Jov transformation

A shudder ran through the nearby debris.

Jov's eyes snapped open. Light stabbed into his skull. Pain seared down his spine, but deeper than that, something burned in his chest—wild, hungry, unstable.

His head turned, slow and steady. Ash, Max, and Kael floated ahead, their bodies strained, their faces worn.

A crooked smirk pulled at his mouth. His fingers curled into a fist.

"Tch… cockroaches like us never die easily, huh?"

Ash caught his gaze. His face didn't move.

Max's expression tightened.

"Jov…"

Jov chuckled, rough and dry.

"Look at you. Struggling. I thought you could handle a little explosion."

Ash's voice came flat.

"Like you weren't out cold two minutes ago?"

Jov rolled his neck, joints cracking.

"Difference is, I don't need saving."

His left arm—marked with jagged earthstone—twitched. A faint red glow pulsed beneath the skin.

Inside Max's helmet, a sharp ping echoed.

"[Alert. Energy fluctuation detected. Elemental balance unstable. Fire core disrupting earth control.]"

His pulse jumped.

"What…?"

The AI kept going.

"[Subject nearing threshold. Critical overload imminent. Risk of self-destruction—high.]"

Max's hand clenched. His gut twisted.

"He's losing control…"

Jov didn't wait. He stretches his arm to activated his ability.

Instead of an attack. The stone on Jov's arm cracked. Red veins glowed beneath the skin, pulsing as they spread. The rock crawled up his shoulder, wrapped around his chest, slithered down his side, then over his ribs and back. It reached his neck, curled along his jaw. His skin hardened where it passed, turning dark and jagged. The heat didn't fade—it buried itself deeper, filling him from the inside.

The silence thickened. Then everything snapped.

The stone deepened to crimson. Heat rolled off his body, warping the space around him. His back arched. His limbs trembled. His face twisted. Veins bulged under hardened flesh, muscles jerking in short bursts. His jaw opened to scream, but the rock sealed it shut.

A crack split down his chest. Then another. Thin lines of red light carved through the stone, glowing like fire trapped beneath glass. Fissures spread across his torso, arms, neck. Lava seeped through the cracks, slow and steady, pulsing like it had a heartbeat of its own. It crawled across his body, merging with skin, reshaping bone. The stone wasn't binding him anymore. It was becoming him.

Jov's spine bent. His body stretched, twisted, reshaped. His fingers clawed at the air, bones shifting under melting skin. Fire swelled under the surface. It bent him, broke him, forged something new.

Max flinched. His HUD flashed warnings. Readouts scrolled by. He couldn't process any of it. His throat tightened.

'This… isn't Jov anymore.'

Lava burned through the lines in his skin. The glow stung Max's eyes. The heat twisted the air.

Then Jov's mouth tore open.

The scream that followed cracked like thunder.

"AHHHH! IT HURTS!"

Molten rock sprayed from his throat. His limbs thrashed. The lava thickened, coating him until there was nothing left of the man he'd been. He looked like a volcano given form—rage, fire, and fury.

Max's helmet pinged.

"[Warning: Elemental destabilization detected. Energy levels critical. Advise all individuals to cease ability usage immediately.]"

His jaw locked.

"Shit… I don't want to see my brothers turning into that."

He turned to call out—but a new voice cut in.

"Well, well… still clinging to life, are we?"

Max froze.

A man drifted toward them through the wreckage. A black coat flowed behind him. His silver mask gleamed, marked with slow, glowing lines. They pulsed like veins, steady and cold. He didn't drift aimlessly like the rest. He moved with purpose. Calm and In control.

Jov screamed again. Steam hissed from his mouth. Lava poured from his chest.

The masked man—Greg—watched in silence.

"Don't worry," he said, voice low, almost amused. "I'm here."

No urgency. No fear. Just quiet interest.

Jov twitched. His limbs convulsed.

Greg tilted his head, studying him like a puzzle already solved.

"So, your body rejected the earth ability. A shame. But surviving this long? That's impressive. But it looks like both your veinflows fused."

Kael's fingers clenched. His voice came sharp.

"Who the hell are you?"

Greg finally turned. The blue veins on his mask brightened.

"Mm…"

He gave a soft chuckle.

"You'll find out soon enough. But for now? Let's keep things… mysterious."

Max took a step forward.

"You with Apex?"

Greg didn't answer. He raised his hand.

Water shimmered into view, forming from nothing. It slithered through the air, aimed at Jov. The moment it touched him—

HSSSSSS!

Steam exploded. It swallowed the space around them. Jov writhed in it, his scream fading into the mist. But the water didn't vanish. It clung to him. Wrapped him. Hardened. Formed a shell over the lava.

Max's AI spoke again.

"[Alert: High-level Veinflow user detected. Energy signature matches… 6th-stage threshold.]"

His stomach dropped.

He whispered,

"He's a 6th-stage Veinflow user. That's why he can control water in space. He's not just strong—he's mastered it."

Ash stared. "6th-stage?!?! This is very bad, right?"

Max didn't answer right away. His mind raced, flipping through every scenario. None of them looked good.

"This is worse than bad," he muttered.

"At 6th-stage, he can create water from nothing. He doesn't need a source. He can shift it between states—ice, steam, liquid—whenever he wants. in space, where there shouldn't be water at all? That's terrifying."

Kael's hands lit with embers. His tone stayed flat.

"So what? We've fought strong guys before. We just hit harder."

Max shook his head.

"You don't get it."

His gaze stayed on Greg. "He doesn't just use water. He's water. He can move with it, fight with it, block with it. He's built different."

His voice dropped.

"And if he's with the Mask…"

He let the silence finish the rest.

Greg's laugh was quiet, but it carried. He tilted his head slightly, as if enjoying some private joke.

"Yes, we are Apex. But unlike the disposable grunts you've fought before, I stand among those who truly matter."

The glow of his mask pulsed in rhythm, casting strange lights across the broken ground.

"You can call us… the Mask."

Ash's chest rose and fell, uneven. He didn't look at anyone.

"We can't fight him," he muttered.

Max's jaw tightened. He looked down at his torn sleeve, at the empty space where his watch used to be.

"Even if we tried, it wouldn't matter. We're stranded. My communicator was attached to my arm. I lost it when my arm was gone."

Kael's eyes widened. His flames flared up around his shoulders.

"Wait—what?"

"Later," Max cut in.

"Right now, we need a way out."

Ash turned, eyes scanning the broken ships around them. Then he locked onto something— Apex vessels, still mostly intact, drifting just far enough to give them hope.

"What about that?"

Max followed his gaze. The outline of the ships was clear now, transport unit.

He blinked once. Then a grin broke across his face.

"That… could actually work. But how do we get there?"

Kael rolled his shoulders. Fire crackled around his feet.

"Leave that to me."

Max narrowed his eyes.

"I don't like that tone."

Before he could say more, Kael grabbed both him and Ash by the waist.

Max's heart jumped.

"What the hell are you doing? Using your ability right now is suicide!. Didn't you see what happened to jov."

Kael grinned wider. "Better than floating here like sitting ducks."

Flames burst from Kael's legs, but this wasn't normal fire. It was raw power, barely held together. Energy coiled under them—then exploded.

They shot forward like a comet tearing through the stars.

Greg's head snapped up. A blur—red and black—sliced across the battlefield, a streak of movement too fast for the eye to follow.

His fingers tightened around his blade.

"What…?"

The vacuum rippled faintly behind them, like space itself had gasped. Greg didn't move for a second. Then his head tilted.

"That kid… just what has the asteroid done to him?"

A slow grin spread beneath the mask.

"If we don't capture him now, it'll be too late once he gets stronger."

He raised his wrist, tapped his communicator.

"All units, pursue immediately. Do not let them escape."

Engines ignited all around the wreckage. Apex ships turned like hunting dogs catching a scent, hulls catching the pale starlight. The chase began.

————

Kael pushed forward, flames spinning from his legs, streaking light through the dark. His body shook with every burst.

No air, no sound—yet the pressure built around him, like a storm pressed against his skin.

His own voice was lost under the roar.

"What the hell is happening?!"

Max clung to Kael's shoulder with one arm, body tensed against the windless force.

"STOP, YOU IDIOT! At this rate, we'll overshoot the ship entirely!"

Kael gritted his teeth. He forced his flames to slow.

It wasn't smooth. Their momentum flipped into a wild drift, bodies tossed into weightlessness.

Ash floated nearby, hand on his head.

'Okay… let's never do that again.'

Max twisted midair. His eyes snapped upward. Apex ships were closing in.

Fast.

"They're here."

Ash spun. His eyes caught a smaller vessel.

"There! That ship—we can use it!"

Max saw it too and nodded.

"Perfect."

He glanced at Kael.

Kael exhaled, flame dancing around his boots.

"If I keep it under control this time."

"Good. Move."

Kael reached for them again. Fire built beneath his feet—not a blast this time, but a steady burn. They surged ahead, fast but focused.

It didn't go unnoticed.

Red beams tore through the darkness.

Kael's pupils shrank. He twisted. Flames curved around his body—dodging, flipping, ducking beneath the laser fire. His movements blurred like a comet dancing through a battlefield.

One beam scraped past his arm. Heat kissed his skin, and he hissed.

"LESS SHOW-OFF, MORE SURVIVAL!" Max yelled.

Kael growled.

"Fine."

One last burst sent them slamming onto the vessel's hull. Their boots hit with sharp metallic clicks—magnetic clamps locking in.

Kael didn't stop.

His fist drew back. Flames surged down his arm.

BOOM.

Steel bent under the punch, glowing red as it melted open. The sound of air rushing out was instant and brutal.

Bodies flew into space—limbs flailing, weightless.

Max's eyes widened.

"ARE YOU INSANE?!"

Kael blinked.

"What?"

Max pointed at the hole.

"You just vented half the ship's oxygen, heat—probably its entire life support system!"

Kael shrugged. "Not like they need it anymore."

Max dragged a hand down his face.

"I swear, one day, I'm gonna—"

Ash stared at the two of them, then shoved past without a word and leapt inside the breach.

Max and Kael shared a quick glance.

They followed.