The ruins of Tokyo Tower loomed like a broken ribcage against the blood-red dawn. Hinako kept to the shadows, her daggers slick with condensation from the morning fog. Every step sent fresh jolts of pain up her corrupted leg—the black veins had reached her thigh now, pulsing like a second heartbeat.
Shiro moved like a ghost ahead of her, his golden eyes scanning for Celestial Foundation patrols. He hadn't spoken since revealing Nakato's energy signature. The shattered regulator in Hinako's pocket hummed faintly, its flickering screen the only proof that *something* of Nakato still existed.
Daisuke's voice crackled in her earpiece: *"Foundation forces are converging on your position. Whatever you're doing, do it fast."*
Hinako gritted her teeth. "Any sign of Nine?"
*"Gone. But her biometrics just pinged near the tower's base. She's close."*
Shiro suddenly raised a fist—halt. Ahead, a squad of Celestial Foundation soldiers in pristine white armor fanned out around the tower's wreckage. Their leader, a woman with a silver insignia on her shoulder, held a device that made Hinako's corruption *twitch* in recognition.
A modified regulator.
*"Subject Prime's energy signature is strongest here,"* the woman said, her voice crisp. *"Extract it before the corruption spreads."*
Hinako's breath caught. *They're harvesting Nakato's remnants.*
Shiro's hand clamped over her wrist before she could lunge. "Not yet," he breathed. "Look."
The Foundation soldiers parted as a containment unit rolled forward. Inside a reinforced glass cylinder floated a shimmering wisp of black fire—a fragment of Nakato's power, writhing like a living thing.
Hinako's dagger hand trembled. That wasn't just residual energy. It was *aware.*
Then—
A child's laughter echoed through the ruins.
Nine stood atop a collapsed beam, her oversized hoodie flapping in the wind. The Foundation soldiers spun, rifles humming to life, but the girl just smiled.
"You shouldn't touch big brother's fire," she singsonged. "It bites."
The fragment in the containment unit *exploded.*
---
Black fire engulfed the Foundation squad. Not the controlled burn Nakato had wielded—this was wild, *hungry*, lashing out like a cornered animal. The containment unit shattered, and the fire coalesced into something vaguely humanoid, its hollow eyes locking onto Nine.
*"Sister."* The voice was Nakato's, but layered with something deeper. *"You brought them."*
Nine tilted her head. "You called me."
Hinako didn't wait for Shiro's signal. She burst from cover, daggers drawn. The fire fragment turned—and *recognized* her.
*"Hinako?"* The voice softened. *"You're... sick."*
She skidded to a stop. The fragment's gaze burned through her, seeing the corruption spreading beneath her skin.
Shiro's sword flashed as he cut down two Foundation soldiers. "Hinako, we need to—"
The fragment *moved.* One second it hovered near Nine; the next, it pressed a burning hand to Hinako's chest.
Agony. Clarity.
Visions erupted behind her eyes—
*A vast void where stars went to die.*
*A crown of shattered realities floating in the dark.*
*A silver-haired woman in a lab coat, whispering: "The Hollow King was never the enemy. He's the lock."*
Hinako gasped as the fragment withdrew, its flames dimmer now. The corruption in her veins had receded slightly, the black veins fading to gray.
*"Not a cure,"* the fragment whispered. *"A truce."*
Nine clapped her hands. "Now you see!"
Shiro grabbed Hinako's arm. "We need to go. *Now.*"
The fragment's head snapped up. *"They're coming."*
A sonic boom shook the ruins as a dropship emblazoned with the Celestial Foundation's insignia descended. The hatch opened, revealing a figure that made Hinako's blood run cold—
A man in a white coat, his silver hair tied back, golden eyes gleaming with clinical interest.
Not Kuroto.
Someone *worse.*
"Ah," said Dr. Akira Mazui, Nakato's presumed-dead father. "There you are."
---
The fragment of Nakato *screamed*, its flames lashing toward Akira. The doctor didn't flinch. He pressed a device on his wrist, and the fire *froze* mid-strike, writhing in invisible bonds.
"Now, now," Akira chided. "Is that any way to greet your creator?"
Hinako's daggers were in her hands instantly. "You bastard. You left him to die!"
Akira's smile was razor-thin. "I left him to *become.*" His gaze shifted to Nine. "And look how far my children have come."
Nine bared her teeth. "Liar. Mother saved us. *You* made cages."
The dropship's floodlights revealed the truth—Akira's arms were lined with scars, the skin grafted and regrown like a patchwork experiment. His golden eyes weren't natural; they *glowed*, just like Nakato's flames.
Shiro stepped forward, sword humming. "You're not Akira."
The doctor's laugh was hollow. "Not anymore." He rolled up his sleeve, revealing a pulsating black mark—the Hollow King's crown. "But then, none of us are what we seem."
The fragment of Nakato strained against its bonds. *"What did you do to my father?"*
Akira's grin turned feral. "The same thing he tried to do to *you.*" He raised his hand—
—and the world *split.*
A rift tore open behind him, not the unstable void from before, but a *gateway.* Through it, Hinako glimpsed a sterile white facility, rows of glass tubes, and a massive door labeled **SUBJECT OMEGA.**
Nine screamed. "NO!"
Akira stepped backward into the rift. "Come home, children. It's time to finish what we started."
The fragment of Nakato roared, shattering its bonds in a burst of black fire. But it was too late—the rift snapped shut, taking Akira with it.
Only then did Hinako notice what he'd left behind.
A single data chip, clutched in the fragment's flickering hand.
*"Echo Prime,"* it whispered before dissolving into embers. *"He wants us to follow."*
Daisuke's voice crackled through the earpiece: *"Hinako—whatever just happened, the Foundation's entire network just lit up. They're mobilizing everything for the Philippines."*
Shiro sheathed his sword. "Then we move first."
Nine picked up the data chip, her tiny fingers trembling. When she looked up, her eyes were no longer amber.
They were *black.*
"Too late," she whispered. "Omega is already awake."