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Ignore this, I think it has been rectified now

Would try again tomorrow to put up the chapter that was taken down and if it is successful, I will try to put up the new chapter. If you receive nothing from me, that means I've been banned again.

Thanks for the patience, I really do appreciate it.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Ten minutes earlier

Justin stared at the CCTV camera just above his head. "This is the last place he was spotted." He clicked into his Ipad. "You know, I must commend him for being able to avoid almost all the CCTV cameras available and if not that we really knew him, and the set of clothes he had, we wouldnt have been able to find him too. There are about 23 square metres between this spot and the next set of cameras and he never made it to them, so he should be around here some place." He raised his head and turned to the girl in black who still had the worried look on her face.

He followed her gaze and she was staring at a park that stood across the street.

"You think he came out for a picnic?" He asked, trying to lighten the mood.

The girl in black rolled her eyes and walked past him. "We have to find him fast, I have a bad feeling about all these and things dont happen to go certainly well when I get this kind of feeling."

Justin scoffed and tried to catch up with her. "And who is to blame for that? I mean, I have not been able to have a good night rest since yesterday night because somebody decided that this was the best time to go AWOL on us. He has just been tagged the most dangerous person in the country and that is the exact moment he decided to take a stroll into paradise."

The girl in black turned to Justin, she was beginning to get irritated by his constant blame game and needed to get her thoughts in one place without having him distort them. "Can you stop with all the blaming, when this issue is resolved, there will more than enough to go around. Right now, all we need to do is to find Zeke and hope that everything is alright with him because he might be in danger."

Justin scoffed and turned away from her. "Thats right, yell at me. You sympathize with the one at fault and yell at the one trying to make things right." He clicked his teeth and turned to look around. "Talking about danger, why does it seem like people are running away from that direction."

The girl in black turned to the direction and immediately, her heart began to race. "It must be him, come on."

Justin stood rooted to the spot, not believing his ears. "I dont think you understand. He screamed after her. We should be running away from danger and not towards danger." He stared at the girl in black helplessly as she turned a deaf ear to him and disappeared beyond the park. He slapped his inner face and sighed deeply before following suit.

*

Justin stretched his head trying to get a glimpse of what was happening amidst the crowd that was gathered around, albeit from a safe distance, he became alarmed as soon as he saw Zeke standing in the midst of the chaos, and immediately turned to look for the girl in black, but she seemed to have disappeared into the crowd. He took a few steps forward towards the scene as he heard a gun go off and people began to take cover. Somebody dragged him aside and he finally found the girl in black.

"Its Zeke, they have his family and I think Nikita is behind all this." She said panting and also taking cover

"We have to get them out of there then." He replied peeping past the pillar they were hiding behind, trying to look at the scene as more gunshots went off.

The girl in black shook her head. "I think its too late for that. They made Shelby shoot his mom, I think shes dead, his siblings too. We can only savage the situation and try to get him out of there.”

"Oh my God!" Justin exclaimed ignoring everything that the girl in black had been saying as he walked out of their hiding spot his mouth slightly opened and his gaze fixed on the spot.
He couldnt believe what he was seeing, his theory had been correct, but what was this?

*

I stared at the soldiers all running around to take cover behind their vehicles as they stared at something behind me that I couldnt see. Nikita and Shelby also had their gaze fixed on me, shock and surprise written all over their faces, as they took steps backwards, trying to put more distance between us. Nikita pointed her gun towards me and to my surprise, I didnt flinch, maybe because I wanted it to end at that moment and didnt care what happened as she pulled the trigger and there was loud bang. Suddenly, everything stopped moving and I could see the bullet drive slowly towards me, it was as if I was watching all of it unfold, like a third party watching a super hero movie. Just as the bullet was about to hit me, something suddenly appeared in front of me and blocked it from hitting me. The bullet ricocheted and hit one of the soldiers in between the head; he fell to the ground lifeless. I stared at it as it slowly retreated, watching it all occur like an out of body experience, I turned to the other side and found another like it, slowly moving behind me too and I seemed capable of controlling them. I moved them slowly in front of me, not having a full knowledge of what was happening; I was caught in a dilemma of what was real and what wasnt.

My gaze caught Nikita who seemed to be in the same dilemma as I was, I could see her lips move and she screamed out something, but I was deaf to my surroundings and couldnt make out the word she had said. The world seemed rather peaceful at that point and moved very slowly, I could feel every single emotion and movement around me, I had none of my own, it had been turned off and I felt numb. The soldiers all came out of their hiding spots and fired endlessly in my direction. I quickly stepped in between the wings and covered myself with them as countless bullets hit them and deflected away. As soon as they stopped to reload, I made my move. I didnt know how, but I suddenly knew what to do. I turned to two of the soldiers that stood to my left and stared at them, I was able to get into their head without any effort and defeated their self will easily. I manipulated their self will and made them turn the gun at each other and I watched in amusement as they blew each others head off.

This caused a spark amongst the others and some of them began dropping their weapons and making it for the crowd, I turned back to the direction Nikita and Shelby had been standing and there was no one there, stretching my wings to its fullest length, I turned to the soldiers that were trying to escape, I was not going to let any of them live, not even a single one.

*

"There, behind the car." Justin pointed in the direction of Nikita and Shelby.

The girl in black slowly pulled out her swords and tapped Justin on his shoulders. "You know how to hotwire a car right?"

“Woah, woah, woah, just because Im a tech expert doesnt give you the right to make assumptions. Hotwiring a car is illegal, and only accepted if the car is yours and you misplaced your keys which I dont seem to have done, so I dont know why you would ask such questions.”

The girl in black ignored him and bent her head. "Get a car up and running if you want to get out of here alive." She hurried away, tiptoeing towards the scene.

“What are you doing?" Justin whispered aloud. He quickly hid his face, slapping his head. This was not what he had signed up for, he was supposed to be the brain of the operation and not do the dirty field work. There was a loud back and the crowd screamed all trying to run away from the scene. He quickly joined the crowd and made it towards the car park.

*

Nikita hurried behind the van, dragging Shelby with her, panting heavily, she pushed her against the van and quickly brought out her phone to place a call. She slowly took a look at the scene as more soldiers began to run towards the crowd. The receiver rang for a while, but there was no response. She grunted in anger and pulled out her guns bullet chamber, reloading it. She dragged Shelby by her collar and held her close to herself, placing the gun on her head as she slowly came out of hiding and took slow steps away from the scene.

"You think you can use me as cover and get away from this, youre forgetting that you just made me kill his mom and you murdered his entire family." Shelby laughed hysterically, tears rolling down her face as her heart ached to what she had been made to do.

“Well, I am getting away from this place, one way or the other and you mean nothing to me. I'm sure Zion would not miss you much and can replace you with another freak."

"And you're forgetting that I dont take orders directly from you." Shelby replied slowly pulling out a small dagger disguised as a hairpin.

She pulled out of Nikitas grip and stuck it into her chest in anger, taking steps away as she watched Nikita struggle to withstand the pain and pull it out. Nikita raised her head in anger and pointed the gun at her, pulling the trigger twice, she applied pressure on her chest and made it for the crowd, quickly blending in with them. Shelby felt the impact of the bullets, one hitting her on the abdomen and the other on her arm, she felt it sting but wasnt bothered by it, she deserved it for being weak and unable to break free from the influence Zion had placed on her no matter how hard she tried. She had thought it was the only way to protect her family but it had been worse than she had imagined.

She managed to turn around, her gaze catching the dead bodies that laid on the ground, some of the soldiers and then Zekes family. She stared at them for a while, hoping they could forgive and not hold grudges against her as she was steps away from joining them. She was becoming dizzy from the loss of blood and she knew at that moment that the bullet had grazed an important blood vessel in her abdomen, she smiled, blood slowly slipping out of her mouth. She knew it wouldn’t be long before it was all over. She raised her head and saw him in the air, Zeke, he looked so blood thirsty, and had was ripping the soldiers apart, as she fell to her knees, she wonder what he was, he was different from them and had been the hardest among the others to manipulate with her mind, too bad she wasnt going to be around to find out. It hurt her that till her last breath, she still loved him and although she knew she no longer deserved his love, she still longed for it.

*

The girl in black slowly pulled up behind one of the soldiers that was trying to take an aim at Zeke in the air and swiped her sword across his neck. She wiped the blood stain on his cloth and took cover, she turned to the direction Nikita and Shelby had been standing, but there was no one there any longer. She heard a gun go off twice and saw Nikita run towards the crowd, holding her chest, there was no sign of Shelby anywhere and this made her hurry towards the direction of the car as a soldier boy flew across her and smashed into the wall of the building. Her gaze caught Zeke in the air as he slaughtered the soldiers in anger. A part of her felt relieved that he could finally take care of himself and she didnt need to worry any longer, but the other part wondered what the new development meant for her and the mission, surely if Zeke was an enemy, she had to put him down. She reached the car and found Shelby lying on the ground, her eyes opened as she laboured to breathe. She immediately bent beside her to assess the level of damage.

"Damn." She muttered turning to look around as the noise had suddenly died down. She turned to look around and found all the soldiers dead. She saw Zeke fly toward her and was alarmed because she thought he had come to finish Shelby off. She slowly pulled out her sword, she was not going to let him do it, he was going to have to go through her. Zeke slowly landed in front her and she could see his eyes clearly. It was an unusual colour, one that she hadnt encountered before, bloodshot and she could see his canine teeth too, they had grown slightly longer. He stared at her and then at Shelby, watching her wince in pain as life left her in every single breath.

"She needs help." The girl in black muttered not taking her guard down for a second. 'She needs to be in the hospital in two minutes, if not she would die. The nearest is about five minutes away and we would not make it in time."

Zeke stared at Shelby for some more time before turning his back on her and flying away, deep into the sky. A car pulled up immediately and its horn went off twice, the girl in black raised her head and found Justin in it, she quickly raised Shelby and placed her in the back sit.

"We have to get her to the hospital her chances are slim."

Justin put the car in full speed and drove off.

*

Nikita hurried across the street, trying to hide her wound with the hair scaff she had stolen from the park. She stepped into the car that was waiting for her and groaned in pain as she took her sit.

"It took you long enough." She said angrily.

"I need to confirm the status of the mission." The man in the drivers sit replied.

"Now? You need to do that now? Cant you see that I am injured? Take me to the hospital." She argued.

"I'm sorry maam, i cant do that." The man replied. "I need to know the status of the mission." He said again.

"There's no way he would survive, he is dead." She replied angrily.

"And the girl?' He asked.

"Dead too, he killed her."

The man started the car and quickly pulled out a gun on her.

"Zion sends his regards." He shot a needle at her, sedating her.

"Sleep tight." He spoke before driving away.

fixed. Appologies

Mynd44:
fixed. Appologies

thank you. I know I could count on you

Thank you Mynd44, I hope the problem would not persist any longer.

The next chapter would be dropping tomorrow. Thanks for everyone that made this possible, I really appreciate it. Special thanks to Evajael and enirock, ya'll are the best

frankline461:
Thank you Mynd44, I hope the problem would not persist any longer.

The next chapter would be dropping tomorrow. Thanks for everyone that made this possible, I really appreciate it. Special thanks to Evajael and enirock, ya'll are the best

Anytime �❤️

frankline461:
Thank you Mynd44, I hope the problem would not persist any longer.

The next chapter would be dropping tomorrow. Thanks for everyone that made this possible, I really appreciate it. Special thanks to Evajael and enirock, ya'll are the best

Welcome.It's good to have you back.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

“We have gathered together here to say farewell to our sister, friend and companion, Shelby Elias and to commit her into the hands of God. Many of you might not have known who she was, I also wasnt familiar with the deceased when I was consorted by her friends to hold this burial, but a young soul passing on is always something of a tragedy that we must always mourn, because some of them didnt get to fulfil Gods chosen plan for them. Lord our God; you are the source of life. In you we live and move and have our being, keep us in life and death, in your love and by your grace, lead us to your kingdom through your son Jesus Christ our lord. Amen."

“Amen.”

"Is there any of her friends that would like to say something about or to the deceased before we conclude this service?”

Justin turned to look at the girl in black who had been clinging to his arm since they had stepped out of the car that brought them to the cemetery. She had been that way since Shelby had been pronounced dead by the doctor when they had arrived at the hospital a few days ago, she had said very little since then, and no matter what he did to try to lift the mood, she just seemed disinterested; even the entire mission of stopping Zion had been put on hold throughout that period. She looked exhausted, not just physically, but also emotionally and mentally. And he couldnt help but hope that the guardians that were due to arrive anytime now were right on time. He was about to waive the priest to carry on with ending the service when he felt her grip loosen on him and he realized how warm he had felt through it all. A feeling had been growing in him through the past few weeks they had been together and although it took him a while to acknowledge it, he knew he felt something for her.

The girl in black walked slowly towards the priest and took his place at the edge of the hole that was going to house Shelbys coffin, she stared at the hole for a while wondering how her life would have gone if she hadnt been at that spot in China and saw her fight that fallen. She turned back to the crowd of five, consisting of Justin, the priest, the caretaker of the cemetery, and the two men that had been paid to lower the coffin into the ground. She turned to look around the whole ground, hoping to catch Zeke lurking around somewhere, she felt really bad that he had chosen to miss the funeral, even after knowing the circumstances around Shelbys actions. It was not like she had a say in it though, since she hadnt seen him ever since he flew into the sky and left Shelby on the ground for dead. She felt a bit of anger towards him but also understood his plight, humans emotions, so complicated!

“I am not here to say much, I just felt that I should come out and speak something on her behalf, since the closest person to her that is capable of sending her on her way with his forgiveness had decided not to turn up." She paused and turned to stare at the coffin that stood to her side, on top of a four legged bench. She ran her hands over the curved wood, following the pattern and getting lost in the moment. She sighed back to life and started.

“Shelby was a beautiful soul, a little bit stubborn, but still a beautiful soul. I remember the first day we met, even under the frightening circumstance; she still wanted to know how I was faring and even offered to take me to the hospital even after witnessing the gory event that had taken place just a few minute before. I grew really fond of her and her curiosity after then and she would always give all she had to protect the ones she loved, even if that meant giving up her life." She paused as her head suddenly became clogged and tears began to form behind her eyes. She sniffed. "I'm sorry, its just that when I asked her to join me in my journey, I never knew that things would be taking this kind of turn and that I would have to be putting her into the ground without any of her loved one being around and in a foreign country too. Surely, her death would not be in vain, and I promise to make sure of that, even if it takes my life too.” She paused, turning to stare at the coffin one last time before walking back to stand beside Justin.

Justin watched her for a while as she wiped the tears that were now beginning to fall from her eyes away, he felt the utmost urge to hold her hands and assure her that it would be fine and that he would be with her all through the way, but on second thoughts, he concluded that it would be best to let her get through it on her own.

The priest concluded the service and the men lowered the coffin into the ground as they hummed Amazing grace, Shelby and Justin casted the first sand and the others dispersed as the men got to work, covering the hole with more sand. The girl in black held on to Justins hand again as they walked away from the graveyard towards their car and his heartbeat tripled again, she paused and quickly raised her head, turning to the direction she thought somebody had been standing, but there was no one there.

"Are you okay?" Justin asked, and this time he was becoming worried for her.

"Yes." She replied. "Lets go."

*

I watched the priest conclude the sermon, and after which the girl in black and Justin both walked away from the graveyard, I was about one-thirty metres away, but I could still hear everything that was said clearly, it was part of my nearly found abilities, coupled with the wings and the mind manipulation. There was still a lot that was unfolding and I was not stable enough to be around them for now. I had to be able to control my mood which seemed to take a swing every couple of minute and at the slightest irritation, what happened next was usually a bit of a blur to me, just like what had happened days ago to the soldiers. When I watched on the news the number of body that had been found and how they were murdered, I couldnt believe I had done that. It took a while for me to finally know how to control the wings and make them regress when I wanted, but I was still having a hard time controlling the other gifts. The girl in black came to a stop and as soon as she started raising her head towards my direction, I quickly hid behind the tree in front of me hoping that she hadnt seen me. I watched her look around and Justin ask her if she was fine, she responded affirmatively and they both walked towards the car, Justin popping into the drivers seat like he always did and driving away.

I came out of hiding and placed my hood over my head, walking toward the men that were still piling up sand on the coffin, I walked to the edge of the hole and one of them asked what I wanted, I did not respond, as I didnt want to give out my identity and cause another ruckus, placing the rose that I had brought by the side of the hole, I walked away with both hands in the side pocket of my hood.

*

Nikita groaned and opened her eyes, turning to look around. Sighing, she shifted on the bed and sat up straight, turning to look at the bandage on her chest, the pain had healed and didnt hurt anymore like it did few days ago, she had been relegated to stay in bed in the same house as the other gifted by Zion, at least until she was able to regain her full strength and could come back to the team that planned for the day of alignment. Zion had finally paid her a visit the day before and she had told him that the mission was successful and that the boy had been killed, as she tried to also convince herself that there was no way he could have made it, and when asked about Shelby, she had successfully pinned her death of on him, and his crew as well, saying she barely escaped with her life as the scene became more bloody than they had predicted. Now that the uncertainty was out of their hair, they only had one mission, and that was to repel the attack from the guardians that were arriving, and holding them off for the rest of the three weeks before the alignment.

She got up from her bed and walked into the sitting room, walking to the kitchen to pour herself some water, she was gulping it when she turned back and was startled by Rachel standing behind her, and staring at her intensely. She slowly pulled the cup from her mouth and she knew what was happening; she was trying to rip out the true event by accessing her mind and she had prepared for it. She quickly reached for the bracelet on her arm and activated it, it was a mini wave distorter that made it hard for anyone around two miles to fully concentrate for long, she was never going to allow a freak was never going to break into her private life. She place the glass on the kitchen stand and smiled at Rachel who looked to be having a certain kind of tremor as blood rolled down her nose but she persisted. Nikita walked towards her and held her head, planting a kiss on it as Rachel gave a loud sigh and pulled back in frustration.

"Why cant I get through to your mind, I want to see how it ended for Shelby and the kind of death that is befitting for them when the time comes."

Nikita smiled as a certain realization hit her. "Why didn't you tell her?" She asked curiously.

Rachel sighed and took her sit on the edge of one of the cushions in the living room. "She always had her heart longing for that bastard." She chuckled in pain. "Too bad he eventually became the end of her. I had always told her that this was war and she had to pick sides, I was by her side all this while, but she never looked at me once. She was so blinded by her love and she died for it."

Nikita gave a fake smile and came to her side, and although it was fake, the feeling was something she could relate to. Unrequited love really hurt the most. She tried to console her by patting her on her back. Rachel sniffled, wiping her face.

"Was it painful for her?" She asked.

"No it wasn't." Nikita replied. "He pointed a gun at her when he thought she was going to harm his family, but she was not. She was only trying to help them escape, contrary to what I had told her. I guess her love for him was that strong. He pulled the trigger twice, and she was dead before she knew it."

Rachel grunted in pain, shutting her eyes as anger built in her. "Its unfortunate that i wont get to come face to face with him and end his life myself."

"You might not have that opportunity, but you can make sure his crew pays for the sins he had committed." Nikita patted her on her back again, pulling her in for a close hug as she smirked behind her. She was loving the power and influence she was beginning to have on the freaks, they might have sworn allegiance to Zion, but she could make them her little puppets too

A maid walked in on them and announced to her that Zion was in the garden and had requested that she joined him. She slowly let go of Rachel and bent to look at her.

"I'm here for whatever you need and dont worry, when the time comes, I will let you have them to yourself."

*

Nikita found Zion standing at the middle of the garden, staring at the family of hibiscus flowers. He looked as magnificent as ever, his black hat place on his head, as he held on to a walking stick; that was new.

"You know humans in all their self acclaimed wisdom have never gotten right the origin of the hibiscus flower. Some claim it originated from china, some others claim it is from Japan, and some others also claim it originated in Hawaii, but they are all wrong. The hibiscus flower just like us, is an alien to this planet that was mistakenly transported from our galaxy to yours, during our escape here. It has fought to survive in your world, under an entirely different atmosphere, evolving over the years just to try to fit in and blend in with the other flowers that had been here all their lives and with time, its popularity rose and now its one of the famous one among your species."

Zion turned to Nikita who had also placed her gaze on the flower. It was one thing she loved about him, his vast knowledge of things, knowledge that would take almost a lifetime to discover.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, smiling and gesticulating at her chest.

"I'm fine now." She replied.

"Well, thats good because tonight is the night it all begins, the end of your planet and the entire universe as you know it and the ascension of a new one.”

Nikita heart mumbled in pleasure, she loved the sound of that, now that all the puns had been taken out, it was finally time to checkmate the king. "What exactly is happening tonight?" She asked.

"The whole process will kick off tonight; we are planning to carry out three plans simultaneously. First, I have secured the location that the guardians that arriving would be landing to meet the one here and the last remaining member of her crew, I have put in motion a plan that would end all of them at the moment they come together. I spoke to the President of the country, and the United States have agreed to give us control of all of their drones in the area. At the moment they are sighted on land, we will launch a drone that will end every one of them on the spot and will put that behind us. You have proven your capabilities to me and i will be putting you in charge of that."

Nikita smiled at the corner of her mouth. "It would be my pleasure."

"Also, we will be activating the five watchtowers today and sending an energy strong enough to shake the gates of Orca and keep it open for about three minutes, this will give the fallen that have been locked up there enough time and the perfect warmhole to escape to your planet and join our quest. We need more manpower if we ever wish to be successful this time. Finally after that, we will be lauching the last program that would create a shield around your planet and prevent anything from going into and coming in from space till the mission is complete, this would prevent any further reinforcement from gaining access to the planet until we are done."

Nikita was silent for a while, the plan was a perfect one, but she had a bit of a concern and wanted to know where his priorities laid.

"You know your daughter will be among those that would be killed right?"

Zion turned to look at her. "I dont have a daughter, anyone that stands on my way is an enemy that must be dealt with. I hope you would be ready for this evening, it would be a magnificent scene."

“If you are that confident, I need one more favour."

"What is it?"

"The girl, Rachel, I want her to be my partner for this one."

Zion remained silent for a while. "If you can promise that the fate that befell the previous one would not befall this, then you can go with her to their drone control centre."

"I promise."

"She will be joining you then." He responded as he walked away slowly, doing his ritual humming as he did.

Evajael, enirock, jupitre, Lakesc, sodeeqsulaimon88, Khristarl, PenHub, samfrancis1, yungbanks, kvngfrosh, nkemdave Haryomhide1, Horladstar, Gauisc, Surayj123, ijawcitizen, Ann2012 we are finally on the way again.

Forgive me if I couldn't remember your moniker

Also, to make up for lost time, I would be putting up another chapter later in the day or early tomorrow, depending on when I get light to power my laptop.


As usual:

YOUR COMMENTS ARE HIGHLY APPRECIATED

Thanks bro..
Still can't believe Shelby didn't make it

Lovely masterpiece as usual. I'm eagerly anticipating the next chapter.

Poor Shelby, rest in peace... The fallen ones will arrive earth in minutes, while the guardians are taking forever to reach earth. Thanks Op

Thanks for the mention op.
Well, unbelievably shelby's gone. When will zeke return to his team?
Just hope the guardians land on time.
I still suspect Nikita. She could have her own plans especially concerning Rachel

Hmmm. What anger Zeke must feel as Shelby is laid to rest. Thanks for the update. How come the guardians couldn't use the wave also to facilitate their timely arrival? Zeke must come to terms with his powers and master them as fast as possible.

Finally

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Justin packed his bag and turned to look around to see if he was forgetting anything, but he was a light traveller and knew that all his properties fitted into one bag. He opened the door and stepped outside, walking towards the car that was parked in front of their apartment. He walked towards the back of the car and popped the boot of his car open, placing the bag into it. He walked back to the apartment and stood in the living room, taking a look at it one last time as he waited for the girl in black to finish packing up. At least it did not turn out like their apartment in Russia, only that they had lost a life in the process. The girl in black soon walked out of her room and through the passage into the living room, stopping and reducing her pace as she followed Justin’s gaze to the furnace. She too was having reserved feelings towards leaving the apartment and she had concluded that it was because of what she had lost while living there. She cleared her thoughts to catch Justin’s attention and it was successful as he quickly turned back to her direction.

“Let me help you with that.” He quickly spoke, walking to her direction and picking up a bag from her.

The girl in black stared at him as he dragged the bag away towards the door, she had noticed a certain change in him in the last few week, she had caught him staring at her unawares quite a number of time and had also noticed that he no longer felt as comfortable as he had always been around her, watching what he said, and how he said it. She watched him open the door, and instead of walking out, he stood in front of it, dropping the bag he was carrying and staring at something. He turned back to look at her and this prompted her to walk towards him. On getting to the door, she immediately felt conflicting emotions seeing Zeke standing in front of the door, anger, relief, happiness, and sadness all together and it almost overwhelmed her.

*

I stood in front of the door staring at both of them, not knowing what to say or how to react, the past few days had been really hectic for me and although I was beginning to get over the grief that had burdened me for days, the scars that it left behind was one that I knew that i would never recover from. Justin picked up the bag that he had dropped and walked towards me, i guessed he also didn’t know what to say, as he only gave me a pat to the back and murmured something inaudible before walking past me and towards the car. His exit left a tensed atmosphere between me and the girl in black, I had blamed her partially for the things that had happened to me because i had thought that my family would be safe if i had followed her and gone far away from them, but that was not the case and the situation around it wasn’t one that anyone could have predicted.

She made a move towards me, her expression suddenly dulling, she spread her hands and threw them around me, hugging me tightly, from the way it felt, I didn’t know how needed it more, me or she. We remained like that for a while and I finally gathered the courage to put my hands around her, also holding her tightly. She let go of me after a while and wiped her face quickly, it was then I realized that she had been crying, my heightened senses had suddenly been damped around her.

“I thought we had lost you after what happened that day, it must have taken you so much courage to pick yourself up and decide to complete this mission.”

She was right, it had taken every little bit of resolve that I had to decide to come back to them, but she was wrong about the reason i did, i was not there to try to stop Zion, I had other things in mind, things I didn’t think they needed to know or bother themselves with.

“You are just right on time, the Guardians have arrived and we are going to receive them before moving to the United states. I contacted an old friend that owed me a favour and she is going to help us secure transport out of the country, we only have to pick up the guardians and be there with them before nine zero zero.”

I sighed and nodded my head.

“We are losing sunlight and have a lot of ground to cover.” Justin shouted at us.

The girl in black turned and locked the door, she gave me a smile and walked over to him, handing over her bag to him, she turned and waved me over and I sighed again, I couldn’t make any mistakes this time, I had nothing to lose anymore.

*

“Just get into the bunker and stay there for a while; I will call you again through this line to tell you when it is safe to come out.” Nikita spoke hurriedly into the phone. She heard the door open slowly and found Rachel standing in front of the door.

“One minutes please.” She mumbled at Rachel and took some more steps into the room. “It’s important that you do exactly as i say and make sure that you are not out today,” She paced around for a while and held her head in frustration. “Cancel, tell them you are taking a sick break or something and postpone all your schedules, it would not matter anyways after tonight.” She turned back and found Rachel again. “I have to go now, make sure you do as i said, I will call you again when I can.” She ended the call and turned to Rachel.

“You are looking good.” She hurried to her drawl and brought out something wrapped in a cloth and walked towards her.

“Zion said I was to accompany you to the air force base.” Rachel pointed out, taking a step backward as Nikita walked out of the room, shutting it behind her.

“Yes, I had specifically asked for you. I knew what it meant to you and I wanted you to be there when we finally ended them.” She replied, putting on a smile. “I also have something for you.” She handed her the wrapped package.

“What is this?” Rachel inquired.

“It belongs to one of the members of their circus. I know your capabilities and how you are able to manipulate minds if you have a point of contact and I decided to get this for you.”

“Why?” Rachel was left at a loss. “I don’t think I would be needing it if we are going to be using the drone.”

“You never know, surprises could stem from anywhere.” Nikita gave another smile and walked away from her. “We leave now.”

*

A man walked towards Zion and handed a tablet to him. “All five strongholds are now online sir.” He said as Zion retrieved the device from him. “We are all waiting for your command.” He continued.

Zion turned the device to himself and took a look at its screen. There was a large button that stood at the centre of the large tablet with the inscription ‘ACTIVATE’ written boldly on it. He turned away from it and turned to the large screen that stood in front of him, he was unable to hide his happiness and pleasure that things were finally going the way he wanted, and the smile on his face revealed his relief, but even in his happiest moment, he still had a large hole in his heart, one that she had left behind when she left. How he wished she was around to witness this moment with him, it was the moment they had both spoken of for years but life had other things planned for them. He turned to the man that was still standing and waiting for a response from him.

“Set the timer at three minutes and alert the other strongholds.” He finally replied, placing both hands behind his back and staring continuously at the screen.

*

Justin pulled up the car near one of the large rocks on the girl in black’s command and we all alighted from it. We were in the middle of nowhere, just vast endless land with desert sand and some large rocks that stood sparsely scattered around. Justin cleared his throat and walked over to our side of the car.

“It makes sense.” He spoke, getting my attention. “It is the perfect place to land a spaceship.”

I smiled weakly, something that i had not been able to do for the past few weeks, I guess being around people at our saddest moments even when we wanted to be left alone was an underrated solution to loneliness.

“So, let me get this straight.” He continued. “The guardians are going to be arriving in a spaceship and would be landing it here, don’t you think it would be best if they just suspend it in the air and land with like a parachute or something to reduce attention.”

The girl in black scoffed, pulling out a device from the mini bag she was carrying. “The spaceship is cloaked and no one will notice it.” She replied, staring at the device and moving away from us. “They are close now and should be arriving in anytime now.”

“I am coming with you.”Justin called after her. “I wouldn’t miss such glorious sight for anything in the world.”

I decide against going with them and decide to stick around our vehicle, running my eyes around the area. I could hear a plane or jet fly over us, and although it made very little noise that was not very noticeable, I was able to hear it. I was further surprised at this because the President of the country had announced that all flight had been barred when they declared a total lockdown a few days ago. Sighing, I pulled open the door of the car and pulled out my Jacket from it, it was a cold and non eventful night and I hoped it remained that way.

*

“There.” Nikita pointed at the screen as a video of two people walking through a large mass of land played on it. “Run the camera around.” She ordered, and the controller obliged.

The camera was rotated around and the rest of the land was empty. She turned to Rachel who also had her gaze fixed to the screen. “As expected, there are only two of them remaining, but not for long.” She smiled and turned back to the screen. “Switch the drone to infrared
mode and hold it just above their position till you see more activity.”

*

The device in the girl in black’s hand beeped and she stopped to look around, Justin slowly pulled up behind her and looked over to the device.

“Is anything the matter?” He asked, having a hard time understanding what the constant beep was all about.

The girl in black shook her head and took another step forward. “They are here.” She tapped on the device and dropped it to the ground, taking steps away from it, the device shone brightly, slowly unveiling something massive that had been in front of them all along.

*

I turned to look up at the clear sky again, still wondering what it was that was hovering above us. It had been moving distinctively, but never went miles away from our position. I turned to look in the direction the girl in black and Justin had gone and far away, i could see something happening. There was a bright light coming from their direction and i could see the spaceship slowly uncloak and become visible. I felt a kind of relief seeing this, it meant we finally had more hand on ground to go against Zion and Nikita, and didn’t have to solely rely on the experience of two young adult and a not too experienced guardian.

The device above us slowly moved away from my direction towards that of the girl in black and Justin and it made me more suspicious to what it was.

*

Zion slowly watched as the timer counted down, ten, nine, eight..., it was almost time, he took in a very deep breath, three, two, one, he let the breath out and clicked on the ‘ACTIVATE’ button. There was a loud whirl from outside the building and a large ray escaped from it, shooting straight into the sky. He also watched on the screen as almost simultaneously, the same kind of ray shot from the other location and intercepted with each other, subsequently shooting a much larger ray straight into the sky and out of earth’s atmosphere, penetrating space and going far beyond. The sky turned red from this effect, and slowly a large tornado built in the sky, slowly sending a large storm back to earth’s surface.

Zion turned to one of the operators. “What’s the update on the other mission that Nikita is leading.”

The operator turned to click into his computer. “They are still on hold, none of the guardian is on sight yet.”

Zion sighed and turned back to the screen. “Tell her to get it over with before the storm hits the surface, everything in the sky would be wiped away as soon as the storm enters into earth’s biosphere.”

“Copy that.” The operator began typing rapidly into his PC once again.

*

The girl in black smiled as the spaceship fully uncloaked and she walked towards it, turning to one of its button and inputting a code, the door puffed and let out some air and slowly began to open. She turned to Justin smiling, as she waited anxiously to finally meet her friends once again. The door finally opened and she found the guardians, standing behind it. They all stood for a while, staring at each other, before one of them slowly walked out of the ship and stepped on the ground. She walked towards the girl in black and stood in front of her, scrutinizing her.

“You look famished and malnourished.” She pointed out.

The girl in black didn’t say word and Justin who had been watching all along wondered who she was. As if she had heard his thoughts, she slowly walked towards him and gave him the same observatory look.

“Is he the one you told us about?” She asked, not taking her gaze off Justin.

Justin’s stomach quickly churned in excitement, so she had been talking about him to her friends. An unconscious smile slowly formed on his lips.

“No.” The girl in black replied. “He is somewhere away around.”

The lady turned to the other guardians in the spaceship and nodded, they all slowly walked out of the ship and stepped to the ground. The woman turned to the girl in black.

“Aemiliana Ahenobarbus Artakhshathra the 3rd, you have really done well and will now be relieved of your duties and sent back to home while we handle things here.”

The girl in black was stunned by her statement; she had not been expecting it. “But I don’t think that is the wisest decision.” She argued. “I have been here for a while and can easily get you up to speed about everything happening.”

The lady raised her hand cutting her short. “You can submit your report to Olivia, that’s all we will be needing from you.”

“But...”

“But nothing Aemiliana, i am done with hearing your opinions.”

“I think she is right.” Justin spoke cutting into their argument. “Amy is the only one that has on ground knowledge of everything and is an asset to this mission.”

The lady slowly walked towards him and gave him a death stare. “Remind me who you are again, I don’t think anyone asked for your opinion, if they were really that valuable, you wouldn’t have had to call us to come fix your mess.”

The girl in black took a step forward and confronted her. “I know you never liked me, or working with me because my father is a traitor and you don’t think children of traitors should be allowed on the team, but right now is not the best time to be trying to be trying to implement your school of thought, there is a lot at stake." She turned to the other Guardians. “Are you all also on board with this?” She received no response from them as they tried to hide their faces. She scorned and turned to one of them. “Olivia?”

“I guess that settles that then.” The lady spoke. “Hand over your memo please.”

“What’s that?” One of the guardians asked, pointing to the ray that shot into the sky.

“Zion.” The girl in black responded.

*

“We can confirm activity on site.” One of the operators announced to Nikita.

She smiled and turned to Rachel. “It’s time.” She turned to the operator that was controlling the drone. “Let it rain.”

*

The intensity of whatever was above us increased and I heard an unusual sound, like a chamber opening and closing as a two other sounds appeared from nowhere and increased in intensity towards their direction. At that moment realization hit me, it was not a plane nor a jet, a jet does not possess such silent engines, only something that wanted to be discreet did and only a drone fitted that category. I immediately turned to the direction the girl in black and the other guardians were and raced towards them, propelling my wings as I did.

“Take cover.” I screamed as soon as I was sure they could hear me.

We die here o

Power play already amongst the guardians? I guess they don't know what they are up against. Thanks for the update.

I just found this story yesterday and I've been reading it since. great piece here op more ink to your pen

These guardians clearly lack focus to execute the task ahead of them, they seem abit immature. Zeke to the reasue.. Thanks Op, anticipating next two update(no mind/blame me o, nah the suspense make me ask for more)...

enirock:
Power play already amongst the guardians? I guess they don't know what they are up against. Thanks for the update.

Thanks for following

Friendlo:
I just found this story yesterday and I've been reading it since. great piece here op more ink to your pen

Thanks ma'am

Lakesc:
These guardians clearly lack focus to execute the task ahead of them, they seem abit immature. Zeke to the reasue.. Thanks Op, anticipating next two update(no mind/blame me o, nah the suspense make me ask for more)...

Man still gats do one or two things for the real world oo

frankline461:




Man still gats do one or two things for the real world oo

Yes indeed. Many thanks Sir

Oh Gosh! what kind of reckless guardians are these?

Not even mindful of their surroundings in a time of war.

I believe Amy will not return back home cos Zion is about to launch the shield that will hinder going and entering planet earth

Sheila's loss was a painful one.

Please @Frankline461 resurrect her for me oooo

Thank you frankline461. Its power against power. Happy independence day

well done bro

An update is dropping today, stay tuned!