Chapter 7: The Hunter and the Hunted
1088 Words
The city felt different now.
Aria and the others moved through the neon-lit streets of Neo-Eden with sharpened senses. It wasn’t paranoia—it was certainty.
Echelon was watching.
They had always been watching.
Now, after uncovering the truth and gaining a new ally in Riven, the fight had escalated. It was no longer about survival. It was about war.
Riven led them through a maze of alleyways, moving like a ghost. He had spent years hiding from Echelon’s surveillance, and his instincts were razor-sharp.
“We can’t go back to the warehouse,” Nova said, her voice barely above a whisper. “They’ll be tracking our last location.”
Kai adjusted the strap of his bag. “So, what? We just keep running?”
Riven shook his head. “No. We hunt.”
Zane raised an eyebrow. “And who exactly are we hunting?”
Riven stopped at the edge of a rooftop, looking down at the streets below. “Echelon’s enforcers. The ones who do their dirty work.”
Aria followed his gaze. A black, unmarked vehicle rolled slowly through the district, its tinted windows hiding whoever was inside.
“They’re scouting,” Riven muttered. “Looking for us.”
Luna swallowed hard. “So what do we do?”
A slow grin spread across Kai’s face. “We introduce ourselves.”
Aria met Riven’s eyes. “Are you with us?”
Riven smirked. “Let’s give them a reason to be afraid.”
---
Ambush
They split up, moving with practiced silence. Riven had scouted a blind spot in Echelon’s surveillance grid, giving them a window to strike without immediately alerting the corporation.
Nova took position on a fire escape, her drone hovering just out of sight, feeding her a live data stream.
Kai and Zane crouched in the shadows, ready to flank.
Aria and Luna waited by a side alley, prepared to cut off any escape.
The car rolled to a stop near an abandoned shop. The doors opened.
Two figures stepped out, dressed in sleek black tactical gear. Their movements were precise—too precise for normal security.
Augments.
Aria felt her pulse quicken. Echelon had more like them. More experiments.
One of the enforcers, a woman with short platinum hair, scanned the area with glowing blue eyes. “No sign of them.”
Her partner, a massive man with a scar running down his jaw, spoke into an earpiece. “Continue the sweep. If you see them, neutralize on sight.”
Nova’s voice crackled through the earpieces. “They’re transmitting their location. We have to move now.”
Aria gave the signal.
Kai struck first, dropping from above with a kick that sent the larger enforcer crashing into the side of the vehicle.
Zane followed, unleashing a seismic blast that sent the woman skidding backward.
Luna extended her hands, creating a reflective barrier just in time to deflect a shockwave attack from their enemies.
The battle had begun.
---
The Cost of Power
The enforcers recovered fast.
The scarred man surged forward, his strength nearly matching Zane’s as they clashed, sending shockwaves through the pavement.
The platinum-haired woman blurred with unnatural speed, dodging Kai’s strikes and countering with precise, brutal efficiency.
Riven moved like lightning, intercepting her mid-motion, forcing her back with a sharp kinetic blast. “You’ll have to do better than that.”
She snarled. “We’re not like the others.”
Aria raised her hands, energy crackling between her fingers. “Neither are we.”
With a flick of her wrist, she sent a pulse of force outward, staggering both enforcers.
Nova, still positioned above, hacked into their comms. “They’ve called for reinforcements. We don’t have long.”
Luna hesitated. “We can’t hold out forever.”
Aria clenched her teeth. They couldn’t afford to get caught. They had to end this fast.
She glanced at Riven. “Any ideas?”
He exhaled sharply. “Yeah. We stop holding back.”
---
Turning the Tide
Riven moved first.
With a flick of his wrist, a surge of energy lashed out, hitting the enforcers like a shockwave. The scarred man staggered, giving Zane an opening to land a brutal uppercut that sent him flying.
Kai and Luna worked in tandem, Luna shielding against incoming attacks while Kai struck fast and hard.
Nova, still tapping into Echelon’s systems, sent a new message through their enemies’ comms.
“Extraction compromised. Retreat recommended.”
The female enforcer faltered as the distorted message played in her earpiece.
That moment of hesitation was all Aria needed.
She focused, tapping into her growing power. Time itself seemed to slow around her. She could see the enforcer’s movements before they happened, every muscle shift, every breath.
With a single, precise strike, she sent the woman sprawling.
The scarred man, seeing his partner fall, cursed. “This isn’t over.”
He reached for a device on his belt.
Nova’s voice cut in. “Aria, stop him!”
Too late.
A pulse of red light shot into the sky.
A beacon. A warning.
Echelon knew exactly where they were.
Riven grabbed Aria’s arm. “We have to go. Now.”
Kai dragged Zane to his feet. “Time to run.”
They vanished into the shadows just as sirens echoed through the district.
---
A War on the Horizon
Hours later, they regrouped in a safe house on the city’s outskirts. The adrenaline was wearing off, but the weight of what had happened remained.
“They’ll come for us harder now,” Luna said quietly. “They won’t stop.”
Kai leaned against the wall, arms crossed. “Good. Let them try.”
Nova rubbed her temples. “They will try. And we need to be ready.”
Riven, sitting near the window, watched the city with narrowed eyes. “That was just a scouting party. The real hunters are coming.”
Aria exhaled. “Then we hit them before they hit us.”
Zane smirked. “I like the sound of that.”
Riven turned to Aria. “You used your power differently today. Didn’t you?”
She hesitated. “I… I saw things before they happened.”
Riven nodded. “Time manipulation. It’s waking up inside you.”
Luna looked at Aria with a mix of awe and concern. “If that’s true… what else are you capable of?”
Aria didn’t have an answer.
But she knew one thing—this was just the beginning.
Echelon had underestimated them.
That mistake would cost them everything.
- Writer
