Both fists meet with perfect precision, and the impact releases a massive shockwave, blasting away everything around them.
Adam: Time, begin to skip!
Time fractures once more. Anticipating his attacks, Charlie launches a barrage ahead of time, aiming to destroy anything Adam might use against her. But Adam does not strike. Instead, he circles her—closing the distance, step by step.
By the fourth second, Charlie presses in and attacks. Adam answers in kind, their blows colliding in rapid succession. But Charlie strikes harder—her fist cracking against his and shattering Adam's knuckles.
She uses her remaining two seconds to unleash a relentless barrage upon him.
And then—
Her time runs out.
Yet time itself continues to skip.
Adam: Nine seconds have passed… and I can still keep going. I can still feel the power. Susan's blood… that was the key to this power-up. Ten seconds have passed.(Giggle) The true owner of Lady Marmalade's ability—her blood can extend the duration. Eleven seconds… It must be terrifying, isn't it? Wondering what I'll do to you.
Charlie:(Thought) You were right, Mom… Acting rashly really does get me into trouble. But I still have plenty of rage left to throw at him.
Charlie's eyes kept following Adam, despite being completely out of control.
Adam: Twelve seconds have passed… I suppose this is my limit.
Within that final stretch, Adam unleashes a barrage upon Charlie, his blows crashing into her ribs—cracking them under the force.
Time resumes.
The recoil sends Charlie skidding back from the aftermath.
Michael steps in.
Without hesitation, he activates Cord Breaker, his arm launching forward and striking Adam square in the head. The impact lands—but barely does any damage.
Adam: What? Trying to pick a fight?
Michael: It'll be easier to assimilate than to explain.
In the next instant, Adam's face distorts—turning grotesquely inside out, exposing the structure of his skull beneath.
Adam: What the-? This… this ability is—
Michael has already acted.
He drives the Cherry Lady's ability card into himself, forcing the ability to evert things into him.
On the other side, Charlie pushes herself back up—her vision clearing just in time to see what Michael has done.
Charlie:(Thought) Now's my chance… go for the head!
She launches forward—
Straight at Adam.
Seeing the incoming danger, Adam skips time to save himself, halting the eversion process. But Charlie is already within range.
The moment time skips, she uses her available seconds without hesitation—
A sharp right hook.
It crashes into his exposed skull, shattering it on impact and sending him hurtling down the alley.
Charlie:(Panting) You okay?
Michael: I'm fine. Thank God—you managed to land a clean hit.
Charlie: Rest up. I'll finish this. He's still alive, even after that… Guess I'll have to destroy his whole head.
Michael: Wait, take this.
Michael hands her the Cherry Lady's ability card.
Charlie: What's this?
Michael: Once you insert it into your head, you'll be able to revert anything you touch—turn it inside out.
Charlie: I don't like complex abilities. My fists are enough. You keep it, so you can defend yourself in case he comes near you.
Charlie begins walking slowly toward the alley. Her thoughts sharpen.
Charlie: As long as he's near people, he'll regenerate. I have to drag him somewhere he can't… somewhere empty—and finish him there. The sea… He'll be powerless there. Time to end this.
She steps into the alley.
Adam is nowhere to be seen—only a trail of blood.
She follows it.
It stops.
Suddenly, she felt a presence—above.
Charlie reacts instantly, driving a left hook upward. Her fist connects with Adam mid-descent, striking him just before he lands on her.
Charlie: That kind of cheap trick won't work on me, asshole.
A sudden, searing pain—
Something sharp impales her near the right side of her waist.
She snaps into a backhand, but—
He dodges.
Charlie's eyes widen.
It's him.
Adam.
Charlie:(Thought) Wait… if he's the real Adam, then who was that person I just hit?
She glances back.
The man she struck—
He wears Adam's face.
Charlie:(Thought) I get it… He peeled off his own face and placed it on that person after killing him.
Adam licks the blood from his hand.
The peeled flesh across his face knits itself back together almost instantly. Bone reforms beneath it—his skull restored. In mere moments, he is already standing again, as if nothing had happened.
They begin walking toward each other.
Charlie strikes first—a sharp, straight punch.
Adam slips past it, fluid as before, and counters with a low kick.
But this time—
Charlie anticipates it.
She raises her leg, intercepts the kick, and grips it firmly with her free hand.
Adam:(Thought) Shit… she read my move.
Charlie pivots.
Using his own momentum, she spins him and hurls him into the nearby wall. The impact cracks against concrete as Adam slams into it and drops.
Before he can recover—
Charlie steps in and delivers a kick—
But Adam skips time.
And escapes the impact.
—but Charlie refuses to leave anything to chance.
She seizes Adam by the back of his clothing, yanks him in, and unleashes a barrage at a blistering pace—too fast for him to defend, too relentless to evade.
She knows the cost.
The moment her time runs out, she'll be exposed.
So she commits.
Charlie drives a decisive punch into him—one powerful enough to send him hurtling across several buildings.
But—
Adam understands.
He forces himself to stop—
Even if it means tearing his own arm apart to latch onto the edge of the building.
Flesh rips.
Bone snaps.
He holds.
Now anchored, he launches himself forward, regenerating mid-motion—his severed limb knitting back together as he closes the distance.
Adam: Here's the payback for earlier, bitch!
He reaches her—
Claps both hands over her ears.
A violent shock disorients her—
And in that split second—
He drives an uppercut straight through her guard.
The impact launches Charlie upward, crashing through the structure and sending her flying into the fourth floor.
Adam doesn't stop.
He leaps above the building—
Then comes down with a crushing blow.
His fist collides with the structure—
And the entire building caves in—
Collapsing downward in a roaring cascade of destruction.
Time resumes.
From the rubble, Adam notices Charlie's arm protruding.
He grabs it—yanks her free—and holds her up in front of him like a broken thing.
Her body is torn with cuts from the collapse. Blood trickles from her ears, bruises spreading across her skin.
Adam: Now you look like shit.(Chuckle) You look just like your mother—a worthless, egoistic slut.
He flings her across the street.
She crashes into the playground, skidding across the ground.
Adam follows at a slow, deliberate pace, brushing dust from his clothes as if the destruction meant nothing.
Adam: You're emotionally unstable. That makes you predictable… rash… sloppy. And I'm way past that stage.
Charlie wheezes.
Her hearing is muffled—his voice barely reaches her. Her vision flickers, the world tilting as dizziness sets in.
Charlie:(Thought) No… I can't black out yet… I'm begging you, my body… hold on… just a little longer…
As Adam closes in, step by step, Michael seizes the opening and dives from above, driving down a 'Superman's Punch' with a metal glove that he everted from a railing to act as a boxer's gauntlet.
The strike lands clean against Adam's head, but Adam tanks it and immediately counters.
Michael blocks the first punch with his two 'Cord Berserkers', but the second crashes through, sending him flying across the road, blood spilling from his nose.
Adam: I don't have time for worms like you. So don't stand in my way.
Adam turns his attention back to Charlie, but in that instant, Charlie hurls an iron bar from the playground's swing, striking him mid-air and launching him straight toward the ocean.
As he flies, Adam calculates that he will collide with several buildings along the way and realizes he'll have to skip time to avoid the damage.
Charlie senses it too—the shift, the moment before time fractures again—and just before it happens, she bursts forward, sprinting straight toward him.
Time begins to skip, the clock ticking—six seconds have passed, and Adam is about to land on the empty beach. Charlie reaches the shore as well, knowing that no matter what, she must drive her fist into Adam's head within the four seconds she possesses.
Seven seconds have passed, and Charlie makes her move. She launches herself toward Adam and unleashes a relentless barrage.
Adam answers with one of his own, quickly overpowering her—his momentum far greater.
They crash onto the beach. Ten seconds have passed.
Adam finds an opening and drives a crushing punch into her, sending Charlie straight into the retaining wall. The structure gives way on impact, collapsing and burying her beneath the debris.
Adam: It's over, fucking finally! Hahahahaha! Nothing feels better than disciplining brats with violence! Thirteen seconds have passed… Seems like my ability extends as well, thanks to you, bitch. Now, I should find her body and drink her blood. I wonder if there's still any left, though.
Adam begins walking toward the collapsed retaining wall, but then—he catches a glimpse of a silhouette moving past his right side.
Adam:(Thought) Hmm? Who was that? I could've sworn someone was there…
He tries to turn his head—
But he can't.
His body doesn't respond. It continues walking forward, as if it no longer belongs to him.
Adam: What? I–I can't move my body at will… What kind of witchcraft is this?
As his body uncontrollable rummage through the debrie, there was someone behind him.
Charlie: It's been 14 seconds, asshole. I guess that's your limit for consciously moving your body.
Adam: Ch–Charlie?!
Charlie:(Sigh) Good grief, that was harder to pull off than I thought. I skipped time right at your 12-second mark—that gave me just enough to bypass the wall.
She steps closer, and put his hand on Adam's shoulder.
Charlie: Now… I'm going to use my remaining 6 seconds to beat the shit out of you.
Adam: …
Charlie then expends her remaining six seconds in absolute dominance.
One punch—his ribs cave in.
Another—his left femur fractures with a sickening snap.
A precise strike ruptures his eardrums, followed by a crushing blow that splinters his entire left shoulder.
And finally—
She drives a full-powered barrage straight into his face.
Yet, due to Lady Marmalade's unnatural toughness, Adam endures the impact.
However, the ability card is forcibly ejected from his skull, leaving behind a fractured cranium.
Charlie: Time has resumed again.
Adam collapses from the accumulated damage, his body ravaged from within. With no blood to replenish himself, his regeneration slows to a crawl.
Adam: Huff… huff… How did it come to this…? This… unfortunate—
Charlie: There's nowhere left to run.
She steps forward, her voice low and final.
Charlie: Normally, I'd put you in Ice Box… but no. I'm definitely going to end you.
Adam steadies himself despite the damage, his eyes still burning.
Adam: Run away? I never had any intention of backing down from the start.
He straightens and gaze directly at her.
Adam: I will achieve victory—and how I do it… is none of YOUR concern.
Adam snatches a handful of sand and hurls it toward Charlie.
As she raises her guard to block, he seizes the moment—pouring every ounce of strength into a desperate leap toward the ability card lying a few meters away upon the shore.
Adam: Seems like you've lost. Once I have that back, I'll kill you instantly!
But just as his fingers near it—
Charlie steps down on his hand.
Hard.
The bones grind against the sand as she pins him inches away from salvation.
Before he can even turn—
Her fingers strike.
She drives them into both his eyes without hesitation, gouging deep, and with the same motion, she seizes him and hurls his body into the sea.
Water erupts as he crashes beneath the surface.
For a moment—
Silence.
Then Charlie moves.
For the final blow, she dives in after him, cutting through the water like a blade.
Beneath the shifting blue, she finds Adam struggling upward, blind, disoriented.
She grips his collar and pulls him close.
Charlie:(Thought) This is for all the pain you've caused me. There is no saving you now… perish in the eternal darkness.
Her fist tightens.
And then—
She drives it forward.
Her strongest punch detonates beneath the sea, a violent surge ripping through the water itself, crushing everything in its path as the ocean roars around them.
Adam's body—and the surrounding sea—were obliterated, a detonation blooming beneath the ocean like a missile striking its mark.
Moments later, Charlie surfaced and made her way back to shore, her body smeared with Adam's blood and the remnants of the sea.
She collapsed onto the sand, chest heaving, her strength nearly spent.
Charlie:(Panting) It's finally over… I… I did it.
She gazed upward.
The sky was shrouded in thick, black smoke—an echo of the devastation they had wrought.
Her muscles trembled uncontrollably, exhaustion clawing at every fiber of her being. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears, drowning out everything else.
The lingering heat still radiated from her body, as though the battle itself refused to let her go.
After a while, she forced herself upright, steadying her breath with visible effort and retrieved the card, and kept it secured in her grasp. Slowly, she began walking, searching for Michael.
In the distance, sirens began to rise.
Several ambulances sped toward the scene, accompanied by police units and special forces. News reporters soon followed, and helicopters circled above, their blades cutting through the smoke-filled sky.
City searchlights cut through the smoke as rescue teams flooded the area.
Charlie spotted Michael, slumped against the sidewalls, already being tended to by medical personnel.
The moment they noticed her, they rushed over and carefully helped her out.
Charlie and Michael exchanged a silent glance.
A small nod passed between them.
The job was done.
Medic: Miss, do you have any injuries?
Charlie tried to respond—but her ears still rang, the world muffled and distant
Charlie: MY EARDRUMS ARE BUSTED!
The medic's expression shifted instantly. He signaled to his team.
They assisted her into a seated position, quickly preparing both her and Michael for immediate transport.
Medic: We're taking them in. Now.
Within moments, they were loaded into the ambulance, sirens piercing the night as they sped toward the hospital.
—
The doctors were astonished.
Michael's wounds were severe—damage that would have been fatal for any ordinary person—yet his body endured, held together by his strings, sheer resilience and whatever force still lingered within him.
Charlie was no better.
Fractures lined her body, internal bleeding threatening to worsen by the second. Even so, she remained conscious—barely.
The operation was immediate.
A male and female ward were prepared, and both were admitted without delay.