Chapter Text
Episode 5
“Put your hands in the air where I can see them!” yells a police officer waving a gun around. All the cops glisten with sweat while the heroes nervously lock eyes with us, shifting their feet in fighting positions.
I clenched the wheat bag tightly in my hands, fingers digging themselves into the coarse fabric. I desperately looked at Jinx, then at Whisper, and back to the front. My heart thumped rapidly inside my chest.
How are we going to get past them?
“Relax Sakura, just copy us and stay calm. Everything will be alright,” mutters Whisper softly, her golden eyes full of focus. That’s right, stay calm, just like Jinx and Whisper. They’re not ready to run like me. They know what to do next.
The two of us follow Jinx, slowly putting down our bags to the floor to gradually raise our arms in the air. None of us uttered a single word, creating the tense, suffocating air enveloping the heroes and villains.
As we draw our arms out from our sides, out of the corner of my eye I notice a faint glimmer coming from Jinx’s hand. I immediately shove down my curiosity and continue to gaze forwards, a wave of relief hitting me. Of course. Jinx isn’t going to back out that easily.
Chuckling to himself, Jinx startles the cops and heroes with his unnerving action. His hands grip the black bars of nun chucks firmly and his shades eerily glows green. His lips spread into an arrogant smile, displaying his teeth.
“You really think we were going to surrender? That hurts my pride buddy,” wryly scoffs the brunet.
Before anyone could react, a shining, metal boomerang cuts through the air as its serrated edge briskly cuts through the shoulders of the police at the frontline. Within seconds their eyes roll to the back of their skulls as they drop to the floor like flies, the antidepressant rapidly taking its effect on them. The other officers gasp in surprise at their collapsed colleagues, fear quickly settling onto their faces.
With closed eyes, Whisper raises one hand expectingly to the returning boomerang that hit her palm in perfect timing.
“Good job Whisper, fast thinking is what we need,” praises Jinx under his breath as he pulls on the nun chucks, the chain clattering together. I slowly took out my staff from leg pocket, pressing on the button to extend it to full length.
“That should take them out for an hour or so. You guys ready?” Whisper replies, her head cocking to the side to listen as much as possible.
“You don’t even have to say that.” Jinx grins. Dashing towards the first batch of heroes, he powerfully throws the nun chucks making it spin and rip through the air. The chains twists around the legs of two heroes, sweeping them off their feet in cries of pain. The brunet purrs in delight and yanks the bars towards him to stretch it out once more. Only this time, everyone else was ready for us. Hands began taking out weapons or set ablaze with the vibrant colours of ki.
“About time. Come at us LOSERS!” Jinx boldly shouts out. And just like that, the once quiet, sleepy Avo Lane became a vigorous battlefield.
Whisper moves like water, weaving through heaving bodies easily while her limbs glide towards the thumping of heartbeats to nimbly give kicks and punches. Meanwhile, Jinx charged to whoever his eyes set upon, energised by the excitement of battle as he swings his nun chucks mercilessly to the unlucky victim’s ribs or face.
“Time to ramp thins up! Misfortune!” He cackles eagerly. I gulp nervously to see the nun chucks radiate an electrifying green, pitying the people fighting with him.
“Ya’ll better pray that I miss!” laughs Jinx maniacally to watch the people around him shout in agony as their bodies crumple to the floor, the bars hitting their vitals too hard, too directly.
BAM! A punch flies across my cheek making me fly backwards.
“Urgh!” I groan as I try to steady myself from my spinning vision. Blood trickles down from a tear in my lip as my cheek throbs heavily. I flick my eyes towards the perpetrator in annoyance. I got too distracted by how well Jinx and Whisper were doing that I completely let my guard down.
“What’s wrong princess? Gonna cry over a little hit?” cooed a spiky-haired blonde jeeringly while petting his blood-stained brass knuckles.
I grit my teeth angrily in silence while jumping back to my feet.
“You’re a less feisty one aren’t you? Good. I can take you out easily.”
Spitting out blood to the ground, I smile at him mockingly. My hands immediately reach for my staff that laid between us the whole time and this so-called hero didn’t even bother to take it away.
Idiot.
Twirling the staff in my hands, I let adrenaline course through my arms to strengthen my grip.
“You think I’m weak? You’re a dumb one to assume things about an opponent you never fought, and a coward for choosing to tackle the ‘weaker’ fella.”
My grin widens to see Pineapple Head grimace in irritance.
“Let’s see who wins, shall we?” I mutter coldly.
My mind runs with the former lessons the duo taught me as I dart straight for the hero. In a blur of legs, I immediately spin backwards and raise my back leg. The flat of my boot slams loudly to his jaw, causing him to stumble sideways to the blow. His eyes frantically look around before locking in with mine, his lime pupils instantly constricting in panic.
First instruction completed. Aways be unpredictable.
I immediately swing my staff as hard as I can to the other side of his face to knock him out completely. Splatters of saliva spew out from his mouth as he groans hoarsely, falling to the floor unconscious in a mess of limbs.
Second instruction completed. Don’t ever give your opponent a chance to attack you.
Suddenly, my skin prickles with heat and I threw my head backwards to the sky praying that whoever came isn’t who I think it is. My blood ran cold and my breathing became shallow. ‘The Phoenix’ was silently about to attack from above and my partners have no idea that he’s here. I followed the redhead as fast as I could, the last instruction burning in my mind.
Always lookout for your teammates.
My hands anxiously clench and unclench my staff in spasms. There was one way that I can stop Chase, but I haven’t mastered it yet.
I watch in despair as he glides above the duo, circling them as his wings increasingly glow a scorching red. Lava tendrils snake under his skin vibrantly from the rapid build-up of ki.
“There’s no other choice,” I hissed in annoyance. Plunging my staff in the ground as far I can, I heave my body towards it and hastily crouched onto the pole.
“Let’s hope this works!” I cried. With a powerful thrust of my legs, I leap into the air with my arms and legs waving about.
“Too High, Too High!” I shout in alarm as everything below me starts to shrink rapidly. Then the horrible force of gravity came to play, wrenching me down with the same strength and speed when I jumped. The memory of me dropping from the sky to cars racing across the road flits across my mind. Fear and adrenaline coursed through my body as I try to find anything, something to break my fall.
And then I saw it. Chase was so close, his face contorting in confusion to see a penguin frantically flapping in the sky. Giving him a mischievous grin like any penguin would, I grab his ankle tightly with one hand.
“Killing two birds with one stone. I get to protect my teammates and not end up being a human pancake after all!” I exclaim proudly, and soon both of us plummeted down, down, down.
Tomato glares at me in anger and surprise as his wings struggle against the sudden drag.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?! You’re going to kill us both!”
“I was trying not to die genius! Now think of a way to get us out of this mess before we actually do!” I scream back, both my hands clinging onto his one leg for dear life.
The only thing I could focus on was Tomato’s flapping of his wings, pleading silently that they can save us. His red curls flies all over his face, partially hiding his deepening grimace.
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Although we weren’t too high up in the air, the fall we risk is still enough to cause serious injuries. I’m not looking forward in having broken wings, so I’m trying my best to not let that happen.
“C’mon Chase, think, think, think! You have massive wings and you can’t even get back into flight from a little setback? Sure, this girl is insanely annoying, but remember what you learnt!” I told myself, refusing to become incompetent in a situation like this.
I immediately remember to calm myself down and think about what I need to do next. Closing my eyes, I try to slow down my heartbeat and clear my head as quick as I can. But something as simple as that would be done much better if there wasn’t so much SCREAMING and FLAILING of limbs everywhere!
“C’mon Chase, you can do it!” I grumble through gritting teeth. Trying again, I aim my focus onto the sounds of whipping winds and suddenly came up with an idea. Relaxing my body, I fold my wings back and let gravity do its thing.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! YOU’RE LITERALLY HALF BIRD! BIRDS FLY! NOT DROP LIKE ROCKS!” screams Mickey Mouse hysterically, digging her fingers more into my skin.
“COME ON! START FLYING!” she yells again.
Don’t get distracted, focus. I can sense the ki of the others below getting stronger and stronger. If I don’t time this perfectly, might as well suffer three months off the job.
In 3, 2, 1.
Immediately opening my wings, I held back the urge to scream from the pain of air suddenly gushing up mercilessly against your second set of limbs. However, it was just enough lift for me to glide through the air before transitioning to quick sets of flapping to gain back flight control. I can feel all my feathers writhing in exhaustion from the rapid flying. As soon as I found a suitable landing spot, I tilted our bodies to the side and sweep the surface of the concrete with my wingtips. We circle around the spot perfectly in a dust cloud and both our feet meet the ground.
Giving a soft kick, I finally manage to throw Mickey Mouse off me who flops to the floor tiredly. Trying to be the more dignified one, I stand upright while swaying from side to side. I watch my wings in silent fury as they gradually dull in colour, the tongues of fire that once chaotically dance from the feathers becoming mere weak flames.
I shot the girl that caused all this, started all this, an enraged glare. All my ki was significantly drained and it was her action that made me turn out like this.
“How can you be so stupid?! You really though you could do something without thinking of what’s going to happen next?” I shout at her while keeping my gaze directly on her as she slowly got up.
Her body uncurls to reveal new bruises, on top of the countless patches from the day before. Strands of black hair came loose from her buns and her eyes look back at me with fatigue but still glimmer with spirit.
I don’t want to feel sorry for someone who risked two lives. What she did was irresponsible, and she must be treated critically.
“I told ya we will meet again, right Hot Wings?” She said in a raspy voice, raising her wobbly head high while rubbing lightly on her new wounds. I watch in disgust as she licks off the blood pooling on her lips and continues to stare back at me.
“Don’t forget who you are Mickey Mouse, one more wrong move and I can send you to jail straight away.” I reply coldly, keeping my guard up.
“Heyyyy, that’s not niceee. I told you my name. It’s Sakura, so stop calling me Mickey Mouse!” Sakura childishly remarks, stomping her foot down like a toddler in a tantrum.
“Then you better call quits on the nicknames you give me as well! This is your last chance to drop everything you’re doing and maybe, just maybe we can let you go.”
Sakura sarcastically laughs, wiping away fake tears from her eyes. She side steps towards me and smirks.
“No can do Tweety. I follow orders from my seniors. You really think I wanted to do all this? Nah. I’m simply here to stop you from interfering with their plans.”
No way. I look at the two other villains far at the back with a ring of collapsed police and heroes scattered around. Only a few of the authorities remain, barely standing up with the low energy they have. She was simply a distraction, and I fell for it.
I try to dash to my team as extra support, but Sakura stops me with the end of her staff pushing against the centre my chest.
“Like I said, I am helping my teammates out, so I can’t let you go.” She reminds me.
“No kidding, so am I.” I growl back in annoyance.
I drew back my fists ready to fight and Sakura held her staff tightly, ready to swing it. Before both of us can do anything, the voice of another incredibly frustrating person erupted through the air.
“Well, well, well. Look how teeny tiny the numbers of the authorities became! I’m shocked that such a small group like us was able to wipe you lot out! After how hard you guys fought, it would be such a shame if we disappeared into thin air right?”
Unsettling, electrifying ki surges through me as I instantly look at the brunet. Sakura turns her face to mine and winks.
“See you later alligator,” She says in amusement.
“NO, STOP!” I cry, desperately stepping forwards to grab her free wrist. I watch in disbelief as she and her teammates disappear into ink black smoke, crackles of neon green sparking from it.
Just like that, the villains and their stolen goods were gone. And I couldn’t stop any of that.
“Tch.” I sharply say.