The moment Anand uttered the command word the glasses melted. The metallic liquid engulfed his body in seconds. He gasped, expecting to suffocate, but instead was wrapped in a warm embrace. The metal hardened into a flexible fiber. Though it looked like cloth, Anand could feel how sturdy the armor was. He couldn’t feel his clothes underneath the suit as they had fused. Unexpectedly, Anand’s vision was clear through the large visor of the helmet.

“Whoa,” he muttered.

As much as he wanted to, Anand couldn’t spend more time examining the suit. He turned to see Alec losing the fight and without thinking rushed in. He balled up his fist and drove it into his dark clone’s face. The creature lost its grip on Alec before flying across the room. Anand felt different. He was stronger, faster, and felt like a million bucks.

Alec stumbled to a shelf to prop himself up. His shin was broken and blood soaked through his jeans.

“It’s not over,” Alec said with a slow sigh, “You’ve gotta send that thing packing.”

“I can’t punch it all the way to the rift,” Anand said. “Unless I can. I’m not sure what’s happening.”

“Don’t worry about it. You don’t have to punch it to the rift,” Alec explained. “Just show it you can beat it’s transformation.”

“How?”

Alec held up his fist and flexed it. Anand mimicked the motion. The bottom corner of the helmet’s display lit up with a message; DANGER: HIGH VOLTAGE.

Anand looked at his fist and ogled at the sight. He swore there was lightning emanating from his knuckles. He couldn’t help but smile as he caught sight of the creature. It threw some nearby rubble and leapt at him. Anand ducked out of the way. His target was too far above him. It landed and quickly spun before lunging again. There was less to fear now that the creature looked mostly human. Though the fact it resembled Anand was still unsettling.

He held up his fists in a fighting stance and let out a steady breath. The creature swiped at him. Anand ducked to the side. It swiped again and Anand slid to the other side. With each dodge he stepped slightly closer until he was at the perfect distance. He ducked to the right, readied his fist, and let loose his best straight punch. The creature quickly blocked but shrieked upon contact and skidded back from the impact. A large crater remained on its arm with purple ooze dripping out.

The creature growled at Anand before looking through the broken ceiling towards the damaged third floor. It swiftly jumped through one of the cracks. Anand tried to do the same but missed and created another hole in the ceiling. As he landed on the third floor he caught one last glimpse of the creature as it leapt towards the rift. Anand saw the Basilisk from a distance making its way back to the rift. He wasn’t dumb enough to believe his suit could handle fighting a Riftwalker. Instead, Anand returned to Alec and lent him a shoulder.

“Nice moves, kid,” Alec said.

“My body moved on its own,” Anand replied.

“It seemed like you had a plan.”

When they reached the first floor, Conrad was waiting inside.

“I saw you won the fight,” he said while taking Alec from Anand. “I assumed it was Alec in the Glaive, though. What were you thinking giving a kid the glasses?”

“I was thinking he had guts coming back in here,” Alec replied smugly. “Kid, say ‘Sheath.’”

Anand did as he was told. The armor quickly melted and reconstituted itself as a pair of glasses. Conrad held out his hand and Anand readily handed the glasses over. He was expecting some sort of rebound from the suit but no such thing happened.

Conrad led everyone to the BEAR and said, “Boss, get us out of here.”

Anand hadn’t taken in what was inside the BEAR earlier. He’d never seen the inside of one. Even CahlU didn’t provide that information. Only fully fledged agents knew the inner workings of the metal behemoths. There were four control stations near the walls of the head with a fifth located centrally behind them. From there, Boss controlled the BEAR’s movements. There was another set of seats connected to the wall of the body where Sonia and Ray were harnessed. Anand joined them.

“JP, get us in Full Armor Mode. We must exit the battlefield.” Boss commanded the agent sitting to his left.

“Roger,” JP said calmly. His station consisted of a number of controls connected to three large monitors. Each had individual functions and he focused on the central one. He flicked a few switches and said, “Weapons shut down in: 3, 2, now. Full Armor Mode Activated. Conrad, please alert the others of our departure.”

Conrad put Alec in a seat near the kids and moved to his station. Unlike the other pilots, his monitors all had visuals from completely different areas of the city. They moved independently to one another and were connected to a single radar.

“This is Papa BEAR. We have secured the lost civilians and are retreating from the battlefield. Make sure that Riftwalker gets to the rift. Over.”

“Will do. Over.” A voice said over an intercom within the BEAR.

Anand stared at the large monitor at the front of the cockpit. Three BEARs leapt at the Basilisk simultaneously. They moved erratically as to not be caught while firing an onslaught of heavy weaponry at it. Before Anand could see more, his saviors turned their machine and dashed away.

“Gale, can you get something for Alec’s leg?” Conrad asked.

The agent who had tended to Ray had already begun assisting Alec.

“How did the Glaive feel?” Gale asked.

“I wouldn’t know,” Alec replied. “Ask the kid.”

Gale was wearing a helmet but Anand could imagine their surprised expression.

“What do you mean?” Ray asked. His arm was bandaged up but he seemed back in good spirits. “What’s a Glaive?”

“Alec foolishly gave a GDF weapon to a child,” Boss said sternly. He stared daggers at Anand.

“I’m sorry,” Anand replied meekly.

“You already made our jobs more difficult by coming back to the city. Now we have to do damage control on what you’ve seen.”

“Boss, relax. They’ve been through a lot,” Gale said. “They need to rest.”

Boss grunted.

“So, how are you feeling?” Gale asked Anand. “You look fine.”

“I feel fine. Just tired,” Anand replied before turning his attention to Sonia. “What about you?”

Sonia rested her head on Anand’s arm.

“I’m okay. Sorry for making you worry,” she said.

“You should be,” Anand replied and patted her head.

Ray scoffed. “You’re one to talk. Today’s just been a day of dumb stunts by you.”

“Sorry.”

“If you want my forgiveness you have to promise to be my arm for a while. I’m gonna need it,” Ray said and nodded to his sling. His cheeky grin made Anand feel at ease.

“I’ll help however I can,” Anand said.

He was still upset about having broken the rules CahlU had drilled into him. But had he not done it, he’d never have experienced the Glaive. Whatever it was, Anand wanted to know more. But, he doubted he’d get that chance now.

The BEAR was approaching the hangar outside Madison. It was almost empty except for a handful of agents.

Conrad cleared his throat and got everyone’s attention. “Before we meet your parents, I need you all to promise us something. You cannot tell them about the creature you saw. And Anand, you can never tell anyone about the suit you used. They weren’t there and we don’t know how they may react. This is all top secret information and we don’t want to cause unnecessary stress. If word gets out, we’ll have to have a talk. Do I make myself clear?”

“Roger.” Ray grinned.

“Yes, sir,” Anand said and turned to Sonia. “No telling anyone. Got it?”

She nodded.

Conrad smiled softly and said, “Thank you, kids.”

He led the children to their parents who were waiting nearby.

“My baby!” A woman screamed and rushed to Ray’s side. She hugged him tightly and Ray screamed.

“Arm! Mom, arm!” He complained. His mother quickly let go and apologized.

“The numbing agent is nothing against a mother’s love,” Gale said. “He’ll be healed up in a couple days. As long as his arm isn’t jerked around too much.”

“I’m sorry, Veronica,” Anand said, clasping his hands apologetically towards Ray’s mother. “Ray got hurt helping me.”

“Anand, I’m furious,” Veronica replied. “But now’s not the time for that. Arjun and Priya have been worried sick about you two!”

Sonia had already run to the embrace of her mother who wept softly. Their father stood stoically nearby. So much for being worried sick.

“Anand, what happened to your glasses?” he asked.

Anand tapped the side of his face and frowned. He couldn’t tell his father what really happened.

“They must’ve fallen off when we were running to the city,” Anand replied meekly.

“Was it worth it?” Arjun groaned. “You could have simply waited for the GDF agents to help but instead did something reckless and put Ray, Sonia, and yourself in danger. You should know better. Your school has taught you better.”

Anand shrank into himself, “Sonia was already in danger.”

His father gave a stern look and Anand cowered.

“S-sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Obviously not. Now you’ll have to get new glasses. Until then you’re sitting blind in class.”

“Chhod do use,” Priya said calmly. “They’ve been through a lot.” She lightly caressed her children’s faces. “I’m glad you care so much for each other, but please don’t be so reckless. Sonia, you’re grounded.”

“What about them?” Sonia complained and pointed at Ray and Anand.

“It’s impossible for us to keep them grounded longer than the weekend,” Arjun answered. “Who at their school would monitor that for us?”

“We got lucky.” Ray chuckled.

“You’re still grounded this weekend,” Veronica said.

“I just had to open my mouth.”

While Ray grumbled, an intercom played overhead.

This is a Gaia Defense Force announcement. The Rift has closed and there is no longer a danger to the vicinity. Breakers will be returning you shortly to your hangars. I repeat…

Conrad guided each family into cars waiting to drive them home. Even though the city was ravaged, people had grown used to returning home quickly. The GDF would handle it if anyone’s homes were damaged.

“See you on Sunday,” Ray said before entering his car.

Anand replied quietly, “Yeah, see ya. Have a good night.”

It was late into the night when the Desais arrived at home. Priya demanded they eat before bed. Sonia groggily picked at her food and Anand ate in silence. He was still reeling from the entire experience. It was surprising that he came out with only a few scrapes and bruises. He kept thinking about the Glaive. How it felt to wear it. The power it provided. He even went toe-to-toe against that monster. But with every joyous memory, Anand realized how horribly wrong his escapade could have gone. It didn’t help that Arjun repeatedly tried to ask questions. Luckily, Priya played defense and told him to let the kids relax.

“Kal poochh lena,” she repeated softly as Anand rose from the table.

“Thanks for the food,” he said quietly and vanished upstairs. He didn’t have the energy to process the ordeal he’d been through. The moment his head touched his pillow, Anand fell asleep.