A/N: Almost near the climax...

Sciencegal - Coyo won't throw away what she is to "fit" a role.

DuckiePray - You know the recipe for an end, Duckie. Worse before better. UoU

CHAPTER 28: PACK (PART 2)

The Tepianis' cries came in high-pitch noises. It gave rise to waves across Xelihuiyan—yellow-white pulses of disturbed energy that washed over its top—as well as an urgency that quickened Arrul's pulse. Coyolxauhqui watched the lights through the Teo's veins thicken into unbroken streams, the prickling in her limbs urging her to find a better vantage.

"How do they know where it is?" asked Huemec. He braced himself when the ground shook then cursed as several rocks loosened from the mountainside behind him.

"There are too many options for the Yaoqui to guess correctly," Coalt added.

Coyo joined him along the cliff to study the quarry lake that wavered from rain and debris. Its isolation had been a key factor in placing the Tepiani. Another factor was the numerous caves that dotted its staggered walls like termite homes. Only a sliver of land existed outside Xelihuiyan: a passageway that had collapsed into a ledge five seasons ago. A pale-haired Yaoqui knelt in its rubble, something like a long tube on their shoulders.

"Is that a Bazooka?" Leonardo questioned.

Coyo sent him a look. "What is—"

Thunderous sounds rattled the quarry. The tube projected smoke trails, which hit Xelihuiyan in a display of pops and lights. A second assault followed, which bypassed the barrier before it could repair. Coyo flinched as the energy field pulsated yellow, her throat tight when she regarded her group.

"Arrul," she said, "mend the Tepiani."

"B—but Xelihuiyan, it...it—" Huemec's wide gaze fell on his Chief.

"Broke," she finished. "Which is why you will accompany Arrul. Help him move the Tepiani to a new cave then lend him energy to fix it."

"But you need to get across unseen."

"Coalt will help. Right?" All eyes fell on the youngest Tonalquizca. He gawked at the scene, jolting when the Bazooka fired again. "Coalt!"

"Yes, yes," Coalt said. "I—I will. Yes." He was terrified. Coyo sympathized and wanted nothing more than to permit him to leave.

"You need only lead us," she told him. "Nothing more."

After a shared nod, Coalt and Huemec led the group to a pit hidden inside an ancient, dead tree. The group jumped down one by one into a cramped chamber that stunk of musty root tips that brushed Coyolxauhqui's hair. She dared not question the semi-thick mud encasing her feet, only which way they should head after Arrul and Huemec parted ways.

"How will we see anything without Arrul?" Leo asked through the darkness. Dull thumps knocked soil from the ceiling, and Coyo swatted dust from her face as something sparked ahead.

Coalt held up a torch, his mouth twisted in a half-smile. "As I said, we come here a lot. Follow me."

How anyone could navigate the rocky labyrinth was beyond Coyo; every path looked the same, torch or not. She felt as if she were suffocating, and the moment daylight broke she quickened her pace.

"Wait!" Coalt grabbed Coyo before she could reach the fresh air.

"What?" she hissed. When the adolescent flinched, she eased her voice. "What is it, Coalt?"

"This path leads outside Xelihuiyan," he whispered.

"You mean towards the Yaoqui?"

Coalt nodded.

"If we rush them, we can disarm them," Leonardo said.

"If they are alone," Tlaloc added.

The turtle-man faced the warrior, speaking in English, "They've been firing at the barrier non-stop. You wanna see how much more damage they could cause? What about Arrul and Huemec?"

"Wh—what is he saying?" Coalt asked Coyo.

The young woman shook her head. "You did good, Coalt. Find Arrul and Huemec."

"But—"

"Go."

"What if—"

"Go!"

Coalt stepped back yet obliged, following where his leader pointed.

When his footfalls faded, Tlaloc stepped ahead. "This is a trap," he said.

"Probably," Leo countered. He reached behind him—almost as if to scratch his neck with both hands—then paused. His hard expression faltered, and a hollow feeling through their Mozallo convinced Coyo that he had left behind something important. He pushed the thought aside, though, saying, "If we surprise the soldiers enough to knock the Bazookas into the lake, the others will have a chance."

Tlaloc snorted. "Last I recall, you were not K'ekchi Chief."

"I agree with Leo," added Coyo.

Tlaloc, meanwhile, did not; his furrowed brows almost hide his eyes. But he readied his Aynnite spear then charged from the cave's mouth alongside his comrades. They met the Yaoqui with fury in the rainfall. One villain dropped his Bazooka to defend against Leo. The other used their weapon as a counter-attack when Tlaloc's spear arched over her head. The Tonalquizca grunted at the impact to his stomach, and Coyo snarled, driving the butt of her spear into the Yaoqui's shoulder.

"Fucking savage," the Yaoqui hissed.

Her hand caught the spear shaft then jerked it, so Coyo stumbled. The woman collided with Tlaloc but found footing beside him before a body fell into a water puddle like a heavy sack between the K'ekchi and their enemy.

"You should tell Bishop his recruits are growing soft," Leonardo said.

The Yaoqui curled her lips, focus set on the turtle-man. "Well, I'll be damned," she said, "you monsters do exist."

"In the flesh. And if you don't want a face like your partner's, I suggest you surrender."

"Bart?" The Yaoqui choked on her snort. "That guy's nothing without a weapon, as you can see. Me? I'm another story."

The Yaoqui spun with her Bazooka. Coyo jumped back with Tlaloc to avoid its power, which whistled as the enemy hurled it towards Leo. Coyo sunk against the moist ground then swept a leg below the Yaoqui. It missed. By time Coyo stood again, the Yaoqui had used her Bazooka as a pillar to side-summersault out of Leonardo's wrath and backhanded Tlaloc so hard, blood sprayed from his nose.

"Your counter technique is—"

The Yaoqui narrowed her beady eyes at Leo. "My parents taught me well, Mutant."

"Parents?"

"Enough talk," Tlaloc seethed through clenched teeth, rain, and blood. "Words wasted on Tlacatetza."

"Now there's a memorable word." The Yaoqui smiled, although she looked anything but happy. "Have we met? You seem familiar."

Tlaloc spat a red glop at his enemies' shoes. "I have no answers for you."

"No, really. You remind me of—" The Yaoqui's smile dropped. Relaxed, Coyo noticed the woman's face resembled a cochotl and her beak-like nose scrunched with a sneer. "The man with the scar across his chest."

Nopaltzin? Why would the Yaoqui know about him?

"You don't remember me, Savage?"

Tlaloc wiped his nose clean and remained silent.

"Twenty years ago. The landslide? The gully? How could you forget?"

"Tlaloc," Coyo faced her friend, "does she mean—"

The Yaoqui stepped forward, her Bazooka unearthing deep lines in the soil. "You're his son! And he isn't here."

"What do you want with Nopaltzin?" Leo asked.

"Tell me where he is, I'll let you know."

"Amo." Coyo readied her Ayannite spear, gripping its cool shaft with wet palms. "Yaoqui assault end. No pass Xelihuiyan."

"Sheh-leh-what? Oh. That?" The Yaoqui pointed at the shrinking barrier. "Whoever said my goal was to pass it?"

If not to pass then...

"This is the distraction," Coyo told Leo and Tlaloc in Nahuatl. "One of the other sites are the real target."

"Beverly! Beverly, do you Rodger?"

The Yaoqui pulled a box-like device off her belt then pushed its sides, saying, "Ten-four, Quincy. What's the issue?"

A winded, crackling voice sounded from the device, "You may wanna get to the river. There's a person of interest I'm sure you'd love to kill personally, one with an impressive scar."

"Quincy," Beverly's calm voice betrayed her wild expression, "you better keep him alive until I get there. Or so help me."

"Got it, got it. Just get your ass moving. Xander's having, uh, issues with these Jinchos."

When the device returned to its resting place, Beverly sickened Coyo's stomach with a smirk. The Yaoqui held her tongue, yet her eyes spoke of revenge before she darted from the scene, across the collapsed passage.

"Tlaloc, wait!" Coyo called as the man followed suit.

"She will not harm my father!" Tlaloc replied.

"Hurry!" added Leonardo.

"But—" Too late; the underlings disappeared before their Chief could consider all the angels and she was left with an unconscious Yaoqui and no guide to lead her back through the tunnel maze.

The Science Division's IgR Disrupter burned Xander's palms. He had been instructed to use gloves, yet lost them early in the battle. Who cared? The pain kept him collected as the round machine hummed with an effort to reach the two Jinchos huddled over a dying tribesman. Their bodies of light flickered, and their invisible arms reached up. Quincy's Bazooka shots no longer affected the much smaller force field crafted from its crumbled marker. But their tenacity was waning like the blood that flowed from their so-called protectors.

"Ain't so chatty now, huh?" Xander asked through the heavy rainfall. "I warned you to stay out of my head."

"You haven't subdued those guys yet?"

"Quincy." Xander glared at his partner, who held his ground against a teenager. "When I want your opinion, I'll ask for it."

Quincy parried the teen's spear with a lopsided smile. "You never ask, though."

"So take a hint."

"How about we switch dance partners? It's been kind'a boring since Beverly got here."

Xander scoffed, attention drifting to the Ahab-like woman and her White Whale, the man with the chest scar. Her assault against him was so ferocious she could stand her ground against the other tribesman who intervened. She forced them aside, even the mutant, and channeled her rage towards the gray-haired warrior.

"Do you remember me?" she screamed.

The old tribesman caught her arm, shoved her sideways.

"Do you remember me?" she repeated. "Do you remember that night? My parents asked one thing, just one thing! And you—"

Her passion left her vulnerable to her enemy's fist. The impact made her recoil, but a throaty snarl lent her energy to snap-kick the old man into a tree.

"I was a child!" she continued. "You didn't have to leave me behind to watch them drown, bleed, plead for me." She drew a shuddering breath. "Your son could reach me. You could reach me. And you let me fall with them!"

The old man had no idea what Beverly was talking about, not fully, and the woman shook under his vacant expression.

"You may not understand English," she told him. "You understand bloodthirst, though. By the end of today, you'll know regret and fear, too."

Hiss! Xander dropped to a knee, weighted by his soaked uniform as his skin began to sizzle under the IgR Disrupter. It hurt—damn did it hurt—but worse still was the invasive push inside his brain. 'Fucking Jinchos still think I wanna talk.' Maricons.

"Xander!"

Was there something wrong with letting a man concentrate? The Mexican glanced over his shoulder, although Quincy never spoke. His opponent did, the mutant turtle named Leonardo.

"Xander," the beast added.

"How the hell do you know my name?"

"You met a Languu once. Zaddir."

"So?"

"He talking about the Jincho that tried to make a deal with you?" Quincy interjected. He dodged the mutant's metal spear, just shy of losing an eye. "How does he know about that?"

Leonardo shuffled somewhere outside Xander's vision. "Doesn't matter. What matters is she was telling the truth."

"She?"

"Will you be quiet?" Leo asked Quincy. "I'm not talking to you. Xander."

The Mexican insisted on looking down. He watched his pores change color, and the Disrupter's teal center brighten as Leonardo continue.

"Listen. We have connections. Well, I do. I could—" A swoosh sounded then the squish of disturbed mud. "I have friends, scientists, doctors. Gavin Anders has been aware of the IgRs for years. I'm sure between him, my brother and others, we can save Lizbeth."

"Shut up!" Xander bellowed. Clanks rung out, metallic and cold. "Bishop promised the solution. That's why I signed up for this shitty gig."

"And how many years has it been since he made that promise?"

The man didn't like to consider it, so he didn't. "These aliens are the key to curing her."

"I do not deny that. But." Leo grunted, and his voice grew strained. "Bishop's made promises to save other families, too. Ever hear of Charles Kingston?"

Vaguely. The award-winning German had been recruited for the initial IgR research but turned on the organization. What did that matter?

"Kingston thought Bishop could help. He couldn't. All that man cares about is longevity and his insane goal of eradicating everything unique from this planet!"

"Are you seriously holding a conversation with this guy, Xan? Come on!" Quincy rounded the Mexican, running backward with a half-shrug and stolen spear. "Thought you were against letting people in your head?"

Had Xander's hands not been melded to the IgR Disrupter, he would've covered his ears. Everyone needed to shut up! Why did they all insist on warping his judgment? Both sides offered promises that neither looked capable of fulfilling. But he needed the chance. For Lizbeth's sake. So which was the right choice? Which would save his lover?

"Uh, Xan, should your do-hickey be making that noise?"

Bright lights blinded the Mexican with blue hues and intense heat. He felt apprehension build up at his core, made worse when the Jincho's barrier imploded. The skeletal creatures screeched—a pain heard only within his mind—and blood sprayed outward with rain as their disrupted energy tore apart their fallen protector.

This was wrong. The device should've subdued the aliens yet their ghost bodies contorted, growing dim with strangled pleas and grim realization. To survive, Xander must harness the power he had hoped to keep buried, and maybe, just maybe, those caught in his psychic cocoon would either keep his secret or die before revealing it.