:Rəset: (PRIVATE)

After a few more minutes of idle waiting, things finally started happening. A quick ensemble of light and sound herald the arrival of the prized princess of the country, Alicia. Gil cheered along with the rest of the crowd, yet even as he did so a myriad of doubts starting plaguing his mind. Would Jason really go through with the plan? There were hundreds if not thousands of people on Alicia's side. Maybe they should reconsider.

No... it was too late for that. And Gil needed answers just as much as anyone on his team did. These feelings were just... they were the same as the pre-performance jitters he got. Right? Yeah, of course they were.


It was then that she ran through the topics of her agenda. Gil lost interest almost immediately, but although Gil spaced out for the majority of her speech, he had to give the girl props for her intellect. She wasn't just reading off of note cards. She clearly knew her stuff. Gil harrumphed and looked away. She was young, but seemed much more wise than himself. There's no way she doesn't know about the fertilizer. Eventually, Gil's attention was brought back up to the stage as he heard Jason's voice. This is it! His pulse raced, his nerves suddenly skyrocketing. The doubts returned, but he shoved them aside for now. These next few moments were very crucial and required every ounce of attention. It appeared as though Jason struggled to get a good grip on Alicia's mind as she easily deflected the question. The redhead moved closer, and Gil was inclined to do so as well, but felt it might have been too obvious. Plus, there were tons of people in between him and Jason. As Jason continued speaking, Gil could almost hear the nervousness in his voice.


Gil's stomach lurched. Why was it so hard for Jason to speak? They'd rehearsed this several times! And even if you take into consideration that the practice they did was just practice and not the real thing... a lot was at stake. Everything that happened next revolved around that one question. And Jason knew that! He was the one who drilled that into them over the past few days! No, something was definitely off. It was almost as if something was forcing Jason to desist. But that's not possible, right? Gil often relied on his instincts... and his instincts were telling him to get to Jason now even as he finally managed to ask the question, the gruesome images popping up on the overhead display only a few short moments after thanks to Charlie. "'Scuse me... sorry... coming through..." Gil was moving through the sea of people as quickly as he could, but more and more seemed to drift in from the sides, cutting off his route entirely. Damnit! He was only a few feet away now. A bead of sweat rolled down his face. He certainly hoped he was overreacting...


"What does that mean?!" Gil shouted into his mic, not caring who heard. "Hey! What's happening?!"

   As the clock's hands continually ticked by, a churning sensation began to stir within Kaine's stomach as the dull pangs of boredom clashed with the swelling sense of anxiety deep in his gut. If fate deemed them dirt in the ground, then the least it could do was pass the minutes by with a bit more haste so he could get it over with.
As the chipper voice echoed through the crowd, the eager hands of the crowd flew up along with howling that pierced his eardrums as though the gathering was made up of frantic dogs. For the sake of his own life, it was better to roll over when the treat was given. The man’s hands clapped in unison with the hollering spectators, albeit half-heartedly when compared to the fervor of a few individuals. The expression he wore was soft, accompanied by what would be a sweet smile if not for the fact he felt as if he was rolling in his own grave.

Aside from the hyperactive, untaught swarm of clamorous hyenas surrounding him he couldn’t help but trace the… “woman’s” exceedingly youthful features. Her skin had appeared pillowy and soft, with no indentations or even discolorations. She moved freely, completely unfettered by the icy fingertips of age. Really, how old is she? Truthfully, her appearance was enough to make him queasy by the sheer incomprehensiveness of her physiognomy.

   Alas, it wasn’t his job to figure out the mystery of her age but to secure the area instead. His eyelids narrowed as the speech drudged on, taking careful glances over his shoulder and about. He bit his inner lip as his anxiety boiled, finally reaching the main event as his eyes fixated on Jason from within the masses.
   Kaine’s heart thumped harder with each syllable uttered; it was now that they would see the extent of Jason’s abilities and a fraction of their supposed collective power. The woman’s eyes dimmed momentarily, a silent pause as her mind seemingly grew clouded…

  Before the spark returned.

  The deafening thumps that rang through his ears from his chest ceased.

   Had Jason fallen short? His power had to be one of their most impressive in terms of potential, yet why did it fail? Had he not practiced it enough? Kaine’s jaw clamped shut, his thoughts darkening with all sorts of conclusions as to why it now, out of all times, it resulted in a dud. His pupils flickered from Alicia to Jason, eyeing their movements closely.

To which he noticed the ginger frantically scrambling through the crowd like a crazed animal. What is he thinking!? He was undoubtedly drawing suspicion from both Alicia and the crowd with his assertive tactics. There had to be other ways for him to get closer-

   Whereas before Kaine’s frustrations were growing impatient with Jason they were now wiped clean upon noticing the man’s pale complexion as he doubled over in confusion. No. He had to be using his powers to their fullest if he was making such a strained effort, but now he was eerily quiet. Kaine briefly pondered the possibility of Jason wearing himself out with an overuse, but this seemed different. His eyes swiftly darted back to the woman, who was now huddled next to a bodyguard. Shit! Even if the pictures fly up, with how poorly their plan was executed they’d be under more suspicion for causing a public disturbance rather than trying to bring light to an injustice. The ginger continually struggled and heaved on every word he attempted to spit back, only to be abruptly cut mid-way.

   One of his previous fears had grown and festered in the back of his mind as the question gnawed him. Did they know about the abilities?
   As he managed to finally utter their code, the screens flashed with grotesque imagery as the crowd recoiled in ghastly horror. Even though they were so ecstatic to see their beloved trainer, in the end they withdrew with their tail in between their legs. Yet the extra noise only served to further enforce the edge on his nerves as he awaited a response.
   A barrage of voices rang through his earpiece as his colleagues reported back and forth with panic evident in their foreboding messages. The worst one of all being the scrawny fellow’s reaction to the outcome of their actions. Last time Katy came to him with a sense of dread was back at his house during the laptop retrieval, which ended in a bomb that nearly killed them. However, if he had collapsed at the mere sense of what was to come than there was no other choice but to act as rats and scurry back into their burrow.

   Kaine’s eyes shot in Gil’s direction, desperately searching for the figure until he found him squirming through the masses in attempt to pull back Jason. “Don’t yell, if you do now you’ll only attract more attention,” he projected into the mic, “Gil, I’m going to slightly move those blocking your way. As long as you keep moving nothing should look wrong. Get Jason and scram. Charlie, let us know if anything seems off in the cameras.” There was a harshness in his tone as he hung up the line with the click of his tongue.

   With that, his hand swung around his head into the back of his leather jacket, pulling up the hoodie underneath while securing the face mask in place. Kaine positioned himself to match the jitters and jolts of the crowd’s frightened movements as to try and blend in an attempt to get closer. After feeling the distance was appropriate, he focused intently on the figures that moved directly in front of Gil. If successful, their legs would move just a step out of his way so he could hopefully navigate himself just a bit easier without so much of a ruckus. Occasionally even making those next to the figure “accidentally” bump them out of the way...

Senses something bad...? Gil audibly gasped the dots finally connected. K's ability... oh shit!

Gil scanned the crowd, looking for Kaine. As he made eye contact with the man, he nodded once and was off. He shifted his beanie down lower and pulled up the clothe that acted as his mask. His first few steps were tentative, but sure enough a small passage opened up before him. He picked up the pace. People stumbled and two-stepped out of the way as he surged forward, completely unaware that they were being puppeteered. He was almost there... just a little bit further...

"Jay," he mumbled from behind his mask as he collided with the ginger's back. He quickly wrapped an arm around Jason and shifted his body around so that he was able to shield him from view. "We have to get out of here." He reached behind Jason and flipped up his hood so that his shock of hair wouldn't be so easy to point out. "I've got 'im," he whispered into his mic. "Heading your way now."

He turned towards Kaine's direction and noticed that Drei was also making his way over. Okay, okay - this is good. "Stay close..." he muttered, starting to shift his way back through another wave of people. Hopefully this at least would go right. They needed to get together and rendezvous with the others as soon as possible. Preferably alive.

"On it!" Charlie proclaimed into the microphone, pulling up the program to make the necessary adjustments when her computer froze.

...her computer froze.

It froze.

Charlie's face froze in an expression of shock at the blunder. She had run every diagnostic possible, her RAM was top of the line for the model. There was no way it could freeze. Her eyes scanned the screens, looking for a reason why it was happening. She gave the computer a light slap to try and get it running, but sure enough, it worked.

Maybe it was the sheer amount of programs that had to be run for this operation, but the time lost in the process was detrimental at best. She had to make up for that precious minute of lost time. She focused more energy for focus to compensate, trying her damndest to make sure she could get the lights going. She cranked the scroll bar for the lights to maximum brightness, jerking her head to another monitor to watch her handiwork blind everyone. 

There was no time to celebrate: this was a terrible job,using energy for something as simple as adjusting lights. The sweat was rolling down her forehead signalling fatigue and both of her roommates would be no help right now. She had to conserve for a bit before she'd make any more major decisions, hoping that her comrades would do the same and help her out.

   Despite the frantic bustling of panicked party goers and screaming children, Kaine had been able to spot the two just fine earlier. But then why?! The deafening thumps of his heart rang throughout his eardrums as he attempted to identify the pair within the crowd, only to stumble over his own feet upon an abrupt shove as a distraught member fled the gathering as the morbid imagery above continued to occupy the monitors. His eyes stared back at the blacktop that scraped one of his palms as he positioned to catch himself to avoid landing face-first into the ground. The madness of the desperate shouts and sudden movements joined together as a confusing disarray that was overload to the senses.

   Today’s events proved fruitless, with only their evidence being dubbed as tomfoolery as a result of their own lack of power. He bit his lip in heated frustration as his eyebrows furrowed, shuffling to his feet once more in a frenzy. By all means, he could flee from the scene himself and assure his own hide if not for the fact somewhere amidst the sea of anxiety Jason could potentially be apprehended and brainwashed. Kaine’s hands were as good as tied as long as the possibility continued to stand.
   A familiar voice came through the earpiece, albeit not one he was particularly hoping to hear it was nonetheless better than no backup at all. Kaine’s eyes flickered between the figures, until finally recognizing a face among the throng of panic. Without so much of a word, he hastily outstretched his arm to grab the blonde by his elbow and pull him closer. “Elrod, can you still not locate anyone?” Kaine whispered, before shooting daggers at the four-eyes with his arm interlocked in a tight grip. “We can’t afford to get separated now, so just deal with it,” he hissed, obviously wrought with pent-up aggravation from the nauseating turn of events.

   Incompetent, was all the back of his thoughts lingered on while meticulously scanning for a quick solution within the chaos. Two weeks had he dawdled around with a ragtag team of misfits and endangering his own life over a goal he had little faith in accomplishing, especially after today’s bombastic failure. The most infuriating of it all being that while he could point fingers left and right, in the end one would always have to fall on his own resolve on account of his own flawed judgement. After all, he alone decided to loiter with a band of nobodies he met through some illegal chat room, and for what reason? Boredom? Break of routine? A slim chance of meeting a familiar face? It was a result of his own careless stupidity that brought him there, and now he was paying for it by being rooted knee-deep in their affairs. He had his own life in motion already, or at least he used to.

   “Gil, Jason, where are you? Can you describe anything? Should we meet up somewhere?” As Kaine’s pupils gazed back onto the stage, a spark ignited as a light dimly showed itself at the end of the tunnel. “I’m gonna stir up a bit of trouble,” he whispered, his eyes fixated on an individual who had been holding a bag with what appeared to be walled-up trash from an earlier trip along their way to the event. Their fingers curled around the bag tightly before slinging their arm around their head, throwing the garbage at a nearby guard before a look of panic overtaking their features. Another individual nearby followed suit with a water bottle, and so on.

   Surely, it would be fine. If they were captured by the guards and were suspected to be unchipped, the security would hopefully check before delivering punishment. Regardless, by the look of their faces they were ready to make bail in fear of their own body’s uncontrolled actions. Kaine lifted one hand to his head, rubbing his temple as the early stages of throbbing began. “Start heading to the sides,” he meekly mumbled to Drei as the words came out unsteadily. “We need to find a break in the crowd,” a slight groan could be heard under his breath, “Something…”