But not too crafty for me.
I drew my sword, watching and waiting for him to make a move. He poked his head out for a moment and caught my eye before ducking back out of sight. I circled the car, my laser sword swinging, ready to strike.
Unfortunately, in doing so, I’d managed to leave the weapons cache unguarded. The enemy launched into the air, throwing himself on the pile. I chased after him, but as I swung, his fingers locked onto a sword and he met my blow, our blades clashing together, sparks flying, before sliding apart again. The guy smirked at me, something wicked gleaming in his silver eyes as he backed up, keeping his sword raised and ready. As if to say, How will you do in a fair fight?
He was good—I could tell. Probably a pro gamer. Someone who did this kind of thing for a living. Traveled the world. Played in tournaments.
My heart pounded in my chest. How was I going to defeat him?
You beat Atreus, man, something inside me whispered. One of the most advanced AIs ever built. Surely you can beat some sorry gamer.
Inspired, I charged at my enemy, slashing with my laser blade. He dodged easily, rolling himself across the hood of a nearby car. I didn’t pause, leaping onto the hood to go after him—a move I could have never done in real life. Maybe that was my gear’s superpower? Leaping? Just for fun, I tried again, jumping as high as I could.
I shot into the air like a rocket. Going at least twenty feet off the ground.
Sweet!
Of course what went up had to come down. A second later I found myself hurtling back to the earth. I crashed into the car, hitting it just off center and losing my balance, careening to the hard cement below. It didn’t hurt, of course, but my vision blurred on impact, and I couldn’t see anything for, like, three seconds. When it cleared again, the guy was right on top of me, his sword raised and ready to strike.
Crap. I rolled to the side, scooting under the car, out of his reach. His sword slashed down, sparks flying as it hit the ground. He let out a curse, realizing I’d slipped away, then dropped to his knees to find me. I lay on my back under the car, panting, not sure what to do. I could try to slip out the other side, but he could easily circle around and take me out before I could stand.
Meaning I was trapped.
Argh. This was not good. Should I just give up and let him send me to the graveyard? Then I could start my sixty-second reset. Otherwise I was just wasting time. But still! Josh would have a field day if I ended up being the first man down.
Annoyed, I punched the car’s metal undercarriage above me. To my surprise, it shot up easily under my fingers, and I found I was suddenly holding up an entire car with just one hand.
Holy super strength! Was that another one of my armor’s powers?
I had no time to think about it. Instead, I just shoved the entire car upward and to the side. The Blue team player screamed in surprise as the car came crashing down on top of him.
A moment later, he blinked off the game board. Back to the graveyard.
“Sweet!” I cried, raising a fist in a cheer. My first knockout. And by car, too! How cool was that? Forget super speed. I was like Superman in here!
“If you’re done congratulating yourself?” Lilli broke in, panting as she raced past me. (Speaking of super speed.) “I could use a little backup?” She held up the glowing orb in her hands triumphantly, then motioned to the Blue team behind her, now revived and in hot pursuit. Where had Josh gone off to?
I turned to the new arrivals, ready to take them on. At first I figured I’d simply throw the car at them again, like I’d done to their friend. But when I tried to lift the vehicle a second time, it was unbearably heavy. It was then that I noticed a strength meter blinking at the corner of my vision. A limited power, maybe—and I’d already burned it out.
Guess I was fighting the old-fashioned way.
I raised my sword. “Come and get me!” I cried, stepping into their path. The three of them stopped, looking uncertain. They were still unarmed, so even without my super strength, I had an advantage. The big burly one yelled something to his friend. Then they took off running in the other direction, toward the weapons cache instead of me and Lilli. They must have figured they’d basically lost this round anyway. Time to prepare for round two.
I considered running after them, trying to stop them, but they were too close to the weapons now, and there was no way I could take on all three by myself once they were armed. Instead, I ran back to the base, wanting to help Starr and Lilli in case the fourth guy showed up again.
I barely made it before the buzzer sounded.
“The orb has been captured by Team Red!” Rocky the Robot announced. “The score is one to zero.”
“Woo-hoo!” Starr cried, flying in circles around the orb. As she passed me, she held out her hand in a high five. I had to leap to reach it. Lilli was also there, jumping up and down with excitement.
“Nice going!” she cried. “They never even got near our base.”
Starr floated to the ground. “I know, right?” she crowed. Then she sobered. “But we’re not done yet. We need another point to win. And now they’ll have their weapons.
