Dan sighed. "I'm gonna hafta go with the train, fathah. Makes me feel much safah that way. When you take a plane, theyah could be gremlins on the wings, oah some othah mysterious monstah." Dan wasn't kidding, either. Ever since he had seen 'Nightmare at 20,000 Feet', William Shatner's magnum opus, he had been terrified of a gremlin attempting to end his life while on a plane. He was only even able to take them, as he had taken the one to get to England in the first place, by pretending he was on a very tall boat. He knew that this was one trip he could not pretend to be on a tall boat for. "Also, maybe the train has a dining cah. I'd like to try some of yoah authentic English cuisine. I heah that livah and onions is suhprisingly edible."

Alessa took deep breaths as she recovered from the shock that the blower delivered. She's looked over and suddenly realized that the machine was nowhere to be found. She panicked a bit, looking in all directions until she noticed Tecumseh approaching them. One look at the distorted machine let her know just what had happened. Alessa sunk in a mix of shame and fear.

Jason appeared to he in quite a bit of confusion as to what he saw. Clearly Alessa had been exposed to a significant amount of electricity. And yet, she didn't appear to be hurt at all. If anything, the blower had taken all the damage. The technician took the blower, somewhat speechless and confused

Alessa decided to joke to lighten the mood. "Sorry, hehe, I guess my lighting superpowers kicked in." She said, making motions with her hands to simulate elecrical currents.

Chloe did not enjoy being crammed in a car with a bunch of strangers, but she was able to tolerate it without exhaling chlorine. Dan's comments about...what? Gremlins on the wings of a plane? Was he being serious? She cast a sideways glance at him. Yup, he looked pretty serious, but could she honestly blame someone for having a fear of flying?
She switched her focus to Aria and Aura. She might as well make the best of this and try to be friendly, right? "So um...how's it going?"

Aura was not having very much fun. Squished between Dan and Chloe and thus unable to stop the snuggling that ensued between Aria and Jaden, she focused on not turning everyone in the car to ice with her anger. She dimly heard the question. "I'd think train station, personally. We did just annoy some really powerful people. If we were on a plane, they'd know, what with our bizarre collection of names and the fact that we have no luggage, and they might decide we'd be better off as being dead than alive and irritating them. All they'd need to do was disable one engine and we'd go down in a plume of smoke. I'd think that on a train we'd be safer, and we could always jump and make a run for it if need be. If we're crossing under the Channel on the train, we might be a bit more stuck, but less so than we would be if we were dropping out of the sky from thirty thousand feet up."
Aria nodded. She was rather squished against Jaden, to take up as little space as was possible. But she didn't mind being so close to him, pressed up against his wiry body. It was rather nice, feeling quite safe. And quite warm. She felt her eyelids drooping again but forced herself awake at the mention of where they were going. She shuddered, thinking about being on an airplane. A train was little better, of course, but being on an airplane would be basically asking for a horrible, fiery death. "I think the train is safer. Especially since we'd be under the Channel and not over the top of it. They couldn't bomb us from the surface then."
She looked up at Chloe. "Well, I'm scared out of my wits and thinking we've annoyed exactly the wrong guy, but I'm fine. How are you?"

"So it's a unanimous decision then. That's good. Ta the train station, fathah. Let's make tracks foah Italy." Dan wasn't exactly in a hurry, but he was definitely opposed to spending a prolonged period of time in a tightly confined space with these four. Overhearing Aria and Chloe conversing, Dan decided it was in his best, or possibly worst, interest to chime in. "I'm doin' just fine. Did you sleep well, Chloe? We've got ta get to know each othah very well." His subtlety was the stuff of legend.

"Mr. Nobakht, we have some unfortunate news from our division in Chicago"

This got his attention, the phosphorus elemental turning and giving full attention to his assistant. "What kind of unfortunate news?"

"We just recieved updated reports on the security breach from last week," he thumbed through the packet of documents. "The identity of the escaped detanee has been confirmed as Zaynab Rousani."

Mahmoud clasped his hands together at the mention of that name.

"She was last seen in the vicinity of Dearborn, Michigan. But she appears to have vacated the area, and we are at a loss of where she might be."

"Take the plane to America..."

"But...sir, what about the elementals in Britain?"

"Sent men to the UK and begin searches. As well, increase informants and hunting in France, Spain, Anadorra, Germany and Italy, with more focus in the order I listed. Zaynab takes priority over these kids."


Dark Ridge seemed sufficiantly far away from civilization. She was certain that under a false name, she would be safe here for some time. Zaynab decided to check into the resort, her new documentation ready to be used. She only hoped that the staff would not be suspicious of her.

"I'm pretty good, considering that," replied Chloe with the beginning of a shy smile. Then she froze when she heard Dan's voice and slowly, very slowly, turned her head. Shit, she hadn't meant to include him in the conversation. "Um, sure, I guess I slept well," she said. Avoid eye contact at all costs. "...You?" I've always got my chlorine, just in case.

The priest, confident that everyone had what they needed, drove off. As he drove, he spoke commandingly.
"You're going to have to transfer at Paris. From there, you'll go through Germany and end up in Termini. From there, I can't help you."

The priest turned on the radio. He had always relied on the radio for his news, and today was no different.
"We pray for the lives of the hostages. For those of you who are just joining us, Oxford is in an uproar after heavily-armed terrorists from an unknown organization stormed the Waterbury-Oxford Airport. After sneaking through to the tarmac, they assaulted each of the airport's air control towers and planted bombs across the airport. Current death toll is estimated to be around three dozen, with others in critical condition. All flights to and from Waterbury-Oxford have been rerouted to the nearest space possible, for investigation and refunding. Current reports state that these terrorists have taken several hostages and locked themselves in the southeasternmost hangar. Any attempts to approach them are met with gunfire. We will provide more as it comes up, but for now we can only hope. We will be providing up-to-date coverage all day, so please stay tuned!"

The priest's tone failed to change, but he gripped the steering wheel much more tightly and began drumming his feet on the floor in impatience. He sighed in frustration, and pulled into the station's parking lot.
"We're here. You'll have to find your own tickets. I want this to be the last time I ever hear of any of you, unless you're turning yourselves in. Get out."


The JREF representative looked at the settling cloud of gray matter incredulously.
"He can spit gray. What's so special about that?"
"If you get a sample of it under a microscope, you would see that this is a cloud of arsenic!"
"I guess we'll just have to see. You said something about two instances of paranormal activity?"
"That I did. Fargus, I brought one of Roger's ulnas over. Could you... do something with it?" Leo handed Fargus a small, thin bone.
Fargus gave the armbone a determined look. "Sure, sure. Hold on a minute..."

Fargus concentrated on the ulna. He imagined it twisting like a wet noodle. He imagined it tying a knot with itself. As he imagined this, the hard material of the bone became pliant and malleable in Leo's hands, and did indeed twist and knot itself. When it was finished tying, it went rigid again. Leo snapped the twisted ulna in half, and showed its osseous innards to the representative.
"It's a bone, through and through. And my brother just used his psychic powers to twist it. Pretty neat, huh?"
The JREF representative's eyes widened, and then she smiled. "I'd say that is evidence of paranormal activity! Mister Oberschmidt, I'd say you're on your way to being the first legitimate supernatural being the Randi Foundation has ever found! Would you mind coming with us to show the world and, hopefully, figure out a bit more of your powers?"
"That all depends... are we all going to get a go?"
The representative smiled. "Of course, Mister Oberschmidt! We'll take Mister Orestein, if he wants to, as well!"

Leo looked to Herschel imploringly. "Well, Herschel? How about it? I'm sure this would be a way to catch some attention from your son!"

Dan nearly did a spit-take, despite not having anything to spit, when he heard the news. "Ho-oly shit. Ya think that's because of us? I think we made the roit decision goin' ta the train station. Don't want ta go anyweyah neah that clustahfuck. Thank you, fathah. I promise this will be the last time you see us." Dan stepped out of the car, then turned to the others. "You comin'? We gotta be cayahful, because they moit track us down. Don't want anythin' happenin' to any a you's. Especially you, Chloe." Dan half-blushed in a weird, somewhat awkward way, like a dog that had been caught tearing apart a couch or something. It was difficult to tell exactly what emotion he was feeling, but it was definitely a gross one.

Dark Ridge Resort
The receptionist greeted Zaynab warmly and looked over her documents. They all seemed to be in good order, so she asked if Zaynab was visiting by herself or with a group, and did she already have a reservation? It wasn't required, some folks just liked to have everything all ready sorted out when they got to the resort. If she wasn't already booked, the attendant would help her find suitable accommodations and would provide a schedule of upcoming events for the next two weeks for Zaynab to look over if she wanted too. There was the usual weekly events, bingo on Thursday nights, Friday afternoon card and board games, Saturday night movie projected in one of the conference rooms. Half off, Putt-putt and group Golf lessons on Sunday. Monday had discounted personal fitness events, Tuesday was discounted spa, salon, and other beauty sessions. Wednesday was water sports day, the pool and a cool mountain lake about a mile from the resort hosted the majority of these. And of course, Hiking, biking, and horse riding was available everyday, with lessons offered in the mornings and afternoons.

Dig Site
Well that was an odd choice words, and that blower looks like something put more energy into it than it could handle. Oohhh boy, this could get interesting fast. You mean you've done this before? Hmm, might want a less public forum for this discussion... Are you alright? You sure that didn't nick you? How about we get you up to the resort to get you checked out, I don't want you suffering permanent damage to your nervous system because of some faulty wiring. If she'll let him Tecumseh will gently take her hand in both of his, examining it for signs of burns or twitching, a possible side effect of getting mildly shocked. If the hand shows nothings unusual, he'll inspect her other hand for the same signs. If she pulls back, he'll step back and apologize, he only wants to be sure she isn't hurt.

Zaynab was pleased to see her paperwork had gone through with no quirks or suspicions. According to her documents, she was Maham Bhati, a native of Michigan born to Pakistani imigrants. "I believe I called in a reservation a day ago." Zaynab's accent was still present, but she had tried to tone it down significantly. If anyone asked, she had just returned from a stay in Punjab.


Alessa had realized what she said almost immediatly afterwards.

"Oh..no I mean...oh uh..." she said, before he took her hands to inspect them for burns. She wanted to pull away, but figured maybe he would let her go back and say no more when he saw she was fine.

Hearing the news sent a chill through Chloe's spine and despite not being religious, she found herself praying that this was unrelated to anything having to do with elementals. It made sense, though, that it would be connected. That well-dressed bastard had probably anticipated they'd be trying to leave the country. Maybe they'd start targeting trains next. She pushed the thought to the back of her mind as she thanked the priest and said sincerely that he'd never have to see them again, then climbed out of the car.

Then she went and made the mistake of looking at Dan. What was up with him? "Uh, yeaaaaah," she responded with clear hesitation. "Are you alright?" She had no idea how to interpret that expression. Or the color of his cheeks.

Dan smiled a bit wider. "I'm, er, ah, just foin. You look a bit worried though. Do you perhaps need a shouldah to cry on, namely mine?" Dan was about a subtle as a cargo plane attempting to land in a McDonald's drive through. "Oah, if you would rathah, we could spend some quality time togethah." Truly, a cassanova of his generation, Rad Dan wasted no time making his move. "Just so long as I don't get a face fulla chlorine gas, I'm shoah it'll be a wondahful time."

Dark Ridge Resort
Jessica, the receptionist, smiled at Ms. Bhati, as she looked up her reservation. There it was, Jessica got a small packet from the rows of shelves behind the desk, and handed it to Zaynab and signaled for a bell boy to come collect her bags and lead her to the room reserved for Ms Bhati. The bell boy, a tall broad fellow called Jim, who'd grown up not to far from Dark Ridge, came right over expertly collecting Ms Bhati's bags before leading her to her room. Right this way Ma'am. You've got a real nice suite, with an excellent view if I do say so m'self. Jim walked over to the elevators and walked into the first empty one, waiting for Ms. Bhati to get on before taking her up to the third floor, the highest that the elevator served. Jim got of, and walked down a long hall, turned a corner and wen to the end of this hall, where an ornate Mahogany door stood tall and dark. Jim swiped his utility card, and a chime sounded then three seconds later the door unlocked, and he opened it stepping into the front hall of a surprisingly middle eastern flavored room. It wouldn't be mistaken for anything but an American room, but the drapes and bedspread where done in eastern style, even one of the couches could be reset to match the eastern divan if so desired.

To the left you'll see the kitchenette, with fully stocked fridge, microwave, two eye stove, small oven, and large sink. Here on the right is your coat closet, though I doubt you'll need it this time of year. Straight through here is the living room, with a nice bay window over looking valley bellow and the mountains around here. You can't see the pool from here, but you can just catch a glimpse of the lake over to the right if you look. Jim walked into the living room, which opened up to left and connected with the kitchenette, and then to a door on the right wall almost at the back of the room. Stepping through the open door, he finally set Ms Bhati;s things down and continued his little tour. He stood looking at Ms Bhati, till he remembered the screened deck behind him, across from the bathroom, which he stepped back to present to Ms Bhati. This is your bedroom Ma'am, and that's your bathroom. There's a powder room off the kitchenette for any guests that come calling. You've got a hot tub and a shower, to suite your tastes. Oh, and these sliding doors are to a screened deck with an acrylic roof so you can see the stars on a clear night or enjoy the wind of a rainstorm without having to get wet. Jim looked around and took a deep breath checking to make sure that he hadn't forgotten anything. And remembered one last thing, and made his way back to her front door as he spoke. One last thing and then you can have your peace ma'am, I promise. You remember that my card opened the door after a chime, yes? Well all service cards will do that unless you press this little button over the latch. Pressing it is like leaving a do not disturb sign, but more secure. As long as the button is depressed, as it is now, service cards will not open the door, though a soft chime will still sound. If there is no response then house keeping will come back by later that same day. Your card will always open the door, and will not sound a chime. That's all I have Ma'am, do you need anything else or will that be all? Jim hoped to get a tip, like any bell boy, but he was to proud to ask for one, so if that was all Ms. Bhati required of him, he would leave, closing the door behind him, with the "Do Not Disturb" button still depressed. The fridge held no alcohol and was stocked entirely with kosher foods, fruit drinks and some sodas. If Ms. Bhati wished to eat anything or have the fridge stocked with anything not presently available she needed only to pick up one the two phones, one in the living room and one on the bedside table, and request the items from room-service.

Dig Site
Tecumseh noticed that neither hand showed any signs of having received a shock, which shouldn't have been possible... unless... she hadn't been entirely joking with her flippant little phrase earlier. Stepping back he considered her carefully, but Mr. Schultz walked up before anything else could be said, demanding to know what was going on. Tecumseh pointed to the ruined blower and said that if Mr. Schultz didn't start maintaining his equipment any better, he'd personally see to it that the site was closed until a new manager was found. Mr. Schultz probably didn't like it, but it was an unnecessary safety hazard that would be certain to put the courts on the land owner's side so gritted his teeth and asked, as sweetly politely as he could, what had brought Tecumseh down to the dig site.

Curiosity. I wanted to see what you had found so far, which I haven't done yet.

Mr. Schultz decided to take his guest to see what had been uncovered so far and get him away from Alessa and Jason, he'd meant what he'd said earlier. Tecumseh wished Alessa and Jason a good day. Then he winked at Jason and suggesting he bring "his" girl up to the resort for a nice evening, and ask to ask for Tecumseh personally if he did. Before either could respond properly, he turned and follow Mr. Schultz to see what ever he could, leaving the two youngsters to deal with the sudden awkwardness themselves. He'd honestly said it more to get Jason's mind off of what had just happened than to cause embarrassment; and because he knew what it was like to be feared and suspected by those around him. Tecumseh hoped that by diverting both their minds, the blower wouldn't cause to much distrust and fear between the two. He knew he'd have to come back and check on the Alessa in the not to distant future, and then he realized that he didn't even know her name, but it was to late to ask now as Mr. Schultz babbled on about what he was achieving at the dig.

Zaynab certainly was pleased with her room. The decorations were something unexpected; obviously not an authentic room, it certainly would have been out of place back in Tehran, the decor very obviously a western interpretation of turkish design. Zaynab also took note of the contents of her fridge, her request for Halal contents having been fufilled as best the resort might be able. The luxury was certainly to her liking,

"Mashallah, everything is wonderful," Zaynab spoke to Jim, smiling wide at her beautiful suite. Zaynab reached into her pocket and pulled out 50 dollar bill giving it to her bell biy as his tip, not that this was a significant setback; Zaynab had amassed a small fortune from the Rubles, Rials, and Afghanis she had taken from Mahmoud's hitmen and informants. If there was one thing Mahmoud was good for, it was financial security.

Once Jim had taken his leave, Zaynab sighed in contentness. "Alhamdulillah, I've made it this far..." One week out of the prison she had inhabited for 5 years. She knew Mahmoud was almost certainly looking for her, and the fake name, cash only policy, it would only slow him down she knew, but slow him enough that she could be anywhere and gone long before he finally caught wind. With the door closed and her button in place, Zaynab began undressing and preparing to take a long shower and relax for the first time in many years.



Alessa was a bit flustered after Tecumseh made his comment with her and Jason. Not even ten minutes had she known him and now they were already put in this position. She wasn't sure what to make of Tecumseh though, he seemed very obviously interested in her powers, though she was mortified about her little joke being taken seriously. Never did she think he would see it as anything but an unfunny comment.

Still, now she had an invitation to the resort, and she wasn't going to pass it up. "So...I think we should take him up on that." Alessa stated to Jason

The technician stared in confusion, "Are you serious?"

"Yeah!," Alessa exclamed in responce. "We can get aquainted after today's work. While Schultz fusses over his trilobites or what not, we can get some nice food, try some North Carolina cuisine, and talk a bit. It'd be my first dinner date with a guy too, so I get a new experience"

Jasob raised his eyebrow quisically, "You've never been on a date with a guy before?"

Alessa suddenly realized what she said, "Oh...no..." These bits of to much information were why no girl wanted to date her.

Oh! Oh, god. Is he hitting on me?

Chloe had no honest idea how to react to this. Should she reject, accept or warn him with a puff of chlorine? She could feel her cheeks getting warm and hoped no one, especially Dan, would notice and misinterpret her embarrassment. He hadn't even tried to be subtle, had he?
Being a kind and thoughtful young woman, she decided not to go with the chlorine option. Yet. Instead she said, "Maybe if someone weren't trying to hunt us down and kill us. Let's grab some tickets, shall we?"
She was really hoping that Aura or Aria or even Jaden, whom she'd decided she didn't like much, would talk to her instead. As rad as Dan perhaps was, she would much rather avoid additional...drama.

Aura sighed in exasperation, her hair floating up around her. Of course she'd be the fifth wheel. Not that she minded, not given her current track record with boyfriends, but still... It was kind of lonely.
"Come on, you lovebirds. Both pairs of you." Without waiting to see if they were following her she walked quickly towards the train station, not even noticing the extremely cold liquid that was beading on her hair and skin and falling to the slightly damp (had it rained that night?) pavement, leaving patches of ice. Neither did she notice how most of her hair had frozen solid to her shoulders and neck by the time she finally got into the building.
Aria sighed, running after Aura. "Aura, wait!" She yelped, slipping on the ice, staggering and nearly falling. "Aura, for god's sake, what's gotten into you? Get back here!"

Oxford, United Kingdom

A door at the far end of the chapel hall quietly creaked open, and an elderly figure wearing a pair of dull-gray longjohn pajamas shuffled into the main hall. Judging by his gentle features and sense of comfort around the church's innards, it was easy to guess that this was the resident padre. The priest addressed the group with the air of someone who had experienced such a thing before. His withered jowls curled up as he smiled gently.

"Welcome to St. Anthony of Padua, my children. Are you in need of my ministrations? A warm bed, perhaps? The LORD has taught us to accept and embrace those in need. If you need anything, please ask me. I will help you in any way that I can."

The padre kept his distance, for the party's comfort. He had dealt with troubled youths and runaways before, and had long ago refined it into an art.

*Oxford's Chapel is called The Church of St. Mary The Virgin.*

Jaden sighed as he heard the mix of voices from the four others around him. He'd honestly remained quiet most of the time because of two things - the first being that they were now heading to Italy, and would have to change some appearances up to hide, and two they would need names to tell people that didn't relate back to their English names to much. Aria sat next to him once they had finally made it on the train and he groaned and slumped against the seat while looking out the window. He glanced to the others and took in a moment to assess what was happening. Aria was staying close to him not that he minded, Aura was giving him the now common death glares, and from what he could tell about the other two was that something was going on between them. Whether or not it was going to affect their survival as of now was undetermined.

"I think when we reach Italy...we should change up our appearances, dye our hair, put in contacts, change our clothes, and ask Maria to shelter us for the time being. Also, I think we need to come up with names so my first question is...do any of you know about your ethnic backgrounds? If so we can draw on names from those cultures."

He only hoped that the suggestion would work. God was he ever praying now - something that he had failed in doing a great deal lately - and to top it off he was going to someone who had once been very close to his mother and father. Maria Di Velico. She might be able to help them, but they would have to get past something first.

"Oh, I almost forgot to mention....Maria is a witch."

Tokyo, Japan - 9:45pm

A figure in a white school style uniform trimmed in black stood on a rooftop looking over the futuristic city of Tokyo. She sighed - her long silvery white hair splashed with black flowing freely behind her as she watched people walk below. She tapped her boot clad foot against the railing in irritation and shrugged her shoulders as she adjusted the black and white Katana on her back. It was as she stood there that someone walked up behind her and cleared their throat.

"Saya-Sama," she turned sharp gold eyes on to the butler of a man.

"What is it Toshiro?" the man sighed.

"Apparently there's been a bit of an uproar in England - six Elementals have made their appearance," he told her and she frowned a bit.

"Six? After so long? I mean the few we know of in Italy, America, and other countries have just shown themselves and your telling me that...six have just popped up?" she rose a fine white eyebrow and he nodded.

"Apparently one of the ones from America has appeared there and is hunting down the other five. The only two elements I've been able to identify is Iron and Hydrogen."

Saya's eyes grew wide and she walked up to Toshiro.

"Are you saying that the Iron and Hydrogen Elementals are together?" she asked.

"Yes mistress." she nodded.

"Can you track them? I need to find them and the others before that other guy does," she stated.

"I shall begin the search, and in the mean time may I ask what you shall do mistress?" she turned and looked at the skyline a sharp glare on her doll-like features.

"My own search will begin. I am the Bismuth user, The White Dragon and I will find the others. If these five are considerable comrades I may be able to assist them in their current location. Have the Okiagari prepare themselves for assisted use....I am not going to let that person get them and do Kami knows what to them!" she declared.

"Very good mistress. I shall inform them...also...I thought you should know the person who is hunting them is the Phosphorus Elemental." Saya shot him a look over her shoulder.

"Then I will be sure to make him remember me. Be ready Toshiro....the world is about to become a battle field for the Elemental Race."