[ Creators ]

Chapter 51

"I am... your time to fall."

The mysterious man holds out his hand and fires a beam of unstable energy at Nave, but Exisite jumps out at the perfect moment at shoves him out of the way, letting the energy hit a nearby tree instead.

"You-! ...You saved me-?"

"Sorry-"

The stranger watches the two curiously. Sensing he's about to attack again, Exisite springs up and attempts to slash him. But, to his surprise, the menace counters, revealing he also uses claw gauntlets like him. The dark presence smirks as he pushes back against Exisite, "How interesting... you seem surprised, and yet you were scared of this even happening."

Delta tries to call in on his walkie talkie but it's no use. There's too much interference for them to get through, but they can hear everything going on.

"Castor-!? CASTOR!? DarkClaw what's happening over there!?"

"I don't know what's going on but we've got to find out! NITRO!"

Another member of the team, Nitro, leans against the wall. He's a very old friend of DarkClaw's from back in his military days, they were both members of the same cybernetics program. He has gray hair, and piercing red eyes, and wears an intimidating green and black uniform.

"I heard every word. Let's do it."

Meanwhile, Exisite and the stranger are locked, claw to claw, neither of them giving up the push against the other. "It's like you dreamed about this encounter...", the man hisses. Exisite grits his teeth, "Just- who are you!?" The man laughs and begins putting more pressure on Exisite, as he does the surrounding area begins to shake.

"Come on now... doesn't the name Vyz ring a bell?", he looks at Exisite dead in the eyes, his physical form now fully taking shape.

"You're...!"

"Yes. I'm the one you heard in that 'dream'... quite convenient that your friends led you right to my resting place, isn't it, child?"

"Kid-!", Nave backs up a little, now getting an idea of the extent of Vyz's power. But Exisite refuses to pull back. As a result, Vyz's power now explodes out, slowly turning this once beautiful and lush forest into a dry, open field. And this becomes noticeable
by everyone.

Indigo sniffles and holds back tears as Selena hurriedly carries her away from the fight, "Our old home..." Selena shakily reassures her child, "It's ok, sweety. Castor's got this-!" The mother-daughter-duo run into DarkClaw and Nitro who were speeding their way over toward the battle. DarkClaw skids to a stop, "Sele-! What's going on?!" Selena catches her breath while keeping Indigo close, "A metal version of your boy showed up and opened a tomb... and what was inside is putting us all in danger!"

DarkClaw, not being surprised by anything anymore, simply sighs, "...Yep."

Meanwhile Ex, Uriel, Ajax, and Xenos spot the commotion from another part of the city. "Woah... that- doesn't seem right", Ex observes. Uriel points towards the source of the destruction, "Let's check it out!" "Are we really gonna go over there?", Xenos asks, with a mix of curiosity and worry. Ajax puts a hand on his little brother's shoulder, "It looks pretty collateral. We have to."