The arrow’s golden streak flies, at sonic speeds, down the mountain, twisting between stones and trees as it goes.

It dive-bombs towards a small, snow-colored and homely-looking  town near the mountain’s base, disappearing between its buildings.

Jordan bends down, picking up the shirt he’d torn off and slipping it back on.

“Probably already as hot as I’ll ever be, but just to be safe…” he thinks to himslf as it is whipped around in the mountain’s rabid winds. Steam still spills from his skin, flowing from the shirt’s open front.

Jordan found himself, for the most part, at a loss as to how to get down from the mountain. The one method he could think of– he really disliked.

“Step away from the ledge, there, son!” Jordan hears someone shout, through a voice-modulator, at him.

Slowly, as if from exhaustion, Jordan twists his head to look back at the call’s source. He doesn’t turn entirely, even after seeing that it is a contingent of Guards. First among them is a guard in strangely complex-looking Goggles.

A bit behind him, another guard seems to be inspecting Wenji’s remains.

Jordan looks back towards the ledge. “It’s now or never”, he tells himself. “I’m cornered, no-where to go but down.”

Even so, Jordan remains planted on the spot.

“It’s cold, out here, son– you don’t really think, even with what you can do, that you’ll survive that fall? Just come inside.”, Goggles continues.

“Goddammit, boss!” a guard calls from behind Goggles, striding up towards him. 

The guard places a hand on Goggles’ shoulder-plate, shaking it somewhat.

“I’m done treating kids like this. What he did, he did ‘cause he was scared!”

Jordan turns his head to face the guards again.

Goggles turns away from Jordan somewhat, dropping his weapon-arm to his side. He looks down, though his focus still lingers near Jordan’s feet.

“Can’t we treat ‘em better? Balls to those lab-coats up there, can’t we treat ‘em like humans?” the disgruntled guard continues, gesturing a hand towards Jordan.

Goggles remains silent for a long time, during which Jordan turns further and further away from the cliff.

After what seems an eternity, Goggles looks up at him.

“All right.”, he says, resolute.

“From now on, we’re gonna treat you better. There are reasons we can’t let you leave here, and we’ll explain ‘em all to you. We’ll even make cocoa.”

Jordan says nothing, continuing to look towards Goggles as something appears to be stepping out from behind him.

“Just step away from that ledge, son.”

Jordan’s eyes shake in their sockets as Zain, gym clothes and all, leaps from behind Goggles and into full view.

None of the guards seem to take notice of him, even as he yells “Fuck this guy! Do a flip!” whilst flexing his mid-size biceps.

As Goggles takes a step towards Jordan, putting a hand out for him to take, Jordan turns again. The fall is no less steep, but he feels more ready, now.

“Hey! Think about what you’re–” is all Goggles can exclaim, running towards him, before Jordan jumps. 

His face betrays palpable doubt, however; he is scared.

The upward momentum of his jump eventually leaves him and Jordan plummetts; the mountain’s spiked belly, along with the snow all around, become a blur.

Back up at the cliff’s edge, one of the guards shouts into a wrist-mounted comm: “B team, the act didn’t go through! Full permission!”

As Jordan plummetts, time seems to slow as he begins to see shapes amongst the crags of the mountain’s face. He catches glimpses of armor, masks– guns.

Guns trained on him.

 There are guards positioned lower on the mountain, a contingent for every large foothold! 

Just between him and the lines and lines of guards, seemingly falling with him, is an intensifying, golden light.

The guards open fire, and there is no call to aim for his legs! Jordan’s life flashes before his eyes as he cringes, scrunching up in a vain, panicked attempt to defend himself!

But, though he can barely comprehend it as he falls, it seems the bullets slow just before they hit him. They all assume a free-fall, going with him instead of into him. 

Before him has manifested a ghostly figure, shedding a golden light upon him, the mountain’s wall, and the guards as it and Jordan pass them. On its head, shoulders and disembodied forearms, it has what seem to be shields, all of them producing this pale light.

Eventually, Jordan, and the spirit beside him, seem to have left the mountainside firing range.

Jordan tracks the glowing spirit with his eyes as it shifts to beneath him, facing itself towards the ground.

His adrenaline rush having run its course, Jordan’s vision doubles up on itself. Bit by bit, his eyelids droop.
Right there, in mid-fall from near the top of the mountain, Jordan passes fully out, with Scorched ‘El’s substitute legs fading away.