The emergency door slammed shut behind Leo, sealing him away from the gas-filled corridor. His chest burned, his vision spun, but he forced himself upright. He had no time to be weak—not when Ashley was still in danger, and Rael was getting off on every second of delay.
The figure stepped forward from the shadows.
Tall. Lean. A shock of white-blond hair under a black beanie.
Leo's fists clenched. "Zayne."
Rael's favorite pet. A fighter trained for brutality, with zero conscience and a history of hurting people for sport.
Zayne smirked. "You're slower than I expected, Leo."
Leo didn't respond. He lunged.
Their bodies collided like clashing storms—punches flying, feet sliding on the concrete. Zayne swung fast, but Leo was faster. Fueled by rage, he landed a sharp uppercut to Zayne's jaw. Blood splattered.
Zayne laughed. "There's the fire."
Leo grabbed a metal pipe from the wall and swung. Zayne ducked, kicked Leo's legs from under him, and straddled him, throwing a wild punch.
Leo turned his head, let it glance off his cheek, then used the momentum to twist his body. He slammed his elbow into Zayne's ribs and flipped them over. The pipe clanged to the floor as they grappled.
"Where is she?!" Leo growled.
Zayne spat blood. "Close. You're all so close… but not fast enough."
Leo knocked him out with one final blow.
---
Kieran, on the other side of the facility, had already reached the surveillance hub.
Two guards guarded the door.
He didn't give them a chance to blink.
A flying knee. A twist of the arm. Two bodies on the floor.
He pushed into the room and went straight for the main console. The live feeds flashed across the monitors—hallways, stairwells, containment rooms.
And then—
Ashley.
She was in one of the side corridors, barefoot, gripping a metal bar like a weapon, clearly exhausted but still moving. Still fighting.
Kieran's mouth tightened. "Atta girl."
He patched into Leo's comm. "Visual confirmed on Ashley. She's in the sublevel corridor near Storage Hall B."
Leo's voice came in, slightly raspy. "Copy that. I'm near her. Just neutralized Zayne."
"Good," Kieran said. "Time to box Rael in."
---
Rael's calm facade was starting to crack.
He sat in front of the monitors, watching his chessboard collapse.
Zayne—down.
Ashley—loose and armed.
Leo and Kieran—inside, coordinated, and furious.
His hands hovered over the control panel.
He could still escape. There was a back exit—hidden beneath the lab's lower vault.
But something inside him twisted. He'd waited so long to drag them all into his web. Should he run?
He grinned slowly. "Let's make the ending interesting."
He pressed a code into the keyboard.
Emergency lighting flared. Red strobes. A robotic voice rang out:
> "Self-destruct protocol: Initiated. Five minutes to full facility purge."
---
Ashley staggered against the wall as sirens began to blare. She shielded her eyes against the flashing red light.
"Great," she muttered. "What now?!"
Footsteps pounded behind her.
She spun, raising the bar—
"Ash!"
Leo rushed toward her.
She dropped the weapon and ran straight into him, throwing her arms around his neck. "Leo—!"
He held her tightly. "You okay?"
She nodded into his shoulder. "Better now."
He cupped her cheeks, checking her over, rage flashing in his eyes as he took in the bruises and exhaustion.
"I'll kill him," he whispered.
Ashley grabbed his hand. "Then let's finish this."
---
Kieran met them at the elevator bay a minute later, his expression all business. "Rael's in the lower vault. He triggered a five-minute purge—chemical burn protocol."
Ashley's eyes widened. "He'll destroy the whole place?"
"Yes. Including himself—unless we stop it."
Leo cracked his neck. "Then we stop it."
Kieran tossed Ashley a stun baton. "You good to fight?"
She caught it and nodded. "I've been waiting for it."
---
They moved as one through the vault doors, descending a final metal staircase into the underbelly of the compound. The air grew hotter. The hum of machines filled the space, along with the robotic countdown voice.
> "Three minutes to purge."
At the bottom of the vault, Rael stood in front of a tall terminal, one hand still on the controls, the other behind his back.
He turned, grinning.
"Well, look who made it."
Leo stepped forward, eyes blazing. "Game's over."
Rael tilted his head. "No. It's just changing players."
He pressed a final button—and the terminal locked.
Kieran fired a shot. Rael dove, rolled, and threw something metallic.
Flashbang.
The room burst in white.
Ashley screamed.
Leo tackled Rael blind, the two of them crashing into the control station.
Kieran recovered first. He launched after them, grappling with Rael, who moved with manic energy.
Rael's laughter echoed. "You think catching me ends this?"
Leo kneed him in the gut. "No. But it'll feel really good."
Ashley slammed the stun baton into Rael's back.
His body seized.
He collapsed to the floor, twitching.
The countdown kept going.
> "One minute remaining."
Kieran yanked a panel open. "Cover me!"
Leo and Ashley stood over Rael as Kieran's fingers flew over exposed wires.
"I can delay the purge. Maybe reverse it. Give me—"
> "Thirty seconds."
Sparks flew.
Kieran's brow furrowed.
Then—
Beep.
> "Purge canceled. System shutting down."
Silence.
The red lights faded.
Rael groaned on the floor.
Leo stepped over him. "Checkmate.".