The team was stunned into silence for a good minute before Questa spoke up. "We have to get out of here. This place is going to blow if we don't hurry!" They ran the way they came from, only to be stopped by another barrier farther down. The building began to shake rapidly, and then stopped. "Maybe call for help?" Kitty took out her phone. Unfortunately, there was no signal because of the thick walls they were trapped by. "Ugh, what are we going to do?!" Suddenly, the barrier went away with a small "ping". Ali walked over and waved his hand in the area it had been. "Um... What just happened?" Questa walked over and examined it. "Zoe must have disabled it." Kitty glanced back. "Do you think something's wrong?" Lucy was already walking down the hallway. "Zoe isn't here anymore! We should get out of here!" The building shook again, like a small tremor leading up to the big earthquake. Ali frowned. "She said she was protecting him. If she's not stopping us, then..." "Something's wrong! Come on, guys!" Kitty ran down the hallway, catching up with Lucy. Up ahead, Vex was trapped under some rubble that had collapsed on him. Zoe was near him, having trouble getting him out. "We're here to help." Kitty quickly started to help lift the rubble off Vex. Everyone else pitched in with no question. The building shook again as the team finally got the rubble off with enough force. Questa looked Vex over. "Are any of your bones broken?" "I don't think so..." Vex looked pale. It wasn't obvious if anything was broken or not. "Then let's get out before this place blows!!" Lucy started to run for it, but Zoe stopped her. Lucy looked back in disbelief. "Again? We need to get out of here!" Zoe, with a good deal of force, punched a hole in the wall, showing the way out into the forest again. "Quickly!" Questa helped Vex out first, followed by Ali and Lucy. Kitty looked back at Zoe, who was keeping a barrier above them to protect anyone from falling debris. "Zoe, come on!" Zoe shook her head. "Your life is more important. I was made to protect Vex, and he needs you. You need to leave." "But–" The building gave one last shake. Kitty turned back. "He needs you too!" "GO!" Zoe pushed her through as the building began to explode, extending her hand out to Kitty at the last moment. The explosion's force blasted Kitty in the back toward the forest. She coughed because of the smoke that filled in her lungs. "Kitty!" Questa came over. "No, no, no, no..." She looked sick with worry. Kitty turned over. "Questa..." She coughed. "I'm ok... just a bit–" She coughed again. "Smokey." Questa shook her head. "You couldn't have made it out alive normally. How did you make it?" Kitty looked back at the building. "I think... Zoe did it." Sure enough, the small barrier behind Kitty faded away as quick and slow as a breath of air. Back at the school, Vex was arrested for his crimes. It turned out his leg was broken, so he would be treated for it. He was still very upset, and more so because Zoe had sacrificed herself. Everyone of the four tried to apologize, but to no avail. They had a victory celebration prepared for them in the dining hall, but it was bitter-sweet. They had lost a friend and a student at the school, partly thanks to the fact they hadn't tried to help him. Mrs. Martinez walked to the front of the room when the party had died down for the most part. "Can I have your attention, please?" Her voice carried over the room. The students faced her, curious on what she had to say. "I have... an apology to make. Part of the reason why Vex did what he did was because of me. I was the one who said he couldn't do the art he wanted to in a... not so pleasant way. Even before he was given the opportunity to be an elite agent, I had a feeling Vex loved to do AI art. I discouraged him from doing it, but I could have done it in a much better way instead of saying it's wrong and not explaining. Vex just liked to make AI art because he was good at writing out what he wanted. Everyone has different ways of doing things. I shouldn't have put him aside because he was different. This school was meant to receive all artists, religion, ethnicity, gender, background, ability, and art style. If I cast someone out, if any of you cast someone out, you are breaking the school's purpose. As a school, we are to encourage artists to do their own work. I want to tell you I'm deeply sorry for what has happened from my actions. I will make sure that, from this day forward, I keep that purpose of the school in my heart as headmistress, and I hope you can forgive me." The room was silent for a second but erupted into applause soon after. Some of the students clapped because of the good speech, but others were overjoyed to realize that they would no longer be outcasted and instead helped. The team watched in quiet contentment. They would make sure this wouldn't happen again to any of the students in this school. No one would be an outcast.
Next Part: This is the grand finale! Let me know if you would want more to this story in the future with the same characters. :D Last Part: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1172166989/ First Part: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1172141945/ Characters and story are owned by me. Cover off of google.
