Flight for Freedom
Chapter 4: Feud
'How did we get here
When I used to know you so well?
How did we get here?
Well, I think I know'
Paramore – Decode (2008)
Red halted at the alley entrance, observing the intersection, looking left and right. Beyond him, the road was oddly quiet and empty: only a single, solitary car passed slowly by. The leader waited patiently until the tail-lights had disappeared into the distance, then stepped out into the neon yellow light. Blaize brushed past his shoulder, impatient as ever, striding straight towards the doors of the police station.
The building was magnificent, stylishly angular and antique, a clean mixture of red and white brick highlighted in welcoming spotlights. The grand entrance loomed above the street, a dome-like clock tower at its very head, capped in green copper, and although the building was so much smaller than its tall, glass neighbours, it still caught the eye in a way that only such a high calibre structure could. So clean, so orderly: a welcome sight.
Red touched each team member's shoulder as they passed, taking an internal register. Blaize, Zilla, Chem... Glitch, who is still in a strop... He frowned as the young boy stalked past him, spiky, untouchable. The young man sighed, shaking his head ever-so-slightly as he turned back to count the last member of his team, only to find that the alley entrance was empty.
The young man paused for a second, just to be sure, then glanced the other way, towards his team, in case he was so preoccupied that he completely missed Sabi as he passed. However, surely enough, The hero had counted correctly: his teammate was nowhere to be seen.
"Sabi?" He called, pacing tentatively back to the entrance of the alleyway and peering down it, but all that lay before him were shadows and mountains of drifting rubbish. The whole team froze as their leader span about to face them. His gaze snapped instantly to his younger brother. "Glitch, what happened? Where's Sabi?"
The boy looked just as bewildered as the others. "I-I don't know! He was right behind me!"
"You didn't hear anything?"
"Nothing," Glitch shook his head hopelessly. Red growled in annoyance, turning away again. "It's not my fault!" His brother's voice rose with fury. The boy's lower lip began to tremble indignantly, but Red ignored it. There was no time.
"I'm going back for him. You guys go get help."
Glitch stood dumbfounded as his brother turned and lifted off, rocketing up the face of one of the buildings, then angling himself and disappearing above the roofs. Almost immediately, the boy genius began to fiddle with the controls on his glove. For him, his brother's harsh words weren't just an annoyance; they were a challenge.
"C'mon, Glitch," Chem tried to persuade him, as though she could already see what was going through his mind, "Let's get to the station and get Gerson involved. I'm sure he can help to sort this out..."
Glitch turned his shoulder to her, more concerned with the schematics flashing across his visor display. "Red doesn't think I should be on the team."
A horrified look crossed the tall woman's face. "He doesn't think that at all!" She simpered hopelessly.
"He said it himself," Glitch replied coldly. "You were there." It was even worse that he sounded as though he believed it.
Blaize stepped forward, eyebrow raised. "Don't be an idiot, Glitch. You have nothing to prove!"
Glitch rounded on them both in a fury, face contorted with rage. "You just think I'm useless, don't you? All of you do! Well, this team was my idea in the first place!" His tone became cold and frighteningly quiet. "I'm going out to find Sabi without Red, and then I'll prove to him once and for all that I don't need him, or any of you. I'm better off alone."
Before any of the team could say a word, the young boy turned on his heel and stalked into the darkness.
"Red, we've got a slight problem. Again." Blaize's voice crackled slightly through the intercom, and Red sighed to himself as he scoured the streets from the air, not halting his search.
"What is it?" He sounded careworn and tired, more so than he would have liked. The leader almost knew what was coming.
"Glitch has run off into the city. He's looking for Sabi." Here, the woman in yellow paused for a second, choosing her words carefully. "We... tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen. I'm sorry."
Even though the man had braced himself for the worst, the news still sent a fresh wave of dread washing through him. He let out a great, heavy sigh before replying. "It's okay. Just go to the police station: I'll find them both."
Glitch splashed through a side-alley full of sulfurous-smelling water, his face a stone mask of cold determination. In the corner of his eye, the display flashed, the little red dot indicating that his friend was nearby. He followed the little map religiously, never slowing, never stopping. The boy's gut churned with fury and uncertainty. His heart yearned to turn back, yet his stubborn mind refused. Glitch knew he couldn't return until he'd made his point, until he'd proven that he was capable of being part of the team.
A part of him was scared, that was for sure. This was dangerous; the city was crawling with Fujitas, prowling on their skates, just waiting to scoop up an unwitting hero, just like they had his teammate. He didn't even have the others to watch his back. The rational part of his brain screamed what were you thinking? What are you even going to do? This is your stupidest idea yet! Funny, he found himself scoffing, the rational part of his brain sounded a lot like his older brother.
Almost there. The red dot flashed just around the corner. Strange that it seemed to have stopped moving.
Silently, Glitch pressed himself into the shadows, creeping carefully among forests of litter bins, his back to the wall. Heart in his mouth, the boy paused, braced himself, then peered around the corner.
Nothing. There was nothing there. Careful to stay concealed, the boy crept further round the building, just checking, making sure. But, surely enough, the alley was empty. Muttering to himself, the boy slid out of the shadows and flipped up his visor to investigate further, closely peering around the aluminium bins and under plastic crates full of glass bottles.
In some places on the dull, water-logged concrete, flecks of turquoise paint were barely visible, scratched off something as it was dragged through. Glitch knew exactly what it was. Sabi had been here. The question was; where was he now?
More investigations brought the young boy to a cluster of bins, behind which a dim red light blinked on and off to the pulse of the mark on his visor map. Surely, Sabi couldn't be in there; they were too close to the wall. However, there was no mistaking the tracker flash. Cautiously, Glitch leaned over the foetid heaps and reached down, clasping a small, oddly warm object and carefully drawing it out into the light. As soon as he saw the curved plate, he knew his search, and his brother's, were in vain. Tracing the criss-crossing wires on the back of the turquoise carbon-composite with his finger, his shoulders drooped, head falling towards his chest. That was it. Sabi was gone.
The roar of rocket thrusters barely registered, yet when the voice they belonged to spoke out, Glitch had to turn and face the consequences.
"Glitch! Are you okay? What do you think you're doing out here?" Red raced towards him, the mechanics in his suit whirring and grinding, metal footsteps impossibly loud in the still, silent air. He halted a meter away, registering the piteous look on his little brother's face. "What? What is it?"
"He's gone," The boy held out the circuit board, letting his sibling take and examine it closely.
"Sabi's tracker. How did they know how to get it out?" Red searched Glitch for any sign of emotion, but the boy simply shrugged his shoulders blankly. The team leader rubbed the back of his neck with obvious discomfort, then, slowly, he reached up and removed his helmet, facing his brother properly.
"Look, Hiro... I think I owe you an apology." Tadashi stroked his long, angular chin, a soft look in his mahogany-brown eyes. "I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I didn't mean it."
Hiro's eyes shone as he met his brother's gaze, just for a moment, but he stayed silent. His lower lip trembled.
The older boy ran a hand through his clipped black hair, continuing carefully. "Look, you don't have to prove yourself, okay? Not to me or anyone else. You're a credit to the team; I just worry about you."
Hiro's eyes fluttered around his surroundings, searching for something to say, but his tongue had turned to concrete under his brother's sorry gaze. The boy adjusted one of his shoulder pads irritably, the motion serving as a distraction until Tadashi reached forward and stilled his hand.
"Hiro, please. We can't keep fighting like this." His gaze held a deep sadness, painful to look at, but Hiro forced himself to meet it, gripping his older brother's arm.
"We're not fighting."
"You forgive me?" Hope, flashing in those deep brown eyes.
Glitch was about to reply, but something caught his eye, looming from the shadows, and all of a sudden, he snatched a frenzied grip on his sibling's armour, pulling Red forward, hard. The movement was just in time to miss the swipe of a Fujita's weapon, and wild enough to heave his older brother down on top of himself. While Red snapped his helmet back into place in a frenzy, struggling to get his legs to cooperate, Glitch reached around his sibling's broad shoulder, setting off an electro-magnetic pulse strong enough to throw their assailant's katana high into the air.
"Great job!" Red praised, regaining his feet.
Ducking from the spinning blade, the lone Fujita woman had no time to brace as Red turned his air-cannon on her, catapulting her into the wall of the alleyway, knocking her out cold. However, shouts echoed and footsteps clattered from all around, filling the air with a frantic cacophony that drove the two brothers together. The leader snatched a firm hold around his teammate's waist, rockets firing, carrying them up and up into the air, past the roofs and beyond the reach of the howling Fujitas below.
Short chapter, late chapter, little ball of guilt... Well, I'm sorry, but at least these two made up. (Gravity Falls has me sidetracked right now, so I'm sorry, but gimme a bit of leeway and I'll deliver for sure!) Don't forget to review, I appreciate constructive critisism!