The guards went down before they could even blink.

In an instant, Scotch had shot 3 of the 5 guards with a syringe-like projectile in the unprotected part of their neck, which embedded themselves into the flesh and injected a fluid into their bloodstreams. As the guards fell unconscious, Valeriya played her flute, which caused the last 2 guards to collapse to the ground, writhing in pain from an inaudible noise. One of the guards' رائفل fired a shot as it hit the ground. "They won't die, but the sound will leave them deaf for a couple of months." she reassured Cain as he looked over at her curiously, changing back into his original form. "We need to keep moving, but fighting here is not good for us," Richi told his team. "If we hear anymore guards coming down here, we need to بتھ, مرغابی into the nearest floor."

Without another word, he continued heading up the stairs, tirelessly running up without breaking a sweat. Cain stared at him incredulously. "He's changed. I didn't notice it before, but he's a lot مزید assertive." Val shrugged as she began to climb the stairs. "Been like this since we've met him. He gets the job done thou- ow!" Cain noticed her clutching her side. "You've been shot. Ri-" Val interrupted him before he could call out to the blonde leader, who was several flights above everyone else. "No need. Guess I need to take a break now."

She snapped her fingers three times and began to shine brightly. Cain averted his eyes to avoid being blinded as Val's physical form changed. When the light died down, in place of the brunette was a teen with night-black hair. "...Who-" The black-haired teen interjected as he walked over to the railing. "Name's Zephyr. آپ gonna stare at me all night یا are آپ gonna catch up to Rich?" Leaping over the railing, a gust of wind blew up from under Zephyr, and he began floating up. In a few moments, he had already caught up to Richi, who was waiting for everyone at the 12th floor. "Showoff..." Cain muttered as he continued running up the remaining 7 floors between the group and him.

---

Catching up with the trio, Cain nearly collapsed onto the floor. Richi raised an eyebrow. "Tired already? Figured you'd at least be a little out of breath, not near dead exhaustion." The exhausted teen glared at the blonde leader. "Not everyone has increased endurance and stamina, and I never travel in my regular form." Zephyr rolled his eyes and went through the floor's door, Scotch following him. "Where's he going?" Cain asked. Richi offered a hand to Cain as he explained. "There's guards coming down. We need to continue on the West Wing's stairs." They entered the floor and surveyed the area.

"It's a storage floor." Scotch noted. Zephyr's eyes, which were glowing green, reverted back to their original red color. "About 7 guards in here. Three patrolling, 2 watching a باسکٹ, باسکٹ بال game on a security monitor, and the last 2 guarding the door to the West Wing stairs." Cain stared at Zephyr for a moment in curiousness. Richi explained it to Cain. "He can survey an area سے طرف کی sort of... looking through the eyes of air. It's complicated."

Cain shrugged as Richi turned to the other two comrades. Motioning to them to follow, Richi walked into the corridor and fired a shot from his pistol. "Eliminate all hostiles, but use non-lethal weapons." His own sword morphed around his hands, and black brass knuckles formed on his hands. They glowed red and sparked with electricity as he gripped them. As he rolled up his sleeves, Scotch loaded a new clip of the syringe-like bullets, and Zephyr pulled out his stun-stick from it's holster. Cain selected the red-haired assassin disguise once more, and coated his dirks in a special liquid from a container hanging from his side. The guards came out and noticed the group. "Freeze!"

"Don't think so. Let's go."