21 - Infighting//Lea

"Increase the output!" the strange woman said. "He'll be fine!"

Lea tried to tear through Nora's rope to no avail. As her attempts became more and more desperate, five large men and women entered the room. Each menacing figure carried a heavy floodlight which they pointed straight at the balcony.

The light was almost blinding, but Lea endured it; she needed her sense of sight more than ever now. Two of them seemed confused, turning to balcony under the western air duct instead.

Unless they weren't confused at all...

On the opposite side balcony was another Phantom, wearing an outfit that was all rose gold. When Nora spotted her, it spurred her into action.

"You!" she screeched, quickly shooting out another rope and taking Lea with her. The rose gold phantom snapped her fingers lightly. Taking her time, she grabbed at a ball of pink light, which transformed into a small shield.

She spun erratically, throwing the shield. It spun in an arc toward the main hall's skylights and returned to her. The second it was back in her arms the skylight crumbled, showering glass over them. In the time it took Nora and Lea to pull themselves all the way to the western balcony, she'd jumped about fifty feet straight up.

And into the night.

A bright neon light was right behind her. Ignoring the police's shouts and the screams below them, Nora bounded straight up, taking Lea with her. By the time Nora finally let go of the rope that was leading Lea they were already a few buildings away from Barium Hall.

Away from Paxton.

His skinny frame flashed into her mind, screaming as the wire net seemed to wrap tighter around him, but Lea was too scared to go back in by herself. What if they caught her too? All she could do was try and talk some sense into Nora, who was already a few blocks away.

Lea jumped after her, feeling tired for the first time that night as her mind raced through questions and possibilities. Far ahead of Nora she could barely make out the rose gold phantom, who was on the verge of leaping over the horizon.

Just as she was starting to give up, the whole city went dark. Every single light that made up Paradox City's night lights went out for ten seconds.

When they came back, the phantom was gone.

Nora leaped a few more buildings before finally coming to a stop. Despite feeling like her brain was about to melt, Lea quickly caught up with her.

The Verdant phantom looked around frantically, her eyes filled with tears. She was biting her lip and her hands were clenched, looking for any sign of the rose gold phantom.

"She's gone," Lea said. From past experience, she knew that trying to delay the inevitable wouldn't help them. Nora needed to hear the truth as soon as possible.

"She took Paxton," Nora said angrily. "They took Paxton."

"Who?" Lea asked.

"I don't know," Nora said, slumping down in defeat.

That was the first time Lea felt like Nora was purposefully trying to hide something from her.