“Yes.”
Quinn screamed the word in her mind.
The blue screens hovering in her vision shattered like cheap glass.
They rebuilt themselves instantly.
The text wasn’t blue anymore.
It was dripping crimson.
[Class evolution forced.
Solo Fighter discarded.]
[Welcome to the Trailblazer Path.]
[Global Beacon activated.
The Hunt begins.]
A shockwave of raw cosmic energy exploded out of Quinn’s chest.
It wasn’t warm like the golden Healing Factor.
It was freezing cold.
It flooded her veins with liquid nitrogen and forced her heart to beat at a terrifying violent rhythm.
The ceiling above them ripped apart completely.
Maria’s golden energy blade slashed down again.
It cut through the brick walls of the apartment building like wet paper.
The structural supports screamed and gave way.
Tons of concrete and wood rained down on them.
Quinn grabbed Jax by the collar of his ruined hoodie.
She threw him over her shoulder.
He weighed a ton.
Her knees buckled under his dead weight but the freezing Trailblazer energy forced her bones to lock in place.
She lunged for the fire escape window.
They crashed through the glass just as Mrs.
Gable’s apartment vaporized behind them.
A cloud of pulverized drywall and brick dust swallowed the room.
Quinn didn’t climb down the metal stairs outside.
She didn’t have time.
She jumped into the rainy night.
Gravity yanked them down three stories.
They hit the metal grating of the bottom fire escape landing.
The rusty bolts snapped instantly from the impact.
The metal buckled and they tumbled over the edge crashing hard into the overflowing trash dumpsters in the alley.
Garbage bags broke her fall just enough to keep her spine intact.
[HP: 2/355]
[Critical Warning.
Organic failure imminent.]
Quinn choked on brick dust and old rain.
She tasted copper in her mouth.
Jax rolled off the dumpster and hit the wet asphalt. New chapters come out on g.com first.
He didn’t move.
His breathing was a shallow terrible rattle.
Quinn forced her head up.
She looked at the ruined apartment building.
Maria Carter floated above the rubble.
She literally defied gravity.
Golden energy poured from the soles of her black combat boots.
She didn’t look like a mother.
She looked like a vengeful god bathed in the city’s neon lights.
Maria looked down at the dark alley.
She didn’t chase them.
She just smiled.
“Run little rabbit,” Maria’s distorted voice echoed over the falling rain.
“The whole world is watching you now.”
Quinn looked down at her own hands.
The heavy titanium knuckle gloves were melting.
The metal plates literally dissolved into ash.
Her bare skin was glowing with a blinding crimson light.
A massive pillar of red energy shot up from her body straight into the dark storm clouds above the city.
A beacon.
She was a walking lighthouse.
The System wasn’t hiding her anymore.
It was broadcasting her exact GPS coordinates to every monster on the planet.
Tires shrieked wildly at the end of the alley.
A sleek black car drifted around the corner perfectly.
It smashed through a pile of trash cans and slammed on the brakes right next to Quinn.
The passenger door kicked open.
Noah Brooks leaned over the center console.
His expensive red suit was completely ruined.
He was gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles were white.
For the first time since she met him the smug toxic rich boy looked absolutely terrified.
“Get in the car Quinn.” Noah yelled over the roaring rain.
Quinn grabbed Jax by his hoodie.
She dragged his unconscious body across the asphalt and shoved him into the luxurious leather backseat.
She crawled in right after him.
“Drive.” Quinn gasped.
Blood poured from her nose and stained the expensive seats.
Noah slammed the gas pedal to the floor.
They hit the main city street going eighty miles an hour.
Quinn collapsed against the car door.
The crimson beacon of light continued to shine out of her chest.
It lit up the inside of the dark car like a slaughterhouse.
[Global Ping sent.]
[5 Elite Targets have locked onto your Prime Core signature.]
“Where are we going.” Noah’s voice cracked.
He kept checking the rearview mirror like the devil was chasing them.
“Your building just got cut in half by a laser beam.
What is happening to you.”
“I need a doctor,” Quinn coughed.
Black blood speckled her chin.
“Not a hospital.
They will kill everyone in a hospital.”
Noah swerved hard to avoid a city bus.
“I know a place.
Underground clinic in the East District.
Keep your eyes open.”
Quinn tried to focus on the road ahead.
Her vision swam with dark red spots.
She didn’t see the shadow drop from the sky until it was too late.
Something incredibly heavy landed directly on the hood of Noah’s speeding car.
The metal hood crumpled violently under the impact.
The car swerved and screeched.
A teenager crouched on the ruined hood.
He wore a pitch-black trench coat that flapped wildly in the wind.
His hair was stark silver.
He didn’t look like one of Maria’s masked thugs.
He had a glowing red bio-chip embedded directly into the skin of his forehead.
He looked at Quinn through the windshield.
He smiled a perfect arrogant smile.
The silver-haired boy pulled his fist back.
He punched straight through the bulletproof glass of the windshield like it was made of thin ice.
His hand clamped down brutally around Noah’s throat.
Noah choked and let go of the steering wheel.
The car spun completely out of control toward a concrete highway pillar.
[System Warning: Apex Trailblazer (Rank 4) encountered.]
[Evasion impossible.]
Well, the secret is officially out and the global hunt has begun!
Our Solo Queen is at 2 HP and an Apex Trailblazer just crashed the getaway car.