Asylum

Redrawn Alliances

"I can't do that," she tells me, vein map coursing with light, making her shadowed eye sockets look hollow. "I've waited for this for too long."

I glance behind her, where Leo, Kya, Sarah, and Xavier perch themselves on top of the stairs, gawking at Elwood. Where is Ren? Kya takes initiative and plunges down the steps, nearly slipping after every other step. Xavier teleports to the base of the steps, crossing his arms over his broad chest. Sarah clutches some sort of kit close to her chest while Leo tentatively descends, gun glued to his side. In the distance where Ace has been eliminating outlier shooters, he trains his sights on Elwood. "Elektra," I try again. "With all of us..." I nod at the others who group together. "We can kill him. This might be the only chance to do it. Please."

Behind me, I feel Lana's eyes glued to my back, totally immersed in the conversation and patiently waiting. Of course, she's willing to work with Elektra if it means killing Elwood and, subsequently, saving me. And obviously, I'm all for that, too. Without warning, Elektra steps forwards, pointing two fingers right at Lana and unleashing Zeus's fury. "No!" I shout, watching the trail of blue as it soars to Lana faster than one of Ace's bullets. Then, watch as it soars on past her, frying a gunner nearby with his gun focused on Lana.

Elektra points a finger at Lana. "We aren't done. But Cerberus has a point. You up to it?"

Solemnly, Lana nods, gripping her daggers so tight that skin might split on her palms.

Wearily, Elektra eyes me. "Quite the pair of lungs for a man who hardly spoke around Asylum," she notes, flicking her gaze from me to Lana, then back to me. "Interesting." And without another word, Elektra stomps towards her friends in a way that only she could manage.

Discretely, Lana nudges my arm. "We're not letting you go so easily."

Queasily, I smile. "I appreciate it."

Together, we side by Kya, with Xavier acting as her hounding bodyguard once again. Everyone's here and accounted for. Everyone, that is, except for Ren. I elbow the silver-haired girl. "Hey, where's -?" And when she looks at me, I already know the answer. It's written in her red-rimmed eyes, trembling bottom lip, and eyebrows creased in loss. I sigh, patting her shoulder. Even though Ren considered me the enemy, it was always apparent in our brief encounters that Kya and Ren meant a lot to each other. "I'm sorry."

She sniffles and looks away, eyes piercing right through Elwood. "I don't want to talk about it now. We have business to deal with." Her unusually calloused face softens up as she adds, "But...thank you. And I hope your efforts for keeping Elektra and Lana alive pay off. Personally, I don't like Lana, but if she stays away from us, then I wouldn't mind it if she walked away unscathed."

"One day, your forgiving nature is going to work against you," I warn. By the look she gives Xavier, I can tell it already has. Kya agreed to stay out of the fight, and that no matter how it ended, she'd help the older Walker. Now, the worst-case scenario has happened, and she has to stick to her word because she's Kya, and promises with her mean certainty. "But...thanks," I mimic.

Elwood makes it within 100 paces from us, pausing and surveying us all. "Good," he coos, voice gravelly and grave, but slick with deception. "Everyone's here." Going down the line of us, he acknowledges us all, one by one. "The Flash of Death, my bitch of a daughter..." his iceberg blue eyes rest on me. "Nice to see you again, Alex." My stomach churns. The circular white scars on my back tingle as they remember the electrocution they endured. My fingernails throb with the memories of being yanked out. My tongue runs over an empty socket in my gums, where I once had a tooth.

Continuing, he moves on to Kya, then Xavier. "The pacifist, the traitor..." Then Leo and Sarah. "The useless boy dragging down the group, and the little Voodoo Doll. Now, I do believe we're missing a member. Where is the master of the dojo?"