(Star City July 15 18:11)

Dragon motioned for silence, as the three others joined her on the other side of the room. They all stared at the door, each with bated breath. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Oceana pulling up a trail of water, and Ceridwen had a thorny rose curling around her arm. Sona unsheathed his sword slowly, placing it in front of them. Dragon frowned in annoyance at his protective stance. They could take care of themselves; it was him she had to save from a burning building! Suddenly the knocking ceased, leaving a frozen silence. Her eyes darted around the room, clenching her fists tightly.

"Do you think-" Suddenly Oceana was cut off as both the windows shattered. Small smoking spheres were chucked through the broken glass. Dragon barely had time to think knock-out gas before she collapsed.

(Unknown July 15 19:20)

Oceana awoke to the hard, vibrating floor of a truck. The smell of gasoline was putrid in the air, along with gunpowder. Her hands were bound, feet in chains, and her mouth was with a gag. And there was a metallic collar around her neck, whatever that was. She smirked a bit through the gag. Focusing on the air she pulled and tugged at it, trying to get the water to appear in her hands. Nothing. She tried again, twisting her arm. Still nothing. It looked like she wasn't moving water anytime soon….

She wondered what'd happened. One moment she'd been in some kid of warehouse, the next she'd woken up here. Okay, concentrate. Who'd be stupid enough to kidnap a bunch of teenage Meta's? ...Well I guess this is the Liberty Core.

"Get to your feet," a rough voice commanded them. Oceana heard Dragon growl as she scrambled to her feet, finding it incredibly difficult with the bindings. A yelp of pain told her that one of her fellow captives had just been punished. Already, it was beginning. Oceana heard a grating noise, which she guessed was the truck door opening. Feeling hard, unmerciful hands push her forward, she took careful steps towards the outside. Another yelp of pain. She wondered who was still defying them. She hoped it wasn't as painful as it sounded.

Suddenly Oceana's blindfold was ripped off. Stinging light blinded her. Blinking the bright spots away, Oceana swirled around her head desperately. All four of them were tied by the hands, feet, and mouths. They were standing on a lawn, with trim grass carefully cut to perfection and a bright sidewalk. Okay….weird.

Even weirder; there were men surrounding them. They wore thick black coats, covering them from head to toe. Every single one of them was armed with heavy artillery. Which was very,very,very bad.

"Bring them into the facility. Take them to room 005," a tall man said. He had a heavy mess of brown hair and a crude beard. He seemed to be the one in charge, leading the rest of them into a….house. It was quite a small house, with red brick walls and a bright white door. The bearded man opened the door and went inside. Oceana was pushed forward, and she tripped at the opening. That earned a slap to the face. She whimpered at the harsh pain that radiated from her cheek.

'Don't touch me,' she tried to yell, but with the gag it came out as "Dnm tsh mf." The man who'd slapped her chuckled.

"Quiet," the bearded man hissed at them. A bright glow filled the house, and a whirring sound assaulted their ears. Oceana felt movement underneath her feet. She couldn't see, she couldn't hear. And then suddenly they were standing in a completely different building. Tall dark walls enclosed them, made of rock that had a reddish brown hue to it. Clay maybe? It looked kind of like a tunnel, complete with flaming torches on the walls. Oceana was pushed forward again as they began to walk downhill, deeper underground.

They came to a door made of thick iron. A small nameplate was nailed to the top, saying: 'Room 005.' Seemed this was their stop. The man who'd slapped Oceana opened the door, pulling the four captives inside. With a wicked glint in his eye, he opened up four cages (out of the many littering the floor). They looked like dog cages, only big enough for a human to fit inside. At gun point, Oceana climbed in and allowed herself to be locked inside. The rest followed, Dragon growling like an animal, Sona looking highly insulted, and Ceridwen looking murderous. It would've been a little funny, if the situation hadn't been so dire. The men left, none looking back.

"Well...We're screwed." Dragon muttered, leaning into the bars of her cage.

"Screwed?" Sona asked curiously.

"Yup. You know, in a position where there's no way out, in trouble, probably going to die; screwed."

"Not necessarily," Ceridwen started to say before she was cut off.

"Nooo, I'd have to agree with the girl with wings over there." The remark came from a girl on the other side of the room. The girl had long brown hair, snaking its way down her back in a light braid. Her hazel eyes were bright, glinting with laughter even though she, too, was in a thin, slender body was in an energy suit. It was black with bright swirls decorating her chest and legs. On her hip was a whip, curling in a tight bundle. The whip seemed to be attached to the outfit. Next to her was a boy, who looked about the same age as Oceana. His black, shaggy hair covered dark, shiny eyes and glasses. Thankfully, he worse a more normal outfit.

"Errr, hi?"

"Hi."

"Who are you?" Dragon snapped.

"Ghost," Ghost replied.

"Lumanate," Lumanate answered, after a few seconds of hesitation.

"What's your real name?"

"Why do I have to tell you that?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Because it'll be nice to know."

"Okay, guys," Oceana broke in, rolling her eyes. "Dragon, leave her alone. None of us have to tell anyone what our real names are. It doesn't matter."

"So then what's with the outfit?" Dragon asked, still narrowing her eyes at Lumanate.

"It powers the suit," Lumanate replied with a shrug, "Don't worry. It's not a bomb...as far as you know."

"That was a joke right?" Ceridwen whispered to Oceana, who nodded in return.

They continued talking, discussing how they all came to be in cages. Lumanate had been fighting some bounty hunters when she'd been taken. Once they'd figured out that she wasn't really a Meta, they'd been about to get rid of her, when they had realized one thing: It was impossible to separate her from her whip. So then they'd spent the last two weeks trying to figure out why. "Those idiots," she'd muttered, playing with the end of her whip fondly.

Ghost had been there for three weeks, as they tried to finish the experiments done on him by someone before (That's as much information as they'd gotten about the subject).

Oceana also came to discover that this wasn't the first time Ceridwen and Dragon had been captured. They'd just escaped the Liberty Core three days before. Only it was because of a faulty collar and an early awakening on Dragon's part. So it didn't really help them at the moment. But it still made Oceana feel…a little unneeded and inexperienced. She hadn't been through much in her life like this. After her parents had died in a fire, she'd lived with her aunt and uncle. The two'd helped her with her abilities and left her to her own devices on what to do with them. Although, apart from stopping a few fires, she hadn't done much.

"We've tried to escape five times. None have been successful, obviously. Those guards are always popping up like cockroaches," Ghost told them, sighing.

"Ugh, I hate cockroaches. They used to fill my old school. Once, one fell from the ceiling into my hair. It was gross…" Lumanate told them.

"Well, you didn't have us then," Oceana replied, smirking and ignoring Lumanate.

"You guys are powerless too. Those collars take away our powers."

"Haven't you been able to take the collars off?"

"I tried to use my whip once, but they're too strong."

"What if all five of us were pulling at it?" Ceridwen asked, shifting her position a little.

"That might work! Let's try now."

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Ghost asked, looking at who'd been his only companion for three weeks. He looked at her with something of fondness and….a little hidden spark in his eye. Interesting.

"What?"

"We're still inside cages."

"Oh…right."

"I am finished, finally!" Sona suddenly cried, reminding them all, that he was still there. Five heads turned to find him holding up a broken lock and a tiny piece of wire.

"How'd you do that?" Ceridwen asked, smiling brightly at him. Her eyes fluttered a little, and she blushed when he looked at her. Oh boy, this was the start of something very interesting.

"I pulled off a bit of wire from the cage, and then picked my lock. It was how I snuck away from my tribe at night back home."

"That's…awesome." Sona shrugged modestly. He crawled out of his cage gingerly, picking all their locks. Once they were out, Lumanate got her whip. She mumbled to it, something about missing its usage. After that, she hooked it around Dragon's collar and pulled.

"Ow," Dragon snapped, jumping back angrily.

"Sorry…." Lumanate murmured. She motioned for Ghost and Sona to take a hold of her whip too. With her fingers she began to count down from three. Dragon braced herself, waiting. Suddenly the three of them yanked as hard as they could. Dragon fell to the floor, letting out a yelp. When she got up, the collar was absent, a red mark in its place.

"Ow!" Dragon yelped, rubbing his neck.

"Who's next?" Lumanate asked brightly. They all stepped back.

(Unknown July 15 19:45)

"You know, in hindsight, we should've just taken Ghost's collar off, then let him take ours off with telekinesis," Oceana told Lumanate, rubbing her neck. Lumanate shrugged, smiling. Ghost suddenly popped up from behind them.

"I can't. It's too tricky. I can only move small things, one at a time. There are so many mechanisms inside…"

"Alright, alright I get it," Oceana told him, putting her arms up in a pacifistic gesture. He grinned at her.

"They're coming," Dragon called, suddenly appearing down the hall. She was running, having no room to move her wings in the cramped tunnel. Behind her, Sona was running, keeping close.

"I guess you were right, Ghost. We should've gone left. I owe you five bucks," Lumanate said, pulling out her whip. Ghost smiled triumphantly.

"Umm, yeah, sorry to interrupt but we're about to be under attack," Oceana snapped. As if on que, at least a dozen guards appeared. "Okay, two each. Go."

Oceana sprang into action, jumping forward. Using the water she's conjured from the air, she sent a tidal wave surging forward. Most of the guards dodged it, but three were slammed into the smooth rock walls. Their bodies folded like paper underneath the weight, twisting like rag dolls. Two of them were knocked out before they even touched the wall. She was about to take care of the third, when Ceridwen jumped in front of her. A thorny plant exploded from the wall, grabbed the man by his neck, and smashed him into the wall.

"Two each, remember," the plant controlling Meta reminded Oceana jokingly, jumping out of the way of a flying body without blinking. "Dragon, be careful. We don't want to kill anyone," she added. Oceana turned around in time to see Dragon stick out her tongue.

"Come on, there'll be more," Oceana said, pulling her friend forward. She was now in full battle mode. They all followed her, running at top speed, and leaving behind their knocked-out victims sprawled across the tunnel.

"What ways out?" Ceridwen asked as they ran.

"No idea. You?"

"I think this is the right way. I can feel the plants above us, but I'm not sure."

"But?"

"But so what if we are going the right way? If we can't find a way to unlock some of these doors, we're going to be stuck down here."

"I wish I knew how to hack into the security system or something…" Suddenly (Oceana was really going to have to get used to this kid) Ghost appeared from behind them.

"I can hack," he told them, smirking.

"Why didn't you say anything before?" Oceana cried, almost stopping mid-run.

"I don't know, it never came up."

"Wait, so you think you'll be able to get us out of here?" Ceridwen asked excitedly.

"If we can find my glove. It'll have all my hacking…equipment.

"We can do that. We've gotta find Sona's sword anyway," Oceana breathed.

"Wait, stop," came Lumanate's voice from behind them. The rest of them obeyed, looking at her. "I can't run anymore. Where are we going?" she asked to her teammates, who were folded over and panting.

"We- Uh oh," Dragon jumped up, staring behind Lumanate's shoulder. Oceana followed her gaze, and copied her fighting stance. Two guards, one with what looked like a type of thick glove extension, and the other with Sona's sword had stopped in the middle of the tunnel, looking stunned.

"We may be the luckiest people on the planet right now," Oceana decided. Next to her Dragon sent three small fireballs from her mouth (yes mouth) at the ceiling. The fire hit a swaying lamp, nailed to the rock. It came falling down, on top of the scientists.

"Too easy," Dragon murmured, trying to hide a smile.

"Come on, let's hurry," Ghost said, picking up his glove. "The noise would've attracted attention." Again, straight after he mentioned it, the sound of a stampede filled the hallway. Muttering something about a jinx, Oceana took off running with the other escapees right behind her.

After a few minutes they came to a door. It was built solidly into the wall, with an almost invisible control panel next to it, the same shade of brown-red as the rock. "Ghost, hack" Oceana snapped, turning around to face the storm of guards. She watched as Sona instantly jumped in, swinging his sword with easy movements like flowing water. Ceridwen and Dragon followed him, sending out plants and fire like presents during Christmas. Lumanate and her whip seemed to be doing a tango together, each one synchronized in taking out the guards.

"Can you hurry?' Oceana asked gently, trying to block Ghost from the incoming slaughter with a wall of water. It wasn't working as well as she hoped.

"Almost. Just give me three, two, one…done!" The door clicked open, revealing an elevator. Oceana let out a cry of excitement, as she rushed inside with Ghost. The rest followed, Sona coming in last to knock-out the last guard. They all started moving up, the enclosed space filled with heavy breathing and small giggled of loose adrenaline.

(Unknown July 15 20:55)

"I can't believe we did it." Oceana was the first to speak out of the six escapees. They were all standing on the trim lawn of the strange brick house, catching their breath. Ghost had blocked the elevator with his hacking glove…thing, so they had at least a few minutes before they had to run again.

"I know right. I thought we were dead for sure," Ceridwen agreed, smiling broadly. Sona nodded stiffly, looking at Dragon, only to get rewarded with the same response.

"I can't believe we're finally out," Lumanate called, twirling across the grass, laughing. Ghost followed her, smiling.

"Lumanate, come here for a sec," he called to her, chuckling lightly. She obeyed, looking at him like a lost puppy. Suddenly Ghost has his hands around her face, and was pulling it towards his gently. Their lips met, forming into a small, sloppy kiss.

"Ewww, get a room," Oceana moaned, turning away as the two broke apart. Ceridwen and Sona laughed a little, and Dragon just rolled her eyes.

"We should stay together," Ceridwen decided suddenly, crossing her arms. "I mean, most of us don't have any homes to go back to anyway. Not with the Liberty Core after us. That's the first place they'd look. We should make a team. A team of Meta's. We'll be like a mini- Justice League and we'll help people and everything."

"Are you kidding? I don't want to be the Justice League. They're only in for the publicity," Dragon argued. "Plus we can't help people. We can barely help ourselves!"

"Well, that's the point. We can help each other avoid the Liberty Core."

"Well, I will join, Ceridwen. I have nowhere else to go, anyway," Sona smiled, looking up at her.

"We're in too," Ghost agreed, holding Lumanates hand tightly. The two looked seconds from making out again.

"…Well, I guess I better stay. Just to make sure that you guys don't get into too much trouble without me," Dragon muttered, shrugging.

"And that leaves Oceana. What do you say?" Ceridwen asked me, turning her bright eyes up at her hopefully. Oceana wasn't sure what do say. Sure, this sounded like a great thing to do…but she couldn't leave her aunt and uncle. She owed them so much…although if she went back there, the liberty core would just find her again. They had tags on her now. If she wanted her last relatives to be safe, then…this was her only option.

"I'm in," she agreed, smiling.

"Hey look," Lumanate said, pointing up. "Fireworks." And it was true. In the rolling waves of night, dancing amid glowing stars, were bright explosions of fire and hope.

And that is why we are always out of beer- Oops, wrong story….

Review! Tell me your ideas! I'll try to update at least once a week.