The Spectrum Force Volume Two by Heather Ray (affordable ebook reader txt) 📕

from the white circle she inscribed in the ground.

Rachel's jaw dropped as the enormous chunk of ground lifted into the air. Spectra fell to her knees, but held her arms high. The chunk of earth hovered away from its resting place, creating a gaping hole directly into the subway tunnel.

Through the hole, Rachel could hear the rumbling of the Phlegnin.

"They're almost here!" she announced, turning to Spectra. She gazed at her in concern. "Can you hold that by yourself?"

"Not for long," Spectra rasped between gritted teeth, "Make sure the creature leaps through the hole. Then I can replace this rock."

Rachel nodded, her purple energy aura building as she flew into the large hole. She saw the bright color of her team's energy signatures nearby, and the moonlight illuminated the tunnel enough to make out the Phlegnin.

*Guys!* she called urgently, *Stop pushing! We're at the site!*

*Rachel? Is that you?*

*Where are you?*

*How're you in my head?!*

*Is Spectra alright?*

Rachel smiled, excited by the fact that she could distinguish the mind-voices of Keith, Jocelyn, Craig, and Tamara easily.

*Yes it's me,* she transmitted to the entire Force, *and I'm right behind the monster. I need to send him up through the hole Spectra created, to land him right at the construction site. All of us can communicate telepathically, just like we're doing now. And Spectra's okay, but she's very weak. She can't hold this hole open much longer.*

*Rachel!* Jocelyn called, *We can make our light energy tangible

! If you create a shield of energy, you should be able to stop the worm from getting past you. It'll have no choice but to go through the hole.*

*Got it,* Rachel responded, falling to the ground. She stepped back into the tunnel, erecting a shield of energy blocking off the rest of the passageway from the Phlegnin.

The monster roared in frustration, once again pounding against the shield that had pushed it so far. Once it recognized the escape opportunity above, it incredibly leapt into the hole, pushing up from its tail. Its quills dug into the ground surrounding the hole, and supported it enough to slither onto the surface.

"Yes!" Craig cheered, high-fiving Keith and Jocelyn.

"It's a bit early for celebration," Matthew noted grimly, his energy aura building as he rose from the ground, "That thing isn't dead yet."

Purple energy exploded around Rachel's body, and she leapt into the air. "Then let's finish this," she decided, streaking through the hole. The Orange, Yellow, Green, Red and Blue Enforcers were close behind, and together the six hovered in a row above the construction site.

"Spectra!" Rachel called, "Lower it!"

Spectra heaved a deep sigh of relief as she slowly reset the heavy piece of concrete and earth. Once she had set it firmly in its original place, she held her palm out towards it. The white energy that still filled the crack evaporated, reuniting the piece with the larger whole.

There wasn't even a crack to show that tons of earth and concrete had moved.

"We've got to keep it from getting away!" Rachel declared, her fists firing rays of energy. The energy formed a flat plate, covering the ground beneath the Phlegnin. "No running away this time!"

The beast roared furiously, thrusting its head toward Rachel. It opened its jagged maw, releasing a powerful stream of flames.

The Blue Enforcer was quick to react, streaking in front of the fire and catching Rachel, pushing her to safety. "Sheesh, Ray," he quipped, "How many times am I going to have to save your butt today?"

Rachel smirked. "Trust me... that's the last one."

They both recovered their bearings, and joined the others, who were all firing energy blasts at the beast from varying angles.

"We need to keep it still," she decided, "And we've got to find a way to puncture its hull!"

"I shall help," said a voice, startling both teens. Rachel gaped at Spectra, who hovered behind them with a faint white aura.

"Spectra, you're hurt!" Rachel argued, "You need to rest-"

"I won't be able to rest until I know this threat has been destroyed," she explained in a deadpan. She then gripped her staff tighter, her milky eyes flashing with power. *Hear me, Spectrum Force!* she declared, *The only way to hurt this Phlegnin is to fire powerful energy into its body and disintegrate it from the inside. I shall hold it in place with its mouth open. The six of you must combine your powers into one powerful energy burst.*

"How do we do that?" Craig inquired.

"Join your full power together," she advised, streaking into the air. Craig watched as she flew to the Phlegnin, hovering above it.

"Gather together, Spectrum Force!" she ordered, her energy wave increasing. The six regrouped at a short distance, and watched as the white aura bathed the Phlegnin in its pure radiance, slowly freezing the beast in place.

"How do we do this?" Jocelyn asked, as the six heroes lowered themselves to the ground.

"We'll do it like a rainbow," Keith decided, clenching his fist. "After all, we're the Spectrum Force. I know that's not a coincidence."

His burning energy continued building around his body. He then reached out one hand, extending his palm to the heavens. Slowly, the hazy energy pulled into his palm, creating a pulsing sphere of energy roughly the size of a basketball.

"That's... all I've got," he strained through clenched teeth.

"I'll try," Jocelyn said, straining her muscles. She too focused her entire energy into one sphere, which hovered in her hand.

"Bring them together," Rachel advised, watching intently.

The Orange and Red Enforcers slowly brought their hands together, fusing the two spheres. The result was a larger sphere, glowing an orange-reddish hue.

"That's it!" Jocelyn gasped, "We'll bring them all

together!"

In sequence, Tamara, Matthew, and Craig created spheres of energy, melding them into the whole. Finally, Rachel stepped forward, depositing her energy into the pool.

Once the sphere absorbed Rachel's pulsing energy, it flashed brilliantly. The result was a large sphere of pure white radiance.

As if it were conscious, the sphere leapt from the team, streaking toward the monster and into its mouth. Once the energy disappeared into its throat, Spectra released her hold on it, streaking out of the way.

Blinding white energy sliced through the creature's hide from the inside. The light continued to brighten, cutting through more tissue and disintegrating the skin it touched.

Soon, the creature vanished in a brilliant wave of energy bright enough to light up the entire city of Langstrum Alps.

Chapter Twenty

The leather-clad hero rose to his feet on the rooftop, collecting his bearings after the bone-crunching fall from the sky. He thrust his head upward, his eyebrow arching as the helicopter passed just above him, clearly out of control as it careened sideways toward the nearby skyscraper.

^Trinity^ he whispered, looking around sharply. He grabbed hold of a long chord that had tied him to the helicopter. He ground his teeth as the weight of the machine pushed him toward the edge of the building.

Meanwhile, the pilot of the helicopter swallowed hard as she saw the glass-paned building that stood before the damaged vessel.

Wasting no time, the black-haired woman leapt from her seat and hurried to the chord, firing a pistol to disconnect it from its anchor on the floor of the helicopter. She clung to the chord with all her might, slipping through the helicopter's open hatch and swinging back towards the building her companion fell upon.

The helicopter smashed into the skyscraper, sending a wave of impact energy that wove through the wall of the building, instantly shattering it in a fiery explosion.

"Yesss!" Craig shrieked, pumping his fist, "Save the day, Neo!"

Matthew chuckled, brushing off the popcorn kernels that fell from Craig's large bowl onto his shoulder. "Why is it you get so involved in movies?"

Craig smirked, glancing down at his roommate, who sat on the floor before the couch. "The Matrix

just happens to be the best sci-fi film since Star Wars. And I mean A New Hope

... not the other three. That last one was awful!"

Keith perked up at that, pulling his hand from around Tamara's shoulder to grab a handful of popcorn from their bowl. "Awful?" he repeated, holding up the fistful of popcorn like a grenade, "Are you crazy? The special effects in Phantom Menace

put this to shame! And I just can't respect a movie starring Keanu Reeves."

Tamara giggled, slipping off the couch towards the far side of the floor, where Jocelyn and Matthew had taken refuge. "I can see where this is going," she whispered.

Craig shook his head, lifting his own bowl of popcorn. "And you can respect an over-budgeted movie starring a ten year old kid who can't act to save his life?"

Then, both young men hurled their popcorn in a blinding hail of salted snack. Jocelyn, Tamara, and Matt all fell into laughter at the childish antics of their friends.

"I'm glad we never do Movie Night in our apartment," Jocelyn breathed.

Matt rolled his eyes. "Yeah... but guess who's probably gonna wind up cleaning all this up!"

Rachel slipped in through the unlocked door just in time to witness the start of the popcorn war. She smiled demurely, shaking her head in disbelief. She slipped off her black blazer and hung it on the coat rack before entering the kitchen.

"Hey Ray," Tamara greeted when she noticed her arrival. The declaration calmed down both the laughter and the popcorn storm, diverting all their attention to the newly-arrived friend.

"How was the first day in the office?" Keith inquired.

Rachel shrugged, helping herself to a can of Pepsi. "Surprisingly, it went without a hitch."

"What do you mean 'surprisingly'?" Jocelyn asked.

"Thankfully the Denebians didn't attack," Rachel clarified, "But I must admit, I spent just about every free moment I got thinking about it. I kept on pondering what kind of excuse to give if I had to leave abruptly."

Keith nodded, biting his lip. "Good call," he conceded, "I hadn't even thought of that."

"There're a lot of things we'll need to think about now," Rachel stated, taking a seat beside the couch, "We'll need to be on twenty-four hour alert. We'll never know when Phaedra will strike. True, she'll more likely attack at night, but that doesn't mean she can't alter her routine if it suits her. And what are we going to do about the world at large? Can we keep an alien invasion secret? Should we?"

The entire group fell silent. Craig sighed, grabbing the remote and stopping the video. "We really do need to come to a consensus on some issues," he decided.