Derek's fist met Prime 5's block, and the impact rattled his bones.
They were matched—barely. Each exchange pushed him back, each strike from Prime 5 landed harder, faster, more precise. Derek was losing. His opponent was stronger. Much stronger.
He pulled back, blood rushing in his ears, his body screaming for more.
Blood Rush.
Before he could activate it, the world shifted.
"Dominance Sphere."
The pressure hit Derek like a falling building. Prime 5's domain crushed down on him, forcing him to his knees, pressing the air from his lungs. A kick caught him in the ribs—he felt them crack. Another drove into his chest. A punch sent him flying into a wall, then another, then another. He was a ragdoll, tossed around the sphere, broken piece by piece.
The domain vanished.
Derek lay in the rubble, his body screaming, his vision blurry. His arms wouldn't move. His legs wouldn't respond. Blood pooled beneath him, spreading across the broken floor.
"You're weak." Prime 5 stood over him, his dark grey mask reflecting Derek's broken face. "Yet you still fight. You won't stop."
Derek coughed. Blood. "Well... you see..." He pushed himself up, his arms trembling, his body failing. "I'm just a man. I'm not strong. But I'll keep fighting until you're all dead."
Prime 5 tilted his head.
Then he felt it.
The Pulse in Derek's body wasn't just rising—it was skyrocketing. Blood Rush activated, and with it, Pulse Amplification. The two techniques fed each other, building, accelerating, climbing toward something impossible.
Derek's wounds healed in the blink of an eye. His bones knitted. His flesh sealed. He stood up, and his body was singing.
Excitement filled him. It came with the Blood Rush—that wild, uncontrollable joy that made him feel like he could tear the world apart with his bare hands.
He started to dance.
His body moved in a rhythm that made no sense, a celebration of power and madness, his feet pounding the rubble, his arms swinging, his hips swaying. The Hakarai. The dance of the immortal.
Prime 5 watched. "What the hell are you doing?"
He saw it—the Pulse rushing through Derek's body, accelerating, climbing, reaching heights that shouldn't be possible. It was getting faster. And faster. And faster.
Derek vanished.
He appeared in front of Prime 5 and punched him in the face.
Prime 5 staggered. The mask cracked. He understood now. Blood Rush. Pulse Amplification. That's how he does it.
He activated them both.
His own Pulse skyrocketed, matching Derek's, exceeding it. They stood across from each other, two giants of power, their bodies humming with energy that made the air itself vibrate.
Derek hardened his body. Pulse rose higher.
They charged.
Their fists met in the center of the room. The shockwave shattered what was left of the walls, the ceiling, the floor. They were standing on rubble now, nothing else.
They moved. Trails of Pulse followed them, light and heat and power, painting the darkness with their passage. Derek's fist found Prime 5's chest. Prime 5's knee found Derek's side. They were everywhere and nowhere, trading blows that would have killed anyone else, laughing through the pain.
Derek stood in the center of the destruction, his shirt gone, his body covered in scars and fresh wounds, and activated both techniques again.
He started dancing again.
"The excitement is high!" Prime 5 laughed—a real laugh, genuine, almost admiring. "I'll enjoy making a monster out of your body parts!"
"Hahahahaha!" Derek laughed with him, wild and free and utterly mad.
Their fists met again.
The shockwave rolled through the facility, reaching Eva, Maya, Leo. Eva felt it—the impossible Pulse output, the clash of two forces that shouldn't exist. Maya's eyes narrowed. Leo pushed himself off Eva's shoulder, ignoring his own wounds.
They ran.
---
Prime 5 couldn't maintain both techniques.
His Pulse was faltering, his body screaming, the techniques tearing him apart. Derek saw the opening. Felt it.
"JACKPOT!"
He moved.
His fists found Prime 5's chest, his arms, his face. He punched through armor, through muscle, through bone. Prime 5's ribs shattered. His organs ruptured. His body was coming apart under the onslaught.
Derek didn't stop.
He punched until Prime 5 was barely standing, until his arms were covered in blood, until his own body was screaming for mercy.
Prime 5 raised his hand.
"Dominance Sphere."
The domain formed—weak, flickering, dying. But it was enough. The high Pulse in Derek's body broke the sphere instantly, but the moment of distraction was all Prime 5 needed.
He vanished.
Derek stood in the empty room, his chest heaving, his arms dripping with blood. Victory. Pain. The two were indistinguishable now.
Eva was the first through the door. Leo leaned on her, barely standing. Maya followed, her scaled body still humming with power, her eyes still one white, one black.
They stopped.
Derek stood in the center of the destruction, his shirt gone, his body a map of wounds and scars, his fists still raised. Blood dripped from his knuckles. His chest rose and fell with each breath.
He turned to them.
"Ouch."
Eva stared at him. At the blood. At the rubble. At the empty space where Prime 5 had been.
"You're insane," she said.
Derek grinned. It hurt. "Yeah."
Leo slumped against the wall, laughing weakly. Maya's lips twitched—almost a smile. Eva walked to Derek, grabbed his arm, pulled it over her shoulder.
"Let's go. We're not done."
Derek leaned on her, his legs barely holding. "Where's Wolfen.I can feel him his pulse .?"
Eva's jaw tightened. "We'll find him.That arrogant,selfish piece of chaos"
They moved. Behind them, the facility burned. Ahead, the war continued