The workshop hummed with the low vibration of generators and different kinds of tech, evan stood in front of a table under the fluorescent lights, the titanium spinal plates laid out on a steel tray beside him like a surgeon's offering. "My friend Kyle will be here soon, he's a genius but an odd one, don't mind his antics" Jones said foreseeing the annoying conversations to come. "Your friend?" Evan raised an eyebrow. "He was also at the bar with me and he shares Abit of the same 'belief' about heroes we do" Jones replied. "Fine but don't say belief like it's a sort of religion" Evan said walking towards the operating table starting to strip shirtless. "Enough chatting boys, let's get down to business, we'll be replacing your spine with that" beric said pointing to the faintly glistening titanium spine of the table "this is a long process but we'll remake you anew, one of a kind, it's time the humans got an upgrade as-well." "Yes, yes, the titanium-integrated prosthetic augmentation. Robot arms. Moving on."
A bang was heard on the steel door as if someone walked into it head first.
"That'll be Kyle," jones said. "He's the one I was talking about and he's a biotechnologist" "God help us" he muttered. Kyle burst into the workshop with a backpack slung over one shoulder, hoodie half-zipped, hair sticking in ten directions. He looked like he hadn't slept in a week and was powered entirely by caffeine. "Gentlemen,I come bearing gifts" Kyle announced, "but firstly have any of you seen the movie Bloodshot?" Jones closed his eyes. "Can you not start this, Kyle?"
"No, no, it's relevant, I promise" Kyle insisted, dropping the backpack with a heavy metallic thud. "So in this movie, a soldier dies, right? And then he gets infused with nanobots that basically—"
"Kyle," jones snapped. "The point." Kyle grinned, unbothered. "I brought nanobots." Evan straightened. "Nanobots?, isn't that….and how do YOU have access to them?" Kyle pulled a cylindrical containment tube from the bag. Millions of silver motes swirled inside like metallic dust caught in a storm. "I forgot to mention, Kyle runs a Lab that's funded by a government branch" jones said. "Yes and our current research are nanobots, and we've made enough progress and reported back anyways so it's fine for me to have these" Kyle said, eyes gleaming. "These are adaptive bio-mechanical microstructures. Experimental and the first of it's kind, it's something I started working on after the basic nanobots were made"
"My pitch is that If we introduce the nanobots into his system alongside the plating and the arm augmentations, we can take this to a whole new level, the nanobots will respond to him. in theory, they should be able to restructure parts of his body into weapons, regenerate tiss-" "so something like a superhuman cyborg, a living weapon" Evan guessed before Kyle could finish his sentence. "And if this works out, maybe I'll get to test my capabilities if that fight is still going on" Evan said pointing to the ongoing broadcast of the battle happening at District 12 plaza.
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At the plaza, screams had died down, most civilians had been evacuated. What remained was ruin and impact craters stretching across the open plaza. Two Rank H NCAs tore through the area like a storm; One fired crackling energy blasts, ripping trenches through the concrete with each shot. The other brute with dense super-strength hurled entire chunks of debris and buildings as if they were stones pulled from a riverbed.
The Rank D rogue crouched between them, hands pressed to the ground. Pillars of jagged earth lurched upward on command, his moves looked inexperienced He lacked precision, only managing crude spikes, walls and somewhat huge chunks and formed boulders. Chloe skidded behind an overturned tram as an energy blast detonated nearby. Across the plaza, Steve exchanged concussive shots with the super-strength rogue, purple shockwaves colliding with raw strength. Faj entered the plaza at a sprint, each step building a visible shimmer beneath him as he stockpiled kinetic energy from the repeated motion. one last stride then launching himself forward like a rocket, He landed behind the Rogue rank D, watching Chloe skid on a trail of cracked granite. The Rank D rogue blinked, startled. "H–hey, who are-" Faj cracked his knuckles, grinning "I'm Faj and you'll be the first to experience this move, my first original move." He planted his feet, channeling every ounce of stored kinetic force into his fist. "Faj Verse One!" The punch went forward but also carrying a shockwave. A compressed burst of pure momentum erupted from his arm, hitting the Rank D rogue like a battering ram. The blow launched the rogue Forward, Directly toward Chloe. She saw him coming, Shifted her strength, every ounce of it into her right arm. Her punch collided with his jaw mid-air, sending him directly into the ground, his jaw visibly dislocated and hanging off, he almost looked like he was lifeless. Faj dusted off his hands. "Perfect handoff." Chloe stepped over the fallen rogue, "your move needs a better name though" she said heaving before shifting her eyes to the remaining battles "Let's handle the real problems now."Across the plaza, the two Rank H NCAs were still going strong, energy blasts lighting the air, shockwaves causing rumbling, Steve and Alec locked in a deadly dance to keep up.
A burning arc of blue light tore across the plaza, shredding concrete like wet paper.
Steve reacted instantly sending out a purple blast from his palm, countering the blast with a concussive boom that shook dust from the broken rooftops.
Alec blurred sideways, sprinting at superhuman speed. He still wasn't fully pushing himself yet, just operating at a speed most humans would consider impossible, his feet skimming the fractured ground in a rapid staccato rhythm. "Draw him in!" Mia shouted as she unleashed a dome that separated the two rogues and locking all 4 of them inside. "I'm sure the other 2 will be fine" Alec pivoted sharply and rushed the rogue from the side. But the man spun, hand glowing, another beam fired. Steve slammed his hands forward.
BOOM—
His shockwave met the blast mid-air, scattering it into sparks. "Tch… stubborn bastard," Steve muttered. "Going up" Alec heaved as he sprinted up the side of a half-crumbled pillar, vaulted off it, and came down toward the rogue with a flying strike—
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The super-strength rogue charged like a bull towards Chloe, pavement cracking under each step. Faj stepped in front of her before stomping and releasing a ripple of energy from his legs, enough to almost stop the charging rogue. The rogue's fist smashed down where he stopped, a crater forming instantly, Chloe didn't waste the opening. She flipped sideways, sending out a punch that landed directly on his ribs, the impact sent him flying backwards but he was quick to recovery. "Great," Chloe muttered. "He's like a tank." Faj skated around behind him on bursts of momentum. "Don't worry. I'm the artillery." He dash-stepped forward, repeating the same running motion. "If you've got a plan, now would be a good ti-" Chloe started. "I do," Faj said. "Keep punching" She smiled. "Gladly." Chloe sprinted in, winding up her fists—
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Alec descended like a meteor, but the rogue was ready, twisting and firing a blast upward. Alec crossed his arms, bracing….The blast slammed into him mid-air, knocking him off course, spiraling him toward the ground.
"ALEC!" Mia shouted, But Alec landed in a roll, skin steaming from the burn and already beginning to regenerate, flesh knitting visibly faster than any human should. "That all you got?" Alec spat, wiping blood from his lip, He sprinted again beginning to push himself harder. His heart hammered, muscles tearing and repairing on the fly as he accelerated toward the rogue with a burst far faster than before."now!" he yelled, Steve unleashed a blast aimed low. The ground erupted beneath the rogue's feet, lifting him just enough, Alec arrived, fist first, smashing into the rogue's solar plexus. The rogue gasped, breath knocked out. Alec seized his arm, twisted it, and threw him across the plaza straight into Mia's line, Mia planted her feet and slammed her palms together, A barrier formed like a glass hammer, The rogue hit it spine-first.
CRACK.
He dropped, dazed, Mia exhaled."that's One."
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Chloe clashed with the other rogue who had super strength, each impact sending shockwaves through the square. He swung a massive haymaker, she blocked, sliding backward several meters but staying upright."Okay, that actually hurt," she grunted "hang in there,I'm almost ready" Faj said, sprinting in a looping circle around them. The rogue lunged for Chloe again, throwing wild, heavy blows.
Chloe timed the next one, catching his wrist, tightened her grip, now in a full on clash. "If you're gonna do anything, it'd be now" Faj's loop completed, energy swirling around him like a pressure wave, energy visualizing showing how much he could unleash "I hope this works" he whispered. He planted his foot then launched upward. "FAJ VERSE TWO: DRIVING IMPACT." He yelled as he came crashing down— directly into the rogue, planting him directly into the ground. Chloe charged after him and delivered a final hammering punch to the jaw. The rogue went limp. Chloe stood over him, panting "Teamwork," she said. Faj wiggled his eyebrows. "Yeah, yeah. You did like 40%. I did 60%." "That's cute," she said. "You were definitely 20." Mia's voice echoed from across the plaza:"Are you guys okay?!". Steve stepped forward, wiping dust off his arms, Alec leaned against a flipped car, breathing hard, regeneration flickering. The plaza fell quiet, the first quiet in hours.