Freedom Fighters League of the Exiled

Tunnel Practice

We all sat on the floor in a circle and started brainstorming ideas. While we were sitting I noticed Hanji come down the stairs with my jacket which was now cleaned off and she gave us a confused look.

"Was I supposed to be down here too?" she asked looking at Thomas.

"No you're good," Pixis laughed, "he was down here to help in case they got stuck underground. He would help us communicate with them easier."

"Oh alright," she laughed before taking a seat anyway, "I might as well stay in case there are any more injuries," she said looking to Levi who just rolled his eyes.

"I don't want to talk about it," he mumbled.

"Well that's perfect you can help us brainstorm through this issue," Pixis said.

"I actually have an idea," Marlowe said quietly, "well that is if you aren't opposed to adding another person to the team."

"If their power can hide the light, and they agree to be on the team then by all means," Pixis nodded.

I already knew who he was going to suggest I felt myself mentally facepalm for not thinking of her sooner. I was just trying to use the teammates we already have. I didn't even think about adding another person to the team.

"I mean Hitch's power will work perfectly for this, I can go see if she's okay with joining," he said and Pixis nodded. He ran up the stairs and we all waited for him to come back with her by his side or with a no.

They both came down and she gave us a big smile, "I'd love to join the mission," she said happily.

With Hitch on the team it had me worried that Petra was going to have to do even more work to make the holes even bigger. We were already unsure if she could manage it with the team we had but adding an extra person adds more strain on her powers meaning me will need to take a lot more breaks during the mission.

"Alright let's see how this is going to work," Pixis said standing up and everyone got up with him.

"Do you think you can make a hole big enough for the whole team and actually be able to move?" Pixis asked Petra. I guess he was worried about actually pulling this off too.

"I should be able too, but I don't know for how long," she said with a nervous shrug.

"Well, guess we'll just have to test it out. I know you can do it though," Hanji said, giving her a pat on the back. "I mean you've moved around tons of walls, this isn't much different right?"

"I guess it's not," Petra said, a little more confident. "You're right, I can do this," she nodded. The whole team followed her lead as I walked over to Pixis. Thomas and Hanji stood back with him as the rest of the team all got closer together preparing to start the practice mission. "Just let me know when you are ready," she said looking over at me.

I nodded before turning towards Pixis to see what he wanted us to try. "Start whenever you're ready, but just do it as if it was the real deal," he said and I nodded.

"I'll be seeing how well Marlowe's power works under the ground. I will also be checking to see if Petra gets tired to quickly." I said and Pixis nodded.

"Just keep me updated," he said before turning to Thomas. "We're ready."

"Okay, I'll connect you two," Thomas said and I imagined the room in my mind as I heard Pixis's thoughts in my head.

Good luck. He thought to me and I gave him a smile.

Thanks, we will need it. I turned and headed back towards the group. I gave everyone the okay and Pixis turned out the lantern on the other side of the room. We were in complete darkness.

I tapped Hitch on the shoulder and she made a cover for us. She tapped me on the shoulder to let me know it was safe. I turned the flashlight on and saw her power at work. Her power made us and the light look like we weren't even there to anyone outside of the small radius. I could see the radius as the light rather than fade into darkness it ended abruptly.

I gave Levi and Petra a nod and they started opening the hole. I looked around at everyone and brough my shirt up over my nose and mouth to signal to everyone not to breathe in the "dust" particles as they started moving around.

Once the hole was big enough and deep enough for everyone to fit in, we needed to drop down into it without making a sound. I quickly looked at Levi who gave me a nod. He held all the particles back and out of the way while I used my powers to make everyone as light as a feather while they jumped into the hole. I did this by tapping them on the shoulder and then gesturing for them to jump. At first they were confused but when they saw the first person jump in without making a sound they realized fairly quickly what I was doing.

Once everyone was in the hole Levi moved the particles over our heads leaving a few holes in it as Petra solidified it. We turned the light out and I tapped Hitch on the shoulder to let her know she could drop her power for the moment.

Everyone settled down in the hole and I gave them a small rest as I filled Pixis in. We are in the hole did you see or hear anything? I thought to him

Nope nothing at all. It worked!

The hard part was far from done. We still had to figure out how to tunnel which now that Hitch is here it should be easier to block out the light without covering the holes and making everyone hold their breath every time we want to move.

Let's test Marlowe's powers first. Pixis thought.

"Marlowe," I spoke up, "can you see anyone above?"

"I can see Thomas, Hanji, and Pixis," Marlowe said.

"I'm going to have them back up tell me when you can no longer see them," I said and he nodded.

I started thinking to Erwin to have them back up they backed up for a few minutes until Marlowe finally said, "I can't see them anymore."

How far away are you? I asked

I would say anywhere from 75 to 100 feet, Pixis said giving me a rough estimate.

That's better than what I thought he could be able to see, but I doubt he could see clearly that whole time.

"Okay good," I said giving him a smile. "Lastly we are going to practice tunneling," I said and everyone nodded.

We worked at if a few hours taking breaks hear in there. We took a long break for lunch time and did one more quick run through before dinner. I think we are just about ready. We didn't make very many mistakes to start and all the mistakes we did make weren't anything that would get us caught instantly.

After dinner we were all exhausted. We had to go to bed early for the mission anyway, but none of us were complaining. We all needed the rest. Levi and I headed to our room. When we hit the bed we had to fight off falling asleep almost immediately. It didn't help that Levi's exhaustion was also making me more exhausted and vice versa.

One thing I am happy about is that Levi's bad luck seems to have gone away at least for now. We didn't have another incident all day, unless you count him tripping over his own two feet on the way up the stairs, but I think it was just from exhaustion rather than bad luck. Especially since he caught himself before he fell.

We got ready for bed before laying down and cuddling up next to each other. "I love you," he whispered, wrapping his arms around me. "Even though sometimes you're a pain in my ass," he laughed.

"I love you too," I laughed before laying my head on his chest and cloning my eyes, "especially because I can be a pain in your ass."

"Smartass," I could almost hear the eye roll with his tone of voice.

"I know you love it."

"You're right I do, even if it is a little annoying," he said and I felt as my exhaustion started to take me as the world around me faded away as I drifted off to sleep.