A little over one month had passed since my fight with Gwendowson. Despite training every day, I wasn’t improving at the rate I wanted. The only thing I had to my advantage was my unique ocular and mental processing speed. But that battle required more than studying and predicting one’s moves. However, a strange feeling suddenly coursed throughout my body.
Despite the low odds of winning, looking at the two of them, I knew fighting them meant exceeding my limits once again. It was the only way to get stronger and take another step toward becoming a real Planetary Defense Corp.
And so, I turned to my squadron
“Everyone! keep going and find the device. I’ll fight them alone!”
The fight had begun—and now it was time to test my limits.
“You’re not here to showcase your skills, kid,” Loid Anderson scoffed. “We’re on a mission. We need to work as a team.”
“We can’t all fight in this tight space. We don’t have the time. The mission comes first,” I replied, voice steady.
Loid misunderstood me, but I didn’t waste another word. I stepped forward, ready to fight—ready to create a path so the others could move ahead and retrieve the device.
That’s when the second man, who had been silently observing, suddenly changed his expression.
“Rude bastards!” he roared.
I instantly knew—this one was dangerous. His friend had used up his energy, which meant he was the real threat now.
“You really think you can take us on alone, kid?” he asked, locking eyes with me. “Lowlife thieves! None of you are leaving here alive!”
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He tore off his jacket and shirt, revealing a scarred chest.
That’s when Sane drew his blades.
We watched closely, waiting for his next move. Then—like a lightning strike—two of his ribs, sharp as arrows, shot out of his chest. I couldn’t react in time. They pierced straight into my abdomen.
I grabbed the ribs, trying to snap them—but they were as hard as steel. He was controlling them with deadly precision, faster than any of us could move in such confined quarters.
Pulling the ribs from my body, blood poured out. I felt lightheaded, my vision blurring. He came at me again, aiming straight for my head.
But Sane blocked the strike with his swords, his speed matching the deadly rhythm of the rib attacks. These guys had awakened special powers, yet Sane managed to hold his ground.
The first man didn’t let up. With no time to regroup or strategize, he launched forward with his spear. Dmitry, William, and Loid countered—but they were overpowered and slammed into the wall.
The twins stepped in, their synchronized attacks momentarily pushing the spear-wielder back. But once he adapted to their rhythm, he defeated them too.
Warduk, Zack, and Diego stood behind us, unable to join the fight. The space was too cramped. We couldn’t all engage at once.
Sane held the rib-man at bay, who—so far—only seemed able to control his 11th and 12th ribs.
We needed to stop the energy beam guy before Sane’s strength ran out. But the situation was worsening. Half of us had already taken heavy damage.
The Solid-State System wasn’t activating. Healing was slow. I was bleeding profusely, my strength draining. The only thing working in my favor was my hyper-cognition.
That’s when William stepped forward once more.
He ripped off his shirt, took his stance—just like he did during his fight with John Grey. The air around him shifted.
“Can you track his next attack?” he asked, turning to me.
“I can try.”
“Tell me where he’ll strike—and I’ll handle the rest.”
The man with the laser beam lunged toward William with his spear.
I watched him—focused—and saw it.
“Left side!” I called out.
In one clean move, William caught the steel spear mid-thrust, just before it reached his heart. Gripping the shaft, he pulled it toward himself, dragging the enemy in close—down under his arm.
Then—he struck.
All his strength concentrated into one explosive punch, smashing into the man’s face. The force shattered his front teeth and broke his lower jaw.
The laser-beam wielder collapsed, unconscious.
Seeing his comrade fall, the rib-man snapped. He began lashing out wildly, ribs slicing the air with lethal precision.
Sane leapt back. Each rib strike carried enough force to behead one of us if it connected.
It was clear, William had the strength to take him down, but not the speed to get close. Same with Dmitry. The only way to reach him was by finding a path through his relentless, bone-bladed storm.
I created a few paths through the attack field to reach him. But getting closer still meant risking losing a limb or two. In that life-threatening moment, I could only do one thing: create an opening for Sane to finish him. Trusting that the Solid State would awaken and heal my body, I moved through the field and tried to block some of his attacks using my gauntlets.
With my body covered in wounds, I reached him and grabbed onto his two ribs from behind as tightly as I could. That’s when Dmitry picked up his hammer, and Sane jumped to the sides. Reinforced by Dmitry’s momentum, Sane leaped at incredible speed and stabbed the rib man’s chest with both of his short blades, and finally put him also.
The man with the energy beam, AKA Space-Divider, and his friend Rib man, AKA Coastal Shifter, were both finally defeated. We stood catching our breaths in the underground hallways. Thinking the terror had passed.
Suddenly, the air grew thick. Like a foreboding sign, rain began pouring heavily after that. It was a shadowing hour, the start of the night of the unseen.
Before our minds could settle, a loud explosion rang out from the surface. We ran out and found Yukio blasted back and the captain unconscious, her body returned to its normal appearance.
She had released all the energy she absorbed from Space-Divider’s laser attack. The blast had almost killed Yukio. Looking at everyone, I saw fear and doubt in their eyes. Our captain was unconscious. This was our first mission, and the entire team had almost been killed by enemies we didn’t even know existed. We felt the eerie chill of death from that underground passageway. Giving up seemed to linger in everyone’s mind.
“It’s not over yet!” William suddenly said, motivating us. “This is just round one—let’s not give up yet! The captain is strong; she’ll regain her strength in no time. Diego, Zack! You two stay behind and look after the captain and these two!”
He added, referring to me and Yukio.
But I was not yet done fighting
“No, I’m coming with you!” I was injured, but my wounds were healing at a rapid rate, and I was determined to see the mission through. “I’ll be fine. I just need five minutes, and I’ll be back on my feet.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely.”
“Alright, soldier!” William gave the go-ahead. “Let’s finish this and get out of here!”
“We shouldn’t go back inside!” Before we could proceed, Diego interjected. “We almost died in there. The captain is incapacitated, and this mission has too many unknown variables. Let’s signal the helicopter and end the mission here.”
“The captain said this mission is important for the war ahead. Whatever this device is, we’re not leaving here without it!” William insisted.
“Why the sudden change of disposition? You were the one mostly against this mission.”
“I know, but the fight has already begun. We can’t quit halfway!
Dmitry stepped forward. “I agree with William! Let’s finish the mission.”
Diego urged further. “We don’t know how many enemies are inside or whether they’re Neogens with powers like the ones we just fought. Logically speaking, I think we should go back and make another plan...”
“If we can’t handle even this, how are we going to fight aliens we don’t even know?” William questioned. “I know you’re scared—I am too. It’s normal to feel that way. But what separates us from others is that we’ll be the last ones standing between destruction and the survival of our home. To protect our home, our people, our families... we can’t let fear stop us from moving forward!”
William spoke with burning fire in his eyes. His words resonated with all of us. We all agreed to continue the mission.
It was raining. We left the captain with Diego and Bill-board in a hut, and then we descended back into the underground complex. It was a dreary place with all kinds of smells and animal abominations, leaving some of our squad vomiting at the sight. With the captain unconscious, more and more questions arose. We didn’t know what kind of device we were even looking for or how the two Neogens had gotten their hands on the Eternal Life Binder (ELB). However clueless we were, we still had to finish the mission.
Moving room to room, searching for anything suspicious, I suddenly felt immense energy radiating from one of the rooms. We rushed to see what was ahead, and that’s when we saw a man strapped with chains on a bed. He was screaming in pain. His body was reforming, changing shape back and forth, and immense radiation was leaking from his body.
The second round of the death trap had commenced.