In the hour following Empire City's complete and utter destruction, at the hands of the Beast, the Dazzlings reverted back to their base forms and helped the various citizens that had called Empire City home get used to what was on the ship that they were using to leave the wreckage behind. All three of them were disappointed, as both they and Cole had been both strong and ready to face the Beast, the only problem was that he was so strong that none of their attacks really seemed to do much to him and only seemed to slow him down a little. When they used their full power forms against Kessler they had dominated the fight and utterly ruined him, but even the memories that the future Cole had shown them couldn't have possibly prepared them for what happened, as the creature was stronger than what they were expecting. Kuo was right about one thing, they needed to speak with Dr. Wolfe and see what sort of upgrades he might be able to give them, or just Cole since they weren't from this world, before the Beast found them again, as the look in the creautre's eyes told them that he would be following him until they were all dead.
Trish and Zeke tended to Cole during that time period, though when he woke up they had to tell him the news that Empire City was gone, destroyed by a violent Ray Sphere like explosion, and he had some equally terrible news to share as well, the Beast had drained the electricity from his body and had broken his powers... so he was left with only a few abilities and not enough power left to his name, which meant that he was weaker than them, something that he aimed to change.
In the days that followed the Dazzlings found that the people they had rescued either kept their distance, from them and Cole, or sometimes came up to them and struck up a short conversation, but in the end they all knew that the people were afraid and were trying to calm themselves down. Trish spent her time making sure that anyone that was injured was tended to, by herself or the medical staff aboard the ship, and made sure that Cole was ready for the training exercises that the Dazzlings wanted him to go through so he could be ready for when they reached New Marais. Zeke, on the other hand, spent his time creating a device that would allow Cole to better focus his powers, a melee weapon of sorts, though at the same time the Dazzlings knew that he was trying to make amends for what he did back in Empire City. Kuo and the rest of the staff, despite the additions they had taken on when the Beast had shown itself, acted out their routines to keep themselves calm, though Kuo also kept taps on where their enemy was and what it was doing... as the Beast was traveling down the coast as well, wiping out every town and city that it came across, while the military tried in vain to stop it.
When they reached the point where they would have to go into New Marais, however, they discovered that the city was on lockdown and wasn't letting anyone in, though Kuo had a trick up her sleeve and requisitioned a smaller boat for them to use to get to their destination. The Dazzlings were the first ones to arrive at the boat, where Agent Kuo was making sure it was ready to depart, before Cole, Zeke, and Trish arrived so they could leave as well, though at the same time the sisters found that they had changed their appearance a little. Cole was now wearing a simple black and yellow t-shirt, paired with black cargo pants that had a white Union Jack design on its right leg, only this time it was spanning his entire leg, and he still carried his pack in it's usual spot on his back, with the strap diagonally across his chest and his phone resting in the same location. Zeke and Trish, on the other hand, simply cleaned up their clothing so they didn't look like they had been in a place that was on fire or something, like Empire City had been when the Beast arrived, though while Zeke had a gun in his shoulder holster, for combat, Trish had nothing except her medical supplies.
The moment they were all ready Kuo had them gathered on the smaller boat and Zeke, apparently being the only one among them that could actually steer a boat, stood inside the structure that held all the controls for the boat while the others gathered in the front area of their vessel as they headed into the swamp that rested between them and where New Marais was located... though everyone remained silent for a few moments as they entered the swamp, until Kuo decided to have a conversation with the group that had taken on the Beast.
"Hello Cole. Hello Dazzlings." Kuo said, though her tone revealed that she found it a little weird to call the sisters by the title they had given her, as she felt that it was a band name, but at the same time Adagio and her sisters agreed not to share an unnecessary information with her until they were sure that she could be trusted with the information, "You know, when the four of you go to talk with Dr. Wolfe, everything is going to become completely..."
Adagio glanced over at the agent as she paused in her attempt to start a conversation, which they would have been fine with having since none of them had talked since they left the boat, but Kuo seemed to see something off in the distance and immediately turned towards Zeke.
"Zeke! Zeke!" Kuo stated, her tone frantic for a moment, though at the same time, while she made a motion that resembled killing something, the Dazzlings got up from where they were sitting and walked over to where Cole was standing, "Cut the engines!"
"What's wrong?" Cole asked, because if there were enemies around the area he knew that he and the Dazzlings could take care of them, though at the same time they had no idea if there was an opposing force in New Marais and had to be careful when they reached the city.
"Militia blockade." Kuo replied, pointing at the area that was in the distance, where the Dazzlings spotted some weapons that were aimed in the direction that they were in at the moment, though at the moment it didn't look like any enemies had noticed them yet, "We get any closer and their artillery will sink us."
"I'd like to see them try," Adagio commented, knowing that her command over the water would be used to good effect in an area like this, as the swamp had enough water for her to manipulate and command however she desired, but she would have to wait and see what happened before she used her power.
"I guess it's time that we go and introduce ourselves," Cole said, noticing that Zeke had cut the engines at the right moment, because they were resting near a small dock of some sort that had a clear path into the Militia area that Kuo was so worried about.
"Wait up man," Zeke said, to which he walked out of where the control area was, where the group noticed that he was carrying what appeared to be a baton with two prods as the head, causing the Dazzlings to raise their eyebrows in surprise for a few seconds, "Here she is..."
"And you're sure that it's ready?" Cole asked, staring down at the weapon that he had helped Zeke make, as it was slightly different from the one that he had been practicing with, while at the same time he could see that the others were looking at the weapon as well.
"Uh, I hope so." Zeke replied, revealing that he knew that it worked as well as the prototype version they had been using on the boat, but at the same time also telling them all that he wasn't exactly sure that it was ready for combat and was only handing it over for testing, "Give her a try."
Cole gripped the weapon for a moment before shifting his stance, causing the two pieces of the head to extend for a moment, before he moved around the area and swung it a few times, finding that it was as good as he could possibly hope at the moment, while at the same time this put him on the same level as the Dazzlings, as they could create weapons from their elements within seconds.
"What is that thing?" Kuo asked, as she had seen the two of them working on something in their spare time while they were on their way here, something that resembled a weapon, and was both surprised and shocked by what Cole was holding at the moment.
"I call it the Amp." Zeke said, though he was pleased when Cole channeled his electricity through the handle and it danced around the tips of the head for a few moments, as that meant that his work had paid off since it appeared to be working as well as he intended it to.
"Good work Zeke," Cole commented, to which he walked over to the edge of the boat and stared out at the part of the swamp that they had stopped near, before he turned towards the others as the Dazzlings gathered near him, as they were ready to get underway, "This is going to help us make one hell of an impression."
Together Cole and the Dazzlings jumped off the boat and landed on the dock that was in front of them, to which the four of them walked into the area that was directly in front of them, while at the same time Zeke carefully moved the boat out of the way and backed up to a good distance while he waited for them to clear the path forward.
"Hey Kuo, does the NSA know what you're doing with the four of us?" Adagio asked, as she, her sisters, and Cole had learned some pieces of information about Agent Kuo during the ride to the point where they had to get the smaller boat, though part of her make her wonder if the agency would like working with people like them.
"I took a leave of absence." Kuo stated, her tone revealing that she had moved with the best interests for the planet first and not her own personal gain, which the Dazzlings would have assumed would have been a different decision for the other agents she worked with.
"Why is that?" Cole inquired, though at the same time he slipped the Amp into the holder that was on the back of his pack, because right now he didn't need it and he was sure the modified strap would be able to hold it until he needed to beat someone up, "I mean, you seem pretty 'by the numbers'."
"The NSA plans on dealing with the Beast by deploying the military." Kuo explained, to which the group immediately understood why she was heading down a different path, especially since she had gone through the effort to get them, Zeke, and Trish out of Empire City before the Beast showed up, "Dr. Wolfe has a better plan: the four of you. He invented Ray Sphere technology. You guys want enough power to take down the Beast, he's your man."
Cole didn't need her to explain everything to them, because if what she said was true, and she believed every word of it without the Dazzlings calling her out for lying, then all they needed to do was head into New Marais, find Dr. Wolfe, and do whatever was necessary to get the powers they needed so they could take on and destroy the Beast. As they walked through the small patch of land that the dock was attached to, which had a few trees and a small campsite, it wasn't long before they noticed a bridge that had parts of it that had collapsed, though as the sisters simply floated in the air and bypassed the bridge entirely Cole found that he could still use his Static Thrusters, allowing him to catch up without falling behind. When the group moved onto the next patch of land they were attacked by two armed soldiers, likely members of the Militia that Kuo was so worried about, though at the same time they shouted that the four of them were freaks, which meant that the army that controlled the city didn't like Conduits. At the same time the Dazzlings stayed out of the way as Cole withdrew the Amp from it's resting place, extended the top part of it, and beat up the two soldiers, who were sort of distracted because they were trying to fire at the sisters.
Once the two enemy soldiers were defeated Cole let Zeke know that the Amp was going to work just fine, as he was liking how it felt in his hands, and Zeke told him to have fun and put some notches in it for him, to which Cole hung up and the four of them moved through the area that was in front of them. Fortunately it wasn't long before they found another pair of enemy soldiers that seemed to be guarding a bridge of some sort, though the four of them were able to outright beat them and secure the area, allowing Cole a few moments to stock up on his power reserves since he hadn't done that since they had been on the ship. The moment he was ready the four of them stood by the edge of the bridge and quickly discovered that the walkway was raised at the moment, though while the easy path would have been to ignore the structure and fly over they also noticed a second option that definitely had some consequences attached to it.
"Cole, it looks like you could lower the bridge if you give the generator some power." Kuo commented, revealing that she could see the same thing that the group could see, though at the same time there was something else the four of them knew since they were looking beyond the generator, "Just don't overcharge it... a fire could blow up the entire village that's around it."
"It could also take out any resistance that they might face in the area." Zeke added, as he was sure that there had to be some Militia forces in the area that they had come to, while also revealing that he was of the opinion that they should just overcharge it and clear the way at a rapid pace.
"Not to mention the women, the children, and their pets." Trish spoke up, though that was followed by the sound of her hitting Zeke again, showing that she had no desire to blow up innocent people, even though it was the Militia that they were interested in beating up at the moment.
Cole, already knowing what he was going to do, raised his hand and loosed a few charges through the air, where they watched as the power went from none existent and moved into the yellow section, before moving into the green area as the last bolt struck the generator. From there it was a simple matter of waiting for the bridge to lower into position, along with Kuo thanking them for showing some restraint, before they started to walk over the now extended bridge and headed over to the village that the Militia were in. The Dazzlings covered Cole as he made his way over to some clearly injured villagers, allowing the sisters to blast the members of the Militia that had witnessed them open the bridge and assumed that they weren't human, though it wasn't hard for the three of them to defeat the area while Cole used his Pulse Heal to mend the wounds of the civilians that were near them, earning him some thanks from Trish, who was always happy to see him use his powers for the good of others and not just himself. A few moments later, when he was done healing the wounded civilians, the four of them pressed onward, blasting and beating their way through the soldiers that were in front of them, while at the same time hearing one of them shout out that Bertrand was going to hear about this, though that only told them the name of their next foe.
When they moved into the next area they found that the Militia were using their artillery to attack the four of them, though that was when Aria, Sonata, and Cole stepped back as Adagio connected herself to the water that was around them and ensnared the charges that were flying down towards them, freezing them in ice and preventing them from going off at the same time. While she did that Aria found some flames nearby and noticed that the nearby riverboat, where the charges had come from, had some red gas containers at very specific points, where she gathered the fire into several fireballs and sent them flying through the air, where they collided with the containers and exploded, tearing apart the riverboat, scattering the Militia that had been aboard it, and wiped out the artillery. Cole, seeing the riverboat sink in such a way, opened the line and told Kuo that they were going to scout ahead and make sure that there weren't any other nasty surprises waiting for them, to which he was told to let them know when the path was clear so the three of them could join the group in New Marais.
From that point Cole used the debris from the destroyed riverboat to move forward, as the sisters floated around the air around him, before the four of them stopped at a point where some Militia guards must have been posted at one point, while finding that their television was set to one of Bertrand's messages... one that they ultimately decided to ignore, since there was no reason for them to listen to a message from someone that told his followers that Conduits were freaks and deserved to be killed.
After ignoring the television Cole used the nearby grindwire to race from the platform they were on to the one that was across the water from where they were standing, showing that he still had access to the Induction Grind ability as well, before the Dazzlings flew over to the other platform. When they arrived at the second platform they found that there was a turret pointed in the direction that Cole had come from, though Cole surprised the Dazzlings by also displaying that he had access to the Shock Grenade power as well, which he used to great effect by throwing one behind the turret and blew the Militia soldier into the water. From there Cole used the next grindwire that was in front of him, as the Dazzlings took to the air, and they crossed over to the next platform, though while Cole was forced to walk along the yellow pipes that were taking him closed to the city Sonata decided to have a turn with the Militia soldiers that were in front of them, as she used the wind to knock one soldier away from the turret he was using and them blasted the other two into the air so they could fall into the water as well.
Once those guys were taken care of Cole used the grindwire that was near Sonata to race into the city, to which he landed on the dock and stood up, where he was followed by all three of the Dazzlings, who smiled at him, as they were happy to see that not all of his powers had been taken from him.
"Okay guys, you are clear to dock." Cole said, tapping his phone for a moment, letting Kuo, Trish, and Zeke know that the path was clear and that they could finally enter the city as well, while at the same time he noticed that the Dazzlings were staring at the impressive city that stood before them.
"Nice." Kuo replied, to which Cole heard the sound of Zeke starting the engine once more and hear the sound of the boat passing through the water that he and the Dazzlings had fought their way through, "We're heading to your current location, then, once we've arrived, we'll head out for Wolfe's lab."
"Militia sure has changed this town," Zeke commented, opening a line to Cole the moment Kuo hung up, though at the same time the way he spoke told the Dazzlings that both of them had been here at some point in the past, "ain't nothing like it used to be. Ah, remember?"
"Yeah Zeke, I remember." Cole said, to which he turned towards the Dazzlings for a moment, knowing that they still knew nothing about the city that they were going to be spending some time in until he got the powers he needed to stop the Beast, "The two of us came here four years ago, where I spent my time learning home to climb and do parkour. There was a flood before that point that left half of the buildings abandoned, turning the area into a haven for urban exploration... hell, even Zeke manned up and gave it a try. You see, in any other city you had about ten minutes, from the moment you started climbing, before the cops showed up, but here, in New Marais, the police always had their hands full in one way or another. I'll admit that the place was lawless the last time we were here, it was a bit raunchy as well, and except for the hangovers it was God damn heaven."
"But not anymore." Adagio spoke up, to which she looked up the ramp that led to the nearby street and knew that the Militia had to be on the move, though from what they knew, from the little they had learned, those soldiers hadn't been here the last time Cole and Zeke had been here.
"Yeah, not anymore." Cole agreed, to which he sighed, as while he knew that Zeke was looking forward to some time relaxing, and he knew that they deserved it after everything that happened in Empire City, they needed to move fast before something else happened, like the Beast showing up or something similar to that, "Now it appears that this Militia is going around looking for 'deviants' to punish... and right now, they're the only thing standing between us and the power we need to stop the Beast."
The Dazzlings nodded and stood beside Cole as they waited for Zeke to come in with their boat, as they knew that the only person that knew the whereabouts of Dr. Wolfe's lab, in their group, was Kuo, though waiting a few more minutes before they got started on their new adventure wasn't going to hurt anyone.