"Pathetic trash! Give me someone worthy to fight!" Titan Saffron growled, stepping forward, his drills spinning with anticipation.

From the smoke emerged a towering figure — the Hybrid Titan. Its footsteps shook the battlefield. Titan Saffron locked eyes with it.

"Oh, hell no..." Saffron muttered, drills revving faster as he began burrowing into the ground to escape.

But the Hybrid Titan activated its thrusters and surged forward, grabbing Saffron mid-dig and slamming him violently into the ground.

Saffron activated his energy shield just in time. The Hybrid Titan roared and punched the barrier, shattering it in a single blow.

With a roar, Titan Saffron retaliated — swinging his right drill in a wide arc, then the left. He went for a third strike, but the Hybrid caught his arm, twisted, and spun into a devastating punch, launching Saffron into the dirt.

"Pathetic." the Hybrid Titan spat, charging his blaster. A beam of orange-hot energy screamed toward Saffron — but was caught mid-air by his spinning drill. Redirecting it, Saffron flung the energy right back.

The Hybrid raised its shield and absorbed the counterattack. As the shield fell, Saffron lunged — but was intercepted with a crushing blow to the chest. Chunks of armor flew off him.

Saffron grunted, reaching to his right arm. With a hiss, the drill detached and he locked in a Hybrid blaster he’d scavenged. He fired. The Hybrid Titan blocked with its own shield.

"You dare use my own weapon against me?!" the Hybrid Titan roared.

"Womp womp... gonna cry?" Saffron smirked.

Snarling, the Hybrid Titan blasted into the sky.

"Coward," Saffron grunted, burrowing once more.

Suddenly, a powerful fist slammed him from behind. Saffron flew forward, crashing hard.

The Hybrid Titan circled him like a predator. Every time Saffron tried to rise, another brutal punch sent him back down.

"Get up. GET UP!" the Hybrid snarled.

Saffron tried to fire, but missed. The Hybrid Titan tore the blaster from Saffron’s arm and reattached it to his own. He unsheathed a massive sword and rammed it into Saffron’s face.

Saffron ripped the blade out, but the Hybrid Titan followed up with a devastating punch — knocking Saffron's head clean off his shoulders.

"Underwhelming slaughter," the Hybrid sneered.

He turned toward Logan, who stood frozen in disbelief.

"Was that your strongest soldier?" the Hybrid mocked.

Suddenly, Saffron’s arm shot out — grabbing the Hybrid Titan’s head. He rammed the sword into the Hybrid’s face and unleashed a scorching burst of red-hot core energy point-blank.

The Hybrid roared and stabbed the blade deep into Saffron’s side, punching him away with fury.

"STAY DOWN."

Then — a scream from above. A Hybrid Host plummeted from the sky.

The Hybrid Titan turned, eyes narrowing as the skies filled with battle — the Host army was fighting back.

He turned back to Saffron.

"That changes nothing!" he yelled, slamming Saffron into the ground again.

A transmission crackled in his comms. The Hybrid Titan paused… then activated his thrusters and vanished to the south, disappearing into the horizon.

Black smoke began swirling around the broken Titan.

Logan ran in, panting, dragging Saffron’s battered body back to base.

"You idiot! Why did you stay?!" the Professor shouted from the upper platform.

Saffron, stumbling forward, dropped several Hybrid weapons onto the floor. "You wanted samples," he rasped. "I brought you samples."

The Professor stepped back, alarmed.

"The gate... it's not closing!"

They all turned. The black smoke was changing — infused now with orange energy.

In the control room, Jaden stared through a Camera Bot's POV.

A powerful Hybrid Host stood at the gate, arms glowing, holding it open. Another figure appeared behind the smoke — it reached through and grabbed Saffron.

He was yanked back through the portal and thrown to the ground on the other side.

The Hybrids wasted no time — a mechanical device clamped around Saffron’s core. His chest pulsed once… twice… then the red glow faded into a corrupted orange.

Titan Saffron stood slowly.

He turned toward the camera bot — and fired.

"Camera offline."