Kai, locked in battle with the one-eyed juggernaut, immediately sensed the arrival of a series of armed figures.

But he didn't care.

The air was thick with the iron-sweet stench of blood, and his heart thundered with ecstasy. Dominique was giving Kai a run for his money in a close, intense battle. His thoughts were fractured, running wild, and all he wanted to do was fight and kill.

'She's a strong one... so I can finally go all out.'

He moved like a blur, blood armour shifting around him like tendrils - flexible, durable, alive - bolstering every strike, redirecting every blow. His fists slammed into Dominique's enhanced frame like hammers meeting steel, the sheer shock of impact cracking the air like thunder.

Dominique grunted, but stood her ground. Each blow she took, she returned twofold, her body growing heavier with every passing second. The ground beneath her groaned and splintered, the weight of her aura increasing until she was sinking into the stone.

Her desperation was pushing her past her limits. It had been a while since she'd had to fight so hard, but if she didn't, Kai would decimate her.

But then her eye shifted.

She noticed the AMC soldiers, and her stance immediately changed.

Although they weren't mutants, she by no means wanted to cross the elite unit of soldiers trained to kill and suppress mutants like herself.

However, Kai instantly noticed her hesitation and capitalised on it.

"Wrong move."

With a wild snarl, Kai lunged forward, both arms shifting into spiralling blood drills, which screeched as they spun rapidly. He launched them forward with no finesse - just pure, unfiltered killing intent.

Dominique's eyes widened, her control of her ability slipping...

One blood drill struck her shoulder, cracking through the dense aura like brittle bark. The other narrowly missed her neck, scraping her collarbone and tearing through the muscle as dark blood splattered the floor.

"Kai!" Nadya shouted across the battleground, unsure if she was cheering or warning.

But he didn't respond. He didn't even flinch.

Because right now?

He wasn't fighting for any reason other than to satiate a dark hunger.

And even the AMC were nothing but more targets to satisfy his bloodlust...

-

Kai retracted his arms before slamming a fist into Dominique's gut after piercing into her shoulder and upper chest. The squelch of impact was followed by spray of blood.

The woman stumbled back, her one eye wide with disbelief as crimson tendrils slithered out of her wounds, drawn toward Kai like serpents answering their master's call.

She struggled to recall the last time she had been seriously wounded since facing Nadya. But against Kai, being wounded meant it was as good as over.

Each drop of blood that escaped her body was immediately absorbed into the storm of liquid death swirling around him, adding to the arsenal of crimson blades and tendrils already floating like a war god's halo.

"So much blood… it's beautiful."

It was intoxicating.

He didn't even need this much. He could barely control all of it, and yet, he wanted more. The fresh blood had a pulse to it, a heat. It sang to him. No aged pool or preserved vial compared to the rush of bleeding a foe in real-time.

"She's done. Just one more opening…"

He ducked under a sluggish punch from Dominique and countered with a vicious uppercut, one laced with a hardened blood spike along his knuckles. The crack of her jaw dislocating echoed over the carnage. Her massive frame swayed, her body no longer able to keep up with the increasing weight and the blood loss.

But that was when Kai noticed the AMC soldiers beginning to shift.

Weapons were raised.

Positions adjusted.

It was clear - they weren't going to sit on the sidelines forever.

"Tch. You vultures trying to ruin my fun?"

Still, his attention remained locked on Dominique, who dropped to one knee, panting, her dark aura flickering like a candle in the wind.

To the side, hidden behind chunks of collapsed debris and cracked steel beams, Nadya, Sven, Isaac, and Amina watched in tense silence.

"He's going to kill her," Isaac muttered.

"Remind me not to mess with him again," Sven let out a muffled laugh.

"But then what?" Nadya's voice was low, uncertain. "If the AMC decide that he's a rogue threat and place a target on him, that's it. They'll hunt him down forever."

Amina looked between the battle and the tightening AMC formation, clutching her bag of healing supplies with white knuckles. "We… need to help him?"

Even though he was now a Blood Demon on the verge of taking down a powerful, renowned mutant, and surrounded by the AMC, they couldn't bring themselves to give up on him.

Nadya's jaw clenched. She hated this. Every cell in her body screamed to jump in, to tear into the AMC and stand beside Kai. But logic kept her rooted in place as she withdrew the explosives crackling in her palms.

"The Association likely already knows we're in New York now. We don't want to make this a mess they can't ignore..."

"Or they'll bury the city to get to us," Sven finished grimly.

They couldn't think of a way to intervene without things spiralling out of control, not without Takeshi to swoop in and save the day. But unlike usual, he didn't show up when they needed him...

Then, finally, Isaac stepped forward, rolling his shoulders as if he were preparing for war.

"Well, guess it's my time to be the hero," he said with a dry grin.

Nadya raised a brow. "Oh? And what's the plan, oh mighty phaser?"

Isaac ignored the jab. "Look, I'm sure the AMC have all the exits covered, maybe even surveillance already synced with Association channels. So even if we defeat those that are here, getting away won't be easy. And by then, the entire city will be looking for us..."

"But I've got the cleanest getaway route."

He turned to Amina, then Sven and Nadya. "I'll phase you all out without drawing attention using my Phased Vision. Once outside, you guys make a run for it. Nadya, don't even think about using your ability. It's way too recognisable and eye-catching, okay?"

Isaac gave her a flat look before continuing. "Once you're out, I'll come back. Try to reach Kai, assuming he doesn't go berserk on me first, and phase him out with me."

"And the rendezvous?" Nadya asked.

Isaac gave her a confident nod. "Same alleyway we came through from the Spatial Rift. Wait a couple of minutes. If I don't show up with Kai, well…"

"You better," Nadya cut in sharply. "Or I'm tearing through this entire city and will cause an even bigger mess."

Sven let out a low whistle. "Man, that sounds fun."

Nadya was so uncharacteristically tense that she didn't even slap Sven on the back of their head. They had to act quickly, and Isaac's plan was the only thing they had that was close to feasible.

All they could do was pray for the best.

"Stay close," he said, then he phased.

-

Isaac's pupils dilated, a sharp breath escaping him as he activated his secondary ability - what he dubbed Phased Vision. It was essentially X-Ray Vision. Though truth be told, it wasn't like he could see bones or strip people naked with a glance. Not yet, anyway.

It was more like the solid walls and barriers around him just… vanished. Dematerialised in his perception. Like he could choose which layers of the world to peel away until only his path remained.

"Alright… hallway clear. No movement two floors up. Let's go."

"Wait, are we just gonna-" Sven started, but he didn't get to finish.

Isaac grabbed their arms and dropped.

The floor swallowed them whole.

The world turned into a blur of darkness, pressure, and nausea. Their bodies phased through stone, steel, and support beams as if reality itself didn't know what to do with them.

Nadya was uncomfortable and her voice twisted mid-scream, "Isaac, if we get stuck in a wall or-!"

"We won't," Isaac grunted, jaw clenched, sweat forming instantly across his brow.

His vision split like a cracked screen as he scanned the building's inner layout. Each time he went up a level or crossed a floor, it was like lifting a thousand invisible weights with his mind. Every brick he phased through felt like it added ten pounds of pressure to his skull.

But he kept going.

One floor. Two floors.

More scanning. He adjusted his path, avoiding a duo of patrolling AMC soldiers beside a stairwell. His ability filtered out the wall like a photograph being peeled away.

"Almost… almost there."

The final floor was the worst. It felt like a vice grip on his brain, twisting as they passed through reinforced cement.

And then...

Pop!

They all erupted from the sidewalk a block away from the Venom Night Club, landing in an awkward, sweaty heap behind a row of parked cars.

"Ugh - I'm gonna vomit," Sven croaked, leaning over with a hand on his chest.

Amina was silent, just gripping the ground like it would run away from her. Nadya cursed under her breath and wiped a trail of blood from her nose.

"Phasing sucks," she growled.

Meanwhile, Isaac gasped like a drowning man, chest heaving. His limbs twitched as if he'd just been electrocuted.

But despite the strain, he grinned like a madman.

"Heh… training's paying off after all," he panted. "Didn't pass out. Didn't leave anyone stuck inside a wall. We're calling that a win."

"You're lucky," Nadya muttered, pushing herself up. "But good job."

Isaac gave them a nod, eyes narrowing as he reminded himself that things weren't over just yet - he had to quickly return for Kai. He could only imagine how far things had already spiralled...

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