"Alright, it's time for you to die," Maos said coldly, turning around to head back to his laboratory. However, upon hearing no sound of his robots crushing the intruders, he stopped and turned back with curiosity. What he saw left him stunned.
"What are you?" Maos asked, his voice filled with astonishment as he watched a dark mass simultaneously block all four fists of the giant robots.
"I wasn't planning to show up, but I see you need help… Besides, I needed some fun," said a calm voice emerging from the shadows beside Michele and the others. The figure continued speaking in a relaxed, almost playful tone: "I've been watching you, aviatrix. Not bad, evading federal agents in that place and making it here with your friends. But things have gotten tough now. You should leave this to the professionals. Also, the square followed your trail."
"The square?" the four repeated in unison, exchanging confused glances.
"We'll talk about that later. First, I need to get rid of this scrap metal," the voice declared before a male figure slowly emerged from the ground. He appeared to be about 18 years old, completely shrouded in shadows that enveloped him like a dark cloak, except for his face. He had a friendly demeanor, bright purple eyes, and blue-purple hair that seemed to absorb the surrounding light.
"That guy just came out of your shadow," Choy said to Michele, pointing at the newcomer in disbelief.
"So it seems," she replied, her eyes wide with surprise.
Maos, still trying to process what he was seeing, shouted from afar:
"But who the hell are you?"
The figure smiled casually and responded:
"Where are my manners… Allow me to introduce myself: I'm Agent Shadow, though if we're talking about Mr. Drake's team, I'm Agent E-8."
"Enough with the introductions. It's time to finish off this junk," the agent declared, raising a hand toward the robots. Immediately, the shadows beneath him sprang to life, tearing the arms off the giant robots as if they were made of paper. Within seconds, the machines were rendered useless.
"But that's impossible! Are these the same shadows from the robots that destroyed the real ones?" Maos exclaimed, incredulous.
Agent E-8, hearing the scientist's comment, responded with a mischievous smile:
"Yes, exactly. I can travel through shadows and even make your own shadow attack you." With that, he pulled a small flashlight from his pocket, shining it in front of his eyes while making an exaggerated expression of terror, as if acting in a horror movie.
"Alright, what's next?" the agent asked, looking around with an amused smile as he observed everyone's astonished faces.
Maos, recovering from his initial shock, shifted his expression to one of fury. He decided to use his watch to summon more robots to fight for him, but before he could touch it, he felt an invisible force pulling him back and preventing him from moving. He tried again, but his hand froze in midair, unable to reach the device.
"What the hell is going on?!" he shouted, visibly frustrated. He tried with all his might once more, but it was futile.
"I can't even move, no matter how hard I try!" Maos roared, smoke practically coming out of his ears.
At that moment, he heard laughter nearby. He quickly raised his gaze and saw the young man with blue-purple hair laughing uproariously, a wide grin spreading across his face.
"What did you do to me, damn it?!" Maos shouted furiously, pointing at the agent with rage.
Agent E-8 feigned innocence and responded calmly:
"Me? Nothing. You're the one stopping yourself… Well, technically, it's your shadow."
Maos tried to touch his watch again, but this time he could clearly see a dense darkness emerging from his own wrist, trapping him before he could complete the motion. The shadow held him firmly, preventing any further action.
He watched as a dark silhouette, equal in size to himself, rose from the ground, staring at him with a mocking smile.
"What is this?" Maos asked, his voice filled with disbelief as he stared at the figure.
"Well, as I already told you… It's your shadow," Agent E-8 replied calmly, clearly enjoying the scientist's bewilderment.
"Alright, you're going to tell us where you've hidden the switch to deactivate those rogue robots, right now," Professor Kile interjected urgently, cutting through the scene.
Maos didn't respond. He had decided to remain silent when, suddenly, his watch emitted a shrill beep that echoed through the air like an alarm. It was an incoming call.
"I need you, Maos," Milo's voice said coldly and authoritatively on the other end.
All Maos could manage was a hurried response:
"I can't help right now…"
Before he could say anything else, his own shadow came to life. A dark, dense hand emerged from the ground, delivering a devastating punch that struck him with brutal force, sending him crashing to the floor. Maos collapsed unconscious, his body falling limp like a dead weight as the echo of the impact slowly faded away.
"Wow, you're no use to me if you won't give me what I want," Agent E-8 commented with an amused smirk, crossing his arms.
Michele's group looked at him in astonishment.
"Don't worry, he's not dead. Just knocked out. If you thought I'd annihilated him, sorry to disappoint," the agent said, raising his hands innocently.
"Hey, that was incredible! How did you do that? Awesome!" Choy exclaimed excitedly, approaching the agent with curiosity.
Michele, however, frowned and confronted him directly.
"Why didn't you help us earlier? And why now? Why were you following us?" she demanded, her tone laced with suspicion.
"Hey, Michele, first we should thank him. Don't be so direct," Choy intervened, trying to calm the tension.
"Calm down," Professor Kile added, seeing that the two might start arguing at any moment.
Agent E-8 raised a hand to interrupt.
"Give me a second," he said, as something familiar emerged from the shadows: Tron, battered but functional.
"Thank goodness you're okay, Tron!" Philip exclaimed, rushing over to inspect the robot.
The agent dissipated the surrounding shadows, revealing a military uniform similar to that of an elite soldier. Apparently, he was the same soldier who had been following them during their journey.
"Now then, better this way so you don't think I'm just a shadow," the agent remarked sarcastically, adjusting the collar of his uniform.
"To answer your question, Michele: I couldn't interfere in the fight up there. I had my orders, which were only to observe. But I received new instructions from higher-ups, who commanded me to intervene and save you all. Seems like you've got a guardian angel in the square, young lady," the agent explained, looking at her with an enigmatic smile.
"Who are you really? And why all the mystery?" Michele insisted, still not fully trusting him.
"I can't say more. It's classified information for this mission. Even my name is off-limits," the agent responded, adopting a more serious tone.
"Thank you for saving me, Jake," Tron said in a shaky voice, barely recovering from the damage he had endured.
"Hey, that's cheating, chatty tin can. After I saved you, you go and spill my identity?" Jake replied with feigned indignation, crossing his arms while smirking ironically at the robot.
"A thousand apologies, I forgot… I think I'm a little damaged," Tron indicated, tilting his mechanical head as if confused.
"So your name's Jake," Michele interjected, staring at him with a mix of curiosity and distrust.
"Well, now you know my name, what else do you want? My last name too?" Jake asked, raising an eyebrow.
Before Michele could respond, Tron interrupted again:
"It's Blade."
"Hey, Tron! Close your robotic mouth. Do you want to tell her my blood type, age, and all that stuff too?" Jake shot back sarcastically, gesturing exaggeratedly toward the robot.
"No, don't even think about it, robot," Jake warned him, faking an angry expression.
Noticing the young man's glare, Tron decided to act quickly.
"Better not… I'm switching to recovery mode." And with that, the robot powered down.
"Wait! Before shutting down, you could've told us if we were close to the device!" Choy exclaimed, but it was useless. The robot was already inactive.
"Well, since that's settled… I'll carry him in my shadows so he doesn't stay there." Jake extended his hand and enveloped Tron in a dark mass that completely swallowed him.
"Alright, Jake Blade, talk: who are these people from the square you mentioned?" Michele pressed on, confronting him directly with crossed arms and a penetrating gaze that brooked no evasion. Her voice was firm, almost challenging, as if she were cornering the young agent for answers.
Jake raised his hands in a gesture of innocence, though a half-smile played on his lips, hinting that he was enjoying the situation somewhat.
"I can't say much, miss. It's classified information," Jake replied calmly, though his tone betrayed a hint of amusement at Michele's persistence.
"Come on, answer her, go ahead! Do it," Choy teased with a mischievous grin, clearly relishing the moment as he addressed Jake. "Besides, she must be your superior… right?" he added, crossing his arms as if scoring a major point.
His teasing tone and relaxed attitude made it clear he was trying to complicate the situation further, savoring the uncomfortable silence that followed.
"I'm not that old!" Michele shouted, shooting a death glare at Choy.
"Sorry," Choy apologized, raising his hands in surrender.
"Yeah, I think she's older than me," Jake joked, clearly enjoying the moment.
"Based on your appearance, I'd guess you're at most 16," Professor Kile remarked, observing Jake closely.
"Well, you guessed wrong. I'm 18," Jake replied, crossing his arms with a mischievous smile.
"Still younger than Michele," Choy chimed in again, earning himself another smack on the head from Michele.
"I told you not to help!" she exclaimed, visibly annoyed.
"Alright, enough arguing. We need to find the device," Professor Kile intervened, trying to calm everyone down.
"Finally, someone with common sense," Jake said, grinning widely. "Alright, let's go look for it. And let's move quickly."
"Hey, you're not my boss," Michele protested, though without much conviction.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, miss. But we need to search for this place. It has to be here," Jake said, brushing off her protests.
Michele took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.
"Calm down, Michele. He's right. We just need to find the switch. Don't start an unnecessary fight," Professor Kile added, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Fine," Michele conceded reluctantly.
"Thank you for saving us. We owe you one," Professor Kile said sincerely.
"Don't mention it," Jake replied with a slight nod of his head.
Michele, on the other hand, muttered something inaudible before closing her mouth and walking away toward a corner of the lab to search for the switch alone.
"What did she say?" Jake asked, sticking a finger in his ear as if he hadn't heard properly. "Did she say anything, or am I going deaf?"
"She meant to say thank you," Choy clarified with a teasing grin.
"Oh! But I didn't hear it," Jake said with a shrug. "Well, let's start looking. I don't care if they thank me or not."
"What modesty," Choy commented, chuckling softly.
"What a past," Michele muttered to herself as she avoided looking back, focusing solely on the wall in front of her.
The place was enormous, resembling a library but in laboratory form. Shelves were filled with jars containing strange experiments: mutated animals, human parts, and other indescribable things. The entire atmosphere had a macabre feel, like something out of a horror movie.
"What a horrifying place," Philip remarked, grimacing at a jar containing what looked like a humanoid tentacle floating in green liquid.
"Yes, my young intern, but there's no other option. We'll have to cover more ground. Besides, there are four passages, all connecting here at the center. So we'll split into four groups," Professor Kile proposed, pointing to each of the dark paths that opened before them.
"Alright, I'll take the left one," Jake said, quickly disappearing down that corridor before anyone could respond.
Melisa, seeing that Jake had taken that path, decided to take the next one.
"Choy, why don't you go with her?" the professor suggested.
"Better not, Professor. She's upset. I'll take this one," Choy replied, heading down the third passage without a second thought.
"Alright, then Philip and I will take this corridor. We'll meet back here in this room," Professor Kile said with determination, pointing to the path they would take.
From the other side of the lab, Choy simply raised a thumbs-up in approval before disappearing down his own passage.
"Alright, Philip, let's go," the professor instructed, adjusting his stance as if preparing to face anything.
"Yes, sir," Philip replied, following him with steady but nervous steps.
Meanwhile, Megumi and Akira were having no easy time. The gigantic robotic crustacean had proven to be far more resilient than they had anticipated. To make matters worse, the switch they needed to deactivate was embedded within its shell, protected by layers of nearly impenetrable metal.
Megumi launched an attack of sharp rocks, transforming them into razor-sharp knives that sliced through the air as they flew toward the crab. However, they bounced off its armor without leaving a single scratch.
Akira, on the other hand, fired bursts of energy with the gun Adrian had given him. But his attacks were equally ineffective. The impacts only seemed to enrage the beast further, prompting it to retaliate by slamming its massive claws into the ground, creating deep craters with each strike. Suddenly, smaller mechanical crabs emerged from its other legs, advancing toward them like a metallic tide.
"Great, more enemies!" Akira exclaimed, firing frantically at the tiny crabs closing in. Fortunately, these were less durable and exploded upon impact.
"There are too many!" Megumi shouted, retreating while trying to hold them back with her magic.
"I know!" Akira responded, focusing on taking out the small crabs one by one. I can't connect with these machines—they must have some kind of failsafe, the young man thought.
But the tiny robots didn't stop. They advanced relentlessly, surrounding Akira until some managed to climb onto his legs. Upon contact, they fused with him, forming a kind of exoskeleton that completely immobilized him.
The giant crab, noticing that Akira was trapped, raised one of its enormous claws, aiming directly at him.
"You've got to move! Get out of there, Akira!" Megumi screamed, trying to fight her way toward him. But the swarm of crabs blocked her path, piling up in front of her like a living barrier, exploding as they connected.
Megumi raised a stone wall just in time to shield herself from a nearby explosion. Despite this, her heart raced as she watched the massive claw hurtling toward Akira.
"Move! Get out of there, Akira!" she screamed again, desperate.
"I can't," Akira muttered, trying to move, but it was useless.
It was futile. The tiny crabs kept multiplying, preventing her from advancing. Every time she tried to attack them, some exploded, but others instantly took their place.
Akira, completely immobilized, closed his eyes as the massive claw approached. His mind was filled with fleeting images: his childhood, his dreams, the moments he would never get to experience.
This is how it ends... Is there no future for me? He thought, feeling the weight of the situation crushed him both physically and emotionally.
The claw descended with terrifying speed, and Megumi let out a blood-curdling scream:
"No, Akira!