[Ding! System Message — New data packet acquired.][Newbie Package Unlocked: Onogi (Third Tsuchikage) Data Packet] — Shion's tone purred in Ryuuto's head, half-teasing, half-yawning. "Host, you may now switch to Onogi's data packet."
Ryuuto rolled his eyes — Shion had the gall to sound smug even through his skull. He'd wanted that Onogi packet like a kid wants the latest game drop. No shame. No regrets.
He switched.
Memory fragments slotted into place like tiles: old jutsu, earth-style sequences, land-shaking doctrine. Names poured in, crisp and dangerous.
Earth Style · Rock Fist Technique.Earth Style · Heavy Rock Technique.Earth Style · Super Aggravated Rock Technique.Earth Style · Light & Heavy Rock Technique.Earth Style · Super Light & Heavy Rock Technique.Earth Dynamic Core.Earth Golem Formation.Dust Shield · Primary World-Stripping.Dust Shield · Boundary-Stripping (upgraded).
Ryuuto whistled. "Okay. That's… actually absurd."
Shion chimed, amused: [Host, these are not for casual use. Onogi's lineage is nasty. The Boundary-Stripping techniques are borderline extermination-level.]
He read the descriptions in a heartbeat. The World/Boundary-Stripping jutsu forcibly atomized whatever it hit — ripped constructs and living things down to their base particles. Permanent. Irreversible. Terrifying.
The Heavy Rock Technique made targets massively dense — strength multiplied at the price of speed. The Light & Heavy Tech let you flip that on yourself or others: make someone feather-light to float or press them into a boulder. In short: fly if you go light. Smash like a meteor if you go heavy.
"Flight," Ryuuto murmured, savoring the word like a secret cheat code. "Finally — not just chakra bursts, actual usable flight without relying on trickery."
He didn't get time to tango with the implications. Ben Grimm came crashing into him out of nowhere, body like a wrecking ball. Ryuuto barely registered the collision before Ben had them both barreling toward a window. The glass screamed and exploded outward as they vaulted free.
Ben's roar was a dinosaur-trumpet. He planted Ryuuto onto the roof and windmilled his fist — the old, familiar "I'm-going-to-smash-you" move. Ryuuto's hand flashed, calling Chakra to life.
"Earth Style — Heavy Rock Technique!" he barked.
Ben's weight ballooned. His gruff face went slack with confusion as his fists turned into leaden clubs. Mid-attack he suddenly couldn't lift himself properly; momentum betrayed him and he fell, crashing through to the ground in a crater-busting thud.
Ryuuto wasn't done.
"Earth Style — Light & Heavy Rock Technique!"
He felt the world tilt as his feet left the rooftop. The lightness flooded him — a buoyant, effortless lift. Where his feet had been, the roof sighed. He shot across the sky like a paper plane caught on a jet stream and slammed into the broken window of the isolation room.
Susan Storm was pressed against the other side of the glass, eyes wide, trembling. Reed Richards — lanky, elastic and impossibly smooth — had her wrapped in a living rope of flesh. Reed's head had stretched thin and cruel; his voice slid between the bars of reason like oil.
"Don't resist," Reed hissed. "If you disobey, you'll be locked again. Loki's orders are absolute."
Loki lounged in the shadow, horned helm and all, dripping smugness. "You should've stayed buried, Storm," he mocked. "Now obey — or watch them die."
Ryuuto's duplication trick was a detail he'd saved for this exact moment. He'd left a clone down below; the real Host — Ryuuto — had blinked into existence directly behind Loki. He caught the scepter-wielding god by the throat with a hand that felt like iron and silk.
"You're all smoke and cartoon hats," Ryuuto said, calm and sharp. "Without the scepter, you're a petty tyrant with a God Complex."
Loki laughed, which made the lights feel colder. "If you think you've won—"
Ryuuto tightened his grip. "Try me."
He spat a warning word, half-curse, half-threat. "If you don't cooperate, I will reduce all of you to atoms and finish the job. One snap, one jutsu. I don't want to, but I will."
Shion pinged in his ear, mischievous: [Host — SS mission completed? Would you like to use Onogi's data packet reward?]
Ryuuto's grin was worse than Loki's smirk. "Deploy it," he muttered.
But before he could do anything permanent, chaos ripped back in: Johnny Storm, a human torch of fire, came rocketing down and punched Ryuuto skywards. Flames licked and wind screamed; Ryuuto spun through the gust and barely held himself together.
Johnny's yelling was a mechanical heat: "He's manipulating mass! Don't let him get a clean hit!"
Reed, still contorted, barked coordinates, trying to help Johnny with ranged aim. Loki's grin was all teeth. "He can change weight," Loki crowed. "Make them heavy, make them light. Useful — but not enough."
Ryuuto landed and recovered in a heartbeat. He'd won the element of surprise. He'd caught Loki alive. The Onogi data pack thrummed like a new power supply on a console — it tasted like potential.
Shion's voice purred as only a semi-sentient, mildly gluttonous admin could: [Host, Onogi's Full Data Pack unlocked. New abilities available: Earth Flight (Light State), Kinetic Crushing (Heavy State), Boundary Strip (Disabled — use with care).]
Ryuuto's grin widened. "Shion, you charming little gremlin, you finally gave me what I wanted."
[Ding! Mission Update: Capture Loki alive — COMPLETE.] Shion added, with a flourish.
Ryuuto looked at the Fantastic Four, at Loki, at the smoke and rubble and half-shattered stone. He tasted victory — sharp, metallic, wonderfully messy. There were decisions to make, and he loved choosing wrong just to see what happened.
He did not kill Loki. Not yet. He had other plans.