Thirty-five
"I still think the plan is nuts." Shira Talmid was saying as Kate stepped quietly into the bunker. It was more like a storage cellar with its slanted wood doors, aggregate-infused plastic walls, and dim interior lighting. She moved with the noiseless grace and of a Samurai, but held the strength and authority of a mighty Sentinel warrior.
Apparently she had immeasurable access to Imagination as well, to a powerful enough effect to be described as Mythranesque. After her brief training session with Cyclone on his Avant Grove property was cut short, she'd had to conduct experiments herself. At first she'd taken inspiration from natural forces, and channeled fire to warm a cup of tea she drank that morning. When they departed Cyclone's property, she summoned a wall of wind to push their rockets to the Block Yards a little faster. Once there, she focused on the opposite: enforcing calm in a typically windy place. To help conceal their operation, she added fog, to the clouds that already hugged the property's underside, to cover its upper hemisphere as well. It was a task as easy as breathing in and out.
And to Kate's amusement, her teammates were none the wiser.
Now she drew inspiration from her Samurai training. By amplifying the inaudibleness of her boots and the other stealth qualities of her gear, she became practically invisible, even when she pirouetted into the cellar.
"We're luring, of all people, the Darkitect to fight us." Shira continued. She was leaning against a stack of crates, looking disheveled and worn out from digging in boxes for the last half hour, and she was still inspired enough to chatter. Ben and Ryder were around elsewhere. "I swear this is like a mass suicide."
Kate stopped in front of Shira. Despite facing her general direction, Shira didn't look up, or respond to Kate's entrance at all, as if she didn't even notice her. Amusedy Kate snapped her fingers. As Kate expected, the girl with multicolored hair didn't even blink.
"I see you've discovered your Nexus powers." a voice said from behind Kate.
It was Allison Ryder.<ac_metadata title="Song of the Swans - Chapter 35 part 1"> </ac_metadata>