Chương 80: Episode 25: "I have something insanely MAD to show you."

I stared at the screen, restless with a cold fatigue. My white eyes stayed fixed on the massive holographic display hovering over the counter as the Lost Gem flickered at forty percent power. I already knew what it meant. White energy traced along my arms in controlled pulses. We needed a precise, final solution rather than another chase. My fingers stopped tapping.

"There's only one way to pin something that refuses to exist in one place," I muttered under my breath.

"If he actually built it…" My fist slammed into the counter, denting the metal with a sharp crack. As the lab fell silent, quick fragments of memory flashed through my mind before I exhaled and let the present snap back into focus. The doors slid open behind me.

"You're late," I said flatly without turning. Madman entered with a wide grin as drones floated in behind him, blasting EDM music. He danced, spun, and twirled me around. I let the nonsense play out for thirty seconds before stepping back on my own.

"Enough," I said, keeping my voice calm and final. Madman paused, studying me as his smile shifted.

"Oh," he said quietly.

"You already know, don't you?"

"Yes." His grin widened.

"Even better! Let's not ruin the surprise you already guessed!" He slammed the console, sending the platform descending through layers of the dark facility. The factory opened below us, humming across rows of steel CyberBots. I walked straight past them to the empty tube where Don Black once stood. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Madman slowed behind me.

"You really do know," he murmured. I stayed silent. He snapped his fingers, revealing a staircase leading up into thickening, charged fog. We climbed until the smoke parted to reveal the machine. Dozens of concentric silver rings rotated in perfect synchronization around a central void, white energy pulsing between them and bending the air. I stepped forward, eyes reflecting the glow.

"You finished it."

"You already figured out what it does," Madman said softly. I nodded once.

"It doesn't chase the Gem. It removes its ability to run. It anchors it, locks its position, and forces it into existence." Madman laughed under his breath.

"Yes."

"It pulls it out, recharges it, and then it becomes mine," I added, watching my reflection warp across the metal. Silence fell as Madman dropped the jokes for once.

"You scare me when you're like this," he admitted quietly. I ignored him, staring into the machine as the hum vibrated through my bones.

"Activate it."

I launched upward, cracking the ground beneath my feet. Bite followed instantly in a flare of cyan as we cross the threshold into the Station of Zeniths. We touched down, and the doors sealed shut with a final hiss behind us. I turned and stopped. Class 101 and the Zeniths stood in formation across a massive hollow in the chamber, waiting in silence. Javier stood with his arms crossed in a smirk, Sophia crouched low in her tiger form, and Keyler hung upside-down from above.

Ryan fiddled with the mini-fridge, Angel studied a holographic Earth, William fidgeted, Daysni flew around, Anhia took kissy-face photos, Kwa'asja and Bite slept on couches, Mason sat nearby, and Emely talked non-stop to a half-asleep Jocabed. Behind them stood the Zeniths. Intelligence stood at the front with glowing eyes, while Power stood at the center with arms folded and eyes burning blue. The weight of the room pressed down hard. My expression didn't change.

"…What." Power spoke, his voice cutting through the quiet.

"We have to talk."