Elara paced around her lab like a woman possessed, her eyes flicking between Kai and the slowly separating samples in her analyser. But despite the technological marvels surrounding her, her mind kept circling back to one thing.

His blood.

She bit her lip, then turned to him, no longer able to hide what she was after. She'd already asked once earlier, so what's the worst that could happen from asking again?

"Well," she started, a little too casually. "If it's not too much trouble… I'd love to get a fresh sample of your blood."

Kai didn't respond.

Didn't flinch.

Didn't blink.

Just stood there with that expressionless mask he wore so well, crimson eyes locked on something distant, unreadable.

The silence stretched. Uncomfortable. Cold.

Elara shifted in place and rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly.

"I-I mean… it's just that fresh blood is obviously more potent than the stuff Nyx harvested a while ago and already synthesised," she explained hurriedly, waving her hands in small circles as she began to ramble. "I need to see how it reacts in real time, observe its structure when it hasn't been altered or processed. The normal standards and understanding of biology just don't apply to you or your blood! It's like studying an entirely different species - maybe even a new branch of evolution."

Kai still didn't say a word. His silence was suffocating.

Elara's eyes darted nervously between his face and the series of separated substances.

She kept talking.

"A-And it wouldn't just be liquid blood! I'd also need to test the hardened form, you know, the stuff you shape into weapons or armour. There's something incredibly unique in how it changes form - maybe it even uses a type of parasitic cell system or muscle-like fibre weaving that mimics conscious movement! But, of course, only if you're comfortable. No pressure! Only what you're willing to further my research."

Still nothing.

Elara's voice began to shrink, her confidence cracking as she waited for a reaction - any reaction - from the blood demon.

Kai finally moved.

A slow breath escaped his lips, and his eyes narrowed, not in anger, not even irritation. Just focus.

Then, calmly, he spoke.

"Nyx already has it… so I might as well even the odds of the race."

Elara blinked.

"What?"

Before she could fully process what he meant, Kai raised his hand.

Without even needing a blade or needle to slice his hand, a bloom of crimson tore through his palm. Blood didn't spill... it emerged.

An orb of deep, sinister red formed in the air, hovering just above his open hand. It pulsed faintly, as if it had a heartbeat of its own. Like it was alive. A dark, ominous aura rolled off it in waves.

The onlookers' mouths fell open.

'How did he draw out blood like that?'

Kai smiled slightly, eyes still fixed on the orb.

It wasn't just about using cuts or wounds anymore.

He could now pull blood through his skin - seep it out through his pores like vapour, or rip it through with force, tearing flesh intentionally to summon it faster, stronger, rawer.

The method depended on what he needed.

Whether it was forming his living blood armour that moved and shifted like a second skin…

Or launching spears of hardened blood from beneath his fingertips…

The options were expanding.

But it wasn't perfect.

Not yet.

Kai clenched his fist, and the blood compressed into a dense, crystalline blood orb that slowly floated toward Elara.

'There are limits,' he murmured internally. "I still can't extract blood from someone unless they're wounded. And some people… they resist my ability. Naturally. Or maybe it's somehow connected to mental resistance."

A dark glint sparked in his eye.

'But I'll figure it out and keep getting stronger'

It wasn't just empty words; it was a promise.

If he wanted to be able to face the monsters waiting beyond the horizon - the likes of Thundercutter, The Messiah, and the other overpowered freaks at the top of the food chain - he needed more.

More skill.

More control.

More applications of his blood.

He didn't want to just fight for his survival on the defensive.

He wanted to dominate.

And that was exactly what he was planning to do.

However, before handing over his blood to Elara, he had one condition.

"As I'm giving you something, I need you to help me with something in return," Kai stated, halting the orb that was nearing the researcher who was enthralled by it.

"W-What is it?" she asked, willing to give almost anything in exchange for it.

"Nothing much. Just help my friend over here." Kai pointed at Lenny, who was nervously standing at a distance.

Filling Elara in on Lenny's predicament and the effects the Mutant Suppressant had on him, rather than it being a bother she seemed eager to investigate Lenny's body. She had another fascinating specimen, so she had no reason to refuse. If anything, she would have asked to look into it.

As such, she eagerly accepted, and as soon as she did, Kai controlled the condensed blood orb and hovered it in front of her face.

Elara reached out, hands trembling slightly, and took the blood sample with the care of someone handling something divine.

Because that's what it was.

The key to everything.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Kai gave a small nod and turned away, already lost in thought.

And behind him, Elara's eyes gleamed like a mad scientist on the cusp of discovery.

'This… this changes everything.'

-

Elara's hands were more than full.

And she loved it.

No, she thrived in it.

Her lab was now a chaotic symphony of glowing screens, swirling vials, and blinking instruments, all performing for the conductor of madness herself. She had a sample of Kai's blood - fresh, potent, and practically humming with power. She had the concoctions Nyx had produced - those twisted serums, each one a Pandora's box waiting to be opened.

And then… there was Lenny.

Elara's eyes flitted over to the towering figure of the half-mutated man, standing awkwardly near the corner of the lab as if unsure if he should sit or lie down or simply curl into a ball. She narrowed her eyes with fascination.

"I've seen mutants whose bodies have changed," she muttered to herself, pulling up a screen of comparative biology, "but this… this is something else."

Lenny's form was warped - twisted muscles, jagged bones, and toughened hide that didn't match any recorded mutation she'd seen. Not even in the Association's hacked records. And if what Kai said about his durability and strength was even half true, Lenny might be one of the most physically powerful mutants she'd ever had the chance to study.

"If I can isolate the physical mutations and separate them from the external deformities," she whispered excitedly, "I could give him both raw strength and a normal human appearance. The best of both worlds. Oh, the possibilities…"

She practically shook with anticipation.

Then, as if reality remembered it had other plans, Shadow stirred.

The dark veil that had been subtly suppressed around him shimmered back to life, tendrils of shadow rising and clinging to him like smoke from an ancient pyre. He looked recovered now - his breathing calm, posture sharp. But there was a tightness in his jaw, like a man stretched too thin.

Elara noticed it immediately.

"You're leaving?" she asked, reluctantly pulling her attention away from a strand of Kai's blood sample under magnification.

Shadow nodded and stepped toward her, offering her a sleek black phone - the same kind Vance had made and had been passed to the others earlier.

"Contact me with any results or pressing discoveries," he instructed, his voice low and calm. "Also, attend the next gathering. Introduce yourself to the others. This one will be… significant."

The weight in his words wasn't lost on her. She nodded, already half-turned back toward her equipment, her fingers twitching to begin dissecting the mysteries laid before her.

"Yup, got it. Thanks. Bye," she said absentmindedly, and scurried off like a kid in a candy shop, already muttering to herself about gene mapping and cellular memory.

Shadow turned to the rest of the group.

A quick nod.

A sharp, warning glare.

He didn't need words to get the message across: Don't do anything stupid.

Then, without another moment of hesitation, he stepped into a swirling Spatial Rift. The rift snapped shut behind him, leaving only silence in its wake.

The only thing he said before disappearing was:

"I've got places to be. Don't have the energy to waste on dragging you lot through Spatial Rifts, so good luck."

Just like that, he ditched them.

In Romania.

With no ride home, no mission, and no plan.

"…What an asshole," Nadya muttered, arms crossed and lips twitching with irritation.

"Damn it, what are we gonna do now?" Sven groaned, already dramatically flopping onto the ground, sliding down the wall.

The group was a scattered mess.

Nadya looked aimless, their mission complete, but her next steps unclear. It wasn't like she had a home to return to anymore. She tapped her foot and stared at nothing, brows furrowed in frustration. Kai stood apart from the others, eyes glazed, deep in thought - likely planning for the future and trying make sense of his own mind.

Takeshi and Isaac stood silently. Lenny… he was just happy to be there, humming softly as he scratched at his armoured bicep.

And Amina? She sat cross-legged on a ledge, eyes half-lidded, calm as a monk. As if they weren't stranded in a foreign country without backup.

'What now...?'

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