Elites Chapter I: Rise of Endgame

Chapter VIII: Crashing Skies

Endgame Satellite 3

3 minutes until airborne

Sapphire held Amber in his clutches, with a thin, sharp blade below her jaw. The Elites turned in shock of what their friend was doing. They were running out of time, and couldn't find the weapons control console. "Look, here's the deal." Sapphire said. "You drop the drive and slide it over to me, and I'll release her." Ruby asked "What the hell are you trying to accomplish by doing this Zach?" Sapphire replied "Zachary isn't in right now. Now it's just ZC-918." Stone then noticed the scarlet pupils and realized "That's not Zach. That's not him. Someone has to be controlling him from somewhere else." ZC then replied "No shit Sherlock. Nothing gets past you does it. Now do you want the little turd or not?"

The Elites were at a standstill. If they gave the drive to Sapphire, millions would die. If they didn't then one of their own would die, and it would likely be taken by force. Bluestone then removed his mask and dropped it to the bottom of the bubble. He then reached into his waist pocket, and pulled out the small card. As he did, Ruby reached for a grenade. Jay then put the drive on the floor. He swiped his leg, kicking the drive to Sapphire. When he reached down, Ruby threw the grenade, and it started to emit thick red smoke. Amber then elbowed Sapphire in the ribs, grabbed the drive, and jumped backwards. Sapphire lost his balance and fell to the floor, and Nat fell below into the bottom of the bubble.

Stunned and unable to see through the smoke, Sapphire's eyes began to glow red and used heat vision. By the time he could see again, he had been punched in the face by Stone. Sapphire fired shots in the direction he was hit from. Stone jumped quickly out of the way, and saw that the projectiles fired were no longer ice, but a sort of rail gun bullet. "He can see us with heat vision. We gotta blind him" Bluestone said. "On it!" Ruby replied as she shot flames from her hands around ZC. Now all he saw was red and orange, allowing the Elites to hide in plain sight. Bluestone continuously shot bolts at him, and Ruby launched flames. Sapphire quickly dodged the fire, only to be struck by the bolts. He could not hold out forever but Sapphire continued to fire various shots, now using his hearing to find his opponents. He fought with fury and accuracy never seen before from the android. Sapphire even managed to aim directly at Ruby. Right before the bullet was fired she swiftly generated a circular shield to protect herself. As she did, the heat and smoke dissipated, and Sapphire quickly regained his sight. His shots quickly became more and more accurate. Little did he notice that Natalie had climbed out of the bottom of the bubble and continued searching for the terminal, until at last she had found it. Ruby had Sapphire's left arm pinned, but then he raised his right arm, and shot a charged bullet. It crashed through two terminals without hitting any of the cards, before striking her in the chest. Amber fell to the ground and was motionless. "NAT!" Ruby yelled before rushing to her side, and Stone followed. Seconds later, the satellite began to move and rise upward. "We're moving! You guys gotta get her out of here before we're too high up." Jay yelled. Robert shouted "No! We're not done!" Jayson replied "You have to get out of here and take Nat someplace safe." "Not without you." Rob said, to which Jay replied "I'll be fine. I've got this." Rob then ran with Nicole and escaped through another panel once they reached the top of the fountains. As they ran back to the minivan, Robert stopped running. When Nic noticed she asked "What is it?" Rob replies "I've got to find a way to help. Take Nat to a hospital, I'll find a way to get there." Nicole then spoke "Watch your back. Stay safe." Rob leaned in for a kiss, but Nic had already jumped into the car and was driving off. Groaning, Stone ran back to the building. He was going to find the source of the hacking.