Like a distant echo, the distorted voice pierced through the mental walls Hide had built so many years ago.He didn't know how to react to the voice that had marked his childhood so deeply. He only managed to whisper, almost to himself:—Why did you take so long?
There was no time to reflect on what had just happened, for the holographic screen shifted again.What had once been a vibrant carnival, with luminous vehicles parading through the capital's animated streets, had turned into unprecedented chaos.
Explosions erupted in quick succession. From indistinguishable points, flames consumed the road. People fled in terror, but almost as if it were calculated, none of the blasts targeted large crowds. They were warnings—threats meant to scatter the people.
And out of the flames, in the middle of a wide white marble avenue, among vehicles drained of their Elentita sources and fallen to the ground, appeared something impossible.A vehicle.
Crimson red, glowing brighter with the flames. Built almost perfectly for a single rider. Its exhaust pipes spewed the dreaded pollution of the Abyss. And it moved forward, untouchable, on two wheels of rubber.
—Two wheels?
Hide couldn't help his astonishment. Wheels had been declassified decades ago—the mining required to produce their materials was far too dangerous compared to the refinement of Elentita. Besides, Elentita-powered vehicles were infinitely more efficient: capable of levitating up to fifteen meters without losing stability, fueled by nearly inexhaustible energy—unless their cores fractured.
And yet here it was, before his eyes and the eyes of half the world, an ancient relic of a machine wobbling across streets never meant for wheels. Then, to the shock of the spectators, it jumped.Yes, the vehicle jumped—landing atop one of the stalled cars caught in the blasts. It crushed it instantly. But as if the traction was better on cars than on marble, the two tires kept spinning, unstoppable.
—What are you waiting for?! —shouted Prince Caelum, rising from the rubble with his immaculate attire now stained in ash and soot—. Stop him now!
From above, more than a dozen security guards—androids designed for the sole mission of protecting civilians—launched themselves at the vehicle. Armored in blue polymer and wearing spherical black helmets, they dove for the tires. But with a deafening roar, like thunder itself, they were crushed like fragile shells.
At Caelum's side, a commander clad in red polymer barked the order:—Fire on the vehicle. Authorization granted, even if there's a life inside!
—So someone is driving that… —Hide muttered, trembling with excitement and disbelief.
The shots came fast. Rifles channeling the raw power of Elentita fired relentlessly. Each blast melted everything in its path: cars, marble roads, even the bodies of allies caught in the line of fire.But not the two-wheeled beast. It deflected the sky-blue barrage without faltering.
When it broke through the first line of guards, the commander pulled out a rifle loaded with crimson Elentita rounds.These bullets dismantled any Elentita-based system at the atomic level. A single shot could disable an entire "Rooftop" barrier and endanger thousands of civilians. That was the level of threat they were facing.
Predictably, though…
Even as the crimson shot cut through comrades to reach its mark, the moment it touched the vehicle, it vanished—dissipating like mist under sunlight.
The commander didn't hesitate. He planted himself directly in front of the machine, gripping it with both hands. This android, at least twice the size of a normal human, could face down Beta-class mutations without difficulty. And yet, against this machine, he could barely hold it back.The wheels didn't stop.
And then, from the front of the armored dome, a figure rose.Still pressing down on a pedal, the young man stood tall before the commander, who stared at him in disbelief.
The cameras zoomed in immediately.
A man in a red leather vest, matching pants, and a black long-sleeved shirt that reached his neck. Boots the same.But two details stood out above all: a half-mask resembling a white muzzle covering his face, and his disheveled crimson hair, tied back in a makeshift ponytail.
Finally, in his hands, he wore something like gloves—etched with glowing lines of violet and red. Hide couldn't place them. They weren't mutations, nor any known tech.But the professor at his side recognized them.
—Where did he get that…? —he murmured, with such dread that Hide turned to look at him.
The masked man, towering over the commander with his unstoppable vehicle, spoke—for the cameras, for the guards, for everyone.Then, with a single crushing punch, violet light surged from his fist and consumed the area. In an instant it dissolved—yes, dissolved, if not outright disintegrated—every trace of the android's head.
—My name is Rex Tyranus, and this is your first warning.