here is your promised second chapter of hte day! enjoy! :)

peace out!

—WASABI—

"I'll kill them all!" Karmi rages, pulling the final grenade from her pocket. "I'll set fire to these woods, and then Echo will have nowhere to hide!"

"You can't!" I burst out, stepping forward. "Burning the woods down—that's out. Besides, you'd burn all of Vortex, too!" And I don't want my friends to get hurt.

"What does it matter as long as I survive to end this war?" Karmi snaps, facing me so that her nose is only inches from mine. "When have I ever needed you? It wouldn't matter if you all burned—I have a plan to bring North Korea to its knees, and I need none of you, except possibly Momokase, to execute it. You are simply useful to have on my side. I'm going to throw this grenade, and none of you can change my mind!"

"If you dare touch them," I hiss, "I'll kill you. Probably. And if I don't, I know any of the rest of us will."

Momokase nods, her face lit up blue by the soft glow of her blades. "We could overpower you, Miss Chen. There is no escape from an assassin such as myself—if I'd wanted to kill you before now, you'd have been dead in a heartbeat."

"And my plasma blades are nearly as dangerous," I add, firing them up and trying not to show her that I'm totally bluffing. "I could run them through your heart and you'd never notice."

"You won't kill me, No-Ginger," Karmi laughs, holding the grenade aloft. "You're just like Echo—a peace-loving traitor, loyal only to your friends, afraid to strike in the name of justice. Don't you know the value of courage, Wanjohi?"

"Yes," I whisper. "I do."

And I lunge forward, grabbing the grenade from Karmi's hand and cleaving it in two.

All of Vortex stands there for a moment, staring at the mangled weapon on the ground. GoGo's eyes are narrowed, glaring at Karmi, Abigail's are wide and terrified. Granville's face is set in an expression of stone, showing no emotion whatsoever, and Momokase offers me a grim smile, almost as if thanking me.

Karmi explodes. "You # %&$*^ idiot! You just destroyed our only chance to take out the one thing that's stopping us from ending this war! Why would you do that?"

I take a deep breath, knowing full well that I might die any second. "Because I have a heart."

Karmi's face twists, and she whips out her knife.

I have no choice. I run.

Branches whip at my face as I sprint through the woods, one striking my cheek with such force I think it'll leave a bruise. After that, I hack at the trees with my plasma blades, feeling kind of bad about destroying nature but also really, really not wanting to die right now.

I can hear Karmi's footsteps pounding behind me, and I run faster. But before long, I skid to a halt in front of a large drop-off, which plummets about twenty feet to the raging river below. I look around wildly for another escape, but Karmi appears out of the bushes, her silver knife glinting in the light of my blades.

"This is the end, No-Ginger," she whispers, the dangerous gleam in her eyes even more terrifying than the blade aimed for my heart. "Say goodbye to your precious friends."

"Goodbye," I squeak, and then jump.

The wind rushes past me as I fall, and I flick my blades back into my arm guards to protect them just before I hit the water. The last thing I hear before plunging in is Karmi's furious scream.

Freezing darkness closes around me, and I'm filled with an immediate desire to explode out of it and take in air. But I stay under for as long as possible—I don't want Karmi to be able to find me. Still, I'll have to time this properly—if I'm not careful, I'll plunge to my death over the waterfall.

Finally, I can't hold my breath any longer, and I push myself to the surface, gasping. Karmi is nowhere in sight, and I make the very tentative assumption that I'm safe from her for the moment. Now I need to focus on getting out of this river, preferably without dying.

No sooner have I thought this than I hear a tremendous roaring noise, overtaking my senses and seeming to fill the whole world. My eyes widen and I struggle not to scream as I realize I'm approaching the waterfall.

I flail my arms around, trying to grab onto something, but my fingers just slip off the rocks in the rapids. The water slams me into several of them, and I groan inwardly, knowing those spots will probably bruise later. It's definitely the least of my problems right now, though.

My terror is paramount as the river sweeps me away, closer and closer to the waterfall…

And then I begin to fall.

Desperate, I flick my plasma blades back out and stab—and miraculously, one of them sticks. I shake the water out of my eyes enough to see that it's jammed into a rock, holding me in place—halfway over the waterfall. I was this close to certain death, but now it appears as though I'm saved.

I change my mind when the blade starts to flicker, undoubtedly from being in the water. Realizing that I'm not out of the woods—haha, no pun intended—yet, I stab my other blade into the rock and pull myself forward. By the time I'm back on solid ground, both blades are sputtering out, but at least I'm alive.

Exhausted, I flop onto the ground, my back pressed against a tree. After I've gotten my breath back, I rake my gaze over myself and assess the damage. My clothes are a little torn up from tree branches, I've got several bruises and scratches, and my plasma blades are flickering badly, but I'm not dead, and that's an accomplishment in and of itself.

After a few minutes, I push myself up and look around. The woods are almost completely dark, illuminated only by the weak glow of my blades. All I can see are trees, shadows, and the river, but I know Echo is here somewhere. If I can find them, maybe they'll let me come back.

"Um—guys?" I whisper, not daring to make my voice carry any farther. "Anyone there?"

No one answers. I sigh and begin trekking across the riverbank, heading upstream. Hopefully I'll find Echo at some point—if they want water at all, they'll have to stay by the river. It's likely that I'll find them somewhere nearby, probably by the river source, because it's definitely cleaner than the rest of the water.

I walk for several minutes without seeing anyone, and then I hear a faint scuffle over the sound of the river. I freeze, listening to the distant voices—two of them, it sounds like.

"Stupid—thornbushes—Professor, help?"

A quiet laugh, and then an annoyed "It's not my fault." That's Tadashi's voice.

I hear a faint ripping noise, and Tadashi yelps. "Ow!"

"If you'd just hold still—" That's Professor Callaghan. I'm not entirely sure what's going on, but it sounds like Tadashi got stuck in a bush and Callaghan is trying to rescue him. Maybe I should go help them.

I start to push through the trees, and I hear Callaghan hiss, "Don't move!"

"I wasn't—"

"No, someone's coming! Hide!"

Both voices fall silent as I exit the trees into a small clearing, at the other side of which are several large thornbushes. Tadashi's bright white cast positively glows in the darkness, making him rather easy to see.

"I'm not gonna hurt you," I announce, cautiously stepping toward the bushes. "It's me—Wasabi. I ran away from Vortex. I swear I'm unarmed. Do you want my help?"

Callaghan stands up. "That would be much appreciated."

"Seconded," comes Tadashi's voice from inside the brambles. I stifle a laugh and bend over the bush, examining Tadashi's predicament.

"This might hurt a little," I warn, then grab Tadashi under the arms and pull him out of the bush. My friend squeaks as I yank him free and set him on the ground.

"Thanks!" Tadashi gasps, rubbing the back of his neck. He looks a little scratched up but otherwise all right, and I crack a smile but still ask, "You okay, man? What happened?"

"I think so," Tadashi replies, fingering the torn sleeve of his blazer. "I tripped, is all. Seriously, I hate thornbushes. Hey, you wanna come to the river source with us? We're gonna meet the rest of Echo there."

"Shh!" Callaghan hisses, but it's too late. "We don't just go around telling people our meeting places, Tadashi!"

"Sorry," Tadashi mumbles. "But it seemed safe."

I laugh. "Don't worry. I'm not going back to Vortex as long as I live. Not if I can help it."

"Why'd you run away?" Tadashi asks, his eyes wide. But just then, another set of footsteps starts to echo through the woods, and he whispers, "Hide! Quick!"

I dive under the thornbush, careful not to get snagged on the thorns, and yank Tadashi down next to me. Callaghan scoots in on my other side, and we all wait there in complete silence as a rather small pair of feet walk into the clearing.

"I can see you, you know," says a voice, and I breathe a quiet sigh of relief. It's Megan.

Tadashi crawls out from under the bush. "Megan! Where's Hiro? Have you seen him?"

"I don't know," she replies as Callaghan and I step out of our hiding place. "I was running with him, but I lost him in the dark, and then I heard him talking to Karmi. She screamed—she sounded mad—and then I heard a splash. Tadashi, I think—I think he might have fallen into the river."

"Oh no," Tadashi breathes. "You guys—Hiro can't swim."

"That's not good," I whisper. "I fell in the river, too—well, I jumped, long story, tell you later—and I nearly went over the waterfall, the water was so fast. I hope Hiro's okay."

"Yeah," Megan says softly. Then she does a double take. "Wait—Wasabi?"

"In the flesh," I confirm. "Um—I'd like to join Echo again, if that's okay with you."

"We'll see," Megan replies, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "We'll take you to our meeting spot, and you'll tell your story to all of us. Then we can decide whether to take you back."

I nod in agreement, and Megan jerks her head upriver. "Let's go, you guys."

We walk in silence for several minutes, and a rocky outcropping comes into view, lit from behind with a soft pink glow. My heart lifts as I realize it's Honey—Vortex didn't capture her. The glow is quickly snuffed out as we approach, and then a small, dark figure pokes its head over the top of the rocks.

"Hiro!" Megan calls. "Is that you?"

"Yeah!" comes Hiro's voice. "Why—"

Megan cuts him off. "Just get everyone out here!"

Honey's fingertip lights up as she climbs over the rock after Hiro, who draws his glowing purple blade. Krei, Liv, and Fred follow, all looking wary and exhausted. All five members of Echo stop in their tracks when they get close enough to see me.

"Hey, you guys," I whisper. "Sorry I'm so late."

Hiro looks up at me with wide eyes. "Hey, Wasabi."

"You're here," Honey breathes. "I can't believe—what happened?"

I glance at Megan. "Am I supposed to start the story now?"

She nods. "Go ahead."

"After I joined Vortex, I realized I didn't want to be there," I start. "I was just following GoGo—I didn't like Karmi's plans, and I wanted to go home. I asked GoGo to leave with me, but she wanted to stay. We—we had a fight, and then we broke up. One night, I was patrolling, and I found Honey on the street corner. She—" I break off, unsure if Honey is okay with me telling this part. But she gives me a nod, indicating that I should keep going.

"She was crying," I continue. "She said that Tadashi—" I shoot an apologetic glance at him, trying to communicate that none of this was his fault. "—hadn't been paying attention to her lately. She thought it was because of her prosthetic. We—talked. I wanted to come back and see her, and we started meeting up whenever I could get away. I'm sorry we went behind your back, Tadashi. I know I wasn't a good friend—but we should probably talk after the story's done. When I was meeting with Honey, I heard about everything you guys were doing. Don't worry—I promise I didn't tell Vortex anything. I wanted to come back to the Lucky Cat, but…Karmi threatened to kill GoGo if I didn't help her blow it up. I know I broke up with GoGo, but I couldn't just let her die. I made the grenades, and for that—" I take a deep breath, my voice shaking slightly. "I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. Maybe I didn't fire the grenades, but I made them, and so I'm responsible for destroying the café.

"After that, Karmi started to make plans to find you guys and take you out. Abigail showed up a few days ago—I don't think she realized she had the wrong faction until too late. Then yesterday, Chief Cruz came too close to SFIT—I don't know why. But Karmi captured him and told him she might spare Megan's life if he told her where you were hiding. Well, he told her right off the bat. So we came to find you. When we didn't capture any of you, Karmi was going to burn the forest down—she was gonna kill you all that way. I told her she couldn't do it and destroyed the grenade she was about to throw, and she chased me with a knife. I had to jump into the river to get away, and I just barely got out before I went over the falls. Then I met up with Tadashi and Professor Callaghan, and Megan found us. And now…here we are." I offer a faint, apologetic smile. "I understand if you don't want me back. But I want to rejoin Echo, if that's okay."

Megan is studying me, and I anxiously await her verdict. But it's not her who speaks—it's Hiro.

"I say we let him back in," he proclaims. "I know it's your decision, Megan—but I just wanted to say that Wasabi had really good reasons for what he did. I know I'd do pretty much anything for you guys, especially if someone threatened to kill you. Maybe Wasabi didn't make the best decisions, but no one can do that all the time, and none of you can deny that you would make not-so-great decisions if it meant saving the people you cared about. We can't kick Wasabi out for doing something we'd all do if we were in his situation."

Tadashi nods in agreement. "I know I'd do anything for Hiro. Or Megan. Or Honey, or Fred, or any of you at all. What do you think, Meg? Can Wasabi come back?"

Megan sighs. "He'll be on probation, but…yeah. Okay. You'd better not try anything, though," she adds, glaring at me.

I fling my hands up in defense. "I promise I won't!"

"Good," she replies, then turns to address the rest of Echo. "Let's get up onto those rocks and figure things out."

All of us climb the rocky outcrop, and when we reach the top, we slide down into a hollow of sorts, about fifteen feet wide and maybe three feet deep. I scoot in next to Honey and smile as she presses herself against me, whispering, "I'm so glad you came back."

"Me too," I agree, putting a hand on hers. "We'll need to talk after this is done, though. You and me and Tadashi."

"Yeah," she mumbles. "I feel so bad about lying to him. He was really torn up over everything, and I guess I should have just told him the truth. He didn't deserve the lie I made up."

I start to reply, but Megan cuts off the conversation. "Okay. First things first—is everyone okay? Does anyone need Tadashi to treat anything? Like, even scratches? We don't want any injuries getting infected."

Everyone stares at the ground, obviously not wanting to be a burden. Megan sighs. "Okay, fine. Tadashi, can you just look everyone over once the meeting is done? No one's gonna say anything—you all are so stupidly heroic."

Tadashi smiles. "I'll see what I can do."

Megan gives him a smile. "Okay, next order of business. Do we have all the weapons we brought with us? The armor, the printer, Hiro's graphene processor, everything? We can't afford to lose anything that could help us win this war."

"I have the printer," Krei tells her. "Liv has the graphene processor, and I think Fred brought the water containers."

"Um, yeah, I did," Fred says, his fingers twisting together. "But they kinda, you know, fell off a cliff. Remember how I almost fell to my death, Krei? The water jugs kinda fell to their deaths. But I'm alive, so that's good, right?"

Krei claps a hand to his forehead and then drags it down his face. "Fred—those were our only way of carrying water! Have I taught you nothing?"

"Well, it was kind of hard to hold onto them and not fall to my doom!" Fred defends. "Besides, we can get more water, right? I'm pretty sure natural springs are supposed to be clean."

"Yes, but now we don't have any way to carry the water," Krei sighs.

"I could try to print something," Hiro offers. "It shouldn't take that long."

"That'd be great," Megan tells him. "Okay, so Hiro will print a few new water jugs. Did anyone grab the food? Callaghan, I was pretty sure that was your job."

"I have it," Callaghan reports, producing several wrapped bundles from inside his jacket. "But we don't have a lot left, and while I know Hiro can print a lot of things, I don't think he can print food. What should we do? Are there any edible mushrooms out here?"

"There are," Krei confirms, "but I'd better be the one to collect them. I don't want anyone getting destroying angel poisoning or something similar. These trees are mostly redwoods, but some might be oak trees—they could potentially have the Amanita ocreata fungus growing on them."

Liv elbows him. "I know how to recognize the destroying angel, Al. I can help you. We can start looking for mushrooms tomorrow, see if there's anything we can make out of them."

Hiro wrinkles his nose, obviously disgusted at the idea of mushrooms. "I'm thinking I might just try to print food."

Megan laughs. "You've gotta print Silent Sparrow, Hiro. Don't worry, we'll make something amazing out of mushrooms. Anything else anyone needs?"

"Um," I whisper, raising my hand slightly. Megan jerks her head toward me. "Go ahead, Wasabi."

"If anyone—and by that I mean Hiro—could fix my plasma blades, that'd be great," I mumble. "I don't wanna be unarmed when we fight North Korea. So, Hiro, if you've ever got a minute, could you maybe take a look at them? I don't have my plasma station here to fix them, but your printer might work."

"Course I'll fix them," Hiro agrees. "I'll do it tomorrow."

"Thanks," I reply, giving him a smile, and then nod at Megan. "You can keep going now."

"If that's it, I think we'll go to bed," Megan decides. "We'll sleep in the hollow—it's big enough. Turn out all the lights. Tadashi, you're on watch for now—after you've checked everyone over for injuries, just sit behind a rock and listen for anyone coming. We don't want Vortex to see you if they come back. The rest of you, go to bed after Tadashi looks at you. We've got another long day tomorrow."

Tadashi runs a quick diagnostic on each of us, and everyone appears to have minor scrapes and scratches—who wouldn't after running through a forest—but no major injuries. Still, by the time he's done treating everyone, he's used up almost a whole tube of bacitracin.

Everyone starts to go to sleep after that, but Honey is lying awake beside me, staring through the gap in the trees at the stars. Her bionic arm gleams silver in the moonlight, and her wide green eyes reflect it too. She's beautiful tonight.

"Hey," I whisper, nudging her gently. "We've gotta talk to Tadashi about what happened. He needs to know everything, and we've kept him in the dark for long enough."

"You're right," Honey sighs. "Let's do it."

Both of us stand up and climb a few feet up the rocks to where Tadashi is sitting, so still that he almost appears carved out of the stone. His head turns as we approach, and he whispers, "Hey, guys."

"Hey, Tadashi," Honey says quietly. "We just wanted to talk to you—" Her voice quivers as she says it. "I wanted to tell you I'm sorry. I thought you were ignoring me because of—because of this." She holds up her prosthetic. "But I know you'd never do something like that. Still, I saw you with Momokase—even if you don't know it, I think you're in love with her, Tadashi. I was jealous, and I jumped at the chance to get back at you. Wasabi was kind to me after I lost my arm, and I started to see him as…more than a friend. I decided to get together with him after he broke up with GoGo, and I…I made some mistakes, Tadashi. I'm sorry I didn't work things out the way I should have."

"And I'm sorry I wasn't there for you more," Tadashi mumbles. "That was my fault. I promise it wasn't because of your prosthetic, Honey. I actually think it's really cool. I was just totally inside my head, I wasn't thinking—but I'm really sorry, too. Even if we're not together anymore, I still think you're an amazing person, and I promise never to leave you behind again."

Honey smiles, and I can tell her eyes are filled with tears. "Thanks, Tadashi."

"I'm sorry, too," I whisper. "I shouldn't have agreed to seeing Honey behind your back. That was on me. I didn't tell the rest of Echo this, but…" I sigh. "After GoGo and I broke up, I'm absolutely certain she started going to meet Fred at night. I thought they seemed a little too close before we left the Lucky Cat, but I didn't realize it was serious until after we broke up. I guess that's what made me want to meet up with Honey all the time—I was jealous. So…yeah. I'm sorry. I did some dumb things."

"It's okay, both of you," Tadashi replies, putting a hand on each of our shoulders. "I don't blame you. People sometimes make choices they regret when they're in love—but we shouldn't judge too harshly. I think you guys are amazing together, and I really believe that love will triumph in the end."

All three of us sit there for a long time, until the sun begins to rise. As the golden morning light spills into the woods, Honey begins to drift off, and I allow her to lean on me as she falls asleep. Tadashi seems really tired, too, and I tell him to go lay down while I keep watch. It's the least I can do for my faction.

I look down at the battered resistance sleeping on the stones and reflect on all the things that brought us here—fighting, bloodshed, contention, anger, fear. Love seems so out of place in this war.

It's hard to believe it will ever triumph.