Chapter 7

The guardian didn't know what to expect on the ride to Zeke's. A practical stranger was driving her, but she figured that really wasn't anything new since she first met the team. Her hands gripped her blade in its sheath. There was no water around to use, not even in the cup holder, so her sword and a couple prism tricks were all she had if he tried something stupid.

"You seem nervous," Tezz glanced at her.

"I'm fine,"

These were the only words they exchanged. The rest of the ride was silent. The dry, arid desert made the drive that much more uneventful. Silver passed the time with her eyes closed, trying to sense his air and emotion. He must've wanted me here for a reason... Nothing was outstanding about his aura, it felt baseline… nothing concerning, it was almost as if he didn't care about anything at all. There might have been slightly more humility than earlier, but it was barely detectable. Maybe curiosity was directing his motives? The only thing he'd done since their formal introduction was make observations about her. Speaking of, Silver knew she really needed to calm down her nerves... the new guy picked up on her too easily. But why hide the nervousness? Habit, I guess… could never risk betraying emotions in missions with Arena – it gave the enemy an advantage. But you're with friends, Silver… besides, Zoom seems to be able to read you like a book anyway... how the heck does he do that… it's kind of… annoying? But also… nice? The only other person able to do that so well was…

Splitwire pulled into the parking lot of a small building in the middle of nowhere. The roof was oddly curved with a blue and red stripe along its edge, and its overhang was supported by triangular pillars. Silver assumed the sign sticking out of the top was a simple picture of the infamous 'za.'

There wasn't even an announcement of 'we're here,' from her driver. Tezz got out and walked up to the diner wordlessly. Mindlessly, she started to get out of the car, then Zoom appeared at her door.

"Hey, I know we say people in Handler Corners are strange, but you should leave that here," He said quietly and pointed to her sword. She didn't realize she was still gripping it. Silver complied, then wiped her palms on her leggings.

"Are you nervous?"

"No – I'm fine,"

"Uh-huh," he didn't seem convinced.

Silver Mayali, you are losing everything they trained you in… the guardian thought, wanting to slap herself. Of course, wiping her hands was a dead giveaway. A flashback from the beach in Cali hit her memory, and she knew where the skepticism came from. 'How long are you going to deny it…'

"Please, I'm fine – and if you think I'm not," Silver held up her pointer finger and looked him in the eye, telling him to zip it. "we're not having that conversation now,"she slipped down her shades and followed the others in.

"But we will eventually?" Zoom's interest was piqued as he trailed behind. She ignored him, walking to a booth under a front window and sliding in next to Agura. Silver wished she was wearing something less conspicuous than an oversized white tee and leggings with these ridiculous eye covers, but she was going to have to deal with it.

Zoom chuckled and slid in next to her. "Sorry," he mumbled. Agura looked over at him, curious about what happened, but her quizzical glance got nothing. Silver took the paper pamphlet from the middle of the table, following Agura's example, but when she opened it, strange scribbles and characters covered the page. Occasionally there was a picture in black and white, but the favian had no idea what they were. The material felt flimsy, thin, and easy to bend and crease.

"Uh, Silver," Sherman pointed to her paper, then to his own, and turned it upside-down. A realization hit the team. She can't read.

"Here," Agura discreetly took the menu from her and put down. "I'll pick something for you."

"Hehe… thanks…"

"Hey guys! Welcome back!" A cheery slender girl in a pink tee-shirt and white pants appeared with a pen and paper in hand. "What'll it be today? The usual?"

"Hey Grace," Vert smiled. "The boys will all take the usual… and Agura…?"

"A slice of double pepperoni, and one of cheese, please,"

"Alright, and you, miss?" Grace turned to Silver.

"The cheese is for her actually,"

"Oh… ok sounds good," she clearly thought it was a bit odd Agura ordered for someone who was clearly older than ten years, but she disregarded the detail. She then turned to the guy to her left, slouching in his chair, the bangs covering his eye again as he looked down at a handheld device. "It was Tezz, right? Remind me what your usual is?"

"Pepperoni and sausage with a coke," he responded in his thick accent, putting the device into his pocket. Grace clicked her pen and pocketed it in the small flappy apron around her waist.

"And you must be the new test driver they mentioned?" she looked at Silver.

"Yes," Spinner jumped in, nodding enthusiastically, shooting looks at the guardian. "for Spectra Motors,"

Silver wasn't sure what was happening but decided it was best to go with the flow. She feigned confidence. "Yeah, that's me."

"Nice to finally meet you – I'm Grace," the girl waved.

"Silver,"

"Cute. Love the hair. How long did it for you to grow it that long?"

"I don't remember," she shrugged, pushing a lock behind her shoulder. Maybe I should cut it again…

"Is it natural or dyed?"

"Natural,"

"She dyed the silver part, of course," Zoom quickly added, and Silver side-glanced him.

Grace didn't acknowledge the interjection at all. If anything, her broad smile dropped slightly with it. "Cool. Well, I hope I see more of you. It's nice having another girl in town. You got here over a month ago, right?" she squinted her eyes, staring into thin air, trying to recall the exact time.

Where is all this coming from? Then Silver realized the time frame. Ohhhhhhhhh, "Yeah about two months back. Sorry, I don't get out much,"

"Eh, there's not much to get out for in Handler Corners... have you seen Salt Lake City? There's one good club downtown – a hell of a drive but worth it if you stay overnight."

"I have not but I'd be willing to check it out," Silver faked her best smile. "thanks for the suggestion."

"GRACE!" a short old man with frizzy white hair and numerous frown lines hollered from behind the counter. "c'mon, those orders aren't going to make themselves! Stop yapping and get moving!"

She rolled her eyes and grinned. "You guys need to take her there. I'll be right back with those orders – nice talking to you!"

Silver felt a small breath of relief from pretty much everyone around the table as the waitress walked to the back to prep their food. She fingered her tangled hair while she took in the surroundings. There weren't too many people. One man on a barstool at the counter, two teens in the corner booth, and three older men with dark vests and tan skin just walked in, taking a table off to the side. No one seemed to care or be aware of the existence of anyone else, so Silver felt confident no one spotted her as out of the ordinary.

"So, you can't read English, but you can speak it," Vert mused quietly. "weird."

"You must have your own written code, then?" Tez asked. "a favian code, I presume?"

Silver nodded. "We can talk about Faven later – I promise… but here in public isn't where I want to do it,"

Grace came with a round of sodas and water, then stopped at Silver again. "I'm sorry, I forgot to ask, do you want anything other than water?"

"Water is perfect, thank you,"

She left. Silver got the strongest sense that she was giving Zoom the cold shoulder, but he didn't seem too bothered by it. It was almost as if he expected it. Humans were so much easier to read than favians.

"So, what and where is Salt Lake City?" Silver took a sip of her drink, then proceeded to play with the straw, entertained with the obnoxiously odd sound it made when you pulled it out of the cup.

"It's a city over 3 hours away on the other side of the Great Salt Lake," Sherman answered.

"Such an original name,"

"I know – genius," the scout remarked with a chuckle. "I'd be down to check out the club if we had the time,"

"Oh we know you'd love to take her," Stanford gestured to Silver with his cup then took another sip of his drink. "but Grace might never take your order again if you do,"

Zoom jumped up and had to keep himself from lunging at the brit across the table. "Stanford, seriously?!"

"I don't get it. Aren't clubs just groups of people who like to do or study the same thing?" Silver innocently looked at the scout, and then to the rest of the team. "We used to have a club called 'Echo' when I was a kid."

Sherman and Spinner exchanged looks along with everyone else on the team. Zoom irritably slumped back into his seat but maintained his death glare. Silver couldn't understand why he was so triggered… must be a cultural human thing.

"Uh… you could say that… yeah…" Vert took a loooooooong sip of his cherry soda. Do they tell her exactly or just let this one slide? He didn't want to throw Zoom under the bus with this one or embarrass him any more than Stanford already had.

Silver looked around to see if anyone else was going to elaborate. No one seemed to want to volunteer. "Is this… a topic for another time…?"

"Yes," Zoom said flatly and finally relaxed the scowl from his face.

Silver put her hands up in peace and shifted backward in her seat. "Aaaaaaaallllrrighty then… I have a slightly more important question – what did you tell Grace, exactly? How much does she know?"

The team reassured her that Grace knew nothing other than their cover story. Then they had to explain their whole cover story and why. The topic drifted to the government and why they don't want it involved, then to why people stigmatize aliens as a dangerous and taboo thing. It was a whole culture Silver had to absorb, and more questions kept popping up. At one point, she requested to see a map of Earth to better understand their orientation and the different cultures from each continent, but then their food arrived, and the subject was put aside for later. Silver ate, still keeping tabs on the people in the diner and noting that Zoom had been especially quiet since Stanford's comment… it was nice for a change, but it was obvious something was troubling him. Whatever. It wasn't her business as to what a human 'club' was – more specifically why it was such a sensitive topic for him to take her there.

I could ask him later…

Why do I care? Just leave it, Silver. Not your problem.

But he's radiating with a feeling of…

NO. no no no no no no no. Change topics. You basically have to learn how to be human as long as you're here… which will most likely be a long time.

All the more reason to ask what the human rituals or culture is around 'clubs.'

We will NOT be going to one. Focus – Krytus and the red sentients. We are in a war… no time to get sidetracked.

She took nibbles at her pizza as the gears of new information turned in her mind. So, this was earth. The people didn't act much different from favians. She had been educated of its existence, but at the time, humans had not yet fully populated it, at least from her knowledge. It was a baby planet when she was growing up, and now it had so much culture and life in it. It was baffling to think that all of this happened while she was asleep… thousands of years felt like mere moments. She remembered a magic log she had retrieved from the shambled library and reading a brief description of the explorer's travels. It had been damaged with age, but the reader could make out that the ground was soft, and foliage only reached as high as the hip. Small creatures scuttled low to the ground and pockets beneath the surface layer of earth held large volumes of water. That had been the journal of Rai Lasong, not a very popular writer so his works were not maintained through the years, but growing up Silver had a curiosity for the rest of the multiverse. It was nice to find that Earth had given birth to a people similar to her own while she had been asleep. It was a beautiful beginning.

Through the meal, she was vaguely aware of Tezz's focus on her, but she couldn't tell whether it was of hostility, wariness, or curiosity. As she was trying again to focus closer on his aura, two men walked into the diner with a ring of a bell. The hair on Silver's neck stood as this new aura washed into the room. She didn't have to see them to know that they were much different from everyone else in the diner. The team around her noticed and made a couple quiet comments about the men's tattoos before continuing with their conversation about what they were going to teach their new member. Topics included: slug bots, food, clothes, music, geography, and of course, battle strategy, along with a wide array of other things. Tezz stayed out of the list of suggestions but critiqued any he thought were a waste of time, such as video games and music. Spinner and Stanford were firm in their contributions and began taking turns fiercely explaining the importance of the two subjects. Silver simply nodded in agreement to whatever they said and let them fight it out.

Something else was luring her attention… she put the crust of her pizza down and closed her eyes, thinking on the two men with her sixth sense. It didn't help that the team's multiple different effects were distracting her mind. Zoom noticed her seemingly withdraw from all that was going on.

"Hey," he whispered. "you good?"

"Not sure… something is off about the two guys who walked in,"

Zoom made a quick visual sweep of the diner to play off looking for the people in question. They sat at the two booths behind him and Silver, mulling over the menu. One man wore a white tee and chewed a toothpick. A sleeve tattoo covered his right arm in gothic images. His companion had his back to them, making the only outstanding feature his man bun and inked flames up the side of his neck that peeked out of the crisp collar of a sports jacket.

Zoom turned back to her. "They don't look like they're from around here, but I think they're fine,"

"No, something is definitely off," the guardian murmured. The others started to notice their whispering and Spinner looked like he was about to make another teasing jab at them. Silver abruptly inched up. "Where is the restroom?"

Agura pointed to the corner where Silver already knew it was, and Zoom scooted out to let her pass. The guardian walked confidently, taking every moment to cast out her magic sense through the diner as inconspicuously as possible. It was such a nice advantage that humans couldn't feel when she used her power, and she greatly appreciated how discreetly she could observe the atmosphere around her.

Silver glanced back at the men. They were definitely checking her out but doing a really good job at playing it off. She made it to the bathroom and took a breath. The door helped separate her from feeling their powerful atmosphere, but she had to make an effort to intentionally draw that net of the sixth sense back into herself. What did they want? Why were they here?

Again, not your problem right now… you're not the guardian of earth, your responsibilities are to Faven – let's not add more into the mix.

Silver turned on the water, repositioned her glasses to on top of her head, and splashed her face, careful not to aggravate her shoulders too much. Feeling a little better, she then reached for the small dagger hidden in her boot. Touching its hilt gave some comfort, and she gathered herself mentally to rejoin the others. The glasses came back down, feeling like a thin layer of protection between her and this foreign world. The men were giving their orders to Grace, and Sherman was leaving his card to pay. She slid back into her seat and pointed to the black booklet with the little rectangular plastic sticking out.

"What is that for?"

"It's a credit card," the Cortez kindly and quietly explained. "almost everyone has one. You use it to pay for stuff."

"So it's a currency," she tilted her head.

"Think of tool for currency exchange – the real currency is stored somewhere else. When you pay with the card, it's someone else's job to move the cash to who you paid,"

"Huh… interesting,"

Grace came by and picked up the book to ring it through the register.

"What is Favian currency?" Tezz asked unexpectedly.

Silver wrinkled her brow in thought. "I can't really remember… the Order didn't let me have anything of my own… Master Arena didn't really pay for anything… huh…"

Grace came back with the book. "Great to see you again, guys – hope to see more of you, Silver,"

The guardian feigned a smile as the team thanked her and headed out. As she approached the booth with the two men, she felt their eyes follow her every movement. She held back to the tail end of the team and stopped at their table as everyone went ahead. Silver turned to them and the man in the sports jacket smiled showing a row of pearly white, straight teeth as he lounged against the booth, arms stretched out on either side.

Sport coat man removed the toothpick. "What's up, sweetheart?" His friend fiddled with a packet of salt he'd grabbed from the condiments in the middle of the table. He didn't seem the talkative type. Silver decided to try something her master taught her… use your small, harmless appearance to gain information.

She put on a cute smile and filled her voice with innocent kindness and sincerity. "I've never seen you guys around here – are you new?"

"Yeah we're traveling businessmen – looking for people who want to strike it big in the cities," sport coat nodded with a sly smile. "I actually have an opportunity for you,"

"Oh?" Silver tilted her head with curiosity.

"My partner and I will be at Trever's Warehouse tonight holding auditions – you seem like a talented young woman – we'd love to see you there,"

"Aw thank you," she covered her mouth bashfully. "what would I need to do? I don't really sing… I can dance a little though,"

"Don't worry," his smile broadened. "just wear your best and show us the real you," he winked. "I have an eye for potential – so, can we count on seeing you there?"

The guardian pulled the matrix glasses down her nose, revealing her eyes. She winked with a cheeky smile. "count on it,"

Tezz appeared at the door of the diner. "you coming?"

Silver left the men and dropped the cutesy act as soon as she was outside. Something was very off in their intentions… she felt like they weren't telling her something. Well, she would find out tonight.

"Where is Trever's Warehouse?" Silver asked as she slid into the passenger seat. Finally, the ridiculous glasses came off. They were giving her a headache.

Tezz used Splitwire's computer to look it up. "A couple miles north of here on the edge of town. Why?"

"Just wondering," she shrugged. Wow, as if this isn't the edge of town already…

Tezz followed the line of vehicles out the lot. "What were you talking to them about?"

"Just seeing what they were doing here,"

"Why?"

"Something is off about them… I can feel it,"

He seemed unimpressed with how she supported her point. "What do you mean?"

"Favians can sense each other's magic, but Master Arena always told me I have a strong sense of insight on people and their moods or intentions… I can just feel their energy… and those guys had some bad energy," Silver held her sword in her lap, gripping the hilt.

"I think you're imagining it," Tezz commented disapprovingly. "you have no proof."

"Ok," Silver shrugged. "that's fine. I don't care if you think I'm right or not."

He arched an eyebrow at her. The guardian was preoccupied with her thoughts, her eyes glazing over as she stared at the road ahead. Normally the team would put up at least a little bit of a fight to prove their point, especially on social or moral issues. This one didn't care...? Tez wasn't sure if it was a relief to have someone who didn't feel like arguing or an annoyance at the absence of a challenge. He still had no clue what they could be referring to when they mentioned 'magic' and it was starting to bug him. He figured he would find out soon enough. He didn't feel like asking for a demonstration. That might change the performance of the subject he was observing and therefore skew his data on her.

"What are you going to do?" he asked out of curiosity. This was a safe, open-ended question.

"I don't know,"

So, she's going to do something… Tezz mused, but what, and when? Splitwire pulled into the spacious garage as opposed to the hub. Silver hadn't seen this part of their place yet. It seemed the complete opposite of their underground base. Old tools, stacks of tires, grease stains on the floor, and an ancient truck with rusting wheel wells in the corner gave the garage a grunge feel. The air smelled dusty with a hint of gasoline. On one side, it looked like someone had put together a makeshift sparing ring with foam padding and a stack of tires at each corner.

"this is… cute," she commented as Tezz led the way to the secret elevator. Emerging below in the cool basement felt so much more refreshing and breathable. She recognized their rec room immediately with the same old couch and chairs where Spinner insisted she try pizza for the first time. Good times… but now it was time to get down to business, the reason she was here.

"What do we have on Krytus? Any plan so far?" she asked seriously as she strode into the hub. Sherman and Spinner seemed focused on a project on the Buster, something looking like a big canister. Tezz went to join them, but it looked more like he wanted to check their work and make his own adjustments as he started tinkering with a couple pieces. Sherman looked a little irritated but ignored it.

"Hold on," Vert chuckled, holding his hands up in a 'slow down' motion. "first we need to get you battle ready."

"What do you mean? I could fight you right now if I had to," the guardian smirked, popping a hip and resting her hand on the hilt of her blade.

"I have five conversion chips," Sage said. "it has blueprints to create a vehicle custom to your personality and capabilities,"

"If you're going to fight with us, you need to drive with us. We need Zoom and Stanford to do their thing without a passenger, and there won't always be water for you to use in the zones," Vert explained. "If you want to fight in this war, you need the right weapons – you need to be fast,"

"I'd never driven before Tors Ten's lab – and I've only driven in his lab… on my planet, we ride creatures, not drive vehicles,"

Zoom gave her an encouraging smile. "We'll teach you – c'mon, it'll be fun. You get some hot wheels,"

Silver took a moment to think about it. She wasn't exactly thrilled to be using sentient weaponry – it was almost like she had to become like the monsters she was fighting to beat them. But there was a slim chance they could store a living creature on earth for her to ride into battle, much less find one and train it… they just didn't have the time to spare on cultural details. If she were to try and fight without a ride at all, her sword barely scratched Kyburi's six-wheeled beast and her magic didn't give her the speed she needed. Unless she was fighting in an ocean itself, which was a highly unlikely occurrence, she wouldn't ever be fast enough. Silver saw their point.

"Alright… I'll do it, but I'm going to need a lot of training. Riding a heesomate or herbitime is one thing, driving a machine is way different…"

"Trust me, we'll show you the ropes." The blonde nodded, then looked confused. "Uh, what's a heeso-thing?"

"Creatures from my world – I don't know how else to describe them… basically they run really fast and have six legs."

"Ok… sounds freaky – Sage?"

The sentient produced a little green triangle. "I never thought I would one day be equipping a favian with sentient technology, but it is my honor, guardian. Your magic gives you a wider range of abilities than I understand – therefore, I think your best place on the team is alongside Agura as a special operations officer,"

The triangle entered the computer, uploading data for a new ride. The nanotech assembler dropped and hovered over Silver, scanning for her characteristics that would help make up her vehicle. Once it got all the info it needed, the projectors initiated the assembly. A black shock suit with chrome highlights crawled up her body and over her baggy tee shirt. An arm of the machine picked off the sword strapped to her side and moved it up to her back. The nanotech formed a new sheath strapped securely to the suit and slide the blade in with a satisfying click. It also found the blade in her boot and formed a secret sheath inside the new combat shoe. The same, four-armed shoulder emblem as Agura, and the number five over her heart completed the look.

The team watched in excitement as the body of a sleek, long, black bike formed. The seat was tilted more forward and rode low to the ground nearly level with the top of its tires. The cockpit was shaped like a narrow pod that sat level between the thick wheels. Four small canisters sat on either side over the hub caps, served as holding cells for her H2O ammo. It was a simple and streamline design. Lastly, the assembler sprayed out tinted glass, making up the top half of the capsule. The bike extended its rear section, opening the skinny pod as the side glass panels slid down, revealing the driver's seat to welcome its new rider. Silver's eyes widened as she approached the bike. A stream of whooaaahhhs welcomed the vehicle to the Battle Force 5.

"To finish the process and form the bond with your vehicle, you must give it a name," Sage explained. Silver circled it, thinking. She'd never named a machine before… this name had to mean something.

"Osekaiya-Lenka," Silver decided, placing both hands on its front tire.

Stanford scrunched up his face. "Uh – gesundheit?"

"It's an expression, kind of like saying 'she awakened' or 'she will never rest again,'… a mix of something like that but with more passion in its meaning… I will call her Lenka for short,"

"It's your anthem," Sage theorized.

"Yes," the guardian nodded firmly. "I will not stop until Krytus is defeated – and even then, my mission continues… now – are we working on a plan? We should be acting – never reacting,"

"I will finish assembling your helmet for open-air driving, and then Sherman can show you the anti-matter containment unit," the sentient started back on the computer but Zoom had an idea.

"Wait, Sage, I have a helmet she might want modified rather than a brand new one – let me grab it quick,"

"Very well," she paused with a curious expression.

"Aw he's already giving her something of his," Spinner cooed. Silver exercised control over her irritation and brushed off the comment. Agura, Vert, and Sherman did their best to hold down the grins. The guardian kept her focus on exploring the features of her new bike to ignore any unwanted attention. Carefully sliding onto Lenka, grateful the burns didn't hurt as bad as before, she looked for a way to start it. She'd never driven a bike before – this was going to be an intense learning curve that she was determined to master… anything to defeat Krytus. Her finger found the power button. A beautiful thrum echoed through the room. Using the knowledge she gained while observing the scout drive, she rotated the handlebar, revving the engine a little – and then a lot louder, earning a whistle from Vert. Then Zoom returned holding a black scratched up helmet.

He held it out to Silver as she slid off Lenka. "Here,"

The guardian's face dropped. She recognized the design, the weight, everything about it. Her face remained placid as it shifted to her hands. Zoom watched her, nervous and unsure of how she'd react. Maybe she wouldn't want it because of the memories it was linked to, but it seemed right that she knew he'd kept it all this time.

"Super choice," Stanford rolled his eyes.

"Nice, Zoom," Spinner mocked. "what'd you do – run over it with the mobi?"

He ignored them and watched his friend. Why did she have to be so unreadable sometimes? Silver swallowed hard and opened her mouth to speak. It took a couple tries before she found words.

"I… uh… how did – I mean why…" she shook her head and blinked a couple times, slowly recovering some expression. "you kept it?" Silver managed to say, disbelief taking away the volume in her voice. She looked up at him in shock with big colorful eyes. Zoom's cheeks suddenly flushed with embarrassment and he scratched the back of his head, shifting his gaze to the floor. She probably thinks you're crazy… keeping an old helmet of hers from months ago… what were you thinking?

"What do you mean," Vert sidled up to get a better look.

"This is my first helmet… from Tors-Ten…"

The air started to feel super awkward and all eyes shifted to Zoom.

"You don't have to keep it, obviously," the scout mumbled. "but I thought now was a good time to give it back… sorry if it brings up bad memories…"

Silver felt a sincerity flow off him, a warmth mixed with embarrassment, and she looked back down at the helmet. "Thank you… Sage, I'd like to keep this one,"

The sentient nodded and readied the nanotech. "Initiating upgrade,"

The octopus arms took the helmet and sprayed the design, switched out the visor, and inserted a new com-set and miniscreen.

"There is still data in its memory," Sage opened the file, showing the numerous logs and basic programs. "should I wipe it?"

"No, I'd like to keep them, please,"

She moved the files over to the new microchip. The team was surprised she'd want to keep something linked to a dark, slaved year of her life. Zoom still felt embarrassed but a little better knowing that she at least wasn't mad at him. When Silver decided she wanted to keep the old memory files, he hoped it was for a similar reason he had held onto them too.

Silver tried to lift the new helmet over her head, but her shoulders still throbbed like crazy. She'd have to view those old files later, she guessed, knowing full well what they were.

"Alright, back to business," she stated, tucking the gear under her arm. "Sherman, what's this containment unit you're working on?"

"Anti-matter containment," Tezz corrected. "theoretically, it will hold the red sentient essence."

"Right," Sherman picked up. "our main problem is that the reds will keep coming back no matter how many times we beat them – so with this," he gestured to the large project on the Buster. "we can catch them, follow their pull to their respawn chamber, and destroy it."

"Perfect – when do we go?" she asked eagerly.

"We're still training with it," Agura announced. "but as soon as Sage gets a mental fix on Krytus's location, we'll head out."

"What do you say we take your new wheels out for their first drive?" Vert offered with a grin. "Get some first lessons in?"

Silver grit her teeth through the sting and popped on her helmet as a sign of agreement. Ow… pins, needles, and nails…

"Careful," the huntress warned. "your stitches,"

"Need Zoom to show you the ropes?" the blonde checked, another motive in mind with that suggestion.

Silver slid on Osekaiya-Lenka and kicked the stand in, revving the engine. "I'll figure it out – let's go for it," She shifted into drive and the bike pulled the wheels slightly under the cockpit to elevate it. As soon as she picked up her feet and tucked them in, everything felt more natural. The black and chrome bike shot into the tunnels leading outside, leaving a rumbling echo in its wake.

Vert chuckled and put a hand on his scout's shoulder. "Sorry buddy, I tried,"

"It's cool," Zoom couldn't hide his slight dejection. "I mean – I don't care,"

"You wanna go for a drive with us?"

"Nah, I wanted to talk to Sage about something," he made a small smile. "have fun – and make sure she doesn't push herself too hard,"

"Got it," Vert laughed and hopped into Saber. "Stanford, Agura, let's go."

"Perfect," Stanford looked pleased. "I've been working on a BF5 orientation for the noobs – Silver is about to get an education in heroics, and then you're next, Tezz,"

Tezz grunted his disapproval, tinkering with his glove. The three sped out and it was just the techies and Zoom left. He approached Sage, and idea in mind for their new member.

[Author's note: Hey everyone, just a heads up the next couple chapters will take a bit more time to release than normal. I'm in the last stretch of school for this semester and there's a lot to tell for this story and I want to do it right. So please hang tight! Than you!]