I Speak Religion's Message Clear

On the floor below the group, Milo was trying to see what he could salvage of his vanguard robot.

“Stupid kids. They couldn’t even comprehend how much effort these robots took to make.” Milo mumbled to himself angrily.

Suddenly, his watch began to beep, getting faster in rhythm rapidly.

“What?” Milo looked at the screen on his watch.

The screen showed a top-down diagram of the building, with six green dots stationed around the perimeter of the tower. One of the dots began to flash yellow, before turning red. One by one, the other dots followed the same pattern.

“Shit. The Cloakposts.” Milo started to run down the stairs of the tower in a panic.

“What could possibly have strong enough Spirit levels to take out the Cloakposts? If those go out, we’ll be detectable to the Correctional Forces.” Milo thought over every detail and possibility in his head.

On the floor above, Vida started to sob uncontrollably.

“I can’t even comfort him. I can’t even hold his hand.” Vida continued to cry, her vision becoming blurry through the abundance of tears.

Hendrix’s gurgles continued as the guitar strings covered in that black substance continued to flail in the air above him. The weapon the dark figure spoke of began to manifest in his hand. He was still unconscious, convulsing involuntarily, so his attention didn’t seem to direct towards his hand, however his friends’ attention did.

“This is worse than the other time.” Taro began to flash back to the first time him and Hendrix fought. This felt one hundred times worse.

“What’s happening?!” Akilah activated her Mode. It was hard to see because the cloud of black smoke was filled with an immense amount of Spirit, rivaling Bloom and Alex in levels. Akilah was able to see something forming in Hendrix’s right hand, a wooden pole of some sorts?

“How is this even possible?” Akilah thought to herself. To think that they were about to finish their training just a minute ago.

Suddenly, the smoke was blown away and out of the building’s windows. The immense wind that carried the smoke came from Hendrix’s hand.

As the group’s vision cleared up, they were able to comprehend what was forming in Hendrix’s hand.

“A guitar?!” Chase thought.

It wasn’t like Hendrix’s old guitar. That wooden acoustic guitar passed down from Mr. Frewin had only warmth attached to it. The stickers stuck to the body of the guitar reminded Hendrix of Mr. Frewin’s journeys as a Spirit-rebel.

This guitar, was different. The guitar was of the electric variety. The body was almost the same as any other electric guitar, but the sharp corners were jagged in nature. The strings were black, almost blending into the body if it weren’t for the metallic shine they gave off from the setting sun’s light.

“Kids, get back!” Bloom screamed as she noticed some of Hendrix’s friends try to get close to him to wake him up. She and Alex had been frozen in shock the entire process of the manifestation.

“Sierra, Jaden. Have I failed you again?” Bloom asked herself as she began to tear up as well.

Alex stood with her eyes wide. She had seen people break and give into their Mode, but she could sense the visceral power of the Spirit before her without even trying to sense it.

A loud boom was heard from the unconscious Hendrix. Then, the movement stopped. Hendrix’s convulsions ceased.

Vida ran over to Hendrix.

“Please. Wake up.” Vida was still audibly sobbing. She shook Hendrix’s shoulders.

The room went quiet as everyone tried to process what in the world had taken place. Alex held Bloom, who had started crying.

“We need to get him back to the compound.” Alex spoke somberly.

Chase and Taro slowly picked up the unconscious Hendrix, taking him down the stairs carefully. Taro picked up the guitar that had fallen out of Hendrix’s hand, examining it.

“That isn’t some regular manifestation.” Akilah walked over to Taro. She still had her Mode activated, sensing a great amount of Spirit coming from the guitar, unmeasurably more than any other manifestation her or her friends had created.

“What even is this?” Taro looked at the guitar. Akilah shrugged and shook her head.

Vida sobbed on the floor where Hendrix had lain moments before.

“Vida, it’ll be alright. Let’s get back to the compound-” Amora’s attempt at comfort was interrupted by Vida.

“What if he’s dead?! This is all my fault!” Vida’s words were hard to comprehend through the sobbing, but Amora understood.

“Please. Let’s get you some rest.” Amora knew that reasoning with Vida wasn’t an option right now. She just wanted Vida to get back to the compound with everyone else.

The group walked down the eleven floors of the building, Bloom and Alex having the pass down the unconscious Hendrix on the five floor obstacle course.

Vida continued to sob the entire walk to the van. Amora tried to comfort her.

Alex started up the van, making their way to the compound.

Milo, who was on the other side of the tower’s perimeter fixing one of the Cloakposts, heard the van start up.

“Shit. I have to tell them.” Milo dropped his tools and started to book it towards the van. By the time he had reached where the van was, they were already a block away.

“Shit. Shit. Shit.” Milo repeated to himself. There was no point in fixing the Cloakposts now, so he grabbed his tools and started the walk back to the compound.

About five blocks away, a Correctional Officer looked at the van through an advanced pair of binoculars.

“Is that the van?” The officer asked, even though no one was within his vicinity.

“Yes. Officer 1060 has confirmed it.” A voice was heard from a speaker on the side of the binoculars.

“Copy. I’ll follow from a distance.” The officer responded as he folded the binoculars and placed them on his waist.

The van made it to the compound, carrying Hendrix and the mysterious guitar inside.

“Oh my god.” Jessica’s voice was heard as soon as the group made it to the infirmary.

At this point, Hendrix was still unconscious. That black liquid dripped from the corners of his mouth, mixing with the blood spilling from the deep scratches on his neck.

Jessica was horrified by the sight, calling in her aiding nurses to come wrap his neck in gauze.

Jessica looked around for Vida, who would usually accompany Hendrix on his infirmary visits, but she was nowhere to be found.

In the hall splitting the way to the infirmary from the way to the teens’ bedrooms, Amora had guided Vida to her bedroom.

“Isn’t the infirmary that way?” Vida had calmed down, even if it was just the tiniest amount, so her words were more legible.

“You’re gonna get some rest. We can visit Hendrix later. Everybody else is taking care of him right now.” Amora held Vida’s shoulders and walked her to her room. Vida felt too panicked to resist Amora’s words.

The two girls made it to Vida’s room, where Amora laid Vida down on her bed.

“Hendrix will be alright. He always pulls through.” Amora looked into Vida’s eyes with sincerity.

“This is all my fault. What if he doesn’t come back?” Vida’s sobbing started to pick up again.

“Sh. No what ifs right now. Just rest, I know you’re tired.” Amora began to tear up a little. She was trying her best to be there for her friend, but in reality she was scared as well.

Under the capital building on the other side of the city, that familiar enormous screen turned on as Officer 1060 walked up to it through the pitch black empty room.

“We’ve pinpointed the location of the compound.” Officer 1060 spoke blankly.

“Send me the location. My team and I will be there in two weeks. This will be a learning lesson for you.” The correctional advisor adjusted his wooden mask under his cap as Officer 1060 nodded towards the screen.

“Once I’m there, we’ll proceed with the infiltration.” The Correctional Advisor turned off the screen, leaving Officer 1060 in darkness.

Officer 1060 grinned to himself.

“Soon, their blood will stain the streets, and no one will remember their names.” The Officer mumbled.