The facility was already a ghost town by the time they breached its perimeter. No alarms. No guards. Just cold metal halls and flickering overhead lights. Too easy. Too quiet.
Shade led them through the corridors, his movements precise as he checked the data pad strapped to his wrist. "Intel said the files should be stored in the lower levels," he murmured. "But something's off. Feeds are scrambled."
Cipher frowned, his fingers flying over his portable console. "Someone's been here. Recently. These systems weren't just shut down. They were wiped."
"Means we're not alone." Razor's voice was low, measured. His eyes flicked toward Myst, who had already drawn her weapons. She felt it, too. The wrongness in the air, a tension coiling beneath the surface.
Then, a sound. A body hitting the floor.
They weren't the only ones moving.
The Clan reacted instantly. Blaze took point, Echo right behind him, as they stalked toward the source of the noise.
And that's when they saw it.
Down a hall, the remains of a massacre. Security personnel lay sprawled across the floor, their bodies twisted unnaturally. Some were still twitching, as if the life had been ripped from them mid-struggle.
Nyx swore under his breath. "What the hell did this?"
Then, a blur... From the far end of the hall, something moved. Fast. A shadow breaking free from the carnage.
Myst saw it first.
Her body acted before her mind could fully register—whirling around, gun raised, finger tightening on the trigger. But the moment her eyes locked onto the figure, the breath in her lungs turned razor-sharp.
The figure stood amidst the wreckage, its silhouette flickering beneath the red emergency lights. Tall. Lean. A presence that exuded something far beyond human strength.
A black mask obscured its face, but the moment it faced them, Myst caught the gleam of something beneath the surface.
Deep, burning violet.
The air in the room thickened.
Blaze sucked in a breath. "No fucking way…"
Echo stiffened. His grip on his weapon tightened. "That's—"
No one finished the sentence. Because none of them could say it.
Myst's stomach twisted. It wasn't possible. The presence, the aura, it was exactly the same as—
Blaze lunged first, his blade flashing. A clean strike, aimed for the kill. But the figure moved before it could land—inhumanly fast, slipping just beyond the blade's arc, twisting around to strike back.
A blur of motion, and Blaze was sent skidding across the floor.
Razor didn't hesitate. He closed the gap, aiming a precise shot. Violet caught the bullet mid-air, crushing it between gloved fingers. Then, with a flick of their wrist, they sent the shattered remains flying back. Razor barely dodged in time.
Myst was moving before she could think, the power inside her thrumming. She went low, closing the distance, aiming for a direct hit. But just as her attack neared, the enemy shifted—so fast she barely saw it, catching her wrist in a vice-like grip.
For a second, everything slowed.
Myst's pulse pounded as she stared up at them. At the cold, mechanical precision in the way he moved. The way their head tilted slightly, as if assessing her.
And then Violet threw her.
The impact rattled through her bones, but Myst barely had time to recover before the others attacked again. Nyx and Echo moved in tandem. One going for the legs, the other for the upper body. Violet evaded again, movements eerily calculated.
Just… precise. Too precise.
Nyx aimed a knife strike. The enemy caught his wrist, twisted, and in one fluid motion, disarmed him.
Echo fired three rounds, center mass. Violet flicked their hand up, and the bullets swerved off course with a purple shockwave, hitting the walls instead.
Myst forced herself to her feet. Her head was spinning, but she pushed past it, her fingers curling into fists. Blue Rose stirred inside her, power crackling at her fingertips.
The enemy turned toward her. For a second, she thought—
No. She couldn't think like that.
With a sharp inhale, Myst lunged forward, power surging through her veins. This time, she wasn't holding back. Electric blue veins quickly spreading under her skin, her eyes easily turning into the same color.
The moment she struck, the figure met her head-on.
It was like slamming into a force of nature. Both their powers clashed, sending a shockwave through the corridor, rattling the ruined walls, shattering the already fragile lights.
But then—
Violet moved again, slipping past Myst's defenses. And before she could react, their palm was at her chest, a controlled pulse of energy slamming into her.
Myst gasped as she was flung backward—straight toward Nyx. He caught her just in time, steadying her as they both skidded to a halt.
Panting, she looked up. The figure was already backing away. Just like that, he was retreating.
Cipher cursed. "No—he's getting away!"
Echo took off first, Razor and Blaze right behind him. They gave chase, sprinting through the halls, onto the open catwalks. Violet moved like a phantom, leaping across metal beams, clearing distances no normal human should be able to.
Then, the final moment—
Razor, ahead of the others, aimed one last shot. The figure stopped and turned around. And for the first time, they saw his face fully.
A mask covered most of it, but his eyes—those unmistakable violet eyes—glowed beneath the shattered facility lights.
Echo's breath caught. His hands shook. "That's not—"
But the figured moved first. With inhuman strength, it leaped, vanishing into the night, leaving only destruction in wake.
Silence settled over them. Heavy. Suffocating.
Myst exhaled, her chest tight. No one has even spoken for a long time.
Then, Cipher broke the quiet. "Tell me I'm not the only one thinking it."
Shade's voice was quiet. Grim. "It's impossible."
Blaze stared at the spot where the violet figure had disappeared. "Then explain that. shit"
No one could. And that was the problem.
Because if what they saw was real, if what they felt was true—
Then Flux wasn't dead.
And the war had just gotten a whole lot worse.