HEROES II

The Breach

Inside the technical department of Heroes Academy, alarms flashed red across giant screens while students and technicians rushed from one station to another.

Clarence, Ava, Lena, James, Louise, Derek, Kennedy, Jersey, Shine, and Lacey burst through the sliding doors.

“Move!” James shouted as he sped ahead.

The head of the department, Mr. Hale, looked up from a holographic screen in irritation.

“What is the meaning of this?” he snapped. “Why is everyone running like the academy is on fire?”

Louise stepped forward quickly.

“Where’s my father?”

Mr. Hale adjusted his glasses.

“He and the others went for a meeting with the Boss.”

Derek frowned. “Can we go see him?”

“No.” Mr. Hale’s tone became firm. “Nobody goes there right now. You can wait here until the meeting is over.”

Clarence immediately turned to Lena.

“The book.”

Lena carefully handed over the ancient library book.

Across the dark cover were the faded words:

LATOT: FIRST DIVISION

Clarence placed the book beneath a glowing magi-scanner connected to the academy systems. Blue lines swept across the pages as symbols and writings appeared rapidly on the screen.

Shine leaned closer.

“You actually copied all that ancient stuff in like two minutes. That’s scary.”

Clarence smirked proudly.

“That’s why I’m the tech genius.”

James folded his arms.

“Why did you even copy the whole thing?”

Clarence shrugged.

“I don’t like reading books.”

Lacey laughed softly.

“So instead you turned it into homework on a device?”

“Exactly.”

The scanner beeped loudly.

UPLOAD COMPLETE.

Clarence smiled.

“Good.”

On the screen, old writings and notes filled the display — including the handwritten observations left behind by Jones inside the ancient book.

—

Far outside the academy’s forcefield, armed defense men stood guard with heavy magi-weapons aimed outward.

Then suddenly—

WHOOOOOOOM!

A violent purple gust spiraled across the sky.

The men froze.

“What… is that?” one soldier whispered.

Out of the purple storm emerged a woman walking calmly toward the forcefield.

Scarlet Fox.

Her long coat flowed behind her while purple energy twisted around her body like smoke.

Beside her walked two teenagers — a boy and a girl — silent and emotionless.

Behind them walked a tall man dressed completely in black.

The soldiers immediately panicked.

“Oh my God…”

“DEFENSIVE POSITIONS!” another screamed.

Weapons charged instantly.

Scarlet Fox kept walking.

Slowly… she raised her hand.

Her eye lenses glowed purple.

The forcefield suddenly began vibrating violently.

VRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Purple energy infected the barrier like poison.

“She’s corrupting the field!” one soldier yelled.

CRAAAAASH!!!

The entire forcefield exploded outward in a massive purple shockwave.

“AAAAAHHHHH!”

Several armed men close to the barrier burned instantly.

Others were blasted through the air, smashing against walls and vehicles.

Then—

The creatures came.

Hundreds of twisted monsters rushed through the broken opening.

“RETREAT!” a soldier screamed. “RETREAT!”

But it was too late.

One creature ripped a man’s arm completely off.

Another tore someone’s spine out.

One soldier tried firing before a creature bit directly into his neck.

Blood sprayed everywhere.

Screams echoed across the academy grounds.

Bones.

Body parts.

Fire.

Chaos.

And through all of it…

Scarlet Fox continued walking calmly.

Like death entering a kingdom.

—

Inside the technical department—

The entire system suddenly shut down.

Every screen went black.

Every machine powered off.

Clarence blinked.

“Wow. I didn’t know Heroes Academy had power outages.”

Suddenly—

BANG!

A technician burst through the doors in terror.

“It’s not a power outage— we’re under atta—”

FWOOOM!

A purple gust slammed into him mid-sentence and hurled him across the room.

CRASH!

He smashed violently against the floor.

Everyone jumped back.

“Who did that?!” Ava shouted.

Then slowly…

Scarlet Fox stepped through the far entrance.

The two teenagers behind her.

The tall man behind them.

Silence filled the room instantly.

Clarence narrowed her eyes.

“Why does she look familiar?”

James swallowed.

“Yeah… she looks like T.L.”

Louise stared harder.

“A more mature version…”

Ava stepped forward aggressively.

“Who are you and what do you want?”

Scarlet Fox smiled faintly.

“Oh… Merson isn’t here.”

She glanced around.

“He would’ve told you who I am.”

Her eyes darkened.

“But I’m not here for introductions.”

Immediately Ava activated her telekinesis.

James crackled with speed energy.

Louise’s hands burst into flames.

Derek charged his powers.

Shine’s body glowed brightly as energy flowed through her hands.

Lacey stepped protectively beside Lena.

Then—

The two teenagers behind Scarlet Fox opened their eyes.

Their lenses turned glowing blue.

Instantly—

James lost control.

VOOOOM!

He shot sideways uncontrollably and smashed directly into the wall.

“AAAAH!”

CRASH!

Ava suddenly screamed as her telekinesis exploded wildly around her.

Lena was violently lifted upside down.

Tables flipped.

Machines floated.

Louise stared at her burning hands in panic.

“What is happening?!”

The fire only grew larger.

“I can’t turn it off!”

Derek struggled to control his powers as sparks burst wildly around him.

Shine suddenly released a blinding energy blast accidentally.

BOOOOM!

Part of the ceiling exploded.

“Oh no— no no no!” Shine shouted.

Lacey ducked as metal debris flew above her.

“Everybody get down!”

Clarence’s eyes widened immediately.

The teenagers.

Scarlet noticed the ancient book beside the scanner.

Her eyes sharpened.

“There it is.”

She stretched out her hand.

FWOOOOM!

A purple blast struck Clarence and sent her crashing across the floor.

The book flew directly into Scarlet’s hand.

The moment she caught it—

The teenagers’ blue eyes faded back to normal.

Immediately everyone regained control.

Lena dropped hard onto the floor.

James groaned against the wall.

Louise’s flames finally vanished.

Shine’s glowing energy faded as she breathed heavily.

Heavy breathing filled the room.

Scarlet turned away calmly.

Purple smoke suddenly exploded around all four of them.

FWOOOOSH!

And they vanished.

Gone.

At that same moment, purple gusts suddenly began appearing all over the technical department corridors.

The horrifying creatures Scarlet Fox had released started rushing back into the gusts after slaughtering people across the academy halls.

Some crawled on walls.

Some dragged blood across the floor.

Others carried severed body parts in their mouths as they disappeared back into the purple smoke.

FWOOOSH!

One after another, the creatures vanished into the gusts until the corridors became eerily silent again.

Derek stared around in disbelief.

“What… was THAT?!”

Louise looked at her trembling hands.

“I couldn’t control my fire…”

James slowly stood up painfully.

“Yeah? Look at me. I literally speed-ran myself into a wall.”

Shine stared at the destroyed ceiling.

“I nearly blasted everybody…”

Ava rushed to Lena.

“Lena… I’m sorry. I couldn’t control the telekinesis.”

Lena groaned painfully.

“I noticed…”

Then Clarence slowly looked toward the empty space where Scarlet had stood.

“She got the book.”

Everyone turned sharply.

“What?!” Ava shouted.

“That’s what she came here for,” Clarence said.

James suddenly looked toward the computer.

“Well… your computerized version may have paid off.”

Clarence slowly smiled.

Ava frowned.

“Clarence… what exactly were those two?”

Clarence’s expression became serious.

“Those teenagers behind Scarlet Fox…”

She looked around at everyone.

“They’re Half Totals.”

Silence.

Kennedy blinked.

“Wait… are you serious?”

Clarence nodded slowly.

“Yes.”

She pointed toward where they had stood.

“Remember what Jones wrote inside LATOT: FIRST DIVISION?”

Everyone looked at her.

“He wrote that Half Totals can distort powers.”

Realization hit Ava instantly.

“Our powers were distorted…”

Clarence nodded.

“Exactly. The moment their eyes turned blue, none of us could properly control our abilities.”

Louise looked disturbed.

“Just like when T.L.’s eyes turned white and Derek and I couldn’t use our powers…”

Clarence nodded again.

“Yes.”

Lacey folded her arms nervously.

“So there are more people like T.L.?”

“Nobody said they were exactly like her,” Clarence replied carefully. “But they’re connected somehow.”

Then they all slowly stepped outside into the corridor.

And froze.

Bodies.

Everywhere.

Broken technicians.

Dead guards.

Blood smeared across the walls.

Some corpses were missing arms.

Others had no heads.

Bones littered the hallway.

Shine covered her mouth in horror.

“Oh my God…”

James stared in shock.

“We have to tell—”

He stopped mid-sentence.

The academy field ahead looked even worse.

It was a m******e.

Human body parts were scattered everywhere.

Hands.

Legs.

Bones.

Blood covering the ground like rainwater.

Lena nearly threw up.

Jersey stared around in disbelief.

“This is a m******e…”

Lacey whispered shakily,

“They destroyed the whole defense line…”

Clarence looked toward the distant academy buildings with fear in her eyes.

“We need Merson.”