The rooftops slid beneath their feet, the city illuminated only by the shadows of destruction. Dan shot ahead, leaving small explosions of heat with each step. Stella followed close behind, focused, silent, her golden eyes attentive to the movement of the ground.
A roar—the concrete of the alley behind them rose as if breathing.
Hazau emerged from the cracks, wreathed in black roots like dried charcoal, like a wooden centaur.
— You think... you are hunting? — his voice seemed to come from the ground, the air, the city's flesh. — But you're just two rats... running in a monster's gut.
A spear of roots sprouted from the wall, aiming for Dan's neck.
— Watch out! — Stella shouted, pulling a force field around him like a curved whip.
CRASH!
The root shattered against the golden barrier, but another was already emerging from below.
Dan spun, kicking the ground—and left a clone behind.
The clone exploded in flames, illuminating the shadows in a vivid flash.
Hazau recoiled slightly, his skin charred for a second. In an instant, it regenerated—as if it had never burned.
— He's a worm. A worm that blooms in chaos. — Dan snarled, already leaping to another rooftop.
Stella descended after him, spinning in the air, her hair floating with light.
— This bastard... — she replied.
Hazau laughed low.
— You don't understand. The city is mine. The soil... loves me.
And the ground opened beneath Stella.
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!
She fell half a meter—enough for him to try and trap her legs with thorny vines. But she spun, creating a field of explosive light at her feet and shattering everything around her.
Hazau rose from the ruins—a distorted tree trunk, his arms turning into blades of woven roots.
Dan didn't think. He attacked head-on.
Clones exploding. Flaming punches.
Hazau dodged, only taking the attacks he wanted. Every misplaced blow caused more roots to sprout around them.
He attacked Dan with stakes from the ground—but Stella shot beams of concentrated light at the bases of the roots, forcing Hazau to defend.
— He's tied to the earth. To the firm ground. — Stella said, breathing heavily. — If... if we push him out of the city, the roots will diminish. He needs the underground network here.
Dan released a spinning flame with his arm.
— Then we break the ground he loves so much.
Hazau heard them—and smiled.
— You're going to try to move me away from the city?
Two vine tentacles emerged, hurling concrete in their direction.
— Let's see who tires first.
The shadows danced over the city's curved rooftops. Hazau walked slowly through the deserted streets, his feet sliding as if not touching the ground. The roots followed each step—sprouting from the earth, writhing like hungry serpents.
— They're moving well — he murmured. His golden eyes cut through the night. — But I feel every footstep… every pressure on the soil. You cannot escape.
A flash tore through the sky. A fireball streaked through the air and exploded in the center of the street, forcing Hazau to leap. Before he touched the ground, Dan emerged from the flames, his fist wreathed in fire, spinning in the air.
— Incendiary kick!
Hazau crossed his arms. Roots rose in a living shield—but Dan plowed through, spinning with force. The flames rebounded off the villain's chest, throwing him against an abandoned car.
— Now, Stella!
From above, Stella descended like an arrow. Her fist wrapped in a white aura, energy compressed until it nearly burst. She spun her body in the air—a direct kick to Hazau's face before he could get up.
But the enemy's body dissolved into wood.
— Root clones?! — Dan snarled.
Hazau emerged from a crack in the ground behind them, his arm transformed into a thorny, organic spear.
— Understand now? I am the soil. There is nowhere to hide.
He fired. Roots sprouted like stakes from the ground, trying to trap Dan and Stella's feet. They leaped to opposite sides—the ground splitting beneath them as if breathing, alive, hostile.
Stella spun in the air and launched two white spheres of energy that ricocheted off the buildings and converged on Hazau. He dodged with agility, but a third invisible sphere—hidden in the shadow of the first—struck his shoulder.
— She's getting faster — Dan smiled from the corner of his mouth. — Nice.
Stella landed beside him, panting.
— We're three blocks from the edge. If we push him two more... — she said in a low voice.
— He knows the strategy. He'll try to stay in the center. — Dan kicked a root trying to entangle him. — So we pretend we don't want to push him. We "flee." Until he thinks he's in control.
— Hunting the hunter.
They looked at each other for a second. And ran in opposite directions.
Hazau hesitated, then followed Dan.
Dan advanced through the ruins of an old market, leaping over broken counters and displays. Hazau ran after him, roots breaking walls, climbing over him like living armor, adapting.
Dan created two flaming clones. One climbed to the rooftops. The other spun on itself, launching an arc of fire. Hazau dodged—but the flames burned the roots on the ground, breaking his connection momentarily.
Stella emerged from a side alley, running along the walls with the aid of energy concentrated at her feet. She dropped onto Hazau with two simultaneous punches, one real, one illusory.
Hazau took the real one—and his head snapped back with the impact.
— You... are coordinating... too well — he snarled, spitting green blood. — This isn't casual.
The roots beneath Stella exploded. She was thrown against a wall, but spun in the air and landed kneeling.
— Yeah, he's learned. It's harder to surprise him now.
Dan came from behind, spinning in flames like a tornado, his clones exploding around Hazau like timed bombs.
— Incinerate!
Hazau was swallowed by the fire—but black roots emerged from the very ashes, reconstructing his body in mid-air. His golden eyes shone, an animalistic smile on his face.
— My instincts are awakening... what a delicious feeling. You two are the kind of challenge I can't kill quickly.
Dan and Stella retreated for a moment, panting.
— Two blocks — Stella murmured. — He's almost there.
— Then let's lie better. Make him think the ones cornered… are us.
Hazau launched himself at them. The fight began anew.
To be continued...