Young Heroes

A City In Italy

*Ashlyn's POV*

I stared with wide eyes, paralyzed with terror as I watched the plane inch closer and closer to the ground.
We'd later learn that the tail of the plane had exploded, because of a random terrorist attack, and they had somehow gotten their hands on explosives. We managed to get everyone out of the plane, but even so, not everyone would make it. Hundreds had to be hospitalized. Only one did not make it off of the plane.
By chance, me, Alysa, Rianna, Sophia, Carson, Nathan, Joe, and Riley were on a trip, traveling to London for a week of vacation for a break from the crazy and hectic life of being a secret agent. Everyone except me, Nathan, and Riley were already waiting for us in London, because we had to stay back a day for a mission.  What was supposed to be the best week of my life, turned into the worst day of my life.
I thrashed violently, tears running down my face, trying to escape Nathan's grip and somehow go back and save Riley, but it was too late. Nathan knew it as he cried silently. Hopelessly.
At the time, I wouldn't accept what I knew now. There was nothing I could've done, and Nathan did what he had to do. I would barely speak to him for months, partially blaming him for forcing me away, blaming Riley for sacrificing himself, and blaming mostly myself for not fighting harder.
  And as I watched the plane finally touch down and go up in a cloud of fire and black smoke, I knew our lives would change forever.

  I woke up sweating and panting, feeling the fresh heavy feeling in my chest. I took in a deep breath and hung my head.
  "Reminiscing?" A voice in the corner spoke up. My head shot up and then I forgot I wouldn't be able to see anyway.
  "What are you doing here?" I snarled. I tried to maintain my aggressive attitude, but with not eating or drinking for over 24 hours, I probably just sounded weak and lame.
  "Oh princess..." My head bolted up and my ears perked. He'd called me that before too...
"How do you know—"
"Oh your little nickname? Ash, I told you. I know everything about you. I know that you're an orphan. I know you're adopted. I know you grew up as a poor, poor girl. I know you have a sad excuse for a family but—"
"SHUT UP!" I screamed, and I felt a sharp slap across my cheek.
"YOU'RE NOT IN A POSITION TO GIVE ORDERS HERE, PRINCESS." The voice boomed throughout the room. "YOU'LL TALK WHEN YOU'RE ALLOWED."
I raised my head and just glared at the room, since I didn't know where to look.
"Who the hell are you?" I asked, my voice shaking in anger.
"Oh...in good time, Chamberlin."
"Well, are you a man?"
"Yes, I am a man." At least now I knew it was a guy.
"Then why are you doing this? No man can possibly think this is right."
"Ashlyn, do you believe in the concept of Yin-Yang?"
"Um...I guess. Yeah, I do."
"False. Our cause goes against Yin-Yang. We do not believe anyone can be both good and bad. There are bad people. There are good people. There's no in between. There is no need for bad people on this Earth, and they're a problem. And what do you do with a problem? You get rid of it." He said casually.
My mouth hung open. "That's insane! How can you possibly believe that?!"
"Everyday, people are dying from the hands of abuse! Racism! Murder! Greed! Stupidity! Pettiness! Jealously! It's disgusting, and someone needs to put an end to it! Our future generations will not be raised in a world where you can't walk down the street without knowing if you'll make it home ever again!" He roared.
"You're sick. We can help you...just let us—"
  "NO!" He screamed, and I felt a sharp jab, followed by the crack of my rib. I ground my teeth together, tears of pain that I refused to let fall, stinging my eyes.
  "That's enough!" I heard another voice boom in the room. I jumped and my eyes darted around wildly. Was there someone else in here? "Leave." The voice said again. I felt the room get warmer when the presence left again, and I was left in shock.
  So sicko here wasn't the boss. There was someone else.

*Nathans POV*

  I woke up the next day to the glow of the sun creeping into my quarters. Well...not woke up. You have to sleep to wake up.
  I sat up in my bed and looked up and yelped when I saw Carson sitting at my desk, throwing a ball to the ceiling and catching it.
  "Holy shit, Carson! What are you doing in my room?" I yelled wearily, rubbing my eye.
  "I was wondering when you were going to notice me. I mean I know you weren't sleeping so your observational skills just suck—"
  "Carson, what do you want?" I asked again moodily.
  "Well I just couldn't stop thinking—"
  "You do that?"
  Carson threw his ball at me and I caught as he continued.
  "I've been racking my brain for hours about how we can find Ash. She would've figured something out so easily by now." He said.
"I know..." I said sadly. It drove me crazy just to not know where she was. Or what happened at least.
"Kind of makes you lose your mind huh?" I asked Carson with a bitter chuckle.
He ran a hand over his face. "Yeah." He was silent for a moment before speaking up again. "I think we should get Rianna in here and make a plan."
"Well you know we have a conference room for that—"
But Carson ignored me and took off running down out of my quarters and came back half a second later, Rianna in tow.
"I told you don't do that! It makes me sick going that fast!" She yelled at him, looking green-ish.
"We're trying to figure out how to find Ashlyn. Now I was thinking we could trace her heat or use her DNA somehow—"
"Ok, Carson let me cut you off there. There's no technology that exists where you trace ONE specific persons heat signature, nor can you track her with her DNA somehow." Rianna explained, making a face at him. "All that is way too complicated. The time we spend putting those plans in action would just be wasting ours and her valuable time."
"Ok...so what DO we do?" I asked, sitting back down on my bed, bringing my hands together between my knees.
"What if I just run around the city?" Carson suggested. "Yeah like I can run, and Nathan can teleport until we find her."
"We don't even know if she's in the city. She can be anywhere in the world."
I laid back on my bed and threw an arm over my head, feeling hopeless, until a thought came to mind.
"Hey remember when we interrogated Mr. Man-Bun?" I asked.
"Ew. Yeah?" Rianna replies, scrunching up her nose.
"Didn't he tell us the main place he exports is in Italy somewhere?"
"Italy's so sketchy." Carson said bitterly.
"What if that's their main headquarters?" I said, sitting up and holding my arms up.
Rianna sat up straighter and I could practically see the wheels in her head turning.
"Yeah...Yes! That makes sense. Società di cielo rosso is even Italian! It fits! Nathan I didn't know you had a brain!" Rianna exclaimed, running excitedly out of the room.
"HEY!" I yelled, standing up and following her with Carson.
  We followed her to the control room and she was already in her chair, typing like a crazy person.
  "Rianna?" Carson asked after five minutes, touching her shoulder.
  She literally hissed and made a move to bite his arm without taking her eyes off the screen, and Carson jumped back, yelping.
  "Bitches be crazy..." he mumbled, stalking out of the computer room, shaking his head.
  I continued watching her work, intrigued. She typed as fast as Carson could run and her eyes darted all over the computer screen. She could process something just as fast as a computer and it was truly extraordinary.
  I left for a little while and came back with Alysa, Sophia, and Carson with coffee.
  "I FIGURED IT OUT!" Rianna screamed in my face the minute I walked in, causing me to drop my coffee. I threw my arms up and glared at her.
  "Oh Nathan, I think you accidentally dropped your coffee. Anyway, guys I've been doing some digging. There are three main industrial zones in Italy. Milan, Genoa, and Turin." Rianna explained, holding up three fingers.
  "I have doubts that she could be in Milan, but still check. As for Genoa and Turin, Genoa is basically a big shipyard. They're for shipbuilding, trade, and  production. Turin is in the automotive industry, both being the perfect place to cover up any operations with droids. Go find her." Rianna said, pointing to the door.
"Ok, guys lets go." I said, clapping my hands and starting to walk towards the door.
Carson and Rianna began to follow, but Alysa kept staring at the ground, unmoving.
"Alysa? Come on let's go." Carson said, tugging her forearm.
"I think maybe we could use some help on this mission." Alysa said with a small smile pulling at her lips.
"Oh, Alysa, sorry but I don't think Joe's up to—" Rianna began.
"I don't mean him." She said with a bigger grin.
We looked at her quizzically and she beckoned us to her room.
We all crowded into her quarters, which, to my surprise, was a mess.
She strode to the closet, opened it, and out sprang a dog. It was a Belgian Malinois that was almost completely black with hints of silver. It wasn't a young puppy, but it still wasn't fully grown. I guessed about a year old.
"This is Asena, and she's our new team pup. She is seven months old. She is fully trained by military's finest." Alysa said, beaming proudly as Asena curiously and cautiously wandered around us, her eyes trained on us.
"She'll be tentative around you guys for a little bit, but she will protect you. Belgian Malinois have one of the best snouts of all dog breeds, and she's trained for combat. But she's also trained for love." Alysa cooed, kneeling and taking Asena's face in her hands. Her ears flattened down and she licked Alysa's hands.
I knelt down and grinned as Asena approached me. I tentatively held my hand out, and she licked it cautiously, trying to feel us all out.
  "Ok you guys can get better acquainted later. Now, you've got a job to do." Alysa said with a smirk as she led us out of the room.

*Sophia's POV*

  Within 15 minutes, we were all ready to go and waiting on the roof. I didn't want to admit it, but I was terrified to go on this mission right now. After witnessing one of my closest friends die, I was in no state of mind to be going on this mission, even though I said I would be. But I was going to push through it for Ash. Because she's out there, and God knows how scared she is.
  Nathan joined our hands and in a fraction of a second, we were in Genoa. I looked around and it was magnificent.
  "Uh, Nathan didn't you forget something?" Carson said, raising his eyebrows.
  He hesitated for a moment before cursing before teleporting and returning again with Asena. He set her down as she began growling softly at him and she started sniffing and walking around curiously.
  "Look Nathan, there's one more girl that's rejected you." Carson said, pointing to Asena and laughing.
  "Oh, ha-ha." Nathan mocked, glaring.
  "Ok you guys, we've got a lot of ground to cover, and not much time. Let's get started." I said, and we began our search through the city in Italy.