—
Roars echoed through the crumbling laboratory. Hoshiro and Reiji collided midair, blue and red auras clashing like gods at war. Below, Kazuki and Ayame fought side by side—slashing down mutated monstrosities as fluid from broken containment pods flooded the floor.
"Back-to-back!" Ayame shouted, parrying a lunging beast.
Kazuki nodded, eyes wild. "We're in a freaking nightmare."
Meanwhile, Hoshiro's blade of light cleaved through Reiji's flaming wings. His brother howled but spun with uncanny speed, landing a burning punch that sent Hoshiro skidding across the wall.
"You were always the golden one," Reiji sneered. "But you don't understand power like I do."
"I understand enough," Hoshiro panted, wiping blood from his chin. "Enough to know this—what you've become isn't power. It's desperation."
He rose, eyes blazing like stars. His mask cracked—revealing a sliver of his face.
And suddenly… time slowed.
Ayame looked up just in time to see it. "It's really you…"
Reiji saw it too—and hesitated.
That hesitation cost him.
Hoshiro's punch landed clean—straight to the core of Reiji's chest. The crimson aura shattered.
Boom.
A shockwave knocked back every creature, silencing the room. Reiji collapsed, breathing ragged. The mask finally slipped from Hoshiro's face.
Kazuki stared. "Bro…"
Hoshiro turned away. "Let's go. This place is done."
But as they climbed from the wreckage, none of them noticed the small, blinking light in the wrecked lab.
A signal. A transmission.
And far above Tokyo, someone… or something… had received it.
—