After a few minutes of running away from Archer Square, and carefully climbing one of the smaller buildings so they could find from any angry mob that might have formed around the Voice of Survival's 'terrorist' message, Cole, Adagio, Aria, and Sonata came to a stop and stared out at the area around them. Cole was annoyed that someone was labeling him as a terrorist, as he didn't remember much from that day other than going to work and ran for his life with the sisters following him through the wreckage of the Historic District. Still, regardless of whether he was truly responsible for the destruction or if someone else was responsible, he still felt sorry for Trish, since she had lost her sister, and he already felt terrible for the connection between them being broken so easily. The sisters felt sorry for him, surprising Adagio and Aria in the process, and attempted to at least sooth his pain in some manner, but before they could actually do anything Cole sighed and got to his feet once more.
Even without him saying anything they knew what he wanted, he wanted to meet up with Zeke at the Stampton Bridge and get out of town, before the people truly took up arms against him and he was caught between the armed civilians and the Reapers that were tormenting people... though as he turned in the direction of the bridge his phone went off, causing him to pause for a few seconds as he accepted the call.
"Listen man, I'm almost at the bridge." Zeke said, informing them that he had made some great distance when they had been climbing the side of the building that they were on the roof of, which meant that he could give them some information on what they might expect, if he had any to give them, "Since almost everyone here hates your guts, we gotta get out of town, pronto-like."
"We'll meet you there." Cole replied, though that brought a smile to his face, as it was nice to see that his best friend was still on his side, even though he had three new friends that were more than willing to stand by his side, and they had been in the blast zone with him, "And Zeke... thanks for watching our backs."
"Ha, sure man." Zeke said, though at the same time he seemed more focused on something in his immediate area, as it sounded like he was going to cut off the connection soon enough, "I ain't about to do anything that might piss you, Adagio, Aria, or Sonata off. See ya."
A few seconds later Zeke cut off the call and the group stood there for a moment or two, as they thought about what he had said, though the sisters realized that Zeke was worried about his friends doing something to him if he ended up ticking them off, and they hoped that it was simply his nerves speaking and not his actual thoughts. They turned to Cole, to see what his thoughts on the matter were, and he simply shook his head as he returned to the street level, indicating that he didn't want to talk about this at the moment. Adagio and Aria realized that Trish deserting him, especially after everything the two of them had been through, had been more of a blow than what they had expected it to be, and Sonata was concerned for him, but instead of saying anything the three of them jumped down to the street and followed after him, so they didn't get left behind.
Despite the few days they had been awake, since the Blast happened, the sisters hadn't even bothered to learn where everything was in the Neon District, mostly because they were so focused on learning and trying to master their new abilities, but they knew if they didn't follow Cole they would be lost for some time until they found the bridge.
One thing the group discovered was that the Reapers were out in force, as when the four of them walked by several of the buildings they had to avoid the gunfire that came from the roofs, were they noticed some Reapers trying to gun them down from an area they believed to be safe. It appeared that news of the food drop had brought all the Reapers out of hiding, as they were now taking command of the roofs and it appeared that, to move through certain areas, the group would either have to take their foes out or ignore them completely. Sometimes Cole climbed up the side of the building that the Reapers were on the roof of and the sisters would command the attention of the gang members, though when Cole reached the top he blasted them into submission or punched them to the floor. There were buildings where they couldn't get around the Reapers, meaning they had to take them out before they moved forward, and the sisters took turns repeating exactly what Cole did against the first group of Reapers they had come across... and made sure to avoid the gunfire that was directed in their direction, before they returned to the street and continued forward.
Cole lead the way towards the Stampton Bridge, making sure to pick the quickest route despite the Reapers that were along the way, and eventually they reached their destination, though as they came to a stop near the bridge, however, they noticed something interesting... the way out of the Neon District, that Cole and Zeke wanted to use, had a barricade of some kind and it appeared that people were gathering in front of it.
"Stampton Bridge, the fastest way out of town." a voice said, to which all four of them turned and watched as Zeke ran up to them, meaning that he had either been hiding somewhere or he had to take an alternate route to get here, but at the moment the specifics didn't matter, "That is, if the four of you can get us past those baton-wielding goons."
"We're getting out of here, one way or another." Cole replied, though at the same time he had to weight their options, as he knew that the crowd would definitely play a part in their escape, and he saw two potential ways for this could happen, "Follow my lead."
As they walked towards the police barricade that was in front of them, and approached the crowd, the sisters heard one of the officers mention that this was a 'restricted area' and that lethal force may be used at any time, while also hearing the man state that they would tell the civilians when the quarantine was over. A simple glance told them everything, as they could either fire a few shots from inside the crowd, putting the innocent people at risk in the process, or they could willingly stand out and fire at the officers, letting them take the heat. Adagio and Aria had a specific way they wanted to do this, but Sonata, knowing them better than anyone else, shook her head and walked along the side of the crowd with Cole, where the two of them loosed a pair of blasts at the officers and commanded their attention, causing the remaining two sisters to sigh as they joined their sister. The officers, on the other hand, noticed them doing that and fired at them, though their small group was unable to do much against Cole and the sisters... especially when Cole used his shockwave to lift them off their feet and the sisters hit them with blasts to make sure they were knocked out for now.
Zeke, watching the four of them take out the first group of guards, noticed a faint flicker of blue energy, or what he assumed was energy, appear around them for a few seconds before disappearing, though he paid it no mind as Cole spotted a power source on the gate that he could charge... and soon enough the gate was open, allowing them and the rioters to pass through the first obstacle on their way to escape from the Neon District.
Cole and the sisters noticed that, as they moved into the heavily defended area and moved around the various defenses that had been placed in the event that someone breached the first gate, the police officers that happened to be in front of them were firing at them with real guns and bullets. As such they had to use the small police barricades as cover, as well as the sides of the containers that were resting along the bridge, so they could get around the gunfire and knock out the police officers that were firing at them. One thing Cole did, when the first group was cleared out, was walk up behind the first turret that was along the way and used his electricity to break it to pieces, just in case some police officers came up from behind him. From there they approached an area that had two turrets, one on the right side of the blockade and another on the left side, so the four of them split into two small groups where one of them would fire at the police that aimed up at them and the other took out whoever was using the turrets.
The moment the police officers had been taken out, and their turrets had been broken, Cole powered up the power source for the second gate and it opened in front of them, allowing them to enter the next area that the police was guarding and continued hiding behind the various covers as they fought their opponents and took out the turrets that were along the way. As they moved forward one of the police officers called out that this area was under strict quarantine and that they would be using lethal force against any 'unauthorized personnel', which told the sisters that they were more than willing to kill whoever was trying to escape the city. Still, the three of the and Cole fired at the police officers and knocked them out, while also dismantling the turrets that were in their way so that the civilians that were following them would be safe from harm. After blasting a few more police officers, disabling the turrets that were in their way, and navigating the containers that were in their way, Cole, Zeke, and the sisters finally reached the third gate in the area and Cole charged it's power source so they could move forward... but none of them were ready for what rested on the other side of the third gate.
The gate revealed a wall of razor wire, a larger number of fortifications than what they had gone through in the last few minutes, and a hail of machine gun fire that tore through the innocent civilians that had charged ahead of the group, no doubt killing them in the process. Zeke made a break for it immediately, heading towards the wall off on their immediate right and hurled himself at the fencing that was there, where he broke through it and fell into the harbor that was below the bridge. Cole and the sisters, thinking fast, followed his example and charged at the opening he had created, though instead of diving into the water they actually dove into an opening that happened to be in front of them, one that closed the moment they were in whatever room they had dove into. A few moments later a light came on and they all discovered that they weren't alone, as a second light, in a second room, came on and showed them someone that was sitting in a chair.
"Cole MacGrath," the person said, revealing that it was female by the tone, where the group realized that it was an accurate assumption since the person was definitely a lady, "along with the three unknown subjects. Perfect. I've been waiting for you four for some time now... especially after what happened two weeks ago, at Ground Zero."
Cole and the sisters stiffened for a moment, as she had to be referring to some footage that revealed what happened in the Historic District, where the four of them walked out of the wrecked area while thousands more lost their lives due to the Blast happening... though for now they remained silent as they waited to see what she did next.
"My name is Moya, and I'm an FBI agent." the lady said, almost as if revealing who she was would put them on equal footing with each other, which wasn't a bad move on her part since they knew what to call her, though at the same time she stared at Adagio and her sisters, "And who might the three of you be?"
"...Adagio Dazzle..." Adagio replied, though as she spoke, and moved her hand towards her sisters, she kept her eyes on this 'Moya', because right now she didn't trust her and wasn't about to tell her anything other than what she needed to know, "and my sisters Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk."
"Now those are some unusual names," Moya stated, though at the same time a smile appeared on her face, one that definitely told the sisters that the lady knew more about all of them, and who they knew, than they could possibly guess, before she focused on them all, "but then again, all of you are unusual, as you all have powers now... powers that you just used in an attempt to break through the quarantine and leave the city. Just like I thought you would."
"What do you want from us?" Cole asked, because he knew that the more time they spent here, with someone who likely held all the cards, the more likely they were going to get roped into something none of them wanted to do, but at the moment he knew that they'd end up playing her game.
"Before the Blast happened my husband, John White, had been assigned to infiltrate the First Sons," Moya explained, to which she held up a picture of John, so that way the four of them could burn his image into their minds, meaning that they would no doubt be looking for him if they went back into the Neon District, "they're a shadowy group that's been working on a project they call the 'Ray Sphere'. According to our limited information it's a device that's designed to drain the neuro-electric energy from a group of people and concentrate it inside a single individual. Unfortunately I lost contact with John the night before the Blast and, despite all my connections and contacts, I've started to lose hope of ever seeing him again."
Cole and the sisters could see that she seemed upset over the fact that she might have lost John, as she certainly appeared to be a grieving wife, but at the same time the sisters knew that something was fishy, as they had survived for a long time and faked many emotions over the years... and there was something about the way Moya talked, and how she quickly snapped out of her state, that sent red flags up in their minds.
"And yet I was able to find the four of you without any problems," Moya said, this time causing the group to raise their eyebrows, as they were interested in what she had to say, regardless of whether they trusted her or not, "So, I've come to make a deal with the four of you; if you go back into the city, and find both John and the Ray Sphere, I'll get all of you out of the quarantine and clear your names."
Cole didn't trust the information on the Ray Sphere, as it seemed absolutely strange, though at the same time he reflected on his own powers, and what the sisters were able to do, and decided that he might as well cut Moya some slack, just in case she was telling the truth. He glanced at Adagio and her sisters, seeing them glancing at each other for a few moments, before they all turned back towards him and nodded their heads a little bit, to which he turned his attention back towards Moya and said that they would do it. He knew that the sisters were more interested in helping him at the moment, since it was his name that was being tarnished by the Voice of Survival, but he was glad that they had his back, especially when they were dealing with someone who had all the cards at the moment. Moya then smiled and got up from where she was sitting, where she tapped a button on the side of a wall and a nearby hatch, which they hadn't noticed until now, opened up so they could jump or climb out of the area that they were in, where they barely glanced at Moya as they exited the room that she had been sitting in the entire time.
Cole was the first to land on the bottom section of the bridge, where all the pipes were running, and moved out of the way as Adagio, Aria, and Sonata did the same thing, though once they were all out of the room that they had been in the hatch sealed and they were on their own.
"Because of the riot topside, this is your only way back into the city." Moya explained, her voice now coming from Cole's phone, which caused him to moan for a very short moment, as this was something that he could do without, "Given the state of our new 'partnership', I've taken the liberty of cloning your phones frequency. I've got a lock on your GPS locator, and I can hear every word you say."
"That's... super." Cole said, his voice lacking any enthusiasm at the moment, though as he disconnected the call, for the moment anyway, he also raised his left hand towards the rusted pipes in front of them and blasted them, dropping sections of pipe that they could use to traverse the distance, without wrecking the bridge in the process.
As he blasted the sections of pipe into place, and used them to traverse the path in front of him, Adagio and her sisters followed after him in rapid succession, as from the looks of the pipes they would have to walk along these could potentially fall apart at any moment and drop them into the harbor. While that wasn't bad for them, since they all knew how to swim, Cole's electric powers prevented him from enjoying the water as everyone else did and falling into the harbor was essentially a death sentence waiting to happen. As they followed the pipes, however, the four of them noticed some Reapers further ahead of them, appearing to be messing with something ahead of them, so in response to the bullets that were flying their way the sisters loosed a few blasts of their own, allowing Cole to focus on clearing a path that they could take back to the city. Fortunately the two Reapers weren't a match for their combined attacks, as the sisters were able to clear them out of the area, allowing them to safely touch the platform they had been walking on, where things started to get interesting.
On a wall that they would have to climb around rested some sort of shard, radiating a power that seemed different from what they had seen before, though when Cole touched it a small surge of power rushed into his body for a few seconds, before finally calming down.
"Wh... what the hell was that?" Cole asked, as he had never seen anything like that before and turned towards the sisters for a moment, where Adagio and Aria shrugged their shoulders, indicating that they had no idea what had just happened to him.
"Maybe it's a fragment from when the Ray Sphere was activated." Sonata said, causing the others to turn towards her for a moment, as her sisters were curious as to what she was going to say and if there was any truth to what was on her mind right now, "You know, charged fragments of earth that, when they come into contact with someone like Cole, they grant him a small boost of power... and, if we find enough of them, maybe they'll give him a decent power boost so he can keep firing at his opponents for longer periods of time."
Adagio realized that Sonata might be onto something, as it made perfect sense when she thought about it, and then quickly brought her palm to her face, because this was another moment where Sonata had a perfectly reasonable idea that made her seem smarter than she really was. That alone made her wonder if the Blast had scrambled Sonata's brain and, in addition to awakening some hidden power inside her, it also made her much smarter than what she had been before they came to this world. In fact, now that she thought about it, Sonata hadn't actually done anything stupid since they woke up and started helping Trish and Zeke out, meaning that there might have been a positive side effect for her sister... though whether she could keep up with a smart Sonata, who didn't do stupid things, was a matter for another time, as Cole was already moving and she didn't want to be left behind, not after what they had just gone through.
The three of them followed Cole around the corner that the Blast Shard had been attached to, avoiding the exhaust pipes along the way, before they all jumped over to a wire that they could use to carefully make their way to the next platform so they could get this over with... and, when they least expected it, Moya spoke up.
"Cole, the water pressure has dropped in the main running under the bridge." Moya said, revealing that she could see what was happening in their area, at least from the various meters that were in the area that she was in, "What's going on down there?"
"Some Reapers are busting up some of the pipes." Cole replied, though at the same time he reached the end of the line and dropped down onto the platform, before giving the sisters enough room to do so as well, before he started firing at more rusted sections and lowered a new path into place.
"Interesting. I'll see what I can find out." Moya stated, her tone indicating that she was actually interested in what was happening at the moment, though at the same time the sisters finished letting go of the line and stood beside Cole as he finished up the call, "The four of you should focus on getting back into the city... don't forget whose holding your leash."
Cole resisted the urge to growl in annoyance, as he was beginning to dislike Moya already, as it was like she believed that she owned all four of them, but instead of doing that he disconnected from her and moved forward with the sisters following after him. This time around, however, he was thankful for them moving fast and being behind him at all times, as several of the pipes were actually falling apart when one of them jumped onto one of them, along with the fact that they had to pause to fire at more Reapers that were in their way. The four of them quickly made their way over the last couple of pipes that were between them and the Neon District, where Cole was the first one across and made sure that Adagio, Aria, and Sonata made it safely to the side that he was on... though once they were all together again they watched as the last pipe they used to get back here broke off from where it had been resting and fell into the water, making it impossible for anyone to traverse the path they had taken.
As they all let out a sigh of relief, that they hadn't sustained any injuries and had gotten back to the city unharmed from the entire ordeal, they heard a familiar voice call out to them, where they turned and watched Zeke, his clothes still dripping from his dip in the harbor, approach them.
"Man, it's good to see the lot of you again." Zeke said, his tone and face revealing that he was definitely happy to see them all, especially after what they had just gone through when they tried to escape the city.
"Nice work on that gate, Wrecking Ball." Cole replied, though at the same time he smiled, as he was in a joking mood at the moment, at least to take his mind, and hopefully the sisters' minds as well, off of the fact that they had just gotten a good number of civilians killed.
"Hell, I lived through the fall, no problem." Zeke stated, to which he rubbed the back of his head for a moment, no doubt where he had first hit the water, before he looked at all of them again, "But getting back to shore, well, let's just say I'm not Michael Phelps."
"Hey, at least you made it back, safe and sound." Sonata said, as she was happy to see that Zeke had survived the fall, as she had been worried for his safety as she, her sisters, and Cole made their own escape, though her words were accompanied by the others nodding their heads, including Aria, who generally hated everyone who wasn't her and Adagio.
"Speaking of which, how in the hell did you guys survive that?" Zeke asked, as he knew what he had seen when he busted through the gate earlier, though at the same time he grinned, indicating that his earlier statement, about it being good to see them again, was what he was going with.
"Zeke, let's head back home." Cole said, knowing that they all needed a breather from what they had been through, and maybe a drink or two if they had any to spare, despite the fact that Adagio, Aria, and Sonata preferred soda or water over the alcohol that Zeke kept around, "We'll tell you what happened on the way."
Zeke smiled as Cole lead the way back to the apartment building they stayed at, while at the same time the sisters followed behind them, keeping their eyes open for anyone that wanted a piece of Cole, but so far it appeared that the other civilians were either focused on the Reapers or those they lost in the riot attempt... and all three of them knew that it was only a matter of time until someone taught the Reapers a lesson, and they had the feeling that Cole was going to help them do that in the near future.