The world was screaming.
Lucius's boots pounded against asphalt as he sprinted through stopped traffic, Hannah's weight balanced in his arms. Behind them, the sound of crushing metal and shattering glass mixed with civilian panic. Car alarms wailed. People ran in every direction, some filming with phones, others just trying to survive.
The thing chasing them roared again.
It stood nearly eight feet tall now, a grotesque fusion of boar and living magma. Its body rippled with molten rock, cracks running through cooled obsidian hide revealing the burning orange beneath. Plumes of steam billowed from its mass in wavering heat distortions. Each step it took melted the asphalt, leaving glowing footprints that smoked in the late afternoon air.
Lucius adjusted his grip as he vaulted over a stopped car's hood.
'Week three of this job.'
The Magma Hog smashed through a sedan, sending the vehicle tumbling sideways into a storefront. Glass exploded. The building's fire suppression system activated, adding water spray to the chaos.
'Second damn attack this week alone.'
Hannah's arms were wrapped around his neck, her body tense but controlled. She wasn't screaming. Wasn't panicking. Just holding on, breathing steadily despite the situation.
'And I thought my luck was terrible,' Lucius continued internally, scanning ahead for an exit route. 'Hers is somehow worse.'
The communications device in his ear crackled. Charlotte's voice came through, professional and clipped despite the circumstances.
"King, I'm three blocks north, circling around. ETA ninety seconds."
"Copy," Lucius replied, his breathing barely elevated despite the sprint. "West on Merchant Street, heading toward the plaza."
"Understood. Don't get dead before I get there."
"Wasn't planning on it."
Behind them, the Magma Hog bellowed again and charged. Its massive bulk moved with disturbing speed for something that size, molten claws digging into pavement, throwing up chunks of melted asphalt.
Lucius cut right between two stopped vehicles, using the narrow gap to force the creature to adjust its path. It worked—for about two seconds. Then the Hog simply smashed through both cars, sending them spinning like toys.
A woman with a phone was standing too close, filming everything. Amateur mistake. Adrenaline made people stupid.
"MOVE!" Lucius shouted at her.
She startled, finally realized her danger, and scrambled away. Smart.
The plaza was ahead. Open space. No cover but more room to maneuver. Better than the congested street where one wrong move could get civilians crushed.
Hannah's voice was quiet against his ear. "You can put me down. I can run."
"Not faster than that thing."
"I could—"
"No." His tone left no room for argument. "Stay still. Charlotte's almost here."
She went quiet, but he felt the tension in her frame. Frustration. The powerlessness of being carried like cargo while something tried to kill her.
He knew that feeling. Hated it himself. But right now, his job was keeping her alive, not preserving her dignity.
They hit the plaza at full speed. Lucius cut left immediately, heading for the fountain at the center. Water. Always useful.
The Magma Hog followed, leaving a trail of scorched stone and melted decorative metalwork. People scattered from its path, some still filming, most just running for their lives.
Lucius's earpiece crackled again. Different voice this time. Rougher. Enthusiastic.
"Yo, King! Charlotte called me. What's the situation?"
Miguel.
"Big bastard made of living magma chasing us through the commercial district," Lucius replied, still running. "Get your ass over here."
"FINALLY!" Miguel's voice carried genuine excitement. "I've been bored all week! Where exactly?"
"Merchant Plaza. Can't miss it. Just follow the screaming."
"On my way!"
The connection cut. Lucius adjusted course again, leading the Hog away from the densest civilian clusters. The creature was single-minded in its pursuit. Good. Predictable.
'Someone planned this,' he thought, mind working through tactical analysis even while moving. 'Dropped in during traffic. Knew our route. Timed it for maximum chaos.'
Hannah had finished work for the day. They'd been heading back to her penthouse. Standard schedule. Nothing unusual about the route or timing.
Except someone had known exactly when and where to strike.
'Information leak. Has to be.'
The Magma Hog was closing distance. The heat coming off it was intense now, washing over them in waves. Sweat ran down Lucius's back. Hannah's professional clothes were ruined from soot and heat.
He spotted Charlotte's vehicle approaching from the north entrance—black armored SUV, reinforced frame, bulletproof glass. She drove with aggressive precision, cutting through the plaza's pedestrian area without hesitation.
The vehicle screeched to a stop twenty meters ahead. Rear door already open.
Lucius covered the distance in seconds, practically throwing Hannah into the back seat. She caught herself with practiced ease, sliding across to make room.
Charlotte's voice came from the driver's seat. "Go, go, GO!"
But Lucius was already stepping back, slamming the door shut.
"King, what are you—"
"Drive. Get her to the safe house. I'll handle this."
"Alone? That thing's—"
"Miguel's incoming. We've got it." He slapped the roof twice. "GO!"
Charlotte hesitated for maybe half a second. Then the engine roared and the SUV peeled out, accelerating toward the north exit with professional speed.
Lucius turned back to face the Magma Hog.
The creature had stopped its charge, standing thirty meters away in the center of the plaza. Thick white vapors hissed off its hide in dense clouds. Its eyes—if they could be called eyes—glowed with internal fire. The ground beneath it had turned to slag.
People were still filming from windows, from behind cars, from what they thought were safe distances.
'Great. This is going on social media.'
The Hog lowered its head, preparing to charge again. Now that its actual target was gone, Lucius had become the secondary objective.
Fine by him.
He cracked his neck once, rolled his shoulders. His ribs from the tournament were mostly healed, functional enough for a fight. His hands were responsive. The burns across his torso had faded to pink scars.
Combat ready. More or less.
The Magma Hog charged.
Lucius moved.
Not away—sideways and forward, angling to the left while the creature committed to its straight-line attack. Its bulk meant turning required space and time. Basic physics.
It tried to adjust mid-charge, claws gouging the stone, but momentum carried it past. Lucius was already moving again, keeping mobile, forcing it to work.
'Big, strong, hot,' he catalogued mentally. 'But not smart. Just aggression and durability.'
The Hog spun around, faster than its size suggested, and swiped with one massive claw. Lucius ducked under it, feeling the heat wash over him, smelling burning fabric from his shirt's shoulder.
Too close.
He created distance with three quick steps back, eyes scanning the plaza. The fountain. Decorative stone benches. A few abandoned vendor carts. Not much to work with.
The Hog charged again, learning from the last attempt, keeping its approach wider to cut off escape angles.
Lucius grabbed one of the stone benches—solid marble, weighing over two hundred pounds—and hurled it.
The bench hit the Hog mid-charge. Stone shattered against living magma, fragments scattering, but the impact disrupted the creature's momentum enough for Lucius to reposition.
The Hog roared in frustration more than pain.
"YO!"
Miguel's voice carried across the plaza, full of enthusiasm. The man himself appeared from the east entrance, still in his black bodyguard suit, dragon tattoo visible on his neck where his collar sat open. He was grinning like this was the best thing that had happened all week.
Which, knowing Miguel, it probably was.
"Miguel!" Lucius called out. "Flank right! Don't let it focus on one of us!"
"Got it!" Miguel moved with surprising speed for his bulk, circling around to force the Hog to track multiple targets.
The creature's head swiveled between them, confused by the divided attention.
"What's the plan?" Miguel asked, his hands already starting to glow with that distinctive red-hot light.
"Hit it hard. Keep moving. I've got an idea but need to position it first."
"What kind of idea?"
"The wet kind."
Miguel laughed, loud and genuine. "I like it! Let's go!"
They moved in synchronized chaos—not planned, just instinctive combat coordination. Miguel grabbed a chunk of broken bench, his hands making contact with the stone. The glow intensified. He threw it overhead in a tight arc.
The chunk hit the Magma Hog's back and exploded with concussive force, stone and fire mixing in a blinding flash. The creature staggered forward.
Right toward Lucius.
Who'd picked up an abandoned vendor cart—metal frame, wooden panels—and was already launching it like a missile.
The cart slammed into the Hog's legs. Miguel's next explosive throw hit it a second later, detonating the frame mid-impact. Wood splinters disintegrated into shrapnel as twisted metal bit into the glowing hide.
One-two. Fast, heavy, relentless.
The Magma Hog was tough, regenerating smaller impacts almost immediately, but the combined assault was tearing it apart. Deep fissures opened across its obsidian hide. The internal glow flickered violently.
Still, it stood. Still dangerous. Still burning.
Lucius had been herding the fight across the plaza, calculating every step. The Hog didn't even realize it was being maneuvered.
Now they were positioned. The creature had its back to the fountain. Lucius stood between it and the fire hydrant on the plaza's south edge.
Close enough.
"Miguel! Drive it toward me! Big push!"
"You got it!" Miguel grabbed part of a fallen stone pillar, his hands blazing a brilliant red. He hurled the hundred-pound chunk with everything he had.
The explosive impact caught the Hog center mass, blasting it backward toward Lucius.
Lucius was already sprinting toward the hydrant. Three quick strides, plant the right leg, pivot, and drive a brutal kick straight into the iron casing.
His boot connected just below the cap. The sheer force sheared the heavy metal threading. The cap shot off like a cannonball.
Water erupted.
A high-pressure column shot fifteen feet straight up before bending under the force of the main line line, blasting thousands of gallons per minute.
Lucius grabbed the broken neck, wrestling the raw pressure, and aimed the roaring stream straight into the Magma Hog.
The water hit it dead center.
A massive wall of steam exploded outward, swallowing the plaza in blinding mist. The sound was deafening—a violent, shrieking hiss as extreme heat met cold water.
The Magma Hog's bellow cracked into a howl of real pain.
Through the whiteout, Lucius watched the transformation shatter. The molten orange glow dulled to lifeless gray. Deep, webbed cracks shattered across its obsidian armor.
The creature stumbled, its limbs locking up as the magma cooled into brittle slag. The human form beneath tried to reassert itself, trapped halfway between flesh and stone.
Lucius released the hydrant, letting the geyser flood the plaza floor.
He stepped through the blinding steam.
The Hog swung a clumsy, desperate claw. Lucius ducked under the slow arc effortlessly.
Drive forward. Right fist straight into the creature's solar plexus. Cooled obsidian shattered under his knuckles. Left hook to the exact same spot, punching straight through the shell.
The creature tried to grab him with its remaining arm. Lucius caught the wrist, stepped inside, twisted, and drove it over his hip in a hard judo throw. The creature hit the flooded stone with a violent crunch.
It tried to push itself up. Lucius drove his boot down into its throat. Efficient. Final.
The transformation collapsed entirely. The magma retreated into the skin as the obsidian turned to dust. Lying in the water was just a man—mid-thirties, heavily muscled, knocked unconscious by severe shock and thermal exhaustion.
Lucius stood over him, breathing steady, scanning the perimeter. Miguel jogged over, hands back to normal, looking equal parts impressed and disappointed.
"That was awesome!" Miguel cheered, pointing at the unconscious attacker. "Seriously awesome! But man, I wanted to hit him a few more times!"
"He's down. Mission accomplished."
"Yeah, but..." Miguel looked around at the ruined plaza. "It was just getting fun!"
Sirens wailed in the distance, rapidly growing louder. NCC units, local police, emergency responders.
Civilians slowly crept out from behind pillars and wrecked cars, phones held high. The plaza looked like an artillery range—cracked stone, scorched metal, water cascading over debris.
And two men in bodyguard suits standing victorious over a fallen NovaBreed.
"You good?" Miguel asked, checking Lucius over.
"Fine. You?"
"Perfect! Not even a scratch!" Miguel grinned. "We should team up more often. That combo was lethal!"
Lucius gave a brief nod. Miguel was loud, reckless, and energetic to a fault, but he was reliable when the fists started flying. He had good combat awareness and instinctively kept civilians out of the splash zone.
A good man to have at your back.
The first NCC armored transport screeched to a halt at the plaza's edge. Tactical guards spilled out, weapons raised, moving toward the target with disciplined caution.
One guard pulled a heavy suppression collar—thick steel lined with micro-injectors. He knelt, locking it around the attacker's neck. A sharp hiss echoed as the needles deployed, delivering a heavy chemical cocktail straight into the man's system.
The residual heat radiating from his skin vanished completely. His tense muscles went limp as his NovaBreed abilities were forcefully suppressed.
An officer walked up to Lucius and Miguel, pulling out a datapad. "You two with the Gipson detail?"
"That's right," Lucius confirmed. "Hannah Gipson was the target. Attacked during transport."
The officer's demeanor sharpened. "She secure?"
"Safe house. Protective detail has her locked down."
"Good. We'll need brief statements from both of you." The officer motioned toward the prisoner being loaded onto a heavy stretcher. "This is the second targeted strike on Gipson assets this week. Someone's orchestrating this."
"We noticed," Miguel said, his cheerful mood dampening.
Around them, response teams went to work. Fire crews cooled down residual hot spots, utility workers shut off the main line to the broken hydrant, and officers established a perimeter.
And the crowd kept filming.
Lucius heard snippets of excited chatter over the hiss of residual steam.
"—saw those bodyguards take it down, absolute unreal—"
"—Gipson's private security team—"
Near a barricade, a pair of young women were frantically tapping on their phones.
"Did you see the tall one? Dark hair?"
"The one who ripped open the hydrant? God, he's gorgeous—"
"I got his face in 4K! Uploading right now!"
"Bodyguard aesthetic goes so hard, I swear—"
Lucius turned his back on them as he and Miguel moved toward the perimeter.
The NCC officer wrapped up his initial report. "Alright, that's enough for the preliminary statement. Full debrief later. You're cleared to leave once your pickup arrives."
Miguel tapped his earpiece. "Charlotte, you there?"
"Here. Hannah's secure at the safe house. What's your status?"
"Target secured, NCC has custody. We're ready for extraction."
"Five minutes. North entrance."
"Copy that."
Miguel turned to Lucius, still riding an adrenaline high. "Man, where'd you learn that hydrant trick? That was pure genius!"
"Practical physics," Lucius replied neutrally. "You held your own."
"Thanks! Trained under Jiang for years. She's a drill sergeant, but she gets results." Miguel grinned. "Heard you passed her certification course in a week. That's insane. Most guys take a month."
"She was thorough."
"Still, man! We need to spar sometime. Off the clock."
"Maybe."
"I'm taking that as a yes!" Miguel chuckled.
They reached the north entrance just as Charlotte's black SUV glided to the curb. The rear door unlocked with a heavy click.
Miguel slid in first, still talking animatedly about the fight, while Lucius followed, pulling the door shut behind him.
Charlotte glanced into the rearview mirror. "You two look like hell."
"We look great!" Miguel countered. "You should see the pig!"
"I saw the feeds. Half of New Kong saw the feeds." She merged smoothly into the afternoon traffic. "Hannah's asking for a status check."
"We're fine," Lucius said. "Route to the safe house clear?"
"Taking the long way. Swept for tails—we're completely clean."
The SUV rolled west toward the financial district. Late afternoon sunlight gleamed off the glass skyscrapers, casting long, sharp shadows across the grid. Rush hour was in full swing, everyday life resuming despite the violent burst of chaos just miles away.
Miguel checked his phone, scrolling rapidly. "Man, we're trending everywhere. 'Gipson Bodyguards Crush Magma Attack.' The footage is blowing up."
"Let them post," Charlotte said calmly. "Public spectacle keeps them from asking real questions."
"What questions? We did our job."
"Exactly," she replied smoothly. "Keep it that way."
Lucius sat back, staring out the window as his mind processed the engagement.
Two attacks in seven days. Both aimed directly at Hannah. Both executed by high-tier NovaBreeds with maximum collateral capability.
'An inside job,' he thought. 'Someone on the inside providing intel. Routes, schedules, timing. The question is who—and why now.'
---
Twenty minutes later, the SUV turned into the underground parking complex of a luxury high-rise in the financial district. Quiet, heavily guarded, and completely private.
Charlotte scanned her clearance pass at the gate. The barrier raised, letting them drop three levels down to the VIP parking zone.
Hannah's secondary transport was already parked alongside two armored detail units.
Standing near the elevator was Kira Matsumura. Standing tall in a razor-sharp, tailored suit, he looked more like a cold corporate executive than a bodyguard, his build slim and poised. A black leather eyepatch covered his right eye, and when he turned his head, the dim overhead lights caught the subtle glint of a single gold replacement tooth on his right canine. Beside him stood Liam, his massive, hulking frame making a stark contrast to his gentle, calm expression.
Charlotte parked. Lucius and Miguel stepped out onto the concrete floor.
Kira's single dark brown eye fixed on them with cold, analytical efficiency. "Status?"
"Threat neutralized," Lucius reported cleanly. "NCC has the attacker in suppression custody. Zero civilian fatalities."
"Good." Kira's voice was devoid of warmth, pure professional detachment. "Hannah is in the penthouse suite. Ninth floor. She's waiting for a direct debrief."
"Understood."
They walked toward the elevator. Liam stepped aside to give them room, offering a small, reassuring nod. "Glad you two made it back in one piece."
"Piece of cake!" Miguel boasted, patting Liam's shoulder. "You should've seen it, Liam! King did this thing with a fire hydrant—"
"Save it," Kira cut in sharply, his gold tooth flashing. "Debrief first. Gossip after."
Miguel quieted down, nodding respectfully.
The elevator climbed silently toward the ninth floor.
The doors slid open to a secured private hallway. A single reinforced door sat at the end beneath a dome security camera.
Charlotte knocked twice in rhythm, then stepped back. The lock disengaged.
Hannah opened the door. She had stripped off her work attire, now wearing dark slacks and a soft sweater, her black hair falling loose over her shoulders. Her glasses sat slightly crooked on her face, hiding the tired tension around her blue-gray eyes.
Her gaze swept over Lucius first, then Miguel, confirming neither carried disabling injuries.
"In. Now," she said quietly.
The penthouse suite was expansive, lined with floor-to-ceiling glass overlooking the glowing skyline. Charlotte immediately moved to perform a standard perimeter sweep.
Hannah turned to face them, her arms folded tightly across her chest. "I watched the live streams. The plaza response was clean."
"Just standard protocol," Miguel replied.
"Still. Thank you." She locked eyes with Lucius. "That's twice now you've pulled me out of an ambush. I'm starting to feel like a walking target."
"You aren't the problem," Lucius said calmly. "The people hunting you are."
"Obviously." She walked to the window, staring down at the city lights. "The question is how they keep finding us."
Charlotte stepped out from the hallway. "The timing is too precise. Both strikes hit during vulnerable transport windows. We have a leak in the logistics pipeline."
"I know," Hannah murmured softly.
Silence settled over the suite, heavy with unsaid suspicions.
Hannah turned around, her professional composure sliding back into place. "Go clean up. There's a washroom down the hall. We hold a full detail briefing in one hour."
"Copy that," Lucius said.
Miguel nodded, and together they exited back into the hallway.
The elevator carried them back down to the quiet hum of the parking garage, the weight of the coming storm hanging between them.
---
TO BE CONTINUED