Chapter 134: Brothers

"You may call me Sage," the man said as he put his blindfold back on, "now then, will you tell me where your real body is?"

"Why should I?" Overdrive asked with a frown, his guard still up.

He was certain that he’d lose even if he fought the man before him as Zero, much less as a clone that couldn’t use [Genesis].

"I owe someone a favor," Sage responded, "and to repay that favor, I need to find Zero."

"..."

Again, Liam felt as if he was a piece on a board and Sage was just another piece meant to move him.

"Who?" He calmly asked.

"I can’t tell you that," Sage shook his head, "but he did promise to meet you soon, so I wouldn’t worry too much about that."

Overdrive let out a sigh before looking directly at Sage and responding, "Then I’m afraid I can’t tell you what you want to know either."

"A pity then," Sage muttered before turning around, "but I’m certain we’ll meet soon; after all, I’m certain that’s what he wills."

Overdrive watched Sage recede before letting out another sigh and passing a hand through his hair.

[You good?] Cyrus’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Yeah," he answered before turning around, "but have the organization find out everything they can about a monk named Sage."

[Right away,] Cyrus answered.

"And the monsters?" Overdrive focused on his task as a hero again.

[There’s one.... that’s strange,] Cyrus muttered, looking at his screen, [the monsters seem to be rapidly disappearing.]

"Is that so?" Overdrive placed a hand on his chin, looking at the skies.

***

Vektor had one hand in his pocket whilst randomly waving the other. A force crashed into the places his hand pointed towards, destroying them.

He suddenly paused and looked behind him before smiling, "I thought you’d continue lying in the rubble, little brother."

Standing behind him was Volt, who had his head down.

"If you think you can stop me, then you’re wrong," Vektor said with a grin as he turned back around.

"Why?" Volt said in a whisper.

"I told you, didn’t I ?" Vektor answered without turning around, "I’m only alive thanks to the Argent Ring."

"THEN WHY THE HELL ARE YOU PUTTING OTHER KIDS IN THE SAME SITUATION?" Volt raised his head, looking directly at Vektor.

"Don’t fucking raise your voice at me!" Vektor finally paid attention to him. "Do you have any idea what my life was like after those men got a hold of me?!"

"While you were basking in the glory of awakening, I had to fight every single day to survive," Vektor’s expression morphed into a dark one. "Do you have any idea how we’re selected as candidates for the Primagen?!"

"So don’t you fucking dare hit me with that self-righteous bullshit." he extended his arm towards his little brother. "If you’re going to try and stop me, do so already."

"..." Volt went silent again, realizing that Vektor was right. He didn’t know how his big brother had managed to survive all these years, so did he truly have any right to stand in front of him now?

Especially when, even with his Factor, he hadn’t tried hard enough to save his big brother.

"Then stay out of my way," Vektor waved his hand forward and the same force from earlier slammed into Volt again, launching him into another building.

[Volt,] Emily’s voice came from his earpiece, [get a hold of yourself.]

Volt snapped out of his wallowing, recalling what Overdrive told him, "that’s right, there’re people depending on me."

Slowly, he stood up, wiped the blood off his lips and walked out of the building. Unlike previously, Vektor hadn’t gone anywhere this time.

With the release of the mutated animals into the city, his job was more than completed so he could’ve left, but he didn’t.

"I am a hero," Volt said as he walked out of the building, blood running down his head, "it’s my duty to stop the villains and ensure the city’s safety."

"Is that so?" Vektor smiled at his words, "then come at me, little brother."

The moment his words were completed, Volt suddenly disappeared from where he stood and the next second, he was behind Vektor.

Unfortunately, before he had the chance to grab his big brother, his vision suddenly blurred out of focus, giving Vektor’s Factor a chance to get hold of him.

BANG!

Again, a force slammed into Volt, launching him backwards, but before he could slam into another building, his body froze midair.

The next second, he was pulled towards Vektor again and his big brother grabbed him by the face before slamming him into the ground.

"And here I thought you’d be quite strong," Vektor said as he looked at Volt, "how disappointing."

Volt, on the other hand, lay on the ground with his vision swimming in and out of consciousness.

He had used a lot of Pragma while rescuing the civilians earlier, hence the reason for his sudden blurring vision.

Vektor continued staring down at him for a few more seconds before sighing, "You’re wasting your time."

Volt slowly raised his head, trying to focus his vision, "I don’t care."

"You should," Vektor crouched down, grabbing Volt by the front of his costume and lifting him slightly off the ground, "You’re running on fumes, I can tell."

"In this state, you can barely move your body," he continued looking into Volt’s eyes, "how do you expect to stop me?"

Vektor then released him and stood back up, before turning around and walking away, but not before saying, "what a pathetic excuse for a hero."

He continued walking away, after all, his job here was done, but suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"I-I’m not done yet," Volt’s voice came from behind him which caused him to smile an turn around.

Despite the fact that he currently looked like someone who’d pass out from the smallest gust of wind, Volt was standing with trembling legs.

His vision was even blurrier at this moment, but he strangely felt a rush of heat within him, one that was similar to when Pragma flowed through him but that wouldn’t make sense given how low his Pragma currently was.

Volt paid that feeling no mind, instead, his vision was only filled with his brother’s form as he added, "I-I’m going to beat some sense into you."

"Is that so?" Vektor said with a chuckle, "then it seems I’ll also have to discipline you more, little brother."

"Emily," Volt muttered still keeping his eyes on his big brother.

[Done,] his agent’s voice came from his earpiece, [from all the data I collected so far, I’m certain his Factor is not telekinesis, rather...]

"It’s vector manipulation," Volt completed her words with a frown on his face.

Rather than being pulled or pushed during Vektor’s earlier attacks, it felt like the force within his body was being manipulated.

Hence, the reason he realized that Vektor’s Factor wasn’t Telekinesis, rather, it was something that controlled the forces within one’s body and give his name....

"..."

"I thought the name was a dead giveaway," Vektor said with a smile, "but realizing what my Factor is won’t help you in any way, little brother."

As if to prove a point, Vektor lifted a hand towards him, but this time, Volt was prepared and just before the Factor could take hold, he disappeared.

The next second, Vektor felt something grab on to his jacket and without getting the chance to react, he felt himself soaring in the air.

BOOM!

Vektor was slammed into the building, the impact creating a large crater in the wall.

"Urgh..." He slowly lifted his head, only to see Volt already standing in front of him.

Their roles had been completely reversed and Volt quickly took advantage of that. He lifted his hand to punch Vektor, but he suddenly felt the force of the punch changing directions.

He knew that if he tried landing it, his entire arm would break, so he simply pulled his fist back before the punch could hit.

Vektor smiled as he wiped the blood off his nose, "see?"

Unfortunately for him, before he had the chance to say anything else, the speedster grabbed him by the collar, pulled him up and slammed his head into his nose.

Rather than an attack meant to hurt Vektor, it was one filled with Volt’s...no, Tyler’s frustration.

Since the attack was an unexpected one, Marcus didn’t get enough time to react to it. He looked at his little brother with an expression of disbelief as blood ran down his nose.

"You think I didn’t try looking for you?" Tyler started, "I spent every single day since then trying to find you, but you..."

The Adrenaline rush slowly left him and his vision started blurring again, "y-you just had to...."

He didn’t get to complete his words before releasing Marcus’s collar as he fell to the ground with a thud.

Marcus continued standing with a blank expression on his face as he looked down at his little brother who had passed out from exhaustion.

He had a lot to say, yet, not a single word could escape his mouth.

"Your Assessment is over," A voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts and he turned around to see Dune standing there.

Vektor looked down at his little brother before nodding and asking, "did I pass?"

Dune looked at him for a while before smiling, "of course, you just have to return to collect your reward...."

"Or if you’d like," She paused and looked at Volt’s unconscious body, "you can stay with your little brother."

This was what he always wished for, to be reunited with his little brother, unfortunately, now was not the time.... At least, not until he was done with what he had planned.

And this assessment was only the first step, all he had to do now was survive the second, the Forced second awakening.

"Let’s go."