Part 1

—Ugh.

As soon as they flew out of Willo's house, a deep heaviness fell over Philip's body. The muscles and joints of his limbs were completely numb, making him writhe in pain.

He soon noticed that they were in a normal residential neighborhood, a not so usual sight for him, accustomed to luxury and the city. Neighbors in the area, hearing the explosion, peered curiously out of their windows.

—What day and time is it?

—July 13th and about 11 o'clock at night.

—Does that mean I've been asleep for three whole days?

—I thought that at any moment I should sneak out a black bundle from behind the police's back.

Willo made a wry grimace, annoying Philip. He ignored it and tried to clarify in his head all the points he had to take into account.

First, who was following them.

—Willo, did you notice any interference with your magnetic field due to element 347 like you did with me that time?

—No, I didn't feel anything.

—That's weird...

Brotherhood RG uses suits with shielding made from element 347, they weren't going to face a psychi in enclosed spaces without protection. It's also strange that they would attack someone in an area like this, there's no record of them in places where civilians could be affected.

—Hey, you didn't make that up that they broke into my house just to get away with it, did you?

—Of course not, I wouldn't risk that much, and if I had, I would have tried to attack you or get away from you.

She narrowed her eyes. They had to cooperate to escape whatever was following them, but trusting each other was out of the question for both of them.

—It's weird, I didn't feel anything. If I was being followed, I would have noticed it perfectly.

—Maybe you were too nervous, or they are too stealthy.

—That's impossible, I'm not that stupid.

—We'll see if that's true.

Flying over the residential neighborhood where Willo lives, Philip notices that they are not that far from the city center. That led him to analyze the next point.

—Well, where are we heading?

—My house is the only place I used for shelter, but we could go with Bill.

—Right now, I don't want to cross that guy.

Willo laughed loudly at Philip's hard expression. She wiped away a few tears with her finger that came from laughing. Philip looked at her and sighed resignedly.

—I think it's best to head for my hideout near New Delta, but first we must get rid of whoever is following us.

—Oh? Then I'll take the opportunity to go to the clinic. I need to go there.

Turning between the local houses and shops, they gradually made their way towards the Yarra River, using it as a guide to get to the city centre.

—We still can't even know if they're really following us, how do we get rid of them?

There's no way to dodge someone if you don't know what their next move is going to be. Philip was aware of this, but they were not able to sense someone behind them.

—The only way to know if someone is following us is to let them catch up and watch their movements from there.

—Isn't that too dangerous? I doubt you can put up much of a fight in that state.

—That's right, which is why the plan consists of a single step. If there's someone following us, execute them in one blow. Your power plus the power of the stone should be enough.

—You say things too shady to be considered a hero.

—For now let's pick up speed, I'll tell you my plan on the way.

13 July 2011 at 23:16

Philip and Willo are moving at high speed through a residential neighborhood in the east of the city. Their goal is to reach the vicinity of the suburb of New Delta, a place located in the southwest, at the mouth of the Yarra River. The site was originally a nature reserve. In the 1980s, the mayor started to build what was to be a commercial suburb, but that project was abandoned by the current mayor. The state emptied the area, which was overrun by the most powerful mafias and criminals in the country. Philip set up a base near that point to be able to closely observe and disrupt major crimes carried out there. Such as human trafficking from Asian countries which, because of the easy access to the sea through Port Phillip Bay, is a frequent business.

Philip and Willo were still a long way from that place and not being sure if they were being followed, they could not afford to reveal where they were going so easily, so they changed direction a little to the south. Dodging electrical wiring and light poles, they crossed at enormous speed some ten kilometers to a children's playground.

They land side by side and turn around.

He raised his right arm pointing forward at a 45° height imitating a pistol with his fingers, the element 347 gloves lit up and the light around him shot out to where he was pointing.

Willo raised his left hand, which held a sphere as dark as night. The sky lit up and a string of lightning bolts struck the space around them. One of those bolts of lightning struck the light that had shot out of Philip's glove, causing an explosion.

Philip could see it, or rather, see them. Shadows that were heading straight towards them broke their formation when they met the explosion and began to move sideways to dodge the beams.

They were flying, and they were all dressed in black suits. Somewhat different from the Brotherhood RG suits as they don't cover their faces and don't have the thrusters.

—There they are! —They're psychos!

—Shit.

—Hold the beams, I'll try to figure out what we can do.

She gritted her teeth and managed to maintain the ability. Each beam consumed about eight cells, and there were eleven surrounding them. She wasn't going to be able to hold them for long, as they expended almost all the power in their container.

One of the psychis behind them broke through the smoke left by the explosion and dodged all the beams in a very fast time and with very little space.

That level of skill was rare, Philip realized instantly what it was all about.

—Absolute evasion?!

This psychi carried something in his right hand, a bright purple short sword made up of tiny filaments. Its target was Willo.

—Watch out!

She didn't have the reflexes to react to this attack, and Philip knew it. During their confrontation, she relied too much on her psychi skill, because her combat skill is very low.

He pushed her down and put his whole body on top of hers.

—What the hell are you doing?

The psychi's sword came down vertically. Philip charged his right arm, but the heaviness due to fatigue made his blow very weak.

Even though the blow was quite fragile, the sword broke easily thanks to the element 347 in Philip's glove.

A curious thing happened. When Philip's glove broke the sword, Philip's fist shot forward and, upon impacting the psychic's face, the latter flew several meters backwards.

—What was that sword?

Philip crouched down beside Willo, his face a little pale. Nervously, he spoke to her before the other psychos started attacking them.

—I had a miscalculation. We're going to die here if we don't run. They may be equally or more skilled in combat than I am, if we fight them now we are lost.

—What?! —Isn't there a way out?

—Let's blow this place up, we need a distraction.

—You've got to be kidding me.

—You want to survive? Keep the lightning away from us a bit, I'll take care of the rest.

—Who do you think you are to boss me around?

Willo made a loud noise as she gritted her teeth in anger, but resigned herself and did as Philip had told her. The beams moved away in a circle about ten meters away from them. Philip charged his gauntlet with energy and swept in a circle to hit the beams, producing an explosion that covered the whole area with smoke. He took advantage of this to escape, grabbing Willo by the arm.

Part 2

13 July 2011 at 23:33

The smoke gradually cleared. The entire park was damaged by the explosion, but most of the psychis there were skilled enough to avoid being affected by it.

The leader of the psychi squad, the man who had been hit by Philip, addressed the surviving members. A drop of blood trickled down his nose and he struggled to keep his balance.

—We must follow them! How many of us are left?

One of the squad members got up from the ground and answered, it was a young woman.

—There are four of us left. Two are dead and one is too wounded to pursue.

—Then we'll split up, each go to a cardinal point. I'll take the south.

—How do you plan to find them that way?

The squad leader wiped the blood from his nose and smiled.

—I don't know. It's a bet, just like it's been a bet for them to blow up the whole park. We need a folly of that magnitude.

The woman glared at the leader, but shrugged and with the rest of the squad went to follow his orders.

—Just remember not to attract too much attention. Our boss made it clear: we must not stand out too much.

—Yes, I know.

Part 3

13 July 2011 at 23:46

Philip and Willo continued south—west at high speed. They had gained a few minutes thanks to Philip's improvised strategy, but if they searched for them with the same intensity, it was only a matter of time before they found them.

While Willo did not like to follow Philip's orders, he understood that the difference in combat skills between them was abysmal. She couldn't know exactly what training he had, but she could tell it was one that made him fully aware of what was going on all over the battlefield.

That fact frustrated her, she began to think that she had only beaten him by taking him by surprise. If she had to face him again for the stones, would she win again?

For now, she swallowed her frustrations and continued on the mission to survive.

—Shall we turn in the direction of New Delta?

She got no answer to her question.

—Philip?

—...

She looked at the silent boy and found that he had a hard expression, as if he was in some acute pain.

—Hey, what's the matter with you?

—I don't know where we're going, I don't know if it's dangerous to stay in New Delta, I don't know if we're really escaping. I just know that if they catch up with us again, we'll die.

—Are you not prepared for that? You're supposed to know that there's that possibility. Any of us, any of them, we all know we could die at any moment, but we keep going. I thought you were like that too.

—I know, I know, but I need to beat them. That's why I'm this way, because I still don't know how to beat them.

Willo made an incredulous face before laughing a long laugh. Philip blushed, this time clearly annoyed by her attitude.

—Leave me alone.

—I'm sorry. I find it funny that you say those things to yourself in such a serious way, just like before.

Philip sighed resignedly.

"What crazy things will they be willing to do to find them?"

—Let's go to Chinatown.

—What?

Willo's words caught Philip off guard, and he could only reply with a groan.

—I know a place where we can hide for the night.

Philip looked straight ahead again. Silence surrounded them for several seconds until he spoke again. It was a somewhat risky proposition, but he knows they had to gamble.

—You will lead me this time.