InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "There wolf. There castle."

Fighting was a stupid decision to make and she knew it. It would've been much easier for her to pick flight, but boredom and pent up frustration had gotten the better of Rush when she chose to engage the rumbling machines as they stood tall above the plains grass. The first one was easy enough to take down -- after all, she had the advantage of surprise on her side, and all it took was a swift lash of wind to saw the first of the trio into pieces that laid twitching on the ground. It was the alerted pair remaining that were a real threat. Knocking one over into the pile of debris just as it was arming up gave her a little bit more time to deal with them individually while it got itself untangled from the wreck of steel and wires; meanwhile, the second one was taking aim and followed her aerial ducks and dives much more precisely than she felt comfortable with. Their AI had improved significantly since the last time she'd fought them off the coast of Tripoli. At least she had the breeze of the Mediterranean and water on her side up there; out here, she was surrounded by little more than flat fields of grass and the occasional tree or watering hole.

But she had come down here to find help, or at least the next safe house. She'd gone to the northern coast first after crossing the Atlantic and slipping through Europe, but found little available resources in the cities they once had allies in. Tripoli was her biggest mistake; her meeting with a former friend of the VG had nearly led to her capture, which was just as good as death. Luckily, she had managed to fight her way out of a bad situation, but not without the help of some unfortunate locals, who had thrown themselves in the way of the mechs while she escaped the pursuit of a NINE agent. With their sacrifice still fresh in the back of her mind, it was hard not to want to seek revenge, even if it was ineffective. There would only be more mechs on the factory line, waiting to replace whatever had been damaged. What she really needed to do was find the local manufacturing center and attempt to destroy it, but she had been driven back into hiding before she could even think about forming a strike against the NINE.

Anger burning inside of her, Rush had no intention of losing this battle, even if the odds seemed against her. Keeping her eyes on the robots, she propelled herself backwards to maintain enough distance between herself and the one that was still firing at her, waiting for the right moment to strike back. It paused for a moment to reload; that was when she dove in to direct another sharp blast at the gun turrets, cleanly snapping off the mech's limbs and shoving the rest of its hulking body to the ground. The beast shuddered as it skidded back, digging up the earth as it came to a halt and tried to stabilize itself. Finally, the other machine had managed to catch up with the two of them and came charging forward, guns blazing much sooner than Rush had anticipated. She heard the click of it before she saw it, though still not soon enough to completely move out of the line of fire. She rose the winds around her to form a swirling shell of defense, but still felt something sharp strike at her arm as she moved away.

Raising the winds even higher around her, they whipped around her like a miniature tornado, tearing up the earth below her. Though Rush hadn't exactly been holding back, she certainly wasn't unleashing her full potential on her opponents. The one still standing continued to shoot round after round at her, but the velocity of the air around her sent the bullets spraying away, some back at the mechs themselves. There wasn't enough accuracy or return force for the bullets to significantly damage them, but the action did seem to catch the machine off guard. Using that to her advantage, Rush directed the whirlwind away from herself and toward the two robots, the first of which was picked up and dragged toward the second. Metal struck metal, their own tough hulls causing the most damage to each other as they were tossed together in the violent gale, before the severed pieces came crashing to the ground. In spite of her exhaustion, as soon as she was certain that the mechs had been effectively disabled, Rush sped off, not wanting to hang around long enough for their reinforcements that had surely been summoned by now.

The wind felt like fire against her skin as she soared through the air. Her lips were chapped and starting to crack. It was moments like this that Cassidy wished she hadn't complained about the mask covering her mouth all those years ago; true enough, she had initially felt smothered with the fabric completely enclosing her face, but it definitely would've protected her skin better against the harsh elements. This was no time to be vain, though. In fact, she was fairly certain the problem wasn't limited to the areas on her face, and she looked like a mess all over. But that's what happened when one stumbled upon some mechs on patrol in the middle of the African Savannah. It was just a surface scratch from a barely missed bullet that had been redirected to graze instead of impact, but her arm was still bleeding and slowly seeping into the rest of her now torn uniform, creating a chill that was spreading from the opened flesh. Even though she'd lost sight of the mechs a little under an hour ago, she hadn't yet had the time to stop and dress the wound, but didn't plan on doing so until she was well away from the pile of scrap metal and flying under the radar again.

---

Having nearly traveled in a complete circle with nothing accomplished was one of the most frustrating conclusions that Cassidy had come to as she watched the sun fade over the waters in the distance. There was something ironic about being here; not to say that she would want to be compared to Napoleon, but this island off the coast of Italy seemed to be a popular spot for exiles. "Able was I ere I saw Elba," the petite blonde murmured to herself, a small smile crossing her lips for the first time in what felt like weeks. It likely was the first genuine smile she'd had in a long time, seeing as there wasn't much to be happy about these days. If there was one good thing about being chased out of that arid Arizona desert, it was that she now had the time to go sight seeing. Needless to say, it wasn't exactly the kind of vacation she had been looking for.

Her right arm still ached and itched from where the stitches were still embedded -- her venture into the wilds of Africa in search of a place to safely connect with some sort of resistance forces, or maybe even the other Guardians, had ended quite poorly. The only thing she'd gotten out of her efforts was a swift betrayal in Libya and a chase across the Sahara and savannah. She didn't make it far enough to reach Cape Town, her original destination from the northern end of the continent. But after getting shot at by a pack of mechs and wounded with a grazing bullet, it didn't seem worth it to keep going down. Instead, she'd fled back up into known territory. At least she had friends in Algiers; the city was old and had enough hiding places in its labyrinthine lanes and houses to keep her out of public eye. It was a few days of rest in the care of a local doctor before taking off for Italy.

It seemed a better idea to go east than west; she had managed to cross the ocean (by boat, of course; she couldn't travel in the blink of an eye like Shutter, and attempting to fly over such a wide body of water would've resulted in a crash landing and quick drowning) and arrived in Spain unnoticed. But it was unwise to go back the way she'd come and word had it that France was a center of conflict. Another fight was the last thing she needed right now. So the islands of the Mediterranean it was, at least until she felt up to tackling more dangerous territories again. A younger Rush would've kept on going, relentlessly scouring the globe for ways to get back at the NINE, no matter the risk or the cost. But she was a different person now. Older, wiser, and more exhausted.

And now here she was, licking her wounds on a sandy strip of land. Instead of taking a moment to relax, she was already contemplating her failures and her next move. Although she'd never really had a problem with being on her own, Cassidy felt suddenly small and even lonely. Her erratic travel plans after the fall of their base played a large part in things, but she hadn't heard from the other Guardians since that day and had no idea what their status was aside from what she'd learned via word of mouth. She'd come closest to encountering Shutter, but he was a hard man to keep up with and they would always just miss each other. But she knew needed to find them, if not just for the purposes of saving the world, then just to reassure herself that the people she'd come to care for and trust were still alive.

She was tired, and facing so much uncertainty was admittedly a little frightening. The last rays of light were dancing on the waves of the sea before her. It would be dark soon, and she would have to take off again, this time heading to the mainland to see if there was still a safe house she could use as a base. If she was lucky, she might even run into a familiar face. Cassidy rose from her perch on one of the sun warmed rocks dotting the coastline and headed back to the abandoned villa home. The bustling tourist destination of Elba had quieted as the regime of the NINE settled in, leaving many of its structures uninhabited and slowly crumbling. But with such a low populous and limited resources, it was classified as low risk territory. The isolated locale should've made her seem safe, but she knew better than to let her guard down. In fact, it was almost ominous that she'd managed to get a good day's sleep without any signs of trouble.

Cassidy tried to brush off her feelings as paranoia as she gathered the few belongings she had -- her old costume, a spare change of clothes, some toiletries -- small living necessities she'd picked up while in Algiers. It wasn't much, as she always had to pack lightly, but she hurried anyway, a looming sense of worry clouding her thoughts. And as it turned out, she was right to be concerned. She barely had a moment to think as she felt the ground shake beneath her feet and heard a loud crashing sound from several yards away. Someone, or something, rather, had found her. But how was that even possible? There shouldn't have been many mechs, if any at all, on this island, and Cass hadn't told anyone where she'd been planning to go. In fact, the last person she spoke to was the doctor, and he'd reassured her that she was safe to travel. She looked at the bandage that was still wrapped around her arm.

"Son of a..." But she didn't even have time to finish cursing as she heard the march of mechanized legs surrounding the building. Even if she ran now, they would be able to find her again, if her suspicions about her treatment were right. There was a tracking device somewhere in her body, possibly even floating in her bloodstream. But it didn't do any good to stay put, either. No matter which way she looked at it, she was screwed. Quickly stripping and redressing into her old costume once more, he stepped out into the courtyard and drew the winds around her to form a protective barrier of air as she took off into the darkening sky. Lines of bullets followed her as she tried to put some distance between herself and the mechs; she counted at least five around the compound, way too many to take down on her own.

But Rush had to at least try to hold them of for a little while, if only to find another temporary hiding place. Summoning up the gales that blew in from the sea, she directed them toward the villa below her, creating a small tornado that pulled the mechs into the vortex. With little room for hesitation, she allowed it to run free as she sped toward the closest town in search of its hospital. More buildings meant more coverage, and maybe even a way to disable the device that was in her. The only downside was the potential for putting innocent people at risk. But if there was even the slimmest chance of getting out of this situation alive, she had to take it.

their response

The skirmish with the mechs had escalated quickly. Instead of just using bullets, they were now attempting to use heat-seeking missiles. To her advantage, her suit had been designed to mask her thermal signature, but that still didn't mean she wasn't facing some seriously close calls. It was hard to multi-task, but she managed to turn around and redirect the pursuing explosives while still flying, albeit backwards. The colliding missiles lit up the sky like fireworks, but the resultant smoke was starting to cloud her vision. Rush had hesitated to take cover beneath and behind buildings, which were possibly occupied, but it was getting too dangerous to stay up in the air anymore.

As it turned out, the streets of the small resort town were nearly deserted, though whether this fact was a positive or negative was debatable. On the one hand, Rush wasn't putting anyone at risk as she sped her way between narrow alleyways, but on the other, it left her a very easy target to spot. What few people were still milling about in the brief time before curfew set in were quickly taking cover inside the weathered buildings as the sound of gunfire and explosions drew near. She knew she wouldn't find any help here, at least not among the civilians. Cassidy couldn't blame them, either -- after all, she was disrupting was little peace they could still hold onto by making their home into a warzone.

But it wasn't as though there were any other options left. She wished she had brushed up on more of her Italian -- between flying by too fast to read carefully to avoid getting shot and not being well-versed in the language, trying to identify the nearest hospital was harder than it should've been. Although flight was an incredibly useful power, it was also limiting, as she couldn't carry much with her and always had to find what she needed as she went along. What Rush needed most now was to find a way to get rid of that tracking chip. Ideally, she'd be able to find some kind of electromagnetic device that could turn it off first, but if it came down to having to cut it out of her body, she was willing to do what it took. Of course she would've preferred having some help instead of attempting self-surgery, but she wasn't going to force any of these innocent people to risk themselves for her, especially when she couldn't protect them in return.

In spite of being able to harness the strength of one of the elements, Cassidy felt all too powerless in this situation. It would've been a funnier thought if she wasn't presently running (technically, flying) for her life. The mechs were slower than her, but the range of their weapons wasn't -- even if their bodies were still a good deal behind her, their projectiles were still incredibly accurate and the streets were getting narrower. A cloud of dust and debris showered her as a building to her left exploded; nothing hit her, but the force of the blast had knocked her off course into the opposite side of the street, slamming her into a solid brick wall. Not only had the harsh impact cause her to cry out in pain from her old wound, but she was temporarily blinded by the smoke and the soot. Nevertheless, it wasn't enough to knock her to the ground, as she quickly stabilized herself and continued to fly forward and upward.

Surveying the damage that her presence had caused, she hoped that the burning structure below her had been unoccupied. The sound of shots ringing out elsewhere caught her attention as she entered the clearer air. This time, it wasn't from gunfire directed at her, but at some other target she couldn't visually identify from her position. What she wanted the least was a repeat of the Tripoli incident -- VG supporters who were trying to fight back, if not for her sake, than simply because her actions had stirred up their resistance. Logic said not to head toward the sounds of a weapons discharge, but her guilt-filled heart overruled as she went to investigate. No matter how hard Justice, Solara, and Equinox had tried to instill the idea of the survival of the Guardians being greater to the cause than any others, Cassidy was tired of allowing others to suffer for her decisions. She had joined the Valor Guard to protect people, not put them in further risk. She hadn't been able to take that responsibility while she kept running, and now she'd had enough of playing the coward.

As she slowed her approach, she almost couldn't believe what she saw. His back was to her, but the man standing on top of that roof was unmistakable. It was Shutter. If it wasn't completely out of character, Cassidy felt that she could almost cry at the sight. But this was no time to get emotional. Even if he was here, they were still in deep trouble, perhaps even worse now if NINE realized that they had a chance to kill two birds with one stone. Without realizing it, a wide grin had broken out across her face as she called out to him, "SHUTTER!"

But within seconds of the name escaping her mouth, a rocket came barreling toward her. Caught off guard, Rush barely had enough time to fly out of its path and push it away from her before it detonated. Although she'd managed to shield herself from the blast, the resultant force was strong enough to send her spiraling downward into a presumed crash landing on the nearest roof below her.

their response

Instead of the harsh contact of her back against stone that she had been anticipating, Cassidy instead felt the much softer (but still jarring) collision of her body against another as she was grabbed and caught. Her suit had luckily protected her from any bodily harm the missile could've done; her pride was still just a little bit damaged instead. Although she was entirely grateful that Shutter hadn't let her hit the roof, the role of damsel-in-distress just wasn't typically hers. But it was a stupid thought that quickly passed; they were comrades and she would've done the exact same for him. Getting back to her feet, she stopped close to Cole and watched him take down the ground units. Greetings would have to be done later.

Guns had never been a particular favorite of hers; after all, like Gleam Master, Rush was one of the VG whose abilities could be used both offensively and defensively. She didn't need to carry any extra ammunition, and could limit the amount of damage she wanted to do just with a thought. But there was no compromising with bullets. Her powers were the most effective and accurate weapon that she could wield. Nevertheless, there was some satisfaction in watching the mechs get cut down with the pull of a trigger, even if the relief was only temporary.

"It's not going to do much to hold them off here," she practically shouted, trying to speak over the noise from the firefight. As much as she didn't want to break his focus, what he was doing seemed to be a waste of ammo. Remaining in their fixed position seemed unwise; then again, Rush had always been of the mindset that staying put was a bad thing. A moving target was, in her experience, harder to hit than a stationary one. Even if he managed to take down all of their present combatants down now, there were always more mechs ready to come off the assembly line. No doubt they had managed to draw more attention to themselves than was necessary. "We need to get the hell out of here before we're swarmed."

Even then, where would they go? Cassidy grimaced; her arm was still throbbing from being thrown into that building. "There's a tracking chip in me," she admitted, suddenly regretting that he'd found her. She was putting them both at risk if she couldn't deactivate the signal somehow. At least without her, he could get away on his own and only one Guardian would have to face the will of the NINE. But it was too early to think of making herself into a martyr. He was here now, and she had to take advantage of his ability to help her. "Not sure if it's just under my skin, by the wound on my arm, or if the doc injected it somewhere else and it's just floating in my bloodstream. Either way, I have to turn it off or get it out and I can't do that here," she continued to explain the situation, hoping he had some clue of a solution.

their response

"That's funny, I just came from Africa. Algiers, actually. Probably where I picked up this little bug," she shrugged, meaning the chip that was somewhere in her body. "Must've just missed each other by a few days or hours... I hadn't heard a word about anyone else, though. Then again, I haven't had much luck in the friends department." It was the second time she'd had her trust betrayed. But considering the situation on the continent as a whole, Cassidy realized she probably shouldn't have expected so much from former allies. Even if the NINE acted like they had a solid victory in their hands, they were still at war, and she'd found that more people would do anything to ensure their own survival than do what was right. As cynical as that conclusion was, that the majority of the people they'd seen as they walked through the streets of the town turned to hide or scowl at them instead of provide the help they so obviously needed seemed proof enough of how true it was.

Finally, there was one face that was willing to meet their stares. It was an older woman, who seemed incredibly anxious about standing with them, but compassionate enough to actually provide some assistance. Her English was poor, and if they weren't in imminent danger, the whole exchange of wild gestures and slow talking (as if that made it clearer what he meant, though she still didn't understand his words) would've been humorous. It didn't take more than a few minutes to gather the right information, thank her, and be back on their way. She shouted something to the effect of "good luck" as the pair headed in the direction she'd indicated.

"You said you found Maddie." Well, he'd actually said he'd saved her, but somehow that didn't need to be pointed out. No disrespect meant to the woman, but Madeline had never been a fighter like the other Guardians. Cassidy found this short amount of downtime before they reached their destination as good as any to catch up on things, "How is she? Beyond having you come to the rescue. Which...thanks, by the way. If you hadn't shown up..." She trailed off, not wanting to think about that. Nor did she want to get into any mushy moments of gratitude.

"I guess she's been keeping busy over there. From what I heard, France is a hot spot. Vive la Révolution, oui?" The front facade of the hospital was soon within sight, a large red cross hanging above the door serving as good as any sign that it was what they'd been looking for. It was actually one of the better kept structures she'd seen around here, likely because it was the only medical facility still fully operating on the small island. But that kind of status made her wary of simply waltzing in the front door without finding some kind of hostility or NINE-related watchdogs within. If they could just get in there and find help without being detected... Looking at Cole, it seemed like it was too much to ask of him in his present state. But she had to at least see if it was an option, "Think you have it in you to get us inside? I can try to take us in for an aerial landing, but that might be riskier."

their response

Cole might've been critical of Madeline, but what he'd had to say wasn't anything Cassidy could disagree with. She had a great deal of respect for Divenera -- not solely as someone hand-picked by Solara and the others to carry the same rank and responsibility in the VG that she had, but also as a person she'd come to work closely with and care for. That didn't mean she wasn't capable of making mistakes. In the end, no matter how much power any of the Guardians had, they were still essentially human. People had a tendency to forget that sometimes, and that was the kind of pressure that made their flaws even harder to deal with.

"She's stubborn. But not any worse than I am," Cass shrugged, making a feeble attempt at defending her. The only difference was that she generally had the force to back up her words, and didn't try to bite off more than she could chew. But it was unfair to judge Maddie like that; her intentions were always sincere, and she was the best in her field of skills. Maybe she wasn't the one Cassidy would've taken into battle, but in the long run, the VG certainly wouldn't have been as effective without her knowledge. "Good to know she's still fighting the good fight, though..."

Soon enough, they were inside, and almost immediately found someone who was actually eager to help without them hardly even having to ask. The balding man had heard the explosions from across town. He'd seen enough harm caused by the NINE's initial take over to know what the sounds meant. They weren't the first members of the underground resistance to walk through his doors. Cassidy would've figured that her odd costume was a big tip off to their importance, but he didn't seem to recognize either of them by their public identities, and she didn't bother mentioning that they were superheroes with warrants on their heads.

"Come this way, miss," he gestured down another hall from where they stood.

But before they parted ways with Cole, Cassidy took a few steps forward and threw her arms around the much taller man, giving him a tight squeeze. "I missed you," she said quietly, not holding back her honest affection for once. Truth be told, there had been very few days when she didn't think about him and the others since the base had been destroyed, and worried for their safety. Not as defenders of freedom and justice, but as the best friends she'd ever had in her entire life. Losing them would've been just as devastating as losing a family member. After a beat longer than was necessary, she let go, and went back to the doctor's side. She grinned brightly up at Cole, "Stay out of trouble while I'm gone, okay?"

With that, the doctor and his patient walked down another set of corridors to an exam room, where he left her to change into a hospital gown. When she was finished, he returned to look over the wound on her arm; it had reopened at some point in their battle with the mechs, was possibly even worse than before, and needed to be fixed up again. At the same time, he also needed to see if the chip wasn't just beneath the skin near the open flesh. Their supply of anesthetics was running low, he explained; he could give her some, but they hadn't seen shipments of anything, medications and devices included, that the hospital needed in weeks. Cassidy knew what he meant without him having to ask. She decided to forgo the injections, but asked for some kind of mild pain-killer -- a strong whiskey was preferred, but she got a few extra strength aspirin and a glass of water, instead. He was stating the obvious when he said it was going to hurt, and then proceeded to take out the remaining (and now completely ineffective) stitches.