Shackled thunder

The morning frost still clung to the Combat Core grounds when Levi and Lily stepped out of their shared quarters. The hall was quiet save for the muted shuffle of early risers. Levi walked ahead, stoic and unreadable. Lily kept pace beside him tying her hair into a neat tail.

They didn't speak.

Not until Silvia came jogging up to them near the main desk, waving with a clipboard in the other hand.

"Hey, Levi! Lily! A report just came through—looks like it's about that guy you arrested the other day."

Levi took the file without breaking stride. "When in uniform, call me 'Captain,' Silvia."

"Right, right… Sorry, bro—I mean, Commander Levi."

He ignored her correction and flipped the report open. Lily glanced at the contents over his shoulder, her brow furrowing.

"This is it?" she asked, voice low. "No name. No power level determination. Not even a status update?"

"They didn't even provide his physical condition," Silvia added, following behind. "Our Medical team hasn't received a single log from the Apprehension side. I checked before I left."

Levi snapped the folder shut. "They're hiding something."

Lily nodded. "Or stalling. Either way, it's getting messy."

Setting : Apprehension Core Torture Cell

Inside a dim, reinforced cell under the station, the captured man groans, chained to a steel slab, twitching under the effects of sedation. A black aura seeping from his body—like fog rising over a lake, flickering unnaturally.

A senior medical officer addresses the group of interrogators.

"We believe he's from a new generation of compound x-9 test subjects. More power, less control. it seems it didn't bond properly. We've been forced to sedate him constantly—he spikes when in distress."

She points to a vial.

"We're almost out. Anymore, and his heart will give out. Without an inhibitor, he's a walking bomb."

Suddenly, the aura flares violently.

CRACK—!!!

The chains snap.

The man's scream pierces the station as black energy floods the chamber. His broken restraints dangle from his wrists as he rises like an animal unleashed.

Setting: Combat core station

Levi stood over a desk piled with forms. He scribbled a signature with a grunt of irritation.

"Remind me again why I took this job?" he asked.

"To bring order to chaos," Lily said dryly, sorting through more reports.

He groaned. "Next time I see that purse snatcher, I'm making him fill these out."

Before she could reply, the alarm blared.

"Code Crimson. Prison Break. Apprehension Core Station 3. Officer lives in danger."

Lily shoots to her feet. Levi already moving.

"We're taking a squad. Full gear. Let's move."

"Yes sir."

Setting: Apprehension core jail yard

As they arrive the Apprehension Core's jail yard is scorched. Bodies lie unconscious, groaning. The rampaging criminal—now fully engulfed in his dark aura—swings his broken chains like whips, launching a trio of guards through the air.

Levi's officers tense.

"Let's show the Captain what we're made of!"

They charge. One manages a direct strike—only to be grabbed mid-air and hurled into a steel wall.

Another is swept by a chain, crashing into a lamppost. None of them can even scratch him.

Levi's eyes narrow. His fists begin crackling with lightning.

"Everyone fall back! That's not a normal man. Lily—on me."

She nods, drawing her sidearm and following.

Levi lunges with a burst of lightning, clashing with the man in a ferocious exchange. Thunder roars as every strike rattles the compound. He calls down bolts like divine judgment, searing the air. The ground scorches beneath them.

Lily supports from afar, sending a flurry of bullets and ice but it's clear—Levi's moving on instinct and rage.

"He fights just like the man who killed Captain Stone…"

Levi growled as he recalled Stone's final moments. Each strike he landed grew heavier and more ferocious. His eyes glowed pale blue with electricity, and lightning crackled along his arm. He stepped forward, unsheathing two knives charged with raw voltage. With every step, the ground beneath him cracked. Bolts of lightning arced off his body, slamming into the man, who absorbed the energy with a howl. In response, he retaliated with wild, sweeping strikes that tore chunks from the ground.

But Levi wasn't fighting to subdue; he was fighting to end it. For Stone.

"Levi!" Lily shouted as he overextended, taking a brutal hit to the ribs that sent him skidding back. He coughed up blood but stood again, radiating sparks.

"Stay back!" he roared. "I've got this!"

The man lunged—and then froze.

Then Out of nowhere, four officers struck the man from different directions, staggering him, as a fifth officer landed a final, clean, and surgical blow through his chest.

Levi, panting, watches the body fall.

The 5th man passes Levi, expression unreadable.

"Sorry I'm late. We got redirected after finishing a mission."

Levi, still radiating lightning, spits, "I didn't need any help."

The man doesn't stop walking.

"Sure you didn't, Squad, we're finished here. Move out."

Levi glares at the corpse.

"Who the hell was that guy?"

Lily stands, brushing off dirt.

"Wolfgang, the second-in-command of the Apprehension Core, leads the execution squad. He is known as the Executioner and specializes in eliminating outlaws with shard powers, as well as officers who betray their duties."

Levi stood silently as medics tended to his team. Lily approached quietly, her arm singed from shrapnel. The officer who had taken the suspect from him sauntered over, glancing down at the body as if it were garbage.

"Man snapped during an interrogation. We tried to keep it quiet, but... you know how they are."

Levi stepped forward, his voice low and cold. "If you hadn't kept us in the dark, we could've stopped this before my men were thrown around like rag dolls."

"Look, we had it under control—"

Levi clenched his fists.

"If even one of my men don't make it ill turn you into a pile of ash!"

The air shifted. Lightning built—massive, unnatural—and in an instant, a bolt crashed down from the sky directly onto Levi.

He didn't flinch.

The officer fell back, shielding his face.

Levi stood in the crater, outlined by crackling electricity—more a force of nature than a man.

Lily stepped forward. "You don't want to get on my Captain's bad side. We expect full cooperation going forward."

The officer stammers, "Y–yes, of course!"

After helping tend to the wounded and overseeing the cleanup, Levi and Lily returned to the base. The sun began to dip below the horizon as the final forms were filed.

Once they were finished, they both went to bathe Levi finishing first. 

Lily, wearing shorts and a tank top with her hair pinned up, walked back toward their room when she noticed a dim light coming from the training hall. Peeking inside, she found Levi alone, drenched in sweat, his fists bruised as he relentlessly punched a weighted bag.

In her thoughts, she reflected, (That's the second time I felt helpless… First with Reed, now this. And Levi… he faces it all alone every time.)

She quietly shut the door and walked away, clenching her fists. (I have to get stronger. For him. So he doesn't always have to do this on his own.)

Later, Levi enters their room, and he finds Lily sitting on her bunk, waiting. 

Silence hangs heavily between them.

Then, she speaks softly. "Next time we face one of them, we'll be the ones to take them down. I promise you, Levi."

Levi doesn't answer right away. (This is my burden. My cross to bear. Stone deserves justice… from me.) 

But Lily meets his gaze with quiet conviction, almost reading his mind. "Let me share your load."

He remembers the words he once said to her. 

"In and out of the field," 

"I go where you go," Lily replied, her tone resilient.

"Get some sleep. Something tells me it's only going to get harder from here."