Meanwhile…

"Goddamnit." Lilia cursed as she rolled underneath the Vine-man's slamming fist. That could have taken her head off.

She breathed in and out, trying to catch her breath, but had to move again to avoid another punch. Her quick reflexes were the only thing that saved her from tripping over the broken wall. Lilia had to scramble away while he crashed into one thing after another.

Lilia realized that dodging his enormous fist wasn't as much of a problem as avoiding the debris.

Lilia was all too aware that the ceiling would crash on her head sooner or later.

However, being hit didn't sound like fun either. Either way, this was going to be painful.

Now, up close and personal, Lilia could see that this guy had gone through the wringer. He had surgical scars all over his body. He was barely recognizable as a human, and his crashing about indicated he felt no pain. The worst part was that he had no brain activity, nothing for Lilia's telepathy to grab onto. There was no point in reasoning with him. It was like fighting an overcharged Zombie.

The guy was an experiment of some kind. She was sure of it. However, wasn't experimentation such as this forbidden by the Cities? However, someone must have had enough money and influence to escape it.

In any case, if Lilia brought this guy in, Major Hatten would be finished. Still, it was becoming increasingly clear that the only way to stop him would have to be something drastic.

Nope, there was no way, in hell, I would risk my own life just to bring in this big guy. Lilia brushed that thought aside. Hopefully, Shadow will find something more portable.

Suddenly, a giant fist came borrowing toward her. It was too late to dodge it; all she could do was block. But when the impact hit Lilia, the force almost buckled her whole body.

So, blocking may not be a great idea. Good to know.

The Vine Guy moved in with a kick. Lilia stepped onto it, used his body as a springboard, and jumped, but he swung around too quickly, flinging her into a wall… hard. Pain laced through her body.

"Goddamnit." Lilia cursed. So, he was not completely brainless; some borderline instinct or programming must be ingrained in him. But whatever it was, it made him all the more dangerous.

 She painfully forced herself to bounce back on her feet. Lilia was aware that if she stopped moving, there was a good chance she would never get back up again.

Lilia retrained herself from using her strength and claws. Instead, she relied more on her agility to avoid creating as much damage as possible. If one wrong move were made, the floors above would fall on Vine Guy's head and her own.

However, she may not have a choice but to risk it if she didn't hear it: the music. The Party was just above her head.

Also, Lilia could hear Bryson yelling at her for doing something stupid again. To him, taking risks without evaluating the cost was idiotic. That was all well and good, but Bryson never appreciated that the best laid-out plan could go awry and that being able to think on one's feet would determine life or death.  

Even with him being the only one up there, she had half a mind to do it, just to see Bryson's shocked face as he tumbled down.

A silly grin played on her lips, but Lilia could only shake her head. Yeah, it's a nice thought but not worth it.

Okay, enough of that; focus, Lilia. What to do? What to do? But Lilia could only see a disaster area as she looked around her. Lilia couldn't help but sigh. Unfortunately, Lilia might need that ceiling, considering how much floor space was left. Mobility was going to be a big issue soon.

Lilia stopped. What's that smell? Her mind connected the dots, and a smile began to form. She dashed towards the big guy and slammed her fist into his face. Good thing his defences were shit. He stumbled and fell to one knee, but it didn't take him down. But, of course, that doesn't matter if he always gets back up.

This time, she was counting on it.

"Come on, come on," Lilia begged, hopping from one foot to another, waiting for Vine-man to come after her again. She didn't have to wait for long. The big guy slowly got up and gave chase.

That's it!

Lilia ran, ensuring the big guy was not too far behind as he tried to smash her to the ground with his massive fists. Lilia ducked and rolled to avoid it. As she glanced back, Lilia cursed. Vine Guy was stopping to kick a rock in her direction.

Avoiding the rocking, Lilia swiftly double-backed, and then she slit between his legs. The Vine guy moved to intercept, bending down, but Lilia was already flipping over his body. Then her nails grew, turning into particles of light. Finally, she slashed the big guy's face with her now-formed claws.

"Come on, follow me this time." Lilia taunted and followed her; he did.

Lilia used her claws to slash at the wall; she didn't stop and kicked through. Then, she did the same to the next wall, hoping the dust would mask what was about to happen.

The smell was getting closer! Lilia braced herself as she clawed at and slammed through the next wall.... into the open air, the sea churning below.

Lilia flipped and clung to the wall above,

He didn't.

Lilia watched as he silently fell into the sea, crashing into the cliff on the way down.

It took all her strength to prevent the wind from pushing her into the side of the building.

She quickly returned to safety before the wind brought her to the same fate.

Lilia flopped onto the floor, breathing heavily. Lilia's eyes were in disbelief. She still couldn't believe that work.

Lilia slowly got back on her feet, dusting herself off and glancing mournfully at her ruined fatigues. Thankfully, she could still feel her flute case strapped to her back. On the other hand, Lilia's headband had been ripped off during the struggle, and the headphones were broken. Stella is going to kill her.

She swallowed her hysterical laughter, all too aware of her ridiculous situation. Of all people, Lilia cared about how she looked, but at least it got out of her head.

Wait! Lilia stilled as she smelled something odd…gunpowder? The saltwater smell was hiding it, but it was gunpowder. Lilia looked around with growing dread and spotted something unbelievable. Was that dynamite strapped to the post?

Oh, no! Crap!

Lilia telepathically called out to the rest of her Link, praying the message would go through.

"We have to hurry! This place is rigged to explode!"

***

Rachel felt the explosion before it registered in her mind. Her first thought was that it must be another trap malfunction. Then, the next second, she felt Statson's heavy body slam into her much smaller one and roll her next to a wall.

Looking over her shoulder, Rachel saw a shocking scene: terrified people screaming and shouting, pushing and pulling. Rachel winced when she saw one guy being pulled under, disappearing under stampeding feet.

When people thought their lives were in danger, there was no chance of reasoning with them, turning them into crazed animals.

I could have been in that mess. Rachel was so thankful for Statson's quick thinking.

"You'll have to be on your toes, Girly," Statson advised while he helped her off the floor, picking up his hat and placing it back on his head.

"Shit, the doors are not opening!" shouted a panicking voice.

"I figured," Stanton calmly stated. "That is one sadistic bastard."

"Major Hatten?" she asked but dismissed it instantly, spotting him cowering under the banquet table.

"No, a bastard who likes to watch." He nodded his hat towards the cameras in the corners of the room. "At a safe distance." Now that he mentioned it, there were more cameras than needed for just security.

"We can't shoot at them. It will spook the crowd even more," Rachel stated in frustration.

"I may have a better suggestion," a sweet voice spoke from behind them with a hint of amusement.

Rachel whipped around to find the dancing green-eyed Drucilla with that blond-haired Bryson and an older gentleman a few steps behind.

"Um, Drucilla and Bryson, right?" Rachel asked, suspicious, "And you are…? Addressing their chaperone.

The man bowed. "Mr. Chesterfield, greetings."

Drucilla chimed in. "Call me Druid." She paused. "You're from WPM, right? We were wondering if you know…."

Suddenly, Statson reached for his gun, but Drucilla was quicker and moved at an impossible speed. Druid had Statson's gun in her hands before Rachel could even blink.

"That wasn't very nice," Druid stated wide-eyed, twirling the gun around like a harmless.

"You did this! Didn't you?" Statson sneered

Bryson scoffed and shook his head. "I told you it wouldn't work."

Druid rolled her eyes at Bryson. "Here." She gave the gun back. "Sorry to disappoint you, but we are here to gather information, nothing more," Drucilla said in soothing tones, then turned her head in thought. I am not saying things didn't go a little sideways."

"For Ayden." Statson gritted his teeth.

Bryson's sneer was answer enough. "He would sooner kill us. We are… defective to him," he said like he was chewing glass.

Ayden? Who's Ayden? The only Ayden I know who's relevant to this conversation is …

No, it couldn't be… The only Ayden she could think of was the Lumeye terrorist group leader. Every schoolchild knew who Aiden was. He started the Lumeye rebellion about fifty years ago, but he'd disappeared, right? So, if that meant the teens were…No, I shouldn't jump to conclusions. It's best just to ask, but before Rachel had the chance…

"Lumeye, yes," Druid acknowledged with a nod.

***

Two guards ran down the corridor. "An explosion. Nobody told us about an explosion!" the guard with the light brown hair cursed out.

The darker-haired guard answered, "Let's get out of here."

Suddenly, the light brown-haired guard shouted out in surprise. "Crap, something scratched me." He halted in his tracks, surprised.

The dark-haired one stopped a little ahead before facing the other guard. "Ha, John, why'd you stop? We don't have time…" he paused, his eyes widening. "What's that?"

The light brown-haired guard, John, turned around and looked. "I don't see anything. Come on, Craig, are you playing tricks on me?"

Craig shook his head. "No, no. I thought I saw… Well, I thought I saw a girl." He shook his head harder, trying to clear out the cobwebs. "Shit, I must be losing it."

"No, it's probably just dust," John said before running again. "Come on. We need to get out of here."

Craig took one last look back before following his friend.

Then, someone stepped out from the side corridor. It wasn't a girl the guards thought they saw, but light-brown-haired John.

Except for his cyan eyes.