"...Come on Ned. I think it worked with that kid just now, I'm going to disable him. He's not going to have a chance to use his powers, can you take him down?" Katie rolled her eyes at Ned before continuing to concentrate at the robotic man.

          Thud. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH". The attacker's body suddenly hit the floor like a chunk of iron and writhed in pain. His screams and agony only intensifying with each passing second.

          "Are you doing that?" Katie asked Ned.

          "I'm not doing anything!" Ned replied.

          "I got it here, quick go get Evan." Katie inched towards Charles as Ned blanked out momentarily to look on with shock and admiration. Katie seemed to have developed a new ability and stood on the battleground gallantly. He was amazed at how calm and focused Katie was and was more determined than ever to play his part and contribute to the team.

          Regaining his focus, Ned rushed towards Evan and they regathered around Charles as they all turned towards the scene the man was screaming with horror.

          His hood and mask had come off to reveal a ghastly sight. A quarter of his face covering his eye to his nose was bronze and silver, with metallic pieces and gears plating the surface. The rest of his organic humane face showed excruciating pain and suffering as he clawed at the visibly metallic parts of his body such as his right arm and whatever was beneath the rest of the cloak.

          "Quick! Get Charles and let's get out of here! I don't think I can hold him down for much longer!" Katie shouted.

          The two men tried to get Charles out of the chair but the black chains were no ordinary chains. Charles remained unconscious but the chains latched on tightly across his body and would not budge at all. If it was designed to keep Charles in place, there was no way any of them had the strength to break the chains. Evan tried to bring everyone out of the warehouse and settle the chain issue later but he knew in his current state, he did not have the strength to bring everyone out of there in one piece.

          While piecing together an escape plan, Evan caught sight of the tray of tools left behind by the android and pushed Ned aside.

          "Ok Ned. I thought we had ample time to condition you and prepare you for this stage but if you want everyone to make it out of here alive, you've got to find some way to handle it. You can do this, you can save us all." Evan grabbed a syringe on the tray labelled 'Cerebrospinal Fluid' containing a colourless liquid and carefully jabbed it into the side of Ned's neck.

          Ned winced in pain as he slapped Evan's hand off but before he could say anything, a seismic tremor quaked his head. He flashed in and out of the NZone and shades of black and white as if he was experiencing a seizure.

          Evan took a step back and assured himself that his gamble was worth it as he watched Ned's evolution unfold. 

"Future Ned was able to do this with ease, even if after it was after years of practice, at least he proved that it was possible." He thought to himself. Evan had only studied vague theories about how Ned accomplished this feat but had never actually understood the process himself. Future Ned had never published anything about how this stage of his abilities worked. "Try ripping the chains apart," Evan said after he saw Ned settle down.

          Ned shot a menacing glare at Evan and also saw Katie's wearied state in the background, they were running out of time. He shook his head and grabbed onto the chains once again. This time the chains reacted differently and he felt as if he was in another body. The black metallic band stretched as he pulled it back with his body.

          Thwip. In one final pull, his hands shot outwards from his chest as the band snapped. His eyes did not catch what happened but he felt so much power. Charles motionless body fell into his arms, adrenalin coursed through his veins as they were ready to bust out of the place. Katie released her hold on the cyborg as they looked for an exit. There were no doors in sight except for a reinforced metal gate. It seemed to be the only way out, except the only hooded figure left was sitting right by it.

          They cautiously approached the gate, ready to take on the apparent powerhouse of the group, but he remained unmoving. "What? As I said, I'm only here to observe, and I must say I'm eagerly anticipating our next encounter," He said, unmoving in his position to watch what their next move was with the door.

          Whatever, there was no time to question why he would just let us go. And if my guess is right, I now somehow possess Charles's power... Here goes nothing. Ned pulled his arm back and threw it against the metal sheets. BOOOM! The gates went flying in the wind like sheets of paper out into the deserted roads. They were so close to freedom. Katie and Evan rushed out the gates helping Charles, followed by Ned behind.

          With one foot out of the warehouse, the touch of cold metal suddenly clasped onto Ned's shoulder. His body was pulled back but as his body twisted he noticed something, there was someone else by the door.

          The mysterious figure dressed in full black swiftly threw a roundhouse kick that knocked out the cyborg. She then picked Ned up and helped him join up with the rest of the group. The scorching sun was blinding and mercilessly draining, diminishing the flame within him.

          His eyes closed shut after he thought to himself, we're safe now.