The floor closed below us as the neon light faded. I fell a few inches but landed on my feet. We were in a circular room with bluish-white walls. Despite the fact that we were on Venus, the room was almost cold. I ignored all the robots and faced the biggest annoyance since my teenage acne. Anderson Oak sneered back. He was wearing the red and black suit he had worn the last time. Complete with the cape. I wanted to strangle him with it.
“Why won’t you just leave me alone?” I shoved my hands through my hair and took a deep breath. I needed to calm down. My electricity was low, I was tired, and I was surrounded. “What are you doing here? Did you know we’d be here? Don’t you have anything better to do?!”
“You think I was going to let you get away after what you did to me? Look at this, you freak!” Anderson held his arm up as his suit disassembled around it. Red, feathery scars ran down his peach-colored arm. It looked like a red fern leaf had been etched into his skin. “That crazy invention you used on me hurt like hell, and now I’ve got the scars to prove it. You used to be such a wuss, but now you’re scarring people. If I weren’t so pissed, I’d be proud.”
My stomach stirred as I tore my gaze away from his arm. It was the first time I’d ever electrocuted a human and the second time I’d shocked someone in general. I’d shocked him with everything I had, and he’d still come back. What did I have to do? Kill him?
“Now who’s this idiot, and what is he talking about?” Dylan held his phone close, protecting it like it was his lifeline. “What’s this about something you did?”
“Shut up. Who are all these nobodies, Locke?” Anderson flinched as he took in Rebecca for the first time. “Whoa! Who’s this chick? She’s as big as Manning.”
“Better question: how expensive are these robots?” Rebecca smirked as she cracked her knuckles. I knew that look.
“Wait.” I held out my arm to stop Rebecca. If he’d just had one Mollis and one Asper like the previous time, then I would have let her do her thing. This time, however, there was a whole ring of them. “There’s too many. You can’t take them all on while you’re still hurt from the Kilo fight.”
She scowled. “Watch me.”
“Rebecca, don’t—”
A muffled thump came from our left, followed by a low rumble. Anderson’s wide eyes told me that it wasn’t his doing.
“The heck was that?” asked Kaela.
“AI?” Laura said. “There is a dogfight going on. I bet Frost made you come fight in it, Anderson.”
He furrowed his brow. “God, you people love to talk. As far as Frost knows, I’m out here hunting Locke. I haven’t reported to her in so long. I ignore all of her calls too. I don’t need her yapping at me. No, I’m only here because of that.”
He pointed at Laura. More specifically, he was pointing at the dagger in her hand.
“This?” She held it up. “What, did I steal your favorite toy?”
“No, idiot, but you stole First Division weaponry. I can track it. That’s why I’m here; I don’t know about the rest of Frost’s guys. They must be here for that AI base. Same as you losers.”
Laura eyed her dagger with shock. “You can track this thing? Damn it. Just when I find a cool weapon of my own, it betrays me. Does the shield generator have tracking too?”
“Obviously not, otherwise we wouldn’t be here.” I smacked my forehead. I’d known stealing from the armory had been a bad idea. “So, you knew where we were the whole time? We were static for a week, why didn’t you come for us then?”
He scoffed. “Yeah, right. I show up, and then you blast me out of the sky with your rebel cannons or something. I’m smarter than you think, Locke.”
I fought back a giggle. This idiot thought the Oppressed had anti-Frost cannons? Imagine his face if he saw our “cruisers.”
“Mr. Oak, please do not take us to President Frost,” Manning pleaded. “She can’t know we were here. There must be something else you desire.”
Anderson held up his wrist as the barrels popped out. “All I want is to beat the snot out of Locke and see my bro. Playing nice with you losers won’t get me either of those.”
I had seen that coming. Anderson only really responded to force. The only problem was that our situation seemed dire. Without my power, there wasn’t much I could do to the bots. Even Rebecca would go down if they all fired on her at once. We needed a distraction.
Laura gasped and pointed behind Anderson. “What are you doing here?”
Now what? I looked past him in search of the newest intruder. My stomach dropped to my feet when I saw her.
“About time someone noticed me. Figures that the boys couldn’t see me over their massive egos.” Beth Locke was leaning against a wall in the back of the room. She was still in that knight suit, but her helmet was down. Her golden-brown hair framed a devilish smirk. “You’re not taking the Alpha anywhere. He’s coming with me.”
The last time we’d talked it had been through a screen, but here she was in person. The thump and the rumbling must have been her getting in. Then she’d teleported into this room with that device of hers. I’d been dreaming of this day. I couldn’t waste this chance to get her back on our side and keep my promise.
“You. You’re his awful sister. The one who threatened us!” Dylan raised his pistol. “Come to make good on those empty threats?”
She sighed. “I just said I’m here for the Alpha. Keep up, idiot.” She glared at me. “You’re not running this time, coward. Come with me, and none of your friends will get hurt.”
I returned the glare. “Big talk coming from a little sister. I’m not going anywhere, but you need to stop hanging out with—”
“Sister?” Rebecca looked at me and then at Beth. Her face lit up with joy. “Another littler Locke? That’s so adorable. Come here!”
Beth’s expression didn’t change as she aimed her riflesword at Rebecca. “Back off.”
Rebecca’s face fell so quickly that I almost felt bad. Almost.
“Locke’s sister? You really are back? I kind of thought Locke was making up stuff when he told me the other day.” Anderson groaned and shook his head. “How did you become like this anyway? You used to be a pushover like your bro. Now you seem way cooler than him.”
Beth pointed her weapon at Anderson next. “Stay out of my way. My purpose for Alpha is far nobler than some petty grudge. You’re out of your league.”
Anderson aimed his wrist barrels at her. “Grudge? Heh! So you remember me, pipsqueak?”
Beth’s eyes twinkled with rage. “Yes. I remember you.”
Anderson fired orange bullets, which Beth blocked with her arm. The tiny explosions barely nudged her. Must have been her AI armor at work. She summoned her complicated helmet and fired a blue beam at Anderson. It struck his shoulder, sending him spiraling. He slumped against a wall and pulled out a black remote. He tapped every button as he ducked under another rifle shot. The Mollis and Asper bots glowed red as they beeped.
That was our cue to run.
“Move!” I ran for a door to our left. A spray of orange bullets hit it. A warning. I clenched my fists. “Anderson.”
“Stay right there, Locke!” Anderson activated his helmet as he noticed Beth sprinting toward him.
He held up his arm to block a slash from her blade. He jabbed, but she dodged and countered with a jab to his helmet. She swiveled around to slash a stalking Asper and shot a Mollis that had been readying a blast.
I motioned for my friends to follow as I sprinted out the door. Anderson’s yelling followed before the door shut, muffling it. This hallway was so white that it hurt my eyes. Good thing I was running through it and not sightseeing. Multiple footsteps reverberated behind me. They must have belonged to my friends. Thank goodness. We had to get out of here before Anderson and Beth’s match ended.
I looked back at my friends. “Anyone know how we get out of here? I’m still tired from using my powers. I’m not down for running into every room, hoping that it’s the right one.”
“We entered through the floor,” Manning said, “so I’m afraid we’re on our own. Even if we reach the parking bay, we’ll have to survive quite the fall to reach our ship.”
That was true. We were in the air, but our ship was still on the ground.
“We’ll figure it out when we get there.” I skidded to a halt because at the end of the hall were five different doors. Going through the wrong one would get us more lost than before. “Are you serious? Manning, choose the way. I trust your intuition.”
Manning’s eyes adopted a golden glow as they shifted from door to door, deciding the best option. Rebecca leaned back out of confusion as she watched him work. That was the first time that she’d seen him use his powers. It was a rare occurrence for the rest of us too. Kaela and Dylan actually stepped back like he was going to explode.
“Through this one!” Manning ran through the second door on the left. I followed him without hesitation.
This new room was dark and empty except for a wallscreen on our left, a Meteo EX2 game console that was hooked up to it, and a couch. When Manning had used his thinking powers, I’d imagined him performing calculations and weighing the risks of certain options. After all that, he’d led us into a minimalist’s game room.
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“Oh, wow. We’re in Wander’s dream room.” Laura squinted as she walked around in the dark. “No, wait. His dream room would have had many more tools and cruisers.”
“Hilarious. Catch your breath, guys. This is the only chance we’ll get.” I took a few steps before I realized that the floor was soft. I willed my wristlight to life and pointed it down. I was standing on a brown and black checkered carpet. This room must have been custom-made. Was Anderson this much of a gamer, or did he have an ulterior motive? Maybe involving his brother?
Kaela winced as she clutched her arm. “Wow, my breath sure is caught. Can we get moving again?”
“What’s wrong with your arm?” Laura reached for her arm, but she backed away. “What—don’t shrink away from me! What are you hiding? Are you okay?”
Kaela smiled. “Aww, someone’s getting all concerned again.”
I shone my wristlight on Kaela’s arm. Her hand poorly covered a splash of red. Laura gasped and yanked Kaela’s hand away. Blood freely dripped down Kaela’s arm from a fresh wound. Countless noises of concern filled the room as Kaela quickly covered it again.
“Come on guys, it’s worse than it looks.” Kaela forced a smile, despite her hand shaking.
Laura balled her hands. “Don’t just pretend like there’s nothing wrong! When did this wound happen?”
Kaela sighed. “When that Giga fired at us, I may have pushed you ahead so you wouldn’t get hit. Sure I got hit, but as long as we got out, it doesn’t matter. Not the first time my arm got hurt, won’t be the last. I’ll take care of it when we’re back home.”
Dylan shook his head. “You’re as dumb as ever. Don’t ever hide something like this again. You’re lucky you didn’t fall unconscious from blood loss or shock.”
“Thanks for saving me, but he’s right.” Laura glanced at her arm and grimaced. “Wander, we should go. We’re on an even stricter time limit than before.”
Laura stuck close to Kaela as we headed for the door in the back of the room. I took a deep breath to prepare my exhausted body, and ran past it. We ran from room to room, ignoring their contents. I refused to focus on the bathroom area, the recycling room, and the bunk beds…wait, the beds meant we were getting close. I quit pumping my burning legs when we reached a room full of empty glass chambers. That was where we had first seen the Mollis and Asper bots. It must have been where Anderson had gotten all the new ones from. Nessa loved this room…
“This is it.” I pointed to the door at the end of the steel room. “The parking bay is through here!”
A blue outline popped into existence, right where I’d been pointing. The energy molded and solidified into dark armor. Oh no! Beth aimed her rifle at me as the energy dissipated around her. Laura and Manning stood in front of the rifle, shielding me.
Beth chuckled, but it wasn’t a happy sound. “There it is. It’s ‘everyone protect Alpha’ time. Just like ‘everyone praise Alpha’ time, or ‘Alpha is so amazing, why did he even have a sister’ time in the old days. It’s almost like everyone ignores you if your sibling is popular enough!”
“Huh?” I stepped forward, gently pushing my friends aside. “What are you talking about? Everyone loves you. You literally have all of our attention because we just want you to come home.”
She chuckled again, which sounded even sadder than it had the first time. “People love me? Who? Certainly not our parents. When they described you, they’d talk about how brilliant, creative, and talented you were. Me? I was just nice. Why would I ever go back to being nice?” She raised her blade to her helmet. She must have been staring into it. “I’m so much more now.”
My heart shattered. She’d felt this way the whole time? It explained what I’d seen in Manning’s memory. It reminded me of…how I’d felt when I’d been compared to Grandpa. Oh my god!
“Beth, I know exactly how you feel. How do you think I feel whenever anyone mentions Grandpa Mikey? I live with two of his teammates!” I motioned to Manning and Rebecca. Rebecca’s face was lined with confusion. This was the first time I’d mentioned this with her around. “It used to drive me insane, but I’m getting over it. I can ignore the comparisons and just be my own person. Do you really want to be an AI grunt for the rest of your life?”
Beth lowered her rifle and looked at the floor. She seemed conflicted, and I was sure that, deep down, she didn’t want to hurt me. The Beth I knew never would.
“There’s one huge difference between us, brother.” Beth brought her rifle back up. “Grandfather is dead, but you’re still alive. You didn’t have to see the person you were being compared to. It’s so much easier to hate them when they’re ruining your life in person.”
I couldn’t bring myself to move as she squeezed the trigger. My friends pulled me down in time, but the blast exploded against something behind us. I turned and watched as a smoking Mollis teetered back into an Asper. The bots must have come from the same door as us. Metal clanked and the floor rumbled as a wall of robots formed behind us. Anderson had caught up.
“There she is.” Anderson pushed his way to the front of his metal friends. His visor was flickering, which meant that his helmet was damaged. How hard had Beth hit him? “And here’s Locke!”
Now we were trapped because I’d wasted time trying to redeem Beth…
“Plan?” Laura whispered.
“I wouldn’t call it one.” I had no choice but to resort to Plan R. Hopefully, we’d survive the carnage. “Rebecca? Rage mode.”
Her eyes widened before they flashed pink. “Understood.”
Dylan gulped. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
Rebecca unleashed a battle cry as she threw herself into the robots. Metallic clanking reverberated as complete chaos unfolded in that direction. Anderson let out a panicked shriek as he disappeared in the chaos. My only concern was that she’d waste the javelin in the heat of the moment.
“Look out.” Kaela pushed me aside as a blue beam collided with her chest. The miniature explosion threw her to the floor. The shock wave knocked me away from her.
“Kaela!” Laura rushed to her side as Dylan followed close behind. Her eyes were shut, but her chest rose and fell…slowly. That injury combined with her arm? If we didn’t get her a medic bracelet soon…
Manning glanced at us and at the messy brawl that Rebecca was involved in. She forced her foes from the room, disappearing as the door closed behind them. Now it was just us and Beth. Laura shook as she pulled out her dagger. I reached out to stop her, but she’d already broken into a sprint. She unleashed a visceral scream as she slashed at Beth. Beth ducked Laura’s attacks, grabbed her arm, and swung her at the wall. Laura’s visor smashed against it.
Then Beth jumped away as Dylan fired at her. She blasted his hands, launching the pistol into the air. Dylan screamed and fell to his knees. That must have destroyed his hands in the same way that Beth was destroying us in combat. Laura was slumped over, Dylan was in pain, and Kaela was knocked out.
“You’re nothing to me, idiots!” Beth said. I think her victories were going to her fourteen-year-old head. “I’m the Beta. My Hybrid ability enhances my senses and supplies me with infinite combat knowledge. Just surrender because you’ll never win!”
She dodged another blast from the pistol Dylan had flung. I looked behind me and saw Manning holding it. He holstered it as he rushed past me and struck Beth. She parried the strike, but just barely.
“You think your intelligence is a match for my combat knowledge, Theta?” Beth pushed him back and holstered her rifle.
“I think I’ve been around enough teenagers to know when one is in need of discipline.” Manning raised his fists.
They exchanged strikes that only two masters of combat could. Jabs, kicks, holds, and so much else that my eyes didn’t understand. As someone trained for war, Manning was the only one besides Rebecca who had a chance at winning. That was all it was, though: a chance. He couldn’t do it alone.
The room filled with blue as a huge beam ripped into Beth. It launched her into a glass case, which shattered on impact. Glass rained down on her as she fell to her knees. She groaned as she searched for the source of the beam. I did too and found Laura clutching the Gamechanger while slumped against Kaela’s body. She must have snuck over there while Beth was distracted with Manning.
“Why do I only have good aim when my adrenaline is pumping?” Laura pointed to her cheek. “That’s payback for my cheek, you little brat.”
Times like these made me glad I’d let Laura join the party.
“You’ll regret that!” Beth clenched her shoulder as she sat up. She tapped her wrist, no doubt prepping her teleporter. “You all will.”
A blue outline washed over her then she blinked out of existence. I frowned in defeat. Why was it so hard to convince Beth that she was making a mistake? How hurt was she? She’d been through a lot, but she should still understand common sense. Whatever, we had to move.
“All right, let’s get Kaela out of here.” I hooked an arm around her back while Laura did the same on Kaela’s other side. She was warm, but she was still unconscious. I put all of my strength into lifting her up. However, it was like carrying a sack of dumbbells. Her body weight, combined with her space suit, was the cause of the difficulty. Either that or I needed to hit the gym more.
Manning helped Dylan up, but then Dylan waved him away because he “didn’t need help.”
I heaved a sigh of relief as we walked into the massive parking bay. It was as empty as ever. A huge hole in the wall-ramp marked the spot where Beth had blasted her way in. The molten wind of Venus blew in through the hole. It was like having a breeze on the inside of a volcano. Beth’s lite ship sat next to Anderson’s cruiser. It was black with light blue stripes. Didn’t look like AI technology, but Beth had probably requested a human design. She wasn’t that detached.
“Wait, Rebecca’s still fighting! Give me a moment to retrieve her.” Manning ran back toward the door we’d come from and slipped into the room. Hopefully, he’d hurry back.
Laura clicked her tongue as she eyed the room. “How are we even going to get out of here? There’s Beth’s ship, but we don’t have a key to pilot it.”
“I could hack it.” I raised a hand that might or might not have recharged by then. “We can use it to get back to the ground.” I eyed the hole that Beth had created. “I’m not too sure I can fly through that gap, though.”
“I guess we’re about to find out. Ahh!”
Laura’s back exploded. The blast flung her away while also knocking me and Kaela back. I fell to the floor, but Kaela fell on my back, knocking the wind out of my lungs. Beth’s ship beeped as its door slid open. That confirmed my suspicions.
“Get over there!” said Beth’s distorted voice as Dylan fell into my sights. A foot stomped his face into the floor, muffling his shouts of pain. “Aren’t you the one who challenged me back on Jupiter? Where’s your bravado now?”
“Leave him alone, Beth.” I pushed against Kaela, but she had me pinned. I felt like I was losing a wrestling match. “If you ever loved me you’ll let my friends and I go!”
“You are actually going to make me barf.” Beth lowered her head so that it was in my sights. I could feel her disdain even though I couldn’t see her eyes. “You really like your friends don’t you, Alpha? Hmm. I could complete my mission by pulling you onto my ship, but I see a way to kill two pests with one bullet.”
Beth hefted Dylan over her shoulder and headed toward the ship. She was kidnapping him? I charged up all the electricity I could muster in my crackling hands, but Beth pointed her rifle at me. I knew from experience that she wasn’t afraid of pulling the trigger.
“What does he even have to do with your mission? Taking him has nothing to do with me.”
“Most of the time it wouldn’t, but you love your friends. I’m sure you came here to get Epsilon’s location from our base. It’s probably in that phone this guy dropped when I picked him up.” She pointed at a phone just out of my reach. I hadn’t noticed it until now. “Come to Epsilon, Alpha. Save your friend. Prove that you’re willing to walk into an obvious trap for your loved ones.”
“He doesn’t love me. I sure don’t love him!” Dylan pounded on Beth’s back, but she didn’t even budge. “I’m sure he’ll come though, because he’s just that stupid. If you do embark on this suicide mission, then make sure Surge gets the coordinates first!”
Beth threw him into her ship. I gritted my teeth and shot off electricity, but she ducked before I even fired it. Her senses really were enhanced.
“Hopefully you’ll try harder than that once you’re on Epsilon. See you soon, Alpha.” Beth disappeared into her ship. The door slid shut behind her.
Her ship rose into the air and zoomed away. A gust of blazing wind washed over me. Beth slipped through the hole in the ramp-wall, taking Dylan with her. How could I have let this happen? I’d improved my powers specifically so that I could protect people. The only thing I hadn’t accounted for was…Beth. She was so much stronger than I’d realized. I’d made a promise to help her, but maybe I needed to stop holding back with her.
“What just happened?” Laura groaned as she got up. She’d been out ever since Beth had shot her, but all the wind must have woken her up. “I heard some stuff, but I didn’t get it. What do we need to fix this time?”
Both of us gasped as Anderson thudded to the floor beside us. He groaned, but his eyes were shut. Rebecca stood over him with a huge grin and her hands on her hips. Her face was coated with bruises, but she didn’t seem to care. Manning matched Anderson’s groan as he came up to us, stumbling. Seemed like he’d gotten involved in the robot fight too.
“Yes, go on. What do we have to fix?” Rebecca asked.