The black airship ascended, piercing the cloud layer to reveal a dazzling night sky city suspended above the main metropolis of The Grand Electrum. This was the domain of the ultra-rich, the powerful navy officials, and the high clan elites a world of shimmering spires and clean air, built upon the grime of the city below.
The ship docked at a nondescript, sterile platform attached to a severe-looking building marked only with a numbered code. This was the lab.
The leader, Agent 1, barked orders as the hatch opened. "Waste no time. Split them up. Now."
THE BIG GUY: (Hoisting the unconscious Torsten over his shoulder like a sack of grain) "Yes, Boss!"
They were rushed inside under the cold, artificial lights.
Torsten awoke with a raging headache, his body aching from the punch. He was strapped to a medical gurney, being wheeled down a stark white hallway.
TORSTEN: (Straining against the restraints, voice raw with fury and fear) "Where's my sister?! Where is Veyra?!"
A scientist walking alongside the gurney didn't even look at him, just made a note on a holopad.
SCIENTIST: "She is safe. You are not. Now, remain calm. It will be easier."
As they moved, Torsten saw other cells. Other kids and teens, some looking dazed, others staring blankly at walls. Then, an old man with wild white hair pressed his face against the reinforced glass of his cell door.
OLD MAN: (His voice a desperate, raspy whisper) "Let me out... I've been here my whole life, feels like... but it's only been a week... I was the same age as you, kid... You have to run!"
A guard slammed a baton against the old man's cell door. "Quiet, Subject 17!" The old man flinched back into the shadows of his cell, his warning echoing down the hall.
Torsten's blood ran cold. This wasn't a lab. It was a prison.
[FLASHBACK - MEMORY OF AGENT 2]
The scene: A few days after the siblings were processed into the lab. Two lower-level agents are on a break.
AGENT 1: "That new kid, Torsten? He's strong. I was there when they brought him in. Took on four of our agents back at the orphanage."
AGENT 6: (Scoffs) "Wow, what a lie. No kid is that strong."
Agent 1's face goes serious. He thinks back to that day, the memory crystal clear...
[FLASHBACK - THE ORPHANAGE STRUGGLE]
AGENT 3: "Kid, you're coming with us. Don't put up a fight."
AGENT 2 moved to grab the crying young Veyra.
Teen Torsten moved faster than any of them thought possible. He lunged, and a single, devastating punch sent Agent 22 spinning to the ground, out cold.
Agents 2 and 3 moved in unison. They activated their enhancements—a blur of motion. They seemed to vanish and reappear instantly, executing a perfectly synchronized duo kick to Torsten's stomach that sent him flying backward into a wall.
TORSTEN: (Staggering to his feet, spitting blood) "You'll pay for that!"
He jumped forward, throwing another punch. They vanished again, but this time Torsten was ready. He predicted the reappearance, blocking their kick and shoving them back. He followed up with a brutal uppercut to one agent's chin, knocking him out cold.
Agent 2 looked surprised for a split second long enough for Torsten to land a crushing gut punch that doubled him over, gasping for air.
Then the BIG GUY (the one from the main flashback) finally stepped in.
BIG GUY: "Why are you four making such a long job of a teen and a little girl?"
Enraged, Torsten launched a powerful kick at the big guy's face. The big guy didn't even flinch. He simply caught Torsten's foot mid-air.
BIG GUY: "What, you trying to play hero?"
With terrifying ease, he used Torsten's own momentum to swing him around and slam him hard into the ground, knocking him out cold.
BIG GUY: (Looking down at his defeated subordinates) "They're already taken. Get them away, boys. And don't mess up again."
In the background, young Veyra could only watch, crying helplessly.
[BACK TO THE PRESENT - LAB CORRIDOR]
AGENT 2: (Shaking his head at the memory) "That was a beating. Why are they giving him White V4? He might actually try to escape again."
AGENT 6: "What are you talking about now? Shut up and work. We've got subjects to move."
A WEEK LATER
young Veyra was in a common area, picking at a bland nutrient paste with the other captured kids.
KID GIRL: "You're new."
YOUNG VEYRA: (Nodding sadly) "Yes. I'm here with my brother. I... I never see him."
A teenage girl with fiery red hair leaned in, her voice a low whisper. "They call us the 'backup.' They say they don't test much on girls. So, your brother... he's mostly on the other side. With the other boys. The strong ones." She shrugged, a helpless gesture. "Don't know why."
MEANWHILE - TESTING CHAMBER B7
Torsten was strapped into heavy restraints inside a transparent prison cell made of reinforced iron-glass, designed to hold ten grizzly bears.
A lead scientist watched through the safe side of the glass. "Inject him with White V4. Let's hope this works."
A nervous nurse approached and injected a full dose into Torsten's IV line.
For a moment, nothing. Then, Torsten's body tensed. A low growl escaped his lips. His eyes snapped open, pupils dilated, the irises flooding with a terrifying, solid white. Pure, unthinking rage consumed him.
SNAP! CRACK! He shattered the reinforced restraints like they were dry twigs.
SCIENTIST: (Eyes wide with excitement, not fear) "Amazing! Look at the raw power!"
Torsten roared, a sound unlike anything human. He lunged at the two agents inside the chamber with him Agents 10 and 11.
AGENT 10: "Wha Let us out!"
It was over in seconds. Torsten moved in a blur of fury a fist to a face, a foot to ribs—brutal, efficient, and devastating. Both agents were on the ground, unconscious.
He turned his white-eyed fury on the iron-glass wall and threw a punch. A web of cracks spiderwebbed across the surface.
SCIENTIST: (Finally alarmed, backing away) "Walk out. Now. Activate Black Mamba Team! Now!"
Alarms blared. Two full squads of agents in heavy combat gear stormed the room, weapons raised.
Torsten mowed through the first wave. A fist to the first face, a kick to the next agent's ribs. He was an unstoppable force of nature. In the midst of the chaos, a single, coherent thought broke through his rage a name he growled with animalistic intensity: "My... sister..."
MEANWHILE - OBSERVATION ROOM
The lead scientist watched the carnage, a look of crazed triumph on his face. "Incredible... These teens these days... Send the complete results to the higher-ups immediately! White V4 is a resounding success!"
The lead scientist frantically called his emergency contact.
SCIENTIST: (Into the comms) "Hi I mean, the subject is on a rampage! The V4 works! And now I need you to put him down!"
THE BOSS: (His voice crackled over the line, annoyed and distracted) "No. I'm busy with an actual mess. Someone is trying to destroy the lab!"
SCIENTIST: (Screaming) "What do I pay you for?! Get your ass here now! He's just a little kid! He's small for you!"
THE BOSS: (Scoffs) "Stupid scientist. Thinks he owns us." He put down the phone, looking out at a scene of utter chaos halls filled with smoke and fire. An old man was methodically destroying everything in his path. They were about to fight.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the facility, Torsten's rage-fueled strength didn't just break restraints it broke walls.
He smashed through the reinforced divider separating the boys' and girls' sections. His white eyes scanned the terrified girls until they landed on Veyra. A flicker of recognition broke through the chemical rage.
TORSTEN: (Voice a strained, guttural roar) "Sister! We must go now! Before this... stuff... wears off!"
But before they could move, a blond teen, no older than sixteen, stepped into their path. He wore a lab-issue uniform but carried himself with the calm of a trained agent. This was Rook.
ROOK: "You there. You destroy too much. Stop."
He didn't wait for an answer. A swift, precise kick cut through the air like a blade of wind.
Torsten barely blocked it, the force pushing him back a step.
In the next instant, Rook moved. A punch so fast it was barely a blur connected with Torsten's face. It was a stunning blow. Rook didn't even break a sweat, his hands casually slipping back into his pockets as if he'd done nothing.
Torsten shook it off, his white eyes narrowing. For the first time, he looked... serious.
He roared and slammed his fist into the ground, causing the entire corridor to shake violently. The tremor was meant to knock Rook off balance.
It worked. As Rook stumbled, Torsten lunged forward with a devastating kick to the body so powerful it knocked the air from Rook's lungs and sent him crashing into a wall,got knocked down.
TORSTEN: "Veyy! Get on my back! Now!"
Young Veyra was about to jump onto her brother's back when a groggy voice rose behind them.
THE ROOKIE: (Staggering to his feet, wiping blood from his lip) "Not... so fast. We're not done here yet."
Before he could take another step, a massive BOOM erupted from the side of the lab.
The entire wall tore open in a shower of debris and dust. Standing in the new, giant gap was a figure silhouetted against the outside sky. He had glowing red eyes and in one hand, he held the limp, unconscious form of the Black Mamba Team Leader like a ragdoll.
The man said nothing. He just stood there, an avatar of silent, terrifying destruction.
THE ROOKIE: (Eyes wide with fury and shock) "How dare you! I am busy here! Fly Step!"
The rookie's feet glowed as he ran on the air itself, shooting toward the intruder with incredible speed.
The old man with the red eyes didn't move. He simply turned his gaze toward the charging rookie.
WHOOSH!
An invisible force a mere look hit the rookie like a tidal wave, blasting him off his feet and slamming him into the far wall. He slid down, out cold.
Without a word, the red-eyed man casually threw the Black Mamba leader through the opposite wall, creating another massive hole, before turning his silent, burning gaze toward Torsten and Veyra.
The old man with glowing red eyes scanned the terrified children. His voice, when it finally came, was rough but not unkind.
OLD MAN: "All of you... girls, boys... you are free now. Run. There are people outside who will help you."
TORSTEN: (Staggering, the white fury in his eyes finally fading, leaving him exhausted and confused) "Who... who are you, old guy?"
The old man chuckled, a low, rumbling sound. The terrifying crimson light in his own eyes dimmed, revealing just the eyes of a tired, powerful old man.
OLD MAN: "Who, me? They call me... 'The Crimson Nightmare.'" He then looked at Torsten, and then his gaze softened even further as it landed on young Veyra. "But you, kid... you're okay. And that little girl..." A faint, sad smile touched his lips. "She's the same age as my grandson... Kiro."
He gave a final, knowing chuckle and turned, walking away into the smoke and rubble of the destroyed lab, vanishing as mysteriously as he appeared.
YOUNG VEYRA: (Eyes wide, staring at the space where the old man had been) "...Kiro?"
The name hung in the air, a seed planted for a future she could never have imagined.
BACK TO THE PRESENT
VEYRA: (Finishing her workout, wiping her brow) "Thanks, bro." A faint, thoughtful look crossed her face. "I wonder what happened to that old guy... Gotta ask Kiro about it one day."
MEANWHILE - AT THE GYM
KIRO: "Alright, let's see if you can break my record!"
RAIJI: (Shaking his head with a grin) "Bro. 'Break your record?' I might as well try to break a normal human's record. Remember? I'm normal human."
Raiji proceeded to load a long bar with an impressive 550 kg of weight.
RAIJI: "Check this out. Spot me. A deadlift."
He gripped the bar, took a deep breath, and with a powerful heave, deadlifted the massive weight not just once, but twice. He set it down with a heavy CLANG.
RAIJI: (Breathing heavily, a proud smirk on his face) "Phew. That's not bad."
KIRO: (Eyes wide) "Wow! You actually beat my record! Okay, here, let's try the gravity room."
They stepped into the advanced training chamber. The artificial gravity kicked in, immediately making everything feel heavier.
RAIJI: "Whoa. Gravity's nice and heavy in here." He dropped and knocked out ten perfect, but strained, push-ups on the reinforced floor.
Kiro, barely affected by the increased gravity, started jumping and jogging in place like an excited child, his Evolution Cube's power making the intense workout look like a game.
RAIJI: (Collapsing on the floor after his push-ups, watching Kiro bounce around) "Remind me never to take you to a normal gym again. I'd rather leave babysitting duty to Veyra."
KIRO: (Still bouncing) "But she's boring! All she does is tinker with gadgets and tell me to be quiet."