Notorious

"Hey, Alex, I got a bit of a problem," Fetch said.

Alex sighed into her phone. "What is it this time?" she asked.

"I'm being followed by another conduit. It might be the D.U.P."

"What kind of conduit are they?" she asked.

"Smoke, I think."

"Strange. Smoke isn't the D.U.P.'s style."

"Does it matter?! I need help! I don't know about you, but I'd rather not go back to that hell-hole of a prison!" she said, thinking back to her time in Curdun Cay.

Alex stood up from the ledge she was sitting on. "Go up a building so I can see you."

"Got it," she answered. Alex scanned the city, looking for Fetch. She saw a purple trail scale a skyscraper and stop on the roof.

"Alright," Alex began, "I have a plan."

"Well, you better say it quick, he's catching up," Fetch said, worried.

"You need to keep on running, but you need to keep straight. There's an alley a while's away from you. I'll use my neon and run into that alley. I'm much faster, so I'll be there before you. When you get there, I'll tell you what to do." She hung up and saw Fetch's trail leave from the building just as her pursuer caught up. Alex drained neon from a nearby sign and jumped from the building, landing unscathed on the ground. Surrounding civilians cowered in fear as she began running, leaving a pink trail of neon in her wake. Alex was a blur going up and down buildings. She saw Fetch on top of a building, close to their meeting spot, and pushed herself to go even faster. Alex arrived at the alley just as Fetch was on the building next to her.

"JUMP DOWN!" she yelled. As soon as Fetch hit the ground, she ran up the other building, taking Fetch's place. Fetch fled from the alley as the smoke conduit landed in the alley, frustrated.

"Damn it!" he yelled, kicking a can. "How the hell did she get faster?!" The conduit looked around looking for a way to catch Alex, when he spotted an air vent. He smirked, smoke dashing into it. Alex, still scaling the large building, looked behind her, smirking in victory.

"Looks like he finally gave up," she said. But, just as she arrived on the roof, the smoke conduit flew out of an air vent, smacking his body against her, sending them both down on the harsh, concrete roof. Before Alex could get up, the smoke conduit straddled her, pinning her arms against the ground, attempting to drain her neon power. However, it didn't work.

"What the hell? Why isn't my sponge-thing working?!" he said. Fetch suddenly sped near Alex and sent her foot to the smoke conduit's side, sending him off of her. She held a hand out to Alex, who took it gratefully, and helped her up. The conduit groaned and slowly stood up. Alex was about to go after him when Fetch held a hand out, stopping her. The three of them heard an alarm and looked down at the street to see an armored D.U.P. vehicle. Soldiers began getting out of the vehicle, aiming their guns at the three of them.

"I got Smokey here," Fetch said. "You go give them hell." Alex nodded in understanding and leapt from the edge of the building and angled herself downward, slamming down on the D.U.P. with her neon energy. The soldiers began shooting at her, but Alex dodged with ease. She uncoiled the sleek chain from her wrist and it became straight and rigged, pulsing with her neon energy. She charged and sliced at the soldiers, enough to wound them, moving with speed and precision. Once all of the enemies were weakened, Alex charged and released a large stasis bubble, freezing them in time. Swiftly, she used her laser insight and began shooting them all in the leg, subduing the enemies. Some of the soldiers had been killed, but she didn't mind; they were her enemies, after all.

"GET OFF OF ME!" Alex turned and ran up the building to help Fetch. When she arrived, the smoke conduit had straddled her, taking hold of her wrists. Fetch, not giving up, began pulsing her power into the conduit, harming him. Her neon energy snaked from her hands to his, draining her power. As he finished draining Fetch's ability, rough patches of her memory played in his mind. Seeing that he was distracted, Fetch kicked him in the stomach and pushed him off. Alex ran to her side, and the pair looked at the smoke conduit, hatred in their eyes. Their neon energy pulsed wildly at the fingertips, ready for a fight.

"You are not taking me back to Curdun Cay!" Fetch said, charging at the conduit. The conduit tried to dodge, but instead sped unintentionally to the edge of the building again.

"Not this again!" he groaned. He tried to move toward Fetch with his newly acclaimed power, but lost control, speeding past her. He tried once more, stumbling in the process, but failed miserably. Alex and Fetch looked at one another and nodded. Together, they ran off of the building, a blur of purple and pink. The smoke conduit followed close behind, leaving a trail of blue-purple. Alex and Fetch ran as fast as they could, jumping across streets, scaling buildings, running up walls, jumping from roof to roof, but the smoke conduit was relentless; he would not be stopping any time soon. When Alex and Fetch had finally put distance between their chaser, they both fired a phosphor beam. The conduit barely dodged as jumped over the beam and resumed running after them.

"Would you guys just slow down?!" he asked, clearly frustrated at how the chase was going.

"Not a chance!" Alex responded, grabbing Fetch by the arm and jumping off of the building they stood on. Alex and Fetch ran across the street, arriving at a huge, ornate building lit up entirely by bright neon lights. Alex and Fetch fired one last phosphor beam, before running up the front of the bright building. The conduit followed close on their trail, arriving face to face with them on the roof.

"Listen," the conduit started, holding his hands up, showing that he means no harm. "I just want to talk..."

Fetch looked at the glass that we were all standing on, and looked back at the conduit.

"Fetch, no!" Alex shouted. But it was too late. Fetch fired at the glass, shattering it, sending the three of them into the building.