What happened next could only be described as a blur of motion.

Austin leapt up at the third guard, pushing the gun away and smashing a fist into his face. As the man staggered, winded, he closed his fingers only to realize his weapon had been wrestled away.

Austin smacked the butt of the gun on top of his head as hard as he could.

The man slumped against the wall and crumpled to to the ground with a groan. Austin dabbed some chloroform under his nose as well, and then straightened up.

He rubbed his gloves on his pants.

Straightened his glasses.

And reached into the black jacket to extract a single, lead bullet.

Austin marveled at it for a moment between his fingers. It shone and gleamed in the light.

Such a simple thing...that could shut down an agent with one shot...bring down an entire operation.

But no. Not this time. No bullets could touch him, Austin Sky Winters, codename Tardigrade (even though he insisted on changing codename once he discovered what a tardigrade looked like. The generals didn't budge. So Austin made up a codename for himself, Skyrise, and deemed it much cooler than "Tardigrade").

After much effort and research, the Ironhide had finally been put to the test.

Austin remembered the terrifying moment when they pointed a gun at his arm, wiped a lotion on it, and fired. But he trusted his father. Now, he needed to trust himself.

Austin turned off the lights and hastily tugged the guard uniform off one of the men.

It made him look bulkier, which wasn't a bad things, but it also felt kind of suffocating.

In case anyone peeked through the window on the door, he dragged the unconscious soldiers under the cupboard and piled them together.

So far so good. Time for phase B.