"Why the heck is Apex here, dude?" Theo asked as the group moved through the halls. "How did he even find this place?!"

Chase had no idea. He did know that things were about to get crazy.

When Agent Strong had delivered the news, he could see the fear in his eyes. He had never seen the man afraid before; he was usually too busy yelling or barking orders to be scared. But if Apex's arrival at The Acropolis was enough to strike fear into his heart, then something was wrong.

Something was terribly wrong.

"Are we being attacked?" Stella inquired as they rounded a corner towards the central elevator.

"No," Agent Strong answered from the front of the herd. "That's why this is weird. He showed up here. Alone. I've gotten reports that our security team has done a full scan of the area. There's no sign of other Kismet members for fifty miles."

Chase drew his brows together.

What is happening?

The group packed themselves into an elevator and waited for the lift to bring them to the hangar. As they were pulled deeper into the mountain The Acropolis was built into, a siren sliced through air like a knife through flesh.

Gritting his teeth, Chase pressed his hands to his ears. The others did the same. Emily seemed to be doing everything in her power to prevent herself from screaming. Had she done so, she probably would've destroyed the elevator with her supersonic vocal cords.

"It's a little too late for the sirens," she hissed.

"It's a safety measure," Agent Strong grumbled with his large hands against his ears.

The elevator chimed and the doors slid open. The seven of them left the lift and made their way to the automatic doors at the end of the hall. Through the square window in the center, Chase could see a crowd gathered inside.

Agent Strong scanned his ID card and opened the entrance to the hangar. Upon entering, Chase noticed almost everyone had their weapons drawn and pointed at the man standing in front of the gushing waterfall that covered the exit. Multiple red dots from laser sights peppered his chest.

He stood with his hands up. A crimson mask covered the lower portion of his gaunt face. His choppy hair the color of thick tar framed his angular features. At his hip hung his red sword. The insignia of Kismet—a black fist behind a single, red eye—stood out against his black uniform.

Everyone seemed to suck in a collective breath as they stared at him.

Chase's jaw clenched. His nails dug into his palms as memories of the battle at the Nexxus lab replayed in his head. Kismet had escaped the lab with their equipment, deeming the mission a failure.

Kane and his crew had been inching closer to their goal. Previously, Atlas had no idea where to find the band of terrorists.

But there Apex was, standing amongst an audience of his enemies.

Moments later, Director Shaw emerged into the hangar with two agents at his side. A stern look was etched into his weathered features. He narrowed his icy eyes at the man standing on the other edge of the massive garage.

Apex lifted his chin.

Scoffing, Director Shaw turned to another agent. "What is the meaning of this?"

"He just...showed up," they answered, their focus still trained on the highly dangerous and unpredictable superhuman. "He was alone, though. There's no sign of Kismet anywhere."

"Are you sure?"

"We've ran several scans. If they were out there, we would've found them."

Chase studied Director Shaw for a few moments. While he looked surprise, it seemed to be different than the shock everyone else had. His complexion had paled slightly and he kept adjusting his already perfectly positioned tie.

He almost looked like he had seen a ghost.

Gritting his teeth, Chase shook his head. He didn't like this. Not one bit.

If Apex had found The Acropolis, that meant Kismet surely knew where they were as well. And if Kismet knew where they were, an attack was imminent. He figured that was why they had been so quiet as of late. Ever since Nexxus Labs, nothing had been heard from them. No news reports, no internet presence, no more attacks. Nothing. Even the agents in The Watchtower were finding problems locating them.

But there Apex was, standing in their front yard with a bemused look on his masked face.

None of it made sense.

After a long period of tense silence, Apex took it upon himself to crack the ice. Or, rather, shatter it.

He removed the mask from his mouth and pocketed it, revealing the grin stretching across his lips. "Well?'" His voice was smooth yet menacing. Chase's blood boiled at the sound. "Are we just going to stare at each other or is someone going to arrest me?"

A couple of agents turned to Director Shaw for orders. Their leader remained stoic, analyzing the dangerous Prime just a few feet away from him. Eventually, he gave them a curt nod.

Someone stepped into the fray with a silver briefcase in their hand. Another person held it up while it was being opened. Inside, Chase could see a pair of electronic handcuffs. A red panel sat in the middle and a thumbpad had been built into the wrist.

"Okay, what are those?" Oscar asked quietly.

"I'm not sure," Chase answered. He squinted as the device was removed from its case. "But I think I have an idea."

"Since when did Atlas make handcuffs for Primes?" Emily asked, her tone skeptical.

"I'm sure they had a good reason to," Stella added.

Chase wasn't so sure about that.

Two agents approached Apex. He had almost expected the man to teleport behind them and slice them to pieces with his blade. But he didn't. He remained there with his sinister smirk. He let the agents cuff him.

He didn't even seem to care that he was being arrested. He didn't look nervous or frightened. In fact, he was as calm as can be. He almost looked...at home. Confident. An assure glint crossed over his eyes.

His eyes...

Chase narrowed his own gaze at the Prime. His irises were no longer the color of blood. They were a deep, intimidating blue; the kind of blue that could suffocate someone in seconds or freeze them to death with a simple glance.

He shuddered.

"You don't look pleased to see me," Apex said as the two agents ushered him towards Director Shaw.

The man pursed his lips and took a step forward. His men moved to prevent him from doing so but he brushed them out the way. "It's fine. Let me through." Not wanting to lose their jobs, presumably, they did as were told.

The director bravely approached the detained Kismet member. Chase watched on curiously.

"How did you get here, Victor?" He shook his head in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"

Victor?

Apex cackled. "Well, isn't that the million-dollar question?" His smile widened. "How's my baby sister doing?"

Baby sister?

The gears in Chase's head were turning. He could practically hear them moving inside his skull.

A guard behind Apex drove their rifle into the back of his leg, forcing him down onto one knee. He winced in pain, but the grin never left his lips.

Director Shaw sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He then readjusted his black-rimmed glasses. He shook his head at Apex and nodded at an Atlas agent. "Take him downstairs. Keep the cuffs on him until we get a cell nullified."

"Yes, sir!"

Chase wondered what was "downstairs". The lowest he'd ever been in the entire compound was the hangar. He didn't even know there were any lower levels. He was quickly learning there was a lot about Atlas he wasn't aware of.

The guards restraining Apex nodded in confirmation of their orders and prodded their captive forward. His sword was stripped from his side. Chase saw a spark of anger ignite in the man's eyes as he thrashed for a moment. He quickly stopped after the barrel of a gun was pressed to his temple.

As Chase began studying the Apex's face, he couldn't help but notice how similar he looked to Director Shaw. The resemblance was uncanny. In fact, they could've been relatives. His mental gears began turning as he took note of how the Prime spoke to the director just a few seconds ago.

His tone was too casual. The two of them met before. He was almost sure of it.

Shaw did mention before that Atlas had been chasing after Kismet for months. Perhaps that was when they met. Multiple battles resulting in the deaths of fighters on both sides was enough to cause bad blood between anyone.

Deep down, he knew that wasn't it. But he couldn't bring himself to acknowledge what was obviously the truth.

The agents began pushing Apex towards the exit of the hangar. Even though the malicious red hue was vacant from his irises, he still looked incredibly intimidating. As he was prodded through the exit doorway, he stopped walking and turned around.

The door began to close, but it felt like it was moving at a snail's pace.

"It's good to be back," Apex said, now sneering. "Dad."

The door closed, leaving everyone in the hangar stunned in silence.

Chase blinked a few times, still trying to process the words he had just heard. Beside him, Theo's hands flew to his head. The others stood with expressions of disbelief and confusion on their faces.

"Uh," Oscar said while thumbing the silver lighter in his hand, "what just happened?"

"I think," Chase began, "we just found out that Director Shaw is a dad."

They all turned to the CEO of Atlas Industries. He faced them with a hint of regret in his eyes.

Emily placed her hands on her hips as he glared at him. "You have some explaining to do."

Andre nodded. "No kidding."

Director Shaw sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. After muttering something under his breath, he turned for the exit of the hangar. Before leaving, he glanced at the six teenagers behind him. "Come with me."

He then left the room.

Chase and the others shared a look of apprehension before following after him.