THE UNION

ROAD TRIP

"Another beautiful day in this fake world, let's hope with the help of this new member the team can find Papa but let's also learn a few things about Gboyega past and his deceased wife." Essence says manically as his voice fades away.

In a flashback to 2011, In Papa's house the whole gang gather together in the dining room discussing about ideas as they've all been getting closer. Richard already getting tired of staying at home all day brings up the idea that they can start helping people with their powers.

"I know it might sound crazy but this is just what we need to get back on our feet." Richard says, the team feels indifferent about the idea, Gboyega who is scared of using his powers responds.

"I hope you know I'm not good at all with my powers, one push of anger and I might blow a place up." Gboyega says, Richard pats Gboyega on the shoulder.

"My parents trained me in a very dangerous and strict way, I can teach you how to control your powers." Richard said, Ayo starts liking the idea and nods to the positive.

"You know there's nothing bad in trying this, I and Slip have always wanted to see what other things my powers can do."

Ayo said, Ngozi shocked that Ayo has never really used his powers responds.

"With all these special tech in you, you've not still started using your powers." Ngozi laughed mockingly, Ayo feeling left out, he quickly whistles and steps back a little bit.

"Just call me when you're all ready." Ayo says and leaves the dining room, Chong sits but doesn't contribute cause he knows his powers can't do anything to help. Chong powers weren't on the offensive level, it was meant for defence and protection.

"So what about me?" Chong voice was so low, Gboyega pushes Richard to talk to Chong, Richard doesn't feel comfortable but being the only bold person he is speaks out.

"Chong you know your powers are not really......." Chong quickly interrupts.

"I understand." Chong says, feeling left out and embarrassed, he runs out and goes to the sitting room, Gboyega moves to the kitchen. Ngozi questions Richard.

"You really seem hyped about this." She says and chuckles a bit, Richard smiles back at her

.

"Why wouldn't I? I had a bit of messy childhood." Says Richard, he grew up with a mafia family, his Parents were the top bosses around the place but Richard never wanted that type of life. He moved closer to Ngozi.

"Telling me about yourself, that's nice." Ngozi says and smiles.

"You never told me how you got your amulet." Richard asked, Ngozi stares at his face for awhile, lost in his beauty Richard did the same, as their lips moved closer to each other they both quickly stop.

"I'm sorry." Ngozi says and runs off.

Two months later, Gboyega goes to a forest wearing a overall cloth. He looks around and makes sure no one is following him or around him, Gboyega breathes out and stretches both his hands. He inhales oxygen and calmly breathes out. Fire starts igniting out of his hand and he quickly starts chuckling in excitement, this was the first time he had control over his powers, a huge burden was coming out of him. Gboyega stops the fire from coming out, he quickly leaves the forest and walks down a ghetto, he sees a young lady getting robbed. Gaining some new kind confidence after using his powers, he stands firmly.

"Leave that young lady alone!" Gboyega shouts and moves closer to the man robbing the woman. He stretches his hand and a huge wave of fire comes out of his hand, Gboyega already losing control of his powers quickly tries to stop it but can't, a wave of past memories start hitting him and fire starts covering up his body. Luckily the lady manages to drag the thief out of the fire and knocks him down. The lady moves to Gboyega who's bending his head, she pats him. Gboyega raises his head and sees a young lady with beautiful braids standing in front of him.

"Thanks for trying to help but I was already handling the issue." She talks in a very calm tone, Gboyega gets up and forces a smile out of his lip

"I was just trying to help." Gboyega voice shakens, she holds his left hand.

"It's okay, your powers aren't stable right? Mine were pretty hard to control too, my name is Gbemi." Gboyega finds it very hard to interact with people, he was always awkward when he was around people but he felt comfortable around Gbemi.

"My name is Gboyega." He says swiftly.

In the present, Tolu is at the police station searching for clues and names on a laptop to gather information about Essence. Dayo a chubby, dark skinned man wearing a black police uniform, he shuts the laptop down.

"You don't need to be doing this Tolu." Dayo says and sighs, he promised to always take care of Tolu since she joined the police force.

"I'm working on a very important case so can you buzz off." She says firmly, Dayo has always been in Tolu business, she finds it very annoying but she also knows that he's doing all this because he cares.

"You're not a Supernatural like the rest of us, you'll get yourself killed one day." Tolu is not shakens by what he said, she grew up to never fear anyone especially Supernaturals, her father will always take her out to teach her unique moves and key elements to taking down Supernaturals.

"I'm fine Dayo, I was the only normal student while I was at the police academy and I prevailed." Tolu says, Dayo knowing he can't stop her decides to help her.

"So what case are you working on?" He asked, Tolu smiles and decides not to tell him cause she doesn't really know what she's working in to, Tolu is just looking for a way to prove that she can do alot as other Supernaturals can do.

"A special case." She says and stands up, two male officers walk in.

"You better stick with staying in the station than going out to die." One of them said, these two men were Jonah and Timi, they were Supernaturals and we're both hired the same day Tolu was hired. They gained joy in teasing her and they've been listening to what her and Dayo have been saying.

"You'll both be surprised, I'm going after someone called Essence." Tolu says boldly, she had already done research about him and learnt a few things about him one was that the police force had failed to stop him numerous times, the captain of the station walks into the room he had also been listening to everything that they've been saying.

"You want to go after Essence? You're just a human nothing special about you." The captain says mockingly and the two other officers join him in laughing.

"I will stop him." Tolu says boldy, she was feeling quite intimidated.

"Essence can't be stopped, he caused havoc around this country for a very long time and we just had to wait for him to go." The captain voice shakens, remembering all the encounter he had with Essence.

"How come I've never heard about him? I don't think Dayo has heard about him too." Tolu says and Dayo nods to the positive wanting to know more about this notorious villain.

"A lot of people don't know about him anymore even people that had personal encounters can't remember who he is or even his name, like half of everyone in this world memory got erased about him." The captain voice went really deep and was scarier.

"That's just bullshit." Dayo says not believing.

"Essence is a God, he isn't like any other Supernaturals." The captain says, drags a chair beside him and sits on it.

"Well I'm going to stop him, I have a team." Tolu says, she was scared deep down but didn't want to back down, the captain and other officers except Dayo burst out laughing.

"If only you guys could show me some kind of support, like give me some of the power suits." Tolu says boldly, she was determined to prove herself.

"Let's have a deal Tolu, if you can get a video for you defeating Essence then I'll make sure you get everything you want here, the gadgets, power suits and going on different missions." The captain says sarcastically.

"She's too chicken to do it........" Timi says but Tolu quickly interrupts him and faces the captain.

"Deal! I'm going to surprise all of you." Tolu says and walks out.

"If you need any help just call me!" Dayo yells and chases after her.

Tolu gets to Papa's house very early, she bangs at all the doors. Tolu was feeling angry about what happened at the station, she felt more determined to find Papa and stop Essence.

"Everyone come out! We have to find Papa!" Tolu walks around the living room, she couldn't sit down cause of what happened, she looked at herself in a mirror and felt worthless, throughout since she knew her father he had never felt that way, he always told her about how the station was peaceful place for him.

"I'll try everything to make you proud father" She says to herself while frowning, Gboyega gets to the living room and stares at her, he moves to a chair without greeting her, Tolu doesn't even notice that he has gotten to the living room until he starts moving his feet, she turns around and faces him.

"I don't think both of us have properly met." Tolu says politely but Gboyega doesn't respond, he actually had nothing to say. He has always tried his best not to make new friends.

"The others gave me all the necessary update." He says and smirks, she goes to a chair and sits. The others later show up and get sorted, Tolu stands up.

"What took you guys time?" Ayo talks back.

"It's hard for me to get up." Ngozi yawns and uses her hands to scratch her eyes.

"What did you find?" Ngozi is very curious about the situation, Tolu smiles knowing that at least one of them is ready to help out, Tolu brings out a paper from her pocket and reads out what's written.

"Well, there were multiple cases about this powerful Supernatural who called himself Essence, years later no one heard from him and everyone felt he just vanished." She brings out a picture of a huge factory called "Cale factory" in Akure State and shows it to the team.

"While I was searching around, I figured out that some people said Essence was last seen there, we need to check it out." Richard excited about the idea jumps out of his chair.

"A road trip, this is going to be amazing." The others are still a little scared about facing Essence especially after everything they experienced in the portal.

"You won't understand when I say we don't want to face Essence, he did so many f****d up things to us." Gboyega talks out of fear but Tolu assures all of them that everything is going to be fine.

"You guys should get your s**t together, Chong told me about everything Papa did for you guys, let's just try and find him." Ayo stands beside Tolu after what she said.

"While I feel Papa will come back home, I understand this whole idea and I think we should all go." Tolu nods and walks out of the living room, she comes back and smiles awkwardly.

"So, who has a car we can take cause my car isn't really good and I ain't paying for a Uber." Tolu says, Richard laughs.

"Let's just take mine." Richard says swiftly.

In a flashback, three months has passed since Gboyega and Gbemi met. They both have gotten really close, she teaches Gboyega how to use his powers twice per week but they both haven't had a deep conversation this is because Gboyega finds it very awkward to still talk to her. One particular day, Gboyega burns his hands while training so Gbemi takes him to her one bedroom apartment to use bandages on his arms while doing this they are both quiet, Gboyega feels he might lose this friendship if he doesn't get close with her.

"You've never really told me much about yourself." Gboyega voice shakens, he was scared thinking what he said was off, she chuckles.

"You never really talked to me to so I just left you to do your own thing. By the way the only reason why I'm training you is because you tried to help me." Gbemi says she had tried so many times to have a conversation with Gboyega in the past but he always shuts her down, the feeling of losing this pure friendship hits Gboyega more harder.

"I never really made friends apart from the people I live with, spent my entire childhood in my room." Gboyega says, faces his head down, his parents always locked him up and felt ashamed of him, Gbemi uses her hand to raise his head.

"Sorry about that, I'm just a normal Supernatural girl trying to help the world, I've been manipulated times without number. So trust me when I say you're not missing out, the people around here are pretty shitty." Gbemi says hoping to make him feel better, Gboyega smiles at her and responds.

"You're not." He says calmly as they both stare at each other in a very romantic way, Gbemi isn't concentrating anymore and her body starts glowing. Gboyega taps her hand.

"Your light powers........" Gboyega quickly cautions her, Gbemi gains focus and interrupts.

"Yeah, I know." Gbemi says, gains control of her power and stops staring deeply into Gboyega eyes.

"You have any family?" Gboyega questions her again, Gbemi feels uncomfortable about the question but still responds.

" I have a daughter, she stays with my sister in London and before you ask about her dad........ Well he left us." Tears fill Gbemi eyes as she talked, she never wanted to have a child with the man but was manipulated, Gboyega grabs her hand.

"Sorry." Gboyega says calmly, Gbemi brightens up a ball of white light comes out of her hand, she places it on Gboyega burnt hand and it starts healing him. For the past two months that Gbemi has been training Gboyega, he was always shocked about how good she handled her powers.

"You're so perfect with your powers." He stares at the white light ball astonished, the light ball fades away and she grabs his hand.

"Some of us our powers work by how we handle our emotions." She says proudly after spending many years of mastering her powers. A sense of guilt hits Gboyega after what he said, his hand starts hitting up again. He couldn't handle what he had done in the past.

"I killed my parents with my powers." Gboyega voice shakens as he talked, tears filled his eyes he couldn't handle it anymore.

In the present, by afternoon time the whole team are in the car. Tolu is driving while Gboyega sits beside her, Ayo sits in the middle at back cause both Ngozi and Richard refuses to sit beside each other. Gboyega starts to rant.

"You guys shouldn't have brought me, it'll just end badly!" Gboyega shouts at the top of his voice, Richard hits him on the leg.

"Why are you being so negative?" Richard says confused, he sits beside Gboyega to cheer him up.

"It's just fact, the last mission I went for didn't end well." Gboyega says thinking about his past, lays his head on the chair and dozes off.

By evening time, Richard took the wheel, Ngozi was monitoring him cause no one trusted him while the others were asleep.

"You know you don't have to stay here and watch me." Richard says feeling uncomfortable being alone with his ex.

"Trust me, I don't want to either." Ngozi lies, she slowly sits beside him. They were both silent for about a minute, Richard was desperate to get answers from her about their recent breakup, they both haven't had a normal conversation since they broke up and separated.

"Don't you want to talk about our break up?" He says swiftly, Ngozi rolls her eyes trying not to pay attention but Richard won't stop questioning her.

"There's nothing to say about it......... The whole relationship was just vibes, we didn't know anything about each other, you kept secrets from me............." Richard interrupts her before she is able to go on.

"You also kept secrets too, let's not play the blame game here." Richard says and sighs deeply.

"I care about each you, it's easy to see..................." Richard goes on hoping to get on Ngozi good side but instead it angers her.

"Can you stop talking? I don't want to be reminded about my failed relationship." Ngozi says sadly, her voice shakens a bit she turned her face around to the window trying to get fresh breeze but Richard didn't stop talking.

"I know you care about me too, we don't need to lie............" Richard goes on, Ngozi was getting frustrated she faced him and yelled.

"Stop talking!" Ngozi shouts at the top of her voice but her anger triggers her amulet which releases a pink coloured wave around their surrounding shaking the car and knocking the engine down. The others quickly wake up and they all rush towards the bonnet of the car.

"What happened?" Tolu says getting really nervous, Ayo opens the bonnet of the car and a huge wave of smoke comes out of it.

"The engine is fried" Ayo says and sighs deeply, Gboyega let's out a smirk.

"Let's just go back home" Gboyega says but no one gives him any attention, he moves to Ngozi and Richard who are standing afar from the others.

"What were both of you up to while we were asleep." Gboyega says, hisses and walks away. Tolu heart starts beating really fast, feeling she has failed her thoughts move to Richard knowing he has teleportation powers.

"Richard can't you get us out of here?" Richard pats her right shoulder.

"I'm a little bit exhausted also my powers work by my mood." Richard says, he was quite sad about everything that happened with him and Ngozi. Ngozi amulet starts glowing and a blue coloured dwarf suddenly appears in front of them.

"Thanks for coming Blitz." Ngozi says, Blitz is one of her imaginary friends and he has the ability to control lightning, he checks out the car engine and coughs out immediately due to the smoke.

"Oof, this car is gone." Blitz talks with a very thick igbo dialect.

"There's no fixing it, the amulet caused the damage. You guys should find the nearest hotel and stay there till tomorrow morning, by then I'll see what I can do." Blitz says and vanishes, Tolu is fascinated by what she saw, she has only heard about what Ngozi can do by Chong.

"That's really awesome Ngozi." Tolu says while smiling and Ngozi smiles back at her.

"I think the best thing we can do is what Blitz said, let's start pushing." Tolu says boldly and leads the team.

They all manage to push the car to the front of a small motel, Tolu goes in to the receptionist who's a man and talks to him.

"I need five rooms please." Tolu says as she lays her head on the counter already stressed, the young boy chuckles.

"We only two rooms available." The boy says rudely, she hits her head on the counter.

"Listen, those people that I carried won't be able to stay together I think." Tolu pleads.

"We only have two rooms, take it or leave it." The boy says and turns his head around uninterested.

Tolu goes outside to meet the team and hands a key to Ayo.

"They have only two rooms." Tolu says as she breathes heavily, she was tired and was a total mess, the others started to worry a bit about her.

"Are you okay?" Richard asked, they were all really concerned even though they had no idea who this woman is.

"I'm fine....... Let's just get some rest." Tolu says while still breathing heavily and walks out.

The ladies settle in their room, they both lay their bed. Ngozi chuckles as she's whispering to Daisy. Tolu still fascinated by this questions her about it.

"You're talking to your imaginary friend? How does it even work?" Tolu asked she was stressed about everything that had just happened, Ngozi felt pity for Tolu.

"I have this amulet my grandma gave it to me, somehow it's connected to me mentally. I can create anything that I think of." Ngozi says and joins Ngozi on her bed.

"It's magical, you know getting to create your own friends." Tolu says, she had felt lonely since the day Chong died, Ngozi smiles and Huffcupp suddenly appears on the floor.

"Meet Huffcupp, my first imaginary friend." Ngozi says proudly she never really talked about her imaginary friends with anyone even Richard, astonished Tolu touches his fur. Huffcupp pushes her hand.

"She's touchy." Huffcupp says rudely Tolu laughs out loud, she felt a wave of calmness in her body after all the stress today.

"How many of them do you have?" Tolu asked out of curiosity.

"Fifteen, they've all helped me in my darkest moments." Ngozi says calmly, she lays her head on Huffcupp soft fur.

"Good for you, I don't really have friends." Tolu tells her, she was a workaholic and found it more difficult to make new friends since Chong died.

"Same but I'm sure with time we can be you know friends." Ngozi says, she lets out a little smile and moves closer to Tolu, Tolu chuckles a bit feeling more welcome to the group filled with these strange misfits.

In a flashback to 2013, the whole group around to talk. They all feel much more better so Gboyega, Richard and Ngozi think is about time they move out while Ayo and Chong think it's a bad idea.

"Listen, I know it might sound crazy but I think that's what will be best for us. Papa found us at the lowest point of our lives but I feel were better now." Gboyega says trying to convince the others that it was about time they leave and go on their separate journey, he had felt more confident since he had started dating Gbemi, Richard supports Gboyega idea.

"That's what I was thinking to. Ayo is much more confident with his powers, Gboyega is with Gbemi and Ngozi is kinda with me." Richard swiftly says, regretting he said he and Ngozi were dating.

"You and Ngozi? Perfect couple in the group." Ayo quickly teases both of them, he chuckles and continues talking.

"I don't know how I feel about this, what will Papa think?" Ayo says, Ngozi who has been getting closer with the others talks.

"Papa will be fine about it, I think that's what he'll want for us. Ayo I know you were the first here and it's hard for you to let go but we all have to move on at some point." Ngozi says, she was a little bit ready to go and wanted to start a life with Richard they've both spent months talking about how amazing it would be if they both faced the world together, Ayo sighs.

"I know but I didn't think it will be this soon." Ayo says he didn't want to be alone but also didn't want to give the impression that he couldn't move on like the others, they all stare at Chong, he didn't contribute to anything they've all said.

"Are you okay Chong?" Gboyega ask, Chong doesn't want to leave Papa but a part of him wants to go he was hiding something but couldn't risk to tell the others.

"I can't leave him." Chong says and runs off, the team don't know much about Chong, he came to the house unexpected and was the last to join them. Most time he'll always spend all his time with Papa and was very distant from the others, he came to the house surprisingly after Papa brought him. He had distant himself from the team, he spent most of his times meditation and going on trips with Papa

In 2016, Gboyega and Gbemi have joined forces to start stopping crimes in Lagos. They both have been working on a case for years to stop a mafia crime boss. They get heads up about the location of the person, they invade a warehouse that's located at a silent street and knock down the guards.

"Moving together was a great idea." Gboyega chuckles as he talks, the whole room is quite dark so Gbemi summons a light ball to look around the place.

"I don't think Vonz is here, the bastard probably knew we were coming." They both hear the sound of a incoming bullet and from the shadow five stray bullets hits Gbemi right through the chest.

"No!" Gboyega scream, a burst of fire suddenly comes out of his body.....

In the present, Gboyega wakes up shirtless the others are in a hurry. He gets up from his bed and looks for his shirt, Ayo moves to Gboyega.

"What were you thinking about? I've been shouting your name for over three minute." Ayo yells Gboyega hasn't been himself, he has been thinking about Gbemi and he wasn't ready to head out for another mission.

"Shouldn't we take some kind of break?" Gboyega pleads, Richard is confused by what Gboyega said cause he sees himself as the lazy one.

"You're finally embracing your lazy side." Richard says and chuckles. Tolu and Ngozi enter the boy's room, Tolu is shocked that the guys haven't gotten ready.

"We have a long way to go guys, let's go." Tolu is anxious and wants to rush them, Tolu faces Ngozi.

"Can you summon Blitz?" Tolu says, Ngozi nods to the positive. She brings out her amulet from her pocket, she closes her eyes and squeezes the amulet hoping to summon Blitz but the amulet doesn't work cause the girls used it all night.

"I think it's taking a time out, needs to recharge." Gboyega says happy about this cause he knows they won't be able to go for the mission anymore, the whole mess causes an argument between everyone. Richard quickly gets frustrated by all this.

"Stop!" He grabs Ngozi left hand and they vanish out of the room.