The loss of Barron weighed heavily on the team, but we had little time to mourn. The drug dealer in Brazil had already sent a squad of super humans to eliminate us twice. Lillian gathered us in the living room for a quick meeting. "As you all know, we've been under attack since we entered Costa Rica. The governments of the world know of our existence and want us gone as soon as possible. For this reason, we must forego our standard procedures. Our top priority is to acquire our target and leave Brazil as soon as possible. Gather your things. We head out in twenty minutes." She seemed to be rushing through everything at this point. I had my concerns about our safety. We only made it this far because she lead us calmly down a safe path. I hoped that she wouldn't make any reckless decisions. Before I could further ponder our situation, Ferus appeared in my doorway to inform me that it was time to go. I grabbed my bag and we set out toward the drug dealer's mansion. To my surprise, it was just a few miles away. It seems Jolene had chosen this safe house well. With a new fire lit in our souls, we rushed down the path leading to the mansion. Everyone was on edge, watching every inch of the landscape for any sort of opposition. We didn't expect to get to the mansion without a fight, but that's exactly what happened. Lillian took lead, slowly opening a side door and dashing inside. Once she gave the signal, we followed. This place was massive. The chances of finding our target before we were spotted were slim to none. But that was the point, I suppose. We found ourselves in a large hall, no doubt designed for parties that the drug lord probably threw. As we reached the center, the door behind us slammed shut and another opened. A man walked in to our view. He didn't look very special to me, but I had never met a drug lord before. He wore a black three piece suit with leather gloves. He stood for a moment, staring at us with the most unnerving smile I had ever witnessed. Finally, he spoke, "Welcome to my home. I am Lucion Hidalgo. I'm confident you met my welcome party, no? I hope they didn't give you too much trouble." He chuckled softly as he slowly began to approach us, "They were, after all, just my foot soldiers. You see, the men and women you fought were civilians taken from a nearby town. It takes time to forge a proper soldier, but when I heard of your approach to my country, I knew I had to prepare quickly. So I snuck doses of my drug in to the water supply along with a poison. Those who agreed to fight for me received the vaccine, and the others perished. But enough about that. You're here for my pet project, aren't you?" He waved his hand at an unseen figure just outside the room, who promptly entered and stood beside him. It was a man no less than seven feet tall. He wore a set of jet black armor reminiscent of a medieval knight's. "This is Dekala," Lucion said as he waved his hands, seemingly to present this monstrosity to us. I looked at Lillian with a flicker of hope in my eyes, but her response was troublesome. "That's not our target." Before I could say anything, Dekala leapt forward, grabbing Vlad by the torso and flinging him through a wall. I staggered backwards, trying to gain some sort of distance. For today, I could assess information at an alarming rate, as if my brain was in overdrive. Witnessing this behemoth assault the group, my mind was screaming for me to flee. My best assessment was to retreat. Dekala didn't give me long to panic, as he grabbed Lillian by her feet and used her as a bat to smash me in to a wall. Pain shot through my entire body. I watched in horror as this monstrosity tore us apart. Ferus unleashed a blast of ice, freezing Dekala solid. Or so I thought. He quickly broke free and charged her, running right through her. She was launched across the hall and in to a pillar, snapping it in half. Jolene pulled out her portal device and opened it right as Dekala was drawing near, sending him somewhere else. She might have saved our lives with that move. "Well done. But I expected more," Lucion said as he walked across the room, "You want my pet? You'll have to do better than that." Suddenly, the entire mansion began to shake. My heart raced as I waited to see what horrible event was about to transpire. Dekala burst in through the floor, soaring up nearly through the ceiling. I watched in horror as he lifted Jolene up by her throat, ripping her portal gun out of her hand and smashing it. Still, the only thing I could think about was how to get us out of here. My power was useless against this man, but I refused to sit back and watch another friend die. I charged Dekala, ramming my shoulder in to his thigh. He promptly swatted me away. I landed Next to Ferus, who seemed to be unconscious. It took all I had just to keep myself from blacking out. Lillian rushed in, sweep kicking Dekala's legs out from under him. He dropped Jolene to the floor and she scrambled away. Dekala quickly recovered, grabbing Lillian by her head and slamming her in to the floor repeatedly. I tried to crawl forward to help, even thought I knew I couldn't do anything. Just when I thought it was over, an ear piercing shriek tore through the air, bringing even Dekala to his knees. A woman rushed in to help Lillian to her feet. "Can you repair your portal gun?" she asked Jolene, who simply nodded in response. "Then do it. I can't keep him down for long." She then turned and unleashed a more focused cry, forcing Dekala back several feet. Despite the force behind her voice, Dekala slowly inched his way forward. Jolene frantically tinkered with the parts of her gun and some gadgets she had pulled from her bag until she finally help up a knew portal gun. I forced myself to my knees and shook Ferus awake. "Come on. We have to get out of here." She nodded and slowly stood, helping me to my feet as well. Jolene opened a portal and the mysterious woman ran through, carrying Lillian with her. Ferus and I made our way to the portal, but Dekala was closing in fast. Just as he was upon us, Vlad leapt on to his back. He choked Dekala with all of his strength. "Go! You have the target, you don't need me anymore!" he cried out as Dekala flailed rapidly, attempting to dislodge his unwanted passenger. "We can't leave you!" Ferus called out. "It's okay. Let me do this. I won't be any help to the team anymore, so I might as well do something useful with my last moments." With tears in our eyes, Ferus, Jolene, and I ran through the portal, closing it behind us. We found ourselves in some kind of subterranean lair far more advanced than any safe house we had visited thus far. The strange woman knelt in front of Lillian, who she had placed in a chair. Lillian was barely conscious, but she still spoke, "You must be Claire. Thank you." The woman nodded and turned to face us, "You came to take me away, didn't you?" I nodded in response. "Good. I couldn't take another moment of Hidalgo and his gang." My memory of what happened next is a little fuzzy. All I remember is waking up to Ferus holding my hand. She looked down at me and smiled, "Look who's finally up. You've been out for three days. I'll go get Lillian. She'll fill you in on what we've learned about Claire so far." She briskly walked out of the room and returned shortly with Lillian. "I'm glad to see you're okay, Marcus," Lillian said as she sat beside my bed, "We're going to need you. Now that we have Claire, we can finally begin our war."

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