An Ordinary Life Seems Bland, But Ours Is Chrome

“Slim, you’re good with this?” Biggie balled his fist. To think his best friend would be risking his life for the person who almost killed him only hours before.

Slim stood up while rubbing his eyes, his long blonde hair covering his eyes. “I’ll do it for Molly.” The distress in Slim’s voice seeped through his words.

Biggie realized Slim was just as frustrated as him. He kept quiet as Slim exited the infirmary.

The others slowly trickled out of the room as well, getting their shoes back on as they mentally prepared for real combat.

“We’ve never gone out of our way to fight someone, have we?” Amora asked Chase as they both walked down the hallway.

“This is how it should be. Let’s make a statement with this one.” Chase assembled the pistol he had manifested.

Chase’s words worried Amora.

“You’re not scared?” Amora asked.

A moment of silence passed while Chase fiddled with his gun.

“Nope. I don’t get scared. And there’s nothing to be scared about, since you’ve got me with you!” Chase smiled at Amora as she gave a worried look back.

Chase’s unwavering optimism was starting to sound dangerous to Amora.

In Akilah’s room, she thought over what she could do in some of the most common scenarios.

Her world started to close in as the possibilities narrowed.

“I’m the weakest link, aren’t I?” Akilah’s mind began to spiral for the first time in her life. She had always been the rational one, but this felt like the rational conclusion.

As she rubbed her forehead to try to reason with herself, Kai barged into her room.

“Are you ready, beautiful?” Kai was still trying to lighten the mood despite the heavy weight on all of their shoulders.

“Can’t you learn to knock?” Akilah chuckled before her mind began to spiral again. Her hand returned to her forehead as she thought her revelation over.

Kai noticed. He stopped his exit and turned to her. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” Akilah responded.

“Alright, then I’ll meet you in the lobby-” Kai was interrupted.

“Can I ask you a question?... Am I the weakest? Out of the seven of us.” Akilah looked up at Kai, who had his back turned.

He held his head down, trying to think of a response.

“I don’t know. It doesn’t matter, though. We’re all learning-”

“My incompetence is gonna get one of you killed, Kai. If you can’t trust me in the heat of the moment then something is gonna go wrong.” Akilah dragged her fingers through her purple hair as she took a deep breath in.

Kai looked at her for a few seconds. “I… I’ll meet you in the lobby.” he closed the door, making his way down the hall.

Akilah paused. She didn’t know if she had said too much or not, but at the same time it felt like a small weight off her chest. However, her hands trembled, something they’d never done before.

The group assembled in the lobby, where Jason and Alex were waiting for them.

“You guys'll have to put these on. We use them on every mission.” Jason handed black gaiters to each teen in the group, skipping Slim as he already had one.

The black gaiters covered the face right up to the nose, allowing their eyes to peek out.

“I wish we would’ve got cool masks.” Chase whispered to Kai.

“Do you think this is a game?” Slim asked Chase, who immediately put his arms up as a silent apology.

The room stayed silent for a moment before Alex began to speak.

“I’ll be riding behind you guys. Me and Jason want to make sure you kids are capable of carrying out these kinds of things on your own. Eventually I want you guys playing a big part in the rebellion. I believe in you kids.” Alex let out a slight smile.

The teens absorbed her words like sponges. They had never been so excited for something so dangerous. They didn’t care that what they were doing was risky, as long as they were able to avenge the Frewins, and those who died in D.C. As long as they were able to give their loved ones freedom.

“I’ll drive our mission vehicle into the heart of Shinjuku. Then, you’ll spread out, searching for Hendrix and Molly. We’ll give you these radios to call when you’ve found them. Turn it to 34.” Jason handed out radios to the kids, who put them in their back pockets.

“Alright, let’s roll.” Alex waved the kids into the van outside as they all piled in.

Alex drove the ten minutes into Shinjuku for the second time that day. This time, she wasn’t as excited.

She parked the van in an alleyway on one of the busiest blocks in the city, making sure it was hidden in the process.

“Alright, disperse.” Jason said from the passenger seat.

The crew jumped out of the car, leaving Jason alone in the van.

Kai, Taro, and Akilah moved northwest while Amora, Chase and Slim moved southeast.

Alex paused for a moment, realizing she had to choose a group to follow.

“Well, shit.” Alex moved northwest on instinct, hoping Amora and Chase would do good being led by someone who had done missions before.

Southeast, Amora, Chase and Slim moved from alleyway to alleyway with surprising efficiency.

Slim led the way, while Chase made sure Amora didn’t fall behind, holding her hand all the while.

“You two, keep up. I won’t let you slow me down.” Slim’s voice was cold. Nothing like when he had introduced himself.

Chase and Amora looked at each, trying to figure out what to say.

They decided to stay silent as they ran into an alleyway that led directly to an intersection.

The intersection was highly populated, with office workers and families heading home from their daily activities.

“I don’t see any other alleyways. The shops are packed together from here on.” Amora observed.

Chase and Amora tried to think of a way to conceal themselves while not accruing suspicion.

Slim took a deep breath in. “Hold my hands.” Slim held his hands back at the two as they looked at each other with confusion in their eyes.

“Just do it.” Slim shook his head.

The two reluctantly took a hold of Slim’s hands.

The blonde boy closed his eyes as soon as the two behind him grabbed his hands.

Amora and Chase felt each fiber in their body vibrate. They looked down as they watched themselves disappear.

“What the hell?!” Chase exclaimed.

Amora held her hand up to her face, making sure it was still there in spite of being invisible.

“I can only hold it for a little while. Hurry.” Slim began to pull the two forward, out of the alleyway.

The three invisible kids walked across the street, winding through civilians cautiously.

Chase accidentally knocked his knee into a businessman, who looked around in confusion.

“What was that?!” The man exclaimed.

Chase was forced to keep moving as the three of them got to the end of the street.

They got to the other side of the street, keeping the same pace towards a small space in between two of the stores.

“What are they doing?” Amora whispered to Chase and Slim, looking at a crowd across the intersection.

A large group of civilians crowded around something on the sidewalk.

“Let her go!”

“Give up you fucking criminal!”

The crowd was shouting hostile threats at whoever was in the middle of the crowd.

Chase and Slim had caught sight of it too. The three of them stared, trying to find out what was going on.

Suddenly, the crowd across the street divided as three guitar strings shot directly upwards, grabbing onto a flag pole high above the crowd.

A masked boy shot up with the guitar strings holding a girl in his hands.

“Hendrix!” Chase exclaimed, instinctively letting go of Slim. He sprinted towards Hendrix as he realized an Officer was chasing him.

“Chase!” Slim and Amora both exclaimed. They had also noticed the Officer.

“C’mon, Slim!” Amora started her run towards Chase.

Slim stood still for a second, hesitating his decision. Did he want to risk his life for the kid who just put his best friend’s life in danger?

He thought for a few more moments, letting his blonde hair fall over his face.

“For Molly. That’s it.” Slim reasoned with himself, running after Amora and Chase.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Officer 9274 noticed the masked teens running towards their friend.

“He called backup? Then I’ll call some of my own.” The Officer pulled his watch up to his mouth, immediately yelling “Backup needed at my location!”.

The running went on for a minute more before a Correctional Forces car swung around the corner that the group was running towards, the blue and red lights cutting through the orange tint of the afternoon.

The Officer pointed at the three kids behind as the car passed him.

Chase, Amora, and Slim halted as the car swerved to a stop in front of them, separating them from the Officer and Hendrix.

“We found them, but we’re getting held up. Head southeast.” Slim spoke into his radio as three deputies exploded from the car, rifles raised to the rebels.

“Surrender or you will be dealt with!” One of the deputies screamed.