Noises, Noises, People Make Noises

“Keep your head in the game, Akilah.” Hardy had noticed Akilah staring at her two friends as Vida tried to help Amora with her wound.

“Right.” Akilah locked her eyes onto the Warden, whose expression had now turned into one of pure malice.

“We don’t know how this one works, but I’m certain there’s some kind of time limit until he creates an opening for us.” Hardy explained.

“This is a game of time. I need to terminate the enemy ASAP. If I do it quick enough, I might even walk away with my life.” The Warden thought.

The Warden charged forward, reeling his metal fist back as he leapt through the air.

Boom

Hardy stumbled backwards as he used his ability. His legs had given out, just for a moment.

Ping

The wall of noise bounced off the giant’s metal skin, ultimately ineffective.

Hardy’s eyes widened.

“Get back.” Hardy took a couple steps back. “Just stall for time.”

Akilah noticed Hardy’s worry, which only made her worry more.

“O–Okay.” Akilah stuttered, following suit as the both of them began to run from the hulking metal beast.

Up on the balcony of the third level, Vida looked over the bloody mess that was Amora’s right shoulder.

“You–Can you heal yourself?” Vida asked in a panic.

“I don’t think so.” Amora spoke weakly in between painful groans. “I’ve never done it before.”
Vida hated that it made sense. From what she could gather from the way the adults described Amora’s ability, it was a transfer of Spirit making the recipient's wounds heal faster. It would be impossible for Amora to heal herself.

Vida stared at Amora’s face. Her pained expression made Vida’s heart drop.

“I’m sorry, Amora. You must be in so much pain right now.” Vida held back tears. She doubted that she could ever get over the sight of her friends in such agony.

“It’s fine.” Amora’s voice wavered with each word. She held her face away from her friend.

Amora knew that it was obvious she was scared.

Thud

The Warden’s metallic fist struck the ground with a great intensity, barely missing Akilah. Concrete dust flew into the air, making a cloud of rubble around the fighters.

“I want to help, but neither of our bodies are up for it.” Vida thought. She balled her fists as she watched Akilah and Hardy run around the watchtower, barely escaping each of the Warden’s attacks.

“I know you said we need to wait it out, but we might not make it much longer.” Akilah dodged the Warden’s swing as she yelled to Hardy.

“You’re right.” Hardy had noticed the Warden’s enhanced physicality as well.

The giant metallic beast was moving at speeds that made his previous movement look like child’s play.

His strength was enhanced as well. Before, it looked like he would have needed to put his whole body weight into an attack for it to crack the solid ground below them. Now he was crumbling the concrete with every punch that just so happened to hit the ground.

Woosh

The Warden’s right fist swung towards Hardy from the left, the back of his metallic hand heading straight for the rebel’s body.

“No time to dodge.” Hardy thought. He assumed his ability’s position.

Boom

The explosive sound emitted from his hand.

“Shit.” Hardy thought. He felt a wave of weakness spread through his body, his legs giving out under him.

His explosive sound didn’t seem to do any damage to the Warden. The metallic fist kept swinging directly toward the rebel.

Thud

The giant fist slammed into Hardy’s side, sending him flying across the panopticon.

Bang
Hardy crashed into one of the many metal cell doors. He felt every bone in his torso compress against his lungs as the air was knocked out of his lungs.

He gasped as his body hit the floor.

“Hardy!” Akilah screamed, running over to the fallen rebel. “Are you okay?!”

“Yeah-” Hardy tried to sit up, wincing as he felt a stabbing pain in his chest. “I must have broken a rib or two, though.”

“Just… Just rest a bit.” Akilah said, hesitantly.

“Without Hardy, how are we gonna get out alive?” Akilah asked herself.

Hardy noticed the girl’s panicked breathing return, that same face of fear she had tried to hide a few minutes ago.

“This is the end of the road. Quit now and I’ll make your death swift.” The Warden’s breathing had become slightly laboured.

“Please.” The Warden added under his breath. He was running out of time, but he knew that if things kept going at this rate, it would be a clear victory for him.

“When I got hit, I noticed something.” Hardy’s words made Akilah’s eyes wide.

“What is it?” Akilah asked with urgency, a renewed hope dripping into her expression.

“At his joints, the metal shingles stretch over each other. I saw a small gap in between some of them.” Hardy attempted to sit up, wincing at the pain as he pointed towards the Warden’s neck. “If you can somehow get your sword in between the metal shingles, you can do some real damage.” Hardy groaned through the pain.

Akilah stared wide-eyed as she noticed the slightest sliver of skin between the metal shingles when the Warden walked. It was only when the Warden stretched an area, almost at random, so it wouldn’t be sure hit, but Akilah had an idea.

“My ability. This is the perfect time to use it. I haven’t used it in the field yet, but I have no other choice but to try.” Akilah thought.

“I know there’s no margin for error, so-” Hardy was interrupted.

“I’ll try.” Akilah stood up, holding her sword in front of her.

The girl’s adrenaline was still pumping, the pain in her arm was secondary to the opponent in front of her, even though both of them scared her.

“One last stand? You won’t be remembered as some hero.” The Warden said.

Akilah didn’t answer. She stared at her enemy with both ferocity and fear in her eyes.

Vida and Amora looked on from the balcony, shocked at the intensity in their friend’s eyes.

“I’ve never seen Akilah look so determined.” Amora thought.

“You two.” Hardy yelled up to the two girls. “Get inside the watchtower. There should be a switch for each hallway. Get to it and the captives are freed.” Hardy pointed to the watchtower, which was connected by four bridges on each corner of the tower at the third level.

Amora attempted to get up, but the slightest movement in her shoulder shot pain through the skin she still had.

“Just stay here. I got it.” Vida stood up, exploding into a sprint towards one of the bridges.

Vida had caught the attention of the Warden.

“Shit.” The Warden muttered. He stepped towards the stairs as he looked up at the girl.

Akilah sprung into action. She sprinted up to the giant metal man, raising her sword to the left of her head.

She tried to remember the method Vida had taught Amora, the one she had overheard while she sparred with Jason.

“Just remember the feeling it gave you.” Vida’s words rang through Akilah’s mind as she leapt through the air. She closed her eyes for a moment as she tried to recall the feeling of activating her new ability.

“I remember…” Akilah thought. She opened her eyes as she grew closer to the nape of the Warden.

She gritted her teeth as her blade came down on the man’s neck.

Ping

The blade reflected off of the Warden’s metal shingles, making Akilah’s eyes widen with fear.

The Warden reacted quickly, swinging his fist back at the sound of the blade hitting his neck.

“Shit.” Akilah pushed herself off of the Warden’s metal nape as the fist grew near.

The fist connected with Akilah’s boot, sending her into a midair spiral.

Thud

She hit the ground with a painful slam, letting out a groan as she instinctively tried to catch herself with her injured arm.

“Akilah!” Vida yelled down to her friend as she witnessed the fall.

“I’m fine!” Akilah yelled back. “Get to the control room!”

“It would’ve been way worse if I didn’t have the physical training to jump back.” Akilah thought.

Vida nodded and continued her sprint.

Akilah stood up, holding her sword in front of her as she gritted her teeth to distract her from the pain in her arm.

“I know why it didn’t work. I activated it too early. It needs to be within that margin of error I made to work.” Akilah thought.

“Let’s try this one more time.” Akilah muttered to herself as she charged at the Warden.

“It won’t work!” The Warden exclaimed between labored breaths.

“I’m way past the point of no return. I’ll take these dissenters down with me.” The Warden thought.

“I’ll make it work!” Akilah yelled back.