Part 2: Rebel

Division

Without any other explanation, Echo jumped them back to the Raiders' camp. As soon as they hit, he took Alyssa straight to Fij's tent. She wiggled her arm around, but she couldn't move her hand or fingers by themselves, and Echo was afraid it was going to cause her permanent damage.

"Look who's back from the dead!" a familiar voice yelled from across the camp, his Irish accent immediately recognizable.

Echo looked up, trying to bury his fear back down. The Raider had a heavy, staggering limp, and cringed every time he set his weight on his right foot, but he was up and walking again, and now, that made Echo nervous.

"That kid?" Noise shouted, his voice cracking as he pointed right at Echo. "He's going to kill us all!" Another Raider near him tried to quiet him down, but Noise's glare stayed burning, right into Echo's skull as he walked away.

"Hey, where are you two going?" Tristam demanded.

"To Fij," Echo snapped back, still angry at him. "You aren't going to help her."

"Don't be like that," Alyssa said softly.

"Like what? You don't know the kind of liars and murderers we're around. I've been trying for weeks to get out of here, but they keep holding me here, like some sort of prisoner." Echo dropped his eyes to the ground and sighed. "I don't want to be a prisoner anymore."

"Would you rather be here, or with Her?"

Echo honestly wasn't sure. Back with Her, he'd been alone, with plenty of time to think. He knew She wouldn't touch his sister as long as he worked with Her. Here, with Tristam, there was no guarantee, especially with his exhaustion and fire.

"Echo!" Fij said, breaking him out of his thoughts. "You're back, and you're ... safe?" He glanced at the enormous blood stain on the front of his shirt. "Uh -"

"I'm fine. Alyssa needs help." Echo pointed to his sister, and Fij's smile widened.

"You found your sister! That's amazing!" The healer sat them down and checked Alyssa's bite. His cheerful expression immediately melted to fear, regret, and something else Echo couldn't identify. The look made him nervous. "You got this from Haven?" the Raider asked. She nodded, and his eyes saddened. "Alyssa, those dogs ... they're genetically modified and bred to kill. Have you seen Braken's right shoulder, those scars?"

She nodded again, her face going pale.

"It's a miracle he survived, and it's even more amazing he didn't lose his entire arm. Those bites are poisonous, and become infected within hours." His gentle fingers examined the nasty wound, the tears in the flesh, and he sighed. "Can you feel this at all?"

"I could when I got it, but it's ... kind of numb, now," Alyssa mumbled.

"That's the poison spreading through your arm." Fij looked right into her eyes, taking a second to glance at Echo. "There's not much I can do, except ... well ... We can amputate it."

"What?" Echo shrieked.

Fij winced. "Unless she wants a dead arm for the rest of her life, that's the only option." He continued to examine the wound, and Echo finally had to look away, the sight making him sick. "I'm sorry, Alyssa. It's safer to amputate it, because if you don't, you run the risk of the poison spreading to the rest of your body and killing you."

"Braken survived," Echo countered.

"True, but he also survived Haven for four years. I have no doubt they have the antidote, and they probably gave it to him when he was unconscious or asleep, especially if what Puppet said is true."

"It's okay, Isaac," Alyssa whispered. "It's my choice."

"I admire your courage and acceptance," Fij said. "Not many people are as calm as you are when they get news like this. Echo's freaking out more than you are."

Alyssa smiled a little, tears in her eyes.

"I bet Nitro can get you a mechanical one, like Puppet, and I know that won't replace it, but hey, it's better than nothing." Fij have a sad chuckle. "And welcome to the Raiders, Alyssa."

"We're not joining you," Echo said.

Rogue suddenly shoved his way through the tent door. "Echo! You're alive! Thank goodness, I need to talk to you right now." His eyes flickered to Alyssa's tears, the nasty wound in her arm, and Echo's angry expression. "Uh ... is everything okay in here?"

"Everything's just fine," Echo snapped. "No thanks to you."

"Great. I need you right now. I have a few very important questions."

"Anything you can say to me, you can say in front of my sister." The Shifter crossed his arms defiantly, staring him right in the eyes. He tried to bury the fear, down where no one would find it, at least until he and Alyssa were alone again. He was worried out of his mind, afraid she wouldn't recover from this crazy procedure Fij claimed would help. He didn't want to let it show and seem weaker than he already was. I'm strong now. Alyssa needs me to be strong.

"I don't know why you're mad at me," Rogue said slowly. "I haven't done anything wrong. But okay, as you wish." He took a breath, seemed to debate his options, and then began. "Alright, first question. What happened to Braken? I hadn't seen him for days, and then he shows up as dark and moody as ever. What happened? Where did he go?"

"Haven," Echo said, offering no other response.

Rogue frowned. "You're joking, right?" Alyssa shook her head and the Raider's eyes widened. "Braken went back to Haven?"

"He's got stock-something-or-other syndrome."

"Stockholm's?" Fij said softly.

"He went back to see Her," Rogue whispered.

"That's not what happened," Alyssa said quickly. "He went back with the other one, the fire one, to get both of us. Then when he saw Her again ..."

"That's not usually how it works," the healer mumbled, "but I guess it could happen. His mind is already so unstable and frantic, I wouldn't put it past him."

"And then I killed Her," Alyssa said, the tears slipping down her cheeks. "I killed Her."

"I'm sorry," Rogue said gently, and then changed the subject. "Echo, another question ... are you a Matter Shifter, too?"

"What do you mean?" Echo demanded, the tone of the Raider's voice making him nervous.

"I mean you can shift matter, like a ripple effect, kind of."

Matter Shifter ... is that was he could do? "Did Puppet tell you?"

"He's seen it?" Rogue shook his head. "If you really can do that ... well ... I think Tristam's slowly figuring it out. He said he saw the ground move, and wondered if I knew anything."

"What did you tell him? Why is he interested? Is he going to use me to kill people?"

Rogue shrugged and sat down next to him, as if they were friends. Echo scooted away from him. "I didn't tell him anything," the Raider assured. "As for the third, I don't know. And the second ... something like that happened in his past, only on a much bigger scale, and it ... it ... hurt someone he loved very much."

His brother.

"I'm afraid he'll come after you and blame you if he finds out. I want to protect you, Echo."

"You're going to ask me to join your rebellion again, aren't you?"

"I'm asking you both." Rogue took a moment to meet their eyes, one at a time. "If you join us, I can make sure you're both protected."

"But we'd be on the losing end of the battle," Echo said coldly.

"Isaac's right," Alyssa said. "I think we'd better stay on the ... safer side. I just got here. We'll observe, first."

Rogue took a breath to argue, but then let it out in a sigh. He wasn't the type who pestered, and for that, Echo was a little grateful.

"Excuse us, Rogue," Fij said softly. "We have something important to get to."

"Oh, of course. Sorry I bothered you." He glanced at Alyssa's dying arm again and swallowed hard. "Maybe Echo should come with me."

"Good idea." Fij gently nudged him until the Shifter climbed to his feet and reluctantly exited the tent. "I promise she won't feel a thing. She'll be alright. It'll all be finished ... tomorrow, probably."

That long? Echo thought bitterly.

Rogue tried to talk to him again, but he blatantly avoided him, making no effort to hide his opposition. Eventually, the Raider left him alone. While he waited, he did what he did best: he paced the camp, around and around again. He began to take notice of little things, the way a division had started to grow among the camp. Raiders would subtly avoid certain others, but it was just obvious enough to tell him that Rogue's rebellion was becoming a more popular opinion. At the moment, it seemed to bring more harm than good. It was disrupting, and nothing else.

Noise was the loudest, by far, but he wasn't the most effective, or at least it seemed to Echo. He made it clear who was on his side and who wasn't, but all he did was stagger around camp and make snide remarks, simply insult. Some of the others were a little more persuasive.

He suddenly heard something from a back corner, a voice, and cautiously went to go investigate. As he got closer, he recognized Nitro's voice, but he was talking fast and his accent made his words difficult to understand. Echo tried to identify what accent it was, if only to keep himself occupied, but he couldn't remember. He'd have to ask Alyssa when she was better.

"Do you know how much trouble I'm in?" Nitro demanded. He was angry, and Echo could hear the emotional buildup in his voice. It was only a matter of time before he exploded. "Do you know what Tristam's gonna do to me because of you?"

The other didn't answer.

Echo crept around the corner and saw them - Nitro had pinned Braken against the wall by his shoulders, but the smaller Raider didn't move to fight back. He just stared blankly at him.

That wasn't the reaction Nitro wanted. He pulled Braken forward and then slammed him back against the wall. "Stop staring at me like an idiot and answer me!"

"I know," Braken said, his voice lower and more threatening than before.

"Know what? What do you know?"

Braken shoved back with a surprising amount of force. "I know exactly what kind of trouble you're in, and you'll be in worse if you ever touch me again. You may have a new jammer, but I don't need to hear your thoughts to read your mind. I can see it in your eyes." He took a step forward, and Nitro backed up nervously. "You've always been afraid of me. Ever since you found out what I could do, you've been afraid."

Now it was Nitro pressed against the wall, his face pale. Echo started to take a step to intervene, but then decided against it. This wasn't his problem.

Braken smirked, his fingers slowly creeping toward Nitro's new earing, and as Nitro moved to stop him, Braken slammed his knee into his gut. Nitro let out a high pitched squeal of pain and tried to double over, but the way Braken was leaning into him made it impossible to move.

Echo watched in fear, afraid of this sudden, violent side of Braken. Was this all because of seeing Her killed?

Braken took out the jammer with ease and put it in his pocket for safe keeping. "Listen, Gus," he said, releasing him. Nitro immediately dropped to his knees and hugged himself, trying to catch his breath. "Mind reading isn't the only thing I can do."

He knelt next to the other Raider, and Nitro ducked away from him. "Get away from me, freak," he gasped out.

Braken's expression hardened and he narrowed his eyes, concentrating hard. Echo suddenly felt the atmosphere change, grow darker and depressing. It was almost like the feeling of Haven itself.

Nitro felt it, too, and as the air around them grew crushing, tight, constricted, he let out a single sob, a single gasp for breath. He curled up with his arms over his head, squeezing his eyes shut, and laid there helplessly, shaking like an earthquake.

Echo felt like someone was squeezing him, trying to squish him in a box. His chest felt tight, like he couldn't breathe, and he could only imagine what Nitro felt, as he was claustrophobic. He guessed that that was why Braken was doing this specific thing - whatever it actually was.

He watched Nitro's shoulders rise and fall faster and faster, beads of sweat glistening on his neck and face. The Raider started to cry softly, tears streaming down his face, and he tried to say something, but nothing came out. He looked as tense as a rubber band about to snap.

The feeling grew more intense, until Echo sunk to the ground and buried his face in his hands. He couldn't take it. He didn't know what Braken was doing, and that was probably the worst part. He wanted to give up.

Finally, after a burst of overwhelming despair, the feeling faded, the atmosphere returning to normal. Both Echo and Nitro let out a breath and relaxed, slumping over. "What ... what did you ..." Nitro breathed, struggling to catch his breath.

Braken leaned in close to him, whispering in his ear. "Don't ever threaten me again." Nitro nodded quickly and he stood up, brushing his hands on his pants. He looked over and caught sight of Echo, and then smiled, a dark, morbid smile he never wanted to see again. The long scar on his face suddenly seemed a lot darker. "Let that be a lesson to both of you." Before either of them could answer, he was gone, lost in the shadows of the camp.

A minute of silence passed, and then Echo climbed to his feet, his knees shaking. Nitro looked up, his terrified eyes wide. "Don't ... say anything," he whispered. "Please."

"What were you talking about?" Echo said softly.

"Remember what Tristam said, before Braken took you?" The Raider rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. "Tristam's going to make me kill someone, and I'm sure it's going to be WRLD."