The drive lasted for hours. No one spoke much. Jax had given them the basics—the new HQ was off-grid, somewhere no one would expect.
When they finally arrived, April stepped out, stretching.
And froze.
The place was massive.
It wasn't a run-down bunker or an abandoned warehouse—it was an entire underground facility built beneath an old, decommissioned military base.
"Welcome to the Hollow," Jax said.
Kai let out a low whistle. "Damn. You've been holding out on us."
Juno smirked. "We get cool bunkers and get to piss off Ragnörak? Best day ever!"
April said nothing, still taking it all in.
Hallways lined with reinforced steel. A fully stocked armory. Training rooms. Even a medical bay.
This wasn't a hideout.
This was a war zone waiting to happen.
Jax turned to the group. "Get comfortable. This is home now."
April exhaled, a slow smirk creeping onto her face.
Fine by me.
—
April sat on the edge of a steel-framed cot, running her fingers over the cool metal.
The Hollow was unlike any place she had been before—secure, hidden, and prepared for war. But no amount of reinforced walls could stop the storm brewing inside her.
She pressed her fingers to the back of her head, where her sigil had appeared. Saya's words echoed in her mind.
"You've fully awakened your Gear."
She wasn't sure what that meant yet.
"Can't sleep?"
April turned her head slightly. Saya leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, watching her with that knowing look.
April exhaled. "Something like that."
Saya stepped inside, taking a seat on the opposite cot. The dim overhead light cast sharp shadows across her face.
"You felt it, didn't you? Back at the old HQ," Saya carefully asked.
April hesitated but nodded. "Yeah. It was like... something inside me clicked. Like my body was trying to tell me something, but I didn't understand the language."
Saya grinned. "Your instincts are sharper now. The Gear isn't just some power boost—it's a part of you, woven into your being. And from what I saw, yours is different."
April rose a brow. "Different how?"
Saya tilted her head, studying her. "Most people's Gears manifest in a way that fits their combat style. But yours... it's evolving."
A chill ran down April's spine. She had felt it during the fight with Vance—the strange sense of clarity, the way her body moved faster, reacted before she even thought.
But it was more than that.
She could feel something else lurking beneath the surface, just out of reach.
Saya stood. "Come on. Let's test it."
April's mouth twitched. "Now?"
Saya smirked. "What, scared?"
April scoffed, pushing herself up. "You wish."
The training room was empty when they arrived. The reinforced walls had taken a beating from past sparring matches, but they still stood strong.
Saya cracked her knuckles. "No holding back."
April nodded, taking a stance.
The moment Saya moved, April felt it—her body responding before her mind even processed the attack.
She ducked under a punch meant to connect with her face, she twisted, and countered with a sharp elbow strike to Saya's knee.
Saya barely blocked it in time.
Their movements blurred as they exchanged blows, faster and more precise than before.
April wasn't just reacting—she was predicting, feeling the shifts in Saya's stance before they happened.
To April everything within a 7-meters radius was moving slow. So slow that she could practically predict their next move.
Then it happened.
Saya feinted left aiming for the left side of her abdomen, but April knew it was a fake. Instead of dodging, she pivoted into the attack, her hand moving on instinct—
A sudden pulse of energy erupted from her palm.
Saya's eyes widened as she barely managed to step back, the force of the energy distorting the air between them.
April stumbled, her breath hitching. "What... was that?"
Saya stared at her, then grinned. "G-force huh?," she whispered to herself. "That was your Gear waking up." This time she said outloud for April to hear.
April looked down at her hands, fingers still tingling from the energy. She had no idea what she had just done.
But she was damn sure she was going to find out.
April flexed her fingers, looking at the faint shimmer of energy that still clung to them. The sensation was unlike anything she had felt before—raw, electric, alive and ancient.
Saya shook out her arms, still smirking.
"You're adapting fast. But that wasn't just instinct. Your Gear is trying to show you something."
April swallowed hard, her heart still racing.
"And how the hell am I supposed to understand it?" She asked.
Saya shrugged. "You listen."
"To what?"
Saya tapped her temple. "Your body. Your instincts. The sigil on the back of your head isn't just decoration—it's a conduit. It's your Gear's way of communicating with you."
April exhaled sharply, running a hand through her hair "Great. So now I have to learn to listen to something that doesn't talk."
Saya chuckled. "That's the idea. And considering you nearly knocked me on my ass, I'd say you're off to a good start."
April narrowed her eyebrows. "I barely touched you."
"Yeah, this time." Saya turned toward the exit. "Get some rest. Tomorrow, we will push harder."
As Saya left, April remained in the training room, looking at her hands. The energy had faded, but she could still feel it lingering beneath the surface.
She fell into a deep silence then-
"Listen…," She told herself.
April focused, trying to reach for the same feeling she had during the fight. The sigil on the back of her head tingled, and for the briefest moment—
A whisper.
It wasn't a voice, not exactly. It was more like a pulse, a ripple of intent moving through her body. A feeling of power coiling within her, waiting to be unleashed.
Her breath hitched.
This wasn't just some combat enhancement.
Her Gear wasn't just evolving.
It was changing her.
April barely slept that night. Every time she felt the pulse again, like a presence just beyond her reach.
By morning, she was already in the training hall, waiting.
Kai walked in, stretching. "You know it's barely dawn, right?"
April ignored him, adjusting the wraps around her hands. "I need to figure this out."
Kai smirked. "Then let's see what you've got."
The spar started of slow. Kai was fast—faster than Saya—but April could sense his movements before he made them.
April ducked under a high kick aimed at her neck, twisted, and landed a sharp strike to Kai's ribs.
Kai grunted but grinned. "Nice—"
April felt it again. The pulse.
This time, she leaned into it.
Energy surged through her limbs. She pivoted and struck out—faster, harder. The air cracked as Kai barely blocked in time, the force sending him skidding backward.
He blinked. "Okay. That's new."
April's breathing was steady, controlled. The sigil's whisper was getting clearer.
She was starting to understand.
April stood in the training hall, the energy from her last strike still thrumming through her veins. Kai rolled his shoulders, shaking off the impact.
"Alright," he exhaled, grinning. "That's definitely not normal."
Saya walked in with Jax and Dante behind her. Jax's expression was unreadable, but his sharp gaze flicked to April's hands.
"You felt it again, didn't you?," He asked.
April nodded. "It's getting stronger. It's like my body knows something I don't."
Jax sighed, exchanging a glance with Saya. "I figured it was time we had this talk anyway. Sit down."
April narrowed her eyebrows but complied, taking a seat on the bench. The others gathered around.
Jax leaned against the wall. "Let's start with the basics. You already know about TakeOver Mode—the ability to push past human limits using your Gear. But what you don't know is that TakeOver Mode has two levels."
April raised an eyebrow. "Levels?"
Saya nodded. "The 2nd level is the more dangerous one called RageMode."
Kai scoffed. "Dangerous is an understatement. It's a death sentence for most people."
Jax crossed his arms. "TakeOver Mode is like overclocking your body, but RageMode is something else entirely. It's when a user pushes so far past their limit that their mind and body stop working all together."
Juno added. "You become stronger, faster, and deadlier—but you lose complete control. Most people don't come back from it. Their bodies burn out, or worse, their minds shatter. Allowing their Gear's consciousness to take complete control over them."
April's stomach twisted. "And Vance was about to enter that Mode, wasn't he?"
Jax nodded. "If he had, you wouldn't have been fighting a person. You would've been fighting a monster."
April's grip tightened. She had come dangerously close to that battle going a different way.
Saya continued, "But RageMode isn't the only thing we need to talk about. Your Gear… it's different. We suspected it before, but after what you just did, we're sure now."
April's eyebrows narrowed. "Different how?"
Jax exhaled. "There are different classifications of Gears. Mine, Dante and Saya's—are classified as Animalistic type. While yours is… known as a zodiac type."
April tilted her head. "Animalistic? Zodiac?"
Saya smirked. "It means we don't follow the usual rules. Our abilities aren't straightforward, and they evolve in unpredictable ways. Most Gears have a defined function—ours don't. While the ones like yours are unknown."
Jax continued, "Zodiac types are rare. Most people don't even believe they exist. They can manifest in ways that defy logic—like my ability to read movements at an unnatural level."
April's frown deepened. "So you guy's are basically freaks among freaks?"
Kai snorted. "Pretty much."
Dante smirked. "But that's not all. There are other classifications, too."
April leaned forward. "Like what?"
Jax listed them off.
"First, there are Monstarious type Gears. We don't know much about them. The few people who have them are either missing or dead, and any data on them is unknown to us."
Saya added, "From what little we do know, Monstarious types might be connected to something deeper—something primal. They don't function like normal Gears, and their abilities can warp reality itself."
April shivered. That sounded… unsettling. "And the next?"
Dante crossed his arms. "Zodiac type Gears. Again, little info exists, but the name suggests there are only twelve of them and you April are one of them. Zodiac type Gears are rumored to have abilities tied to astrological concepts. We've never encountered one. That is until we met you."
April's mind reeled. "And the last type?"
Jax's expression darkened. "That's where things get messy. There's a classification that has no name. No real records. No confirmed users. Just whispers."
Kai muttered, "But we do know one thing—the leader of Ragnarök the 2nd to the 5th seat all have one."
April's blood ran cold.
Jax's voice was grim. "If that's true, then we're dealing with individual's beyond any of us."
April clenched her fists. First TakeOver, then RageMode, and now an entire classification of Gears that no one understood?
"Wait did you say seats? What's that?," April questioned truly confused by the term.
Everyone suddenly froze in their spots, all blinking their eyes owlishly. Then Juno sighed breaking the silence.
"We continue forgetting that your still new here. Ok here's what a seat is. In ragnarök's hierarchy they exist five individuals known as the 5-seats, this title is only given to the strongest individuals in ragnarök. And there only exist five."
"Ahh i see," said April clear understanding evident in her tone.
"There exist other things that we need to inform you of, but for now that's all you need to know. The rest we'll eventually explain to you later on," said Saya.
April nodded accepting their decision.
Just now April realized that deeper she went, the more she discovered that—
She was only scratching the surface.
Silence hung thick in the air. April processed everything Jax had just told her. Different classifications of Gears.
A power that could drive someone into a berserker state.
And an unknown type of Gear wielded by just not the leader of Ragnörak but also the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th seat's.
It was too much to take in all at once.
April exhaled, shaking her head. "So let me get this straight—your Gears evolve unpredictably, there are other types of Gears that barely anyone understands, and our mortal enemy that we're facing have something completely unknown?"
Kai smirked. "Pretty much."
Saya stretched, cracking her neck. "Makes things interesting, doesn't it?"
April scoffed. "Interesting isn't the word I'd use."
Dante leaned forward. "This is why we need to get stronger. We can't afford to just react to things as they come. We have to understand what we're up against."
Jax nodded. "Which is why we're going to push your Gear to its next stage."
April rose an eyebrow. "Next stage?"
"Your Gear is awakening faster than most. That's both a blessing and a curse. You need control. Since your at the first threshold of." Jax's expression darkened.
"If you don't learn to regulate and surpass it, it'll consume you. And if that happens, you might not come back."
April felt a cold weight settle in her gut.
She had already felt how unpredictable her Gear was—how it acted on its own, responding to threats before she even realized what was happening.
"What do I need to do?" she asked.