Author's Note: Do Not Unlock Yet.
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CHAPTER — THE INFILTRATION
Sable Quinn — kinetic redirect specialist, able to bounce montum, bullets, or blunt force back at enemies.
THE NEW ADDITIONS
Hex Morrow — technopath; could disable or manipulate electronics within a limited radius.
Ridge Talmore — earth-forcer; strongman type with reinforced muscles and stone-skin defense.
Vera Lune — sound-weaver; could bend vibrations to silence allies or disorient enemies.
All five watched Aleman with varying degrees of curiosity and respect. So had only heard rumors. Others had witnessed his work. None had fully grasped what he was capable of.
Detective Wright's voice humd through the comms:
"All units, approaching Zone Oga. Maintain radio silence until I say otherwise. Aleman, your team deploys first."
August exhaled slowly.
"Everyone ready?" he asked.
Ridge cracked his knuckles. "Born ready."
Dante grinned. "Let's set sothing on fire."
Sable rolled her eyes. "Preferably not us."
Vera simply placed a calming hand on her earpiece and whispered, "Sound barrier active."
A dim ripple washed over the group — the world went slightly muted.
Hex Morrow tapped the side of his visor. "Cara grid three is down. They'll think it's a glitch. We have a two-minute window."
Aleman nodded, then slid the van door open.
Cold night air rushed in, carrying the scent of oil, tal, and the faint tang of corrupted energy — a reminder that this place was the Oni's hidden goldmine. The massive complex ahead was surrounded by high walls, automated turrets, roaming guards, spotlights, and multiple gated entrances.
It was a fortress.
And yet, Aleman walked straight toward it.
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THE SILENT STRIKE
"Move," he whispered.
The team spilled out behind him, boots touching asphalt without a sound thanks to Vera's sound-dampening field.
Hex raised a hand — a pulse traveled through the air, lights flickered, and the nearest drone patrol dropped like a stone.
"Drone down," Hex whispered. "Turret three is blind for twenty seconds."
Aleman didn't waste a heartbeat.
He sprinted for the wall, Shadow Step activating with a purple flash.
FWISH—
His body blurred, reappearing on top of the twenty–foot wall like a phantom.
From below, Dante muttered, "I hate how easy he makes that look."
Aleman dropped a rope, securing it. The supers scaled up swiftly, landing beside him.
Below them, three ard guards patrolled a catwalk.
Aleman raised a hand.
"I'll take them."
He vanished again — Shadow Step — and reappeared behind the first guard, chopping him in the neck. Before the second could turn, Aleman's fingers sparked with crackling electricity.
THUNDER SPEAR — REAL WORLD VERSION.
A jagged lightning spike erupted from his grip and slamd into the guard's chest.
ZRAKOOOM—!
The man collapsed instantly.
The third started screaming for backup— but Vera lifted two fingers, sending a silent burst of inverse sound into the guard's throat.
His voice cut out.
Aleman appeared behind him and tapped the back of his skull. The man slumped.
Dante whistled. "Man's a one-man SWAT team."
Sable elbowed him. "Focus."
They advanced deeper, weaving through tight industrial corridors lit with flickering red lamps. The deeper they went, the more palpable the wrongness in the air beca. The Fruit of Corruption produced a distinct distortion — a sickly pressure, like a heartbeat inside the walls.
Aleman could feel it.
They all could.
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DETECTIVE WRIGHT — REMOTE EYES
Wright's voice crackled through their comms.
"You're approaching the central storage hangar. Infrared shows thirty-six hostiles inside, including three supers. Avoid engaging if possible. Your objective is the vault — east wing. Marked it on your HUD."
A holographic arrow flashed across Aleman's visor.
"Copy," Aleman said.
The team pressed onward — cutting through shadowed maintenance halls and narrow tal stairways. Hex disabled every cara they crossed, Vera kept footsteps silent, and Sable redirected a stray bullet from a guard who panicked early.
No one outside their group had raised an alarm yet.
They were ghosts.
Then — as they reached the mid-level concourse — Hex suddenly froze.
"…Shit."
"What?"
"I didn't disable that cara." His face went pale. "Soone else is in the system."
A siren started blaring.
BWAAAAAAM— BWAAAAAAM— BWAAAAAAM—
Red lights flashed. tal barriers slamd down across hallways.
Vera dropped her sound field. "No point hiding now."
Detective Wright's voice sharpened.
"All units, the Oni know you're inside. Engage at will. Aleman, brace — supers incoming."
An elevator down the hall exploded open as three Oni supers charged out.
The biggest — a brute covered in blackened, pulsing veins — roared:
"THE TRAITOR ASSASSIN! ALEMAN!"
Boris and Lilo's teammates may have laughed in ga, but in real life, the na carried weight.
Hex cursed. "They know who you are!"
Aleman answered by materializing his Thunder Spear mid-step.
"Good."
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THE BATTLE ERUPTS
The brute charged.
Aleman Shadow Stepped sideways, lightning trailing as he spun and ramd the spear into the brute's ribs.
BOOOOOM—!
The shockwave threw the super into a wall.
Dante unleashed swirling jets of white-hot fireballs at the second enemy — a long-range crystallizer who grew obsidian spikes along the floor.
Sable redirected one spike, sending it flying back into the enemy's leg.
Hex fried the lights.
Vera stunned the third Oni super with a concussive sonic burst.
Ridge pumped his fists — his skin hardened to stone — and tackled the stunned super, slamming him through a storage crate.
The brute recovered, roaring.
Aleman tightened his grip and activated a combo he rarely used outside Enders Light.
His spear surged with electricity — then lengthened, lightning forming a razor extension.
He dashed in.
CRACK— CRACK— CRACK—!
Three precise thrusts — ribs, shoulder, throat.
The brute collapsed.
Sable blinked. "How… do you fight like that in real life?"
Aleman's visor glowed.
"…Practice."
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PRESSING FORWARD
With the supers neutralized, the group raced through the carnage. Oni guards poured in from multiple directions, but Vera's sound blasts disoriented them, Ridge ford cover using debris, Dante burned pathways, and Aleman carved through their lines with deadly precision.
But the deeper they pushed, the more resistance they faced.
Wright's voice cut in:
"You're close. Vault ahead — but I'm seeing increased heat signatures. Aleman, expect heavy fire."
No turning back now.
Aleman led them into the final hall — a massive armored door pulsed with dark energy, the aura of dozens of duplicated Fruits of Corruption behind it.
Then—
BOOOOOM—!
The final wave of Oni defenders burst from their positions.
Aleman spun his spear and stepped forward.
"Everyone— with !"
And the hall erupted into a warzone.
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