All that was seen was black. Silence and nothing. Like a void. Except for the sinking feeling that you are falling to your doom, the feeling that continues to course through your veins, and the feeling of regret that comes from when you lost the one chance to stop the disaster that tore away the ground beneath you.

Chase heard blood-curdling screaming, cries of sadness, thunders of a storm, and a dragon roaring for everything to stop.

A blue line appeared in the middle of the blackness, where it continued to run from left to right as if it were loading something in. Once the blue line reached the far right of the blackness, everything suddenly lit up, and Chase awoke from his nightmare.

It took a few moments for Chase to adjust to the new scenery, but pretty soon he recognized the several colored wires running through the room, the large computers and machines with the iconic blue and gray Zone Technologies logo engraved in them, and the hardness of the block of steel he was lying on.

"Ah, you're finally awake." The voice of Marcus came from beside him as Chase turned his head and saw the man typing away at his laptop. "I was getting worried for a second."

"Marcus? Where am I?" Chase rasped.

Marcus was wearing a white lab coat with more blue and gray accents, along with his round glasses, and his hair looked recently trimmed with a shiny sleek. "You're in my personal lab. I have a lot more tools here, which I figured I'd need after the damage you took,” Marcus said without looking away from his computer.

"Damage?" Chase said, confused for a moment as his head still felt fuzzy, until a flood of memories came in. He immediately tried to get off of the table, "Technician!" But couldn't as his body didn't move.

"Easy there, buddy." Marcus stopped his typing and slid over to Chase in his roller chair.

"He's still out there!" Chase yelled. "Why can't I move?"

"I had your body shut down while I was making repairs, since you have the tendency to move around a lot. I only reactivated your head, once I replaced your core."

"My core?"

"Yeah, you busted your old one with that stunt of yours."

"So, that was what happened."

"You overloaded your core with the amount of energy you absorbed, which admittedly did supercharge you enough to beat down the Technician, but only for a little bit as your core did end up just popping from all that stored up energy. And without your core, all your other systems and vitals that need the energy it provides stop working which in turn would result in you dying. Heck, if it weren’t for your Zodiac Soul, then you would’ve died from the excess electricity bursting through your body.”

Chase did his best to calm himself down, relaying the events in his head. To remember more details and figure out what he could’ve done differently. “What about Calvin and Alice? Are they okay?” He said.

“The girl and the cop?” Marcus said. “Well, the girl’s okay, actually barely any injuries, despite the fact that I’m pretty sure I saw her get flung around through my security cameras. The cop though…not so much. He’s alive and stable, but still recovering. I’m having him patched up enough to survive the laser burns, but he’s gonna be out of the force for a while.”

Chase stared up into the ceiling with guilt dwelling in his stomach. “Can you give me a damage report?”

“If you’re talking about everything else. From what I’ve gathered, the electric plant is completely destroyed, probably a few months before it's fully prepared. That also means the whole east side of the city is in a blackout, some buildings like mine are running on a generator now.”

“The east side? That’s where Lion’s Grove is…” Chase wondered if the people there would be fine, they were already suffering and now this. Of course, it might not make much of a difference for them, but without power in that area, then all the necessities would be even harder to get.

“I’ve already got teams of electricians doing repairs to at least get some power back, but you can bet the media’s already on this story.”

“Is the police department on this too?”

“I can’t really see how they couldn’t. The Technician has fully attacked the city now and caused a massive upheaval. But don’t worry, I already made my public statements of telling people that ‘everything will be alright’ while you were out.”

“What now?” Chase said, mostly directing the question to himself.

“Well, I think I might know a bit more about the Technician, including where he’ll probably attack next.”

“You do?”

“Yeah, I ran some tests and I think I figured out a counter, but I’ll need some more of the Technician to make them.”

“Right, then, I’ll get started.” Chase slowly got up when his body was finally able to move again and started testing out his movements.

“I’m sure you will. But you should probably go see your pals first.”

Chase paused and thought about what he’ll say to them. He needed to get out there fast before the Technician made his next move, but he at least owed Calvin and Alice some last words. “Alright.”

[Battery: 100%]

Marcus led Chase to another room in the tower, further down into a medical bay with a few nurses around. On a bed was Calvin, who had bandages covering his arms and an ice pack sitting on his head. Alice was sitting next to him, seemingly just finished telling a lively story.

“And after the Old Sage gifted the Altarians the Stars, the people glowed just a bit brighter in the night,” Alice said with an obvious effort to hold Calvin’s attention, before stopping as Chase walked in.

“Hey Chase,” Calvin said.

“Hey,” Chase said. Alice gave him a small wave.

“I’ll leave you guys to it,” Marcus said.

A silence fell over the three as no one talked for a few moments. Alice was slumped and her face lacked her usual cheer, Calvin was bedridden and clearly still in pain, and Chase wasn’t sure what to say.

“How are you feeling?” He said.

Calvin shrugged. “Fine, I guess. Just a few burns, I’m sure I’ll be back in action in no time.” He mustered a pained chuckle.

“Get your rest,” Chase said and then turned to Alice. “What about you?”

“Me? Oh! I’m doing great,” Alice shone an exaggerated smile.

“Are you sure? Marcus said you barely had any injuries, but you were still in that fight.”

“I guess I just heal fast.”

Chase narrowed his eyes through his mask. “Well, either way, you should still get your rest. Marcus found more information on the Technician, including where he’ll most likely attack next. I came to say goodbye.”

“You really think that’s a good idea?” Calvin rasped.

“No. But I have to try,” Chase said. Alice glanced at Calvin and got up expectantly. “You’re not coming with me.”

“What?” Alice said.

“You can’t do anything against the Technician, so there’s no use coming with me.”

“But—”

“I’m sorry, but it’s for your own safety.”

“The Technician attacked the city very clearly now. The PD will be on your side with this one, so you can have more back up—” Calvin said.

“There won’t be any point. The police can’t do anything against the Technician, in fact they’ll only make things worse by bringing blasters and more tech to him.”

“But there’s no way you can beat him alone!” Alice protested, “And didn’t I help save your life during that fight!”

“You wouldn’t have had to save me if I were better prepared. And I will be this time.”

“Alice,” Calvin said, “could you let me and Chase talk alone for a bit?”

Alice looked at him, hesitant, before sighing. “Fine.” She skulked out of the room with her head laid low, leaving Chase and Calvin staring at each other.

“Chase, are you sure this is for the best? I saw how messed up the Technician left you, and I haven’t seen you like that since…”

“Since the explosion, I know,” Chase said. He didn’t like reminding himself of that event but he also didn’t feel like wasting time beating around it.

“Yeah, but what makes you think you can beat him now?” Calvin said.

“Marcus could supply me with more gadgets. The Shockers seem to hold him down enough, as long as they work.”

“Hmm, what about an EMP?”

“I’m not sure if that would work, and I can’t risk the Technician using it against me.”

“Alright,” Calvin winced. “But I think you should still take Alice. I know you’re worried about her safety, but you’ve seen how talented she is and she doesn’t need to be in the thick of battle to help you right? It’d be useful having someone on the field communicating with you and whatnot, especially if you refuse to get anymore backup.”

He sighed. “I’ll think about it,” he walked back to the door before taking one more glance back, “Get better soon, Cal.” Chase walked out of the room with a last goodbye, leaving Calvin to lie back down onto the bed with a slight smile.