The Custodes

Chapter 30 - Countdown

57 Minutes Remaining
Neo
"Is he answering?" Neo asked Kayla as the two of them sprinted down the dark streets of Pomona, dressed in whatever clothes were nearest to them when they took that single minute to change in the apartment. "No, Neo, otherwise I would be fucking talking to him." The girl replied, her voice filled with worry as she pulled her phone away from her ear, cursing before calling Noah again. "What if they got to the others before us?" Neo said in a panicked tone, the adrenaline coursing through him doing nothing to help his mind settle down. "No. No, they couldn't have. They specifically said they would move on to the others after you. Which means it had to have been the first place they went to...at least I'm hoping so. God dammit Noah just fucking pick up!" Kayla yelled into her phone, before calling her friend once more. "Kayla, Kayla wait." Neo said, grabbing the girl's arm and pulling her to a halt as she turned to face him "We need to think about what we're doing. We can't gather the others by ourselves, we need Noah. How far away is his place?" "Shit, um...if I run I could be there in...twenty minutes? Maybe longer." She replied, as Neo nodded to himself before meeting her gaze "Right. You get there as soon as possible, calling him all the way. I'm gonna run to Kelsie's and try reach Milo, if I can wake him I'll have him bring Quinn then teleport us all to Hector's. When you're with Noah, teleport to Synthia and Axel's, grab them, then meet us there, alright?" Kayla nodded her head emphatically, as Neo let out an exhale and nodded back "Okay. Great. I'll see you there and we'll figure out some sort of plan. Stay safe." "You too." With that they both turned and ran in opposite directions as fast as they could, both pulling out their phones and dialling their respective friend frantically.

"Neo? It's three in the morning, what-" "Milo! Zuro and Nexus are back, I need you to get Quinn then come to Kelsie's ASAP! We've bought ourselves some time but it isn't a lot, you need to move as quick as possible." Neo practically yelled into the phone, as Milo hurriedly responded - instantly awake if he hadn't already been "Yeah, okay, right, yeah. I can do that. I'll be as fast as I can." He hung up an instant later, leaving Neo to continue running down the street on his way to Kelsie's. His head spun - there was too much to think about at that one moment. What would they do when their hour was up and Zuro and Nexus entered his apartment? Were they even remotely ready to take them on at their current stage? Would Hector have figured out how to work the Zuro Killer in time? Too many variables and too little time to think about them. All Neo could do was act on instinct alone, and he just had to hope that with their group gathered they'd be able to take down the pair.

45 Minutes Remaining
Neo scaled Kelsie's stairs as fast as he could, making it to her door in record time and knocking on it hurriedly. He was so frantic, as well as assuming that she was asleep, that he almost began shouting, but surprisingly the door opened after a few short seconds and revealed Kelsie standing in her lit hallway, staring at Neo with trepidation and hesitance. She looked bad - her face was red around the eyes as though from crying and her hair was an untidied mess, but Neo didn't have the time to consider her appearance or think about why she was awake. "Zuro and Nexus. They're back, they attacked me but Kayla went back in time and now we've only got an hour before they show up." He told her hurriedly, and from the utterly shocked expression that quickly filled her face he assumed it was the last thing she was expecting to hear at that moment. Without even responding she retreated into her home as Neo followed, shut the door, then began pacing across Kelsie's living room as the girl sat on the couch. "What do we do?" She asked, clearly not remotely prepared for a situation like this. Neo understood exactly how she felt. "Well right now we're waiting for Milo to show up with Quinn. After that we're going to Hector's to meet the others, where we'll...hopefully come up with a plan." Neo explained, hating how helplessly dire the situation seemed when put into words. "Okay..." She muttered, looking down in thought before she stood up once again and headed for her kitchen "I'll get hot chocolate." "This is hardly a time for hot chocolate Kelsie!" Neo yelled in objection, only for the girl to suddenly turn on him with an expression containing equal amounts of both anger and downright terror "Well what the fuck else can I do Neo?! You told me we're waiting so we'll wait! I'm way out of my depth here but I'm coming along anyway and I think I'm entitled to enjoy what could quite easily be the last hot chocolate I ever have while I can!" Neo backed up slightly in surprise, staring at the girl who looked at him with fearful and devastated eyes. It was then he realised exactly what this news would do to a person like her. She needed to be there in case something drastic happened, but if Zuro or Nexus turned on her, then what would she do? The girl who'd been there since the start, the soul reason any of them were alive, and who they all relied on to be their fallback if things went south. She was the one most at risk. And now, in the endgame, where Zuro wasn't simply 'testing their skills' or toying with them, she had a right to fear for her life. Neo suddenly understood what she need to hear - what no one had told her even once since they first encountered Zuro. "Kelsie." He reached out and took both her hands, gripping them tight as he stared defiantly into her still shaky, scared eyes "No one is going to lay a hand on you. Not Zuro, not Nexus, not a single other fucking person on the planet while the rest of us are still breathing. Me, Noah, Axel, Synth, Kayla, we're all going to keep you safe. You have nothing to worry about - they'll have to kill every one of us before they even think about touching you, you understand?" Kelsie stared in stunned silence at Neo's firm expression, before after a long pause she gave the tiniest nod of her head to show she understood. And she did. That was all she needed to hear to realise the true extent of her friend's devotion. Instead of fear, there was now a fire in her eyes - however long it took, however tired she got, she would make sure they all stayed alive. That was all she had to do; while they were fighting for their lives, she'd ensure those lives stayed intact. And they were all going to make it out. Every single one of them. Both Kelsie and Neo's thoughts were interrupted as a loud cracking sound filled the living room, causing them to turn around and spot Milo and Quinn now standing there back-to-back, with Milo quickly waving the pair over "Come on, next stop Hector's." They didn't need to be told twice, hurriedly moving to standing at the sides of the duo with their own backs facing them. "What took you so long?" Neo asked Milo as he squeezed his back as close to the others as he could, watching the ice start to crawl up around them from the floor. "Traffic." The man answered sarcastically, before the ice encased the four of them and transported them away from Kelsie's apartment.