Genesis | Book One, The Genesis Series

THIRTY-SEVEN

"Sorry, they don't give trophies for last place." Eliza retorted, clenching her fists as she activated her bloodstained, wrist-mounted blades. She turned to Dylo, who was still on the ground. His hands were clasped over his stab wound.

"Blur, Remnant's unconscious. You go help Guardian and Frost hold off Matthews. I'll take care of Rift." She ordered as Dylo nodded, attempting to scramble to his feet. He gave Eliza one last look of thankfulness before darting off towards Matthews with the little speed he had left.

Eliza then turned her menacing focus back to Rift as they circled each other. She'd faced the woman a few times before, therefore, she knew how to deal with her annoying portals. The key to beating her was to attack in advance. Hopefully her experience would serve her well.

"Shall we play, Cloak?" Rift sneered, twirling another one of her daggers through her clammy fingers. Her eyes bounced from her blade to Eliza's face.

"I play rough." Eliza snarled as she lunged at the woman, extending her blade. Rift's dagger clattered against it, bouncing off as Eliza swung outwards to deflect her blow.

Attempting to follow up on her block with counter, Eliza thrusted her arm forwards, intending to pierce Rift in the gut. Unfortunately, Rift spawned one of her portals, nimbly avoiding the swift attack as she disappeared.

Eliza grunted in annoyance, but she was prepared.

"Attack in advance." She thought to herself.

Rift hadn't emerged from her portal yet. Shifting her weight to her left leg, Eliza prepared to attack with her right. Kicking her right leg out swiftly, she watched as Rift emerged from her portal, retaining all of her forward momentum.

The sole of Eliza's foot struck Rift dead in the nose, a storm of blood stemming from her nostrils. She winced slightly before collapsing backwards into another one of her portals. Bits of the woman's blood fell onto Eliza's face as she smirked.

She was planning to attack again. Eliza turned around, shifting her weight her right leg as she crossed her blades, preparing to block Rift's next attack. Rift's dagger bounced off as Eliza pushed upward, thrusting her opponent backwards a few feet.

Rift angrily recoiled with a series of quick dagger strikes. Eliza nearly blocked them all, her hands vibrating from the constant clatter stemming from the ongoing collisions. Sparks flew from the blades as they clashed together with blinding speed.

She was putting up a fairly decent defense against Rift's onslaught, until the woman feigned left and stabbed right. The dagger tore through Eliza's shoulder muscle, jutting out the back of it. Blood began to slowly drip from the wound as she winced.

Thrusting her shoulder backwards, the dagger exited her flesh as she ducked forwards. Forcing Rift's arm outwards with her own, she shuffled behind her adversary before kicking at her foot. Her leg now swept out from underneath her, Rift fell to the concrete.

She attempted to move, but Eliza stepped on her chest, pinning her to the ground. "Stay down." she growled, restraining her with a pair of power-dampening cuffs she'd taken from the building's control room. She then tapped her cloaking device, rendering herself invisible once again.

Elsewhere, near the Triton, Kai and Amber were still encroaching on Matthews' position. Bianca and Troy had also joined the fight.

Some of Genesis' rescue transport had arrived from one of the other three facilities. Dylo had moved Adam and Leo's unconscious bodies into one of the comfortable vans before sprinting back onto the battlefield.

It was getting harder and harder to move. A layer of frost littered his suit as he struggled to hit speeds as low as 400 miles per hour. The throbbing wound in his leg definitely wasn't helping. It felt like a burning knife digging deeper and deeper into his flesh each time his leg struck the ground.