The warm atmosphere was calming and yet, no sooner than a second.....
The earth trembled.
The ruins where Prime, Stream, and Omega had clashed with the corrupted were not silent for long. Beyond the city's crumbled skyline, smoke poured upward from a mountain — not natural smoke, but the burning mark of something stirring deep within the earth.
Stream wiped blood from his jaw, breathing hard. "That wasn't the last of them. Something bigger's coming."
Prime's mask gleamed faintly, the purple-silver patterns shifting like veins of lightning.
Omega stood silent beside them, sword planted into the ground. His chestlight flickered faintly as though warning him, but he said nothing.
Then the mountain roared.
The side of the cliff cracked open, and out of it surged a creature of molten stone, fire bursting from its eyes and maw. Its body pulsed with veins of magma, dripping heat so intense the air warped around it.
"i was expecting you..." Prime muttered, lowering his stance. "the human born ablaze"
Stream grit his teeth. "the what? Prime, im pretty sure that's a mutated beast"
The beast let out a bellow, its molten body towering above the ruins. Its first step alone shattered an entire street into rubble.
And then — from the smoke of its emergence — another figure emerged. Smaller, but no less fearsome.
He was draped in scorched armor, jagged and blackened, glowing faintly red with cracks of heat. His fists burned like smoldering coal, each breath leaving trails of smoke. His hair — if it could be called that — flowed like strands of fire. His eyes glowed with the simmering fury of a volcano's heart.
Prime's gaze fixed on him.
The man raised a hand, magma dripping from his gauntlet as if he'd just climbed out of the planet's core itself.
"My name…" his voice was rough, crackling, "is Volcan. And this Titan… is mine to burn."
---
The Titan roared and brought its molten hand down upon the battlefield.
Stream moved instinctively, trident shard glowing, water forming into spears at his command. Omega raised his shield, bracing for impact. But before either could strike—
Volcan's fist ignited.
With a howl, he leapt upward, his punch colliding with the Titan's molten wrist. The air split apart as shockwaves tore through the ruins. Fire exploded outward, shattering the Titan's limb into a rain of obsidian shards.
Stream stumbled back, eyes wide. "He broke it… with one hit?"
Volcan landed hard, steam hissing from his armor as his fists continued to burn brighter. He didn't look at them — his eyes were locked only on the Titan.
"This mountain… my mountain," he snarled. "It gave me strength, and I'll show you what it means to wield a flame that never dies."
The Titan reeled back, screeching, but Volcan charged forward again. His fists became avalanches of fire, each strike erupting like miniature volcanic blasts. The ground beneath him melted into molten cracks with every step.
---
But the Titan was not so easily broken.
From its chest, a surge of molten energy built — and then a beam of searing magma burst outward, a wave of destruction tearing through buildings, straight toward Prime and Stream.
Stream cursed, raising water to shield them, but it hissed and evaporated instantly under the heat.
Omega stepped forward. His shield raised. His chestlight flared.
The magma beam slammed into him — the shield cracked, his sword shattered under the pressure, and the golden knight was hurled backward into a wall.
Prime reached for him, but Omega rose to one knee, smoke trailing from his cracked gauntlets. His chestlight flickered dangerously, as though something deeper was stirring.
But he said only one thing:
"Stand. Together."
---
Prime and Stream struck the Titan's legs, slowing it. Volcan climbed its chest like a predator, fists striking again and again until the Titan's core was exposed.
"NOW!" he bellowed.
Prime hurled a Blade that he grabbed from his portal into the wound, Stream's water spears drove deeper, and Volcan finished it with one final eruption of flame from both fists.
The Titan's roar cracked the sky — and then it collapsed, its molten body shattering into rivers of harmless lava that cooled into stone.
Volcan stood atop the corpse, chest heaving, fists smoking.
For the first time, his eyes turned toward the others. Prime, unreadable behind his mask. Stream, wary but impressed. Omega, rising slowly, broken sword and shattered shield in hand.
Volcan smirked faintly. "You three aren't bad. But if you want to survive what's coming… you'll need something else other than strength to forge a victory." He slammed a burning fist against his chest. "You'll need fire."
Prime stepped forward. "…Then fight with us."
Volcan's grin widened. "Heh, Fine. But don't get in my way."
And so the fourth joined the growing brotherhood.
Not with honor like Omega, not with calm like Stream, not with silence like Prime.
But with fire that could burn gods.
---