Alistair Thorne smoothly slid a thick document across his desk toward the three Hosts. As he did so, he paused to gather a stray folder lying beside the mission packet. Cj's eyes snagged on the name visible for a fleeting moment: Kyla Flynn.
Thorne carried the folder to a wall-mounted safe and, with precise, deliberate movements, keyed in a sequence. Cj, too far to see the digits, quickly nudged Andre under the table and subtly moved his chin toward the safe. Andre immediately got the message. His expression didn't change, but his eyes narrowed just perceptibly a faint pulse of the Owl Construct's sensory power as he locked the numerical sequence into his memory.
Thorne clicked the cabinet shut, securing Kyla's file, and returned to his seat. Leaning forward, he began the mission briefing.
"Now then. As Mario informed you, this is a containment and neutralization operation," Thorne stated coolly. "Your target is a Gamma-Class Beast, codenamed 'The Scavenger.' Its sustained energy output is high, making it a critical threat."
Thorne opened the document, revealing schematics and thermal images. "It is currently nesting in the Abandoned Subway Terminus beneath Sector Seven. It appears to be a colossal, hunched creature of bone and armored muscle, attracted to large concentrations of kinetic energy. We have analyzed its core frequency and believe its movements are largely predictable. Your objective is simple: secure the perimeter, engage, and neutralize the asset before it breaches the upper layers."
The three Hosts nodded in unison, accepting the orders, and turned to leave. They walked in strained silence toward the facility's main transport elevator.
Cj broke the tension. "So, where are we heading? Transport bay?"
Mario let out a low, dismissive whimper of annoyance. "As expected, Cj, you wouldn't know. Just so you're clear, this sort of advanced transport is reserved for C-Class anomalies like us."
Mario punched the top most button. The elevator ascended rapidly through the complex, stopping at the rooftop. A gust of cold wind immediately blasted into the small space. They stepped out onto the open platform, the entire city sprawling below in a dazzling, dizzying carpet of lights.
"That'll be our ride," Mario hissed, pointing cockily.
A strange aircraft sat waiting for them. It was a massive, angular machine clearly a hybrid between a helicopter and a military jet, with powerful, tilting rotors and reinforced, predatory plating.
Cj stared at the angular, hybrid aircraft, shock washing over him. Andre, already moving toward the loading ramp, spoke over the wind. "It's fine. It's built to be tough, and it's built to be fast."
They boarded, and the pilot a woman in a sealed flight suit shouted instructions over the internal speaker: "Earpieces on! Gear up with the armor provided."
Cj and Andre quickly moved to the storage compartment and strapped on the segmented, lightweight combat armor fusing to the body. Next to the armor racks were sleek, black objects that had no discernible shape no handles, blades, or points.
"What are these?" Cj asked, confused.
Andre grabbed one. "They're called Mana Swords," he explained, fastening the object to his belt. "They take form when you exert mana from inside your body and link to the design you want."
Cj was amazed that something so advanced existed. He grabbed a blade but, try as he might, nothing happened.
"As useless as ever," Mario scoffed from his seat, not even bothering to look. "You can't even tap into your mana. I won't be surprised if you don't even last five minutes just watching us fight." He fastened his own harness, securing himself down.
As Cj clenched the useless hilt, a faint, fleeting pulse of mana finally responded in his hand, causing the black metal to warm up. However, he was too consumed by the small spark of anger he felt from Mario's words register the event.
Andre clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Ignore him," he told Cj, rolling his eyes. They both quickly took seats and buckled up just as the aircraft's rotors roared, shifting pitch. The craft lifted, then shot forward with such incredible speed that the G-force slammed Cj's body hard back into his seat.
In less than an hour, the hybrid aircraft was setting down. Cj could see emergency lights flashing below, a perimeter of official black vehicles already surrounding the area.
The moment the ramp lowered, Cj stumbled out, immediately doubling over to dry-heave. He'd never flown before, not even remembering when the DCO had drugged and transported him this, high G-force experience was truly horrible.
Andre clapped him lightly on the shoulder, letting out an amused giggle. "Come on, soldier! Get moving."
Mario, already striding toward the perimeter, didn't even turn back. His voice drifted over the roaring wind of the rotors. "I just hope you don't die today being so useless."
A DCO operative in a crisp, black suit immediately walked toward them. "We're establishing the retreat perimeter now," the man stated, his tone flat and official. "We'll ensure the civilian area is clear, and no one comes near while you're engaging the target."
He didn't wait for a reply, simply turning and heading back to his car. All the other official vehicles followed suit, their emergency lights vanishing quickly into the night.
Mario, seizing the moment, announced cockily, "Alright, you two! We follow my lead, exactly as Thorne planned."
Andre, brushing imaginary dirt off his helmet, muttered under his breath, "Who made him the boss, anyway?"
Mario's head snapped around. Before Andre could react, Mario lunged, grabbing Andre by the collar of his new armor and hauling him up off the ground with shocking, easy strength.
Andre, showing not a single flicker of fear or emotion, spoke in a cold, deadly quiet tone. "Put me down, Mario, before I put you down permanently."
Mario dropped him, letting out a disgusted scoff. "Fine. But don't come running to me when your clever little strategies fail." He spun and stomped his way toward the mouth of the Abandoned Subway.
Andre smoothly dusted off his armor, a small, knowing smirk playing on his lips. Cj and Andre exchanged a look and followed him into the darkness.
They plunged into the darkness of the Abandoned Subway Terminus.
The air hit Cj immediately: a suffocating mix of damp earth, stale metal, and something sickly sweet the odor of decay and forgotten machinery. The terminus was a cavernous tomb. Rusted tracks snaked along the floor, and half derailed subway cars lay tipped on their sides, their windows shattered. Everything was being slowly reclaimed; thick, green moss and tenacious vines climbed the torn seats and skeletal support beams.
They walked further in, the silence broken only by their heavy, echoing footsteps on the concrete ballast.
Then, a deep, guttural roar tore through the shadows. The few remaining, barely functional fluorescent lights hanging from the ceiling flickered violently, bathing the tunnel in strobing arcs of light and darkness. The beast had found them.
Mario quickly strode back to Cj and Andre, and instinctively, the three of them spread out into a defensive triangle. Even Cj, grabbing the hilt of his unformed Mana Sword, fell into the fighting posture.
Mario scoffed, his eyes narrowed with disdain. "Yeah, as if you're going to be any help," he muttered, gesturing toward Cj.
The flickering lights were almost useless now. They started hearing truly vicious movement echoing from the tunnel ahead a terrible grinding sound, followed by loud crashes and the shrieking crunch of metal. It sounded as if entire train cars were being thrown against the walls and flattened like soda cans.
Finally, the Gamma Beast burst out of the darkness where the tunnel curved.
The Gamma Beast burst out of the shadows, an immediate, visceral force of nature.
The Gamma Beast loomed, a 4 meter colossus of jagged muscle and bone, its hunched frame radiating relentless menace. Its blood red, leathery hide, patched with bug like plates, looked like it shrugged off blows like iron.
As it moved, it let loose a sound that was more than just noise: a series of deafening roars that crackled with raw kinetic energy. The shockwaves from the sound alone slammed into Cj, Andre, and Mario with it even collapsing parts of the tunnels, a physical blow that vibrated deep in their chests and proved this was a threat far beyond anything they'd faced in the DCO training rooms.
Mario surged forward, positioning himself directly between Cj and the colossal Gamma Beast. "Stand back, rookie," he snarled over the static roar. "Watch how a C-Class Host handles its business."
The shift began instantly. Mario's face contorted as his Hyena Construct awakened: his eyes gained dark, vertical slit pupils, his nose flared, and the muscles beneath his armor became tight and coiled like steel springs.
Cj stared at the minor, controlled transformation, completely taken aback. He had never known what Mario's Echo was, and the sight of the Hyena Construct the dark eyes, the flared nose, the coiled, aggressive posture was a physical revelation of Mario's inner nature.
"What is that?" Cj shouted to Andre, stepping closer.
Andre didn't answer immediately; he was undergoing his own, quieter change. His eyes gained faint, golden slit pupils, and a cold, strategic awareness the Strategist's Gaze washed over his expression.
"It's the first step: the Assimilation Sequence," Andre explained, his voice calm and precise despite the chaos. "It's when we begin to merge with the Echo, becoming part Chimera. This stage is the Instinct Flicker also know as F1 it goes up to F5."
He pointed to his own eyes. "Mine is Enhanced Perception: Pinpoint accuracy, calculating trajectory, and near-perfect situational awareness. It lets the Owl Construct see the attack before it happens."
He gestured toward Mario, who was already low to the ground, radiating primal focus. "Mario's is a Kinetic Boost: Increased aggression, lightning-fast attack reflexes, and anticipation of physical force."
Andre's tone became grim. "The deeper you push, the closer you get to a full hybrid form. But the more you lose control, the more the Echo takes over. The final stage is Terminal it's when you lose yourself forever."
Cj watched the transformed Hosts one predatory, one calculating moving into the beast's immense shadow. This is amazing, he thought, gripping his useless Mana Sword hilt. He wondered, with a mix of awe and dread, if he could ever reach that stage, and what would happen if his unstable Axolotl power pushed past F1 and tore him apart.
Mario didn't wait for a tactical cue. He roared, not in fear, but in competitive rage, and charged the colossal figure. As he sprinted, he grasped the sleek, black hilt on his hip. A surge of his Hyena Construct's Kinetic Boost rippled through him, and the hilt burst into form: a monstrous, spiked mace of solid, shimmering black mana, glowing with an internal, violent crimson light.
"Get back, rookie!" Mario bellowed, a primal challenge echoing in the subterranean expanse. He swung the mace with all his C-Class might. The spiked head connected with the Gamma Beast's armored shoulder with an impact that shuddered through the entire tunnel. Rusted girders above them groaned in protest. But instead of staggering, the immense beast merely grunted, its thick, leathery hide barely cracking. Mario felt a heavy, draining force on impact a sickening pull, as if his kinetic energy was being siphoned directly from his weapon. He was thrown backward a few feet, shock momentarily clouding his face. His perfect opening strike had been met with near-total absorption.
Andre darted forward, his Owl Construct's Strategist's Gaze already calculating. His Mana Sword coalesced into a pair of razor-sharp, gleaming white throwing daggers, each humming with precise, focused energy. "Raw power is useless against a Gamma, Mario!" Andre snapped at Mario, not even looking back. "The kinetic absorption is too high on the hide! Target the joints, Mario, you idiot!"
Andre moved like a shadow, a blur of calculated precision. He arced around the beast's flank his daggers whistling through the stale air. They struck the vulnerable, chitinous segments behind the Gamma Beast's knee and shoulder with intense accuracy. The beast shrieked a high, unnatural sound of pain and stumbled, actually rocking on its massive legs for the first time.
Cj stood rooted, gripping the cold, formless hilt of his own Mana Sword. He squeezed, focusing with all his might, trying to channel the burgeoning power he felt deep within. But his mana remained a chaotic, untamed storm. The hilt remained cold, inert, then suddenly vibrated violently, a painful, discordant hum that threatened to shatter the bones in his hand. He gritted his teeth, forcing it, but the energy wouldn't cease. It only flared, sharp and uncontrolled, before dying away into an agonizing emptiness. He was useless.
The Gamma Beast, enraged by Andre's precise strikes, let out another deafening roar that pulsed with seismic force. It began to focus its lumbering charge not on Andre, but on Mario, who was still trying to recover his footing. Mario's face, already flushed with exertion, now twisted with a seething, dangerous rage.
The Scavenger Beast immediately recognized the shift in power. Seeing Mario disoriented, the colossal brute lowered its immense, armored head and let out a furious roar of opportunity, storming toward the struggling Host with clear killer intent.
Cj stood paralyzed for only a moment. He furiously wiped the blood from his nose with his finger... a sudden sign of the raw power surging through him with the back of his hand seeing the beast rush towards Mario, and that small, desperate action shattered his paralysis, giving way to a blinding rage that left him violently shaking.
A volatile aura, swirling with raging crimson mixed with pitch black energy, began to procure around him. He felt the terrifying rage within the Axolotl Construct not just his anger, but a primal, destructive fury and for the first time, he found a minute, dark connection to it.
Cj threw his head back and let out a raw, desperate shout.
The first stage of his transformation, hit him like a lightning strike. His veins instantly turned a luminous, chaotic crimson, pulsating with energy that surged outward, rapidly fracturing the concrete beneath his feet as if he'd gained a crushing, abnormal density destabilizing an neaby cart. His eyes flared, turning a solid, uncontrolled red.
The change was agonizing. His underlying bone structure suddenly felt brittle yet rigid, simultaneously breaking and reconnecting in painful, jarring micro-fractures. But the pain was instantly muffled by the sheer power of his Wrath. His fury was stronger than the trauma, overriding the agony and proving the chaotic strength of his newfound Skeletal armor
Cj didn't hesitate. He thrust his hand forward, and a massive, chaotic surge of crimson black mana coated his fist. He slammed the attack into the Scavenger Beast's armored shoulder, then punched again, and again, roaring with raw, unrestrained Wrath create waves leaving cracks in the pillars nearby threatening a collapse.
Mario, recovering from the beast's earlier blow, witnessed the unthinkable. The newbie, the Null Class, was actively damaging the Gamma threat with pure, chaotic force. An ice cold wave of Envy washed over him, sparking a bitter thought: How could such a weak person find power like this?
Andre, meanwhile, had joined Cj, his daggers striking the Scavenger's joints with lightning fast precision. Cj's fury peaked, a deafening shout escaping him: "I hate this world!"
In that instant, Mario's consciousness splintered. He was no longer in the subway... he was back in a dirty gym, knees on the ground was a cruel old man's face laughing above him. "You are weak" shouted out the old man. A flashback of his past, The memory was a blade, and the shame was a fuel source.
"I'm done being the weakest," Mario whispered, a phrase that quickly became a guttural, desperate chant.
The Assimilation Sequence surged past his control. Dark, geometric energy exploded from his skin as the secondary stage of his form took hold. Hard, dark plating erupted along his back, ribs, and shoulders the plating that looked metallic and scarred, resembling the grotesque, ridged spine of a Hyena. His slit pupils widened, becoming fully predatory.
Then he screamed. The transition stalled, the Hyena bone armor only partially formed, and his legs buckled. "I... I need more!" he gasped, the power burning him from the inside.
Andre and Cj immediately recoiled from the Beast, alarmed by Mario's massive, chaotic energy spike. But the moment of distraction was fatal. The Scavenger Beast, sensing its momentary advantage, slammed its immense body into the wall, causing a cave in of rusted metal and concrete. The impact slammed Cj and Andre against the opposite wall, instantly knocking Cj out of his F-1 form and leaving both Hosts dizzy, weak, and unable to move.
Mario, seeing his allies incapacitated, snapped entirely. His Envy twisted into a blinding, insane rage. "You think that chaos makes you special?" Mario spat, his voice trembling with envy. "You didn't earn it you're just a fake!" he shrieked, the betrayal of his DCO loyalty pouring out as venom.
He lunged at the crippled Beast and began tearing it limb from limb with savage, bone-crushing brutality. As the Gamma Beast was reduced to chunks of ruined armor and flesh, Mario's body began to expand further, pushing toward the F-3 stage, It was where mind and Echo merged in madness.
"He's pushing past F2!" Andre yelled, struggling to move his arm. "Mario's never mastered past F1! The Echo is taking over! If he keeps this up, he'll hit Terminal!"
"You didn't earn it!" Mario screamed, the chant of his own envy flaring in defense. A volatile aura exploded from him.
Mario, now fully consumed by the escalating transformation, completed the jump to F3, his arms and head encased in the bug like skin Gauntlet. The form was huge, gaining an additional metre in height, and radiated pure, murderous aggression. He rose over the smoking remains of the Gamma Beast, ignoring Cj and Andre's paralyzed bodies.
The rage found a new, terrifying focus: his rivals.
He rushed toward them, the heavy, dark armor of the Hyena Construct clanking violently. As he raised his massive gauntleted hands over their helpless bodies, a deep fire erupted from the stylized muzzle of his helmet. The Kinetic Crush ability was twisting, evolving. The air between his palms began to warp, forming into a screaming vortex of compacted, destructive pressure.
Mario let loose a final, animalistic howl as he prepared to execute the move: The Hyena's Culling Strike a torrent of destructive kinetic force designed to obliterate everything in its path. Both Andre and Cj closed his eyes, bracing for the impact.
A sudden WHOOSH sliced the air between Andre and Cj, a faint hum of mana trailing it. A sharp CLANK echoed as something metallic skidded across the rusty tracks, glinting faintly in the flickering light
The towering, F-3 form of Mario Stark shuddered. His muscles convulsed, and the crimson glow in his eyes stuttered. The destructive vortex in his hands fractured, the compacted mana instantly neutralized by the foreign, perfect frequency.
Mario collapsed, the sudden drain leaving his transformed body hollow. Andre watched a silent, cloaked figure detach from the deep shadows of the nearest subway car, their movement too fluid and fast to be a normal human. The figure hadn't aimed a weapon. They simply existed where Mario's rampage had just been.
The Masked One whoever they were lowered their head slightly, their eyes fixed squarely on the paralyzed Cj. The intervention had saved them, but they were now entirely at the mercy of their savior.