The lab trembled with each step the creature took—its evolved form casting long, flickering shadows across the crumbling walls. Sparks rained from broken lights as Tempo, Greg, Arden, and Cora stood their ground.

  “We need to end this now,” Cora hissed, her fingers flying across her wrist console. “It’s drawing energy from somewhere—if it hits critical mass, we’re all screwed.”

  Greg’s jaw tightened. “Suggestions?”

  Cora didn’t answer. Instead, her drone blinked to life, hovering toward the creature. “I’m sending Blink in close. If I can tag its neural spine, I might be able to shut it down. But I’ll need a window.”

  Arden stepped forward, his blade already beginning to glow. “Then let’s buy you time.”

  Tempo gritted his teeth, blood trickling from his brow. “Alright, nightmare fuel. Round three.”

  The air cracked as the Revenant surged forward. Its roar was guttural, distorted by layers of metal and organic pain. Its newly formed limbs split at odd angles, generating unstable pulses of energy with each movement. Debris shattered with every step.

  Greg moved first.

  With a yell, he intercepted the creature’s swing, slamming a pipe reinforced with stolen Syndicate alloy into the Revenant’s arm. The metal sparked, ringing out like a bell, but the creature didn’t flinch. Instead, it grabbed Greg and hurled him into a wall with terrifying speed.

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  “Greg!” Tempo shouted, charging in with a blur. His baton sparked as he leapt into the air and landed a crackling blow across the creature’s head. For a moment, it staggered—but only for a moment.

  The Revenant’s head snapped toward Tempo, eyes glowing brighter. It let out a shriek, and a shockwave rippled outward, sending Tempo flying.

  “Blink is in position,” Cora said, sweat pouring down her face. Her hands moved in a blur. The drone zipped behind the Revenant, weaving through its armor plates. “Almost there…”

  The creature turned, spotting the drone.

  “Arden!” Cora barked.

  He was already moving. Arden leapt high, blade spinning in his hands as he brought it down across the Revenant’s back. Sparks exploded. The creature roared in fury, flailing wildly.

  Blink darted forward and planted a glowing device along the base of the creature's spine.

  “Now!” Cora shouted.

  Greg groaned from the rubble, dragging himself up just in time to see the Revenant convulse. The device blinked three times, then detonated in a pulse of electromagnetic light.

  The Revenant froze. Its limbs twitched, metal grinding violently. Then—for one fleeting second—its head tilted toward Greg, and a voice rasped from its throat:

  “…he…lp…”

  Then its body collapsed.

  Silence fell.

  Tempo limped over, staring at the creature’s motionless body. “Did… did we win?”

  Greg collapsed onto the floor with a grunt. “For now.”

  Cora knelt beside the body, scanning it with a handheld device. Her eyes darkened.

  A memory flickered behind her eyes: Sylvia, laughing on a rooftop, wind in her hair. Cora blinked it away, her voice cracking slightly. “This wasn’t just a weapon. It was a message.”

  Arden frowned. “From who?”

  Greg stood slowly, rubbing the blood from his temple, eyes locked on the creature’s remnants. “It knew me. That voice… it knew me.”

  Cora slowly looked up. “The one who’s really running the Syndicate. And they just told us they’re watching.”

  Greg didn’t respond. He simply stared at the thing on the floor, fists clenched, his mind swimming with the possibility that someone from his past was inside that metal shell.

  To Be Continued...