Oh mai... This is new...

Isaac didn't fully understand what was going on, and stood there quizzically as a voice spoke over the intercom. He looked at Rachel, noting the look of horror on her face. "What happened...? Who is that chick talking about?" He hadn't even met Laura, and only briefly met Roy, so he was completely out of the loop in this situation. "Rachel...?"

---

Celeste was sitting on the floor by the time Roy wound up falling, the deaf marten covering her face with her hands as she cried. She was quite sure that her sister was going to die, and she didn't even get to hug her one last time or anything... It's not fair! It's not fair!

"That is all..." Julianne smiled, and then she vanished from the television screens and intercom system, though one last noise came through before it cut out-- Laura's drugged little cry of horror when she opened her eyes and realized whose lap she was sitting on. But then the screens were dark, and the speakers silent.

Scotty and Shay were both stricken when they heard the news, but then they both started doing the same thing; trying to hunt down their loved ones, as well as each other, Celeste, and Roy. Shay held baby Bianca in his arms, the little sugar glider's face all red like she had been crying, while Scotty just ran around in search for his boyfriend or little Celeste, wanting to make sure he could keep the younger of the Dering sisters safe.

---

Raine leaned against a wall, then slid down and sat on the floor. She closed her eyes and let a breath rush out through her lips. The mountain lion was pretty out of it, and didn't pay attention when Julianne spoke over the intercom, nor did she really notice when the voice stopped, either. She just focused on not throwing up at Lillian's feet... that would just ruin any progress they had made.

---

Evey's ears were pinned to her head, and she gave a little shake, 'no.' "I-I'm staying with you until I know for sure that you're going to be okay... and then I'm gonna get Libra and come back over here so we can look at you all sad-eyed until you promise never to almost die again." She let out a somewhat shaky breath, just glad that he was alive.

---

Winnie climbed onto Storm, holding onto the robot. "Let's go!" She wanted to be just like Flare (er, well, maybe not just like her, more like just like the glorified version of her that lived in Winnie's head), so rescuing someone using her healing powers was something she really wanted to do. It would make Flare proud.

Storm started off slowly at first but after she was sure Winnie had a good grip on her, she sprinted forward taking off like at ridiculous speeds towards the house.

Jonah wrapped his free arm around Roxy, his other still pressed against the wound he'd applied the coagulant to...it was working but not to it's full extend, the wound was just too big.

"Why would I do that?" Jonah said, "Why would I leave someone I care about behind? I'm not leaving you, I'll be right here by your side...always."

(JOOOOOOONAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!!! <3333333

Jonah: Did I really just say that?! >/////////<")

~

Zero smiled, his eyes didn't open, "You're as stubborn as always, Evey...and I love you for it."

(Roy: ZHONAH ZIS EES NOT ZE TIME! D8< *seethes*

o3o"... *sedates him*

Roy: xnx

Stone: Um, was that necessary?

No. ouo")

Oh God no.... Nononono... Rachel felt panic swelling inside of her, and she almost didn't hear Isaac trying to speak to her. However, she managed to stammer, her fear being for her brother and his girlfriend, "E-eet's my brozair's girlfriend... S-she's been taken by ze Sect..."

(God, in the following days before the final Sect attack, Roy's going to be a freaking mess. And I think 'I'm a Mess' by Ed Sheeran is appropriate right now. XP And the song is one of my tap warmups.)

---

Stone practically dragged Roy back, his face full of the bat's wings, which flopped all over the place as he held him up. He still didn't respond, and Stone looked around in fear-- he felt some relief wash over him when he saw Scotty and Shay, with Bianca in his arms. "Scotty! Shay! Over here!" He was also aware that Celeste was crying on the floor, but he kind of had his hands full at the moment.

---

Lillain was distracted by Raine when someone spoke over the intercom, and was left, confused out of her mind. What just happened? She looked over to Aaron, whose single yellow eye widened with recognition, and a look of 'oh shit' written on his face.

---

Roxy blinked away tears (or, at least tried to), and sniffled. She was kind of out of it, so she didn't really catch the true intentions of his words. If she hadn't been bleeding out on the floor at the moment, she probably would have blushed, "T-thank you..."

(You can do it, Roy! o7o" ... *pokes his sedated form*)

Isaac's ears flattened to his head and he got a rather sympathetic look on his face. "I'm sorry for the loss..." Of course, he immediately assumed that Laura would be killed before anything could be done, because that was just the type of reputation the Sect had. He didn't ask if the kidnapped girl was supernatural or not; he didn't want Rachel to have to think about the kinds of experiments that would be done on her either way. The raccoon shifted his brother's weight in his arms, hearing the kitten groan a little. "Hey, he's gonna wake up before long... C'mon, let's go to your place. I can help find your brother once mine is settled, if you want."

----

Shay and Scotty hurried over, both of them with disturbed expressions on their faces. The sheep hurriedly went over to Celeste, only pausing next to Stone for a moment to touch his arm for a second, taking a little bit of comfort from being next to him. Then he was pulling Celeste up to her feet, talking to her even though she couldn't hear him, "Et's alright, lassie... we won't let anything happen to Laura..."

Shay was glaring at Roy, who seriously looked like he was just ragdolling while Stone held him up. The bat snapped, "Pull yourself together, Roy! Now is not the time to start acting like it's the end of the world! Get up, get your feet under you, and help me find some people to start planning some kind of response to this! Laying around and pitying yourself isn't gonna help Laura, or anyone else stuck in that Sect hellhole." He still held Bianca in his arms; the tiny baby had stopped crying a while ago, but her face was still red and tears lingered in the corners of her eyes. Her tiny hands grasped at Shay's shirt, and she hiccuped a few times, threatening to cry again. In response, Shay shifted her into her favorite position to be held, holding her facing him, against his bony chest with her tiny head nestled against the side of his neck. He bounced her a little, somehow acting considerate and gentle towards the child while still giving Roy a death glare.

----

Raine opened her eyes and looked up when everyone went quiet, asking in a somewhat dazed voice, "What? What's going on?" She looked up at Aaron, who seemed like he had just seen a ghost. "You okay...?"

----

Winnie yelped as she clung to Storm, her ruby red eyes going wide. Still, the robot's speed meant they would get to Roxy's aid sooner... The fox kit could keep her from bleeding out until Jonah carried her to the infirmary to get properly taken care of. It would be alright... Please, Amarante, let it be alright... Wait, who am I praying to? The kit had all sorts of memories slowly coming to her, but she wasn't sure where she had gotten said memories. It was confusing, but apparently, Winnie believed in a goddess. It struck her by surprise to suddenly relearn that about herself... I need to talk to Flare about this stuff. It doesn't make sense.

(Roy: xnx

o7o' Shay, I dunno if you're helping.)

"Y-you don't undairstand-- she's bait for 'im!" Rachel didn't exactly remember ever telling Isaac about her brother's girlfriend, or really who her brother was, "Zis was set up on purpose to get a reaction!" And knowing her brother, he was definitely going to have a reaction. Rachel, now is not the time to panic! Get EJ home before you find Roy and Celeste!

---

Stone gave Scotty a little smile, thankful that he was okay, before turning his attention to Shay, with Bianca in his arms. He gave Shay a bit of a look, but it seemed to work for Roy-- he blinked, his eyes coming into focus more as he managed to somewhat stay standing up. His hands shook a little as he tried to stop panicking inwardly. Shay was right, as freaking out would get him nowhere, "A-alright, I'm okay..." Trying to pull off his own version of 'Laura-Mode', the bat nodded, "I'm comeeng." I have to end this. I can't let this happen to anyone ever again.

---

"No wonder the attack sheemed off..." Aaron said quietly, not really meaning for anyone to really hear. He kind of ignored Raine, but then said, "The Shect wash looking for bait for ush, and they found it."

(*just remembers today is National Coming Out Day* o3o' *unsedates Roy and pokes him in the face*

Roy: What? ene?

Remember how well your coming out was with Zero? e3e?

Roy: ...

o7o')

(Shay: Hey, he snapped out of it, didn't he? eme")

"Calm down..." Isaac's tone didn't raise or become edgy at all, remaining calm and steady. His fluffy, striped tail brushed down Rachel's back as he stood next to her. "We'll work it out... I doubt anyone is going to let him run off alone, and everyone is gonna want a piece of the Sect after this last attack. Remember we have an airship at the Devas' disposal now. We can launch an attack of our own, if the Council deems it appropriate. Now let's get you and EJ home... Your parents are probably having heart attacks." He started walking down the hallway again, glancing back over his shoulder to make sure the young bat followed him.

----

"Good," Shay nodded, glad that Roy wasn't being all frozen anymore. He patted Bianca's back, comforting the infant the best he could while she whimpered and smushed her damp little face against his neck. "Scotty, Stone, could you guys keep Celeste for a while? I doubt she'll wanna be home alone. I'm going with Roy to see what's gonna happen now." He knew Scotty wouldn't object, so his gaze lingered on Stone as he waited to see if the hybrid would agree.

----

Raine didn't fully understand, asking, "Did they take someone important...?" She looked up at Lillian for reassurance, her ears angling back. "Th-they didn't get one of the Wycliffs, right?" As annoying as Isaac was, she didn't think even Lillian would want anything bad to happen to him, or the little fluffball that was his brother.

Jonah just kinda held her some more, still putting pressure on the wound which now he really didn't want to look at.

"This is probably going to feel a little awkward but..."

He set her so she was on her back, pushed her legs so her feet were planted on the ground, almost like she was about to start doing crunches. Blood flowed a little bit fast for about a solid three seconds before it slowed dramatically...

He sighed with relief, "Thank gods for basic anatomy and physics..."

He then click his comn, "Storm where are you, I can't stop the bleeding and I'm sure as hell not going for her pressure points!"

"I am almost there," was all she said.

(Good point. XP)

Rachel did calm down a little at Isaac's words, but she still felt doubt gnawing at her stomach. The bat ended up giving in, and said in a small voice, "Okay... I'm comeeng..." The bat trailed after Isaac and EJ, the urge to just hold her boyfriend coming back at her at full force again. Oh Aurora...

---

Stone nodded a little, not seeing why the hell he wouldn't do so, "It's fine, Shay. Scotty and I have it. It's fine." I just can't talk to her... And I don't remember if Scotty can use sign language...

Roy felt some relief that Celeste was going to be taken care of-- he trusted both of them. Still kind of quiet and trying to get his bearings together, he jerked his head slightly in the direction of the hallway, "Let's go."

---

"Yesh, they did. And no, it'sh not one of the Wycliffsh." Aaron replied, wincing a bit when he turned around to look at them-- he felt sore all over, "They took Roy'sh girlfriend." And as much as I don't like him, this is not good at all.

---

Roxy flopped onto her back, barely moving or making a sound. Now that she was on her back, she felt darkness sneaking up on her. Her pink eyes started to slip closed as she welcomed the feeling. It took the pain with her.

Isaac kept an eye on Rachel as she walked him back to her place, hoping she would be alright. He paused so she could open the door for him, since his arms were sort of full with his younger brother, and awkwardly stepped inside. It was weird marching into someone else's home, but this was where EJ lived, so it shouldn't be all that bad... The raccoon eased EJ onto the couch, asking, "Where can I find a first aid kit?"

The younger brother himself was starting to wake up after passing out from sheer exhaustion, and drowsily lifted one arm to rub at his face, only to flinch and abruptly stop-- his hands were burned, so it hurt to use them. His eyes opened a little, and he let out a breath.

----

"Thanks," Shay glanced at Celeste, a somewhat pained expression on his face, but then he turned and followed Roy. "Come on, peg leg..." He still held Bianca against his shoulder as he moved down the hallway, hardly slowing his pace in consideration for Roy.

----

"Oh..." Raine didn't know that person, but still felt bad. The mountain lion started pushing herself to her feet again, using the wall for support. She then shifted closer to Lillian, her ears still angled back. "Can we go inside now?"

----

Winnie didn't know who Storm was talking to, but she certainly hoped they got there in time to help... "Hurry, hurry!" The eight-year-old kicked her feet a little, as though that would help.

(Winnie, Storm is not a pony... o3o")

Rachel's parents gawked at EJ and Isaac when they stepped inside the house with Rachel's help, but relief had come over them when they noticed that EJ was mostly okay... Except for his hands, which looked painfully burned. "I weell get eet." Richard said, before moving off to find it.

"Oh my God..." Anna breathed, looking at EJ with wide eyes as she approached them, "What happened?"

"'E zhust passed out from exhaustion..." Rachel murmured, going to kneel by EJ's head, "Ehzay?"

---

"You know, sloweeng down would be great." Roy's voice dripped with sarcasm and some anger-- his anger was starting to come back to him right now, as everything dawned on him, "I'm goeeng as fast as I can wizout trippeeng ovair my on feet." I need to work on this, and get walking and running down before facing Julianne...

---

"We can see if someone can look at your arm." Lillian said, helping Raine stand up and helping her inside the infirmary. She glanced once at Aaron, before looking away. The panther ended up just following after them, since he couldn't really wait all that much longer.

"Roxy..." Jonah said, sounding somewhat desperate, "Hey I need you to stay awake okay?"

He growled, "Storm hurry up! Roxy's not gonna be able to hold out much longer!"

Storm flinched when Winnie did so, "Maximum speed in three seconds..."

"YOU'RE JUST NOW GETTING UP TO MAX SPEED?! DAMN IT STORM SHE'S NOT A CYBORG LIKE ME!!! SHE'LL BLEED OUT IF YOU DON'T HURRY UP!!!"

Thankfully Jonah's little rant ate up those three seconds and Storm, with Winnie still clutching on her back, took off at just under the speed of sound, kicking up geysers of dirt and debris as they did.

~

Nex recovered from the gunshots that had hit him earlier.

"What the...?" he muttered.

They were gone. As quickly as they had appeared every soldier seemed to have vanished into thin air.

"TOBY!" Nex shouted rushing to his downed friend, "Toby...hey man you've gotta wake up."

Roxy stirred a little, with her eyes opening more when she heard Jonah yelling something. She couldn't really tell what he was saying at all. The injured chinchilla reached for Jonah, but her arm just flopped against her stomach, as she didn't have the strength to hold it up, "J-Jonah...?"

Isaac smoothed his brother's hair, then stepped back and assured Anna, "He's alright... He shut down the cyborgs he found before they could really lay a hand on him. I'll bandage his hands..." He stopped. "Unless it would make you feel better if you did it yourself."

His ears twitching, EJ turned his head and looked blearily up at Rachel. He didn't say anything, still looking really out of it, but he cracked a tiny smile as though to say, "It's okay. I'm okay." He rested his wounded hands on his stomach, palms-up so he wouldn't touch the more painful parts.

----

"You're gonna have to push yourself, Roy. You haven't fallen down, have you?" Shay scowled at him, not slowing his pace. "I'll slow down if you fall. But if you can handle it, then keep pushing yourself." He petted Bianca's head a little, pulling her little blanket higher up on her neck.

----

Raine walked inside with Lillian, keeping close to the skunk. She was feeling increasingly upset and unnerved, as though her fear was only just now kicking in after the fight was over. The lioness was trembling a little by the time she was sitting on a cot with a healer taking a look at her arm. She reached out to grab for one of Lillian's hand with her own uninjured one, tightly holding onto her fingers.

Winnie squealed when Storm went faster-- she was relieved then they burst into the room, and promptly let go of the robot, tumbling off of her, across the floor, and into Jonah's back as he knelt in the floor beside Roxy. The little fox sat there for a moment, dazed, then jumped up and stared at the couple in the floor. Her eyes glued to Roxy's leg. "O-oh..." The chinchilla's fear crashed over her, as did Jonah's, and the albino child flinched. She dropped down onto her knees beside them, reaching out to put her small hands on Roxy's leg. "I-it's okay... I can heal with magic..." She focused, hard, her ears flattening to her head and lips pulling back from her teeth in a grimace. Her red kitsune markings blazed, appearing on her body after being invisible, and they glowed slightly as she willed Roxy's leg to heal. It was slow, and imperfect, but the wound began to close up, her muscle tissue and skin fusing together again as though they had not just been damaged. There was a significant amount of scar tissue forming, but the cosmetics of the injury could be taken care of later... Winnie just focused on stopping the bleeding and saving her life.

----

"Nnnggh... Five more minutes..." Toby groaned, but as he regained consciousness he realized that he was not in bed being shaken awake. The panda freaked out at the sight of the destruction around him, his face paling all over again, "O-ohhhhhhh god..."

A blast of wind shot into the house upon Storm and Winnie arriving. as Jonah took Roxy's hand.

"Please...wake up..." He said, tears starting to form from his eyes, "Don't leave me..."

~

Nex looked his friend over multiple times but for the life of him couldn't figure out why Toby wouldn't wake up. So he picked up the panda and rushed towards the medical area, hopefully the healers could help him.

Rachel, hating seeing her lover like this, reached over to gently pet his ears to give him some reassurance, and some to herself. Thank Aurora you're okay... She reached over to give him a little kiss on the forehead, something she hadn't really done since she was sick.

"I... Would prefer if I did it." Anna admitted, not that she didn't trust Isaac-- she just needed to do it herself. Her husband returned with their first-aid kit, which she took so she could start bandaging EJ's hands. She focused on doing so, while her mind went to her actual son...

---

Roy was about to retort that he had nearly fallen multiple times before, but decided to keep his mouth shut about it. He only let out a small, annoyed sound, before focusing on trying to limp faster. The steain made his leg hurt, and he tried to ignore it.

---

Lillian held onto Raine's hand gently, trying to give her some reassurance. She couldn't deny the lioness, "It's okay, Raine... You're going to be okay."

---

Roxy barely reacted to Winnie and Storm bursting into the room-- she was slipping again, not dead, just passing out. She visibly recovered a little as the blood seized, then opened her eyes a little more. The pain in her leg subsided, and she had a moment of bliss. She had never felt pain like that before, and hoped to Aurora that she would never again, so the dull pain was great. Her hand tightened a little around Jonah's cold, metallic one, but her strength was still barely there.

( [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] <-- I died with this... XD

Roy: -_-" Bats are not blind, even zough our 'eareeng ees a lot bettair.

Oh shush, it was cute. XP)

(Oh gosh, that is adorable... I imagine Anna doing that for the twins now. XDDDDD)

(Hello.)

(Oh God... XD I can see that.

*now wants an AU where Roy is blind* o3o"

Hai. o3o)

Jonah felt her hand weakly grasping his own and he immediately broke down.

"Thank the gods she's alright..." he sobbed.

Storm only watched as Winnie worked her literal magic.

(Hai Sil! ouo)

Winnie gently petted Roxy's hair after a moment, then looked up and told Jonah, "She's not bleeding anymore, but I can't make her grow more blood. You need to carry her to the infirmary for a transfusion." The eight-year-old let out a shaky breath, relieved that she was able to help. Now, she just really wanted to find Flare and maybe cry a little. "M-maybe my sister is at the infirmary, too... I want my sister really bad." She gave Jonah a look. "We should go."

----

"Who are we finding first? Ruth, maybe? She's a bitch but she's kind of in charge around here most of the time," Shay asked, his mouth presses into a thin line. He did not like the mouse at all.

----

Raine smiled a tiny bit, focusing on Lillian as the healer set her bones (ouch) and gave her an actual sling for her arm. The lioness wasn't allowed to stay in the infirmary because space was needed for all of the critical patients, so soon after she was treated, she was given the boot and sent off with Lillian. Still shaken up, and still holding onto Lilly's hand, Raine asked, "Can I stay with you for a while...?"

----

EJ opened his eyes again when Rachel kissed his forehead, and he winced when Anna started tending to his hands. "Ah...!" He sucked in a breath through his teeth, which were gritted together. That woke him up a little, and he was conscious enough to look up at Rachel and ask, "They didn't get to you, did they? You're not hurt...?" He had to check.

(I'm trying to work on the first page.)

Roxy's face was pale under her light grey fur as she laid there on the floor. Her grip on Jonah's hand slowly weakened, until it was just lying limply in his hand. Roxy's eyes were only somewhat open as she gazed at Winnie and Jonah, but unconsciousness was dragging her down again. She let it.

---

Roy gave Shay a look-- okay, maybe Ruth wasn't the kindest person in the world, but he still saw her like an aunt-figure that helped care for them back when they were young teens. But then he nodded, "Yes, we should, even zough ze eenfirmary 'as got to be a mess right now..."

---

Looking down at Raine, the skunk nodded, "Yes, you can... And I have to go and find Isaac, too." Not that she wanted to admit it, but she was concerned on where the racoon was. And about his brother.

---

"Sorry, EJ..." Anna said, cringing a little as well when he acted out, as if he had hit her. She focused on trying to be as gentle as possible, even though she had to clean the wounds and apply medicine so it wouldn't fester.

"N-no, zey deedn't, buht... Ze Sect got Laura... For bait." Rachel said, her dark eyes wide in terror.

(o3o" I'm off to Thanksgiving dinner now. *drags Roy with me* o7o!!)