Time to Fly

I:

-Kohaku-

What just happened? One minute, I’m in class and the next I’m on the back of Clare’s vespa. She wasn’t telling me anything.

“Where are we going?” I asked. She didn’t answer.

“I have to get back to class!” I shouted. No answer. I kept looking behind me. Clare didn’t even slow down. What the hell were we running from? I could only hang on.

II:

Sirens blared through the air.

“We found here! We found her!”

The sirens grew louder. Nine mini ships sailed by. It had been months. Things had been quiet. Too quiet. What had she been up to?

A man in a police uniform looked at his watch. How long had it been? Months? Years? Too damn long. He closed up his watch.

“I will get you this time,” he hissed under his breath. One of his tank drivers looked up.

“You okay, boss?” he asked. The man in uniform cleared his throat.

“Of course I am,” he said, rubbing his messy black beard. The drivers looked at each other but said nothing. Better let him get it out of his system before they had to work on this case.

III:

-Kohaku-

Clare finally pulled to a stop in a half-ruined alley. I took off my helmet.

“Okay, what’s going on?” I asked. “Where are we going? Why did you pull me out of class? Why are we running?” More silence. I gritted my teeth.

“If you don’t tell me, I’m leaving,” I said. I climbed off the vespa.

“I’m on the run,” she admitted. I tilted my head.

“Huh?” I asked. Clare turned her head with a serious look on her face.

“I did something bad,” she said. “Really bad.”

“Huh?!” I asked. I hoped that she would say that she was joking. When she didn’t, my stomach dropped.

“What did you do?” I asked.

IV:

-Six Years Ago-

Clare sat in a prison cell. Fifty fifes in eight worlds. So many people died and so many buildings destroyed. She was waiting for sentencing.

Clare lifted her head. She couldn’t stay in here forever.  She had to grab her hair and screaming. She had to get out. She had to get away. But how?

Clare lowered her hands. She smirked to herself. She had a plan.

Time to act on it… Right… Now…

V:

-Present Day-

“What did you do?” I asked.

“I set several fires around eight worlds,” Clare answered. She said it so causally. My jaw dropped.

“What?!” I shouted. Clare gave me a goofy smile as she shrugged.