The three charged as one, their battle cries cutting through the smoke-choked air. Behind them, Seris drew back her bowstring, lightning crackling between her fingers.
Havoc's eyes blazed crimson as they closed the distance.
*Come on, guys.end this,* Drake pressed his palm against his ribs. *I can't take much more.*
Havoc lunged forward, claws extended like twin scythes.
Seris released her arrow. It streaked through the air in a blaze of electric yellow.
CRACK—BOOM!
The lightning exploded against Havoc's skull, sending him staggering backward, claws raised to his face.
"Nice shot!" Percival called, diving toward his fallen hammer.
Sofia's skin began to glow with a soft blue light. "My turn!" She dropped to all fours as her body shifted—legs coiled with rabbit-like spring, arms sprouted cerulean fur, fingernails elongated into razor claws.
"SEMI-BEAST TRANSFORMATION: WILD BUNNY!"
Even after everything he'd been through, Drake found himself staring.
Sofia launched herself forward with inhuman speed, becoming a blur of blue light.
CRACK! Her fist connected with Havoc's ribs. The sound of impact echoed like a gunshot.
Before he could recover, she spun low and drove her foot into his jaw. WHAM!
Havoc's head snapped back, but Sofia wasn't finished. She planted both feet and launched an uppercut that lifted the massive creature clean off his feet.
Havoc hit the ground hard but rolled back to his feet with a bone-rattling roar. His vision cleared just as he swept his claw toward Sofia's midsection.
She leaped backward, barely avoiding the first strike, but Havoc's axe-like tail whipped around in a wide arc.
SLAM!
The impact sent Sofia tumbling through the air like a broken doll.
"I've got you!" Fred stood beneath her, arms extended. He caught her just before she crashed into a pile of rubble.
"Thanks," Sofia gasped.
Seris nocked three arrows to her bow.
"TRIPLE LIGHTNING SHOT!"
The arrows whistled through the air, Havoc rolled sideways as they buried themselves in the cracked earth where he'd been standing.
"Everyone get back!" Seris shouted, her fingers poised to snap.
Sofia and Fred scrambled for cover behind an overturned cart.
"DETONATE!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The delayed explosions tore through the ground in sequence, sending up geysers of dirt and flame. When the smoke cleared, Havoc stood in the center of the devastation, his hide blackened but his stance steady.
"Still standing," Drake muttered, a sick feeling growing in his stomach.
Havoc raised his cannon toward the sky. The weapon began to glow as it charged with energy.
*WHIRRRRR...*
"What's he doing?" Sofia called out.
Drake's blood ran cold as understanding hit him. "He's given up trying to hit us directly."
*That's right,* whispered the voice that had been haunting him. *If you cannot catch the flies, burn down the whole web.*
*THOOM!*
The first blast tore skyward. Havoc was already charging another.
THOOM! THOOM! THOOM!
"Oh no," Seris breathed as she watched the energy projectiles arc overhead. "The residential district. There are still people in those buildings!"
Drake pushed himself to his feet, his body screaming in protest. "That's it. I can't just sit here anymore."
"Drake, you can barely stand—" Seris started.
"People are going to die because I was too weak to finish this!" Drake's voice cracked. "Sofia, your rabbit form enhances your hearing, right?"
She nodded, her ears twitching nervously.
"Then we split up. Fred, Percival—you two keep Havoc busy. Seris, Sofia, you're with me. We save everyone we can."
"Since when do you give orders?" Sofia's voice was sharp, but Drake could hear the uncertainty beneath it.
"Since right now," Drake met her gaze. "Unless you've got a better plan?"
Seris was already moving. "He's right. We can argue about chain of command later."
Sofia hesitated, her pride warring with her conscience. In the distance, the first explosion lit up the skyline.
"Fine!" she snapped. "But don't think this makes you the leader or anything!"
"Whatever gets you moving," Drake was already running.
CRASH! BOOM! WHOOSH!
The energy blasts rained down like meteoric fire. A three-story apartment building erupted in flames, and through her enhanced hearing, Sofia caught something that made her rabbit ears flatten against her head.
"There!" she pointed with a shaking finger. "Second floor, eastern window. Woman with a baby!"
Drake could see her now—a young mother pressed against the window, smoke billowing around her as flames licked at the doorway behind her. Her baby's cries were barely audible over the roar of the fire.
"Help us!" the woman screamed. "Please, someone help!"
Drake positioned himself beneath the window. "Jump! I'll catch you!"
The woman looked down at him—this teenager who could barely stand upright—and shook her head frantically.
"I know how this looks," Drake called up to her, his voice steady despite everything. "But that baby deserves a chance. Trust me."
Something in his tone must have convinced her. She clutched her infant close and stepped onto the window ledge.
Time seemed to slow as she fell. Drake caught her just as the building exploded behind them, showering the street with burning debris.
The woman was sobbing, clutching her baby as Drake helped her to her feet. "Thank you, thank you, oh God, thank you—"
"Get to the evacuation zone," Drake said gently. Looking at the baby—so small, so helpless—he felt something twist inside his chest. Memories of his own mother's arms, warm and safe, before everything went wrong.
He blinked hard and turned away. "Go. Now."
As the woman ran toward safety, Drake rejoined the others. They moved through the burning district like a well-oiled machine—Sofia's enhanced senses locating survivors, Seris clearing debris with controlled lightning strikes, Drake talking people through their fear and getting them to safety.
Meanwhile, Fred and Percival faced Havoc alone.
"Think the others are okay?" Fred asked, deflecting a claw strike with his spear.
"Drake's got a good head on his shoulders," Percival replied, his hammer igniting with fresh flame. "Who knew the kid had it in him?"
ROAAAAR!
Havoc's bellow shook the ground beneath their feet.
"Focus," Percival said grimly. "Time to end this."
He raised his burning hammer. "Ignis—Magma Smash!"
The weapon blazed white-hot as he brought it down. Havoc caught the hammer's head in both claws, his muscles straining against the tremendous heat and force.
ROAR! With tremendous effort, he shoved Percival backward.
Fred was ready. His spear thrust toward Havoc's exposed neck, but the creature twisted aside at the last second. Instead of a killing blow, the spearpoint opened a long gash across his shoulder.
Percival recovered his balance and drove his fist into Havoc's gut with enough force to lift him off his feet and spin him twice in the air.
"AEROPEX—BLADE STORM!"
Fred struck the butt of his spear against the ground. A cyclone of cutting wind erupted around Havoc, lifting him high into the air as invisible blades sliced at him from every angle.
Percival crouched low, then launched himself skyward with a single bound.
"IGNIS—FLAME THROWER!"
Fire erupted from his hammer in a concentrated stream, catching Havoc at the peak of the tornado and driving him back down to earth.
CRASH!
Havoc hit the ground with bone-jarring force, Percival's hammer pinning him down.
For a moment, there was silence except for the crackle of flames and the distant sounds of the still-burning district.
Then Havoc groaned and pushed the hammer aside, slowly rising to his feet.
"Persistent bastard," Fred muttered.
Havoc aimed his cannon at the ground between them.
WHIRR!
The blast tore up a massive chunk of earth, sending boulder-sized debris flying in all directions.
Fred and Percival scattered, Fred slicing through a rock with his spear while Percival shattered another with his bare fist.
When the dust settled, they found themselves on opposite sides of a crater. Havoc stood in the center, bleeding from dozens of cuts but still standing.
"Together!" Percival shouted.
They charged simultaneously—Fred from the left with his spear aimed at Havoc's temple, Percival from the right with his hammer raised high.
CRACK!
Their weapons struck Havoc's skull from both sides at the exact same instant. The creature's eyes went wide, then rolled back as blood ran from the corner of his mouth.
THUD.
Havoc collapsed, his massive frame hitting the earth and lying still.
The red glow faded from his eyes as the malevolent presence abandoned his body.
*Pathetic. This one too was weaker than I hoped. But the entertainment was... adequate.*
Havoc's body began to shrink back to normal size, the unnatural muscle mass melting away. His core flickered weakly.
"That presence," Percival said quietly. "It's gone."
Fred nodded, breathing hard. "Whatever was controlling him, it's moved on."
Across the district, Drake, Seris, and Sofia regrouped at their original position.
"Residential area is clear," Seris reported.
"Same here," Sofia said, though she looked exhausted. Her rabbit features had faded back to normal.
"Saved a dozen people, including a mother and her baby," Drake added quietly.
"Show-off," Sofia muttered, but there was less venom in it than usual.
"Sofia," Seris's voice carried a warning edge.
"What? I'm just saying!" But Sofia's heart wasn't really in the insult.
"Let's check on Fred and Percival," Seris said. "Hopefully they didn't need us to save their butts."
"I've still got fight left in me," Sofia said, clenching her fists.
Drake nodded, though exhaustion was weighing on his limbs like lead. *This whole thing started because I was too weak. Because I needed saving. I have to get stronger.*
*And where the hell is my system? She should be here mocking me by now, but it's like she's vanished entirely.*
*Hey, System? You there? System?* Drake tried reaching out mentally.
Nothing.
*Great. Even my own cheat system has abandoned me. What's wrong with this picture?*
*Maybe if I try being nice about it. Hey, sorry if I did something wrong. Could you please just respond? I'm kind of worried here.*
Still nothing.
*I give up. Just my luck to get a defective system.*
"Drake!" Sofia's voice cut through his brooding. "You coming, or are you just going to stare at the ground all day?"
"Sofia," Seris warned.
"Sorry, sorry!" Sofia's ears drooped. "I meant... are you okay, Drake?"
"Yeah, just thinking." Drake started walking toward them, but slowly.
"Thinking about what?" Seris asked gently.
Before Drake could answer, a voice spoke directly into his mind—not his system, but something else entirely.
*Drake Lorenzo.*
Drake stopped mid-step, his blood turning to ice.
"Something wrong?" Seris asked, noting his sudden stillness.
"Did you hear that? Someone just said my name."
Sofia and Seris exchanged glances. "We didn't hear anything," Seris said carefully.
"But I swear—"
"Maybe you hit your head harder than we thought," Sofia suggested, though her tone was more concerned than mocking.
The voice came again, clearer this time.
*Don't look so surprised. Only you can hear me, Drake Lorenzo.*
*Who are you?* Drake thought back, his pulse hammering.
*Someone who knows exactly what you are. A displaced soul from another world. The bearer of the Shadow Arsenal System. I know all your secrets, boy.*
Drake's face went white. *How could you possibly—*
*Know that? Simple. Because we're more alike than you realize. I've been watching your progress with great interest.*
*What do you want?*
*For now? Nothing. But grow stronger, Drake. Right now, you're pathetically weak. When the time comes for us to meet properly, I expect you to put on a better show than this.*
Drake's vision began to blur, darkness creeping in at the edges. From somewhere in that darkness, two golden eyes opened and fixed on him with predatory intensity.
*Don't disappoint me.*
Drake gasped and stumbled, the world snapping back into focus. Seris caught his arm to steady him.
"Drake, what's happening?" she asked urgently.
He was breathing hard, sweat beading on his forehead despite the cool evening air. "I... someone was just talking to me. In my head."
"That's not normal," Sofia said, her earlier antagonism replaced by worry.
"No kidding," Drake muttered, his thoughts racing. *Who the hell was that? And how do they know about the system and my past life?*
—TO BE CONTINUED—