Debriefing had felt more akin to interrogation for the time Adrian spent in the room, being grilled by Dr. Rex and Commander Two, although for his part Kyle had remained silent throughout the meeting. He was more there as the involved party, as it had been him who had carried out the rescue mission. Something which, he knew, Adrian was displeased with enough for both of them.

But not enough for Rex. "You realize that I gave Commander Two orders to silence you if he could not extract you?" He stated to the former SEAL. "Had he not proven resourceful enough to not resort to such you'd be a cold corpse in the morgue now. You, and all of your men, yet you don't even have the decency to thank him for his selflessness, or congratulate him for his success?"

"He carried out his mission, sir," Adrian returned plainly, not looking at Kyle. "I will praise him in my own time, I assure you."

Rex scowled, evidently not believing Adrian's claim. "Regardless. You still failed," he said. "After assuring me your plans would succeed, you not only failed to secure or eliminate the ice phoenix, you also cost us another Retriever. You are fortunate the armoured car was made specifically to seat two teams, but the risk of air dropping it into the city was considerable, you understand."

"Understood sir," Adrian returned.

Rex leaned forward. "Now… What did you tell the ice phoenix?" He asked.

"Nothing, sir. I told him nothing," Adrian replied calmly.

"And what kind of questions did he ask?"

"He demanded to know where to find our base," Adrian answered. "He also demanded to know about his father or something like that."

"His father?" Rex asked.

"Those were his words, sir. When I didn't answer him, he grew angry and the fire one had to pull him off me."

Rex stroked his beard, considering the explanation. He seemed to remember something then, his eyes rolling to the right toward the ceiling,  and he let out a humming sound. "Well, well… So the past catches up after all," he said.

"Sir?" Adrian asked.

"Nevermind," Rex said, waving his hand dismissively. "Anything else?"

"No sir. The dragoness tried to probe my mind, but I made sure all she saw was something she wouldn't like," Adrian replied with a slight grin.

"Very good. Dismissed," said Rex, then nodded to Kyle to tell him the same.

The two soldiers left, and immediately after stepping out and walking a few steps, Adrian's mood darkened. "Captured… What an insult!" He cursed. "How could I have been so blindsided by that child?!"

Kyle, wisely, did not speak. Adrian did not need to be reminded that he had grossly underestimated his opponent. They all had thus far - even Kyle felt like he had. They had grown too accustomed to relying on the Disruptors to capture their targets. Adrian had been in the Directive for ten years, and the Disruptors had been available since before he had enlisted. Casualties within the retrieval teams had decreased almost to nothing, the ease of the kill or capture allowing complacency to sink in.

As former Special Forces, Adrian of all people should have known that, thought Kyle. But complacency was an easy trap to fall into. Kyle had been a Marine, and served three tours before his desertion- much of his basic training was still fresh in his mind, and he had not begun to rely entirely on the Disruptors yet, not like Adrian and Robert – Commander Three - had.

Worse still, the comfort of easy wins had not only made Adrian complacent… It had made him arrogant. "This will not happen again," the orange anthropian cat declared. "When next I see that ice phoenix I will personally drive my knife into his throat."

He then rounded on Kyle. "And you," he said, pointing at him. "If you start holding your little rescue over my head, you might find yourself suffering an accident. Is that clear?"

"I would not dream of it, sir," Kyle returned, but his tone was firm. He wasn't about to be intimidated by a shamed former Spec Ops.

Adrian clearly didn't like how Kyle spoke to him. The anger was evident on his face and for a moment Kyle was mentally preparing himself to prepare for an attack. But even Adrian's pride was not enough to beat his better judgment about starting a fight inside the base. With a scoff, the cat turned and stormed away.

At that moment, Kyle was wondering if he shouldn't have taken the easy option and simply executed Commander One when he had extracted him from the county jail. But at that thought, a disgusted, sick feeling coursed through his stomach, and he had to fight to hold his composure as he headed for his quarters, walking quickly. He entered the bathroom, switched on the lights, and stared at himself in the mirror. 

He stared, looking over his dark skin, the thin stubble he had allowed to grow in over the last few days. His hazel brown eyes, and his shaved head. He looked like a Marine. He still felt like a Marine. Even if he had left the corps two years ago, he still considered himself, at heart, a proud serviceman in the USMC.

'So why,' he wondered, 'Do I suddenly feel like I've become a terrorist?'

Had he made a mistake?

~~~~~

The next day brought the first snowfall of the season to Unity Falls, a thin sheet of white covering the land when Lighris left for work that morning, leaving early to fly back to the city to get his truck. Volcan had to stay home because of the weather, and Rikyuu stuck around to keep him company. They spent the day playing video games, at which Volcan performed poorly. Rikyuu, fortunately, was not the type to rub that fact in, offering helpful tips.

When Obsidian called everyone to Ordagova’s that evening, Lighris picked them up and brought them to town. They knew from the moment they walked through the doors that something was wrong. The faraway look on Obsidian’s face, and Tsumé seated beside her, holding her hand. They knew Obsidian had been to work that day, as she still had her uniform on.

Vinge was seated at the end of the counter, his chin resting in his hand and eyes turned down to the floor, deep in thought. Ordagova was standing behind the counter in his usual place, but his concerned expression, directed at Obsidian, was telling.

Volcan, Lighris and Rikyuu stepped into the bar, crossing the room. Rikyuu walked immediately up to his friend, kneeling to look up at her face. "'Sid? Hey, 'Sid, what's wrong?"

"Did any of you guys see the news last night?" Tsumé asked.

"I don't get cable out at my place," said Lighris. "Way too expensive to run it all the way out there so my landlady doesn't."

Tsumé looked briefly at Obsidian, squeezing her hand a little tighter before she looked at them. “You guys might want to sit down for this,” she began...

"...They all escaped? All of them?" Lighris asked, incredulous.

"They attacked the police station and the county jail?" Volcan added, equally incredulous. "How do you know it was P.A.C.E?"

"The news gave mugshots of all the escaped prisoners," said Tsumé. "One of them was undoubtedly that cat we saw last night and a few of the others looked familiar too."

"How much damage did they do?" Rikyuu asked, not sure he wanted to know the answer.

Obsidian had to take a moment to collect herself, trying to answer the question. "Half of the jail is burned down," she said. "Twenty people being held there awaiting trial escaped, and eleven of those were the people we left for the cops last night," she said. "Twelve guards were killed. At the station… they killed four officers and wounded four more… including my captain."

"Is he alright?" Volcan asked.

"He'll live… He took a shot in the upper chest but it missed anything serious," she said. "All this went on… While I was driving you all home…"

"Obsidian," Rikyuu said, resting his hands on her shoulders. "You couldn't have known this would happen."

Lighris groaned, running a hand down his face and walking over to the counter, looking at Ordagova. "All drinks on me tonight," he said, pulling out his wallet. "And I think we're going to need some strong ones."

"Of courssse," Ordagova returned.

Volcan moved over to a table, grabbing a chair and spinning it around before lowering himself into it. He sat there for a moment, eyes drifting over his friends slowly. He then looked over at Vinge, who had stayed silent ever since they had come in.

"What do you make of all this, Vinge?" He asked.

The ice phoenix took a moment to answer, but when he raised his head Volcan knew he had been heard. Finally, he spoke. "Logically, it makes sense why they’d make such a bold move, to stop their operatives from being interrogated or revealing anything about their organization," he said. "But to do something as brazen as this… It is a sign of something. I am just not yet sure what…"

Volcan let his eyes linger on Vinge for a moment before looking at his friends. "What do we do now?" He asked. "It's only a matter of time before we find those guys again, or they find us. Either way, this isn't over yet."

"Frosty's lead on the arms dealer seems to be all we have now," said Tsumé.

"And it is little. Even though I have his name, I don't yet know where to find him," Vinge stated. "The name Chapman may still be an alias and not his true identity. “

"Going to beat up more gangs for more info?" Lighris asked, and failed to notice the glare from Obsidian behind him.

"There is little more to be gained with that strategy," replied Vinge. "Even if we find someone who has bought guns from him, that will be the most they know of him. The only ones who might know more are those at the highest tier within the crime families themselves, but pursuing them will only invite further problems for us, and give us a growing pool of enemies."

"What about finances?" Tsumé asked. “Chapman has to be keeping records somewhere - even organized crime needs accountants. It’s a dirty business but it’s still a business.”

“She’s not wrong,” Obsidian put in, seeing the idea in her mind as well.

“That still doesn’t solve the issue,” said Lighris, leaning against the counter. “The paper trail idea is sound, but we’d need to find where it starts first, and that we can't do – not unless we want to make Ayane hack into every accounting firm in the country, and even that's a needle in a haystack.” He hummed as he thought. “We have to narrow it down. Do we know any other buyers of this Chapman guy’s weapons?”

At that, Vinge perked up. “Possibly,” he said. “The one who told me about Chapman, the boss of that fighting ring. He said his bosses purchase weapons from him.”

“Ssso doesss that mean you’re going back to the ring to look for cluesss?” Ordagova asked.

“There is not likely to be anything left there now,” said Vinge, looking over at Obsidian. “I understand the police performed a raid on that location later the same night.”

Obsidian nodded. “They did. The place was cleared,” she said. “But…”

“But what?” Volcan asked.

“Some of the prisoners who escaped from the county jail were arrested there,” said Obsidian, her eyes narrowing as she considered. “If we could find them, one of them might hold answers for us. Someone else there had to work for the same people as the boss of the ring, right?”

The group shared looks between each other, and nodded, knowing Obsidian was on the right track. “So if we find the right one, we might find the identity of their employer,” said Volcan.

“And through the employer, find out how to locate Chapman,” finished Vinge, beaming with approval. “They don’t even have to tell us, because we have two telepaths. Brilliant.”

“One problem. How do we find them?” Tsumé asked the obvious question.

“I’ve been reading the mindsss of everyone nearby, ssseeing if any might be jailbreakersss. I’ve not ssseen anyone yet.” Ordagova announced, “I will keep looking, in case any are here in this area of town.”

“Then the rest of us can get ahold of some newspapers and try to find the rest,” Volcan suggested. “We can’t know which ones were actually at the ring so we’ll have to search them all. Obsidian, would you be able to help narrow them down?”

“I wasn’t at the arrests but I’ll see what I can do,” she offered. Then, her expression went blank, as though realizing what she was doing. “Oh my God, I’m letting you all take up acts of vigilantism,” she said, incredulous.

“Just call us good samaritans,” said Volcan. “We’ll let the real cops make the arrests - the newspapers can also be our alibis, showing how we found them.”

“So many of them though?” Obsidian asked, skeptical. “They’re not going to take that as coincidence you know.”

Volcan shrugged. “Unless you have a better idea.”

She frowned at that. “Well… No, I got nothing.”

“Then let’s go get our hands on some newspapers, and start looking for those escaped convicts,” said Volcan. “‘Sid, would you get in trouble if you caught one of those guys off-duty?”

“If I’m in my uniform, yes, but even cops can still act under the law of good samaritanism,” she replied. “If I just go with my undershirt without the top on I should be fine."

“Then we’ll all meet back here in a few hours,” said Volcan, standing up from his chair and returning it to where he received it.”We’ll find these guys, and let ‘Sid or Orda search their minds for clues.”

"How will we bring the convicts to them?" Vinge asked. "We can't simply drag them here."

"Preferably alive," Obsidian commented, casting a wary look at the ice phoenix. "We'll need to be able to contact each other somehow…"

"Can you do that telepathy trick again?" Lighris asked. "The one you did yesterday when we were looking for Pavan?"

"I can, yeah," she replied. "It'll only take me a second, and distance won't be an issue. As soon as you have one of them, I'll come to you and read their minds before they are picked up by the cops."

"In that case, we better stay in pairs," said Rikyuu. "One of us can subdue them, the other calls the police."

"I foresee one problem," said Tsumé. "Vinge."

The ice phoenix glanced over. "Me?"

"She'sss right," Ordagova spoke up; he didn't need to read Tsumé’s thoughts, having already reached a similar conclusion. "The policssse are ssstill looking for him asss well."

"Crap," said Volcan. "He can't go with any of us then."

"I can," said Vinge. "I will stay up high, out of sight."

"You won't be able to help detain the convicts then," Volcan pointed out.

"I will think of something. If nothing else, I can be a spotter for whoever I am with," Vinge suggested.

The others considered his offer. Overtime, each of them offered a nod, agreeing with the suggestion.

"In that case," said Obsidian. "I want you with me, then, Vinge."

The ice phoenix nodded to her, offering no argument. With their plan made, the six of them prepared to leave, Obsidian walking into the restroom briefly to take off her uniform top, coming back out with the top folded and carried under her arm. Beneath the top she wore only a short sleeve shirt, so she also retrieved a light coat from her car, as did Rikyuu as his vest was not sufficient to ward off the chill of the night.

The six of them separated in pairs then, each taking turns picking up newspapers from a nearby convenience store before they began their search. Volcan and Lighris went together, heading south, while Rikyuu and Tsumé went the other way. Obsidian set her course to the downtown area where gangs were frequently active, reasoning that the convicts would choose that location to hide and Vinge was following overhead, acting as her eyes in the sky.

'Can everyone hear me alright?' Volcan asked.

'I'm here,' said Rikyuu.

'Me too,' Tsumé responded. 'Big blue and I are on sixty-second street, heading west.'

'Not sure hear really applies to telepathy,' Lighris remarked, but he was ignored.

'Vinge and I are about twelve blocks south of you, Volcan,' Obsidian answered. 'We're heading toward the financial district. The back alleys of these office buildings are a prime place for these convicts to hide.'

'Be careful, 'Sid,' Rikyuu said cautiously. 'Even with Vinge overhead you're effectively alone until he can get down to you.'

'I have eyes on,' Vinge put in, a sense of reassurance being sent to Rikyuu.

Obsidian looked up, looking for some sign of the ice phoenix. She couldn't see him at first, until she happened to glimpse him watching her from the top of a roof across the street. She pretended not to notice him, going back to her searching, looking down each alley she passed. The newspaper, opened to the page bearing the pictures of the convicts, was tucked under her arm, readily available when she needed it for reference.

Obsidian felt awkward, knowing that Vinge was above but having to pretend he wasn't. She was second guessing having him follow her, rather than go with Volcan or Rikyuu. But she remembered her reasoning for choosing him to accompany her.

As if sensing her thoughts, she saw Vinge passing overhead, and caught his gaze. He glided to an intersection before making a turn and disappearing behind a building.

'I get the sense you have something to say,' Obsidian commented, making sure only Vinge could hear her, and that only she could hear him, but not closing off word from the others.

'I know you remain suspicious of me, Obsidian,' he said.

'Ya think?' She remarked, chiding him with her mental voice.

'I can't ask you to trust me. That must be earned,' he replied. 'Rest assured, you have my word that I will not overstep again.'

'Words are fine. But we'll see for certain when the opportunity presents itself, won't we?' Obsidian replied. She rounded the same corner Vinge had turned, following the sidewalk, though when she looked up she couldn't see him anymore.

After a moment, she spoke up again. 'Answer me this… Do you regret it? Killing those men?'

'I did what I had to-'

'That is not an answer,' she cut him off. 'Do you regret it – feel any remorse at all?' She asked again, more sternly this time.

His answer was slow to come. 'Truthfully… I am not sure,' he said.

'You're not sure? How can you not be sure?' She asked, flustered.

'Because I do not see if there was a better alternative. They knew what I was, they had seen what I could do. I could not allow that to stand.'

'You can't be sure that they would have exposed you.'

'Information flows freely through the world as it is today,' Vinge reasoned. 'If anyone posted say, on social media, seeing an avian who could conjure and control ice… that would be it. Our risk of exposure is greater now than it has ever been, Obsidian - it only takes one video to reveal us to the world.'

'There had to be a better way,' Obsidian reasoned, trying not to let her frustration show.

'By all means, Obsidian, if there was. Tell me.'

Just like that, Obsidian knew she was trapped. How many criminals, she wondered, would be allowed to walk if her own secret as a telepath were exposed? How many times had she caught a convicted criminal by reading the minds of others, learning their identity and finding leads that brought her to them? Would the force even keep her, knowing what she could do? Or worse… would they seek to use her power for themselves?

She had different reasons to hide her true nature. Vinge's kind did not exist, and preferred to remain such. Dragons like her had integrated among society millenia ago, but phoenixes remained a subject of myth. The power of psionics, a power she possessed naturally, was still only a subject of science fiction and a power that many would love to have, and that was why she had to hide what she could do. 

Try as she might, she could not give Vinge an answer. Maybe if he himself possessed the same telepathic powers she did, he could have erased the memories of the people who had learned what he was… But he did not possess that power. The only way to keep his secret, then, was to make sure nobody could speak of it…

'Dammit,' she thought, forgetting to keep it to herself.

'What was that, 'Sid?' Rikyuu’s mental voice filled her head.

'Oh, uh… Nothing. I tripped on a curb,' she lied.

'Uh… Okay,' he replied.

She silently cursed herself for her failure to keep her thoughts to herself. She refocused to direct them back to Vinge, continuing their conversation. 'Perhaps… I have been unfair to you… You're right; you didn't have a choice. As much as the law enforcement officer inside me wants to believe otherwise, sometimes facts aren't what we want them to be.'

'Sad, but true,' he replied. 'Still… I do hope to do better. For what it's worth, I do hope I never have to kill again.'

Obsidian nodded to herself, not knowing if Vinge was watching her or not. She still wasn't sure she trusted him, having seen his anger and vehemence for herself. She wouldn't know if he had that rage under control, until the time came where the chance to sate his vengeful urges came again. Only time would answer that question…

'Look alive, guys. I think we got one,' Volcan spoke up suddenly, pointing out a figure to his brother.

Lighris opened the newspaper he held, looking between the man Volcan pointed out, and the image on the page. The man they were looking at was in a secluded area of a park, far enough away from the main trail that he was unlikely to be noticed - except by someone actually looking for him. The telescopic vision of the two avians had picked him out easily despite his clear attempts to keep a low profile.

The man was an avian like them. A falcon, to be precise. He was skinny and shifted uneasily on his feet. He was clearly agitated, waiting for something or someone.

'Volcan's right - that's one of our convicts,' Lighris agreed. 'We're in Montgomery Park, about six blocks west from Ordagova’s place. Looks like he's waiting for someone.'

'We're on our way,' Obsidian informed them. 'Keep an eye on him, but don't let him notice you.'

With that the two brothers sat down on a park bench, pretending to have a conversation while watching the escaped convicts out of the corner of their eyes. Unfortunately, subtlety was not a strong suit of either of the brothers, and they were not the only ones who had keen vision. The falcon watched them intently, catching their looks. He stood there only for a moment before he turned and started walking up the path, hands in his pockets.

'Shit. He noticed us,' warned Volcan.

'Which one is he?' Tsumé’s voice came.

'His name is…' Lighris started, looking at the paper again. 'John. He's a falcon, lighter brown feathers, no highlights. He's also skinny as hell.'

There was a short pause, and then Tsumé spoke again. 'Got him.'

The brothers shared a curious look. 'What?' Volcan asked.

'I am right under him,' Tsumé answered. 'I had to poke my head out to be sure it was him and now I'm following him from below. Is there anyone else on the path?'

'No, not yet,' Lighris answered.

'Keep an eye out for whoever he's waiting for. Rikyuu and I will get this one.'

'Vinge and I are approaching the park now,' Obsidian chimed in. 'Tsumé, be ready to call the police before I get there. I don't need to be close to him to search his mind but my presence will raise too many questions.'

'Got it.'

Volcan and Lighris remained where they were, leaving the capture to Tsumé and Rikyuu, all the while they waited for any unusual characters to come looking for the convict…

Further down the path, Rikyuu stepped out of his hiding place in the bushes, and turned to see the falcon. He feigned surprise at the sight of him, and then lifted up the newspaper held in his hand to check it before looking at the avian again.

"Hey, you!" He exclaimed, before breaking into a run.

The falcon turned to run, opening his wing ready to take flight. But as he ran off the path, he tripped, feeling something snag his ankle and send him falling onto his stomach. He scrambled to get up, but Rikyuu was too fast, falling atop him and grappling for the Avian's arms.

"Get off me, you blue bitch!" The avian shouted at him. “I didn't do nothin'!”

"I'm making a citizen's arrest," Rikyuu stated, holding the man's arms behind his back securely. "You're a wanted man!"

"If you don't get off of me right now, you'll regret it!" The falcon screamed at him. "You don't know who you're screwing with here, pal! My friends will fucking cut you open and feed you your own fucking entrails, do you fucking hear me?!"

Rikyuu did not relent to the threats, noticing out of the corner of his eye as Tsumé approached. He ignored the barrage of insults from the falcon as he spoke to her. "Miss. Could you do me a favour and contact the police please? This man has a warrant out for his arrest."

"A warrant you say?" Tsumé asked, playing along as she pulled out her phone. "I will call them right away."

"If you know what's good for you lady, you'll put that phone away and tell this shithead to let me up!" The falcon screamed at her.

Tsumé ignored him, dialing the police and reporting their whereabouts. Within a few minutes, the police arrived and took the falcon away, taking statements from both Tsumé and Rikyuu. Rikyuu had to come up with a fake name on the fly, and for his part he was quite quick to do so - though he was silently thankful the cops didn't ask for I.D.

When the police were gone, and Rikyuu and Tsumé had moved out of sight, Obsidian appeared along the path, approaching them.

"Did you get anything?" Tsumé asked, hopeful.

But Obsidian's answer dashed her hopes of a quick and easy turnout. "No. Sadly, he wasn't one of the ones we needed," she said. "He was at the ring that night but only as a spectator. He's only awaiting trial for illegal gambling but nothing else."

"Well, not like we could have expected to get a win on the first try – nobody is that lucky," said Rikyuu. "We can cross him off the list at least."

"What about who he was meeting?" Tsumé asked. "Volcan and Lighris said he was waiting for someone or seemed to be."

Obsidian reached out telepathically to the brothers. 'Volcan, Lighris. Have you seen anyone yet?'

'There's a kind of shady looking guy coming up the path. Might be who that John fellow was here to see,' Volcan answered. 'He hasn't noticed us watching him.'

'We're on our way,' Obsidian said, cocking her head in the direction the brothers waited.

They came up the path, and saw the figure pointed out by Volcan and Lighris. A man in a long coat, wearing a toque. Obsidian took a brief glance into his mind, confirming that he was indeed there looking for the falcon they had just arrested. As for the man himself, a common drug dealer, but he wasn't carrying any product they might expose him for. Not that they could. 

They ignored him, passing him by, and relayed the information to the brothers, who stood up to leave, going the other way.

'I should beat his skull on the sidewalk,' Lighris remarked off-handedly. 'Fucking poison dealer…'

'Lighris!' Obsidian scolded him.

'Oh shit, you heard that?'

'Of course I heard it! Our minds are all linked, remember?' She replied.

'Hey I can think about it, can't I? Long as I don't actually do it.'

'Keep it that way,' she chided him.

'Let's get back to searching, shall we?' Vinge's voice cut in suddenly, reminding everyone he was still watching from afar. 'We have a long list to go through yet.'

'Maybe this wasn't a good idea,' Volcan thought. 'We could be at this all night, and it's already getting dark.'

'We can't give up yet,' said Tsumé. 'If we're to have any chance of getting after P.A.C.E before they pop up again, we need to find that arms dealer.'

'Yeah, I know…' Volcan returned.

The rest of the night went by without much success. They didn't find another convict, and soon the air had become so cold that they had to return to Ordagova’s to warm up. They spoke of  their lack of success to the snake, before bidding him goodnight and going home. Once again Rikyuu went to stay overnight at Lighris' house, and Obsidian dropped Tsumé off at home before returning home herself.

The second night was likewise unsuccessful. The police had managed to track down five of the escaped convicts - including the one that they had captured the day before. Not all of them were actually at the ring, and the only other one who had been caught by another good samaritan - one that sounded rather odd to them when they heard about him on the news.

The third night, they received promising information from Ordagova. He had detected something in the community near his bar - a man who held thoughts about hiding from the police. Overtime, Ordagova had seen thoughts about the man's employers, and after digging deeper he uncovered that the man was carrying a firearm, one provided to him by his employers, who had bought it black market.

After finding the man and subduing him, not wanting to allow such a dangerous figure to road the streets, they followed the lead his memories had given them. The man's employer was the owner of a local nightclub who ran a side business, selling drugs out of the back door of his club. As much as they wanted to take action against the drug lord, he was not their target.

Acting as patrons, Obsidian and Rikyuu entered the club. They ordered food at the in-house bar, keeping drinks light. The owner of the club came through and gave Obsidian the opportunity to search his mind without him knowing. She saw into his memories, and found what they were looking for.

'Bingo,' she thought to Rikyuu.

'You got something?' He asked without looking at her.

'Chapman. This guy has bought from him before. He even has a proof of purchase committed to memory that shows exactly where he got the guns from,' she said. 'He's operating out of a warehouse owned by a front company, in the Southwall industrial park.'

'Crap, that's on the American side of the city. How do we get over there?' Volcan's voice piped up, the group still connected mentally.

'By any chance, does the owner know how they got the guns over the border without border security finding them?' Vinge asked.

'From what he knows… They went through the rail yard,' Obsidian said, digging deep into the man's memories.'They use the trains for cover, moving with them to get over without the border patrol seeing them. They throw cargo into cars that have already been inspected by the border check while they're not looking, and then throw it out again once it crosses over. It's then picked up by other henchmen. That must take some very precise timing to not be noticed.'

'Too risky for us to try that ourselves. We'll be seen for sure,' said Volcan. 'Rikyuu, you live on the American side, right? How do you get over to the Canadian side when you come up here?'

'I fly very high, and wait for a shift change,' replied Rikyuu. 'There's a really short gap between when the patrol helicopter has to land to refuel and another one takes off to carry on the patrols. It's a really short window and took me weeks to get down to exact timing. I also go through the rail yard, since the helipad is in the other direction.'

'That could actually work for us,' said Tsumé. 'Both the American and Canadian sides of the city's industrial parks are pretty much sitting atop each other, right? That brings us closer to our destination.'

'Still risky… But if we want to get to Chapman, we'll have to try it,' Lighris piped up. 'Hey, Rik… I don't suppose you at any point copied the powers of an illusionist, did you? Or some kind of invisibility?'

Rikyuu snorted a laugh. 'Believe me, Lighris, I wish I had. It would make things so much easier.'

The following day, the group made their way to the rail yard.. they waited for the cover of night before approaching Rikyuu’s secret route to get over the border. Ahead of them was the border fence, separating the Canadian and American sides of the city. Between them and the fence was open ground, and just off to the left were border patrol guards, checking the cars of a train that was ready to cross over into the United States.

Obsidian had to stay behind for this mission, to protect her career if for any reason they were caught. Lighris also stayed behind - despite much protest - because of his leg, still injured from the last battle with P.A.C.E, leaving only Volcan, Vinge, Rikyuu and Tsumé to carry out their objective to find Chapman.

"Hang on," said Tsumé. "What about if I just tunnel under the fence, bring you guys with me? We can avoid the guards that way."

"Hey, she's right - I could even copy her powers to do it too," Rikyuu offered.

"Then you guys would have to go without me," said Volcan.

"Why?"

"Being underground would choke me," the phoenix explained. "Unless you can create a pocket big enough to sustain me, the lack of oxygen would snuff me out in less than a minute."

"Crap," said Tsumé. "Didn't think of that…"

"It was a good thought, Tsumé," assured Rikyuu.

"How big of a pocket would you need?" Vinge asked.

"The tunnel would have to be wide enough for me to crawl through without getting buried," Volcan explained. "Also it'd have to be open on both ends, to get enough air flowing through it."

"Too easy that someone might notice the hole," said Rikyuu. "Well, I suppose we could-"

BA-BOOM.

The sudden sound made all four of them jump to their feet in alarm, the windows of a nearby structure spider-webbing from the sound. They looked around frantically, searching for the source of the sound, and heard something whooshing overhead, making all of them instinctively duck before looking up.

"What the hell was that?!" Tsumé demanded.

"The sonic boom or whatever caused that whooshing sound?” Rikyuu asked. “Sounded like fighter jets.”

Volcan looked toward the border security officers. Likewise, they were looking around in alarm, searching for the source of the noise. The train conductor had stepped out of the cabin of the main engine, staring aghast at nothing in particular. Volcan shifted his gaze to the infrared spectrum, looking into the night sky.

He saw it then. Two warm signatures, floating in the air high above the ground. They looked avianic, but they were too large to be feral birds, and too small to be aircraft. Even as he watched the two figures descended toward the ground, flying low and approaching the city.

"I… I don't know what I'm looking at," he said. "But there's something out there. They're heading toward the industrial park."

"Are they jet fighters? Is that what caused the sonic boom?" Rikyuu asked.

"Too small - they only look to be the size of people." Volcan replied. Then, he shook his head briskly, getting his focus back on the matter at hand. "We need to get over there while the border guards are distracted. Let's move!"

They broke into a run, sprinting toward the fence. Volcan picked up Tsumé and easily cleared the fence in a single jump. Vinge and Rikyuu both took to the air and glided over it, and all four of them scrambled to reach cover, and then stopped to listen.

No alarm… No shouting. The border patrol hadn't seen them. They each let out a breath, collecting themselves, and all eyes fell on Volcan.

"What did you see?" Vinge asked.

"I'm not sure," said Volcan. "They looked the size of ordinary people… I couldn't make out much but they were flying over from the Canadian side – they passed right over us, I think. I couldn't see much in infrared but they were definitely warmer than the average body temperature."

"Some flying version of the P.A.C.E cyborg, maybe?" Rikyuu asked, then raised his head in alarm as another thought occurred to him. "Do they know we're looking for Chapman? How could they know?"

"And why would they protect him? He's just someone who sells guns to them," said Tsumé as the four began walking, increasing their pace to a jog. "They can easily find another seller, can't they?"

"It doesn't matter. If they evacuate Chapman or kill him, we lose our only lead," said Vinge. "We have to hurry!"

The four increased their brisk jog into a run, heading for the warehouse that Obsidian had found in the memories of the club owner. They weren't far, but they had already lost whatever lead they might have had. They didn't know what waited for them at that warehouse, only that now it was a race against the clock…

As they approached the warehouse, Vinge spotted the CCTV camera over the entrance to the adjoining receptionist office. He didn’t waste a beat, conjuring an ice spike into his hand before throwing it, guiding the spike to strike the camera before it could turn in their direction. The camera was knocked off its mount, and sent careening down to smash against the pavement below.

“Was that necessary?” Tsumé asked Vinge, standing up enough to look into the windows of the office. It was dark inside, and she could not sense any movement within.

“Indubitably,” the ice phoenix replied, matter-of-factly.

Volcan looked over Tsumé, peering into the office area of the warehouse, eyes glowing as he shifted to infrared. He looked slowly over the waiting area, the reception counter, and the two offices behind it, accessed by a short corridor that ended at another door leading into the main storage area proper.

“Looks clear,” he said. “All the lights are out inside and I can’t see anyone hiding anywhere.”

“Let’s find a- wait,” Tsumé remarked. “I just felt movement in there.”

Alert, Volcan took the lead, walking over to one of the fire exits. They looked at Vinge, and didn’t need to say what they were thinking - they had all see him do it before. The Ice Phoenix knelt before the door, sliding a talon under the seam to test its width before he conjured a thin piece of ice. He carefully slid it under the door, and held his hand against the door as they waited.

They heard the sound of the release bar being pushed down. Vinge stepped back from the door, letting Rikyuu take the lead as he created a handheld shield, holding it before him as Volcan pulled the door open.

Nothing.

Sharing an uneasy look with Volcan, Rikyuu led the way inside, the others following in his wake. When still no gunshots or shouts of alarm were heard, Rikyuu lowered the shield, and Volcan took point again, his eyes scanning the interior. Boxes were spread all over the open room of the warehouse, spread haphazardly without any sort of order in mind from what they could see.

Once again, Volcan searched the room with infrared. But with all of the debris scattered about, he likely could have missed anyone - anybody hidden behind a stack of boxes thick enough would be invisible to him. Behind him, Rikyuu watched the right and Vinge the left, all three of them in a loose triangle around Tsumé , who continued to feel for vibrations through the floor with her seismic senses.

"I don't sense anything now," Tsumé whispered as they moved carefully into the warehouse. "But there was definitely movement a moment ago…"

"Can you tell from where?" Vinge asked.

“Sorry, no. It was too brief to get an accurate position,” she replied.

As they passed an open box, curiosity got the better of Rikyuu. He leaned over to look inside, and expression shifted from cautious to incredulous. "Rubber chickens?" He asked. "Are we sure we're in the right place?"

"Well considering the vandalism Vinge just inflicted, we better be," said Tsumé.

"We didn’t want to be seen on surveillance," the ice phoenix  replied.

"I know, I know. But Ayane could just hack in and erase the footage, couldn’t-”

Volcan put up his hand suddenly as he stopped, silencing the others behind him. "Something isn't right," he said. "It's way too quiet in here. I know I saw those two coming this way… I expected we'd encounter resistance here, but there's no one. Not even a guard."

"Are we too late?" Rikyuu asked. 

“We must be… Chapman’s not here. He must have taken off,” Volcan said. “Or those two we saw before made off with them.”

“Well now what do we-” Tsumé started to ask, before she paused, eyes going wide. She turned sharply to the right, pointing toward a stack of boxes on a palette. There hadn’t been a sound, but Tsumé didn’t need to hear - she could feel. “Over there!” She exclaimed.

Volcan immediately rushed at the boxes, leading with his shoulder as he bulled his way toward the nearest stack and threw himself into them. The boxes went flying, and from behind them, a figure appeared. The form that emerged was distinctly avianic in shape, but composed entirely of metal that reflected the dim light. The body was mainly red in colour, with silver tones around the legs and upper arms. Two small lights, sitting where the eyes would be, stared back at Volcan as his attack exposed them, blue in colour and casting a low illumination over the phoenix’s face.

“Found you!” Volcan shouted before lunging at the automaton.

The two tumbled, the metal avian falling low and attempting to throw Volcan over him. Volcan however managed to seize his opponent’s wings, pulling him with him. They fell into a desperate struggle, metal scrapping against the floor as both of them fought for control.

The second metal-clad assailant emerged from hiding then. This one had a similar colour scheme to the first, but with blue instead of red. They carried a weapon in their hands - a bo staff, and threw themselves at Rikyuu who was closest. Hurriedly, Rikyuu raised his shield again, but he was too slow, the end of the bow staff slamming into his forehead and knocking him back.

Vinge rounded on the second assailant, spheres of ice forming around him. One after the other, he launched each one at the assailant; the first sphere shattered against their chest, staggering them, before the others pelted them repeatedly. Surprisingly, Vinge was only moving a single hand to control each sphere, not relying on full bodily movement as the others usually did, displaying a remarkable level of control.

Unfortunately, the ice couldn’t pierce whatever alloy the armour was composed of, for the blue automaton soon counter-attacked, parrying the spheres of ice in a remarkable show of grace before aiming one of their palms at him. A bolt of electrical energy shot out from their open palm before striking the ice phoenix, throwing him backward.

Volcan, having lost his advantage, was thrown to his back before his opponent shot into the air above him, propelled by thrusters, similar to those on jets, shooting from their hands and feet. When they landed, they raised their hands, palms forward, and aimed them at Volcan as he stood up. A bolt of electrical energy shot out from the palms, both of them striking Volcan; he let out a cry of pain and fell to his knees, catching himself on his hands.

But of course, this opponent didn’t know that Volcan was not as affected by electricity as others, thanks to his father’s blood. He lifted his head, eyes glowing brightly, before his wings ignited in red-hot fire. He stood, and with a flap of his wings, sent a wall of flames rushing at the automaton. The flames washed over the metal avian, though they barely showed any reaction to the fire as it seemed to dissipate before making contact.

“What the-?” Volcan started to ask, certain the fire had been hot enough to do more damage.

“Hey!” Tsumé shouted, rushing to help Volcan. She ran at the automaton from the side, stomping the floor to raise several pebbles scattered over it before barraging the metal avian with them. The stones were a distraction though, allowing Volcan to collect himself.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Volcan threw himself at the target, grabbing them in a bearhug.

“See if robots get headaches!” Volcan growled before bending himself backward, and slamming the red automaton down in a hard suplex, sending a metallic report echoing through the interior of the warehouse as Volcan rolled back onto his feet, and-

“Gaaaah fuck!”

Volcan blinked, looking around for the source of the voice. It wasn’t one he recognized, not deep enough to be Vinge’s and not the same pitch as Rikyuu’s. His eyes went back to the armoured figure, who until now, he had thought to be some sort of automaton.

“Wait, did you just say something?” He asked.

Back in the other ongoing battle, Vinge, still stunned from the jolt he had taken, seemed down for the count. Rikyuu, however, leapt back in. As the blue armoured automaton stood over Vinge, seeming to study him, the blue dragon sprang at them. His right arm was coated in a glove, composed entirely of hard light, and he stuck the figure across the face, sending it reeling.

Rikyuu pursued, throwing another punch. The automaton seemed to react to the incoming attack, weaving aside to avoid his fist and kicking out at Rikyuu, though he managed to avoid it. He noted the movement in his mind, recognizing an instinctive response when he saw it.

Instincts a robot would not have.

The truth dawned on Rikyuu. “Volcan! These aren’t robots!” Rikyuu called, not taking his eyes off the blue one. “Someone’s in these tin cans!”

“You think?!” the two armoured figures shouted in unison, their voices muffled behind their helmets but still audible.

“They’re… They’re suits?!” Tsumé asked in disbelief. Then her expression softened, her gaze drifting as if trying to remember something. “Wait a minute…” She whispered.

“Tsumé!” Volcan exclaimed, but he was two late, as both of them were hit by spheres of condensed electrical energy, throwing both him and Tsumé to the floor as their muscles spasmed from the charge. Volcan managed to catch himself on his hands again, but he was too slow to get back up before the red, metal avian loomed over him.

Neither of them moved, Volcan bracing himself expecting an attack, but none came. He relaxed slightly, studying the figure, who seemed to also be examining him. Volcan’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, but he remained passive.

“Who are you?” He demanded from the avian. “And where’s Chapman?”

“Red Lightning. Maybe you should watch the news,” the metal-clad avian retorted with a synthetic voice. “As for Chapman, I would ask you the same thing but it seems you’re none the wiser.”

“We’re pursuing a lead on someone who’s after us,” Volcan returned.

“After you?” Even with a synthetic voice, ‘Red Lightning’ as he had introduced himself, sounded puzzled. “We thought you worked for Chapman, or P.A.C.E…”

“You know about P.A.C.E?” Volcan asked, astounded. “They’re the ones after us. We uncovered some clues that Chapman was selling weapons to them. We thought that through him, we might find P.A.C.E, and make them leave us alone.” His brow furrowed as he continued. “We only want to continue living peacefully, and preferably in secret.”

There was a moment of silence between those in the room then. Rikyuu and the blue clad figure were staring each other down, neither one making any move to provoke the other. Volcan thought he heard more muffled words from the red one, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying.

Then, the figure turned away. “Good luck with that,” they said before flying over to the nearby exit, followed by their twin in blue.

“H-Hey, wait a minute!” Volcan called after them, but they continued on their way despite his call, exiting the warehouse and taking off into the sky without another word.

“Just what was that all about?” Rikyuu asked, dispersing his hard light weapons before moving over to check on Vinge as the ice phoenix sat up.

“I have no idea,” Volcan admitted, looking over at Tsumé. She was slowly getting back to her feet as well, though she was somewhat unstead. “Tsumé, you okay?”

“I’ll live,” she replied. She rubbed the back of her neck to ease some of the tension, looking out the door. “So now what? Do we follow them?”

“They moved fast enough to cause a sonic boom before we got here,” Rikyuu pointed out. “We don’t have a prayer of catching them.”

Volcan let out a sigh. “Let’s see if we can find anything useful around here. Try to make sure this whole trip wasn’t a big waste,” the phoenix said with a shake of his head.

Unfortunately, a thorough search of the warehouse gave the phoenixes and dragon no further clues. Not even one to where Chapman had gone, or if he had ever been at the warehouse in the first place. After sneaking their way back over the border they started walking back in the direction of Ordagova’s.

Though they could have flown there, the four wanted to take a little time to gather their thoughts, and reflect on what had happened that night. Tsumé took that time to resume what she had started to mention before; that the one who had introduced themselves as ‘Red Lightning’ had been all over the news over the past few months. 

Halfway back to the bar, they took flight to quicken the journey, and found Obsidian and Lighris waiting there with Ordagova. They spent the next half an hour recounting everything that had transpired at the warehouse. Their story left Obsidian gawking in disbelief.

“The Lightnings? You met them - both of them?” She asked. “They’re here in Unity Falls?”

“I was shocked too,” said Tsumé. “Those two have been all over the news for a while now. Not the least of which is their most recent battle out in New York.”

“What did they do?” Lighris asked.

“Well they exposed this other exo-suit hero - some pretentious twat calling himself ‘American Dream’, as a total fraud,” Tsumé explained. “Blue was battling him along for a while and nearly got killed until their… partner, I guess? Until the other one came to help them.”

“That fight was all over the news the next day, right alongside the jailbreak P.A.C.E caused,” Obsidian added. “Things apparently got pretty intense with those three. Red Lightning ripped apart the armour American Dream was wearing. I couldn’t see his face with that helmet on but… I’d say Red was pretty ticked off.”

“It caused so much controversy that now there’s a bit of a divide between supporters of the Lightnings and American Dream,” Tsumé added. “That’s all there was about them though - there’ll probably be more on the news later, but, we had our own breaking story at the same time.”

“And now they’re here, in our hometown,” Volcan added. “Apparently, they’re looking for Chapman too.”

“Did they say anything about him after the fight?” Obsidian asked.

“Just ‘good luck’, and then they took off,” replied Volcan. “I wish we could have asked them more…”

“I don’t,” said Lighris, earning curious looks from the others. “Bro… They know about us now. How do we know they’re not going to sell us out? Especially to P.A.C.E.”

“They do not work for P.A.C.E,” Vinge stated flatly.

“And how do you know?” Lighris asked, looking doubtful.

“If P.A.C.E had access to technology allowing them to create highly advanced combat exo-suits like the ones we saw tonight - as well as disable our powers at the same time, do you really think any of us would still be alive after our encounters with them?” The ice phoenix replied flatly.

The room fell silent for a moment, nobody able to refute that claim. Lighris lifted his hand, pointing a finger at Vinge as he scowled.

“There seriously needs to be a filter on your bluntness, snowball,” he said, and then looked at Ordagova. “I’m going to need something strong, please.”

As Ordagova went to fill out Lighris’ order, Volcan leaned forward, eyes on Obsidian as he asked. “Anything else about these Lightnings you can tell us?”

“Only rumours mostly. They have been confirmed to have been seen in Hong Kong, and supposedly they uncovered something pretty big out there, something so big that even the Chinese government couldn’t really keep it under wraps,” she explained. “Most of the rumours try to point to other parties not affiliated with China itself, but one consistency was speaking of… Some kind of genetics programme.”

That piqued Rikyuu’s interest. “Genetics?”

“Yeah, but nothing particular - at least not that I’ve heard, and definitely not like you, Rikyuu,” she said. “You might look up the rest to find out more.”

“But not much else about the Lightnings themselves,” remarked Volcan, rubbing a finger under his beak in thought.

“I can say they are likely related,” Vinge commented, all eyes turning to him again.

“How do you figure?” Tsumé asked.

“Those suits were nearly identical in overall anatomy,” replied the ice phoenix. “Similar height and build, both armours designed to not make it clear the gender of the wearer, but otherwise almost exactly alike. I do not think that is a coincidence.”

“You noticed something that minute?” Volcan asked.

“I take in every detail of my opponent,” said Vinge. “The slightest detail could reveal a potential weakness.”

“I don’t think they are our enemy,” said Volcan. “You said it yourself - they definitely don’t work for P.A.C.E, and they let us go in the end. They could have pursued the fight.”

Vinge nodded. “Indeed they could have,” he agreed. “At the time though I had to consider they might be adversaries, so I planned as such. Now we know at least they do not work for P.A.C.E, but their affiliation with Chapman remains a mystery to us.”

Again the room fell silent, no one having anything to add to that statement.

“So what should we do now?” Tsumé asked, not for the first time that night.

“I truly don’t know,” Volcan replied, shaking his head. “We don’t know how to contact the Lightnings, even if they were willing to help us. For now, Chapman’s trail is cold, as is the only lead we had on P.A.C.E.” He sounded defeated as he spoke. “It’s only a matter of time before they attack us again…”

“Hey,” Obsidian leaned over, grasping Volcan’s hand and squeezing it. “Don’t give up yet, Volcan. We’ll find a way.”

“If thessse ‘Lightningsss’,” Ordagova chimed in, “were trying to find Chapman, asss you were, then they can’t be working for P.A.Csss.E, as Vinge sssaid. It isss more likely that they are pursssuing P.A.Csss.E for the sssame reason you are pursssuing Chapman, and it sssoundsss like they might be capable of dealing with them asss well, from what I have alssso heard of them.”

“How does that help us though?” Volcan asked. “Will they find P.A.C.E before they lick their wounds and attack us again?”

“That isss much harder to be sure of,” Ordagova replied, shaking his head. “Maybe you all should get sssome ressst, and sssleep easssy, knowing there are two people like them looking over you.”

Volcan grimaced. “Can we really say they’re looking out for us?” He asked. “Until they met us tonight, they couldn’t have known we existed. As it stands, I don’t know what they’ll do with that knowledge…”

“Hey,” Obsidian said, more sharply this time. “We’ll worry about that later. For now, Ordagova’s right. This has been another long day for all of us, and we’re not out of it yet. We need to try and get ready for whatever comes next.”

Lighris let out an audible sigh. “She’s right, bro,” he said. “We can’t dwell on it now… We need our own time to recuperate, before shit gets out of hand again.” He took a long sip of his drink, his eyes clenching as he pulled it back from his beak, shaking his head briskly. “Wowza! That is strong stuff!” He said, turning to look at Ordagova. “What’d you call this?”

“Ssstroh - an Aussstrian rum,” he answered. “But don’t drink too much in one go. It’sss very high proof.”

“It’s just what I needed,” he said.

“Good thing he’s not driving us home,” Volcan remarked to Obsidian with a chuckle.

“I’d have to suspend his license if he tried that,” she returned, smiling back at him.

Volcan shared a laugh with the dragoness. They let Lighris finish his drink before they said goodnight to Ordagova and Vinge. Rikyuu, for his part, decided it was time he returned home as well - though he asked Tsumé if he could borrow her powers for the task, which she obliged, letting him copy her earth powers. With that, he went on his way toward the border, leaving the others to ride home with Obsidian to drive them.

They stopped Tsumé’s apartment first before heading out to Lighris’ house, and Lighris went inside first, while Volcan stood outside to stare up at the night sky for a long moment, lost in thought. Obsidian came over to stand beside him, following his gaze before looking at him.

“You going to be okay?” She asked.

“Yeah… Just unsure what to expect next,” he said, giving his head a light shake. “The future is always unpredictable, but it’s never felt so much, not like it does now.”

She turned fully to Volcan, hands on his shoulders and turning him to face her. “We’ll figure it out,” she promised. “Whatever comes next, we’ll look out for each other, right?”

Volcan smiled. “Right.”

They held each other then in a warm embrace, Volcan holding firmly onto the dragoness who had become a dear friend to him. Obsidian likewise leaned into his embrace, careful to avoid the gunshot wound on his side this time - which, thankfully, despite the earlier fight with Red Lightning had not opened again - and enjoyed the warmth of his feathers as they comforted each other.

They let the moment last before pulling apart, and Obsidian bid Volcan goodnight before returning to her car and departing. Volcan turned to go inside, hands in his pockets as he walked. He took one more look at the night sky, hoping that his ancestors were watching over him and his friends, before he entered the house and went immediately to bed…