"Ah, it's been a while since I had a chance to explain all of this..." Lenora mused as she remembered the last group of recruits she had trained. It had been years ago but the Jade Temple did not have a heavy recruiting scheme like the American army. "You're right, Joan. Can I call you that?" Certainly this wasn't the first person who had suddenly decided to call her Joan, it felt strange though that she asked for permission. For a moment Joanne considered to deny her that small pleasure, yet if she wanted info she had to be on good terms with everyone who knew something, thus. "Yeah... no problem. It works fine" replied Joanne to the simple question after a complex process of thought. "So, Joan, the Reflected, those shadows you saw and see," she pointed to a few crawling along the buildings, "are created when you, or anyone, releases their anger. Know that saying? Letting go of your anger? Well... it's literal. You let go of it and it goes out into the world as one of the Reflected. They have existed forever, as far we know, and are harmless. A perfect co-existence. They eat a bit of our energy to sustain themselves but all it means is you'd get a bit sleepy. Harmless." "The world is fine, Petit Bordeaux is the only place that this," she waved her hand about her, "is happening. Why, we don't know. We're doing everything we can to stop it... We, the Jade Temple that is. We're like the secret organization that keeps watch over the Reflected. Most of the time, it's just busy work, no real excitement. We were never meant to deal with something like this." Lenora smiled at Nathan. "I can always tell a blind man when I see one." She approached him slowly and cupped his face delicately. "Look to your left." She breathed hard into the man's eye. "Quick, now." Nathan had tuned out most of the conversation, nothing that was being said made any sense, now that he was relatively safe on his way out of the city the adrenaline rush faded, the need to act was gone and he was left to try and make sense of everything that was happening. He found his sight drawn to the chaos left by the wake of the event. The occasional body strewn across the floor with blood splattered up the walls and smeared across the pavement. This wasn't where he belonged, this kind of thing shouldn't be happening, tanks, secret organizations, whatever reflected were. Suddenly he became aware Lenora was very close to him. He pulled his hands up to push her away but hesitated when he realized that she had addressed him and that his actions might well send her stumbling off the tank. He recoiled slightly and blinked as she blew into his eye and was about to protest when suddenly he saw everything that was unfolding in a new light. If what everyone had been saying had seemed strange this took everything to another level. It wasn't comforting to see the new reality, these creatures, perhaps it had been better unaware of what the threat was. I thought I had everything in control, I thought I was handling it, I don't have a clue. Nathan stared on blankly failing to engage in the others conversation, not even offering up his name. I never should of left home he thought to himself, this isn't the change I wanted in my life. "That's why you can see the Reflected. A strange natural defense keeps them hidden from wandering eyes until a gust of wind is directly blown at the eye and then focuses on a Reflected. I never understood the why of it." After Fiona had found a name for the creatures and learned a bit more about the situation, she asked, "How far are we from safety?" She knew the Reflected had been disappearing, but she did not know if they would return, leaving the city unsafe. "We're safe from here on out, the majority of the Reflected retreated once we reached the center," Lenora answered. "Once the priestess releases her power, the area should be cleansed and we will be long gone. Extraction point is outside the city itself." A sudden rush of negativity enveloped Lenora and she let out a gasp. Her own men staggered and the tank slowed to a stop. "Don't stop!" Lenora shouted. "Keep moving toward the extraction point." She didn't know what was going on but getting her unit out was now more a priority then ever. As she spoke into her earpieces in search of answers all she could think was how she had known she would die here today all along. As the army picked up pace, the sky darkened overhead and Lenora's head turned toward the gathering mass of glass. Something black and the size of three city blocks fell from it. It fell slowly, as if gravity meant nothing and landed without a sound. Lenora's group was well out of the zone and making more headway but the look on her men was plain to identify. They all felt it, it wouldn't be a surprise if Nathan, Prince, and Joanna felt it too. Hate had come to Petit Bordeaux. "Priestess, General, Jack!" Lenora spoke hastily into her earpiece. "Damn, they're not answering... Keep moving out, boys. There's no going back in there." There was nothing to go back too either, Hate had enveloped the city center in its pitch blackness. Red and gold lights swirled deep within it. A perfect circular mass of nothing. "Kayleh, I think I am alright, now." Rukma steadied herself and managed to stand on her own. "The shock was so sudden, I wasn't prepared." She looked back toward the direction of Petit Bordeaux. "What on Earth is going on there..." Non-branded Reflected were gathering in mass around them but seemed to be heading toward the town. Something had caught their attention and Rukma didn't deign to fathom what it could be. "Jump in the River and just wish you were somewhere else." Rukma yelled as she began to sprint forward through the horde of moving Reflected. "Don't be afraid, Kayleh, just remember to wish like Dorothy did!" With a leap, and a splash, Rukma disappeared as soon as she hit the rolling waters of the St-Laurent. "What the..." Jack said as he looked about himself. "Is this... Reality?" The sky had turned back to its regular blue but how he had gotten there he did not know. Around him, the black of Hate covered every inch of terrain and he had a hard time controlling himself. He had to get out, so he ran. General Marie-Therese held Joy tightly against her as she ran with all her might. In perfect control of her emotions, she still could feel her own rage and hate trying to break her inner calm but with the priestess as her charge, she could not falter. Fortunately, Joy lost consciousness moments before Hate fell down upon them so her purity would not be tainted so long as Therese got her out before she regained herself. "Good God..." She breathed as she escaped the last of Hate. The buildings were slowly being turned to a fine reflective crystal-like sheen. "What is it doing?" All around her, Reflected materialized and disappeared all once. Now that the terrain was nothing but reflections the creatures could zip around at the speed of light without limit. Therese ran even faster, she had to get out and find safety for the priestess or all was lost. "Joe!" in the distance, a voice rang out clearly over the perfect silence. "Where are you boy? I told you not to separate yourself from me!" Joe Sr. was alone, surrounded by the darkness of Hate. His son was missing with some of the luggage and he was sure the motherless child had abandoned him. "Get back here, you useless ingrate!" he continued to yell. "I am trying to save your worthless hide!" Joe Sr. began searching in earnest for his son. Dropping the luggage, he barely registered it. He had to find his son. He had to teach him a lesson in obedience. "Hey, Martin. Look..." Logan breathed as he saw a faint red glow in the distance. Even the sky took an unusual red tint. "Something is happening in Petit Bordeaux." They had just arrived at Beau Village, where he last felt Griffin. However, he felt something far worse back in Petit Bordeaux. "I don't know what it is, Martin, but thank God we were not there when that happened."
MartÃn followed Logan's gaze. A red sky was nothing to worry about, not under regular circumstances, but the circumstances weren't regular and the sky was bright red, as if on fire. Petit Bordeaux was lost to terrorists, or supernatural shadowy beings if the teen was to be believed. Still, he agreed that he was glad to be well away from Petit Bordeaux. He wondered how many people had died already. Owen had fallen soundly asleep on the backseat, Jimmy rested his head on the boy's lap, howling quietly every so often, as if he was mourning the dead. Martin's jaw tightened. "Kid, whatever it is you're going to do, I am not going to let you out there on your own. I don't know what's going on, but I don't need to know. I know that it's not safe out there, and that the further we get away from this blasted city, the better." He let a brief silence add some weight to his words. "So, is it here?" he pointed at the sign that read 'Beau Village' as they sped past it, into the tiny town.
As Major Lenora barked orders to her men, the tank stopped moving, and a wave of terror flooded into her heart, she Fiona realized the only way out now was on foot. She looked behind her to the street, where her friend stood panting like crazy. Smoke's body shook and his ears lay pressed tight against his skull. He could sense something bad happening. Then Fiona looked up from the dog, and she saw it. An ocean of black nothingness washed over the city, reaching out to her and the others. It flashed bloody red and sharp-sting gold at random times, the only color beside the noir. Negativity was everywhere, and guilt began to build in Fiona's chest. I didn't save my parents. I didn't save my parents. I didn't save my parents. I didn't save my sister or my parents. I let them die for myself. I'm letting my only friend die for me. But it wasn't too hard to connect two and two together. She launched herself from the tank and ran as fast as she could without getting sloppy and falling down, diving right into the crowd of army guys. The men were moving with her at a quick yet steady pace, toward the end of city limits, and she had figured it would have been smart to follow them. As Lenora had said, just outside of Petit Bordeaux was safety. Just as she thought, the guilt began to drain the farther from the center of the city she ran, and she was able to move faster. I wonder if Nathan and the others are all right, Fiona thought, though she did not turn around to find out. They didn't deserve to die, from what I could tell. She hoped they could meet up once outside. Nathan knew a lot about medicine - well, more than her, at least - and both Joan and Lenora could see the Reflected. Nathan, too, now, she reminded herself. Since the area was so incredibly loud again, she spent a lot of time in thought, as navigating through the crowd wasn't so hard when you picked someone in particular to follow, which Fiona had. She thought of how she would probably be destined for failure outside of Petit Bordeaux, since she knew nothing but the city, and the city's people. She thought of how distraught she would be when her friend would die. She thought of how she would never be able to find another friend, because they would never know or be able to understand what exactly she went through in that city. The black smoke, it's doing this, she told herself. You can be hopeless and self-pitying after you make it out.
"Jump in the River and just wish you were somewhere else." Rukma yelled as she began to sprint forward through the horde of moving Reflected. "Don't be afraid, Kayleh, just remember to wish like Dorothy did!" With a leap, and a splash, Rukma disappeared as soon as she hit the rolling waters of the St-Laurent. Kylee stared open-mouthed where Rukma had dissapeared. Okay. Flying a jet is nuts. Seeing Reflected is nuts. So i guess this is going to be a very nutty day. But there was one little problem that kept Kylee from jumping straight into the river and praying to God that she would live through it. She was scared of water. Ohhh crap oh crap oh crap! Kylee stared down at the swift current that lay a mere inches from her feet and swallowed, clutching her jacket close to her chest, and feeling the reassuring press of her sketchbook. It wasn't that she was worried of getting it wet and ruining her drawings -well, that too- but she'd never learned to swim. If she didn't end up going wherever Rukma had said they would arrive... Kylee never had the chance to choose however, as a bulky reflected brushed past and sent her flying face-first into the river. Zap squealed in alarm and clung to her shoulder with a suddenly vicious strength. Screaming loud enough to let out a plume of bubbles, but not much more, Kylee shut her eyes tight as the current sucked her away. I don't want to be here! I don't want to be here! I wish i was somewhere else! she prayed fervently.
Joe had managed to break away from the crowd and his father. "...Can I do this...? Yes... I can... I know I can... he's done so much to me, and mom and... I'll kill him... I don't really even need to necessarily kill him, I just have to knock him over... and then those things will just do the rest." Joe thought, he looked at his father from afar, a part of him couldn't do it, not because of sentimentality, but because of the possible consequences, but the other part was screaming at him to do it, that his father deserved whatever he got, but then... he noticed that the ground... no, not just the ground... everything was changing into crystal... As Joe watched his father from afar searching for him... Joe could hear his very being screaming at him to do one thing...Kill, and after what his father had done to him over these years, Joe wasn't going to deny it any longer... and he wasn't going to allow some strange creatures kill him, he was going to do it with his own two hands, the creatures can have his body. "...Oi... old man... get your ass over here." Joe said quietly, feeling the hatred he had been carrying around with him for so many years beginning to burn ferociously, threatening to burn anything that even came close to it, rationality, the possible consequences, the question of whether he could carry this sin... it was all burnt away by this hatred. "No...? Not going to come over here...? I guess I must go over there... I'm not happy about it though..." Joe muttered, knowing full well that his father couldn't hear a word that he was saying, he dropped the lighter suitcase he had with him, grabbed the handle of the heavier suitcase with his newly freed hand. "...Die..." Joe muttered, he charged at him quickly, building up speed and force for the blow he was about to inflict on him.
Lenora's men began firing at the Reflected that materialized them. It was big with scissor like fingers as it tore through the running men. "Tactical retreat, men!" Lenora shouted. "We cannot fight it on its turf. Retreat!" The Reflected monstrosity was quickly teleporting about them without any effort. The reflective crystalline surface was on them now and a red tint enveloped them all. Lenora's men were dying left and right as hordes of low ranking Reflecting beset them as they ran from- "Pointyfingers McStabby!" Lenora roared. "Captain Lenox, get our three guests to safety if you can." Lenora yelled her final order as she jumped from the tank and broke out into a frenzies run toward her target. Distracted, Scissorhands didn't notice Lenora as summoned her weapon in mid leap toward the small in his back. With a ground rumbling howl, Edward Scissorhands shook the would-be colonel off him. Lenora grunted as she landed but made didn't even take a breath before she lurched out back on the offensive. Her hand was wound tight against a grey and blue sphere in her hand and it pulsed with furious power as she smacked the monsters leg. This time, Scissorhands had expected her, and tried to shred her with two quick strikes. Lenora was too light on her feet to be caught so easily and broke one of his nails with bark-like crack. It's working, she thought to herself as her men continued to run but now with less fire on their tails. Captain Lenox grabbed Prince's hand. "Keep up with me, girl. Major Lenora told me to keep my eye on you three. Speaking of which, where are they?" He looked about himself. "Joanna! Nathan! Follow the sound of my voice. Prince, see that upcoming turn in the street? Go there and wait, and I mean wait, for two black SUVs. They'll take you to safety. I must be off to find the other two." At that, he pushed the girl forward and faded into the entangling mess of Reflected and army men of red and grey. "Joanna! Nathan!" Those yells were far too far for Joe Sr. to pick up but he clearly heard the familiar sound of his son running. However, it was getting closer for once instead of retreating. "There you are, boy!" He turned at the last second before his son's fist made contact with his skull. "I am trying to save you, you ungrateful little shit!" With a flick of the risk, he threw his son away from him hard unto the ground. How was he so strong? He felt a certain power filling up deep within him. He didn't care either. His son was there. He could save the little twerp if he would just listen! Pulling his face dead close to his son's, he whispered, "Follow me. Now. If you don't. You'll die. And not by some tragedy." His hand grabbed Joe Jr. arm and began pulling him forward. The shadows were giving him and his son a wide berth. He barely registered them. Safety wasn't far off now. And safety was a strange place, at least for Kylee. "Kayleh, are you alright?" Rukma pulled the girl out of the shining river and unto the barren sand. The sky was a dull silver and the sun tinted the plain landscape in red. "We'll be safe here." she assured the girl. "We're inside the Reflection, the world of the Reflected. His world." she pointed toward Zap. Rukma looked ahead and saw Petit Bordeaux clear as day now that there was nothing to obstruct it from view. It was all there. Every building in the skyline, as if they were still in Reality. Rukma didn't know what to make of it. No Reflected were about, Hate having attracted them all toward the center and left the nearby area bereft of their presence. "We need to move, we can't stay here long." She could still feel Hate. How is that possible? She kept her thoughts to herself. No use in worrying the girl anymore. Zap bounced away from Kylee and moved ahead, turning back occasionally to see if they were still following him. "Seems to know where to take us." Rukma sighed, knowing this was a strange sort of silver lining. "We should reach the boats to take us back to the temple soon. With any luck, no Reflected will..." she swore as she realized she had just jinxed them. Out of the river, three reflected jumped out as if salmon going up a river. Zap recoiled to Kylee's feet and Rukma was already swallowing a pill. "Kayleh, you need help me." Rukma said. "I can't fight all three by myself. You can't hit them like you would a regular person." The three Reflected began to advance. "I'll take the two on the right, the left one is yours." In her hand, a gold and jade snake began to coil itself around her arm and Rumka lashed out at the closest Reflected. A square hit, the thing hadn't expected a hit and splayed down on the ground as it tried to regain it's feet. The other danced away from her effortlessly. No, safety was a definite strange place for Kylee. Beau Village was a tee to its namesake; a pretty village. The houses all had white picket fences, the roofs were freshly shingled, and the roads and streets as clean as if new. The all American dream made reality. "Bonjour." An older man greeted from the garden patch he was tending. "Peux-je vous aidez?" "I'm looking for this man." Logan replied and showed a picture, not thinking language would be a barrier with such simple body language applied. "Oui! Aux Nouvelles," the man exclaimed. "Uhh.. Down. Le parc." He pointed toward the east. "Thank you." Logan nodded and jumped back into the damaged Ferrari. "Martin, there should be a park down the road to our left. He says Griffin is there." Putting a finger to his ear, he spoke to his communicator. "Hello, can anyone read me?" Silence. He sighed. "Still out of touch with the rest of my team. Hopefully getting Griffin won't be more than a trip down to this Le Park."
Just as the suitcase was about to make contact with his head, when he not only stopped it, he also sent Joe flying to the ground with just a mere flick of his wrist. "W-What the hell...? How the hell did he...?! I mean, he can barely lift a heavy box without throwing out his back!" Joe thought, he couldn't hide the outrage and surprise in his eyes. Joe glared at his father as he got close to his face and whispered to him. "More like keep me trapped." Joe said through gritted teeth, glaring at him hatefully, he grunted as he was pulled back onto his feet and pulled along like a ragdoll behind his father, wincing at his father's strange new strength, he was hurting him, nothing new to Joe, though he was new to the way it was being inflicted. "I'll kill him... I'll kill him..." Joe thought glaring at the back of his father's head, then he took a deep breath. "Calm down... you'll have your chance but right now he's on steroids or something, don't piss him off or he's likely to snap your neck like a twig." Joe thought, trying to keep up with him to lessen the pain.
Kylee glanced once at the snake and then immediately focused on her enemy, oddly feeling all sense of fear evaporate the moment Zap launched himself onto her shoulder and hissed at the oncoming Reflected. Got some bullies that need to be taken down a notch, eh Zap? she mused, not even flinching when the three-foot-tall creature snarled and skittered toward her on four gangly legs. It's body was a patchwork of shells, skins, and metals of varying types, but in between each patch Kylee could catch a glimpse of the same black smoke swirling around inside it. Maybe that was it's weakness? Dancing back and away from her opponent, Kylee pulled off her jacket and tossed her Sketchbook a few feet away an out of harm's reach. It was the jacket she needed to stifle her enemy. Tensing, matching her opponent step for step, she waited until the Reflected paused when it realized that she was not scared of it. Now! With an animal-like shriek, Kylee lunged for the Reflected and smashed her fists into it's face, then whipped around onto its back and tried to tangle its legs with her jacket. If she managed to tie the thing up, she could find a way to beat it more easily. But when it surged beneath her, Kylee realized that this wasn't going to be as easy as she thought.
"Kayleh, you're not dead inside. Your emotions are what prevent you from hurting them!" Rukma yelled out as her snake whipped back into her head, a piece of flesh in its mouth. The Reflected under Kylee raised itself behind her and struck hard with its fist at her thigh before jumping back out of counter range. Rukma was fairing better than Kylee, her snake striking feints rapidly as to keep to the monsters at bay. It was like a piece of her body, her will alone was all it needed to be effective. The one with missing flesh was stumbling, black smoke leaking from it freely. It kept its distance, now wary of the snake. Zap, sensing Kaylee's distress, jumped to protect his owner.
Everything seemed to happen in slow motion he was bought out of his stupor as he heard raised voices again, exclamations of surprise and the change in movement as the tanks momentum guttered out. That was soon punctuated by gunfire and screams and he found himself moving again. He didn't remember consciously making the decision he was just on his feet placing one foot after another at an alarming rate, jumping over bodies and dodging crystallized obstacles. A black monstrosity blocked his path and loomed towards him only to be peppered by bullets from the surrounding soldiers and to swing its attention elsewhere. As he ran he became more aware of just how defenceless he was and he began to awkwardly fumble at the straps on the side of his rucksack securing the ice axes whilst still trying to run, the result was a rather messy attempt at what looked like him trying to hug himself but he soon managed to release the two axes and continued to run, the improvised scythes cutting through the air in front of his hands. Given how little bullets seemed to do to these things he wasn't sure how much use they would be but they were a bit more reassuring than just relying on his fists. Over the chaos he thought he heard his name, but he could of just been imagining it, but then he heard it again, someone yelling his name up ahead. Somewhere off to the left. Something rose up in front of him, something that didn't belong and he didn't have time to stop he angled his shoulder down and tackled the thing allowing his rucksack to absorb some of the impact and then tried to carry on moving refusing to turn back to see if he was being pursued. "I'm coming!"
"Keep up with me, girl. Major Lenora told me to keep my eye on you three." It was so sudden, there wasn't time to think. She knew someone had grabbed her hand and that she was trying to keep up, but she was so short, and the questions were welling up too much for her to concentrate on running. "Speaking of which, where are they?" He looked about himself. "Joanna! Nathan! Follow the sound of my voice. Prince, see that upcoming turn in the street? Go there and wait, and I mean wait, for two black SUVs. They'll take you to safety. I must be off to find the other two." What else to do but accept? Fiona surely knew of no better plan, and here was this person, so in-charge-like, ready to help her. It would have been rude to ignore them. Besides, she was too intent on running fast to argue. "I will," Fiona said, nodding. Then the man pushed her. She stumbled forward, hitting someone who cussed back at her, but Fiona righted herself quickly - quick enough - and went off in the direction the man had instructed. She heard Smoke barking furiously behind her, close to her heels, deep sounds that meant ferocity and left little room for sense. When they reached the corner, having weaved in between the men as best as they could, Fiona reached down and grabbed onto Smoke's cheeks, pulling his face close to hers. He struggled and whined, scratching at her legs. "Calm down," she half-shouted, legs shaking from excitement, not pain. "Sit and wait." Her friend pushed against her legs and dropped to the ground, haunches settling almost on top of her shoes. Smoke looked around and barked a lot, but didn't try to leave Fiona. For that, she was grateful, and sighed a shaky sigh of relief. Just wait for the SUVs, she thought, scanning over the crowd, and hopefully Nathan and Joan.
Kylee panted, struggling to steady herself as a strange chill filled her leg. The Reflected had sapped her strength, just as Zap had done to her stomach earlier to keep her from throwing up. Only this time, it hadn't had good intentions behind it. Zap chirruped as he came up beside her other foot, then clambered up onto her back and wrapped his forelegs around her neck and his hind-legs around her chest like an odd sort of backpack. He was a little heavier than last time, but Kylee blamed that on her bad leg and instead watched the other Reflected as it prepared to leap at her again. "Kayleh, you're not dead inside. Your emotions are what prevent you from hurting them!" "Umm, then how the heck am I supposed to-" Kylee yelped in alarm, scrambling back in order to avoid the oncoming Reflected. The creature lashed out with another fist, and she barely managed to dodge it in time. A chill breeze seemed to skim her arm where it had nearly connected, and Kylee felt the first twinge of real fear as she looked into the creature's hateful yellow eyes. It was then that Zap hissed and launched himself from behind Kylee and tackled the other Reflected. The little pink creature had started to turn a burning shade of red, and his lips were pulled back to reveal three rows of tiny, shark-like teeth before he sank them into the other Reflected's shoulder. As Zap's sharp teeth sank into his hide, the Reflected twitched and flailed wildly. It made no sound, having no mouth or vocal chords to howl with, but the ferocity of its thrashing body made it clear it had been hurt. A wisp of black smoke escaped in small tendrils momentarily. With a violent shake, Zap was hurled off and fell flat on the ground. It peered up at Kylee, seeing if she was alright. It got back up feebly, as if this were his first struggle and his young body too weak to withstand much punishment. A puff of black smoke flew by, one of the Reflected Rukma fought had dissipated in midair. Her snake was slithering quickly across her body and hissing at its last opponent. "Just hold out a little longer, Kayleh," she called out as the Reflected jumped and grazed her arm with the tip of its hand. It didn't seem to bother her. Her snake lashed out, fangs first. Kylee's eyes narrowed at the Reflected, and before it could turn its attention to her partner she let out a low, threatening growl and dropped into a semi-crouching position. The Reflected turned, and in that moment Kylee sprang head-first over the creature and rolled over the ground where she landed, tumbling to a stop beside Zap. "Come on, little guy. You shouldn't have done that." she cooed, scooping the little one up and pulling him back over her shoulders again. The other Reflected's face had scrunched into a snarl, revealing crooked, mismatched teeth, as if it had deliberately stuffed it's mouth full of pointy things so it had some sort of weapon to fight with other than it's fists. Kylee crooked one finger at it and beckoned. I'll attack like the Kangen. Feet first, claws next. This thing can't withstand a blow to the right spot on it's body. It has weaknesses too, and I'll bet that it can't survive having it's head smashed open just like any other animal. I just have to apply enough force... Confidence returning, Kylee waited until the Reflected charged, then leapt straight up and kicked downward as hard as she could when it's head came within striking distance. Kylee's kick was simple and nearly reflexive. No rage, fear, or anger in it. She simply kicked, and off flew the Reflected. It had to weigh practically nothing, as it went for nearly a dozen feet before landing with an audible thud. Scrambling quickly to its feet, it had just enough time to notice it's last partner puff into smoke under the sharp fangs of Rukma's snake. Sensing defeat, it crawled quickly into the shimmering river of light and disappeared. "You learn fast, Kayleh. You do not fight the Reflected, you just defeat them." Rukma congratulated her. Her gold and jade snake shimmered black before fading. "With any luck, we can hurry to the boats before they attack us again." Kylee nodded, then puffed in releif. "Okay, but I call the middle seat -water isn't exactly my thing."
Captain Terry Lenox left Nathan and Fiona at the extraction point and went looking for his final missing charge. Joanna had been lost in the throng of movement and was nowhere to be found. Just as he was about to drop Nathan off with Fiona, two black SUVs roared around the bend and stopped near them at a skid. The two drivers waved them over but their hands stopped midair when something caught their eye. At the entrance of the street stood a man and a boy. The boy was struggling in the man's grip who seemed heedless to his discomfort. "I am sorry, but this transport is for-" Captain Lenox's voice faltered when he realized just what the man was. "Fiona, Nathan, get inside now! They'll take you somewhere safe." "We just... Want... A ride..." the man breathed loudly. "My boy!" He shoved the kid forward as if he were giving him to them. "I need... A car." He took a step forward. "We can take the boy for you," Captain Lenox said, "but we cannot take you." "Not... Acceptable..." The man seemed to twitch with every step forward he took. "If you take one more step, we will..." A shot rang out from behind the captain. One of the drivers had shot the man. The bullet put a hole to his shoulder but the man didn't seem to care. Suddenly, the man leaped forward at an alarming speed straight for Captain Lenox. The captain threw himself against a wall hard to dodge the sudden attack. "Get them out of here!" he yelled, a black and gold gun forming in his hand. The gunshot he aimed at the man's head was loud. Too loud. It rang harsh in the ear. However, the man lost his cheek and blood and meat flew. "Fucker!" The man threw himself against Lenox once more, powered by his own hatred. Captain Lenox knew he had little chance against a white sin. He just hoped the young ones would make it out of all of this alright. The white sin was focusing on him, and he managed to draw him out well out of sight of his charges. "Get in, quick!" One of the drivers yelled just as a Reflected pounced out of nowhere and tore his face off. The windshield and side window dripped blood within the very second. "Shit!" the other yelled out as he got out of the car, a sword in one hand and a gun in the other. "There's too many of them..." He bolted out of sight. Nathan, Fiona, and Joe Jr. were left alone against three Reflected that blocked them from their escape cars. Behind them, the cracking of newly formed crystal was approaching. Fight or flight, they had to get into those cars, pronto.
Once Nathan had managed to bypass enough of the pandemonium and get within a distance that he could clearly hear what Lenox was saying he was reunited with Fiona after their short separation. Their rescue tore round the corner like an 80s cop chase scene and quickly descended into something out of a horror film as he watched their escape drivers face get torn off. He could feel the bile rise in his throat and he choked back the taste of vomit. There was no turning back, no escape, not with whatever it was that was happening behind them, they needed those cars and no one else was going to help them. He turned to Fiona but words failed him, if he didn't act now common sense might kick in and he would be useless to her. "Get to the car!" he roared over his shoulder as he charged the first creature that had tore the mans face off. He raised the ice axes up in front of him and pounced forwards, time seemed to slow for a moment and one thought passed through his mind, this isn't me, I'm a selfish bastard, why am I risking it all for someone I barely know? Then his feet connected with the thing as he smashed them into it's chest, it didn't give way naturally like you would expect, he felt a jarring sensation shoot up through his ankles but didn't fall back as a second later the ice axes connected. They bit deep into the creatures flesh one going straight through up to the handle and the other finding resistance half way in. The creature emitted some sort of primal screech and that was when the fear finally kicked in as he realised that he'd somehow managed to attach himself to something capable of tearing him to pieces in a matter of seconds. He saw a blur of movement and was launched into the air as its arm clobbered him in the side, a searing pain shot through his back as he was thrown back into the windscreen of the SUV with a crunch as the windscreen cracked from the impact.
She watched in horror as Nathan connected with the windshield, but she took this as her chance to run around the dying creature, thanking Nathan for his diversion. A Reflected, much smaller but still just as menacing, jumped toward her and she kicked out. Smoke leaped up and clenched down around its throat - or where a throat would be - killing the thing instantly. Where's the other? The one that Nathan punctured fell softly, dying as it hit the ground, so she knew that was of no problem. It was the one about to take its place that she worried about. Damn. Fiona looked to his hands but saw no axes so she began to quickly search the ground. There, laying next to the diminishing smoke residue left behind by one of the Reflected, was an axe. Fiona grabbed it and climbed on the hood of the vehicle, raised it above her head, held tight, and stabbed it into the beast's back. Smoke barked in approval as it slowly faded to smog. "Can you move?" she asked Nathan. So much blood. I hope he'll live. She dropped to the asphalt and rushed over to the driver's door, flung it open, and pulled out the driver and the passenger. Their blood left terrible streaks on the dashboard and the seats. She couldn't do anything about that, but she could do something about the glass littering the chairs. Fiona brushed the chairs off gently, doing her best to stay calm as not to cut herself. After the majority of the glass was off, she settled down and let Smoke in before slamming the door and locking the car.
