The air shifted, heavy and electric. Zane's fingers trembled slightly as he gripped the a vial in his hand--his trump card.
He glanced once more at the thick steel door, its cold surface scarred with scorch marks and dents from previous failed attempts to contain the creature inside.
'Hope this works'
"Alright, big guy," Zane whispered, voice low enough to be swallowed by the ambient hum of Cadmus' failing systems. "Show me what you got."
The door was opened once again, just like last time. Monster chained to the floor, red eyes glowing with rage. Waiting for him to enter this 'obvious trap'.
'I'm not that stupid' Zane shamelessly thought.
"Hey big guy, say ahh!!" Zane spoke mockingly to the beast, taunting him.
Sure enough....Project Omega let out a breath taking scream...shaking the air itself!
"Raarghhhh...eckh!"
However, hallway through his scream, Zane threw the vial he had in his palm straight into his mouth....releasing the liquid inside...almost chocking the monster.
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Then, a low, guttural growl erupted, rumbling through the concrete and steel walls—a sound so primal it shook Zane's bones.
Chains rattled with desperate tension.
The monstrous form within shifted, muscles bulging and twitching beneath cracked, mottled skin. Red eyes snapped open, glowing like embers from a dying fire, burning with an animal fury.
The chains groaned under strain—metal screamed as links began to snap.
Zane's heartbeat quickened. 'This is it.'
A deafening crash shattered the quiet as the massive chains and the floor itself exploded from the force with a BOOM!!
Debris exploded outward in a cloud of dust and shattered metal.
Before any debris reached him however, the door I front of him was shut....seemingly in a hurry.
"Their probably panicking right now." Zane mused in delight.
BANG!BANG!BOOM!
He couldn't enjoy himself though, as Omega almost instantly broke down the door with his quickly restoring strength.
Omega-5 stepped forward, a colossus born of science and suffering. Every movement sent shockwaves down the corridor; every breath echoed with a promise of destruction.
"Nice of you to join the party," Zane quipped, sidestepping a chunk of concrete tumbling from the ceiling.
' Although I suspected that they had him drugged to weaken him...I didn't think he'd become so much stronger.' Zane thought as sweat dripped down his forehead.
The vial he had thrown earlier, was the from the same type he injected himself with to inhibit the nerve gas on his last run.
He did have it last run...but he was too busy getting his ass handed to him to even think about using it.
His 'Danger sense' screamed, buzzing like an insistent alarm bell as Omega's massive fist smashed into a reinforced wall, sending shards of steel and rubble flying like shrapnel.
The corridor trembled under the mutant's wrath; lights flickered and died, plunging sections into darkness.
Zane danced between debris and dust, muscles burning but reflexes sharper than ever.
Around him, the facility groaned—walls cracking, pipes bursting, the very foundations of Cadmus threatening to collapse.
--------
From the control room, the panic was audible.
"Containment breach in Sector Omega-5! The mutant is tearing through the compound!" a frantic technician shouted into a comm.
Director Steele's jaw clenched, eyes hardening as he watched the destruction unfold on multiple screens.
"Deploy every available suppression unit. I want this thing stopped now," Steele ordered, voice cold steel.
A secondary feed showed heavily armed guards scrambling into position, their vehicles barreling down corridors filled with smoke and falling debris.
-------
Zane's lips curled into a sardonic smile ,'Like they think a giant rage monster's going to just politely sit still for their bullets.'
He caught a glance at his arm—bruised and scraped from the last fight—but adrenaline numbed the pain.
His plan was simple, but risky.
Keep Omega moving forward.
Use the mutant as the wrecking ball Cadmus never expected.
Break the compound apart from the inside out.
His danger sense flared violently as a massive fist swung his way. Zane dove forward, feeling the air tear past inches from his face.
"You really need to work on your aim," he muttered, rolling behind a half-collapsed console.
Although he didn't act like it, it was actually way harder to dodge his attacks than last time.
Omega roared in frustration, slamming the floor where Zane had just been moments before.
The corridor shook violently.
------
On another monitor, Steele's eyes narrowed as he adjusted the zoom.
"Subject 69 is still alive... and moving with uncanny agility."
A younger technician whispered, "His file showed no metagene activation. How is this possible?"
Steele's lips curled. "He's been hiding it—or it's been forced dormant. Either way, he's a threat."
The Director tapped commands, redirecting security grids to seal off Omega's path—trying to funnel the creature into kill zones.
------
But Zane's presence was a wild card.
The mutant's fury ignored the magnetic barriers, the tripwire lasers, the automated turrets all shattered or disabled in Omega's path.
Zane's mind raced.
'Okay, so they're trying to box us in.' He already knew all the dangerous zones...and knew how to get around them.
He scanned the corridor, eyes locking on a row of emergency exit hatches.
"Time to shake things up," he muttered.
He sprinted ahead, triggering a manual override. With a hiss, the hatch door slid open.
Omega followed, breaking through the thin metal with a force that shattered the adjacent wall.
Another explosion of debris.
Zane felt the heat of destruction on his face and smelled the acrid tang of burning electronics.
He let out a breathless laugh,"I think I'm qualified to be part of the bat family now, atleast a Robin."
Behind him, the compound trembled and cracked under the mutant's relentless assault.
---
Back in the control room, Director Steele's expression was hard, cold like chiseled granite.
"They're heading for the main hub," Steele said, voice clipped. "Seal all exits immediately."
A flurry of orders flew across consoles. Technicians scrambled to activate lockdown protocols.
But the mutant and Zane had momentum, and momentum was a cruel adversary.
Steele's eyes narrowed. "Deploy Project Shrapnel. Now."
From a hidden chamber, the mechanical behemoth emerged—spiked armor gleaming, servos hissing, and red sensor eyes locking onto its targets.
"Terminate intruders. No exceptions," the automaton intoned, voice a grinding growl.
---
Zane saw the door to the control room rise just ahead.
He slowed, dropping to a crouch. Behind him, Omega followed the blast through the corridor, heavy footsteps shaking the floor.
'I need to keep that thing alive. I'm the bait. The wrecking ball.'
The danger sense thrummed sharply.
BOOM!
"Welcome to the party," he whispered as Shrapnel's first strike slammed into the corridor wall mere inches from him.
The mechanical giant moved with brutal efficiency, swinging heavy fists that shattered concrete and tore steel.
Zane rolled and slid through the chaos, a few pieces of shrapnel cutting him.
"Wow, a walking scrap heap. Bet you're a fan favorite at the junkyard."
A snap of claws and a thunderous blow behind him told him the real threat wasn't just Shrapnel, but the rampaging Omega-5 closing in fast.
He jabbed a finger into a control panel on the wall, sending a pulse of electricity that flickered the lights and disrupted the automaton's targeting systems for a moment.
Shrapnel roared, metal grinding against metal as it recalibrated.
Zane dashed forward, leaping onto a toppled console and using it as cover.
Behind the mechanical terror, Omega roared—a brutal reminder of the destruction already wrought.
---
Inside the control room, chaos reigned.
Technicians fled in every direction, alarms screaming. Screens showed corridors collapsing, systems failing.
Steele's cold gaze flicked over the carnage.
"We're losing control."
A heavy breath.
"No. We're still in the game."
He tapped into the main security console. Refusing to admit defeat.
"Activate lockdown sequence Delta. Seal every entrance except the main hall."
His voice dropped low, venomous.
"Let them come to me."
---
His muscles burned, but he refused to falter.
Zane pressed his back against a cracked support beam, chest tight as the floor trembled under Omega's rampage. Pipes burst overhead, sparks showering down as Shrapnel's thunderous footsteps closed in.
His hand brushed against the fallen body of a Cadmus guard. His fingers curled around cold metal.
"Well, well," he muttered, yanking free a sidearm—sleek, military-issue, standard Cadmus sidearm. He checked the safety. Red light.
Tried the trigger. Nothing.
Of course.
This one too.
His grin was bitter. 'Fingerprint lock. That's why I've been stuck scrounging metal pipes and throwing chairs like an angry drunk'.
He sighed, tucking the pistol into his waistband anyway. "Would've been too easy, huh?"
His grip tightened around a jagged steel rod nearby—crude, but it got the job done.
"Alright then, back to caveman tactics."
He picked up a nearby metal pole, like a staff.
From the corner of his eye, he caught the glowing red eyes of Omega-5 barreling through the doorway.
The mutant's roar shook the air—an unholy mix of rage and relief.
Zane felt the pull of two unstoppable forces on the battlefield—with him in the center of it all.
"Not how I envisioned my first threesome, but I'll take it."