Neo-Chapter One/Operation: BINDING LIBERTY

"absolutely not," Polly snickered. "while this information is useful, it gives me no reason to let me think you belong with us."

"as far as your skills go, I can understand why infrared may be useful, but that doesn't supply us with anything we can't already do. The fact you even presented that you could fight deters from your case. Even you said any isotope could fight."

The pink haired girl sat back in her chair and crossed her arms carefully across her chest. This whimpering mass of an Isotope would never last with their group. Not with the way they worked. "of you were in my position, would you let yourself in with that kind of sorry response?"

Nathanael wasn't even the slightest bit alarmed by Audrey's statement, "Come on, Sheila, you haven't even spoken one word to the kid. You yourself have said that your visions aren't always accurate. Why don't you just give him a chance? Maybe he could fit right in with us!"

Keiko turned into a kitten and jumped down from Nathanael's arms; opting to go curl up on Eric's vacated lobby seat, which was still comfortably warm.

This woman was good. Jett knew he could do better.

"I would if I wanted to know what buildings to attack! I would if I wanted to steal more supplies from Helli0n! Please, don't send me back out there! If they capture me, they will put me in the 0ccult Division! Please, I don't want that!" Jett exclaimed, apparently from desperation. If the renegades were focused in destorying Helli0n influence, the information Jett 'had' would come to be very useful. During his plea, Jett had stood up and placed both hands on the table, completing the image of his character.

The boys thanked her promptly with curt nods. They didn't even notice the odd change in mood from the girl. They were too distracted by the uncertainty of what to do next. It was rare for them to have two visitors at once, let alone arriving right after the other. What were they supposed to do while they waited for Polly?

"Hey," Eric began hopefully. "Do you like swimming? We've got a pool and stuff if you want to do something while you're waiting."

____________

Polly remained disinterested through most of his little speech. Finding Helli0n was never a problem for the Renegades. Usually, Helli0n would just come to them. It was his last statement that caught her interest, both caused and confirmed suspicion, and immediately changed the entire interview.

"Sit down!" she barked as the arms of the chair yanked him back into his seat and held him hostage. "You're in the 0ccult Division! You f****** liar!" Now it was her turn to stand from her chair. "They don't just put anybody in the 0ccult Division! Especially not a weak little Isotope with only the power infrared vision."

Painful memories swarmed her mind as she thought about that division. Instead of crippling her with fear and sadness, like they would have a year ago, they fueled the rage seated in her chest. And this stupid member was trying to make her think he had just managed to escape and was afraid and hated Helli0n like that? With a measly little power like infrared vision? She wasn't buying it.

Polly perched herself on the edge of the table half a foot away from the boy, taking out the barrier between them. "Do I look like an idiot to you? I know all about your little division, okay? Now convince me not to kill you."

Bound to the chair, Jett only gapped in shock at the dream Isotope, scared beyond his mind. But then, slowly, his face turned serious, and he was soon stoic.

The acting was over. His mission was not.

"You know about the 0ccult Division? Then you might as well kill me now... if you can." Jett said to Polly in his normal voice, which lack any kind of emotion. If they were truly in a dream, then the possibilities of him being killed were slim. Dreams are the subconsciousness in people's brains playing tricks on their minds. They did not control the body. Believing that, Jett began to focus. Odds are that the dream Isotope would cancel out his powers in that world, but that doesn't mean that she canceled them out in his body. All he needed was a trigger to activate his true ability.

With a smirk toying at her lips, she rolled her eyes. "You 0ccult boys are always so serious!" Before continuing, she leaned forward and locked eyes with him. "I'm not just talking about in this dream. You're asleep right now. All I have to do is wake up and stab you in the gut."

As if to illustrate, a shard of glass appeared in her hands and was lunged into his abdomen. "It would be easy. Now tell me what you know, because I really don't have any more room in my life for more members of the 0ccult Division and I don't want to draw this out."

Jett only grunted when the shard of glass penetrated his skin and stayed in his gut. It appeared that she could simulate pain even in a dream. His training helping him control the agony, Jett glared at Polly, keeping eye contact.

0ccult boys? That was plural, meaning that she had already had run-ins with the 0ccult Division. Jett had only recently learned that he was not the only member of the Division, but he did not know any other operatives aside from Banshee, his handler. And by what she said about not having any more room in her life for any more members... probably meant that she knew one operative in an intimate way. As he thought of all of this, the pain in his abdomen made his cringe.

And then, Jett found a trigger.

Focusing on the pain, Jett clenched his teeth. Suddenly, his eyes went wild as he twitched uncontrollably in multiple directions, every nerve ssemingly popping out from his arms and neck. It was almost as if he was being electrocuted.

Moments later, Reaver opened his eyes, and found himself sore and awake.

Taking the oppotunity, Reaver sprung off the bed as quickly as possible and grabbed Kirie by the neck, applying enough force to almost choke her.

"Do. Not. Move." Reaver ordered the nature Isotope, his eyes lacking any emotion.

The pain Polly saw on the boy's face satisfied Polly in the sickest of ways. But there was something else. She furrowed her brow in confusion as the boy seemingly seizured before her and...he was gone. He had vanished. Vaporized. Disappeared.

He had woken himself up.

That shock alone was enough to jolt Polly from the dream. Sitting up in the bed as fast as a bolt of lightning, she strained her ears. Where did he go? He wasn't next to her anymore, so where was he?

"I don't enjoy chlorinated water." Violet explained. Then she got a sick feeling in her stomach. She sensed other people in the building, but now it seemed different. Closing her eyes she placed a hand against the wall.

Pulling away after a moment, she smiled.

"Well, it appears one of your friends is in trouble." Violet spoke to the twins.

Kirie's eyes widened in shock as her air supply was suddenly cut off. However, while she may be useless in a hand-to-hand fight, she never learned because she never had to. Though her brain struggled to remain conscious, she managed a tight smile at Jett.

Zek, who had at some point crawled back onto her shoulder, sprang out from behind her curtain of black hair and scratched madly at Jett's eyes. At the exact same moment, Runningwind reared onto his back legs and gave him a mighty kick with both hooves from the side.

The marmoset was launched away from the battle, and Kirie was knocked down, but otherwise, the horse's plan worked. Jett's hands were off Kirie's throat, and no doubt two bruises the shape of horse hooves were forming somewhere on his body.

The twins' eyes widened in unison and they both rushed down the hall. The sounds of Runningwind's hooves making contact with something confirmed Violet's statement. Bursting into the room, the twins went to action throwing up a protective shield around the nearly defenseless Polly. Eric stayed by her side while Sam moved towards Kirie. "What happened?" he asked quickly.

Polly sighed with relief as she felt Eric's hand rest on her shoulder. Thankfully, Kirie was alright. This boy really had no idea what he was tangling with. Still, it shook her to the core that he had managed to wake himself up. She needed an answer. Well, if she couldn't interrogate him in his sleep, she would just get someone to interrogate him while he was awake. It would be a much slower process, certainly, but they would figure it out.

Violet hummed and sat down against the wall. She would wait until all the commotion was over to do any digging.

"Jett is not all he appears to be." Kirie coughed out before shooting her mind out to to a certain G3, "Keiko, tell Nathanael and Audrey that Jett has turned on us. Get them ready!"

_______________________________________________________________________________________

"Nathanael, please," Audrey pleaded. Pleaded. "It's not Jett now. It's outside. Something outside is coming for us." A massive crash greeted their ears, but she didn't move. The four isotopes already there could handle Jett. They needed to act now on the new threat.

Having seen the marmoset jump out, Reaver quickly lowered his head to avoid his eyes from being subjected to the animal's claws. A few moments later, he felt two powerful hooves crash into him, sending him flying away from the nature Isotope.

Thankfully, the horse's kick sent him away from the dream Isotope.

Shaking his head and recovering, Reaver got up, took a deep breath, and concentrated. A faint hum suddenly began to sound in the air.

By then, the twins had entered the room. Looking at the shield that suddenly formed around Polly, Reaver guessed that they were psychics of some kind.

Still stoic, the white-haired isotope reached for his right side, quickly lifting up his shirt to reveal a coil of wire with a knife attached to the end. Grabbing the knife part, Reaver threw it up to the sprinkler up in the ceiling. The knife catching onto it, Reaver then sent several voltages of electricity to it, hoping that the hotel's fire sprinkler systems were still functional.

They were.

Suddenly, water began to cascade down in the room, drenching everything in it.

It also revealed the sparks coursing on Reaver's arms.

"RUN!" Kirie shrieked to her animals. It had only taken her a fraction of a second to realize that Jett had lied about his powers, and that what he had done was very, very deadly. Whitestorm, realizing the threat immediately through Kirie's mind, leaped away from Polly's side and scooped up Zek in his mouth before preparing to jump through the window.

The crash made Nathanael jump, but Audrey's eyes kept him where he was. In that moment, he knew she was really scared. Sheila never even asked for favors; begging was out of the question. And she was begging for him to believe her. Warning him.

Nathanael gently took her forearms. It was probably the first time they had intentionally touched since the days after escaping Helli0n/Jvstice, "What's going to happen?" He asked softly. At that moment, the bachelor would have believed anything that came out of her mouth.

The moment was shattered when Keiko, still in his cat form, let out a yowling caterwaul. He sprang from his comfortable seat behind the lobby desk, and in mid-flight, he changed into his nine-year old self.

Fear dominated his amber eyes, "Kirie says that Jett turned on them! He's attacking, and~" Keiko cut off with a yell of pain as his cat ears flatted and he clapped his hands over them.

"Keiko, what is it?!" Nathanael demanded with fear in his voice. He released Audrey's arms in favor of holding his adopted brother, "What's wrong?!"

Eyes watering in pain, the cat-like isotope replied, "Kirie like, screeched at us to run. It...r-really hurt my ears."

Nathanael turned to Audrey; waiting for the answer to his question. What was going to happen?

Sam gasped as he figured out what was happening. This was not good. Thinking quick, he took control of the wardrobe across the room and slammed it into Jett, threw Polly over his shoulder and darted out of the room.

Uncertain his shield would even help, Eric grabbed Kirie's wrist and pulled her behind him.

Tensing as the wardrobe hit, Reaver quickly yanked the wire away from him, activating the retracting mechanism in his wire. Feeling himself be pulled away, Reaver saw that the renegades had left the room. His eyes narrowing, the white-haired Isotope yanked on the wire again, removing the knife from the fire sprinkler. Landing on the ground, Reaver dashed out of the room, knife in hand.

The sound of shattering glass signified that Zek and Whitestorm got out through the window. Fast clip-clops following by a whinny and further breaking glass meant that Runningwind and Squeak got out too.

"Kirie! Kirie!" Voices started shouting, "People are coming! They're coming to you! Danger! Danger!"The nature isotope was nearly deafened by the sudden onslaught, and almost tripped. It took a few seconds for her to understand what the animals in the woods were trying to tell her, and when she did, she was in the lobby.

"They're coming!"
"They're coming."

Audrey and Kirie spoke at the same time; one gasping, the other steeling herself was about to happen.

Cryptic much?

Nathanael picked up Keiko in his traditional carry; holding him on his hip while the nine-year-old wrapped his arms around his neck, "Who's coming?" He demanded. Jett? No, 'they'. The females said 'they'. Helli0n then?

He looked to the newcomer; finally noticing her, "Who are you?" Nathanael fought the urge to narrow his eyes. Now that Jett had turned traitor, he found it highly suspicious that another person would just waltz right in on the heels of the first visitor.

"Relax, I'm not going to attack you. Although, saying isn't believing." Violet sighed.

"Violet, runaway Isotope."

Reaching the lobby, Reaver saw the man named Nathanael, the goth Isotope named Audrey, the nature Isotope Kirie, a cat, and another red-haired girl who the white-haired Isotope had not seen before.

He also heard Audrey's and Kirie's joint shout.

Dashing onward while the austrilian was distracted, Reaver went for the nearest Isotope.

The goth one.

Putting her in a headlock, Reaver looked at the others with emotionless eyes, the electric output in his arms only enough to make the girl's hair stand up. However, he could increase the output at any time.

"No one moves. If I see one muscle twitch on any of you, this woman dies. That goes for you Audrey. You move, I fry you." Reaver commanded coldly, sneaking a peak at a clock that hung over the checkin desk. By what he heard the two Isotopes shouted, Helli0n was approuching their position. That was not good for the mission. Only the 0ccult Division knew of his deployment. To everyone else in Helli0n, he might as well be a renegade himself. His mission was now on a timer.

Quickly looking back at the other Isotopes, Reaver kept Audrey close, a spark flying off a strand of his drenched hair.

((whisper Keiko is human now and in Nathanael's arms whisper))

A low, animalistic growl sounded from deep inside Nathanael's chest as he put Keiko down, "Let. Her. Go. Now." He noticed the way sparks were flying off Jett, and he knew that the kid had been lying about his powers. It was obviously some kind of electric thing, and from what he had just said about 'frying Audrey', it made perfect sense.

Two could play at that game.

Well, not really. Electricity only sparked around Nathanael's hands when he was feeling some serious emotion, but Jett didn't know that. For all he knew, Nathanael had some electric powers as well. Oustide, what had once been a bright sky was now rolling with dark storm clouds; his intense rage at Audrey's predicament further showing in his powers.

((Opps. Sorry.))
Reaver did not say anything to Nathanael's demand. Instead, he demonstrated his control.

Gripping Audrey tighter, Reaver unleashed a weak shock to the goth Isotope, with the force of a small tazer.

"Don't test me." Reaver said as he electrocuted the goth isotope.

As they dashed through the lobby, the twins shouted at Violet to get up and get moving. "We all need to get out of here now!" Sam warned as he carried Polly outside. He noticed Audrey's position inside and paled. He couldn't just leave Polly alone outside, but it would be wrong not to try and help Audrey. 'Eric,' he communicated to his twin. 'Watch Polly.' With that said, he darted back inside and stopped about ten feet from the scene between Nate, Audrey, Keiko, and Jett.

Eric dropped Kirie's hand and rushed to Polly's defense, throwing a shield up around them in the process. As he watched the events inside, he noticed the low rumble in the distance. It sounded like....cars?