Project Renegade : Invasion (Book 2)

Ambush

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The Vertex...4:10 p.m (Earlier)

The Vertex floated on the waters of the Sky City coast. Topaz stood on the roof with binoculars, looking for passing boats. Inside, Spinal and Amythest guarded the door of the lounge. Emerald watched as the teens pushed the sofa and the electronics to the other side of the room. Swiping her hand in the air, Zoe created a baseball bat made of ice. Dante wore a red snapback and stood in the middle of the room. Amy created a small orb of energy and tossed it into Dante's hands. Being the umpire, Jennifer crouched behind Zoe and pounded her fists of flame together. Karla blew a whistle as Dante covered the orb in a vortex of wind. Then, with a mighty throw, he pitched it. Zoe smirked and struck the sphere with all her power, knocking it back into the air!

Ray lept into the air, creating a jetpack. He zoomed towards it in an attempt to catch the orb, but the ball slipped through his fingers. Nichole cheered on her best friend as Zoe ran to the first base. Max was up next to bat, holding Zoe's creation in his hands. Dante grinned and lifted his leg high into the air. Then, covering his entire hand in a mighty whirlwind, Dante pitched a fastball after Max. In an instant, the bat smashed open, and the orb slammed into Jennifer's palms. With another blow of the whistle, Karla raised her hand into the air, one finger up.

" Strike one! " Karla yelled.

" Fine then. " Max dropped the remains of the bat to the floor.

Catching the orb in his hands, Dante laughed. He never could beat Ryan, but his brother was never a challenge. Placing the globe between the two of his fingers, Dante threw a speeding curveball. Max clenched his fist and swung, unfortunately missing again. Karla put two fingers into the air as Max scowled. " This is too easy—time to embarrass him with this one. " Dante thought as he caught the orb once again. Dante softly bit the skin on his thumb and wiped his brow.

" Hey, Max! " Dante exclaimed, " Maybe after you lose Ryan and I can go for smoothies with Ashley? Do you want to come? "

The rest of the teens all watched Dante and facepalmed. " Wow...dude. " Nichole thought as Max's fist trembled. Without warning, Dante flung the sphere with insane power and speed. The orb curved to the left as Dante laughed at his screwball pitch. Max growled, and with the twist of his upper body, he crashed his knuckles into the sphere! The orb rocketed straight for Dante's face. Dante's instinct's kicked in as he ducked, leaving the orb to plow straight through his cap. The sphere blasted through a wall in the ship, splashing into the ocean. Max cockily chuckled and strolled around his opponents, making a homerun.

" Hey, Dante? " Max mumbled as Dante got back up, " I think you need a change of pants, buddy. "

Dante rolled his eyes and floated to the bathroom, hiding the pee stain on his white jeans. The other teens laughed as Karla ran after him with a sigh. Assuming the role of the referee, Amy blew the whistle to make the teens switch sides. Ray grabbed another ice bat from Zoe and watched as Michelle gripped the orb. Her eyes stared at the boy with the flames of anger. Still hung up over Ryan, Michelle's body swarmed in an intense green aura. A whirlwind started to swirl around her fist as the room got hotter and hotter. Nichole, Amy, and Zoe hid behind the sofa, peeking at the event. Dante and Karla stood behind Emerald for safety as Michelle continued to power up.

" Guys, relax. I can handle this! " Ray shouted, " Right, Jennifer? "

" I'll watch you handle it from over here. " Jennifer zipped behind Emerald.

" What- "

WHOOSH!

Throwing the most potent pitch, Michelle cried out. As the orb sped towards Ray, the bat started to melt rapidly! Ray yelped and ducked for cover. The ball exploded through the wall and zipped over the waters, going far off into the horizon. Michelle grabbed her trembling fist and exhaled slowly, trying to calm herself down. Meanwhile, Ray covered his head and shook. A small object rolled out of his pocket and onto the floor. Emerald analyzed the oval-shaped object and picked it up for further inspection.