Midnight looked looked at the picture of the corpse fighting the Blade that attacked her. She felt her body tense and her heart tighten to a stop for a second. She didn't even know she was drawing something like that. She let out a shaky breath till she heard a voice *"It wasn't your fault"*. Midnight looked up at the little ghost outcast as he sat down on the couch. "I-I know....." Was all she said as she closed her journal. But she still felt guilty for taking a life also happy that a blade has been taken out.

John looked up as he heard something that sounded like an explosion. "Did you hear that?" he asked Ice as he looked around. He stood up, ran his hands through his hair to wake himself up and then grabbed his bag. "It sounded like something exploded near the forest," he said.

Drops of water began to fall on his face. They began in a slow, rhythmic motion until suddenly, a wave of ice cold water washed over his head and he nearly jumped out his skin, finally awoken to a sarcastic giggle and the sound of a bucket being dropped innocently onto the ground. **"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty,"** Taylor's voice was recognizable enough since it had the highest pitch out of everyone in the group. Jude's mind was fuzzy and it was dark in the woods. When had it gotten dark? **"What happened?"** He mumbled, trying to wring some of the water off of his hoodie. Great, his hoodie was absolutely drenched. It had become ragged and torn due to day after day of constant abuse on the material. **"Well,"** he imagined her fixing her glasses right now, though it was a bit too dark to see, **"You were training with Milla and your power overloaded. After that, you passed out cold and I had to save a giant rock from crushing your sorry ass,"** she paused momentarily, **"You're welcome."** **"Yeah, thanks,"** there was slight irritation towards Milla and especially towards Rusty for leaving him with Taylor. Speaking of which, his mind was still unable process properly from the apparent overload, **"Where are the others?"** **"Well, Milla decided to take Adam out for training,"** Owch, the poor guy, **"And Rusty said something about having to run errands and just disappeared. I'm hoping he went off the island again so he can bring us something good."** Jude stood up and dusted himself off as she spoke. Though his mind was freaking out, it didn't imagine the sound of the gunshot not too far off. Now much more alert, he searched the dense woods, **"Taylor,"** he waved for her to follow. She didn't even need to hear, she was already behind him. Knowing Milla, she'd already be there. - - - And of course, she was. Apparently, by the time that Jude and Taylor had arrived, the entire scene was already over. Adam and Milla were perched up against a fallen log a few yards away and told the story of how "two unseen and brave Outcasts burned the despicable Blades to death" and then Milla laughed, while Adam remained silent. **"Aww, I wanted to kill some Blades,"** Taylor spoke with a partial pout and Milla looked over the log into the woods, **"Not to easily to see at this time of night in a forest this dense. There may be more."** She looked back at the other three, "**Adam, go back to camp and wait for Rusty to return. Tell him what's going on as soon as he arrives. Jude, you're backup. Taylor, you're with me,"** and with that, she hopped over the fallen log with Taylor and Jude in tow.

> "Come on, let's just go." Oliver said. Cerys nodded in agreement. They got up and started wondering through the forest again. Oliver was soaked. He checked his big and gave a huge sigh of relief when he found out that the food was still dry. **Bang**. A shot rang out from nowhere. A bullet ripped through Oliver's arm. He let out a cry of pain and Cerys gave a small yelp before creating a forcefield around them. From the darkness Blades surrounded them. They were all wearing exosuits powered by a glowing blue energy that flowed through the _veins_ of the suit. There was too many of them. Bullets hit the forcefield and Cerys winced a bit as each one hit it. One of the Blades pulled out a gun. It wasn't like any normal gun. It was glowing blue in certain parts and looked pretty scary. He took aim at Oliver and Cerys and fired. The bullet was like any other bullet except from the small blue glow on it. It hit the forcefield and Cerys let out a cry of pain. "Do something" Cerys pleaded. Oliver looked around until he noticed they were right next to a tree. A small smile forced itself upon Oliver. "When I say, run but keep your forcefield up" He said to Cerys. She nodded. Oliver placed his hand on the tree and closed his eyes. The tree started to turn purple slowly from the base upwards. When the whole tree was purple and glowing he shouted. "**Run!**" > They both ran as bullets hit the forcefield. They turned around to see the Blades slowly closing in in them. The tree exploded. Violent purple and orange flames engulfed the Blades; melting trough their armour and destroying them. They both sighed in relief. Both Aki and Haru jumped up when they heard guns. The went running towards where the noise was at and saw two people. Aki immediately pushed Haru behind her. "Who are you?" She said, one of her hands catching on fire. "Aki, cool it. If you don't you're going to burn down the whole forest..." Haru said putting her hand on her sister's left arm.

Justin had just "ridden the wave" to the roof of the bank where he was living when he heard an explosion from out in the woods. He jumped down through the skylight, cushioning his fall with a roll, then pulled out his cell phone and called his former Mentor. "Hey, Phil, did you hear that explosion?" "Yeah, I heard it. Someone decided to make more martyrs for the people of the world to feel sorry for. I guess we'd better go tell them how much of an idiot they are." "Sure, meet you there." he said. He emptied his backpack of his salvaged junk beside his bed in the bank's vault and grabbed some food, a first aid kit, and some duct tape, shoving it into the bag. After that he put on his armor that he had taken off a dead Blade (one that someone else had killed and he managed to get to before the other Blades) and painted a 'waves' symbol on. It was simple Kevlar, but if he had to fight them, it would protect him. Phil had something similar built into his Predator suit for the same reason. When he was done he Jumped through the skylight and ran/boosted himself from room to roof, heading out of the city towards the explosion. Even with his delay, he'd probably get there before Phil, thanks to his power.

> John looked up as he heard something that sounded like an explosion. "Did you hear that?" he asked Ice as he looked around. He stood up, ran his hands through his hair to wake himself up and then grabbed his bag. "It sounded like something exploded near the forest," he said. Ice looks toward the door, crossing her arms across her chest. Ice, unknowing to her, began to form on her fingertips, a defensive mechanism that she developed after they cleared the city out. "Yeah, I did. You want to go check it out?" She tried not to sound nervous, but in her effort, she manages to sound weak. She swallows hard and tries to put on her usual icy façade.

An explosion rang out near the tree Shade had been sleeping in, startling him awake finally. The night life confusing him, making him question whether he had gotten enough sleep or not. He quickly let himself down, and surrounded himself in Shadows, masking him for the sight of most. He quickly made his way around where he thought he heard the explosion originate from. **Awwww, why you leavin the party man?** *Dude, wouldn't it be better to investigate the possible threat BEFORE running away?* (....If it is a threat, it would be ideal to remove ourselves from the vicinity of it, so as not to threaten our lives, yes?) *....I....suppose that could also be an idea....* **Coward.** (Imbicial.) *....Riiiiight then.....* Shade continued his faster treak and managed to find a group of people. None of them had Blades armor on, so he went to the assumtion that none of them were Blades. **Lookie, lookie. Looks like ya found yur possible threats anyway. Ahahaha!** *Ironic.* (....Do shut up.) Shade debated being social or not, and stepped on another twing in the process of shifting his feet around. (....I hate twigs.) **Yeah, fuck you twigies!** *....I have no words for you two.* Shade stopped moving, preparing himself for possible fight or flight in the process. The adrenaline making him feel slightly more alive, and panicy in the process.

Haru turned around hearing a twig snap. Aki glanced at Haru but turned back towards the other two, the two who had more than likely caused the explosion. "Hello?" Haru called out, her arms were shaking.

Jason's head poked up as he heard the sound of an explosion near the forest. The boy began to move from where he had been previously in one of the old houses, searching for some sort of Weapon to investigate this strange event. Even as he ran towards what it wss, ideas of what have might happened raced through the boy's mind.

Shade still didn't move, not forgetting his self-taught "lessons" in tricking people in the dark into forgetting his pressence. He remembered VERY clearly how the genes that gave every Outcast their powers, also allowed them to be able to see him, even when Hiding himself. He did his best to keep silent and not move, but his leg was starting to cramp up in this position- resting half your body weight on your toes doesn't go well for very long, at least not without practice anyway. *We're fucked.* **Heh, Nerdy here took the words right outta mah mouth an' everythin'!** (....Not. The. Time.) Shade waited as patiently as he could for the group's next move. The two girls having apperently heard him a little TOO clearly for his tastes. (Serious, what do they have- Super-Hearing or some other relatively useless power of the sort?) **Well now, ain't that just offensive to non-agro type powers!** *Shots fired man.* (Again, what is that phrase even suppose to really mean?) **Ahahahaha!** *Tschhh- ah hehehehe.* Shade was quite willing to strangle a pair of idiots at the moment. Currently, he wasn't sure which. Or if the other pair WERE idiots. He wasn't sure if he hoped to find out or not....

Clouds started to gather around Haru. "Please just show yourself! I don't want to hurt you." She said trying to calm down and make the clouds disperse.

Shade eyed the newly forming and disforming clouds with narrowed eyes. *Some form of air or cloud manipulation?* **Weather perhaps?** (All possible. Unsure at the moment.) After debating for another minute Shade slowly released his Hiding, allowing himself to go back to his natural visibility. The group could easily see him finally, his awesome fur-topped trench coat billowing a little in the strange winds. "....Hurt me....I can already tell you'd make a great comedian." Shade quietly replied in his monotone voice. Robot all the way, that was his style. *With an awesome ass trench coat though.* **Ain't nobody eveh shoul' forget dat muthafukin' trench coat bro.** (....I have nothing to say. I'm done with this conversation.) **Awww c'mon Robot!!!!** *Yeah, don't leave me with just him for company dude!* Shade quickly tuned the two of them out, and focused back on the group before him, silently staring them down to the best of his ability. Before he blinked. He doubted he'd ever be able to pull off a full unnerving cold stare in his life. It somehow made the Robotic teen more depressed than usual....

"I swear the clouds aren't my fault! I'm just super scared!" Haru said swiping all the clouds, she was still trying to make them disappear. "And you're the one who told me to calm down." Aki said to her sister.

Shade just tried to do his stare again. And he blinked. Gosh damnit all. **Whaddaya think of these girls bro?** *Methinks they be our age. The Crimson one is hot though....* **I fully support that!** *Please, as if you couldn't.* (....Will you two stop being hormonal children and act your age already?) **I think that was 'nother one of yur rhethorical questions bro1** *Most definitely was.* (*Sigh*.....). Shade frowned a bit when the girl started rambling at the other teenage female of the group. Perhaps this wasn't....the best of plans? They seemed....young. Normal? *Lil' bit.* **Aye!** "....What could have troubled you, to be losing control of your abilities so swiftly....?" Shade pondered this, wondering how hard it was for most people to lose control. He thought he wasn't too bad at keeping a firm handle on his abilities. It wasn't like he had much of a choice- it's a tad bit awkward for your Shadow to start attacking you and the ones around you start to act like savage beasts due to the internal panic that would likely accompany such an event.

"I'm just scared cause there's a lot of people here and I'm not used to it. I'm only used to being around her." Haru said pointing at Aki who glanced at the boy. Haru kept swatting at the clouds until they finally disappeared.

Shade was baffled. Just how sheltered of a life did this girl live? She's freaked out by a mere....3 other people with exception of the girl she'd been around? What the hell????? "....That's....I'm....what? How....how could you possibily find, three people, so many!?!?!" Shade seemed to be seriously struggling to understand the logic behind the girl's words. He really seemed to be trying. And failing everyone might add.

"Because I'm an overprotective big sister." Aki said turning around to look at the boy. Her hand was still on fire. "Yea she's a helicopter sister...plus I'm only 14." Haru said sending a small glare at her older sister.

"....14....I was in public school at 14, so no, I can't understand that...." Shade truthfully replied, unable to find any sort of probable logic behind this girl. The only way this could have happened is if she were hiding her whole life. And what child would ever willingly hide for that long?? "Also, your flame is weak. If you're trying to intimidate someone, at least don't light only your hand. It's a poor try, and kind of insulting in a way." Shade continued in his monotone, slightly snobbish(?) voice.

"I was homeschooled okay!" Haru said stomping her foot. "Hey I only have my hand in fire cause I could burn down the forest." Aki said extinguishing her hand.

Shade started at the fire wielding girl like she was stupid. Which in his eyes, was completely true right now. "....You could....burn down the forest....?....Are you stupid or something? How does one have such little control over either their abilities and/or their motor functions so as to feel that they would *endanger* a *forest* from just a little fire. *Campfires* are more dangerous to forests than your hand was. Even your arm probably would be!" Shade was....clearly unimpressed, that was for sure. *Awww....Hot girl's stupid. Damn it all.* **....The world is a cruel, cruel place. Give us a hot chick*-snickers-* to meet, but make her stupid in return.**