One day until Operation: Prisonbreak
Kai sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes as he stretched. His body was still sore from repairing the damage him and his brother had caused in the second building.
He walked downstairs, freshly dressed. His brow furrowed as he noticed the relative silence encompassing the compound. He looked out the window, seeing the sunrise in its early stage.
"Am I early?" Kai asked himself, astonished. He hadn't been awake before ten o'clock by his own accord for as long as he could remember.
The boy couldn't even think of anything to do now that he was the first one awake.
Thump
The sound of clashing wood echoed from behind the gym's walls. Kai looked towards the doors, startled by the noise.
Thump
"There it is again." Kai thought. He opened the doors to a sight that was becoming familiar to the boy.
Akilah was covered in sweat, this time holding her real blade. She stood in front of a wooden dummy, its arms spinning around its center.
The girl took a deep breath before kicking at the dummy's limbs, sending all four pairs of arms into a rapid spiral.
She held her blade in front of her, a firm grip keeping it in place. Her eyes began to glow purple as she stared at the dummy.
Akilah reeled the sword backwards over her shoulder. She swung the blade forwards.
Kai's eyes widened as a streak of purple glow appeared in the trail behind the katana's blade.
Suddenly, the sword made a sharp turn, weaving right between the spinning limbs of the dummy like it was correcting its path mid strike.
The blade sunk itself in the body of the dummy. Akilah smirked as another thump rang through the air.
"Woah. What was that?" Kai asked himself. He stood in awe, peeking from behind the gym doors.
Just as she began to celebrate, one wooden limb whipped toward her face.
Thump
The wood struck the girl's cheek with surprising force, her purple hair flipped as she reeled in pain.
"Shit." Akilah spoke under her breath. She rubbed her face as she gritted her teeth.
"Woah." Kai muttered, accidentally speaking aloud.
Akilah's gaze shot towards the door. She fixed her glasses as she squinted at the boy in the doorway.
"Kai, how long have you been there?" Akilah asked.
"Um. Like a couple seconds." Kai shrugged. "What'cha doin?"
"Just training. I gotta make sure I'm ready for the mission." Akilah took her sword out of the dummy, sliding it into its sheath. She swung the sheathed sword over her shoulder as she started to walk towards the door.
"You've been training more than normal. Just don't overwork yourself." Kai threw a thumbs up, nervously waiting for Akilah's response.
The girl paused as the two teens stood side by side, facing two different directions. Akilah hung her head low, thinking to herself for a second.
"Do you… Do you think I'm that weak? That I can't handle some training?" Akilah muttered to Kai.
The boy's eyes widened.
"No, I was just saying-" Kai's nervous explanation was cut short.
"I… I'll see you later, Kai." Akilah walked out of the gym, leaving Kai both anxious and confused. He stared at the girl as she walked away.
"Of course he would say that. I've only sat back and watched every battle." Akilah thought to herself.
The sun was now past its sunrise, shining in full bloom above the Tokyo skyline. The teens were all up now, either getting started on the day's chores or beginning their training.
Molly was in the back of the compound, cleaning the pool with a pool net as she did occasionally.
Her headphones blasted fast-paced trap music, wired to the CD player in her pocket.
Hendrix's words rang through the girl's head. "What's happening to me?"
Molly tried to raise the volume on the CD player to slow her thoughts, but it was already at its maximum volume.
"Who could that masked guy be?" Molly asked herself. She stared into the rippling blue below her with a vacant expression.
"Molly… Molly!" Hendrix's voice broke through the 808's blasting in the girl's ears.
Molly jumped back, plucking the headphones from her ears.
"Are you okay?" Hendrix chuckled.
"Y-yeah…" Molly paused her music, looking away from the boy as she caught her breath. Hendrix's smile faded as he remembered why he came looking for her.
"Hey, I just wanted to say sorry for how I acted. I got a little too wrapped up-" Hendrix's awkward apology was interrupted.
"Who is that guy? The one you keep drawing?" Molly asked, looking up at the boy with an earnest expression.
Hendrix paused. He debated whether to lie or tell the truth.
"He's… I keep seeing him in my dreams. I saw him when I got this guitar, and I heard him when I hurt Biggie…" Hendrix could feel a weight being lifted off his shoulders. It was his first real time telling it to anyone.
"I couldn't tell Vida about this, or any of the others. They would all get too worried." Hendrix thought.
"That's weird." Molly paused. She fidgeted with her painted nails as she thought to herself. "It's just…" The girl paused again. "I feel like I've seen him too… Somewhere." Molly's eyes looked at the waves of the pool. She couldn't help but avert her gaze.
Hendrix's eyes widened. He felt his heart jump anxiously as he thought about the figure's piercing yellow eyes.
The boy took a deep breath before speaking.
"It's probably nothing. Don't worry about it, Molly." Hendrix nodded to the girl. He smiled as his heart calmed.
Molly smiled and nodded.
"That's the cute smile I like to see! Boop!" Molly chuckled as she touched Hendrix's nose with one finger.
"Um- I-" Hendrix stuttered as his cheeks began to burn.
"Molly!" Jason called from inside the compound.
"Oh, gotta go. See you later, Hendrix!" Molly waved as she ran inside.
"That's all I needed to hear from you, Hendrix." Molly thought as Hendrix's comforting words repeated in her head.
Hendrix waved goodbye from the poolside, the figure's piercing yellow eyes still consuming his thoughts.
In the laundry room, Vida, Chase, Taro, and Amora folded their laundry into baskets as they chatted.
"It'll be fine. I'm sure Jason wouldn't put YOU guys on a hard mission." Taro chuckled as he dropped his collection of black t-shirts into his basket.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Vida said with a sarcastic look on her face.
The group laughed as Vida scoffed.
Amora looked down at her folded jeans as she thought to herself.
"I… I'm scared…" Amora muttered. The group went silent as Amora kept her head hung low. Chase wrapped an arm around the girl's shoulders as her hair fell over her face.
"We could really get hurt, or worse…" Amora continued. Her friends began to look at each other with worried faces.
It dawned on the teens that they had a habit of forgetting the gravity of the situation. They were up against a tyrannical government that ruled 100% of earth's landmass, ready to kill them by any means necessary, and they were just some kids who trained in an abandoned high school.
"Still… We can never give up. We won't die, because we still have everything to live for. We still have to make the world a better place, so that we can live freely." Vida spoke with confidence. She held her head high as her friends followed her lead.
"She's right." Taro said.
"We're all in this together, babe. So don't worry." Chase smiled at Amora, who nodded slowly in response.
Unbeknownst to the four teens, Alex and Bloom's room was just a few feet from the laundry room. They smiled at each, laying on their bed as they eavesdropped in on the kids' conversation.
"See? What did I tell you?" Alex muttered with a smirk.
Bloom chuckled, "I guess they'll be fine after all."
Operation: Prisonbreak starts tomorrow