Once the group of people had left Eli let last Resort go and the two continued cautiously down the rest of the path. By the time they arrived at their destination, the sun was setting. Because of this, Eli found a Banyan tree for them to climb in and sleep for the night. It was high enough off the ground that they wouldn’t be attacked by wild boar while they slept but also allowed for them to hide while they slept.

   “Eli, why exactly are we even scouting this area?” Last Resort asked as they got comfortable in the branches of the tree.

   “Well, due to the territory issues surrounding this area it can be used to hunt boar by pretty much anyone. However, there are risks. For example, the two groups that mainly control this area will most likely kill you if they find you hunting here. Another threat is that it is pretty close to his territory so if you get lost it could mean death.” Eli answered with a halfhearted tone. 

   “I see… so why are we here?” Last Resort asked with a concerned and somewhat annoyed tone.

   “Because we need food. We won’t always be able to catch fish so we need alternatives. Even if it’s dangerous we have to find spots to hunt.” Eli said as if Last Resort was stupid for asking.

   “Okay.” 

   “Now go to sleep.” Eli said before rolling over into a more comfortable position. Even though he had more questions Last Resort understood that it was too late in the day to go asking them and went to sleep.

Last Resort awoke to Eli shaking him awake. He groggily looked up at the panicked man who normally held a cool and collected face. The fact that he looked worried made Last Resort spring up and look around to see what he was worried about.

   “What is it?” Last resort asked in a panic.

   “Hunters. They’re coming this way so we have to go.” Eli said before climbing down the tree. Last Resort followed behind him in a hurry. As soon as he was on the ground he heard them in the distance.

   “There are two of them this way!” they both heard one of the hunters yell off in the distance. Running as fast as they could Eli and Last resort still heard the hunters following behind them at a distance that was quickly becoming shorter.

   “How are they able to know where we are?” Last Resort asked as the two ran.

   “They probably have a tracker with them. It’s an ability that can track or see things from a distance but its functionality differs from person to person. Which makes it hard to counter as you never know how exactly they’ll be tracking you.” Eli explained before jumping over a patch of large-leafed plants.

   “So what do we do?” Last Resort asked with a panicked look.

   “Just follow me. I have a plan.” Eli said. The two continued running until they came to the side of the mountain. Once there Eli got as quiet as he could which Last resort mimicked as best as he could and the two began sneaking towards a cavern opening. 

   “What is this place?” Last resort asked with a hushed tone.

   “His home. I figured that the hunters wouldn’t dare come near this place. However, they have a death wish so I guess we should entertain them.” Eli said, pointing out the hunters who were only a good three hundred feet from them.

   “Didn’t you say that we should avoid this place as much as possible?” Last resort asked as Eli led him near a large grouping of plants for them to hide in.

   “I did, but we can’t shake that tracker. Neither of us really have weapons that would work against groups like that so fighting is out of the option as well.” Eli explained as they hid under the brush. Just as the hunters came into full view Last Resort saw that there were three of them, each with their own spear and looking rather pissed off. 

   “Where did they go?” one of them asked one of the older men angrily.

   “I don’t know. My vision got really weird the moment we got here.” the older man said as he rubbed his eyes.

   “Whatever, just find them. I think we are a little too close to his place for comfort so stay quiet.” The third man snapped. As they began looking around away from us Eli picked up a palm-sized stone and chucked it into the cave. The stone slammed into the door causing all the men to look towards the cave. It was then that they all realized exactly where they were. For some reason, none of them saw the cave when they first arrived and figured they weren’t close enough to it yet. However, they now saw exactly where they were and their eyes grew wide. In a panicked sprint, they began charging down the hill as fast as they could. 

It wasn’t fast enough though as Last resort watched a bulky teen emerge from the cave with an annoyed look on his face. Seeing the humanoid silhouettes running down the hill the teen grew even more annoyed.

   “What do I have to do to get some peace and quiet?” Vel asked himself with a shake of his head. Snapping his fingers, all three silhouettes floated up into the air before being launched into the distance. Vel looked at his hand then at the distance all three men were thrown.

   “That’s odd? I could have sworn that I meant to bring them up here to me. Maybe I’m just getting rusty? Whatever, I’ll practice in the morning.” Vel said to himself before letting out a loud yawn. Once he had returned back inside the cave Eli stood up and the two snuck away as quietly as possible.

By the time the two had made their way to the beach, the sun was starting to rise and both of them were too tired to really do any more walking. Plus, the one goal they had for this trip ended up not getting done at all. Thus, they decided to take a break and eat some of the rations in Last Resorts bag. 

   “So what exactly was that?” Last resort asked with tired eyes as he ate a protein stick. It tasted like medicine that had been mixed with nougat and maple syrup before being hardened so that it was crunchy inside a finger-sized mold.

   “I’m not quite sure. My guess is gravity manipulation but I have no clue. No one else on the island has power even remotely close to that level.” Eli said as he ate one of the protein sticks as well. The taste and texture made his face twist in disgust but he ate it anyway.

   “So what now?” Last resort asked.

   “We head back to SERVE and explain what happened. I’m pretty sure they won’t be too happy.” Eli said before standing up and walking down the beach towards the camp. Last resort followed behind with a tired expression.

 

* * *

 

Kobayashi Yue sat at her desk with a bored look on her face as she looked over the monitors on her desk. Her mug which was usually filled with coffee sat empty beside her. There wasn’t much for her to do at the moment as nothing of interest was happening on the island. A minor territory squabble had a few of the observers placing bets for kicks but none of that was of interest to her. She had only just arrived to start her morning work but it wasn’t like she had anything urgent to take care of.

   “Coffee?” she heard Cash ask from behind. Spinning around in her swivel chair she saw that he was holding a fresh pot of coffee in hand and despite it being so early, he looked completely awake.

   “Yes, please.” she replied before holding out her empty coffee cup. Taking the mug and filling it, he gave her an inquisitive look.

   “I take it that you’re not a morning person?” he asked as he handed the mug back to her. She held the cup with both her hands and pulled her legs onto the chair as if she was trying to heat her whole body with just the mug.

   “Not at all.” she replied with a drowsy look as she took in the smell of the coffee.

   “I take it that you haven’t heard about the recent occurrence with Vel then?”

   “You mean with the kids from Foster? That happened yesterday so of course, I know about it,” she said with a somewhat careless attitude.

   “No. there was an issue early this morning between a couple of hunters. All three are dead.” Cash said a matter-o-factly.

   “What abilities did they have?” she asked with the same careless attitude before taking a sip of her coffee.

   “Tracker A3, Rage, and cosmic hindsight” Cash listed off.

   “Rage is basically useless and cosmic hindsight would only be useful if he survived the encounter. Tracker is a fairly common ability but if it’s an A3 type then I am a little disappointed that it died. They’re rare and use a person’s chemical makeup to track them. Allowing them to distinguish lifeforms even if they are using an alteration ability.” Kobayashi thought out loud as she began to spin around in her chair like a child.

   “There was something else. Last resort was also involved but never actually made contact with Vel.” Cash said with a concerned voice.

   “I see. Did you gather any data?” she asked.

   “Not yet. It’s hard to distinguish what is useful information so would you mind taking a look at it?” Cash asked. 

Kobayashi stopped spinning and gave Cash a smile. “Is this why you gave me coffee? To get yourself on my good side?”

   “Of course not. I just figured you could use it. You kind of look like you’re about to pass out.” Cash replied with a chuckle.

   “I guess that I should get started then.” she said as her smile trend into a frown. Spinning back to face her monitor she opened up a few files and began looking over the data.

Just as she began looking over the data she was struck by the familiar smell of weed. With a sigh, she spun around in her chair to face the chainsmoking deviant standing in the doorway. A part of her wanted to slap the blunt out of his mouth but another part wanted to ask him why he was up this early. However, she didn’t care enough to bother with either. 

   “What do you want, Misha?” she asked with a tired look.

   “I heard Last resort made contact with Vel. I figured I would come to see for myself.” Misha said before taking in a big breath through his blunt.

   “I just heard about that and was about to go over the data so I assume that you used your ability to learn about this.” Kobayashi said before turning around to face the monitor.

   “Yeah, I knew they would meet up so I got up early to see the footage for myself.” Misha replied before letting the smoke from his lungs. After doing so he walked behind Kobayashi and rested his chin on top of her head.

   “Do you mind?” she asked with an annoyed tone.

   “Well, obviously you do.” he replied with a sarcastic tone before removing his chin from her head.

   “Here’s the footage we have from the incident.” she said pulling up the video from a tree near the cave entrance. The night vision only gave a hazy green silhouette for each person. However, it was easy for Kobayashi and Misha to pick out who was who for the most part.

   “I can take a guess as to what happened to induce this. However, I want to know who the person that Last resort was with is.” Misha said.

   “Give me a second.” Kobayashi said before putting a few commands into the computer. Once she did the exact same video feed loaded up but without the night vision. Freezing it over Eli’s face she began running the photo through various programs until a record came up.

   “Elijah Smith. He’s a test subject released into the island three years ago. A fairly capable matter manipulator who joined the SERVE faction. However, he died last year.” Kobayashi read out loud.

   “So he was able to hide himself for this long? Impressive for someone whose ability can’t hide its user.” Misha said before taking in another breath of smoke.

   “No, his body was found and recovered for further testing. This has to be someone else, but who?” Kobayashi said as she rubbed her chin. Her face twisted to show off how focused she was. Seeing this Misha turned her around in her swivel chair and blew smoke directly into her face.

   “What the hell!” She practically yelled at him before having a slight coughing fit.

   “You need to relax for once. Whoever it is will be exposed eventually, or they’ll die. Either way, it doesn’t matter at the moment. We know that Last Resort can’t control his abilities and even without the control he is able to cause problems for other ability users.” Misha said in a nonchalant way.

   “Whatever, just take your blunt and leave.” Kobayashi said as she held her nose and fanned the smoke away from her.

   “Fine.” he said with an annoyed attitude before leaving the room. No one else paid him any mind as he left. As he left he couldn’t help but get a wicked grin. However, he looked more like a stoner chuckling at their own joke.

   “I guess that I should check on Vel just to be safe.” He said to himself.

 

* * *

 

Returning to the SERVE village, both Eli and Last Resort looked like they were about to pass out. Without even bothering to say hello to anyone the two headed to their own individual beds and climbed in them. Seeing them like this caused Antonio to become wary of what might have happened so he and Adimu approached them before they had the time to fall asleep.

   “Want to tell me what happened?” Antonio asked.

   “Not really. You wouldn’t like what I had to say.” Eli said before rolling over to face away from him.

   “Oh really. Resort, Mind telling me what happened?” Antonio asked with a somewhat threatening tone as he turned to look at the other bed where Last Resort was trying to sleep. 

   “We were found by hunters so we ran to the so-called freaks territory. He then killed the hunters while we stayed hidden. We’ve been running and hiding since before sunrise so can we go to sleep now?” Last Resort explained before rolling over as well.

   “I see how it is. You did the exact thing that you said you wouldn’t do. Do you know what that means? Both of you are getting bad luck as punishment.” Antonio said before slapping both Last Resort and Eli.

   “Wait, Antonio! We needed to or else we could have died.” Eli yelled from the bed as he sprung up. As soon as he did though, he fell from the bed with a loud thud. Antonio was already in the doorway by the time this happened but he turned to face him once more.

   “I can understand why you did it. However, I don’t need to tell you how dangerous that man is. If he had seen you then I’m sure that you both would have died horrible deaths. That is why I am punishing you both.” Antonio said sternly before leaving the hut.

   “Oh no.” last resort said in a hushed tone from the bed.

   “Yeah, I know. We’ll just have to suffer through the next twelve hours of bad luck.” Eli said as he climbed back into his bed. Slamming his elbow into the bedpost and activating his funny bone.

   “No, I may have just shit myself.” Last resort corrected with an embarrassed tone. 

   “I’m not helping you with that. Guess you’ll need a change of clothes though. I would check your back to see if there’s one. If not then go talk to James.” Eli said before curling up into a ball in his bed.

   “Great…” Last Resort said before climbing out of bed. As soon as his shirt got caught on the bed and he fell on his ass with a splat. He neither had the energy to throw a fit nor the built-up emotions to cry so he just let out a sigh of disappointment and walked towards the washroom.