Chapter 45: The Void Traveler
I was out cold for a few minutes, maybe longer. The punch had hurled me from the edge of space like a falling comet, and I’d slammed into the ground headfirst, my body a riot of pain. Fractures splintered through my bones, and my skull pulsed with a concussion that warped the world into a dizzy haze.
I’d cranked my power to 4%, cheating the limits of my strength, but it still wasn’t enough—my fragile human frame couldn’t take a hit like that. I still needed to get stronger!
I clawed my way out of the crater I’d carved into the earth, emerging into a blistering desert somewhere in South America. The sun seared the cracked ground, and the air shimmered with heat. My mind was a tangled mess, thick with questions I didn’t want to face. Number One had turned on us—that truth cut deep and clear. But beyond that, everything was a blur of shadows and doubts. Earth was under siege by unknown invaders, and I had no choice but to keep dragging myself back up, no matter how broken I felt.
I scanned the horizon, forcing my scattered thoughts into line, when a streak sliced across the sky. It was Dmitry, Captain Agatha clinging to his back. They hit the ground hard, kicking up a cloud of dust as they raced toward me.
“Cipher!” the captain shouted, her voice taut with panic. “We saw the projectile—what’s happening?”
I swallowed hard, the memory of that blade-wielding giant flashing behind my eyes. If he could knock me out with a single blow, what hope did we have against the others—especially the one with that dark, suffocating energy? The master Number One spoke of?
“Captain,” I rasped, my throat raw, “they’re here.”
“Who? The Vodocks?” Her face drained of color, fear sparking in her gaze.
“I don’t know if it’s the Vodocks,” I said, fists tightening. “There are four of them—three humans and an alien. All Neogens. One of them... he’s different. Stronger than anything I’ve ever sensed.”
Her comm crackled to life, and she glanced at it, her jaw setting firm. “Fort Vanguard’s under attack. We need to move—now!”
But before I could budge, a shadow swelled above us, swallowing the sun. I tilted my head back, and there he was—the alien, floating in the clouds, his piercing stare locked on me.
“What is that?” Dmitry’s voice broke, his eyes wide with dread.