Inside the locker, they found a set of old photographs and some outfits neatly folded. The images depicted Martha alongside a group of people, each with unique abilities.
"Jiele, look at this," Enzo called her over.
Nero's eyes widened as he saw the pictures. "These are anomalies too. They were together with Martha?"
Enzo carefully picked up one of the photographs, turning it over. "There's something written on the back."
The message was cryptic, but it hinted at a location. It seemed Martha had made some other secret anomaly friends over the years.
"Who are these?" Enzo questioned.
"I don't know," Nero replied as he took up one of the photographs to take a closer look.
"There's something else here," Enzo said as he grabbed ahold of a finely smoothed handle, camouflaged into the walls of the locker.
"It's a drawer," Enzo affirmed as he pulled on the handle, dragging out the hidden section within the locker. The drawer revealed a compartment where several devices were stored.
"I've seen this before," Nero proclaimed as they stared down at the drawer.
Before Enzo, Jiele, and Nero could conclude their investigation in the hidden room, an ominous sound echoed through the house.
"Did you hear that?" Jiele asked, her instincts on high alert.
Before anyone could respond, the lights flickered, and the doors slammed shut, sealing them inside. Panic started to creep into their hearts as they realized they were trapped.
"Someone's been here, It's a trap!" Enzo growled, clenching his fists and taking a stance awaiting any unprecedented event. "The Syndicate, they must have known we'd come here." He added.
As if on cue, the room's walls trembled, and a group of Syndicate agents burst in, surrounding them. The agents wore dark, menacing uniforms, and their eyes glowed with a malevolent energy.
"Standing face to face before them was the leader of the Syndicate, Viktor Rook.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the sidekick twins. You guys made new friends, I see. Tell you what, hand over all the copies of the research data, and I might give you a headstart to escape, perhaps I might even consider letting you walk out of here free," Viktor demanded.
"Or... we take it from you anyway, and take you along with it," he added with a sinister grin on his face.
Enzo, Jiele, and Nero exchanged determined glances. They knew they couldn't surrender the information they had risked so much to obtain.
"Never!" Enzo affirmed, guiding Jiele and Nero behind him.
"Where are you gonna go?" Viktor asked as he chuckled, ridiculing Enzo's bravery.
Immediately, Jiele charged forward, pushing away Enzo's hand as she shouted, her sonic scream reverberating through the room, causing the agents to stagger back.
Enzo and Nero clenched their fists tightly against their ears, trying to shield their eardrums from the hurtful waves.
Jiele's powerful sonic scream continued to reverberate through the room, causing the Syndicate agents to stagger back in pain. Enzo and Nero, though affected, braced themselves as they knew they had to endure the pain to support Jiele.
But the Syndicate agents were well-prepared for resistance. Viktor immediately deployed a device that emitted a high-frequency pulse, disrupting Jiele's sonic attack. Her scream started fading as she began losing strength to power her chords.
Enzo quickly reacted, grabbing onto Jiele, and Nero teleported them out of the room to evade the enemy's counterattack. They rematerialized outside the house, a safe distance away from the Syndicate agents.
All three of them collapsed to their knees, their bodies weakened from the battle. As they caught their breath, Jiele's eyes reflected frustration.
"I should have been stronger," she said, her voice tinged with disappointment.
"No, Jiele, you did great. It's not your fault. The Syndicate is just well-equipped," Enzo reassured her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"If they knew about here already, it means they have Martha's research data," Nero added, frustration evident in his voice.
Enzo clenched his fists, his determination resurfacing. "Come in guys, we have to get out of here. We need to find a way to contact CREED.
As they got back on their feet, just before they could get closer to their car, they were struck by an electrocuting force. The ground beneath them trembled, and a loud rumble filled the air and they all reactively screamed out in pain.
The backup squad of the mercenaries had fired some energy shots at them from behind using an electromagnetic device developed by District Inc. The blast had briefly stunned the trio in their path, resultantly dampening Enzo's teleportation ability along with Jiele's sonic scream ability.
With his powers suppressed, Enzo, Jiele, and Nero found themselves at a disadvantage. They attempted fighting, but the sheer number and enhanced technology of the Syndicate agents overwhelmed them.
They were disarmed and subdued, held tightly by the agents, who seemed to relish their victory. The Syndicate leader-- Victor approached them, his eyes filled with malice.
"You should have stayed out of our affairs," he sneered, yanking the encrypted data device from Enzo's hands.
"You won't get away with this" Nero spat defiantly, though he knew they were at the Syndicate's mercy.
"Ah, such bravery," the leader mocked. "But your bravery won't save you now. We have big plans for anomalies like you, and you'll play a crucial role."
Before any of them could respond, a dark mist filled the room, emanating from the Syndicate leader's hand. The trio felt their bodies grow weak and heavy as the venom overwhelmed them.
"What... what did you do?" Jiele managed to utter, her voice trembling.
"You thought you could win? Martha thought so too, unfortunately it didn't end too well for her" Viktor said as he chuckled wickedly.
"Burn it to the ground!" Viktor commanded as he turned around leading out of the scene.
The venom from the dark mist seemed to seep into their very beings, draining their strength and clouding their minds. Enzo, Jiele, and Nero could feel their powers slipping away, leaving them defenseless.
As the scene fell into an eerie silence, the Syndicate agents hauled the now-feeble trio away, loading them into an armored carried truck. They were captured, and their hopes of bringing justice and exposing the truth now seemed distant and uncertain.
The building was immediately rigged with explosives, prepping for an an imminent demolishion within the hour. As the vehicles drove a distance down, the trembling tremor could be felt. The house, once filled with hope and determination was now reduced to nothing but rubble, debris and ash, its secrets buried beneath flames as they drove away.
It seemed the Syndicate had successfully lured the trio into their trap, having left Martha's house as bait for any unsuspecting anomaly friends of Martha's that would cross it's path. The future now looked bleak for Nero, Enzo and Jiele.