Chapter 87: 87

Words : 911 Updated : Oct 3rd, 2025

| Chicago - August 8 Nova descended through the shattered ceiling, drifting down with controlled grace as the moonlight poured in through the gaping hole behind him. The glow painted his figure in silvery highlights, making him look almost otherworldly as his eyes burned bright with golden energy. Below, chaos reigned—walls scorched, bodies sprawled, and in the center of it all, the shapeshifting nightmare that had been identified as Bryce Rock... or rather, Byth Rok. Nova's landing was silent, his boots barely brushing the debris-strewn floor. In the same motion, he fired two precision Nova bolts from his palms, striking the grotesque serpentine limbs that held the two ARGUS agents midair. The alien appendages screeched as the searing energy tore through them, forcing them to retract with a wet, snapping recoil. The agents dropped to the ground—one unconscious, the other gasping as they struggled to move. Nova stood tall amid the dust and shadows, his arms casually at his sides but his eyes locked, unblinking, on the monster before him. "What do we have here?" he asked coolly, his tone tinged with challenge. For the first time since the encounter began, Byth Rok's grin faltered. "Well, well... Nova." From the floor, Dizzy stirred, her body screaming in protest as she rolled to her side. She blinked up at the glowing figure through blurred vision. Relief hit her like a wave. They hadn't spoken in weeks. She had cut ties with him. But still, he'd come. And not a moment too soon. Byth's form began to twist again. His once-human facade rippled like water under heat, skin melting into a greenish-yellow hue as veins bulged and eyes turned crimson. His frame expanded, grotesque muscles sprouting beneath his shredded jacket, bone cracking and reforming in unnatural configurations. Clawed fingers extended. Joints twisted in ways no human body should. He wasn't evolving—he was weaponizing. "You're a little out of your depth, boy," Byth growled, his voice deeper now, distorted by the morphing of his throat. Nova didn't flinch. He let out a soft, dry chuckle. "Let's see about that." Byth's body exploded into action, a barrage of sinewy limbs stretching out like spears, aimed at impaling the glowing interloper. Nova reacted instantly, his body surrounded by a flickering anti-gravity field that helped him pivot midair. Nova beams shot from his eyes while golden energy bolts erupted from his hands, intercepting the appendages mid-flight. The blasts struck true—searing flesh, melting muscle—but it wasn't enough. The limbs reformed as fast as they were destroyed, regenerating before they even hit the ground. Nova gritted his teeth. "Of course you heal." He flipped backward in the air, narrowly dodging a sharpened limb that whipped past his throat. As he twisted, he fired a concentrated beam of Nova Force directly at Byth's head—a blinding column of yellow light that carved a trench in the floor as it surged forward. It landed. And it did nothing. Byth's head was gone... for half a second. Then it knit itself back together like melting wax reassembling into flesh. From the corner of the room, Dizzy pressed a bloodied hand to her side, watching with wide eyes. "This is insane," she muttered. Beside her, Daemon Rose, who had just awoken, struggled to prop himself against a wall, holding an inhibitor collar in one hand. "Something we weren't prepared for," he said through gritted teeth. Byth laughed, a grotesque, shifting symphony of sound as his mass swelled again. Then—suddenly and violently—he transformed into a monstrous Tyrannosaurus Rex, twenty feet of muscle, fangs, and fury. The concrete beneath him cracked from the weight. Nova stared, unimpressed. "Oh. That's new." With an ear-splitting roar, Byth-T-Rex bulldozed through a wall, trying to escape the building and charge into the streets of Chicago. Civilians screamed and scattered. Nova cursed under his breath. "Oh no you don't." He surged upward, extending his anti-gravity field around the creature. It wasn't easy—Byth in this form had to weigh close to ten tons—but Nova strained, jaw clenched, and lifted the beast high into the air, away from the innocent. Hovering midair, Nova fired a focused Nova beam from his eyes, holding it steady as it drilled into Byth's chest. The monster screamed, flesh searing—but the victory was short-lived. Byth shapeshifted again, his body morphing back into a humanoid form, this time complete with massive hawk-like wings reminiscent of a Thanagarian warrior. He beat them furiously, trying to break free of the gravitational grip. But it was no use. Nova held him suspended, continuing his attack. Until everything changed. Byth screamed, and from his body exploded dozens—hundreds—of serpentine limbs, squirming and snapping like living whips. They extended in all directions, a sea of motion that blotted out the moonlight. Some lashed toward the streets below, others toward Nova. Nova switched targets, blasting beam after beam from his eyes and hands, trying to burn them down before they reached him. But it was like trying to stop a tidal wave with a lighter. The limbs surrounded him. Wrapped around his arms, legs, and torso. His beam cut out as his focus was broken. The sky was swallowed by the mass of Byth's body. The tentacles constricted. Nova's glow dimmed slightly, gritting his teeth as he strained against the crushing pressure in darkness. Then Byth's distorted voice echoed all around him. "Got you."

Chapter 87: 87

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