The city didn't stand a chance.
Dioka vaulted off a collapsing skybridge, flipping midair as a shockwave detonated behind him. Cars were lifted like toys, spinning helplessly before smashing into buildings.
Guakulia was already ahead—running through the air, each step punching ripples into space itself.
"Bro!" Dioka shouted, laughing. "You're cheating!"
"You started it!" Guakulia yelled back, sliding down a skyscraper sideways as missiles screamed past his head.
Below them, the streets were chaos.
Civilians fled in waves. Sirens howled. Emergency barriers rose only to be atomized seconds later by stray Apex fire.
From above—
Containment drones descended in swarms.
Black-metal constructs, marked with global insignias, locked on instantly.
[TARGETS CONFIRMED: ANOMALIES]
[AUTHORIZATION: GLOBAL PURGE PROTOCOL]
"Ah," Dioka said, mid-sprint across a glass rooftop. "They're escalating."
A drone fired.
Guakulia didn't dodge.
He caught the beam—barehanded.
The energy folded inward, crushed, and vanished.
"…nah," he muttered. "That's annoying."
He flicked his wrist.
The drone imploded.
Then ten more.
Then the sky itself rippled as Guakulia jumped—landing in the middle of an enforcement platoon.
They never even screamed.
Dioka landed beside him, hands glowing faintly—not with power, but with absence.
"You feel that?" Dioka asked.
Guakulia nodded.
"They're adapting," Guakulia said. "Badly."
From the far end of the avenue—
An Apex Commander descended.
Towering. Armored. Multiple lanes active at once. Fire. Gravity. Spatial locks.
A walking catastrophe.
"ANOMALIES," the commander boomed. "HALT. THIS CITY IS UNDER—"
Dioka blinked.
The commander froze.
His voice cut off.
His powers shut down.
Reality around him simply… refused.
Dioka walked past him.
"Yeah, we're not doing speeches today."
The commander collapsed like a puppet with cut strings.
Guakulia whistled. "That's gotta hurt the ego."
They leapt again.
The chase continued.