SATURDAY
12:15PM
G's APARTMENT…
G had made himself some breakfast, his mind uneasy as he contemplated the looming threat. He stayed up all night making calls to Reno and his other contacts, trying to get the boys out of the governments crosshairs but to no avail. He finished his breakfast and made his way to the kitchen to wash his dishes. As he washed, there was a knock at the door, he wondered who it could be, the boys were at school for their inter-house sport event and no one else he knew would show up without calling first. He cleaned up his hands and walked to the door, he opened the door slowly and standing on the other side were two men in black suits and shades. The two men who previously witnessed the boys altercation with the bandits.
"good morning Commander Dabo. My name is Agent Kolawole and this is my colleague Agent Layi. We would like to have a word with you if you don't mind." The Agent said. G's heart almost jumped out of his chest, he knew this was bound to happen but didn't anticipate it being this quick, he remained stoic and ushered them in so they can talk.
"we believe you already know why we're here sir." Agent Layi said as he walked in.
"yes, but this isn't going to go the way you think it will." G replied.
"and what way is that?" Agent Layi asked.
"you're going to ask me where those boys are and for me to hand them over to you. When I refuse, you threaten to take them by force. But you know what they are capable of, which is why you came here. You know they will only listen to me, you came here to make a deal" G deduced.
"(chuckles)… you are exactly who they say you are Commander." Agent Kolawole praised.
"listen closely, there's nothing you can offer me to let those boys go, anything you have in mind you can confer with me. But you do NOT go near those boys." G warned with a stern voice.
"Commander, what is this relationship you have with these troglodytes? They are not your offspring yet you choose to break the law and aid them in escaping treatment. I don't understand sir." Agent Layi said.
"my relationship with them is none of your business boy. Maintain your lane." G replied.
"hold on now, we are not here to make an enemy out of you sir, believe it or not I respect you and what you've done in your time. But if I may repeat my colleagues question in a more respectful tone, what is the relationship you have with these Nucrons and why do you aid them in escaping treatment." Agent Kolawole asked.
"like I said my relationship with them is none of your business, but since you asked so nicely… I'm not helping them escape treatment, they took the antidote, they were one of the first to take it in their school, but…" G explained.
"it didn't work as should have, it made them weak and nauseous, it only neutralized their powers for a few hours and then they were fine the next morning." he continued.
"interesting, this… this is much different from what we believed." Agent Kolawole exclaimed.
"this is an even bigger reason why you need to hand them over!" Agent Layi said.
"I don't need to do anything!" G said.
"sir I'm sorry but we must insist. These boys have something that could be very beneficial to us…" Agent Kolawole said.
"is that so?… tell me Agent Kolawole, its all over the news of the task force capturing Nucrons who are at large. But nothing of where they taken to, what exactly happens to those people who get captured?" G queried.
"sir, we can't disclose such information, you just have to…" Agent Kolawole said.
"like I said, I don't have to anything! And you have warn out your welcome here. GET OUT!" G commanded. The two agents looked at each other and without a word got up and made their way to the door. As he walked up to the door, Agent Layi stopped, turned back to G and said…
"those boys will come with us, one way or the other, whether you like it or not… and maybe you will come with them as well." maniacally as he walked out. As the two walked down the stairs, Agent Kolawole brought out his phone and dialed the number.
"hello sir, it was as you said, he refused." he said.
"did you learn anything from him?" the man asked.
"yes, we learned the antidote only worked for a few hours, they had their powers again the next day." Agent Kolawole reported.
"really? that's… interesting." the man replied.
"yes sir." Agent Kolawole said.
"well then that changes things, we need these boys in our possession now!" the man said.
"what do you suggest sir?" Agent Kolawole asked.
"we must apprehend them. Find them now and capture them." the man commanded.
"sir, the boys are in school, we can wait for them to come home and we catch them on their way back." Agent Kolawole suggested.
"make the arrangement and keep me posted." the man agreed and hung up the call. The two agents walked to their black Mercedes Benz C63 and went on their way.
G sat down on the couch, contemplating what the agent said to him, worry consumed him and after a few seconds he looked up and decided on what he was going to do, he feared for the boys' safety and was going to them to make sure they were Ok. He went to his room, got his motorcycle keys and left the apartment.
Excellence Secondary School
12:37pm…
The inter-house sport event is coming to a close with one last parade left, the blue house had won the event and therefore they will be the ones to run the final parade. Ahmad and Bala as per their punishment instructions were to work maintenance for the entire event and the final parade, and they prepared for their final labour.
During the event, Sadiq looked for Zainab all over the place, he went all around the school but could only catch glimpses of her standing alone or in a group, shooting angry looks at him each time they locked eyes. Sadiq was confused and getting frustrated, Zainab had wished him goodnight with a heart emoji the previous night and now she's avoiding him and giving him bad looks. As Sadiq walked to the green house canopy, he met with Nasir who was also looking distraught.
"how far guy?" Sadiq asked as they shook hands.
"have you seen Zainab, she's acting somehow…"
"bro… look towards the canopy behind the goal post." Nasir instructed. Sadiq looked ahead and his jaw dropped as he set his eyes on Sadiq's father Abbas sitting beside his mother and sisters, all smiles and looking very "clean".
"omo! Is that your Dad?" Sadiq asked in shock.
"no its my grandfather…" Nasir rolled his eyes sarcastically.
"my thing is… why the hell did my mom bring him here?" he asked.
"maybe he's trying to make things good with you guys. I mean, he looks clean." Sadiq said.
"how many fucking times has that happened before just for him to turn around and beat my mom up the next day. I don't buy it." Nasir growled.
"don't jump into conclusions, Nas. I'm not saying you should accept it, I'm saying you should look into and keep your guard up." Sadiq sympathized. As he said that, Nasir's mom spotted them and signaled them to come over with a smile on her face.
"shit." Nasir exclaimed.
"relax guy, lets go it'll be fine." Sadiq said putting his hand on Nasir's shoulder. Nasir looked at him and then took a glance at his family in the distance, then reluctantly started to walk towards them with Sadiq alongside him.
As they walked up, Bilkisu (Nasir's mom) hugged them both as Sadiq greeted her, aside from pleasantries Nasir remained silent, keeping his eyes fixed on his father. He glanced at his sisters sitting beside him, they looked nervous and uncomfortable, showing their dissatisfaction with their fathers presence. Abbas (Nasir's father) got up and walked up to Nasir, with a smile on his face he reached his hand to shake his son.
"Nasir my boy, how are you?" he said. Nasir looked his father up and down then looked at his sisters and then at Abbas's hand. Fatima nudges Nasir to make him reply.
"good afternoon Baba, I'm fine." he replied reluctantly as he shook his hand faintly.
"thats good. (sighs nervously) I just wanted to be here to see you." Abbas said.
"... thank you." Nasir replied coldly. An awkward silence fell to the group.
"Nasir, maybe when we're done here we should all go out somewhere. That would be nice." Bilkisu suggested.
"no… I'm already tired. After this I just want to go home and sleep." Nasir said sternly.
"come on boy, it will be nice." Abbas said happily.
"maybe if you didn't come… And don't call me that." Nasir warned. Abbas's smile faltered.
"Nasir! don't talk to your father like that." Bilkisu yelled at Nasir.
(In Hausa) "apologise to him!" she commanded.
"what?" Nasir asked in disbelief.
(In hausa) "you heard me, apologise to him now!" Bilkisu commanded again.
"no! What apology has he given me? or more importantly you!?" Nasir shouted.
"that's not your business, whether you like it or not, you have to respect your father." Bilkisu argued.
"he doesn't deserve to be called a father." Nasir exclaimed and then stomps away. Bilkisu calls him but Nasir refuses to answer, Sadiq goes after him and just as Bilkisu was about to follow him, the MC announced the final parade was about to begin. Subsequently people started to get up and move around to their places and a crowd began to form, in a matter of seconds, she was unable to see neither Nasir nor Sadiq, so she decided to go back and sit with her daughters and wait till the end while Abbas was looking angrier by the minute.
As he walked through the growing crowd, Sadiq spotted Zainab standing nonchalantly behind one of the blue house canopies. He immediately forgets about Nasir and moves to confront her. As he approached her Sadiq noticed that she looked alittle different, she stood with more arrogance and her hijab was pulled back showing the front of her hair which a small part was died purple, she also dressed a little provocatively in her sport wear. This was completely out of character for Zainab as far as Sadiq knew, and this gave him more resolve to find out what was happening with her. Sadiq finally got to her, he walked up behind her and tapped her shoulder.
"yo!" he said. Zainab turned around, annoyed and angry.
"DON'T touch me!" she warned as she smacked his hand away.
"what's you're problem? You've been giving me dirty looks all day." Sadiq queried.
"are you autistic? You saw all that and you still want to come and talk to me? Did you fall on your head when you're a baby?" Zainab sneered condescendingly. Sadiq's eyes widened in shock, Zainab has never spoken to him like this before.
"yo! Wetin de happen?… look Z…" Sadiq tried to speak.
"don't call me Z! leave me alone and maintain your distance." Zainab commanded as she stomped away. Sadiq stood their shocked and confused, Zainab hasn't so much as frowned at him before today, now she's hurling insults and being hostile towards him. Sadiq decided to go after Zainab and find out exactly what was going on with her.
On the other side of the school, in the farm behind the fish ponds, Umar and Baezán were busy snorting cocaine and smoking weed. Baezán brought a big stash from home and they planned to go through the whole thing.
"guy how fa now? Wetin that guy de do you for hall yesterday?" Baezán asked as he took a sniff.
"omo he just helped hide that 'cush' before Mr.Suleiman see am." Umar answered.
"no. I mean wetin the guy de tell you, I hear like say he de shout for you like say na him born you." Baezán said.
"ah no ooo. You know say na my guy. He just de make sure say I de ok." Umar replied nervously.
"be like say the guy de mad! Why he go de shout for you, de give you anyhow look!" Baezán began to yell.
"guy reduce your voice. You know say security fit de pass here." Umar whispered as he held Baezán's arm.
"(mtchewww) I no even know why you de move with those idiots…" Baezán complained.
"that buff guy na him be commander, the slim one na him be tech bro and that other silent one na him be una sniper and you finally, the BIG fool, na you be muscle man." he continued.
"(laughs) you de mad! Why you de put eye for our matter." Umar replied.
"omo na them de disturb me. If no be for them, we for de flex together 24/7 like this." Baezán argued.
"ahn ahn, you de jealous! You wey always de with them Bashir nko?" Umar asked.
"those guys de ok, and them de support the movement." Baezán answered.
"but those your concubines wey de behave like them no fit do bad thing for all their life before… (mtcheww)." he rambled.
"wetin my guys do you now? Free this talk abeg make we finish this stash." Umar said as he started to get irritated.
"oya no vex, no vex, make we finish am."Baezán said as they both focused on their cocaine and tobacco.
Back at the event ground Nasir's Father was getting frustrated after what Nasir said about him to Bilkisu. While he was fuming, Asma and Shamsiyya were gisting beside him. He turns his attention to them in an attempt to win them over.
"my girls! How are you enjoying the event?" he asked with a smile. The two girls looked at each other then back at him awkwardly.
"it's… it's fine." Shamsiyya answered nervously.
"good! Well, your brother doesn't seem interested in me, so maybe the three of us should go somewhere nice and we can all catch up?" Abbas suggested.
"what about Ummi?" Asma asked.
"... oh… uhmm… yeah she can come too." Abbas answered.
"that would be nice, but we're just coming from school and very tired… we just want to go and sleep after this." Asma said. Abbas' smile turned into a frown, he composed himself so he could speak.
"come on now, your mother would like it… and I'm sure your brother would come around eventually once he sees…" Abbas was interrupted by Bilkisu walking over and sitting between him and the girls.
"I see you guys are talking, that's nice. What're you talking about?" she asked.
"the girls were just telling me how they would like to go somewhere nice after this." Abbas said. Bilkisu turned to them quickly as she was surprised to hear this.
(In Hausa) "really?" she exclaimed. The two girls looked at their father with disgust, eyeing him like crazy expressing their disappointment.
"NO!" they both said sternly. Abbas' face went dark with anger, he turns to face his front and continues to fume as Bilkisu continues to try to talk to him.
A few moments later, Ahmad was sitting at the back of one of the Red house canopies, trying to rest and simultaneously prepare for the final parade which he and Bala will help run. As he took a sip of his drink, a familiar voice called out to him. He turned and saw in the distance his mother (Amina) waving her hand to get his attention, a smile grew across Ahmad's face, he didn't expect to see his mother at the event. He navigated through the crowd and came up to her and she embraced him with a hug. After the pleasantries, Ahmad walked his mother to the spectators area and after finding a comfortable spot they both sat down.
"so… what did I miss?" Amina asked as she sat down.
"the whole thing except the final parade (chuckles)" Ahmad answered.
"(sighs)… that's the one you said you're are helping maintain right?" Amina asked.
"yes… they're about to get started infact." Ahmad said.
"ok, well what about your sparring partner? Hope you have kept your promise?" Amina queried.
"yes… I've barely seen him. We only met once when the event started." Ahmad answered.
"ok good then. What about your friends…" Amina was interrupted by the Blue house master Mr Olu, who had approached to call Ahmad.
"good afternoon ma." he greeted.
"good afternoon sir welldone." Amina greeted back.
"please I have to take your son away, its time for the final parade." Mr Olu explained.
"ok then, that's fine… he can go." Amina replied as Ahmad stood up to follow Mr Olu for his final labour alongside Bala. Ahmad and Bala were to carry the main Banner for the blue house parade. The parade would go round the football field which the event was being held on, and that would complete their punishment.
Ahmad and Bala faced each other for the first time since the beginning of the event and as always, tensions were high. Bala smiled at Ahmad menacingly while Ahmad remained stone faced, Mr.Olu came in and instructed them on what to do, they were to hold up the big banner for the parade and also march behind the parade as they held it. The banner had two poles on each of its side, so Ahmad and Bala were to hold up each side as they marched.
The parade was just about to start, fully decorated, its commander at the front ready to lead, the princess looking pretty, ready to get it over with, everyone already at their seats and settled in. Everything was cross checked and finally, the parade began, with Ahmad and Bala right behind it as they marched with maintained silence.
Zainab was standing at the back of the yellow house canopy just as Sadiq came up to her unrelenting and demanding to know what her problem was, Umar was still at the farm snorting his nose full of cocaine with Baezán and Nasir was sitting at the Green house canopy, just as trouble began to close in.
Just outside the school, a small drone the size of a tea cup flew quietly over the compound and mounted itself on the fog lamp over-looking the football field where the event was happening. As it clamped on, its camera rotated, focusing on the people below. A few blocks away from the school, a van was parked on the side of the road. Agent Layi was inside controlling the drone remotely as Agent Kolawole sits beside him and observes, he zooms in on the event and spots Ahmad participating in the event. After identifying Ahmad, he searches for the other boys and finds Sadiq and Nasir, now it was just to find Umar before they could proceed.
"we've located three of them." Agent Layi informed.
"what of the fourth? the big one." Agent Kolawole queried.
"he's not on the field, let me search around the school to find him." Agent Layi said.
"proceed with caution." Agent Kolawole gave the go-ahead. Agent Layi then flies the drone over the class area to search for Umar.
After a few minutes of searching, Agent Layi was just about to give up when he saw something strange at the farm. He flew the drone towards the area and there was Umar smoking and snorting cocaine along with Baezán.
"(scoffs) forth boy spotted." Agent Layi said. Agent Kolawole came closer to see what he was talking about.
"(chuckles) indeed. Well, we'll have something special for him when he comes out of the school." Agent Kolawole said.
"inform our units and tell them to make the necessary preparations. Let them start settling in cause it may be a while before they are out." Agent Kolawole instructed.
"yes sir." Agent Layi obliged as he continued his work on the monitor.
"... and also, disrupt all signals in the area, this man knows that we will be coming for his boys so he may try to communicate with them. So keep a close eye on them, leave the drug addict, focus on the other three" Agent Kolawole added.
"yes sir." Agent Layi answered.
The drone flew away from the farm completely undetected, Umar was too high to notice anything going on around him, but Baezán spotted it and decided to make a joke.
"(coughs) guy! Be like say those children done buy drone, them don catch us." he said.
"what are you saying?" Umar asked as he laughed at Baezán's expression.
"see am now, e de fly de go." Baezán answered as he points in the direction of the drone.
Umar looked in the direction and immediately he spotted the drone his expression turned from drunkenly happy to utter shock as the drone flew out of sight. He shot up, becoming sober as he realized what was happening. Umar sneezed out the cocaine from his nose and tried to clear off the rest from his face, Baezán sat there bewildered by Umar's actions, oblivious to what was really going on as he sat back and relaxed himself.
("this is bad, I need to tell the others… I need to tell G!") Umar thought to himself as he went to wash his face from a tap.
"bros wetin u de do like this?" Baezán asked.
"I… I… I need to… I de come guy." Umar murmured.
"I need to talk to my guys." he continued. Baezán immediately became angry when he heard this and stood up to confront Umar.
"you and your guys! Them swear for you?!" Baezán shouted.
"bro I no get time to argue, we go talk later." Umar said as he continued walking away. All of a sudden Baezán leaps at him and tackles him to the ground.
"U de craze!" Baezan screamed as the two went down with a thud.
"Baezán! What the HELL!" Umar shouted.
"u no de go anywhere, all the time you de go meet ur boys when we de chill. E no make sense now!" Baezán said as he and Umar continued to wrestle on the ground, eventually getting on top of him.
"you go stay here till we finish this stash." Baezán said.
"guy what's your problem now? I don't have time for this." Umar stated and then used his superior strength to shove Baezán off him. Baezán flew off Umar with a powerful force and landed head first on the ground. Umar got up and dusted himself off, he looks at Baezán (who was still on the floor holding his head) and feels bad for what he did, he walks up to him and grabs his arm to help him up. Baezán angrily forces his arm off of Umar's grip as he struggled to get up, he then bent over and grabbed a hand full of sand and through it into Umar's face, blinding him temporarily and just before Umar could fully react, Baezán punches him straight in the mouth forcing Umar to stagger from the violent combo. Umar didn't feel any pain due to his already enhanced durability and being high off cocaine, he then used his powers to clear his eyes and face of the sand particles so he can see again. Once he was done Umar stood straight and walked closer to Baezán, balling up his fists as he towered over him, Baezán remained undeterred and defiantly slapped him across the face but Umar was barely affected as his face didn't even move. Umar raised his fist and smashed it into Baezán's face sending him crashing into the bench with the remaining stash of cocaine and weed scattering all over the place.
Umar looked on at what he had done, he didn't mean for this to happened and hated that it had to come to this, but he had to get to the others to tell them what he saw. He turns around and heads to the inter-house sport event, as he walked he brings out his phone to call G.
(clicks the call button) LINE BUSY*
(calls again and it finally goes through)
"hello sir.." Umar said.
"... Umar…(static)… I'm…(static)…" G's voice was incoherent.
"G, hello… sir we have a problem…" (call cuts)
"urgh… no service, let me talk to these guys first, I'll call him when we're all together." Umar said as he continued towards the event.
16MINS AWAY…
"Umar! Umar! What's wrong?" G tried reaching Umar but the call had already cut.
("something tells me that this isn't MTN service. I won't let them get to my boys.") he thought to himself as he continued to speed on his motorcycle.
Amidst the turmoil, Ahmad and Bala were still participating in the ongoing parade and as it went on, the two were growing more and more impatient with their position and with each other. Bala, ever being the spark that ignites the fire decides to engage Ahmad in small talk.
"your friend Donatello might have gotten himself into what he can't handle." Bala said.
"... what?" Ahmad asked.
"your friend, the tech bro." Bala answered.
"what happened to him?" Ahmad asked.
"he's been following Zainab around the whole day, like say na she be the mama." Bala said as he chuckled.
"(scoffs)…" Ahmad remained silent.
"abeg advise him before she breaks his heart man." Bala said.
"that's there own thing, try de mind you business." Ahmad said condescendingly.
"I'm just giving advise. Speaking of which, did Umar tell you what they would be smoking today?" Bala asked with mischievous grin. Ahmad's eyes widen slightly upon hearing this.
"(grunts)…"
"any fool could see that they are all hooligans, your friend included. The only difference is that he hasn't been caught with them red handed… yet." Bala explained.
"what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Ahmad asked.
"if he continues they'll catch him eventually now, don't worry I prefer to see him black out his lungs than to snitch, so you can rest easy." Bala clarified.
"what beef do you have with Umar?" Ahmad asked.
"I don't have one with him, but anyone associated with you is just a bonus (laughs)" Bala stated.
"not surprised, for 10 years we've been in this school and I haven't seen you interact with anyone outside of when you need something." Ahmad said.
"(scoffs) so? I operate just fine like that. You go around forming Major General like you're one good human being, I assume that makes you feel good?" Bala queried.
"I've never claimed or formed to be anything, and if you're the only one that has a problem with that, I'm definitely doing something right" Ahmad argued.
"believe what you want, I don't care… but don't act like you don't have insecurities. You're struggle with control is quite obvious" Bala said. Ahmad almost lost balance, his grip on the pole after hearing what Bala said.
"what?… how…" Ahmad stammered.
"I saw what you did for you're big friend, you were struggling not to burn his face off weren't you?" Bala asked.
"(scoffs) things no make sense since they made everyone take that antidote. Hiding powers is boring, I think you agree… or maybe not." he explained with smirk.
"so you just want us to fight or what? That isn't going to help any of us." Ahmad said.
"yep. But if you're struggling with control it only means you're pushing real heat… and I want to see what you can do when you don't hold back." Bala continued as Ahmad glares at him
"this goes beyond me and you, so you won't be seeing anything from me at all. Believe me, as much as I want to beat you to death and then burn you to hell, I won't… and that really pisses me off." Ahmad grunted.
"(scoffs) eyyah, would have been nice." Bala said with an evil smirk.
"yeah…" Ahmad whispered to himself
"but I have a question too." Bala said.
"when your friend doesn't have a lighter, do you light it for him with your finger?" he asked arrogantly with a maniacal laugh. Ahmad grunts with anger as the parade continues.
On the other side of the event ground, Sadiq had caught up to Zainab once again and the two got into a very heated argument. As the argument raged on, Zainab's attitude became more and more rotten as she was get increasingly irritated by Sadiq's queries.
"... I told you to leave me alone! Get that through your head, I DON'T WANT TO TALK TO YOU!" Zainab stated.
"how did we get to this? What did I do? Why are you acting like this?" Sadiq asked in frustration.
"Z please, whatever I did I'm sorry!" he pleaded
"get this into your thick skull, I don't want to talk to you. Go and die! stay away from me." Zainab demanded.
"ok fine! I'll leave you alone, but atleast tell me why you're acting like this." Sadiq requested.
"urgh! Aren't you supposed to be smart? Or are you just the least dumbest among your group? I have better things to do than to explain myself to you peasant!…" Zainab sneered. Sadiq was baffled at this response and was starting to get angry with her.
"... please go, I'm tired of of walking around trying to get away from you…" Zainab said.
"urgh…" before Sadiq could speak, Umar walked up to him distraught, grabbing his arm and dragging him aside.
"guy there's a problem." Umar said.
"wha… what? What happened?" Sadiq asked.
"I was… at the farm… a… a few minutes and…" Umar stammered.
"what's wrong with you? Oga relax and tell me what happened." Sadiq consoled.
"... (takes a deep breath)… I saw another drone." Umar stated. Sadiq's eyes widened.
"shit!" he exclaimed.
"yeah. It legit caught me in 4k doing… talking with the guy at the farm." Umar continued.
"ok ok fine, we… we need to talk to the others and call G." Sadiq said.
"I tried calling G but the service is poor…" Umar said.
"what? Service in school is always good, there's a service tower just outside the gate… let me try." Sadiq said as he brought out his phone and called G.
(Line Busy*)
"that's not possible, I'm checking the signal and something is disrupting all cell networks in our area…" Sadiq said.
"!!!… its them." he said.
"who?" Umar asked.
"the… the government! Whoever is controlling that drone, they're blocking the signal." Sadiq stated. Zainab raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.
"then we need to move, Now!" Umar said.
"where's Nas?" he asked. The two have to navigate the situation as Zainab watches them in even more arrogance than before.