[South of leighburne, 10 minutes before mass teleportation]

Gathering outside of a large building, the A1 squad took a temporary respite. Not only did their squad leader suddenly disappear in the blink of an eye, but most of their forces had depleted a lot of their energy getting there in the first place.

"Is it really ok just to stay here? It's not gonna bring up problems is it?" An investigator exclaimed, rubbing the back of her head.

A very paled skin investigator placed her hand on the Operator's shoulder, before coldly telling her that it was actually a bother to everyone and that in fact, it was a bother to the whole entire mission.

"So you should just continue fighting without resting, get injured due to your carelessness, and die. Or do you think it's better that we stop for a moment and rejuvenate?" The pale Investigator said, her dead eyes piercing the poor investigator's soul.

The investigator froze up in fear, before crying a bit. The pale investigator's only reaction to get weeping, was to scoff and walk away.

The crying investigator's friends quickly huddled beside, attempting to comfort her.

"What a fucking bitch. Who the hell is she?" One of them said, throwing glares at the pale skinned woman.

Almost as if she had eyes in the back of her head, the pale skinned investigator glanced back at them with far more malice than they could possibly imagine.

The three investigators quickly turned away, though they could still feel her cold eyes staring them down.

"Just what's her deal?" One of them exclaimed.

The other investigator began telling them that she might be the infamous "Elizabeth Rodrigram"

"You mean the no show who still managed to get the B tier, and is about to get a promotion to the A tier?!" The other gasped.

"No the other prodigy- damn sometimes I wonder how we ended up being friends..." Her friend responded, sighing.

The oblivious investigator quickly pointed at her friend, trying her best to defend herself. However her friend practically ignored her, not wanting to deal with her excuses.

The crying investigator who had fallen due to the oblivious investigators callous pointing, looked up at the two, feeling ignored.

"So called friends I guess..." she grimaced.

As she said that a hand reached out to her, which gave her a bit of a scare. The investigator who reached her hand out to her felt a little annoyed, but she could understand why she was so agitated.

"I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm just trying to get you off the dirty floor…” she said, helping the girl up.

Dusting off her uniform, the investigator looked up to see who helped her; her eyes becoming wide and starry when she realised who it was.

"Oh my goodness it's you! You're Olivia Rand right?!" She practically squeaked.

Olivia rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment, however she couldn't lie to herself and say she didn't somewhat enjoy it.

Quickly composing herself, Olivia nodded, asking if she was fine.

"I only saw it from a distance, but that looked like a pretty bad fall." Olivia said, placing a hand on her hips.

The investigator nodded quickly, as if trying not to make her worry.

"I'm perfectly fine! Seriously!" She laughed awkwardly.

Olivia glanced at her for a moment, before chuckling back. She nodded, telling her that she should be careful next time.

"And you guys too! She's your damn friend and you're too busy trying to protect your own egos to realise she even fell" Olivia pointed accusingly at the investigator's friends.

They perked up with embarrassment, before slowly nodding their heads. In unison, they told her they wouldn't do it again.

"We'll be better!"

"Totally!"

Olivia smiled before putting a hand in her pocket and walking away. As she walked away, she overheard them talking about her.

"Wow she's really different compared to that Elizabeth girl!" One of them said.

"Yeah right? Even though their both prodigies, Investigator Rand is so kind and down to earth!" The other responded.

Hearing those words coming from them inflated Olivia's ego quite a bit. Rubbing the bottom of her nose with her finger, she grinned widely.

In her arrogant stupor, she didn't notice the person right in front of her. Bumping into them, Olivia fell, while the other person stood tall.

"Hey watch where you're-" but before she could respond, she felt a glare stab her.

Looking up, her suspicions were confirmed. Seeing Elizabeth shoot ice cold glares at her, she started to feel a bit pissed off.

"The hell are you looking at?" Olivia asked.

Elizabeth's nose scrunched before crossing her arms.

"You bumped into me, then have the gall to act so high and mighty? Seriously... I hate people like you so much. You must think the whole world revolves around you. And that you're the greatest person alive don't you?" Elizabeth snickered.

Olivia grit her teeth, before attempting to deny her accusations... However she found that she couldn't. It was strange, she had the words she wanted to say, but couldn't throw them out. As if, it wasn't her place to say anything.

Clenching her fist, the only thing Olivia could do was glare back at Elizabeth pitifully. The pale skinned woman smirked before eventually helping Olivia up. Olivia was obviously confused by her actions, but then realised that helping someone who fell was a natural response, even if you hated that other person.

Turning her back on Olivia, Elizabeth sighed.

"Watch where YOU'RE going next time... Honestly, I don't see what others see in you. You'll just end up another washed up talent who can't live up to her own expectations…" Elizabeth jabbed.

Watching her walk away, Olivia felt anger bubbling up inside her. With no other outlet for such anger, all Olivia could do was walk away.

Now you might be thinking. "Wow! Olivia seems so commendable walking away from an argument as the better woman!"... However Olivia was many things. But the better person in any situation, was not one of them.

When nobody could see her, she began pacing back and forth, childishly rambling insults behind Elizabeth's back.

"Argh just who the hell does that bitch think she is? What kind of person is THAT mean in real life? Does she think she's some character in a TV show or something?! Argh I hate kids with 8th grade syndrome so much!" Olivia thought, kicking some rocks.

One of the rocks ended up being kicked all the way into a dark alley, which suddenly made a thud sound. She quickly pulled out her attachment unit case, waiting for whatever was hidden in the darkness.

Slowly, a beaten and disheveled looking man with a clown mask stapled on his face walked out. It was clear that man was hiding something behind his back, however she didn't exactly know what he was holding.

The sight of the stumbling man was absolutely terrifying to Olivia, however she had to stand her ground. The man was an unknown threat, and if she wasn't careful, she could die at any moment. Pointing her katana at the man, she yelled at him to stay back.

"If you come any closer, I'll kill you-" however before she could even finish her sentence, the man had killed himself.

Slitting his neck with the knife he was holding, the man's blood sprayed on Olivia's face. It took a few moments for her to register what she just saw, but in the end it was too late for her to react anyway.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

From the man's wound, a black entity with a large mouth unceremoniously popped out, before suddenly expanding it's mouth. The creature's gapping maw practically replaced the ground beneath her, causing her to fall down the deep abyss.

As she continued to fall, she wondered what would happen next? She had various different theories, but none of them seemed to be positive.

“Did I… Fail?

Being spat out of the ground itself, Oliver found his fall broken by a nearby car. The car's siren went off violently before slowly becoming quieter and quieter, until no sound could be heard.

Rubbing the back of his head, Oliver slowly got up; brushing off any glass and broken car bits on him. He looked around the area, realising that he was all the way in the south area.

"What the hell? How did I just... Nah I shouldn't expect much less when descent energy and Festers are involved..." Oliver grimaced.

He hopped off the broken car, bowing a bit as if to apologise to the owner of the vehicle.

"Well if it was here, I doubt the owner would really care if it was smashed up or not... But it's not the time to think about that. I gotta figure out a way to stop that smiley mask guy" Oliver thought to himself as he holder his chin and paced back and forth.

From what he knew, that man, wanted to come collect the disaster class Fester that Oliver killed earlier.

"If that's the case... Whatever happened in the west, probably had to do with a disaster class Fester awakening" Oliver remembered the ominous cloud from before.

Thinking back the fool and how much of a jerk he was, Oliver clenched his fist.

"I gotta beat the shit out of him as revenge!" Oliver thought, pumping himself up.

As he began fantasising about how he'd humiliate the fool, he started to hear some growling noises get increasingly louder.

"Right... The A1 squad was tasked to take care of the abundance of Festers so the C squads could work in peace... Looks like they did a pretty bad job. I might have to tease Olivia about this" Oliver grimaced, seeing all the eyes staring him down.

He sighed before smirking. He turned his dagger facing the bottom, before entering a dashing pose.

"She did say whoever killed the most, got ice cream right?!"

Sitting on the corpses of the Festers he had slain, Oliver scrolled through his phone.

"Yup can't call anyone" Oliver sighed

Looking down at the festers he was sitting on, he felt a bit underwhelmed. It took him no longer than 4 minutes to defeat the hordes of Advanced class Festers that came his way. He began looking at his dagger, realising how much stronger he had gotten. He began remembering how tough it was just to beat a base class Fester in that past, however now, even advanced class Festers felt surreal to fight. As if he was watching someone battle for him.

"I definitely got stronger... But I don't like it for some reason. Maybe it's because I've been relying on this power for so long that... no" Oliver clenched his dagger.

Getting off the corpses, Oliver placed his finger on his driver's trigger. His armour plating on his right leg adjusted slightly, before being enveloped with a fiery dark turquoise aura. He kicked the mound of plant, bathing it in a bright light before eventually exploding into pure descent energy. The ashes of the fester flesh that hadn't burned away yet, wafted past Oliver, a subtle scent of burnt eggplant filling his nose.

"This is my power. There shouldn't be a reason why I should be scared of it"

Now standing completely alone, Oliver realised how stupid he must've looked. He held his head, before laughing at how embarrassing he was.

"Honestly what's gotten into me? Well whatever, it's not like anyone saw-" however as he thought that, he heard footsteps approach him.

Slowly turning his head, Oliver begged the world for it to be just another Fester he had to beat. He didn't even care if it was a hyper or disaster class, as long as another person didn't see his cringy attempt at looking cool, he'd be fine. Unfortunately, those who beg the world, often get misery in return.

Squinting his eyes a bit, Oliver realised the man before him was none other than Captain Ren. He was actually relieved to see him, believing it meant that Olivia was safe. However after seeing how tightly he was gripping his attachment unit, and how intensely he was staring his down, Oliver couldn't help but worry.

"Last time I hesitated... But if you're not stopped now, you'll hurt even more people. As an investigator I can't stand for this injustice.... I'll take you down, right here, right now!" Ren yelled.

After hearing Ren say that, Oliver froze up.

"Why would he say such a-" but as the thought that, he remembered their last encounter.

"Right... The last time I met him in this suit, he thought I was a Fester... But didn't I get classified as a contract holder? Why does he want to kill me?!" Oliver thought.

Not wanting to reveal his true identity, Oliver used a raspy voice before asking him what he meant. Ren couldn't believe what he had just heard. From his perspective, Oliver cared for human life so little, that he couldn't even register killing them in his mind.

"Are you seriously asking that? Look around you! Don't you see all the lives you've taken away?! Are humans lives that insignificant to you?!" Ren yelled.

Oliver looked around him, suddenly realising all the corpses scattered about. Ren was definitely overreacting due to his anger, however, what he said was mostly true. Oliver was so caught up in his own strength, that he didn't even realise the bodies that laid lifelessly on the ground as he fought.

"T- those weren't there when I-" but before he could finish his sentence Ren interrupted him.

Ren looked down at his feet, then began laughing. He held his face with one hand, while the other released his attachment unit. From the case, a large great sword emerged. The edges were sharp and rough, while the blade itself looked mighty and sturdy. A weapon fitting for the man wielding it.

"You dare to make jokes after killing innocent people? You're truly despicable... As an investigator, it's my duty to slay those who do evil. So fight me... With everything!" Ren yelled.

Gulping, Oliver raised up his dagger. No matter how he looked at it, he was going to have to fight Ren. Whether or not he could beat him though was the problem.

"I've definitely gotten stronger... But captain Ren is no joke either. Oh yeah... I almost forgot! Wasn't he in the middle of getting a promotion to the AR tier?"

As he mind began trailing off, Ren decided to guide Oliver back over to reality. Dashing towards Oliver at incredible speeds, Ren swung his greatsword. Oliver barely had any time to react to the first attack, before Ren followed up with a kick to the chest.

Oliver was sent flying backwards, crashing into one of the many buildings on the street. Following him into the building, Ren grabbed the still recovering investigators off the ground, slamming him against a wall.

The wall shattered, causing Oliver to be thrown into an entirely different room. Laying in a heap of rubble, Oliver held his head head.

"What kind of monstrous strength is this?! Is he even human?!" Oliver complained, slowly getting up.

Hearing Ren's footsteps approach him, Oliver began to panic a bit. He began looking around the room, eventually setting his eyes on a window. He wondered if he had enough time, though fortunately, due to the dust caused by the shattered wall, Ren's field of view was diminished.

Entering the room, Ren waited as the dust settled slightly, before scanning the area. Finding an open window in the distance, Ren sighed a bit.

"How careless... but he couldn't have gone far..." Ren commented, walking over towards the window.

"Bingo!" Oliver said, suddenly dropping down from the ceiling.

Ren blocked his kick using just his forearms, however Oliver had already executed his plan. Using his scarf, Oliver grabbed Ren's great sword, throwing it out of the window.

Ren was stunned by what he did, which boosted Oliver's already inflated ego. Smirking underneath his mask, Oliver crossed his arms and began taunting Ren.

"Just give up, captain! You got no weapon, how can you possibly beat me when I still have my dag-" however as he said that, Ren knocked his weapon out of his hand with a punch.

Oliver blinked a few times, staring at his knife that was now on the floor. After registering what had happened, he tried to pick up his attachment unit as fast as possible, however Ren had already kicked it far away.

"Let's at least fight fair. We're not animals are we?" Ren joked.

Oliver rolled his eyes, which Ren could sense even underneath his helmet. He apologised before getting into a fighting position.

"Come on... I don't have all day. I told you I was going to take you down" Ren said, looking extremely serious.

Oliver chuckled, before getting into his own fighting stance. Raising his hands up and putting his left foot at an angle, Oliver asked if he really wanted to fight hands on.

"I might be really bad at fighting... But I assure you, one hit from me won't be pretty" Oliver taunted.

Ren glared at him before lifting his head up slightly.

"Let's dance"

Exchanging fists, the two men punched the other's face with all their might. Punch after punch after punch, the two men did not relent one bit.

"Honestly if this guy wasn't trying to kill me, this would've been really fucking awesome!" Oliver thought, weaving out of a jab.

Ren jumped back a bit, giving some distance between the two. Oliver called him out on it, asking if he was scared.

"Scared... No, I just needed some more room" Ren said, crossing his arms into an X shape.

Oliver tilted his head slightly, wondering what the hell he was trying to do. However when he realised what Ren was doing, it was already too late.

Charging Oliver at full force, Ren pushed him against a solid concrete wall. The impact caused a small crater to form, and for Oliver to cough up blood. Oliver tried pushing Ren off, but he was far too strong for him.

"What the hell? How is a single guy this strong?!" Oliver thought, feeling his back get pushed further back by Ren's strength.

From what he knew, the A tier was handed out to those who could defeat hyper class Festers in combat. With that in mind, before fighting Ren, Oliver had initially ranked his strength near the AR since he was so easily able to defeat a near disaster class Fester. However after this experience, he truly understood how strong an AR tier operator was. Because the man he was facing, hadn't even gotten the AR rank yet, but he was still giving this hard of a time.

Hearing some cracking sounds, Oliver believed his bones were starting to break. As such he began panicking and trying his best to push Ren off of him. However the more he resisted, the louder the cracking sound became. Eventually, the cracking reached its limit.

Feeling his body in a falling motion, he closed his eyes. As his body continued to fall, he wondered if this was what dying felt like.

"Strange... Why does being dead still hurt?" Oliver thought to himself.

His suspicions of being dead were quickly refuted, as Ren began pummeling Oliver into the ground. It turned out that the cracking sound, came from the concrete wall behind him, not his bones. He felt slightly relieved, however after being punched one more time by Ren, he felt a little annoyed.

"Huh? This doesn't really hurt... It's just annoying that I can't fight back... Wait a minute... Have I been fighting back?"

Grabbing Ren by his shoulders, Oliver placed his foot on Ren's chest before kicking him upwards with a descent energy filled kick. First hitting his back on the ceiling of the second floor, Ren then fell to the ground, making a grunting sound as he hit the floor. Ren slowly got up, holding his head as he tried to recover from the shock of being kicked all the way up an entire floor.

"What monstrous strength... And the ability to use descent energy at that? From what I know, contract holders with the ability to transform can't use descent energy. Only their appearance changes, not their physical abilities. Could he be like, father...?" Ren thought, trying to analyse his situation.

Jumping up from the hole he made, Oliver began cracking knuckles. Ren immediately put his guard up, raising his fist for another battle.

"Tch... You still wanna fight? I can never understand guys like you... Well whatever, I'll just knock you out" Oliver said confidently.

Ren glared at Oliver, before asking him about his sudden boost in confidence.

"This? Simple really... You see... I've been severely underestimating myself. It turns out, I'm actually really strong" Oliver said, his tone incredibly arrogant.

Ren scoffed before clenching his fists tighter.

"I knew it... You're just a psycho who likes fighting huh... Damnit, if it means I'll die here so be it. But know that I won't forgive you if you laid a finger on my team!" Ren commented.

Hearing that comment made Oliver pause for a moment. He sighed before holding his belt. Ren braced himself for an attack, however instead of attacking, Oliver instead took off his driver. His armour broke away into black feathers, revealing to Ren his true identity.

"Investigator Rand?" Ren asked.

"Yeah yeah skip the whole reveal cliché... What do you mean lay a finger on your team? Where's Olivia?" Oliver asked.

Ren looked away, obviously embarrassed.

"I... Don't know. Her and the rest just disappeared when I... Went away to think about some things. When I got back, you were there in their place" Ren explained.

Hearing that explanation, Oliver grinned angrily.

"Swap you with someone less troublesome ay? That damn clown... Hey captain Ren, I know this might be super confusing and all, but please trust me that I'm on your side!" Oliver said.

Ren nodded, though he was still a bit hesitant. For all he knew, Oliver was just a fake using his face, or even worse, a traitor. Maybe it was his guilt for abandoning Olivia, or maybe it was the glint passion in Oliver's eyes, but he decided to trust Oliver this time.

"Thanks... Now. Something bad is gonna happen. We have to make it to the east of Leighburne as fast as possible!" Oliver explained.

Ren was still a bit confused but followed Oliver's lead anyway.

"Sorry but why are we heading to the east of all places?" Ren asked.

"That's where the communication centre is... Or more accurately where all the titled investigators are busy relaxing." Oliver answered.

It was then when Ren truly understood the situation they were in. If they needed help from four titled investigators, it meant only one thing. A true disaster was born.