Jake woke up to the faint sounds of voices.
They were arguing.
"We need to go!"
He could smell the smoke dancing around him, carrying the faint but familiar odour of death.
"No, we can't just abandon him!"
He could hear fire, burning away metal, stone, and flesh.
"Fine then, grow bigger and take him. We need to leave!"
And once he opened his eyes, he could see them all in full display.
"What about the others?" Zack said, growing his hand to the size of a full-grown man in an attempt to lift Jake up. Jake got off his hand in an instant and awkwardly got to his feet.
"What the hell is going on here?" Jake said, slowly taking in the situation.
"The tower was destroyed by an orbital strike," Paulina said with a strange blandness to her voice. "Milten's dead. Surge is dead. Most of the staff are dead. Max and Stacya are gone. It's hell out here."
Jake's legs gave in and he fell to the ground. His mind raced, trying to find some form of hope from such a horrifying situation.
"What about Ivy? The kids? Any survivors?" Jake said, with a cold sweat dripping down his cheek despite the intense heat.
"I detected a few faint life signals not too far from here. Seems the blast didn't annihilate everything within it. If we leave now we could save them." Paulina said flatly.
"And how did you two survive?"
"Paulina covered us both in a small forcefield with most of her power. The blast still hurt like hell, but it kept us alive."
"And me? How am I not dead?" Jake asked.
"We don't know. It could be your blue energy that saved you. That's why I said Max was gone, not dead," Paulina answered.
"W... well, we still need to check. We can't just assume they're dead and run away. We're heroes, and that's not what heroes do."
"Yeah, Jake is right. When was the last time we actually saved anyone? This could be our chance."
"Are you two insane?! Bolt launched a surprise attack on us so seamlessly. Killed most of our forces so seamlessly! And you want to waste more time here? He's definitely on his way to finish the job! We can't..."
"Wrong..."
A familiar voice cut her off. Once she turned to find the source, she couldn't believe her eyes. She didn't want to believe her eyes, for what she saw truly terrified her, even more than Max did.
"Hello, my dear E2D. It's been so long," Dr. Bolt said, emerging from a giant cloud of smoke before them, the Dragon Clan army behind him.
Blaze, Long, and their men stepped out of the cloud in a proud march wearing their Dragon armor. Truly a sight to behold, an army capable of leveling a nation. An army that was merely 20 men strong.
"Greetings, Danger Squad," Blaze said with a bow. His men were quick to follow. Long scoffed.
"I truly commend you for surviving that blast. For that, I shall grant you all warrior's deaths," Blaze said with a smile hidden by his armor.
"Hey now! Leave my daughter out of this!" Bolt said, playfully patting Blaze's back. "I need her in one piece to finish my... eh... our plans. I'm so happy she survived my little surprise. That just proves she's ready for what I have in store."
"We need to get out of here," Paulina said quietly as she slowly backed away.
"What? No! Not when they're right in front of us. They killed our friends! And Milten. We can't let them..."
"She's right, Zack," Jake said calmly. "We don't stand a chance here. Not with Bolt around. Even I can tell he's way beyond anything we've ever faced before. Even Mr. E."
"No way."
"We don't have time for this, Zack! We need to move."
"Okay fine, but the three of us will..."
"No, not three. Just two. You two."
"Jake?"
"Why don't we kill them now?" Long said quietly.
"Quiet! I want to see where this goes," Bolt said with a finger on his lip.
"But..."
"Didn't you hear the doctor, Long? Quiet! They're about to select a combatant, it seems like. Let's let them hash it out," Blaze said and watched the scene. Long scoffed again and watched with them.
"I'll attack them as a distraction and keep them off your tail for as long as possible. The two of you get the fuck out of here. Pick up any survivors you can."
"Jake, no way in hell I'm leaving you to die!"
"We don't have a choice, Zack. It's either I die or we all die, and I refuse to go with the latter."
"No! Nothing you say or do will convince me to leave you to die! Not while I continue to live! If you want a sacrifice, I'll..."
Suddenly, Zack fell to the ground. Behind him was Paulina, who had struck him down.
"You...?"
"He wouldn't listen to reason. If reason fails, then force must be applied."
"I... see," Jake said, looking back at Bolt and the others. At that moment, he prepared for battle.
To be continued...