"Damn you human!" Electron shouted as he hurled a mass of electricity at Archex.
"Incoming blast: evading in 0.7 seconds," Alexa hummed as Archex was thrust away from the incoming energy. The blast left a massive crater below.
"Why do you struggle in vain: your end is inevitable: allow me to end your pathetic life," Electron continued, blasting him while flying through the city and destroying buildings, skyscrapers, and poles.
"Alexa: redirect all light stored and electrical residue energy in suit to a single point on my palm!" Archex yelled as he narrowly avoided another blast from Electron.
"You cannot run from me human," Electron said, instantly teleporting in front of Archex and blasting him again.
"Oh shit!" Archex cursed as the blast approached his face. "Hehe: just kidding." He activated the absorbing device on his right palm, capturing the electric blast, then flew directly in front of Electron and delivered an uppercut with extreme force and hyper energy, sending him into the clouds. "Ahhhh!" he shouted as his right arm broke from the impact.
"Alert: system overload: suit cannot function," Alexa warned as Archex crashed toward the ground.
"Damn it: my arm," he sighed, coughing up blood as he fell.
"Redirecting power to canon blaster: activating safety protocols," Alexa continued as energy was rerouted to the canon blaster. A soft bubble of protective energy enveloped Archex as he landed safely on the ground.
Archex groaned, staggering to his feet. Smoke drifted through the broken city. The sun glimmered faintly through the haze. His body trembled from exhaustion and raw pain. He fell to one knee.
"Alexa: I cannot die here: not yet," he whispered.
"Master: if you fight that entity again you will surely die: the chances of defeating Electron are only forty percent even if you change the suit," Alexa responded, her voice filled with worry.
Archex laughed weakly.
"Well: I am only human after all," he said with a bitter smile: "A normal human with only a smart brain and no real abilities: but…" His voice trailed off as his gaze drifted upward toward the light. His mind sank into memory.
The world around him faded into the year 2039. He saw himself as a small boy standing inside the shining halls of the Frankenstein household: marble floors, vast laboratories, countless inventions humming to life. At the center of it all were his parents: Mrs. Lucy Frankenstein and Albert Frankenstein.
"I loved them," Archex whispered softly: "They built so many amazing inventions: they were extremely rich: they funded and owned the Frankenstein Corporation: they helped build The Great Labs in Kansas City, which was the first in the country, before the branch opened in Texas."
His young self ran through the lab corridors with excitement, begging for attention.
"But they were always busy," the older Archex murmured: "Building new projects: testing theories: creating gadgets no one else could imagine: they always left me uncared for: unloved: they did not even care about how I ate or how I fared."
The young Archex sat alone at a metal table, poking at untouched food while staring at a pad of equations.
"I could not care less," he whispered in the present: "I found consolation in science."
He watched his younger self scribbling complex theories on holographic boards.
"I began forming my own theory on quantum physics and energy redirection: but these ideas were merely kindergarten level compared to my family's high intellect: many times my father would scold me: he always said: dream bigger: the world is bigger than my little projects."
Archex sighed amidst the smoke-filled present.
"Now that I think about it: my dad was right I guess."
The memory shifted again: he saw himself at six years old presenting his creation.
"I had no friends," he said softly: "I had only myself and my studies: and at the age of six: I designed the first artificial intelligence ever produced by my family."
He remembered the pride, the applause, the rare moment of warmth in his parents' eyes.
"For once they were proud of me," he whispered: "I felt atop the world: I felt like I could do anything: and then I began to see everyone not smarter than me as inferior: I kind of regret that a bit."
The scene darkened. The family was walking toward a theater in a dim alley: the air was cold: shadows crowded the walls.
"That night…" Archex whispered: "I remember."
Figures emerged: Beta humans, their eyes glowing with unstable power.
"They attacked us," he whispered.
His father's body lifted from the ground as invisible force crushed his bones: his mother screamed as another beta human touched her arm: her skin frosted: her heart froze in an instant.
Archex remembered himself pulling out small gadgets and firing desperately.
"I tried fighting back," he choked out: "but I could not: their abilities defied the laws of physics."
He watched his younger self being kicked across the alley like a ragdoll. A curved metal shard ripped across his chest. Blood soaked his shirt. Pain spread through his body in waves.
He lifted his head in the present and touched the curved scar on his chest, still marked from twelve years ago.
"I was drained of blood: of tears: of energy: my life was slipping away."
The memory neared its darkest point.
"And then… I was saved," Archex whispered: "by that person."
His eyes opened fully as the flashback faded. Smoke circled him: the battle still raged. Electron's voice echoed somewhere above. Archex clenched his good fist.
"I am only human," he whispered: "but I am not done yet." He coughed as the sun recharged his suit.
"Revegetating battle armor systems: rebooting: using solar energy to stabilize and heal master arm," Alexa said as the suit let out a hissing sound. The first layer peeled away as a new layer emerged, knitting tightly to his skin like a wetsuit. His muscles flexed as the fractured arm was stabilized and his footwear activated thrusters. Archex scratched his hair.
"Are you still saving energy for that stuff?" he asked Alexa.
"Yes master: but a part of the energy was used for the upgrade though: master you have used seventy percent of your full capacity: any more could cause you to implode," she warned in a worried tone.
"Yeah: I think we are going to need more than Joyce to stop this guy: maybe Quicklightning: but wait: two years ago the cosmic beam was redirected by Lucian Stark and struck two students in New Heights Academy: the Great Labs, despite all the chaos, remain untouched: one of which is Johnson Stones: Alexa: bring up files of Johnson Stones and Rosemary Stones."
"Yes sir: to access school archives you will need to be an eligible elite gold member and a staff member of the academy," Alexa replied.
"Damnit: I am an elite gold member: damn it…" Archex's words were cut off as the sky darkened.
"You really think a weak attack like that could defeat me: O sin of man: how pitiful: how weak: how useless…" Electron whispered through Alexa's voice: "How pathetic!"
"Ahhh!" Archex cried as his ears bled from the impact: he knelt, coughing blood. "Well: I did land a hit: that is a start."
"Master: the entity is holding a small mass of energy equal to nine neutron stars fused together: planetary no solar system evacuation is suggested to escape the blast," Alexa warned.
"Nah: no need for that: I can feel it: he is on his way: let me stall a bit," he said as lightning split across the sky: Electron descended downward.
Lightning split the clouds as Electron descended once more.
The scene shifted: inside the Great Labs of Voyage City, the colossal building stood silent and untouched. A shimmering barrier surrounded it like a dome of liquid glass. Deep within, behind layers of advanced security and reinforced vaults, Lucian Stark sat in an isolated chamber.
The room glowed with the soft neon light of futuristic technology. Transparent conduits carried streams of luminous data. Floating screens synchronized with Lucian's breathing. In the center stood a transparent holographic chess table. The digital board projected crystalline pieces hovering slightly above the surface.
Lucian rested his fingers on a pawn: the pawn glowed faintly with the name Archex etched into its side. Across the board, the rook bore Electron's name.
Lucian moved the Archex pawn closer to the rook with a relaxed and confident push.