The carrier plane sliced through the humid Nigerian air, the distant roar of the ocean fading behind them. Inside the cramped cabin, a tense silence fell on the group, only the hum of the engines and the ragged breathing of the boys remained. Ahmad, Sadiq, Nasir, and Umar sat huddled together, their faces grim, the adrenaline slowly seeping from their bones. The memory of Lerato, Nkosi, and Acid, swallowed by Kane's dark energy, left a cold twist in Ahmad's chest. He still saw the blast, felt the reluctant tug of Reed's hand, heard the unspoken plea for them to fly away. It burned.
Reed, meanwhile, was already busy, hunched over a battered toolbox near the cockpit. His lab coat was torn, smeared with dust and small stains of what might have been blood. Still tired and drained from Kane's ;last attack, he worked with urgency as he muttering to himself.
"So, what's the plan?" Umar's voice, usually booming, was low and laced with suspicion. He eyed Reed's back, his fists still clenching and unclenching.
Reed turned to face. "The plan, young man, is to reach the mainland undetected. My contacts will arrange transport to my safe house. From there I can gain access to our backup lab in Abuja and we can formulate a counter-strategy against Kane."
"You haven't explained anything to us just yet bros, so before we do anything, you're going to start talking." Sadiq said.
Nasir, usually the calmest, leaned forward. "hey! Don't expect us to just trust you and let you take lead after all you guys have done." he gestured to their recent captivity.
"Give us a good reason why we should beat the hell out of you and throw you into the water afterward." He threatened.
Reed picked up a small device, no bigger than his palm, and held it out. "This is what I used on Kane. A neutralising compound, refined over months. A single blast dampens his Nucranium signature, makes him vulnerable… temporarily. It's what allowed me to hurt him in the first place."
He let out a dry, humourless chuckle. "And it wasn't much of a blast. More like a very expensive, very desperate shove."
He looked at them, his eyes serious. "Look, I understand your distrust. Kane… Marcus… he's gone too far. He always wanted power, but this… this is madness. The 'perfect human', the army of Nucrons… that was always his vision, not mine. I tried to reason with him, to bring him back, but he's lost to it. I tried to shut down his primary power source from the facility mainframes before he brought me down." he explained.
"So you just… let us get captured?" Ahmad asked. He looked at the device in Reed's hand, then back at the doctor's tired face.
"I had to play the long game. Marcus controls the entire facility, the island. He has security, resources you can't even imagine. If I had moved too soon, we'd all be dead, or worse, brain-chipped. You four… you were too valuable to lose. Your superior genetics, your combined abilities… you're the strongest Nucrons we've ever encountered. He needed you alive for his grand plan. That gave me an opening." he answered.
"Oga, wetin you de talk?" Umar said, pushing himself off his seat. "You say you wan help us, but you no fit tell us why you allow our people stay there." He ranted.
"Why you no carry them come with us?" he queried.
"The plane's capacity is limited, for one," Reed countered. "And I needed to prioritize. You boys are the key. You have the raw power, the combined potential to actually stop Kane. The others… I couldn't risk the entire operation for them. It was a cold, hard choice. A choice that one day you're going to have to make. that's the decision your leader made"
Ahmad watched Reed, weighing his words. The man's desperation felt real, his exhaustion evident. And the way he had spoken of Kane's plans, his madness – it aligned with the snippets they had seen and heard. More importantly, Reed had brought the disruptors that took down the Titan. That counted for something.
"Okay… fine," Ahmad said, cutting off Umar who was about to retort.
"We'll listen for now. But if you try anything we'll bury you in the fucking ocean. We need to find G. how do we do that?" he asked.
Reed's eyes widened slightly in surprise, a flicker of something that looked like relief crossing his face.
"Commander Dabo, yes. He was apprehended by the task force. They'll have taken him to their main processing facility. It's… well, it's not far from Abuja, actually. A government black site, heavily guarded."
"Black site?" Sadiq asked as he leaning forward. "What kind of black site?"
"A facility designed to hold and analyze captured Nucrons, where they're… processed, before being sent to this island. It's where they take those who resist the antidote, those deemed too dangerous for reintegration."
"So the ones Kane doesn't want for his army," Nasir mused, completing Reed's thought.
"Precisely," Reed affirmed. "It's a temporary holding facility, but heavily fortified. Getting in there will be… challenging. But before that, we need to ensure this plane remains off radar. I've jammed their signals, but they'll be tracking the Nucranium signatures." He pointed to the small device he was holding. "This will mask us, but only for a few hours. We need to land, and fast."
"then we move as soon as we're in the safe house." Ahmad said.
"understood." Reed said, continuing to work on the table.
The plane began its descent, the distant lights of the mainland slowly growing brighter on the horizon. The boys exchanged glances, a new kind of tension settling in. The prison was behind them, but the real fight, the one for their mentor and for the future of their powers, was just beginning.
A FEW HOURS LATER…
The safe house was a somewhat neglected bungalow tucked away in a the quiet outskirts of Abuja. Overgrown bougainvillea clung to crumbling walls, and the air hummed with the distant drone of generators. Reed had guided them here, landing the carrier plane on a make-shift airstrip miles away, then arranging for a discreet pickup. They arrived under the cloak of pre-dawn darkness, exhausted and on edge.
Inside, the house smelled faintly of dust. Reed immediately went to work, activating a series of communication devices and scanning equipment. The boys, however, remained wary. They gathered in the living room, a space with furniture covered in white sheets, their eyes constantly drifting towards the man who had been both their captor's associate and their reluctant savior.
"how do you think they're doing?" Umar asked.
"Kane has a lot of anger, he's definitely going to take it out on them." Ahmad said, guilt washing over his face.
"You talk that one, but I still don't understand why you would listen to that guy and leave them there." Umar said angrily.
"I didn't have much time… and as much as I hate to say it, he was right. I would've have been captured along with them." Ahmad answered.
"still… it isn't right." Umar said as he walked to the other side of the living room. Ahmad looked away, his anger smearing.
"So, this is your 'safe house'?" Umar grunted, kicking a loose floorboard. His massive frame seemed to shrink the room, his agitation a palpable. "Looks like something the alagbada landlords abandoned after the last government reshuffle."
Reed, without turning from his frantic tinkering, replied, "It's off the grid. Clean. And for now, it's the only place we're safe from Kane's immediate reach." He finally turned, holding up a small, crackling device. "Signals are still jammed in the school area. That means Kane's forces are likely still sweeping. We have a small window before they trace us here."
"So, what now?" Ahmad asked, still raw from his exchange with Umar.
"Now, we rest. And then, we plan. We need to find your Mentor." Reed answered.
Sadiq, who had been quietly observing, spoke up. "You said he's at a 'black site' near Abuja. How do we get in?"
Reed hesitated, looking at each of their faces. "Commander Dabo… he's a formidable man. He knew too much about Kane's operations, even before all this and his relationship with you makes things a lot more complicated. They would have taken him to the primary detention facility for high-value Nucrons who resist the antidote or are deemed too much of a threat to be integrat…"
"you said all that already, get to the point." Ahmad demanded.
"It's called the 'Nucron Interrogation and Processing Centre.' No one escapes from there." Reed said.
"Until now," Nasir interjected.
"You said you have contacts. What can they tell us?" he asked.
"My network is limited now, severely compromised by Kane's ascendancy. But I have one more source. A man who… owes me. He's deep within the task force, but he's a man of principle. He's the one who confirmed Commanders location." Reed explained. He then pulled out a phone.
"The jamming network is extensive. I can't risk using this until we're further away, or at least until I can implement a more robust counter-frequency. But I can tell you what I know of the layout, what I've pieced together from what i already know and various intel drops." he continued.
For the next few hours, Reed drew diagrams in an old white board, sketching out the facility: reinforced walls, multiple layers of security, motion sensors, infrared grids. He spoke of shifts, blind spots, and the type of Nucron inhibitors they might encounter. The boys listened intently, their earlier suspicion warring with the practical necessity of the information.
"what about Proffessor Charles? Where has he been during all this?" Ahmad asked, remembering the arrogant scientist at the Island facility.
"I highly doubt with the way he's just somewhere relaxing while all this is happening." he continued
"Professor Charles? Yes, he's Kane's lead bio-engineer, obsessed with the Nucranium's potential. He designed the main facility's inhibitors, among other… monstrosities. He's involved with the processing center, infact he heads the organization. The technology there will be more advanced and harder to get through." Reed said, surprised as daunting realization hit him.
"They won't keep him alive for very long. They're ment to get more information on you boys before he is… disposed of" he said.
"how we go get inside?" Umar pressed, his impatience growing.
"We just kick door like the Island?" he asked.
"No. The black site is different. It's not about overwhelming force. It's about precision. We need a diversion. And we need to get past their sensory arrays without triggering the entire compound. After what we did, they will definitely be on high alert." Reed answered. He then turned to Sadiq.
"Your ability to manipulate water molecules… can you extend that to affecting atmospheric conditions, like humidity? Or even subtle shifts in air pressure to disarm sensors?" he asked.
"I've never tried that before. Water is my primary. But I've been working on a way to pull moisture from the air, make it dense. Maybe… maybe I can disrupt signals, too, if it's water-based." Sadiq explained.
"And Nasir," Reed turned to him.
"Your control over air currents. Can you create a localized vacuum, or perhaps a sudden, silent gust that could push a gas or dislodge a camera without alerting guards?"
"A focused blast, yeah. Small, silent. It's possible." Nasir answered with a nod.
"Good," Reed said, hope finally glimmering.
"Then our approach will be stealth. A surgical strike. We get in, we get your Mentor, and we get out. Before Kane knows what hit him." he said
The boys exchanged glances. Trusting Reed felt troubling, but his knowledge was undeniable. He had laid bare the inner workings of their enemies, the cold, calculating ambition of Kane. And he had given them a path to G.
The sun was just beginning to paint the sky with streaks of orange as the discussion turned from theory to reality. Maps were spread, roles were assigned, and the weight of their mission settled upon them. They were bruised, tired, and deeply mistrustful of their new ally. But they were also stronger than ever, fueled their loyalty to G and rage towards Kane and his twisted vision. This was not just about survival anymore. This was about taking control.