Learning to Breathe

Disclaimer: "Should I let you fall? Lose it all? So maybe you can remember yourself." (1)

A/N: W's and V's are pov shifts from a character perspective to author perspective, or that of another character. X's are a change in setting or time.

Chapter eighteen: Two vs. Twenty- five

Last time on our program…

"Time to put you out, Neal." The young blond snarled.

"Forget it." Neal said. "There's no water around for blocks." Focusing his energy, he fired a stream of plasma at the younger girl.

"Atlantis! Get out of there!" Zartan shouted from across the firewall.

"No!" Atlantis hissed. "We're going to finish this here and now!"

"Fine by me." The older boy sneered. "This ends now!" As he threw a ball of pure plasma, the two-toned teen closed her eyes and prepared for the worst.

VWVWVWVW

Nothing. Flat out nothing. Considering I should be charbroiled right now, it was a strange feeling. I opened my eyes again to see only a pillar of steam before me. That is also very strange. There isn't any sort of water source around for at least a hundred feet, thus rendering my hydro kinesis useless. Then I realized that my hands were in front of my face, but that was an instinctive move to defend myself.

Neal looked just plain astounded. "How did you stop my attack?" he demanded. Okay, Regan demanded in his voice. Picky, picky.

And why the hell would I know what happened?

"I don't know or care right now." I shouted. "You're going down, Birdie!"

The next ten seconds were a blur. I remembered lunging at him as he prepared to hit me with an energy ball. We made contact at the same time. Crying out in both frustration and pain, I continued to push him down, despite the fact that my clothes and skin were burning away. Or that's what I thought was happening. Once we were on the ground, I knocked him out with a right hand punch. In an instant, the flames died down, allowing my disgruntled boss to walk through. Apparently, he fared quite well against Kristen. I say this because she is also unconscious on the ground.

"Did you see what happened when Neal attacked?" I asked.

"We don't have time for a conversation now, Creed." He answered. "We've got to get into that hanger."

WVWVWVWV

"Dynamite?" Atlantis blinked. "Have you lost it?"

"It's the only thing strong enough to blast through those doors." Zartan said. "Now stand back."

XXXXXXXX

"Arrrrrgggggg!! How did they get past my warriors??" Lady Mastermind shouted.

"I'm not sure, my mistress." One of the troops replied. "But we have shut the blast doors now. Their guns can not hope to penetrate it."

KABOOM!!

Pieces of metal flew across the room as the two mutants walked through the smoke.

"The blast doors do you no good if someone else knows the disable codes, Miss Wyngarde." Zartan said. "Now give up this game at once. You are not well."

"Funny." Regan smiled. "I feel better than I ever have before! Guards! Seize them!"

"Oh no you don't!" Atlantis growled as four of the troops advanced her. She morphed her fins and slashed like mad at the attackers. Most ended up with large gashes on their upper body, and one poor soul's hand came right off. But was one trooper's severed appendage enough to dissuade her from her task? Not in the least. "I don't want to hurt you, Regan." Andi shouted.

"Your concern over my well-being is touching, but not enough to stop me." The sky-eyed telepath replied.

Andi took a quick look at the battle scene and smirked. "Who said I would have to."? She lunged at her pink-clad friend but came up short on her aim and scarcely avoided an undue date with the metal floor.

"You cannot stop me!" Regan hissed. "I'm stronger than you think."

"Don't you remember the first rule of combat?" The two-toned Canadian smirked.

"What would that be?" Regan glared.

"Never underestimate your opponent." Before the female telepath had time to react, Zartan appeared behind her and swiftly jabbed her at a pressure point. She was out instantly.

"Why couldn't you just listen for once?" Andi asked her unconscious friend.

"That's the thing about mutant pox." Zartan shook his head. "She probably didn't even know why she was doing all of this. At any rate, we need to get her to the lab."

"What happened?" one of the troops asked as he came out of the trance.

"Not to mention that poor boy with the severed hand." Zartan said. "How could you just chop off someone's arm like that."?

"If I didn't we wouldn't have caught her in time." Andi said. "Besides, it's a dog eat dog world and I'm no-one's lunch!"

"Just do me a favor and escort that boy to the med bay." Zartan sighed. "It's the least you can do after cutting it off!"

"Fine!" Andi shouted before storming over to the wounded man and jerking him off the ground. "Come on, let's go see the medic."

"I suppose that leaves me with you." Zartan said to the unconscious telepath. "Let's get you back into your bed." He gently picked up the girl and carried her out of the hanger.

1) Name that song!

Short chapter, I know, but I have three other fics demanding my attention.