Suddenly, the door opened, and Ava made her way through. "Hey Dion, buckle up, 'cause things are about to get wild!" she said, still in her suit.
"The whole day was actually getting boring, needed something to spice it up," Dion said as he approached her at the door.
"You can't even handle the weapon, can you?" she asked.
"I might just rely on trial and error," he responded.
"That's a pretty risky way to learn. You might get extinguished in the process. I'll walk you through it instead." she said.
"Clear the path, lads," Alfred said as he approached the door.
They both made way for him as he passed.
"You're all set, right?" she asked, her eyes scanning Dion.
"I hope so," he replied with a smile.
"Let's go," she said, rushing through the walkway.
Initially, they started walking as if they were going out, but she took an unexpected turn, and he followed her lead until they reached the back door, which was even larger than the front.
Four quadcopters were seen propelling outside, some already filled up while some still empty.
"Let's hop into that Quado," she said, pointing at an almost empty quadcopter.
They rushed and entered, finding Alfred inside with his hand on the hanger to ensure he didn't fall during the flight. More Extinguishers rushed into the quadcopter until it was full enough.
"Hands on the hanger, guys. We're about to take off," an announcement from Captain Ally came from the speakers, and they followed suit.
---
"Clutch your fist and give it two pumps like this," Ava said, demonstrating it to Dion as a blue light appeared around her hand.
"Tap with your thumb to choose the weapon you want and confirm," she explained, still demonstrating. She clicked on the blue light, and a large scythe appeared in her hand, blue in color.
"Oi, easy with that blade. You don't go swinging sharp bits about. Someone could get nicked," Alfred cautioned as the weapon was very close to him.
"No worries, just tryna keep a dude from biting the dust out there," she said as she retracted, and the scythe disappeared.
Dion followed suit and did exactly what she did. The same thing happened, but the only weapon available he could find was something like a pistol.
"Oh, a blaster. What else you got in there?" she asked.
"I think... that's all," he replied as he tried moving his thumb, but there was no change in the menu.
"Oh, dang! I guess you ain't exactly blessed with the magic touch of the Lord King. But hey, the blaster'll do the trick just fine," Ava replied, her face beaming at Dion.
"Hopefully," Dion responded.
"Approaching red zone, be ready to drop," Captain Ally announced over the speakers.
As soon as the announcement was made, the Extinguishers started checking themselves, preparing well for what was to come.
"Communications continue via comms," she announced once again on the speakers.
"Press the upper part of your tattoo to activate your comms," Viza said.
Dion raised his hand to activate his comms when he suddenly felt a hand was already there, Ava's. She was helping him activate it since she knew he might be unfamiliar with the procedures.
"Oh, thanks. I actually got it covered," Dion appreciated.
"No problem. Just focus on stayin' alive," she said.
"And make sure you come back in one piece. It's vital," Alfred chorused.
"10, 9, 8..."
The countdown to drop began, and the men pinned themselves to the wall of the quadcopter, with Dion doing the same.
"3, 2, 1, Extinguish!"
As the countdown elapsed, it was as if the walls of the quadcopter became like water, and Dion and the men passed through it and flew down. It was nothing like Dion expected.
It was as if the wind was in harmony with them. Instead of dropping to the ground with force, their speed reduced abruptly as they were close to touching the ground, and they landed on their feet without parachutes as he usually knew.
The men all went to the ground and started crawling in the tall grass gently until they were almost close to a cliff where the grasses there were red, and they stopped.
They silently waited for anybody to come, but no one appeared from the other side. "Maintain the silence! No movements!" Captain Ally announced.
After some moments of loud silence, she began getting bored. "Two men should go to the end of that and scan the surrounding below for any threat," she said once more, her voice dripping with authority.
Two men crawled gently to the end of the cliff and peeped. They looked carefully but couldn't see anything down below.
"There's nothing down here, I think they are...." Before they could finish their statement, a hook appeared out of nowhere and caught them by the neck, dragging them down the steep cliff forcefully.
Upon seeing that, they knew the enemies were hiding somewhere. "Extinguish!" Captain Ally shouted, and all the men jumped to their feet and lunged towards the unseen enemies.
Dion, feeling a bit confused, asked Ava while they were still running, "Since we can't see them, why don't we formulate a plan? What if there are traps out here?"
"Plan? Nah, that ain't our style. Only plan is to fight and take 'em down!" Ava replied with a smile.
"Speaking of traps, they ain't got the smarts to set 'em up!" Alfred added, running by Dion's other side.
Dion wasn't happy with that response, but he had no option but to follow blindly.
As they got close enough, an army of men, their bodies covered in a red glow, jumped to their feet and began running towards them. Dion didn't need any explanation; he knew they must be the Odds.
"Gimme a sec to settle in here!" Ava said as she removed her suit, flung it in the air, and it surprisingly disappeared. She was now wearing a tight white armless shirt straining against her body.
"Damn! The Bedroom Princess at her full glory!" Dion whispered to himself.