It was the first time Volcan had ever been in a café so early in the morning, when people were coming in for their morning cup on their way to work or to have with their breakfast. At first, he’d struggled with the idea of stepping inside, and outright refused when he saw the crowd in there, simply telling Obsidian what he would have and staying out in the parking lot.

She returned a moment later, carrying a tall cup of coffee for herself, and a danish for Volcan. “Sure you don’t want a drink?” She asked.

“I can’t really consume liquids,” replied Volcan. “Carbonated beverages are sometimes safe but anything water-based will actually hurt me.”

“So you’re really not just any avian, are you?” she asked. “Your brother channelled lightning, but you weren't hurt by it either, yet you are harmed by liquids. So, that's not just some metagene, is it?”

Volcan shook his head. “No,” he said. “I'm... I'm a phoenix; Lighris is one as well. I am of the fire element, he's of lightning. His species are often mistakenly referred to as Thunder Birds or Lightning Hawks, but they're another phoenix species.”

“Different elements? Are you… adopted, then, or is he?”

“No, we’re related by blood,” answered Volcan. “Lightning on our father's side, fire on our mother's; fire and lightning just can’t meld into anything, so there’s no hybrid element between us.”

“Hybrid ele- sorry, getting off track,” Obsidian caught herself, pushing aside her curiosity as she sat on the hood of her car, sipping her drink as Volcan ate the danish. “Okay… so. You’re name’s Volcan, right? Would that be, Skilerain, like your brother?”

“Skilerain is our father’s name, but I use our mother’s maiden name; MacAingeal,” replied Volcan.

“Ah, so you're Scottish, then?” She asked.

Volcan nodded. “I've lived in Canada for all of my life, but my family did come here from Scotland over four hundred years ago,” he explained, and then cleared his throat before adding. “It’s… nice to meet you. Sorry if I’m a bit late saying so.”

“Likewise,” she replied, smiling kindly at him. “Okay… so, you ready to talk about that night?”

Volcan let out a nervous breath. “Where should I start?”

“Start with how you met her. And, don’t spare any details - I promise you, I’m ready for it, and whatever I have to use for the case. But you're not a suspect, so I have no reason to take you in; it's just you and me,” she made an outward motion with her hand.

Volcan took in another deep breath, letting it out slowly before he began. “Okay… When I met her, last night, she was looking for clients outside an office on Branders.”

As he had with Lighris, Volcan explained everything that had happened that night, from Natalie’s first words with him to the men who attacked her, his walking her to the motel and - unlike he had with Lighris, also admitted to staying with her for several hours, as he guessed Obsidian already knew since the motel had surveillance cameras. He continued his story from when he left and went home - withholding the actual location of his ‘home’ with Obsidian’s approval as he didn’t want it known yet.

“When I went out the following night,” he carried on, “I stopped by the motel; I just wanted to check on her, make sure she was okay. What I found was… your crime scene.”

Obsidian, in the process of taking another sip of her coffee, lowered the cup from her lips as Volcan concluded his story, could plainly see the guilt chiselled into his face as he stared at his half-finished danish. “I’m sorry…” she said.

“I know… I barely knew her, but I still feel responsible,” the phoenix replied. “I suppose that's what has brought us here now, to have this conversation.” He put his hand over his heart. “I just wish I could have protected her.”

“You did protect her, but those men were never going to let her walk away,” Obsidian returned, taking a hand from her cup and placing it on Volcan’s arm comfortingly.

She noted he was hot to the touch. Not hot enough to burn, but much warmer than any warm-blooded mammal she’d ever made contact with. She felt like she was touching a warm length of pipe, leading to a furnace, yet his feathers were soft and… oddly comforting, just to touch them; she hadn’t expected them to feel so smooth as they did. She had to hold back the urge to run her fingers through his feathers, and continued speaking so as not to leave her statement hanging.

“You stepped in despite the danger to yourself. Nobody could have asked for more.”

“Still… why would they go so far? They called her a Psionic but she didn’t show any power of any kind.”

“Some lower levels of psionic aren’t aware of their powers,” Obsidian explained, pulling her hand back. “Others, even of higher levels, might know, but be in denial of them; it’s not hard to lock them behind a mental wall and pretend they aren’t there, like a bad memory - both come from the mind.”

“I’m thinking for her it was the former. The men seemed keen on finding out what she was, but then decided to kill her; I guess whatever they wanted her for, she wasn’t up to the task.”

“Have they come after you?” Obsidian asked, concerned.

“No. At least, not yet,” replied Volcan. “I’m fully expecting they might try though, knowing they’d go after Natalie when she wasn’t even a threat to them.”

“What will you do?”

“Hide, for a while; relocate if I have to,” replied Volcan, sadly. “Be a shame if I had to do the latter… I love that to-” He caught himself. “I like this area… far from Alberta’s most bustling cities but lively enough to stay interesting. Plus, close to family.”

Obsidian nodded in understanding. “Yeah… Unity Falls has its perks,” she admitted, looking up at the sky as she leaned back on the hood of her car. “Sits right on the U.S and Canada border; you only need to walk a few miles to say you’ve visited another country.” She jested, and Volcan chuckled. “And it’s hard to say whether Canadian burgers or American ones are better when you’re having both in the exact same place!”

Volcan laughed, welcoming it and looking at the dragoness. “Thanks; I needed that.”

“Anytime,” she replied, patting his arm. “But in all seriousness, Volcan,” she pulled her hand back and sat up, reaching into her pocket for her wallet and producing a card. “If you ever need anything, my number’s on here.” She handed the paper card to him. “Don’t hesitate to call if you need any help.”

“I’ll… sure,” Volcan replied, accepting the card from her and looking at it. “Thank you, officer.”

“Just Obsidian, or ‘Sid’ if you like,” she replied, smiling again. “We’re of the same kind; we should look out for each other.”

“Same kind?” Volcan asked, pointing to himself and then to her.

“I don’t know if there’s a word for it, but we’re both things that don’t, or shouldn’t, exist,” she said. “What’s on the surface doesn’t change that fact - we’re supposed to be fictional, yet here we are outside a café shooting the breeze.”

“Your race, namely dragons, chose to live among society though and do so by hiding your powers; I can’t. Not without losing my anonymity anytime I brush against someone,” he looked despairingly at his wings. “One touch could give me away.”

“I touched you; you’re warm, but not abnormal.”

“That’s because you haven’t made me angry,” replied Volcan. “If you agitated me in any way, you’d feel more heat. One over-entitled mom or her kid, one drunkard looking for a brawl, one spoiled rotten brat or just an all-around asshole, they lay a hand on me and they’ll feel like they put their hand on a hot stove.”

“Wait, I don’t follow,” Obsidian said. “You’re saying people you don’t like will get burnt just by touching you?”

“Something like that, yes. They won’t combust – unless I'm actively trying to kill them, but it’s a sure-fire way to know - oh god, I didn’t mean to make that pun,” he rolled his eyes. “Anyway… it’s a sure way to know if I don’t like you, if it hurts to touch me. Because of that, I can’t really go out in public.”

“Isn’t there some way to control that? Suppress it?”

“If there is a way, I don’t know it,” replied Volcan. “Lighris deals with the same thing, but he found a way to ground his powers. Other phoenix types besides mine or his have little trouble hiding their powers; they can look like any other avian and their elements aren't usually apparent in their anatomy. Modern technology gave Lighris the means to hide what he is with the use of rubber bands to ground his powers, which he wears under his clothes. But for me?” He shook his head. “No such way… that’s why I can’t live in the city, or enter,” he pointed at the café. “Crowded places.”

Obsidian leaned back her head, rolling her eyes skyward. “Now it makes sense,” she said, and sighed. “Bummer… I guess we’ll just have to stick to drive-thru from now on,” she added, giving an exaggerated shrug. “Anyway, you got my number. Call me up sometime. Can be if you need help, or can just be if you need someone to talk to.”

“How will I know if it’s a good time or not?”

“I’ll let you know. I would say try not to call me at work, but kind of hard to know when I’m there – my hours change pretty often,” she shrugged. “Still, you don’t have to be alone out here, Volcan. Believe it or not, there may be more potential friends out there for you than you think.” She winked at him, before she moved to unlock her car door. “Oh, do you want a lift back to Lighris’ before I take off?”

Volcan nodded. “Sure.” He replied before he stuffed the last of the danish into his beak, swallowing it as he went around to the passenger side door, and climbed into the car after Obsidian unlocked it.

“Target identity confirmed,” spoke the team lead as they watched the car leaving the cafe parking lot from inside the safe confines of the transport, hovering overhead. “Target is in the company of a dragon female; confirmed, Officer Obsidian Kimoyama of the Unity Falls Police Department, currently off the clock. How shall we proceed, command?”

Do not approach until he has left the side of the dragoness,” a voice chimed into his ear.

The masked figure stiffened sharply as he registered whose voice was in his ear. “Doctor?” The team lead asked.

“I will be personally monitoring this mission, Commander Three,” replied the voice. “I have my own curiosities about this avian who was able to outfight you and two of your men.”

“I assure you sir, he will not get away,” Commander Three promised. “We will apprehend him.”

“I expect so, because I will be watching,” stated the doctor. “Now, as ordered; wait until the dragoness leaves him before making your move. Being seen by the police could compromise our entire operation in this area; that will not be tolerated.”

“Understood. We’ll continue monitoring until the police officer leaves.”

“When she is gone, engage the Disruptor; make this a swift, clean capture.”

“Understood, doctor. We will report back when we have our opportunity.”

Obsidian brought the car to a slow, comfortable stop in front of Lighris’ house, putting it into park and looking at Volcan. “There we are; that’ll be twenty bucks.” She grinned when she saw Volcan’s blank look. “I’m kidding! Relax,” she said, folding her arms over the steering wheel and leaning against it. “I guess I’ll see you around then?”

“I hope so,” Volcan replied, smiling at the dragoness. “Thank you.”

“For what? You’re the one helping me,” she returned, tilting her head curiously.

“I guess I just feel better knowing someone is looking for the ones who killed Natalie,” replied Volcan. “She didn’t deserve what happened to her; just a girl who made a bad move in life, and whoever did it deserves to be brought to justice for it.”

Obsidian nodded in agreement. “You have my promise; I’ll do everything I can to find her killers,” she said. Her eyes drifted to the dashboard clock of her car, and she groaned. “Sooner than you think. I need to get home and get ready for work; I’m back on in two hours.”

Volcan nodded. “I’ll let you get to it,” he said, and started to climb out of the car, when a thought occurred to him. “Officer; you mentioned that there are ‘other friends’ out there for someone like me,” he reminded. “The way you said it, do you know such people?”

She smiled broadly at the question. “You are not the only... unique individual, I've met,” she said. “Let's just say I seem to have a talent for attracting people with backstories that sound like something out of a movie.” She shrugged. “Like you though, they like to keep to themselves and 'll make sure I respect that preference.” She said those words as much as a promise as they were a statement. “Take care of yourself, Volcan.”

“You as well, off-” He caught himself as his hand hovered near hers, and quickly corrected himself as he grasped her hand and shook it, surprised by the softness of her scales. “Obsidian. It was great to meet you.”

“Likewise,” she replied, and waited until he was out of the car and the door closed before shifting her car into reverse to back up and turn around.

With that, Volcan turned and started toward the house. He saw the door open, and Lighris stepping out quickly, eyeing him with concern. “You okay bro?”

“Fine,” he replied. “I think… better I have been in a little while.”

“What’d she say?”

“That there are friends out there for people like us,” he replied. “I guess I made one today.”

Lighris stared down the driveway where Obsidian was just making a left turn to merge with the range road and head toward the highway. “You really think you can trust her to keep your secret? Or, our secret now, as it turns out?” 

Volcan considered the question for a moment, before he answered with a nod. “Yes,” he replied solemnly. “We're not the only ones whose secret she knows, or is keeping safe on their behalf. I doubt we'll be the last.”

Lighris let out a sigh. “Well… I suppose I can give her the benefit of the doubt, then.”

“And an apology for threatening her,” Volcan added pointedly.

“Hush! It was defensive.”

“Defensive for what? She wasn’t even threatening you.”

“She showed up outta the blue asking about you; how should I have reacted? Especially when it was clear I wasn’t going to trick her.”

"Well I don't know, but threatening a cop is kinda stupid. You're lucky she didn't hold it against you."

Lighris waved him off. "Then it's not worth worrying about."

Volcan rolled his eyes. "Even to this day, you can never admit when you're wrong."

"Because I rarely am."

"That is bullsh-urk!" Volcan's retort was cut off as a sickly feeling washed over him then, and a throbbing pain coursed through him, from his head down to his feet. It was only for an instant, but it had made him nearly spill the breakfast Obsidian had bought for him, and he sank to his knees, clutching himself.

He looked up at Lighris, and saw his brother similarly sickly, but keeping his feet unlike the younger avian; he managed to find his way to the wall of the house and leaned against it for support stubbornly refusing to fall.

"Command, update," Commander Three reported, speaking carefully into the microphone in his mask. "Disruptor field showing effects on both target and the one with him; we may have two metahumanoids, repeat, two."

"Two, in one place? This is a fortuitous turn of events," the voice of the doctor purred over the mic. "New orders, Commander Three. Capture both of the avians; subdue and bring them in."

"The fuck is going on?" Lighris demanded, shaking his head as the nausea began to wane after a long, exhausting moment. He could still feel a weakness over him, as if he had just come out of an adrenaline rush and the accumulated fatigue was now falling over him.

He could see his brother was faring no better, as Volcan was clearly putting great effort into getting back to his feet. Lighris moved to help him, only to become aware of the rush of wind buffeting him from overhead and the whir of motors propelling it like the downdraft of a helicopter, yet as he looked up he couldn't see anything that such a sound could belong to… until a shape seemed to materialize before his eyes, appearing as if from behind a wall that had been pulled aside.

A fixed-wing, twin-rotor VTOL hovered at a low altitude above them. The craft was unlike any vehicle, air or otherwise, that Lighris had ever seen, with a rounded nose like a commercial plane, but a short cylindrical body ending in a wide flaring tail and rudder. The silvery body was dotted with tiny, black hexagonal shapes - the purpose of which he could not determine, and a swivel-mounted minigun below the nose.

Lighris balked at the sight of the vehicle, not sure what to make of it; it didn't look military, certainly nothing the Canadian Armed Forces or the Royal Air Force had access to, to his knowledge. He had worked on some military vehicles, either decommissioned or brought in on contract to a local base a few hours from Unity Falls; he had seen many vehicles there, new and old, and designed with typical military uniformity. This was not like those; this craft looked years ahead of anything that conventional armies had access to yet appeared just as capable as anything the army or air force might have.

As they watched, doors appeared to either side of the craft, sliding open and allowing for six men in tactical gear to rappel out the doors, falling fast toward them. It took only a moment for Lighris to remember the men Volcan had described to him the night before, and make the connection.

"Bro! Get up; we gotta go!" Lighris shouted, running over to Volcan's side to help him finish standing. 

One of the men landed, turning on Lighris and aiming a weapon at him. Lighris put up his hand; not in surrender, but to attack. But to his shock and utter disbelief, nothing happened; no lightning burst forth from his hand, not even a spark, nor did he feel the usual surge of power coursing through him as he tried to summon the element within him.

His powers…

They were gone…

Lighris felt stinging pain erupting across his body as the man fired at him, as though he were being attacked by a hundred angry wasps. He fell back, recoiling from the pain, but soon his anger erupted within him as he saw two more of the men moving for his brother, who was still collecting himself. Through sheer rage-fueled tenacity, Lighris ran into the volley of rubber bullets, shielding his eyes with his arm as bloody welts opened up all over his arm and dots of red appeared on his white shirt, and then seized the man in the mask, wrestling him for control of the weapon.

Volcan felt two men seizing him. Fight or flight instinct kicked in the moment he felt foreign hands touching him, and he threw out his arms, the two men thrown clear of him by his overwhelming strength. Another attacked him from behind, firing rubber bullets into his back; Volcan fell to one knee, but picked up a fist-sized rock and hurled it at the shooter. The masked assailant's weapon took the hit, as he turned, slamming into the frame and bending the loader; the gun stopped firing, unable to chamber its next round due to the damage.

Lighris was still fighting with the first attacker when two others seized him by his arms and wings, pulling him away from their comrade. Were his powers not somehow being suppressed, the men would've been electrocuted upon making contact with him, but they received no such attack, and the one he had been grappling with brought his weapon around and slammed the stock into Lighris face, dazing him.

As the two men restrained Lighris and pulled him toward them, the masked gunner - none other than Commander Three himself, turned to see how the other half of his team was faring. He saw one of the trying to correct his jammed weapon, and the other two being thrown aside like ragdolls. He took aim with his weapon, only to find he had emptied it in the struggle with the first avian.

Volcan saw him then, and his brother being hauled away. A look of murder crossed the red avian's features, and he charged at the man. Commander Three dropped his empty weapon, reaching for his pistol, and drawing it, but as he trained its sights upon the red avian, Volcan seized it from him, squeezing it in his hand. The slider and barrel caved in to the force of the avian's hand, falling to pieces as he released it, and the faceless commander was backhanded roughly by the angry avian.

The man was sent flying through the air to crash into the wall of the house; his body armour absorbed most of the impact but he still felt a jarring pain shoot through his back from the landing. The other three attackers leapt onto Volcan again, and tried to force him down, but to their collective shock, even their combined weight did not bring the metahumanoid avian down; still he stood, and still he threw them off like mere toys, growing angrier by the moment.

Three could do little else than call in what he was seeing. "Command, secondary target has been secured but primary target remains; we can't subdue him!"

"I can see that, Commander Three. It seems our fiery friend also possesses heightened strength that is not affected by the disruptor; it is completely natural to him," the voice of the doctor replied. "Are you carrying a Cyber Soldier?"

"No sir; we were not cleared to bring one."

"Employ cable restraints. That should hold him."

"Acknowledged! Pilot, deploy restraints!"

From above, the VTOL rotated itself and angled its nose toward Volcan, twin lasers beamed down from projectors on the nose to target his wrists as the three attackers pulled away from him. Volcan noticed the lasers, and looked up toward the ship, not knowing what was coming as the nose of the ship opened and two metal disks, linked by a twisting cable, shot toward him.

The disks, revealed as cuffs, snapped around his wrists,and the cable linking them let out a sound like bending steel as it grew taut and pulled his arms together at the wrist. Volcan pulled at the restraints, even using them to try and bludgeon one of the men as they attacked him again, but they ducked out of the way.

"Load more cuffs and go for his legs next, and then we-"

Behind his mask, Three's jaw fell wide open as the avian lifted his arms over his head, beak open in a furious cry of anguish as he pulled at them. The mechanisms inside the cuffs creaked in protest as he pulled, trying to pull the avian's arms back together. Blood swelled into Volcan's limbs, the muscles of his arms and chest bulging until finally, the cable snapped like fine twine, pieces of metal cable falling about and freeing his arms.

"Impossible! That line was a thousand pound test!" One of Three's men called.

The avian attacked again, this time armed with a deadly weapon; using the cuffs themselves like iron clubs, he bludgeoned the nearest of the masked attackers across the face, and the man howled with such agony that his modulator was overloaded, blurring his scream of agony with muffled static

"Command, restraints were ineffective!" Commander Three called in. "Subject is too strong!"

There was a short pause, and then the doctor's voice spoke out again. "Pull out. We'll come back for this one later."

"Sir, we are equipped for lethal force; we can-"

"Leave him! We will still collect him but I want him alive! Pull back and return to base, at once!"

"Understood." He shut off the transmitter, raising his voice to call out to his men. "Eyes up!" He warned as he plucked a flashbang grenade from his belt, pulling the pin and tossing it to Volcan's feet.

Barely cognizant of what had fallen below him, Volcan didn't register why the attackers threw their arms over their heads until it was too late. His vision exploded into white, all sound vanishing from the world to be replaced by a burning pain in his eyes and ears. He grabbed his head, not even able to hear his own scream as he staggered about, blind and deafened and screaming colourful profanity, unaware of what was happening around him.

As Volcan's vision slowly cleared, he found himself alone in the yard. The men, even the one who he had struck down, had vanished. He looked up, and to his horror saw the VTOL was gone as well, along with his brother. He couldn't hear himself shouting in denial, but he was not about to accept this; they would not take his family from him!

He ascended above the tree line, wings blazing and his eyes glowed brightly as he opened them wide, turning about in the air as the spectrum shifted, becoming a sea of dark blue and fluorescent coloured shapes - mostly the heat of birds or squirrels in the trees. In his fury, he did not even take into account the fact that his powers had returned until he found the easily distinguished shape of the airship flying southwards.

"You will not get away; I won't let you!" He screamed, despite being unable to hear it, beating his wings heavily as he angled himself forward, flying harder and faster than he had ever flown before.

Obsidian hummed to the music of the radio as she followed the highway back to the city, letting herself enjoy the music and the peace of the drive. It wouldn't be long before she would be stuck behind the steering wheel of her cruiser for hours on end. She wished she could take the night off; she had made a fascinating new friend and she wanted to spend more time getting to know him, and maybe even work out a way to introduce him to the friends she had mentioned, certain that he would have much to talk about with them.

Sadly, money talks, and duty calls - all that jazz, she thought with a chuckle.

She didn't know what prompted her to do so, but she glanced in her rearview mirror, back in the direction Lighris' home. Her content smirk faded as she saw fire… not a house fire, or even forest fire, but there was a flame streaking across the sky.

"What the…" she asked as she pulled her car over to the side and parked it, opening her door and stepping out to peer back in the direction she had seen the fire.

Not just a fire either, she realized. It was Volcan, flying hard across the sky, as if in pursuit of something. He was hurling fireballs at a target she couldn't see; she put her hands over her eyes, shadowing them as she tried to see what he was attacking, but other than a shimmering form ahead of him - which for all she knew could have just been the heat of his own fireballs, Obsidian could not see what had him in such a frenzy.

Obsidian put her hand to her head, closing her eyes as she tried to telepathically contact Volcan. She hoped she wouldn't frighten him; she doubted he had much experience with telepathic communication. 

She eventually established a link with his mind, and nearly severed it again when she felt a boiling rage coming from him. She tried to speak to him, but he didn't answer; he was too focused on something, something that distressed him, and he would not be diverted from it.

Obsidian decided to try something else, and delved deeper io Volcan's mind, connecting to him, until she opened her 'eyes'. But it was not her eyes she was seeing through, and the sight confused her. Everything was a myriad of colours that she could not make sense of, until she remembered where else she had seen this; in a movie, featuring a creature that had eyesight in a different spectrum from the people it had been hunting.

'Infrared vision. Holy cow, Volcan has infrared vision!' She thought, keeping her thoughts to herself so as not to alert Volcan and startle him.

Normally, she would have been happy to keep watching this, until she saw the explosion of red and yellow in front of her. Its shape was strange, and she knew it couldn't be the fireballs he had been throwing. It reminded her of a plane, but bulkier than any Cessna or jet plane she had ever seen, though she could not make out much else in the current spectrum.

'What the hell is that?' She demanded, breaking the connection and looking back in Volcan's direction; she could not see the 'vehicle' at all. Just that shimmering form he was chasing. "Cloaking? That's impossible!" She thought aloud.

She climbed back into her car, shifting it into drive and speeding. She picked out her phone, planning on calling the precinct knowing Volcan needed help, but she paused as she realised the absurdity of the moment. What was she even going to say?

'Hi boss, there's an invisible air vehicle flying across the skies being chased by a bird I just met today. Oh, and about that bird; he throws fireballs.'

That thought was followed by the image of Gregory and the sergeant on shift that night, staring at her in disbelief, before telling her to go home and 'clear her head' before being put on psych leave for a week. She shook her head, and she lifted the phone to her ear with a different explanation in mind. "Hey, Georgia? It's 'Sid here; can I ask a favour?"

"Hey 'Sid. Sure, what can I do for you?"

"I got a family emergency to tend to; can you let the sarge know I'm going to be late? An hour or so; no more than two."

"Can do. I hope everything's okay," Georgia replied.

"Me too," Obsidian replied, though was careful to keep her voice level so as not to betray how nervous she was. "Thanks, Georgia - I'll bring you a latte when I come in."

"Sounds lovely! Take care, Obsidian."

"Bye."

She hung up the phone, laying it aside and finding the phoenix, still in pursuit of his unseen opponent as she put both hands back on the steering wheel. She saw him changing course, heading further away from the city toward the Rocky Mountains, over the expansive forest that sat at the foot of the towering peaks.

"Better not make this a habit, Volcan," she stated as she made a sharp turn onto a side road heading into the forest, her engine roaring as she floored it down the dirt road.

The operatives aboard the VTOL held onto their seats for dear life as the ship banked and served in every conceivable direction, the pilot working hard to keep them out of the path of their pursuer’s furious attacks; through the front window of the cockpit, they saw every fireball that passed them, soaring through the air before burning themselves out and fading from existence.

“How the hell is he casting fire at us? Shouldn’t he be in range of the disruptor?” One of the retrieval team demanded of Commander Three as the vehicle pitched to the side to evade an attack from the pursuing avian. “And for that matter, how can he see us?!”

“The Disruptor’s range is limited to thirty meters,” the pilot explained. “It also has to be shifted to low power mode while the cloaking field is active; you can’t run both at once, and that cuts it range by eighty percent.”

“Well if the cloaking field is on, how is he still finding us?!” The same operative stated.

“That, I can’t explain,” the pilot admitted.

“Commander Three, what is going on out there?” The doctor’s voice chimed into Three’s ear. “You have deviated from your designated flight path.”

“We’re being pursued, doctor,” Three replied. “Our ship’s cloaking field is active but the pyrokinetic is still attacking; somehow he can still see us!”

There was a long silence from the doctor to follow, and it wasn’t until after Three called out to him that he finally responded. “Find some way to lose him and get back here; resort to lethal force if you must.”

“Understood,” he replied, grinning as he addressed his company. “Alright boys, weapons free! We’re taking that red bird out!”

The men cheered, and began exchanging the magazines in their SMG’s with live ammunition. The pilot, hearing the update from Three, angled the airship to the side as he flew over the forest, far from any prying eyes. Only then did he dare to lower the cloaking field and turn the ship around, flying in reverse as he put the avian in his sights.

“Eat hot lead, you fucking turkey!” The pilot shouted as his thumb pressed down on the firing button, and the minigun whirred to life.

Volcan blinked out of his infravision as he saw the airship light up brighter than before in his infrared spectrum, and saw quite clearly the VTOL’s mounted gun being aimed toward him. He fell into a dive, narrowly avoiding the spray of high velocity bullets as they whizzed over him; he pulled up before he could hit the treeline below, rushing under the vehicle.

The sickening sensation returned in full as he went under the vehicle, causing him to dip slightly and feeling the tip of the evergreen tree’s crown slamming into his chest. He fought hard to keep his aerial balance, climbing over the treetops before he could hit any more trees.

‘Whatever they have aboard that ship, it’s cutting me off from my powers,’ thought Volcan. ‘But it only took affect when I got close… it’s range has to be limited! My aim sucks at a distance though… I need to get to an angle for a better shot.’

Taking advantage of the speed he acquired from his dive, Volcan arched himself back and tilted his wings, angling himself to shoot skyward, flapping his wings hard to gain as much altitude as possible. The VTOL turned in pursuit of him, and also started to ascend, too fast for him to get where he wanted to before it had him in the sights of its gun again, forcing him to fall into a second dive. But he used this to his advantage, pulling his arms tight to his body and his legs together, his long waving tailfeathers folding back into its long, slender form as he tucked in his wings.

Volcan plunged with such speed, the rush of air around his face brought tears to his eyes; he hit speeds he had never reached before, feeling the strain it caused on his body as the ground rushed toward him. He spread his wings and opened his tail again as he reared himself as before, barely skimmed the top of the trees and feeling a tear open in his shirt but ignoring it as he he angled himself to shoot skyward.

The VTOL turned in his direction, but by the time it was facing the right way, Volcan was already above it, and he tested his powers, grinning in satisfaction as a ball of condensed fire appeared over his palm. He took aim and threw the fireball; he hit the ship’s cockpit, though the fire dissipated over the glass and caused little damage. He couldn’t reliably heat the metal without having time to concentrate, but that didn’t leave him without options, if he could just get a hot enough fireball into the right spot.

Once again, Volcan dove, arched back and shot up into the air, this time forming two fireballs, one in each hand as he poured more and more of his energy into them, until the flames were pale with intensity of the heat they generated. Finally he shot past the VTOL, so quickly, that they seemed to lose sight of him, for they did not try ascending to catch up as he climbed high overhead, seeing his flames were still active.

“Now or never,” he said as he combined the flames in each hand into one, taking careful aim and hurling the now large, white-hot fireball down with a thrust of his palms.

His aim proved true as the fireball found its target. The left rotor at the end of the wing was hit, and the VTOL careened awkwardly as it began flinging red-hot droplets from its whirring motor.

“What happened; why are we tilting?!” Commander Three demanded.

“The port-side rotor isn’t responding; I’m losing control!” The pilot shrieked in reply, struggling to keep the ship airborne even as its left half dipped ominously, until the starboard rotor was no longer sufficient to keep it up, and it began to fall.

“Hang on; we’re about to become a bulldozer!” The pilot screamed as the VTOL plunged into the trees below.

The sound was deafening as the VTOL spun out of control, plunging into the forest below, felling trees in its path. Volcan stayed high overhead to avoid the scattering debris from the crash, having to cover his ears with his hands while staying aloft with his wings. He waited until the dust began to settle before he started to descend, throwing caution to the wind.

Volcan landed hard at the edge of the clearing created by the crash, stumbling somewhat but he managed to regain his balance as he ran toward the VTOL. He had no idea what he was going to do, against these armed men; he was outnumbered, and they had some machine or device to disable his powers.

But they had his brother. Nothing else mattered; Volcan was not going to let them take Lighris…

He reached the cockpit, and slammed his fist through the windshield as he reached in for the pilot. His fingers brushed cloth, and he saw movement through the dusty glass as the pilot retreated. seconds later, bullets exploded through the glass as one of the men inside opened fire; white-hot pain shot up Volcan's arm as one of the bullets grazed him, and he instinctively jumped away, holding his bleeding arm.

The side door of the VTOL opened, and the men leapt out as Volcan ran for cover, diving behind a tree as more bullets flew. He felt more pain in his leg, crying out in agony as he hit the ground awkwardly and tumbled over to land on his back. He lifted his leg, seeing a spot in his jeans becoming wet with blood.

"Fuck!" He hissed.

He was in over his head, and now he knew it. He had supernatural strength and fire powers, the latter of which could not help him if he could not call them forth. He was not bulletproof, and Phoenix or not he could be killed as easily as any one of the men now closing in on him.

He was going to die, and then there would be no one to help his brother. Natalie's killers would never be brought to justice.

There was nothing he could do...

"Hey!"

The shout of protest was followed by the sound of metal hitting metal, and as Volcan listened, the sound repeated, perhaps a dozen times - or more, with multiple surprised yelps and demands of what was happening from the men on the other side of the tree.

Daringly, Volcan sat up, and peered around the tree. He felt a pull in his pocket, and when he looked down at it, he saw his wallet seemingly trying to escape his pocket. He had to lay his hand over it to keep it from flying out of his pocket, and realized from the shape that it was not the wallet itself, it was the coins inside of it that were pulling.

Volcan looked over to the VTOL, and saw to his great delight, Lighris was standing in the doorway. His hands were free, one of which was pressed flat on the hull of the downed airship outside the door, and the weapons of the six masked men - knives, SMG's and pistols all, were all stuck to the side of the ship, their metal frames magnetized to the steel outer hull.

Lighris had his powers back. Which meant…

"Disruptor is inactive!" The leader shouted, coming to the same conclusion as the phoenix.

Volcan's eyes flew to the man in question; his mask was missing, allowing Volcan to finally see his face. The shape of his mask had hidden it, seemingly a mask for a canid, but this figure was not canid; he was feline, a Lynx with gray fur, dark grey accents and green eyes. His fur had been cut short, and he still wore a facemask with a speaker, its bulky form having added to the mistaken identity of him being canid.

Volcan used all the strength in his good leg to jump out of hiding, throwing himself at the lynx; one of his men shouted a warning, but he was too late. The lynx turned in horror at the Phoenix throwing himself upon him, picking him up over his head as easily as if he were lifting a child and then throwing the lynx hard into the ground, knocking the wind out of him.

Lighris lifted his other hand then and cast a net of lightning at the other men as they tried to collect themselves. The men recoiled, but kept their footing to Lighris' dismay, seemingly only hurt by the electricity but not stunned or burned.

"Their suits are insulated!" Volcan called as he engaged another one.

"Oh now you tell me!" Lighris shouted, leaving the downed VTOL and throwing himself at the nearest of the masked enforcers, throwing his legs around the man's body and punching him repeatedly as they both fell to the ground.

The other masked men engaged the brothers, one running to try to pull Lighris off his comrade, while the last two aimed for Volcan, seeing him as the bigger threat. The former reached the lightning hawk, grabbing him around his waist and attempting to lift him off; Lighris snapped his arm back sharply and elbowed the man in the mouth; something caved and the man recoiled in pain.

The one Lighris had beaten had been spared the worst of the brutal onslaught of punches by his helmet, and he managed to force himself up before Lighris could round on him again, throwing the lightning hawk off him. Lighris scrambled to get up, but this time it was his turn to be assailed; an arm looped around his neck and squeezed his throat as the man seized him. Lighris reached his arm behind him, clawing at the masked faced with his talons until he found the goggles and managed to force them up enough to expose the man's eyes; the assailant withdrew before Lighris could claw at him again, not willing to let Lighris get at his eyes.

As Lighris gasped and rounded on his opponent, the second attacker lunged at him again, and the two fell in a scramble, joined quickly by the other; both men piled onto the avian, trying to get control of his limbs, but Lighris tenaciously resisted, ignoring the discomfort in his wings as he effectively beat the men with then, buffeting them with the draft and pounding on them with the limbs until he managed to get hold of one of them, grabbing their head and driving his fist directly into his now unprotected eye, and even biting the hand of the other one before driving his other fist into the man's crotch; the masked man groaned and rolled back, clutching his injured genitals.

Finally, Lighris shot to his feet, throwing himself upon the man and knocking him out with one more well-placed punch, before turning to face the other. He saw the man running over to the downed VTOL; likely hoping to retrieve one of his weapons, Lighris didn’t doubt. He ran after the man, and caught up to him just as he reached for one of the SMG’s, but no sooner did his hand make contact with the weapon that Lighris rammed into him with his shoulder from behind, throwing the man into the metal hull and knocking the wind out of him, giving Lighris the opportunity to knock him out as he had the first one.

“Fuck your guns, bitch,” Lighris spat.

Volcan’s fight, still ongoing, was not currently in his favour. Engaged by three men at once, he was being pressed from every side. They managed to wear him down enough that two of the men got ahold of Volcan’s arms, kicking him in the back of the leg to force him to kneel and held him while their third leapt onto his back and put him in a stranglehold, trying to choke him out.

It took Volcan a few seconds and many choking gasps for breath to get both feet under him again, moving to a squatting position before he pushed with all of the strength in his legs. The men holding his arms lost their grip and were thrown aside as Volcan launched himself ten feet into the air, the one on his back holding on for dear life when he felt his feet leaving the ground. Then, Volcan thrust himself back, leaned and let himself drop back to the ground, utterly crushing the man under his own weight, and feeling the man heave as his lungs were emptied of air.

Volcan sat up as the stunned man released him, seeing one of his allies running at him; Volcan snapped forward and delivered and uppercut to the man’s sternum that staggered him back. Volcan didn’t see his other opponent coming at him from behind until it was too late, feeling the other masked assailant slamming into him, arms around his waist and allowing the one in front to clothesline him; Volcan tumbled over the first man and was once again on his back.

The masked assailant still on his feet fell upon Volcan again, this time leading with his elbow and slamming down on Volcan’s chest; Volcan felt a pop, and pain exploded as one of his ribs broke under the force. He cried out in pain, throwing his arms protectively over his chest as the man tried to go for his neck again. That was when Lighris stepped in, attacking from the side and nailing the assailant across the jaw with a left hook; the assailant fell, and did not rise.

The one who had tackled Volcan from behind charged at Lighris this time, intent on repeating the same attack that had brought down the fire phoenix. Volcan, despite the pain in his ribs, pushed himself up and kicked the man hard before he could reach Lighris; the masked assailant went flying through the air, travelling at least a dozen feet before he hit the ground again, tumbling into a shrubbery.

All became silent, save for the five masked men writhing on the ground, their groans of pain muffled by their masks and voice modulators, making for a collection of very strange sounds. Lighris knelt beside his brother, seeing him clutching his chest and shaking his head in disbelief.

“Damn bro,” he said. “You’re eighty times stronger than me and nearly a foot taller and you took way worse in that fight. You didn’t even use your powers!”

“I didn’t want to kill them,” replied Volcan. “Getting burned alive is a horrible way to die.”

“They tried to kill you, Volcan! When someone endangers your life, you do whatever it takes to protect it!” Lighris argued. “I don’t fight to lose, and if my life is in danger even less so.”

“But you didn’t kill them either.”

“Because I was saving you; I’d be beating these guys to death if I hadn’t seen you getting strangled,” Lighris returned. “But you come first, little brother.”

The two were so caught up in their debate, they didn’t notice the form emerging from the VTOL. While fighting the six enforcers - commander included, they had forgotten about the pilot, who was neither disarmed, nor too injured to make his surprise attack. Pistol in hand, he took aim and fired.

Blood sprayed from Lighris’ shoulder; he screamed and stumbled, grabbing where the bullet had hit. Volcan turned, seeing the pilot already lining up his pistol for another shot; Volcan focused on the gun, trying to project heat onto it, but he couldn’t; the gun was not heating up, and he could see the finger squeezing to fire off a second round, this one certainly intent to kill Lighris.

The pilot suddenly twisted, his eyes widening in surprise as his arms moved of their own accord, firing off the round into the VTOL and imbedding it in the wall, before an unseen force pulled him from the VTOL and wrenched the pistol from his hand, both floating suspended in midair.

Out of the woods, Obsidian stepped into view; the pilot couldn’t see her, due to her keeping him facing away, but after a turn of her hand, he stopped thrashing and became limp, where he then floated slowly down to the ground. With that, Obsidian brought the pistol over to herself with a pull of her hand, removing the ammunition before pocketing it and running over to the two avians.

“Obsidian!” Volcan called, relieved.

“Are you guys okay?” She asked, concerned.

“Lighris is shot!” Volcan replied, lifting his arm and pointing at his brother.

Obsidian ran over to the lightning hawk first. Lighris was still on his feet, holding his bleeding shoulder; Obsidian motioned for him to lift his hand away as she approached, peering at the wound. She gently pulled aside his shirt, trying not to cause him any discomfort until she found the source of the blood now coating his shoulder.

“Looks like it went through,” she said. “You’re not going to have full use of that arm for a little while, but it should be okay. There’s a first-aid kit in my car.”

“What about them?” Lighris asked, gesturing to the six downed men. “What we do with them?”

“I… really don’t know,” replied Obsidian, hesitantly.

“Well we can’t simply leave them. These guys know where I live, and they know what Volcan and I are,” he stated, his glare speaking volumes about what he thought they should do.

“Don’t even!” Obsidian snapped. “We’re not killing them, Lighris. Defending yourself is one thing but when they’re no longer a-”

“Hey, don’t go reading my mind, lady!” Lighris cut her off, pointing an accusing finger at her.

“I don’t have to; I can read your face just fine,” she returned. “Now look; we can’t simply off them but I can wipe their memories of ever finding either of you.”

“What will that matter?” Lighris asked. “While they had me cuffed on that copter of theirs, I heard the lead guy talking to someone else over the radio or something; even though we’ve taken out this group, someone out there still knows who we are. So if you have a better idea, I’m all ears.”

“Lighris, get off her case,” Volcan cut in, stepping between his brother and the dragoness. “She just rescued you from getting gunned down by that pilot; have a little decency.”

Lighris sucked in a breath, exhaling angrily. “It’s not that I’m not grateful,” he said, nodding to Obsidian. “But we’ve got a big problem, Volcan, and it needs an immediate solution.”

Volcan grimaced, looking at Obsidian. “I hate to admit it, but he’s right,” he said. “I don’t want to go the extreme route either but I’m not sure what to do.”

Obsidian took in a deep breath, sighing slowly and biting her lip. “Okay… gimme a minute here,” she said, putting her hand to her chin.

“Any way to keep these guys asleep?” Volcan asked.

“I-I can do that,” Obsidian offered. “I’m just trying to think of-” She paused, jolting upright as is something had scared her, and then a wide grin stretched across her face.

“You have an idea?” Volcan asked.

“Oh, do I ever,” she replied as she produced her phone, dialing a number and lifting it to her ear “Remember one of those ‘friends’ I mentioned to you before? Well, you’re about to meet one. Hopefully she answers her phone.”

Elsewhere in Unity Falls...

Ayane Nagano barely heard her phone ringing as she put the finishing touches on her latest invention, but when the ringing finally registered, she reluctantly put down her tools and ran over to it, checking the caller I.D before picking it up and bringing it to her ear.

“Hey, ‘Sid!” She chimed happily. “How you doing?”

“Hi Ayane. Look uh, I really can’t talk long; I got a big favour to ask and we don’t have a lot of time.”

“A favour, huh? What’d you do, land yourself in the slammer?” She joked.

“Wha- no! No, not that kind of favour!” Obsidian protested. “I need some tech help out here; can you zero in on my position?”

“Tech help, eh? Alright, fill me in,” Ayane replied as she turned and ran for a compartment on the wall, pressing a few buttons to open it. “What’s the situation?”

Obsidian began a hasty explanation, to which Ayane listened attentively as the compartment opened to reveal what could only be described as a suit of futuristic armour, the likes of which someone might expect some space marine in a video game to wear. Keeping the phone held to her ear, Ayane climbed atop the armour, sliding her slim body in through the top; she had to put Obsidian on speaker as she reached for a panel on the wall, next to which sat a screen that housed a wire frame model of the same suit she was climbing into, and with the touch of a button, the armour began to hum to life.

“That’s quite a pickle there,” she said as she descended into the armour, and felt the inside seemingly coming alive as the mechanical muscle fibers within expanded. From above, a metal, dragonic-looking helmet, designed to look similar to Ayane herself, was lowered by a pair of robotic arms, the bottom of the helmet opening to take her head inside before closing around it again, and a dim heads-up display appeared before her eyes. “Okay… so what do you need from me? Sounds like these new friends of yours took them down.”

“They did, but we need to erase all trace of them ever being found,” replied Obsidian.

“What? Why?” Ayane asked, not understanding.

“I can’t say just yet, but I can say this; it’s the only way to keep them safe from whoever is hunting them,” replied Obsidian. “Can you wipe the navigational computer of their vehicle?”

“I can do better,” replied Ayane, grinning as she worked her hands inside the gloves of the armour. “I’m working on something now; it’ll be ready by the time I get there. Just hold down the fort until I arrive.”

“How long will you be?”

“Still triangulating your position but it doesn’t look too far,” Ayane replied. “I’ll be five minutes, tops.”

“Thanks, Ayane. I owe you for this.”

“I’ll put it on your growing tab.”

~~~~~

“Report, Two. What is your status; have you located Commander Three’s team yet?”

“Negative, doctor,” Commander Two replied. “We’re approaching the coordinates of the locater beacon, but they don't match where Team Three's vessel was detected going down; they're off by about two hundred meters."

"The black box could have been thrown clear in the crash, but stay alert; the two metas could still be in the area," the doctor warned. "You are authorized to use any means at your disposal; capture or eliminate."

"Understood, sir," Two replied, adjusting the SMG hanging from his shoulder as he kept his pistol in one hand, the tracker in the other, following the signal it was receiving to the source.

"Squad Three had a Disruptor; how the hell did a Pyrokinetic take him down?" Commander Two heard one of his men ask.

"It had to be on low power mode; that cuts the range." Another offered.

"What about their other gear? We're trained and equipped for this, so how could they be taken down?"

Before rampant theories could run wild between his men, the commander cut in. "Cut the chatter. We'll get our answers when we find them," he stated, looking ahead again as the device began to beep rapidly. "Eyes open. The tracker says the box is close; Toonie, Twain, cover our right flank, twenty paces out. Tandem, Dual, our left, ten paces. Duplex, cover me. First sign of trouble, everyone get your heads down - these guys might've taken Team Three's guns to use against us."

Following his directions, Commander Two holstered his pistol and lifted his SMG from his shoulder, disengaging the safety and raising it to look down the sights as he tred carefully onward through the trees.

As he rounded a tree, he dared to stop and lift up his goggles, revealing his two brown human eyes. He looked around, until out of the corner of his eye, he spotted something lying at the foot of the tree. Behind his mask, he gawked in disbelief; there was the black box, plain as day left out as if to let him find it.

"Doctor?" Commander Two called in. "We found the black box."

"I see that. You are right on top of the signal's point of origin," the doctor replied.

"But it's just the component, and not a scratch on it; there's no sign of the airship anywhere," replied Two. "This thing wasn't thrown here, it looks more like it was left out for us to find."

Before the doctor could answer, another of the team called out. "Commander! It's Squad Three and their pilot; we found them!"

Two turned toward the voice, seeing Toonie and Twain standing over by some shrubbery that concealed what they had found. He motioned for Duplex to stay by the box while he went to investigate their finding; he expected to find the seven men dead, or at the very least injured; abnormal beings like the two metals never left survivors when they were found out.

But to his relief and surprise, they were alive. All seven of them; their masks had been pulled off, and their unconscious bodies piled atop each other, but they were all alive, and largely unharmed save for a few flowering bruises and one black eye. Commander Three himself was coming around, and Two immediately knelt before him, slapping him lightly to get his attention.

"Talk to me soldier; you okay?" Two asked.

"What… where…" the feline asked, eyes rolling as he struggled to focus, eventually settling them on Two. "Who… who are you?"

Disoriented, Two realized. Hoping Three might recognize him more easily, he reached up with his hand to lift his goggles, but even seeing his human eyes didn't register to the cat, and so he lifted off his helmet, face mask and modulator. Beneath the masks, Two was an African American human, with a clean shaven face and black hair, cut short so as not to get caught in his balaclava-style mask.

"Kyle? That you?" The cat asked.

Two shushed him harshly. "Not supposed to use my name, soldier, only my designation," he reminded the cat pointedly.

"Des- oh right, sorry pal," he replied, lifting his paw to rub his head. "Can't think straight; got this killer headache."

"Take your time," Two, or rather Kyle, encouraged him.

"Check the others while he comes around," the doctor instructed. "And have your men fan out; see if you can find the craft or any sign of the ship. While you're at it, have Duplex check the black box - there has to be some reason they left it out and I'd rather not find out a bomb has been placed inside of it."

"Roger that," Kyle replied, and turned to relay the orders to his men, including to have Duplex check the black box. 

Twain stayed and kept his eyes on the forest while the last three of the squad did a perimeter sweep, searching for any sign of Team Three's crashed VTOL while Kyle walked between each of the fallen team's member, referring to each of them by their designations - like his own team's, variant to their Commander's numbers, but he had to resort to their names to get recognition from them in their disoriented states; every one of them was as confused as their commander, even the pilot.

Finally, Three was coherent enough to speak, and Kyle asked him, "what happened to the Pyrokinetic and that lightning user?"

"The… the what?" Three asked.

"You still confused, soldier?" Kyle asked.

"No, I'm… I'm clear, but… I don't remember any Pyrokinetic."

Kyle tensed, feeling suddenly concerned. "What is the last thing you do remember?"

"I… just got back from a mission. Some… vixen prostitute our instruments detected as a Psionic life form. We cornered her and… that's it, I don't remember anything after that," he explained.

"Robert" Kyle said, breaking protocol as his concern grew. "That was almost two days ago, and the vixen was eliminated last night."

"W-what? How did she get away from us?"

"The Pyrokinetic you were sent out to capture or eliminate today!" Kyle replied. "Do you not remember him?"

"N-no. I don't remember any of that," Three replied, rubbing his head.

"Check the others," the doctor chimed in.

Kyle went from each member of Squad Three, asking each of them their most recent memories. Consistently, none of them remembered anything about their mission, and those who had been present with Commander Three the night they had accosted the vixen had their memories cut at the same time as their leaders, sans the pilot - he remembered picking them up that night, but anything related to their current mission or to their targets had completely vanished from his mind.

Kyle was at a loss; he could not understand what was happening to these men. "Doctor, did you get all that?"

"I did. There can be no other explanation but that these men have been visited by a telepath; a skilled one at that, to remove their memories with such precision," the doctor reasoned.

"Did either of the avians exhibit psionic potential?" Kyle asked.

"That is how we tracked the red one, yes, but… there is something wrong with the data the scanners received..."

"Something… wrong, doctor?" Kyle asked.

"I have too little to work with now. What is the status on the black box?"

Kyle turned toward Duplex, knowing the question was more directed at him and that it was his cue to speak. "The box is intact, and I opened it up to check the inside; as far as I can tell, no sign of tampering and no foreign devices, so it's not rigged to blow or being tracked," he replied. "Should be safe to plug it in, though I have no idea why they just left it out for us."

"Alright. Return to base," the doctor instructed. "Bring Commander Three's team and the VTOL's box back, and we will analyze it. Do not plug the black box into your ship's computer, just in case; they had no technical equipment on them but finding it and our men is simply far too convenient to not be some kind of trick."

"Understood. We are en route," Kyle replied, donning his mask again before calling back his men, and those of Team Three, to form up. "What of Team Three's VTOL? Do we search for it?"

"If you find it on your way back, report in. Otherwise, we will have to come back for it when we have time for a more thorough search."

"Roger that," Kyle acknowledged before giving the order to move.

When Squad Two's VTOL descended into the hangar, a pair of technicians were already waiting to take the black box as soon as the doors opened, receiving it from Duplex and loading it onto a cart with a monitor. They plugged a wire into a port on the box, and started wheeling it off to the control room as Kyle and Commander Three - Robert, received a call to join the technicians; the doctor and Commander One wanted a debriefing.

Sending their squads off - Kyle's to the armoury, Robert's to their bunks to await examination by the base medical personnel, the two commanders fell into pace with the techs and followed them to the main control room. Through a network of steel tunnels and hallways lined with lead to prevent radio and internet signals from getting out - besides their own isolated network, they followed the techs until they passed through a door leading into a large room with nearly an entire wall covered by a four huge monitors, attended by techs in lab with seats for four in total arranged before the monitor; two were already at the consoles, monitoring the information across their screens.

"Scan of the black box is complete doctor," one of the techs rolling the cart stated, addressing a man standing off to the back of the room joined by a second figure wearing the same tactical gear as Kyle and Robert.

The human that the tech addressed, an elderly Caucasian male with a receding hairline, sunken eyes that cast quite an intimidating glare. He had a full beard, and skin mottled with age, and dressed in the same lab coat and smocks as the techs who addressed him. The golden-furred bobcat in tactical gear was Commander One – the highest ranking member of the Directive's field teams, but before he joined the directive, he was Adrian Broadside, a former Navy SEAL with far more field op experience than Kyle or Robert – maybe more than both of them combined.

"All data is confirmed up to the time of the crash, but the analysis picked up a recorded access moments before Team Two recovered it," the tech went on. "Whoever accessed it copied the data, but thankfully forgot or didn't have time to erase it."

Adrian turned to eye Kyle scornfully after hearing the report. "You were too slow, Commander Two."

"Our response time could not have been better, Commander One," Kyle countered, defensively. "We got there as fast as we could."

"Leave it alone, Commander One," the old man cut in. "Do not berate what cannot be changed."

"As you say, Doctor Rex," the first commander compliantly returned, taking his scornful look from Kyle to watch the technicians.

"Commanders Two and Three," Rex began. "We will momentarily have the data downloaded and analyzed. I want to commend you both on your efforts, and I expect you both ready to move out again soon."

"To hunt down the Pyrokinetic, sir?" Kyle assumed.

"Him and the other one," replied Rex. "We know where they are, now; once we have the navigation data, we will send you back to capture or eliminate both of them."

"I still wish I could remember the mission," Robert stated, putting his gloved paw to his head. "But I can't recall anything, not even this Pyrokinetic. Should I be on this mission?"

"We will ensure you are briefed before sending you back out," Rex assured him. "There can be no mistakes this time; I worry those two may go to that police friend of theirs, and the last thing we need is the police looking for us, else our operation here in Unity Falls may have to be put on hold and we relocate for the time being."

"Sir, permission to make an inquiry," Kyle spoke up, ignoring Commander One's withering glare for speaking out of turn.

"Proceed."

"You mentioned something odd about the data, from when Squad Three first tracked down the Pyrokinetic," began Kyle. "It may be over my head, but I'm curious to know more. What was so odd about the scans?"

Rex was silent a moment before answering. "Simply put, Commander Three was tracking a Pyrokinetic, which have trace elements of psionic power, since low level Pyrokinetics can only manipulate flame, not create it. However, while waiting for your return, a further analysis revealed that it was pure psionic energy they found when they located him."

Adrian turned his gaze to Rex then, his curiosity piqued. Kyle was thankful for the reprieve from his superior officer's scorn, but his expression remained ever steadfast. "Pure potential? But pure psionicists cannot use pyrokinesis."

"Correct, Commander One, they cannot," replied Rex. "The techs spotted further anomalies as Commander Three pursued him in secret, particularly that the readings changed when the dragoness he was with departed – when she was gone, so was the psionic signature they were tracking."

Kyle's eyes widened. "The dragoness… the police officer. She's a psionicist?"

"It would appear so, which could explain why Commander Three and his team cannot remember what they were-"

"Doctor! The box!" One of the the us spoke up suddenly, drawing the attention of Rex and his three commanders.

"What is it?" Rex demanded.

"There's a virus in the system!"

"You said the box was clear!"

"The scan said it was, but it was hidden in the coding, almost in plain sight! The analysis went right over it, and it triggered when we started to download it!"

"Isolate it; do not let it spread!" Rex commanded.

"We're trying! It is working too fast!"

The four techs typed furiously away at their stations, doing everything they could to stop the virus from doing whatever foul work it was intended to do.

"Cut power!" One of the techs called to the three commanders who were near to the shutoff switch.

Kyle acted first, spinning on his heel and lunging for the switch, shifting it to the off-position. The room went immediately dark, until several seconds later the emergency lights kicked in, flooding the room with dim red light. The techs took a moment to collect themselves, disconnecting the black box from the mainframe before they motioned for Kyle to turn the power back on.

"I need a damage report," Rex commanded.

The techs repowered the mainframe, and got immediately to work analyzing the system to see what had harm had been done. Their faces were grim as they worked, and Rex knew before their explanations began that it wasn't good news.

"Everything has been wiped out, doctor," one tech dared to explain. "The black box has also been wiped clean, and even the surveillance from our team's body cameras are gone."

"Whoever left this little 'gift' was thorough, I give them that," Rex remarked flatly.

"All of the data was erased?" Robert asked.

"Only from today, Commander Three," Rex stated. "I have prepared for such situations; it is why, at three o'clock every day, we change the hard drive. We have only lost what we gained since that time. Everything from yesterday or the day before is intact."

"That is good news, sir."

"Still... That means the only footage we have left of our target is from your body camera, of an encounter you cannot recollect," added Rex.

"That… would appear to be the case, sir."

Rex let out a long sigh. "I suppose it cannot be helped, then. We will have to start over.” He turned to his commanders. “You are each dismissed, until I call for you. I need time to determine our next move.”

“Sir,” the three replied in unison, saluting the doctor before turning to leave.

“Oh, Commander Two?” Rex spoke up, bringing Kyle to a halt.

“Yes sir?”

“To finish answering your inquiry, before we were interrupted,” Rex began, “the dragoness may well be the Psionicist we were tracking. Whereas that avian, as it turns out, exhibited no such latent signatures, not even at the miniscule levels a Pyrokinetic would require to manipulate flame.”

Kyle turned more to him, a puzzled look crossing his features. “Wait, but if he doesn’t have the psionic profile of a pyrokinetic then, what is he? A Pyromancer?”

“Not that either; we may have lost the data but the sensors did not detect mana fluctuations when the avian was using his fire powers.”

“Then… then what is he, doctor?”

Rex turned to Kyle, facing him directly as a wide, almost hungry smile crossed his features. “Something I have not seen in ten years, my good Commander Two,” he replied. “We have found a phoenix.”

~~~~~

“So let me get this straight,” Lighris began as Obsidian wrapped fresh, clean bandages around his wounded shoulder, his arm held out to let her form the loops over his limb as needed to secure the dressing. “You left a virus in the black box that you literally made in the five minutes it took you to reach us? And that virus should wipe everything about my brother and I?”

“I couldn’t be that accurate unless I was at their central mainframe and removed it myself; this is a computer virus, not a purge,” Ayane corrected. “But, it should completely erase their hard drive and take everything on the black box with it too. Glad I had time to make a copy of it; I really wanted to study that box.”

“I trust you don’t intend to use this copy for any nefarious purposes?” Lighrs asked, only to receive a slap across the back of his head by Volcan. “Ow! What the fuck, bro?!”

“Can you drop it for a few moments?” Volcan asked scornfully. “These two women have been doing nothing but helping us since we first met them.”

“Well excuse me for being the only one who cares that someone could spill our secret anytime they wanted to, be it for profit or otherwise!” Lighris shot back, and then tensed as Obsidian pulled his bandages tight, putting perhaps more pressure than was needed for his shoulder. “Ow!”

“There,” she said as she cut the gauze and pinned it with a strip of adhesive. “Try not to use your arm for anything strenuous; should get full use of it back soon.”

“Good thing I’m a lefty,” Lighris remarked, lifting his arm and rolling his shoulder a little. He was aware of Volcan’s eyes on him, and with a huff he looked at Obsidian. “Thank you, for jumping in when you did.”

“It’s what cops do, in or out of uniform,” she replied with a nod.

“And miss… Nagano, was it?” Volcan asked.

“Miss?” Ayane asked, blowing a raspberry. “You’re making me feel old, firebird. Just call me Ayane.”

“Sorry. Ayane,” Volcan returned. “Thank you for coming on such short notice.”

“Any friend of ‘Sid’s is a friend of mine,” Ayane returned. “But I have to ask. You said earlier that ship had a cloaking field that made it completely transparent. How did you follow it, let alone bring it down?”

“Apparently he has infrared vision,” Obsidian answered before Volcan could, earning a stunned look from the phoenix. She blushed, and elicited a nervous chuckle as she explained. “Yeah, I forgot to mention, when I saw you attacking that craft I couldn’t really see what was happening; just you seemingly hurling fiery fastballs everywhere, so I… tapped into your central nervous system and linked mine to yours; it let me see through your eyes.”

Volcan blinked, lifting a hand slowly and pointing at Obsidian. “We’re going to need to have a talk about boundaries.”

“Fair enough.”

“So you could see the vehicle’s heat signature; cool,” Ayane said. “So, do you see that way all the time; you see all of us in an infrared spectrum?”

“Oh no,” Volcan replied, shaking his head. “Currently I’m seeing all of you in the visible spectrum as any person does, but by channelling my elemental essence into my eyes,” he shut his eyes briefly, before reopening them to reveal they had become veiled in a bright yellow glow, with red, pin-point pupils at their center, barely noticeable without looking closely, “I shift my vision to infrared, and I see things as sources of heat.”

“Is that why your eyes glow too? That could give you away in the dark.” Ayane added.

“I can’t really control that; that’s a sign of the elemental essence I’m channelling leaking out,” replied Volcan, shutting his eyes again before reopening, showing them back to their normal state. “It can happen either while I’m in infrared or if I’m channelling my energy to use my powers - usually in large amounts. Sometimes it reacts to my mood as well.”

Ayane nodded in understanding, and then turned her gaze to Lighris. “Can you do that too - see in an infrared spectrum?” She asked.

Lighris cast a brief look at Volcan, and then turned back to Ayane. “Yes, and no,” he replied. “I can shift my spectrum of vision like Volcan, but I don’t see in infrared - I see active electrical currents, like the wiring in a house while the lights are on, or electric-powered machinery - I can see where the power is flowing in from.”

“Like… EMV?” Ayane asked. “What would you need that for?”

“As far as we know, our species developed these shifts in sight to allow us to see elemental sources that we could feed off of to replenish ourselves,” Volcan answered. “In my case an open flame or a volcano, in Lighris’ maybe he’d see an electrical storm or, in today’s society, tesla coils, transformers or ordinary car batteries.”

“Wait, feed off of?” Obsidian asked. “You guys can consume energy?”

“From a source of it, yes, and only of our own element,” replied Lighris. “We eat and sleep like anyone else, but if we use up too much of our elemental power while out in the field we can find a source of it to, basically, recharge, like knocking back a really potent energy drink.”

“Without the diabetes,” Volcan joked.

Ayane scoffed at Volcan, shaking her head before voicing her next question. "What other kind of phoenixes are there?"

"Well as you've seen, there's fire - like me, and there also earth, wind and water, lightning, and there are also hybrid species like ice and magma."

"Now, it's our turn to ask a question, if we may,” Lighris cut in. “Can anyone tell me who the hell were those guys, what'd they want with us?"

Obsidian shrugged helplessly. "They're no one I'm familiar with," she admitted. "The gear and uniforms they have are pretty high end stuff; they're equipped like a SWAT Team but that crazy VTOL of theirs is nothing I've ever heard of the police or the military having. To my understanding, stealth technology like what Volcan described to us doesn't exist yet." She looked at Ayane, as if for confirmation.

"You're right, it doesn't," she replied in confirmation. "Sustained invisibility or transparency shouldn't be possible with today's technology.”

“If only because there isn't a power source out there with enough juice to do it," Lighris added, nodding in agreement to Ayane. “There's also whatever gizmo they were using to lock out our powers; I sure as hell want to know what was doing that."

"I'm working on a way to bring that VTOL of theirs to my lab so I can analyze it - hopefully before they come looking for it again," offered Ayane. "I may need some help doing that. I've also got my computer running a decryption on that black box data I copied, to see what it can tell me."

"How long will it take?" Volcan asked.

"Days at least, and that's being optimistic. The hardware on that box was some sophisticated stuff; I'm talking above even military grade. Even my best decryption algorithm is going to take a while to decode that.”

"Off the top of your head can you think of anyone who might be able to program something that advanced?" Volcan asked.

"Well the U.S Military comes the closest; maybe a black ops unit or a rogue op would have security like that," offered Ayane. "Aside from them, I'd say the biggest tech giants on earth could have made it; Tenno Electronics, Durian, Talon Technical Solutions and Lockware.”

“Any one of those who might have armed hit squads?” Lighris asked.

The crimson dragoness gave a helpless shrug and a shake of her head, tossing her ear fins with the motion. “If they do, it's news to me. Sorry, guys; that's all I can come up with right now. Everything else is pure speculation.”

“It's okay, Ayane,” Volcan assured her, reaching out and grasping her shoulder.”You've done more for us now than we could ask of you; we'll find our answers.”

At that moment, Obsidian felt a vibration in the pocket of her jeans. She reached in, extracting her phone and looking at it. “Oh, crap,” she said. “Sorry folks; I have to get going.”

“Running late for work?” Ayane asked.

“Not yet; I already let them know I'd be delayed but if I don't haul it now it'll be caught in rush hour and then I'll be double late,” she replied, pocketing her phone.

Volcan nodded to her in understanding. “Will we be... able to meet up again soon?” He asked, hesitantly.

“My day off is still the same as before; drop me a line then,” she replied, turning and heading for the door. She cast one look back at the three, starting with Ayane. “Catch up later?” She asked.

“Any time, 'Sid,” replied Ayane.

“Have a good night, officer,” Lighris called after her.

“Ditto,” Volcan added, giving her a last parting wave before she disappeared out the door.

A moment of silence followed, before Ayane spoke up, directing her question to Lighris and Volcan. “So, what'll you two do now?” She asked, her long crimson tail swaying behind her.

“Only thing we can do; head home, try to move on,” Lighris replied with a shrug. “I'm already late opening my garage for the day so I better get moving; still have a few orders to finish before next week.”

“I had you figured for a mechanic,” Ayane nodded, winking and making a finger gun with her hand to point at him. “You smell of oil and grease, and you've been eyeballing my tools.”

“What can I say? I'm an enthusiast for good equipment,” he remarked with a wink. “Anywho, Volcan and I will leave you to your devices.”

“Just remember what 'Sid said about that arm.”

“I will,” Lighris replied, rolling his eyes.

“Thanks again for your help today, Ayane,” Volcan said, nodding.

“As I said, any friend of 'Sid's,” she replied. “You guys take care out there.”

“You want our phone numbers in case you need us for anything?” Lighris asked.

She shrugged. “Don't see why not. Just don't always expect me to answer if you call – I tend to get a little absorbed into my work,” she warned as she went to the nearby bench to retrieve a notepad.

After sharing phone numbers, the two phoenixes said goodbye to the dragoness and took their leave. She saw them out of the laboratory/workshop she called home, leading them outside where they spread their wings and took to the skies, turning their course toward the city.

“Hey Volc!” Lighris called over the wind rushing around them. “You going to head back to my place?”

“Yeah, I think so. I'm pretty worn out after all that fighting!” Volcan replied, also having to raise his voice to be heard.

“You're more than welcome, little brother! I'll probably close up shop early tonight too; that fight took a lot out of me too!” Lighris replied. “Want me to bring you home anything?”

“We just had burgers last night!” Volcan called.

“The calories of which were probably incinerated during that fight!” Lighris replied. “I think we've earned a little indulgence!”

Volcan considered the offer for a bit, knowing Lighris would probably pick up something even if Volcan said he was fine, and so he gave a shrug. “I guess surprise me. long as it's not Chinese food.”

“I remember you aren't a fan!” He assured him.

With that, the two big goodbye to each other, and Lighris altered his flight path toward the city, while Volcan kept his in the direction he had been going, toward Lighris' house outside the city. He felt mildly apprehensive at the idea of returning to the house so soon after being attacked there, but a few  self-reminders that Ayane and Obsidian had ensured that those men would not know where to look for him.

He trusted them; they had earned that much. In two nights, his life had been completely flipped over, passing from a lone street performer, to meeting Unity Falls' one and only psionic police officer; having a secret of her own to keep helped assure Volcan that she could be trusted with his, and by extension Ayane as well.

What saddened him was what he had to do to protect himself and his brother. The plan to throw these men off the trail had required them to leave the black box and the seven men to be found by their comrades, denying the justice they so rightly deserved for the sake of setting the trap, and protecting the two phoenixes from further pursuit. Now Volcan and Lighris were safe, but Natalie's killers were still on the loose.

Even if they hadn't left the men to be found, Obsidian could not take them into police custody. According to what she said they found at the motel, no way to put them at the scene of the murder. The killers had covered their tracks well, and the only one who could prove their guilt... was an avian who did not exist.

They would walk for now... but Volcan was far from done with them, or their organization – whoever they were, they would not go unopposed. Something told him that finding them again was not going to be as hard as he thought...