Evan sunk into his bed, which was nearly three times his size. The rest of the furniture in the private room was hidden flush into compartments. Across from him, his holographic glass wall flickered with imagery of a forest. Evan was sick of it and turned the projection off. Now, he saw the night city instead.

  There was something off about Shwood, that faulty smile. Would someone like that really side with rebels over the government? Something was wrong, very wrong. Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to suspect his dad of being deceitful. Perhaps, he was the fool for not entertaining the notion.

  Evan slid out of bed. The cool carpet dispersed the ghosts in his head. He wandered to the window. The city slept, thanks to a mandatory curfew. Only a handful of ships hovered in between the tall buildings, all Federation allegiants.

  A barge lumbered across the sky in front of Evan’s room. It flashed the news upon a large billboard that it carried.

  He raised his hand to signal the automatic blinds to close but stopped when he realized the billboard was playing a fake news report of him and his father again. Large subtitles scrolled at the bottom of the screen in several languages, including English.

  The war is almost over, and we’ll finally have peace.

  How could Evan ever trust Shwood after what he’d done to Ken? Forcing him to make propaganda and videos that were nothing but lies. There was no peace within the Federation, only fear, and hate. It wasn’t right. There had to be more to Shwood, or Charlie Crain, or Brutus – whatever his name was. Deception came easy to him.

  The news barge footage changed. Text scrolled across the bottom. The end times had come.

  The secret location of the Blood Red Army Alpha base has been discovered. The final assault on the Blood Red Army terrorist cell is underway.

  Evan couldn’t pull his eyes away from the horror as an invasion force of hundreds of tanks and aircraft closed in on the mountains where the rebel’s base was hidden. There was more footage of fighting between Afflicted and enforcers. What shocked Evan the most, however, was an image of gallows where men and woman were hung, one of them Luna with the words Traitor written in white across her blue uniform.

  Evan ran out to the other bedrooms yelled, “Wake up! We have to leave!”

  The doors opened and lights came on, the crew sluggish.

  “What’s going?” Cranston said while stretching his back.

  “The Feds are attacking Alpha, look!”

  The crew sobered up as Evan sprinted back into his room to show them the report. They were aghast.

  Nyla shook her head. “Nah, there’s no way they know where they are… They’ve come before, they always think we’re in the city and the mutants fight them off.”

  The vehicles continued straight for the mountains.

  Blink pleaded, “We have to warn them.”

  Vihn set his brow. “The Feds will track our signal if I do.”

  “What does it matter? They already know where the base is!” Evan felt fury and fire in him as he saw the fighting, and Luna’s body hanging there. Another ally killed, hanging there because of his failure, because of his disregard for others. Another dead because he’d been too weak to save them.

  Vihn spoke over his wrist computer. “Rowic, this is an emergency, an invasion force is coming for Alpha now. Get them out of there.”

  “Oh, god. Yeah, copy!”

  The window flickered, and the barge, which seemed so real, turned into an image of Shwood’s face – floating in what had clearly been a simulation of the city.

  “What the…” Evan stumbled back.

  “Woah.” The image of Shwood remarked. “I’ll admit, I was kind of making things up as I went along, but Tony suggested this idea, and I have to admit – way more effective than what I was going to do.”

  Vihn bared his teeth. “What are you talking about?”

  “You guys are right; the Federation really has no freaking clue where the heck your Alpha base is. They had guesses, you know, because people die when they get close to the city. But man, in the mountains? Don’t know how they missed that one. Doesn’t matter. Now they know. Thanks for sending that transmission for me.”

  Evan stuttered, “But that video… They were headed for…”

  “Ah, yeah, CGI really has come a long way. Faces, environments, and whole armies – so real. I mean, AI stuff is something else – we almost lost that tech you know, when the internet went all… Anyway. Yeah, none of that was actually happening - yet. So, thanks for that. I really have to thank Tony for the idea, so much better than mine.”

  “This was a trap,” Vihn said.

  Shwood bobbed his head. “Yes, but… Well, I was telling the truth about some things, like how this whole thing was the Governor’s plan to defeat his enemies.”

  “What?” Evan felt his chest tighten.

  “Shoot. Tony told me not to start pontificating. Ah, it won’t matter, Evan deserves an explanation, and an old friend is here to visit you anyway. He’s only here for the kid, so the rest of you are free to go! Five for the price of one, that’s what I call a good deal. If you could just leave him there nicely, please and thank you.”

  The sound of the elevator wall sliding away drew the team out into the living room. The wall pulled apart, revealing the form of an armored goliath waiting.

  “Krow,” Vihn muttered.

  I’ve killed us all, Evan thought as the purifier raised his gauntlet at them.

  “Grab on to each other!” Blink yelled as she shoved Evan into the backs of his companions, and then they were taken up in twisting light.

  Everyone appeared within a dim tunnel. Sewage ran underneath their feet out of the tunnel’s mouth, into the ocean where spotlights of Fed patrol boats panned the rapidly darkened sky and waters.

  Blink collapsed with heavy breathing. All the color drained from her eyes, and her skin faded from her normal shade into a black scaley texture.

  It’s happening again… It’s so much worse than the last time. Evan slid to her side.

  Vihn riffled through his coat, pulling out a flower vial.

  Evan’s every fear came tormenting him again, as this girl he undoubtedly cared for was decaying before his eyes.

  “Come on girl, you can do this.” Cranston took a knee by her.

  “What was she thinking? She knew she couldn’t transport us all at the same time!” Nyla cursed.

  Twitch took his sister’s corroding hand. Tears ran down his cheeks.

  Evan searched for a solution, anything. The air around his body heated up as his powers activated. Please, let me save her. He prayed.

  Vihn waved the others away. He placed the flower on her chest. Sprouts spilled from the leaf like veins, wrapping her torso in a weave of green. A bright surge of white luminescence spiked from the vines.

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  Blink’s chest expanded and contracted with the rhythm of the pulsing vines. But the corrosion merely teetered back and forth.

  Evan dropped to the opposite of Vihn and gripped Blink’s other arm.

  “What are you doing, kid?” Vihn snapped.

  “Your plants aren’t working,” Evan snapped back. “But my powers can.”

  Vihn nodded.

  Repair, reconstruct. Evan pulled every image of Blink. Her clear skin, perfect smile, deep eyes. I can save her.

  Every lesson, every moment, flooded back through his mind. His mom’s face, years of accidents throughout his life, then the bullies’ pants, the toothbrush, the grass trap, the door, the rope, the bar wall, the Hazard Station soldiers, Krow’s face, the helicopter, the random flower in the ruins, the buckets of paint with Blink, soldiers, and guns, and prison doors, and everything just a mess of moments preparing him for this – preparing him to be the one in control. To save someone. To please save this one person.

  Like the back and forth of a current, the scales rippled away – faded back, was pushed back like death conquered - until finally…

  Color refilled her face.

  The corrosion was battled away.

  Her eyes fell shut.

  He’d done it.

  He’d freaking done it. He’d used his powers to successfully do something other than disintegrate something and then fall unconscious, though his head buzzed in excruciating pain.

  Vihn fell to his side, drizzled with sweat. “I'm impressed, Evan.” But his eyes still cultivated their white glow.

  “Thank you.” Evan directed the compliment to both Vihn, and to the source of his prayers. His mind was just beyond the pull of seizure. He inhaled deeply to calm himself. But his body faltered regardless. “Come on, don’t pass out.”

  Twitch flashed a thumbs up to Evan and smiled. Evan patted the twin on his shoulder.

  Then came a noise. A loud mechanical thrumming. Great, it reverberated deeper from within the sewer tunnel.

  Everyone turned to face the sound.

  “It’s time to go.” Vihn pressed against his earpiece. “Rowic, everything’s fallen apart, we’re in one of the sewers, facing east. Help us out, here!”

  Greater reverberation ran throughout the tunnel.

  “It’s big.” Cranston pumped his shotgun.

  Nyla jumped further in front of the group. She raised her hands toward the inner tunnels. Heat distortions warped the area in front of her hands. The ceiling combusted ahead of her. Rocks and dust dispersed from the center of the falling rubble.

  It didn’t matter.

  Sewage splashed several feet high against the tunnel walls as a blaze of white armor and fire thrust forward past the debris. The dust settled behind this great foe. The purifier. Red streaks of paint lined its exterior, and an additional plate of metal covered the helmet’s left eye. His head locked deadly in Phoenix’s direction, the gaze of a predator. Joseph Krow had found them.

  “Is it him?” Vihn’s vision still entranced, probably only able to see the plants he created since he’d pushed himself so hard to save Blink.

  Evan nodded. “It’s him.”

  Vihn rose, muttering, “How did he find us?”

  “Where’s Rowic?” Cranston called back.

  “He’s working on it.” Vihn flung a vial out into the center of the tunnel. He grimaced. “Come on kid, we’re going to have to hold him back.”

  Evan pushed himself up to face the purifier, but his knees gave up on him, and he fell next to Vihn.

  “No more hiding.” Krow’s legs shrieked with shifting compartments. Cracks diverted into the concrete beneath his feet. The sound intensified rapidly, as light filled the inner parts of his armor. He lunged forward. Water blasted behind him from the propulsion of rocket boosters.

  Nyla threw her arms in the form of an ‘x’. A great gust of wind back drafted against the machine and ignited in a plume of fire.

  Smoke billowed off Krow’s armor. The purifier’s fist barreled into Nyla. Her arms swung out with another blast as the gauntlet collided with it. She flew back against the tunnel wall and rolled into the river of sewage, her body still.

  Vihn’s muscles tightened in rage. The plant vial he’d tossed erupted into a violent display of vines across the sewer. They lashed around Krow’s arm and yanked it down with a thrust of Vihn’s hands.

  A small flamethrower dropped from a panel in the other gauntlet.

  Vihn sent another array of vines around it, pulling both arms straight forward.

  Hydraulics hissed as Krow strained against the plants.

  Cranston dashed to Nyla while unleashing several volleys of gunfire at the beast. The pellets ricocheted off the armor into the water and concrete.

  “Now, Evan!” Vihn commanded.

  Evan ran to Vihn’s side and thrust out his hands. He pulled on every moment of pain and hatred from his mind. Flecks of metal stripped from the outer shell of the purifier’s armor. Evan pushed deeper, picturing the hanging of Luna, her neck snapped. The torturing of Ken, his body broken. Remembering the death of Zachary, his head crushed. Evan’s veins rippled across his arms as he strained to rip apart the purifier’s armor.

  But dozens of panels flung open across the suit, revealing black ribbing across his shoulders and chest. Joseph Krow uttered a single word, “purge.”

  Evan faded. His arms fell. I’m too weak from healing Blink.

  Vihn screamed as he pulled every plant away from the purifier.

  Blinding radiance enveloped the room, everything raveled in whiteness.

  Evan’s sight blurred back. He splashed around in the water.

  Giant charcoaled hedges crumpled in front of all the rebels. Vihn must had used his plants to form walls around them.

  Vihn slumped down behind his own barrier. His waning eyes turned to Evan. “Save them, kid.”

  His wall splintered apart into thousands of burnt chips. Krow wrapped his large gauntlet around Vihn’s left arm. Crack! The beast tore the limb and flung Vihn back into the water.

  Evan cried out, shrill and callous, swearing, contorting in anguish.

  Krow let the severed arm fall into the rushing sewage, then again faced Evan. “This is justice, Evangelos. For all the innocents your kind have harmed.” He lunged at Evan, whose arms scrambled to shield his body.

  The purifier’s momentum stopped. He dropped through the air, flat into the waters. Long coils of vines wrapped around his legs.

  Vihn still lived. He held himself just above the water. A weave of vines writhed from where his left arm had been and constricted the purifier.

  Joseph Krow pointed his gauntlet at Vihn. Another panel popped open on his rist to reveal a small gatling gun.

  The air hissed as an explosion from Nyla rocked Krow. His arm flung across the ceiling, sending bullets around the tunnel.

  Evan witnessed the arc of gunfire, flicking up in spurts of water, and then spraying blood.

  Who had it been? Who had been hit? Who? Who? Who?

  It was Ken.

  It was Ken who stumbled around the rippling water by the sewer’s edge. It was Ken, who had stood farthest from the fighting as he could. His hands lilted across his chest and stomach where blood trickled from dozens of bullet wounds. He waned, his mouth yawing without noise. Then, he collapsed into the rushing waters of the city’s waste.

  Evan’s every hope crashed with Ken. He couldn’t even hear his own voice screaming out in horror.

  “Heads up!” Cranston called out.

  Explosions collapsed the roof above Krow, burying him in falling debris. Water gushed from above, drowning the tunnel in a torrential downpour.

  Ad Astra hovered directly outside of the sewer; Rowic and Daniel silhouetted within the cockpit.

  Evan rolled over to Vihn and pulled his blinded mentor away from the rubble as Ad Astra sprayed heavy gunfire into the ceiling, entombing Krow within the sewer.

  The ship circled its back to the tunnel entrance so that the loading ramp descended to the team.

  Cranston and Twitch lifted Blink from the ground and rushed her into the airship, outrunning the sloshing waters that overflowed. Nyla ran over to Evan and helped carry Vihn.

  Vihn took hold of himself and dashed up the ramp with Nyla, while Evan turned back to find Ken.

  “Evan!” Vihn called out.

  Evan ignored the call as he splashed into the waters to grab his friend who was already being washed away. His hand reached out for Ken’s cold fingers… cold fingers clutching an ID. Had he pulled it out while lying there? Why? It didn’t matter. Evan tugged at his friend, but the waters were strong, and Evan was weak. He fought to hold on to his friend as the waters knocked them forth. Vines lashed out and grappled Evan, stopping him from going over, yet he still held on to his friend who was not so fortunate to be caught by Vihn’s plants.

  “Let go!”

  Evan cursed the old stranger. “I have to save him!” His friend’s body an anchor that threatened to drop them both into the harbor below.

  “I can’t get you both, Evan.”

  “I can’t leave my friend!”

  “He’s gone, Evan. It’s over.”

  “No!” He couldn’t give up; he couldn’t abandon Ken again.

  “If you don’t let go, you’ll get us all killed!”

  “Feds are closing in, man,” warned Daniel over the comms.

  Rowic said, “I’m sorry Evan, we’re out of time.”

  “No! That’s my friend! That’s my friend! That’s my brother!”

  An uproarious alarm filled the cabin.

  Evan stared at Ken’s face, colorless, motionless, lifeless. He’s right… Evan cursed himself as he let Ken’s fingers slip from his. Palm from palm. Digit from Digit. End from End. Ken was dead…

  No!

  He thrust his other hand out and caught Ken’s dropping arm. The weight yanked him over the ramp. He couldn’t let go. Not like this. Not after everything.

  Hands grabbed on to Evan’s legs.

  “Let him go!” Vihn cursed.

  Evan ignored it. He wouldn’t let go; he’d never abandon his friend again. He summoned strength from the deepest parts of his body. His muscles popped and tore. The hands on his legs pulled him back so that he was back on the ramp. Twitch joined him, and Cranston, and Nyla, reaching out to Ken’s lifeless form and reeling him back into the ship.

  “Get us out of here!” Vihn called to the cockpit and slammed a button that raised the ramp.

  The airship took to the air. The sudden momentum threw Evan against the wall, knocking the air from his lungs. He dragged his broken body to Ken who lay motionless on the floor, red spilling from giant holes, pooling underneath him, his eyes closed.

  Evan flinched in shock. He begged Vihn, “You can heal him.”

  “Evan, I can’t. It’s too late.” Vihn cradled his plant arm.

  This couldn’t be how it ended; it couldn’t be. “Ken, please say something. Say something man. Anything.” He shook his brother. Anger flooded him, desperation, a hollowing fear that carved out his heart and crushed it. His power came unwillingly, unwavering, seeping from his hands into Ken, whose skin wilted into dust.

  “No, no, no.”

  In a matter of moments, Ken was no more – his body, particles in the air, leaving behind nothing but that ID on the floor. Evan stared there at that empty space where there had once been his brother, just stared there, no thoughts, no words, no feelings. It was as if Ken had never been there.

  I… killed my best friend.

  UPDATE: Milestone 2 Complete! Future milestones ahead, thank you all for the support!

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