Debris lay scattered wherever the eyes could reach. Shards of glass clinked beneath the soles of Sky's shoes when he stepped on them. Drops of rain drummed over pieces of broken metal, like a torn car chassis and a bent fridge door.

A saddening drum solo, with only silence as a singing partner.

Before the two exhausted teens lay the ruins of the Hovering Hive's most prominent buildings. Even the academy had lost part of its façade and the roof over the main areas.

"Somehow, it's over," Sky whispered with a husky voice and a furrowed brow. "I don't understand."

"I don't get it either," Hazel whispered, and then she sighed. "Speedy Recovery won't be able to take on the job of cleaning and rebuilding in less than twenty-four hours this time. There's too much damage."

They descended the last few steps of the Elite Academy.

Sky's last step became an awkward move. He grunted and made a painful, funny face.

With a gentle smile, she grabbed an arm of his and put it behind her shoulders. Her hazelnut hair was getting soaked in the rain, and it clung to the sides of her face and neck. So did his.

"The adrenaline in your body is plummeting, huh?" she said. "I was wondering when you'd realise you're hurt after your epic fight against Haywire."

He stared at her and smiled back at her before they went on walking.

"The Lifebringer will fix it in no time, you'll see," he replied with a grim face.

"This is so weird. No sirens, no ambulances, no firefighters..." Hazel scoffed. "Where is everybody?"

Sky didn't answer. He pressed his lips into a thin line as the gears in his brain spun.

"Hidden, maybe?" he eventually said as he eyed left and right at the offspring of destruction. "I don't believe it's over, Hazel. Endurance is free and has full control of the security system. He should be causing more havoc. Besides, Mrs Evergreen has Haywire and a bunch of other phoenixes. Kovak has many of them, too."

"A war should be taking place here, yet it's not," Hazel whispered, furrowing her eyebrows as she stared at where the tallest buildings used to reach. "Maybe Kovak did something to block Endurance out of the city? Is that why he was able to save us from the lift? And maybe Mrs Evergreen owns a bunker and hid there or something?"

"I don't like not knowing what's going on," he replied, with his gaze fixed ahead. "Let's hurry to the rendezvous point."

"What the actual fuck?!" Sky exclaimed, his mouth wide open. His feet stopped abruptly.

"I swear I didn't read the coordinates wrong," Hazel said.

After a loud chuckle, he giggled nervously. Before him stood a futuristic home crafted from an innovative fusion of recycled materials. The exterior boasted a sleek facade of upcycled metal and solar panels. Its walls were composed of modular panels, each designed from repurposed plastic and reclaimed wood, creating a sustainable sanctuary. Assembled with remarkable efficiency, the home's pre-made modules seamlessly clicked together like a puzzle—a puzzle he knew like the back of his hand.

"The rendezvous point is... my home?" Sky said, raising an eyebrow.

"Not only that," Hazel said. "The door's open."

Sky led Hazel inside. Looking left to the kitchen, and then right to the living room, Sky's muscles tensed as if waiting for an unknown danger to attack him. But his hard countenance softened the moment he spotted a familiar face smiling at him from the couch.

"Sky!" Naomi exclaimed with a wide smile.

His friends turned their heads to see him. They all sat on the floor all around Naomi, who sat on Halle's favourite couch. They were all sipping from steaming cups of tea.

"Aunt Naomi! Thank God you're okay!" Sky rushed to her and hugged her.

Naomi winced when he got up to hug him back.

"You're not okay," Sky whispered at her, frowning as he let her go.

He helped her sit down. Hazel rushed to her side to help her, too.

"It's temporary." Naomi groaned as her butt landed on the couch again. "I've spent some time without my meds. It'll be okay once I get back on track, I promise."

"Hey, Sky! What's up? Did you find Haywire?" Winona asked.

Sky shook his head in defeat. "Well, I did, but... I couldn't bring him with me. Long story." His gaze dropped to the floor, just like his mood.

"I hope you don't mind me calling your friends to come here and help us," Naomi said. "They're the only ones I could find available for the current mission. Nobody else is answering their phones."

"Kane Kovak called us and told us to meet here," Sky said. "Is this mission you mention for him? Why? Is he here with you?" He asked with a frown.

"Yes," Naomi replied right when Kovak came into the living room with a tray of cookies. "There you have him."

"About time you showed up," Kovak said dryly. His hard look didn't soften, not even when his eyes travelled up and down Sky's wounded body.

Naomi rolled her eyes.

"Kovak, stop it already," Sky said, his patience running thin. "One minute you save my arse, the next you turn cold and manipulative... or do whatever suits you best. I don't mean to be disrespectful or ungrateful, because I wouldn't be alive right now if it wasn't for you, but–"

Kovak left the tray of cookies on the coffee table. "Oh, sorry. Am I making you dizzy?" he asked with sarcasm.

Sky chuckled. "No, you're making me crazy!"

"Wake up, young man." Kovak approached him with a recriminatory glint in his eyes. "The entire world is crazy—and it's turning crazier as we speak. Which reminds me of the impending doom looming over all of us."

Impending doom looming over us? Could it have anything to do with that weird calmness in town?

Kovak wore his impenetrable, dark and formal persona like a shield, as usual. "As much as society would have it, I cannot conform to stupid rules and be agreeable just to put a smile on my interlocutor's face. Am I making you crazy, Sky? Would you wish I was nicer? Well, being nice is a waste of time and energy. There is no time to bother with that nonsense right now—not when Evergreen has bypassed all threats shoved her way by Endurance."

"What?" Sky asked, his mouth agape.

"She's alive and well—more than well, actually," Kovak explained with frustration tainting his words with a huskier voice. He sat on a brown-leathered ottoman near Naomi and joined his hands together over his parted legs and knees. "She's managed to get full control of Anti-Ageing Inc.'s security system, restored power to the electrical system in the Hovering Hive despite the massive destruction the phoenixes caused in the last battle, and tracked Endurance's command emission signal... thanks to you, Sky."

The teen went pale. "Say that again? I helped her?!" he exclaimed, leaning his face forward.

"Your little conversation with Endurance over the lift's emergency line drew her attention—as much as it did mine," Kovak replied. "She used it to geolocalise him, something she had been craving to do for years."

"I assume that so did you," Sky answered with mild defiance.

"Correct," Kovak added, a brief smirk dancing on his lips. "I had a similar success rate. None. Until you started meddling in our affairs."

Sky sighed and rolled his eyes. "Great. One way or another, everything ends up being my fault."

"Okay, I'm tired of your despondency, Kane. It's not his fault," Naomi said. "And you, don't beat yourself up, Sky," she added, turning her face to him. "You were at the right place, at the right time."

"That's not true," he replied. "Besides, you mean 'wrong' place, 'wrong' time."

"Truth is a dice," Kovak said. "Roll it and watch different sides to the same story unfold. You've had several encounters with Evergreen to know how 'truth' works."

Agreed. This man's bits of knowledge and wisdom never cease to amaze me. Mrs Evergreen crafted a story of our own little world about the phoenixes and what they wanted from us that made sense for years. When I stole the spotlight, she crafted an amazing life story for me—she even ordered a biopic! But the moment I started to question her, she crafted lies that could pass as truth. In the meantime, everybody I know had their own version of events and assumed I was someone I was not.

"Let me give you an example of truth," Kovak whispered as he stole a glimpse of Naomi's warning face.

She took a sip of tea as she watched him intensely.

"Your intervention isn't something I regret, young man," Kovak added, spurred by Naomi's persistent staring. "You've been very useful—not just to me. The Hovering Hive has a lot to be thankful for—even if they don't know it yet. You're the hero your father would've been."

Sky frowned. I'm tired of flattering comments. Mrs Evergreen used too many on me to believe any now. Not to mention that bringing up my father is a lousy move.

"I know this frown, Sky. But there's still a lot of work to do ahead of us before you feel tempted to restore the order and justice in this city—or beat my arse for tricking you. Do you mind if we focus on saving ourselves and your phoenix friend instead of arguing and your tendency to self-pity?"

Naomi crossed her arms over her chest and shot him a defiant look.

"Okay, okay." He sighed. "I'm... sorry, Sky. That was very rude of me."

Sky raised an eyebrow at him. To be honest, I do have this annoying tendency. But I'm loving my aunt's reactions to him! Priceless.

"Sure," Sky replied. "And, yes, I'd like to focus on what's ahead of us. You said there's much to discuss."

"Indeed," Kovak said after a sigh of relief.

Sky sat cross-legged on the floor in front of him. Hazel did the same.

"I think the battle of our lives is waiting around the corner," Kovak went on with his serious trademark voice. "Evergreen has just fled the city with her personal jet, a large handful of her best Elite soldiers, and the phoenixes she hacked for her personal use. I saw the latter leading the fleet when they left, possibly ready to launch themselves over Endurance in the kamikaze attack she had once mentioned to you."

Sky's eyes went open wide as his pupils shrank. No, Haywire!

"The second her technicians cracked the secret coordinates of Endurance's hideout during your conversation in the lift, she commanded this full-scale attack mission," Naomi explained. "We need to do the same. We have to move, and fast."

"We? You aren't going anywhere," Kovak said, warning her.

Naomi rolled her eyes.

"I mean it, my gem," he insisted. "I didn't want to rescue you from prison precisely because of this."

He rescued her from prison?! When? How?... Sky raised an eyebrow. Wait. 'My gem', he said?

"I knew you wouldn't rest," he went on, his hard eyes burning holes in her retinas, "although it's precisely what you need right now. You're unfit for battle."

Naomi smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "You need me."

"We'll manage without you," Kovak replied a nanosecond later.

"My meds are fast to take effect," she said, also fast. There was some amusement in her tone of voice. "Besides, you can't ask for help from anybody else."

"I beg to disagree," Kovak said with cheek. "Your dear sister could be of help."

Sky chuckled as he rolled his eyes. "My mother? Yeah, sure."

"Right now, she'd love to be here, Sky," Naomi replied, staring straight into the teen's eyes. "Believe me. A lot has changed in her since you last spoke to her. We talked."

"Where is she?" Sky asked with hooded eyelids and a lack of passion that bordered on boredom. "Don't you say she'd love to be here, helping us? Why isn't she?"

Naomi's smile grew wider as she put her elbows on the armrest and her fingers laced with each other. "She's following her heart... for you, Sky. She's gone back to Anti-Ageing Inc.'s HQ to set things right with you."

His eyes were shot open. "What?" he whispered. His mouth stayed agape.

"She went back to get all the stuff she confiscated from your room... and to write a public statement on behalf of the company to clean your image," she replied, and then a funny face as if there was something the matter, "forging Mrs Evergreen's signature while doing so."

Isn't this... a crime?! My mother is committing a crime to save me?! She? The most upright person I know?!

"I doubt Mrs Evergreen will like that," Kovak whispered.

"Halle said she doesn't care," Naomi went on. "She knows she's gonna lose her job when Mrs Evergreen finds out. And that I'll lose mine, and that we might need to move out of this city and start anew somewhere else." She sighed. "We've talked about it before she left and even started making some preparations. She loves you, Sky—truly. She's gonna go rogue against the company and Mrs Evergreen because she knows where she stands now."

Sky's astonishment was apparent in his pale skin and wide-open eyes.

He cleared his throat. "My... My friends managed to find most of the stuff that was stolen from me. But my enhanced whistle... we've got no idea where it is."

Naomi nodded. "Halle will find it. She was adamant about making amends with you. She said that talking to you wouldn't be enough. And I agree. Acts speak louder than words. This act of defiance should be enough, don't you think so?"

Sky pressed his lips into a thin line. He clenched his fists while his eyes focused on a distant point over his aunt's head.

Naomi sighed. "She'll do what she needs to do and set things right. I'll help you get through this mother-son..." She hesitated on what word to use next, until she said, "war. She aches to be forgiven—and I bet you want her back as well... the way she used to be. It'll be alright, Sky."

Sky frowned and stood up, with both fists on either side. "No, it won't if we don't stop both Evergreen and Endurance for good—and we haven't got the luxury to sit around all day and wait for her to come back."

"Why don't we wait until Mrs Evergreen and Endurance fight to the death?" Charlotte said, turning to him. "Then, it's gonna be us against only one of them."

"And whoever that party is," Luca said, "they're gonna be exhausted from the fight, right?"

"That, in my world, is wishful thinking," Kovak replied. "Don't let your guard down like that."

"Why?" Luca asked.

"Because the winning party might take that chance to take the defeated party's weapons, ammo, supplies, you name it, and use those against us," Kovak said. "We need to be alert and ready before their dispute is over."

"I agree," Naomi said. "But that means we should chase Mrs Evergreen asap."

"How are we gonna do it?" Hazel said. "We teenagers don't own any vehicles."

The teens took turns to stare at the only two adults present.

"Don't look at me," Kovak said defensively. "I ride a flying motorbike. I could only take one person behind me, but that's it."

"I thought you had your hacked phoenixes," Sky said. "We could ride those."

Kovak's lips turned into a thin line filled with frustration. "Evergreen rehacked them during the last battle while I was busy rescuing your aunt, and you later."

Naomi slammed her hands on the armrest. "You don't need to worry. Pack all the weapons and ammo you can. Take your protective gear, as well. My flying Nizzan Hyper Tourer is available, waiting for us in my garage."

"The Hyper Tourer?" Winona whispered in awe. "Wow."

"Can it carry all of us?" Kovak asked.

Naomi smiled at him. "Sure, no problem."

"Sky, your friends brought the chest with your stuff. Here," Naomi said as she turned to her right, grabbed a chest, and pushed it in front of her. "Is there anything we can use in combat?"

Besides my small sonic gun? Sky opened the chest and rummaged in it with a frown. I'd love to have my enhanced whistle, but Evergreen has got it now. The same goes for my time-skipping wristwatch. Maybe, I should take the wild cat's fur?

Thunder roared outside the window. While dark grey and purplish clouds filled the sky, it started to rain.

"Anyway," Naomi said after a sigh. Her gaze locked with Sky's when she added, "only one question remains. Are we gonna wait for Halle, or not?"

Hello, my sugar cubes!

Will they wait for Halle or not?
What would you do?

Stay tuned! 😉

XOXO

Mar