It went faster than Akira expected it to go. One moment she was falling, the next she was jerked to a stop, the rope around her neck digging painfully into her skin and cutting off her air supply. Had she known more about hanging, she would have been aware that her neck should have been broken as soon as the rope snapped taught, thus killing her, and yet somehow she had escaped that fate, only to face a new one, choking to death. 

The noise around her ceased to exist as Akira fought, trying to draw in air with little success. Her lungs screamed, urging her to do something, and yet with her bound hands she was helpless. Dots began to dance in front of her eyes and the will to fight left her when suddenly the pressure around her neck seemed to disappear and she found herself dropping to the floor. 

She landed with a painful thump and yet didn't notice, too busy drawing in precious gasps of air to fill her starving lungs. Only after a couple of gasps did she become aware of the confused shouts and screams around her. Slowly she lifted her head to see that she was lying underneath the gallows, staring out at hundreds of feet that were rushing about, feet that belonged to the crowd that had wanted to see her hang moments before, now running from Watchers. 

"You okay?" hearing the voice Akira slowly turned her head to look up, wincing at how the slight movement caused her entire neck to throb. 

She saw the figure of a guy leaning over the opening above her, the opening she had fallen through when the trap doors gave way. He held what Akira made out to be what looked like a shocker in one hand and for a moment she thought he was a Watcher, yet her senses took over as she realized that a Watcher would have never asked her if she was okay. 

Instead of answering him Akira moved herself into a sitting position. Slowly she moved her hands up to her neck to feel the rope around it. With shaking fingers she grabbed hold of it and slipped it off. She stared at it is see that at the end of the loop hung a piece of rope that was tattered at the end where someone had cut it through. 

Realizing who it had been she quickly looked back up at the guy who was still staring down at her. This time she noticed that he too was wearing a dark cloak identical to Dominique's. 

"The name's Liam," the guy nodded before he jumped down and crouched next to Akira. 

"Thanks," Akira croaked, surprised at how much it hurt her throat "No problem," Liam grinned and Akira had the feeling that she had seen him before, yet she couldn't recall where. 

"Akira!" Akira looked up to see another shadow fall over the opening above.  

Dominique stared down, worry in his eyes, his eyes only on her. "Are you okay?" he asked as he jumped down beside Liam. 

Akira nodded, not wanting to talk. 

"At least one of us got to her in time," Liam spoke, his tone not at all friendly towards Dominique. 

Dominique looked at him, seeming to notice his presence for the first time. He frowned, looking displeased about something and Akira shot a glance between the two, her mind telling her that these two didn't get along and she should know that, yet she couldn't remember why. 

"We need to be going, the crowd is dispersing and we don't want to get caught out in the open," Dominique said, his eyes alighting on Akira, worry still in them, worry for her. His eyes were on her neck and Akira's hand went up towards it, wondering what was wrong. She winced at how tender it felt at her touch. 

"Let's go then," Liam spoke, twirling his shocker in one hand. 

Dominique grabbed Akira's hand and began to pull her along, still crouching, towards the open space where they could still see feet running about. Liam was right behind them, his eyes darting around, waiting to spot anyone of danger coming their way. 

"I didn't think you would come," Akira croaked as they reached the end of the platform. 

Dominique frowned, "Why wouldn't I?" He pulled a bundle from beneath his cloak and handed it to Akira. "Put this on," he commanded. 

Akira opened it to find a black cloak inside and she slipped it on, realizing that it was part of the plan to blend in. Once done she decided to speak again, "Where's Redemption?" she asked, instantly regretting talking again as fire seemed to shoot up and down her throat. 

"Who?" Liam asked from behind. 

"No one," Dominique muttered as he came to a stop. "Watchers," he warned, "two of them." 

"Two?" Liam snorted as though it was nothing. "How about I take care of them and you run to safety?" 

Akira was perplexed at the mocking tone in his voice, yet when she glanced at him she saw that he was looking at Dominique who seemed to bristle. 

"Are you suggesting I can't take care of them?" he asked icily. 

"Considering that you punch like a girl, I'm not so sure," Liam retorted with a smirk. 

Akira glanced between the two, confused at this exchange. 

"You want to test that?" Dominique asked clenching his fists. 

Liam just grinned while Akira turned to stare at the feet of the two approaching Watcher's, who had obviously spotted her and the other two crouching below the gallows. 

"Guys," she whispered hoarsely. 

Both guys turned to look. 

"How about I'll take them, and YOU take Akira to safety?" Dominique asked as he stepped out from beneath the gallows and pulled forth his tube from below his cloak, turning it into a rod almost instantaneously. Liam shrugged before he suddenly leapt forward and charged at the approaching Watchers, the shocker in his hands charging and ready. 

"First come, first get," he shouted over his shoulder. 

Dominique growled while Akira just stared. Was this for real? Were these two guys arguing in the middle of trying to rescue her? Where they even serious about getting her out of there? 

"Come on," Dominique grabbed Akira's hand just as Liam dropped the first Watcher with a blast from the shocker he held. "Let's get out of here," Dominique pulled her forward and Akira stumbled shakily after him as he dragged her through the courtyard. She didn't bother to protest at his tight grip on her arm, nor at the pace at which he was dragging her, which she could barely keep up with. In fact, at the moment she didn't care. She was confused and disorientated and she just wanted to get out of this place. 

"Stop them!" Nemis' voice yelled as he caught sight of the fleeing Akira and Dominique. 

Dominique pulled Akira along, not breaking a step. And then they were suddenly in the midst of the chaos. Akira's head buzzed with the noise around. She took in with wide eyes how Watcher's were trying to grab anyone with a cloak and how those with cloaks were desperately trying to get away, even by fighting back. All around blue lights flashed as the Watchers turned to using their shockers. Akira winced as she saw one person take a direct hit and go crashing to the ground. 

Then suddenly Dominique's grip on her arm broke as a Watcher descended on him. Akira watched as Dominique dodged to the right and smoothly avoided a blow from the Watcher before whirling his pole around, trying to catch the Watcher off guard, yet he was ready for him and deflected the blow with his shocker. 

Akira got to watch no further as she became aware of a blow coming right at her. Instantly the instinct she had gained of practice and battles she had fought took over and she whirled to the right, just in time to avoid the blow from the edge of a pole, similar to that of Dominique's, from hitting her. She whirled to face the source of this threat only to find a Watcher. Her eyes widened as she saw the shocker in his other hand, the blue static light showing that it was fully charged. With an evil smile the watcher aimed right at her. 

"Akira!" she heard Dominique yell at the same time as Akira bent her knees slightly and leaned backwards. She watched as the blue ball of electricity passed harmlessly over her, so close that she could swear that she felt its static charge as it passed by 

Still down, she turned her head to see that Dominique had thrown her his pole. It was currently flying through the air, right towards her. When the ball has completely passed over her and smashed harmlessly into a wall behind, Akira straightened, catching the pole perfectly as it reached her. She turned her eyes on the Watcher who had attacked her, her eyes blazing. Adrenaline filled her as she gripped the weapon in her hand and the urge to fight grew intensely. And when this urge came, nothing else mattered but to fulfill it. 

As her senses seemed to suddenly sharpen, and both the pain and feeling of orientation disappeared, she leapt forward, knowing that she had a few seconds before the Watcher's shocker could recharge again. The pole felt different than her sword in her hands, it had a different balance and felt somewhat awkward. Yet as Akira's battle instinct took over she adjusted her grip and stance to match the weapon in her hands. She lashed out at the Watcher who managed to dodge it at the last moment. Not about to let him get away Akira swung the pole around again, this time succeeding in hitting the Watcher right in the gut and sending him tumbling backwards. 

Akira hit him again while his was off balance, giving him a decent crack across the head with the pole. She whirled, ready for another attack, only to see that Dominique was struggling, trying to hold off a Watcher with his bare hands. 

"Catch!" Akira yelled as she threw his pole back at him. 

Not bothering to watch him she turned back to the Watcher that she had sent backwards. He was already regaining his balance, getting ready to re-charge his shocker. Not about to give him the chance Akira knocked him out with a spinning kick, sending him crashing to the ground. 

Only when she was sure that he wasn't getting up again did she turn to Dominique. As expected he had taken care of the Watcher before him and was currently glancing around for anyone else who planned to attack him. Seeing none he turned his gaze on Akira, relief filling his face as he saw that she was alright. 

"Let's get out of here!" Dominique yelled, beginning to run to the exit of the courtyard. 

"What about the others?" Akira yelled after him. She had guessed that a good part of the Resistance had come for her after she had seen more than one cloaked figure attack the Watchers. 

"Gone or going!" was Dominique's reply as he ran without pausing. 

Sure that he was telling the truth Akira followed, pausing to grab the shocker off the Watcher she had knocked out. From then on she ran, ignoring everyone else. She jumped over a few fallen bodies, over the remains of fruit that had been crushed to pulp beneath feet. Her feet pounded on the ground and her breath came in rugged gasps. With every breath her throat felt like it was on fire and it hurt to breath, yet she continued to push on, one thought keeping her going above all others, Redemption. If she got out of here she could get Redemption, they had the armor, so nothing could stop them, could it? 

Seeing the archway that stood over the exit of the courtyard she increased her pace, falling in right behind Dominique who was slightly ahead of her. Yet suddenly he paused, raising his pole to deflect a blue ball that flew at him. Once he had it successfully out of the way he turned on the Watcher who had shot it. Akira ran past them, sure that Dominique could handle himself. 

She was still running when suddenly four Watcher's stepped out of seemingly nowhere, taking a stand just within the archway, and faced her menacingly. Akira came to a skidding halt, her eyes alighting on the shockers that each and every Watcher held, shockers that were already charging and were currently aimed right at her. 

Her heart sped up and for a moment she thought it was going to jump right out of her chest as for a split second fear began to creep through her veins. And yet, as soon as it had come it suddenly disappeared. As far as she saw it, these guys were in the way of her getting any closer to Redemption and this time, nothing was going to keep her from her dragon. 

Akira lurched forward, she had no idea what she was going to do but at this moment improvising didn't sound like a bad idea at all. As she ran the Watcher's shockers went off, one after the other, yet still Akira ran on, not seeming to be bothered in the least. 

She suddenly ducked, narrowly avoiding one blue ball, before dodging to the left and avoiding another, all the time her not breaking a stride. The other two balls she dodged in a similar manner and even spared a glance at the shocker in her own hand, noting that if she knew how to use it this would be a lot easier. 

The Watcher seemed to be standing, frozen with confused expressions on their faces as Akira continued to run straight towards them, none seeming sure of what to make of the situation. They had never encountered someone brave enough, nor stupid enough, to run right for them. There were four of them after all, and only one Akira, so why she was running towards them and not away had them completely stumped. 

Yet as Akira's eyes alighted on the side of the archway a simple plan came to mind and a grin spread across her face. She was upon the Watchers in the next few seconds and instead of running right at them she turned to the side f the archway. 

The Watchers stood, watching in surprise as, without slowing down, Akira reached the archway and seemed to spring up the side with one foot before pushing herself off with it, flying right over the Watchers. They stood, frozen, not sure how to react, this was not something they had ever faced before in the little training they had had. 

"Oh boys," Akira cooed as she landed right behind them. 

The Watcher's whirled around to find Akira facing them, twirling the shocker she had in one hand thoughtfully.  

"So, who wants to be fried first?" she asked. 

This seemed to wake them up and the Watchers each scrambled to recharge their shockers. Akira didn't give them chance to get very far. She hit the first Watcher across the head with her shocker and kicked the other, sending him stumbling to the ground, before she turned on the third. 

He was ready for her, dropping his shocker and raising his fists in anticipation. Akira only raised an eyebrow. "I'm insulted," she told him as she took in his bad stance. Even the beginners at the academy knew how to stand with their feet spread apart so that they would not be thrown off balance right from the first blow. 

Akira just shook her head before raising her own fists, mimicking the Watcher's technique as she approached him. When she got within an arms length of him he lashed out, throwing a fist forward in a feeble punch. Akira ducked, planning to knock his feet from below him, yet something blue flashed and he dropped to the ground, twitching momentarily before laying still. 

Surprised Akira stood and turned around to fine the forth Watcher standing there, a smoking shocker in his hands and a look of horror on his face. While he had been aiming at Akira she had unintentionally avoided him by ducking, resulting in his comrade to be hit. 

"Thanks," Akira told him, though she knew that she had been the intended target. She held up the shocker that she still clutched in one hand and aimed it at the Watcher. "My turn," she told him. 

The Watcher dropped his shocker and turned to flee. Akira cocked her head, wondering at his cowardliness. Oh well, she might as well try the shocker she held out while she had it. Realizing that she didn't know how to use it she looked it over, trying to find something that would give her a clue. 

"How does this work?" she muttered turning it around in her hands. She glanced up to see the Watcher getting further away. Returning her attention back to the shocker in her hands she frowned at it in displeasure. That was when she caught sight of the small knob that looking similar to the one on Dominique's tube. 

"Why is the trigger always so small?" she asked as she pushed the knob. Instantly a blue light to began to appear before Akira's eyes. Realizing that she was holding the shocker the wrong way around she quickly twisted it around to face the Watcher that was running a lot further away by now. 

"Now let's see," she held the shocker up, on eye closed and her forehead wrinkled in concentration as she aimed. Her finger pressed down on the knob again and she felt the entire shocker kick back. She was momentarily off balance as a blue ball shot forward, right towards the Watcher, and then right past him. 

Akira scowled. "Stupid thing," she muttered blaming the shocker and not her aim for missing her intended target. In her frustration she threw the shocker after the Watcher as hard as she could. She watched in surprise as it actually hit him right on the back of his head and sent him tumbling to ground where he lay, unmoving. 

"Well what do you know?" Akira murmured, "That thing can be used in more than one way." With a grin she turned around to find that the courtyard was still in chaos and pedestrians were still running around and fighting Watchers. In the middle of it all stood both Dominique and Liam, both staring at her with open mouths while groaning Watcher's lay around them. 

Seeing it all sent a feeling of reality flood back into Akira and the will to fight drained from her. She suddenly felt the throbbing pain that shot up and down her entire neck, the result of hanging by it only minutes before, she was sure. The pedestrians, seeing that the way from the courtyard was clear, suddenly began to charge right towards Akira. She watched them, standing frozen as she wondered what now. 

"Go!" she dimly heard Dominique's voice shout. 

She obeyed and turned, just as the first wave of people arrived at the exit. They engulfed her from either side and felt herself being pushed along with the flow, away from the gallows, away from it all. In the distance she heard Nemis roar instructions to the Watchers and yet soon his voice began to fade. In the crowd she had to fight to stay upright, to not be pushed over and fall underneath rushing feet and be crushed. 

It turned out that the further they went the thinner the crowd got and the more space there was to move as they all seemed to branch off and scurry away in different directions, and soon, when there were suddenly only a few people left, Akira began to slow down, wanting to give her burning lungs a rest. 

"Sorry, but we can't stop now," a hand grabbed hers and she felt herself being pulled along. Akira glanced over to see Dominique, determination written on his face as he pulled her along. 

"They're right behind us, just as Ray predicted," Liam gasped as he suddenly appeared to Akira's other side. 

Wondering who they were talking about Akira shot a glance backwards only to see a bunch of Watcher's in hot pursuit. Her heart sank, how did they manage to follow them through the crowd? Yet neither Dominique nor Liam seemed very worried. 

"Dominique..." Akira began as their feet flew over the ground. 

"Don't....worry," Dominique gasped cutting her off. 

They didn't go much further when Dominique suddenly turned to the right, pulling Akira with him, Liam kept going straight. Akira was sure that it was to split the Watcher's up yet she couldn't help but wonder how on earth they were planning on getting away from them. 

As Dominique dragged her down a narrow alley they passed by two female street vendors, standing on either side of a cart filled with vegetables. Dominique ignored them and pushed past, pulling Akira along. As she too passed by Akira shot a glance at one of the vendors only to feel confusion fill her. Was it just her or did the one street vendor look a lot like Savannah? Yet before she could take another good look Dominique had already dragged her past. 

As they were about to reach the end of the ally there was a loud crash behind them, followed by annoyed shouts and feminine voices, voices that Akira was sure she knew, apologizing. Dominique paused and glanced back and Akira followed his lead to see that the vegetable cart had conveniently fallen across the ally, blocking the Watchers' path. On top of the vegetables the two female street vendors were crawling around on their knees, as though trying to pick up their fallen goods, and yet somehow they to, had conveniently gotten in the way of the Watcher's, hindering their progress all the more. 

One of the vendors lifted her head and looked straight at Akira who recognized the face immediately. It was Anita, meaning that the other had to be none other than Savannah. Surprise filled Akira and she couldn't help but wonder how they had gotten mixed up in helping the Resistance. 

"Come on," Dominique was on the move again, only this time he let go of Akira's hand, letting her follow on her own. 

The left the ally and ran out, right into a busy street. Dominique at once slowed to a walk and Akira hurried up to fall into step beside him, shooting a nervous glance at the crowded street where they were already being shot curious and suspicious looks by various people. 

"Out in the open?" Akira hissed to Dominique, a frown on her face. "Is that such a good idea?" 

"We'll be fine," as he spoke Dominique shrugged off his black cloak. "Here," he tossed it to a street vendor who caught it with raised eyebrows, yet he didn't protest and placed the cloak on his cart, ready to make money from a good which cost him absolutely nothing. 

"You should get rid of yours to, they'll be arresting anyone with a cloak like that on," Dominique told Akira over his shoulder as he continued to walk. Akira stared after him, wondering what on earth he was thinking. 

"Hey!" she after to him, yet he didn't stop. Shaking her head she hurried on after him until she was right behind him. "Dominique, don't you think that what I'm wearing underneath this cloak is just going to attract more attention?" she asked referring to her dirty and torn white clothes. "I mean come on, an entire crowd saw me in them and every Watcher that saw us would be running over to arrest us both!" 

Dominique stopped and turned in his tracks. He met Akira's eyes evenly. "Trust me," he told her. 

Akira searched his face, trying to figure out what he wasn't telling her. When he didn't say anything to explain she reluctantly shrugged her cloak off and tossed it over to a street vendor, copying Dominique's earlier act. 

"Now that we have that established," Dominique grinned, "How about we keep going?" He turned and continued walking. 

Akira stared after him before her eyes wondered down to her attire. There was no way they were going to go unnoticed, people were already beginning to stare. Trying to ignore them Akira hurried on after Dominique, not wanting to get left behind. 

As they continued the down the street more and more people began to shoot them glances and the whisperings began. Akira shot a nervous look around, expecting to see Watchers run at them any minute now. Realizing that they could also appear on dragons her gaze turned to the sky as she wondered how many Nemis had sent out in pursuit. 

"Don't worry about..." whatever he was going to say he never got to finish as Dominique suddenly fell to the ground. 

"Dominique?" Akira panicked. 

Dominique groaned in reply, twitching slightly and Akira got on the ground at his side, reaching out a hand to turn him over, yet a voice made her freeze, "Got yah," a voice spoke, sounding more than gleeful. 

Slowly Akira raised her eyes, looking up from the pair of black boots that stood before her to the rest of the man wearing the blue and black uniform that clearly distinguished him as a Watcher. 

"Trust me," Dominique's words echoed in her mind, "Trust me."