Dashuan found himself wandering the perimeter of the island's tranquil facade and kicking small pebbles as he strolled the sandy beach. The significance of Ultress' agenda squeezed down on him with a vice like grip. He felt as if the bake of the sun was almost an enduring reminder of the high-stakes wager they were about to embark on.

His brooding sulk was interrupted suddenly by a ruckus in the center of the island compound. Air-Force's booming voice carried easily across the island, punctuated by the frightened cries of human sympathizers that mixed with the Lesser Aberrant’s own voices.

Dashuan's shoulders slumped, his ears perking. He should have known the volatile Aberrant wouldn't be able to keep the peace for long. AirForce seemed nothing like what he had encountered prior; it was a blessing he had battled Arc instead of him when he was still weak.

As he approached the scene, he saw Air-Force looming over a group of humans, his scrawny but lanky frame casting them in shadow as his eyes blazed. "You think you can just walk in here and eat all the good shit?" he nearly roared more like a beast than man, veins bulging in his neck. "This isn't some charity!"

One of the humans, a young woman with soot covering the lower half of her face, stood her ground. "We're here to help you dick! We've brought supplies, medical knowledge—"

Air Force's laugh was cruel and sharp. "Help? The only thing you 'help' is depleting the limited amount of shit meant for OUR kind. Maybe I should show you how we deal with parasites…the Lesser Aberrants need to learn how to deal with weaker beings!"

He raised a fist with enough speed to cause a loud crack in the air, sending a wave of wind in an upward direction. The humans cowered like mice, bracing for impact. Just as AirForce was flexing his arm, a pointed bolt of cyan electricity crashed into his face, sending him spinning to a fall in the sand.

Arc stood there with her arms now refolded, her body wreathed in racing energy. Her eyes blazed with fury. "That's enough, AirForce," she yelled in defense of the humans to Dashuan’s shock. "These people are under our protection."

Air Force's upturned eyebrows lowered as he stood, changing into a smile that crept across only half of his ski-masked face. “You looking to fucking die too? All for some mangy little humans?"

Dashuan moved to intervene, but Arc held up a steady hand, stopping him from afar. "Stay out of this, Dashuan," she rattled off, her voice low. "I don't need you to 'save' me."

The two Aberrants circled each other; Arc letting huge volts of electricity scathe the sand into glass and heated molten patches while Airforce floated just above the ground with fluidity.

AirForce made the first move, blitzing forward and sending the crowd around off their feet besides Dashuan. Arc barely had time to throw up a barrier of sparkling electrical energy before his fist connected with her face, the impact sending shockwaves through the compound as the energy dispersed with a large white flash.

Arc stumbled back then countered with a series of rapid-fire electrical bolts stemming from her fingers from near point blank range.

AirForce made no sign of distress; reacting by grabbing her by the wrist and yanking her to face him. "What's the matter? Too much time with humans?" he taunted, launching a blistering hook into Arc’s stomach.

Arc's eyes widened in surprise at his speed as she spat blood into the sand and flew backward a few feet. AirForce was already rocketing toward her by the time her eyes adjusted from the pain.

She tried to dodge with a sideflip, but his skinny hand closed around her throat, lifting her off the ground in an instant as he ignored the electricity lashing his body. Arc's own body convulsed with electrical discharge gone haywire as she pushed her limits, but AirForce seemed unmoved even by the largest of the errant blasts, his grip shrinking around her windpipe as they slowly ascended Into the turbulent sky.

"You've gotten weaker…" he said with a chuckle. "Pathetic...I'm still getting stronger every fucking day."

Arc's struggles grew weaker, her electrical aura flickering from existence. In desperation, she focused all her remaining power into one massive surge that detonated particles of sand into shards of glass in a forty foot radius. The resulting explosion of energy was blinding, forcing everyone to shield their eyes as many had already run away. An unlucky Lesser Aberrant was turned to dust and left nothing but a shadow behind where a lightning bolt hit most directly.

When the pulsing light faded, Arc was on her stomach, gasping for air in the crater of her own making. AirForce hovered over her, his already degraded clothing singed to pieces but otherwise he was unharmed. “Nothing hurts me anymore.”

"Enough!" The command rang out, freezing the scattered small group in place along the shore of the beach and fringes of the jungle.

Ultress strode into the clearing, her presence immediately commanding Dashuan's attention. She surveyed the scene with cold disappointment on her twitching face that was half covered by her silver and gold accented mask; her head facing the shadow of the Lesser immortalizing the terror they had felt in their last moments. "If you wish to finish her do so--you are disturbing my thoughts."

Air Force lowered his fist, a wince crossing his face before being replaced by a deep scowl that swept across all in attendance. "Don't forget your place again, sparky. Or I'll chuck your sorry ass into space next time."

Arc struggled to her feet silently, still wheezing while she gripped her own neck. It made Dashuan uncomfortable; unable tp reconcile the undamaged figure he had always seen Arc as with the wounded warrior he saw before him.

"He was threatening the RedRevolt members," Arc said between gasps and wobbling. "Someone had to stop him."

Ultress' laugh was devoid of humor. "Stop him? You? Your little display of power has done more to terrify our new arrivals than ANYTHING you think you may have done against AirForce."

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For the first time, Dashuan noticed the small group of wide-eyed Aberrants huddled at the edge of the clearing. They stared at the aftermath like herded sheep, mirroring the human counterparts that seemed to still edge themselves slightly away from them.

"New arrivals?" Dashuan asked, confusion evident in his voice as he skimmed through even newer faces among the dreary looking island dwellers. "How did they get here so fast?"

As if in answer to his question, the air beside Ultress shimmered and tore open into a hidden layer of kaleidoscopic vibrance. A circular portal materialized in a zigzagging format, its edges folding over themselves and warping the air around it until forming a perfect oval. Dashuan could see a demolished city street with soilders advancing, completely at odds with their isolated island setting.

A woman stepped through, her features strikingly similar to Ultress' but much less etched with lines of stress. She was hurridly followed by a handful of nervous-looking Aberrants, who blinked in the bright sunlight of their new surroundings with different hues of their eye light.

"Dashuan," Ultress said, her voice carefully neutral. "Meet my sister, Mina." Her hand flared outward with grace as she began to welcome the newcomers without facing Dashuan any longer.

Mina's eyes locked onto DasDash's, and he felt the weight of her gaze like gazelle in the sights of a lioness. There was none of Ultress' calculated calm in her expression--She instantly began to sneer and almost upturn her lip at the sight of him.

"So," Mina began to close the portal with a flash of her eyes, her voice trickling with scorn. "This is the great hero who's been making our lives a living hell..."

Dashuan blinked, taken aback by the loathing. "I'm sorry?"

"What have you done?" Mina cut him off, her voice rising. "You've spent months playing superhero cop, drawing attention to us and stalking Arc, making it impossible to work in secret. Do you have any idea how much damage your actions have caused?"

The portal behind her finally snapped shut, its edges quickly slicing through the air until ceasing to exist entirely.

Dashuan found himself instinctively taking a step back, not knowing the extent of her powers.

"Mina," Ultress said softly, a warning in her tone but much softer than she had used before. "I feel you are being harsh, he knows little--"

"No, Ultress. He needs to hear this. We've spent our entire lives --two decades building a network with mom and dad, creating safe havens for RedRevolt, preparing for the day when we could reveal ourselves on our own terms. And this... this glory-seeking idiot has forced our hand, packed YEARS of planning into months along with Arc doing whatever the fuck she pleases and trying to hide from us like a spoiled brat!"

Dashuan's mind wobbled as if it were a short legged table. He had believed he was helping, protecting those who couldn't protect themselves as he patrolled the streets in the past few months since the NewHeaven Altercation.

Yet, the venom in Mina's words made him question everything he had worked to solve. "I... I didn't know," he stammered. "I was just trying to save lives."

Mina's laugh was bitter. "Save lives? Do you know how many Aberrants have died because of the attention you've drawn to yourself now that the second eclipse finally manifested? How many are being hunted down, experimented on, killed in the streets because humans now know what to look for and can put a submissive face on the thing they hate?"

Each word was like a serrated knife twisting in Dashuan's gut. He looked to Ultress with a bite of his lip, hoping for some defense in her masked face, some reassurance that his actions hadn't been as catastrophic as Mina swore in any body language he could gleam from her.

Ultress remained unmoved, a solid sigh only releasing from her chest. "I agree. Dashaun…This is merely the reckoning of consequences you did not care to think of–neither of you." She turned to face Arc.

"What?" Dashuan asked, his mind racing to the deal Derek offered of safety. "Was this where Cassandra was trying to get me to? How long have you known about me?!"

At the mention of Cassandra's name, Arc flinched visibly. Ultress leaned in slightly, the only crack in her composure as she clearly sensed the crack in Arc's stoicism.

"Cassandra made her own choices," Ultress said. "As did you...It was a simple request; one I thought you would accept…but it was marred with the efforts of that creature, Derek."

Mina's eyes darted between them, sensing the undercurrent of tension that wafted. "Cassandra? What does she have to do with this? I thought Arc was still searching for her after the Kansas incident…"

The silence that followed was deafening. Arc seemed to shrink in on herself, while Ultress' masked gaze remained fixed on Dashuan.

"Tell her," Ultress said softly, almost motherly. "Tell my sister what really became of Cassandra while she was playing federal mole alongside that annoying vermin that calls himself Derek Armistead."

Dashuan felt as though the ground was crumbling beneath his feet. He turned to Mina, whose anger had been replaced by a growing dread that wreathed her face like a wedding veil.

"There was an incident," he began, his voice hollow. "We were trying to stop them from hurting anyone. Things got out of hand... Cassandra, she..." He couldn't finish.

The memory of that day, of Cassandra's body blown into chunks, was still too raw in his mind; even if she had killed Dashuan’s former boss in cold blood.

Mina's eyes enlarged in horrified understanding. She spun on Arc, who couldn't meet her regard. "Who? Who killed her?"

Arc's voice was barely audible. "It was the right thing to do…she was getting too close to Der–"

With a guttural cry that was slung from Mina’s anguish, a portal opening beneath her feet. Arc barely had time to react before Mina emerged from another portal directly above her, tackling her to the ground and putting her into a chokehold near the same place she had just been strangled.

The two women grappled, Mina's portals opening and closing around them in a dizzying display that did not allow Dashuan to see much but their momentum not arresting. Arc's electrical discharges lit up the sky, but Mina seemed beyond feeling pain as her skin displayed heavy burns, driven by grief and fury as she pummeled her with much punches that barely rattled Arc.

Dashuan moved to intervene again but found his path blocked by AirForce's form. "Let them sort it out," the man barked. "Or I'll fuck you up too...Cassandra was an expensive lapdog–not gonna be easy to replace."

Dashuan looked for direction, catching Ultress watching the chaos unfold, her expression unreadable. Dashuan turned fully to her, desperation in his voice. "Please, you have to stop this...violence won't bring us closer to–"

"To what?" Ultress cut him off. "Implementing a plan you barely understand? Fighting a war you're not prepared for? Face it, Dashuan. You're out of your depth here. Do not lecture me on what I must to do." She turned away from the ongoing fight, her voice stern. "I won't stop Mina. She deserves her vengeance, and you... you need to understand the true cost of actions...We are not human, the world will be ruled by the strong one way or another."

Dashuan watched helplessly as Mina and Arc continued their brutal exchange of punches and chokeholds, portals opening and closing in rapid succession as unnatural sounds rang from their creation, electricity arcing wildly into every direction as Ultress disappeared into the jungle. The other Lesser Aberrants and humans had long since fled, leaving only AirForce as an impassive but jittery spectator.

The weight of lives lost, of plans destroyed, of trust betrayed --it all came crashing down on Dashuan like a waterfall that beckoned tears behind the curtains of his eyelids.

As the sun set over the island paradise, Dashuan realized that the true was of Aberrants was one of the soul. Not against the humans or the governments that hated them, but against their own fractured and wounded community that held violence as the key to survival and hierarchy--And he, the self-proclaimed hero he always dreamed of, had no idea how to even begin making things right in a time that needed heroes most.

Dashuan dropped down to his knees and rested his clenched fists in the sand, the sounds of combat fading into the background as he grappled with the enormity of his mistakes; thinking of the terrified citizens that probably applauded his sudden disappearance as they killed every Lesser Aberrant in sight.

“Grow up…” AirForce said, throwing a pebble straight through a seagull flying overhead. "It's only gonna get worse when Ultress gets what she wants." He laughed with no cheer in his rattling voice.