AN: Let's just get this over with and get to the story part, kay? Sorry for taking so long and that it's so short, school sucks, insert thinly veiled self-loathing here, ect. Now that school's over though my schedule will pick up.

Rating: T

Chapter 22

Vorwarnung

TIME: 20:20 UTC+1
LOCATION: Munich, Germany

"Nova!"

Nova stopped peeking through the foggy window upon hearing Sprx shout her name and looked over her shoulder.

"What?" She hissed, conveying her anger while trying to remain quiet as to not alert any humans nearby. "Aren't you supposed to be with Antauri?"

The red simian sauntered forwards. "Yeah, but he's off trying to keep up with Gibson. We spotted the moron and I have to get you, Otto, and Chiro." The red monkey then peered at the window behind Nova and smirked. "Oh my, are we being a little voyeuristic now? I didn't know that was your thing!"

"Yeah, whatever," Nova leapt off the trash can she had been spying from.

Sprx's grin disappeared and he stood frozen in bewilderment as Nova passed by. He snapped out of his trance and grabbed her shoulder.

"Okay!" he spun her around so they were face to face. "What the hell happened to you?"

Nova shoved Sprx's arm off. "Nothing, we're going."

Sprx grabbed Nova's hand and stopped her with a sharp tug. "No! I tell a stupid-ass joke and then you beat the crap out of me, that's been our thing from the start, no matter what. Now, I am not leaving until you tell me what's going on." He sighed and slackened his grip. "Look we've all been through some crazy stuff on this planet, Nova, I know how it is; I didn't wanna leave my friend behind either."

Nova mumbled angrily and shook.

"What?" Sprx asked.

Nova suddenly slammed Sprx against the building, holding him by the throat with one hand and activating her fist in the other.

"I said," she hissed. "'What the fuck would you know!'"

Sprx stood completely still, not attempting to struggle against his teammates grip; his eyes were wide open.

"Nova," he whispered, astonished.

Nova slowly withdrew and shook her head in refusal, disgust and horror on her face. "No, no I'm… I'm doing exactly what he wants me to do."

"Nova… what happened?"

"Look we'll… we've got to go get Gibson." Nova quickly turned and began to make her way down the dim alley.

"No!" Sprx shouted, stomping his foot, splashing droplets across his fur. "No, screw that! I am tired of pretending that you aren't about two steps away from going off the freakin' deep end! We are not moving from this spot until you tell me what in Shuggazoom's name is going on!"

Nova hung her head, gazing solemnly at her muddied feet. "We have to find Gibson."

"NO!" Sprx exclaimed again. "Gibson can wait! I-"

"No, he can't!" Nova interjected. Her shoulders noticeably sunk, "You know that we can't take that chance, Sprx."

The two stood silent for a few moments, surrounded by the muffled noises of the buildings and the patter of rain upon asphalt.

Nova looked up at Sprx, a sad smile upon her face. "I promise I'll… talk about it after this, okay?"

Sprx glared at her for a moment before sighing in defeat. "Fine. But I'm holding you to that."

TIME: 20:30 UTC+1

"This is insane." Marcel was resting his head on the back of his seat, as the bus continued down the street.

"Mhm." Gibson offhandedly murmured. He gripped the cold steel railing tightly, surveying the immediate area with distracted interest.

Marcel lifted his head up, looking over at Gibson with a tired smirk; "I mean doing this kind of…" he waved his hand about, "stuff, is my job. At the very least you're supposed to be the more level headed one here; or did you not get that memo?"

"Mhm."

"Are you sure you just didn't have too much to drink?" asked Marcel. "I mean, this could be your first time for all you know, right?"

Gibson continued to stare off into space and this time didn't even pretend to answer.

Marcel looked about the bus, its gray seats all occupied by a menagerie of people, and was somewhat relieved that at least none of the other bus occupants seemed to notice his roommate's strange behavior.

"Next Stop: Olympiapark." A crisp, feminine voice sounded over the intercom, repeating itself in English.

The bus slowed to a stop at the Olympiapark station, although with the rain beginning to obscure the view and his spaced out roommate taking up most of his attention, it could have been the Gates of Hell and Marcel wouldn't have noticed.

Hopefully all this bullshit will be over soon.

Gibson quickly made his way off the bus, Marcel following him. He was somewhat relieved to see that no one was getting off at the stop along with them; but as the brunet college student stepped off the bus, he began to seriously wish he had brought an umbrella.

Or at least a jacket,he mused, quickly ducking under the protection of the bus stop. I know they said there would be a storm tonight, but this is ridiculous.

He looked over to see his blonde roommate, similarly drenched, staring at a map of the park posted inside the stop.

"What? Are your mystical powers weakened by torrential rain?" Marcel asked snidely, silently hoping that his friend's trip was just about over.

Gibson continued to peruse the map. "I'm trying to find the quickest path."

Marcel threw his hands up in defeat, "Fine, whatever! Just as long as we get this over with."

Gibson made a noncommittal, "mhm", stopped looking at the map, and began to exit the shelter of the glass and metal overhang.

Marcel followed, trying his best to shield his face from the downpour that Gibson didn't even seem to notice.

They entered the park and made their way down a path lined by lampposts, illuminating their way with a warm glow. Marcel imagined that if it were not pouring, he actually might have found the experience enjoyable.

They continued on for about two minutes before Gibson turned onto a smaller path. Marcel swore that he had taken this way before.

"Wait a sec, are we headed towards the communication tower?" Marcel inquired.

Gibson shook his head as they passed by a small patch of trees. "It's nearby though."

"Wait, nearby there or nearby here?"

Gibson continued along the asphalt path silently.

TIME:20:40 UTC+1

"Okay, this is getting ridiculous."

Even Otto had to agree with Sprx's statement, over the last 15 minutes the three of them had covered all of two blocks, and now they were stuck staring at a wide avenue that seemed to mock their very existence.

According to Sprx, Antauri had somehow leapt atop the bus Gibson boarded without having any passersby notice him, intending to trail their remaining member, as the red monkey gathered the other three.

Chiro had run ahead after quickly consulting a map, not having to worry about being spotted like his three simian companions.

Otto, Nova, and Sprx however, were forced to stick to alleyways and rooftops, as even in the heavy rain in the middle of the night, there were too many people for them to risk taking to the streets.

"Um… we could go across the power lines." Said Nova, not really sure herself.

Sprx scoffed. "Look, I may not be an expert about this stuff, but trying to cross power lines in a thunder storm is probably a bad idea…Maybe we could try leaping across using the street lights."

"No way," Nova shook her head. "They're hard enough to climb when they're dry. If we try now we'll just slide off."

"Maybe we could throw a rope across!" Otto suggested, suddenly struck by inspiration.

Sprx didn't even bother to look over, still trying to think of a solution, "We don't have a rope and that only works if someone is on the other side to catch it."

"Oh yeah," Otto frowned in dismay. "Do you guys have any other ideas?"

"We could try and find a way around," Sprx suggested, looking up and down the rain-slicked avenue.

Nova sighed as she realized that this was probably their only option. "This is gonna take a while."