Chapter Eleven

 Kasumi raised her hands in surrender. "Alright, Marino, you win." She waved her hand, and the soldiers dropped their weapons. Marino crushed the gun in his hand, dropping the fragments onto the ground. Adrenaline was still rushing through his system, but he hardly noticed it. Kasumi turned, hands still raised, and began walking down the corridor, Marino following close behind. Kasumi, still walking, said, "If she's your sister, why didn't you keep a better eye on her?" Marino told Kasumi about the battle, and how he'd killed Takashi. Kasumi started shaking, and at first Marino thought she was crying. He realized she was laughing, and she said in between guffaws, "Dead? Yeah, right. If someone like you could kill Takashi, then he was more of a weakling than we thought!" This response bothered Marino, but he didn't let it show. Instead, he stayed silent for the rest of the trip. 

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 The Exoling dove toward Noda, its sharp teeth coming within five feet of Noda as she jumped out of the way. Its two heads kept shifting form. At one point, it was a dragon, and at another, it was a horned lizard. It hissed and snapped at her again, and she could see where other victims of the thing had met its maw. Its teeth were crooked and jagged, and its breath smelled like rotten cheese mixed with acid. It hissed, and Noda kicked off its jaw, sliding away from it. She jumped up, narrowly missing its teeth as it snapped at her. She summoned more water and encased it in it, then froze the water to negative 500 degrees. The Exoling instantly froze in place, ice and frostbite forming rapidly around its scales. She summoned water inside of the Exoling, heating it up to its highest possible heat. The Exoling attempted to break out of the ice, but Noda made sure to keep her focus on the water. She filled the Exoling's lungs with water and expanded the water, exploding its lungs in its chest. Tired and stressed, she dropped to her knees and passed out.

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Uyeno remembered a searing pain in his abdomen that wasn't there anymore. "Huh," he thought, "something's missing here." He looked at his abdomen, and there was nothing. No blood, but his shirt was still ripped in a circular hole. "Well that's not normal," he said out loud. 

"You're awake!"

It was Noda's voice. Before he could respond, she had brought him into a warm embrace. "Uh…" He stutters, cheeks flushed. She pushes him away, beaming. "I didn't think that would work!" His head is spinning. "Didn't think WHAT would work?"

"I was able to regenerate your organs and skin. It was stressful, but I was able to do it!"

"Oh. Uh..cool. How'd you do it?"

"Doesn't matter right now. Only thing that matters is that you're alive. We have to go find Marino. Get up," she said. It came out fast, so it sounded more like 'matterrightalivemarino.' Uyeno processed this and eventually found out what she said. "What about the Exoling?" Uyeno looked past Noda and saw the Exoling. It was…dead? "How-"

"Long story. Let's go!"

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 Marino and Kasumi finally reached the room where Uemura was being kept. Kasumi's arms had long since dropped, but she took out a key and unlocked Uemura's cell. Uemura was facing the wall, shaking. "Uemura?" Marino said skeptically. Uemura turned, her light blue eyes meeting Marino's. She was crying, tears streaming like a waterfall down her dirty cheeks. She got up and rushed over to Marino, hugging him around the waist. Marino picked her up and hugged her back. He was visibly tired from what seemed like days walking through the huge facility. He turned to Kasumi, his eyes glinting with gratitude. "Thank you," he said. She nodded. "When you get out of here, take me with you. Please. I've been forced to work here since I was a child." She was on the verge of tears, so Marino bobbed his head. Kasumi beamed. "I'll distract the guards. Take her out of here."

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 Marino, with Uemura on his back, rushed through the currently-empty halls of the building. Uemura ducked under a vertically-closing door, and Marino realized there must be a camera and security room watching them. He looked around, still running, and spotted a camera. He concentrated, and it exploded. He saw two familiar faces ahead: Noda and Uyeno, who were rushing toward him. "What were you thinking?" Noda asked. 

"No time to explain, we have to run!" Marino replied. In minutes, they were back where they'd started, and the door to the outside world slammed shut. Guards poured out of four openings, surrounding them. Kasumi was nowhere to be seen, so Marino had to think fast. The guards aimed, their fingers on the trigger, and a group of them parted, revealing a man clapping his hands and walking toward them. One of the guards saluted, quickly followed by the rest. The original turned to the man and said, "Sir, these are the fugitives you wanted to see."