Betrayal

Mr. Kemper's radio clatters to the ground causing the antenna to clip off and he angrily throws down his gun. He sits on the roof as his face continues to turn blacker with every minute that passes. A heavy gust blows his hair around as another chopper comes in to retrieve them after he contacts the headquarters and soon after the chopper lifts off, Police vehicles begin to swoop in from all angles.

MELANIE'S APARTMENT

2:30 PM

"You ready?" Ace yells from the hall.

"Yeah, coming" Melanie says as she comes out in a pair of blue jeans trousers and a red stripe sleeved shirt with the sleeves folded midway her arm and the shirt knotted at her side, revealing her graceful figure.

"You... look amazing"

"Aww thanks, can we go now?"

"Yeah sure". They leave the apartment and head for the Flying Phoenix Parkour Giuld (FPPG), a parkour guild just a few blocks east of the apartment.

FLYING PHOENIX PARKOUR GUILD

3:00 PM

The two contenders stand face to face as they are surrounded from all sides by people. Sweat begins to form on Ace's forehead as a sharp shiver shoots through his entire body. The pressure emanated by his opponent, adding to his towering figure gives him a sinking feeling and it worsens as his opponents lips arch up into a wry smile. This makes Ace a lot more nervous allowing his hands to move on their own as they begin to slightly tremble, sending all gazes on the roof fixed on him. He regains his composure as the shoulder high muscular instructor pulls between those gathered around and stands between the two contenders, his wide face beaming with a smile but not loosing a hint of seriousness.

"You know the rules and I am not going to repeat them. The race is a kilometer long. The person who retrieves and hangs his flag here first wins. It's as simple. Ace your flag is the red one, James' is blue. There are cameras all around; no cheating. Winner gets the latest 'LAZER' shoes plus a little something from me and so give it your all. Be quick, but stay clean. Move to the start line"

The two move towards the start line. "You are dead kid. I'm gonna make sure you don't show your face around here again" James says and crackles under tone. Ace ignores and gets in position as his face turns serious. Sweat slowly falls off his face onto the ground. The instructor lights a fire cracker and tosses it high into the air. It pops and the boys are off with James ahead and Ace closely behind.

WELLS MANOR

3:15 PM

"Master Zarx if you have finished down there, could you come up here and give me a hand?" Martin calls from the gym as he is opening up a box.

"Sure, I'm coming" Zarx responds. He slides his hands along the marble rail guard as he goes up the stairs and in he goes to the gym to helps Martin finish up as they unpack and fix weights, a treadmill, benches and some mats. He carries all used boxes to the basement, dropping few of them along the way after wrapping up in the gym. They soon finish with all the arrangements. All furniture neatly arranged from the hall to the dinning room, bed spreads professionally laid, leaving everything in proper order.

"The day is an exhausting one" Chloe says dropping in a sofa in the hall as Martin brings her a glass of water.

"Thank you" she says and he walks away and disappears behind a door. Zarx comes in, sits and picks up a console from the center table and begins to play video games.

"Zarx have you decided on a school yet?" his mom asks, interrupting his play.

"Yeah, Hilltop High" he replies

"Hand me the brochure".

He sighs then pauses the game and leaves. Few minutes later he comes back with a blue book in hand and handing it over to her, she goes through it as she asks "Why this one though?"

"They do javelin, the others don't"

"That's it?" she looks at him in disbelief.

"Yeah"

"Well if that's your decision, then we would go see the principal on Wednesday. Is that okay with you?"

"Yes mom". She stands up to leave but Zarx calls to her.

"Mom I am going to take a look around the neighborhood"

"Okay, just be sure to return early"

"Okay" he says, a faint smile appearing on his face.

***

The lights in the garage turn on in a radial pattern as he steps in. He picks a bicycle from the three on the podium at the extreme of the garage, away from the cars. The lights begin to go off one after another as he rides past them and a gentle breeze meets him as he comes out into the open, as he fills his lungs with air and exhales slowly.

"I haven't been out for a while that I completely forgot about the sweet fragrance out here and how refreshing it is to be close to these flowers" he says out loud and riding out descends at full speed towards the market square, his unbuttoned shirt flying seamlessly behind like the cape of the red caped man gliding across the sky. "This is the biggest cycle lane I have ever seen" he says enthusiastically as he veers off left onto a cycle lane in an unhurriedly manner. Unlike any other cycle lane, this cycle lane is large enough to house two cars and just above it are overhead roads which are filled with tones of vehicles buzzing in traffic and above these roads, there are railways stretching far into the city. The capital city of Yesana, Camcot [also known as the Power City] surely lives up to it's reputation. He rides through a group of doves causing them to fly off, with one almost crashing into his face which he avoids by bending forward and just as he lifts his head, a shell roofed mosaic designed art gallery appears in sight as he nears his destination.

He veers off his intended path and heads towards the art gallery. He comes to a stop at a toucan crossing, awaiting his turn to cross. "I haven't been in one in ages" he says out loud to himself. He rides across as the green signal light lights up. He parks his bicycle on the parking rack and locks it with the press of a button. The door to the gallery slides open as he nears it and is welcomed from all sides by bright and colourful art pieces, from pictures to potteries among others.

S.S. HQ

3:50 PM

After a long silence in the general's office, Mr. Kemper Speaks up.

"General it appears there is an insider informing the enemy of our plans and as a result they cleared the entire place by the time we arrived. Per the way things were, it appears the place was cleared about a day ago." Kemper says trying very hard to keep his cool as his voice is becoming louder as he spoke.

"How could you be so certain?" the general asks

"If the place was cleared today, the tracks left behind when crates were dragged would still be clearly visible but they have almost completely faded"

"I see"

"General, please listen to this" he says as he plays a recording.

"This is your final warning, keep hunting us and you are next". He stops the playback, then plays it again and leaves it on repeat.

"Some sc*mbag just shows up, kills my men and pulls this off? Huh and thinks am gonna live with that, let is slide, no way. I'm going to hunt down the son of a b**ch who did this and I would put a bullet in his head myself. General with your permission I would like to investigate and fish out the moles in this organization" he blatantly says, his voice becoming louder.

"Mr. Kemper that won't be necessary"

"Won't be necessary?" he lashes out.

The general who couldn't stand it anymore quickly responds "You know who we're dealing with here Kemper. You start this and you are putting your family into more danger than there already is and am not going to allow that. Look at Melanie, think about her for a second Kemper, she's still in high school and if what you want to do gets you killed, who looks after your family then, huh. Also if you start this investigation, everyone here is going to hate you because of it and you know that better than any other person and if they go after Melanie? that's a different case altogether. Think for a moment Kemper, think."

"My family is already in danger as it stands and I don't think doing this will change it any further. Both you and I know Melanie can take care of herself and if they that are here all hate me for doing this, and it gets me my guy, I think I can live with that"

"Are you even listening to me?"

"My mind is made up general and nothing you say is going to change that"

"Fine, go ahead but if anything happens to your family, then that's all on you and I don't want that to happen, so I'm requesting you once again, please don't proceed with this" he says with a pleading look.

"As I said, my mind is already made up general, there is no backing out now" he says with a solemn look.

"Okay then, carry on, and good luck. Don't get yourself killed like that idiot did"

"Yes general"

"You can leave now"

"Thank you general" Mr. Kemper says and walks out.

The generals phone rings and after checking who the caller is, he answers as the private number disappears from the screen.

Without waiting for the caller to speak, he begins to blatantly speak as he says "You, son of a b***tch we had an agreement and you didn't keep your part of the bargain" he lashes out gritting his teeth

"You might want to watch your tongue. Lest it comes flying out of your mouth" comes the calm voice of a man from the phone, void of any emotions. The voice is so calm it lacked any form of malice.

"My tongue? You are telling me to watch my tongue? We had a freaking agreement, that no one was going die but you went ahead killed my men!" Lee roars through the phone

"Your soldier friend pushed too hard and that's the result, so whatever happened there, it's on him"

"F*ck! We had a freaking agreement you fucking piece of sh*t, and killing my men wasn't a part of it. Do you have any idea what you have caused? Not only did you kill my men; you killed my friends as well and this is going to cost you dearly. I promise you, I'm going to bring you down with all I've got. This shitty game of yours, I'm going to... ruin... every single bit of it, little by little until nothing is left. Even in death I will know not rest, until everything you have built, everything you have worked hard to achieve comes crumbling to the ground like hay at the mercy of the wind. From today onwards, count me out of this shitty game. I'm out and I'm going to release every bit of evidence that ties you to all this illegal activities. Mark my words"

"Before you think of doing anything stupid, you might want to check your mail."

"What the hell is..." A pop up message appears as he opens the lid of his laptop. He clicks it and is redirected to another website.

Arms strapped to a chair, face swollen, several cuts on the body, blood dripping into the pool already on the ground a man sits motionlessly in a chair. The video feed that begins to play causes Lee to gasps for air as his hands begin to tremble visibly.

"Damn you! You were not going to keep your side of the bargain from the start were you? I'm going to destroy you, you son of a b*tch"

"You still got enough bullsh*t in that mouth of yours to pour out don't you?"

A clicking sound could be heard, followed by an order "Shoot him in the leg" he says out loud.

"No... no, no, no, no please don't, please don't I'm begging you..." the general pleads. The generals friend is shot in the leg. "Noooooo!" he lets out a cry of despair and slowly drops from his seat to the ground. "Now listen carefully, if you do anything stupid, your friend here dies. Come to warehouse 53 at 9:30 am on Wednesday let's talk. If you don't show up or show up late, you know what happens next. Good bye" the call disconnects, leaving the general trembling on the floor.