Yuxia paced around the room, her footsteps getting louder by the second. “No, no, no… I sent him away on purpose, why did he come back for me?”

“I don’t get it, what’s wrong with that?” Brett asked. “I mean, Henrik practically brought all the enhanced mutates to save us.”

“The problem is,” Yuxia stopped walking abruptly. “This might just be Firdaus’ plan all along. Why do you think he locked us up instead of just killing us outright? That madman has a fetish for controlling people, and we’re most probably bait for his prey. We gotta get out before they cross paths.”

Yuxia tapped lightly on the door, before nodding her head in self affirmation. She took a step back and charged forward without warning. A resounding clang echoed around the room as her thermanite boot cracked the lock. A second kick sent the door swinging wide open, and the trio rushed out of their prison.

The Red Clover rushed towards the nearest guard and knocked him out with a swift chop to the neck. The others ran towards her, but she quickly dispatched them within seconds. Their motions seemed a lot more sluggish, slower than a regular human even. Yuxia wondered if it had something to do with Firdaus’ waning concentration.

The Red Clover snapped her focus back to the present. There were right questions to think about during combat, and this was most certainly not one of them.

She sprinted off in the direction of the path, only looking back occasionally to see if her companions were keeping up. There was no time to wait for them if they did not. If Henrik’s information was accurate, her enhanced allies should already be inside the building. A slight smile etched itself on her face; she was mighty proud of that boy. Yuxia made a mental note to let him know that the next time they met again.

She turned around a corner and flinched as a body hurtled through the air, narrowly missing her. It sprawled on the floor in an undignified pose, and Yuxia’s heart tugged with pity. They’re just mind-controlled civilians who don’t deserve to be beaten up like that.

But at least their lives were spared. Yuxia gave a wry smile to the two people in front of her, one of them still holding her fist out as though she was in a boxing movie photoshoot.

“This is going very well.” William grinned widely at Masako and Brett catching up from behind. Marianne scowled contrastingly at Yuxia, who returned the expression with equal politeness.

“Where’s Henrik?” Yuxia asked, surprising herself at the amount of worry injected into her voice.

“Miss!”

The surrounding temperature dropped drastically as a frozen path materialised from the top floor, circling around the huge ballroom like a huge slide made of ice. Yuxia’s mouth dropped in awe as she watched Henrik slide down the path, followed by a woman close behind him. Must be fun having abilities like that.

Yuxia scooped Henrik into her arms without warning and held him tightly, self consciousness be damned. A huge burden evaporated from her heart as she felt his tiny hands wrap around her. The worst of her fears had passed.

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“Alright, shall we screw off from this place now?” Yuxia smiled widely.

“Like hell you will.”

Loud clickings sounded from behind the group as Firdaus’ residents rushed in, all of them wielding automatic rifles. Yuxia immediately stood in front of Henrik to shield him, but ice bursted from under Vivian’s feet just as they opened fire. A giant wall of ice took shape between the group and certain death, racing to reinforce itself against the bullets chipping away at it.

“Damnit, we’re pinned down!” Yuxia shouted over the noise.

“Vivian, they’re not gonna stop!” William shouted. “You have to end this now!”

“But-”

“It’s either they die, or we die.” Marianne put her hand on her sister’s shoulder.

Vivian closed her eyes painfully, as if praying to a higher power for forgiveness. And then they opened, glowing a bright red. Sickening squelches were heard as the sound of gunfire stopped abruptly. The ice wall melted away quickly, revealing a gory sight in front of them.

Nobody was spared, that was for sure. Dozens of ice spikes were raised from the ground like those traps of an ancient tomb, impaling the people in at least one area of their body. Their faces were frozen in expressions not of fear and shock, but a morbid sense of peace.

Yuxia had seen her fair share of death, but she shuddered nonetheless. She looked over to the cryokinetic mutate, who was crying with guilt while the others comforted her. First time for everything, I guess.

A slow, sarcastic clap made all of them turn around. An huge unfamiliar man sauntered dramatically towards them, his heavy footsteps echoing around the place.

“I’m really proud of how far you’ve come, Vivi.” His eyes glazed over as his voice droned on. “You used to be so shy and unwilling to use your powers, but look at you now. Dozens of people dead with a single stomp of your feet. You even brought all your friends here too. You really do know what I want.”

“Come out and face us, Firdaus!” Marianne yelled. “Stop hiding behind your people, you coward!”

“What’re you playing at, Firdaus?” Yuxia hissed, drawing her daggers.

“This.”

A humming sound descended on them, blasting from the PA speakers that decorated the ceiling of the room. It was not too loud to Yuxia, but a few of her companions dropped to the ground nevertheless.

“Masako! What is happening?” Brett shook the girl, who was curled up on the floor with a blank look in her eyes.

“That’s… not… possible…” William strained with one knee to the ground. “I thought… his power… can’t affect… mutates…”

Yuxia looked around frantically. Apart from Brett and Henrik, the rest of them were pressed to the ground in contorted positions. A flash of movement caught her attention from the corner of her eye. A door at the far corner of the room slowly slid open, and a small group of people armed with clubs staggered out. The unfamiliar man joined them and they slowly broke into a run, looking almost like zombies.

“I’ll hold them off,” Brett said. “Go! Find Firdaus and stop him!”

“He has to be in the command room where the PA system is!” Henrik began running up the stairs. “It’s at the top of this place!”

The Red Clover sprinted off after him.