The man coughed awkwardly, staring at the two obviously young kids who had just defeated him and obliterated his beast.
His eyes moved from the dragon to the phoenix.
Then understanding struck.
A heavy realization settled across his face.
He was never going to win.
" X-rank beasts? How convenient," he said quietly as he took a step toward them.
Ignis instantly spread his wings, flames licking along his feathers, ready to reduce the man to ash if he tried anything reckless. Dracon, on the other hand, had already returned to his usual place, perched lazily atop Kai's head, watching with calm, glowing eyes.
"Stay back," Meena ordered, her voice cold and flat.
The man stopped.
"I am Damon," he said, straightening despite his injuries. "Lieutenant of the Order of the Scatterbones."
There was pride in his voice.
Kai wondered if he felt any shame at all over being defeated by two teenagers.
Meena stepped forward, Ignis perched on her shoulder, heat radiating subtly from his wings.
"It doesn't answer my question," she said, folding her arms.
Kai barely recognized her. This wasn't the casual, sarcastic Meena he knew. There was a hardness to her now — a commanding presence. He couldn't tell if her awakening had changed her… or if this had always been who she really was.
"What other piece of information do you need?" Damon snapped, irritation breaking through.
Meena didn't hesitate.
"I need details," she said. "Who or what are the Scatterbones? Why are you all wearing red shirts? What was that beast? And if you're a lieutenant, that means there's a general somewhere. Right?"
She listed it all in one breath.
Kai caught the subtle tension in her voice. Beneath the authority, there was urgency. Curiosity. The kind Meena always had when she smelled a secret.
Damon noticed too.
A slow, knowing smile crept across his lips.
"Sounds to me like you're fishing for gossip, young lady."
Meena's breath hitched.
Her eye twitched.
But Damon continued, clearly enjoying himself.
"The Scatterbones are not street thugs," he said. "We are an order. A harvesting order. We hunt, capture, and bind unstable beasts and corrupted summons that roam the Hollow and the deeper undercity."
Kai stiffened.
"Harvesting?" he echoed.
"We turn them into weapons," Damon replied plainly. "Into living artillery. The creature you destroyed was a stitched-class war beast. Multiple cores. Multiple heads. Built for destruction."
"But we saw only one core and we destroyed it!" Kai said and the man fell into a huge cackle
"Think again" he said and then slowly they could see it particles of the disintegrated creature, reforming itself ash by ash and Meena's jaw tightened.
"And the red shirts?" she asked.
"Rank markers," Damon said. "Red means frontline enforcers and Expendable muscle. Lieutenants wear reinforced insignia woven into the fabric. Generals wear black-and-crimson." He said and Kai wondered why he was oddly specific with the telling.
He leaned closer, lowering his voice.
"And yes," he added, "there is a general. Several, in fact. The Hollow is divided into sectors. Each controlled by a Scatterbones general. They answer to something higher."
"What?" Kai asked.
Damon's smile thinned.
"That," he said, "is above even my clearance."
Meena studied him carefully.
"So you control parts of the Hollow. You weaponize beasts. You enforce with gangs disguised as orders."
Damon shrugged. "Order is order. The Hollow doesn't survive on mercy."
For a split second, silence stretched.
Then Damon chuckled.
"You really shouldn't be here," he added. "The Hollow eats kids like you. Even with X-rank companions."
Kai opened his mouth to ask what X companions were because he had never heard of that class before but before he could get a word out Meena was already fed up of him...that was it.
Her patience snapped.
"Knock him over," she muttered.
Ignis didn't hesitate.
In a blur of flame and motion, the phoenix surged forward. A controlled blast of force sent Damon flying backward, skidding across the cold concrete before slamming hard into the ground.
He groaned, unable to rise.
"Let's move, Kai," Meena said sharply.
Kai nodded and followed instantly.
As they headed toward the gates, the red-shirted men parted for them without a word. Fear had replaced their earlier confidence.
"You know," Kai muttered as they walked, "you're kind of a badass."
Meena flipped a section of her long red hair over her shoulder with a small, sassy motion.
"You'd teach me how to fight like that one day?" Kai asked — half joking, half serious.
She giggled softly.
"It took me ten years to get this good," she said. "And I'm still not even there yet."
Kai glanced back.
Damon was still sprawled on the floor, staring at them with a mixture of rage and fear.
"You don't know where you're going!" Damon yelled. "The Hollow will eat you alive!"
"Oh, shut up, old man," Meena snapped.
He went silent.
Kai's thoughts churned.
Ten years?
What kind of training produced someone who could leap five feet into the air and toss grown men aside?
The Rosegold family… they weren't just influential.
They were forged and just then Kai saw the huge difference between him and her, he had to catch up.
They reached the battered gate — a massive slab of ancient rusted metal. It looked almost alive, as if plants and strange growths were slowly fusing with it. A thick, corroded chain held it locked.
"The chain is reinforced with magic," Kai said. "So nobody gets in or out."
Meena stared at him like he'd just said something incredibly stupid.
"Kai," she said, amused, "there are literally Hollow dwellers behind us. How did they get out?"
"You can jump," Kai said quickly.
Meena traced the height of the gate with her eyes.
It was about Ten feet tall, Smooth. and Unclimbable. She knew she could do it in one swift motion, this was an easy task for her but there was a problem of the other side...what was behind the gates? But Kai had been there, Kai would know something! She thought.
"So how do you jump when you go on your visits?" she asked.
Kai didn't answer.
He just stared at the gate.
She sighed.
"You've never been to the undercity, have you?"
"No."
"Then how do you know all this?"
"It's in the letter!" Kai snapped. "The letter my uncle sent. Three weeks ago!"
Meena rolled her eyes.
"Literally dumb," she muttered.
She paused, thinking.Then exhaled.
"We have to go back."
Kai nodded slowly.
"Yeah…"
"Don't worry," she added. "We'll be back."
They turned and walked back towards the steps of the subway entrance, the Red shirted men watched, cowering when Meena shot them glances.
"We will be back old man...and the next time i see you, you might die" she said plainly as she walked past him not sparing him a glance.
"I will be counting on that" Damon replied and Kai wondered...what had changed in her.
"Are you sure Meena is still in there?" He said in a half joke half serious manner but Meena didn't reply.