Realizing that using two weapons was harder than it looked, Alex changed his mode of fighting. His energy whips disappeared as he swiped his finger through the air. A tear in the space before him appeared. Alex reached in, felt his fingers close around something, and then he pulled the object out. It was the electro-whip, made from a synthetic fiber and enhanced with technology that generated a high voltage shock.

  The electro-whip was a weapon of his own creation. He’d made it during the early days after his decision to become a hero. The handle was black and had several nodes that controlled the power output and length of the whip.

  As he pressed the handle, the whip crackled to life. Long and flexible, the whip was composed of electron particles that were tethered together in loose cohesion. He cracked it at Nyx, who raised her left blade to block. She blinked when the whip wrapped around her sword.

  With a heavy grunt, Alex yanked the whip backwards, which sent Nyx stumbling toward him. His plan was to attack while she was off balance. Sadly, she had a lot of experience with tricky opponents. Instead of falling off balance, she rolled with the move, leapt back up to her feet, and knocked him off his feet with a swift heel to the jaw. As Alex was seeing novas flash before his eyes, Nyx placed her right blade against his throat.

  “I win. Again.”

  “U-ugh… so you do,” Alex groaned.

  The world around them flickered, and then disappeared, changing back into a normal room. This room, which was covered in gray tiles, was Mr. Simulator—an invention of Gabrielle’s. It created a temporary separate dimension based on a number of preset geographical locations. Alex used it to train with Nyx every morning.

  “You are really strong,” Alex complimented.

  Nyx transmuted her swords back into armbands and attached them to her arms. She looked down at him as he sat on the ground. “My strength comes from experience. I’ve been an assassin for the last decade. Most of my opponents were a lot stronger and more skilled than you.”

  She might as well have punched him in the gut. Her words were harsh. Still, he couldn’t deny them.

  “I know.” Alex was about to stand up—when a hand appeared in front of him. It was Nyx’s. “Oh, thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  He grabbed Nyx’s hand. She didn’t throw him through the air this time, and instead pulled him up, proving that being nearly two heads shorter than him didn’t mean much. Her physical strength was undeniable.

  Yet her hands are so soft.

  He let go of her hand as if shocked. Taking several deep breaths, he forced himself to calm down. He couldn’t believe he was getting worked up over holding hands.

  “Come on,” Alex said to distract himself. “Let’s head back upstairs. I’ll make some breakfast.”

  “Okay.”

  As Alex walked up stairs, a voice whispered through his mind.

  “You two can’t hold me back forever…”

  Watch me, Alex replied, slamming down the shield in his mind.

  After taking a shower and making breakfast for his increasingly large family, Alex walked his sister to school with Gabrielle, Michelle, Ariel, and Nyx.

  It was really strange to walk around while being surrounded by so many girls. Alex had never been the best at dealing with women. It wasn’t that he couldn’t talk to them, but that no girl before Gabrielle seemed to have displayed any interest in him. Even Ryoko, who made it a habit of sticking her hands up his shirt to feel his chest when he was a student, just liked messing with him. She did the same thing to everybody.

  As they walked at a leisurely pace, Michelle and Gabrielle asked him a bunch of questions about Atreyu Academy. They wouldn’t be attending until next Monday. It was only natural that they would be curious. Ariel looked like she wanted to ask him questions, too, but she was too stubborn to admit it.

  “What kind of curriculum does it have?” asked Michelle.

  “That depends on what you’re going into. There’re the primary studies, classes that everyone takes like math, language, history, and science. Those classes are every Tuesday and Thursday. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are elective classes. They have sports, advanced sciences like biology and quantum physics, art, acting, choir, and several others.”

  Elective classes were more important at Atreyu Academy than standard courses. While students were required to have a 3.5 to pass their primary studies, the electives were the specialized courses that helped students when they applied for jobs in the real world.

  Each elective taught practical application of a specific subject. People who went into mechanical engineering not only learned the theory behind constructing machines, but they also created machines in class. Athletes learned both about the science of the human body and exercised regularly to turn their bodies into perfect machines.

  Everyone who went into Atreyu Academy became an expert in their chosen profession. Some went further and attended university, others would take over their family business, and even more would get jobs at powerful corporations owned by a noble. If a person wanted to make something of themselves, then attending Atreyu Academy was their best option.

  “Do you think I’ll be able to make friends here?” Gabrielle asked.

  Alex grinned and thumped his chest. “Of course, you will. You already have several friends who go there. Selene, Ryoko, and Serah all go to Atreyu Academy. Kiri-Kiri also attends, and so does Jasmine. Besides, you’re such an amazing person. Who wouldn’t want to be your friend?”

  “Ah…” Gabrielle squeaked.

  Alex frowned. “Did I say something wrong?”

  “No.” Still holding a hand to her chest, Gabrielle sent him a beaming smile complete with pinkened cheeks. “Your words just made me really happy. He-he. I feel good now.”

  “Oh.” Blushing, Alex looked away. “I’m glad you feel that way.”

  “Ugh, someone gag me,” Alice muttered.

  Ariel was much more vocal. “Hey, you filthy beast! Stop making lovey-dovey expressions at my big sister!”

  While Alex sputtered, Gabrielle looked confused. “Lovey-whaty?”

  Michelle sighed and slowly palmed her face.

  As they reached the entrance, Alex noticed something concerning. Nearly a dozen police officers were standing near the entrance. He wasn’t the only one concerned either. Nyx grew tense as she also spotted the police officers.

  Has something happened?

  Crime rates in Mars City weren’t exactly low, but they rarely ever happened in the Outer District. Alex couldn’t remember a time when a crime had been committed at Atreyu Academy. Why were the police there? Alex found out moments later when, upon spotting him, all of the officers rushed forward.

  Alex was slammed into the ground. Pain exploded in his chin as it scraped across the sidewalk. He didn’t put up a fight, but that’s because he didn’t know what was going on.

  “Alexander S. Ryker, you are under arrest on charges of obstructing justice.”

  What?

  “Anything you say can and will be used against you.”

  What was going on?

  Stun cuffs snapped around Alex’s wrists. He winced as a mild shock ran through him. He was hauled to his feet as several hands grabbed him by the arms and shoulders, dragging him off.

  “Alex! Alex! What are you people doing to Alex?!”

  Gabrielle was screaming. She was frantically fighting the people taking him away. Several police officers tried to restrain her, but she was a lot stronger than she looked. They were blown backwards as she shoved them away. Several hit the wall, a few bent light posts as they crashed into them, and one even dented a police shuttle.

  “Hold her down! You’ve been permitted to use C-grade weapons!”

  What?!

  Alex looked up just in time to see Gabrielle jabbed with a stun rod—a C-grade riot weapon used to take down unruly people. She wasn’t wearing her crisis suit. She hadn’t worn it since Alex bought her new clothes that day they all went shopping. The stun rod didn’t seem to affect her at first, but as several more officers hit her, even Gabrielle’s fabled strength failed.

  Anger filled Alex as Gabrielle’s eyes rolled into the back of her head and she collapsed. Rage cast a red film over his eyes. Gabrielle had never done anything, never committed any crime. How dare these people do this to her!

  “That’s right. Feel it. Revel in it. This anger, this hatred. Use it, boy. Use it and become stronger. Show them what you’re made of.”

  Alex had made it a habit of not listening to Voice Number One, but this time, he did. He listened. His fury at what these people had done to Gabrielle overwhelmed him. He felt it fuel him, power him, engulf him.

  The stun cuffs snapped as red flames erupted from his body. He smacked the nearest officer away, their body sailing through the air before hitting the ground with a dull thud.

  Spinning around, Alex headbutted the officer on his other side, feeling only satisfaction as their chin broke against his skull. The officer crumpled like a robot without power.

  More officers came and were sent flying. Alex waded through them in an attempt to reach Gabrielle, who was lying unconscious on the sidewalk. He needed to get to her. If he could just get to her, everything would be okay. If he could…

  Alex felt a sharp pain in his left side, and then numbness spread through his body. Blinking, he looked down to see something sticking out of his skin. It had pierced the crisis suit he wore under his clothes. Angelisian crisis suits granted enhanced physical abilities and protection from the elements, but they did nothing against piercing damage.

  His aura faded. His vision dulled. The last thing he saw were his friends being cuffed and Gabrielle’s limp body being picked up by a lanky man with mousy brown hair.

  CHAPTER 4

  WHEN THE WORLD TURNS AGAINST YOU

  Yumi knew there was something wrong with Commander Karen the moment she arrived at the police station. The commander hadn’t been acting like herself. Her eyes weren’t the same as they usually were. They were blank. Dead. The sharpness that she so admired had disappeared.

  And then there had been the commander’s order.

  “Commander, with all due respect, what were you thinking when you ordered Alexander’s arrest?” Yumi asked.

  She did not approve of Alexander in the least. His actions caused chaos, his very presence wreaked havoc. No matter how good his intentions were, it did not change the facts. Alexander was a menace.

  Even so, this order was not only something Commander Karen would never make, but it put their entire solar system at risk.

  Commander Karen sat behind her desk. She wasn’t doing anything, not reading reports or typing her own reports. She was just sitting there. It was yet another indication that something was wrong. Commander Karen never just sat there.

  “I do not know what you are talking about,” Commander Karen said, her voice monotone. “Alexander S. Ryker has obstructed justice. He aided that assassin and fought against our forces. I had no choice but to arrest him.”

  If her words had been true, then she would have arrested Alexander immediately after the incident with the assassin, Nyx. Over a week had passed since that incident. The situation had cooled to the point where she could no longer justify arresting him over that incident. That she hadn’t arrested him immediately after he saved Nyx from them meant that she wouldn’t—except she had now, and there could only be one reason for that.

  This person was not Commander Karen.

  “I understand. Sorry for bothering you.”

  Yumi saluted smartly before leaving the commander’s office. She needed to get to the bottom of this, needed to find out who this imposter was and where she had hidden the real Commander Karen, and in order to do that, she needed to find out where Alexander’s friends were.

  1

  Michelle and Ariel had barely escaped from the chaos that had happened at the academy. Everything had been a blur. The police had come and arrested Alex, Gabrielle had flown into a rage and tried to fight them off, and then she and Alex had both been taken down, and Gabrielle had been taken by some man Michelle had never seen.

  Nyx had escaped somewhere, though Michelle didn’t know where. She and Ariel had been rescued by Selene and Ryoko. She didn’t know where Alice was either, but she hoped that the girl was with Nyx, who could protect her.

  “Thank you for your help back there,” Michelle said as they stood in the elevator that would take them to Ryoko’s apartment. The last time they had come over this way, they hadn’t used the elevator since they didn’t want to get caught. Strange music was playing in the background.

  “You’re welcome, Michelle,” Selene said in a strange voice. It sounded off somehow. Michelle had expected her voice to sound, she didn’t know, kinder and more compassionate or something. Selene sounded kind of emotionless.

  She must be in shock.

  Michelle was worried about her older sister. Gabrielle had been struck down by a lot of those stun rods, and then some person that she didn’t know had carried her off. However, even if she didn’t know who that person was, she was able to draw up several conclusions.

  Whoever they were, that person was most definitely not human; they knew that Gabrielle was the princess of Angelisia, which meant they were most likely one of Gabrielle’s marriage candidates. The problem was that Michelle didn’t know who.

  Gabrielle had a lot of potential suitors. Not only was she widely acknowledged as one of the most beautiful girls in the entire galaxy, but she was the first princess of Angelisia, daughter of King Lucifer, who controlled more than three-fourths of the galaxy. Hundreds of billions of people wanted to marry her. Even people who weren’t attracted to humanoid species wanted to marry her, for the throne, if nothing else.

  That said, there were only a handful of people who were cunning enough, powerful enough, and cruel enough to conceive a plan like this. Off the top of her head, Michelle knew of at least two dozen possible choices. That was still two dozen people, however, and there were plenty more that she didn’t know about.

  Without knowing who was responsible, how they’d convinced the police to go through with this, and, more importantly, where they could find this person, there was nothing she could do. This was the first time she’d ever felt so helpless.

  Standing beside her, Ariel remained silent, her shoulders hunched. Her sister hadn’t said a word since they were rescued. Knowing her as she did, Michelle could imagine how horrible Ariel felt. It was likely the same feeling of helplessness as her.

  “Here we are,” Ryoko said as they stood in front of her apartment door. “Home sweet home.”

  The door slid open. Michelle and Ariel followed Ryoko in, Selene walking behind them. While they had seen her bedroom from the outside, she and her sister hadn’t been able to catch a glimpse of the inside.

  It’s kind of cramped.

  Michelle didn’t say what she was thinking because that would have been rude, and she didn’t want to say something so cruel to the person who was helping them.

  “It’s nice,” she said instead.

  “It’s kinda small, isn’t it?” Ariel asked. They were the first words she’d spoken.

  “Ariel!” Michelle elbowed her sister in the side.

  She knew that her sister often spoke before she thought, but couldn’t she have shown at least a little self-restraint? Ryoko was helping them, after all.

  “It’s fine, it’s fine,” Ryoko said, waving off Michelle’s concern. “I bet you two are used to living in big palaces and stuff. Anyway, make yourselves at home.”

  “Come on,” Selene said a little blandly. “Let’s sit down by the couches.”

  With nothing else to do, Michelle decided to do just that.

  They sat down on a large couch that took up most of the living room. In front of it was a small table made of plasteel, gleaming in the light, and sitting against the corner was a holovid. There didn’t seem to be much else. A small lamp sat on a shelf, a few scattered tablets lay strewn about, and that was about it.

  “Why don’t you tell me what happened?” Selene suggested. “I’m still confused about what’s going on.”

  Michelle nodded. It wasn’t like she had anything better to do, and maybe if she told someone, they would be able to give her another perspective.

  “I’m not really sure what happened myself. I mean, I know that Alexander was arrested, and Gabrielle was kidnapped, but I don’t understand why. Alexander hasn’t done anything wrong.”

  “Hmm… well, Alex has always been causing trouble for the police,” Selene admitted. “Maybe they finally decided to arrest him.”

  It was odd how calm this girl was acting about Alexander’s arrest. Wasn’t she supposed to be his friend? Gabrielle had told her about Selene. This was the girl who Alexander had confessed to and was rejected by, yet even so, they were still good friends. Gabrielle even thought that Selene did love Alexander and was pretending she didn’t out of guilt.

  She looked at Ariel, who didn’t appear to be paying attention. Her sister was more than likely thinking about Gabrielle. Ariel had always looked up to their older sister.

  “I don’t think that’s the case,” Michelle said, turning back to Selene. “If what you say is true, then they would have arrested Alex a long time ago. Why are they doing it now? It doesn’t make sense.”

  Selene shrugged. “Maybe they gave him a reason to. I hear he fought against the police to defend an assassin last week.”

  “Then they would have arrested him last week,” Michelle shot back.

  “Perhaps they couldn’t for some reason.”

  Why was Selene trying to defend the police? Michelle didn’t know Selene. They hadn’t spent any time together. However, Gabrielle had nothing but good things to say about her. Could this person, who so readily denounced her friend and defended the people who’d arrested him, really be the amazing person that Gabrielle spoke of?

  “There’s something really weird going on here, Sis,” Ariel whispered to her.

  “I agree,” Michelle said.