Teen Ink

Prologue

Explosions riddled the street and debris flew from every direction. Evan hurried behind a fallen bronze statue to escape the bullets that chased him between the charred, metal carcasses of vans and trucks. He sat on the sun warmed asphalt behind the curved shelter and caught his breath.
He checked the gauge on his left wrist to see that his power cell was up to an 80% charge. That meant he had to stall for another few minutes until it could fully regenerate. But what could he do! Pulling himself up to see over the statue, he spotted Ripper advancing towards him, the wicked black barrels of mounted machine guns around his fist flashing as titanium projectiles rocketed out at rapid speeds. High above the metallic goliath, Pilot hovered like a raptor, scouting the boulevard for human prey.
Evan ducked back to avoid the racing shrapnel and checked his other wrist for a radar readout of the area. Two blinking red dots showed the advancing cyborgs while two blue dots going away from his location symbolized Gary and Jenna fleeing the battle. Unfortunately, a red dot appeared from the right side of the radar and steadily closed in on the blue.
Groaning, Evan sneaked a glance back over the statue. Ripper was almost 100 meters away and still shooting up the street. “This is getting insane,” he murmured. “If I don’t get rid of these two, I’m never going to save Gary.”
Suddenly, his wrist gauge glowed with a bright light, and then slowly waned to a dim shine. Finally, thought Evan. He slapped the monitor and the energy readout disappeared to be replaced by three buttons. One had the traditional power symbol and another was a star outline. The last key, however, was the most important right now; the image of a Trojan helmet, painted bright red and flashing with an intense force.
Evan jammed his index figure into the pad and the helmet logo pulsed with even more energy. The mechanism around his wrist came to life, snapping forward and backward, unfolding over his arm. Cool metal joints flowed over his fingers, forming gauntlets of titanium. Continuing over and down his shoulders, the armor smashed together on his chest, thighs, and shins. Finally, it swept up his neck and over his head, sliding into place over his face. Slots all over the suit flashed electric blue and then steadied themselves to a faint radiance.
“That never gets old,” Evan said proudly, his voice slightly metallic through the helmet. With a flick of his wrist, he activated the panels on his left arm and selected four slots: a heart icon, a lightning bolt icon, a boulder icon, and a lance icon. “It’s time to take care of business,” he announced to himself, and he stepped out from protection.
In an instant Ripper was onto him, sending a cascade of bullets his way. All of them bounced harmlessly off the energy barrier around the BioSuit, and Evan advanced unfazed. Pilot let loose a quantum pulse that slammed into Evan pushing him back a few feet, but he quickly retaliated by stretching out his hand and launching a bolt of electricity arcing into the sky.
Pilot wasn’t able to react in time, and the lightning charge slammed into his body, short-circuiting his jet pack. At first he weaved around without control, but the overvoltage eventually led to an explosion that launched Pilot through the air and towards the ground. His scream was cut short as he slammed into the pavement with a sickening crack.
Ripper turned his attention back to the metal-clad figure before him and growled, low and threateningly. He pressed a button on one arm and a rocket launcher emerged from his wrist. Two missiles fired simultaneously, and another pair followed.
But Evan was ready for the high powered assault, and he slammed his knuckles into the paved surface. With almost no effort, he raised his arms over his head and the terrain in front of him followed, forming an earthen wall a couple feet thick. The explosives tore at the shield, but they were unable to make it through to the target.
Enraged by his failure, Ripper launched six more rockets at the make-shift bunker, finally breaking the encasing with the last projectile. He prepared to fire another round, but he couldn’t find his target through the dust. Then he realized the space behind the broken wall was empty. His prey had run from him again, which meant he would have to chase once more.
Wasting no time, he took large strides to make his way past the dust in order to see the avenue clearly. There was no sign of anything living in every direction. He was just about to take another step forward, when he was impaled from behind. There was Evan, sinking his coridian steel lance into Ripper’s spine and bringing the titan to his knees. With a last cough, Ripper sent a spray of blood onto the scarred earth and slumped forward in defeat.
Barely panting, Evan retracted the spear and checked his radar once again. The blue and red were a mile apart, but the enemy was gaining fast. “No,” Evan exclaimed in frustration. “I’m not going to make it. Even if I used speed, he’s going way too fast. How did I ever get into this chaos…”

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