Fume! Fume!
"What were you guys thinking?!" Marcus's voice roared through the safehouse.
Ugh… what a night. I rubbed my eyes and sat up from the couch.
"Tyrone, are you awake?" Stormblade asked from outside the door.
"Yeah, I'll be out in a sec."
A few minutes later I joined the others, scarfing down breakfast before preparing for another session with Julie's dad.
"So, what did you and Jared talk about yesterday? Couldn't ask last night—you looked kinda downcast," Stormblade pressed.
"Nothing much. He just told me some things about the other Sentients."
I kept my tone flat. Inside, I knew I had to stay cautious around him. Stormblade was already a suspect for being the hooded man.
The journey to Jared's office was unusually quiet. Stormblade's gaze made it obvious—he knew I was hiding something.
Thirty minutes later, Jared greeted me warmly.
"Tyrone, how are you? Ready for today's session?" He extended a hand.
Back on Earth
"You're all in big trouble. What pisses me off most is that we didn't get enough dirt on the Taskforce," Marcus snapped.
"Don't say that—we found information tying them to the Sentients," Darius countered.
Tyrone's friends chuckled.
"What's funny?" Vanessa glared.
"The fact you think you've hit the jackpot just from a couple lousy files," Bruce said.
"Wait—you guys found it too?" Alice asked.
"You mean the documents about the Sentients… and Tyrone?" Robert said.
"Hell yeah," Mike added.
"What are you talking about?" Marcus demanded.
"The kids found a whole bunch of documents way more important than what we've got," Lena said, entering with Naomi.
"What do you mean?" Darius pressed.
"Those idiots were there during Tyrone's birth," Naomi replied coldly.
"Should we take this elsewhere?" Darius asked, pointing at the kids.
"Nah—it's not like they don't already know," Marcus said.
"Yeah, and we've got tons of files we couldn't carry, but snapped pics of." Sage raised her phone. The others followed, revealing their screens full of photographed documents.
On Jupiter
"I received a call from the Sentient of Mercury yesterday," Jared said after I arrived. "She's on her way."
"Another Sentient?" Stormblade asked.
"Yes. She has important information."
A feminine voice came from the hallway. "Indeed, I do."
A tall, striking woman entered, clad in a silver dress with a flowing blue cape.
"Tyrone, meet Alura, Sentient of Mercury," Jared introduced.
She studied me. "So this is the Tyrone boy… I can't believe he's still alive."
"Enough chit-chat," Stormblade cut in.
Alura's expression hardened. "A few days ago, one of our most powerful psychics delivered a message: there is a being whose power was locked away so the rest of us could continue living. That being… is the Sentient Killer."
"No… you don't mean—" Jared began.
"Yes," Alura interrupted. "If unleashed, it could tear down the Sentient Zone and destroy the world."
Back on Earth
"You guys, I just pieced something important together," Sage said, waving her phone.
"What is it?" Naomi asked.
"It's a letter from someone named Dr. Rasmus Schlock."
"Who?" Lena asked.
Sage read aloud:
Dear Rose,
Madeline died two days ago, leaving me a letter. She dreamed of a being she called the Sentient Killer. This being will tear down the Sentient Zone and destroy the world. For that reason, I created the Titan. If such a being is ever born… cuff him, and kill him.
The room went silent.
"That's… disturbing," Mike muttered.
On Jupiter
"Wait, so you're saying continuing my tests could unleash the Sentient Killer?" I asked.
"Yes. In light of that, we'll ask you to return to Earth in two days," Jared said firmly.
"We can't risk a failed experiment exposing your powers," Alura added.
"Sir!" A guard burst in.
"What is it?" Jared demanded.
"The entire planet is under attack!"
"Deploy Commander Yul and his forces. I'll be right down," Jared ordered. He turned to me. "Stay here, Tyrone. We'll finish this talk later."
He, Alura, and Stormblade rushed out.
Julie appeared at the door, wide-eyed. "T-Tyrone? What are you doing here?"
Boom! A clock tower collapsed. Bang! A building crumbled into another, dust filling the sky.
"This is a mess," Alura muttered outside.
"Any idea who?" Jared asked.
"No… but considering our guests, I have suspicions."
"This is Commander Yul," a gravelly voice crackled over comms.
"Report," Jared ordered.
"We're under attack… by the Taskforce."
"Yes, you are," said another voice from behind. Auren Uranus's sentient stepped forward.
"You two are guilty of insubordination. The rest of us agreed the boy must die."
"You'll have to go through us," Jared barked. "Stormblade check on Tyrone!"
"You think an S-ranker will stop me?" Auren sneered, unleashing a storm of ice shards.
Whoosh! Razor shards of ice screamed through the air, cutting into walls and pillars. Jared clenched his jaw, raising one hand. The shards froze midair, trembling as if caught in invisible strings.
"You'll have to do better than that," Jared said, his voice calm but forceful. His psychic aura flared, bending Auren's assault back toward him.
"You think mind tricks can stop me?" Auren snarled, slamming his palm down. The ground rippled with frost, spikes of ice erupting upward.
On Jared's flank, Alura stepped forward, her silver cape whipping in the wind. She held her palms apart, spheres of blinding flame swelling in each.
"Then dodge this," she whispered, launching them forward.
The fireballs roared like miniature suns, colliding with the glacier wall Auren raised. Steam hissed, turning the battlefield into a boiling fog.
Stormblade gritted his teeth, torn between staying to help and rushing back to Tyrone. "Jared, he's too strong for just the two of you!"
"We don't have a choice," Jared snapped, holding Auren back with a psychic grip. "Go check on the boy. Now!"
The air crackled with power. Jared's mind strained, invisible pressure warping the space around Auren's arm until bone popped. For a moment, it looked like the fight could tilt in their favor and then clang! A metallic thud echoed from the left flank.
A Taskforce soldier, armor plated and faceless under his mask, hurled a grenade into the center of the clash.
"DOWN!" Alura shouted.
The grenade pulsed once before detonating, unleashing a violent magnetic shockwave. The three Sentients were thrown like rag dolls, slammed into walls and torn from their footing. Jared's psychic grip shattered, Alura's fireballs fizzled out, and even Auren was flung across the courtyard, snarling.
Tyrone and Julie
"What do you know about the Sentient Killer?" I asked Julie.
"Who's that?" she blinked.
"Never mind I'll check your dad's files."
"You won't find anything here," she said. "He keeps files like that at home."
"Then let's go."
We ran out amid collapsing buildings and gunfire, finally reaching her house where her friends waited.
"We got Julie's text," Cassie said.
"We need to find anything labeled 'Sentient Killer,'" Julie told them.
Upstairs, I searched. "Found anything?" I shouted.
"No but check the basement!" Maria called.
Bang! The door blew open. A towering, hooded figure stepped inside.
"Oh no… everyone to the safe room!" I yelled.
We bolted. The hooded man pursued but then a loud crash came, followed by a familiar voice.
"Tyrone RUN!" Xavier, Greg's assistant, screamed.
We slammed the safe room shut. Minutes passed in silence.
Knock, knock.
"Tyrone, open up it's me!" Stormblade shouted.
Julie unlocked the door.
"Wait… where's Xavier?" Maria asked.
"Was he here?" Stormblade's face darkened.
We all ran outside until Julie's scream split the air.
We rushed to her.
Xavier lay on the ground, lifeless. His chest was impaled by a tree branch.
I couldn't stop myself from crying. None of us could.
Minutes later we regrouped with the others, Stormblade carrying Xavier's body. The Taskforce had withdrawn. Many were arrested.
But the loss was carved into all of us.