Metaverse of Mechas

📘 Chapter 4

⚙️ Location: Ruins of Sector 9 – Classified Black Zone

"Anything that breathes in this place either wants to kill you… or used to be one of us."

—Rin Valen

The ruins groaned beneath the weight of time and war.

Collapsed skyscrapers stretched like broken teeth. Cables and mech limbs jutted from the ground like rusted bones. Storm clouds loomed above, flickering with red lightning.

Zeron stood beside Rin and two new squad members, all cloaked in stealth gear.

The mission was simple: Retrieve a fallen alien mech core hidden beneath the ruins before the enemy could get to it.

But nothing was simple in the Black Zone.

🚨 Introduction: Side Characters

Blaze Rourke – Zake's Future Mentor & Division Echo's Demolition Expert

Muscles like steel cables. Wild red hair. Wears a jacket made from salvaged mech plating. Talks like he's in an action movie 24/7.

"Name's Blaze. I like explosions and sarcasm. Mostly in that order."

He slammed a cannon module onto his shoulder. "If anything moves, I vaporize it. That includes oversized robo-spiders, glitch ghosts, and overly dramatic monologues."

Zeron blinked. "Glitch ghosts?"

Blaze grinned. "You'll see."

Yula Sann – Zui's Mysterious Best Friend

She appeared via hologram for now, offering mission data from Division Echo's satellite bunker.

Hair like moonlight. Cybernetic eyes with shifting runes. Calm, precise, and eerily observant.

"Zeron Kai," she said with a bow, "Zui speaks of you often. I am Yula. I calculate possibilities. In this case—97% chance something is hunting you."

"Comforting," Zeron said.

Neko – Zake's Mech-AI Companion in Training

A small flying sphere with cat ears and a bad attitude.

"Meow-load complete. Name's Neko. I'm smarter than you, I hover better than your toaster, and I can hack alien tech before breakfast."

Zeron gave it a look. "You're literally shaped like a cat."

"I am a Tactical Recon Orb with Feline Personality Overlay. Do not disrespect the ears."

Ryze Oron – Zeron's Class Rival, Temporarily Assigned to Echo Division

Sleek. Elegant. Eyes cold as digital steel. Uses a white-mech called "Lunaris Fang." Prefers to speak in elite jargon.

When he saw Zeron, he raised an eyebrow.

"Ah, the guild's janitor. Surprising to see you out of your broom closet."

Zeron just smiled. "Still insecure about that spar I almost won?"

Rin stepped between them before tension escalated.

🚩 Deep in the Black Zone

The team reached the abandoned vault—an ancient military site, bombed in the early Alien Surge Wars.

Rin scanned the walls.

"Yula, status?"

The girl's voice echoed from the comm-link. "No thermal signals. But… something's masking. I detect a pulse delay field. Something's interfering with chrono data."

Zeron felt it too. A buzzing in his bones. Like a heartbeat.

"Zeron…"

"We are near… It waits below…"

He turned to Rin. "We shouldn't be here."

"Too late," Blaze said, pointing. "Vault just opened."

💥 Inside the Vault – The Horror Awakens

The team entered.

Inside was a dome-shaped chamber. In the center, chained in a stasis field, floated a mech unlike any Zeron had seen.

It was humanoid, almost too perfect in shape—childlike in size but horrifying in aura. It had porcelain-white armor, glowing lines, and a shattered faceplate revealing a mouth stitched shut.

Yula's voice cracked. "That's not an alien unit. That's… experimental Division tech. Shut down decades ago."

"Then why is it glowing?" Ryze asked.

Rin's voice dropped. "Back away. All of you. Now."

—[CORE RECOGNITION SIGNAL FOUND – SUBJECT: ZERON KAI]

—[ACCESS LEVEL: VIOLET]

—[RELEASING STASIS…]

The Phantom Mechanica opened its eyes.

All white.

All wrong.

"Found... you..." it whispered.

It moved with impossible speed.

In one second, it appeared behind Blaze—without sound. Slammed him into the wall.

Then it turned its head a full 180 degrees and locked onto Zeron.

⚔️ Battle: Echo vs. Phantom

"DEFENSIVE FORMATION!" Rin shouted.

Blaze activated an EMP mine.

Ryze summoned his full mech and slashed—only for the Phantom to catch his blade with two fingers and snap it in half.

Zeron backed away.

The gauntlet on his arm ignited.

Purple runes swirled.

The Phantom tilted its head. "Your scent… like mine… but cleaner."

It lunged.

Zeron lifted his arm.

The clash of energies rippled space.

⏳ Just Before the Final Blow...

A second pulse hit the room.

Everything froze for a moment—then rebooted.

The Phantom Mechanica vanished.

In its place, a black feather fluttered down.

Rin was the first to speak.

"…It phased into a different layer of Krono-space."

Zeron clenched his hand. His heart was still racing.

But inside him, the voice whispered again.

"You have awoken it. The corrupted core."

"The true war begins."

🧠 Aftermath: New Alliances Forming

As the team recovered, Ryze reluctantly gave Zeron a nod.

"You survived. Guess you're not just a janitor."

Zeron chuckled. "Guess not."

Rin put a hand on his shoulder.

"You're in now. Whether you like it or not."

Zeron looked down at his arm—where the purple markings were now permanently etched.

He had stepped into a world of secrets, war, and ancient power.

There was no going back.

🔮 Preview – Chapter 5: "Shadow of the Oblivion Core"

Far above, in a floating palace hidden from satellites, the leaders of the alien-aligned group Oblivion Core prepare to launch a multi-city attack.

Meanwhile, Zui is kidnapped by someone she trusted… and Zake uncovers a message left behind by their father, encoded in the stars.