Episode 13: Phantom Rage
The crew tore through the Burning Wastelands at breakneck speed in two reinforced vans. Kevin sat in the front passenger seat, fists clenched so tightly his knuckles were white. The Mythical Matrix burned across his chest like a second heartbeat.
"They're using my school… my friends," he muttered.
Wyatt gripped the wheel. "We'll get there in time. Bangu's tough. He'll hold on."
Nathan sat in the back, maintaining a wide illusion cloak over the vehicles. "Pillar's getting bolder. Attacking a normal high school? They really want you back, Kev."
Damon May stared out the window, his hollow heart glowing faintly. "They always go after what you love. That's how they break you."
Willowbrook High School – Main Gymnasium
Pure pandemonium.
Students screamed and ran as potion-born Wrathborn rampaged through the bleachers. White-blue energy veins crawled across the walls and floor. The principal lay unconscious (or worse) behind the podium while the distorted cultist voice continued broadcasting threats.
Bangu was in the middle of it all, breathing hard, his athletic clothes torn. He had just knocked out another mutated classmate with a perfectly timed tackle when the gym doors exploded inward.
The crew burst through — Kevin leading with glowing white-blue fists, Peter in full Iron Tyrant durability mode, and the rest fanning out.
"Kevin?!" Bangu shouted, eyes wide with disbelief and relief. "What the hell, man?! You ghosted for four days and now the school's turning into a horror movie?!"
"No time to explain!" Kevin yelled, slamming a destructive wave into two potion-born attackers, shattering their unstable forms. "Get the students out!"
The fight intensified. Ferrum and Derek cleared a path toward the exits while Nathan created mass illusions to guide panicked students to safety. Peter tanked heavy hits, buying time.
That's when two new figures emerged from the chaos.
From the shadows near the stage, a translucent figure phased through a fallen bleacher. Gideon Young — tall and lean, with pale, almost see-through skin and glowing silver eyes. He looked like a living phantom, his body flickering in and out of visibility. He moved with desperate urgency, searching every face in the crowd.
"Mom!" he shouted, voice echoing with an ethereal reverb. "Where are you?! They took you… I know they did!"
Gideon's Glimmer — Phantom Step — let him phase through solid matter and manipulate shadows. He had awakened months ago while desperately searching for his mother, who had vanished after being taken by Pillar scouts. Now he haunted places like Willowbrook, following rumors of Glimmer activity.
He phased through a charging potion-born hunter and drove a solidified shadow fist into its chest, dispersing it. His eyes locked onto Kevin.
"You… You're the Rampager they're screaming about. If you're fighting them, help me find my mother!"
Before Kevin could respond, pure rage exploded from the other side of the gym.
Ryan Mackrow — a stocky, hot-tempered senior with a reputation for getting into fights — had finally snapped. One of the potion-born had killed his little brother right in front of him. Ryan's face twisted in fury, veins bulging as raw orange-red energy erupted from his body.
His anger literally became power — Rageforge. The more enraged he became, the stronger and hotter the explosive energy he generated.
"YOU BASTARDS!" Ryan roared. A shockwave of burning energy exploded outward, incinerating two potion-born and cracking the gym floor. He charged forward like a living inferno, punching straight through a rock-armored attacker.
Peter actually grinned while blocking a hit. "Kid's got fire in him. Literally."
Kevin and Ryan's eyes met across the chaos. For a brief moment, the Rampager mantle and Rageforge resonated — destruction and raw fury feeding each other.
The crew, now reinforced by Gideon and Ryan, began turning the tide. Gideon phased through walls to rescue trapped students and his search for his mother grew more frantic. Ryan's anger-fueled blasts cleared entire sections of the gym.
But the Pillar wasn't done.
A squad of elite enforcers rappelled through the shattered skylights, led by a lieutenant holding a glowing white-blue shard. "The Rampager is here! Capture him! The Garden demands its key!"
Kevin felt the weight of everything — his old life collapsing, new allies born from tragedy, and the endless hunt.
As the final wave of attackers closed in, Gideon grabbed Kevin's arm. "I'll fight with you… but promise me you'll help me find her."
Ryan, still blazing with rage-energy, nodded fiercely. "I'm done running. These monsters took my brother. Let's break them all."
Peter laughed darkly. "Welcome to the crew, ghost boy and rage machine."
The battle in Willowbrook High reached its peak as more white-blue lights filled the sky outside.
End of Episode 13