Union

thirty one

October 31st

2358 EST

The battle dissolved into wisps of smoke, sending a smell like sulfur throughout the cortex. CJ skidded to a stop, lowering the fist he'd been preparing to launch into a zombie's decaying head. He looked around in shock, catching his breath.

It was over. Rune had left.

CJ whirled around. He scanned the cortex and save the stumps of charred zombies and the heroes dotting the metallic floor, there was nothing left of the villains who had invaded, but something still didn't seem right.

The silence that had swept the room snapped when Titanium Wave stormed across the cortex and seized Bristol, lifting her into the air.

"Hey!" CJ started, but couldn't bring himself to move.

"The amulet," Titanium Wave boomed. "What did you do with it?"

"Put me down!" Bristol demanded, her eyes like fire as she stared down the leader of the Contingency. "I did nothing with it!"

"I gave it to you, girl, you and the boy! So help me--"

"Grant!"

CJ spun and found Priscilla standing in the entryway. A faint glow emanated from her balled-up fists, and despite her composure, she was breathing heavily as she stared down Titanium Wave. "That will be enough. We have more important things to deliberate other than the how's and the whys."

From the shadows of the hallway beyond, Specter emerged, carrying—

"Tristan!" Bristol exclaimed, horror on her face replacing the fury once Titanium Wave set her down. She hurried over to Specter, but the hero turned for the platform.

"What happened?" CJ asked, his words sounding faraway.

"Rune did," Specter grunted as he set Tristan down on the platform. Tristan was paler than usual, his dark hair a stark contrast to his skin. His royal blue suit was sprinkled with blotches of purple--he'd been wounded. "He stabbed him."

Bristol made a choking sound, covering her mouth with her hands. Avi merely shook her head, unbelieving.

"Why aren't you taking him to the infirmary?" CJ asked.

Specter fixed his gaze upon CJ, calm, cool, and collected. "Tristan's gift of cyrokinesis allows him to, when wounded, regenerate cells and repair wounds on his own."

"What?"

"Just watch."

Specter leaned forward and tapped the snowflake emblem on Tristan's suit. It wasn't long until a sound like ice cracking over a lake filled the air, and Tristan's wounds began to close. Moments after, Tristan's closed eyes snapped open.

"Tristan!" CJ exclaimed. "Dude are you okay?"

Tristan ignored him, sitting up and wincing as he tested his wounds. He held a hand up as CJ, Specter, the girls, and Priscilla all made to assist him. "I'm fine."

"Tristan," Titanium Wave stepped forward, his voice a thunderous boom. "What do you remember?"

"Enough," Tristan grunted. He took a breath, meeting Titanium Wave's gaze. "Rune intentionally left the defective amulet with us. I guess we were right: in league with the other amulets, they can act as a homing device and create a portal anywhere, thanks to Rune's power. We practically welcomed them in."

Bristol folded her arms across her chest, casting a sidelong look at Titanium Wave. "So, it wasn't my fault. Or yours or Liv's, for that matter."

"No," Tristan confirmed. He lowered his gaze to the wreckage-strewn floor and his voice dropped to an almost inaudible level. "Not exactly."