The paladin tank crossed the clearing in a heartbeat, hammer arcing downward in a killing blow.

  Ava barely managed to bring her axe up to block.

  CRASH!

  The impact launched her backward, slamming her into the mud in a spray of water and dirt.

  Kyo’s scream ripped out of him. “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!”

  Ace grabbed Baxter’s pauldron, yanking hard. “BAXTER STOP, STOP! She’s fine! SHE’S A GOOD GUY!”

  But Baxter didn’t hear him or didn’t believe him because he swung again, eyes locked on Ava’s red name like a bull seeing a target.

  Ava sprang back to her feet, rage igniting every nerve.

  “You wanna go, tin can? FINE!” Her axe swung. Baxter blocked with the hammer’s haft. The clearing detonated with sparks. They clashed again and again, blow-for-blow, force meeting fury. Ava’s axe slammed into Baxter’s pauldron with a brutal CRUNCH, denting the metal. Baxter grunted, stumbling back a step, eyes wide in genuine surprise.

  She shouldn’t have been able to hit that hard.

  Ava blew wet hair out of her face. “Didn’t expect that, did you?!”

  They clashed again, hammer and axe sparking as mud exploded under their boots.

  Ace, still catching his breath and wiping blood from his split nose, watched with alarm.

  “This is bad,” he muttered.

  Behind them, branches snapping hard. Kyo burst out of the treeline, aura flickering, breath ragged. “STOP!”

  Ace spun immediately, bow half-raised on instinct not aimed aggressively, just ready, sizing up the new arrival. Kyo froze at the sight of the bow. “…Are you Ace?” he shouted, voice rough and scared.

  Ace narrowed his eyes, still evaluating him. “Yeah. And who the hell are you?”

  “Kyo,” he said, hands shaking slightly as he lowered them. “I’m with Ava.”

  Ace’s bow lowered a fraction. He didn’t trust the kid, but he didn’t see Syndicate in his stance either. “She your partner?” Ace asked carefully.

  Kyo swallowed hard. “Yes. We’re traveling together. She’s- she’s my friend.”

  Ace nodded once, believing him.

  “Well she’s about to get flattened if we don’t stop that damn tank.”

  Kyo flinched as Baxter smashed his hammer into the ground, a shockwave bursting upward. Ava rolled aside just in time, mud splattering her bare skin.

  “She’s not a Syndicate,” Ace added quickly. “I already checked.”

  Kyo’s shoulders sagged with relief. “Thank god.”

  “But Baxter doesn’t know that,” Ace growled, eyes widening as Baxter brought the hammer around again. “And he’s not exactly listening to reason.”

  Ava met the hammer head-on CRACK and landed another hit that made Baxter grunt and adjust his stance.

  Ace winced. “She’s good.”

  Kyo’s voice cracked. “She’s bleeding. She’s hurt, he’s going to break her in half!”

  Ace hesitated only a second.

  He still didn’t know Kyo. He didn’t know how volatile that glowing aura was. He didn’t know the kid was on the edge of passing out.

  But he recognized the look in his eyes.

  Fear. Not of Baxter but of losing her.

  Ace exhaled and lowered the bow completely.

  “Alright,” he muttered. “You want to stop them? Fine. Truce for now.”

  Kyo nodded quickly, desperate. “Thank you.”

  Ace jerked his chin toward the fight. “You take her. I’ll take him.”

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “Deal.”

  They sprinted toward the chaos, just as Ava and Baxter collided again, the impact shaking the riverbank like thunder.

  Ava spotted Kyo out of the corner of her eye, blood on his face, aura flickering, fear etched into every line of him.

  “Kyo?”

  That single heartbeat of distraction was all it took.

  Baxter’s hammer came down like a meteor.

  WHAM!

  The blow caught her square across the ribs, lifting her off her feet. Ava hit the mud hard, skidding through wet earth, water splashing as her axe flew from her grip.

  “AVA!” Kyo screamed, voice cracking.

  Ace cursed and sprinted to intervene, but it was already too late.

  Broderick burst from the treeline just in time to see Ava hit the ground.

  His optical lights flared a violent red.

  Miles, cradled against Broderick’s chest, saw it too and began sobbing.

  “Uncle Brod-A-Ava she’s hurt!”

  Broderick lowered him with trembling care.

  “Stay,” he said, voice warped, static-lined with rage.

  Miles clung to his arm, terrified. “Broderick, don’t!”

  But it was too late.

  A metallic roar ripped from Broderick’s throat, a sound that shook the trees and sent birds scattering into the sky.

  A red SYSTEM ALERT blinked into existence above him:

  WORLD MESSAGE:

  BOSS ENTITY DETECTED NEAR RIVERBANK

  REWARD MULTIPLIER: x1,000

  Ace’s eyes shot wide.

  “…Oh shit.”

  Kyo staggered backward, silver sparks crackling violently off his skin.

  “Broderick wait WAIT!”

  Broderick didn’t wait.

  He grew, metal scaling shifting, plates splitting and reforming as his serpentine body expanded thicker, longer, more armored and his eyes burning a blazing, murderous red.

  Every instinct in the clearing told the same truth:

  Something unstoppable had just woken up.

  Miles sobbed into his hands. “Stop him! P-please he’s gonna kill them!”

  Broderick lowered his massive, monstrous head toward Baxter jaw opening with the whirring sound of charging energy.

  Ace dove in front of Baxter, shouting, “SABLE DEFEND!”

  Kyo’s aura exploded around him as he screamed:

  “BRODERICK, DON’T!”

  Broderick’s plates finished locking into place with a thunderous metallic snap. His body towered over the clearing like a living fortress of steel and circuitry. Red light pulsed through the lines of his armor like molten veins.

  Baxter froze, hammer halfway raised. Even him, the Stormback Titan looked small.

  Broderick’s head dipped low. Until the massive serpent face hovered inches from Baxter’s.

  Heat radiated off him in waves. Electricity crawled over his fangs. The air vibrated with the rising charge of the blast he hadn’t yet fired.

  His optics narrowed into slits. And then, in a voice that was both robotic and demonic, a voice glitching through corrupted audio files and primal rage Broderick spoke.

  “Pray your bones break quickly.” Static crackled. His jaw unhinged a fraction more. “I am not feeling merciful.”

  Ace swallowed, unable to move. Even the wolf flattened its ears and backed up, tail tucked, whining.

  Baxter didn’t breathe.

  Kyo did.

  “BRODERICK, STOP!” he shouted, stumbling forward.

  But Broderick didn’t strike.

  Not yet.He held there, inches from Baxter’s face, massive head trembling with conflicting code and instinct. His voice fractured again, lower, almost pained.

  “Protocol… unclear…” His optics flickered, red to blue to red. “Threat… harm-Ava… protect… protect… PROTECT!”

  He slammed his head closer, teeth inches from Baxter’s throat.

  Baxter grit his teeth, refusing to step back. He’d faced monsters before. Never one who looked like this.

  Ava groaned somewhere behind them, coughing through pain. “S-stop… Broderick… don’t…”

  Broderick’s head jerked violently toward her voice then back to Baxter and back to Ava then back to Baxter.

  Confusion tore through him like corrupted code.

  Ace whispered, “He’s… glitching.”

  Kyo stumbled between them despite his shaking, hands raised, voice breaking.

  “Broderick, look at me, look at me please…”

  Broderick’s eyes flickered again, stabilizing for a heartbeat but his body stayed coiled. Ready to defend the one person he couldn’t lose.

  Kyo’s heart dropped. Broderick wasn’t just angry, he was scared. And nothing in the world was more dangerous than a frightened monster.

  Ava groaned, mud sliding down her skin as she forced her palms under her. Every rib screamed. Her shoulder throbbed from the arrow wound. Her vision blurring in and out, she managed “Broderick… no…”

  She pushed again, her muscles screaming in protest as her breath hitched as she finally dragged herself upright onto her knees.

  Sable whimpered, backing away from the monstrous metal serpent Broderick had become. Ace stared, bow lowered, unsure whether to run or shoot.

  Kyo looked ready to collapse just from watching Ava stand.

  Baxter remained still, hammer braced, sweat dripping down his temples as Broderick’s massive fanged jaws hovered inches from his face.

  Ava staggered to her feet, clutching her ribs with one hand, blood dripping down her arm.

  But her voice was strong, “Broderick.”

  His entire body jerked. Ava stepped forward, limping, dragging her axe behind her.

  “Hey big guy. Look at me.”

  Broderick’s optics flickered from red to blue then violently back to red.

  “Ava… harm… harm-detected… PROTEC-”

  His head snapped toward Baxter again, jaws opening wider.

  Ava shoved herself between them and she pressed her palm to Broderick’s metal snout right between the glowing red plates, her hand shaking but steady.

  “Don’t do this,” she whispered. “I’m okay.”

  Broderick froze.