"A quantity that has direction as well as magnitude, especially when points in space are relative to another. That is a vector. Consider me having direction, as well as magnitude by the bucket load, space and points are easy to get around; consider me being a vector, I am Vector." There was a pause. "Hey, you still awake down there?" Liesel reached down with a finger and pressed it against Riptide's neck. He twitched and his eyes shot open suddenly. He wiggled, pathetically, and from his laying position he managed to shoot a sidelong glare at her. She slowly smiled, being crouched on a piece of metal which was ripped, literally with thanks to Erik, from the submarine, she had a brilliant view of the poor squashed man underneath said piece of metal.

Truth be told, Riptide's situation was something that happened so suddenly, that he couldn't counter against it. Fighting multiple enemies was easy to do with his skills, but facing off against two people which seemed to work so well was something else completely. That wasn't to say that others he had faced were rubbish at teamwork. But Erik and Liesel's way of attacking was rather effortless. They more or less ignored their comrades getting suddenly taken and teleported elsewhere by Azazel. Most people would pay attention to this, yet they didn't even spare a glance; they had a mission, and that mission laid within the submarine. He was in the way, and rather on his own.

So naturally he sent a wide spreading attack at the both of them, which was something which the auburn haired woman, who he vaguely remembered the name of, look at him with wide happy eyes. Beside her Erik merely rolled his eyes, seemingly not taking this at all too seriously. He just casually continued walking at a fast pace towards him, and the submarine. Liesel had rather promptly discovered that any physical attack, or manipulation she could interfere with. Vortex winds were a field day. A small part of Riptide was still naturally attached to the small tornado which was heading their way, so of course she reached out, shot at it and pulled back and in seconds was nowhere in sight.

The sudden high intensity burst of electricity caused Riptide to pull back, the attack dissipated in the air and just before going to attack Liesel as she landed in the sand and smiled innocently at him, he found himself soon to be crushed to the ground. He was paying too much mind to her, and really wasn't paying any to Erik. And that was ultimately his apparent downfall. And to add insult to injury, Liesel purposely woke him up. She narrowed her eyes as she continued to smile. Riptide's immediate thought was: sadist. She'd purposely woke him up, knowing full well he'd be in agony. Yet she did it anyway, and to further add insult to injury she knelt on the metal, adding more weight to it while rambling about utter nonsense to him. He didn't care! What part of her thought he'd care?

Liesel pouted, "Where's Shaw at? I mean specifically. Erik wants to just go running through rooms and whatever else is in a submarine...me, I would like to know his exact whereabouts. So, Riptide, no first name given, where's Shaw in the sub?" There was another reason as to why she was asking, if Charles could not find him it meant that he was naturally blocked somehow. If she could specifically find out where he was, then she could very well destroy this blocking force, right?

"Look, Liesel, he isn't going to tell you. You were never good at interrogations." A voice from another direction spoke. Truth be told it was very hard to turn in that direction when pinned under metal. Really heavy metal. Needless to say, the owner slowly knelt down and looked at him with a pitiful look. "Hello." Erik merely said and watched as Riptide gave another ridiculous struggle. Narrowed blue eyes simply watched him as a whistle from above sounded out happily. This was the worst situation he had ever been in, that he could so freshly recall. "Looks like we're doing things my way. Get up, Liesel, leave him alone."

"Vector," she wagged a finger at him.

Erik rolled his eyes, "Trust you to think of a codename right now."

"Well...creativity has an odd way of just cropping up! There's never a set time for inspiration to hit!" Liesel chimed and jumped up, much to Riptide's grunting painful reaction. Truth be told, the whole experience lasted a minute, if that, yet seemed so much longer. He could just vaguely see them moving off and into the submarine at a slow jog. "Chrome! Chrome everywhere! Who likes chrome? Chrome's for kitchens. This is...horrendous. I mean, if I didn't know of the horrors Shaw could do, I'd class him as a bad guy just for this chromtastic submarine." Liesel slowed her pace as she did a full circle and looked about herself. It was horrid. So clinical, so chrome, and so...painful to look at. It was all so bright and new looking.

"This way," Erik reached out and tugged her by the shoulder, she let out a quiet noise and simply allowed him to pull her around. "Can you do anything?" He stopped when eventually they ran through another corridor which led to a large space with monitors.

Liesel looked over everything. "I can interfere with this all, yes, but I don't think that'll do any good. I mean...what if I interfere with something which will speed this nuclear thing up?" Liesel asked while looking briefly up at Erik before looking back to the buttons and dials before her. "I...I don't think I can, Erik. I'm sorry, I don't think I can do anything here."

"Maybe you don't have to."

"What?" Liesel turned around and looked to him. He'd stopped by a wall and was looking over a lever. She looked at it sceptically, yet didn't move away from the monitors and control boards by her side. "What is it?" She asked when he tilted his head to the side.

He glanced over his shoulder at her. "Charles says this is the nuclear reactor." He simply repeated the telepathic message he'd got seconds ago.

"So...you just pull that to deactivate it? Why does that seem so simple?" Liesel frowned and looked around, half expecting the place to be wired with traps. She upped her guard as he slowly pulled down on the lever. Nothing happened, well, no traps appeared. No closing in walls, or ceilings. No spikes formed from the walls. No fire, nothing.

A few seconds delay and a door swung open. Liesel jumped because it was literally almost by her side. It fitted in so well with the wall that she wouldn't have thought it was there, if only there wasn't a lever to signal that something was indeed there. Walking slowly forwards, she was the first to set foot into the finely furnished room. Plush sofas, even art hanging on the wall. She winced though, it was so white and clinical still. She turned and looked at Erik, he loitered in the doorway with his hand still on the lever looking highly sceptical.

"You've reached the void." Erik heard before stepping foot into the room and looking around. Red alarm lights flared up suddenly much to the apparent annoyance of Liesel who held a finger up and was about to shoot them out, until he put a hand on her forearm. "Don't," he said quietly while feeling her arm relax and lower. Looking about he frowned, Liesel pouted and shuffled off, he briefly frowned her way when she rather childishly shot at a plush red cushion.

"He isn't here! We've found this room for nothing, no? He has escaped, again." Liesel said with annoyance as she kicked at a coffee table. Her worst fear had seemingly come true. She did have niggling feelings and thoughts about Shaw doing a runner, but truthfully she never thought there'd be any truth to it. She never thought it'd actually happen.

Erik stood suddenly by her side looking equally annoyed. Shaking his head he turned about, there was nothing in this room. It was just some idiotic lounge area, without any occupants. "He's not here, Charles." He said shortly knowing full well the telepath would hear him. He was also rather sure he'd heard Liesel's irritated words too. "Shaw's not here! He's left the sub." He had to, where else was that man going to be? There was nowhere else to really search on this thing. If he wasn't in a hidden room, then where else was he?

"What? He's got to be there! He has to be! There's nowhere else he can be! Keep looking!"

"Look where? Under the sofas and tables? Maybe he is hiding behind some curtains somewhere, no?" Liesel said through gritted teeth. Erik looked from her to the room again, he was not totally sure when Charles had expanded communication to Liesel, but he was rather glad he did. That way Charles was doubly certain that they were speaking the truth. Not that they would lie about Shaw. "Maybe he has shrunk down and is hiding behind one of these hideous paintings?" Liesel asked sarcastically while walking over to one of the hanging artworks and slowly pulling it away from the wall. She looked at the white wall underneath with a frown. Like she expected anything else!

"There's no one here apart from Liesel and myself!" Erik said with an angry tone as he looked desperately around the room, as if Shaw was just going to appear in thin air before them.

"Not quite," a voice said from behind him. Liesel moved away from scrutinising paintings to Erik's side, as he turned on his heels and looked to the opening which just appeared. There, standing before them was Shaw. He looked at them with a smug, self-assured smile. Looking from one to the other, he held out his hands as if beckoning them closer. "Isn't this a pleasant surprise? All together again. Just like old times, hm? A small part of me has missed our little moments together." Shaw placed a hand to his chest and sighed. "Excuse me as I can't help but reminisce." After all, border lining torture, disguised as 'research', was not his favourite past time, but something which occupied a lot of his time and thoughts all those years ago.

And here, now, those two small children were standing before him. All grown up. Stronger, smarter, angrier. But together, like he knew they would be. He knew they'd always be together. They in part needed each other. Liesel needed the stability, and to have someone to tell her no. Because otherwise she'd be running amok, causing problems and situations both dangerous for herself and others, left right and centre. And Shaw was rather sure Erik needed Liesel for the sake that it was a reminder for him for what he was actually fighting for. Much like when they were children, he had fought against guards and Shaw for the sake of Liesel not being taken to the lab. They did fight for each other, they always had done, Shaw already knew that they continued to do so throughout their life, even up till now.

So excuse him if he reminisced over the finality of that little project from years back. "It's so good to see you both again." Shaw lowered his hand back to his side and smiled at them both.

Erik went to take a step forwards, only to falter when there was a pull on his sleeve. He looked to Liesel, she looked at him with a frown. "I can't follow you." She sounded saddened by this. Erik looked from Shaw, who watched them with an odd sense of fondness, to her. "Having live wires near a nuclear reactor isn't wise, is it? I can't follow you, Erik. I can't fight in there, or else we'll all go up in a nuclear cloud of fire and smoke."

"Looks like it's just you and me then, Erik." Shaw seemed to wish to pipe in. "Such a shame Liesel can't join us though."

She shot him a look. "Somehow me coming into that room seems to fill you with some odd feeling of joy. Tell me, you'd really want to go boom?" She asked while turning and glaring at him.

"You'll go boom. I'll merely absorb the result." He said with a casual shrug.

"Go, Erik. Go and please...please finish this...don't do anything stupid." Liesel said while not looking away from Shaw, as if he'd suddenly disappear. Her fists furled and unfurled by her sides. She was irritated that she couldn't follow this through. But she trusted Erik to do it. All along she knew, deep down, that when it came to the end, Shaw's end, it'd be Erik to do it. Shaw may have tormented her, but at the end of the day: he didn't kill her mother right in front of her eyes. Hurt like that never leaves someone, even when they've grown up.

Erik placed a hand on her shoulder, she slowly looked up at him. Her angry expression changed to one of calm, she smiled and gave a nod. She was sure of this. She couldn't follow. She couldn't fight in that small blue lit room, not without putting him at risk, or at least more risk of getting hurt and or killed. She refused to think of Erik dying. He wasn't going to die. There was only one man who was going to, and it wasn't him.

Watching as he slipped away from her side and disappeared into the small room, Liesel let out a breathless sigh. "He's gone to face him on his own, Charles. I can't get near the reactor. I'm certain electrical input will make the moment all the more worse."

"Stay on guard in that case. If something happens, and Shaw comes out of that room; you're first port of call. I am sorry, Liesel. I am so sorry to make you the first defence in case of Erik's defeat." And he truly did sound saddened by it. He didn't want to think of his friend being beaten, or killed by that man. Erik was one of the strongest of them. If he lost, what hope was there truly for the rest of them?

"He won't be defeated." Liesel said surely with a growing smile as she rocked on her heels and swung her arms by her sides. "Oh no...that times been and gone, Charles. But regardless, I'll stay on guard." Liesel said with a certain nod, even though he couldn't see it.

----

Edited: 13/June/2019

Reedited: 20/August/2021