"Get down!" Seventeen's voice bled into Thirteen's ears just as a force pushed him to the ground. A blade of wind shook the entire shop, rattling the cupboards and the busted pendant lights hanging from the ceiling. Thirteen braced a table's leg, the cold of the metal digging into his sweaty palms.

He cursed. He couldn't get a damned break now, could he? A shadow rippled past him, and Seventeen's figure leaped past the carpet of shards and touched down on the street beyond. Up ahead, Eight swept her hand parallel to the road. The howling intensified, followed by the agitated rustling of overgrown bushes, rusting metal, and peeling asphalt. East. It would come from there.

Seventeen's pale yellow hair whipped in the same direction. He was aware of it too. Thirteen dug the screen from his jacket and scrambled to get to the right area of the map. Eight's chip flitted around, almost defeating the lag in the system. He scoured the area. Who else was here? Without Fourteen, who did Eight team up with? The girl wasn't ingenious at predicting where Thirteen was bound to be.

"Watch out!" Two's warning came next, tearing Thirteen's eyes off the screen. A whiff of white hair and flashing silver rushed towards him. He ducked, rolled, and scrambled back as Five bore down on him, taking advantage of his loose footing.

Thirteen spied Two ducking out of Five's periphery. Another curse flitted out of his lips. "Catch!" he yelled, chucking the screen towards Two's direction. He dodged Five's dagger, keeping Two at the edge of his vision. The boy snatched the screen from the ground. "Take care of that!"

Five's leg rushed to his side. With Abelle's chip still loaded in the reader, he lashed out to block it. He shoved her back, sweeping his leg underneath. His ankle connected with her shin, knocking her down. He rammed a fist into her throat as she went. As she collapsed, hacking and wheezing, he unloaded Abelle's chip and slotted Four's.

She recovered quickly, lunging towards him with her blades flashing. He dashed towards the window, leaping over the bulkhead and tumbling into the street. A whizz of black loomed over him. With a grunt, he propped an arm northward and unleashed Four's ability. A propulsion of ice crunched out of his senses, launching him away from the diner. The wall collided with Five's path. He didn't stay to register more than the distressed yelp and curses emanating from behind the jagged parapet. He had to stop Eight before she killed Seventeen. The older boy wasn't the best in the braincell department.

He fumbled for the chips in his possession, getting a hold of Karrel's chip. Before he could slot it in, Five's frame appeared beyond the edge of the ice wall. Oh, shit. Couldn't Five leave him alone for a second? What was she doing anyway? It didn't look like she wanted to talk like she did before he froze her limbs. Good thing for her to still have them, by the way.

Out went Four's chip, and in went Abelle's. Five thrust a blade into his personal space. Enhanced agility swept his body aside at the last possible second. The knife sliced a clean line across his cheek. He jabbed his elbow into Five's extended arm before gripping the wrist with his free hand. Her other dagger jutted towards his exposed side. He slapped it away with a quick kick. With a grunt, he twisted her around and wrapped an arm around her neck. He held on. Tight.

Five squirmed. Her boots scratched against the pavement. The wisps of her hair tickled his nose, but he held a sneeze in. Come on. Just yield.

She did the opposite. He should have seen it coming when she leaned forward. In a flash, the back of her head slammed into his face. Black spots flashed in his vision. His grip loosened. She writhed out of it, doing the same thing to him. Her knives were out of her hands, and as her arm looped around his throat, he kicked the nearest one a few meters away. Not that she needed them to kill him at this point.

He stomped on her toes, digging his heel all the way in. She howled, loosening a hand around his wrist. It was the one with the reader in. He whipped it to the front before Five could yank it back. Jabbing the reader against his chin, he unloaded Abelle's chip, keeping it at hand. Four's chip went back inside, his middle finger giving it the final push it needed.

Five screamed as a load of ice crystals rushed towards her eyes. Her warmth peeled off him in an instant. Thirteen pointed his palm towards her, summoning enough moisture in the air to freeze her from the waist down. Before he could, though, Five sidestepped the blasts of icicles, closing the distance between them. Too late to move back. In their scuffle, they had crossed the street. A wall blocked his way. Closer. Five's blade rushed closer.

"Miss!" Two shouted from the building's dark facade. Wh...

The blade sailed past Thirteen's shoulders, embedding itself into the wall's numerous webbing cracks. Did he just—

"No time!" Two reached out and closed a hand on Thirteen's wrist, dragging him away before Five could uproot her dagger. "Yes, I controlled her mind for a second."

"Wh—I didn't even ask that!" Thirteen stuttered as the force of Two's run pulled him along.

Two could have rolled his eyes if the boy's face was visible to Thirteen. "It's written all over your face, genius," he replied. "Focus on running. We have to get out of here. Five won't stay there."

Thirteen knew that, and Two most likely read that from his mind. Two scoffed. "I did not," he snapped.

"Did what?" Thirteen blinked.

"Read that from your mind," Two answered. "It's just common sense."

Of course. Most of Thirteen's thoughts were that, anyway. Which earned another snort from Two. "Yeah, sure," the esper said as they dashed through the open first floor. "Let's stick with that."

Thirteen had lost the thread of the one-sided conversation since earlier, so he didn't pursue it further. The parallel street from the diner loomed at the end of this building. Construction materials littered the whole expanse, including cans of dried paint, torn, paper-thin films of murky plastic hanging from jutting rebars, and eroded piles of bricks, splintering planks, and half-mixed cement.

They made it towards the last row of pillars when the entire building shook. Concrete snapped. Debris rained from the sky. Thirteen and Two ducked under their arms, rushing towards the nearest corner. Before their eyes, a figure shot through the building, knocking on pillars and crashing through the clutter until it came to rest meters from their perch.

It was Seventeen. Instead of the lively boy who smiled even when nothing was funny, empty eyes stared at the ceiling. Blood covered his body. Smoke curled from his bruised and disfigured limbs, both from the disturbed dust and the friction which scratched the skin. Thirteen didn't need to see what happened to arrive at a conclusion. Seventeen met one of Eight's attacks head on. The recoil threw him backwards with an equivalent, if not more, force.

Blue pulsed beneath an arm.

"Knife." Thirteen crept forward, beckoning Two for the object he knew the boy carried. The familiar weight of Five's surplus dagger pressed against his palms. Through the seconds of bliss and quiet, Thirteen slashed across Seventeen's arm and drew out his chip before it flicked off.

A gagging sound caught his attention. He turned to find Two clutching his mouth. "Remind me to never watch you do that," the esper whined. "That's disgusting."

Thirteen wiped the chip in Seventeen's sleeve. It wasn't enough to get all of the blood out, but it'd have to do. He slotted it into the reader after popping Four's chip out. "It's all part of the job," he answered, waiting for Seventeen's ability to load into his system. "Come on."

He stood up just as a knife whizzed towards him. His hand swung up, a wall of invisible force stopping the blade's flight mid-air. "Go!" Thirteen barked at Two. Having a non-combative ability could be a disadvantage in this situation. "I'll meet you."

"Where?" Two asked. A stupid question, really.

Thirteen didn't bother replying as he ran to meet Five who had dislodged her knife from the wall. Seventeen's ability blocked most of her advances. Eight dropped into the scene, leaping straight into action as soon as she saw Thirteen. He cursed, scrambling to the side to avoid a strong gust of wind. Two against one? How was that fair?

He poured another force field to get Five off his tail. As it collided with her, he switched abilities to get Karrel's chip. Just as Eight blustered towards him, he glared at her and squeezed her system shut. She dropped like the stone, thudding to the ground. Her ability coasted inside Thirteen's veins, albeit a little more distant. Stealing an ability with a stolen ability has that tendency.

He turned to Five who stalked after him. "We don't have to kill each other," he blurted, stopping the girl in her tracks.

"I have my reasons," Eight growled. She jerked her chin towards Five who had frozen in place now. "I'm sure she has hers, too."

Thirteen couldn't care less what those reasons were. "Let's call it a day here, shall we?" he said. "When you're both ready to talk, you know where to find me."

Eight pushed herself up and lunged at him. Five leaped into action at the same time, blades flashing in the air. Thirteen, still with Eight's ability, shifted the air beneath their feet and pulled. Their legs crossed and knocked against each other, sending them to the ground. Before they could get up, Thirteen turned and clambered out of the building and the street. In a few hours, he'd be out of this region entirely.

He sent out a thought, hoping Two was listening nearby. We're finding Seven and Slate next. This could only go on for so long. If they wanted to get out of the Game, they had to reach an accord first. It was a risk, but with the abilities on his arsenal, he should have a shot at getting the sneaky spies under control.

Because if they weren't the ones behind Five running berserk, then, it would confirm something else. And Thirteen needed that conclusion be false, both for his safety and everyone else's.