Chapter 108: Charlie

When the call came, I was actually tempted to throw the walkie-talkie into a bathtub or something. As long as it broke beyond repair. But I knew that I would never dare do something like that, something that angered the Boss or Nikita, or any of my superiors for that matter. Getting them mad meant that... that I had to watch my parents get tortured again.

I switched the walkie-talkie on. Then, I heard Sparrow's voice. "Bring the transfigurer here too." she said, in almost a whisper.

Puzzled, I was going to ask her for more info- but she ended the call. Well that wasn't very helpful. Seriously, why didn't they trust me enough now to set up a mental link for me? It's not like I would do anything bad. If I did, they'd kill Mom or Dad. A mental link was certainly more handy than carrying a chunk of black plastic around with me everywhere.

Their trust for me didn't go very far. Everybody I saw wore a ruby infused chemically with aluminum bracelet. I don't know how, but that seems to protect the person from my mind- controlling powers.

I sighed, pocketed the walkie-talkie, then ran toward the place the transmitter said Sparrow was at. I probably didn't need a Transfigurer, which was basically a ray gun that could force any living thing it shot into whatever animal was on the dial. Its operation is pretty simple stuff- turn the dial, aim and shoot. It used some kind of phantom energy or something. I wouldn't know. Some tech savvy guy with a bird name designed all of this. Rooster or Hawk or something. I didn't know and I really didn't care about anything except for the fact that it worked, which is the main thing that actually mattered.

I rushed into the stadium, only to find Nikita gone, and Sparrow cornered by that scary girl in black, and the entire batch of prisoners that we'd taken in that day surrounding them. So this is what Sparrow called me for. I knew that if I wanted my parents to stay alive, I'd have to act fast. So, hiding in the shadows, I broke into the mind of the person closest to me. Which turned out to be a girl.

Chapter 109: Bhavana

I remembered nothing, well almost nothing. Floating in a pool of blackness. I was conscious, yet I could not move. My brain was wide awake. I sensed that my eyes were closed, it felt as if I were lying in a bed of air, drifting on and on. There were memories in my head that seemed to be to be escaping my thoughts. One by one, they were disappearing. I tried to grasp at them, but to no avail, they all were being drained and swept away. There was absolutely nothing I could do, I knew something, or someone, was sucking the thoughts out of my brain. My first thought was Nikita and his evilness, but just as I thought that, the thought was drained from me. Now I understood, whatever I thought, was taken away. As I thought that, the idea simply vanished. I knew there was no possible escape, that soon disappeared from my brain too. There was one thing I did figure, after multiple attempts to try a new idea, that it took at least a second or two, for that someone to suck out the thought. So immediately, after I just had a glimpse of my new idea, I calmed and cleared my brain. I tried my best not to reveal any secrets. That was all I could do anymore.

Then, my body jerked robotically, standing up. It felt like millions of needles were slicing into my body. I wanted to cry out in pain, but I had lost control of my voice. Then, my hand jerked into the place where I kept my dagger and unsheathed it. No, noo... I tried to regain control of my hand through the pain of standing up, but that someone just pushed back harder, until its presence surrounded my mind, expanding to fill every niche. Then, I lost control completely, and my consciousness drifted away...

Chapter 110: Shirley

They just kept coming. Hundreds of scissors charged at us. They filled almost the whole stadium. My first thought was to find out where the evil creatures were coming from. It turned out that there was a door, and huge door, but it was hard to see. Well it looked more like a wall. I bet it was another one of those illusions. I was clueless about how to block the massive hole in the wall.

"Guys! Look over there!" I pointed. All heads turned toward where my finger was pointing. They knew what it meant immediately, they spotted the door. The enormous entrance.

"How do we block it then?" Pranu asked.

"That's the thing. It's too big. There is no possible way, wait, give me a sec to think," I replied.

Everyone nodded and continued fighting. Raven looked at Ruidi, who was lying on the ground, and put a hand in the air over his head. The injuries disappeared, one by one, and he opened his eyes.

Suddenly Bhavana jumped up with her dagger ready to kill. I was dumbfounded at how quickly she had managed to recover, and was about to congratulate her until she started slashing around with her dagger. But not at the scissors, it was at Tim.

Chapter 111: Tim

I saw Bhavana get up. I saw her ready to fight. I saw she was ready to kill. But I didn't know she would be killing me. I didn't have time to react. In fact, I had no time to think at all. She sliced my arm. Pain exploded along my shoulder and elbow. Yet, I did not move.

I stood there with hurt and confusion reflecting out of my eyes as the blood slowly dripped off me. Then my knees buckled out from under me and I crashed into the ground. I was conscious, but barely. I grasped at my arm and gritted my teeth. The pain was unbearable. I squinted as she made her way toward others, striking at them. Pranu was fighting her now. The scissors just kept coming. This was not good. A wave of pain hit my arm and I fell into a deep black hole, almost like the void, but a lot less comforting.

Ruidi

Where was the one who could heal people instantaneously doing now? Sitting up high and mighty on a pole, with her eyes closed and legs crossed, doing virtually nothing to help.

"Hey! You up there!" I shouted to Raven. "Tim needs medical help!"

"Quiet! I'm busy!" Raven replied, and continued sitting up there.

"I don't see you doing anything." I shot back, then ducked as Bhavana swung her arm, trying to stab me in my face.

"Your friend over there is being controlled." Raven replied simply, but loud enough for everybody else to hear. "I am attempting to break that control."

"Yeah, whatever." I said, then turned my focus back to defending myself and Tim from a deranged Bhavana and a gazillion scissors.

Pranu

That was unexpected. I never thought I would fight my own friend. But she was controlled, it wasn't her fault. She was swiftly moving her dagger, but I could tell it caused her a lot of pain. I could see it in her eyes. There was also terror.

Raven

Though I had more experience than my opponent, it was still quite challenging to defeat him. Of course I defeated him before, but I assume that this time he has help. Again, I pushed my brain, solving the riddles in the paths of control. At last, I managed to "disconnect" his control over Bhavana. Charlie was nowhere in sight, but I could sense he was nearby. Bhavana was released from the control, it left her gasping on the ground for breath. After surveying the scene, it looked as if I had missed a lot. Tim was lying unconscious on the floor, others were nearly out of energy. They would not win.

Caiyi

We were failing. I could tell that everyone was exhausted, every little step used up a tremendous amount of energy. I knew we were going to lose. Giving up seemed like the best choice. But we have come so far now. We can't give up. I thought. Harder and harder I fought. My friends saw me fighting as hard as I ever will. They knew, this could be our last chance, ever. So one by one, they joined the chaos, they joined the whirlwind of madness. We all charged, fought our best, let our instincts take over. One by one, ignoring the pain, ignoring the hurt. One by one, taking one step closer to success, doing the best we could ever do. And for that moment, we were invincible. A tiny hole of success opened up. At that point, we were winning... to ourselves, we were champions. Undefeatable warriors.

Everyone

We wanted it bad, and we were getting it. Our hands moved in unison, slashing and slicing away at the scissors. They were programmed with no fear, programmed to fight. We were programmed, too... programmed with courage. The courage that decided to spark up now. It bloomed in us, flowered in our hearts, uniting us all. And that was our greatest power. The one we ignored all along the journey. This was our last chance, and we would win... for all.

We fought, we fought hard. It was challenging yet we continued. It hurt, yet we pushed on. It was destroying us, yet we all did our best. Even Raven joined us. Inspired by our courage. It was years... many many years... since she last saw such bravery.

Our hands ached, heads throbbed, feet burned, but our minds remained clear. With the one and only goal, to live. We have been close to death, close to failure, but we realized, we must be the very best, the absolute top to survive, to not fall. Our ropes of hope thickened. Scissors scattered the stadium, heartlesses were released. Minds connected, we diminished them all. We were on the verge of success. Few more steps, just so close, warmth spread through us, it flourished in our bodies.

The last level arrived. It came sudden. A wave of scissors passed by, then another, then they stopped coming.

The ground trembled, it rocked us, swayed us, played with us, until we all fell to the ground. A monstrous purple beast with sinewy arms, tree-trunk like legs, and chilling red eyes trotted out of the wall. It roared, deafening us, blinding us with ugliness. It scattered our formation, destroyed our connection, it left us hopeless, separated, far from success. "Dracohydrae. They've succeeded." Raven breathed in awe.

"Combine powers!" Someone screamed, probably Ruidi.

And we did. Forcing all of our energy at the same spot.

"Find your inner Darklecovia!" Ruidi commanded.

And we did. We became maniacs. All but Shirley, since she did not have hers yet. So she was giving us all more energy.

"CHARGE!" Ruidi shouted.

And we did.

Charlie

It was unexpected. I watched completely still at how unified they were, as if they were one. My mouth hung open, and for a moment there, I forgot my task. Maria was just as shocked. The flock had completely forgot about her, it gave her time to sneak out. We were watching in the doorway. Earlier, we were forming a plan, but for that moment, we completely forgot. It was a good 10 minutes before we moved at all. Maria stirred. That's what shook me out of the trance.

"We must do something!" Maria stated.

"What can we do?" I asked.

"THINK OF SOMETHING!" She shouted.

Obediently, I did. But all that hoped that I just witnessed, all that courage, it set off a spark in me too. I was tired of this, and this time, I did something.

"No." I simply replied.

"What did you just say?" Maria glared at me.

"I said no."

She stared wide eyed at me, "I will tell the boss!" She threatened.

"I don't care."

She was speechless. "Don't make me..." She growled.

I just shrugged. She lunged at me, weapon out and ready to kill.

"I never thought it'd be you who would turn on us," She sneered as I dodged the blow.

I looked at her wrist, there was that bracelet again. I couldn't control minds now.

"I know you want to control me, you can't," She snickered.

I kicked her hard, grabbed her weapon from her hands and slashed her across the chest, she screamed and doubled over on her stomach. That gave me enough time to run into the arena. I was going to help the flock.

Everyone

All exhausted and tired, we knew we couldn't win. That's when Charlie came. At first we thought he was going to attack, but he just simply raised his hand to stop us from attacking.

"I didn't come to hurt you, I came to help.

"How can we trust you?" Ruidi questioned just as he and Caiyi blocked a blow from the giant.

"He speaks the truth," Raven mused.

Ruidi opened his mouth to say more, but after all they have been through, he decided to trust Raven's words.

With Charlie and his mind controlling powers, they were able to confuse the giant. They were almost winning. The beast was dying. In no time, it collapsed and the flock gasped for air.

They did it. They won, finally. After all that time, they won. Alex hurried over to Nick, they unchained him. He was barely conscious, but Alex managed to wake him.

"Where... where am I?" He stuttered.

"We'll explain later, but first we need to get out of here.