Genesis | Book One, The Genesis Series

THIRTY-FOUR

The ten of them maneuvered the through the thick, colorless hallways of the fortress, everyone on their toes. At the first sign of attack, Amber would release a few arrows in the enemy's direction. Or maybe she'd render them motionless with a few cryokinetic blasts.

Whichever she felt like doing.

She gazed down at the snowflake emblem she'd designed on her bio-suit, pleased to find that it was fully radiant, emitting a white glow. Leo had added a mechanism inside of the emblem that acted as a monitor for her cryokinesis, assessing how the surrounding environment affected her powers.

A fully glowing snowflake emblem signaled to her that her powers were now at full strength. Perfect.

Eliza drew a pair of daggers from one of the compartments on her suit, spinning them through her fingers to prepare herself for combat. Her crystal blue eyes glinted through the darkness, riddled with combativeness.

Catching some of the young heroes off guard, Ajax appeared in front of them, materializing before Kai in a cluster of purple particles. The boy didn't flinch. Seconds later, a miniature horde of agents-at least two hundred-emptied out from the doors of the next sector into the same hallway.

These agents looked bigger, stronger, and harder to take down. The enhanced operatives swarmed and flooded the room like some sort of plague, but that didn't seem to deter The Guardian. Nothing would.

"Not so fast, Guardian." The man snarled at the boy as he smirked, his blade radiating a small aura of seething, violet energy that melted the steel floor underneath it. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Get out of our way, Elias." Eliza threatened from behind Kai as she activated her wrist-mounted blades with a scowl, Dylo staying close to her all the while. "Dad would be so disappointed."

The man's face became strained, blinking rapidly for about a second before reverting back to his calm demeanor. "Matthews is more of a father than that wretched man ever was." Kai was exposed to the man's chipped teeth once more.

He didn't think he'd ever get used to seeing them.

Rift and Steel appeared through one of her portals beside Ajax, followed by a couple more enhanced soldiers.

Troy furrowed his brow at the surrounding scenery as he lit his hands, frost stemmed from Amber's fingertips, and purple energy radiated off of Bianca's gloves. Amber peered to the right at Leo's ElectroBands, which were now set to the highest setting. The boy was ready for battle.

They all were.

Echo's grip on his rifle didn't waver as he kept the barrel of his firearm aimed at the menace before him. Sharpshooter did the same, his body angled in the direction of the nearest staircase so he could get to the roof as fast as possible.

Kai stepped forward as he detached his sword from its holder, clenching his fist as he activated his bio-shield. The glowing, scarlet disc projected red light onto the walls of the spacious hallway. No words came from his mouth, but his stance and facial expression were more than enough.

"Fine. If you're all so eager to die..." Ajax chuckled, clutching his blade. "...I'll be happy to assist you."

The man then teleported away as the horde of soldiers behind him began unloading a barrage of ammunition upon them. The speeding projectiles flew through the air with a sharp crackling sound.

Bianca instinctively raised her force field, bullets ricocheting off of it and Kai's bulletproof body. "Go! Get out of here! Fan out!" Kai commanded to his team as he registered a slight sting each time a bullet made contact with his skin.