Looking back on things, Nathan probably would've been better off had he laughed in their faces and run out screaming like a madman. Alas, he simple had to have done the right thing and agreed to the mission.

Roy's wild childish grin almost took away his authoritative aura. He clapped his hands together.

"Great! Then we've got to start immediately," he said, almost leaping out of the room, forcing the others to hastily follow after him.

"Woah, sir, slow down," Fletcher called out, "start what exactly? We don't even know the first thing about this darkness whatchamacallit... you can't possibly be expecting us to fight it now, right?"

Dahle laughed, which seemed almost unreal on his unusually stoic face. "No, Gallagher, we didn't mean you have to fight it now. We mean we need to begin acquainting you with the situation. Like you said you're going to need to know all about this before you begin running into battle."

Nathan began picturing a nice room, drinking a warm cup of coffee while being given an orientation by Roy.

Apparently, fate was just not having that.

"Yes, we'll be taking you to our bunker, of sorts, and you'll get a day of rest before- "

"SIR!" a frantic voice echoed down the hall they were walking in, before any of the could interject and ask what the hell he had meant by 'bunker'.

A young police officer ran to the group, red faced and panting and held out a phone to Roy, looking worried enough that the latter didn't ask any further questions before putting it to his ear. Nathan's heart sank as Roy's face underwent a series of emotions going from the current ecstatic, to a sudden shocked to a horrified to a dark crestfallen, before settling on a stoic look of business. He slapped the phone into the other guy's chest started walking ahead towards the exit faster than before.

"Seems like we're going to have to pause the idea of you kids getting a rest. For now, you're coming with me. We've got an emergency."

Before anyone could question him, he ran outside to what looked like a police jeep and hopped in.

"Hey, where the heck are you taking us?" Rai questioned, stopping in her tracks once they were outside. Dahle faced he with a no-nonsense look so hard she took a step back.

"We brought you here to do a job, and now, if you know what's best for everyone, you're not going to question Roy."

Without further protests, the four of them clambered into the back of the jeep. Roy was officially the lead on this case, and Nathan didn't really see the point in arguing with an officer like him, especially not when he looked like that and specifically mentioned an 'emergency'.

Rai sat beside Nathan as the jeep started moving, her fists clenched, trying her hardest to look angry, but her fear was evident. Nathan knew what she was feeling, because it ran through him as well. He looked towards the front.

"Can you at least explain now?"

Roy didn't slow down, but Nathan heard him sigh.

"I hate dragging you around like this but," he paused, uncomfortable, "We didn't have time for you to contemplate, so you can finish your reactions in the ride. We need you at your peak when we reach."

Fletcher held up both hands, "Woah, woah, hold the freakin' phone, dude. What the hell do you mean by 'at your peak'?"

"Remember when we told you that we didn't need you to fight the Darkness right away? Yeah, not so true, as it turns out."

The twins choked, while Nathan's jaw fell open.

"We're going to fight that!?" Rai somehow found her voice.

"I just got the news. We've set up cameras and all sorts of sensory equipment all over the woods, since that seems to be where it's strongest. And some of these sensors report numerous amounts of strange activity, which we've cross referenced to mean that the darkness is seeming to be heading towards its newest victims, a large group of school-children, all surrounding a campfire."

"OF course. Of course it had to be children. What, was puppies out of the questions? Maybe throw in some kittens and rabbits too?" Fletcher rolled her eyes.

"Hold on," Nathan interjected, "We know nothing about anything, literally. How're we supposed to destroy this? I mean, we barely even know the full extent of our abilities."

"You're not going there to destroy it. You can't, not yet. You're just going there to keep it away from the children long enough for them to be taken out of harm's way."

Finch paled, even further than his normal colour, which Nathan considered a feat.

"So you mean, this thing is going in towards a bunch of kids around a large fire, in a woods filled with animals and rocks and stuff, and is gonna give them terrifying hallucinations which supposedly make people go almost crazy with fear," he perfectly summed up the severity of the situation.

Their jeep hit a bump and all four of them flew up together. Roy didn't seem to care, he wasn't slowing the jeep down even if they were going over the rockiest of terrains, which they seemed to be.

"Here's the plan," he called back, "Finch, you're going to need to talk to the kids and their chaperone, who we couldn't call ahead because they don't have range there," he had sensed Nathan's next question.

"Why am I the talker?" Finch protested, pouting.

"Because you're the only one out of the four of you who s borderline amiable, isn't completely socially awkward and can actually speak. Now shut up and listen to the rest," he retorted, effectively shutting the boy up. Despite everything, Nathan had to suppress a smile.

"Nathan, Rai and Fletcher, you three will keep the Darkness as far away from Finch and the kids until they've been taken away, then immediately, and I mean immediately retreat to where we will drop you. Do not try to over do the task."

His tone was clear, and clearly none of the kids felt like arguing. The temperature in the vehicle seemed to drop ten degrees. The twins exchanged worried glances. Even their seemingly goofy demeanour was crackling. Nathan looked over at Rai, who had gotten progressively quieter since he first met her.

She looked pale, and her brown eyes were wide. He didn't blame her. They'd all spent their lives running from who they were, their powers and their past. And now within a matter of hours, they were thrust into this world where all that mattered were those exact things.

Rai swung nervously back and forth in her seat. Nathan reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, trying for a reassuring smile. She retaliated the gesture with a small smile of her own, but neither could take away the dank environment of the car.

Their surroundings became increasingly wilder as they entered the forest, and Nathan's hands got even colder as they stopped.

"That's it," Fletcher yelped, "I'm going to be swallowed by some black goop. So much for having a heroic movie."

The four of them stepped out, to meet Roy and Dahle, who'd stayed quiet the whole road here. Roy looked at a tablet in his hands.

"We don't have much time. Finch, come with us, this way. You three will need to go about fifty yards what way. You'll feel it before you see it," he pointed off to his left. He was right, the place where he and Finch were headed was barely two hundred yards from where he'd prompted the other three to head.

"Just remember," Roy grabbed Rai's arm as she turned, "this thing can terrify you, make you see things, and evidently also somehow shape reality. Be careful." Rai nodded. They didn't need to be told twice.

"Scary black goo, here we come," Nathan muttered as they walked deeper into the woods.

Nathan felt the difference almost immediately. Whispering filled his ears, and it wasn't the rustling of the leaves in the forest ground. He could make out actual voices, sputtering garbled nonsense. The area was even colder than the jeep, even though the weather today had called for a moderate amount of heat. Every nerve in Nathan's body screamed at him to turn back, to run as fast as he could. He could feel the jittery nervousness of his companions as well.

"Stupid creepy old forest. Stupid darkness. It couldn't make a nice little home in say, a burger shop? Stupid darkness," Fletcher cursed under her breath.

"Does anyone have any idea what this even looks like?" Rai spoke for the first time since the trip.

Nathan looked to their left, and every hair on the back of his neck stood up.

"Probably like that," he pointed. The three of them stopped in their tracks.

A wall of some sort of sickly black fog rapidly approached them rapidly, the tendrils reaching out towards them resembling hands gripping the air. It engulfed everything in its path, while everything else seemed to suddenly become possessed. The trees uprooted themselves and scooted forward, the grass turned a horrible black and became liquid, resembling a pool of oil.

"What in the holy..." Fletcher broke out of her trance first.

Up close, Nathan truly knew how horrible a thing it was they were fighting. Simply looking at the darkness made the most horrifying images run through his mind. He wanted to crawl into a hole and hide, but by some miracle, he kept his footing. But he knew even being touched by a tendril would cause enough hallucinations to make him flee, or go insane, or both. The two girls spread out on either side of him, as the tendrils curled barely ten feet out.

"Here goes nothing," Fletcher muttered.

Nathan looked at her as she closed her eyes and concentrated, holding out her hand.

Out of nowhere, the air became more humid, as a wave of water appeared from both sides, knocked everything between the Darkness and them back, slamming into the entire area. The Darkness momentarily stopped, but almost immediately, the ground underneath their feet started slipping, literally. Their feet began sinking down, as the urgency hit them.

From in front, one of the apparently sentient trees flew at them, but Nathan clenched his fist, and it disintegrated, as he dug his feet out of the muck. "We need to fall back!" he called out.

Rai swung her hand forward, as the other two sprinted back, and a bolt of electricity crackled through the whole area, almost vaporizing everything in its way. It bought them a little time, but not much, as Nathan suspected.

He didn't even have time to be impressed by what he'd seen.

"Rai come on!" he grabbed her hand and pulled her along.

"They're still pulling the kids away!" Fletcher yelled as they ran, pressing the earpiece Dahle had given her before they left.

Nathan looked ahead and stopped immediately, yanking the girls back, breathing heavy. Terror closed in on him.

"What the hell dude? We need to go!" Fletcher protested, pulling away. He looked at her incredulously, pointing ahead.

"You don't see that!?" he pointed at the five-yard-long chasm that opened up in front of them, black goo spilling out the edge.

"Nathan it's the hallucinations! Its affecting..." Rai's voice trailed off as the roots near her feet closed around her ankles. She batted at them, her tone rising to a scream.

"GET THE SNAKES AWAY!"

Nathan held out his hand and willed the roots, which apparently looked like snakes to her, to retreat, but nothing happened. They fought him, almost laughing in his mind.

He could feel his mind slipping. Every fear, every horrible nightmare he'd ever had ran through his thoughts, sapping his strength. His legs felt shaky. He wanted to cry and scream at the same time. He fell beside Rai whose screams had only gotten louder and yanked at the roots.

Fletcher stood between them and the Darkness, which approached all the more steadily. She held out her hands, and flipped open a lighter, putting her hand over the flame, as they jumped onto her palm, following her will, dancing around in the air. She thrust her hand forward, and flames shot forward, enveloping the entire area around them.

The trees and various levels of muck burned away, and the darkness was surrounded by a halo of fire, as the flames got bigger, but somehow didn't spread.

The roots gave away, as Nathan pulled Rai away and held her back. They steadied themselves and rai shot another bolt of lightning cackling ahead, straight into the darkness, disappearing into its depths.

For a second things seemed to be going their way.

Naturally, that's when it went wrong.

The flames from Fletcher suddenly stopped, as she clutched her head and fell to the ground.

"STOP THE SCREAMING!" she yelled, even though Nathan couldn't hear anyone. A rock came out of nowhere and knocked Rai on the head, sending her crumping to the ground, as Nathan stood petrified. He couldn't seem to move. His mind refused to see what was ahead of him, instead blanking him out with images of the most horrible things he'd seen. He looked forward, and suddenly the forest seemed to fill with people. Gaunt, emaciated figures approached him, grabbing at him, their mouths hanging open.

Its not real, its not real, he tried to tell himself in vain. He swiped his hands forward, willing the figures to be thrown to the side, but his mind wouldn't abbey him, no matter what he thought. He sunk to his knees, as his friends struggled to stay sane. He felt his hands go numb and all the control drain from his body. All he heard was Fletcher's screaming. To his side, Rai lay unconscious. Ahead, the Darkness had almost reached them, the tendrils reaching out, almost as though calling him in, enticing him.

He felt the hope draining away, along with all his strength.

Then, out of nowhere, he made out another voice, a real one, screaming in his ear. He looked up to see Finch's brown eyes looking down at him, panic filling them. He could barely make out his words.

"Kids... safe... RUN!"

He dropped Nathan and grabbed his sister, as a tendril almost enveloped her. He flicked her hand, a everything in front of them turned a dazzling white, too bright to look at. That momentarily drove back the darkness, and gave them enough time for Fletcher to snap out of her insanity. She swayed, but managed to steady herself.

Nathan pulled Rai up, holding her up by her arms.

"FINCH!"

Finch ran towards him, as he handed the unconscious girl over to him. He looked the twin in the eyes.

"Get them out of here, I'll catch up," Nathan was screaming, even though the only sounds were the forest going crazy.

"Dude, stuff like this doesn't usually end up well for the hero!" Fletcher's voice was hoarse, as all of them walked backwards.

"Trust me, I'm not stupid. Just LEAVE!" he shoved her further back, and seeing his resolve, she wrapped Rai's other arm around her neck, as the three retreated.

Nathan turned to face the darkness. Seeing his partners somewhat functional had helped clear his mind, even if for a little bit. The terror was still there, but he had his control back.

He forced his mind to go blank. He removed every horrid memory, every dream, every thing that disgusting mass of evil was making him see. He looked straight ahead. The only thing on his mind was anger. He focused all of it. He hated feeling helpless, and now he refused to feel that way.

Steadying his breath, he looked at the Darkness which now came closer with an even greater speed. He held out both hands and knelt down, placing his hands on the ground. He felt every molecule in the forest floor. He felt his mind connecting with them, and this time he simply wasn't going to be blocked. He felt his mind reverberate inside the whole area, as he gathered his anger, his hatred, and even his fear. He felt them increasing his strength.

With a blood-curling yell, he shoved his hands forward, as everything in front of him erupted, blowing the whole area apart.

~.~.~.~.

A/N: I KNOW!!! IT'S BEEN AGES I'M SORRY OKAY PLEASE DON'T HATE ME!!!

I had my tests, and before that... well, let's just say I've barely even had time to sleep.

BUT.

CLIFFHANGER!!! BWAH HA HA HA HA

Heehee

SO!? What did you guys think!? Their powers have finally sort of been revealed!! Don't worry, next chapter will have the full reveal. But what do you think their actual powers are??

Also, yeah, in the cover I changed Nathan from Charlie Heaton to Logan Lerman. Don't get me wrong, Charlie Heaton is AMAZING. I frickin loved him as Jonathan in Stranger Things. But like, I saw a picture of Logan Lerman and my mind went DING, and he was like, exactly how I imagined Nathan.

And yeah that gif is from Percy Jackson. What can I say? I love those books.

Please read, comment and vote! I cannot begin to explain how special they are to me!

As always, thanks for reading!

Until next time then,

Wizard