Versus New Ground

Chapter 3

"How long have we been moving?" Spyder questioned.

"4 minutes." V told him.

"Aww! When do we get to kick butt?" Spyder posed.

"Hopefully soon." Kenzie responded.

She watched her cousin pilot the machine. The defensive operator had his eyes on the map while his competitor stood by the mechanic up top. Spyder was becoming impatient since he was very passionate about seeing bodies on the floor. To distract himself, he looked at the weapons list and upgrades. Some seemed to be more destructive than others, which pleased the daredevil. Mack was sitting on Harris's desk. As for the oldest member of the teens, he was lost in his thoughts.

"Okay, we're about 500 feet away. Should take about a good three minutes to get there." Harris informed.

Veracity nodded.

"So," Mackenzie began, "how'd you get so smart to the point you can adapt so quickly to this?"

"My brains are kind of a long story," Harris replied, "I don't wanna bore you. Besides you're worried about your dad and I-"

He looked up to see that Kenzie had turned her whole body around to face him. Her elbows were resting on her knees as her hands held the sides of her face. The gaze she had on him proved that she was interested. Her eyes sparkled, which made the nerdy boy smile shyly. He felt his face heat up, along with his hands becoming sweaty. Looking down, the kid wiped his hands off on the sides of his pants. The weapons specialist turned his head and smirked at the scene. He made a small, whisper like noise to get V's attention. She looked down and directed her eyes to what her friend was talking about. Her mouth flew open. It formed into a wide smile. Mack didn't notice their reactions as she waited for Harris to continue.

"What? No girl besides V has shown interest in science before?" She asked.

"Hmm," Spyder laughed quietly, "he just wants you to be interested in his science."

"Oh my god Spyder!" Ryan whisper yelled upon hearing his comment.

He knew what he meant as Veracity had to hold back on her laughter. Harris's face was a cherry red. Kenzie glanced at everyone around her, confused a bit by the statement. She shrugged as she turned back around. The female genius glanced at the sixteen year old, who hadn't uttered a single word since they departed. Curious, the young lady walked towards him.

"I'm fine," Mark spoke before she could ask, "ok? I'm not upset or anything. I just-"

"We're there!" Harris announced.

The robot stopped in front of the facility. The gate wrapped around the building. Parts of it were burned off thanks to Seth. Both mechanics engaged stealth mode. After the machine went incognito, the pilot unhooked himself from the harness. Mackenzie instantly headed for the elevator.

"Woah slow down Flash," V told her, "we need to plan this out."

"There's only one plan girl," Mack responded, "go in and blow up some heads."

"Mack we need to sneak in without Tregear seeing us. It's not-"

"We don't need to do anything," Kenzie went to correct Mark, "this is between me and Tregear."

She started to head for the elevator again.

"Wait what?" Spyder inquired.

"No Mackenzie you can't go in alone," Ryan said, "you don't know what's in there."

"My dad's in there," Mackenzie counteracted, "and I'm going to get him out."

"That's why we need to come with you," Ryan stated, "it's not going to be easy."

"Boy I never deal with easy. I'm not letting any of you get hurt for my mistakes," Mackenzie argued, "besides I can handle myself. My powers are more enhanced and I'll be faster."

"No I'm not letting you go in alone." Ryan refused.

Though touched that he cared, the military child knew that she couldn't risk anything happening to him. Or the rest of the group for that matter. She shook her head.

"And I'm not allowing you to go in there and get hurt," Mack retorted, "it's my job to help you live, not die. Stay in the robot and I'll contact you guys when I have him."

Part of what she was saying puzzled and intrigued her cousin a bit. What does she mean by helping him live? He didn't have the time to ask. Before the pilot could convince his family member otherwise, the young blonde went inside the elevator. She left the robot.

"Man's she's stubborn." Ryan spoke afterwards.

"Oh the irony, must run in the family." Harris mumbled.

The male technopath caught that and gave him a look.

"I'd go with her, but she has a point. It's not her fault, but if she feels better doing it herself, we should let her. We'll just make sure to stand out here for back up." Veracity stated.

The younger Walker brother's facial expression changed into a shocked stare.

"She could get killed," Ryan told his team, "why can't she let us help?"

"Dude I'd let her do it," Mark agreed with the female genius as his brother incredulously stared at him, "she's totally capable."

Ryan, to his older brother's surprise, smacked the back of his head.

"Are you nuts?! She could die in there," he disagreed, "this is Tregear we're talking about. He could capture her with her dad."

"Ow..." Mark whined a bit to the hit.

Ryan rolled his eyes.

"I'm going after her." He decided, not liking how anyone isn't with him on this.

"No Ryan, you can't! If something happens, you need to pilot Mech X4." Harris informed him.

"And if something happens to Mackenzie, nobody will have a spine." Ryan seethed at the end.

He proceeded to leave, but it was difficult considering his older sibling picked him up and was carrying him back in. The tech controlling teen crossed his arms in anger as he was put back down.

"Huh, it does run in the family." Veracity sided with her competitor.

"Shut it," Ryan snapped, "we can't let her go alone."

"I'll go after her," Spyder volunteered, "that way she's not by herself."

"Good. I'll just take your place then." Veracity added.

The jokester of the bunch hopped into the elevator and shot himself down. One of his best friend's tried to follow, but was yet again lifted into the air. This time, the former jock sat down in Spyder's chair and kept the freshman in his lap. The child shook his head.

"Comfy?" Mark asked in a tease.

His brother glared at him.