Take the tunnels out to the market. We'll keep the unspawns busy here while you kids search for whoever's behind this.

The decision of the Clovers to stay behind was made instantly and unanimously. As Class C raced through the now deserted tunnels that linked the city, they mostly wondered what their plan was going to be.

Kingston could barely focus on the road. His precognitive senses were lighting up like crazy. Ever since The Watcher gave them their ultimatum, it was as if a floodgate had opened in his mind's eyes. Endless possibilities presented themselves. The wind was more coloured than he had ever seen them before. Death red mixed with life green. Uncertain blue and empty whites churned in his eyes. Every step he took wiped and created entire futures from existence and he needed a break. A quiet time to think.

“Wait!” Lua yelled, still keeping up. “Waaaait!”

Everyone came to a screeching stop at a junction and turned to look at her.

“Where are we going? Do we even know? Do we even have any ideas?”

Pempe replied in a pant. “We get somewhere safe, then we'll decide something.”

“But where exactly is 'safe' in this city? In case you haven't noticed, we're under attack!”

Her brother walked over to her. “Calm down, sister. If we needlessly panic here, we're not going to be able to do anything to help.”

“We're not soldiers yet, brother! We're still students. This is too much,” she exclaimed. “We should go back to the Clovers. They'll figure something else out.”

Nos asked derisively, “Like what? Should we break the chain by killing one of ourselves? Would make things easier, wouldn't it?”

“T-that's not what I meant!”

“So what did you mean? Give up? Surrender? Let someone else handle it?”

“I...”

Kingston stepped in between the two of them. “Everyone, just calm down. If we start fighting amongst ourselves here, we'll just be wasting time.”

Pempe agreed. “Kingston's right. Let's head to the Forest of the Dead. There shouldn't be anyone there and the trees will give us enough cover until we figure out what to do.”

The earth rumbled and rain of dust fell from the ceiling. A rush of a wind blew outwards towards the eixts, followed by a reading of red in Kingston's eyes. They did not have time to even warn each other when the tunnel collapsed. A mountain of dirt and rock crashed inwards. Kingston ran. In his path, he tackled Shjacky out of the way while from the corner of his eyes he watched Quinton pushing aside his sister. Desperately, Kingston covered his and Shjacky's heads in a questionable attempt to stop the entire weight of the literal world from collapsing on top of them.

It ended as quickly and as it happened. The rumble stopped first and he felt flecks of small rocks bounce off his back. A layer of dirt caked him and he coughed violently as he breathed in the unsettled dust.

“Kingston!” he could hear someone shouting. “Kingston! Are you okay?”

He wondered why people were worried about so specifically about him. He was more worried about Shjacky as he tried to wipe away the dirt covering his eyes so he could see again.

Another voice, this time he could identify as Four, also panicked. “Kingston! Hey!”

“Yeah!” he coughed. “I'm fine!”

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Pempe asked, “Who else is on the other side?”

Kingston wondered where 'the other side' was. There shouldn't be any sides to them. Someone grabbed him from under the shoulder and pulled him onto his feet. Shaking his head, he finally got the last of the dust out of his watering eyes.

The tunnel was dark. Along the walls, the torches had been put out by the rush of dust. The collapse had also cut of the cryst wiring for the lamps. Behind Kingston, a wall of collapsed rubble blocked their path with water streaming down from the ceiling. Then, he counted the numbers around him and realized why there were sides.

Shjacky was the one who held him on her shoulder, a magical flame flickering light from her free hand. In fact, she was the only person with him their section of the tunnel. Everyone else had seemingly been trapped elsewhere.

Kingston replied to Pempe, “Shjacky is with me.”

Elsewhere, Ishumi voiced, “I'm with Quinton and Joachim.”

“Alright,” Pempe answered, a tone of relief in a sigh that could be heard through the rocks. “Everyone else is on this side.”

“Seks!” Kingston shouted. “Can you clear the rubble?”

“A little busy!” the drakin replied from beyond the wall.

Trini further explained through grunts of her own, “We're under some sort of water source! I think it's the park's lake. It's threatening to collapse on us. We're holding it in place, but once we let go, we'll be flooded out of the tunnel.”

“Alright everyone, let's not keep them waiting,” Pempe quickly commandeered. “We'll meet back up at the Forest of the Dead. And Kingston?”

“Yeah?”

“Try not to die, number Fourteen.”

And it was then he understood their earlier worry. He was predicted to be the first to die. Kingston could empathize. If anyone else gave their lives, he would not think catching the bad guy was worth the sacrifice either. But unlike the others who could simply kill themselves out of order to save everyone else, he did not have that option. For him to save his friends, he had to survive. He had no choice. So long as he was alive, everyone else lived.

Seks and Trini must have released their damming hold on the ceiling for the water rushed down, unhinged. The force knocked him of his feet, though he held tightly onto Shjacky, whose flame was snuffed out, throwing them into complete darkness.

But he could still see. The wind was guiding him. In the darkness, he could concentrate. He pulled her close and used every muscle he had to paddle away from each crash into the a wall. His wind magic propelled him at sharp turns with powerful gust pushing him away from the walls. As the ground rose from a rising slope, the ceiling closed down on them like a jaw.

He grabbed Shjacky's head and said, “Deep breath!”

They sucked in a lung full and dived as light finally shone through. Underwater, they had less control, but he felt a serenity. Suddenly, he no longer saw the wind and the array of colours his powers usually gave him faded in the water. They simply held their breaths under the cool surface, floating in the underway until they were bathed in twinlit glow. With a last rush of the current, they took in a new breath of air as they are spat out of the tunnel, rolling onto newly soaked ground with sputters and crawls. They coughed out as the land beneath their hands and feet becomes soaked by the running water and newly creating river. Looking around, they found their weapon floating by them and quickly retrieved them. After a moment to compose themselves, Kingston and Shjacky got to their feet, body soaking wet, and looked back where they came.

Water flowed out the entrance of the tunnel as if it was a river that ran out the mouth of a cave. In the distance, they saw the clock-tower collapsed over where the park would be, likely the cause of their cave in.

Shjacky asked aloud, “What could have destroyed something that size?”

But Kingston's mind floated else. “I saw it coming. In the tunnels, I could see each obstacle coming our way.”

Shjacky turned to him, “What are you muttering about?”

“To be able to orchestrate all of this, they must have been able to see it coming in the first place?”

“What are you trying to say?”

“I think our bad guy is a seer,” he explained.

“Like you?”

“Ye–wait, how did you know? I've never told anyone.”

She shrugged. “I knew since the day I met you. You seers always have a very obvious tell. It wasn't really that hard to figure out. I figured you have your reasons for not telling us.” Before he could question further, she continued, “And we can talk about this later. Right now we need to focus on our bad guy. Another seer?”

Kingston nodded. “Yes. But even I can only see faintly into the future. Whoever did this has to be stronger. Much, much stronger,” he mused aloud. “Who else do we know that's a seer?”

Shjacky's eyes widened in shock. “My mother.”

“What does you mother have to do with this?”

“She's The Janus of Wendereight,” she admitted.

Surprised, he asked, “You're the daughter of The Janus?” He paused, taking the information in before breathing. “Yes. Actually, that makes sense. That explains a lot. You sure have a lot of secrets.”

“Says the guy hiding his precognition magic.” Looking at each other, they let out a quick laugh. “Alright, so we might have a lead. But how do we confirm it? Should we meet up with the others first?”

“We're racing against time itself here. I don't think we have the luxury for that.” He looked towards the collapsed clock tower. Beside it, the bell tower stood tall and strong. “I've got an idea.”