********
"Sister Yejide, did you notice those guys standing there? It seems they are following," Aina said to her sister. She and her sister were on an errand. They were on their way to the stream to fetch water and pluck vegetables. Aina was on the right side of her sister.
"I did notice them. You know what? Let's pretend as if we didn't see them and gradually increase our pace. They look suspicious," Yejide replied to her sister. The two sisters pretended not to see the two guys. They gradually increase their pace.
"Woah. The girl is set. The older one. I want to feel her," the first guy said.
"We can't let this one escape. She is the perfect one. Let's continue to stalk them," the second guy responded.
The guys followed the two sisters till they reached the stream. The small passageway in the wall was common to the occupants in that area. The guys did not follow them to the stream—they waited at the entrance of the passageway. The sisters finished fetching and plucking and made their way towards the passageway. They kept on with the pretence.
"Where do you think you are going, fine girl?," the first guy said as he moved closer to Yejide. The guys were not that muscular but built enough to frighten the girls.
"What do you want?!," Yejide asked.
"It's simple. You. We want you," the guy replied.
"Why would you want my sister? She—," Aina said in a loud tone before she was interrupted by Yejide.
"Aina!," Yejide said.
"Shut up, little brat before we shut it for you," the second guy shouted.
The first guy calmed his partner down. He shortened the distance between Yejide and him. He touched her shoulders and smiled. Yejide reacted by moving a bit back wanting to remove his hand from her shoulder.
"Don't make this hard on yourself, fine girl. Come with us, don't make this hard," the first guy said. Yejide pondered the situation at hand.
"No, I won't come with you. God knows what you will do to me," Yejide said with a negative nod. She had refused to go with them. She had no plans but she was bent on refusing their request. "Try whatever you want, none of us is coming with you, dumbasses," She added.
"Did you just call us 'dumbasses'? This brat. It seems you want it the hard way," The guy said reaching for a wooden hammer in his backpack. He held the hammer and moved towards Yejide. The other guy had taken Aina hostage. "Can you repeat what you just said or come with us? Know that your sister is at stake," the guy said pointing towards Aina's direction.
"Sister, don't agree with him. Don't go with him! hum, hum, hum," Aina shouted before the second guy gagged her mouth his hand.
Her sister was at stake—the only sister she had. She was her closest person. Her elder brother had died from disease two years ago. Her father rarely stays at home because of his job. Her mother and sister were the only ones around. Now, she was faced with a choice—go with them or her sister. A wrong decision could change everything in her life. She clenched her fists, squeezing the vegetables in her hand.
"I'll go with you and leave my sister alone," She said. She had agreed with them. The guy placed her hand around her neck as he walked away towards the other part of the wall, the right side. Aina's screams fell on deaf ears. She beckoned on them not to take her sister away.
Chioma was getting nearer to the stream when she heard a voice. It sounded like a hum. She moved closer to the direction of the voice. She saw a young girl being walked away by a guy and a little girl gagged by another guy. "These ladies are in trouble. I have to help but how?" she thought to herself. Captain Ebun had restricted them from showing off till it was time for the real battle but she had to help.
"Hey! Stop right there!," Chioma commanded in a loud tone. She was not yet sure of what she would do. "Where are you taking her to, and why is the little girl crying?," she added.
The guy walking Yejide looked back and saw Chioma. "Huh, who are you? I don't think I have seen you before. Scram," The guy said gesturing for Chioma to disappear.
"I said, where are you taking her to?," Chioma repeated in a loud tone. She moved closer to where Aina was, about six metres away. "Why is she crying, you criminals?," she added.
"What did you just say? This little girl has got some balls. We'll teach you how to respect elders," the second guy said. He took out his hammer and dashed towards Chioma with the intent of hitting her.
Chioma knew that she could not avoid a fight at this point. She took one of her arrows and threw it at the oncoming guy. She, immediately, switched positions with the arrow before landing a punch on the guy's stomach. The guy was sent flying, about seven metres backwards. The guy was caught off-guard by Chioma's quick switch. She had used it to shorten the distance since she does not want to use her lightning. Chioma picked up her arrow and faced the other guy with Yejide.
Aina and Yejide were amazed at what they just saw. However, the guy holding Yejide quickly hid his amazement. "You stupid brat, take this," he yelled. He ran towards Chioma. He was about twelve metres away from her. Chioma took her arching stance and aimed at the man's thigh. She drew the bow's strong further backwards before she fired. The man could not react to the speed of the arrow and got shot.
He screamed in pain and fell to his knees. He groaned. He looked up in Chioma's direction but could not see her. Chioma, this time, teleported using her arrow as the key. She delivered a huge kick that sent the guy to the ground.
The two girls watched the scene with awe and excitement. They were surprised to see that a girl defeated two grown guys, singlehandedly. It was a marvellous sight.
"H-How did you do that?," Yejide asked still in awe.
"That was awesome. You saved us," Aina said in admiration. She held Chioma's hand. "I want to be like you,"
"It was nothing. Don't worry about it," Chioma said with a light smile on her face.
"You really saved us. Come with us to the village. We'd make you dinner and accommodation. It's the little we can do," Yejide offered. Chioma wanted to reject the offer but something struck her. She might have gotten a way to enter the village. "Thank you. I'm in your care," she agreed to Yejide's offer. She followed the ladies to their hut. She met with their mother and told her about her other "friends".
********
"That was all that happened. We are grateful to Chioma," the mother said. She could not thank her enough.
"Woah, Chioma, that's cool," Tobi remarked. He and Andrew had been listening to the conversation.
"Yeah, very cool. Unlike one person we know," Andrew said. "I didn't mention any names," he added seeing Tobi's reaction.
"Would you guys stop your childish behaviours and be quiet? We appreciate the kind gestures. We are grateful," Ebun appreciated.
The team were taken to where they would rest for the night. There were no mattresses but it was better than sleeping on wild grass.
It has been three days since they had gotten into Ada. It was the morning of the sixth day and nothing unusual had happened. The team had hidden their weapons. They operated covertly. The season of sales had commenced the previous day. The town received plenty of visitors and merchants. The town had tightened their security and armed security men could be seen patrolling the town. Team Ebun laid low.
The gang, on the other hand, had moved on with their plans. Five members each were sent to the Bank, Mall, and Warehouse. They were disguised as security officers. They patrolled the sites alongside the other security officers—waiting for the sign to move. They had been told to lay low until an explosion sounded.
A few moments after the sun was fully up m, an explosion was heard. It came from the Ada gate. It was the sign the gang had been waiting for. The security officers initiated their emergency protocols. Meanwhile, the disguised carried out their plans. They were to plant bombs whilst the security officers were in disarray.
It took a while before Team Ebun reached the site of the explosion. The office apartment at the gate was already in smoke and there was a commotion at the gate. The security were trying to calm the people at the gate. The team entered the building and Andrew used his "Swoosh" to clear the smoke. The team looked around and investigated the apartment.
"Captain, there is nothing here," Chioma said.
"Nothing here too," Tobi added.
"Hmm. Something is not right. Where is Andrew?," Ebun asked.
"I found something," Andrew said coughing. He brought with him a box. The box was punctured at the side and smoke was coming out through the punctured hole. "I found this in a room. The room was covered in thick smoke," Andrew added.
Ebun examined the box objectively. The box was not wired all through. It was just a punctured box with smoke coming from its side.
"This is not a bomb," Ebun said dropping the box.
"Ehh. What then is it?," Chioma asked.
"It is a mere smoke explosion used as a decoy. Those people have had us in their plan. Let's leave this place," Ebun answered.
As they made their way out of the apartment, three simultaneous explosions were heard from three different locations. They were coming from the Mall, Bank and Warehouse.
"Those are real bombs. What do we do?," Ebun thought to herself.
Before she could give any command, Tobi ran towards the Mall direction.
"Where are you running off to? Don't be stupid," Chioma asked.
"People's lives are in danger. Why wait till we get more casualties? Plus there would be more people at the Mall," Tobi retorted.
"As much as I hate to say this, Tobi is right. Andrew, join Tobi. Chioma will go to the warehouse and I will go to the bank. Your priority is to find out if the gang is there, the security personnel will handle the saving. Let's meet at the market square if you got anything. Go!," Ebun commanded and they all dispersed.
Tobi had gone earlier than the rest of the team. The mall was on fire and the security had their hands full with saving the people from the flames. People were shouting and restless. Cries were heard from all angles of the mall. Tobi had not yet fully mastered the advanced flame controls, so he could not subdue the flames. None of his fire techniques would work since they produce flames and do not reduce them. He coated his body using a smaller version of the "Dragon's lair" which protected him from the flames. He entered the building and began to search. He could only see the security personnel running around. There was no way he could identify any member of the gang. It was dark.
He entered a room. The room was spacious and filled with boxes of different sizes. Surprisingly, the boxes were untouched by the flames, even when the room was on fire. He was surprised at this. He was curious as to how this was happening when he saw something. All the boxes were inscribed with "Port of Ada". Though Ada was a small town, it still had its port. It was, rather, less pronounced. Tobi stood there wondering for a while before he dashed out of the room.
By the time Andrew arrived at the Mall, Tobi had left. He searched all through the Mall but he could not find neither did he find any of the gang members.
Andrew ran to the market square and met with the other teammates. They had experienced the same thing. The explosions were diversions. There were not there at all.
"Did you find anything?," Ebun asked.
"No, captain," Andrew and Chioma replied.
"So, the explosions were just mere diversions. They planned this well. Andrew, where is Tobi?," Ebun asked.
"I did not see him at the Mall. I searched the whole Mall and couldn't see him. He might have gone off somewhere," Andrew answered.
"Where could he have gone too or is there any other place we are missing?, Chioma asked.
It was when Chioma asked her question that it came to Ebun's mind. There was a place they had left out. "There is a place. The Port of Ada. It's a less pronounced port but it is the only port that receives produce to be transported to other towns and districts. It is the perfect place for a raid. They used the cover of the mall, bank and warehouse to distract us. Tch, let's go," Ebun explained.
Tobi arrived at the port, a few minutes before Andrew left for the market square. The port was big but relatively small compared to Saikyu Port. He entered the port with the intent of finding the gang members. He was convinced they were there and some people worked there, but to his surprise, the place was quiet. He ran towards the inventory store when he was stopped by a familiar voice. It came from his rare.
"You again. It seems the universe is saying something,"