Darkness swallowed the world whole.
Not the kind born from night, nor the suffocating blackness behind closed eyelids. This was something else entirely—an absence. As though reality itself had been peeled away, leaving only a hollow space between moments.
Kaoru stood weightless within it.
A pale white-blue glow bled softly from his body, drifting particles suspended endlessly around him. They looked like dust at first glance, yet none of them fell. They simply hung there in the void, frozen alongside everything else. The world beyond stretched infinitely outward in faded silhouettes and washed-out shapes, as if reality had been reduced to an unfinished sketch. Buildings existed only as faint outlines. Light itself seemed trapped in place.
Even sound felt gone.
Not silent—
absent.
Kaoru looked down at his hand.
Every slight movement left behind lingering afterimages that slowly faded away seconds later. Even the smallest twitch echoed and reverberated strangely through the empty world, except heavily muffled.
"…What the hell…"
His own voice startled him.
It echoed forever.
Then—
Movement.
Another phantom drifted nearby.
It waved frantically toward Himiko's frozen silhouette beside the car.
"Kaoru?!"
Kaoru blinked—it was Aiko.
"…Why are you—wait—you can hear me?"
Aiko floated closer.
"Where the hell are we?!"
Kaoru looked around slowly.
"…My ability, I think."
"Huh?"
"Back when we fought four arms before… this happened."
Aiko stared around the endless void.
"So you get all this…" She pointed around dramatically. "…while I get the ability to move faster?"
Kaoru shrugged, "Snooze you lose."
Aiko looked genuinely offended, causing the corners of Kaoru's lips to curl up.
"What kind of bullshit is that—"
"It should kick in soon," Kaoru mumbled to himself.
"…What should?"
"My ability."
Kaoru rubbed the back of his neck.
"I can usually see the next four moves an enemy makes." Kaoru hesitated, searching for words. "Like... everything freezes, and in my head I can almost watch their actions play out before they happen."
Aiko blinked once.
"…What?"
"But this is different now."
Kaoru frowned. He paced in circles beside the car, hand placed on his chin. He tried re-tracing the steps he took last time he was here. But he wasn't sure what the hell was even going on last time. He didn't fully believe that it was even real.
"Before, I couldn't move. Or talk. Or anything."
He looked down at his hands.
"But now—"
His eyes slowly drifted upward.
Then—
Kaoru screamed.
Aiko burst out laughing.
"What the hell was that?! You sounded like a little girl!" She tumbled back into a fit of laughter, back hunched over as she wrapped her hands around her stomach.
Kaoru watched silently—hands on hips—feeling a little bit stupid. He continued watching Aiko, who couldn't stop laughing. He pointed upward. Aiko followed his finger. Then her eyes continued upwards until she saw it—
and screamed louder than him.
The pillar, launched by the Hive, hovered above—monolithic, suspended in mid-strike, seeming to loom as if it glared downwards. A colossal spike—an amalgam of writhing spiders—hung frozen, halfway to impact, twitching in eerie silence.
"…What is that thing?!"
Kaoru swallowed.
"…It's that… thing… The hive of spiders."
Slowly—
carefully—
His eyes traced the pillar upward towards the Hive's body, shifting between the three massive heads until he reached the one that was looking directly at him. Kaoru scanned it until he found the eye—
The same eye that had locked onto him earlier.
The second their gazes met—
The Hive glowed a bright white-red.
Aiko stepped back immediately.
"What the—"
Kaoru's stomach tightened.
"…Here we go."
The world shifted.
Four visions slammed into the world one by one.
Frame one.
The pillar moved.
Frame two.
It inched even closer.
Frame three.
The car crumpled.
Frame four.
Bodies disappeared beneath spiders.
Aiko stared—eyelids were stretched miles apart. Quivering slightly, her jaw hung open. For a long moment, silence befell her. Until eventually—
"…We're gonna die?"
Kaoru clenched his fists—the sound echoed like leather folding in on itself.
The glowing white shapes still lingered before his eyes—four future frames layered atop the ghostly world.
The pillar descending.
The vehicle crushed.
All of them gone.
His heart pounded so hard it reverberated through the empty dimension around them. No. Think. There has to be something.
"Not if we stop it."
Aiko looked at him sharply.
"How exactly do we stop that?"
Kaoru's eyes flicked between the frozen pillar and the faded silhouettes of the convoy below them. His thoughts raced over everything that had happened since the powers awakened.
His ability.
Aiko's ability.
The kid.
Wait.
"Aiko… when you used your power the first time."
"Huh?"
"The kid. You grabbed him, right?"
"Yeah?"
"You moved with him?"
"Well, obviously, I wasn't gonna leave him behind."
"No, no, I mean—"
Kaoru rubbed his forehead—How does he explain this?
"You moved him with you."
Aiko blinked twice.
"…Yeah?"
Kaoru paced in a circle. Every movement left pale afterimages drifting behind him like ghosts.
"So your power doesn't just affect you…"
His voice trailed.
His eyes widened slightly.
"It affects whatever you're touching."
Aiko folded her arms.
"I mean, I could probably dash away. But then you would—"
"Can you dash with multiple people?"
"Not sure."
Kaoru's thoughts spiralled.
The pillar.
The convoy.
Distance.
Mass.
Momentum.
"Aiko, could you do it before?"
"Well, when I used it first, I grabbed a kid." She shrugged slightly. "So I guess I can."
Kaoru looked down toward the frozen silhouette of the automobile.
"What about a whole car?"
Aiko stared at him.
"…I'm just a girl, you think I can push that thing?"
"No, but what if your ability makes you—like—some… unstoppable object?"
The confused girl gave him a look as he'd just started speaking another language.
"Wait—"
He pointed at her.
"—Did the kid feel heavy?"
Aiko paused.
Then blinked.
"…No."
Kaoru stepped closer immediately.
"No?"
"It felt pretty…" She tilted her head. "…Weightless."
Kaoru's heart skipped.
That's it.
That's fucking it.
His thoughts connected rapidly now, each idea stacking onto the next.
"My ability connects through eyesight…"
He pointed between his eyes.
"Maybe yours connects through contact."
Aiko's brows furrowed deeper.
"You've lost me."
Kaoru groaned.
"Okay—okay—think about it like this."
He pointed toward the frozen car below.
"When you dash, maybe you're not just moving yourself."
Aiko stared blankly.
Kaoru waved his hands around desperately.
"Maybe you control momentum."
"…What the hell does that mean?"
"It means—"
He stopped.
Thought.
Then tried again.
"If something touches you while you're moving…"
He mimed grabbing something.
"…It moves with you."
Aiko still looked confused.
Kaoru sighed loudly.
"Tap the car."
"…What?"
"Tap the car when you dash."
He pointed again.
"The whole thing should move with you."
Aiko stared at him.
Long.
"…You're making this up."
"I am theorising."
"You sound insane."
"I probably am."
Kaoru looked back up at the frozen pillar hanging above them.
"…But unless you want us flattened, we should probably test it."
Aiko looked upward, too—the sheer size of it made her face pale.
"…Right."
Kaoru exhaled slowly.
"Okay."
He pointed toward her.
"Just close your eyes."
"…And?"
"Imagine where you were standing before we got dragged in here."
Aiko hesitated.
Kaoru softened slightly.
"You've got this."
"…It doesn't feel like I do."
"It's not as complicated as it sounds."
Aiko stared at him for another second.
Then inhaled deeply and closed her eyes. The dimension around them hummed softly.
"…You're right."
Her expression shifted.
"It feels like I'm back in my body."
The white-blue glow around her flickered as the phantom world shifted. Frames peeled outward around them as Aiko's ghost moved backwards into position beside the car.
Frame one.
She leapt over the side.
Frame two.
Dashed behind the vehicle.
Frame three.
Dashed forward—touched the metal.
Frame four—
The entire vehicle launched forward with her.
Kaoru's eyes widened.
"…Holy shit."
The void fractured. Sound flooded in, stabbing Kaoru's mind like needles. As if he'd dived straight into lava, heat slammed into his skin—blazing, relentless. His senses reeled, scrambling to process the overwhelming rush he had once taken for granted.
Pain.
Noise.
Screaming.
He grabbed his ears instantly.
"GHH—!"
Everything hurt.
Then Aiko moved.
Fast.
She vaulted over the side of the car.
"Huh—?!" Himiko turned. "Aiko?!"
She vanished behind the vehicle—stopped for less than a second—then zoomed forward again. Her palm graced the metal frame, and within an instant, the car exploded forward.
The G-force slammed Kaoru back into his seat.
Everyone in the car screamed; it overwhelmed Kaoru's mind.
The Hive's pillar slammed down behind them—
BOOM.
The street vanished beneath the impact.
Makoto nearly lost control of the wheel, but tightened her grip firmly—yanking it side to side before the car finally stabilised.
"What the hell just happened?!"
Kaoru looked back at the crater.
"…Don't worry about it."
He swallowed hard.
"JUST DRIVE!"
The convoy sped through the ruined streets.
Above them—
Tom soared overhead, a comet of force. Throwing his hand forward, a wave of roaring red blaze struck another attacking tendril. The appendage detonated—splintering into swarming arachnids. He scanned the skyline, where alien warships unleashed cascading shells onto the Hive.
The thing just wouldn't stop regenerating.
Wouldn't stop growing.
Tom's aura flickered.
"What's taking him so long…?"
Another strike.
He weaved to the side—
But it didn't matter, because the tendril stopped. The Hive had frozen completely. Eyes held firmly in place—not even looking at Tom anymore. It's like the monstrocity didn't even care. But all of a sudden, its massive heads slowly turned away from him.
Tom frowned.
"…What's it doing?"
The alien ships kept firing.
The Hive ignored them—ignored Tom—not even gracing them with a counterattack. Its attention was locked somewhere else entirely. It hauled its large carcass through the air like a giant tanker.
Tom's eyes widened.
It was heading in a specific direction—towards a specific place.
"…Wait."
The realisation hit instantly.
"No…"
The Hive moved.
Every tendril shifted toward the University campus simultaneously.
Tom's stomach dropped.
"It's going after—"
Far from the chaos, I found myself still sitting in the cramped bathroom, head leaning against the barely stable door, which creaked under my weight. I bumped my head against the door.
The door, along with me, came crashing down to the floor.
Dust sprayed, particles dancing across my face as I lay there, staring at the ceiling.
"The fuck am I doing?" I mumbled to myself.
"Wallowing like a damn idiot."
I rolled over to my knee, placed one foot on the floor—my aura rippled up my leg as it landed. I pushed myself up with it. It's been strangely silent out there. Did the other guy find another way to beat it?
The feeling came back…
Buzzing…
In my hand.
My stomach tightened.
My hands trembled.
Every breath that left me came out ragged as I slowly lifted my hand to my face. I stared long into it.
The mark.
Purple, swollen skin wrapped around it.
It vibrated—my hand was shaking.
Then…
It pulsed.
Silence.
Silence except for my heavy breathing—like my body knew something my mind didn't.
No…
It couldn't be…
Could it?
No no no no no no no no.
The silence outside felt invasive.
Silence.
I ground my teeth as the realisation hit me sharply.
"IT'S IN—"
The building shook.
Violent.
A deafening screech tore through the university.
Too late.
The Hive's pillar smashed down through the campus ceiling.
For one raw and shuddering moment, fear clawed its way up my throat—I was certain nothing would follow but endless silence. But that didn't matter, as—
The world—
Disappeared.