The Syndicate Squad | Teen Ink

The Syndicate Squad

November 1, 2015
By TheEukaryote17 PLATINUM, Hull, Massachusetts
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TheEukaryote17 PLATINUM, Hull, Massachusetts
23 articles 0 photos 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” - MLK


Author's note:

What I did was I took characters from previous failed projects and used them here. These characters are my favorites that I couldn't let go to waste. I would think to myself: “When will you write and finish something great? Don't do it now, let it build up, and then express it.” I would always put it off thinking that the longer I postponed it the more I would learn and the more potential it would have, but I'm done doing that. I'm writing it, now. This is it.

The author's comments:

Welcome! Thank you for reading! Please type your opinion, critics, anything you think i could fix, how you felt about this, or how it made you feel.

Bryce Alexanderson:
Oh man, again, running after the bus for blocks and blocks to simply avoid going back home to ride my bike to school and be late. Everyday was similar, was this what my life had come to? I mean, it's not all at bad, but we'll get to that. "Stop the bus!" I screamed as I ran. I was panting miserably and it was torture, but I knew I had the determination. Let's go. Move, move, move! I screamed at myself in my head. Before I knew it, the bus was gone. "Oh, great." I said to myself out loud. I headed home. Defeated by the yellow giant, again. I thought. After a few minutes I got home. I got on my bike, now I knew what was here, double time. I had to go full speed to get to school on time, I knew I probably wouldn't make it, but I couldn't lose hope. I biked down my hill, I didn't think about it at first, but only the way down, it felt good with my stomach in my throat. Eventually I got there and it gave me a head start for a while until I had to start pedaling again. Why was I late today? I asked myself. It was probably that last level I had to play. But was it worth it? No, not at all, but honestly, that's how I live life. I don't know how to explain it, rushing, being late, being stressed, getting into trouble. It was great. All the thinking made me forget what I was doing and I stopped paying attention. A car was coming a luckily I stopped in time. The driver honked hard, "My bad, sorry!" I yelled without stopping. I couldn't stop now, I was almost to school. I looked at my phone to check the time, taking my eyes off the road, not learning from my mistake yet, that's one of my best qualities, yes, I said best. 7:38, I literally have 7 minutes, I said, scaring myself. I pedaled faster, and luckily I made it. I locked my bike, ran to my locker, got my things, and I was off to class.

I went to algebra, with the teacher saying the same thing she says every day to me. "Late again, Bryce." Though in reality I wasn't because the bell hadn't rung, though everyone else was sitting. In the one day a year where a miracle occurs and I'm not the last in the class she says it to that person. She never makes me get a pass from the office, I think because she knows that I'm not actually late. I had a seat and finally rested. I put my head on the table. A few moments later, the teacher hit my desk with a meter stick. I suddenly jumped and made a wierd sound and the class laughed at me. Who does that anymore, who hits desks with rulers? She made the whole class laugh at me. I thought. I got a stomach ache all of a sudden, probably from running and biking, then resting all of a sudden. "Can I go to the bathroom please? I feel sick." I said asked, knowing she would let me. A student had already thrown up in her class this year. As I left the room I thought about that, weird coincidence. As I walked to the bathroom I stared out the window to the back of the school. The sky was dark and gray, besides one single small spot. It was yellow and orange. I stopped and took a closer look out of the window, it looked like it was getting closer. No way. I thought as I came to the realization that it was an asteroid coming near us. I know it seems bizarre, but in a gray sky, if you could've seen it, you would know that it could only be an asteroid. I ran outside, knowing I could possibly get in a lot of trouble, but I had investigate. I felt afraid at first, but then I set my fear aside, fear is just a hesitation of adventure. Eventually it crashed less than 20 feet away from me. I walked up to it, how could I not, it was like it was screaming my name. I pulled away from it, but then going back to reaching for it. A part of me thought: Don't touch it, idiot. Really? Why would you touch some strange thing from the sky? What are you doing?! But another part of me was thinking: Don't leave this thing here? Sure, you don't know what it is, but explore, figure this thing out. How could you ever walk away from this. You know yourself, Bryce, you are dragged to adventure. This could be something huge. But as all this was rushing through my mind, the asteroid opened up. Then something jumped out. It was like an ooze. It jumped onto both my shoes and then I tried to kick it off, but it stuck and crawled into my shoes like it had a mind of its own. I felt and saw my shoes change before my eyes. The most notable change was the color. But I felt something in me, a change in my entire body, a surge of energy. I gotta run. Why? That's weird. Don't run, get these shoes off! I thought, arguing with myself. It didn't matter what I wanted to do, I had no choice, I had to run. I went back into the school at super speed and ran down the halls, so fast, that I was a blur to anyone walking by. I shook the school and made banging noises because of how fast I was. People came outside their class to investigate. The moment they saw the orange flash go by them, they pulled the fire alarms. Within a few minutes the whole school evacuated while I pretended to just now be exiting the bathroom and walked with the rest of my class. The police came and students explained what they had seen. What should I have done, I mean, I couldn't control it, I had to run. It was like a maximum rush. I thought. What do you even mean, Bryce. What is a maximum rush? Good question, something that sounds awesome. I thought, then taking my phone out to take note of it. An officer snatched the phone out of my hand. "Um, you're not alowed to do that, that's mine. Give it back... please." I said while reaching for it. The officer continued reading what I wrote. "What is a maximum rush?" She asked. "Just something I thought of." I said embarrassed. Then the officer handed me back my phone. I was frustrated by that. They quickly spoke with and investigated everyone. After that, it had been about 15 minutes. I was incredibly nervous. After their investigation was over everyone left, except me. The officers kept me back. As every single student walked back in through one entrance, one officer put his hand on my chest to keep my from following them. "Excuse me officer." I said not realizing he had done it on purpose. "Excuse me." I repeated. He still hadn't moved or said anything. "What do you want?" I asked him. "We cannot let you go, yet." He said. "Why, I didn't do anything wrong, I didn't pull the alarms, I didn't start any fire, I'm fine." I said, which was all true, I had not said a single lie.

Then the female officer who had taken my phone walked up to us. "Thank you officer Mccarthy, I can take it from here." She said. I was convinced at that point that she was out to get me. She put me in handcuffs as I resisted and forced me into a van. After I was in the van, in the back seat, with a table between her and I, she asked me questions. There was no driver, so I knew I wasn't going anywhere. "What is this even about. Can you just let me go back to school?" I asked. "We know you have an experience with an asteroid, tell me what the results of that were." She commanded. "What are you talking about? What asteroid?" I asked pretending to be oblivious. She pulled an electronic tablet from under the table and showed it to me. It had ratings and scales titled with things like heart rate and stuff. "This is you." She notified me. "I'm fine." I said as I itched my right ear. "You itched with your less dominant hand, which is another indication that you are currently withholding information. Motivation: fear of consequences." She said. "Don't analyze me, freak." I blurted. "Excuse me?!" She asked. "I'm so-" I began to say, but stopping myself. I wasn't going to be afraid, again, and I wasn't letting her bully me either. "I said, don't analyze me... freak." I repeated. "That's it, enough games. Tell me or I'll find out the hard way.” She said. "Go ahead." I said daringly. "Fine." She said as a gas filled the room. My mind raced, filling up with regrets, then second guessing, then fear, then hope, then my last thought. This oughtta be fun.

The author's comments:

Hope you liked it! It gets even better.

Eugene Stilinski:
"Eugene? Eugene, report. Eugene, come in, Eugene?" I heard over my earpiece. I was sleeping, because it was the middle of the night at the time. "Yes sir?" I muttered beginning to wake up. "Report to the facility immediately, an urgent mission has been assigned to you." He replied in his deep voice. Oh fun. I thought. This is why I love this job. I thought sarcastically. I got up, dressed, and ready in a matter of five minutes. I got in my car and began to drive to work, which wasn't far. What is it this time? What new target have I been assigned now? Why is it always me? I asked myself. Probably because you're the best at it, well, second best, but who cares. I answered myself. When I got to the building, it was pitch black inside. I didn't turn any lights on, I assumed it was like that for a reason. I walked up the stairs and down a few halls until I was eventually in my boss's office. "You wanted to see me, sir?" I asked the silhouette in a room that looked otherwise empty besides furniture and decorations. "Yes, as you probably expected, I have a new target for you." He said. "Yes, who is this target?" I asked curious and excited. "It is not any normal target. This should be a surprising challenge." He said. I was even more excited now. "Who is the next target?" I asked him. "This new target is Ryder Rex." He told me. "But, sir." I asked. It was unclear why he wanted me to assassinate a fellow employee. "I realize the relations of the situation and target. That must be dismissed, just like he must be dismissed." My boss said. "Why is this, sir?" I asked. "Do not ask. He is going away for the same reason." He said, implying that he asked too many questions. "Okay... Consider it done." I said to my boss. "Good, suit up." He said. I walked down the hall to my office and on the way I thought about it. In reality, I was still questioning the morality of this situation. I know this guy, I've gone out to drink with this guy, we've talked. But that is a rule, do not become close to anyone. He is probably one of the people I am closest to though. I thought, which made me feel sad that some guy I've had a few drinks with was the closest friend I had got. It doesn't matter, this is your job. You're going to do it, kill him. No! How could you? Let's not and say you did. But then the boss will find out and then I'll be dead too. But really, Eugene, would you rather die knowing you did the right thing or living killing the closest thing to a friend you've had in a long time? That's a stupid question. What even is the right thing anymore? You kill people for a living, Eugene. You couldn't ever be a hero. Hey, never say never. I thought, still keeping hope in the fact that maybe one day God and I would forgive myself. Then I had arrived at my office. I opened my closet with my hand print. It unlocked and I opened it to take my suit. This suit, wasn't any normal suit though. It was a metal suit of armor made to enhance my methods for missions like this. I was the only assassin that worked here that owned a cricket armor suit. Everyone else had a beetle suit. It made me feel different from them, that having a different suit would mean I'm not like them, I wouldn't be a professional murderer like them. Don't think about it like that. It's just a job. Get it done, get paid, move on, next target. It's just a cycle. But, that means, it will never end. When can I be a hero? I wondered. I said don't think about it! I reminded myself to repress it. I was really starting to lose it.

I suited up quickly and didn't travel with my car to his house. I jumped from rooftop to rooftop. My suit had gears attached to the knees, so like a grasshopper, I could jump super far. What's the difference between a cricket and a grasshopper anyway? Are they the same animal? Don't worry about it, focus and concentrate on the mission. I reminded myself to stay on task. It felt unnatural, I was trying to bend my brain to do things humans shouldn't do. Kill, focus, analyze, and be brainwashed. It was too much. Eventually I got to his house after I landed on his porch. I deployed a short circuit frequency to disable all alarms and cameras so I was undetected. I broke into his house and walked by all the pictures and trophies. I began to feel emotional. Don't think about it. I reminded myself again. I continued walking and eventually I got to the stairs. I analyzed the way they looked and the pressure with the goggles that came with my suit. I made no creaks while I continued. Eventually I got to his bedroom. I ejected my silenced pistol and aimed it at him. Do it. Eugene, don't think about it. Do it. No! Don't, there's no going back. Just go! Wait, no, wait, don't hesitate! You can't do this. You're not a killer, man. You're a human being and so is he. I thought. Then suddenly he disarmed me and put me in the ground, it happened so fast. "Why didn't you pull the trigger, Eugene?" He asked. "Because I saw you, you're just a human being. I keep telling myself not to think about it, but it's my humanity." I confessed. He let me up from the ground. "Why were you assigned to kill me?" He asked. "How did you know how to do that?" I asked still aching. "Us spies need defense as much as you hitmen do. But tell me why." He asked. "You asked too many questions. That's what the boss said." I admitted. "I have a plan." I said. "What?" He said, having no idea what to do to progress the situation in our favor. "I don't want to kill you. I'll show the boss fake proof of your death, you break in, steal files, and we get answers." I suggested. "What if our answers aren't in there? What about after that? That doesn't sound that great to me." He said. "If we don't get answers, we get leverage. We make everyone turn on him. If that doesn't work, we're dead. But if we do nothing, we're definitely dead anyway. It's our only chance. If you've got a better plan, please, tell me." I explained. "No, I don't have a better plan. Initiate project overdrive." He said. "Nice name, initiate project overdrive." We said shaking each other's hands.

Chapter 3: Stealing the Suit
Ryder Rex
After making the deal to cooperate with Eugene in operation overdrive, I got dressed and ready and broke into the company we worked for, it's called ozes research center. The public thinks ozes stands for official zone (for) experimental science, but that is not the truth. Anyway, I broke into ozes labs. It was not too difficult considering that they thought I was dead, there were only security guards, I know the security systems like the back of my hand, and, oh yeah, I'm a spy. I casually walked through the front door. Then I realized, it would be a lot harder without my enhancement stealth suit, which were ability based animals like everyone else's. None of ours looked like animals though, that would be weird. Eugene had a cricket, most hitmen had a beetle though. I had a salamander, even though most spies had snakes. That's what I needed. I had to lurk in the shadows to get to it. Just like the old days, Ryder. You still have it in you. I tried to convince myself. I got about fifteen yards before a guard walked in. I made my steps silent after that. I continued to go after my path to my office. The guard was starting to realize that something was up though. I eventually decided that I had to disarm him and knock him out. It was a great feeling I hadn't had quite like this in a long time. A feeling that I missed. It was a rush of rebellious fear, fear for lack of a better word. When I was right behind him, I tap him on his right shoulder and put my arm around his neck from the left side. Unfortunately, I wasn't fast enough though. He nearly broke my wrist when he noticed that I was trying to harm him. After a few moments of a struggle, luckily, I had won and had him in a choke hold. He did make me bleed, but he was still was gone within a few seconds. Don't lose it, don't let that discourage you. I said to myself. I continued to go, you can't turn back now. Eventually I reached a long hallway to where my office was. I went down it, still moving stealthily. Suddenly, a security guard turned the corner. Within practically milliseconds I jumped to the ceiling and put my arms and legs between the hallway walls so that I'd stay there. Can you do it? You're not the nineteen year old thief you used to be. Can you handle it? You're not good enough, Ryder. I thought. I began to shake and struggle to stay up there. Eventually he walked by me but I had to remain up there because I wasn't capable of dropping down silently enough to be undetected. But then, something beyond my control occurred. A single drop of blood from the cut that the other guard gave me dropped. For some reason, the guard had heard it drop. He's gotta have the latest audio specs to hear sometime of that small of decibels. I thought. He looked up and I dropped down, punching him in the face as I fell. He pulled out his nightstick as I got back up. He hit me a few times, stunning me. “Call for backup, invasion, invasion. I repeat calling for backup!” He said into his walkie talkie while I was stunned. I uppercutted him and he was out. I knew it would take less than thirty seconds for backup to get here. I ran to my office and suited up, with eight seconds to spare. I activated my goggles and invisibility and exited my office. I was surrounded by five or six people. I threw out a electric pellet and stunned them as I continued to run and escape. I turned the corner and a man probably about six feet and seven inches tall with biceps that could probably lift a car bumped into me. He didn't need goggles, he knew where I was then. He grabbed my throat and lifted me up. I threw my leg up and kicked him in the face. How am I that flexible. I guess you still have some of that game left, huh? I thought proudly. “Sorry Mr. Gorilla, I gotta run.” I said taunting him. He tased me in the leg as I tried to continue leaving, which disabled my invisibility. I fell to my knees and it took me about six seconds to recover, but it was five seconds too long. The other guards whom I shocked had recovered and were handcuffing me. The boss emerged from the shadows not too far down the hallway. “Did you think you could escape this easily, Ryder? I know you. I knew you'd escape Eugene, but you can't escape this.” The boss said. I was too ashamed to say anything. They injected me with something, which made me unconscious. When I woke up I was in a jail cell, but I knew I was still in the building. I was in the medication wing, in a cage where they put the test monkeys. I sat for a few minutes thinking about it. I'm going to do it. In the end, I don't need a suit to be a spy. I just need to get back in the zone. This is my chance, I'm leaving ozes, I'm going to start my own rebellion. But, I'll always be a salamander. I thought. That was a great idea. After a few minutes though, this flash came and suddenly, there was a man in the cell I was in. Out of nowhere, he appeared in there. “Who are you?!” I asked. “Can't explain, you're welcome, run.” He said out of breath. Then threw me the keys to my cell and disappeared just like how they came. I quickly unlocked my cell and my suit was right outside. I suited up and began to leave stealthy. I climbed up the walls and crawled on the ceiling to escape. I walked by every single guard. None even considered looking up, it was hilarious to see them completely oblivious. As I escaped I managed to grab some files from the boss’s desk, which was on my way out. I grabbed as many as possible and left. Eventually I got to a library which I broke into and slept in. I couldn't go home, obviously. When I got to the library I found this room which was sealed off, but I could see it with my x-ray goggles. I decided that would be my hideout. i pried it open and after I entered I sealed it back easily. I'd have to put led in front of the secret entrance, but obviously not tonight. There was a desk in there, I put the files on it, sat down, and read the title of the first file, “Project Friday”. Huh.

Chapter 4: It's Good to be Home
Miles Edson
“Any last words?” The executioner asked me. “Catch me if you can.” I said. The executioner tried to end me before I could escape, but I am capable of disappearing faster than light. Within milliseconds I was on my feet and he was no longer over me with his dagger. I began running as fast as I could. I've been chasing after the thought of returning home for too long. This new world, is apocalyptic, volcanoes, geysers, creatures, and somehow worse things. I wasn't going to let it end now. He's been hunting me ever since he knew I was here, he is convinced if he kills me he’ll get my power, and who knows, maybe he will. He wants to be able to disappear like me. He wants to teleport like I can. I tried to teleport but I hadn't charged it fully yet. He started to catch up to me and my heart began to race faster and I could feel it charging more and more with each beat. I still didn't teleport even when I was full because of the consequences of an overcharge would be more useful. What happens then, in scientific terms, is the thermal and nuclear energy leaks and is released through energy blasts from my eyes. What happens, in cool terms, is laser vision. I continued running closer and closer to the volcano. As I got closer though, I could feel the ground begin to shake. I knew what was coming, an earthquake. I tried to run faster but I wasn't sure how long I could last. Eventually the ground began to split. From then on it was a game of watch your step. The dodging the ground as it collapsed beneath my feet. I ended up having to teleport a few times to escape, which drained some charge, but not all of it. The farther and more I teleport, the more it depletes, I can teleport quite a few times before I'm empty again. I was then at the bottom of the volcano, and I didn't hesitate to run up it. It got more difficult quickly, but it was my only chance. The looked behind me and he was still chasing me and he was only about five feet away. We got the top of the volcano eventually. I hesitate jumping in but I had no choice. If I didn't, I would die anyway. I jumped in. I stared at the magma as I got closer to it and I got hotter, but I was still awhile away. My heart raced faster which charged me more. Then, he jumped down after me. He caught up to me quickly. As we were in free fall he tried to stab me and we fought. Eventually, I was overcharged, and I shot a beam of laser vision out of my eyes and at his face. He screamed we continued to fall and threw up a hook to stop his falling. I looked down, I had five seconds. I wasn't sure if I could force it being this low on charge. It closed my eyes and focused. Suddenly, the sound of the bubbling was gone, the heat practically burning me had vanished, I was no longer fighting for my life. I opened my eyes, I wasn't home though. I looked around, I was in a lab. Behind me was a portal, that I assumed I had came through when I teleported out of it. I was confused, I had never been here before, usually I just teleport and there are no portal or anything like that. I slowly walked down the ramp still gazing around. I heard the door straight ahead from me start to be unlocked. I teleported to behind a desk to my right. I felt it after that, I had no charge. I knew it would come back quickly because my heart was still racing. It was a security guard with a flashlight. I walked snuck behind him and out of the room. I continued walking down the hall I had just entered. The guard that had entered the portal room had exited back down this hall and saw me. “Hey! Who's are you? How'd you get here?” He asked me. I was so startled and scared I turned, faced him, and stared in silence. He spoke into his walkie talkie. “Unexpected intruder, I repeat, not suspected or planned intruder.” He said. What does he mean by planned intruder? I thought. I tried to run but he caught up to me, grabbed my shoulder, and punched me in the face. That gave me more than enough charge. I blasted him in the face with my laser vision. He screamed and I felt horrible. It was an accident, sometimes I can't control it, it just leaks out sometimes. I had to run. I took his keys and ran down the hallway. I felt the adrenaline, which meant a temporary undrainable full charge. I ran into several more guards. I just teleported past them, gave them minor blasts to parts that it wouldn't be lethal, and continued to escape. Eventually I saw a man in a cage. I couldn't leave him here, especially if these people killed the first people they see. I teleported in, said, “Can't explain, you're welcome, run.”, then threw him the keys that were on that guard. What if that guy was a criminal? Why'd you just let him free? You don't know him. What were you thinking? I asked myself. It didn't matter though, it was too late, and my main priority was escaping. Eventually I escaped. It's good to be back. What now? I thought. I had no where to stay, not even for the night. Where would I sleep? I wondered. I looked around and got an idea, I stole a car. Not only did I sleep in it, but as I laid there trying to fall asleep I thought about it. Miles, you just escaped with your life somehow. How did you even manage that? Maybe you can do more than just teleport, maybe you've got luck on your side. Do you know what you deserve for all that? You definitely don't deserve being attacked by guards of a building you didn't even mean to break into, or sleeping in a car, or being homeless. Do you know what you're doing first thing in the morning? You're robbing a bank.

The author's comments:
This chapter introducesKaitlyn Stryker who is personally one of my favorite characters out of the bunch.

Kaitlyn Stryker
“How is it going Jim?” I asked the forensics officer. “Hey, how'd it go? Did you get any information?” He asked. “No, the boss told Felicity to go down and find out about the asteroid instead.” I told him. I continued walking down the hallway. Then, out of the blue, the station shook and the lights flickered. It was like an earthquake. “We’re being attacked! Report to ------” the captain said over the loudspeakers. No one could understand where he wanted us to report to because it was scratched out by malfunctions. “Tori, come here!” I yelled to my best friend. “What's going on, Kaitlyn?” She asked. “I have no idea, we need to get to the respiration room just in case of a major oxygen malfunction.” I warned her. We tried to walk but it was hard to do while the floor was constantly shaking and moving like we were on a boat. Every moment the station became more unstable. Eventually an entire portion of the station was blown away and it became a void sucking everything into space. It was in the direction that we were walking and then, in only a few seconds, Tori was sucked out. I screamed for her as she disappeared toward the attackers ship. They captured her. I wasn't going to let her die like that. I didn't think about it, I just did it, I flew out after her with my space suit. I knew her jetpack had no gas left, she never refills it because she always forgets. After a few seconds I got to the enemy’s ship and forced it open with a tool. I entered and felt the gravity immediately. I patched the part I entered through to avoid everything being sucked out into space. I heard clicking, then I knew that they were aliens. I took cover hiding behind a wall. What do they look like? Are they intelligent? What species are they? Are they violent? Should I aim at them or should I continue hiding? I wondered. I wasn't paying attention while I was thinking and I didn't notice that the alien had found me. He made this strident screech. A scream so grating that I fell to my knees and I felt like my ears were bleeding. After about 45 agonizing seconds I saw a silhouette walk from the shadows where the hall was and closer to me. “Nice to see you again, Kaitlyn.” It said. I looked up to see who it was. I could barely recognize him because my eyes were blurry and watery because of the pain. It was a nemesis of mine, Crymiezier. “How? What are you doing? I'm- I- but-.” I said trying to talk, but I felt like I was melting. I became unconscious after that. So much was going through my mind. How did he know I would be here? How did he escape the galactic Alcatraz? What does he want? Is Tori okay? Is this my fault? Did my fleet escape? How am I going to escape? What can I do? Am I going to die?

When I woke up I was in a circular arena that was probably 20 feet in circumference. It was a grassy ground with moss all over the walls that prevented my escape. Above the walls were bleachers where thousands of aliens sat. I was awakened by the increasingly loud chanting of the word “sacrifice” as I was paralyzed and tied on a vertical plank. I was paralyzed no matter how much I tried to escape. “May I have your attention, please?” I heard loudly. I knew it was Crymiezier by his voice. “It seems that she is awake. Kaitlyn, are you ready to die?” He asked me. “Why? Why are you trying to kill me?” I asked him. “As a message to your fleet. To teach them to stay out of my way. I'm going to kill their best with ease.” He explained. “Any last requests?” He asked pretending to be merciful. “Let Tori live.” I asked. “Oh, I'll have to think about that one. That's tough.” He said. “Initiate the sacrificial process!” Crymiezier announced. The chanting resumed as the gates ahead of my opened. I began to be less numb, but I still didn't have enough power to escape. I can't die here. I'm going to escape. I need to have hope. I'll make it out alive. I hoped. I saw the glowing red eyes of a beast in the cage with the gates lifted ready to be kill me. It slowly walked out into the light. It was like a tiger except it was bigger, red, and had horns. It stared at me with its menacing eyes and and seemed like it was thinking of a plan. After a few moments it began to charge. I heard Tori yell for my attention I saw her in the crowd running from Crymiezier’s men and she threw me my laser pistol. My body began to get full feeling back as my heart raced. I ripped my right hand from the loose ropes holding it down to the plank. As it seemed like time slowed down, I saw my pistol float from over the crowd and to my hand in a matter of seconds and as the sabertooth was only a few feet away I shot it in the face. It fell to the left of me and growled in agony. I shot the ropes and freed myself. I fell down from the plank but I still wasn't capable of running. I began to stand and so did the sabertooth. I looked at it and suddenly it jumped at me and it was on top of me. It tried to scratch me but it tried to fight it off. Eventually I shot it again. It fell off of me and I aimed at it and shot it six more times in the torso. I began to calm down. I looked up at the crowd of aliens who wanted me dead. What now? I wondered. I ran to the only door I saw to the arena. As I got closer more guards came through it and tried to attack me but I was far too well trained in combat to be defeated by the two of them. I ran through the door and went left knowing I had to go fast. Along the way there four more guards whom I took out, but it was more difficult. As I ran towards them, I slid under them and as they began to turn to face me I shot one in the knee, then dodged a punch from another and swept his foot from under him and he was knocked out from the way he fell on his head. The another one who was much bigger than me threw a punch at me. I knew if he even got one hit on my I would be knocked out. So, I took away his ability to punch, I shot him in the hand. Then he fainted from the pain. The last guard surrendered as I stood still with my laser pistol aimed at him. I walked backwards slowly and then turned and ran up the ramp into the stadium. I had no idea where I was going but I left the stadium. When I was out of the stadium everyone was already gone. There were a bunch of ships taking off simultaneously, but I tried to look for Tori. I saw Tori in one of the windows in one of the ships. It was too late to board the ship, because it was already off the ground, but I hadn't gotten far. I turned on my jetpack and flew at top speed to it. An alarm went off in my helmet, then saying “Critically low on energy.” over and over again. My jetpack started to sputter and I was afraid I wouldn't make it. I flew far above where the ship was going to be. I used my propulsion calculator in my helmet which calculated that the ship that Tori was in would be in a certain position within a certain number of seconds. I would have to take the same number of seconds to fall to prevent me falling to my death and not saving Tori. I took a leap of faith and went to the coordinates that was a possible solution and I had enough energy to fly to at the same time. Once I got there, my jetpack hovered there for a few seconds, but then dropped me sooner than I was suppose to be dropped. My helmet started beeping rapidly and saying in its robotic voice, “Miscalculation, brace for impact.”. I tried to slow down my falling by spreading out my limbs. Eventually, I just tightly shut my eyes and activated my force field. Luckily, by the time I landed, everything went how it was suppose to go. I was directly on top of the ship she was in. I used the hacker in my helmet and opened the door on the roof. I went into the ship, but, I was surrounded by guards. It was a trap.

The author's comments:
Bryce is let in on so many secrets and makes his first public appearance as the hero, "Maximum Rush".

Bryce Alexanderson
“How do you not believe me, dude?” I asked my friend. “How could I? Do you hear yourself?” He asked. “Yeah, and I know it's crazy, but it's true.” I tried to convince him. “Okay, you can't prove it, so I should just take your word?” He asked. “Yeah, I don't know what happened, I just can't run like that anymore.” I explained. “So it just vanished?” He asked. “Pretty much.” I said. I was unsure how I felt about my super speed being gone. You don't have to worry about hiding, but you also don't have super powers anymore. Wasn't it worth it? That would be life changing. But it can't just disappear like that, can it? I'm sure it'll come back, when I need it. I'll feel it. I know it will, somehow. I thought to myself. It was hard to actually think deeply about it and focus because I was versing my friend in a video game. “Oh! Gotcha!” He said as he got the last shot on me, we were almost about to tie it. “Hey? Don't you have to go? It's like 4:27.” He pointed out to me. “Oh, crap. Thanks Gramm.” I said. “See ya, it was fun.” He said. “Yeah, bye.” I said. I was late, as usual, as I liked it. I was suppose to be home at 4:30 and I knew I would be late. My mom was used to it. If I had that super speed I'd be able to get there early. I realized. I couldn't force it though. I walked home with my heavy backpack on my back. On my way home I saw a bank being robbed. Oh, come on, I need it now. I realized. I tried to focus. I got this feeling, this energy of ecstasy, the maximum rush. I started to move super fast and to me the rest of the world ceased completely. I took my super hero outfit out of my backpack, I had made one just in case. You have no idea how bad I wanted to be a hero. My costume was orange and blue. I changed and the world around me was still not moving. I ran super fast into the bank and then I stopped moving super fast. The rest of the world resumed. “Who are you?” The robber asked me. “I'm… maximum rush.” I said thinking that would be a very well fitting name. “How did you get in here?” He asked. “The same way I could take you out right now.” I said. Then I ran back and forth all over the bank in super speed. “Well, I have my tricks too.” He said. Then he teleported. Did he just teleport? How? Is this safe? Should I just leave? No, you can't leave. If you want to be a hero you have to do this. Bryce, you don't have to do anything. You're not a coward if you retreat. You're just a kid. Don't let this be your end. If you leave, don't get discouraged. But, if you don't have to, then don't. I thought. “Don't come near me.” He said. “I'm not going to let you get away.” I said. I went into my running position and he saw it coming. I went at him at super speed but as I did that, he shot lasers at me out of his eyes. I made time stop and just stared at the beam of red fire. Oh my god. This is not safe. I'm not ready for this. I can at least keep trying though. I thought pushing myself. I continued running towards him and, from the side, I tackled him. Once we were on the ground, he teleported behind me and stood there ready to shoot his lasers at me. But then, before I had a choice to leave, a flash went off in the bank. Everyone was stunned, including me. The stun lasted probably about 2 minutes. When I adjusted he was gone. I was so confused. I stood for a moment. I heard sirens approaching, I panicked, and ran super fast back to my house. I went into my room and sat on my bed with my hands over my face. Calm down. It's confusing, but you can handle it. You're safe now. Don't be afraid. I said to myself. I switched out of my costume and into my normal clothes which were in my backpack. As I put my costume back in my backpack, I found a note in my costume pocket, which must have been put there during the stun. It read, “If you want answers steal the ozes files titled, “Project Friday”, “Miles Edson”, and “Project Overdrive”. They will be in the bathroom closest to the entrance behind the mirror. Whoa, should I steal the files? I don't really have a choice. I can't be in the middle of this and not know what's going on. I can't be in the middle of this without being a hero either. This is dedication, doing anything to take down the bank robber. What are Project Friday and Project Overdrive? Who is Miles Edson. This is just like the asteroid. I couldn't leave this chance of adventure. Hopefully it's not dangerous though. It will reach that point one day though. Hopefully then I will be able to take it on. I waited until night to steal the files. I didn't wear my costume for this, just in case I was caught. I wore a normal outfit with the plan to casually walk in and out. I planned to hide the files under my shirt, which wasn't the best, but it was better than trying to break in. I made sure everyone else in the house was asleep before I went out. Okay, don't be nervous, that'll get you killed. Just do it. You've got this. I assured myself. Then, I ran to the entrance of the building. I walked toward the door and the security guard outside the building stopped me. “Who are you?” He asked. “I need to go to the bathroom.” I said, which was a fact. “This restroom isn't public, it's only for employees.” He said. “Please?” I asked nicely. “Hurry.” He said as he let me in. I tried so hard not to laugh. I walked through the main entrance where there was nobody except the man at the desk. I started to stare and I couldn't look away no matter how hard I tried. He noticed me staring but I couldn't help it. I went into the bathroom and took the mirror off of the nail it was hanging from. I saw the three sets of files. I took them and put them in my shirt. When I left the bathroom the man from the desk was right in front of me. “Who let you in?” He asked. He had severely startled me and I gasped. “You seem quite anxious and nervous.” He said. “Oh, no, I'm just tired. The doorman let me in. I just had to pee.” I said. You're not being slick. He's catching on. Did you just say pee? I realized. “What do you have under your shirt?” He asked. My face was between a nervous smile and a blank surprised face. I wasn't sure how to react or what to do. “Tell me.” He commanded with me still in silence. Oh my god! What do I do! I'm so dead now! He's caught me. They're going to kidnap me and kill me now. I know too much. I'm doomed. Look what you did, Bryce. I thought. Then he grabbed me. I started to move super fast. I escaped and ran out of the building and back home. What do I do? I wondered. I read the files hoping that there would be something to help me. Miles Edson is the teleporting bank robber. Project overdrive wasn't an ozes file, but it was about men named Eugene and Ryder rebelling against ozes. Project Friday, was out of this other world. It was about this science experiment on this portal that led to a parallel universe called the apocalypse. Eventually I found something, there was a cell phone number listed if there was a problem. I called it. What have you gotten yourself into, Bryce? I've gotten what I wanted, an adventure.

The author's comments:
This chapter is short, but it fills some gaps that would make things confusing without it.

Eugene Stilinski
My phone started ringing. I pulled it out of my pocket and saw who it was. It was Bryce Alexanderson. I answered it, nervous to know what problem he needed help and called for. “So you've read the files?” I asked. “Some, I didn't want to wait too long to call you. They noticed me stealing the files. I had to run.” He said. “You had to run in super speed, right?” I asked, knowing he had powers. “How do you know that?” He asked scared. “Don't be scared, ozes labs studies anyone with powers, they don't know it's you who has super speed, but they know someone in town does.” I said. “Then how do you know? Will you tell them? Are we one the same side?” He asked panicking. “Calm down, I have a friend who's been keeping you secret. His name is Ryder. He's the one who's going to fix your problem. He's on our side.” I explained. I hoped he felt a little more safe. “You're going to be alright.” I assured him. We hung up and I called Ryder. “Hey, so what have you been doing?” I asked. “Did you hear about that bank robber that disappeared?” He asked. “Yeah, why?” I asked hoping it wasn't what I was thinking it was. “Yeah, he's with me. I'm the one who saved him. He's got powers.” He explained. “That's a lot to take in.” I said while I was comprehending it. “But what did you call for?” He asked. “I need you to break into ozes and clear the cameras for the last hour. Don't bring the bank robber.” I explained. “His name is miles and he's coming with me. He's a good guy.” He said. “Ryder, I swear. If that kid is coming with you, he'll get you caught. If you're caught, they'll kill you. If you die, Bryce and I die. You're putting us all at risk.” I explained. “This kid has been through a lot. He's a soldier, a warrior, a man, capable of being a hero. Trust me.” He said trying to convince me. “I don't know about this. It's a huge risk.” I said. “We need more people on our side. He can do this, I have faith in him.” Ryder said. “Go for it.” I said agreeing now. I was still nervous. I trusted Ryder’s opinion though.

Chapter 8: Meet Up
Ryder Rex
“Miles, we’re going on our first mission.” I told him. “What are we doing?” He asked. “We’re breaking into ozes labs to clear the cameras.” I explained. “Why?” He asked. “The kid that Eugene gave the files to was caught by them.” I told him. I had previously explained everything to him. Everything from how Eugene was sent to kill me to when I found him because ozes had a tracker on him because he came through the portal. We got ready to go, I suited up, and he put on the shock bracelet that I had made for him. I gave him a shock bracelet because it would increase his heart rate, which would give him a charge. He was only suppose to use it in emergencies. We left the base that I had found in the library where we both stayed. We broke into ozes and at this point, between each other's help and the fact that we had done this a few times, it was easy. I knew stealth was the best way to be safe, but I knew that's not how miles functioned. We agreed to go in unseen and undetected, but to also disarm and harass the guards while we were at it. Unfortunately, miles didn't keep our deal. We invaded ozes and the first thing miles did was shock himself and teleport behind a guard and give him a small blast to the back. “Miles, you're going to get us killed!” I scolded him. “I couldn't not do that. It was too tempting. Let's have fun with this!” He tried to convince me. “Miles, I'm not going to bring you to missions if you can't-” I began to say, but was interrupted by him saying: “I can't what? I can't behave? I'm not a child. I've been to the apocalypse. I'm tired of being passive. Cut me some slack. I'm ready to kick some!” He explained. It was hard for me not to let him. I knew what it was like. I walked casually behind him as he continued to occasionally shock himself and knock out every single guard easily. “This is fun, is it not?” He asked as he was in a fist fight with trained, martial artist, guards. “Yeah, I'm not going to lie. It definitely is.” I admitted. Eventually we got to the control room. “Okay, now my job, malfunctioning the security system.” I said to him. “Ryder, wait, I've got this. They already know we were here, there's no need to be stealthy, let's do this the easy way.” He said. “What do you mean?” I asked curiously. “Watch and learn.” He said to me jokingly. Then, he shocked himself again and blasted the entire security system with his laser vision. As the cameras malfunctioned, he began to collapse. “Miles, are you alright?” I asked as he fell to his knees. Then he looked up at me with his eyes rolled to the back of his head. I was startled and surprised. I heard guards running down the halls. I barricaded us into the room so that the guards couldn't get to us. I screamed for him to wake up, but he couldn't. The door started to be opened. I was panicking when he finally came back. “Miles, get us out of here!” I said. He took a second to adjust. Then, just as the guards broke in, he teleported us back to the base at the library. We sat in shock for a moment. That was incredibly close. “What happened to you?” I asked. “It's coming.” He said. I was confused. “What is?” I asked. Then he said, “The apocalypse parallel.” Then I realized, we needed to bring the crew together. I called Eugene. “Hey, we need to come together, you, Bryce, Miles, and I.” I told him. “Why?” He asked. “Project Friday is coming soon. The apocalypse parallel is coming soon.” I warned him. I had read the files. The next morning I woke up and got ready. Miles seemed like he was sick. He had a fever and was drowsy. “Get ready, we've gotta go meet with Eugene and Bryce.” I advised him. “I don't feel well.” He said in response. That when I realized it. In ozes one of the scientific theories, which I explored a lot of out of my own curiosity, was that going through the portal, or teleporting, too often would cause a collapse. It wasn't clarified what collapsed, but I knew it would either be Miles or the portal to the apocalypse, or both. I didn't tell Miles though because I didn't want him to freak out. “There’s a giant problem that is growing, Miles. We need to get together to fix it. We need you.” I said letting him know what he could to know. “Okay, but don't get mad if I throw up on you.” He warned. “I hope your joking.” I said. Then we got ready and he teleported us out to make sure that we weren't seen leaving the library. I knew ozes would have an eye out for us, though they didn't know the library was our base, I didn't want them to see us leave it. We walked the rest of the way to Eugene’s house. “So what was the apocalypse like?” I asked hoping that it would be okay to ask. “It was, a journey.” Miles said. “What do you mean?” I asked not understanding. “It was more than just the constant natural disaster. There are people there. There is culture, religion, and even a society. Though they aren't very intelligent, they're very dangerous. I learned that first hand. They traumatized me.” He said. “I’m sorry.” I said not knowing what else to say. “It's alright. I'm hoping that stopping Project Friday will help me feel better and more safe. Being a hero may help me even more than the people I will be helping.” He explained. Eventually we got close enough to Eugene’s house to teleport in. Miles teleported us in and we were suddenly in the living room with Bryce and Eugene. “Okay, so where do we start?” I asked. After a few minutes of explaining some things, something went wrong. Out of nowhere, there was a gas grenade thrown into Eugene’s house. “Get down!” Eugene advised everyone. We ran upstairs to avoid the gas downstairs. All the windows and entrances were broken into by ozes mercenaries. “They must have followed you!” Bryce said to Miles and I. “It was the tracker.” I realized and told the group. “That doesn't matter, we need to get out of here!” Miles said. “And go where?” Eugene asked. “I have no idea, but I know how.” Miles said. “Can you do it? Will you be okay?” I asked him. “We don't have a choice. I'll be fine.” Miles assured us. We all held hands and Miles teleported us out of there. Except, where we were, we weren't anywhere any of us recognized. We weren't in apocalypse, we weren't on Earth, we were in space.

Chapter 9: Escape
Miles Edson
I was dazed at first. Everything was blurry as I rose from the ground. I looked around and everything was metal. We were in a ship.”Where are we?” I asked in a groaning voice. It was so painful. I realized that teleporting burned out my charge. When my charge was burned out, I felt this feeling like I was going to collapse. “You're on the ship of Crymiezier’s.” I heard a voice say. “Who are you!?” I heard Ryder ask the voice. “My name is Kaitlyn Stryker. Officer 324 of the ASISI program.” She explained. “ASISI?” Bryce asked. “ASISI stands for area (for) safe intergalactic situations (and) investigations.” She said. “There are a few files about ASISI at ozes.” Eugene said. I started to feel normal. “How do we know we can trust you?” Ryder asked. “You should because we are going to help each other escape.” She said. “Escape? From who? Where are we?” Bryce asked not out of fear, but out of curiosity. I could already see that Bryce never felt fear and he had to things head first. Is that the smart decision though? “From an alien leader, his name is Crymiezier. He has a teleportation attraction system, which is why you uncontrollably appeared here. You're probably not the last people to be teleported here.” She explain. “No, I teleported us here.” I said. “Yeah, he can teleport.” Bryce said. “Yeah right.” She said in disbelief. “Trust us, he'll be our escape, once he's ready.” Ryder said. “I will.” I agreed. “How?” She asked. “I just can. I don't know how. I don't remember. I lost my memory once.” I explained. “This all seems like a whole lot of lies. Either you're delusional or in disbelief, or both.” She concluded. “You know what? Forget it. Either you come with us and escape or you don't and risk staying and dying here. Think about it, what have you got to lose?” Eugene said. “Can he really teleport?” She asked. “Yes, I literally can.” I admitted. “Okay, let's get out of here.” She said. “We need a few things though. We need: a map of the ship.” She ______________ said. “Well I could get that single handedly, then Ryder could be the watchdog.” Bryce said. “You're just a kid.” Kaitlyn reminded him. “I can outrun anything.” Bryce said, then he proved it by running super speed within the small room. It had surprised Ryder and I. Eugene had known he could run super fast. Kaitlyn was in disbelief. “I told you.” Bryce said. “Okay. Well, um.” She said still comprehending what she had just saw. “They send us lunch at 3:27 on Earth’s time. It's 3:14 right now. We've got to plan.” She said. “We to stop the door from locking after they give us the food.” Eugene realized. “Okay, I'll run out and hide and when the coast is clear I'll unlock the door.” Bryce said. “From there I'll turn on my stealth and find a map.” Ryder said. “Eugene and I can't go stealth or go super fast. ______ We need some sort of cover to hide.” I said. “They don't know you guys are here. I'll stay and make sure that they know that this room only has me in it. Do not leave without me though.” She said trusting us. By the time we were ready it was time. Bryce was ready. The millisecond the door was unlocked and opened enough for him to squeeze through, he ran out and knocked out the alien who had brought lunch. He held the door open for Ryder. “Ladies first.” He said. “Very funny.” Ryder said as he turned invisible from activating stealth mode. “I'm going to knock out and hide every guard who tries to come down here.” Bryce said. “I'm not sure that plan will work.” Kaitlyn admitted. “I don't have any other ideas.” Bryce said. That plan worked for the first few minutes, then the guards caught on and came down as a pack. Luckily, Ryder came back just in time and deployed an extreme dog whistle sound which was successful in disorienting them. They were all unconscious. “How did you know that would work?” I asked. “It's the suit.” He said as he tapped his helmet. “So I've got the map. We've gotta hurry up now because they know we're up to something.” Ryder said. “Okay, we’re here. We’ve got to get all the way to here.” Kaitlyn said as she moved her index finger across the map. “How are we supposed to do that? I can't teleport yet, we can't all be invisible, we can't all have speed.” I reminded everyone. “We all don't, but a few of us do.” Eugene said. “Let's have Ryder, Bryce, and I fight as you and Kaitlyn walk behind us.” He continued. “Do you think that would work?” Kaitlyn asked still trusting. “Yeah, we've got this.” Bryce said ready and excited. “Let's do this.” I said. Then we walked out slowly. Ryder turned invisible, Bryce started vibrating at his super sonic speed, and Eugene’s knee gears twisted and prepared him to attack. A few guards turned the corner and Bryce was almost too eager to fight. He ran at the man and moved so fast that I couldn't even see what he had done. “Got ‘em!” Bryce yelled proudly. “Good for you, kid.” Ryder said. “I call the next one.” Eugene said like it a game. Then, a few moments later, a three more came. Eugene’s knee gears snapped and he suddenly jumped twenty yards to where they were and hit their heads together. Kaitlyn was holding the map and as she noticed where we were headed she said, “Guys, were going through the training chamber. There’s going to be a lot of soldiers, just be ready.” She said. “Oh, I'm ready for this.” Bryce said. “Fight smarter not harder.” Eugene reminded him. “Forget all of this, just have fun! How could you not?” Ryder said being less serious than normal. Then, the sliding doors opened in front of us and there were at least twenty soldiers. The moment they noticed us, they pulled out their guns and aimed. Bryce ran super fast and disarmed them all before any bullets hit us. We all stood in surprise for a moment. “I didn't know you were that fast.” Eugene said. “Me neither.” Bryce realized. It was a shortly celebrated victory. After a few moments, Crymiezier burst through the door with forty more soldiers. He stood more than ten feet tall and very strong. “Did you guys have your fun yet?” He asked. “You humans think you can outsmart us. You are like ants in a field. You seem so lost but are set on an almost destined path. “Who's idea was this?” He asked. “Mine.” Kaitlyn said. “No, all of ours.” Ryder said, knowing we could make it as a team. “Can I ask you a question?” Ryder asked. “Try me.” Crymiezier said. “Think fast.” He said just before Eugene jumped at him and almost knocked him on the ground, but not quite. Then Ryder shot five tranquilizer darts at him. The leader screamed as he knocked Eugene off of him. He ran up to Ryder and I knew. I took a deep breath and I blasted him down with my laser vision. He fell to the ground and we all teleported past the training room. We shut and locked the giant metal door behind us. “Crymiezier is probably already recovering. We need to move. He'll probably be back on our tail in thirty seconds. We continued to run down the hall. “Where are we going?” I asked. “To the escape pod station. It's at the end of this hall!” Kaitlyn answered. Then we heard the door behind us start to be pried opened. I looked back and saw Crymiezier ripping it open with his bear hands. He had a literal hole in his chest from my blast. After Bryce looked back he screamed and ran in super speed to the entrance to the pod. “Input code 3492!” Kaitlyn yelled to him. After he had done that the door still didn't open. “It's jammed!” Bryce yelled as we caught up to him. “Watch out.” Eugene said with an idea. The gears in his elbows started to turn. Then, he punched the door, but this wasn't an average punch. This was rapid fire. The hits were faster than my heartbeat. Crymiezier continued running down the hall after us and he was catching up very quickly. I even began to lose faith. Eventually Crymiezier was very close to us. The door finally opened and Kaitlyn took a seat at the control panel. Ryder shot large bullets at him and I blasted him again to hold him back as we took off. “We’re outta here!” Bryce yelled as we finally escaped.

Chapter 10: Aerial Combat
Kaitlyn Stryker
“We’re outta here!” Bryce yelled as we finally escaped. We all yelled in excitement. It was short lived though. Suddenly, the entire ship shook. “What was that!?” Ryder asked. “We've been hit! Brace for impact!” I yelled as we were hit again. “What are we gonna do?!” Miles asked. “Evasive maneuvers!” I told him as we began to swerve left and right to avoid the shots that were being thrown at our ship. Everyone started to fall because they weren't prepared for it. I heard a loud knock followed by Eugene saying, “Miles is knocked out. He hit his head off of one of the seats.” I wasn't sure what to do, but then I had an idea. “Everyone buckle in. I've got an idea.” I said as we were blasted again. After a few moments everyone was buckled in. “Is there anyone who is capable of standing despite all of the ruptures?” I asked. “I could probably adjust myself and balance before I actually fall down.” Bryce said. “Okay, unbuckle, I'll open the back hatch, and you need to thrown every nonessential item out of it.” I said. “Why?” He asked. “It will throw off their targeting system.” I told him. Everyone put on equipment and the space suit so that space wouldn't kill them. “Okay, ready?” I asked. “Go for it.” Bryce said. Then I opened the hatch. I turned around to see how he was doing. He was somehow not being sucked into space. He moved so fast that he wasn't sucked out. There's no simple way to explain it honestly. One of Newton's laws is that things in motion want to stay in motion. He was moving so fast that he was staying in a left and right motion. He threw almost every item out of the ship. It was initially filled with clutter from Crymiezier but now it was practically spotless. I closed the hatch hoping that my plan would work. It had worked and a ship retreated. “We’re safe. Stay buckled though.” I thought we were safe now, but I was wrong, there were several ships.The ship was shot and shook again. “We’ve been hit again. A ship did retreat but there are more than one.” I said. “Extreme evasive maneuvers initializing!” I told everyone. “What does that mean?” Bryce asked as he buckled himself in. “We’re going for a ride.” I told him. Then I spun the ship over and over again. It was somersault after somersault. Everyone yelled because it was like a roller coaster. Eventually I noticed another ship left. “Why are these ships falling for this?” Bryce asked. It was surprising that they had mistaken a box for our ship and spinning made them think we’re we dead. “They're probably unmanned.” I realized. Which gave me another idea. “Since they're unmanned if we blow them up we aren't killing anyone. I'm putting up the reflection force field.” I said. I activated it and one of the blasts that were being shot at us bounced off of us and hit back at them. The ship exploded. “There's still one more. I'm out of ideas.” I said. There was a moment of silence. “I'll do it. I'll take the last ship out.” Eugene said. “How? You can't.” Ryder said. I could tell that Ryder was worried that Eugene would die. “I'll be fine.” Eugene told him. We had no other way. Then I opened the hatch. Eugene unbuckled and held onto a bar above the seats. I saw gears on his wrist turned to keep him from letting go. Then, slowly, the gears began to loosen. Eventually, he purposely just let go. He flew right out. (He could breath because of the mask on his suit). He smashed into the ship that was shooting at us. He rapidly punched it, just like he had done to Crymiezier earlier. Eventually the ship began to fall. He stood up and the gears in his knees turned until he finally boosted up to our ship. He was coming closer and closer to our ship, but, he didn't quite make it. I couldn't hear him scream, because there is no sound in space, but I could feel his pain. We all screamed after him. Miles unbuckled himself and prepared to jump out after him. I thought he had just woken up and I don't think anyone had noticed he had awoken. “Miles, don't!” I yelled to him. “I'm not going to leave him here. Even if I die, at least I died trying to do something right. Of course I'm afraid, but everyone fears what they don't know.” He said. “How will you even get close to the momentum?” Bryce asked with a good point. “I'll help too.” Ryder added. “I'll fly down with Miles and he can teleport us all back.” Ryder added. “Okay.” I said having more fight in this plan. Then, they jumped out. I slowed down the ship and after every second I lost more and more hope. After about twenty awful seconds, there was a small burst and suddenly Miles had teleported back with Eugene and Ryder. Bryce and I sighed with relief and then felt a feeling of achievement, amazement, and astonishment. I had stopped paying attention to where we were flying because I was busy paying attention to where Miles, Eugene, and Ryder were. “Attention, entering atmosphere.” The ship’s artificial intelligence notified everyone. I looked back out the window. It began to fill up with fire. “Uh, guys, sorry to cut the celebration again, but we’re going to crash!” I told them. Miles, Eugene, and Ryder buckled in. I tried to adjust everything but it required me to do so many things too fast. “I'm not fast enough!” I told everyone. Bryce unbuckled and asked, “What do you need me to do?” with confidence. “Press the buttons that appear on the screen.” I said. Then, Bryce took the pilot seat next to me. He pressed everything super fast and we were getting closer and closer to crashing into Earth. Luckily, there were no people there though. It was a big open field. “We’re getting close.” Ryder said. “I've got this!” Bryce said still working at incredible speeds. Eventually he managed to slow us down. We still crashed, and we were all unconscious, but he stopped the impact from being lethal. We opened the severally damaged back hatch to leave the ship. “Hands up, you're under arrest!” We heard a robotic voice command. “You're indirectly guilty for threats to Earth.” The robotic voice explained. Then a human finally spoke. “Sorry, I know you just saved Earth, and the public will see you as heroes, but orders are orders, I've gotta take you into custody…”

The author's comments:
The end, with a cliffhanger...

Chapter 11: Project Friday
Bryce Alexanderson
“Sorry, I know you just saved Earth, and the public will see you as heroes, but orders are orders, I've gotta take you into custody…” He said. We walked down the ramp of our ship. The man looked like he was in the military. I tried to run, but I could go super speed anymore. Something in the man's jacket starting beeping. “Yeah, that's a detector. It senses when someone with powers tries to use them. It also massively suppresses them, sorry.” He explained. “Why are you doing this?” Kaitlyn asked. “You put Earth in a lot of danger. But more importantly to the government, if the public found you guys, it would be anarchy. People would make theories and accusations that we aren't ready for. It as simple as: you know too much.” He explained. “Just let us go and say that we escaped.” Ryder suggested. “Their watching through my glasses. They can hear too.” He notified Ryder telling him why he can't do that. “I'm sorry.” He told us. Then he spoke into his walkie talkie, “Bring rovers to the escort site.” Notifying everyone that we were ready to be kidnapped. “Where are you taking us?” I asked thinking that that would probably not be answered but figuring that I may as well give it a try. “You're being brought to ozes labs.” He told us. We were all in surprise. Once the rovers got there, which was less than five minutes, the droids forced us in and sedated us. When I woke up it was because a droid was tapping on my shoulder to get my attention. “Please exit the vehicle.” It said in it’s annoying voice. I got out of the rover still adjusting. The droid grabbed my arm and dragged me faster than I was walking into ozes research labs. I saw the rest of our squad next to me. “Why are we at ozes labs?” Ryder asked. “The boss will explain.” The military man who had unwillingly captured us said. “Good luck.” He hoped truthfully, then he went back. In the one of the rovers and left. I tried to escape again but the droid started beeping. He had a suppressor on him too. “Resistance and attempted escape.” He said as he put me in an arm lock. “Let go of me.” I commanded it. I hated being helpless like that. The rest of my friends yelled at it too. Eventually it eased and began to walk through the doors and into the building. As we walked to the boss, I thought. How can I escape? Is this the end? Why? What did I do? Will my family be okay? Will the squad be okay? Will I be okay? Are they going to hurt me? Will they even let me go? My mind raced. By that time I had realized where we were, we were in a big room with a portal. Miles startled struggling and screaming “No, I'm never going back!” Which had only made me feel worse. “Miles, just stop. You're not going anywhere.” The boss said so calmly. Even the boss’ attitude made me angry. “So, I'm going to make this quick.” He said getting all of our attention. “This portal has been a project here for a few months. It works on interdimensional travel. I'm about to send you through it. This new place you will enter has been nicknamed the apocalypse universe by some of our… patients. Have fun.” He explained. Then the droids forced us to stand and we all struggled to not go through there. The droids moved us like we were ragdolls though. As we got closer I felt fear. The same fear that I felt when I touched the asteroid. A feeling of adventurous fear. A feeling that I had no control, but was glad to be on the ride. A feeling that I enjoyed half of, but despised the other half of. As I realized this feeling, we were all pushed through the portal. It was a flash and then so much brightness from the sun. I felt sick but once I felt better enough to stand, I did. I looked around. This wasn't Earth anymore, it wasn't space, it was just what the boss had said it was. It was the apocalypse universe… TO BE CONTINUED (in book 2).



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