Lush trees, exotic wildlife and ten million fireflies lit up the world as some of them fell asleep. There was something in the air that night and the stars were bright.

Richard can't sleep. The flaming bowl is about to run out of gel fuel. Sleeping on a tree while sitting is Casper. His cowboy hat covers his hat while he snores deeply in slumber.

David made himself a tent that will make Bear Grylls proud.

Richard breathes in and out slowly.

He hums his favorite song but immediately remembers that it's the same song that was blasting on the boombox when Lord Henry was annihilating their defensive efforts.

"He didn't have to die. Freddie didn't have to die for me. If I'd never been involved in this mess, they would be fine. They'll be able to save way more psychics that deserve their care."

He sees a pebble on the rock and picks it up. A similar event from the nearby past is reminisced.

"I wish I said no. They told me I can say no. They gave me a choice. It's my fault that I've been involved. No matter what happens, even if I decided to just stay in my house, Lord Henry will eventually find me. But it could have happened without them risking their lives."

He uses his shirt to wipe off a few small tears in his eyes and notices a red stain. He smells it and notices that it's not blood, it's from a tomato.

"I wasn't even injured seriously, that's how much they tried protecting me. They're probably even looking for me now. I wish they'd stop. I'd finish this on my own."

Richard looks at Casper.

"He's definitely that guy." he says while thinking of Revolution Leader Abba's escape during their confrontation.

"I can use them, The Revolution. If I trick them into helping me surrender myself to Lord Henry. Yeah, I can. I can use my powers now."

The translucency of Casper's pants made the various red blinks in his pocket visible to Richard.

"Wha-"

"The other generals sent to the other side of the ocean have returned. Well except for Casper. Casper still hasn't come back from Egypt, Leader Abba." the hypersensitive woman from before tells Abba.

"That only means he's found something, send him a message that he needs to report back immediately. Tell everyone else that an important meeting will commence today. I had inside information that Sarah used her powers again after a long time of staying hidden under the radar. This will be vital in the next steps we will undertake."

"Copy that, Leader Abba."

*Put Your Head On My Shoulder by Paul Anka quietly plays on a car radio*

Charlotte rests her head comfortably on Hirohiko's shoulders while he rests his head on hers.

Yeethelle wasn't on the front this time. She is alone on the side of the van opposite to the couple so she took the entire space for herself and lied down there.

Sitting beside the driver's seat is Kodak. The car isn't flying anymore so Agent Campbell is driving the vehicle normally.

"It would be nice if we're in my cargo plane at this time."

"Then, why aren't we?"

"Its possible that we can be easily tracked by my boss if I managed to make you guys ride it."

"Don't think that you're the good guy now that you're doing all of this."

"I never was the good guy. Every time I try doing something nice, something right or something that can be considered as generally good, I just mess it all up. It all turns sideways and at the end of the story, I'm the guy that caused all the bad problems."

A short moment of silence followed his response.

"I know you're curious and you're confused as well. I know that you wanna know more about The Compound. I was barely there, Kodak."

"Barely?? So, how did you get that medal?"

"Oh, this? This is garbage, but I was so happy when I got it back then. I was the best at my class. All I got were praises. All the good food at the cafeteria. I even had my own private room, no cameras and microphones. I was delivered toys and fresh clothes. It was only when I got older when I understood why. Why did my classmates all look miserable? Like they wanted to leave every time a new lesson occurs. The only reason I was treated differently was because of my brother."

"Who's your brother???"

"He was known at The Compound as a Headmaster. His name is Fabian, the guy that made kids do 300 push-ups at the freezing time of 4:30 a.m. He rose up the ranks by marrying one of the other Headmasters. I actually thought she's my grandma because she's so, so old."

"I remember him and the old woman you're talking about is Headmaster Baskins."

"Oh yeah, Carol Baskins. Though I was used to her married surname, Campbell. They had a child once but they never talked about... oh sorry, I'll go back to my own story. I got special treatment at the compound because of my brother and I only went through the safest mind experiments they had at the time, unless my brother requested it. Dozens of other children had to suffer from brain damage or even death just so those experiments would be safe when I was next on the line. I was a mindless child back then. I mean, even now I'm mindless. Being manipulated by my superiors. I wish I could turn back time and... I don't know. I don't know what I would do if I ever go back to that place."

"That's fucked up man." Kodak tells him.

"I may be mindless, but I'm not one with the.. nothing. You already know what I mean." Agent Campbell remembers saying that to Freddie while he tackles him down.

"Hey!!! There's a truck!!!"

The truck managed to move away from their swerving vehicle.

"What is wrong with you, man? Get your shit together, I went in your mind the moment you fucked up your driving. You were tackling Freddie. If it wasn't for you he wouldn't be dead!!! You brought him here. He was having a quiet life at his store before all this."

"Who are the people that decided to go ask him for help in checking the blood and patching up the people you people kidnapped?? Oh wait, that's you!! All four of you!!!"

"Can you guys stop?!?!?" Yeethelle yells at them and levitates the armored van to avoid causing street accidents.

Meanwhile, at a street accident in Cairo.

"It's not my fault, I swear to Allah!!! It was the white woman and her half-naked man on a leash."

"A horrible street accident happened here on Cairo right after the devastating sandstorms and the weirdly occurring thunderstorms. The suspects of this accident are now on the run and are being pursued by the police as of this now." a news reporter says to the camera.

Patricia struggles to move in her new manly human body.

"I know you're excited, okay. Its my first time too. Now all you have to do is lie down on the bed and I'll do the rest." Chiquitita tells her Fernando inside a motel room.

Lying on grassy grounds is Richard, who still can't sleep and is sharpening two stones by rubbing them to each other.

He kept on gazing at the blinking red lights on Casper's pocket.

"We should finish him off." David tells Richard, startling him.

"What??? No."

"Yes. Keep on scratching those rocks and I'll disable his psychic powers."

"No!!!"

Casper raises his hat and looks at them with his eyes wide open. He grabs the blinking object on his pocket.

"Status report???" - General Hailey Aberdeen, sent 7:34 pm

"God dammit." Casper says as he looks at both of them.

He teleports away from them and begins talking to the small device he is holding.

"Status report from General Casper Zachery: Lord Henry and his band of sacrifices attacked Richard. As requested by Revolution Leader Abba, Richard was moved out of harm's way. We are now stuck at the Himalayas. I don't know what part, but I'm starting to get a fatigue from using my powers. Together with him is David Quentin, also an anti-psychic. In short, I was together with two valuable assets for almost a whole day but I can't get away from them. Activate the locator on this thing right now. Come fetch me before they disable my abilities and possibly harm me. I was also reading Richard's mind the whole time but he wasn't able to notice. Backup please, backup."

The device beeps and flickers a green "S-E-N-T" for a few seconds.

Casper was running as much as he could from them.

"That weird memory with the naked man and a chicken. What the hell was tha-"

He tripped and hit his own head on a stone.

End of Chapter 24