Willomena-

"We can't send her back," Will said, paling.

She pulled the files up on her computer, showing them to Zandi. Zandi paled at the scientific forms, looking at the hundreds of baby pictures of Gem, the hair clip tracking device, everything-

-including Gem's mother, one of the the main experimental scientists at the institution.

"Let me see," Gem called.

"No," Will said, quiet.

"LET ME SEE!"

"NO!"

Gem and Zandibar looked shocked at her outburst.

"No, Gem! You aren't invincible! Stop it! You're barely qualified to work, let alone see any of our PERSONAL FILES. STOP IT!"

Gem gaped.  Will stood, sweeping her cape up off the floor.

"I-I'm going on a walk," Will said, leaving quickly and silently.

She walked to the bottom of Criff Canyon, but didn't expect to find-

Rex and Saana.

They had been caught by a tree that grew sideways out of the cliff wall.Rex was unconscious, and Saana trying to wake him.

Will threw her grappling hook; it wrapped around he tree and trapped them.

"Zandi? I'm going to need some assistance..." 

@The Riddler, if you can post soon, please do. This one is really up to Saana.

Oh. My. Gosh.

I'm so mad. I can't believe it. I wrote so much. It took me nearly an hour and it was really really hard. And guess what? After I realize that I should probably copy and paste it somewhere in case my computer randomly turns off like it sometimes does, I accidently press paste instead of copy, and all of it is gone. Wow.

I'm really sorry. I don't think I can write all that again. It was really hard to do. Somebody else please post. My creative juices are gone for the day. I don't have school Wednesday, so I can still post then, maybe even on Tuesday. Saana broke her arm in the fall and found Rex just barely alive. She's now completely done with the world and doesn't care what Will and Zandi do.

Again, I'm so so so so so sorry. And mad. 

~Gem

I watch as Sklock mutters something into the device. I focus. Breath. In, out. In, out. "Gem," I look up. "I need to go, stay here." In, out. "Am I allowed to come?" I say, sounding a bit more agitated then I mean to. Skylock looks at me. "Nope." In, out. You don't use tae kwon do to hurt others as a way of getting what you want. Skylock continues, "The villians might be after you, so..." She hesitates. "I'm, locking you up." I jump up for my seat, and fall back down. "What! But- but!" I stare at the soles of my shoes. Locked up. Skylock leads me to a vacent room and shuts the door behind me. I punch the wall. OWW! 

Silent says 'uuow' Are you mocking Gemma?

Aww, that stinks Riddler. Hate it when that happens. 

Zandibar~

My walkie-talkie crackles to life.

"Zandi? I'm going to need some assistance..." Will's voice says.

"Where are you? I'm coming, Will!"

"Bottom of Criff Canyon. Hurry." I lock my settings on the laptop and slam it closed so Gem can't try to see what Willomena and I were looking at. I fix Gem with my most serious face and lecture her,

"Gem, stay here. Don't turn any lights on or use your phone. Villans don't give up easily and they will be able to track your cellular signal. You've gotten away from them twice now, thanks to us, and if they get you a third time, you probably won't get away without losing your mind. They have ways to torture you into submission, Gem. Don't make it easy for them to get you. Don't use your phone and whatever you do, don't leave this house." I wait until she sulkily nods. She can't use her leg right now, anyway, after that snake bite. As for heating vents, ours don't come off. We are pretty careful around here. We have to be.

I rush out the door, locking it behind me. Then I run to Criff Canyon. 

I scramble down the canyon's rocks to join Will, standing at the bottom. We look up at Saana and the unconcious Rex, tied to a tree by Will's grappling hook. Saana glares down at us, but I get the impression that she doesn't even care what happens to her.

I swing my own grappling hook and catch the tree. I start to climb up and the tree groans under the weight of the three people it's supporting. I can hear Will whispering, "Please don't break, don't break, don't break..." The tree creaks some more, but holds as I scramble onto the ledge where Saana and Rex are tied. I unwrap Will's grappling hook and let it fall onto the canyon floor. Then I realize my problem: How am I going to get an injured girl and an unconcious boy off a ledge? I guess I could try to get them in a fireman's carry, but I'm going to have to go down a rope. Could I go down first, supporting Rex, and Saana come after, helping me? Probably not. Saana's arm is twisted in a horribley wrong direction. It's broken. No way she's going down a rope like that. 
"Do you need help?" Will calls to me. 

"No. This tree's gonna break if one more person gets on it," I call back. I guess I'll have to try the fireman's carry. Great. "Catch me if I fall, Will'o'wisp!"

"What-" she starts. Then she realizes what I'm about to do, "No, Skylock! That's crazy!" But she stands under me anyway. I guess she doesn't have a better idea. I get Saana to position Rex on my back, then start shimmying down the rope. 

After several nerveracking slips I make it to the bottom. Will pulls Rex off me and I feel like I'm floating without all the extra weight. He probably weighs more than I do! My hands are raw and red, but I have to go back up and get Saana.

I manage to climb back to the ledge and Saana gets on my back, piggyback style. She holds on with her good arm and her broken one hangs at our side. I'm more than halfway down the rope when my sweaty, rope-burned hands start to slide down the rope, burning them more. I can't hold on! I scream and the rope slips out of my hands! We're falling! 

What am I supposed to write? Rex is almost dead... sorry if this doesn't turn out great.

Rex

~

I'm in a blurred twilight of pain. The world is a purplish haze. I think Saana is standing over me, but I'm not sure. Does she care at all about my dying? I assume I'm dying. I hope she cares.

Somewhere in my subconscious, I instinctively shy away from the pain. I can't handle this situation; I can't deal with the agony.

Saana's face swims out of focus. Suddenly I'm seeing images from my past. I remember that when you're dying you see your life before your eyes.

It's odd. I'm seeing my life like a stranger, looking through a window.

I'm two. I recognize myself, a blond-haired toddler laughing, eating birthday cake. Then, myself at five, dancing in my living room as my brother blasted music from the radio.

I'm eight, climbing to the highest fire escape on my building, Saana just behind me. We stand at what seemed, then, to be the top of the world, the sun making halos of light on our hair. We were so innocent then. So free.

I watch my life worsen. I remember the day even as it plays before my eyes. My eleventh birthday. Joy, and then the bleak, sudden shock. My parents and my brother, dead. All dead.

It was then that I realized how dark the world was. I became a criminal. Saana was my partner in crime. Then she got caught, and I was on my own.

My life was very grim. And, like every criminal, very short. I'm almost sure of it. I only hope Saana cares...

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hey Riddeler, I have some advice. When that happens, do Ctrl-Z.

@Zeus, I think our posts should switch places. Yours seems to have happened before mine. Guys, read Zeus' post first!

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