Extraction Point

"Get in my way and you're dead," glared Yato towards Michael as they entered through the back gate of the laboratory.

"Yes sir!" whimpered Michael.

The laboratory had multiple entrances and exits. It wasn't possible for the Hit-Team to cover up all of them, and the Deep Web surely weren't helping them tonight. The alliance were split up into multiple groups: Yato and Michael, Mara, Zora, and Rachael, and Christina and Derek. However, Zora and Rachael were late to the mission, having taken a pit stop near a local gas station. Mara was on her own.

"Just as I remembered it," mumbled Yato to himself, "This laboratory still holds machines from my 'childhood.'"

"I'm assuming you've had history with Baretti Kiritojin?" asked Michael.

"Too much," replied Yato, "This facility still hasn't been shut down even after his death. I guess his investors prevented anyone from grabbing any loot from here. The investors couldn't touch it either due to Baretti's special contract. They'd have to wait a few more years until the contract expires. Not even death would allow his inventions to be taken away from him."

It was at that moment that Yato heard a noise coming from one of the rooms. A claw grabbed the side of the door, almost playing a tune with each nail. Out came a vermin that almost looked like a white malnourished albino rat the size of a human, with purple needles sticking out of its back, down the spine and through the tail. It stood on its hind legs, but walked on all fours.

"Krystalax," mumbled Yato, "You're still alive. I'm surprised."

Krystalax was Baretti's first experiment, combining an albino rat with a crystal substance. The amalgamation resulted in the irregular growth of the albino rat, as well as causing a killing machine that would've benefitted the Military of Spainland. However, due to Baretti's executive decision, the military wasn't given access. No one knows what he had in store for Krystalax.

Thwip thwip thwip!

Suddenly, there was a chunk of wood in front of Yato, sprouting from the ground. The crystal needles had been lodged into the bark.

"Please be on guard!" warned Michael.

"My electrical barrier would've burned the crystals anyway," scoffed Yato as he walked away from the wood, "Krystalax was always an aggressive one. At least we aren't fighting Sidius."

As Krystalax shot more needles from its back, the crystals would regenerate quickly to shoot more rapidly. When Yato got too close, it crawled up into a ball and spun around in a spiky crystal-like fashion, sticking onto the walls and the ceiling and aiming for Michael. Yato teleported right in front of Michael and kicked the spiky ball away, knocking Krystalax out of his form and crashing into the wall. Krystalax shot more needles, but as Michael blocked them with his wooden techniques, and Yato transmuting into lightning to continue giving him a beatdown, the two already knew that despite the power Krystalax held, he was still just a rat that could easily be outmaneuvered.

"That was great!" smiled Michael in triumph as Yato committed the finishing blow of knocking out Krystalax, "Would there be more of those experiments?"

"Not really," responded Yato, "The Hit-Team must've only released the 1st Tier of experiments. They probably had expected the MoS to raid the laboratory. Of course, if they did, their soldiers would've easily died to Krystalax. We, on the other hand, need to watch out for the other 1st Tiers. I'm mainly worried about Sidius, but there's also Bigan that needs to be handled as well. All I know is that Bigan can't be handled alone. It is essential, even for me, that Bigan should be defeated by more than one person."

Suddenly, the two felt a sudden burst of pressure. Yato held out his hand, trying to form an electricity ball, but could only manage to form tiny sparks, just as he could without the use of his earpiece. Michael tried to form some roots, but could only create saplings.

"This... is this Moth-Man's Rad-A?" asked Yato in panic.

"I-I don't think so," assured Michael, "With what you said, Moth-Man had the ability to remove Rad-A temporarily. However, our Rad-A just feels dampened. We can still use them."

"Then it must be someone from the Hit-Team..." concluded Yato, "However... the reports didn't say anything about a Rad-A dampener within the Hit-Team. Just a detector at best..."

"Whatever is going on.." mumbled Michael, "I'm sure it's because of whatever is in this laboratory. Baretti Kiritojin must've built something that could've aided those girls."

"You're right," said Yato as he looked forward, "We're going to have to continue and find Reo Uihara, even with this disadvantage that we have."

"I just hope the others are okay."