As the damaged mech maneuvers to get up on its four ratcheting legs, the tree that Zack had blasted falls thunderously on top of it and smashes it to pieces. Zack slowly gets up and is trying to catch his breath when he hears a bang. He feels a sharp pain in his chest; he looks down and sees a hole in his shirt, surrounded by a bloom of red.
His auto-healing powers immediately kick in. The bullet pushes out of his body, and the wound closes.
Zack looks toward where the bullet came from, and sees the agent he had been chasing running toward him. Zack absorbs as much energy as he can, his breath now visible as he leaches heat out of the environment, the plants under his feet wilting as he takes their life-energy. Just when the agent is about to attack him, a fire-blast hits the man in the chest and knocks him onto his back. Zack is stunned, and looks behind him, but sees no one. Where did that come from?
Fireballs start arcing in and exploding on contact, engulfing trees all around him. He looks around to see where this new attack is coming from, but it seems to be coming from every direction. He rushes to the unconscious agent on the ground and drags him away from the flames that have encircled them. Zack looks up and sees a person walking right through the flames toward him.
His blood rushes in anticipation of this next life-defining confrontation.
When the person finally steps out from the flames, Zack can only utter one word: "Blake!"
Chapter 18
"What the heck's going on?!" Zack yells at his friend.
"I'll explain later, but right now we need to move before we get caught." Blake nods at the agent. "He alive?"
"Yes, he's alive! You did all this?" Zack asks.
"Didn't have a choice. I needed the task force to retreat from this area before they captured you."
"So. The rumors are true," a chilling voice states.
Blake and Zack shift their attention to a figure who appears through the flames. "The little prince lives," the man says, his face twisting into a grimace probably intended to be a smile. "And I will be remembered as the Ucte who killed the last member of the Eertu lineage."
"Zack, you need to leave right now," Blake says urgently.
"What's he talking about? I'm not leaving until I get answers."
The Ucte sprints at Blake, who extends both arms and sends a wave of fire toward the attacker. The Ucte runs through the fire unharmed and punches Blake hard on the jaw, sending him to the ground.
"Blake!" Zack shouts. He lashes out and lands a punch on the Ucte — and the impact fractures his hand. "What...? It's like you're made of steel!" Zack says, cradling his broken right hand in his left. He can feel the bones shift as his accelerated healing kicks in, powered into overdrive by the energy he's still retaining.
"Yes, that's what humans tell me... but the fact is, they are just weak." The Ucte hardens his fist and smashes Zack in the jaw with a mighty punch that knocks him out cold.
Meanwhile, Blake gets to his feet, slams his body against the Ucte, and pushes him toward the fire. The Ucte repeatedly bangs his arms against Blake's back, but in the flames Blake regains his strength and returns the punches. "You imbecile! You can't hurt me," the Ucte says with a laugh.
Blake emits a continuous wave of fire that flows over the Ucte assassin's body. "Enough!" the Ucte bellows and delivers a punch that sends Blake smashing into a tree. He slides to the ground. Covered in blood and barely able move, he nonetheless blasts another wave of fire at the assassin. The Ucte walks through the flames until he stands over Blake. "You're as stupid as the humans."
"Don't hold back!" Blake shouts suddenly.
The Ucte seems briefly confused; then the steel-skinned man whirls around to counter a new attack. Zack, fully recovered, uses his speed to outmaneuver him and land numerous punches on his metallic tegument. At that point, the Ucte realizes just what Blake has accomplished: The Atiru's continuous, blast-furnace heat has caused his steel skin to soften. For the first time in years, he feels pain as Zack hits him in the face. The Ucte falls to one knee and wipes blood from his nose. "You're more powerful than you look, little prince, but it will take much more than that to bring me down."
The Ucte bolts toward Zack, who, with years of experience from training with Dr. Buchanan and his father, is able to anticipate and counter each attack, until the Ucte is too exhausted to continue. "Where, oh where have you been hiding all this time, little dead prince?" the Ucte asks, holding his ribcage and breathing heavily.
Zack ignores the attempt at misdirection and maintains his defensive stance; he refuses to be distracted. He can hear drones circling above, though, and realizes he doesn't have much time. He has to get Blake to safety. Sparks of electricity start forming around Zack's body as he absorbs more energy from the environment; the fires nearby die as he sucks in their pure energy, and the air turns cold enough to frost their breath and make the Ucte steam. The "dead" prince sends an intense power blast at the Ucte, who's too drained to cover his face and takes the blast full on. Zack appears through the mist an instant later, and in midair, lands a punch straight to the face of the Ucte that knocks him to the ground.
❖❖❖
"Sir! We've lost all communications with our Cheetahs!" Agent Ginn reports.
"Get me the sky drone feeds — we need to see and hear everything!" Helms commands.
"Yes
