Triple Point

Chapter 116: The Betrayal

Camilla

"She's not going anywhere, Wyatt," Senior ordered viciously.

"I may have let you call the shots before, but that ends now," Camilla responded sternly. "You don't get to change the plan at the last second to satisfy your own personal vendetta, not if it endangers everyone else."

"She already said this wasn't about revenge!" Chief Ali interjected defensively.

"And I've just about had it trying to play nice with your impudence," Senior sneered, ignoring her brother. "You think that because you're stronger than everyone else that your opinions actually matter? You think you deserve respect just because you think your life is rough? You're nothing. You're just a sad little girl who thinks if she tries hard enough, maybe mommy will finally love her. Yeah, I know all about you, Wyatt. And I'm not going to let some pathetic kid stand in my way."

Senior's words had no effect on Camilla, but that obviously wasn't the only weapon in her arsenal. Before Camilla could react, Senior had filled Hester with an abundance of energy, enough to overpower not only two of Hitomi's inhibitors but Camilla's hold on her as well.

Immediately, a shockwave rippled around Hester, knocking most of the closest people off their feet. Camilla had managed to maintain some control of the air around Hester, but it wasn't much, and she could feel herself gradually losing her advantage. Yet she wasn't going to give up that easily, and she mustered as much energy as she could to rival Hester's.

While Camilla's unusually high energy capacity gave her an advantage, Hester made up for it with experience. After all, Hester was nearly two decades senior to Camilla, and she knew better than most about how meta-abilities worked. She used this knowledge to her advantage, knowing exactly how to push against Camilla's energy to get her to fold. And even when the others tried to step in to help, Hester simply tossed them aside with a shockwave, just like she had done to the Gorilla when they first arrived.

Except Hester's energy wasn't limitless; it was just Senior's assistance that was making it seem like that was the case. Camilla had to do something to separate them, but she was struggling enough as it was. At one point, she tried to reach out towards Senior's wheelchair to push her away, but Hester merely laughed at her feeble attempt before pushing Camilla down to one knee.

Like Hester, Senior noticed exactly what Camilla had just tried to do. But unlike Hester, Senior wasn't willing to take any chances. Without missing a beat, she reached under her seat and pulled out a small, silver sphere, then tossed it into the middle of the Capture Team. And before anyone could react, the device let out a short, high-pitched beep before bursting into a thick yellow cloud.

For a split second, nothing happened, and Camilla wondered if the unfamiliar device was just a distraction. But then Camilla suddenly felt her energy rush out of her uncontrollably, and she couldn't help but crumple to the ground, exhausted and drained. She wasn't alone either, and everyone around her began to let out startled yelps and pained groans as they dropped like flies, leaving only Senior and Hester as the only ones unaffected.

After that, it didn't take long for Hester to completely overpower her, and she threw Camilla back with a mere flick of her wrist. The strong shockwave felt like a sharp slap to her entire body, and Camilla had to gritted her teeth to keep herself from grunting in pain when she fell flat on her back. Still, she couldn't just give up, and although she had hardly any strength left, Camilla needed to at least make sure everyone was okay.

Simply moving was difficult, but Camilla was eventually able to roll from her back to her side. Next to her, Elsie was crouched over on her hands and knees, her arms trembling just from holding herself upright. Camilla willed her own arms to move and reach out to Elsie, and she just barely managed to brush the tips of her fingers against the edge of Elsie's hand. And while Camilla couldn't really feel the touch—the nerves in her fingers still hadn't fully healed—Elsie had, and she moved just enough to link some of their fingers.