A/N: Alrighty then, so sorry for the long wait. School was hectic and crazy and this also had a couple of scenes that I read over and then completely changed and re-wrote at least twice. Unfortunately, I haven't given it as good a technical edit/read-over as I would have liked, I was more focused on the story revisions. So, I apologise in advance for any typos.
Please review, though. I would love to hear what you have to say; what you like, what you're not clear on, what you don't really like, that kind of thing... Just to let me know if you're reading.

Disclaimer: It's established that Skyland is not mine. This particular story is. Let's get on with it.

Chapter 9

The Future

The escaped prisoner ran for all that she was worth until she came to the edge of the block. There she skidded to a halt with an exclamation, grabbing the decrepit sign naming the location to stop herself from going over the side. Her fingers dug into the engraving of the 'P' on the faded "Puerto Angel" that she pointedly did not read, though she knew what it said. She wondered somewhere in the back of her mind how many homes the Sphere would see fit to take from her in her lifetime. She had more pressing concerns though as Oslo sauntered up to her flanked by the masked soldiers colloquially dubbed 'zombies' as well as a pair of the latest model of superbrigs. She stiffened when he said her name but didn't turn around and didn't lower the hood on the cloak she wore.

"Come now," he purred "Don't you want to see your daughter again?"

"I'll never help you find her! I'll do whatever it takes to protect my family!"

"Surely you see that she would be safer with me. I would protect her, help her,"

"You would control her, drain her and cage her! She'll never submit to you! And I will die before I let you use me to get to her!" With that, the hooded woman threw three black pebbles at him with all her might. When they hit the ground at Oslo's feet they exploded in a cloud of black gas. The dictator reeled back and waved at the substance erratically. The prisoner narrowed her eyes in a humourless smirk before spreading her arms and leaning back. Oslo let out a wordless exclamation of denial as she tipped over the edge of the block and disappeared from sight.

By the time he managed to stumble over to the edge and look down all he could see was the billowing edges of her cloak getting less distinct as she fell. He stood there for several seconds, panting. Thanks to the exelerium he had inhaled he wouldn't be able to activate his powers for several minutes and his seijinn senses were clouded. That had been his best bargaining tool! Now he would have to find some other way to coerce her brat's cooperation!

The dictator slammed his palm down on the wood of the old sign in anger. The wood was so worn down that the stake burying it into the ground keeled over to the sign. As he whipped around he stomped over the carved message that had once declared the block to be the now infamous 'Peurto Angel'.

"We're moving out," he growled to his subordinates as he turned on his heel and stomped off towards his ship "I suppose we'll just have to catch a bird with force instead of bargaining."

Year 2252

"How long has she been here?" Cortez asked, rounding on Victoria and pointing at the unconscious Di Wan.

"She was on a Floater." The woman said coolly, referring to the small sections of block that occasionally had a tendency to do just that in Skyland: float. Well, drift might be a better description. They were what had originally gotten the Vector onto his theory of "block drifting" that he'd had Mahad and Lena testing on the occasion that led them to meet Darius. This explanation, however, was not enough to satisfy Cortez. He continued to scowl at Victoria who rolled her eyes. She took a long, deep breath and let it out in a drawn-out puff as she continued.

"Our janitor found her on one of his supply runs to the Citrus Orchards, lying on a floater that wasn't quite big enough for her, her arms and legs hanging off it. Our Janitor and his assistant called home for help and I and some of our students went out on some of the old Speeder models we have here managed to get her onto a sort of hammock between us. It was tricky, the floater was a low one, it nearly ran underneath Oxford. When we brought her back here we weren't quite sure how she was still alive. She was obviously severely dehydrated, had cracked a few vertebrates, broken ribs, broken femur, one broken arm and a dislocated shoulder, and she was covered in sun burns."

"Seijinns don't get sunburns." Lena said matter-of-factly as she walked over. Victoria turned and raised both eyebrows to an impressive height. Mahad quickly did a little side shuffle so that he was ever so slightly between the Professor and his sister

"She's right! They don't!" He said quickly "Mom was always making a show of putting sunscreen on Squirt over here so no one would wonder why she never got more than a little tan."

"I am aware of normal seijinn reaction to Ultra Violet radiation," Victoria informed them in a cold drawl "However, I am surprised that one so very powerful and knowledgeable on such matters as your sister here,"(Lena had the decency to turn bright red at his) "is not aware that when there are other such matters for Seijinn powers to be occupied with, such as massive internal injury it ceases to put effort into protecting the skin. It might be something you want to know for future reference, young lady. May I continue?"

"Yes," Lena muttered grudgingly, staring determinedly at her boots. It was the second time in a day she had been embarrassed, except that unlike with the creepy teenager they'd found, this time had been public. The professor seemed satisfied and continued,

"Unsurprisingly, she was in a coma for a couple of weeks. When she did wake up she had no idea who she was, but we had expected that with the extent of trauma her body had taken. We cared for her. She was very pleasant and very eager to learn. She's healing fairly quickly, that was what made me wonder if she was Seijinn, though she didn't know whether or not she was one."

"A likely story," Mahad muttered, thinking of all the encounters he had suffered personally with the woman. Victoria shot him a withering look and he rolled his eyes.

"She figured it when we were attacked. I'm afraid she hurt herself trying to defend us, she's bleeding internally again."

Cortez gave a short "humph"ing sound and Darius looked at him with an expression that made no one question his individuality from his brother; no one who knew Oslo would ever have guessed that someone related to him could look so worried and…caring.

"They may not be able to save her this time." He said emphatically, desperate to coax some sympathy and concern out from the rebels for this patient.

"Well that's just too bad." Cortez snapped. He glanced over at Dahlia, who was still looking at the unconscious Sphere agent. His face softened momentarily before he cleared his throat and resumed his typical demeanour as he barked out orders "Wayan, Dahlia, let's go. We have to figure out some kind of strategy before the morning."

The blonde paused, however, her eyes narrowing slightly as she registered something that Darius had said and turning slightly towards him, ripping her gaze away from the unconscious woman.

"What do you mean, you might not be able to save her this time?" she asked him. The others blinked slightly, they hadn't expected the question from Dahlia and indeed, she had not expected it herself. Still, it was there now. Darius didn't seem particularly surprised, but was curious about why the others were an answered her in his usual, quiet way.

"Well, again it comes down to blood, I'm afraid. We've used up all of the B-Negative blood.." He told them. Dahlia stared at him and then took a step back, her expression silently eloquent with 'are you kidding me?' stamped all over it. She raised her eyebrows and closed her eyes with a sigh, massaging her forehead with one hand whilst the other went to her hip. When she looked up again she glanced at Victoria and then Darius.

"No, you haven't." the blonde rebel told them. The hand at her temples moved to point to herself as she elaborated "You just got two pints a couple hours ago. I'm B-Negative. Hook me up later if what you've got isn't enough."

"Are-are you certain? This could save her life!" Darius exclaimed, clearly very happy about the turn of events.

"That's kind of the point, don't you think?" Dahlia asked as she started to head back to the hallway in the direction that Cortez had indicated. While still heading towards their corner she turned around, continuing to back up but spread her arms. "You know where to find me, after all. Cortez, I believe you wanted to discuss plans?"

The captain nodded and followed her without a word, Wayan and Mahad at his heels.

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Everyone knew when it was morning even if they couldn't see the sunrise. The rebels didn't wait for the Sphere to make another goading announcement and split up to slip outside from different locations along with the still-fit Oxford inhabitants so as not to give away the location of the hideout for the children and infirm. Lena was still waiting inside, however, along with Mahad. There was little point in her being in the line of non-seijinn fire when the sun wasn't fueling her powers, at least in Cortez's opinion. She had been irritated when he'd told her tome out in the 'second wave' but had kept her mouth shut. She was starting to get the impression that people were becoming a little annoyed with her and she should therefore, perhaps, try to get on their good side again. Besides, what that strange girl had said had made her a little uncomfortable.

"Can we leave now?" she asked Mahad in a whisper.

"We have to wait for the signal, Squirt." Her brother reminded her.

"Since when do you do that?"

"Since I don't have the hyperion anymore and it's not as much fun to ditch a radio as it is to turn it off and throw some aerials." He said as he watched the door pointlessly.

"Sure it isn't just to get Dahlia to think you're growing up?" Lena asked with raised eyebrows and a knowing smirk. Mahad looked around at her sharply

"What? N-no!" He spluttered, blushing slightly as he looked at her, back to the door and then back at his sister uncomfortably as she giggled at his reaction.

"Mahad and Dahlia, sittin' in a tree—" the young girl began in a sing-song whisper

"Shut up!" her brother hissed, his tone half angry, half pleading. He was spared from any further taunting from his sibling by the sound of Cortez's voice telling the second wave to come out. Everyone else on the stairs looked to the young Farrell siblings.

"Alright everyone, let's do this!" he said, leading them up through the door. The last person on their way out closing it behind them, the sound echoing slightly in the chamber below.

888888

Dianne jerked awake with a gasp as the door closed, grimacing widely at the pain this motion caused in her arm, the blood that had returned to her face during her rest draining again. Baldur saw the movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to see her hunching over arm again and went to help her. As soon as he knelt down, however, she warded him off with her good hand in a sharp gesture. It was this gesture that first took the man aback, but it was not what made him stare.

The sudden movement into a sitting position had made the coat slide from around the young woman's chin to somewhere in her lap, baring her arms and shoulders. The strange collar she had put on after taking off from the Saint Nazaire covered the area from her chin to around where her tank-top went, but the arms were enough. She grabbed him by his collar before he could say anything and pulled him in close to her in the shadows.

"Not a word." Dianne hissed, her eyes boring into his aggressively. He swallowed and nodded. She released him and pulled her coat around her as she stood up with another wince. The kafuffle going on around them was enough that no one else had noticed what Baldur had seen and the young woman was able to get one arm into a sleeve and then somehow drape the other side of the coat over herself semi-sufficiently. Without another word she followed the rebels up the stairs swiftly and slipped out the exit, leaving Baldur a little unnerved.

Once out of the basement her plan of action was simple and largely subconscious; she wanted light. She wanted the Sun. She wanted a perch. Hence, a rooftop was the only option for her. It was more coincidental than anything else that it gave her a view of what was going on. It put her in the path of the ships, sure, but the Sphere and Thug ships alike were more interested in other things at the moment, especially if she lay there for a bit and played dead. For a bit. That would change quickly.

888888

"Mahad," Wayan said over the radio when they were in the process of getting everyone who was taking a stand out of the trap doors. The young man hauled someone out of the tricky ladder before grabbing clicking the button, his sister watching as he did so.

"Yeah?" he asked

"Forget about stealth. We're surrounded. They know which building you and Lena are in and they've got their ships weapons trained on it." The fellow rebel replied. Mahad and Lena exchanged glances and then looked around at the men and women who had come out to fight for their home and/or school. His mouth set in a grim line as he brought the communication device back up to his mouth.

"We're coming out." He said. The residents looked at him with slack jaws and then seemed to deflate in defeat. However, when one of them started to get up Mahad pulled her back down by her sleeve.

"Not you," he said, still whispering. "They know that me and Lena—"

"Lena and I," interrupted what was clearly an English student. The pilot ignored him

"—are here. That doesn't mean they know about you. Continue with the plan but don't take stupid chances."

Lena raised her eyebrows at this statement, one so atypical of her brother's attitude. Then again, taking chances that put you in danger was one thing. Putting people who counted on you in such a position was another. The young seijinn mulled this over in her mind as she and her brother stood and walked out the door, down the open hallway and then outside quietly. They emerged onto the large, open street where this fight was going to be.

Someone had anticipated the rebels it seemed. They'd at least cornered Cortez, Wayan and Dahlia, all three of whom were out in the open. Wayan and Dahlia appeared to have surrendered their weapons and it wasn't difficult to guess why; their captain was several feet off the ground, restrained by ropes of blue seijinn energy whilst his two lieutenants were kneeling on the ground with blasters to their heads. Lena could practically feel her brother tense at this sight. She was angry too, but both of them also noticed something else; the others being held at weapon-point were at the mercy of what looked to be a mixture of people in Sphere uniform and the thugs.

What really seemed to get Mahad's goat, however, was the identity of the two seijinns in the middle imprisoning his friends.

"Aw Man, are you kidding me?" he half-groaned-half-yelled when he saw two familiar faces standing pompously with their captives floating above them and sneers on their faces. The pilot threw his hands up in the air in exasperation "Okay, it's over. Our reputations are completely shot. There is no way I can ever look Lucretia in the eye after it gets out that we were cornered by these losers twice!"

The Guardian called Artemis had changed very little apart from his uniform. He still had the same beady eyes and greasy black hair, thought this time his clothing was official looking, complete with insignia and everything.

"Yes, we did get your Captain rather tied up twice in a row, didn't we?" The guardian sneered. Same whiny voice too, even when he was pleased with himself. His partner stepped forward at this, her gait slow, measured and smug. Her attitude hadn't changed either, though her appearance had. Jeloah seemed to have finally stepped into Di Wan's shoes following her apparent death, for she now sported a shaved head and what was clearly a new tattoo. She also sported the same black attire of her predecessor.

"So, I see we have the pleasure of meeting again." She said with a sickly pretense at manners. She practically licked her lips.

"Why are you so happy? Last time you guys tried to catch us you lost. Badly." The pilot reminded them.

"Ooh, but that was before. This is now." The guardian chuckled. When Lena stepped forward with a snarl on her face the formerly blonde seijinn raised a hand warningly and made a tutting sound at her, simultaneously tightening the 'ropes' on Cortez. The captain's involuntary grunt made the girl hesitate long enough for the other seijinn to make a shoving motion that sent the captain hurtling through the air until he dangled over the edge of the block. Jeloah smiled in a wry, cruel way.

"Come any closer Lena and I might just be forced to hang him—aaaeeiihh!" The Guardian's threat was cut off partway through by a well-timed blast on Lena's part which sent her flying as the young girl spun to the side and thrust her arms out. Jeloah having lost concentration by the blow, Cortez plummeted about 2 feet before landing with a grunt onto the shimmering platform of light that Lena had created. Said platform sped back over the block and disappeared so that the Captain could land in a crouched kneeling position. As Lena did this her brother bodily tackled the man holding a gun to Dahlia's head at such an angle that he also shoved the man threatening Wayan off balance enough for the latter rebel to whip around and land his own disarming blow on his attacker.

"I don't think so!" Lena shouted at the Guardians. It was like a signal to everyone to start skirmishing, it certainly was what prompted the remaining Oxford volunteers to jump out and start firing their weapons.

The next few minute were utter chaos. Lena took on three seijins—two guardians and one of the bandits who seemed to have some ability. Dahlia and Mahad found themselves back to back quite by surprise, each glancing over jerkily in a double take as they danced in a tight circle looking for a new target.

"Does anyone actually have a plan right now?" Mahad asked, hesitating a third time in throwing his boomerang.

"We had one," Dahlia started, pausing to shoot her energy bow "It just hit the fan."

"So what's the goal right now—"

"DUCK!" Dahlia cut him off, both of them diving to the side as a stray blast obliterated the wall behind them at around where their heads had been. Both looked at it before looking at each other again. "Right now I'm thinking the plan is don't die!"

"Works for me!" Mahad exclaimed as he scrambled to his feet and hurled his boomerang with all his might.

The weapon made an audible whizzing sound as it whipped through its circular path, impacting someone with a satisfying grunt and ricocheting off the weird make-shift armour the person had made and flying back to its master. Mahad had barely caught it again, however, when a shadow fell over him and Dahlia. The pilot blinked and squinted at the vessel. It looked like a transport ship, but why was it barging into a battle zone? The pair quickly looked over to where Lena was still fighting the other three seijinns, all of whom paused when they saw the ship and started to back away from their fight. The other skirmishes continued, though they seemed to slow when the hatch opened and a platform extended.

Eyes popped and jaws went slack as the sounds of boots clicking preceded the man sauntering down the ramp with his hands behind his back.

"Is that-?" Dahlia began

"That's impossible!" Mahad exclaimed. Several feet over Cortez whipped his head around with his eyes wide. His expression almost immediately turned to a glare that briefly glanced Lena, who didn't meet anyone's eye as she shifted uncomfortably, instead focusing on her new opponent.

"Oslo," she said through clenched teeth. The bald man smiled at her in a very unsettling way as he clasped his hands behind his back. He was as pale as ever but, strangely enough, he looked less…brittle. Healthier. It didn't bode well.

"Lena, how very nice to see you again." He drawled, "I see we're having a near complete reunion! How is your mother doing?"

"Leave my family out of this!"

"I'm surprised your little friends didn't look for me. The fools who run the Sphere of course thought I was dead but your little gang of Pirates…unless…" his smile became something between a leer and a smirk and he laughed loudly, throwing his head back with enthusiasm. "Unless you didn't tell them, did you? Now that's very interesting,"

Oslo was now on the block and walked a few steps towards Lena. The young girl stood her ground.

"You Sphere guys all like to talk, don't you? You know that's one of the reasons we beat you all the time." She told him.

"Very well, straight to the point. You are coming with me."

"I don't think so."

"The hard way it is then."

The pair neglected to take their fight to the air as they had done in their showdown at Karzem, though the fight was no less fierce. Blasts were exchanged a rapid pace and were deflected and absorbed. Mahad and Dahlia were a little busy with their own fight. Neither of them were bad shots but the pair they had focused on had good cover and reflexes that were just as good. As the rebels dodged shots themselves they ended up ducking behind a car. At one point Dahlia was thrown off balance and fell into her companion. The young man didn't seem to mind. In fact he gave her a winning grin.

"You know all you had to do was ask," he told her. She rolled her eyes and pushed herself out of his lap.

"Is now really the time for flirting?" she half-snarled at him, though not with quite the vehemence she had once given him.

"Hey, ya' never know what time is gonna be your last in our business!" he retorted.

"Don't say stuff like that." Dahlia told him. If she had yelled it at him he would have shaken the comment off as her usual stream of berating remarks. But it wasn't. Her words were quiet and emphatic. His blue eyes met her brown and searched them before she looked away and cleared her throat uncomfortably before returning her attention to the fight. The young man grabbed her shoulder. He searched her gaze for a moment with an intense, needy curiosity.

"You got it." He agreed with his boyish smile "We save the make out for later!" Dahlia couldn't help it. She rolled her eyes

"You're impossible," she grumbled affectionately. He laughed out loud at that and stood to throw his boomerang again.

"You bet I am—whoahhhaahhah!"

"Mahad!" Dahlia cried as the pilot was struck square in the chest as he stood by a seijinn blast from Artemis.

Mahad's cry distracted Lena for a split second as her head whipped around in the direction of her brother's yell. Her momentary distraction from the increasingly heated battle she was in was all that Oslo needed to send a particularly powerful energy blast at her. The force of the attack sent her flying and she slammed into the wall of a nearby building, her head cracking against it with a sickening sound. She slid down the brick and crumpled to the ground, leaving a thin trail of red from her head wound on the burgundy bricks. She didn't get up. There was a chorus of her name as several people called it out at once. Cortez leapt over one of the run down cars in permanent residence on the street to kneel next to the young girl, his back between her and Oslo. He brushed back strands of her hair gently to get a look at the nasty head wound, touching it gingerly, his fingertips coming back red. He quickly moved them to her neck to check for a pulse and visibly relaxed when he felt a slight thumping beneath his fingertips.

He glanced over to where Dahlia was standing with her energy bow and nodded grimly. The blonde let out the breath she had been holding before glaring at Oslo. Rage bubbled up in her at the man for all he had done to her and her adopted family and all that he represented. She clenched her teeth, a muscle in her jaw popping slightly as she yanked the string of her bow back and fired it at him. The first bolt had barely loosed when she fired another and another.

The Guardian sensed the energy missiles before they arrived and put a hand up to absorb them and then deflect another. The blonde snarled at him and took out the blaster she had hooked into her belt and started firing that, moving quickly to avoid his attacks. The Guardian started laughing, amused at the whole thing. After a short time, though, Dahlia found a rope of blue light snapping her arms to her sides and lifting her bodily into the air. She kicked and struggled to no avail as Oslo pulled her forward.

"My, my, look who it is. Still challenging me, I see." The Guardian purred. Dahlia squirmed as she came ever closer to the man who had invaded her mind months before. Oslo cocked his head at her, looking her over. Her lip curled and she kicked out at him again, prompting him to lean back to avoid her foot connecting with his shoulder. He tightened his glowing hand and the "ropes" responded in kind, limiting the rebel's air flow.

"I beat you once! …Put me down…and we'll see who's so smug then!" Dahlia panted angrily, still struggling against the seijinn restraints. She kicked and wriggled even while still fighting simply to breathe. Oslo chuckled.

"Still as stubborn as ever," the guardian remarked.

"Leave her alone!" Mahad yelled as he rushed at the guardian.

"Mahad, no!" Dahlia wheezed as Oslo turned from her and shot up his other hand in a pushing motion, shoving the young pilot into one of the garages across the street. His attention now focused on what was quite possibly the current most prominent bane of his existence the bald man dismissively waved his hand, dropping Dahlia. The blonde fell in a sprawled heap, her hand going to her throat as she coughed and gasped for air. She looked to where Oslo was advancing on Mahad however.

Both Dahlia and the young pilot's eyes widened as several sharp, pointed shards of broken glass and rusted metal jumped into the air at the Guardian's command and zoomed past him towards the red-clad rebel, stopping just inches from him as their manipulator crossed the street slowly.

Mahad tensed and scooted backwards from Oslo as far as the dagger-like shards would allow as the seijinn advanced on him, a cruel sneer on his face.

"Oh don't worry Mahad, I mean to keep you alive. For now, at least. You're a useful…bargaining chip, shall we say. But that doesn't mean you have to be in one piec—argghh!" The bald man cried out as a blast clipped him unexpectedly and rather painfully in the shoulder, throwing him off balance though not knocking him off his feet. His concentration was broken and the shards fell towards Mahad, who cringed in anticipation only to be showered in dust. When nothing sharp impaled him he cracked an eye open cautiously and propped himself up on his elbow with equal slow care to look down at the grey particles on his uniform. He rubbed a few grains between his fingers. The metal and glass had literally been disintegrated.

"HEY!" A voice shouted angrily from overhead. All heads turned upwards to see a figure standing atop one of the high tower-like structures. The person jumped from their perch and plummeted down to the ground in a streak of shadow and seijinn light. The teenager Dianne landed on the pavement with a resounding smack as she faced Oslo. "Why don't you try picking on someone your own size for once?"

The teenager had shed both coat and collar, revealing the worn black tank top she wore underneath as well as the skin she had been covering; they could now see why that had been a priority for her.

From shoulder to fingertip her arms were reminiscent of generators with the pulsating seijinn-blue light swimming down them, though admittedly that was wasn't unusual of a seijinn preparing to fight. What was rather unnerving was the way her veins were raised and also glowed faintly along her arms and up her neck. They throbbed rhythmically and Cortez wondered if the beat was her pulse made visible by the blue glare. It was more than a little unsettling to see. She seemed oblivious to the stares of those around her however as she threw her shoulders back to face the pale bald man across from her.

"Well?" she demanded when Oslo didn't answer her question. The dictator narrowed his eyes at her, scrutinizing the young woman in front of him. She seemed familiar, he just couldn't place it. She was clearly a seijinn, but that was trivial.

"You clearly have no idea with whom you are dealing." He scoffed arrogantly. Dianne took a single step forward and narrowed her eyes slightly in challenge.

"Try me." She hissed dangerously. Oslo raised a non-existent eyebrow and shoved his hand forward without warning, sending a large energy blast her way as the fighting continued around them. The girl tensed slightly but merely raised her head a fraction, causing a wall of blue to fly up between them which caught and absorbed the blast. The wall shattered when she spun around and kicked her own blast at the guardian in a precise and calculated motion. Oslo was barely able to stop it and then struggled to re-absorb it. He finally did so with a grunt of exertion and followed it up with a two-pronged rapid-fire attack. Dianne side-stepped and then leapt about 10 feet into the air. When she landed however, she grimaced and slapped her hand to the side of her head as though in pain. Her arms flared even more brightly for a moment and then she was back on her feet and attacking, her moves remaining rigidly controlled and precise, her face tense with concentration.

"Impressive." He conceded. "But let's see how you handle this!"

He spread his arms wide, seijinn power leaping off him in flames before lunging forward, sending a massive wave at the girl. She responded by digging her heels into the ground, bracing herself, and throwing her hands forward to stop the blast. Her hands tensed into claw-like shapes as she struggled with the onslaught of power, though her eyes never left Oslo's in spite of the blinding level of light. A muscle in her jaw started popping slightly and she winced, her head jerking to the slightly in discomfort. Suddenly her hands clenched and snapped outwards to the sides, clearing the blue light in one sweep. Almost as soon as she had accomplished this, however, Dianne cried out and grabbed her head in apparent pain.

"Stop it!" She growled, seemingly at no one as she bent over slightly. She was forced to recover quickly as Oslo sent another attack her way, planning to capitalize on any weakness. Her arm didn't quite come up in time and she was sent flying off her feet, bouncing off one of the old cars and landing hard on her front with a grunt. The Dictator sauntered over menacingly while the teenager started to push herself up, her body trembling.

"Foolish girl!" he taunted, misinterpreting her shaking as an indication of exertion. He spread his arms triumphantly "Now you see what comes of standing in my way! Perhaps I should throw you into a new prison after I'm done studying you," he crowed, laughing cruelly. Dianne's hand tightened into a fist on the ground. He continued talking, his words coloured by the hint of a dark chuckle of victory.

"Nevertheless, you were impressive. You shall make a fine addition to my rule should you choose to serve me, what do you say? Stand with me or burn with the rest of these rebel scum?"

In an impossibly quick motion Dianne whipped her head around to look at him, making the dictator's laugh die on his lips as he recoiled, his eyes wide. Behind the strands of dark hair framing her face the several veins along her head and face were raised and glowing just as those on her arms were and her eyes were twin voids of seijinn blue, her features contorted in a snarl of rage.

The area around them exploded in seijinn power, disintegrating the car she had slammed into as well as a lamp post and a nearby controller whilst also hurtling everyone off their feet with a cry at the blinding light. When they were able to open their eyes Dianne was standing in the middle of the street glaring at Oslo with her void-like eyes. Flames of power leapt off her body in an inferno of blue. She made a terrifying sound somewhere between a roar and a shriek as her leg swooped down in a sharp arc that sent a torrent of blue flame at the bald man.

In a rare instance Oslo made no attempt to absorb or deflect the blow and instead dove to the side to avoid it with a grunt and then scrambled awkwardly to escape another attack as another ball of raging blue fire hurtled towards him.

Her powerful, sweeping kicks summoned arcs of flame rather than a ray or a blast as was typical seijinn fighting technique. Each of these was accompanied with a wordless exclamation, not of effort, but of pure aggression and—if Cortez and Kale were not mistaken—a hint of elation. Unfortunately, Oslo wasn't the only one to be on the receiving end of these attacks, they truly were like wild fire; undeniable power but little control. The onlookers frequently had to duck or move away to avoid being hit themselves and the architecture was taking a real beating. At one point Cortez had to snatch the unconscious Lena up to move her out of harms' way.

The display was terrifying, but equally hypnotic. No one else opened fire because they couldn't look away. One thing was strangely clear as well; Oslo actually looked frightened. For the first time in his life he felt truly out of his depth in battle, and it wasn't something he had expected. When he looked back on this fight later he would likely be able to pick out the flaws in the young woman's technique, but there was no denying the raw power. The thought of that raw energy nearly made him drool even as he blanched and ducked. After being sent flying into the air and then lashed with an arc of blue flame he landed hard on the ground. It was at this point that he turned to the other guardians he had assembled for this little trip along with the renegades who were secretly under his control.

"What are you waiting for?" He growled at them "ATTACK!"

The seijinns he had brought with him moved to rush forward and that was when everyone sort of woke up. Or tried to.

"*Don't you dare!*" Dianne hissed at them, "*I haven't had a decent fight in ages.*" The rebels were a little taken aback at this.

Two of the five guardians rushed her from either side, energy-blasts growing in their hands. Dianne chuckled darkly and shot her arms out straight to the sides, palms up and head tilted back slightly. The seijinns stopped short almost comically, as though they had run into a wall. The young woman then straightened her hands to line up with her arms and turned them inwards, clapping them together and bringing the pair colliding together. They crumpled in a groaning heap onto the ground. She smirked at the pair. The others looked on with wide eyes and the sphere group started to run. The thugs were less obvious about it, but also made their retreat, slinking off into the shadows. The young woman looked down at the pair she'd smacked together.

"*Pathetic.*" She snarled and swept her arm sharply, sending them both flying towards their patrollers. This time when they landed they scurried to their feet and limped off towards their patroller. Oslo was backing away, his face frozen in a glare of mingled anger, defeat and…was that fear? Dianne suddenly looked round at him in one sharp, linear, bird-like motion to glare at him. That was when he turned tail and ran. She seemed angry at this. When the ships' engines revved and started to propel the patrollers forward she dashed forward with a shriek of rage and shoved a massive blast of energy at one of them. It missed the mark but still grazed one of the engines, disintegrating it completely. She watched this with several deep, heaving breaths, making high-pitched gasping sounds like an addict on a high. Indeed, her eyes even rolled back into her head.

When she opened them again, however, the irises and pupils had once again replaced the seijinn light and the flames died down from her skin. The raised, glowing veins and muscles remained, however, as did the generator-like flows of light. As she slowly looked around at them her shoulders came back and down as she straightened. The feral aggression seemed to have vanished from her face with the glaring light in her eyes, her expression now guarded and tense. She looked at the damage she had wreaked around her and then at her hand again, differently this time; this time her hand shook and she clenched into a fist and closed her eyes, jerking her head away as though disgusted by the sight of it. Without a word she turned and walked slowly towards the street again. People parted before she was so much as a metre away from them and she stopped, stiffening a little before ducking her head and walking faster. Once she had past them she broke into a run, the sound of her footfalls echoing in the silence.