Hidden Enemies | The Prime Archives #2 ✓

three

Training was hell. Oscar hadn't been expecting otherwise, though.

He thought he'd have been used  to the grueling, early morning sessions that taxed his entire body by now. He was wrong. So very wrong.

Chase, Emily, Angus, and Kai were all exempt from training. They got to spend the day relaxing and drinking protein shakes from The Acropolis' cafeteria. Oscar sighed longingly at the thought of a peanut butter and banana smoothie.

He wished he'd been selected for the mission at the docks the night before. He knew why Chase didn't choose him, though. While he'd gotten better at fighting, he still wasn't on par with his team leader, Emily, or Kai—the group's main combat specialists. Plus, his powers would've caused damage to their surroundings. Fire was useful, but not in every setting.

Over the past few months, he had learned that the hard way.

He wasn't all too fussed with not going on the mission, though. After all, he didn't have to sit a vat of ice water for thirty minutes like the others. There was nothing worse for a pyrokinetic than wallowing in a pool of freezing liquid.

It was his least favorite thing about victory.

The day's training, conducted by Agent Strong and a few other senior Atlas agents, consisted of rock wall climbing races, two-on-two duels in the Battlefield, and target practice. Oscar came last in almost all the events—which was to be expected.

Winning any sort of race against Theo or Zach—another speedster who joined their squad that past summer—was next to impossible. During the practice battles in the simulation room, he'd been pitted against Andre and Holly, one of the new members who could control plants.

Target practice was the only thing he was good at. He usually could hit the farther cutouts in the shooting range with his fireballs, but something was off. He figured he was just having a bad day.

Following the end of training, he decided to pay his favorite person in the world a visit before he left headquarters to meet his uncle and sister at their new apartment—courtesy of Atlas Industries.

He found Victoria Shaw sparring against a man in full-body padding. Her opponent was red in the face as he directed a flurry of wild punches her way. But the girl was good. Scary good. She reminded Oscar of those deadly assassins in every cheesy action movie.

The daughter of Atlas' CEO was a fine specimen. She was tall and lithe like a professional model. Her long, black ponytail bounced against her back. She was clad in a black sports bra and form-fitting leggings that completed her figure greatly.

Oscar was convinced Director Shaw had magically genes. His daughter was basically a super-soldier and his son was an actual super-soldier.

He frowned slightly at the thought of Apex. He hadn't been heard from since the Battle of Adak Island. Every trace of his being vanished from the face of the earth. Atlas had given up their pursuit of him a few weeks prior, deeming their investigation conclusive.

But Chase was still searching in secret. In fact, he'd only told Oscar and Emily about it.

Oscar had no idea why the boy was so obsessed, but he wasn't one to question things he didn't care about it. Kismet was dismantled and Kane was dead. What Apex was doing wasn't too important to him.

Shaking his head, he continued watching Victoria embarrass her sparring partner.

"Can you give me a challenge?" Victoria taunted as she side-stepped a jab. "This is too easy."

Grinning, Oscar leaned against the doorframe and watched as she dispatched her poor sparring partner with a swift leg-lock around the neck that looked like it came straight out of a Judo guidebook.