Chapter 9: Alliance

Sera couldn't believe it.

This man was the phantom whose name was whispered across the world with both fear and reverence. Dave Voss.

She expected someone who was older, but this man sitting across from her is young, looking 26, and his ordinary appearance was quick to dismiss.

A faint smile touched Dave's lips seeing the surprise on her face.

"The same Dave Voss? The billionaire mogul with businesses across the city? It's unbelievable."

"I understand." He said simply, still smiling faintly. "It's expected. Because I don't dress to look like the titles."

"You have a Mission in Titan Academy. That's why you're undercover." She pressed on curiously, almost sure. Dave nodded. "To find the ghost who infiltrated my Lab, broke my safe and took the project Genesis theory and the remaining samples."

"How sure are you that you'll find him or her in this place?"

"Because there is a clue." Dave's voice sharpened. He pulled out a tab from the table drawer and tapped his fingers on the screen with the efficiency of a man who had done this before. "CCTV footage. It's Grainy but still discernable."

He gave the tablet to Sera. The footage played. Dark background but the street light cast a shadow to the floor, a masked figure with a bag strapped to his back. The background of the place happened to be Titan Combat Academy. Sera now finally understood the reason Dave was in the Academy.

She exhaled softly. "What happens when you get the person behind the mask?" He gave the Tab back.

"I might be able to stop what might happen." He set the tablet at the side. Concern tightened the corner of his eyes. "The serum of the project Genesis, Compound V if it gets into a wrong hand is dangerous. It can mutate genes, and turn a normal human to a blood sucking monster."

"It's already late." Sera quipped.

"What?"

"Yes," She held his gaze. "I don't know if the catastrophe that is going to happen in the next ten days is linked with the Compound V, but no one can stop what is coming. We can only survive through it."

The memories one year ago during the apocalypse flashed in fragments of wrecks.

"Dead bodies, bloodsucking monsters, collapsed buildings, fire outbreaks..." He looked at Dave who stared back in confusion. "..it's going to Happen in the next nine days." Her voice was matter-of-fact.

"How did you know about this?" Dave raised a brow.

"Because I was there before. And when I woke it came back to me like a dream..No, a nightmare."

Dave stared at her, flipping her statements in his head as though he was testing if he could believe it.

"What happened to you in the first life?" He held her gaze like the answer was there somewhere in her eyes.

"I was killed." The memory cut again like blade. She dismissed it immediately.

"By who?"

"The man I trust most."

Dave paused, staring at her intently, the corner of his eyes slightly drawn back in something akin to pity.

"Earlier in the hall, you called me the most powerful man in the Academy. You don't really know me, yet you think I can protect you."

Sera leaned over the table, her expression firm.

"I'm not asking to be protected. I'm asking for an alliance." She said, her eyes firm. " You can't survive what is coming alone either."

[system Alert: New mission detected]