Light stabbed through Kaito's eyelids. Not sterile lab lights. Not city smog. Green. He lurched upright, hand flying to his chest—no wound. No blood. Only smooth skin beneath torn clothes.
Where…am I?
The air hummed. Trees towered like cathedral pillars, trunks pulsing with internal light. Bioluminescent moss carpeted the ground in electric blue. A sudden flash ripped through his mind—
VISUAL STATIC
—white explosion tearing the Amazon apart—Mary's hand reaching through smoke—
KRA-KOOM!
He gasped. Reality snapped back. Alien pollen drifted like neon snow.
The research site didn't have trees like this…
His hands shook. Thin. Smooth. No scars from the scalpel fight. No calluses from years on the streets.
Why do I look younger? Is this…some kind of dream?
"Hey u."
A voice like grinding gears. Kaito whirled.
A girl stood hip-deep in glowing ferns, goggles reflecting data streams. Black armor clung to her frame like liquid metal. In her hand: a device screeching with jagged alarms.
[SCREECH-BLIP!]
"u planning to breathe or what?" She tilted her head, scanner aimed at his chest. Its screen flashed crimson warnings:
[ RADIATION LEVELS: LETHAL ]
[ DRAGONBLAZER SIGNATURE: NULL ]
[ BIOLOGICAL ANOMALY DETECTED ]
No Dragon Blazer… Her thoughts hissed through Kaito's panic. How's he alive in this radiation?
Movement in the shadows. Armored figures. Rifles humming with charged energy. Helmets sealed. Anonymous.
Military?! Cold dread flooded Kaito's veins. Did they track me from the lab?!
Instinct took over. He ran.
FWOOOSH—
Feet pounded moss that sparked underfoot. Vines whipped his face, dripping sizzling sap. Behind him, the girl's shout cut through the jungle's buzz:
"Tch— CODE BROWN! After him!"
I won't go back! Kaito vaulted over a root thick as a bus. Not to those white rooms! Not to the needles!
The ground convulsed.
WRRRUUMMMM…
A sound deeper than thunder. Bone-shaking. Primordial. Kaito skidded to a halt.
Darkness fell over him. Not clouds. Something massive blocked the triple suns. Slowly, he looked up.
—INFERNAL DRAGON—
Two pages couldn't contain it. Melted-purple scales oozed slag like burning wax. Veins beneath pulsed with captive lightning, arcing between horns that split the sky. Heat-haze rippled from its flanks, melting ferns into smoking goo. The air shrieked with energy—
ZZZAAKK-KRACKLE!
Molten eyes, pits of liquid magma, locked onto Kaito. Recognition glowed in that hellish gaze. A growl vibrated the earth, shaking teeth in skulls—
GRROOOOOAAAAA…
Kaito stood frozen. Prey before god.
ORION'S NOTE: "Uh-oh…somebody's about to have a very bad day~" :D