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Downtown Southridge — 11:47 PM
The streets pulsed with the hum of neon signs and late-night chatter. But something in the air felt wrong.
Elena stood on the rooftop of a closed convenience store, scanning the entrance of Flux Arena across the street.
Rico adjusted the scope of a compact flux scanner. "Confirmed — Vincent's inside. Along with at least four Circle operatives."
Marcus stood beside them, armored gloves humming faintly with charged energy. "What's the plan? We just walk in?"
"No," Zara's voice crackled through the earpiece. "You're not ready for direct confrontation. This is recon only."
Rico smirked. "You say that like things won't go sideways in five minutes."
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Inside Flux Arena — Sub-Level 3
The training rings were empty this late, but something was stirring in the air — a disturbance in the flux flow. Marcus could feel it, the way a veteran feels the drop before a storm.
They descended carefully, stepping through shadows.
Elena whispered, "I don't like this. It's too quiet."
Rico nodded. "This place usually hums like a generator. Feels... dead."
Suddenly — a metallic clang.
From the upper balcony, three masked figures in deep-gray cloaks dropped into the ring.
Their auras flared — dark, unstable.
Circle Operatives.
The lead one stepped forward.
"You kids should've stayed in the nursery."
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Combat Initiates
Rico split into two. "Multiplier — dual sequence!"
His copies flanked the enemies instantly, one attacking from the right with a spinning heel-kick, the other rushing in low.
The enemy blocked both — barely — but was clearly caught off guard.
Marcus surged forward. "Flux reinforcement: max load."
His arms glowed white-blue as he crashed into one of the operatives, sending them flying into a pillar.
Boom.
A second operative unleashed a wave of slicing black flux — like a whip of sawdust and lightning.
Elena jumped in the way and reversed gravity on herself, shooting upward and dodging it entirely.
She flipped midair, shifted gravity again, and slammed down onto the enemy like a meteor.
WHAM.
Cracks split the arena floor.
Rico whistled. "That's new."
But it was far from over.
From the upper walkway…
"Impressive. But flawed."
Vincent descended slowly, walking through the broken railing like a priest entering a ruined chapel.
His voice echoed.
"Strength with no purpose. Balance with no center."
"Let me teach you symmetry."
He snapped his fingers.
A pulse of Equalized Flux surged through the arena — all injuries suffered by his operatives were instantly shared with the team.
Marcus winced and dropped to one knee, clutching his ribs.
Elena gasped as her left shoulder spasmed — a hit she never took.
"He's balancing pain," Rico muttered. "Our hits... they hit us back."
Vincent stepped forward calmly.
He raised a gloved hand and redirected a strike from Rico's copy straight back toward Elena. She caught it barely with a flux shield — but the weight of it cracked her stance.
"You think this is a battle," Vincent said. "But I'm not here to fight."
"I'm here to correct."
He raised his palm — a spiral of black flux began to form.
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Outside the Arena — Zara's Arrival
Zara burst into the outer gate, eyes glowing faint purple. She bypassed the guards with a flicker of memory erasure, clearing their short-term recall of the encounter.
She entered just as Vincent unleashed the pulse.
The team was down. Marcus was trying to get up again, blood dripping from his nose. Rico's second copy had already fizzled out. Elena struggled to lift her arm.
Vincent's flux spiral grew — he was preparing to disperse shared damage through the entire lower arena. A mass punishment.
Zara's eyes widened.
"I can't let him do it."
She sprinted forward, slammed her hand into the ground — and whispered:
"Forget."
A surge of violet erupted around her. A wave of raw mental flux sliced through Vincent's spiral, causing a momentary mental flicker.
He staggered, blinking.
"…What—"
She had erased one memory from Vincent's mind:
The intention behind the attack.
And for just a few seconds, he stood there confused — as if unsure why he'd even lifted his hand.
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The others didn't waste it.
Marcus moved like lightning, using time dilation just long enough to pull Rico and Elena out of the danger zone.
Zara collapsed as blood poured from her nose — overuse of Memory Burn.
Vincent steadied himself.
"…Interesting."
He turned his head toward her.
"You took my trigger. But you can't erase equilibrium."
He walked to the center of the arena, then calmly vanished in a swirl of spiraling flux.
The Circle had made their move — and tested the team's limits.
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Post-Battle – Rooftop Debrief
The four sat in silence under the moonlight. Elena's shoulder was wrapped. Rico leaned on his copy, using it as a pillow. Zara sipped hot tea, hands trembling.
Marcus finally broke the silence.
"…We lost."
"No," Zara said quietly. "We survived."
"And that's the first win."