(Infinity glances around, emotionless as ever, seeing Flare, Focus, Boltix, Jackpot, and Jax all surrounding him. He glances intently at every single one of those five, who remain put with firm expressions, letting the deafening silence hang longer than it should before Infinity breaks the silence.)

  Infinity: (glancing around at them) That’s a rather amusing collection of Surges. The Muscle Surge. The Creation Surge. The Kinetic Surge. The Superhuman Surge. And finally… (glancing at Flare) the Fire Surge. Not just any Fire Surge, but a Fire Surge Beacon.

  Flare: (unimpressed) Yeah, I hear ya. Another bit of nonsense to add to your collection of absolute rubbish.

  Focus: (sternly) We’re all here because you’re meddling in business that you shouldn’t get involved with. You’ve got a lot to explain.

  Infinity: (firmly) And that I will… only if you’re willing to listen. Trust me… (icily) you don’t wanna listen.

  (Infinity reforms his shadow tendrils, the purple infinity sign on his mask glowing with energy. He remains composed as he sees Flare, Focus, Boltix, Jackpot, and Jax taking their stances around him, getting ready to take him on. They all attempt to lunge at him, only for Infinity to use Shadow Quickstep and move upwards, launching his shadow tendrils at the group midair. They jump out of the way, and Infinity uses Shadow Quickstep once again, this time to close in on Flare, but she anticipates that and launches several fire lances at him from point-blank range.)

  Infinity: Pressure Sink.

  (He utilizes Pressure Sink, a technique in which he absorbs environmental pressure, causing shockwaves to flatten and for explosions to dull as a result. This happens to Flare, her fire lances getting snuffed out, to her surprise. Infinity makes use of her shock and punches her in the gut, sending her back. He then quickly parries a punch from Focus, sending him skidding back, and then he uses Mass Bias to reduce his body mass and rapidly dodge Boltix’s and Jax’s combined blows. He then performs Hardening, his fists crystallizing and his shadow tendrils becoming more armored before lunging at Jax for a punch, who attempts to block it with his own fist. However, after their fists collide, Jax gets sent skidding back.)

  Jax: (thinking to himself, gritting his teeth) What’s with this guy?!

  (Jackpot then jumps at Infinity while pulling out a pair of missiles out of his Creation pot and throwing them at Infinity, only for him to grab them easefully with his shadow tendrils and throw them at both Jax and Boltix, sending them skidding back. He then launches a shadow lance at Jackpot, sending him flying, but then Flare propels herself at him for a fiery punch, which he cancels out by headbutting her fist and sending her skidding back, during which Focus reappears from his right side and knees him in the face before he can react, sending him skidding back. Upon regaining his balance, Infinity launches his shadow tendrils at both Flare and Focus, who move around while dodging them.)

  Focus: (thinking to himself) Something’s wrong with this guy. The way he fights… his Surge… it’s not normal. Something about his power tells me that… it’s not like how normal Surges would work. Nothing about him makes sense!

  (Flare propels herself upwards and launches a burst of flames from above at Infinity, who easefully blocks it with a shadow construct, and then he performs Shadow Quickstep backwards to gain distance from Focus and avoid his subsequent punch. Boltix and Jackpot watch Flare and Focus take on Infinity while panting in exhaustion, but then Jax comes in.)

  Jax: (firmly) You see it too, don’t you? We can’t take this guy. We stay here any longer, and we’re done for.

  Boltix: (gritting his teeth) Shut it! If you think I’m leaving without Stone, then you’ve got another thing coming!

  Jackpot: (sighing deeply, turning to Boltix) He’s right.

  Boltix: Say what?!

  Jackpot: Listen, this guy can’t be beat, not here and not now at least. If we get captured here, then we’ve lost our chance to save Stone. We need to withdraw.

  Jax: I’m sure Hunter has a plan to get him next time. We’ve already got the intel we’re looking for. Maybe that can help.

  (Boltix clenches his fists and grits his teeth while on his knees, but then he and Jackpot get back up on their feet, the former sighing deeply and nodding at both Jackpot and Jax. Meanwhile, the battle between Gauntlet and Hollow continues, and the two run alongside each other on a hallway. The former attempts to increase his speed using his air shoes, but Hollow propels himself with his energized feet and stands in his way.)

  Gauntlet: (internally, gritting his teeth) I need to withdraw, but he won’t let me get past him!

  (Gauntlet launches one of his gauntlets at Hollow from close range while using the other to carve a way through the wall beside him. Hollow lands a blast at the gauntlet, knocking it back, while Gauntlet turns to the opening in the wall and runs through it, only for Hollow to quickly catch up to him when he crashes through the wall and launches an energy beam at him.)

  Gauntlet: (grimacing) This guy!

  (He quickly blocks it with an energy barrier and gets sent flying regardless, and the moment he regains his footing, he receives a punch at the chest and gets sent crashing through a wall. He tiredly emerges from the rubble, panting in exhaustion as Hollow slowly approaches, charging up his fists with energy. Elsewhere, Proxy, Pulse, and Mistrick run across a hallway and stop in the middle, the former leading the way and watching Gauntlet’s struggle against Hollow.)

  Proxy: (frowning) Gauntlet’s struggling against this guy. The withdrawal isn’t going well.

  Pulse: Let’s not forget that the enemy soldiers stationed outside will certainly break in and make it even harder for us to escape. What’s happening with them right now?

  Proxy: (switching to another camera, observing the masked shadow soldiers as they enter the tower) They’re making their way inside the tower. Lots of them.

  Mistrick: (sighing deeply) Is this even gonna work?

  Pulse: If it does, then this could help everyone escape safely.

  Proxy: And if it doesn’t?

  Pulse: I hope we never know. Now you with me?

  (Proxy and Mistrick exchange glances with concerned expressions, but then they turn to Pulse and firmly nod at her, and she nods back. Hunter takes on the masked shadow soldiers that just entered the tower through gritted teeth; Gauntlet takes a fighting stance against Hollow while panting; and Flare, Focus, Boltix, Jackpot, and Jax all take on Infinity. As all that occurs, Mistrick gets down on one knee, charging up her right palm with black, misty energy.)

  Mistrick: (sighing deeply) Here goes.

  (Mistrick slams that energized palm into the ground, her black eyes glowing with a sort of black mist, and a faint, cloudy black aura envelops her as she summons her black mist, which starts spreading all over the nearby area and beyond. It starts taking up more space inside the tower; however, its spread starts to slow down, given its limited radius, and that’s when Pulse comes in, charging up a green energy lance while standing behind Mistrick.)

  Pulse: Buff: Expansion.

  (Pulse lands the energy lance at Mistrick’s back, and her pupils adapt a bit of a green glow. The black mist itself starts to faintly get energized with that green energy from the outside, and it expands well beyond its typical range at a rapid pace. As Hunter continues taking out the masked shadow soldiers pursuing him one by one, the mist envelops his surroundings, to his surprise. The mist extends further and envelops the area where Gauntlet and Hollow battle, leaving the latter especially shocked.)

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  Hollow: (internally, shocked) That mist… are they here too?!

  (Gauntlet wastes no time upon seeing that Hollow has dropped his guard, immediately launching a gauntlet at him. However, Hollow quickly jumps backwards while sending it back with a blow, though his movement suddenly becomes more stiff and heavy, and Gauntlet punches him in the gut, sending him flying. The mist keeps spreading, even surrounding Flare and the other Surge users during their fight with Infinity, surprising them all.)

  Boltix: (looking around) That’s gotta be Mistrick. What’s she up to now?

  Infinity: (muttering) The Mist Surge.

  (Suddenly, a mist copy of Mistrick appears out of nowhere behind Infinity and attempts a roundhouse kick at his face, only to get quickly taken out by a shadow tendril. However, several more mist copies appear and lunge at him, and he quickly takes them out with his shadow tendrils, only for Boltix to pounce on the opportunity and propel himself at Infinity, kneeing him in the face and sending him flying. He regains his balance, but his movement is noticeably more sluggish and heavy.)

  Infinity: (thinking to himself) It’s difficult to move inside this mist. A known usage of the Surge.

  (Flare, Focus, Jackpot, and Jax are all surprised by the appearance of the Mistrick copies, but they soon seize the opportunity and head for Infinity alongside Boltix, all lunging at him, while he gets ready to continue the battle. Meanwhile, Mistrick stays on her knees, shutting her eyes and continuously summoning more and more mist copies all around the tower to deal with the masked shadow soldiers, while the mist continues expanding until it covers the entire tower, even faintly being seen from outside. Pulse charges up another green energy lance and — with one hand still on Mistrick’s back — places her other hand on Proxy’s back.)

  Pulse: Buff: Sync.

  (Both Pulse and Proxy receive this buff, the two’s eyes glowing with green energy. Proxy charges up her fists with purple energy as she activates her Tech Surge, which surprisingly reaches all the way to the broken drones inside the tower, far from where they are. Using her Tech Surge, Proxy rapidly pieces the drones back together and activates them once more, and they head off all around the tower to cause some chaos. Pulse too uses her Support Surge once again, and as she charges up her hand with electric green energy, all of her other allies — Hunter with the masked shadow soldiers, Gauntlet with Hollow, and Flare, Focus, Boltix, Jackpot, and Jax with Infinity — are enveloped with a faint green hue of energy, to their surprise.)

  Focus: (glancing at his palms, surprised) That’s… a buff. Pulse’s doing.

  Pulse: (her voice echoing through the ears of each of them) Buff: Livewire.

  (This green hue of energy enveloping the Surge users develops into an electric green aura that quickly fades away, meaning that they’ve all been buffed effectively. Flare and the other Surge users lunge at Infinity together once again, who notices that they’ve all been buffed before performing Shadow Quickstep to gain distance.)

  Infinity: (internally) That’s the Support Surge. It’s buffed them all. What’s going on here?

  (Infinity spreads his shadow tendrils and launches a barrage of blasts through them, which all five Surge users bypass as they lunge at him, but he continues gliding backwards to maintain distance. However, his movements are still rather sluggish, and he notices that himself, using Shadow Quickstep sideways to avoid a punch from Jax. The move itself feels heavy and noticeably less instant, slowed down enough for Focus to hijack it and land a kick at him, driving him backward. He catches himself and uses Anchor to stabilize his stance as Flare follows up, landing a powerful kick at his chest. To his shock, the kick carried more power than it was supposed to, landing an actual critical hit that overwhelms Anchor and causes Infinity to get shoved off his stance.)

  Infinity: (thinking to himself, shocked) She… broke Anchor! But that’s impossible! Is this the buff’s doing?!

  (Infinity firmly plants his feet on the ground once again to take on Flare, a crooked smile forming on her face as she lights up her fists with fire. Meanwhile, as Hunter continues firing at the masked shadow soldiers around him nonstop, a massive swarm of drones breaks into the area, opening fire at the shadow soldiers, startling the former, who seizes the opportunity to head off and continue on his path to confront Infinity.)

  Hunter: (internally) So that’s what it’s all about. I don’t know how exactly, but apparently, Team Delta made it work somehow, and with their reinforcements taking care of the enemy soldiers… I could assist Focus and the others myself. Masterful work, I must say.

  Masterful, indeed! First, Mistrick activated her Mist Surge so that all her allies inside would benefit from it, and with Pulse applying Expansion on her, not only was she able to spread her mist to include the entire interior of the tower, but she also was backed up with enough stockpiled energy to maintain her mist for as long as needed and summon a lot more mist copies than her usual limit. Then, using Sync, Pulse enabled both her and Proxy to increase the range of their respective Surges through the mist’s spread, meaning that they can utilize their powers anywhere inside the tower. For Proxy, she used her Tech Surge to piece the drones back together and control them, using them as further reinforcements for her allies, and for Pulse, she applied Livewire on all of her allies, a buff that increase the chances of a critical hit massively, up to perhaps 32% — given that it landed on an opponent and carries enough power behind it.

  With support from the drones, Mistrick’s numerous copies, the Livewire Buff, and the nature of the mist itself, which helps allies travel faster and causes foes to move rather slightly more sluggishly, this is their best chance at withdrawing, and they absolutely must make the most of it.

  (Meanwhile, Gauntlet continues running across the hallway, with Hollow running beside him, the former’s movement being smoother and faster and the latter’s movement being rather sluggish, as if trying to pierce through the stiff mist with his movements, the known effect of Mistrick’s Mist Surge.)

  Hollow: (thinking to himself) This mist… I can’t move comfortably. Still… I can’t let him escape.

  (Gauntlet propels himself upwards and turns back to Hollow, launching a barrage of blasts at him, and the latter lunges at him while canceling out the blasts. Gauntlet uses his gauntlets to grapple back into the ground and then launches his two gauntlets right at Hollow. He blasts them away and lands on the ground to land a punch at Gauntlet; however, a Mistrick copy suddenly appears between them, taking Hollow’s blow instead and causing him to momentarily lose momentum. Gauntlet seizes the opportunity and directs one of his gauntlets to grab Hollow by the throat.)

  Gauntlet: (grinning) Gotcha.

  (The gauntlet sends Hollow crashing into the wall at the end of the hallway, pinning him there. The gauntlet also starts getting energized with neon red energy outlines for a few moments before letting go of Hollow’s neck and blasting him through the wall. It then turns back and finds its way back to Gauntlet, who’s continuing his run across the hallway.)

  Gauntlet: (thinking to himself, grinning confidently) With those new gauntlets, I don’t need to worry about stockpiling an opponent’s Surge when activating Surge Erasure, meaning that it won’t go awry like last time. However, the technique will dissipate once I leave. It can’t be maintained with distance, and it’ll go away over time, but given that it can’t be sabotaged by normal means once it’s done, I consider this a welcome upgrade.

  (Gauntlet reaches the staircase and jumps off of it without any sort of hesitation, firmly landing on the ground after softening the impact with his air shoes before continuing to run off. Meanwhile, Hollow emerges from the rubble and attempts to chase after him, but he stumbles when trying to activate his Overdrive Surge and unlock an increase in speed. Seeing that, he immediately understands what happened.)

  Hollow: (icily) He activated Surge Erasure. I can’t catch up to him anymore. Now I have to wait until he leaves and the effect goes away.

  (Hollow slams his fist on the wall beside him, causing a crack on it, but he quickly regains his composure and gets back up on his feet, heading off elsewhere. Meanwhile, Gauntlet goes further down the stairs and arrives at a vehicle bay underground, seeing several snowmobiles ready for use, and he gets on one of them. He starts up the snowmobile, but before driving into the snowy terrain, he glances at Pulse, Proxy, and Mistrick, who formed the masterful tactic that helped him escape, a faint smirk forming on his face, then he links up with all of his allies.)

  Gauntlet: (via communicator) All units, I’m heading out. You all better be right behind me.

  (All of the Surge users receive this message from Gauntlet, who starts up the snowmobile and heads outside the tower, driving in the snow and finally completing the withdrawal. Pulse, Proxy, and Mistrick receive this message as they continue with their support, and they nod at each other with confident grins.)

  Proxy: (grinning) This actually worked, huh? Well, I never.

  (Several masked shadow soldiers converge on the trio from both sides, but Mistrick remains busy with her mist, and Pulse remains busy maintaining the buff on Mistrick to help her out, leaving only Proxy to deal with the soldiers. She does manage to handle it, creating two rail guns and firing at the soldiers converging from the two sides. Hunter receives the message while going up the stairs, only reacting with a firm nod as he continues with his business. Focus receives this message as he and the others continue dealing with Infinity, who overhears it through Focus’s communicator.)

  Infinity: (the infinity sign on his mask narrowing, sternly) The withdrawal process begins. No matter. (reforming his shadow tendrils, glancing at Flare specifically) Everyone else may leave, but you of all people… no. I’d rather keep you around.

  Flare: (clenching her fiery fists, grinning fiercely) Lemme see you try it, tough guy!

  Infinity: (slamming his shadow tendrils on the ground) Mass Bias!

  (Infinity activates Mass Bias, decreasing his body mass significantly, reverting to a body state almost comparable to that of a teenager, and then he flies upwards at unbelievable speed; since his body mass was reduced so significantly, he managed to travel faster than what the mist allows him to, seemingly overwhelming its effect at the expense of lowering his own physical strength, to the others’ surprise. He then lunges at the Surge users from above, getting ready to launch his shadow tendrils at them. The withdrawal operation may be starting to show success, but the battle with Infinity isn’t done yet, and he won’t let them escape without a fight.)