Kai felt a rush as he watched blood dripping from Krane. His opponent seemed to be weakening, and he planned to make full use of it.

But just as he took a step forward to strike again, he paused.

"What the hell is he-?"

Krane calmly pressed a hand to his own arm, his eyes fluttering shut as if preparing for a nap. Kai squinted, watching warily. The air stilled.

Then he saw it.

His wounds began knitting themselves shut. Muscle slithered back into place, tendons reattaching like strands of thread, and split skin stretched and sealed with a soft, wet sound.

Kai cursed under his breath, a growl rumbling in his throat.

'Tch. Forgot this bastard could do that. That's going to make things annoying.'

The blood Krane had spilt had excited him. He'd already begun weaving it into his arsenal, planning on siphoning his blood dry that battering him as he had done against Dominique.

But now?

Now the wounds he had dealt the deranged man had disappeared as quickly as they had appeared.

'Guess I gotta change my plans and use more of my own blood,' Kai groaned internally, feeling his control over himself slipping by the second.

Still, something itched at the back of Kai's mind.

That scalpel… the way it moved, how it sang through the air when it carved through his arm like butter.

Kai flexed his reattached arm, the phantom sting still lingering in the muscle.

'That was a glimpse of his full strength. He's still holding back. Guess we both are.'

His heart thudded, fast and heavy. Blood pumped through his veins like fire, every beat fuelling the storm within.

He slowly raised a hand.

The blood Krane had already lost, slick on the concrete, soaked into the crates, pooled by his feet, quivered. Then, with a low hum, it rose.

It twisted and spun like serpents under Kai's control, writhing upward before snapping into shape, a long, crimson javelin, pointed and deadly.

Kai's red eyes glinted.

'Let's see how you handle your own blood.'

He hurled it.

The javelin tore through the air like a bolt of wrath, sharp enough to whistle. Krane's eyes widened in that fleeting moment.

He reacted fast, his scalpel flashing upward in a defensive arc. The blade caught the tip...

But it wasn't enough.

The javelin exploded on contact, splattering over Krane like a bursting bloodbag.

Kai's fist clenched.

At once, the blood coating Krane's body hardened into dozens of razor-sharp needles.

They exploded outward with violent force.

The Scalpel's body was riddled in a blink, needles piercing deep into his arms, torso, and even his face. But Krane barely flinched.

He let out a deep breath. And then his body began writhing.

The holes, they closed. Not all at once. Not cleanly. But slowly, unnaturally. The wounds sealed like meat being stitched by an invisible surgeon.

And he smiled. Eyes wild.

"More!" he howled, throwing his arms wide. "Show me more, Bloodweaver!"

He surged forward like a cannonball, his body pulsing grotesquely. One second, his legs bulked up for explosive movement. The next, his arms thinned and extended like whips, then thickened again for strength.

It was like watching a human body turned into putty, reshaped and stretched at will.

Kai's eyes narrowed.

'Muscle control. Bone mass redistribution. That's why his movements are so damn erratic.'

But he didn't falter. If Krane could twist and reshape his body, then Kai would break it again and again until there was nothing left to patch up.

The night wind howled across the docks.

The ground beneath them was a slick mess of blood and rainwater, shimmering under the broken port lights.

They charged.

Kai slashed his arm, pulling fresh blood to the surface. It wrapped around his fists like gauntlets, reinforcing every punch. He met Krane's rush head-on, ducked under a slash from his scalpel, and slammed a blood-coated fist into his ribs.

Crack!

Krane wheezed, but then his chest flexed unnaturally, and the dented ribs sprang back into place with a sickening crunch.

Kai didn't stop.

He twisted, blood dancing behind him like wings, and launched a blade of hardened plasma from his palm. It sliced across Krane's thigh - more blood, more openings.

Krane retaliated, his scalpel flashing like a silver serpent. But Kai dodged, just barely, and let a wave of blood explode beneath Krane's feet, forcing him to stumble.

But again, the freak just smiled.

He enjoyed this.

He thrived on it.

No matter how many cuts Kai landed, how much damage he forced into the doctor's warped body, Krane's flesh would contort, pull, tighten, bend, but never quite break.

It reminded Kai of the twins from Nyx's facility. Those mindless monsters that served Nyx seemed to be able to override pain and damage by brute-forcing their biology.

Krane was the same.

A grotesque imitation of vitality.

But Kai? He wasn't going to be outdone.

He would shred him down to his bones if he had to. Tear muscle from muscle. Drain every drop and snap every joint until there was nothing left to weave back together.

That was all while trying not to get his head cleanly sliced off his head, which seemed to be Krane's goal.

The dock shook from their clash. Sparks flew. Blood splashed. Structures collapsed.

And yet, the two monsters kept dancing.

One with madness in his eyes.

The other with cold fury burning in his veins.

And the night wasn't done with either of them.

Not yet.

-

Meanwhile, as Kai and Krane clashed in a storm of blood and steel, other battles unfolded across the darkened port.

Sven moved through the chaos like a phantom, silent and merciless. One by one, the scattered remnants of the enemy forces fell under his blade, each strike efficient and lethal. No wasted movements. No hesitation.

His eyes were cold, empty of their usual teasing glint. Gone was the lazy, drunken flirt with an eye for women and a bottle. This was the other side of Sven, the one few ever got to see. The professional. The killer. The dependable right hand who got the job done.

He didn't joke. He didn't hesitate.

He simply killed Krane's operatives, one after the other.

Elsewhere, Nadya hurled one explosive orb after another into the air, her fingers moving in a blur as she reloaded and tossed without pause. The explosions lit up the night in bursts of flame and sound, but they barely even made the glowing figure in front of her flinch.

The so-called Messiah floated a metre above the ground, radiant with searing heat and holy light. His arms were spread, his head tilted back slightly as he mumbled incomprehensible nonsense to himself.

"A divine path… light to cleanse the corruption… rise anew from fire…"

Nadya narrowed her eyes, unfazed by his delusions.

"Creepy bastard."

But it wasn't just his ramblings. The sheer heat radiating off his body distorted the air around him, creating a shimmering dome of unbearable energy. Her bombs fizzled out before even reaching him, the pressure and light scattering the impact like a strong wind blowing out a candle.

The Messiah's voice suddenly turned clear.

"You two," he commanded, gesturing to his robed subordinates. "Secure the goods. Let the light guide you."

They bowed without question and vanished into the shadows of the port, moving with swift, rehearsed precision. It was obvious - they weren't just loyal. They were devoted fanatics.

'That's definitely the drugs,' Nadya thought, watching them move toward the cargo. Not that she could follow after them, her hands were full with the man who saw her as nothing more than a buzzing fly.

She tried another bomb, a larger one. But it was to no avail. It detonated mid-air, never even scratching the radiant mutant.

"Tch. This guy's no fun at all," she muttered. 'I can't even get close to him. It's like heat's forming a damn shield… My explosions fizzle out, and he doesn't even blink at the impact. What can I even do against that?'

She couldn't get close as she'd be burnt and dominated, and she couldn't damage him from afar either.

It was a terrible matchup for her ability.

She gave it another second before spinning on her heel and shamelessly jogging toward the area where she'd last seen Kai and The Scalpel disappear. The Messiah didn't even react and just watched as she left.

The two freaks were in the middle of an insane duel, blood dancing through the air, steel flashing like lightning, and movement so fast she could barely keep up.

And yet…

"Hey!" she called out mid-run. "Wanna swap opponents?"

Kai's head turned slightly, and even Krane halted his attack. "What?!"

"You stole mine last time! It's only fair!"

For a beat, Kai stared at her.

Then he laughed.

The kind of dry, humourless chuckle that meant 'Sure, why not?'.

"Fine," he said.

Krane was getting his bloodlust to act up, and he didn't care who he ended up facing anyway, as long as he got to let loose and got closer to getting his hands on Nyx.

Nadya was surprised at how easily he accepted, but was confused by his warning.

"Just don't let him touch you."

She paused, squinting. "What?"

"Don't. Let him. Touch you," he repeated, voice flat, not bothering to fill her in on the details.

Krane, however, was not amused.

His eyes widened, and he snapped his scalpel into a reverse grip. "I'm not finished with the Bloodweaver. He's mine and...!"

Boom!

An explosion sent him flying backwards before he could say another word.

"Not anymore," Nadya grinned, already moving to cut him off before he could recover.

Kai didn't waste time. He pivoted, stepping away from the battle with The Scalpel and calmly heading toward the glowing lunatic in the sky, trusting Nadya could handle herself.

But as he got closer, the heat pressed in around him. The air shimmered. His skin prickled.

He narrowed his eyes. 'This guy… he's definitely stronger.'

Nadya couldn't even damage him, and he remained hovering in the air without a care in the world.

'Maybe I should've stuck with Krane,' he thought as he watched the light intensify around the floating man.

Then again… it wasn't like he could turn back now...

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