Oliver

After driving for an hour, we finally arrived at the place. By the time we got there, the sun was preparing itself to set. Its orange and red shades covered the sky like a big blanket.

It was a big warehouse on the outskirts of Kyoto. It seemed old and unused, with hardly any trace that it was a base of aliens. Those spaceheads sure know their stuff. The Kezrins, their Japanese build, I had known from the beginning that one day I would definitely come here. But I never knew I would come under these harsh circumstances.

"Wait here."

I stepped outside first, completely covered in my pitch black suit. I moved my head around a bit, looking for my enemies.

𝑳𝒊𝒗, 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆?

Her beautiful voice whispered in my mind-

"There are no traces of life here in the outside. However there could be some people in the warehouse."

"It's safe, you two can come out."

𝘒𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯 and 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 stepped out of the car simultaneously, each holding badass looking gun in their hands. The guns were about 12 inches long and had a slightly futuristic design that appeared robust and durable. The Matte finish gave them a premium touch.

We all approached the sturdy main doors of the warehouse. As I reached out and touched both of the handles with both my hands, I exchange a glance with 𝘒𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯 and 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦. They both nodded in agreement.

"Let's do it.", they both said at the same time.

As I opened the doors, they emitted a very unpleasant shrill noise. The room lay enveloped in darkness, obscuring any visibility inside. We all were inside but no other person could be seen. 𝘓𝘪𝘷 told me that that there were people inside, but what I could perceive was a void of complete darkness. Suddenly, the doors behind us closed on their own. I turned to look but the room was dark. It was too dark that I could barely see my own presence. Then, the room was flooded with bright light. The floor, the cieling, the walls, literally everything illuminated. Five purple suited soldiers stood at the far front side of the room, opposite to our direction.

I didn't want to waste any energy as I didn't know how powerful that doctor would turn out to be. For God's sake, He is the guy who invented Kezlar. If this was a game, then he was supposed to be one of the main bosses.

"I'm not interested in fighting you all, just step out of the way.", I said while looking at all of the soldiers.

They all pointed their guns toward us. In reaction, 𝘒𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯 and 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 also pointed their guns toward them. It seemed that we were destined to fight. Considering the urgency of the situation, I unleashed a lightning bolt at the one in the centre. Meanwhile,both of my teammates also started firing and successfully hit one target each. I sprinted towards the remaining two, they started firing at me, but it was futile as I was wearing Stacirium-Fibre. With all my might, I kicked hard the one on the left, in a reflexive motion, I punched the one on the right, causing both of them to collapse to the ground.

"That was not much tough.", 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 said. Her tone was quite nonchalant.

Like a jynx, the front wall opened like a door and a Kezrin came out of it.

"You have a bad timing, 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦.", 𝘒𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯 replied sarcastically.

"Tch."

Without wasting much time, I started throwing lightning bolts at him, but without having much effect, the Kezrin swiftly dashed towards me. We both tumbled to the floor. He stood up first and tried to crush my head with his kick while I was still on the floor. Evading his deadly kick, I quickly got back on my feets. 𝘒𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯 and 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 started firing at the Kezrin, He startled a little, but the problem was, it was only a little. Completely ignoring the other two, he formed his right hand into a blade-like shape, just like the one in Venice. He came right at me, wanting to slice me apart. I moved back a little, dodging his blade. The lasers seemed to have no impact on the Kezrin. He was really formidable. It was clear that I had to take this matter into my hands and do something about it. Dodging another one of his attacks, I kicked him into his face, causing him to stagger back a little. Seizing the opportunity, I gathered all the electricity I could in my right hand and unleashed it directly into his stomach. He fell far away, then all three of us started shooting at him recklessly, not giving him a chance to regain his footing. After a while, the Kezrin showed no signs of movement, prompting us to cease our assault.

𝑳𝒊𝒗, 𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆?

"He is finished off."

I took a breath. Then another one. And another one.

"Let's move."

I walked towards the only way I could see, those two right behind me with defensive positions. I could see a big vast area filled with tables with multiple metalic doors at the left and right walls. Simultaneously, they all opened and soldiers emerged from within. They showered us with lasers.

"DOWN!!!"

At my signal, we swiftly dropped to the ground, saving ourselves from the laser shots. Amidst the chaos, I could see 𝘒𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯 making his way towards a nearby table and flipping it over to use it as a shield while returning fire to enemies. 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 employed the same tactic. Whatever material those table were made up of, it was sure durable and provided an effective cover. In the whole room, I was at the centre of crossfiring. I was evading all of the shots with my agile movements and shooting down the enemies one by one. Gradually, their number seemed to be decreasing, victory was clear. Yet, in a sudden turn of events, a forceful blow struck me from behind, catching me off guard.

"Argh..... You shouldn't hurt people."

"Right back at you", he replied. A bold reply.

"I like you."

𝘒𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯 shouted from the back, "This is not the time to be homosexual!"

"Ah, man! Leave me alone!"

My opponent possessed an imposing physique, boasting a broad chest and formidable muscles, clad in a distinct red armor, unlike the purple soldiers. He weilded a circular energy shield on his left hand and some futuristic weapon like a baton on his right. I swiftly aimed a kick towards him from the right. However, he effortlessly blocked it with his shields. My kick didn't even shake him a bit.

"You know, not many people have withstood my lightning kick."

"You know, I'm not many people. I have been doing this shit for 20 years. A brat like you can never beat me", he replied.

"20 years? You must be an old fart by now. Sorry old man, I will take it easy on ya."

Hearing that, he became really angry. These Valacyns were all the same, hotheads. This trick had worked in Venice and it's working here too. As he charged straight at me with his baton, I swiftly sidestepped to the left, evading his attack entirely. Seizing the opportunity, I swiftly maneuvered behind him. With precision and force, I gave him a powerful kick to his back that "maybe" broke his spinal cord. The impact of the blow had a resounding effect. He collapsed to the floor, complete silent. Meanwhile, 𝘒𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯 and 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 had successfully dealt with the remaining shooters. They proved to be a valuable help.

Another wall slowly opened like a door, giving way to another room.

𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 : "What is this? A door warehouse?"

There was a Kezrin in the room. No, it was different. Its color was lime green, not blue.

"Hey, you some kinda Kezrin MK II?"

"No.", he replied in a strongly familar voice. The voice I'm going to hate till my last breath. It was not a Kezrin. It was a person wearing a mask. It was 𝘋𝘳. 𝘒𝘦𝘻𝘭𝘢𝘳.

With unwavering determination, I propelled myself towards him with astonishing speed, soaring through the air, intent on delivering a devastating punch and overpowering him with all my strength. In the blink of an eye, I closed the distance between us. Yet, as I launched my attack, he raised his right hand towards me, and to my shock and horror, I suddenly became frozen in mid-air. My body became completely immobile, unable to exert any movement. My punch remained suspended, poised to strike, but trapped by an unseen force. My enemy was right in front of me, but I could do nothing.

"Looks like you really need to be taught some manners.", 𝘋𝘳. 𝘒𝘦𝘻𝘭𝘢𝘳 said in an overpowering tone.

He swiftly swiped his hand to the left, exerting a force that sent me flying towards the adjacent wall with high speed. The sheer impact of the collision caused substantial cracks to appear on the once sturdy concrete surface, and blood immediately spilled from my mouth. I collapsed to the floor, still coughing up blood, a huge amount indicating the severity of the injury. The force of the impact was so immense that it was nothing short of a miracle that I had managed to survive.

"𝘈𝘭𝘦𝘹!!", 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 shouted from behind, coming to me in full speed. Before she could reach my side, a transparent glass wall closed the room, separating me from 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 and 𝘒𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯. I watched helplessly as Rose pressed her hands against the unyielding barrier. She tried to break it with her gun, but it didn't work. The glass was too strong even for lasers.

"Sorry, little lady. This glass is impossible to break, it is laser-proof, electric-proof, fire-proof, blast-proof and what not. Oh! And for the record, I'm the one who invented this! You can thank me later.", said that evil doctor.

To my astonishment, a familiar woman emerged from right beside him. She was someone whom anyone would not expect here. It was 𝘔𝘴. 𝘈𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩, my maths teacher from the school. I couldn't believe my eyes as she stood there.

"You... what are you doing here?", I said in surprise while still coughing up blood.

"Oh right, you two haven't properly met yet. 𝘈𝘭𝘦𝘹 meet 𝘈𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩, also known as 𝘕𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘯.", 𝘋𝘳. 𝘒𝘦𝘻𝘭𝘢𝘳 said.

A surge of awkwardness and realization feeling coursed through me. The pieces of the puzzle were all together now. That bitch was the reason how my friend was kidnapped! How 𝘋𝘳. 𝘒𝘦𝘻𝘭𝘢𝘳 knew everything about me! My emotions swirled with a mixture of anger, betrayal, and a burning desire for retribution.

"I can see that you are still weak from our last meeting.", the bitch said to me with a big smile.

Holding my broken body together, I stood up on my feets. My legs screamed in pain.

"You.... I will kill you.", I said in anger and hatred.

Hearing to that, 𝘋𝘳. 𝘒𝘦𝘻𝘭𝘢𝘳 responded to my death threat, "Look at yourself first. After all that talk about killing that, killing this, waging a war against us, you were easily crushed in an instant. You are nothing more than a mere human child."

"Oh? Well as you can see, I am still standing. How about you drop your mask and face me directly?", I said to him, looking directly at his mask.

"Neither one of us is your opponent. Your opponent is him.", he replied while directing my attention to the wall situated opposite to the side I had entered from. As he spoke, a door in that wall opened. A person walked out of it. This individual had orange hair and eyes, but he looked familiar.

"𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳?"

Dressed in an elegant suit, the figure exuded an aura of sophistication. The pristine white jacket and pants contrasted sharply with the vibrant orange collar and belt, creating a visually striking ensemble. Without thinking much, I walked towards him.

"𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳! It's me 𝘈𝘭𝘦𝘹!"

He raised his right hand at me, a huge flame was unleashed from it. I moved just in time to evade it.

𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕? 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈?

"The 𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 you knew is no longer alive.", came the voice from 𝘋𝘳. 𝘒𝘦𝘻𝘭𝘢𝘳.

"What the hell do you mean?", I asked in confusion. What other choice did I have instead of asking?

Seeing my confusion, he replied, "I infused Kezlar with the DNA of you and 𝘕𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘯," he revealed in an unsettling pride. "I created a new prototype and tested it on your friend and it worked! He showed resistance at first but when once I injected the new Kezlar in him, he became a mere doll. He is now nothing more than a puppet now. I thought I would give you a glimpse of what I have achieved, so I invited you here."

The tone in which he described what he did to 𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 dug deep into my heart. This was not a mere invitation, he was showcasing his achievements to me. But there was still one question, how did he got my DNA?

Before I could even ask the question, he said to me, "I know what you are thinking right now. How did this evil doctor got his hands on my DNA!! If you were that worried from the start, you should have cleaned up the cup after you had finished the coffee. Instead, you took things too lightly."

As each question was being answered, new questions were being born.

"Coffee? The last one I had was in Venice....."

"Yes! That one!"

"Wait, how did you get my DNA from just that cup? Even if you do get one, it wouldn't be the right amount required to do chemical engineering with Kezlar!"

𝘋𝘳. 𝘒𝘦𝘻𝘭𝘢𝘳 sighed at me, "Do you really underestimate Valacyn-Tech that much? After all, I'm the greatest scientist in all of this universe!"

𝑭𝒖𝒄𝒌, 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌! 𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒆!

Breaking the silence, he said, "Enough with the talk, I have a powerful soldier now and with the new Kezlar, I can make many more! I have finally no use of you now. Blaze! Dispose him!"

"Blaze?"