FSE

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The following day…

"Are you out of your mind?!" Lighris bellowed, so loudly that his voice seemed to shake the entirety of the tower cabin, making everyone wince.

Especially Rikyuu, standing next to the electric blue avian. Rikyuu rubbed his ear holes, feeling them ringing from the volume of Lighris' booming voice. "Can you keep it down to a dull roar_,_ Lighris? I think I hear the neighbours complaining from Brazil."

"You expect me to be chill," began Lighris, pointing an accusing finger at Kyle who stood impassively in the middle of the room. "When there's a member of P.A.C.E - the same sons of bitches who have been after my bro and I for months, standing right there?! In the tower my brother calls home, no less!" He glared at Obsidian pointedly.

After bringing Kyle to the abandoned forest lookout, Obsidian had called in a few friends to fill them in on the details. Rikyuu and Ayane had come to offer their help, and Lighris - eager to put an end to P.A.C.E's threat so that he and Volcan could go back to a quiet life, had also come. The moment Obsidian had explained who Kyle was, however, the Lightning Phoenix had become immediately defensive. With Lighris' tendency to be impulsive, Obsidian counted her blessings that he hadn't struck Kyle outright, as she doubted she could stop him if he did.

"Lighris," Obsidian began to explain. "Kyle came to us. He said he's left P.A.C.E."

"And you believe him?" Lighris asked. "He has to be bullshitting you, 'Sid! This is all a trap!"

"You think I haven't considered that myself?" Obsidian asked. "I made certain to thoroughly search his mind for any deception. He also could have attacked Tsumé anytime, but he didn't."

"False sense of security," Lighris retorted. "You already tried to search the mind of that cat who led the group at the rink, right? But you couldn't! He was-"

"Enough!"

Vinge's raised voice was enough to give even Lighris pause, for how alien it was. Though they hadn't known him long, Vinge had never raised his voice once, and his tone was as sharp as his glare, which was pointed directly at Lighris. Not even the lightning phoenix could maintain his bluster under that stare.

Obsidian had been fearful of inviting Vinge to the gathering. But he knew more about P.A.C.E than any of them did. She had expected him to be the most vehemently opposed to having one of their members present, but as always the ice phoenix remained passive and, until that moment, silent. Looking at him, it was easy - for her at least - to see he was restraining himself as he turned his attention back to Kyle.

Though the hand on his sword did not go unnoticed…

"Alright, Kyle," Tsumé spoke up. "The time has come for you to fill us all in. Start at the beginning, like you told me in town."

Kyle nodded, clearing his throat and casting a look at Vinge. "I know about your dad," he said, and flinched when Vinge's glare intensified, but continued. "I know of him, but I don't know if he's still alive or not. I found the report detailing his capture. Fourteen years ago, in the Yukon Territories. Is that right?"

Vinge didn't answer the question directly. Yet, the tightness of his knuckles seemed answer enough for Kyle, and he went on to explain the other reports he had found. He had begun to piece together the facts that P.A.C.E had hidden from him - from all but a few of their operatives, including himself. He then went on to tell the story of his attempt to infiltrate the laboratories, to find out once and for all what they did down there.

His description of the prison certainly had their attention. Countless cells, holding inmates who were surely among those used as test subjects by P.A.C.E; given the modus operandi of the renegade faction, that had to be what was in there. He went on to explain his encounter with Adrian - the cat they had encountered at the rink - and two security personnel, who attempted to apprehend him, putting him on a flight for his life to escape the base.

"When I got to the garage, I sliced the tires of the other vehicles to stall their pursuit," he explained. "Then I took one of the trucks and I got out of there, as fast as I could. When I came to the city, I disposed of the truck, leaving it in the woods outside the city - they probably found it by now. Since then I've been hiding in a local scrapyard, until I felt sure enough I could move unseen, and so I came looking for one of you. You can guess the rest."

They all stood in stunned silence, processing Kyle's story. Even Lighris could not find his voice at that moment, unable to make any further accusations towards the human. What they had just heard was shocking, knowing that so many like them were all in one place; prisoners, subjected to experiments and lives in confinement.

"It… Makes sense," Ayane stated, breaking the silence. All eyes turned to her then, waiting for her to continue. "Those devices they use… How advanced the technology is. They couldn't have developed such a thing - something that could lock out the powers of a phoenix, or a psionicist, without having such beings to study first. They couldn't make something like that if they didn't understand their powers…"

Nobody had ever considered that. The thought alone made Obsidian ill, imagining how many people might have died to perfect that horrible device…

"Disruptors," Kyle spoke up. "That's what the techs called them; Disruptors. They were developed ten years ago, long before I joined P.A.C.E."

"Who could create such a thing?" Tsumé asked.

"Dr. Jacob Rex," said Kyle. "Most of our technology was designed by him. The Disruptors, our closed communications network, and the Cyber Soldiers, like the one you destroyed."

"Wait, Jacob Rex?!" Rikyuu asked, alarmed.

Now all eyes were on the blue dragon. Lighris was the only one who remembered Rikyuu mentioning that name before. "Wasn't he the former partner of your… Well, maker?"

"He was, yes," Rikyuu replied.

"Rex has had a few partners I know of," said Kyle. "But most of them were before my arrival, aside from one weapons dealer who supplies our armaments."

"Chapman?" Vinge asked.

Kyle shook his head. "Just an alias. I don't know his full name, but I've heard Rex say the name Achtbeinig when talking to him on the phone," he said.

Obsidian perked up. "Ulrich Achtbeinig?" She asked. "But that's impossible…"

"You know him, 'Sid?" Tsumé asked.

"I have heard of him, yes," explained Obsidian. "He was on Interpol's most wanted for black market arms dealing. But it can't be him; he was caught by the White Lightning over a year ago. Furthermore, why would he be doing business all the way out here?"

"I could have misheard the name," Kyle admitted. "But it sounded like that." He pursed his lips as he had a thought. "And, all the guns we get from him are German-made…"

“This plot gets thicker and thicker," Obsidian remarked, shaking her head.

Lighris huffed. "You mean it's getting confusing. The head honcho of P.A.C.E is a coot with a power fantasy, he's supplied by another coot who's supposed to be in jail, and this Rex guy has been running around unnoticed for fourteen years?"

"At least," said Kyle.

"How the hell can someone like his exist?" Lighris asked.

With that remark it was now Lighris' turn to have all eyes on him, but this time the stares bore looks of incredulity. "Kettle. Pot," Tsumé commented.

Lighris opened his beak to retort, but it promptly fell shut with a click. He didn't have one for that, as Tsumé made an excellent point. With another huff he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cigar case, extracting a cigar and lighting it before inserting it into the corner of his beak where it became fleshy, taking a long draw from it. He held the smoke in his lungs for a moment before exhaling away from anybody.

"Can you do that by an open window please?" Ayane asked, pinching her nose and waving her hand in disgust as she took a step away from him.

"Sure," he replied, moving over to the nearest window to open it, and resting against the sill as he took another draw from the cigar.

"So what do we do now then?" Rikyuu asked.

"Ask me to do it, and I'll take you guys to the tunnel I escaped through," he said. "I want to help you all bring down P.A.C.E. I've let them mislead me for too long, and I don't want to just sit on my hands while they hurt others – especially now that I know that's all they're really doing, not acting out of public interest as I was led to believe."

"A full assault, on their base?" Tsumé asked, looking quizzically at those in the room, gauging what each of them thought of the idea. "That seems… Suicidal."

"I have to agree with Tsumé," Ayane added. "Even if we arm ourselves up, we'll be hopelessly outnumbered. What we've seen so far - these Retrieval Teams?" She looked at Kyle for clarification. "Have just been the tip of the proverbial iceberg." She then looked at Vinge. "No pun intended."

Vinge stood up, his face hard. "But whether or not the rest of you intend to go, I most definitely do."

"Just you two?" Ayane asked, pointing between Kyle and Vinge.

"If that is what it takes," said Vinge, as if it didn't matter.

"That is suicide!" Tsumé protested. "You wouldn't last five minutes in that place!"

"I must try…"

"These are people who have been hunting our kind since most of us were children," Obsidian reasoned, stepping closer to Vinge. "No matter how powerful you think you are, Vinge, you'd never survive in the very heart of their power!"

"Obsidian, you don't understand," Vinge retorted, shaking his head. "I have been preparing for this for my entire life. This is the chance I've been waiting for, to finally bring down P.A.C.E, find out once and for all what happened to my father, and-"

"And what if he is still alive?" Demanded Obsidian.

"Then I will free him," Vinge returned plainly.

"No, you won't!" Tsumé burst in suddenly. "Don't you get it, Vinge? You'd never reach him!"

"All you would give your father is a broken heart, knowing that his son died in a futile attempt to rescue him!" Obsidian added. "Or worse, you end up just another test subject in that laboratory prison!"

"Exactly!" Tsumé added. "Do you really think he'd want that?"

Vinge tensed. For a moment, Obsidian wondered if he might lash out at them, accusing them of being in his way of finding his father. Obsidian waited, watching, already prepared to push him away with telekinesis if he went for his sword. In the confined space of the old watch tower, he couldn't effectively swing the blade without hitting something- or someone else in the process.

She hoped that would be enough to make him rein himself in…

"You'd make me wait… Deny me my one chance?" Vinge asked, his voice as shaky as his shoulders.

Obsidian didn't need to read his mind to know he was struggling, conflicted between his logical mind and the thirst for vengeance that had motivated him for years. Vengeance that seemed so close now that it was within his reach. She had to pick her words carefully, she knew - at this moment, Vinge was unpredictable…

"I'm saying," she began, "that this isn't the right time. We aren't ready to take P.A.C.E on directly. Vinge…" she shuddered as she spoke. "I'm going to confess something," she began, and he lifted his gaze to meet hers. He was listening. Good, she thought.

"Ever since I found out about P.A.C.E - from the day I met Volcan, and he told me about that poor girl they killed; every time I have gone home, I have entered my own house with my hand on my gun, wondering if they might be there," she explained. "Each night when I go to sleep, I worry that one of my friends might be their next target. I want to stop them, even if it means I can't be a police officer when I do."

She lifted a hand, and rested it on his shoulder. "It's been nerve-wracking, even for me. I haven't been chasing them as long as you have, and I do understand that you want peace, not having to look over your shoulder. But throwing yourself at them, when you don't have the means to defeat them - when they could lock out your powers at any moment. You wouldn't succeed. Not on your own."

She looked directly into his eyes, a lighter blue than even her own, and filled with a deep-seated anger that wanted so badly to come forth, to take control and guide him down the path to finally finding the closure he wanted so desperately; that he had obsessed over since childhood. P.A.C.E had taken more from him than just his father, she knew. They had taken away his childhood, driving him to dedicate himself to the fighting arts, hoping one day to find them again.

That moment was so close now… Would he take it though was the question.

"Alright," he said. The ice phoenix took a long breath, holding it, and letting it out slow to calm himself, the hand around his sword's grip loosening. "You're right… It would be a fruitless gesture if I went now. Nor can the rest of us - we are simply too few and even less without Volcan. They will also be expecting us." He looked at Kyle. "One of their own has betrayed them, and they will surely expect someone to come for them. They will be prepared."

"Yes," Obsidian agreed, hiding her relief that she had managed to talk him down. "So, in their place, what would you do?" She asked.

"In their place…" he repeated, lifting his hand to his beak and biting gently down on one finger, his other arm resting across his chest while his eyes closed.

Everyone else remained quiet, watching Vinge think. They all could almost imagine hearing the cogs in his mind, turning as he imagined the scenario that awaited them if they proceeded to the tunnel now. His finger remained lodged between the top and bottom of his beak, the arm supported by his hand on his elbow.

It seemed like minutes before he moved, his eyes opening. "In their place, I would prepare for an assault," he began. “The tunnel presents the easiest point of access to the base. They will lock it down and seal it. They know they won't be trapped – they have air transportation. They risk nothing by blocking the tunnel."

“There's only one Retriever left," Kyle reminded. “It only seats ten, including the pilot and co-pilot."

“But Chapman could likely provide him more vehicles as needed?" Vinge asked.

The human nodded. "Yeah, he could," he replied. "I don't imagine getting helicopters would be too difficult for him if Rex needs them."

"Especially if we enter through the tunnel," agreed Tsumé. "They could collapse it, and buy themselves more than enough time to evacuate."

"They'd leave all the prisoners behind, save all their research and destroy the base," Kyle added. "We did drills on that."

"How very Spy Movie villain. A base with a self-destruct," Lighris commented. "If Rex has a pet cat, I'm throwing myself out a window."

"Does that Adrian guy count?" Rikyuu joked.

Much to everyone's surprise, it was Kyle who laughed at the joke. They looked at him, seeing him covering his mouth with his hand as he continued to snicker. “S-Sorry," he said in a shaky voice. “That was perfect."

A few others chuckled with him, until Tsumé spoke up to address the elephant in the room, so to speak. "So what should we do then?"

"For now, acting too quickly would be foolish," said Vinge, clearly as much to himself as to the others. "The enemy's guard is up, and to act now would only play into their hands." He looked at Kyle. "Do you agree?"

Kyle nodded. "You know your strategy," he said, in a tone of voice that carried respect.

The others agreed with the sentiment. Vinge was smart, of that there was no doubt. Smart enough that most of them were sure he could learn how to defeat virtually any opponent. But he lacked practical experience - so far he had only been fighting thugs and gangsters, who compared to P.A.C.E were a minimal threat. Still he was logical enough to defer to the more experienced among them, of which there were few.

"Half of strategy is thinking ahead, the rest is common sense," stated Vinge. "P.A.C.E has been betrayed by one of their own - they will be on their guard for some time - especially around that tunnel. Invincibility lies in the art of defense."

Kyle smiled. "You've read the Art of War."

"Many times."

Rikyuu spoke up. "Is there another way into the base?" He asked.

"The hangar, but that's up in the mountains," said Kyle. "It's hard to find without navigation. If there are any other ways in or out, they haven't told us grunts."

Vinge considered that for a moment, then looked at Ayane. "Can we use their own air vehicles to get up there?" He asked.

"Yes, and no," replied Ayane. "One of the VTOL's - what'd you call them; Retrievers?" She asked Kyle, who nodded. "One of them is flight worthy, and intact, and I can strip parts from the other as needed, though I'm still analyzing the technology. The problem is, no one here is qualified to fly something like that in mountain conditions."

Kyle lifted his head. "I can," he said, earning looks from the rest of them. "In the event that pilots are incapacitated or otherwise unavailable, Dr. Rex made it mandatory for us Commanders to also undergo flight training. I can fly it. However," he lifted his hand as he spoke. "The hangar is always kept closed until vehicles depart, and it can't be opened unless it receives the proper authentication codes. Mine have probably already been revoked."

"Drat," said Rikyuu. "So even if we get up there we'd have to find a different way in."

"Just wondering, even if we could fly up there, what if that thing runs out of fuel?" Lighris asked, exhaling a lung full of smoke out the window. "I doubt any of us have canisters of hydrogen fuel lying around."

"I know how to synthesize Hydrogen fuel," Ayane offered. "I just have to make the proper equipment first. That will take time."

"Couldn't you winged ones fly up there yourselves?" Tsumé asked.

"This time of year? We'd freeze to death before we reached halfway up," said Lighris. "Well, Rikyuu and I would. Not the snowbird." He jerked his thumb at Vinge. "Either way, we can't really bundle up against those temperatures - it'd make flying way too awkward."

Vinge considered the options they discussed, once more reverting to that pose where his finger was held between the parts of his beak. "At this time, we lack the means to enter the base by air," he said. "A frontal assault on the tunnel would fail – they are expecting it. For the moment it seems, we must wait."

Nobody liked that answer. But nobody else had a better idea.

"There is one thing I want to do first," the ice phoenix added, looking at Kyle. "Can you show me the way to the tunnel?"

"Vinge-" Obsidian began to say, wary that Vinge was acting out.

"Only for reconnaissance," Vinge clarified, holding up a hand as if he was making a vow. "I will not attempt to enter the enemy's base. I only want to see what it is we will face if that tunnel becomes our only means of accessing the facility."

Obsidian seemed to accept that answer, seeing the wisdom of it. As much as she also wanted the threat of P.A.C.E to be over, they could do nothing without information. She might not have read the Art of War as Vinge had but there was a similar philosophy for police officers as well - when conducting raids, knowledge of the opposition and the location was paramount not only to reduce casualties, but ensure success.

"I'll come too," Tsumé spoke up, stepping forward.

"Tsumé?"

"The base is underground, right?" She asked. "I may be able to approach it without being noticed. Maybe I can find another way in if I tunnel under it."

Kyle looked at her. "That may not be a good idea," he said, cautiously.

"Why not?"

"You know about the Disruptors, right? What they do, specifically?" He asked.

"Well, I was in the field of effect of one when you chased Pavan. I lost my connection to the earth and felt sick," she answered, rubbing her stomach. "Was like something important was pushed right out of me..."

"What would happen if you tunneled close enough that you entered one of those fields?" Kyle asked.

"The same I imagine. I'd lose-" she trailed off, staring straight ahead with a look of understanding. "Ooooh."

"Yeah. You wouldn't be able to go back," Kyle added. "You'd be trapped down there."

"Crap," grumbled Tsumé.

"He's right. They'd definitely have one of those Disruptors active in the prison area," Ayane agreed. "Otherwise, the prisoners - all of them having supernatural powers they can call upon at will, could never be contained. They'd break out."

"How big would this field be overall?" Rikyuu asked.

"I don't have a metagene so I don't feel it," Kyle clarified. "But like red said, it would have to at least be big enough to cover the prison, and probably the laboratory area, and those make up the bulk of the facility. The field expands outward like a big dome or sphere, so it'd have to be pretty big."

"My name is Ayane, for the record," the red dragoness pointed out.

"Would the tunnel be included in that range?" Obsidian asked.

"Maybe the terminal where the tram starts, but for the rest of it, no. The amount of power needed to run those Disruptors is significant," Kyle replied. "The ones on the Retrievers cover a range of only fifty meters at the highest setting. At that setting, the Retriever has to be in hover mode and the cloaking field has to be turned off or the capacitor overloads."

"The base must need a lot of power then," said Ayane, rubbing her chin in thought. "What do you power it with?"

"That, I don't know," replied Kyle. "Sensitive systems like that were off-limits to me. I don't even know where the main breaker is."

Tsumé shook her head and stepped forward again. "I think we're getting off topic," she said. "We can worry about shutting the place down after we've found a way inside, which still eludes us. I'm with Vinge that we need to do a little recon on that tunnel at least - if we can't think of a way past their security, going up to the mountains wouldn't do us any good either."

The others nodded in agreement, and Vinge voiced his plan. "I'll take Tsumé along then, and Kyle as our guide."

"We may need a driver. It's a long way," Kyle proposed.

"I'll do that," Lighris offered, finishing his cigar and snuffing it on the windowsill before tossing it out the window beside him. "Plus if there's any trouble, I can be the backup."

"I would prefer Rikyuu," Vinge admitted. "He is immune to the Disruptors."

"I am, but, I don't have a car. Or a license," the blue dragon replied with a shrug. "You may be better off with Lighris if you need a driver too."

Vinge looked between the two, and then nodded. "Alright. Lighris, do you have a vehicle we can use?"

"My pickup only seats three, so I'll have to find something else," he replied, considering. "Kyle. What's the road to that tunnel like?"

"Less of a road and more of a travel-worn path on barely passable ground," Kyle replied. "You'll need a serious off-roader to get there."

"I'll see what I can find," Lighris promised, nodding. "When should we go check it out?"

"There is no rush," said Vinge. "The longer we wait, the more complacent the enemy will become. Take as long as you need to find the vehicle we will require."

Silence filled the room then, everyone exchanging looks as if expecting the other to speak. No one else had more to add. So, they ended the meeting, and left the tower one after the other - aside from Kyle, who settled himself in to start preparing some dinner.

As they descended the stairs, Lighris walked with Obsidian to the bottom. "So… Does Volcan know about him?" He asked, jerking his thumb back up to the tower cabin. "And who he is?"

"He does," she replied. "I explained it to him before I called everyone else here."

"What'd he say?"

"Something along the lines of 'crazy' and, perhaps a little stupid," she replied with a smile.

Lighris allowed himself to smile back. "But he didn't protest?"

"Volcan said he trusts my judgment," she replied. "And I can't find any sign of Kyle misleading us. If he is lying, then he's damn good at it, down to actually believing what he's telling us."

"You wouldn't protest to me frying him if he does betray us though, right?" Lighris asked.

"If I'm that wrong about this, Lighris, you can fry me too," she replied. "One misstep is all it'll take for this all to go wrong. We're dealing with something we still don't fully understand yet, and it's a fight beyond what any of us are ready for." Her expression soured. "I suppose I just found fighting criminals to be much simpler. Their motives are transparent, P.A.C.E is a complete anomaly, and even planning for them is like walking over a minefield."

Lighris grimaced. He couldn't disagree with the dragoness' assessment about P.A.C.E, or their readiness to fight them. But it had to be them, as they couldn't reveal P.A.C.E's existence to the world without revealing themselves in the process. In doing so, the question then would be whether the authorities brought to bear would target P.A.C.E… or them. He could imagine world superpowers actually siding with P.A.C.E, when they found they couldn't control beings like himself.

No… If P.A.C.E was to be stopped, it had to be done without the world ever knowing they, or the ones who brought them down, ever existed.

Another topic came to mind, and Lighris spoke again. "So… When you talked Vinge down up there," he began. "What you said about going home, fearing something is waiting for you? Was that true?"

"Of course it was," she replied. "I'd never lie about something like that."

"P.A.C.E scares you that much?"

"It's the uncertainty of them that scares me," she replied, rubbing her hands over her upper arms as if to chase off a chill as they reached the bottom of the stairs. "They can detect people like us. We don't know how. They went after Pavan when previously they targeted people largely unnoticed by society. Like I said, they are an anomaly and I can't wrap my head around them or their motives."

She lifted her gaze to look at the sky. "Every time I go home, I think they'll be waiting for me, waiting until my guard is down and then dragging me off like they did Vinge's father. More frightening is that I'm worried one day I'll wake up to find they got to one of you, and I wasn't there to stop it. Frankly, the only reason they haven't is because we deprived them of their best asset; flying stealth vehicles, severely limiting their movements. But that can't last forever; sooner or later, they will get one of us… And that is what scares me."

Lighris huffed, lifting hand to scratch the back of his head as he puzzled for an answer he couldn't know. Obsidian was right of course - it was only a matter of time before P.A.C.E restored at least part of their air power, and sooner or later they'd find them - the phoenixes or the telepathic friends like Obsidian or even Ordagova. The size of Unity Falls made the search difficult, but far from impossible.

"Yet, you don't seem scared," Obsidian went on, looking at Lighris. "They already came after you once, and you're definitely on board with taking them down. But why aren't you worried?"

Lighris chuckled. "Oh, I'm plenty worried," he replied. "Mostly about my little bro."

"Volcan can take care of himself, can't he?"

"He can if he's pushed. Between the two of us, I'm the one who's willing to go all out," he said. "Volcan is strong, and if you set him off he could be pretty dangerous, especially within the basis of our powers – his flames get especially hot if he gets angry. But he's timid, and so full of self-doubt he second-guesses every choice he makes. Even choices that could make him happy, or make life easier for him. Like how he prefers to live in this drafty old tower," he jerked his thumb over his shoulder, "instead of an actual house."

"It comes down to choice, Lighris," Obsidian reasoned. "I do agree with you about him being timid and lacking confidence, but for his choice to live here, it's a matter of his personal independence. He wants to be his own man, and this is how he feels he can do that - by being able to take care of himself."

"But he can barely do even that," Lighris replied, sadly.

Obsidian reached over to rest her hand on Lighris' shoulder. "The day will come," she promised. "I've seen far worse off people than him do more. He's got a long life ahead of him, and he's still finding his way. You just need to let him do that, and offer guidance where he needs it. But if you keep trying to steer his course for him, he'll never find where he's meant to be, and then he'll feel like he doesn't belong."

Lighris let out a defeated sigh, rubbing his forehead. "I just feel like he deserves so much better… And, I want to be a good brother for him."

"You are a good brother," Obsidian assured him. "But he's got to be allowed to, and no pun intended, spread his wings and fly for himself first."

Lighris snorted a laugh. "Alright," he agreed. "Well I better get back to him. He's probably bored to the point of insanity by now."

"Winter really sucks for him, doesn't it?"

"You have no idea."

At Tsumé's request, Obsidian dropped her off at her favourite café a short walk from her apartment. She bought herself a small coffee and started sipping it while she walked home. The streets were starting to empty as night set in, blanketing the world in darkness that was chased away only by the city lights.

After crossing the street, she came in sight of her apartment building. She approached the front doors, and stopped. Something felt wrong… She felt like she was being watched. She felt around her with her seismic sense, though it was futile - there were still enough people around that someone could be watching her but be hiding in plain sight and she'd never know.

She sipped on her coffee, stepping back from the door, and kept walking. Sure enough, two sets of footsteps were following her - they were easier to detect when the steps were timed with her own. She quickened her pace - so did the ones following her.

She was reminded of when Kyle had been following her the previous day, but she knew it couldn't be him. They'd left him at the tower, and even if he had sprinted all the way to the city he could never have made it there before her - no matter how fit he was no mortal man was that fast. Which of course led her to a different conclusion as to who might be following her.

She stayed out in the open, watching the street. The few people walking were her best chance of avoiding confrontation until she could get somewhere safer. Or at least somewhere she had a better chance of fighting - on the paved streets, she couldn't risk leaving signs of her using her powers if it came to that. There was a park nearby, if only she could reach it…

"Target is onto us," the lead operative reported, his mouth barely moving as he spoke into the hidden microphone in his collar. "She is heading south."

"There is a park in that direction," a voice came back into his earpiece. satellite. "She's seeking a territorial advantage. You two stay on her. Agent four, intercept - do not let her enter that park. Five, move to the flank."

There were more of them now. Tsumé could feel more footsteps closing in. Two behind her, one to the right… one in front. She only detected the one ahead of her for a second, but it was definitely there. Someone was standing at the entrance to the park, no doubt watching her to see the path she took. One of the ones behind her moved to the left, making a wide berth on her.

They were closing in…

'Not good, not good…' she thought.

They had to be P.A.C.E - the covert operatives that Kyle had warned were looking for him. P.A.C.E knew her by now - she had been present both to foil their pursuit of Pavan, and their attempt to eliminate Vinge at the rink. They knew exactly what she was, and they were keeping her from her element.

On the concrete and asphalt of the street, she couldn't do much - she could still force them apart, as there were some earthly elements inside the pavement, but it was harder to move since they were bound together, not loose like soil. Commanding it required far more energy and took more time than regular stone or soil - if they were armed, they could put a bullet through her head before she even had a second to properly defend herself.

Maybe she could trip them up as she had with Kyle… she could still send tremors through the pavement, even if she couldn't control it. It would only buy her a few seconds, but it would have to be enough.

Tsumé increased her walking pace again, almost into a jog. She saw the operative ahead, and as she watched, the man put a mask over the lower half of his face, and took a step toward her. Tsumé made her move, seeming to run straight at the man. He hastily drew a weapon - a pistol. She threw her coffee at him, causing it to splash across his still uncovered eyes - he recoiled, the pistol discharging with a dulled sound, and the bullet struck the ground behind her.

Tsumé jumped, kicking the man down, and landed in a roll before she made a dash for the park. She almost made it - she was three steps from the grass… When the sick sensation fell over her. Tsumé lurched, the strength stolen from her limbs, and fell upon the grass, gasping for breath.

A Disruptor… But Kyle had said their last vehicle was inactive. Had he lied?

The four figures fell upon her. Instinct took over, and she struggled, kicking and screaming as she fought. She heard one of them speak, their voice sounding synthetic. "Hurry! Before the charge runs out!"

"Quit squirming, you freak!" Another one growled at her, trying to seize her hands. She heard the rattle of handcuffs, and knew they were trying to bind her.

Multiple times, Tsumé tried to call upon her earth powers, but they wouldn't heed her call. Desperate, she pulled her legs as hard as she could, pulling one of them free of the grip of one of the operatives, and kicked the closest one with all her might. The figure recoiled, the mask falling from their face, and the synthetic voice vanished, and she heard a rather high voice muttered curses at her. She caught a glimpse of their face, seeing the effeminate features and realizing this operative was a woman - a vixen, specifically, with gray fur.

The vixen hastily put her mask back on, and then looked at something in her hand. A small, cylindrical device with a glowing ring at the top. A ring that was dimming quickly. "It's running out! Secure her, now!"

One of the other operatives finally managed to get ahold of both Tsumé's legs despite her struggles. She felt one of the cuffs close on her ankle; she tried to twist away but he had a firm grip on her leg…

Until suddenly he spasmed, and his grip vanished, letting her pull her legs back. Tsumé didn't know what happened, but she didn't waste the opportunity, throwing her legs back and slamming her knees into the masked figures holding her arms. The other one grabbed her around her throat, trying to hold her down. This proved to be the wrong move, for at that second, Tsumé felt her powers return. She slammed her now free hand on the ground, and the one holding her arm let out a sharp yelp of pain and fell back, holding his crotch after it was hit by a stone. The vixen threw herself at Tsumé, but collapsed as a bolt of energy struck her, and she fell limp to the ground.

Tsumé drew back her legs and kicked up, flipping onto her feet. The last agent lunged for her, and Tsumé made use of her capoeira training, dropping low and balancing herself on her hand before kicking out, her talons extended. Off came the mask, and a spray of blood as her talons raked across the face of a brown-furred canid, who howled in agony as he grabbed at his face.

Tsumé turned in a hasty circle, looking at each of the agents to make sure they were staying down. The one that had tried to cuff her legs still lay on the ground, as did the vixen in a similar state. Both of them were unconscious - Tsumé had only seen one bolt, but it was easy to guess the man had suffered a similar fate even if she'd missed it.

She looked around. "Lighris?" She asked, thinking that the lightning phoenix had somehow stumbled upon her in danger and came to her aid. But there was no one. No sign of Lighris, or anyone else… She listened, both with her ears and her seismic sense, but neither revealed anything to her.

"Wh-what? Who…" she started to say, but then one of the men she had dropped let out a groan, starting to get up. Snapping back to reality, she broke into a run, leaving the park and running back up the street as fast as she could, reaching for her phone as she went…

~~~~~

As the young woman ran, a red suited figure watched, waiting until she was a fair distance away before he stepped out of hiding. He let out a relieved sigh that she hadn't detected him, and turned his attention to the four assailants she had left on the ground, including the two he had stunned who were starting to come around.

Running over, the red kevlar covered man pulled out zip ties. The four looked his way, seeing what he was doing and scrambling for their weapons. He did not let them get a shot, the glowing glove on his right hand sparking several times as he launched bolts of energy at them, one by one. They went down, and he was sure he had incapacitated them all. He approached with caution, though, stepping slowly in case any of them sprang up and shot at him.

Then, he noticed something. As he came to stand beside one of the assailants, he noticed a white foam coming from their mouths. Taking off one of his red gloves, revealing a dark grey set of claws, he pressed his fingertips along the neck of the very still assailant.

"...Fuck" He muttered as he felt no pulse.

He reached for the other three, testing them all but they were all deceased. Flesh turning cold as the blood stopped pumping and the winter's bite creeping up on them. Knowing his identity would not be revealed in the dead of this night, he reached for his head and removed the red kevlar mask to reveal a black and grey faced avian with red highlights, making the tips of the crown of feathers growing from atop his head.

With his bare eyes, he lent down to the first assailant and rolled their head back and studying the foam. "Cyanide," he concluded.

Avory saw his arrest was fruitless, so rummaged through the gear and possessions they had to hand, collecting anything that could give him a lead. Taking what communication equipment he could find, as well as guns, one of their armoured masks as a sample and a round cylinder device that he couldn't identify. He hauled everything to his parked car around the corner ready to flee from the scene.

"A.V.I. Call the police under an unknown number and let them know there are four bodies for collection in this area."

“Calling the police to inform them that four bodies are ready for collection at 49.03147532425028, -113.5730385589107. Would you like to proceed?" The AI repeated and asked.

“Yes. Thanks A.V.I."

The engine of the volcano orange sports car roared to life and pulled away from the scene.

"A.V.I. Call Avelyn"

"Calling Avelyn Lo'Raven…"

There was a pause before the call was answered. "Hello, Avory?"

"Hi sis. I'm running a little late. Our P.A.C.E friends finally decided to show up…"

~~~~~

Obsidian arrived shortly after Tsumé's call, pulling up in her car and urging Tsumé into the passenger seat. The dragoness took a moment to look around, seeing if anyone was watching them. She searched the street thoroughly, reaching out with her telepathy to try to gauge the intents of the few people she could see.

No one seemed to be watching them, nor did anyone seem to care that they were there. Satisfied, Obsidian ducked back into the car and drove off, bypassing Tsumé's apartment - the Earth Phoenix had already explained over the phone that the strange assailants had first approached her outside the complex. That meant they knew where she lived, and her apartment was no longer safe.

"Tsumé, talk to me," Obsidian said with urgency. "Are you hurt?"

"No. They didn't hurt me," Tsumé assured her. "I'm just a bit rattled."

"I really think I should be taking you to the police station," Obsidian stated. "You'll be safe there-"

"You know we can't go to he police when P.A.C.E is involved," Tsumé interrupted her. "Whoever those four who attacked me were, they were definitely P.A.C.E."

"How do you know?"

"They had one of those Disruptor things. I couldn't use my powers."

Obsidian looked at her, then turned her eyes forward again to focus on driving. They approached an intersection with a red light and Obsidian came to a stop, waiting for the light to change.

"A Disruptor? So one of the VTOL's was there?"

"No, I don't think so," Tsumé explained. "These guys were dressed in normal clothes. They looked like ordinary people until they jumped me, then they put on these masks and just before I could run into the park I felt my powers go." She lay back in her seat, shuddering. "Really hate that feeling…"

Obsidian nodded, driving on as the light turned green. "Kyle mentioned there was a covert branch at P.A.C.E. One even he barely knows anything about."

"I remember."

"But he also said that their last Disruptor still wasn't repaired yet," Obsidian added. "It's the same one Volcan already smashed - Ayane has the other two."

"I saw it," Tsumé went on. "It seemed to be some compact version of it, only about the size of a thermos. It didn't work for long - like a minute after my powers were gone, they were back."

"That's good," said Obsidian, glad that they didn't have to contend with a functioning, portable disruptor when the full size ones were bad enough. "How did you manage to get away?"

"I had help, although I have no idea who from," replied Tsumé. "I saw this energy bolt hit one of them - I thought it was Lighris, but I didn't see anyone. I didn't question it though - I just ran. I called you as soon as I was a couple of blocks away."

Obsidian felt as puzzled as Tsumé. Bolts of energy, incapacitating the people who attacked her? While there seemed to be no one else around? Furthermore, it seemed even less likely to have been Lighris who was surely back home by now, and could never have made it to Tsumé's aid so quickly, let alone known she was in danger.

So who was the Earth Phoenix's apparent guardian angel?

Tsumé stayed the night at Obsidian's house, sleeping on her couch. Obsidian stayed up most of the night keeping watch for any sign of trouble, fearing P.A.C.E might have found some way to track them. But when they never came, the dragoness eventually allowed herself to sleep.

When they awoke the next morning, they went immediately to the tower to see Kyle. Tsumé recounted her attack the night before, explaining to the best of her ability all that had happened. Kyle listened attentively, showing only mild concern until she mentioned the use of a portable Disruptor and he lost all calm composure.

"A portable Disruptor?" Kyle asked, his astonishment genuine.

"Why didn't you tell us about them having something like that?" Obsidian asked.

"If I had known, I would have!" Kyle answered, struggling to keep the defensive tone out of his voice. "Everything I've been told about the Disruptors suggests they can't be made portable, let alone in such a small case. They draw too much power."

"This one fizzled out pretty fast," Tsumé clarified. "I felt my powers come back in less than a minute after they were gone, then I was able to fight back with them."

Kyle let out a breath, lifting his hand to her chin and going silent as he thought. "They must have only just developed them," he said. "I really had no idea that there was such a thing. If there was, I imagine the research team would have had us testing them first."

"What about the four attackers?" Obsidian asked. "Were they one of your old teams?"

"If they were wearing casual clothes, no. Blending in with the public is a tactic of our covert branch," Kyle explained. "Dammit. I knew they followed me…"

"If they're after you, why attack Tsumé?" Obsidian asked.

"Target of opportunity, or, they wanted to make sure," Kyle explained, "Whether or not I had met her yet, they'd have ensured her silence, or if they managed to capture her, well, bonus for the research team. Either one could be reason they didn't try to kill her outright."

"How very comforting," Tsumé remarked dryly.

"I wish I could offer something more comforting. But the covert branch rarely does missions that don't end with someone being dead," said Kyle. "And you say someone helped you?"

"Yeah. But I have no idea who," replied Tsumé, shaking her head.

Kyle grimaced. "Well for your sake, I'm glad they were there," he said.

"Me too," Tsumé admitted with a sigh. "If they had managed to restrain me and pick me up off the ground I'd have been powerless."

"What do you mean? You couldn't use your powers to escape?" Obsidian asked.

"Earth Phoenixes can't use their powers if they're not connected to the ground," explained Tsumé. "I don't know how P.A.C.E knows that but that seemed to be their intent to get me off the ground while I was de-powered."

"I sure didn't know that," remarked Kyle. "According to our files, we never encountered Earth Phoenixes before so I have no idea how they could know…"

Obsidian groaned, rubbing her temples as she felt what seemed like another headache coming. "This is getting ridiculous. How the heck does P.A.C.E know so much? We know they kidnapped Vinge's father and at least one Aqua Phoenix in the past but that shouldn't give them insight to other species of phoenix, right?"

Tsumé shrugged, not having an answer to offer.

"Sheer dumb luck seems to be the only way we're getting through this whole mess," said Obsidian. "If I hadn't seen Volcan chasing the first Retriever, I'd have never known what was going on, and none of us could have known Rikyuu would be immune to the effects of the Disruptors so that was luck too. I think the only encounter we had that wasn't won on a result of luck was the fight at the rink, and that was because Vinge had planned for it."

"Now Tsumé has someone watching over her apparently, which… What are even the odds? And we don't even know who. "The dragoness slumped back against the wall, rubbing the sides of her head again. The headache had come. "I need a vacation…" she whispered.

"Sorry, 'Sid. We don't all mean to cause you so much aggravation," Tsumé said, sympathetic.

"I don't regret any of it, Tsumé," Obsidian assured her, turning her head to look at her friend and offering a weak smile. "It's just a lot to process, even for me. It seems like the surprises just keep piling on before I can come to terms with them - honestly, I think the day I met Volcan was probably the last day that felt 'normal' to me."

"Meeting Rikyuu didn't break that?" Tsumé asked.

"That was… strange. But I already knew about the existence of Metagene people - I myself am one," explained Obsidian. "The dip into his background, finding out he was genetically engineered, was strange. But not stranger than the behemoth he saved me from. Now, between him, you, Volcan, P.A.C.E and the Lightnings showing up, I feel like I'm caught between two worlds - one a world of fantasy, the other a world of science fiction."

"Makes you wish things could just go back to normal, doesn't it?" Kyle asked.

Obsidian looked at him, hearing the tone of his voice. "Sounds like you speak from experience?" She asked.

"Shit, lady - when P.A.C.E first enlisted me, the only fantasy stuff I knew was from the books I read and video games I played as a kid," he said. "Having AK's and RPG's fired at me in the Middle-East seemed to be as real as things got. Then I get recruited by some unknown outfit that sends me to fight the very things I used to read about! The whole world seemed to be flipped on its head when I went on my first capture with P.A.C.E, and we went up against some hermit in the mountains who started throwing lightning at us."

"Metagene?" Obsidian asked.

Kyle shook his head. "Nope. A wizard. Robes, tomes, a chemistry lab - the whole shebang, like from a damn tabletop game."

"The Disruptors work on magic too?" Tsumé asked.

"Yep. The way it was explained, it seems like the electromagnetic field the Disruptor creates cuts off a Mage's ability to summon mana to fuel their spells, snuffing them like a candle in a closed jar," he explained. "It's all over my head, but that's how it was explained to me."

"I don't know what shocks me more. That the Disruptors work on magic, or that magic is apparently real," remarked Obsidian.

"You didn't know?" Tsumé asked.

"I've never met anyone who uses it!" Obsidian replied with a laugh.

"Well there's a reason for that," said Kyle. "Magic isn't just a closely guarded secret, it's actually rare to find someone who practices it."

"Why's that?" Tsumé asked.

"Running theory? Magic kind of became obsolete," Kyle explained.

"How does the ability to harness supernatural forces become obsolete?"

"When science is able to do the same thing, and is much easier to master," replied Kyle. "Think of it this way. A sword, and a knife. One obviously will do way more damage than the other, so why do modern armies no longer carry swords?"

"That's easy - it's because they're bulky and impractical," Tsumé answered. "Sure you can inflict more damage with a sword than you can with any knife but it's going to get in the way of everything else a soldier carries, not to mention ultimately useless when your opponent will just shoot you from far away."

"Exactly," replied Kyle.

"I'm not sure how that compares…"

"Practicality," Kyle began. "Magic, to our understanding, takes years to master. Even after decades of practicing it, you don't have a chance of fully understanding it, as it holds so many mysteries. But when it comes to science, that's something that is ever developing - ever evolving, and many feats we see magic do in modern entertainment, science can already do and the ones utilizing it can be much younger. Science simply became easier to learn than magic." Kyle rolled his eyes as a thought occurred to him. "I guess in that sense, the practice is more akin to why the musket replaced the bow & arrow."

"So science is just the path of least resistance," Obsidian said. "Freely taught in schools today and available to everyone, while magic is composed of ancient knowledge, a lot of which has become lost to time."

"That about sums it up, yeah," said Kyle, nodding.

"Great… What next? Are we going to find out that Santa Claus is real too?" Obsidian asked.

"If he is, that's a secret even P.A.C.E hasn't managed to uncover," Kyle joked.

The joke was welcome. Both Obsidian and Tsumé laughed, savoring the moment of merriment they were fairly sure wasn't going to last for long.

~~~~~

"So, they all popped their kill capsules then," Gabriel said as he finished reading the report.

"Yes sir," the technician who had been monitoring the covert agents reported. "The unknown assailant who intervened showed intent to capture them, and they followed protocol."

Gabriel set down the paper and let out a huff. "Well, it cannot be helped then. Recall the others."

"Sir?"

"We have lost the element of surprise," Gabriel stated. "Those phoenixes will be on guard now, and less likely to travel alone. Furthermore, winter is setting in and our opportunities to capture them will decline, so there really is no point to continuing at this time." He meshed his fingers together as he considered another detail. "It appears the prototype was a failure as well."

"The portable Disruptor, yes," the Technician replied. "It did work, but the power cell ran out…" the tech raised a tablet, studying it. "In nineteen point eight seconds."

"Insufficient," said Gabriel, scoffing at the inadequacy of the technology.

The Disruptors had to use so much power, even in a compact form with such minimal range. They had targeted the Earth Phoenix because she seemed like she'd have been the easiest to capture without her powers - unlike the other ones, she did not possess the ability to fly away. It had seemed like a perfect time to test their new prototype - P.A.C.E covert agents typically did not take part in captures, but the necessity find the turncoat made it mandatory. If he had made contact with the phoenixes already, there was much damage they could do.

It was baffling… How was it that after so many successful captures of metagenes, spellcasters and even supernatural entities, a single group of phoenixes - a group who, before P.A.C.E had come for them, had never met each other – had managed to put up such a stiff resistance? Not to mention having such a charmed life as possessing a metagene ally who was somehow immune to the Disruptors, as well as a yet unknown guardian

Just as Gabriel began to slip into deeper thought, the room suddenly filled with a red light, and an alarm began to sound. The technician jumped, but Gabriel only looked up at the ceiling out of instinct. He looked at the screen of his terminal, and saw an alert popping up on screen.

'Security breach! Prison level 4! Security breach!'

"We have an escapee!" The technician cried, seeing the same message on his tablet.

"Well, that won't do," said Gabriel, rising to his feet and walking calmly out the door. "Get back to the control room and carry out my instructions. I'll see to our little breakout."

"Y-Yes… Sir."

He seemed like any other man at first. A homeless bum by all appearances, dressed in tattered clothes and fingerless, patchwork gloves. He seemed harmless, until one saw his face. His hairy face was wild, full of murderous rage. His head bled from multiple lacerations where he had clawed at his own skull in fits of pain, and many of his teeth were cracked and broken. Not simply from poor care, but also from clenching his jaw, night after night, as he struggled with the same pain that made him claw out his own hair in a fit.

But perhaps most frightening of all were the eyes. They were an unnatural colour - once brown, but now they were purple and the whites of them had turned to a sandy yellow. His eyes were wide, further adding to his murderous glare. Eyes that fell upon the security personnel as they closed in, weapons trained on the subject.

The wild man ran at the nearest guard, who fired twice at him. Two rounds landed in the man's chest… But he didn't stop. He closed in on the guard, seizing him, and threw him over the railing with inhuman strength. The guards scream overloaded the modulator in his mask as he fell four floors to his death, dropping past every cell block on the way down.

The next guard managed to score four shots before the wild man reached him. He turned his weapon and smashed the man in the face with the stock of his weapon, but the man seemed to feel no pain. He grabbed the guard, and the two struggled. Another ran over to assist, two armoured guards trying to subdue a single, malnourished man, and yet they didn't seem to be managing.

In the struggle, the mask of the first guard - a canid, was ripped off. The wild man began clawing at his exposed face, and the canid pulled his head back, trying to keep him away. Finally, with the help of a third guard, they managed to pull the wild man off, throwing him against the wall beside him. Six rifles were raised, discharging rounds into him, every shot finding vitals. Finally, the wild man fell, sliding to the floor leaving a streak of blood on the wall as he descended.

"Damn it! How did he get out?" One of the guards demanded.

"Looks like he smashed open the door to his cell," another spoke up, pointing back up the catwalk to one of the cell doors. "But that shouldn't have been possible!"

Each cell in the prison area was composed of reinforced steel, with only one point of access - a sliding door, made of tempered, bulletproof glass. The doors were stronger than any mortal man should have been capable of breaking but somehow this one had managed. Probably breaking several bones in the process. Fragments of the door lay scattered about the catwalk, with barely any shards inside. Flecks of blood covered the walls, and the few pieces of furniture in the cell were overturned or outright destroyed if they could not be moved.

"Status report!" A voice boomed from up the catwalk. All of the guards turned to see Gabriel Rex, the Intel Chief, approaching. He had a pistol in his hand, and a scornful look on his face.

The guards snapped to attention. The one closest to Gabriel offered the explanation. "Intel Chief. We had a breakout, sir. The subject has been eliminated, but we did suffer one casualty." He looked over the railing, to the body lying on the floor far below them.

"Unfortunate," Gabriel replied in a flat tone. "You say the subject is deceased. How did he get out?"

"By… All accounts, sir, it seems as though he smashed his way out," replied the guard, turning and gesturing to the destroyed tempered glass door.

Gabriel narrowed his eyes, studying the cell. Then his eyes drifted above the door, to the cell number. Twenty two… A number familiar to him, and not in a pleasant way.

"Where is the body?" Gabriel asked, with more urgency in his tone.

"Back there, sir," the guard replied, pointing up the catwalk. "I assure you, he is-"

The guard trailed off when he saw what was happening. The canid, whose mask had previously been torn off, was acting strangely. He was holding his head and groaning, as though suffering from a painful headache. His skin, even through his gray fur, had visibly paled, and his eyes were clenched tightly shut. Even as they watched, the canid fell to his knees, his groaning becoming louder as the security personnel watched, one moving as if to help him.

"Throw him into a cell, quickly!" Gabriel shouted the command, pointing at the canid guard. "Take his gloves and weapons!"

"Sir? What-"

"That is an order - contain him, immediately!" Gabriel said, this time his tone suggesting that further questioning would have consequences.

The guards did not waste another second. They picked up their fellow security officer, dragging him to a vacant cell and stripping off his gloves and his weapons belt before tossing him inside and shutting the door. Their timing was impeccable, as suddenly the canid shot to his feet and rushed the door, teeth bare and eyes wide with fury. He slammed against the tempered glass door, striking it with such force he rebounded off and fell to the floor.

But in that brief second they saw his eyes, they had seen they had changed colour. They were now the same as the wild man's- the one they had just killed. The other guards stepped back, shocked by what they were seeing, as their former comrade snarled and salivate, slamming his fists on the door repeatedly. He didn't seem to recognize any of them…

"That was close," Gabriel remarked, reverting to his usual, calm baritone.

"Sir! What is happening?" One of the guards asked.

"What you are seeing, guardsmen, is the true evil of supernatural forces," Gabriel explained. "This is what happens when 'mere mortals' like us, become afflicted with their wicked power. Power from a world beyond our own - a world shaped by the evils of our own minds across time."

"Sir, I don't understand…"

"Nor do we, guardsmen. That is exactly why we have kept this entity here. It cannot seem to survive without a host, but the host bodies are too weak to contain it, and it always jumps to another before we can ensure the host's death," Gabriel went on. "Whatever entity is now within our former guardsmen here - the man he once was is now gone and only this feral killing machine remains in control of his body now."

The guard jerked with realization. "A demon?" He asked, making a cross motion with his hand, touching his forehead, both of his pectorals, and then his abdomen.

"Do stop that, you simpleton. God won't save you from this creature," Gabriel berated the man. "We are still trying to understand it, but I suppose for now, 'Demon' is fitting. There is little else to explain it."

Gabriel stood watching the feral canid for a time making sure that the glass didn't crack under its relentless barrage. After a moment, Gabriel walked over to the control panel, typed in a code on the panel, and pressed a large button. A metal shutter fell over the door, obscuring the possessed canid within, though they could still hear him pounding away.

"No one is to open this gate. Not for any reason. Do not let that thing in there see you, and if it breaks out again somehow, keep your distance."

"How will we feed it, sir?" A guard asked.

"You do not have to," replied Gabriel. "We never fed that hobo who was the previous host and he was in here for nearly half a year. Something about the possession sustains the body, keeping it alive, but also slowly consuming it. Better we just leave it to die, and hope the 'demon' dies with it."

He then gestured to the body of the homeless man. The previous host of the demon. "Get rid of that. And, forget about the man that once was your comrade. They are both equally dead, so better you leave them as such."

With that, Gabriel departed, making his way back to his office. He sat down, and called up the security footage of the breakout, watching it play by play. He saw the man, hammering his fists on the glass, eventually cracking it, and finally shattering it despite it being seemingly impossible for a normal person to do. The man scrambled out of the cell, throwing around more glass as he went, and threw himself at the first person who came near him, engaging the security personnel directly.

The power displayed in that body made Gabriel think, that the average person only used one third of the strength their body was naturally capable of. Using more would cause significant pain, and using yet more could cause irreversible damage. With that in mind, he supposed it was possible that an ordinary man could break out of one of the cells. Fueled by adrenaline or with dulled pain receptors, an ordinary man could become super strong, though his body would be destroyed in the process.

If a supernatural affliction could do that… Gabriel had a thought then, remembering how strong the Fire Phoenix had been. He had read the report, mentioning how the phoenix had broken a pair of shackles, held together by a line that was a thousand pound tested. Certainly adrenaline attributed to that feat of strength, but even assuming the same biological limitations that applied to mortals applied to a phoenix, then the avian had displayed strength even beyond what a human at absolute physical perfection was capable of.

"We may not be able to contain that one," he thought aloud. Even if they captured the Fire Phoenix, there was no doubt at all he could break out of one of the cells. They would have to kill him in the end - a waste of a good test subject, but it seemed unavoidable now. However it had proven more difficult than expected even to kill the one phoenix, even less so now that he had friends, and though P.A.C.E had learned much about phoenixes over the years they still laid not know what other physical traits they might have.

"This may require a different approach," he thought aloud again, his lip curling in a grimace. "Perhaps in this case… We may have to fight fire with fire."

Gabriel knew his father would never approve of what his son was planning. But as the old saying went, it was better to ask for forgiveness than for permission. He knew of one he might call - one that P.A.C.E had worked with in the past and who had never failed them. But the task might be beyond him alone, as he was just a mortal man as well.

Still… Not all of the obscure societies of the world were friends. There were just as many non-mortal men willing to kill for money as anywhere else…

~~~~~

"Stop here," Kyle said to Lighris.

The lightning phoenix obeyed, slowing the Land Rover before coming to a stop. They had been following a partially covered path in the mountainside, having to drive slow to avoid complications. In the back seat, at Kyle's recommendation, Tsumé and Vinge were both leaning more to the side facing the mountains, shifting their weight to prevent the truck from tipping while they were on a slant.

"Why here?" Lighris asked. "You said the tunnel was another kilometre away."

"It is," Kyle replied, and gestured out the window to the land in front. "This is the only spot wide enough where you might be able to turn this truck around - if we need to leave in a hurry, you don't want to be doing it in reverse."

"He's right," Vinge agreed. "If we need to make an escape, the truck must be ready to go at a second's notice."

"Fine then. What about you guys?" Lighris asked.

"We go on foot from here," Kyle replied, unbuckling his seat belt and climbing out. "Get it turned around and wait for us."

Lighris nodded, and waited as the others got out. Kyle walked around to the back of the SUV, opening it and lifting a blanket to reveal a military grade assault rifle. He took it out, feeding a magazine into it, and checking to make sure the safety was on before he chambered a round. With that, he shut the door and stepped away, followed by Tsumé and Vinge.

"What kind of gun is that?" Tsumé asked, noting the composite frame as she fell into step with the two males.

"German-made G36," Kyle explained. "P.A.C.E security personnel carry them - they're light and don't weigh down too much."

"Looks military-grade. How did P.A.C.E get that?" Tsumé asked.

"From Achtbeinig, I suppose. He supplies all of our guns," said Kyle. "I imagine he didn't have much trouble finding many of them since the German military has actually started phasing this one out. It has a nasty design flaw."

"What's that?"

"If the barrel gets too hot, its accuracy suffers - more so than most conventional firearms," replied Kyle. "Not ideal if you end up in an extended firefight."

Tsumé shrugged. She didn't really know firearms or ballistic weapons of any sort to offer an opinion. She looked back at Lighris, still in the process of carefully turning their vehicle around on the narrow path. Then at Vinge, who so far had remained quiet, his eyes focused on the path ahead.

"So… Kyle," Tsumé began. "How did you end up with P.A.C.E? You don't seem like the type of guy who'd want to work with a bunch of killers."

"When I was first enlisted by them, I didn't know what they were really about," replied Kyle. "At the time, I didn't look too deep. I was… Not really in a good place."

Tsumé looked at the human, studying his dark features. He was composed, holding his emotions in check as he was trained to do. She couldn't really read his face as a result, but his voice certainly carried a hint of guilt in it, regretting a decision that he had likely made on impulse due to a traumatic event in his life.

"Maybe it's best discussed another time," she offered.

"No," said Kyle, plainly. "Trust is a two-way street. I've asked you guys to trust me, when you have every reason and every right not to." He sucked in a deep breath, and then carried on. "Do you remember when Officer Kimoyama mentioned how I disappeared?"

"It was ruled as a suicide, brought on by survivor's guilt," she replied. "They never found your body, but the investigation was still closed."

"Well, that survivor's guilt is because I am one of only two from my platoon who survived an ambush in the Afghan mountains," he explained. "We were sent out to find an insurgent cell operating in the area, ambushing trucks carrying relief supplies to local communities. We reached the general area and started a grid search, but we never found the insurgent cell. Instead, they found us."

"Somehow they knew exactly where we'd be, and they sprang out like moles from the rocks. Half of us went down in the first volley, the rest of us managed to get to cover. They were all around us. My sergeant screamed into the radio for support, then I saw him go down too, leaving me the next in rank. We had to hold our position until backup arrived. I took a hit in the leg, and Olson, one of my other squad mates, managed to kill the guy who shot me, only for an RPG to hit the rocks above him. I'll spare you the details, but that just left me and Patterson after that."

"Finally a platoon of Canadian Light Infantry arrived. The insurgents had already begun to withdraw before they started shooting. They only lost a few. After it was over, their medic patched us up and took us back to base. Patterson and I were both put on medical leave, but I found out that before the flight home he apparently overdosed on the painkillers prescribed to him. I was the only one of my entire platoon left after that."

"Oh god… I'm so sorry," said Tsumé.

"Rex approached you after that, then?" Vinge asked, chiming in. "And allow me to guess. He told you something treacherous about your superiors, making you think they had betrayed you. Sent your men to die, for no real reason?"

Kyle fixed Vinge with a stern gaze, his composure lost for a moment. "How the hell do you know that?" He demanded.

"I did say it was only a guess," replied Vinge. "But it was based on logical deduction. You were in a state of shock, vulnerable. He took advantage of that. You turned your back on your country, because you were made to believe they had betrayed you, and he offered you a fresh start, fighting for a new cause. One that was still in the interest of public safety."

Kyle looked annoyed, but he offered no rebuttal to Vinge's claims. "You think of everything, don't you?" Kyle asked, in a sour tone.

"It is a psychological tactic that has been employed for hundreds of years," Vinge replied simply, as if it were obvious to him. "When you want to manipulate someone, you target the ones they trust. Damage that trust, and then appear to them as a friend. People in a vulnerable state of mind become far more subject to suggestion; someone who is vulnerable, and angry, becomes a puppet on a string." He looked back at Kyle. "No offense."

Kyle scoffed. "I'd be more offended if it wasn't true…" he remarked.

"You never doubted Rex's sales pitch before now?" Tsumé asked.

"I couldn't make sense of how those insurgents knew where we'd be," replied Kyle. "What Rex offered was an explanation that made sense - that they didn't know where we were. Rather, that command knew where they were, sent us in just to draw them out and make them spend ammo so that someone else could swoop in and take them out while we acted as the cannon fodder. At the time, my mind said that made sense because the Canadian troops got there pretty damn quick."

Kyle scoffed. "Should have known better. Looking back on it, the light infantry were probably on standby, positioned to respond to calls for assistance. Standard operating procedure. I should have known that."

"Hindsight twenty-twenty as they say," Tsumé offered.

Vinge put up his hand suddenly, coming to a stop in front of them. Tsumé and Kyle fell silent, watching him. "Up ahead," he said, lowering his hand and pointing.

They followed his finger to a hollowed out cliff face half a kilometer away. Vinge and Tsumé could both see it clearly but Kyle had to take out a pair of binoculars. Ahead was an opening in the side of the mountain, looking like the opening of a large tunnel, shadowed and hidden by a mesh of stealth netting above. Even without the netting, the tunnel mouth would have been barely noticeable even from the air, but with it, the tunnel could not be seen from the air.

"Is that it?" Tsumé asked, whispering. There was nobody near enough to possibly hear her, but the anticipation was making her cautious.

"Yeah," Kyle replied.

"The terrain on approach is open," said Vinge, narrowing his eyes. "I can see no high ground for us to get a better look."

"We're in the mountains. How can we not see any high ground?" Tsumé asked.

"Throughout the trek, we've been walking deeper into a massive valley," said Vinge, urging them toward a copse of trees as he walked over to it himself. "Not so unlike the fjords of my homeland, but without the water. This is the only way into it, and the walls are steep." He looked along the cliff faces around them, worn down by erosion. “We could not climb to a high location without being seen. P.A.C.E chose this location well."

He could imagine at some point, this passageway may have been filled with water, and wondered if some of the small lakes they had passed were formed by said water. He quickly discarded the thought, and brought his attention back to the present.

"Kyle, does P.A.C.E employ sniper teams?" He asked.

"No. Most operations require operatives to be close, so we've always been geared for medium-close range combat," replied Kyle.

"We're fortunate," Vinge said, sounding self-derisive. "If there had been a sniper posted near that tunnel, he could have picked us off already." He shook his head. "I was careless…" He added, derisively.

"I guess this is where I come in," said Tsumé, meshing her fingers together and cracking her knuckles.

"Go no further than the tunnel mouth," Vinge instructed. "If you wander in range of a Disruptor field, we cannot retrieve you."

Tsumé rolled her eyes. "Yes, boss," she said with dripping sarcasm before calling upon her earth powers.

Sinking rapidly into the ground, Tsumé found herself in darkness as she descended deeper, bending her legs so that she didn't have to go as deep, before she began to move forward. Below her feet, the earth pushed her along, and parted like water around a floating object in front of her. Her eyes shifted, letting her see better in the dark, but she wasn't relying on her sight to navigate. Her seismic senses were heightened below ground, compensating for her deprived sight and smell. She could feel everything, mapping the land above her like a sonar by reaching out through the earth. She couldn't see anything above the ground, but she could feel it. Imagine it in her mind, while she herself tunneled through the earth, approaching the tunnel.

Footsteps. She felt footsteps in the tunnel. She could envision their boots, even guess their size, and how many pairs of boots she heard hitting the floor. Six… seven… Eight. There were eight. There was also something big rolling across the floor, with multiple pairs of tires rolling over the pavement. She imagined that was one of the armoured cars she knew they had. But why was it running?

She ventured closer. From what she could tell, the tunnel entrance was above her. She moved to the left, making sure she was under the cave wall. She could tunnel through rock of course, but doing so quietly was nearly impossible. When rock crumbled out of her path to let her pass, it made a grinding sound she could not mask. There, out of sight of the tunnel, she slowly emerged. The soil above her head parted, letting her lift her head halfway out of the soil - enough to see into the tunnel.

The vehicles were being moved; she watched as one of the massive armoured trucks was backed up to the wall by the driver, flagged into position by one of his cohorts, parked beside two more similar vehicles. There were six men patrolling the inside while the vehicles were moved, being careful to stay out of the way of the drivers. She tried to look deeper into the tunnel, but it was too dark for her to see much, and from her current angle, there was too much in her way.

Then, she looked up as a shadow fell over her, and had to retreat back into the ground as the mesh of stealth netting they had seen before was suddenly falling toward her. It hit the ground and several men rushed out of the hangar to gather it up, expertly packing it away before running back inside.

“That's it! Close it!" Someone shouted from within.

CLANG!

The sound was so loud, Tsumé heard it both in her ears and through the ground around her. She shook her head, trying to clear the ringing in her ears, and looked for the source of the sound. She heard machinery working, and eventually followed the sound above her. She saw a thick, steel door descending, closing off the tunnel entrance. For a moment, she debated on what she should do, wondering if she should try to enter the base. But then she remembered Kyle's warning, and stopped herself.

Entering the base alone would be suicide. So, she stayed, watching as the door fell shut…

Tsumé sat staring at the door for some time, wondering what he next move should be. But at that moment, she did not feel she had any options. She could not enter the base alone without a plan, and the warnings by her friends remained fresh in her mind.

“Fuck... I hate when Vinge is right," she muttered. With a sigh, she returned below ground and followed the tunnel she had previously made back to her friends…

“So they've sealed up the tunnel then," said Kyle, grimacing with disappointment.

“How long do you think they'll stay hunkered down in there?" Tsumé asked.

“Months, probably," Kyle replied. “There's no point of them coming out when winter hits in full."

“I suppose the hangar entrance is also out of the question then," added Vinge.

“It will be locked down as well," replied Kyle. “And as I said, I can't open it – they'll have revoked my codes, and the security on those doors is tight."

Vinge clenched his fist, but let out a defeated sigh. “...There will be another time," he stated, staring hatefully in the direction of the door for a moment before he slowly turned his back to it and started walking back to the car.

Tsumé and Kyle shared concerned looks before they feel into step with the disillusioned ice phoenix, making their way slowly back home to wait until P.A.C.E appeared again.

It was all they could do now.