"... alright, dollface... let's get to talking. What do I do with the girl here?"

  Simple. The gangsters needed to get Giichi back to the hospital.

  Converging everyone into one location is optimal for survival. Her defense system can only last for so long before the energy reserves run out. Retrieving Giichi from the apartment building and bringing her to the hospital leaves everyone in one location to hunker down against the gangsters.

  There exists the issue of these gangsters being the ones that stormed the hospital... but that is a bridge to cross once Giichi's safe.

  "Listen closely," Peritzal speaks into her tablet. "I want you to return to the hospital as soon as possible. There's a car available at the front, unlocked and unoccupied. Take it and drive, I will cover you the best I can. Do you understand?"

  Peritzal is met with only silence, staring at BB.

  "... do you understand?" Peritzal repeats, squinting her eyes. "BB, say something if—" And it dawns on her. "... the image is frozen."

  Odette blinks for a moment, tilting his head. He has kept silent in order to not interrupt Peritzal's conversation with BB. He keeps quiet in case, specifically making sure he tilts his head to Peritzal.

  "Yes, Odette," Peritzal answers a silent question, "that can only mean that BB's managed to somehow destroy my display. Even as I had my eyes on him, he and his underlings completely cut off the feed."

  With confirmation that Peritzal's completely cut off from the apartment display, the two are left to sigh. The day just gets worse.

  "One saving grace is that we now know where he and Giichi are, at least," Peritzal tells Odette, as she stands up from her wheelchair. "Come, now, we need to hurry before they escape."

  "Are you good to walk...?" Odette nervously asks.

  "It's a neck injury," Peritzal simply responds, narrowing her eyes at Odette before starting to run to the building's exit. Still in possession of her reserve drones, she switches off the frozen screen and checks on the drones' energy, preparing them for flight and carry. There should be enough to carry her to the apartment building and back, with Giichi in tow.

  Odette, meanwhile, begins rushing right behind her, concentrating. With no motorcycle, the man is charging and preparing his telekinesis to fly through the building, either with Peritzal or alongside her. It would strain his hands and shoulders, and he would be at risk of BB spotting him, but he didn't care anymore. His friends needed him.

  There's no time for subtlety. They needed to get to Giichi, now, and are preparing to take flight once outside.

  However, when the two get out of the building, their plans are delayed as they see hospital staff rushing a stretcher into the building.

  Quade, after leaving to intercept BB at the warehouse, is on that stretcher. Brutally injured with his body from the neck down being covered, left unconscious and in critical condition. With him, Verness Orange and Blue, having managed to escape with them.

  Peritzal's eyes go wide as she looks over her shoulder, her running halted into a slow walk. Odette stops right in his tracks and stares at Quade in horror, seeing only two out of the five Vernesses that accompanied him.

  At that moment, they knew that things had only gotten worse.

  A few minutes ago, before Peritzal and BB's encounter at Sunshine Apartments, the missing three Vernesses were cornered at an office building.

  All bystander attention was on the outside of this building, where people were more focused on the burning wreckage of cars that were split apart, as well as Verness Monochrome currently being knocked out against one of the intact cars.

  Verness Red—as well as an injured Yellow, who hid away and fused with Red for the time being—is hiding away on the 9th floor. She was taking cover underneath one of the office desks in the far corner, attaching herself to the top of the desk with her spider legs, holding her breath with hands over her mouth, and shaking in fear as she kept as quiet as a mouse.

  The entire 9th floor of the office building was vacated, devoid of all its escaped employees. Most of them fled the building after a child—Verness Yellow, critically injured and hiding away in Red—flew through the window. Most became all once one of the walls was essentially sliced upward in the middle.

  The lights were shut off, with only two souls left in that abandoned room. Verness, the red-dressed little girl hiding with spider legs against the top of the desk... and the enraged, murderous man that scavenged through the office for her, dressed in some sort of crow-themed super suit.

  Talon Hawthorne, Odette's uncle and the crime syndicate boss responsible for carving open Quade's throat, was livid as he searched for Red. His seething breath exuded from his mouth, with bloodied rage dripping from his mouth. He'd lost his mind that mere children could escape with a grown man and his own nephew's motorcycle, and his livid immorality sought to kill the wretched child with his own hands.

  This caused a cold, freezing chill to go down Verness Red's spine as she hid from and avoided this man at all costs.

  Verness has seen, firsthand, how much of a danger Talon is, seeing what he did to Quade. Everything about him was dangerous, and Verness knew she couldn't fight him. Not on her own, not without the other Vernesses- and especially not without the others. She was completely outmatched and could only run and hide while the scary murder bird man ran the risk of hurting and injuring her.

  It was not unfamiliar for Verness to feel the fear of death, but it didn't make the feeling any better. Everyone in the hospital was in danger, and... and she needed to run from him, to flee and get to safety so that she couldn't add to their danger pile. But Verness also knows she can't outrun Talon. Her speed is no faster than the flying bird man, and- well, if she flees from cover now, he'll find her and kill her and that'll be the end of it.

  Verness was outstandingly lucky that she hadn't been found yet... and she didn't know how long it'll be until then. She was really scared and she was alone and she didn't know what to do, as Yellow remained injured inside of her soul and Monochrome lay defeated and the rest of the Vernesses were scattered all over the city and she really wanted to cry, but she couldn't afford to cry right now as it would give away her hiding spot and, and she's absolutely terrified about what's going to happen and—

  "Tell me, little girl. Who are the others?"

  Verness Red kept her absolute quietest, snapped out of her thoughts as Talon spoke.

  Talon regained a little bit of composure, under the belief that Verness Red could ONLY be hiding under the desks. Peeking under one of the desks, sheer murder in his eyes as his watchful, keen eye glared at nothing. An ominous, low breath seethed with rage, all morals tossed aside as pure darkness emanated from Talon's entire body.

  "I know of the shapeshifter. I know of the brown-haired girl. And I am aware that you know of Joseph. Who else is there? Come out, come clean, and I will spare you."

  ... don't fall for it, Verness Red thought to herself.

  Even if he has searched every nook and cranny, revealing her location will do her no good. Verness Red needed to keep calm. She believed she'd get out of this if she stayed quiet.

  "Stay silent, and I will slice you to pieces," Talon mumbled, raising his clawed hand into the air. The surging darkness was simply audible as he resisted the urge to cut apart the desks in one fierce swipe. Resisted to unleash a swipe that can tear open buildings and streets.

  Verness Red needed to keep quiet. She will not speak. She cannot speak. He doesn't know which desk she's under. He still doesn't know.

  "..."

  Talon's hand gripped one end of the desk... and tore the entire top of it off. Ripping the entire upper surface of the desk off, almost peeling it off in one swift motion.

  Verness Red winced visibly at hearing this, her eyes frantically looking up...

  ... as Talon checked to see no spider girl under this desk either.

  He still hadn't spotted the right desk. Verness Red was still hidden, and Talon was still searching.

  "Come, now. I know you are still in here..." Talon speaks out, directing his attention to a different desk. "The report said there was the white-haired one... the purple-haired ones... and the black-haired one. You're the only one I did not know of. Unless you're hiding someone else...?"

  Odette...

  ...

  Verness Red could hear his footsteps coming... closer. He was closing in on her desk. She didn't have long, she needed to flee. She needed to find a good opportunity.

  Maybe if he searches one more desk, Verness Red can escape. She hoped with her heart that he searched one more wrong desk.

  Little did she know, furthermore, that Talon ripped apart the desk that was right behind her. Talon was closing in right on her desk, holding its edge and gripping it tightly.

  There was no hope for her. Verness could feel the energy from the claw, feeling it through the desk and emanating against her back. She held back the urge to vomit. She gagged the entire time.

  And this gave Talon all the sound he needed.

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  "... last chance..." Talon quietly whispers, opening his mouth and charging a pellet... about to shoot the girl through the top of the desk. "Tell me what you know... in three, two—!"

  Verness Red winced as she opened her mouth and prepared to scream out—!

  Ding.

  "...!"

  Verness Red hears the sound of the elevator and quickly lunges out from her desk, running straight towards the gap in the building and leaping out, throwing her entire body out of the building at that moment.

  The sudden sound, at the same time, distracted Talon enough to lose focus. His pellet fires forward, piercing through the table and the floor as it completely misses Verness. His eyes twitch as he gazes at the elevator, a cold gaze as it opens up.

  A witness? An ally? Talon faced the elevator, watching the doors open up to reveal...

  ... one single janitor. An elderly, thickly bearded man with a mop.

  Talon's eyes glared at the janitor in the darkness. This average, unremarkable janitor.

  The janitor didn't receive the memo about Talon and Verness. He was just up here to do his daily routine of cleaning up after the office people. His eyes squinted and narrowed as he looked around, unable to see a single thing in all of this darkness.

  "... what in the...? Why is it so dark?" the elderly man called out, walking over to the light switch. The switch was flipped numerous times before the floor lit up again.

  Apart from the janitor, not a single soul remained.

  Verness Red dropped down to the ground, free-falling from nine stories. Her hands were actively weaving a thick ball in front of her, spinning the thread as fast as she could. She needed to make a bundle of silk even thicker than she was, a ball that could cushion her fall, maybe bounce her off the street. So right as she crosses the fifth floor, she bundled and weaved for dear life, and—

  "Ghhh!"

  Suddenly, she was grabbed right out of the air. Talon swooped down and snatched her out of the air at around the 2nd floor, flying up into the sky with a hand around Verness Red's throat. The ball of silk unraveled and fell to the ground, splattering against the craters previously left in the ground.

  Verness Red's eyes went wide as the two flew up, trying to struggle and wriggle out of the hand's grasp. Her eyes looked at the deranged stranger who grabbed her, staring into a cold and unyielding glare that pierced right into her soul. That ever so familiar look of derangement and insanity, belonging not to a man... but a feral monster.

  "Sorry, I couldn't quite hear you back there..." Talon growls out, tightening the grip on Verness's throat. One half of his mouth tensing and clenching his teeth, while he loosens and speaks through the other. A growl in his throat as he addresses the pitiful child. "Care to say it again?"

  Verness Red was rendered silent. Talon made it impossible for her to answer him or cry for help, so all she could do was have her legs kick at Talon in a desperate struggle.

  Talon was close, once again, to killing this child. He hesitated once with the gray one, gave this red one some time to willingly answer, and now he has put himself back into this very same position of "restraint". All he had to do was forcefully crush the girl's throat in his hand, and he'd be done with her. Maybe the weight of murdering a child was preventing him from committing the deed.

  However, an enemy of the Syndicate—as he repeated in his head again—is an enemy, and nothing more.

  So Talon ignored the crowds gathered on the street, letting himself be seen by numerous witnesses who saw him rip apart cars a moment ago. He simply held Verness Red by the throat, bracing himself for the gruesome deed, about to execute an enemy and...

  ...

  Talon was then interrupted by the sound of lightning.

  Verness was given more time to live as the deranged man was distracted.

  Talon's eyes look up at the sky, staring at the clear sky. There were not enough clouds in the sky to warrant the sound of weather, so it confused him. Why could he hear lightning?

  Then, the firing of a green laser beam draws his attention... east.

  He turned his head to lock onto the sound, eyes flashing as he could see and witness the distant sight of numerous gangsters crowding around the front of some apartment building.

  A pause of silence as Talon loosened his grip on Verness Red's throat. The sight of this sudden attack caught his full attention, and this intrigued Talon, so he flew in the direction of the sound to investigate. Flying closer and closer to the blaring sounds, witnessing the chaos unfolding before him.

  Dozens of underlings, the ones that were left, just rendered unconscious and knocked out all over the parking lot of this apartment building. One of the apartments has its windows shot out, with glass scattered all about. The attacks were unyielding.

  Needless to say, the feeling he gets from seeing his subordinates and underlings being made fools against bizarre technology is...

  ... is that Benjamin Franklin?

  Talon stared at this and thought to himself: why is one of the founding fathers of America currently flying a kite in the parking lot of some—

  Oh, what in the sweet hell is this?

  Talon's thoughts were interrupted once again as he watched a giant robot arm spontaneously fire out of the ground, grabbing the underling that shouted this and throwing him far, far away. His eyes watched in astonishment as the underling was tossed away.

  Talon's eye twitched at all of this, and— and he quickly noticed why, whipping his head towards one of the machines. Seemingly about to fire at him, and yet... it doesn't.

  This left him wondering why it didn't fire until he remembered who was in his hand.

  "Hm." Talon looked back at Verness as he dropped to the ground, standing amidst the panic with his new human shield in hand and walking forward to see a floating television monitor at one of the apartment doors.

  He constantly thought that keeping Verness Red in his hand was the only thing keeping him safe from whatever all this was. He continued to hold the child by the throat as he approached the door, his free hand wiggling its clawed fingers.

  "... alright, dollface... let's get to talking. What do I do with the girl here?"

  And promptly, Talon charged forward and slashed his hand across the back of the flying TV monitor. Rather easily slicing through the metal, completely rendering the television screen unusable.

  The bits of television metal fell to the ground, with drones remaining airborne at his feet. Talon stood at the doorway, his breath ragged as he stared forward at the sight before him.

  "... B-Boss...?" BB called out...

  Talon stood at the door with his ominous aura still manifested around his body. Some lingering rage boiled in his throat as he stared at the underling before him, truth be told. Why was BB here instead of at the warehouse?

  Did BB decide to hunker down here after figuring out that he shot at Joseph (Odette)...?

  The tension between the two was cold and chilling. The lack of information on both sides caused this uneasy air. Talon wondered how much BB knew about Joseph, how much BB conceptually knew about his nephew, while...

  "I... I'm glad you're here, Boss!" BB exclaimed, nervously staring at the man. He remained under the belief that he shot the Boss's wife, and... and needed an excuse as to why he was here. "I was... I was cornered by the one on that TV you destroyed. She had us held down tight in this apartment, but... but now you're here, and we got the girl here, see?!"

  That was the best excuse BB had, hoping that the Boss wouldn't remember the part about his wife being shot, hoping that the Boss did not truly want his head on the chopping block. He's still a loyal underling, one that simply... simply got cornered, that's all.

  Talon looked at the unconscious brown-haired girl, finally able to get a good look at her. The girl who was responsible for the damages to his men.

  And after a pause of silence, he just clears his throat.

  "Well, then..." Talon calmly speaks, as his aura weakens ever so slightly. A deep, deep breath sounds out of his mouth as he remains the costumed birdman, just... noticeably calmer. "The girl is secured. Well done."

  "Right, so, I'll... I'll get her ready to go, and—" BB begins to speak, as his eyes lower and he sees the little girl dangling from the Boss's hand.

  Verness Red, by now... is unconscious.

  She's run out of air.

  BB's eyes widen at this, feeling a cold sweat go down his face as he stares at this. "B... Boss, there's a little girl in your hand..."

  "Yes, I am aware..." Talon calmly responds, lifting Verness's body. Holding her near-lifeless body up with a single hand, staring at BB. "This girl is a safeguard. The machinery of this apartment building will not fire at me as long as I have her in my grasp."

  "I... I see," BB responds, his hands fidgeting and shaking as he holds Giichi. "But... now we have the girl here, so we don't need the... the little brat anymore, see?"

  Talon looks at BB for a moment, actively staring in silence. "Even so, it would not hurt to keep additional assurance."

  "True, true..." BB responds, gulping as he looks out the window. "... well... we don't exactly have any wheels to get the girlie here away, so... if it isn't too much trouble, could you... retrieve the car and bring it closer? You're probably the safest and all..."

  "Very well..." Talon answers BB, walking to retrieve a car.

  While it is an underling instructing him to do so, Talon is calm enough to not let it bother him. He turns around and surveys the cars, looking for whichever one should be useful. One of the vehicles in the distance should do.

  BB stares at Talon, stares at the Boss for a long while as the man walks. He feels sick to his stomach as the Boss just drags a child along with him.

  How long has the kid been in his hand, BB thought...?

  It takes only a few seconds to render a person unconscious, and a few minutes to kill them... but the numbers change, especially for a little girl.

  BB feels sick to his stomach, bile bubbling in his throat as he watches this. He gets up from the floor, holding Giichi by the shoulder, tensely... ever so tensely just watching.

  ... are you going to let him do that...?

  BB thought to himself, what choice do I have? it's the Boss. Going against the Boss for some random girl is...

  ... no.

  No, it's not a random girl. She was at the hospital. She and the other octuplets, or whatever they are, that girl was there. The Boss knows she's an enemy, and... and the girl will die in his hand if he doesn't do anything.

  Everything goes slow as BB watches Talon walking forward, as he feels a tug on his arm, as...

  ... as he sees a faint, red cloud of gas lifting his hand up, ever so quietly aiming his gun at the Boss.

  Go on... do it... take him out...

  BB's eyes widen as he looks at the red gas, immediately... immediately knowing what the gas is doing. Rosemary is mustering whatever energy she can to lift BB's hand, the mere air around BB's hand just shaking and trembling.

  BB can't, he can't do it, not to the Boss. He repeats this in his head over and over again, the fear in his body overwhelming him more than the disgust.

  This would be a lot easier if the Boss wasn't just... if he wasn't just...

  "...?" Talon looks to his right, an eyebrow raised at something as he dashes to the side.

  BB's eyes widen as the Boss just moves out of the way. The sudden act made BB wonder if the Boss saw the gun, if the Boss could simply tell he was being aimed at.

  This thought is not far off. Talon could tell he was being aimed at, yes.

  But it wasn't BB.

  What Talon was alerted to: a laser blast, with a green laser one coming from the right. The laser is about the size of a head, blasted out with lesser energy... aimed right at Talon's upper body.

  Talon's eye twitches at this attempt at a surprise attack. He's anticipated lasers already from what he saw beforehand, and—on instinct—he puts his might into throwing Verness Red's unconscious body in the way. Throwing the little girl in the path of a laser, watching the body being launched directly in the way of its trajectory.

  Talon prepares himself for the gruesome sight, ready to see what the laser does to a person.

  However, before it can even hit Verness Red, the front of the laser suddenly explodes outward.

  The laser splits apart and separates into a dozen paths, spreading outward like a sun and curving in the air around Verness, going around Verness Red completely. The shape is resemblant of an umbrella, shielding Verness from the barrage of rain that goes around it.

  Talon watches this as the lasers go around the child, and... and sees that they were locked onto him. He needed to evade them.

  The man takes flight, quickly, in an attempt to dodge the attack and—

  THUD!

  A car falls, slamming right into Talon's body. A heavy impact that almost flattens the man against the parking lot, sandwiching him between asphalt and metal.

  The lasers, rather than hit Talon, promptly hit the car, adding additional heavy impact as they dent the metal. Some of the lasers push down on the car, pressing it further against Talon's body.

  Throughout all of this, a golden glow shines out from the car... as Odette stands on the pavement of the building, his hands out and absolutely frantic. He had rushed over as fast as he could, and he arrived on the scene just as Talon was making his way out.

  "V... Verness!" Odette loudly shouts, completely short of breath. When he saw Talon holding Verness by the throat, he... he just prepared the telekinetic car attack. Odette was and is willing to take out his own family with a car, for the sake of a little girl, for the sake of a friend on the verge of death.

  Speaking of which, Odette quickly looks to where Verness Red is...

  ... seeing that Peritzal's managed to catch the little girl, holding her in her arms.

  A blank, hollow gaze is in Peritzal's eyes as she stares at the car, drones currently hovering behind her and scanning the man underneath.

  They... they made it in time.