35 Meeting at the Park

Waze sprinted full force towards the park. Her feet slapped on the ground as her ragged breaths came in and out, her athletic bag bouncing on her back. She was running late. She had snoozed her alarm, thinking it was a normal day, only to jump out of bed twenty minutes later and realize she had plans. Luckily, she always left herself a bit of extra time in the morning, but not that much. Waze clicked on her phone as she ran and checked the time. 8:33. Three minutes late and about five minutes from the park. She had already sent a text into both of her group chats telling everyone she would be late. That's right, both group chats. She was pulling in all her resources today. Because today, they were taking down Ebony. Or at least, they were starting.

On the night Waze and Cassidy had started researching with Alec, Waze had resolved to take down Ebony, and Cassidy had been right there with her. After a few minutes of trying to convince them it was unreasonable, Alec gave in and agreed to help. Waze knew that the three of them couldn't do it alone, so she had called in all of her luckily-very-powerful friends. That being, her whole cultivation team and Collin and James from school. Waze sped up. Poor Collin and James, they were probably suffering so badly right now. Duke and Marco had never liked them just from Waze's words, so it was probably pretty awkward right now. And Byrd was the only one who knew them aside from Waze, but God knows she was awkward enough herself already. Alec at least knew Marco and Cassidy.

When Waze had asked Collin, James, and Byrd at school the day after her research spurt if they were in on helping, they had enthusiastically agreed. They didn't even seem to care about the danger, as long as it was for Waze they were in. Collin even said it might be fun.

Waze's team members from the tea shop were enthusiastic to help too, mostly wanting revenge for Cassidy and Waze. When they asked Norris if it was ok, she merely smiled and said "follow the path you believe is right, but follow it together". It was cryptic, as usual, but they took it as a yes.

Now, Waze was nearing the park and found herself sprinting across the field towards a crowded gazebo where the others sat. It had been almost a week since the attack, since it was Sunday and the attack had happened last Monday. Waze was pretty much fine, though her hand was still kinda healing. Waze ran up to the gazebo and slammed into the stone pole around it, panting heavily before slouching onto the edge of the bench where the others were seated, finding herself leaning on Duke.

"I'm..." more panting from Waze, "here."

"Did you sprint all the way here...?" Duke looked down at Waze with a slightly surprised expression, and Waze looked up to see the others all looking relatively the same.

"Huh? Yeah, why?" The others laughed collectively, and now Waze was the one looking confused.

"That's just like you!"

"You didn't need to do that, you know."

"You could've just walked."

"You're not even that late."

"So extra."

Everyone started talking at once, but Waze couldn't help but smile. All her friends were here in one place. And she actually had them. Friends. Waze stood up with a flourish and cleared her throat.

"Has everyone introduced themselves or should we do that now?" Waze looked out at the crowd. Like she thought, there was kind of an awkward atmosphere. Waze was the only one that tied them all together after all.

"We've been kinda waiting for you," Marco said, and the others gave similar nods of agreement.

"Ok, then we'll go in a circle. Everyone say your name and your ability, or whatever you bring to the table. Collin, you can start and we'll go around to James and etc."

"Name's Collin, ability's skin hardening."

"Good enough!" Waze said with a dramatic snap, earning her a few laughs. "Next."

"Oh... I'm James. I can send out projectiles of compressed energy."

"Em... m-my names Byrd... I can make plants grow... but I'm a really good fighter too!"

"Oh yeah, Alec you're the only one who doesn't know her, huh? Well trust me when I say she can kick some serious ass." Waze looked at Alec with a grin, and he gave an awkward nod.

"I'm Sable. I can make spikes of light come out of the ground that cause extreme pain." Collin and James flinched back slightly, Alec wearing a similar expression. Sable was kinda intimidating, after all.

"Don't worry, she's a sweetie." Sable scowled slightly to the ground, looking more embarrassed by Waze's words than angry.

"I'm Michelle, I've got claws." Michelle made a catlike 'meow' and imitated a pawing motion before laughing. "No, but seriously these nails are dangerous. Even if I make a clawing motion from a distance, it'll travel."

"Duke, I can manipulate heat into various shapes. Oh, and you guys," Duke gestured to Alec, Collin, and James, "should know that the rest of us are highly trained in combat."

"Good to know, red-head. Next person?" Collin gave Duke a flat expression, and Duke scowled in his direction.

"Alright! That's enough of that! Marco?" Waze waved her hands around attempting to cool the two.

"I'm Marco, as you may have just heard. I can set invisible sort of explosives throughout the air and let them go off whenever I want." Waze realized how vague their explanations were, but there wasn't really a good way to explain them. Well, they'd all see eventually...

"I'm Cassidy. I'm the one that got attacked with Waze. I can control black snakes made of energy. Waze, Alec, and I have been scourging the internet for the past week for research on Ebony, and we gave all of you copies of our research, so hopefully you reviewed that." Everyone nodded, the conversation turning serious. That's right, that was why they were there. To take down a criminal organization. Alec stood up. He was last.

"I'm Alec, I've known Waze since we were both really young. I'm a reader, and I'm not really good in combat but digging up information is one of my strong suits." He looked at Waze and the both nodded. Waze stepped to the side, and Alec joined her at the front of the group. "I've already done extensive research on Ebony, but today we're going to go ask around town. I've put you all in pairs and made a handout for each pair on where you should go, who to ask, and what to ask about. We'll all meet up back here at 12:00 today, unless something comes up or one of you gets a big lead." Alec narrowed his eyes and his expression turned cold. "I hope you're all ready."

Everyone nodded and gripped their notebooks tighter. Alec smiled.

"Well then, let's get started."