Previously on Talents Activate…

Chiamaka, a lady who did not believe in the supernatural, has been opened into a new reality, a world of beings able to manipulate blades, wield flames, invade minds, and affect different forces. A mysterious man, Ezeogu, having the probability of being her father wants to take her for reasons best known to him but her friends resist. After a battle to save her life, ID comes out victorious, saving Chiamaka from the swordsmith, Ife. Nelo arrives at ID’s house and finally gets to meet Chiamaka. What fate awaits them all?

Now…

Chiamaka, Tobi, ID and Nelo are all seated together in the sitting room of the apartment. The television is on but is at the lowest volume and the atmosphere in the room is a bit tense.

“So that’s the backstory, I see,” Nelo says, referring to the explanation ID just gave her concerning how he met Chiamaka, her strange awakening to Phasic Energy on her birthday and the battle with Ife.

“Wow. Life comes at you fast, right? I can only imagine what you’re feeling right now, however it is what it is. The reality is that, you’re in this now, you get? But one thing surprised me a bit among others,” she adds.

“Huh? What?” a sad Chiamaka inquires, looking at Nelo.

“The fact that you and ID didn’t eventually go out, like date and all,” Nelo says and laughs as do the others including Chiamaka. They soon fall back to their serious mode after a brief moment.

“Well, that eased up the tension a bit. Anyway, to formally introduce myself, I am Chinelo Eze Jennifer, you can call me Nelo. Also referred to as the Crest of the Igbo deity, Agwu Nsi because I possess the abilities of clairvoyance, precognition and retrocognition which sometimes occur like psychometry and I also display the insignia of a stickman at the back of my neck whenever my power is fully released. That being said, I’m also a lawyer, an artist and a sort of business consultant, just in case you have any clients for me,” Nelo declares, stretching her hand to shake Chiamaka.

“Wow! So you can like see the future? Shouldn’t you be like the strongest or so?” Chiamaka asks in amazement of Nelo’s abilities, as they both shake hands.

“Well, I like to answer that as seeing ‘a future’. Let me expound a bit, if, for example, I see the future and then I make an adjustment to alter what I’ve seen then what I saw, can it still be called ‘the future’? You get? What I see are more like possibilities and more often than not, I see the most probable one to happen except an action is taken to change it. Seeing these possibilities is not a guarantee that you’ll be the most powerful champion, in this world, there are other factors too,” Nelo explains.

“Wow such an amazing ability. But if you can see ahead, can’t you plan ahead and always end up winning?” Chiamaka asks.

“Not exactly. At the end if someone is more powerful than you, all possibilities you see may end up showing your defeat. Some situations are inescapable when entered into no matter how much you see, so it’s best to avoid such. For example, a technique that can blow up an entire city, even if I see ahead, what can I possibly do against that? I’ll still need some other ability, you get? Besides it’s not like I can always control how, when or what I see except in some cases,” Nelo answers.

“So it’s not all that useful in the end,” Chiamaka utters.

“Did I say so? Actually it’s very useful. Asides from seeing, it also offers precognitive instinct which is one of the most troublesome abilities to deal with in close combat when used well. And like I said in some cases, I can control my pschometry ability. For example,” Nelo says and tightens her grip on Chiamaka’s hand.

Instantly, Nelo’s eyes develop a pink radiance as Chiamaka stares right into them. She can also feel the air around herself and Nelo becoming a bit denser. The TV screen quickly blinks off and comes back on without restarting, as do all other electronic devices. At this moment, Nelo’s short full hair gently flows as if in slow motion and the atmosphere becomes a bit more serene, Chiamaka remains in awe of this occurrence. After which, Nelo withdraws her grip, letting go of Chiamaka and the ambiance reverts back to normal.

“What was that?” Chiamaka asks, bewildered at the moment.

“I just saw some stuff about you. Without a doubt Chiamaka Stephanie Ezeogu, you are Doctor Ezeogu’s daughter. Several years ago, just after your birth, your father discovered you had been born with advanced talents but for the reason of his experiment and research, he decided to move away. So he sealed your abilities and put a barrier on your mother’s memory, not exactly wiping it but altering it, making her believe he was dead. Before this, he had convincingly faked his death for the whole world to see so everyone thought he really died. However, he has once again become fully active, knowing the exact date your powers would once again awaken since he was the one that sealed it off anyway. It seems he knows exactly what your abilities can do and intends to use them for a particular purpose,” Nelo reveals, taking her seat and sipping her glass of chilled ice tea.

Chiamaka takes a deep breath and lets out a sigh of frustration.

“I can’t believe this. All this years, I thought my real dad was dead. I always wished that he wasn’t and that someday I would get to see him miraculously because my mum often said how great of a person he was. And now, I get to hear this plus seeing how he has so far, sent dangerous people to get me, I’m not sure what he wants or if I should even see him at all,” Chiamaka sadly utters.

You said he knows exactly what my abilities are, do you?” she asks.

“Based on what I saw, you possess the ability of links hence the chain. What this means is that you can link things together, probably people, powers or maybe even objects. You will have to train as to get clarity on what exactly you can link. Oh and also, seems like you have the ability of healing too just like him,” Nelo replies.

“So the guess work is over now. We have confirmation of your father and your advanced talent, thanks to Nelo. We should get the others and relay this new development plus Ikeoku’s message so that we know where to go from here,” ID says, bringing out his phone from his pocket.

“I agree because from what I experienced, we need as much power as we can get,” Nelo says.

ID dials Ifunanya and has a conversation with her over the phone while Chiamaka sits there with her hands on her head as she tries to wrap her head around all that has been happening. She is almost about to let out tears, wishing everything could just go back to how they were before that night. Suddenly, she feels a light touch at the top of her head.

“Don’t sweat it much. In the end, everything will be fine,” Tobi says, smiling at her.

This tiny boost of positivity is exactly what she needs as she turns to Tobi, smiles back and stands to her feet.

“Umm…I want to go see my mum. I’ll meet up with you all,” she says.

“You should, it’s important that you do,” Nelo urges.

ID interrupts and says, “Just finished speaking with Ify and time is 7:00pm, place will be at Aisha’s. We’ll meet up there and know what to do.”

“Alright,” they all respond.

“Wait Chiamaka. I should come along with you,” Tobi offers.

“No it’s not necessary. I want to do this alone. I’ll be safe,” Chiamaka replies.

“Hmm? Can you fight? I mean advanced talent kind of fight,” Nelo questions.

“Well… not yet,” Chiamaka replies.

“So what happens when danger comes looming?” Nelo asks, drinking from her glass of ice tea.

“Umm, I’ll just message Tomisin. She can teleport right? Or maybe I’ll be in luck and you’ll see it before it happens plus I have that pen you gave me, Tobi,” Chiamaka responds and walks out.

“You won’t stop her?” Tobi asks ID.

“Let her be. She needs space to cool off. She’s going through a lot at the moment,” ID replies.

“Wait. Who’s Tomisin? And Aisha?” Nelo inquires.

“You’ll get to meet everyone later. You should rest,” ID suggests.

“I know right? I should be pampered but the situation at hand though,” Nelo says and walks towards one of the rooms in the three bedroom apartment.

“I’m crashing in your room, ID. See you later, Tobi. Peace!!!” she utters, lifting her glass cup as she walks away.

“Childhood friend, huh? She seems interesting,” Tobi comments.

“She is,” ID replies and smiles.

Elsewhere…

At a beautiful luxury hotel, in an exquisite and spacious rooms, surely a VIP standard room, a stunning young lady, dressed in a white bath robe, is sitting on a couch in the room, with her legs crossed as she answers a phone call.

“So Oge, I guess you know how to proceed, right?” a voice speaks from the phone.

“Sure, Doc. Get the two ladies and be on my way but first I should deal with those bounty hunters, yeah? That’s Ife and her team, yeah? No problem on that. I have their location and will pay them a visit then while waiting for Ifunanya and Chiamaka to submit themselves,” Oge replies, in her usual seductive manner of speech.

“Very correct. This is why I like working with you. Very professional and you get things quickly,” Ezeogu says from the phone.

“Ha ha ha. My pleasure, Doc. I’ll be on my way then. Let me just finish up from here,” she says and ends the call.

A man walks out of the shower of the room, also wearing a white bath robe.

“Who were you talking to?” the man inquires.

“Ah… none of your concern,” Oge answers, gets up from the couch and walks towards the wardrobe.

“Oh and I’m leaving,” she adds as she opens the wardrobe and flings the bath robe on the bed, wearing only her underwear.

“What?!” the man exclaims.

“After all the money I’ve spent so far, you think you can just leave? Do you know who I am?! I am Chief---“ the man yells but is interrupted by Oge as she walks towards him, puts the index finger of her left hand on his lips and says, “I don’t care who you are and how much you think you’ve spent or have. I said I’m leaving. That’s it.”

“You must be crazy if you think I’ll let you just leave,” the man says and moves his hand to grab Oge but she immediately takes hold of his own hand and twists it, dislocating the arm. Following this, firmly, she grips his neck with just her left hand and lifts him off the ground.

“Argh!!!” the man screams.

“P…l..e…a..,” he stutters.

“What? I can’t hear you,” Oge says sarcastically, smiling and lets go of the man.

The man falls on his knees, coughs and starts to plead with Oge. Oge reaches for her clothes, the usual black sleeveless waist coat, white sleeveless top, pair of skinny black trousers and long leather boots and puts them on.

“You humans all think you’re in charge once you’re just a bit wealthy. Feeling like a big fish in your own little world until you meet someone exceeding your imaginations. Bet you didn’t know I could lift you that way, yeah? Must’ve thought I’m like the rest of the other ladies you’ve been bullying with your physique and money, however, you pissed off the wrong person,” she says and reaches for her thin long duffle bag.

Slowly, she pulls out a short sword and turns towards the man saying, “If only you had just let me be when I said I’m leaving, it wouldn’t have had to come to this. Now, you beg like the lowly wretched creature you are, nevertheless I’m going to have to chop you in pieces, package your body and dispose of it.”

The man becomes scared and attempts to run out of the room but notices one of his limbs is missing and Oge standing behind him with his lower right leg in her hand.

“Arrggghhh!!!” he screams and falls to the ground, writhing in pain, as blood gushes out from the chopped-off leg.

“You see, the good thing is people will just think we’re having something awesome here. You know what I mean?” Oge says, winks and smiles at the man who is now in agony and scared for his life.

“Please, anything. I’ll give anything. I am a very wealthy man you see,” the man pleads, crying for his life.

“Ha ha!! What could that possibly be? Money? You think money is everything for me? Puny human, well, it’s not like I don’t know how to get all your money even after killing you. I’ll tell you this, I’m an assassin, yeah? So money isn’t exactly my problem,” she replies, lifts the man’s face to hers and licks the blade of the short sword while she sits on the large bed.

She whispers in his ear, “What I hunger for, you cannot give me. This, nonetheless, was fun while it lasted. Too bad for you, you’re cute though. You really shouldn’t have pissed me off,” and cuts his head off with the short sword in her head.

Minutes later, Oge steps out of the hotel with a big travelling bag, pulling the handle and rolling it behind her.

“Hope you had a wonderful experience,” the security officer at the door says while holding the door open for Oge to exit.

“Sure, very wonderful. Such a delight,” she responds, winks at the officer, smiles, leaves a tip in his chest pocket and walks out.

She drives to a lonely land filled with grasses looking very bushy, alights from her car, brings out the big travelling bag, pours some chemicals on it and sets it on fire. She rests on the bonnet of her car and watches the bag burn to bits, with her dark glasses on.

Meanwhile…

Chiamaka stands in front of a high-rise glass building having flat windows. At the top of the building, you can clearly see, written in bold, the word ‘MICROEDGE’ beside the company logo. Without delay, she steps into the building and heads straight for her mother’s office.

“Hello Mummy, Good afternoon,” she greets.

“Chiamaka darling,” Mrs Obianuju, Chiamaka’s mother, says, sitting comfortably on her office seat.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit? You need money? Project assistance?” she inquires.

“Mum, I’ll be real quick. How much of dad, I mean my dad, did you really know?” Chiamaka questions.

“Wow. Where’s this coming from?” Mrs Obianuju asks back.

“Umm… I can’t really explain it but--,” Chiamaka answers but is interrupted by her mother.

“You have powers,” Mrs Obianuju completes the sentence.

“What? How did you? Wait, you knew all along?” Chiamaka asks, surprised at her mother’s right answer.

Mrs Obianuju sighs and answers, “Well… I can say that I’m just beginning to remember some things about your real father. Frank Ezeogu wasn’t an ordinary human and I got to find out late. It left me devastated and I hoped you wouldn’t turn out the same but before I knew it, it was like it all just disappeared. Like a bad dream.”

“So how did you start to recall the truth?” Chiamaka inquires.

“It all started to come back after a certain visit from a lady. She told me Ezeogu was alive and gave me her phone to speak with him. I did and was so shocked that I almost fainted. After that, she left a card with me and once I stare at that card, it’s like I start to remember things I had completely lost track of. When I spoke with Frank, your father, he told me a lot of things but I found it hard to believe until the lady showed me some things. One of the things he said was that he wanted to see you and I should tell you that it’s not a harmful meetup as you might be thinking. Also that I should give you the lady’s card,” Mrs Obianuju says and hands the card over to Chiamaka.

“Right now, I’m still shaking. I’ve been praying since but I have no idea what really is going on,” she adds.

Chiamaka holds the card and looks at it while letting out a deep sigh. On the card, the name ‘Oge’ is displayed along with a phone number.

“So, you think I should go see him?” Chiamaka asks.

“I’m as confused as you are. The Frank I knew, was a really good man so I don’t think you should be worried about that but I don’t know. Let me come along with you,” Mrs Obianuju responds.

“No way mum!!! If I’m going, let me handle this. He’s my father right? Right now, you’re married to Mr. Davidson. Attend to your husband and new family now,” Chiamaka says and gets up, about to leave.

“You are my daughter. My first child and I loved your father, you know. Things like that don’t just vanish especially when you find out the person is still alive,” Mrs Obianuju states.

“Yes but you have a new family now. New husband, new children. Mum, I love you and you’re my only family, I can’t lose you, neither can your new family. So, allow me to figure out these ‘supernatural power’ thing and know who my father truly is. I’m positive he doesn’t want me dead anyway. So make a wise choice here. Don’t chase one and forget the many you have,” Chiamaka replies.

“Yes but Chiamaka Stephanie Ezeogu Davidson, I will not allow you to go by yourself!!!” Mrs Obianuju yells as little tear drops appear in her eyes.

Chiamaka brings out a pen and says, “I’m sorry mum. I just can’t allow you.” She clicks the pen’s head and a Phasic Dome is enacted, freezing every ordinary human in the building and around that area, including her mum.

“Wow. Works just like Tobi said it would. An artificial phasic dome,” she says to herself.

She walks up to her mum, gives her a kiss on the cheek.

“Goodbye Mummy,” she says and exits the office. After some time, the phasic dome wears off and ordinary human movement begins again like nothing happened. Chiamaka’s mum, Mrs Obianuju, is still in the process of talking and notices her daughter has suddenly vanished. She is perplexed and suddenly, out of too much shock, slowly falls to the ground and faints. The secretary enters the office to report something but sees Mrs Obianuju on the floor and rushes to get medical assistance.

Chiamaka is long gone and is now at a restaurant, getting some drinks and food.

“One of glass of long island,” she says, placing her order.

“Hmm? Seems like someone wants a long night?” a deep male voice says beside her.

Chiamaka turns to see who it is and sees somewhat of a familiar face. A man having the look of a white Caucasian male in his mid-thirties, with big black afro hair putting on a pair of eyeglass. It is Professor Lenz (From Chapter five) but this time, he is wearing a navy blue suit and a pair of white shoes. She does not answer him but turns and walks to an empty table by the corner and sits there. Professor Lenz follows suit and takes a seat opposite Chiamaka on the same table.

“Who are you? What do you want? If you don’t leave, I’ll call security,” Chiamaka says, frowning.

“Ah. You looked familiar that’s why. Aren’t you Mrs. Obianuju’s daughter?” he replies.

“You know my mother and so?” Chiamaka responds.

“And your biological father is Frank Ezeogu, right?” he adds, in a deeper tone of voice.

“What?” Chiamaka is surprised.

“You knew my father?” she asks.

“So now you’re interested. Thought you were calling security?” Professor Lenz replies.

“Ah. I’m so sorry. You know, one can never be too safe in this city,” Chiamaka apologizes.

“It’s alright, I understand,” Professor Lenz responds.

“To answer your question, yes I knew your father. Frank was a good man. Had so much knowledge and potential even as a PhD student. His ideas were vast and creative. He really wanted to make the world a better place but life happened. Too bad he died an early death,” he adds.

“He was? Wow. How did you know him?” she asks again.

“Oh yeah. I haven’t introduced myself properly. Well, just call me Professor Lenz. Professor of Molecular genetics, University of Cambridge. Your father was a good student of mine,” the man says.

Chiamaka is amazed and short of words.

“Wow! And you look so young and so jovial,” she says.

“Well, what can I say?” the man responds.

“You look like something is bothering you. What exactly is it? I might be of help,” the man asks.

Chiamaka’s mood turns sad for a moment, she drinks from her glass cup and she says, “Nothing so much like that but let me ask. If you have to endanger yourself just so as to save others like say your family, would you do such or trust that you and your people will sort out the danger together?”

“Hmm… as long as they are safe, I won’t really think of the consequences on myself. If it’s for my friends or family, I’d do the most I can to protect them. If that’s the sacrifice I have to pay for them to be happy, then I don’t mind,” Professor Lenz answers.

“I see. I guess that’s what I’ll do then, thank you,” Chiamaka replies.

“Is there a problem you’re facing that you need help with?” he inquires.

“It’s not something I can’t handle,” she says, stands up in a hurry and leaves the restaurant while the Professor just sips his drink.

At Aisha’s house…

Everyone is present, Aisha, Tomisin, Tobi, Ifunanya, Uche, ID, Nelo and Chiamaka. Nelo just finished delivering the message to them and bringing them up to date on the current situation.

“Damn it!!! I know this is tough but let’s not just head in straight, we should come up with a plan and tread carefully,” Aisha suggests.

“What kind of plan exactly? You heard her. The people in question here are very powerful. We may need more assistance. We should ask the agency,” Tobi replies.

“A good idea but the agency might just be busy around this time. A lot of personnel aren’t around probably on missions,” Uche states.

“Aren’t there others we can ask for help? I haven’t been able to contact my brother for a while now,” Tomisin says, pondering aloud.

“There might be but I’ll try and finalize that tonight,” ID responds.

“How exactly?” Aisha asks.

“Ife. I’m meeting up with Ife and she’ll be joining us hopefully with her team. It is part of the deal we made if I won, remember Aisha, you were there,” he answers.

“Oh yeah. That’s right,” Aisha replies, nodding her head.

“Can she be trusted really?” Tobi asks.

“In a way, I can say yes. I’ll do the meeting with her so I’ll let us know,” ID responds.

“Hmm? Ify, you’ve been strangely quiet,” Aisha states, looking at Ifunanya.

“Right. We’re all just making suggestions but you guys have no clue how powerful Ikeoku is probably only Nelo and ID to some extent. You know just how powerful a Crest is and we’re talking about a man who is about or over two hundred years, having used dark arts to absorb the power of roughly three Crests of Anyanwu over time. It’s more than just planning, you know,” Ifunanya utters.

“About or over two hundred years? How has he been able to live without people noticing?” Tomisin is taken aback.

“Probably by using the dark arts he somehow manipulates the memory of the people,” Ifunanya answers.

“I know you have a clearer picture of his power, Ify but that doesn’t mean we should just give up hope. If we believe, we can still win this right?” Aisha says.

“It’s not that simple, Aisha,” Ifunanya replies.

“Come on people, let’s all calm down and think,” Nelo says.

“I’ve seen a bit of his power and at this point, I have no idea what to do or there may be one,” she adds.

“What is it?” Ifunanya and ID ask.

“Mr. Chisom,” Nelo replies.

“Who’s that?” Chiamaka inquires.

“Ifunanya’s combat teacher. He also taught me some things. Oh and he was the previous generation’s Crest of Amadioha,” Nelo answers.

“He wasn’t just my teacher anyway, but you’ll be disrupting his new life with his family,” Ifunanya states.

“It’s our best shot for now,” Nelo says.

Aisha sighs and says, “You know what let’s just go and have fun at the Lofty Place. It’s already 7:00pm and they started their party at 6:00pm. At least let’s have drinks and cool off a bit. That way, we can make better decisions. I can’t come and kill myself and die.”

Everyone is amazed at Aisha, just staring at her, confused having a look that says ‘is this girl serious?’

“I agree, I’ll be meeting with Ife besides there are some people I think can help us there,” ID speaks up.

“Sesan might be there, so I guess I can talk to him,” Ifunanya says.

“Sesan? Crest of Sango? Interesting. Maybe he can help reach out to the other western Crests too,” Nelo utters.

“I think I need more than a few drinks,” Chiamaka says.

“A few drinks, some good music and some good dance won’t hurt anyway,” Tobi says.

“Right? If it’s our last, we might as well go down in a blast,” Tomisin adds.

“That’s great guys but I won’t be joining you guys, I have to get somewhere and have some things to finish up. I’ll see if I can contact anyone else,” Uche announces.

“No problem. The rest of us, can we get going?” Aisha insists and they all get up to leave.

The Lofty Place, a nice exquisite building with great architectural design having a very luxurious and alluring inside filled with lights and fine texture. The place is filled up with people trooping in and out, having fun, dancing, drinking and enjoying the vibes by the DJ. Aisha and the rest of the group excluding Uche, arrive at the scene. Aisha shows the security a card and she is guided towards the VIP lounge. The group split with each going to have fun in their own way. ID walks up to a beautiful young lady, having glistening light skin, slim with an hourglass figure, long silky hair and dazzling grey eyes (most people think it is contact lens). She is adorned in a white and black stripe short bodycon dress and a pair of high heel black sandals along with some jewelries on her (necklaces and bracelets). She has the countenance of a classy elegant boss.

“Been a while, Onyinye,” ID says as the lady screams, smiles and jumps to hug him.

“ID!!! Long time!!!” she shrieks.

“I’m sure you’re not all that excited,” ID states as Onyinye lets go of him.

“Way to kill all the fun,” Onyinye says in a smooth bossy way and takes her seat.

“So what brings you here?” she asks.

Suddenly, a tall dark muscular young man, walks to where they are seated. He is dressed in white t-shirt whose sleeves run down just below the elbow, a pair of black jean trousers and a pair of white ankle boots. Walking beside the young man is Ife.

“ID!!! My man,” the young man greets.

“Rume!!! Long time man,” ID responds, stands up and they both shake hands and jam shoulders together.

Ife stands, glares at Onyinye, looks at ID and says, “To think I’d find you here with another lady when we’re supposed to meet up.”

“Wouldn’t hurt to say some hellos, right?” ID replies.

“That’s not a way to greet now, is it? I don’t mind. You can all sit here. I might even have some information for you Ife,” Onyinye says, and sips from her glass of wine.

“I’ll catch you guys later. I want to walk around and meet some others,” Rume says.

“Alright. I have something to discuss with you too. We’ll catch up. Didn’t know you knew Ife, by the way,” ID replies.

“Sure, we know each other in a way,” Rume says and takes his leave. Ife and ID sit at the table, joining Onyinye, as the music resounds in the background in the somewhat dark room with disco lights all around.

Meanwhile at the Karaoke section of the place, Aisha just finishes rapping to a song, while dancing on stage and making the people scream. She gets down from the stage and proceeds to meet Tomisin.

“Did you see me? I was a star right there. A freaking superstar!!! Babe, I should have gone into the music industry,” Aisha brags, blowing her trumpet.

“Ha ha!!! Yeah right. A onetime showoff doesn’t guarantee success in the industry,” Tomisin replies, taking a bite from the plate of meat on the small round table in front of where she is seated.

“Pfft!!! Hater!!! By the way where’s Ify?” Aisha asks.

“Not sure where she went. I haven’t seen her in a while though,” Tomisin replies.

“Hmmm,” Aisha utters, looking serious and concerned.

“Tomi, I need you to do me a favor,” she says.

Elsewhere, at a serene estate in what was called the ‘mainland’ of the state known as Lagos, in a big house with a spacious surrounding, a lady jumps over the high fence, lands and starts to catwalk towards the door. A young man opens the door to go outside and sees the lady approaching. He is surprised.

“What the?!” the young man exclaims.

“Who are you?! And how did you get here?!” the man questions, shouting at the top of his voice. The others in the house notice and rush down. It is Dominic and the others are Tade, Ese, Bimbo and Dan, Ife’s teammates.

“Who am I? Well, I’m sure not your friend neither am I here for a friendly chat. You all have been very, very naughty,” the lady replies, in a smooth seductive manner of speech.

“Just for the fun of it, I’ll tell you this. You can call me Oge and I’m here to capture you all,” she adds and grins.

“Just you? Are you kidding? Do you know who we are?” Tade responds as he steps out of the house.

“Sure. Bounty hunters with advanced talents, right? I believe I’m more than sufficient for the likes of you,” the lady, Oge, replies.

“You must be really mad, lady. Only I will do the honor,” Tade says and rushes in to attack.

“That’s right. You all better not bore me. Bring it on,” Oge utters, in her smooth seductive manner of speech, smiling widely.

***

Meanwhile at Aisha’s house, Ifunanya is with a backpack and about to leave the surrounding when suddenly, Aisha and Tomisin appear from nowhere.

“As I thought. I knew you weren’t your usual self at that meeting. Tell me Ifunanya, is this how you plan to do this, by settling it on your own?” Aisha asks, standing some distance behind Ifunanya.

“I really hoped you’d be too busy having fun to even notice. I’m sorry Aisha but I can’t think of anything better. Right now, I have to do what I can for my friends and I can’t bear losing others because of me. Ikeoku won’t spare any of you unless I accept his deal or I face him alone,” Ifunanya replies, backing Aisha and Tomisin.

“Alone? There you go. And to think that we all were in this together. Ikeoku is not the only person in question here, there’s Ezeogu and an Unknown. I’m not sure we can allow this,” Tomisin says.

“Allow? It’s my decision to make. This is not your problem to solve. I love you guys but my best friend, my childhood friend and a close friend are already in danger because of me. Do you think I’d want to lose you guys too?” Ifunanya responds.

“No one is losing anyone, babe. This is also not your problem to solve alone. We can still save your other friends if we all stick and work together. Ifunanya, if it means stopping you here, I’m ready. Sometimes, we have to do what isn’t palatable to prevent another from making a wrong decision,” Aisha expresses.

“A wise friend once told me, ‘Friends also protect friends from their own selves’,” Tomisin states, looking intensely at Ifunanya.

Ifunanya takes a deep breath, sighs, turns around to face Aisha and Tomisin and says, “My father died because of me, I won’t let that happen to others. I’m sorry but I can’t endanger you guys. You have no business at all with Ikeoku. You’re right Aisha. Sometimes, we have to fight those we want to protect, in order to protect them. I’m sorry Aisha, Tomisin but if it means me defeating you two for me to save you all then I’ll gladly do it.”

She says this and drops her backpack. With her unexpressive face, she and Aisha, look each other in the eye, as the cool night wind sweeps across the area.

***

Oge is about to engage Ife’s team in battle while an unexpected clash of Ifunanya against Aisha and Tomisin is about to begin.

What will be Chiamaka’s decision at the end of this?

Will ID be able to stop any of them?

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