(Infinity firmly stands in front of Boltix, who is still enveloped in his blue and yellow lighting aura and glancing at him while panting through his gritted teeth. Flare is still on the ground, despite being no longer pinned to it, her pupils narrowed and her expression showing pure shock and horror, her breath coming ragged and heavy as she tries to recover from her near-transformation. The fiery crimson aura she was about to develop dissipates, her pupils return to their usual orange color, and so does her hair. Meanwhile, Infinity and Boltix are still locked in their tense confrontation.)

  Infinity: (composed) There you are. You couldn’t get a job done for me, and now you’re willing to do the job for Aegis and the IRU. Lemme tell you this, Boltix. You’ll find it way more difficult to defeat me.

  Boltix: (sternly) Cut the crap, mystery man. I’m not here to run errands for anyone. Now where’s Stone?!

  Infinity: So that’s how it is.

  (Infinity reforms his shadow tendrils around himself, getting ready to take on Boltix. The latter propels himself at him with his Kinetic Surge, but Infinity easily parries his advance. However, Boltix propels himself in the air and launches a powerful lightning bolt at Infinity, who gets sent skidding back upon blocking it with a shadow construct, and as Boltix gets in behind him, Infinity prepares yet another move.)

  Infinity: Shadow Lattice.

  (In an instance, a 3D grid of rigid shadow filaments forms around the area, the lines anchoring themselves to the surfaces. Unwittingly, Boltix steps on one of the filaments as he gets ready for his attack, which causes him to lose both momentum and balance. This half-mistake helps Infinity use Momentum Theft — a technique in which he steals forward momentum from enemies mid-charge and therefore accelerates. He lunges at him at high speed, landing a punch at his gut and sending him flying. Boltix regains his balance, avoiding setting foot on the shadow filaments while he’s at it, and the mere presence of Shadow Lattice constrains his movement, which he himself notices.)

  Boltix: (gritting his teeth, internally) I can’t move freely in my grid. All possible lanes of attack will be predictable.

  (Boltix tries to navigate his way around the Shadow Lattice, struggling to build momentum with his Kinetic Surge with the restricted movement. He keeps circling around Infinity, looking for a window of attack, and the latter remains standing still with unshakable composure using Anchor, waiting for Boltix to make his move. He utilizes Tether through one of the shadow filaments, taking him by surprise and pulling him to the wall with a shadow tether.)

  Infinity: Impact Amplifier.

  (Standing for this long is enough for him to store enough potential energy for him to activate Impact Amplifier — a technique in which he stores mechanical energy into a single, amplified blow. Upon releasing himself from the grip of Anchor, he rapidly lunges at Boltix, who’s pinned to the wall by Tether, but suddenly, Jax stands in his way in his muscular form and swings his fist at him, both of their fists colliding, and they both get sent skidding back. Jackpot too intervenes and pulls a cluster of grenades out of his creation pot, launching it at Infinity. They immediately explode upon surrounding Infinity, which causes him to forcefully cancel out Shadow Lattice given its gradual toll on his overall fighting ability, and he reforms his shadow tendrils in anticipation, seeing Jackpot, Boltix, and Jax — now using a less muscular form as to avoid straining himself — standing before him.)

  Boltix: (to Jax and Boltix) Sure took you two long enough. (cockily grinning) Couldn’t keep up?

  Jackpot: (mildly annoyed) Oh, please. How was I supposed to catch up when you were dashing off on your own? (to Infinity, faintly grinning) There you are again. (his smirk wavering into a firm expression) You’ve got a lot of explaining to do.

  Infinity: One doesn’t need to explain oneself when their actions speak loudly enough. It is you and the chain of command that you obey that think they’re entitled enough to assume superiority with nothing to show for it. I am no different from Aegis… which begs the question… why am I the villain?

  Jax: (cracking his knuckles) You talk too much. Surely this means you’d be willing to share a few details once we take you into custody?

  Infinity: It is in one’s speech and actions that they express their cause and ideals. But what do you stand for? What can you express other than the notions hard-wired into your being by your masters?

  (The trio grit their teeth at this, and they take their fighting stances, with Boltix enveloping himself in his lightning. Suddenly, however, Flare arrives at the scene and propels herself upwards then launches a burst of fire at Infinity, who teleports out of the way then stands in front of the quartet, with Flare landing beside Jax, Boltix, and Jackpot.)

  Flare: (turning to Boltix) So it’s you again! (glancing at Jackpot) And you! And… (glancing at Jax, blankly) did we meet before?

  Jax: (feeling subtly nervous and fearful) I’m… Jax. My team was sent by Aegis to help you out and link up with Focus. He apparently expected our arrival when he shared the intel he’s got. We’re on your side.

  Flare: (mildly surprised, muttering to herself) Wait, so… Focus called you guys for backup… and didn’t tell me about it?

  (A hint of skepticism appears on Flare’s expression, but she brushes that off for the meantime and grit her teeth at Infinity while lighting up her fists with flames. Jax passes a single glance at Flare, unease apparent in his face, especially as he remembers his brief encounter with Red Flare back at the cavern: when Red Flare shockingly kicked Proxy in the face, punches Pulse in the chin, and then punched Jax in the gut, sending him crashing into a wall, all in quick succession.)

  Red Flare (flashback): (glancing at Jax, wickedly smirking) Out of the way, normie! That’s my fight!

  (The image of Red Flare wickedly grinning at him while pinning him to the ground can’t leave his mind, but he forcefully closes his eyes and takes a fighting stance against Infinity, who gets ready with his shadow tendrils to give them a fight. Elsewhere, Focus and Hollow continue their fight, the two of them crashing into another room as the latter drags the former through a wall. Focus knees his chin, thus forcing him to let go, and then he roundhouses him in the face, sending him flying. Immediately after Hollow regains his footing, he launches a powerful energy blast at Focus, who’s forced to block it with his elbow upon setting foot on the floor, getting sent skidding back.)

  Focus: (panting heavily, grimacing) You’re stubborn, aren’t you?

  Hollow: Likewise.

  (The two repeatedly lunge at each other at high speed, blocking each other’s blows and ricocheting off of each other. Hollow moves in for a blow, only for Focus to block his block, but then Hollow lands a blast at Focus’s chin, sending him skidding back. He attempts to follow that up with another punch, but Focus quickly parries that punch and attempts a roundhouse kick at his face. Hollow quickly blocks that with the back of his hand, getting sent skidding back, and then he jumps out of the way with an energy quickstep, avoiding Focus’s next blow.)

  Focus: (gritting his teeth) I don’t have much time to waste.

  Hollow: Neither do I.

  (Hollow starts charging up a neon red energy beam with his palms, propelling himself to evade Focus’s attacks as he does so. He then lunges at Focus at high speed, intending to launch the energy beam at him, and as Focus gets ready to dodge the beam, Hollow quickly propels himself to be right above Focus, taking him by surprise.)

  Hollow: (muttering) Right where I want you.

  (However, just as Hollow was about to launch the energy beam, it gets canceled out when an energy blast blows it up, sending him flying and forcing him to set foot on the ground. It’s none other than Gauntlet who fired at the energy beam with his new pair of gauntlets and canceled it out, and as Hollow regains his footing, he shows up, circling around the former at high speed thanks to his air shoes and launching several energy blasts at him with his gauntlets — now more lightweight and durable. With that distraction, Focus manages to land a kick at Hollow’s gut, knocking him back. He regains his footing, with Gauntlet joining him.)

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  Focus: (glancing at Gauntlet) You made good use of the intel after all, I see.

  Gauntlet: (faintly grinning) My boss and yours just had to let bygones be bygones with all that’s happening, and with that intel, we were able to take the fight to the culprit’s doorsteps. Not bad, Focus.

  Focus: (rolling his eyes) Stop trying to flatter me. In any case, how’s the operation going?

  Gauntlet: (shrugging) Can’t tell if it’s going smoothly, to be honest. It can always blow up in our faces at any given moment.

  (Hollow re-emerges and fires a barrage of blasts at the trio, and Gauntlet steps in to cancel them all out with an energy barrier created by his gauntlets. He detaches his gauntlets and launches them at Hollow, and they continuously fire at him, forcing him to remain on the defensive. Afterwards, Gauntlet turns to Focus and hands him a watch, acting as both a communicator and a navigator, to the latter’s momentary surprise, which is then replaced by a firm expression.)

  Focus: (putting on the watch) A communicator?

  Gauntlet: And a navigator. You’ll be able to find your way inside the tower using that watch. Proxy gave us all access to the surveillance cameras and all. Oh, and make sure you link up with the team while you’re at it.

  Focus: (firmly) Understood. However, I can’t waste much time on my opponent, not when Flare could be dealing with the culprit as we speak.

  Gauntlet: (nonchalantly) And that’s why I’m having you sort out your business. Leave the Halloween costume to me.

  Focus: (subtly surprised) And you’re sure you can handle him on your own? Someone of his caliber is not to be taken lightly.

  Gauntlet: (confidently grinning) Come on now. You think I don’t know any better? I’ll handle it.

  (Seeing that, Focus firmly nods and heads off out of the room and across the hallway to see what he can do in the given situation. Hollow sees Focus attempting to abandon the fight and prepares an energy beam at him, but one of Gauntlet’s gauntlets is launched at him, and he’s forced to direct that unprepared energy beam into pushing away this gauntlet, knocking it back. He regains his footing, glancing at Gauntlet instead.)

  Hollow: (firmly) The Surge Erasure Gauntlets. Upon incapacitating a Surge user, one or both of those gauntlets can absorb their Surge and render it ineffective. I wasn’t going to let that gauntlet seize me.

  Gauntlet: (his two Gauntlets finding their way back to his hands) You’ve sure done your homework. (slyly) Too bad.

  Hollow: I can tell Focus would be seeking an encounter with Master. I know he can handle this, but regardless, I need to come to his aid whenever necessary. (sternly) I can’t take any chances.

  (Hollow envelopes himself in an intense, electric, neon red aura, as if fully amplifying his body strength with his Overdrive Surge, and then he takes a fighting stance opposite to Gauntlet. The latter too takes a fighting stance in anticipation, turning his gauntlets into whip katars with a faint yet subtly excited grin.)

  Gauntlet: (grinning) Then show me whatcha got.

  (Meanwhile, Mistrick crosses paths with another group of masked shadow soldiers and calls in the assistance of her mist clones to take them on. Though the shadow soldiers keep shooting at the mist copies, Mistrick makes use of that by landing a kick at one of the soldiers and then uppercutting another, using her mist powers to increase the strength behind her blows. One of the masked soldiers gets ready to fire a blast at her, but Proxy quickly arrives at the scene and uses several tech blasters to open fire at the soldiers. Pulse too arrives, punching one of the soldiers in the gut and roundhousing another in the face. The trio manage to quickly deal with the masked shadow soldiers, taking them all out, and then they run off before they can regenerate again, Mistrick glancing at Pulse and Proxy in surprise.)

  Mistrick: (surprised) What’re you two doing here? Weren’t you supposed to be with the self-appointed team leader or something?

  Proxy: Change of plans. We’ve got our intel, and we need to make sure that it remains secure. We’re leaving.

  Mistrick: (gritting her teeth) You think I’m just leaving Stone in here?!

  Pulse: (firmly) Your other two teammates are already on it, and if you want us to keep our end of the deal, then you do the same. Now let’s move before things get out of hand.

  (Proxy and Pulse head off across the hallway to look for a way out of this tower, and Mistrick reluctantly follows them with a grimace. Meanwhile, Focus too is finding his way inside the tower after managing to escape the confrontation with Hollow, opting instead to ‘focus’ [hahahahaha] on the situation with Infinity. He uses the watch recently given to him and examines the surveillance footage, constantly switching between cameras to both understand what’s currently happening and figure his way around the tower. He sees Pulse, Proxy, and Mistrick going down the stairs from one camera, then he switches to another camera, one outside of the tower, seeing several soldiers — both Aegis and IRU — struggling against the masked shadow soldiers, with a few of them even taken out. Despite that, the soldiers insist on keeping the enemy from entering the tower, who start to take them out one by one with their blasts, and Focus grits his teeth while seeing that.)

  (Focus switches between surveillance cameras at a faster pace, examining the entire tower through this method, but he stops for a brief moment upon seeing footage of Hunter going through a hallway and taking out the shadow soldiers in his way. He confirms his presence for only a few seconds then continues examining the surveillance footage, eventually managing to find Flare, who’s taking on Infinity along with Jax, Jackpot, and Boltix. With all of this scouting, Focus manages to visualize a path to reach the scene of the confrontation, and he then activates his communicator to link up with the others, specifically Proxy, Pulse, and Mistrick first.)

  Focus: (to the trio, via communicator) This is Focus. How is the operation going?

  Proxy: (via communicator) Oh, Focus! You’re here! Hunter’s hunch wasn’t wrong after all.

  Focus: I had to be here. After all, I provided you with the intel.

  Pulse: (via communicator) We managed to obtain intel regarding our enemy’s activities and plans. As to avoid damaging or losing the vital intel we secured, Hunter ordered us to leave.

  Focus: I see. Then get to it. With your assignment complete, we can concentrate on the other task at hand. (addressing Mistrick directly via communicator) Oh, and I see that you’re here. The Sparks are involved as well.

  Mistrick: (scowling) Don’t get the wrong idea. We’re not here to follow orders like obedient little lackeys. We’re here to rescue Stone.

  Focus: Noted.

  Proxy: (to Focus) So what’re you up to?

  (Focus continues his run across the hallway, taking a turn to the left, but then he crosses paths with another group of shadow soldiers assisted by a bunch of drones. Before they can even open fire, Focus kicks one of the soldiers in the face while simultaneously slamming two drones against each other and destroying them. He deals with the other soldiers, dealing quick and precise blows at them then heading off and taking a turn to the right before they regenerate. He sees several more drones standing in his way and immediately gets to work.)

  Proxy: (blankly, via communicator) Um… Focus?

  Focus: (firmly, while running and taking out the drones in his way with precise kicks) I’m off to confront the culprit. (taking a moment to crush a drone with his bare hands) Flare is already dealing with him, and I can’t risk him capturing her.

  Proxy: Flare?

  Focus: Yeah, the… (reluctantly, subtly bitter) the Surge Beacon.

  Pulse: Team Epsilon is already on it, and Hunter is heading there as we speak. You can expect backup.

  Focus: Understood. Now make sure you leave this tower with the intel. I’ll take it from here.

  (Focus ends the transmission, leaving Pulse, Proxy, and Mistrick to proceed with their plan to leave. Proxy takes the lead, using her watch to navigate a way out. Meanwhile, Focus continues his own plan to confront Infinity, and as he goes up the stairs, he links up with Hunter, who’s heading for Infinity as well.)

  Focus: (via communicator) Hunter.

  Hunter: (via communicator, firmly) Focus. What took you so long to communicate with us?

  Focus: I was clashing with one of our enemy’s followers. I’m guessing he’s human, a high-ranking soldier of his. Gauntlet showed up and allowed me to carry on, taking on this soldier by himself.

  Hunter: So what’re you planning to do?

  Focus: I’m heading for the culprit. I suppose you are as well. In any case, there’s something I need you to do.

  Hunter: What is it?

  Focus: I need you to order all the soldiers stationed outside of the tower to disengage.

  Hunter: (firmly) Team Gamma is tasked with protecting our backs and stopping the enemy from overwhelming us inside the tower. They cannot abandon this task.

  Focus: Those soldiers won’t last long. The plan was to keep the culprit’s shadow army busy, but in actuality, all casualties are ours. And if we let the army go after us, it will also derail the mission. (grimly) No… those soldiers… they’re getting sent to their deaths, and the longer we stay here… the more we’ll have to sacrifice. We have no chance of complete victory in this given situation. The culprit… is untouchable, and since we already secured the intel, we need to call off the mission… Hunter.

  (Hunter narrows his eyes and grits his teeth, considering the situation for a moment. He sees several masked shadow soldiers standing in his way and immediately opening fire at him, but he eloquently dodges their blasts and takes two of them out with two gunshots, establishing communication with all of the soldiers and operators while he’s at it.)

  Hunter: (via communicator, firmly) All units. We’re withdrawing.