[Shelter - Early morning, a few days later].
The ticking of a cheap clock was the only thing that broke the silence. On a makeshift table, wires crisscrossed a dented laptop, still stained with dust from the destroyed lab.
In front of the screen, Yume adjusted her glasses with one finger, her gaze fixed, sleepless. The blue glow of the screen reflected off its glass, illuminating the dark room.
Unnamed files, repeated folders, corrupted codes... until one folder jumped into view: "The First".
Yume arched an eyebrow. Her breathing slowed.
-The First...?
It clicked. Inside, dozens of documents, scanned reports... and a single video. The cursor hovered over the icon. His finger pressed "Play".
[Video screen - Unknown laboratory]
The low-quality recording showed a white room, walls lined with boards with handwritten formulas. Two men in stained gowns stared at each other in front of the camera, illuminated by the light of a surgical lamp. One had a badly trimmed beard, a tense look. The other smiled as if he hadn't blinked for centuries.
The first spoke, nervously:
-This is... the initial log of the "Awakening" protocol. Today... today we're going to test the final serum. If it works... it will change humanity.
He turned to his partner, sitting in a reinforced metal chair, straps holding his wrists and ankles.
-Dr. Oracle," said the bearded man, "are you sure you're the first?
The man in the chair - Dr. Oracle - let out a soft, almost sinister laugh. His eyes looked dark, deep as a well.
-Sure? -He repeated, staring into the camera. There is no mistake. If anyone should light the spark, it's me.
The scientist turned away, clearing his throat, clearly uncomfortable. He picked up a huge syringe filled with a cloudy green liquid. He reached over, pushed Oracle's sleeve and reached for the vein in his arm.
-I'm going to... I'm going to start," he said, barely audible.
The needle plunged in. Oracle did not look away from the camera. Her breathing began to hitch. Her muscles tensed like steel cables.
A grunt, then a scream. The veins in his neck and face stood out, black as spilled ink. The doctor stepped back, dropping the empty syringe.
Oracle screamed. The entire chair vibrated under her weight. Her eyes rolled back, dark foam formed at the corners of her lips.
Suddenly, everything stopped. Silence filled the room. Oracle stood still, head hanging. The doctor took a step, let out a crazed sigh of relief.
-We did it," he whispered. We did it! -He knelt down, held her head. Dr. Oracle, how do you feel?
Oracle opened her eyes. Empty. Pupils reduced to dots of charcoal. A crooked smile spread across his face.
-Better than ever.
The doctor laughed, hysterical. He didn't see how, behind the chair, a shadow stretched out. Oracle's fingers deformed, elongated like needles of liquid shadow, vibrating, pulsing like a swarm.
With a sharp movement, those filaments pierced the doctor's chest, lifting him off the floor like a puppet.
-Wh... why...? -stammered the scientist, his dressing gown stained red. Oracle raised her head. He smiled like a broken wax mask.
-Because I don't need you anymore.
With a snap, he let go. The body fell out of frame. Oracle looked straight into the camera, breathing like a beast learning to speak.
The image froze. It cut off.
[Refuge - Back with Yume]
Yume turned away from the screen, breath quickening. Her hands trembled barely on the keyboard. She swallowed, muttering to herself:
-... What the hell are you, Oracle?
He went back to the laptop. He rummaged through folders, now in desperation. Each file seemed to bear the same signature, the same hidden mark: a place name repeated among codes, medical notes, diagrams of structures.
"Substation 17 - Exclusion Zone. Northwest Sector."
An old electrical distribution centre, abandoned on the outskirts of the city.
Yume closed her eyes, took a deep breath. He took off his glasses, wiping them with the sleeve of his worn shirt.
-I have to show you this.
He turned off the laptop. He hugged it to his chest as if holding a bomb about to explode.
On the black screen, his reflection barely showed the shadow of someone who no longer knew whether he was trembling with fear or fury.
[Shelter - Night]
The air inside the shed was barely moving, heavy with dust and the smell of hot metal. Daiki was using his makeshift shield against a rusty wall, practising shield strikes. Aoi was practising dodging moves, her scarf fluttering like an inky stroke. Goro, his torso of cracked steel, lifted cement weights like empty cans.
Suddenly, Daiki's phone vibrated on the floor. He picked it up, unlocked it, and a smile escaped him.
-It's Yume," he said, turning to his companions. He says he has information. He's on his way.
Aoi paused, letting out a snort of relief.
-Finally! Something about what he found on that laptop?
Goro dropped the dumbbell with a thud. He allowed himself a grimace that looked almost like a smile.
-Good. We've been waiting for this.
At that instant, the door burst open. Haruto staggered in, backpack slung over one shoulder. Aoi greeted him enthusiastically, but froze when she got a good look at him.
-Haruto! -He frowned, "What... what happened to your face? Do you look like a zombie without make-up?
Daiki approached him, crossing his arms.
-Don't tell me you fought alone again. Haruto raised an eyebrow, humourless.
-Worse. -He plopped down on an old box, letting out a sigh. I've had to work for my uncle since he finished school. All day carrying boxes. I swore I'd never do a normal job... and look at me.
Aoi let out a mocking chuckle, putting a hand on his shoulder.
-You look good in the 'exploited worker' look. You could be on the cover of a magazine.
Haruto rolled his eyes, half-smiling.
-Thank you for your concern, Shiftie. -He sighed, changing the subject. So... Yume found something?
Daiki nodded.
-Yes. She said it was important. We waited for her. [Soon after]
The metal door opened again. Yume walked in, laptop under her arm. His serious face made the jokes vanish. Without greeting, he walked straight to the central table, opened the laptop and switched it on.
-Look at this," he said, bluntly.
The four of them gathered around, shoulder to shoulder. Yume played the video of "The First". The blue reflection illuminated the tense faces: Oracle, her marble smile, the serum piercing her skin, the shadows sprouting like living needles... and the murder, dry and cruel.
Aoi covered her mouth, pale. Haruto clenched his fists, biting his lip. Goro leaned in, reading every line of text that followed. Daiki shook his head, his eyes alight with fury.
-We can't let something like this breathe," Daiki said. Yume lowered the laptop's lid, tapping it gently.
-There's more. Among the files, one place keeps coming up. An old power substation, outside the city. It's possible Oracle is there, from what I saw and heard when he worked for them, was that he was always in the same place.
Goro straightened up, cracked his steel knuckles.
-Then let's go now.
Yume nodded.
-Yes. After destroying the lab, I doubt the Cult will stay put. If they get wind of this, they might try to move it. Or worse.
The five looked at each other. For the first time in days, determination bound them together like a single electric current.
-We do it tonight," said Goro.
[On the street - Midnight]
The address was too far to walk. Noiselessly, they stopped two old taxis at the corner of the shelter.
In the first taxi, Goro, Haruto and Aoi ended up crammed into the back seat. The driver couldn't stop staring at them in the mirror.
Aoi, pressed against the window, let out a chuckle.
-This is worse than karaoke. Haruto shrugged, half-stifled.
-Don't crush my leg, please....
Goro, in a deep voice, blurted out a dry sentence.
-They could keep quiet. Damn kids (whispering)
Haruto looked at him with a resigned smile.
[In the other taxi]
Daiki was looking out the window, arms crossed, while Yume was typing something on his mobile phone, going over coordinates.
Daiki broke the silence, somewhat nervously.
-Hey... Do you think Oracle is really there? Yume didn't look up.
-If he's not there, someone else is. It's the only solid lead. Daiki sighed, leaning his head back against the backrest.
-Sometimes I wonder... why do we always end up going straight into the lion's den?
Yume smiled sideways, not looking at him.
-Because if we don't go... no one else will.
Daiki turned his head towards her. He smiled too.
-Never change, Yume.
She raised an eyebrow, mockingly.
-You won't either, Daiki.
The taxi was lost under the light poles, heading into the darkness of the exclusion zone.
[Substation 17 - Exclusion Zone - North-West Sector]
The night outside was a cesspool. The wind whistled between rusted electricity pylons and fallen signs reading "No Entry - Danger of Discharge". In the distance, a ghostly structure emerged from the mist: the old power substation.
The five heroes crouched behind a crumbling fence. Goro held a pair of binoculars, scanning every nook and cranny with a cool gaze.
-Nothing," he grunted, lowering his binoculars. Not a single guard. No turrets, no sensors. It's impossible.
Daiki let out a snort from under his scarf.
-With what we saw in the lab, this should be shielded.
Yume, kneeling by a rusty box, reviewed Oracle's mental map.
-Maybe they do it to keep it invisible. As long as it looks like an abandoned building, no one looks twice.
Haruto fiddled with his boomerang, twirling it between his fingers.
-So what are we waiting for? -He smiled with a sparkle. Time to go in. Goro nodded, hunching forward.
-Stay close together. Not a sound. [Main entrance]
The five approached a corroded door. First through was Goro. He took one step... and disappeared.
The rest stopped in their tracks. Aoi let out a slight groan, holding back a scream.
-What... what happened?! -Daiki whispered.
Yume narrowed her eyes, took a step, and vanished as well. Haruto bit his lip.
-There's only one way to find out.
They entered one by one... and the darkness dissolved like ink in water. [Interior - The illusion shatters]
On the other side there were no broken wires or old transformers. Before their eyes stretched a neat corridor, white as an operating theatre. Beyond: an underground mansion, with walls lined with polished steel, huge windows, cold lights and corridors guarded by drones patrolling with flashing lasers.
Black-uniformed, armed guards passed in perfectly timed lines. Aoi swallowed, glued to Daiki.
-This... is not a substation.
Yume looked up at the ceiling, guessing at the illusion projectors lining the entrance.
-A veil. So no one can find it... if you enter without passing the 'blind spot', you're lost forever.
Goro took a deep breath, his steel hands clenched like anvils.
-We cannot turn back. Move forward without being seen. [Side corridor]
The five of them slid, crouching low, dodging beams of light from the drones. Behind a side wall, Yume pointed towards a tall, wide-open window.
-Yume said, "There. Climb in. Quickly.
Ricochet put his foot against the wall, acting as a step for Aoi. BlockWave propelled Yume up with a firm push. Goro climbed up as if the wall were made of cardboard. When they all passed, they found themselves in an empty, unfurnished room. Only the echo of their breaths filled the air.
[Inner corridors]
They advanced through corridors that twisted like ant tunnels. Each turn brought more guards, more swirling spotlights, more security cameras.
Daiki growled, holding back a pang of rage.
-If they set off the alarm now, we're dead.
At the end of a corridor, they spotted a metal staircase leading down into a deeper area. Two guards, armed to the teeth, blocked the entrance. Aoi took a deep breath, her pupils darkening like ink.
-Let me go.
It faded to a whisper. A couple of seconds later, two thuds and the guards dropped like puppets without strings.
Aoi reappeared, wiping blood from a knuckle.
-Aoi appeared again, wiping blood from a knuckle. Let's go.
[Entrance to the catacomb]
Goro placed his steel hand on the reinforced door. Without asking permission, he swung a punch that burst hinges and bolts. The steel sheet collapsed with a clang. Behind, an underground corridor stretched like a monster's throat: steel walls, dangling wires, emergency lights flickering.
Haruto advanced, boomerang at the ready.
-What the hell is this, a metal catacomb?
Before anyone could answer, an electric shriek rent the air: an alarm went off, filling the corridor with flashing red lights.
Footsteps. Dozens of them, echoing overhead.
-Shit! -Daiki blurted out.
Aoi looked up and pointed with a trembling finger: on the ceiling, a camera was spinning, pointing at them.
-They saw us!
-Ricochet! -shouted Goro.
Haruto threw his boomerang in the blink of an eye. The camera lens exploded like a bug under a shoe.
Yume took a deep breath, turning to look at them all.
-We have no choice. There are three corridors. Each leads to a different section of the complex. If we get caught here, we're dead.
Goro raised his steel fist, determined.
-We split up. Ricochet, you go with Yume. BlockWave, Shiftie with you. I go alone.
Aoi swallowed. She looked at Daiki. He nodded, adjusting his gloves. Haruto gave a strained smile towards Yume.
-Ready, aren't we?
Yume pulled his goggles on tightly, adjusting them over the bridge of his nose.
-There's no turning back.
The rumble of the guards' boots mingled with the siren. The five disappeared into the steel shadows.
[Steel Catacombs - Exclusion Zone]
The red sirens flickered, throwing beams of light like blades cutting through the gloom. The five advanced, each down their designated corridor.
Bulwark
Goro turned down a corridor and came upon a platoon of guards: six men, automatic weapons raised. One shouted:
-Fire!
Bullets thundered like hail. They slammed into his steel torso and ricocheted off, leaving nothing but sparks. Goro walked on, unstoppable, a sneer painted on his face.
The guard in front lowered his gun, terrified.
-No... he's not human!
Goro slammed a fist into the ground; the tremor threw two men against the wall. With one arm he caught another by the throat, lifted him up like a leaf and slammed him against a metal box.
The others tried to flee, but he caught them like a rat catcher.
As the last one groaned unconscious, Goro shook crushed bullets from his shoulder pad.
-That was it? Pathetic.
Ricochet & Quiet Bloom
Haruto and Yume, together, faced a trio of guards that emerged from around a corner. Haruto reacted instantly: he threw his boomerang, which bounced off the hooves of two enemies, knocking them over like dummies.
The third lunged at Yume with a knife. She blocked it with her forearm and unleashed a pulse of silence so thick that the man fainted before screaming. Haruto retrieved his weapon, clicking his tongue.
-You are unbelievable!
Yume turned, arched an eyebrow.
-Thank you. With a shy smile Haruto smiled.
Shiftie & BlockWave
Aoi and Daiki slipped down a narrower corridor, where two guards were talking. Aoi disappeared before they could react.
BlockWave jumped, activating their shock shields. The shockwave knocked them backwards. Aoi appeared behind the last one, pinned him down and put him to sleep with a thud.
Daiki drew in a shaky breath.
-That was quick.
Shiftie gave him a mocking gesture, adjusting her scarf.
-You're getting slow, BlockWave.
-Me?" Daiki grinned. And who stumbles every time they go invisible?
Aoi nudged him gently. They both laughed softly. The echo of laughter swallowed all the tension for a moment.
On high – Oracle
As the echoes of cleaning echoed, in a sealed office upstairs, Oracle sat in a chair upholstered in red cloth, elbows resting on her knees. Opposite, standing silently, were his three hooded figures.
Oracle stared at a monitor showing the cameras now destroyed and/or turned off.
He sighed, somewhere between annoyed and curious.
-They've come this far. -His voice was soft, almost amused. And all for something they don't even know what it is?
He leaned back in his chair, his shadow cast gigantically on the wall.
-Astaroth, Vesper, Nocturne... it's time. Protect him. If necessary, die for it. Astaroth, a hulking man in a sketchy mask, grinned like a jackal.
-We will give it our all, sir. As he bowed with one arm across his belly as if giving him mercy.
Vesper, skinny and white-haired, let out a low, unsettling laugh.
-It's going to be so much fun....
Nocturne, the quietest, bowed his head, his voice almost a whisper.
-They won't get through.
The three of them turned at the same time, losing themselves in the gloom. Oracle sighed, fiddling with a small silver syringe in her hand.
-Let it end quickly... The vessel is not yet ready.
The Crossing – Catacombs
Goro, after taking down his last guard, stretched his shoulders and let out a laugh that bounced between pipes and steel plates.
-That was fun! -he cracked his steel knuckles. Let more come if they want to die.
Suddenly, a distinct echo. Quiet footsteps. A whistling sound like low singing.
A figure emerged from the shadows: a tall man in a suit, no visible weapons, a crooked smile beneath his black mask.
-I seem to have been touched by a strange fellow," said the stranger, in a low, amused voice. Nice to see you laughing in a place like this. With an unsettling smile.
Goro appraised him, cocking his head to one side.
-Who the hell are you?
The man bowed as if greeting a nobleman.
-They call me Astaroth. How do you do? Goro smiled, rolling his shoulders.
-Well Astaroth, I hope you are ready to die. Astaroth smilingly replies:
-Man of steel... you'll die so fast you won't even be able to scream. They both smiled with defiant looks.
In another corridor, Aoi and Daiki felt a shudder as a figure sat on a rusty railing, clapping his hands slowly.
Vesper licked his lips.
-Bravo, children! Now the good stuff begins. Daiki stepped forward, shielding Aoi.
-Who are you? Vesper grinned.
-The guy who will finish them off.
Beyond, Ricochet swung his boomerang as Yume stared coldly at a man emerging from the gloom, footsteps silent, mask seeming to eat the light.
Nocturne spoke like an icy wind.
-It seems the guards are of no use.
When they both see the strange fellow, Haruto asks Yume, "Yume, do you know him?
Yume denied, without blinking.
-I don't know who that guy is.
-I hope you're ready to die. The strange man blurted out, "But before we start... You were the ones who destroyed the lab?
-So what? If it was us. Haruto answers.
-You will die for that, in the name of Nocture. says Nocturne. Haruto smiles and says, -I'm sorry Nocturne, but I Ricochet and....
-What's wrong? asks Yume.
-It's just that I don't know what your "heroine" name is. says Haruto.
Yume sighs and says, -Quiet Bloom. Clenching her right fist and raising it to her chest.
Haruto smiling, -That's nice.
Yume thanks him, -That's what my father used to tell me when I was little. Nocturne shouting and angry. -Stop talking so much.
-Don't get upset, we'll take care of you now, -Let go of Horuto.
[Aerial view - Steel Mansion]
The corridors shook, breathing like a monster. The five heroes braced themselves.
Three shadows waited.
Beneath tons of metal, something pulsed. The threshold was open.