The situation had just escalated from being bad to being a lot worse. I hadn't moved from where I sat at the dining table. Nene hurried into her room, I guess to let out the tears she'd been holding back. I couldn't blame her - her fiance was about to be taken to the frontline of what had turned out to be a Sigma One global scale event. He should have been here, fighting by our side, but the freaking GLS...
I could hear my sister scream in frustration and break something wooden in her room. And to think, just yesterday, our greatest threat had been Sigma Three/Four levels of voilence or human looting. Right now, we were counting down to Sigma Armageddon. It suddenly felt like the whole world was a ticking bomb just days away from going off.
In the living room, John pulled out his mobile phone and called someone - his sister. I wanted to call my mom. But with the way I was feeling, it was like I was glued to my chair, unable to move. So I just watched John and listened in on his conversation...
"...Kara, you're not listening...I don't have a choice anymore. I have to fight - you know that was always the plan. It's not just Lagos, it's the whole damn world...yeah...no...I kind of hacked a GLS agent's laptop...yes, they're real...Dammit, Kara, listen to me...just take the car, you, mom and dad get to Ibadan; there's no large body of water there. No water, no Tsunami...Shit...yeah, there might just be another threat there and then where do you guys go...What?...we have a bunker where?...under our fucking house?!...how on Earth...oh yeah, dad had it built when we were kids in anticipation of world war three...what a guy...fine, you guys go in there. There's enough supplies to last a damn long time...", he stopped to look at me. "Hold on, sis".
"Oyiza, do you by any chance have someone you'd like to keep safe in our bunker?", He asked me. "Oyiza", he called, louder this time. I snapped out of my daze.
"Yes, my mom and son", I replied in a hurry. I wanted to ask how on earth his dad had managed to build a bunker in Lagos, without the government raising an eyebrow. But if it was going to keep my loved ones alive, I probably shouldn't care how it happened.
"Alright, I'm going to give you my house address and you're going to tell your family to get there as soon as they can", he said to me. Then he got back on his call.
"Sis, I'm sending two people to you, courtesy of The Sisters and no, I'm still not asking them to sign an autograph. Keep their mom and her grandson safe with you guys. When this is over, whether or not Lagos is under water, we will come for you...yeah...okay, tell them I love them too. Kara...I love you...Alright, soon as they get to you, go underground". John dropped the call and supersped over to the dining table. In the blink of an eye he had written his home address on the same paper Kaycee wrote his cell code on. I didn't want to make my mom panic further by telling her the whole situation, so I just texted her the address, telling her to go there and they'd keep her and Amir safe till I was done with the Tsunami threat. She replied me with a prayer for us, asking me to be careful and asked me to take care of Nene.
John called Voltage next. Turns out, a GLS issued enhanced powerbike was a lot faster and tougher than any old powerbike. Voltage was going to be here in less than thirty minutes. I willed myself to get up from my chair and go check on my sister in her room while John went on to narrate a summary of the current situation on his call with Voltage who was already on his way.
Nene sat on the edge of her bed, her face in her hands. I sat by her side and hugged her tight. Since we were children, she wasn't just my mother's baby; in a way, she was mine too. I'd taken care of her through thick and thin, long before our abilities came. Our bond was one thing I knew would never change, Sigma or not.
"He's going to be okay", I said, rubbing her back. "He's fast, he'll bail once he knows he needs to. Kaycee is one of the smartest people I know. He won't get himself killed, not especially when he has you to live for". I held her face in my hands. Her eyes were puffy from all the crying. I so hated to see my sister cry. I hugged her again. "It's okay, Beaver. We have a Sigma One on our side now but more than that, we'll always have each other. I'm here, Nene...I'm here".
She sobbed again. We both stayed in that position till we heard the rev of a powerbike just outside the gate. Voltage was here. My sister pulled away gently and I helped her wipe her tears. I lingered for couple of minutes, making sure she was okay, then kissed her forehead, caressed her cheeks and walked to the living room. She would join us when she was ready.
Voltage was a tall, dark and roughly handsome guy. Not as tall or as broad shouldered as John, but he had a striking figure and he gave off a Damon Salvatore* vibe. With his super suit, he almost looked like a Black Lightning knockoff. It was all black, save for the red patches on his shoulders and elbows. He held his helmet under his arm as he made small talk with John. John was excitedly saying something about how sick Obeten's powerbike was. I had the feeling they were probably the same age. I had already started taking a liking to John even though I could tell he was younger than I was; he was intriguing - like a coconut - tough on the outside, rough on the inside but beneath all that...there was something... good. It almost felt like I'd known him before...somewhere, elsewhere...
"Oyiza...", John's voice brought me back to reality. "...this is Obeten - or Voltage, if you like".
Voltage stepped forward and extended his gloved hand. Just then, Nene came out of the room. He gave us a warm smile.
"The Sisters", he said looking from me to Nene. "It's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance". We took turns to shake hands with him. He placed his black and red helmet on the dining table.
"Go ahead, Volt, tell them what you told me about why we were able to find you in Lagos", John said, smirking. Obeten chuckled.
"Well... I was suspended from the GLS. I had joined the league not long after I developed my abilities. I was always on my own, so joining the league was a welcome change. I thought it'd be not just an organization, but a family. However, I started to find loopholes in the way they ran things; telling us who to save and where to be. Too many rules and regs. Two months ago, there was a double Sigma Two threat in Accra, Ghana. I was in the area and I called it in. I wanted to go help but - shocker - I was ordered to stand down, that they would send others to handle the situation. I was the closest though and I couldn't just stand back and do nothing. I drove over and managed to stop the threat. Turns out the bosses in suits don't take well to orders being flouted. So I got a suspension...but it was worth it", Obeten finished with a sigh and shrugged.
Nene chuckled. It was nice to see she could still manage that, notwithstanding. I know why she chuckled. I guess we were right not to join a stuck up organization like the GLS. I wonder how Kaycee put up with them.
I nodded. But wait. "How did you hold your own against two Twos? Your file says you're a Three", I said.
"I owe that to this suit", he said, smiling and spreading his arms to his sides. "It's a Grade A supersuit. It's got an invisible impenetrable field surrounding it... including that helmet right there - I linked that one to my bike's artificial intelligence. The suit and the helmet give me Sigma Two Invulnerability. You'd think I got it from the League but I got it as a present from...", his smile stopped short and his face fell as if he had remembered something painful. He swallowed. "...an old friend".
I could tell there was history there. But I didn't bother to ask. I was just glad he was here to help too. Lightning flashed as if to remind us of our present predicament and my little sister flinched. I glared at John to make sure he wouldn't laugh at my sister again. He saw my look and he behaved himself this time. I turned my attention back to Obeten.
"What's it like out there?", I asked.
"It's not looking too good", he answered. "People are really starting to panic. What's really screwed up is, I called my contacts in Ibadan and Ogun State. These 'Inevitable' bastards positioned few Sigma Twos in both borders. They killed some people trying to leave Lagos and forced the rest back. So the people here in Lagos..."
"...are trapped. No way out. So it was going to be genocide from the get-go. Shit", Nene said.
I was really starting to hate these Sigma Ones. There was just something wrong with them. What John said made sense - being who they are, they just wanted to kill. It gave them a sense of immense power. John was different probably because he decided to only kill those who had it coming. I was about to speak when an alarm went off on my phone and Nene's phone. By connecting my alarm to a search engine, my phone was programmed to alert me when there was news online about a crime or danger in our general area. We checked our phones while John and Obeten looked on, interested. There was a mass robbery ongoing at Ojodu road, opposite Omole Estate. For me, that was a couple of minutes run from Dankaro estate - give or take. The robbers had fanned out and hit all the banks. Obeten came over to see what I was looking at and John mirrored his actions, stepping behind Nene and looking over her shoulder to see what was up. The news had reported at least ten Sigma Fours and two Sigma Twos aiding the robbery.
I could see John clenching and unclenching his fists already.
Obeten was the first to speak.
"Looks like we have a warm-up before the main event, guys", he said, smiling. "Let's give them a taste of justice, shall we?"
"Hell yeah", Nene answered. I could tell she was itching for this fight to take her mind off Kaycee for a bit. She hurried to her room to quickly change into her supersuit and I followed suit as Obeten wore his helmet, setting him in full gear. We were done in a couple of minutes, all dressed in supersuits... except for John who was dressed in a black T-shirt with a caption "#1234" on the chest area and black Joggers with black sneakers. We all gave him a look that said, 'what's up with you'.
"No supersuit, bro?", Obeten asked.
"Nah G," John replied, flexing his arms. "I'm golden."
"What about your face?", I asked, smirking. "Aren't you supposed to be 'low-key'?"
John burst out laughing, which earned him weird looks from the rest of us.
"Oh yeah, true", he answered after his laughter subsided. As we watched, a Spartan-type-helmet formed out of yellow energy around his head, covering everything but his eyes and the top of his hair. Damn. Just what else can this guy do?
Nene, out of curiosity, knocked on his energy helmet. It sounded like the movement of a lightsaber.
"You're something else, John", she grinned in spite of herself. John mirrored her grin and winked at her through his Spartan helmet.
"Alright guys", I said. "We have multiple bank robberies to stop. We close that chapter as quickly as possible. John, NO KILLING. Maim...but don't kill. Also, we know you're a one-man-army; being what you are and all, but please, you're part of a team now - OUR team. So we work TOGETHER to stop these guys, the same way we will work together to stop the tsunami threat to our city. Same goes for you, Obeten. I'm gonna be running point, in case you're still wondering. Nene, this is an opportunity to practice your flying. John said your Pyromancy gives you that ability - so we're going to test that theory on the way to the crime scene. I'll run with John. John, I know you're much faster but move at my speed, please? 80mph - remember, teamwork. Obeten...you have your bike so your movement is already covered. I guess that should be all. So, are we good?", I finished, looking around to meet a smirk, a smile and a thumbs up from John.
"Okay. Let's go", I said, moving towards the door. My sister nudged John aside as she followed immediately behind me. John and Obeten shared a look - which was funny because they wore different kinds of helmets. They shrugged and followed behind us. We were going to stop those robberies together...but more importantly, we were going to stop 'The Inevitables' as a team. I only hoped Kaycee would come back to us before it was too late. We were running out of time... and quickly.