Indigo's Owl [Indigo Rewrite]

Chapter 40 - Faultline

"Team members only," said Zoe coldly as she turned her back on him and kept walking, pushing past Raph. "Go find someone else to harass."

"I am your team member," said Red, undeterred, though he seemed perplexed at having to explain himself. "More so than they will ever be. We are Spectrum, a team chosen by destiny to defeat the Sins and—"

A loud boom from somewhere outside shook the building.

Raph swore, shield over his head. "What in the hues was that?"

"That was Purple," said Red.

Shift didn't take his eyes off his surroundings as he said, "...Purple?"

"The Wardens think Athira's the Purple Spectrum," muttered Zoe, fixing the ribbon in her hair with a grimace. "They call all the Spectrum by their Colour. It's weird, don't—" Her eyes went wide. "Wait, Thira isn't with you?"

"She said she'd make her own way out," said Shift. "She's distracting the Wardens while we—"

Zoe glared at him and started running for the exit as a second explosion went off somewhere nearby. "And you just let her go?"

"It wasn't like she gave me much of a choice!" Shift yelled back as the rest of them ran after her. "Did you forget she can fly?"

Talia and Kione were waiting outside, staring at the twin plumes of smoke rising into the air a few blocks away. Several half-built Frames were scattered on the ground around Kione, Tech that he'd probably scavenged off the unconscious Elites.

Talia wrinkled her nose as she noticed Red. "Great. Another stray. Who's this?"

"Red Spectrum," said Zoe, her eyes on the smoke. "Red, do you know where Thira is?"

Red tried to reply when Talia beat him to it.

"You're joking, right?" said Talia with a snort of laughter. "After what she's done?"

"Really?" said Zoe, exasperated. "Now, Talia?" She shook her head and turned, heading for the smoke. "I don't have time for—"

The ground beneath Zoe's feet rose up and trapped her leg, rooting her in place. Off balance, she fell, only to be caught by a second scoop of stone.

"What in the hues are you doing, Talia?" said Zoe, trying to pull herself free. "Let go! I need to find Thira before—"

"Give up on her already, Zoe!" said Talia, leaning heavily on her left side. "She's been using you and everyone else on this team from the start, or can you still not see that?"

"We might not even be here if you'd given her a chance in the first place!" Zoe shot back. "But no! At every point you could, you just assumed she was lying, that she was trying to—"

"I gave her a chance every day I didn't report her to the Elites, and look where that got me!" yelled Talia. "My Blue is gone, Zoe, and it's all because of her!"

Zoe frowned. "What do you mean your Blue is gone?"

"I mean that your psycho 'sister' took my Blue and tried to kill me," said Talia through gritted teeth. "Even Shift can't sense it. My Colour is gone."

It took Zoe a moment to finally shake her head. "There had to be a reason. Maybe it was an accident, or—"

"The reason is that she's unhinged!" said Talia. "She is beyond our help at this point, Zoe!" Talia looked back to Kione, then at Raph and Shift. "Can one of you back me up here? Raph?"

"We don't know exactly what happened," said Raph hesitantly. "She might have—"

"I don't believe this," said Talia, turning back to Zoe. "Athira is dangerous. She's almost got everyone except Kione killed on at least one occasion. Why are you still trying to help her?"