“Aura. You never read what color I am,” I said. I know it seemed out of place, but I had a feeling if I was going to lose my team at all, this would be the place, but I would try my damnedest to keep them alive. And kill the rest of the Nobles in the process.

“I did. I…just didn’t want to say anything, because I didn’t know what it meant,” she responded. “Your aura is black.”

“Does that mean dead?” She shook her head.

“No. I’ve seen dead bodies while my aura reading is active. They don’t have a color. They’re not highlighted. I can see you clearly as a somehow glowing black silhouette,” she explained. “I honestly didn’t know if I should be concerned.”

“We’ll figure it out later. Let’s just get through this,” I said. I turned to point at Vulcon. “Vulcon, I’m trusting you with the task of keeping her alive. I intend to interrogate Asai after this, before I kill her. Need to make sure she’s telling the truth.”

Vulcon nodded firmly. I spun around to face the army before me and stepped forward with Rose and Adriel at my side.

Asai began with a sigh. “Well, this has been exhausting. Far worse than anything an alien would be capable of,” she said.

“Somehow I doubt that,” I said, then smirked. “But I’m glad I could make the chase for me a living hell.”

“Speaking of Hell, is that where you returned from?” she questioned. “Because I was sure I put a bullet in your brain point blank when we captured you.”

I shrugged.

“You actually came back from the dead just to continue what you were doing before,” she continued. “Most people when they have a near death--or in your case, an actual death--experience, they come out changed. Unfortunately for everyone, you stayed the course.”

I remained silent. She took a breath. 

“I’ve got to ask. There’s no way you’ll come quietly, is there?” she asked. I placed my hand on my chin like I was actually considering her offer.

“Well, that depends what that would look like. What happens if I come quietly, Asai?” Her face lit up. She wasn’t smiling, but the sliver of hope she got from me just saying those words was hilarious. Especially since I was about to eradicate it. 

“Well, for starters, you’d obviously be arrested--”

“Not a great start.”

“You’d be held until a trial held before a judge took place,” she said. “There’s no death penalty for New York, so you wouldn’t be killed, but considering that you were a product of a private sector of the government, they’d likely leave your sentencing up to the Alpha Corps heads, which I am one of.”

There were people above her. Or rather, on the same level. This was something I didn’t consider since it was only ever her, Cobbs, and Price I saw that had command over anyone. I would have to remember to extract the remaining names of the other heads of the organization, because this meant Asai wasn’t alone in making the decision of the mock invasion. She was a figurehead. An involved figurehead, but a figurehead nonetheless. 

“And my friends?”

“Same for them, though I imagine their sentencing would be severely less harsh compared to yours. Especially if it’s found they didn’t kill anyone,” Asai answered. “But judging by the number of bodies you’ve left in your wake and the amount of people thay have been killed by methods you’re incapable of, I doubt they’re innocent.”

“You don’t know what I’m capable of,” I said. I had no reason to say this. Sure she didn’t know the extent of my abilities, but she knew my gimmick at this point.

“Really? Those bodies of guards we’ve found dead from extreme heat resemble being struck by lightning. That was you?”

I glanced at Adriel. He grinned. Asai exhaled again. Judging how deep this breath was, I was guessing this was going to be her final attempt to appeal to any semblance of humanity she believed I had.

“Amaia. No one else has to die. This can all end. I know you believe you’ve come far from where you started when you began this…journey, but think of how many more lives you’re destroying by killing the Nobles. They have families--”

I interrupted her, beginning with a small chuckle that grew into an all out hysterical cackle.

“You see, that’s where you fucked up Asai,” I said, pointing at her. “I had a family, too.”

“So why make them feel your pain?”

“No, that’s the thing, Asai. It’s like receiving a shot from a doctor,” I said, lowering my hand. “I’m causing a brief moment of pain for those families so no more have to go through it. I’m healing the world by doing this. No more mock invasions. No more shady organizations. No more heroes.”

“Who told you about the invasion?”

“Celeste.”

Asai scoffed and rolled her eyes. “And you believed her?”

I squinted my eyes at her. I knew since I met Aura Ray that I would need her to get the full truth out of Asai. And that was the goal. I knew Aura didn’t have her reading active as she was likely saving it for the fight, so I saved my breath. 

“I’m back at 100 percent,” Rose whispered to me. “That means portals and illusions. I was saving my strength for this fight.”

I nodded and refocused on Asai. “I’m going to give you one final chance: spill the full truth on the invasion and what your organization is about.”

Asai slowly shook her head. “It seems we’re at an impasse. Fire.”

I was quick to raise an enormous ice wall to block the hail of bullets that tried to end us. They came from the foot soldiers, trucks with mounted guns, and the helicopters with Gatling guns. Aura Ray activated her reading and reported.

“None of them are moving from where they’re standing. She hasn’t sent the Nobles to chase us,” she said.

“Not even Fiberglass?” I pondered. “Okay, Vulcon, I’m no longer tasking you with looking after Aura. Rose, that’s your job now. And right now, I need you to get her to the roof of the Keep. Aura, how good are you at firing from a distance?”

“Pretty decent.”

“Good enough. Rose, you provide covering fire as well with your pistols while you’re up there. Aura, just take out as many foot soldiers as you can. Adriel and I will deal with the trucks and air support.”

“And me?” Vulcon asked.

“Stay behind the wall with me. If anyone gets close, you blast them while I reinforce the wall. Don’t worry about the heat, I can take it,” I explained. Vulcon nodded. 

Rose proceeded to follow the plan and created a portal to the top of the Keep building. She followed Aura Ray through it. Aura perched up top with her assault rifle. Immediately, she began picking off any foot soldier she could over the ice wall. Rose did the same.

Before the heavy artillery could direct their fire at them, all I said to Adriel was “go” and he flashed a big smile as lightning sparked from his glowing eyes and he rose, levitating above the ice wall. The sky quickly darkened and he crossed his arms over each other before flipping them outward, facing his palms at the whirring helicopters. I peaked out from behind my ice wall as he slowly moved his arms outward and lightning struck from the clouds, hitting the helicopters in rapid succession. Some immediately exploded while others got struck, lost control, crashed, and exploded upon crash landing. But in one move, the crazy bastard removed their entire air support infantry.

I followed up by placing my palm against the back of my ice wall and caused large spikes to jut out the front end. With this move I took out a few soldiers, but more importantly a few armored trucks with mounted guns. 

“CEASE FIRE!” I heard on the other side of the wall. And the gunshots stopped coming.

“Is this how the mock invasion went?!” I called out from behind the wall. “No wonder so many people died!”

I didn’t hear Asai respond, but Aura Ray let me know what she had commanded her forces to do next.

“Amaia!” she shouted from the rooftop. “She’s sending the Nobles!”