Prologue (2/3)

//It's a bit rushed in places but I'm trying to get in the groove of things. Hope you enjoy nonetheless.

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The plan was relatively simple, or at least when written on paper.

A large chunk of Abscar metal was positioned near the inner section of Upper West Side Manhattan, a spot that had been considered prohibited by every known Advent due to the unnatural level of monsters that paraded it's streets. Normally, this hunk of extremely rare metal would have been considered lost and unsalvageable due to the danger posed in it's extraction and how much the lives of Advents outweighed the need for some "measly" bits of metal. That's where the ragtag group of younger individuals came into play.

First and foremost, there was the runner. This person would be in charge of running in and swiping as much Abscar as they could safely carry before hightailing it out of there.

This was Akito's position.

While it was by far the most dangerous of every single position, no one had questioned him from the moment he had volunteered for it. Of course, it was for good reason.

When it came to survival, there wasn't anyone within the group that could match the child despite his young age.

Darting from the safety of the building he had ziplined into, Akito swiveled through the streets, dodging in and out of cars, weaving through intersecting buildings and doing his utmost best to avoid any detection. Thanks to the explosions Subway had set off at a nearby junction, one involving a handful of rigged cars and heavy layers of gasoline, the streets were much clearer than usual. Those monsters that happened to be around also didn't seem to be paying much attention, the straggling goblins also having focused on the spot where the initial explosion had occurred.

This was the Distraction. Having set up numerous traps along the way towards the destination, Subway's job was to detonate these traps and provide some cover for Akito to traverse.

"Grahhhhh."

Of course, this didn't work on every single monster as the black haired individual nearly ran into three goblins as he rounded the corner towards the next building. He nearly lashed out and gave himself away, but managed to recompose just as quickly, hiding himself back around the safety of the buildings insides. Stepping back, Akito judged the distance from his own spot towards the next cover, holding his unsheathed dagger close to his side.

[["Arby's. Do you copy?"]]

There was a small hint of static, of which Akito quickly turned down until it was barely above a whsiper.

[["Copy. Go ahead Denny's."]]

Akito glanced around the corner, sneaking a peak at the goblins location and getting a general sense of the layout. They were positioned to the side of the doorway leading out of the coffee shop he currently found himself in, a place called Starbucks. He needed to get through and make it to his next checkpoint, a news stand situated just across the street but he couldn't do that without alerting his three new friends. Knowing his own capabilities, Akito had no doubt that he could take the trio down, but not before they each warned any monsters that happened to be in the general area, which would be far worse than any death sentence.

[["Rooftop of UNO Pizzeria and Grill, Columbus Avenue and West 81st. I need a shot on at least one goblin. Can you manage?"]]

There was a moment of delay before Arby's finally responded.

[["I'm kinda offended you'd ask that. I've been following since your initial zipline. Just give me the go ahead."]]

Akito didn't even give Arby's positioning a second thought as he glanced around the corner once more. Grabbing a piece of glass from the spot in front of him, threw it a few feet away from his area, letting it hit the ground with a loud BANG. As the three goblins turned to look at the sudden disturbance, Akito heard a soft whistle before the pitch black metallic tip of an arrow embedded itself in the middle goblins eye socket. The other two goblins looked around in confusion and tried their best to identify where the arrow had come from as their fallen comrade slowly crumbled into a fine black powder. While they were shaken up and perplexed, their heads shifting towards the direction the projectile had come from, Akito slipped around the corner and ran up as stealthily as possible, driving his dagger up the back of the unsuspecting goblins head.

Dragging the dagger out of the monsters noggin, Akito quickly swiped the black tipped arrow from the monsters ashy remains and fastened it to his belt loops.

"Graahhh-"

Swish! Thunk!

Before the remaining goblin could make any sort of noise or raise any alarms, a second arrow pierced through the entirety of the monsters head before burying itself into the concrete in front of the black haired youths feet. Without wasting time to witness the monsters full death, Akito yanked the arrow out of the ground and took off running, making a beeline for the newsstand.

[["Targets down. I'll stay up here and give you a birds eye view on the layout."]]

[["Copy that Arby's. Appreciate the support. Your aim is just as fine as always."]] Akito crouched down as he made his way from the Newsstand to the edge of the closest building, peering around it. [["I wanna head into Margaret Mead Green. Can you see any sort of entry points?"]]

High atop the building, Jeremy Thatcher, the one referred to as Arby's, stepped to the utmost edge, light blue eyes surveying the area, hawk like gaze missing nothing in it's journey. In regards to the plan, the afro headed youth was the scout, a position that played heavily to the young man's strength, an enhanced vision that bordered on superhuman. Armed with a bow and arrows, Jeremy's job was to provide cover fire, to remove any of the obstacles that remained within the given area. As a lookout, he was heavily relied upon to give out information such as the lands layout and the exact positions of any problematic monsters. Should anything go awry, it was him that would play a pivotal role in the runners escape.

"Alright. Let's see where we're headed," Jeremy muttered as he perused the land. "Need a safe place for Akito. Maybe a path that doesn't get him killed."

After about a minute of glancing over, Jeremy radioed it in.

[["Head on in. Just stick to the path that leads towards the Novel Monument. There should be a door or shattered window that'll allow you inside the museum."]]

Eyeing the streets once more, Akito pressed the sides his walkie talkie.

[["Denny's to Subway. Unleash the second explosion."]]

There was no response.

Akito held his tongue for around half a minute before radioing in once again, this time with more urgency in his tone.

[["Denny's to Subway. Unleash the second explosion."]]

Once again, there wasn't a single response. The silence by itself was an immediate red flag for the entire plan since, for the most part, Subway herself NEVER failed to actually say something. Hell, it was getting her to actually shut up that was the hard part more often than not.

[["Subway, this is Denny's. Please respond. If you do not then we will be forced to abandon and come to you. Do you copy? I repeat, do you copy?"]]

At first, there wasn't anything, just a blair of static as everyone tuned into the channel awaited Subway's response. For someone who was normally loud, loved to talk and would sometimes even use the walkie talkie for fun during important missions, this was raising all sorts of alarms. Eventually though, she did come back, but she didnt return with her usual rambunctious attitude and loud words, rather coming in with a whisper and a trembling vocal tone. She only said one word before the entire group heard a resounding click.

[["Run."]]

BOOM!

"RAAAAAAAWWWOOOOOOORRRR!!!"

One of the gasoline traps went off not too far from where they were, in the very direction from where Subway was supposed to have been stationed at. The energy could be felt even from where Akito was at, but even that hardly mattered when the ungodly roar that came after kicked up enough fear and adrenaline to make the youth wanna bolt out of New York's borders.

[["Merida, I don't know what's happening but if you're still alive, I need you to move. Run as fast as you can towards the meetup spot."]] The black haired kid immediately took off running, no longer giving a damn about any sort of monsters that might have seen him. [["Jeremy, you try to get a read on the Abscar dragon but don't let him see you. Vonan, we need some smoke bombs dropped at West 86th and Columbus. Maggie, meet Merida halfway and if she isn't there, go looking for her."]]

[["On it."]] - Vonan

[["I got sights. He's sniffing by the Viva La Crêpe."]] - Jeremy

[["I'm on the move. What are you about to do Aky?"]] - Maggie

[["If my hunch is right, the smell of gasoline drew the dragon towards the area. If Merida spilled any of it on herself then the dragon is probably trying to sniff her out."]] Akito sprinted through the street, dodging a goblins attempt at clawing him before slitting it's throat as he passed by. [["I'll draw its attention and you guys assure her safety."]]

There was an array of complaints and objections immediately fired back at him, to the point where Akito had to hold the walkie talkie as far from him as possible.

[["I'm not asking you guys for permission."]] Akito rebuttaled as soon as they stopped chattering. [["I may be the youngest but I lead the squad on this particular mission. It's MY call. Now follow your orders."]]