Chapter 282 Avery’s and Kasandra’s Move

Avery and Kasandra hurriedly rushed through the halls of the backstage area in search of Nianni’s kidnapers.

Thanks to Kaliya divulging everything he knew to them; they had found out that it was one of their fellow competitors that was involved.

Katarina and her team had been hired specifically to abduct Nianni after the concert today.

This was part of the reason that they had performed terribly in the first event and only put in a moderate amount of effort in the rest.

Considering that their entire goal revolved around committing a major crime halfway through the competition, there was no reason for them to place higher in the rankings.

In fact, Katarina had been instructed to do her best to not stand out and not rise above rank seven if at all possible.

Having more attention on her would have only made it more difficult to complete the true job she was here for. Even as big as this competition was, being in last place meant that far fewer people cared about what Katarina and her crew were doing.

Of course, since she was not kidnapping Nianni for her own personal reasons, it was obvious that the corporation that she was representing in the competition were really the ones that wanted the famous singer.

Kaliya had also admitted to being part of this company, and the boss that he did dirty work for was one of the executives.

"Avery, I’ve got something." Kasandra said, her ears twitching.

For a few moments the two of them stopped and Kasandra more intently listened to their surroundings.

"There’re six individuals going in the opposite direction as us a few hallways down. They just passed us, and I think that they are heading towards the area where we fought Kaliya and his team. From what I can tell, one of them has heavier steps than the others. As if they’re carrying something a bit heavy. This is just conjecture, but it could Nianni."

Once again Avery was astounded by how precisely Kasandra could pick up sounds and identify them.

His own hearing had been enhanced somewhat, but he could not hold a candle to her.

"If they’re only just now heading towards the escape route that Kaliya was supposed to secure, I wonder what took them so long?" Avery mused out loud. "

They had figured that Katarina and her subordinates would have headed for a second escape route, as Kaliya had speculated.

Yet here they were heading towards the now far more dangerous and uncertain area where their coconspirators had been wiped out.

Also, Kasandra had said that there were only six pairs of footfalls. From what he could remember, that was less than half of Katarina’s crew.

’Did something happen to them, or have they split up for some reason?’

There was a bit of uncertainty as to what was going on, but Avery still knew what it was that the needed to do.

He did not fancy himself a hero, but he was not about to let Nianni get abducted if he could help it.

For one thing, he had a number of questions that he wanted to ask her, and for another, both Kasandra and Jasmine were pretty big fans of hers. He could already picture how saddened they would be if she just suddenly disappeared.

"Okay, let’s head them off quic-"

"Wait! I just picked up on someone else."

Just as Avery was ready to move into action, Kasandra stopped him and continued to carefully listen.

It was not long after the group that they speculated was Katarina’s team went by, that Kasandra heard the sound of another person moving.

They were moving far more cautiously that Katarina’s group, and Kasandra had only just barely managed to pick up their light footsteps.

"I think that they noticed us as well." Kasandra said, a frown on her face.

Her hearing was impeccable, and she had noticed them slow down at a certain point and then move slightly in their direction.

They were not approaching, but their positioning and movement made it seem like they knew that someone else was nearby.

"Do you think that they’re a straggler trying to catch up with Katarina?" Avery asked.

"No, I don’t believe so. If I had to guess, I think that they’re trailing Katarina’s team. That’s what I can tell from their movement anyway."

"So, are they an ally, or another enemy we need to worry about?" Avery said, trying to make a decision.

If they turned out to be an enemy, it might be best to eliminate them first to prevent any other variables from getting involved. Though, there was a possibility that doing so could take too long and Katarina and her crew might get away.

"Going off of what you’ve told me about their positioning, let’s assume that they aren’t with Katarina at least. That means that we can use them."

At the same time that Cerise was planning on using Avery and Kasandra, the two of them were planning on doing the exact same thing.

Swiftly, Avery and Kasandra rushed to catch up and move ahead of Katarina and her team.

Fortunately, they were quite a bit faster thanks to their superior augmentations, and lighter loads.

Soon they had managed to get a few hundred meters ahead of their targets and waited in ambush.

Charging in head on without any strategy would only see them at a disadvantage this time. Especially since their opponents had laser rifles while all they were equipped with were physical weapons.

"Don’t forget that getting Nianni back is our top priority. If we can let’s just grab her and escape. We can let the authorities handle apprehending the kidnappers." Kasandra said, a determined gleam in her eyes.

"I know. I won’t get caught up in the heat of battle and forgot our main objective. Though, if I see the opportunity, I will definitely pummel them all into the ground." Avery replied, a vicious grin on his face.

Today was supposed to have been an easy and restful day, except, it had turned out to be even more stressful than the competition itself. Avery wanted to take out some of his frustrations on the perpetrators if it proved possible. Though, he was not going to jeopardize his, Kasandra’s, or Niani’s safety to do so.

Calmly, the two of them held their position.

At this point, Avery could hear the footsteps and heavy breathing of Katarina’s group as they closed in.

He and Kasandra were waiting in an intersecting hallway, ready to jump out the moment that their targets passed by.

’Now!’ Avery thought, pushing off the ground so hard that he left a dent in the floor.

With an explosive burst of speed, he barreled into the midst of Katarina’s crew. Immediately tackling the closet one.

The large man went flying from the impact and slammed against the wall on the other side of the hallway.

For a single second, Katarina and her subordinates were stunned by Avery’s sudden appearance and attack.

However, being the trained professionals that they were, with plenty of battle experience, they adjusted quickly and turned their weapons on him.

The first to aim their weapon at Avery was a shorter woman. Krissy to be precise, but Avery did not know her name at this time.

Before she was able to pull the trigger though, Avery swatted her weapon away with his left hand and seamlessly transitioned into an uppercut with his right.

A horrid crunching sound resounded as the blow connected, and Avery shattered Krissy’s jaw.

The force of the hit sent the petite woman flying up and impacting the ceiling above. Leaving a dent and red spot where she had impacted.

Having watched this, Katarina became enraged.

Krissy was her closest companion and seeing her limply falling to the floor snapped something inside of her.

With an intense ferocity, she fired at Avery using the laser rifle she had taken from Brixton. His only duty now was to carry the restrained Nianni.

Using his gauntlets, Avery deflected the laser blasts coming towards him and weaved side to side as he closed in on Katarina.

The other members of her team that were just recovering their bearings prepared to shoot Avery in the back but were forced to turn their attention elsewhere as Kasandra jumped out and attacked herself.

One of the guys went down before he could even react. Having several of his ribs broken and being violently shocked as Kasandra jabbed him with her baton.

The only combatant left with a weapon as a single woman, as Brixton had handed his over laser rifle to their boss and was busy holding onto a struggling Nianni who had started trying to break free once Avery had appeared.

Already within melee range, Kasandra swiftly beatdown the last remaining threat and turned towards the man that was holding onto Nianni.

Seeing that things were not going well, Brixton made the only decision he thought might still get them out of this.

With all of his might he threw Nianni away, towards where his boss and Avery were fighting.

Watching the person she was here to save going flying, Kasandra turned around and prepared to jump up and catch Nianni.

Yet, she had made an error in judgment.

The instant her back was turned, Brixton moved forward and attacked.

With his large arms, he swung at Kasandra.

Just barely she managed stopped herself in time and brought her own arms around in front of her to block the hit.

Still, the impact knocked her off her feet and flying into the wall behind her.