When Dr.Levra came to, she was face down in a shallow puddle of murky water.
Her hazmat helmet lay cracked open beside her — jagged plastic edges glistening under the emergency lights.
The seal had been broken during the blast, or maybe shattered by the pressure wave.
Either way, it hadn't protected her.
She rolled over, gagging.
Her head pounded.
The lab was wrecked.
Zzt! Zzt! Zzt!
Vhhhm…Vhhhm…Vhhhm...
An ominous low hum and electricity could be heard crackling in the background.
A few fluorescent light fixtures remained buzzing weakly, but most had short circuited and popped from the intense heat and electricity Mirus had discharged.
"Ughhh-uh," she was groggy and still seeing double from getting knocked out.
Her head bobbed back and forth listlessly while she tried to focus her vision—COUGH! COUGH!
She smacked her lips and let the liquid that rest atop her lip quench her thirst.
SPPPPTTTTTTSPSPPTPTTT!!!
Immediately she spit whatever she just attempted to swallow out!
UGGGGG—UGGGWWHHH!
Dr.Levra gagged like never before—her ears teared up—COUGH! COUGH!
She had a disgusting metallic taste in her mouth—Blood.
It must've been from when that man…kicked kicked in the stomach!
The VP!
Her head swung up in fear and she quickly looked around to find them man who just beat her down.
Her lab looked worse than before…
The containment pod had looked like it had been blasted through?
There was now a gaping hole where the glass used to be.
She then noticed that a group of five and a half men lay scattered around her—HUUH!
She gasped.
The VP lay unconscious to her left, with krusch's desert eagle still in hand.
She could tell he was still alive, his body jerked and he mumbled things under his breath as if he were having a bad dream.
As shitty as she felt, that sight brought her some joy.
Albeit, very little—her stomach was killing her and she had a viscous headache.
She didn't have a hateful bone in her body
She craned her neck to the right slowly, it still was sore from her being choked—she then shifted her right arm a bit so she could turn more comfortably—SQUISH!
"Ah!" A tiny scream escaped her mouth.
Immediately her face became a twisted grimace of disgust—Her mouth puckering and her brows knitting together in a pained, queasy expression, like she'd just swallowed something sour and rotten.
"Oh my god..."
"What was that?" She whispered in a worried high pitched voice.
She craned her neck slowly to see what she had touched and when she looked down—
She saw Captain Price.
Or atleast what was left of him.
Not that she ever knew who he was, she had gotten assaulted before his arrival.
Nonetheless, she had trouble discerning what she was looking at.
"What is thi—curiously, she poked his lower half or what once was his waist.
SQUIRT!
Blood squirted out from his now deceased lower half and hit her in the face—"Ah!" Another small scream escaped her mouth.
It was only when she saw his spine jutting out his mangled lower half and blood pooling below her—did her eyes then widen in disgust as she now realized the contents of the puddle she now lay in.
Captain Price's blood.
"AHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHH! AHHHHHH!"
She screamed hysterically like a woman who had a spider land on her face with no else around to save her.
She immediately sat up and flailed her arms in the air.
"OH MY GO—BWUUUAAAGGHHH!"
She fucking barfed.
She had a caesar salad and tuna sandwhich earlier that day and it stunk.
Disgusting.
"Why..."
She started sobbing to herself and put her head between her knees.
And when she looked down she noticed It sat there, half-sunken in the puddle, bloodshot and unblinking — blown clean from its owner.
It bobbed slightly in the thin layer of bloody water as the sprinklers dripped overhead, a sickly rhythm to her horror.
For a second, she swore it moved — as if it was still watching her.
A broken gasp escaped her throat, and she scrambled back on her hands and heels, only for her hand to land on something else—something soft and warm.
She turned her head and saw a severed hand, fingers twitching faintly from the leftover nerve spasms.
"NO NO NO NO!" she cried, kicking it away.
Her stomach twisted, and her body screamed at her to get up, to move, to find help.
She spun herself around—and immediately gagged.
Lying just a few inches away from her was a foot — a bare, mangled foot still inside a half-shredded combat boot, toes frozen in a final, sickening curl.
For a moment her brain refused to process what she was looking at.
Slowly, dreading what she would find, she dragged her eyes up past the foot…to the trail of blood that led to the body it had once belonged to.
Randall.
Or what remained of the poor bastard.
He lay sprawled awkwardly on the floor, one arm twisted behind his back, his body unnaturally still.
His lower torso was simply gone — a blackened, jagged ruin where his right leg and hip had once been.
Blood still trickled sluggishly from the massive wound, staining the floor in dark rivers, mixing with the water pooling from the sprinklers.
But Randall didn't move.
His face was frozen in a grotesque mask of agony, mouth open mid-scream, eyes bloodshot and unfocused — already dead.
Levra clapped her shaking hands over her mouth to keep from vomiting again.
The smell of burnt flesh, blood, and wet clothing filled her nose, choking her senses.
Her vision blurred with tears.
"Oh god…oh god no…"
Her fragile reality had visibly crumbled around her before she could even do anything about it.
Lisa Levra—a ridiculously intelligent woman with a stellar IQ of 350.
Can you believe that?
She had short black hair that barely went past her shoulders, curious dark brown eyes and veiny pale skin.
She was a very attractive gal—quiet when it came to most, and very vocal when it came to science.
She sat there, trembling violently, as the cold realization sank in — there was no one coming to save her.
Never in her wildest dream did she imagine herself in the middle of a literal bloodbath.
She became a bit despondent as she processed what had just happened.
She studied her ass her whole life—a STEM major tried and true— accumulated all types of Doctorates, degrees and awards—got herself a nice fancy lab— a hardworking and loyal team of scientists and even her own parking spot— all to avoid horrifying situations exactly like this!
All of this was too much to handle for the good doctor who'd never seen an ounce of violence in her well planned and structured life.
She had just woken up but, man did she feel lighted.
It looked like an experiment had gone terribly wrong in here.
Unfortunately, one did.
Oh the irony!
All of a sudden—her spine tingled and a wave of overwhelming fear consumed her—fear that even the slightest move could lead to death!
She broke into a sweat as hideous chills ran down her spine and she froze—sitting completely still—not moving a single muscle.
She was sure of it.
Somebody was watching her.
GULP!
When she looked around she didn't see anybody standing.
Then it occurred to her—she hadn't looked up.
Her face contorted in reluctance and fear as an ugly frown appeared on her face—she was lamenting the fact that she was going to have to look up right now.
She slowly began to crane her neck upward when—THUD! THUD! THUD!
THUD! THUD!
From behind her!
"AH!—She started to scream but she immediately covered her mouth and looked back down when another chill crawled down her spine.
"Fu-fuck this shit man!"
As soon as he came to—Like a bat out of hell—Bo sprinted out of there like his life depended on it.
And it did.
The room lit up and Dr.Levra could see blood and guts on the floor around her—ZZZZAAP!
Bo was several times faster than the average athletic male—As he hit the door—a lightning bolt came flying right at his back!
Just like it did Price…
But in a crazy stroke of luck it missed and struck the floor as he dove and his left foot came off the floor!
ZZZZZZZZZZZT!!!
"AH-AHHH FUCK!"
Unfortunately for Bo, his big toe was still on the floor.
Electricity ran through the floor and into him, electrocuting him as he flew through the entrance of the lab.
It even gave him an extra boost.
His body spazzed in the air and his body slammed against the wall.
He was alive and no longer in view.
Safe!
"…Fuck…"
Dr. Levra choked out a hopeless whisper, her voice cracking under the weight of raw terror, as hot tears streamed down her trembling face.
Once again she was lamenting her fate.
Someone just made a run for it without her leaving her to fend for herself!
She was, for lack of a better word—a damsel in dire distress.
Once again!—She began mumbling curses under her breath trying to psych herself up.
It didn't work though, her attempts to give herself some courage only served to stoke her anxiety.
She felt like she was going to shit herself.
"…Oh…Fuck me…" she quickly whispered under her breath—Then with one quick and awkward motion—She whipped her head upwards.
ERRR! ERRR! ERRR!
ERRR! ERRR! ERRR!
ERRR! ERRR! ERRR!
Dr.Levras soul left her body.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The alarm startled the absolute fuck out her—but as the yellow light flashed and illuminated the room, what she saw made her heart sink right into her ass.
Mirus!
Lit eerily by the yellow light and darkly obscured by the heavy contrast of shadows—his face contorted with rage, and his eyes were wide with fury.
Mirus levitated majestically in the air above her like an angry radioactive cosmic angel of death.
He looked down upon them before him with bloodlust and disdain.
Bloodlust for those who put him through hell and traumatized him.
Disdain for those who wanted to use him.
He crept forward, slowly descending upon her.
HUHH! HUHH! HUHH! HUHH!
Dr.levras chest heaved inward as her heart began to race and her breathing became erratic— she felt like her heart was going to explode and could no longer maintain what cool she had left.
She scooted back towards the wall as fast as her frail body could, her eyes not once betraying eye contact with Mirus—not even to blink, in fear of him appearing before her very eyes when she opened them.
She scooted, and she scooted, and she scooted again, and—HUUUUHH!
She backed up into something large slumped against the wall stirring it awake.
She then scrambled to her right, and tucked her head between her legs, making herself seem as small as possible.
It was Mikhail, his face partially burned and his right hand was missing…
It had gotten blown off by Mirus when he discharged that intense burst of energy causing lightning bolts and radioactive flames to rain down from and strike from above—Then the good doctor kicked it away in a fit of panic…
"ARGHH!"
He screamed awake remembering the pain of his injuries and the terror Mirus had instilled in him.
ERRR! ERRR! ERRR!
ERRR! ERRR! ERRR!
ERRR! ERRR! ERRR!
"Whe–Where is the monstr?!"
The simple fact that another being that bled the same he did, had instilled terror in him—set his muscle brain ablaze and incensed him.
"You want to kill Mikhail?!"
"HAH?!"
Mikhail spit in the air trying to hit Mirus.
"Mikhail does not care that he has one arm?!"
"I am RUSSIAN BEAR!!" he beat on his chest, picked his up PPSh-41 and stood up—
"WARNING: RADIATION LEVELS CRITICAL. EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY. WARNING: RADIATION LEVELS CRITICAL."
"COME SUKA!"
BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR—Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
Rapidly, bullets bounced off Mirus ricocheting everywhere and a few managed to hit Mikail in the stomach!
"ARGHHHH! FUCK YOUR MOTHER!"
BRRRRRRRR!—Click! Click!
TCH!
His clip emptied and his barrel was red hot with smoke.
tink-tink-tink…clink-CLATTER!…
The bullets that didn't ricochet were corroded and blunted by Mirus's aura and just hit the floor.
The sounds of bullets hitting the floor echoed throughout the lab—Mirus' descent was halted by the hail of bullets fired at him—now was his chance to make another move.
Mikhail quickly contemplated his next move, then ran towards Randalls body, fast!
Even though her head was down—Dr.Levra saw all of this as she looked up and peeked from behind her forearms.
She had been terrified and equally intrigued by Mirus ever since his mysterious reappearance, and she had genuinely feared and believed her life was in jeopardy ever since her fellow scientist got microwaved.
But once again, she had remembered everything she had worked and pined for in life.
Her extremely obsessive passion for black holes, and Astro physics—her love for science and engineering—her curious penchant for all manner of biology!
Mirus—was no longer as terrifying as he seemed…No…he was beautiful…Glorious even!
It was as if she had by chance, witnessed the one and only unicorn in existence.
No…to Dr.Levra…
He was the most magnificent specimen she had ever laid eyes on.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Mirus let loose a wicked laugh from above that echoed throughout the lab—Mikhail as tough as he was, instantly became filled with dread.
Mirus couldn't believe he let these people get the best of him—he was so afraid and desperate to escape and for what? From what?
Absolutely nothing!
This enraged Mirus all the more!
How dare they!!!!!
He just wanted to escape before and only do as much damage as he had to—but now—he wanted to erase the embarrassment he felt that plagued him from feeling too
The feeling of being at the mercy of others…too weak enough to do anything about it…
Never had he experienced having so much bloodlust and hate for people.
It was intoxicating.
Now—now he only wanted to exact revenge.
ERRR! ERRR! ERRR!
ERRR! ERRR! ERRR!
ERRR! ERRR! ERRR!
"WARNING: RADIATION LEVELS CRITICAL. EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY. WARNING: RADIATION LEVELS CRITICAL."
The alarms and blaring warnings hammered into Mirus's skull, sharper and more violent than anyone else could feel—amplified by the altitude he hovered at and his super cosmic hearing.
Suspended high above the chaos, the noise felt sharper, harsher—overstimulating.
With everything else spiraling around him, the screeching only stoked his fury, dragging him closer to acts of pure, murderous rage.
He raised his right hand—ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!—and from his fingertips erupted massive, cascading streams of violent, multichromatic lightning.
They slammed into the ceiling—BOOOM!
The lights exploded overhead—showering the room with sparks, shattered glass, and torn heavy metal fixtures.
The room became a hellscape of light and shadow, fire and smoke, electricity carving white-hot wounds through the air.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!
The electricity didn't stop. It cascaded downwards, striking everything it touched like living, wrathful serpents.
Mikhail, half-dazed but burning with rage, ripped two bombs off Randall's limp body with his one arm and hurled himself sideways—just in time.
ZZZZZTTT—KRAKKOOM!
A lightning bolt screamed past him and split the floor where he'd stood, scorching it black.
BOOOM!
One last bomb—still strapped to Randall's body—caught the surge.
SPLAT!
The corpse erupted in a gruesome blast of red mist and shredded flesh, painting the floor with meat and vaporized bone.
Chunks of Randall rained down like gore-soaked hail.
Mikhail stumbled and ducked, weaving through the storm with the desperation of a wounded bear, smoke trailing from the scorched edges of his uniform.
BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!
Computers blew apart, showers of sparks erupted again, and flames devoured the walls, setting the laboratory ablaze once more.
From the corner of her eye, Dr. Levra caught a sudden movement amid the chaos—
A dark figure, slithering low along the flooded, blood-slick floor.
Between the blinding flashes and leaping flames, she glimpsed a man crawling prone, dragging himself forward with grim determination.
Krusch.
Captain Price's right hand.
He wasn't dead!
Badly burned, yes — the lower half of his jaw was completely gone, exposing ruined muscle and teeth — but all his limbs remained intact.
Levra's stomach twisted at the sight.
The wreckage of his face was a horror she couldn't unsee; she instinctively recoiled, cringing both outwardly and deep within.
Krusch noticed her staring and she looked like she wanted to scream.
He pressed a blood-slicked finger to what remained of his lips—
Shhh.
In his other hand, clutched tightly against his body, was a weapon—
Not the M16 he had used earlier, but something more brutal, more efficient: a USAS-12, a fully-automatic, drum-fed combat shotgun, its matte-black finish gleaming wickedly in the flickering light.
Krusch pushed forward, worming through the debris with agonizing slowness, determined to get into position, doing his best to avoid the lethal arcs that still fell like judgment from the heavens.
Then—suddenly—
Blackout.
The laboratory… no—the entire building—went dark.
A scream tore through the dark:
"ARGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!
"ARGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"
HUUUUHH!
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!
"ARGGGHHH-ERRRRRRRRRRRUUGHHERRRRR!"
The power had died—but not the storm.
Electricity still coursed through the air, hungry for a conduit, and Mirus was too saturated, too volatile, to fully stop it. His body had become a living supercell—an unstable generator bleeding off the excess energy that the broken building could no longer contain.
And the Vice President was no exception.
The searing bolts found him too, wracking his body, cooking him alive within an inch of his existence.
He writhed, screamed—and unbeknownst to himself, endured—barely.
"ARRRGGGHHH!" Mirus roared, the sound ripping through the lab as he finally wrestled the chaos inside him under control—
HUHH! HUHH! HUHH!
It had taken immense willpower to pull it back.
Even now, with anger still burning white-hot in his blood, the effort left him shaking.
It felt good to lash out—too good—but it also scared him how easily it slipped beyond his grasp.
This instilled a minor degree of caution in him.
There were moments when the electricity had even turned against him, rebounding wildly through his body, biting into his nerves.
Zzzt! Zzzt! Zzzt!
Small residual jolts flickered across his skin, but he forced himself to steady, breathing heavily through gritted teeth.
It did not feel good.
All around him, the laboratory was a smoking ruin—Fire, shattered glass, and the stench of scorched flesh filled the air.
And there, lying sprawled and broken on the floor, was the Vice President.
Zzzt! Zzzt! Zzzt!
His body twitched violently as leftover currents arced through him.
He now lay there charred—smoking with 4th degree burns—his bone, eyes and teeth now visible.
One of his eyes had boiled away; the other stared glassily, unfocused, the muscles around it spasming uselessly.
His jaw snapped open and shut, open and shut, a grotesque, mindless motion—
His nerve endings firing wildly, beyond his control.
With his eyelids gone, he couldn't blink even if he wanted to.
Mirus was momentarily distracted by this gruesome sight.
Click-Clink!
Click-Clink!
With both grenades in hand, Mikhail pulled the pins out of both grenades with his burnt teeth.
They were live grenades now.
The flames raging across the room flickered in his crazed, bloodshot eyes.
Ah, he really wanted to kill him.
He cooked the grenades with a wicked grin, a murderous glint flashing across his soot-smeared face.
He looked like he was about to commit a hate crime.
With all his pent up roid rage, he trembled—he definitely wanted to kill Mirus more than Mirus wanted to kill him!
"Hehehehehe—Mikhail will kill you before you can kill Mikhail!"
He took a staggering step back and cocked his arm—"Do svidaniya Mother Fucker!"
With a desperate howl, he launched the two grenades in his hand.
These explosives were quite literally a Hail Mary.
Mirus, who had been distracted by the gruesome sight of the VP on the floor for a brief amount of time—heard everything Mikhail had said.
Unaware of the two bombs flying right toward his face, he followed the sound of his voice and curiously dragged his eyes across the floor to where he was audaciously standing.
He met Mikhail's bloodshot eyes and fiendish smile with his own.
Mikhail then quickly reached down and grabbed the GSH-19 pistol strapped to his thigh—Mirus eyes widened in surprise—he began to raise his right hand but before he could—BANG!
time slowed—WHIZZZ!
The bullet ripped out the chamber and traveled diagonally, whistling through the air—charting upward with unyielding momentum.
The speeding bullet flew cleanly between Mirus' middle and ring finger—He became cross eyed trying to follow it—his attempt to stop the speeding bullet was seconds too late and—BINK!
The bullet nailed him dead center in the forehead—and his head snapped back ferociously.
Even armor piercing rounds couldn't put a hole in Mirus, but he did feel the force of its impact.
Whipping his head forward with a snarl, Mirus rebounded instantly, slightly dazed but furious — just in time for—BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Mikhail unloaded the rest of his clip in a mere 2 seconds—that was all he needed for his last stand to work!
His trigger finger was oddly impressive.
Mirus was prepared for the bullets this time—what he wasn't prepared for— were the two cooked grenades inches from his face.
All of these bullets we're just a diversion!
You've gotta be kidding me!
Today was proving full of painfully embarrassing, eye-opening lessons for Mirus.
He clenched his jaw, gritting his teeth in irritation.
And if he was honest with himself — he really hated being tricked.
All of his shortcomings thus far can be attributed to one thing—
Inexperience.
BOO—BOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!
The grenades detonated before his very eyes — violent flashes of light burning their afterimages into his corneas.
Then shrapnel perforated the air and threatened to rip through Mirus's eyes.
Ah, but if Mikhail could see his face now—he'd have been heartbroken.
Mirus was deadpan.
Irritated — severely — but otherwise emotionless.
He was tired of being caught off guard.
As punishment, he would brave the explosions, as a reminder to stay motherfucking vigilant at all fucking times.
Ah, I really hate this guy, he thought grimly.
Then, the blast swallowed him whole.
"HAHAHA HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT SUKA?! YOU CANNOT KILL MIKHAIL!"
Dr. Levra and Krusch watched the chaos with bated breath.
Did the grenades actually hurt him?
Could they have killed him?
For a moment, there was only eerie silence —
Only the sharp, gritty sound of something being struck could be heard.
Scrrrtch!
The Russian bear thought victory was his.
"KRUSH?! BO?! COMRADES! WHERE ARE YOU?! ARE YOU AL—FWOOOOOOOOSHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
It was as if a dragon had opened its massive, deadly maw and unleashed hell — or a rocket had ignited the launch pad beneath it.
A massive flamethrower of blue-white fire engulfed Mikhail where he stood.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"
Mikhail made a noise so out of touch with his character, that when he screamed, it sounded as if it really came from the dark murky depths of his soul.
He was being purified by cosmic flames.
Krusch felt something so profound well up within him at that moment, and something so sad, something heavy.
"You…can…no…kil…Mi…K…il…"
Mikhail's legs, everything below the knee, disintegrated into ash.
Without support, his upper half slammed into the floor — cracking apart like a burning coal.
Bits of him smoldered, flickered, and finally faded.
Only embers remained.
"Après nous, le déluge…Au revoir, mon ami…"
Krusch whispered regretfully under his breath…
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Mirus's laughter tore through the laboratory, wicked and booming, echoing off the scorched walls — a harsh, triumphant roar that filled the broken silence.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA—"You're already dead."
Mirus's laughter faded into a low, cruel rumble.
He could hear her breathing.
He could feel the heat radiating from her trembling body.
He could smell the faint trace of sweet, floral perfume still clinging stubbornly to her skin.
He hadn't forgotten about her.
Dr.Levra.
Cowering against the wall, looking up at him — wide-eyed — like a deer caught in someone's headlights.
Her heart was beating out her chest; he could hear every frantic beat.
And she could see him.
VHHHMMM. VHHHMMM. VHHHMMM.
His body thrummed like a black hole — deep, dangerous, unknown.
His eyes glowed with blinding cosmic white blue-white fire, multichromatic lightning, and molten plasma whipped around him in tight, magnetic orbits — energy lines tangled and spun like the electrons of an atom trapped around a furious, living core.
Oh, how he was magnificent.
It wasn't fear that made the good doctor shudder.
Watching him descend upon her — this radioactive, celestial god of death—
sent a wave of euphoric chills down her spine.
This was her moment.
Everything she had ever questioned — every sleepless night, every doubt, every secret hope —It was him.
His body —It was him.
His existence —It was him.
Her Future—It was him.
He was the answer to everything she had dared to wonder and would ever wonder.
She wanted answers so badly.
So fucking badly.
To secure the one specimen she would ever truly care about.
To claim her place next to God.
To finally satiate her endless, gnawing curiosity.
She was willing to die for it.
Divine Providence—she'd been a religious woman—but his potential was her destiny.
He was her shooting star — and now, she had to make a wish.
Would she survive?
"Hello."
Mirus spoke eerily, smiling with finality as he loomed over her, standing just a breath away.