(Meanwhile, Jackpot and Stone go through a tunnel in an attempt to catch up with Flare and Focus and join the action, but the fight got out of hand so quickly that they simply couldn’t catch up anymore.)

  Stone: (gritting his teeth) Where are they now?

  Jackpot: (nonchalantly) We should’ve accounted for this when we decided to take Boltix along. Did we really assume he wouldn’t propel himself to the other side of the Earth and pummel those two all by himself?

  Stone: (sighing deeply) I guess. He better be up for it, then.

  (The two reach the end of the tunnel and find themselves at a more open area with multiple alternate routes. Suddenly, however, someone crashes through the ceiling, and it’s none other than Jax in his exaggeratedly muscular form, with Proxy latching onto his back with an excited grin.)

  Jax! The Muscle Surge! As demonstrated just now, he can access an exaggeratedly muscular form that significantly increases his overall strength and endurance! He can even enlarge individual muscles such as those in his limbs when the situation calls for it, granting him a boost in agility in exchange for the relative drop in strength. If only he was eligible for Mr. Olympia!

  (With a smirk, Jax stomps the ground, causing it to collapse and for Jackpot and Stone to fall into another layer of rock, and then he shrinks the size of his muscles to normal. The duo get back up on their feet through gritted teeth and confront Jax and Proxy, the latter getting off the former’s back.)

  Stone: (gritting his teeth) Oh, great. More Aegis operators.

  Jax: (cockily grinning) You started it when you got yourselves involved. We’ve got our priorities, and capturing you is at the top of our list.

  Jackpot: Well, good luck with that.

  (Jackpot propels himself upwards with his rocket-powered roller skates, then he launches a barrage of missiles out of his pot at the duo, but Proxy creates two high-tech laser weapons from the tech parts inside the metallic toolkit attached to her back in an instant and destroys the missiles. Her shoes also develop into air shoes as a bright purple aura influences the tech parts, and she flies off to confront Jackpot.)

  Proxy! The Tech Surge! She can manipulate all sorts of technology into whatever she can imagine, from weapons to utility! She can also hack into almost any network with ease, making her the ultimate technological wildcard! Give her a Turing Award already! That kid’s a gem!

  Jackpot: (faintly smirking) So that’s your Surge, huh, kid? Something about tech and all? Fancy.

  Proxy: (grinning as well) Then I say… may the craftiest Surge user win.

  (As Jackpot and Proxy take their fighting stances above, Jax confronts Stone, the two of them standing on the ground and taking their fighting stances, with Jax enlarging his muscles a bit more. The mysterious masked man watches through his watch, the purple infinity symbol on his mask slightly narrowing in reaction to Jax and Proxy’s arrival.)

  ???: Well, this complicates matters. Aegis is already meddling in my business. The Sparks are in massive trouble.

  Masked Soldier 1A: Should we engage, sir?

  ???: (firmly) Negative. You shall not engage and make your presence known unless I deem it necessary. Our secrecy matters now more than ever.

  Masked Soldier 1B: But the Beacon may slip out of our hands with all of the chaos going on.

  ???: I wouldn’t worry about that. We will meet with her, sooner or later, and given how much I waited until this moment, patience is a simple matter for me.

  (He switches to a camera displaying Focus’s struggle with the Mistrick clones, then he switches to another camera that shows Flare and Boltix’s battle, the two of them repeatedly lunging at each other. Another camera displays none other than Pulse running through a tunnel with a firm expression, apparently glancing at a watch as she does so.)

  Pulse: (thinking to herself) This mist would be problematic. It will hinder our movement and provide support for the Sparks. I need to find whoever is generating that mist and put them down. (glancing at her watch and an energy signature displayed in it) Luckily, they’re not too good at hiding their presence.

  Pulse! The Support Surge! She may not have a flashy combat Surge like everyone else, but she can both support her allies with a variety of buffs such as healing and power amplification and be a handful for foes with a variety of debuffs. Let’s not forget that she’s a capable fighter herself! That girl is the ultimate backup unit, folks!

  (Meanwhile, Mistrick is casually leaning on a wall while crossing her arms, and then she closes her eyes to take a look at what’s going on inside the mist. She observes Flare’s battle with Boltix and Focus’s struggle with her copies, but then she comes across Proxy and Jax’s battles with Jackpot and Stone, respectively, and then notices Pulse coming after her.)

  Mistrick: (annoyed) Okay, who are those guys?! Why are they here?! (gritting her teeth) And that girl… she’s onto me. Gotta hold her off.

  (Meanwhile, Focus kicks one of the copies into a wall, turning it to dust, then he eloquently dodges a blow from another copy, but the thickness of the mist makes it more difficult for him to regain his balance once again, and another copy appears out of nowhere and kicks him in the face, sending him skidding back. However, as he confronts the copies, he notices a couple of them disappearing into dust, to his surprise.)

  Focus: (shocked) What?

  (Those copies end up reappearing to intercept Pulse, one of them landing a mist blow at the ground that stops her dead in her tracks. She finds herself surrounded by several copies of Mistrick and grits her teeth at that.)

  Pulse: (gritting her teeth) So you’re the one controlling the mist, aren’t you?

  Mistrick Copy 1A: (unamused) Me? Nah, the girl you’re looking for is probably somewhere leaning on a wall and crossing her arms as lazily as ever, and right now, she doesn’t want you to interfere.

  (Pulse takes a firm fighting stance as she confronts the copies with a stern expression, getting ready for the struggle to come. Meanwhile, back elsewhere, Jackpot takes off through a tunnel with his rocket-powered roller skates, turning to confront the pursuing Proxy, who chases him with her air shoes. He launches several missiles out of his pot right at her, but she uses her tech to blow them up with her own blasts. She morphs her tech into two ropes and wraps them around her waist, then she launches them at two giant pillars behind Jackpot, who immediately sees through her trick.)

  Jackpot: Nuh-uh.

  (Jackpot immediately propels himself upwards, thinking that Proxy is trying to propel herself at him, but that wasn’t really the idea. Instead, she launches the rocks upwards at Jackpot, a move that takes him by surprise, forcing him to quickly launch a pair of missiles from his pot that turns the two boulders into pieces. This gives Proxy a window for attack, and she dashes at him and lands a kick at his face, sending him skidding back. However, as she moves in on him again, he pulls out his pair of plasma guns and fires at her, forcing her to block one of the blasts with the back of her hand and get sent skidding back.)

  Jackpot: (smirking) What’s especially amusing is how much people belittle firearms. Why does no one bother using them now, I wonder?

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  (As the two head into a giant, cylindrical, upward tunnel, Jackpot jumps into the wall above him and skates across with his rocket-powered roller skates, repeatedly spinning in circles while launching several barrages of missiles at Proxy, who flies up and blows up the missiles with her own tech. However, with the repeated usage of sheer firepower, Proxy soon finds herself unable to keep up, and Jackpot lands a kick at her gut and sends her crashing through a wall. She gets back up on her feet and morphs her tech into a plasma shield to block the incoming blasts.)

  Proxy: (gritting her teeth) Well, then. Gotta fight fire with fire, I guess.

  (She drops the shield and lunges through the gaps in the blasts, managing to land a kick at Jackpot and send him skidding back. He sets foot on the wall and skates across, and Proxy flies after him, the two of them repeatedly clashing and launching a flurry of blasts at one another. Jackpot pulls out a cluster of grenades out of his pot and launches them around Proxy, and the explosions disorient her, giving him the chance to kick her into a tunnel. Before she gets to regain her balance, he kicks her once again in the face and sends her flying into a more closed space. She gets back up and takes a fighting stance as she sees Jackpot approaching.)

  Jackpot: (nonchalantly) Too bad you’re not showing much beyond that first bit of hype.

  Proxy: (faintly smirking) Don’t get ahead of yourself. I think I’ve got an advantage now.

  (Proxy adapts a purple aura as several tech pieces float around her, then she lunges at Jackpot for a punch, one that he easily blocks. He then kicks her in the gut and sends her skidding back, but she lunges at him again, attempting to strike at him from his right side, only to be elbowed in the face and get sent skidding back. She repeatedly spins around him while launching single blasts at him, but he cancels them out with ease and skepticism.)

  Jackpot: (thinking to himself) Is it just me, or is she deliberately pulling her punches? She even looks slower than usual, and I’m certain it’s not just the mist.

  (She gets in behind him for a blow, but he easily and acrobatically dodges then launches a rocket at her, sending her crashing into a wall. She groans as she gets back up to confront Jackpot, a smirk on her face.)

  Jackpot: (skeptically) You’re up to something, aren’t you?

  Proxy: (grinning) Probably.

  (Before Jackpot even realizes anything, a circular piece of metal is attached at his pot’s opening, effectively sealing it. Before he can comprehend what just happened, several more tech deliberately scattered around the area float and morph into a plasma rope that wraps itself around Jackpot and incapacitates him. He grits his teeth and attempts to pull anything out of his pot, but the seal placed on it makes it impossible to use.)

  Jackpot: (shocked) What the hell-o?!

  Proxy: (smirking) Told you I’ve got the advantage here. Your Surge requires space to operate. It isn’t flexible enough to handle close quarters. But mine is, and I only needed you to stand still for a while.

  Jackpot: (gritting his teeth) Is that so? (faintly smirking) Well, then. Fair enough. You got me. Fair and square.

  (Proxy grins at that and morphs her tech into a taser gun, then she lands a single shot at Jackpot’s chest, tasing him and knocking him unconscious. She then controls her tech to follow her as she leaves through a tunnel, taking along a tied-up and unconscious Jackpot. The mysterious masked man watches this through his watch, the glowing purple infinity sign in his mask narrowing.)

  ???: (grimly) The Sparks are already getting outdone, and it’s faster than I anticipated. Perhaps the Surge users Aegis sent are not to be taken lightly after all. I didn’t think I’d find myself in a situation in which my plan would be this much reliant on factors beyond my control… and yet here we are.

  (Meanwhile, Pulse dashes through a tunnel while eloquently dodging several blasts from Mistrick’s copies, who remain hot on her heels. One of the copies finally manages to intercept her and stand in her way, but she grabs its fist and knees it in the gut then throws it at the chasing horde, tripping up a few of them. However, another copy appears out of nowhere to her right and kicks her in the face, sending her crashing into a wall. She quickly gets back up and dodges another blow through gritted teeth.)

  Pulse: (thinking to herself, gritting her teeth) I can’t waste time striking them all down. They’ll keep regenerating out of nowhere. It all comes down to the person wielding that mist. I must subdue her, and as quickly as possible.

  (Pulse kicks the copy into a wall and keeps on running, tracking down Mistrick’s location with her watch. She moves too fast for the copies to keep up, forcing them to disappear into dust and then reappear in front of her. She effortlessly pushes through the copies reappearing in front of her then takes a sharp turn to the left, entering another tunnel. She finally sees Mistrick leaning her back on the wall and scrolling through her phone at the other end of the tunnel.)

  Pulse: (firmly) There you are.

  (Mistrick quickly glances to her right in shock and sees Pulse finally getting to confront her and starting to approach her. She places her phone in her pocket and approaches her with an annoyed expression.)

  Mistrick: (grimacing) It’s you, huh? The copies were supposed to handle you.

  Pulse: Too bad they didn’t. And besides… (unamused) it’ll be nice to do something yourself for once.

  Mistrick: (annoyed) How do you know I do absolutely nothing by myself?!

  Pulse: (her eyes narrowing) It’s kinda obvious, really. You were just scrolling through your phone a while ago when your copies tried to stop me, when your teammates were having their own trouble. I mean… you’re not just lazy. You’re unbelievably shameless.

  Mistrick: (unamused) You done yet?

  Pulse: Done with you? No chance.

  Mistrick: (sighing deeply) You’re a pain, you know that?

  (Mistrick summons her copies, and they reappear at the area and surround Pulse, who takes a fighting stance with a firm expression. The former also joins in for the fight, taking a stance as well. Elsewhere, Jax — in his muscular form — lunges at Stone for a blow, who eloquently and repeatedly dodges his advances. Jax grits his teeth and swings his fist at him once again, but Stone kicks him in the chin, sending him skidding back. He attempts another blow but ends up striking the wall, and Stone makes use of that, landing a kick at his face and sending him skidding back once again.)

  Stone: (sternly) All that muscle, and yet you have nothing to show for it.

  Jax: (gritting his teeth) Oh, yeah?! You almost tickled me with your blows!

  (Jax once again keeps impatiently lunging at Stone, who does nothing but dodge, letting the former punch through walls. This keeps happening time and time again, Jax’s patience wearing thin and Stone’s firm scowl unwavering. Soon enough, all four walls in the area collapse, and Stone takes his position beside the rubble.)

  Stone: (scowling) You strike like a mindless dog. Fitting, I must say, for someone who so willingly allows himself to be Aegis’s dispensable, undignified toy.

  Jax: What’re you talking about?!

  Stone: (sternly) You wouldn’t understand.

  (Stone effortlessly throws a giant rock at Jax, who punches it into pieces with his muscular form. However, he’s shocked to see Stone throwing several more rocks at him at incredible speed, and he lunges at him while punching through the rocks, only to see that he’s already dodged. Stone keeps circling around him while collecting giant pieces of rubble and throwing them at him, and he’s forced to keep blocking the rocks with his punches and kicks. This repeated behavior leads to Jax’s exhaustion, his muscles starting to emit steam.)

  Jax: (glancing at his bicep, gritting his teeth) No, not now!

  (This moment of distraction allows Stone to launch a rock at his face, knocking him off balance. Before he manages to regain his composure, he receives even more rocks, which would’ve dealt some serious damage if it weren’t for his fading muscular form. He desperately jumps at Stone for a blow, but he jumps out of the way and lands firmly on his legs with a stern expression.)

  Stone: (sternly) Your form is fading, I see. You just can’t maintain it for long. Well, you could’ve if you weren’t so bent on excessively exerting it on these rocks. The fact is… you didn’t land a single blow on me.

  Jax: (gritting his teeth) And you insist on fighting like a damn coward! Why not throw a punch at me for a change?! What’s your Surge anyway?!

  (Jax lunges at Stone once again, who glares at him with a furious expression in reaction to his comment. With the mist slowing down Jax’s movements, Stone kicks him in the face and sends him crashing into a wall. He gets back up on his feet — his muscular form considerably decreasing in size — and glares at Stone through gritted teeth, who approaches him with a venomous scowl.)

  Stone: (scowling) Wretched brute. Can’t you see? (furiously) I DON’T HAVE A SURGE!!!

  (Jax glances up at him, his fierce expression replaced with that of genuine shock and bafflement. Elsewhere, the mysterious masked man watches that unfold through his watch, the purple infinity sign on his mask glowing in reaction to that, as if in amusement. To his masked soldier’s surprise, he starts to chuckle under his breath.)

  ???: (chuckling under his breath) This young man… he’s something else! I didn’t expect him to remember what Aegis did to him, and yet he does! In fact, he harbors an unimaginable amount of hatred in his heart! He embodies my cause. I see his potential. (firmly) In any case, we need to get moving. This mess could go either way, and we can’t afford to miss out on this opportunity. The Surge Core is nearby.

  (The soldiers nod and walk along with the masked man, on a quest to find the “Surge Core”. Proxy has already dealt with Jackpot. Jax is unexpectedly at Stone’s mercy. Pulse has finally catched up to Mistrick and has made it her mission to put an end to the black mist. Focus is struggling to escape the Mistrick copies and is unable to assist Flare, who is having her clash with Boltix. This mess could go either way indeed.)