CHAPTER TWENTY

Christian let out a grunt as he was forced into a chair. His eyes darted around the room, trying to see what was around him. He couldn't see anything, but he recognized the smell. Having been working in labs for most of his life, he recognized the smell of chemicals and sanitation so easily. But where they could have taken him? He wasn't sure.

Christian felt a hand on the back of his head, and then one by his mouth. He squeezed his eyes shut, already knowing what was going to happen. The hand moved to the tape that was placed over his mouth and then picked at the corner. After a firm grip was established, the tape was ripped off of his mouth, the loose skin of his lips getting torn off in the process.

Christian winced in pain, bringing his tongue over his lips, the split skin stung, but otherwise, he was ok. His arms were taped behind his back and his feet were bound together as well. His head hurt, so he knew that he had been clubbed when Wingz Corp was broken into. It wasn't that long after Core had left that things hit the fan. Part of him wondered if that was the point, maybe they had been watched the whole time, since they had left that grocery store that was a plant for them. Part of him hated himself that he didn't see it coming; there was no way that they could have known where WingzCorp was without being followed or traced somehow. That was Core's whole idea of making it.

But now Christian realized that everything was bigger than them. This wasn't only about the Elementals and darkness and whomever was trying to come to power. It was about those that were trying to figure out what they were and the moral ramifications of what was to come. Who's to say that terrible things weren't going to happen to innocent people? Being captured like this…Christian knew that the kids would do anything to make sure that they could get away.

He just hoped that it didn't get as far as it seemed like it was going to get.

To total chaos.

"Alright," A woman's voice reached his ears as a light came on. Christian squinted his eyes, trying to adjust to the sudden brightness. He was sitting at a desk that much he could see, and there was something in front of him. It was shaped like a teardrop, with a small circle on the inside. It wasn't glowing, like he had expected. "You're going to dissect this thing and tell us what it is!"

Christian grimaced as his arms were pulled tightly behind his back. There was a ripping sound and then his arms were free. He put them in front of him and rubbed at his wrists, trying to get the circulation back in his hands. He leaned forward and picked up the object, holding it in the palm of his hand. It looked like a regular gem, but it felt man-made. Like, if it was created out of some sort of bone.

"Well?" The woman's voice asked. "What is it?"

"I'm not sure," Christian replied after a moment. "I can't be sure what chemical compounds it's made up of. Not without-"

"Hey!" The woman suddenly barked. She wasn't speaking to him. It was at that moment that Christian realized that he wasn't alone. There was at least someone else with them, maybe two people. If the government had attacked them, they would be smart enough not to just bring two people to guard that one woman. "Do you have the stuff?"

"No," a voice replied quickly. Due to the way that the person suddenly spoke, Christian could tell that the person wasn't expected to be spoken to. "I-I-I have to go back and get it."

There was a tsk'ing sound and then the woman spoke again. "Take I-I-I and get the stuff." There was the sound of a door opening and then footsteps that left the room. "You better get comfortable Mr. Manning; you're not going anywhere until you tell us what this thing is made of."

"How do you think he was able to move us like that?" Zack asked, looking over at Aaron, as he walked quietly beside him. "He's not an un-awakened Elemental is he?"

"No," Crystal said shortly. "Dad and I've tested him before. He doesn't have a mark and he doesn't have any of them tell-tale signs in his DNA or anything." She let out an impatient sigh. "Can we talk about that later? Let's focus more on getting out of here."

Zack noticed the edge in her tone and didn't press her further. He knew that there was something that she wasn't telling them, but also knew that it wasn't the time and place to ask. It wasn't like he wasn't used to it, until things were 100% clear, secrets were kept all throughout their group; just in case they were putting any of them in any unnecessary danger based on a hunch. They were all close, but at times, it was the way they operated; if it had nothing to do with you, you didn't ask until everything was explained to you.

"So where do you think we are?" Patrick asked as he, Crystal, Zack, Cody, and Aaron turned down another hallway and continued walking. He tilted his head back to look at the ceiling. "I mean, I know we're underground, but where specifically do you think we are?"

"If I had to guess, I would say the State House," Cody replied.

Zack turned to him with an odd look; Cody was able to see him in the moonlight.

There was a pale light that illuminated the corridors from windows that had bars around them. They had been walking around cells for a while, sure that they were going in one direction, looking for an exit. So far they hadn't bumped into anyone, but that didn't mean that there wasn't anyone around. They could be monitored at any given moment. If they were able to be traced to the Tipton Hotel, to a random grocery store, and then to Wingz Corp, there had to be some sort of a bug, some sort of a Mole or a GPS somewhere.

"You really didn't pay that much attention in school did you?" Cody asked, sarcasm dripping from every word.

"Tell me something I don't know," Zack shot back, matching Cody's tone exactly.

"Everyone knows that the Massachusetts State House is the state capitol and house of government of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts," Cody said evenly, getting everyone's attention as they continued walking. "It's located in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Patrick asked, confused. "How do you know that's where we are?"

"It makes sense, Pat," Crystal spoke up. She stopped walking, looking deep in through. "The State House houses the Massachusetts General Court and the offices of the Governor of Massachusetts." She looked over at Cody for confirmation, and he nodded, urging her to continue. "It's a bit part of politics, and the government is what is coming after us…so instead of trying to transport all of us to DC at one time, they're holding us here, trying to bide some time, maybe get some answers out of us, before taking us over there."

"Correct," Cody agreed. "It's the only place that's close enough, but big enough, that they could take all of us."

"If all of us were caught," Patrick reminded him. "Last you said, Rhu was getting away, I was with Noah and Reihu and when smoke cleared the room…I don't know if they got caught." He shrugged. "I'm not sure about Sydney, Core, Bailey, Tapeworm, or Uncle Christian." He licked his lips. "Or any of the others," he added, speaking of the rest of the DragonGang, DarkLions, BlackWolves, or Spirit-X. "But they have the animal abilities that they were infused with, they probably got out." He gave a bitter laugh. "God, I wish I could use my powers."

"Trust me, you don't," Zack replied.

Aaron turned to Zack, his sightless eyes seeming to bore into him. "You got your powers back?" he demanded. "When did that happen? Did you get Blazen too?"

"No." Zack hesitated. "I sort of got my powers back," he replied. "I mean, I'm getting them back. Much stronger than before, I think. I was able to…blow up a guy's head without touch him."

"You mean, blow up, like it burst into flames?" Patrick asked.

"More like he cooked it from the inside out," Cody supplied. He turned to look at Crystal, whose eyebrows lowered. "We didn't say anything at first because we weren't sure if the people that attacked us were going to do anything about it. Like, stick him with some sort of injection when he got here."

"No, I getcha," Crystal quickly reassured him, turning away. "It's better that you didn't say anything."

Zack felt his anger bubbling lightly under his skin. He wanted to use his powers so badly, to be able to help in some way. But when they had started going, Cody told him, under no circumstances, were he able to use them. If they were stronger, as that had been evidenced before, he might not be able to control who he did and did not hit. He could probably create a volcano under their feet without meaning to. Zack was annoyed at first; he wasn't used to Cody taking over control of all of them, as he was the unappointed leader of all of them. But somewhere along the way, Cody had started to make decisions for them all and he hadn't noticed. He just went right along with what Cody said.

He wasn't used to that position, but he knew that Cody could do just as good a job as he could. Besides, you were always saying that you never asked to be the leader and to make all of the decisions. Now you're not.

Zack sighed.

Crystal suddenly caught his attention as she stiffened; her eyes slowly moved around the walls around them. Cracked concrete encompassed them in the dungeon like setting. But she knew that she heard something. You couldn't be down there, where everything was quiet, and not hear even the smallest sound of a rock being kicked. Sound carried and with her powers, her heightened sense of hearing made her acutely aware of each of the guy's breathing. But that's not what she heard.

Drice, you feel anything? Crystal asked her guardian, telepathically.

I don't feel any presence of darkness, Dricer replied. But that doesn't mean that something's not there. Keep your eyes peeled, Mistress.

Of course.

All of a sudden, there was an eruption of gunfire. Patrick let out a curse and ducked to the floor as an area of concrete about his head burst, sending dust into the air. Zack dove to the ground, pushing Aaron with him, Cody falling down beside him. Crystal whipped around just in time to see a guard walking steadily towards her, a pistol in his hands. She froze for a moment, they couldn't get killed by guns, it was harder, but that didn't mean that the bullet wouldn't hurt.

"Crystal Freeze!" Crystal's hands glowed blue and she moved them in an arm, making a wall of ice that arc through the air. At the same time, the guard took another shot at her, smashing right through the ice and whizzing by her ear. She quickly dodged to the right, smashing into a wall as he fired another round of shots, quickly moving to re-load his gun.

She frowned, no matter how fast she moved he was probably trained to expect it. It's the only explanation as to why he would be alone. She turned around, giving herself leverage to push off of the wall, getting ready to attack him again. But a sharp pain in her shoulder caused her to jerk and take a step back. It felt as if she had just been punched in the shoulder.

She didn't have to look to know that she had been shot. The guard held up the gun again, this time taking aim towards her head. "Move again, freak, and that'll be the last move you make." He said, keeping his eyes on her.

She had to move fast if she didn't want her friends to get hurt. She was sure that he knew about their increased strength with their powers, if she shot her in the head, he would see that it wouldn't hurt her as much as a normal person. He would then probably go after her brother, cousin, and friends.

No, that wasn't an option.

Crystal gritted her teeth. She had never tried this attack before, in theory, it worked, but she wasn't sure how long it would take for her powers to get enough energy for it to be effective.

"Glaciate!" Crystal closed her eyes and allowed her body to glow a bright blue.

She moved her body in a few Chinese martial arts moves that she had studied over the years. As she did so, her powers created an icy wind that flowed from her body, mostly her fingers, and wafted through the air towards the guard. When it reached him, outwardly, it seemed like nothing was happening. But as she continued to do her attack, his breath started to fog and a patch of ice appeared underneath him. As she moved, he had been moving the gun with her, making sure that it was always trained on her, but now his movements were slowing down.

She's freezing his blood, Cody realized in shock.

When she was sure that the guard couldn't move as fast as he wanted, she dove back into a hallway, her friends following her. She wasn't sure how long that attack lasted, the air around them was humid, but it worked enough so that she had time to assess the damage.

Crystal held her back against the wall, her chest heaving up and down, her right hand over her wounded shoulder. She turned her head and looked back at Zack, Cody, Patrick, and Aaron, before turning her head back to the hallway. Sucking in a sharp breath, Crystal removed her hand from her shoulder and held it out. An icicle, as long and as sharp as a spear, appeared in her hand. She pushed herself off of the wall and darted forward. The guard shot at her; she dodged the bullet and brought her arm back. When she shoved it forward, she let go of the icicle, sending it down the hallway like a javelin until it stopped; having gone through the bottom left side of the guard's stomach.

As the guard screamed in pain and dropped the gun, moving his hand towards his wound, she ran forward and did a flying tackle, landing on the guy and knocking him to the ground. She pulled her arm back and it became covered in ice, before she started to hit him in the face once, causing him to scream again.

She heard Patrick call her name, but she tuned him out.

She was tired of being the victim, the one that had to defend herself. She was tired of living in fear and not being able to live her life happily. In all essence, her berserk button had been pushed. Everything that she had felt over the past couple of years since she awakened, everything that she had kept bottled up, erupted over her in an icy wave of rage.

Crystal wrapped her fingers around the guard's throat and squeezed, putting all of her strength and devastation into squeezing the guard's windpipe. She felt the pulse in the guard's neck and she squeezed. Crystal could feel the arteries and veins and tendons in the guard's neck. She could feel the way the blood hammered trying to reach the guard's brain. The way the muscles twitched. Crystal felt the guard's windpipe convulsing. His entire body was jerking now, a wild spasm, organs frantic for oxygen, nerves twitching as the guard's brain sent out frantic panic signals. Crystal's hands squeezed. Her fingers dug in, like she was trying to form fists and the guard's neck was just kind of in the way and if she just squeezed hard enough-

He would stop.

Crystal, breathing heavily, dropped her hands and got to her feet. She stared down at the guard, his lifeless eyes staring back at her. All of a sudden, Crystal felt all of the fight wash out of her and fatigue fall over her body as the shocking weight of guilt fell into her stomach. She stared, eyes wide, and the man that she had just killed. She raised her hands to her face, before turning her head. Zack, Cody, Patrick, and Aaron stared back at her. They had stood back and watched all because they were too shocked to move.

She was fighting back in defense, and it had cost a man his life.

"What have I done?" Crystal whispered, her hands going to her face.

"Crys," Cody took a step towards her. "This isn't your fault, you were defending yourself."

"But he's dead."

"He was trying to kill you," Cody continued, slowly walking towards her, his hands out. Zack, Patrick, and Aaron slowly followed after him. "You were doing what you instinctively did to make sure that the rest of us were safe."

"He's right," Patrick agreed, walking up to his cousin and grabbing onto her hand. He looked down at her. "You were protecting us, just like we said that we would always do if we were ever in this sort of predicament." Crystal looked back at him, nodding ever so slightly, looking dazed. "You did what you were supposed to do."

Aaron walked over and wrapped his arms around Crystal's waist in a hug. She slowly dropped to her knees before wrapping her arms around his shoulders, hugging him back, tightly. Patrick placed a hand on her shoulder, gently rubbing it comfortingly. Zack and Cody stood around them, wanting to give them some time to get through what had just happened.

Zack ran a hand through his hair. It was probably the most helpless he had felt in a while. He had his powers back, that should have made him feel powerful, but he couldn't use them because they were stronger than they had been before and Cody didn't want him accidentally blowing up someone's arm. He turned and punching his fist into the wall. Not hard enough that it broke any bones, but enough so that he would feel the pain from it for a long time. Cody looked over at him, gave him an empathetic look, but still didn't say anything.

His silence said it all.

A/N: Next chapter catches you up with some other characters. Chapters are back to long after this one.

Cheers,

-Riles