After Trigon tricked Roxxy into kicking her through a portal into the server room...
THUD!
Trigon's body rolled backwards, slamming into the security desk before she slowly pushed herself upright.
"Cough, cough!"
Blood spattered from her lips onto the floor as her hand clutched the wound at her side—where Jody's compressed air bullet had hit her point-blank.
The armor in that area had shattered. Trigon was stunned by the sheer force of the shot.
Her flesh had torn slightly, exposing raw pink muscle beneath... but looking on the bright side, if she hadn't had the armor, she would've died.
"..."
She gritted her teeth, enduring the pain, and began to think about how to eliminate those two girls quickly.
Scanning the room, she saw the lifeless bodies of the security guards scattered across the floor.
Trigon drew her gun and examined them...
And in that moment, everything she saw clicked—matching the crime scene at the airport.
All dead. No bullet wounds.
Just like the assassins at the airport.
The wound on her side... This was that woman's power!?
Blanchett had been right. Whoever massacred those assassins must have used air pressure as part of their method—and now Trigon knew the answer.
It was Jody's air bullets.
"One uses ice... the other, air... Damn it."
She staggered to a steel table, flipping it over to use as cover.
She knew they would storm in here soon—sooner or later.
And there, she spotted Roxxy's laptop, still plugged into the building's security system.
Trigon yanked it free. Though the screen was closed, the device was still on.
When she opened it—
She was met with malware she'd never seen before.
THUD THUD!
The server room door shook violently—someone was trying to break in.
Trigon grabbed the laptop and slung it over her shoulder, changed her magazine—
And her earlier question had been answered... all except one:
"How the hell did they survive getting shot?"
"..."
It reminded her of an old power... no, martial art—one used by a deceased former teammate: Autumn.
"..."
The bullet-resistant skin... It reminded her of Autumn's technique.
"If that girl's power is air bullets... then one of them must be like Autumn..."
That meant Trigon was even more at a disadvantage.
But not entirely helpless. Even if bullets didn't pierce, the sheer impact could cause internal bleeding or death from trauma.
She adjusted her wrist device and peeked over the cover, aiming for the ceiling above the door—
Pwoosh!
A new purple portal appeared above the entrance.
Now she just had to wait...
She could hear muffled arguing outside the door, but couldn't make out what was being said...
Until the muffled voices ceased...
Thud... thud... thud...
"..."
Someone approached the door.
"You inside."
"!"
Trigon's eyes narrowed. She double-checked her hearing. Did she really just hear that?
It was a soft, low-toned female voice speaking to her.
She guessed it had to be the blonde one.
"..."
She stayed ready, finger resting on the trigger, silent and calm.
Then Jody's voice came again—
"Surrender. You're cornered."
!!
What kind of joke was this?
"...Heh heh heh... Surrender? Are you insane?"
She thought Jody was being an idiot—but...
"Then goodbye."
"...?"
Goodbye...? What does that mean?
They were outside. What could they possibly do to her?
"... Trying to freeze the room, are they? Hah... impossible. They'll suffocate first."
"...."
So Trigon kept waiting.
But then... she noticed something was wrong...
"...."
Hhfff... hhfff...
"...."
She was breathing faster.
Shorter. Like someone out of breath...
Which wasn't like her. Sure, she'd just fought, but she should've recovered by now.
Why... was she feeling more exhausted?
Why was she suddenly short of breath...?
Her chest felt tight. She was gulping at the air, more and more desperately—until finally—
What began as fatigue now turned into true suffocation!
Outside, Roxxy Barrett could only wait silently, trusting Jody's plan...
"...What are you doing, Jody?"
"...The room... it has an air duct..."
"Air duct...?"
Ah... of course. The big vent on the ceiling... The drone earlier had entered through that—
"!!!!!"
"...Jody... don't tell me you're—"
"...."
Jody said nothing. But the way she was steadily radiating her blue aura said it all.
Jody was sucking the air out of the room.
Roxxy immediately understood.
Jody was forcing air out through the vent.
Trigon felt it too. The dizziness. The dimming vision...
She was losing oxygen. The edges of her vision blurred.
"GUHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"
She gasped—clinging to what little air she could get.
She knew—
This is what Jody meant.
This is what she meant by 'goodbye'.
If Trigon didn't escape... she'd end up like those guards.
Or worse.
Her brain was starving. Her body shutting down...
Outside, Jody was in bad shape too.
Draining air from a room took massive energy. Her face was soaked in sweat.
Her blue tornado symbol was beginning to crack...
Roxxy couldn't help but worry.
"...Hey... Are you sure you're okay?"
"If I go slow, she'll figure it out. We have to hit her while she's panicking."
Jody leaned against the wall, panting. Even though it was killing her, she had to keep going.
"...She'll open a hole. Let air in. That's our moment."
Inside the server room—
"GASP! GASP! HHHAA!! COUGH!"
With no options left, Trigon made her move.
Pwoosh!
She fired a portal at the wall—letting air rush back into the room.
And that was the moment Roxxy Barrett dove through the portal from the outside!
"!!!"
Even though the portal was angled higher, Roxxy still managed to leap through—thanks to the portal's size being based on Trigon's own body.
Trigon tried to close it—too late!
Roxxy was already inside.
Trigon fired at her—papers and electronics exploding around them from the bullet spray.
Roxxy ducked behind cover near Trigon.
"This room's going to be a vacuum again soon! You're dead meat!"
"Shit!"
Trigon fired again—then made a bold move.
She charged Roxxy.
"BRING IT ON!!"
Roxxy slammed her hands to the floor. Ice formed from lingering moisture in the room, surging to freeze Trigon!
The agent flipped out of the way, then fired a purple portal onto the wall beside Roxxy.
Roxxy dodged and raised her gun—but Trigon was faster!
Pwoosh!
A blue portal appeared. The two were linked.
Trigon fired into the blue portal—
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three bullets vanished into the swirling light.
"...She's shooting into the blue portal! That means... the bullets will come out of the purple one behind me!"
Roxxy sidestepped to dodge them—only...
Nothing came out.
Trigon turned toward Roxxy with a cold expression.
"...Nope. I wasn't aiming at you."
"...!?"
Then who!?
"These purple-blue portals? I can place as many pairs as I want. If you go in through purple, you come out blue—and vice versa."
And in that moment—it all clicked for Roxxy.
If it didn't come out of the portal behind her...
Then it had to exit through another purple portal fired earlier!
"!!!"
She remembered. Trigon had fired a purple one during the fight... onto the ceiling above the entrance. Above Jody's head!
If she guessed right (and she prayed she was wrong)...
Those bullets were aimed straight at Jody's brain!
"JODYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!"
Outside...
The blonde teen lay motionless on the floor.
Her body twitched. Blood seeped from her head.
A spent copper bullet lay nearby.
Roxxy burst from the server room, crashing into Trigon—
The two of them tumbled out in a scuffle—
Only to find Jody Johansson lying still on the floor...
Roxxy stared in horror.
She turned toward Trigon—screaming in rage:
"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!"
"Hrk—! You little—!!"
All Trigon could do was raise her arms to block the impact.
Because now... she genuinely respected Roxxy Barrett.
All her life, Trigon had never faced an opponent whose punches were this heavy. It was like her arm would snap from the force alone.
The girl's size didn't match the momentum of her fists at all! All Trigon could do was defend—Roxxy gave her no chance to even summon a portal.
She was like a feral beast, going berserk—relentlessly hounding Trigon one-sidedly. This was bad. Really bad.
"You little—! You insane brat!!"
Trigon screamed in frustration. She had to take a hit—just one—if it meant forcing Roxxy to drop her guard.
She let Roxxy slam a full-strength punch right into her stomach.
"Ugh!!"
It hurt like hell—absolutely brutal. Anyone else would be crumpled on the floor. But not Trigon.
She stayed on her feet and took the opportunity to grab Roxxy's collar and ram her fist into the girl's face.
Thud!
"Ghhk!!"
Roxxy took the blow to the face—but to Trigon, it didn't feel like she hit skin.
It felt like punching steel.
And Roxxy didn't go down. Not even close.
That confirmed it—this was the same type of power as Autumn's.
"You… you're a practitioner!"
Trigon swept Roxxy's legs out from under her. Finally, she turned the tables.
Now, the younger girl was pinned down—Trigon straddled her, holding her down tight.
But that wasn't all.
Fwwmp!
A purple portal opened beneath Roxxy's head.
Then came the blue one—fixed on the wall nearby.
Trigon forced Roxxy's head toward the purple portal.
"Your skin might be bulletproof! You or your team must have a technique protecting you! Fine then—let's try this instead!!"
Roxxy planted her hands on the ground, resisting with all her might.
Shit. Shit! This psycho—she's trying to guillotine me with her portal! If my head goes through—
Exactly right. Trigon was trying to shove Roxxy's head into the purple portal, so it would come out the blue one—and then she'd slam the portal shut.
"Rrrrghh!!! Aaaaaahhhh!!!"
"You little…! You're freakishly strong!!"
Thud!
Roxxy took a brutal blow to the back of the head.
"Agh!!"
Hard enough to make her lose balance—Trigon finally shoved her head through the portal.
"It's over! This is it! Goodbye, brat!!"
Trigon glanced at the blue portal—just as she expected, Roxxy's head emerged.
"Watch your own head get sliced off!"
"..."
But right as she was about to close the portal—
Roxxy smiled.
"!!!?"
She was grinning. Why?
Why the hell was she grinning!?
"… Wondering why I'm smiling?"
"..."
"Don't worry. I'm not laughing at you."
Suddenly, Roxxy jerked her head to the side—dodging something.
Fwhip!
"!!"
Something shot out of the purple portal—
—a projectile that grazed Roxxy's shoulder and smashed straight into Trigon's chest.
"Guhhh!!"
Trigon's body recoiled from the impact—blood pouring from her mouth.
Roxxy yanked her head back just in time. Trigon tried to close the portal, but she was too late—the only damage was a few strands of yellow hair and a thin scrape on her chin.
"... Air bullet?! Wait…!"
"Heh heh heh…"
"!!!"
And there she was—Jody Johansson.
"Looks like I picked up a habit of playing dead from Syd."
Jody smirked, wiping the blood from her shoulder.
"That shot from above… yeah, seen that trick before in Paris."
"Y-you! Hahh—how long have you been back there…?"
Trigon suddenly realized—
Roxxy's smile… it was because when her head came out of the blue portal, she could see what was behind Trigon—
Jody, alive and aiming.
Jody had faked her death—lowered Trigon's guard, focused her on Roxxy instead.
And now—Jody stood over her and shot again.
Pup-pup-pup!
Right into the wound on her chest.
Trigon lay still.
Completely still.
Pant pant pant...
"…You okay?"
Both girls were panting hard—Jody more than Roxxy, from the strain of siphoning the air.
"…I'll live."
Thank God for that martial training. If this had been the old school-uniform Jody, she'd be unconscious by now.
"How the hell'd you shoot me in the shoulder like that?"
Roxxy showed off the fresh graze.
"Barely nicked you."
"…Oh no… the red aura…"
Jody raised her arm—Syd's aura was beginning to fade.
Roxxy's probably wasn't far behind.
Jody staggered toward her.
But then—
WHACK!
"?!?!?!"
She was struck from behind—hard—by something blunt.
It was Trigon.
(She'd lost her gun somewhere in the chaos.)
"She's still not dead!?"
Roxxy barely had time to react.
Trigon's speed spiked. Her symbol was cracking, aura nearly gone.
Her final burst.
Jody collapsed from the blow to her temple. Trigon charged at Roxxy and tackled her!
"You little pest! Why won't you die!? Huhhh!?"
Roxxy punched her in the gut—and that's when she felt it.
Beneath Trigon's dress—
A hard object.
Not armor.
A laptop.
Roxxy's laptop.
Trigon had brought it with her—stuffed it under her suit to shield her heart and lungs.
The same laptop Jody shot 4–5 times.
No wonder she didn't die.
"You bastards—!!"
Fwwmp! Fwwmp!
She fired both her portals at the window behind Roxxy, overlapping them to open a hole to the outside.
And then—she tackled Roxxy straight through it.
"You psycho!!! What the hell are you doing!?"
It happened so fast—Roxxy couldn't stop it.
She was launched out the building—over 100 meters in the air.
Outside, above the city—
Skyscrapers, traffic, chaos below.
"Roxxxxxxy!!!"
Jody wanted to help—but her head was spinning, balance ruined from that blow.
Just before gravity claimed her—
Roxxy's hand touched Trigon's blood-stained wound.
And ice formed.
Her freezing power activated—using Trigon's blood as a medium.
Trigon was pulled along.
She tried to stop it—hold herself in the building—but it was too late.
Her head had passed through the portal already.
"Aaaaaaghhhhhh!!"
"You little shit!!!"
They screamed from pure instinct.
And then—something unexpected happened.
FSSHHHHHH
The fire sprinklers activated.
"!!!"
Trigon looked up—why now? Wasn't the security system shut down?
It was the laptop. When it broke, it reset the building systems—including fire suppression.
But more importantly—
The water began falling.
And Roxxy's red aura flared back to life.
Along with her cracked snowflake symbol.
The water turned to ice.
Hundreds of needle-sharp icicles formed midair and blasted everything nearby.
Jody quickly pulled out Syd's metal plate and shielded herself—ducking just in time.
But Trigon was exposed.
Hundreds of ice spears tore into her back—because she was shielding Roxxy.
"AAAAAAAARGHHHHHHH!!!"
Trigon screamed in agony. Roxxy took the chance to pull her outside the building—and throw herself back inside.
But it wasn't over.
Grab!
"Hrk!?"
Trigon latched onto Roxxy's neck—then locked her in a chokehold.
They looked like two people wrestling in midair—hundreds of meters above ground.
Roxxy had to shake her off.
She froze Trigon's arms—fast enough to force her to let go.
But now—
Trigon was hanging off Roxxy's leg.
"Die!!! Just die already!!!"
Roxxy kicked, but Trigon clung on.
And they were still half-outside the portal—if Trigon closed it now, they'd both fall.
But just then—Jody Johansson rose shakily to her feet and looked at Roxxy.
They locked eyes.
And then—
Jody did the unthinkable.
She ran.
And jumped out the building.
Tackling Trigon mid-air—dragging her down with her.
"!!!!!!!!!"
Both Roxxy and Trigon were stunned.
Jody had just leapt off a 20-story skyscraper.