Fever Pitch

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I'm still getting everything together, Creame-chan, but I don't think it will take too much longer~

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" an older woman in her late forties asked a much younger girl who stood with a fairly large box in her arms.

"Yeah, Mom! I'll be fine." the younger girl offered with a dazzling smile as she heaved the box into a better positioning in her arms. The older woman, apparently the girl's mother, frowned, not wanting to leave the girl just yet. "Seriously, I'll be alright! Besides, I have your cell number and the home number if I need to call!" the younger girl added, nodding reassuringly at the distressed woman.

"Alright.... but... you know I love you Ciera."

"I love you too, Mom." the older woman took in a large breath before forcing herself to open the car door and get in.

"You call if you need anything! I mean anything, Ciera!"

"Yes, Mom. I promise I'll call." the teen added once again, moving her head in a motion to make it clear it was okay for her mother to leave. The older of the two sighed, tears welling in her eyes as she drove off, leaving the teen alone outside the dormitory. With nothing and no one else to keep her outside, she turned on her heels and entered the dormitory, climbing the stairs with box in tow to get to her room.

"There, that's the last of it." Warm brown eyes twirled with delight as the young woman set down the last of the boxes, spinning on her right foot before falling back onto her bed. It was a good feeling to finally be done moving boxes out of her parent's car and into her brand new dorm at Texas University. Little did she know what would happen in the next few hours.

A pencil smashed against the glossy wood of the table with a bang! He had already done a page of his math assignment, and he was only one third done? Just how crazy was his professor? Cracking his knuckles and sitting upright in his chair, Anka yawned. Simply glancing at a math textbook made his eyelids droop. It wasn't like he was horrible at mathematics, but it was just so boring. You can't pick up an equation and throw it, or go on a run with it. His past teachers had always said that you could apply anything in everyday life to math, but it was all lies. Who would be seen running down the street with a sheet of expressions and formulas, anyway?

The young man's eyes flicked to his phone as he activated it, brightening up the screen. He had a few messages waiting to be opened, but he didn't check them. A good amount of time had passed since the last time Anka checked his phone... Just how long had he been doing homework? The floor was littered with empty wrappers of various things; potato chip bags, candy wrappers, granola bars, snack pouches, even the occasional ziploc bag with who-knows-what could've been in there before, signs of his previous toils with his other papers.

Visibly tired with his assignment, Anka shoved his homework paper into his book as a placeholder and stood up from his seat, stretching a cat's stretch as he did so. Feeling the blood rush back into his legs made him excited and his body itched for a nice run. Anka needed to get out, or else he was sure he was going to tear all of his papers and shove the piles of books he had stacked on his table to the ground. With haste, he slipped on a pair of broken-in running shoes, his phone attached to a pair of headphones, his kitten-eared jacket, the key to his room, and a few snacks. Anka hurriedly bounded out of his apartment down the street, happy to be free of his confinement for a time.

Getting the rest of the way unpacked had taken three times as long as it had to move stuff up, especially without a mother's help, but finally Ciera had finished moving into her dorm. With nothing holding her to her room and no classes to attend for the day, the young woman was free to do as she pleased. The only thing on her mind as she left her room was optimistic thoughts about the school's highly credited gymnastics and phys. ed. program; she was disinterested with seeing anything else at the moment. After all, she was here on a scholarship to perform as a gymnast in competitions; it would be in her best interest to visit the facilities and see exactly what she had to work with.

She reached the gym fairly quickly, and upon entering the enormous building her smile disappeared. Her jaw dropped in utter awe as she looked around. Thousands of pieces of special equipment, mostly for exercise in general were lined in special rows. As the teen moved through the gym, she made her way unknowingly over to the center where she was quickly directed towards the gymnastics wing. Her surprise only skyrocketed from there as she was led through the wing on a quick tour by one of the many instructors, who soon dropped her off at a section dedicated to springboards and vaults.

Without needing to be told so she quickly got to work, taking less than the normal amount of time to stretch and prepare before dashing forward. She felt lighter than air as she bounced off one of her chosen springboard. Flips and twists and turns and tricks of all sorts followed; the number of times she bounced quickly lost to the back of her mind. It did not take very long for everyone else in the section (which made a grand total of five people; all girls) to suddenly stare at the teen's amazing grace and feats of endurance and balance. When she finally mounted her final landing she was out of breath, at first unaware of the silence that surrounded her.

And then the clapping began.

- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ -

The motorcycle roared as she sped down the highway, the route guidance in her ears telling her to get off in a mile. The next location she had punched in not moments ago was coming up soon; and though she figured it would hold nothing, she still had to check. Just because it was relatively close did not mean there was no one there for sure. "Someone has to be here." the woman thought to herself as she turned onto the exit.

It was true, someone with powers like her was in the area. Even if it was something as simple as the ability to naturally change their hair color through thought. And she needed to find them, no matter what they were able to do; even if they were not entirely aware of it. "Anyone... anything could be useful at this point..." the woman sighed as she began to slowed to cruise around the town.

- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ -

"Wow!"

"That was so cool!"

"How did you do that?"

Comments such as these were common, but never before had Ciera received this many in the past five minutes. All of the girls that were in the gym had crowded around her, screeching their heads off after watching the teen's display. She was definitely the most experienced in the area, because after watching all of them perform their own stunts (most by demand of the girl in question) Ciera found herself only slightly impressed. But she did not let it show, for it was not in her nature to be mean, and besides they needed practice was all.

"You have to show us how you do it!"

That was the last demand she was given after the girls had finished showing off. At this Ciera could only smile weakly; everyone wanted to see how she did it. It was all she ever heard from people, fans or not, and it was something she grew tired of. Not because she did not want to, but because she could not explain. She just... did it. There was no way that she was did it; it just happened when she got into the air. It was as natural as breathing to her.

And yet she could not disappoint, especially when they kept going on about it. So with a mental sigh, Ciera vaulted for the spring stand once again, bouncing off of it and into the air. Once again she flipped and span and twirled through the air landing perfectly where she had only moments earlier.

"It's just... flips. Don't think about it. Just do it."

That advice proved to be very poor, as the first over enthusiastic girl that tried landed incorrectly. She stumbled on her hurt leg and fell to the floor, her face hit the mat with a very audible smack! Ciera and the others were quick to rush over to the injured girl and help her up; to Ciera's delight, no one else wanted to try and chose instead to soothe their wounded friend. Ciera stuck around and helped to nurse her for awhile before claiming to need to leave. As she exited the wing, she did not notice a very shady looking man in a black suit watching her every move.

He had seen everything.

After working up a slight sweat and a big appetite, Anka realized that more than half of the snacks that had been stuffed in his pockets had been reduced to simply wrappers within the first 30 minutes of his run. He wasn't sure if his remaining sweets would contain him on his way back home, so he figured he would try to coax one of his co-workers to give him a free meal. He figured he could make his way to his workplace fairly quickly. A hop, skip, and jump later, he found himself walking through those familiar Burger Tank doors. The smells of freshly prepared french fries made his stomach squeal with delight.

He greeted the cashier happily. Someone he knew was working up front today. "'Ayyyy, Johnny boy! 'Sup? How's work goin'?" Anka raised his hand to give his friend a smack to the hand to pull him in a "bro-hug".

"Hey, Anka!" The guy called Johnny responded back, complying with the brief hug. "Slow day for mid-day Friday, but I'm not complainin'. Enjoyin' your day off?" he asked, drumming on the counter with his knuckles.

"Ehhhh, not really. Got homework up to my neck to do, and I was itchin' for a run, so I came here. Can you hook a buddy up and get me a Double Cheeseburger, large fry, and chocolate milkshake?" Johnny looked hesitant. "C'mon, pleeeeeeaaaase? You know about my low blood-sugar, right? If not, I'll just ask Boss himself. He knows I'm always short on cash. Just do this for me, alright?" He prodded, leaning onto the counter and tilting his head to the side. Okay, so he didn't really think he had low blood sugar, but it was really the only thing he could come up with to explain why he was hungry all the time.

Caving in, Johnny gave him an annoyed look. "Alright, alright dude. But if the Boss finds out about this, I'm making sure he takes it out of YOUR check, and not mine." he mumbled, turning to get the food. After a minute or so, all of Anka's food arrived on a tray. It looked so delicious, even though he ate it almost every day. "Heeeeeey. Thanks, Johnny. You're the best, dude. How would I survive without you giving me free food?"

Another customer entered the resturant. "Man, just go eat." said Anka's friend playfully, turning to take the new customer's order. Anka complied as he picked up his tray and sat it down on a table by the window. After taking a long sip of milkshake, he put a fry between his lips and made it flick up and down. Digging into his pocket, he pulled out his phone. Three new messages had been added to the two he hadn't previously checked. He decided to open them now. All of them except for one had asked if he wanted to hang out today, except for one, which came from a classmate asking if he had finished reading the latest chapter of his History textbook.

He replied 'no' to all of them, including the homework question one. Today was a day between him and his homework... or at least it was. Forgetting about his studies, he bit into his cheeseburger happily.

Ciera walked away from the gym, blissfully unaware that the man was following her. It was not very obvious to begin with, as he kept his distance, but once she had left the main building it was not very hard to notice someone trailing you. And yet the athletic teen remained oblivious to his presence, merely swaying as she walked; a smile glued to her face.

She was entirely absorbed in what her visit to the gym had been like, even if she had to deal with a bunch of wannabe fans. The facilities were amazing, and it would be easy for her to train for whatever meets the University expected her to attend. Not to mention with how sporadically her classes met she could spend nearly all day in there if she wanted to; if she needed food she could either bring some or run next and pick something up at the cafe. This would work perfectly!

However, the man that was following her was oblivious to her excitement, rather he was focused on one thing: Following her. For whatever reason, he was trailing her, and whenever he felt like his intentions should be known, they would be.

No more than five minutes after having left the gym, Ciera had let herself back into her room. Two minutes passed before there was a knock on the door; expecting it to be one the girls from earlier, Ciera was quick to answer it. However, the face she met with at the door was far from what she originally expected. "Can I help you?" she asked, having absolutely no clue who this person was. No one else she had seen wore such a formal looking outfit, unless you counted the dean, but this was certainly NOT the dean.

"Miss Ciera Justus?" he asked, his voice heavy and mysterious.

"That's me, how can I help you?"

"My name is Andrew Dent, I'm one of the directors over the Phys. Ed program here at Texas University, and I have some questions for you regarding your performance today." the man stated bluntly, flashing an I.D. quickly before putting it back into his pocket. "May I come in?"

Ciera was slightly taken back by the man, having never heard of a director stopping in on a students home. Wasn't that what scheduled conferences and trips to offices were for? But despite her feelings, she stepped out of the way and let the man in; no need to be rude. It only took a few minutes for them to settle down at the small living area that adjoined the kitchen and bed/bathroom.

"You said you had questions?" Ciera asked, wondering what it was the man wished to speak to her about. She had not displayed her skills for many people and did not remember showing him.

"Yes. I've been informed that you are a very exceptional Gymnast and wanted to get a little background information. Your file was... rather lacking."

"Oh... okay. Ask away."

"Very well then. First..."

- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ -

No more than five minutes after Anka left, the woman pulled up to his apartment. The location her PGPS had sent her to showed a better turn up than the previous. For one, the apartment was lived in, she could tell that from the wrappers and such that littered the floor. Not to mention the books that were stacked and the papers, one of which was written on. "Anka Yngve..." the woman murmured, placing the paper back where it was.

Well this was definitely a mark, but where the hell was this kid? "There's no way they got to him already." the woman muttered to herself as she left the room, heading out the door soon afterwards. She would just have to find him; in the relatively small area it could not be that hard... right? She hopped on her motorcycle and began to cruise again, memorizing the apartment's location so she could return later.

Unfortunately finding someone who you have no idea what they look like proves to be an impossible task. One that eventually led the woman to giving up and eventually parking outside a local fast food restaurant. With next to nothing in her belly and no Anka in her company, the woman sighed and decided a meal was now placed above finding the apartment owner; she powered her bike down and entered just as a boy was walking away with his food. Boy did it smell good.

A shady man in a black suit, not very different from the one who had watched and followed Ciera, sat in booth only a couple feet from the teen who was devouring his free meal. The man made no attempt to do or say anything about the boy's all expenses paid meal; nor did he seem very interested in the teen. Though, it was hard to tell if he was doing anything at all besides calmly eating, his dark glasses got in the way of reading anything on his face.

However, he was quick to stand up when he took notice of the woman that entered after the ravenous teen. Even more quickly, he reached into a pocket and pulled out what looked like a walkie-talkie. "This is Agent 762, I believe I have located Fugitive 641 outside the local Burger Tank on 32nd, requesting back up." he whispered into the device before placing it back into his pocket.

The woman turned on her heels with food in her arms only to drop it upon catching sight of the man.

"!"

She ran for the doors, the man following close behind.

After putting away all of his cheeseburger and almost half of his fries, Anka decided to go up front and ask for some ketchup for his half-cold fries. Standing up, he grabbed his milkshake and was about to ask Johnny boy for a few packets, when a Men In Black-looking man he hadn't noticed before stood up, and a woman who had been getting a food dropped her tray and dashed for the door. The series of events that preceeded happened in a whirl. In the woman's haste and Anka's surprise, she bumped into him rather hard, causing the youth to drop his milkshake and splash all over the floor. As Anka tried turning towards the fleeing woman, his feet slipped on the spilled milkshake and his legs gave out. In an attempt to steady himself, Anka grabbed onto the man in a suit with a vice grip, trying to steady himself as he caused the man to stumble as well.

Now he sitting in a puddle of chocolate goop with a stranger, and his jeans were ruined. To top it all off, his boss had witnessed the entire outcome.

"...Anka... What do you think you're doing?!" Anka's boss screeched, obviously furious with the scene.

Looking between his boss and the man, Anka was at a loss of words, and a loss of what do to. "I-- Uh-- I'm really sorry about that, sir... uh..." Anka had forgotten all about the woman that had technically caused all of this by bumping into him. Man, he really hoped the man wouldn't ask for compensation for his suit. There was no wait he would be able to afford it, especially now that it looked like the Boss was about to pop a blood vessel. Damn.

The man almost growled. Almost. He forced himself to his feet, reaching for the communication device all at once. "Agent 762 requesting back up, the target is fleeing. I repeat the target is fleeing." He said into it once more, completely ignoring the scene that had gone on with the food. Without a word to anyone else, he shoved his way out the door. The sounds of a motorcycle's tires screeching and gunshots being fired were heard only moments later.

- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ -

The man had stayed for almost half an hour now, having rattled off questions about her life before college, techniques, and reasons for being a gymnast. Ciera had calmly and politely answered each of his questions to the best of her ability, but the man seemed rather dissatisfied. However, he finished writing on a pad he had brought, slipping the pen in his pocket before nodding at the teen. "Thank you Miss Justus. That was the last of my questions."

"Oh? Okay. I'm glad I could help you." Ciera responded, stifling a sigh as she stood up. The man on the other hand did not, remaining seated, his eyes focused on her. At this Ciera quirked an eyebrow, not understanding why the man had not stood up himself. "Uh... is there anything else I can do for you, Mister Dent?"

"Yes actually," he said, his voice taken on a dark undertone as he stood. He reached into one of his suit pockets, flashing the I.D. he had used earlier. "You can come with me, Miss Justus."

"Huh? I'm afraid I don't understand."

"Of course you wouldn't. You people never understand what's going on." the man replied sharply, putting the identification away. In turn his hands were quickly found holding a pair of metal braces that were attached to each other.

"H-Hey! What are those for?" Ciera asked, her voice shaky at the sight of the cuffs; she moved back just a bit only to have the man close the distance once again.

"Do me a favor and stop playing dumb." he said, grabbing her right hand and locking her wrist within the proper bracer.

"Hey!" the teen almost shouted as the man locked her right hand into the cuff. She attempted to wrench her captured hand from him, only to have him retaliate by pulling her close and taking hold of her free hand. "What do you think you're doing?" She was shouting not, her eyes frenetic as she pulled against his restraint.

"What needs to be done." the man responded, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out a communicator, exactly like the one the other man had used. "This is Agent 516, I have a confirmed capture. Augmentor, very powerful."

"Excuse me?!"

"Requesting permission to sedate and return to headquarters." the man droned, completely ignoring the shaking girl that was still struggling against her restraints. After a few moments a voice came on over the communicator, a voice very feminine and authoritative.

"You may proceed 516."

At this the man began to put the device away and fished in his pocket once more, pulling out a small box. He quickly undid the clasp and inside were four needles filled with a strange greenish-yellow liquid. Just as quickly, he slipped out one of the needles and reclapsed the box, slipping it back into his pocket. "This will only hurt a bit."

"No!" Ciera screamed, her terror overtaking her; she squeezed her eyes shut tightly. As if in response to the action, the needle was pulled by an invisible force, moving from the man's grip and falling to the ground. At this the man chuckled, reaching down and grabbing the needle once again.

"Oh? A telekinetic eh?" his voice was full of toxic delight as he wiped it off and once he deemed it ready turned it back on the girl. "How very lucky for me..."

"N-No! I- Get away!" Ciera screamed again, shaking her head in a fit as she continued to struggle against the man's grip. Once again the needle slipped from the man's grip except this time it continued moving. The man gasped as the very sharp point found itself within his skin, the contents drained into his system shortly after. He grunted before falling forward, his grip on her lost.

"W-W-What the hell?"

Anka flinched got up and away without so much as a bat of an eyelash towards the youth's existence. It was probably for the best. He stood up as he heard the screech of tires and gunshots. When he looked at his boss and Johnny, they both looked a bit shocked and tongue-tied. Boss recovered rather quickly, however, and began to rub his temples. Anka was pretty sure the other two had heard the gunshots as well.

Anka gathered himself enough to speak. "...Should we call the police, or what... I'm not exactly sure what happened there..."

The boss sighed. "...Just go back home for now. Make sure to be on time for work. Clean that mess up before you go. I don't care if you're not on duty today. No excuses." he said firmly, putting his hands in his pockets and walking away.

Wrinkling his brow in annoyance, Anka complied with the request. After he was done cleaning up, the flow of the restaurant was back to normal, and a few customers were filing in, now that it was nearing lunchtime. His pants were still sticky and damp from the fall, but he knew if he complained about it, his usually lenient boss would probably snap. Anka turned for the door. Truthfully, he didn't want to leave just yet, as he wasn't sure if it was safe, but decided he should get going anyway. He should've just stayed in his apartment and done the rest of his homework...

"Aight, Johnny, I'll catch ya later. Thanks for the food, bro." he said, giving him a casual wave before heading out the door and picking up speed towards his residence. He took the long route home to calm his uneasy nerves, jumping over fallen dumpsters and scaling chained fences. Even though it was pretty easy to do, it made him feel like a ninja. At last, he reached his room, feeling energized after his neighborhood adventure. Sitting back down in his chair, Anka banged his head on his textbook a few times before picking up a pencil and his calculator. Back to the old bump and grind...

The motorcycle roared, the rider speeding quickly through the small town; no more than ten feet behind her an ebony car with entirely blacked out windows chased after her. Several more gunshots were being made, but miraculously none were able to hit the speeding bike. "I got to shake them!" the woman muttered as she darted around two oncoming cars, their horns blaring in her ears the moment she pulled the stunt. More gunshots were fired, this time aimed at the rider, who had felt them coming before they reached her and quickly lowered her body.

"There!" she almost shouted to herself, ducking once more as bullets whizzed in her direction. She quickly made a sharp turn which launched her past another oncoming car into an alley way; the following car forced to stop due to not fitting between the two buildings. The sound of car doors slamming shut fell on the back of her mind as she zipped through the alleyway and made another sharp turn. The moment the gunshots faded to the loud engine beneath her, the woman turned onto another road. "Hope he's there now." she muttered, knowing very well she would have to clear out; if Anka was not home now he would have to fend for himself.

- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ -

Even though the man was knocked out from his own needle, Ciera still struggled against the metal bracers locked around her wrists. With no key in sight and no courage to really dig through his pockets, the teen instead fled from the dorm. There was no way she could stay there; what if the crazy guy came to?

- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ -

The motorcycle was left running outside the apartment, the woman hastily making her way to the door, which was still closed. She could easily hear the person inside, but rather than doing the proper thing, the woman kicked the door in. She was inside before any protest could reach her. "Anka Yngve," the woman hastily began "I'm going to need you to come with me."

With his palm smashed into his cheek, Anka stared at his textbook lazily. He had managed to complete a few more problems since his journey out to the fast-food restaurant. Still, his body was twitching; feet tapped the hard floors, his pencil spun between fingers, his eyes shifted across the problems. Anka really never was the type of person who was able to get things done at home. Maybe he should relocate his studies somewhere else...

He had thought before his door was suddenly, and rudely, kicked down. Alarmed, Anka jumped from his seat, the chair tipping backwards as he popped up. "Geh! Who are you?! What do you want!?" he yelled, turning to face her. His pencil was gripped firmly in his hand. It was the only sharp, weapon-like object he had laying around at the time. She was just a woman, but you could never be too sure with crazies nowadays. He narrowed his eyes at her, suspicious. She looked somewhat familiar. "...How do you know my name? Lady, I don't know why you burst in here, but I think you need to chill out, and get out. Like, now." he growled, briefly overcoming his previous surprise. Now Anka was just pissed that his door was trashed. Who did she think had to take care of damages, the Door Fairy?

The sound of a car screeching to a stop just outside followed by multiple car doors opening and slamming shut were heard seconds later. The woman cursed under her breath, turning to look outside to see just how many were coming. At least six men, all like the individual who had been in the restaurant, were bounding up the stairs with guns in hand. The woman cursed again before stepping fully inside and slamming the door shut behind her; she quickly locked it, though she knew the action would do little to prevent the opposition's advance.

"I'm afraid there's no time to explain at the moment." the woman stated bluntly, beginning to move around the apartment's first room. Finding a suitable escape for them was her top priority at the moment, she could let the Anka in on what was going on when they were safe. With the immediate room proving to have no viable means of getaway, the woman turned to face the teen, her eyes sharpened on him with utter seriousness.

"Getting out of here is our top priority at the moment. Yours and mine. Trust me, you don't want to stick around when they get up here." Not a moment after she finished speaking a large bang was heard against the door behind her. Obviously it was the group that had been pursuing the woman, but clearly they did not have strength similar to hers. More banging was heard, a very audible cracking sound being heard after the third attempt. "Is there a fire escape through there?" the woman pushed, her voice just a little more desperate now.

Curious to the noise of so many car doors slamming outside, Anka also glanced outside from behind the woman's figure to see a group of suited men entering the apartment complex. They looked oddly familiar... "Uuh..." Anka began, pointing a lazy finger to the window. "Who are those guys?" he asked, turning towards his current intruder. By the way she acted, it seemed as if the men in suits and herself weren't affiliated in a positive way. He furrowed his brow at her when she closed the door. "Lady, you barged in my house like you owned the place. I'm pretty sure I need an explanation. Like, right now." the boy mumbled, putting his hands-- and sharpened pencil --in the large pockets of his unique jacket.

Expecting some kind of an answer from her, he jumped when he heard the loud banging of his door. Once, twice, then a cracking noise. Oh no. He did not need any further damages made to his home. But then again, now was probably not the time to be worrying about his door. Glancing from the woman, to the door, to the woman again, Anka caved in. Hey, when some woman comes into your house and demands you to come with her, it's not always a bad thing. Not to mention he would pick a lady over six not-so-nice men in suits any day. In movies, when someone suddenly shows up and tells you to come with them when danger could (literally) be knocking at your door, you go with them, no questions.

There was no other choice but to trust her. "Fine. I'll tag along for now. But you better spill everything as soon as we get outta here!" he said, sweeping a few things off his table and stuffing them in his pockets; Keys, phone, protein bars. He turned to her when she asked about the fire escape. "There are some old metal stairs on the side of the building. We can use those." Quickly making his way to a window in the kitchen/dining area, he opened the glass pane with ease and crawled on up onto the kitchen counter and out the window, the sound of creaking metal resonating with his short fall. As he stood, he realized he probably should have let her jump out the window first, as he had no idea where they were supposed to go. "Where to? Down to the streets or up to the roof?" he asked quickly, glancing at the woman.

A fine amount of tension in the woman's shoulders eased as the teen agreed to come with her and even went so far as to direct her to what she had asked for. As he slid out onto the metal stairway, he turned to face her. "Where to? Down to the streets or up to the roof?" his words slightly ran together slightly in his haste, this was the part where she had to lead. Her lips pursed together tightly as she slipped through the window, pulling the pane back into place just as a loud bang was heard, a very apparent crack ringing out. They would be here in seconds likely.

"Get down." was all the woman said, pulling him down as she heard the door snap and fly off its hinges. Footsteps were fairly audible as the men moved into the apartment, their directness fading as they likely spread out. Unable to look in without being spotted, the mysterious woman instead angled her body as quietly as possible to get a better look at the street to get a vantage point on their situation. "Fuck." a single curse fell from her lips as she took in the scene. There had been two cars, not one as she had thought, with the second one's convoy surrounding the street in a neat formation. One of them was messing with her bike, which was where she had hoped to take him. They needed it to easily get out of this mess.

Not to mention it had the PGPS, the very thing that helped her find Anka and would help them find others like him. If they got their hands on that then it was all over. Thankfully she had had enough time earlier to lock up the bike's internal machinery, but that would not last long. The woman's gaze shifted to the teen that was crouched next to her. Brining a finger to her lips, she nodded at him with a pointed gaze before pointing down the stairway. With a strange grace that seemed unfitting compared to what she had displayed earlier, the girl briskly moved down to the next platform rather silently. When the two were settled there, she shot a look up to where they had just come through, no one had checked the window yet but they would soon. The woman's gaze fell back on the teen.

"I don't suppose your power is invisibility or... super speed, is it?" she asked hesitantly, knowing that sentence alone would definitely involve a double take. She already seemed crazy enough to him as it was, she did not want to ruin her image to the point that he would not follow her. And then it hit her. "Wait... do you even know what your power is?"

Anka cringed as he heard his door probably being destroyed up there. He hoped they wouldn't ransack the place, but he would just have to tell the management that these guys came in and wrecked the place... but who would believe a story like that? As he looked back to the woman, she nodded and signaled him to go downstairs. He nodded in return, and as quietly as he could, he made his way down the footsteps until he was once again squatted down by the woman.

During this commotion, Anka felt slightly sick. There were cars in the street, and men in his house, and he was squatting on the metal stairs outside the apartments with some woman whose name he didn't even know. What the hell kinda day was this? He silently let out a sigh. He wanted to worry about what would happen next, but he knew that he couldn't and now was not the time. Squinting his eyes at the person in the street with the motorcycle, Anka turned his head towards the woman, who had asked him a weird question.

Now was really not the time to be joking. "What...?" he whispered, giving her a sharp look. "Power? You're... kidding, right? This isn't some Superman movie. I have no powers. And while I admire your spirit to stay cool and retain your sense of humor during a time of crisis, I'd really like to know what to do so we won't get caught and we can get outta here." he said, scowling out into the street at nothing in particular. The worst part was that Anka really did think that the lady was 100% serious when she asked that question. "You wouldn't happen to know how to make him move, like, I don't know, throw somethin' at him? I've got no ideas..." he grumbled, grabbing onto the metal railing attached to the platform for support.

The woman was barely able to stifle the scowl that threatened to show itself upon hearing his response. No powers? That was absurd! He definitely had powers, the PGPS would not have located him otherwise. No, this was more likely the case where he had not come in contact with anything related to his powers. He had no idea what he could do yet because he had not gotten to use them yet. "Note to self: Find out his powers later." she filed her thought away in the back of her mind before turning to face the scene on the street. The man had, from what she could see, started to mess with the touch screen in the center of her steering wheel.

"Okay then, no powers. Looks like we're going to have to do this the hard way." the woman whispered, turning her head back to the confused teen next to her. "Come on." she said with a nod before she began to move down the rest of the way towards the ground. Just as she was reaching the last platform however, the sound of something opening above them was made very prominent. The woman looked up to see the window they had come out of open, a man leaning his head out the window and looking from side to side. She cursed as he looked down.

"Gotcha!" the man stated, loud enough for his companions inside the building to here. In a flash a gun was in his hand pointed at the woman instead of the teen, a bullet fired in her direction whizzed past her, just barely missing her cheek. "Fugitive located, I repeat, fugitive located." his voice rang as he fired another bullet, this time dodged more gracefully.

"Shit." The scowl the woman had been holding back earlier showed itself fully as she landed on the ground, looking to the road to see the neat lines of opposition drawing their own guns. She could not possibly dodge them all and get Anka out of here alone; even she was not that strong. Her eyes flew to the teen's form, desperation actually showing from behind the steely gaze. "Run! Get out of here!" she shouted to him before dashing towards the men. Leaving him was not something she wanted to do, but he did not have powers. He could not help her fight them; running and hiding was the only option at the moment.

Upon hearing the woman's comment, Anka frowned slightly. Of course he had no powers. What was she expecting? However, he followed her down the stairs, but only got mid-way when he heard the familiar sound of a window being opened. Inwardly, he cringed. Already busted? When the man had pulled out the gun, he found himself struck with fear. He hadn't even heard the man call the woman a 'fugitive'. It was as if everything until that moment wasn't real, and that he and the woman could be in a world of trouble here, and possibly even die. It was a realization that made his legs unable to move, his eyes become wide, and his blood turn cold.

He turned towards the woman who had called out to him. Run, she had said. Run? Anka's brain processed this slowly. Of course, he just wanted to get out of his situation, but... That woman had saved him from before, and she was single-handedly trying to distract all those suited men with guns so that he could escape... What kind of man would he be if he left a woman like that by herself? Taking as long as he usually did for questions, Anka didn't notice a few of the men had came out the window and onto the stairs behind him until it was too late for him to run away. One of the men had already grabbed him by the arms, while Anka flailed wildly.
"No... No! Let go of me! Let go!!" he screamed, kicking out his legs and pumping his arms, trying to wiggle free from his captor, but the man had only tightened his grip, while another man had come up to assist him.

Suddenly, Anka gave up his struggle and became still. He didn't feel weak, but his head was pounding. He grit his teeth hard. There was no way he would give up here. He still had so much of his life to live! He didn't want to be captured or die! Beads of sweat were now forming on his face. He had to escape, no matter the cost. Though Anka tried to break free with few more strong struggles, the men still clung to him. "Let go..." he grumbled, shaking his head. With a long breath inward, the youth screamed with all his might. "Let... GO!!" A burst of light arose from Anka, and a number of fist-sized orbs poured from him like bullets, pelting his captors and the objects around them. Multiple windows were broken, and the stairs had a few holes pierced through them, many bricks from the building were crumbling from where the orbs of light had hit, even going as far as crashing across the street and hitting another suited man who had been pursuing the lady. Feeling exhausted, he lurched forward to his hands and knees, noticing the men who had captured him were laying on the ground and had probably been knocked out.

Gripping the rail for support, Anka raised himself up, cupping his face. What in the hell had happened? Was he doing this? These... small balls of light? Was this the power the lady had been talking about? In any case, it had saved him, and he was worried about the woman. Regaining his senses, he wobbled down the rest of the stairs as fast as he could manage. It felt as if his head was going to split into two. The orbs from before were generating around him, as they floated near him. "...Lady...!" he croaked, walking towards her slowly as the orbs swam around him and shone brilliantly. "I won't leave you here by yourself. Besides, I have no idea where to go. Let's get outta here!" he shouted, as he glanced at one of the men. Without warning or thought, a few of his light orbs flew away from him and into the gut of the suited man, stunning him. Anka looked at his hands, then his body. The orbs didn't disappear or do anything else, but continued to shine softly. "...What the hell is going on with me...?!"

The men had easily surrounded her in another very neat formation after the woman had dashed off to fight them. Several bullets were fired, her dodging keeping her free of injury; however it quickly became clear she was not entirely super human. The rise and fall of her chest was a sure sign that once she was out of energy she would be a sitting duck. But she did not plan on shutting down and being made an easy victim, no sir. She had been running far too long to be captured now.

As another bullet flew at her, she expertly tucked her body and rolled forward at the attacker. The man could not move back fast enough to stop her from grabbing his left leg. Despite their stoic visages from earlier, the man gasped loudly as she pulled the leg and seconds later he was hovering upside down just inches above the ground in the woman's hand. He began to struggle, but before he could fire a bullet the woman threw him at his nearest accomplice knocking them both into the nearby building. More bullets followed in response as the one began to make his way over to the injured allies.

"No." the woman growled, only to be forced back into dodging bullets. She scowled. But just as she was about to pull another attack, the men dropped their guns, causing the woman to turn around; her eyes went wide as a flash of light pulsed from the stairway. There were spots in her eyes afterwards, but the little she could make out caused the scowl to quickly transform into a bright smile. "Kid packs a punch." she stated smugly only to have her smile fade as a bullet was fired from behind. This time she was unable to dodge, the metal projectile lodging itself in her arm. "Fuck." she hissed, spinning on her heels and facing one of the men that had managed to break his shock to attack.

He fired another round at her, one of his buddies joining in to try and take the now injured fighter down. She however, had regained just a minor burst of her energy and was able to dodge fairly easily. Her arm was throbbing now, but she could not treat it yet; she probably would not be able to until she and Anka were out of here safely. Just as the men were preparing another round of bullets for her, it was a pleasant surprise to hear Anka's voice call out to her. "...Lady...! I won't leave you here by yourself. Besides, I have no idea where to go. Let's get outta here!" At which point one of the orbs of light surrounding him flew at one of the men, stunning him to the point where he misfired, the bullet planting itself in his ally's foot.

"No powers, eh?" was the woman's teasing response, her uninjured arm resting on his shoulder for just a moment. Before he could offer his own rebuttal, she nodded with newfound confidence, looking to see most all the men were busy tending to themselves. Only the man trying to break into her bike was left and he seemed oblivious to the fact that his allies had fallen. "Come on." the older woman ordered before dashing off towards her bike, she did not seem all that fazed by her injury at all.

Her pace slowed as she reached the man who was currently tinkering with her touch screen. "Lets see here..."

Tap.

"Huh?"

Her fist collided with his face as he looked up, the force knocking him several feet away from the woman's form of transportation. With the man disposed of, she hopped on and quickly input the correct pin number, which immediately started the bike up with a hearty roar. "Coming?" she directed over to the teen who was only a couple feet away from her.

- - - - -

Meanwhile, Ciera had been running across campus with her hands still cuffed together. She did not even have a location in mind, she was just running mindlessly. What was she supposed to do? It was not like it was a common occurrence for some man to cuff you and try to drug you. And what was with his nonsense? He said something about an Augmenter and... a Telekinetic? She was supposed to be one of those people you only see on TV? Yeah. Right.

So what was she supposed to do?

". . . Mom." That was her realization, her legs coming to a halt. Only problem was that her mother was on her way back to Florida, and with her hands bound there was no way she could get her phone out. Despite that fact, she tried anyway, barely able to get her hands in her pocket. Only now her hand was completely stuck, leaving her in a very awkward position. She struggled for several moments, completely ignoring the stares of passersby students, none of whom went to see what was wrong. A sigh of defeat escaped her lips after a full minute had passed.

"First things first: Gotta get out of these... cuffs?" the teen muttered to herself as she began to move again, still stuck in a very strange position. Oh was this going to be fun.

Shocked as he saw the lady take a bullet wound to her arm, Anka wobbled forward slightly as he watched the woman at work. Her fluid movements and startling strength were admirable, and it was almost as if... she was some kind of superhero. But superheros and powers didn't exist... he wanted to believe, but nothing else could explain the recent happenings. Unless he was dreaming. Skeptical, he gave his arm a very hard pinch. Ow... Nope, guess it wasn't a dream. He turned to the woman when he heard her speak and felt her weight on him. "No powers, eh?" she had said, which made Anka's face twist with uncertainty. "But-- I-- This has never happened to me before!" he mumbled, looking up at one of his orbs of light. Hesitantly, he poked it, causing it to move away from him briefly, only to return hovering back to him. Grabbing the orb, he held it in his hands. "I mean... This can't be real." the young man said, watching as the orb gradually disappeared in his hands, giving his whole body a brief, warm feeling.

Anka looked up to see her once again punch someone's lights out. He cringed. Remind him never to get in a fistfight with her. He blinked at her when she called him over. He had already been dragged out of his house, now were they going? As he glanced around to the suited men, he came to the conclusion that now was probably not the time to think about it. He nodded to her question, and approached her bike, looking it over. He had never ridden on a motorcycle before. Anka hopped on the motorcycle behind her, not wanting to hold on somewhere without falling off, but not wanting to touch her in an awkward way. In the end, he just gripped her shoulders. "Where are we going?" he asked, voice raised slightly over the roar of the engine.