This was not a good movie.

The three screens that they were watching did not have happy tales to tell. One charge had to drag herself out of a burning building. The next had just electrocuted himself and one of his students. The third one was lying in a hospital bed after a car wreck that had killed his wife and broken almost every bone in his body.

Mettan gripped the front edge of the console in front of him. Kark stuck the tub of popcorn in front of his cousin. “More?”

Mettan glared at Kark, “How can you watch this?”

Kark motioned at the screens, “Everyone survived.”

“You had to knock a hole in a wall for Paige to crawl out of. Alex threw around so much water that a downed powerline nearly killed them.” Mettan glared at Kark as he pointed at the screen watching Caleb, “And it took both you and Zeus to keep him alive!”

Kark nodded at the screen, “And it looks like we aren’t done with him.”

Mettan turned and looked at the screen. Caleb had stood up. His body cast of rubble had exploded off of him. The bed sheets had wrapped around his body forming a seamless suit.

“Is that possible?” Mettan whispered,

“It’s rank five.” Kark marveled

Mettan frowned, “I know that only Proficient level Elementalists can do that.” He watched as the human stumbled down the hall screaming something, “Is it possible for him to be that strong that fast?”

“No clue,” Kark ate another handful of popcorn, “There are no records about a species regaining access to the Conduit, so we have no frame of reference.”

Mettan shook his head, “This is just another puzzle for you.”

Kark smiled as he sat back down and propped his feet on the console. “What’s wrong with puzzles?”

“Nothing.” Mettan refused to turn away from the screen, “But this is life and death.”

“Everything is life or death on some scale.” Kark snapped his fingers again. This time a glass bottle appeared in his hand. He took a long drink from it.

Mettan watched as the human pinned a doctor to the wall with a handrail. The handrail clawed into the wall, securing the doctor off the ground.

“How is he going to help me find the Triftion?” Mettan asked, “He’s crazy!”

Kark raised his eyebrows, “I seem to recall you doing something very similar after Neresa-“

“Don’t go there,” Mettan growled as he spun around

Kark held up his hands, “I was there too.”

“I know.” Mettan’s face softened a little, “It’s just.” His voice trailed off, “Shouldn’t we help him?”

“Sure,” Kark brought a fourth screen to life so they could see the doctor. Only the doctor wasn’t trapped anymore. The rail was lying on the floor and there were holes in the wall where it had been pulled out, but no doctor.

Kark stood up and began searching the hospital.

“Don’t bother.” Mettan pointed at the screen following Caleb.

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Caleb had made it down to the first floor of the hospital and was scaring away patients as he tried to find someone that would tell him where his wife was.

“Can we get sound?” Mettan asked.

Kark snapped his fingers and Caleb’s scratchy voice filled the bridge.

“Where’s my wife?” Caleb demanded from a new doctor that he had pinned, “Where is Krystal?”

“Hey.” The first doctor yelled as a stretcher hit Caleb in the chest, “I’m ready for round two.”

Kark waved his hand over the empty popcorn bowl and it filled up, “This is like legal Arena fights.”

“Neither of which we should be watching for pleasure.” Mettan took the bowl away from Kark, “We have to stop this.”

“You think the new guy can beat your charge?” Kark chuckled, “He didn’t even show up on the list of potentials.”

The crash of glass caught both of their attention. Caleb had just thrown the doctor through the glass double doors of the waiting room. He brushed his shoulder-length blonde hair out of his face as he stepped through the hole in the building. He motioned at a red convertible in the parking lot and flipped it toward the doctor.

The doctor dove behind the car he had landed next to. The parking lot was almost full, so the flipping car landed upside down, resting on the bed of a blue truck and a red sedan.

The doctor stood up from around the front of the car and gestured at the ground. The asphalt split and the other human fell into it. The doctor gestured again and the pavement closed back up, pinning Caleb’s arms tightly to his body.

“We have to get him now!” Mettan sat down in the pilot’s chair and turned on the engines.

“Wait.” Kark pointed at the screen.

The doctor had bent over and let the other man lean on his shoulder. Caleb’s tears were running down the doctor’s arms.

Sirens caused the doctor to pull away from Caleb. Soldiers with guns got out and pointed their guns at them. The doctor tried to shield the defenseless man.

“Do something!” Mettan urged

Kark was motionless as the soldiers fired. The doctor threw out his hands, and some of the bullets were deflected, but there were too many to stop them all. The doctor fell first and then Caleb slumped over.

“What. Was. That?” Mettan demanded, “What happened to them being fine?”

Kark pointed at the screen, “Those were tranquilizer darts.” He got up, “Now all of your charges have learned something.” He looked at the horizon, “I think it’s about time that you went and got Alex.” He motioned at the screens, “I don’t think the other two are going anywhere.”

The screens all went dark as Kark vanished with a snap. It was a typical exit for his cousin. Give a final order and then vanish without any explanation.

The Camadt’s Bite flew down to the surface. Once over Arkansas, it didn’t take long to locate Alex’s house. Mettan landed the Camadt’s Bite in the field behind the house and scooted out of the pilot’s chair. As he walked out of the ship he realized how tired he was. It had been almost twenty hours since the attack on the Warpgate. He desperately needed some rest.

Once outside the ship, Mettan keyed in the lock code on his pad. The two-story ship vanished, leaving an empty field. He started hiking up the trail. Twenty minutes later he reached the small house.

He walked up on the wrap-around porch to the door and tried the knob, but it didn’t turn. He took his pad off of his belt and held it up to the lock. The pad scanned the lock and a key popped out of the top of the pad. He stuck the printed key into the lock and turned the knob. This time the knob turned and the door opened.

Mettan moved into the living room. There were three couches arranged in a U with a TV on the wall opposite the door. A coffee table with some computer magazines on it was placed in between the couches. To his left was a bar and on the other side was the kitchen. The living room side of the bar had five stools, while the kitchen side sported a double sink and counter space. On the other side of the kitchen wall cupboards, a refrigerator, an oven, a dishwasher, and a microwave covered the walls.

Mettan walked behind the leftmost couch to the hall that connected the two back rooms and the bathroom to the front. The hall was very short; it was basically just three doors. The door on his right led to the bathroom. The door in front of him led to Alex’s room. He could tell it was the human’s room by the clothes that were lying on the floor, while the door on his left led to a room that looked like it hadn’t been entered in over a month.

He walked into the guest room and rubbed his hand on the dresser. A thin layer of dust coated his hand. This room had definitely not been used in a while.

Mettan laid down on the bed and closed his eyes. He hoped that he could get some sleep before Alex got home and they had to talk. Maybe if he was lucky, the human would be tired too and they could just talk in the morning. He closed his eyes on that happy thought.