The Spectrum Force Volume Three by Heather Ray (ready player one ebook txt) 📕

To everyone that has read these books so far: Thank you! I appreciate it! I hope you stay with this series till the end!

The Spectrum Force and all related characters belong to me. It takes place a few days after "Genesis."

Please note that words between asterisks are telepathically communicated, while italics denote either emphasis, or thoughts (you'll be able to tell which by context)

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All the Blue Enforcer could muster in time was an intensified body shield. The iridescent blue aura grew blinding and he instinctively closed his eyes as a pulsing sphere of heated red energy plowed into his body. The force of the blast knocked him clear out of the air, sending him catapulting several yards back.

Craig glowered at his attacker, who floated yards above him, his arms crossed with an air of superiority.

"Let's see how you like this," Craig muttered, his fists clenching. He then lunged forward, streaking through the air at phenomenal speed. He moved in an irregular pattern, circling his attacker at surprising angles before finally making contact with his fists.

The opponent was hit by several fierce jabs, before he retreated by dropping beneath the Blue Enforcer, landing on the snow-covered cliffs far beneath them.

Fueled by adrenaline, Craig zipped towards the enemy, his body glowing as he prepared an energy assault.

He yelped in disbelief as a wave of snow leapt from the mountain to greet him. He began tumbling out of the sky, crashing into the mountain in blind confusion.

He felt his fall stop suddenly, as a pair of arms grasped his torso and helped him sit up on the cold, rocky earth.

Slowly, his vision returned as the snow disappeared from before him, revealing the masked visage of the Orange Enforcer.

"Are you okay, Craig?" she asked.

Despite himself, Craig frowned at the concern in her voice. "Of course I'm okay," he grunted, carefully rising to his feet. "Stupid snow," he snarled.

"Don't be like that, Craig," Jocelyn sighed, "The Himalayans are an excellent training spot. Little life to get in the way, plus a freezing atmosphere to help prepare us for fighting in the climate the Denebian's prefer. Spectra did say Denebia is the furthest planet from their sun. And space is cold, too."

Craig exhaled sharply, wiping off the snow that clung to his uniform. "But... how did that snow stick to me like that? I couldn't get it off!"

Jocelyn shrugged. "I guess we'll find out soon enough."

Together, the pair slowly floated off the cliff and into the freezing skies above, where the remainder of the Spectrum Force, along with their mentor Spectra, waited.

Craig approached Keith, forcing himself to smile as he offered his hand. "Good round, man," he conceded, "That was a nice trick you pulled with the snow."

He could see Keith's proud smile pull against his facemask. "Thanks! I was wondering if that would work."

"How'd you do it?" Matthew wondered, "How'd you get the snow to obey you?"

"Do not answer, Keith," Spectra commanded. She pressed a button on her hover-chair, and approached the Green Enforcer. "Try to guess. Imagine how you would perform such a move with your own powers."

Matthew frowned beneath his mask. "I... um..."

Spectra's peach gaze passed along the entire assembly. "Do any of you have a guess? Remember... the first key to mastering the Spectrum Stones is to use your imagination. New ideas and the courage to try them will result in a surprising repertoire of attack and defensive tactics. You must always be prepared to throw the Empire off balance with innovative strategies, or else you will become predictable... which will ensure your failure."

"Well, it looked like he pushed the snow off the cliff with his powers," Tamara offered off-handedly, "But how did he make it stick to Craig's body?"

After a few more moments, Spectra turned to Keith. "Explain it."

Keith nodded. "I decided to hold the snow to Craig's body," he revealed. "I basically mixed the snow with my own power shield, and collided it with Craig's. Since our energy signatures merge when they join together, the snow basically stuck to his defensive shield, turning him into Frosty the Snowman."

"You won't be able to use that attack when fighting the Denebians, though," Rachel realized, "Our energy shields can merge because our powers fit together. But the Denebians have different powers. There's no way our shields will merge with whatever black magic they have."

Keith shrugged. "True. But the exercise was to attack each other, and never to use the same attack twice. I just thought I'd try something... unexpected."

"But Keith... how'd you know that would even work?" Tamara inquired.

Keith grinned. "I didn't."

"Confidence is an important weapon," Spectra announced.

Matthew smirked. "In that case, Keith's the best armed out of all of us!"

Jocelyn, Matthew, Rachel, and Tamara shared a brief snicker at the Red Enforcer's expense.

"Yeah, yeah... laugh it up," he said, shaking his head, "But you'll be appreciating my confidence when I save your butt!"

"Be sure not to confuse confidence with arrogance," Spectra advised. "Confidence may be your weapon, but arrogance will surely be your stumbling block. An arrogant man is sure to underestimate his opponent... a fatal mistake."

"I was just kidding, Spectra," Keith defended, "I'm not arrogant."

He looked to the others for support, but all fell into an uncomfortable silence.

Keith frowned slightly, shrugging once again. "Okay, okay... maybe a little. But nobody's perfect!"

Spectra smiled. "All of you have made excellent progress these few days. You have taken advantage of Phaedra's silence by spending several hours each morning in training. I can see your confidence grow by the steadiness with which your use your powers. Now, tomorrow we shall convene at my ship, and I shall bring us to the martial arts training site."

Matthew grimaced. "Martial arts? You mean like Kung Fu?"

Spectra nodded.

"But why?" Jocelyn asked, "I thought we were supposed to use our rings in battle. It's hard to kick and chop when you're in the air!"

"You must be prepared for every situation. You know that the power within your Spectrum Stones is abundant, but limited. Without direct sunlight, the energy levels of your rings will weaken, perhaps even to the point where you will not be able to Spectrum Sync."

"Really?" Rachel marveled.

"Absolutely. If you were ever faced with a situation in which your Spectrum Stones wear down, or if the Empire devises a spell to nullify your powers, what will you do?"

Matthew frowned. "But what can we do without our powers? Humans are much weaker than Denebians."

"That's why you need to train your bodies. You shall stand a much better chance of success if you have trained in fighting with your bodies as well as your imaginations."

Rachel nodded. "Then we'll get to it."

Spectra waved her hand. "You are all dismissed."

The assembly waited for a few moments, before Rachel finally floated forward. "Aren't you going to teleport us back?"

She shook her head. "Your next test is that of navigation. You must fly back to Langstrum Alps yourselves. Another key element to your success is familiarizing yourself with the entire planet. Remember, you are not only the defenders of Langstrum Alps, or California. You will protect this entire planet from the Empire. You cannot defend what you cannot locate."

Jocelyn nodded. "Good point." She looked into the air, peering at the overcast sky. "Oookay... which way?"

"Earth is a globe," Matthew pointed out, "so whether we go east or west, we'll hit the Americas eventually."

"But will we recognize them?" Rachel asked, "And what if we wind up going north or south?"

"Do we even know what hemisphere we're in?" Tamara sighed.

"Okay, okay... one thing at a time," Keith said, "I'm pretty sure we're in the northern hemisphere. And we're probably far enough into Asia that it doesn't matter whether we go east, over Europe, the Atlantic, and America, or west, over the Far East and the Pacific."

"Good," Rachel decided. "And it's definitely night time here... so there's no sun to tell us east from west."

"Well, it wasn't this dark when we got here," Jocelyn pointed out, "Anyone know which way the sun went?"

"It's hard to tell; there are so many clouds in the sky," Matthew realized.

As five Enforcers continued to work out the direction home, Craig remained in a pensive silence. Spectra observed him carefully before deciding to approach him.

*Are you well, Craig?* she thought.

Craig jumped, startled by the telepathic voice in his head. He cocked his head toward Spectra, nodding.

*Think the answer,* she advised.

*I'm okay,* he insisted.

*You have been distracted this entire practice session,* Spectra observed. *That is why you could not react quickly enough to Keith's attacks. And you seem distant from us all. Something plagues you.*

Craig sighed to himself. *I'm just a little tired is all. Don't worry... I'll catch on to all this training. I won't let you down.*

Spectra smiled mildly. *I'm