"I can't believe we let him slip right through our fingers..." Jacob found himself muttering as he continued their search of the home, "We should have at least unmasked him right away. Then I would know for certain whether or not I'm right." He continued to try to look for clues, but he found himself unable to focus on looking for something he knew he wouldn't find. He turned a corner into one of the other rooms and bumped right into Cat, as he had been too caught up in his thoughts, and she was listening to music.

"Oh, hey!" she said surprised, "Didn't hear you coming..." She pulled one of her earbuds out and glanced at him as she continued searching the room. Jacob felt a little awkward having just walked into her, but continued his search.

"You know, I haven't really stopped to ask this ever, but how are you holding up?" he asked, making idle chatter. She shrugged and didn't say anything. "I realize we've been through a lot, but you and Mal are doing great, especially for how little you know about this story. I just wanted to make sure you're still the same Cat that I know," he continued. They both sat for a moment without speaking. Jacob wasn't exactly sure where he had been going with that monologue, but Cat finally sighed, turned to him and spoke her mind.

"You know, before we were travelers, I did absolutely love different places, but this... This is something completely different," she started, "It's more than just a different place. It's a whole different life. I mean just think of all we've been through. You nearly died the first time we traveled, and still you were the one who invited us all to try again. Then, it was you who fought an entire camp of centaurs just so we could escape. You faced off against every enemy so far with confidence and pride. How do you do that?"

"Well, I have something to fight for," he told her, meeting her stare, "I fight for my friends. You remember when we were first ambushed by orcs, way back when we barely knew what a traveler was. It seems like a lifetime ago, but I carried you when you couldn't walk. I fought when you and Mal couldn't. I don't give up on my friends... I don't give in to fear, because I have you to give me courage. I have you and God. I believe that even in these stories he's the one in control. I know we'll make it home again, and I'm pretty sure we're gonna have a great time doing it. So when I say I fight for my friends, I can tell you this: I fought my way to the grave's edge back in Middle Earth, but I believe that if I die defending what is right, I know it would be worth it. It isn't a matter of not having fear, but it's a matter of being brave. One cannot be brave who has no fear." As he finished, Adrian walked into the room. A dark look shot across his face, and he turned, storming out of the room.

"What was that?" Cat asked. Jacob didn't answer right away, but then explained his poor timing. That exact phrase with which he had finished his little speech had been the phrase on the calling card that had been on his mother's body. He stood and followed Adrian out the room trying to explain why he had used that specific phrase. He had to admit to it might have been a poor choice of words considering the present company, but he actually found it somewhat inspiring.

He caught up with Adrian and walked with him. "How do you know that phrase?" Adrian asked with an edge to his tone. Jacob explained that he knew about Adrian's mother, Lady Indomitable, and why he had used the phrase.

"As intimidating as I think it was meant to sound, it actually inspires me," he explained, "Because if one cannot be brave who has no fear, then one who has fear has the opportunity to be brave. If a hero had no fear, then they couldn't be inspiring because they couldn't truly be brave. Your mother still inspires people today because she did have fears, just like every other person. I think of that quote, one cannot be brave who has no fear, whenever I do fear something, and I know that it only means that I can be brave there and then. Don't fear it, use it." Adrian seemed to understand, but still he was clearly reminded of his mother. He quietly strode away, and Jacob went back to his searching. He wasn't sure where Adrian was going, but he was sure he hadn't heard the last of it.

________________

Cat had continued looking even though she knew they wouldn't find anything. It wasn't long until Nova finally gave in, deciding that The Sentinel had cleared everything out when he was last here. Cat found herself parting ways with the other travelers as their teams split apart, now having different assignments. The others were going to continue with the Pyromancer search, and they would be dedicated to looking for The Sentinel. Cat realized the futility of their squad looking for him, but she said nothing about it. Unfortunately only Danna and Nova didn't already know Adrian's secret, so the rest of them would be having an interesting time pretending to search some more. Cat wondered if Adrian was starting to regret his decision to give Nova a lead.

They hadn't been searching long before Ruby suggested they split up to look for him. She would go with Danna, Adrian and Oscar would pair up, and Cat would be going with Nova. They all agreed, Danna and Nova seeing the logic to it, and the rest of them knowing the real reason she suggested it. They were searching on foot because Nova knew he couldn't have gotten far, not after being hit with her stun round, suit or no suit. She didn't realize how right she was. They all went their separate ways, Cat trying to keep up with Nova as she practically jogged down the street around the apartment. Nova almost seemed like she was trying to lose Cat. Once she thought about it, she probably was.

"Hey! Nova!" Cat called forward to her. Nova slowed a little, but kept up a steady pace. Cat finally caught up and talked while she walked. "Why are you so anti-Sentinel? I mean I get why you believe what he's doing is wrong, but this seems more personal. What do you have against him, McLain?" Cat asked. Nova just stared at her for a moment before answering. She opened her mouth to answer when a light behind Cat caught her attention. Cat turned to see what it was when a jet of flame shot towards her. She dodged sideways, but unfortunately Nova hadn't been able to see the incoming fireball until it was too late. She found herself being clipped by a thousand degree projectile right in the calf. Cat faced her attacker as Nova yelled in pain. Pyromancer walked towards them, clearly persistent in his vendetta against them. Cat still had one of her earbuds in and she pressed the play button on her watch. She felt her power rushing through her and she pressed her hands together and began to swing her arms and moving to the music. She danced freely, throwing streams of power at Pyromancer. Her invisible waves caught him off guard, throwing him to the ground, pummeling him. She turned off her music once he was down, and she turned to check on Nova. Nova had already sent off a distress signal to the others, giving them their location.

Cat was about to check the injury when Adrian arrived in his suit. Nova gave him a pain look of hatred as he looked at her, stooped down, picked her up, and spoke. "I will take care of her. You deal with him," he said, nodding toward Pyromancer, who was beginning to sit up. As Pyromancer stood, Adrian bent his knees and leapt to the nearest rooftop. Cat pressed play on her music once more, and but this time her opponent knew her power. She swung a wave through the air and the sound crashed into the ground where he had stood moments later. He pressed his fists towards Cat, but knowledge goes both ways. She raised her hand, and a wall of invisible energy pressed forward, splitting Pyromancer's flames in two around her. She pressed both of her hands forward quickly and the wall shot forward, slamming into Cat's foe. He fell to the ground, but recovered quickly, getting back on his feet. He glared at her through his mask, with personal hatred.

He finally spoke through his mask, his voice disguised by it, "I won't let you win again." Cat thought for only a moment about this statement before she got back to fighting.

"Again?" she asked, "what do you mean?" Pyromancer pressed her back, then laughed.

"You don't recognize my fire? The same one that burned bright in the dark land..." he said, "The same one that began to burn in the dark forest." He reached up and grasped the the base of his mask. As he peeled the skull away from his face, Cat gasped at the boy's face. "Now do you recognize me? I am the true Lord of Mordor, you have made a fool of me one too many times. Back in Gondor, in the Shire, and finally at the black gate," Ryan said, his voice now his own. Cat finally understood why he hadn't recognized Rose, but knew Mal, Jacob, and herself by sight. Jacob had been wrong. Ryan raised both his fists and slammed them into the ground, creating a pillar of flame around himself. When the fires dissipated, he was gone once again. She looked at the burn left by his disappearing act, noting that it was shaped like the eye of Mordor. Ryan was back.

_______________

Mal and Jacob had split off with their team to pursue Pyromancer, and they picked up Nova's distress signal. By the time they had arrived, Cat stood in the street, clearly exhausted, and the ground was burned with a symbol. Cat explained that she had been in a battle with Pyromancer. Pulling aside the two of them from their team, she explained his identity. Jacob was a little annoyed that he had been wrong about Pyromancer. The three of them agreed to not reveal his identity to the others. He seemed to know that he was a traveler, and he clearly had some sort of vendetta against them after Middle Earth, which was understandable. Vince had stabbed him in the back, literally. Ryan was now pursuing them through their stories, and possibly was even the actual reason Middle Earth and Hogwarts collided. Mal found herself focused on all the details of his new identity, Pyromancer.

He had gained fire powers, assumably when he traveled to this world, and joined with the villains of the story. The only problem was that Renegades wasn't a normal adventure story. It was riddled with secrets, uncertain allegiance, and philosophy. What Adrian considered the villains, the Anarchists, were what Nova had considered her family and the good guys. Nova believed that the Renegades had too much power and looked to overthrow them. In this story, there were no good guys and bad guys. There was only enemies and friends, but Nova even broke through that barrier. Her false identity hid the fact that she was actually Nightmare, an Anarchist. Unfortunately for her, she might have actually fallen for her greatest enemies' son. Mal noticed a few falters in the timeline like before, which she knew wasn't a good sign. She hadn't heard so much as a breath of Agent N, a power neutralizer, but Ruby and Oscar knew about Adrian's secret identity. That was impossible. Danna was able to morph into her swarm of butterflies, but she didn't know that Nova was an Anarchist. There were too many discrepancies for this story to remain itself for long.

Mal search for Pyromancer was getting her nowhere. Kate had been helping her as much as she could, and Karen had stepped in whenever she wasn't out searching. Mal found herself doing her least favorite thing ever. Desk work. Mal hadn't been sitting for long when she felt a presence behind her. She turned in her swirly chair to face whoever was behind her. There stood Tsunami, Kasumi Hasegawa, a member of the Renegade council. Mal remembered seeing her only once before at her Renegade trials. She had been the only one not impressed by Mal's performance in the council. Kasumi introduced herself and asked Mal to follow her.

"I understand your patrol team has been tasked with finding our newest Anarchist friend..." she started, "He's a fire prodigy, no?" Mal nodded,wondering why Tsunami was actually talking to her. They stepped through the doors to the training room, and Mal took in the picture. The room was fairly empty compared to when she had seen it last. Tsunami lead her to one of the swimming pools, saying, "You need to guarantee your team's safety, so for now, you'll be working with me to improve your powers."

"Improve them? I didn't know you could improve them. How are we going to do that?" Mal asked. Kasumi raised her hand and the pool stirred a bit. She pressed her hand at Mal, and a wave rushed her. Mal raised her hand and pushed the water aside. Only to find the water wrapping back around and hit her in the back. She pulled the water off her clothes, still shivering from the cold water. "How's that going to help?"

"You need to learn to control water in greater amounts. You try to force the water to bend to your will, like your captain does with her steel. Water is not so restrictive as steel. Steel is rigid, or hard, but water is free and flowing. In your trials, I saw that you thought you had complete control over the water you used. You were forcing it to do something against its nature. Learn to help to water reach its greatest potential, not only what you want it to do. Are you prepared this time?" Kasumi finally asked at the end of her speech. This time she thrust her palm with a little more force. Mal felt the water rushing towards her, but this time, she felt the motion. The swirling, tumbling wave approached her, and it tumbled right over her. She felt it pass over her, washing around her. It circled over her head and to her left and right, parting only inches in front of her. This time, it stayed swirling frothing around her, an eternal wave. She stepped forward and the water continued to swirl around her. She opened her eyes and the water tumbled around her, creating a fantastic pillar. She thrust her arms to the side, and the pillar exploded outwards, leaving her standing in the middle of the room with every pair of eyes staring at her and Tsunami.

_________________

Rose had been trying to help as much as she could, but she was quite limited in the ways that she could help, since the Renegades had confiscated her wristband because she wasn't a Renegade. She had tried her best to keep track of Pyromancer since he disappeared, but she hadn't had any luck tracking him down. Especially since she didn't know how to track someone down. All she had done the first time had been looked for the places she knew they could be, which was only a few places. She found herself just walking around the streets, just watching her surroundings, trying to find some sign of a crazy, flame wielding, evil traveler. She peered down an alley and noticed a flickering light coming from deeper into the alley. She walked down the alley, watching the light dance. She looked around the dumpster that had been blocking her path, only to find a bearded homeless man with his back against the brick wall. He was wearing several several layers of clothes, despite the fact it was practically one hundred degrees outside. The flickering light had been a small lighter he had in his hand, and he clicked it on and off, creating a flame and watching it die. She felt like something was off about the man, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. The middle aged man looked at her and smiled.

"Not many people use this alley, sorry if I'm invading..." he said in a low voice. He pushed off the wall, then froze as Rose heard a loud crash behind her. She couldn't see what had just landed behind her, but the look on the homeless man's face said it all. She turned to face him. There she found Adrian, The Sentinel, and the man finally snapped out of his stupor and ran out of the alley. Adrian spoke through the metal helmet of his suit.

"Miss Direction?" he asked, clearly not fully recognizing her.

"Yes? What do you want?" Rose said, curious why Adrian was paying her a visit as his alter ego. Adrian retracted his suit into the small pocket in his skin, stretching his neck. He nodded for them to continue walking, the opposite way the homeless man had run. He had found her for two reasons. The first was to check in on how her search was going. He knew that like The Sentinel, Miss Direction didn't need to follow the code, as she wasn't a Renegade. The second was related to that reason. He had come to ask her to partner up with him as The Sentinel.

Rose wasn't sure what Adrian was hoping to gain from working with her, but she wasn't sure if working with a known vigilante was a good idea. The others had mentioned that they were trying to not interrupt the story, but then again, they already had their flaming friend doing just that. She decided to not answer yet.

"Well, when you decide, meet me in this," he said handing her a black hair tie. She looked at it questioningly, deciding that he might have lost it a little. "It's a carbon fiber suit compressed into a hair tie. You just have to slip it over your left wrist and pull it a little hard to open it up. It won't work on your right, that way you can actually wear it," he clarified, "Want to try it out? It looks pretty sweet, if I do say so myself." Just to humor him, she slipped the band around her left wrist, then tugged on it. For a moment, she thought she had snapped the hair tie, but then realized it had just expanded along her wrist, enveloping first her upper arm, then forming a glove as it reached up to her shoulder. It spread across her shoulders and down her side, soon forming a hood over her hair and a cape extending from her shoulders. She was clad all in black a moment later, with a comic book style mask over her eyes. The first time she opened the suit the sensation felt as though it took minutes, but in truth it took only a matter of seconds.

Rose looked down at her new suit, smiled, and made her decision. "Alright, Adrian." she said to him, still with a confident grin, "Now what do we call ourselves? I'm thinking the Watchers."