"Ah … I see it now," Archex said as he was blasted upwards. Smoke and sparks hissed through the air. Archex hovered in midair, his face bruised, his suit cracked and flickering. Sweat clung to his brow, but his mind, razor-sharp and honed by years of advanced scientific training, remained focused even amidst the chaos.
"That barrier should have held… it drains energy," he thought, his eyes narrowing as he replayed the events on a holographic bubble projected from his glasses. "A full-spectrum radiation field layered with limiters, tuned to suppress ionic and plasma signatures. It was airtight." And yet, Rex, no Electron, had seemed to vanish from within it.
Archex's brain raced as he ran simulations on his pad, tapping rapidly. "Unless… he did not break the barrier. He vibrated the electrons' atoms so fast that he seems invincible."
His eyes widened. "Electrons. He does not just generate electricity. He controls the movement of electrons themselves. He is an electron atom itself. Sneaky bastard… trying to outsmart a higher being like me," he muttered as he continued falling.
But there was no time to dwell on it. In a blur, something wrapped around his chest with force. Rio emerged from above, swinging gracefully through the smoke with threads of silver silk. With practiced precision, he hurled Archex midair, trapping him in a net of reinforced synthetic silk.
The impact sent Archex crashing into a rooftop. He found himself pinned, bruised, and now bound in Rio's thread-like restraints.
Rio landed beside him silently, crouching on the edge of the rooftop, his eyes cold and disappointed. Archex struggled against the binds, but they held firm.
He scoffed, coughing up blood. "Tch… now I see it clearly. I underestimated that son of a bitch."
"What is going on, Archex? I thought you restrained him," Weaver asked in confusion as he stood facing him.
"Do not talk to me, you Dryaid piece of shit. Tch, why did you even save me?" Archex shot back angrily.
"Bro, you were going to die if I did not. You would have fallen splat. I am even surprised that you survived that punch," Rio said, clenching his fists.
"Oh really? Well, all this is your fault, you Dryaid. Who knows, you might have led him here…" Archex said in anger, touching his stomach where the silk wrapped around it. "What is this… your goo?" he asked in irritation, feeling it tightly attached to his skin. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I got demon goo on me."
"It is not goo, and I am not a demon. Stop freaking out," Rio said as he slapped Archex hard on the face. "Come back to your senses, dude. The city is in great danger, and you are busy screwing around," he added, pressing a button on his watch as his blue-striped red suit covered him.
"You have a lot of nerve hitting me… especially when I am trying to clean up your mess," Archex said as he stood up and pressed a button on his unbroken pad. Two holographic transparent gauntlets appeared on his hands. "I am sorry about earlier. I lost my cool back there."
"I know. You let the praise of those officers get in your head, and you made mistakes. But how did Rex leave the barrier?" Rio asked cautiously as he cracked his knuckles.
Archex stood slowly, brushing debris from his shoulder with a grimace. His fingers hovered over the holographic pad strapped to his forearm. "You have a lot of nerve hitting me," he muttered, locking eyes with Rio, "especially when I am trying to clean up your mess."
Without another word, he tapped a series of commands on the pad. Instantly, an energy field sparked around him in arcs of pale gold and blue. With a surge of light and smooth mechanical shifting, his Archex Armor materialized over his body. Sleek, form-fitting, and perfectly engineered for adaptability and speed, it hummed quietly as the plates interlocked like flowing liquid metal. Then, with one final press of a smaller glyph on his wrist, the suit shimmered and disappeared from sight Cloaked.
The only hint of his presence was the faint distortion in the air around him.
Rio raised an eyebrow, cracking his knuckles cautiously. "Fancy. You have upgraded."
"I learned the hard way last time," Archex replied, his voice modulated slightly by the internal comms of his armor. "No more blind spots."
Rio stepped closer, lowering his tone. "But how did Rex escape the barrier? That thing is built to drain energy, not let him walk out like nothing happened."
Archex hesitated, glancing at the remains of the earlier trap. "He did not break it. He seems to have phased his body out of it."
"Phased?" Rio asked, confused.
Archex nodded, bringing up a holographic schematic. "Electron manipulates electrons, not just electricity but the actual subatomic particles. If he accelerates the electrons in his body fast enough, he can vibrate through solid matter, even air molecules. It gives the illusion of invisibility, like quantum tunneling. The barrier could not drain what it could not lock onto." He exhaled sharply. "Sneaky bastard. He turned my trap into a diversion."
Before either could speak further, Rio's comm buzzed. He pressed it. "What is going on?"
Static crackled before a voice came through: "Where are you, Weaver? The devil-looking creature is killing everyone. Ahhhh…" the officer cried out.
"Where exactly is this occurring, sir?" The line cut off abruptly.
Rio's eyes widened as he turned to Archex. "We have to move. Electron is not running. He is after the core."
Archex cursed under his breath. "If he overloads that reactor, the entire city could go dark. Worse, it could implode."
Meanwhile, inside the central tower of the building, Rex hovered silently above the control chamber. His body radiated with pulsating blue and white currents, like lightning caged beneath his skin. His eyes shimmered with power as he looked down on rows of armed officers, armored defense bots, and security mechs.
Rex smiled.
"Let us see how much power you humans really have," he whispered, stretching out his arms as sparks danced from his fingertips.
"Everyone, block formation. Do not let him cross into the building. Fire everything you have at the creature!" one officer shouted as soldiers pointed their weapons at Rex.
"You raise your weapons at me? Hahaha, how futile, how weak. You have never tasted pain, so let me teach you what true…" His words were cut short as bullets flew toward him in slow motion. Two, three, four, five, and then multiple bullets and laser blasts struck.
Time slowed. Electron moved at the speed of light, laughing as he redirected the bullets at the officers. He tore some soldiers in half, shoved a gun into another man's mouth, ripped the skull from another, and electrocuted a random person. Electricity surged through multiple robots, blasting them with high voltage. Debris, blood, and body parts exploded as he instantly teleported in front of the commanding officer, touching his chin.
"Hey human… you were saying something about killing me? How about you tell me what you were trying to say, hmm?" Rex said, staring deeply at him.
The policeman panicked and reached for his gun, which had grown hot at the handle. "Fuck you! You damned creature!" he shouted, spitting in fear and soiling himself.
"Hahaha, very funny of you," Rex said as he grabbed the man's neck, fangs glinting in his wide grin. "This face you have… ahhh, it never ceases to excite me."
Whispers floated around him. Rex leaned closer, curious.
"What was that?"
"Please have mercy on me. I am just doing my job. I did not mean that. Please spare my life. I have two children, a boy and a girl. My wife died in an accident. I am the only one left. Please spare me." He cried as Rex choked him.
"How touching… how painful. I wish I could cry, but guess what, never!" Rex paused as memories flashed in his eyes. "When they begged you humans to spare our lives, you ignored them and slaughtered countless of our people. Do not blame me. Blame God for making you human."
He proceeded to electrocute the man until he turned to dust. Then Rex advanced toward the energy reactor inside the building.
Beneath the shattered ruins of the once-proud command center lay the heart of the city's power: the Reactor Chamber. A cavernous hall of shimmering steel and humming light. The walls were sleek and obsidian