City: Altérion
Zone: Abandoned Warehouse
Time: 20:27
Ghost and Meta looked as though they had just seen ghosts. Standing before them were the two individuals they recognized all too well: a tall, blonde woman wearing a green tracksuit, and a dark-haired man in military gear sporting an eye patch.
Meta pointed a trembling finger at them, his voice echoing loudly:
« Wait! What is this? Who the hell are you? And why… no, you can't be Valkyrie and Nerot. The real ones are dead. »
He turned to Ghost, panic bleeding into his tone:
« It can't be them, Ghost. »
The man in military gear tugged down the brim of his hat, narrowing his eyes as he let out a heavy sigh:
« Oh great, they're the ones who found us. Virmo and the other guy were supposed to flush us out. This changes a lot of plans. »
The woman in the tracksuit exhaled sharply, snapping back:
« Keep your voice down. Besides, the only thing that matters right now is moving the cargo. »
On the outside, Ghost appeared perfectly calm, standing impassively with his arms crossed. But on the inside, he was a chaotic mess, gripped by sheer terror.
"No… this is impossible. I… I… no, I eliminated Valkyrie with my own two hands, and Dark… Dark finished off the other one right in front of my eyes. So who are these two? And why… why is she still alive?" he thought frantically.
The man in the military uniform smirked, speaking up in a booming voice:
« Well, Meta, Ghost, it's been a long time, dear enemies. To what do we owe the pleasure of this visit? »
Ghost reached up with his left hand, grabbing one of his long dreadlocks. Instantly, the strand hardened into a solid, razor-sharp edge, and he snapped it off. It was now a deadly combat blade. Ghost leveled it directly at the man, his voice dropping into a menacing growl:
« You guys again? You Omega bastards are getting really exhausting. »
Nerot took a calculated step back. Beside him, the woman conjured a glowing shield on her right hand and a golden sword in her left. Both weapons instantly ignited with a brilliant, shimmering aura as she delivered in a soft yet unyielding voice:
« I was hoping we wouldn't cross paths again so soon, but I suppose destiny willed you to be here. »
« Drop the fake politeness, Nerot. Instead, why don't you tell us what's hidden under that tarp? »
Nerot crossed his arms, responding with ultimate confidence:
« Wait, where do you think you are? Some manga where I'm going to reveal all my secrets just because you asked nicely? No, sorry. Childhood secret. »
Hearing that exact tone and sarcastic style of response, all doubt evaporated. Ghost clicked his tongue twice, paused for a split second, and then clicked it four more times.
Two clicks meant: "Caution."
Four clicks meant: "Enemy."
In this specific context, the message was clear: "Stay sharp. These aren't impostors—they are the real deal."
A heavy, suffocating silence settled over the warehouse for a few seconds. Each fighter locked eyes with their opponent, tracking the slightest twitch, waiting for the spark that would ignite the clash.
Meta and Ghost stood frozen. Both began breathing slowly, attempting to channel their inner control. They took one deep, synchronized breath, and the moment they exhaled…
The woman raised her glowing sword toward them. In an absolute flash, Ghost dissolved into a nearby shadow while Meta vanished entirely, as if cleanly erased from reality.
The woman snapped her hand back, and her sword flew effortlessly into her palm. She slammed her foot against the concrete, sending a ring of golden flames erupting all around her.
Beside her, the man slammed his fists together. Two phantom-like clones materialized at his flanks, while his own arms became coated in a strange, shifting purple energy barrier.
« Stay on your guard, Nerot. They can strike from anywhere. »
Nerot glanced at her from the corner of his eye, his tone dripping with sarcasm:
« Oh, serious? I never would've guessed. »
They scanned the environment, searching for any sign of an ambush. Suddenly, a volatile orb of energy materialized on their left, hurtling directly toward them. Nerot thrust his palm forward, shooting out a counter-projectile. The moment the two energies collided, a blinding flash illuminated the entire warehouse.
« What the hell is this?! », Nerot yelled, shielding his eyes from the glare.
As the light quickly receded, Meta's right fist materialized directly in front of Nerot's face, driving forward with bone-crushing momentum.
The punch was a split second from making impact. Without even seeing it coming, Nerot instinctively arched his spine backward to dodge. At the same time, the clone on his right morphed its left hand into a jagged blade, swinging wildly to slice Meta in two. But at that exact speed, Meta simply evaporated into thin air.
On the other side of the yard, Valkyrie moved to back up her ally, but a sudden, eerie pressure caught her attention from above.
« Above us », she muttered, cutting her eyes toward the rafters.
Dropping from the ceiling at terminal velocity was Ghost, descending like a missile with the tip of his hardened lock aimed straight at her skull.
Without a moment's hesitation, she raised her shield, perfectly intercepting his aerial assault.
Simultaneously, Ghost touched the shadow cast by his own weapon and slipped into it, vanishing like a worm burrowing into the dirt.
Valkyrie brought her shield up to her front and raised her sword into a defensive guard, her eyes scanning for the slightest ripple in the air.
Up on a steel support beam to her left, Ghost re-emerged from the shadow. She lunged to strike, but Ghost didn't give her the breathing room to counter.
He delivered a devastating, spinning heel kick right to the back of her neck, forcing her to drop her sword. Using the momentum of the strike, he grabbed her arm in a fluid motion and slammed her violently into the concrete.
Pinning her to the ground, he locked her into a brutal armbar, his voice laced with an intense fury meant only for her ears:
« Where the hell have you been? I thought you were dead. »
With a sharp, explosive burst of strength, Valkyrie broke out of the lock, firing back:
« I can't explain it to you. »
She grabbed him by the throat and hurled him across the room toward a heavy metallic pillar. Before impacting the steel, Ghost flipped his body, catching himself vertically against the beam. When he looked up, she was already right in front of his face, weapon in hand. In a mind-boggling transformation, the sword shifted into a massive, heavy warhammer. She swung it with all her might, delivering a shattering hook to his right cheek that sent him crashing deep into the back of the facility.
Over by Meta, the brawl was proving just as brutal. Meta had fully transitioned into his combat form: his entire body had turned a deep, luminous blue, rippling with small, pulsing crimson waves.
He stood his ground, fists raised in a tight guard. Charging toward him at breakneck speed was Nerot, flanked by his phantom clones. One of the duplicates grabbed Nerot by the arm, using its momentum to hurl him like a projectile straight at Meta.
Meta dodged by leaning backward, but another clone instantly materialized on his left flank. The copy transformed its right hand into a heavy crowbar, driving it toward Meta's spine. But the strike passed cleanly through his body as if he were nothing but steam.
The final clone appeared directly behind him, locking him into a tight chokehold. But as it squeezed, its arms slipped right through Meta's throat, just like before.
Suddenly, Nerot himself burst through, delivering a powerful hook straight into Meta's left flank. Meta bent over in agony, coughing violently. The strike didn't damage his physical form, yet the pain it inflicted was excruciatingly vivid.
The clone with the crowbar lunged back into the fray, swinging horizontally. Meta intercepted its wrist. With a lightning-fast pivot over his shoulder, he threw the duplicate to his right.
Nerot seized him by the head, pulling him downward while driving a barrage of savage knee strikes into his face. Meta instantly made his facial features intangible to bypass the impacts. Sensing the shift, Nerot immediately pivoted his tactics. He slammed his left hand onto Meta's back and his right hand onto his chest. He hoisted him into the air, and with a powerful thrust of his right palm, slammed Meta into the floor using a crushing wave of telekinetic pressure.
Meta screamed in pure agony as a strange, purple brand materialized on his chest. Nerot raised his right boot, preparing to crush his chest completely. But before the foot could make contact, Meta evaporated, instantly reappearing right behind Nerot's back. In one explosive motion, Meta locked his arms around him, executing a devastating German suplex.
The impact shattered the floor, echoing through the warehouse like a collapsing structure.
Deep within the complex, the duel had escalated into an absolute slaughter. Ghost had pinned Valkyrie by the hair, slamming her head repeatedly against a concrete wall. He grabbed her by the collar, glaring directly into her eyes with pure, unadulterated rage:
« Tell me where you've been hiding for an entire year! »
The woman offered no response. Instead, she slowly raised her hand in front of her face. Ghost failed to understand the gesture until a sudden flash of realization hit him. He let go and dove into a nearby shadow. In the exact spot where his face had been a millisecond prior, the warhammer came flying back through the air, catching perfectly in Valkyrie's grip.
She stood in the center of the room, tracking his next point of entry. Locking her eyes onto the darkness behind her, she threw the hammer with everything she had. At that exact microsecond, Ghost emerged. The heavy weapon struck him squarely in the head, sending him reeling right back into the shadow domain.
She scanned the environment again, her eyes settling on the long shadow cast by a structural beam. She hurled her weapon once more, but this time, Ghost only extended a single hand from the darkness. With a sharp snap of his fingers, he halted the hammer dead in its tracks. Reappearing instantly behind her back, he grabbed her by the arm and dragged her forcefully into the shadows with him.
Inside the shadow realm, the darkness was absolute. Total sensory deprivation. The only thing that existed was the void. Suddenly, Ghost's voice boomed through the confined space like thunder:
« Dansha, why did you betray me? »
Instantly, the woman's demeanor cracked. The cold, hardened warrior facade vanished, her voice cracking, on the verge of tears:
« I… I am so sorry. I can't explain why to you right now. »
Ghost wrapped his hand around her throat, squeezing tightly as he roared:
« You better start talking right now! I will kill you a second time with my own two hands, and this time, I'll make sure you go join the rest of our dead brothers! »
Valkyrie couldn't breathe. Panic seized her as she clawed and thrashed violently against Ghost's arm, but he didn't even flinch. Eventually, she stopped struggling. Following a heavy, suffocating silence, she let out a piercing, gut-wrenching scream. A blinding, pure golden light erupted from her spine, a surge of raw, overwhelming energy radiating from her entire being. Instantly, the sheer force blasted both combatants out of the shadow realm.
Back out in the warehouse, she collapsed to the ground, completely spent. Ghost hit the floor a few meters away. He pushed himself up immediately, driving forward to seize her once more, when a deep, gravelly voice echoed from his right:
« What's up, bro? »
Ghost bounded several meters backward in retreat. Stepping out of the darkness was a heavily muscled man armed with dual machetes. He wore a black polo shirt paired with loose denim jeans. He had dark skin and thick, curly hair that fell just around his neck.
« Who the hell are you? », Ghost demanded, pointing the razor-sharp edge of his hardened lock straight at him.