False Gods | The Prime Archives #3 ✓

nine

Chase went straight for Angus.

His reasoning, while tactically sound, was purely selfish.

Back when he was still the leader of the Prime Task Force, Angus had been a real pain in his ass. Now the boy had taken his place and was threatening to arrest him. He wasn't letting that stand.

Besides, after Stella, he was the strongest Prime on Atlas' side. Though, Chase wasn't so sure about that now—especially now that he had seen Orion fly and move faster than sound itself.

Usually, Primes only had a maximum of two abilities, and they were almost always related to each other. However, he couldn't distinguish the through-line between flight and hyperspeed.

Something in the back of his head told him Orion still had more tricks up his sleeve.

"Well, well, well," Angus mused as he weighed his metal baseball bat in his hands. A few silver balls hung from strings attached to his waist. "Long time no see, pal. How've you been?"

"I can't wait to knock your head off."

"Funny. Was just about to say the same thing."

They circled each other, weapons raised and eyes narrowed. Angus attacked first; Chase had been hoping the ginger-haired boy would.

Angus grabbed one of his metal balls and tossed it into the air. Crackling, blue energy encased the sphere as it fell back down. In one swift motion, he twirled his bat and smacked the ball like an all-star batter.

It soared straight for Chase. With a grunt, he raised his shield just in time to block it. The force of the ball shattered his holo-shield. Grimacing, he checked the device on his wrist.

Another shield wouldn't be ready for another few minutes. He shook his head and faced Angus.

He rushed him. Before his adversary could react, he swept his legs off the ground and forced him into the ground with the hilt of his blade. Eyes wide with surprise, Angus coughed as he hit the snow.

"Stay down, Slugger," Chase ordered. "I won't be so nice next time." Without waiting for a response, he sprinted toward Emily and Kai—who were fighting in tandem against a quartet of Jaegers.

He never made it to them, as Stella had intercepted him.

She hovered down from the sky, cutting him off.

Skidding to a stop, his boots digging into the snow beneath them, he searched for an exit route. After he didn't see one, he faced Stella and lowered his sword. He eyed her with caution, ready to run at any moment.

"You should've just surrendered," she told him. Her words were coated in disappointment.

"You know we couldn't."

Stella groaned in frustration. "I could've helped you. I could've convinced General North to let you rejoin the task force. He still sees you as an asset."

"Yeah, well, you can tell your boss I'm not interested." He arched an eyebrow at her. "And what about the rest of us? What was your plan for them? The Vault? Or maybe one of those relocation centers I keep hearing about on the news."

"They would safer there than out here."

Chase clenched his jaw. He wasn't going to dignify that with a response. She was too far gone. They all were. General North's propaganda had already gotten to them; they had been brainwashed into thinking the government cared about what happened to Primes.

Newsflash: they didn't.

Part of him wanted to try and reason with her. For a long time after he defected from Atlas, he hated himself for leaving her and Theo behind. He wanted them both to come with him. But they were both convinced the government had their best interests in mind.