Stone: (sternly) Your form is fading, I see. You just can’t maintain it for long. Well, you could’ve if you weren’t so bent on excessively exerting it on these rocks. The fact is… you didn’t land a single blow on me.
Jax: (gritting his teeth) And you insist on fighting like a damn coward! Why not throw a punch at me for a change?! What’s your Surge anyway?!
(Jax lunges at Stone once again, who glares at him with a furious expression in reaction to his comment. With the mist slowing down Jax’s movements, Stone kicks him in the face and sends him crashing into a wall. He gets back up on his feet — his muscular form considerably decreasing in size — and glares at Stone through gritted teeth, who approaches him with a venomous scowl.)
Stone: (scowling) Wretched brute. Can’t you see? (furiously) I DON’T HAVE A SURGE!!!
(Jax glances up at him, his fierce expression replaced with that of genuine shock and bafflement. Elsewhere, the mysterious masked man watches that unfold through his watch, the purple infinity sign on his mask glowing in reaction to that, as if in amusement. To his masked soldier’s surprise, he starts to chuckle under his breath.)
???: (chuckling under his breath) This young man… he’s something else! I didn’t expect him to remember what Aegis did to him, and yet he does! In fact, he harbors an unimaginable amount of hatred in his heart! He embodies my cause. I see his potential. (firmly) In any case, we need to get moving. This mess could go either way, and we can’t afford to miss out on this opportunity. The Surge Core is nearby.
(The soldiers nod and walk along with the masked man, on a quest to find the “Surge Core”. Meanwhile, Jax gets back up on his feet and swings his fist at Stone, who holds it down with ease then kicks him in the gut, sending him skidding back. He follows that with a roundhouse kick to his face, sending him crashing into another wall. He starts panting in exhaustion and attempts to take a firm fighting stance against Stone, who remains as stern as ever.)
Stone: (sternly) Pathetic. I never imagined that you’d break so easily, and yet here we are.
(Jax grits his teeth and attempts to move in for a blow, but before he even gets to lunge at him, Stone kicks him in the gut and sends him skidding back, then he grabs him by the throat and pins him to the wall, glaring at him dead in the eye with sharp, underlyingly furious eyes.)
Stone: (with tranquil fury) It begins with you, and then your teammates. I will not have Aegis interfere with our business.
Jax: (weakly) What’s… your deal… with Aegis? And what do you mean you’ve got no Surge?
Stone: You’ll understand in due time, when nothing is salvageable anymore. Or perhaps you’ll never understand.
(Stone prepares his fist to land a punch at Jax, whose muscles weaken even more. However, he quickly lets go of his neck and dodges a taser shot, leaving the latter coughing and panting upon landing on the ground. It was Proxy who fired that shot with a firm expression, and Stone turns to her with a scowl, noticing that her tech is carrying along an incapacitated and unconscious Jackpot.)
Stone: (scowling) It’s you again. I don’t know how you managed to defeat Jackpot, but I’m certain you won’t find me any easier to beat.
(Proxy takes a fighting stance with a firm expression, her tech floating around her in a purple aura. However, before she gets to morph this tech into anything to fight back, Stone lunges at her and punches her in the gut, sending her flying.)
Jax: Proxy!
(Meanwhile, Pulse takes a firm fighting stance as Mistrick and her copies lunge at her all at once. She jumps out of the way and at the real Mistrick, only for her to switch places with one of her copies, letting it take the blow and disappear into dust instead. This confuses Pulse for just a moment, and Mistrick makes use of that, kicking her in the face and sending her flying. She quickly regains her balance and kicks one of the copies in the chin before grabbing another by the wrist and throwing it into a wall.)
Pulse: (thinking to herself) If that girl was capable of seamlessly switching places with her copies, then perhaps they share a common essence. That means… perhaps a debuff on one of the copies would affect her one way or another. It’s plausible. After all, my Surge targets a being’s soul essence, and if the copies do share that essence with the girl, then it should work.
(Pulse takes a firm stance as she sees one of the Mistrick copies lunge at her. Her palm glows with green energy and forms a small energy lance, her green eyes slightly glowing with energy. As Mistrick reappears elsewhere and gets ready to lunge at Pulse, she suddenly experiences an acute pain in her body and falls to her knees. She glances at Pulse, seeing her land an energy lance at one of her copies, turning it into dust, then she glances at Mistrick with a firm expression.)
Pulse: (firmly) Debuff: Surge Sabotage.
(Mistrick’s clones start to become more pale and transparent, and apparently, their movement and overall ability decline as well. Pulse manages to take on a bunch of them and turn them into dust with ease, and as Mistrick lunges at her herself, she too notices that she can no longer move as quickly as she used to inside the mist, coupled with the fact that Pulse can move normally inside it.)
Mistrick: (thinking to herself, gritting her teeth) What’s going on?! The mist… it’s not working!
(This moment of distraction gives Pulse the chance to kick her in the face and send her crashing into a wall. She gets back up on her feet and confronts Pulse with an annoyed expression, which the latter returns with a firm one.)
Mistrick: (annoyed) Are you sabotaging me?!
Pulse: (unbothered) Maybe.
Mistrick: (exasperated) Not cool! You don’t go around messing with other people’s powers! Can’t you just get your own Surge?!
Pulse: (faintly smirking) That’s funny… cuz your Surge is all about messing with people.
Mistrick: (even more frustrated) And you don’t go around pointing out other people’s hypocrisy either!
Pulse: Nothing personal. I just needed to ease the pressure off the others.
(The effect of Pulse’s intervention is felt across the battlefield. As Flare finds herself unable to keep up with Boltix, she suddenly notices that her movement is now less stiff, enabling her to dodge Boltix as he propels himself for a blow. She even manages to jump off a wall and propel herself at Boltix, forcing him to block her punch and get sent skidding back. However, she’s not done yet, and she responds with a roundhouse kick to his face, sending him flying. Boltix regains his footing through gritted teeth, seeing Flare take a fighting stance with a grin.)
Boltix: (gritting his teeth) Okay, what was that?
Flare: (grinning) Who knows? I just know I like it.
(Meanwhile, the Mistrick copies lunging at Focus turn more pale and transparent, as well as slightly slower than usual, and the latter makes use of that, eloquently dodging their advances and taking them out with simple, decisive blows, turning them all into dust before heading off elsewhere. Back with Pulse and Mistrick, the latter witnesses all of that unfold through gritted teeth, realizing that the effect of her mist is fading.)
Mistrick: (gritting her teeth) So that’s how you wanna do it? You’re just gonna mess with my mist and call it a day?
Pulse: (firmly) That’s just a temporary fix. I actually want to get rid of this whole thing, and to do that, I need to put you down.
Mistrick: (sternly) Then good luck with that.
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(Mistrick rallies up all her clones, trying to fight back against Pulse’s debuff and managing to slightly stabilize her Mist Surge, and to Pulse’s shock, she absorbs all of her clones, uniting their essence with hers and growing much stronger inside the mist, developing a black, misty aura.)
Mistrick: (scowling) You’re gonna pay for making me exert myself that much.
Pulse: No more clones, huh? Fine by me. That gives me only one target to take down.
(She takes a firm fighting stance against Mistrick, and the two lunge at each other once again. Meanwhile, Proxy circles around Stone and uses her tech to launch flurries of blasts at him, but he refuses to stand still, constantly on the move as well, and to the former’s shock, he lands a punch at a wall just in front of her, stopping her dead in her tracks; the fading effect of the mist changes nothing this time around. She lands a punch at his face that only sends him skidding back a bit, but before she gets to follow up with another blow, he grabs her by the wrist and throws her into a wall.)
Proxy: (thinking to herself, gritting her teeth) Who is this guy?!
(She propels herself off the wall with her air shoes and attempts to outpace Stone in this battle, circling around him and landing several tiny blasts at him, but he surprisingly grabs her by the leg and slams her into the ground.)
Stone: (sternly) Cheap tricks don’t work against brute force, kid.
(Before he gets to follow that up with another blow, Jax intervenes in a slightly more muscular form and punches him in the face through gritted teeth, sending him skidding back. He then moves in for another blow, but Stone holds down his two fists with a scowl.)
Jax: (gritting his teeth) Playing dirty to beat me is one thing, but why hurt her?
Stone: (scowling) Because she’s standing in my way.
Jax: You can think whatever you want, but I’m not gonna let you hurt my friends, not when I’m still standing!
(Stone headbutts Jax and sends him skidding back, but as he swings his fist at him for a punch, Proxy kicks him in the chin and sends him skidding back as well. The two take their fighting stances up against Stone and firmly nod at each other before lunging at him together. Meanwhile, Pulse repeatedly jumps out of the way to avoid Mistrick’s blasts from above. She reappears behind Pulse for a blow, and she quickly blocks it with the back of her hand, getting sent flying regardless. Mistrick moves in on her for another blow, but Pulse acrobatically jumps out of the way upon landing on the ground.)
Mistrick: (annoyed) Yeah, yeah, just keep dodging. See if it helps.
(Mistrick repeatedly jumps at Pulse in an attempt to land a blow at her, but the latter keeps jumping out of the way. The former then attempts several blasts while repeatedly lunging at Pulse, who cancels them out with several precise chops.)
Pulse: (thinking to herself) She’s effectively fighting back against my debuff. I need to double down on it, induce yet another debuff. I know what to use, and given that I’ve already sabotaged her Surge, she won’t be able to fight off the effects. It’ll use up a lot of my energy, but it’s gotta be worth it. I just need to time it well.
(Pulse opens her palms, which glow up with green energy. However, as she repeatedly dodges Mistrick’s blows, the latter suddenly disappears into dust and reappears in front of her, kicking her in the back and sending her flying. Before she gets to regain her balance, she’s forced to cancel out one of Mistrick’s blasts with her fist, sending her skidding back.)
Mistrick: (faintly smirking) Too much for you?
Pulse: (grimacing) Not at all.
(Mistrick lunges at Pulse at high speed for a blow, and she charges up her palms with green energy, her green eyes slightly glowing. She receives a punch in the face, Mistrick dealing that blow with a smirk. However, that smirk quickly wavers and is replaced with a sharp pain, and Mistrick winces as she feels that pain. She glances at Pulse with a pained expression, seeing her get ready to snap her energy-infused fingers.)
Pulse: Debuff: Dissonance.
(Pulse snaps her fingers, and Mistrick clutches her head as she starts to feel dizzy and disjointed all of a sudden, while the former starts panting in exhaustion. Her vision starts to turn blurry, and she’s unable to maintain her focus. She attempts to charge up her misty black aura, but it pains her even more to overexert her already sabotaged Surge, and her aura dissipates as she groans in pain.)
Mistrick: (clutching her head, wincing in pain) What’s happening?!
(Wasting no time, Pulse gets in behind Mistrick and lands a precise, powerful strike at her nape, knocking her unconscious at last. With that, the black mist all over the underground area completely dissipates. Focus realizes that as he runs off elsewhere, to his shock.)
Focus: (shocked) The mist! It just… how can it just disappear?! What’s going on here? (gritting his teeth) I’ve got a lot to figure out. Can’t stop.
(Flare notices that as she and Boltix get ready to lunge at each other, and the two glance around in surprise as the mist fades. Even the mysterious masked man notices this change in scenery as he walks on through a tunnel with his soldiers, the glowing purple infinity sign on his mask narrowing as he looks around.)
???: (grimly) This means that the Mist user is down. The Sparks are falling apart. I have to get my business dealt with, and quickly. Who knows when the Surge users will catch up?
(Meanwhile, Stone jumps out of the way as Proxy attempts to incapacitate him with her tech, then he eloquently dodges Jax’s punch, and kicks him in the gut, sending him skidding back, but before he gets to follow that with a punch, he sees the mist submerging the area dissipating, to his shock.)
Stone: (glancing around in shock) What’s happening?! (gritting his teeth) If the mist is down, then that means — !
Jax: (faintly smirking) Pulse got the job done, I see.
Stone: So you planned this.
Proxy: (grinning) Let’s not call it a plan. It was more like an intuitive idea.
Stone: (clenching his fists) First Jackpot, and now Mistrick. Things are falling apart for us. Right now, though, I’ll keep it simple. You two are in my way, so I’ve got my work cut out for me.
(Proxy continues to launch several blasts at Stone with her tech, and the latter blocks the blasts with several chops. She dodges a blow from Stone by jumping to his right and then lunging at him for a kick, but he easefully grabs her leg. However, Jax intervenes and punches him in the face, forcing him to let go of Proxy’s leg, then he grabs her hand and throws her Stone. She follows that up with a kick at his face, sending him skidding back even further. The two lunge at him and swing their fists at him, but he holds them both down and knees Proxy in the gut, sending her skidding back, then he throws Jax away and kicks Proxy once in the gut, sending her crashing into a wall.)
Jax: Prox!
(Jax sees Proxy leaning her back on the wall in exhaustion, then he immediately lunges at Stone, who turns to him and holds both his hands down, their hands locking as they try to push past one another. Jax attempts to enlarge his muscles, but he’s too tired to maintain his muscular form, which once again starts emitting steam. His struggle enables Stone to overpower him, forcing him on his knees.)
Stone: (scowling) You’ve overestimated yourself. Your Surge is merely a hollow mimicry of strength. This right here is what you truly amount to. Nothing.
(Jax grits his teeth in pain as his strained muscles keep emitting steam, but his eyes show pure grit and determination nonetheless. He slams his head into the ground, putting all of his muscular strength into his head and pulling off a headbutt strong enough to create a huge fracture at the ground under Stone’s feet. This causes him to lose balance and let go of Jax’s hands.)
Stone: (thinking to himself, shocked) What?!
Jax: (fiercely) You wanna see true strength?! You’ve got it!
(He momentarily noticed Jax swinging his fist at him, enlarging the muscles of his arms to its absolute limit, which in turn causes it to emit even more steam. Stone attempts to beat Jax to the punch, swinging his fist at his face, but he receives a blast from his right side. It’s none other than Proxy, glancing at him with a faint, tired smirk. This simple act allows Jax to finally land a powerful punch at Stone’s gut, a punch that sends him crashing through several walls from the sheer force of it. He eventually ends up falling into a pitfall in exhaustion, out of sight for Jax, who remains on his knees and starts panting in exhaustion, his muscular form emitting one last burst of steam as his body returns to normal. Proxy hurriedly and worriedly heads over to him, and a faint chuckle escapes him as he glances at her.)
Proxy: (worriedly) Jax! You okay?!
Jax: (letting out a low chuckle, tiredly) Nothing broken. But boy, I was kinda cutting it close there. You okay, though?
Proxy: (chuckling nervously) Yeah, I guess.
Jax: (getting back up on his feet) Then let’s get moving. Our job’s not done yet. We gotta link up with Pulse once again, find Focus, catch whoever the mystery boss is, and… oh, man, just mentioning the list is tiring me.
Proxy: (concerned) Shouldn’t you at least rest?
Jax: We’ve probably got no time for that. We’ll have to get everything sorted right here and now.
(Jax turns to her with a faint g and a nod, and she firmly nods back with a smile, then the two head off through a tunnel to get everything else sorted out. However, as Proxy heads off, Jax briefly turns back to the area with a contemplative frown.)
Jax: (thinking to himself, frowning) What’s the deal with this guy? What did he mean… by everything he said?
(He turns back to the tunnel and heads off with Proxy, his mind still riddled with thoughts. Meanwhile, deep at the end of the pitfall, Stone lies on the ground unconscious after the fight, and several masked soldiers make it to the location, and upon laying eyes on the unconscious Stone, one of them immediately activates his communicator and links up with the Infinity Mask.)
Soldier 1A: (via communicator, firmly) Sir, we’ve found him.
???: (via communicator) Good. I was worried it’ll be more difficult to find him. Now bring him to me.
(The soldier nods and signals the others to head for Stone, and they first remove the rubble around him then carry his unconscious body along, heading off back to their boss. Elsewhere, the Infinity Mask takes a turn to the left and leaves the tunnel, arriving at an open area. The Catalyst — the green crystal he holds tightly in his palm -starts to glow with energy, and upon noticing that, the purple infinity sign on his mask glows.)
???: Finally. We’re here.
