Location: Outer Courtyard – Dr. Rhane's Laboratory Complex
Ace smiled at Von, encouraging him to be strong while he handled Scarlett.
The heat haze danced in the air as fire and clay conflicted.
Ace surged forward with purpose, taking cover behind wreckage and rubble as he dodged Scarlett's hardened clay bullets, their whistling death coursing through the air. They exploded like pressurized concrete, biting deep into steel and stone with fatal force.
Scarlett lay on the raised rooftop like a queen, a leg stretched carelessly over the edge, her sniper rifle swaying from left to right as she tracked Ace's every movement. Her red lips curled into a menacing smile.
Scarlett: "You still move well, love… That body of yours never failed me."
Another burst of bullets whizzed by Ace's head, nicking his cheek. He gasped, falling to the ground beside a fallen vent duct, his palm exploding with repressed fire.
Ace (grumbling): "Still just as charming. still poisonous."
The environment was a twisted battleground of burnt metal and shining concrete—craters caused by the Resistance covered the entrance to the lab, flames licked up walls and car sides, and shattered security towers blinked blindingly on and off. The residual shockwaves from Marco and Bullet's fight buzzed beneath their feet, blowing dust from every rooftop.
Scarlett reloaded hastily, her body twisting as her clay skin reformed, refolding itself in place after ejecting sniper rounds.
Scarlett: "Oh, don't be so serious, Ace. I only shot your friends… not you. That should be worth something, shouldn't it?"
Ace's fist clenched. Fire now encircled his arms—his awakened power increasing like a heat wave.
Ace: "You always addressed me like love was a game. But you're worse than I remembered."
He leapt into the open—a flaming streak of speed—rushing for the wall below her perch.
Scarlett's pupils widened a fraction, a laugh passing from her lips as she shot—
Scarlett: "Don't get too close now, sweetheart—"
Ace yelled, Inferno Mode! His entire body is engulfed in intense fire—boosting his speed, strength, and destructive power.
He scaled the building in an instant, fists alight, scorching handprints on the wall.
Scarlett gasped and raised her rifle just as Ace landed in front of her on the rooftop.
Ace: "I'm done running."
Ace quickly concentrated flame energy into his hand for a devastating punch aimed straight at her ribs.
She barely ducked.
WHAM! His fist tore through the corner of the ledge, the explosion of fire and stone sending a shockwave across the rooftop.
Scarlett: "Ooooh, feisty~" she teased, backing away and firing point-blank.
Ace spun, the bullet ricocheting off his ribcage. He gritted—kept going.
Scarlett tried to leap away, but Ace had her—in his next strike, he would punch directly into her collarbone.
Then—
BOOM!
A knotted ball of orange and muscle crashed into Ace's side like a truck and knocked him across the rooftop and through a concrete wall, plummeting into the shattered wreckage of a destroyed security checkpoint below.
Ace groaned, shaking off the daze as dust filled the air.
A deep voice, proud and possessive, echoed across the courtyard.
??? "Mrs. Scarlett, stand back! I'll protect your honor!"
Ace blinked through the haze.
Standing between him and Scarlett was a monstrous figure—nearly eight feet tall, with broad, powerful limbs coated in striped orange fur. His jaw was wide, tusked, and snarling. A humanoid tiger man, claws flexing, tail lashing behind him with excitement.
His yellow eyes gleamed with manic devotion.
Riku, growling: "No one gets to hurt Scarlett. I'll even kill for her… gladly."
From the rooftop, Scarlett gave a soft chuckle, her voice syrupy sweet.
Scarlett: "Ah, I see you arrived, Riku. You're such a good boy."
(She smiled, licking her lips.)
"Now demonstrate why I keep you around."
Riku's broad chest puffed out with excitement.
Riku (to Ace): "You see that? She chose me. She likes me. And now I get to remove your lungs and bring them to her!"
Ace rose slowly from the ground, cracked his neck, and wiped the blood from his lip.
He scowled at the lovesick thug and then at Scarlett's self-satisfied face. Ace whispered to himself, "So, his beast-type awakening, huh? This is surely getting interesting."
Ace: "She's manipulating you. Just like she manipulated me."
Riku's ears winced. His eye winced too.
Riku: "LIAR!"
He roared and sprang, claws outstretched.
Ace's fire raged, and the rooftop burst into a battlefield once again.