Platinum Valleys, Azalea.
The sky was pitch black with the moon nowhere to be seen. The clouds were dark gray along with rumbling and tumbling sounds, showing that a powerful storm was brewing and the wind was so strong, the tree branches were bending North.
Below the stormy dark sky, four silhouettes were seen running frantically and breathlessly like they were escaping from something.
"... Why don't they give up?! We've been running and hiding for almost an hour now!" said Timmy who kept looking back and was obviously out of breath.
They had been running for a while now but when they got tired along the way, the decided to hide in a theatre. However, before they could even rest for 2 minutes those men barged in and almost caught them and this has happened in all their other hiding spots.
Every time they found a place to hide, those men would be there in seconds. It was frustrating.
"... Maybe…if you stopped talking and looking back for the nth time...you'd run faster! And it's not even up to 30 minutes yet! What 'one hour' ?" Avi replied irritatedly.
"I'd say that you're the one who's been talking a lot for the past 20 minutes. Not shutting up about how much your legs hurt, at least I'M keeping a lookout!" replied Timmy angrily.
Avi was about to reply back when Cyrus cut them off, "If you have so much energy to talk, you might as well put it into your legs and run faster!" he said, successfully shutting Avi and Timmy up who glared at each other for one last time before focusing on running.
Dodging a tree stump, Cyrus glanced at the girl to his right who had an expressionless face and hadn't said a word since the beginning of the pursuit with pain and sadness flashing in his silvery eyes.
He still couldn't believe all that happened in the past 48 hours, the once-bustling and lively Platinum Valleys was now all in shambles with either burnt buildings or broken stalls and here he was running away like a fugitive.
Smiling bitterly, he tried to console her, "Pe...."
"Stop whatever you're thinking of trying to say to me, now's not the time for self-pity...", Penny said.
"Over there! Let's hide there!" she squinted and said suddenly, pointing at a dilapidated shop before increasing her pace.
Looking towards the direction of Penny's pointed finger, the group run towards the run-down shop.
After leading the group into the shop, Penny peeked out of an opening on the wall which could be deduced to previously be a window that was now covered with broken pieces of wood, trying to find any sign of the men that chased them out earlier. But although the winds were tapering down, she still couldn't see clearly enough to make out their figures.
Using another piece of broken wood lying on the ground, she blocked the only opening in the window before joining the rest of the group to sit on the ash-filled floor.
Resting her head in between her knees, she heard Cyrus start, "Guys, these men are definitely not ordinary. Who knows Platinum Valleys as much as we do? Yet they manage to find us every single time we hide somewhere."
Nodding her head to show her approval, Avi added, "Yeah I think so too! Imagine how many places we've hidden in a span of 20 minutes! The theatre, the hospital, a rooftop, a basement, the..."
"If we can get to the Frozen Cave, they won't be able to find us and all this hiding and running will stop but they aren't making it possible by their constant pursuit." Timmy interrupted Avi who glared at him.
"But guys don't you think it's strange? I mean how do they find us so easily?" Timmy continued, ignoring Avi's glare.
"They could have the map of Platinum Valleys memorised or in a paper...I mean creating such a plan to destroy a city isn't going to take just a day or two", Avi suggested as she rolled her eyes at Timmy.
"Possible. But having it on paper is different from actually experiencing it. Normally, it should take them at least minutes, depending on how good they are, to find us but it literally took them seconds to fish us out." Cyrus interjected.
"And imagine the time we hid in a basement or on the rooftop, they had us already. I mean if I was chasing someone, those would be perfect opportunities to catch them but we somehow managed to escape from their hands every single time, almost as if they are....."
"....playing us," Penny said completing Cyrus's thought process as she rose her head up from between her knees.
"What?" the trio asked in unison, confused by Penny's comment.
"They are playing with us. Judging by how much we've tried to send them off track by diverting and how many times we've hidden or the PLACES we've hidden, them finding us easily shows just how powerful they are. Catching us isn't a problem for them, they're just waiting for us to get exhausted and then.....give up." Penny said as she rested her head on the wall behind her and closed her eyes while sighing.
"How do you mean?" Avi asked, still confused.
"We were on our way to the Frozen Cave located in the forest but somehow they just kept appearing, making us hide from them and taking us off course. Now, take a look at where we're currently hiding, one of the famous shops right beside the ice-rink. So we're basically right in front of Winters." Penny explained, still with her eyes closed.
"Exactly right where we started," Cyrus stated as he sighed.
Silence descended and surrounded the four walls of the shop occupied by the group who finally realised the situation they were in after hearing Penny's words.
"So...we are stuck here then. We are going to become mutants" Avi sighed hugging her shoulders with her hands.
Hearing the word 'mutants', Penny's eyes flashed open immediately as she stood up quickly earning the stares of her friends.
"Mutants. Why didn't I think of that? They are mutants," she uttered, shocked by what came out of her mouth.
"What?!" the rest of the group stood up and widened their eyes in unison.
"No way, that can't be! Then we are just like little ants on a hot frying pan...DEAD." Timmy voiced as he began to pace around the shop.
"No wonder they could find us so easily. More than a map, their abilities are enough to find us anywhere!" Avi exclaimed as her voice blended into the whistling winds.
"Exactly! They can see us in this bad weather, they can smell us and..." Timmy said as he paced around before stopping and adding in a hushed tone, "...they can even hear our voices from miles away," making Avi look around suspiciously with her hand covering her mouth.
"Well...not really miles away, but they can hear us from a far distance if they want to." Timmy said smirking at Avi's reaction who threw a broken piece of wood at him but missed.
"But on a brighter note, it seems they don't have the speed ability. Do they?" Avi asked as she eyeballed Timmy while dusting her hands causing the rest of the group to gulp in fear.
"This is bad. What will become of Platinum Valleys?" Cyrus muttered as he placed a palm on his forehead and the other on his waist.
"Should we just hand ourselves over?" Avi sighed and asked.
Catching Avi's words, Penny who had been quiet since she realised the invaders were mutants suddenly spoke up.
"Are we really going to give up, just like that?" she asked looking at each of them in the eye.
Stillness pervaded the space before they yelled.
"No!" they answered in unison.
"Good." Penny nodded satisfactorily.
"True, we are at a disadvantage here especially with mutants involved but we won't go down that easily. Even if we eventually get caught, we'll make sure it isn't a easy catch," she added.
"Let's make their time in Platinum Valleys, a 'memorable' one, shall we?" Penny said with a sly smirk on her face as she looked out the window.