His heart raced, veins burning as sweat ran down his forehead like water cascading down a river. His breath quickened, roaring like a train engine. Black smoke poured out of his body, curling and wrapping around him like a living shroud.
"Kin, are you alright?" asked Monti, looking down. Kínitos saw the smoke and began flailing his arms, but the smoke clung to him, unrelenting. Then, without warning—15 miles, 20, 27, 40—he gained speed, unable to stop or change direction.
"Calm yourself," a voice said calmly. Still accelerating, he forced himself to breathe in and out, steadying his mind until he gradually slowed.
He stepped into an elevator, holding the door open for Monti. Both men rushed inside and slammed the doors shut just as the killer reached them.
"What the fuck is going on with me?" said Kínitos, his voice trembling.
The elevator jerked to a halt, the lights flickering off. When the doors slid open on the fourth floor, Suris lunged at Monti. Monti dodged swiftly, grabbing Suris' arm and flipping him onto his back. The scalpel fell from Suris' right hand, but he thrashed wildly, pulling another from his pocket with his left hand and slashing toward Monti's hand.
Black smoke coiled over Kínitos' skin, forming a protective sheath of armor. The scalpel bounced off harmlessly. Both men bolted from the elevator, cool air washing over them as they fled.
***
Several stories above, Violet stood before a dense black fog that reeked of rot. The stench was indescribable—like a dead goat left in a sweltering room filled with trash and filth, repeated tenfold.
Humanoid figures emerged from the smoke, their bodies woven from dark strings filled with swirling mist. Cracks spiderwebbed their glass-like forms, as though they had been shattered and clumsily glued back together. The creatures turned toward Violet, their hollow eyes locking onto her.
"Huh, they formed quicker than usual," Violet said aloud.
The creatures charged, swinging at her with terrifying speed. Each strike missed as Violet moved with precision. With one decisive punch, she shattered a creature's head into pieces.
"Huh, weaker than usual," she thought to herself.
Every punch she threw was calculated, her muscles roaring like a steam whistle. Each step she took cracked the floor beneath her. She punched holes through the creatures with single blows, eliminating them one by one.
"Vex, I've finished killing all the abnormals," Violet said into her earpiece.
"Good job. I'm a little busy with some—they're tougher than usual," Vex replied, explosions echoing in the background.
"Really? You think s—" The line cut out.
"Vex?… **Vex?**" Violet tapped her earpiece, but there was no response.
She stood among the destroyed and beaten foes, the ground trembling beneath her feet as though it might collapse. Looking up, she saw a man towering over her, his seven-foot frame dwarfing her. Scars littered his body, his short oak hair and lion-like mustache giving him a fearsome appearance. His black mask clung tightly to his face. His giant fur coat seemed as if the bear itself still clings onto to his back. Jewels from ring,piercings, and a necklaces littered his body.
"Well, aren't you a strong little miss," he said, his deep voice rumbling like the depths of the ocean, his Russian accent thick and menacing.
"I'm hoping you're a friend and not an enemy," Violet said softly, her voice steady despite the tension.
The man stepped forward, crushing a creature's skull underfoot. He paused, scratching his chin before looking at Violet. "Sorry to misplace your hope, but no—I'm no friend."
Before he could finish, Violet charged at him, drawing her pistols from the holster under her dress. She fired two quick shots, but the man dodged both, moving to the right with inhuman speed. She fired two more shots, but he grabbed two abnormal corpses, using them as shields. He hurled one corpse with his left hand; Violet leaped over it, aiming her pistols at him mid-air. He threw the second corpse with his right hand, forcing her to adjust her trajectory.
Violet landed on a hospital pillar, the abnormal's body smashing into it and cracking the structure. Mid-air, she fired three shots, each one narrowly avoided by the man as he weaved through the chaos. She landed gracefully on both feet, but the room was already crumbling around them.
Over three dozen abnormals formed from the fog, their glass-like bodies cracking as they charged toward Violet and the man.
"You're quite fast, little one," the man said, punching straight through the chest of an abnormal, its body shattering into shards. Violet responded by dispatching her own foes with quick, precise punches, each blow landing with devastating force.
"That I am," she replied, her voice calm but her movements fierce.
Smoke began to stream into the man's mouth, a black substance spreading across his skin before turning a deep blue. With a grin, he bulldozed through the abnormals, their bodies splattering and exploding as he charged toward Violet. It was like a train plowing through a crowd, leaving destruction in its wake.
Violet aimed her pistols, firing four shots in rapid succession. The man dodged each one, the bullets piercing the heads of abnormals behind him. He dropped to all fours, leaping side to side with animalistic agility, weaving through the chaos. He grabbed two abnormals by their necks, hurling them toward Violet. She dodged the first, but the second smashed into a pillar, causing it to collapse.
The man rebounded off the ceiling, dropping toward Violet with a thunderous crash that shattered the floor beneath him. Dust filled the room as Violet leaped back, her pistols aimed at the cloud of debris.
"Where are you?" she thought, her eyes scanning the chaos.
With a deafening boom, the man appeared behind her, his massive frame looming over her. Violet turned, her eyes widening in surprise as she found herself trapped mid-air. The man's fist swung toward her, his grin widening.
"Got you," he said, his voice dripping with triumph.