---
A Shadow Looms
Far from the ruins where Akira and his group mourned, two figures stood atop a ruined skyscraper, overlooking the silent city.
The masters of the Phantom Syndicate.
Minh and Cetz.
Minh's expression was unreadable as he gazed at his hand—the same hand that had just erased Kenji Sakamoto from existence.
Cetz stood beside him, arms crossed, golden eyes gleaming in the moonlight.
"You hesitated."
Minh remained silent.
Cetz's smirk deepened.
"You could have erased them all. But you didn't. Why?"
Minh's fingers twitched slightly.
"Because it wasn't necessary."
Cetz let out a soft chuckle.
"Oh? Since when have you cared about 'necessary'?"
Minh finally turned his gaze to him.
"Kenji proved something tonight. Even against time itself, he refused to fall easily."
Cetz tilted his head.
"That's why you hesitated?"
Minh shook his head.
"No. That's why I'm reconsidering how we deal with them."
Cetz raised an eyebrow, intrigued.
"Go on."
Minh looked down at the city—their city, now under the Phantom Syndicate's complete control.
"I was going to wipe them out completely. But now… I want to break them first."
Cetz's smirk widened.
"Ah. A slow death. Much more satisfying."
Minh's eyes darkened.
"We won't just kill them. We'll make them despair."
---
A Message of Fear
The next morning, Akira and his team were on the move.
They couldn't stay in the ruins. They needed to regroup, train, and strike back.
But then—
A broadcast echoed through the city.
A deep, distorted voice. Minh's voice.
"People of this city. This is Minh. The era of the Phantom Syndicate has begun. And as a warning to all who would defy us…"
The screen on a nearby building flickered.
And then—
A body appeared on screen.
Hung from a streetlight.
Blood dripping.
A member of their allied forces.
Daisuke's breath hitched.
"No…"
Minh's voice continued, cold and merciless.
"Stand against us, and you will suffer the same fate."
The screen glitched.
Then—Cetz's voice followed, teasing, almost mocking.
"Oh, and to our dear Akira and friends—you're next."
The screen cut out.
Silence.
Renji clenched his fists.
"They're taunting us."
Mei's expression was grim.
"They're showing us they can reach anyone, anywhere."
Yuki exhaled, her eyes hard.
"We need to move. Now."
Shoji adjusted his glasses, his voice sharp.
"We need a plan. If we run blindly, we're as good as dead."
Akira narrowed his eyes.
"No."
The others turned to him.
Akira's voice was low, controlled—but burning with something new.
"We don't run."
"We train."
---
The Training Arc Begins
The team retreated to a hidden location—an abandoned industrial complex outside the city, known only to a few.
Renji, ever the strategist, pulled out a detailed map of the city, marking key locations Minh and Cetz had taken over.
"We're outmatched," he admitted. "Minh's Chrono Requiem gives him control over time itself. Cetz's Mirage Symphony makes reality unreliable. And their elite forces are stronger than ever."
Daisuke gritted his teeth.
"So what's the plan? We can't just sit here."
Renji looked at Akira.
"We train. We evolve. And we counter their abilities."
---
Phase 1: Countering Minh's Time Control
Hiroshi, the Blazing Ronin, stepped forward.
"I'll take this challenge."
Minh's Chrono Requiem had one key weakness—it manipulated time, but not physical endurance. If a battle dragged out, Minh would need to expend massive amounts of stamina.
Hiroshi began sparring against simulated time-freeze scenarios, forcing his body to predict attacks before they happened.
Shoji, with his Stand Eclipse Waltz, created memory loops, making Hiroshi fight as if time was resetting—a brutal test of adaptability.
Hiroshi gritted his teeth.
"Again."
Every time he lost, Shoji would reset the memory loop.
"Again."
He had to adapt to the impossible.
And after days of relentless training—he did.
---
Phase 2: Countering Cetz's Illusions
Cetz's Mirage Symphony distorted sight, sound, and even touch. Fighting him was like battling a ghost.
Daisuke, the Phantom Martial Artist, took this challenge.
"If illusions mess with our senses, then I'll learn to fight without them."
He blindfolded himself.
"I'll read the air itself."
Yuki, using her Stand Phantom Striker to negate powers, sparred with him under full illusionary conditions.
At first, Daisuke was helpless. He couldn't react. He swung wildly.
But then—he began to listen to the air.
The way Yuki's foot brushed the ground. The slight change in temperature when an attack was near.
One week later—
Daisuke dodged a full-speed attack without seeing it.
"Now I'm ready."
---
Phase 3: The Unstoppable Offense
Minh and Cetz's strategies relied on deception, control, and mind games.
To counter that, Akira and Mei needed to become the perfect attackers.
Mei's Stand Razor Symphony allowed precision-based blade control. She trained to attack from all directions at once, making it impossible for Minh to predict her next move.
Akira, with his Stand Echo Chamber, studied how sound waves could disrupt illusions and even time-based distortions.
Through intense sparring, they developed a deadly combination:
Mei's blades would force Minh and Cetz to constantly react.
Akira's sound-based attacks would keep them off balance.
And if Minh used time-stop, Hiroshi's unpredictable swordplay would make him burn stamina.
---