Electric

Chapter 12: Rescue (Part two)

Everyone slid silently into position: Isis and Kayla hid in the shadows on the top of the building (courtesy of a wind-push from Benny) and Nix, Tyler and Sarin prepared to sneak in through the vent system while Benny and Syd stayed on stand-by.

Nix took deep breaths, steadying her nerves for the trials to come. The vents were metal, so it was absolutely imperative she kept her temperature down so as to not fry the other two Uniques while they were crawling through. Kayla said she couldn't see far enough to catch the girls through her x-ray vision so Benny had to give instructions to the dungeons and it was filled with a lot of drops, and a lot of sentinels.

Sarin, the youngest Unique of the group at 13, had already volunteered to be the first to crawl through and her brother couldn't talk her out of it. "You need me up front, Tyler! I can shut those monsters down with a snap, and you know it!"

He had just sighed, and vowed to stay close. Her emp was impressive, but still he worried. So he went through next, followed (less closely) by an unenthusiastic Nix. The trio practically held their breath as Kayla helped them avoid detection through their headpieces, and Nix closed her eyes briefly after awhile. Ice, you okay up there? I don't like the idea of you fighting alone.

A brief silence was followed by a mental chuckle, and Nix ignored the buzzing of directions in her ear. It's been two seconds Ni. I'm fine. You better catch up though, Kayla's having a cow.

Isis's words brought Nix back to reality and she suddenly noticed her two companions were out of sight. The buzzing in her ear began to form words again. "Nix, what the hell are you doing? You're going to get caught if you don't get going!"

Sure enough, small clicking could be heard just behind her a ways. What kind of maniac patrols his vents?! Moving as quietly as possible, she slid down the chute using the soft black gloves and shoe covers they had made back at the warehouse for stealthy vent-sneaking.  She was met by two sets of curious eyes, one pink and one purple. Sarin shrugged and tucked a stray lock of purple hair back into her hat and motioned for the older two to keep going, her gloved hands expertly crawling along the metal ground light as a feather. Tyler glared at the fiery unique, receiving a burning glare in return, then turned to follow his little sister. Thankfully the bot seemed to move down a different chute, and they were safe for the moment.

After that it didn't take long for them to reach the edge of Kayla's vision. "Okay guys, this is where it gets dicey. I can barely see you, and something just ahead of you is completely blocking my vision. Be careful."

Tyler whispered into his mic just ahead of Nix. "Got it. Thanks Kay." He said briefly, before tapping Sarin on the shoe. "Hey, remember Benny said we have one more drop and then we have to actually walk through the hall to get to the dungeons." He reminded her, and Sarin snorted. "I know, I know! I was there too. Just stay quiet." She whispered exasperatedly, before continuing towards the dark hole ahead.

Suddenly angry clicks sounded ahead as a little bot saw Sarin, who gasped before snapping her little fingers like a pro and the wave of electricity immediately shut off the robot. "That was close." She whispered, before Tyler picked it up and crushed it in-between his fingers like he was crushing a candy-wrapper. "Too close. I don't like this, not being able to see."

"Just stop clunking and we'll be fine." Nix snapped back, earning another glare. They clearly were not going be be friends and that was just fine with Nix. Isis was all she needed, not some stupid pink-haired meathead whose whole power was picking up heavy things and throwing them like a gorilla. She's frankly surprised the vent was large enough to fit him, let alone all three of them.

Tyler grunted in response. "At least I'm not turning the vents into a pizza oven."

Sarin turned back, her frustration growing as they bickered behind her. "Will you two shut up? We're almost to the drop!" She whispered harshly, and that drew their attention back to the task at hand, and Nix pulled back on her temperature, the vent beneath her hands no longer turning red. She had to be more careful, but this boy wasn't helping much with his snide comments. Get it together, girl. You're better than this meatwad.

They successfully slid quietly down the drop and were met with the final grate, but Sarin waved a hand to signal them to stop. "I see him! I see Copy cat. Dammit, the ear pieces haven't come back online." Nix immediately closed her eyes, and focused on connecting with her twin, who was very far up now. The communicators had stopped working since Sarin released her emp, so it was a good thing Nix had a back up. Ice, we need that distraction now. Sarin shut off the ear pieces, and we have the CC in sight.

Got it. Thanks Ni.

Opening her eyes, she whispered to her companions as quietly as possible. "He should be leaving any second now."

Tyler looked back confused, but was cut short by a distant boom from above them before he could ask. Sarin watched as the mysterious man bolted away from the door they needed, and sucked in a quiet cheer. "I don't care how you did it, but thank you Nix."

They folded out of the cramped vent system and into the plain, militaristic hallway. It gave them shivers, reminding the misfit trio where they came from, even down to the flashing red lights that coated the hallway as they cautiously ran forward. They needed to make this quick.

Tyler didn't even hesitate to rip the door off of it's hinges, tearing the metal with a grinding noise that could have woken the dead if they weren't already awake from the siren. "Are you crazy? What if he comes back!?" Nix exclaimed as he placed the door gently against the wall. "We gotta do this fast. No time to pick locks."

"Who cares how fast we are if we get caught, dummy!" Nix retorted quickly, but Sarin waved her hand to silence them before walking into the small prison, her eyes glued to one spot in the room.

...

Syd's electric whip flipped around the robots ferociously, her lightning scorching their metal bodies to a crisp as they poured out of seemingly every nook and cranny in the building. Benny stood by her side but kept an eye on her whip; her power was far too wild and dangerous to completely trust it wouldn't fling in your direction. His powers, while strong, didn't have the same effect on the bots as hers did because Copy Cat had had time to prepare against Benny's powers, and Syd's were much stronger. The most he could do was shove the bots in a pile in front of Syd, who was more than happy to reduce them to rubble. Her eyes were glowing, and the white in her hair seemed tinged with lightning. Her anger had brought out nearly every ounce of her power that she could pull on, and her sparks filled those bots until they exploded violently.

A thick bolt of lightning struck the metal door and it ripped it open, the fragments spraying electricity like a million sprinklers would water. With a grunt she tore her way inside, and Benny flew after her.