World Apart

Delsin hadn't been the same ever since his brother, Reggie, had passed away at the hands of Augustine and the DUP. Although several months had passed since the event, many had noticed a change in attitude where the darkness had transformed into loneliness. The known savior of the conduit race in Seattle had disappeared into the shadows, appearing to only a few throughout the passing weeks and months, but he never spoke much. For now, the Smoke Conduit remained away from the Seattle base and was seen mainly at home with his Akomish family and friends as they comforted him. Seattle remained in peace, the conduits rising to power and fame with new leaders and powers being revealed from every corner. Delsin would always be written in history for his efforts, but for now his name was being cast aside.

Once person in particular had noticed the change even before his disappearance, partners in so many adventures in a short time and many intimate nights spent within each other's arms. The image of Delsin would remain ingrained within Fetch's mind, and although months had passed since they last exchanged words, the effect of his past continued to flourish along the streets. After the DUP had completely left Seattle, allowing the city to repair along with its famous Space Needle, tourism had brought media and tourists from around the world. However, as the cooling winter time finally appeared, the snow scared people away and allowed the conduits to roam the city in isolation away from the flashing cameras and television cameras.

Fetch whizzed along, flashing neon appearing from her entire body, leaving a slight imprint of her behind as she dashed past cars with speed and elegance. The snow had been slowing her down, frustrating at times as her legs would completely cave into the deep mounds from the constant downpour. Buildings were slippery from the ice and her once agile movements had disappeared with the changing of the seasons. A bleak grey sky above did not improve her mood as she ran along the roads, nose running as snow tapped her face, but she would be home soon with a warm bath ready to go. Things had been different since Delsin left, and she continued to hope one morning she would awaken to his gaze once again. Shaking her head and focusing, Fetch dashed forward past the Market district before a television flashed at a shop window, stopping her dead on the spot.

A familiar face had appeared on the screen, one she despised beyond belief, and something she hadn't wanted to see for the rest of her life. The neon still fading behind her, Fetch wrapped her thick grey coat around and buttoned it up, her recently dyed purple hair glimmering in the slight sunlight above. She frowned instantly, heart dropping, as Augustine's image appeared on the television. Nobody else was around, the Chinese markets completely empty due to the frostbitten weather, but yet the television continued to work.

The news reporter appeared on the screen, her face the usual dull and robotic, as she spoke clearly, "Brooke Augustine, the former leader of the Department of Unified Protection, has escaped Curdun Cay. It is unknown how she has escaped, however the authorities are asking anyone to step forward to aid in her recapture."

Images of her arrest appeared on the screen as Fetch shook her head before hearing movement behind. Flashing brightly, she instinctively ran up the wall of the building before turning around with energy glowing from her body ready to strike, but she soon stood down. Grey track pants and an equally grey hoodie, Fetch smiled and landed back on the ground with Eugene facing her. His face was covered in a shadow, a usual sight from a conduit that never really enjoyed going outside at all, especially with an unhealthy obsession for video games, but yet familiarity improved Fetch's mood.

He muttered, mist floating from his mouth in the cold, "We've been monitoring Curdun Cay, and we have no idea how Brooke got out."

"Probably wasn't smart to lock her up in a prison she built herself." Fetch replied with a smirk, knowing that Augustine's reappearance would lead to panic and danger for a lot of conduits, "Surely there are other places she could have gone."

Shaking his head and wandering past her to look at the screen, Eugene responded quietly, "We need to find Delsin, I don't think she's coming back for revenge, Abigail."

"How so? What else would she want, Delsin locked her up!"

"She's gone to New Marais."

New Marais? Fetch had heard of it, but for all the wrong reasons. That was where it had all ended…the screaming, the pain, the fire… and the agony. New Marais was where the final battle had taken place so many years before where a conduit rose against pure evil. Fetch was young, confused and in hiding with her Neon powers still running haywire in her life, but everyone saw what had happened. The Beast had appeared in Empire City and made its way to New Marais down south, destroying everything in its path, but it didn't get past New Marais. Cole McGrath died in the result, unleashing a now unknown device that killed conduits and humans alike. Nobody now knew the true story, they were all dead, but why had Augustine chosen New Marais?

The television flickered before flashing blue and turning off completely, Eugene had raised a hand to absorb its energy as he shivered in its wrath. Turning back to Fetch, he looked at the ground and muttered, "I might head to New Marais to see what she's up to, I haven't left Seattle in a while."

"We need your strength here, Seattle has just started improving." Fetch replied, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall, her eyes drifting towards the now sparking television and then back towards Eugene. "You can't leave, especially with Delsin gone. We're a team, remember?"

Eugene took a moment to consider her words, snow starting to fall once again onto the already white sheeted roads, Fetch's footsteps fading into the array. Delsin had shown no indication of returning to Seattle, and finding him was proving more and more difficult. His last prominent moment was the releasing of the conduits from Curdun Cay and of course announcing the true reasons behind Augustine's plans. Some of the conduits returned to their families, but most were too traumatized to survive on their own with many months spent in captivity. Augustine replaced them all, but now things had changed. Would Delsin even know, or care?

The Video Conduit opened his mouth to speak, but soon his jaw dropped further than normal. Air became heavier around them as Fetch coughed and turned around to the smell of smoke and fire. It had come out of nowhere, but suddenly the world had gone red as their eyes began to burn. Eugene flashed blue, fluorescent wings appearing behind his hoodie as he took to the sky immediately and called, "Go get the other conduits, it's coming from the Space Needle."

Disappearing in an instant ahead, angels appearing around him as they glowed white and sparkled, Fetch looked up with a look of shock on her face. She knew this smell all too well, but it seemed so coincidental. The television flashed back into life at the shop window as an eerie wind blew across Seattle's Market District. An image of Augustine appeared and flickered away, but she wasn't alone. There were others.

Fetch gasped, "Delsin…we need you."

…

It was always cold around Curdun Cay, and was built to be a place to suppress and contain. Ever since the DUP was flushed out of Seattle, the prison had been used to hold only a single conduit rather than hundreds. Brooke Augustine lay in there for months, her spirit and mind broken along with her fading powers. Delsin had asked for her to be watched consistently every week by other conduits, patrolling and making sure of no escape. Eugene had failed though; Augustine had escaped in his time and patrol, but strangely there was no evidence behind it. He just knew that things had gone wrong.

Eugene had tried to trace her down, noticing the empty cells before unleashing angels and demons into the world to search the areas for her. Desperation had reached its peak, and Augustine had managed to escape without even opening or unlocking a door. She escaped with no powers either, her conduit genes uncontrollable with the heavy constraints around her body, and it was something that bothered Eugene ever since it occurred. How did she do it? His search led to nothing, not a single trace of conduit power or even a physical footprint in the acres of snow around the prison. Conduits began their search around America and soon narrowed her location to New Marais.

"So how did you do it?" Kuo asked calmly, as she leaned back on the armchair, sinking into the leather. "How did you manage to escape with no powers and an army of conduits patrolling the prison?"

It was late evening; the sun had begun to set in New Marais as the streets remained frostbitten and empty. Not many people had moved back into the city after the Beast had killed and slaughtered so many, and the American Government had pronounced it a ghost town to usual civilians. A few shops and stores were reopened for those choosing to stay, but it had become a wasteland of crime where the homeless fought for power and control over several new zones. No crime prevention, and nowhere was safe. Kuo had managed to survive with ease, her powers eliminating any threat she came across and putting her on the peak of the human food chain. But times had grown harder, and many were dying of starvation until she found something, something she still didn't understand.

Augustine took a sip of her warm tea, shivering in the frozen night as a blazing fire illuminated the area. Leaning back into her own chair, watching the stars shine down from above, she smiled briefly and responded, "Curdun Cay is the world's only prison that can successfully contain and capture a conduit, and rid them of their powers. I built it for that purpose, but do you really think I'd be stupid to not devise a Plan B? Something for myself to escape with?"

Nodding with approval, Kuo replied as she flicked her dark hair to one side, snow beginning to appear from the night sky, "You obviously know how to think ahead, some people do not have that kind of mentality. It's why New Marais has been reduced to its current state, stupidity."

"Explain?"

"The shard you found in the sewers belongs to the former RFI, Ray Field Inhibitor, the first device ever created to create or kill conduits." Kuo couldn't help but lean forward as Augustine did the same, although the latter had captured conduits, they had found many ideas similar between them. Their fight in the sewer had led to a complete deadlock as they both grew tired and began to talk, explaining their perspectives on the world before Augustine revealed her true plan. Not revenge, not murder or power, but instead something much greater, and something Kuo had been desiring for a long time. "The RFI was used to kill the creature we knew as The Beast, and it also absorbed and killed every conduit within its blast radius. That wasn't its only purpose, as it was modified by its creator. It now is the only power source available to New Marais, and it never tires."

Removing the sparking shard from her pocket, Augustine flipped it over and over in her hand with her smile widening. A power source that never tires or runs out? Perfect, exactly what the rumors had said. Ever since The Beast had been destroyed, New Marais entered several months of blackout as sickness took over and hospitals were unable to run. But strangely power returned back to the city as many were left confused but also relieved. Survival became easier, but also more reckless as those who could afford electricity became targets for those who couldn't. She asked, perplexed with another douse of tea entering her throat and warming her body, "Who found the power? It's been nearly eight years; surely they found something about it?"

"I don't know, but it had to be a conduit who knew about the RFI."

Their conversation continued throughout the night as the topics interchanged with laughter and disturbed whispers echoing down the alleyway. The fire continued to crackle between them before it steadily extinguished, the two conduits sinking into the heaviness of sleep as the night drew on…

…

The smoke had risen from around the Space Needle, the tall standing structure that had once been a tourist destination, as fire and chaos had appeared from within. With the DUP now leaving Seattle, Conduits gathered here for observation and relaxation, a palace and headquarters for them all. Eugene spiraled through the air as his powers exerted force behind his angelic wings, propelling him forward as the cool wind made him shiver. The cold seasons had always brought a lot of frustration and difficulty with them, not many conduits were able to navigate as clearly.

Civilians cleared the streets, some shouting in panic and fear as fire appeared to the Video Conduit's eyes, pushing him faster through the snowfall. Reaching his hand to his mobile phone, he dialed for Fetch and muttered, slowing down and landing on a building rooftop, "Abigail, there's fire here."

The reply came after a moment of static, as Fetch's voice appeared, gasping in exhaustion as she ran, "From whom? There isn't any Fire Conduits in Seattle at the moment."

Eugene acrobatically climbed the next building, his powers exploding around him to propel him into the air before floating and gazing on Seattle as a whole. Chimney stacks from outreached houses released smoke along with the buildings roads, but the Space Needle had something different to it. It was red, burning red with fires below charring its metallic sides as sparks began to explode from beneath. Familiar conduits were already escaping the area trying to use their powers to remove the fire and smoke, but they were useless, most of them hadn't even mastered their strengths yet. Squinting further, Eugene's glasses glistening in the cold, a figure had appeared within the fiery inferno below. Dark and menacingly glowing in the shadow and light, Eugene picked up his phone and responded cautiously, "Get here fast…I don't know who this is."

Forcing himself off the building, the ground narrowing towards him quickly, Eugene flashed blue and unleashed his wings as he cannoned forwards towards the fire. Some civilians were clearing the area as conduits did the same, noticing his presence and raising their hands in greetings. Eugene hit the ground hard, rolling once before returning to his feet, a long blue sword appearing in his hands. Its energy swept the fire aside instantly as he swung it with skill and confidence, the embers burning to one side.

Eugene called, assuming this was a completely new conduit, "Control your powers and calm down, make the fire stop."

The response came at a surprise, a female voice spat out from the fire, the smoke and inferno growing around them all. The Space Needle disappeared in the thick black smoke as she called from within, nothing but her black silhouette growing scarily in front of him, "Control? I am in full control, and you will perish."

Fetch's phone went instantly dead as she continued to run from building to building, panic growing inside of her as she slipped on the icy rooftops, swearing each time. The smoke and fire had gotten worse around the Space Needle as she continued to sprint towards it, Neon spluttering out from her body in all directions. The Seattle sunshine disappeared completely as more snow began to fall, the sounds of screaming and helplessness returning to the city…