A SPARK OF HOPE.

1774, NOVEMBER 28th, MONDAY 6:40 am.

Noche and her friends stepped out of the elevator and into a hallway lit with neon white light.

"So this is Raven's floor," she muttered. "The strongest bird of death."

Her gaze flickered over to the side where the elevator's up button was destroyed. She leaned in closer and it appeared as if a metal spike had impaled it. The blonde was snapped out of her inspection as Boot's rushed ahead.

All struggled to keep up with the orange-haired boy despite my grievous wounds. Blood dripped onto the floor with his every step, his eyes has a distant gleam to them, and every so often he stumbled. Yet he still led the way with staggering speed.

They turned corridor after corridor in this confusing maze of hallways. In minutes they arrived before a large door; a security camera aimed at it.

"I recognize this door. Yeah, I unlocked it for you once. I asked what do we say and you're response was," Jack imitated Boot's grimace. "Now."

The security guard shrugged as Boots kicked the door. Dust fell from the ceiling as he retracted his foot – a deep indent in the metal.

"Gee golly gosh, you said you unlocked it before?" Shaylin asked.

Jack nodded. "If there's a security room on this floor, I should be able to—"

Boots kicked the door again and the dent grew deeper.

"—Unlock it remotely."

"Maybe I can hack it?" Shaylin smiled.

With a third kick, the door exploded; ripped metal and electrical wires were scattered everywhere. An alarm blared throughout the entire floor as Boots leapt into the room. Noche's mouth hung wide open. She grit her teeth and scowled, before leaping after the man.

"... Nevermind," Shaylin chuckled.

One by one they all slipped through the crack in the door. The party stood before a room that was almost pitch black. At the far end of the room was a meter-thick red glass barrier, with large ventilation holes scattered every foot apart. In vivid white text above the glass wall were the numbers 19-16-01-18-11.

Beyond this red glass was a small, prison cell with a woman sitting on the bed. She shot to her feet as Boots ran towards the translucent barrier.

"SPARK!"

The red-haired girl shouted – excepted she made no noise. Her mouth moved and it appeared as if she was yelling, but not a single word could be heard. Noche paused and stared at the girl. Her eyes drifted all over the tall woman's body. Over the missing arms, the spikes for legs, and the singular left eye.

Then they locked eyes. Noche was stunned as she stared into the eye of a childhood friend she couldn't remember. Tears welled in Sparks's left eyes as her gaze lingered on the blonde.

"Spark! We're gonna get you outta here!" Boots screamed. "Hang on!"

A stream fell down her cheeks as she shook her head. Her mouth moved in silence, but Noche couldn't make out what it was. Not that she could focus on the girl's lips – it was her battered body that held her attention.

"B-Boots... What happened to her?" Noche whispered.

The orange-haired boy didn't respond. He immediately went to kicking the glass barrier.

"BOOTS!" Noche yelled.

He closed his eyes and his mouth tightened into a grimace.

"Don't make me ask you again," she said. "What. Happened. To. Spark?"

His eyes drifted open and he stared at the floor.,

"Every time I failed a mission... Edward would take a body part."

Noche's eyes widened, then her face paled to white as snow.

"The time at the DriveMetal factory... In that small town where Alice and I fought you."

Boots didn't blink. His gaze stayed locked on the floor; he was unresponsive.

Noche swallowed. "Which... Which one is my fault?"

"Her eye... Her right eye," he mumbled. "It was my sixth failure. So Edward took her eye."

The blonde turned to back to Spark; her gaze lingered on the woman's face. Behind some of the red hair blocking the view was a flesh stitched shut where an eye should have been. It was poor stitchwork that appeared more at home on a ragged doll than surgical sutures.

Spark moved her head and had more of her crimson locks cover the ugly wound. Her expression became melancholic and she shook her head while maintaining eye contact with Noche. A smile crossed her face for a moment as she mouthed something word by word.

"It's ok."

>>> 44: ADD ARTWORK OF SPARK'S FACE SMILING CONTENTLY. SHOW THE POORLY STITCHED EYE <<<

All the blonde could do was stare with drooping brows and a frown. Boots kicked the door with enough force to shake the entire room, but the glass didn't crack.

"Damn! DAMN!" he yelled. "The glass is wire mesh – DriveMetal wire mesh!"

Jack led Shaylin over to a metal panel. With her cybernetic left arm, she ripped off the cover and pulled at wires. Implanting them into open ports on her robotic appendage she typed away at a keyboard.

"Bruh, that alarm has been ringing for a while now," Mary said. "How long until reinforcements get here?"

Alice tapped her shoulder and pointed.

"Oh fuck me!" Mary shouted. "Some help over here."

Two DeathTech soldiers entered the room. Tak ran ahead of the couple and threw up a wall of ice. Alice drew her gun as Mary created acid on the other side.

"Hold them off!" Boots yelled. "Shaylin! What's taking so long!"

"It's the software! It's a complex system – I'm cracking it as fast as I can, but my software can only keep up so much."

Jack turned a concerned look to the orange-haired boy.

"I've given her every access code I know," he said.

"Can't you hurry it up!" Boots growled.

"I'm trying!"

"My patience!"

Boots turned to the glass and kicked it again; his foot bounced off it. There wasn't even a scratch on the translucent surface. He slammed his head against the barrier – blood dripped down his face. His eyes slammed shut as moisture gathered in them.

Noche's head scanned about. Her grandfather was confused, Spark shook her head while shouting in silence, and chaos surrounded them. A face caught her eye – a big grinning maw full of jagged teeth. It was akin to a skull, but not quite. Drool dripped down its chin before it vanished.

A scratch appeared on Noche's face, but she didn't perceive anything that could have inflicted that wound. She prided herself on her strong pain tolerance, but something was wrong. The scratch hurt – much more than it should have.

She closed her eyes and took a calming breath.

"The blade that erases existence."

Noche's gaze snapped open. She turned down to her right hand – the Omnioar appeared in a flash of gold surrounded by black mist. A grin appeared on her face; the ice wall shattered and the Anglerfish soldier entered the room.

A barrage of bullets filled the room as Tak threw up more ice walls. With a scream, Noche turned towards the red glass and swung – the sword cut it as easily as tissue paper. Boots rushed into the room and everyone was quick to follow suit. He jumped towards Spark.

He jumped through Spark.

The floor vanished – the trap door fell open. Everyone fell into pitch black as the hologram of Spark glitched and wavered.

"I'll save you!" Boots screamed. "Spark, I'm coming to save you!"

Darkness consumed them.