– Spill it, old man. – Yinsak harshly demands from his father, who chuckles.

– What are you talking about?

– Judging by everything so far, you knew I was coming. Stop wasting my time.

– I have no idea what you are talking about, son. – The man sarcastically says. Yinsak frowns, visibly annoyed.

– Dexter Astarosa. – Edgar suddenly says while taking a step forward. – We're not here to play mind games, we're here to put a halt to your little schemes. Spare us the trouble of having to torture you for it.

– Oh, please, boys. – Dexter suddenly opens his arms, the cup of wine in one of his hands. – It wouldn't be fun if you didn't try, right? Come at me to your hearts' content.

– So, how should we do this? – Edgar asks Yinsak. – You hold him and I do the asking, or...

– Don't interfere. – Yinsak simply says while taking a fighting stance. – Whatever happens, I want you to just stay and watch. You hear me?

Still not understanding what he means, Edgar starts to ask. He interrupts himself when he notices Dexter handling a syringe filled with a black liquid he took from anywhere.

– What's that you have? – He demands an answer. Yinsak elbows his side. – What?

– I said don't interfere.

– Well said, son. – Dexter says before injecting whatever was inside the syringe in his arm.

– What's that? – Edgar asks, a bit concerned.

– A stimulant, similar to morphine.

– And you'll just let him use it? – Edgar asks as Dexter slowly raises from his chair. The tension around the air grows as he starts to tense his muscles while stretching a bit.

– I want a challenge, not a beatdown. – Yinsak says while slowly recoiling away from his father, who was now approaching him menacingly.

– How long has it been since we last fought? When you were ten? Eleven? It's been so long I can't even remember how many bones I broke. – He cracks his neck with a side move, the sound echoing through the room. He then does the face of someone who just remembered something. – Oh, and you should watch out for Andrew.

– Wait. – Yinsak furrows his eyebrows. – Andrew's here? – Now addressing Edgar, he says. – You should go back and check the others out.

– Are you sure?

– Just get outta here.

Edgar does as Yinsak recommends and goes back. Dexter chuckles.

– Now it's just you and me, son.

– Won't be calling me "son" after I break your spine in two, old man. – Yinsak menacingly says while forcing one of his feet forward. Dexter just stands there, waiting for Yinsak's first move.

In the meantime, the man known as Andrew Astarosa kept himself busy with the rest of the group.

He was large, had dark skin, a weird blonde mohawk, and was wearing nothing but pants. That exposed his stupidly large muscles to the group of five that had to deal with him.

Saikyo, as usual, was the first to try something. His struggles were in vain as Andrew knocked him back again and again with arm swings. Ware, who was acting weird again, tried to go for precise strikes but the Astarosa wasn't giving any obvious or safe openings to be exploited.

Which left Katrina and Giovanni with their weapons while Baxter went somewhere else for reasons. But again, it's not like Andrew would just let them hit him without doing nothing.

Giovanni was trying not to kill him (or his teammates by accident), giving him opportunities to dodge his shots and toss things at him as often as possible. Whenever Katrina approached, he would swing his arm to try and swat her. She would, naturally, dodge those attempts, but dodging wouldn't give them the win.

From a distance, Giovanni tries to come up with a plan.

– Saikyo, distract him. Katrina and Ware, flank him. If he tries to move, I'll shoot him.

He looks at his gun with the silence. He was running out of bullets and had to use them more sparingly if he didn't want to drag the attention of anyone outside the mansion.

His teammates follow his instructions, Saikyo with noticeable reluctance. He goes for a direct approach, something Andrew tries to intercept with a straight punch. Saikyo blocks it with his crossed arms in front of him but is pushed back anyway.

Still recovering from the momentum, he doesn't react to Katrina's blade in time, which hits his leg, forcing him onto one knee. He screams in pain while trying to hit her from behind but Ware disables his right arm with precise strikes to near his shoulder.

It wasn't like he couldn't use his left though. Ware realizes this a bit too late as he gets struck by a clean left hook to the jaw, falling unconscious to the side.

Katrina was hitting him with her false blade to not kill him but he eventually grabs it with his left and uses it against her, knocking her out as well.

Now standing up, he speaks for the first time. – A papercut to the leg and some minor bruises. Pathetic.

He then starts to approach Saikyo while limping a bit, who didn't back off, instead, suddenly dashing towards him, moving to behind him and grabbing his neck in a chokehold.

Andrew punches Saikyo's face hard a few times, eventually knocking him out as well. By the time such happens, he starts feeling his right arm again, spinning it a few times to test it.

– Now, the kid. – He says while approaching Giovanni.

Right at this moment, Edgar jumps from the third floor all the way to ground level with a loud thud. Both men still up are surprised by his sudden arrival. He then looks to his fallen "teammates", then, to Andrew.

– Andrew, wasn't it? Impressive, considering even Saikyo fell. Looks like Yinsak's strength is a family thing. – He then takes a fighting stance while smiling.

The man, who didn't take the compliment well, dashes towards him.

Tired, Yinsak struggles a bit to keep his breathing in check. Even more tired, Dexter struggles to stand on his feet, dizzying like he was drunk.

– Well, would you look at that? – He says while rubbing his mustache with his fingers, a satisfied smile on his face. – Guess I'm getting a bit too old for these spars.

– "A bit" is an understatement. – Yinsak mocks him with a grin of his own. – And I'm not done here.

The room was, surprisingly, barely touched. Almost everything was in its place, except for the carpet and a few furniture. Their clothes were resembling old rags but they were on regardless.

Yinsak, true to his word, goes for another round of attacks. Punch after kick, a barrage that was barely blocked by an extremely tired Dexter.

Eventually, Yinsak does manage to land a decisive blow: a spinning kick to Dexter's jaw, sending him to the left. Cracks form around the wall he lands. On the floor, Dexter eventually wiggles around to sit, blood coming from his mouth.

– I think you're really excited to see me like this, right, Son?

– All I know is that you still didn't tell me about your plans. – Now approaching him, Yinsak grimaces. – Tell me before I kill you.

– Go on, good luck. – Dexter mocks him. His muscles that up to this point were tense and ready for combat now loses all energy. Clearly, the stimulant he took earlier wasn't what one would call longlasting.

Meanwhile, Edgar watches as Andrew misses blow after blow. He dodges all of them effortlessly, almost as if they were in slow motion. For as powerful as he proved to be to the others, Edgar still was on a whole different level.

Tired of waiting for anything else to happen, he punches Andrew on the gut hard, causing him to cough saliva and bend forward. Another clean uppercut to the jaw sends him flying. While still mid-air, Edgar jumps with a flip and spin kick his torso, sending him towards the front door, which opens wide with his impact as he flies to outside.

– Well, that was something, I guess. – He says to himself before looking to his fallen comrades.

One by one and with Giovanni's help, he aligns them against a wall. Saikyo is the first to wake up, suddenly, randomly punching the air in front of him with fury. When he notices who's there, he stops while grunting, a hand over his head.

– Where's that brute? I have things to settle with him.

– Not gonna happen. – Edgar says while noticing Katrina opening her eyes, also grunting with annoyance. Ware soon joins them.

Once everyone awakens, Edgar leaves them under Giovanni's care to go check on Yinsak. With a blur, he sprints back to the third floor where Dexter's room is.

Inside, an unconscious Dexter could be seen near a sad Yinsak, who had some blood on his hands.

– Did he at least tell you? – Edgar asks, not concerned with the scene. Yinsak nods slowly.

– "Project C-9" is an experiment they ran on children and teens to try and turn them into cyborgs. Part of their plan to try and trigger multiple Affinities within people.

Edgar widens his eyes, shocked. – Cyborgs? He can't be serious.

– I'm pretty sure his nearly lifeless body is enough evidence that he wasn't lying, Edgar.

– And where is it?

– Somewhere inside the basement.

– But what if he did lie? – Edgar insists. Yinsak ignores the repeated question while walking to the door.

Once both men reach the ground level, they notice Baxter appeared again. He had a livid red apple in his hand, a bite mark on it.

– Good timing, you. – Saikyo, who had a lot of bruises and scratches, addresses him, annoyed. Baxter chuckles.

– I didn't want to fight with an empty belly so I hunted the kitchen for sweets. I ate an entire package of cookies before finding this apple. It's so sweet I couldn't just let it go.

– We could have died there, you know?! – Katrina shouts, angry. In her hand, a throwing knife ready to be used. Baxter raises an eyebrow.

– You mean Andrew? Pff. He isn't really challenging once you figure what you're supposed to do.

– Which would be? – Yinsak, surprisingly, is the one to ask. There was something behind his voice that no one noticed.

– You just have to bait him into attacking before you. He has huge gaps between his attacks that anyone with half of a brain could figure out.

– Which they didn't. – Yinsak says, talking about the others from the group. – Because that's not something you just figure out by some dumb luck. You would have had to know that beforehand, which obviously didn't happen. Now tell me, how did my old man know exactly when we were coming?

– Thinking about it – Giovanni starts. – , it can't be coincidence that he hired extra guards on the same night we prepared to come and assault his house.

– And Andrew doesn't live here. – Yinsak complements. – In fact, he never comes unless someone calls him. Which my old man did because he knew we were coming.

Katrina pieces everything together as realization strikes her, it visible in her face.

Without waiting for anything else, she hurls one of her knives towards Baxter, who barely has time to dodge, his eyes wide open.

– Are you crazy?!

– No. – She bluntly answers while preparing another knife. Ware, who still seems like he didn't get what's going on, tilts his head slightly.

– Why are you attacking Mr. Astarosa?

– Because "Mr. Astarosa" here is a rat. – She says, not getting her eyes off of her target, who was still eating his apple. – And I'm not letting him get away with it.

– Yes, you will. – Yinsak says while taking a step forward. Before she can protest, he snatches her blade from her hand and throws it towards a wall, where it stays.

He then looks to Baxter, who wasn't eating anymore. In his face, something resembling embarrassment. – I figured you were the traitor a while ago. To be honest, all you did was give me a more interesting night.

– To you, that is! – Katrina shouts, angry. – You think we're all fighting machines who enjoy the "thrill of the battle" or something? – She then combs her hair with her fingers, exhausted. – I just want this night to end so I can die in my bed for a day or two.

– I got to fight Andrew – Saikyo speaks. – , so I think tonight was productive.

– See! – Katrina says while gesturing at the bald man with a hand.

Yinsak contents himself with a nonchalant shrug while addressing Baxter again. – They want your head for what you did. I couldn't care less. There is something you can do to "sort things out", if you will.

Without really looking in his eyes, Baxter asks. – Which is...?

– Everyone. – Yinsak now addresses everyone else. – Your assistance is no longer necessary. From now on, those who stay will do so without my consent or acknowledgment and won't receive anything out of it. If you still want to deal with my old man personally, he's unconscious in the third floor. And by the looks of it, my sisters won't come back. That's all.

– What about me? – Baxter asks.

– I was getting there. You'll help me deal with what's underground.

– Why him? – Edgar asks, apparently offended. Yinsak shrugs.

– Why not? The thing shouldn't be an issue for me, according to what my old man said.

– But aren't you tired? – Ware asks, noticing Yinsak's subtle body language.

– As if. – He then cracks his neck with a side move. – Now, are you coming or will you grab another jar of cookies?

Not waiting for a response, he starts to walk away. Baxter, still a bit embarrassed, follows him. Edgar sighs.

– Guess that's that, then. Well, I'm going. Don't know about you bunch...

Suddenly, the front door slowly opens. Through it, a boy in his late teens with neon-blue short hair and eyes makes himself present. His clothes resembled those of hospital patients.

– Looking for someone? – The newcomer asks with a joyful face.

– Is he an Astarosa? – Katrina asks, her guard up.

At the mention of the name, the boy's face, for a second, darkens. That startles everyone.

– I'm anything but one of those, Mrs. – He recomposes himself quickly, his joyful face still there. – Why, are you looking for them?

– Not anymore, at least. – Giovanni says, still skeptical about the teen. – And who are you?

– Hmm... – The boy places a finger under his chin, a thinking face forming. – I think it's Prometheus Cossack Ninth.

– Weird name to give someone... – Edgar states. The boy starts laughing.

– The scientists said the same thing to Dexter when he renamed me.

– Wait, what? – Edgar asks while furrowing his eyebrows.

– Also, I'll have to deal with you bunch. Boss' orders.

Right after saying that, the boy blitzes through the room, easily closing the gap between him and Edgar. Then, with a hard and unexpected punch to the gut, the grey-haired man falls on his knees with his arms on his belly. No one noticed what happened until he held a scream in with a loud grunt.

Not giving him an opening, Prometheus slams his fist on his back neck, dropping him unconscious. Not once his expression changed, one of joy.

Then, while looking around, his smile widens. – Who should I go for next?