Wild Tiger Chase - Chapter 59: Chapter 59

— Rafa —
09:17h, ~1 hour before.
Satina was the first to see them. Before her gasp could warn the group, the horror in her eyes was enough to tell Rafa that there was something wrong. Rafa followed her line of sight to find Cae; before she could control herself, her muscles sprung to action and she got up, ready to follow them, but Satina stopped her.
Rob, though, jumped to his feet and hauled over the breakfast table.
"Roberto, stop!" Satina ordered. "Turn around. Not a word."
His muscles tensed and jerked to stop him in place. Satina raised the blue card in her hands, then flicked her wrist to make it disappear.
"He's taking Leo to Jackal," Satina said, getting up from her seat. "We have to follow them—without attracting attention."
"Follow them?" Rob echoed. "No! Why don't you want to help him? We have to free Léon and—"
"And then what?" Satina interrupted. "He's my cousin, Roberto. I love him like a brother; of course I want to help him." She got up and collected the remainder of their breakfast on her tray. "But we're locked inside this place, and our only way to get out is to stop Jackal from fucking with our world. This is not the time to lose our heads." She pushed the tray towards Rob and looked at Rafa. "Do you agree?"
Rafa swallowed hard and nodded.
"Your sister agrees." Satina pointed at the tray and then at the garbage bins at the back of the room. "We'll follow him from a safe distance. You two have our phones, don't you?" When they nodded, Satina continued, "Good. Rafa and I will update you on our position." She placed a heavy hand on Rob's shoulder. "Cool your head, Rob. Follow us when you're ready—we cannot do anything wrong. For Léon's sake... and for everyone's too."
Rob dried a rolling tear with a rough movement and took the tray. His hands were shaking. "Understood."
10:10 - now.
"Oh. No, no, no. Shit, what's happening in there?" Satina asked. For the first time since they met, Rafa heard her voice crack. Satina pummeled her hands against the dome. It didn't make any difference. "Isn't there any entrance at all? Are you sure Cae didn't leave yet?"
"I can't be sure, but we were here. We would have seen him."
"Fuck. What a stinky fuck!" Satina shouted, lips trembling and eyes watering. Her breathing quickened.
Rafa could understand the frustration. Until a moment ago, Jackal and Léon seemed to share a civil conversation. Now, she had a gun pointed at him. So yeah, they were not on edge anymore; they were desperate.
"We need to find a way around this," Rafa muttered.
The two women stepped away from the thick shield. Léon stood in the middle of a clearing with his hands raised, visible through thick tree trunks. Jackal gestured around her and the popped vein in her neck showed she was shouting. Toni's gun was still aimed at Léon. Around the two of them, Rio and the others watched the scene as if frozen in place.
"We don't need a way around this. We need a fucking way in." Satina sniffed and ran her hands through her hair. "Holy fuck, I should've let Rob take him back. I shouldn't've... it's my fault! If something happens to Leo, I'll—"
"Oi!" Rafa held her shoulders and turned her around to link their eyes. "You did the right thing, Satina. You thought about everyone, not only yourself and Léon. Being a leader isn't always easy." She swallowed hard and let her hands slip away. Rafa took in a deep breath, balled her hands, and furrowed her brows. "But I'll help. Now it's my time, all right?" She breathed in and out. "Nothing will happen to him, I promise."
Rafa bit her lower lip and studied the dome. It was thick and stable, probably made of dust and light traces. Someone was keeping it up. Probably generators, considering how even it was...
"How can you promise something like that and then stand still and just.... just stare at that thing!" Satina said.
... But no matter how even it was, if Cae got in, there was a thinner section somewhere around it.
There.
She walked up to what looked like a small fissure in the shield. It probably opened like a door—and, like a door, it could get kicked open.
"Here," Rafa said. She tapped the shield, which hummed in response. "The weak spot."
Before Rafa could say anything else, Satina came in like a battering ram and struck her shoulder against the shield. It made a sound, the pitch higher than in their previous attempts, but it still didn't budge.
If Rafa still had her powers, that bloody piece of crap wouldn't be a problem—but she didn't have anything. The only energy coursing through her veins right now felt like a distant echo, a small aftereffect of doing the anima weld with Léon, back in Caidara's pocket dimension. To make matters worse, she didn't even know how to properly control that little energy. She had used it on Toni's undimension, yes, but it was more out of despair than... oh.
Rafa took a step back. She had a little power left.
"Tiny?" Rafa took in a deep breath and took off her jacket.
The nickname gave her pause. Satina stopped pushing against the shield and looked at her.
Rafa fished for the power-enhancing gloves in her pocket and slipped them on. "Stay back and order me to go through that thing."
Satina widened her eyes. "Are you out of your mind?"
"You could say that." Rafa typed a combination on the gloves, increasing their potency. Apart from the anabolic steroids which would be injected into her veins, the gloves should also interact with her power trace and draw it out. If Satina used her psionic trace on top of that, Rafa would be forced to break that shite no matter the cost, and her powers would hopefully answer to that.
Satina grabbed her wrist. "Stop. You don't have your powers anymore. You'll lose your arm!"
"I'd rather lose both of them than let my family be abused again!" Rafa growled. After a heartbeat, she schooled her expression and rubbed her eyes. "Rob suffered because of Toni, and I did nothing to help him. Léon needed to learn about his powers, and I did nothing. Toni killed my companions, and I did nothing!" She growled and balled her trembling hands. 'That stops now." She raised her eyes to look at Jackal; a few steps away, Toni seemed to smile. "This I can do," Rafa said, "and this is the best way to put you there so you can stop her."
"But Rob isn't here yet—"
"We talked about this, Satina; you can end this peacefully. Rob and I can't. Besides, I promise you I won't stay behind. You won't be alone in there."
"I..." She opened and closed her mouth, took a deep breath, and steeled her gaze. "Right. I understand." Satina let her hand fall from Rafa's arm and looked at Léon and Jackal, then back at Rafa again. Satina took a deep breath and materialized a blue card between her fingers. Her voice was both piercing and alluring when she said, "Break that barrier, Rafa. No matter the cost."
Rafa gritted her teeth and let Satina's voice penetrate deep into her brain. Likewise, the steroids entered her veins like a cold ooze, spreading fire up her arms and into her muscles. Her throat vibrated in a growl as crystals forced their way out, pushing muscles and breaking skin. Rafa walked towards the thinner part of the barrier, blood running down her arms.
And as she prepared a heavy punch, her sight grew dark.
Maybe she had lost consciousness because of pain. Maybe Satina's powers were so strong now, they overcame her senses. And maybe her brain had just decided to shut down. After all, considering Satina's expression right now, the scene hadn't been too pretty.
Satina lowered her hands from her mouth and asked a small, teary, "Are you okay?"
Rafa tried to clean the blood tinting her sight with red, but her hand didn't move. She tried to look down, but Satina held her face with both hands.
"Don't." Satina was trembling. She helped Rafa down and sat her against a tree trunk.
Rafa looked around. The sky was blurred, whitish as if covered by a veil. Were they... inside the dome?
"Please tell me it worked," Rafa mumbled. She winced, shifting around to find a more comfortable position. Focusing all her energy, she tried to move her right hand. It did, little by little.
Satina rested warm brown eyes on hers and said, "Yeah, it worked. I'll hire you as my battering ham."
Rafa chuckled. Her gaze rolled down to meet the broken hands falling lifeless at her side. Her left arm was starting to gangrene. She winced. "Oh, shite."
"Yeah." Satina grimaced. "Just... rest a little. We'll come back for you once everything's okay." She held Rafa's shoulder.
"No bloody way. I'll go with you." Rafa leaned forward to get up, but there wasn't any strength in her trembling legs. "Fuck. Give me a moment, I'll—"
"Stop." Satina tried on a smile that wasn't strong enough to reach her eyes. "Leave the rest to me, Rafa. I'll make sure all this pain won't be in vain."