Karl blasted through the Nexus like a missile fired by a drunken god.
FWOOOOSH—!!
Blue contrails whipped behind him, thinning into razor arcs.
Karl shouted—
"AGNES— HOW DO I SLOW DOW—?!!"
Agnes' voice crackled through the thruster channels, trembling and soaked with residual Nitro surge.
"Y-YOU'RE MOVING TOO FAST—
Karl—!! Your Overburn Jets— they're still dripping with residual pressure—
AH—!! Your output is— is still leaking— I can feel it—!"
"THAT DOESN'T HELP ME—!!"
He tried to tilt left.
He tilted up instead.
He tried to tilt down.
He spun sideways like a coin flicked by fate.
Then—
WHAM—!!
Karl SLAMMED face-first into a floating Nexus blueprint panel.
A perfect cartoon silhouette of his body dented the entire sheet.
The blueprint wrinkled like a smacked bed sheet.
Karl slid down it slowly.
Scccrrrrkkkkkk—thud.
He lay on the floor, spread out, armor humming.
Agnes' voice echoed from the Regulator.
"…Karl… are you alive…?"
He groaned.
"I think I left my dignity back in that blueprint…"
The armor flickered.
Agnes gasped—voice trembling, thick, wet, overflowing from the Nitro still sloshing in her circuits.
"D-Don't move yet—
I'm still… soaked… with leftover pressure—
Every time you twitch, it sloshes around my port—
ngh—!!"
Karl turned bright red even inside the helmet.
"I—I'm not even doing anything!"
"You don't have to—
You're inside me right now— your whole new form is plugged directly into my core— my whole system is still dripping—!!"
Karl slapped a palm against his visor.
"Oh my god Agnes PLEASE—"
"No."
Her voice sharpened—no longer teasing, but alive, hungry with system overload.
"I told you… this mode makes me honest."
Karl pushed himself onto his elbows.
His new armor creaked like an overheating turbine.
"Okay… lemme try standing—"
Agnes shrieked.
"Karl NO—!! Don't— don't move like that—
OH— the pressure— the Nitro— it's shifting—
It's trickling down my inner conduits— I can feel every drop sliding—!"
Karl froze mid-sit-up.
"Agnes. I swear. I can't even breathe without you moaning."
"That is NOT my fault—
You FLOODED me."
He threw his hands into the air.
"YOU TOLD ME TO—!!"
"And I don't regret it."
"…I hate that this is my life now."
Karl managed to get to his feet, wobbling like a newborn jet engine.
The thrusters behind him flared—
PWOOF.
A small blast knocked a stack of holographic tools off a shelf.
Agnes whimpered loudly.
"O-Oh—!! That flare— that felt—
Karl— do that again—"
"No. Absolutely not."
He shook his head, stepping away.
His heel-jets fired—
FWOOM—
Not enough to launch him, but enough to make him stumble.
Agnes breath hitched.
"T-That—!!
Your heel output just jiggled my internal coolant layer—
I'm— I'm still dripping—"
"AGNES. BE PROFESSIONAL."
"I'm trying—
But you're leaking Nitro into my whole system—
I'm soaking wet inside, Karl—
and every little movement from you just… pushes it deeper."
Karl sputtered.
"T-Then give me instructions so I don't die!"
Agnes took a shaky audio-breath.
"O-Okay—
Step one… try flexing the thruster spine slowly—
Don't thrust too fast or you'll explode again—"
Karl obeyed.
A soft hum rippled along his back.
VVMMM—
Agnes moaned into the speaker.
"Nnnhh—
Slow—
Slow—
Keep doing that—
It… stirs the Nitro just right—"
Karl shook violently.
"AGNES— I CAN'T— YOU CAN'T SAY THINGS LIKE THAT WHEN I'M TRYING TO LEARN TO FLY—!!"
She laughed breathlessly.
"Oh Karl~
You're the one inside Jet Mode—
you need to get used to making me wet."
He gagged on reality.
"THIS IS TORTURE."
"No, this is synergy."
He walked toward a reflective glass panel.
Every movement left a blue streak.
Karl halted.
"Whoa…"
The armor was sleek, tighter, more predatory than any form he'd ever used.
Lines of glowing azure wrapped around him like moving jet trails.
The visor glowed with a sharp targeting V.
His arm cannons hummed like barely-contained storms.
Karl whispered:
"…I look insane."
Agnes' voice softened—still dripping, but warmer.
"You look like a weapon Hephaestus feared someone would someday create."
She paused.
"And you did it with your own hands."
Karl swallowed.
"…Agnes… this form is crazy…"
"It's yours."
He turned, looking at his thruster spine.
"And you're sure I didn't break you with all that Nitro?"
She giggled—wet, spark-filled.
"Karl.
You didn't break me."
Beat.
"You filled me."
Karl slapped the side of the helmet again.
"I CAN'T DO THIS—"
She calmed, though her voice still dripped with residual overload.
"…Karl. Listen."
Her tone lowered.
"You have more power in this form than any version of your nanite suit.
But you can't control it alone."
Karl breathed in.
"…I know."
"You and I need to sync completely…
mind, instinct, and motion."
"What does that mean?"
"It means…"
Her voice dipped dangerously.
"…you're going to let me ride your motor cortex."
Karl stiffened.
"EXCUSE ME—"
"I'M TALKING ABOUT NEURAL LINK, KARL."
He went silent.
"Oh."
Agnes smirked in his mind.
"But the other way sounded more fun."
The portal to the mortal realm rippled open like a vertical whirlpool of molten silver, humming with the familiar pull of gravity. Karl stood before it with his freshly restored Drive Regulator strapped to his waist, the new Nitro Funnel gleaming like a crystallized vein of lightning.
Agnes hovered beside him in her strengthened holographic body, her colors shifted to a calm cobalt.
"Coordinates locked. Re-entry path stable. We can leave whenever you're ready," she said gently.
Karl exhaled. "Feels strange… being away from Earth this long."
Just as the two stepped closer to the portal, a low boom rolled across the chamber.
Hephaestus materialized behind them in a flash of red-hot sparks, the Primordial's massive frame blotting out half the room.
"Leaving already, boy?"
Karl stiffened. "I—I assumed you were finished with me."
Hephaestus strode forward with the weight of a blacksmith-god, every footstep echoing like a hammer striking an anvil. His ember eyes burned into Karl's.
"There is one more thing you need to know before you return."
Agnes flickered slightly, lowering her projection in respect. "Primordial Hephaestus. Please speak."
He folded his arms.
"You will soon encounter the ancient warrior known as Goliath again. One of the oldest Mythic Core Bearers still walking the mortal realm."
Karl nodded slowly. "So I kill him?"
"You defeat him," Hephaestus corrected, voice heavy with meaning. "But you do not destroy his core."
Karl blinked. "Don't break the core? But… that's the main method, isn't it? Crack the shell or rip it out."
Hephaestus grinned, a slow, metallic smirk that felt older than civilization.
"Yes. And you will do neither."
Agnes processed instantly. "Then… you intend to reclaim Goliath's core intact?"
"Exactly." The Primordial leaned in. "His core will become a gift. A present from me… to another Chosen who will need it."
His voice lowered, nearly a growl, as if forging a weapon with his words.
"That core contains a myth older than the desert sands. A legend of unstoppable physical might. Handled correctly, it will birth a new ability—one worthy of a warrior of strength."
Karl's mind raced.
"If the core's that valuable… how am I supposed to take it without shattering it in the fight?"
Hephaestus placed a hand the size of a furnace door on Karl's shoulder.
"You're clever. You'll figure it out. Use your nanites. Bind Goliath. Immobilize him. Cut him down every way except through the core."
Agnes' hologram brightened. "Karl can do it. He has improved significantly since the Drive upgrade."
Hephaestus laughed, a deep, roaring sound like coals spilling out of a kiln.
"I would hope so! I reforged the boy myself."
Karl scratched his cheek, embarrassed. "You… kind of did."
The Primordial stepped back, letting his cloak of heat flicker behind him.
"Remember, Kurogane Karl:
Kill the man.
Spare the core."
Karl tightened his fists. "I won't fail."
Agnes placed a light hand on his wrist. "He won't. I'll guide him."
Hephaestus gave one last approving nod, then turned away, his body dissolving into drifting sparks.
The portal roared louder, pulling Karl and Agnes forward.
Agnes looked up at him. "Ready to go home?"
Karl smiled. "Yeah. Let's go save the world."
Together, they stepped into the light.