The 26

FIVE YEARS LATER

I was hiding in a tall, leafy tree in the middle of the Amazon.

Things weren't supposed to go this way. My plan should have worked but now, there're only a few of us left.

They ambushed us by the river and took out nine of us, just like that. Including myself, there were only four of us left.

The four survivors scattered among the trees but because they took out Spitfire, we had no way to communicate with each other.
It was every man for themselves now.

Sweat dripped down the side of my face. It felt like I had been hiding here for hours. My legs were beginning to cramp up but, if I moved, I risked giving up my position. Suddenly, there was a flash of bright light and then an ear-piercing scream.

It echoed all around me, making it difficult to pinpoint its source, but it sounded close.

This had been happening since the river attack. Since then, they had been slowly picking us off one by one. They had already taken taken out two of us. First Armor and then Napalm. The most recent scream had to have been Prometheus.

That was not good for two reasons:
1. Now that he's gone, I'm the only one left.

2. Prometheus was an Alpha and there's only one person they have that can take out an Alpha.
Which means...I was totally screwed.

I pressed myself closer to the tree.

I was terrified.

There was no way I could fight this battle by myself, I was outmatched and out numbered. I don't think they've even lost a man yet. I also knew that there was no way I could win against him in this situation.

Just then, the bushes rustled below me. My breath caught in my throat and my body tensed.

He found me.

A yellow blur shot out and darted into another bush under the tree to my left. I swore under my breath. How did he find me so quickly? I got into a fighting stance, at least I knew where he was attacking from. The bushes continued to rustle below me but, there was another sound too.
I strained to hear it over the sounds of the jungle.

It almost sounded like...laughter?

Now I was even more scared then before, this was his tactic, he liked to scare his prey for a little bit and then strike.

Suddenly, the bushes stopped rustling.

Other then the typical sounds of the rainforest, it was silent. I stood completely still; I didn't even breath.

Seconds passed but it felt like an eternity. I scanned the ground looking for him, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Where had he-

I didn't have time to finish my thought because a giant ball of blinding light, roughly the size of a person, came rocketing towards me. I stumbled backwards on the tree branch. I tried shooting off a few bursts of electricity but there was no telling if I had hit my target or not, the ball of light had completely blinded me.
Then, something white hot hit me in the gut, knocking me completely out of the tree.

I crashed to the ground, clutching my stomach. I writhed in pain; it felt like my insides were melting.
Which was very well possible.

"Cut the simulation, she's hurt!" someone shouted.

There was a familiar buzzing noise that meant the training exercise had ended. Someone stood over me.

"Oh gosh, Electra, I'm so sorry!" they whispered. No doubt this was the kid who had done this to me.

"WHAT THE HELL SUN DANCE?"
Somebody shouted from the bushes. That was definitely Prometheus.

"I'm sorry Prometheus I didn't mean to I-" Sun Dance stuttered.

"Okay instead of apologizing how about making yourself useful and finding Mage?"

Sun Dance nodded and sped off into the bushes. Prometheus let out a sigh and knelt beside me.
"You ok?" He said gently.

I made a few gurgling noises in response. Im not sure what he was expecting me to say, seeing as my insides were now my outsides.
I'm not entirely sure what happened next, but I must have past out because the next thing I knew I was waking up in the infirmary.

I let out a huge groan as I sat up. I looked down at my stomach, you couldn't even tell that I had been pelted with a miniature sun.

"Mage is a pretty awesome healer isn't she?"
I jerked my head to the person sitting beside me.

It was a dark skinned girl around the same age as me with bright purple hair, the tips of her hair were flaming, a bright purple hue.

"Spitfire?" I mumbled.

Spitfire was the telepath that I had met that day five years ago. She was also one of my closest friends.

"Of course girl, the moment I heard you were hurt I came running, I know how much you hate the infirmary." She said with a smile.

I laughed and tried to stand, I immediately fell to my knees.
"Whoa! Take it easy there El! You still need to rest for a few more minutes." Spitfire jumped to her feet and helped me up.

"I'm cool, but I'm guessing Reapers team won the session?"
She helped me to the chair she had just been sitting in.

"Well yeah, but we did try to tell the refs that they cheated."

"And?"

"And nothing. They just said that it wouldn't happen again, but you know how it goes, they say that every time."
She said solemnly.

I put my head in my hands. "Oh man how pissed was everyone?" 

"Well,-" Spitfire said while leaning against a cabinet.

"Reaper said something slick under his breath so Prometheus and Hans tackled him, which set everyone else off. Artillery threw a few grenades at Silencer so Frenzy knifed her in the shoulder. Napalm tried to torch Marionette but missed and hit Whirlwind instead. And then Flicker-"

"Stop! I don't want to hear the rest." I interrupted.

There was a moment of silence.
"How much trouble Is everyone in?"

"Eh, the usual. We have to clean the entire base twice a week for six months and some of us have to stay in confinement for a few days. Oh but get this, it's only our team."

I didn't get a chance to say how absolutely ridiculous that was because at that very moment someone threw open the door to the infirmary.

A pale boy with jet black hair and matching eyes came speeding in. He doubled over and tried to catch his breath.

"You good Hydra?" Said Spitfire in a casual tone.

"You have to...come quick...the chief..." He gasped between breaths.

Spitfire put her hands on her hips.
"Did he finally keel over and die?" She said sarcastically.

"No...he said he had an assignment for us." Hydra said regaining his breath.

Spitfire and I's eyes widened.

They were giving us an assignment?