Exalibar pulled the matte-black mask over his face, the world narrowing to the slits of the visor. Slipping out into the cold night, he mounted one of Aisha's hoverboards, its silent hum the only sound as he cut through the air towards the designated point. Theo and Jack were already there, shadows against the looming silhouette of the Lekratian Embassy.
"Alright, is everyone ready?" Exalibar's voice was muffled but firm through the mask.
Theo shifted his weight, fingers nervously tapping on his data pad. "As ready as I'll ever be."
"Jack." Exalibar didn't need to say more.
Jack cracked his neck, a grin visible even in the dim light. "On it."
There was no finesse, only overwhelming force. He hit the embassy's main gate and the shimmering Level 5A mana shield surrounding it like a human battering ram. The impact left a concussive BOOM that shattered windows for a block. A split second later, a deafening, wailing alarm tore through the night.
"There's our distraction," Exalibar said, his voice tight. "Let's go."
He placed a hand on Theo's back, his own body tensing. I just need a short burst. A fraction of what Sky can do. Mana flared around his legs, a painful yet familiar heat. Then, they were moving. The world, a streaking smear of colour and wind, and in the blink of an eye, they were through a service entrance and inside the facility, the sound of Jack's ongoing rampage a distant thunder.
"Now it's on you, Theo," Exalibar said, his breathing slightly laboured from the strain.
Theo was already on his knees, datapad open, lines of code flying across the screen. Seconds stretched into a minute. Exalibar's impatience grew into a knot in his stomach. How long can Jack hold out there alone?
"Done!" Theo finally announced. "It's on the lower east section of the residential wing."
Exalibar didn't hesitate. He grabbed Theo again, and this time, he focused not just on speed, but on silence. He padded their footsteps with cushions of mana, a delicate, exhausting technique that let them ghost down the pressure-plated hallway without a sound. They skidded to a halt before the generator.
"Okay," Exalibar gasped, leaning against the wall. "That one really drained me... I'm gonna need a minute to recover."
"Don't worry, this will take time either way," Theo said, setting up his gear. He stretched out his hands, and binary code materialized in the air around him, a glowing web of mana-based computation as he interfaced with the generator's security.
Exalibar watched, the seconds feeling like hours. "This is taking longer than we anticipated…"
"Their system is way more complex than a simple dor Exalibar!" Theo replied, sweat beading on his forehead.
A desperate idea sparked in Exalibar's mind. "Wait. How about instead of cutting the supply... we drain the mana entirely?"
Theo shook his head without looking up. "That would work, but no one at our level knows how to—"
He was cut off as Exalibar shoved him aside. "We don't have the time." Exalibar placed his bare hands on the generator housing. His eyes snapped shut, then flew open, glowing an intense, electric blue. "Analyse the flow…" he muttered, his voice strained. "Redirect the flow…"
Mana, visible as a raging torrent of white energy, erupted from the generator and surged into his body. His whole frame began to glow, veins lighting up under his skin. He let out a choked cry, his muscles seizing before he collapsed to the ground, curling into a foetal position as the violent energy stormed through him.
"EX!" Theo yelled.
"NOW! CONTAIN THE FLOW!" Exalibar screamed through gritted teeth. The glow around Exalibar died down, the last of the energy seeming to compress and vanish into his abdomen. He lay there, gasping ragged breaths, then pushed himself unsteadily to his feet.
"Okay," he panted, wiping blood from his nose. "I've bought us more time."
"The hell was that? How did yo—" Theo began, but his question was cut short as Exalibar lunged forward and shoved him violently to the ground.
A deafening blast tore through the wall where Theo had just been standing. As the dust and smoke cleared, a figure stood in the new opening. It was Kaelen. And behind him stood the three missing children, their eyes vacant.
"See?" Exalibar said, his voice cold and steady despite his trembling limbs. "Someone who understands the importance of saving time."
Kaelen smiled, a thin, predatory expression. "It would be in your best interest to leave, 'hero.' Perhaps Lekratia will be... forgiving of this unwanted invasion."
"You say that," Exalibar shot back, "but then you stand there with kidnapped children behind you."
"On the contrary," Kaelen purred. "These children are here willingly. Isn't that right, children?"
All three answered in a chilling, robotic unison. "Yes, Master."
Kaelen spread his hands. "See? No one is here against their will."
Exalibar's fist clenched, the armoured gauntlet creaking. "Everyone knows about your 'breakthrough' in the neurological application of electric mana. You're controlling their minds. Now, you will let these children GO!"
Kaelen's smile didn't falter. "And who are you to tell me that? Moses?"
Exalibar's eyes narrowed behind his mask. "Worse. T, take the kids and run NOW!"
With the last dregs of his stolen speed, Exalibar charged. He closed the distance in an instant, a spinning kick connecting with Kaelen's stomach and sending him flying backward into the deactivated generator. But Kaelen recovered with unnatural speed, rolling to his feet and firing a crackling bolt of electricity.
Exalibar dodged under the bolt, came up inside Kaelen's guard, and landed a brutal right hook to his jaw. A left hook followed, then a sharp punch to the throat. An uppercut snapped Kaelen's head back, and a final, devastating axe kick sent him crashing to the floor.
As Kaelen raised a trembling hand for another attack, Exalibar grabbed his wrist. " Its Futile," Kaelen spat.
Instead of firing outward, the electric bolt traveled through Kaelen's arm, into Exalibar's grip. Ten thousand volts of pure agony seared through Exalibar's body. He convulsed, his muscles locking, and could only watch as Kaelen fired a second, point-blank bolt into his chest.
The force launched Exalibar across the room. He smashed through a concrete wall in an explosion of dust and rebar, his world dissolving into blinding pain and ringing silence.
His vision swam, dark at the edges. Blood, warm and thick, poured from a gash on his head as he tried to push himself up from the debris. He looked for Theo through the haze and saw him trying to pull the children toward the exit.
Amidst the chaos, one of the children, a young boy, pulled a small, ceremonial knife from his belt. With the same vacant expression, he drove it deep into Theo's side.
A bloodcurdling scream, raw and full of a life draining away, shot through the room.
The sound, the sight, it was a key turning in a locked door in Exalibar's mind. The world vanished.
He was no longer in the embassy.
He was in a sterile, white room. A lab. Not just one, but hundreds of children, as far as the eye could see. An ultimatum echoed off the walls: Kill or be killed. A desperate cry for unity, for survival, from a boy who saw a way other than slaughter. A plea for power in numbers.
Then, a betrayal. A gunshot, deafening in the enclosed space.
A lifeless body dropping to the floor.
HIS body.