Leo's P.O.V.
I suck in a deep breath as I clasp my hands over the wound on my left leg. It is bleeding terribly. I lean on the wall, gasping for air. It is over, I guess. Chase has just smashed the chip that Marcus and Sebastian stole from the academy. And now Skye is helpless. We shall be already sitting on the hydroloop when the sun rises.
But Leo's wish has come to nothing when he sees Skye's annoying smirk on her lips again. I sigh as I rip out a piece of cloth from Douglas' mission suit to wrap my wound. "Oww!" "What?" I ask innocently. "I can't fight with a bleeding leg."
Skye concentrates her eyes on Chase, whose triumph smile has just disappeared. She mouths something I cannot read. But I bet Chase can, because the next second he is tumbling up and backing away as fast as he could from Bree, whom is no longer in coma. Great, so it's the Triton App again.
The mission to transport the toxic chemical. The man-made earthquake. The cyber-masked Bree and Chase. The plan of taking revenge on us for the infinite "freedom" of the bionic race, or for her own rancor against us. It all makes perfect sense now. Skye knew Bree and Chase would have fallen off that cliff. It is her area, she deactivated all the connection with the outside world in that forest. That is why we could not connect to the real Bree and Chase at the time.
It is hard to imagine how perfectly Skye has planned for everything. She could almost be an ordinary girl, or even popular, if she has not been tortured that much. Well although none of us has been ordinary here. Despite that, I still cannot feel a single pity for her.
Bree stands up slowly with her eyes glowing in green. The Triton App. I frown as I dig deeper into the meaning of these words. Not the Triton app. The Triton app is only an app in the chip that can take over the person's bionic when it is activated. But Skye has the full access to her chip. She can control every single nerve of Bree directly, no need to be through the Triton app. Bree can never regain her consciousness that easily by simply fighting on her human side, like what I did to revive Chase last time.
Real perfect plan huh, Skye. Unless we are able to link to a part of Bree's chip that hasn't been manipulated, or even Chase's override app can never shut down the control.
Adam and I move forward, attempting to tackle Bree down before her attack. But we are held back by Big D's and Douglas' piercing scream. We turn to see both of them fall to the ground. They are electrocuted by Marcus. Yes, Marcus. Why wouldn't they simply shut their eyes and we would send them back to jail and all have a happy ending?
"BIG D! DOUGLAS!" I yell as Adam spring forward and tackle Marcus. I hear a humming noise zooming near me and I duck, dropping to my knees. The fireball hits Marcus in front of me and he moans. I roll over and examine the opponent - alright it is the trio again - I mean Sebastian, Lexi and Tank. They are never gonna fall aren't they?
I inhale a deep breath as I quickly glance at Chase across the room - just falls on his back and is being pinned down by Bree. Sorry, I can't help you. I think as I roll back up, ready to fight again.
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Chase's P.O.V.
"Bree...?" my voice comes out uncertainly. The sound in the surrounding starts to blur and blend into some ringing noise in my ears again. The effect of the Power Pellets is fading. Very soon I will be deaf again. I look at Skye, just in time to make out her final death order.
"Kill him."
Bree speeds up at once at her maximum speed. No not maximum, her speed has exceeded her normal limit. There is really no point for me to try to outrun her. It is just an instant before she tackles me and pins me down to the floor. I am almost powerless to fight back now. The weariness is coming to my sense. She kneels on my stomach and bends forward to look at me. It is not the Triton App. It is Skye's way of fighting, not hers.
Bree pulls out the ice dagger jabbed in her right wrist emotionlessly. Even the piercing pain cannot wake her human side up. Her wound look worse, much worse. It will lead to serious blood poisoning if it is not treated soon. I don't know why I am still caring for her because she is currently trying to stab me to death. Bree grips the handle of the dagger with her left hand as she tries to jab my neck. I tilt my head to the right side swiftly just in time to avoid the attack. She moans as she attempts to cut me again. I use my molecular kinesis to send the dagger away. I snatch the moment as her eyes follow the dagger that crashes on the wall. I hit her at the throat as hard as I dare and she scoots back in pain. I catch hold of her arms tightly and pull her down again, causing her to lose her balance. I roll over and get back up.
If I want to survive, I better start to learn how to hurt her.
Bree stands up in no time and turns invisible. Without my hearing and the sight of her, make me quite impossible to even find a trace of hers. Not entirely hopeless though, I slam my eyes shut, feeling the thermal wave of her action. The heat and wind, coming from the left. I don't try to run away. I lift up my arm to dodge her attack. And she is visible again. She falls to the ground as I sweep her legs.
"CHASE!" I catch a glimpse of Adam yelling as he throws himself on me and receive the laser sphere from Marcus on his back. He winces painfully as he releases his force on my arms and stands up. "Save Bree," he speaks before I open my mouth to thank him. I see he mouth without my hearing. "I know you can." And he takes off again.
"You're not getting away that easily." It's Bree's voice, cool and dull. She grabs my collar and super speeds. She stops in front of a wall, on which she pins me on. She locks her hands around my neck and begins choking me. I can hardly breathe. I lock my eyes with her, trying to activate the override app. But it doesn't work, it needs a mental link to her chip which hasn't been controlled.
A link.
I clasp her hand and release her grip a little. Telepathy App Activated - the words pop out on the screen on my right eye. I did not input the data of this app into the academy's computer because I was afraid that Mr Davenport and Douglas might catch me making a new bionic ability myself. Therefore Marcus and Sebastian could never transfer the data and Skye was never able to control this part on her chip. It means, if this link can be strong enough to let my override app enter, I can take over her chip.
"Bree... it's me, Chase." I stutter the words out, busy trying to relieve her grip on me, also trying to think how to talk her out with so little oxygen in my body. Her eyes seem to lose focus for a brief second. "That squeaky... annoying... nerdy fun-killer... always goofing around you..." Her grip tightened. "Remember? Adam and Leo..." I can't, I don't know what to say. "the troubles we caused... the fun we had..." It's not working.
My hands are gradually losing the grip on her arms. I am tired. Maybe giving up is easier, but I don't think I will let myself. I slam my eyes shut and concentrate again. I need to enter her mind, to know what I can do to strengthen her human side.
Unreachable.
Unreachable? Who? Me? Is that what she is always thinking? It is about our distance then, what's she is scared of. And a whole lot of other things, like want to be free from the missions and go to that Australia study tour, but mostly worrying about losing me. Making fun of me is her way of shortening our distance. I still do not entirely dare to love her yet, perhaps. But if this is what weakens her, I cannot be the one recoiling.
"No," I shake my head. "It is me. I don't deserve you." Bree look at me absent-mindedly. "I was never able to... to keep up with my social life..." Her hands is loosening. "You pull me out of my comfort zone. Remember the first girl showing interest on me? You told me to go ahead." Her hands drop at her side. "But I don't want her." She clasps her hands on her head. "You're all I've ever wanted."
Bree tumbles on the ground and starts screaming. I know she is fighting back. The crack that lets my override app get through is now wider. I kneel down and gasp for air. My neck hurts, and my head is dizzy. I can pass out at any second, but I don't have the time. I inhale a deep breath and hold her face, leading her to look at me. But I cannot quite form the words to convince her.
"Please." Her eyes are still green. "Don't let go of your real self. We need you." I pause as I make a decision to myself. "I need you." I lean forward and press my lips against hers tightly. She is at first reluctant, but then she relieves her grip.
Override App Activated. I do not dare to let go until the words show up. I know it worked. She falls to my shoulder.
A thudding noise enters my ears. I have no idea about the fight going on in the room. But I guess we won. The sun is rising, I reckon. Like what Skye said, the war is going to end at dawn. It does, so that is good. And I can pass out now. It spends me quite a few seconds to lower my vigilance. But eventually I fall to the ground, and black out.
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Author's note:
He did it:) he defended her real self.
What happen to the rest of the team? We will find out in the next chapter... It is not over yet;)
I am so sorry that this chapter took me so long to update. I had my exams for the past three weeks so I am unable to write. But I am quite free now, so this will be updated more often. About three chapters left including the epilogue:)
Ps. I accidentally uploaded this chapter a week ago, while I still hadn't finished it at that time. So I unpublished it but the chapter name is still shown. So it led to some confusion. The official publish date is 23rd Jan, 16.
Until next time...