Joy Pursuit: Steel Dragon [Sci-Fi Fantasy | Horror | Action]

The harbor was alive with activity. A Starglider had just arrived, bringing with it the lifeblood of Aeburgh. Mountains of supplies—everything from ammunition and blast charges to simple food crates and day-to-day essentials—poured down its ramps. Mechanoids and dockworkers moved in tandem with the unloading crew, forming an efficient chain that ferried goods into stubby Liftgliders. The hazy blend of chatter, clattering containers, and the thrumming Kyyr engine of the Starglider melded into a familiar cacophony that was ever familiar to a little figure who watched the workers from behind a shimmering tree-like lamppost.

She watched curiously from behind a crystalline mask as a colorful Diodecian embraced warmly with a familiar face.

Opithoseu Jack, the Diodecian who was blessed with the weirdly cute head of a Flapjack Octopus, was hugging a shark-headed Diodecian.

She watched intently, studying the new Diodecian's visage. His head was light-blue with a leathery texture, sprawled with glowing electric blue tattoos that mesmerized the young girl watching. Though she couldn't hear their exchange, her imagination filled the silence. Maybe they were discussing some far-off Diodecian kingdom. Maybe it was a secret mission. Or—better yet—a conspiracy involving coded messages, alien enemies, and long-lost princes. Her mind spun through colorful possibilities. But the meeting was short-lived. A few warm gestures, a final clasp of hands, and Jack broke away from his fellow kin. In moments, he returned to the monotonous rhythm of port labor, leaving the shark-headed Diodecian to disappear back into the bustling crowd.

Losing interest, the little figure—a small girl bundled up in a fluffy black coat—took her crystalline mask off, but the moment it left her face, she recoiled. The world blurred into a storm of weaving light only she could see, a shifting fog of colors that made her eyes water.

She pressed her mask back up on her face, unable to bear the light. She leaned against the glittering lamppost and slid down its base, settling onto the cold metal floor as the green lights above smeared and bent in her vision.

"Mera!" a young man shouted, breathless and flooded with relief as he spotted the little girl sitting there, the ominous crystalline mask greeting him blankly.

She didn't answer. Instead, she shrank back behind the lamppost, the crystalline mask catching the light as ranger Hugo Á. Pax—now formally referred to as Ámon Pax—approached, his nose flushed red from the chilly air spilling in from the Translate Gate.

"Is your sister with you?!" he asked, exasperation sharp in his voice as he looked around.

Mera shook her head.

"Ugh—why is she like this?" Pax groaned, running a hand down his face before marching over to her. He took Mera by the hand; she tried to pull away, small and stubborn, but she was no match for Pax's tired grip. Annoyed and already fraying at the edges, he began dragging her along as he cupped his free hand around his mouth.

"Lamia! Lamia, where are you?!"

Not far, slithering under the fizzling waters, a skeletal figure edged closer and closer to the busy port. The Hy'Kyyrian glided under the metal docks, its thin frame pressed tight against the beams. Every so often, a single needle-like probe poked up through the gaps, tasting the air, scanning for any nearby Kyyr users worth harvesting.Trailing behind it in the murky depths were the two half-dead bodies of Todd and Benny, dragged along by invisible threads. Their chests still rose and fell by some alien means, their eyes fluttering in a limbo between consciousness and death as the creature searched for more victims.

"⠠⠓⠊⠛⠓ ⠥⠞⠊⠇⠊⠞⠽ ⠠⠅⠽⠽⠗ ⠙⠑⠞⠑⠉⠞⠑⠙ ⠠⠏⠁⠥⠇ ⠠⠃⠽⠑⠝⠁⠒ ⠠⠁⠃⠊⠇⠊⠞⠽ ⠠⠓⠑⠁⠞ ⠠⠉⠕⠍⠏⠗⠑⠎⠎⠊⠕⠝" it warbled, the fractured syllables fizzing and dissolving into the water like broken circuitry drowning in static.

It had found a new victim.

Silently, it slipped out of the bay, compressing its body into the shadows as it stalked a new target.

A dockworker sat alone on a crate near one of the gaping warehouses, brushing sweat off his brow after finishing a round of unloading. He cupped his hands, generating a small compressed orb of fire to warm himself, his tired eyes drifting over the crowded sprawl of people and machines as another load was deposited onto the port by a massive cargo mechanoid.

He let out a long, exhausted sigh and pushed himself to his feet, ready to head back toward the noise and bustle, when—

"Paul!" Todd called out.

Paul stopped mid-stride when he spotted Todd clinging to the side of the pier.

"Woah—are you okay? What the hell happened?"

"Benny… Benny fell in—I tried to save him, but…" Todd struggled at the edge of the pier, fingers slipping as his body sagged and he nearly slid back into the water.

Without a second thought, Paul sprinted over. "Hold on!" he shouted, dropping to his knees. He threw himself forward, just managing to grab Todd's arm. "I've got you, hang on—"

CCCRRRGGCH!!

Paul's rib imploded with a wet crunch. A hollowed gasp tore from his throat as a needle-like blade stabbed through his chest, micro-tendrils splintering from the seemingly smooth surface. In a split-second they hijacked his nerves all at once, paralyzing him—his mouth frozen mid scream.

He was dragged into the water.

Another metal probe rose from the water.

"⠠⠝⠑⠺ ⠠⠙⠁⠞⠁ ⠠⠁⠉⠟⠥⠊⠗⠑⠙⠒ ⠠⠞⠁⠗⠛⠑⠞ ⠠⠅⠽⠽⠗ ⠁⠃⠊⠇⠊⠞⠽⠒ ⠠⠍⠊⠇⠙ ⠠⠏⠽⠗⠕⠅⠊⠝⠑⠎⠊⠎ ⠠⠇⠕⠉⠁⠞⠑⠙⠲ ⠠⠅⠁⠑⠇⠁ ⠠⠓⠁⠲ ⠠⠏⠗⠕⠉⠑⠑⠙⠊⠝⠛⠲" it warbled, the fractured syllables stuttering through the cold air like broken code.

The Hy'Kyyrian dragged itself out of the water, pressing its body into the shadows as it pulled its silent victims along behind it. Its glistening red orb faded to a dull ember while it climbed the warehouse wall, spindly needle-hands digging effortlessly into the metal. Its single red eye swept across the harbor, scanning for its next target. The living dolls hung weightlessly at its back, barely spilling any blood.

When its eye crested the roofline, it pulsed with nefarious intent as it silently peeled Paul's mind apart. Each moment, each thought, each fragile connection dismantled by a mind foreign to flesh.

Its next target was decided.

Not far away, tucked in the alley between two warehouses, a group of dockworkers lingered around a small dancing orb of fire, the flame drifting lazily wherever a woman's fingertip directed it. They spoke in low, tired voices, already arguing over what they'd grab to eat once their shift was finally over.

"Oh come on Kaela we ate there yesterday. There's a bunch of new restaurants in the new commercial district we should try," a very tired looking dockworker said to the woman playing with the fire.

Kaela flicked her finger, drawing little wisps of effervescent art with her Kyyr. "Yeah, but where's the charm in imported food? Come on you guys—there's no way I'm brave enough to order at the Diodecian place on my own."

A cheerful-looking dockworker cracked a small tablet between his teeth and washed it down with a swig from his thermos. "No way me's goin' there again, Miss Kaela. There be uncooked goods there. Old Comack gots the runs from that fried Markrillite yous recommended. I nevah seen him so sick afta a meal."

"You guys got warm ice for guts…" she teased, though she couldn't stop salivating at the thought of alien cuisine. "Man. That King Friellete cut was so damn good…"

The two dockworkers shook their heads as they began to walk back toward the busy port. "Our breaks are almost over—let's meet outside Cormack's office after we're done."

"I 'ear ya twin." the other cheerful-dockworker said as he fell into step beside him.

"Yeah, yeah," Kaela muttered dismissively as she snapped the flame away and joined them.

"Obbe!" a voice called out.

The group looked back into the dark alley. At the far end, Paul was peeking around the warehouse corner. Only his upper torso was visible, and he coughed blood only when all three of them turned to look at him.

"Paul? Is that you?" Obbe, the tired dockworker, shouted.

"I came out here 'cause I thought I heard something and I tripped on the ice. Can someone give me a hand?" Paul called back, voice strained.

"Shit! Sure thing man!" Obbe said, already taking a step toward him.

"Twin, wait." Wikke the cheery dockworker said, grabbing him by the arm. "There be sometin' amiss with Pauly. Best we call fah help, twin."

Obbe shot him a confused look while Kaela squinted into the darkness, sending a thin wisp of Kyyr toward Paul.

"G-Guys! I think I'm bleeding! PLEASE, GET OVER HERE!" Paul shouted, more frantic now.

"Dude, he's hurt! We can't just leave him," Obbe snapped, shaking Wikke's hand off.

"Nah, twin. That Paul-thing be lyin'. There be nothin' back there," Wikke said, stepping back. "I be callin' fah help." He turned to Kaela who was trying real hard to make out Paul's expression. "Miss Kaela, we has tah go. Sometin's wicked with Pauly."

"Obbe, don't fucking move!" Kaela snapped, a sharp sting in her voice. Her feet instinctively drew back. The tiny wisp in her hand fluttered, casting jagged shadows over Paul's mortified expression.

"OH SHIT—RUN!" She seized Obbe's hand and yanked him hard, dragging him into a panicked sprint.

Wikke joined behind as Paul shouted something incomprehensible, while Obbe freaked-out struggling against her grip.

"What the hell are you two doing?!" Obbe protested.

"Yous be dyin' without us, twin." Wikke said as they pushed closer to the light at the end of the alley.

"The fuck are you two on about? He's clearly hurt!" Obbe turned to look back—only to see the alley empty. "Huh?"

The three erupted out into the open, Kaela instinctively pinging their superior through her crystalcomm. "Are you for real, dude? Did you not go through anomaly training?"

"Yeah, but that was literally ages ago!" Obbe hissed, shaken.

"Talkin' copsas. We be dealin' with eval. Di'ya call the Reeve?" Wikke asked, breathless.

"I sent an anomaly alarm, but I didn't know what classification." Kaela said as the group backed toward the busier parts of the port—areas where workers were just beginning to receive alerts about the unknown threat.

"⠠⠇⠥⠗⠑ ⠠⠋⠁⠊⠇⠑⠙⠲ ⠠⠃⠗⠥⠞⠑ ⠋⠕⠗⠉⠑ ⠏⠗⠕⠞⠕⠉⠕⠇⠎ ⠊⠝⠊⠞⠊⠁⠞⠊⠝⠛" The Hy'Kyyrian growled, esoteric warbling tearing through the air as it slithered along the roof with violent force.

Kyyr began to rise in the area as everyone in the port turned toward the top of the warehouse. There the body of Paul was lifted high in the air, his face locked in perpetual horror as Kyyr began to bubble under his skin, causing his limbs to spasm. His mouth began to open—far wider than humanly possible—stretching into a yawning, silent scream as Kyyr was compressed into a fiery orb that coalesced between his parted lips.

Waves of Kyyr condensed in an instant. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the trio of dockworkers sprinted for their lives, while Diodecians and rangers rushed toward the flare of light—some staggering as the futility of their approach became horrifyingly obvious.

Paul's jaw ripped wide open, heat melting off his lower jaw, eyes burning as the condensed Kyyr coalesced into a small fiery orb. The Hy'Kyyrian then gave his body a sharp flick. The compressed, inoffensive-looking orb was sent flying.

Kaela, Wikke, and Obbe watched in horror as the small, unassuming light drifted above their heads. It crackled and sparked as it descended. Most dockworkers stared in confusion, unsure of what they were seeing. Others—those who understood exactly what was about to happen—simply froze and watched. And a few reacted instantly, weaving Kyyr to either flee or drag others out of harm's way.

The light struck the metal plating in a matter of seconds. There was a flash. There was heat. And in the end, there was only death.

BOOOOM! ! !

The small flame detonated, a violent bloom of fire that sent the trio flying backward as several nearby dockworkers were swallowed whole by the blast.

Those who survived the first impact were stunned by the sudden attack, but then came its Kyyr—thick, nefarious, suffocating. The vile energy rolled across the port like a toxic tide, instantly knocking out the weak.

The Hy'Kyyrian lunged down from the warehouse roof, landing silently behind Kaela. She had only a heartbeat for her eyes to widen before a long, needle-like tendril stabbed straight through her torso, lifting her onto her toes. Her eyes fluttered back as the shock overwhelmed her, and she crumpled on the blade, unconscious from the pain.

Obbe tried to conjure what little Kyyr he had—but the Hy'Kyyrian's orbiting blades snapped together into a limb that swept down and crushed him outright, reducing his body to a wet red smear across the metal deck.

Wikke boosted away in blind panic, his Kyyr flaring as he was hurled toward the cold water. But he wasn't fast enough. A needle-like blade lanced through his neck mid-air, the metal bending into a hook as he flicked him aside with such force his body tore through the hook. The bloody remains hit a wall hard, before slowly sliding down painting a long red stain behind.

The shark-headed Diodecian from before suddenly burst through the flames, his open jaws crackling with charged Kyyr. He roared and surged forward—only for one of the orbiting needle-blades to streak toward him, burying itself deep in his shoulder. The hit staggered him for a moment, but he pushed through the pain, his jaws swelling with electric Kyyr.

"⠠⠙⠊⠑" The Hy'Kyyrian warbled.

The embedded needle began to glow, and Todd's suspended body twitched violently, his nerves reacting to the command.

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CLGRCH!

Kyyr erupted from the Diodecian's shoulder, the needle expanding in an instant. The massive blade detonated outward, annihilating him from within in a single bone-cracking burst.

The Diodecian's head hit the ground first, while the rest of him fluttered down as a red mist.

Benny's body shuddered, the Hy'Kyyrian's red orb flashing as it narrowly dodged a massive spire of ice that erupted from the metal floor where it had been hovering.

The Hy'Kyyrian hoisted Paul and Kaela's bodies higher, the two writhing in agony as it began compressing Kyyr again. But the instant its power flared, a barrage of Kyyr blasts, ice, and bullets rained down on the fell creature.

None of it connected.

Its bladed frame detached and spun apart, each needle-like limb whirling in impossible arcs as it dodged every shot with surgical precision. Its crystalline core hovered beside Benny's limp form, his hijacked Kyyr making the already impossible-to-hit creature blur into streaks of motion amid the flashing lights of the port.

Kaela's body began to convulse as the Hy'Kyyrian spread out the blades that held its tools, fanning them into a wide arc like the display of a fucked-up peacock.

Paul's burning face swelled before a compressed orb of Kyyr burst free, launched at the creature's command. Kaela's limp body jerked, her Kyyr warping the orb's trajectory, guiding it past unwanted targets and straight into the group of rangers that were shooting at it from afar.

BOOOOM!

The pressure from the blast alone sent people flying. The Hy'Kyyrian's Kyyr rippled outward in a suffocating wave, causing dozens more to pass out, their limp bodies hurled into the water or slammed against buildings.

Screams shredded the air as the Hy'Kyyrian rushed the dazed rangers and dockworkers. Most had no time to react. It stabbed through some and flung them aside, while others were seized mid-movement and added to its growing collection, their bodies dangling like grotesque trophies from its orbiting blades.

CLANK!

A Kyyr-charged piece of metal ripped through one of its probes, blasting the construct apart in a shower of sparks. The Hy'Kyyrian snapped toward the source, its red orb pulsing—fixing on a bloodied Diodecian.

Opithoseu Jack erupted from the embers, his massive form charred and smoking, Kyyr violently rising off him in jagged waves as he contested the fell beast for domination of the local Kyyr reserves.

"Hy'Kyyrian scum. How dare you ATTACK MY CITY!" Jack roared, Kyyr rising.

The Hy'Kyyrian didn't humor him at all. It immediately flung another compressed Kyyr orb toward him, the fickle, hateful light darting erratically around Jack before veering in and striking him from the side.

"Filthy—" Jack clenched his beak, Kyyr surging into a defensive brace as—

BOOOOM!

The Kyyr detonated, consuming the crates and bodies surrounding Jack in a violent blast.
Yet he remained! Silhouetted in the flames, his Kyyr rose higher as he charged the Hy'Kyyrian with incredible speed.

What the hell is a Hy'Kyyrian doing here?! And that Kyyr—it's using the dockworkers!?

His massive hand clamped down on one of its blades just as Todd's Kyyr spiked, reacting violently. The blade expanded in an instant, shredding Jack's hand into a spray of gore.

This ability?! Jack's frown deepened. How?

Jack swallowed his rage and followed through with his strike.

His arm boiled, flesh bubbling as a tentacle burst out from the stump where his hand used to be. The air around the tentacle's tip twisted, and at the base of the Hy'Kyyrian's red orb the space itself warped—a vice grip of Kyyr, rending inward!

The Hy'Kyyrian jolted back just in time, saved only by Benny's stolen Kyyr.

Benny?! This bastard stole their Kyyr? What -ilk of beast is this?

Jack didn't let up, space bending around his fist as he swung into violent strikes as the Hy'Kyyrian pulled back, compressing Kyyr and firing it point blank!

BOOOOOM!

"WEAK!"

Jack emerged from the concentrated flame, his skin mildly scorched but his Kyyr rising as the Hy'Kyyrian was forced to use its own Kyyr to pull back, pulsing another wave of vile Kyyr that caused the city to shake.

"⠠⠏⠓⠑⠝⠕⠍⠑⠝⠕⠝ ⠗⠑⠛⠊⠎⠞⠑⠗⠑⠙⠲⠠⠏⠕⠺⠑⠗ ⠇⠑⠧⠑⠇⠎ ⠃⠑⠇⠕⠺ ⠕⠏⠑⠗⠁⠞⠊⠕⠝⠁⠇⠞⠓⠗⠑⠎⠓⠕⠇⠙⠲⠠⠊⠝⠉⠗⠑⠁⠎⠊⠝⠛ ⠙⠑⠍⠁⠝⠙⠲" It warbled in response, disjointed syllables scratching the charged air.

The red orb spun in place, Kyyr rising violently as its vile energy flooded the city.

Jack braced himself, his Kyyr twisting around him as the Hy'Kyyrian's energy failed to breach the singularity of his Kyyr ability.

It's using its own Kyyr sparingly. Why? What's its goal?

"What'S YOUR GOAL!?" Jack shouted as he punched the air around a needle blade holding a ranger, his Kyyr shredding metallic beast and victim.

His Kyyr overtook the Hy'Kyyrian's, allowing a few rangers to stand up from their daze.

Pax struggled to his feet, the roiling Kyyr pressing in like a boiling ocean. He swept the scene in a frantic blur, sweat dripping as his gaze snapped from corpse to corpse, dreading the moment he might find a small body among them. But Mera was nowhere to be found.

"MERA!" Pax cried out as Jack and the Hy'Kyyrian clashed into one another, the waves of Kyyr and energy sending him crashing back into a now twisted lamppost. His Kyyr tendrils scraped helplessly against the metal, struggling to anchor him as the clashing energies battered everything in their path.

And as more waves of energy blasted the area. Not far from Jack, tucked inside a crate of winter coats, Mera trembled violently, forcing out faint pulses of Kyyr against the crushing tide of corruption. Her tiny hands clamped around her crystalline mask, tears streaking her face while the crate shuddered against a burning building.

The Hy'Kyyrian lost another metal probe as Jack let out an enraged grunt, his Kyyr twisting the space around the abstract being. The creature dragged its tools back, sacrificing another probing blade while it retreated with a warbling hiss.

He's prioritising those 4… but why? If it used an ounce of its own Kyyr, it could decimate the port. That means it's after something—or someone! Lord Bayren.

Jack crushed yet another blade and lunged for the core.

"Soon you'll be nothing but a broken marble!" Jack roared, swiping through the air and barely missing Benny's limp body.

"⠠⠏⠑⠗⠎⠕⠝⠁⠇ ⠠⠅⠽⠽⠗ ⠗⠑⠟⠥⠑⠎⠞⠑⠙⠲⠠⠏⠗⠕⠛⠝⠕⠎⠊⠎⠒ ⠊⠍⠍⠊⠝⠑⠝⠞ ⠙⠑⠁⠞⠓ ⠊⠝ ⠉⠥⠗⠗⠑⠝⠞ ⠋⠕⠗⠍⠲⠠⠏⠑⠗⠎⠕⠝⠁⠇⠠⠅⠽⠽⠗ ⠗⠑⠟⠥⠑⠎⠞⠲⠠⠁⠏⠏⠗⠕⠧⠑⠙⠲"

A layered shriek of digitized syllables tore from the red orb. It flashed crimson, its own Kyyr clawing back from the environment, fire surging towards the Hy'Kyyrian, forming a small vortex of fire at the base of its simulated locomotive structures.

"WHY NOW!?" Jack's instincts focused into a single sentiment—escape! The vile Kyyr compounded around the ever-brighter, now deep crimson orb.He spun on his heels, Kyyr surging through his limbs, and leapt skyward—desperate to get clear of the scattered bodies below.

Why now!? Did I pressure it too much? This Kyyr! This pressure—it must be a Hy'ilk model! He looked down at the rangers and dockworkers sprawled below him, conscious and unconscious alike. I can't let it kill more of my people!

"⠠⠁⠝⠝⠊⠓⠊⠇⠁⠞⠊⠕⠝ ⠊⠝⠞⠕ ⠊⠝⠋⠊⠝⠊⠞⠽" It warbled its tone grave and monstrous.

Jack whipped his head back. His burnt tentacles curled inward as a crimson glow swallowed his vision. The light swelled brighter and brighter, condensing into a single murderous point at the Hy'Kyyrian's blazing core.

"⠠⠁⠝⠝⠊⠓⠊⠇⠁⠞⠊⠕⠝⠲"

Annihilation.

The word vibrated from the Hy'Kyyrian, followed by a deafening blast as a crimson beam ripped through the docks. It hunted Jack relentlessly as he vaulted from rooftop to rooftop. The beam sheared through anything it touched—its heat so intense it seared his skin even at a distance. Steel melted, ice liquefied, and support pillars crumbled as the beam carved a molten trench into the ceiling ice. Enormous slabs broke free and plunged down onto the harbor, burying survivors beneath tons of crushing ice.

Jack crashed down, skin burning, legs missing. He watched in terror as everything they had built began to crumble—people screaming, corpses burning, Stargliders sinking. He sucked in a deep breath.

"HOW DARE YOU!" he roared, pulling every remaining muscle and tentacle into his one surviving arm and his longest remaining leg. A bony blade burst from his least-damaged leg, while the stumps of his other limbs bulged and split into muscled tentacles.

The Hy'Kyyrian flashed again, its bladed tendrils crashing down around Jack just as Todd's stolen Kyyr spiked, causing the blades to burst outward in size.

"Try AGAIN!" Jack roared.

He erupted from the collapsing blades, charging forward on all fours like a wounded beast, his Kyyr rising in violent surges. Todd's Kyyr spiked once more. One of the needle-blades ignited and shot forward like an arrow, expanding mid-flight.

Jack twisted his mangled frame, sliding his bony nub along the incoming blade. The edge scraped past him as he darted forward, swatting aside more of the whirling probes. Kyyr spiraled around his body, the air churning violently, warping space as the twisting energy tore into the Hy'Kyyrian's blades—bending them through non-Euclidean arcs, forcing the bladed structures to fold into impossible curves before shattering inside the collapsing singularity of Jack's Kyyr.

Jack's strike grazed the Hy'Kyyrian's core. A warped, digitized shriek erupted from the scratched surface as his tentacles launched after the red orb. The Hy'Kyyrian's blades lashed out, but none reached him; the space around Jack twisted and buckled under the pull of his Kyyr, warping every attempt to strike. The Hy'Kyyrian reeled in agonized convulsions as Jack pressed dangerously close.

This was the Kyyr ability of Opithoseu Jack: Kyyr Accretion. This ability allowed him to accumulate and gather Kyyr and matter onto specific points of space around his joints, forming micro accretion disks, swirling wells of matter and energy. These miniature gravity-like vortices pulled everything toward their centers, rending space and flesh alike. It was an exceptional offensive and defensive ability—but with one dangerous caveat: if Jack miscalculated, the disks could tear him apart just as easily.

"⠠⠑⠧⠁⠎⠊⠕⠝ ⠧⠑⠉⠞⠕⠗ ⠉⠁⠇⠊⠃⠗⠁⠞⠑⠙⠲⠠⠞⠁⠗⠛⠑⠞ ⠁⠃⠊⠇⠊⠞⠽ ⠁⠏⠏⠗⠕⠁⠉⠓⠊⠝⠛ ⠓⠊⠛⠓⠤⠠⠅⠽⠽⠗ ⠙⠁⠝⠛⠑⠗ ⠞⠓⠗⠑⠎⠓⠕⠇⠙⠲" it warbled and hissed as it twisted away from the swirling blows of Jack.

Nearby, Pax pushed himself upright—the Kyyr pressure had dropped just enough for him and a handful of rangers to stand. But none dared move. They could only stare in awe as Jack and the Hy'Kyyrian exchanged brutal blows, a precise dance to the death. Space and light bent around the two as the Hy'Kyyrian lost more of its probes under Jack's assault. But—

Jack's own blood was rapidly getting siphoned into his accretion disk.

The Hy'Kyyrian had already adjusted to the rhythm of the fight. Paul's charred black head twitched, the jawless remains spasming as Kyyr began to condense around what was left of his face.

Pax watched from the fringes of the battle, blood dripping down the side of his head while rangers and dockworkers fled in every direction. One thought stunned him, consuming everything else as impact waves shook the ground and threw him off balance. He stumbled and fell, eyes wild as they scanned the chaos.

I need to find her!! If I don't… Lord Bayren will never trust me again… he'll hate me! He shuddered at the thought and spiked his Kyyr, digging through rubble—uncovering remains, shattered limbs, and scorched bodies… but no Mera.

Paul's skull was practically gone, his brain matter held together only by the Hy'Kyyrian's tendrils. Jack braced himself, cutting off his ability and forcing all his remaining Kyyr into defense.

The needle that carried Paul lashed toward him—then spiraled around him at the last instant, momentum whipping Paul's limp body as the blade realigned toward the commercial sector's broad street.

"NOOOO!" Jack's muscles coiled as he spun, loosening his Kyyr just as the Hy'Kyyrian fired a compressed shot toward the alley. In those fleeting seconds Jack pulled every drop of Kyyr he had into a spiraling vortex around his remaining arm, dragging the compressed orb of fire into the swirl—

CCRRRCH!

Jack's Kyyr flickered as a probe tore through his chest.

Kaela's stolen Kyyr seized the orb in the chaos of the sudden strike, tearing it free—yet Jack roared back, a raw, furious bellow that rattled the air.

"I WON'T LET YOU!"

Every muscle in his massive body tightened at once, stopping the vile tendrils from spreading deeper through his torso. He funneled Kyyr into his ruined arm, the flesh bubbling as space twisted around the forming strike—then he heaved the orb upward, firing it with such force it vanished into the cavern ceiling.

BOOOM!

The cavern groaned as massive chunks of ice began crashing down on the flickering Kyyr defense systems built into the support beams. Tremors rippled through the chamber as the falling ice shook the ground, sending people stumbling.

Pax nearby stumbled forward, crashing into a box, spilling its contents, and with it a little Mera, who was tightly clutching her mask as fiery debris crashed down from the building next to them.

Pax sent out his weak tendrils, just barely catching the debris as he felt his Kyyr Receptors burst.

Space Twisted!

Back with the Hy'Kyyrian and Jack, the Diodecian was at his wit's end, his Kyyr reaching its maxima as every muscle in his body resisted the violating tendrils of the Hy'Kyyrian.

But—it suddenly stopped?!

The orb slowly rotated, its blazing core locking onto the small girl.

"⠠⠞⠁⠗⠛⠑⠞ ⠠⠇⠕⠉⠁⠞⠑⠙⠖!!!" The Hy'Kyyrian screeched violently, the warbling cry causing Mera to scream in pain as she clutched her Kyyr mask harder.

The Hy'Kyyrian's grip on Jack faltered for a second!

The girls?! Then this thing—it was sent by him!

Jack seized the moment and compressed his Kyyr.

"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU LOOKING!?" he roared as the muscular tentacles along his body snapped tight, gripping the embedded needle-blade and dragging himself painfully toward the thicker end. Kyyr surged through him. Benny's stolen Kyyr spiked in unison.

The red orb flickered as the Hy'Kyyrian tried to pull away, but Jack's facial tentacles shot out and seized the orb. His arm slammed into it, the impact tearing space so violently it ripped into Jack's own face.

"FOCUS, SPAWN OF INFINITY!"he shouted valiantly as his skin collapsed inward, consumed by his Kyyr's singularity. "Fade into the edge of my space—DISCREET RED SHIFT!" His Kyyr expanded violently, red wavelengths stretching outward.

The Hy'Kyyrian flared bright crimson as its core began to stretch. It howled in synthetic agony, flooding its own Kyyr into the distortion as space warped and bent the crimson light exploding from its weeping core.

"⠠⠙⠑⠉⠊⠍⠁⠞⠊⠕⠝⠖" It screamed in horrid unstable screeches.

DECIMATION.

Jack saw his long life flash before him, time slowly as every cell in his body exploded with Kyyr. "DAMN YOU VAAAAA—"

The Hy'Kyyrian unleashed a blazing, condensed laser that hit Jack like a meteor. The massive beam split the dock in half as it tore upward into the ceiling, vaporizing everything in its path. Ice collapsed in torrents, instantly vaporized as the crimson wave tore through the cavern. Enormous slabs of ice exploded against the flickering Kyyr membrane woven into the support beams.

Pax threw himself over Mera, shielding her with his tendrils as the space around the Hy'Kyyrian erupted into a spiraling inferno. And from the heart of that blazing vortex, the Hy'Kyyrian rose through the super-heated air—its ascent marked by the drifting, scorched ashes of Opithoseu Jack.

The Hy'Kyyrian turned its gaze to Pax, its lone red light flaring brighter than the surrounding flames. The rangers that had once decorated its blades—now nothing more than scorched remains still shuddering against all odds.

Pax stared up at the hovering entity just as a thin metal probe slipped through the firelight and stabbed into his neck.

Pax's Kyyr dimmed instantly. His consciousness blurred, dissolving into the alien metal as the Hy'Kyyrian raised him off the ground. His eyes rolled into the back of his head as every thought, feeling, and idea he'd ever had joined the confluence of strange metal and faint electric Kyyr that composed the Hy'Kyyrian.

Its Kyyr sensors flashed—a wave of fierce Kyyr slammed into the entity.

"⠠⠞⠊⠍⠑ ⠑⠭⠏⠑⠝⠙⠊⠞⠥⠗⠑ ⠑⠭⠉⠑⠑⠙⠑⠙⠲ ⠠⠕⠥⠞⠉⠕⠍⠑⠒ ⠞⠑⠗⠍⠊⠝⠁⠇⠲ ⠠⠑⠭⠑⠉⠥⠞⠊⠝⠛ ⠁⠇⠞⠑⠗⠝⠁⠞⠑ ⠗⠕⠥⠞⠑ ⠑⠝⠛⠁⠛⠑⠙⠲ ⠠⠉⠕⠍⠃⠁⠞⠤⠙⠁⠞⠁ ⠁⠉⠟⠥⠊⠎⠊⠞⠊⠕⠝ ⠏⠗⠕⠞⠕⠉⠕⠇ ⠊⠝⠊⠞⠊⠁⠞⠑⠙⠲"

FAILURE—RE-ROUTING.

It warbled as it released Pax, its tendrils sealing the wound—but just as the final cell membrane knit into place, it slipped a shard into his bloodstream.

The Hy'Kyyrian then noted Mera's position, registering her in its internal catalogue as it drifted up through the spiraling flames, its crimson eye turning toward the overwhelming Kyyr pressure.

There—supporting the ice caverns—was a vast weave of calamity constructs shaped like countless Carboxarax, and atop one of these massive charcoal reconstructions stood Bayren, staring at the rising Hy'Kyyrian.

"⠠⠉⠕⠍⠃⠁⠞ ⠏⠗⠕⠛⠝⠕⠎⠊⠎⠒ ⠎⠥⠃⠕⠏⠞⠊⠍⠁⠇⠲ ⠠⠉⠕⠍⠍⠑⠝⠉⠊⠝⠛ ⠁⠥⠭⠊⠇⠊⠁⠗⠽ ⠏⠗⠕⠃⠊⠝⠛ ⠎⠑⠟⠥⠑⠝⠉⠑⠲" It let out a mechanical wail as its disjointed syllables warbled through the rising flames as its skeletal frame rose into view.

Bayren's Kyyr howled across the cavern. The Hy'Kyyrian responded, its Kyyr spilling outward in crushing, ominous waves—an ocean of bloodlust sweeping through the city, marking the beginning of an even fiercer duel.