"So,Shannon huh?"

Shannon glared at him at the unamused Vincent,the human trafficker who kidnapped her.

She was alone in the room with him.Angie,Kane and Kate had been moved elsewhere for unknown reasons,leaving her there.Was it something they wanted from her?Either way,Shannon doubted that things would end well if she doesn't find a way to escape soon.

"You surprised how I know your name?Well it isn't too hard,considering the fact that we watched you for quite awhile before taking you guys with us."Vincent tells her.

Shannon was still determined to hide her fear when Vincent walked up towards her,taking the tape off her mouth:"You looked like you wanted to say something,so here you go.Speak your mind."

Shannon took the first opportunity she got to gasp for air,catching her breath and looking into Vincent's eyes,still wanting to prove her lack of fear towards him as she growled:"No matter how bad it gets,I'll find a way to escape."

"How bad it gets huh?"Vincent began chuckling at her statement."

"Is this funny to you?Kidnapping random kids or teenagers just to fuel your wealth?Your parents must be very proud of you huh Vincent."Shannon bickered back at the human trafficker,whose smile melted into a frown,his eyes turning back to her with a burning intensity that made Shannon shiver a little.

"You have no idea why I do what I do girl.You think this is a choice?"

"How is it not?"

"I don't have to waste my breath on you."Vincent tells her,slapping the tape back on her mouth before saying:"If you're lucky,a wealthy family will adopt you and they will treat you well.But on the other end of the spectrum...well who the hell knows huh?Cannibals,rapists,sadists,you name it.Either way it ain't my problem."

The lights around them flickered right as Vincent finished his sentence.Vincent looked around before going towards the front door of the room,opening it and noticing that entire sections of the construction site had their lights completely shut off.

"Joseph!Go check on the circuit box!Alan,go check out the perimeter just for good measure."Vincent commands his men.

-

Starlio successfully used the darkness to give himself cover,using a heated blade he installed into his exo suit's wrist to cut a hole through the construction site's fence,sneaking into the facility undetected and going behind multiple rows of stacked bricks,giving himself cover.

There were multiple temporary dormitories that were built to house the workers,each of them being two levels high with probably a few dozen construction workers....no...human traffickers that were roaming around.He had to assume that they were all human traffickers,there was simply no way to prove that they weren't at the moment.

The teenager took in a deep breath,calming his nerves and readying his homemade stone shooting rifle.A home made weapon initially meant for him to stop home invasions that was common within his town,able to house stones that could be picked up from anywhere,shooting them out at speeds up to over 120km/hr that could dent metal with each shot.

I hope this works well.

"Check the fences."Starlio overheard a voice say,followed by multiple footsteps approaching his location.

He knew a 14 year old like him with no training couldn't take grown adult men head on.He was barely above the height of 160cm and knowing what happened,they were probably armed.The only chance he had was using the element of surprise on them and a whole lot of distraction.

"Alan,do you think the cops will find out?"another voice asks.

"Probably not.Ten years here and not one spot check has been conducted.The cops here are too lazy to-"Starlio cut Alan,the human trafficker off,firing the stone firing rifle that he brought along with him at the three surprised men,each stone being shot out at deadly speeds,stunning them in pain before Starlio sprinted in close,activating his taser glove and tapping the three of them as fast as he could.

Starlio felt a slight increase in hope as he watched the three men collapse on the ground,shivering uncontrollably by the electricity discharged by his glove.

That was lucky.Starlio tells himself before noticing that one of the light he had just taken out with his EMP beads was lit up again.He probably had minutes before the lights were back up.

Okay....okay....three down.I just have to repeat this.I'll go in,find them and get out.Starlio naively tells himself,finding a nice spot behind a pile of construction parts before spotting a large pile of construction wood literately multiple feet away from him.Starlio's eyes lit up as he smiled to himself...the perfect distraction.

As quiet as he could,Starlio made his way over,slowly lifting his the sole of his feet armor where the rocket of the exo suit was attached to and quickly,firing the rocket up,shooting a beam of flame that landed itself into the nearest plank of wood and the fire,crawling its way through the huge pile of construction wood.

Alright,time to get out of here.

Starlio could feel the heat emanating from behind him as he crouch walked beside the stacked bricks and sneakily tried to make his way over to the dormitory building that he say the boy being taken to.

"FIRE!Someone bring water!"A voice echoed as the doors of multiple dormitory rooms slammed open,men running out of their quarters towards the scene of the fire,giving Starlio the perfect opportunity to make a beeline to the dorm's door and shooting himself into the room where he was slammed into a man.

"What the-"The confused construction worker says when Starlio jumped at him,slamming his taser glove against the man and electrocuting him,knocking the presumed human trafficker out cold in an instant.

"Who are you!?"Another man who was on a chair next to the knocked out man got up,drawing a cardboard cutter from his waist and charged at Starlio,who instinctively fell back,trying to avoid the blade."INTRUDER!CHECK THE PERIMETERS!"The man roared out the window.

Shit....

Starlio raised his left forearm,using the exo suit to deflect a blade slash.The cardboard cutter broke,sending a rogue piece of the blade right past Starlio's face,cutting it slightly.Before the man could attack again,Starlio burst forward, using his taser hand to grab the man,discharging it and knocking the man out cold in an instant,collapsing on the ground unconsciously.

"Ouch."Starlio wiped some blood off his face before quickly rushing towards the door,slamming it shut,locking it and pushing the nearest furniture,a fridge against the door,hoping that it would buy him some time.

Starlio took the small window of time he had to scan his surroundings,spotting a door that led to another room right at the end of the space he was in.The prodigy sprinted forward,quickly making his way to the other room where he found Kane,Kate and Angie,tied to chairs with their mouths taped in a row next to each other.

The three of them looked terrified by his arrival.Starlio removed his helmet,showing himself to them."Guys,relax,it's me."

Using the same heated blade,Starlio cut the three of them loose quickly.

"Starlio?How....?"Kane's expression at him was different.A look of confusion,mixed in with...a look of newfound respect.

"Star...lio..."Angie's eyes were teary as she ran towards him,tossing a hug at the surprised prodigy who looked at her in shock."Thank you!Thank you so much!"Angie proclaims as Kate turned to him:"What are you wearing?"

"I'll explain later.Are you all okay?"

The loud bang on the door silenced them as the four teenagers looked towards the entrance of the door,which was being knocked on violently by more human traffickers from the outside."That fridge won't hold for long"Kane noted.

"They....they have guns."Angie's voice whimpered.

"Okay...okay...listen to me carefully."Starlio came up with a plan.

The door was kicked open as three men,each holding a pistol in their hand entered the dormitory room only to find no one in their sight.

"Search the area."One of them says.

"The back window looks open,I think they jumped out from there."Another noted.

"What-"Before the third human trafficker could reply,one of Starlio's EMP beads rolled under their feet,discharging a blinding burst of electricity that acted like a flash bang to the three men,Kane coming out of cover from the back of a couch and began mercilessly shooting out stone bullets from Starlio's home made stone shooting rifle.

Starlio jumped out of cover from behind a curtain near the door,jumping at the three man while they were being shot by Kane and hitting them each with a slap from his taser glove,electrocuting them and knocking them out cold.

"That was lucky...."Starlio caught his breath as Kane handed him back his stone shooting rifle.

"Do you have any way out of here?"Angie and Kate came out of cover right from under a bunk bed when Starlio replied them:"There's a hole in the fence I made right in that direction."Starlio points towards the hole before adding on:"Where's Shannon?"

"We don't know for sure since they blindfolded us before making us move but,one thing for sure is that she's on a second floor.I remember walking down some stairs before when we separated."Kane informs the prodigy.

"Is that a fire...?"Kate notices the orange glow in the sky.

"It's a distraction that bought us the time we have so far,but I'm afraid it won't be enough."Starlio tells them before picking the pistols up from the unconscious men and tossing them to Kane,Angie and Kate respectively.

"I don't know how to use a gun...and I don't wanna kill anybody"Angie admits.

"We won't have to.We get out of the perimeter and fire into the air.Make them think that there's more of us that's armed and coming.Buy Starlio the time he needs to get Shannon out."Kane correctly guessed Starlio's plan as the prodigy turned to him:"Thank you Kane."

Kane uttered out the words he never thought he would ever say."No,thank you."

-

Starlio jumped into the air,activating his rockets and taking off towards the sky while dropping more EMP beads down onto the onlooking human traffickers,who were too confused by him flying to take any actions when the EMP beads discharged,blinding them temporarily and allowing Starlio to make his way to the nearest temporary dorm's second floor.

With his flight momentum,Starlio slammed himself against the door,bursting it open to see nothing more than rows of bunk beds and clothes.

"Not here..."Starlio checked before turning back and soaring towards the next temporary dormitory building.

Gunshots whizzed past him as Starlio quickly got to cover behind a wall.Leaning against it,Starlio could feel the concrete behind him being blasted by more incoming shots.Okay,do your thing guys...Starlio prayed in his heart when more distant gunshots were fired into the air...further away from those shooting at him.

"The perimeter!"A voice below him yelled as the firing on him stopped.

Kane must have began their distraction plan.Starlio quickly took a quick peek,ensuring his temporary safety before leaping off the corridor of the dormitory,taking off and soaring towards the next one where he repeated his actions,bursting into the room to see nothing more than rows of bunks,along with a human trafficker who quickly pointed his pistol at Starlio.

Shit.

Starlio quickly threw himself behind a bunk bed as his opponent opened fire.Bullet holes popped through the blankets and shirts hung around him,Starlio quickly brainstorming for a way for him to get out of this predicament.

With a glance at his own belt,one EMP bead left.

Screw it.Starlio jumped between the back of two bunk beds as more bullets whizzed past him,his heart relieved for a moment as he heard the gunfire at him stop and the human trafficker,now reloading his weapon.

Starlio jumped out of cover,tossing the EMP bead that struck the human trafficker directly in the face before it discharged itself,stunning the human trafficker in his tracks and allowing Starlio to close the distance,making a fist with his taser glove and delivering a electric charged blow that knocked the shooter out.

"You don't look very old."

Starlio quickly turned around to see Vincent,standing at the doorway,dawning a tank top with construction pants,glaring at him.He isn't armed...okay...Starlio readied his taser glove as he charged in first,launching a fist at the human trafficker.

Vincent dodged at blinding speed,which barely gave Starlio any time to react before he himself was greeted by a fist that struck right into his helmet,knocking him back and sending the teenager tumbling.

"Who are you?How many of you are there?"Vincent asks.

Starlio observed a crack from the one punch Vincent threw at him as the prodigy fired up his rockets,speeding towards Vincent and slamming into the human trafficker,pinning the surprised trafficker against the wall as Starlio tapped his taser glove onto Vincent right on the chest,sending bolts of electricity out.

"Where is the girl?!"Starlio demanded.

"Ughhh!"Vincent struggled as the electricity worked its way through his body in pain.Starlio continued pressing the human trafficker back,waiting for him to drop but Vincent continued standing and to Starlio's horror,grabbed onto his taser hand's wrist,beginning to push the teenager back forcefully.

"Girl?The blonde named Shannon.You're here for her?Who are you?Boyfriend?Brother?"

"Doesn't concern you!"Starlio says when Vincent delivered a kick to his chest,sending the teenager tumbling onto the ground.Starlio tried to get up,but that kick dealt more damage than he expected as his ribs creaked with swelling pain upon his attempt to stand straight.

Ignore it...you can do this.

"I have no time to waste with you.How many of you are here?"Vincent clenched his fist,analyzing Starlio's actions and recognizing the posture of someone who would never give up."You are just a kid aren't you?"Vincent mocked.

Starlio drew his stone shooting rifle,beginning to fire shots at the human trafficker who was dodging each projectile with crazy speed and precision,going down below his range of fire before shooting himself up,kicking the rifle right out of Starlio's hands before grabbing it mid air and swinging it right into Starlio's leg,knocking the teenager off his feet.

"Stay down."Vincent tells Starlio as the prodigy pushed himself up,about to charge when Vincent tossed the stone shooting rifle back at Starlio,stunning him with the sudden move.

Vincent shot forward,throwing a push that smashed the rifle right in half like a plank of play dough,his fist carrying over and blasting Starlio right in the chest,jumping forward and kicking Starlio right in the helmet,shattering the side of it like glass before grabbing Starlio by the shirt and tossing him right across the room with a single arm.

That strength....it's not normal.

Starlio slammed onto the floor in pain as he felt blood explode out of his gullet,pain shattering all across his back.

Starlio closed his eyes,forcing himself to ignore the pain as he kicked himself away from Vincent,giving himself some space to catch his breath and regain his numbing senses.His vision was starting to become blurry when he noticed Vincent charging at him again.

Starlio tried to step back,doing his best to dodge only for the human trafficker to slide right under one of his counter punches,going behind him,grabbing his left arm and with shot a powerful elbow blow right into Starlio's left arm.

Starlio's left elbow was dislocated,the prodigy could feel his arm muscle literally ripped apart.

Vincent grabbed Starlio by the broken arm,dragging him up and began striking his ribs with a series of punches,furthering damaging the weakened teenager who cried out uncontrollably,only for the human trafficker to jump into the air and jump kicked Starlio right chest,sending flying Starlio all the way towards the end of the room,blood gushing out of his mouth uncontrollably.

Vincent smashed his fists together,marching towards a defeated Starlio when a man ran towards the door:"Vince!Perimeter!Gunshots!"

"Tsk."Vincent turned his attention away from Starlio,walking out of the room.

Starlio's eyes were watery,his body,numb with a sharp pain in his ribs,like a knife being constantly being pushed into his body,crawling into his nervous system.His arm was in a constant state of swelling and stiffness,unable to respond to his body's commands.

Get up...you have to....

Starlio's tried to control his breathing,even taking breaths hurt his throat,which was itching and burning at the same time.His chest felt swollen from the powerful punch that Vincent landed on him.I can still move....I...can...Starlio's thoughts were cut off as he coughed out more blood.

"Move the girl.She's the only stock we have left."Starlio heard faintly from the room next to his,followed by the sound of a chair being dragged.

A chair?Kane and the rest were tied up to a chair to.Was Shannon right in the next room?

Starlio used the last of his strength to push himself up with his unbroken arm,clinging onto the side of a bunk bed and dragging himself up,pushing past the pain of his ribs and staggered towards the exit door of the room where he found the trafficker he defeated still unconscious on the ground,his pistol right there for the taking.

-

Shannon could hear the commotion outside.Gunshots,the scent of burning smoke spreading towards the room she was held in.

Joseph,the human trafficker from earlier entered the room:"Alright little princess we are getting the hell out of here."

Shannon shook her head,kicking her legs desperately,doing anything she could to free herself as Joseph delivered a painful slap across her face."Shut up stupid bitch!You play any more games with me and I will-"Joseph stopped,noticing the figure by the door from the corner of his eye.

Shannon could see Joseph's expression change as she found herself staring at a...boy?His height was somewhat around her age and dawning a cracked motorcycle helmet,strands of his messy black hair falling out,wearing what looked like a futuristic exo suit and blood,stained across his shirt.

"Let her...go!"The helmeted figure roared,pointing a pistol at Joseph,who moved behind Shannon,drawing a pistol and pointing it directly at her skull."No that's not how it works buddy.Try pulling the trigger and let's see who's more likely to be shot."Joseph crouched behind a tied up Shannon till the point where she could feel his breath against her neck.

The mysterious man paused for awhile.His left arm looks...disjointed and he clearly was in pain,his posture just screamed for help and yet,here he was,trying to save her.

"Put your gun down....I'll walk with her,free out this room.Or..."Joseph warns,pushing the barrel against the side of Shannon's head as she closed her eyes,bracing herself for the worst.

"I shoot her right here and paint the ground with her brains."

"Okay!Okay...don't do anything reckless."The helmet man dropped his pistol when Shannon's ears deafened,Joseph firing his own pistol and shooting the mysterious man,who collapsed in a pool of blood right in front of her eyes.

"N....!"Shannon screamed her lungs out,the tape muting her greatly when Joseph cut her ropes loose,pulling her to her feet,gun still pointed at her head:"Alright,you go wherever I tell you to go.Play any stupid games with me and you're next!"

BAM.

Shannon's ears began ringing from a gunshot that originated behind her as Joseph's grip on her arm loosened.Shannon watched as the trafficker collapsed onto the ground,a bullet hole right through his heart,setting her free.

What...?

Shannon quickly turned around to see the mysterious man,his right arm holding on the pistol he dropped earlier,it's barrel smoking out before his arm lowered in exhaustion.Without any hesitation,Shannon ripped the tape off her mouth,sprinting to her rescuer's aid.

The bullet had pierced his shoulder,blood was gushing out uncontrollably as she took in a deep breath,summoning every last bit of medical knowledge she knew and firstly,removed the helmet of the man."Starlio...?"Shannon's voice cracked.

"Go..."Starlio's voice was fading.

"No way,I'm not leaving you."Shannon ripped out part of her lower shirt,using it as a makeshift bandage and wrapping it around the bullet wound in Starlio's shoulder,slowing down the blood loss.

"Shan...please...go."Starlio begged.

"Shut!"Shannon used the last of her depleting strength to throw Starlio's free arm around her shoulder,carrying the prodigy up."Can you walk?"Shannon turns to Starlio who nods in pain:"I...try."

With each slow and painful step,Shannon and Starlio made their way towards the room's back door.Shannon used her free arm to push the door open only to find herself greeted by the chaos taking place outside.Fire was spreading through the construction site uncontrollably and gunshots were being echoed into the air from multiple directions.

No one seemed to notice them yet when Starlio tapped on her weakly:"Button...on my wrist.Grab...onto me...tight."

Shannon knew better than to argue with him as she followed what he said,flicking the switch on his wrist armor.It was then when she noticed the heat,emerging from beneath their feet,Shannon feeling her weight being pushed off the ground...they were levitating.

"Wha-what's happening?!"Shannon nervousness peaked.

"Jet...pack.Fly out..."Starlio was already beginning to lose his sense of balance but as far as Shannon could tell,there was no other way out.Going by foot would only guarantee themselves being captured or killed by the human traffickers again.

"Kane,Angie and Kate,they were here with me as well."Shannon remembered.

"Freed...them already."

"Hold on..."Starlio tells her again as she wrapped her arms around his body,Starlio flicking another switch near his thumb as the two teenagers shot up into the night sky.

Shannon could feel the wind,soaring through every inch of her skin along with the horrifying,yet amazing feeling off being in the sky.The air was freezing cold,balanced out by the heat that the exo suit jet pack was giving off as she looked down,quickly realizing how far they were off the ground.

"Shit!"

Shannon shut her eyes as she felt Starlio's arm around,determined to not let her fall off.Bullets were being fired at them from the traffickers below as Starlio sped up,Shannon could his arm around her tightening as the two of them picked up speed,shooting off far from the construction site.

Shannon took a glance at Starlio,wanting to thank him only to realize that he was out cold,his eyes shut closed and his grip on her,slowly loosening.

"Starlio!STARLIO!"Shannon quickly looked down to realize that they were on a flight trajectory right towards the ground at deadly speeds,already traveling quite a huge distance from the construction site.

"NOOO!"Shannon's arms were already trembling from how long she was holding onto him as she grit her teeth,trying to adjust their flight trajectory with her weight to slowly try and go for a curvature landing,hopefully reducing their crash impact as they approached the ground.

They were literally hovering meters off the ground as Shannon braced herself for the crash,slightly more confident that their flight trajectory would lessen the crash impact when the exo suit began vibrating as the flames from the rocket boots burst for the last time,shutting off completely.

The suit was out of gas.

"Agh!"Shannon pushed herself down,trying to use her own body as a cushion for Starlio when they plunged at an unexpected direction.Shannon's grip on the prodigy broke,sending her flying towards the ground,smashing into a pile of dirt and grass that exploded all over her face,several rogue pieces of rock and dirt scratching into the skin as Shannon laid down,completely exhausted.

Starlio...Starlio!

Shannon opened her eyes,keeping herself awake as she pushed herself up,turning around to see Starlio on the ground several feet away from her,his exo suit smoking and he himself,completely motionless."No..."Shannon sprinted towards him,ignoring her own injuries and placed her finger right on his nose.

He was still breathing.

"Oh thank god!Starlio!Starlio concentrate on my voice!Stay with me!Okay?!"Shannon looked around them.There was nothing but fields of grass for miles except for a road that was a few meters away."You stay with me okay?!"Shannon says,sprinting towards the road,hoping that someone,anyone would come and help them.

To her relief,faint headlights was beginning to be seen from a distance as the desperate teenager crawled her way to the road,jumping up and waving her hands rapidly to grab the driver's attention.

A blue pickup truck pulled over as an old man in his 60s spotted the two teenagers,getting out of his vehicle to a begging Shannon:"Please help my friend!He's been shot!"

The old man was directed to the motionless Starlio.Knowing better than to question her,the old man got to work:"Help me carry his leg!"

"Thank you."

The duo carried Starlio to the back of the pickup truck where Shannon accompanied him,holding onto his hand and trying to apply more bandages from the old man's first aid kit on his vehicle onto Starlio's wound,the original cloth that Shannon applied now completely soaked in blood.

"Stay with me okay?"Starlio's consciousness returned to him for a brief second,hearing Shannon's voice,his vision,still blurry,barely being able to make out her face.

"Starlio,try and keep your eyes open..."

The prodigy smiled to himself,knowing that he had done it.He accomplished the impossible as he turned to her,his vision fading.

"Starlio?....Starlio?!"