Hyper

Prologue

The noise of machinery was more than enough to make the deaf hear again. Harper opened the vent she had used to sneak in, grabbed her bag, and stood in front of the arch in the middle of the lab.

She was happy to see her goal so close, ready to destroy this new invention and rid the world of yet another threat caused by the National Protection Service.

Harper never understood the name, as they were a military force led by a dictator who sought to enslave the planet. She looked for a way to dismantle the machine when the lights of the room blinded her for a moment.

The lab was quite large and circular. It was two stories high, with the second story used as a viewing gallery. The room was filled with tools and cables.

The arch at the center was metallic, and cables connected it to a console a few meters away. It had many buttons and monitors, but they were all off.

There above came the sound of clapping, and evil himself appeared. "Don't you heroes ever get bored with interfering?"

Harper looked at the second story and smiled at the man. He was tall and white-haired, his face lined with wrinkles, and he wore a lab coat, as is recommended by all mad scientists.

"It never bores me to beat your sorry ass, Dr. Greyhound,'' she replied. He was the head of R&D, and a pain she wished would go away. His smirk made Harper uneasy.

"Well, Miss Dollinger, your little powers shall be useless this time. I made sure, and we both know it." Harper knew he was right. She sensed the room was a red zone as soon as she entered.

"You've tried using a power canceler on me once, and it didn't quite work out for you, did it?" She taunted her enemy, but he remained smirking.

I'll need to shut the red zone down as fast as possible, Harper thought. "Not this time," Dr. Greyhound motioned his hand to his right, and a door opened, through which entered a giant of a guard holding Harper's best friend and partner, Addison.

She was a short girl with fiery red hair and a mean jump kick. It was what earned her the nickname Harper always liked, the one she got stuck with, much to her dismay.

"Bunny, no!" Harper screamed and glared at Dr. Greyhound, only to find him laughing. Addison smiled defeatedly and managed to squeeze a few words out.

"I'll be fine, Kitten," she said. This is bad; I need to find a way to beat him, thought Harper, you'll never get away with this. She started ripping cables and destroying everything she thought looked destructible.

"End her," ordered the doctor, and the guard complied, his hand squeezing her throat. Dr. Greyhound laughed at the sight. "Her death will be your own doing," he said, but Harper kept at it. Then she decided.

"Screw it." She looked at the big red button at the center of the console. "This is still a prototype, isn't it?" Asked Harper, knowing she was right.

She looked at Addison and knew she didn't have long before passing out. "And after losing some cables and what-not, do you think it will still work properly?"

She smirked, and the doctor panicked. "Don't you dare you-" Addison started punching the guard, a kick to his groin broke her free, and she yelled, "press the button!"

Harper gladly accepted her command, and the machine stirred to life with the arch lighting up and a portal opening inside. It was blue and swirled in circles, like it came straight out of a comic book.

The air started pulling towards the portal as it sucked everything in the room with minimal strength, not strong enough to pull anything inside.

Dr. Greyhound jumped down and started running toward the main console to shut it off. Harper took the chance and moved to help her friend.

Her climbing skills were enough, and she moved behind the guard who had his foot on Addison.

It was probably her luck that he was so focused on the doctor. Harper took a taser out of her pocket, and the guard was no match. He fell to the floor with a loud thud.

"I'm fine; stop this maniac," Addison urged Harper with a cough. "I can't. I need to get you out of here first. The mission can wait." Addison held her throat and tried her best to look into Harper's eye. They never needed words to speak to each other.

The doctor was panicking, mumbling to himself, "I have to fix this," over and over.

Harper nodded to Addison and jumped at the doctor, punching him square in the jaw. Explosions started destroying the lab, and the portal turned a bright shade of red.

He turned to Harper in anger. "You! You have doomed us all. I only have one way to stop this device, and you will die for it. I'll kill you myself if need be."

The doctor pressed a button on the console and the red zone lifted. Harper felt her power return, like an electric surge throughout her body, but she knew his telekinetic powers returned as well, and he was stronger.

He rose above the ground and with him many different objects, which he began shooting at Harper. She was quick to dodge or deflect, but the doctor smiled. He raised a pipe from the ground and shot it like a spear.

Harper moved away easily. Why on earth are you so happy? She thought to herself, confused. Then she heard it, a scream. "No," she whispered while turning, "No!" She screamed.

She knew without looking. Addison was impaled by the pipe right at her stomach with blood spewing from her mouth. Harper's expression turned blank.

The doctor used the opportunity to kill her and save himself. He raised a large generator and threw it directly at her, but the generator stopped mid-air. "What? How? You're a weak bug. Your powers are not like mine!" The doctor was furious.

She was no longer in control. That sight was too much for her. Floating in the air, her eyes glowed bright blue, yet her expression remained blank.

Consumed by rage, Harper released a wave of electricity, exploding everything in its path and slamming the doctor against the wall.

An alarm sounded, and a digital voice spoke. "Warning, imminent danger. Project Gateway failing."

The portal's suction increased tenfold, and debris flew inside from all over the lab. Harper's eyes returned to normal, and she fell to the ground, unconscious.

"I win," said the doctor who looked at Harper being pulled into the portal. She opened her eyes in time to see Dr. Greyhound picking up Addison's dead body before the portal pulled her in entirely.