The storm raged around the fortress.
Rain hammered the outer platforms. Waves crashed against the steel walls far below. The structure blazed with red warning lights as alarms roared through every level of the base.
It was all falling apart.
And in the middle of it all stood Dr. E.
His advanced exosuit hissed and sparked as synthetic energy crackled through the damaged armor. One of the mechanical wings on his back was completely gone, torn off during the fight. The other flickered and twitched from overload. His cannon arm kept shifting between forms as if the suit itself was struggling to keep up with the power running through it.
But he was still standing.
Still fighting.
Still unstable.
Nico wiped rainwater and blood from his face.
Rex stood next to him on the broken outer platform, breathing heavily.
Meanwhile, down the shattered wall leading back to the tower, the last Phantom Ruby still sat in its unstable containment field. It flickered like a million tiny lights as Viper struggled with the controls every few seconds inside.
Viper's voice came through the comm on Nico's wrist.
"I almost have it! Keep him away from me!"
Nico looked at Rex.
"You hear that?"
Rex cracked his knuckles.
"Yeah. Don't let the ugly genius near the genius genius."
Nico smirked.
"Exactly."
Dr. E raised his cannon arm.
The weapon came into view, glowing white with synthetic energy forming within it.
"I have tolerated your interference for long enough," he said coldly.
Then he fired.
A great beam ripped through the rain.
Nico and Rex split apart in an instant. The blast hit between them, cutting across the platform and blowing apart a large portion of the outer wall. Metal screamed as the structure buckled even further.
Nico ran along the railing, using the narrow steel bar like solid ground, then kicked off and shot toward Dr. E from the side.
Dr. E reacted immediately. His cannon arm shifted into a blade and slashed upward.
Nico twisted in midair, barely avoiding the strike, then drove a kick into Dr. E's helmet.
The hit knocked the doctor back a step.
Rex charged in from behind.
He slammed both fists into Dr. E's back and sent him crashing through a metal support beam. The whole platform shook from the impact.
Dr. E responded with force.
Thrusters on the back of the suit ignited. They shot him upward. He spun in the air and fired a barrage of smaller energy shots downward like a machine gun.
Nico became a blur.
Rex bulldozed through the blasts.
Explosions erupted around them as they pushed through the storm.
Viper finally got one of the control panels working in the tower.
The containment field around the final Ruby flickered more aggressively.
Viper muttered, "Come on..." and clicked frantically.
A burst of sparks came from the console.
He slammed his fist into the side of it.
"Work, you piece of junk!"
Back outside, Dr. E landed hard, his blade arm aimed straight at Nico's chest.
Nico sidestepped.
Rex caught the blade arm before it could swing back.
For a single second, the suit was locked in place.
"NICO!" Rex shouted.
Nico vanished.
He shot into the tower through the broken wall, sprinted across the shattered floor, and slid beside Viper at the controls.
"How close?"
Viper didn't look away from the monitor.
"Very close. Or not close at all. It's one of those two."
Nico stared at him.
"That means nothing."
Viper pointed at the containment field.
"The suit damage is causing interference! If Dr. E fires another full-power blast near the chamber, the field will collapse on its own!"
Nico blinked.
"...That's insanely risky."
"Yes."
Nico grinned.
"Perfect."
He shot back out through the broken wall just as Rex was blasted off Dr. E and thrown across the platform.
Nico skidded to a stop.
"Rex! Bring him closer to the tower!"
Rex pushed himself up.
"Why?!"
"Just do it!"
Rex didn't ask again.
He roared and charged Dr. E head-on.
The goat took two blasts to the chest and one to the shoulder, but he kept moving anyway. He tackled Dr. E low and pushed him across the slippery platform into the broken wall of the chamber.
Dr. E snarled and swung at Rex with his free arm, but Rex wrapped both arms around his waist and kept forcing him back step by step.
Nico took off at full speed.
He ran a wide circle around the outer platform, building momentum until the air started to spiral around him. Rain bent sideways. Loose rubble lifted into the air. Sparks and smoke twisted into a cyclone.
Dr. E's systems tried to track him.
They failed.
"Nico!" Rex barked.
"Now!"
Rex shoved Dr. E with everything he had.
Dr. E stumbled back just enough.
Nico became a red blur as he slammed into Dr. E's damaged side with enough force to knock the exosuit back into the chamber.
The suit crashed into the edge of the containment field.
BOOM.
The field exploded.
It was not a destructive blast, but a violent release of energy.
The final Phantom Ruby shot free from the collapsing sphere and bounced across the floor.
Nico saw it first.
His eyes widened.
"There!"
Dr. E recovered almost instantly and reached for it.
So did Nico.
Both of them moved at the same time.
Dr. E's cannon arm nearly closed around the Ruby.
Then Nico kicked his wrist aside and snatched the gem from midair.
For a second, everything went still.
Nico landed on one knee, clutching the final Phantom Ruby.
Its red light pulsed violently in his hand.
Dr. E stared.
"No."
Viper rushed to the broken containment rig holding the other four Rubies.
"Nico!" he shouted. "Bring it here! Now!"
Dr. E fired immediately.
A desperate and unstable beam ripped toward Nico.
Rex jumped in front of it.
The blast slammed into his crossed arms and sent him flying across the room, but it gave Nico the half-second he needed.
Nico shot forward and slammed the final Ruby into the cradle with the others.
All five Phantom Rubies lit up at once.
The room was swallowed in red light.
Wind burst out from the cradle. The fortress shook violently. Every screen in the chamber shattered. Power surged through the walls and floor in veins of red lightning.
Nico staggered back.
Then stopped.
His body began to glow.
At first it was faint.
A shimmer across his fur.
Then the glow grew stronger.
Red turned into light green.
His fur lit up with a bright green shine, as if every strand was filled with light. The same aura spread around him, rising off the floor like flames of pure energy. The ground beneath his feet cracked under the pressure. His eyes sharpened. His whole body felt lighter, stronger, faster.
Rex slowly pushed himself up and stared.
"...No way."
Viper looked up from behind the broken console, eyes wide.
"The Rubies... they reacted to you..."
Nico stood fully.
The green aura swirled around him.
Rain and dust lifted away from his body without touching him.
He looked down at his glowing hands.
Then up at Dr. E.
Dr. E actually stepped back.
For the first time in the entire fight, he looked unsure.
"What... are you?"
Nico smiled.
The smile was calm.
Way too calm.
"Super Nico."
Then he vanished.
Dr. E barely had time to raise his guard before Nico appeared in front of him and punched the exosuit in the chest.
The impact was unbelievable.
The entire suit folded inward around the reactor.
Dr. E was launched through three steel support beams, through the chamber wall, and out onto the outer platform.
The fortress shook from top to bottom.
Rex stared for a second.
Then grinned.
"Oh, that's sick."
Dr. E fired wildly as Nico stepped out through the broken wall.
Beams, drones, blade fins, synthetic constructs. Everything the suit had left came pouring out at once.
Super Nico walked through all of it. One beam bent away from him the second it touched the green aura.
A drone exploded before it even reached his face.
The synthetic constructs dissolved into smoke when they got too close.
Dr. E's eyes widened behind the cracked face shield.
"Impossible!"
Nico blurred again.
He appeared above Dr. E.
Then to the left.
Then behind.
Then in front.
The strikes came with deadly accuracy.
A punch to the shoulder shattered the cannon arm.
A kick to the side ripped away the remaining wing.
An elbow to the back cracked open the reactor housing.
Dr. E tried to react, but he could no longer track Nico.
It was too fast.
Too strong.
Too much.
Nico grabbed the front of the exosuit and lifted Dr. E off the ground with one hand.
The green aura flared brighter.
Dr. E struggled, sparks bursting from the ruined suit.
"Does all of this tech make you untouchable?"
Then Nico slammed Dr. E into the platform, hitting his helmet hard enough to leave a crater in the metal.
The exosuit gave out.
Its lights flickered once.
Twice.
Then died.
Dr. E coughed and tried to move.
Nico stood over him, glowing like a star in the rain.
Rex stepped onto the platform beside him.
Viper watched from the ruined chamber doorway, still stunned by what had just happened.
Dr. E pushed himself onto one elbow, glaring back at Nico through cracked glasses and a shattered face shield.
His voice came out weak, angry and full of hate.
"Nico..." he rasped.
The storm flashed around them.
The destroyed fortress groaned beneath their feet.
Nico stood still, his green aura whipping in the wind.
Dr. E narrowed his eyes.
"I'm not finished yet..."