It had only been a couple of minutes since Hendrix had given the rest of the group their masks. The sun was high in the air, shining bright on the compound of rebels.
Hendrix was busy appeasing Chase with all the little details he'd asked for on his mask. Chase was too excited about his 'superhero' mask to do anything else.
The rest of the group was still seated at the cafeteria table, finishing up the last of their breakfast.
"What were you doing in the gym, Akilah?" Kai asked Akilah, who had gotten a towel to wrap around her sweaty neck.
"Just training. Jason's helping me get ready for the mission coming up." Akilah wiped the towel down her face.
Her friends exchanged confused looks. She had never been one for combat training, let alone training this physical.
"Now that I think of it, I've never seen Akilah sweat like this." Amora realized.
"We should train too, right Amora? We're going on the mission as well!" Vida bounced in her seat, turning to Amora.
Amora was caught off guard. It had only been two days since the mission to save Hendrix, so she hadn't given training any thought. But now that Vida said it out loud, it made sense to her.
She nodded in agreement with an excited smile on her face.
"Alright! Let's go!" Vida shot out of her seat, walking towards the gymnasium.
"Oh, right now?!" Amora asked, getting up slowly.
"Yeah, c'mon!" Vida waved.
"Wait for me!" Akilah stood up as well, her energy rejuvenated with her friends' excitement.
The three girls made their way towards the gymnasium, swinging the door open as a surprised Jason stood on the other side.
"Can you train us?!" Vida asked the red-head. Jason chuckled, balancing a water bottle in one hand and his wooden sword in the other.
"I guess. I'm not tired, yet!" Jason joked.
The door closed behind the girls, leaving Taro and Kai at the cafeteria table by themselves.
They looked at each other, confused at the speed at which they were abandoned.
"What… What should we do now?" Kai asked his brother.
Taro grew a mischievous grin, "Wanna spar?" He whispered.
"But they're using the gym right now." Kai pointed to the gym doors.
"Did you forget about the second building?" Taro raised his brows. Kai's face twisted into that same mischievous grin.
When the group first arrived at the Tokyo compound, they had noticed that the compound was made up of a large main building and a smaller building behind it, with a swimming pool between them.
None of the kids had ventured into the second building, mainly because they had no reason to. But Taro had a feeling that there was enough space for him and his brother to run their usual sparring matches.
The two brothers made their way towards the second building, looking around as if they were doing something forbidden.
They passed the pool, the sun beaming down on them.
"Wouldn't it be cool to have a pool day?" Kai asked his brother as they walked on the side of the large swimming pool.
"Like this?!" Taro turned around, surprising his brother. He grabbed Kai's shirt, turning towards the edge of the pool.
"Wait!" Kai twisted out of his brother's grasp, landing on the concrete next to the water. He let out a sigh of relief as his feet hit the ground.
Taro laughed hysterically at his brother's reaction.
"I'm gonna beat you up for that one." Kai spoke between heavy breaths.
Taro let out one more chuckle, continuing their walk towards the second building.
The brothers made it to the doors of the small building. Taro tried the door knob, twisting it with ease. He opened the door, his eyes widening in surprise.
"Why don't we use this place more?!" Taro asked into the giant, empty room.
The entire building was made up of one ginormous gymnasium, at least double the size of the one in the main building. It was the perfect place for a sparring match.
The two brothers looked around in awe.
"You ready?" Taro asked his brother. Kai nodded. They both stepped backwards, facing each other from across the room.
"Alright. One… Two… Three… Go!" Taro put his fists in front of his body as his brother sprinted towards him.
Kai burst forward in a yellow blur, glowing brighter than ever.
Taro stepped back, surprised at the raw speed. "Woah. He's definitely gotten faster." Taro thought.
He swung a right hook.
Kai ducked, jumping at his brother with a flying knee. His brother blocked it with ease.
"He's still just as predictable, though." Taro thought, grinning to himself.
Taro's fist glowed yellow, reeling it upwards as he prepared to bring it down on his brother. The fist rushed downwards towards Kai.
The speedster noticed the attack, jumping backwards with the little momentum he could foster in that moment.
Taro's fist missed by inches, skimming against Kai's black jeans. It rammed into the glossy wood that made up the floor, breaking it into dozens of pieces.
Splinters and dust shot into the air, making a cloud between Kai and Taro.
Neither of the brothers seemed to notice the damage, their entire focus centered on each other.
Taro swung again, a high arc aimed for Kai's head.
Kai continued to step backwards, barely able to dodge the barrage of Spirit-fueled fists heading his way.
"Shit. I'll be stuck on the defensive forever at this rate." Kai thought. He glanced downwards between dodges just long enough to see an opening.
The speedster ducked under his brother's next right hook. He swung his foot towards Taro's in an attempt at a leg sweep.
Taro noticed the attack. He jumped, but it was too late.
His feet were swept sideways. Taro's face slammed into the basketball court floor.
He popped back up, wiping his face as he hopped backward.
Kai grinned excitedly. Taro chuckled at his brother's expression.
"I won't let it happen again!" Taro exclaimed from across the court.
"Then I'll just get you with something else! I'm not the same kid from D.C!" Kai responded, sprinting towards his brother.
Taro put his fists back up. He grinned as his brother got closer.
Taro went for a leg sweep.
Kai had too much momentum to stop. He tried to jump over, but he was too close.
The speedster tumbled over himself, forming into a cloud of dust as he rolled.
"Gotcha!" Taro exclaimed. He turned toward the dusty cloud just in time to see Kai zip out of it in a yellow blur.
Kai landed a speedy punch straight into Taro's face.
Taro gritted his teeth as pain shot through his head. He turned back towards his brother, hitting his cheek with a right hook.
Kai twisted with the punch. His eyes shot back towards his opponent as he prepared to land another punch.
The two brothers traded blows for what seemed like an eternity, most of them landing.
Taro kicked Kai square in the chest., sending him flying backwards into the cloud of dust he had emerged from.
"You done yet?" Taro chuckled, wiping the blood from under his nose.
Kai chuckled in response. A yellow glow shone through the dusty cloud.
"It's time to get serious!" Kai exclaimed.
Taro's eyes widened. He had always been the one to say that. This was the first time his brother had said anything close.
"This is it. I'll try out the new ability I've been working on in my room. I got the idea after our fight with that Deputy." Kai thought as he stood up.
Back in the main building:
Alex and Bloom leaned on each other as they sat on the bench next to Manny's grave. This was their morning routine now, and they were beginning to love it.
The fall leaves were beginning to show signs of winter, but the sun's warmth stopped the cold winds from overwhelming the compound residents.
"The weather over here is just as erratic as D.C." Bloom said. She leaned against Alex's shoulder as she looked up at the sunny sky.
"Yeah." Alex looked up at the sky as well.
"Do you think the girls will be okay on the next mission? I wasn't confident about it, you know." Bloom looked at Alex.
"I know. But you saw them on this last mission. They were amazing, Bloom. And they want to fight against the Regime with every fiber in their body, so who are we to do anything but support them?" Alex looked towards Bloom.
Bloom went silent, thinking about Alex's words.
Boom
A thundering noise caught their attention. They stood up and looked around.
"What was that?" Alex asked.
Boom
Another noise came from the same direction.
"Is that… Is that coming from the second building?" Bloom asked.
"Oh god. What have those kids done now?" Alex rolled her eyes, "Let's go"