None of them had any tools to cut open the chain-link barrier wrapping around the facility.
Oscar volunteered to use his fire to melt the chain-link fencing. Stella quickly reminded him the gate was charged with electricity. He might've been immune to fire, but there were other ways he could get burnt to a crisp. Chase offered to tear a hole in the fence but faced the same hurdle. His abilities granted him super strength and unbreakable skin, yet he wasn't completely invincible. They couldn't be sure he wouldn't risk electrocution if he touched the metal.
If they wanted to get inside, they had to get creative.
While they argued over the best course of action, Andre silently took things into his own hands. He picked up a smooth pebble from the ground and strolled up to the fence. Oscar whistled in awe as he watched the glossy material climb up his friend's skin like paint dripping down a wall.
He'd never get used to seeing him use his powers.
Now coated in stone, Andre flattened his hand and swiped it through the fence. ZAPPP. Tiny sparks flew from where his hand hit the charged metal, but the current didn't make it past the thick layer covering his epidermis. His hand passed through with ease. He ripped the fence open, creating a hole big enough for them to fit through.
The remaining five gawked at him.
Andre simply grinned.
###
It was a miracle they all actually fit inside the vents. Especially Andre's large frame. Oscar found himself crawling behind the big guy as they infiltrated the building. Metal scraped against his elbows as he dragged himself forward, one arm at a time.
Their breaths echoed too loud, each one bouncing back into his face. He fanned himself between calls as sweat formed on his brow. Being at the back of the group, he couldn't help but check his shoulder every few seconds. The dark, metallic shaft pressed in on him from every side. It was a steel coffin. A shuddering gasp escaped him. He closed his eyes for a second, trying to force down the claustrophobia consuming him.
Big mistake.
Flames roared behind his eyelids, igniting the dark. His mouth dried as his chest tightened. The smell of smoke that wasn't there clouded his senses.
"Hey," Chase whispered from up ahead. "Keep moving. Left turn coming up."
Nodding, Oscar grit his teeth. Breathe. Breathe. He focused on the crawl. One arm, then the other. The fire and the smoke weren't real. They couldn't hurt him. Not anymore.
Emily held up a hand. The entire group stopped moving. The ventilation shaft groaned under their weight. Oscar glared at Andre. He needed to stay out of the snack room. "Four guards. Armed. I can hear the bullets rattling in their guns. They're moving underneath us."
Her ears were sharper than a bloodhound's. He envied the clarity her abilities gave her at times—even if she did have to wear those goofy-looking hearing aids. Half of the time, he never even wanted to use his. They only reminded him of everything he'd lost.
The six of them crept forward until the vent revealed a grated overlook. Keeping quiet, they clustered together and peered through the thin slits. A testing room spread beneath them—freshly waxed tiles, white walls, and banks of terminals humming in unison. Metal tables housed blueprints, circuit boards, and experimental prototypes.
Oscar lifted his chin over Andre's big back to get a better look.
At the center of the room stood a massive machine. It was a mess of coiled wires, metal, and rotating glass cylinders. Red and green light pulsed through it like veins.
"It's him," Theo whispered.
Apex. He stood beside the machine as his red eyes searched the faces of those within the room. He and a handful of NEMESIS soldiers loomed over a group of whimpering Arkangel scientists.
"When will it be ready?" he demanded.
"The P-Primonium… We need more time to study it—"
"You have one week." He stomped up to the head scientist. They cowered under his red stare. "If this isn't fully operational by then, you'll be receiving a visit from Klaus. And he won't be as nice as I am."
One of the scientists tried to plead for more time. Apex's fist smashed into the nearest computer screen. Sparks flew. Oscar rolled his eyes. They won't be getting any work done if you break all their stuff.
"Get it done!" the enraged Prime shouted.
The group of Arkangel Pharmaceutical's employees flinched back like scared mice. With a growl of disgust, Apex turned and marched out, dragging his soldiers and the scientists with him.
The room fell quiet, sans the hum of air conditioners and machinery.
The group exchanged a look.
Chase nodded once. "This is our shot."
Using one of Emily's arrows to unscrew the vent cover, they dropped down into the room silently. Oscar shielded his eyes from the bright lights pouring from the various screens. The place smelled of fried motherboards, disinfectant, and coffee.
They pried open the vent cover and dropped down into the room, one after another. The place smelled faintly of chemicals and burnt wiring. Chase immediately moved to the door to see where Apex was headed. The others gathered their bearings. But Oscar was stuck on the machine in the middle of the floor.
Whatever it was made his skin tingle warm.
He made the sign of the cross before moving on.
"What is all this stuff?" Theo asked as he held up a packet of schematics.
"And why does it sound like Arkangel Pharmaceuticals is working with NEMESIS?" Emily gripped her bow. "This doesn't exactly seem like a robbery."
"Your guess is as good as mine," Chase said. "Spread out. Let's try and find some answers."
They scattered, rifling through unlocked consoles and exposed notes. Stella ran a hand across the glowing machine with her brow furrowed. Emily knelt beside a terminal, fingers flying across the keys as she searched for an explanation for what they were looking at.
Oscar lifted a brow once she froze.
"What happened?"
Her head jerked toward the door. "NEMESIS soldiers. They're coming." She screwed her face. "There's someone else. Not Apex… It's a woman."
"Probably one of the scientists from before," Oscar theorized.
Chase swore under his breath. "Hide. Now."
They scrambled—ducking behind machines and shelves. They held their breaths as the light from the strange machine grew brighter, as if alerting them to the approaching danger. Oscar peered at the door from his hiding spot. He stuck his hand in his pocket and gripped his lighter just to stop himself from trembling.
The door automatically slid open with an ominous whoosh.
He might not have been able to feel the effects of heat these days, but he could still feel the cold. And as three NEMESIS soldiers entered the room, the temperature dropped to arctic levels in an instant. His breath formed into wispy clouds, hovering in front of his lips. He clamped a hand over his mouth. If it got any colder, his teeth would start chattering.
Then his cover would really be blown.
The soldiers ventured deeper into the room. Two of them were masked and donned the typical all-black NEMESIS tactical gear. But the third… She was the woman they heard outside. Her suit possessed armor plates the color of glaciers. They reminded him of the blood red plates on Apex's suit.
His eyes widened. This wasn't a regular NEMESIS mercenary.
Oscar's pulse spiked.
She was a Prime.
He wasn't sure how he knew, or why he knew, but he did. The temperature tanking around them wasn't a coincidence. As the days went on, he started to realize there was no such thing. He watched the woman strut across the room.
Her platinum blonde hair was styled into a spiky pixie cut. Ice blue eyes surveyed the room as the two soldiers she entered with moved towards a stack of metal containers.
"Bring those back to the convoy," she ordered.
"Yes, Commander Frost."
Frost…
That explained things.
Oscar locked eyes with Emily across the room. She was hidden underneath a table; both of her hands were wrapped tightly around her bow.
The woman watched as the two soldiers loaded the metal crates onto a dolly before wheeling them out of the room. Their boots pounded across the tile. One passed so close to Stella's hiding spot that she had to pull her knees tight against her chest; she bit down hard on her lip to stay silent.
As Frost went to follow, she stopped beneath the door frame. She turned her head slightly. Her eyes narrowed.
"Atlas," she announced to the soldiers in the hall. "They're outside." She scowled. "Get those to the convoy. Now."
The two men nodded before hurrying away with the containers.
But Frost remained beneath the threshold of the lab.
Oscar watched with frosted breath as she stood there frozen with fear. What was she doing? Why hadn't she left yet? Questions swirled in his mind like snow in a blizzard. He felt the chill invading his skin as the room got even colder. His hand squeezed the life out of the lighter in his pocket. The metal felt like an ice cube coated in liquid nitrogen. His lungs ached. He forced himself not to breathe too loud.
But it didn't matter.
It never did.
"You're all too...warm," the woman mused as she turned slowly. "I felt your heat signatures the moment I walked in."
The door slammed shut. Silence.
Frost stalked forward and scanned the area. Water poured from the clear tubes that ran down the length of her arms and stopped at her palms. It never hit the floor, though. The water froze in her palms. Within seconds, she'd fashioned the ice into razor-sharp knives.
A knife slammed into the wall beside his head seconds later.
Oscar yelped.
"Found you." Frost grinned, revealing her blindingly white teeth.
The six of them emerged from their hiding spots. They outnumbered the woman six-to-one. Somehow, Oscar still felt as if they were at a disadvantage. He could barely get his fire to obey his commands. This woman seemed to have a full mastery over her powers.
And she immediately put them on display.
She spun, releasing the knives resting between her knuckles. They flew in a perfect circle around her, searching for the flesh of the six young Primes surrounding her. Oscar hit the deck, dodging an icy blade just in time. His lungs burned from the cold. Wheezing, he jumped to his feet and charged his hands with fire.
He'd been practicing this for the past few days. It usually ended in his losing control. That wasn't an option right now.
Emily shot an arrow at Frost, but she sidestepped with ease.
Chase pointed at the door. "Theo—"
"Already ahead of you," he chirped.
The speedster ran out of the room in a blur without a second thought. Oscar wasn't sure what had been taken out of the lab, but whatever it was didn't need to be in the hands of NEMESIS. Their mission was to help Atlas in any way they could. If they could stop them from making off with whatever Arkangel Pharmaceuticals was making them, then that's what they'd do.
Chase turned to Emily and Stella. "Go give him some back up. We'll be right behind you."
Stella frowned. "But what about—"
"Kill the fast one," Frost barked into her communicator. She dodged another arrow from Emily.
"We'll be fine," Chase told her. "Go, now."
Stella didn't argue any further. The two girls took off after Theo. That left Oscar, Chase, and Andre behind to deal with the commander of ice.
Oscar scowled. Speak for yourself, Chase. He and Andre's powers made them virtually indestructible. But him? He was still flesh and blood like anyone else—just with a bit more smoke and ash in his blood than most. If one of Frost's ice blades cut him, he'd bleed.
He pounded his fist, hot with fire, into his palm.
Facil, he told himself. Just don't get cut.
Easier said than done.
The three young Primes circled Frost as they pushed her towards the center of the room. Her eyes jumped from one to the next, sizing each of them up.
"So," she began, her voice sharper than a dagger and colder than winter, "this is what Atlas has resorted to? Sending children to fight their battles?"
Oscar pursed his lips. "Actually, they don't even know we're here so..."
Chase and Andre shot him dirty looks. "Dude, shut up!" they both said.
He smiled sheepishly. Discretion wasn't exactly his forte. He wasn't an Atlas agent trained in the intricacies of espionage and secrecy. That much was obvious.
"You're outnumbered," Chase said. He crackled his knuckles and set his jaw. It was sharp enough to cut through diamond Across from him, Andre reached out for the nearest metal rack. He quickly transformed into a shining titan, hardened and ready for battle.
Oscar lifted his fists awkwardly; smoke curled from his fingers. He could through a punch, but he wasn't a fighter by any means. But with his fire, he didn't need to know how to fight. He just needed to land one good hit.
Frost's smile only grew. She said nothing else.
She pointed her hands to the floor. Ice particles flew from her palms, spreading across the tile until they shined like an ice-skating rink. Oscar immediately slipped. Pain shot up his tailbone. He groaned. Chase and Andre fell immediately after he did.
He had to give it to Frost. That was a cold maneuver.
With the three boys struggling to regain their footing on the icy floor, the woman turned and darted out of the room.
"She's getting away!" Chase yelled, frustrated.
"I can't get up!" Andre grumbled. His glossy, metal form made it even harder for him to get any purchase on the ice.
Oscar fell on his ass again after trying to stand up for the third time. He scowled as his backside throbbed. Screw this. He pressed both hands to the floor and ignored the chill seeping into his palms. Closing his eyes, he channeled all of the warmth in his body to his hands. When he opened his eyes, he watched the ice melt underneath them. Within seconds, they were all sat in a pool of warm water.
"Now," Oscar said, rising to his feet triumphantly, "let's go get Ice Lady."
Chase frowned. "Seriously? Ice Lady?"
"Catchphrase needs some work," Andre noted.
Rolling his eyes, Oscar sprinted out of the room in pursuit of Frost.