[center][b][u]Collab[/u][/b][/center]

----

[b][u][center]Sector Zero[/b][/u][/center]

Victor's voice was still somewhat masked by static, but Hector still managed to make out his sentences as he ran from place to place giving out orders to mercenaries.

"Yes! We're all aliv- er... we lost some, but we're still strong in numberes, hermano!" Hector said reluctantly. He hated to dissapoint his brother, and he knew that the greatest dissapointment was failing to protect the brothers he led. 

Victor sighed over the comms, "Look, hermano, just... just stay alive, ok? The feds'er clutchin' the main roads by the juevos. And that damn wall - lemme tell you. I can see it from miles away, and our scouts barely manage to get out of there with their heads. This is the strongest concentration of military scum I have ever had the misfortune of witnessing. It's not going to be easy, but we have a fleet."

Hector stopped moving and leaned against a wall, "A fleet? How many do you have? The primaries are barely enough to make a fleet, hermano, tough as they are."

Victor chuckled, "I've been diggin 'round. You think you bastards are the only ones wantin' out? Most people in Sovereign have family on the outside. Families with connections. Connections to [i]powerful[/i] people. You ever heard of Wenber Incorporated?"

Hector shook his head as he replied, "No, hermano, why?"

Victor chuckled once more, "The geyser sells home appliances. Unhealthily rich, beautiful young golddigger-of-a-wife, lovely children, nicest guy, really."

Hector smacked his lips, "Drug lord?"

Victor laughed, "Aye, hermano, the goon's got about two hundred under the radar. All spectres, no family, no records, nothing. All dagger-wielding psychos, really. Straight out of one of those video games that the rich kids play. And if that wasn't enough, we have rebels. Ay dios mio, the rebels spirit is such a beautiful thing."

Hector gasped, "Oh hell, no, seriously? Hermano, this is [i]bad news[/i], do they know what they're up against? The military is hunting the... wait, what do they call them out there?"

Victor paused for a moment before realizing what Hector was saying, "Oh, the mutants? Right, don't you worry. The rebels are on the mutants side, I gurantee you. Priests have your back out here, hermano, believe m-"

"No! THAT'S VERY, VERY BAD!" Hector scoffed, "There are [i]bad[/i] mutants, too! The military has their own, and... and... gangsters and horrible beings, Victor, look. Whatever you're planning on doi-"

Victor chuckled, "Whatever I'm planning on doing will work. It always does, hermano. The military took things from these people... important things. Family, freedom, peace. Don't underestimate the will of the rebel. It's the nature of the problem child - take enough from him, and he's bound to bite the hand that feeds."

Hector chuckled softly, relieved by his older brother's surviving confidence, "I'll relay your strategies to my men. Keep your comms alive, I have to find a way to charge this thing, si?"

Victor chuckled, "Stay alive, little brother. Stay alive."

"So what's the plan?" Ishigo's voice caused Hector to flinch - something that didn't happen often. "Damnit, hermano, you're taking this sneaky thing way too far," Hector grumbled.

Ishigo chuckled - also something that didn't happen often. "This is something we should share, don't you think?" Ishigo said as he nodded towards the civillians in refuge, "A beacon of hope, just to keep them... going?" 

Hector nodded, "I have [i]tons[/i] of organizing to do. But yes, that is a good idea, hermano. How're the hosts doing? And holy shit, you know the people outside are calling them 'mutants'?" Ishigo shook his head, "That's... they'll learn. But as for them... or, us, rather, we're doing fine. Julian was the right man to trust with that squad. He knows his priorities and, well, he has a natural affinity for battle strategy."

"Really now? You think we should keep Ria in, then?" Hector said, inquiring of the young girl who belonged to the squad Julian was assigned to. Ishigo nodded, "Her powers are... well, we won't have to worry about her getting hurt, simply speaking. Julian is a good person, I can trust him despite him having an onikage. But that being said..."

Hector raised a brow, "What? We missing something?"
Ishigo nodded, "I think it would be wise to even out the numbers for the squads. If I could just find a few more hosts, it-"
Hector chuckled, "Ishigo. I know you better than you think." Ishigo looked off, halting his speech as Hector continued. "I know what you're trying to do, hermano. 'Collecting' hosts? Well, sure, it's a smart move, and that is technically what you're doing but... you really think she's still out there? Is it worth all that trouble? I'm only worried for you, hermano. I'm running low on close friends, not to say I had very many from the start, aside from the brothers."

Ishigo shook his head and smiled just slightly before looking back to Hector with a gentle expression, "There's two people I'm looking for, Hector." Hector smiled and shook his head, ready to argue, but Ishigo held up a hand, "Listen, I [i]am[/i] finding us hosts, correct? Trust me Hector. And I know [i]you[/i] better than [i]you[/i] think. You want to find her just as much as I do. You want to believe that it's him just as much as I do, as well."

Hector looked down for a second before sighing, "Alright then, go be a ninja."

Ishigo chuckled softly before patting Hector on the shoulder and departing, "Take care of your fraternity while I'm gone. I'll be back shortly."

---

[b][u][center]Outskirts of Lower Class District[/b][/u][/center]

Raeven lounged on the half-destroyed roof of an old grocery store, snacking on an apple. Her pouch was propped against the ledge, the edges of the map peeking out of the top. She eyed it as she bit into the apple again, enjoying the fresh taste of it. The last time that she had eaten an apple was a few weeks ago, when she had raided the last military food supply cartel. She stuck the apple between her teeth and reached over, pulling the map from the pouch. After unfolding the map and laying it on her lap, she bit out a chunk of the apple and held it in one hand. "Hmm. Seems like they're all crowded up in the rich Upple Class District. It suits them." Her eyes traveled along the outskirts of the city, where the wall loomed overtop of it. "Why would they want to attack this section of the middle class district?" She thought aloud, looking up towards the section of the city that the red X was marked. She saw the wall, tall and looming in the distance and glared, taking a spiteful bite of her apple. "What a waste of this city's potential," she muttered.

A sudden movement caught her eye, making her head turn in its direction. She immediately warped the light around her, disappearing on the rooftop. A dark form seemed to be hopping from shadow to shadow along the rooftops down the street from her. She grabbed her pouch and shouldered it, warping the light around it as well. The form appeared gaseous as it rapidly switched from shadow to shadow. She pursed her lips, squinting as she watched the darkness carefully, seeing the dark form move through them. "Oh, the benefits of night vision," she murmured to herself. Rae wanted to find out what it was, but it was moving too fast for her to confront it, and she didn't want to draw attention straight towards herself. The weight of the apple in her hand seemed to multiply before she got a sudden idea. After a few light tosses of the apple, she cocked her arm back and swung, sending the mostly-eaten apple flying straight towards the object. It found its target easily, but disappeared as soon as it made contact. Rae blinked, surprised that it didn't just hit the object with a "thunk." [i]What kind of host is this?[/i] She thought to herself, her eyebrows furrowing.

Just then the bouncing stream of shadows reappeared, although at an much more accelerated speed and altered direction. Now, the shadow headed straight towards the location from which the apple had mysteriously floated and flung itself. It wasn't long before the shadow collided with an invisible structure, forcing itself forward, along with whatever stood in its way. 

[i][b]'Invisibility? It could be a number of kages, Ishigo, good [u]or[/u] bad.'[/i][/b] Jin said.

Ishigo had already spotted the figure from a ways back, and had taken a peculiar interest when at a moment's notice, the figure was replaced with an apple flying towards him. However, he had moved faster than the figure could realize, and as he reached out, he managed to feel what he could tell was a human wrist. The force of his impact shot both figures towards a wall, though Ishigo held the upper hand as he found his opponent pinned. The shadows slowly began to slip away from him and in the other hand, he tossed up an apple core, catching it before speaking. "This won't do much against guns and swords," he said, holding the invisible host in place with his right hand.

Raeven had barely any time to react as the shadow darted towards her. She was overtaken by a bit of panic as the shadow pinned her. Startled, she lost focus on the light around her and lost her invisibility, staring at the shadow. As the shadow began to form into a man she was filled with adrenaline and slight anger. Her eyes became icy and her body tensed. She grabbed the arm that was pinning her with her free arm and twisted it, then kicked the knee of the man. Once she had enough space, she slipped away from the wall and turned to face him, forming a defensive pose. "That isn't my only weapon," she growled. The retaliation had caught Ishigo off guard, and he had to retreat a step to prevent being disabled by the kneeshot. He lowered his hood, leaving only his scarf to mask his identity. His eyes remained closed and he sighed, "There are easier ways to handle this..." he said with crossed arms.

Raeven laughed lightly, "If I trusted you, I'd find another way." She dashed forward into a slide, sweeping her left leg around in an attempt to throw him off balance. While she initiated her kick, she simultaneously prepared to follow up with her right eblow, rising to strike him as he would've fallen downward were her kick to land successfully. Ishigo sighed once more, right before the kick hit him, at which moment he dematerialized into a shadow that traveled behind her. Her elbow rose up to hit nothing, but her momentum was controlled enough to allow her to twist to the right once more, delivering a high kick to the head. Ishigo, surprised by her mobility, was forced to respond with his own block, throwing up his right forearm to barely block the kick. He then quickly reached over with his left arm, grabbing her leg in an attempt to disable her.

Raeven didn't allow him to gain a second of an advantage, and in response, she lifted off her left leg - the only part holding her to the ground, and spun around, effectivley kicking Ishigo backwards and freeing her right leg to allow for a graceful landing. Ishigo staggered backwards, but quickly dashed forwards, delivering a couple hooks, which Raeven dodged with her natural agility, ducking and weaving in and out of the path of the punches. Eventually, Ishigo decided to surprise her with a lunging grapple, and he sucessfully managed to hold her right arm above her while using his left forearm to drive her forward. However, before he could slam her to the ground, she vanished from sight, leaving Ishigo surprised for a mere split second. It was long enough for her to slip free and jab her palm forward, again causing him to stagger back, but not before she could slide forward, delivering a kick to his left shin.

Ishigo's leg was knocked from under him and he fell forward, but caught himself on two hands. As the woman came back into sight, he spun his legs in a whirlwind, keeping her at bay. He then flipped backwards, now facing her.

[i][b]'Ishigo... you're...[/b][/i]'
[i]'I'm getting destroyed.'[/i] Ishigo thought before Jin could finish. 

He then cracked his neck and ran towards her at full speed. In response, Raeven jumped forward in a somersault, placing both hands on his shoulders as she somersaulted, and kicking his back for an extra dash as he flew the opposite way. Before he hit the ground he activated his shadow form and successfully reached what he was aiming for:

her shadow.

Raeven looked left and right, unable to see where he had escaped to, but it wasn't long before Ishigo's arm shot out from her shadow and caught her left arm. As the rest of his body emerged, he reached for her right arm as well, in an effort to restrain her, but she kicked backwards, pushing him back. Relentlessly, he dashed forward and delivered three jabs at a blinding speed, only managing to hit the last one on her left clavicle. Swallowing the pain, Raeven dished out six of her own jabs, nearly as fast as Ishigo's. Ishigo brushed off two, and effectively dodged the rest. He followed up with his own flurry of punches, to which Raeven countered with her own agility. The fists locked for a good minute before Raeven caught Ishigo right in the jaw, causing his scarf to fly off on to the ground. Ishigo stepped back, catching two more hooks to the jaw and chest, and finally, a kick to the abdomen. As he naturally bent over due to the abdominal strike, Raeven threw a knee towards his head, which landed square on his nose, instantly causing it to break. Ishigo fell back, but rolled backwards and retreated with a back handspring. He looked to the ground and popped his nose in place, though it still bled, along with a cut from his mouth caused by the strong hook he took. 

"Impressive... You're more than I expected. A lot more..." he said as he smiled slightly, his face exposed. "But I've got work to do - no more games," he said as he nodded to the blood he had wiped on his hand. With a speedy dash, he flung himself into a nearby shadow, immediately bouncing into another shadow right after. He continued to shift from shadow to shadow, and Raeven found it hard to keep up, though she could see him with her vision. In an attempt to preserve her defense, she went invisible and began to step backwards, but it didn't mask the sound that her feet made against the ground. As the shadow dissappeared, Raeven decided to quickly make for cover, but as soon as she turned her head, Ishigo flung out of the nearest shadow - that of a generator - and swiped at the back of her knee, causing her to buckle. In that moment, Ishigo quickly grabbed her right wrist and bent it behind her back, before shoving her towards the previous wall. The weight of her body plus his force was enough to allow her back to serve as a restraint, and he used his left arm to hold her right arm above her head at an angle (allowing him to have one hand).

"Now then... we can start with a name," he said sternly.

Raeven winced, the twisting of her arm and force of him shoving her against the wall causing her discomfort. "Bite me," she hissed, struggling as best as she could in the compromising position. Ishigo shook his head, "No, I'm not nearly mad enough to do that... yet. Now look, I'm offering you the chance to pretend this didn't happen," he said while gesturing to his minor wounds, "but if you want me to return the favor..." he tighted his grip on her arm and pushed back further, causing her pinned arm to move upward, nearer to the breaking point.

Raeven gasped slighty at the pain, tensing as she tried to suppress it. She felt like being stubborn, but knew that it was best to comply with a man that could handle her fighting. "It's Raeven," she spat through clenched teeth. For a split second, Ishigo's grip loosened, but he quickly reverted to his forceful position before shaking his head, "Hm.. what was that? I... didn't quite hear you." His intimidating tone began to dwindle at the thought that he had heard correctly. 

Raeven clenched her jaw as her arm twisted even further. "Raeven. My name is Raeven," she repeated, hoping he'd give her arm a break.This time, Ishigo's grip lost more control than he hoped. Though it relaxed a bit, he held on, despite nearly losing balance himself. He redirected his free hand to the wall on which Raeven was pinned, and he stood there for a second, breathing shallow in a conflicting fit of denial and relief. "Y-you..." He shook his head and looked down, [i]Jin...?[/i] he thought. [i][b]I heard it, too... I'm impressed. I mean, the odds?[/i][/b]

Ishigo sighed and let his head fall on his left hand, to where he was basically speaking in her ear. He had lost balance - mainly due to the sudden loss of stress and influx of relief. However, he failed to express this to Raeven. Raeven caught the breath she had been holding as he loosened his grip on her arm, relieving her of the intense pain. She tensed more when he rested his head on his hand next to her head. Who was this guy? Was he going to kill her? Taking the man's rest as an advantage, she stomped her foot down on his foot, then twisted her arm out of his grip and slipped out from the man and the wall. She backed away from him and the wall, ready now more than ever to run. First, she was curious. "What? Have you been looking for me?" She growled defensively. Perhaps he was attempting to assassinate her? "Did the military send you?" She hissed.

Ishigo didn't even bother to respond to her retaliation. He simply took a step back, then another. He sighed and looked forward, but kept his gaze locked on the ground. It had been years upon years, and he had no idea what to say. Was it even the same person anymore?

"...Rae..." he said softly, in a calm tone, void of his previously authoritative vibe. He then took a deep breath and approached her once more.

Raeven lost her defensive stance as soon as he said her childhood nickname. She looked him over as he approached her, bewildered about him. She took a small step backwards, in case it was a trick. "I... Ishigo?" She asked, beginning to recognize bits and pieces of him.

Ishigo felt the strongest sense of relief when she spoke his name. It was the first time in a full year, and even longer, that he had felt... accomplished, free of obligation. He simply swallowed and looked up, finally confirming his assumption when he got his first good look at her face. "I... I'm sorry..." was all he could manage to spout. 

Raeven's eyes softened a little as she heard him. She couldn't think straight for a little before a thought popped into her mind. "Is Hector..?" She murmured, but trailed off. Ishigo had been lost in a momentary sea of thoughts. How had she survived? Was she in control of her kage? Who did she work for, if anyone? And most importantly, if his gut feeling on Raeven was right then... But he didn't have time to speculate. The situation at hand took priority and it was perfect, too. He had gone out to find hosts that could help him and he had found none other than Raeven.

"...He's... he's fine, Rae. We're all fine..." he smiled and shook his head, still struck by awe at the coincidence. It was the first time he felt any real emotion, because it was the first time he wasn't "on duty". He extended his arms and smiled, letting the best of the relief last, "It's been ages, Rae... c'mere."

Raeven looked away for a moment after he confirmed that Hector was alright. She looked back up at him, and for a second, was wary of him. Was he the same? He obviously had a kage. After a year of solitude and hostility, though, she felt relieved to see a smiling face. She moved over to him and hugged him, sighing. "You guys are real jerks for leaving," she muttered.

Ishigo chuckled softly, "Never again, Rae... we're back now. We're all here, all together. Come back with me... Hector's leading the charge. We're going to break free, Rae. And then we'll all go home."

Raeven let out a breath, feeling much better than she had ever felt since Ishigo and Hector left her. "If it means I can take out some of these military bastards, I'm all for it," she said, resting her chin on his shoulder. She smirked softly, hoping to lighten the mood. "So, you're finally taller than I am." 

Ishigo took a deep breath, "Not tall enough to stop you from whoopin' me in a fight, it seems." He then smiled and looked over to where he had came from. "We'll be alright, now, Rae. You have my word."