"What do you mean?" said Mark, "Of course you can!"
"No, I can't!" Byron repeated, "I'm completely unable to!"
"What?"
"That dart," Byron said, "It took away my power!"
They stood, surrounded by fire, looking each other in the eye. This was the first time Byron wanted to panic since they had met. Not even Veronica's death had made Byron this so insecure, so powerless. Maybe sad, perhaps angry, but not incapable.
"I can still read their minds, but I can't collapse them," Byron said, getting ahold of himself. Mark nodded and extended his wall of fire, clearing a path for them. "We can still get out," he said, "Sector Two isn't that big."

Phoebe was hyperventilating. Neither Mark nor Byron could be found in the train car. She was on the verge of throwing the train off of its tacks and crushing it, but the others managed to calm her.
"They'll be at Sector One," Stephen said, "We can meet up with them then."
"What if they're not?" Phoebe said, "What if they're hurt?"
"They're not," Stephen tried to assure her, "They're fine."
"How can you know?"
"I'm not sure if you know Mark or Byron that well. They'll be able to take care of themselves."
Phoebe didn't fully believe Stephen, but she decided to act like she did. Maybe he was right; maybe they would meet them at Sector One. But Phoebe doubted it.
"We'll get there before them," Stephen continued, "and we'll find Ashley. We'll wait for them there, and then, when they catch up, we'll leave."

Kristine walked down the ramp of her jet. She was back in her stiff, cold assistant's uniform, but it was a necessary sacrifice in order for her to have her victory.
"You're alright, Mrs. Neff?" said one of the airport guards.
"Yes," she answered, "Why would I not be?"
"Your jet disappeared off the grid yesterday. We thought that it had crashed."
"No, I just had some business to attend to in Sector Eight," she said, "I have no idea why the jet may have disappeared."
"Understood," the guard said, letting her pass. Kristine walked through and traveled to Thomas Garek's headquarters. She entered, walking past the security checkpoint without stopping. It didn't matter; the metal detector wouldn't pick up her bone knife. Someone tried to stop her, but she ignored them. She walked up the stairs, preferring them to the elevator, and up to Thomas Garek's office. She entered the room without permission, focusing on her goal. She shut the door behind her, reaching behind her and locking it.
In the room, Garek was talking on his telephone. Why he owned such an old-fashioned thing, Kristine didn't know, but it was one of the things that she appreciated about Thomas Garek; he still kept something from the past.
"The boy should be arriving sometime today," he was saying, "As should the Unnatural. We can put him to the test today." He looked up at Kristine, glaring. She could tell she was interrupting something important. That was good.
"Absolutely," Thomas said, "I will inform him of this. Good." Thomas put the phone down, glaring at Kristine.
"What are you doing here?"
"You're not glad I'm here?" she said, pretending to be amazed, "You thought I was dead."
"I did think you were dead," Thomas said, "But why would you think that I would be glad to see you?"
"I don't know," said Kristine, reaching into the pocket of her skirt, "Maybe now you won't have to do everything by yourself. But I guess there would be a reason that you wouldn't want me here."
"What?" said Thomas, confused. Kristine pulled her hand out of her pocket, revealing the knife made from dracnae teeth. She jumped at Thomas, pushing him against his desk and holding the knife against his throat. The flesh on his neck began to brown and smoke.
"Do you know what this blade is made out of?" Kristine said.
"Kristine?" Thomas said, panicking, "What are you doing?"
"It's made out of the tooth of a southern dracnae," Kristine continued, "The acid that it holds is potent enough to burn human flesh. Do you know where I got this blade?"
Thomas leaned his head back, getting his neck as far away from the knife as possible.
"I ripped it from the beast's mouth myself. I made it into a dagger, and it has claimed dozens of lives since. Do you even know what a dracnae is, oh mighty war coordinator?" Kristine said sarcastically, "Of course you don't. They went extinct long ago. I've managed to survive since then, cheating Death and old age ever since."
"Why are you here?" Thomas managed to say.
"I want to make sure you know something," Kristine said, pushing the knife closer to Thomas' neck, "you are after the Unnatural. You want to imprison them. I tell you: beware, for I am also. Do not cross my path, and you will survive another day. But remember this: today, the Unnatural are mine."
"Is that any way to treat nobility, oh daughter of mine?" came a voice from behind them. Kristine jumped and looked behind her. Sitting in one of the chairs, a coffee mug in his hand, sat Xandar.
"You," said Kristine, letting Thomas go and facing Xandar, "I am no family of yours."
"Oh, yes you are, dearest, and you know it!" said the maniac, "You cannot deny it!"
"Yes I can," said Kristine, "I can deny it all I want. You are not my father. You left us, chasing our mother away, leaving me to take care of two siblings and a kingdom!"
"If only you knew the truth," Xandar said, shaking his head. He put the mug down and stood slowly, "I did not abandon you, Crystal. Your mother did. She took me and locked me up, using me as her test subject for her dark magic. She-"
"No!" Kristine said, "You left us! I can't begin to tell you how much we were hurt because of that! And now that Ariana and Bartholomew are gone-" Kristine choked, "I have nobody left!"
"That's not true, Cry-"
"Don't call me that!"
"You would prefer your modern name instead of your traditional name?"
"Leave!" Kristine yelled, "Get out of my sight."
Xandar stood, looking intently into Kristine's eyes. "As you wish," he whispered. He turned and walked towards the window. He stepped into the glass and disappeared.
Kristine heard a voice behind her. "What the he-"
"You," she said, turning back towards Thomas, "You've seen too much."
"Go ahead," said Thomas, "Kill me. Run me through with that…magic knife of yours. You'll just be like him," he said, implying Xandar.
"And that's exactly why I'm not going to kill you," Kristine said, "I am not Evan. But you will tell nobody of our meeting, or of the words spoken in this room today, or I may just forget my identity."
With that, Kristine marched out the door and downstairs. She exited the building, and walked to the train station. She had heard Thomas talking about a transfer, one that the Unnatural would be drawn to. She hoped the war coordinator had been right.
This could be the day Kristine's victory was ensured.

Phoebe stepped off of the train and into the bright afternoon of Sector One. "You're our locator now," she said to Kyle, "Where are we going to find Ashley?"
"Where we least expect her," Kyle responded.
"Thanks for the specificity," Phoebe mumbled.
They were shuffled into a line that led to some sort of checkpoint.
"We can't go through there," Stephen said, "They'll take a sample of our blood and find out who we are. That is, if they haven't already just by seeing us."
"So teleport us out of here," Gabe said.
"I'm not sure that's the best idea," Stephen said, "There are too many people here; someone's bound to see us disappear."
"It's our only option," Phoebe said.
"Alright," Stephen said, "Hold on."

Thomas Garek barely had time to recover from the attack. A few moments after Kristine exited, Thomas ran out of the office and down the stairs. "Vargas!" he said, summoning his advisor and Kristine's successor, Randy Vargas. "Yes, sir?" the man said, almost instantly by Thomas' side. "I want the forces against the Unnatural to intensify."
"Yes, sir," Vargas said, "If I may ask, sir, what happened to your neck?"
"I'll explain later," Thomas said.
"Mr. Garek!" called another assistant, rushing to his side, "The Unnatural have been seen disembarking from the transfer train just a few minutes ago," she reported, "They just teleported away; we don't know where they are."
"But they are here," said Thomas.
"Yes, sir."
"What about Caleb Watkins? Is he here, as well?"
"Yes, sir. He also disembarked today."
"Good. Get him in as soon as possible. I want the Unnatural found and captured, as well, as quickly as possible."

The Unnatural came out in an alley next to a man. The man jumped, screaming. He ran away. "Go after him!" Kyle said, "He's her!"
"What?" most of them said, confused.
"You'll find out later! Just go after her! Er, him…her…whatever! Just go!" The Unnatural took off, chasing the man.
Stephen teleported in front of the man. "What?" the man said, turning around, but seeing Gabe standing, waiting for him. The man ducked under Gabe's punch and sprinted forward. Phoebe ran at him, but the man was, somehow, more agile then he seemed. He stepped around Phoebe and continued his mad dash. Kaytlen spewed water at him, but he ducked under it without stopping. He reached the end of the alley and seemed to be free. However, Kyle saw that he would do all this. Kyle was waiting behind the alley, anticipating the man's exit. At just the right second, Kyle sprang up and tackled the man. He fell to the ground with a grunt. The man's skin began to swirl and change, and, soon, Kyle was lying on a girl. He stood up off the girl. "We're not going to hurt you," he said. The girl looked up. "Ashley Moore, right?" said Kyle.
The girl nodded and stood. "So you guys are the Unnatural?" she said. Kyle nodded. "It took you long enough," she said.
"What do you mean?" said Phoebe, walking over to Kyle and Ashley.
"I've been waiting for you for a while now," Ashley explained, "I've seen you everywhere. On TV, in news, even just listening to people's conversations. I've been waiting for you to come and pick me up. We're leaving now, right?"
"Not quite," said Phoebe, "We're not all here. Byron and Mark aren't here. Do you know if they will be here, Kyle?"
"They will," Kyle said, "But it won't be fun finding them."

Byron and Mark had managed to get into Sector One near the train station. They met little opposition. They snuck around the train, hoping to go around the Sector.
"I'll try to find Phoebe," Byron said. Mark nodded; that was their best chance at finding the others.
"Excuse me," came a voice from behind them. Mark shoved his hand into his pocket, ready to bring out the lighter at any second. He turned around, seeing a woman behind them. She wore a grey uniform and looked like some sort of official. Byron turned, a shocked look on his face.
"You're surprised to see me," the woman noted, "And I could see why. You didn't feel my mind as I approached. Now you're trying to look in and you are finding nothing. There is a reasonable explanation, do not worry. Your ability is not growing weak. I am merely outside of your abilities. I am not affected by them. Much like another person you know," she said. All three of them knew of whom this woman spoke. "However," she continued, "I will not keep you in the dark. You may call me Kristine Neff, although that is not my real name."
"What do you want?" Byron said.
"You," Kristine said. She reached into her pocket, pulling out several small darts. Byron and Mark jumped to either side, avoiding the darts. They had grown used to reacting quickly, and their Unnatural instincts helped them. Mark struck a spark on his lighter and pulled it into his hand. He threw the fire forward, using the energy from his environment to feed the flame. Kristine leaped out of the way, tossing more darts at Mark, but they were easily consumed by the flame. Byron ran at Kristine, who threw more darts, but Byron was able to dodge them. "You'll make excellent tools," she said, jumping out of the way of another fireball. "What?" said Byron, "Explain what you're doing! Who are you?"
"I told you," Kristine said, ducking under a blow from Byron. She brought her own fist up, connecting it with his armpit, sending him down, "I am Kristine Neff."
Kristine moved towards Mark, ducking under the fire that he sent forward. Mark heard gunshots behind him. Kristine stopped. Mark looked behind him and saw soldiers moving in close to him. He spewed fire at them, creating a wall. He looked back at Kristine just in time to see a dart flying towards his chest.
And then he was asleep.