The Voidbreak Crisis

11. Seventeen Years

"So what's the Statue of liberty?" Nichole asked, subconsciously tugging at her mechanical arm as they followed Janet through the hallways. The staff parted ways with wary, uncertain eyes as the Legion entourage strolled by. Nichole felt certain they were all staring at her, and felt embarrassed and angry, trying to hide her mechanical limbs fruitlessly.
"It's about an hour or so north by jet." Janet said, swiping her card across a small machine next to a door. Nichole felt someone take her hand, his massive paw encompassing hers. She looked up at Micheal and couldn't help but grin as he winked at her.

"Don't pull on them, you'll irritate the seams." Chip said as the doors opened to reveal a massive area filled with large flying machines.
"Everyone's staring at me." Nichole whispered as they walked in. Her confidence had been torn from her. She felt like she was missing pieces of herself; and in some way, she was.
"They're staring at us, Nichole. Not you." Micheal began as Janet guided them through the area.
"I'm a six foot tall tiger wilderfolk, Chip is a four foot tall-"
"Four foot eight." Chip interrupted him curtly.
"Whatever. Raccoon wilderfolk, you're a rabbit wilderfolk. And these people have never seen a wilderfolk before. Just look at them." Micheal said, keeping his voice low. Nichole looked around and saw their faces filled with fear and suspicion, their beady eyes picking every member of her group apart piece by piece.
"I can't help but feel they're staring at me." Nichole said, suddenly becoming aware of the subtle clink of her foot against the floor.
"None of these people even know what a wilderfolk is." Prism said from the back of their group.
"Trust me, they're not staring at you." Chip said, holding out his hand as a massive machine burst out of the air above his palm, the pieces welding together with a shower of sparks as the room fell silent. He strode in front with the cannon on his shoulder, next to Janet as everyone in the room stared at him.
"So these machines, these jets, how do they work?" Chip asked loudly, nodding back at Nichole.
"See, they're staring at him, showing off." Micheal said softly, letting Nichole's hand go and patting her back gently. Nichole allowed herself a small smile. At least she had Micheal here.
"I'm glad you're here with me, Micheal." She said softly, brushing her hair away from her mechanical eye as it clicked softly.
"Someone's gotta watch you." Micheal said as they stopped near a large winged machine.
"You don't use any form of magic?" Chip asked, surprised.
"No, we use physics." Janet said flatly as she looked over a tablet she held.
"How do psychics fly a machine?" Micheal asked.
"Physics. Not psychics." Janet corrected him.

Five minutes later, they were aboard the jet, and headed north. They rode in silence, until Chip's ears perked up, his mechanical eye flying wide open.
"Zoe!" He said, grinning wide.
"Put this thing down! We've got to get her!" Chip shouted to the pilot.
"We can't just set it down, it's a jet!" The pilot shouted back.
"Then open the back!" Chip said.
"Get ready for a jump then!" The pilot said as the back of the jet began to open, filling the bay with high-speed winds as Chip unbuckled and leapt out of the back.
"Well that looks like fun!" Micheal shouted, unbuckling and following Chip. Prism and Nichole followed suit shortly after.
"Hey! Is it just me, or did only one of them grab a parachute!?" One of the pilots yelled to the other.

Chip created a smaller version of the jet and skidded to a stop on a roof as Micheal landed in a field nearby with a violent explosion. Prism was the only one who grabbed a parachute, and descended into a field near Micheal while Nichole focused her power and ran down the side of a large building. Chip's machine unfolded and reassembled itself into a copy of the machines these guards used, but his was more of a cannon than a rifle. He created a scope and looked towards where Zoe's tracker was pinging from to see Matilda holding a white leopard wilderfolk by the throat. He saw Zoe hurtle towards her as the wilderfolk created a pulse that sent Matilda slamming into Zoe's fist. Matilda leapt back to her feet as Chip saw Zoe take a small step back. He aimed and fired, the round slamming into Matilda as she lunged towards Zoe. He aimed again and saw Zoe grin. He fired, and Matilda held out her hand and caught the projectile.