Spectrum #20: Fear, Part 4

Thanks for everyone who were patient enough to see me write 20 chapters of this.

Chapter 20: Fear, Part 4

Maria and Sam were ducking in and out of alleyways to avoid the sudden insurgence of monsters, as she wasn't sure she could take them on by herself with such massive amounts. She pressed her back against the corner of a wall, Sam mimicking her somewhat but more panicked as she peered around the corner, finding a Riftfallen rat the size of a dog looking around for food. She turned to the kid, putting her finger over her lips in a silent way of her usual telling him to shut the fuck up. He nodded as Maria quietly drew her blade.

She walked quietly, trying to avoid a fairly large pool of water formed by the recent rain dripping from a leaky gutter of an apartment. She spun the blade around in her hand, stabbing it in the back of the head with little fuss in one swift movement. She pulled her blade and lightly wiping it off on her sleeve. “Okay, we're good.” Maria said loudly enough so that Sam could hear. He came walking out behind the corner as Maria leaned up against one of the walls.

“How much farther is the shelter, anyway?” The kid complained, Maria tapping the interface to check a GPS mapped area of where they currently are. “It's about a mile, but since we've been dipping back and fourth like dumb asses I suspect we've been walking twice as much as that.” Maria answered, lightly scrolling back and forth to figure out the route. “You know you just called yourself a dumb ass, right?” He mentioned, Maria looking up as her eyes widened. “Holy shit, you're right.” She realized, before leaning down and pressing another button.

“HQ, Any word on Lily's condition?” Maria asked, one of the intel staff responded quickly in side of Cpt. Geralt's scanning room. “She was extracted and is currently in serious condition as of 3:47PM.” He replied, Maria sighing and turning off the broadcast for now. “Well... damn.” Maria muttered, checking the map one last time. “Unfortunately we have no choice but to head down the street. It's another 1000 feet until the shelter, but we're completely shot when it comes down to dipping through back roads unless you want to go rummaging through peoples houses as a shortcut.” Maria explained.

The kid scratched his chin and adjusted his baseball cap for his favorite professional wrestler. “And what's wrong with going through peoples houses?” Maria turned around, glaring at him with a wide eyed glare. “...Have you EVER GONE TO SCHOOL!? No one likes it when you break in to their house, kid.” Maria complained, bending down to get eye level with him.. which was only a couple of inches.

“Uhh... Fine. So why were we not on the road again?” He asked her, She walked around a dumpster and looked around the other side.. And it was currently packed with Riftfallen... While she could spend time counting all of them, that would be both 1; A massive waste of time. And 2; kind of keeping her from actually doing her job. “Well I was going to say 'so we don't get turned into paste on the road,' but we have no choice but to make a b-line for the shelter.” Maria replied, the kid peering around the corner as well and realizing that there was at least a couple dozen Riftfallen between them and where they're supposed to go.

“Are you out of your mind!? Why can't we just call in a helicopter?!” Sam complained to her but Maria sighed and turned to him once again. “Extraction points are for large groups of people to remove them as efficiently as possible, they aren't going to pick up a single Spectrum member and snot nosed kid... It isn't a taxi service.” Maria scolded, the kid sighing and looking at the floor. “So... Are we screwed?” He asked her out of the sense of fear that was washing over him. Maria growled and looked back around the corner at the Riftfallen.
“No.” Maria stated, slowly lifting her wrist up to her face to speak into it. “What do you mean?” He asked, Maria hitting another button to open her communicator. “All members of Solstice and all remaining members of Equinox... I need you guys here right damn now.” Maria spoke, before continuing. “Hell, EVERYONE IN THE VICINITY. There is a large mount of Riftfallen approaching the evacuation site and I need as many people as possible to help me cut a swath through them.” She announced, looking back at the kid before glancing up at the dumpster he was standing next to.

“This isn't an order, but if you don't want me to do my best ground beef impression, I suggest you help me the fuck out.” She finished, waiting for a reply. “You got it, Roth.” Erika replied, followed by Robin. “Me and Florence are going t-” She was cut off by her little brother yelling over her. “WE'RE GONNA SAVE YOU!” He shouted, Robin then sighing out of frustration. “I'll wake Caleb and we'll get there soon enough.” Jonah answered, before Maria turned to the kid and flipped open one of the doors to the dumpster.

“Get in.” Maria demanded, the kid looking at her like she is out of her damn mind. “...Why?” The kid asked, not sure he could come up with an insult for her from how out of nowhere this was. “I'm going to be fighting a bunch of shit that's going to murder you if you're ANYWHERE NEAR the action. You're gonna hide in here and only come out when either me or someone else says you can.” Maria explained, the kid still frowning a bit. “Are you sure?” He asked, Maria started to glare at him with annoyance. “Just get your scrawny ass in the dumpster already.” She snapped at him, he sighed and climbed into the dumpster which was luckily empty, though still quite putrid.

“Are you sure this is the only way I can be safe?” He asked, looking at the ground a bit and lightly stomping his foot. It was made of steel and gave a loud ringing sound. “Yeah, I'm pretty sure.” Maria said with some confidence, but he looked up at her with confusion once again. “So what are you going to go do?” He asked, not entirely sure of what hiding in a dumpster is supposed to help with. Maria reached up to grab the lid and look down at him. “Duck your head.” She stared, he was about to ask why, when suddenly he realized he should probably duck. Maria slamming the door shut on top of him and leaving him in complete darkness.

“Have fun in the dumpster, kid! I have to go stab some shit.” Maria said before walking into the street and visually counting all the monsters she saw in her head. While her combat training actually did help her fight the damn things, she wasn't sure how many she could actually take at once. She needs to think of something to make them come in waves so she can deal with them instead of being surrounded on all sides. She looked around her surroundings and found a rusted iron pipe resting on the side of the sidewalk near where some of the rain drains into the waterways beneath the streets. She grabs it and slowly walks away to a near by lamp post, lightly banging it and slowly getting louder.

This was her seeing how loud she could make the sound and lure some of the pack of creatures away by making the ones farther back or with worse hearing miss the sound. Four or five wolves perk their head and ears up and slowly come padding toward her, teeth bared as she grinned at them. “Come on, fuckers. It's playtime...” She said, trying to goad them closer to her as her other hand kept her sword pointed at them.

“A little more...” She said, banging a bit harder as one came lunging at her with a leap so high she was forced to look upward. She swiftly swung the pile and it smashed into it's head hard enough to kill it. “By the way, I hate dogs.” She said, drawing both her swords and launching herself as the small pack of beasts charged her all at once.

Jonah and Caleb were sitting outside of the shelter, he just got Maria's distress call and looked down at Caleb. Who was sitting up against the wall of the building, hugging his knees as he was taking a quick nap before the helicopter would have arrive to extract him and the rest of his team. “Uhh.. Caleb?” Jonah quietly said, bending his knees and looking at Caleb to see if he would notice him.

Caleb instantly planted his hands on the ground and jumped straight up onto his feet. “Yeah?” He asked, Jonah being shocked by his sudden awakening enough for him to shout and fall on his back. “AHH!” He shouted, Caleb crossing his hands and shaking his head. “What? I'm a light sleeper.” Caleb remarked, Jonah standing up and dusting off his shirt and pants. “Give a guy a fair warning first, jeeze...” He complained, but Caleb lightly patted him on the shoulder.

“Well, partner. Why wake me up?” He asked, Crossing his arms and looking around as he saw team Solstice currently looking at the both of them. “Maria needs help, we're going to give her a hand.” Jonah answered, Caleb scratching his head. “Did she sprain her ankle?” He wondered, completely confused as he barely saw a monster on his way there. Morgan walked up, patting her finger-less gloved hand on Jonahs shoulder as she walked up next to him. “Nah, it's a shit load of monsters. Let's go and kill stuff.” Morgan spoke flatly, with a slight grin. Caleb grinned as well and pumped his fist in response.

“Alright, let's move!” He shouted, Jonah drawing his sword and raising his shield as he broke out into a light run along with the 5 other rookie students. Caleb taking the lead with Morgan, Jonah following just behind with Erika, Florence and Robin. “Do you see them!?” Erika shouted, Morgan squinting a bit and seeing the big pile of monsters congregating just on the horizon. “Got an eye on them, T-minus one minute!” She shouted, drawing her huge sword from it's sheathe strapped to her back, holding it in both of her hands to one side as she ran.

They blitzed to Maria, when they got close enough they noticed that she was in the middle of the frey, slashing defensively at whatever attacks her, even if there was a massive amount of wolves surrounding her on all sides, she was putting all of her effort into dodging and just trying to slowly whittle the pack down, even if they were faster than her. One of them launched up and sliced at her, with Maria promptly dodging to one side and slashing it so it shot a geyser of black colored blood onto her visage.

Another minute later, Morgan charged pulse into her legs and launched herself over the entire pack of monsters to crash land on one just about to attack Maria, she pulled her blade out and slashed through a wave of small nearby wolves. “The cavalry has arrived!” Morgan shouted, turning her back to Maria to watch her flank. Maria panting a bit as she was starting to run out of gas. “Took you guys long enough, dick bags.” Maria complained, Leaping up and slashing a monster, though getting slashed across the chest hard enough to slice slightly into her armor.

“We like to make it dramatic.” Morgan replied, launching herself forward and clearing another swath of monsters with her claymore. Caleb's mace surrounded itself with fire as he dashed in shield first, swinging it and causing a massive fireball to blast and burn the small wolves to a cinder several yards away. “Only small fries? What a let down.” He commented, smashing one upside the head with a squelching ping sound, sending it flying as he blocked another one's attack just to parry it into Maria's abrupt stabbing. “Hey, it's one on like.. fifty!” She complained, at him as well, he just chuckled a bit as he continued to attack the Riftfallen left and right, clearly taking the most out for himself. “Well, I just wanted to point out that these were all juniors.”

He joked, before one caught him off guard, pouncing him to the ground and snarling at his face. Maria booted him off quickly and looked down at him with disdain. “Yeah... Whatever.” She remarked with a sigh, spinning and slashing another two approaching her. The battle continued on as they fought the huge pack off. Normally this would be much more difficult but luckily enough this hasn't developed into the usual powerful force packs these big normally become. After about 20 minutes of straight combat, all of them were wiped out, a blood soaked Maria lightly panting and slowly sheathing her blood caked swords back into the scabbards.

“Fuck... I didn't think we'd ever run out of them.” She sighed, Caleb putting his mace back into his holster as he walked up to her. Maria leaning down to put her hands on her knees and pant heavily. “Be glad this only took a while.” He commented, oddly more serious than he normally acts. Maria stood up and shook her head a bit. “What do you mean by that?” She asked, he just glared at her. “Don't act like what we just did is what all Spectrum fights... These guys were bottom of the barrel and I don't think any of you should feel confident.” He answered, Maria looking at the floor before scoffing a bit. “What a load.” She complained, but he shook his head at her and pointed the finger.

“The largest Riftfallen ever recorded was over 125 feet and required over 20 different teams to properly take down.” He answered, Maria's eyes opened wide at that, her arms slacking as she looked nearly shocked. “How the fuck do you fight that!?” She yelled, but he looked away for a second, before looking back at her and placing a hand on his hip. “Really damn carefully.” He answered, before cracking his knuckles and taking a stretch. Maria felt her confidence deflate a bit.. even if this was a big group of wolves... These were small fries? What did she even get herself into?

Then she realized she stuffed a kid into a dumpster nearly half an hour ago. “Shit.” She muttered to herself, dashing over the strewn bodies of the wolves slowly turning into smoke around her and making it into the back alleyway. Propping the lid up and looking at the kid as he squinted to adjust to the brightness of the light of the world after being put in a dank box for 30 minutes straight.

He looked at Maria, her face, arms, jacket and red scarf all drenched in a deep black, oil like blood. “What the hell happened to you?” He asked her, climbing out and lightly trying to get the circulation back into his tired legs from just sitting there for so long, something an active kid his age doesn't normally do. “I didn't think Riftfallen bled that much...” She answered, Closing the lid and crossing her arms as he looked around the corner. “Is it safe?” He asked, noticing all the slain monsters and 6 other Spectrum members sitting just beside them for a short rest.

“No shit it's safe, now lets get you to your mom already.” She said, patting him on the shoulder and bringing him out to the rest of the Spectrum members. “Who's the kid?” Morgan asked, looking at the ten year old kid walking next to Maria. “I uhh.. rescued him, kinda.” She kind of shrugged off that part, the kid looking up at her a bit as Morgan sighed. “Uhh... You know that KLP were probably going to rescue him, right?” She mentioned, Maria casually lifting her middle finger up at her.

“...Well the mother wanted me to go get him.” She mentioned, looking away from Morgan since she was feeling kind of stupid. “His dad died.” She added at the end of that, Morgan frowned a little and patted him on the shoulder. “Well... Shit.” Morgan sputtered out, looking down at him and lightly pushing him so they could walk to the shelter. “I'm sorry kid, losing a parent is always hard.” She said, walking with him, but the kid glared up at her somewhat. “I lost my parents before I was even 4 years old.” She answered, the kid's leer turned into a frown as the rest of the team quietly walked back to the helipad near the shelter where people were filtering in to be extracted. They walked beside Sienna and Ashley, who were awaiting their respective teams.
Sienna walked up to Maria and grabbed her in a tight hug, Maria struggling in her arms but realizing that she was too tired to break free, sighed and just lightly hugged her back instead. “I heard about what happened, Sis.” Sienna said, giving her a squeeze before letting go, Maria promptly taking a step back to avoid another hug. “Heh... I'm fine.” Maria replied with a light chuckle, rubbing the back of her head as Sienna inspected her thoroughly. “I don't think I've ever seen someone covered in so much blood.” Sienna commented, Maria was drenched in so much Riftfallen blood that the black pools predominantly coated her milky colored skin, it stained her hair, her scarf, her gloves, her boots and her jacket all at once.

“I kind of.. went overkill.” She responded, not really using any discretion about how messy the fight could get. “...Just promise me you'll shower after this.” Sienna demanded, Maria glaring up at her and huffing just a bit. “What are you, my mom?” Maria stated sardonically, Sienna breaking out into a chuckle at that as she pat her once again on her shoulder. “Even worse than a mother, you're my little Mary-Wary-kins.” She said, the last bit in a sarcastic sing-song tone to embarrass her just a bit.

“If you ever say that again, I'll bend your fingers so far back you'll be praising me for being able to itch your own damn forearms.” Maria growled out, but Sienna just chuckled again at her. “Sounds fun, Maria.” She shrugged the entire threat as a joke, as the helicopter descended in front of them both. “Look... You did great, Maria. I'm proud of you.” Sienna stated, placing her hands on Maria's shoulders and looking at her straight in her eyes. Maria just quietly looking back at her with no malice, but not sure what to say either.

“Keep up the good work, sis.” She said, before climbing back into the helicopter. Maria looked at the floor and crossed her arms over her own chest. “Thanks... I guess.” She muttered, before looking up at both teams Equinox and Solstice, standing just behind her. “Hell of a night, huh Roth?” Caleb said with a smile. Maria turned to him and quietly walked past him. “You could say that.” She answered, walking farther away from him. He turned around and raised his voice as her as she walked away. “Uhh... Where are you going?” He asked her, Maria turned back to him with a calm face as she stuffed her hands into her pockets. “Just need to check on something.” She responded, walking along the sidewal k and turning to the shelter.

She walked up the concrete steps and lightly pushed the blast proof glass doors aside. Slowly walking along the polished wood floor as she saw the near hundreds amount of evacuee's sitting in chairs awaiting their numbers to be drawn so they could go to a safer area via helicopter. She quietly looked around, scanning across the room until she found Sam, who was currently hugging her mother, face right in her stomach. She looked at the floor silently, getting ready to turn around when Gale once again showed up on her shoulder.

“Maria, You worked your butt off to help him... You could at least say hello.” He mentioned, Maria sighed and lightly began to walk toward them. “Fine, but it's gonna be awkward as shit.” She muttered, slowly walking up in front of the mother as she looked away from her kid and gently released her son. “Oh...You're the girl who went after my son.” She mentioned, the kid turning to her and smiling. “There's the girl that taught me all those new words!” He shouted, the mother slapping Maria in the face very firmly.

“What the hell!?” Maria shouted at her, the mother frowning at her indignantly. “That's for cursing in front of my child!” She claimed, before her expression softened and she looked up at Maria, who was currently rubbing her cheek in a bit of pain from the sudden slapping. “Thank you for bringing him back to me.” She said with a somber voice.

Maria frowned a little, reaching up to rub her arm as she tried to speak softly... But seriously, that slap to the face annoyed the shit out of her. “I'm sorry about your husband.” Maria muttered somewhat nervous to the mother's reaction. The mother frowned and wiped a hint of a tear that was forming in her eye. “If what Sam said was true... He died trying to protect him.” She replied, Looking down at Sam as he fiddled with his baseball cap.

“That's something only a father could do... Give up his life so no one could touch a hair on his son's head. I couldn't be mad at anyone, even if I will mourn him dearly...” She said, sighing a bit as she gently rubbed her son's shoulders. “I know... I just wanted to apologize I couldn't do more.” Maria closed her eyes, turning away before she started feeling any more emotions... She wasn't a big fan of getting sappy around other people. “Wait!” She shouted at Maria, making her stop in her tracks and turn her shoulder back to look at them.

“What's your name?” She asked suddenly, looking at her somewhat nervously. “I just want to know the name of the person who brought my son back.” She explained, Maria sighing and lightly raising her hand up to wave at them both. “The name's Maria Roth.” Maria answered, before spinning on a heel and beginning to walk away backwards from them and pointing an accusatory finger. “And you two better take care of yourselves, because I'll be annoyed as shit if I have to rescue you again!” She added to try and save some face before heading to the helicopter and returning back to her academy.

Spectrum #17: Fear, Part 1

This chapter is gonna be a long one.

Chapter 17: Fear, Part 1

Morgan was sitting in the lavish office of the head chancellor of Spectrum, Warner Steele. The walls were decorated with many bookshelves, off behind him were pictures of the degree's he's achieved, along with a picture of him shaking the hands of Spectrum members from various different years Morgan could guess, as each one he looked slightly older from the left to right along the walls. A ticking grandfather clock breaking the silence as Morgan sat there, awaiting the answer to her request.

He was in his late 40's, his jaw was broad and sharp as gray began to speckle his full beard and his parted and slicked hair. His face had some signs of aging as well, wrinkles on his forehead and eyes, laugh lines on his cheeks. He was wearing a fancy blue pilot jacket with cuffed sleeves and black pants, his jacket pinned with various awards and epaulets he's received. He leaned up, crossing his fingers together and holding his mouth over his hands as they rested on the table.

“Unfortunately, Ms. Leland. I'm not exactly sure I could fulfill your request.” He replied, his voice somewhat stern but of a higher tenor. Morgan frowned at that, crossing her arms and looking at the floor. “What the hell do you mean by that, Chancellor Steele?” She spoke frustrated at him, he frowned just a bit at her. “While Spectrum will cooperate with authorities with investigations, we have to abide by the laws and rules of Riverside and Rosewall no matter what we do.” He tried to rationalize to Morgan, who was clearly distraught by the situation. “We can't play favorites just because you have a personal stake in this.” He continued, Morgan standing up and placing her hands on his desk hard enough to knock over his little nameplate.

“So you're just going to treat him like everyone else in Silent Fall? He's forced into committing acts of violence because he's afraid to die. And yet you act like this is okay and he's just another criminal you can lock up forever, or even worse... Kill them in a raid?!” She complained, He looked at her with a silent stare. “Unfortunately Morgan, this is where the rules of the world kick in.” He said, standing up from his desk readjusting his nameplate and quietly tucking his chair back so he could step off to the side and address her face to face.

“Everyone gets a choice. Be it a member of Spectrum, a doctor, a lawyer, or a drug dealer on the street... Everything you do is a decision you must make. If you do not understand what you're getting into it is entirely your fault for lacking proper foresight and decision making skills. Your brother made his choice but could not comprehend the ramifications of his own actions.” He spoke, pacing the floor silently for a second before turning back to face the frustrated young adult.

“He backed himself into a corner because he couldn't understand to read the warning signs and turn back to the life of a normal citizen. This decision is entirely his mistake, a misjudgment that can be pretty common of people your age when you lack proper guidance.” He added, Morgan frowning and looking at the floor as he continued his extremely long explanation. “This is why we've chosen to allow people to join Spectrum, Spectrum is a safe environment for teenagers to grow up and receive training and wisdom in a professional condition, an alternative to a society of peer pressure and outside influences to do learn how to preform the most noble and just job imaginable... Protecting society itself from collapse.” He kept talking, Lightly pulling out a drawer and popping open a document as he quietly began to read it.

“Unfortunately, my job is only keeping people on the wagon. If they've fallen off that wagon then it's no longer our job to save him. Everyone who goes against the tides of justice will be washed ashore and dealt with.” He finished, pulling out a paper and placing it on his desk to sort.
“Silent Fall as of the past couple of years are getting more and more out of hand as they attack and murder indiscriminate lives, along with stealing and sell illegally procured goods. They are directly opposing the ideals we've built this society on by using fear and violence to get a means to an end.” He explained to Morgan as she sat back down in her chair, lightly rubbing one of her own shoulders as she listened.

“Then what the hell do I do?” She asked him, sounding desperate as she placed her hands onto the arms of the chair to lean forward. “Silent Fall is a threat to humanity, and as with all threats I will be sending our best people to go investigate and rid of it to the furthest extent of our ability.” He answered, folding his arms as he inspected some pictures left on the table relating to the document. Morgan noticed they were blurry, and she couldn't tell exactly what they were unless she got up close.

“The wheels of justice will turn and strike down those who defy it's rotation, it will be swift and painful for anyone who decide to face it head on. As for your brother, if he is a good man like you say he is, he will understand this fact and make the right decision.” He added, sliding the pictures into the folder and placing it in a cabinet underneath his desk as Morgan frowned at him. “So you're just going to let them do this to him?” She said, gritting her teeth a bit out of anger from his words.

“We are sending our best guys on this case. Everyone who doesn't give themselves up will be forced to comply, or wiped out, if need be. If your brother is smart, he'd quickly surrender and just let the courts process him for a swift trial, he might get out early on good behavior.” He said, clasping his hands together and leaning back in his chair as he placed it on his lap.

“This is bullshit.” Morgan hissed at him, standing up and leaning slightly over the desk to stare over at him. “He never wanted it to get this bad and you won't even give him a hand? You're pretty much giving him capital punishment. If you aren't going to help him, I'm going to find a way my damn self!” She leered at him as he leaned up to glare back at her with his sharp blue eyes. “No one dies on my watch unless they choose it. If he were a man, he'd cooperate.” He stated, Morgan still glaring at him without a response.

“If you want my honest suggestion... Recuse yourself from anything related to this. Just focus on your job and let everything take it's course. I promise you that this will be properly settled in time, so please don't put yourself or your brother in any more danger than you both currently are.” He warned, Morgan slamming her hand on his desk before turning around and walking to the door. “You don't get it.” She growled, But he just shook his head and sighed. “Take care of yourself, Leland.” He replied, as she slammed the door behind her to meet the concerned look of Erika who was currently standing in the hallway just in front of the door.

“Anything?” She quietly asked, Morgan shaking her head and smashing her fist firmly against a wall. “He just doesn't fucking get it... He won't do anything to pull Nick out. He's just... going to treat him like the rest of those criminals.” She complained, Erika lightly reaching up and placing a hand onto her shoulder. “Well that's chancellor Steele for you.. He has stick up his ass.” Sienna stated behind both of their shoulders. Morgan turned and looked at her as she had her blade hilted on her belt. “How long were you here?” Morgan asked, but Erika responded. “She was here since five minutes ago. I explained a bunch of stuff really briefly to her.” She said, Sienna nodded and walked up to place her own hand on the slightly taller girl's shoulder.

“This is some dangerous waters you're getting yourself into... Please keep in mind how dangerous this entire thing could potentially be.” Sienna warned out of concern, but Morgan just frowned and sighed.
Suddenly, a female voice over the intercom system placed throughout each building on campus ringed out, interrupting the conversation. “Teams Solstice, Equinox, and KLP report to building 1-A for an assignment.” It announced, Erika and Morgan staring at each other out of surprise. “Look like our number is up.” Sienna claimed, patting them both once and walking by between them. “Grab your weapons and meet me at 1-A.” She requested, as they both headed back to their dorm to grab their gear.

Minutes later, they grabbed their equipment and headed out of the main office building to a larger building on the right for equipment and deployment. The walls were much taller with a huge back plot used for helicopters, Erika and Morgan both climbed up the twisting staircase to the second floor where there was a huge room, surrounding the walls were many people in official looking black uniforms typing on computers and chattering about something not loud enough to be heard.

In the center stood a man wearing a white beret and coat, he had long brown hair in a braided ponytail and was looking over the 10 people standing together shoulder to shoulder. These people were the remaining members of Solstice, Equinox and this team she was unfamiliar with... team KLP. They were all wearing combat gear, currently black padded armor that looked somewhat similar to the kind of equipment you'd see on a motorcycle driver or a mercenary. Maria was still fiddling with the straps to adjust them to be comfy on her since they were much more formfitting than her usual outfit.

Morgan decided not to approach just yet, inspecting the four members of team KLP. The first one was an average Astrian girl with long curly white hair and pink colored eyes in her twenties, she assumed this was Maria's friend Cassandra. On the Astrian's side was a rapier strapped to her belt with a basket grip to guard the hand. Next to him was a tall but younger looking male in his late teens, half of his hair was dyed blue and the other half was his natural light brown color... To be honest, it looked kind of stupid. He was currently practicing with a single pair of nunchuks, spikes attached to the end of each one to make actually piercing the Riftfallen's flesh a bit easier to do.

Beside him was a tall girl with jet black hair shoulder length hair and blood red eyes, a symptom of Ash Syndrome. She was calmly polishing a blade that looked like it would be gripped in her hand like a pair of gauntlets, her lips and eyes looked like they were colored with somewhat goth styled makeup. The final guy had black hair pulled into tight braids and a darker completion. He was using a simple sword and shield combo with the shield wrapped to his back.

Morgan sighed and approached the big group of people. “What's up?” She asked the entire group without directing the question at anyone in particular. The dark skinned man smiled at her and lightly waved at her. “Hey there, you part of Solstice?” He asked with a friendly sounding voice, Morgan nodded and walked past him to get in line with Florence and Robin. “Yep, and now I'm here.” She responded, the man reached out at her and smiled as he offered to shake his gloved hand. “Hey! I'm Rodney. It's a pleasure.” He greeted, Morgan looked down at his hand and quietly accepted with a smile. “Name's Morgan, good to meet you Rodney.”

He lightly chuckled as the man presiding over the large group of twelve cleared his throat, trying to gather everyone's attention. “I would like to make this brief. This is an emergency mission and must be treated as such, every second is precious.” He spoke with a commanding voice. “I am captain Gerald Marcel, I preside over the students at the Riverside's Spectrum division.” He introduced himself very quickly, folding his arms as he paced the students. “We are currently under attack by a massive amount of creatures that were detected on our lidar riftfallen detection system.” He explained, before pausing and turning to face them as he spoke. “We do not like to send more students than what is absolutely necessary to deal with the problem. Anything more is excessive.”
He looked behind his shoulder and looked at the map of the city, small blips pinging on it every couple of seconds as a technician was talking on a radio to one of the teams. “We have sent a team to cover each area, but it turns out that we don't have don't have a team to cover the now saturated Riverside Central Mall, and we need a team there to defeat them. This is the purpose for team KLP.” He revealed, Maria looking over to team KLP with some confusion. “Please don't tell me KLP means what I think it means.” She worried.

Rodney sighed and looked away from her from embarrassment. “It's uhh... Key Lime Pie.” He admitted as teams Solstice and Equinox both start giggling except for Maria, who was quietly burying her face into her own hands. “Oh my god...” She muttered from exasperation from this revelation. “Please tell me you're fucking with me.” She requested, but Rodney just shook his head and chuckled. “No... And our sister team is Lemon Meringue.” Maria took that even worse, clawing into her own hair and groaning from the sheer pain of the stupid running through this room.

“Yeah... We don't get to pick our names.” He commented before the commander shouted at their muttering. “SILENCE, YOU TWO!” He shouted, both of them jumping to stare back at him and quickly quell their pointless jokes about food. He cleared his throat and crossed his arms behind his back as he spoke. “You other two will be sent to the same area, but as your team is much less experienced... and much more chatty.” He added in the next comment directly toward Maria with a quick glare. “You will be running evacuation. You will gather the people escaping the mall and rout them to the nearest local shelter, currently sitting on the corner of Market St. and Summer Ave, this location is roughly a mile away, any questions?” He finished, Morgan raising a hand at that as she slipped on her combat armor placed on a nearby table. “Why do we need to run extraction?” She asked, he pointed at her and nodded his head.

“Because we might be attacked by more Riftfallen and if these barely armed civilians get harmed then this entire thing is pointless.” He explained, as Maria folded her arms and shook her head gently. “Great, cannon fodder.” She muttered just quiet enough for Gerald couldn't hear her complain. “The armor you are wearing is made of a fabric which resists impact by hardening at the moment of impact. It also prevents piercing... But it's weak against crushing pressure so keep in mind that you shouldn't be pinned down under any circumstance.” He warned, Maria inspecting the communicator strapped to her wrist which was like a bigger, bulkier version of a watch.

“That reminds me, each of you have a communicator that has several settings depending on what button you press. One is to contact HQ, the next is to contact your team members, and the last one will contact anyone in the immediate area who also has a communicator. This also uses the same vital tracking technology that you've seen in your survival tests, and if you get too wounded we'll send in medical assistance as fast as we can possibly arrive.” He added, everyone standing shoulder to shoulder. “That should be everything, Best of luck to all of you. Please head behind this building to the helipad and await further orders.” He finished, walking over to the computers to help the information and HQ for the rest of the teams.

Everyone else quietly left the room, heading down the stairs and out of the building before walking around to the back. There were 8 helicopter landing zones painted out, and none were landed on just yet. They heard the chopping sound of one or two helicopters in the distance as the flashing lights indicating they were a mile or so away in the evening sky. “Are you nervous, Maria?” Asked Cassandra, after noticing her eyes were scanning her feet as she walked onto the huge concrete helipads.

“I didn't think I'd get here, that's all.” She tried to shrug off, but Cassandra yanked her into a firm hug as she looked down at the shorter redhead. “I believe in you, Maria... Let's go kick some ass.” She reassured her with a smile, Maria blinking a couple of times for a beat before replying. “...Can you believe in me while not touching me?” She asked flatly, and Cassandra quickly let her go out of embarrassment. “Whoops.” She apologized quickly, Morgan chuckling at the exchange as well.

The helicopters rotor wash slowly got stronger and louder sounder as they chattered quietly among each other until is slowly set down, the wind kicking up the dust and fallen leaves off the ground. It was a smooth gray color with a dark red highlights to denote it was a Spectrum Helicopter. The doors swung open and showed a pair of seats lined on each side of it's interior. It had two technicians sitting on each side along with a pilot, one of them gesturing them all to come in.

Morgan walked up to Lily and slapped her on the shoulder. “AHH!” She jumped, out of surprise as Morgan laughed and gripped onto it lightly. “Looks like things are finally starting to move.” She commented, Lily nodding a bit as she got over her mini panic attack. “Yeah... I am just worried I'll blow it...” She admitted, looking at the floor as the rest of the team started to climb into the helicopter and attach the belts to themselves in preparation for takeoff.

“Well with that attitude, you'll definitely blow it.” Morgan joked to try and get Lily to laugh, but nothing came out of it. “I'm too scared to laugh.” She spoke sheepishly, but Morgan furrowed her brow before speaking up “...Look.” She calmly stated, grabbing Lily by both shoulders and looking her in the eye. “This is your chance to prove to the world that they're wrong about you. You can throw away every single insult you've ever gotten as 'wrong' and never look back.” She tried for a pep talk, even if Lily was too busy sulking to hear. “Prove yourself to be someone worth praising.. and prove me wrong when I called you a bitch that one time.” She added at the end, which made Lily chuckle just a little bit.

“Alright... Let's finish this.” She said with a smile, pumping her fist as Morgan let go of her to punch her in the shoulder. “Damn right, girl!” Morgan shouted in joy, But Lily just winced and started rubbing her shoulder in pain. “Do you always punch people when you're happy?” She complained, Morgan looking at her with a straight face.


“Yes.”

Spectrum #16: Laments and Remnants

Hey, I'm actually back on schedule! It's almost like I give a shit. 

Chapter Sixteen: Laments and Remnants

“Again!” Ashley shouted, Blasting into a whistle to give a shrill ear piercing squeak, they stood in the center of the arena in the sunset as their seventh day of arduous training continued. All four students, Maria, Jonah, Caleb and Lily hunched down and pushed away with pulse to attempt and dash themselves forward. Jonah stopped the shortest, Maria doing slightly better but still only a couple of feet with one stride. Lily was easily doubling that and Caleb was doing even better than her, though it was pretty clear that he's practiced with pulse for some time at least.

They were sore and tired as they nearly worked for 8 hours a day to practice pulse. At first, it was just holding a paper in your palm and seeing if you could lift it without moving, then it was leaps, and now it's dashes. They've been practicing dashes for a day or so now and it seemed like they were all finally getting the hang of it, though some better than others.

“Again!” She once again shouted as they all scrambled back in line to do another dash with similar results, Maria felt like her knees were about to cave from how much stamina she was burning from using Pulse over and over again. She nearly passed out the day before when she got back into her bedroom. “That should be good for now.” Ashley requested all of them to stop, and Jonah quickly stood up to bend his back far enough so it could pop. Everyone else was yawning and stretching to try and work out the kinks. “Holy crap, finally...” Jonah said through his tired stretching, Caleb patting him on the back once or twice. “I could go another hour, to be honest.” He said with a grin, Jonah glaring up at him with an unamused glance.

“Wanna join me, Jo?” He asked with a smile, Jonah huffing and crossing his arms. “I'd rather not take place in your one-upping jock routine, Caleb.” Caleb scoffed a bit and walked away to Maria, looking down at you. “What about you, Red?” He asked, giving her that nickname even though she didn't ask for it. “Hell no. When I'm done, I'm done.” Maria shrugged him off, they still didn't know each other that well, but she did know that she had a slight bias to Jonah as a friend compared to him.

“Now to finish off for the evening pulse practice, we'll finally dip into the concept of Pulse fields and armor.” Ashley stated with a gusto, the three newbies groaning out of suffering as they stood back together in a group for the next thing. “Aww, come on you three... Last thing for today and I'll give our little birthday girl her day off.” Ashley stated to try and get them more motivated for one final exercise. Though she somewhat skipped one important fact. “Maria's birthday WAS today, Ashley, not tomorrow.” Lily corrected Ashley, which she frowned at. “Oh... my bad. I should have given you the day off TODAY then, I'll give you one tomorrow instead.” Ashley admitted, before walking up and patting Maria on the head like she was a cat, she wasn't fond of it.

“Don't pat my fucking head.” She stated flatly, almost like she was too tired to get pissed off. To Ashley, this was a good thing in every way imaginable. “Now, you have the easy way, or the hard way to actually figure out how this works. Which one you pick is up to you.” She explained, Maria combing through her hair to try and fix it while she explained to everyone. “What's the long way?” Lily asked, Ashley smiling at her and crossing her arms as she reached down to adjust the hilt of her blade a bit. “Mostly just doing exercises of trying to repel things away from you, initially pieces of paper or dirt, eventually things like projectiles and other people's attacks. It's pretty consistent and doesn't often leave much of a mess. This process takes a couple of weeks usually.” She heard everyone groan when she said that, she could understand why as they were all tired.

“And the other way?” Maria asked to finish Lily's question. “I slap you in the face until you repel it.”
Everyone looked confused and a little frightened by the second option as they all stared up at her, realizing that she was completely serious. “So, what will it be?” She asked, waiting for everyone's answer. Lily and Jonah both piped in out of concern of not wanting to be slapped in the face. “I'll pass!” Ashley chuckled to herself for a bit, looking over to Maria and Caleb who were standing beside one another. “And you two?” she asked, Caleb shaking his head as he piped in. “Well I know how to do it already...” He reminded her, Maria spoke up before she could be asked again. “I'll try the short way. It's been almost six damn months, I want this over already.” She admitted she was getting a bit impatient for how long the training was taking.

Ashley gestured her to come a bit closer, which she responded by walking up and looking at her. “Alright! Hit you in the face training is a go. Try your best to push away my hand the same way you've learned how to dash.” She said, pulling Maria off to one side and holding onto her shoulders as she looked at the slightly shorter teen. “Ten slaps to the face without blocking means you have to do it the normal way, understand?” She warned, Maria glaring up at her and nodding her head as she tried to focus her head and push away whatever what was coming.

And she got slapped across the face hard enough to turn her head and cause a warm red stinging feeling. She reached up and lightly rubbed her cheek as another slap knocked her face the other way, making both cheeks red with hand prints. Caleb started to chuckle at the surreal sight and Maria turned to shout at him. “Shut up, Caleb!” She shouted as she got slapped in the face another time. Then the slaps came faster and faster, each one she was unable to block until it got to ten. “Looks like you're doing things my way, then.” She claimed, Maria sinking her head a bit and looking at the floor out of defeat. “Okay fine, your way.” She replied, still hearing Caleb's chuckling as Ashley released her, Lily walked up and patted her on the shoulder to help her cool off.

“I actually think that's enough for today, all I have to do is tell you one bit of news and the rest of the day will be to yourselves.” Ashley announced, everyone looking up at her as she spoke. “The team name we will be called in our missions from now on will be team 'Equinox.' This was randomly drawn from a list of code names we could have. Our sister team is team 'Solstice.' so they are easy to sort and match together than something like 'Equinox' and 'Key Lime Pie' would be.” She joked, but got deadpanned by everyone there.

“And with that, I bid all of you farewell. Make sure you rest, as training for all of you will pick up in 2 days time.” She announced, before turning tail and leaving. The rest of the group gathered closer to talk to one another as Maria rubbed her sore face. “Well that went nowhere.” Maria commented with a sigh, as Caleb looked down at her with a chuckle. “At least we got you being slapped in the face a couple of times.” Maria growled at the joke, looking up at him with a maligned glare. “Oh screw you, man...” She spoke, as he chuckled some more at getting her annoyed. He didn't really like making fun of people but he still had a good laugh about it.

“I'm so hungry, though...” Jonah commented, they were training so hard that they had to skip lunch. Lily smiled at the other she as the offered a proposal for them. “Well, the cafeteria closes at 8, we could probably go and have a quick dinner and get out.” She said, Caleb and Jonah grinning at the prospect as Caleb gave a celebratory fist pump. “Awesome! Let's get there before my face gets anymore numb from how damn cold it is.” He joked, he couldn't feel his face because he was bombarded by cold wind all day. Even if he wore his big leather coat with a fuzzy inner lining for extra warmth, it didn't cover his head. “And you, Maria?” Lily asked, but Maria raised a hand and shook her head.


“I'm just not that hungry.. I'll be back at the dorm.” She said, turning down her offer and slowly turning away to leave. “Well.. I'll save you something” Lily said, Maria looking back and giving her a soft nod. “Right, Seeya later.” She replied, Lily was a bit puzzled but maybe she was just not in the greatest of moods to be around other people. Over the past months, Lily has learned sometimes Maria just wants to head off by herself somewhere quiet and just think to herself interrupted. It wasn't super far fetched but it could be an inconvenience sometimes.

A short while later, Maria popped the door to the dorm room and flicked on the light. The two bunk beds with plain black bed sheets sat on each side of the room, there was a dresser in the back facing a window along with a mirror near the foot of another dresser near one of the bunk beds facing the opposite of the bathroom. On the black bed sheets rested her pet cat, Snowy. Well... to everyone besides her he was Snowy, she just called him 'cat' and since majority rules, she didn't win the vote to keep calling it cat. He was getting his pure white fur all over Maria's bed sheet... which she sighed at.

“Hey you lil' dipshit.” She said, walking over and taking a seat besides the cat on the bottom bunk. She was switched to the bottom bunk after it was found out she had the habit of falling in bed like an insane person whenever she woke up. The cat opened it's double eyelids and looked up at her with a yawn as she reached down to pet it. It purred and nestled it's head into her hand as she cracked a small smile.

“Yeah, yeah I know... I forgot to feed you again.” She said as if the cat could reply, even if she knew it didnt. She reached into a small bag of cat food she put beside her bed and filled a small bowl, the cat climbed off and started to eat out of it. “...You're gonna get fat if you keep eating this often.” She joked, The cat looking up with a glare commonly matching the one she gave at others. Suddenly, Gale manifested over her shoulder to comment. “Do you think he can understand you at all, Maria?” He asked her, they weren't really friends, but they tolerated each other much more than they used to by just being stuck together.

“Hell no.” She stated flatly as the bird slowly floated down to perch in front of the eating cat, knowing that it can't even see him, he was still nervous. “I don't know why, but being around him makes me nervous.” He commented, Maria glaring down at him incredulously as she leaned up, folding her arms together just a bit. “Eh.. cats eat birds all the time.” She said, watching them both as the bird lightly backed away from him. “Does not help my confidence, Maria.” He stated, sounding slightly scared by this strange fluffy cat thing and all it's... cattiness.

“Oh, I know. Just I get enjoyment from your suffering.” She said jokingly, she had this habit of insulting people she liked playfully and in a way that they knew she probably didn't mean it. The bird floated back up as she watched him. “Hey, it's not like you can actually touch anything...” She stated, as the bird slowly faded from existence once again to speak in her mind. “Oh, you're right.” He replied, as the cat finished his bowl of cat food and climbed back on the bed to fall asleep. Maria reached over him and into her backpack to grab a lint roller, slowly wiping her bed off from all the cat hair as the door silently opened behind her.

“Doing things with my cat, buzz off.” She replied, not looking back at who came in to see her. “Hey.” A familiar, but long not heard voice spoke softly behind her. Maria turned to look back and as soon as she saw who it was, the hair on the back of her neck began to stand up. Sienna was staring down at her, wearing a faux fur jacket over her typical blouse instead of her captain jacket along with a bag over her shoulder. A soft frown on her face as she looked down at Maria tending to her cat. There was an awkward silence for a couple of seconds as Maria didn't speak, but only stared. Sienna stared for a couple of seconds before sighing quietly as she walked up in front of the bunk bed to look down at her.

She unzipped the bag on her shoulder and dug through it, grabbing a small cake into one hand and walking over to place it on a nearby shelf. “I remembered your birthday, Maria. I even got you a personal sized cake.” She spoke softly, placing the bag at Maria's side as her glare stared at Sienna without breaking. “And?” Maria asked, expecting some kind of catch to go along with Sienna's basic birthday wish. There had to be a good reason why she would suddenly speak to herself once again, Maria thought. “It's your favorite flavor, too... Strawberry.” She added, turning back around just to see Maria staring at her in the same position.

“Can we talk?” Sienna asked, sinking her eyebrows a bit as she watched her sister. Maria shrugged her shoulders and sighed. “Fine.” She replied flatly, she felt no love for her sister at the moment and Sienna could tell how obvious that was. Sienna sat beside her bag, putting her hands into the bag and sifting around for something. “How does it feel to be sixteen?” Sienna asked, Maria cocking an eyebrow at having such a trite question after nearly 6 months of barely any contact. “Like when I turned fifteen, not that different.” She stated, Sienna nodding a little bit as they sat together.

“Oh... Yeah I guess I could see that.” Sienna said with a hint of nervousness as she awkwardly rubbed on her own shoulder, while the ticking of the small clock placed on the beige wall slowly began to tick louder and louder to compound how silent the room was between them. “Spit it out.” Maria demanded without raising her voice, Sienna frowned and looked up at her. “I fucked up as a sister, didn't I?” Sienna asked, looking at the floor slightly defeated. “...I couldn't say no.” Maria replied, not really helping how Sienna felt in any way whatsoever.

“I know I did... I should have done more for you than just.. toss you onto the curb and act like you weren't my problem. I'm the only person who has the rights to take care of you.. and I wasn't taking responsibility for my own actions. I gave up on you when Ashley did more than me and she didn't even know you.” She confessed, Maria staring at her sister as she pulled out a small box, pushing the bag aside and placing it in her own lap.

“So you came over because you felt bad for kicking me off your team?” Maria asked, with a very small amount of disdain in her own voice since she still held enough sour grapes to hold a wine tasting contest. “No... I heard from Ashley that you were not a bad fit for her team. You're not doing the best or anything but.. you're at least improving.” She admitted, Maria furrowing her brow and sighing. “Hey, I thought family is supposed to oversell my skills, not tell me that I'm not doing that great.” She commented sarcastically, which got a slight smile out of Sienna.

“Just being honest.” Sienna joked, though Maria still wasn't in the best of moods to laugh at other peoples jokes. “Y'know... Gabriel had to leave two weeks ago.” Maria started, Sienna frowned at her as she tried to keep the conversation going. “Yeah, I heard... It's really unfortunate.” She said, Maria looking up at her as she leaned forward enough to place a hand on one of her own legs. “...His parents wanted him to come home after his sister died. He was ALLOWED TO LEAVE. Why didn't you leave when you heard I was hospitalized after OUR PARENTS DIED?” Maria dropped a pretty grim question that she's been pondering over ever since it happened, as Sienna looked at the floor. “I knew this was going to come up eventually.” She admitted, trying to compose herself to give a good enough answer.

“I visited one time... The day after they put you in the ICU.” Sienna calmly stated, Maria watching her and observing as she explained all of her actions. “You were in such bad condition that they weren't sure you could actually have a life outside of the hospital, yet alone actually join Spectrum.” Sienna continued, Maria looking to the floor as she realized how lucky she got in the fact she recovered enough to be able to live without constant medical supervision.
“I was upset I lost both my mom and my dad, but my little sister lost her life too... I thought you were either going to die or be cooped up in the hospital for the rest of your life.” She said, wiping a tear that was almost about to leave one of her eyes. “But... I was younger and more stupid. I thought that it wasn't my job to constantly overwatch you. I was so focused on me and my life at Spectrum I just.. I left you behind as I thought you couldn't have a life anymore.” She spoke, Maria looking at the floor quietly as she listened.

“So everyone gave up on me, not just Lily.” Maria stammered out, Sienna frowning as Maria seemed less mad and more just depressed sounding at this point. “Sorry, Maria.” Sienna calmly apologized as Maria sat back up straight so they could keep talking. “Did everyone just not want me around? I mean... where was the rest of our family?” Maria asked, Sienna looking away briefly as she replied. “I haven't heard from uncle Elliot or Cousin Rosalyn for 3 years now. I don't know where they went but as soon as the accident happened, they just disappeared.” Sienna explained, Maria furrowing a brow at that.

“Why did you take me into your team and kick me out 2 weeks later?” Maria asked another question, Sienna sighing and shaking her head just a bit as she spoke. “I thought I could handle the responsibility, but it just blew up in my face and I threw you out like an idiot instead of helping you work through it. It was really irresponsible of me as an older sister.” She finished, Maria closing her eyes and sighing in response.

“Do you mind if I ask you something?” Sienna asked in place of Maria, Maria leaning back and placing her arms on her bed to prop herself up as it was starting to get uncomfortable to sit on the bed. “Go ahead, I guess.” She answered, Sienna nodding a bit as she folded her arms into her lap. “Why are you here? Like... Why did you join?” This question made Maria lean up and look away from her from either guilt or shame. “I joined Spectrum because you are all I got when it comes to family.” She admitted, Sienna shocked and looking at her from hearing something like that come from the much more naturally bitter Maria.

“I hate what the rift fallen had taken away from me, but my grudge isn't going to give me any solace even if I try and use it as an excuse.” Maria admitted almost like she needed to tell herself this as well. “At first I joined just because I thought that if I just died it might make things less painful, but I also joined because I just wanted to find a way to be closer to you for once.” Maria explained, Sienna frowning and looking down as she realized that it really was her little sister, even through all the shit they both went through. She was still a kid, even if she didn't want to act like it.

“Maria, I'm so sorry.” Sienna said, placing a hand on Maria's shoulder. “Can you forgive me? I promise we'll work on this together.” She asked, Maria reaching up and grabbing her hand to pull it off of her, before standing up. “No, I'm not going to forgive you, Sienna. You left for Spectrum when I was only 10, you barely visited unless mom called you and guilt slung you into joining, even after our parents died you didn't even visit me when I was conscious” Maria complained, The frown growing on Sienna's face as Maria pretty much tried to tell her off.

“After 3 years of being in a shitty boarding school, I come back and you get sick of me within 2 weeks of me joining because I happened to do something stupid. You seem like kind of a prick, Sienna.” Maria ranted without raising her voice. Sienna admitted defeat in her head, sinking her shoulders and wiping a tear from our eye. “That doesn't mean we can't try fixing it.” Maria grudgingly admitted, crossing her arms over her own chest and looking out of the only window in the room.

Sienna stood up and placed a hand on her shoulder once again.“Do you mean that?” Sienna asked, she wasn't anywhere close to heaving but it was pretty clear that she was starting to tear up. “Yeah... We'll work on it.” Maria sputtered out, she wasn't really the type for sentimental words and stuff so saying stuff like this just made her uncomfortable. Sienna smiled somberly at her and hugged her around the shoulders tight to press both of them together. “You hug way too hard...” Maria complained, as she didn't let go for nearly ten seconds until Maria eventually reciprocated it.

Sienna let go, reaching down to grab the present box wrapped in dark purple paper and a white bow. She handed it to Maria as Maria started to inspect the box. It was light and thin and she wasn't exactly sure what was inside of it. “Go on, Open it.” Sienna goaded, as Maria pulled it open and revealed that it was a picture of her family. “You didn't have a picture of them since the house burned down... So I thought you could have this one.” Sienna said, Maria started to feel tears roll down her cheeks as she looked at it in silence. “Thanks...” Maria stammered quietly, placing it on the dresser as well.

“Don't worry about it.” Sienna replied, patting her on the shoulder once again. “Look, I need to go to my dorm before all of your friends show up.” She mentioned, Maria looking up at her as her eyes were slightly bloodshot from the tears. “Uhh... Do you want to go get ice cream later?” Maria asked, but Sienna frowned and poked her once on the forehead. “It's winter, you doofus.” She joked, Maria chuckling and looking embarrassed.

“But yeah, see you later.” She said, walking by before she realized Lily was in the room. She was holding a bright green sweater with a picture of a white cat sewn onto the front. Sienna walked next to her and stared at her. “Uhh... Hey Lily.” Sienna greeted her, before looking down at the shirt. “Uh... What is this about?” She asked, Lily holding up the gaudy looking cat shirt. “Maria's gift, Sienna.” She replied, Maria looking shocked as she looked over Sienna's shoulder. “Oh god no...” Maria muttered to herself out of fear.

“Happy birthday, Maria~!” Lily shouted, walking past Sienna and tossing the shirt to Maria, which promptly smacked her in the head before she could catch it and look at it. “I didn't know what to get, but my butler told me that this was an awesome idea! You didn't have a sweater, so I thought this could be your first one.” She explained, Maria looking down at it with wide eyes. “It even has Snowy on it! Ain't it cute?” She said with a sing song voice, Maria just glaring at it with an unbroken leer. “...I would rather run outside naked and try and capture a live falcon than ever consider wearing this shirt in my entire lifetime.” Maria responded, crashing Lily's smile into a huge frown.

“But whyyyyyy, Maria?” She said, holding her hands in front of her chest and giving a sad pout as she tried to go for puppy dog eyes. “It's just... Could you ever imagine me wearing this sweater?” She asked, Lily quickly imagining Maria and her typical scowl while wearing a sweater with a cat on the front of it. “I just did.” She replied, Maria frowning and throwing it onto her shoulder. “Look, I appreciate the sentiment and all but... I don't think I could wear this sweater in my life.” Maria explained, Lily sniffling a little bit and running to hug her out of sadness.

“It looks like you two have some talking you need to do, later!” Sienna said as an excuse to leave the uncomfortable scene as it was. Maria lightly grabbed at Lily's shoulders as the door closed behind them. “Look, I'll consider it just... I don't know.” Maria tried to find an excuse to not wear something that stupid looking.

“MARIA PLEASE WEAR THE CAT SWEATER, IT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU WILL EVER DO!” Lily cried out, Maria sighing and sinking her head as they continued to argue.

Spectum Chapter #15: Ephemeral

Just when you thought Spectum wasn't going to get any more depressing.

Chapter 15: Ephemeral

Morgan, Erika, and the Goldshore's were heading back to their dorm room, they passed Maria's team and Sienna stayed behind them for a short while as Morgan went back inside to take a rest. She went into her dorm room, now renovated for quite some time as she slid her long claymore into it's sheathe and put it back into the closet. Erika popped the door open as Morgan began to do some stretches after practicing how to use Pulse for the last couple of hours.

“Damn... I can't believe Sienna had us up at 4 AM to practice.” Erika commented, hanging her axe up onto a rack and taking off the strap she needs to carry it around on her back. Erika used to barely be able to hold it. Now that she's gotten used to it, while to be honest, she wasn't capable of swinging it like it was like a huge axe shaped balloon, she could actually use it properly now. “Well that's one thing Sienna has going for her as an instructor, she beats her regimen into your forehead so hard people mistake it for a tattoo.” Morgan stated with a chuckle, taking off her leather jacket and hanging it up on the coat rack.

“Discipline is second nature to progress.” Sienna commented as she pushed the ajar door open enough to swing it wider. Her long, wavy red hair framed by a black beret resting on her head. She hung instructor jacket on one shoulder and leaned onto a door frame. “Yeah, I know that Sienna... Just I need sleep or else I'll start looking like a sick cat.” Erika added, Sienna shaking her head lightly as Morgan checked the mini fridge near her bunk bed for a soda, only to be disappointed since they didn't restock it just yet.

“So... Did you talk to Maria?” Morgan asked, Maria had this look on her face when Sienna showed up that was almost like disgust, it was clear that they haven't spoken since Maria quit the team. “I don't think I can.” Sienna replied, looking at the floor. “As soon as I looked at her, she glared at me with eyes that... made me think she's not my sister anymore.” Sienna admitted, she didn't think her decision would cause such a rift between her and Maria, but Maria was a different person than the little girl who just wanted to be an adult like everyone else.

“The couple of weeks I had with Maria made me realize that she's pretty damn tough for a little pipsqueak like her. Maybe a little too tough for her own good... She could use you to help her soften up.” Morgan turned to, Sienna and slowly walked up, her long and rough shoulder blade length hair lightly swaying with her steps. Sienna quietly sighed and shook her head once again. “I guess so.. I just don't think patching up is even an option anymore.” She opened up to Morgan, but Morgan lightly shook her head, placing her hand on her shoulder as she tried to attempt a heart to heart. “People her age get defiant with everyone, it's kind of second nature. I think all you need to do is listen to how she feels for a little while, it might do you both some good.” Morgan attempted to incite some courage back into Sienna, Sienna giving a faint smile and nodding some.

Sienna didn't look like she shared traits with Maria, but she realized that both of them had a similar aspect to their personality where they looked tougher than they really were. Maria would play the role of a furious, brash and sarcastic antisocial dick, she was really just looking for something she could care about and protect since she lost everything powerlessly. While Sienna would try to play the cool leader who makes all the tough decisions without looking back, but deep down all she was just a pile of self doubts and self set standards. 5 months taught her all this by being around her all the time and learning how she thinks, along with spending every weekend with Maria in the fighting club. “I'll try, Morgan... Just no promises.” Sienna said, turning around and walking off back to her own dorm room since tea time was about to begin.

Morgan shook her head and sighed, turning back to Erika who was just watching both of them speak. “Do you want to get breakfast?” Morgan asked, Erika giving her kind of a big grin along with a nod. If there was one thing they both enjoyed, it was warm food. Spectrum actually had an alright cooking staff, it was probably better than anything either of them got while they were in school. “Sure thing, Morgan! Let me get m-” She was cut off by a loud ring tone coming from the pocket of Morgan's leather jacket.

“...Do you mind if I get that?” Morgan asked, Walking up to her coat and pulling out her cell phone. It was just a cheap, foldable phone for phone calls. There were more expensive ones on the market for sure, but Morgan wanted a phone and not a tiny computer she can poke with her finger until it gets covered in fingerprints. She flipped it open and quickly hit the button without checking the caller ID before she spoke. “Hey there, Morgan speaking.” She answered, before the voice on the other line shocked her.

“Hey, Morg.” The voice spoke, it was somewhat wispy sounding even though it was deep. She understood who it was almost instantly from the sounds of it. “N-Nick!? Holy shit dude, Where have you been? It's been like 9 months now...” She said, speaking as a sudden weight got taken off her shoulders. Nick gently sighed and continued to speak. “Yeah, I'm sorry, Morgan.” He apologized wholesomely but kept speaking before Morgan could ask more questions. “I'm outside of Spectrum, can we please meet in private?” This question he asked confused Morgan, they've never been secretive around each other since they were little kids.

“Why?...” Morgan asked, but didn't heard any reply. “Nick...? Bro?” She said, shaking the phone to see if it was dying on her, but it most surely wasn't. “Shit.” She said, closing the phone shut as Erika stared at her out of confusion. Morgan grabbed her jacket to put it back on, since it was still very damn cold outside and she didn't want to feel it on her skin. “What was that about?” Erika asked, but Morgan quickly rushed past her and out the door of the dorm room. “Something came up, Sorry Erika.” She spoke in a rush, walking down the hall and heading down the stairs before going outside. He didn't seem to be on campus at a glance, so she walked down the sidewalk and up to the front gates.

The metal bar swung open and the hydraulics whirred to push the gate open for her as she approached it, she walked out onto the sidewalk and looked both ways down the sidewalk to see if she could find her brother. She began walking to the left of the school as she continued to look around for him. There was a small alley on a gap between fences two of the houses on the same road as Spectrum. And suddenly a hand was placed on Morgan's shoulder which yanked her into the alleyway with him. “What the fuck!?” She exclaimed as she was quickly turned around to see the familiar face of her elder brother.

He had long black hair like hers, but it was greasier looking, but more combed than Morgans somewhat frizzy looking mop. His skin was pale, with dark circles around his eyes as it seemed like he's been spending many nights sleepless. He was wearing a trench coat with a collar up past his neck and nearly covering his mouth, along with a pair of cargo pants and boots as well. “Sorry sis, this is important.” He apologized once again Morgan glaring at him as she punched him gently in one of his shoulders. “What's with the stalker get-up, Nick?” She asked at the strange attire, she knew he didn't dress like that at all.

“Unfortunately this is a necessity.” Nick replied, he was always down to business and if he was wearing something so suspicious, there had to be something up with him.

“So what was with the absence?... Why are you here?” Morgan asked out of confusion as Nick looked at the floor with a feeling of shame suddenly washing over him. “Look... This is the last time we'll be able to talk to each other. I'm leaving for good.” He finally said, Morgan looking both shocked and surprised as she grabbed him by the shoulders to stare him in his eyes. “What do you mean by that?” She asked, Nick sighing softly as he looked up at her. “Look... I know you and I were never the most savory people to be around. We're both not innocent, but... I recently got myself into something I don't think I'm able to leave.” He confessed, but Morgan just looked distraught and confused by that, leaning up to look at his face to tell he was being honest.

“What the hell does that mean? You know I hate this ominous crap, Nick...” She complained, but he just sighed quietly and slumped his shoulders. “I guess I'll just have to explain myself the best I can for you, Morgan.” He continued, looking around silent to see if there was anyone who followed him around. “Have you heard of Silent Fall?” He asked, but she cocked an eyebrow at that. “I heard them stealing from a metalworking factory about a month ago, what about it?” She wondered, He sighed and looked at the ground. The slight shiver up Morgan's back began to feel heavier as she began to speculate in the right direction.

“I'm a member of Silent Fall. I have been one for about 2 or 3 years now...” He admitted, though he didn't seem particularly proud of it. Morgan seemed shocked, is that why he hasn't been able to see her as often anymore? Was he too busy blowing up buildings and dealing dope to speak to her? “Are you serious? Is that why you left the orphanage when you were like.. 16? You decided to become a terrorist AND a criminal?” She asked, clearly upset by this. He nodded just a bit. “Please, hear me out, alright?” He pleaded, as Morgan sneered, crossing her arms over one another as she listened. “It wasn't always terrorists... We were just a gang working for the syndicate, we would just gofer packages between two places and I'd get money for it.” He continued, Morgan just blankly watching as he spoke.

“But this new guy people call Wolfe became the boss a couple of months ago.. and I swear he might be completely out of his goddamn mind. He broke us away from the syndicate and has us robbing people, assaulting them and destroying buildings. It's been hell but he's spouting his anti-cooperation bullshit and people are starting to believe him and get behind his cause.” He spoke, shaking his head. “I wanted to quit.. but the last time someone quit they found him in a back alley with his throat cut and over 47 stab wounds to his chest.”

Morgan looked upset, lightly placing her hand onto your shoulders and looks up at him. “So... You can't leave or they'll off you?” He nodded a little bit. “I'm so sorry Morgan, I just.. I don't want you to worry about me anymore. Please just think I'm dead, at this point I think I'm pretty much damned if I do and damned if I don't.” He pleaded, but Morgan sighed and let go of him. “Are you serious...? We've been through so much shit together, can't you just tell somebody or go to the authorities?” She asked, trying to help him think of a more rational solution.

“Unfortunately, they're not bound by jurisdiction, I think all that would happen if I went to protect myself would be they would have massive collateral in killing me, potentially killing others. Or even worse... People might start to come after you instead.” He spoke calmly with a somber tone, looking at her as he tried to hold back the tears. “I couldn't forgive myself if they hurt my little sister for my mistake. Me leaving is the best for both of us. So please, don't think of me too often to save you the trouble of grieving if I blow myself up or get arrested, I'm so sorry... I'm going to leave for good.” He said, heaving a bit and placing his mouth and nose in his sleeve to keep himself composed. “I'll miss you so much, Morg... Have a good life, okay?” He finished, before turning around and slowly walking away. Morgan growled out of frustration and started to shout at him as he tried to distance himself.
“Nick... please stay here for a minute.” She stated to try and get him to stay, but Nick broke out into a run, using his speed to break away from her and leave her in the alleyway. She broke into a slower run in hoping to get him to stop “NICHOLAS! TURN AROUND YOU STUPID FUCK!” She broke into yelling at him, though he didn't even turn around to hear her. “I'M NOT GOING TO GIVE UP, I'M GOING TO BUST IN THERE AND SAVE YOUR SORRY ASS MYSELF! YOU HEAR ME YOU SON OF A BITCH?!” She shouted, clenching her fists and gritting her teeth. Her hands and legs started to shake a bit, tears rolling down her face as she realized he was too far away for her to catch. She could go get her motor scooter and see if she can chase him down, but who knows where he would have went when she did.

Morgan bit her lower lip and turned around, lowering her head and slowly walking back to the academy, trying to be quiet so she could calm herself down. “Sonuvabitch..” She muttered out of frustration, walking underneath the walkway of the second floor of the dorm room as a voice rang from behind her. “Morgan? Was that you who was yelling?” She asked in her gentle but somewhat proper sounding voice. Morgan turned around and was met with Lily's face. The side of her face having three faded claw marks running down the entire thing, her light blonde neat and proper looking twin low ponytails to her shoulders as she glared with her bright eyes. “...Yeah.” Morgan replied flatly as she tried to sound like her typical self, low and stoic with a bit of her self confidence thrown in with good measure.

“Are you okay...?” She asked with concern, Morgan doesn't usually shout so loud Lily could hear it from the parking lot. Maria and the rest of the team just went back to the Dorm, but she stayed out for some final practice before wanting to head inside when she heard her. “I'm fine.” She said, looking at the floor and trying to hold back a sigh. “You don't look fine... You're crying.” Lily pointed out, and then the very soft wind blowing on her face felt cold just to confirm that little fact. “I guess I'm not fine, then...” She tried to joke, but Lily stepped up another step so she could be closer. “What's wrong, then?” She asked, Morgan turning away and gesturing Lily to come walk behind her as she spoke.

“Do you know how it feels to have something important taken away from you?” She asked, Lily looking somewhat puzzled as she looked over one shoulder as they spoke. “Uhm... Not recently.” She replied, expecting Morgan to jump on her about being a rich girl once again. “...It hurts, Lily.” Morgan stated bluntly, her long hair starting to cover her eyes from how low her head was sunk. “Never let it happen to you, you'll never be the same.” Morgan warned, Lily lowering her brow as she pouted out of concern. She reached up to grab Morgans shoulder, forcing her to lightly stop in her tracks.

“Morgan... I wanted to apologize about how I've been treating you... Hitting you was a big mistake and I felt like the 5 months we could have known each other was squandered by our petty grudge.” She stated, Morgan lightly lifting her hand to brush Lily's off of her own shoulder. Lily frowning some more as Morgan started to walk once again. “Morgan... Please... I realized I never want to be in a position to help people and choose not to do it. If I did that, I don't deserve to be here!” She pleaded with Morgan, who just gave her more silence.

“I want to be your friend! I want to help you in anyway I possibly could... I failed to be there for Maria when she needed me, but at least let me be here for you just so I can do something in my life that isn't sitting on my thumbs! Please, Morgan!” She shouted at her, but Morgan just stopped and turned to face her. “...It's fine, Lily... Really.” She spoke quietly to calm her down. “You can be my friend, okay? Just stop sounding so wussy...” She said, trying to add a little of humor at the end of it since well... It was her style of doing things. Lily smiled but shrieked as Morgan suddenly pulled her into a tight hug. “Eep!” She stammered, Morgan sighing and letting go of her after a couple of seconds.

“Thank you, Morgan...” Lily said with a somber smile, Morgan giving one back as she slowly walked back to her dorm. Morgan continued with the silence as she popped the door open and slowly scanned the room, before pulling Lily behind the staircase so they could talk without being interrupted. “So... Why where you yelling so much?” Morgan frowned, looking at the ground a bit. “My brother decided to leave me for good, because he got into trouble with unsavory folk.” She said, Lily looking concerned as she lightly began to pace the floor. “And he's okay with that?” She asked, Morgan looked away and sighed.

“No, he's not okay with it. He feels trapped and I want to help him get away.” She replied, Lily looking up and smiling at her as she stopped her pacing of the floor. “I'll help you the best I can, okay Morgan?” She replied, Morgan smiling a little at that as they shared a friendly nod at one another. "You know, I'm sorry too." Morgan added to Lily's apology from before as she looked up at her face once again. "I was being too hard on you and was trying to use you as a springboard for all my problems with corporations. You're just a person and I need to see you as one." Lily smiled a little and bowed her head to respond. "I'll forgive you to-" She was cut off by someone walking behind the staircase with the both of them.

As it turns out, it was the angry, short, redhead of a girl, Maria. Her eyes as big as figurative saucer dishes as she spoke to the both of them. “I don't know what the hell you two are doing, but it's currently nacho hour at the cafeteria, so you two better hurry the hell up and come with me so we can all have nachos in a big... nacho group.” Maria said with the utmost of seriousness, Morgan and Lily just stared at her out of confusion as Lily piped in to ask a question. “...Nachos?” She asked, and Maria got a shocked look on her face out of surprise. “What the hell do you mean by 'Nachos?' Nachos are nachos! We need to get some fuckin' nachos!” She complained at Lily, Lily still just not sure what Maria was talking about.

“Uhh.. I don't know what Nachos are...” She said, Maria gasping and grabbing her by the forearm. “Okay, fuck explaining this. I AM GOING TO GIVE YOU SO MANY GODDAMN NACHOS!” Maria shouted as Lily stumbled away behind her and back out the front door. “You're squeezing my hand too hard!” Lily shouted before giving a kind of girly yelp. Morgan wiped the last couple of tears out of her eyes and released a sigh of relief, as she slowly began to walk behind them.

“Eh... I guess I could use some nachos.” She said, closing the door behind her from the completely random interruption by Maria and all her rudeness.