Emily readjusted the backpack hanging off her shoulder. It was a gift from Archie, the team's resident tinkerer, tech guru, and gear-maestro. The thirteen-year-old was constantly making things in his lab, ranging from new arrows for Emily or improvements to Oscar's PyroBands.

He was also the smartest person she knew. But it wasn't like he needed telling that. The boy made it a point to flaunt his intelligence every chance he got.

The bag he had given her functioned as a disguise for her quiver. Her arrows were concealed inside, and with the press of a button, the fabric would fold in on itself to assume its true form. It was perfect for the day's mission, which involved walking through crowds of people who might've been afraid of a girl with a bow and explosive arrows.

As for her bow, it was also hidden inside her new bag. It was collapsed into a flat, nondescript rod. She hoped she wouldn't need it.

"Did you think this many people would show up?" Kai said from beside her.

She shrugged. There were a ton of people present for Crane's rally; more than she expected. She couldn't believe he had that many fans. She nearly gagged at the thought of him. Despite being toward the back of the crowd, she could hear his voice booming through the amplifiers placed around the floor. His face was also being projected onto a jumbotron near the stage.

She barely wanted to see his actual face. What made people think she needed to see an even bigger version of it?

To make matters worse, all the noises around her were being to overwhelm her senses. Her head ached as pressured built up behind her nose in her eardrums.

"I can't wait till this thing is over," she grumbled while rubbing her ears.

"We've gotta stay alert," Kai reminded. "Those Primes could be in this crowd."

"I know, I know." She dropped her hands and scanned the faces of those around her. No one looked like they were planning to murder the senator on the stage. Then again, she wasn't quite sure what that would look like.

Eventually, she turned her attention back to Crane's speech. He was going on about the promises he would fulfill if he was elected president of the United States. Emily knew enough about politics to know that half the things politicians promised never came to fruition. It was almost as if they were serial liars.

Or maybe they really thought they could deliver on everything they planned. She wasn't sure which was worse; blatant lies or irresponsible naivety.

"Everyone's just eating this up." She glanced at those around her, her lip curled in disgust. She faced Kai. "Can you believe this?"

"You have to admit," the girl said. "He's an excellent politician."

"He gets no props from me."

She folded her arms over her chest and lifted her chin. Trying to block out the sound of Crane's droning voice, she heard her communicator come to life as someone entered the channel.

"Reverb. Pisces. You two see anything out there?"

It was Andre. With Chase having taken to the stage with the senator, the metal-armed giant was taking on their leader's ground duties.

"Nothing here," Kai answered. "How's it going where you're at?"

"Everything's normal over here." He paused. "Neon keeps trying to steal people's car keys. Hold on..." Something rustled in the background. "Alright, you two let me know if you see anything. I'm gonna go handle Neon."

The line went dead.

Emily stifled a laugh as she pictured Zach zipping through the crowd and slipping people's keys out their pockets. He was basically Theo with a lot more courage and energy. Whenever the two speedsters were together, it was a recipe for disaster.

"Looks like he's about to address the PRA," Kai said while pointing at the stage.

Emily squinted at the jumbotron at the front of the crowd. Just like Kai had said, Crane had begun to talk about his infamous set of laws and regulations that would change the way the world handled Primes.

Her jaw clenched as she watched him speak.

"As some of you may know, I presented the Prime Regulation Act to the United Nations a few weeks ago. Some of them took to it, but not enough to make a final decision." He gripped the podium with both hands. "Their reluctance to take a stand against the dangers these individuals pose will cost hundreds, thousands, millions of lives. For the sake of people everywhere, they must stand with us as we fight to protect ourselves."

Certain sections of the crowd murmured in agreeance. Others nodded. Most remained silent with inspired looks on their faces.

Emily simply shook her head.

"We have been joined by Atlas' Prime Task Force today." He turned slightly and gestured at Chase. The blond gave the crowd a halfhearted wave. "They insisted on providing extra security to today's rally because they feared an attempt on my life."

Gasps rippled through the audience. Emily's eyes widened. She turned to Kai.

"What is he doing?"

The girl's lips were parted as she gawked at the senator. "He wasn't supposed to say anything about an attack. He'll send the crowd into a panic."

With Emily's heartbeat picking up speed with each passing moment, she pressed her finger to her ear. "Are we just going to let him do this?"

"Do what?" Stella asked. She must've still been in the sky.

"He's telling the crowd that there might be an attack on the rally."

She cursed. Emily blinked, surprised. Stella using profanity was rarer than an eclipse. "Tell Chase to get him off the stage."

Kai rubbed the back of her neck. "Don't think that's going to happen." She pointed at the stage. Crane was still talking, and the crowd was steadily getting more invested in his speech.

"We shouldn't have to live in fear," the senator told the audience. "The PRA will eradicate that fear. It will bring order. Structure. Security. We need the PRA."

Emily squinted at his enlarged face on the jumbotron. Through the screen, she could see his light-hearted demeanor had vanished. His jaw was taut. His cloudy eyes reflected the autumn skies above. She shuddered at the sight as a gust of wind passed over her.

"Before I end my speech," he continued while straightening his black tie, "I had one last thing to say. For all the news outlets in attendance, I suggest you get this on camera."

People rushed to get their phone cameras out. Emily watched, stupefied, as she waited for Crane's announcement.

"As I said before, Atlas warned me of an attack on this rally," he said. "Their director, Pearce Shaw, even advised me to call it off. But I'm no coward. I stand up for what I believe in, and no science experiment will ever get me to abandon my mission." He faced one of the reporters in the front row. "I've got a message for those who wished to hurt me today." A sly smirk stretched his lips. "Come and get me. I'm right here. And I'm not going anywhere."

He stepped away from the podium. Feedback from the microphone screeched through the speakers. Whispers filled the gaps in the crowd. They grew in volume, soon drowning out the caterwauling wind biting at everyone's skin.

A deafening silence washed over the sea of people like a tidal wave. With widened eyes, Emily waited for something—anything—to happen.

"What should we do?" Kai whispered.

Emily didn't have an answer for her.

As everyone processed what Senator Crane just did, she felt the temperature around her drop. Her first thought was that a cold front had just arrived, but then she remembered that those Primes had broken Frost out of The Vault. And if they truly were planning an attack on the senator, they couldn't rule out the woman being somewhere in the crowd.

Fighting off the chills snaking down her back, she glanced down at her combat boots. She screwed her face at the shadow-covered grass. The grass swayed slightly in the wind. That wasn't what caught her attention, though.

The shadows covering the ground were moving. They were being pulled like a tide.

Shadow.

Swallowing hard, she faced Kai. "They're here."

The girl gave her a curt nod before activating her communicator. "Ground team. The rogue Primes are in the crowd. I repeat: the rogue Primes are—" She faltered.

Emily arched an eyebrow at her before following her line of sight.

The shadows traveling along the ground were gravitating toward someone in the crowd. She couldn't see who, but she knew the darkness would lead her to them. She just hoped she could get there before it was too late. Grabbing Kai's hand, she delved into the mass of confused people in search of Shadow.

They weaved through the huddles of onlookers. She followed the trail of black along the ground, desperately hoping to reach Shadow. Looking up, she spotted a dark-skinned woman with flowing, black dreadlocks standing off to the side. The hood of her jacket obscured her features as she faced the stage. Her fingers twisted at her side, manipulating the darkness pooling around her feet.

No one else seemed to notice, but Emily and Kai had seen her.

"We've spotted Shadow," she hissed, hoping her communicator had picked it up. "We're going to try to—"

She didn't get a chance to finish, as an explosion rocked the stage. She froze in her tracks, her dark eyes fixated upon the sparks flying from the arrangement of spotlights hanging above the platform. The lights flickered before shutting off completely.

Screams rang out as the crowd began to disperse. Everyone bolted off in different directions. Some fell as they ran. Emily cringed as she watched a few people get trampled.

In her ear, she heard Chase command Zach and Theo to try and herd the people out the area safely. But with the audience quickly transforming into a frenzied stampede, she wondered if they would be able to make a difference.

Emily kept her eyes on the stage. The steel beams holding up the curtain and lights crackled with blue electricity. Her throat tightened. She spotted Chase, who was still on stage, barked orders at Crane's bodyguards while activating his shield device. He stepped in front of the senator, his head on a swivel as he looked for the culprit.

"Reverb," Kai's voice rang in her head. It sounded miles away. "Reverb!"

She snapped her gaze to Kai.

"Let's move," the girl said. "Shadow's gonna get away."

Taking a deep breath, she nodded. She reached behind her and pressed the button hidden beneath one of her backpack's many flaps. After taking it off her shoulder, she retrieved her bow and watched as the bag transformed into her quiver. With one fluid movement, she slung the quiver over her shoulder and extended her bow.

"Let's go."

She and Kai surged toward Shadow, who hadn't moved from her spot. People ran around her as if she wasn't there. As the two girls got closer, the woman turned her head toward them. She smiled.

Then she sunk into the puddle of shadows beneath her feet, disappearing from view.

"Where'd she go?" Kai asked. She removed the two metal rods clipped to her hip. Flicking her wrists, they extended into a pair of sleek tridents.

"No clue," Emily asked.

Out the corner of her eye, she spotted another flash of blue on the stage. Bolts of electricity raced towards Chase. He blocked them with his shield, and they redirected to another part of the stage. Emerging from the voltage was a man with clipped hair the color of night, yellowish skin that flared with azure light, and heavy-lidded eyes that crackled with power.

Circuit.

Chase and Circuit ran at each other. Meanwhile, Senator Crane's bodyguards began ushering him off the stage and towards the parking lot a few yards away from the rally.

Emily turned to Kai. "We need to make sure Crane gets out of here safely."

"Agreed."

The two of them nodded at each other before taking off after the senator and his bodyguards.

#

Emily wasn't much of an ice skater.

So, when the ground she had been walking on turned into a slippery strip of ice, she fell onto her butt. Hard. Grimacing, she picked herself up and notched a black-tipped arrow into her bow.

Frost, clad in a black winter coat and scarf, strolled up to her. A couple of ice shards were nestled in between her pale fingers.

Kai stood at Emily's side, her tridents raised.

"I see you've got more friends," Frost quipped.

"I see you didn't learn from your stint in jail," Emily retorted.

"Thanks for that, by the way."

"No problem."

Frost sneered at the girls. With a swipe of her hand, the knives of ice hurtled toward them like crystal bullets. Emily rolled out the way, her bow clutched tightly in her hand. As the platinum-haired woman advance, she released a stream of sonic energy from her mouth. They hit Frost in the chest, pushing her a few feet backward.

As Kai attempted to help, shadows gathered at her feet. She didn't have a chance to react before she fell into them.

Emily suppressed a scream as she gawked at where she had just been standing. Her heart hammered in her small chest as she looked around the girl. She couldn't find her.

"Well," Frost said, wisps of ice surrounding her. "There goes your friend."

Snarling, she cut her eyes toward the woman. "Where did she go?"

"Hell if I know. I barely know how Shadow's powers work."

Anger quickly replaced the worry suffocating her brain. She felt the vein in her temple throb as her hands curled into fists. With her eyes seeing red, she charged at Frost.

She swung a fist at her head. Frost dodged and retaliated with a punch of her own. It connected with Emily's abdomen, but she shrugged it off. She delivered a high kick to Frost's face, which sent her sprawling to the ground like a spilled cup of ice coffee.

She didn't wait for her to get up before continuing her attack. She lifted her leg high into the air before dropping it, hoping to catch Frost in the back. The woman rolled just in time and kicked herself back to her feet.

Her face reddened as she dusted her coat off. She rubbed her fist into her palm, coating it in solid ice. Grinning, she directed a flurry of punches Emily's way.

Black spots dotted her vision as the woman's ice-covered fist smacked into her chin. Stumbling backward, she struggled to collect herself. Frost kept coming. She drove her knee into Emily's stomach, forcing her to her knees.

Pain flaring in her gut, Emily let out a strangled yelp. Before Frost could hit her while she was down, she opened her mouth as wide as she could. A glass-shattering scream erupted from her vocal cords. It ripped from her throat and soared toward her adversary.

The sonic rings slammed into Frost. The woman was sent flying through the air. She eventually landed on the grass. She didn't get back up.

Emily slowly got back to her feet. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. A smudge of red smeared her skin and she scowled.

Her eyes suddenly widened.

Kai.

Where had she gone? Had Shadow taken her? She needed answers, and quickly. Her mind was threatening to overload if she didn't find the girl soon. Pressing her finger to her ear, she tapped into her team's voice channel.

"Does anyone have eyes on, Kai?" She cursed. "I mean Pisces."

No one responded. A sense of dread settled on her heart. They all must have been too busy fighting to answer her question.

She turned her attention back to the stage. Parts of the curtain were on fire, courtesy of Circuit. But Chase was no longer fighting the electrokinetic. He was battling the ginormous Primes known as Goliath. She didn't even know he was at the rally.

Andre and Angus stood near the foot of the stage. They both were battling Viper and King, the other Primes who were present during the Times Square attack.

As for Stella and Danai, the two girls were nowhere to be seen. Emily figured they were helping Zach and Theo help all the civilians escape the area. A few bodies littered the floor. Emily hoped they weren't dead.

"I've got eyes on Pisces," Stella said in her ear.

She released a long, relieved breath.

"Is...is she okay?"

"She's fine. She's fighting Shadow in the parking lot. Me and Vortex are on our way there to help."

Emily thanked the girl and turned her focus back toward Frost. The woman was just now climbing back to her feet. An irritated expression was present on her face.

"Stay down," Emily told her.

"Not a chance." She conjured up an ice spear and threw it. Emily stepped out the way, the weapon harmlessly sailing past her.

"You missed."

Frost flashed the girl her teeth in some sort of a sinister, maleficent smile. "But he didn't."

Emily flinched backward, her eyes narrowed. "What?"

Her entire body erupted with pain. She dropped to her knees for the second time that day. Every single nerve she possessed was alight in agony. Her muscles seized. Her brain froze. She couldn't hold onto a single thought besides the horrible sensation coursing through her body. The smell of something burning filled her nostrils. Her mouth tasted like she had licked a block of metal.

She collapsed onto her side, her body twitching every couple of seconds. Through her peripheral vision, she could see a man walking up to Frost.

It was Circuit.

"You should be more careful," he told her, his voice heavily accented.

"Who needs to be careful when you're around?"

He snorted. "We need to move." Without another word, his body exploded into streams of electricity that shot off for the parking lot on the other side of the park.

Frost walked up to Emily. She knelt beside the girl, who still couldn't move. Instead of saying something, she simply laughed. She then took off running after Circuit.

Pain still ravaging her body, Emily managed to roll onto her back. A sob rose from her throat but never made its way out. Tears stung her eyes, but her vision was already blurred.

She felt her grip of reality slipping away. Everything around her faded away as if she was in a watercolor painting that was being washed away by the sea. The noises around her grew farther and farther away until all she could hear was a shrill ringing.

She hiccuped.

This was it. She was going to die there. Alone and in pain.

She tried fighting off the darkness closing in on her, but it was no use. A shuddering breath escaped her lips and she closed her eyes.