The Hive was unnervingly silent. The usual hum of chatter, bartering, and footsteps had vanished, leaving only the echo of Axel's punch. Dust floated in the air, drifting in the faint market light. Axel's mind, however, was elsewhere.
He froze mid-step, eyes distant, hands curled into loose fists. Memories he had buried deep began surfacing.
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2398, New Year's Eve – Neoterra
Axel, nineteen at the time, sat in his small apartment, alone. The carehome that had raised him felt like a distant dream. He had never known his biological parents, he only had stepmother and stepfather, at one point in life. Every holiday, every evening, every birthday, for the past few years, he spent with only himself for company, alone.
He tapped his phone screen, playing Monopoly against a digital AI on the hardest difficulty. He was winning easily, as usual. A small smile tugged at his lips.
But, as the clock ticked closer to midnight, he felt an urge he couldn't ignore. He needed air, space, to wander—like he always did. Slipping on his worn shoes, he walked into the crisp night, heading toward the casino he sometimes frequented.
The casino doors were locked. He had been banned. Too many wins. Too many suspicious patterns. He stared at the glass entrance for a moment, then turned away, heading back home.
The quiet of the streets was comforting, yet heavy. Axel wasn't tired from walking; he was tired from the isolation.
A few meters from the casino, something exploded behind him. He spun around. Smoke. Not fire. Not destruction. Someone wanted him scared—maybe dead—but the city around him remained intact.
Then three figures appeared, stepping silently from the shadows: army soldiers, each with red bandages on their right arms.
Before Axel could react, they fired green darts. Sleep darts. He expected chaos—but instead, the three darts hit all three soldiers. They fell, motionless, perfectly synchronized. Axel barely had time to process before running, shouting for help.
He reached the nearest building, yanked open the door, and stumbled inside—but another dart, green and lethal, struck the back of his neck. Darkness claimed him.
When he awoke, days had passed—seventy-two hours at least. His body ached from immobility. Concrete floor. Cold, damp air. The faint hum of machinery echoed through the hidden underground prison. Axel didn't know where he was. Fear gripped him.
A silhouette approached—a woman, confident and steady.
"Rika Hayase!" she said, extending a hand. "Come on, boy. Get up." Rika introduced herself as thirty-six year old woman with powers.
Axel hesitated, then took her hand. Her grip was firm, grounding him. Memories of the weeks spent together in that prison flooded back: arguing over trivial things, sharing the meager rations when the army finally provided food, laughing quietly in dark corners, surviving together in silence, her telling him what's bothering her, that she has wild sex drive which she contained because of this place, she also told him she's divorced from her husband and that her only two children are now with him, at least that's what army told her. She told him eveything. Axel started slowly falling in love with Rika form that moment on.
Two weeks passed in that rhythm.
One night, Rika leaned closer, her voice teasing, cutting through the shadows.
"You know," she said, eyes glinting in the dim light, "this curious woman wants to know… what's baby boy's powers?"
Axel froze, hesitant. He opened his mouth to respond, but Rika raised a finger and stopped him.
"You know what? Forget it. Let's go to our chambers. Sleeping time."
The army's schedule was strict. Every night, one prisoner was taken for "tests." Powers were measured, experimented on. Some never came back.
That night, Axel and Rika were lucky. She glanced at him, teasing, her face partially illuminated by the flickering bulb outside the chamber. Axel could see that she's smirking while looking at him.
Axel turned towards wall because he likes sleeping that way but.. he heard Rika moan, quietly but Axel was curious because he never heard a woman's moan next to him, up until now.
Axel turned around and saw that Rika was.. masturbating, she was pleasing herself under the sheets. Axel hoped she thought he was asleep, he was freaked out, he didn't speak.
"You ever had sex.. baby boy?" Rika asked Axel, she spread her thick legs, everything now visible to Axel's eyes.
"No. N-no." Axel said hesitant. Axel then slowly stood up as Rika teased him by throwing her orange prison panties onto his face. Axel went to Rika's bed on other side of chamber.
They had sex that night. Axel lost his virginity.
Axel woke up next morning. He expected Rika to be there, like the night before, but she wasn't.
The chamber was empty. He pushed himself up, heart racing, and checked the prison courtyard—every corridor, every corner. Nothing. The woman who had been his first intimate experience, the only warmth he'd felt in weeks, was gone. Panic and fury clawed at him. He approached the army security guards who monitored the facility from cameras.
"Where… where is she?" Axel demanded, voice low but sharp.
The guards were silent. Not a twitch, not a word. Only empty, impassive eyes staring at him from behind the glass. Rage bubbled in Axel's chest, but he had no way to reach her.
Later that day, Axel found himself wandering the prison halls, restless, hungry, desperate for connection. He noticed a group of people sitting together for lunch, quietly eating. On impulse, he approached them, asking if he could join.
They welcomed him.
He met Yuki, Goro, Shin, and Nyra that day. Conversations started slowly, but over time, they began spending more and more time together. Lunches, training sessions, quiet moments in hidden corners—they became his family. His surrogate unit. From that moment forward, Axel rarely spent time alone.
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The memory vanished as the present rushed in.
Axel's attention snapped back to The Hive. Rika Hayase, impossibly fast, had fired at least thirty orange-glowing bullets across the market. The bullets hissed through the air, crackling with energy.
Then, something impossible happened. The bullets curved. Every single one of them. Not just a little—each followed an unnatural, precise arc, twisting through the air like guided missiles. They all turned, aiming straight for Axel's face.
Time slowed in his mind.
He remembered.
Trajectory control.
Rika's ability wasn't just shooting. She could manipulate the path of any projectile she fired or threw, bending it mid-air with perfect accuracy.
Axel's stomach dropped. His mind raced, calculating distance, velocity, timing. Every instinct he'd learned over years of survival told him to react, but the realization froze him for a heartbeat. She could hit him. Anywhere. With any bullet.
And now… she intended to.