Chapter 44: Half in, half out

"While we're young, Helang!"

The hawk didn't answer; he was still with his eyes closed, breathing deeply.

Another bang was heard on the door, but this one left a mark on it. "I don't know what the hell that is, but it's big."

"Okay," Helang opened his eyes. "Kass, John, you two go forward. Mega, Byte, cover them from range. Buy me as long as you can."

"Yep, we'll do it." Mega began to think. "So… there must be at least like thirty, plus the big one that's…"

Another bang interrupted him, leaving another mark on the door.

"That's doing that. How are we even going to survive?"

"Just buy me time."

"Fine. I'll change the question." The wolf looked at the door. "Why aren't they coming underneath it?"

"Centauri has the building blocked somehow," Kass explained. "In here, shadows are like physical beings, they can't go through walls or sink into the ground."

"That gives us an advantage, for small it may be. That part of the corridor is narrow, they'll have to come in in smaller groups, so we'll beat them as they come through."

"What about the big one?" Byte asked.

"Just get enough time," The falcon repeated, eyes still closed.

"Fine, Mega and I will cover you from here then." Byte took a deep breath once and her fur turned whitish.

"As my little sister said." Mega did the same, but his fur turned purple.

"Then we'll take them directly, using claws and teeth."

The cat nodded at Jonathan's statement and they both got ready.

Seconds after a silence formed, the door received a third mark. Then another one. And then it broke, letting three shadows in at once, with some more trying to get inside. Without giving them time to plan anything, both cat and dog knocked them out. Before the ones behind those could try and hurt Jonathan or Kass, Mega and Byte shot electricity and light respectively to the shadows that remained.

The cat peered through the hole in the door. "Uh, guys? Do you remember the big guy we were just talking about?"

"Yeah."

"It doesn't exist."

"What?"

"Yeah, there's nothing out here; those we beat were the only ones."

"Really?" Helang opened his eyes, clearly confused. "Why couldn't I feel them?"

"Whatever the reason, we should be getting out of here."

Without further ado they all left the building's prison block running, and flying, as fast as they could, heading for the exit. They got down to the first floor safely… actually, no one else had appeared to face them, the place seemed to be totally empty. They didn't pay much attention to it and kept going until they had the door in sight. That's where their little trip ended.

Without warning each of them was launched brusquely against a different wall. Then they heard a fear-inducing, maniacal laugh.

From the shadows, a hooded man with dark energy coming out of his hands appeared. "Well, well, well. Looks like someone's lost."

"A trap, great," Mega exclaimed. As soon as he did, many shadows started appearing from all sides.

They all looked at Kass. "Didn't you tell us they couldn't do that?"

"They can if I say so," The man's voice interrupted. "They're a special sect of shadows, which I call 'crawlers'. So you're the famous Helang, Mega and Byte, huh?" The man removed his hood, revealing his scarred face. "Pleasure to finally meet you, my name…"

"Is Centauri."

The man stared at Mega for a few seconds, a smaller trace of surprise in his eyes. "How did…? Psyon, you filthy rat."

While the man was still talking alone, Helang recovered from the crash and rushed full speed at Centauri; however the guy only had to point a hand in his direction to immobilize him, making both wolves gasp.

"It's not… not possible," The bird muttered with effort. "I'm… I'm immune to these things."

"But you're playing in another team's field, friend. Let me tell you something, defense ties…"

"Defense wins," The hawk interrupted, realizing how stupid he had been.

"So it is. Psyon really trained you, huh? That's interesting." Centauri snapped his fingers and the shadows began to bind and tie the other four who hadn't yet recovered from the original blow.

"I want them into maximum security," He instructed as the shadows finished their work. "Take them to the experimental cells." The guy then slammed Helang against a wall, leaving him as knocked down as his friends.

(-)

Being only a couple of feet away from her objective, and being this one tired, vulnerable and cornered, Kia bared her teeth and snarled at Mittens, while she prepared for a swift and precise bite into the cat's neck. She looked into those green eyes and enjoyed every second of silent agony and terror these where transmitting; the cat was terrified, and Kia was enjoying that. One feet away. This was it.

"No!" Bolt suddenly rammed Kia from one side, pushing her away from Mittens.

"I'm tired of it!" She snapped as she stood back up, angrier than before. "Move aside or I'll kill you too!"

"I'm not moving." The she-fox snarled at him and disappeared. "Not again…"

He had no time to think before he received a blow from behind. Kia stood on top of him. "When I kill her, you'll thank me, honey," She whispered into his ear.

"Don't you dare… touch her!" But he had no energy left, and the blow had stunned him enough.

"Now, you stupid cat, I'll kill you. And my Bolt will go back to normal."

The cat was in the same position, tired and scared, and had nothing to do.

Kia slowly approached her objective again. And, again, didn't reach it. Being as close as the first time, her legs simply collapsed under her weight. "What's this?" She glared at Mittens in total hatred. "What'd you do to me!?"

"It wasn't her," Another voice came from the entrance to the room. "It was me."

Both Bolt and Mittens opened their eyes and began to smile, for their rescuer was no less than Rhino himself. They had never been so glad to see their little friend.

"You didn't really think I would stay home and sit while you were having fun, right?" The hamster walked towards him friends, intending to heal them. Whoever it wasn't necessary. When them all three where close enough, Bolt and Mittens began to glow slightly healing all of their wounds and renewing their energy.

Then a voice came.

"Well done, you three. Now it is your time to leave this place."

"Should we?" The dog smiled at his mate.

"Yes, yes we should," She smiled back.

"No, I won't let you!" Kia yowled still on the floor. But none of them listened to her. "No!"

Bolt stopped at the door and looked back at her. "I'm sorry, Kia," It was the last thing he said before leaving.

"NO! They're escaping! Somebody do something!" The fox screamed from the top of her lungs.

All three of them were running to the exit when an alarm sounded loudly. Moments later seven shadows, bigger and stronger even than the elite one, appeared. They began to circle the three friends, keeping them away from the exit.

"Mittens, hold Rhino and get on me. I have an idea."

She did as Bolt asked.

"Now what, Bolt?" Rhino asked, trying not to panic. They all knew they couldn't take on those shadows.

"Now… I hope I paid enough attention," He muttered to himself.

"Attention to what?" They both asked, a new type of worry stinging inside.

"Hold on tight."

When Bolt felt Mittens' grip get stronger, he looked past the shadows, just where the door was. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and hoped for things to go right. The astonished comments of his mate and best friend confirmed they had.

"B-Bolt… h-h-how did you…?" The dog opened his eyes and realized that, indeed, they were now standing beside the door, past the shadows. "Y-You… teleported us?"

"I-I guess I did; and I have no idea how, but I feel awesome, as if I could do anything!"

"And speaking of 'doing anything', can we beat them?" Rhino said, pointing to the, now pissed, shadows.

"No."

Rhino looked at Bolt in confusion. "Why not?"

"I don't know, I think it's a premonition," The shepherd answered.

"Then how do we get out without being followed?" Mittens asked quickly.

"Leave that to me."

The hamster, without waiting for an answer, closed in his paws to make his energy sphere, only that it was a lot faster and bigger than usual. "Oh, cool! I didn't know I could do it so fast!" Then he aimed at the shadows, lowered a little his aim and threw it. "Cover your eyes!"

When the sphere made contact with the floor it exploded in a brilliant luminous cloud. Fortunately, all three of them had obeyed Rhino's command.

"Now, Bolt, get us out of here!"

By the time the cloud had dissipated, no animal was to be seen.

(-)

Ben was totally terrified, and praying not to die just for having some bad news.

The shadow knocked on its boss' door and entered the office after receiving the instruction to do so.

"What is it?" the human asked from his chair.

"Sir, the shadows…"

"Ah, yes. Did the capture the targets?"

Ben gulped. "No."

Centauri frowned a little, and with no warning hit the desk, adding another mark to it. After that his expression returned to normal. "And how are the new prisoners?"

"Fine, I guess. T-They haven't awakened yet."

"Right. Notify me as soon as they do."

"Yes, sir," Without waiting for another order, Ben ran out of the office.

Centauri started talking again. "Well, a slight setback. A movement that didn't go as planned. No game of chess goes exactly as planned, so it's your ability to adapt that determines the real victory, needless to say, it'll soon be mine."

Another knock was heard on the door. A well-known shadow poked its head in. "You wanted to see me, sir?"

"Yes. I think you did a great job luring those fools straight up here; plus you proved that my newest security chief was not as good as I thought." The man took a half-destroyed pen and wrote something on an old paper. "Take this to the main warehouse and hand it over to whoever's in charge there. It's your reward."

The shadow took the paper and smiled just by reading the amount of power it would be granted just by delivering that stupid paper at the warehouse. "Thank you, sir." It headed for the exit, but stopped midway. "Oh, by the way, Kia wanted to talk to you."

"Yes, I know."

"Something about her ability; she says it didn't work a while ago.

"I'm aware of that, too. I caused it."

The shadow looked in astonishment at the man sitting on the chair. "You… nulled Kia's teleport?"

"Yes and no. Pay attention, I'll say it once." Centauri grabbed a small device from somewhere, it looked like a sprinkler. "Do you know what it is?" The shadow shrugged. "I thought so. This baby here is a power transformer, and works like this." Centauri placed the thing on the desk and pressed a small button on it. The shadow immediately felt the energy on the room get darker.

"So it…"

"It turns the room's energy into negative, I sense it."

"Yes, that's right." Centauri smiled. "Now go walk around and tell me if you don't find one of those per room at least. They feed on positive and neutral energy, so being here those idiots have a limited amount of energy to use against us."

"But, sir…"

"I know, some shadows died of power-shots today. From what I know, they're always carrying a small sum of energy that they store in their bodies. That's why they could use abilities at first. However, they ran out of it, and that's why everything went so well."

"I see, but I still don't understand what's its relation with Kia's thing.

"Kia, naively, ignores our intentions. That's why she didn't feed on negative energy to power her ability. There was no positive energy for her to use today, and thus, she couldn't teleport, as much desperate as she was to help her beloved dog."

"But…"

"When the cat kissed the dog, she not only straightened his memories, but she broke Kia's heart, moreover since Bolt kissed her back afterwards. With a broken heart and enough anger pulsing through her, Kia began feeding on negative energy, though she wasn't used to it, and was able to teleport again."

"Okay… but if there was no positive energy, how'd the dog and the hamster were able to use skills to get out of here?"

"The pillar."

No more words where needed. The stupid pillar could break all the rules, bend all the schemes, and go beyond the limits. That's why they had managed. That pillar was the biggest threat to the organization.

"But if the pillar is safe now, we have no chance."

Centauri chuckled. "How pessimistic you are. Right, the pillar can accomplish anything, but it must train to do so. Buying a piano won't make you a pianist unless you practice. And we won't give them time to practice."

"How…?"

"Enough questions," Centauri decided. "Go get your reward."

The shadow didn't move for a few seconds, then bowed. "Thanks, sir."

The specter left and Centauri was once more alone in his office, thinking.

(-)

"Hey, look, Bolt's back!"

Everyone who hadn't been allowed to go to the mission was around them three in a matter of seconds. Questions rained over Bolt's ears and he wasn't even able to answer one. Finally, Delta's wail rose over the rest of them.

"Where are the others?"

The dog tilted his head. "They're not back?"

"Don't joke."

"No, I'm serious, we haven't seen them."

Beta sighed and looked down. "Then they were probably captured."

"No, no, no. I think those five can fight any shadow in front of them."

"Any shadow… except one."

Everyone was surprised to hear Soul's voice, and the default question was "What happened to your kids?", which the voice answered with one word.

"Centauri."

And nothing more was needed; everyone instantly understood the situation.

"So now what?" Alpha asked.

"First things first. Bolt, Mittens, Rhino, you better get inside."

"What? Why?" The hamster questioned instantly.

"Penny is trying to explain to her mother where she was."

"Oh," Without any more explanation they headed home. "See you in a while, guys."

Inside the house, the first thing they saw was Penny, with her clothes dirty and even a little ragged. She was sitting in front of her mother, with a face that clearly said: "I don't believe you."

"Okay," She spoke. "Now I want the truth, missy."

"But that's the truth, mom," Penny mumbled with her head down. Whatever she had told her mother, it was definitely not the truth.

"No, it's not. Why don't you tell me where you were, or what happened?"

The girl was silent for about a minute, her eyes moving from place to place. "Because you wouldn't believe me if I told you," She said at last.

"However, given the situation, she'll find out sooner or later, Penny."

She didn't answer Soul and kept her sight on the floor in between her feet. Her mother sighed with resignation.

"Well, it doesn't matter anymore. The important thing is that you're back," She sentenced. Without saying more, she stood up and went back to the kitchen.

"Penny," Bolt called to his person.

The girl turned and had her frown upside down in a moment. "Bolt!"

She ran to embrace him and kept her beloved shepherd in her arms for a while.

"I'm sorry, Penny," He said. "You were trying to help me and I wouldn't listen."

"It doesn't matter, like mom said, we're back home."

"Yeah, about that…"

The girl noticed that "We have trouble" tone, and let go of Bolt. "What happened, Soul? Where have you been? Why didn't you talk to me? Do you know how lonely I felt?" Her tone gave the impression of a wife questioning her husband after he comes home too late in the night.

The soul didn't pay attention to the tone and simply sighed. "Do you remember that Helang promised they would come back?"

She came to her conclusion in a second. "They won't, will they?"

"Uh-uh. Centauri captured them all five. The rest is outside at least."

Without further ado, Penny headed outside, followed by her three pets. They immediately went to the barn, where the rest of them was waiting in silence.

"Okay," Penny said as she set foot on the inside. "What's the plan?"

"Your best chance is the pillar."

"Yeah, but you haven't told us who is the pillar," Rhino commented.

"And I'm not about to. It's one thing you have to do alone. But I'll repeat that the pillar is among you three."

A slight air flow crossed the barn and Soul said nothing more.

"Soul?" No answer. "Soul!"

Nothing. He had left.

"We don't have time to figure who the pillar is, we have to get them back!"

"Wait…" Everyone looked at Peep, who had stood up. "We have to… take it easy, y'know? We rush it… we find ourselfs… in a cell next to them."

"You're right," Flor said. "We have to think ourselves a good plan and analyze it well."

"Listen, uh, it may not seem fine given our situation, but I think you should rest, at least for today. You just came back from there, so maybe we should wait a day or two before setting paw inside again."

"Alpha's right," her brother nodded. "We have to go easy and nicely."

"And we can make up a plan in these days," Beta continued. "Though we could use some help!" She shouted at the ceiling, receiving no answer once more.

"It's settled then. We'll take today to rest and relax. From tomorrow on, we'll plan a rescue for our friends."

There was a nod among everyone and then each went back home.

Helang's P.O.V.

Defense ties, defense wins. Defense ties, defense wins. Defense ties, defense wins. How could I be so stupid? Master taught me better than this. A trap, the hell I knew it was a trap, but… I thought I would manage. Defense ties, defense wins, damn it! The biggest stupidity of my life… though, I kinda prepared something for…

A horrible squeak sounded throughout the room, taking me back to reality. I opened my eyes for the first time since Centauri had caught me. I was in a cell, and I didn't actually care for its color of material. This dude was not stupid, he would've placed us in his best and more secure cells. However, I was a little surprised to find that the texture of the room was… rocky.

Mega's voice was next. "Hey, guys, the idiot's placed us in stone cells! We'll be out in no time!"

It was true. The entire cell was made of a rocky composition, with black and dark tones, excepting a crystal on one side; probably as resisting as the one Bolt used to keep us from helping Mittens. Man, I hope they had better luck.

I looked through the glass. Mega and Byte were next to each other, in contiguous cells. Jonathan was next to Mega and Kass next to Byte. I was the only one on the other side, the only one that could see them from my cell.

"Mega, I don't want to crush that hope, but I really doubt it's normal rock. We know what this guy can do," Byte told him. I didn't want to admit it, but she was probably right. He wouldn't let us get out of here easily, unless, of course, we were running into another trap.

A door opened and my eyes caught the last being I would like to see. He was accompanied by Kia, who had a serious semblance and a much darker look than the one James had described to us. The shadow to which we made the deal was there, too. Both of them stood at each side of the door and let the person walk in calmly.

Centauri moved freely around the room. "First of all, I hope you're comfortable. You'll be there for a long time. Second, let me inform you that you can't escape." The man stopped in front of Mega's cell and smirked. "Like my friend here said, the cells are made of rock, or more specifically, obsidian, which means…"

"We'll be gone by tomorrow," Mega interrupted.

Centauri began to laugh. "How stupid!" He mocked in between the laughter. He took his time to calm down, then kept going as if nothing. "Obsidian's characterized for absorbing energy. All energy you produce or summon will be absorbed by the cell itself. That's exactly why you won't have any ability to use."

"There are other ways to make an escape."

"Shut it, Mega!" I screamed in his mind. He looked at me ashamed. Man, he can be a headache sometimes.

Cenaturi started walking around again. "Like you said, there are more ways. Let me show you: Each cell is pressurized and totally isolated from the world. I merely installed a communicator in each of them so you won't die of boredom. Don't try it, your conversations will be monitored." He stopped in front of my cell and knocked on the glass a couple of times, amused. "You'll only receive enough air to breath, so you won't absorb energy from the air." He walked away from me and went to Byte. "Also, we can lift the cells up, cutting your contact with the ground so you don't absorb energy from the earth. You'll have only enough water to live, thus making you unable to absorb energy from there, too. You have totally forbidden to meditate, relax, or anything, and you'll only sleep when we tell you so. The cells can monitor your vital signs, and, being it necessary, we'll just have to… teach you a lesson." He smiled grimly.

"You won't get away with it. The pillar will stop you." Aw, Mega. Sometimes, just sometimes, it's better to shut up.

"Maybe you mean the dog, or the cat, even perhaps the little hamster." His tone was totally confident, and I didn't like that. "Don't worry about them, they're very comfortable in another containment room, on the opposite side of the building. So assuming you managed to escape, we'll kill them. Or vice versa."

"How…?"

"Certainly, the hamster appeared when the cat had already spoiled Bolt, but that doesn't mean they were able to escape, right?" Kia blinked and looked at Centauri in a questioning way. Is he lying? "Well, enjoy your stay."

Centauri left the room still smiling, followed closely by Kia. The only one that stayed was the shadow.

"Thanks," It said, but I couldn't bring myself to guess if it was sincere or sarcastic. Or maybe both. After that, however, the shadow left too.

We're in trouble. If Centauri has them three, we're doomed.

"Well, I guess, we're stuck here," Kass said, lying on the floor of his cell, looking at its ceiling. "Maybe If we had brought the othe…"

"Hush!" I silenced the cat. Then I talked in their minds.

"If we had brought the rest of them, we would all be inside here. I knew it was a trap, and planned a backup in case I wasn't able to foresee it."

Mega opened his eyes and looked at me in awe. "You didn't leave them behind." I shook my head. "Right, you're the boss for a reason."

"But we have to do our share, too," I continued. "If Centauri's got Bolt, Mittens and Rhino, getting out of here will be harder. We have to find a way out of the cells."

They all started looking around, trying to find a way. I didn't. I thought it wouldn't be as obvious as a door or so.

"I don't see how," Mega said.

"Nothing."

"Same."

"Zero."

"Perhaps the cells do were designed for us," I sighed. The worst part was that I couldn't meditate, which would be the best option in a place like this. "We'll have to wait."

(-)

Sir, you're being called in the research lab."

Centauri growled and left the room towards where he had been called, leaving Kia with the two shadows monitoring the cells. She was observing the room through the various cameras that where placed in there. They're my best chance, thought the she-fox.

Centauri walked to the lab, mumbling under his breath. He wasted no time and got there in a minute.

"What?" He asked bluntly.

Both shadows looked scared to a point. "Sir, we… we've tried everything within reach, but the staff…"

"It's just not changing. Not at all," In a shelf nearby, the wooden staff they were talking about made a series of repetitive notes. "And it makes those noised frequently."

"It's making fun of you, idiots." Centauri moved towards the cane. "Its composition… looks brand new…" He turned back to the shadows. "Double your efforts. If you don't know what to do, then investigate. I want it turned to the dark as soon as possible."

Without giving a chance to reply, he left the lab, slamming the door.

(-)

"Okay, okay, another one."

"Mega, I'm tired of your bad jokes."

The wolf ignored his sister's complaint. "Okay, look. What's funnier than twenty four? Twenty five!" Nobody said anything. "You understand? 25 is more than 24! Get it?" The wolf could not contain the laughter of his own joke and began to laugh loudly. Byte put on an expression of wanting to die or get out of there as soon as possible. Helang was deep in thought, Kass was sharpening its claws against the rock and Jonathan was lying on his back, staring at the ceiling of his cell. After a minute, the wolf calmed down enough to talk again. "Okay, here's another one."

"No!" Byte yowled. "Mega, please, I'm begging you. Don't. Keep. Going."

"And what do you want me to do, girl?"

"Nothing."

Silence.

A minute.

Two minutes.

Three minu–

"Then nothing, 'nothing', or nothing 'stop telling jokes and do something else'?"

"Nothing!"

"Don't yell at me, calm down."

"Helang, please make him stop."

"Hey, do you think I'm a little pup or what?"

"You act like one. Ninety percent of your life time."

"And the other ten?"

"Like a puppy."

"Oh, I see. So, according to you, I don't contribute to the team."

"Not when you get like a puppy. Oh, wait, you always do!"

"You always act bitter; I just wanted to cheer you up!"

"Well, you're not helping!"

"You aren't either!"

To that point, Kass and Jonathan had covered their ears. Helang was deep in thought, staring at the floor and thinking about the last six words his dear master had told him. Six words that had haunted his mind for some times now: You'll know when to tell them.


Hi! Week's chapter on time. Anyway, thanks to everyone who still reads this, after all this time. Special thanks to Basbon and to ShadowScare for reviewing my chapter's; guys, you really help me out and keep me motivated for this. I've got nothing more to say, so nos vemos luego!