Cole coughed the last wisps of the smoke out of his chest and rubbed his watering eyes.

"W-What do you mean get out? What's wrong?" he managed to force out, voice hoarse and raw.

"... Jay?"

There was no reply, no noise, no movement... and as the air around him cleared away at last, Jay's limp, discarded body came into view.

Cole fell quiet. His first assumption was that the gas was too much strain on his lungs, and he'd passed out from that... but...

... then he saw the pool of blood stretching outwards from his figure.

"JAY!" He screamed, rushing over to his body, "JAY, SH*T, WHAT HAPPENED?!"

He took hold of his own suit, and tugged the whole top half off, leaving himself in a vest. Balling it up, he used it to put pressure on the heavily bleeding, shaking so violently that it took a few attempts to get the positioning right.

"HEY, I NEED HELP IN HERE!" he screamed down the corridor towards the entrance, gasping with relief when a couple of paramedics rushed in towards them.

"What happened to him? Where is he bleeding from?"

"I-I don't know! I think he's been stabbed, l-lower abdomen!"

"Keep pressure on that wound, he'll bleed out if you don't. We need to get him onto a gurney without releasing any of it, got that?"

"G-Got it!"

A group of footsteps came thundering down the stairs, and Cole turned to see the other ninja, each and every one of them looking extremely worried.

"... wh... what the hell? What's going on?!" Kai blurted out, as Zane ran over and began to help the paramedic, using one of his inbuilt modules to check his blood pressure.

"The hallway filled with smoke, a-and when it cleared, he was on the ground bleeding! I have no idea what happened, but it looks like somebody f*cking stabbed him!" Cole answered, pressing the cloth onto the wound as hard as he could, shaking violently from head to toe.

"We just heard yelling and came as fast as we could, all of the upstairs stories are clear!" Nya explained.

"Well, we thought this floor was clear, then this happened!"

Lloyd took a deep breath, and spoke, turning to Nya and Kai.

"We need to check over the whole building again, the ground floor most of all. Be careful as well, they're probably still here, and armed!"

The three without a different preoccupation rushed off to find the culprit, leaving Cole and Zane with Jay.

"Blood pressure is low, he has lost a lot of it. If he doesn't get to hospital soon, his brain and his heart are going to start shutting down."

"The gurney is coming. We'll get him there as fast as we can." The paramedic assured, and indeed, another person was wheeling one down towards them.

It was a bit of a task to get Jay onto it without releasing the pressure, but they managed it. After a quick discussion, it was decided that Cole would go in the ambulance with him. Ideally, a medical professional would be the one keeping pressure, but releasing it now, without knowing how fast the blood flow was, could end up being fatal.

"We'll meet you at the hospital as soon as we can, alright?" Zane called after him. Cole could only nod.

The back doors of the vehicle shut, and Zane watched it drive away, sirens shrieking with urgency.

Paramedics started to enter the building in larger groups, treating the casualties, and singling out the ones too far gone. Luckily, it seemed that the number of those still alive was much larger than previously anticipated.

Nya entered his field of view, and came to a stop next to him, wheezing heavily.

"Nothing. There's... there's no... nobody left in the... the..."

Zane places a hand on her shoulder.

"Catch your breath first, then talk. Take your time."

She swallowed a couple times, blinking to remove whatever had irritated her eyes.

"... there's nobody left in the building. Nobody at all. B-But there... there is..."

"Is what? Nya, what did you find?"

"... a massive hole, in the back off the building. Something broke straight through the wall... no normal person could do that... and... if there was only one person here..."

She looked up at Zane, locking eyes with him, feeling cold trickle down her spine as even he was lost of what to say.

"... what do we do? Zane... what the f*ck do we do?"

He opened his mouth, then closed it, and shook his head.

"... Zane...?"

"... I am... afraid... that... we may be a little too late."

"What do you mean?"

"... Dei Noctis have somehow managed to reach levels of ability beyond anything we can currently explain. They are strong, powerful, dangerous, and... I am sorry. Unless we manage to do something huge right now... I highly doubt we have much of a chance against them."

Nya stared, then gritted her teeth, and sat down in the rubble.

"... w... were Jay's injuries... severe?" She questioned.

"Injury, you mean. Only one stab wound. It seemed to be a very clear cut, no dirt, it definitely was not a serrated blade. I could not tell if any internal organs had been injured... let's hope they weren't. I can see him making a full recovery quite quickly."

Nya let out her first sigh of relief that day, rubbing the sweat off her forehead.

"... that's a relief."

"It is indeed."

The paramedics and other medical staff had worked quickly. All the injured were speedily on their way to hospital, and now cops from other stations were showing up to secure the premises.

"... Nya, may I ask you something?" Zane mumbled, sitting down next to her.

"... sure, go ahead."

He took a deep breath in and out, staring off into the distance.

"... do you think that humanity is capable of saving itself?"

"... you mean, fight back against Dei Noctis?"

"Yes... and... everything else. All the other ways humans constantly destroy each other."

She turned away also, resting her chin on the top of her knuckles.

"... I think so. We may be pretty self-destructive, but, we're also persistent and determined. We'll always find a way. What do you think?"

"Aha... well, my view is... somewhat less upbeat than yours. I look around every day... at this society. At all angles, the human race is cruel... and selfish... and violent... and constantly... destroys itself. Hate groups, majorities hunting minorities, taking more care of short term luxuries, than the planet we all live on. Oceans are polluted with rubbish, the ozone layer is disintegrating, the atmosphere is filling up with CO2, and all that people care about is metal straws and reusable coffee cups. Nobody is looking at the bigger picture. I've ran the current situation through my processor many times over... always with the same outcome. Humanity is on its way to extinction... whether that will be through a conflict like this one... or the long term effects of climate change... they're going to put an end to themselves... but... being perfectly honest... maybe that's a good thing."

Sirens filled the air, cold winds rushed past. Dust swirled through the evening air, landing on everything, leaving a gross layer of coarse light brown.

"... I thought you were an optimist."

"I'm a realist. The facts are too blatant for me to be optimistic about them."

Kai helped carry one of the last officers into the back of a private ambulance, then made his way over to Nya and Zane, giving them a mild smile.

"... Jay alright?" He asked.

"Hopefully. Wound was clean. As long as he doesn't bleed out on the way there, he'll be ok."

Lloyd made his way out of the building too, with a blank look on his face.

"... you good dude?"

"... I... don't know."

Nya got to her feet, and offered Zane a hand to get up too. After her moment of panic and fear, she had stabilised herself, and her new attitude started to rub off on the other three.

"I don't think any of us are going to be ok after that. Let's all give our statements to the police, then get to the hospital as quick as we can." She directed. Nobody objected.

Each of them gave a quick statement to an available officer, and then made their way to the Bounty, to make a much faster commute to the hospital.

Despite Zane's clear reassurances, they were all terrified that Jay's condition would work out to be a little more fatal than thought.

The look on Sensei's face when they returned a group of 4 instead of 6, sent guilt sparking through Lloyd's system.

If he hadn't suggested that they split up... then maybe... just maybe...

Cole and Jay would have returned with them.