Inside an elegant large room with a modern-looking design, Jack was sitting there, patiently tapping away at a desk in the corner. Standing by his side were two reasonably large guards. He always had someone by his side, no matter what, due to his unique situation. He wasn't like the other big four family members, for they believed in their own strength.
He knew the others looked down on him because of this but he didn't care.
The two guards who stood by his side weren't the same pair as the time when he had visited the military base. After their mistakes, he decided to give them another role and had replaced them. Jack's way was the only, and very rarely did he give people second chances. If one was to mess up, he could always take their power away before giving it to another.
The tapping continued, and the guards were now looking at Jack out of the corner of their eye as it seemed to be getting louder and louder.
"Damn it!" He shouted as he slammed his fist on the desk. "It has to be Pure, once again, they got the upper hand and managed to get rid of him somehow, and there isn't even much I can do." Jack Said.
For this one, Jack was on his own. He hadn't informed Oscar or any of the other military personnel about Peter, how he was most likely a suspect of Pure. This was because he wanted to do everything himself. The only person who had been helping him along the way was General Duke.
Duke was always the one who assigned two guards to be kept on Peter, and decided who he would go up against and the Ref while the others knew nothing.
He couldn't ask for their help, and he couldn't start turning this place upside down, trying to look for an insider. Otherwise, they would find out. They would then question Jack's motives and put all the blame on him. Although, he was in the position where it wouldn't be too much of a problem, he still just didn't want to deal with it.
The others didn't like him in the first place. He Knew that the other three regretted ever inviting him into the big four. The only reason why he was able to stay in his position of power was due to his great relationship with the military and oscar.
There was a good chance what he had tried to do would sour that relationship,and the others would use this opportunity to break it.
The worst part about this whole mess, was that now he had to make sure the others and military wouldn't find out about it; he was the one that now needed to cover up his own tracks.
Iit was decided. A report was sent out to Duke with further instructions. Peter would no longer be taking part in the tournament due to an emergency matter.What emergency matter he would let him decide. When they returned to the military base, he would let Duke handle the rest. The disappearance of one student shouldn't be too hard to do in his position: an attempted runaway, a suicide. There were many different options they could put Peter's disappearance as.
"Pure, I promise if I ever find out where your base is. I'll send my whole army after you and crush you." He said, squeezing his fist tightly.
The next day had arrived, and it was now morning. The events were not set for some time yet, and the main events even later. That's why Quinn found it very odd when he had a knock bright early in the morning.
Before even opening the door, though, he knew who it was. He paused for a second and then braced himself before opening it.
"Vorden, why are you here so early? The events don't start later." Quinn said, trying to make things seem familiar between them, but it was clear that it wasn't.
"Am I allowed in?" Vorden asked.
"Come on, don't be like that... Please. The more you act differently, the more you will remind me of the crap you pulled." Quinn said.
Once inside the room, Vorden carried on walking and headed for the outside window. The bright light shined on his golden hair and handsome face. When looking at him now, the sadness in his eyes made him look like an abandoned prince.
"I wanted to tell you about yesterday, before you go asking. You're right; it's not fair that I keep all my secrets while I know all of yours."
Quinn himself was now feeling a little guilty as he hadn't told the others everything, but it wasn't like it was a big deal to explain to them how his powers worked. How it was a game like a system, even if he did tell them it wouldn't have changed anything.
"How much do you remember before you were knocked out?" Vorden asked.
"You mean when you were screaming that your name wasn't Vorden and you were Sil. Or when you nearly roasted me like a chicken before then zapping me?" Quinn replied.
"Well, it looks like you remember everything then." Said Vorden. "Like I said, yesterday that was me. There was no mind control or anything. Sil and I are the same person."
"Vorden, you're going to have to be clearer than that."
"I really can't go into details, but have you ever heard of DID?"
Quinn paused for a second as he thought about it. The strange actions, the fluctuations in voice, it indeed was like he was a different person. Suddenly, a memory came back to him. There was one time he had met Sil before. When he was being questioned. Quinn always wondered how Vorden had gotten away with the lying test back then. He thought he had borrowed a mind swap ability at the time, but what if that wasn't the case at all.
"You mean you have split personalities?" Quinn said, shocked. He had heard of things like this before but had never seen anything like this in person. He also never realized how separate these personalities were. He always thought if he was to meet someone with DID it would be similar to a person who had mood swings. But the way Vorden had acted was almost like two people were living inside one body.
"I can't go into many details about how or why not yet anyway, but I will tell you one thing. I can copy only one ability. In comparison, the other one can copy three. That's why I needed to switch with him yesterday when fighting you." Vorden explained. Purposely, Vorden avoided telling Quinn about Raten, having to tell someone this was hard enough, and he wasn't able to go into details about the whole thing anyway. So, for now, he would keep it as simple as possible.
"Vorden, why didn't you tell us this. I told you about me being a vampire, right? If you told me, or even the others, we would have understood."
"Do you know why I'm telling you this, Quinn? Because I want to regain your trust. You trusted me, and now I'm trusting you. Vorden then held out his hand.
When Looking at it, it reminded Quinn of the first day the two of them had met. He was the only one that reached out to him; ever since then, the two of them had been through all out. Then he remembered something else, the three of them had gone through a lot. There was also Peter.
"I trust you, Vorden," Quinn said, shaking his hand. "But that doesn't mean I don't think you make stupid decisions. So, do I get to meet this guy at some point? Maybe we can be friends?"
Vorden laughed but chose not to say anything back. If Sil had heard this, he would have been running out from his corner and had taken over the seat in an instant.
When approaching Quinn back then, when they had first met, he did so because he was a level one. Often low levels looked at the world differently due to how they were treated. But after Sil had gained an interest, it meant now his life would revolve around Quinn. However, Vorden was happy that Sil had taken an interest in Quinn. He felt like the two of them were no real friends.
"I also came here for something else as well," said Vorden. "I was hoping to come here before they did, and it looks like I beat them."
"They?" Quinn replied, slightly confused.
"Did you forget? Now that Peter isn't there, that means the substitute will have to take his place. They should be here soon to take you underground." Vorden explained.
"Oh! I completely forgot about it; I never thought this would even happen. Oh, well." He said, shrugging his shoulders. "I guess I'll just lose the match."
"Do you really want to do that, Quinn?"
"What do you mean… I have to?"
"I'm asking you again, do you want to lose the match?"
Of course, Quinn didn't. For the longest time, ever since he had gotten his powers, he wanted to show all those people who thought he was weak, all those people that bullied him what he could do. And more than ever, He tried to beat whatever net Truedream had set up for Quinn. All this mess in the first place was because of him and sick ways.
"We can fight." Said Vorden. "On the red portal planet, we came up with a plan, remember. If they discover your powers, then I would tell them that my family was backing you. We can use that today. Before Fex had left, he said something. He told us that he and the one who came to get him were the only vampires on the military bases. That there were no others."
"At the time, I was wondering why he needed to tell us that. It is always better to be careful just in case, right? But I think he knew what was going to happen once Peter was taken. He was telling you to go crazy, not to worry.
With Vorden using his original family name, they would no longer be after Quinn for the ability book. They would assume it was with Vorden's family. The other problem was the vampires. Even If they weren't here, there was always the chance they would find out about him, but did that really matter anymore.
It was only a matter of time before they found out about Peter, which would eventually lead them back to Quinn.
"If you're ready." Said Vorden. "Then, I am as well."
"I don't want to hide anymore," Quinn replied.
*****
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