Setting: The lab courtyard—smoking rubble, broken asphalt, smoke blowing like curtains around a deadly stage.
Ace exhaled slowly as he felt Von's presence enter the lab behind him.
Ace (whispering): "...Good. Now I can stop playing nice."
He squared his shoulders, rolling them, as heat shimmered from his body. His skin blazed like coals—red fire veins pumping just beneath the surface. The grin on his face was loose but deadly.
Ace (to Riku): "Hope you're flameproof."
Riku, the giant humanoid tiger, flexed his knuckles, claws glinting with anticipation. The asphalt groaned beneath his feet.
Riku: "You're cocky for a guy who's going to get ripped in two."
Scarlett's sultry laughter rang out from above, resonating across the courtyard.
Scarlett: "Be gentle, Riku. He has such a pretty face. I'd hate to see it ripped apart."
But Ace didn't respond to her.
He didn't need to.
He raised his hand slowly, then...
WHOOM!!
A pillar of flame erupted around Ace—blasting upward like a volcano.
Riku stumbled backward, snarling, shielding his face by instinct. Scarlett cursed and leapt to another rooftop, shielding herself behind a chimney.
Riku: Damn, how hot can he get?
When the flames died down…
Ace stood, surrounded by fire.
His body glowed like liquid steel, eyes incandescent coals. Flames twisted around his arms as the ground at his feet burned and charred.
Ace (voice echoing through the heat):
"Riku. Scarlett.
This is the final time I let you two hurt anyone."
Riku charged.
A streak of striped muscle and fury, claws slashing for Ace's throat.
But Ace didn't flinch.
At the last second, he twisted his body, leaving behind a trail of fire, and delivered a spinning backhand—a flaming arc of force that smashed Riku across the face.
CRACK!
The tiger-man crashed into a stone wall, smashing through it, flames charring his fur.
Riku roared and leapt again, slashing in fury. But Ace smirked.
Ace: "Have you ever tried to fight fire with fur?"
He said, avoiding and grabbing Riku's fist, and yelled, Fire Pulse! Releasing a short-range explosive blast from his core that exploded back at Riku with a BOOM! Point-blank in Riku's chest, blasting him backward.
Up above, Scarlett aimed.
Drawing her sniper, tearing off some of her clay skin, and shaping it into sniper ammunition.
She aimed for Ace's spine, her lips curled into a smirk.
Scarlett: "Missed you, Ace. Let's get intimate."
She squeezed the trigger.
CRACK!
The bullet shrieked toward Ace—but he quickly channeled intense flame from his hands to launch himself, avoiding her sniper bullet.
He looked up at her and sneered.
Ace: "Your charm's still garbage. And your aim's gotten worse."
Now it was his turn. Ace leaped into the air onto the roof.
The rooftop cracked beneath Ace's boots as he landed in a low crouch, flames flaring around his arms. Across from him, Scarlett stood calmly, one leg perched on the ledge, sniper resting on her shoulder, eyes gleaming like a predator's beneath her red visor.
"You're in my line of fire, fireboy," she said coolly. "Back off."
Ace didn't reply. His eyes narrowed, fire coiling at his feet.
Scarlett moved first.
Tearing off a piece of her elbow, drawn in close, and shot.
Crack!
The air tore as a piece of her own body flew out at him like a bullet. Ace leapt back with a burst of flame from his boots, skidding across the roof as the projectile tore through the railing behind him.
She shot again.
He burst left and then up, flipping over in the air. A stream of fire followed him as he flipped. He bellowed, shooting downward, fist-first, flying towards her position.
Scarlett dodged to the side—just in time. His fist crunched into the rooftop, fire churning outward in an explosion.
"Tch," she snarled, retreating down the ledge. "Close-range, baby."
"Then keep your distance," Ace growled, rushing forward with another emission of flames—this one from both hands, propelling himself like a missile.
They met at the border.
She shifted position with her clay body to absorb the blow, but Ace spun mid-air and kicked her a fiery roundhouse kick, sending a shockwave of heat into her chest.
Scarlett groaned, reforming as she leaped back.
Scarlett (spitting): "You BASTARD! How dare you hit my face!"
Ace (smiling): "Oh, don't be like that. Let's turn up the heat."
Back on the ground—Riku roared back to his feet, blood pouring from his jaw.
He charged again, running up the building towards Ace, and spun into an axe kick, connecting with him and sending Ace crashing through the roof with a BOOM!
Ace crashed down, landing on his back. He stood up on one knee and smirked. "That was some kick; I really felt that." He grinned.
Ace charged forwards, launching himself upwards. Riku roared, leaping toward Ace.
Ace (shouting): "GET—OUT—OF—MY—WAY!"
He hit Riku with a flaming uppercut, avoiding his claws, sending the tiger-man crashing through rubble like a meteor, knocking him unconscious. Then Ace channeled intense flame from his feet, launched himself up, and backed up to Scarlett.
One-on-One
Ace and Scarlett were all that remained.
Smoke and fire danced between them as the heat turned the courtyard into a war-forged hell.
Scarlett aimed again, face red, anger and lust roiling like poison in her veins.
Scarlett: "You could've stayed with me, Ace. But you went with your little rebellion."
Ace (quietly): "I chose freedom."
You chose to become a weapon."
She screamed and fired three shots—but Ace was now faster.
He quickly used his firepower to propel himself upward and then delivered a downward punch and yelled, Meteor Burst! Summoning a massive pillar of flame from the sky like a falling star.
She tried to leap—but he was already upon her. Then, with a swift motion
BOOM!
He halted the attack inches from her face, causing her to freeze in fear and rendering her unconscious, with foam escaping from her mouth.
Ace stood victorious over a courtyard in flames—Riku unconscious in the rubble, and Scarlett knocked unconscious.
Ace (to himself):
"No more distractions.
Von… It's all up to you now."
He gazed in the direction of the lab, where Von was already inside—unaware of what was in store for him.