Location: Lower Deck Ruins – 01:42 AM
Lia's blade clanged off Seris's staff—a weapon laced with neural disruptors. Sparks flashed between them.
Behind her, Kairo and Ada fought desperately to keep Nova and Jin back. But now it was three-on-three, and Echo's edge was showing.
Seris parried Lia's strike, then rammed her staff into Lia's ribs. Electricity arced.
Lia gasped—collapsed to one knee.
Ada rushed in, covering her with a burst shot. "Move!"
But Nova blinked behind her. "Too slow."
A dagger scraped across Ada's back—blood hit the floor.
Kairo roared, kinetic force flaring. He slammed Nova against the wall, shattering concrete. She laughed even as she spat blood.
"Still got fight in you, pretty boy?"
Jin, across the room, knelt by ECO—fingers glowing, eyes scanning.
"She's beautiful," he whispered. "Let me show her the truth."
Kairo launched toward him—but Seris intercepted, slamming her staff across his head. Blood sprayed. He went down hard.
Lia tried to crawl toward him, pain in every breath.
Ada fired wildly to keep Seris back. "We're not going down like this!"
---
Cut To: You – Running through Sector 7
You bolted across shattered rooftops, sprinting through the storm. Every muscle screamed from the Grimm fight, your ribs cracked, your knuckles bloody.
Your comm buzzed:
Kairo—offline. Lia—offline. Ada—critically wounded.
"Dammit. Hold on."
You leapt over a fallen billboard, heart hammering.
And finally—
The Safehouse.
You dove in through the broken ceiling—glass and smoke raining around you.
You landed between Seris and Lia just as Seris raised her staff for a finishing blow.
CLANG.
You caught it mid-swing.
"You're not touching her."
Seris hissed. "Ah. The stray."
You forced her back with a burst of kinetic force—but your legs buckled. Too much damage. Too little time.
Nova reappeared behind you.
Ada tried to warn you.
Too late.
A dagger buried itself in your shoulder.
You screamed through gritted teeth—grabbed Nova's wrist, twisted, slammed her into the ground.
But Jin moved toward ECO again.
Kairo, bloody and barely standing, tackled him. "Stay away from her!"
The room was falling apart—glass shattering, fire creeping along the edges, everyone barely hanging on.
And then—
Sirens.
Flashlights. Tactical voices shouting. The unmistakable thump-thump-thump of city enforcers dropping in from aerial units.
"DROP YOUR WEAPONS!"
The Police Intervention Force (PIF) swarmed in.
Jin vanished. Nova blinked away. Seris stared at you with pure venom.
"This isn't over," she whispered—and retreated into shadow.
You collapsed beside Lia, heart racing, vision blurry.
She looked up at you, bruised, cut, barely conscious.
"You're late," she whispered.
You smiled, bloody. "You're welcome."