Before she could take a step further, she spotted three brawny men exhibiting an unforgiving stench of sweat.
Their auras swaddled the senses with such a despicable scent. Drawing closer, Claire hid herself behind a row of dumpsters. In comparison, the rot of trash pleasantly cleared her mind from its brief encounter with the men. From behind them she spied the men tossing what appeared to be a few other Evolved around in an attempt to practice their juggling routine. Some striked with daggers only to have them shatter into bits against the tough skin of the men while another attempted to punch the gut of the closest of the bunch. Sadly, his hand had transformed into a pasty meal laden with porcupine like pincushions. All that came from this feeble blow was a cracked wrist and the fingers going askew. Each in a separate direction, broken at the joint.
Still, she was doubtful whether they were Heroes until hearing a boisterous rant from the baldest of the bunch. "YOU DARE COMMIT ACTS OF VILLAINY UPON MY CITY?!" He expounded, veins throbbing up to his chin. "WE WILL BESTOW ON YOU A FURIOUS BLOW!" Each of the men traveled to the Villains' faces delivering a single punch knocking snot coupled with spit that rendered the perpetrators unconscious. Once done with their judgment, the men tied up the Villains with some sturdy chains taken from a bound door.
Claire walked in sight of the men, "The three of you are Heroes, right?" They spun around with a second's difference in their speed. The one furthest left held a stiff toothy grin while his hands pocketed themselves into his beige coat spilling out with a multitude of buckles. His compatriot crouched low to the ground picking at the face of one of the beaten Villains, he wore blue goggles as his expression was malformed into a permanent downtrodden stare. This Evolved was contrasted with the tallest of the bunch nearing what Claire presumed to be eight feet in height, a small giant. The giant's outfit was patterned with black and red flames seeking to draw attention away from the immense squint of his eyes, in which Claire mistakenly dared to believe he couldn't see from.
"WE ARE INDEED, LITTLE MISSY!" Announced the smiling hero. "I AM VLAD, THE ONE TO MY RIGHT IS TONALD, AND MY GHASTLY TALL FRIEND WOULD BE TRANSPIRE!" The man's voice boomed and bounced from surface to surface. Not only his voice but the man's aura seemed to reverberate as well, only making the noise louder than what a simple mutter could produce. Transpire shoved his hand to Vlad's mouth keeping him from causing further headache upon them all.
Transpire brought his lips to just an inch from Claire's ear then whispered, "What seems to be the problem, miss?"
"Oh, u-uh, yes. The Villains are attacking the bunkers."
Transpire's tired look was affecting Claire as well. Soon enough she felt her very eyes jolt themselves to maintain her waking mind. In that moment, the Hero was contemplating such information as were his colleagues who awaited his thoughtful command. "I'm sorry, miss. But that doesn't make any sense. No Villains could have gotten past the Oracle System without a Hero knowing. Furthermore, we have squads already keeping the Villains penned inside the park with nowhere to escape. None could have beaten this engagement. The plan is thorough, the plan is concise, the plan is correct."
A reflection brought Claire to realize the Hero she had engaged in conversation. Transpire was one of the very researchers that focused most of his efforts on strategic placement of Heroes across the nation. Furthermore, he aided in the development of the Oracle system. "We don't know how, but civilians near the Lincoln bunker said they had seen several Villains fighting against the Heroes who were positioned there. Miss Bubbles told me to alert other Heroes." The three of their faces lit up in familiarity. Their auras began to mix into a winding tunnel of doubt and fear.
They then huddled up excluding the rest from their secret conversation. Within seconds, after some intense shouting back and forth, the men reconvened with Claire. "If Bubbles says so, then she must be correct." Asserted Tonald.
Transpire sought his partner's attention as he spoke, "It's that new blasted drug. Be damned to not listen to me those politicians!" Tonald shook his friend's shoulder in acknowledgement of the failure.
"I AGREE!" Shouted Vlad, "WE SHOULD HEAD OUT FOR THE OTHERS IN OUR DISTRICT! MISSY!" Vlad grabbed onto Claire's shoulder staring deep into her eyes. "YOU SEEM TO BE QUICK WITH THAT ABILITY OF YOURS. MIGHT YOU SEEK OUT OTHERS IN NEED OF AID ALONG THE PARK?"
Claire nodded her head still trembling from the sound waves penetrating her body from every word emitted by Vlad. The Hero gave a thumbs up and so did the other two. Transpire took off, seemingly disappearing into nothingness like a spirit, which left Vlad and Tonald, unbothered by their friend's absence. The two slung the criminals over their shoulders then headed off in the opposite direction, presumably where Transpire had gone.
The girl aimed her mouth at the surface of the street, the bubbling glob of sound inflated her lungs then eased out into a stream through its narrow passageway in her trachea. Just as the sound would be released lifting her into the air, a thunderous 'BOOM' rattled the world. This explosion of noise shocked the inhabitants of the city as shockwaves were sent across the terraces of apartments rattling glass, even shattering the most brittle of forms. The telling sound would to any other be akin to a missile exploding, but to Claire's increased hearing she understood the clap of skin upon skin. Two lives had embroiled themselves in a battle for death near the heart of the park. A heart that was near where Claire had left Gan with Miss Bubbles.
In that slightest of seconds after the exploding punch, all she could think of was a terribly horrific memory. Skin rotten away from a fresh corpse and a monster standing above slurping from its excess nutrients. Black crows flew to the battle in search of the victor and victim.
Powerless to stop and save whoever was on the receiving end, Claire remembered the simplest of prayers she recounted Kage often mouthing under his breath. She stopped searching the basin of her mind to remember all the parts. Then, she realized something else. Another aspect that Kage had explained to them.
"Prayer isn't something attributed to premade words from some man. It should be a telling of your soul; the hardship you face at that moment; what you are asking for; and the apology that will follow to God for the sins you have committed. Never look to the words of a fellow man who has not experienced the moment that envelops your heart. That's… at least what someone told me." Claire's face softened as the blush returned minutely to her cheeks.
She held her prayer, instead vowing a statement deep enough she hoped for whatever god or being up high would grant protection due to this promise. A desire to see the end of this day with those she had begun it with. This will surely be the reality she has to live once this crazy horror show has ended. It must happen, for they have to be together. They will remain together no matter what, they will be fixed, they will survive.