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Tymon sat, levitating midair within the underwater cave. He was in a 'feeding state,' where he could instinctually draw from the unique power others gave off upon their death. By simultaneously opening several shadow paths within the darkened cave, Tymon was able to innovate a way for him to be in multiple places at once seemingly.

Each shadow path led to various locations he'd once visited that were marked by high deaths, such as hospitals, poverty-stricken towns, and even war zones across the globe. He'd begun the feeding process maybe a day or two prior and was only now coming to a point where the energy consumption slowed.

Tymon felt that was a good point to stop as he exited his feeding state. His body slowly dropped to the cave floor as the shadow paths faded. Surprisingly, keeping them open hadn't been draining despite how long it had taken. In fact, by the time he finished, it felt easier to maintain them than it had when he had begun.

Za'Fia was there, approaching him from somewhere to his left. She had promised him she'd wait until he'd finished, which must've been boring for her. He gathered his bearings and stretched the stiffness from his limbs while she walked over, putting the book she'd been reading inside her spatial bag.

"Finally, you're done. That took way longer than we expected," she told him as she handed him soap and pointed over her shoulder to the secluded corner where she had put together a makeshift shower using the ocean water from the cave entrance, generic filters, purifiers, and water tubes.

Tymon took the hint and headed over to clean himself up.

"You mentioned it taking longer–how long was I feeding?" he asked from the shower.

"It's been over a week," he heard Za'Fia call back.

"A week...? That's too long," Tymon stated as he started to get a bad feeling in his gut.

"Yeah, I haven't been out to check on things, but like you said, Avarice isn't going to risk the others. Plus, I know we're pretty deep below sea level, but with all the power you were gathering, someone might've sensed you and come down here, so..."

Tymon suddenly became aware of the power he was emitting. Its volume felt several times more potent than what he had before.

So, this is the growth we can achieve by feeding...

With his current power, he should be more powerful than Avarice in his normal state. Tymon clenched his fist with anticipation. He knew he wouldn't have surpassed him entirely in such a short time, but this was enough—this was all he'd need.

After cleaning himself up, Tymon approached Za'Fia, who was packing items into her spatial bag.

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"You ready?" He asked as he opened another shadow path.

"To finally get this over with? Yeah," she responded, slightly irritable, as she stepped through the shadow, Tymon behind her.

When they exited the other side, they stood within a seemingly bottomless pit where the HQ should have been.

"There's nothing left. What the hell happened?" Za'Fia inquired in disbelief as Tymon looked around.

"The energy residue suggests it was Trevor," Tymon said, using omni-vision to inspect the area. "We need to hurry and find the others."

He snapped open his dark wings and shot skyward with Za'Fia behind him.

"Where are we going," she called out through the wind, her red, scaly wings carrying her through the winter afternoon sky.

"To see if they're at one of the other bases," he called back. Tymon searched for the others' energies but couldn't sense them.

He scanned the skies, searching for any abnormalities.

I don't sense anything weird, and the world's not on fire, so they can't be dead. Were they captured? Did Avarice hide them?

"Dammit, I can't find them. Where could they be?" He said in frustration.

"You think Avarice got to them?" Za'Fia asked as she cruised beside him.

"I don't know..."

Za'Fia appeared to think for a moment before her expression lit up.

"Michael has a place hidden away," she exclaimed. If they had to flee, there's an underground area that makes it impossible for anyone to sense things within it. They could be there; follow me," she said as they redirected their trajectory northbound.

Flying with their wings took them hours to arrive, but they finally approached a secluded valley area with a distant speck below where Tymon began to sense each of the other's energies one by one.

"Down there, come on," Za'Fia pointed as she took a nosedive toward the mansion amongst snow-covered greenery. When they landed in front of the front door and entered, to their left, they found the others gathered around a dining room table discussing a way to track down him and Za'Fia.

"Should we check Tymon's place? Maybe they visit there frequently..." Naomi suggested as Tymon and Za'Fia walked into the room.

Everyone seemed different to Tymon, especially Alissia, who now had a scar across her chest. Her back was facing him, but he could see her fiddling with a strange green object as the others stopped talking and stared at them.

Alissia turned to see what they were staring at and jumped up when she saw Tymon and Za'Fia standing behind her. After a moment of shock, she hugged them tightly, which Tymon had not expected. He expected her to be angrier about him leaving, not ecstatic about him returning.

"What happened to everyone," he asked curiously.

Alissia stepped back. A glum look filled her eyes as she fiddled with the green object again. Tymon noticed she seemed older–like in the time he'd been away, she'd witnessed and experienced more tragedy than most people do in a lifetime.

"The HQ..." Tymon said, realizing. "What happened?"

Tymon and Za'Fia were informed of everything that transpired while they were gone. Tymon clenched his fist and gritted his teeth in restrained anger as everything set in.

"This is what I wanted to avoid. That's why I...why I left to get stronger," he said in a low voice.

"What do you mean, get stronger?" Alissia asked. Alissia, followed by everyone else's eyes, glowed as they used omni-vison to peer into the power within him. Tymon wasn't yet accustomed to his new power, so he couldn't conceal it as tightly as he would've liked.

Based on everyone's expressions, he could tell they were each surprised by the immense energy housed within him now.

"It's impressive," Damien remarked as he moved to stand near Tymon.

"No, it's terrifying," Naomi whispered as she took a few steps back.

"It's suffocating, is what it is," Alissia commented.