frantically biting at the cord attached to his arm. Shan started forward, a look of vague concern on his face, moving to catch Tori if she fell. Aden moved blearily, fighting the drugs, staring at the scene in noncomprehension. Konki jumped to her feet, swords unsheathing in a flash of bright metal, as she moved forward and cleanly severed the cord attached to Tori’s rod, then defiantly moved to face the trees, preparing to unleash fire the moment one of their hunters dared to show their faces.

Tori felt Shan coming closer, and knew that she could fall. It would be okay- he would catch her. But she didn’t fall. She stood, wavering on her feet, staring down at the long, dark object in her chest, unable to process thought. Wha…wh…

It hurt. It really did. And on top of that, her friends were in danger. Putting themselves in more danger, because now instead of running, they had stopped to help her. So unfair… She turned to look up into the darkness of the trees, at the dark shapes moving among the trunks, trying to figure out how she felt. Felt… about what? These people? The ones that were hunting her and hurting her friends, and making this hurt…!

A dark feeling coursed through her veins as she recognized the feeling, fists clenching with the measure of her anger. The moment she realized it, acknowledged it, it immediately began to grow, swirling up into a mass of rage that fed on itself. Her fists tightened in shaking fury, the black manacle around her left wrist glinting in the pale light, then beginning to flutter, responding to her, elongating and beginning to separate from her wrist.

Shan frowned, watching her shake, starting to crouch. “Tori? Are you okay?” When she didn’t turn, he reached forward, putting a hand on her shoulder. “It’s going to be alright. We’ll get you out of here, and-“

Tori jerked back suddenly, slashing at him with the black knife that had formed in her hand. “Rragh!” He stepped back, uncertain, and caught a glimpse of black eyes, all trace of green lost, shrouded in fury. She slashed at him again, then stopped when a second rod hit her shoulder, not going in all the way, but bringing a shriek of pain from her lips.

She snapped murderously in the direction of the trees and the people throwing the weapons, running forward with superhuman speed, screaming with rage as she hurled herself up into the trees.

“Tori!”

A Little Game

((Sunday's post is up! I missed last Wednesday, but as soon as I get done with some homework here in a bit, I'm going to go ahead and write the next few chapters ahead of time, so that I won't have to miss an update just because I'm busy. If I can get it done, you can all expect pretty even Sunday/Wednesday updates for a while now.

Still, just because I'm writing ahead doesn't mean that things can't be tweaked or rewritten to be better! If you've got suggestions for the story or characters, or any comments at all, be sure to leave them down in the comments!

See y'all on Wednesday. ^_^ ))

Null frowned, standing in front of the small clearing, taking in the rain-soaked grass, the dripping, sodden trees, the gloomy dark gray skies. “Well… I guess this is it for now.”

“Here?” Elora asked, peeking over her shoulder. Her pretty, flawless face looked absolutely dismayed. “But there’s nothing here! You said we were going to get to sleep and eat soon!”

“I’m guessing we will,” Konki said with an indifferent shrug. “She had us walking through the trees for hours. What did you expect, a hotel?”

“It would have been nice,” Elora sniffed sadly.

Null sighed and shook her head. “We’re out of money. Besides, we need to avoid most cities for now, when we can. It’ll be harder for the Agents to track us in the woods than in the city- they have to leave all their big, fancy vehicles behind, and we have rougher terrain and easier camouflage to take advantage of.”

“It’ll be fine,” Tori said, smiling at Elora. The blonde teenager looked several years older than she did, but for some reason, it felt to Tori like she was reassuring a small child. “My sensei and the other students used to rough it in the woods all the time- I can get us a shelter built pretty quickly. She reached into her pocket, where the spear head waited to be attached to her staff. Not completely a machete, but it could work. Come to think of it, with Akaru’s claws and Konki’s swords… They might all dull up their weapons pretty quickly, but maybe-

“No need,” Null said, cutting off her temporary moment of leadership. “I borrowed a tent from Tau’s people before we left. I think it’s in Shan’s pack.”

Shan looked up from his watch, apparently drifting back into the conversation at the mention of his name. “Huh?”

“We don’t need to draw more attention by scarring the surrounding area through hacking at the trees and plants,” Null said, relaxing on to a tree stump. “You guys set up the tent, and I’ll work on making sure that the area is secured.”

Tori shook her head. “That doesn’t make sense. We could at least help save our food rations by foraging.”

“No touching the plants!”

Elora looked up as a wave of sudden bad feeling rushed towards Null. The funny thing was, it wasn’t just coming from Tori, like it had been earlier. Practically everyone around her was glaring at the tall, thin, pale woman as she strode away, obliviously scanning over the area with her eyes. Such strong emotions…

…This could be very useful indeed.

~~~

Leon hissed in silent frustration as he scanned the area near the edge of the city once again. There was no mistaking it. His former watch was still transmitting code to his new watch- it had definitely gone this way. The two Gifted trackers he had picked up, too, along with a whole lot of Gifted energy traces. He would have bet anything that they had been headed in this direction, and only an hour ago he had been able to follow a tracker proving the same thing.

So why had the signal disappeared now?

“They must be very good at jamming signals,” Dextera said, staring longingly at an ice cream shop half a block behind them. “Getting rid of just one signal is good, but all three? Someone in their group really knows what he’s doing.”

“Apparently,” Leon said quietly. He sighed, picking a medium-sized backpack out of the trunk of his car, and slamming it closed. “Leave it to Gifteds to make this as irritating and time-wasting as possible.”

Dextera turned reluctantly away from the ice cream shop as he stepped out onto the grass. “You’re not moving forward, are you? We haven’t locked on to a new signal yet- we have no way of knowing that they’re still even in the same direction!”

Leon smirked. “More like the computer doesn’t know.” He bent down, hand reaching forward to touch a long stalk of grass, bent from where something heavy had stepped on it. Brush it aside, and half of a human footprint could be seen, still pressed into the mud, not yet washed away by the rain.

“That’s the thing about Agents these days,” he scoffed. “They’re so powerful, with their computers and trackers and machines and subjugated Gifteds. They think they’ll always have them, so they don’t bother to learn the basics really well. Without a tracker, half of them couldn’t find the back of their neck.”

He looked up at Dextera, grinning. “And that’s why, if the Munia Gifteds are really blocking their signals, we’ll be sure to find them before anyone else does.”

~~~

Several hours later, a tent was more or less set up. It was sagging slightly to the side, but it would keep them dry if it rained again. The sun was preparing to set over the line of trees, and the make-shift campsite looked almost peaceful.

Except for the group of Gifteds gathered around the unlit campfire, that is.

“We can’t trust her,” Konki said, voice low as she leaned forward. “You heard what she said in Buma! She used to work for the Agents.”

“So did you, once,” Shan said, shrugging as he ripped out another completed crossword puzzle from his book, wadding it up and throwing it into the circle of vaguely flammable materials. If Null would only let them go gather some logs and branches…

“That was different!” Konki hissed. “I was being controlled. Null has no excuse! She said herself that they didn’t force her to do anything, that she didn’t even regret it!”

“I will admit that it’s suspicious,” Akaru said, panting quietly in dog form. “But think about it. Why would she admit that so openly, without even arguing? And she’s still with us, still leading and helping us survive. Maybe if she were hiding things, I’d be more concerned. But so far, she hasn’t tried to hide really anything that we’ve asked about.”

“Then why is she still with us?” Konki said, turning on him. “No one’s even asked yet, what she expects to do with us. She’s using us, for her own ends!”

Silence for a long moment.

She took a breath. “…I’m not the only one who feels this way. You all keep arguing and making me defend it, but you feel the same way, don’t you?”

By the way they were averting their eyes, she could tell that they were.

She waited a moment, then looked to her right. “Tori? You used to be the leader, right?” She didn’t know Tori very well, but… “What’s your opinion?”

Tori looked at the ground, biting her lip. “I… I’m not…”

“It’s so cute!”

They turned to look at Elora’s sudden exclamation. She had walked up to them while they weren’t paying attention, and was now standing, hands clasped, staring at Tori with shiny eyes. “This uncertainty and guilt- you’re really adorable, you know that?”

Tori blinked. “Um… I guess?”

“Everyone hold on for a moment!” Null’s voice made all of them jump, even yelled from the other end of the camp. They looked in her direction, uncertain-

Tori paled suddenly and wavered, gripping onto the rock she was sitting on. “Ungh… Wha?”

They all felt it, for a moment. Calmly, Shan lifted his pen, pressing it hard into his thumb. “Her nullification powers,” he said unworriedly, watching as a single bead of red dribbled up from the small wound. “She’s projecting it over us somehow.”

Konki started up. “Why? What is she trying to-“

Then, just like that, it was cleared. “All good!” Null’s voice yelled.

Akaru shook with displeasure, looking down at his human hands in distaste. “Well, that was… unnecessary.” He began to shift back into a more comfortable form. “But no harm done, right, Tori?”

Tori nodded to show that she was okay. It was Elora who was currently throwing a fit.

“Ugh,” she said, hands over her eyes, stumbling a little. “I do not like that! Why would she do that? So mean!”

Shan frowned, looking at her, noticing her for the first time in a while. He could have sworn that, when she had first found them, she had been a little thing, barely six. Now… Seventeen? Eighteen? And ridiculously beautiful. Why? “Elora,” he said quietly. “You’ve been getting a little older, haven’t you? Why is that?”

She stopped for a minute, staring at him. For a moment, he almost felt something. Like… Sadness? She frowned, as though he had displeased her somehow. “You’re weird,” she said, wrinkling up her nose. She shook her head, then perked up, beaming again. “Null said she wanted to ask you something! She wants you to go over there, right away!”

“Null?” Shan looked in the direction of the tent, then sighed. “Alright,” he said, getting up. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

Elora watched him go, then slowly turned back to the rest of the group, smile widening. “Can I ask you all something? I kind of wanted to play a game!”

~~~

“They’ve covered all quarters within the city and the outlying area,” Marq said, sipping broodingly at his glass of wine. “It’s safe to say that they’re not within the limits of our territory anymore. We’re going to have to go out, send people after them. Which just means hundreds more Agents lost in the end.”

Kate looked down, smoothing her black silk dress, not touching the small, gourmet cuisine that had been placed on the plate in front of her. “Maybe ‘safe’ isn’t the right word,” she said quietly. “They nearly destroyed the world the last time they were free. If they’ve really broken loose this time…”

“Now, now, let’s not be hasty,” Marq replied, laughing roughly as he drained the wine glass and placed it back on the table. “The last time they were free was over three hundred years ago. Well, fully free, anyways. We’ve come a long way in terms of technology since then. We’ll have them by the end of the week, you’ll see.”

Kate said nothing, still looking down.

He watched her for a minute, then smirked, leaning forward and pouring more wine into her untouched glass. “You should relax. Leave the thinking to me and the other men. It’s not something for you to concern yourself with.”

“Concern myself?” Kate’s head jerked up. “I’m an Agent, one of those hundreds of lives you’re about to throw at that… that monster. I have friends who aren’t going to survive this! Close friends! Of course I should be concerning myself.”

He smirked, taking her hand without her permission, tracing the lines of her fingers. “Not as much as you think. It’s not like before, Kate. I’m in a position to… help you, if you’ll accept it. You know…” He chuckled. “I’ve actually been looking for a new secretary.”

“Secretary?” she watched him, then shook her head. “I appreciate what you’re trying to do…” Get her out of danger. Keep her by his side, in a safe job, that paid more than triple what she was getting now. “…but… I can’t. Being an Agent is everything to me.”

He frowned. “Really? Why?”

“It’s what I want!” she said, free hand clenching in her lap. “It’s dangerous and hard, but I love everything about it. I couldn’t trade that. I couldn’t.”

“Oh? And just what about it is so special? More special than being with me?”

“That’s not what I’m trying to say!” She took a breath. “I’m… This is what I wanted, all through childhood. To be good at something, something important. Protecting the world like this, even if it’s a small part, being a part of something, being close to other Agents like Raleigh and you and Leon-“

“Leon?”

She bit her lip. The words had just… slipped out. “No. No! Of course not Leon. I… I don’t care what happens to him.” She looked away, that feeling flashing up inside of her. Two feelings, twisting and warring and shoving against each other. One of utter disgust for Leon, utter love for Marq. Another, that something… Something is wrong. “He’s a traitor,” she said, trying to keep her voice disdainful, but feeling the tremor in it even as she spoke. “He’s… he’s dead to me.”

“Really.”

She didn’t have to look at him to sense the disbelief in his voice.

His hand withdrew from hers, picking up the dinner knife. Beginning to saw and cut and slice mercilessly at his steak. “Perhaps it’s better if you don’t become my secretary for now, then. After all, you were rather… close to that traitor, weren’t you?” Scrape. “It might look bad, is all I’m saying. Perhaps if you proved your loyalty first, beyond a shadow of a doubt, then maybe then…”

Kate winced as the knife slashed again, cutting the steak into dozens of small, uniform pieces. Skritch! Skrr! Sclhh! “Just… what are you saying?”

“That as new captain of the Northeastern North American Agency, I hereby give you official orders.” She didn’t meet his eyes. She didn’t have to. His smirk was gone, a look of suspicion and displeasure on his face as he watched her, evaluated her, tried to figure out just how much on his side she really was.

“You are hereby ordered to find and apprehend the traitor Leon, and kill him with your own hand. For this, you may call upon all the resources of the Agency, to put at your disposal. If you return without accomplishing this task…”

Skkkrrrrrrreeeeeecch!

“Then you may consider your life revoked.”

~~~

Aden watched Elora hesitantly, and glanced at Tori for help. He didn’t really want to play a game. They were in such a big, wide-open space… Just sitting quietly with the others was enough for him.

But Tori was watching Elora with a strange, blank look on her face, frowning, as though confused. As he looked around, he noticed the others growing similar looks. He was about to give in, to open his mouth and ask what was going on… When he felt it himself. A rush of simple, relaxing contentment, washing over him, pushing all doubts and fear out of reach. Maybe it was strange, but at the moment, he was too happy, too comfortable and warm with the feeling of it, to question or fight it. Filled with bliss, he sat back against Tori’s rock, staring at Elora with a small smile on his face and waiting for her to speak.

Elora giggled in excitement. “Good! Then we’re all ready to play. I really miss Clara- she was such a good friend, you know? She wanted to protect me, but now that she’s gone, I need someone else. So…” She looked around for a moment, considering. “Konki! You’re strong, right? And you have such strong emotions now! You’re perfect!”

Konki frowned, putting a hand to her head, disoriented. “I don’t know. I don’t really-“

“We’re going to be the best of friends,” Elora chirped, walking over and plunking herself down next to the assassin. She beamed around at them, going from face to face. “Akaru!”

He stirred. Funny, how he hadn’t been paying attention, distracted, up until now, but at the mention of his name suddenly he couldn’t look at anyone but Elora. “Hah?”

“You’re much cuter as a bunny,” she said, smiling widely as Konki put an arm around her with a look of confusion. “Turn into one.”

Akaru shook his head. “Well, technically I’m not an infant anymore, so I can only turn into a rabbit, not a bunny. And it’s not really an advantageous-“

“Turn into a bunny!”

A look of fear flickered through his eyes for a moment, and he startled into the rabbit form, then immediately curled up, shivering with fear.

She laughed. “Perfect! Now, who’s left?” She turned to Tori and Aden, considering, and a small frown graced her features. “Aden… You’re kind of useless, aren’t you? Okay, you can just sit there!”

Somewhere inside of him, Aden reacted negatively to that, but he couldn’t reach the feelings. He was too happy, too relaxed. Tori wasn’t quite as deep into the feelings, apparently, because she stiffened. “He’s not useless! How could you even say something like-“

“I don’t really want to eat stale food out of a can again tonight,” Elora said, wrinkling her nose in a charming way. “You said that you can hunt, right? And gather food, and firewood. Why don’t you go get something for us?” When Tori hesitated, her smile darkened, for the briefest moment. “I’m sure it’ll make both of us very, very happy if you go get those things. You don’t want to be unhappy, do you?”

A blank look crossed over Tori’s face, the black surrounding her irises flaring for a brief moment. Slowly, she shook her head.

“Good!” Elora said, laughing merrily. It was really interesting. For some reason, Tori was easiest to reach of all. Normally, she had to break down walls, sneak into a person’s subconscious, before they would let her at their feelings completely. With Tori, it was as though all of those walls had already been broken down beforehand, by something.

Her laughter trickled from the camp, as she reached for the emotions swirling around her, beginning to feed.

~~~

Shan pushed the tent flap aside, stepping in. “You called for me?”

Null looked up, staring at him blankly. In her hands, a machine of some sort and a small velvet box were pressed together. She dropped them onto the ground, frowning. “I didn’t call for you.”

“Really? Then what…” He glanced behind him, then shrugged. “Ah… What are those?”

“Hm?” Null looked down, tracing her hand over the velvet box. “I can project my nullification a short ways if I try really hard, but even then it’s only a yard at the most. This machine helps me boost that, stretching it for a pretty good radius. It’s a safety measure- if there are any traps in this area based on Gifted energy, they’re deactivated now.”

“Oh?” Shan considered that, then nodded. “That’s good, I guess. But… Agents don’t base all of their traps on Gifted energy alone, do they?”

Null sighed. “That’s what I’m afraid of…”

~~~

Tori’s hands moved quickly, reaching into the bush and dropping the small edible berries into her sack of foraged supplies. It had only been five minutes, but it had barely taken that to gather almost everything she needed. Her eyes were unfocused as she moved, her movements a little clumsier than usual. So she didn’t realize when her hand brushed against a wire hidden deep within the bush, wrapped around one of the stems, and didn’t hear the small, almost imperceptible bell that went off as the wire snapped.

~~~

Shan sat down, cross-legged, watching her. It was… absolutely ridiculous. But Konki had a point. What Null had said, in Buma, in front of everyone…

Warning- you are in more danger than you realize. You have a murderer in your midst…

“Why are you with us?” he asked suddenly.

She paused mid-yawn, looking at him. “…You guys are the ones that rescued me in the Munia base, and you’re really asking me that?”

He shook his head calmly. “I know how you got here. Now why are you staying? Everyone else seems to have their reasons. Tori wants to take down the Agents, Aden wants to help Tori, Akaru and I seem to be along for the ride. Konki’s here because we freed her and… I think she feels like she owes us or something. Elora…” He paused for a moment, thinking. “I guess she wants to feel safe.”

He cocked his head very slightly to the side. “What about you, though? You said yourself that you think that we’re ridiculous, that we can’t take down the Agents. And I don’t think you owe us anything. It’s not like we’re protecting you- if anything, you know more about staying safe from the Agents than any of us seem to. So…”

“So what do I think I can get out of you, huh?” Null watched him, an amused smile on her lips, then promptly shook her head. “You don’t have to worry about my motives. For now, it’s enough that I’m on your side.”

“Is it, though?” he asked quietly, voice still emotionless. “What did you mean, when you said that you used to help the Agents capture Gifteds?”

“It’s not important.”

“On the contrary, that seems like kinda an important thing.”

They met each other’s eyes for a long moment, challenging, testing, fighting without words.

“…Why won’t you talk about it?” Shan asked calmly. “You didn’t have a problem not denying it in Buma. What exactly are you trying to hide now?”

“We’ve all got our skeletons, kid,” she said, shrugging as she stood. “Look, you don’t want to trust me, that’s fine. You can just walk away, and take as many of your friends with you as you want. But believe this. You’re not going to survive another encounter with the Agents without me.” Something like a smirk crossed her face as she turned away. “So your choice. Trust me, and survive. Or get all nervous because I don’t want to talk about my past, and get flattened the next time they find you. See how long it takes before you all become like Tori.”

Something about that smirk… Shan sat in the tent for a moment, staring after her for several long minutes after the flap had fallen behind her, leaving him in the dark. He had seen it somewhere before. Where…?

The watch around his wrist seemed to grow heavier as he suddenly placed it, and his hand moved on its own, clenching the diamond dagger through the fabric of his jeans. Leon. For a moment there… She had almost looked like Leon.

He sat alone in the darkness, thinking hard. He didn’t come out to see Null join the others (and inadvertently bring Elora’s little game to a close just by being there). He didn’t see the looks of confusion on their faces as they realized that they couldn’t remember anything from the last twenty minutes. He missed the smug, patient, waiting look on Elora’s beautiful face as she watched them get up and make dinner, a combination of canned food and the stuff Tori had scrounged from the wild. He missed all of it.

Instead, he knelt there as the sun set and the moon rose, the message from the watch playing in his head, trying to make sense of it, somehow.

Warning- you are in more danger than you realize. You have a murderer in your midst. Please agree to a temporary cease-fire, and allow me to contact you. Do not ignore this- this is important!

Kate, setting out that night to kill the person who had once been her partner, wasn’t the only one struck by the feeling that something was horribly, horribly wrong.

Rain

Kate stood uncomfortably at attention in front of the stage, trying to figure out what was wrong. Maybe it was the weather? Big, fat drops of gray rain, drizzling over everything, making it freezing… No, there were hundreds of other agents also standing at attention all around her in their perfect rows, and none of them looked out of ease at all. Or maybe they were just better at hiding it. So what was it? Something… something… She could feel it there, like something stuck behind her teeth, but no matter how much she prodded or searched-

The distant clunking of boots. She looked up as Marq stepped across the stage, with that thin, cold smirk he always wore hidden behind a stiff sad face, while he pretended to mourn the Captain with the rest of them. This was it. He had discussed every aspect of what was going to happen today with her, last night, over dinner. He would say a few words, about his deep remorse over the Captain’s loss, and pretend to be personally grieved. No one would believe him, probably, but no one would care. Then he would assume his role, as the new Captain, and begin reshaping the Agency into the sort of organization he had always wanted. One more militaristic, more rigid, with less pity. A place of total control and domination, fear and power. And nothing else.

It was everything he’d ever dreamed of… And everything she wanted, too. As his girlfriend, she was guaranteed protection and elevation. No more being yelled at and forced to do menial jobs, with the constant threat of being fired. Finally, she would be promoted back to full rank again, for the first time since running into that stupid group of Gifteds in Munia to begin with. She would have power, and money, and Marq, the person she lo…

…That feeling was back. Something wrong, something wrong…

She could see Marq’s eyes sweeping over the perfect rows and columns of Agents, taking stock of them even as he spoke. Even without him mentioning anything, she could tell he was also searching for Leon. She almost had to feel pity for the worm- with Marq in power, he was bound to get punished, demoted, made to suffer. It wouldn’t be long before…

…Wait. Where was Leon?

Brrn! Brrn! Brrn! Red suddenly flashed bright and urgent over the sea of black and gray, causing the masses of Agents to turn as one in startled surprise. What-

Marq, alarmed, suddenly pressed his hand to his ear, listening intently to his earpiece. A look she had never seen on his face- one of sudden fear- appeared as he suddenly gripped the microphone with white-knuckled ferocity. “The H-Block prisoners have just escaped!”

The Agents froze, staring back in him in noncomprehension. Kate felt her breathing shallow with the deep, dreadful realization. “The cursed Gifteds…”

The Agents didn’t wait to be dismissed. They turned, beginning to run, for the doors. Some would be moving to flee. Most would be desperately trying to stop the prisoners, to find them, to lock them up, even if it killed them. If those ones got free again… No amount of fleeing would save the world.

“Wait!” Marq yelled angrily. He paused for a moment, eyes half-closed, listening intently. Then his face twisted into a mask of pure rage, and he practically bellowed the next orders over the running agents, so loud the microphone wasn’t even needed. “If you see the traitor who calls himself Leon, don’t bother catching him- make sure he dies!”

As the Agents ran around Kate, she stood still, staring at Marq, asking for questions. He himself was moving, though, and didn’t even give her a backwards glance. She trembled, clenching her fists, with no idea what was going on. Leon? He couldn’t… He couldn’t possibly be related to this, could he?! Someone who hated Gifteds so much, who knew the impact they could have on humanity, who knew- !

…Something was wrong.

…Something…

~~~

“Leon!”

Leon looked over his shoulder as the small black girl began running after him, dark braids bouncing unevenly as she struggled to catch up. He stepped on the brake, looking back at her curiously. “Seriously? How did you not die back there?”

She threw herself into the passenger side of the vehicle he had stolen, gasping for air as she slammed the door shut. “Dr…drive!”

He had no problem with complying with that order. He pressed down on the gas pedal, and they shot off, rocketing down the abandoned, rain-slicked roads.

“I… I told you,” Dextera mumbled, trying to breathe. The poor girl looked like she’d been running for her life. “If any… anyone could… do it… It’s me… I saw the… Captain… do it before…” Tears appeared in her eyes for a moment at the mention of the Captain, then were quickly blinked away. She reached with clammy hands into her pocket, then thrust something at Leon.

Leon caught his watch one-handed without looking away from the road. “I’m surprised my clearance even got you that far. Kate will have to forgive me later for borrowing her clearance, but it was worth it.” Hah. Kate, forgiving him for anything, at this point…

Dextera took a shuddery breath, sitting up. It had been… horrible. She had never been so certain she was going to die, just from a glance. Dark, shifting sands… A glint of a jade ring… She exhaled, opening her eyes so she wouldn’t have to look at it anymore, and focused on Leon instead. “Okay,” she said breathily. “What now? You said you would tell me the rest of your plan if I got you this far, and I did!”

He said nothing for a moment, then passed the watch back towards her. “You said that you’d locked and unencrypted the signal I asked you to look for, right?”

She nodded, holding the watch uncertainly. “Right after I removed the tracking signal from your watch, yes.”

“Good. Then there’s a message I want you to send for me…”

~~~

Shan frowned, tapping his pen absently on the crossword puzzle. A five-letter word for “white flag”…

“I suppose it’s a good thing that you got a van this time,” Akaru said from the front seat, where he was curled up near the vents, sleepily trying to absorb any of the heat he could into his serpentine body. Such a cold, dreary day… “Even so, it’s kind of a large vehicle. Are you sure it won’t attract attention?”

“It’ll be fine,” Null said, yawning. “Besides, I’m kinda getting the hang of this driving thing.” She turned the van into a sharp right that made everyone slide against each other, momentarily waking them all up.

But only momentarily. Aside from Shan, Akaru, and Null, everyone else in the van was perfectly content to sleep through the long drive to wherever Null was taking them. Well, he wasn’t sure what Tori was doing- she seemed to be meditating, staff in her lap, eyes closed and breathing unnaturally even. Aden’s head was slumped on her shoulder. Konki was curled up in the corner alone, leaning against a window. Elora practically took up the entire back seat, the way she was sprawled out.

Shan shifted in the passenger seat, trying to get comfortable… Then frowned as the watch he had stolen from Leon suddenly vibrated. He held up his wrist, looking at it curiously.

Null looked away from the road, frowning at him. “Something wrong?”

He blinked at the tiny green letters scrolling across the screen, not entirely sure himself.

Warning- you are in more danger than you realize. You have a murderer in your midst. Please agree to a temporary cease-fire, and allow me to contact you. Do not ignore this- this is important!

Curious, he tapped a few buttons, trying to reverse-trace the illegal signal. If he could just figure out where this was coming from… He stopped, staring in disbelief at the message’s source. No way…

“Shan?” Null asked, starting to slow down in concern.

“…It’s nothing. Just a watch malfunction.” He erased it, then took the watch off and shoved it into the glove box. No way he was messing with something like that right now.

With a quiet sigh, he picked up his pen again, staring at the crossword puzzle without really seeing it. White flag…

…Truce?

Parting Ways

((Well, it's rather late, but I got it in by the time I said I would. Slight hi-jacking of Sami's characters while I write them off, but no worries. If she doesn't give permission, they'll be referred to, but never seen again now.

If there's anything you want to see happen, or anything you want one of the characters to do, leave the suggestion in the comments. :) Also, constructive crits and any other comments can go there. Will update again soon!))

The group stood gathered on the banks of the river, watching the waterfall rush downwards not far away. A couple of albino sentries were keeping watch over them from a distance, but had decided out of respect not to approach. It was enough for them to see that Tau was present and alive- when he was ready, he would give his report. Until then, they kept themselves far away, watching, but not interfering.

Tau smiled as he turned to them one last time, giving a small bow. “I must thank you for all of your help. It is a sheer miracle that we got out of that place alive. Surely it would have been impossible, if I were alone.”

“Are you sure?” Akaru asked, whiskers testing the air as he sat on Shan’s shoulder. “Maybe we didn’t do you a favor after all. You wanted to come back with Sinistra, right? If he’s really gone…”

Tau shook his head. “He was like an older brother to me. When he was captured by the Agents, and then when he turned traitor, it was as though I had lost him, for the longest time. Thanks to you, I was able to find him once again, even if only for a few minutes. That’s enough for me.” He lifted his knife, holding the sheathed weapon out flat, in some sort of salute that none of them were familiar with. “You have earned our trust, and our gratitude. From now on, our tribe is allied with yours. In times of trouble, call, and we will stand together.”

“Ours?” Tori looked around, at the Gifteds surrounding her on all sides. She had never thought about it before, but… They were kind of like a tribe, weren’t they? A group of people, working so close together, like a family, but without being related. Just like Tau had gone back for Sinistra, they had come back for her.

It was… incredible, to think about. Three months ago, she hadn’t even known there were others like her. And now, not only were there others, but to be in a group like this…

“I’m not sure how much of a help we’ll be,” Shan said blankly. “After all, we’re about to all split up, right?”

Tori frowned, looking at him. “What are you talking about?”

“It’s us,” Clara said. She placed one hand on the shoulder of Hisoka, who was looking around nervously. “He’s not like us. He’s timid and scared- not a fighter. He needs somewhere peaceful, somewhere he can heal from all of this. And I think I know a place like that.” She reached into her pocket, pulling out a letter. “The old Gifted base is in ruins- we already checked. But I got a letter from Camdyn the other day. She and Ty have found a hiding place, somewhere they can blend in, undetected. Now I’m going to try the same thing. Hisoka, too.”

Hisoka gave a hesitant, shy nod, not meeting their eyes.

Aden glanced at Tori in concern. He didn’t speak, but she realized she was getting better at guessing what he was trying to say. They were leaving- but what about the rest of them?

“I see,” Tori said. “In that case-“

“Travel safe, you too,” Null said around a yawn. “We’ll head east from here. I know a couple of places the Agents won’t think to look right away. We’ll have to keep moving, but we can regroup from there, and figure out what our next plan of attack is.”

Tori stared at her. Who had made her leader? “Wait a minute. Whoever said anything about continuing to attack?! We haven’t voted yet- maybe we could go with Clara and find somewhere safe! It’s pretty obvious that fighting isn’t working. The least we could do is try to make a life somewhere- especially if there’s somewhere safe!”

Aden froze. What had gotten into Tori? Before, she had been the one urging everyone to fight, to never give up. Until the last of the agents had been stopped- that was what she had said, wasn’t it? What was with this sudden change?

Null met her eyes evenly. “It’s a little too late for that, isn’t it? You already started this- you can’t just drop it now, just because you changed your mind.” A slight scoff. “That Agent tracker you’re wearing kind of guarantees that, doesn’t it?”

Tori’s blood froze, and she slowly looked down. The remains of the black staff that she had used while brainwashed still clung to her left arm, like a long, thick manacle. She didn’t even know how to work it, or how to get it to change. And they hadn’t been able to pry it off. But now that she thought about it… It was so obvious. This thing had to be carrying Gifted trackers!

“You’re pretty much doomed,” Null said nonchalantly, shrugging as she held up her right hand. “Me too- I’ve got one implanted in my palm. We can keep moving, and buy two, maybe three days. But we’ll never be able to sit still, you and I. We’re fugitives for life.”

“No,” Tori said, staring down in dread at the bracelet. “There has to be some way to get rid of it… Some way…”

“Of course, that’s only Tori and I,” Null said, raising her voice. “Any one of you can leave at any time you want, and try your luck alone. But after watching you all charge into Buma like that for her, I don’t think you will, will you?”

She was met with silence.

“East, then,” she said, turning away. “We’ll camp a few miles from here for the night. In the morning, I know a trail we can follow that I’m pretty sure the Agents haven’t found. It’s worth a try.”

Tori squeezed her eyes shut as Null began to walk away, effortlessly taking the leadership Tori had once held herself. That headache was back… She was sure that if she opened her eyes and looked into the river right now, she would see the black, spreading again. But she couldn’t do that, couldn’t worry the others. She had to breathe deeply, focus, empty her mind… Stay in control!

“Well then,” Tau said, watching as the Gifteds began one by one to move after Null, walking away. “I wish you all the best of luck. Travel safely!”

Shan nodded as he accepted the knife Tau had offered. It wasn’t as hard as his artificial diamond one, but it was a nice gesture, he supposed. “We’ll try, I guess,” he said with a shrug. “It’s not going to be hard, though, to run into danger. It seems to find us on its own, lately.”

“Right…” Tau’s smile faded for a moment. “I think… I believe I should warn you, Shan. It’s probably nothing, but… That girl.”

“Hm?” Shan turned to look at Elora, who was tearfully hugging Clara goodbye. For some reason, Konki seemed to have suddenly been struck with distraction, and was standing next to her with an oddly dazed look on her face. “What about her?”

Tau’s voice lowered. “I am not sure. She is just… There is something strange about her. My people have always been more in tune with our instincts, more able to sense danger. We’ve been wrong before, but… For some reason, she feels like a predator, one even more dangerous than the Agents.”

Shan frowned. “I don’t know. She does seem to be growing faster, but… She’s not exactly the smartest person. She doesn’t seem all that threatening to me.”

Tau opened his mouth to speak, then paused as Elora suddenly stopped, looking in their direction with wide blue eyes. His eyes unfocused, and he shook his head, holding one hand to it. “…You’re probably right. It’s nothing.” He looked up and smiled. “Fortunate journeys, friend. I hope that we may meet again soon.”

Shan bowed, copying Tau’s gesture as he pocketed the knife. “I hope so, too.”

The story begins again

((So, everyone is being slow to check the guild, and I felt like writing this. So here it is, the first scene of the guild continuation. I haven't gotten permission to use everyone's characters yet, or even to continue writing like this. So if we end up going with yet another attempt to restart the guild, then okay, I'll delete this, and we can pretend that nothing I write here ever happened. But the moment I get confirmation that it's okay to do this, I'll add more posts continuing the story (and the next one will be with the group of Gifteds, instead of the Agents).

You guys can get involved, too. For one thing, it'd be cool if I could have some pictures of the characters- I'm going to try to pretty up this blog so it's not so bare-bones. Also, you're not relinquishing control of the story all the way. Post in the comments what you want to happen next, or what you want your characters to do next, or anything like that, and I'll write it for you. :3

In the meantime, here's what I wrote in the last fifteen minutes. Looking forward to hearing again from you guys soon.

ETA: Also, if any of you would prefer it, I can put your characters on a bus instead of roleplaying them- I can write them out of the story for you, instead of continuing with them, if that's what makes you more comfortable. I'm all about respecting your wishes- you guys came up with these characters and much of this world, and that's important. Just let me know if that's what you want.))

Kate knocked on the door once again, frowning as she shifted the tray of food to one arm. “Leon? Come on, let me in. Starving yourself isn’t going to make things better!”

Silence dragged on for a few minutes. Then, brightly, Dextera’s voice piped up from behind the metal door, bright and cheerful. “He says to leave it outside the door!”

“We both know he won’t eat it. And I’m not going to pick up moldy food for him again!”

A shorter pause. Then, hesitantly, “I’m not sure if I should repeat what he just said…”

Red flashed behind Kate’s eyes. That idiotic little… “Fine!” she yelled, turning away. “Stay in there! See if I care!”

She didn’t care. Really, she didn’t. Leon was pathetic and disgusting, and… and… And completely the way he had felt, in that hall, during the attack on Buma. That was how she felt about him! How she had always felt about him!

…So why did she feel like she was doing something wrong, by walking away from him like this? This hollow ache, somewhere deep inside of her… Why did she…

…She needed to see Marq. That was probably it. Probably…

~~~

Dextera cracked the door open, peering out cautiously, then slowly closed it with a sigh. “She’s gone.”

“Good,” Leon said calmly, moving the screwdriver in his hand with a deft flick of his wrist into another screw. “It’s better if she’s not around to see this.”

“Why?” Dextera asked, looking back at him.

“Because,” he said, as he lifted the weapon he was creating, holding it up to the light to examine it from a different angle. “What I’m doing at the moment isn’t exactly legal. What do you think, huh? A scared little Gifted like you, you’re watching me break rules. Ones even more serious than the ones being broken by your existence.”

He glanced at her, flashing her a smile. “What do you say? They’ll be appointing a successor if the Captain isn’t found soon. You can report what you see me doing, and they’ll probably be grateful enough to give you some protection. Want to give it a shot?”

She frowned, silent for a moment. “…You’re not crazy. They think you are, but… You’re being rational about this. You’re not telling me this just because you want to be caught. You have some kind of plan, don’t you?”

“You could say that.” He placed the weapon back in his lap, frowning as he tried to figure out which part of it to attack next, screwdriver flexing uncertainly between his fingers. “And I can’t seem to get you to go away. You’re glued to me, these past few days. And you were the Captain’s pet- you’re not used to breaking rules. …So I guess what I’m asking is, if I break all of the rules wide open, just what side are you going to fall on, anyways?”

She said nothing. But she watched him, for a long moment. And slowly, she crossed the room.

This man hated her, hated everyone like her. It didn’t matter that she had been on the side of the Agents- he hated her very existence because of what she could do, her “geis”. He could never respect her. Acceptance, love… Those were things she could never expect, from someone like this.

But then, acceptance, love, respect… Those weren’t things she could expect from anyone. There was only one thing that she had learned. Agents would put her in a cage. Gifteds would be appalled by her, and would chase her far from them. And ordinary people would fear both Agents and Gifteds, and would never let her be near them.

Everyone kicked her out eventually. Except for the Captain- he had kept her close to him, to use her abilities. And this man, also, for some reason, was not chasing her away.

“It’s not a problem with the casing,” she said, after crouching by him for several long moments. “The conduits are fine, too- you’re wasting your time trying to fix it with just ordinary hand tools like that. You won’t find the problem.”

“Oh really,” he asked skeptically, frowning up at her. “And I suppose you know all about advanced weaponry?”

“Yes. I studied with a top expert in the field of munitions for six weeks, until he got angry that I had learned more than he knew. Here.” The little girl reached forward, lifting the casing off and pointing to the circuitry beneath. “See? I garuntee you that one of these connections here is shorted out. You’ll have to test them by trial and error- test them one by one, until you see which one needs to be replace. You do it like this…”

She took the weapon from him while he looked on in astonishment, taking it into her own lap and demonstrating. A small smile curved on her lips, as she felt Leon watching her. Right now, he was realizing that he could use her, that she could be useful to him. He would keep her, for that reason.

As long as he wouldn’t chase her away, as long as she could be useful to him… Dextera would stay beside him, for as long as she could.

Buma Ending

Null watched as Sinistra stumbled back, clutching his head in pain. He looked so confused... She had never seen him so scattered and disoriented, not in all of the time she had known him. The longer she held on to his wrist like this, the worse she knew his pain would get. But she didn't dare let go- in his state, he might try to teleport. And he was in no condition to make sure he was teleporting somewhere that wouldn't kill him on arrival.

"Null!"

She looked up as Konki ran towards her, looking frightened and uncertain. She exhaled slowly, glad the girl was still alive. Well, she was one of the Agency's assassins, right? Of course she would be alright. "Konki! The Captain- did you take care of him?"

Konki stopped, a few feet away, uncertainly. "Well, no, but..."

"No?" Null frowned. "What happened?

~~~

Tori opened her eyes, and they were partly her eyes. But black still hovered around the edge of the green, threatening to rush in the moment the nullifying cuffs stopped working. She looked weak, and if it weren't for Hisoka's power boosting, she would have passed out again right there.

Shan noticed her stirring, and stepped away from her gingerly, ready to act if she began freaking out again. "Tori? Are you with us?"

She groaned from where she lay on the floor, closing her eyes as though the fluorescent lighting was too bright. "What... happened? I can't..."

Shan looked at the others, from Akaru to Aden to Tau to the newcomer, then turned back to Tori, kneeling beside her uncertainly. "Tori, can you understand me? We need you to help us. We're trying to get you free, but right now, we're not sure how." He frowned. "Do you know how this... whatever this is, works? Anything you can tell us at all..."

She curled in on herself, whimpering softly. "My head... it hurts..."

Akaru shook his head. He had seen something... somewhat similar to this before. Some rodents could sometimes get overwhelmed, too much stress from their environment paralyzing them. While this wasn't completely the same, he could guess what was happening to her. Whatever was controlling her, it had such control over her mind... The effect of the nullifying cuffs had to be working just as hard against that. Add to all of that whatever Hisoka was doing to her, and the stress she must be under... It couldn't help that they were so close to the deadline, Tori's forty-eight hours almost up. He started to speak, to tell them that they needed to stop, and let Tori conserve her energy-

"That girl. She's the one... that's doing it." Tori's face was contorted, from pain and focus. "I'm trying to remember... She... She drew something... Something I have to do..."

"Girl?" Shan asked, frowning more deeply. What had Null said...? "Dextera?"

"Y...yes. Dextera. My..." Tori's eyes opened for a moment, staring unfocused straight ahead, and for the briefest instant, the black surged forward at the mention of the name. "My friend."

~~~

"You shouldn't be here," Leon argued as they reappeared in the hallway, the teleporter that the woman from Antartica had sent with them withdrawing meekly. "You're still weak. As cold as it was, I'm surprised a shock like that didn't kill you."

Kate scoffed, checking the various weapons she had around her. "I'm fine, Leon. I told you that. I must have told you a hundred times by now."

"You're alive," he admitted. "Still, you should be resting. You're in no condition to face dangerous Gifteds running loose, and you know it." Still, his arguments were half-hearted, already knowing that she wasn't going to rest, not as long as these freaks were running loose in yet another base. They couldn't let another one be over-run, not like the Munia base. If the Gifteds could prove they were that powerful, they might become unstoppable. There might be another war, between Gifteds and Normals, like the one that had taken place nearly a century ago, before the little freaks had been put in their place.

Leon shook his head. "At least promise me you'll be careful," he pleaded.

"This coming from the guy who keeps knocking his head against walls," Kate said wryly, checking her watch. "Don't worry. No Gifted is going to take me down, not today." She looked up, smirking. "Come on. Last reported sighting was from this direction."

They took off running a moment later.

~~~

Null shook her head, taking in the brief explanation Konki had given her. "I see..." He had gotten to her. That seemed to be the Captain's specialty. She straightened up, adjusting the mask. "There's nothing for it. The chance is gone- we're just going to have to run for it." Shan had reported in over the communicators a few minutes ago, letting her know that they had Tori, and apparently someone else she had never heard of. They could get Tori, and Sinistra, out for now- that had to be enough. If that group could leave, maybe she and Konki could still find the cure, somewhere inside here...

"Alright," she said finally. "We're leaving." She tapped the communicator attached to her ear, brushing a strand of dark brown hair out of the way. "Tau, this is Null. We have Sinistra. Where can we find you?"

As Tau answered a moment later, explaining the best he could, Null tried to get Sinistra to get up, to get the huddled, shaking albino man to rise. "Come on," she said softly. "We're going to get you help."

Konki watched uncertainly. "It's going to be hard to move him. He doesn't look like he's in any condition to walk."

"I know," Null said, sounding tired. "Cuff him. I need to let go for a few minutes."

~~~

Clara walked through the halls, invisible and alone, her wings folded tightly at her side in the cramped passageways. No sign of the others. No sign of anyone. Agents appeared every now and then, and there were a few breathless seconds whenever that happened, as she flattened herself against the wall and waited for them to pass. But so far, no one had found her.

Now if she could just find someone. Her communicator had stopped working at some point- she wasn't sure why. That was what they got, she guessed, for taking old equipment that had lain dormant, dusty, and possibly water-damaged for years. She had to wonder if the other's communicators were working.

Or if they were even still free. Or if they were even still alive.

She began walking faster, deciding that for now, it was best just to focus on what she was doing.

~~~

Aden crept closer to Tori, his ally, who was laying on the ground in so much pain... "Tori? Are you... Are you okay?"

Slowly, the black retreated from her eyes. He caught a glimpse of almost complete green as she struggled for a moment before closing her eyes again. "I didn't... I didn't hurt anyone, did I?"

"No," Shan said colorlessly, still frowning as he tried to figure the situation out.

"Good," she exhaled. She lay still for a few moments, then forced herself to sit up, looking angry. "But when I find those agents, I'm going to be more than ready to hurt them for this! That they would do this to people is just... just..."

"Try not to get too angry," Akaru said, twitching nervously. He had morphed into rat form at some point, and was looking down the hall nervously, whiskers trembling. "We'll have to figure it out later. People are coming this way- and I don't smell Null or Konki or any of the others with them."

"Right," Shan said, bending down and putting one arm around Tori, lifting her. "Time to go."

~~~

The two agents ran silently through the halls, weapons drawn, grim and noiseless. Their eyes darted around for any sign of Gifteds, traps, other agents... Anything they could use, years of Agent training kicking in immediately. There was nothing. The hallways seemed abandoned, the entire complex on lockdown.

The slightest of sounds alerted Leon, long before it could reach merely human ears, and on reflex he skidded to a stop, flattening against a wall. Kate was right behind him, growing still as a sculpture with her back to the same wall, gun raised in ready.

Just around this corner. Something metallic scraping... Breathing. Not many sets of breathing, but more than one. Whoever was around there, they were going about their business unaware that they were being observed, absorbed in something. The way no agent would be right now, not when they were all trying so hard to capture the renegade Gifteds. He listened for a few more moments, then glanced at Kate, jabbing one finger towards the corner.

She nodded, then stepped out immediately, gun raised, leveling automatically at whoever she was seeing on the other side. "Freeze!" she yelled, eyes narrowing.

Leon was behind her a moment later, his own taser charging up immediately and coming out. He stepped into the next hallway, eyes locking on to the people there-

His breathing stopped. The masked woman- Alia! The one he had come so close to destroying at the waterfall, before the cursed shield gifted had gotten in the way. The agent gifted with the ability to manipulate fire was standing beside her, helping her to lift a handcuffed albino teleporter onto one of the wheeled transports used to move cages around. He recognized the disoriented teleporter as one of the Captain's own personal pets- Sinistra, the man who was always waiting by the Captain's side.

Kate's eyes narrowed. "Agent Dakkonki," she said, her voice barely a hiss. "Am I to take it that you've switched sides?"

The girl's eyes were wide, frightened. She stepped forward, hands coming up. "Look, I can explain-"

"Don't move!" Kate yelled. "You can explain it to the Captain. Believe me, I'm a pretty good shot. Surrender now- you don't want me using these things." She glanced at Leon out of the corner of her eye. "You got handcuffs? I'm all out. ...Leon?"

His hands clenched into fists, the rage coming back with all the speed of a striking snake, flooding through his body. "You," he growled, eyes locked on the masked woman. "It's you! How dare you show your face around here, after everything you've done?!"

Alarmed by the wild look in his eyes, Dakkonki reached for her swords. The masked woman held a hand out, stopping her, shaking her head silently. She turned her eyes, almost impossibly to see through the hollows of the mask, back to Leon the next second, saying nothing.

"Leon," Kate said slowly. "I know you two have some bad blood. But you're going to have to let the Captain handle it. Do you understand? You can't just-"

"Take the mask off."

Kate frowned. "What?"

Leon's words were a deadly growl as he glared at the masked woman with all the hate in his soul. "I want you to take the mask off. Now!"

The woman grew very still, then slowly shook her head.

The yell of rage that came from Leon in the next moment caused even Kate to step back a little. Before anyone could react, he was springing into the air, hurling himself for the woman. She tried to step back, one hand coming up to block the hand that was reaching out to grab her. But the next instant, the electrified wand was hitting her, shocking her violently. She gave a strangled cry, stumbling backwards, reaching out for a wall to steady herself. As she struggled clumsily, despite the arcing pain, to stay on her feet...

The white mask fell, clattering to the floor.

The woman looked at it, staring at it in shock. Mute horror flashed across her face for a moment. Then her face stilled, and she raised her soft brown eyes, dark hair falling out of her face as she looked slowly into Leon's eyes.

Leon's breath caught in his throat. Not blonde, not blue-eyed, not ivory-skinned. Pale, but... This was not the face of Alia, at any age. This was...

"Noel," he said quietly, his voice cracking in disbelief. The wildness died in his eyes, which stared unfocused, then leaked tears. "You're... you're alive?"

Sadness echoed in her own eyes as she looked back at him. "Hello, Leon."

~~~

Tau tried to suppress his worry as they ran... Well, no, ran wasn't the right word. Shuffling quickly, maybe. Tori was weak, and getting weaker every moment, even with Hisoka trying to help. If she hadn't been wearing the cuffs, he could have just transported them all, back to the entrance, the rendezvous point. But then, if she hadn't been wearing the cuffs... He shivered, remembering the wild way she had fought. The reminder was still tied around her left wrist, the long, thick, shackle-like material from the black transforming weapon still clinging there.

She fell to her knees, breathing heavily.

"Let me carry you," Shan said, stopping with the rest of the group. "Or Akaru. Or anyone. You need to save your energy."

She shook her head, getting to one knee stubbornly. "I can... do this..."

"You're only slowing us down."

They looked to Akaru, now in husky form, who had spoken.

"I can understand if you want to be strong. But at this point, it's only making this go slower to have you running on your own. If we're going to escape, you're going to have to let us help you." He walked forward, nudging her softly with his nose. "You said you trusted us all with your life, right?"

She gritted her teeth... Then slowly nodded. "Alright."

Shan lifted her gently onto his back a moment later. She leaned against him, closing her eyes as they began to run once again.

~~~

Leon started forward, unable to process his thoughts. "I don't... I don't understand! They said you were dead, and that was over nine years ago! Where have you been all this time? How are you still alive?! Why did... Why didn't-"

"They lied to you," she said simply, her voice tired. "They manipulated you, into doing what they wanted. And there was nothing that I could do to stop them."

Konki and Kate both seemed at equal losses, staring between the two uncertainly, their fight momentarily forgotten.

Leon shook his head, continuing to walk forward. "If you've been alive all of this time, why didn't you tell me? When I thought you had died, and that I had..." He shook his head again, growing frantic. "If I had known that you were alive, I would have done anything to protect you! Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Because I couldn't. And even if I could have, it's the last thing you would have wanted to know."

She straightened then, and a sensor went off in the back of his mind. Gifted... No. No! This was all wrong. She was Noel- she was his sister! She wasn't some disgusting freak! He paused in his walk forward, no longer certain whether he should continue towards her or retreat back. She was so much like he had remembered her, enough for him to recognize her immediately. Even with the aging, her face, which was so much like his, was unmistakable, the same face he had known for so long, that he had thought of every day since had lost her... It was impossible, to reconcile that with the Gifted energy he was now picking up from her so strongly, the stench of it setting off every conditioned response of disgust that had been built and drilled into him for the last nine years.

He wanted to draw her into his arms. He wanted to destroy her. He wanted... He didn't know what he wanted.

"I... I still should have known," he said, although he wasn't sure himself anymore. "I would have protected you. Somehow-"

"How? How would you have protected me?" Though her voice was still tired, something iron entered it as she turned on him. "You're an agent. You know better than anyone what this place is like. You think you could have freed me from this place? Even if you had been willing to, you can't even free yourself." She turned away, motioning to Konki. "Forget that you saw me here. Just pretend that I'm still dead- it'll make everything easier."

"Noel!" he called, reaching out to stop her.

"Don't touch me," she said dryly, irritated, no sense of compassion or affection in her voice as she drew away. "Konki, get the transport."

Still confused, Konki grabbed the cart, pushing it along in front of her as she ran to catch up.

"Hey, wait!" Kate yelled, gun raising. She aimed at them, then glanced at Leon, who... was breaking apart right in front of her. It was so strange... He had never looked like this, not once in all the time she had known him. Just what had that woman done to him?! She looked between the retreating Gifteds and her partner, biting her lip, too uncertain to make a decision.

Leon watched his sister go, filled with a thousand emotions, far beyond what he could handle. He fell numbly to his knees, watching as she disappeared around another corner, powerless to stop her. What... why... W-

His eyes caught on white. Looking down, he picked up the mask she had left behind, shaking hands clenching the material so tightly that it began to twist and crack. These emotions were too much- he couldn't handle them all! So the rage consumed everything, tearing him apart. Completely overwhelmed, he raised his head and screamed with the all-encompassing fury.

~~~

Konki flinched as she heard the echoes of the scream, shaking the area even as they got further away. "That was risky," she breathed. "I still can't believe they let us go..." She felt the handle of one of the swords at her back, biting her lip. "I should have taken care of them, while they were hesitating," she said quietly. "We shouldn't have left them alive like that. Now that they've survived, they could come back after us-"

"The woman, maybe," Null said, her words sounding hollow and dazed. "The other one won't."

Konki glanced at her. "What do you mean? He's not even hurt- he can still-"

"He won't." She closed her eyes, walking numbly forward. "He saw me. It'll completely destroy him now. I didn't want..." Tears escaped down her face, a face no longer hidden by a mask. "I've just killed him," she said, the words sounding completely shaken for ones coming from Null.

Staying quiet, Konki continued to push the transport down the hall, the squeaking of the wheels making the only sound.

~~~

Shan shifted Tori on his back for better purchase, watching the hallways and doors pass endlessly on all sides. They had been running for so long, but it didn't feel like they were getting any closer to their goal. "Tau. Still got that map?"

"I do," Tau said, holding up the watch Shan had tossed him so that he could focus on carrying Tori. "According to it, we are not far from the rendezvous point. With any luck, Konki and the others will be waiting for us there." He looked worried. "Unfortunately, there is still no word from Clara."

"We have to hope that she'll be alright," Akaru replied simply, padding along beside them. "She seems tough. She can probably take care of herself."

Aden said nothing, continuing to watch Tori as he struggled to keep up with them.

"In the meantime," Tau continued, "We need to take the next left. It should be coming up, right... There!"

They turned as one, sliding into the next hallway...

Right into a swarm of agents blocking the way. The Captain stepped forward, Dextera staying small at his side. "I believe you have something I want."

Tori whimpered softly, as Dextera turned to smile at them all.

~~~

Leon was on his knees, still trembling. He had been there for several minutes, shaking violently, hands clutching at his head. His eyes were closed, and he was so silent...

Kate looked up and down the hallway, then carefully holstered her weapon. Slowly, she kneeled beside him, reaching out cautiously to touch his shoulder. "Leon... I don't understand. What's wrong? What did that woman do to you?"

"I... don't know..." His words sounded empty, unnatural. "I don't... I don't know anything anymore!" He was curling in on himself, coiling around some inner, deep hurt. "How can she be alive? What am I supposed to believe- that the Agency has been lying all of this time? And how can she possibly be a Gifted?!" He shook his head. "I can't... I can't deal with this. It's too much. I can't..."

Her hand tightened on the shoulder. He was unraveling so fast... Yet she couldn't even tell exactly what was wrong. Still... "Please," she said, trying to look him in the eyes. "Let me help you. Whatever it is, you can tell me!" She tried to turn him, to force him to look at her. "Whatever it is, I want to help!"

He looked into her eyes, for a moment growing still. "You would... You would accept that? Dealing with all of this..." He frowned in wild confusion. "Why would you do that?"

She smiled softly, and hesitated. "Well, because... I think... Because I l-"

"Do you now?"

They both started at the unknown voice, which echoed down the hallways menacingly. It was the voice of a young girl, but somehow the emptiness of the hallway had turned even those few words, making them dark and sinister. "You don't have to finish it. I know what you were going to say." The sound of a little girl's laughter. "I can feel it. And it tastes gross- way too sugary sweet!"

Kate's weapon was out a moment later, her eyes scanning up and down the hallway. The voice- where was it coming from? "Who are you?" she yelled, fierce once again as she stepped protectively in front of the broken agent at her feet. "Show yourself!"

"Couldn't if I wanted to," the voice said, laughing again. Then it turned dark again, more serious. "But then, you're not showing yourself either, are you?"

"What are you talking about?" she muttered, keeping the gun up, searching frantically for the source of the voice.

Wherever it was, it seemed to be moving... Coming closer? Every hair on the back of her neck stood on end, as she began to get the feeling that they were being stalked. "I'm so glad I found you!" the girl's voice called again. "I was getting really weak- I was just about to start unaging again. Luckily, here you are, just when I really needed to feed!"

Leon stood. Kate glanced at him over her shoulder, worried. He had grown very still, eyes darting all over the place. "Leon?"

"I know that voice." There was something dark, angry, frightened in his eyes as he looked back at her, his back to hers. "Alia."

"Are you sure?" she asked, hold tightening on the weapon in her hands. "If it is her... Then where is she?! She can't make herself invisible!"

"Aw, look how concerned you are for him! How cute," the voice called, dancing somewhere around them. "You must really care for him. Or at least, that's what you think." The voice lowered, to a hiss. "Unfortunately, those emotions taste all wrong- completely gross, and they don't fill me up for very long. I'm going to need you to feel something else. Something like..."

Kate gasped as something jolted inside of her, stopping her breath for a moment. She doubled over, struggling for air, her weapon clattering to the floor.

"Kate!" Leon yelled, turning towards her immediately. His hand reached for her arm, to steady her-

Any moment before now, that touch would have felt warm and comforting, even from such hard, inhuman skin. But something changed in that moment. As the warmth drained from her body, she felt herself filled with revulsion, loathing, disgust... All of which intensified as he touched her.

"You thought you cared about him, didn't you?" The voice was barely a whisper, singing hypnotically up close, in her ear. "Of course, it was all pity, wasn't it? You don't really care about him at all- in fact, you almost hate him, don't you?"

Kate tensed, as the feelings rushed into her so strongly, while the warmth continued to leave her, flying somewhere else.

Leon flinched as the slap came, hard against his face. It didn't hurt, not really. Not physically. But... He looked at Kate, not comprehending as she drew away from him, glaring at him so strongly. "K...Kate?"

"Don't touch me," she said, her words cold. "Don't ever touch me. Don't even speak to me."

"I don't... understand," he said, one hand raising to his face. His eyes narrowed in suspicion. "She's gotten to you, hasn't she?"

"No. I just can't stand it when you touch me." Kate didn't fully understand the coldness that had seemed to come over her, but she didn't try to, completely under the grip of the new emotions. "It's funny, isn't it? I just now realized how much I can't stand being around you. You're so pathetic, so completely weak and useless!"

"Yessss," the voice said, wriggling in the pleasure it was getting from the emotions she was giving off. "You really do hate him, don't you?" For a moment, Kate felt something, some kind of animosity coming off from this other thing... It seemed focused on Leon. And it seemed to be enjoying watching him as she pushed him away. Enjoying his pain, his uncertainty... Watching as he once again began to fall apart. "In fact, that's not the only thing you've been lying to yourself about, is it? There's someone else... Someone you care about much more than this loser! Isn't there?!"

Another jab of sudden emotions. And suddenly, all she could think of was Marq. Distracted, she stepped away from the disgusting agent in front of her, putting more and more distance between them. "Don't ever touch me again," she breathed, before turning and walking away.

"Hey, Kate!" Leon yelled. But she was already gone. He stared after her, eyes stricken, as he watched yet another person walk away from him. Sinking back into the overwhelming emotions, he sank back to his knees, left to unravel alone in the hallway, completely forsaken.

~~~

The Captain watched them coldly, no sign of emotion on his face. "So. Here you are. You seem to enjoy causing trouble for the Agency, don't you?"

The Gifteds moved closer together, closing in the gaps between them. Shan stepped slightly in front of Tori and the others, and Akaru had his fangs bared, growling softly. Tau was already flickering, one hand on his knife. Aden had taken over supporting Tori, looking frightened but determined, and Hisoka... was still hanging back as usual.

Tau stepped forward threateningly, knife raised as he lowered slightly into a fighting stance. "We are going to leave now," he said, colorless eyes burning with anger. "You would be wise not to stop us!"

The Captain looked around at the endless agents surrounding him, appearing unconcerned, then turned back to the group of intruders. "Leaving? Before you get what you want? Oh, sure, you have the girl, but she's not even close to cured yet, is she? The moment you take off those cuffs, she'll just begin attacking you all over again. And you can't leave the cuffs on forever without her dying. She's quite the liability, isn't she?"

Tori glared weakly at the man, slumped against Aden.

Shan shook his head. "We're not leaving her behind. She's the reason we're here in the first place."

"I'm sure she is," the Captain said. "She's important to you. And that is why I'm ready to offer you a deal."

They watched him suspiciously, not moving. "What?" Shan finally said.

"There they are!" a voice called from behind. Tau started, almost jumping into a fight right there, before he recognized it as Null's voice. The footsteps came closer... Then pulled to a stop.

Shan glanced behind him, realizing immediately how bad this was. Null, Konki, and Sinistra were all there, now, right behind them. If they got captured now, they would all get captured. Except for Clara. Clara was still out there, somewhere...

But the Captain didn't order his men to attack. Instead, he actually looked pleased, in his own frosty way. "Ah, Null. Just the person I wanted to see."

Null wasn't wearing her mask, so the dislike and mistrust in her eyes was very evident as she stiffened, moving closer to her allies. "What's going on?"

"I was just about to offer them a deal," the Captain said smoothly, adjusting the dark glasses that hid his eyes from the world. "Dextera! Show them."

"Yes sir!" the little girl said, stepping forward, glancing at Tori for a second before reaching into her backpack. She fumbled around for a few moments, then pulled a single piece of paper out. "This is my drawing. It's what I used when I first met Tori, and..." She smiled softly. "It's what makes us friends."

Aden growled suspiciously. "You're going to tell us how it works? Why would you do that? It's only going to help us."

"Because I'm trying to offer you a bargain," the Captain said. One large hand descended on top of the little girl's head, in a move that was neither rough nor compassionate. "Dextera's power is something we call geis. Basically, she can give her victims a single command, and that command will consume their life. They have no choice but to fulfill that command as much as they possibly can, not as long as this contract remains." He touched the paper- the contract- pointing it out. "Can you guess what she ordered your little friend there to do?"

Null frowned as she stepped forward, looking at the rough stick figures and crude drawings. A stick figure with a long braid, holding a spear... Dozens of other stick figures lying at her feet.

"To... destroy..." Tori mumbled, barely conscious. "To destroy all other Gifteds..."

Dextera beamed with pleasure. "You remembered! You really are my friend."

The Captain drew his hand away, fixing his eyes on them. "This is the deal. I'm offering you back your friend's freedom. Dextera is fully capable of deactivating this contract. Tori will return completely to normal, and you can all be on your way. I'll even give you a full day's start, to start running, before we start hunting you again. In return..." He waved his hand at Sinistra and Null. "I would like you to return my two bodyguards.

"Not happening," Shan said simply, stepping even more in front of them.

"May I ask why?" the Captain replied smoothly, unperturbed. "I can understand Tori- she's your ally, someone you want to protect. But Sinistra is too far gone to be anything but my protector by now. And Null..." The laughter was forced, artificial, with no real emotion behind it, yet still no less mocking than real laughter. "You can't possibly believe that she's actually your ally."

Konki gritted her teeth, getting tired of the mind games. "Of course she is! We would never have gotten this far without her."

"Oh, yes, I'm sure she used you quite well," the Captain said. "Just like she's used dozens of Gifteds before you. It may interest you to know that she's led countless Gifteds to their captures. She did it by infiltrating them, gaining their trust, just like they did with you. And she did it of her own free will."

"Don't listen to him," Shan said, not buying it. "He's just lying- trying to get us divided."

Still... Tau glanced towards the woman, waiting for her to argue, to look angry, anything. But... she said nothing. She stood there, completely still, brown eyes fixed on the Captain. He hesitated, knife still raised. "Null?"

She shook her head. "...It's true. I don't deny it." Her hands clenched slowly into fists at her side. "And I don't regret it, not in the least."

~~~

Clara wandered through the hallways, trying to figure out where she was, certain that she was now walking in circles. She could swear that she had passed that same doorway five times now...

She wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or worried that she hadn't seen any Agents in a while now. She hadn't seen anyone. Most definitely not her friends. For all she knew, they could be captured by now. Or worse...

"Who's there?"

The voice was wavering, frightened. But Clara recognized it immediately, and turned, searching for the source. "Elora?"

"Clara! I'm right here!" Somehow, the girl found her, despite them both being invisible. Elora was hugging her a moment later, invisible tears leaving Clara's invisible clothes wet. "I was so scared! I'm so glad I found you- I got lost, separated from the others. I thought for sure the Agents were going to get me!"

Clara smiled, wondering why she was suddenly feeling so happy and relieved. "It's okay. I won't let anyone hurt you." She looked around, sighing. "I just wish we could find a way out of here..."

"Oh!" Elora was tugging on her hand a moment later, pulling her down the hall. "I found an exit! I was too scared to take it before, but now that you're here to protect me..."

Clara gave in, letting herself be tugged down the hall. Somehow, it was impossible to feel worried or frightened now. She felt so warm, struggling not to giggle like a little child as Elora pulled her. Any other time, that might have seemed weird. Right now, though...

~~~

Konki stared at Null, confused. "I don't understand. Why would you...? You were an agent?"

Null looked at no one, seeming very tired. "I am on your side. At least for now. But what he said is true." She raised blazing eyes, glaring at the Captain furiously. "If it makes me stronger, if it enables me to protect the one person that's important to me, then I will do anything, no matter what it causes for other people." Her eyes narrowed, meeting the Captain's. "And believe me, whatever it takes, to make those that hurt him pay for what they did..."

He smirked. "You see? She's just using you. She's not your ally, not your friend, not anything. You can't trust her. You shouldn't even be around her." He held up a collar, identical to the one that had been pulled from her neck when Null had first been found. "However... If you were to hand her and the other one back over to me, you could be rid of her, and get your real ally back. You could all walk away free from this, with exactly what you wanted. You couldn't ask for a better deal than that."

There was silence. The group looked at each other, while Null stood absolutely still, her eyes locked on only one person. Tau looked around them, then stepped forward, knife raising even higher. "I do not know if Null is to be trusted or not. Right now, it does not seem that way. But one thing I do know." The weapon pointed toward the Captain. "The Agents most definitely are not to be trusted. And anyone who would willingly hand over another human being to them is no better than an Agent himself." He began to flicker, getting ready to fight. "We will be leaving now. We will take all of our group with us. And when we are away, we will decide for ourself who we can or cannot trust, and deal with that as we choose!"

"You're a fool," the Captain sighed. "And what will you do when your friend ceases living because of the nullification? Or when she begins attacking you again? Even if you survive somehow to make it out of here, she most certainly won't!"

Tau stopped, then smiled. "It is the paper, is it not?"

Dextera nodded uncertainly, looking towards the Captain for support.

Tau teleported. Dextera squeaked as he reappeared, grabbing hold of the paper, then disappeared immediately with it.

Tori cried out suddenly, falling to the ground, huddling there in pain. "Tori!" Aden called, kneeling beside her.

Tau reappeared beside Shan, looking smug. "I dropped the paper in a volcano in South America. Go get it if you want. But for now-" he lifted his knife, charging. "We will be leaving!"

The agents descended on them a moment later.

~~~

Clara frowned as Elora continued to lead her through the halls, beginning to get worried again. "Are you sure you know where the exit is? I don't see it anywhere."

"I think I do," Elora replied, sounding worried herself. "It was somewhere up here..."

Clara froze at the sound of running, pulling Elora to the side of the hallway. She was frightened for a few moments, as she waited to see how many agents were running towards them-

But they weren't agents. She breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped out. "Konki!"

Konki wheeled around mid-run, searching for the source of the noise as the others ran around her. "Clara?" She felt something grab her arm- something she couldn't see- and on impulse made it visible. Clara and Elora were standing there a moment later.

"Don't stop!" Null yelled as she passed by, followed by the others. "We've got agents right behind us- we've got to keep running!"

"I do not understand why we are running," an irritated voice said. Tau, alternating between running and flickering in and out of the group as they raced forward. "Our pursuers are our enemies! Why are we not standing and fighting, like true warriors?"

"Because true warriors would get themselves captured or dead within five minutes," Null scoffed. "Now move it!"

"Running as fast as we can," Shan replied, once again carrying Tori. She had her eyes closed, and hadn't moved or spoken to anyone in several minutes. Akaru had switched into horse form, and was now carrying Sinistra over his back, his hooves anything but stealthy as he raced along the tiled floor.

Null gritted her teeth, looking over her shoulder. Both of them were still wearing nullifying cuffs. If it weren't for those, and Null's own power, Tau could transport almost all of them out right now. And now with the main exit blocked off, they were in trouble...

"There they are! Close them off!"

Her head snapped around immediately, as they came to a fork in the hallways. Agents were pouring out of one of the forks, running towards them. By the time they had reached the intersection, Agents were appearing in the other fork as well. Surrounded on three sides... She couldn't believe their rotten luck today. "Get ready, Tau," she said as they wheeled to a stop, looking in the three blocked directions worriedly. "It looks like we're about to become true warriors."

And then the Agents were rushing in. Almost half of them seemed to be the enhanced kind, moving with speed and strength that was almost Gifted itself. They were fighting back seconds later, fighting desperately for their lives. Shan was out first, working as a shield to the others, using his diamond knife to hold them off. Akaru was right behind, a charging ox that attempted to mow a path clear through the mass of enemies. Konki, Tau, and Clara weren't far behind, fighting furiously against the enemy force threatening to overwhelm them all.

Elora hung back, crying. "I don't want to die, I don't want to die!" she shrieked.

"Quiet!" Null hissed. She glanced around at the other members of their group. Sinistra was still curled in on himself, disoriented and mute. Aden stood uncertainly by Tori, and Hisoka also seemed uncertain of what to do. She hesitated. If this guy was really on their side... "Hisoka. You can enhance Gifted powers, right?"

He looked at her. "...Yes."

She pointed towards the Gifteds fighting for their lives. "Then help us!"

He nodded a second later, concentrating. Null turned back to watching the group in worry, hating that she was as much of a liability here as Elora. There had to be some way that she could help...

"...Null?"

She looked down. Tori must have been picking up some of Hisoka's boosting, because she was beginning to move, trying to sit up weakly. "...Uncuff me. I want... to help..."

Null hesitated. Tau had destroyed the contract, but still... "Let me see your eyes."

Tori opened them obediently. Green looked out at Null, clear and undefiled... in the center. A very thin rim of black still remained, almost invisible, around the rims of her irises. "I can do it... I'm in control. I can feel it."

"I don't know," Null said, watching her hesitantly. "But then..." She glanced at the battle. The others were fighting back hard, but they were slowly being pushed in by the sheer number of enemies, slowly overwhelmed. At this rate, they wouldn't last long. It wasn't like it could get any worse...

Tori sighed in relief as the handcuffs clicked open, shaking them free. "Thanks," she said, weaving slightly as she stood up. Still so weak... But Hisoka's abilities were making her feel better already, now that the nullification was gone. Another minute...

She didn't have her staff. But she was still a martial artist. That had to count for something, even without the super strength and speed. She turned towards the Agents, glaring at them angrily, then jumped into the fray a second later, kicking furiously at the head of the first unlucky Agent she spotted.

The fight waged on for what seemed like hours, although in reality couldn't have been more than a few minutes. They were so vastly outnumbered, even their abilities were seeming less likely to save them with every second. As Akaru plowed another temporary path through the Agents, Tau stopped for a moment. He could see the Captain, had almost a clear shot to him now. This was their chance! Gritting his teeth, he clenched the knife, and raced forward, cutting the distance with several short teleports, knife raised to slash.

Dextera saw him first. Eyes widening, she stepped in front of the tall, emotionless man at her side, arms raising. "Stop! Please, don't hurt him!"

Tau prepared to jump past her, pushing himself into the air- and yelled as an electric wand struck his side, one of the Agents getting to him at the last minute. He cried out, crumpling to the floor, the knife clattering to the ground and disappearing beneath a mess of Agent feet.

"Tau!" Null yelled, watching the battles. "Hold on a se-" Something moved behind her. She turned just in time to see the back of Sinistra's fist coming for her.

The man was kneeling over her a moment later, black fluctuating in his eyes wildly. Somehow he had broken the chain between his cuffs, and found the willpower to stand and move. He found the key hidden in Null's sleeve, and moments later he was gone, flickering out of sight, leaving a broken pair of handcuffs behind him.

"Hold on, Tau," Shan called, the closest one to the albino fighter. He struggled, moving with the knife again and again. The others were too far away. But even he was blocked by dozens of Agents, ones that weren't going to let him past any time soon. By the time he got to Tau...

"Nng..." Tau struggled, raising his head to look at Dextera, who was still standing in front of the Captain. "You... You are a Gifted. Why would you... do that? Why would you protect someone that wants you dead?!"

She bit her lip, watching him. "I don't want anyone to die. But the Captain is-"

The Captain shoved her aside roughly, removing a gun from his suit. "You've caused trouble long enough," he said, pointing it at Tau, who grew very still on the ground.

Dextera looked up, brightening as something flickered into solidity beside her. "Sinistra! You're back!"

Sinistra nodded mutely, eyes black, briefly catching the attention of both the Captain and Tau.

Tau stared at him in disbelief, fully seeing him for the first time. "Alpha... You are alive!"

Sinistra turned to look at him, no sign of recognition on his blank face.

Tau frowned. "But... why? Why fight for this man? You realize what he has done. To our tribe- to everyone!" He struggled up as Sinistra looked away. "Answer me! You know who I am. After what you did, I at least deserve that!"

Dextera glanced at the man thoughtfully. Although he wasn't looking at Tau, the slightest of trembling seemed to be building.

"Fine, then, you do not remember me." He sat up, glaring at Sinistra. "But you have to remember Epsilon! She trusted you. She loved you! And you stabbed her in the back, when you helped the Agents capture the rest of our tribe!"

The trembling, though still under control was growing worse. Sinistra's eyes darkened. "Must... protect..."

Tau struggled to get to one knee, still reeling from the effects of the electricity. "I was in the mission to rescue her, and the others. I was the one who found her, in the cage that you put her in!" He shook his head in disbelief. "But she would not let me rescue her. She still believed, despite everything, that you would make everything better. She still trusted you, even more than me, her own brother!" He clenched his fists. "If it were not for you, she would still be alive! How can you let yourself forget that?!"

He stared at Sinistra for a few more moments, watching the man tremble and stay still. He shook his head in disgust. "Then you have forgotten. I do not know how you can do that, no matter what this girl forced you to do." He turned towards the Captain, his glare darkening even more. "But I cannot forget, ever!" Yelling, he jumped forward, throwing himself for the Captain. The Captain raised his weapon, pulling the trigger.

Tau felt the hand that slammed into his chest, pushing him back. He hit the ground for the second time that day, and looked up, in surprise, at the man that had teleported in front of him. "A...Alpha?"

The trembling had stopped. Sinistra looked over his shoulder at Tau, weaving as he held the wound in his side, his pale lips twisting in something that might have been a smile. "Must... protect," he said quietly.

The Captain frowned. "Dextera, what-"

Suddenly, Sinistra's hands were on his shoulders, the albino looking into his eyes. He couldn't go against the order Dextera had forced on him, years ago. He had to protect this man, at all costs. But... this place was dangerous. He could remove him, from this place, to somewhere where there were no enemies.

The Captain struggled slightly as the slowly dying man began to teleport them both. He lashed out, trying to stop him... But only for a moment. The place Sinistra transported them to was airless, and cold. A second flicker changed all of that.

Sinistra did smile then, as he closed his eyes, letting go of the Captain in release. There had been a time when he had been a prodigy, stronger than any other in his tribe, able to fight harder and teleport farther, even to places he had never been. One last time, he had used that strength, to teleport himself and the Captain first into space, then into the very heart of the sun.

His thoughts, finally coming free of their shackles, drifted as his molecules were torn apart in the intense heat and pressure. I must... protect you all...

~~~

Akaru shifted into a tiger, slashing out with his claws at the Agents closing in even more tightly. No good. They were blocked in so tightly. They'd never escape, not in a million years, at this rate. The agents surrounded them on all sides...

Wait.

All horizontal sides!

He looked up at the roof, hesitating. He had no idea how thick it was- it could even be steel reinforced. But if it could get them out of here, he had to try... Even if this ended up as a major headache later. He looked around, locating the nearest ally he could find. "Tori," he called, spotting the girl striking out hard with her fists only a few feet away. "Cover me for a second."

"Why?" she called back. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to try to break through the roof," he said, stretching onto his hind legs, gauging the distance. It wouldn't be easy, but maybe in dragon form...

She frowned, looking up. "You want to break through that?"

"Yes. It could be our only way out of here."

"...Then you cover me. I'm the only one that can do it without shattering a bone."

He glanced at her. What was she talking about? She didn't have her staff, so right now she wasn't any stronger than any of them. What could she possibly- oh no, her eyes were flickering black. "Tori-"

"Stay back," she yelled, the black shackle on her left wrist beginning to move slightly. She inhaled sharply, then ran several steps forward, before jumping and pushing off of an Agent's back. She vaulted for the ceiling, yelling wildly as she sent a spinning hatchet kick for the roof.

Several Agents were flattened by the resulting cave-in of roof tiles and twisted steel bars. Akaru blinked once in the bright sunlight coming from outside, then looked up at the girl hanging from the small hole in the roof by one hand. "Come on!" she yelled, looking down at them with worried green eyes. "We don't have a lot of time! Grab the others, and let's go!"

The fight had begun to decrease for only the slightest second, as the Agents realized that their leader was missing. It was all the pause they needed. Seconds later, a dragon carrying a full load of people rocketed through the gap in the ceiling, followed shortly by a winged gifted struggling beneath the weight of an unconscious woman.

~~~

They landed in the middle of the forest, completely exhausted. "Are we out?" Shan panted as he slid from Akaru's back. "Did we get away from them?"

Akaru stiffened. "No. I can hear them- they're running for us!"

"Great," Tori moaned, wobbling out of weariness as Akaru shifted down into a rat. "Just what we need. More running."

"Don't bother running."

They turned to look at Null, who was slowly coming around. "They have... sensors..." she said, wincing softly as she touched the wide cut Sinistra had left on her left temple. "They can pick up Gifted energy... and they can find traces of it on the ground. Unless you're prepared to fly us all out of here, they're going to be able to find us, wherever we go." She glanced at Akaru and Clara, who both looked about ready to drop. "Actually, flying isn't advisable either. They're probably deploying every aircraft in the city as we speak."

Shan shook his head. "Then what do we do? How do we get away from this?"

Null sighed, thinking for a moment. "...I can mask my own energy, by nullifying it all. If I can concentrate, maybe I can cover another person. Two if I'm really pushing it." She glanced at Tau, who was being strangely quiet, not looking at any of them. "Tau, how many people can you transport at once?"

He shrugged, looking dazed. "Two or three in one trip."

"Okay," she said slowly. "Tau will teleport you to safety, somewhere. They might be able to track where he sends you, but it should at least give you a headstart. He'll have to make several trips, but if we move quickly, he can do it." She looked away. "I'll hide myself, and stay behind."

"What? No!" Tori cried. "We're not just going to leave you behind! Even if their sensors can't find you, they have dogs! It's too dangerous!"

"What choice do we have?" Null answered back. "I can't nullify you all! You're going to have to leave- I'll be fine!"

"It will not work," Tau said quietly. He lifted one hand, staring at it. "That shock... It scrambled up everything. I will recover from it later, but I have seen the way shocks like that impact my people before." He closed his eyes, shaking his head. "If I try to teleport right now, there is no telling where I will end up. It is too risky, and I cannot transport you all, even if I do not teleport straight into a volcano."

"Great," Null breathed. She slumped against a tree, troubled. "I don't know what we're going to do, then. We can hide our scent from dogs, but those sensors..." She frowned deeply. "If I could just extend my range somehow..."

Hisoka, who had been silent until now, slowly stepped forward. "Hey... Maybe I can help."

~~~

Dextera ran through the halls, terrified. Everything was coming apart so quickly! The Agents were running into full war mode. In this state, if they found her- if they found any Gifted out of their cages or without Agent escort, no matter who they were...

The Captain. The one person that had protected her. He had been everything, the one that had rescued her, fed her, helped her to survive. The closest thing she had to a father... He was gone now. She had seen Sinistra's drawing change, the moment he disappeared. Two stick figures, in the middle of a sun, until slowly the two stick figures, also, disappeared...

She choked back a sob, fighting the tears that were beginning to escape. Captain...

Her steps slowed as she turned into a darkened hallway, her dark eyes drawn to something huddled to the side. There was... Someone else here. Not a friend, but not... "H... Hello?" she called tentatively...

Leon didn't look up as Dextera walked closer, knees pulled to his chest, head buried in his arms. Aside from the shallow movement of his breathing, anyone might have thought he was dead. Dextera crept closer to him, staring at him curiously. Why was he like this? The way he looked, curled up, covered in grief...

It was how she felt right now, she realized.

She watched him for a moment, then sat down beside him. Neither of them moved as the chaos continued to stir Buma outside of their dark hallway.

~~~

Dogs raced by on the ground, noses pressed to the dirt, while their owners ran behind, electronic scanners beeping noisily as the chase wore on. They spread out, for miles in every direction outside of Buma, searching, scanning, finding nothing.

In a tree high above them all, Null and Hisoka sat on one of the center limbs, their legs crossed, their eyes closed in concentration, holding hands. Around them, spread out through the branches of the tree they hid in, Gifteds slept, crashed in complete exhaustion, leaning against each other for support and warmth. They were all so tired... Only Null and Hisoka remained awake, continuing to extend their powers over the branches, protecting the people within. They stayed there, motionless, as the sounds of the dogs and scanners grew steadily father away, and the sky slowly darkened overhead.

When the stars had reached their maximum brightness, Null opened her eyes wearily. "I think that's good for now. ...I think we're safe."

Hisoka smiled at her wordlessly before also falling asleep.