In a world torn between heroes and villains, it can be a dangerous and hostile place. Some take comfort in the Gifted that stand up against those who would use their powers for greed and chaos. While others choose to hide away, fearful of the day...
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The last thing she saw before she blacked out was the vicious grin of Karina Sokolov diving over the edge of the railing. Then she hit something, and she hit it hard. After that, her memory was a shadow of sound and sensations. A rush of movement, a cacophony of voices, a tight constriction around her chest. It all happened within the murky water of the excruciating pain shooting through her head.
Then the light faded in and the muffled sounds regained their clarity.
"Should we have her upright like that or will that just make it worse?"
"I told you there was no bleeding. I think fear may have contributed more to the fainting than impact."
"She shouldn't have hit the trees in the first place."
"The bitch threw hot water in my face, so it took me a second!"
"Shock, I'm getting some readings."
"You've been saying that for an hour. Which is an hour we could've used to swing her to our side if someone hadn't been so keen on revenge."
"I brought her to you!"
The voice was shriller than she remembered, but as the cogs in her mind creaked and turned once again, she knew it was Karina that was fighting to defend herself.
"None of you would've gotten within ten miles of that place before security kicked you out and none of you would have gotten her out of there, even if you did make it onto the property. I deserve more credit."
"She did a good job, Shock. Let it go."
"You," uttered a voice she recognized as Shockwave, "don't have Stone breathing down your neck. He gave me this task personally, not Gyro, our supposed Admiral."
"Careful, Shock."
"What? Where was Gyro when I was fighting a hell beast?"
"It was an illusion," answered Karina, a roll of her eyes present in her tone. "You weren't actually fighting a real monster. Just something her imagination came up with."
"Shock, I'm telling you it's different. She's regained consciousness."
"Fine, fine, break out the smelling salts then and snap her to attention."
Elaina fought to open her eyes or to utter an exclamation, anything to fend off the coming assault of the pungent ammonia inhalant. However, her body ignored her commands, and a scent crashed against her nostrils like a battering ram.
"Argh," she cried, her eyes popping open and her body jumping, though she still found herself painfully immobile.
"We meet again, Ms. Hart."
She blinked to clear the fog from her eyes while her throat did its best to suppress the rising burn of stomach acid. All around her it felt like the world was spinning and she struggled to ground herself.
