The warehouse on 19th Street looked abandoned from the outside—weathered brick, boarded windows, an eyesore lost to the city's darker corners. But Dante knew better. His infrared scanner painted a different picture: heat signatures flickering within, clustered and disciplined. Armed. Organised. Spread out in formation, like predators waiting in the shadows.
Spider-Man hung silently from the brick facade above, his voice barely a whisper as he relayed the count. "I see twelve. Four of them with internal mods. The rest? Military-trained grunts."
Daredevil stood beside Dante in the alley, calm and focused. "They're watching the perimeter closely. No sign of Phantom."
Dante cracked his knuckles slowly, voice low and steady. "That's because he's not inside. He's watching. Testing me… again."
A cold smirk pulled at the corner of Dante's mouth. He stepped forward into the darkness.
[Copy & Adapt – Active]
– Tactical Mode: Enabled
– Targets within range: 12
– Potential skill integrations: 4
Every instinct kicked in. Dante melted into the shadows, his movements seamlessly mirroring Daredevil's practised stealth. Every silent step, every precise breath control technique—downloaded, assimilated, now his own. His motions were faster and more fluid, like a perfect storm of years of training compressed into moments, encoded into muscle memory.
At the rear loading dock, a lone guard turned abruptly. Too slow.
Dante's fist connected with brutal precision against the guard's temple, sending him down silently before he hit the ground. One less obstacle.
His hand drifted to the guard's rifle—a sleek modular EM weapon pulsing faintly with energy. The moment Dante's fingers brushed the trigger guard, a soft chime echoed in his mind.
[Weapon Familiarity Gained: Modular EM Rifle (Lv.1)]
– Increased accuracy and recoil control with energy-based firearms.
"Copy that," Dante whispered with a grin, eyes gleaming in the dim light.
Inside the warehouse, chaos erupted.
Spider-Man dropped from above, webs flying, tangling two guards against the ceiling with practised ease. Daredevil disarmed another with a swift baton strike. Dante kicked through the entrance, palms igniting with crackling energy—a gift from the modified Echo Unit tech he'd scavenged earlier. One pulse sent two soldiers skidding across the floor.
But then, the lights died.
An eerie silence swallowed the room.
Metal walls groaned and shifted.
Hissing gas seeped from hidden vents.
Steel panels slid apart to reveal four soldiers.
Not just any soldiers.
Echo Units 06 through 09.
Each wore sleek, upgraded exosuits, their skull insignias redesigned and sharper—lethal marks of evolution. Faster, stronger, smarter. This was the next generation.
All four locked onto Dante instantly.
He didn't hesitate.
He charged.
The first unit raised a shimmering energy shield, blocking Dante's initial assault. But Dante slid beneath the shield's arc, twisting his wrist to unleash a shock pulse. The shield generator sizzled and sparked before frying out entirely. The Echo Unit staggered, and Daredevil finished him with a brutal baton strike.
The second unit moved with blinding speed, lunging forward. Spider-Man caught him midair, twisting to slam him into the cold concrete wall.
Two down.
Dante grabbed the gauntlet from the first fallen soldier just as the third fired an electrical arc straight at him. The gauntlet in Dante's hand reconfigured instantly.
[Adapted Ability: Arc Flare Discharge (Lv.1)]
– Releases a 45-degree cone electrical burst. Highly effective against tech-based targets.
He was fired.
The third Echo Unit convulsed violently, circuits frying as the electrical burst overwhelmed its systems, and it collapsed.
But the fourth—
He was different.
A voice crackled from inside the suit.
"You're not ready," it said coldly.
And then he moved—lightning fast.
Dante's eyes barely tracked the blur before the soldier was suddenly behind him, delivering a devastating strike that sent Dante flying through a metal beam. Pain flared sharply in his ribs.
Dante coughed, spat blood, and then slowly rose. His eyes narrowed with fierce determination.
"Let's see how fast you are," Dante growled, voice rough, "when I adapt your speed."
He launched himself forward again.
The Echo Unit dodged—once, twice.
Dante's body synced instantly.
Every twitch, every step, every move the soldier made, Dante copied. His cells realigned, his nerves surged, and instincts sharpened beyond human limits.
[Adaptation Synced: Reflex Velocity Mk.2 (Lv.1)]
– Enhanced reaction time and muscle twitch acceleration. Duration: 60 seconds.
This time, Dante caught the soldier's punch mid-air.
He twisted the arm sharply, drove his knee into the soldier's chest, then spun him overhead. The impact cracked the concrete floor beneath them.
"Got him!" Dante shouted.
Daredevil's baton followed swiftly, striking down the soldier while Spider-Man webbed the final Echo Unit fast to the ground.
Silence fell.
Suddenly, the speakers mounted on the warehouse roof crackled to life.
Phantom's voice slithered through the air, cold and amused.
"Impressive. You're finally starting to understand."
Dante's gaze shot upward, fury burning bright. "Stop hiding."
"Oh, I'm not hiding," Phantom's voice taunted. "I'm building. And you've just passed your final trial."
"What trial?" Dante demanded.
"To see if you're ready."
"Ready for what?"
"To face me."
Then, an explosion rocked the far side of the warehouse.
Controlled charges ripped through the walls and foundation, shattering glass and sending debris flying.
The team barely escaped as the blast tore through the structure, smoke and fire billowing into the night sky.
Sirens wailed closer and closer.
Dante stood at the edge of the burning ruin, fists clenched tight, eyes burning with resolve.
Next time, Phantom wouldn't be watching from the shadows.
This time, Dante wasn't playing a game.
He was ending it.
The blast had been a message—clear and brutal—but it also revealed something important: Phantom was afraid. Afraid of what Dante was becoming.
Dante's system pinged softly in the back of his mind.
[System Update Available: Tactical Mastery Module]
– Enhances the ability to integrate speed and combat decision-making.
He felt the familiar hum of power rising inside him—raw, unrelenting.
He glanced at Spider-Man and Daredevil, their faces grim but resolute.
"We hit their next location hard and fast," Dante said. "No more testing. No more games."
Spider-Man cracked his knuckles, the weight of the fight settling in his eyes. "I'm ready if you are."
Daredevil nodded, voice steady. "Then we move at dawn."
Dante looked out over the city skyline, lights flickering like stars in the concrete jungle. His next steps would be decisive.
Phantom was building an army of machines, but Dante was becoming something far more dangerous.
Something unpredictable.
Something unstoppable.
And this war was just beginning.