His words hung hauntingly in the air before he pointed at Stephy, chunks of metal broke off the wall and stage to hover at his side. Chaos began to ensue as everyone started screaming and shouting, running away as a shot was fired somewhere in the room, followed by more shots. Probably, the only saving grace for these people was the size of the hall giving them enough space to get out of the way of the trouble. The outnumbered guards in the room aimed their guns at the Vortex goons as they did the same only with little hesitation to fire. In the back of the room, the three from Transgress fought their way through Vortex, flashes of powers and gunfire filled the back of the room. As Magnisos launched the metal at Stephy, he and Ellie disappeared in a puff of smoke and appeared beside me only to puff away again to appear beside Magnisos on stage where the two of them began to duke it out. I took Lydia and Stephy by the arms and dragged them behind a table that got overturned in the commotion.

"Where's Adam and Sam?" Stephy asked before having one of those questions promptly answered by a bolt of lightning zipping through Vortex goons past us heading for the stage. Just as Adam was ready to pounce on Magnisos, someone running on air tackled him to the ground and out away from his boss's fight.

"You two stay here and keep your heads down. I'm going to go find Wilstock." I said to the two girls.

"Juan, I want to help as well. You can't sideline me right now." Stephy said, her eyes burning with fire.

"Keeping Lydia safe is important. I'll be back for you guys when I find him." I quickly said to them before running into the battle. Everything was falling apart and going to hell. Screams, shouts and shots made it hard to scan the area for him. I weaved past columns for cover and came up to a Vortex goon gunning for some civilians that were trying to get away. Before he had the chance, I ran up behind him, grapple him by the waist and suplexed him into the fancy floor allowing for the civilians to make their escape. For good measure, I hit the guy in the face to make sure he wouldn't be getting up for a while. I looked around once I grabbed the gun to find the peaks of red hair in the sea of people with not much luck. Either he was good at hiding or they had him, the former was what I was really hoping for.

"Juan! Help!" I faintly heard behind all the noise. It was so quick that I could barely catch the direction it came from. Then I saw Wilstock get hucked into a wall do opposite where I was. The biggest problem was all the people blocking my way to get there, I didn't want to kill these people but it was either that or death. Only it didn't seem like God wanted me to take any shots today as out of nowhere something wrapped around me and pulled me towards Wilstock, then like a pebble I was thrown into some sound equipment. Something inside of me definitely rebroke in the fall, but gracefully as I hit the floor I got back to my feet. Wilstock was close by with a head wound the spewed over his eye, I would have checked to see how bad it was but my opponent had walked up to us with the confidence of a guy who has born with a silver spoon up his ass. I aimed my gun at him only to sling his arm forwards like a rubber band and knocked the gun out of my hand.

"Well, that's a little unfair." I sighed as he tried to wrap his arms around me again. I dodged out of the way making my way towards him with each step I took until I was face-to-face with the guy. Even injured, I'm still not one to be messed with as I managed to hit him with an uppercut that threw him back a few feet. To fight him, I just need to stay close to avoid his hands and keep the fight away from Wilstock. So, I pushed forward, throwing blows directly at his chest and side. What caught me off guard was when he still managed to weasel his gangly hands around my body between blows. The grip was tight around my body, too tight to slither my hands out as he started to spin me around like a ball on a string. Slamming me into whatever got in my path until finally pinned me against the wall. Everything was fuzzy and spinning, I felt cuts across my face and legs from everything I was slammed against. It was hard to see anything, I think Wilstock is still on the floor but I wasn't sure. I could barely make out the guy walking up to me. Then he just fell to the floor, the tension in his hands falling away with him, also everything that was keeping me standing up. My weight slumped against the wall as I sluggishly slid to my knees, trying to keep conscious. The silhouette of someone entered my vision and kneeled to meet the sight line. With a little concentration, I made out Major Colts' face looking at me his words not making it through my brain but I didn't need much to react. I took a swing which moved that moved slower than I wanted to, he swatted it aside and hit me lightly against the face.

"Kid, listen!" His voice eventually registered in my head. "You need to focus up."

"I'm either concussed or this is happening," I mumbled.

"There's too many of them to deal with separately, I suggest a temporary truce."

"Oh yeah, I have a concussion." I fumbled as I got to my feet but Colts helped steady myself. Once I was standing, I pushed him away and tried to keep my balance. Using the wall as leverage, I made my way over to Wilstock, slowly regaining a semblance of my balance. Up close his injuries weren't too bad but he was dazed. "You good rich boy?"

"I'm sure there isn't meant to be four of you." He said as he squinted at me

"There's two of you and you don't see me complaining. Come on, get up."

"This is serious. There are people here that are being injured and killed, if we can only briefly put our issues and past away until Vortex is dealt with, we can save lives. I've already contacted Transgress soldiers to assist and should arrive soon." Colts continued as I got Wilstock to his feet.

"You do realize I've just come from being tortured by your people. Why should trust you to not shoot me as soon as you get a chance or the moment this is over." I snarled at him.

"Because I've had multiple chances and I'd prefer to arrest all of you. Now, are we helping these people?" He asked as he handed me a sidearm.

"Why couldn't this have been a normal evening for once," I whispered within a heavy sigh as I took the sidearm. "This doesn't mean I'm following your orders, my priority is getting him safe."

"Kid, petulance isn't a good look on you. Follow me." He said as he started running towards the stage. "Wong! Hunting! Assist The Foxhole." He shouted towards the back of the room where most of the party guests had converged.

"Elaine needs help in the centre!" I shouted as kept pace with him and drag Wilstock along with me, watching as my friend started to get overwhelmed on the stage. Her dress ripped in several places, multiple cuts across her face and arms, her teleports getting slower with each one. Not only that, but Magnisos was also beginning to figure out where she was going to be next.

"Wong, centre stage!" He commanded and at the snap of a hand, a gust of wind rushed past us carrying Justin within it. He slipped past the defences and planted a punch across Magnisos' face before his people could warn him away. There was a brief shared glance between Ellie and Justin before they tag-teamed magnet boy. Their coordination together was sloppy but it shifted the tides towards us.

Colts and I shot anyone in a Vortex outfit that even remotely looked like they were going to even look at us wrong. He wasn't the first person I would choose to have my back, hell he wouldn't make the top fifty, but he wasn't careless with a single bullet. You could feel the years of army training from the way he commanded the battlefield. Even with Wilstock weighing me down, we were still able to keep some good ground, he had at least started to get his bearings enough to walk on his own. I surveyed the scene as we pushed forward, through the powers and gunshots I caught Stephy and Lydia over the body of Madam McGrove, the knives placed to the side, her wounds slowly closing up. Behind them, one of the Vortex goons broke out of a fight and started barreling towards their backs, spikes erupting from his shoulders. I just started sprinting with every last ounce of energy left in me at point, Colts screaming my name behind me but I wasn't stopping. The people in front of me fell like flies as I got to them, Colts still covering my back as I hopped, slid and dodged past every obstacle in my way until I had a clear shot. Once I had that, it was like taking out the trash. One shot took the bastard down, as he slid to a stop by the girls' legs.

"What did I say about staying in hiding? You couldn't have at least pulled her behind something?" I shouted at the girls as I kept watch for everything.

"Jesus Juan. Why can't you keep yourself uninjured for less than five minutes." Lydia said as she looked at me, grabbing my face to examine my injuries. Stephy just sat there muttering words under her breath, concentrating on them

"Not important. We need to get her to safety." I said as I grabbed the woman on the floor and took her to the closest thing to hide behind.

"Colts is coming our way with Wilstock!" Lydia shouted as she pointed him out.

"He's non-hostile for now. Vortex now, Transgress later."

"You left me," Wilstock whined as he got to us, with Colts as an escort.

"We have bigger problems!" Colts said as he caught up to me.

"Is it that?" I said as more Vortex goons rushed through the windows.

"It wasn't, but it's good to see things get worse. It's that guy they are fighting he's getting back up and they are overwhelming Elaine and Wong." He said as he shot at the incoming goons.

Then like cars screeching to a stop, a cry cut through all the noise. Stephy stood up and turned towards it as she watched Ellie get stabbed through the side as she got overwhelmed. The pained blank stare that she had on disappeared as pure rage grow in her eyes, the violet in them starting to glow. A heavy pressure pushed down on me as the weight of her emotions began to overflow. Her rage and fear, terror and anguish, everything she was holding onto finally tip over. There was a terrifying determination within her that was finally let free as she started to sprint out of the cover straight towards the stage with no thought. We all shouted after her but she was too caught up in her emotions to even acknowledge anything other than what was right in front of her. The thing that baffled me the most was that in the wake of her steps. Cracks ripped the ground open and out of these cracks slithered these long thick vines emerged and zipped past her to grapple the people hoarding over Ellie. I followed after her, but I was too far behind to help. Stephy sprinted up to Ellie and took her into her arms, cradling the injured girl with tunnel vision keeping her from seeing Magnisos right beside her. I fired my gun at him but all the bullets just turned away from him as he crept closer to her.

"You die here Stark!" He shouted as a jagged metal spear coalesced into his palm.

Time slowed painfully as he brought it down at her. The spear pierced her through the back and jutted out her chest, blood spraying over Ellie. I felt hope leave my body and I screamed out her name, feeling my vocal cords rip apart in the cry of my failure. The spear's jagged edges just narrowly missed the already injured Ellie who watched with heartbroken eyes. But Stephanie did not flinch. She turned her head towards Magnisos, spear still embedded within her and stared at the man. Her eyes were a soulless sea of lilac that just stared through the man in front of her. His confidence dropped as he stumbled away from her.

"What the hell are you?" He asked, his voice quivering.

Her mouth opened and one simple word left her lips.

"Sleep."

"Get up!" My mother scolded me. She towered over me with disappointment. We were in the training room of The Foxhole on Veltrace Island. "Why do you fall and fail continuously? Has being with the Starks made you complacent and weak?"

I unsteadily got up. "No..."

"Then why do you consistently fail those who rely on you? Oliver, you failed and let him get killed by someone you considered an ally. Stephanie, your weakness allowed her to be stabbed through the heart. Let's not forget your oldest failure Lucas who you-"

"Do not talk about Lucas!" I said in an outburst that lead to a strike across the face from my mother.

"Never speak to me like that! I am not your friend that you can shout at like that. Is that clear?" Her pupils formed slits with her rage.

"Yes," I replied, my voice shrinking.

She grabbed my face firmly, her nails digging into my skin. "Yes, who?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Clearly your manners have also abandoned you as well. If anything, these last few days have just proven to me that you've learned nothing and have not grown to the standards expected of you." She said walking around me. Instinctually I straightened my back as I knew I was being examined on every action. "You failed to assess the dangers on the plane, causing it to crash. You lost track of your target for an extended period of time."

"Not checking with the pilots was an inexcusable error that lead me to lose track of Wilstock. However, I worked diligently to return to him, ma'am."

"You allowed one of your own to be killed."

"Fisher's death was an unforeseen loss due to an unexpected attack by Transgress ma'am."

"But it was expected, by you nonetheless. Even with warnings of how obvious it would be to stay there, you still did. Leading Transgress to find you and kill him. Then, let's not forget that you allowed yourself to be captured." She was in front of me once again, staring at me. Her eyes returned to their normal state.

"Yes ma'am, but I did not break as they interrogated me for hours."

"Do you expect me to be proud of you for that?" She asked, genuinely confused by my statement. "That is the most basic thing I taught you. That was a nursery school compared to what I put you through and you expect me to praise you for that."

"No ma'am."

"Let's not forget the poor display of combat capabilities within the last two hours."

"I am still recovering from injuries-" Started before she raised her hand to silence me.

"All you have given me are excuses for the weakness I worked so hard to train out of you. The only time you even showed a modicum of usefulness within the last seventy-two hours was when you used the powers given to you by the Roboro. However, what is worse? The fact that you require the use of a drug to be better than the nothing that you are or that even then you still fail." Her words rang heavy in the air. Her words shrinking me as if I was a kid again.

"Ma'am, can't you at least acknowledge the good I've done?" My words coming out more of a plea than a request.

"Good? All you've done is fail at every turn. You've proven to me that I wasted my time with you."

My eyes were assaulted by a violent shift in scenery. Above me was the ceiling of the dance hall, huge green streamers lining the ceiling with hints of red, gold and white within them. Tears had been trickling down my cheeks, some tears still hung in my eyelids, blurring my vision. On the side of my face, the warmth of a hand guided my face to look at a face to the right of me. It was Stephanie, her iris burned a violent lilac that contrasted with the red that surrounded it. In the centre of her dress was a blood-stained hole that exposed the skin of her chest.

"Oh God, you're okay." She exclaimed as she hugged me tightly.

"What happened?" I asked groggily, a yawn forcing my mouth open. I began to sit up but felt restricted.

"Slow down, Ellie is almost done cutting the vines," Stephy said as she placed her hands on my chest, pushing me down.

"Vines, what?" Everything was still unfolding inside my head. I looked down and Ellie was there with a steak knife sawing at these thick green vines that had ripped through the ground and encased my entire body. If only it stopped there, I would have been somewhat calm but it was much worse than I could have even prepared for. The vinyl-tiled floor was just shards and dust in a bed of nature that extended from one side of the hall to the other. Grass and overgrowth had taken over the room like it was going to be the set of a post-apocalyptic style movie. Vines climbed up the pillars and walls like an infection, the streamers I had seen before were just more of those that had crawled up the ceiling. Upon every vine and sitting within the grass, creating a sea of lush beauty were three specific flowers; vibrant blood-red poppies, chamomile flowers with soothing white petals and radiant orange bushels of marigold. Then there were the mounds of vines that lay within the instant garden around us, and as I stared harder at them I finally realized that they were the sedated bodies of the people in the room. What took the cake was what was on the stage where I had last seen Stephy and Ellie. In the very spot that they had sat was a giant lotus flower that had fully bloomed, each petal glowing a luminous blush that illuminated the room in a way I could quite describe. "What the hell happened?"

"I don't know!" Stephy replied, panic trying to take control of her voice. "I just remember hearing Ellie scream, then I was just running towards her. By the time I had her in my arms things get hazy from there. I just remember sitting in the centre of that flower with Ellie with everything looking all Jumanji-like."

I really didn't know how else to respond to everything that was happening, so I chose not to worry about it and move forward. "Well, let's focus on small things first. We need to get the others out of the vines."

"Wilstock is getting Lydia free and we'll go over to Adam after we're done with you," Ellie said as the last vine around me was cut away. Almost immediately, the drowsiness I felt disappeared. What's more, is that my injuries had healed more, I could just feel the loud cries of my body mellow out to low moans. Regardless, I didn't decline the help from the girls as they helped me to my feet.

"What do we do now?" Stephy asked while looking around at this new environment.

"We need to leave as soon as Adam and Lydia are free," I said as I stretched my body out.

"And just leave these people?" Ellie asked.

"Colts said that he called reinforcements. I'd rather not be here when they arrive."

"We should at least free some of these people and if they are having dreams similar to the one I had we should help them," Ellie mentioned very softly.

"You had a dream too?" I asked, my body moving into her words.

"Not for long, Stephy freed me quickly, but I saw that you were crying in your sleep like some of the others so I'm sure that all of the others are having similar shitty dreams."

I thought about my mother and how real it was to be put back in front of her. To have her pick on my every action. It's not like they weren't important, I just had to prioritize our safety. "We are wanted by Transgress, when their people get here, they will one hundred per cent arrest us. They might even shoot on sight for being more than a breath away from their glorious leaders."

"Well, I guess it's Stephy's call," Ellie said as we turned to where Stephy had been standing a moment ago to see that she had moved to the back of the hall. A stiff aura of anger rippled off of her, the bitter acrid taste of disdain filled my mouth and I could see from the worry and the hints of anger in Ellie's eyes that she felt it too. We both walked to her, or crept really. It felt like she was some predator that wanted to take our heads if we provoked her even a little. Only when we were behind her did we understand why she was radiating all this hate. She stood staring at sleep Pepper, tears in both their eyes. Stephanie stood there staring at the girl before turning to the two of us as I was about to speak.

"Juan, pick her up," Stephy said, her voice forcing itself to stay calm.

"Stephy, you can't be serious."

"We are taking her with us, so please pick her up." She continued; each word fought a battle against tears.

"I don't think that's a good idea. We should leave her and just move on." I said softly. Ellie walked over to her and steadily placed her hand on her shoulder.

"My brother's killer is lying right in front of us and you want me to move on." She knocked Ellie's hand away, she looked at us like we were speaking the unthinkable. "Your best friend! The person you failed to protect."

"Stephanie!" Ellie shouted, cutting between the both of us but she had said her piece already. Even if this was her rage talking, I can finally see that a part of her blames me for being too weak to protect him or see Pepper's betrayal coming.

"Like you helped either. At least I can acknowledge that I let him down. Now, here is what is going to happen. I am going to leave with her one way or another, what you control is how long this will take." Stephy said as she turned away and started to uproot the girl from the floor, trying to keep the vines intact. I watched her rip her up slowly, determined to take her. It took me a moment before I went up to help her pull the girl out of the ground. All the vines that had ripped apart seemed to reattach themselves to her once she was in my arms. Stephy didn't thank me or even look at me. She just walked towards the exit, past Wilstock, Lydia and Adam. They all watched, mixtures of sadness and shock, but she continued walking. And I just followed, the body of my former friend in my arms.