BOOM.
A deafening explosion tore through the facility, shaking the ground like a living beast roaring in its final moments. Metal groaned as beams snapped like twigs, and the walls cracked apart under the pressure. The once-sterile research lab, a place where countless experiments had been conducted in secrecy, was now a collapsing tomb.
A voice echoed overhead, eerily calm.
"Warning. Structural integrity compromised. Total collapse in five minutes."
Ishizaki staggered, his pulse hammering. His mind reeled not just from the destruction, but from Unit 01's last words.
"You were meant to replace me."
"They made you because I failed."
"I was already dead."
His hands clenched into fists. His breath came in short, sharp gasps. What the hell does that mean?!
A second explosion ripped through the ceiling, sending massive chunks of steel plummeting down. Sparks flew as an overhead support beam snapped, slamming into the floor and carving a massive fissure through the chamber.
Drax was already moving. He grabbed Ishizaki by the back of his collar, yanking him away just as another section of the ceiling collapsed where he had been standing.
"Kid, snap out of it!" Drax roared, his voice barely cutting through the chaos. "We gotta go, NOW!"
Ishizaki gritted his teeth, forcing himself to focus. Move. Move!
Kaede's hands were flying across her wrist-mounted interface, her face illuminated by frantically flickering holographic data. "I can't override the system! The collapse is triggering auto-lockdown protocols—every exit is sealing itself shut!"
A sharp static buzz rang in Ishizaki's skull, followed by Solus's voice—glitched and broken.
"Hos…tal… Inte—ity… Disconnec—"
Then—silence.
Ishizaki's blood ran cold.
Solus had gone silent.
Before he could even process what that meant, Unit 01 suddenly moved.
They turned toward the wall, their cybernetic arm snapping up, pointing toward a still-intact reinforced panel near the far side of the chamber.
Kaede's eyes widened. "An ejection tunnel! That's not on any public schematics—this is a restricted experimental exit!"
Drax scoffed. "Do we really care?" He hoisted Mei onto his back. "If it leads up, we're going through it."
Unit 01, however, didn't move toward the tunnel.
Instead, they turned toward the failing control panels, their glowing blue eyes flickering erratically.
"…If I open it, I stay behind," they murmured.
Ishizaki felt like he'd been punched in the chest.
"No," he said instantly. "You're coming with us—"
Unit 01's lips curled into a small, sad smile.
"There isn't another way."
Before Ishizaki could argue, Unit 01 pressed their hand to the control panel.
The facility trembled violently, and the reinforced wall behind them exploded open, revealing a long, spiraling escape tunnel—leading straight up to the surface.
Drax wasted no time. He grabbed Mei tighter. "THAT'S OUR EXIT!"
Ryo and Hana ran forward, their faces filled with fear and desperate hope.
But Ishizaki didn't move.
His entire body was locked in place, his heart pounding in his chest.
Unit 01 stepped back from the console, their form flickering wildly as cracks of unstable Q-Energy ran across their arms.
They were dying.
Ishizaki stepped forward, his voice raw. "Come with us."
Unit 01 shook their head.
"I was already dead."
The ceiling finally gave out.
A massive section of the facility collapsed, a titanic slab of reinforced metal hurtling toward them—
Unit 01 lifted a single hand, and a blinding energy barrier erupted from their body, stopping the collapse just long enough for the others to escape.
"RUN!" they roared.
Ishizaki didn't move.
He couldn't move.
Not until Drax grabbed him by the collar and threw him into the tunnel.
"MOVE, DAMN IT!"
Ishizaki stumbled, barely catching himself before sprinting forward.
He didn't look back.
Because if he did—he wouldn't be able to leave.
The last thing he heard was Unit 01's voice, barely a whisper beneath the facility's dying echoes.
"Goodbye."
Then—the entire world behind them collapsed into fire and darkness.
Breaking to the Surface
The tunnel was pitch black, the only light coming from the glowing red cracks in the walls.
Ishizaki's breath came in ragged gasps, his legs screaming with exhaustion. His mind was numb, his chest hollow.
Unit 01 was gone.
They had sacrificed themselves to let them escape.
"I was already dead."
His stomach twisted painfully.
Drax's heavy footsteps echoed beside him as they climbed upward, carrying Mei in his arms. "How much further?!" he shouted.
Kaede squinted ahead—then her eyes widened.
"I see light!"
With one final push, the group burst through the exit—
—into the freezing night air.
Ishizaki collapsed onto the ground, his chest heaving.
For the first time in days, he could see the sky.
The moment of relief lasted exactly five seconds.
Then Kaede's voice shook with horror:
"…No. No, no, no."
Ishizaki's blood turned to ice.
He looked up.
And his stomach dropped.
A massive force stood ahead of them, silhouetted against the burning glow of the ruined city beyond.
Dozens—no, hundreds—of armored figures, lined in formation. Their dark plating gleamed under the moonlight, weapons humming with Q-Energy.
At the front stood a tall figure, their cloak billowing in the cold wind. Their helmeted gaze locked onto Ishizaki.
The Overlord's forces.
Waiting.
Ishizaki's heart pounded in his chest.
Unit 01's sacrifice… had been for nothing.
They had walked right into a trap.
A deep, synthetic voice rang out from the front lines.
"Target acquired."
Weapons powered up.
The facility was gone.
The enemy stood before them.
And there was nowhere left to run.
.Nowhere to Run
Ishizaki's heart pounded like a war drum as his eyes scanned the battlefield ahead.
A legion of armored soldiers stood in formation, their weapons humming with Q-Energy, reflecting the eerie glow of the facility's remains behind them. The air was thick with tension, charged with the silent menace of an inevitable fight to the death.
At the front of the army stood a commanding figure, their cloak billowing in the cold night wind. Their helmet was sleek, emotionless, with a crimson visor that pulsed rhythmically—like the heartbeat of a machine. An Enforcer.
Ishizaki's stomach tightened.
The Overlord's forces hadn't just found them—they had been waiting for them.
"Shit…" Drax muttered, shifting Mei's weight on his back. His knuckles whitened around his hammer. "They knew we were coming."
Kaede's breath was shaky, her fingers twitching over her wrist interface. "There's… too many."
The Enforcer at the front tilted their head slightly, then spoke in a deep, modulated voice.
"Target confirmed. Ishizaki, Designation: Rogue Experiment."
Ishizaki's blood ran cold.
They knew his name.
The Enforcer lifted their hand. A signal.
The soldiers raised their rifles in perfect synchronization.
"Engage."
A wall of plasma fire erupted toward them.
The First Clash
"MOVE!"
Ishizaki barely had time to react before Drax grabbed him, dragging him behind a collapsed pillar as searing plasma bolts slammed into the ground where he had stood just a second ago.
Hana, Ryo, and Mei screamed as Kaede pulled them down, shielding them behind the wreckage.
"We can't stay here!" Kaede hissed. "They'll flank us!"
Drax gritted his teeth, gripping his hammer. "Then we fight!"
Ishizaki's hands shook. His chest tightened.
They were outnumbered. Outgunned. And exhausted.
Then—
A whisper in his mind.
"You are not alone."
Solus.
Ishizaki's breath caught. His connection to Solus was still there—faint, flickering, but present.
His fingers curled around his knife. No more running.
He took a breath—then charged.
The Battle Begins
The first soldier barely had time to react before Ishizaki appeared in front of him. His knife flashed in the darkness, slicing through the soldier's armor. A burst of Q-Energy surged from the blade, sending the soldier crashing backward into his allies.
Drax roared, leaping forward with brute force. His hammer swung in a devastating arc, shattering the ground as soldiers were flung aside like ragdolls.
Kaede stayed low, her hands flying across her wrist interface. "Come on, come on… Got it!"
A shockwave pulsed outward from her device, disrupting the enemies' targeting systems. The soldiers staggered, their weapons flickering.
"That won't last long!" she yelled.
Ishizaki didn't hesitate.
He vanished—blurring across the battlefield with Quantum Step, reappearing behind enemy lines. Before they could react, his blade slashed upward, cutting through their armor with precision.
Another whisper from Solus.
"More incoming."
Ishizaki spun just in time to duck under a plasma spear, his instincts saving his life.
More soldiers were closing in fast.
We're still outnumbered.
And then, the Enforcer moved.
The Enforcer Enters the Fight
BOOM.
A shockwave tore through the battlefield, forcing Ishizaki to brace himself.
The Enforcer descended like a specter, landing with perfect precision. Their red visor pulsed, scanning him.
"Ishizaki," they intoned. "Objective: Retrieval. Your resistance is irrelevant."
Ishizaki's jaw tightened. "Like hell I'm going with you."
The Enforcer's hand snapped up.
A pulse of Q-Energy erupted from their palm.
Ishizaki barely had time to throw up his arms before he was blasted off his feet, his body slamming into the wreckage behind him.
His vision blurred. His limbs felt heavy.
The Enforcer advanced, slow and methodical.
"You are incomplete," they said, voice devoid of emotion. "Return to your designated state."
Ishizaki tried to stand—but his body wouldn't move.
Not now—!
The Enforcer raised their arm. The finishing blow.
And then—
A massive hammer crashed down between them.
Drax stepped forward, his stance firm. "You're not touching him."
The Enforcer's helmet tilted slightly, as if acknowledging a minor inconvenience.
Then, they attacked.
Holding the Line
Drax swung his hammer with bone-shattering force, aiming directly for the Enforcer's chest. The sheer power of the impact sent shockwaves rippling outward.
The Enforcer blocked it with a single arm.
Drax's eyes widened.
The Enforcer barely moved, their stance unshaken.
"You are irrelevant," they stated, before blasting Drax backward with a concentrated Q-Energy burst.
Drax crashed into a crumbling wall, coughing up blood.
Ishizaki forced himself up.No. No, no, no.
Kaede screamed.
The Enforcer turned toward Ishizaki again.
"Come with us."
Ishizaki's mind screamed.MOVE!
Something inside him snapped.
And then—everything changed.
The Awakening
A deep, resonant hum filled Ishizaki's chest.
The world around him slowed.
Time itself fractured.
His vision blurred, colors shifting into something impossible to describe.
Then—his body moved on its own.
One second, the Enforcer was reaching for him.
The next—Ishizaki was behind them.
His knife glowed violently, Q-Energy coursing through his veins like liquid fire.
Before the Enforcer could react, Ishizaki drove his blade into their back.
A massive pulse of energy exploded outward.
The Enforcer staggered.
For the first time, their visor flickered.
Ishizaki felt something… new.
Something Solus had been holding back.
Power.
Pure, unfiltered, unstable power.
The Enforcer turned slowly. "Interesting."
Ishizaki gritted his teeth.
This fight wasn't over.
But something inside him had awakened.
And for the first time—he wasn't afraid.
The Next Step
The battle was far from won.
The Overlord's forces still outnumbered them.
The Enforcer was still standing.
But something was different now.
Ishizaki felt it.
Something inside him had changed forever.
As he stood there, blade glowing, Q-Energy surging through his blood, he realized—
This was only the beginning