Ravenwood Nuclear Power Plant
Sub-Level 3
"Climb! Move!" Kenji screamed, shoving Aris toward the rusty rungs of the service ladder.
The roar of the Tank-class monster shook the very foundations of the reactor dome. Behind them, the massive creature was tearing itself out of the blue sludge, shaking off the sticky goo like a wet dog. It looked up, its glowing red eyes locking onto the three teenagers scrambling up the wall.
It didn't climb. It punched the wall.
BOOM.
The impact sent a shockwave up the concrete. The metal ladder vibrated violently, nearly shaking Maya loose.
"Don't look down!" Kenji yelled, grabbing the back of Maya's jacket to steady her. "Just go!"
Below them, the monster grabbed a handful of the thick black vines and ripped them from the wall. The ceiling of the dome groaned. The sacs—the hundreds of translucent eggs hanging above the pit—began to shake.
Squelch. Pop.
One of the eggs split open. Then another. Then a dozen.
Fluid rained down into the pit. From the torn sacs, creatures dropped. They weren't like the dog-scouts or the giant Tank. They were small, wiry humanoids with spindly limbs and no skin—just raw, blue muscle.
"Drones!" Aris yelled, looking down as he hauled the heavy Black Box up the ladder. "The hive is waking up!"
The Drones hit the ground running. They didn't walk; they scuttled like spiders, climbing the walls with terrifying speed.
"They're faster than us!" Maya cried.
"Keep climbing!" Kenji ordered.
They reached the catwalk level just as the first Drone crested the edge of the pit. It hissed, exposing a mouth full of needle-teeth, and lunged for Aris's leg.
CRACK.
A gray, rocky fist smashed the Drone in mid-air, turning it into blue paste.
Marco stood there, panting, his stone arm smoking. Sarah was right beside him, her light-sword glowing dim but steady.
"Took you guys long enough," Sarah said, though her hands were shaking. "Did you get the box?"
"Got it," Aris wheezed, adjusting his grip on the heavy case.
"Great," Marco pointed down the corridor. "Now let's get out of here before Godzilla down there decides to jump again."
They sprinted back toward the spiral staircase. The sound of scuttling claws on metal echoed behind them. A swarm of Drones poured onto the catwalk, a tide of blue muscle and teeth.
"There's too many!" Maya yelled.
"Go!" Sarah stopped, turning around. "I'll hold them back!"
"Sarah, no!" Kenji shouted. "Your sword is flickering!"
"I don't need the sword," Sarah grit her teeth. She dropped the light-blade. She clapped her hands together, intertwining her fingers. "My grandpa built this place. I'm not letting some space-bugs take it."
She closed her eyes and screamed.
FLASH.
She didn't make a weapon. She turned her entire body into a flashbang grenade. A pulse of blinding, pure white light exploded from her skin.
It illuminated the entire dark facility, brighter than the sun.
The Drones shrieked, blinded. They stumbled, falling off the catwalks into the pit below. Even the Tank monster down in the sludge covered its eyes and roared in confusion.
"My eyes!" Marco yelled, shielding his face.
"Run now!" Sarah yelled. The light faded instantly, leaving her collapsing to her knees in the dark.
Kenji didn't hesitate. He grabbed Sarah's arm and hauled her up. Marco grabbed the other side. They half-carried, half-dragged her toward the exit.
They scrambled up the spiral stairs, their footsteps clanging loudly. They burst through the heavy blast doors of Sub-Level 3 and into the main hallway.
"The exit is straight ahead!" Aris shouted, hugging the Black Box to his chest like a football.
But the floor beneath them buckled.
CRASH.
The concrete floor ten feet in front of them exploded upward.
The Tank monster had punched through the ceiling of the basement. Its massive, armored head and shoulders erupted through the floor, blocking their path to the exit. It clawed at the tiles, pulling its massive bulk up into the hallway.
It roared, a sound so loud it shattered the remaining windows in the corridor. It blocked the only way out.
"We're trapped," Maya whispered.
"No," Kenji said. He looked at the monster, then at the wall to their right. It was an exterior wall. Through the dirty window, he could see the chain-link fence and the freedom of the night.
"Marco!" Kenji yelled. "Fastball Special!"
"What?" Marco blinked.
"Throw me!" Kenji pointed at the monster. "Throw me at it!"
"You're crazy!"
"Just do it!" Kenji backed up. "Aris, when the window breaks, run!"
Marco didn't argue. He dropped Sarah gently. He stepped forward, his stone arms locking together to form a platform.
Kenji ran. He stepped onto Marco's hands.
"HRAAAH!" Marco roared, heaving upward with all his supernatural strength.
Kenji launched into the air like a human missile. He flew straight toward the Tank monster's face.
The monster swiped at him, massive claws tearing the air.
Warp.
Kenji vanished in mid-air, dodging the claw.
He reappeared right in front of the monster's chest. He didn't punch. He placed both palms flat against the creature's rocky armor.
He poured every last drop of energy he had left. Every spark. Every ounce of static.
"BLAST!"
KA-BOOM.
A sphere of blue energy exploded point-blank.
The force was massive. It didn't kill the monster, but physics took over. The massive beast was knocked backward, off balance. It stumbled back into the hole it had just climbed out of.
With a confused growl, the Tank fell back down into the basement, crashing through the floor with a thunderous impact that shook the building.
Kenji fell to the floor, empty. He couldn't move his legs.
"The wall!" Marco yelled.
Marco didn't wait. He charged at the exterior wall Kenji had looked at earlier. He lowered his stone shoulder and hit the brickwork like a battering ram.
CRUMBLE.
The old brick wall gave way. Dust and debris sprayed out into the cool night air.
"Go! Go! Go!"
Marco grabbed Kenji. Maya grabbed Sarah. Aris grabbed the box.
They stumbled out of the hole in the wall, landing in the gravel of the parking lot. They didn't look back. They ran for the hole in the fence.
Behind them, the power plant howled. The swarm of Drones was chittering at the broken wall, but they didn't pursue. They stayed in the shadows of the building, hissing at the moonlight.
The team ran until they hit the tree line. They kept running until the power plant was hidden behind a ridge of pine trees.
Finally, by the side of the old logging road, they collapsed.
Marco fell onto his back, gasping for air. Sarah leaned against a tree, dry heaving. Maya was crying silently, holding Kenji's hand.
Kenji lay in the dirt, staring up at the stars. His vision was blurry. His head felt like it was splitting open.
"We... we did it," Aris wheezed. He patted the black metal case sitting in the dirt between them. "We got the package."
"Is everyone... all limbs attached?" Kenji mumbled, his speech slurring slightly.
"I think Sarah broke her ankle for real this time," Marco said, sitting up and checking his friends. "But we're alive."
"Open it," Sarah whispered. She was sitting on the ground, clutching her swollen leg. "Open the box. I want to see what my grandfather died for."
Aris pulled the box closer. He entered the code he had deciphered earlier: 1-9-8-4.
Click. Hiss.
The hydraulic seals released. The lid popped open slowly.
They all leaned in, illuminated by the faint moonlight.
Inside the foam-padded case, there was no weapon. There was no bomb.
There was a device. It looked like a complex, futuristic compass made of brass and glass, with a glowing blue crystal spinning in the center.
And next to it, a single photograph.
Kenji reached in and picked up the photo. It was a picture of five scientists standing in front of the satellite station in the 1980s. Dr. Vance was there.
But standing next to him, looking young and human, was a man with a sharp jawline and cold eyes.
"That's him," Sarah whispered, pointing at the man. "That's the Detective. Before he turned gray."
Kenji flipped the photo over. On the back, in faded ink, was a list of five names.
Subject 1: Void Walker
Subject 2: Titan
Subject 3: Photon
Subject 4: Tether
Subject 5: Static
Kenji looked up at his friends. The realization hit him like a punch to the gut.
"This isn't just a lock," Kenji whispered. "This list... it's us. Or people like us. The powers... they aren't random mutations."
He looked at the spinning compass.
"They planned this," Kenji said. "Twenty years ago. They made us."