Drift pulled the door closed to the storage facility where she'd left The Diplomat. Finley kept contacting her asking about the vehicle Lavender created back in the day. He trusted her to take care of it when they were all separated and she wouldn't let him down. Finley was the last person Lavender would want getting him grubby hands on his creations. It was Finley's fault they all had to split up too. As far as she knew, Lavender and Mayfair could be long dead. The only reason she knew Finley was still around was because he wouldn't leave her the hell alone.

Drift turned around and headed back towards her car. The back of her neck prickled and she pulled up her hood to cover her blonde hair. Recently she couldn't shake the feeling that the slippery little bastard was watching her from a distance so he could rob her blind. If he hadn't located her yet, he would soon. He'd always been good at tracking people down.

Later that night, Drift decided to treat herself and make some Kraft mac and cheese. Unfortunately she'd never taken the time to really learn how to cook and preferred to avoid eating out as much as possible. She usually have obnoxiously loud music playing to keep her company, the kind that got her numerous complaints from her neighbors, but tonight, her apartment was quiet. If someone was outside her door or creeping around her window she needed to be able to hear it. A gun rested in one of the kitchen drawers. Even when she couldn't see it, its presence kind of gave her a mental itch. Drift definitely didn't want to use it, but it made her feel slightly better in her paranoia.

Drift sat down at her table and turned on the TV while she enjoyed her dinner. Or at least she tried to. It tasted oddly flavorless as her mind kept wondering. The slightest crack emanated from outside her apartment and she froze. It was so quiet, it could've been her imagination. Or it could've been someone's joint cracking. The floorboards. A weapon. There wasn't much to go off of, but her intuition told her that Finley definitely found out where she was. Drift shoveled her last bite of mac and cheese into her face and walked back to the kitchen to open the drawer and stick her pistol into the back of her waistband. She then let her shirt fall over it and headed for the door. Truth was, she'd had enough. Reckless behavior usually solved stuff like this. Or at least it would continue to until someone finally succeeded and killed her.

Drift casually sauntered down the hall way and began her journey up the stairs of her apartment complex, completely disregarding the existence of the elevator. She didn't bother looking over her shoulder and she didn't hear anything. Worst/best scenario? No one was behind her and it wouldn't matter. Best/Worst case scenario? Someone was behind her and they weren't as sneaky as they thought.

The cool night air swept through her hair when she stepped onto the roof, and she looked out at the city scape before her. The lights looked kind of magically when she unfocused her eyes. They all just blended together.

“Hi Finley,” she said.

She heard a soft breath and span around in time to block a punch coming directly for her face. She followed it up with an uppercut towards Finley’s stomach and he coughed. He hooked her leg and the two slammed into the ground. Pain exploded into her skull and she let out a roar of frustration. Finley pinned her down, knees digging into her arms.

“You’re really not as cool as you act like you are,” he sighed. His white hair glistened in the light from the night sky and she did her best to suppress a laugh. Back when the squad was together they all had their nicknames, much like hers was Drift, his had been Moonbeam of all things.

“What’s so funny, Drift?” he quirked an eyebrow and reached into his pocket. Something glinted and Drift blocked his leg with her heel and pinned down the arm on the same side taking away his support so that she could roll him off of her. The two scrambled to their feet.

Finley’s back faced the edge of the roof and he held a rather large knife towards her face. Unfortunately for him, he was staring down her gun barrel.

“A knife? Really Finley?” Drift snapped, “You’re not getting a damn thing. Give up.”

Finley slowly lowered his weapon and his lips parted like he wanted to say something. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, understandable disconcerted.

“Man, you got uglier somehow,” he spoke finally. Drift rolled her eyes and the next thing she knew the bastard was reaching towards her weapon. Drift lashed out with a harsh kick towards his stomach and he went careening backwards. For a moment the two seemed locked in time staring into each other’s faces, but gravity took hold and Finley plummeted to his death.

Just kidding. She distinctly remembered seeing an open topped garbage truck directly underneath his position with some nasty ass mattresses stuffed into them. He might break something, but he’d live. Drift chuckled to herself when she looked down at her gun and turned around to head back inside. She hadn’t even remembered to turn off the safety.

The time had finally come. Loie continually hung on to excuses like working long hours as a medical scribe, always being tired, having no need for it, the list went on. But today she convinced herself to at least try to train a little bit.

On one of her rare days off, Loie rolled out of bed as soon as the sun peaked over the city skyline outside her window. Her footsteps padded softly across the wood floor to the bathroom mirror where she inspected her arms. Pale. Boney. A little bit of arm fat. Certainly no muscle. The thing was, Loie could stand on her feet or run for hours on end, but when it came to lifting anything she was hopeless. She’d signed up for kickboxing to get some self defense experience, but even that was mostly cardio. It was time to lift some weights. Loie sighed and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

Her sudden urge to gain muscle wasn’t motivated so much by benign fitness goals as much as it was by the nightmare her life had become. Even aside from the seemingly supernatural horror, the woman at the festival helped put things into perspective a little more as well. She only wished she could get in contact with the woman somehow, but it seemed like she was begrudgingly in cahoots with the organization involved with human trafficking. Loie patted her face dry after her skin care routine and began brushing her teeth. Getting to the point where she stood a chance against any of the threats in Anthem City seemed impossible. But it definitely would be if she never tried.

Loie typically skipped breakfast since she wasn’t hungry in the mornings, but today she opted for some eggs and fruit to at least get a little nutrients in her body. Before she left, she put in contacts instead of wearing her glasses, tied her hair back and put on whatever she had that could pass for gym clothes.

When the time finally came for her to enter the gym, the reality of why she always avoided this set in. There were a bunch of dudes on the weight machines, but there was room on the treadmills. Going on a spontaneous 5k wouldn’t challenge her whatsoever besides making her legs burn, but it didn’t build the same kind of muscle that doing weighted squats would.

Loie stiffly walked up to one of the dudes on the lat pull down and forced herself to speak in a lower voice.

“Uh... hey bro, how many reps do you have left?” she asked.

Saying the word ‘bro’ seemed absolutely foreign to her, but she was trying her best to look like she knew what she was doing. The man on the machine turned and looked at her for a moment, appearing vaguely amused.

“I was actually just finishing up, have at it,” he replied.

Woah, she didn’t expect it to be that easy. Now she just hoped no one would look at her while she tried to figure this thing out. Loie spent several minutes staring at the picture instructions on each machine she moved to, but eventually she got into a groove. The amount of weight she could actually lift was small but this was just a start. She never made a workout playlist before, so the songs she listened to were things like Eye of The Tiger, Jump by Van Halen, and the Rocky training montage soundtrack because she was pretty sure that’s what people listened to when they worked out.

When she was finally done, the hardest part of the day was not going to her favorite cafe to get coffee and a muffin, and instead going home to make something more nutritious like grilled chicken with rice and vegetables. The stuff was so dense she could barely eat any of it, especially considering she was used to mostly refined carbs.

Finally, Loie showered and sat down to work on her chemistry homework. Would she have to do this every day? She would if she wanted to see progress at least. Loie groaned and massaged her temples before resting her head on her desk. If misfortune was so bent on following her everywhere, she’d show it they picked on the wrong person. Loie closed her eyes and began to doze off at her desk. She’d show them what for later....

The Kenne Manor. Present day.

The doors to Mother’s office would burst open, and Five would come strolling in. One, blonde hair obscuring most of his vision and wearing his usual grey hoodie, would stand in the way of Five as he made his way over to Mother. Five looked up at the man, who was a good foot taller than him.

”What are you doing, Five? You know there is a process to see Mother. She’s busy.” One would say, already seething from Five’s mere presence. Five didn’t break eye contact, and though it made him nervous to be around One, he would stand his ground.

”This is important, One. It’s about Seven. She’s alive.”

One’s eyes widened briefly, and Mother would look up from her desk as a hushed silence fell across the room. After several seconds, Mother would finally speak.

”What did you say, child?” Her voice was sharp, the subject of Seven being an especially sensitive subject for her. Five would look past One at her. ”Seven is alive. I don’t know where she is, but I met this man… this supernatural gambler the other night. He played this game, and my reward was getting visions of her fate. She’s alive, but she needs our help.”

One would smirk, starting to laugh.

”Visions? Don’t be absurd.” He would reach over and grab Five by the collar, lifting him off of the ground. ”You know how Mother feels about Seven. And now you waste her time with your GAMES!”

He would pivot on his feet, spinning to hurl Five back through the door where he came in from. The momentum would be so great that it sent him over the railing outside in the main hall, causing him to plummet thirty feet down. Thinking quickly, Five would reach out and grab the chandelier in the main hall, causing him to swing abruptly as the ornate piece shook dangerously. Gaining his bearings, he would jump to the nearest railing for the second floor, before hopping down to the ground floor in the entrance hall, now in front of the stairs.

In just mere seconds, a loud thud could be hear as One leapt down, landing several feet away.

”Damn it, One! I know it’s a weird story, but why don’t you give me a chance? Seven is alive! We can help her! Why are you never concerned for anyone but yourself?!” Five would shout, and One would start walking towards Five without hesitation. ”Because, Five. All that matters is the mission. All that matters is what Mother wants.”

He would swing for an uppercut at Five, who stepped back swiftly, but before he could recover, One would already be on the move. He would grab Five once more, throwing him harshly forward as he slammed through the front doors of the manor and flew into the large yard outside.

Landing in the grass with a long slide and stopping against the stone of the fountain, Five would groan and try to keep his balance in check as he stood up. One would come out, charging towards Five with his fist cocked back.

”I’m so tired of this. We’re supposed to be SIBLINGS!” Five shouted as he ducked under One’s fist before countering with his own two jabs to One’s stomach before uppercutting him in the chin. One recoiled backwards a couple of feet, but recovered swiftly. Blood trickled from his lip, and he smirked at Five.

”Oh, you’ve gotten a little bit of a bite behind that bark, finally. It means I can stop pulling my punches every time you let Mother down.” One said, cracking his knuckles as he slowly started to increase in muscle mass.

”Are you serious? You’re releasing your limiter over this?” Five said, realizing he stood zero chance against a full powered One. He jumped back and lifted his right hand, a device on his glove activating as his knife flew to his hand several seconds later. It would float above him, point facing One as Five prepared to fight his brother.

”WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING? STOP!” A voice would ring out, and Five would look to see Six running towards them, tossing a device into the middle of them. Nearly instantly upon impact, a bright flash would shoot out, blinding them. Five covered his eyes, and no sooner did the ringing fade away and the white subside as he saw One continuing his approach.

”Oh no, you don’t!” Another voice rang out, and Four, in all of her dramatic glory, would land between the two of them. Immediately, she pointed two guns out, firing at Five and One. They would be struck with wires that wrapped around them, ensnaring them. At the same time, Ollie would come rushing through, tackling One to the ground to ensure he stayed down.

”Gah! Whose side are you on?” Five would ask as he struggled to break free, and Four would look at him. ”The side which isn’t being a fucking idiot. Which right now is neither of you.”

”THAT IS ENOUGH.” Mother’s voice would ring out loudly, and everyone would look up to see her standing at the entrance. ”Cease these theatrics, children. You’re giving me a headache.” She would say, walking towards the group. With a simple flick of her hand, the wires would be sliced from Four’s guns, freeing both One and Five. She looked at her weapons in disbelief, shocked that such a powerful material could be cut through by mere fingernails.

”Five, darling. Though it pains me to admit, Seven is long gone. I appreciate you trying to rekindle that fire in my heart… but we have neither the time nor the resources to devote to a wild goose chase.” She explained, and Five would get up, about to protest.

”If-” she raised her hand to stop him from interrupting her, ”-you are so keen to follow through on these… ‘visions’, then fine. You, Six, and Four shall be in charge of trying to find Seven. I imagine Ollie here will be rather eager to assist you.” She stole a light glance at the man, who immediately got off of One and cleared his throat. Four and Six exchanged an incredulous look as they both asked ”...uh, visions?”

”Just know that every moment that passes does little to help your standings. The sooner you get this over with, the sooner I can return to grieving in peace. Though… I do have a job for you, Five.”

Five looked at Mother as she stared, unable to read the look on her face.