Reaching Salvation: Post-Acer Part 1

A vine sprouted up near Nathan, wrapping around his wrist. "St-Stop it..." Kira ordered meekly.

"Eithne's still with Nathan though..." Simon said. Maybe if he comes with Nathan sometime to talk, we can see him and convince him to stay!

"With any luck," Tom replied genuinely.

"I'm not going to hurt him, Kira!" Nathan said switching powers again.

"Just said you would. I'm still waiting for it, in fact," Luke laughed sarcastically, still holding his arms wide open.

"I said I'd take the sword, not hurt you." Nathan corrected, looking Luke straight in the eye.

"What super speed? Didn't realise you turned into a pussy, Nate, more than usual, anywho," Luke replied. "It's my sword, anyway. Not yours."

Luke's vision suddenly became clouded and then everything became dark. He couldn't feel or touch anything and it would've felt like he was floating.

Whilst Luke was suspended in that state, Nathan super sped at the man and removed the sword from his belt.

"You gave the sword to me as a gift, I'm simply taking it back." Nathan said, allowing the Illusion to fade.

"I can't make one around myself though. It fizzles out in a heartbeat." Christina told Elena, and demonstrated. There was a fizzling sound, and the field around her disappeared.

"I let you borrow it while you got your shit together, and you cast it off when you cast off your team. Now it's mine. Give it back," Luke said, leaning against a tree for support.

"And now, I'm trying to get my team back, no matter what I have to do." Nathan said. "Only fitting that I take the sword back."

"Yes, I know, you're taking that to try and tell us it's back to the way things were. Well newsflash, back then you were still a dick," Luke replied snarkily. "The fact remains that you've crippled a man and then stolen his walking stick. You dick."

"N-Nathan, pl-please j-j-just...g-give it b-back..." Kira mumbled, the vine grabbing the hand holding the sword, jerking it towards Luke. All this conflict was not helping her feel any better...

---

Elena shrugged, "Hey, it's still better than what I can do: nothing." She started laughing, standing up. "C'mon, let's go find Simon, it'll be fun! The church is creepy, anyway."

---

Heidi sighed. "Oh well, it's not like we c'n do much just talking 'bout it." She stopped, gesturing to the empty lot in front of her. "And, here we are!"

Erika entered just as the two were coming out.

"Adeline threatened to beat the shit out of me if I left here." she said meekly.

"Don't worry, Ade's all bark and no bite, usually!" Elena grinned, waving to Erika.

Lightning shot from Nathan's hand and a large straight branch fell from the tree and landed near Luke. "There's your stick, not that you'd need it if you accepted my offer."

He tightened his grip on the sword and slashed through Kira's vine.

Christina stood up, nodding warily at Erika. "Hello, friend." she said.

Erika noticed Christina with Elena and gave a smile. "Ah, I see that you two have met."

Luke acted without thinking, socking Nathan on the face as soon as he turned, knowing the teen well enough to know when Nathan couldn't detect him with Intuitive Aptitude. Cripple though he was, his arms were wiry and muscled from use, especially his left, and his punch packed a... well, punch.

"You know that hurts her," Luke hissed, shaking his fist.

The girl from earlier actually smiled. Christina was amazed, and realized Elena was right.

Having seen Tom off before he had reached the village, Joey headed back to the forest, walking around until he reach a rocky area.

Jumping around from rock to rock with ease, Joey soon reached his destination, a humongous tree, a giant bird's nest that sat beside it, and most importantly, what sat in the nest. A giant Flow-mutated eagle, about three times the size of the hawk Nathan had been riding earlier. "Hey Ven!"

Nathan growled as he felt the punch and acted without thinking. IA was on full time and he'd missed Luke's punch. I still can't underestimate him.

He swung forward and rammed the hilt of the sword into the Cripple's stomach. With that done he grabbed Luke by the scruff of the neck and lifted him above him. With a rip he removed a patch of the males shirt before dropping both him and the sword.

"Fine. If you're not going to accept my attempts at making things up to you, then stay out here."

"It's j-just a sc-scratch..." Kira mumbled, the short pain in her arm making her stomach feel worse. Hearing the fighting, vines shot up around Nathan and Luke, protecting Luke from further attacks and trying to restrain Nathan.

---

Elena nodded, grinning. "Simon came over this morning and woke me up! We had an adventure."

Luke lay on the ground for a minute, leg sneaking out and tripping Nathan while he himself flipped to his feet, albeit almost collapsing from being crippled. Luke, though he was severely weakened at the time, had once been one of the better fighters in the tournament, and was more talented without his Flow than most, having had to live through losing control.

"You haven't changed. Still have to be in charge, don't you Nathan? Something happens you don't like, and you cut it down," Luke smirked, standing above his team-mate.