Unclassified; Zero and Still Standing

The walkie-talkie inside Apollo’s jacket crackled.

"Apollo."

Mahirah.

"Apollo, do you read me?"

Apollo looked down at his jacket.

Then back at Yesu.

Screech.

"Apollo." Mahirah sounded irritated this time. "Do. You. Read. Me?"

Apollo never took his eyes off Yesu.

"No."

The answer was calm. Perfectly truthful.

He looked down at his tied hands.

"I’m currently... indisposed."

"What?" Mahirah boomed through the device. "What do you mean indisposed?"

Before Apollo could say another word, Yesu dipped a hand into his jacket, pulled out the walkie-talkie and flung it deep into the bushes.

James’ eyes widened.

Carrots stared in disbelief.

"The Scales." Yesu said urgently, turning back to Apollo. "I think it’s about that time. Hand them over."

Apollo was looking in the direction she had callously disposed of his walkie talkie.

"Hand them over."

Apollo glanced at both captured arms.

"I’m out of hands."

Yesu didn’t waste another second. She searched his jacket.

Nothing.

His trouser pockets.

Nothing.

She frowned.

Then crouched and tugged off one boot.

Still nothing.

The other.

Nothing.

Her confusion deepened.

She had heard the Scales. James had heard them too.

They had to be here.

Apollo’s eyes drifted briefly toward the notebook lying face-down beside him.

Earlier, after sensing someone lurking in the bushes, he had quietly slipped the pouch of Scales beneath the loose page of the book.

Yesu instinctively looked up.

Apollo’s gaze snapped away.

Too late.

She had already followed it.

Her eyes settled on the notebook.

Not because it seemed suspicious but because it looked familiar.

She leaned forward and reached for it.

"Yesu!"

James’ voice cracked through the clearing.

She looked back.

"What?"

"Someone’s coming."

His face had drained of what little colour it still possessed.

"And coming fast."

He could already hear movement tearing through the forest at lightning speed.

"We have to go. Now."

Carrots didn’t hesitate.

"That’s it."

She strode over, grabbed Yesu around the waist and yanked her away from Apollo.

"Wait." Yesu protested. "The Scales—"

"Forget the Scales!" Carrots snapped. "Think about our lives first!"

She swung Yesu across both shoulders and took off into the forest.

James bolted after them.

Within seconds, all three disappeared into the undergrowth.

Apollo watched until the last branch settled.

Then—

Zoom.

A blur burst into the clearing.

The force of its arrival sent dead leaves swirling through the air.

Even the notebook flipped over.

The pouch of Scales hidden beneath it slid into view.

Mahirah stood before him.

"Hey, why didn’t you answ—"

She stopped.

Her eyes dropped to the rope around his wrists.

Instantly, she became alert.

"Where are the Scales?"

Then she spotted the pouch.

She crouched, picked it up and quickly checked inside.

All the Scales were intact.

She exhaled quietly.

"You’re getting better." Apollo observed. "Longer duration."

Mahirah’s head snapped toward him.

"Mind your own business."

"No offence."

"What on earth is wrong with you?" she shot back. "Soon we’ll be at the Aegis Program. Do you intend to keep acting like this?"

Her eyes narrowed at the rope.

"Who did this?"

Apollo glanced at his wrists like he was just seeing them for the first time.

"You wouldn’t believe me if I told you."

Mahirah groaned.

"Try me."

Apollo met her gaze.

"The unworthy opponent."

Mahirah frowned. Then realization dawned.

Her face set tight.

"Where is she?"

Apollo recognized that expression immediately.

The one she always wore before striking someone down.

"Where is she?" she repeated.

"Running."

He nodded toward the forest. In the direction the trio had taken off.

Mahirah instantly spun around.

She tested her legs.

Nothing.

No Super Speed.

She groaned in frustration and sprinted after them normally.

Almost the instant she disappeared—

Seth and Heidi burst through the bushes behind.

Both breathing hard.

"Where is Corvane?" Seth asked.

Apollo simply nodded in the same direction.

"Chasing."

***

Mahirah tore through the forest.

Leaves lashed across her face. Branches clawed at her sleeves.

She ignored all of it.

Ahead, faint voices drifted through the trees.

Her jaw tightened.

She ran faster.

She couldn’t lose the target.

She wouldn’t.

Seth had ordered her to stay.

Told her abandoning their search was reckless.

She had left anyway.

As far as Mahirah was concerned, she took orders from no one.

Besides, look at where she was now.

Moments away from capturing the target.

So to hell with Camden.

Mahirah could feel the distance closing between herself and the retreating opponents.

Closer.

Closer.

A faint smile tugged at her lips.

Just a little more and she’ll be mine.

The voices ahead grew increasingly frantic.

They knew she was behind them.

Mahirah’s smile widened.

Good.

She could even make out bickering.

Amateurs.

A flash of red hair darted between the trees.

Then she saw her.

The target.

Slung across someone’s shoulder.

Hair swaying wildly.

Struggling.

Still arguing.

Mahirah’s smile widened.

She wouldn’t even need a proper fight.

She would descend on them so violently they would surrender before she even started the real attack.

After all, this was 11-D.

One of them suddenly looked back.

Their eyes met.

The boy’s face drained of colour.

He screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Run!"

Something inside Mahirah surged.

Her pulse quickened.

More adrenaline flooded through her veins.

She had always found something deeply satisfying about watching opponents panic.

It only made her want to crush them more.

The bushes were getting thin.

Sunlight spilled across the ground.

Her prey burst into the light filled space ahead.

Mahirah lunged after them.

And exploded out into a clearing.

She looked around.

There was no one.

Her smile disappeared.

What...

Before the thought even finished—

Her body was ripped clean off the ground.

The world spun.

The invisible force flung her backwards.

She crashed violently into the trunk of a tree.

The impact blasted the air from her lungs.

She dropped hard onto the forest floor.

For a moment she couldn’t breathe.

A sharp pain spread through her ribs.

Groaning, she forced herself upright, clutching her ribs.

A loud laugh echoed across the clearing.

Mahirah looked up.

Norman stood lazily in the middle of the clearing.

An infuriating smug grin stretched across his face.

He produced a pack of cigarettes from his jacket along with a lighter.

He lit up.

Then took a slow drag.

"Oops."

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