As the helicopter dropped off Rex near the crumbling Locke mansion, it disappeared into the horizon. Inside, the team began to discuss their next move.
“Wait,” Emi said, adjusting her earpiece. “Aren’t we staying behind to wait for Rex?”
Leon shook his head, his tone firm. “No, we’ve got our own mission. I repaired Eclipse, and she pinpointed Neo’s base in Russia. We need to hit it now.”
Emi smirked, cracking her knuckles. “Russia, huh? Roger that! Let’s get back to Russia, baby!”
Amber stared out of the window as Rex silently walked into the ruined mansion. Her eyes lingered on him, lost in thought. Meanwhile, Baluka leaned back in her seat, scrolling through a digital pad, while Hanako was sleeping on her lap, completely don’t peacefully on her lap.
Baluka glanced up, her keen eyes catching Amber’s distant expression. “Something happened between you and Rex, didn’t it?” she asked casually, not looking away from her pad.
Amber jolted slightly, then hesitated. “Uhh… it’s nothing.”
Baluka smiled knowingly. “It’s fine. You don’t have to talk about it. Just remember—Rex is a quiet guy. He carries more weight than he lets on.”
Amber sighed and offered a faint smile in return, silently grateful for Baluka’s understanding.
At the back of the ship, Nur meticulously worked on refitting his mechanical arms, his expression grim as he replayed the last fight in his mind. The damage Destiny inflicted still haunted him. He flexed the newly repaired joints with a metallic clink, lost in thought.
“How much longer until we reach the base?” Leon asked Eclipse, his voice cutting through the quiet tension in the cabin.
“Five minutes,” Eclipse replied, her voice cool and efficient.
The minutes crawled by as the team prepared themselves for whatever lay ahead. When the ship landed, Nur didn’t wait for anyone else. He punched the door release, the metal groaning under his strength. The cold Russian air bit at their skin as they disembarked.
“This place feels… empty,” Amber muttered, her voice echoing off the surrounding walls of the desolate compound.
“It’s not,” Leon countered, scanning the area. “Eclipse’s data says this place has been operational since Neo was activated.”
As they moved deeper into the base, Nur suddenly froze. His sharp eyes caught a fleeting figure disappearing around a corner—one he recognized instantly.
“No way…” he whispered, his heart pounding. Without warning, he bolted after the figure.
“Nur! Where are you going?!” Baluka shouted, starting to run after him.
Before she could follow, the floor beneath her and the rest of the team groaned ominously. Suddenly, trapdoors sprang open beneath their feet. One by one, the team fell through the floor, their cries echoing as they disappeared into darkness.
Amber landed hard in a dimly lit hallway, the air knocked from her lungs. She groaned as she pushed herself up, her hand instinctively going to her weapon. The silence was suffocating.
“Leon? Emi? Baluka?” she called out, her voice trembling slightly.
No response.
The air shifted behind her, and she spun around, weapon drawn, only to find an empty corridor. A chill ran down her spine. Something—or someone—was here with her.
Elsewhere, Leon found himself in a cavernous room filled with flickering screens displaying Neo’s vast operations. His sharp eyes scanned the data, piecing together Neo’s plans. But his thoughts were interrupted by the faint sound of footsteps. He turned, his sai’s raised, ready for a fight.
Emi landed in what appeared to be a storage area filled with towering shelves of strange machinery. She groaned, brushing herself off. “Great. Traps and creepy storage rooms. Just my luck,” she muttered. As she moved cautiously through the maze, the sound of something metallic scuttling in the shadows made her grip her tonfa’s tightly.
Baluka landed in a stark white laboratory. Hanako leapt off her shoulder, her fur bristling as she sniffed the air, growling lowly. Baluka’s eyes narrowed as she took in the sterile surroundings. “This isn’t good…” she murmured. She picked up a scalpel from a nearby table, her instincts screaming that something was off.
As Nur sprinted after the figure, his breath quickened. They turned a corner and entered a room, and the moment Nur stepped inside, his heart sank. The sterile metallic walls, the faint hum of machinery, and the acrid smell of chemicals—it was all too familiar. His stomach churned as he realized this was a replica of that room, the one from his childhood where Luna had experimented on him.
His hands began to shake involuntarily as flashes of memory assaulted him. He remembered the searing pain of losing his limbs, the cold, unrelenting metal against his skin, and the feeling of helplessness in the cage. Nur stumbled backward, gripping his head as panic threatened to overwhelm him.
The figure turned, stepping out of the shadows. “What’s wrong, Nur? Don’t you want to see what you’ve become?” the voice taunted, cold and venomous. It was Luna herself—or at least, someone using her face. A cruel smile spread across her lips as Nur froze, paralyzed by the weight of his past.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Meanwhile, Amber gripped her spear tightly, her senses on high alert. The air around her shifted, and a faint buzzing sound grew louder. Her instincts screamed that something dangerous was approaching.
“So, you’re Amber,” a voice purred, laced with mockery. From the shadows emerged Beelzebub, her presence unnerving. She carried an aura of menace, her eyes glinting with malice.
Amber’s grip tightened on her spear as her mind raced. “This is the Yeager Rex and Emi fought back in Japan,” she realized, a chill running down her spine.
Beelzebub snapped her fingers, and suddenly a swarm of flies filled the air, charging at Amber like a black cloud of death.
Amber planted her feet firmly. “Lightning Style: Electric Web!” she shouted, spinning her spear rapidly. Sparks flew as arcs of electricity formed a shimmering web around her. The flies that hit the web sizzled and dropped lifelessly to the ground.
When the buzzing finally ceased, Amber exhaled, her eyes darting around. Beelzebub was gone.
Then, out of nowhere, Amber felt a presence behind her.
Beelzebub reappeared in an instant, her speed unnatural. “Yeager Ability: Plague of Angels,” she thought, her hand glowing with a deep, sinister black. She reached out, her palm aiming for Amber’s back.
Amber reacted just in time, spinning around and slicing Beelzebub’s hand clean off with her spear. The severed hand hit the ground as Amber followed up with a precise thrust, driving her spear through Beelzebub’s chest.
“Impressive,” Beelzebub gasped, a twisted smile on her lips. “Your speed is as fast as lightning.”
Amber yanked her spear back, her eyes narrowing. But Beelzebub’s severed hand regenerated in seconds, and the gaping wound in her chest closed as if it had never been there.
Before Amber could react, Beelzebub reached out and placed her regenerated hand on Amber’s skull. A cold, dark energy coursed through Amber’s body as the plague took hold.
Amber gasped, her vision blurring as her body betrayed her. She dropped to her knees, her spear clattering to the floor, before collapsing entirely.
Beelzebub crouched beside her, grinning wickedly. “Oh, don’t worry, little lightning warrior,” she whispered. “I’m going to love having you in my killing games.” Her laughter echoed as she grabbed Amber by the hair and dragging her with her
As Baluka and Hanako cautiously explored the pristine laboratory, the air felt unnervingly sterile.
“This place… it’s too clean. It doesn’t feel right,” Hanako muttered, her fox ears twitching as she shifted into her human-fox hybrid form, her tails swaying uneasily.
Baluka remained silent, her eyes scanning the surroundings. Her expression hardened as she caught sight of something ahead. A wave of nausea hit her as she dropped to her knees and vomited onto the spotless floor.
“Baluka! What’s wrong?” Hanako exclaimed, rushing to her side. She followed Baluka’s gaze, and what she saw made her blood run cold.
Just a few feet ahead of them, hundreds of dead children lay suspended in a horrifying display. Their lifeless bodies were stacked in an open room, just visible through a transparent floor.
“This isn’t a laboratory,” Baluka whispered, her voice trembling with anger and grief. “This is a death sentence.”
Meanwhile, Emi navigated the storage room, trying to find a way out. Her hands trailed along the walls until she finally found a door. Just as she reached for it, a chill ran down her spine.
“Someone’s here,” she thought. She couldn’t sense any flux energy, but there was something—something terrifyingly overwhelming.
Before she could react, a force slammed into her with such speed and power that she was sent crashing through the wall, landing in another room. The impact left her disoriented, and she groaned as she pushed herself up.
“Emi!” Leon’s voice echoed as he ran towards her.
“What just happened?” Emi muttered, shaking her head. She glanced up, spotting the gaping hole in the wall she’d been thrown through. Her eyes shifted to the figure standing amidst the rubble—a woman with an aura of pure menace.
“She’s… fast,” Emi thought, her heart racing. “Faster than Nur, and Nur moves at light speed. I can barely react to him, but this woman—she’s even faster.”
Before either could speak, a booming voice interrupted them.
“Do you like my new toy?” Neo’s voice echoed through the hallway, dripping with malice.
Both Emi and Leon turned to see Neo’s giant robotic body stepping into view. His towering frame was illuminated by the flickering lights above. Standing beside him was the woman who had attacked Emi, her cold gaze fixed on them.
“This is Night Sora,” Neo declared, gesturing to the woman. “A warrior who nearly defeated Griffin before her death. But death is not the end, as you can see. I’ve brought her back, stronger than ever. And now, I’m grateful that you’ve all gathered here… so I can kill you all.”
Emi and Leon exchanged tense glances, their muscles tensing as the situation grew grimmer.
Here’s the rewritten and more detailed version with added dialogue and action:
“Emi, you handle her. I’ll deal with him,” Leon said, his voice sharp with urgency as he shifted his stance.
“Understood,” Emi replied, nodding firmly. She turned her focus to Night, her eyes narrowing as she prepared to strike. But before she could even take a step, Night vanished in a blur.
A split second later, a crushing force hit Emi like a freight train. Night had appeared in front of her, landing a powerful blow that sent her flying. She crashed through several walls, the concrete crumbling around her, and was launched up to the surface.
Emi’s body slammed onto the hood of a car with a deafening thud, crumpling the metal beneath her. She groaned, coughing up blood as she tried to sit up. Her vision blurred momentarily.
“This fight might actually kill me,” Emi thought grimly, wiping blood from her mouth. She rolled off the car, her hand glowing faintly as she activated her healing ability. But just as she stood up, Night was already there, standing ominously in front of her with an unsettling grin.
“Is that all you’ve got?” Night taunted, her voice dripping with mockery.
Emi steadied herself, her breathing heavy. “Not even close,” she growled, summoning her energy for the next clash.
Meanwhile, back underground, Leon and Neo locked eyes in a tense standoff. The air between them crackled with unspoken animosity.
“I can’t wait to erase your data and repurpose it for my robots,” Leon sneered, his lips curling into a wicked grin.
Neo’s expression remained calm, but his tone was venomous. “Out of all the elite forces of this so-called modern era, you’re the one I want to kill the most.” He raised a hand, and a fleet of drones materialized behind him, their engines humming ominously.
As Leon prepared to counter, the distant sound of a scuffle drew their attention for a brief moment.
Elsewhere, Nur stood frozen in fear, his body trembling as Luna advanced toward him with deadly intent. His mind raced, but he couldn’t bring himself to move. Just as Luna raised her weapon, an arrow whizzed past and grazed her cheek, forcing her to halt.
Luna’s image flickered and disappeared. “Destiny,” Nur breathed in confusion.
From the shadows, Baluka emerged, her bowstring taut as she took aim again. “Stay sharp, Nur!” she shouted. Another arrow was released, but Destiny appeared behind her, snapping his fingers. In an instant, a plasma gun materialized in his hand. He fired at Baluka
Baluka reacted quickly, sliding to avoid the energy blast. She leapt onto the wall, propelling herself toward Destiny with a swift kick. He dodged, moving with unnatural speed, and disappeared into the chaos.
“Nur, are you okay?” Baluka asked as she rushed to his side. She could see the fear in his eyes, his hands trembling uncontrollably.
“I’m… I’m sorry,” Nur stammered, his voice barely above a whisper.
“It’s okay, Nur,” Baluka said gently, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “I’m here. You’re not alone.”
But her attention was drawn back to the scene outside. She couldn’t let the Yeager-ranked soldier roam free. “Stay here,” she said firmly. Without waiting for his response, she sprinted out, following the trail of destruction.
When she reached the surface, her heart sank. The Moscow base was under heavy attack. A massive Yeager stood amidst the chaos, wreaking havoc on everything in its path.
Baluka clenched her fists, determination burning in her eyes. “Not on my watch,” she muttered, charging forward to confront the enemy.
The battle was far from over.