*Hikari Hada's POV:
Was this the ranger? A policeman? Or the guy we are supposed to be waiting on? I wasn't sure. I just knew that I wasn't ready to go to jail. I wasn't ready to be taken away and never heard from again. With my powers I could pick up things with my mind and strike the person, like a branch or a deer or something, but Danny told us to wait and see who it was.
It was a male that approached us. He was white with blonde hair and brown eyes, he was about Danny's height. He wore a regular black shirt, brown jacket and dark blue jeans. He carried a flashlight.
"Hello", he greeted, he casually walked up to us. He placed his hand in front of his squinting face as he tried to block the light from our flashlights. His voice sounded as if he was thunder himself. It was deep and strong, but somehow not scary.
"Uh...hi. Who are you?", Danny asked hesitantly.
"I'm Alexander, but call me Alex. I've came here to take you guys back to Philippines. Trevor sent me."
"How did you find us?" Beval asked him, trying to make sense of everything.
"I teleported."
"Why is everyone a superhero but me?!", Tyler pouted.
"You're an experi-baby? Do you know my brother, Shimizu?" I asked Alex, inching my way towards him.
"Yes. He is our leader."
"What?" Celosia asked with furrowed eyebrows. "What do you mean by your "leader"?"
"I will explain later. First thing, I told you wait for me at the entrance. When I arrived I saw rangers examining an empty van. I even overheard them saying that they might call the police. It's not that hard to stay hidden you know."
"That wasn't our fault. We had no choice but to get out of dodge. Wouldn't you do the same thing?", Danny defended with pride.
"But you could've at least move the van to another spot, not leave it on the pathway. That lets the rangers know that someone is-"
"Okay, enough! I'm over the arguing and bitching, just tell us how you're going to take us to the Philippines. By plane? Boat?", Kimberly irked.
Alex shined his light towards Kimberly causing her to squint a little. He paused in awe. It's like he was a statue for a few seconds.
"Um, no. No, it's actually something better. I'll be teleporting you and your friends to the Philippines", he responded to Kimberly, snapping out of his daze.
"How is that possible?", Kimberly responded to Alex in disbelief.
"How is you turning into a tiger possible? Robin lighting fire with her hands? Beval controlling the wind and Gaia growing things, controlling the ground and more?" Alex responded.
He had a point. As experi-babies, we were doing things that were impossible. It sounded nice, but our existence felt like a bad thing to the world, and if you weren't an experi-baby yourself, you wouldn't understand.
"How did you know we could do those things?", Celosia questioned Alex.
"Shimizu told me a lot about you guys."
It wasn't took long until we heard what sounded like dogs barking. It was faint, but we could see lights that were moving from afar. My heart stopped for a second as my adrenaline kicked up.
"They're coming!" I yelled in fear.
"Look, just come closer to me and we'll teleport to the Philippines!" Alex urged.
"What?!", Beval said in confusion.
"Just trust me. We don't have much time!"
With little hesitation, we preceded to huddle around him. I tried the best I could to not get crushed in between Celosia and Danny.
"Now what?", Kimberly asked impatiently.
"Everyone, place your hands on one another so no one is left behind", Alex announced. He glanced at Kimberly before grabbing around her torso, causing her to look at him with confusion. "Hang on to me", Alex replied.
Immediately, a shinning light overcame us. It was white and blinding. I couldn't see anything in front or around me, but I could still feel Celosia's hand. The quick blinding light was followed by us going into what looked like a blue wormhole. I felt as if my body was stretching. I struggled to close my eyes, clenching Celosia's hand as she clenched mines back. We were going so fast I just couldn't keep up with the amount of time we were in there, it must've been only a second but it felt like forever. The real thing I could compare it to was the feeling of being transported to another universe.
Eventually, it was over, and we found ourselves in what appeared to be a tropical forest. I wasn't sure if we were near a Filipino city, or what area we were in, but I knew one thing for sure...it was hot and humid. It had to have been around ninety degrees.
"Space, thank you", Kimberly said passive-aggressively, removing herself from Alex's grip.
"Are we near my hometown Dumaguete? That's where I met Shimizu," Tyler asked Alex before looking around at our surroundings. "So, where do we go now?"
"Follow me", he directed, walking away, the leaves crunching under his feet as he placed his hands in his pockets. We followed, closely behind.
To be honest, I never been in a jungle before, well actually, I never been to Asia. I was in awe as I took in the scenery around me, never in my life have I experienced something like this.
The sounds of exotic birds chirping came from high above. Dangerous wild animals weren't nearby, thank goodness. Gazing up at the morning sky, I realized there were rarely any clouds up there.
I scratched myself in response to a few mosquitos biting different areas of my arms. It didn't help that we were passing through itchy, spikey green plants. Let's not even talk about the bugs I've seen.
I wasn't complaining though. Not one bit. I haven't been outside since I was six, and here I am now as a preteen, almost completely forgetting how the world works. Yet, I enjoyed every single second I was out there: the smell of rainwater, the slight tickling of a bug or two on my skin, the beaming sun on my neck, and the fresh oxygen that didn't have a stuffy feel to it like it did in the shelter.
I was at total peace for once. I had to have been in heaven. I tried many times to escape the shelter, but to actually be outside of it, far away with my older brother's friends was not something I imagined happening.
From behind Alex, I thought to myself how weird it was that he was constantly glancing at Kimberly, who was to the right of him. She pretended to not notice.
Maybe that's just something he did.
I will never understand grown-ups.
Eventually, after a few minutes, Alex came to a stop as he looked down at the ground below.
"Here we are. The place is underground."
"What? Oh no, please don't tell me it's another nuclear shelter. I refuse to go back to that place," I said, fear striking every part of my body.
"Oh no, no. It's not a nuclear shelter. If anything, it's something better. Just wait and see. Trust me", Alex responded, trying to persuade me.
I stood back and watched, giving him a chance. I met him not even thirty minutes ago, it's only fair to see what he can do to prove himself trustworthy.
Not like it surprised me, but I expected a latch that disguised itself as a tree trunk, or something else that was creative. Instead, he used a stick to open up the ground.
He dug the stick into the ground and pushed it downward. A piece of the ground, shaped like a circle, rose upward, revealing a four-foot wide hole.
We huddled over it and looked down. The walls were concrete. Bar stairs let downward into the darkness.
"I'll go first", Alex volunteered with no hesitation, but then again, he must've done this many times.
"I'll go last, that way I'll be on the lookout", Danny volunteered, looking around to make sure we weren't followed.
One by one, they climbed down the latter. Next up was me and Tyler.
"Ladies first", Tyler smiled nervously.
I glanced at him, my hands trembling as I shook my head "no".
"I'm scared. What if it's another shelter. I can't-I just can't do it again. You don't know how terrible it was in-"
"Hey!", Tyler interrupted sternly, grabbing onto my arms. "You got this." He admitted it was better than where we were. I need to trust that. "Look, I know how you feel. I have only been in that place for a year but starting out was rough. I can't imagine being hidden for five years. Listen Hikari, your brother is down there waiting for you. Don't give up now!"
He was right. We made it so far, I couldn't turn back now. I didn't want to turn back. I just refused to be in another single shelter. But, if Alex said it was better then I had to trust him. Plus, if I chicken out, where else could I go? We were in the middle of the rainforest.
"O-okay. I-I'll go", I nodded my head before heading towards the hole. I was hesitant, but the thought of seeing Shimizu again is what motivated me to climb down those stairs. Tyler followed closely behind, then Danny, closing down the lid of the ground above him.
"Is everyone here?", Alex asked before counting.
"Yes, that's everyone", Danny responded as he finished climbing down. "I was the last one down."
"Good." Alex tilted his head to point to a direction. "This way."
A long hallway led to a steel door. The walls were concrete. Dim fluorescent lights were on the ceiling above, buzzing. It reminded me too much of the shelter. I hated it, but I had to trust that this guy was telling the truth.
Once we reached the steel door, I heard what sounded like muffled noises of people from the other side. Alex proceeded to knock five slow times, but the last two was swift. It was most likely as a password.
It wasn't even ten seconds before the door slowly opened with a rumble. The way it moved, it must've been heavy, but then again...it was steel.
A man slowly opened the door. He looked up and straight at us. His deep ocean blue eyes grew larger as he realized who we were...and I immediately knew who he was. I struggled to hold in my tears, but they still managed to flow down my face.
"S-Shimizu?", I whimpered with an intense happiness I haven't felt in so, so long.