The Garage — 11:55 PM
The rain drummed heavily on the metal roof of the auto-repair shop. Inside, the lights were killed.
Kazuki stood in the center of the dark garage, wearing the Echo Suit. The glowing veins were dimmed to a faint, pulsing grey. He was a statue in the dark.
"Sensors are maxed out," Aeva whispered over the comms. She was hiding in the reinforced panic room beneath the floor. "I'm scanning for thermal, magnetic, and motion. If a fly enters this building, we'll know."
"He's already here," Kazuki said calmly.
"What? My scopes are clear."
"I can feel him," Kazuki replied. "The air changed."
12:00 AM.
The digital clock on the wall flickered.
Then, it exploded.
POP.
Darkness.
Suddenly, a voice echoed from every corner of the room at once. It was synthesized, layered, and mocking.
"Speed is a crutch, False God. What good is running if you do not know where to go?"
Kazuki spun around.
To his left, a figure lunged out of the shadows—Kenji, the Porcelain Mask.
Kazuki reacted instantly.
[VELOCITY STRIKE.]
He punched the figure in the chest.
PFHT.
His fist passed right through.
The figure wasn't flesh. It was smoke. The "Kenji" dissolved into grey mist that swirled around Kazuki's arm.
"Too slow," the voice whispered in his right ear.
SLASH.
A monofilament blade cut across Kazuki's back.
The Mark II armor sparked, absorbing the impact, but the force sent Kazuki stumbling forward.
"Aeva! Target lock!" Kazuki yelled, rolling into a defensive crouch.
"I can't lock him!" Aeva panicked. "I'm reading twelve targets! He's using holographic decoys combined with thermal venting. He's a ghost!"
Ten figures stepped out of the shadows. All of them wore the Porcelain Mask. All of them drew long, serrated daggers.
They circled Kazuki.
"The Void Walkers remember the future," the ten Kenjis spoke in unison. "We saw what you become. We saw the universe stop. We saw the silence."
"I'm not him!" Kazuki shouted.
He burst into motion.
He blitzed the circle.
Bam. Bam. Bam.
He struck three clones in under a second.
Smoke. Smoke. Smoke.
All decoys.
The real Kenji struck from the ceiling.
He dropped silently, driving a stun-baton into the back of Kazuki's neck.
ZZZZT.
High-voltage electricity surged through the suit. Kazuki's HUD flickered red.
[SYSTEM ERROR: NEURAL SYNC DISRUPTED.]
Kazuki fell to his knees, paralyzed by the shock.
Kenji landed in front of him. The real Kenji.
He spun a knife in his hand.
"You rely on the machine," Kenji said, tilting his masked head. "Renji was a soldier. You are just a pilot. And pilots die when the engine stalls."
Kenji raised the knife to deliver a killing blow to the armor's seal.
"Aeva! Now!" Kazuki gritted out.
Aeva slammed a key in the panic room.
[DEPLOY: SONIC DISRUPTOR.]
The Mark II suit didn't explode outward. It screamed.
A high-frequency sonic pulse emitted from the chest piece. It wasn't loud—it was a vibration that shattered equilibrium.
WUUUUUB.
The holographic projectors on Kenji's suit shattered. The illusions vanished.
The real Kenji staggered back, clutching his head, his stealth field failing.
Kazuki forced his paralyzed legs to move.
He didn't run. He lunged.
He swept Kenji's legs, knocking the assassin to the concrete.
Before Kenji could recover, Kazuki was on top of him.
Kazuki's wrist-mounted baton extended. He stopped the metal tip one inch from the porcelain mask.
"I win," Kazuki panted.
Kenji lay on the floor, breathing hard. He looked at the baton, then up at the glowing V-visor of the Echo Suit.
Slowly, he began to chuckle.
"Good," Kenji said. "You have teeth."
The garage door rolled open.
The rain poured in.
Silhouetted in the doorway was Rina. She was leaning against the frame, checking her watch.
"12:05," Rina noted. "Took you longer than I thought."
Kazuki stood up and holstered his baton. He offered a hand to Kenji.
Kenji hesitated, then slapped the hand away and kipped up to his feet. He adjusted his mask.
"He is raw," Kenji said to his sister. "But the suit... the suit is different. It doesn't smell like the Rot."
"That's why we're here," Rina said, walking into the garage. She looked at Kazuki.
"The Void Walkers have been tracking a signal. Deep space. Approaching Earth."
"Malvorn," Kazuki said.
"Worse," Kenji corrected. "Malvorn is the hammer. But the Hunters are the scalpel."
Kenji pulled a small holographic projector from his belt and threw it to Kazuki.
It displayed three profiles. Three terrifying alien warriors.
Vex: A creature made of shifting slime.
Kora: A giantess with cybernetic skin.
Dread: A speedster. But his lightning wasn't blue or red. It was Black.
"They land in three days," Kenji said ominously. "They are here to test you. To see if you are worthy of becoming... Him."
"Him?" Kazuki asked.
"The End," Rina whispered. "The Speedster at the End of Time."
Kazuki looked at the image of Dread—the Black Speedster.
"So we have three days to prepare for an invasion."
"No," Kenji said, walking toward the shadows. "We have three days to teach you how to fight without running."
He looked back.
"Class starts tomorrow at dawn. Don't be late, False God."
[To Be Continued…]