Chapter 80: Storm’s End, Hacker’s Gambit When the Ripperdoc Reveals His True Power
The Spire Syndicate HQ lay in ruins.
Smoke hissed from the shattered AI core, its circuits fried to oblivion — a broken husk of the once-powerful Raijin Prime.
Sparks danced around Elliot's feet, still crackling with the aftershock of his 500% Boost. The Raijin Protocol wasn't just humming now — it was alive inside him — no longer tethered to Prime or the Project.
It was his storm now.
He was the storm.
But the silence that followed Prime's destruction…
Was short-lived.
Because standing in the heart of the wreckage, surrounded by glowing data shards and smoking cables…
Elliot finally turned to face the crew.
And his eyes locked onto Kain.
"Wait." Elliot's voice was rough, his storm still snapping along his jaw. "*You're a legendary ripperdoc… but you're also a hacker?"
Kain, still hunched over his holopad — hands a blur of motion as he disabled the last Spire security nodes — blinked.
Then grinned.
"BRO — I'M BOTH."
Elliot's Boost pulsed dangerously. "What the hell do you mean both?"
Vex, leaning against a melted console, smirked. "Did you really think Kain just knew how to patch your organs together without knowing how to hack the code that runs them?"
Nova's suit flared with static — the feedback loop still dragging at Elliot's Boost — the invisible link between their storms stronger than ever.
"He's not just a ripperdoc," Nova said. "He's a cybernetic engineer — one of the best in Nexus-9."
Kain laughed. "BRO — HOW DO YOU THINK I KEEP YOUR RAIJIN PROTOCOL FROM OVERCLOCKING YOUR HEART? I'M NOT JUST stitching your meat together — I'm rewriting your firmware every time you Boost too hard."
Elliot blinked. "You've been hacking me this whole time?!"
Kain's grin widened. "BRO — YOU'RE A WALKING LIGHTNING SUPERCOMPUTER. YOU THINK A FEW BANDAGES ARE GONNA KEEP YOU FROM EXPLODING?"
Thundaddy, fully unhinged, couldn't resist.
---
"SURPRISE, ELLIOT!"
"YOUR RIPPERDOC IS ALSO YOUR PERSONAL HACKER AND SOFTWARE ENGINEER!"
Specialization: Cybernetic coding, AI override, neural feedback adjustments.
Alias: KAIN THE CODECUTTER.
Pro Tip: He doesn't just fix your bones — he reprograms your storm.
---
Elliot's Boost surged to 510% — a sudden burst of blue lightning obliterating a nearby terminal — the storm growling louder at this new revelation.
Nova's suit snapped brighter — her Boost climbing in sync, the feedback loop tightening even more as their storms threatened to pull each other into another overdrive.
"You've been modifying the Raijin Protocol while I've been boosting?!" Elliot shouted.
Kain, still tapping at his holopad, laughed. "BRO — I'VE BEEN KEEPING YOU FROM FRYING YOUR NERVOUS SYSTEM SINCE DAY ONE."
Vex grinned. "He's not just your doctor — he's your firewall."
Thundaddy buzzed with sheer excitement.
---
"CONGRATULATIONS, ELLIOT!"
"YOU DON'T JUST HAVE A RIPPERDOC…"
"YOU HAVE A HACKER-SURGEON HYBRID™!"
---
Elliot's storm flared hotter — the Raijin Protocol thrumming louder with every spark — as his mind struggled to catch up.
He wasn't just some boosted storm weapon.
He was a living piece of cybernetic technology — an AI-powered human storm, with Kain quietly hacking him every time the Boost threatened to tear him apart.
Nova stepped closer, her storm crackling in sync with his. "Kain's the reason you didn't die the first time you hit 300% Boost."
Elliot's voice was low. "And you didn't think to mention this sooner?"
Kain didn't even blink. "BRO — YOU WERE TOO BUSY SINGING THE WEEKND AND FRYING BUILDINGS TO CARE."
Thundaddy practically screamed.
---
"PRO TIP FOR ELLIOT: Maybe thank the man who's been keeping you from turning into a smoking crater."
---
Vex chuckled. "He's got a point."
But Elliot wasn't laughing.
His Boost surged to 520% — the Raijin Protocol vibrating with raw power as the full weight of what Kain had done hit him.
He wasn't just boosting on his own.
Kain had been modifying his storm every step of the way — hacking his neural systems, adjusting his bioelectric output, stopping him from going full meltdown every time his Boost spiked.
"So what happens if you stop hacking me?" Elliot growled.
Kain's smile faded.
The holopad glitched again — static running across the screen like a broken pulse — as fragments of Raijin Prime's last signal flashed.
And for the first time since the lab exploded…
Kain's voice went flat.
"Then your storm stops having a safety net," Kain said quietly. "Without me keeping the Protocol's code in check… your Boost wouldn't just spike."
He met Elliot's eyes.
"It would detonate."
Nova's storm flared, the feedback loop burning hotter at Kain's words — the invisible tether between her and Elliot pulsing like a live wire.
Vex's smile faded, her plasma blade humming softer.
Elliot's storm growled louder — his Boost quivering on the edge of collapse — as the truth finally hit him.
He wasn't a weapon in control of his storm.
He was a storm in a cage — a living lightning bolt, barely held together by Kain's constant hacking and cybernetic overrides.
And now?
With Raijin Prime dead…
There was no one left to stop him if his storm spiraled out of control.
Except Kain.
Thundaddy buzzed softly — for once, serious beneath the static.
---
**"REMINDER: You're not just the storm anymore…
You're the lightning."**
---
And somewhere — hidden deep in Nexus-9's dark grid — a new signal flickered.
A remnant of the Raijin Project.
Not Prime.
Something worse.
And Elliot knew…
If Kain couldn't hold his storm back…
Then the next time he Boosted too hard…
It wouldn't just be a concert.
It would be a cataclysm.