Chapter Three: The Rising Band

Mo was ecstatic. The Rising Band headquarters. Only in his dreams did he ever see this secret hideout. When the knock came from the girls, he immediately followed after them and did not listen to his brother at all about safety. They walked down the halls to find themselves back where they started. Lex and Mo raced to the elevator as Kain and Karasi stood behind them shaking their heads, but with smiles on their faces. Clicking on the second floor, they found themselves in a giant room. The walls were lined with weapons and there were people fighting holograms or each other. 

“This is so cool!” Mo was studying the fighters techniques when he saw Lex’s eyes filled with longing.

“Go on, show them what you got.” He nudged the older girl with his elbow an she met his eyes. 

“Really?” Her usual sarcastic tone was gone and she almost looked like how he first remember ever seeing her. 

Kain had been friends with them first but when Mo and his father moved in with his stepmom, he met them all. She was a ball of energy, already with her purple hair, she stood confident and innocent all at the same time. She had been the first one to talk to him when it was just the four and he fell in love with her. She was like his sister that he never had. But then, the incident happened. 

Murder is not tolerated in Central Port, but there are few who dare to try and actually succeed. Lex was with her mother walking towards the subway station when a man jumped out with a gun. Where he got one, no one ever found out. He shot her mother and was about to shoot Lex down too when a mysterious shadow leaped from the darkness and saved her. The murderer died on the Platform. When Mo saw her afterward, she was different. Quiet, closed off, and then her fake strength became a natural pastime for her. She began to teach herself how to fight by watching videos and holograms. It was these moments that Mo wishes that had never happened to her and she was still innocent. But life isn’t a fairytale. 

“Yes.” He said simply meeting her green eyes. Lex nodded and stepped onto a small mat. 

“I don’t know how to..” she began until a holograms came running at her. Swiftly, she ducked out of the way and high kicked the figure and stared as it dissolved into small blue particles. More holograms circled around her and the purple-haired girl smirked. She threw a punch after punch without even breaking a sweat. Soon she had defeated at least 15 holograms. The program seemed to stop and she stepped off the mat grinning like mad. Mo smiled but froze when he heard clapping. Turning he saw a guy that could not have been much older than Kain. His blond hair spiked into the air and he wore a black leather jacket. Mo disliked him immediately. 

“Well done newbie.” He walked forward after he stopped clapping. 

“Oh no, I’m not a newbie, I’m just… here.” Lex flushed, joining her friends. 

“Shame, you’ve got skills.” The boy shrugged and stuck his hands in his pockets. 

“She’s got more than that.” Mo declared glaring at this new boy, something about him just bothered the youngest teenager. 

“Oh yeah?” Raising his eyebrows almost as if he was looking down on Mo, this just angered him more. Mo felt a hand on his shoulder and through his orange hoodie, he felt the coldness of Karasi’s hand. 

“Look,” Kain said stepping slightly in front of Lex, “we’re not gonna be here for long, just passing through.” The boy looked slightly surprised before it disappeared. 

“Just passing through? Shame, we could use a girl like you.” Lex turned a light shade of pink which made Mo’s blood boil. 

“Leave her alone Legion.” Mo’s savior was a girl. She stood in a giant hoodie that obviously wasn’t hers and a gun strapped to her back. Her hands were on her hips as if to say he has done this before and she was annoyed. 

“Aw, Tera I wasn’t doing anything.” He smirked towards the armed girl Tera who shook her head. 

“Ignore him, he’s one Elec of an idiot.”

“Hey!” Legion yelled crossing his arms while Lex and Karasi snorted. 

“Here let me save you, I’ll show you around.” She smiled at the group. 

“Yes, please.” Karasi accepted the offer and returned the smile. Mo smirked as they walked past Legion who looked defeated. 

Tera led them to the elevator and pushed the fourth button. It led them to another floor that was filled with computers and tablets. This room was a brighter blue and was totally illuminated. Each computer showed different things, maps of each Ports, sewer maps, security cameras all over Central Port. 

This was Mo’s heaven.

Grinning with delight he ran from each screen to the next. He felt at her with these computers, they just made sense to him. 

“This is the map room, where we monitor all activity around the Ports to try and help prevent bad things from happening,” Tera explained and pushed a strand of her long bleach blonde hair behind her ear as they moved through the room. All Mo wanted to do was to type and figure everything out about their system but Valz popped into his head. He wasn’t allowed to. 

“Me too.” Was all Lex had to say to Mo to know she felt exactly what he was. While she was never as passionate about hacking she knew it and understood it. 

“So why are you here?” The four turned to the Rising Band member, she looked confused as if she was trying to figure them out. 

“Well, you see,” Kain began,

“Classified.” All eyes turned to see Valz standing behind them with the red-haired girl who looks like an Elf-Bot next to her. 

“General.” Tera looked like a soldier which was different from just a second ago. 

“You are released Tera, Fixit will take it from here.” Nodding tightly, their newfound friend walked away but they were all thinking of her eyes. She looked ready for war with the pain in her eyes. 

“You are to not speak of your discovery on your laptop to anyone.” The harsh words shocked the four. 

“What? You mean the rebellion against Screema doesn’t know about the thing that might destroy them?” Mo went through slowly but was shut down by a glare from the general. 

“Correct. And if you have problems with this instruction you can take it to Nobody.” Mo looked at the other Elf-Bot to see if she agreed with this but saw that she was shut down. There was no light in her eyes. 

“Why is she shut off?” He changed the subject and Lex stopped from what she was about to say. 

“Classified.” If the general’s eyes could go any smaller they would have. She lifted her arm and pressed some buttons, slowly the other robot came to life. A smile covered her face, her eyes shining like the headlights of an H-L car. 

“Hello!” She waved excitedly towards the still shocked teenagers. Only Karasi managed to wave but Mo’s mind was racing and far away from his body. What was happening?

“I’ll show you around if you want!” Kain looked as though he was just about to decline when Lex interrupted. 

“Sure, we haven’t seen the fifth floor yet.” 

“Oooo the Battle Room is my favorite!” Fixit squealed turning and sprinted down the hallway. 

“What?” Karasi said but then the Elf-Bot returned. 

“Sorry, I think I might have left my speed on for some reason?” The four shared a glance. 

“Strange it was off when Valz came and got me and we came here.” Mo realized that Fixit did not know she was shut down, he paled. What else do the Rising Band keep from their members?