(Outside the tower, Team Gamma — consisting of several soldiers from both Aegis and the Ironclad Response Unit — continues firing at Infinity’s masked shadow soldiers, who dissipate into shadows when struck by their blasts. The fallen soldiers regenerate shortly afterwards and keep up the heavy fire, and their persistence starts to overwhelm Team Gamma, taking out their soldiers one by one.)

  Team Gamma Leader: (urgently) Hold your positions! Return fire!

  (The soldiers scatter around and take cover, continuing to fire at the masked shadow soldiers. However, some of the shadow soldiers teleport and get behind the opposition, taking them by surprise and firing at them immediately, taking out some more soldiers. Team Gamma suddenly finds itself outperformed, and they start to huddle up, having no space to move freely. Inside the tower, Gauntlet swings his whip katars at Hollow from a distance, who pushes them away with precise and powerful chops. He attempts to close in on Gauntlet after doing so, but the latter jumps out of the way and sets foot on a wall, using his modified shoes to keep his footing on the wall.)

  Gauntlet: (smugly) Not a chance. You think I’m a pushover?

  Hollow: (firmly) I know all I need to know about you, Gauntlet, and I’m not about to take you for granted. That said… I don’t plan on losing.

  (Gauntlet glides on the wall while facing Hollow, ready to take him on, but to his shock, Hollow rapidly flies at him and lands a powerful blow at the area behind him in the wall, disorienting him. Meanwhile, Infinity continues his battle with Flare, Boltix, Jackpot, and Jax, who struggle despite the numerical advantage, with Infinity effectively teleporting away from their blows. He uses Anchor to maintain his stance then charges up his shadow tendrils with electric purple energy, activating Shadow Feedback. He swings several shadow tendrils at Jax in a manner that forces him to block the blows, and as he attempts to punch away one of the tendrils, he gets sent back flying from the recoil, the contact causing an electrical-like backlash.)

  (The others notice that in surprise, and they too get taken off guard when the shadow tendrils violently strike the ground, achieving the required recoil effect on them as well and knocking them back. Having stored up enough potential energy using Anchor, he unleashes both Momentum Theft and Impact Amplifier, along with a new move.)

  Infinity: Mass Bias.

  (He uses Mass Bias to make himself lighter upon releasing Anchor and lunges at Jax specifically at high speed thanks to both Momentum Theft and Impact Amplifier as well. Before Jax manages to retain his fighting stance, Infinity uses Mass Bias again to make himself heavier, and that adds to the power behind his punch, sending him crashing into a wall. The sheer power behind that blow causes him to lose his muscular form, and as he tries to retain it, only steam comes out alongside the immense pain in his muscles.)

  Jax: (gritting his teeth in pain) No way!

  Infinity: That’s how little your endurance amounts to, I suppose. How underwhelming.

  (Boltix propels himself at Infinity for a blow, and the energy applied to his hands lessens the impact of Shadow Feedback upon making contact with a shadow tendril, applying a slight recoil on both him and Infinity. Jackpot also returns to action and propels himself upwards with his air shoes, launching a bunch of grenades at Infinity using his creation pot. He blows them up by piercing them with his shadow tendrils, only for Flare to intervene and land a kick at his chest, sending him skidding back. Jackpot, Boltix, and Flare stand beside one another in front of Infinity, who retains his balance.)

  Jackpot: (turning to Jax, nonchalantly) Stay there and focus on recovering your muscular form or whatever.

  Jax: (weakly chuckling) Sure thing.

  (Flare lights up her palms with fire, Boltix envelops himself in his lightning, and Jackpot aims his two plasma guns at Infinity as the trio get ready to take him on again. Meanwhile, Focus is continuing his own plan to confront Infinity and going up the stairs while linking up with Hunter, who’s heading for Infinity as well.)

  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. Team Gamma, Team Delta, Team Epsilon… they all receive this specific order in the midst of their separate struggles.)

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

  (Team Gamma receives that order, with the team leader acting rather surprised, but they follow through with Hunter’s order nonetheless, applying heavy fire at the masked shadow soldiers while attempting to back away.)

  Soldier 1A: (to the team leader) Sir, are we really withdrawing?! What about the mission?!

  Team Leader: (urgently) We’ve got our orders, soldier! (to all of his men) Fall back! Fall back!

  (They throw whatever grenades they have as they retreat, successfully taking out the shadow soldiers pursuing them for this brief moment, allowing them to fall back away from the tower before the shadow soldiers regenerate. After they regenerate, they look around, only to find out that Team Gamma has completed their swift withdrawal.)

  Shadow Soldier 1A: Where are they?

  Shadow Soldier 1B: They’ve withdrawn themselves, I suppose. It matters not. This is our opportunity to enter the tower and assist our master.

  (The other shadow soldiers nod, and they immediately turn to enter the tower, seeking to provide further assistance to Infinity and the other masked shadow soldiers inside. Back inside, as Gauntlet continues his battle with Hollow, he receives the order, and apparently, the latter overhears it. Gauntlet propels himself out of the way midair and dodges Hollow’s next blow, striking him with a whip katar and sending him crashing sideways into a wall.)

  Gauntlet: (shrugging) Withdraw, huh? Alright, then. (glancing at Hollow, cockily grinning) Sorry, can’t chat. Gotta go.

  (Hollow re-emerges and lunges at Gauntlet, sidestepping as he launches several blasts at him. The latter cancels them out with a plasma barrier and then takes a stance, ready to fight back. Elsewhere, Proxy, Pulse, and Mistrick receive that order as they go down the stairs, with the former leading the way while examining the surveillance footage through her Tech Surge. They take out a bunch of shadow soldiers upon reaching the basement, seeing a bunch of snowmobiles available for use.)

  Mistrick: (nonchalantly, glancing at the snowmobiles) There’s our ride.

  Proxy: Hey, Hunter ordered us to withdraw just now, right? Don’t you think it’ll be difficult for the other teams?

  Pulse: (placing a hand on her chin) Yeah. Maybe… maybe we can still help.

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  (Proxy and Pulse turn back and head outside the basement, heading back upwards, while Mistrick sighs deeply with an annoyed face palm before turning and running alongside them. Meanwhile, Focus receives that order as he takes on several more drones in his way while going up the stairs, and he links up with Hunter once again.)

  Focus: (via communicator) Given the withdrawal of Team Gamma, we can expect the soldiers stationed outside the tower to come in as reinforcements.

  Hunter: (via communicator, pragmatically) Then we’ll need to make our escape before we eventually get overwhelmed by their sheer number and durability. It’s as you pointed out. We’ve got limited options.

  (Focus firmly nods at this while destroying several more drones in his way, and Hunter too takes out the masked shadow soldiers he crosses paths with, both on their way to confront Infinity. Meanwhile, Boltix and Jackpot receive Hunter’s order as they continue to fight back against Infinity; Jax too receives the order, still attempting to recover his muscular form.)

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

  Jackpot: Withdrawing?!

  Boltix: But what about Stone?!

  (Infinity exploits this moment of disorientation and performs Shadow Quickstep, reappearing in front of Boltix and Jackpot and punching them both in the gut, thus knocking them back. Flare jumps out of the way and launches a burst of fire from Infinity’s right side, only for one of his shadow constructs to shield him from the attack and then strike Flare, sending her skidding back. However, as soon as Infinity turns to her, Jax arrives, lunging at him for a punch with a slightly more muscular form, but another shadow construct cancels out his punch, allowing Infinity to teleport out of the way and reappear shortly in front of Flare and Jax, who are soon joined by Jackpot and Boltix.)

  Jax: (firmly) I guess we’ll have to withdraw as soon as we can.

  Boltix: (gritting his teeth, angrily) You can’t be serious! You think we’re leaving without Stone?!

  Flare: (baffled) Wait, we’re leaving?

  Jax: (grimacing) We’ve got our orders.

  Jackpot: (scowling) Your orders. What makes you think we’ll follow?

  Infinity: (letting out a low chuckle) They’ve got a point… Muscle Surge. Your commander surely struck a deal with them, didn’t she? If you’re obliged to follow orders, then you’re just as obliged to keep your end of the deal.

  Jax: (clenching his fists, turning to him) Who are you to judge anyway?

  Infinity: A bystander… watching closely. Now you tell me, Muscle Surge, what do you think? Is it really fair to deny them their end of the bargain when they’ve kept theirs? Or did Aegis train you not to think?

  (Jax grits his teeth at Infinity and his words, then Boltix angrily propels himself at the latter at high speed, landing a powerful punch to his face. However, to his surprise, Infinity’s figure dissipates, revealed to be a mere afterimage since he used Shadow Echo, a move in which he leaves afterimages of where he once stood to disorient opponents.)

  Infinity: Shadow Echo.

  (Striking the afterimage causes Boltix to get knocked back midair, and then the real Infinity is revealed from behind the fading afterimage, using Tether to pin Boltix’s limbs in the air with his shadow tethers, who grunts loudly in pain. Jackpot circles around Infinity and fires at the shadow tethers in an attempt to set his friend free, but they remain firm, to his frustration. Infinity then throws Boltix at him with great force, causing the two to collide into each other and crash into a wall. He performs Shadow Quickstep once again to gain distance from Flare and Jax as Boltix and Jackpot regain their footing.)

  Boltix: (gritting his teeth) You will tell us where Stone is! You hear me?!

  Infinity: (icily) Why do you think that you’re entitled to save him, huh? What difference does that make?

  Jackpot: (grimacing) He’s… he’s our friend! That makes all the difference!

  Infinity: (venomously) And what makes you so adamant about the fact that he needs saving, I wonder?

  Boltix: (subtly startled) What’re you… what’re you talking about?

  (Infinity uses Shadow Quickstep to close in on Boltix and Jackpot for a blow, and Jax attempts to knock him back with a punch, but Infinity uses Anchor to stay put, barely even budging and causing Jax to get sent skidding back. Before Jackpot and Boltix get to land a blow, they get sent flying by a pair of shadow constructs, and then he releases Anchor and blocks Flare’s punch with a swipe from a shadow tendril, sending her skidding back as well. He then incapacitates all four Surge users with his shadow tendrils, wrapping them around their necks and slowly choking them. They all start to suffocate, gritting their teeth as they get slammed into the ground and struggling to breathe.)

  Infinity: (sternly) You fight without purpose. Without drive. Without a true cause. Like a pitiful group of low-lives that forsake their power. This exactly is what the current society of Surges brings forth. (speaking firmly rather than sternly) Despite that… you still have the opportunity to join me. Realize the cause. Fulfill your purpose.

  Flare: (weakly, gritting her teeth) Please… just… shut up.

  (The glowing purple infinity sign on Infinity’s mask narrows, as if in disappointment, and he strengthens the grip of the shadow tendrils on all four Surge users, squeezing their necks even further. However, he quickly forms a shadow construct to block an incoming punch heading at him at high speed, a punch powerful enough to destroy the construct and send him skidding back. It’s from none other than Focus, who immediately follows up by a kick to the gut, sending him flying and forcing him to release the four Surge users. Infinity regains his balance and sees Focus taking a firm stance in front of him.)

  Infinity: (muttering) Focus.

  Focus: (addressing Jax) You okay?

  Jax: (coughing a bit, weakly) Kinda.

  Focus: (to Jackpot and Boltix) I heard you guys are involved as well. We’ll need all the help we can get after all.

  Boltix: (shrugging) Don’t patronize me.

  Focus: (to Flare, firmly) We’ve got a specialized strike force sent from Aegis to help us out. That’s… basically the whole thing.

  Flare: (subtly skeptical) Yeah, I figured that much by myself.

  Focus: (cracking his knuckles, to the four Surge users) Get ready, everyone. Hunter issued an order for us to withdraw at once, and I’m sure you all received it. We can’t stay here for much longer.

  Infinity: Is that so? (reforming his shadow tendrils) And you think I’ll let you leave so readily?

  Focus: (glancing at Infinity once again, his navy blue aura forming) I don’t. I’ll just have to get you out of the way.

  (Focus takes a firm fighting stance against Infinity, who takes a fighting stance as well, readying his shadow tendrils. Focus immediately lunges at Infinity at rapid speed, and the latter uses a bunch of shadow tendrils to block the incoming blow, only for Focus to send them all back, opening up a window for attack. The scattered shadow tendrils launch a barrage of blasts at Focus from close range, and he jumps out of the way to the right, unable to land the blow anymore. Focus walks around Infinity, glancing at him with a stern expression, while Infinity walks around him as well, both walking in a spiral and glancing at each other with palpable tension.)

  Focus: So you’re the one behind everything, I see. What’re you plotting?

  Infinity: Patience, Focus. Everything will be revealed in due time. You too will come to understand what I aspire for.

  Focus: (scowling) Hmph, you certainly know more than you let on. Makes you higher on my list of priorities. And what does Flare have to do with this anyway? It’s no secret that you’re looking to capture her for something.

  Infinity: (sternly) You don’t get to interfere with that. This is between me and Flare. Prove that you’re good enough, however, and I might as well include you in my plans.

  Focus: Not interested.

  Infinity: I get that a lot.

  (Focus lunges at Infinity once again, who uses Shadow Quickstep to skip past Focus and get in behind him. He uses Tether in an attempt to pin Focus’s limbs, but he dodges the attack with a backflip. Focus kicks away a shadow tendril midair then lands on his feet, punching away another shadow tendril afterwards.)

  Infinity: Shadow Lattice.

  (Infinity stomps the ground with one foot and activates his Shadow Lattice, then a 3D grid of rigid shadow filaments forms around the area, the lines anchoring themselves to the surfaces. However, Focus barely is affected by the Shadow Lattice, eloquently hopping as he avoids stepping on the shadow filaments, all while barely losing any momentum as he lunges at Infinity. As Focus closes in on Infinity, he attempts to quickly unleash Tether to pin his limbs, but Focus — surprisingly enough — manages to make his punch connect to Infinity’s gut, sending him skidding back before he strikes him with Tether.)

  Infinity: (thinking to himself) He’s good. (muttering) Latency.

  (Focus’s next decision gets delayed for a mere moment, as if his body isn’t responding to him for just this microsecond, and this allows Infinity to actually land a strike on him using Tether, pinning his limbs with his shadow tethers. With Focus getting pinned, Infinity lands an energized punch at his gut, sending him crashing into a wall.)

  Infinity: You’re one of the better ones, I must say.

  (Infinity tries to follow that up with a shadow rail gunshot, but Jax immediately stands in the way, punching it away and getting sent skidding back as a result. Afterwards, Jackpot shows up and launches several grenades out of his Creation pot, which explode midair and disorient Infinity long enough for both Flare and Boltix to propel themselves at him from his right side for a blow. Infinity manages to lessen the strength of the duo’s combined blow with a shadow construct, getting knocked back regardless. Focus rapidly lunges at him for another punch, but Infinity moves out of the way using Shadow Quickstep, gaining distance from the Surge users.)

  Infinity: (icily) How persistent. And annoyingly so.

  (Infinity glances around, emotionless as ever, seeing Flare, Focus, Boltix, Jackpot, and Jax all surrounding him. Operation Black Vector has been called off, and all units have been ordered to withdraw, but it won’t be that easy to escape Infinity’s clutches. The battle against this masked foe continues.)