The sky above the red desert burned like rust. Beneath it, a lone figure limped into the mouth of an abandoned base, clutching his cracked helmet.
Raghnar gritted his teeth, dragging his feet into cover. He'd barely escaped the gravity freak and that lightning brat alive. The memory of their combined assault still burned across his chest, each breath scraping like broken glass through his ribs.
He slammed his fist on the console, activating the base systems. The room buzzed to life with a dim, flickering light. He dropped onto a steel crate, panting.
"Tch… stupid job. Should've known no kid's worth this much trouble."
He removed his helmet and spat blood onto the floor. His reflection glimmered faintly in the cracked screen before him — worn, scarred, and angry. He reached for a stim pack, injecting himself with shaky hands. The burn spread through his veins, dulling the pain but not the tension clawing at his mind.
He needed to lay low. For a few weeks. Just enough time for the bounty to fade. Then he'd be back on the hunt.
But then… the lights dimmed.
One by one, each lamp went dark until only the emergency red light pulsed faintly.
Raghnar froze. His instincts screamed danger.
He reached for his plasma pistol.
Clack.
It was gone.
He blinked.Then his hand were empty because the pistol gun disappeared.
"Looking for this?"
The voice came from behind — calm, composed, yet cold enough to freeze his blood.
Raghnar turned sharply.
A man stood at the end of the hallway — tall, slim, wearing a dark tailored suit. His posture was perfect, his black hair slightly tousled, his expression unreadable behind thin glasses that reflected the dim crimson glow.
And Raghnar said I have heard about you aren't you "Mr Ain"
"I've heard about you too, Raghnar," Ain said softly, his footsteps echoing against the steel walls as he walked closer. "Normally, I don't involve myself in what bounty hunters do. But you see…" He paused, smiling faintly. "…you made one mistake."
Raghnar clenched his fists. "And what's that?"
Ain's eyes sharpened. "You went after my little one."
Raghnar scoffed, forcing a smirk. "Your little one? Who are you talking about I have hunted a lot people you know.
In an instant, Ain vanished. The air around Raghnar rippled.
When he blinked again, the man was already beside him, holding his stolen gun loosely by the barrel.
"Do you always talk this much?" Ain asked gently. His tone was soft, yet each word weighed heavy—like an echo inside Raghnar's skull.
Raghnar stumbled back, drenched in cold sweat. "What the hell are you—?!"
Ain tilted his head slightly. "Tell me, bounty hunter… is that fear I see in your eyes?"
His calm expression didn't change, but his pupils flared—turning blood-red.
The shadows at Ain's feet began to stretch and twist, crawling like living tendrils across the metallic floor. They rose, whispering, wrapping around Raghnar's legs before he could react.
"W-Wait—!"
The darkness swallowed him whole.
Raghnar opened his eyes again—this time in a void-like hallway that stretched infinitely in both directions. The air was thick, suffocating. His voice echoed when he whispered, "Where… am I?"
Footsteps echoed behind him.
Then he saw it — Ain walking calmly, his form half-shadow, half-human. The flickering hallway seemed alive, bending around his presence.
Raghnar screamed, pulling against the shadows, but they clung tighter. "Let me out! I'll pay you, whatever you want!"
Ain sighed softly. "I already told you. You went after someone under my care."
He placed a hand on Raghnar's shoulder — and the bounty hunter's entire body froze. Not from power, but from sheer terror.
Ain's shadow flared, and his voice deepened.
"Fear," Ain whispered. "That's your final feeling."
Raghnar tried to scream, but the darkness silenced him.
The shadows devoured him completely.
When the void settled again, another presence emerged from the abyss. A tall, battle-scarred man stepped out from the swirling dark — easily over six feet, his body draped in a torn black jacket that barely covered his muscular frame. Faint scars lined his chest and neck, glowing faintly like molten cracks.
His hair was unkempt, and his eerie blue eyes shimmered like fragments of the void itself. Each step he took felt heavy, deliberate, and commanding.
He stopped a few feet away, his gaze steady. "I thought he was dying a few months ago," he said, his deep voice echoing across the endless space. "How is he up and running? What did you do to him, Cain?"
The man before him turned slightly, then raised a gloved hand to his face.
The sound of tearing air filled the hallway as Cain pulled away his own skin-like disguise — revealing the truth beneath.
A mask — half gold, half black — sculpted like a twisted Wendigo's skull. Its fangs gleamed faintly in the dark, and black mist leaked from its edges like smoke from a dying fire. The eyes burned crimson, swirling like miniature galaxies of malice and authority.
His hair shifted from black to white, his aura deepening until the very space trembled.
When he spoke again, his voice was layered — ancient, commanding, and inhumanly calm.
"Long time no see, Gojira."
The scarred man—Gojira—grinned faintly. "Heh. You never change, Cain."
Cain — the true name of the man once called Ain — lowered his hand, the Wendigo mask now fully revealed. "How did it go?"
"This month's transport was delayed," Gojira replied. "But no matter. They'll arrive within one Earth week."
Cain nodded slowly, his glowing eyes turning faintly softer. "Good. The pieces are moving faster than expected."
Gojira folded his arms. "You still plan to stay here? On Earth?"
Cain's silence stretched for a moment. Then he looked upward — the ceiling above dissolving, revealing a blood-red horizon and a distant blue orb suspended in the sky.
Earth.
From where they stood — a massive red plateau surrounded by ruins and thin atmosphere — it was clear now.
They weren't on Earth at all.
They were on Mars.
Cain exhaled softly, the mist around his body curling like living smoke.
"No. The little one's grown up," he said. "He doesn't need my hand anymore."
Gojira smirked faintly. "You won't bring him here, like before?"
Cain turned away, his cape of shadows shifting with the Martian wind. "Maybe… one day. When he's ready to face what's beyond the stars."
Gojira looked toward the glowing Earth in the distance. "You sound almost proud."
Cain chuckled quietly. "Perhaps I am."
For a long moment, silence lingered between the two titans — broken only by the faint hum of Mars' thin wind. Then Cain spoke again, his voice echoing with purpose.
"They will soon strike soon, Gojira. And when it does, I'll need all seven Apostles assembled."It will serve as a good experience for them.
Gojira nodded solemnly. "Understood. I'll begin the call."
Cain raised his hand, shadows rising around him like a divine storm.
"Then let us prepare.
The scene faded as Mars' horizon shimmered, and the distant light of Earth flickered in Cain's crimson eyes.