In a dimly lit room in the basement of her home, Hazel gathered their friends around a worn-out wooden table. The atmosphere was tense, an unspoken weight hung in the air.

"Guys, we need to talk," she said sternly, breaking the silence.

She was filled with determination.

"Maybe?" Kenji replied with a raised eyebrow.

"Look, I get it. We've become... different lately," Hazel said in a defensive attitude.

"Because of you," Charlotte replied, her arms crossed over her chest. "And your... condition."

"We've come here only because we... somehow still feel some friendship for you," Luca said, his eyebrows furrowed. "But if word gets out that we're socialising with you, we're doomed."

"Stop this nonsense right now, guys!" Hazel answered, slamming a fist on the table. "You guys ditching me, mocking me in public just to make sure everybody knows you don't wanna be friends with me anymore, it's cruel and pathetic. I didn't choose to have a damn brain aneurysm. It's not like I wanted this."

Their friends shifted uncomfortably, guilt etched across their faces.

"We did this when Sky failed the admission test," she went on with a saddening expression on her face. "It was awful. We were awful to him. And for what? To be considered cool by the rest? Because society dictates it? What?"

None of them replied, their lips pressed into thin lines.

"Exactly," Hazel said for them. "Shame. Shame on us. He was our friend—is our friend, and he needs us right now. I need you right now. Giving him the cold shoulder was mean and cruel. It's time we stepped up these stupid social rules and did something that matters."

Winona spoke up, her voice softer now, "Hazel, we're sorry. We've been arseholes, and we know it."

"Yeah," Kenji chimed in. "We should've been there for you, both of you."

Hazel's eyes softened. "Good, because we have a problem. Sky's in jail. It was... somehow my fault, I guess." She took a deep breath. "We need to get him out."

Shock rippled through the room.

"What?" Charlotte asked, with disbelief in her voice.

Hazel nodded. "Yeah. He's been arrested."

"How is that your fault?" Luca asked.

"Have you seen the news?" Hazel asked. "The photograph of him and the golden ranger?"

"Yeah," Charlotte said. "What about it?"

"Who do you think took that photo?" Hazel asked, shifting the weight on her feet with discomfort as she awkwardly pointed a finger at herself.

"Fuck," Kenji whispered, baffled. "You knew?"

"I found out about their friendship only a few days ago."

"Wow," Charlotte said. "And you didn't tell anybody?"

"Nope, even though I had sealed a deal with Mrs Evergreen that I would."

"Jesus Fucking Christ, Hazel!" Luca exclaimed in a bewildered whisper as he put his hands on his head. "She's gonna kill you!"

"Not really. Guess who spilt the beans about my brain aneurysm and got me kicked out of the academy?" Hazel asked with sarcasm.

"No kidding," Winona replied, with wide-open eyes.

"Yeah, she let the cat out of the bag only because I kept the truth from her. She found the picture. She discovered I took it, and now Sky is in jail," she said with guilt and a sad expression on her face.

She sighed.

"His friendship with the gold ranger—his name is Haywire, by the way—is genuine. Believe me," she added. "Phoenixes are being used as pawns by Endurance and a guy called Kane Kovak."

"The scientist Naomi told us about a few days ago, right?" Winona asked.

After a nod, Hazel went on, "They are weaponizing them to get to Anti-Ageing Inc. and Mrs Evergreen. They want to destroy her. She's evil, so I totally get it. But... if they get released from their control, phoenixes are amazing creatures, absolutely nice, caring, and sensitive.

"Sky wants to protect them from harm, to protect us, this entire city, from their evil grasp—be it Endurance's, Kovak's, or Mrs Evergreen's. They're all the same dangerous shit to us. So, if you really feel guilty about mistreating Sky, we can't just sit around and do nothing."

Determined nods echoed around the table. Guilt had transformed into resolve.

"But," Charlotte hesitated, "how do we even begin?"

"Endurance," Hazel said with a sly grin.

"Endurance? This doesn't make sense. Why?" Kenji asked, raising a curious eyebrow.

"Our enemy has been taking the Internet by storm tonight, wreaking havoc in Anti-Ageing Inc.'s security system all over the city," Hazel explained. "Haven't you noticed the power cuts and the glitching holographic ads in the streets? If the holding facility hasn't got a backup generator and security system requires Internet connection with Anti-Ageing Inc., we might have an opportunity."

The group exchanged glances. If there was ever a chance to help Sky and bring down Mrs Evergreen, it was now or never.

"We're in," Luca said while all his friends nodded in agreement.

Hazel smiled.

"Very well, then. Let's do this." She laid out the plan, each step meticulous and daring. They knew it wouldn't be easy, but their determination was unwavering.

That same night, under the cover of darkness, they approached the facility where Sky was being held captive on the outskirts of the Hovering Hive. The night air was thick with tension.

Hazel signalled to Luca, who had taken a hidden spot in a nearby park, between some bushes. He nodded. With a laptop on his lap, he began hacking into the facility's network, exploiting the vulnerabilities created by Endurance. He grunted every time his computer glitched, which was every two to three seconds.

"No backup generator, no independent security system. Thank God these idiots were careless enough to believe themselves to be invincible," he whispered to himself as he typed fast.

Inside the facility, the guards were none the wiser. The alarms remained silent, and the surveillance cameras displayed looped footage created by Luca.

"Hazel, it's done," he said into his phone a minute later. "God, it was hard with all this glitching, but I did it."

"Good job," she replied, whispering. "Thank God that the telephone lines aren't affected."

Hazel approached the back door of the laundry room. She led the way, her heart pounding in her chest as the group moved towards the door and opened it by picking the lock with her trustworthy Swiss army knife.

Once they entered the premises, they inspected the facility's labyrinthine corridors, each step a heart-pounding risk of discovery. Anxiety hung heavy in the air. Even though it was the night shift, they found many guards blocking their progress.

"Too many of them," Hazel whispered to the group. "We can't risk a fight right now. They might send for reinforcements."

"Plan B, then," Winona whispered as she pointed to a vent above their heads.

"I'll go," Hazel said. "You spread out and hide until I come back with Sky. We'll meet in the laundry room. If we get spotted, start a fight. Or a fire. Or anything to cause chaos."

"Got it," Kenji replied.

Hazel, lithe and agile, reached the vent. With deft movements, she removed the grating and slipped inside.

"Luca?" she asked into her phone with butterflies in her stomach. "Guide me through the vents."

The prison's sterile halls echoed with the oppressive silence of captivity. Sky paced restlessly in his cell, the blue laser bars casting an intermittent eerie glow on his anxious face. Freedom seemed like a distant dream as he mooned around.

Should I try to escape? His doubt sprang from the glitching blue laser bars. There must be some sort of issue with the electric supply for them to glitch this badly. I should seize this opportunity, but...

He stared at the lifeless bodies of three inmates from neighbouring cells, their flesh and bones pierced by the rays.

They tried, but the glitching laser bars come and go too fast for any person to sneak by. Not to mention that they do it erratically. There's no glitching pattern whatsoever. Some power cuts are longer, some shorter, but there's no way to tell when I could pass by unharmed.

Outside, the night was cloaked in darkness, and the minutes felt like hours as he stared at his only chance to escape.

Sky's eyes widened in surprise as, out of the blue, Hazel dropped silently into his cell.

"Hazel?!" he whisper-shouted in disbelief.

"No time for chit-chat," Hazel interrupted. "We've got to move."

Sky nodded, his heart racing with hope.

With precision born of desperation, Hazel and Sky jumped into the vent. Together, they crawled cautiously, avoiding any noise that could betray their presence.

They navigated the complex web of vent tunnels, avoiding guards and obstacles. Luca guided them through the labyrinth.

Ominous silence reigned in the facility. The seconds ticked away like a ticking time bomb.

"How did you do this so easily?" Sky asked Hazel as he stepped out of the other extreme of the vent tunnel, in the laundry area of the holding facility, trembling with a mixture of fear and exhilaration.

As they neared the exit, a guard patrolling the corridor came into view. They locked their eyes. Panic surged through all three of them, but Kenji appeared out of a large laundry basket behind the guard. He lunged, delivering a precise blow that rendered the guard unconscious before he could raise an alarm or fire his gun.

Charlotte and Winona walked into the laundry room with their eyes glued to the halls they had come from, just in case any other guard could spot them.

Reaching the back door, Hazel opened it cautiously, and the group slipped through. The night air was refreshing, a stark contrast to the suffocating atmosphere of the prison. They moved quickly but silently back into the park where Luca was waiting for them, their hearts pounding in rhythm with their footsteps.

"You're amazing," Sky whispered with a stupid smile plastered on his face as he squatted beside Luca and the rest, hiding in the bushes. "Thanks, guys. I'm glad you didn't believe the crap the media's been saying about me."

"Don't thank us," Kenji said. "Thank Hazel. She told us the truth and convinced us to come."

Sky stared at Hazel with wide eyes and a blush on his cheeks.

She blushed back at him and said, "It was time I did something to set things right." A bittersweet smile crept up her lips, and then, her eyebrows furrowed with determination and said, "Now, it's payback time. Mrs Evergreen will get what she deserves."

"Don't forget Endurance and Kovak," Winona added, with a cheeky smile.

Sky smiled at them, glad not to be alone in his current predicament.

"Okay," he said, "but if we're all in this together, we're missing a member."

"Missing a member?" Charlotte asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Haywire," Sky and Hazel said at the same time.

A soft chuckle later, Sky added seriously, "He also needs to be rescued... and cured."

"Did Mrs Evergreen hurt him?!" Hazel asked, offended.

"She injected him with the Lifebringer serum," he replied with a heavy heart. "And it didn't go well."

Hello, my sugar cubes!

The friends truly reunite after this chapter. Did you like that and their rescue mission? 😊

Stay tuned!

XOXO

Mar