The bell rang, signaling the end of another school day at National City Technical High School. Kayn packed his books into his bag, his movements swift but relaxed.
"System, Sign-In!" Kayn said in his mind.
[ Congratulations! You have received – Banishing Shift ]
Kayn looked at the reward and nodded. It was powerful and useful, but it wasn't near the level of Aurelion Sol Template or anything similar.
Banishing Shift is a dangerous power described as being able to banish anything whether it's physical or magical attacks, to the zero-dimension space, in other words, they cease to exist.
Once he was finished checking his Sign-In Reward, Kayn slung his back over his shoulder, walking out of the classroom and soon out of the school into the bright afternoon sun.
The chatter of students around him began to fade into the background as he walked. Soon, he felt his phone ringing in his pocket, pulling it out, Kayn saw the name flash on the screen, 'John Jones.'
Kayn answered the phone, "John, what's up?"
"Kayn, it's done. The AEGIS Prison is complete. They've finished the final testing on the systems today, and all the wards are active. I think it's time you saw it for yourself." John responded.
Kayn's eyes sharpened with interest as he adjusted his bag on his shoulder. With all the intense training and other work he was doing over the weekend, the prison had fallen into the back of his mind.
"Everything is in place. We're ready for inmates. You should come down. It's something to behold." John said once again.
Kayn paused, glancing around at the bustling crowd of students heading toward buses or their cars. A fully operational AEGIS Prison was exactly what he and National City needed, a way to put away these Extra-Normal criminals for good.
"I'll be there soon." Kayn said, before the call was hung up.
____________________________
Soon, Kayn arrived at the AEGIS Prison, floating down from above as Harbinger. He looked at the prison's design, which looked distinctly futuristic.
From outside, the prison looked like a vast fortress, one that was near impenetrable. The prison was fortified with cutting-edge security measures, including energy barries and high-tech surveillance systems.
The prison's perimeter was protected by multiple layers of defense, such as force fields, automated sentry turrets that constantly scan for intruders. There are no windows visible on the outer walls, and the few access points are reinforced by enormous metallic doors, guarded by AEGIS members.
As Kayn landed, he spotted John Jones already waiting outside for him. Kayn landed and shook John's hand as they immediately entered the prison to inspect it.
"I delayed my inspection until with you, but others members of the D.E.O are all extremely impressed with AEGIS' work. This prison is the future of secure detention for ultra-dangerous beings, whether that be magical, alien or meta-human." John spoke as they entered the prison, marveling at its design.
The first room Kayn and John entered was the Central Command Hub, which was at the heart of the facility. It was a massive, high-tech control room that serves as the nerve center of the entire facility.
The walls are covered in holographic interfaces, where the AI system continuously monitors all prisoners and their health, adjusting containment strategies in real-time based on any shift in behavior, powers, or external conditions.
It's here that senior personnel, mostly AEGIS operatives trained by Kayn back in Russia, monitor security feeds, power systems, and prison protocols.
They mostly acted strictly professional as Kayn didn't want other members of the D.E.O to know he was already friends with the AEGIS members, but he did shake the hand of the Prison Director, a woman he had trained called Gabriella.
The next place they toured was the Containment Cells of the prison, where the prisoners would be held majority of the time. The cells were built to facilitate any and all possible supernatural abilities.
They had features such as adaptive containment fields which are capable of adjusting to resist the specific abilities of its prisoner. If an inmate uses fire-based powers, the field becomes heat-resistant. If they have the ability to phase through solid objects, the energy adjusts to prevent molecular destabilization.
There are also power inhibitor collars that emit counter-active signals that suppress the their abilities. The walls are also inscribed with Celestial Magic runes that draw power from the stars, with the use of sealing away magic powers.
There are also anti-teleportation wards making it impossible to warp in, or out of the facility unless you have secured access which only Kayn can give.
The biggest marvel was the Isolation Cells. These cells were complete isolated, with only darkness surrounding them, and people who end up in these cells never get to eat with other prisoners or socialize at all.
In these isolation cells, there are Temporal Celestial Runes, which leave the cells in suspended animation, where time moves differently. The cells are surrounded in magic formations that destabilize the prisoner's ability to perceive the correct flow of time.
A day in the isolation cell could be a week outside, or a week outside could only be a day inside, the temporal time-flow constantly changes, which prevents inmates from formulating complex escape plans.
Kayn, John, and Gabriella continued their tour through the AEGIS Prison, moving from the isolated Temporal Cells toward the cafeteria, where the prisoners would be eating at specific times every day.
John observed the room closely, nodding in approval, "Everything is perfect. Very impressive Miss Gabriella."
"Thank you, a-lot of work has been put into this to get up to your standards." Gabriella responded with a smile on her lips, her eyes more towards Kayn than John.
As they moved to the 'Arcane Vault', Gabriella briefed them on its importance. "This vault is specifically designed for prisoners who possess ancient magical relics or are magical entities themselves. It's not just about containing their physical form; we've taken every precaution to neutralize the relics they may carry as well."
The vault's reinforced doors slid open, revealing rows of specialized containment chambers. The air inside felt thick with magical energy, but the wards inscribed into the walls and floors absorbed any excess power.
Just as they were about to continue, John's phone buzzed, the sound piercing the otherwise quiet hall. He raised a hand, gesturing for a brief pause as he answered the call.
Kayn could hear voices through the phone as John's expression shifted to one of concern. After a moment, John hung up and turned to Kayn, his usual calm demeanor replaced with a sense of urgency.
"There's been a spike in energy readings on the outskirts of National City," John said, his brow furrowed. "It's completely unexplained. DEO agents are already on the move, but I think you should check it out yourself."
Kayn nodded, his mind already switching gears. "I'll head there right away. Gabriella, good work here. I'll be back to follow up."
With a brief nod to Gabriella, Kayn turned, his aura flaring with power as he shot through the prison, making it out of the exit and into the air, leaving the AEGIS prison behind. His sleek form cut through the sky as he accelerated toward the outskirts of National City, the wind whipping past him.
It didn't take long for him to arrive. Hovering in the air, Kayn scanned the area, a dilapidated industrial sector filled with abandoned warehouses and rusting machinery.
His eyes narrowed as he felt a strange, lingering energy, something dark and malevolent. His senses were flaring as stared at the environment, he could feel the energy pulsating.
He landed silently on the roof of one of the buildings, the atmosphere eerily still. The area was completely abandoned, and yet… the energy in the air was unmistakable. He moved toward a large, worn-down building at the center of the zone, its windows shattered and its doors hanging loosely on broken hinges.
Kayn entered cautiously, his senses on high alert. As soon as he stepped inside, the smell hit him—thick, metallic, and rancid. His eyes adjusted to the dim light, and what he saw made him pause.
Several monstrous entities lay dead on the floor, their grotesque forms twisted in unnatural ways. Some had reptilian scales, others with misshapen limbs and claws.
The creatures seemed to have been torn apart violently, as if something, or someone had decimated them with extreme force.
Kayn knelt beside one of the bodies, examining it closely. His eyes glowed as he intently examining them closely, any potential mana flow, where they were most harshly attacked, the viciousness of their injuries.
Whatever had done this was no ordinary person. These monsters had been strong, strong enough to give even experienced fighters trouble. But they were slaughtered like fodder.
The silence around him was unnerving, the only sound being the faint crackle of residual energy in the air. Kayn's instincts told him something was very wrong. His fingers brushed against the ground, feeling the faint pulse of dark energy radiating from the bodies.
Just as he stood up, the 360 degree vision from his Mutated Six Eyes caught something. A shift of the shadows, a slight movement, a person.
"Shadow's Embrace,"- Kayn said in his head, and tendrils of darkness erupted from the earth, flashing towards the person with venomous speed. It wrapped around the enemy and pulled them down, constricting their movements.
Once he attacked, the others immediately revealed themselves. The air shifted from eerie to tense instantaneously, with a good ole standoff, but Kayn wasn't having that.
Kayn sent out a vicious punch that crashed the initially constricted enemy cascading through multiple walls, destabilizing the building and leaving debris falling, which Kayn telekinetically caught, preparing to launch them at the others.
"Day 1 of the Prison, and it looks like we're already having some new inmates." Kayn said, his voice cold as the battle began in earnest.