Part 30:

I touched down on the top of one of the tallest buildings in the area and looked around. There was nothing to go off of, here. No massive fires, no screaming groups of people, nothing...

"Not picking anything up?" Lethe asked, emerging from Tartarus.

"No, nothing." I said. "Why would they leave something that obviously pointed to them, and then just shrink away again?"

"They're good at hit and run tactics." Dauntless said, landing behind us. "They're not usually this quiet, but an all out assault isn't really they're style."

I nodded to him. He was our babysitter for now. His abilities let him keep up with us.

And they were fairly sure that he would be able to fight us off and get away is we turned on him.

I could think of ways to get past his defenses, if I wanted to, but I kept my mind away from those thoughts.

"So...any ideas?" I asked. He had been quiet throughout our meeting, sitting back and taking all that was said in.

A lot like what we had been doing. Though, for different reasons. We were all feeling out of our depth. He saw this as a test. One he needed to pass.

"We just need to keep looking, try to find them. And keep in touch with the others." Dauntless said.

"Meanwhile, those assholes can be out killing people all sneakily." Lethe said.

"There has to be something..." I began.

"Listen, we're doing all we can." Dauntless said. "We'll find them."

I turned to Lethe and Tartarus and nodded. "Let's keep moving."

I took off again, assuming that the others would catch up.

"Poor Dauntless." Tattletale said, shaking her head.

"What do you mean?" Aegis asked. "Poor...why?"

"He's feeling the pressure of the PRT. The golden boy, a potential Endbringer killer." Tattletale said. "He's on his way to a breakdown."

"Seen it happen before." Alabaster added. "He's showing the signs alright. They expect too much of him."

"Think it'll hurt us here?" I asked.

"Hard to say. Maybe if he tries to push too hard, but...I don't really know." Tattletale said.

"Shit, I was hoping you picked up something I hadn't." I said. "But that's more or less my guess too. Hard to know if he's an advantage or a weight pulling us down."

We kept flying for a moment, until a buzzing from my communicator caused me to land. Tartarus, Lethe, and Dauntless joined me soon after.

"Any signs?" Armsmaster asked.

"Nothing on our end." Dauntless said.

"Same." Miss Militia added.

"What are they playing at?" Lady Photon asked.

I scanned the city as the conversation continued. This doesn't make sense...

"Um...T-Elysium?" Tartarus said. I turned to look at her to see her pointing. I followed her finger to see...

"Fire." I said.

"Wha-oh shit." Dauntless said.

"What is it?" Armsmaster asked.

"Fire, down at...um..."

"The Palanquin." I said.

"Burnscar?" Miss Militia asked.

"Yeah, has to be." I said.

'Everyone, start moving to the Palan-"

Armsmaster was cut off.

"Interference?" Lady Photon asked.

"No..." I said. "He was attacked."

"This is it." Dauntless said. "They're making their move. We need to..."

"Shit." Miss Militia said. "The PRT base is under attack."

"What?" Lethe asked. "Why would they attack the base? There's no one there."

"No one but Panacea." I said, looking around. "They're going after people. Faultline or one of her people, Armsmaster, Panacea..."

"Shit, we need to get together. Regroup and..."

I turned to look at Dauntless, whose hand was to his neck as he collapsed to the ground.

"What the hell?" Tartarus asked.

"Something...shit. Lethe, hide."

I turned my attention from Tartarus to Dauntless. I swapped Aegis for Othala and touched Dauntless, giving him regeneration.

"Did he get shot?"

I shook my head, but a vioce chimed in before I could speak.

"No, nothing so lethal. Just a little sleeping dart. Usually knocks people out for an hour or so. With regeneration, maybe 15 minutes?"

I turned, seeing a small robotic spider with a screen on it's back. The person on the screen was smiling.

"Jack Slash..."

"Ahh, you know me already. Good." Jack said. "That saves us a bit of time. Enjoying the show so far?"

I shook my head. "Why...?"

"You can stay where you are, girl." Jack said. I raised an eyebrow, then nearly jumped as Lethe appeared next to me.

"Caught me, huh? That sucks." she said.

"It happens. Be good, and I'll leave you unharmed. Otherwise, Bonesaw loaded plenty of darts into this. Of course, I can't guarantee that all of them are non-lethal."

"What is this, what do you..."

"You haven't figured it out? I'm surprised. Maybe we'll need to make posters for our next recruitment drive."

"Recruitment? So you are..." I paused, then narrowed my eyes. "Me, huh?"

"Of course. Such an interesting power." Jack said. "But, still so reluctant to fully use it. A shame, really. But I'm confident that we can work through it."

"I won't join." I said. "I'm not like you."

"Well, two points. One, many people say that. I assume Armsmaster is saying the same thing to Mannequin now. Same for Panacea. Secondly, how many have you killed already? We're not so different."

"She's nothing like you." Lethe said. "You kill for fun."

"And she kills for power." Jack said. "But, we'll see. I understand your hesitation, Elysium. It's why we're doing things like this. A little game, to warm you up to us."

"A game? You think...?"

"Uh uh uh, let me finish, please." Jack said. "One little game, yes. You're too focused on heroics, and it holds you back. You could be a true force by eschewing your little morals. So, I offer you a challenge. Shatterbird has already found her candidate and spoken to them, and she does get so bored while the rest of us are having fun. She's ready to...entertain herself."

"I'm fair, so I'll offer you two ways to delay that. One, is to find and claim her candidate."

"I won't just..."

"Uh uh, not finished." Jack said. "Alternatively, claim Dauntless there. Now...on our end. If you fail to accomplish either in, oh, an hour. Not only will Shatterbird attack but there will be another penalty, because you kept interrupting me. So, one life, whoever you pick, versus countless. What will you do, Elysium?"

My mouth opened, but I couldn't manage to make words come out.

"Better get moving." Jack said. With that, the screen went dark.

I looked down to Dauntless, still unconscious.

"We need to tell the others." Tartarus said.

"We need to find Shatterbird." Lethe added.

"We...I..."

"Or...who could her candidate be?"

"I...don't know."

I have no idea what to do.