The techno guard scowled at his prisoner as he attempted to strap a restless Pride into the black leather seat. Pride laughed,

" What's the matter," he teased, " worried that I'll overpower you?" The techno's worried eyes darted quickly to look at his much larger opponent, obviously afraid that Pride's threats may become a reality. " Hey," Pride said, feigning sympathy, "It's alright. I'm sure Ram will understand how a wimp like you wasn't able to detain me. He's supposed to be some kind of angel isn't he? Here to save us all from the evil mallrats."

" Quite right." Ved responded calmly as he entered the room, the red wooden door snapping shut quickly behind him, " Now, Pride, you have a choice here. Talk, and we'll spare you the correction treatment. Should you refuse again to cooperate, then we'll have no other choice but to run the program."

Pride stayed silent, his face expressionless; obstinate.

" Alrighty," Ved clapped his hands together, "Begin phase one of the correction."

The techno guards sitting at the three monitors in the corner of the room busily began typing on their computers. The feeble techno boy Pride had encountered earlier on hastily secured a helmet-like screen to Pride's head. Watching from beside the other technos, Ved watched Pride intently as he waited for the program to start.

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"Ebony?" Siva's gruff voice resonated through Ebony's rising consciousness. Ebony was sore- incredibly sore. Her bones ached and she could feel the pain from the cuts and bruises searing through her withered body.

" What… what happened to me?" Ebony croaked.

Java raised an eyebrow at Siva, who shrugged.

" You mean," Java hesitated, "You don't remember?"

" I…" Ebony started, her voice still weak, " I remember… talking to Amber… then she… it… it all goes fuzzy from there."

" So Amber was the culprit then." Java whispered to Siva

" Well," Siva smirked, glancing at her bloodied, bruised younger sister as she drifted off to sleep, " they say not to mess with Amber. I guess now we know why…"

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Jay flew back into the air, landing on the withered leaves below a few feet from where he had previously been standing. He'd had the wind knocked out of him- that was for sure. While Jay had always known the leader of the mallrats had a fiery temper, nothing he'd ever imagined compared to the wrath he felt raining down on him now. He wasn't scared though, in fact, he was ashamed with himself; the more evil she became, the more he seemed to like her.

The long branch Amber had been wielding pounded heavily on the ground inches from Jay's face. She was trying to make him feel threatened, but it wasn't working.

" When will you learn?" Jay asked, rolling out from under what would've been a strike aimed directly at him. He stood up quickly, obstructing the branch and snatching it from the clutches of the enraged blonde. " Nothing you do or say will make me afraid of you."

Amber stopped, looking him directly in the eye.

" I set a child on fire once." she declared, determined to prove her enemy wrong

" I'm sure the rodent deserved it." Jay shrugged. Amber looked taken aback- no do-gooder could possibly be ok with such a thing. He had to be bluffing, so she decided to enlighten him about some more of her past experiences.

" I tortured members of the chosen with Jack's electro magnetic waves."

" How original." Jay laughed.

" I beheaded a loco." she screamed. Why wasn't he reacting?

At this, Trudy, tired of their constant bickering, picked up her bowl of berries and wandered off from their hiding place.

" Did you keep the head?" Jay asked, intrigued. Amber looked at him.

" You're sick." she said, appalled.

" You're the one who did it." Jay countered.

" Don't be stupid. I made the last one up to see how far you'd go!"

" Oh, so you're a liar too?"

" Of course I am!" Amber yelled, " You don't get anywhere in this world by being honest Jay. God- you technos are so full of yourselves."

Jay grabbed Amber by the throat, thrusting her back into the tree trunk behind her.

" No." Jay growled, " You mallrats are idiots!" He tightened the grip around Amber's neck. Though he never intended to act this way with her for fear of making a bad impression, Jay felt that this was the only way to get his message through. " Why do you think the Technos rose to power the minute they came in? Because they promised to keep the scared little children safe. And it worked too. You mallrats were out before you could cry war! It's all about power, Amber. And right now, the technos have power. And that," he paused, unsure of whether to give his cards away, "Is the only reason I joined them- power."

Amber grinned. Finally, she'd managed to coax the monster bubbling inside of Jay out of its hiding place. He looked surprised at how calm she was. Why wouldn't she be- this was no revelation. She knew from the moment she met Jay that, whether he knew it or not, he was no techno. He was a leech- seeking power wherever it could be found, like Bray was when she met him. She knew of his thirst for power. It couldn't be tamed by anything; Bray had shown her that. Nothing could quench this unwavering determination to be on top, nothing except…

Amber looked at him.

" I think you can put me down now." she said calmly. Jay obliged, releasing his grip on Amber's neck and catching her as her feet hit the ground.

Amber really couldn't have timed the fall better- here she was, about to tame the beast and he'd made things easier by closing his hands round her waist to catch her. Amber slowly stroked the blonde techno's chest.

" You forget, Jay." she purred, moving her mouth so that it was less than an inch away from his, " That with power, there must be chaos. Otherwise, it won't be true power. Join me, and we can recreate that- power, and chaos." In his best efforts, Jay's eyes managed to remain cold as Amber slowly caressed his cheek.

" You forget- I'm already with Ebony. And you're with Bray." he spoke calmly, quietly.

" But they're not here right now, are they?" Amber whispered, moving her lips closer to his, " And if we play our cards right, neither of them ever have to know…"

With that, Amber's lips connected with Jay's, the kiss quickly deepening in a matter of seconds. Jay's grip around her waist tightened as he pulled her in closer, wanting more. Amber closed her arms around Jay's neck, she too, eager to advance in what was quickly becoming a passionate encounter, fuelled by what Jay believed could only be the realization that what he had begun feeling for her over the past few weeks was indeed mutual.

It was as Amber's hands found their way up the back of Jay's black vest that a voice interrupted them, jolting the pair completely out of each other's arms.

" I thought I'd come to check if the two of you had killed each other yet, but it seems things have taken a turn in… another direction…" Trudy commented, arms folded as she stood in the opening to their hideout.

Amber started to explain, but they were quickly interrupted by the sound of barking dogs, accompanied by the loud yelling of voices.

" Techno search party." Jay informed, grabbing Amber's arms and nodding for Trudy to follow them as they began to abandon the area.

The trio raced out of the willow and down into a valley, fleeing from the sound of the search party as it began to get closer, and closer…