It couldn't be more obvious. With all of his subordinates murdered, and no way to call for backup, the enemy didn't have many cards to play. It was either give up and accept loss, or do something highly risky and deal with the consequences later on. Choosing the latter, he lit up a giant beacon, and with it, he intended to summon the only one unafraid to face the Ghost.

[So? What will be your choice, Ghost?]

Dante went over his choices, his perception enhanced to the max. Running away was out of the question. The bastard saw his face. There is no way he could let him go. He had seconds at most, and he needed to dispose of him in that time. He needed to do it right then and there.

DING!

Probably at the worst time, a message notification popped up on Dante's field of view. He was about to swipe it away, but his eyes caught sight of the preview.

[Suzuka: I can't find Finn.]

Dante's eyes widened behind the visor of his helmet, and alarm bells rang in his head.

In that moment of indecisiveness, his opponent wasn't about to sit around and let it happen. The contraptions on the giant suit's back closed, and the plates covering each of its arms slid back, and the frame itself morphed, the shape of each limbs changing into what appeared like one of those ancient satellite dishes.

The center of each dish emitted a faint green glow. Dante didn't get the chance to wonder what it does. A translucent wave exploded from the newly formed weapons, and it washed over him. Nothing happened, however.

[Electromagnetic Pulse does not work, no matter how powerful.]

Volcan's comment brought Dante's attention the surroundings. Light shit down all at once, leaving only the burning building to illuminate the area. The enemy obviously wasn't affected, and the arms of his suit were already morphing back to their original shape, or so it appeared until a a translucent screen formed over them as he rushed forth, going for an attack.

Still shaken, Dante activated 5-3's abilities and took off. His opponent moved at a snail's pace, a fact that had escaped his mind in the last after being attacked by those homing energy spears. Brandishing his scythe like claws, Dante activated Instant Acceleration once more. The combination of Inertia Reduction and Velocity Retention allowed him to make sharp turns without having to slow down, and with Friction Resistance active, his speed kept on increasing, quickly reaching levels the human body wouldn't be able to withstand.

Pushing through that limit, Dante circled around the mechanical giant several times before making a sharp turn. One step took him past the enemy, and his claws traced a line over the mechanized suit's flank, scattering a shower of orange sparks. Taking anther sharp turn, he looked over the area his attack had landed only to see a translucent green screen shimmering on the surface of the alloy plating.

Clicking his tongue, Dante activated Instant Acceleration three more times, stepping past the green mech. Each time, his strikes landed without a problem, but none were able to deal any damage.

'Damn it…'

Just as he prepared to launch another flurry of attack, the contraptions on the mech's popped open, and neon green spears shot out. Already on the move, the spears continued to pierced the spots he had stepped over. Though their speed was close to his, they still failed to strike him, but that didn't matter.

The bigger problem were the explosions that would soon follow. If that building blowing up didn't catch the heroes' attention, then the following detonation were sure to do the job.

Time was running out. Dante knew a much, and he already had the solution. Delaying it any further was only bound to push him deeper into the corner, so he discarded his hesitation and gave the the command.

~[ ]~

Despite what his tone might have suggested, Henry was on edge. His enemy was far too fast. So fast that the sensors of his Black Shield power Achilles almost failed to follow. The only effective weapon seemed to be the missiles, but those burned through energy faster than a rocket burned through fuel.

Other weapons had no effect. The EMP didn't even slow him down, and as he moved at that speed physical attacks never reached him. The only upside was that the suit's force field was capable of withstanding the bastard's attacks, no matter how fast they were, and that's where his win condition came.

If he were able to last long enough for the heroes to arrive, the battle would be over in no time. They had the strongest living in this city, and after what happened the previous week, he was undoubtedly on the look out for anything that involves this particular villain.

Relying on heroes wasn't something a high ranking member of a powerful gang would do, but right now, it was his only option. So long as he makes it out of this alive, he could always sell Ghost's identity in exchange for his freedom.

'Still…'

Henry had some doubts. Was he really fighting the same guy? The Ghost that had attacked the church had a different power suit, and the abilities he showed were different, too. The one he was facing seemed to be a speedster that relied only on the sharp claws on his hands. If he had other abilities, then he wasn't showing them. That worked just fine for Henry. So long as he bought enough time, his victory was guaranteed.

His attention shifted to the timer in the corner of his vision, and horror crept up on him as he realized only eight seconds had passed since he exited the burning building. Eight second.

A series of explosions shook the streets. Henry stood motionless, bracing himself for the next attack. With his perception enhanced to the max, he hoped to catch it before hand, reacting early enough to launch a counter. As he waited, he noted that the gap between the last attack and the next was widening, and he was struck with a realization.

Before he could form the thought, his center of gravity shifted. Looking down, he saw the legs of his suit sinking a large pool of dankness. Alarm bells rang in his head, and he quickly ignited the boosters no the back of the suit, blasting upward. Before he could make it far, another pool of darkness appeared in his path, forcing him to make a sharp turn. That was only the start.

Whichever direction he went in, another dark pool would appear. He was almost swallowed more than once, and in one of them, he got a blimps of what lies beyond the darkness. It was a destroyed world, one with a lightless sky, crumbled buildings, and cracked streets. Henry didn't know where such a location was, but something told him it wasn't anywhere on this work, and that ignited a kind of primal fear in his heart.

As he pulled himself out of the hole, he remembered what he had seen in the report on the church attack. Those were the same portals Ghost ha used back then. Kortic had disappeared into one and never returned, and that meant he was likely to face the same fate if he were to fall into one of the dark pools.

Fortunately, it didn't look like his opponent could open more than one portal at the same time. The portals seem to be static as well, which meant that, as long as he tries to be careful, he could go on evading them forever.

Another one appeared right above him, and he turned the thruster and blasted to the left. Before he could move five meters, the last portal vanished and a new one formed. Henry reversed the thrusters just in time, bringing himself to a stop just before the dark pool. He had avoided plunging through the portal, so he thought he was I the safe. That was when a hand shot out of it and grabbed onto his suit.

Struck with panic, Henry redirected all the energy he had into the thrusters, doing everything he can to avoid being pulled into the dark pool. To his surprise, the hand offered no resistance. It still latched on him, and as he moved away from the portal, he pulled the rest of the arm and whatever was attached to it.

That turned out to be a bulky power suit covered in lustrous dark metal, with a helmet that seemed to be like a large glass globe.

[Got you.]

Just as his mind processed the words, the scenery around him changed. Gone were the burning streets and buildings. In their place, a different apocalyptic scene emerged, one of a land long abandoned by it inhabitants.

[This is it.] The dark armor spoke. [You have been a huge pain in the ass, so I will just leave you here.]

Before he could comprehend what was happening, the dark armor let go of him. The next instant, it vanished without a trace. Henry didn't understand what was happening. At first, he remained of guard, preparing to launch another attack. Seconds passed after he landed on the cracked streets, but nothing happened.

The silence soon caught his attention, and before long, he realized that he was on his own.