Caesaro heard the explosion.
He turned—just in time to see Liberty plummeting from the sky.
He shot forward and caught her mid-air before she hit the ground.
"Careful," he said. "This guy's capable."
A portal opened beside his head—
but this time, he reacted instantly.
With Liberty still in his arms, he dashed forward like an arrow.
BOOM!
The explosion detonated behind him.
He glanced back—
and locked eyes with the man standing atop the building.
The man smiled.
"Oh? I expected that from a veteran hero like you," the man in the lab coat said.
Caesaro clicked his tongue.
"Damn brat. You're too arrogant for your age."
The man tilted his head, amused.
"It's not arrogance… if you can back it up."
A portal opened right in front of Caesaro's face—
but this time, no bomb came through.
A fist did.
Impact.
The punch sent him flying.
The man laughed—
then suddenly—
his expression shifted.
Serious.
CRASH!
A building collapsed as Liberty struck from behind, her attack sudden and precise.
Dust and smoke filled the air.
When it cleared—
Liberty stood alone.
The man was gone.
"Damn portals…" she muttered.
Laughter echoed around her.
"HAHAHAHA! Did you really think you could hit me with that?"
His voice came from nowhere.
"Try harder, missy."
Liberty's jaw tightened.
Her irritation grew.
Caesaro steadied himself mid-air.
"HAHA… damn, that hurt."
He wiped blood from his lip, grinning.
"I really am getting old."
Then—his expression sharpened.
He scanned the battlefield.
Above—
Alan was still fighting the blue figure.
And losing.
Badly.
Below—
Liberty was being toyed with.
Portals opened and closed around her—relentless, unpredictable.
Then Caesaro noticed something.
Two enemies had arrived earlier.
But only the man in the coat…
and the blue figure…
were actively fighting.
"…There's another one."
He searched again—
and found her.
High above the battlefield.
A woman in a suit.
Floating within the clouds.
Watching.
Controlling.
Her hands moved like a conductor guiding an orchestra—
and with every motion, portals opened across the battlefield.
"…So it's you."
He smiled.
Then—he shot upward.
Fast.
The woman noticed him approaching—
but she didn't panic.
She glanced once…
then continued her motions, opening portals to support her ally.
Caesaro grinned wider.
"What an arrogant woman…"
He accelerated—
faster—
breaking the sound barrier as he closed the distance.
His fist tightened.
Ready to strike.
Then—
a portal opened.
Right in front of him.
It swallowed his arm—
and snapped shut.
Slash.
Blood sprayed into the air.
Caesaro pulled back.
His arm—gone.
Severed cleanly.
He looked at the stump—
then laughed.
"HAHAHAHA!"
His eyes gleamed with excitement.
"What an incredible power…"
He stared at her, fascinated.
"With that kind of control… why didn't you become a hero?"
The woman didn't respond.
Didn't even look at him.
She simply continued her movements—
calm. Focused. Unbothered.
Caesaro laughed again.
"HAHA… so you're arrogant too. I like that."
Then—
his expression changed.
The laughter faded.
His eyes sharpened.
Focused.
Dangerous.
"Alright…"
He cracked his neck slowly.
"Enough games."
A pause. "Time to get serious."
The battle intensified.
Caesaro adapted.
Instead of charging blindly, he shifted tactics—attacking from a distance.
He punched the air—
shockwaves tore forward.
Again.
And again.
Then came the barrage.
Energy blasts flooded the sky—pressure and light overwhelming everything in their path.
Relentless. Unforgiving.
The woman finally reacted.
Her movements sharpened—faster, more deliberate—as she focused on containing Caesaro's assault.
And in that moment—
the pressure eased.
For the others.
Liberty felt it instantly.
The portals—
fewer. Slower.
No longer chaotic.
An opening.
She took it.
Her movements sharpened, her counters cleaner, more aggressive.
The man in the coat clicked his tongue.
"Damn that old man… figured it out already."
He spoke quickly into a comm.
"Xin—open a portal. Now. I need to use it."
Her voice came back cold.
"You're old enough to handle that yourself."
"…Tch."
He threw a smoke grenade.
It burst instantly—
thick clouds swallowing the battlefield.
Liberty didn't hesitate.
She inhaled—
then blew.
The smoke scattered violently.
Gone.
But so was he.
A flash—
A shot rang out.
A bullet tore toward her.
She flicked it aside—
—but it exploded on contact.
Powder burst outward.
Liberty had already moved back.
Then—
she shot forward like an arrow.
Straight toward its origin.
CRASH!
A punch met her mid-charge.
Metal.
Cold.
Mechanical.
She caught it.
Twisted—
and slammed it into the ground.
Dust exploded upward.
As it cleared—
she saw it clearly.
A suit.
Not a robot—
a powered suit.
Liberty smirked.
"Huh… I see."
She didn't stop.
Punch after punch slammed into it.
"Show me that arrogance again, kid."
She grabbed the suit—
and launched upward, dragging it into the sky.
"Damn… old hag," the man cursed.
Then—
the suit released smoke.
Thick. Dense.
It swallowed them both.
Inside—
electricity crackled.
Like a storm trapped in a cloud.
Then—
a figure burst out.
The man—now fully suited.
Below, the smoke cleared.
Liberty remained—
her left arm crackling with residual energy.
She shook it off.
"You tricky bastard…"
Her eyes hardened.
"I've had enough."
Then—
she attacked.
A storm of blows.
Hundreds.
Punches. Kicks.
Unrelenting.
When it ended—
the suit was damaged.
Its left arm chipped, exposing part of his torso.
Its chest plate cracked.
One eye flickered—unstable.
Liberty smirked.
She clenched her fist.
Ready to finish it—
—but—
a portal opened.
A woman stepped through.
Xin.
Same gray suit—
but now holding her left shoulder. Injured.
"I've detected multiple incoming signatures," she said.
"They'll arrive in under a minute."
The man glanced at her—
then toward their ally.
The blue figure.
Still locked in battle with Alan.
But now—
without interference—
Alan had recovered.
Barely.
Still broken.
Still bleeding.
But standing.
That alone proved his strength.
Xin raised a device.
A pulse signal spread outward.
The blue figure paused.
Looked around.
Understood.
Then—
in an instant—
Xin and the man vanished.
A portal snapped open beside Alan.
They reappeared.
Too fast.
Too precise.
Alan couldn't react.
They pinned him to the ground.
Liberty and Caesaro—
too far.
Too late.
The man pulled out a syringe.
Filled with blue liquid.
Without hesitation—
he drove it into Alan's neck.
Quick.
Clean.
Done.
Liberty's eyes widened.
Caesaro's expression hardened.
But neither reached him in time.
Then—
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Explosions tore through the battlefield as new figures crashed down.
Powerful auras flooded the air.
And above—
streaks of light filled the sky once more.
Digital beeps echoed through the room.
The metal frame of a hospital bed creaked and rattled as its wheels shifted slightly against the floor.
A man was strapped tightly to it, his body writhing, trembling uncontrollably as if every nerve inside him was being torn apart.
But no scream came out.
Not a single sound.
Only wide, bloodshot eyes—wet with tears—staring blankly at the ceiling.
Around him, people in white coats moved in urgency. No hesitation. No emotion. Just routine.
They injected him.
Again.
And again.
Hands moved quickly—checking his pulse, monitoring his heart rate, watching the rise and fall of his chest, measuring every breath like it was data… not life.
Numbers flickered across digital screens.
Cold. Precise. Uncaring.
Then—
The door opened.
A man walked in.
Blond hair. Blue eyes. A solid frame. Calm posture.
Authority.
A woman approached him immediately, her voice steady despite the chaos.
"Sir, Subject ARD-153 is ready. We can proceed. Just say the word."
The man didn't even look at the one on the bed for long.
Just a glance.
Then a nod.
"Proceed."
The word lingered in the air long after the door closed.
For a moment, nothing changed.
Then—
everything did.
The monitors spiked.
A sharp, continuous tone pierced through the room as the man's body suddenly arched against the restraints, muscles locking, veins bulging beneath his skin. His fingers curled inward so tightly they trembled.
Still—
no scream.
His mouth opened, wide… desperate…
but nothing came out.
One of the staff leaned in. "Vitals rising. Heart rate unstable."
"Stabilize him," another replied, already preparing another syringe.
A thick, dark fluid slid into the man's veins.
For a second—
relief.
Then—
worse.
His body convulsed violently, the bed rattling beneath him, metal groaning under the strain. His eyes widened further—too wide—like something inside him was trying to push out.
The machines began to glitch.
Numbers flickered.
Spiked.
Dropped.
Spiked again.
"Energy readings are increasing—this isn't normal—"
"It's working," someone said. Not concerned.
Excited.
"Increase the output."
A switch was flipped.
The lights dimmed—
then pulsed.
Something moved under the man's skin.
Not muscle.
Not bone.
Something else.
It crawled along his arms, up his neck, twisting beneath the surface like liquid light forced into flesh that couldn't contain it.
His back arched so far it looked like it might snap.
Tears streamed endlessly from his eyes.
Still silent.
Still conscious.
Still aware.
"Subject resisting integration."
"Override it."
More injections.
More force.
More pressure.
The thing inside him began to glow faintly—
blue.
At first, just a flicker beneath the skin.
Then brighter.
And brighter.
Until the room itself was touched by it.
The air grew heavy.
Hard to breathe.
One of the staff stepped back. "This… this isn't regulation—"
"Continue."
No hesitation.
No mercy.
The man's body began to break.
Not tear—
not bleed—
but lose shape.
Edges blurred. Skin shimmered. His outline distorted, like something was rewriting him from the inside out.
His chest rose—
and didn't fall.
For one long, impossible second.
Then for a moment
everything went silent.
No monitors.
No movement.
No breath.
Just light.
Soft.
Blue.
Where a man once lay—
something else remained.
Then—
it flickered.
The light collapsed inward, folding into itself—
and just like that…
there was a man again.