The Anthem Force Chronicles

Chapter 14- Tournament of Heroes

“You ready, there’s no turning back from here,” David whispers to me. He has a device in his hand, one I’ve never seen, but that’s no surprise. David’s a master of bizarre gadgets and a collector of innovative technology.

His words were true though. If we get caught it’d be a sure ticket home… or worse.

We’re standing in front of the Hall of Heroes. It’s completely empty and slightly eerie. In the background the quite mumble of the city and dotted lights seem distant. It’s just the two of us. I hadn’t bothered to wake up Luke. It just seemed wrong to. What if we were wrong? I wouldn’t want him to get in trouble because David and I had a hunch.

“Yah let’s go,” I say before I can even think about the consequences. I can’t chicken out of this now.

David pulls out a metal tube and scans the glass. A bright red laser beam comes out and makes a small buzzing noise.

He presses his hand up to the glass door but it’s no longer there. It’s as if a large circular chunk of it just disappeared.

“Where’d you even get-,” I start, “You know what? I don’t even want to know.”

David smirks. He’s wearing his signature uniform: black shirt, blank pants, black sneakers, black mask. Even his spiky hair is black, the only contrast being his pale skin.

I’ve even matched my own outfit; a black long-sleeve shirt, black mesh shorts, and black sneakers. It’s comfortable and much more reasonable then that atrocity of a uniform Ultraman had wanted us to wear for the tournament.

“Fine by me, let’s go save the world,” he says as he ducks through the hole. I follow suit and together we slink through the shadows.

David’s a pro at this, he was an ex-con after all, and he expertly points out the cameras and where to walk to avoid them.

“Where should we look first,” I ask him. Currently we’re ducked behind a couch and David is holding some sort of electronic tablet in his hand.

“I’m trying to pick up their heat signatures,” he whispers back.

“Is that what that does?”

“No I’m just ordering pizza on here for later… of course that’s what this does,” he snaps at me.

“Oh David, how I’ve missed your sarcasm,” I mutter but he ignores me. Instead he rolls off and starts sprinting down the hall.

I scurry after him. We pass the main room, the gym, the press room, and finally stop in front of a random door. It seems innocent enough. No lasers, no guard dogs. Just a plain old door, as if for a janitor’s closet or a meeting room.

“It’s locked,” I say as I try the handle, “Can you pick it?”

“Pssh, can I pick it?” David laughs, “Please.”

He reaches into his pocket as I can’t help but wonder what high tech gadget he’ll use next. But instead of some state-of-the-art laser, super tool he takes out a simple bobby pin.