Jamal looked towards Heskins who was crouched against the ground, tending to someone, and made his way inside until he heard a loud cry for his name. Turning around, he looked to see a small boy that he instantly recognized despite his appearance.
"Laken." he managed to say, as Jamal rushed up to Fonda holding him.
"Pa!" Laken attempted to reach for him, as Fonda handed him to Jamal.
Jamal just embraced his son, not letting go after missing him for weeks. He couldn't do it again, and have something like this happen to him again. Laken was going to be okay, and as long as he was there, he knew it.
"Are you okay?" Jamal managed to wipe a tear away before looking at him carefully. "They didn't hurt you, did they?"
"Baddie hurt Tedda, so I hurt them back!" Laken exclaimed with some joy, before looking around. "Mama!"
Jamal turned around to see Ula watching them uneasily. Of course her memory wasn't back yet, which was still strange but he hoped that it would come back sooner than later. Without saying anything, he approached her before holding Laken up to her.
"Take him, it's our son." Jamal nodded to her, as she started to put her hands up.
She looked confused, but he could see some recognition in her eyes, a minuscule change of her eyelids. He let her have some time, as Jamal put Laken into her hands, before finally having time to check on the others. Brat was heaving himself back up, to which Leon was still talking to him making sure he was fine, before finally reaching Heskins. The sight almost frightened him. On the ground was Hops still clinging onto Alice, who was still slumped on the ground, bleeding from the side, while Heskins was taking something out of her, while trying to wrap up the wound.
"What happened here?" Jamal crouched down.
"There was a fight downstairs." Hops managed to say. "I was holding the guards off, so we could all make it. And then Alice-."
Jamal let him pause for a moment, as he took a deep breath and closing his eyes before continuing onward.
"Alice decided to join me, and I shot her. I didn't mean to, but if I didn't kill that captain then she would have died. And then I made her use her energy to come back up here, even though I might have been able to conserve some by climbing up the stairs, and I-."
"Hops, she'll make it I think." Heskins looked at the situation. "I don't think you hit anything vital, but she did lose a lot of blood. She's going to need a healer soon, and quickly."
"She better make it." Hops fumed, "If she doesn't then-"
"Hops, come on. We need to leave now anyway, before more of the army gets here." Jamal tried to grab him, although he didn't budge. "Let's go."
"No. I'm not leaving her alone." Hops didn't move.
Jamal wasn't going to pressure him to come, as Fonda reentered the building. How were they going to get out of here?
"I found a carr we can take. Anyone here can drive?" she looked around.
Everyone turned around to look at Heskins. Apparently he was the only one besides Alice that could drive a vehicle. Nodding, he whispered something to Hops, who continued staring at Alice, before taking the man's place.
"Alright, but we got to do this quickly. I'll be quick." Heskins followed Fonda towards the sight.
With that, Jamal looked ahead, as the state building continued to burn brightly, as firefighters began to attack at the flames, continuing to lick around the building. Looks like his work was doing well. That was until dust was launched in front of the building, rising into the sky. What could have that been, Jamal stood with attention, until a dark aura instantly whipped it away. No, it couldn't be.
Standing in the middle of the street, was Youden Qey himself, what appeared to have been the upper half of a suit outfit ripped to shreds, as he stared towards the Palace. The man just began to grin, as he slowly began to walk towards the Palace itself.
"Guys, we got to go now! Youden is here! Go, go, go!" Jamal hurried everyone to move.
Looking ahead, they quickly saw what was happening, as everyone rushed out of the building, except for Hops, who took his time carrying Alice out of the building carefully.
"I know you're going to fight him. Don't die." Hops didn't even look back at him, before following the others.
Cracking his neck, Jamal climbed down the Palace stairs, as Youden himself was beginning to jog towards him, faster than even Jamal predicted as one, although the man looked at ease. Here goes nothing, Jamal stood in place, as he could feel flames beginning to spread around him. All these years of isolation, was now going to come down to this. This time, there would be no underestimation either. It was going to be for real as well.