Back at Sun University, the storm had already reached the screens.
The war room was tense, monitors casting a cold blue light across worried faces. Nicholson stood still, hands clenched behind his back as he stared at the live feed, the image of six bodies scattered, unmoving, bloodied, and broken at the feet of something inhuman.
Kairos.
A monster.
An apocalypse given shape.
And the six warriors they thought invincible… were on the ground.
Behind Nicholson, a small shadow slipped past the edge of the table.
Ania.
She had seen it. She wasn't supposed to. But her eyes had flicked up toward the feed as the guards scrambled, and in that split second, the world collapsed.
They were losing.
And her heart, still young, still raw, shattered.
She moved before she could even think.
Down the hall. Past the labs. Toward the side scaffolding where rail repairs hadn't been finished.
She squeezed through the gap.
Small hands. Barely steady. Tears blurring her vision.
And just as her foot hit the ledge, a hand caught her.
"Ania?"
Carolina.
The woman had followed the tug in her chest, and sure enough, there she was, trembling at the edge of a rail high above the city.
"What are you doing?" Carolina asked, crouching down.
Ania didn't speak at first. Just cried harder.
"I need to be there," she whispered. "Please. Please take me to them. They can't die. Not like this."
Carolina looked at her for a long moment.
Logic warred with instinct.
Orders clashed with emotion.
But then---
She knelt.
"You want to be there for them?" she asked softly.
Ania nodded, breath hitching. "They… they're my family."
Carolina closed her eyes. She'd lost so much in this war. But this little girl was what they were fighting for, wasn't she?
Not just survival.
A future.
She gathered Ania into her arms and whispered, "Then let's go."
---
The journey to the battlefield was reckless.
But necessary.
Carolina moved like a ghost, her speed unmatched. On her back, she carried two bags full of fresh serum vials, the last reserve from the university's vault. It wasn't a cure, it never was. But it gave them a chance.
And as they breached the edge of the ruined perimeter, they saw him.
Harry.
Broken. Barely breathing. His limbs bent wrong. His chest struggling to rise.
Carolina didn't hesitate. She ducked low, laid Ania beside him, and reached for the first vial.
Ania's tiny hands beat her to it.
She pressed it to Harry's lips. "Please," she begged through sobs, "please don't go."
He didn't react at first.
So she poured it down. One. Then two. Three.
Still.
Carolina opened his shirt, bruises covered him, flesh cracked open and bones pushing through skin. She pressed two more against his neck and let the pressure do the work.
And finally---
A twitch.
His back arched.
His fingers curled.
Then a gasp tore from his lips, ragged and hoarse.
He blinked once. Twice.
And the first thing he saw was Ania's face, soaked in tears.
"No," Harry rasped. "You're not supposed to be here, Ania, get away---!"
He tried to move. Pain cracked through him. He winced, growled.
But the serum had started.
His shoulder popped. Reset. The bones knitting. The bruises lightening. Muscles tightening again.
Carolina grabbed his hand. "Save the yelling for later. You're needed."
Harry looked up, and saw the others.
Sofie, unmoving.
Li and Diego, slumped.
Tyler… unconscious.
And Slacovich, still breathing, barely, but not even twitching now.
Harry's jaw locked.
He reached for the bag beside Carolina. Fingers trembling. And whispered, "Let's wake them up."
Harry clutched the half-empty serum bag tight, his legs still shaking, but he didn't stop. He turned toward Diego's body next, crushed, blood pooling beneath him, a gash across his abdomen deep enough to see bone.
Ania followed, her tiny hands still trembling but determined. She dropped to her knees beside Diego, lips pressed tight to keep herself from sobbing too loudly.
Carolina, with her own bag slung tight across her shoulder, was already moving, toward Li.
She knelt beside the woman, who lay face down, one wing mangled beneath her, the other stretched limply across the ash-stained ground.
Her pulse was weak. But still there.
Carolina didn't waste time. She pressed one vial to Li's neck, injected another straight into her shoulder, and, when that wasn't enough, opened her mouth and forced a third down her throat.
"Come on," she muttered under her breath. "I know you're stronger than this."
Li's body jolted.
Carolina pulled back just as Li's eyes fluttered open, glazed at first, then slowly sharpening.
Li grunted, trying to sit up, and cursed as pain laced her ribs.
"Take it slow. You're healing, but not immortal."
Across the field, Harry held Diego's head gently, brushing dirt from his blood-caked cheek.
"Diego," Harry whispered, voice low. "Come back, man. Don't let that bastard write the end of your story."
He injected one vial into Diego's neck. Then another near his ribs. A third between his fingers, where the veins ran close to the surface.
Still nothing.
Ania reached for the last one and pressed it against Diego's heart. "Please," she whispered, barely audible. "You promised to stay with me."
It clicked.
And Diego convulsed, a violent jolt like electricity surging through him. His chest expanded with a choking gasp as his eyes shot open.
"--THE HELL?!" he barked, half-delirious. "Why do I feel like I got run over by a train?"
Harry laughed wetly, pure relief flooding his features. "Because you basically did."
Diego blinked, saw Ania's face, and everything sobered.
He sat up despite the pain and pulled her into a shaky hug. "Hey, what are you doing here, baby girl?"
"You're not allowed to die," she mumbled against his chest.
He tightened his hold. "Wasn't planning to."
Carolina helped Li to her feet, her body still trembling, but her spine straightening with every breath. Harry and Diego did the same, their legs wobbling but their eyes clearing. Their strength returning.
Li turned toward Carolina, frustration simmering in her blood.
"You shouldn't have come," she said, her voice sharp even through the strain. "I told you to stay back."
Carolina stood her ground. "I didn't come alone," she said calmly, gesturing to Ania now tucked beside Diego. "You weren't waking up. He wasn't waking up. And now he is, because of us."
Li's jaw clenched. Her eyes flicked to Ania, clinging to Diego's coat with trembling hands, and then back to Carolina.
"You brought her here," she hissed. "Do you even realize what could've happened?"
"I do," Carolina said. No fear in her voice. No apology either. "But she didn't sneak out just to be dragged back. She wanted to be here. I only helped her do it safely."
Li's fangs nearly bared. Her fists curled.
She wanted to scream at her. To yell. To curse her out for risking everything.
But she didn't.
Because the truth was, they did save Diego. They did save Harry. And in this battlefield where hope felt like ash in the wind, they showed up.
Li's breath came out shaky. She looked down at Ania, whose eyes were still red, but brimming with silent strength.
"Fine," Li muttered. "But you hide now. Both of you."
Carolina opened her mouth to protest, but Li stepped forward, voice lower and dead serious.
"You stay here any longer and Kairos will kill you with a glance. You're not enhanced. You're not armed. You'll die before you even realize you've been hit."
Carolina looked like she wanted to argue, but then her eyes drifted to the distant battlefield.
To where Kairos still loomed, massive, silent, unnatural.
And she knew Li wasn't exaggerating.
Li knelt beside Ania, gave her a small, strained smile, and pulled her into a hug.
"I'm taking you back to Carolina," she whispered. "You've done more than enough. You reminded us why we fight."
Ania sniffled. "But you're all still hurt----"
"We'll live," Li said, brushing her hair back. "But we can't fight if we're worried about you."
She stood, pressing a quick kiss to Ania's forehead. Then she turned to Carolina.
"Take her. Stay hidden. If something happens, don't wait. Run."
Carolina gave a tight nod and scooped Ania into her arms.
Li watched them vanish behind a heap of rubble, her throat tight.
Then she turned to Diego and Harry, her expression hardening again.
"Let's get the rest of them up," she said. "We're not done yet."