———Dylan———

Hail scoffs as he strides away, tossing a casual remark over his shoulder. "Good enough. Once you stop bleeding everywhere like a pussy, maybe you'll actually be useful." Without a glance back, he disappears into the lab, leaving Keegan and I standing alone in the field.

Keegan offers a hand to help me up, shaking his head. "What an asshole," he mutters.

I take his hand and pull myself to my feet, brushing dirt and grass from my pants. "He's got a point," I admit, wincing at the sting in my side. "I don't see how you guys get powers without serious nerfs like mine."

Keegan smirks, nudging me with his shoulder. "Not all of us can see through time, Dylan. Kind of OP if you ask me."

I can't help but chuckle, the tension in my chest easing. "Yeah, I guess."

We make our way back toward the lab, the faint hum of the equipment inside growing louder as we step in. Kylen and Claire are hunched over a console, their faces illuminated by the pale blue light of the screen.

"She found this image," Kylen says, pointing at the display as we approach. "The face isn't visible, but the silhouette... it does look familiar."

"Familiar how?" Hail, now leaning against the wall, asks skeptically.

Kylen shrugs, his brow furrowed. "Could be someone who works here at Smith Inc. But with how many people we have on the team, do you know how many might have the initials M.V.?"

"Sounds like my lead just created more questions," I say, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Pretty much," Kylen replies, exasperated. "And I can't waste time on it right now. The bridge was already fried when Red destroyed it, but now... it's worse than I thought. Total nightmare."

Claire glances back at us, her tone reassuring. "Still, your lead confirmed something important. Most of the parts M.V.'s been smuggling are for the bridge."

"That's good," I start to say, but then it hits me.

My head spins, my vision blurs, and the world around me begins to fade. I barely hear Keegan calling my name as the lab disappears, replaced by a vivid scene.

Red stands atop Smith Inc. Tower, his hands ablaze with fiery energy. The storm rages around him, and above, a swirling mass of darkness circles, its ominous presence sending a chill down my spine.

I snap back to reality, gasping for breath, my heart pounding.

"What is it?" Hail demands, stepping forward.

"It's Red," I say, my voice tight. "He's in trouble. The wraith—it's back. It's at the tower."

Kylen's eyes widen, and the room erupts into motion. "Get to the helicopter," he orders, his voice sharp and commanding. "We can make it there in twenty minutes, maybe less."

No one hesitates. We sprint toward the field, every second feeling like an eternity.

The sound of rushing footsteps fills the air as we pile into the helicopter. Kylen takes the pilot's seat, his movements practiced and efficient as he starts flipping switches. The blades roar to life, slicing through the air with an urgency that mirrors the tension crackling between us.

Keegan and I strap into the back while Claire and Hail secure themselves up front. Claire's expression is tight with worry, her hands clutching the edge of her seat as though bracing for the worst. Hail, as usual, looks calm, but his eyes betray him—they're locked on the horizon, sharp and calculating.

"Dylan," Kylen calls over the roar of the blades, glancing back at me. "How bad is it?"

I shake my head, still trying to piece the vision together. "Bad. Red's fighting, but the wraith... it's stronger than before. The storm's feeding it. We have to hurry."

Kylen mutters something under his breath and yanks the controls, lifting us into the air with a sharp jolt.

The city below blurs as we ascend, the skyline dotted with rain-slicked buildings and streaks of lightning cutting across the dark sky.

As the helicopter races toward the tower, Hail glances back at me. "What else did you see? Was anyone else there?"

I shake my head again, frustration bubbling under my skin. "Yeah, Alyse and Kat are with him."

Claire shifts in her seat, her voice calm but firm. "If the wraith is stronger, we can't go in unprepared. We need a plan."

"A plan?" Keegan scoffs, leaning forward. "What kind of plan do you make against something like that? We hit it hard and hope it goes down."

"That's not a plan," Claire snaps, her eyes narrowing. "That's a death wish."

"Enough!" Kylen barks, his tone sharp enough to cut through the tension. "Focus. We'll figure it out when we get there. Right now, getting to them is the priority."

Silence falls, save for the hum of the helicopter and the distant rumble of thunder. My mind races, replaying the vision over and over. Red's flames, the wraith's chilling screech, the storm tearing at the city. Every detail feels like a warning, a puzzle piece I can't quite place.

As we near the tower, the storm grows fiercer, the wind buffeting the helicopter and rain lashing against the windows. Kylen grits his teeth, fighting the controls as the turbulence threatens to shake us apart.

"There!" Keegan shouts, pointing out the window.

Smith Inc. Tower looms ahead, its sleek glass exterior glinting in the storm's light. At the very top, a fiery figure stands out against the darkness—Red. Flames swirl around him, defying the rain, but the wraith circles above like a predator stalking its prey.

The sight sends a jolt of urgency through me. "We're running out of time!"

Kylen pushes the helicopter harder, his knuckles white against the controls. "Brace yourselves. We're going in hot."

The wraith screeches again, the sound piercing through the storm and setting my nerves on edge.

Alyse stands just behind Red, her hands crackling with bolts of lightning that seem to draw strength from the storm raging above. Each spark dances along her fingertips, illuminating her determined expression.

Kat positions herself a few paces back, her bow raised and steady. Her movements are precise, each arrow leaving her fingers in a blur, aimed with lethal accuracy at the wraith circling above. The arrows slice through the air, glowing faintly with energy as they pierce the storm, relentless and unyielding.

The helicopter touches down on the rooftop with a jarring thud, the wind from its blades whipping rain and debris around us. The moment the doors slide open, Hail is the first to step out, his white mask gleaming against the stormy backdrop as he unsheathes his icy blade with a hiss.

Kylen follows, his grey cloak billowing in the turbulent wind. With a sharp motion, he extends his hand, summoning his glowing plasma-like ward to hover protectively in front of him.

Claire leaps out next, her hands already glowing with a soft green hue, ready to heal or unleash poison depending on what's needed.

Keegan and I are the last to exit. He adjusts his gloves, the air around him rippling as the faint void-like energy begins to coalesce at his fingertips. I grip my head briefly, my visions still swirling in my mind, but I push them aside. My hands ignite with blue light, the glow casting shadows over the tense faces of my companions.

Together, we face the chaos ahead, rain pelting us as the storm intensifies. Red, Alyse, and Kat stand near the edge of the roof, locked in combat with the wraith, their figures illuminated by lightning streaking across the sky.

"Ready?" Kylen asks, his voice steady despite the chaos.

"Ready as we'll ever be," I reply, stepping forward.

Hail grips his blade tighter. "Let's end this thing."

"Guys, thank the gods you're here!" Alyse shouts, her voice barely audible over the roar of the storm. Her hands crackle with lightning, arcs of electricity dancing between her fingers as she holds her ground.

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Red glances back at us, sweat and rain streaking his face. He nods sharply, a flicker of relief in his fiery eyes. His hands are ablaze, the flames battling against the cold rain pouring from the sky.

Kat, standing slightly behind them, doesn't shift her focus. Her bow is drawn, an arrow shimmering with spectral energy aimed directly at the wraith. "Stay sharp," she calls without looking back. "This thing isn't going down easy."

The wraith lets out a guttural, bone-chilling screech as it notices our arrival, its dark, shifting form pulsing ominously. Its hollow voice booms through the storm, resonating in our bones.

"More lambs to the slaughter."

Hail steps forward, his blade. "Lambs? Try wolves."

Kylen raises his plasma-like ward in front of us, the barrier glowing brightly. "We'll flank it," he commands, his tone calm but firm. "Alyse, Red, hold its attention. Kat, keep firing. The rest of us will find an opening."

"We're with you!" Alyse shouts, turning back to the wraith, lightning building in her palms.

"Let's finish this!" I yell, the glow in my hands intensifying as we rush into the fray.

———Hail———

The storm surges around us as I charge forward, ice forming along the edge of my blade. The wraith shifts, its form writhing like smoke against the gale, but my focus doesn't falter. It's not just a monster—it's a message. Something sent to test us. And I'm not about to let it win.

"Keep its focus on me!" I bark, sprinting toward the shadowy figure.

Red throws a ball of fire directly at the wraith's chest, forcing it to recoil. Its screech cuts through the storm, and I take the opening to slash at its side. My blade cuts through the mist-like substance, and for a moment, it feels like slicing through ice-cold water.

The wraith retaliates with a swing of its elongated arm, its clawed appendage slicing through the air. I barely raise a shield of frost in time to block it, the impact sending me skidding back across the rooftop.

"Damn thing doesn't know when to quit," I mutter, steadying myself.

"Quit talking and focus!" Kat's voice cuts through the chaos as one of her arrows pierces the wraith's shoulder. The creature twists, the glowing arrow lodged in its form, but it doesn't stop moving.

Alyse and Red keep attacking, flames and lightning colliding with the wraith. Bursts of blinding light strike it from Dylan's hands. Kylen holds the barrier steady, deflecting the stray blows and keeping us protected.

Keegan appears beside me, his hand crackling with dark energy. "Any ideas, genius?"

I glance at him. "Yeah. Don't get killed."

Keegan smirks. "Sound advice."

The wraith shifts again, its body expanding, looming over us like a stormcloud. It rears back and lets out another ear-piercing screech, this one shaking the very foundation of the building.

"It's going to attack!" Claire shouts from behind Kylen's barrier, her voice tinged with urgency.

"Not if I stop it first." I grit my teeth and surge forward, leaping toward the wraith's center.

As my blade slices through the wraith's chest, its form shudders, dark tendrils writhing wildly before it lurches toward Red. In a blur of shadow, it snatches him up, dragging him into the stormy sky.

Red reacts fast, his Madium Claw forming over his hand. With a feral growl, he drives it into the wraith's chest, ripping through its spectral mass. The creature lets out a deafening screech and hurls Red toward the edge of the roof.

"Red!" Alyse screams, her voice cutting through the chaos.

"Keep that thing occupied!" I shout at Dylan, already sprinting toward the edge. Without hesitation, I leap over the side, icy wings unfurling from my back and catching the air.

The storm buffets me as I dive, my eyes locked on Red as he plummets toward the ground. I extend my hand, straining against the wind. Just as he's about to hit the street below, our hands lock.

"I've got you!" I grit out, the strain on my wings immense as I halt our descent.

With a powerful beat, I pull us both upward, gliding back toward the roof. I toss Red up first, and he lands in a roll, immediately springing back to his feet.

"Thanks," he mutters, barely sparing me a glance before his eyes dart back to the wraith.

The creature hovers above us, its form vibrating with an unnatural intensity. The storm seems to pulse in rhythm with its movements, the air charged with tension. Suddenly, it lets out an ear-splitting scream, and the sound reverberates like shattering glass.

All around us, the rooftop's glass railings explode into shards, the windows of the tower splintering and raining down like deadly confetti. Even the helicopter's cockpit cracks, the storm swallowing the sound of its destruction.

The wraith's form convulses, twisting in on itself. Then, with a grotesque ripple, it splits.

And splits again.

And again.

Within seconds, the air is filled with dozens—no, hundreds—of smaller wraiths, each one a fragment of the original, all screeching in unison. Their shapes are smaller but just as menacing, swarming in an undulating cloud of darkness.

"What the fuck is this?!" I shout, my grip tightening on my sword.

"What do we do?!" Dylan stammers, his hands already glowing faintly with blue energy.

"Figure it out fast!" Alyse yells, lightning crackling at her fingertips.

The swarm surges toward us like a tidal wave of shadows, and I ready myself, ice spreading from my blade down to my feet. There's no time to hesitate. "Stay together! We take them down one by one if we have to!"

The swarm swirls, each wraith shrieking with the same malevolent intensity as the original. I slash upward with my sword, a wave of frost exploding from the blade and freezing the first cluster of shadows mid-flight. They shatter like brittle glass, but more take their place almost instantly.

"Red! What's the play?!" I shout, already pivoting to deflect another attack.

Red grits his teeth, the Madium Claw glowing as he hurls a blazing fireball into the horde. It detonates with a roar, scattering several wraiths into ash. "We need to find the core! The real one!"

"They all look the same!" Dylan yells, his hands crackling with blue energy as he hurls bolts of light into the fray. A few wraiths dissolve on impact, but the swarm presses closer.

"Then keep hitting them until we figure it out!" I bark, cutting down another pair of wraiths with a wide arc of my blade.

Alyse steps forward, her eyes glowing with electricity as she thrusts both hands forward. A massive bolt of lightning streaks across the rooftop, ripping through a line of wraiths and frying them in an instant. "Red, if you're wrong about this, we're dead!"

"Trust me!" Red shouts back, flames coiling around his fists.

Kat, perched on a ledge, lets loose arrow after arrow, each one striking true. "There's too many of them! Even if we find the core, how do we reach it with this swarm in the way?"

I glance around, my mind racing. The wraiths are everywhere, and their numbers don't seem to dwindle no matter how many we destroy. Then it hits me: the splitting. It's not random—it's deliberate. A diversion.

"The core doesn't want to fight us," I realize, the words slipping out as I parry another attack. "It's using these things to wear us down so it can strike!"

"Pog!" Dylan snaps. "Now what do we do about it?"

"Force its hand!" I shout. "It's hiding in the swarm—if we make enough noise, it'll have to show itself!"

Red nods, catching on immediately. He takes a step forward, slamming both fists into the ground. Flames erupt in a ring around him, driving the wraiths back.

"Everyone, hit it hard!" Alyse commands, stepping beside Red. Her lightning and his fire swirl together in a blinding vortex, carving through the mass of wraiths like a storm unleashed.

Dylan plants his feet, both hands glowing brighter than I've ever seen. With a shout, he unleashes a wave of energy, scattering the swarm further. Kat's arrows strike the wraiths that try to regroup, each shot precise and deadly.

Keegan moves like a blur, his batons crackling with energy as he strikes wraith after wraith, each hit landing with a satisfying crunch. Beside him, Claire's hands glow with an eerie green aura as streams of poison arc from her fingertips, searing through the wraiths and dissolving them into wisps of black smoke.

Kylen shifts seamlessly into an offensive stance, his plasma blade flaring to life. With each precise swing, the weapon slices through the horde, leaving trails of shimmering light in its wake. His movements are sharp and calculated, cutting a clear path through the chaos.

I join in, slashing and freezing any stragglers that break through. The air is thick with the sounds of combat, but I keep my focus sharp, searching the swarm for anything unusual.

Then I see it—a flicker of something darker, at the center of the chaos.

"There!" I point, my sword glowing as ice surges down the blade. "The core's exposed!"

The others follow my gaze. Red doesn't hesitate—he charges forward, flames roaring around him as he leaps toward the core. The wraiths converge to block him, but Alyse clears the way with a massive bolt of lightning.

The core lets out a guttural, otherworldly scream, its form twisting as it realizes we've found it.

"Red, now!" Alyse yells.

With a primal roar, Red drives the Madium Claw into the core's center, flames exploding outward. The wraiths collapse around us, their forms dissolving into black smoke as the core lets out one final screech.

The storm above dissipates, and silence falls over the rooftop, broken only by the sound of our heavy breathing.

Red stands in the center, his hand still glowing faintly. "That's how you end a wraith," he mutters, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

The ground rumbles violently as the dark smoke dissipates, coalescing into a swirling vortex. A rift begins to take form, its edges twisting and writhing like a living thing. The eight of us stand there, breathing heavily, frozen by the sheer intensity of what's unfolding before us.

"What the hell is happening now?!" Dylan shouts, his voice cutting through the eerie hum of the rift.

"It's forming a portal!" Alyse yells back. "Keegan, can you close it?"

Keegan steps forward, his hands trembling as void-light cascades from his fingertips. The edges of the rift shimmer with streaks of purple as he strains against its pull. "I'm trying! It's—it's not budging!" he grunts, beads of sweat forming on his brow.

Before anyone can react further, a shockwave erupts from the rift, forcing us to shield our faces. When the dust settles, a figure emerges—a woman with dark hair cascading down her back, clad in an immaculate white robe. She raises her hands above her head, then slowly lowers them, shivering slightly as though adjusting to the air of our world.

Her piercing gaze sweeps across us. "Reginald Smith, Hail Magnus, Alyse Smith, Kylen Smith, Dylan Emerson, Katalina Johnson, Keegan Blackwell, Clairissa Dean," she intones, her voice cold and commanding. "You have committed the most severe offense."

Red steps forward, his claw catching the faint light. "Who the hell are you?" he demands, his tone sharp.

"I am Jean of The Court, child."

Red narrows his eyes. "What do you want?"

Jean's expression hardens as she sweeps her gaze over the group. "To bring you to justice. You've left your universe, violated its sanctity, and now you've destroyed our prized wraith. Not to mention the blood of gods staining your hands," she says, her words like venom as she locks eyes with Red. "You will all come with me to face judgment in the Courtroom."

She gestures to the swirling rift behind her, the portal thrumming ominously. "Enter."

Dylan scoffs, stepping forward with a smirk. "This dumb fucking broad, am I right? You're delusional if you think we're just gonna walk in there because you asked nicely."

Jean's icy demeanor doesn't waver. "Then you will all be cast into The Nexus," she replies, her tone dark and final.

Dylan raises an eyebrow and crosses his arms. "The Nexus? Really? What's next, an encyclopedia entry? 'Welcome to Chapter Seventeen: Exposition Dump.' This lore is getting ridiculous."

"Not the time, Dylan," Keegan mutters, shaking his head.

Red raises a hand to silence them, his eyes locking on Jean. "We'll come," he says quietly, his voice steady but carrying a clear warning as his gaze shifts to me. Stay alert.

"You speak as if you had a choice." Jean's lips curl into a faint, victorious smile. "After you," she says, motioning toward the rift with a sweep of her hand.

One by one, we exchange wary glances. Then, with reluctant steps, we move toward the portal, knowing there's no turning back.