On a towering railway resting on several large pillars above Amsterdam, a white bullet train with blue stripes glided smoothly.
Emmanuel walked through the fifth and last car, turning left and right—
Probably trying to spot a seat.
He first spotted Royal and Lawrence sitting together on his left as they chatted away.
He immediately remembered their faces—
Royal who topped the first energy control test and Lawrence who topped the second energy test.
Upon turning to his right, he noticed Kocho and Augustine sitting together as well.
He recognized their faces without a second glance.
Augustine—the top scorer of the third test—and Kocho, who claimed the fourth.
Beyond them, two other people sat together, both girls.
Miranda and Myla.
Miranda—who was sitting close to the window—still had her mask on but she seemed to be looking outside.
Myla on the other hand, was staring at nothing in particular.
She noticed him approaching and waved with a smile.
Emmanuel stopped by her side. "It seems they came for you too."
Myla nodded. "We were supposed to report a week from now. Something urgent probably came up."
Emmanuel sighed, holding his hips. "Of course. They wouldn't hasten things for no reason."
He turned, looking around as if searching for someone. "Hey um... Have you seen Desmond?"
"Huh? Oh... He's..." She turned, looking toward the back. "He should be there. He came in a little late."
Emmanuel glanced at the back, scanning through until his eyes landed on Desmond. "Found him."
He looked to his side. No one was sitting there.
Desmond must have saved space for him.
He grinned and waved at Myla. "Thanks. See ya."
Then he went on, his steps a little quicker.
But halfway through, his eyes landed on Rexford and Augustus.
Augustus who was sitting close to the window had ear buds plucked in his ears and eyes closed.
Well, his eyes were closed but they were certainly twitching a lot from irritation because someone was disturbing him.
Emmanuel paused, looking as Rexford continued shaking Augustus to get him to talk.
Augustus was probably thinking of several ways he could rip Rexford apart later.
Emmanuel sighed again, walking past them.
Desmond had his eyes closed when Emmanuel got there—probably asleep.
Emmanuel stared down at him. "He's... sleeping. I don't think I've seen him like this before."
He paused as tilted his head. "Oh yeah, that's right. Emily said to give him her greetings."
The last sentence sounded more like he was trying to convince himself on something.
Something in him kicked.
SISTER COMPLEX INSTINCT.
'That's right... Emily suddenly started talking about him. Don't tell me... did he use some kind of charm on her? Or maybe he brainwashed her... Yeah... I'm sure that's exactly what happened.'
All theses thoughts swirled up in his head as his gaze on Desmond turned deadly.
A chill swept up through the car.
Several people noticed it—
Royal and Lawrence,
Augustine and Kocho,
Myla and Miranda,
Rexford and Augustus,
All froze, their expressions turning serious (well, except Miranda whose upper face was still hidden behind her mask. The only thing was how her lips parted just slightly)
They turned, immediately catching sight of the flames in Emmanuel's right hand as his arm guard was activated.
"Hey, isn't the place kinda... hot?" Someone asked a friend beside her, fanning herself, completely oblivious to the rising tension behind.
Everyone there had started feeling it—not the murderous intent leaking from Emmanuel but the heat radiating from him.
Lawrence and Royal looked on, brimming with excitement while Augustine and Kocho stared with curious eyes.
Miranda exhaled sharply, shaking her head as she went back to gazing out through the window.
Myla clenched her fist on her chest, worry lacing her expression.
Augustus plucked back his ear buds, closing his eyes, not caring less what was going to happen.
Rexford gave a disappointed, leaning his chin on one hand.
Emmanuel lifted his flaming hand, eyes dead locked on Desmond.
'If I kill him, the brainwashing will stop, right?'
Just as he started bringing down his hand—
Desmond's eyes snapped open, instinct kicking in as his arm guard appearing out of a flash of light on his left arm.
He quickly turned, moving his hand to meet Emmanuel as lightning gathered and compressed in his palm.
Augustus's eyes slowly opened as he pulled the ear buds from his ears, turning to the scene with a smile that said;
This is starting to get interesting.
Both boys inched closer and closer to mincing each other—
One from overprotectiveness over his sister.
The other from instinct.
But before they could connect,
"Viscous field."
A voice spoke out as the inside of the car turned pale yellow.
Desmond's eyes widened as he noticed who he was going to hit.
Emmanuel?— or that's what he wanted to say but he realized his lips were moving too slow to form words.
No.
They were both moving slow—
Everything and everyone in the car had slowed down considerably.
Rexford's expression turned serious as he immediately remembered something back on island. 'This power.'
He tried turning his head but even that lacked speed.
Three figures walked past him at a perfectly normal pace.
Royal, Lawrence, Augustine and Kocho had looks of awe as if saying—
What incredible ability.
Desmond and Emmanuel were able to turn their eyes to the approaching figures.
Suddenly, horror laced their expressions.
The person leading the figures was Master Warrior Richelle... and she had a look that said "you boys are so dead".
Chills ran down both boys' spines.
Behind her was Master Warrior Jean. He looked disappointed but showed no sign of annoyance.
The tailing figure was Master Warrior Abraham—also know as Father. The one who cast the ability in the car.
He held a neutral look... although anyone looking clearly would certainly be frightened.
"Flow Domino." Richelle whispered as they got close, her eyes widening and glowing gold.
Desmond's lightning and Emmanuel's flames distorted for a second...
Then went off.
The boys gasped as even their arm guards disappeared without them deactivating.
Jean walked past Richelle, stopping Infront of the boys and catching their fists.
Abraham stopped behind them, snapping his fingers as the place turned back to its normal bright color.
Almost everyone occupying the fifth car glanced at the commotion behind.
Richelle stepped past Jean, stopping at the other side, glaring down at the boys.
Jean let go of the boys, stepping back with caution.
The boys shivered as the noticed how Jean had retreated.
"Your main punishment comes later. This..." She stated, voice low, both fists clenched, raising them with irritation.
The boys looked up, eyes terrifyingly twitching as they opened their mouths to speak but no words came.
"... is for the road."