Shadow's Dance (old)

Chapter 4: Focus

Jane could feel the air rushing against her face as she gained more speed. Zooming around the base that was once one of North Carolina's uninhabited islands she took in its raw form. You wouldn't notice it from the sky but it was felt like paradise.

Every now and again the team would go into the main land and shop for whatever they needed. They hadn't gotten a mission since they met Jane which meant they could train and adjust. All of it felt energizing but she wasn't ready to go back in the real world. Without an education, birth certificate, or any form of identification she be normal. That didn't mean Jane was chained here. She could always do a solo act if she felt the needed to leave. It certainly wasn't Phantom, Jane even hanged out with Crome and Scarlet after training. Cupid and Iwix were the ones who ran the place, Remi was always buried in her work. The three just used code name first letter, S, C, and M. It was quicker to get a plan in that way not to mention they all were pretty close in age except for Iwix, who was 37 and once was a professor at a college, and Cupid, who was 30 and once a police officer. Scarlet and Crome were inseparable because they knew each other since they were little.

Stopping in a dense area filled with lush trees Jane opened one of the many concealed entrances. It had been weeks since she told Iwix about the Mages and her beef with their king but he hadn't told her all what they found in the files. Stretching out she could feel the sun poking out from the leaves and beam down her neck.

The earpiece beeped in her ear. "Your gonna miss today's training too M!" It was Scarlet

"Already on my way Rose, try and clear the first level before I get there." Jane chuckled as she closed the door.

She had on a scarf to cover the electrical burns on her neck, over time they would heal but she didn't want anyone else to see it. It was hard to hide the horns during an outing, the burn was easy compared to that.

Jane lightly jogged to the training center, jumping over the stairs she landed in the practice area to join Scarlet and Crome who were magically still on their feet.

Tapping her com a red circle indicated to connect to the command center above them behind transparent bulletproof glass.

"Wish you were on time Jane but at least you showed up. Get ready you three for the next wave of bots." Said the unimpressed voice of Cupid.

Jane gave a groan."Yea I know the sitch, use as little power as you can."

"Who says sitch anymore? It's not like you traveld back in time M.J." Scarlet snickered.

A larger training bot raise its fist to smash Scarlet. Jane pushes her out of the way just in time. "Might want to focus a bit more if your gonna trash talk." Jane winked before getting up and helping out Crome.

Scarlet smashed boys with her weapons as Crome performed his illusions to disable his bots. Jane was there just to give a slight boost besides her real training was afterwards to work using her energy wiser in a dragged out battle. They all had separate time slots for practice as a group and individually.

Suddenly multiple beeps came on all of the coms and speakers.

"We have some action in Charlotte, multiple robberies at the same time, police are too widely spread out to get them all. There all probably working together on something bigger so lets try to stop it."

The bots shut down and all three of them sighed. They were more than happy to get a mission but they hadn't really work on group attacks nor functioning as one either. The wall flipped to show the costumes to improve combat and movement. Once the three got into them they got onto the jet with autopilot already set.

"We don't know how many attacks there's going to be and we don't know their goal so try to save your energy, that goes for all of you. Work quickly, you'll be dropped off in the first ward near the center. The Bank of America Corporate Center seems like the most probable target." Said the robotic voice on the coms.

"Why not wait for the big bad?" Questioned Crome who was polishing his pair of double blades.

"We still need the reputation of protecting all, its only one bad day till all of us are in a situation like..."

Jane huffed as she unbuckled her seat belt. "Get civilians to safety, don't get your ass beaten, and get their kingpin."

Pressing the button on a panel to let down the cargo hatch she ran and jumped off. A blue line speeded on the ground far ahead of them towards uptown Charlotte.

On the coms Scarlet and Crome could hear a static voice. "Oh, and also don't forget to use the opportunity of surprise, make sure everything seems to be going as planned before-"

Suddenly static could only be heard.

It disconnected.

"M.J? Jane? Mockingbird? Hello?" Crome looked worried as he glanced at Scarlet. "What do we do?"

"She...probably just got too far from us or she turned it off herself. I'm sure everything is fine. We still have a job to do no matter what." Scarlet said quietly. "She's fine. Jane has to be, right?"