Zane could only stare at the mercenary Rio had called Bellator as his body stiffened out, becoming one with an unfamiliar passer-by.

Fear. 

Just the brief meeting of their eyes had left Zane in this state, though he suspected there was no power involved. In those eyes, Zane had glimpsed an infernal evil, only possible by someone who had slain repeatedly without remorse. It felt like he could envision his own depth inside those dark pupils.

Bellator turned away from him, dismissing him as a threat and started walking toward the fallen Astrid who regarded him with equally horrified eyes. He might've gotten to her, picked her up and been on his way too - if not for a sudden ice shard that soared through the air and embedded itself in the mercenary's arm.

He paused, slowly turning back to Zane, with a small flash of annoyance evidenced on his creased eyebrow. Aria landed next to Zane and as he turned to look at her his neck was whipped back as she slapped him hard.

"Snap out of it!" She yelled. "This is no time to be daydreaming, we have a person to protect."

Zane could swear he tasted blood and the odd sensation of his healing factor mending his gums. He prepared to give her a piece of his mind, but as he turned his head back, it felt like a building had somehow been launched into his torso, sending him flying back into the building with enough force to make a dent in the outer wall.

Was it slap Zane around day?

The wall crumbled and Zane fell from his Zane-sized dent to the floor, managing to get his hands out in time to catch his fall. The jerking of his body hitting the ground sent a painful vibration through his body, which was especially pronounced in a sharp pain in his rib area. He groaned as his body went about healing what he assumed was a broken rib.

Sounds of battle picked up nearby amidst the background explosions from the building. Zane rolled on his side, barely being able to make out Aria's figure as she tried various attacks using her ice to take down Bellator, who seemed to be shrugging them off pretty easily. Although stupid, Zane couldn't help but marvel at Aria's bravery, facing off against someone clearly levels above.

While he had ended up immobile and docile enough that Bellator hadn't feared turning his back on him. Shame rose above his pain and he slammed a frustrated fist in the ground. He'd talked a big game about sticking to the mission and seeing it through, but now was the time to walk the talk.

He stood shakily, his rib not yet fully healed though the pain had subsided slightly. He advanced on the fight with a wobbly gait, watching as the two clashed. Aria had proven to be the one who displayed the most control over her ability, outside of Rio and Blade and it seemed to be coming in handy now.

She shot a small shard of ice at the mercenary who moved impossibly fast to dodge, then she repeated the attack, launching a volley as she searched for an opening. Bellator spun out of the way of the volley, showing surprising agility, even for a Meta. However, Aria saw the opening she was looking for. 

She leapt at the spot where his spin would lead him, ice shards jutting out of her knuckles as she reeled back her fist, preparing to land a punch in his face. Still, Bellator's reaction speed was faster. In just the brief second that his vision was obscured by an ice-decorated fist, he ducked, causing the attack to pass by harmlessly before he came out of his crouch with a powerful uppercut to Aria's stomach. She flew into the air, blood spilling out of her mouth as if it were a waterfall.

The Bellator seemed ready to finish the job, watching her flight to predict her descent but the sound of shaky shuffling made him look to his left. Zane, who had been watching the entire exchange, was now close. He saw amusement in the mercenary's face as he watched Zane painfully close more distance between them. That amusement soon turned to alarm as Zane activated his ability. 

The Bellator shuffled backward, as a boxer would, to create more space between them as Zane's eyes started to glow but that didn't matter to Zane. He swiped his hand across his body and the invisible force obeyed, slamming into the mercenary and sending him tumbling head over heels away.

A few weeks ago, Zane had at first struggled to stop Richmond's ogre friend - but now, he was able to knock away a much more powerful foe. There was no time for celebration or acknowledgment of his feat though. He caught Aria before she could hit the ground and once again slung Astrid over his shoulder. 

He trudged toward the evacuation point, which was actually just a parking lot with a van designed to be their getaway vehicle. The physical weight of Astrid and the mental weight of Aria were not pleasant on his battered body, however, and his progress was slow.

Thankfully, a familiar white light soon appeared, and out popped the entire team. Rio, even out of breath with intense dark circles ringed around his eyes, surveyed the situation in one and commanded Blade to grab Astrid and Rick to catch Aria. 

"Huddle up," he commanded hoarsely, crouching down as his eyes began to glow. "Everyone put a hand on my shoulder."

They obeyed and Rio closed his eyes, his muscles tensed as he appeared to strain to bend his exhausted power to his will. Finally, Zane's surroundings changed abruptly and he landed with a hard thud against double doors, almost falling through them to the asphalt below.

They were in the back of their getaway van. 

Zane pulled himself up, noting a figure in the distance running toward the van. His clothes looked vaguely familiar. Zane looked back into the van, confirming Blade who ran into the driver's seat and started the van, Rio who was currently chugging down water from one of the jugs he had stored in the vehicle, a disoriented Rick, a bloody Richmond, and Astrid and Aria still laying on the vehicle's floor. 

That confirmed it.

"Jai is still out there!" Zane yelled.

Rick bolted upwards, his disorientation forgotten as he ran to the back next to Zane and looked through the double doors. His eyes widened and he turned back around, shooting a glare in Rio's direction. "What the hell, man? You didn't teleport Jai!"

Rio didn't answer, his hands and mouth full gulping down the much-needed water, but Rick interrupted by slapping the jug out of Rio's hands. "Answer me, dammit!"

Rio seemed more revived than before, but his eyes still seemed sluggish as they darted up to meet Rick's. "I'll pretend you didn't do that this once. I tried my best to-"

"No, you didn't! You never liked him. You did this purposely," Rick accused, his face twisted into an indignant rage. Zane stared on in amazement, he didn't even know Rick was capable of this.

"Don't be stupid. Regardless of how useful he is or not, he's another person to help protect the objective. Why don't you try teleporting seven people a hundred yards after ten minutes of constant teleporting?"

Rio picked up another jug, gave Rick a warning glare and busied himself gulping down the contents. Rick folded his fist but rejoined Zane at the back of the van, peering through the opened double doors. "He's got company!"

Zane followed his gaze and sure enough, people had jumped out of the building, joining the Bellator in staring at the van and Jai's chase. "He doesn't seem to be in danger though." No sooner had the words left Zane's mouth, did one of the boy's eyes started to glow a fiery red.

That color wasn't promising. 

The boy's stomach swelled outward, as if it was a balloon filling with air then he let out a roar, but instead of a sound coming out, angry plumes of flame did. A lot of flame. The flame roared forward, a beautiful agent of death consuming everything in its wake at an alarming speed.

Even as Jai's eyes lit up and he bolted forward with his propulsion, the fire was faster still and soon, his figure disappeared within the depths of the fiery sea. Zane had to hold Rick as he attempted to jump out of the van to save his friend. 

The fire didn't stop there, greedily continuing toward the van.

"Rio!" Zane shouted.

"I'm on it," he said in between gulps of water, his eyes already starting to glow.

Rick's body shuddered in Zane's arms as he let out a cry of sorrow, slamming his hand against one of the swinging doors and causing it to break off.

"The damn van is too slow," Blade yelled, as the van lurched across a sidewalk. "I don't think we can outrun it."

Zane looked to Aria, but although she was strong enough to hold her own weight up again, she was clearly too out of it to make a difference with her ice. He cursed under his breath and faced the chasing fire which was now close enough that beads of sweat trespassed on his face, and the intensity of the heat was almost suffocating.

Just as Zane was beginning to consider trying to float the van over the massive wave of flame, the clang of a jug falling to the metallic floor was followed by a blinding white light.