"Begin!" Dominique's voice echoed throughout the underground stadium.

A hush fell over the crowd.

Then... Boom!

Zeke shot forward like a bullet fired from a cannon. The ground beneath his feet cracked violently, splinters of concrete spraying outward as his form blurred toward Kai. His speed was staggering - most of the audience couldn't even track the motion, a wave of shock rippling through the masses.

But Kai could.

He didn't even blink.

'He's fast,' Kai noted, calmly shifting his weight to the side. 'But not fast enough.'

Zeke's fist cut through the air, a low hum following its arc as a ripple of compressed air trailed behind it. Kai weaved to the side just in time, feeling the shockwave graze his cheek like the edge of a whip.

The ground behind him exploded, a small crater forming where Zeke's punch had landed.

"Oi," Kai muttered, one hand still in his pocket, "you trying to kill me?"

Zeke didn't answer. His feet thudded against the arena floor again, rebounding off with another burst of force, flinging himself behind Kai with an acrobatic spin.

'He's using those shockwaves to launch himself around. It's kinda like Nadya, but he can also do it from his feet. Interesting...'

Kai ducked under a sweeping kick, then parried a punch with his forearm. It was like sparring with a spring-loaded jackhammer. Each hit Zeke threw carried more force than his wiry build suggested, and Kai could feel the vibrations humming through the air.

"You don't seem like a mutant," Zeke said mid-exchange, his voice tense with effort. "So what's with the red eyes?"

Kai just smiled beneath his ski mask.

'Let's see what you're capable of, Black Fang.'

They exchanged a flurry of blows - kicks, jabs, sways, counters. The crowd roared around them like thunder, but inside the ring, it was all focus.

Kai hadn't even begun using his bloodweaving yet, and he didn't need to.

Ever since finishing Takeshi's torturous daily routine, Kai's body had evolved. His muscles had grown denser, his balance sharper, his reflexes freakishly quick. Whether it was the training, his mutation, or something deeper, Kai's raw physicality alone was now a weapon of its own.

He had also long got used to avoiding much faster attacks, especially from Sven.

Still, it never hurt to give the engine a little boost, especially with Zeke picking things up.

He inhaled deeply as a flash went across his red eyes.

Blood Pumping.

A low thrum echoed in his chest as he flooded his system with enhanced circulation. Power surged through his limbs. His muscles tightened. His vision sharpened.

'Much better.'

He met Zeke's next punch head-on - literally. Their fists clashed mid-air, and the boom that followed sent a pulse of air through the entire arena. The crowd lost its mind.

Zeke stumbled back, his brow twitching.

'Does he have a body enhancement ability? He seems quite strong, but if that's all he's capable of, it's far from enough,' Zeke assumed as he watched Kai roll his shoulders lazily and began circling him.

"Not bad," Kai said. "You've got potential."

"Potential?" Zeke snarled. "I've got more than that!"

He slammed his hands into the group, and a wave of powerful vibrations erupted from beneath Kai. It was as if he had caused a small earthquake, as the ground began to shift and splinter.

The vibrations snaked towards Kai, threatening to crush him from beneath, but he danced through it, flipping once and landing like a cat.

'So that's how it is...' Kai quickly began piecing things together.

Zeke's ability wasn't just purely force output. He could manipulate vibrations - send them rippling through the air, the earth, even walls. It gave him both mobility and destructive range. Every hit he made could destabilise an enemy. Every step he took could shatter the ground.

But despite that, he felt lacklustre.

'His timing's not refined. His footwork's got gaps. He's improvising more than planning. He's powerful, but unpolished. That kind of rawness means...'

'A late contractor,' Kai realised. 'Probably only awakened his ability a year or so ago. He hasn't matured yet.'

The difference was like comparing a fresh blade to one that's been folded a thousand times - sharp, sure, but lacking the depth, the refinement, the sheer experience that came with being forged over and over again in fire and pressure.

Seven years had passed since the Z Virus first began tearing through the world like wildfire. Most of humanity had either been infected within that chaotic first year or died trying to avoid it. Mutations spread rapidly back then, erupting from the infected like uninvited gifts. The transformation, once triggered, was usually immediate.

That's why late bloomers were so rare.

But they still existed.

Some people had slipped through the cracks - those tucked away in isolated bunkers, off-grid villages, or far corners of the globe that the infected winds hadn't reached. Others had contracted the virus without triggering any mutation at all, their bodies incubating the Z Gene silently, waiting. Dormant.

A ticking time bomb with no countdown.

Scientists were still scrambling to understand the phenomenon. The Association funded research labs, underground factions ran their own experiments, and individuals like Nyx… well, they took a darker approach.

Then there was the next anomaly: mutant births.

Children born to mutant parents didn't always turn out the same. The Z Gene seemed to be recessive, lurking in the body without always surfacing. Some kids grew up perfectly normal. Others didn't make it.

But it was becoming clearer for such children that the most likely trigger for mutation was puberty or late adolescence, when the body and mind were finally strong enough to channel something as volatile as a mutant ability.

However, there wasn't any way to truly confirm, and it raised a terrifying question - if a child awakened as young as their early teens, what kind of monster would they become as a fully matured mutant adult?

More powerful than any first-gen?

More stable?

And maybe even more dangerous?

There were no answers. Just theories. A hundred different directions the world could spiral into.

Of course, Nyx wasn't content to wait and see. He wanted to force the evolution. He wanted to manufacture mutants. Not just a few - everyone. Turn the entire population into a canvas for his madness. It sounded insane, but when Kai thought about everything he'd seen so far... it didn't feel so impossible anymore.

There were too many variables. Too many moving parts.

But Kai had learned to keep up.

He'd spent a month with the members of the Mutant Outlaws - Isaac, Nadya, Takeshi, Amina, and Sven - and in that time, he'd picked their brains clean. Isaac especially had a knack for rambling endlessly about theories, science, mutation rates, and hypothetical evolutions. Nerdy didn't even begin to cover it, but his knowledge was solid.

Kai had listened, absorbed everything.

And now, in battle, it was proving useful, helping him analyse his opponents faster and spot weaknesses to exploit. There was still so much to explore and discover, but he was taking it day by day and continued to learn and develop.

Now then... where were we?

Back to Zeke and Kai's battle...

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