Shift didn't get the chance to reply before Athira flew off, quickly disappearing around the side of a building.

"Where's she going?" Raph called from his position beside Kione and Talia, who was now on her feet.

"To distract the Wardens or... something," said Shift, though he suspected that was just an excuse to leave.

Raph swore. "We don't have time to waste chasing her. She'll have to fend for herself until we get Zoe. Talia says they were trying to get her strapped to a chair for these rune tattoos not long ago."

Shift glanced after Athira. "I should—"

"Shift," said Raph firmly. "Athira can handle a Warden or two by herself. I can't."

Raph jerked his head towards Kione and Talia.

Talia wasn't in good shape. Her Keeper suit was torn in several places, blood seeping through the fabric. She leaned heavily on Kione for support, and Kione — while he could handle himself — wasn't an Orange with a strength for close combat fighting. With planning and his usual resources, Kione was invaluable, but right now he had nothing except a makeshift Frame and his glasses.

With a mental curse, Shift nodded at Raph. "I'm with you. What's the plan?"

"They had Zoe in that building," Talia said in a hoarse voice, pointing to one of the taller buildings a block or two away.

They started down the street as fast as Talia could manage, hugging the shadows against the walls. Raph took the lead, his shaped Red shield covering their front as Shift's protected the rear, keeping Talia and Kione sandwiched between them.

"What happened with Athira before?" asked Shift.

"She thought I'd sold you all out to the Elites and attacked me," muttered Talia. "She didn't exactly give me the chance to explain, but I can't say I'd have reacted differently in her place. I wasn't in binders when she found me."

"They didn't arrest you?"

"I broke in through the old tunnels after I checked Kione's hidden security system and realised the Elites had taken everyone," said Talia. She scowled. "I was part-way through busting out Zoe when Magda and Elias caught me. I knew I couldn't take them in a fight, so I played along when they tried to 'reason' with me. I was hoping for a chance to surprise them."

Shift recognised the names — two Elites that Talia was particularly close to. "How'd you know where this place was?"

Talia shot him a look over her shoulder and immediately winced, grabbing her side. "Every elemental knows about this place. It's a massive void in the ground. The whole reason they tile it off is to hide what they're doing from us."

"'Us'?" said Shift, to which Talia's mouth pressed into a thin line in reply. "Seems a bit of a jump to go from 'big hole in the ground' to 'secret Warden base'."

Talia huffed. "I have a... friend that had suspicions about what this place was. Can we leave it at that?"

"I'm only asking because the Wardens have a source that knew Athira and I were headed to their facility last night, along with other things Indigo's been doing," said Shift.

"What," snapped Talia. "You think I'm a traitor too?"

"No," said Shift quickly. "But if you've told this friend things—"

"This is a problem to solve when we aren't in enemy territory," said Raph. His tone left no room for argument. "Right now, I want everyone focused on getting all of us out of here together. Talia, how—"

Raph cut off, holding up a hand for a silence as he scanned the wide, open space of the last street between them and the building Talia had indicated. A trio of Elites — one Orange and two Purples — were crossing the street not far from where Indigo now stood, and judging from the slightly iridescent shimmer to one of the Purple's suits, Shift was willing to bet they'd found a Warden.

"Wait for them to leave, then we move," said Raph quietly.

But the trio didn't leave. They continued straight for Indigo's target building — and when a weak flash of Yellow light came through the narrow, vertical windows of the ground floor of that same building, Shift knew they'd all understood what it meant.

Zoe was in trouble.

"New plan," said Raph. "Shift and I rush them, Kione gets the door open. Talia, do what you can." His voice was clipped, like it was taking everything in him to delay their charge for even those few words, however vital. "Let's move."

Shift took the lead with Raph, their shields locked as they dashed across the exposed street, trading stealth for speed. The Orange Elite sounded the alarm when Shift and Raph were within five metres, drawing a disinterested glance from the Purple Warden.

"None of that," said the Purple Warden, reaching an upturned, violet-skinned hand towards them. "I have a task to see to."

Shift felt the Warden's Purple immediately. It grabbed for his sense of doubt, his hesitation, his fear, and heightened them tenfold. Shift's heart sped up, but it wasn't enough to stop either him or Raph. Their team needed them — and that was stronger than any individual sense of preservation.

Together, they pushed forward. Raph made contact first, a Red-shaped broadsword in his other hand swinging around in a arc towards the Warden's midsection. The Warden dodged back, but Shift was there. He blocked the Warden's retreat with a wide shield that corralled him back into Raph, whose broadsword was now a whip wrapped around the Warden's torso, dragging him to the ground.

"Protection!" called the Purple Elite who'd retreated a few steps back towards the building as Kione and Talia faced down the Orange Elite. "Trust! Loyalty!"

Shift had exactly enough time to think they were odd words to be yelling in the middle of a fight when he felt the Warden's Purple switch targets.

In an instant, everything went numb, leaving nothing but one lone, suspicious thought clanging around inside his head.

What am I doing here?

"Keepers," muttered the Warden, getting to his feet. "I should have known. Lower your weapons, sit on the ground, and no harm will come to you."

Shift lowered his shield, the shaped Red evaporating off his arm, as Raph did the same beside him. Some small, resistant part of him knew what was happening — that the Elite had identified his main motivators and the Warden had suppressed them — but it was like a blanket had been thrown over his mind, smothering out everything that gave him a reason to fight, to move.

Resist it, you idiot, he told himself, desperate to snap out of it as even that last flicker of defiance was fading. He sank to the ground, vaguely aware of a distant sense of self-preservation that wanted him to run, but faced with an existence of the nothing that yawned inside him, he couldn't bring himself to care.

"You keep proving your usefulness," the Warden said to the Purple Elite, who inclined their head in reply. "Get them in binders and we'll—"

"I don't think so," said Talia, and the ground beneath the Warden's feet erupted.

The Warden went flying. Shift gasped as his regular set of emotions flooded back, spilling life and light into the wasteland the Warden had created in his mind. Raph recovered first, shoulder charging the Purple Elite beside him with a roar.

Talia didn't let up on the Warden when he landed. She kept the ground unsteady beneath his feet, flinging some concerningly big rocks at him every time he even looked like he was going to try and use his Purple. Tiles shattered in every direction, and the previously smooth floor quickly became pockmarked with holes.

"Elementals," said the Warden with a scowl as Raph and Shift finished putting the two Elites in binders. "It's been a while since one of you broke out of my hold that quickly."

"You call that a hold?" said Talia with a snort. "I've felt firmer holds from an eight-year-old I was teaching to wrestle."

"Talia, bring him down!" said Raph, accompanying the words with a quick hand signal before he hoisted his shield up to mirror Shift's, blocking the Warden's escape.

Talia obeyed, gripping a long section of rock from the ground behind the Warden's legs and pulling it towards her — only it was far bigger than either Shift or Raph had expected. They dove to the side, out of the path of the battering ram-like stone that slammed into the Warden's backside and knocked him out cold.

Raph swore and pushed himself back upright. "What in the hues was that, Talia?"

Talia's eyes were wide as she looked at her hands. "I—I have no idea. I didn't mean to Grip that much. I didn't even know I could lift that much at once."

"Maybe it's all the adrenaline?" said Shift, offering her a quick smile. An Elemental's Grip was tied to how much they could physically lift — hence why Talia spent so much time in the gym — but that last chunk of stone was far bigger than Shift had ever seen her attempt, let alone succeed at. "Y'know, like mothers lifting cars and stuff."

"It almost knocked us out along with the Warden," said Raph, clipping binders over the Warden's wrists. "Make sure—"

"Guys!" yelled Kione from the door, cutting him off. "Get over here, now!"

Raph made it to Kione first, Shift and Talia close behind when he saw her limp and helped her over.

"Zoe?" called Raph, pressing an ear against the door as a constant, desperate banging came from the other side. "Is that you?"

"Raph!" Though Zoe's voice was muffled by the thick walls, Raph's relief was tangible. "Get me out!"

"I can't get the door open," said Kione quickly. "It's not locked with Orange."

Raph swore. He shaped some complicated wedge-looking device to his hands and attempted to pry the door open. "I'll have this open in a sec, Zo." His eyes found Shift's. "Just in case, reset your Green."

Shift nodded and expelled the last of Raph's Red from his system. With nothing to do but wait, Shift left Talia beside the others and moved to the closest window. With his face against the glass, he was able to see Zoe in what looked like a hallway, still banging on the inside of the door.

Shift knocked to get her attention. Zoe's head jerked up, her green eyes fixing on him. She ran to the window, pressing a palm and her forehead to the glass that Shift met with his own.

"We'll get you out," he said for both their benefits, though he had no idea if Zoe could hear him.

She looked exhausted. Her ponytail was frazzled, the ribbon loose. Her Keeper suit was pulled down to her waist, the chain of her locket peeking through the collar of her undershirt like someone had tried to remove it. Her breaths were more like gulps of air, and there was a wavering Blue line — the beginning of a rune — down the length of her cheek that hardened any last scrap of mercy Shift had for the Wardens.

"I don't care if we have to blow the place up," said Shift, meeting Zoe's anxious gaze again as she lifted her head off the window, though her hand remained against his. "We're getting you out, okay?"

Raph's attempt to pry the door open wasn't going well. "Talia, how'd you get in earlier?"

"I laid a paralysis rune at one of the doors, waited until someone came out and ran inside," said Talia. "I tried breaking the windows first, but they're reinforced to the hues."

Raph stepped back with an even louder curse when his Red-shaped wedge device failed to budge the door.

"We can't wait that long," said Raph. His gaze fell on Shift, who knew exactly what request was coming but dreaded it all the same. "You'll have to shift Blue and open it."

With a final reassuring grin at Zoe, Shift ran the few steps towards Talia. She reached for him, and as their hands connected, skin to skin, Shift opened his Green to her Blue.

Nothing.

"What's wrong?" Raph asked after a few tense seconds.

Shift pushed harder, searching for any hint of Talia's Blue. "There's nothing there. I can't feel her Blue."

"What do you mean you can't feel it?" said Talia. "Are you burned out again?"

"No," said Shift, not quite able to believe what his Green was telling him. "At least I don't think—"

Talia snatched her hand away. "I'll inscribe the rune myself." She turned towards the door and placed a fingertip against it. "I learned 'open' at some point. It's something like..."

Talia's finger moved, but no Blue appeared. She hesitated and reset, making the line a second time with the same result.

"It can't be," she whispered.

Her finger moved again, this time tracing out the shape of one of her favourite trap runes. Shift had seen her draw it dozens of times in under two seconds, but today, the only thing to mark the wall was the faint smudge of her finger.

Talia staggered back in an almost trance-like state. "It's gone. My Blue is gone."

"How can it be gone?" said Kione. "Are you out, maybe? Or—"

Talia just kept staring at her hand. "I thought—I felt something when Athira attacked me, but I didn't think—"

"Stay back!" yelled Zoe, still locked inside. "Get the hues away from me or I swear to the spirits I will burn your retinas out!"

Panic claimed Raph's movements as he shaped another wedge device to his hands and set it upon the door. Kione was trying to rally a shell-shocked Talia, though from her blank expression, it didn't look like she could even hear him.

Feeling all too helpless, Shift touched his hand to Raph's cheek, shifting Red again before running back to the window.

Zoe had her back pressed against the glass, her hand pointed at the three Wardens — a Blue, a Yellow, and a Red — that'd appeared down the end of the hallway from her. Shift could see them talking but couldn't hear anything except Zoe's replies.

"No!" Zoe yelled back as the Yellow Warden drew closer, nearly twice her size. "I will die before I stand by and do nothing as you murder civilians. Do you understand that? I will hit my breaking point and take all of you out with me if that's the only choice you leave me!"

Shift shaped a crude Red tool he hoped might be able to cut through the reinforced glass and dragged it across the window. The blade slipped, slicing his hand and leaving behind nothing except blood and a faint scratch on the glass that'd never cut through in time.

He tried again, trying to focus even as a nightmare played out in front of him.

Zoe aimed a weak laser at the approaching Yellow Warden. The Warden met the beam with his palm, redirecting the light harmlessly against the wall and quickly closed in on her. Zoe fought, but exhausted, she didn't last more than ten seconds before the Warden overpowered her.

No.

Desperate, Shift dissolved his Red cutting tool and shaped a sledgehammer, slamming it into the window. The glass shook but refused to crack, though Shift didn't stop trying.

No, no, no.

Even once her hands were in binders, Zoe didn't make it easy for the Warden. She thrashed around, refusing to walk. She threw herself against the ground and scrambled back towards the wall while kicking at the Warden until he finally grabbed her around the waist and threw her over his shoulder. Zoe twisted and rammed her bound hands into his back, but it was barely enough to make the Warden stumble, let alone drop her.

No no no no no no no—

Shift continued to strike the window, over and over and over until something in his shoulder snapped. Blinding pain shot through his chest. His arm went limp at his side, and the shaped Red evaporated as he dropped it.

A glance at Raph sank what remained of Shift's hopes as he saw yet another version of a prybar in Raph's hands and the door still closed. Kione was nearby, Orange at his fingertips. Talia had barely moved.

Shift forced himself to think. If he'd had Black shifted, he could have been through this wall in an instant, but he didn't. He'd let Athira walk away — but maybe, maybe there was a chance she wasn't out of the picture yet.

"Athira!" he yelled, watching as the Wardens disappeared around the far corner of the hallway with Zoe. Holding his dead shoulder, Shift stumbled a step away from the wall and yelled again into the Warden's hidden city. "Thira, Zoe needs you!"

Shift watched the air, hoping, but the only sign of movement was from Talia who finally looked up from her hands.

Athira had to come. She had to, because if she didn't—

Talia stepped forward, gaze locked on the window Shift had spent so much energy trying to break. Her stance solidified, her fingers stretching wide before they curled into her palm and with one, violent movement, Talia thrust her fist forward towards the wall.

The wall didn't just break.

It exploded.

Shards of glass and tile were sent skittering down the full length of the hallway along with several head-sized chunks of Redresin. Knowing the force he'd put into his own swings with zero effect, Shift couldn't help but be a little terrified of the strength needed to create this Raph-sized hole in the wall.

"...Adrenaline again?" said Shift, glancing at Talia.

"We don't need her," muttered Talia. She took a step forward, cursing as she limped and grabbed her side. "Raph, go!"

Raph didn't question the newly made entrance. He bolted inside, Shift close behind with his one good arm and his resetting Green. In the narrow space of a building, it'd be more than enough.

"Down the one with Zoe first," said Raph as they ran down the hallway. "I don't care how. We do not let them—"

They rounded the corner, Red-shaped and ready for a fight — only to find they'd missed it.

The Yellow and Blue Wardens were unconscious. Zoe was backed into a corner on the ground, breathing hard but otherwise unharmed, while the third Warden — the Red — stood over his colleagues.

"Took you long enough," said the Red Warden, directing a bored glance at Shift and Raph. "I was starting to think you were all incompetent."

*+*+*+*

A/N - Rule #1 of dealing with Indigo: don't threaten the walking lightbulb

A new character enters the ring--or is he new? 👀