April sat alone in her room that night, her fingers tapping rhythmically against the desk. Grace's words echoed in her mind.
"Tessa's up to something big. She's been way too quiet."
It had been a relatively uneventful week at school, but that only meant one thing—Tessa was planning something far worse than her usual mind games.
Then, the news dropped.
By morning, the whispers had already started.
"Did you hear? About April…?"
"Yeah, I thought it was just a rumor, but…"
"God, that's messed up. Her own father?"
"So wait up, the mysterious girl who got raped by her own biological father all over social media is April?"
April entered the school gates, her every step in sync with the suffocating stares that burned into her from all directions.
They knew.
Her chest tightened, but her face remained unreadable.
She had trained for this—she wouldn't give them a reaction.
But then—
"Hey, April!"
She turned.
Tessa stood at the top of the stairs, arms folded, a smirk tugging at her perfect lips.
"Must be so humiliating," Tessa said, voice dripping with false sympathy. "Everyone knows now. I mean, it's not your fault, of course, but…" She sighed dramatically.
"Losing your virginity that way? Wow. That's rough."
The hallway froze. No one spoke. No one even breathed.
April didn't react.
Not yet.
Tessa tilted her head. "Oh? You're not going to say anything? You're always so composed—I bet it kills you inside, though."
April met her eyes. Cold. Unwavering.
But deep inside, something boiled.
She had survived worse.
She had killed worse.
And if Tessa thought she could break her—
April took a step forward.
Tessa took a step back.
Just an inch, but April noticed.
"You done?" April asked flatly.
Tessa frowned. "What?"
April's voice was quiet, but it carried through the hall.
"You said what you wanted to say. So I'm asking—are you done?"
Tessa opened her mouth, but—
April stepped closer.
Tessa's breath hitched.
April leaned in, her voice a whisper only Tessa could hear.
"You think this is breaking me? You think I didn't already claw my way out of that hell?"
She smiled—cold and merciless. "Tessa, you just made a mistake."
Tessa swallowed.
April walked away.
And the school kept watching.
April stood in the dimly lit training hall of the HQ, arms crossed, waiting.
Jax and the others stood nearby, watching as their leader approached.
His gaze was unreadable as he carried a long, black case in one hand and a smaller box in the other.
"It's done," he said simply.
The room tensed.
April took a step forward, eyes locked on the case as the leader knelt and unlatched it.
A metallic hiss filled the air as the case opened—inside, resting on a velvet-like material, was her spear.
It was sleek, deadly, and unlike anything she had ever seen before.
Midnight-black with silver edges, the shaft was reinforced with an unknown alloy, giving it both strength and flexibility.
The spearhead itself had a drill-like mechanism, sharp and coiled, designed to rotate at high speeds upon impact.
The leader's voice cut through the silence.
"This is Spiral Fang—a weapon made for precision and devastation. The rotating spearhead increases penetration power and allows for sustained attacks, making it a nightmare for anyone caught in its path."
April reached forward, fingers wrapping around the spear. It felt right. As if it had been waiting for her all along.
The leader wasn't finished. He lifted the smaller box, flipping it open to reveal a pair of gauntlets.
"These—" he held them up "—are built to match your spear. The Drill Claws."
The gauntlets were a dark silver, with a sleek, claw-like design. Embedded into the forearm plating were miniature rotary drills, meant to activate with each strike, tearing through armor, flesh, and even solid walls.
Jax let out a low whistle. "Damn. You're gonna be a monster with those."
April smirked, flexing her fingers inside the gauntlets as they adjusted to her grip.
Then, the leader turned to the rest of the group.
"Now, it's time you all show her yours."
Jax grinned, stepping forward first.
He unsheathed two identical weapons from his back—twin bladed tonfas. The weapons gleamed under the dim lights, their edges razor-sharp.
"These babies are called Havoc Strikes." He twirled them in his hands.
"They can shift between blunt and bladed combat, and they've got built-in shock emitters that amplify my strikes with concussive force."
Saya stepped forward, twin daggers glinting under the dim lights. "Phantom Requiem." The sleek black blades seemed to absorb the light, leaving a faint ghostly afterimage trailing with each movement. "They can phase briefly through solid matter and infuse a poison-like arcane mist that damages G-Force directly."
She twirled the daggers, and a faint purple mist curled around her hands, whispering along the floor like a shadow. Even from across the room, April could feel the chill of it.
Dante's presence filled the hall next. A massive greatsword materialized in his grip, radiating a blood-red heat aura that warped the air around it. "Infernal Bane," he said, voice low and steady. The flames licked upward in slow motion, forming roaring shapes around the blade.
"When unleashed, it compresses heat and kinetic energy into a blast capable of obliterating everything nearby." He swung it once, and the aura exploded outward in a controlled flare, pushing back the air and scattering dust.
Kai followed, his twin chakrams spinning effortlessly in his hands, arcs of green lightning jumping between them.
"Emerald Tempest," he said.
Wind spiraled around the discs, bending in impossible curves. "Throw them, and they can alter their trajectory mid-flight using G-Force control." He flicked his wrists, and the chakrams zipped around the room like predatory birds, returning perfectly to his hands.
April's eyebrows narrowed. One by one, she observed her pack, their weapons, their control, their mastery of G-Force. Then she looked at her own Spiral Fang and Drill Claws.
Her grip tightening on Spiral Fang.
She was ready.
And soon—she'd break the Third Barrier.
The moment had arrived.
April stood in the HQ's training hall, her hands gripping Spiral Fang as the others watched in anticipation.
The leader stood a few feet away, arms crossed.
"April," he said, his voice firm. "You've mastered martial arts. You've bonded with your weapon. Now, you need to take the next step—breaking the Third Barrier."
She took a deep breath. She knew what this meant.
The First Barrier was the body—physical strength and endurance. The Second Barrier was the mind—tactical thinking and battle instincts.
The Third Barrier?
It was complete synchronization between body, weapon, and Gear. It was the moment where she would push beyond human limitations.
Jax stepped forward. "You know how this works, April. You don't just break the Third Barrier—you force your body to break past it."
She nodded. There was only one way to do it.
A battle.
Jax cracked his knuckles. "And I'm your opponent."
The leader nodded. "Fight him with everything you have. If you hold back, you'll never break through."
April exhaled sharply. Her body tensed as she lowered herself into her combat stance.
Jax smirked. "Let's see what you've got."
And then—he vanished.