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

into laughter... until a sudden, faint quaking shook the ground on which they stood. Immediately, the six youths gathered into a tight circle, muscles tensed and senses alert.

"Something's coming," Jocelyn whispered unnecessarily.

"Spectra told us the planet was uninhabited," Matthew recalled, "So Phaedra must have sent us a sun-resistant welcoming committee."

Keith inclined his head toward the clear sky. "I'm gonna get a better look around."

Keith floated upward slowly, casting his deep blue gaze around the greenery warily. In the distance, he saw the cool blue of waterfall tumbling down the mountains to the north. And when he turned slightly, following the stampeding sound, his jaw slackened at the sight before him.

"A... black sea?" he marveled, eyes wide. Somehow, a black, tar-like ocean on planet that so reminded him of an Earth rainforest didn't fit right.

"Guys!" he shouted, "It's coming from that way... fast!"

The remaining Force all looked in the direction Red indicated, but they had little time to do anything to prepare. All they could do was react when the wave of murky blackness crashed through the surrounding greenery, blanketing the lush forest.

"Holy sh-!"

"Matt!" Jocelyn screamed, grabbing the awestruck Green Enforcer by the forearm and pulling him heavenward. But they couldn't get far enough away, for out of the encroaching sea came a pair of muscled arms, black and sleek as an oil spill. Mighty fingers encircled Green's ankles, and with a startled yelp, Matthew sank toward the darkness.

"MATT!" she repeated in panic, diving toward him. Without a second thought, she began slashing at the elongated arms in a desperate attempt to free her friend. Then, without warning, three humanoid forms leapt from the black depths towards her, one pinning her arms to her sides from behind her back while the second wrapped around her flailing legs.

Her eyes wide with alarm, she stared as the third offender emerged from the blackness just below her. The man-like form began to spread, distinct limbs fading into each other as it became a flat, amorphous sheet of inky blackness.

And then, it struck.

Jocelyn was instantly overwhelmed as her world became a silvery-black void. He tried desperately to scream, but her throat was dry and raw, and her lungs simply had no oxygen to offer.

He felt her chest constrict, her muscles becoming taunt and insanely heavy. She couldn't move, she couldn't breathe... she couldn't even tell if her eyes were open or closed.

She was being smothered to death!

Or... was it more than that? She felt an encroaching cold, building from her limbs inward. And from the center of her being, she felt a surreal sense of... leaking.

Almost as if she were bleeding...

Oh God oh God oh God oh God...

Chapter Eighteen

"Hang on, Jocie!" Matthew screamed frantically. He managed to claw out of the murky tar that had clung to him, but more appeared. Only this time, instead of dragging him downward, they seemed to be pushing him away from the pool.

His breath came in ragged gasps, panic rising when he realized that Jocelyn was no longer fighting. Instead, the inky black cocoon that outlined her body grew terrifyingly still, and began a slow decent to the bobbing blackness below.

That thing can't suffocate her... can it?

he wondered, his heart racing, "Joce! Can you hear me?!"

He wanted desperately to reach her, to dig her out with his bare hands if need be. But how could he even get close??

His muscles tensed as he slowly, painstakingly drew all his appendages inward. He pulled against all the arms pushing him away, collapsing his body into a tight ball. Then, a ball of energy flared to life around him, glowing brilliantly and pushing away the torrent of evil with its radiance.

He turned downward, his aura blazing brilliantly as he dove toward the murkiness below. But, to his surprise, the blackness reoriented itself, and a wave of viscous night crashed toward him.

With a yelp of surprise, Matt angled upward, narrowly missing the substance while catapulting to a safer level. As he streaked, he felt the chill of the creatures beneath moving closer.

I can't...I can't get to her!

*Jocelyn? Please...answer me!* he called desperately.

There was no response.

Chapter Nineteen

"Matt! Jocelyn!"

Rachel swore under her breath as she frantically scanned the army beneath her for her youngest friends.

And it was indeed an army... for the sea of black seemed to be formed of countless humanoid shapes. It almost seemed as if the Denebians had stolen every Olympic sprinter on the planet, shaved their heads, and dunked them in a vat of crude oil. For all the creatures were lean-muscled, and obscenely fast. And there were definitely molded to human form... at least, until they began "oozing," spreading into the flattened goopy substance that had swallowed the Orange Enforcer before Rachel's very eyes.

Purple shook off her distraction to assess her own situation. As soon as Matthew screamed his distress, Rachel hurried to help her friends- only to be blindsided by one of the man-like creatures. It struck her with physical force, catching the base of her neck with its elbow. She had been surprised by the assault, but also vaguely relieved; hand-to-hand combat was much more familiar territory.

Rachel precariously took another glance around. Matthew had managed to pull away, but Jocelyn was nowhere in sight. Keith and Tamara fought their battle back to back a few hundred feet away, while Craig had meandered above her, his aura flaring an angry blue as he viciously fought back the waves of creatures that rocketed up to meet him.

Her distraction was rewarded by three more creatures that grabbed for different appendages with such precision, they almost seemed to be of one mind.

"Oh no you don't!" she hissed, pulling one arm in. She managed to lurch forward, crashing her forehead against that of one creature. She stunned it enough to wrestle her hand free, which immediately began to glow vibrantly.

She gasped in surprise when she realized the others were already beginning to melt, slowly coating her other arm and legs.

Wasting no time, she fired a tight beam of energy at her other arm, focusing the blast on the back of the creature, that had yet to make contact with her uniform. A high pitched shriek greeted her; music to her ears.

"I guess raw energy isn't quite as tasty as my arm, huh?"

Chapter Twenty

"Keith?"

"Yeah?"

"I have a question."

"Shoot."

"When we blast one of those... thingies... do they die?"

Keith frowned deeply, his aura intensifying momentarily as a sphere of hot red coalesced between his palms. "I hope so."

Tamara nodded as she tossed her own ring of glowing light. Right on target, it sliced through one of the manlike shapes, cutting it cleanly in half.

It wailed in some kind of pain, and plummeted to the thick inky blackness beneath them.

"I sure hope so too!" she acknowledged, her dark eyes following the creature's freefall. However, just as she suspected, two more came to take its place. "But it's a bit hard to tell. We're not gaining any ground!"

She backed closer to Keith, their auras mixing into a rich orange where they touched. "Any bright ideas?"

He bit his lip, considering. "Well, I've got something..."

He hurled his energy sphere, watching in satisfaction as it blew two creatures to pieces. Then he turned around, extending his hands.

"Tam, give me your hands."

Yellow regarded him quizzically for a moment before doing so.

"Now what?"

"Now focus your energies into your hands, like you were creating that ring of yours," he instructed, "I'll create my Supreme Fireball Attack."

Despite the gravity of the situation, Tamara couldn't contain a small giggle.

"What can possibly

be funny?" he demanded.

"Supreme Fireball Attack?" she repeated, "You... you named

your attack?"

He huffed peevishly, dropping his gaze to the orange-hued energy they were creating. "For your information, all great fighters name their techniques! Like the Kamehameha in Dragon Ball, or Chun-Li's Spinning Bird Kick!"

"Right... and Superman's Flying Mega Power Punch! And Batman's Ultra-Fast Batarang Throw!"

He scowled at her, but his expression was lost underneath his mask. He chose to drop the subject. "Okay... I think our powers are sorta bleeding together. Keep them distinct!"

"I get it... I'll ring my Impossibly Strong Golden Hula-hoop around your Way Too Furious Fireball Attack!"

"Supreme

Fireball Attack," he grumbled, "That attack's goin' into the history books, Babe!"

She struggled against her giggles, chewing her lip as she forced her energies to separate from Keith's. After nearly a full minute of concentration, the attack was generated: a glowing ball of red flame surrounded by a golden ring of light.

The two heroes floated away from the ball quietly.

"So... what do we call this one?"

"Isn't it obvious? The Supreme Fireball Impossibly Strong Golden Hula-hoop Attack!"

Yellow cocked an eyebrow. She couldn't tell whether her boyfriend was serious or not. "What does it do, then?"

He smirked, reaching his palm beneath the floating energy. "Let's see."