Isabel's feet carried her forward. Drawn to the sound of what she assumed to be a gunshot, she stared down the tunnel, hoping to find the source of the bang. While she couldn't see anything living in sight, she noticed once again how pinpoint her eyes sight was in the dark.

Before she got too far, an explorer intercepted her path. ''Where do you think you're going?''

Isabel stared at the explorer. ''Seriously, you're not concerned about that gunshot we heard?''

''How do you know it was a gunshot? Those are ancient weapons from the old world. We've never found one since exploring these tunnels.''

''Well, one had to be found eventually.'' Isabel sighed. She could see that arguing with them wasn't going to get her anywhere. ''Look, it might not have been a gunshot. I'm just guessing. Either way, shouldn't we investigate? That's where Giovanni and the rest of the group are.''

The explorer turned and looked down the tunnel. Sweat rained down the back of his neck. ''Damn it, what is going on down there?''

A second explorer stepped forward. ''Do you think it might be Thane?''

Another explorer gulped. ''If it was, why would he have a gun? And why would he shoot anyone?''

''We don't know if anyone's been shot!'' The first explorer stated, throwing a quick glare Isabel's way.

The last thing they needed was to start a panic when they were literally and figuratively in the dark. However, Isabel was too rattled the care and simply looked back down the tunnel. This was a new experience for all of them. They had lessons growing up in the colony on what procedures to follow with certain circumstances. However, nothing accounted for the possibility of a gun. All they had to defend themselves were lamps and pickaxes.

''Alright,'' the first explorer had taken authority, circling his small group. ''Half of you will stay and look after the girl. The rest will follow me and…''

''Am I really still a prisoner right now?'' Isabel growled.

Jess grabbed her friend's arm. ''Isabel, don't…''

''No, I'm done with this bullshit!'' She fired back aggressively at her friend.

It was finally at that moment Isabel knew that something was wrong with her. She'd never snapped like that at Jess before. She saw the look of fear in her friend's eyes and felt guilt eat away at her heart. Ever since she emerged from the liquid, she's noticed changes with her mind and body. She could see and hear better than anyone. Her stamina hadn't faltered since her trek back to the group after last seeing Thane. She didn't know exactly what had happened to her, but it was enough for her to consider taking chances. She wanted to get things done, and she felt that she now had the power to do so.

She stared down the tunnel once again. After a moment, she glanced at Jess. ''You might want to step back.''

Still startled by Isabel's outburst earlier, Jess nodded and moved away from her friend. She looked down to see Isabel bury her heel into the ground, as if preparing to make a run for it.

The other explorers noticed and tried to block her path. ''If you get any funny ideas, we will stop you.''

Isabel smirked. ''You'll have to catch me first.''

She ran, not sure what to expect. In the blink of an eye, she catapulted herself past the blockade of explorers, pushing them all the ground. Jess was almost swept off her feet by the wind caused by Isabel's rocketing running start. She looked up just in time to see Isabel race into the darkness facing than humanly possible.

As Isabel sprinted down the tunnel, she almost tripped on rocks. She had to skid to stop herself from crashing into the walls as her speed caught her completely off guard. She didn't actually think that would work, at least, not to the extent that it did. Refusing to hesitant, she kept running, moving at speeds that would have been too great for anyone else. But, everything seemed to move in slow motion. She could see where the tunnel would turn despite there being no light. She could hear everything from the bugs digging through the dirt to water trickling above her head. Her muscles were on fire, but she never grew tired or fatigued.

It was a feeling alien to her, and she loved it.

Before long, she could hear voices coming from ahead. Not wanting to make a hasty entrance without knowing what was going on, she stopped herself before coming upon an exit. She crouched down and slowly peered around the corner.

She saw the other explorers lined up on their knees with their hands behind their backs. Giovanni was the only one out of the line, clutching a bleeding wound on his shoulder. Surrounding them were men and women dressed in red and black jackets holding swords to the back of the explorer's necks, poised to strike if anyone even flinched. Pacing at the front of the pack was a stocky woman dressed in the same attire. The only difference was that along with a sword in one hand, she carried a small pistol in the other.

''I'm getting impatient,'' the woman said with a booming voice. She walked over to Giovanni and pointed her gun to his head. ''When I'm impatient, my finger tends to slip more easily. Where is your base of operation?''

Giovanni spat blood on the ground next to the woman's feet. ''I told you. Our colony was destroyed in a cave in. We are all that's left. You will find no one else.''

The woman rolled her eyes. ''See, any other day, I might believe that sob story. But there's one small catch, dirt-walker. We brought in someone earlier this day claiming to be a colony that's a lot less dead than what you claim. You wouldn't happen to be familiar with the name Thane, would you?''

Giovanni hesitated for a moment, but it was all that was needed for the woman to see through his lies.

''Here's what we'll do. You tell me where your colony is, and I will make sure that all of you are together safe and sound. Doesn't that sound like a good deal?''

Isabel hid back around the corner and pressed her back to the wall. This was worse than she thought. They had never come across another group of hostile humans before. In the past few years, they would only encounter one or two travelling through the tunnels for the survival and bring them back to the colony if they were fit to work. But not only was this group far from friendly, but the way the woman called Giovanni a dirt-walker indicated to Isabel that they weren't from below the earth. They came from the surface. They were human slaves working for Drakes, rounding up other humans to continue to add to their collection.

All the bravado and fire that was burning inside Isabel dimmed when she realized what she was up again. Even with her mysterious, newfound abilities, could she do anything before getting shot. She knew it was real by Giovanni's wound. What could she do?

'Angelique,'' Isabel heard someone. She looked back around and saw one of the slavers approach the lead woman. ''Should we just take this group with us? Lord Lacron wouldn't want us to be late.''

The woman, Angelique, sneered at Giovanni, pressing the barrel of her gun harder against his forehead. ''Fine, we'll just head back to camp and ask Thane where the colony is. I'm sure that Lord Lacron will be happy with 8 new slaves for now.''

Everyone's faces scrunched with confusion. ''But we have 9 captured here.''

Angelique curled her finger around the trigger of her gun. ''What Lord Lacron won't know won't hurt him.''

Isabel gasped. If she didn't think quickly, she was going to see Giovanni's brains being blown out of his skull. Reacting on pure instinct and adrenaline, she grabbed an unstable rock from the wall where she hid and threw it towards the gun. She didn't care how much power was in the throw, she only cared about knocking the weapon out of the woman's hand. And she did exactly that.

The gun shattered in a dozen pieces and Angelique's hand splattered with blood as the rock crushed it. She doubled over and cried out in pain. It was better than what Isabel had hoped for, but the fight wasn't over yet. She dashed forward, wanting to catch them by surprise before they knew what was happening. There was an excitement in her that she couldn't control. She lusted for a good fight.

With her heart racing faster than her feet, she speeds through one slaver, knocking them into the air with her strength. By the time she was spotted, she had already punched another into the ground, causing cracks to appear on impact. Two slavers charged at her with swinging swords, but Isabel easily dodged their attacks and took them both out at the same time with a sweeping kick. She started shoving the explorers away to safety when the rest of the slavers came after her.

Her body moved like a blur, evading their strikes and landing deadly blows with her fists and legs. She punched and kicked with such tremendous force; the slavers were knocked around like rag dolls. Isabel dominated them with her strength and speed. They couldn't touch her. That is until she saw the shadow of one slaver coming from behind. She lifted her arm as a sword came down on her. She hoped that she could at least protect her face for as long as possible. Instead, the sword shattered against her arm, breaking in two. With no time to ponder what she had become, jabbed the last slaver in the chest, hearing their bones crack underneath.

Her ears perked at the slightest noise. She turned and froze. Angelique was back up, with another gun in her good hand. ''I always carry a spare.''

She pulled the trigger.

Isabel's eardrums hurt the most. The sound of the bang made her head throb. Her chest hardly felt anything, even when the bullet hit her. Everyone stood in shocked silence and watched as Isabel patted her rags and saw the flattened bullet fall harmlessly to the ground. She gasped with delight. ''I'm bulletproof.''

Angelique dropped her gun and fell backwards. ''What the hell are you?''

Isabel approached her. ''Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you.'' She kicked out, hitting Angelique into the wall and the woman was left out for the count.

When things became quiet again, Isabel could finally gaze around and see the damage she had caused. Bodies of motionless slavers lay at her feet. A half broken sword was not too far away. And she looked over to see the rock she threw earlier was now embedded in the wall. She stared down at her hands and arms. She didn't have a scratch on her. After inspecting her chest, all she could find was a little spot where the bullet hit that could easily be mistaken for a faint birth mark.

She didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so she did both.

''Isabel?''

She turned around to see the other explorers approaching her cautiously. Giovanni's arm was slung over the shoulders of another as he was carried to the front. He eyed the young woman from head to toe.

Isabel collected herself. ''I hate to say it, but I don't really have any answers right now.''

XXX

HELLO PEEPS! WE GOT OUR FIRST PROPER ACTION SCENE IN THIS CHAPTER. IT WILL BE THE FIRST OF MANY. I HOPE THAT YOU LIKED IT. IT WAS TO GIVE YOU ALL A BIT OF A TASTE OF THE POWER THAT ISABEL NOW HAS AND HINT AND WHAT KIND OF THREATS SHE MIGHT ENCOUNTER FIRST. PLEASE DON'T BE AFRAID TO LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS AND WHAT YOU ARE LIKING ABOUT THIS STORY SO FAR. NEXT CHATER WE WILL RETURN BACK TO THE COLONY AND HAVE A CHAPTER WITH HELEN AS SHE NEEDS SOME TIME IN THE SPOTLIGHT TOO. WHAT DO YOU THINK WILL HAPPEN NEXT? I LOVE HEARING YOUR THOUGHTS. I'M GOING TO KEEP WRITING TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITY. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR BEING AMAZING SWEET SUPERSTARS. TA-TA FOR NOW.