CHAPTER 28: The War Room Part 2

Kairos Ultima’s smirk lingered as he pulled out his chair with an unnecessary scrape, letting the noise cut through the tension like a blade. He dragged the chair closer to the Four, planting himself at the very edge of their circle. He didn’t sit right away. Instead, he slouched forward, elbows on the table, his fingers tapping idly. Every eye was on him and he looked like he owned the room.

Across from him, Axel’s expression remained unreadable. The Founder’s Head was a man of measured authority, never one to lose control. But there was something in the way his jaw clenched ever so slightly, the way his fingers curled into his palm, that hinted at his growing irritation.

“Mr. Ultima, if you could take your seat,” Axel finally spoke, his voice low and deliberate. “We would like to begin.”

Kairos chuckled, leaning back slightly. “Funny,” he mused. “I remember requesting more operatives a few months ago. And what did I get? A nice, clean rejection. But now, suddenly, you all want to talk?” He spread his arms in mock invitation. “Alright then, let’s hear what you have to say.”

A flicker of amusement danced in Scarlett’s eyes, but Lexi cut in before she could speak.

“We can see that you’re upset, Kairos, but that is no way to speak to the Founder’s Head. So go back and sit the fuck down.”

Her voice was sharp, commanding and soft at the same time.

Kairos laughed under his breath, then tilted his head slightly. “And what if I refuse?” he asked, his voice light, teasing, but edged with defiance.

Then, Axel shifted.

It was a subtle movement—almost imperceptible—but the effect was immediate. His gaze darkened, his posture straightened, and a sudden, oppressive weight seemed to fill the air. It wasn’t power in the traditional sense. It wasn’t a display of aggression. But it was absolute authority, the kind that forced silence into the room.

Kairos stopped talking immediately.

For a brief second, the room felt like a stretched thread on the verge of snapping.

Then, as if nothing had happened, Axel leaned back slightly, his expression unchanged.

“Okay, okay,” Kairos said, raising his hands in surrender. His usual smirk returned, but it was slightly forced this time. “All good fun. I was joking anyway.” He dragged his chair back to its original space and leaned forward. “But we’ve been out there in the shitstorm you call a ‘secure perimeter.’ And before we start planning on how to fix it, I think we need some real answers on how this whole thing even happened in the first place.”

“I don’t know, Kairos, you tell us,” Lexi quipped, her lips curling into a grin.

“How is it that Deviants got past you on the outside and made it inside the Dome?" She tilted her head slightly. "Your entire job is to keep them from breaching the outer gate. That’s why we send you outside. But I guess that was a bit much to expect from the likes of you.”

Raven let out a quiet laugh. “If it isn’t the queen herself. Always with the questions, always with the judgments.” She crossed her arms, a sharp glint in her eye. “Do you have any idea what we deal with out there? If we weren’t out there, this whole place would’ve been torn to shreds like wet paper. You’re welcome.”

“You know what your problem has always been…” Lexi started, but Constantine stood up before she could finish.

“Enough.” His voice was firm, even. “Pointing fingers won’t help us. We need a solution.”

Axel gave a small nod. “Let’s get to it, then.” He leaned forward, fingers laced together. “First, a report. We have 312 confirmed casualties from the Deviant assault, another 96 missing, and half a district in ruins. Infrastructure is compromised, security is failing, and—” his gaze flickered to Kairos, “—we have no idea how the Deviants got inside the Dome’s borders.”

That statement landed like a hammer.

The room tensed, and even Kairos’s smirk thinned just slightly.

Rebel, sitting to Constantine’s left, spoke next.

“That’s the real problem, isn’t it?” she said. “The Dome’s outer barriers have held for years. The Deviants attack, sure, but they never make it inside. Something changed.”

James Castle, arms folded across his broad chest, nodded grimly. “And we need to know why.”

For a moment, no one spoke.

Julian Rojas broke the silence. He stood up, placing his fingers on his temples. His eyes turned golden as he telepathically projected his memory into the minds of everyone present. The landscape outside the Dome unfolded before them like a living vision.

“We encountered Deviants outside the Dome before the attack,” Julian said, his deep voice resonating through the chamber. “They weren’t like before. More organized. More…” He searched for the right word, then settled on one that made the room feel even colder.

“Intelligent.”

The vision moved as if they were inside Julian’s own mind, reliving his memory in real time. The sensation was suffocating. Michael’s breath hitched as an invisible pressure wrapped around his skull, squeezing with an intensity that made his vision blur. It was different from when Ma used his telepathy—his touch had weight but was controlled, careful. Julian’s was something else entirely. It crashed into his mind like a tidal wave, raw and unfiltered.

Not only that, Michael could feel Julian’s emotions, his focus, his anger as he fought with the Deviants. At one point, he felt the metallic taste of blood as Julian pulverized a Deviant to the ground, breaking its head in pieces. The sheer force of Julian’s reach spanning across fifty minds at once was staggering to him.

Michael clenched his jaw, trying to resist, but it was useless. His breathing turned shallow, hands tightening into fists under the table. Was it just him, or did the Taskforce X mutants all radiate this kind of pressure? If this was what a top telepath could do without effort, he didn’t want to imagine Julian exerting his full strength.

“We managed to strike the biggest among them down,” Julian continued, his voice echoing through their heads.

The massive Deviant collapsed, its body disintegrating into ash, swirling unnaturally into the ground. The earth trembled and a bright white light shot upward —a piercing, unnatural glow. Then, a shadowed figure emerged.

The moment it appeared, Michael, Phoebe, Emma, and Frank all stiffened.

“This figure had a darkness about him,” Julian said. “Kairos said he could feel a pull towards it, so he attempted to attack.”

The vision showed Kairos activating Kinetic Overdrive, a blur as he launched toward the figure, his sword slashing downward. But before the blade could land, the figure sighed—and vanished.

But before the figure disappeared, it spoke, “Hmm…it must be inside.”

The vision snapped and Julian lowered his hand.

Phobe gripped the edge of her chair, exhaling sharply. A feeling of dread and certainty coiled in her stomach. The figure they saw was covered by a shroud of darkness but she recognized him immediately. To her left, Emma was sweating from the sheer visuals from the telepathic link. Michael wasn’t looking too good himself. Frank was lost in a daze, not moving. It was up to her, to say it. The words escaped her lips before she even realized she was standing.

“His name is Malrik!” she blurted.

The room froze.

A heavy silence blanketed the chamber. Eyes locked onto Phoebe, the weight of their gazes pressing down on her like a physical force.