A Second Generation Whateley Academy Adventure

Silent Mountain

by

MaLAguA

Part Three

Saturday, December 24th - 2:49 pm
British Columbia Forests - Ruben

The day was bright but not clear. The clouds that hid the sun cast everything in a subdued pallor. From the snow to the treetops over to the running river that filled the void of silence, all was calm but not at all right. There wasn’t even wind running through the air, which carried a foreboding feeling about, like the calm before a storm.

Everything around was quiet– deliberately so as figures laid prone behind a snowbank, holding their breath as they traded whispers with one another. They dressed in worn hiking gear, the colors allowing them to blend into the snow and shadows, and they were traveling lighter than would be expected for this deep into the woods.

“This is stupid…” a man growled.

“Shh,” answered another. With a pair of binoculars nestled before his eyes, he spied eastward up the river where, in the distance, a group of people… no, kids, stood before the river’s edge, having some sort of an argument.

“Don’t shush me, To-”

“False names only!” a third man scoffed. Snow blew off his beard as he pulled off the hood from over his head. “Did you forget… Steve?” He emphasized the name to the point that ‘Steve’ snapped back, growling.

“This is stupid… Why are we doing this? We haven’t even gotten there.”

“It’s best if you start getting used to it, just so we don’t slip and get hunted down afterward for our loose tongues.” The man snorted. “Do you remember what mine is?”

Steve frowned, about to issue a challenge–but seeing the surroundings, he relented. “Chad… That’s such a pompous asshole name.”

“It’s not my fault that you picked the blandest name from the list,” Chad mocked, getting Steve to turn around to face him with a growl, almost getting up for a fight. “You want to fight, wolfy?”

“Just wait till-”

“Quiet the two of you!” snarled the man who’d shushed him in the first place. “I’m trying to get a good look!”

“I’m not the one who started it, Ruben,” Chad scoffed.

“I blame you both!” Ruben hissed. “Now, Steve, come up here. I need you to hear stuff.”

“What’s there to hear? They are arguing,” said Steve as he crawled up ahead. He turned one ear to the distance to keep his focus on the other side of the river.

“Is this worth worrying about?” Chad whined. “They’re just kids.”

“Kids? This far off into the woods? This awfully close to our target? On Christmas Eve?!” Ruben retreated away from the snowbank, moving to the other side where two other men and a statuesque woman waited. They were crouching next to two hefty backpacks that held what was left of their tech and procured supplies. From it, he pulled out a tablet that opened upon a myriad of screens. “Doesn’t that seem suspicious to you?”

“Think they’re going to our base?” the woman asked. “Well, they’re kids, I don’t suppose they’ll put up much of a fight.”

“That, Barb, is why the boss left fine-tuning of details to me,” Ruben stated as he flipped screen after screen.

“If they’re such a problem, why don’t we deal with them?” Chad asked.

“That’s something we don’t want. The quieter we go, the easier it is.” Ruben thought for a second. “But… if they try to cross the river, they’ll end up becoming our problem and we’ll have to deal with them. ”

“These are kids, right?” Barb inquired.

“Mutant kids that are going to a Syndicate base,” Chad noted. “They may be super soldiers or older, experienced fighters posing as kids.”

“Chad shares my point… if they’re strong, it’ll be best if we take them down first. But only if they’re crossing the river. We can’t waste time worrying. Hopefully, they’re just lost hitchhikers… Steve?” The lookout was crawling back off the snowbank.

“You won’t have to worry about that. The kids are marching downriver.”

“Is that so?” Ruben said to himself, then sighed. “That’s fortunate.”

“Are you sure they aren’t looking for another way to cross? Is there even one to find?” Chad wondered.

“I don’t know. Doesn’t matter. They’re not in our path anymore.” Ruben took in a deep breath, clearing his mind and refocusing as he kept on spying the cameras through his tablet. “Let’s see… so far there appears to be no one in the camera room, which means they aren’t paying attention. And the only two I’ve seen in the base are gathered in the VIP lounge area on the second floor. The one that’s right outside the boss’s room.”

“Good,” Steve said.

“So glad you hacked the camera system in the room before we got kicked out.” Barb smirked.

“The moment I heard our boss decided to stop paying the lair’s rent this month and the warnings began to arrive, I set up this backdoor access to their systems,” Ruben bragged as he pushed himself up, just to confirm the kids had slipped further away from them, following the course of the river. “It’s safe. We better carry on…”

“Alright, alright.” Barb sighed as she got up.

“Guy One, Guy Two, grab the bags,” Chad ordered. They hadn’t bothered giving the two henchmen names–not that the guys had forgotten about their place as the only people in the group without any special abilities. The two of them snatched the backpacks and got up on their feet to follow the rest.

“We’ll carry on moving through the woods, following the camera’s blindspots. So far, they don’t seem to be paying attention, but still not worth risking it. If we’re lucky, we’ll take that guy by surprise.”

“Do you have the door code?”

“Yeah… I couldn’t find any record of them changing it, so I assume the master code the Syndicate gave to the boss still works.”

“Great!” Chad punched his palm. “This’ll be our revenge. This guy attacked our base, tased us into unconsciousness and then dropped us in the middle of the city wearing our costumes to be recognized by the police!”

“We had to leave our suits to lose the police.” Barb growled as she snapped a thick branch off a tree with just one hand. “I really liked mine.”

“Well, we’re prepared. And we’ll take what’s ours… for our sakes and that of the boss in jail.”

The rest of the crew grunted in agreement as they trudged through the snow, following the hacker with the tablet, keeping through the blindspots within the security, approaching the mountain’s base.

Saturday, December 24th - 4:12 pm
Silent Mountain Base - Level 2 - VIP Lounge - Lightning

The architect of the base seemed to have a good eye for design and maintaining appearances, probably since he originally thought of making it into a place from which he could plan to increase his wealth and status. To sit behind the desk and watch as his henchmen completed the jobs with the artifacts he built. As such, just outside of the large office, which he also used to house all the stolen goods, there was an overly comfortable lounge area.

And every other occupant seemed to be of the same mind as they added things to the space. Comfortable couches, a vending machine, exotic potted plants (which wouldn’t surprise anyone if they happened to be of the toxic variety) and a couple of bookshelves that were, for the most part, empty, except for the manuals about the base and its parts, plus the multiple catalogs of services and products that were offered to bolster the villainous experience.

At the back of the room, a large device stood tall enough to connect ground and ceiling, with a couple of tesla coils on the side. There was a console panel and screen on the side in sleep mode, showing the words “Status: Optimal. System: Off”. This was the silence inducing devise… the one that gave the lair the name “Silent Mountain”.

“Can you stop doing that?” Lightning groused at the other person in the room who, for the past couple of minutes, had been killing time by pressing his foot up against the side of the silvery ball at the end of his chain, watching it slide off on the ground’s surface before yanking it back. Like a mixture between bowling and playing with a yo-yo. “You’ll break something, like a vase or the machine… and I already sent the inventory of the things broken during the eviction…”

“Sorry, sir.” The rookie Syndicate operative, Censer, stopped and placed his weapon down. Though that didn’t stop him from fidgeting, instead having him bounce his heel against the ground.

“That is an interesting weapon. What made you pick it?” Lighting asked, pointing at Censer’s censer.

He lifted it, letting the silver ball hang from the chain. “Well… I once peeked into this fancy church where they would get these things out to spread incense. Once I manifested and was picking a weapon, my thoughts went to that… Plus, this isn’t exactly a common weapon and it’s not easy to block since it’s basically a wrecking ball.”

“And it works along with your powers, right?”

“Yeah, I can affect the smoke that comes out from it. Multiply, make denser and even manipulate it… Provided I can have an igniter installed into it.”

“I can talk to one of our weaponsmiths… But, even then I’d still be interested in seeing it in action against someone else.”

“Yeah… Against someone else.” Censer looked down at his wristwatch for the time.

“Still anxious for your own trial?” Lightning asked.

“Just a little bit. I don’t feel like I have a good track record in fights… One of my more recent fights ended with my opponent wrapping my own chain around my neck, tossing me a card to their company, actually telling me to ‘git gud’.”

“Yeah, that might do it. And what was in that card?”

“It was for some military group called Djinn. I don’t have that much experience in combat, but I don’t think I’m ready for the warzone.”

“I’ve been in war zones before and, much like many, I don’t think I’d be eager to relive that,” Lightning noted as he paced back and forth. “Still, you survived your fight and lived to get better.”

“I don’t think beating the weakest member of my team back then or some other kid will help me with that,” Censer grumbled. “But don’t worry, I won’t hold back.”

Lightning thought of his talk with Cole the day before as he reached the table where an open folder rested. There were the data sheets and recorded values of each of the candidates that would be arriving to be tested for the reaffirmation of the organization’s support. “The Syndicate really wants to cut their support on those two,” he said as he pulled the file for TideStriker and Root. There were no clear notes on the matter, but given the parameters for the outlined test, it was apparent what the desired outcome would be. A fight against Lightning would be impossible, even if there were rules in their favor.

“They do?” Censer said. “Shame.”

Lightning shrugged. “Nothing I can do. If the higher ups deem they have no value for the organization, then they have no value…” Lightning thought out loud before looking around to distract himself. “Waiting is the most annoying part, isn’t it?”

“Yeah…” Censer raised his eyes to the TV on the wall, playing a movie they had already tuned out. That was Lightning’s pick: the Hallmark-brand Christmas romantic comedy.

“Is there enough food in the store room?” he asked.

“It is fairly stocked,” Lightning said. “I did it right after I dumped the previous tenants in the city. Should be plenty of fresh canned foods, cooking rice, grains, and dried fruits… But I also bought some turkey to roast, mashed potato mix and a cake. I thought of cooking for everyone.”

“You going to cook?”

“It’ll be Christmas in less than eight hours, thought it was befitting of the spirit. Regardless of success or failure,” Lightning decided as he moved around a large table, going after his tablet. “Speaking of which… they should be arriving any second now…”

Censer didn’t pay much attention, instead he reached for the TV’s remote on the side of the couch to change the channel… and in the interim of the switching, where the sound disappeared, he felt something was off. The quiet chime of the elevator and the doors closing came in from around the hallway’s corner and the air felt… occupied. And then, the silver ball that hung at the end of his weapon began to sway… being pulled forth in that direction.

Lightning’s brow was serious as he cycled through cameras before his eyes widened at the realization. “We’ve been had!” He snapped turning around just as electricity began to crackle and sizzle in the air around him before he quickly jumped to the side at incredible speed, narrowly missing a laser shot fired by a man that had just emerged from the hallway.

Three individuals had stepped into the room, with three more men easily spotted behind, clogging the hallway they came through.

The enforcer’s eyes quickly jumped from person to person getting a read from them. None of them dressed for a brawl. Their outfits were the type one would expect used for hiking or camping, but awfully worn with no clear extra protection added to them. However, they clearly had powers at their disposal. The first one was a woman that stood close to two meters tall, with the physique of a bodybuilder, probably a brick. Then there was the man with the laser gun, a pair of goggles over his eyes and a hefty toolbelt that gave him away as a techie… And last, but not any less important, was a man with a scruffy beard and long hair that bore no weapons but still appeared willing and ready to throw hands.

“Well, hello there,” the man with no weapons said. “It’s good to see you again.”

“You… you’re henchmen of the evicted villain.” Lightning slowly paced within the room. The electricity crackled around his body but his eyes never left the guy with the laser.

“Damn right!” The man’s voice quavered. Not used to the front line, it seemed, as his two allies stepped into the room to face off with the occupying team. All eyes were on Lightning.

“We’re here for payback.” The man to the right laughed out the challenge.

“So…” Lightning began. “I wasn’t aware the previous tenant had mutants on his payroll. Did he hide you or forget that he was required to report you when renting the lair? Because, either way, that’s an infraction.”

“The latter,” the man reported.

“Figures…” Lightning muttered. In the back of his head, he was concerned about the situation. He and Censer were outnumbered and lacking in information… While his own skills, experience and powers assured him that he might be able to hold on his own against regular guys, all it took was for a lucky shot or a bad surprise for him to be taken down.

“Although, I don’t remember seeing you…” Lightning pointed at the woman, just to keep them talking. “I would’ve been able to tell you have some exemplar in you.”

“I was away at the time. My day off.” The woman snorted and picked up a potted plant with one hand as she stepped over to the other entrance to the room. “Ruined my day when I happened to run to get these guys out of trouble. Broke out of custody as many as I could.”

“Lucky them,” Lightning muttered.

“Yeah.” The woman smirked.

“What do we do?” Censer whispered.

“We fight.” Lightning let his body charge up with electricity, just enough to get the techie to panic and pull the trigger. But his shot went wide as the Syndicate enforcer had already jumped to the side and forward, unleashing a bolt at the person with the gun.

The surge of electricity should’ve been painful and definitely enough to put the guy out of the fight… if it landed. But in the last split second, the attack curved itself away from the techie’s center of mass and instead was absorbed by a weird box-like contraption on his tool belt.

Everyone held their breath, silenced by what had just happened. Even the techie still had the horror of someone that was about to be run over by a train on his face… but as he realized he was safe and unharmed a grin began to crack about him. “Hahahaha! You thought we wouldn’t be prepared for you?!”

“Well… Damn,” Lightning muttered as he held his wrist. The moment his power got absorbed, he felt that machine try to suck more out of him. This was bad.

“We’re prepared for you! My specialty is electric tinkering!” the techie mocked as he pulled back his coat to reveal more of the siphoning box… and as he did, allowed Lightning to spot the strange white gun hung on the other side of the belt. It looked much more complex than the laser pistol. “We can take you on-Ah!”

The techie had to jump to the side as the huge ball of metal came crashing into the laser gun before being pulled back by the chain. “Don’t forget about me!” Censer shouted, spinning his weapon at the ready for another attack as his hand was attempting to reach for his own belt of tricks, which had been left on the table to the side. In the rush, he hadn’t been able to light up his censer to produce smoke… and without that, he only had his weapon at a basic level.

“Barb… take care of that one. I’ll deal with Mister Spark,” said the man at the right as he stepped forth. “Ruben, give me your tool.”

“What? Screw you, Chad” the techie, Ruben frowned. “It’s my-”

“Do you want to face him?” the man, Chad, snorted.

Ruben looked back where his laser gun ended up, bent in half and broken into pieces from the impact. Pride wounded, he gritted his teeth before conceding without saying a word, just taking off his device before stepping back.

Lightning tried to attack, hoping not to give them a chance to install it… but once again, his current was redirected and absorbed into the box.

“Nice try,” Chad taunted.

“Alright, let’s go,” Barb said as she charged at Censer.

“Not gonna let you!” Lightning answered as he tried to use another electric attack, pointing it towards the sprinting woman, only to find his electric blast bend itself in mid air back towards the box that now hung from Chad’s waist.

“Hey! This thing is charring my jacket!” Chad complained.

“It’s not my fault you picked the wrong coat to wear over it.”

“Whatever,” Chad grumbled as he took off his jacket, revealing his slick build–which, compared to Lightning’s own, was scrawny.

Still, the worrying part was that, as Chad took a step closer to him, Lightning began to feel a pull, like the current of the tides drawing him away… At the second step, he actually saw the electricity stored in his body start to leave him, being drained way into the box.

The intruder, Chad, smirked before throwing himself forth to engage in hand to hand combat. Lightning reacted by taking a step back just to let him throw the first one. All the while, he felt his electricity leave him, getting him closer and closer to a baseline level, something that would make escape near impossible. The fight needed to end fast. So by the time the next punch was thrown, he was able to read the intent and catch his arm. All he needed to do was perform a judo throw and move on to the next- huh?

A rock? He tried to perform the throw again only to feel it again. Like he was trying to swing a bag of concrete over his shoulder.

The man laughed. “Surprise!” He exclaimed before using his position to wrap his arm around Lightning. As much as he tried to release his energy, all that did was get it immediately absorbed by the box.

“Hey! Finish the fight!” Ruben called out.

From his position, Lightning could spy the other fight. He watched how Censer kept on trying to retreat and keep on swinging his weapon against the woman, Barb… only to see how she easily tanked that attack, deflecting it with her arm, barely getting bothered as she took another step, trying to corner him.

That is until he eventually made a swing that she managed to catch with one hand. “Gotcha,” she crowed before gripping the chain and yanking Censer towards her. Off balance, carried by momentum and in the face of a woman who appeared unfazed by anything, he stood no chance as she drove a knee to his stomach and knock him out.

“One down,” Ruben mused, “and one to go

“How much charge do you have?” Chad called out as he tried to move his arms to put Lighting in a sleeping choke. He was close to managing it, but his opponent slipped an arm free from the hold and sent it to blindly swipe at the right side of the belt, where the draining box was.

Success! Lightning thought as he’d managed to throw the damned box to the ground and in the struggle, give it his hardest kick to send it flying back into the clogged hallway.

“Watch out!” Ruben blurted out, diving to the side as the thing exploded in electricity upon hitting the wall, trails of energy searing through the walls and shocking the lights through the electric grid, burning some near the table and the shelf.

As the world flashed between darkness and light, Lightning found his chance to fully slide out of Chad’s grip and deliver a hard hit to his throat. It confirmed his suspicions, the man had the powers of a density shifter as that chop felt like hitting a rock… but alas, the throat was vulnerable enough the well positioned hit had the man reeling and gagging.

Lightning saw his chance. As much as it disgraced him to do it, he had to get out. That electricity released by the explosion didn’t go back to him. He had no juice, no extra speed, no power… He had to find his way to safety and call for backup. He…

And yet as he took the next step around, in between the flashes, he caught the techie aiming at him with that gun that hung from his belt. In the blink of his eyes, the trigger was pulled and an object flew towards Lightning, hitting him in the chest. From there, it felt as if the world grew slower and slower as he was in the middle of taking a next step he never thought he would manage to make, even as inertia said he should be moving forward, his entire body was arrested and held… Even the air was affected as it hardened, creating a strange faded surface, like glazed glass.

He felt the clothes on his skin, the air stuck in his lungs and heard the sounds… but he couldn’t move at all. No muscle, no nerve… not even blink… and soon his mind began to feel the pull towards darkness. Thoughts became more and more scattered as his brain was being forced into a sleep-like state he never knew if he’d wake up from.

“We got him!” Guy One dared to say, relieved as he pushed himself and the hefty backpack up after having jumped away from the electric explosion.

“Seems like it… wow…” Guy Two said as he dared to look up to reveal the handiwork of the actual superpowered criminals. In the middle of the room, past the electric explosion scorch marks and the sizzling broken box was the Syndicate enforcer, Lightning, frozen in motion and trapped within a barrier made of air.

“Fuck me, Chad! Couldn’t you be more careful? He destroyed my lightning box!” Ruben scoffed as he sidestepped the box as it still spurted out sparks into the air.

“Hey! Screw you! I did my best. Better than you could,” Chad said with a raspy voice. He was still clutching at his throat after the punch. Although Ruben’s mood quickly changed as he approached his victim: the cube with Lightning inside, unable to move, captured in the moment of action, with the eyes wide open, having captured the surprise of the moment. He reached over and tapped the air, feeling the surface ripple like thick gelatin. With the only sign of ‘life’ within was the droning red blinking that came from a piece of tech that was frozen in the air, having just bounced off Lightning's chest.

Ruben grinned as he tapped on the solid air hearing the dense clang of the surface. “Ha ha! I can’t believe it worked… That devisor really did me a solid selling me this gun,” Ruben mused, only to have his attention drawn by a beep from his gun. He pressed some buttons at the side of the barrel and a box popped out with a steamy hiss: a cartridge that bore the same design elements as the object stuck in the frozen space, even with a light that beeped in the same rhythm.

“Hot!” the techie shouted as he pulled it out… although considering the cold they experience during the couple of days of trouble, it was quite comforting,

“Is he dead?” Barb asked as she lifted the unconscious guy with the silver ball and chain over her shoulder.

“Nope. He’s just frozen in stasis. That way, later or if things get dicey we can use him as a bargaining chip… provided he stays that way,” Ruben said.

“He stays that way?” Steve asked.

To that, Ruben held up the ejected cartridge. “Listen everyone. This piece here is the tethered dead space module. It remotely feeds the stasis field our prisoner is currently in. That means that, if this thing breaks, we’ll have to deal with Mr. Spark again… and I don’t have the time to go about building another siphoning box. Is that clear?”

“Fine. We’ll have someone wrap it in bubble wrap and cloth just so it’ll stay safe,” Chad said as he allowed himself to fall into the cushions, letting out a relaxed sigh. “Oh my god, I’ve needed this after the past two days!”

“We’re not here to rest!” Barb said, using the rope she got from Guy One to tie down and gag her opponent. “What do I do with this one?”

“There’s a broom closet over there, next to the door to the boss’s private quarters. Toss him there.” Ruben pointed the spot out as he and Guy Two moved towards the large set of double doors that rested on the south side of the room. He held up a small token and pressed the button, only for the light at the center to flash red. “Damn it… they locked the thing.”

“And you’re sure the valuables are in there?”

“Everything. Everything from the pieces of art to the ingots are stashed away within the office.”

The rest of the crew groaned.

Barb asked. “Can’t you open it using the security room controls?”

“No… I know for a fact that the system there doesn’t have any control over the Boss’s office or their quarters.”

Chad snorted. “Well boys. this’ll set us back quite a bit. So let’s hope that the Syndicate does have holiday spirit and won’t notice what we’re doing here… But in case they do, Guy One, go to the hangar and check if that aircraft is still there? Oh, and on the way back, make sure to pass by the storehouse, see if there is any food.”

“Right.” The henchman nodded as he walked back into the corridor they entered through.

“Ruben, how long before we can crack the thing open?” Chad asked as he looked at the stack of papers on the table.

“I have no idea,” Ruben answered as he checked for the pieces of equipment Guy Two produced from the backpack. Among which was a welding mask, a blowtorch and a couple of oxy-acetylene tanks. And yet, despite that he sighed. “What’s this?”

“A blowtorch?” Steve snorted.

“Yeah… this won’t do,” Ruben objected. “We need something better. What else did you pack?”

Guy Two stammered as he pulled out more and more items. “Well… um, other than that, I have flashbangs, smoke grenades, some hammers, screwdrivers… basically hardware stuff.”

Ruben sighed. “At this rate, we’ll be here for a good couple of days…”

“How about the workshop?” Steve asked.

“I thought we were understocked…” Barb noted, having returned to the room after tossing the prisoner into the supply closet and was looking forward to sitting down.

“It’s worth a shot,” Ruben said as he got up. “Hopefully, I come back with a power drill… or with a plasma torch.” He took a couple of steps before looking back at their stasis prisoner. “Barb, please move our prisoner against the wall in case we have to rely on explosives.”

“Tsk…” Barb grumbled.

“Wait, Ruben!” Chad suddenly called out.

Ruben growled, almost having made it to the hallway. “What?”

“Tell me about the kids we saw earlier today,” Chad said, holding up the files.

“What about them?” Ruben asked.

“Apparently, they are Syndicate candidates coming here to be trained and tested by the organization… I have to assume that if they perceive something is wrong…

“… they probably have a way of ringing the alarm.” Ruben frowned. Things just kept on getting more complicated, whether they wanted it or not. “Fine. Let me see those.”

“Fine,” Chad muttered as he passed the file to his team. “Urgent meeting, we have to deal with these kids before they raise the alarm…”

“We don’t know what they know. Have they met Lightning? Do they know how many people are in the base?” Ruben noted.

“I’m sure we can wing the details.”

“You want to improvise in this sort of situation? If word gets out, then our time window grows much narrower!”

“I can do it,” Chad assured.

“We can’t mess up… How strong are they?” Ruben skimmed through two of the files he received. “Their power descriptions don’t appear strong, even if some of their tests were to face Lightning and that other guy in combat… But, if we use the base controls to our advantage and adjust the antennae so that it blocks any unsanctioned signal, we should be able to deal with everyone.”

“They don’t come across as threats…” Chad said. “There is a problem, though. That’s this one here.”

He passed around the file that portrayed a normal mousey girl with long sandy blonde hair. Along with it came a lot of reports and documents pertaining to her circumstances and powers.

“Her name is Day Dreamer,” Chad summarized. “Her problem is that she apparently is able to read the minds of others. If we get too close to her, we’ll be discovered.”

“She must be valuable to the Syndicate… ” Ruben noted as he traded his files for Leslie’s. “She doesn’t come across as a fighter… and her measurements don’t hint at that. We could probably try to hold her hostage as well.”

Chad agreed with a nod. “She’s the one we have to handle first…”

Saturday, December 24th - 5:56 pm
Silent Mountain Base - Level 2 - VIP Lounge - Crew

“There they are!” Steve snapped, pointing out at one of the screens. “Enhance!”

“We can all see it!” Ruben growled as he tried to give himself some elbow space to use the keyboard. Even with the two henchmen back in the VIP lounge, there was no denying the security room was a bit cramped, especially when all of the other individuals were clustered to spy on the screens.

“I know, I just wanted to say that.” Steve had a smirk on his face..

“Dumb mutt,” Ruben mumbled, rolling his eyes as he had the particular feed show up on the main screen.

The view showed the area just outside the base’s entrance, concealed from prying eyes within an obscure crack on the stone. It had switched to night vision, which made it particularly obnoxious when the light of the lantern accidentally pointed at the camera… but it was clear that it was them. The five kids they spotted earlier, rushing towards the same entrance the former henchmen used hours earlier.

A quick look at the files laid on the table confirmed it was them. The nature mage, Root; the contact Hydrokinetic, TideStriker; the gadgeteer, FitTogether, the girl whose page was redacted, Obscura, and the mind reader, Day Dreamer.

The camera followed them as they ran into the cave and were met by the entrance gate. Root, who was carrying Day Dreamer on his back, seemed to say something to FitTogether, but since the cameras outside had no sound capture, it was unknown to them. Their first hope that they wouldn’t be able to enter and get them turned away was quickly dashed as, the second later, the gate opened and allowed them into the warming annex.

“I thought you locked the base,” Steve asked Ruben.

“I did! I blocked the 1357 code,” Ruben frowned. “They must’ve used a secret code…”

“So, what do we do now?” Barb asked.

“We scrap plan A and move on with the next, hoping for our opening,” Chad said confidently as the group lingered by the screens, watching how things played out, much to the uneasiness of the rest of the team.

“They can’t fail us for this, right? We made it here in time,” Day Dreamer chimed in.

“…We’ll have to ask the syndicate members here,” TideStriker said as he turned to Root, “Do you happen to know who’s here?”

“I do. One of them is Censer. I know him from a mission last month, our first mission. The other one, I haven’t met. Cole told me his codename was Lightning and that he is one of the organization’s enforcers. What they’ll think? I don’t know.”

“There! That’s our opening!” Chad snapped his fingers.

“Are you seriously going to try that play?” said Ruben.

“Why not? They don’t know this Lightning guy, have no idea what he sounds like but are still going to respect and do anything he says as their superior!” Chad argued.

“Well… the PA system works,” Ruben noted, pointing at the camera. In the upper corner of the room, where a modest yet effective comm system hung.

“Alright, patch me in,” Chad told him.

“Here,” Ruben said, handing Chad the microphone, before telling everyone else to back away to give him some room.

After taking a deep breath, he pressed the button on the side to open the microphone. “Can you hear me?”

“What sort of start is that?” Ruben whispered. Still, the PA system clearly worked as all heads turned towards the speaker.

“Yes, we can,” Root said out loud.

Chad cleared his throat before opening the microphone and continuing in the most authoritarian tone he could muster. “And I hear and see you back. I’m Lightning, but you should address me by sir. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir,” Root answered.

“You must be Root, is that the case?… Good. Before you step into the elevator, there’s a matter that needs to be sorted out…”

“What do we do afterward?” Steve whispered as Chad inquired on the matter of the emergency line.

“We tell them that they have to leave their holdouts in the barracks. We lock the place when they leave. We herd them over to the first level lounge and leave them there… if something goes wrong, we can lock down the lower level.”

“What about their phones?”

“The base is already blocking them. They won’t be able to contact anyone.” He reached down under the security desk to produce a box with four smartphones… at least they started off as normal smartphones, but now they had been clearly modded adding to their thickness. “Glad they kept these.”

“What are they?”

“Modified emergency phones. Now that the jammer is on, these things will allow us to communicate without needing reception. They also grant the holder clearance to open any door within the base connected to this system. So don't lose them.”

“Alright, “Steve said as they each grabbed one.

“Good call… that way we still have signal in the upper floors.”

“No reason to completely silence the mountain,” Ruben said, which both Barb and Steve took it as a pun, patting him on the back rather than laughing.

“…Maybe you haven’t tried enough. I don’t wish to risk it,” Chad explained, frustrated, to the microphone. Fortunately, Day Dreamer humored his request and turned on the collar that would supposedly nullify her telepathic powers. “Was that so hard?” Chad grumbled while the thing was turned off before looking at his team. “We’re safe… let them in.”

Ruben muttered to himself as he moved to the console and unlocked the elevator.

“Good. Keep that on at all times…” Chad continued to the microphone. “Now, you can step in.”

And with that, he placed down the microphone, taking a deep breath. “Alright, we have them in the bag.”

“Still seems too risky…” Ruben mumbled.

“Risky? Have you read their profiles?” Chad said. “None of them should be a threat… If this is the Syndicate’s future, then villains should start looking for a better provider.”

“I don’t even want to consider fighting…”

“Well, if it comes down to it, we’ll just have to blow up the base as we planned to cover our tracks and either leave them as a casualty or scare them away,” Barb noted.

“Casualty is much easier,” Chad scoffed. “Trust me… this is the better choice. What other choice did we have?”

And just as he said that, the elevator caught a bit of the conversation

“Does that mean we’re still within the time limit?” TideStriker wondered.

“I suppose we are.” Day Dreamer answered. “It would’ve been really bad if they’d just told us we failed and sent us back.”

“Yeah…”

Eyes went onto Chad who frowned at the realization that there was a much simpler solution there. He just sighed. “Whatever, we’re taking the Syndicate enforcer and a high level telepath they want with us. We’re getting more than we bargained for… in a good way.”

“Are you ready to play the role,” Steve asked

To answer that, Chad picked a device from his belt, one that bore similar design features as the stasis gun that was used. With a pop, the thing opened, looking like a sort of old polaroid camera. “Yeah, I’m glad that the stasis field didn’t affect the scan. I have Lightning’s form recorded. It’s a shame I couldn’t copy his powers…”

“No, I mean if you’re ready… Because your acting skills are quite rough,” Steve clarified, earning a chuckle or two from Barb and Ruben.

Chad frowned. “We’re here to do a job. Not to joke.”

“Whatever you say…” Ruben mocked.

Saturday, December 24th - 6:34pm
Silent Mountain Base - Level 2 - VIP - Ruben

The obnoxious shriek of the plasma biting into the metal was horrible the first couple of seconds and it didn’t get better a full minute in. The air about felt clogged and hot while the scent stung… but those were the gripes Ruben generally tended to have about this rudimentary level of metal working. But, fortunately, it wasn’t for naught.

“Just remind yourself… This is for the treasure. This is for the treasure behind the door,” he told himself as before he pulled back the green energy stream, watching the red steel surface cool down right after. Thank goodness the base had good air circulation.

Ruben took off the shaded goggles and surveyed the result of his efforts. The upgraded acetylene torch had managed to pierce through and carve a hole to the other side of the wall in a minute. It was a promising start.

“Think you can do this?” He asked Guy One and Guy Two, who had been watching behind welding masks. They nodded before offering to take up the cutting tool. “Remember to be mindful of the fire. Don’t get the nozzle too close to the door, but also don’t keep it far… Just take it slow, make sure the flame reaches the other side before you take a pause. Try to make the hole about… this high and wide.” And for that, he marked the corners of an opening. Enough room to fit two people standing side by side.

“How much would that take?” Steve asked as he ate a bag of chips from the storeroom.

“Hm…” Ruben thought for a moment, stepping from the worksite by the door as their henchmen began to get accustomed to the cutting tool. “Well, it’ll be about a couple of hours of cutting at this rate.”

“Couldn’t you make it a hole about half the size and just drag the things out?”

“That's…” Ruben was about to belittle Steve, only to pause with his mouth open. “That’s… not a bad idea. Most of the items can be dragged out.” He gave the signal to the two henchmen, telling them to half the height and width of the hole.

“I may not be smart, but I have common sense,” Steve boasted proudly.

Ruben ignored the comment. “That should cut our time in half… which means that you can go up and start prepping the ship for loading and departure.”

“Ugh…so soon? Why not send Barb?” He said, pointing at the woman who was also enjoying the cushy seats eying one of the manuals plucked from the shelf.

“Because I know nothing about ships and wouldn’t be able to tell you if an engine is missing or something,” she answered

“Your idea to save us time, should make use of it.” Ruben laughed. “Oh, and while at it, see if there’s a hover wagon that’ll let us move Lightning here into the ship’s cargo. They should be in the back area of the hangar.” He tapped the frozen enforcer in the back of the room.

“Ugh… I hated that place. No one ever fixes the lights there. Going there is just asking to trip and stumble.”

“Well, use your nose and get to it,” Ruben said dismissively.

And yet before they could carry on they noticed the sound of people coming down the hallway. The telepath girl, Day Dreamer, made her entrance into the room with a stumbling step. She’d tried to stop on her steps the moment she thought she saw something off, probably the scorch marks left by the siphon box or the corner of frozen air from the stasis field, but was shoved forth by ‘Lightning’.

“Step in. No point in delaying things,” Lightning said.

Day Dreamer recovered her step practically right away as her eyes moved quickly from the extra people in place to the large frozen person in the stasis cube, to the signs of struggle and the two henchmen working a blow torch to cut the door. “What… What's going on? You… you…” she blurted out as she spotted the frozen Lightning by the wall before suddenly turning to face the man that brought her here. “You’re not him!”

“Correct, sweetie. And now you’re going to be ransomed,” the false Lightning said, lunging at her the moment she reached for the side of the collar to turn it off.

“Let me go!” Day Dreamer cried out as her hands were forced down, with her psychic powers still contained by the inhibitor.

“Shut up!” False Lightning snapped as he gripped her arm around her back and tried to find a way to get her to quiet down. He was debating about putting her in a chokehold or pulling out his knife to threaten her, when Ruben called out.

“Hey! Have a little more finesse, would you?” He said as he pulled out a small bottle of chloroform from the bag. A quick dab into a rag and the substance was pressed up against Day Dreamer’s nose. The girl’s eyes rolled up as her struggles quickly ceased as she slumped into her captor’s arm.

“I was about to get to that…” Chad said as he pushed the girl up against Steve. The other man grunted before dragging her aside to tie her up. “How’s things going?” At that moment, Guy One and Guy Two were practicing with the enhanced blowtorch, moving it onto the metal. “So that’s how…”

“It should take us about an hour, hour and a half, to carve a hole to get things out. From there we load things up onto the ship and get going,” Ruben noted. “Did they suspect you?”

“Not in the slightest. These kids really fear the Syndicate, so they cling to any word ‘Lightning’ says,” Chad reported as he moved around in strong steps with his chest puffed out, making a caricature of Lightning’s appearance.

“It’s a shame I couldn’t take this guy’s powers…” he added, tapping the frozen air that kept him away from Lightning. “I could do some really nasty things with that level of power. Wouldn’t even dare to let that one go…” He blinked, getting an idea just as Steve hoisted Day Dreamer over his shoulder. “But maybe…”

“Don’t even think about it.” Ruben snorted, stepping in the way.

“Why not? Her powers are something the Syndicate wants. Telepathy could be fun.”

“You read the file,” Ruben chastised. “It says she has trouble not intruding in the thoughts of others but there are notes that suggest the opposite might happen. I just imagine you walking into the room and broadcasting the message ‘I’m fooling you all’ to the other four…”

“Fine… you have a point.” Chad snorted. “So what’s the plan now?”

“We keep on working, leaving them confined to the lower level. Make sure they don’t try anything… If they do-”

“We end them?”

“You’re a bit of a sadist, aren’t you?” Ruben snorted. “There’s no need to go that far!”

“You’re soft.”

“No. I’m smart,” Ruben scoffed. “I picture you trying to kill them only to stumble and get your ass handed to you. Then it’s just us trying to keep them away. And I know they might be kids, but their powers still hold some merit, no matter how weak they might be!”

“I wouldn’t stumble,” Chad growled.

“The point is, don’t waste your time with unimportant things. The kids are downstairs, they have no idea of what’s going on… don’t clue them in.”

“Aw, you’re scared, aren’t you? Or just lazy-”

“Girls, girls. You’re both pretty. Stop fighting,” Barb mocked as she put the base’s manual on the broken coffee table, finally having grown bored of staring down at diagrams and maps.

Both guys ignored her, instead the Lightning impostor snorted. “Fine. I won’t push my luck… but we’re still blowing up the base, right?”

“It’s a good way to cover our escape,” Ruben noted. “Under normal circumstances, the self destruct sequence would cause a massive cave in… but, just by messing with the generator and power supply, one can trigger a meltdown that will obliterate the structure, which will make recovery of the black box nigh impossible.”

“Fine by me… as long as we don’t mess up with the timing,” said Barb.

“I’ll give Chad the instructions of how to trigger the meltdown… but for the time being, we wait and stay vigilant over what the four remaining kids do.”

“Alright. fine,” Chad conceded along with the rest of the crew.

Saturday, December 24th - 7:27pm
Silent Mountain Base - Level 2 - Security room - Ruben

“Hm…” Ruben muttered as he cycled through the different cameras. For the past half an hour, this had been the main focus for both his eyes, getting a complete view of how their operation was going and issuing orders. On the side, he also monitored incoming and outgoing signals, making sure that the mountain’s jammer was keeping the kids in the dark while checking the camera feeds outside.

Back in the VIP lounge, just a couple of hallways down from him, Guy One and Guy Two worked on the door to the boss’ office, taking turns to brandish the reinforced torch and carve the hole. By this point, they were a little over halfway through the cut, somewhat slower than scheduled, but there was no need to rush… yet. Before long the slab of steel would fall off and they would begin withdrawing the goods from the other side. Barb was there looking after everything, but with the TV in the room broken during the scuffle, she was pacing back and forth to stave boredom. He assumed she would take to the hallways sometime soon.

In the supply closet, both of their victims… the operative named Censer and Day Dreamer were still bound and knocked out cold.

Upstairs in the hangar, where a couple of advanced airships were parked, Steve leisurely worked on getting the thing in working order… having reported that the thing needed refueling and that parts of the engine were missing or needed to be replaced. Ruben, of course, being the one able to make the fixes, didn’t feel like he could trust Steve with manning the cameras, so instead he just told him to fetch the pieces and he would put them together when given the chance. So now, the dumb mutt seized any chance he could find to slack off. He would be getting an earful from Ruben later.

Chad, disguised as Lightning, was currently moving about between all the levels to spare himself of the boredom…

But most of Ruben’s time was spent watching the kids in the room. Either killing time or chatting to one another, nothing that roused their overseer’s attention. The exception was whenever one left the lounge, back into the hallway. Ruben’s main concern was as to whether they would try to get their stuff back from the barracks only to discover it was locked… would he be able to trick them? Or would that kick off an uprising rebellion… Still, there was little chance that they would be overwhelmed… but victory wasn’t fully assured.

Fortunately, all those times they left for the bathroom. And while, unfortunately, there were no cameras in the private service rooms, he had to assume that there was nothing to be worried about there.

Driven by curiosity and idleness, he switched to one of the camera’s within the barracks going after the kid’s luggage. One of the Syndicate initiates, FitTogether, was a gadgeteer, he wondered if there was anything he, being one as well, would want to get his hands on… Fortunately, the kid decided to leave his tech spread out on a blanket, just enough for Ruben to get a read of. Nothing overly incredible but things still looked nice.

“A gun… Is that a disintegrator beam? A cutting tool? Or just a laser pointer? A virtual reality headset… that might be interesting,” Ruben muttered to himself before picking up his phone and sending a voice message. “Hey, Chad. Can you go to the barracks? There’s something I want you to pilfer.”

“Right,” Chad answered a couple of seconds later. This was about the time as TideStriker seemed to decide to also go to the bathroom. That raised some mild concerns, but Ruben just assumed that his partner wouldn’t be able to keep himself from acting rashly without explicit orders.

“Hey.” Barb’s voice came right from behind, getting Ruben to jump on his seat, much to the statuesque woman’s amusement.

“Can’t you announce yourself like a normal person?”

“I didn’t think I needed to for the man in charge of the cameras,” Barb said as she stopped her laughter.

“Yeah… wells, the setup could use an update. I can’t focus on more than one camera at the time. Another larger screen would be quite helpful,” he said, showing it by switching views back to the common room. “Are you bored?”

“Definitely… Anything interesting happened between the kids? Any drama?” Barb mused as she leaned up against the back wall.

“Nothing. Just idle chatter,” Ruben told him.

“Figures… Hey Guy One and Guy Two are saying that, after this, we do a prison break and get our boss out of prison.”

“Hm… I don’t know. I thought of laying low for the next couple of weeks after we sell the stuff.”

“I look forward to that… Say I didn’t ask, but how much is the haul worth… Oh, Wait, something is happening!” Barb said leaning in closer.

Ruben turned around and noted that, back in the level 1 lounge, Obscura–who so far had lain on the sidelines resting on the couch–had just gotten up and walked up to the door. Ruben frowned as he turned up the volume.

“That’s it!” she said as she took off her coat, leaving it on the table. “Something is off. So I’m going to explore.”

“What? For real?” FitTogether blurted out, echoing Barb and Ruben’s sentiment.

“Can she do that?” Barb asked.

“Well… her file is redacted,” Ruben noted. “Is she like some sort of teleporter or phaser?”

But the concerns were cut short as the distinctive sound of a ringtone pierced through. With all eyes in the lounge and the security room were aimed towards Root as he fetched his phone.

“What is that? He’s getting a phone call?!” Barb asked.

Ruben immediately pulled up the status of the signal jammer, fearing that it might’ve stopped working. It hadn’t… but it was deliberately allowing a signal in, outlining that the number had clearance beyond the security parameters allowed. It came from someone with authority access.

Who it was, they had no idea… but the concerning part was whatever information might be leaked and inside would mean their easy time was over.

“What do we do?!” Ruben panicked as the system rebuffed his attempts to cancel the call..

“The shut down protocol A-2!” Barb blurted out.

“What?”

“I read it in the manual. Shut down protocol A-2: a system put in place in case the base was being seriously hacked. It shuts down most of the electronics, forcing a hard reboot into safe mode. It warned that it would completely shut down the antenna until enabled.”

“Fine… Fine!” Ruben said as he typed on the keyboard. He searched into the embedded security guidelines of the system until finding Protocol A-2. The system’s screens flashed red as the question of “Are you sure you want to trigger this protocol” appeared on the screen.

As he saw Root about to answer his phone, the protocol was enacted. The engines and fans of the computer swelled out, working overtime to execute the list of commands in record time, with the beeps coming out as each screen rebooted themselves… but there was something else. Something that, by the time the sound swelled up, they realized what it was.

Then there was just silence.

Ruben opened his mouth, trying to voice something but was hardly surprised when nothing came out. This was Silent Mountain’s peculiarity… the silence engine that canceled any sound, something they’d experienced a couple of times during their stay.

As the screens booted up, performing the security check and re-establishing the camera and security systems, Ruben was already with the modified phone in his hands, typing a message on a blank notepad.

[This works]

[I didn’t fully read it.] Barb answered by showing off her own phone.

[This works…Get back to lounge. Explain guys. I lock down base and corridors.] Ruben ordered. Barb had no objections on the matter, immediately turning around and moving down the corridor.

<Great… better hurry up…> Ruben thought to himself, tapping against the table but making no sounds as he waited for the system to finish booting up. He was going to start the door control and cameras as soon as possible.

Saturday, December 24th - 7:38pm
Silent Mountain Base - Level 1 - Bathroom - Chad

<Well, crap. I did it…> Chad ‘spoke’ despite knowing no word was coming out as he looked down at the kid before him. His eyes wide open as he stared down where the knife met his body.

<Shame> Chad thought as he shoved TideStriker down to the ground. The poor kid was still in a state of shock as he desperately tried to plug the wound left by the dirk in his stomach.

Poor kid just happened to be alone in the bathroom at the time when Chad arrived, disguised as Lightning. He was unsure what Ruben wanted him to procure… but his crewmate went strangely quiet despite being the guy on the chair in control of the cameras. Afterward, the impostor happened to catch a glimpse of a light coming from the bathroom only to find the kid freshening up.

Then, the whole alarms went off, figuratively, given that no sound could be heard right after, just the slow red flashing backup lights that indicated a power outage. If that hadn’t happened, TideStriker would’ve just been asked to go back to the room… but, since the situation had suddenly turned chaotic… it was time to improvise… and the situation happened to be perfect for his plan.

He wiped the blade against his shirt through the hologram before turning it off and revealing himself. The boy’s eyes widened in surprise as he leaned in closer, gritting his teeth in frustration… but the curses weren’t coming out, either he had none to give or realized that no word could be uttered.

Be as it may be, Chad didn’t care. <Sucks to be you.>

He knelt by and grabbed TideStriker’s hand as he activated his power, letting go of Barb’s density warping ability just to get the parasite like tendrils of his mimicry wanting. They manifested in an ethereal form, like leeches, suddenly diving into the boy’s skin. Burrowing deep to get a good taste of his powers. They bit into the energy just enough to adapt and mold themselves into copies.

Chad felt it. The particular flavor of a telekinetic and a telepath, just as the file said… but there was something more something else that didn’t fancy his own ability. Maybe it was a gadgeteer or a wiz trait? His powers didn’t seem to like those either.

<It doesn’t matter… this boy won’t survive. But I’ll make sure you live on, just for a little more,> Chad thought as he pushed and pinned the wrist under his foot. His hands searched into the jacket until he found the boy’s phone. Standard thievery habit.

Then, for the next step, he tapped the boy’s cheek to make sure he was facing him as he unhooked the hologram projector from his belt. <Now, to complete the ensemble.> he thought as he adjusted the settings, discarding the saved template and shooting the scanning lasers against the boy’s body. The process appeared to carry within itself a certain degree of burning for the victim, not that Cad cared. In the end the scan was completed and he was trying out his new form.

Backing away, he looked back at TideStriker being stared back with hatred in the boy’s eyes. Not that it had any meaning for Chad. <You and your friends are probably not going to make it. They’re going to be taken out by your own hand.> And to emphasize, he dipped his hand into the open faucet to try to get himself familiarized with the stolen powers.

Having never had a sort of elemental kinesis, it was certainly surprising to feel a strange connection with the water as it made contact with his skin. A connection he felt he could enforce and control. And just like that, the liquid dragged itself around his hand with a weightless feel about it… and yet in his lack of concentration, he could see the form dripping from the side.

<This’ll be tricky… but I’m sure I can master it.> He thought before looking at the bloodied stomach the hologram projected. Putting his dry hand there, he simulated stumbling into the room half injured for a couple of steps before he felt he nailed it.

He was a copy of TideStriker, a perfect impostor. Especially true with the silence field, sparing him the need to use his own voice, the only thing the projector didn’t copy. He would step in, get close and then off the other three kids, solving their problem.

A couple more steps and he was out of the bathroom, giving out a slight bow before the door closed. He knew TideStriker might not last long with that wound on his stomach, so he might as well count him out.

From there, Chad made his way over to the lobby where the other kids were. Keeping himself on edge, knowing that with no sound, he had a chance of being taken by surprise… Which happened to be unfounded as, when he turned around the corner, he found the entrance to the lobby sealed.

<Hm… well, what to do now…> Chad wondered. There was a buzzing in his pocket. His phone.

[Chad? You there?] It was Ruben.

[Here. Waving at camera.] He then did so, waving his hand around to get picked up at the end of the hallway. [I’m undercover.]

[What happened to the boy?] Ruben texted.

[What do you think? I got surprised. I improvised.] His thoughts weren’t exactly regretful.

[Fine. It’s up to you] Ruben answered.

[What happened?] Chad asked.

[Call came in. Bypassed the jammer. Forced a shutdown.]

<Figures.> Chad thought before writing. [What now?]

[The system rebooted. We’re accelerating things. Syndicate may suspect, have to get moving.]

[We offing the kids?]

[We’re getting rid of them, how is up to you. I only care about the haul.] Ruben said before adding a message right after [CRAP!]

[What?] Chad scoffed as he threw the water down the ground, feeling his control starting to become strenuous and just tired of typing with one hand.

[Running on backup power. You need to restart the generator. Or we won’t be able to open the hangar doors.] Ruben said before adding a second later. [Go downstairs and reactivate the power. Then rig the base to explode. Then you come back and deal with the rest.]

<Oh good,> Chad thought to himself after giving his answer. He then turned around and made his way back to the way he came from, taking an annexed door before the intersection for the stairwell, luckily finding the door unlocked.

Saturday, December 24th - 7:42pm
Silent Mountain Base - Level 1 - Lounge - Raffina

The world suddenly plunged into silence was disconcerting for the remaining Syndicate initiates: Josh, Root and Raffina. Suddenly feeling their mouths move but no sounds coming out made them think that they’d each gone deaf rather than it being the general consensus… Fortunately, picking up on the confusion of the other two quickly pointed them out to the obvious answer.

Josh stepped forth, being the first one to try to pantomime a message. At the start, things were clear when he pointed over to the PA system and then upwards towards the second floor, but the pantomime quickly became so complicated that the rest just quit on trying to take a guess.

Thinking of a more expedient option, Raffina pulled out her phone and typed in on an open notepad:

[What’s happening?]

By that point, Root and Josh were already typing their own messages on their phones.

[Seems like an alarm is going off.] Was Root’s message.

While Josh’s answer was: [They activated the base’s silence machine.]

[No shit!] Raffina answered, holding up the phone to Josh to emphasize, making Root step in between.

And it was then that Josh realized that he needed to check on Vic. He turned around, taking a couple of steps only to stop, seeing that the southern access was now closed by a sliding door. ‘When did it close?’ was the question in the mind of everyone as they realized how much they relied on their sense of hearing.

He quickly turned around and typed in. [Vic is locked outside!]

[Good, maybe he can help.] Raffina answered.

[I’m worried we locked in] Root noted.

[What does coal say?] Josh showed Root, much to Raffina’s annoyance as she tried to see the message as well.

Root saw the message and wrote. [Herd noting.] And then he added. [Sent messages… not received.]

[I knew something was off!. I’m more worried about Leslie. That lightning guy took her and we haven’t seen them for over an hour,] Raffina said, typing her messages with surprising speed.

[I know, something seems wron. Tis looks like a lockdon.]

[Seas lick it…] Root cursed before going back to amend the typo [Seems like it! *autocorrect*]

[What we do?] Raffina showed the message to Root and Josh who were already each trying to put their plans in text. And the girl just couldn’t keep it together, going back to erase and retype her message faster than the other two guys. [This sucks! There’s no internet! We can’t groupchat!]

Her eyes impatiently turned towards the northward door, going back to both Root and Josh as they thought, typed, erased and retyped their plans.

<This is taking too long!> Raffina thought as she typed into her notepad and brashly showing her message onto the two. [I’m going out to check what’s going on!]

Both of them answered with a confused look as they glanced between the door and her message. There was no need for mind-reading to tell that they were just asking ‘How she was going to do that?’

<Over here!> Raffina gestured towards the center of the room as she dragged one of the tables along the way. Currently, with how things were, the only stable lights happened to be located just above the doors, with the strobing lights being located in the walls. Even then, dyed lights were much weaker than pure ones, her inner sense told her so. She could do a quick demonstration

Raffina held out her right hand, showing everyone her skin change, becoming darker into the dark blue-ish hue they saw yesterday… with magical markings making themselves present around her wrist, pulsating in subdued gold lines until settled down. Dregs of black energy clung to her skin and, with a twitch of her fingers, her fingernails morphed into short claws.

Placing it on the table and with a little bit of focus, darkness began to pool around her touch, in both liquid and mist-like form. And with a simple thrust, her hand disappeared as her elbow grew close to the surface.

Both Root and Josh stared at the trick, crouching to see that Raffina’s hand had gone through the table.

She pulled it out just as the pool of darkness receded, leaving the surface just as they found it. Not really wanting to waste the battery of her own, she snatched Josh’s phone, despite his objections. Turning on the flashlight function, she pointed it to the table’s surface,

Under the light, Raffina tried to repeat the process, pressing her hand against the table but no pool of darkness appeared to let her through, even as she pretended to put some effort into the action.

<That should be good enough of an explanation.> She thought as she passed the phone back.

Both Root and Josh exchanged looks. And when Raffina pointed at the north door that was under the red light of the alarm, they glanced down at the table as the same idea sprung in both their heads. The two grabbed it and quickly moved towards the door. She just smirked, relieved that they wouldn’t delay in this any longer.

<I will go upstairs. Figure out what’s happening. Find Leslie… even find Vic, and get this sorted out by myself. If there is foul play. I’m sure I’ll let my father know> Raffina thought to herself as she took off her boots and socks, calling forth the change.

Her body followed the same pattern as her arm. Skin changed color, claws grew in, her teeth became sharper and her eyes dark with her pupils flashing in a blue hue that easily got lost in the darkness and yet glowed easily if she wanted. She shifted her stance as her tail grew out, fortunately, snaking its way through the concealed tailhole in her pants. And unlike yesterday where she held herself back just to not break her footwear, she allowed her stance to fully shift, forcing her to stand on the ball of her feet as her toes grew longer and stronger, feeling the spring potential in her step.

Josh and Root moved the desk against the door before lifting it as high as they could so as to cover the light, giving her a threshold of shadows she could use. It wasn’t pitch darkness, but it was clear from direct exposure, which was all she needed.

[I’ll search around. You two wait here.] Was the last message she showed them before tucking the phone away in her pocket. While having company would make things easier, it would also slow her down… not to mention that both of them admitted that they needed their holdouts.

She moved up to the door’s surface and pressed her hand, feeling the dark energy and her mana mixing together until the black spot spread under her touch. From there, all she did was slip in through the black and find herself practically shoved out of the other side.

<Figures.> she thought looking over her shoulder. There was another red light that shone directly over the door, having completely banished the portal as soon as she came through.

<If the light is on the other side of the portal… depending on the potency, either I can’t open the gap… or the thing will push me through so it can close. At least the latter happened… even if that means this was a one way trip…> She thought to herself.

She took a quick stock of the situation. Having not used her mana in the past couple of days, she was at full reserve, ready to use any of the innate spells she had. Additionally, the entire base appeared to be in emergency mode. The lights were tinted and flashing intermittently, meaning that she would have an easier time casting and opening her escape route.

Raffina took a deep breath. Her heart drumming longing for the thrill, she set off down the corridor with hastened steps. This was going to be much more exciting than prowling across the rooftops in Portland.

To Be Continued