Kafka's POV — Minutes after Ethan collapses
The silence after chaos always had a taste—burnt copper and static, like the air forgot how to breathe.
Kafka flexed her gloved fingers, wincing slightly. The leather still hissed faintly where the boy's coin had branded her. Not burned—no, not just that. It had repelled her.
She stood over the unconscious teen, brushing a stray strand of red hair behind her ear. The gold-flecked eyes that had met hers seconds ago lingered in her mind.
"His eyes," she murmured aloud. "Exactly like Elio's."
Behind her, Silver Wolf didn't look up from her holo-screen. "Creepy. You say that like it's romantic."
Kafka smiled faintly. "It's not romance. It's prophecy."
Silver Wolf made a gagging noise. "You and Elio and your prophecies. He said the kid would show up, yeah. But not that he'd sear through my firewall just by breathing near it."
Kafka looked down again. Ethan's chest rose and fell, steady. His hand stayed clenched around the coin, knuckles pale.
"The coin didn't choose him," Kafka said softly. "It remembered him."
Silver Wolf finally looked over. "You think he's one of Elio's? Like… bloodline?"
Kafka didn't answer. Instead, she crouched next to the boy and whispered, "Your script's already written, Sunny. But how you read it… that's still up to you."
She stood, brushing nonexistent dust from her coat. "Let's get going. This one's not waking up until the curtain rises."
Silver Wolf groaned. "If he explodes again, I'm blaming you."
Kafka's smirk returned. "You always do."
Back to Ethan and the Astral Express Crew
The heavy doors ahead began to grind open, the first glimpse of clean station corridors—and the salvation of the Astral Express—beckoning beyond.
But hope was fleeting.
A voice crackled through the failing comms again, sharp with static:"This is Arlan. I need assistance near the Control Hub... heavy resistance... can't hold much longer..."
Ethan exchanged a quick look with Stelle and March. No hesitation. They broke into a sprint.
The hallway twisted ahead, chunks of ceiling crashing down behind them. Red emergency lights bathed everything in a hellish glow.
Around the next corner, they saw him—Arlan, the young Head of Security, holding a massive disruptor cannon. His uniform was torn, blood soaking the fabric at his side, but his stance was unyielding.
Antimatter Legion soldiers closed in on him—a pack of Voidrangers.
"Not on our watch!" March shouted, springing into action.
March raised her bow, crystalline arrows flashing across the battlefield. Stelle, with a wild grin, swung her baseball bat in a clean arc, the satisfying crack of metal-on-skull echoing down the hall. March raised her bow, crystalline arrows flashing across the battlefield. Stelle, with a wild grin, swung her baseball bat in a clean arc, the satisfying crack of metal-on-skull echoing down the hall.They fought as a chaotic, half-messy unit—March covering, Stelle smashing,Dan Heng slipping between enemies like a ghost.
Within moments, the last voidranger collapsed.
Breathing hard, Arlan staggered forward. "Thanks... You didn't have to—"
"We kinda did," March said brightly, slinging her bow over her shoulder. "Station, dying, people exploding—basic good neighbor stuff."
Arlan grimaced, pressing a hand to his wound. "I'm fine. I have to hold the control room—buy time for the Astral Express."
"You sure?" Stelle asked, resting her bat on her shoulder.
He nodded grimly. "Go. The elevator to the Express is past this sector."
Ethan gave a quick salute—half sincere, half joking—and they moved on, leaving Arlan to defend his ground.
They slowed once they hit the next corridor, the chaos temporarily behind them.
March wiped sweat from her brow, then caught Ethan idly flipping his coin again.
March lunged playfully, trying to snatch it mid-air. Ethan sidestepped neatly, catching the coin against the back of his hand.
"No fair!" she cried, mock-pouting. "C'mon, just one flip! I wanna ask if we'll survive this mess!"
"Stay focused." Dan Heng's voice cut through the banter, calm but firm. He adjusted the grip on his spear, scanning ahead. "The station isn't safe yet."
"Yeah, yeah," March said with a grin, falling back into step.
Ethan shot Dan Heng a quick, appreciative nod. Quiet, serious types—they had their uses.
Far away, hidden in the station's fractured systems, Silver Wolf leaned back in her chair, a lollipop dangling from her mouth.
Monitors flickered around her, showing tiny images of Ethan, Stelle, and March sprinting through the corridors.
"Huh," she murmured, smirking. "Elio's backup plan's more fun than I thought."
She popped the lollipop back into her mouth and tapped a few keys, the station's security cameras obediently tracking Ethan's every step.
"Let's see how long you can dodge fate, Sunnyboy."
The feed crackled as the screen dimmed, shadows swallowing the control room whole.