The Rasoul Saga: Chapter 11



Kyle released a quiet groan as he slowly began waking up from the effects of the tranquil dart that he had been hit with. He struggled to open his eyes as his stamina very slowly began returning to him. He finally did manage to open his eyes, struggling to focus his blurry vision on his surroundings. He was sure that he had been captured by the Dark Horses.

Finally managing to get his eyes to focus, Kyle slowly moved his head around to observe where he was. He was in a fairly large cell made of solid concrete, so they would most likely be very sturdy. Since he was not chained, he was able to move around the cell and explore it; a bed, a table, a few lights; nothing special.

"Restless, are we?" Vice's voice asked through a snicker.

Kyle turned towards the barred door of the cell, seeing Vice standing across from the cell. "No, I'm exploring out of boredom."

"Oh well. I guess you could call that restless," Vice said, shrugging his shoulders slightly.

"I'm not in the mood to talk, Vice. I want to be let out of here."

"Too bad I can't let you out. I want your powers still."

Kyle ignored Vice, not wishing to speak to him much more in anger. He moved towards the back of the cell and sat down on the bed, not saying another word.

"...Ignoring me isn't going to help you, you know."

Kyle still stayed quiet, not looking at Vice.

"Well, let me asking you this, little yellow boy," Vice said, walking just slightly closer to the cell Kyle was in. "What do you want with the subject?"

Kyle was going to ignore Vice again, but decided not to due to the curiousity that quickly welled up inside of him from what Vice had just said. "...The what...?"

"Is that not the reason why you came to find us?" Vice asked, slight confusion in his own voice.

"What subject are you even talking about?"

"Don't you know? I thought you wanted something to do with them."

"I don't know what in Freedom City you're talking about, Vice... I found you because I got lost. It was a complete accident."

"Ah... Then you must not know about the subject."

"What IS this subject you're talking about?"

"Nothing that you need to know."

A clanging sound started from two rooms down.

"What was that?!" Kyle looked down at the floor in shock, clearly having heard the clanging sound.

"Ah, I believe that she's finally awake now," Vice said with a almost evil grin on his face. He turned away from Kyle, and proceeded towards the stairs to go to the source of the clanging sound.

From another cell, this one being reinforced for reasons made obvious by the dents in the wall, was a female lynx. She had quite large ears, crescent-moon stripes, which faded to blue, blue and turquoise eyes, relatively short, had large hands and feet, and wore a purple one-strap top, with a purple skirt, connected by a blue middle piece. Three violet-red gem implants were above her left eye, she had two golden-colored ear-rings, a gold and blue choker-necklace, and a gold arm-band. When she noticed Vice she immediately stopped bashing away at the doors and simply stood there glaring in hostility.

"Something the matter, my dear?" Vice asked with a smirk and a snicker, noticing the female's obvious rage and hostility.

The lynx hissed back at him, slamming her hand at the door. “Once I’m out of here, I’m going to go RAINBOWS and SUNSHINE on your guts!” She growled with a Persian accent, rubbing her damaged knuckles a bit.

"Now let's see... What makes little Miss Hostile so special?" Vice said with a smirk. "I've been told that you're very special."

“And who told you that?” She gave a hard kick to the door, making yet another dent.

"A very helpful source of helpful information... Device, I believe."

“A computer told you? Google got an upgrade.”

"No, it was a person," Vice said, just slightly annoyed. He looked around the female's cell, observing all of the dents that had been made. "...Impressive."

“You have no idea.” The lynx rammed a hand through the door, scraping parts of her fur and skin off, revealing metallic bones. Strangely however she did not seem to react to the injury.

Vice narrowed his eyes slightly, noticing the metallic bones. "...Metallic bones. Very interesting. I've seen bones made of pure Rasoul energy, but never metallic bones."

“Yay for you.” The lynx pulled her arm back inside and starting pulling at the hole.

"Hey, no need to try to leave so quickly," Vice said, noticing that she seemed to be pulling at the hole. He shot a small blast of Rasoul energy towards the hole, attempting to make her pull her hand back.

The energy span around the lynx like an electric shock, causing her faded blue-stripes to light up. “Dah!” She jerked back a bit cringing from the energy flare up.

Vice, slightly surprised by the sudden flare up and the lynx's stripes suddenly lighting up, lowered his hand before shooting any more blasts. "...What just happened?"

The lynx girl was too busy being in pain to reply to the comment, but after a few seconds her pale brown fur slowly began to turn white.

Vice's eye brows raised up just slightly as his eyes widened slightly in surprise. He stared at the lynx's fur, attempting to figure out what was happening. He was quite too shocked to speak.

The lynx let out a large scream sending out a large sound-wave blasting around the cell and shooting through whatever glass was in the area.

Vice quickly threw his hands up to his head, quickly covering his very thin, slightly tall ears in pain from the lynx's scream. "My ears...!" He kept his hands placed on his apparently very sensitive ears, closing his eyes just slightly in pain as his ears continued ringing for a short while longer.

The screaming subsided and the lynx, or what was originally a lynx, fell to her knees panting from the strange transformation.

Vice, still covering his poor ears slightly and now vastly confused, slowly opened his eyes to view the lynx. "What... was that...?"

The “lynx” looked at her hands seeming a bit shocked by the form. This was soon replaced a small chuckle, “You really shouldn’t have done that.”

Vice stood silent for a moment, before his eyes slowly changed color for a very short moment. The whites of his eyes turned a very light grey, his pupils turned to a normal color, and his eye color turned into a cloudy silver. They stayed like that for a short moment as a look of pure fear came upon his face, but they they quickly changed back to their previous color; the whites of his eyes being a very irritated red, his eye color being silver, and his pupils being bright red. Now no longing showing a look of fear, he looked at the "lynx" in slight amazement. "...Shouldn't have done WHAT?"

“Shouldn’t have shot me with that dark energy.” She replied, getting up again. “Cause now I’m going to make you hurt..” her arm vibrated rapidly, “a lot.” Then slammed it through the door blowing sound energy forward.

Vice jumped to the side, attempting to form and of the sound energy that came his way. "Team! Get in here! NOW!" He yelled, calling for the other members of his team to come assisst him.

The other five Dark Horses members quickly flooded into the room, all appearing to be fairly concerned and scared from Vice's sudden call. "What's wrong?!" They all asked at the same time to their leader. They all focused their eyes on the lynx girl, fairly shocked. They stood their ground, ready to try to attack if needed.

The girl slammed her sound-charged foot into the ground, shaking the entire room.

All of the Dark Horses members attempted to hold their ground, attempting to keep from falling down from the shaking.

"What kind of power IS this...?!" Vice asked himself, simply staring at the girl in shock.

“Sound energy. You just unleashed a banshee mobian.” The girl jumped at Vice kicking at his face with her sharp claws.

Vice immediately jerked back, feeling a hard, stinging pain run all up and down his face from the sharp claws hitting him. "GAH!"

Astra quickly formed small Rasoul energy claws and stood her ground cautiously, ready to attack the girl.

Sniper quickly loaded her gun with tranquil darts, quickly preparing to aim at the lynx girl as soon as she got a good aim.

The formerly lynx girl now gone banshee, hissed at them scratching wildly and shooting sound energy as best she could before being forced down.

"...This is even worse than trying to take down those three bratty Nighless..." Vice whispered quietly, rubbing his face just slightly in pain. He turned his head back towards the girl. "You're quite a powerful one. Quite a wild one, aren't you?"

The four remaining Dark Horses members attempted to keep the lynx girl held down while Sniper continued loading her tranquil gun.

The girl screamed and continued hissing, pushing and kicking till she had a foot firmly on the ground. She then began pushing upward, forcing herself up into a half-kneeling position, and slowly continued to push.

The four Dark Horses members released growls and a few hisses, attempting to push the girl back down to the ground.

Sniper, finally finishing with loading her gun, quickly aimed the tranquil gun at the girl, and fired it in an attempt to hit the girl.

The fury in the girl’s eyes was replaced by surprise as her arms started to relax and her mind dizzily feel asleep. She collapsed to the ground unconscious.

All of the Dark Horses members quickly backed up just slightly away from the girl, all wearing a look of caution on their faces.

"...Is she asleep now?" Devin asked quietly, still feeling quite cautious and even just a bit scared.

Astra cautiously and slowly walked over to the girl. She slowly put her shoe against the girl and pushed, attempting to shove her to see if she was awake or not.

The girl did not seem to move, and her white fur turned back to pale brown.

"...Ok... I guess she's out..." Astra said quietly, slowly turning her head to look at the rest of the Dark Horses.

"That... was probably the scariest thing I've ever seen..." Devin said, laying his large bat ears back slightly as he released a sigh.

Vice didn't say anything else to anyone. He just stood back against the back wall of the room, still covering his face in pain from where the girl's claws had hit him.

The five smaller members of the Dark Horses cautiously moved the girl back into her cell, then they all proceeded to start repairing the damages that had been done to the cell.

Deciding to get away from the girl and his team for just a short while, Vice quietly slipped out of the room and went back upstairs towards Kyle's cell.


Kyle, who had been laying on small bed in his cell out of boredom, quickly sat up as soon as he heard someone walking into the room that his cell was in. He quickly sat up, and released a growl as soon as he saw it was Vice. "What in the world was going on down there, Vice...?" He asked. "What was causing all of the noise downstairs...?"

"Ah, nothing important. Just a few problems that needed to be taken care of. Simply a problem with the other prisoner?"

"OTHER prisoner?" Kyle asked in anger.

"Yes, other prisoner. She's quite... unique. She put up some fight... And some sort of strange transformation..."

"...Strange transformation?"

"Yes, indeed. It was rather unlike anything I have ever seen before. She showed extreme strength and even some type of energy... It seemed almost like some kind of sound energy, I believe. Her skin also turned white, though it was normally brown."

Kyle didn't respond. He just stayed quiet, now interested in what Vice was telling him.

"I also say she had quite some accent... Persian, I believe."

"...Did she really put up that much of a fight?"

"Yes. I had to call in my entire team to stop her..."



Where could Kyle have gone to...?" Ruby asked Mancer, turning to face him.

"I honestly don't know... I thought that he was behind us the entire time..." Mancer said, turning his head left and right to look at the environment.

"I thought he was, too..." Ruby said, appearing to be becoming quite worried about Kyle.

"It's alright... I'm sure we can find him pretty quickly with enough searching," Mancer said, noticing the worry in Ruby's voice. "All we need to do is search around where we've been, and if we can't find him at those places or close to those places, then we can start searching for other things that could have caused him to get lost."

"What if we still can't find him after we look in those places? Then what are we going to do...?"

"Like I said, we'll check the places near the places that we walked through, and possibly ask some locals if we have to. Perhaps he got on a different path and perhaps he walked past some of the locals. If so, they might be able to point us in the right direction," Mancer said. "Now do you want to search together? Or split up? I think we might be able to cover just a bit more ground if we do split up, but if we do, I still think that it might be best to stay at least somewhat close together. We might get lost from each other if we go too far away from each other. We need to stay together so we can find Kyle."

"Ok, that sounds fine to me. I guess we can split up, but stay in a close area with each other," Ruby said. "I just hope we can find Kyle..."

"I'm sure we can... It just might take time," Mancer said. He turned around towards where they had come from, and started walking slowly, followed by Ruby. "I'm sure he's still here somewhere... Surely he hasn't got far... Plus, I'm sure that he's most likely looking for us as well..."

After quite some time of searching together, Mancer and Ruby were unable to find any signs of Kyle. Ruby was feeling quite worried, and even Mancer was starting to feel just a bit worried.

"What are we going to do now...?" Ruby asked, looking at Mancer with worry in her eyes.

"We're still going to search for Kyle... Or at least I am. I don't want to force you to help if you don't want to," Mancer replied.

"I would like to try to help find Kyle..."

"Alright, then you're welcome to help." Mancer rubbed his hand against his chin slightly, and remembered that he still wasn't wearing his helmet; he remembered that it had been left at Kyle's house, although he had more important matters to think about right now. "...I have a stinging feeling that keeps coming to me."

"And that is...?"

"...Vice. Vice and the Dark Horses team. I think that it seems highly unlikely, but at the same time, I can't help but wonder if Vice came and captured Kyle somehow once he got seperated from us..."

"Do you think that's what happened?"

"Well, I don't know if that's what happened, but I can't shake that feeling. I almost feel like we should go check the Dark Horses HQ... Just to make sure."

"Do you think we should?"

"Well, like I said, I can't shake the feeling. I feel like we should..."




Kyle, who was still sitting on the bed in his cell, raised his head as his ears twitched at the sound of footsteps coming his way. "...What is that...?" He quickly asked no one in particular. He watched as the door opened, revealing Devin. "...Devin?"

"Yes? What do you need?" Devin asked as he walked into the door. He kicked the door shut due to not having his hands free to shut the door. His hands were not free due to the fact that he held the unconscious lynx girl on his arms.

"...What are you doing with that person?" Kyle asked in shock, looking at the girl in Devin's arms.

"Relax. We're just putting her in the cell next to you while her normal cell is being repaired," Devin said as he made his way across the room. He stopped in front of the cell that was next to Kyle and pushed its door open using his foot, then walked inside. He put the lynx girl down on the cell's bed, then he walked out of the cell and locked the door behind him.

"Why did you move her here?"

"I just told you, hedgehog. She's being put here while he normal cell is being repaired. Let's just say... It's rather worse for wear right now due to when she tried to attack..." Devin replied. He then turned and walked out of the room, leaving Kyle and the lynx girl alone in their respective cells.

Kyle sat on his bed, wondering who that girl that Devin had brought was. He didn't believe that he had seen her before. "...Who could that girl possibly be...? And, what could have made her so strong...? Did she really destroy her cell as badly as they said...?" He sat there wondering for quite some time about this girl's mysterious identity, but he then decided to see he if could possibly get her attention. He thought that she was unconscious, but he still thought it was worth a try. Kyle stood up and walked towards the wall of his cell, hoping that he was somewhere near the girl's bed on the other side of the wall. He knocked on the wall slightly, be caring not to hurt his hand on the thick, echoing concrete. "Hey! Can you hear me? Are you awake?"

Kyle knocked a bit more, attempting to give a second attempt towards making contact with girl. "Hello? Can you hear me?"

And still no reply came. It was not till night, when Kyle had fallen asleep, that a repeating murmuring sound came from the cell next to him.

Kyle's ears twitched at the murmuring sound over and over again in his sleep until he was awoken by it. Slightly surprised and perhaps even just a bit scared, Kyle slowly sat up from the bed, attempting to see due to his blurry vision and darkness in his cell. "...What is that...?" He asked himself quietly.

The murmuring continued with small spasms of banging here and there.

Kyle, actually beginning to feel quite scared, bit his lip slightly and lowered his ears back against his head as he slowly worked up the courage to speak. "...Hello...? Is someone there...?" He called out in a scared tone of voice.

The murmuring stopped. “What?” The girl asked from the other side of the wall.

"Who are you?" Kyle asked the girl in a quiet voice.

“… You first.” She replied cautiously.

Kyle remained quiet for a short time, before deciding to speak with caution in his voice. "...Kyle..."

“And you’re not one of these guys are you? Like as a trick or something?”

"What? No, I can promise you right now that I have nothing to do with those people. I promise that I'm not tricking you. I promise that I'm a prisoner, not one of those Dark Horses guys."

“… Alright. Guess it seemed far-fetched anyway… I’m Rynk.”

"Oh, well... Nice to meet you then, Rynk. ...What were you up to? Why were you making so much noise?"

“Noi- Oh! I was trying to turn back into something.”

"Turn back into something...? What were you trying to turn into...?"

“Banshee mobian. Heard of those?”

"I... don't think I have..."

“Oh… well anyway they can phase through stuff. I was hoping to do that to get out of here.”

"Oh... Is there any way that I can help?"

“Not unless you can get out of your cell, or just so happen to have more of that dark energy.”

"What do you mean by dark energy...?"

“One of the Dark Horse whatever people shot me with some energy stuff.”

"...Do you mean Rasoul energy? I know that at least the leader has Rasoul energy... I have it as well."

“Okay, cool. Can you reach your hand out of the cell?”

"I can try..." Kyle slowly moved over towards the large iron-barred front of his cell and attempted to reach his just slightly chubby arm through the bars. It was a fairly tight fit, but he was able to get his hand through. "Ok, my hand is out."

“Okay, try shooting the energy so it banks off the wall, and hits me.”

"Alright." Kyle turned his hand just slightly as Rasoul energy began forming in small amounts around his hand. He shot the energy towards the wall, hoping that it would bank and hit the girl like she requested.

Nothing happened. “Uh… a little off. A foot to the right maybe?”

'Yes, ma'am." Kyle formed Rasoul energy around his hands once more and shot it towards the right like the girl's instructions.

So for about five minutes straight Kyle tried to shoot his energy so that it hit the mark, and still it had not reached the girl. Eventually one of the Dark Horses noticed this while walking by.

"Now what might you two be doing?" The Dark Horses member asked, although it was revealed to be Devin. He walked towards both of the cells, narrowing his eyes slightly.

“Building a bridge.” The girl answered sarcastically, causing Kyle’s energy to accidentally hit Devin in the back. Devin stumbled forward just slightly, taken quite off guard by the energy suddenly hitting him in the back. "...Rasoul energy..." He said quietly, sounding like he was trying to come down off of a surprise. "Let me guess, you were trying to get out or help the girl get out, right, Kyle?"

Kyle remained silent, not even wanting to look Devin in the eye.

“Hey he has a brain.” Rynk teased. “Too bad that’s all.”

Kyle snickered a bit, laughing at Rynk's jokes.

Devin looked over at Rynk in annoyance, wearing a rather unamused look on her face. "...Keep joking all you want. It's not going to help you get out of there any quicker."

“It’s not going to get me in here quicker either, numbskull.” Rynk quipped. “If I’m staying here, I’d like you not to speak until you come back from kindergarten, IF they let you in.”

Kyle continued laughing at Rynk's jokes.

"Listen, kid... I'm more intelligent than you think. I don't take kindly to a smart mouth like you," Devin said in a rather annoyed, flat tone. "I doubt anyone else in my team would, and I doubt that Vice was listen to any of your mouth for very long. Either way, I'm not affected by your annoying comments," He said while turning away from the cells.

“Aka, he can’t figure out what I’m saying. Probably because all he does Is what his boss tells him. Heaven forbid we actually do things on our own.”

"I don't honestly know..." Kyle said. "I'm sure he does a few things on his own... Maybe not. I don't know."

“… I was saying that to get him riled up. No offense but you get confused a lot it seems.”

"...Yes, I suppose I do..." Kyle said quietly. "...I'm sorry..."

“It’s alright. Anyway, he left so back to shooting.”

"Alright..." Kyle stuck his hand through the cell and once again attempted to shoot his Rasoul energy so it would hit the girl.

Vice soon came up to where Kyle and the girl were, appearing to be carrying a pair of handcuffs. "So... I was informed by Devin that both of you had some kind of plan underway."

“Yep, escape.” Rynk replied blandly. “… We haven’t thought through it much.”

"Well, I would say that I'm not going to give you any more time to work on that. I have some questions for you," Vice said, slowly stepping towards Rynk's cell.

“And those would be?”

"Just some interrogation things... You'll see," Vice said as he slowly entered Rynk's cell. He opened the handcuffs, ready to try to grab Rynk if she tried to escape.

Rynk stepped back a bit, hissing at Vice. “Don’t…”

"I'm not afraid of you, you know. You don't intimidate me," Vice said as he slowly took a few steps towards Rynk. "I suggest you don't fight with me."

“I wasn’t trying to intimidate,” Rynk snarled extended her claws, “I’m warning you.” "I'm warning you as well, girl," Vice said with a flat, heavy voice. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small hand pistol. He moved back slightly, moving towards Kyle's cell. "It's fine if you want to fight me. But, if you do, I have no problem with shooting dear Kyle right here. One bullet through the head is all it would take."

Kyle was absolutely horrified, and was about to back away and hide in his cell so Vice would not be able to shoot him.

"Move and I'll shoot you anyway, Kyle," Vice said sharply, immediately stopping the yellow hedgehog boy in his tracks. He turned his head back towards Rynk. "What's your choice? If you come with me quietly, then gun gets put away."

Rynk kept silent for a moment, squeezing her fists in built up stress. “If you shoot him, I’ll stick the gun in your brain.” She hissed before walking out.

"I'm a man of my word. If I say I'll shoot him if you won't come with me, then I'll do it. However, if I say that I won't shoot him if you come with me, then I mean that," Vice said. He kept his gun out, but lowered it down towards his side. "Just come along now." He began walking, walking towards a room where he could bring Rynk for interrogation.

Rynk hesitated for a bit, flexing her claws in and out for a while, perhaps deciding whether or not to attack Vice or not. Eventually she just sighed and followed cautiously.

"Don't attack me, and I won't attack you right this second. I can work out agreements," Vice said, still holding his gun at his side. He walked into a isolated room to speak with Rynk.

“That stick doesn’t scare me.” She replied lowly before entering the room.

Kyle moved back and forth in his cell, attempting to find anything that could help him escape. "Ok... There has to be at least something in here that I can use to get out of here..." He continued looking around the cell, observing everything that was around him in the cell. He looked at the bed for quite some time, trying to figure out if there was any way that he could use it to escape. He thought that maybe he could try to use the bed to break open the cell door, but he only thought of that for a moment. He was pretty sure that he wasn't nearly strong enough to throw a bed through iron bars. He kept searching around the cell, until he looked at the cell door.

He looked at the lock on the outside of the door, noticing that it seemed very old and rusted. "...I almost wonder if I can use my Rasoul energy to just break the lock..." Deciding to test his idea, he moved to the front of the cell and stuck one of his arms out of the cell slow, making sure not to get his arm stuck in between the thin bars. He fired a very small blast of Rasoul energy at the wall, and watched as it bounced back and smashed into the lock on the cell's door. The Rasoul energy disappeared after contact with the lock, allowing Kyle to see if any damage had been done.

A grin spread across his face one he saw that a very small crack had just been made in the rusty lock. "Maybe this WILL work..." He formed more Rasoul energy around his hand, preparing to shoot the lock again.

After quite a few blasts, the rusty lock finally cracked completely and fell apart. Kyle put a smile on his face as he leaned against the cell door and forced it open using his weight. "Yes! I'm out!" He looked around quickly, making sure that none of the Dark Horses were nearby. He didn't see anyone or hear anyone, so he decided that he should look around for any signs of the lynx, or any sign of an exit. He slowly and quietly walked away from his cell, and disappeared into a nearby hallway to begin his search.


Kyle had walked up and down the Dark Horses HQ hallways for a few minutes now, attempting to search for any signs of a way to escape or any signs of the lynx girl. "Ok... This may be harder than I thought... I thought I knew where the exit was. I could have sworn that I still remembered where it was from when Mancer and I escaped together before..." He thought to himself, stopping in the middle of a hallway, which lead into two seperate hallways. He didn't know where he should go from his current location, and he felt completely lost.

Shaking away his feeling of being lost, Kyle made a turn and continued down the hallways, attempting to remember where to go to reach the exit. He tried to be as quiet as he possibly could, fearing that one of the Dark Horses members or possibly even Vice himself would hear his footsteps and try to recapture him. He turned around another corner, and swallowed a scream as he ran right into Devin.

"Why you little...! How in the world did you manage to get out of that cell?!" Devin stumbled back a bit from running into Kyle, but he kept his eyes locked firmly on the yellow hedgehog. Kyle didn't speak; he simply just turned around and ran from Devin.

"Kyle!" Devin began chasing Kyle, actually staying somewhat close behind the yellow hedgehog.

"Leave me alone, Devin! You can't catch me!" Kyle kept running, attempting to speed up as the grey Dark Horses bat slowly began catching up.


Rynk’s ears twitched at a sound in the distance of the base. When she listened harder she could hear Kyle’s voice… and one of the Dark Horses… coming close. She dashed over to where she heard the sound and saw Kyle run past her, just as Devin accidentally ran through her, as she was still phasing.

Devin quickly stopped, stumbling foward a few steps because of the speed that he had been running at. "What in the world just happened?!" He had no idea how he had just run right through Rynk.

“Well that felt weird.” Rynk noted before kicking Devin in the back of the head.

Devin quickly fell to the ground, feeling a roaring pain going all throughout his head and neck area. He even felt quite dizzy, as if he could pass out at any moment due to the dizziness. "Ugh..."

“Where were you?” Rynk asked Kyle.

"Trying to find you or some kind of exit... I managed to get out of my cell," Kyle replied.

“Yeah I noticed that. Well anyway, you know where the exit is?”

"Well, no, not exactly. I wasn't able to find it before Devin started chasing me. I was here once before with a friend of mine, and he managed to find the exit, but I'm not sure if I remember exactly what route we took. I have a general idea of where we went, but I don't know the exact paths we had to take."




Mancer and Ruby had finally arrived outside of the Dark Horses HQ. Mancer was determined to give a good search of the place if at all possible; he had a very heavy feeling that Vice or one of the other Dark Horses could have done something to Kyle.

"Well, here we are..." Mancer said, looking up at the large black building.

"Do you really think Kyle might be here...?" Ruby asked, turning her head to look at Mancer.

"I honestly can't say for sure. I have a feeling that he's here, but I can't say that's for sure," Mancer replied, still looking up at the large building. "All we need to do is go inside and look around... Although I'm sure that we're going to have to break in some way."

"You think we'll have to break in?"

"Oh, I'm more than sure of that. I just don't know which way would be the best way to go in. I don't know if sneaking in through a window or an air duct might be better," Mancer said. He rubbed his chin, attempting to think of a way to sneak inside the HQ. "I feel like sneaking in through just a plain window would be quicker, but then I almost think the air duct would be better cover. Then again, we might make too much noise banging around in the metal duct."

Ruby stayed silent, waiting to see what Mancer would choose as a way to enter. "I suppose it's whatever you think would be best..."

Mancer stayed quiet for quite some time, before deciding to make his decision. "...I suppose I would say that we should go in a window. If we find a window in a place where none of the Dark Horses are, we could most likely enter quietly and then stay in the shadows to search for Kyle. If we don't find him, I suppose we can try to sneak through another window to get out."

"Alright... Lead the way, I guess."

"Alright." Mancer walked around the side of the Dark Horses HQ building, followed closely by Ruby. He looked up at the building as he walked around it, before noticing a window that wasn't far beyond his reach. "...I'm going to check this window, and if I don't see anyone inside, this may be the window that we go into."

"Ok." Ruby watched as Mancer formed Rasoul energy around his hands, forming the Rasoul energy into small spikes. She watched as he stuck the spikes into the wall and slowly began climbing up towards the window. "Be careful..."

"I will. Don't worry," Mancer said, turning his head down just slightly to look at Ruby. He looked back up at the window, and slowly climbed up to be eye-level with the window. He looked inside slowly and cautiously, not seeing any sign of Vice or anyone else. "...Well... I certainly don't see or hear anyone..." He whispered down to Ruby.

"Then do you think it's safe to go inside?"

"Well, I doubt that it's safe, but I don't think being anywhere near this place is going to be safe. Either way, do you need help getting up here? I assume you want to help look for Kyle?"

"Yes, I would like to help look for him... I think I can get up there myself." Ruby slowly and carefully began climbing up to the window where Mancer was, who was already starting to lift up the window quietly and climb inside. Mancer and Ruby both climbed down inside of the window and climbed down onto the floor below.

"Alright, now we just need to look around and try to avoid any contact with Vice or the others..." Mancer whispered quietly, attempting to be as quiet as possible. He slowly and quietly began walking down a nearby hallway, closely followed by Ruby in their search for Kyle.




Rynk and Kyle ran from hallway to hallway with Kyle leading the way, as he was the closest to knowing where the exit was. After a while however, Rynk’s banshee form faded, and she returned to a lynx. “Flag…” She muttered, “Right when I had the idea of just flying till we reach an outside wall… MAN I sound stupid!”

"What? How do you sound stupid?" Kyle asked as he tried to keep moving foward towards the exit.

“I could have just ran us through the base by sticking to one direction.”

"Oh... Well, I'm not going to call you stupid for that. I would say that it's not your fault."

“Uh… thanks. Anywa-“ Rynk suddenly jumped behind a wall, yanking Kyle back with her.

"What's wrong?" Kyle asked in a quiet, confused whisper.

"Dark Horses members...?" Kyle whispered.

“I think so.”

Kyle remained quiet, tensing up just slightly. He was prepared to try to face whatever was coming their way if it tried to attack.


Mancer walked past quietly with Ruby, still searching for Kyle. "...Do you see him anywhere, Ruby...?" Mancer whispered quietly.

"No..."

Kyle's ears immediately twitched at the sound of Ruby's name. "...Ruby...? Ruby's here...?"

“Who’s Ruby?” Rynk asked.

"She's like a self-appointed bodyguard for me. She lives at my house, and she's almost like a sister to me in a lot of ways," Kyle replied. "I could have sworn that I just heard her name..."

Rynk looked over to see the two rescuers then quickly turned her head back to Kyle. “Is she a… cat?”

"She's a..." Kyle stopped himself for a moment, trying to think of something to say back to Rynk. "Er... Tiger-lynx, I believe."

“… Those are both ca- just look over.”

"I know they're both cats... I was just giving an exact species..." Kyle turned his head, and was absolutely shocked to see Ruby and Mancer. "Ruby! Mancer!"

Mancer and Ruby both turned their heads to the sound of Kyle's voice, and were fairly shocked to see Kyle.

"Kyle! You're ok!" Ruby said, sounding quite happy to having found Kyle and see that he was ok.

"I thought so... Thought he'd be here," Mancer said while crossing his arms.

Rynk, deciding there was no longer danger, also walked out from her hiding place. “Sup?” She greeted, making a peace sign.

"Hello. I see that you apparently know Kyle," Mancer said while looking at Rynk.

Ruby looked at Rynk, attempting to figure out who she was. "Hello... Who are you?"

“New Cell-mate.” Rynk answered. “You guys know the way out of here?”

"Well, yes, I know the way out of here, I believe... But we honestly snuck in through a window to get here," Mancer replied.

“Where?”

"We snuck in down those two hallways and then from the last room on the left," Mancer said, turning around and pointing to a series of hallways behind him.

“Okay, let’s go.” Rynk ran past the others and darted in the directed pathway.

Kyle, Mancer, and Ruby quickly followed Rynk, also trying to make sure that they didn't make too much noise.


As they began to escape, Vice and his team had quickly caught on to the trail and were waiting for them at the exit.

"I see all of you are looking to escape," Vice said as he saw them draw closer. "Not a chance."

"Vice..." Mancer released an angry growl, laying his ears back against his head.

“Right, because you were such a threat last time.” Rynk retorted. “By the way, AIM FOR THE SNIPER PEOPLE!”

"Aim for the what?!" Kyle asked in confusion.

Vice quickly raised both of his hands up, quickly turning both of his hands into his large Mezame claws. "Just try to get past us." He looked at Mancer. "I feel like YOU'LL be the biggest threat here."

“You’re talking about height I’m guessing.” Rynk hissed, leaping at Vice with intent to claw his face off. Before she hit her mark however, a large green light flashed between them. When it faded, Device stood between.

Vice quickly shielded his eyes, but then lowered his arms to see Device. "You again!"

Device spun around looking particularly annoyed, and extended her arm ten feet forward, grabbing hold of Vice’s shoulder, and hitting him against the door. “You… were given a mission, and you broke the deal… do not… start… with me…”

“... Um…” Rynk, who was now getting back up from almost colliding into Device, looked about confusedly, “is this a good thing or a bad thing?”

Vice narrowed his eyes, releasing a quiet hiss through his teeth. "I did what I wanted."

Mancer watched Device and Vice intently, as if trying to see if Device was about to do something to Vice. His entire body tensed up as he kept his vision locked on Device.

"I...don't honestly know..." Kyle said to Rynk's question.

“What’s going to happen…” Device replied in a hissing tone, squeezing on Vice’s shoulder, then turning to face the others, “is one of you is needed for something.”

Vice released a quiet hiss, feeling a stinging pain because of Device squeezing his shoulder.

Mancer kept his eyes on Device, and released a very quiet growl as if he was getting angry at the fact that Device was clearly starting to hurt Vice.

"What could you possibly want from us...?" Kyle asked Device.

“One of you… but… YOU… I think will be an interesting twist…” Device let go of Vice before teleporting between Kyle and Rynk, then… all three of them vanished.

They appeared in a large warehouse-like location, only… red… very red actually. It had black stripes around, and there seemed to be much more hooded people.

Kyle looked around quickly in shock, trying to figure out what had just happened. "What is this place...?!"

“A privilege.” Device hissed. She walked off from the two mobians, with two of the other hooded people following her.

Kyle felt slightly scared and confused at the same time. He had never seen such as place before in his life.

“Hey!” Rynk yelled to Device. “What are we supposed to do?!”

“Wait!” Device yelled back before going out of sight.

"Wait...? For what...?" Kyle said quietly, not really directing the question at anyone in particular.

“… Hey! Hood people!” Rynk waved to them. They ignored. “… Well I’ll be going now.” The impatient lynx started walking in the direction Device went, and two of the figures blocked her path. “Move.” She growled testily. They did not, though their eyes turned red.

Kyle, feeling quite scared at the sight of the figures, didn't really know what to do. "B-Be careful, Rynk...!" Kyle stammered quietly.

Rynk raised her arm to shove the guards away when someone called out “I WOULDN’T… Actually… YOU won’t.”

The two mobians turned to see who was speaking. Ten feet in front of them, was Virus.

Kyle was shocked and utterly speechless to see Virus standing before him. But, at the same time, he swallowed roughly and tried to muster up the courage to speak. "...Virus!"

“Kyle, Rynk,” Virus then turned to each of the other hooded figures, who were obviously identities, “Bill, John, Mickey, Chris, Joe, Max, Sam, Archimedes,” then turned back to Kyle and Rynk, “Huzzah, we are introduced.”

"Where's I2, Virus...?! I still want to know!" Kyle said, laying his ears back slightly.

Virus looked a bit confused at first, but remembered quickly, “Oh her. Now Kyle isn’t one girlfriend enough?... Or two if you count Rynk.”

“Barely know him! … Or you!” Rynk yelled. “What’s your plan? Kill us? What?!”

“Wait your turn.” Virus hissed, turning back to Kyle, “Someone misses his bodyguard.”

Kyle released an angry growl, feeling Rasoul energy quickly welling up through his body. He did his best to hold it back instead of firing it all at Virus out of anger. "She's like a sister to me, Virus! You took away a part of my family when you took I2! I want her back where she belongs! Not with you and your evil plans!"

“Too bad.” Virus tuned, tilting her head from side to side. “I don’t have a reason to give you back I2, unless you have something to give me.”

"I don't have anything to give you! I'm only a simple person! I only want my family back to its rightful order!"

“Well… I can think of… something… you can do instead… maybe…” Virus walked up to Kyle, observing him perhaps, then turned to Rynk, “but not yet. I have other business.”

The guards grabbed Rynk by the arms, catching her off-guard, then teleported out of sight.

"Rynk!" Kyle was shocked that Rynk had got taken away just like that. "Where did you take Rynk?! ...And what other thing are you talking about?"

“Don’t worry about her, she’s getting a present. As for the other thing, I was talking about the thing between your ears.”

"The WHAT between my ears? What do you want from me?!"

Virus put her palm to her face, “You know, I rarely actually give anyone any form of respect, and when I do it’s when they say something smart, but you are really making it hard. Think.” She moved her hand away, “What is between your ears?”

Kyle crossed his arms,giving an annoyed look towards Virus. "There's a lot of things between my ears, you know. My hair, my skull, my brain..."

“Which do you think someone would actually be interested in?”

"...Something to do with my brain...?"

“Took you long enough.” Virus smirked. “If you want I2 back, so far the only thing I could think of for you to give me in return is everything you’ve ever learned. Your entire memory.”

"What? No, I don't want you to steal my memory from me! I need that for things!"

“Think of it as making a copy. Besides, do you really care about I2 that little that you wouldn’t sacrifice your own mind?”

Kyle bit his lip, laying his ears back against his head. "...Fine, I guess I would if it meant that you really WOULD give I2 back..."

“If you actually have something of worth in that head, then yes… you’ll get her back.” Virus stretched her arm forward, forming it around Kyle’s head, then began to surge waves of energy through him.

Kyle tried to stay as still as possible, feeling a lot of panic and fear suddenly shoot through his body. He swallowed a small scream as he tried to wait patiently for Virus to finish, attempting to ignore the energy that he could feel surging through him.

The process took what seemed like hours, with a pain that felt like someone was slowly drilling a knife in and out of his head. Then the Lynx-shaped-identity said “Ah… this… could be useful…” and retracted, leaving a large burn-mark-ring around Kyle’s head.

Kyle had his eyes tightly shut and his teeth clenched in pain from the process. He took a deep breath, slowly opening his eyes back up. "What did you do to me...? And, if you found something useful... Does that mean I get I2 back?"

“As agreed.” Virus teleported from sight then re-appeared with a small vial, which she tossed to Kyle.

Kyle quickly and carefully caught the vial, and then looked down at it in curiousity. "...What's this?"

“You’ll find out. Anyway, I think they’re done.” Virus turned to the hallway where Device left through, seeming to be waiting.

Kyle cautiously and slowly walked towards Virus. "Done with what...?"

Two Identities dragged a glowing red Rynk back to the room through the hallway, with their arms morphed around hers to keep her from moving, though it was not needed as she was unconscious.

"Rynk! What did you do to her?!"

“I didn’t do anything.” Virus answered. “My subordinates simply… unlocked… something already inside her.”

"...What do you mean...? Something inside her...?"

“I’ll let you figure that out. I’m quite enjoying being vague.”

"...Can you at least tell me what this vial is...? Or what you saw in my head...?"

“Um… Nah. Bye.” Two identities grabbed hold of Kyle and Rynk then teleported them back to Vice’s base.

Kyle looked around quickly, attempting to see where they had just got taken. "What just happened...?"

Rynk, who was still unconscious, did not reply. However Mancer, Ruby, Vice, and the other Dark Horses would have reason to.

The Dark Horses all remained silent, fairly shocked at Kyle and Rynk's sudden reappearance.

"Kyle! What in the world happened?" Mancer asked, quickly walking over to Kyle to make sure that he and Rynk were both ok.

"I honestly don't know what happened..." Kyle said. "I got this little vial thing, though..."

Vice, seeing this as a possible chance to attack Kyle and the others, quickly ordered his team to get into battle formation. "Might want to pay attention, Kyle. We're still here, you know."

Kyle quickly turned around to face Vice. He really didn't want to deal with Vice right now.

"Kyle, take Ruby and the lynx girl and get out of here. I can hold them off," Mancer said flatly as he quickly ran out in front of Kyle and the two girls. He quickly got himself into a battlestance, looking at Vice with his rather serious red snake-like eyes. "Deal with me, not them."

"Ah, now while I really would like to battle with you very much, I must say that I'm also just as interested in your friends as well," Vice said, narrowing his eyes just slightly at the black and red hybrid. "Team, give me a hand here." The Dark Horses team quickly stood by Vice, all preparing to fight in their own ways.

"Kyle, go! Now!" Mancer said as he used his Rasoul energy to turn his hands into Mezame claws like Vice. He looked over his shoulder just slightly to see Kyle, who was carrying Rynk due to the fact that she was unconscious, beginning to run away down a nearby hallway with Ruby.

Vice quickly turned his head towards Devin and Astra, quickly pointing his finger past Mancer at Kyle and the girls. "Devin, Astra. After them now." Devin and Astra nodded their heads, and then quickly dashed past Mancer before he even had a chance to try to stop them or block their path. Mancer was about to turn to go after Devin and Astra, but Vice quickly dashed up in front of him, quickly throwing a heavy punch at Mancer. "Pay attention to me!" The Dark Horses leader said as his fist collided with the black and red hybrid, sending him down roughly onto the ground.

Wanting to go help Kyle but knowing that he would have to deal with Vice first, Mancer quickly tried to get up off of the ground. "Fine then!" Mancer swung his Mezame claws at Vice quickly, actually striking him just slightly on the side.

Vice quickly recovered from the small slash, quickly back on the attack towards Mancer. He put a small smirk on his face as he shot blast after blast of Rasoul energy towards Mancer. "Not bad. You actually managed to hit me this time."

Mancer quickly used his claws to slice through each Rasoul blast as it came towards him, and then charged through the small amounts of black mist that was left to try to attack Vice again. "I don't want to hear it!"



While Mancer battled with Vice and the three Dark Horses members that stayed by his side, Kyle and Ruby were still running in an attempt to find the exit before Devin and Astra caught up to them.

"I think we're going to have to slow them down, Kyle!" Ruby said.

"Fine, I can try that!" Kyle, who was still holding Rynk, quickly turned around, moved one of his arms out from under Rynk, and blasted a few small, quick blasts of Rasoul at Devin and Astra from the palm of his hand. The blasts didn't hit Devin and Astra, but it definitely slowed them down because they had to dodge to the sides to avoid the blasts. Using this bit of time that they had just earned themselves, Kyle and Ruby quickly turned down a nearby hallway in an attempt to possibly lose Devin and Astra.

Kyle looked around quickly, slowly beginning to notice that the hallway was beginning to look familiar to him. "Ruby! I think I know where we are!

"You do?"

"I think so! If I'm correct, we should be near the exit!" Kyle said, still running alongside Ruby.

"Ok, but how are we going to get rid of the bat and the wolf?" Ruby asked while looking over her should just slightly. She could see that Devin and Astra had figured out where they were and beginning to catch up again.

"I don't honestly know. We're most likely going to have to fight them or just outrun them," Kyle said. He turned around once more, and freed one of his hands up again to shoot even more Rasoul energy at Devin and Astra. They dodged the Rasoul energy once more and continued running after Ruby and Kyle.

Kyle and Ruby continued running down hallway after hallway, until they made it to the large open room where the entrance was. "Yes, here it is! I was right!" Kyle said as he ran towards the door with Ruby.

"Wait just a minute!" Devin said in an angry tone. He quickly raised his hands and shot Rasoul energy into the front door, and watched as the Rasoul energy quickly covered the door like a shield. "You're not going anywhere!"

Kyle and Ruby quickly stopped, noticing that the door had just been covered. They quickly turned around to face Astra and Devin, who were quickly approaching them with Rasoul energy all around their hands and arms. "Got nowhere to go now," Astra said with a small smirk.

"I'm not in the mood to deal with all of you Dark Horses people," Kyle said in a flat, angry tone. I just want to go home for a while!"

"Too bad, we're not going to let you go without a fight," Both of the Dark Horses members said. They were about to shoot at Ruby and Kyle with their Rasoul energy, but then they just suddenly dropped to the ground unconscious.

"What just happened?!" Kyle looked around in shock, attempting to figure out what had just knocked Devin and Astra out. He looked down into the hallway that was behind both of the Dark Horses members, and saw Mancer. "Mancer! Did you knock them out?"

"Yes, I did," Mancer said in a flat, quick voice as he quickly made his way over to Kyle and Astra. "We have to get out of here now. I used my Rasoul energy to make a smoke screen and just ran away from Vice so I could get to you. He's NOT going to be happy when he catches up to us."

"Right," Kyle, who was still carrying Rynk, turned towards the door, but stopped when he saw that it was still covered in the Rasoul energy that Devin had covered it with. "The door is still blocked!"

"Not anymore," Mancer said. Kyle turned his head towards Mancer in confusion, but froze when he saw Mancer suddenly charge towards the door.

"Mancer, what are you doing?!" Kyle asked in confusion as he saw the black and red hybrid jump into the air in front of the door.

Underneath Mancer's jacket sleeves, it seemed almost like something began to glow red under them, but no one was able to really tell what it was. Mancer suddenly blasted himself towards the door using a sudden blast of Rasoul energy behind himself, and crashed right through the Rasoul shield like a rock through glass. "Come on, let's go!" Mancer said as he let himself fall to the ground and land on his feet. He quickly kicked the front door open and ran outside, quickly followed by Ruby and Kyle with Rynk. They all quickly shut the door and ran off into the distance, hoping that Vice wouldn't catch up to them anytime soon.


Vice had quickly caught on to Mancer's escape trick using the Rasoul energy smokescreen. The Dark Horses leader furiously ran up and down the many hallways of the Dark Horses HQ, searching for Mancer and any sign of Kyle and the others. He had the three members of his team who were with him during the fight also searching. "Now where in the world did they manage to run off to?!" He asked himself out loud in a rage as he continued running throughout the hallways. He didn't have to run much more before he found himself in the room with the entrance to the HQ.

He looked down at the ground quickly as he ran into the room, and hurdled over the unconscious Devin and Astra to keep from stepping on them. He landed roughly on the ground on the other side of them, looking around the room quickly. "Unconscious Devin and Astra... That's a start..." He looked up towards the entrance, and noticing the small amounts of Rasoul energy that were left over from the broken shield. "Devin made a shield, and they must have broken it and ran out!" Vice released an angry growl, quickly running outside. "They're not going to get away from me that easily."

He formed a large amount of Rasoul energy under his feet, which quickly formed into a small Rasoul cloud and lifted him up off of the ground. He released another growl and leaned foward while on the cloud, making the cloud shot off into the distance at alarming speeds while he rode it. He was determined to chase Kyle and his friends down.

Rynk, who has finally faded to normal again, slowly awoke while the group escaped. “Ugh… Flaggin… what?” She opened her eyes slowly.

Kyle, who was still holding Rynk, looked down at her quickly as soon as he heard her. "Rynk, are you ok?"

“Y-yeah I’m fine… aside from a heada-“ It was then that Rynk realized that she was being carried and quickly attempted to hide an extreme amount of blush.

Kyle looked away just slightly, laying his ears back just slightly. He couldn't help but wonder if Rynk felt as embarrassed as he did. "I... um... I... I'm sorry... You were unconscious... So... um... I had to carry you..."

“I-it’s alright,” Rynk stammered nervously, “thanks… Uh… y-you can put me down now.”

"O-Ok... Again, I'm sorry..." Kyle gently set Rynk's feet on the ground, and then slowly began letting go of her, trying to make sure that she was recovered enough to keep her balance without help.

“Did… we escape?” Rynk asked obliviously, “wait duh we’re not in the base…” She looked around a bit, “Where are we?”

"We're outside of the base... We're in Freedom City. This is my homeworld," Kyle said.

"Indeed." Mancer was about to start walking again, until he suddenly stopped. He quickly turned around, looking behind everyone as if he thought something was coming.

“Oh…” Rynk noticed Mancer, “What’s wrong?”

Mancer kept looking behind him, until he suddenly turned to face everyone. He quickly began forming a cloud of Rasoul energy in front of him. "We have to get out of here. Vice is coming."

“Anyone else?” Rynk asked.

"No, as far as I can tell it's only Vice. He's stronger than you might think he is, especially while angry."

“Yeah right.” Rynk chuckled. “He was SO hard to beat last time. And this time he doesn’t have a tranquil dart… I think.”

"No, but he does have some of the strongest Rasoul energy that the Rasoul Dimension has ever seen," Mancer said quickly and quietly. He finished making a Rasoul cloud, which looked like it was large enough to carry maybe two people. "Two of you can ride on this if you want. It's fairly fast."

“… I still think we could take him, but I guess this is safest.” Rynk hopped on the cloud.

"I suggest you get on the cloud as well, Kyle," Mancer said flatly. He quickly picked Kyle up and set Kyle down on the cloud with Rynk. "This cloud will fly itself. It knows when to turn and when to stop." He quickly looked over his shoulder, attempting to see if Vice was coming close yet.

“… I guess I’ll just follow.” Ruby added, morphing her arms and legs slightly for better flight.

Rynk’s head fell a bit, starring at Ruby in irritation.

“… What?” Ruby asked in a confused tone.

“You’re an identity?”

“… Yes…?”

“… Why didn’t you just teleport us?”

“… I… don’t really have that much experience with my powers.”

“Y-“ Rynk closed her eyes for a bit then turned to Mancer, “let’s just go.”

"Alright then," Mancer quickly looked over his shoulder once more, then began forming Rasoul energy around his feet. However, this Rasoul energy wasn't black like normal. It was red, a very dark shade of red. "Let's get out of here. Again, like I said, the cloud will follow me by itself and carry Kyle and you, lynx girl." He suddenly dashed foward, and then began moving his legs back and forth as if he was using the red Rasoul energy as fast skates.

“Yeah… I met one in a school once.” Rynk answered, looking down a bit while they flew. “So… are I2 and Ruby sisters or something?”

"Yes, I believe so... Twins, I believe," Kyle replied. He remembered the vial that Virus had given to him. He looked down at the vial, which was still being held in his hands. "...I just wish I knew what this is..."

“Huh… Cool.”

Kyle continued looking down at the vial, attempting to figure out what it could be. He almost wondered if Ruby possibly knew anything about it.

“So… is Vice getting close?” Rynk asked Mancer.

Mancer continued skating with his Rasoul energy beside Rynk and the others. He turned his head back slightly, and was just barely able to see the furious Dark Horses leader slowly becoming visible in the distance. "He's working on it."

Rynk turned to Ruby, “Think you can shoot at him?”

“With chaos energy?” Ruby asked.

“… Yes.” Rynk answered with a groan.

“… Okay, um… do you guys think I should do it?”

"A good aimed shot most likely would hit him..." Mancer said as he continued skating. "...Just don't try anything huge... I'm not fond of killing people."

"Er... I guess it's whatever you want to do, Ruby..." Kyle said quietly.

“… Alright…” Ruby pointed her arm at Vice, transforming it into a tube-shaped arm cannon. Red energy surged back and forth in her arm, then charged in the core of the cannon, then fired a large-spread chaos energy beam at Vice.

Vice, taken completely off guard by the sudden attack, was completely unable to dodge the attack. He was struck by the beam, which caused him to lose control of his Rasoul cloud and crash to the ground. "GAH!"

“Spar-“ Rynk was halfway into an air-pump when she stopped herself and sat back down, “I-I mean, nice shot.”

“Thanks.” Ruby replied, still starring at Vice’s direction to make sure he was still down.

Vice tried to get up as quickly as possible, but he pretty much knew that he wasn't going to be able to get back up in time to catch everyone.

"...I don't think he's going to be able to catch us before we're gone..." Mancer said.

“Good. Then we’re safe.” Rynk noted. “Where are we stopping?”

"I suppose it's wherever we all think we should stop. I would normally take Kyle and Ruby back to Kyle's house, but I suppose it's wherever everyone wants to go," Mancer said.

"...I still want to know what this vial is..." Kyle said quietly to himself, looking at the vial once more.

“Well I don’t suppose you could drop me off at my own world really quick?” Rynk suggested. “I was trying to get something when the Dark Horses ambushed me."

"We can do that if you want, I suppose... Er, if it's ok with everyone else. I'm not the one who can teleport here," Mancer said.

“I could do that.” Ruby nominated. “But I think we should stop somewhere first… or at least make sure Vice won’t find us.”

"Then I suppose we could go to Kyle's house so Kyle and Ruby can stay there. I don't believe that Vice would be able to find us there. I don't think he knows where the house is."

“I do.” Ruby replied. “Should I teleport us there?”

"I know where the house is as well does Kyle, but you can teleport us there if you wish," Mancer said to Ruby. "I don't want to force you to take us to Kyle's house if you don't want to teleport."

“Why wouldn’t she want to do that? It’s not like it’ll kill her… wait will it?” Rynk questioned.

“No I’ll be fine.” Ruby replied.

“Then let’s teleport.”

“Okay.” Ruby grabbed hold of everyone then teleported them inside the living room. Unfortunately because Mancer was still on his cloud it caused them to ram into a wall.

Kyle fell off of the cloud and onto the ground, feeling quite dazed from the sudden crash. He held the vial over his chest when he fell so it would fall on him and not get damaged. "Oh boy..."

“I’ll forgive you once the room stops spinning.” Rynk replied weakly as she wobbily got up.

Mancer's very large fox-like ears layed back just slightly due to the fact that he felt kind of bad. "I'm sorry."

“It wasn’t your fault.” Ruby retorted while getting up. “I should’ve teleported us outside.”

"...No reason to retort," Mancer said flatly, crossing his arms slightly. "Anyway, I feel like it was partly my fault in the first place. I should have thought about where the cloud was going to go. Oh well, it's water under the bridge now, I suppose. It's already happened, no way to rewind time."

“Yeah… Uh, nice house.” Rynk complimented.

"Thank you, Rynk," Kyle said. "It's two stories, but nice."

“… Wow.”

“… Would you like to stay for Dinner?” Ruby asked.

“Hu- Oh, uh n-no, I think I’ve overstayed my welcome.”

"Are you sure, Rynk? I don't think my parents would mind if you stayed..."

“I’d… rather not. Y’know in case more identities want to make me light up red. Maybe another time.”

“Should I teleport you back to your city?” Ruby suggested.

“That’d be nice.”

“Alright… sorry you have to leave, Rynk.” Kyle said.

“Me too.” Rynk replied with a slight smile. “Hey I’ll try to visit or… something, sometime. Nice to meet… everyone. Bye.”

Ruby put her hand on Rynk’s shoulder and they were gone. A minute later Ruby came back.

Kyle turned from the others and went into a hallway, carrying the vial.

“Are… you alright, Kyle?” Mancer asked in concern.

“Huh? Oh… yeah, I’m fine. I’m just trying to figure out what this vial is… I hope it helps get I2 back…”