Golden Darkness didn't flinch.
Her stance was precise. Balanced. Eyes fixed not on Lala—but past her.
Straight at me.
"Step aside, Princess," she said, voice flat as obsidian. "I won't repeat myself."
Lala didn't move. "He's not doing anything wrong."
"Not yet," Yami replied. "But he will."
Inside Lala, I stirred. Slowly. Deliberately. I let the pressure rise—not threatening, but present.
"I'm not your enemy," I said through Lala's mouth. "Not anymore."
Yami's gaze didn't shift. "You're a system-born organism. You don't get to choose what you are."
Lala blinked. "System-born?"
"She's been tracking me," I murmured inside her mind. "She knew what I was before I did."
Yami raised one hand. Her fingers shimmered—morphing into a blade. "I know the damage your kind causes. I've seen the results."
"I haven't harmed Lala," I said. "Not once."
"You infiltrated her body. Altered her physiology. Bound her emotions to your core."
Lala finally shouted, "And maybe I let him!"
That stopped Yami.
A breath. A flicker of hesitation. Nothing more.
"Don't confuse infection with affection," she said coldly. "You're compromised."
Lala stepped forward. "I chose to connect with him. I'm not being controlled."
But inside me, doubt bloomed.
Was that true?
Or had I nudged her too far? Too often?
"Scourge," Lala said quietly, not to Yami—but to me, inside. "Tell her."
I hesitated.
Then: "The system I was tied to… it gave me goals. Missions. Influence. But it's offline now."
Yami's eyes narrowed.
"I can feel it," she said. "Your signal isn't masked anymore. That's why I'm here."
"I'm not the same as before."
"No," she said. "Now you're worse. You think you have a soul."
Lala turned. "Why are you really here?"
"Containment," Yami replied. "If Scourge is stabilizing, it means he's close to Phase Three."
I froze.
No such phase had ever been revealed to me.
"What is Phase Three?" Lala asked.
Yami didn't answer.
But I saw it in her eyes.
Fear.
And that terrified me.
A shiver ran through my form. I didn't know what Phase Three was.
And neither did Lala.
But she tightened her fists anyway.
"If you want to hurt him," she said softly, "you'll have to go through me."
Yami stepped forward. Her shadow stretching like a blade.
"I hoped you'd say that."
And then—she lunged.