I glanced up at the huge facility in the distance, looming over the rest of the city from atop a cliff. There was no question that STARKON's central facility was huge, and even from a mile away, the blocky letters of the logo were readable.

After meeting up with Addison and Aiden in the abandoned building, we had devised a plan. We could get to the City Centre by light-rail, in which we would ride separately - to not rouse suspicion. The twin's field trip to StarMart had shown successful as they spent a good portion of what was left of Brandon's allowance on compasses, wire cutters, flashlights, hair spray and a few other seemingly unrelated items. All of this - according to Addison - was absolutely necessary on an infiltration mission, so I just shrugged and dropped a few of them in my satchel.

The trip to City Centre was - thankfully - uneventful and we arrived at the National Park beside STARKON's facility just as it was getting dark. Perfect. The shadows would aid our infiltration and could be what we needed to gain the element of surprise. We had planned to wait until nightfall during which we would sneak into STARKON's grounds through the National Park and find a weak link in the fence. I supposed that was what the wire cutters would be used for.

The trip to Central Albastiar had taken longer than planned, so we made it to the east side of the national park - the side that STARKON was on - just before nightfall. The security guards had eyed us suspiciously as we made our way through the gates because, well, what was a group of teenagers doing in a national park so late? I had flashed my brightest smile and confidently strode through, disappearing into the nearby underbrush. Thankfully, the guards hadn't pressed the issue and the four of us were now crouched behind the thick wilderness near the edge of the park; the parameters of STARKON in our view.

There was a scuffle as Brandon shifted in his position, causing me to glare at him, a finger over my lips. The dull thumps of a security guard's footsteps grew louder as a beam of torchlight flashed over our heads, just inches away from where we were hiding. The National Park closed at seven-thirty - for obvious reasons - and the last time I had checked my watch, it was nearing eight. There was no doubt that we would be sent out of the park if we were caught, and with my face posted on flyers as a wanted fugitive, I didn't want to risk that. I held my breath as the guard's footsteps faded into silence, the crackling of his radio breaking the eerie silence.

"Area K12, clear..." I heard, as the security guard walked further south, glad that our position had not been discovered.

I waited a few more minutes before slowly raising my head over the edge of the bush, eyes adjusting to the darkness. Lifting a hand, I stepped out of the bush and into open ground. Placing my satchel on the rough dirt ground, I felt inside for the cool metal of the wire cutters. Aiden had pointed out a part of the wire fence earlier that had been torn near the ground; probably due to the wildlife in the park. Using the already weak metal, I clamped the cutters around them and pulled, wincing as the metal protested loudly. Brandon crouched down beside me, holding the other pair of cutters and pulled the other side. He created a large gaping hole in the fence - enough for us to fit through - and stood up, brushing himself down.

"Who's going to go first?" Addison whispered through the darkness, and I detected a slight quiver in her voice. I bit my lip. Addison didn't have a fear for the dark, so it could only be the risky plight of our plan that was giving her doubts.

"I'll go," I offered, turning to hide my satchel under a pile of leaves. Aiden, Brandon and Addison followed, pulling out a few necessary items and placing them in their pockets. I considered my options and finally, pulled out one of the hard drives and a torch.

I tugged down my jumper, and tied my hair into a ponytail. Bending down slowly, as to not get caught on the sharp, newly cut wire, I slowly wormed my way through the gap. I realised too late that my hair had somehow tangled itself with a particularly pointy part. Freezing in place, I held my breath, not daring to move.

"Levi?" Brandon whispered, sounding concerned. "Anything wrong?"

I reddened slightly, glad that the darkness hid my blush. How pathetic of me to get stuck halfway through the fence?! I couldn't use my arms to free my hair or my face would have a nice meeting with the leaf-littered earth. I weighed my options, knowing that I had been in the same position for quite a few seconds now. The dark would create a suitable cover if I used my powers... right?

I concentrated, and sent a pulse of power toward the strand of hair that had been caught on the wire. Sending another part of my energy to the wire, I quickly untangled my hair from the point, successfully exiting my awkward position. Standing up, I dusted myself off.

"Be careful, there's a sharp wire there." I muttered, glancing around in case we had been spotted. After a few more slight scuffles in the darkness, the other three followed me through the fence. I pondered my options for a while before using the thick sole of my boot to push the hole closed so it would be less obvious to passers-by. Kicking a few loose leaves and sticks to cover the hole further, I glanced around at our surroundings.

Unfortunately for us, the part of STARKON that we had stumbled into was just to the side of their front door step. Quite literally. Even though it was well into the night, multiple bright white lights shone onto the lightly dusty courtyard in front of the large glass doors that lead into the facility, creating the illusion that it was still day. My breath hitched in my throat as a group of white-lab coated professors passed by our hiding place and I backed further into the inky shadows. I hoped they provided enough cover against the piercing beam of the exterior lights and the lab coats would pass by without noticing anything was off.

A tug on the sleeve of my jacket made me look toward my right. Addison pointed a finger toward where the group of lab coated people had stopped in front of the door and I noticed that it had what looked like an ID scanner near the door. I cursed silently. I had been so focused on getting into the facility grounds that I had forgotten that there would be security at the door as well. We had to get our hands on one of those IDs.

I turned back to my friends, gesturing at the ID scanner and trying to convey that we would have to wait for our chance. Brandon stared back at me blankly, while Aiden pushed his glasses further up his nose, nodding. I knew Addison would know what I meant as she had been the one that pointed it out, but I glanced at her just to be sure. She wasn't looking at me, but instead staring intently at something behind me. Whirling around, I followed her gaze and saw a guy in blue overalls pushing a cart toward a smaller side door, almost concealed in the shadows. A green exit sign flashed in the darkness. A fire escape. Perfect.

I grinned at Addison, and flashed her a thumbs up. Slowly, we edged around, with our backs pressed against the wire fencing as we matched the guy's pacing. As we got closer, I could see that he seemed to be carting some styrofoam containers into the facility, and I concluded that he should be a simple delivery guy.

Holding a hand up, I gestured for Addison to follow me, while Brandon and Aiden waited in the shadows. I crept forward, waiting for the right moment before I leapt out of the shadows and fired a series of quick jabs into what I knew to be the guy's pressure points. But I had underestimated STARKON's delivery-guy jumpsuits. My hands hit a hard material under the blue fabric and I bit my lip to muffle my scream. Apparently people had tried to attack the delivery guys before, and STARKON had installed protective technology into the suits.

I had planned to knock the guy out by hitting his pressure points, and Addison would tie him up so he wouldn't be able to escape. But that was all gone into the wind as the guy noticed our presence and whirled around, hands in defense position.

"Who are you? What do you want with me?" he said, glancing back and forth between the two of us.

I didn't reply as I leapt at him, attempting to catch his ankle with my foot. He dodged, reaching to his hip and pulling out a small black box, with what looked like an antenna of some sort coming out the top. My eyes widened as I realised what it was. A handheld transceiver!

Cursing, I lunged forward before he could press the button and knocked it out of his hands. It was sent skidding across the dirt floor, as I tried to deliver a swift jab to his ribs but remembered too late the protection of the uniform. Wincing, I cradled my hand to my chest, dodging a quick punch aimed my way. I didn't see his leg in time as it slammed into my chest, winding me.

Choking, I fell to the ground, blinking tears from my eyes as I coughed, chest heaving. Rolling onto my side, I dimly saw Aiden and Brandon run out of the shadows. Damnit, those idiots! Why did they come out before it was time? I struggled to get back onto my feet, glancing up to see Brandon lunging for the handheld transceiver. The guy in the overalls was faster, and he snatched it up and Brandon's fingers to closed over thin air.

"Requesting backup. Intruders spotted at -"

I whirled around to look at the guy, eyes widening in horror at his words. Cursing, I leapt to my feet, blinking as Brandon came out of the shadows to punch the guy in the face, stopping him mid sentence.

"Hey!? What's your status?" I heard a voice reply frantically from over the receiver. This time Brandon managed to snatch the HT before the other guy could, and I turned to deliver the finishing blow to his head, knocking him out cold. Breathing heavily, I watched as Addison and Aiden advanced with the rope, quickly tying it around his hands and his feet and shoving an old cloth into his mouth. Brandon pressed a button on the HT and I glanced at him as if he was delusional.

"Are you trying to get us caught?!" I hissed, as I dragged the guy into the shadows of the building. Brandon didn't reply, instead holding up a hand for me to be quiet.

"Sorry, false alarm," he spoke into the mic, voice lower than usual. I noticed he was trying to imitate the guy in the overalls and I felt stupid for berating him. He was buying us more time. Right.

"Levi," Addison hissed, waving me back over to the fire escape that she was holding open. I nodded, and quickly jogged over, slipping inside and softly shutting the door behind me. Breathing a sigh of relief, I leant against the door for a while, regaining my breath before remembering that the cart the guy had been pushing was still outside. Sure to arouse suspicion, I whispered my thoughts to Addison, gesturing for Brandon and Aiden to go on first.

I pushed the cart back inside as Addison held the door open and pushed the cart against the dim wall of the fire escape. I pulled out my flashlight, about to follow Addison up the stairs when I stopped. The cart had been heavier than I had thought it to be, and curiosity had gotten the better of me. I pulled out the knife that I kept in the sole of my boot and sliced open the first box. Blinking as my eyes adjusted to the yellow light of the torch, I felt bile rise up in my throat at the strong metallic that hit my nose. Inside the box, there were bags and bags of blood meshed in between ice; enough to rival that of a hospital's. But STARKON was a training facility; the first organisation that had discovered the powers of super heroes many years ago and brought the super's into the world. It didn't make sense that they'd need so much blood.

"Levi? You coming?" Addison's voice drifted down from a few flights of stairs above me.

I hurriedly replaced the lid back on the styrofoam box and slipped my knife back into the sole of my boot.

"Sorry, I'm coming now," I replied, starting up the stairs and tried to school my features into one that didn't betray the flurry of thoughts that were circling in my head.

But just what was STARKON hiding?  

a.n.

What do you think guys? It'd make me happy to get some feedback on this chapter, all constructive criticism welcome!! 

SpiderPrincess

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(^ have a long one cuz idk how to do a tally-slash on computer :P)