Hidden Enemies | The Prime Archives #2 ✓

thirty-three

Getting smacked around a parking lot was not how Chase expected his day to go.

But there he was, taking yet another strike to the chest from King's heavy fist. He toppled over the hood of a car before falling onto his stomach. He groaned as his body hit the concrete. As he picked himself up and dusted off his mission suit, he realized having indestructible skin was pretty useless if he could still feel pain.

Why couldn't I just get both?

He didn't get much time to dwell on the question because King had pushed the vehicle separating them aside like a paperweight. Chase gulped.

This was a different kind of challenge for him. He wasn't used to fighting someone who was just as strong as he was. In fact, King was the only Prime who matched him pound-for-pound. They both possessed some form of hyperstrength and were impervious to most physical attacks. The only difference was that King seemed to feed off each blow Chase managed to land on him.

With a simple thought, Chase activated the holo-shield attached to his wrist. Then he retrieved the sword attached to his back. He twirled the blade in his hand, ready for whatever King was about to throw at him.

The bearded Prime wasn't fazed in the slightest.

"That might as well be a toothpick," King mused.

Chase frowned, brow creasing.

A toothpick? Seriously?

He pushed the thought out of his head and glared at the man. "It's not too late to surrender."

King chuckled. "Now why would I do that?"

He shrugged. "Worth a shot"

Hoping to catch the Prime off guard, he swung his sword at his head. King raised his arm and blocked the strike with his palm. The blade bounced off his skin and sent ripples through the metal. He sucked in a breath and closed his eyes for a second.

A grin spread across his lips.

Chase took a shaky step backward. Uh oh.

The man's fist slammed into his face. He felt the force enter his entire body. It swept him off his feet and sent him careening across the parking lot. He crashed into the door of an SUV. With his vision blurred, he groggily looked around. He groaned and rubbed his throbbing back.

"Jesus," he muttered.

In and around the parking lot, vehicles were currently trying to leave the area. The rogue Primes had begun their assault on the Pentagon a few minutes before. Chaos had quickly followed. Traffic had been backed up within the parking lot due to the high volume of cars trying to push through the exit.

Luckily, Senator Crane had already been extracted from the area. The Primes wouldn't be able to go after him as long as Chase and his crew were there to thwart them. He just hoped Emily's team had managed to keep Mr. Lwando alive.

Once his vision refocused and the intense throbbing in his back reduced to a dull ache, he peeled himself out of the crumpled SUV and stumbled forward. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one had been inside. Fortunately, no one was.

He turned his attention to King, who was running right at him.

A feral look filled his dark eyes. Chase searched for his sword but didn't see it anywhere. Cursing, he summoned his holo-shield and raised it above his head just in time to block a thunderous strike from the man.

The noise rippled through the parking lot. His shield shattered on impact. Sparks flew from the device on his wrist as an invisible force pushed them a few feet away from each other. All the car windows in the vicinity shattered and fell to the floor.