'You have the specimen?'

'Yes. Endgame was successful.'

'It took far longer than his budget would indicate for him to catch one girl.'

'His programming needs work. Her DNA shall serve beautifully to upgrade him.'

'Once you determine how it works. I seem to recall you possessed her for months, and yet, made no progress.'

'Genetic reshuffling whilst staying true to the source code is complex science. Some would call it magic. Magic is just energy, and energy can be converted.'

Naomi groaned softly, trying to cover her ears against the voices. 'Princess…? Can you turn off the tv? I got a banging headache…'

'The subject is rousing. She appears to be as yet unaware of her circumstances.'

Naomi felt herself stiffen through the haze. Why did that voice sound so familiar? And why did her bed feel like the floor? Had she passed out studying again? With…wrist shackles on?

No! Nope! Definitely not her floor! Everything came back in a rush as she tried to jump to her feet, only succeeding in a weak stagger ending in an anticlimactic tumble back to the ground.

'Ow! Sweet Lord Darkar…'

'It's conscious. Terminating call.'

'Not an it…' Naomi gritted out, trembling with exhaustion and no small amount of fear as she gritted her teeth, trying to take in her situation. 'Where the heck am I?'

No answer. With a low moan, she forced her eyes open, squinting in the blinding glare of…lights, presumably? She didn't know. She didn't even know where she was. How was she supposed to know about its interior decorating?

After a minute and some streaming eyes (she was not crying, who would suggest such a stupid thing, she was only terrified for her life, who'd cry over that?), things started to come into focus. The first thing she saw was the metallic behemoth whose shadow had pervaded every aspect of her life for months. Instinctively, she tried to scramble back, but yelped with surprise and fear as she felt a binding around her ankle hold her in place.

'What the literal- let me go!'

There was a figure, hazy in the light, the silhouette the same one she'd seen flashes of in her nightmares. It gave no answer.

Safer in anger than fear, she yelled, 'Hey! Hey, I'm talking to you!'

'The subject is engaging.'

Naomi growled in quiet threat, her nails starting to sharpen. 'I have a name.'

'Your 'name' is specimen C-16.' Naomi had anticipated a number of replies. This…was not on the list.

'Say what now?'

'Your 'name' is specimen C-16.'

Naomi rubbed her head, hoping and praying that she had just drunk one of Duman's weird expired energy drinks at the house and this was just an insane caffeine dream.

'Yeah…if I didn't know what that meant before…why would you think I would know now?'

'Your comprehension is of no relevance.'

'Kinda is for me…' When yet another attempt at standing sent her tumbling back down, she split the difference, shoving herself up onto her knees. 'Who are you? And where am I? Why did you send your pet robot after me? Why do you-' She let out a scream as electricity coursed through her body, ruining her accomplishment in getting semi-upright. 'F*#k! Ow! Stop!'

'You are rather irritating. Why will you not quiet yourself?'

'Good parenting. Quit…it…!' The shock finally came to a stop, and Naomi gasped and rolled onto her side, grimacing as the tie around her ankle got her legs twisted in a very uncomfortable fashion.

'You have no parents. That variable was eliminated.'

Naomi's blood ran cold. What? What were they talking about? Did they mean her family? Omega, death? Or…did they…did they mean…

'What are you talking about?'

'You were useful. Outside variables are irrelevant.'

'Not to me! What are you talking about, and who the hell are you?!'

'My personal identification assigned to me at birth is Halide Farris.'

Naomi was quiet for a moment. Partly in surprise from getting a straight answer, partly because she was still twitching in pain, and her hair was singed. Did she know that name? Her memory was damn close to photographic…but the name Farris didn't crop up anywhere. But her voice…her voice she knew. From the deepest crevices of her nightmares, she knew.

'You're where I came from…' she muttered under her breath. The restraints attached to her answered the questions around Ogron's notes about her being restrained. This…this place…

'We're on Zenith.' In all fairness, she was partly bullshitting that. She was guessing. There were other palaces they could be. She might be totally wrong. But she'd learned, mostly from Ogron, that when you were out of ideas, throwing the most likely idea out there and watching to see if it struck a nerve was your best bet. And strike a nerve it did. The silhouette flinched, and Naomi got another jolt.

'Well, aren't you a smart little creature.'

'I have a perfect g.p.a….' Naomi gritted out, covering her trembling hands with sarcasm. 'I like to think I'm doing alright.'

'You should have no grade point average.' The reply came slightly sharper than before. Another nerve. Interesting.

Naomi was smart. She'd just said so. Her weird captor had said so. Palladium had said so. Quite a lot, actually. She was his favourite. Quite a source of pride, actually. But any smart person would say that antagonising their captor that had already shocked them twice was definitely a bad idea. Naomi was her own special flavour of smart. Smart, with a heaping of Duman on the side.

'You don't know much about Alfea, huh?' Ow. Damn, what's with the shocks, lady?

'You should not have been at Alfea.'

'I know that. I was supposed to be home-schooled in Alaska. Then my family got frozen and I got borderline kidnapped. Fortunately, I'm good at school. And being kidnapped, apparently, because I seem to be doing that a lot.'

'You have been kidnapped once. Now.'

'Oh, this is a kidnapping? I thought we were at a tea party,' Naomi snarked dryly, starting to fall into a bit of a rhythm here. Sure, it was a zappy rhythm, but it was making her feel a bit more in control.

'That assumption seems highly improbable for someone with a perfect grade point average.'

'I was being sarcastic, duh.'

'Ah. How useless.'

Naomi gritted her teeth, a low growl escaping her throat. 'Okay, let's cut the crap. Who are you, where am I, and what do you want?'

'I have already informed you of my name.' This monotone was starting to grate on Naomi's nerves.

'Yeah, but 'Halide Farris' doesn't actually mean anything to me. If you honked and said that was your name, would I suddenly be filled with epiphany-like understanding? Nope. So let's change the question to: what are you? And why did you kidnap me?' She really, really needed an answer. There was only so far sarcasm could take her. It was always a good idea to show you weren't scared (she was assuming; that was her strategy, anyway) but honestly? She really just wanted Gantlos to demolish this place and carry her home.

'This was not a kidnapping. Not technically.'

'You said it was, like, two minutes ago.'

'Like is a filler word. It has no place in that sentence.' For one second, Naomi was reminded of Ogron. Wow, kidnapped by a stickler for grammar. Should I misuse comparatives, just to tick her off? The sensible part of her brain distracted whatever the heck the other part was doing. And quite possibly saved her life. She didn't always know how far was too far.

'Um, how is this not a kidnapping? You sent your metal pet, grabbed me, and carried me away kicking and screaming. How the hell do you think kidnapping works, and, more importantly, what the hell is it you think you actually did, if you're dumb enough to think it wasn't kidnapping?'

'Reclaiming what is mine.'

'I'm sorry, what?' Naomi didn't belong to anyone. And she sure as hell didn't belong to some creepy stranger with a robot! 'I'm not yours, b*#*h! Let me out of here right now!' As was perhaps expected, yelling did nothing. Beating at the green energy barrier around her did do something, but it just got her hair singed more, so…not so helpful.

'There is no call for that reaction. I have said nothing untrue. You are mine. Had you stayed, like a good animal, this would have been avoided.'

There were many things Naomi hated. She, in fact, had compiled a list. (Olivia may or may not have been scrawled at the top in big, angry letters. What, she needed to know who she'd obliterate if she ever became omnipotent.) But, the number one thing she hated, other than people being mean to her friends, was being likened to an animal. Being likened to an animal, just because she could turn into them…that was the most insulting thing someone could say to her. Yes, she could turn into animals. She could also turn into water; did you see people calling her an ocean? No, you did not. Okay, so, she couldn't turn into water yet, but she was working on it! Duman had been going to teach her.

'I'm not an animal!'

'You are a genetic mystery.' Finally, Naomi got a face. Heels clicked on chrome floors, and a pale, sunless face framed by hair the same blue as chemical bleach leered into hers, leaving her flinching away from the cold touch. 'You are rare, and incomprehensible. You are infinitely valuable.'

'Aw, that's sweet.' Naomi snapped at the hand caressing her cheek. Her hands might be bound, but she wasn't letting anyone touch her.

'Hm.' Halide wiped the blood off her finger with a scowl. 'You certainly haven't lost your bite, have you?'

'I don't know, have I?' Pushing herself as far back as her restraints would allow, Naomi shoved herself as upright as she could manage. 'You know me? You think you own me? What's your problem? And how? How do you…how do you know me?' She never asked questions about her past. She'd never wanted them. Now…now she might need them.

'You are an asset.' Halide, seeming to deem that physically asserting control wasn't worth another bite, stepped back, observing Naomi with a clinical detachment. 'You are my asset. I had you brought to me when you were young. A shapeshifter…capable of completely rewriting your genetic code, whilst somehow not changing the wiring of your brain at all. To change every cell in your body, without losing a thought, without so much as a blip in your memories…fascinating. And as of yet, utterly unreplicated in technology. Some circuits must always stay the same…so the matrix can never change completely. Studying the dna of a shifter was my shot at cracking that code.'

'So…what, I'm your specimen?' Naomi spat, starting to drift into anger over sarcasm.

'Specimen C-16, as I told you.'

'It's Naomi.'

'Surely you know it isn't.' Well of course she knew that wasn't her birth name. She wasn't an idiot. They'd established that. But it was the only name she needed to know herself by. The only name anyone needed to know her by.

'You can call me Naomi. Not C-whatever, Naomi. It's the name my family gave me, and if it's good enough for someone as picky as Ogron, it's sure as hell good enough for you.'

Halide's sour little face actually twisted at the mention of Ogron's name.

'Oh? Hit a nerve? Let me guess, you're one of the ten billion people Ogron's ticked off? Because, let me save you some time, he's not sorry, you were wrong in some way, and he's also freezing to death, so kidnapping me really doesn't affect him.'

'You talk a lot.'

Naomi shrugged. 'It's hereditary.'

Halide rolled her eyes, evidently unused to such snarky captives. 'No, I am not one of your father's enemies. I do not have enemies. It is a waste of time.'

'Wow, what do you do with your life, if not plan petty revenge against your enemies?'

Ignoring the interruption, Halide continued. 'However, I will not say that he and his little band of wizards have not caused me some…consternation. Had they not removed you from Zenith, my research would be over a decade further ahead than it is now.' She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. 'Do you know how hard it is to find a shapeshifter with full capacity that nobody will miss? Until you popped back up, I was stuck. Stuck working on nothing more than a pedestrian combat droid.'

Naomi almost choked at the implication that Endgame might be considered pedestrian. That thing had almost killed here! Multiple times!

'Popped back up? How the hell did you even know it was your specimen?'

Halide actually snorted. 'You were exactly the right age, with the same features, and splashed across every social media platform in the dimension. It wasn't rocket science.' Naomi grimaced. Social media. Not something she'd bothered checking for a few weeks. But…well…kinda made sense that she'd go a tiny bit viral. She had tackled royalty, after all…damn, what was it with Alfea letting freshmen assault people and get away with it? Seemed super lax, honestly.

'I always wondered where you ended up. With a group of criminals…how original. How perfect that you wound up with people that could hide you so well…they didn't even know what they were hiding you from. But, no matter. Endgame finally brought you back, so now I can finish my research.'

'No way. I'm nobody's specimen.'

'You're mine. And trust me, nobody's going to miss you.'

'Maybe they will. You don't know shit about me.'

'No, I don't. And I do not need to. All I need is for you to change.'

Naomi shook her head, eyes blazing. 'If you think I'm going to shift for you like some kind of pet-!' She was cut off as her body lit up again, leaving her gasping for breath on the floor. '...F*#k...'

'I believe you will change for me, Naomi. Something simple. I just need a read on your energy.'

'No...way...Aaaaaah!' She groaned, clutching herself in pain. 'Psycho...'

'Scientist. We can stay here all day, until you comply, like a good girl.'

'Good girl? You really don't know shit about me.' In spite of her protests, a few more shocks, and she gave in. Her skin warped under her powers, changing and morphing until a wolf snarled and whimpered on the ground. 'Get...in here...let me show you my jaws...up close...'

'Illogical. Stay quiet. This will hurt less.'

Naomi was gonna kill this psycho. But she might just cry and writhe a bit first. Yeah, that sounded like a plan...

Roxy really missed Naomi. Flying across the entire universe sounded interesting, but…well…it was basically like a car ride. Just in space. Sure, she was glad they were avoiding the asteroid fields, despite Manuel's assertions that he could fly through them, but…she really missed the sarcastic voice that would have been egging Manuel on and telling him to take those things like he was Han Solo. Sure, she'd be yelling at them both to stop being insane and just fly in a damn straight line, but still. The flight was weird and quiet without Naomi. Even worse than the flight to the summit.

'So…this Halide Farris person…' she started, shifting awkwardly in her seat, trying not to disturb Manuel's chakram. She wished she had a weapon. She was gonna get vaporised. 'She's who sent this robot after us?'

'According to this.' Aidan flicked through grainy images, bringing up what looked damn close to a mug shot. After a moment, Roxy realised it was. 'She developed Endgame. While before that, she was arrested and constantly under investigation for illegal and immoral experiments on people and animals.' Did it make Roxy a bad person that the first part made her angry, but the mention of animals getting hurt made her boil with rage? Yes, possibly, so she was staying quiet.

'How'd she get out? Those sound like serious crimes.'

'Kryos. He got her released early. Wanted her input on a project for his company, in exchange she got parole. She ditched him and the parole became…illegally permanent.'

'A project?' Roxy quirked an eyebrow, her lips pursing. 'Who has a literal mad scientist released from prison to help with a project?'

'Kryos. Halide accepting parole and not making a fuss was the logical choice. He didn't see any way in which she'd ditch him. That's why the Prime didn't convict him of anything.'

'Wait, he wasn't Prime?'

'Nope. This was over twenty years ago. He got in a few years later, though.'

'People actually voted for him after he lost a criminal?' Nobody on Earth would vote for that. Well, some would, but Roxy sure wouldn't.

'You don't get voted for as Prime. Zenith deems people to have flawed operating systems. Candidates put themselves forwards, and the most powerful computers on the planet assess every aspect of them, of the economy, of the interests of all Zenithians, and they determine the most logical candidate for the job.' …Huh. Roxy wasn't sure what the heck that counted as. Was it democracy? Or a dictatorship?

'What if someone hacks the computers?'

'Can't be done, my friend. Those computers have the highest-level operating systems in the dimension. Protected by the best firewalls that can be made. These things make the Spire look like a Zap-Pad.' Roxy was just gonna file that away under the list of references she didn't know, but nodded along to anyway.

'Enough with the politics!' Manuel snapped from the pilot's chair. 'We're approaching Zenith airspace. We'll break the atmosphere in five minutes. We'll be coming down inside the Electric Eye; hopefully it'll let us dodge some of the outer clouds, or any detectors from siphon stations. This mission needs to be completely under the radar. Aidan, bring up the lab schematics.'

'On it.' Aidan pressed a button. An episode of Sailor Moon started playing. 'Gah! Not now, Usagi! Shh!'

Roxy covered her mouth to hide a smirk. Looked like someone was getting into anime.

'Sorry, I was watching that before.' There was something very impressive about a guy who openly said he was watching a Japanese magical girl anime rather than awkwardly stammering that he didn't know how that had got on there. Actually…Naomi had been watching Sailor Moon as of late…and pretending she didn't know how it had got on there…

'Here we a-go-go!' Naomi, never let this boy go…

Blue holographic schematics popped up from Aidan's phone, and Roxy suddenly felt very much like she was in Star Wars. Dear god, she hoped nobody expected her to fire anything into an exhaust vent…

'The lab is located at the base of three mountains. In the middle of a lake.'

'Wait, won't that-'

'Attract more lightning, yes. I think it's intentional. We might possibly die, but what a way to go!'

Roxy felt a little nauseous. 'Oh…'

'You were a Winx, Wilde,' Manuel chipped in. 'Surely you're no stranger to near-death experiences?'

'Well, no, but…they were a lot less terrifying. They could be fixed by sparkles and rainbows…'

Manuel's voice took on a deathly-serious tone. 'Wilde, do not, under any circumstances, come into this fight brandishing sparkles and rainbows. We will get slaughtered.'

'Ha! Slaughtered!' Aidan barked out a laugh. 'Aidan Ross laughs in the face of danger! Because he's having a panic attack and has lost complete control! Hah! Hah!' He started quietly heaving, and Roxy found herself dearly missing the Winx. They were probably celebrating their victory against Tritannus right now…god, she wished she was there. She wished she was anywhere but here, frankly. Not that she didn't want to save Naomi, she just also really wanted to hide under her bed. Did that make her weak? She didn't really care, she was jumping into a fight regardless of how she felt about it.

'Okay…' Aidan looked a little green, but he was pushing through. 'So…there are security drones around the base…we'll need to land a short way away and approach on foot. Roxy, you'll need to keep a shield up, to absorb the lightning strikes, or we might fry.'

'Wait, our lives are in my hands?'

Before Roxy could freak out any further, Manuel cut across her, not averting his eyes from the rapidly approaching planet. 'Yep, roll with it, Wilde. Make the shield, save our lives, save Naomi. It's not hard, you're building it up in your head.'

Roxy may or may not have stuck her tongue out at the back of his head. Building it up in her head? Really? Things didn't come down to her, not beyond her ability to put a hoop in a slot. And Bloom had been there for that, anyway.

'Once we make it to the perimeter, we'll need to get around the drones. Slicing them in half should take care of them, but it's best if we avoid them entirely. All the doors are alarmed, so I need to hack…'

'Takes too long.' Manuel set the ship to autopilot, striding across the cabin and inspecting the schematics. 'Here. This is close to the main lab, that's where Naomi's most likely to be.'

Roxy squinted at the hologram. 'But…there's no door there.'

'A door will give us away anyway. I have a few small charges in the ship; we'll blow the wall and get in that way.'

'Wait, what?' Roxy and Aidan stared at Manuel like he might be insane. 'Blow the wall? This isn't a Bond film, Manuel…'

'I don't know what that means, but it'll work. We just have to move fast before the hole can get discovered.' Manuel reached into an overhead bin, pulling out a backpack and rummaging inside. 'Aha! Still got 'em.' It was concerning to Roxy that Manuel just kept explosives in an overhead bin. What if they were in a crash? Or did Manuel just think he was too good to crash? …Yeah, it was probably the second one.

'And once we're in?' Roxy asked nervously, eyeing the towering structure. Okay, it was like two stories tall, but it looked bigger when one was terrified! 'What do we do then?'

'We get to Naomi, bust up this scientist person, grab Naomi, start running, blow this place to kingdom come, get on the ship, and get out of there!'

'Okay, sounds like a- wait, hold up, go back two steps?' Had he said….

'We blow that place to kingdom come?'

Roxy and Aidan nodded furiously.

'Ah. Yeah. I just figure we take everything out. Leave nothing to come after Naomi. Finally take down that heap of scrap.'

'No!' Roxy burst out, jumping to her feet. 'Manuel, we can't just randomly blow places up! That's not okay!'

'Coward.'

Roxy's cheeks puffed out like a livid chipmunk. 'I am not! I just don't believe in random destruction! What if someone gets hurt?'

'That's just war, Wilde.'

'This isn't war!'

'Everything is war. People just don't notice. Everything is a strategy, a battle to be won, and I'm the guy to win it.'

Roxy stepped in front of Manuel, her voice low and commanding, adopting the same tone she'd tried to copy from Oritel. 'We don't blow this place up. We get in, and we get out. Is that clear?'

Manuel opened his mouth to argue, but a glance into Roxy's eyes, their determination, showed him it would be a waste of time.

'Fine. But if Endgame comes back, it's because you lacked the guts to do what we had to.' The words struck a nerve in Roxy. She'd heard them from her own mother, so many times, before she even knew she was her mom…she'd been warned…warned of the dangers of trusting the wizards…that if something happened, if they hurt someone, it'd be on her head for trusting them, for not having the stomach to do what Morgana deemed necessary. Should she? Should she have just…not killed the wizards, but refused to help? Not protected them? Just had them locked up? Nabu had almost died…everyone had almost been sealed away…hell, maybe Duman would be alive if she hadn't fought for a trial rather than just getting the wizards sent to one of the Winx's royal dungeons. Was she weak?

She wouldn't get the chance to deliberate further as Manuel slid back into the pilot's chair, and their descent began.

'Everyone, hold on! This is gonna get bumpy!' Roxy was almost jolted across the ship, rapidly clicking in her seatbelt as the vessel was tossed around like a ragdoll in a washing machine. Lightning flashed on every side, crackling against the ship's shields, prodding and teasing at them, beating them down. If they fell, everyone on board was cooked… Oh, that's not a reassuring thought…

It was almost humiliating how tightly she squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't want to see them all plunge to their deaths. Or get fried. Whichever came first.

It was like a rollercoaster as they were thrown through loops and turns, ducking and diving strikes from the divine, every flash almost blinding even through Roxy's eyelids.

'Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop, make it stop…'

'Roxy…' She felt a hand on her arm and cracked an eye open to see Aidan staggering across the ship, clinging to her seat as he threw himself down, strapping in next to her to better offer comfort. 'Roxy, it's okay, Manuel knows what he's doing.'

'Mhm…' Roxy couldn't help but cling to Aidan as another strike split the sky in two, the ship flung about like a leaf in the wind. Like a fairy in the Abyss.

'How are you not scared? I know you're as freaked as I am…' she whimpered, shaking like a drenched puppy. 'This is terrifying…'

'Oh yeah.' Now that she was listening, she could hear the tremor in his voice. 'I'm scared out of my mind. I want to go vomit, then hide. But Naomi needs us. Call it a crush, call it military training, but…I know what I'm doing. Ish. First thing you learn at Red Fountain, how to suppress the fear until you've got the job done.'

Roxy snorted humourlessly. 'First thing I learned at Alfea was how to make a water bubble.'

'Also helpful.' Aidan held her closer, safe in his arms as everything gusted and struck wildly around them, Manuel keeping a white-knuckled grip on the controls.

'You guys okay back there?' His voice was strained, focused, the voice of a boy whose piloting skills were all that stood between his friends and certain death.

'I think I might hurl, and my life is flashing before my eyes, so just peachy!' Roxy called back, covering her mouth as her stomach heaved. 'I wanna land…'

A moment later, her wish was granted. And she wished it hadn't been. Manuel dived, zipping through storm clouds and strikes, barrelling towards the ground so fast that Roxy thought she'd left her stomach somewhere back in the atmosphere. The ground was close. Really close. Too close.

'Manuel!'

At the last second, Manuel pulled up, the landing gear deploying as they came in with a gentle whoosh, the juxtaposition between the calm settling of the ship and the trauma Roxy had just acquired positively dizzying.

'Shields at seventy percent…' Manuel muttered, flicking switches that did who knew what, the very picture of calm.

Meanwhile, Roxy detached herself from Aidan and fell to the ground, retching. 'I…am…never…doing…that…again!'

'You okay, Wilde?' Manuel unstrapped, striding across to kneel next to her. 'Wilde. Rox. Answer me. Are you okay?'

'I think I'm gonna have to say goodbye to my lunch…'

'A necessary sacrifice.' Manuel gently helped her up, steadying her under his firm, authoritative grip. 'Wilde, are you ready?'

'I want to hurl…'

'Naomi might die if we don't get going, so choke it down, and let's get going.' It was pretty harsh, but the mention of Naomi kicked Roxy into gear. So, gagging, she forced her steps into some semblance of steady, staggering and striding for the door.

'Roxy, magic, transform.' Her voice shook, but her wings bursting from her back, the magic bubbling under her skin, it all helped. She felt stronger. No less ill, but stronger.

'Let's move,' Manuel instructed, opening the doors.

As soon as the doors opened, Roxy was lost in a wild maelstrom of madness, her hair flapping in her face, magenta strands choking her as knife-like winds whipped over her skin. Every gust pulled her, pushed her, tripped her, coaxed and cried for her to tumble into their depths, away from light, from control… It teased at her wings, as though trying to pull them off. Away from her.

'No…' The winds…the winds will blow until the last fairy on Earth disappears into their depths…until I disappear into their depths…until I'm trapped…trapped…

'No, no, no…' She stepped back, her fairy form flickering, green and purple alternating as she flashed between a crop top and a ski jacket. 'No…' Her breathing sped up, every gasp swept away by the storm. Everything was so dark…so wild…it wanted her…

'Rox! Wilde! Rox, you gotta breathe!' Breathe. Right. Breathe. Why wasn't she doing that?

'Ross, what's going on?'

'I…I don't know…Roxy, it's okay, you're safe. Just breathe with me…'

'The Abyss…' Roxy choked out. 'This…it's like…like…like…'

'Oh…' Aidan and Manuel exchanged a glance. Manuel looked incredulous as Aidan shot him a pleading look, but Aidan pushed on anyway. 'Roxy, you don't have to go out there. You can wait here. We'll get Naomi.'

'We can't, we need her magic, remem-'

Aidan cut Manuel off, putting a grounding hand on Roxy's shoulder. 'We'll handle it. We can't make her go out there. We'll get Naomi.'

Naomi…she had to save Naomi. Naomi was in danger…so much danger…she couldn't keep panicking! She'd stood up on her own two feet when Ogron had threatened her on the day of justice, she could do it now!

With a deep breath, she channeled the warrior princess people kept telling her she was. One step. Two steps. Aidan protested, while Manuel just got out of her way. Three steps. Four. She was at the doorway.

'Crystal Shell.' She was in the storm. Her barrier kept out the lightning, but the winds…they gusted right through her base-level spellcraft. Five steps. Six. Just keep walking.

Aidan and Manuel stepped out after her. Seven steps. Eight. She was standing. Walking. She could do this.

By the time they'd crested the hill and made it to the lab, Roxy was shaking like a leaf. It was either trauma or exhaustion, she wasn't asking. Every step was an achievement, all she had to focus on. Forwards. That was all. She'd get inside soon. Out of the winds.

Yet again, she reminded herself that every gust of wind on her wings was just air, not wicked fingers grasping at her very essence, gripping, pulling, tearing…

'You're doing so well, Roxy,' Aidan murmured, sticking close as Manuel surveyed the territory below them. 'So, so well…just hold out a little longer, okay?'

She replied with only a nod, not feeling up to words. It's okay, it's okay, it's okay…

'Okay.' Manuel turned back to them, tucking away his binoculars. Why did he have binoculars? Roxy was willing to bet he just carried them around with him. 'I see at least a dozen hostiles. If we approach from here, we'll avoid most of them on the path to our entry point. But you and I are gonna have to take out at least four, Aidan.'

Aidan tightened his grip on his whips, his face hardening with resolve. 'Got it.'

'Roxy, you just keep that shield up. It goes down, we get fried.'

Roxy nodded. The number of lightning strikes that had already hit and been absorbed by her shield…they'd have been dead ten times over without it. Now she just had to keep it up…

They trudged down the closest thing to a path they could find, Roxy's every step faltering and dizzied. Magical energy had to come from somewhere, after all…and hers was sapping her strength fast.

'Just a bit longer, Rox…' Manuel muttered. 'On my signal, Aidan.' With a cry, he leapt forwards, slicing straight through a droid that barely had the time to activate its weapons before it rested in two shattered halves. The others, however, were a little more prepared.

Lightning almost struck through the barrier as Roxy had to increase the strength around Manuel, blocking the laser beams attempting to fry him.

'Thanks, Rox!'

'No…problem…' Actually, big problem. Very big problem. She was freaking out here!

'Eat whips, drones!' Aidan took two out at the same time, rushing back to Roxy to steady her as she swayed. 'Roxy! Are you okay?'

'Mhm…' She managed to walk after Aidan, fluttering up the wall after Manuel, the specialist climbing with the aid of…sticky gloves? They looked like sticky gloves.

'Everyone, stay back…' Three cheerfully-beeping charges were jammed into the wall, and Manuel dropped off the wall, landing just as Roxy dove back, the wall bursting apart in a blur of debris. Okay, why were those things on a school ship?!

'We're in. Let's move.'

Roxy and Aidan followed Manuel's lead, and Roxy couldn't help the sigh of relief that escaped her lips as they rounded a corner and the winds finally fell away from her skin, her hair, her wings.

'Okay, so, where's the main lab?' Aidan asked in a loud stage whisper.

'Aidan, stop that stupid voice. Just talk. Quietly, but just…normally,' Manuel instructed.

'Okay!' The stage whisper had got even stronger. Roxy wasn't gonna mention it.

'This way.' Manuel beckoned them, and Roxy felt her steps grow steadier as her energy was sunk once again into walking rather than shielding.

'How do you know where you're going?' she asked softly, trying to ignore how creepy this place was. It was like something from a horror movie…just some kids, getting out of the rain…

'Left, left, straight on, right, left, second door on the right,' Manuel replied, flawlessly-memorised. 'I committed it to memory on the flight. I got an eye for routes and strategy.'

And so he did. Left. Left. Straight on. Right. Left. …Second door on the right.

'Get ready, everyone…' Manuel muttered, readying his chakram. 'Brace yourselves for a fight.'

Aidan's whips crackled, and Roxy's wings fluttered madly with the levels of power she was calling to the surface.

'Ready.'

'Then let's go bust up a robot's face.'

I should have started including Roxy's trauma around the Abyss sooner, but I'm was finding my feet with writing, and now I'm doing much better. So, Roxy gets some trauma.