Malik led Kyle through the utilitarian gray stairwell. And Kyle's heart hammered a nervous rhythm against his ribs.
"So, what's she like?" Kyle asked, trying to sound casual as they reached the final landing.
Malik paused, his hand hovering over a steel door. "Lucy? She is the calmest person you will ever meet while preparing to end a threat. But has zero patience for anything that disrupts a mission."
He pushed the door open, revealing the headquarters' roof. They found her at the extreme edge of the building, her legs dangling over the seven-story drop.
She wasn't brooding, she was utterly still. She wore standard division gear but unlike the others, hers was pristine and fitted, suggesting purpose rather than comfort.
Malik cleared his throat. "Lucy, I'm back with our guest."
She rose in one fluid, turning to face them. She was tall and her expression serious and her eyes fixed immediately on Kyle.
"So, this is Kyle?" she asked. And took three slow steps forward. Kyle felt exposed.
"I wanna see what's scaring the higher-ups in you." she stated, stopping just outside arm's reach. Her voice dropped slightly. "Release it now."
Kyle's already frayed nerves snapped. "I don't think that's a good..."
He didn't finish the sentence. Lucy was already there. And a punch slammed into his guts with the force of a concrete block. Kyle's breath fled his body entirely, his eyes rolling up, momentarily showing only the whites before they popped out from the shock.
He was sent flying backward, a limp weight propelled by impossible speed. He tumbled toward the sheer drop of the roof's edge, saved only by Malik, who moved with a sudden, desperate burst of agility. Malik's arm shot out, snagging Kyle's collar just as his heels scraped the parapet wall.
"Lucy, calm down, would you!" Malik roared, pulling Kyle back with a grunt.
But Lucy wasn't listening. She was already on them again. Her leg snapped out in a low, blurring kick that struck Kyle's ribs, sending him down the rooftop.
Malik vaulted, twisting his body to ensure Kyle landed with a controlled impact rather than a neck-breaking fall.
Lucy followed them to the ground effortlessly.
"Are you trying to kill him?" Malik demanded, shoving Kyle further away and taking a protective stance.
Lucy stood still, her breathing steady, her expression still terrifyingly calm. "I just want to see something."
Without another word, she closed the distance to push Malik. A strike that found a weak point in Malik's stance and sent him staggering and tripping a dozen feet away.
While Malik struggled to regain his footing, Lucy spun. Her foot connected with Kyle's jaw in a wicked spin-kick as he was trying to push himself up. Kyle crashed against the wall. And before he could slide down, Lucy was upon him again, a blur of motion.
She began a merciless, rapid flurry of punches.
"Come on!" she hissed. "Let it out! Show me why you're worth this chaos!"
Kyle roared, a sound of pain and rising desperation and threw a weak punch. She caught his wrist mid-swing and yanked him forward, his face inches from hers, the sheer boredom in her eyes devastating.
"You bore me to death." she whispered.
Then, she grabbed him by the face with one hand and hurled him. He slid to a halt near the center, coughing, spitting blood and desperately trying to stand.
Lucy turned her back, walking toward the door as if the training session was over.
"No…" Kyle gasped, his vision blurring but somewhere in the darkness, something else heard the call.
"No." he thought again, the word no longer a plea but an order.
His body seized and exhaustion vanished. The demon had taken over.
Kyle's body woke up. He pushed himself to his feet, hands hanging lazily at his sides, his head bowed. And he moved.
Within the blink of an eye, he had closed the distance and appeared next to the retreating Lucy. And a heel kick was aimed to her head.
She didn't look back. She simply reached out a hand and snatched his ankle out of the air.
A shockwave erupted from the point of contact, clashing forces that made the concrete dust dance around them but Lucy didn't so much as wobble.
"You're late to the party." she said, her lips finally curling into grin.
Kyle pulled his foot free, throwing a follow-up kick with the other leg. She blocked it casually with her forearm.
Her bored look was gone, replaced by a spark of genuine excitement. Lucy threw a fist. Kyle blocked it with his arms crossed but the impact was too much, sending him cartwheeling backward.
Lucy ran after him, closing the distance in a single flash step then went up. She kicked down, aiming for his chest. And he was able to block the kick with both hands but the force drove him hard onto one knee, the ground beginning to crack beneath him.
Lucy jumped back, creating a strategic distance.
And suddenly, demonic energy began to erupt from Kyle's body. The demon's presence was fully manifested.
Kyle lifted his head and a wicked smile stretching across his bruised face. And he lunged.
Within a blink Kyle was on her face, his fist raised. Lucy's eyes widened but only for an instant. She whispered: "Nekhira."
And a massive, bone-white, skeletal fist materialized from the shadows behind Lucy, a construct of immense, terrifying power. And it swung with the momentum of a wrecking ball.
The fist met Kyle side with a deafening impact that sounded like a building collapsing. And the ground beneath Kyle cratered instantly. The blow ripped the last remnants of control away and the demon vanished, replaced by Kyle who slid unconscious into the new depression in the concrete.
And the gigantic demonic manifestation, faded back into Lucy's shadow.
She turned, adjusting a cuff on her sleeve as if she'd only been brushing dust off herself. She looked at the collapsed Kyle and then toward Malik.
"I can handle him." she said. And walked past Malik, who was still recovering from her earlier shove.