Paradox

While aiding Kai's healing with her ability, Amina suddenly collapsed. No one had noticed how much she was struggling, how her skin had gone clammy, how she'd started sweating as Kai's body greedily sucked up every drop of vitality and energy she could transfer.

Her ability came at a cost. It drained her own vitality reserves that slowly recovered, and overuse could leave her weak or even unconscious. This time had clearly pushed her past the limit.

Kai caught her instinctively, panic flaring in his eyes.

"She's okay," Nadya said quickly, already at his side. "She just needs rest. Her ability is demanding, and she pushed it too far healing you."

Kai carefully handed Amina over. "Sorry… I didn't realise how much she was putting in."

"She does anything for her patients without regard for herself," Nadya replied, lifting Amina into her arms without effort.

Kai watched her go, guilt churning low in his gut. His body had devoured everything Amina had poured into him, and he hadn't even considered what it did to her. Not until it was too late.

Isaac leaned back against the wall, arms crossed, giving him a look that said he owed her.

Kai didn't argue. He didn't have the strength.

He had so many questions bouncing around his head - about Nadya, the town, monsterfication and beasts - but he didn't ask them.

Right now, all he wanted was a shower. A long one. Then, to eat everything in sight… and sleep for a week.

'At least it all worked out,' he thought.

Despite the monster, the blood, and the beast, he was still standing, so there was no point in dwelling on what had happened. Kai wasn't one to remain fixated on things in the past.

Aside from Nyx - the twisted bastard who gave him the very bloodweaving he planned to one day take his life with.

But that could wait.

Right now, he cleaned up and hit the bed, snoring before his head even hit the pillow. He didn't care if that same nightmare came anymore, and was weirdly looking forward to what tomorrow had in store for him.

Some rest, maybe some training.

'Whatever it is, there was no way it can top the past couple of days I just had, right?'

He'd soon find out just how wrong he was...

-

Elsewhere, high above the shimmering lights of a ruined metropolis, Dr Nyx stood in front of a wide, reinforced window. The city pulsed below like a living organism - sick, twitching, full of monsters both literal and human. The room behind him was sterile, all cold steel and humming machines. Clean. Precise. Just the way he liked it.

His hands were clasped behind his back, posture rigid, gaze distant. A familiar glint of amusement danced in his eyes.

"So… Subject 357 is still in that lawless zone in Moscow," he murmured.

A soft beep echoed behind him. One of the monitors displayed surveillance footage - grainy, but clear enough. Blood, swirling like smoke. A crimson bloom tearing through the underground arena.

The moment Kai had revealed his ability, the Association's Mutant Activity Database lit up like a flare. Every registered mutation, ability, or incident in the world was tracked in real time, cross-referenced against anomalies, and flagged accordingly.

Nyx prioritised anything blood-related in the system - and seconds after the Wild Dog Fight Club's main event that night, he had been alerted.

Red eyes and blood manipulation. 

There was no doubt in his mind.

It was Kai.

That was solidified after the news that came out of Russia about the Blood Mutant or Monster, which deeply amused him.

He clicked his tongue, almost fondly. "My little anomaly, you're growing faster than I predicted."

Turning, he slowly walked toward a long desk cluttered with gadgets and notes. His fingers brushed across them, pausing on a deep red capsule that pulsed unnaturally.

A special something he had made with the help of Kai's blood.

"What a paradox," Nyx murmured, eyes glinting with infatuation. "The very bloodweaving I granted you now fuels your desire to destroy me. Yet, without that same blood, my work would stagnate, my progress would rot. You needed me to exist… and I need you to evolve and continue my research. Isn't that beautiful?"

He chuckled - soft at first, then louder, fuller. It wasn't a kind laugh. It never was.

"You think you're free, don't you? Running around with your little band of misfits. Pretending you're human. Pretending you're in control."

His expression darkened.

"But you're not. Not really. You're just another data point. An experiment in motion. And I'm not done with you yet."

He leaned over the desk and pulled up a holoscreen, flicking through Kai's old files - test results, brainwave activity, neural resilience scores. He paused on a note he had once scribbled in haste: Lacks typical fear response. Possesses excessive willpower. Must be broken indirectly.

That memory made him hum in thought.

"He shouldn't have remembered anything," Nyx muttered, tapping the screen. "I erased it all myself. Memories, connections, identity - gone. I thought if I broke the foundation, I could make him obedient. Fragile. Manageable."

He shook his head, laughing again.

"And yet, even stripped bare, you're still the same feral, borderline insane creature I locked down. Strong-willed to the point of absurdity. Resilient in ways that shouldn't be humanly possible."

He straightened again, eyes gleaming.

"But now… now you'll slowly start learning to care as you once had. Friends. Purpose. A bit of hope. All the ingredients for a proper tragedy."

He walked to the centre of the room, spreading his arms wide like a conductor before a symphony.

"I'll let you live a little longer. Let you believe you've escaped. Give you more power, more victories, more people to protect."

A wicked grin stretched across his face.

"And then I'll take it all. Piece by piece. Slowly. Painfully. Until there's nothing left but the monster I know you are."

He tapped his comms device, ready to set his plan in motion.

"Testing will begin for the new serums from Batch 357-B. We will have the results soon, so prepare the analysts. And send in Phantom V, I have a task for him."

"Understood, Director."

Nyx walked over to a second workstation, this one loaded with tubes of thick, dark fluid - some still bubbling from instability. He paused, admiring his newest creation: the Instant Monsterfication Serum.

Unlike natural monsterfication, which left the body unstable and deteriorating rapidly, this version was different. It was the first step in forcing stability. If he could master that, then the real breakthrough would follow - mutants, designed and created from scratch. 

Humanity's next evolution.

He didn't care how many test subjects he burned through to reach that point.

This entire operation, everything, was his experiment. The chaos, the attacks, the stage itself. He had nothing to lose. If the world burned a little in the process, so be it. He was a scientist first. Always.

Nyx turned back to the window, watching the city with a distant smile.

"If you survive everything I send your way, Subject 357, then you'll be worthy of my continued attention..."

"If not, your body is plenty useful enough."

His laugh echoed in the chamber as he prepared to unleash the next chapter of his twisted masterpiece...