"Heh... so the rumors were true after all," Altair said as he pressed a small injector against his neck.
Silver nano-healer fluid immediately activated, repairing his cracked ribs within seconds.
"Be careful, Chairman," Vega said as his form blended back into the room like a digital chameleon.
Inside his mind, No Name wanted nothing more than to end this immediately by creating a Black Hole and swallowing both of them whole.
But one massive attack like that would erase the entire foundation of his headquarters, burying his Pions beneath tons of steel rubble.
I have to limit the damage zone, No Name thought.
Without waiting for any signal, Vega shot behind No Name, attempting to sever his neck with a hard-light blade.
But No Name's instincts were razor sharp. Wrapping his hand in Pure Darkness, he caught the blade of pure energy barehanded.
He spun and drove a lethal kick into Vega's ribs, sending the Vice Chairman of The Axiom crashing through a concrete wall.
Seeing the opening, Altair wasted no time.
He drew a pair of Quantum-Pulse energy pistols and fired repeatedly.
TRATATATATA!
Instead of dodging, No Name spread his black mist as a shield.
Altair grinned slyly.
The bullets did not explode upon touching the darkness. Instead, they froze in midair, embedding themselves into the shadow particles and forming a connected hexagonal pattern.
"You thought I was shooting to kill you?" Altair sneered. "That is a Quantum Restraint Grid!"
Instantly, the net emitted static force that multiplied gravity around No Name a hundredfold.
The floor beneath his feet shattered and sank a full meter.
His movement was locked in place.
From the debris, Vega reappeared soundlessly, taking advantage of the gravity trap.
This time, he carried no blade.
His right arm had transformed into a fully charged high-yield plasma cannon aimed directly at No Name's head from point-blank range.
"Checkmate, anomaly," Vega hissed, ready to fire.
In that split-second moment, No Name's mind moved faster than their quantum computers.
If he could not release his power outward because of the gravity net... then he would turn it inward.
Rather than resisting the pressure, No Name forcibly pulled every trace of Pure Darkness surrounding him back into the pores of his own skin.
He compressed the void directly into his muscle fibers already infused with the Red Stone's power.
WUSHHH!
The effect was insane.
Altair's Quantum Restraint Grid lost its energy target and detonated uselessly.
Freed from the gravity pressure, and with his body now flooded by an absolute internal explosion of power, No Name's physical speed broke beyond the laws of physics.
By the time Vega pulled the trigger, No Name was already gone.
The plasma blast destroyed nothing but empty air.
"Behind you!" Altair shouted, his eyes widening as his sensors failed to track No Name's movement.
Vega had not even begun to turn when No Name's hand, now glowing red-hot from the Red Stone, pierced through the back of his nano-suit and destroyed the core circuitry in his spine.
BZZZZT!
Vega convulsed violently. His combat systems shut down instantly from the precise strike that destroyed his mechanical nerve center.
He collapsed helplessly.
Altair did not panic.
Realizing his vice chairman had fallen, he used the split-second opening while No Name attacked Vega to dash...
not toward No Name, but toward the vault containing the Blue Stone.
His cunning mind knew No Name was too fast to defeat in close combat.
The true objective was to seize the stone.
His fingers nearly touched the glowing Blue Stone.
Got it! Altair thought triumphantly.
But the instant his fingertips touched its surface, space around the vault suddenly distorted.
His hand passed through the stone as though it were nothing but an optical illusion.
"What?!" Altair froze.
"You were too focused on my speed," a heavy voice whispered from beside him.
No Name stood there calmly, holding the real Blue Stone in his left hand.
"You forgot that I can stop time... and use this stone's resonance to bend light-space itself."
Altair had completely miscalculated.
This battle of strategy had been won absolutely by the Nameless Devil.
No Name raised his right hand, preparing to crush Altair's skull.
Realizing death stood directly before him, Altair's cybernetic eyes flashed emergency red.
"Orbital Evacuation Protocol! Now!" he shouted.
A golden tractor beam from outer space pierced through the ruined ceiling, enveloping Altair and the unconscious Vega at the same time.
The beam instantly dragged them upward at light speed, one second before No Name's killing punch smashed into the place Altair had stood, leaving behind a gaping crater.
Silence once again covered the ruined laboratory.
Night wind blew in through the hole in the ceiling.
No Name stood tall, exhaling slowly as he lowered his hand.
The clash of intellect and power was over.
The Axiom returned home empty-handed, carrying nothing but humiliation.
Behind him, Tora, Scyte, Rare, and Arrow stared at their master's back with wide eyes, unable to say a single word after witnessing the absurdity of No Name's strength and intelligence.