Kihonne: I am so sorry, guys, seriously. I didn't mean to be AWOL this long, but summer classes kinda took over. Luckily, aside from the final in August, there's not many serious assignments/tests all at once, so this probably won't happen again. Thank you to those of you who were patient with me, and for those of you who weren't, learn to be. Seriously, I know that sounds blunt and that I was seriously late with the chapter, from both stories, but the number of people who reviewed/PMed me to complain really wasn't fair. So, in the future, I hope you understand that these things happen. Anyway, on a more positive note, I've brought a new chapter!
SzymonS: I'm glad you enjoyed it, but while it may be a building owned by Bridget, that doesn't necessarily mean she's there. As for Rani, they expected her to follow the plan. I'm glad you enjoyed her magic though. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.
LabGirl2001: I know you hate them, but cliffhangers keep people coming back for more. As for Alan, yeah, he probably will do something stupid. And Gulliver…that is a very interesting theory, one that I will not confirm nor deny. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.
EliteForce12: I know, it's crazy. I'm glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for being so patient with the chapter; I hope you enjoy it.
AlienGhostWizard14: I'm afraid you're going to have to wait another chapter for him, but don't worry; you'll enjoy it. Anyway, I hope you like the chapter.
MayLeaf2001: I'm so glad you enjoyed it! We're going to look more at Rani and the choices she's going to have to make next chapter, but I'm really glad you noticed the part where she paused to think about it. As for Gulliver, he will be in the next chapter. It's crazy how quickly we've gone through the story! As for the characters, we'll see some of them, but not all, again in the future. At least one of them will be getting a recurring role in the second half of the Power of Seven's current season, and, if I decide to do a 3rd season (I know I said I wasn't, but I've got an interesting premise for one, so it'll depend on the reactions I get from the current season), then a few more characters might get to have at least a few guest appearances. The three you mentioned are characters I'm particularly excited to work into the story. You guessed correctly – we're getting to see the others' perspectives on what's going on on their end. I'm glad you liked Rani's magic, by the way. Thanks again for being so patient, again. As for the cliffhanger, us authors just like torturing you readers with them, and besides, it forces people to keep reading. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!
BionicBadass: Look, patience is a virtue, and I'd really appreciate some. Sometimes chapters are going to be late.
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Kihonne: Anyway, on with the chapter!
Barry: Kihonne doesn't own Mighty Med or Elite Force, just this story, the OCs, and anything else you don't recognize.
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Lily's POV
"Well, that was surprisingly easy." I commented, swinging my leg over the windowsill, climbing in after Alivia. The red-head glanced back at me, smirking at me.
"Well, I wasn't kidding about them not guarding the windows." She commented. "Let's go."
"Wait." I stopped her. She frowned at me, then I gestured at a security camera, aimed in the direction she'd been planning on going. It hadn't seen her yet, but another step or two and we would have been busted. Raising my hand, I used my telekinesis to crush it. "Okay, we're good."
"Good catch." She complimented. I smiled gratefully, and followed her into the hallway. "Alright, I saw we head to the south stairwell and make our way up to the third floor from there."
"Good idea." I agreed. We walked carefully along the hallway, taking a detour at the last minute to avoid walking into a few guards. "So, what's next?"
She gave me a confused look. "Uh, we kick Dr. Wrath's ass?"
"Obviously, I meant, after this," I gestured vaguely. "What's next?"
"We continue to reform the League, beat bad guys." She answered dismissively. "That's our job, remember?"
"Yeah, but we don't have to be working all the time." I mentioned. Her confusion cleared.
"You want to celebrate, have a party?" She guessed. She sighed and gave me an exasperated smile. "I see Spotlight's been rubbing off you."
"No, that's…well, I'm not saying no to a party." I admitted. "But, I mean, the old members of the League had social lives…right? They had real jobs, and lives, and they did stuff they enjoyed, like hobbies or dating."
"Yeah, I suppose we'll all have time to do what we want." She agreed, shrugging. "It's your life – do what you want."
I sighed. "I mean, what do you think about it?" I insisted. She glanced at me, confused.
"You don't need my permission to date or get a job." She assured me, shaking her head before glancing around a corner. I looked at her, mildly irritated. Seriously? Is that what she thought I was asking? And I thought guys were dense.
I took a deep breath. "Alright, Alivia, what I'm trying to say is, after this is all done, would you-"
But before I could even finish, a blaring alarm sounded off around us. "Did I not say that they're one job was not to get caught?" Alivia demanded. She looked at me. "C'mon. The mission's blown – now that we've lost the element of surprise, we might be screwed."
She raced back towards the direction we'd just come. Cursing, I shook my head. "Perfect timing, guys. Seriously." I muttered before following after her.
Barry's POV
Things were going well, up until the alarms went off. We'd almost made it to the third floor, had even gotten into the stairwell just fine. Then, before we could make it up the stairs, a loud, blaring alarm sounded off across the entire facility. Alan, Melody and I all froze on the stairs, looking at each other. One of the others must have set off the alarm.
Before we could even think about changing our plan, Rune appeared at the top of the stairs. "Well, look what we have here." He hummed thoughtfully, smirking down at us.
The door below us burst open and a pair of dark aired minions appeared. "I got them, you guys take Rune." Melody told us, not waiting for a reply before pushing past us and icing the stairs so the minions couldn't climb up them. She slid down the stairs, fists out, ready for a fight.
I turned to try and take out Rune, but Alan had already shapeshifted, this time into a massive gorilla, charging up the stairs two at a time. Which would have been fine usually, but he obstructed my view of the villain, preventing me from using my weapon. Not that it mattered; in such a small stairwell, there wasn't much room to shoot. Sighing in annoyance, I darted up the remaining stairs, trying to get a better angle.
"Alan!" I called, ducking as his large, hairy fist swung over my head. He ignored me, trying in vain to grab one of Rune's arm. Rune shifted, turning into his swarm form. Alan grunted in annoyance, still trying to grab a hold of the swarm. Rune flew around his head, out of harm's way, as Alan waved his arms through the air. "Give it up, man! You can't grab him!"
I raised my bow and shot one of my specialized arrows into the air. Seconds before hitting the ceiling, it exploded, releasing an icy mist concoction that Rani had whipped up for me the night before. The mist covered everything, including the swarm. As Rani had assured me, the frost in the mist slowed the swarm down, forcing Rune to shift back to his human form before his swarm got too cold for him to move. He dropped onto the stairs, landing on his feet with ease.
"You think that's going to stop me?" He challenged, raising his hand and shooting a blast of energy at Alan and I. I threw myself against the wall, but Alan wasn't so lucky. Too large to move fast enough, the blast hit him in the thigh, and knocked him over the stair railing.
"Shit, Alan!" I shouted in shock, running to the stair railing. I watched as he, still in his gorilla form, crashed down to the ground. On his way down, he hit Melody, who'd been about to ice the minion she was fighting.
I didn't get the chance to see if he was alright before Rune attacked me, trying to push me off the railing after him. I dropped low to make it more difficult for him, then pushed my bow out, trying to knock him off balance.
That didn't work much, but it did give me the chance to back away from the rail so I couldn't be thrown off. I whipped an arrow out of my quiver and went to aim it, but he was on top of me before I could. He used his energy blast to throw me against a nearby wall. I recovered quickly enough, but even more minions came rushing into the stair well.
"We're outnumbered!" Melody shouted. "Abort!"
She didn't have to tell me twice. "See ya, losers!" I grabbed a grappling arrow (a gift from one of Dani's friends at some tech company) and shot it into the ceiling before diving off the stairs. Using the bow, I dropped safely to the bottom floor. Alan, now back in his human form, used his telekinesis to throw the minions out of his way, and we all raced (well, limped in some cases) as fast as we could out of the building.
"Things just went to hell, Geminus!" Melody shouted into the comms.
"Us too." Lily agreed. "Riker's here. We just barely got away."
"So is Rune." Alan added, wheezing a little, still winded from the long fall. "We need a new plan."
"Agreed. We're out numbered." Alivia agreed. "Evacuate the building and meet back at the motel."
"Wait, we can't." Liam protested. "Rani went to find her brother. She turned off her comms."
"We'll have to leave without her." Alivia sighed.
"What?" Melody looked surprised. "You want to leave her behind?"
"She wasn't supposed to go after him in the first place." Alivia sighed. "We can't go back for her."
"Well, I'm not leaving her behind." Liam insisted. After a moment, he added, "she'll literally come back and kill us all for doing that."
"Yeah, sure. That's why." Angela scoffed. "Look, we need to leave."
"Crossbow's right. Like I said, we need to go. Fall back." Alivia ordered.
"Wait, I said we needed a plan, not that we needed to run away." Alan protested. "We can still win, we just need a different strategy."
"We stay, we're dead. If we go now, we stand a chance of winning later." The Irish hero insisted.
"We'll lose the element of surprise." Alan argued. He stopped moving, to my surprise. "I'm staying."
"Alan-" Alivia cut herself off as Alan pulled out his comm. He tossed it to the ground, gave Melody and I a look, then ran off in a different direction. "Damn it."
"Should we go after him?" Melody questioned sharply.
"…No." Alivia answered after a moment. "No, get out while you can, and head to the motel. I'll grab Alan."
"And Rani and Gulliver." Liam added.
"If I see them, sure." Alivia agreed reluctantly. "Now, go!"
Melody and I exchanged looks, unsure if we should follow orders. She was right about us needing to leave, but I didn't like the thought of us leaving anyone behind. "They'll be fine." Melody reasoned, although she didn't sound so sure. I nodded reluctantly, and we headed to the exit, leaving Alivia to find Alan and Rani.
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Kihonne: So, I hope that made up for the whole really long, sudden HIATUS. Don't forget to review! Next week, there'll be more on Rani and Gulliver, along with Alivia's POV. Oh, and before I forget, since there's no way I can get both chapters done by Monday, this story is going to be updated a couple of days late, on the 28th of June instead of the 26th. Sorry for the inconvenience!