The air cracked from the speed of her dash. Her claws flashed in the dim light, cutting through the space between them like silver lightning.
Vance's smirk faltered for the first time. He swayed aside like a serpent—barely avoiding the claws grazing across his arm, tearing flesh and synthetic fibers alike.
Blood splattered across the floor.
Vance hissed and jumped back, glaring at the red streak running down his arm. "Tch. Can't believe i let a rookie injure me."
April didn't stop. She pressed forward, slashing, twisting, using the sound of his movements—his breathing, the faint whir of his nanotech—to predict where he'd move next.
Her instincts were screaming, her pulse syncing with every swing.
She was faster now. Stronger.
April recalled her brief battle with the ragnarök squad commander, and this time she didn't let her guard down. She was going all out this time.
Every impact echoed through the chamber— claws clashing against flesh, steel screeching against bone.
Vance ducked under a swipe, pivoted, and countered with a precise elbow strike to her stomach. April blocked with her forearm, pain exploding up her arm—she barely kept her stance.
He grinned again. "That all?"
Her growl was low, feral. "You talk too much."
She dashed again—her claws carving sparks off the floor as she slid beneath his kick. She slashed upward, catching him across the ribs.
A crimson spray marked her success.
Vance stumbled back, then laughed. It wasn't the laugh of someone losing—it was the laugh of a predator enjoying the hunt.
"Alright, Wolf. You win this round."
April's mouth twitched. "What?"
And then the ground suddenly began shaking violently.
The air changed— becoming heavy, it hummed as if suddenly becoming alive.
Vance straightened, his slit-like eyes glowing with unnatural green light. His nanotech began to pulse—circuits crawling along his neck, his arms, his face.
"TakeOver…" he whispered. "…Activate."
April's instincts screamed— MOVE!
But it was too late.
His body convulsed. Metal plates burst through his skin, snaking around his limbs. His bones elongated with a sickening crack, his muscles twisting under the metallic lattice forming across his body.
The transformation was horrific— mechanical and biological merging in raw, impossible symmetry.
When it was done, Vance was gone.
In his place stood a creature—a towering 5-foot, cybernetic cobra, scales of reflective black steel, green slit eyes glowing unnaturally. His tail coiled and uncoiled with hydraulic precision, every movement hissing with pressurized energy.
April's throat went dry. "You've got to be kidding me."
"Welcome to the real fight," his voice growled, deeper, distorted through a metallic rasp.
He swayed to his right then the left before...
He lunged.
April barely rolled aside as his fangs struck the ground, piercing through steel like butter. The shockwave sent her tumbling across the floor, debris exploding around her.
She gasped for breath, coughing through dust.
"How the hell am I supposed to fight this!?"
Vance's tail swept sideways—a blur of motion.
BOOM!
April flipped backward, but the wind pressure alone knocked her off balance. She hit the wall hard, her ribs screaming.
"Struggling already?" he hissed. "This is what happens when you rely on instinct alone. You're outmatched."
April spat blood. "Yeah? You talk big for someone hiding behind all that metal."
He lunged again, faster this time—his head whipping forward, fangs flashing.
April ducked low, sliding beneath him, her claws scraping against his underbelly— sparks flew, but his armor held.
"Damn it! Too thick!," she cursed.
She darted back, panting. Her heart hammered. Every second felt like she was staring into death's mouth.
Vance coiled back, his serpent body rising high. "You've lasted longer than I expected," he said, his voice rumbling through the chamber. "But this is over."
Suddenly, her earpiece crackled to life.
"April, you're facing his TakeOver Mode," Jax's voice came through, static-laced. "That's what it is."
"No kidding!" she snapped, barely dodging another tail strike.
"Listen," Jax continued, calm but firm.
"TakeOver happens when a Gear user fully synchronizes with their nanotech. It's not just a transformation—it's total harmony. His body is his Gear now."
"Great," April muttered. "So I just die because I haven't mastered mine?"
"Not necessarily. You can't overpower him, April—he's too fast, too strong. But you still have something he doesn't."
Vance's head darted toward her again— she barely twisted aside, the fangs missing her by inches.
Her claws scraped his side as she slid across the ground, leaving a faint scar on his metal scales.
Kai's voice cut in next, sharp, tactical and with an audible hint of playfulness.
"Vance relies on instinct in that form. His AI drives his movements. That means he's strong—but hella predictable."
April froze mid-motion, her eyebrows slightly furrowing.
'Predictable…'
The cobra hissed, sensing her stillness.
"Giving up?"
She didn't answer.
Her mind whirred—replaying his attacks: the timing, the repetition, the small pauses between lunges. He wasn't thinking anymore. He was following code.
Vance lunged.
This time, she didn't dodge away. She moved with him—stepping into his motion, letting the momentum carry her.
Her claws flashed upward
—SHRKKK!
They tore across the seam of his neck where flesh met metal.
Vance reeled back, hissing—sparks burst from the wound, a mix of blood and oil spraying across the ground.
April landed on one knee, panting, sweat and grime dripping down her face.
"Now you're getting it," Jax said through the earpiece, his tone approving.
April looked up, grinning through the pain.
"Alright, snake. Let's see who's the real predator here."
The battle shifted.
April's breathing stabilized— it became short, sharp and deliberate. Her claws gleamed under the flickering light.
Vance's movements grew wilder, angrier—his tail thrashing, striking walls and machinery, shattering them into molten shards.
Every impact echoed like thunder. The entire chamber shook. Pipes burst, releasing jets of steam that hissed through the air.
April darted between them—weaving through debris, using the smoke and light to obscure her movements.
Her footsteps echoed in rhythm with her heartbeat.
Vance's tail crashed down behind her—
BOOM!
—the floor caved in, revealing sparks and rebar below.
She jumped off the edge, flipping midair, claws slashing. She landed on his back, sliding downwards driving her claws deep between his armored plates.
Vance screamed—a guttural, mechanical roar that rattled the ceiling.
He whipped his body, slamming her into the wall
CRACK!
pain exploded in her spine.
April fell hard, coughing blood.
She slowly yet shakily forced herself up, trembling, her vision blurring. "Still standing," she muttered through clenched teeth.
Vance loomed over her, smoke rising from his wound. "You should've stayed down."
He struck again—this time, not with instinct, but fury.
Every motion was a storm—each strike fast enough to split the air. April dodged and parried another with her claws, but the hits kept coming, one after another, until she was cornered against a shattered column.
The cobra's fangs darted forward—
She ducked low, spun, and drove her claws upward into his jaw.
SHHRRKKK!
Metal tore. Circuits snapped.
Vance roared—tail lashing wildly—the shockwave sent her flying across the arena.
She hit the floor, sliding through dirt and shattered steel, coming to a stop beside a broken console.
The room was falling apart—flames flickered in the corners, smoke curling toward the ceiling.
Her lungs burned. Every muscle screamed. But beneath her stitched eyelids her silver metalic eyes—were alive with defiance.
"Come on, snake," she whispered hoarsely. "Let's finish this."
Vance lunged again—faster than before, body uncoiling like a spring.
April dashed forward too—meeting his charge head-on.
The moment felt endless.
Her claws sliced; his tail whipped. Sparks erupted, the air burning with friction.
They collided—a flash of metal and blood and fire.
April screamed as her claws tore deep into his chest. Vance roared as his tail slammed into her ribs, cracking them like dry wood.
Both were thrown apart—crashing into opposite walls.
For a moment, silence.
Only the sound of the arena dying—metal groaning, electricity arcing.
April forced herself to stand, blood dripping from her chin. Her claws were bent, cracked, but still sharp. But then-
Suddenly April felt a strange sensation on her head.
It started as a heat at the back of her skull, faint at first, then burning with the sharpness of a brand. April slightly staggered backwards, clutching her head.
But she didn't focus on the strange sensation as she knew her attention had to be fully on the now down Vance.
But unbeknown to April strands of something not-quite her-hair and not-quite-light sprouted from the back of her skull. Circling around from the back of her skull towards her forehead.
They didn't fall with weight but rose against gravity, arching outward in symmetrical curves. The shapes stretched and spread until they resembled—Two angelic wings from each side of her head, folded tight, feathered yet mechanical, shining a bright white like molten filaments.
The arena's shadows bent back from her, as though unwilling to touch what had emerged. It wasn't just an adornment. It was her Gear's signature, branded into reality itself—angelic, radiant, and terrifying.
Vance staggered up too, his body leaking both oil and blood. Half his face was human again—eyes wild, breathing ragged.
He laughed—low, guttural, insane. "You're… better than I expected."
April smirked weakly. "You too. For a tin can."
They stared at each other slit-like eyes staring at stitched eyelids—both shaking, both barely standing.
Then they moved.
One last charge.
Vance's tail came down like a guillotine.
April rolled forward, claws flashing. She slashed upward with everything she had left —tearing through the wounded section of his chest.
His body jerked. The light in his slit-like eyes flickered.
He stumbled, tail crashing through the floor, creating a massive crater.
April dropped to her knees, gasping, echo-location dimming.
Vance stood for a heartbeat—towering, shaking—then fell, the metallic echo of his collapse shaking the chamber.
Silence followed.
The tips of April's claws snapped breaking finally then the next second the rest slowly but painfully retracted with a hiss. Her body trembled. Every nerve screamed.
The arena was a ruin—torn metal, flickering flames, and the stench of smoke and blood.
She looked toward Vance's motionless body. "You wanted real," she whispered, voice cracking. "There you go~"
Her echo-location swayed. She fell backward, landing among the rubble.
The last thing she heard before darkness took her was Jax's faint voice through the earpiece—calm, almost proud.
"Good work, Wolf. Now rest, leave the rest to us."