14

"You sure this is what we're looking for?" Jam asked as he and Alex walked into a large room filled with various computers that all looked to be the Windows model. Finding this room had felt a tad too easy; they only met two or three of Brandon's Shifters in total, and each one they'd knocked unconscious to leave for the army.

"Yeah," Alex replied. "Why?"

"It wasn't what I expected," Jam said. "I mean, I can hack into some things, but this seems way above my level."

"Then, why'd you volunteer?" Alex asked, furrowing his brow.

"Like I said, I didn't think this was what I'd be up against," Jam responded, walking up to one of the computers.

"Well, Ryan said you'd only need to get into one," Alex said. "Then you'll have access to everything on the system. Maybe you'll find out how to order us a pizza too."

Jam rolled his eyes with an amused smile as he sat down and got to work. Upon starting up the computer, it immediately prompted him for a password. Nowadays, most lock features were bypassed with voice or fingerprints if you were smart. But this device had it the old-school way. Thankfully, this was the one thing that Jam knew quite well, and he put in a sequence of code that revealed the word stored in the computer's memory. Once he got to the main desktop screen, he started looking for the control panel specifically made for the building

Which turned out to be more complicated than he thought. It was nowhere to be found on the home screen, so he had to search through most of the applications in order to find it.

"The one on the left."

Jam jumped slightly. He hadn't realized Alex was standing right behind him.

"Thanks," he replied, clicking on it. Which brought up a bar to type in the password again. Jam frowned; he'd forgotten to write it down, and he knew it would be harder to hack it from this point.

"Goldenhayes1."

Jam glanced up at him and felt a shiver run down his spine. It wasn't from Alex being next to him, but that his immense height sometimes made him feel figuratively small. It'd happened quite frequently when he was younger, so he was used to it. He shook his head to push back the old feelings and refocused on the task at hand.

"Right," he said, typing it in. The control panel unlocked, giving him access to its contents.

"Aren't you glad to have me to help you through these sticky situations?" Alex asked smugly, clapping him on the shoulder.

Jam smiled. "You gonna go keep a lookout or what?"

Alex chuckled, then struted over to the door.

Jam rolled his eyes again, and looked at the screen, scanning his options. There were more than he'd expected, and he found himself stuck between choosing various options to cripple their enemies. Then, he figured that it would be smart to do a quick reconnaissance, and pulled up the security cameras to see where things stood. Flipping through each one, it seemed apparent that most of Brandon's Shifters were concentrated in one of the main rooms a few hallways down from where he and Alex were, still engaged with Ryan's guys. This narrowed his options down a few, but it was obvious that he would need to make a decision fast or the fight could be taken to this room as well.

"Yo, Alex," Jam called out, turning around. "I found them, but they're getting close. Should I turn off the lights or activate the water sprinklers?"

Alex looked down at the ground and frowned, which he usually did when confronted with a hard decision. A moment later, he spoke, "Well, seeing that our Shifters will be caught off guard as well, I think neither of them would be a good choice. Is there anything else you can do?"

"But they know our part of the plan. Why would they be surprised?"

"Our Shifters may know you're hacking the controls, but they don't know exactly what you're doing. They'd get caught off guard, and we can't contact them without Brandon's guys knowing."

"Wouldn't they be able to recover faster?" Jam pushed. "They should recognize it."

Alex dug a hand through his hair. "They may not be shocked, but either of those decisions would definitely slow them down, which we don't need right now. You're looking at the fate of our own men right now, so, please, is there anything else you can do?"

Jam recognized that tone of voice, and he knew it was time to stand down and answer his question. He'd only seen Alex rage a few times at school, and he wasn't in the mood to see it again.

"I can lock the doors," he said quietly.

Alex's hard eyes softened. "That'll do." He turned his gaze back to the hallway outside, his expression intense.

Jam wiped the incident from his brain, and went to work. Each component in the control panel wasn't password protected; they were guarded by variou security measures like fingerprint and retinal scanning that wasn't possible without the person they were made for. However, he knew they could be hacked, but it was possible that the steps to do so were far above his level of knowledge. However, after running a few strings of code, it turned out not to be so complicated, and he was through in a matter of moments. Jam switched back to the cameras to make sure he got the timing right, and waited until he knew all the remaining fighters were gathered in the room. Then he went back to the control panel and locked the doors with a few clicks of the mouse.

It worked out better than he thought. From the cameras, he saw one of them try to take his fight out into the hall, only to find that he was stuck where he was. And he let the Shifters on his side know it, sending them into a brief panic. But Ryan's Shifters used it to their advantage, and began fighting harder, slowly gaining the upper hand. There were about 10 to 15 guys on each side, and the number of Brandon's Shifters was beginning to dwindle the longer it went on. Personally, Jam hadn't been happy about having to kill a group of people who were older than him, which was why he was glad to have this task, but now those feelings had changed to ones of hope. Hope that it will be over soon.

"Hey, Alex, look," Jam said, not turning around. "I think we're winning."

"Great jo-" Alex's response was cut off by his grunt of pain and the sound of something hard hitting the ground.

Jam spun around in shock to find Alex trying to fight off another Shifter who was attempting to keep him pinned to the floor. The struggle ended when Alex kicked him in the stomach, and he stumbled backwards, bending over. That gave Alex enough time to get back to his feet, Shifting one of the lamps into his hand in the form of a Particle sword. The other Shifter already had one drawn, and they started to fight.

He must've not been with everyone else, Jam thought as he stood up and went to go help his brother.

Alex saw what he was doing and said, "Stay back, Alan. I got this."

Jam stopped where he was, as if his feet were glued to the stone. Alex was serious whenever he used his real name, so he had to trust that he knew what he was doing.

It was rare to watch him battle with such determination, as if hoping to get the confrontation over with. But Jam understood why; the training sessions had always felt like a facade of the real battle where they weren't supposed to kill. But now it was here, and Jam knew Alex didn't want it to linger on his mind for long. However, neither advanced for the first few minutes. Each one kept blocking and slashing, trying to get the other to make a false move, but it didn't happen. At one point, Alex sweeped the Shifter's feet out from under him, causing him to fall, then made several of the ceiling tiles drop onto his head. The Shifter was faster, though, and Shifted out of the way, bringing on another sword fight. This time, Alex brought another Particle sword into his left hand, catching the other Shifter off guard, and charged, bringing them both up at the same time. The other guy somehow still found the space to avoid the strikes, and made a jab with his now solidified sword. It sunk into the back of Alex's arm, and he cried out, stepping out of the way, then turned and punched the Shifter in the face.

He reeled back, eyes wide, and had no time to react as Alex speared through his chest with two stone swords. The Shifter's body fell to the ground, just as a shout of fury came from the doorway. Alex wasn't quick enough and he felt his body come apart as he was Shifted into the air. Thankfully, the ceiling wasn't particularly high, so he landed in a crouched position and retrieved his swords just as Brandon charged him.

Jam took it as a bad sign that he was here, for more than the obvious reason. Ryan was supposed to take him out, so it was clear that something happened to him. But, he forced his mind to focus on what was going on in front of him as Brandon and Alex clashed, each with dual blades. There didn't seem to be much reason to try to go help; Alex would shoo him away, and he could never fight at their level anyway. He was still blown away by their experience in Particle fighting, though. The rate of their strikes and parries was far quicker than he could've imagined. Alex ducked one slash, then tried to cut through his chest like he did with the previous Shifter. However, Brandon teleported away and attempted to stab him in the back. Alex stepped to the side, then swung his sword out in front of him, hoping to drive Brandon back.

He winced from the injury to his arm, and only now did Jam notice it was gushing blood. Brandon blocked, then began pushing his swords forward, trying to get to Alex's chest. Alex fought back and the two were at a standstill for a moment. Then Alex, having the superior leverage because of his height, slowly began gaining the advantage, forcing Brandon's weapons toward his body. They were just about to go through when Brandon elbowed him in the face. Alex lost his balance, and fell to the ground, attempting to recover.

What happened next seemed to take an eternity to complete. Brandon Shifted his swords into a gun and fired three times. Alex's body jerked violently from the blows, then went still, blood staining his shirt. Jam's shocked mind went blank at the thought of his brother getting killed, before the rage took over, bringing with it, power. He aimed his hand at Brandon, who had a surprised look on his face, and focused on him and the gun. The weapon reappeared in his grip, as Brandon burst into Particles, then reformed on the opposite side of the room, standing on the ledge of the balcony outside. Jam didn't even think twice as he shot him repeatedly through the open door. He'd never used a gun before, so none of the bullets pierced Brandon's heart, but they still caused him to lose his balance and fall to the ground, immobile.

Unfortunately, the chamber was emptied out, so Jam threw the gun to the side, as he ran over to his brother.

Alex lay on the ground, seemingly lifeless, but upon putting his hand on the side of his beck, Jam saw that he still had a pulse. His heart gave a tiny leap as Alex's eyes fluttered open, then slowly focused on him.

"Alan," he said, his deep voice soft and rumbling.

"Alex, I-" Jam tried to speak.

Alex placed a warm hand on his shoulder. "You've gotta get out of here. They're going to kill you." His breathing was growing fainter, and Jam knew that any amount of nurem wasn't going to be able to save him.

Jam shook his head furiously, trying not to let the tears come. "I'm so sorry."

Alex managed a genuine smile. "You have nothing to be sorry about. You've made me proud. My whole life." He closed his eyes, his hand falling back to the ground, and went still.

He was gone.

Jam was unable to put thoughts to his feelings. His mind was dead from the experience, and now, he suddenly felt utterly and completely alone in the world. Comprehending that his brother was dead was too much to hold in, and he found the tears leaking out of his eyes. Jam only had a moment of grieving before he felt something hard glance off the top of his head. The pain was there only for a second before his vision faded into an empty darkness.

Ryan was sitting against the wall of an empty break room, his body in terrible pain. The fight had not gone at all the way he'd expected and now he was paying the price for being unprepared by getting slashed, shot, and left for dead in an area away from his teammates. He couldn't believe how well it had gone at first. One thing he knew well about Brandon was that he liked to partake in his battles, and in some cases his training sessions, alone. It was something he often did back during the early days of the Shifters, so sure enough, Ryan had found him in one of the break rooms located away from the main fight.

The conversation they'd had hadn't been particularly long. All throughout the months of hard training and staying hidden, he'd never known Brandon's true intentions. There were days when he tried to think it through, to find out for himself, but nothing had come to mind that made sense. Ryan had hoped this would've been the time to find the answer, but Brandon had always been stubborn in keeping things hidden, and today was no exception. Brandon had been the one to make the first move, summoning various rocks over Ryan's head. But Ryan was quick, and managed to Shift out of the way, closer to him, charging with his Particle sword drawn. Their duel lasted longer than he hoped, but in the end, Ryan had been overpowered and was dealt a slash across the chest and a shot to the heart. Brandon, satisfied with his work, left to go fulfill other deeds that Ryan was sure involved his own Shifters.

He'd been here for almost 10 minutes according to the clock on the wall, one of the few that still worked, and he couldn't believe that it'd come to this. He had been so confident that this was where the final battle would be, where they would save the Shifter community from their own that wanted to destroy them. But now, as he sat, unable to move, feeling his life wither away each minute, he knew he'd been dead wrong. The only thing he could do now was hope that the remaining members of his army would be able to see the danger and escape the same fate. Hopefully they could regroup and continue the fight for safety. Hopefully they've crippled Brandon's Shifters enough to weaken them to buy some time.

Hopefully…

Now, his head was beginning to feel light and his vision was starting to waver. There was nothing left for him.

I've done all I could to protect the ones I care about, he thought peacefully. I know you guys will strive to do the same.

With that, Ryan closed his eyes and allowed the darkness to claim him.

The muffled thumps of Aiden's Nike's on the stone floor sounded louder in the midst of the present silence. He was walking around the second floor of the office complex, his fiery eyes peeled for the slightest movements. The morning sun shining into the various rooms created patches of light amongst the shadows, giving the interiors a sense of mystery. He was unarmed, not carrying a Particle sword, and only wearing a gray T-Shirt and jeans, hoping to lure his opponent into a false sense of security. He was surprised that he hadn't found her yet; the fighting happening below had begun to dwindle, the sounds of swords clashing together and occasional shouts beginning to die down. It was these details that began to make him worry. They hadn't been there for an hour, and both sides had already been nearly wiped out, or so it seemed. This wasn't how it was supposed to play out, and it concerned him, as if their enemies had somehow known what they had planned to do…

Suddenly, he heard footsteps behind him and, turning around, he found Kaitlyn standing at the other end of the hall, Particle sword in hand. Her appearance caught Aiden off guard; she had her long blonde hair in a ponytail, and had on a white tank-top with navy blue jeans. However, he didn't want to let her intimidate him, so he faced her fully, a scowl adding to his stony look.

Kaitlyn spoke first, a smug grin crossing her face. "I thought you'd be happy to see me again." She chuckled. "It's too bad. We were having such a good time together."

"Being locked in a room with nothing to see except the shadows isn't what I call 'a good time,'" Aiden replied. "At least it came out to be worthless in the end. Your army is going down, and you along with it."

Kaitlyn smiled. "You really think I care what happens to them? They're just as bad as you guys, and the world will be safer without those fools."

Aiden's dark brows raised incredulously. Maybe Jason had been right and this all was a trap. Had they all been lured in here only to be destroyed? He shook his head to wipe out that thought from his brain; regardless if it was true or not, she was trying to get to him, to unhinge his focus. Besides, he didn't really want much of a conversation.

Aiden extended his hand out, ready to turn a nearby door lying on the ground, into his Particle sword, when he heard more footsteps behind him. He glanced back to see Lin walking up to them, glaring at Kaitlyn. Confusion filled his head; shouldn't Lin be downstairs, helping the others?

"Well, someone's come to crash the party," Kaitlyn growled.

Lin didn't answer, and instead looked at Aiden. "You can go. I'll take care of her."

Aiden folded his arms. "I was supposed to face her from the beginning, remember? We all discussed this-"

"Well, the plans have changed," Lin shot back, interrupting him. "I can't explain right now, but I have to be the one to fight her. You should go help Jason."

"But-"

"Go," she replied coldly.

Aiden stared back, eyes hard, then looked down after a moment. "All right," he said quietly. "But I don't like this."

He glanced at Kaitlyn one final time, and then, before she could react, disappeared into a collection of Particles, Shifting away from the hallway.

Kaitlyn frowned. "Any reason you had to ruin our little chat? We were doing fine without you."

"There's only one way to end this pointless battle," Lin replied firmly. "Taking out the source. Both my and your Shifters will probably all get killed from this skirmish, so removing the leaders is the only way to see that both groups can survive. And you're first on my list."

Kaitlyn laughed. "Well, you made the wrong choice. My experience in Shifting is far above yours. It won't take much to finish you off."

"Don't be so sure," Lin retorted with a smile. "I've grown more powerful since the last time we met. You may have found an adversary."

"We'll see about that." With that comment, Kaitlyn charged forward, sword out in front of her. Lin Shifted a wooden shelf into her own Particle sword, and did the same. Their weapons clashed in the middle as they began to duel.