East side of Cardio City. Stone maze area.
Wind brushed past broken walls and jagged rocks that lined the edge of the old stone maze. The place was quiet, eerie even, the only sound being the distant hum of the city far behind.
Noah and Asher teleported near the entrance, hiding behind a wall. Dust shifted under their feet as they landed, their figures blending into the shadows.
"Hehehe, I'm sure I scared them real good," Asher said. "But what are we going to do now?"
A smirk tugged at the corner of Noah's mouth as he peered around the edge of the wall.
"Knowing that they can't beat us, they most likely will try to run away," Noah said. "That's why I teleported you near the entrance. They will come here soon enough."
The wind carried the faint sound of footsteps from within the maze, and Asher leaned against the rough stone, checking the time in his head.
"Alright, and five minutes are almost up too," Asher said. "I can use [Roll the Dice] again!"
Noah gave him a quick glance, his tone cool.
"You better get a good number this time," Noah said.
Asher pouted slightly, arms crossed in mock frustration.
"Hey, it's not my fault that my luck has been rotten today!" Asher said.
Noah shrugged, still keeping his attention on the maze path ahead.
"Well, stop being unlucky then," Noah said.
"Don't be unreasonable!" Asher said.
Their talk was interrupted by the sound of hurried footsteps scraping over gravel. Three people suddenly appeared, bursting from the side path of the maze, running in panic.
"Oh, they're finally here," Noah said.
Ethan and two other people stumbled to a stop. Their eyes widened the moment they saw the them.
"Shoot, they're blocking the entrance!" Ethan said.
Asher cracked his knuckles with excitement, stepping forward with his usual energy.
"Alright, let's do this!" Asher said, once again throwing his dice in front of the enemies.
The dice clattered on the ground. Ethan and the others instinctively jumped back, bracing as if expecting an attack.
"Three! Not bad!" Asher said.
Power surged more from within his body. A low hum of energy pulsed around him. His power was at 48x now.
A guy named Benjamin stood tense. His eyes widened at the change he felt from Asher.
"Something's off with him!" he said. "Am I imagining things? I feel like he's getting stronger?!"
"Get back," a guy named James said to Benjamin, stepping up to fight.
"Animal Aspects!" he said, activating his power.
Noah watched with interest, arms folded. His gaze didn't waver as James's body started to shift. Muscles expanded, ripping his clothes. Brown fur began spreading across his limbs and chest.
His face elongated, and his jaw cracked into a new shape. Teeth pushed outward, sharp and gleaming.
He turned into a wolf-man.
"Half animal?" Asher said, confused. "How is that going to help you against me?"
James growled, his voice deep and low.
"Don't mock me!" James said, immediately moved to attack. "This form increases my ability ten times!"
James leaped forward, claws ready, jaw open to strike. But before his sharp nails and teeth could reach Asher, a quick hard smack with Asher's hand sent him crashing to the ground.
"Ten times, huh?" Asher said. "That's nothing compared to my forty-eight times. It's just simple math."
"Damn you!" Benjamin said, spinning his body, turning himself into some sort of attacking ball.
The air whistled around him as he charged forward.
Asher narrowed his eyes, bracing slightly.
The ball attack connected with force, but Asher ignored it and just launched his own attack, punching right into the spinning attack, overpowering it.
Receiving Asher's attack, Benjamin was sent flying and hit the wall hard. The impact echoed. He fell to the ground and stopped moving.
Dust settled.
After beating two of them, Asher and Noah's attention turned toward the last guy, Ethan.
Ethan stood frozen, fists clenched but shaking.
"Give it up," Noah said. "I'm sure your power is not suited for fighting."
"Hah! What do you know!" Ethan said, making a fighting pose. "I was the strongest fighter in this group!"
Noah laughed. His voice echoed in the quiet space.
"I heard it, you know?" he said. "You said it yourself. Your power is Shared Vision. I bet you didn't notice that I was nearby when you guys were discussing things."
Ethan's hands immediately dropped. Cold sweat flooded his body. His arms trembled.
His brave act turned into a pathetic attempt.
Noah stepped closer, silent and steady. He got near Ethan, grabbing his shoulder.
"Use your vision sharing and tell me what your ally is doing right now," Noah said, right at Ethan's ear. "Or else..."
Noah smirked.
---
Outside, not far from the stone maze.
Several members of Serpent's Slaughter had already arrived. They stood in a loose group near a parked vehicle, weapons strapped to their backs or belts.
"Oh, you guys are already here too?" one of them said.
"Yeah, we were close by, so we could immediately come here," the other said.
They glanced toward the direction of the maze, the air still and thick with tension.
"Anyway, what's the current situation?" someone asked.
"Last time I checked, Ethan was the one who found them," a guy with short hair answered. "And he said that Noah and Asher were entering that stone maze over there."
The other, a guy with long hair, nodded.
"And that's the last report he gave," he said. "So either he and his group were too busy to make a new report, or they're already dead."
"I bet they're already dead!" a guy with spiky hair said. "Ethan's group was weak, after all!"
"Come on, even if you don't like them, don't say something like that!" the guy with short hair said. "They're still our teammates."
"Right, right, sorry," the spiky haired guy said, not seeming sorry at all. "So what are we going to do now? Waiting for the Vice Commander to come, or should we take action right away?"
"Good question," the long haired guy said, looking at the maze entrance. "It's safer to wait until the Vice Commander comes, but that also means we pass up this chance to accomplish something."
"I vote we move right away!" the spiky haired guy said. "Let's go! Our enemies are just two people, right? We can handle them!"
"But they might be strong if they killed Ethan and his group, right?"
The spiky haired guy snorted. "That's just our assumption. Who knows if they're actually dead or not, unless we check that maze ourselves."
He stepped forward, pumping his fist.
"Come on, stop being a scaredy cat!" he said. "Even if they were strong, soon the Vice Commander will come anyway. Worst-case scenario, we can just stall for time and let him handle them."
"I see, that's true," the other said. "Let's do it then!"
They were in high spirits, unaware of the danger they might walk into, not even noticing that someone was using shared vision on them and spying on what they were doing.
---