Aside from Amina, the rest of the mutants were just hitting their stride, reaching the peak of the Mutant Brawl when a figure appeared among them - silent, sudden, and out of nowhere.

Nobody had seen him coming.

Their instincts kicked in immediately. All of them had sharp senses trained from weeks in the wild, and they locked onto the stranger without a moment's hesitation.

Strike first, ask questions later.

They didn't know who or what it was. A scout from the Association? One of Nyx's freaks? Some mutated monster? Whatever it was, its presence alone was disturbing.

But what alerted Kai the most was this:

His Blood Vision didn't work on it.

No flow. No pulses. Nothing. As if the figure either had no blood... or had shrouded itself in something that completely concealed it.

Kai hadn't thought that was even possible.

'Something to investigate later, after we kill it.'

Takeshi and Sven moved first, naturally. They were the fastest of the bunch.

Takeshi drew his katana with a smooth motion, unleashing an arc of compressed wind that howled toward the figure like a blade made of air.

Sven, meanwhile, blinked forward with his speed burst, already mid-throw, before he finished moving. A dagger flashed from his hand with pinpoint accuracy, honed from hours of training. He had no long-range moves and had spent every spare moment sharpening his throws with his daggers.

His plan was to purchase a series of throwing knives to make up for that weakness, and they would also be much faster than his daggers.

The wind slash and dagger came in from opposite angles, a pincer strike meant to shred the intruder.

But the figure vanished.

Just like that.

He disappeared into a dark mist, leaving nothing behind but a lingering shroud of black smoke.

Sven's dagger clanged against Takeshi's wind blade, which was solid enough to deflect it, sending the blade spinning away. The wind slash didn't stop, it kept going, cleaving clean through a tree with a violent crack.

Nobody blinked.

Because the figure reappeared. Closer this time. Right between Nadya and Kai.

They were both ready.

Nadya hurled four explosive orbs, two from each hand, each one glowing bright orange as they sailed like flaming fastballs. She didn't hold back. But as she let them fly, she finally registered the familiar shape cloaked in darkness.

"It's Shadow!" she shouted.

The realisation dawned on the others too, who suddenly halted their attacks - except Kai, who'd never met the man.

Kai was still locked in. Adrenaline pumping, instincts roaring. He drew in all the surrounding blood - from the bird, his own, and from the others - and formed it into an array of projectiles. One spear, in particular, was the size of a tree branch. He fired them all in a rapid volley.

Nadya had already committed. Her orbs were too supercharged to safely recall, but she was confident the man would be fine. If he couldn't handle such attacks, he wouldn't be worthy of his position within the Mutant Outlaws.

Meanwhile, Shadow didn't move.

He simply raised both arms, palms out. The dark haze surrounding him thickened, swirling into vortexes.

A black hole emerged from each of his hands.

Kai's and Nadya's attacks vanished into the swirling void, swallowed whole.

"That's cool, I guess," Kai muttered, preparing a second series of attacks on the mysterious figure.

That was until the vortex reappeared, right in front of him!

All the attacks they'd launched - his own blood projectiles and Nadya's explosive orbs - came flying back with the same murderous momentum.

Kai's Blood Vision flared. He barely managed to halt the blood projectiles mid-air with a mental command. They stopped hairsbreadths from impaling him - but that was only half the problem.

The orbs.

He had a split second to act.

He formed a blood barrier from the projectiles, thick and wide, trying to shield himself. But Nadya had streamed a large portion of her energy into them - blocking wasn't enough.

So he didn't just block.

He activated Blood Surge.

His heart roared. Blood rushed to his muscles, his brain, everything supercharged.

Time stretched. Not much - but just enough.

He dived.

The orbs struck.

His blood barrier shattered in a blast of fire and sound.

Kai was flung like a ragdoll, crashing through the dirt and into a tree. His vision swam, nose and eyes bleeding, body trembling from the aftershock.

He deactivated Blood Surge and Blood Vision, groaning as he forced himself to stand. His chest burned, his heart pounded like a drum, and his skull felt like it was splitting.

"Ugh... what a day," he muttered, wiping blood from his chin.

The entire exchange had occurred in a matter of seconds, and Kai looked up, ready to continue, only to find the others gathered calmly around the dark figure.

Casually laughing and chatting.

'Are you serious…?' Kai stared in disbelief. 'They know this guy. And the fucker launched the attacks back at me instead of into the ground or the sky?'

He sighed, taking a moment to regain his balance and composure before staggering toward them.

Everyone else had relaxed. But Kai? He couldn't help but be on edge. Bloodless or not, anyone who could eat one of your strongest moves and throw them back at you without flinching was worth watching closely. Especially since he seemed to have it out for him - why else would he send the attacks his way?

'Spatial Manipulation is overpowered,' Kai couldn't help but comment internally.

'He must have been the one who created the Spatial Rift. And he also seems capable of short-range teleportation, creating vortexes that can swallow ranged attacks and send them in any direction, and who knows what else,' he gathered.

'Why did I have to get stuck with blood, of all things?'

'And if he's a part of the Mutant Outlaws along with these guys, they are one powerful group. I wonder what the others are capable of.'

All kinds of thoughts and ideas were bouncing around Kai's head, but more importantly...

Why had Shadow shown up now, of all times?

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