The gym felt like it was about to fall apart. The whole structure shook, like a bad hinge barely holding reality in place. Dust fell from cracks in the ceiling as the glitch giant stood up straighter, making itself even bigger. Pieces of its pixelated body flaked off its shoulders, like sparks from a dying fire. A deep hum vibrated through the cracked gym floor, making the scattered sports gear and broken basketball hoops tremble.
Riko took a step back, his chest heaving. Sweat mixed with a faint burning feeling on his arms from his power boost. Kaze stood beside him, his jaw tight, his eyes narrowed with the kind of silent anger he usually saved for their toughest opponents.
Then, something strange started happening to the giant.
A weird distortion cracked across its chest. Corrupted polygons slid away like digital muscles tearing. Underneath, bits of metal plates started forming, fitting together with machine-like precision. Each new plate clicked into place with the cold snap of a lock. This thing wasn't just changing; it was gearing up.
Riko stared, "No… what's it doing?"
Kaze tilted his head, watching with a frown. "It's changing in the middle of the fight. Great."
The giant's armor got thicker, covering its chest and spreading over its glitchy, rib-like protrusions. Each plate glowed faintly—sometimes blue, sometimes red, sometimes with white static. Riko didn't get the patterns, but he had a bad feeling: the thing was taking in data. Their data. Every hit, every blast, every move he and Kaze made was feeding it information.
The gym lights flickered above, buzzing like dying bugs. One bulb popped. Then another. The third died with a shower of sparks. In seconds, the room was almost dark, lit only by the giant's glowing chest plates. Shadows grew, stretching and crawling up the walls like ink in water.
Riko swallowed hard. "Uh… that's not good, right?"
"It's adapting."
"That's… worse than not good."
Kaze stepped forward, his hands relaxed, his eyes sharp. "Stay focused. If it copied your last burst of energy, we're dealing with something unpredictable."
Riko gasped. His last bit of power wasn't just strength. It was something more—raw panic turned into explosive chaos. He didn't even remember moving. He didn't want the giant to copy that. Not even a little bit.
The floor shook as the giant shifted its weight. A huge shadow moved across the gym as it raised one armored arm, edged with jagged glitch spikes. The air got colder. The giant's new armor shimmered, then tightened across its body like a predator getting ready to pounce.
Riko forced himself to breathe. "Kaze… this thing seems like it's getting ready to do something."
Kaze didn't even blink. "Yes. It's getting ready to kill us."
The giant's head twitched, quick and mechanical. Another plate snapped into place along its collarbone, forming a hard frame around its neck. It arched its back as more armor formed along its spine, each part clicking in like a factory machine.
Riko felt his arm screen vibrate hard. Then again. Static washed over his skin. He looked down, expecting another warning, but the screen showed only scrambled numbers going up fast. He didn't know what they meant, but he was scared. The giant's chest plates pulsed in time with the numbers on the screen.
"Kaze," Riko said quietly, "I think it's copying my stats."
Kaze didn't turn, but his jaw tightened.
"Oh. Cool," Riko said, his voice cracking. "Yeah. Not scary at all."
The giant slammed its foot down, and the ground cracked in pixelated waves. The floorboards split, turning into glitchy squares that hovered for a second before falling back into place. A ripple of distortion rolled up the bleachers, twisting the metal and warping the benches.
Riko stumbled, catching himself against a wall that felt like a shaky screen. Kaze stayed steady, not moving.
The giant leaned forward. The armor on its chest opened like a mechanical flower, showing a swirling core of white static that pulsed like a heartbeat. Each pulse sent out another wave of distortion. Riko felt the pressure in his ribs, in his head, in the screen on his arm.
"K-Kaze," Riko said, "that core… it's reacting to me."
"It's reacting to the system," Kaze said. "Not you."
"But the system's on me!"
"That's your issue."
The giant raised its armored arm, the plates locking into a shield and blade combo. Data lines flickered across the armor, getting brighter. Its shoulders widened as even more plates came out, like it was getting ready for something big.
The gym lights flickered one last time and then went out.
Only the giant glowed now.
Its shape loomed over them, bigger, sharper, more complete. Less glitch, more real. Less monster, more like something planned. Something made on purpose. Something that had learned.
Riko's screen vibrated, making his arm shake. The glow from the device lit up his face, showing the fear on it.
The giant's head lowered. It watched him. Too closely. Too smart.
Riko whispered, "Why does it feel like it's… studying me?"
Kaze exhaled. "Because it is."
Another plate clicked into place over the giant's stomach, sealing the last open spot. Its armor was done, an shell of glitch code and metal. It stood up straight, and the gym felt small around it.
The screen on Riko's arm showed a single, clear message.
It read: "IT LEARNED FROM YOU."