[endermage]

"I can't believe it," said Valor, shocked and looking quite worried,"I must be out of energy....I used too much energy blocking that blast from me and Weber. I need to know...Tobias what is the strongest spell you know? How much magic do you have left? "

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Karin tried to sense if anyone was nearby, and saw nothing. "I can't sense anyone....but I'm not sure what that means....."

"Place the mark," said Maxwell,"The others are most likely on the last of their stamina. We need to place the last mark, and destroy the building.... we will determine what to do after."


[180],[180],[97]

[Freezair]

Tobias' eyes shrunk."What? Out of power?!" Tobias had been counting on Valor to get them out of this script, like a god put together by computers and birthed from a machine. But then Valor asked that dangerous question. How much magic do you have left? What's your most powerful spell?

Tobias turned his back to Valor and Weber, and looked on at the oncomming army. "Well... I've never actually tested this one on living beings before. I hope it all turns out well."
Tobias closed his eyes and looked away. If he failed, he didn't want to look at the results.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"All set," Fitz said. "Now would be the time to contact the others and hoof it like the Vast Plains Derby."

Nara sniffed the air warily. "I think I smell people moving, but they're very distant," she said. Suddeny, her eyes popped.

"What? Did you smell a guard?" Adam asked.

"No," she said. She shook her head. "I... just thought I smelled Tobias there, for a second."

"Tobias? They didn't come this way," Fitz said. "Your nose must still be gummed up from the ride over."

"No," Nara said, adamant. "I... I do! It's not Tobias, though, it's another rabbit. In fact..." She sniffed carefully. "It smells like a whole bunch of rabbits. Ordinary ones." She frowned. "But... where would a whole bunch of rabbits have come from all of a sudden...?"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Confusedly, the former soldiers hopped around. With a proud smirk, Tobias stuck his wand back in his pocket.

"Now how's that for something I just pulled out of my hat?" He slumped, deprived of most of his magic magic, but he was still undeniably smug.

[212, 182, 162, 17]

[endermage]

"I'm gonna send Valor a message telling him to move out of the range of the spell." said Karin.

"I think it's time we run, very fast mind you, out of here as well." said Maxwell calmly.

"Oh...do we really have to do the action movie escape the exploding building thing?" said Photion sarcastically.
-----------------------------------------

Valor took  Weber under his arm,"I just got word, the markers are set. We need to get out of range." He winked, "Now we run for real. The spell was hilarious and effective. I think it's a keeper."

[181],[181],[98]

[Freezair]

"Well, it's better than making myself from appear from my sleeves. Not nearly as impressive." Tobias got ready to run, but looked at the fallen Weber. "I hope you can carry him. I think I have just enough magic left for a spell that can temporarily lighten him." Tobias got ready to cast it if Valor gave word, but focused on running.


*~*~*~*~*~*

"This is where we say, 'Fire in the hole,'" Fitz said. "Let's motor!"

"Agreed!" Adam said. And he began to sprint, with Nara following closely after. Along the way, they passed several clusters of small white, brown, and black rabbits, all making haste to the various emergency exits. Someone--perhaps Fitz himself--had triggered the "emergency evacuation" alarm.

[endermage]

"Don't worry, I might be out of energy, but I'm still an incarnation. I'm MUCH stronger than a human." he  said kindly. He started to run towards the end of the blast range. "Bet you can't keep up with me!" he said laughing. His movements were fast and fluid and strangely elegant given he was carrying the Lucain.

-----------------------------------------------

The group reached the exit quite quickly and moved outside into the fresh air. "We have to keep moving...the end of the spell radius is still 100 or so meters away." said Karin, happy to be able to fly again.

[182],[182],[99]

[Freezair]

"Ha!" Tobias laughed. "There's a reason they say, 'rapid as a rabbit!'" Of course, as Valor quickly outpaced him, he thought that they might want to change that saying to "rapid as an incarnation." Nonetheless, he kept good time with Valor, did not fall far behind, and exited shortly behind him. He saw Karin flying overhead, and signaled to her by waving his hat.

Fitz's flowing red ribbons came around the corner, followed by the glaring orange Nara and the more subdued Adam. Their lips were flecked with spittle as they panted, and the puffy clouds of rabbits were still running and hiding.

At a fair distance from the building, Tobias skidded to a stop. He expected the others to join him. But Fitz skidded on by, and as Adam passed, he saw the wild look in their faces.

"What the...?"

"If the man with the bombs is running, he outrants everyone," Adam said. "There was too much juice! We just now found out! Keep running!"

 [214, 184, 164, 19]

[endermage]

"What?" yelled Valor, trying to keep up the pace,"How much more!? Will it spill into the rest of the Slums?!"

Karin, looked at him with a worried look, "I don't know....only Fitz really understands this kind of magic!"

Maxwell was carrying Photion,"This is the most poorly planned act of corporate terrorism I've ever seen." said the golden bird.


[183],[183],[100]

[Freezair]

((The "corporate terrorism" line is the best thing I've read in... a while.))

"No," Fitz said breathlessly. "The rest are safe. But if we stand here, we won't be!"

Hard to argue with that. Nara, Adam, and Tobias followed, rushing after him.

Fitz slowed to a stop just before an immense burst of light erupted behind them.

The fire and light itself was mostly confined to the building. But having worked with magic like this before, Fitz knew that the real danger of an explosion wasn't the fireball. It was the pressure wave. Keen eyes could see it, radiating out in a ring from the building. It hit them with a solid thump. Four-legged Nara and Adam held firm, but Tobias was knocked flat on their stomach. Fitz himself coughed loudly, as it knocked the wind out of him. And, of course, there was the bang.

The windows in the area all rattled, but only the laboratory began to crumble, as the building slid into dust and rubble.

Adam wheezed, "Now that's what I call fireworks!"

[215, 185, 165, 20]

[endermage]

"Lets head...back to....the safe house...." said Valor gasping, his lack of magic was starting to effect his physical body.

"I agree," said Karin, her eyes were concerned,"This should have gone...differently. We must postpone the destruction of the other labs for the time being and talk."

Maxwell nodded, patting and petting  Photion as he thought. Photion seemed displeased by this but said nothing.


[184],[184],[101]

[Freezair]

"At least all the bunnies got to safe places... Right?" Adam asked. The others looked at him somewhat darkly. His ears drooped, and he followed the rest of them with droopy tails.

"That was much too close," Nara observed. "Fitzpatrick, not to cast doubt upon you, but those charges..."

"I know, I know!" Fitz said. "Those runes... I thought I knew them, but after I looked at them... something just seemed off about them. Even after I set them, I looked back, and I didn't know what I'd drawn. I almost feel as if someone was tampering from afar."

"I thought I felt something," Nara agreed. "Perhaps... but the power that would require..."

Tobias was looking over his shoulder, half-paying attention to the situation. Among the many rabbits that had fled the building, one of them was a strange, grayish-blue color that he wasn't sure was normal. And maybe he was paranoid, but was it following them?

[216, 186, 166, 21]

[endermage]

"Something....strange is happening....that is for certain." said Karin.

"No more talking." said Valor, his breathing was getting more labored, not less. Something was very wrong,"We need to get to a safer silent space now." He collapsed, dropping Weber.

"VALOR!" cried Karin, going to his side.

[185],[185],[102]

[Freezair]

"Right," Tobias said. "To the Fitzcave!" He held out his pointing finger dramatically. What else was there to do but follow?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Tobias cleared the space on the sofa for the winded Valor to sit, or lay, or whatever was most comfortable to him. Fitz went to a small sink in the corner and poured glasses of water. "Anyone thirsty? Need one, Valor?"

He sat one before Nara, and she stuck in her snout and lapped at it. After attending to everyone else, Fitz sat two glasses in the ground, and stuck his feet in. "Ahh... delicious."

"I think I like this room better now," Adam said. "Now that I know we're safe in here. I sure hope you feel better soon, Valor..."

[endermage]

"I'm okay...something was disrupting my ability to store energy, but it seems like it's gone now. It just seems like I had a whole in my gas tank out there in the field. But a drink sounds nice...." Said Valor, rubbing his head.

"I'm glad you are doing okay Valor...." said Karin, eyes still concerned.

"So I think it's obvious what happened here....." said Valor seriously.

"We have a mole somewhere...." said Maxwell, matter of factly.

[186],[186],[103]

[Freezair]

Not surprisingly, Nara was the first to jump in: "I knew we never should have trusted that council." Her tails swished angrily.

"Not to be bitter, but I imagine she's correct," Adam said. "Even if they have no great love of Prometheus, they don't like us, either, and I don't know if they could pull off a great 'enemy mine' act."

"I dunno 'bout that," Fitz said, "but I background check all my men and women extensively. I think you're pretty clean as far as they're concerned."

Tobias listened closely, but was more focused on his jacket. It had gotten all dusty when he'd fallen, and he was trying to brush it down. There was a small spot of something blackish and oilly clinging to one corner, and it didn't seem to come out no matter how hard he rubbed.

[218, 188, 168, 23]

[endermage]

"The Council is not going to waste their resources on destroying us." Valor began,"The fact is that The Council is not truly evil. My personal suspicion is that the Council is trying to obtain power to raise the Slums out of the...well slums. There is a kind of concern of citizens, particularly in such an unruly place. I do not belive the leak came from the Network. It would have been noticed already....It could be connected to Weber, Maxwell, or Tobias. Not themselves of course, but you the fact is, we know the least about your connections."

Maxwell put his hand underneath his chin,"Well, I doubt it is me....mostly because Photion and I have had no contacts in the Slums other than you folks."

Weber, being unconscious said nothing.  

[187],[187],[104]