About ten years ago, in the year 2088, society experienced a drastic change. Technology took a significant leap and what was once considered the stuff of dreams became reality overnight. Cures were found for the most terrible of diseases, and not a disability was left without a technological solution for it.
Those innovations changed how the entire works, but those changes weren't positive in every case.
It was impossible for a new technology to be invented without humans finding a way to use it for harm. Advanced Prosthetics meant to help those who lost limbs were quickly turned into weapons. Artificial organs got fine-tuned to enhance the performance of soldiers. Genetic therapy was pushed beyond its original purpose of ridding people of disease and used to manufacture powerful warriors.
Humanity's never-ending search for ways to murder each other manifested in what quickly became known as Enhanced Individuals. They were people who underwent a change that set them apart from the baseline human, and though most didn't stray too far from their origin, others had no qualms about abandoning it, doing whatever it takes to gain power.
Some used their newfound abilities for good, but most chose evil instead. Suddenly, the world took on the colors of comic books. Villains appeared by the dozen, wreaking havoc and destroying lives. Heroes followed, vowing to punish evil and protect the innocent.
Anyone with keen eyes would have recognized it was all an act, for there was always another way to distinguish between the two sides.
It was never about morals or protecting the peace. It was always about suppressing the weak and preserving the status quo.
Dante differed from his peers in that he never admired the so-called heroes. He understood that they were nothing but tools, weapons for the elites to use under the guise of justice and all that is good.
There is a reason why most heroes come from a wealthy background or work for mega-corporations. For a child born to a lower-class family, the dream of standing shoulder to shoulder with humanity's protectors was destined to go unfulfilled.
The rules were set and there was no changing them. One can only follow them or risk a gruesome fate, and Dante chose the latter right away. He chose to defy the rulers of his world, to fight a hopeless fight and never surrender. He had no doubt it would lead to his demise sooner or later, but he was determined, and that determination didn't waver when the end came sooner rather than later.
Aegis, leader of Flame Guard, one of the many superhero teams protecting the world from danger. He was a Level 5 Prime, an Enhanced Individual completely separate from a base human, capable of fighting entire armies on his own. Such a monster was far too important to be dealing with a bunch of mercs.
From the moment he appeared, Gaspard's crew had their fate sealed. There was no escape. All of them were going to die.
Mattia was the first to fall. The monster impaled him and spilled his guts. Even at death's door, the scruffy smoker still worried for Dante's sake. He told him to run, but there was no escaping a monster that could fly and move faster than the speed of sound.
In the face of the so-called hero, death was inevitable. Thinking he was next on the list, Dante chose to go down fighting. His pistol might not have done anything against his executioner, but he fired it anyway.
He was determined to fight till the end, to never surrender. Not for a second did he think the monster would spare him, and it was for that reason that his rage burned stronger when that thing looked down at him with pity. Instead of granting him a swift death, he chose to crush his legs. In what world was crippling someone more merciful than giving them a quick end?
Agonizing pain flooded Dante's mind, rendering him incapable of anything other than screaming. Darkness eroded his vision as he was quickly dragged toward unconsciousness. No matter how much he struggled against it, his strength kept fading.
He watched Maria die, her brother following right after. Ricardo went down next, leaving Gaspard the only one standing. Their leader stood his ground to the very end.
Three months, that's how long he had been with them. Dante recalled the day he had joined the crew. He had been a greenhorn with only a few level bounties hunted. Though his plan was to try and make it solo, he saw no reason to refuse when Mattia approached him with the invitation.
Being a part of a crew came with far more opportunities and a lot less risk. Cash flowed in faster than before, and for a time it felt like he was making much more progress toward his goal. He was starting to warm up to the others, too, slowly breaking out of the shell he had formed around himself.
All of that came to an end when the monster appeared. Once again, he was made to experience the cruelty of the world, and in just a few seconds he lost everyone and everything.
'Damn it...' The flames of hatred weakened and despair filled their place. 'Damn it...'
Foolish. Futile. The voice of doubt began to whisper words he couldn't ignore any longer.
A world divided between the haves and have-nots, between a small minority of the ultra-wealthy and a majority of struggling commoners.
He thought he could challenge such a world. He thought he could defy it, shatter the chains binding him to the bottom. He thought that, if he played his cards right, he could claim his revenge on everyone who had wronged him.
Alas, what could an ant do when a boot came crashing down from above?
For all the despise he harbored toward the powerful elites, deep down Dante knew it was his weakness he hated the most. Forced to live under the tyranny of those born into power, unable to protect the people he cares about, incapable of changing his fate.
He wanted power. He wanted to break out of his chains and claim control over his destiny. But he was weak, and the weak were fated to perish in the shadows, never achieving anything in their miserable short lives.
Only death was fair to all. It didn't discriminate, and it embraced everyone, whether weak or strong. It offered an exit, an escape from the suffering.
Dante saw it in the corner of his darkened vision. His pistol, soaked in blood, was right there. A single bullet would do it. He would be free from the suffering. He would no longer have to fight a hopeless battle.
'... No...' The face of a young girl flashed in his mind and his hand came to a halt. 'No... I won't let it end ...' The ember of rage reignited, gradually regaining their strength. 'The bastards will pay... one way... or another...' He gritted his teeth and forcefully kept himself awake. 'I will make them suffer... I will make them regret... I will-'
A faint light descended in front of him, promptly severing his line of thought. He recognized its source despite his blurry vision. A small disc the size of one's hand, with a border engraved with strange symbols and a center glowing with faint light. It was the relic they were hired to steal, the reason for what happened to the others, and why he had to suffer that agonizing pain.
Suddenly, Dante's mind began to connect the dots. That relic was supposedly ordered by someone in the upper echelons of Eidolon Industries. Aegis was a product of the same corporation and undoubtedly has close ties to the people running it. One can assume that the superhero is used to doing favors to those people, but would they truly bother someone as powerful as him with a mundane task such as retrieving a stolen item?
Reaching out hesitantly, Dante touched the disk. The faint glow grew brighter and encased it, and before he could wonder if it had reacted to him, the sphere of light shot forward and pierced his chest. The entire world went white at that instant.
Swallowed by the light, Dante's first thought was that he might have died for real. He was surrounded by vast whiteness, unable to see anything, feel anything.
He realized the pain from his shattered legs was gone, and when he thought about it, he noticed that the small digital clock from his OAM was gone as well. That meant the module had shut down at some point, but the more likely explanation was that he was unconscious right now.
[Initiating Contact.]
A peculiar voice reached him.
[Contact established.]
[Initiating Evaluation...]
[Evaluation complete.]
[The Subject meets Minimum Requirements.]
[Initiating Integration Sequence...]
[Integration complete.]
Despite being a language he never heard before, Dante found himself understanding every word. The meaning behind them still eluded him, and the more he listened, the more confused it made him feel.
[Warning: severe trauma has been detected in the lower regions]
[Self-repair function: unavailable.]
[Warning: hostile entity detected.]
[Threat Evaluation: Level 5-6.]
[Initializing countermeasures...]
[Deploying Type 05-6.]
[Due to the Host meeting only the minimum requirements, use of Type 05-1 has been restricted to 00:00:30]
Seeing the countdown, Dante felt a sudden chill and his eyes snapped open. The vast whiteness was gone. He was back on the burning road, surrounded by the car wreckage and rivers of blood. He was no longer on the ground, however.
An invisible force lifted him in the air, leaving his broken legs to dangle below. His chest emitted a powerful light and from it countless threads manifested. The threads joined and interlocked. At a speed the human eye couldn't follow, they weaved different shapes before losing their glow. They started small then grew in size, joining together to form some kind of structure.
The process entrance Dante, so much so that he was late to notice that the strange shapes had formed a shell around his body. First his legs then his arms and torso. It started thin then grew thicker as more and more components were weaved, each falling into place among chaotic machinery noise.
The shell changed his contour, hiding the frail form of a human inside a massive mechanized suit of armor the color of a starless night. The light faded and so did the thread. Dante felt gravity pull him down to the ground, but other than that he couldn't see anything and couldn't hear any sound.
Just as he began to think that he might have been trapped, his OAM activated and he found himself once again looking at the street where his comrades were massacred. Aegis was still there. He was staring in his direction, his eyes wide with shock as if he had just seen a ghost.
[Activating boosters.]
The voice returned, but this time it spoke in his native language. In Dante's vision, his OAM put a red box around the hero and adjusted it until he was the center.
[Initializing threat neutralization.]
Before he could question what was just said, Dante felt the full effects of the G force that accompanies a sudden acceleration. The distance between him and Aegis suddenly vanished, and so did the hero an instant later.
Aegis was a Level 5 Prime, a top-class Enhanced Individual whose powers focused mostly on the physical side. Few could beat him in terms of speed, strength, and resilience. If anything were to drive into him at high speeds, it would crash like a car hitting a very thick concrete wall.
The two had collided, Dante was sure of that. He barely felt any impact, however, making him doubt what he had just seen with his own eyes. Unsure of what had just happened, he carefully turned around to check.
Everything seemed to be frozen in place. He somehow ended up a couple dozen meters from where he initially was.
Gaspard's headless corpse was still within sight. Not far was Ricardo's, and a short distance away were Maria's and Marcel's. Mattia was the farthest, but it was still visible even from where he stood. Only the hero was missing, and trying to imagine where he went filled Dante's heart with horror.
A powerful explosion shook the entire district and put out the fire in his surroundings. The dark suit of armor shielded him from the powerful wind that blasted past him, and when those crimson droplets rained down he barely even noticed.
Something fell from above at that moment. It bounced once, then twice, then rolled a few times until it settled right at his feet. It was the head of a man, and Dante recognized him immediately. Anyone would've done so, for he was Aegis, leader of Flame Guard, one of the most powerful heroes in the entire world. A product of Eidolon.