Saint Joseph School

((As I havn't done much with Moon, I figured I'd sit down and knock out some story for him. As a magic hero, I tend to find myself going up against the CoT a lot, so I figured they would sooner or later want to get him out of the picture... Let me know what you thing and if ya notice any typoes or grammer programs (or anything else that seems confusing) just pm me, and I'll try to fix it. This is the first part, I think a good opening while I think up some more stuff to follow along. Anyone wanting to help out in the story characterwise, drop me a note as well. Thanks. Any feedback would be nice as well.))

Nightmares, Chapter 1.

Jake was spending this weekend as he normally did, running around the city getting exercise that he couldn't during the busy school week. He took this time for himself, just to jog and think. As his super speed carried him around like a blur, he scanned the streets for signs of heroes in trouble. He looked up to most heroes, but some always seemed to put themselves in places that they can't handle.
“Take this blaster, for instance,” he thought to himself. Jake was taking a long way around Perez Park, heading towards Atlas. This skinny guy thought he could sneak up on a large group of Hellions. By the time Jake got up, he looked as if he knocked a few out, but the rest had overwhelmed the little blaster. Using his powers received from that mysterious person so long ago, he took a breath and let flow his powers of healing. The cuts and bruises visible on the little hero glowed softly as they closed. Jake used another power that boosted the hero’s ability to fend off the attacks. His work done for now, Jake sped off down the street without even waiting for a little 'Thank you.'
He's not normally this rude, but after that last mission he helped on, he felt strange. It's no real secret that many of the students on campus are, well let’s say more advanced in some areas then others. These students take time to help out those in need around Paragon City. The contacts that Jake uses seem to have a problem with the Circle of Thorn lately. Jake didn’t offer to help too often. His area of study was more supportive then offensive, and it made him feel weak when trying to handle things on his own. When he was asked to sneak in to a Circle of Thorn hideout and pick up a few crystals and books, he was very excited. At last was a chance to prove himself. He was able to use his super speed along with a new trick that he learned. This little trick made him somewhat transparent to others when he wasn’t too close. He was able to take his time and find what was needed. But just at the end, he swore one of the Mages looked right at him, but then looked away. At the time, he was happy to escape unnoticed. Now, something was nagging at him, something he couldn’t place.
The rest of his run went without a problem. This in itself was odd, but Jake paid it no heed. “What was it there… It’s like something I saw, but didn’t really notice it.” Lost in his own thoughts, he sped down the street towards Kings Row. Anyone watching the young man racing down the street must of thought he was in some Zen-like state; expressionless and looking ahead blankly as he replayed going though the dark and wet cave.
He was physically in Kings Row, heading towards the tram to take a ride back to campus, but mentally he was near the end of his little adventure. He remembered picking up the last book. He thought he was in the clear, but when he turned to leave, there was mage dressed in orange and brown robes that had walked into the room. He remembered closing his mouth so he didn’t gasp out loud. And lastly, he remembered the mage looking right at him, right into his own eyes. The Mage then glanced around, and walked out and down the hall. The brush with this Mage took a toll on Jake, and he hurried himself out of that wretched cave and back to his contact to dispose of the books and gems.
Jake was so engrossed in his story, he failed to noticed something very strange. He stopped and took a look around. He was about three blocks north of the tram, but the streets were empty. Standing in the middle of the intersection, he looked around, confused. No pedestrians walked the street; no cars were in sight that weren’t parked along the road.
“What the … It’s only about four, where is everyone?” He voice echoed strangely off the buildings. “I better get back, no telling what has happened now.” He sighed to himself, and pushed his super speed to the limit getting to the tram. He hopped the railing and stood by the tracks, waiting for the next car.
“Man, I hope the tram is still running,” he said to himself as he poked his head past the barrier and looked down the track. He could hear some clinking and clacking along towards the station. He waited as the car came around and slowed to a stop in front of the guardrail. The doors slid open, and just as he took one step inside he looked up and gasped as he saw the face of the mage again. His jaw went slack and he tried to turn and run, but he couldn’t seem to control his legs. The mage just grinned and reached toward him. Jake felt as his something was hugging him really tight. It was hard to breathe and he couldn’t move at all.
“Sleep now,” the rough voice rasped. “Sleep, little hero. The trip ahead is long.” The mage closed his outstretched hand and Jake felt the invisible grip on his tighten even more. He tried to take a breath but couldn’t seem to pull any air in. He struggled weakly as everything went black…

With a loud gasp, Jake sat up in his bed. He continued to pull in big, panting breathes as he looked around. The ice that seemed to be in his veins slowly melted away as he realized his was back home, back in his bed. It was dark outside, and the clock said it was five in the morning.
He pulled his blanket off and stood up, trying to slow his breathing now that he knew he was safe. Walking into the bathroom, he grabbed his portable radio, and put his headphones on to listen to some music.
“What a god-awful hour to be awake on a Sunday,” he muttered to himself. He figured after that bad dream, he might just as well get up and get a start on some homework. He flicked on the radio and heard the high-pitched voice of the local morning radio news/comedy show. He stared at himself in the mirror for a moment before he remembered this show was only one during the weekdays.
“Wait... it was Saturday afternoon when I went running.” He walked to the small window in the bathroom and looked out to see some teachers and other staff walking up to get things ready for the students. “But… This should be Sunday… what is going on! I better get back to that contact, find out just who I borrowed those things from is.” He turned and hurried to get dressed.

-----

End of Chapter 1

edit: I can't believe I called myself Jack instead of Jake... heh

((Sorry chap 2 took so long... school was eating up so much time, damned midterms! ))

Chapter 2

Jake was sure he made quite a sight as he raced down the pathway leading from the street up to the dorms. He hoped no one would be able to see it was him and report him for skipping out. Even if he got in trouble, he was sure this missing day of his would be a good excuse.
It was still early as he sped down the street to the tram. A few businessmen and women stood waiting on the platform. He tried not to look nervous or act strange enough to have attention drawn to him. After a few minutes the tram came and stopped and he followed the group onto the car. It didn’t take long to reach Atlas. Jake decided to take the quick way and hurried to the edge of the platform overlooking the parking lot of City Hall. He teleported down to the pavement and then sped off towards the door. While Jake liked his little instant moving trick, it drained him so much physically he only used it when needed.
Because of the early time, only a few heroes were around the hall. He rushed into Magi office and forced himself to slow down and sign in at the desk. He could see Azuria at her desk, with another hero. Slowing his breath and racing heartbeat, he sat at the few chairs that passed as the waiting area.
As he waited, it took some time to go over what he was going to say. The words sounded so strange as the echoed in his head. Before he got too far, he heard his name called and looked up to see Azuria waving him over.
He took a seat in the worn wooden chair in front of her paper-covered desk.
“Hello again Jake, how are things?” she asked, a note of worry in her voice as she saw the look on his face.
“Not good. You remember that last mission you had for me, getting those artifacts from the Circle?”
She nodded.
“Well, when I got back to the dorms, I had this nightmare. The mage from the cave was in it, and then when I woke up, a whole day had passed.”
She let a little “Hmm” while thinking about this. “What do you mean by a whole day had passed?”
“Well, when I got back, it was Saturday, right? When I woke up today, it’s Monday. It’s like I slept thought Sunday, but I know that I couldn’t have, my roommates give me little peaceful time as it is.”
Azuria continued to look thoughtful. After a few seconds she said, “The Circle are up to something. You are not the first one who has come to me with this kind of story: a strange dream and a missing day. We think that they are looking for either a certain person, or just a certain type of person. They are known for using heroes to somehow power some of their more powerful spells. However, as I said, we really don’t know what’s going on yet.”
Jake wasn’t too surprised by the answer. He knew the Circle were strange, and it was something that always nagged at him in the back of his mind whenever he faced them. He sat silent for a second, and then looked at her. “I want to help.”
Azuria leaned back and sighed. “I’m glad you are eager, but to be honest, this is a bit much for you.”
Jake felt his face get warm. “Look, with all due respect, it was me that was sent there, me that had that horrific nightmare, and me that is sitting here feeling like some powerless baby!”
The room was suddenly silent and he realized he was yelling. He sighed and took a slow breath. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be so blunt, but I just want to help. This feeling I have, the same as in that dream when I was stuck, unable to even breathe, it’s so…” he thought a second for the word, “vulnerable, I guess.” He sighed again.
It’s just like always, he thought to himself. I stand back and let the others rush in for me. “No, you’re right. I’m sure this is beyond my powers.” He stood and turned to leave.
“Wait,” she said just a Jake had taken a step. “If this does come down to what we think it will, we will need people with your talents.”
Jake turned to face her and found her looking very serious and worried. “If you do,” he tapped small plastic device behind his right ear, “You know how to find me. Anytime, day or night, call and I’m ready.”
She nodded to him. “Go back to class for now, it may be some time before we figure out more.”
Jake nodded and headed out the door. He was walking towards the lobby when he sighed to himself again. It wasn’t like him to get so angry. Once outside and once again turned on his super speed and headed back to class.

((As I don't like putting words in others mouths, I decided to pull a few of my other characters into this story. One is added here and look for two more next chapter. I'll try to end this around chapter 5 or 6, but who knows!))

Chapter 3

It wasn’t long before the earpiece beeped, signaling a message. It was just after classes were done for the day, and Jake was getting ready for his daily run. He forced himself not to hope it was her, but when he reached up an pressed the button, Azuria was on the other side.
“Hey Jake, hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
“Not at all, I was just getting ready for my run, what’s up?”
“Well, I think we have something for you, but I want you to hear me out before you agree.”
Must be something big if she says that. Normally it’s just “Hey go here, do this, let me know when you’re done”
“Sure, go ahead” he said.
He heard her sigh on the other end. “We have reports of Circle activity. From what we know about their rituals involving heroes, as well as other events we’ve been able to piece together, we think they have found who they were looking for.”
Jake felt his pulse quicken. “Wow, that was fast”
“Yeah, much faster than we hoped. To be honest, we are not quite prepared for this. However, there is good news. From what we were able to read from those books you got for us, we think they are trying to pull some sort of elder spirit or demon or something from some other plane. You know how they are, and how they love their demons. The book describes the ritual. They need to get a person of power, in this case the hero, with an artifact that is linked to this demon. From the description in the book, if this demon was set loose on the city, I don’t think all of our heroes together could hurt it.”
She was silent a second, and it gave Jake time to take in this information. It was a little overwhelming at first, but he was still determined to help. “What can I do?”
“This may sound simple, but I’m sure it won’t be. You need to get to the hero, and destroy the artifact. The book describes it as a pendant, sort of ankh-like, on a necklace. The ritual requires this necklace to be placed over the hero. It will slowly absorb his powers and his life along with them. This will give them to power to open a gate, and summon the demon.”
“Sounds simple enough, why all the worry what I wouldn’t want to do it?”
He could hear her sigh again. “They are in cave over in Nerva Archipelago, in the Rouge Islands.”
Jake gasped at this. “The what? You mean… the villain areas?”
“Yes, Jake, and remember, you don’t have to do this! I have other people I can ask if you don’t want to, I will understand.”
He took a few seconds to think it over before he answered. “I can’t run from this. I will do whatever you need me to.” Or die trying, he thought to himself.
“Ok, I will arrange transport for you.”
“Wait, I think I know someone who would like to help. I helped him once in a sort of personal way, and he has always wanted to repay me. I find it pretty useful to have someone like him around.” Jake knew many of the students around would jump at the chance to face real villains for once, not these petty thugs that hung around the city.
“Very well, just make sure he knows the dangers. I don’t want to send anyone that is not prepared. Meet me here at the hall in about an hour, and everything will be set.”
“Okay, we’ll be there.” Jake clicked off his earpiece. He was already dressed and ready; it was time to go pay old Umbra a visit.
Jake hurried down the hallway and knocked on Umbra’s door. Not a second had passed when the door was opened and Umbra Shade stood before him.
Umbra was about as tall as Jake, but had slightly darker skin and black hair. He had the same slim build, but no glasses.
“Hey Um, I got something to tell you, and I don’t think you’ll believe it.”
Umbra chuckled and said, “Hey, I’m half alien here, try me!” He stepped to the side and motioned for Jake to enter.
The next thirty or so minutes were spend telling Umbra about the events leading up to the nightmare, the missing day, and what he found out about today. Throughout it all, Umbra sat and listened, nothing more then a nod here and there to show he was paying attention.
“So, you want me to help?” Umbra said.
“Yes. But know that we are going to Nerva Archipelago; it won’t be safe by any means. I know that the villains have an emergency teleport system like our own, but it is unknown if it will work for us. You don’t have to do this.”
Umbra stood up. “Are you kidding? Sounds like a blast, when are we leaving.”
Jake stood up, smiling. “Right now.”
The two boys hurried out the door, almost forgetting to stop and lock it, and headed for the door. Once outside, Umbra shifted into his nova form, a somewhat transparent being with a ‘S’ curve to it. He was floating in the air, and there were many tentacle-like things coming out around the side and back around the top area. His head looked almost like a turtles, and the bottom had two tails coming out of his main body. His whole body seemed to emit a gray, almost black aura around it.
Jake was reminded of the first time he saw his friend change like this, but quickly pushed the memory aside. Now was no time for old memories.
“We need to meet Azuria in Atlas.” Jake said. “You lead, slow poke.”
When Umbra spoke, the words didn’t come from his mouth, in fact his mouth didn’t move at all. The words just seemed to echo inside Jake’s head. “Slow poke! We’ll see!” He flattened himself out and took off with amazing speed. When flying, Umbra had the uncanny look of a large fish moving though water.
Keeping his friend in his sights, Jake used his super speed to keep up, but not outrun, his friend. This short time spent with his friend almost made him forget about the grave danger that lies ahead. Almost.

((Here the friends are off! I noticed that all my tabs are getting eaten, so sorry if it looks a little off. This got a little long, sorry! If ya take the time to ready it, please drop me note on what you think so far, love it/hate it/make it shorter/whatever! The next chapter will be the battle to the cave and maybe inside, depending on who long-winded I get Thanks --Moon))

Chapter 4

Jake and his friend, Umbra Shade, arrived at the hall, and found Azuria waiting outside of the office for them. Jake introduced his friend, who had reverted back to his human form.
“It’s nice to meet you, Umbra, I had the pleasure of working with father a few times in the past. Please send him my regards when you talk to him.”
Umbra looked unimpressed, “Of course.” He nodded once towards her.
“Well, best to get this started right away. We have some time before the necklace is about to draw all the power out of the hero, but not a lot. You are to go to Talos and take the ferry to Striga Island. From there, you will wait on the ship until a submarine surfaces next to it. Climb down and talk with the captain. Tell him I sent you, and he will take you to where you need to go. I have arranged for some more help once you get to Nerva, please accept it.”
The two students looked at each other, then back at Azuria.
“Help in Nerva, you mean villains, right?” Jake asked, a little surprised.
She nodded. “It’s rare, but not unheard of, when heroes and villains work together to take down a common foe. The Circle are a problem for us, but trust me, they are no friends of anyone in the Rouge Islands. We here do have certain contacts around there, and I’ve called in some favors. You will need all the help you can with this. I’m sure the hero and artifact will be well guarded. And besides, who better to take you to the place then someone who knows the area?”
Umbra just shrugged. “Help is help, right? Well, if there is nothing else, we better get going.”
Azuria smiled at him. “You are just like your father, you know. Ready to dash off at a moments notice.”
He frowned. “I am very much not like my father, however, I know you meant that in a good way, and I will take it as such. Thank you.” He turned and started up the steps without waiting for her reply.
Jake turned to watch his friend, then back to Azuria. “Don’t worry, we’ll get this taken care of.”
“For all our sakes, I hope you are successful.”
Jake just nodded, and turned and hurried to catch up with his friend.
The trip to Striga was uneventful, and silent. Jake wondered what happened between Umbra and his father to cause that kind of reaction from him. He had never known him to be upset in the least. He decided to disregard it until they returned.
They only had to wait a few minutes on the ship until the bubbling water signaled the surfacing of the sub. The hatch on top opened and a middle-aged man climbed up and looked around. Umbra shifted again to his “nova form” as he called it, and floated down. Jake opted to teleport, as the distant would cause a rather painful jump.
The captain didn’t seem surprised by the flying alien, or Jakes sudden appearance, or if he was, he hid it well.
“Azuria sent us, she said you would take us-“ Jake started, but was interrupted by the sailor.
“Speak not of where we go! Just be lucky I’m taking you at all. Come below and we will get this over with.” The man didn’t wait for an answer, and climbed below.
Umbra shifted back to human, and started to climb down. “Come, lets go.”
Jake nodded, and climbed down after his friend.
Inside the sub was dark, dimly lit by instrument panels and a few dull lights overhead. Jake wondered how they could see in this, but the few other shipmates didn’t seem to have a problem with their duties.
“You can have a seat over there, it won’t take long for us to get there. I’ll let you know when we are close, and then you will need to be ready to leave. I don’t like being in those waters.” The captain was quick to the point, and turned and gave some orders to his crew.
The boys felt nothing as the ship went below the surface and started to move ahead.
About an hour later the captain announced they were close. Jake and Umbra stood and walked near the ladder leading up. After a few minutes the captain climbed up and opened the hatch. The boys followed and stood on the top, taking in the view. Jake turned to thank the captain, but only found the hatch slamming shut.
“Well,” Umbra started, “guess that’s it.” Shifting back into nova form, he drifted off towards the shore.
Jake disliked teleporting so much in one day, but it seemed better then ending up in the water that was coming up quickly around the side of the sub. A quick flash and he was next to his friend again.
“So,” a voice neither of students knew said from behind them, “you must be the heroes.”
They both whirled around. Umbra ready to attack, and Jake taking a step back, ready to assist.
In front of them stood a younger male, a little older than the boys, and another man, who seemed middle-aged, but was hard to tell for sure because of the helmet covered his head, and had a dark visor built into it, mashing his eyes. The younger spoke, the same who had addressed them.
“Whoa, easy now. We are hear to help, believe it or not.”
The strangers made no threatening moves, so Umbra and Jake relaxed a little.
“I am Negative Voltage, and this here,” he motioned back towards the other one, “is Hawk. He’s kind of quiet, but useful.”
Hawk just nodded once.
They took a few silent moments to size each other up. Negative Voltage seemed around 19-20, big arm muscles, like he worked out a lot, and had spiky, red hair. In fact, red seemed to be his favorite color. He had a red short-sleeved shirt on, and red pants with an orange lighting stripe going up the side. Hawk seemed to be into the dark colors. His face was somewhat hidden by the helmet, but they could see a jagged scar along the right side of his face, going from below his eye down to his jaw. He had a jacket on with many pockets, and thick legs. His hands were gloved and he had some sort of device around his left wrist.
After what seemed like forever, Negative spoke again. “I know what you’re thinking. ‘These guys are villains! We can’t trust them’” he said in a mocking way. “Don’t worry. You see, we don’t really consider ourselves villains, more like mercenaries. We are being paid, quite nicely too, to assist you however we can and try to keep you safe.”
Jake was wondering what he meant by ‘try.’ “I am Moon Tide,” he decided it was safer, at least a little, to use his hero name. “And this is Umbra Shade.”
Hawk spoke, he ha a rough voice, like one who spent a long time around smoke and other hazardous inhalants. “Shade, as in a warshade?” He seemed to stare at Umbra, but it was hard to tell because of the visor.
Umbra nodded. “You are correct.”
Hawk simply nodded back.
After another second or two of silence, Negative spoke up again. “Well, lets get ready. The cave isn’t far, but there are lots of Circle along the way. Nothing I hate more than Circle.” He took a breath tensed the muscles in his arms and torso. Suddenly a blur seemed to appear around. A half second after that another blur layered on top. As he let the breath out, the blur subsided some. “Nice, huh? Lets see them little bastards try to get through this.” He let out a short laugh that Jake thought sounded somewhat nervous.
Hawk motioned towards the other three. “You might want to stand back.”
He pulled his left arm out and started to fiddle with the device on his arm. Suddenly three metal crates fell from the sky, one after the other. As they thudded on the soft sand of the beach, they cracked open and little robots moved around. They stood up and the tops spun. When they stood to full height they were just shorted than Jake. While the two heroes stood open-mouthed at the robots, the robots looked them over with a set of three red eyes atop their head. Hawk punched something else into the device, and then stood with his arms at his side, looking up. Jake and Umbra followed his gaze and saw another robot flying in. As it got closer, it swooped down, and they saw it carried two smaller robots, one in each hand. It wasn’t until it landed that they saw how massive it was. It stood at least a half-length taller than any of humans around it, and the two bots it released was slightly taller than Jake. While they varied much in design, the heads were all the same except in size. They all had the three red “eyes” that seemed to peer at the heroes.
“They will not harm you, I have instructed them that you are allies. Allow me to introduce them. These,” he said motioning to the three smaller ones, “are my battle bots, quick and deadly. The next two are my protectors, mostly supportive, but also well armed. And my big guy here,” gesturing to the massive one, “is my assault bot. He lives only to destroy.”
Jake thought of Hawk somewhat of a proud pet owner, only of less fuzzy pets. “They are impressive. I’m glad you are on our side.”
Hawk just nodded. “For now,” he said coldly.
Jake knew what he meant in those two words. It was something like “If I wasn’t paid to not hurt you, you’d be dead by now.” He shivered slightly in the warm air.
Negative started towards the forest just behind them. “Better get going, follow me. Lets get this over with.”
Umbra shifted back into his nova form. He waited for Hawk to follow Negative, but he just stood, staring.
“I’ll bring up the rear, the bots will follow me and deal with anyone who is stupid enough to try to attack us from behind.” Hawk didn’t seem to boast; he just said it like it was fact everyone knew.
Jake turned and saw Negative about to disappear into the trees, and hurried to catch up, Umbra following along. The bots were surprisingly quiet for their size as Jake heard them moving along the narrow path.
“Well this is it,” Jake thought to himself. “I wonder what the others will say when… well, if we get back. I hope that ‘working with villains for the good of all’ is not an offence that we’d get expelled for.”
As the thick trees overhead darkened the path, sounds of movement could be heard from all the forest.
“Here they come,” Negative said. He brought up his fists, ready to fight. They started glowing with a bright red aura around them. “Get ready.”

((Ok, sorry this took so long, and sorry if I made it too long, but I do have what I want in mind for the ended, which will come in chapter 6. Until then, enjoy and let me know what ya think.

--Moon))

Chapter 5

Because the path they were taking was narrow, Negative took the lead, followed by Hawk’s massive assault bot, then Hawk himself, followed by his other pets, if you could call the cold metal creations that. Jake took up the rear, cloaking himself to make him nearly invisible to all but his teammates, and Umbra floating in front of him, still in his nova form.
Hawk had proved to be as much support as his friends were offense. He used something in his suit to project a protective bubble of some sort around each of the members, and his robots. He had explained that they would help deflect some attacks, but not to “get cocky.”
Jake had helped many different people do many different things, but he never thought he’d be helping a villain do anything. He had fought with many of the more dangerous heroes, those wielding swords, or claws popping out of their fists, or even an unassuming school age girl who could encase herself in ice, and then bring that rock-hard ice down upon her enemies with sickening bone-crushing sounds. But not one person that Jake had worked with took such vicious pleasure in beating his foes like Negative Voltage did.
Negative had warned that while most of those trying to prevent them from reaching the cave would attack from the front, some would come from other directions. Negative was a flurry of movement, punches swinging and landing with sounds like muffled explosions. The red auras around his fists would flash each time a blow landed, and the green robed Circle were falling or flying in every direction.
The big bot, whose outstretched arms were above Negative’s head, sent thick blasts of energy out in front, blasting many of the attackers before they could even get close. One creative robed figure tried to leap from an overhanging tree and land on the colossal metal beast, but was sent sprawling thanks to a swing from chromed arm.
Any of those not foolish enough to attack from the front tried to come out of the forest at the group. The smaller bots, and the protector ones as well, used some mean-looking laser like weapons to blast them down nearly as fast as they appeared.
Umbra was busy blasting away as well, and he was slowing his attacks. Suddenly he shifted out of his nova form and fell to ground, back to human. He was gasping for air, and could hardly hold himself up on one knee. “So many of them… too fast…”
Jake, already close to his friend took a quick step over to him. “Here, this will help.” He laid his hands on Umbra’s back, and used a trick he had just learned last week. He tuned in to his friends natural metabolism and sent it into overdrive. Keeping Umbra’s regenerative functions surrounded by his own magic, he effectively gave him a boost.
Umbra’s eye’s shot open wide and he took a deep breath and let it out. “Wow, felt like you just dumped about three gallons of coffee down my neck!” He stood up and stretched arms out behind him, popping the joints in his shoulders and elbows. “Thanks man!” He shifted back into his nova form, and resumed him attack.
Just as Jake was wondering when this gauntlet was going to end, he looked ahead and saw some sunlight coming in from the parting trees. At last! He thought to himself.
Negative dropped one last circle with a double-fisted overhead smash, and turned back to the group. “We are close. There shouldn’t be any more trouble from these flunkies, but once outside the real danger begins. There will be many of the demons that the Circle command around. I say we make a break for the door and just head inside. Once we get in, they will be unable to follow, they are just too big to fit in the doorway. Inside however, I’m sure they will have some more they summoned to give us problems.”
“How far is it,” Jake asked.
“About 200-300 feet. It won’t be an easy run.”
Jake pondered for a moment. “I may have an easier way. Hawk, have you ever tried teleportation on your, uh, robots?” Jakes gaze went from Hawk to the robots, who were so still someone could mistake them for statues.
Hawk simply nodded.
“I could use my super speed to get over there, along with my stealth, and they would never see me. I’ve done it before around them and they never notice. Then I could get to a clear area near the door and pull you to me one at a time. However, I have never tried to pull machines before, so that could be a problem.”
As Jake was explaining his plan, he was looking over the group. Negative seemed to be pondering what he meant when he said he’d done it before.
Hawk scratched his chin, and appeared thoughtful. “No one else I’ve worked with has had a problem keeping hold of them.” He said it as if it was a challenge.
Jake nodded. “I will need to place a charm on each of you, since I will most likely not have a line of sight on you when I get there. It can be anywhere, best place is on the hand or arm.”
Umbra shifted back into human form, and held out his hand. The two villains held theirs out as well. Jake went to each in turn, and pressed his index finger on their hands, each time leaving a light blue fingerprint. He turned towards the hulking machines, and paused. He had the sudden image of walking up to a pit bull to pet it, and pulling back a stump.
“They, uh, won’t mind me touching them, will they?”
Hawk let out a short laugh. “Oh, they mind. But they won’t react unless I allow them to.”
Jake nodded. He knew Hawk was testing him, perhaps hoping he would show some sort of fear. He wasn’t going to give Hawk that pleasure. He walked the few steps to stand in front of the group of robots. “I just need a hand… or whatever they use as a hand, I guess.” Jake had his back to Hawk, so he couldn’t tell if it was a silent mental command or something pressed into that wrist computer of his, but they all moved at the same time, holding out a laser gun, a human-like hand, or in the case of the big one, a large cannon. He went to each in turn, and pressed the fingerprint on each.
“There we go. Ok, give me a few seconds and be ready.” He mentally pulled the cloak around himself and saw his hands become somewhat transparent. Negative told him the directions to get to the cave, and he was off in flash.
During his mad dash to the cave, Jake was reminded of his last run. In his dream, when he was run through Kings Row, and the horrifying end of being caught up, helpless by the Mage. He hoped he’d be back in Paragon soon, able to run the streets without this gnawing fear in his gut.
He made it to the cave, and stopped at the wooden door covering it. He turned to look around, to see if there was a safe space and it was at this time that he saw something that nearly paralyzed him with fear. Outside of the forest they had come through was a huge clear area, surrounded by trees in a circle all around. Right in the middle of this clear area was an immense tree. But this was no normal tree; there were no leaves, no graceful arcs of branches. This tree seemed dead, but at the same time, seemed to pulse with nearly unseen power. Jake knew his magical background allowed him to sense things others could not, and this was a power well beyond anything he had ever come across. But that was not all. Floating lazily, almost like summer clouds, were pale white demons. Some were small, some where large, and a few that he could see were mammoth. It was impossible to even guess how many there were, as they all would fade in and out of view. Jake shook his head to clear his mind. He took a look at the area close to him, and was thankful that none of them were close enough to notice him. Hopefully that would not change as his pulled his comrades to him.
He decided to start with Hawk. If anything came at them, Hawk and his bots would be able to provide cover while the others went in. He held one hand open, arm out and palm facing towards the other members. With is right hand, he reached out and made a gesture as if grabbing someone’s arm. Pulling the mental arm back towards him, a soft pop of air sounded, and Hawk was suddenly standing next to him. He just grunted as Jake released him. He followed the routine for each of the bots, moving along so they would pop in on top of each other. Then Negative appeared, followed by Umbra. Jake took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Pulling so many took a lot of effort, and he felt stressed and drained. But this would pass shortly.
“Holy crap.” Umbra said softly. Jake looked up to see his friend staring wide-eyed at the not-dead tree and spirits surrounding it.
“It is the Circle’s version of the Tree of Life.” Negative explained. “Many people have been studying it over the years. While not much is known about it, one thing is for sure. They use it to call forth those demons. They float around for a while, gaining power is my guess, then they disappear, off to help in whatever plan the Circle are up to at the moment. Let’s get inside before they take notice of us.” He walked up to the wooden door, and reached into his pocket and produced a small rock. Just as Jake was going to ask why they didn’t just bust it down, Negative held the rock to the center of the door. It glowed softly with a green aura, and the door responded with the same green aura. The auras quickly faded, and then Negative pulled back his right arm, and smashed the door to bits. He returned the rock to his pocket. Looking back at the group he said, “If I would have tried that without that little key, bad things would have happened.” He grinned and walked inside. The others followed, with the bigger bots ducking to get inside.
It didn’t take long to reach a wide open area inside the cave. While it was well lit, Jake could not see anything that seemed to produce any sort of light. The four living members of the group stood near the wall, peering into the cave, while the robot part of the team keep back a little, as the noise of them walking in the cave might give them away. There were lots of short robed figures around, some standing in groups, making soft sounds that seemed to be some sort of language none of the group could understand. Others hurried about, taking things from one place to another.
A pained cry echoed down one of the other hallways leading in to the large cave, but it was impossible to figure out the direction because of all the sound bouncing off the rounded walls. A voice followed, “Don’t struggle, little hero,” The voice was clear, but still echoing some, “This will be all over soon. No one knows where you are but us, and your power is nearly gone, your life will follow it shortly.”
Jake suppressed the urge to gasp, instead pulling in air slowly though his nose. “It’s him!” he whispered. He heard his whisper echo, but realized it wasn’t an echo, Negative had said it too at nearly the same time. The two turned at looked at each other, staring eye-to-eye for a few silent seconds.
Negative then grinned. “That’s right, freckle boy, you weren’t the only one who this soon-to-be-corpse took a close look at.” His expression turned to one of hatred, “No one, and I mean no one, takes me and holds me up like that while poke and prod at me. Then they are gonna toss me out on the street like a broken doll, hoping one of their little friends would clean up their mess while I was weak.” He laughed a cruel and humorless laugh. “I showed them, and now it’s time to show him.” He pulled up his fists, and they begin to glow red again, almost darker than before. “Let’s do this.” He said, and turned and dashed into to open cave before anyone could respond. With a loud roar he charged at the closest group. All of the robed figures in the cave turned to this unexpected noise, and started towards him.
“Oh man, he’s gonna get us all killed.” Jake sighed and cloaked himself again. He didn’t have time to think about what Negative said, he just ran in, the others following behind him.

(edit: screwed up some names at the bottom, got the speakers switched around, should be good now )

((Once again, sorry about how long this took. Finals are this coming week, so look for the ending cleanup sometime after that. Let me know what you think, and hope it didn't get too long Please let me know what you think of the climax here!!

--Moon))

Chapter 6

Jake was reminded once again of Negative’s joy in fighting. As the big fighter ran in, letting forth a loud roar to challenge any and all who were foolish enough to engage him, all of the robed figures in the cave turned, pulled strange looking daggers and rushed at him. Jake stepped inside the cave and kept near the wall. He was still in range to use his healing powers on Negative should he need them, and he allowed space for Umbra, Hawk and his pets to enter.
When the blasts from Umbra and the robot’s started flying, the Circle realized that this was more then they could handle. A few ran off down different halls, and returned within seconds with more of their army. Many of them abandoned their knives for little crossbows, and began shooting towards their new attackers. The shields that Hawk provided were able to deflect many of the attacks, but a few got through, and Jake found himself straining to keep up healing not only on Negative, but Umbra and Hawk as well. It didn’t help that some of the arrows flying around were bouncing off Jake’s own shield with strange sound, almost like lightning crackling.
Jake was trying his best to keep his cool during this heated battle. Negative seemed to be almost grinning with excitement while the Circle rushed at him, only to catch a glowing fist and sent crashing to the ground. Hawk stood in the semicircle made from his bots, only using small bubbles shooting out from his hands to knock away those who tried to get to close to him or his bots. Umbra was in nova form, blasting away as fast as he could. He kept up in the air to avoid most of the close fighting, but some were still shooting arrows up at him. Most of them bounced off the shield and feel back broken to the ground. All in all, Jake thought to himself, this is going better than I hoped.
Then, as fast as Negative started the battle, it ended. The bodies of countless robed figured lay motionless on the ground, most of them around where Negative was standing, still in a fighting stance, looking around.
The group took a minute to rest and talk about what to do next.
Hawk pulled a small square device from his belt. “This will lead us to the artifact. If it’s giving off, or pulling, as much power as we are told, this will find it.”
The others nodded, thankful for a few seconds to catch their breath. Even Negative, who Jake thought could look undisturbed in the middle of a tornado, seemed exhausted.
Jake walked near Hawk, and motioned for Umbra and Negative to come nearer. “I have something that will help us.” Jake felt like the walking dead himself. The last time he had to expend this much energy this fast was when he was back in Paragon, helping out friends from class. Jake suddenly felt very sad. When will we get back, he thought. It was so much easier to keep up with you guys. He remembered getting together with Stasis, Misericorde, Kris, Kali, and many of the other students, and going out and giving all those troublemakers around Paragon a bad day. The fond memory faded, and he was back in the dark cave, with only Umbra and his new “friends”, if you could call them that.
Jake sighed as the other came close. He took a breath and send out an aura that helped them recover faster from the strenuous fight. Seeing many small wounds on Negative and Umbra, who had reverted back to human form, he let out another aura, this one designed to help regeneration of his teammates wounds. Jake closed his eyes and let himself relax. After only a few seconds, he felt as if he just woke up from a good sleep. He was ready again to charge to the rescue.
“That’s some good power you have there.”
Jake turned to see Negative looking at him. It wasn’t a friendly stare; more like someone looking at a piece of juicy steak when they haven’t ate in three days. He wasn’t sure what to make of it, so he pretended not to notice. “Surly you exaggerate, there must be people like me in the Rouge Islands.”
Negative shook his head. “No one quite you like. Oh sure, there are some who can tend some wounds, but not as fast, or as precise, as you. Too bad for us you didn’t end up on our side of the pond.” He continued to stare, but his look changed.
The comment about the pond made Jake pause to think. Does he know more about me then he lets on? And what was that comment about I wasn’t the only one. It seems he was also taken and tested by this Mage. Hawk interrupted his thoughts.
“I have a reading. Follow me.” Hawk started off down one of the hallways without waiting. His robots followed single file behind him.
Negative just smiled and chuckled while still looking at Jake. Then he turned and followed behind Hawk’s troop. Jake and Umbra exchanged puzzled looks, and followed.
The hallways were barren; no sound came from either direction other than their own footsteps.
“When we get there,” Negative started, “he will be well protected. I noticed that there were no demons guarding the entrance, so I’m willing to bet any that he has will be will him.”
Hawk turned his head back to speak. “Let my bots take care of them. They seem to have a natural resistance to any kind of attacks that are physical, like Negative’s.”
Negative just grunted. “Like that stopped me before?”
“No, of course not. I didn’t say you couldn’t handle them. From my past experience, energy based weapons seem to cause them much more pain and damage then anything else we’ve tried. They will not last long while staring down the barrel of old Kellendros here.” He gestured to the largest of the bots.
So he names them, now? Jake thought to himself. They must really be like pets to him.
Hawk was speaking again, “If I may be so bold as to offer a suggestion?”
The group stopped as Hawk did. He turned to face them. “I think that if the bots keep the demons busy, Umbra and Negative can make their way towards the Mage, and deal with him. It would be the quickest way.”
Negative just nodded. “We can do it any way you want, but just know that he is mine.” As he said the last three words he clenched his fists and they started glowing.
Hawk just nodded. “Of course. I would not deny your revenge.” He reached up and rubbed the side of jaw with the jagged scar. “Those that do so, don’t tend to live long enough to regret it.” He seemed to sigh. “Around this corner is where the power is the highest. They must be in there.”
Negative grinned. “At last! Lets go. I will follow the bots in, and it will the end of this.”
Hawk nodded. He went forward and around the corner, the bots disappearing behind him. Negative followed him, then Umbra and Jake bringing up the rear.
The cave that they entered was huge. The top was so far up, they couldn’t see it in the darkness. As Negative predicted, there were a group of demons, some smaller ones and some larger ones, floating around near the middle. Beyond them, of group of the robed figures stood in circle around something they couldn’t make out. Just off to the left of that group stood the Mage from Jake’s nightmare. He stood a good foot higher than any of the others around him, and there was a soft gold glow around his head. In front of him floated a large book, and he was reading from it, his right hand following the words, his left outstretched towards group.
Jake tensed up, reliving that gripping fear when he was held, powerless and helpless. He quickly shook it off and focused on his teammates. I need to be strong for this, he thought. One moment of weakness, and we all may perish.
Jake cleared his throat softly. “The hero must be in the middle of that group. We must hurry, it seems like he’s ready to do something.”
Negative brought up his fists, now glowing brightly. “Lets get this started. Better be careful, Moon boy.” He turned and grinned at Jake.
Jake returned his grin. “Don’t worry, I got your back.” He fell into the familiar joking before a hard battle. He helped him relax and focus.
Hawk pointed at the demons and the bots started forward. The formed a line, and began blasting away. The smaller ones fell with an unearthly shriek and disappeared. The group beyond turned at the sound, and the book the mage was reading dropped to the ground. He shouted in anger.
“You! And you!” he bellowed as one of the larger demons fell from a barrage of laser blasts. “Stop them!”
The group of figures turned and started for the group, the demons almost on top of them. Negative ran in, giving a smaller demon an overhead, double-fisted smash that sent it to the ground where it disappeared. He twisted to the side to avoid a large claw and made a break for the robed figures.
Jake, now cloaked, moved around the side to put himself near the middle of the group. Hawk was sending out his small bubbles, trying to keep the bigger demons at bay, but it was going so well.
Umbra was trying to help, blasting away at the larger ones. His attacks didn’t seem to be helping much; they seemed to be absorbing the blasts. He floated to the ground, and in a blast shifted into his massive dwarf form. He was now almost as large as bigger demons. He ran towards the one he was attacking first and jumped on him, dragging him down. A few swings of his now huge arms and the demon disappeared in another screeching yell.
In a few minutes, all of the demons were gone, and only a few of the robed figures stood between the group and the Mage.
Umbra and Hawk got closer, and helped Negative take care of those last few. Then with a yell, Negative ran full speed at the Mage, leaping hands out to tackle him. But the Mage saw him coming, and held out a hand. Negative froze in mid-air, only a few feet from his target.
Negative let out a frustrated yell. “No! Not again! You will not have me this time!”
The Mage smirked, “Oh but I will. And this time you will not survive to make it outside, nor will your friends.”
Jake’s stomach knotted up with fear. If the Mage could stop someone as powerful as Negative with a single hand, how could they hope to stop him? Wait, said a voice that echoed in Jake’s head. He could not make out where it came from. Remember the last time you helped with someone like this. Jake kept looking around as Negative struggled to free himself.
Hawk pointed at the Mage and the bots began to blast at him. The Mage held out his other hand and the blasts reflected off an invisible barrier.
Remember. The voice echoed again. “Of course.” Jake said out loud. He reached out towards Negative and placed a protective layer over him. He visualized the layer getting under the power that was holding him in place, pushing it away and breaking it’s bond. Suddenly Negative was flying again, and smashed into the Mage who suddenly had a look of shock on his face. The two fell to the ground, and Negative rolled around on top of him.
“Hold this!” he yelled, bring up his fists, he brought them down with a bone crushing sound upon the Mages head. The glow around the Mages head faded, and Negative stood up. He stepped to the side and gave the body a vicious kick. The body moved slightly from the force of the kick, and then lay still.
Negative looked over a Jake, the look of one who has done something nearly impossible on his face. “Thanks,” he almost snarled, as if he hated admitting he needed the help.
Jake, somewhat stunned by the brutal slaying of the Mage just nodded. A soft moan reminded him of the hero they needed to rescue.
The all moved towards a raised stone platform that the girl was laying on. Around her neck was the artifact, still glowing, still draining power.
“I’ll lift her up, and you get this off of her,” Jake said to Negative. He slid an arm under her, and lifted slowly, not wanted to jerk her head back.
Negative pulled the necklace up and over her head. Jake motioned to Hawk, and together they helped her to her feet. She was groggy and leaned heavy on them both. Negative lay the necklace back down on the altar in a round pile. “Stand back, I’ll take care of this.”
Jake and Hawk helped the hero back to a safe distance. Negative crouched down and jumped up in the air, seemly in slow motion. At the top of the jump he brought his hands above his head and came down, glowing fists smashing into the artifact. The necklace exploded and blew Negative back, right into one of the many pillars holding up the cave.
Jake winched as Negative smashed into the stone pillar. But then he looked on horrified as he noticed a part of the stone sticking out from Negative’s chest.
Negative looked down at the wound, his mouth open in surprise. He placed his hands behind him and shoved himself off the piece of rock that impaled him. He slid off with a sick sucking sound. He took a step forward, as if trying to prove this was no more than a scratch, then stumbled and fell, unmoving.
Jake looked at Hawk, and let him take the full weight of the girl. He rushed over and pushed Negative over on his back. The gaping wound was just off to the right side of his body. Negative stared up, not really seeing.
Remember. The voice again, echoing in his head. “No…” Jake said softly. “I can’t heal this, it’s too much…” Jake shut his eyes. “I’m sorry.” Remember… Remember that night. Jake opened his eyes but he was no longer in the cave, kneeling over his dead teammate. He was standing next to the lake where he and Steven, the one who explained to him what happened, how he got his powers. He was Steven’s voice that was echoing in his head.
“Remember how I healed him.” He pointed towards the lake, and the vision he had so long ago was replying. Steven was kneeling over his dead friend. He placed his hands on him and the wounds closed, and the life came back to the body. “Can you help him?” Steven asked the question, but the voice was Umbra’s. Jake closed his eyes and shook his head. When he reopened them, he was back in the cave. Umbra was standing over him, Hawk was near, and the girl they rescued was awake, but still leaning on Hawk.
Jake looked down, trying not to focus on the bloody wound. He placed his hands on the left side of Negative’s chest. He closed his eyes and focused on letting all his power flow down into the body. He heard Umbra gasp, and opened him eyes to see the wound closing slowly. It was nearly closed, but Jake was completely drained. He kept his hands on Negative’s chest, but no more power was going through. “I can’t give anymore…”
Umbra stepped closer, and put his hand on Jakes shoulder. Jake could feel more power flowing from Umbra down into him, and then down into Negative. The wound started to close once more, but slowly. Jake felt another hand, and looked up to see Hawk next to him. Jake too a deep breath and tried to focus the power coming into him. The wound closed and was healed. But Negative was still not moving, not breathing. He felt another hand on his back, and looked up to see the girl’s hand. She was still weak, but willing to give anything to rescue her rescuer.
Looking back down, he focus the three lines of power coming in, and tried to summon more of his own. Negative was still for a moment, but then his eyes shot open and he sucked in a deep breath. Jake let go and the others moved back a step. Negative looked around, taking in more air. Jake reached down to help him up.
Negative took hold of his hand, and stood, although a little shaky. He looked behind him to the blood covered stone, and then back to the group.
“Hey,” Jake said, smiling a little, “We got your back.”
Negative just smiled weakly, and the group began the walk back out of the cave.

((At last the end of this story, but the beginning of so many more. Please feel free to pm me or just post on the end what you think. Thank you wall for reading, it's been a blast writing this, and for anyone that has a Bloodvine character, I'm going to work on redoing this from Negative's point of view. The opening will be different and you will get to see what was going on in his head while all this was happening.

--Moon))

The walk back was uneventful as far as any more enemies. If there were any left, they fled after the Mage was killed.
The sight of the five people walking back would have caused quite a scene anywhere in the Rouge Islands or in Paragon. In the front were Hawk’s robots, taking point just in case anyone did hang around. Then followed Hawk, who was helping the young female hero (she said her name was Judy). Umbra had reverted back to human form, and was uncharacteristically quiet during the walk back to the door. In the back were Jake and Negative Voltage.
Who would ever had thought villain helping a hero, and hero helping a villain, Jake thought to himself. Negative was still weak from loss of blood, and he was leaning on Jake to keep his balance. Nothing was said other then a "watch your step" here and there as they walked around puddles and other oddly shaped parts of what passed for the floor.
Within a few minutes they were outside. It was late in the day, the sun nearly set, but still some daylight left.
Once outside, Negative stepped away from Jake and stood under his own power. Hawk allowed Judy to lean on Umbra. The original foursome stared at each other while Judy took in the sights of the large tree and other floating demons around it. While she seemed awed by it, she was clearly not afraid.
Negative reached into a pocket and pulled out a small metal device. It was only about two inches square and simply had a red button on it with no writing or symbols to suggest what it was for. He handed it over to Jake. "When you get near the shore, press the button. The sub that brought you in will come and surface within a few minutes. We will follow you down there."
Jake took the device and studied it for a quick second. He placed it in pocket and nodded.
The group turned and walked back up the hillside, Jake sticking by Umbra to help him pull himself and Judy up some of the steeper parts. They heard a strange whooshing sound and looked up to see Hawk at the top of the hill. His three smallest, and the two middle robots had shot up into the sky, seemly propelled by small rockets. The larger one remained, in case of trouble, Jake figured.
After a few more minutes of climbing, the group reached the top of the hill. It was only a short half-descent, half-slide down the hill to reach the beach. Jake pulled the device out of his pocket. He looked at it, and pressed the button. The only sign it was working was a faint pulse of light behind the red button.
"Thank you two for helping us. I know it wasn't your fight, regardless of your reasons. We could not have done it without you." Jake wasn't too good at saying thanks, and the fact that it was his "enemy" made it worst. He mentally scolded himself for sounding like such a dumbass. Looking around at the group, he found Negative staring right at him.
"May I have a word with you, Moon? Alone?" Negative asked.
Jake wasn't sure he could refuse, and the just nodded. The two walked a few yards down the beach. Negative was in front of Jake, and he could help but stare at the torn, bloody shirt and see the smooth skin under it. Jake still wondered what happened back there, how could he have healed such a mortal wound. Even after he was able to heal it, Negative was still dead. While he had revived many fallen heroes, they were mostly knocked out from either a solid hit or after just taking so much physical damage; their bodies had given up. They were never truly dead, however.
Negative stopped and turned. "I don't know how do did it back there, but I owe you."
Jake shook his head. "You don't owe me. I was just doing what I was here for, keeping us going. It's what I do." He smiled for a quick second, but it turned into a frown. "Besides, it wasn't just me. I wasn't able to heal you very much. The others," Jake looked back at where the others were waiting, "they gave some of their power to help me. If anything, we all brought you back."
Negative sighed, and then nodded. "Perhaps this is a warning. I'm getting in over my head." He grinned. "It wouldn't be the first time." Negative looked down at the ground, and sighed again.
"I know what you need." Jake said.
Negative looked up quickly, peering at Jake. At first it seemed as if he was going to say something, but remained silent.
"I needed it, too. Somewhere to belong. I'm sure you know and Umbra and me are in school together."
Negative nodded. "We got some background information on both of you when we signed on."
"Do you have anything like that? Family, friends, anything?" Jake was shocked, although he tried to hide it, of the utter sadness that crossed Negative's face. Then, nearly as fast it came, it was gone again.
Negative just shook his head. "Not really. I mean, I work with people from time to time, and it's good and all. But most of the time, I keep to myself. I never really did good in any school I was in." He brought up his fists, but they remained normal, no red hot glow of anger this time. "These always got me into trouble, even if it wasn't my fault."
Jake was quiet for a moment. "How old are you?"
Negative seemed caught off guard by the question. "Um, I'm sixteen. Yeah, I know, I don't look it."
Jake nodded. "I know of a place. I can't guarantee that you will find what you need there, but it's worth a try."
Negative seemed to ponder this, after a few seconds he shrugged. "Sure. After today, I feel I need to do something else than just this work. It's hard to explain it, except that I've never felt like this before. I've always been out for myself, for what I could do that would bring me the biggest score. And look what it almost got me." He looked down at his shirt and rubbed his hand over the torn front, across the dried blood.
Jake couldn't believe he was about to recommend his rival school. Although, he thought to himself, I hardly think they will accept him back at Saint Joes. He chuckled to himself as he pictured Negative and Biff sizing each other up in the hallways. Boy, that'd sure cause some damage if they ever went at it. He shook off the image. "Sometimes in our free time, we like to hang out in Pocket D. Have you ever been there?"
Negative shook his head.
"Well, anyway," Jake continued, "Sometimes we hang out with some of the students from Bloodvine Academy. While I wouldn't say they were good kids, per say, they are far from the worst we've seen out here today. I don't know a whole lot about them, but they seem educated. Some of our classmates love to debate them on just about anything." Jake chuckled softly. "Anyhow, every so often we see some new faces, so I assume they are still taking in students. I'm sorry, but I don't know anything about the cost or much else about them, really."
Negative was silent again, thoughtful. Off in the water they heard a splash of water. Turning around, they saw the sub had surfaced. When Jake turned back to face Negative, he was still staring off towards the sub, but he didn't seem focused on it.
"Well," Jake started, "I have to go. Thanks again for helping us."
Negative nodded. "I'll consider what you told me. Perhaps we'll meet again."
Jake smiled and nodded. "I hope so." He decided to keep the good-bye short. He turned and rejoined Umbra and Judy. Once the hatch was open on the sub and the captian was motioning them over, Jake used his teleport trick to get over without getting wet. He yelled for Judy to close her eyes, and teleported her next to him. When she opened them again, she gasped.
"Nice trick, there." She said to Jake, smiling.
Jake just smiled, and the captain helped her climb down the ladder.
Umbra had shifted into Nova form and floated over the sub. Shifting back to human, he landed on the deck.
"What did he want?" Umbra asked. They were both looking back at the shore. Negative and Hawk stood silent, not waving or giving any other sign they were even paying attention to them.
Jake thought for a second before answering. "He wanted something more than himself. He wanted what we all want. Family, friends, whatever. I think he's been alone for a long time, and now, after all this, he's ready to move on." Jake didn't wait for his friend to respond, just moved around him and climbed down. Umbra watched the two on the shore turn and start walking away before going below deck himself.

Negative and Hawk watched as the sub sunk under the water. They were walking back to the main islands, happy to be away from this Circle infested place.
As they reached the ferry back to Port Oaks, Negative turned to Hawk. "Do you know where Pocket D is?"
Hawk turned and stared at Negative. It was hard to tell what he was thinking under that visor and helmet. He just nodded as they bored the ferry, and floated off into the night.