A/N/: So, another fic challenge…This time it was for the Crossover Challenge. I was actually meaning to post this for the Story Rewrite Challenge, but I got held up with the Twilight thing and this got put aside…Until the Crossover, for which I revamped the story and have now split it into two parts. So, this is part one, with parts two and three coming soon!

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The light is so dim here. I feel so sleepy…but so odd. Was someone doing something to me…? My hand feels odd. No, my whole body feels odd. What's happening to me?

He kept slipping in and out and wakefulness, never quite managing to totally wake up. His body felt heavy, and so strange…He didn't feel like himself anymore. Why was that? What had happened to him? Underneath the lethargy that gripped his brain, all his senses were telling him something was wrong, something was very wrong, and he should know what that something was…

But he couldn't remember. It was far too hard, so he slipped back into sleep.

He found out, finally, later. He didn't know how long had passed, but he felt more awake now. He could tell he was in bed, and someone was standing next to him. But it was still wrong; the light was far too bright, everything was far too clear; everything had sharp edges, nothing soft…

And then came the words, the words that spread the first icy chill through his body, the words that brought him back to reality and told him what he had been trying to remember for so long, told him what had happened and what he was

"Face it, Len-wa. You're Special."

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They were flying fast, keeping low to the ground. Trees heavy with ice flickered past them, swaying wildly as they raced further into the night. Cery darted a quick look over his shoulder. The sneak-suits should hide them, but you never knew with Specials…

No, there they were, glowing like yellow flames in the infrared goggle's vision. How did they manage to keep right on their tail? Now they had Special Circumstances boards, they should have been able to slip away…

Cery looked ahead again, and noticed a bright glow in the infrared. Some Special trick? he thought, looking down. And then he gasped. Of course the Specials could keep up with them. Their boards glowed red amongst the cold blues and greens of the night time forest, marking them out clear as day. And the Specials couldn't be tracking them any other way, despite the fact…Cery darted another look, zooming in the goggles. No, the Specials didn't have anything on their faces. They must have infrared implants, overlaying their vision, he thought. Stupid Burril, convincing Harrin that they wouldn't have done something like that. The Specials can do anything.

Cery's heart began to pound, his breath began to gasp. How could they lose four-no wait, was it five?-Specials with only these boards and no way of disappearing? They were doomed. Specials didn't put Uglies under the knife; they just killed them. He almost choked as he imagined it, the Special execution; a tight grip on the neck, raised above head height, choking as the Special squeezed, then with one flex of their monofilament muscles…

Cery ducked and weaved with more force, darting and swooping. They had to lose the Specials, else risk leading them straight to the Smoke. Sonea… His face set. They wouldn't be rooting out the Smoke, killing him, or getting their hands on Sonea tonight. No chance in hell.

He banked hard, twitching his specialised interface ring to ping the others. -Head towards the river. Spread out.-

Seconds later, he had a ping back. It was Harrin. -What's the plan?-

Cery grinned. –Just wait and see.-

Within a minute they were close. The sound of the river, rushing full to bursting from late spring rains, crashed louder than the roar of the lifting fans beneath them, almost too loud to think over. Cery weaved around the last branch, flitting a look at the Specials behind him, and zoomed straight over the crashing white capped water, skimming lower towards it. As he cut the thrashing surface, a wall of water over a metre high flew into the air, disturbed by the lifting fans. The others gathered around him, hiding them from view for a few precious seconds. Cery smiled grimly, and then angled down, motioning wildly for them to follow.

The board hit the water with a slap and was almost kicked from under Cery's feet. He sunk like a stone, grateful for the large gasp of air he'd taken before falling. He glimpsed dark shapes in the water around him, the others swimming wildly, reaching for their masks. He scrabbled to his belt and pulled out the swim mask, fixing it to his face and breathing deeply. The Specials have no idea we have this kind of tech, he thought smugly to himself. They'll be pretty confused. The flow of the water carried him; he grabbed out for his board, and hoped the others had the sense to just be washed away by the current. By the time the Specials had any time to think about swimming, they'd be miles away.

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The surface of the water glittered in the icy moonlight, rushing and breath-takingly beautiful. Their two boards hovered low over the water, searching for the lost Smokies. The other three were hidden in the trees, searching too.

"There's nothing here, Boss," Osen's soft voice filtered through Lorlen's skintenna.

"Nothing this side," Yikmo sighed, turning his board back towards the center of the river.

"They're not here either," came Dannyl's voice, carried through the network on barely a whisper.

"We've lost them, huh, Len-wa?" Akkarin asked, his board floating closer to Lorlen's.

Lorlen nodded, a sharp jab of his head. "Dr. Vinara won't be happy about this."

"You're going to tell her?"

"The Cutters don't have anything to do with her, Boss," Osen said stubbornly, appearing from the trees fifty metres away on the river's east side. "She doesn't have to know anything."

"She knows they were here, idiot," Dannyl snapped.

"Right," Lorlen sighed. "That's not a conversation I'm looking forward to."

Akkarin had floated to within inches of him, their boards almost touching. He smiled softly, reaching out to brush Lorlen's arm with his fingers. "Want me to come too?" he asked, switching to a private skintenna channel.

Lorlen frowned. "You shouldn't."

Akkarin laughed quietly. "Dr. Vinara won't eat me."

Lorlen smiled at him. "Thanks, Rin-la," he whispered.

Suddenly the others were beside them. "Give up and go home, boss?" Yikmo asked.

Lorlen heaved a sigh, then nodded. "Yeah, sure. Back to base."

With a soft growl from the lifting fans, the Specials turned their boards and swooped off into the western sky. Lorlen's stomach turned and twisted. He wasn't looking forward to talking to Dr. Vinara, but he knew he would have to go tonight. She knew the Smokies had been at the Ugly bash; if he didn't turn up to report, he'd have an angry ping demanding his presence at Special Headquarters within hours.

Don't think like that, Lorlen, he thought to himself. You're Special. Whatever you do, it's right. No one else touches you. He grimaced and dug his diamond hard fingernails into the skin of his right arm, avoiding the pulsating flash tattoos. He winced as pain washed over him, then narrowed his eyes as he felt the iciness hit. Being icy was unique to being a Special; even though the pain hurt, inside the pain there was a sublime high that sharpened every sense and thought until sometimes it almost hurt to look at the world. And that was why the Cutters were Cutters; because of the small knives they kept on their person at all times, just to stimulate that high. And that was why Specials were so much better, so much higher compared to the pathetic worms that crawled the earth and called themselves human beings.

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After they got back to Cutter camp and dropped off the others, Lorlen and Akkarin rose on their hoverboards again and made for Special HQ. The boards whirring underneath them were special; normal boards were only fitted with magnetic lifters. This meant they could only fly within cities, where the ground was crosshatched by an underground grid of metal girders that pushed against the magnetic lifters and kept the boards (and hovercars) aloft. Having lifting fans solved this problem. Cities themselves were what Specials existed for; or, rather, keeping those cities in line.

In each city, certain classes had been established. Those who were rich and belonged to the Houses before what was dubbed as 'Prettytime' had been made into Pretties; people who underwent an operation to be amazingly beautiful. Pretties lived in Pretty Town, and never had to do anything but party. Uglies, on the other hand, were always working. They were the scum of society, the lower classes. Left normal and 'ugly', they worked out their whole lives to keep Pretty Town running, living in hovels and shanty towns on the outskirts of the city, hidden from view by a large belt of trees.

Uglies hated Pretties, and Pretties thought Uglies were scum. But what the Pretties didn't know was that as well as being made beautiful, each operation also made them stupid; tiny lesions were put into each of their brains, keeping them dull and controllable as cattle. To control the Uglies, however, something else was needed.

And that was where Specials came in.

Specials maintained order; Specials hunted criminals; Specials made sure everything ran just as the higher powers wanted it. All Uglies lived in fear of Specials. When something so fearful existed, the authorities didn't need to spend extra money making the Uglies stupid; they just sent in the Specials.

You could only have the Pretty operation at sixteen. Before that you were a 'Littlie', you were taught in school, and lived with your parents until you left for dorms at eleven and Pretty Town at sixteen. The dorms nestled behind the suburbs at the edge of the city, enclosed by the Greenbelt that separated Uglies from Pretties. The dorms had pretty lax security, on purpose, so that clever Littlies could sneak out and do other tricks. And if they were tricksy enough, they were hired to be Specials.

And they came here, to Special HQ. Lorlen sighed as they glided over the high encircling fence. HQ was set on a hill outside the Greenbelt, overlooking all of Uglyville. Keeping watch.

They landed on the flight bay in the middle of the roof and jumped off the boards, which sunk to the ground to wait for them. A hatch door opened in the roof and another Special climbed out, his expression grim. "Dr. Vinara is waiting for you. She said for me to-"

"Yeah yeah, I don't need her lectures," Lorlen grunted, pushing him aside. "Just tell me where the hell she is."

"But I really should-"

"Listen," Lorlen growled, turning back, "I really should be celebrating catching some Uglies right about now. But I'm not, so I'm here. So tell me where she is."

"Her office," the other Special mumbled, looking at the ground.

Lorlen turned on his heel and stalked down the corridor to the lift, Akkarin following silently. The doors sighed open and Lorlen jabbed the button for her floor, glaring moodily at the ground. Akkarin smiled at him. "Lighten up, Len-wa," he said quietly, "we're her special Specials. She's not going to decommission us any time soon."

"You so sure?" Lorlen muttered. "I think we screwed up pretty bad this time."

Akkarin touched his shoulder. "The Smokies are getting more tricksy every time," he said soothingly, "She can't expect you to keep winning when they're getting better."

Lorlen's brow crinkled. "I don't know what she expects," he whispered, "that's the problem."

Akkarin's eyes widened sympathetically, but before he could say anything the lift stopped on their floor. "Here we go," he whispered, letting his words carry through the Skintenna and catching Lorlen's hand, "let's do this."

Lorlen grinned, grateful for the comforting warmth of Akkarin's hand in his, and they walked out of the elevator to a forbidding door a little way down the corridor. A plaque with her name engraved in neat square writing hung on it. Lorlen knocked. A grating voice from inside called, "Come in."

They entered the room quietly and moved towards the desk. The white room was spartan in furnishing; merely a desk and a chair, nothing else. There was nowhere for visitors to sit, so they remained standing. Dr. Vinara stood with her back to them, facing the wide windows, obviously deep in thought, and neither of them wanted to break the silence. Eventually, she spoke.

"So. The Smokies escaped."

Lorlen nodded sharply. "They did."

"Again."

"Yes, again."

She turned slightly and placed one finger on her lips. "Why?"

"When we got to the river they kicked up a storm of water, and when it dissipated they'd disappeared."

"Disappeared?" her voice was mocking as she turned to face them. "I thought you could do better than that. You're my special Specials, aren't you? Though I see there's more than one of you." She stared at Akkarin.

Lorlen nodded. "You might like to hear it from two perspectives. You like being thorough."

Her smile was mocking, but amused. "I do. Now, let me see," she sat in her chair and rifled through some papers, "ah, here. I do believe that these," she held some papers up, "are your contracts and certificates of entry into Special hire. And I also believe that I, at any time, can throw these papers into the fire and watch your Special membership burn away just like that." She put her papers down and stood again, staring straight into his eyes. He couldn't help a tiny shudder at the anger there.

"And you know what happens then," she whispered darkly, "I turn you back into a helpless, stupid, beautiful Pretty, and you forget everything you ever did and all that ever happened while you were here. Become one of the cattle again. Is that what you want?" He shook his head mutely, feeling Akkarin copy him even though the question was barely addressed to him. Vinara smiled triumphantly. "Good. Then I suggest you go catch me some Smokies."

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When they washed up on the shore of the river twenty miles away from where they'd lost the Specials, most of the group were so glad to be alive that they forgave Cery their little dip in the ice cold water.

Unfortunately, not all were so thankful.

"You absolute arse!" Burril yelled, dragging himself up through the mud to where Cery stood, "You couldn't have just lost them normally, could you? Ya had to get us all wet!"

Cery clenched his fists, focusing on not hitting the idiot. "Burril, it was you who convinced Harrin they wouldn't have infrared!" he growled, "It was your fault we didn't have better security! And unless you hadn't noticed, we're alive thanks to me, not you."

"Stuck up ponce," Burril spat, "Think you're better than us do you? Just cos you're best friends with the Boss? Huh?"

Cery hissed angrily. He hated the way Burril pushed his friendship with Harrin in his face like that all the time. So Harrin trusted him, so what? You had to have people you could trust. "Shut up, Burril," he snapped, "We're alive, and that's what counts, so stop moaning." He felt relief as some of the others agreed, and Burril stomped off, glaring at him over his shoulder.

Cery sighed and looked up at the sky. Hopefully they'd be home by nightfall.

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Deep in the quiet of the wood, a little squirrel scurried along a branch, carrying a nut. He looked around and made a quiet little chitter to himself, and settled down to eat the nut. He looks so peaceful, Sonea thought as she watched him, I love it here.

She'd only been with the Smoke for a few months, but already she never wanted to leave. Life was hard, but this place was paradise. Being out in nature, hearing the birds call, working hard all day and feeling so satisfied when you tucked into that evening meal…It was heaven and bliss and a million other words wrapped up into one. Her old life, almost her other life in her eyes, seemed a hundred miles away from where she was now.

Sighing contently she stood up, brushing the dirt from the back of her rough trousers. It was almost dusk, and the others would be expecting her back soon. She wound her way through the forest, pushing branches aside and occasionally stepping over streams and fallen logs, following her path back through the forest to the Smokie camp. She stopped and smiled as she reached the border. Nestled into a small valley, the tiny gathering of wooden huts looked quaint and peaceful, lit prettily by the late evening light. Cook fires were springing up everywhere, and the sound of chatter and laughter came from the open doors of huts and the people that wandered between them. It may be simple, she thought as she set off towards the hut where she lived, but it's so much better than the city.

Suddenly there was a thumping, swooshing noise. People's voices raised in concern as it got louder, and Sonea turned in it's direction, her heart beginning to thump in her chest. But she laughed and smiled when a loose group of hoverboards came speeding over the edge of the trees on the other side of the clearing, their lifting fans slowing as they floated towards the ground. Sonea began running, and as soon as she'd discarded her basket of herbs and berries at home she ran to where they'd landed and caught up a familiar blonde head in a tight hug. "I'm so glad you're back!" she cried in his ear.

"Ow, Sonea, don't yell," Cery laughed as she pulled away. He grinned at her, his usual cheeky self. "How're you? You miss me?"

"Not at all," Sonea lied, grinning, "But how did things go? Did you…" She trailed off as she noticed the arm she had her hand on was slightly wet. "Cery, your arm is wet. What happened?"

Cery's grin became a little forced. "Little mix up with the river, nothing to worry about."

Sonea put a hand to her mouth. "You fell in the river?" she snorted, trying to hold back giggles.

Cery scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Not exactly," he mumbled, "but I'll tell you afterwards. I'm starving!"

"So am I, actually," Sonea grinned, and they raced back to the house they shared with Sonea's aunt and uncle.

Aunt Jonna looked up disapprovingly when they arrived. "Honestly Sonea, I told you not to leave things at the door," she scolded, drying her hands with a tea cloth. "You never know what could happen to them."

"Sorry Aunt Jonna," Sonea said, sitting down at the table, "I'll remember not to next time. What's for dinner?"

"Roast bird tonight, in celebration of little Ceryni coming home," she smiled, ruffling Cery's hair.

He shrugged. "Well, I guess you can always celebrate being alive."

"What do you mean?" Sonea asked as Jonna set the bird down on the table, and Uncle Ranel came in and pulled up his usual chair. "Did something go wrong?"

Cery nodded grimly. "Oh hell yes," he said, accepting the plate Jonna handed him, "Thank you." They all settled into their seats and began to eat as Cery gathered his thoughts. "Well, everything was going fine. The Uglies were partying, and we were in amongst them, talking to those that wanted to join the Smoke. Then, suddenly, the mood shifted. It was really hard to sense, so some of the others didn't notice and went right ahead, talking and stuff, but I could tell something was wrong. I pinged them all to get outta there, but by then it was too late," he paused heavily, "We'd already been found."

Jonna gasped. "No," she whispered.

"Unfortunately yes," Cery said, looking down at his plate, "we weren't the only gatecrashers at the party."

Sonea put down her cutlery. "You're saying Specials were there?" she gasped, reaching for his hand.

He smiled softly as he took it. "I'm here, Sonea, not dead. No Special got to me. Anyway, yes, they were there, dressed as Uglies. Some kind of mask to disguise their faces. Well, when I popped the ping and we all started moving, that did it. They burst outta their disguises and were after us like blood hounds." Cery grinned then. "It was looking bad. We thought our sneak suits would disguise us, but we didn't check the boards and they were glowing like no tomorrow. So I get an idea; we all go out over the river and the lifting fans kick up a wall of water, like three metres high. That gives us a split second to dive under the water and let ourselves get washed away. Lucky we had swim masks huh?"

Sonea leaned over and hugged him. "Honestly, I keep telling you, you should be more careful! Who knows what'll happen to you!"

Cery grinned and hugged her tight. "Sorry, Sonea. I'll be more careful in future. Promise. For you."

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"You think the kid'll jump?"

Lorlen raised a brow. "We're letting her take her chances," he answered evenly.

Osen grumbled. "Jeez, all we ever seem to do is hid in the trees," he muttered.

"You really need to learn how to be patient," Yikmo muttered, his voice carried from the next tree over.

They'd all hidden in a group of trees that surrounded a football pitch near a dorm where they had found one of the 'tricksy' Littlies who could become a Special. However, when playing on this football pitch, she had met a small group of Uglies and become friends; Uglies who were looking for the Smoke. Lorlen had decided not to turn both groups in, but to let the kid lead them right to their target. He still hadn't thought this plan through completely; it was easy to track her now, but the Smokies might have ways of detecting trackers, and they were much more experienced in the ways of the Wild. However, from what they'd heard listening in, it sounded like for the most part, the Uglies would be journeying alone. And they'd offered to take the Littlie with them.

The Littlie's name was Donia, and she was hanging about under the trees now, waiting to meet her Ugly friends. Lorlen shifted his weight on the tree branch, feeling the sensitive camouflage scales of his sneak suit shift to accommodate the movement. They could change into anything, hide him anywhere, and they were programmed to sense the surface around them and react to it. A pretty sweet deal, all in all. There was a quiet rustle in the bushes, and a small group of about four Uglies made their way cautiously over to Donia. The leading Ugly, a boy, smiled. "So, you're still in then?"

Donia nodded nervously. "Yeah, I'm still in. Do you have more details?"

The boy grinned. "Yep. The Smoke contacted me." He puffed out his chest, looking very proud, and Donia regarded him with an identical awed expression to the one that the other Uglies wore. Lorlen fought the urge to snort.

"What did they say?" one of the Ugly girls asked.

"They said we're to go out to the old abandoned city and wait for a contact," the boy said, leaning close conspiratorially. "Someone'll come and pick us up, and lead us to the Smoke."

Bingo, Lorlen thought as the Uglies crowded round, whispering excitedly. Now all we need is to find out the date…

"When do we go?" Donia asked excitedly.

"In three days. Make sure you're ready," the boy said seriously.

"Don't worry, I will be," Donia smiled. "I have to go, I'll see you then!" She waved and ran back across the playing field, whilst the Uglies snuck back into the bushes.

Osen sat back on his heels and stretched. "Well, I guess that wasn't completely worthless, then."

"Technically, if I say it's not worthless, it's not worthless, you got it?" Lorlen snapped, glaring at him from the corner of his eye.

Osen held up his hands placating. "I'm joking, Boss," he grinned. "You're doing well, honest. That meeting with Dr. V really set you on edge. Come on man," he gave Lorlen a friendly punch on the arm, "you're the best, remember? The Smokies haven't got a chance!" Lorlen smiled slightly, and Osen reached out and hugged him. "You idiot," he chuckled, "Dr. V can threaten you all she likes, but she knows she'd be screwed without you. Now come on; we've got work to do, right?"

Lorlen nodded as he pulled away and clicked his fingers to summon his hoverboard. "Yeah, right."

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