They crawled in the dirt like worms. Slithering, but not by much, slow, gradual. Lest they get spotted by the massive bird holding its head up high.

Just behind a wall made of soul, between a massively planted tree with benches circled around them, one of the Nulgarrt was stalking them. It knows that they were there.

Hunched over, on all of its straggly limbs, the elongated wings acting more like pitches to a tent to keep itself upright versus naturally prowling. Despite lacking no eyes, the mouth fused with an enormous wedge within it, the holes whistled as it swung the swollen, pulsating mass that was the twisted, stretched-out head. Searching and won’t be satisfied until it really senses nothing.

On their side, the girls and A-J were leaning down and low against one of the erected walls at the base of the visitor’s roost. Three massive walls, with three openings to enter the makeshift chamber. They were dotted down the lanes of the outside exhibits. And the next one never looked so far to the poor human prey.

And they were wearing, while slimmer compared to Extant’s, containment suits. With no real idea or training with siVis to their name—which wouldn’t have been a problem or would’ve received a second thought with Jackie, until A-J refused to wear one on the grounds “it’ll bugger things up”.

Jackie looked to her, as she was leading the charge. She had the two jugs of chemicals strapped around her waist, a black Velcro band with oversized hoisters. Apparently with just those hanging around, “[she] has to be mindful of them too”. As much as Jackie valued that their encounters with siVis users being surprisingly positive, she did hate the halfway speak of the whole deal. It’s not they can take her down using what could be a massively powerful ability.

A-J then gave the good ahead, darting away with precision towards the next roost. Jackie looked behind to the others and darted away herself.

Once again, the scale between them was painfully illustrated. A-J’s siVis use was just a slimmer, almost like she glowed briefly, before reforming neatly back to her normal self. Getting what she needed to an exact science, with additional wants. She maintained crawling flat on the ground, but gained the speed boost to move faster.

Jackie’s arm phased in and out of her suit, bringing her fears into reality—but it was something to deal with when she and the others got to the roost. But she had to put in everything to get siVis to work, and she had to hold onto the effect—shown in her and the others limbs tensing into pieces that slammed themselves together to gain the power that they wanted.

What were they doing wrong, other than everything? What was the prime thing that causes them to fuck up this badly? Jackie thought they were healed, thought they were over with being broken…

Jackie looked back again, getting nervous. She could make out the shadows within the dust being kicked up, and saw shadows that skittered, and one of them stopping and starting.

The idea wasn’t that she was just worried that this sickness affected Maddie was going to keep her impaired—but it’s her reaction of thinking that the others considered her a liability. She’s going to fight that, and fight against that hard to the point of suicidal displays to show she’s not weak. A-J put it nicely as she did, human ego makes dealing with the Noumena somehow worse.

But there was no time to keep thinking either, Jackie managed to catch up to A-J at the roost, made room for her team to gradually, one by one, filling the empty space.

All it took was a titanic thud to quickly shuffle everyone stiff. The Nulgarrt looked around, frantically, within the path they just created a natural dust cloud in. The black wedge, the holes, causing the winds that passed through it, make a computerized groan with each turn.

This was a massive gamble they were taking. They have no idea how these things sense. How can it be blind here, and somehow target exactly onto them when they all rushed?

It practically cleared the way, the area with the remaining dust cloud, giving the impression that it was eating it all.

It stopped mid-rage.

The head slowly turned towards them, trained on a specific angle.

Jackie’s panicked eyes trained on Maddie, too wrapped up in it to check on the others.

All of her senses became trained on Maddie, both human and beast looking at her.

Then Jackie got it, as she heard the soft, haggard panting of the girl.

The Nulgarrt wasted no time, as it started to gallop towards them.

A-J thrust her hand in front of Jackie, in an effort to showcase this to the others. Raised index finger, that then hovered towards Jackie’s helmet.

Hush.

And to the credit of the mouthy girl, Jackie practically heard the air sucked away, leaving only silence. Falling until it was Jackie’s time, clamping her mouth shut.

The Nulgarrt’s gallop stopped, arching across the ground in a pose where it was leaning back on its left side, digging up dirt like a shovel—scattering rocks up that hit against the girls as well.

This, causing Jackie’s heart to sink into her stomach.

Like the intelligent creature that it was, it heard the rebounding of rock against their bodies. It began to creep along towards where they are, the head twitching, knowing that something is there despite not “seeing” it. All Jackie could do was hope that Tracy didn’t scream, or Maddie give the entire thing away and whatever Aiko might do—

And as she thought that very possibility, Aiko quickly grabbed a massive rock and chucked it, the pieces of her arm shuffling in and out of her sleeve.

But it wasn’t at the creature, it arched above him—hitting the previous roost, causing massive noise that the Nulgarrt couldn’t just ignore.

It scurried away, like a frothing rat, back to the place.

As the actual rats skittered away towards the next roost, uncaring of what manner of noise they were making along the way, hoping with their hearts that the distraction proved beneficial.

With sweating skin, bulging veins, and beating hearts—they all rallied to the next stop in record time. Practically leaned against the wall, clutching it, cursing that their hearts are beating in such a way.

Glancing at A-J, gritting her teeth yet her eyes were wild, afraid, the topic of using siVis to slow the heartbeat was too risky, especially since what she did to herself earlier. Jackie also remembered that the deeper within the body, the more it gets complex for siVis to control. There’s no messing with organs unless it’s a last resort.

The Nulgarrt returned, pouncing on them, landing way too close in front.

They saw it stretch the wedge out in real-time. Something that can’t possibly be malleable, but like pulling apart tire-like rubber, it grew before them as the head leaned back. It was screeching.

Echolocation, a signal to the rest—Jackie could only think as her body was completely still.

The head snapped back, leaning forward, practically inches away from Jackie. Whatever it was doing, it was more or less sniffing up against her. Various holes she saw, flex with a wet composition within seconds.

Then it just stood there, so close. Jackie’s eyes were welling up with tears, forbidding her face to crumple up in horror.

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It quickly curved its head upward, to the piercing whistle that shot into the sky.

Flapping its wings in a frenzy, the air waves pelting everyone present, it shot itself into the air and hovered there, witnessing many other fireworks launching in the air.

“ohfuckingshittingchristthankyoudavenportforyourego—” A-J coughed out, instantly jumping to her feet.

Jackie looked up at her, still scared to say or do anything.

“Don’t worry,” A-J looked down, with an assuring tone. “You don’t have to do anything for this. It’s all on me.”

She looked up at the flapping, dazed creature. Its head darted away with speed as the fireworks lit up the air.

A-J took off in a flash, making it to the next roost. Not too close to it, only feet away from it, as she looked up. She noticed that her footsteps didn’t cause the Nulgarrt to train on her.

It didn’t stop her from cupping her hands around her mouth, shouting at the thing:

“OI, PISSYDATLY! COME DOWN HERE SO I CAN FUCK YOU HARDER THAN WHAT YOU’VE BEEN DOING TO YOURSELVES!”

And for added measure, as she moves both of arms back to their sides, and flexed with her entire body.

RELAY

The beast looked back down, dive-bombing downwards towards A-J, unknowing that she was wafting shimmering, pink aura all over.

And the beast, nor Jackie and the others, didn’t know why she was walking away so slowly.

Even with some added benefit for whatever her ability was, Jackie couldn’t fathom why she would risk it. She guessed that she can be quiet, but the Nulgarrt would know that she’s near still.

The Nulgarrt landed, swiping directly where she was with its claws…

But it turned out to be an image. An image of her walking.

Jackie had to shake her head, opening her eyes to gather what exactly was going on here.

A-J was walking slowly, as the aura trails, she left behind turned into images of herself, echoes, that repeated her previous actions.

She continued to walk—in a straddling stance where arms where perked upwards and legs wide, creating what seems to be becoming a circle, and tosses a rock into the roost. Causing the Nulgarrt to dash into it, slamming into it with prejudice Jackie can remember the last time they faced a Nulgarrt.

These creatures are fueled with dread, just as scared as the almighty humans. Afraid of losing their only chance of survival. They look like monsters, but monsters have no reason to be scared. A creature, an animal, more than enough reason to be.

But it stops, searching around for noise, but A-J was having none of it.

As she was nearing making a half of a circle, walking so deliberately, Jackie noticed that she stamped her foot down at a certain point, and then noticed the echoes that was close to her sight, still multiplying from the aura lingering in that area, mimed a stamp as well, which caused her siVis’d leg to flare in light briefly.

The Nulgarrt “looked” directly at her multiple times, at multiple points, but she just looked at it, continuing to form a circle.

The girls watched, as a barrier of echoes that was once their tour guide circled around the Nulgarrt, as it was just as confused as they were about what was going to happen next.

RELAY: RACE-AROUND-WISE!

The echoes blurred, and what was the images of her stomping down turned into bright, pink lights.

A-J came out of one of them, rushing the Nulgarrt with warp speed, causing it to shriek out in terror.

She landed into another light, and then rushed the thing again, the same thing happening, making a chiming noise as she done it.

It was brilliance. The Nulgarrt just glanced at whatever she was at last, before getting hit from the opposite direction, and even at the times that it followed her, it didn’t know how to protect against something like she was doing. The others cheered in awe, making comments Jackie ignored because she noticed that it wasn’t doing damage or at least damage she thinks it should’ve done.

ROUNDABOUT-WISE!

The echoes become her again, in the stance, just walking as the real one manifested within one of the… “saved” points, the Nulgarrt faced with her.

She purposely shook one of the jugs at her side, the Nulgarrt leaped.

Within the ring, she teleported, towards a point that was away from it. Mockingly, shaking the jug again.

The poor thing rushed over, sounding like a demented siren as the wind whistled in the wedge, crashing into where she was.

Only to hear the jug another ways away from it.

That’s all it could do, in its limited mindset. Keep following that sound, leap at the opportunity, make the landing a kill every single time. Panic more because it’s not working.

A-J made the creature that completely destroy her face into a child throwing a temper tantrum.

RELAY: VICTORY LAP!

The aura-echo effect ceased, only leaving the saved points and A-J “behind” one. The Nulgarrt was shuddering, hunched over, just paralyzed.

A-J redid the motion within the hazy silhouette was stuck in—and without warning, it launched itself, the air it took up within that space, and it hit the Nulgarrt in the back, causing it to slide. Looking beat up, but not wounded…

A-J’S body flew over to the next one, launching that one, causing the Nulgarrt to skid again. There was five spaces she saved, and she used all of them to bat the Nulgarrt that she was no bigger than its torso, around like it was a toy.

“That should be enough,” she took off her belt, put herself in a pitcher’s stance.

Jackie watched as the siVis crept up her leg, her twisting back to get into position, and then upper body, to finally arm, as she chucked it with precision.

The jugs crashed into pieces when they made contact with the creature’s back, the chemicals instantly burning it as it cascaded downwards.

Flapping its wings in a panic, it tried to take flight before the pain caused it to glide into the worst possible exhibit.

The Tigers, like all of the other animals, had the same paralysis. Their brains couldn’t accept what was going on before them.

But something landing into their territory, regardless if they can’t understand it, still means they had to defend themselves.

All the girls heard was roars, shrieks, before the roaring became unified over the shrieks.

“That’s not gonna stop it—” A-J raced over. “All we do now is watch for it to try to take off. We’ll be done with this yet, girls!”

Maddie just sputtered, purposely, but the sound caused Jackie to look behind her.

“Yeah, we gotta go home or something—” Maddie admitted. “That is way too much.”

“What?” Aiko said, her speech muffled. “To handle? She did it fine—”

“She literally ran circles around it!” Tracy exclaimed, backing up Maddie. “And teleported, and used clones or whatever that was! We have to face the likes of that?!”

“When we all have the one baseline thing we can do?” Maddie mused. She nodded at that, and Jackie doubted that she was agreeing with herself.

Jackie couldn’t lie to herself. She looked at A-J again, as she silently looked on with a distant expression until she met her gaze. She just closed her eyes and returned to picking up random things on the ground. She was probably done, burnt out, and sad the group of kids she’s going out of her way to help is in this death spiral. She could’ve easily gotten out of here, left them to die, has the ability to do just that without a trace. And Jackie imagined only a few like Stark could even stop her if she did.

But it came down to the same, regrettable thing. Maybe that was the very thing that’s holding them back, what held them back from doing better at things they already faced. Sure yes, the weird circumstances, and them being the real deal would make things harder—but they had something over the average victim, that experience.

They just keep adding to the pain so much they can’t use it without being down on themselves.

So Jackie said this.

“If we can’t handle this, then yeah,” Jackie announced. “We go home. We just avoid this whole mess that we’re just not prepared for. But if we do, and it doesn’t have to be flying colors… Then I’d say we’re finally getting ready.”

“I hate—I hate how you sound both reasonable but reckless at the same time,” Tracy stumbled pathetically.

“I’m not keeping you here, Trace,” Jackie said. “After this, by all means, you can leave. You could even take cover somewhere and hold out until the help comes. That basically goes for all of you…”

All she heard was Tracy’s gulping. Maddie just had her arms crossed, River just looking down, and Aiko nodding at her, looking at her. As if she knew that she was going to continue…

“We sucked. These last few blunders we’ve been on—it was because we, I, just thought we were special. That we can get through it because we suffered enough, right? But this world is changing, and things that we did was pure luck that we just can’t do anymore. It’s embarrassing that it took a whole meaningless romp to make us realize that, and the fact that this gets harder is daunting… But we know now, right? That counts for something, right?”

“Knowing something… Don’t matter if you don’t do nothing with it, G.I. Jane…” Maddie painfully snarked. “Or if you can’t do anything with it.”

“You’re right,” Jackie quickly turned her head to her, causing her to get off balance. “That’s why we have to figure out how. Do you all want to figure it out together?”

“THAT’S MORE LIKE IT--!”

A-J hooked an arm around Jackie’s neck, thus ruining the moment.

“Marching into the face of despair with a shrug, that’s how you conquer this sad, dirtball of a world here!”

Before Jackie could respond, there was a series of short, broken-up whistles.

“Came over to also say that yeah, it’s showtime,” A-J patted Jackie’s shoulder, before darting away.

Jackie sighed, getting up, turning back to the others. “You don’t have to answer that. In the end, you do what you think you want.”

She looked forward, seeing the messed up beast try in vain to keep flapping its wings—but the entire left was mauled into shreds, and the right had a massive tear. There was no blood, just like siVis use, but the creature “leaned into” its wounds, like if it was melting, but much more stiff. A chewed-on toy. It crashed, and limped away across the ground, with A-J in hot pursuit.

Jackie took off, her footsteps being somehow lighter to her.

And behind her, she can still hear the sound of four other sets. She smiled, as she kept on.

The chase was on, as humans hunted wounded prey—as it painfully tried to seek refuge. Past multiple areas, multiple exhibits, even past stationed gift shops and refreshment centers.

It wasn’t until their steps sounded like slop, gooey, that they realized that they were close.

Until they found it. What was just a supply closet. A supply closet.

It was an open tunnel, that seemed to stretch into nothingness and dark. The Nulgarrt crawled in and proceeded to nestle into what was the floor, into a pocket that expanded and then shrunk.

Every surface of this tunnel was covered in these pockets.

“…Oh no…” A-J just said. “This is real bad…”