Chapter 4: A Dream and Escape
Location: Dark Horses hideout, somewhere in Freedom City
Date: Saturday, January 3rd
Time: Unknown


Kyle slowly awoke, struggling to open his tired eyes. He was fairly shocked to find himself in a long, dark hallway. "What... Where am I...?" He looked around slowly, not being able to tell if he was actually awake or not. "I... don't believe that I'm awake... This has to be some kind of dream..."

"Indeed, it IS a dream," A voice spoke to Kyle. Kyle whirled around, trying to see where the voice was coming from. "In fact, this is madami of a vision than it is a dream," The voice added.

"Who are you?!" Kyle asked the voice, still trying to find out where it was coming from. He turned around in circles, but he still couldn't seem to find where exactly the voice was coming from.

"It doesn't matter who I am. Now, I came to talk to you. I can here to teach you," The voice said, sounding like it was closer to Kyle than before.

"Teach me...? Teach me about what...?" Kyle asked, turning around again. He still couldn't tell where the voice was coming from, even though it seemed closer.

"I'm here to teach you madami about your powers. You're one of the rare individuals that possesses Rasoul energy within their body as a usable power," The voice replied, still sounding extremely close to Kyle.

"Rasoul...? Is that what my powers are called...? I always called it Dark Energy..." Kyle sinabi quietly, slightly confused. Maybe this person really could teach him some new things about his power since he knew what his power was really called. "What... What else could you teach me...?"

"Follow me, boy. I'll ipakita you," The voice replied. Kyle turned his head and watched as a bright red light appeared in front of him. "Come with me, Kyle."

"You know my name...?" Kyle asked curiously, slowly following the red light as it moved foward.

"Yes, I do. I've observed you for quite a while, and I think you could be very valuable. Especially with the Omega rising up... I think you could stand against him," The voice replied. "I've watched you enough and your powers enough to determine that."

"You've been watching me...?" Kyle asked, slightly freaked out. "You're not some kind of killer, are you...?"

"No, I'm not. Like I said, I've been watching you just to see what your powers could do. Again, I think you're strong enough to take on and defeat the Omega," The voice said. The red light continued to lead Kyle foward.

"Ok... Now, another question... Who's the Omega? I thought... I thought I heard this guy named Vice *call himself something like that (*See the end of the nakaraan chapter*)... *He trapped me in some kind of cell and knocked me out... (*Again, see the nakaraan chapter*)" Kyle said, still continuing to follow the light. He wasn't even sure if Vice had really called himself the Omega or not. He was tired and sleepy when Vice spoke to him about that, he had no idea if what he had heard was real or not.

"You'll discover who the Omega is as I teach you. You'll also discover the Alpha, and you'll discover and learn about Echilon..."

Kyle's ears stood up in surprise. Echilon. *Vice had sinabi that name (*Previous Chapter again*). But, the Alpha name was new to him. "Who... Who is Echilon...? And... Who's the Alpha...?"

"Again, I say that you'll discover madami as I teach you. Come along, now," The voice said. The light suddenly zoomed ahead of Kyle, stopping a little ways off in the distance. "Come here, boy." The voice called, seeming to echo all around Kyle.

Kyle slowly and somewhat cautiously made his way to where the light was, turning around in a circle, expecting to see something. He was just a bit surprised when he didn't see anything. "Is there anything that I'm supposed to be seeing here...? I don't... I don't really see anything..."

"Look in front of you, boy..." The voice spoke quietly. Kyle watched as the light flew in circles right in front of him, and he was shocked to see that words and symbols began appearing where the light was flying. "What... is all of this...?" He asked. The words and symbols appeared to be from a language that he had never seen before.

"The Alpha. The first one to discover Rasoul, and the first one to fall to its power. He had a very pure heart, and had nothing but pure intentions and curiousity about the Rasoul. In the end, his Rasoul turned against him, and consumed him into what is known as the Anulira... The Void. The Void of Rasoul. The impurity within the core of Rasoul. The Alpha was sent here sa pamamagitan ng the Omega when the Omega became obsessed with nothing but ultimate power. The Omega sought to destroy the Alpha and his power over the purity of Rasoul. The Omega is the one that caused the Alpha's power to turn against himself. No one knows what happened to the Alpha, and no one knows if he survived being pulled into Anulira..." The voice translated the entirety of the words that stood before Kyle before falling silent for a few short moments. "That is all I have to teach you right now, boy..."

"W-What? That's all you have to say right now?" Kyle asked, somewhat shocked. "What about the Omega guy? What about Echilon? When will I get to learn about them?"

"You'll learn about them another time... Now, pay attention, boy. Watch," The voice said. The light slowly flew in front of the symbols, and stayed there as the symbols began to light up bright blue.

"What... What are you doing now...?" Kyle asked curiously, watching the symbols light up. His eyes grew wide as he watched the symbols slowly begin floating towards him. "What's happening?! What are these symbols doing?!" He screamed as the symbols slowly began attaching themselves to his body, turning into what looked like tattoos. "What is this?!"

"Be calm, Kyle. It's not going to hurt you," The voice sinabi calmly. "That is the Mark of the Alpha. It symbols Rasoul's energetic nature. Rasoul is extremely energetic, and it can give a person who possesses it an energetic body and mind, and therefor it will boost your Rasoul power sa pamamagitan ng a slight amount. However, it can only be used when the person using it stays extremely calm. Any emotion other than happiness can break the calm balance that powers this Mark. If that happens, you won't be able to use it again until it recharges, which could take hours to days. It depends on how long you use it. The longer you can use it, the longer it takes to recharge. The Mark of the Alpha also gives you complete control, but doesn't possess much strength or power. It is also less dense than your normal Rasoul power, so it can be used in situations that require you to be gentle and careful."

"...I see..." Kyle replied, looking down at his body. He watched as the symbols slowly seemed to absorb into his skin and disappear. "Is there any other mark things that I should know about?"

"There is a total of four different marks, and I've just taught you one of them. That's all I'm going to teach you for right now, boy." The voice said. "Now... It's about time for you to wake up, boy..." The voice added, slowly beginning to fade away.

"No, wait! Tell me more! I want to know madami about my power!" Kyle called out, watching as the light slowly began to vanish.

"Just wait, Kyle... You'll wake up soon... I know you will. I know that sleep spell that Vice put on you will wear off soon..." The voice spoke quietly.

"Wait... You know Vice's name, too...?" Kyle asked, somewhat surprised.

"Remember, I sinabi that I've been observing you. I heard his name when he sinabi it to you earlier," The voice replied.

"Oh... right..." Kyle had forgotten about that. He was still maybe just a bit freaked out or creeped out that this voice person thing had been watching him.

"I know you're probably freaked out again... Just think of me as your new guardian angel, kid. You'll be hearing a lot from me as long as Vice and his gang still hang around..." The voice sinabi calmly. 'You'll need my teaching to defeat Vice, at least. Just trust me on this, Kyle."

"...Alright... I'll try," Kyle replied, deciding that maybe he should try to trust this person since he had already been teaching him new things about his own Rasoul powers. "...When else will you be able to teach me about the marks and all of that stuff?"

"I'll teach you again when you're ready. Don't worry, Kyle. I'll tell you madami when you're ready," The voice replied. Kyle watched as the light slowly reappeared beside him. "Alright... I'd say it's time for you to wake up, boy."

Kyle looked around slowly, seeing that the dark world around him was slowly beginning to fade away. "When will I be able to see you again? When will you be able to teach me again?"

"Don't worry... I'll be with you. I'll know when it's time for you to learn more," The voice replied. Kyle watched as the light slowly seemed to absorb into his body, somewhat shocked.

"The... This light thing just... kind of absorbed into me..." Kyle stammered, kind of shocked.

"I know that. That's how I've been following you. The light has been with you for a while now. It's my eyes and my ears. That's how I've been watching you," The voice replied.

"Oh... Ok, I get it," Kyle replied. He looked around, still watching as the dark around him continued to fade away.

"Alright then... I'll see you soon, Kyle..." The voice said, slowly fading out again. Kyle watched as everything around him finally faded away, slowly becoming reality again.


Kyle slowly opened his eyes, struggling to see through the cloudiness that was in his eyes. "Ugh... Crazy sleep spell thing..." He slowly tried to sit up, but found it extremely difficult due to the pain that continued to shoot up and down his sides from when he was *stabbed sa pamamagitan ng Vice's claws (*Previous Chapter*). He looked around slowly as he sat up, observing the cell that he had been put in. It was fairly small, with not much room to ilipat around in. It had a giant iron door, which looked to be locked tightly. "Now... how exactly am I going to get out of here...?"

"Are you ready to get out of here, boy?" A voice spoked behind Kyle. It sounded similar to Vice, but not exactly the same. It also reminded Kyle of the voice that he had just heard in his dream.

Kyle whirled around quickly, and swallowed a scream of surprise and confusion when he saw a tall figure standing in front of him. "Who... in the world are you?!" He asked, attempting to recover from the shock of someone being there with him like that. He was also in slight shock of what kind of attire the figure wore.

The figure wore an almost square-shaped black knight's helmet, except the helmet had fairly large horns attached to the tuktok of it. He also wore a formal tuxedo with a deep red tie. He also had thick black gloves, and tall, thick black boots. Kyle couldn't tell what kind of animal the figure was, due to the fact that almost no part of the body was visible, except for the tail. The figure had a large, bushy black tail, so Kyle figured that perhaps the figure was an animal such as a soro or a wolf. Kyle could also see no part of the figure's face, except for the glowing red eyes that silently stared at him though the visor of the helmet.

"Well? Are you ready to get out of here or not?" The figure asked, slowly taking a step towards Kyle. "Hm? Are you?"

"Uh... Uh... Do you... Do you mean get out of this cell...? Is that what you mean...?" Kyle asked, still staring at the figure in shock. He knew that was probably a dumb question, but that was the only thing that he could think to say.

"I mean get out of this cell, and out of this base," The figure replied, slowly walking past Kyle and over to the large iron door. He (Kyle assumed it was a he) slowly lowered his head to the door, appearing to listen for something. "Are you coming?"

He slowly stood up, tilting his head to the side. "How exactly are we going to get out...? That door is locked tight..."

"Shh... Be quiet..." The figure whispered quietly, still leaning up against the door. He slowly raised his hand, and slowly put it against the door, near its hinges.

Kyle remained quietly, watching the figure curiously. He honestly had no idea what the figure could be up to. He continued to watch, and was somewhat surprised to see a tiny black mist start to form around the figure's hand. "Is that... uh... uh... Rasoul...?" Kyle asked, attempting to remember what the voice had told him. He remembered that the voice had told him that his own power was called Rasoul, and this figure's power looked a lot like his own.

The figure turned his head slowly, looking at Kyle. "Yes... It's Rasoul... Now... Please be quiet... Just for a minute..."

Kyle fell silent again, slowly laying his ears down. He continued to watch the figure, still curious as to what he was doing.

After a few madami moments of silence, the large iron door suddenly fell down with a loud crash, as if the door hinges had fallen apart. The figure stood up and turned back to Kyle, observing the look of pure shock on his face. "Well? Are you coming, Kyle?"

"You... know my name...?" Kyle asked quietly, still in pure shock of how the door just fell apart. How exactly did this figure do that?

The figure stared at Kyle, his dark red eyes seeming to stare right through Kyle. "...You know who I am, boy. I just spoke to you, and I already told you how I know who you are."

Kyle paused for a long moment, thinking back to the dream or vision that he had just had while he was out cold. "...Are you that voice and light that was talking to me in my dream...?"

"Indeed, I am. Hello again, Kyle," The figure replied, slowly slowly looking out of the doorway. He looked around, making sure that no one was coming.

"Ah... Ok, then. Uh... You're... You're going to help me get out of here?" Kyle asked, tilting his head to the side. "Um... What's your name, anyway...? You... never told me in my dream..."

"Yes, I'm going to help you get out of here. I wouldn't have appeared in my body if I wasn't going to help you. Normally I would have just stayed as that light, but I'm using my body so I can help lead you out of here, and possibly fight the Dark Horses," The figure replied, turning back to Kyle. "And... Let's just say that my name is... Mancer..." He replied with a somewhat mysterious tone.

"Your... name is Mancer...?" Kyle asked, feeling slightly freaked out sa pamamagitan ng the tone of voice that the figure used. "Is that your real name...? Or is just some kind of fake name that you want me to call you...?"

"It's just a name, Kyle... It's nothing to worry about," Mancer replied in a somewhat mysterious tone again. He slowly walked out into the hallway, slowly turning to Kyle. "Now... Are you coming? I don't think the gang are near here at the moment, but I could be wrong. I think it would be best to leave as soon as possible."

"Alright, then..." Kyle slowly and cautiously followed Mancer out into the hallway. He looked around, slightly scared and nervous that Vice or his gang were going to attack at any moment.

"Don't be so nervous. Vice can probably sense fear..." Mancer replied, as if he could sense Kyle's fear himself. "With his kind of power, he very well could."

Kyle fell silent, not really knowing what to say. If he didn't know any better, he would have sinabi that Mancer could really sense fear himself. "...What makes you say that Vice might be able to...?" He asked quietly.

"Rasoul is darkness. Vice has Rasoul power just like you and me, except his Rasoul is on a 'darker', madami advanced level. His Rasoul might be able to detect fear. Who knows," Mancer replied flatly and quietly.

"...Alright then..." Kyle shook his head slightly, trying to make sense out of what Mancer had just told him. "Was that supposed to make sense, Mancer...?"

"Kid, nothing makes sense with me. I'll just tell you that right now. That's just the way I am," Mancer replied. He turned around the corner, slowly disappearing from Kyle's sight.

Kyle slowly creeped around the corner, and nearly released a scream as Mancer shot back around the corner and tackled him to the ground. He WOULD have screamed, if it wasn't for Mancer's black gloved hand holding his mouth shut tightly. Kyle quickly looked at Mancer as if to say "What are you doing?!".

"Shhh... Be quiet..." Mancer whispered just barely loud enough for Kyle to hear him. Mancer quickly stood up, pulling Kyle up to his feet. He quickly pushed Kyle against the nearby wall, which was dark due to there being no windows near that wall. He laid up against Kyle, using the back of his black clothes and helmet to blend into the darkness. Due to Mancer covering Kyle, they were completely "invisible".

Kyle looked over Mancer's shoulder slightly, and saw two of the Dark Horses members walking down the hallway. He thought they were Sniper and Astra, but he wasn't sure. "So that's why he tackled me down..." Kyle thought. "He wanted to hide us before those two Dark Horses saw us."

"Stay absolutely still..." Mancer whispered quietly, staying as still as possible. He turned his head just slightly enough that he could see the Dark Horses members coming closer.

"Ok..." Kyle whispered back quietly. Kyle and Mancer both held their breath as Sniper and Astra ever so slowly walked past them.

"Why exactly are we back here, again?" Sniper asked, turning her head to look at Astra. She was not wearing her hood, so Kyle could plainly see what she looked like now. A dark red hedgehog with long hair, one normal blue eye, and a dark red robot eye.

"Vice told us to come back here and make sure that yellow hedgehog named Kyle wasn't awake. And if Kyle is awake, we're supposed to restrain him and go tell Vice," Astra replied. Kyle could also see her better do to the fact that she wasn't wearing her hood either. A white-grey lobo with somewhat short grey hair and a scar over her left eye. She had deep green eyes.

"Right... Why do you think that Vice wants to keep Kyle here that badly? He must be really interested in that hedgehog's power or something," Sniper said, continuing to walk with Astra.

Kyle and Mancer continued to stay absolutely still, trying to breathe as quiet as they possibly could. Kyle could only hope that Sniper and Astra would walk away soon and never notice them. Kyle didn't know what was going to happen when Astra and Sniper saw that he was missing from the cell. He could only hope that Mancer and he could escape before anyone could find them.

"Wait a second, Sniper..." Astra said, quickly coming to a stop somewhat close to where Mancer and Kyle were hiding. "Something's not right..."

"Really?" Sniper asked, turning to face Astra. "What do you mean...?" She asked, wearing a confused look on her face.

Astra slowly stepped closer to Mancer and Kyle's location, staring straight ahead at where they were standing. "...Sniper, what exactly does your robotic eye do? Does the world appear normally through that eye? Or is everything red through that eye?"

"It's usually normal... But I can turn it to ipakita a red visual... I can use it to see laser fields and stuff like that. I can also make a cross-hair appear in it to help me aim when I shoot a weapon. Um... What's your point? Why are you asking?" Sniper asked, fairly confused.

"Turn your red vision on..." Astra replied, backing up to stand susunod to Sniper. She pointed at the pader where Mancer and Kyle were standing. "Something doesn't seem right to me... See if you can see anything."

Kyle's eyes widen as he listened to Astra, He slowly raised his head just slightly enough to look at Mancer, as if to say "What are we going to do now...?".

Mancer lowed his head slightly, staring straight into Kyle's eyes. He grabbed Kyle's arm tightly and shifted his feet slightly, as if he was getting ready to run with Kyle.

A small metal panel slowly slid out of the side of Sniper's robotic eye. She pressed a button on the panel, and the vision in her robotic eye slowly became bright red, illuminating the darkness that stood against the wall. Almost as quickly as she saw Kyle and Mancer, they both dashed past her, shoving past Astra without stopping. "What was that?!" Sniper didn't really know what she had just seen because it happened so fast.

"I knew it! Kyle's escaped! With... some person who I have no idea who that is!" Astra growled, quickly chasing after Kyle and Mancer. "Sniper! Tell Vice! Hurry!"

Mancer continued running as quickly as he could with Kyle. He turned his head slightly, seeing that Astra was gaining fast. He shot two spikes of Rasoul at Astra's feet, attempting to slow her down. "Keep running, Kyle!"

Astra slowed down greatly and jerked to the side, narrowly avoiding the spikes that came at her feet. She growled, speeding up again to try to catch Mancer and Kyle. "Get back here!"

Mancer held onto Kyle's arms tightly, running as fast as he could while dragging Kyle along with him. "This would be easier if you could run a little faster, Kyle! I can't just keep pulling you along!"

Kyle really wasn't being dragged along, but it was almost as if he was. He was running as fast as he could, but he was only able to keep up with Mancer because he was pulling him along. He might has well been being dragged along. "I'm trying my best! I can't run any faster! I'm really going as fast as I can!"

"Forget it! I have a better idea!" Mancer jerked hard on Kyle's arm, sending Kyle flying up over his shoulder and into his arms. He had decided that carrying Kyle might be quicker than trying to run with him.

Kyle released a scream as he flew into Mancer's arms. "What are you doing?!" He exclaimed, watching the hallway around him zoom past.

"Carrying you is faster! Just hang on!" Mancer replied calmly, turning his head again. He flipped around and began running backwards for a short moment, shooting madami spikes at Astra's feet.

Astra attempted to dodge the spikes again, but wound up tripping and falling in the process. She tried to get back up as quickly as possible, struggling to ignore the pain that shot up and down her knees and legs from falling. She released an angry growl, quickly getting back up. She dashed down the hallway, struggling to catch up with Mancer again. "Who in the world are you, anyway?! How did you get in here?!"

Mancer ignored Astra and keep running with Kyle. He looked straight ahead, noticing that he was quickly approaching a split path; one hallway that went left, one hallway that went right.

Kyle quickly looked at both of the hallways, noticing that they both looked the same. He quickly looked back up at Mancer with a slight paniced look on his face. "What are we going to do?! Which way do we go?!"

Mancer kept running towards the two hallways, quickly looking back and forth at each one of them. He quickly made a sharp turn to the right, his boots literally screeching across the floor as he half ran, half slid around the corner. "We're going this way," He replied sharply to Kyle, taking a deep breath as he continued down the right hallway.

Astra slowed down, releasing a growl as she slowed to turn the corner. She sped up again, chasing Mancer down the hallway once more. "Just who exactly IS this guy?!" She thought, struggling to catch up again. "He's fast and he just came out of nowhere!" She looked around quickly, continuing to chase Mancer and Kyle. "Where are the others?! Where's Vice?! He may be the only one who can catch this guy!" She thought angrily, trying to figure out where the rest of her team was.

Mancer continued to running, trying his best to speed up. He saw the exit in a giant room, and ran towards it as quickly as he could. "Hang on, Kyle. I'm going to get us out of here," He said, running for the door.

"I don't think so," Vice's voice echoed through the room. Mancer stopped to a screeching halt when he heard Vice's voice. Mancer quickly turned around, seeing Vice sitting on his throne.

"...Vice..." Mancer stared at Vice, his dark red eyes growing slightly wider. "It's... been a long time..."

"Yes, indeed... It HAS been a long time," Vice replied, a twisted grin on his face. He slowly stood up, slowly walking closer to Mancer.

"...You know good and well that I intend to keep Kyle away from you," Mancer sinabi quietly, slowly backing away with a very confused and shocked Kyle. He slowly backed into the door, watching Vice the entire time.

"And you should know good and well that I don't give up so easily," Vice replied, crossing his arms. "I'm not letting you leave. Or at least I'm not letting you leave with Kyle."

"He's not going to be any use to you, Vice. He doesn't need to be drag into your plan," Mancer replied sharply. He slowly reached one of his hands over to the side to grab the doorknob. However, he quickly jerked his hand back as a small metal bullet struck the door right beside his arm. "...Guns..."

"Yes, that's right," Sniper replied, aiming her gun at the door again to make sure that Mancer didn't try to open the door. She walked up behind Vice, followed sa pamamagitan ng the other members of the gang, including Astra. "I can shoot you instead of the door susunod to you, you know."

Mancer looked back at Vice, his piercing red eyes staring out of the black visor of his helmet. "...Let us go, Vice. Call off your little team."

"Fine... I can call them off... But I'm not going to let you go," Vice replied, stepping up to Mancer. "Mezame..." He whispered quietly, giving a twisted grin as his hands became sharp red claws.

Mancer gave an angry growl at Vice, backing up against the pader as much as he could. "Your spells aren't going to bother me, Vice... I'm not afraid of them."

"You should be... You know good and well what these spells can do... And what they did in the past..." Vice whispered quietly, his twisted grin become madami evil as he spoke.

Mancer fell silent for a long time, staring straight ahead at Vice as he pressed up against the door. "Let us go, Vice. Now."

Kyle quickly jumped up out of Mancer's arms, not wanting to be there if Vice attacked Mancer. He released a growl of anger, about to try to manuntok Vice. "Yeah, what he said! Let us go!"

"Don't try to go against me, boy," Vice growled angrily, raising his claws. He quickly charged foward, spinning on his heels as he swung his claws at Kyle and Mancer in a tornado-like attack.

"Kyle, pay attention! Try to get out of here!" Mancer called, quickly ducking to dodge Vice's claws. He kicked at Vice's feet, knocking him down.

"Oh no, you don't!" Vice growled angrily, quickly trying to get back up to his feet. "[i]Mezame Rokku![i]" He raised his claws, and a small blast of red energy flew from the claws and onto the door. The red energy quickly covered the door like a shield, preventing Kyle from getting any closer.

Kyle quickly slowed himself to a stop, looking around for any other way to get out of the hideout. "Where else can I go, Mancer?! I don't know where to go!"

"Look for another way out! I can't hold him off forever!" Mancer said, still continuing to fight with Vice. He was silenced with Vice grabbed his arm with his claws and flipped him onto the floor.

Kyle looked around quickly, still trying to find some sort of exit or something that he could use to escape. He stopped quickly and jumped back when Astra ran right up in front of him to block his path. "Hey! Let me go, Astra!" Kyle sinabi with a growl, trying to remember her name as he sinabi it.

"Why should I? While Vice is busy, I'm sure me and the rest of the team can easily stop you," Astra replied, a small grin growing on her face. She stepped back slightly, getting in line with the other four members of the team.

Kyle released a small growl of anger, slowly backing up just slightly. He closed his eyes, and small amounts of black mist formed around his hands; Rasoul energy. He quickly opened his eyes again, and charged towards Astra and the rest of the team.

Mancer quickly rolled away from Vice, before shooting Rasoul energy at Vice's team. He clenched his fists together as the energy hit the team, and the energy stuck them to the pader as if it was glue. "Go, Kyle! Don't waste your time fighting them right now! Just leave! I'll sumali you in a minute!"

"Says WHO?!" Vice growled, swinging at the back of Mancer's neck with his claws. He missed, however, and was soon knocked down to the floor sa pamamagitan ng a powerful kick from Mancer's thick boots. "GAH!"

"Says me!" Mancer kicked Vice again, knocking him up into the air. He swung his foot around again, and kicked Vice into the pader with a powerful kick. "See you later, Vice!" He called with a small snicker, before running after Kyle, who had run away and disappeared around a nearby corner.

Vice struggling to get up, pain crawling all up and down his back. He quickly looked over at his team, releasing an angry growl. "After them! Now!"

"I'm sorry, but we can't, sir!" Astra replied. She and the rest of the team were still "glued" to the pader sa pamamagitan ng Mancer's Rasoul energy trap. She tried to ilipat her arms to get free, but she couldn't no matter how much she tried.

"WHY NOT?!" Vice roared in anger, still trying to get up, but he found that hard do to the fact that pain was still shooting up and down his back and legs. He couldn't tell that his team was stuck to the pader sa pamamagitan ng Mancer's Rasoul power.

"BECAUSE WE'RE STUCK!" All of the team members yelled back at him, except for the alien-fox creature named Azarika. He just lowered his head slightly, remaining silent.

"STUCK sa pamamagitan ng WHAT?!"

"BY THAT KNIGHT PERSON'S ENERGY! THAT GUY WITH THE BLACK HELMET! IT'S LIKE GLUE! IT STUCK US HERE!"

Vice sighed angrily, slamming his head back against the pader in anger. He quickly (And painfully) got up to his feet and ran off down the hallway that he had last seen Kyle and Mancer going to. He dashed around the corner quickly, nearly falling, and saw Kyle and Mancer slowly climbing their way up the pader and into the air ducts at the end of the hallway.

"HEY! DON'T THINK THAT YOU CAN ESCAPE ME THAT EASILY!" Vice yelled angrily, running down the hallway as quickly as he could. He tried to run faster, but found that difficult due to the pain that still lingered in his body.

"Catch us if you can, Vice," Mancer sinabi calmly, sticking head back down the air duct to look at Vice. He brought one of his hands out of the air duct, and shot small blasts of Rasoul energy at Vice's feet to try to slow him down.

Vice attempted to run after them and run through the energy, but he fell and hit the floor hard when one of the small blasts struck his foot. "AGH!"

Mancer quickly climbed back up into the air duct with Kyle, quickly motioning him to keep moving. "Go," He sinabi firmly, following Kyle as they began crawling through the duct.

"Why shouldn't we stay and fight them? I be you and me could beat them!" Kyle said, crawling as quickly as he could through the air duct with Mancer.

"Believe me, you're not strong enough yet. You may be able to defeat Vice's team right now, but trust me, you are nowhere near ready to defeat Vice himself," Mancer replied, continuing the crawl through the duct. He turned his head quickly, looking over his shoulder, but he didn't see Vice anywhere in the duct behind them. Perhaps he hadn't made it to the duct yet.

"But why not? I've fought villains before... What makes Vice so different?" Kyle asked, still continuing along the duct. He turned his head slightly to look at Mancer as he talked.

"Just trust me, Kyle. You're not going to be able to defeat Vice completely until you fully master your Rasoul powers. Just trust me. I know these things," Mancer replied.

Kyle released a sigh. He didn't like Mancer's mysteriousness. It bothered him in some ways. "How can I even fully master my powers, anyway...?"

"It's one of the things that I was going to teach you. Don't worry too much about it. Only worry about it when that time comes," Mancer replied. He turned his head to look over his shoulder again, and saw that Vice was slowly starting to climb up into the air duct.

"Where do you think YOU'RE going?! You can't escape me so easily!" Vice growled through his teeth, slowly climbing up into the air duct and crawling after Mancer and Kyle.

"This guy doesn't give up easily, does he?" Kyle said, continuing to crawl with Mancer. He looked ahead, and saw what looked like sunlight coming in through a vent further down the air duct. "Hey, look! That might be a way out!"

"I'm madami than sure that is," Mancer replied, turning backwards to face Vice. He shot madami Rasoul energy at him, attempting to slow him down again.

Vice, too angry to let himself be slowed down sa pamamagitan ng Mancer's Rasoul energy again, quickly slashed his claws at the energy as it came towards him, slicing it apart as if it was cloth. The energy crumbled quickly, disappearing before it touched Vice. "I'm not going to let you slow me down again!" He growled angrily, chasing after Mancer and Kyle through the duct.

"Ok, then... Looks like that's not going to work anymore..." Mancer turned his head to look at Kyle quickly, who was getting closer and closer to the outside vent. "Keep going, Kyle. Leave without me if you have to. I'm going to try to slow him down again," He sinabi to Kyle.

"Ok..." Kyle continued crawling, slowly coming closer to the vent.

Mancer turned around quickly again, and shot madami Rasoul energy towards Vice. "Leave us alone already, Vice."

Vice sliced his claws through the energy again, but instead of the energy falling apart, it stuck to his claws and arms. "Gah! This glue trick isn't going to work on me! You may have stopped my team, but it's not going to stop ME!" He struggled to ilipat as the glue began sticking to the duct as well as his hands and arms. He let out a scream of anger, still struggling to move.

Kyle quickly approached the vent, and began pushing against it as hard as he could. However, he couldn't get it to budge even sa pamamagitan ng an inch. "I can't get it to move, Mancer! I'm pushing on it as hard as I can!"

"Keep trying," Mancer replied calmly, still shooting madami energy at Vice. He slowly began crawling backwards towards Kyle, keeping his eye on Vice.

Vice released an angry growl, clenching his teeth together tightly as he struggled to to move. He slowly began forcing himself out of the glue-like energy, slowly coming closer to Mancer and Kyle. "You're not going to glue me down!"

"I can sure as well try," Mancer replied with a snicker, crawling after Kyle slowly. He continued to shoot madami energy at Vice, still trying to slow him down.

Kyle continued pushing on the vent as hard as he could, but he still couldn't get it to budge. He slowly leaned back, before forming Rasoul energy all around his entire body. "Ok... Here we go..." He blasted himself foward using his Rasoul like a catapult, which sent him flying hard into the vent. Kyle released a scream as he smashed THROUGH the vent, and plummeted down towards the hard concrete road below him.

Mancer, who was still in the duct, quickly turned his head to see the open, smashed vent. He quickly turned back to Vice, and gave a small mocking wave to him. "We'll see you later, Vice."

"No, get back here! You're not leaving!" Vice growled angrily, still trying to break free from the glue-like energy. He pulled his arms hard, and slowly began to rip out of the glue energy.

Mancer saw that Vice was beginning to break free, so he quickly crawled over to the vent, and jumped out. He quickly flipped his body around, and stuck his feet to the pader as if they were glue. Now standing on the pader as if it was floor, he quickly began fusing the broken vent back together using his Rasoul energy to hold it together. As soon as he finished, he quickly jumped off of the wall, and let himself fall down to the ground where Kyle was.

Vice finally managed to rip himself out of the glue energy, and quickly crawled over to the vent. He slashed his claws at the vent, but couldn't get it to break no matter how many times he tried. He released a sigh of anger, knowing that he wasn't going to be able to catch Mancer and Kyle. They were probably long gone sa pamamagitan ng now. "So... They got away for now... But they just need to remember, I'll be hunting for them..." He whispered quietly, before slowly turning around and crawling back towards the duct entrance.


Kyle hit the concrete hard, pain roaring up and down his body. "AGH!" He looked up quickly, to see Mancer falling right towards him. He rolled over to the side, trying to avoid getting crushed sa pamamagitan ng Mancer.

Mancer landed hard on the ground susunod to Kyle. He slowly got back up, seemingly not affected sa pamamagitan ng the pain that now lingered in his body. He released a small sigh, slowly walking over to Kyle. "I don't think Vice is going to follow us. I'm sure he thinks that we've already run away. Are you alright?"

Kyle slowly climbed to his feet, clenching his teeth together as pain continued to shoot through his body from the fall. "I'm ok as I'll ever be... Or at least I'm as ok as I'll ever be from falling out of the vent." He gently put his hands on his sides. wincing slightly as pain stung his sides as he touched the cuts that had been left behind from Vice's claws. "Ow..."

"...You might want to be careful about moving around too much, or those cuts might bleed madami or hurt even worse. I'd stay away from doing any sports or something such as that until those heal," Mancer pointed out, observing the somewhat deep cuts. "Anyway, do you know where we are? I certainly don't."

Kyle slowly looked around, looking for any kind of kalye sign or sign to let them know where they were. He saw a sign, and slowly made his way over to it to read it. "...We're in the Nature District. All the forests and mountains of Freedom City are all located here. Er, well... The majority of them are, at least. Some mountains and forests are in different places." He turned his head to look at Mancer. "They must have some kind of teleportation device set up where I was captured... That was as long ways away in the Northern District, which is where I live."

"Alright then... Do you know how to get back to your tahanan from this place?"

"Well... Yes... But it could take hours to get there on foot..." Kyle replied, releasing a sigh. "I don't want to call my parents, because they might freak out if they knew I was way out here. According to the *note I left them, I was only supposed to be going for a walk (*See Chapter 2*). I don't even know what time it is... They might be freaked even when I do come tahanan since I've been gone for so long. Or at least I think I've been gone for a while..."

"I honestly don't know what time it is myself... I apologize. I don't carry a watch with me," Mancer replied. "Now, as for getting back to your house... I think I have the solution."

"Really...? What might that be...?" Kyle asked, slightly confused. He didn't see anything such as vehicles or any other transportation means around.

"Watch," Mancer said, slowly raising his hands. Kyle watched in surprise as faintly glowing red symbols and markings started glowing on Mancer's arms underneth his thick clothes. Mancer held out his hands, and a small ulap of Rasoul energy appeared near Kyle and himself.

"Whoa, a ulap of energy?! That's really cool!" Kyle said, staring at the ulap in amazement. He slowly put his hand on the Rasoul energy cloud, and was surprised to find that the ulap was solid. "...Are we going to ride on this ulap or something...?" Kyle guessed, looking over at Mancer.

"Yes, that's correct," Mancer replied, lowering his arms as the symbols stopped glowing on his arms. He climbed onto the cloud, and stood on the front of it. "Climb aboard, Kyle. You can sit on the back of the cloud. I need to stay up front to steer it."

"Ok!" Kyle climbed up the back of the cloud, gently sitting down towards the middle of it. He was surprised when small tenticle-like things came out of the ulap and wrapped around Kyle's waist, pagganap like a upuan sinturon so he wouldn't fall off of the cloud. "Whoa, cool!"

Mancer leaned foward on the cloud, and the ulap shot off at a surprising speed down the road. "Left or right turn?" Mancer asked as the ulap quickly began approaching two roads; one left and one right.

"Take the right turn. That will take us back towards the Northern District," Kyle replied, watching the roads and scenery around him dart past as the ulap turned and took off again at high speeds. "Mancer, will I learn how to make a ulap like this sometime? This is awesome! And it also looks like it would be great for getting from place to place!"

"It can be quite useful, actually," Mancer replied, steering the ulap through the twists and turns of the road. "I might be able to teach you how make it sometime if you really want to learn how to make it. Don't you have a black bicycle, though?"

"Well, yes..." Kyle replied, slightly surprised until he remembered that Mancer had been watching him for a while. "But... I think this ulap is so cool... I really want to learn how to make it..."

"...I'm might teach you how to make it sometime. It could be useful for getting away from villains... I doubt that you on your bike can go as fast as this ulap can," Mancer said, turning his head just slightly so he could look at Kyle and still watch the road.

"No, it can't... I can't pedal that bike that quickly. Um... You would really teach me how to make this cloud...?" Kyle asked, trying to help Mancer watch the road in front of them.

'Yes, I might. I'm not promising that I will, but there's a chance that I might..." Mancer replied, turning his head back to the road. He leaned to the side, and steered the ulap onto a giant road lined with tons of houses. "...Where are we now? Do one of these houses belong to you?"

"No, none of these houses belong to me..." Kyle replied, observing all of the houses. "However, I do think that I know where we are. I think we're about a block or two away from my house. It's a white two-story house with a black roof."

"...Any better descriptions...?" Mancer asked, looking at all of the different houses as he flew past them. He was seeing quite a few different houses that were white with black roofs.

"It has a black car parked out front, and it has a solar panel attached to the tuktok of the roof. It also has four windows on the tuktok floor," Kyle replied, looking at all of the different houses as they passed. "Does that help?"

Mancer looked around at some of the white houses that they went past, and none of them had the new things that Kyle had just described. "Yes, that helps. Thank you."

"You're welcome. And, take the susunod right. It'll lead to another road. My house is on the end of that road," Kyle said, looking around as the continued down the roads.

"Alright then," Mancer leaned to the right, and and ulap turned to the right, going down the road that Kyle had said. "I'm not going to come into your house with you... I'll just say that now. I'm sure your family wouldn't take kindly to a complete stranger in your house."

"They might if I explained who you are or something... But oh well. It's your choice on weither or not you come inside," Kyle replied. He leaned to the side to look past Mancer, and pointed to a large white house in the distance. "There's my house."

"Alright," Mancer steered the ulap over to Kyle's house, before leaning back to make the ulap stop. He climbed off of the cloud, looking over at Kyle. "I think that I'll be leaving now, Kyle."

Kyle waited until the tenticle-seat sinturon things let go of him, then he climbed off of the ulap slowly. He turned his head and watched as the ulap then vanished away into thin air. "That's ok, Mancer. Are you ready going to leave? Or are you just going to turn back into that light orb thing?"

"I'll still be with you. I AM going to turn back into the light orb," Mancer replied, slowly closing his eyes. Or at least Kyle thought he closed his eyes, considering that he could no longer see Mancer's glowing red eyes peeking out from the visor of the helmet. A red light slowly surrounded Mancer, and then he slowly morphed into the small red light orb that Kyle had seen in his vision or dream.

Kyle watched as Mancer's small red light orb slowly fused into himself, disappearing from sight. Kyle took a deep breath, slowly walking up to the front door of his house. "Ok... I bet my parents are waiting to yell at me..." He braced himself for his parents' complaints, then he slowly opened the front door.

Kyle was fairly shocked when he slowly walked into his house and wasn't met sa pamamagitan ng his parents' voices. In fact, he wasn't met sa pamamagitan ng any noise at all for that matter. He looked over at the nearby walk clock, and saw that it was 9:10 A.M. Perfect! The majority of his family always slept in late unless something special was happening in the early morning. His parents probably weren't even awake yet! If they WERE awake, they probably hadn't been up for very long.

Kyle released a sigh, a small smile on his face. He was relieved to know that he wasn't going to be in trouble with his parents. He started off towards the stairs. "Maybe I can go back to bed.... I feel pretty tired from dealing with Vice and his team like that...."

"Where were you gone for so long, Kyle? Surely a walk wouldn't have lasted that long," A voice spoke behind him. It sounded like a somewhat serious female's voice.

Kyle froze in his tracks, a small sudder going up and down his back. He slowly turned to to face the waiting female, which appeared to be a somewhat dark brown tiger-lynx hybrid with dark red stripes on her face and dark red hair. The female was wearing a dark grey mahabang manggas sando and dark purple pants. She also had dark purple eyes. "Hi, I2..."

"Hello to you as well..." I2 replied, observing Kyle closely. She noticed the bruises and dirt that covered Kyle's body and clothes. "Did you fall or get into a fight?" She asked, narrowing her eyes slightly.

Kyle looked down at himself, noticing all of the bruises and dirt. He must have gotten those when he fell out of the vent back and hit the ground back at Vice's base. "I... suppose you can say that I fell..."

"...Suppose? Is that really what happened, Kyle?"

Kyle's ears layed back slightly. He knew what he had just sinabi was a mistake. He should have ibingiay a better answer. "Yes, yes... That's really what happened..." He replied, his voice slowly becoming quieter. He looked around slowly, trying to find something that could change the subject quickly. "Um... Where's Ruby...? Is she with you, I2...?"

"I'm right here!" A happy girl's voice replied. Her accent sounded a lot like either a Russian or Scottish accent. Kyle couldn't really tell which one it seemed to be.

"Yes, she's right there," I2 replied, pointing to another tiger-lynx hybrid. She looked almost exactly like I2, aside from a few slight differences. This tiger-lynx had bright red stripes and hair instead of dark red, and she had a light brown color in her balahibo instead of dark brown. She also had very light blue-purple eyes instead of darker purple like I2's eyes. She wore a pale yellow t-shirt and blue shorts. She also wore a small silver kuwintas around her neck.

"Hi, Ruby," Kyle turned to face the lighter tiger-lynx, hoping that he could change the subject away from what had happened while he was gone. "I see you're wearing a necklace. Did my mom give you one of her necklaces?"

"Yes, she did, actually," Ruby replied with a smile, looking down at the necklace. "She sinabi that she couldn't wear it anymore because her neck has gotten too big, and she knows how much I like jewelry, so she sinabi I could have it."

"That's really cool. I think it's nice that she gave you that necklace," Kyle replied, hoping that they could stay on this subject and not go back to the subject that I2 had started earlier.

"I think so, too!" Ruby sinabi happily, looking at the kuwintas again.

I2 stood still, waiting patiently for the conversation between Ruby and Kyle to die down a bit. She finally spoke once Kyle and Ruby were both done talking, or at least paused. "Kyle... I wasn't quite done talking to you, yet... I still want to know what exactly happened while you were gone."

Kyle's eyes widened slightly. He knew there was nothing else to change the subject to, so he knew that he was going to have to answer I2. Ruby and I2 were like self-appointed *bodyguards for him, and Kyle really appreciated the fact that they did that (*They also live in his house with the rest of his family*). But, at moments like this, it was really hard for him to keep secrets from them. "Like... Like I said, I just fell..." Kyle answered quietly, slowly turning to the side. He really wanted to go upstairs and go back to bed.

I2 looked at Kyle, and noticed that giant cuts ipinapakita through the sliced sides of his t-shirt now that he was turned to the side. "...You say these cuts are nothing?"

"Cuts...? What cuts?" Ruby asked, slowly looking at Kyle with I2. She was fairly surprised when she saw the fresh wounds. "What happened, Kyle? Are you ok?"

Kyle's eyes grew wide as he heard them mention the cuts. He tried to use his arms to hide the deep gashes from Vice's claws from view, but then decided that it was no use in trying. They had already seen the cuts and probably wouldn't stop asking until they got an answer. "Ruby, I2... PLEASE just don't tell my parents... Please," Kyle begged, releasing a quiet sigh.

"Why would you not want them to know that you're hurt...?" Ruby asked, slightly confused.

"It's not quite like that... I don't want them to know HOW I got hurt..." Kyle replied quietly, his ears slowly laying down. "I'm afraid that I would nearly give them puso attacks or something if I told them what really happened."

"First of all, what happened?" I2 asked, staring at Kyle. She was determined to get an answer out of him.

Kyle sighed, deciding not to fight I2 and Ruby. "Last night, when I went to grocery store to run an errand for my mom, I saw this HUGE police chase come racing past. There was five of these cloaked figures that came dashing past, and they were followed sa pamamagitan ng tons of police cars. Before I could get a good look at what was happening, a flash bomb or something such as that blew up in my face. I assume one of those cloaked people threw it... Anyway, after my eyes cleared up, they were gone," Kyle replied as Ruby and I2 listened closely. "So, I came tahanan normally, and went to bed, right? Well, when I woke up about few hours ago... I decided to go tanong some of the villains around town to see if they knew anything about what happened last night. Now, my parents know about me fighting THOSE villains often, but I was afraid that they might freak out over the police chase or these new people. Anyway, so... When I went looking for them with my best friend Kagen, we... we got captured sa pamamagitan ng that gang and knocked out."

"You were knocked out and captured?" Ruby asked in surprise, her eyes widening.

"Yeah, sa pamamagitan ng tranquil darts. Now THAT'S the reason why I don't want to tell my parents. I'm afraid that they would flip out if I told them that I was captured like that. Anyway, going back to the story again, the leader of the gang named Vice sinabi some kind of spell and made his hands turn into some kind of giant red claws. That's what he stabbed me with... That's why I have these giant cuts on my sides," Kyle replied, pointing to the cuts and scratches on his sides. After that, he used some kind of other spell on me, and it knocked me out or put me to sleep or something like that."

"So that explains why you were gone for so long," I2 said, continuing to listen to Kyle's story.

"Exactly. That also adds to the reasons why I don't want to tell my parents. So, I woke up later, and was able to escape the cell I was put in. I climbed into an air duct, and was able to escape through a vent that was in the duct. Then, I just came tahanan from there," Kyle replied, his ears laying back slightly. He wanted to leave the part about his vision and Mancer out of the story, fearing that Ruby or I2 might have a bigger reaction if it was mentioned.

"...And you had help to get here, right? Somebody brought you here on that mist cloud, correct?" I2 asked.

Kyle froze slightly. I2 must have seen him ride up on the Rasoul ulap with Mancer. He released a quiet sigh. "Yes, I had help. That guy had the same powers as me, but he could make a solid ulap out of it. We used it as a transportation method to get here, because the gang's hideout was quite a ways away from here," Kyle replied quietly. "He called himself Mancer, although I'm not honestly sure if that's his real name or not..."

"Did he try to hurt you or something such as that?"

"No, he didn't. I think he's an ok guy... I don't know that or not, but at least he helped me. It could have taken me hours to get here sa pamamagitan ng myself," Kyle said. "That's the full story... PLEASE don't tell my parents. I'm terrified that they would be angry or really freaked out."

"Alright... But shouldn't you tell them eventually? I'm sure that they need to know sooner or later," I2 pointed out.

Kyle knew that I2 was right. His parents WOULD probably find out sooner or later. "...I'll try to think of something to tell them... I know that they need to know," Kyle sid with a sigh. "Maybe a little bit of rest will help me think clear..." He said, trying to hint at the fact that he wanted to go back to kama for a little while.

"I would do something to take care of those cuts, first," I2 said, pointing out the deep cuts on Kyle's sides. "I would probably balutin them in bandage or something such as that."

"I'll make sure to take care of it first, I2... Don't worry," Kyle assured, walking towards the stairs.

"We'll see you later, Kyle! Try to rest well," Ruby called after Kyle, giving a small wave.

"I will, Ruby. Thank you," Kyle replied, waving back at the lightly colored tiger-lynx. He walked up the stairs, and then proceeded to the bathroom to get some bandages for his cuts and scratches.