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.
He figured that the dampening effect hadn't completely worn off yet.
Amber immediately combat-rolled behind one of the cracked barriers, a trio of arrows rapidly departing from the girl's quiver as they found their marks a second later. Her eyes cut back over to the cavern Troy had seen as she made a mental note not to fall of the edge.
She knee-slid across the narrow battlefield as she noticed a group of soldiers encroaching on Leo's position. Without hesitation, the girl launched a cryo-arrow towards the triumvirate of operatives, freezing the men in place as the arrow made contact with their skin.
"Thanks, Frost!" Leo called from behind his cover as bolts of lightning orbited around his staff. Whipping it around, the edge of the electrically-charged rod caught the bottom of one of the soldier's chins as they were flung across the room.
Dylo steadied his breaths as he accelerated ahead of the group, his feet kissing the ground rapidly as the lines decorating his bio-suit emitted a golden glow. The glow was followed by a sound that was sort of an amalgamation of a whistle that increased in pitch and a Formula 1 race car engine.
He remained near Bianca's force field as he blurred through the squads of agents, waiting for Matthews to appear. He could already feel himself moving slower. The icy, slippery floors were really putting a damper on his traction, so he opted to sprint along the walls for a greater amount of maneuverability.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Steel advancing on Troy's position. He attempted to warn the pyrokinetic, but it was too late. The man's glistening fist made contact with the boy's jaw as he staggered backwards, his flames faltering.
"I've been wanting to put your flame out for a while." Steel threatened, cracking his knuckles as the boy regained his footing. The flames on the teen's hands only grew brighter and emitted more heat, but Troy could already feel himself becoming drained because of the cold environment.
Although, Troy necessarily didn't feel it as cold, as his body only increased in temperature when exposed to cold environments. He just knew that it was weakening him.
If he was gonna end this, he needed to make it quick.
"Quite a mismatch if you ask me." Steel sneered, his voice drenched with arrogance. "This time, I'll break you in two."
"I don't break easily." Troy snarled, a seething inferno enveloping his entire arm as he sprinted towards his adversary. His firestorm of a fist rammed into the man's jaw as a surge of blood erupted from his mouth.
The man may have been big and heavy, but he was by no means slow. His fists recoiled at an incredibly fast pace, but Troy ducked at the last second as the bottom of the man's knuckles grazed the top of his head.
Swiftly putting his palm to the man's chest, he grunted as a storm of fire propelled the man backwards into the group of enhanced soldiers, knocking some of them down. He felt like his insides were turning to mush. His body was clearly overheating.
His ears taking note of a small group of agents surrounding him, he turned his head just in time to receive a foot to the face. He fell to the ground, but not before he kicked his leg out and tripped the man who'd attacked him.
Utilizing his downward momentum, the man's fist crashed down towards Troy's head. The pyrokinetic rolled out of the way at the last second as the man's punch dented the reflective, cold floor. Kai had been right, these guys were much stronger than before.
"Troy, duck!" Kai yelled from across the room, grunting as he swung his arm back and flung it forwards, launching his shield towards the man preparing to attack. The holographic disc soared through the air before ricocheting off the man's face with a clang, knocking him onto his back.
Guardian sprinted over to the scene and stuck his wrist out, his bio-shield locking back onto it's containment matrix accompanied by a low hum. Kai smiled inwardly, as he'd never thrown his shield and successfully hit a target.
"I had him on the ropes." Troy protested jokingly, enveloping his arms within another seething flame once more.
"Sure you did." Kai panted, giving Troy a weak smirk before taking cover behind one of the metal barriers, checking the battery percentage of his bio-shield. Five green bars meant that the shield was fully charged, while zero meant that he was out of luck.
So far, the screen on the containment matrix displayed 4 green bars, meaning that he had about an hour or so left. His eyes bounced around the dimly lit battlefield, evaluating the everything in his immediate vicinity.
The faint smell of blood and gunpowder permeated the cold air as he counted his adversaries. Rift was being dealt with by Eliza, Leo and Amber, and the trio were actually faring pretty well against the portal-summoner. Bianca stuck to her post.
Troy was preoccupied with Steel again, of course, and Dylo and Adam were getting some the agents off of Amber and the others, at least until Elliott arrived.
Kai's muscles tensed suddenly as his breaths grew heavy. His hyper senses were triggered once more, the hairs of his skin sticking straight up as they proceeded to vibrate. His skin tingled as he clenched his fist. After growing more skilled with his hyper sense, he'd learned how to detect what direction the threat originated from.
This threat was coming from behind.
Instinctively raising his shield, he felt a rough jolt, followed by a cloud of purple smoke obscuring his vision. The immense force behind the attack caused him to lose his footing, propelling him onto his back as he rolled backwards to absorb the impact.
Judging by the amount of force behind the attack, he figured it was some sort of energy blast. He already knew what was coming, who was coming, so he mentally readied himself for the man's next onslaught.
"Cowering in fear already, Guardian?" Ajax taunted, a menacing smile etched into his pale face as he twirled his blade through his gloved fingers. The energy from the blade ignited the oxygen particles it came into contact with, which explained the purple aura that trailed behind it.
Kai brought up his sword and shield near is face, assuming a combative stance akin to a knight in shining armor, or a soldier intending to venture into the unforgiving depths of war.
"Never from you." He shot back, pushing off with his left foot as he angled his sword in the direction of his adversary. He grunted as he swung the blade towards the man, but was countered as violet sparks flew from the collision of the two edges.
Good thing he'd equipped his shield. Recoiling like a shotgun, Kai attempted a swift jab to the man's chest with the holographic disc. Much to his annoyance, the man intercepted the edge of the shield with the tip of his energy blade.
Driving his blade outward, he broke his guard as he thrusted Kai's shield away from him, rendering the boy's torso exposed and vulnerable. Before Kai could reassume his defensive position, Ajax switched the grip on his blade, fiercely striking him in the stomach with the hilt.
"You know, I hear you're one of the finest tacticians Matthews has ever met." Ajax sneered as Kai rolled backwards, tensing up his abdomen in an effort to suppress the cramping pain. The man had struck him right in the solar plexus. A bruise would be there in no time.
"Looks like he's right about something." Kai breathily groaned, kneeling on one knee as he chucked his bio-shield at the man. The back of his lips bared at his teeth as he sprinted towards his enemy once more.
"It's a shame that a competent strategist like you has led your friends into a battle that you have no chance of winning." Ajax struck the shield with his sword, deflecting the disc as it crashed to the blood-soaked floor with a rambunctious clang.
Panting, Kai feigned left with his sword before jabbing right with his unarmed hand. His tightened and potent fist collided with Ajax's defined jaw as fountain of saliva spewed from the man's mouth.
However, no blood was drawn. Ajax rubbed his chin with his calloused hands, smirking as he recoiled with a slash to Kai's shin. To the boy's surprise, the edge of the energy blade tore clean through his upgraded bio-suit and the durable skin behind it, coming away stained with a bit of crimson.
Kai winced as he dropped to his knees, clamping his hand over the wound, gritting his teeth with enough force to snap them. The edge of blade had ripped a lengthy slice along his leg. A wave of blood oozed out of the wound with every throb.
"I told you, Guardian, the weak will fall." Ajax whispered, but his voice was still audible amongst all of the background commotion. The bottom edge of his blade softly lingered on the top of Kai's head. The cold air nipped at his lips as his breaths grew tight and rapid.
The metallic floor crumpled under his strong grip. All of them had come way too far to stop now. They couldn't relent. He couldn't let some insignificant injury such as this prevent him from accomplishing his goal.
"Not today." He growled, thrusting himself into the air with his injured leg as he spun, holding his knee out. His armored kneecap caught Ajax in the nose, thrusting him back a few feet, but the man steadied himself with his blade as the tip scratched the floor.
Jumpstarting everyone's heartbeats, Matthews entered the fray, sporting a gray combat suit with silver lines, and a dark purple cape on the back of it.
Adam gulped, clenching his fists as a green energy aura radiated from his gloves and suit. He pursed his lips as his body trembled in fear. He'd been grazed by a knife a few minutes before, and even though it was merely a small slice, it still proved difficult to ignore.
"That's enough!" Matthews yelled over all of the action and bloodshed. "I will not allow you...you nuisances to tear down everything that I've spent my entire life building!"
Out of the corner of his eye, Adam noticed a man wielding an AK-47, mowing down Primus soldiers one by one in order to get to Matthews. Every once in a while, he'd take cover behind a wall and unleash a devastating sonic scream, dropping more than a few soldiers at a time.
Echo.
Matthews' feet broke contact with the metallic surface as he slowly began to hover over all of the conflict. His gaze permeated the entire battlefield as Dylo's heart sunk. He and Adam were up, and they weren't about to go down without a fight.
The blond was caught off guard when he noticed Echo charging towards Matthews. He was clearing his throat, preparing to unleash another ultrasonic cry onto the man he once called an ally. His grip on his firearm remained firm and solid, signaling that he prepared to use his gun if his powers proved futile.
A piercing battle cry erupting from his mouth, he was on the brink of attack until he found himself unable to move, rendered completely motionless. Amber watched in horror as the man struggled against an invisible force.
He groaned in agony. His muscles tensed and bulged as he attempted to break through Matthews' telekinesis, but it was to no avail. The man was frozen in place, slowly hovering upwards to Matthews' level, completely under his control.
The commotion had temporarily ceased. The entire battlefield had come to a halt, everyone was rooted to their spots as if they were glued to the floor.
"It's time that I teach you all a lesson." Matthews continued, slowly closing his fist, crushing the man's muscles along with his bones. A bone-chilling scream escaped from the agent's lips as blood spilled out of every hole in his anatomy.
The man's bones contorted and shifted in the most grotesque manner imaginable. His eyes became red with blood, looking as if they'd soon burst from his skull. He couldn't scream anymore. He couldn't even speak. Breaths of anguish crept from the man's mouth, along with a mound of blood.
Leo could've sworn that he'd gone deaf for a few seconds. That's how quiet the hallway had gotten when Matthews finished closing his fist, exploding the man's head. Echo's headless corpse fell down to the ground, blood flooding out of the exposed neck.
Amber trembled, a soft yelp escaping her lips as she covered her mouth. Her eyes watered as she backed away from the fallen agent. Leo clutched his staff. Bianca began hyperventilating as her force field faltered.
Dylo, Troy and Adam were horrified.
Tears streamed down Eliza's face. Another one of her longtime friends slaughtered by Primus right before her very eyes. She balled up her fists with enough force to break her fingers, activating her wrist-mounted daggers.
She was going to send the bastard straight to hell.
Matthews levitated above the heroes. They were losing, and he was winning. Eliza eyed him through the thick layer of smoke obscuring her vision.
He smiled eerily, bits of Echo's blood decorating his face and suit.
"So, would anyone else like to step up?"