Generation

By: Quinn Sandhu, Kaoma Canales, and Victoria Juarez 

Part 1

“This is 2523. In this time people will have special abilities. In 2075 a meteor will hit earth, spreading an unknown substance mutating every newborn. When one of the mutated humans turns 13 the mutation will fully develop. They will prick their finger allowing a drop of blood to fall into the lantern. Depending on the change of color in the lantern, powers will be stronger or weaker than others. We use these abilities to empower our community. There will be 4 ranks. Green, Yellow, Orange, and Purple. The rarest color is purple and the most common is yellow. If you are one of those people to possess a purple rank, most likely your future will be challenging. But again, that's very rare to acquire purple so I wouldn't worry about that. The order of strength is purple, orange, yellow then green. Remember today is the past, tomorrow is the future. And I wish you all a bright future.”- International Alert 2023

“Bright future, yeah right.” Destiny said to Paiten with a unamused face. “I mean, if Axle really could send messages through time, couldn’t he at least tell people how poor life is."

“He wasn’t wrong about everything,” Paiten said with a sigh, “though he talked about us high ranks like we are weapons. Which is probably why we are expected to do the most.” Paiten continued. “But in the end all we could do is just sit on the street and hope for money.”

“We could steal from stores or rich, fat, drunk dudes. ” Destiny insisted.

“That wouldn’t be very honest,” Paiten answered with a smirk. “Besides, you remember Warren, I forgot he joined the police.”

“Are you saying he could beat us ?” Destiny questioned with a serious yet playful face.

“I’m just saying there are risks involved,” Paiten answered. 

“Are you scared?” asked Destiny.

“I’m not….”

“Besides,” she said before Paiten could answer. “Even if he does show up, he probably doesn’t know our abilities.”

“I guess you're right”. At that point there was no going back. 

In this time it's kill or be killed. It’s steal or starve. That afternoon they left swiftly. Downtown, across the neon signs and the new hover train station sat an expensive store. Paiten quickly acted with a clear vision in mind. She drew 2 exquisite masks and 6 ravens in her notebook. They flew towards the cashier distracting him with pecs and screeches while putting on the masks. 

 Destiny quickly grabbed as much money as she could and started to go for the door. Right before they got out they were stopped by 2 boys about their age. 

They recognized him quickly. 

“Are you here to arrest us Warren?” Asked Destiny in a playful tone, almost taunting him.

 “I was in the area looking for someone, I just thought it would be good to get a short warm up in.”

 “Who’s your friend?” she asked in a sharp tone.

 “Names Liam.” He said coldly. Liam was living on the streets when Warren found him. They quickly became good friends and Liam agreed to help him on his mission. When it was about to look like they were ready to rumble a siren went off. They all had to disperse in their own directions. But just as the girls went into an alleyway, they heard a voice inside their head.

 “I’ll be waiting for you.” The voice said. They were both confused. Who was that, they wondered. What did they mean? It didn’t matter. Paiten drew a wall. The cops ran right past them.

 “I wonder why Warren ran away too? ” Destiny questioned. 

“Isn’t he their superior.” she pointed out. After the sound of sirens and footsteps stopped, they came out. What they saw was shocking. They saw the cops on the ground with a purple hole in their stomachs. And fragments of ice on their faces as if they were in the arctic. “Do you think it was Warren?” She questioned.

 “No, Warren has the ability to create unbreakable bindings.” Paiten explained. “I’d say it was his partner Liam.” She accused.

 “Do you think his ability is to create ice?”

 “Maybe, but I had a different answer.” She said, “Notice how all of them have a hole inside them, it looks like something went through which made them freeze. I think his ability has something to do with ghosts.”

 “A power like that is definitely a high rank” Destiny said. 

Meanwhile...

 “So who were those people, you seemed quick to fight them even with a different goal at the same time.” Liam asked.

 “Old friends at the academy”. Warren said. “Our parents used to work together. They’re pretty strong too, I just wanted a little fight like old times. Also, when you told me you were strong I didn’t know that's what you meant.”

 “Is that a problem?” Liam said. 

 “Well you did kill multiple officers”. Warren explained. “I would expect them to put you on their radar.”

 “Well then we better act fast” Liam said. They got a tip about Dexter, the person Warren was looking for. “He should be here”.

 “How do you know?” Warren questioned.

 “One of the victims told me,” He answered. 

They walked in with caution. They saw broken glass and extended cords. They heard something run across the room. Then something fell. Suddenly two adults tried to jump them but they quickly got out of the way. Warren chained them up. They leave them knowing they couldn’t break the chain. They go upstairs. 

“Do you know Dexter's ability?” Liam asked

 “The Only thing I saw was my parents getting fried to death”. Warren answered.

 “Jeez, that's harsh,” Liam said. They walked into a room with no one in it. The building was like a dark labyrinth. They couldn’t see anything and every room was a dead end. They walk into a room with shut off computers and tvs. Suddenly the door slammed shut. All the technology in the room turned on. A voice comes from the tv in the front of the room .

 “Long time no see,” he said.

 “Dexter!” Warren said with anger and rage.

“I’d ask questions, but the only thing I have to say right now is, ShOcKeR”. Dexter said with a playful yet creepy tone. 

Electricity shoots out of the wires and screens. Warren conjures a barrier of chains which blocks the electric waves from hitting them. Then he shoots a chain at the screen Dexter was in and pulls him out. Right before he captures him. He hears hundreds of sirens outside. 

Back to the Girls

 Downtown in an almost deserted block, there was a new Japanese take out restaurant. The girls went dying of hunger to the clerk. “We’ll take two Pork boas, Ramen with chives, and 2 large cokes,” Paiten said with a clearly tired tone. 

 “Man I’m starving,” Destiny sighed. “Couldn’t you just draw food?” Destiny questioned.

 “Nah, Already told you it doesn’t work like that,” She answered. 

 “Even so, we should figure out a way to make more money and buy an actual apartment, living in that creepy warehouse is starting to drag on,” Destiny said in a tired tone. 

 “We’ll figure something out,” Paiten said. They took their food and left the shop. They walked down a street of neon and screens. They got to the train station. When they got on the train they started eating. 

 “I wonder what jobs take criminals,” Destiny said as she took a bite of her boa.

 “Do you ever consider going back to the military?” Paiten asked.

 “Are you crazy?” Destiny yelled. Destiny knew more than anyone the kind of things they would do to people, especially kids with High rank powers. “Like you said, we will figure something out.”

 They got off the train and headed to the warehouse. They got in and they knew something was off. Destiny heard something running across the room. They moved towards the area where they heard it last. They looked at it and it was a rat. They sighed in relief. *CLANK* Handcuffs were put on their arms. Destiny tried to use their ability but the handcuffs disabled their powers.

“You two are going to prison for life.” a voice said in their head.

To be continued...