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 #19: Fear, Part 3

This chapter might be a bit gruesome.

Chapter 19: Fear, Part 3

The owner of the factory was quietly sweeping the floor, while he did try and take some precautions for the monster invasion, he also realized that every hour he spent huddled up in fear was another hour he wasn't making enough money to pay both his workers and to feed his family. He swallowed the fear welling up in the back of his throat, and while he kept the doors locked he also left the front door sign to read 'Available.' His workers also came in to do some light inventory work behind the fairly large factory, just to make sure everything was in place.

He heard a firm knock at the front door of his storefront, the man in his 50's looked up at the door and noticed a man standing in front of it. He walked up to inspect through the thick glass door his appearance. He appeared to be in his mid or late 30's with long black hair to his shoulders, slicked back and combed so it wouldn't get in the way. He had a thick stubble on his face and bright blue eyes, looking at the old man with a calm expression. He wore a long blue leather coat over a black shirt and black dress pants, holding a cane in one hand, standing about average height for an adult.

The older man unlocked the door, pulling it open as the younger man looked at him with a calm expression. “Welcome sir, are you interested in buying some gardening equipment in bulk? We just received a new shipment of fertilizers. From natural, synthetic and pesticides... we have them all!” He added to the end, hoping to get the man interested in the variety. The younger man cleared his throat as he spoke with a soft, but clear voice.

“I run a small plantation just out of town, but the winter drought as of recent has made my plants malnourished. I needed something that could get my plants back to thriving as soon as the spring comes.” He explained, using his silvery cane to slowly walk inside, where the man locked the door behind him just for safety. The old man adjusted his glasses, thinking for a bit as the younger man leaned on the front desk as he spoke.

“Oh... If you want to get things up and running really fast.. I suggest an inorganic fertilizer, if you're one of those natural types it's not ideal, but it's pretty much the fastest thing you can do to get your crops back up and growing before the summer harvest starts.” He clarified, the man nodding quietly. “And I'm here to purchase in bulk, it's why I went to your factory instead of a general store.” He calmly explained himself.

“Is that why you had that big truck pulled out in front?” The older man asked, observing that a large unmarked truck was sitting in front of his store, blocking the street somewhat. “Essentially, yes.” The younger man replied. “So... You wish you purchase my wares. What's your name?” The older man asked, The younger man spun his cane quietly in his hands before catching it. “Jean, Jean Dupont.” He answered on cue, smiling at the older male as he turned around, slowly popping the door open. “Well, come to the back and pick your poison, we have plenty to pick from!” He said with a grin, glad business was starting to pick up.

“Do you have anything containing... nitrates?” Jean asked, walking quietly behind the man as he looked around on his many, many shelves. “Plenty of synthetic fertilizers have nitrates in them, heck, the ones in the back are quite potent.” He explained, Jean quietly walked behind him, nodding his head as he looked around the factory floor. There were rows and rows of bags ready to be shipped, along with a huge mixing machine to actually make the fertilizer. He gripped the tip of his cane and slowly began to twist it, the threading slowly spinning downward as he tried to make no noise. “And these are the ones you were talking about?” He asked, looking up at the huge rack they were walking toward.

“Yep, this is the one! Do you want to do the transaction by pocket or digitally?” He asked, walking up to the fertilizer and placing his hands on his hips. “What was your name?” Jean asked out of nowhere, the old man cocked his eyebrow, but thought nothing of it. “Thomas, Why do you as-” He got cut off, as a blade pierced through the back of his neck, bursting through his esophagus and throat as it shot out the front with a geyser of blood.

Jean slowly pulled the blade out as the man gripped his throat and a gasped rattle spurted from his mouth. Falling to the floor and looking up at Jean, slowly pulling a rag to wipe the blade of his now unsheathed cane of the fresh blood. “Unfortunately, Thomas... I'll need to reconsider how this transaction is going down.” He said, tossing the rag down to the floor, quietly watching him bleed to death as he reached into his coat. He pulled out a steel mask that was styled somewhat like a wolf's profile, strapping it to his head to obscure his face besides the eye-holes and his mouth.

“Have a nice day.” He quietly spoke to the dying man, turning around and reaching into his pocket to pull out a small radio. He held down the button, speaking to the person on the other side. “Are the other workers silenced?” He asked, keeping his mood very relaxed. The voice came in with the slight sound of static. “Yeah, Wolf. It was actually pretty easy.. I almost felt bad for them.” A voice answered that sounded somewhat like a rough voiced girl.

“Oh, I feel bad for them as well. They're just an unfortunate means to an end... They withheld from us and that unfortunately put us at a conflict. Everyone's a victim.” He explained, The windows being broke as several people stationed on top of the building slung down ropes, before bashing the factory windows in with Pulse enhanced kicks to the windows to head inside. Nearly 10 of them dropped to the floor from each window as they softly walked up to him.

“The fertilizer with the nitrates we need are stored in the southwest corner of this very shop. Grab as much as you can and be out in 10 minutes, Understood?” Wolfe ordered as he slowly screwed his cane back in to hide the blade, slowly turning around to walk away back to the entrance. “Yes sir!” the goons shouted, wearing their black masks and blue hooded jackets as they rushed over and grabbed the bags of fertilize and slinging them over their shoulders.

He walked out the front door, leaning against the wall as he quietly reached down to reach over to his coat pocket, pulling out a small locket and glancing down at it as his men came through the front door, carrying several bags of fertilizer per person, popping the back of the truck open and tossing them into the back.

Nearby, Lily was huddled up behind a car as she turned on her arm communicator to once again contact Maria. “It's been nearly 10 minutes since I've called you, why aren't you here yet...?” She asked Maria, but couldn't get any response for her on the other side, her channel was just a blank. Lily sighed, shaking her head and turning the channel back over to Jonah's and Caleb's. “Guys? Maria can't help, I need you guys!” She pleaded, looking at them as they began to stockpile their loot into the car, realizing that they would be gone before any help could even arrive.

“We'll come when we can, Lily! I just don't know how long 'we can' could be.” Jonah replied, currently dropping people off at the shelter roughly half a mile off. Normally that's a short distance.. but not when it's complete chaos. “I'm going in, it's now or never...” Lily muttered, Caleb chiming in with his own comment. “Don't do anything stupid, Lily... Stopping robbers just ain't our job.” This frustrated Lily, as she drew her long sword and sneaked up around the front of the van. She peered around one side of it, noticing it was about 2-3 guys.

One appeared to be their leader, taking a break as two of them loaded up a pile of bags from the ground. She took a deep breath and came out of hiding, pointing her blade at them both. “Halt!” She shouted, the three guys wearing their disguises just stared up at her, not reacting. “Can I help you, miss?” The leader, Wolf spoke. Leaning off the walk and not acting like she was much of a threat. “I saw what you were doing... You're robbing this place and killing the security amid the chaos of the invasion!” She accused, He looked up at her, giving a brief laugh. “Well... We were going to just rob it. But who knew the owner would have turned up at work today?” He explained, walking up to her, causing Lily to lower into a combat stance.

“He got in the way.” He added, before walking up to near arms length. “I'm here under jurisdiction of Spectrum... Cease this and I promise it won't be a fight.” She warned, but he quietly shook his head at her. “Not be a fight? You assumed there was going to be a fight?” He spoke in jest of her, which caused her to frown. She wanted to at least give them some kind of warning before she attacked... maybe they were the type to surrender.

“Are you daft? I'm not afraid of you, Miss Sterling... Even if you try to stop us, it's not going to be a fight.” He answered, This caused Lily to take a wild swing at him, though he wasn't close enough to actually get a proper slash in. Suddenly, from behind her two of the Silent Fall members grabbed her from behind. One of them grabbed her by the wrist of her sword arm and twisted it behind her back almost hard enough to break it. In pain, she dropped the blade.

The other one grabbed onto her torso and picked her up, slamming her into a wall after kicking away her sword. “H-how do you know my name!?” She shouted at him, the goon pinning her to the wall quickly grabbed a knife attached to the holster in her belt and lifted it to stab her in the throat. But with swift reaction, Wolf grabbed her hand. “Everyone knows who you are, Lily. You can only do so much to hide yourself when you're the heir to a massive fortune from a weapons monopoly.” He explained, Lily looking to the floor as the goon looked up to her boss.

“Why are you stopping me? You said 'No witnesses,' Right?” She asked, her voice slightly muffled by her mask as she talked. “The little thing attached to her arm will go off if there is too much trauma. It will also go off if it's forcibly removed.” He continued to explain, The girl slowly sliding the knife back into it's holster. “On top of that, if we killed a Sterling who is a Spectrum member... We'll have both the government AND the entourage for one of the most powerful men on the planet after us after we get worldwide media coverage. It just isn't worth all the trouble of being in the spotlight.” He said, patting her on the back lightly for doing as he said.

“Why are you doing this!?” Lily shouted at him, he just lightly swung his cane onto his shoulder. “Why should I tell you anything? You literally have no authority over me or what anyone at Silent Fall does.” He replied calmly with some confidence. “But hey... I guess I have enough time to amuse you. We're still filling the truck and I have about 6 minutes left before I must make my leave.” He said, amused just a bit at her struggling.

“I am Wolf. Silent Fall is the people of Rosewall's attempt to overthrow the fact our lives are in control by corporations and snooty trust fund bitches like you, who get to control everything we do even in dire times just because you happen to exploit a disaster to your own financial benefit.” He stated, his voice having the tinge of resentment as he began to address Lily directly. “Like me? I joined Spectrum to GET AWAY from my dad!” She yelled to try and convince him that he's not right about her. “And you think I care?” He replied bemused, slapping her with the back of his hand before pushing his lackey out of the way to hold her by the chin and look down at her.
“No one cares about what you're really like. You really haven't done enough to convince me that your petty argument is true. It's easy to talk about how humble you are when you have not a care in the world, ain't it?” He asked, keeping her pushed to the wall with his hands firmly grasped onto her shoulders. “We live in fear EVERY DAY and we're not even allowed to protect ourselves. We struggle with basic needs like having a house over our heads, and people get indignant at US when we get upset about it, like we don't know any better?” He began to rant at her, she quietly listened though she didn't really have any other choice. She couldn't overpower him without her sword, she's too light to win in a test of strength.

“No, and just because the Ash War took place doesn't mean that all of our society is stupid, we underestimated how dangerous the Riftfallen were... But no one will listen to us. This is why we've come to this point of desperation.” He admitted, Lily looking at the ground some. “This is going too far! I understand you're upset... I understand how all of you feel, but violence isn't going to get ANYONE to listen to you. All you're doing is damning the people of your cause to look like violent sociopaths who aren't worth getting any attention.” She argued, but he just lightly chuckled at that.

“You think we haven't tried passing petitions to parliament? The entire thing is a farce, bills get argued, revised constantly before getting shut down because someone bribed an official to veto it.” He complained, Glaring at the young adult. “We're the necessary evil. We're the final cry of a nation about to be crushed under the weight of control. Maybe from what we're doing the companies holding our government in their back pocket will understand just how desperate the less fortunate can be when it comes to these troubled times we live in.” He added, Lily struggled a bit more, but Wolf grabbed her by the collar to slightly lift her off her feet.

“If you really had such a noble cause, you'd disband RIGHT NOW. You can be good people who want to change how things work if it makes you so unhappy!” She pleaded, but he just lightly shook his head. “It's far too late, my friend. We're here so the people will never be ignored again.” He answered, snapping one of his fingers as two people grabbed on to her so he could promptly let go. “It appears we're running out of time. Fox, Bull, Make this a day to remember for her, okay?” He asked the two people grabbing onto Lily, one promptly kneeing her in the stomach so hard she lurched forward in pain.

The other one shoved her to the ground, leaning over her and starting to punch her hard in the face over and over again. The first one kicking her in the stomach, and since she didn't have her sword, she couldn't block it using Pulse. She gripped her stomach in pain as she was kicked over and over again. The sharp pain in her ribs growing more and more as it felt like her ribs were cracking. She felt her vision begin to blur as one of them woke her up quickly by gripping her long blonde hair in their hands, lifting her head a couple of feet off the ground.

She groaned in pain, as one pulled a blade and hacked at her hair, cutting her long white-gold locks and forcing her face to smash back in the ground, her roughly cut hair draping her face as smashing in the cement knocked her out cold. Her armlet began to ring and go off, signifying that she's taken enough damage to be considered for evacuation. Wolf turned around and walked back over to the duo as they looked at her unconscious body.

“Well that's unfortunate.” He stated, Looking at the now injured Lily laying on the ground, he reached up to grab onto one of their shoulders. “Let's get going before they arrive.” He stated, climbing into the truck and turning on the ignition as the 10 or so members of Silent Fall all headed inside the back of the truck, closing the double doors as they quickly sped off.
Lily's hand communicator began to pick up a signal from Maria as she finally spoke up. “Hey Lily, I'm sorry that I couldn't show up... Monster have begun to flood the streets, I had to dip into the back alleyways and it's been taking up a ton of my time.” She explained, though Lily couldn't even hear what she was saying. “Unfortunately it will be another 10 or 15 minutes before I could even show up anywhere near where I think you currently are. I hope you didn't do anything stupid.” She added, sounding a bit concerned.

“Lily? Where are you? Answer already!”  

Spectrum #18: Fear, Part 2

So 'Fear' is going to be 3-5 chapters long... Woops.

Chapter 18: Fear, Part 2

The doors to the helicopter as it arrived to it's destination. It was hovering just above the height of most of the buildings around the mall which would make it about 50 feet in the air. One of them was coiling up rope, latching it to a tie on near the floor and tossing it out the side, watching it unravel and just touch the ground. The other one was looking at the 8 students currently inside with him as he explained. “Those are what you should tell the citizens when you see them. Please try to keep them calm and rational so we don't cause any issues. Understood?” He asked, teams Solstice and Equinox both nodding their head in comprehension as he lowered the fourth rope to the ground. He stood up and got out of the way, pointing for each one to go one at a time.

“Go! Go! Go!” He shouted, As Erika, Morgan, Robin and Florence all grabbed onto one of the ropes and started to slide down them, out of the helicopter and onto the pavement below. Next to that helicopter, a second one with team KLP were descending at roughly the same time. They grabbed their weapons in hand and ran to the front doors of the massive mall facility and it's stone tile painted style and walls of glass panes, some shattered or cracked. Inside the helicopter, Team Solstice were currently hesitating.

“Uhh..” Lily stammered, trying to stall a bit as Caleb quickly wrapped the rope around one wrist and dove out of the helicopter with a gusto. “Awww yeah!” He shouted, his voice slowly fading out from under the rotor wash. Jonah sighed, lifting the rope in one hand and looking at it. “Well this isn't going to be fun.” He muttered, slowly getting on his knees and falling out of the chopper while grabbing the rope firmly. “OH GOD!!!” He shouted as he panicked, but he knew as soon as he would let go he would just be a splatter on the pavement, so he held on for his life as the friction through his fingers made it quite damn hot to hold the rope, hot enough that he let go about 5 feet from the ground and landed flat on his back.

“I'm scared, Maria..” Lily admitted, watching Caleb laugh at Jonah quietly as he tried to get up and dust himself off. Maria lightly punched him on the shoulder. “I don't know about you, but jumping out of a helicopter is probably going to be the least fucking crazy thing we're going to do today, might as well not be afraid about it.” Maria commented, Leaping out of the helicopter gripping the rope, she was wearing black gloves which took the brunt of the fiction, landing on her hands and knees at the last second as she let go.

“Great...” Lily sighed, Closing her eyes and leaping out of the helicopter gingerly. “AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” She shouted, but she was holding so tight she nearly slid down inches at a time, totaling about 3 minutes of sliding down a 50 foot rope with her eyes closed. She got off and looked around, her hands shaking as she realized Maria had her face right into her palms. “That was... Shameful.” Maria groaned with a muffled face, Lily sighing and walking past her out of embarrassment to the front door of the mall. “Sorry..” She squeaked, Maria sighing and walking up to the front door of the mall as Rodney looked at them sternly as they assembled in a rough group.

“Me and my team are going in, We will be sending people this way for you guys to evacuate... To make this quick, each separate into groups of two and quickly get them to the safe houses” He explained, nodding their head in response. And without reply, team KLP kick the door open and run in, Maria noticed that inside the door was pretty much full of rift fallen of various kinds that need to be wiped out before they could even get the civilians out of the huge mall. Maria turned back to her team and watched them as they quietly waited, after a while. People began to funnel out and group up near them as they tried to keep them calm enough to listen.

First was Jonah and Caleb, who took about 8 people before leaving. Next was Morgan and Erika, taking another 9 people with them as well. Robin and Florence left together which finally left Maria and Lily to get their own group of people. Eventually, about 6 people funneled in. Lily walked up to a man in his thirties and looked at him with a concerned look on her face. “Is that everyone?” She asked him simply, he looked back at the window and looked through the door. “I didn't see anyone else behind me.” He replied flatly.

Lily frowned and looked back at Maria, who currently had her hands on her hips as she observed the small group of men and women. “Should we keep waiting?” She asked, Maria looked at the floor with a frown as she quietly thought it over. “Honestly, we should just take who we have.” Maria answered, Lily frowning a little bit. “Well... okay.” She replied, but a woman in her 40's came up to grab Maria on the shoulder. “W-wait!” She shouted, Maria looking up at her and lightly grabbing her hand to pull it off her shoulder.

“My son! He ran off with my husband and promised him that they would get it out... Have you two seen a child along with a man in a black shirt, a beard and slicked back hair?” She asked, her voice shaky in the panic she was currently in. Lily shook her head to that as well. “I don't remember any little boys coming out of the mall...” She replied, The mother looking at the floor upset as she looked at the two Spectrum members, tears beginning to roll down her eyes.

Maria looked at the floor before reaching up to place a hand onto the woman's shoulder, looking her in the eyes with her red ones. “I'm going in to get him.” She answered abruptly, The woman looking up with a tearful smile of hope. Lily walked up to her and turned Maria toward her. “Wait! But I need you to come with me.. What if I'm under attack by a big pack of riftfallen?” She asked out of concern, But Maria slightly smiled at her, which was a very strange thing to see.

“You'll be fine, just don't do anything stupid. I'm gonna get that boy and his dad, it will only take a minute.” She answered, Lily nodding lightly as Maria tried to reassure her. “Just... Be careful, okay?” Lily asked, and Maria lightly poked her on the forehead. “When haven't I been careful?” Maria asked confidentially, before Lily quickly came up with some answered. “Well there was that one time yo-” Maria covered her mouth with one hand, frowning at her. “Nevermind.” She took back her previous statement once evidence came up to the contrary, as Lily quickly took a step away and signaled the 6 or so people to begin following her.

The woman shouted at Maria before she left. “They were on the second floor at an electronics store, last time I saw them! The boy's name is Sam!” She detailed, Maria turning back to the door and taking a deep breath as they left, Maria turned to the doors of the huge mall and lightly pushed them open. The mall was pretty huge and white on the inside. It had 3 layers of walkways stacked atop each other connected by currently non operating escalators.

Littering the floor in front of Maria was corpses of Riftfallen on the floor which was slowly turning into piles of ash, the black blood contrasting with the white and blue floor tiles. Having that much blood in one place gave off a pungent smell of rotting compost or something about as unpleasant. She looked up along the walkways and noticed that on the third floor, they were fighting some kind of huge scorpion creature. She could hear the sound of metal striking bone and the crackling rush of fire and electricity resonating through the massive open area. She quickly ran past the pile of corpses littering the floor and hopped over the small piece of plastic blocking one of the escalators from use. Once she got to the top, she began to scan the area, checking each store to see if there was an electronics shop. Unfortunately, there seemed to be more than one. This required her to search each one at a time.
Maria approached the first one quietly, gripping one of the blades strapped to her back as she pressed herself against a corner, leaning around the corner to find some blood stains on the ground along with knocked over headsets and cell phones from looters in a bustle to grab what they can before they leave. She ducked her head and quickly slipped into the store, using the aisles as covers as she looked around for the small boy she's supposed to look for. But the limited floor space of the mall made it so by the third aisle she found, she would have quickly ran out do space.

She sighed a mixture of relief and worry as she didn't have to get into a fight just yet, but still had to extend the search for the kid and his father in a pretty dangerous situation when every second counts. She quickly ran to the next store, only to realize that not only the cage was down on the front of the store, to not let anyone in. Ontop of that, 4 Riftfallen were preying over a body. It was pretty much mangled beyond recognition, it was actually pretty damn gross for Maria to see, even if she was desensitized to quite a bit of violence and gore. She dipped behind a guardrail protecting people from falling from the second floor and inspected the scene more thoroughly, hoping the fact she's indoors won't blow her scent downwind.

She couldn't recognize the man, but behind the gate was a small boy, hugging his own knees and crying while tucked underneath a desk. He had a blue and white shirt with his favorite superhero on it, short brown hair and a cut under one of his cheeks. The monsters seem to be mutated forms of large felines, possibly escaped from a zoo or a magic show that might have been in town when the invasion stuck. They had a jet black carapace coating their body, glowing red eyes and long saber like teeth with ridges nearly similar to some kind of serrated butchers knife. They were big too, each one looked nearly twice her size.

Maria quietly drew her blades, focusing the pulse into her legs, she lunged with a massive force into the fray of monsters, plunging both swords into one of their skulls before it realized what happened to kill it instantly in a massive geyser of black colored blood, Before launching in the air with a back flip to get away as the other three snapped their heads up at her nearly unnaturally when they get her attention. One sprung at her, claws out as it tried to slash at her. This caused Maria to flinch instinctively in shock and roll away. Maria tumbled off to one side, accidentally crashing into a potted plant and breaking it, coating herself in dirt.

She dusted herself off and grumbled before being forced on the back foot by the other two attacking her. One landed an attack that she blocked with her Pulse, while quickly dodging the other fast enough to slash at it, lobbing it's hand off in one clean shot. The tiger monster stumbled on it's severed leg as Maria spun one of her blades to jab it into the base of his neck like an ice pick to kill it as well.

She snapped back around to notice that they were on each side of her, when suddenly the one behind her sprouted jet black tendril like appendages, wrapping around her ankles and digging in deep enough to cut her if she wasn't wearing the specialized armor. But she still had her legs pinned down as they both pounced to bite her throat. She panicked and quickly dropped to her stomach, both flying over her, the one with the tendrils around her leg managed to leap OVER THE GUARDRAIL and send Maria plummeting down with him.

Before hitting the ground, she sliced the tendrils from her legs before smashing flat on her back from the 10 foot drop. It wasn't enough to badly injure her, but it still is never nice to fall off anything 10 feet height. She tried to catch her breath, but from her peripheral, the tiger attacked her once again. She panicked and quickly latched her hand on her blade, which conveniently enough was close enough to reach.

She rolled out of the way so it'd miss, but when it turned to swipe at her, she rolled to her feet and leaped on-top of it. It sprouted more tendrils, wrapping around her torso and forcing her close to it, as spikes began to spurt from it's shoulder blades, one of which slices Maria's face.
Maria growled and reached up to swiftly slice it's throat, then screamed to slice it again, again and again until she was only cutting bone.

The thrashing began to weaken until it collapsed, the tendrils slowly released her. She stood up, ran over to grab her other sword and make it back to the stairs, where the other tiger was watching her from the top of it. “Come get me...” Maria goaded it, knowing that it didn't even have the mental capacity to speak. It bared his teeth and leaped at her, Maria responding by leaping with equal force, cutting his head off with a quick spin and ducking it's own attack as she landed on the escalator... incorrectly.

She then proceeded to fall down every step of the escalator, bashing her head firmly against the metal and plastic railing used to normally block it off when it's closed. This caused a ringing all the way to Maria's teeth as her vision began to lose focus. “FUCK!” She groaned in pain, punching a wall as she stumbled back to her feet, panting softly as she climbed back up the escalator to get back where she was before.

She got back to the corpse of the man, now currently unoccupied by anyone trying to eat it. She frowned and turned to the closed gate, reaching up to grab the metal bars and speak loudly and clearly. “Sam?” She asked, with no response from the kid. “Hey! Sam!” She shouted instead, trying to get his attention. “I AM RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU, BRAT, JUST SAY IF YOU'RE SAM ALREADY!” She shouted at him, but the kid sniffled and curled up tighter into a ball as her yelling made him upset.

Gale commented on her shoulder for a quick remark. “Not good with kids I see, eh Maria?” Maria glared up at him with frustration. “Let's see you do better.” She complained, he just chirped indignantly at her. “I can't! I'm technically not real!” Maria sighed and shook her head. “Look, I'll try. If it doesn't work, I'll let you speak for me.” She answered, knowing that Gale could technically possess her at will even when usually he opts not to. “And you trust me enough to do that?” He asked inquisitively.

Maria sighed and nodded some, he dissipated as Maria sifted down to bend her legs, both hands grabbing lower on the bars. “Come out, I have candy!” She shouted at the kid, the kid sniffling and shouting back at her. “Strangers who give people candy are weird!” He cried back at her. Maria groaning and planting her face right in her palm. “Look, if you come with me, I won't punch you in the face.” She offered the preposition, which once again failed when he replied. “That doesn't sound helpful at all!” Maria stood back up and turned around. “Uhh... I suck with kids, okay?” She admitted quietly.

Gale responded briefly. “I promise this will be quick.” He answered, as Maria felt her body lose control, almost like she became paralyzed in her own mind. Her eyes began to brightly glow red as she turned around, looking down at the boy and speaking with a much quieter, friendly sounding voice. “I'm from Spectrum. Your mother told me to come find you, where's your dad?” He added, The kid wiping his eyes using his sleeves as he looked up at the odd glowing eyed girl.

“H-he closed the gate with me inside... And then the monsters got him... He's on the floor behind you.” He answered, Gale looking back at the mangled mess on the floor and frowning as he turned to face the boy again. “I'm really sorry, Sam.” He admitted, knowing about how loss feels. “Your mom is okay, Do you want to come see her?” He asked, The kid crawling out from under the desk and nodding his head. “Are the monsters gone?” He questioned Gale, as he stood up and looked at the corpses of the tigers.
They were slowly fading into ash on the ground, and he smiled and looked up at Sam to speak reassuringly. “Yeah.. It's safe, but we need to make haste or it'll not be safe again. Please open the gate?” Gale inquired, Sam pulled a key from his pockets and walked up to the gate and held it in front of it. “Uhh... You promise you won't punch me or give me weird candy?” He worried, Gale giving a gentle smile only he could muster even if it was plastered on Maria's bitter face. “Of course not.” He replied, the child opening the gate and climbing underneath it as Gale released control of Maria. The smile suddenly becoming Maria's sullen frown.

“Uhh... Let's get going, kid.” She said, standing up and gesturing him to follow her. He quietly followed her as she quietly helped him climb back over the broken escalators gates and head down them, slowly approaching the mall as the sounds of weapons clanging and growling could be heard in the background.

“I miss my dad...” The kid sniffled, Maria looking down at him as she put her hands in the pockets of her cargo pants, looking at the floor solemnly. “We all miss our parents when they go.” The kid looked up at her with a frown, punching her in the side of her abdomen. “Don't talk like you know! I saw him die in front of me!” He said frustrated at her, She didn't react, instead just staring quietly at him. “Kid, you and I are more alike than you think.” She answered without going into much detail. She got to the front door of the mall, pushing it open and waiting for the kid to walk though.

“And what's that supposed to mean?” He asked, confused as what she meant by her comparison. Maria just kept walking at a brief pace to get to the shelter as fast as she could without losing this kid by running away from him. “My parents are dead... A lot of parents are dead because of this. You better be lucky you still have your mother.” Maria lectured, the kid looking at the pavement as they began to head down the road Lily was going down earlier.

“Well.. How did you fight off those big tigers by yourself without getting hurt if my dad couldn't?” He asked her, trying to let go of his anger he had because no one showed up fast enough to save his dad. “I trained for this, members of Spectrum get tools so they can protect people.” She answered, but the kid just look puzzled at her. “Why Spectrum members? Why can't everyone be able to train to protect themselves?” He asked, but Maria just shrugged her shoulders.

“Apparently people used to... something went wrong. I kind of never sweat those details since they don't affect me.” She replied, but the kid punched her in the side again. “You shouldn't say that! If you work for the good guys, maybe you should think about things!” He tried to present an argument to her, though he was sound... he was also only 10 years old. “I guess, but we don't really know either way.” Maria replied, not entirely sure if she could even present an answer worth any value since well... She hated politics with a passion and citizen rights is a completely different study than stabbing monsters in the face.

Suddenly, the transmitter on Maria's arm began to ring. She held it in front of her mouth and pressed the button. On the other line was Lily, sounding somewhat distressed even if the audio was slightly distorted sounding. “Maria, you there?” Lily asked, Maria quickly replying by tapping a button to turn on the microphone built into it. “Yeah, I got the kid.” She added to her reply, Lily sighing of relief just a bit as she continued the situation report. “That's fantastic.” She replied, before clearing her throat a bit to tell Maria the real reason why she's signaling her.

“I've told the group to move on ahead to the shelter since they're close enough, but it seems we've encountered a big problem...” She mentioned, Maria inquisitively raising a brow.
“And that means...?” Maria asked, unsure and a bit concerned as to what she was trying to say. “There's a massive robbery taking place at a factory we were passing, not just the typical looter... These guys are wearing black robes and are all wearing masks.” She explained, Maria looked even more puzzled, glancing over to the kid who was watching her very curiously as they spoke. “So? Let the police or SWAT handle criminals, we're here for Riftfallen.” Maria replied, Lily sighing out of frustration. “I can't, They're attacking any civilians who have happened to witness them. I managed to slip the people from the mall by quietly enough... But as a Spectrum member I can't just sit by and watch innocent people get robbed on such a grand scale.” Lily explained to Maria to try and get her to see her point.

“And? Send in backup if it concerns you so much...” Maria shrugged off her complaints once again, as Lily made a squeakish growl noise. “You ARE my back up, YOU DULLARD! Everyone else is occupied and you're the closest to me, please come here and help me!” Lily protested, Maria sighing a bit and looking down at the kid once again. “I'll be there as soon as possible.” She answered, matter of fact-like.

“Thank you.” Lily said before Maria turned her own microphone off. “So what does that mean?” The boy asked Maria, she turned to face Sam as she began to walk off at a brisker speed. “We're going to be in for a long night.” Maria replied, taking off to go help Lily as soon as possible.“It's 3 PM.” He corrected her quickly, Maria looking at him incredulously as he said that.

“Shut up, Sam.”

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.