Alpha Project II: Axis

Chapter Fifteen: Middlegame

Vlad re entered the jet with Cole unconscious over his shoulder to see Riku, Lucia, and Leo huddled together at a single table.

“Oh, you two are awake. Good to see you are both doing well.” He said as the Italians. He read their faces as he approached them, laying Cole on a nearby table as he walked. He recognized the particular look.

“We have a new mission?”

Riku looked around, at the team. His team. He sat in the corner, across from Lucia and Leo. Cole was unconscious on a nearby table. Vlad took a seat next to Leo, revealing Kira behind him. Riku took know that even in her older, more difficult to notice (for other men, at least) form, she was still incredibly stealthy.
Riku scanned the room, looking at the chairs behind him.

“Where did Lara go?”
Vlad scanned the room to.

“She wasn’t outside.” he said.

“She wasn’t on the roof?”
“Would she have ran off?”

“She’s not that kind of broad.” Cole’s voice cut in, slightly slurred. “She was more willing to come here than I was.”

“How long have you been awake?” Riku asked.

“You were willing to come here?” Leo asked.

Cole pushed himself off of the table and stood. He almost fell back, but steadied himself.

“I want a rematch, vampire!” He said, pointing to Vlad.

“You’ll get it later,” Vlad said.

Riku loudly cleared his throat.

“Back to Lara. We need the entire team here. If you know her so well, where would she have gone?”
Cole opened his mouth to speak, then fell backwards onto the table. He then rolled face first onto the seat. Vlad forcibly held back a loud laugh while Kira held back a small giggle.

“Who passes out, wakes up, says something useful, then passes out again?” Riku asked, facepalming.

“At least he didn’t set the jet on fire.” Leo said, looking at the tabletop.

“Do you have eyes on them, James?” Lara heard a voice say.

“Nah, man, not since those last two mofes.” another voice responded.

Lara struggled to move any part of her body, but was completely immobilized. She dug her nails into her skin. Her eyes widened underneath whatever material covered her face. Her nails dug into her skin. She didn’t feel her nails bounce off of her metallic skin like it had since she got her powers. She felt pain in both her arms and in her heart as she realized something. She no longer had her powers. Any amount of bravery she held fell from her as she lost consciousness.

A dark-skinned teenager lied on a rooftop, a long-range rifle in his hands. Strangely, the rifle had no scope. Considering the fact that his target was half a mile away and several stories down and he still had complete view on the Axis jet, the teen the teen was quite skilled.

“Well, one of Malik’s boys caught this one.” The teenager behind him. “According to the report, there are six others. Since I locked this one’s powers away, we only need to capture the Italian girl, the other German, and the two Japanese ones. The other Italian and the Romanian, you can kill.”

The sniper turned his head to the teen speaking.

“Da hell makes you think I know the difference between a German and an Italian?”
The other teen sighed. Why couldn’t Ken be here so I wouldn’t have to deal with this idiot.
“I thought someone who uses the derogatory terms you do would at least be able to tell what race a person is.”