[10] End Game

[Kaden]

Despite his decision to move with Trisha, Jackson, Rosemary, and Oliver, Kaden was still hesitant to leave his other allies. With their helicopter destroyed, the suggested course of action was to backtrack through Temple City and the room in which Kai had shown everyone their possible futures. In short order, Kaden would have no chance of helping anyone directly. It was frustrating.

"You think they'll be ok?" the courier asked no one in particular. They were already passing through Kai's 'future' room.

"Don't know," came Jackson's reply. He took up the mantle of 'leader' quite comfortably. "If this is all just a big TV show, Kai will want to draw out the end, though, right?"

"Makes sense..." the courier frowned as he spoke.

And it did, it made perfect sense It just wasn't particularly comforting. It should have been a short trip from the volcano to the temple and the city beyond, but Jackson seemed to be moving at a relatively slow pace. Kaden hadn't picked up on it, but things seemed out of place as they neared the city. Oliver, Jackson, and Trisha, all ex-soldiers, were hesitant to actually step out of the temple. Just as Jackson began to, Rosemary spoke up.

"Stop," was all she said.

Immediately, Jackson and Trisha stopped making any movement. Oliver, taking a cue from Jackson, also stopped. Kaden, however, had been too absorbed in his thoughts to pay too much attention. He only managed to take one step out of the temple before being pulled back in by the collar of his shirt.

A hail of bullets and blasts struck the steps to the temple where Kaden had just been standing. The courier stared, amazed, at the concrete that he been standing upon as it was reduced to a small crater of rubble.

"Rooftops," came Trisha's voice over the sound of gunfire. "10 and 2."

"Rosemary, you take 10, I'm at 2," Jackson called over his shoulder.

Without saying a word, Rosemary stepped up beside Jackson and the two of the siddled up to the door leading out of the temple. As soon as there was a lull in the gunfire, the two of them took a single step out the door. Jackson fired a blast of ki to the right of the door, which crashed against a nearby rooftop. To the left of the door, Rosemary flicked an arm outwards, firing small blasts from her fingertips; the blast struck the rooftop assailants squarely.

"Oliver, Trish, take point and get us out of here," Jackson barked.

Though she shot a glare in his direction, Trisha followed Jackson order and shot out of the temple, dagger in hand. Oliver, who Kaden only then realized had been the one to pull him out of harm's way, was right behind Trisha. As Kaden collected himself and stepped forward, he heard the sounds of a fight beginning to break out.

Ahead of him, the courier saw Jackson and Rosemary moving forward much more carefully. Their eyes were fixed on the rooftops and upper-floors of the city beneath the mountain. Kaden felt as completely useless as he was sure he looked. Everyone else around him was capable of such amazing things in even the tightest situations. The only thing Kaden was consistently good at was almost getting shot.

As he stepped fully out of the temple, though, Kaden could tell that things were going to get a lot worse before they got better. Even without his Sight, he could tell there were lots of... unfriendlies lurking about. He could feel them. And, naturally, they were standing between Jackson, Oliver, Rosemary, Trisha, Kaden, and where they needed to go. Things were going to get a lot worse...