Crimson cracks began spreading from the center of the Voletile's chest, branching like veins beneath its pitch-black skin. Fog swirled around it, and its crescent-shaped eyes glowed through the haze.
Tyla's expression hardened instantly. "A Fledge…" she said grimly.
She turned to Reol, who was frozen in place. He stood rooted, hands trembling as he instinctively staggered back.
'Wh-what am I looking at?' he thought. 'That Voletile… it's standing on two feet? And those red markings…'
His breath caught as the hoverboard slipped from his grip, reverting to a skateboard that clattered against the ground.
'I don't think retreat is even an option… this port is a maze of containers. I've already lost count of how many twists and turns we've made… and the fog isn't making things easier.' Tyla thought.
Lyle grabbed Reol's shoulders and shook him, trying to snap him out of it, but Reol's eyes refused to leave the creature, paralyzed by its presence.
Tyla noticed immediately. 'It must be his first time seeing a Fledge,' she realized. 'This is bad. Even with experience, we'd need at least five first-class for something like this.'
One of the Newborn's arms twisted violently, reshaping into a crude axe, and it lunged, swinging.
"Move!" Tyla ordered.
They grabbed Reol and leapt aside, narrowly avoiding the swing.
Whip!
The impact sliced through the air.
They dove, hitting the ground hard and rolling behind a container as the axe came down.
Lyle leaned out and fired without hesitation. His bullets tore through the Newborn's reshaping body, some striking the center of its chest. The core fractured, and the creature dissolved into smoke, its screams ripping through the port.
The second Newborn lunged, then froze mid-motion. Above them, the Fledge's eye glowed, giving a silent command, and the Newborn obeyed without hesitation.
"System, signal backup at headquarters," Tyla commanded.
[Signaling backup… … … Signal jammed. Radiowave interference detected.]
Tyla clenched her jaw. "Are you serious?!"
"Fledges have intelligence," Lyle muttered, eyes locked on the creature. "But not enough to pick a kill zone and trap us like this. What in the actual fuck is going on?"
Tyla peeked around the container, watching the Fledge stand tall and motionless, almost savoring their panic. 'Look at it… it's enjoying this. Smug piece of shit.'
[Alert: Reol Alexandra… heart rate increasing… 10%… 30%… 55%…]
"No… no backup…" Reol whispered, dread seeping into his voice, eyes wide as his pupils trembled. The Fledge loomed above, silent and unblinking. "Is this it for us…? If I die here, who'll take care of Riley and Brianna?"
Tyla froze, staring, then forced a reassuring smile. "No. We'll make it out of this. Count on it."
She turned back toward the Voletiles, thoughts grim. Yeah right, easier said than done.
"Lyle," she ordered, "you and I take it head-on. Reol, stay back. This is too much for a newbie. But stay sharp. Watch everything."
Her eyes shifted to rose as her chains manifested, pulsing with energy. Lyle's pistols dissolved and reformed into a jade AK-47 in his hands.
"Let's use its confidence against it," Tyla said.
Her chain wrapped around the container beneath the remaining Newborn. She tightened her grip and, with a violent tug, yanked it free, sending it soaring. The Newborn clung on as the container blocked the Fledge's view.
"Lyle!"
He rolled forward, firing with precision through the container. Bullets tore through metal, but the Newborn leapt into the line of fire, shielding the Fledge. Its body shredded, the core cracking as it screamed and dissolved into smoke.
"Dammit," Lyle snarled. "It used the Newborn as a shield!"
The container crashed down, metal ringing and stone cracking. For the first time, the Fledge spoke.
"Me… now. Kill."
It launched itself from the stacked containers with terrifying speed, its arm morphing into a blade aimed straight at Lyle.
Tyla threw her chain.
Cling!
It wrapped tight around the Fledge's arm, halting its momentum inches from him. Lyle fired point-blank, but the Fledge twisted away as Tyla yanked it sideways, slamming it into a container with a deafening crunch as metal buckled.
Behind them, Reol's arms shook violently. He reached for his bodysuit, then remembered it wasn't Lorraine. His stomach lurched, and he retched, gasping. 'This… this is bullshit. Why am I freezing up?'
The Fledge rose with a hiss that echoed across the port. It lunged at Tyla, claws stretching unnaturally, striking multiple times as she pivoted, dodged, and parried with her chains.
Chains erupted from the ground, binding its limbs. Tyla jumped back as Lyle moved in, firing and tearing chunks from its body. The creature roared as a black tendril, veined with red cracks, burst from its back.
Boom!
It slammed into Lyle's stomach, launching him into a container with a brutal thud, metal bending under his weight.
Crack!
His leg broke from the impact. He gritted his teeth. "Are you fuckin kidding me?!"
Tyla's chains shattered as the tendril shot for her heart. She twisted at the last second, the tip slicing across her side as she hit the ground hard, blood soaking her uniform as she clutched her ribs.
"It's using its Renvra…" she muttered through clenched teeth. "We're in deep shit."
The Fledge advanced slowly, Renvra writhing behind it.
Tyla steadied herself, eyes narrowing as her breathing slowed. 'There's no choice. I have to use it. If this fails… I'm dead anyway.'
She closed her eyes. When they opened, pink light traced along her coat. Her chains extended and reshaped, spikes rising along their length as twin reaper blades formed at the ends. The air shifted as the weapon hummed.
"Phase Two," she whispered. "Silent Reaper."
Sparks flew, the impact sending debris and containers into the air. She moved like a blur, chains weaving into a deadly web as she struck from the flank, eyes fixed on the core and hand reaching for it, but the Fledge's tendril blocked, deflecting her and sending her spinning skyward before she twisted.
The Fledge turned, claws shooting toward her. Using a hovering stone above her for momentum, she propelled herself forward as it shattered, hair fluttering, arms crossed, whipping her chains through the oncoming strike.
Cling! Cling! Cling! Cling!
The chains sliced past, driving straight into the Fledge. Its body tore apart, but the core didn't shatter, it's skin crawled, regenerating slowly.
Midair, Tyla cursed. "Dammit! What will it take?!"
The Fledge drove its knee into her gut, her eyes widening from the gut-wrenching blow as the impact tore through her, blood spraying from her mouth. Its arm shifted into a blade, slashing down until Lyle fired, tearing the limb apart. In the same instant, Tyla flipped behind it, chains coiling around its neck as she landed, and Lyle limped closer, unloading into its chest at point-blank range.
The skin regenerated, crawling and morphing together. Beneath it, a red orb flickered, still intact.
A sudden thrum jolted Tyla's heart, her eyes narrowing. "Dammit, time's almost up…"
Reol sat in a corner, watching the chaos unfold. "I can't just sit here… something has to be done." His eyes stayed locked on the Fledge.
The Fledge drove its Revna toward Tyla's midsection, but she pivoted, flipping above it as her chains shot out, wrapping around containers from multiple directions. They pulled the containers into the Fledge.
Crash!
The containers slammed against it as she landed on her feet.
"That should at least buy us some time…" she murmured.
The Fledge sliced through the containers in a single clean strike, cutting them in half as it hissed. Tyla's heart thudded again as she dropped to one knee, her rose eyes slowly reverting to their original color.
Its tendril lashed out, wrapping around her and tightening as it leapt onto stacked containers. Tyla gritted her teeth in pain. Lyle tried to rise, but one leg was broken from the earlier impact.
"You let her go!" he shouted.
The Fledge ignored him, tightening its Revna. Tyla screamed as Lyle unleashed a barrage of shots. The Fledge didn't even flinch; its skin regenerated instantly, and its core flickered faintly.
That's when it clicked for Reol. "Wait… could it be…?" He noticed a recurring pattern.
The Fledge's mouth widened, spiraling like a black hole as it pulled Tyla closer while she struggled.