Alice crawled through the maze, traversing the labyrinth of tunnels and chambers as fast as she could. She meandered through the maze, the echo of the Coarseblood vibrating through the plastic hell, but she was hopelessly lost. Trapped in an endless sea of bouncing sounds and disorienting chambers until—she found herself staring out at the wall beyond the Danger Castle.

She sat there shocked. Her body torn between the safe escape and the one left behind. The wailing of the Coarseblood washed over her as she turned to face back towards a single orange tunnel that poured water in a serene, almost dream-like way. The smooth flow called for her return. But her senses pulled her away as she began to step back, far from the chaos. Away from Bobby. She fell back. Tears welled in her eyes. She was deadlocked.

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Life-Guard mechanoids had begun to swarm the Danger Castle from the outside as the stationed rangers were on standby. Bern stared into the maze of tunnels, a slurry of emotions ripping into him as he watched Xizu pace back and forth looking at her crystalcomm.

“How much longer?” Bern asked.

Xizu looked up from her device. “Any minute now.”

The air trembled with the wailings of the creature within the complex webs of chambers. Its screech a mix of enraged, throaty roars and pained fleshy clicks. The rangers shuddered in their boots as they stared into the maze.

Bern suddenly received a ping on his comms. A light girly voice came through, “Sir! I’ve found the Coarse—I mean, Mr. Gira’s things…”

Bern nodded with a regretful frown. “Roger, thank you, Sey.”

He remembered the brief interaction with him. Was he lying? But the thought was interrupted by Sey.

“Sir—I-I found a message he left behind.” She paused, letting her words flutter in the air. “The message said…” Sey’s word hit Bern in the gut.

Xizu saw Bern’s rigid frown relax into a solemn stare. He took a deep breath. “Thanks for the information; return back to the pool’s entrance.”

“Yes sir!”

Back over to where Sey was, she looked back at the white blood-soaked slide. Hanging her head down, she let out a defeated sigh as she reluctantly crawled inside.

Outside, a lowglider swerved smoothly into a sharp stop at the main entrance of the station. The ranger onboard wordlessly got off as they entered the facility. The six-person squad of rangers traversed through the panicked hall of the station. But the panic seemed to subside as the rangers saw the man leading the squad.

Their mouths ajar as he walked past the crowds of rangers. He maneuvered through the station, stopping by their medical wing.

“Give me any blood you can spare,” he ordered. The nurses gave him a confused look but began preparing the blood.

“Romm, bring the supplies with you,” he commanded to one of the members of his squad.

Turning back to the nurses, he added.“Evacuate all patients that are bleeding, that includes women who are on their menstrual phase.”

The nurses gave him another weird look but quickly agreed as he stared them down.

They left Ranger Romm behind to deal with the blood as they made their way to the pool room. Finally reaching the pool entrance with a silent focus, he entered the pool room.

The ranger’s eyes grew wide when they saw the man who’d arrived.

Xizu's eyes lit up, tears forming. “Big brother!” She rushed over, hugging the tall figure.

He nestled her in his arms, placing a tender hand on her head. He turned to face one of the rangers that had come with him. She was a little shaky, her long black hair covering one of her crimson-pink eyes as the tall ranger gave her a look.

“Oh! R-right sir!” she squeaked as she began to coalesce a crystalline mask out of Kyyr.

The Coarseblood roared in the distance. Causing—Mera to falter as she generated a Kyyr Retina.

Another familiar ranger popped through the door. Ranger Serfet pipped up, “Excuse me, could you make me one too?” he asked politely.

Mera nodded frantically as she wove the Kyyr in her hands.

The tall man turned to his squad, focusing on the ranger with a backpack nearly three times their size. He glared at them, prompting them to shuffle past the onlooking rangers who uselessly watched as the new squad prepared themselves.

The tall man crouched down, ignoring the howls that echoed from afar. He pulled out a pair of dice, rattling them around in his hand before dropping them on the ground. He rolled three and a six.

“Lucky Left…” he muttered the words in a cold, icy tone. Snatching his dice, he took off his coat, shoving into a random ranger’s arms.

His uniform was unlike any of the other rangers. It was black with interweaving millimeter-wide tubing that stretched through his arms like the mesh of a motherboard. The suit stretched up to his neck and around his jaw as if missing the top half of the suit. The clear tubbing was accented with golden hints that spiraled through in a rather mesmerizing pattern, like a sea-bound tattoo woven into the fabric.

On his chest, the word “HASSLE” was etched in the same fine tubing. He stretched before turning to Bern, “What’s the sitrep? ”

Bern looked down in defeat, explaining the situation.

While he explained the ranger with the huge pack had finished unloading, the large backpack unraveling into a huge black box that unraveled, displaying several weapon parts. Morray walked to the section marked number three.

Expertly, he grabbed several parts, snapping them into place. “I warned you…” he muttered as he moved to the sixth row, grabbing more parts to assemble.

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Bern strained his hands into fists, “We didn’t expect him to—”

“You don’t know?” Morray interrupted, giving him a look of disbelief.

Bern gave him an annoyed look, scoffing. “What—do you know what’s happening?”

“Not 100%, but—” he raised his hand off the device he was working on. He put his hand in front of Bern’s face and snapped his fingers, pulsing faint Kyyr, the energy surging into a small spark before dissipating.

Bern’s eyes widened as he too tried to sputter his flames—the Kyyr failed to hold—sputtering uselessly.

“His Kyyr Dominion…” Bern mumbled, “Morray what does this mean?”

Morray had finished assembling a flat vertical matte black steel box. Clicking a button on the side. The device came to life as a chrome blade emerged from one end, a rectangular barrel sliding over the dull side of the blade. From the back end, a long gunstock emerged with an extra grip popping up from the top side of the box, letting him hold the device like a suitcase.

He grabbed the gunblade with his left hand. “ It’s a failed Fractilization… The Coarseblood kid’s got a cracked calamity core, right?”

Bern nodded, looking over to Xizu.

Xizu stepped closer to the two and asked, “But he successfully transformed back in Trant. Why is this happening now?”

Morray shrugged as he grabbed a small Kyyr ampule from the display, slotting it into the gunblade. He turned to face Bern and Xizu, “Everyone but my squad—out.”

Bern nodded. Gesturing his squad out and radioing everyone else to leave the pool rooms.

Xizu and Holly followed behind the other rangers as they left the room. Morray smiled at his niece, giving her some respite.

Mera exhaled after finishing up the two Kyyr Retinas, “Ca-captain!” she squeaked, “Here’s your mask…”

Morray tenderly took the retina from her, giving her a thankful nod. “Serfet, standby for combat.”

“Sure thing, big bro~!” he chirped in response.

Morray turned to the rest of his squad, “Support Serfet—we’re dealing with a calamity-class organism; if it kills me, you’re all fucked.” he said flatly.

Mera seemed to deflate and Serfet gave him an annoyed look. The other two rangers shuddered as they held each other.

“We’ll be fine without you dork!” Serfet snapped.

“Sure.” Morray placed the Kyyr mask on, pulsing his own Kyyr through the device. For a brief second, he saw the fading lights of five human souls glistening within and around the Danger Castle; his eyes narrowed on the disturbing, crimson-shattered mess that he easily guessed was Gira. But his eyes danced around, the sides spotting three souls—that intrigued him. The odd souls flickered in the grim void, their lights fading like old lamplight. Two weak souls were beyond the Danger Castle, while the last was right above the Coarseblood. The mask shattered.

Mera looked at the mask fall to the ground. “W-what? How did it break!?”

Morray frowned as he watched the mask shatter into dust. “Desperate, huh?” he muttered before raising his gunblade.

“Update—we have two rangers down northeast. Go fetch.” Morray said before he jumped across the pool, landing on top of one of the slides. Slashing through the netting with his gunblade, he slipped into the Danger Castle, making a beeline for the twilight gleam of the soul he saw atop the labyrinth of water.

Serfet sighed, “You heard him—let’s go fetch…” he said, tilting his head in defeat.

In the abyssal pool, the Coarseblood finally shook the soapy Kyyr off his snout. Roaring as its cracked face slowly regenerated enough for it to peer up and see Bobby’s blood dripping down from netting above.

One minute.

That was all the time Bobby had left on Esthes-3. His wounds were grievous and his consciousness was fading as the final flares of warmth diffused beyond his skin. His arm was caught against the wireframe, his body barely hanging on as he fought to stay awake.

The Coarseblood plunged back into the water as it reached over to the other side. The chittering resumed as its claws slammed against the netting. It emerged from the water, its body almost completely consumed in crimson. Drool poured from its maw, the acidic slime hissing as it dripped into the water below.

Thud—!? Thud, thud, thud, a sound echoed from a nearby tunnel. Two Life-Guard Units burst from the tunnel, crashing down onto the waters below their crab-like forms, bursting through the water before they latched onto the netting.

The Coarseblood didn’t wait. It pushed itself upward, ignoring the mechanoids as it rushed Bobby from below. The mechanoids pursued but they couldn’t match the Coarsebloods speed. Its head twisted unnaturally to the side, jaws widening, ready to snap shut. Its single golden eye locked onto its prey—until it caught sight of something above.

A red, amber-gold gaze that tore into it from above. A silhouette from beyond the maze.

BANG!

An electric blue slug tore through the Coarseblood’s skull, snapping its head back. Its claws faltered, gripping the netting just enough to hold on. The Life-Guard Units seized the moment, clamping onto the creature’s body and constricting it.

Slicing through the netting, a hand grabbed onto Bobby, hoisting him up. A silver barrel hissed over a long blade as Morray stared down into the chamber below, watching as the Coarseblood’s head reassembled its bloody skull. Its massive claws crushed the mechanoid at its neck before pulsing Kyyr and ripping the machine off.

Morray spared no more glances. He secured Bobby with his free arm as he calmly left the creature behind.

The Coarseblood roared, the sound rumbling through the chamber as it shredded the remaining mechanoid, smashing its metallic frame against the wall. It claws ripped into the wall with a savage force as it clambered up the wall. It reached the apex, sniffing the air; it drained the air of the sweet scent of blood. Its single golden eye teared up as the edges of its crimson scales began to darken. A low hiss escaped its maw as the chittering grew deep. Its stretched frame pulsed with restless Kyyr as it surged forward in pursuit.

Morray felt the suffocating wave of malice but he remained calm. With steady precision, he leapt from pipe to pillar, holding Bobby carefully against his body. He glanced back. The coarse, chittering echoed from the maze, the sound encroaching ever fast. He focused, controlling his Kyyr into a faint pulse at the tips of his feet. The Kyyr was carefully guided through his muscles, keeping him light and agile as he navigated the slippery terrain.

Despite the natural drive of fear twisting at his spine, his calm never faltered. His eyes sharp, fixed on the path ahead, as he pushed forward to his crew waiting beyond the Danger Castle.

Ranger Romm and a nurse stood by the door as Morray landed next to them, skidding to a stop. The two shuddered as the sound of the Coarseblood grew closer.

“He needs blood.” Morray said, carefully handing Bobby over to them.

“Yes, sir!” they answered, their gaze focused on the resounding echo from the maze.

“Leave.” Morray commanded.

Morray turned his focus to the labyrinth, the pounding thuds of the creature’s weight reverberating through the structure, each impact closer than the last. The two rangers hurriedly carried Bobby away, their footsteps fading as they disappeared behind the pool room’s doors. Leaving Morray alone in the main lounging area.

Yet he wasn’t truly alone. Behind him, through the glass, he could feel the weight of weary eyes fixed on him—spectators clinging to hope or morbid curiosity.

Ugh… might as well give them a good show...

With a faint smirk, Morray rolled his shoulders, the tension melting into a calm resolve as he dragged his boots into a fighting stance, his gunblade swinging across and shifting with the click of a button as the blade stretched out.