A/N: Here comes chapter four!

Chapter 4:

Victoria felt a crawling sensation across her lower left thigh; her brain screamed, "BUG!" and her eyes flew open to register a few golden strands of hair blowing back and forth in the gentle night breeze that brought dust to her nose, causing her to sneeze herself into a sitting position, disturbing the sleep of her sister. The unpleasantly awoken blonde sat up and rubbed her eyes, a decision she quickly regretted.

"Ow, ow ow ow!" Anything remaining of Vi's stupor evaporated; wordlessly, Victoria guided her older sister to the lake to help her wash off. After leaving the water, now turning darker with more and more survivors making their ways towards the water, Vi and Jess managed to procure a flashlight from a body laying on the ground. Both girls felt a little wrong stealing from the dead, but they needed to find their brother and find a way home before the NewP authorities arrived. Starting back from where Vi discovered her sister, the pair set out, casting the handheld light across face after face until Vi's hand froze with the light shining upon one in particular.

Jessica's shrill scream pierced the night as Victoria fell to her knees, the flashlight rolling to a stop next to their father's lifeless body.

"Dad! Daddy... Daddy please... wake up!" Jessica wailed as she shook his body but even Vi knew that was futile; a spear of wood, presumably from the fireworks cart, was jammed through his chest, sticking upwards out through his ribcage.

At least he looks peaceful...

Victoria wiped the silent, streaming tears from her face and stood up too quickly, falling backwards unto- a pair of arms?

"Come, Vi, let's go." The brunette looked up at her brother and wordlessly pointed forwards, towards a now sobbing Jessica and their late father. The boy took a knee and bowed his head, kissing his own interlocked thumb and forefinger before placing his palm on his father's head and closing his eyes for a few seconds. Silently, the eldest teen took to his feet and guided his sisters to the car, driving away as the first of the NewP police vehicles showed up to the scene.

Victoria stared out of the window as they left; as she was drifting away, she wondered if things would ever be the same with her already broken family again.

The first thing Victoria noticed was a strange warmth in the air. The brunette couldn't place it, exactly, but she felt her hands laced together near her abdomen and the gravity-sensation of laying down.

Time gradually granted Vi's ability to feel the heat radiating off of her hands like the bass from a subwoofer; it permeated her core and awakened something within her. The something forced her eyes open to a shifting scene; she now stood upright in a familiar room.

The room's white-washed walls and pitch-black, ankle-deep water were nothing new. Victoria didn't even consider the window in the top corner of the room all that different, even though she could see the light shone a little brighter from it.

What was new, Vi thought, was a singular wooden table across the room with a box seated on-top. The box was also familiar, the brunette noticed; it was the same box her gloves were contained in when she had been at the fair. Perplexed, Vi started forward before remembering about her ankle being tethered to the pipe and again the brunette fell into the water, but this time something strange occurred; the water started to boil around her hands, evaporating the water at a rather rapid rate.

Soon, though, the water reached Vi's waist and the box dissolved into the water before she could reach it; all Victoria could do was tread water before her cheek pressed up against the ceiling. Holding her hands near her face proved useful before the water vapor began to choke her and the gloves' power faded, leaving her to sink in the icy depths. Before passing out, Vi felt a surge of energy rush down her arms towards her gloves, and she awoke as the entire glove began to glow- respective parts showing their neon blue and hot pink sections.

It was hard to describe, but when Victoria opened her eyes, she clenched her fists tight to avoid a discharge of what she thought was a part of her- some emotion or surge of adrenaline- from releasing out of the gloves and hitting her unsuspecting cellmates.

Cellmates!

Vi's thoughts returned to sanity as her gloves 'powered down', their lights flickering before shutting off, and the brunette opened her eyes all the way to find the boy atop the bunk bed staring intently at her, with an older teen asleep on the lower bunk with a smaller girl, about Vi's size, wrapped in his arms. They shared the one ragged cover they were given, with Vi warm in the corner with her hoodie and the boy with his.

Victoria rose an index finger to her mouth while looking at the boy; he nodded solemnly and nimbly leapt to the ground, not making a sound as he brought his pillow over to Vi and laid next to her.

"What's your name?" The boy whispered while flickering glances back at the pair on the bed.

Victoria followed his gaze over to the sleeping teenagers then turned back to meet the boy's own gaze.

"Vi. Yours?"

The brunette felt pleasantly surprised; she had managed that without a hitch in her voice and even came across stronger than she had intended, but she figured that was a good thing. "In this strange world," she thought, "it would pay to be a little tougher than back home."

"C-Caine. I, uh, well, he, uh..." The boy, Caine, faded off as he looked towards the bed again; the boy had sat up with his feet on the ground and had turned to look intently at the other half of the people in the room.

"Caine. Get over here." The scrawny, light-brown haired boy scrambled over to the ladder of the bunk bed and scaled it in two bounds.

I'll have to remember- he looks skinny but he's pretty fit. As for their leader...

Victoria started to shake off her thought process again before realizing that threat assessment would be crucial to her survival. Instead, Vi slipped her backpack off and stood up, the older teen mirroring this.

"And your name?"

Vi felt a little chillier than she had been- she assumed this was the guy in charge. Hell, at this moment, she thought, he could be in charge of the world.

An impatient look twitched across his face before impassiveness reigned again and he clapped his hands together twice, startling Vi. Chuckling, he advanced towards Vi- the latter took steps backwards until she hit the wall. Finally, he was about six inches from her face when he stopped and craned his head sideways a bit as if he were examining which cut of meat to take from the butchers.

Vi's first reaction was a little bit of disgust, then intrigue, then sadness- she figured the way he was looking at her was the same way boys would look at her sister when they walked down the hall before they split off- they'd stare right through Victoria and leer at Jess, whispering among themselves. Jessica would always grab Vi's arm and they'd move quickly past that section, which Victoria later found out was the senior boys hangout- the brunette had made a mental note to avoid that every chance she got.

While shaking away memories of the past, a shiver slid down Vi's spine before she cleared her throat and answered with as much confidence as she could muster, "You can call me Vi."

"Alright, Vi. Listen up- we got good information that there's gonna be a break-out of a high-security prisoner tonight, so if you want to live through the chaos, you'll come with us when things start."

Vi rose an eyebrow at multiple prospects; one, she had a chance to re-create a personality with new people, and two, some action. She wasn't the most active of children, but every kid has to run around every once and a while, right?

"Hah. And what makes you think I need your help to get out of here?" The boy on top of the bunk visibly flinched as if he'd been hit and even the leader was briefly taken aback before regaining his composure and stone-faced look.

"Suit yourself, Vi. But when the prisoner's 'friends'," he accentuated with air quotations, "bust through this place and leave no one alive, you'll be sorry. Or dead." The leader took a seat on the floor in a cross-legged position, closing his eyes and leaning his head back against a post of the bed.

Vi's false bravado had all but eked away; now she was a little scared, but determined not to show it. She slid down the wall next to her things and then cleared her throat again.

"W-what kinds of friends does this, uh, prisoner have?"

Curse that hitch in my voice, and my trembling hands, and my small stature. He'll never take me seriously.

A dry laugh came from the older teen's direction; Vi fathomed he couldn't be older than 17, but he sounded older than her brother back home.

Back home...

Vi shook her head rapidly to clear her thoughts and opened her ears to seize her opportunity to learn more about the world.

"Well, rumor has it he's a pretty legendary shadow warrior; you know, like Zed?" Victoria nodded; she'd read about him in her small collection of books.

"Rumor has it... it's his son that's coming to break out a friend. And he's bringing the entire shadow order."

Vi's eyes widened; the entire order? Looking back over towards the bed, Vi noticed the eyes of the leader on her now, examining her every move. He went into a brief fit of laughter again before standing up and walking over to her and staring her down.

"But of course, most other rumors say it's just him; apparently he's strong enough to overpower everyone in this jail at once." Vi's shoulders relaxed; she hadn't even realized she was tensing them, and she wasn't even sure why she was so scared.

It's just a little prison break; besides, he isn't even coming for you. Let's just go with this guy and get the hell out of here.

Vi nodded in her own head and stood up to stand and look slightly upwards at him; if she looked straight, her eyes would be at his chin-level.

"I'll come with." As soon as the words jumped out of her mouth, an alarm began to ring like that of a jewelry store, mid-heist, and startled all but the leader of the group.

"Under one condition," Vi yelled over the din of the now-deafening surroundings, "you tell me your name!"

The leader nodded and opened his mouth to speak before his eyes widened and he dove to the bunk, throwing himself upon the other teen. Meanwhile, Caine took an initiative and jumped off of the bunk towards the corner of the room before freezing, mid-stride, in what seemed like pain. Caine managed to turn sideways and look at Victoria; their eyes locking before Caine coughed up blood, splattering it all over the wall with some of it landing on Victoria's things.

Vi resisted the urge to puke as Caine slid into a heap, the life draining out of him and pooling on the floor. Turning around, the brunette finally discerned the attacker; it seemed to be a shadow warrior, standing with two shurikens in one hand and three in the other. Vi risked a glance back at Caine and noticed a glowing black disc protruding from his back. Shuddering, Victoria put up her fists into a fighting stance she'd learned from her brother; he'd been vigilant about teaching his sisters how to defend themselves.

The warrior laughed an empty, lifeless laugh. putting up the shurikens before teleporting through the bars and raising his bladed arm to strike. The swing collided into Vi's arms guarding her face; as they connected, a bright light exploded into the cell; Vi screwed her eyes shut and when she opened them, the only evidence the warrior had existed was a messy pile of weapons and metal armor pieces; it seemed he had evaporated into thin air.

Seconds later an imposing man with a smaller, blue-robed woman came running down the hallway hand in hand. The man, dressed in garb similar to the fallen shadow warrior, stopped suddenly, throwing off the woman's balance and putting a scowl onto her face as she turned to face him.

"Why are we stopping, Vali? More guards will come soon, and I don't wa-" The man, Vali, stuffed a palm into her face silencing her immediately.

"Relax, Sekuna. I'd kill anyone who'd dare oppose us. Besides... Look." The raven-haired woman in blue looked past his outstretched hand over into Victoria's cell and saw the arm-blade and pile of shurikens and growled, then looked up to meet the brunette's gaze. Fear soaked into Vi's every pore; if looks could kill, so it's said. Behind Sekuna, Vali had finally turned to join in the scrutinizing with his piercing red eyes. Victoria was starting to cold sweat; she thought she'd killed one of their order and they were going to exact their retribution upon her.

"How could she have killed one of your shadows? She doesn't even have a weapon." The blue-garbed woman spoke without moving her gaze, and Vi gulped.

A... shadow? But he seemed so... real!

"Have a look at her hands, Sekuna... see those?"

"Ahh... that explains a lot." The woman began to walk off, leaving Vi utterly and totally confused before Vali spoke up again.

"We'll meet again, young one. Watch yourself, in the meantime." Vali shadow-stepped into the cell, grabbed the gear and bowed slightly before stepping back out and walking after his partner-in-crime. Before leaving entirely, the mysterious man threw one of the shurikens towards the lock on the door; after a few seconds, the projectile exploded, pushing Vi to the floor.

Her last remaining male cellmate dashed out into the hallway, looking for the escaped pair but to no avail. Striding back into the cell with a newfound excitement, the dirty blonde picked up the girl that Victoria assumed to be very important to him and held her in his arms as he nodded towards the exit and began walking. Vi crossed the room and slipped her disgusting backpack on and took a last cursory glance at Caine, or at least what was left of him.

This is how it's gonna be, Victoria. We have to survive, adapt, and make sure that that doesn't become us.

Vi nodded to herself and turned on a brisk pace to catch up to the blonde and his girl.

"I still never got your name!" Vi yelled as she stepped through a section of exploded wall; she could hear the sirens and knew that patrolling officers would be on their way back to the compound now. Again, Victoria considered herself lucky- she knew the streets of RP wouldn't be safe until they had their own HQ under control, and she had someone to follow.

Like they were safe ten minutes ago.

The teen stopped briefly and turned when the brunette had caught up.

"David." Vi stopped in her tracks, prompting David to turn around again and look at the girl he'd been locked up with overnight.

"Why, something wrong?" Vi shook her head adamantly and strode forward to keep up.

It's just a coincidence you silly girl; now keep up, before you get lost and die out on these streets.

David Westrice slammed the door behind him as he angrily strode out and sat on the small patch of grass that constituted the front lawn; his sister Jessica following him and hugging over his shoulders. He leaned his head down into his bloodied palms and started crying, something he hadn't done in years. His sister had already cried out before he had arrived home and was now intent on showing as much affection to her brother as possible; she knew that he felt responsible.

"Maybe she'll come back in a day or two." Jessica softly whispered into his bandaged ear. But David knew better. His much younger sister was rather resolute in everything she did, for her age. He'd found the previous farewell note torn to shreds in the trash and knew that she wasn't coming back. After a last sniffle, David recovered and stood up, startling Jessica who fell onto the grass. He hoped he wouldn't fail Jessica as well, and knew he'd have to strive harder to keep the last remaining blood relative in good spirits; for his own, well... he knew they were already hopelessly done for.

A/N: Thanks for the support, even if it is minimal. Reviews and favorites are much appreciated.

A new Caitlyn backstory is coming simul to this; the two stories /will/ intertwine later.

-Skij