Rift

"Vipers. Hold." A sonorous plea from a masqueraded villain stopped the enemies from assaulting Sophie and the others. The voice came from the train's speaker system, and the direct request alone slowed the train down to a halting stop. Static interference from the speaker system followed after, pausing when the masked intruders parted the way for an unknown purpose.

The train car behind the intruders opened, revealing a lion-masked figure wearing an open vintage black gabardine trench coat with metallic grey and obsidian-colored armored plating inside. He shoved the Seething Vipers out of his way with his slim leather gloves, clenching and stretching his fingers and hands to release a rubbery sound. His dual-horned Chinese mask had several minacious features; it had hollowed jade irises and ruby sclera for its eyes, adding to its pristine antiquity of the old age. Its flaming tribal pattern and opened mouth were enough to strike fear into the hearts of the vipers huddling around him.

Sophie stood in front of Star and Goro, blocking the masked menace from intervening. Solo and Duo remained idle, greatly afraid of the intruders.

"Well, well," The lion-masked figure spoke in a deep tone; the mask filtered his voice to have a corrupted on and off state, flickering between normal and deepened voice. "The early bird gets the worm. Now... which one of you is Starrosa?"

Sophie glared at the lion-masked man with threatening intent. Goro, using Sophie's height to obscure himself from the invaders, slipped toward Star from behind and lightly tapped her back. A quick sting tased Star, and her cautious attention made it so that she was numb to the sensation.

"Oh, what a terrible question that was," The lion-masked figure spoke, shooting his left palm out to point it toward Sophie. "I already know."

An invisible force pulled Sophie toward his palm, choking her and suspending her in midair with his leather glove. Sophie wriggled and attempted to escape the figure's grasp. Without another word, he tossed Sophie toward the train seats, slamming her against the floors. "If you touch her... I'll kill you..." Sophie groaned, placing her palm against her back.

The lion figure retrieved a memory fragment extractor from his trench coat, activating its magnetic claw. A humming and buzzing whirr played, creating an invisible vibrating medium between the figure's palm and Star's body. Sophie and the vipers watched as the stomping of the lion-masked figure's boots clicked against the train's floors, slowly approaching Star.

"STOP!" Sophie cried, charging at the lion-masked figure.

With a quick snap of his fingers, a rotating particle singularity kept inside the lion-masked figure's chest activated. A vibrating medium generated around Sophie's body, stopping her from moving toward him. She could sense invisible arms and hands gripping her body, rooting her feet to the floor. During her suspension, the medium created a reverse-motion effect on Sophie to rewind time a few seconds before she was thrown at the seats. She crashed her back against them again and froze completely, still conscious of his advancement toward Star.

She could not speak or move as much as she tried. No amount of movement could break her free. She could only watch, eyes and mouth widened and stuck.

Goro stepped out of the way, pretending to be an innocent child who had no relation to the crime scene. Solo and Duo could not move as well, as the lion-masked figure's time-freezing ability halted Star to stop them from functioning properly.

"Sir," One of the Seething Vipers approached the cloaked menace and kneeled to respect his authoritarian presence. "The local authorities were informed. Signals are being transmitted and are on route to our location."

"Worry not. This shouldn't take long." The hulking figure said, gazing down at the frozen Star. He kneeled and seized control of her neck at full force without being considerate of her status as a mere child. He lifted Star into the air and attached the magnetic extractor to the back of her head. As soon as the claw attached to Star's head, Solo and Duo collapsed like disassembled mannequins behind them.

Seconds later, the magnetic claw pried the back of Star's head open, revealing a mechanical slot inside that housed a glowing amber memory fragment. The claw extended itself and latched onto it, injecting a cyan agent to loosen the fragment within. After several seconds of concentration, the memory fragment within Star's head removed itself. The lion-masked man took the memory fragment and placed it in his trench coat pockets, tossing Star's lifeless body to the ground.

Both her eyes and skin were pale. Sophie perceived her as dead.

Goro remained on the sidelines, intensely scowling at the lion-masked figure from a distance with his arms crossed. Utilizing his superior intelligence, his expansive mental capacity and eidetic memory could remember everything that happened during their confrontation: the details of the memory fragment extractor, the lion-masked man's time-altering ability, the existence of the Seething Vipers, and the primary goal of the invaders. He could analyze each and every moment and deduce its origins in mere seconds. But with the body of a child, his physical prowess was extraordinarily weak.

His eyes targetted one of the Seething Viper's serrated blades that they held. Their pouches contained miniature hand knives for close-quarters combat, and Goro visualized it as a weapon that he could potentially use. He then stared at the lion-masked man's chest, watching the singularity rotate around; the energy that radiated from it made it a viable target. If he played his cards right, Goro knew that he, Sophie, and Star could escape together unscathed.

While Sophie was suspended in the medium, Goro approached the lion-masked man and tugged on his trench coat. With innocent puppy eyes, he tried to look as innocuous as possible to begin his potential plan.

"Sir, what should we do with the kid?" One of the vipers asked. "Should we kill him?"

"Unless you have a thing for murdering children, I suggest you not," The lion-masked individual said. "But witnesses will be witnesses. Make it quick."

"Yes, sir," The viper said, approaching Goro with its serrated blade ready to kill. "Come here, you little shit."

"No! I don't wanna die!" Goro cried, attempting to run away.

The viper snatched the back of Goro's T-shirt and yanked him off the ground. Just as he did, it gave Goro enough height to slip his thieving hand into the viper's pocket, pulling out two poison-dipped knives from within. Goro slit the viper's wrist with the poisonous knife and tossed the same one at another viper attempting to intervene. The lion-masked man turned around and attempted to snap his fingers to conjure its time-rendering ability.

But Goro was even faster. He tossed one of the poisonous knives at the lion-masked man's hand, piercing through his leather glove and stunning him momentarily. This gave Goro enough time to rush toward him to close the gap. Sophie watched as Goro pulled the knife out and stabbed the singularity around his chest, weakening it enough to pull it out. The lion-masked man shouted and attempted to swing his arm at Goro, but his nimbleness was too much for him.

Goro kicked his feet off of the man's chest and activated the singularity with enough concentration. Holding the singularity scalded Goro's hand, but he was brave enough to activate it to save him and the others. The time singularity froze the lion-masked man and the vipers supporting him for a brief period.

Goro grabbed Star's hand and pulled her toward Sophie. He activated the singularity once more toward Sophie, removing the time-freezing effect on her. She regained full control of her movement, but she slipped and fell after being stuck in her frozen position.

"Grab her!" Goro commanded.

The same reverse motion effect occurred on the lion-masked man and the vipers. In the medium, the lion-masked man managed to regain control of his movements after a second time singularity regenerated in his chest; the act of forcefully ripping the singularity out was not enough to remove its volatile energies from within his armored plates. The lion-masked man attempted to break free from the time medium around him, crushing it with his fists little by little.

Sophie carried Star over her shoulder and rushed toward the edge of the shattered train's window. The current position of the train was high in the air, meaning that they could leap off if they wanted to for a quick escape. But without a nanosuit, Sophie was powerless.

"Jump!" Goro shouted, looking back at the lion-masked man breaking free from his trap.

"No way!" Sophie cried, devastated by the height they were in.

"Just do it!" Goro repeated. He jumped out of the train and dove down to the city streets below.

Sophie's heart pulsated as the lion-masked man broke free. She closed her eyes and jumped out of the train with Star strapped to her back. She closed her eyes and prayed that she would be granted passage to heaven for the sin that she created for Ash.

Goro's left arm burned beyond repair as he activated the singularity again. A violet beam of energy fired discharged below them until an entire dimensional rift punctured the fabric of time and space. The three of them hopped inside, unaware of the dimensional chaos that would ensue as they meddled with dimension hopping.

The rift sealed itself as the lion-masked man peeked his head down to the surface. Although they had escaped, he was successful in retrieving Starrosa's memory fragment. He flipped his trench coat aside and departed with the Seething Vipers, vanishing from the scene.