A flash of light had blinded Kai's vision. The physical impact he'd felt in that moment was equivalent to being hit by a truck. The feeling of grit stinging his skin made him feel like he was in a living hell.
An eerie silence blared through his ears as he began to make out the muffled sounds of nearby car alarms going off. As he struggled to get to his feet, panting, his eyes darted around the area. His blurry vision tried to focus as he noticed tiny bits of paper and cloth floating down to the ground, still burning.
He staggered to his feet, feeling shaky, burns all around his body. Hopefully his healing factor would counter those soon as they had in the past.
His vision was beginning to focus, but his ears were still ringing. While his body was more durable than humanly possible, it still wasn't impervious to the force of a point blank explosion.
Muffled grunts and clashes permeated his ears as the smell of dust, blood, and gunpowder littered the cold air. With a splitting headache, Kai dug himself out of the rubble, activating his bio-shield as he found that Leo had engaged Ajax in his absence.
While the boy was a decent combatant, Kai still feared for his safety. Ajax was willing to do anything to please Matthews, even taking their lives. He didn't want Leo ending up like Echo or Sharpshooter.
Leo rapidly spun his titanium bo staff through his hands, slightly stumbling backwards with a jolt as Ajax thrusted upwards, breaking through the boy's guard. After he'd deflected the blow with his chipped blade, the man recoiled with a kick to Leo's face.
He staggered back, coughing. Ajax's heel had struck his Adam's Apple, but he steadied himself, clutching his staff as he wiped the blood from his jaw. Panting, he scowled at the man as he spit out a glob of blood.
"You know, I think I remember you now." Ajax taunted, pointing the tip of his weapon at the lightning summoner. "You're the quiet one. The calm before the storm."
"And here's the storm." Leo retorted, holding up his staff as frolicking bolts of lightning rocketed down from the void-colored sky above. His eyes emitted a blue, electric glow. He yelled as he swung his staff in the man's direction, a thick bolt of electricity shooting out from the edge of the rod.
Ajax corkscrewed over the blast, teleporting in the middle of the acrobatic movement. But Leo knew physics. Whenever the man teleported, he seemingly retained every inch of the momentum he'd possessed prior. Ajax's momentum combined with his own would make for a devastating amount of force.
Ajax materialized behind him, attempting an overhand swing directly to his head.
Perfect. Leo jammed his staff backwards as it plunged into the man's stomach, releasing an electric shockwave on impact. Leo watched as the man was propelled backwards, his energy sword flying out of his hand.
As Kai searched for his Chromanium sword, his eyes caught sight of Ajax attempting to retrieve his own weapon, which was only a few feet away from him.
"Leo, he's going for his sword!" Kai called to his teammate. The boy nodded, a bit of blood dripping from his left nostril as he did. He sprinted towards the infamous blade, throwing aside his bo staff so that he wouldn't be slowed down.
He extended his arm, attempting to grip the hilt of the weapon, but Ajax materialized before him once more, grasping the blade. His crimson eyes glinted like a feral wolf's as that revolting smile engulfed his face once more.
Amber had arrived just in time to witness the horror unfold.
Ajax's energy blade sliced through Leo's outstretched arm, severing it from his body.
Leo stumbled back as a shrill scream escaped his throat, clamping his hand over the bleeding stub of an arm as he dropped to the ground. The boy's severed limb hit the metallic floor with a thud.
"What did you do?!" Amber shrieked as she darted over to him, kneeling down to Leo's level as the boy convulsed on the floor. Tears swelled in her eyes, streaming down her face not even a second later. It felt like her entire world was crashing down.
Ajax pointed the tip of his bloodstained blade at Kai, tilting his head to the side as his deranged, twisted smile returned to his face. "You're next."
Kai clenched his teeth, the back of his lips baring at them all the while. His brow furrowed as his body trembled from pure rage. His wrath was ruthless, raw and unforgiving. No snappy retort or witty comment escaped his mouth.
His gaze cemented onto Elias, he held his arm out to his side, willing his blade to return to him. The low hum of his magnetic gauntlet laid waste to his ears. His gloved fingers clasped around the hilt, essentially welding themselves to the weapon.
"You die today, Ajax." He growled.
"One of us will, Guardian." Ajax teleported again, materializing a few feet away from his adolescent adversary as he chuckled.
Sprinting forward, Ajax attempted another overhand swing to the boy's face. A fierce battle cry escaped Kai's mouth as he blocked him with his sword, countering with a devastating uppercut with his shield. The man's body cocked backwards as blood spewed from his mouth.
The man fell onto his back, a loud clang permeating the hallway. Kai wasted no time as he darted straight towards Ajax, barreling into him with his shield. Unable to resist the superhuman force behind Guardian's attack, the man went flying through the metallic wall behind him into the next corridor.
A heavy cloud of dust sprouted from the collision. Before proceeding through the Ajax-sized hole in the wall, Kai stole a glance at Amber, who was occupied with keeping Primus' super soldiers away from a dying Leo. Something about her seemed different, though.
To him, she seemed...colder, and he wasn't talking about the ice.
That thought completely vanished from his mind when his eyes settled on the purple beam of light stemming from the tip of the Triton, illuminating the entire atmosphere. It then dawned on him that they were losing.
He reached into the depths of his soul in an effort to unearth some aspect of motivation, something that would get him through this crisis. Mentally scraping at the bottom of the barrel, he realized that nothing would come to him. No words of wisdom from his father, no inspirational quotes, nothing.
He'd never felt so desperate.
His train of thought reached an abrupt halt as Troy's body came barreling through the adjacent wall. His back collided with the metallic barrier as he winced, but he maintained his balance.
Troy's face grew distraught when his eyes caught sight of Leo's severed arm.
Kai could tell the guy wasn't doing too great. His left harm hung at his side, decorated with small cuts-presumably one of the soldiers' doing. His flames were beginning to flicker as if they'd soon go out.
His mind flashed back to the horrific moment that had occurred mere seconds before.
He couldn't have another one of his friends die by Ajax's hands. Echo and Sharpshooter had been brutally murdered. He promised himself that it wouldn't be the same case for Leo.
Turning to the man, his sword and shield in hand, he nearly salivated at the sight of a dazed, disoriented Ajax.
Wasting no time, Kai rained down an onslaught of strikes to the man's face. After the first ten punches, the heavy ache in his armored, bloodied knuckles had been reduced to a dull throb. He preferred it that way though, as it allowed him to keep going.
The back of the man's skull struck the titanium floor repeatedly, each bash more fierce than the last. A thick pool of blood formed underneath him, but Kai still didn't let up.
He deserved to suffer. He deserved every punch.
Even when his face was caved in, it still boasted that disgusting smile that boiled Kai's blood.
"Y-you feel it, d-don't you? The p-power coursing through your veins? The feeling of superiority. End it, Guardian. Prove to me how strong you really are."
Blood gushed out of Ajax's mouth with every word he uttered. His jaw was bent, causing him to slur his words. The hilt of Kai's sword throbbed within his hands. He had the power to end it all. Right here, right now.
"End it!" The man continued shouting, his raspy voice permeating the cavern of a room, followed by a few dry coughs.
Kai wasn't about to give this man the satisfaction of death. He knew that it was what he wanted, because at that moment, he was experiencing the pain and suffering that he'd caused to everyone else. It seemed that he could dish it out, but he couldn't take it.
He couldn't break his promise to Director Callan. He was a man of his word, and his word was that he would bring the man's son back to him. He'd save him.
"No, I'm not gonna give you the satisfaction of death." Kai replied in a tranquil voice, mounting his blade back into his magnetic holder as he walked away. He'd beaten him, finally. He'd defeated his nemesis.
Ajax grunted , struggling to move as his motion was hindered. Both of his eyes had gotten puffy and swollen, and his lip was busted. Blood leaked from the wound in his chin.
As Kai ignored the man and jogged back out to the battlefield, Ajax continued his insults. "You're a weakling! Come back and fight me, you coward!"
Kai's muscles flexed as he used every ounce of restraint to hold himself back. He couldn't let the man's insignificant remarks get under his skin, not in a situation as dire as this. He peered up at the Triton, tightening the strap on his bio-shield.
"You did the right thing." Bianca whispered, exhausted from holding her force field up this entire time. It had given her a splitting headache, but that had become the least of her worries once Leo had gotten his arm severed.
Kai hoped she was right.
With Ajax seemingly down for the count, he decided to turn his focus to Matthews. Dylo and Adam couldn't hold him off forever, not with the abilities he possessed, and Eliza was nowhere to be found.
Hopefully she hadn't been killed.
They'd all soon be overwhelmed by the next wave of soldiers in no time. They had to get to them before that happened.
"Troy, change of plans, I want you on the perimeter of the Triton. We'll rendezvous shortly after you get there. If anything gets within twenty feet of that thing, you turn it to ash." He commanded, hurling his shield towards one of the soldiers.
The solid hologram ricocheted off the soldier's body with a clang before barreling into another. Kai leaped into the air and stuck his leg out. The sole of his foot collided with another soldier's face as his shield returned to his containment matrix.
"Right." Troy panted, rocketing up into the air as he fired a flaming blast towards the ceiling, detonating it. Flying through the hole in the exploded roof, he opted to take detour, crashing through one of the bulletproof windows.
Kai then turned his focus to Amber, who was once again crouched down over a bleeding Leo. He'd gone unconscious, presumably from the shock. Amber had slightly frozen over the wound so that the toxic energy from Ajax's blade would poison his body as a slower rate.
Dylo and Adam wouldn't last long against the rest of Matthews' army, even with Troy's help. Amber's powers would be a great asset to them out there in the snow, so he decided that Bianca would stay and cover Leo.
"Amber...we have to go." Kai whispered, looking away from his fallen friend.
"You and Bianca go. I'm not leaving him. I'm not going anywhere." Amber replied, her tears dried up as they lingered on their face. The frost stemming from her palms had faded. Her lips quivered and shook as she spoke.
Guilt pulsed through Bianca's body as she balled up her fists. Due to the temperatures of surrounding environment, Amber was their trap card. Without her out there, they'd surely lose against Matthews' army. They couldn't afford anymore casualties.
Amber felt a soft hand grip her shoulder as she turned around, facing Bianca. She wiped her watery eyes, feeling the wet tears through the gloves of her bio-suit.
"Hey, they need you out there. You guys need to finish this." She said, sternly glancing down at Leo as she thought of Jetstream. She'd failed her. She wasn't about to fail Leo. "I'll stay here and protect him. We don't need anyone else dying today."
The snowy fog swelled in between them, with Amber nodding after a few seconds of silence. Blowing a loose strand of hair out of her face, she muttered a thank you as she walked over to Kai.
Bianca shuffled over to Leo as she conjured one of her energy orbs, sending it blasting into the chest of one of the soldiers nearing their position. The operative was propelled backwards a fair distance before colliding with the wall.
A loud clang echoed throughout the hallway as Kai prepared to punch through another barrier. His fist plunged through the metallic barrier with ease, with him tearing a hole through the rest of the structure shortly after.
Amber peered out onto the crisp, chilling battlefield, squinting in opposition. Normally, bits of snow would've been clouding her vision, but her icy aura now repelled the irritating snow with ease. Her exterior had become as cold her cryokinetic blasts.
Kai side-eyed the girl. Her powers had never functioned in this manner before. But then again, they'd always sort of been more a mystery than the others' abilities. But judging from the look on her face, he decided it was best not to ask.
He then watched in awe as Amber formed a rising column of ice beneath her feet, capable of lifting her off the ground. She extended the icy bridge, sliding downwards towards the Triton without uttering a word to him.
A thick, frosty beam of cryokinetic energy rammed into the snowy ground, freezing some of the soldiers in place. But those were the lucky ones.
Flicking her wrists periodically, she sent a barrage of icicles stemming from her hands. The icy spikes soon found themselves embedded into the chests of dozens of agents, becoming stained by frozen blood shortly after.
The girl's facial expression didn't change a bit.
She possessed an immense understanding of human anatomy, so she could choose the lethal and non-lethal parts of the body to pin with arrows. This meant that the fatal injuries he'd just witnessed couldn't have been an accident.
It then dawned on Kai that she was out for revenge. She wanted to make them suffer, and she'd do whatever it took to achieve that result.
She wouldn't accept anything else.
He clutched his bloodstained sword as he reactivated his nearly-dead bio-shield. If it weren't for their current circumstances, he would've smirked.
He was glad they were on the same page.