#5 Gathering Slowly

Nick surveyed his fingers. They were rough and callused from fights: they kinda looked like the trees Nick used against his unfortunate enemies. That and the fact he couldn’t resist bringing his guitar and strumming it wherever he was made his hands look like his grandfather’s.

The Resistance was gathering. From a few friends like Marcus, Ken, and Yuv, to a battalion. And somehow, he had to command them all. Their display of faith and determination to actually lay siege to the Facility impressed him. Amazing, he thought.

He looked up and counted a few heads he recognized. Then he gestured at Ken.

“What’s up?”
“You know we’re going to infiltrate the main Facility branch soon.””Oh hell, finally!” So far, everyone besides Nick, Ken and a few others like Yuv(who didn’t give a damn whether he died or not) had chickened out from the thought of stepping into the twenty meter borderline around the Facility. Thus, no chance of attacking directly. Nick had grudgingly accept the infiltration method instead. It was settled. He, Ken, Marcus and Yuv would go sneaky on the Facility.

It was a nice plan, after some consideration. The main objective was to retrieve info; weaknesses, entrances, exits, places where important stuff were hidden. Yuv would stand guard as a cute little puppy (it took all of his self-control to agree to that), while Ken, Marcus and Nick would go in. It was ideal. Ken could absorb Yuv’s strength, and morph into something. Anything. Another silver-plated Facility soldier. Marcus could stop time. Perfect escape plan. And Nick. He wanted to be there when things happened. So. Yeah.

Then came the flaw. They had a lot of scouting work done on the building. Felicia has been there to analyze where exactly they should go. While she did that, she also checked with her insanely flexible mind for hostiles. At that moment, she discovered Jian.

Nick cursed himself for being too kind. He cursed Jian for getting caught. He cursed Justin for capturing Jian. And he cursed the Facility for bringing this whole thing up in the first place. Powers, high-tech weaponry, teens out of school killing adults. Madness.

Some changes were made to compensate Jian’s capture. Jian was a friend. And besides, he was one of the powerful Users out there. Plus, Ken wouldn’t shut up.

Ken was dead. Jian saw him ‘die’. He saw Ken getting smashed by a tree bark Nick sent hurtling into Justin and the whole carpark. This was getting complicated.

It was settled. Ken would morph into Jian. This was explained from Ken. He told Nick about how Jian had traveled in time to save Shaun during their first encounter with Justin. Jian had doubts about whether this time-travelling would have impacts on the future. Therefore, the idea of Ken being a Future Jian was perfect. He absorbs Yuv’s power and morphs into Jian. Then he takes Jian’s power when he’s right outside the cell where Jian’s being experimented on. Nick and Marcus’ll do the info stealing. YZuv will still be a puppy.

Perfect.

“So when we gonna actually do this?” Nick shrugged.
“Tomorrow.” Ken gaped.
“That’s brash. You didn’t tell Marcus and the rest.”
“I did. During the conference. You were sleeping.”
“Hey, the air-conditioning was nice,” said Ken defensively. They had shifted HQs to an unoccupied building, where Ken’s dad worked. He offered it to them, adding, “Kids still love playing house, huh? Well, have fun.”

Real estate agent dads rock.

“Whatever. So. You ready?” Ken comtemplated the hard look on Nick’s face and nodded. They were walking down the streets. Summit’s shadow cast on them.
“Good. Get some rest. I’ll wake you up early tomorrow.” After Ken left, Nick kept strolling. He sighed. He had changed. From the carefree idiot he was to a hardened commander. And the killing didn’t help. It was gruesome at first. Bile threatened to engulf his tracheal system. The sound of bones cracking under the force of his genetically fortified trees, the ripping of flesh as rough, wooden claws tore through Nick’s opponents. It was scary, and he had vomited. The first time he killed.

That was when he was still in the Facility.

A noise interrupted his thought. It came from the back alley. Pricking his ears, he identified it as the cries of a weeping lady. A sense of foreboding darkened Nick’s mood. Rape? Robbery? Then he shook his head. Maybe a guy dumped his girl. Anyway, he checked.

The first thing Nick noticed was hair. It came in crazy amounts, shooting all over her scalp, falling in a crazy mess on her forehead. Looking at it, Nick pictured a hippie.

Next was surrounding. There was a dirty-green substance on the floor, and some, on her hands and hair. It looked like acid.

His suspicion was confirmed when he saw pieces of silver plating similar to Facility armor lying among the puddles of disgusting goo. He shivered. She was a power user. She can create acid.
And moments ago, she had melted a few Facility troops into goo.

The girl looked up, her tear-streaked face screwed up in a grimace.

“What do you want, man? I’m busy. These guys tried to rape me, and now I got sticky acids on my Gucci,” she wailed. Nick looked around.
“You okay?” The look the lady gave him was so venomous, he half expected the melting acid to spit right at him. He took two steps back.
“What do you think?” she shot at him.
“Er… No.”
”Well, help me then!” Gingerly, Nick pulled her up, avoiding the green spots on her clothing. Nick stared.

”You’re not injured! Why did you need help standing?” Nick demanded.
“Cause. I’m. A. Diva,” she said. “Anyway, I’m Joanne.”
”…Nick.”
“Right.” She flashed a large, glittery smile. “You got a place where I can clean up?”

Nick looked at the office where about twenty or so Resistance members were camped. He was sure Joanne could be a good friend, albeit a bit self-important. Would the rest like her?

“Sure.”