They moved through gridlocked traffic, jogging on foot, scanning for anything out of place and out of order. Specifically, a white van that didn’t belong. Evelyn had managed to wing them this one target, while the rest would be handled by the SCRA. Terminal had pinpointed several options.

  In all honesty, Juniper thought it was reckless, but Annemarie just had to tie her life to the issue. She wanted a long talk with her after this.

  The air was suffocating, because of car exhaust fumes and the humming of impatient commuters. Anne took point, peering into windshields, scrutinizing every driver who was parked with an intense glare.

  Traffic had come to a halt. They pushed forward, the Orchestra of honks and shouting dying down as they patrolled the line-up of cars.

  Then, she saw it.

  Odd.

  Out of place.

  A black van, Just idling ahead. Though it didn’t match the white ones they’d found in the evidence bust, something was wholly off–the paint on it, seemed very new, the model was similar, and the engine was ready to start racing, ready to flee.

  She pointed to Annemarie and relayed it over the com.

  “Terminal, are you seeing what I’m seeing? She said, her voice low and dialled down.

  “Affirmative, Juniper,” came the curt reply… “I’d advise against approaching too closely.”

  She stepped forward anyway, her heart pulsating inside her chest. The windows were tinted, opaque, and unseeable. The drone buzzed ahead, a flicker of holographic light escaping the drone.

  Then–

  Bang.

  A bullet flew past her face, just close enough for her to feel its trajectory. The sting of its wind bit her cheek.

  She threw herself to the ground immediately, hunkering down.

  The van came alive, roaring, tires slammed against the road, trekking away past the red lights. A spray of blindly fired bullets ricochets off the cars, hitting everything in the circumference of the traffic grid.

  Pedestrians started screaming. Car alarms safety alarms went off in recognition of gunfire.

  Annemarie yanked her by the arm, pulling her up.

  “Time to move!”

  Juniper didn’t hesitate, they took to the air.

  “Stay cautious” Terminal hummed through the comm, the drone lagging behind, as they gave pursuit.

  Juniper tapped into [Solar-powered Sentinel].

  Gunfire went off in the air, tearing into nearby vehicles, civilians all over were scrambling and ducking and shouting.

  She bit her lips. There was not enough time to strategize, there was hardly enough time to act.

  She burst forward, her body blurring into the air, she lost herself in the momentum, it was time to try a new trick she hadn’t before–

  She tapped into both [Solar-Powered Sentinel] [Iron Drive].

  A combination of literal light. Enhanced Density, and overwhelming Strength.

  Her skin thickened and thrummed with power, she raised an additional energy shield to cover, doubling down on her defensives. Her flight speed had settled down with the additional strength package.

  The bullets struck, and it burned.

  It felt like hot-white, molten pebbles hitting her skin. While she could tank it, her shield was barely holding its strength, her breath became uneven as she was assaulted with hot bullets.

  Annemarie intervened, shifting the air. They had agreed that Juniper wouldn’t use any gravitational powers, to not interfere with Annemarie’s efficiency.

  Annemarie bent the bullets midair, and they slowly curved away, spiralling to the ground, giving Juniper time to breathe.

  Juniper inhaled and exhaled very sharply, forcing her body to motion.

  She hovered behind the back of the van, her fists tightened. She drove her knuckles against the metal. The door crunched, very loudly, under a single blow.

  Again

  Then again.

  The van swerved, desperate to shake her away.

  But she wouldn’t let go. She heard shouting from the inside.

  The doors slammed open, a masked man was crouched inside, with an em placed gun in his hands. Not a simple gun, either.

  Her life flashed before her eyes.

  Long-barrelled, scoped optics, and a thick magazine.

  The barrel locked its eyes on her, lining it up with her face.

  [Juniper, that’s not a normal gun! MOVE!]

  The shot cracked through the air, like the sound of bone broken.

  Her instincts kicked in. She amped up to her best, hard muscles welling with overwhelming force– too much all at once. It crammed into her thigh.

  A scream erupted from her throat.

  [iron drive-lv2>lvl3]

  Her leg gave in. She hit the pavement, screaming. Pain tore through–hot and drowning, overpowering her nerves. Blood rushed from the wound, leaking onto the concrete where she lay.

  “Oh—fuck—”

  She tried to stand up. But her thigh locked up—a deep, seizing, and burning sensation spreading through the muscle. Blood, thick, ran down, pooling in her boot, darkening the fabric of the suit.

  Annemarie skidded to a stop beside her, eyes darting between Juniper and the escaping van.

  Juniper shoved her away. “Go!”

  Annemarie stopped to hesitate.

  “Go, Just keep going. I’ll be fine. You’re meant for this.

  Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

  Annemarie pursued.

  Juniper’s vision danced, vertigo kicking in.

  [Juniper, it’s not that deep. Pull it out, bind it, and move.]

  She clamored to her feet.

  A late-night coffee store was ahead. She pushed herself off the ground, floating towards it, one-legged, and the other throbbing like her heart. The wind dragged her along. Her breathing was hot and dusty.

  She crushes through the doors.

  Everyone froze. A mother tucked her child away behind her back. A man by the counter backed away, shaking his hands.

  She saw her reflection in the glass display-black, floating, eyes dark hidden under a mask and glowing, blood dripping.

  She looked like a villain. And to these people, she may as well have been one.

  “I need bandages,” she rasped. “Cloth—anything.”

  No one moved.

  She could take it. She could force them.

  She clenched her jaw.

  “Please,” she forced out. “I’m not a villain.”

  The man bolted into a back room, and when he returned, she tossed a medical kit at her like she was a wild dog.

  She caught it.

  [DO IT. RIGHT. NOW.]

  She clenched her glove between her teeth, ripping into it to bear the pain. Her fingers dug into the wound, pulling the elongated bullet free. Pure agony. And yet her body has adapted so much that she could bear it.

  The bullet came loose.

  Her leg convulsed. Still too weak.

  She wrapped a long bandage around the wound. Tight, tight, tight. It didn’t matter. The blood-soaked through the binding. But she kept moving.

  She looked at the man. “Thank you.”

  Something inside her clicked.

  Urgency. Adrenaline. Survival. She was becoming stronger.

  [Durability +2.]

  She turned, bursting into the street.

  A civilian stumbled into her path. She swerved at the last second, but he fell, hitting the pavement hard.

  She didn’t stop. Juniper couldn't afford to care.

  Her body screamed. Heat burned beneath her skin. The power wasn’t meant to mix. She felt like she was tearing apart at the seams.

  Breaking down on a molecular level.

  [You are not okay, Juniper. But you can keep going, what doesn't kill you--]

  So she did.

  It was time to try something a little different. She cancelled out [Iron Drive]

  The pursuit was far away, she might not catch up in time at this pace. She lowered the gravitational base around her, then zipped into the air, her body became lighter but more susceptible. She readied herself like a slingshot.

  Then flew forward, spending every ounce of energy she had on propelling herself. She lowered the surrounding gravity again, and then she accelerated, like super powered slingshot.

  She flew above the scene.

  She shuddered as she watched Annemarie deflect bullet after bullet with severe precision. Every one of her movements was calculated. It was like she did it a hundred times over The van doors had closed up again, she assumed it was her doing.

  She had a dirty idea.

  She needed to end it quickly.

  The van swerved, into a side road, lurching on its tires, wheels skidding and wobbling like it barely held itself.

  She zeroed in from above like an eagle.

  She struck the nearest wheel from the front with a Sunlight beam. It caught fire instantaneously. The van frame jerked violently as it lost control.

  “Hold the van down!” she shouted.

  Annemarie did her best.

  Inside, she heard screams and fears of imminent death.

  Even these overzealous cults had fear, it seemed.

  The van tipped over.

  The screeching of the metal hurt her sensitive ears as it flipped over several times. Slamming against a nearby building. The windows shattered upon impact and flames started licking the wreck, as smoke curled into the sky.

  Then—silence.

  Juniper hovered over, lowering herself.

  Annemarie moved in first, stepping forward cautiously, her shoulders levelled.

  Then the driver’s door was kicked open.

  And a pyromaniac lunged out, he shot fire from his flame gun.

  Juniper twisted away, as the flames barely touched her. Then the air shifted. Warping distorting, absolutely. Pressure high and sudden and dense, her knees buckled beneath her. Like the world came to a halt.

  What the–?

  Annemarie didn’t stop.

  The other gunman opened fire. Bullets barely made it several feet in the air before they lost all immediate momentum, dropping to the pavement like loose coins.

  She turned on them.

  Juniper saw her shift unnaturally.

  The first gunman barely had time to react before Annemarie’s fist slammed into his face. The crack of bone echoed through the alleyway. He crumpled over, mask snapping off as he hit the ground.

  The second one was still firing at her.

  Uselessly.

  She kicked his shin, twice. His leg folded inward at the wrong angle.

  Juniper felt something deep in her gut coil. This was grotesque, she’d seen enough for the day. Death, murder, and even gore.

  She hadn’t realized it before.

  Hadn’t let herself think about it.

  Annemarie wasn’t just efficient.

  She was one step away from killing them. She just barely left them alive.

  There was sudden thumping coming from the van. The doors seemed to be jammed, something was slamming against it.

  Annemarie stilled, her head tilting as she listened.

  Then, with terrifying ease, she punched a hole straight through the van’s side.

  Someone inside screamed.

  The metal bent inward with a sharp groan.

  Juniper could hear his body tumbling backward from the force.

  She moved to stop her—but Annemarie was already tearing the doors open.

  It was hard to see from this distance.

  But she could hear him faintly.

  Crying. Begging.

  She swallowed, her throat tight.

  This wasn’t a fight anymore.

  It was a massacre.

  A beeping sound.

  Juniper turned towards the front of the van, every nerve on edge.

  Someone was trying to contact the maniacs.

  She approached warily, her breath shallow, fingers twitching as she pressed the confirmation button on the portable comm.

  A voice crackled through. Smooth. Amused.

  “That was fun to watch, I have to admit.”

  Juniper froze.

  A pit opened in her stomach.

  “I’ve… I’ve been watching you two for a while.”

  The voice cackled, but the tone underneath was calm. Measured.

  Juniper’s throat went dry. “You’re Caldera?”

  “Among other names.”

  The van’s wreckage flickered with dying flames, but all she could hear was the pounding of her pulse.

  “What do you want?”

  “To clean the world, what else” he said eagerly. “You two have come the closest. That’s… problematic.”

  Juniper clenched her jaw. She wasn’t afraid.

  Caldera sighed, almost wistful. “Truth is, I feel like I’m at my wit’s end. They promised me more men. More… obedient soldiers. But I guess they lied.”

  Juniper’s fingers curled into a fist.

  “Who’s they!”

  He ignored her question.

  “I did my part.” His voice turned bitter. “I made the best flamethrower this century has seen. I was supposed to have support. They didn’t give me enough.”

  Juniper’s head snapped up. “What the fuck are you even on about, you fucking freak?! You ruined my fucking day!”

  Laughter. Low. Mocking.

  “So selfish. So self-centered. You’re no different—just another cog in the machine.” he hummed.

  A slow exhalation.

  “I’m desperate, Juniper.”

  Her breath hitched.

  Chills.

  Then, in a quiet, deliberate voice—

  “You have two siblings, right?”

  Everything. Stopped.

  Juniper’s vision tunnelled, she saw bloody red.

  Her hand jerked toward her phone. She needed to call them. Now. Needed to—

  “Ah, ah, ah—don’t move.”

  The weight in Caldera’s voice sank hooks into her spine. He was in full control.

  “Your name. Your address. What did you wear yesterday? The suit you’re wearing now.” A pause. Then, almost gleefully.

  “The birds. They told me.”

  Birds implied gossip or information brokering.

  Juniper froze.

  “For a price. Always a price.”

  Her chest tightened.

  “No, don’t worry, I’m not a stalker.” A smirk in his voice. “I just paid a few hundred thousand dollars a few hours ago, and—surprise, surprise—a lovely little SCRA agent folded. Everything has a price, you see. And you, Juniper? You were worth a few hundred thousand dollars.”

  Her stomach dropped.

  Sys-chan: [There’s a high probability he’s lying—]

  But what if he’s not?

  Her body wasn’t listening. Her mind wasn’t listening.

  “District 76.”

  Her heart slammed against her ribs.

  “That’s your neighborhood, right?”

  Juniper’s pulse roared in her ears.

  “I might blow it up if you don’t listen to every word I say.”

  The world blurred.

  She was already on the edge. Already holding herself together by a thread.

  She had to shut this down, now!

  “Break all contact. Now. Your bosses, your friends, your family,

  She ripped out the earpiece, smashing as he crushed it with her bare hands.” Silicon and plastic cracked, and circuity separated like brittle bone. She threw both her phones to the ground, kicking and stomping until it was unusual.

  Annemarie appeared—too late. “There’s no bomb on the van, you–”

  She saw what Juniper was doing, and her expression darkened.

  “What the fuck are you doing?!”

  Annemarie lunged, grabbing Juniper’s arm, nails digging deep.

  Juniper didn’t stop.

  She kept stomping the remains into dust.

  Annemarie yanked at her. Trying to hold her down.

  Juniper slapped her.

  Not once.

  Not twice.

  Three times.

  Annemarie stumbled back, totally stunned.

  Juniper’s voice—a low, shaking snarl:

  “My siblings’ lives are at stake. Stand down.”

  Annemarie held her hand over her phone, hesitant.

  Juniper grabbed it.

  Yanked it from her grasp. Threw it on the ground and ‘destroyed it’ just enough that it was still intact…

  Overhead, Terminal’s drone caught sight of them. It surveyed the area.

  Juniper shot a light beam at it. Making it scramble and hit the ground injured.

  It crashed. Burned.

  Silence.

  Heavy. Suffocating.

  The comms still buzzed.

  Juniper’s voice, cold as death:

  “I’m listening. What else?”

  Caldera smiled through the line. She could hear it.

  “If you want to stop this, meet me on my terms. You and you’re a partner. I failed anyway. Gotta salvage what I can.”

  Her heart pounded. Too fast. Too hard.

  She was going to find him.

  And when she did—

  She was going to kill him.

  Sys-chan’s anchor: “Breathe.”

  Heya, Fluxxers!

  I'm going on a little 12-day marathon for the next two weeks! I'm posting once a day. (I plan on launching a new story on the 1st or 2nd—maybe later.)

  So, this is my last chance to try and push for Rising Stars Main. After this, I may tone down the scheduled number of chapters to make room for my next project—unless I hit RS.

  If you'd like to see this happen, *stares at you like a hungry cat* please follow and rate!

  If I don't make RS, then that's okay too.