THE WATCHER: REVOLUTION
By Rapwizzy Debaron
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Episode 20: The Masked One
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The forest whispered.
Leaves rustled like secrets, brushing against Alira's skin as she moved. The air felt heavier here—older. As if the trees remembered things the world had tried to forget.
Jax moved ahead, silent as always, his hand grazing the pulse rifle at his back. He hadn't said much since they crossed the border. Didn't need to.
> They were being watched.
Alira felt it in the way the birds flew crooked. The hush after every step. The chill crawling along her spine.
> "How far to the drop zone?" she asked.
> "Ten clicks, maybe less." He paused. "But something's off."
> "I know."
She reached for her blade.
> "We're not alone."
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The ambush came without warning.
A flash of movement—then smoke.
Figures emerged from the mist, masked and armored, their weapons silent, their steps precise. Not soldiers. Not scavengers.
> Hunters.
Jax fired first, taking down two with surgical precision. Alira moved like a shadow—cutting, dodging, vanishing into the fog. For a moment, it was just survival.
Then she saw him.
> The mask.
Blood-red. Featureless. Watching.
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> "HALO," the voice echoed, deep and smooth, like silk draped over blades.
She froze. That name—that cursed name—slithered through her like venom.
> "Don't you dare call me that."
> "But it's what you are, isn't it?" the masked one said, stepping forward. "The living weapon. The ghost who bled stars."
He removed his hood.
And the world cracked.
> "Lucien…"
Jax turned sharply.
> "You know him?"
> "He was… dead."
Lucien's smile was slow. Cold.
> "You believed what they wanted you to believe. They had to kill me—because I knew what you were becoming."
Alira's heart pounded.
> He was her handler. Her anchor.
Her betrayer.
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> "You watched me burn," she hissed.
> "I watched you evolve," he said. "And now… you've come home."
She lunged—but he moved faster, catching her wrist mid-air.
> "You still don't understand, do you?" Lucien whispered, pressing her hand to his chest. "We're the same, Alira. Made from the same code. The same sins."
> "You're nothing like me."
> "No. I'm worse."
He released her.
Jax aimed his rifle.
Lucien didn't flinch.
> "You can run, HALO. But the world you think you've escaped?"
"It's already rebuilding. And they want you back."
> "Tell them to burn."
Lucien smiled, stepping back into the shadows.
> "They already have."
And then he was gone.
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Alira stood still, chest heaving.
Jax touched her shoulder.
> "What was he talking about?"
She didn't answer right away.
> "There was a second project," she said finally, voice distant. "I thought they shut it down. But Lucien… he was part of it. He is it."
> "What kind of project?"
She turned, eyes dark.
> "Resurrection."
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Somewhere in the wreckage of Omega Central, a red folder flickered to life.
> [PROJECT: RAGNAROK]
Status: REACTIVATED
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TO BE CONTINUED…
🖋️ By Rapwizzy Debar
on
🔻 Next: Episode 21 – Bloodline Echoes
As Lucien hunts from the shadows, Alira and Jax must confront a buried truth—one that connects their blood, their past, and the real purpose of Project Halo.