Rex lunged toward the gates of the highest building in the city which houses the reactor, his eyes burning with fury. But just as he pushed forward, a wave of weakness crashed through his body. His stride faltered. His muscles stiffened. He gasped.
"What the hell..." he muttered, blinking rapidly. "My body... I can't feel my limbs..."
Before he could take another step, an officer shouted with anger:
"You really think we are gonna just watch you barge into this place? Who the hell do you think you are?"
The line of armored officers raised their rifles, a synchronized motion backed by sharp discipline. In the tense air, Rex's body trembled though not from fear. It was something else entirely. A numbness. A form of energy eating away at his strength.
"Paralyzed..." Archex's calm voice echoed above the crowd.
Descending from the sky like a silent phantom, Archex, the red haired and brown eyed young looking teen, hovered mid air, suspended by invisible anti grav tech. His black and chrome suit shimmered with refractive plating, sleek and angular, reflecting the red blue lights of the emergency perimeter. A glowing visor masked his eyes, and his signature tactical gauntlets buzzed with active diagnostics.
"That is what happens when you bathe someone in high radiation fields combined with energy limiters," Archex said coolly. "Takes a few minutes to kick in but your little parade with Rio gave us just enough time."
With a swift tap on his gauntlet, coils of energy infused restraints shot out, a mix of plasma laced lassos and elastic nanocables. They wrapped around Rex's limbs, hoisting him into the air like a captured beast, hanging helplessly as Archex descended slowly to the ground.
A cheer rippled through the officers.
"Archex!" one of them shouted in awe. "Third Elite Gold Member. This kid has saved the Arc Reactor again."
Another officer clapped. "He barely ever leaves that place but when he does, he ends the threat before it starts."
A veteran officer added with pride:
"He is just like his father Stanley Jenkins. He and Lucian Stark built the reactor, but Archex... he stabilized the entire energy core solo. Boy is a prodigy. First teen to ever win over ten Nobel Prizes and even corrected Einsteins Law of Relativity."
Another officer whispered, half joking:
"With how rich he probably is, I bet he could buy out Smart Citys Mayor Raymond and still have change left."
Floating upside down now, his cloak flaring with subtle anti grav ripples, Archex turned his gaze to the captured villain.
"You have no place in this city Rex," he said, his voice calm but cold. "You will be purged for disturbing the peace."
But as silence settled over the field, a low chuckle escaped Rex's lips.
Then, against all odds, he began to move.
His muscles twitched.
His legs slowly bent.
Still hanging, still wrapped, Rex began to stand.
"I think we are getting the wrong idea here kid. You think you wanna trap me with this," Rex said, turning his neck toward the energy limiting lassos on his body. "You forget that I have other abilities too."
"What do you mean?" Archex instinctively asked as he placed a gun on his forehead. "Do not try anything funny or else..."
Archex raised the trembling gun and pointed it directly at Rex's forehead. Rex smirked as he pushed himself to his feet, fury burning in his eyes.
"Or else what? What will you do to me, kid? I bet you have never killed anyone before. You are too scared," Rex said, standing tall as an energy limiting bullet grazed his left ear.
Archex steadied his shaking arms, his voice sharp with defiance. "You have no evidence that I have not killed anyone before. You piece of non human scum. I will send you back to the place you creatures crawled out from."
Rex froze for a moment, startled by the boy's sudden courage.
"So even a child thinks I am non human scum. How insulting. How despicable. How foolish. How dare you." Rex lifted his head and laughed quietly. "What do you think powers these restraints on me?"
Archex replied, "Energy restraining lassos and strings. With them you cannot move. What about it?"
Rex laughed again. "I thought you were smart." He waved his hand and the entire city went dark as every bulb shut down at once.
Archex looked toward the nearest building and gasped. The restraining devices that depended on electricity powered down alongside the lights. "There are still people in that building."
Rex leaned close and whispered into his ear. "You are worrying about them. You should worry more about yourself."
His fist shot forward faster than the eye could see, but instead of striking Archex, it collided with a shimmering barrier that drank in the attack. Rex continued to punch the surface.
"What is this?" he demanded.
Archex smiled. "It is an E D B. An energy draining barrier. Your abilities work with electric current, but this barrier does not. It runs on a source that is not electrical. It even uses an insulator induced energy core."
He pressed a command on his wrist pad. Rows of missiles emerged and positioned themselves around Rex.
"How stupid of you, Rex. You actually raised my hopes for a moment. Draining electricity from a city is nothing to you. I can simply press this."
Archex tapped another command and the arc reactor roared to life. Energy pulsed outward, restoring power to the buildings. Lights flickered back on across the entire skyline. Security robots awakened and marched into defensive formations against Rex.
Rex scoffed. "Is this all you can do, child? I have no interest in you or your toys. Move."
He punched the barrier again but the field drank in the blow as if it were nourishment.
Archex shook his head. "It is useless. The barrier draws its strength from any external force applied to it. Every punch makes it stronger." He pressed another button and a second barrier formed around Rex, sealing him inside a perfect sphere.
Rio swung down from a light pole and watched the scene unfold. "It seems you wrapped everything up, Alex."
Archex floated slightly above ground level and crossed his arms. "Yes. I saved the city again. At least I am better than you two nobodies. Especially someone who caused city wide destruction in the first place by removing the limiters placed on him." He glared directly at Rio before facing the officers.
"There was no need for backup. We knew you could handle everything efficiently, Master Archex," one officer said respectfully.
Rio stepped forward. "I was trying to protect the city bank. I did not know that my actions would result in..."
"Do not get cocky, you freak," another officer snapped. "Just because you are in the elite gold does not mean humans trust your species."
A third officer added, "A Dryaid in this city makes no sense. Why would a non human devil be tasked with protecting millions of people?"
Another muttered, "Maybe he is a slave to the Mayor. Maybe he is a personal pet, used and thrown away for missions like this."
Rio clenched his fists. "I am not a slave to anyone. I work for Lucian Stark and I protect this city day and night from internal and external threats."
Before he finished speaking, an automated mechanical fist slammed into his face and hurled him across the street. Archex controlled the robotic arm manually and struck Rio again and again.
"You saved the city from threats? Look at the damage you caused. Fifty six million dollars worth of buildings and property destroyed by your foolish decisions. Do not get cocky just because Joyce Hart defends you. I could end you right now and it would not even count as murder. You are not human. You have no human rights. If Lucian asks, I will simply call it collateral damage. I will say you died fighting that creature." Archex turned and walked away.
"Save your nonsense for Tony Hart and Joyce. Everything that happened in this city is your fault. You incompetent Dryaid creature. I do not want to see your face again. You failure."
Archex lifted himself into the air and flew upward.
Rio reached a hand forward as tears filled his eyes. "But I…" He trailed off and left in silence.
"Take that other electric loving freak creature away," Archex ordered. Officers approached the barrier containing Rex.
Sweat rolled down Rex's face but he remained perfectly calm. "You seem to forget what I told you. You are not trapping me. You are already inside my trap."
He detonated a burst of energy that shattered the rear barrier and blasted Archex forward.
Archex caught himself midair. "I came prepared."
He moved with sudden speed and fired an electron charged ray from a plasma gun. Smoke filled the air as the blast struck Rex, who blocked it with his forearm.
"You cannot stop me," Rex growled as he appeared directly in front of Archex without warning.
"When did he move? How did he get here?" Archex whispered as he urgently generated another barrier around himself.
"It is useless," Rex said. "I am Electron."
His hand erupted in a storm of electricity as he punched straight through the barrier and into Archex's stomach, sending the boy flying across the sky.
Archex coughed and forced himself upright. "I see it now," he whispered.