Brooke ~

I slid down the wall, and sat on the floor, my breath coming in short, sharp gasps. I glanced around our cell, not properly seeing everything. A girl whom I didn't know but vaguely recognized sat in bonds. She was crying, and saying something to us, though I couldn't make it out. 

"Oh really? I think you can believe it, Brooke." Mr. Minu's words played over in my head. I could believe it. It made total sense. Everything I'd ever be worried about now came true in the most horrific, possible way.

How could you be so STUPID?! You knew better! You knew not to trust ANYONE! And look what has happened all because you let your guard down. You let someone in, and now you're paying the price.

I'd never experience a heartache like this one before. I didn't remember my parents, and growing up in different orphanages I had never become attached to anyone or anything before. But now I felt as if my soul were being torn apart. 

Despite my best intentions, I could feel tears in my eyes. Since when did I cry? Since when did I feel like this?

"As soon as I get out of here, I'm leaving," I hissed to myself, hunched over. "I'm going as far away as possible. I'm..."

And then it hit me. There was no escaping. I was trapped in a cell, and there was no fleeing, not morphing into a cat or squirrel and slipping out a window. No running from the authorities and finding a safe house. I was trapped, right here, and I wasn't going to get out. My breathing came faster and shorter. I felt claustrophobic, like the walls were going to suck all the air out of the room. I felt my body shaking slightly.

"These bonds aren't going to just break," Elexhiia muttered, observing the girl's bonds. 

"The computers!" the girl said emphatically. Elexhiia and Amber hurried over to a wall mounted moniter, peering at it intently.

"How does it work?" Amber asked, looking at it from all angles.

The girl rolled her eyes. "I don't know, one of you will have to figure it out!"

I stared for several long seconds at the moniter which continued to beep in denial at everything the two girls tried to do. Slowly it dawned on me what exactly it was.

"I know those things," I muttered quietly.

"What?" Elexhiia said sharply, turning around. "Then come here and work it!"

I got up as if in a daze. As I walked, only then did it hit me that Storm and Catherine hadn't said anything, nor did they look surprised. 

They knew. It suddenly hit me. They knew and you didn't. You didn't see it coming.

I stood in front of the moniter, studying it.

"I was on a juvenile detention center once, and they had these things," I said, staring at it carefully. Amber's eyes widened and I heard a snort from Storm.

"Long story, and I didn't exactly commit a willing crime," I said quickly. "Anyway, we weren't supposed to know evidently, but there's a small switch... here." I slid a tiny, almost unnoticeable switch on the bottom and a keyboard slid out. "This is how you really control it." I typed in a series of commands, and the bonds on the girls arms sprang open.

"Thanks," she sighed, stretching. "I'm Jamie, by the way. Now, I'll be back to free you all, okay? Try to find a way out in the meantime."

We nodded as she vanished.

Something had now replaced by sadness. It was anger, burning, passionate anger. I stormed toward the center of the room where the platform that had brought us up and been. I spun around in a circle, studying the floor.

"What are you doing?" Leo asked, staring at me.

"Trying to find a way out!" I snapped. Nobody questioned me after that. I knelt down, studying the hardly seeable seam of the elevator. Then it hit me. I rushed over to the computer monitor and began typing commands.

"What are you doing?" Storm demanded, undisturbed by my previous outburst. 

"Hacking the mainframe," I answered. What exactly I was doing, and what was going to happen, I wasn't totally sure, but honestly, at the moment, I didn't care.

After what seemed an eternity, though in reality was only a few minutes, the lights began to blink, and I could hear the computer systems surrounding the room warming up and beging to obey my commands.

Welll..... I just lost all my progress on accident.

Now, I know Danielle posted about thirty minutes ago (probably more by the time I finish this) but I started writing this before dinner (and before she posted) and since Nathaniel's by himself (as compared to the other characters with writers) I figured that this can either take place before or at the same time as her segment depending on what Jamie does. If our posts collide, I'll rewrite mine, but let's just see how this goes. 

Nathaniel, you're on~

Nathaniel walked over to where the platform had been and jumped. He didn't fall, though, but landed a few feet away in the air like he had just jumped a few feet on solid ground. He looked back at the noise and chaos coming from where he had left the others. There were voices, angry voices, of the people that had trusted him.

"Come on, Nathaniel," Mr. Minu hissed, sensing Nathaniel was not yet on the ground. Nathaniel looked back one last time before lowering himself to the ground and turning visible before Mr. Minu.

"Try being faster next time," he growled. "They're already planning an escape."

"Sorry," Nathaniel muttered. Mr. Minu had been the one to give his daughter teleportation powers. Enough said.

Nathaniel followed Mr. Minu down the hallway, turning left, turning right, opening the office door.

"Good job," said a sickingly familiar voice. "Of all of them, I didn't expect you to be so helpful without a threat or two holding you in place."

Nathaniel froze.

Giovanni.

"Suprised?" Giovanni smiled. "Things really did turn out different than they were suppose to." He smirked. "You're alive, I'm alive. Good for us but not anyone else."

Nathaniel nodded politely. Giovanni was alive. And so was he.

They were both suppose to be dead. 

Nathaniel didn't understand why they were both suppose to be dead. Not at all. He didn't seem to understand anything, anymore, though. Just one more thing added to the list, he though gloomily.

The sound of footsteps, loud, confident footsteps, echoed through the hall. Megan stepped into the room.

"Well look at who upheld their part of the deal!" she said. "A good thing, too, since we already gave you your powers." She sighed. "Might've been a mistake, but David said..."

"I did what you wanted me to do," Nathaniel said. "Now can I go?"

Megan nodded, and Nathaniel turned to leave when Mr. Minu stopped him. "Not so fast."

Nathaniel stared at Mr. Minu. He seemed tired, weathered, decades older than he'd been when he'd stopped by their apartment a couple of months ago to drop something off for his mother. A couple of months ago.... when none of this had happened. When FLASH and HUNT were just rivals, and Shane's was just a school, and Nathaniel was just a kid. That had all changed now.

"We can't just let him go without any insurance on our part," he said. "Think of it this way--we've already seen him stab someone in the back before. Who's to say that he won't do it to us?"

"Hmm, good point," Giovanni said. "I suppose we'll need him to pledge allegance to HUNT and FLASH."

"I suppose we'll need to think of a good acronym for both of us," Megan sniffed.

Nathaniel closed his eyes. "I'm not a part of this anymore. I just want to go home and be normal and never have to go back to this again. I won't betray you."

"We all just want to go back home and be normal," Mr. Minu said, "but that's no longer an option. There's no escaping this conflict, Nathaniel. There's no backing out of a huricanne once you're in the eye of the storm."

There's that. Wwwwwwhich knowing that no one else will just stay in place while HUNT is evil, will probably need to be revised. Or something.

Suddenly, a bright flash fills the shop. I cringe at the sudden light and then think, It's my chance to escape! 

I can't get past the others because they're closer to the door, but I run to the back of the shop and hide behind a counter. As the flash of light fades and confused sounds erupt from the kids in the front of the shop, I'm aware that my orb is activating. Someone is calling me.

It's the master, in one of his male bodies. He looks like he's in pain and very annoyed, to say the least.

"What do you want?" I hiss quietly.

"To get you out of there, Storm." He looks more annoyed as he holds his head in his hands. "I've been working my life away, and I'm not about to let eleven years go down the drain for the sake of some children."

"What are you talking about?" I gripe.

"You're not going to be allowed to jump anymore."

I'm surprised. "Why not? That's ridiculous!"

He shakes his head. "Your world is being locked. I'm sending someone to close it as soon as she's done with her business there. Your job is done."

I'm madder than I should be. "So that's it?" I spit. "You're just going to release me- for what, telling people about yourself? Big deal! You're trashing my whole purpose, and you don't have the nerve to even come and do it yourself!"

He jumps strangely and I understand. The spasms. "I can't walk well today, so I'm sending someone else. Is that such a crime? I only wanted someone for chores... Seems we can't have nice things after all. Don't worry, after you're gone, they won't remember you."

I'm suddenly afraid. After I'm gone? The way he says it with such nonchalance... 

"Don't worry, it isn't painful for them. They've already forgotten about your partner." My partner? Absurd. I always work alone. Was there someone else he gave missions to? Someone else with the jumping device? I curse the day that little black box was created by HUNT. Of course I had to go mucking around into other worlds and cause this mess.

I'm about to ask something else when a hand reaches across my vision and grabs the orb. I jump in fright as the girl sitting next to me crushes it in her hand. It drips like a red liquid down her clenched fist and dissappears. How long as she been sitting here?

I try to move but I'm rooted to the spot. I try to reach for my jumping device- but where is it? It's not around my neck anymore!

"I can't have you escaping now," she says. "I'm almost done here. I can erase their memories of you and lock the world from jumping, but you'll have to go first. A pleasure doing business with you."

I've seen snakes unhinge their jaws to swallow prey whole and as the world goes dark, I can't help but be reminded of this and have, over my omnipresent fear and anger, a sadness that life is such a farce. 

Top top top TOP!

Brooke ~

Everything was in chaos. Nathaniel, sided once again with the creep, my hands were being tied, and Mr. Minu was about to shoot his own daughter.

I felt the world spinning around me, everything going in and out. Where the heck were Storm and Catherine? How did we get into this? Why was my life such a ruin?

I stood to the sidelines, watching Jamie whimper as tears fell down her cheeks as she closed her eyes awaiting what seemed the inevitable.  Her father raised the gun and faced her.

"STOP!" I screamed, lunging forward as the gun went BANG. What happened next, I couldn't explain. I felt a dull thud in my shoulder and the force knocked me backwards. I glanced down to see blood staining my shirt. I was vaguely aware of Jamie's shocked scream and everyone else yelling something, though at the moment I didn't care. I didn't feel any pain right then, that was a plus. Blood roared in my ears and a familiar feeling rushed through me.

"How..." I started to ask, but then I gave a sly smile. "Yes, please, come on!"

Strength flooded through my body, and despite the bullet wound which was losing blood rapidly, I felt great.

When I looked down at my body, it's not what you'd expect. I'm now a full grown cougar, my bonds broken. My shoulder is still bleeding and is starting to hurt, but I'm to pleased too care.

"THEY'RE BACK?!" Mr. Minu shouted, nearly dropping the gun. How my powers had returned, I didn't know. I was just glad they had. I growled, baring my teeth, and advanced toward Nathaniel and Minu.

**********************************************************************

You can toss this out, Theo, but I thought maybe we should work on getting our powers back? 

I am going to write. Eventually. This might not seem like a big promise, but right now I have to finish a page of "Magician and Rabbit" and another cartoon before I can do anything (and even after that I still have heaps of work to do. Know that writing here is in the pile). I hope I can get to it today (because it has to be today or tomorrow) but right now I'm unsure how it will turn out. I just wanted to say that in case it seems I am deliberately neglecting this thread. I'm not. I just need the time to write.  

I FINISHED IT! HAHAHAHA!

@BHR, Nathaniel betrayed everyone for his powers already (Bad Nathaniel!) but I like what you're doing here.... Ideas....

Nathaniel, you're on~

"We have to stop them now," Megan said to him outside the building. She handed him a gun. "Mr. Minu already has one of these. The bullets inside of them take away your powers. None of them," she nodded at the building, "should leave with their special ablities. Can you do that?" Nathaniel nodded. There were only about seven or eight of them, after all. And he could turn invisible again.

And fly, he reminded himself. "There's only five of them, I think," Megan said. "Should be easy." Five? Nathaniel felt stupid. Of course. Five of them. Not eight. What had made him think that?

"Easy," he repeated.

"Now go," Megan pushed him back inside the building. "That is, if you're really with us."

"I am," he said.

"Well then don't fret about it. This should clear that all up." 

"You're still here?" he asked Mr. Minu, who was standing behind the door when he stepped in the building.

Mr. Minu blinked. "I was tying them up so we don't have to worry about moving targets." He smirked. "I came back to see if you'd join me. Let's go see if you're really with us or not."

Nathaniel followed Mr. Minu back to where they had been before. It was true, everyone was tied against a chair now. Brooke, Elexhiia, Leo, Amber, Jamie. All five of them. No more, no less.

"Please Nathaniel... Please," Jamie plead. Nathaniel ignored her wailing as much as he could. Mr. Minu pulled out his gun. "No... no... Please don't... please..." Jamie said.

Mr. Minu smiled and winked at Nathaniel. "Sorry, but I think I will have to kill you." He raised his gun and pulled the trigger, just as Brooke screamed "STOP," lunging forward in her chair.

"BROOKE!" Elexhiia yelled. Jamie screamed. The bullet, the one intended for Jamie, had hit Brooke on her shoulder. Nathaniel watched, in horror and fascination, as Brooke began to transform into a large cougar, the chair and ropes holding her in place crumbling to the floor.

"Her powers..." Nathaniel whispered.

"THEY'RE BACK?" Mr. Minu shouted. Cougar-Brooke growled and started to advance towards the two of them. Mr. Minu started to shoot fire at Brooke, but Jamie managed to fllick ice at him from her bonds. Mr. Minu let out an un-earthly scream and fell to the floor, now no more than a pile of dust. Nathaniel stood horrified for a moment before looking back to his bigger problem at the moment--cougar-Brooke. 

"Um, listen," he started. "I know I kind of betrayed all of you and you really want to eat me right now--"

Cougar-Brooke growled in agreement at the last statement.

"--but you really shouldn't." Nathaniel though about his options here. He had his gun, but since it had backfired and given Brooke her powers back, he didn't want to risk using it twice on her. Reasoning seemed to not be working so well, and he didn't have a reason for Brooke not to eat him, so that was out. He could turn invisible, but Brooke would be the only one able to track him. He'd proved that long ago.

Cougar-Brooke gave a growly-mew, as if to say "Why not?"

"There's no reason why we shouldn't just end you here," said Elexhiia. She and the others with powers had managed to free themselves in the moment he had been trying not to be eaten.

"Yeah," said Leo.

"We trusted you," added Amber. Cougar-Brooke growled at them all to stay out of it. This was her bussiness.

Nathaniel looked over them. The ones he had trusted--who had trusted him. What had drawn him to betray them? Anger? Jealousy? Parinoia? Greed?

Cougar-Brooke had cornered him now. This was the last of it. The end of the battle.

A little voice in his head told him he could turn invisible and get away from her. Fly away. They couldn't catch him if he flew.

Nathaniel thought about the gun in his pocket.

He looked at cougar-Brooke.

"It's funny," he said, "when you have what you though you wanted, but you really didn't want it at all."

Cougar-Brooke placed her paw on his chest and growled, baring her teeth. "It's over now," she said.

But it wasn't. It wasn't because it was then Nathaniel turned invisble and flew up to the ceiling, managing to get away from her in her confusion.

"Why did you think I did the things I did?" he asked, as cougar-Brooke followed him with her gaze as he flew around the ceiling of the room. The others looked around, visibly confused of where he was. Jamie tried to shoot him with ice based on where his voice was, but missed, meters off.

"It's even now," Nathaniel said to Brooke. "There's no way either of us can win this fight. This wasn't how it was suppose to end. We can never get it right, but we can come close." He dropped the gun out of his pocket, where it landed on the floor, visible, next to cougar-Brooke. He gulped. "Will you finish this story the way it was suppose to?"

Ahhhhhhhhhhh yes it is a pocket-gun. This is weird. Sooo if it needs to be changed go right ahead. I'm pretty much out of ideas. Or all of the ones I have are worse of more cliché than the last. 

I believe the theme of this is Don't listen to "Glazy Days" as many times as you can before it gets on your nerves while you're writing. Right now, I could listen to that song FIVE MORE TIMES HAHAHA! 

@ Theo: Oh, right. *facepalm* My bad. Anyways, I LOVE what you wrote! That is awesome!

Brooke ~

I was stared down at the gun with a mixture of shock and contempt. 

"Will you finish this story the way it was suppose to?" Nathaniel demanded, hovering over head.

My heart was torn in two different ways. One part of me wanted to trust Nathaniel, wipe away everything that had happened. Take down FLASH and HUNT, leave this place for good. But the other part of me reminded me that I would never be able to forget this. It would always be a stain in our past. Would I ever be able to trust him?

I stared at the gun for several moments, and the room remained silent. Finally, I shrunk back down to human form and with shoulder still throbbing, picked up the gun. I turned the gun over in my hand. The silence hung with tension in the air, so thick you could cut it with a knife. 

Finally, with a burst of pent up anger, I hurled the gun across the room where it hit a wall with a deafening clatter and fell to the floor.

"I won't end it like this," I whispered, then, despite his invisibility, I looked straight up at Nathaniel. "Let's end this right."

Slowly, he decended to the ground a few feet away.

"Let's end FLASH. Let's end HUNT. I'm sick, and tired, or living in fear of them, and letting them use us as their puppets. I'm done with this. If you, or I, or any of us go down, it's not going to be because they turned us against each other. If we go down, we go down fighting right."

"I'm in," Elexhiia said immediately stepping out of the group.

"Me too," Leo and Amber said in unison, along with Jamie.

"Then we go all in and we do it big," I said, looking at the others. As we moved out of the room, I moved close enough to Nathaniel to say in a low voice,

"We may be working together again, but it'll be some time before I consider trusting you again."

He looked at me, though I couldn't read his expression, then moved on with the rest of the group. I moved after him, though winced, glancing down at my shoulder. Getting my powers back had helped to slow the bleeding, though pain still coursed through my shoulder and blood still flowed mildly from the wound.

Just get through this, I thought, trying to keep my arm still as possible.