Veyra approaches the main computer.
The screen glows. Data streams across in green text. The hum of the machine fills the room.
She pulls out a thin stick a data spike. Cracks it against her palm. Plugs it in.
A pause.
A single click.
Then her fingers fly across the keyboard. Fast. Precise. Lines of code appear and disappear.
The screen flickers.
*ALL DEVICES SUCCESSFULLY CONNECTED. *
She scrolls. Finds the accounts.
Taps.
*TRANSFER COMPLETE — 15 MILLION CREDITS. *
Veyra leans back. Stares at the number.
Her jaw tightens.
VEYRA: "Not enough..."
She types again.
"There's still 50 million left."
She tries to access it.
*RESTRICTED ACCESS — DENIED. *
She tries again.
*DENIED. *
Again.
*DENIED. *
She stops. Pulls her hands off the keyboard.
Stares at the screen.
Her voice is quiet. Controlled.
VEYRA: "Even the Pastor isn't the highest?"
A pause.
She glances at the door. Listens. Nothing.
She looks back at the screen.
"As they say... don't get greedy."
She pulls the data spike out. Secures it in her pocket.
15 million in hand.
50 million still locked.
Behind a door she can't open.
Yet.
AT THE CONTROL ROOM
The room is cut in half.
Two fighters stand amidst the wreckage. Scorch marks on the walls. Deep gashes in the floor. Smoke hangs in the air like a curtain.
Then a huge wind gust.
Made of fire.
It tears through the room like a living thing hungry. Consuming.
The Paladin raises his blade.
His eyes don't blink. His stance doesn't break.
PALADIN: "I might not be that type..."
He swings.
"But I can still"
Another swing.
"do"
Third swing.
"it."
The wind slice splits the flames.
Fire parts like water. The heat bends around the blade's path.
The Paladin jumps through the opening
Flames kiss his skin. They don't burn.
They disappear before they can damage.
He's mid-air. Blade raised. About to strike.
Then
Raiji vanishes.
Not a dodge. Not a step back.
He's gone.
Raiji reappears.
Directly in front of the Paladin.
Fire swirls around him absorbed into his blade. Recycled.
Raiji's eyes are cold. Focused.
RAIJI: "I call this one... the Blink."
A clean slice.
The Paladin falls.
Legs cut off.
Blood sprays.
But the strands of blood reach back pulling. Reconnecting.
PALADIN (screaming): "AHHHH HOW?! A weakling like you"
Raiji steps back.
He looks at Red Death. The blade hums. Warm.
RAIJI (low, to himself): "Please... don't fail me, blade."
He swings again.
A weak fire slice.
But it's enough.
The flames burn the Paladin's skin. He rolls on the ground. Screaming.
Then
It stops.
He gets up.
Burned skin knitting. Bones fusing. Legs reattached.
PALADIN (through gritted teeth): "You'll pay for that. I've got fast regeneration."
The Paladin spins his blade.
Faster. Faster. Until it becomes a blur a cyclone of steel and wind.
PALADIN: "I'll show you what I call a tornado."
He grins through the spinning steel.
"its your move just upgraded, swordmen."
AT THE MAIN AREA
The Pastor scrolls through a screen. Data reflects off his face.
He looks up. Annoyed.
PASTOR: "Ahh... you. Bodyguard."
He gestures lazily toward the door.
"What's happening outside? You should be guarding this place."
The Enforcer steps forward.
Blue light pulses around her fists.
ENFORCER: "No. Only you."
On the other side of the wall
Kiro rears his fist back. About to punch through
Aurora grabs his arm.
AURORA: "Wow. Before you do that..."
She pulls out a thin sheet. Fiber-looking. Flexible.
She slips it under the door.
It spins toward the Enforcer and Pastor.
*BOOM. *
Smoke fills the room.
AURORA: "Now you can."
Kiro punches the wall.
*BANG. *
Concrete explodes inward.
He steps through the smoke.
Sees the Pastor.
Then
He moves.
The Pastor sees him eyes wide but he can't react in time.
Kiro's fist hits his gut.
The Pastor doubles over. Flies backward. Hits the wall.
Coughs blood.
Lays there.
The Enforcer steps between them.
ENFORCER: "Forget about me?"
She activates her EMP.
Blue wave erupts from her core.
Kiro jerks shocked but doesn't look away from the Pastor.
Aurora moves.
Staff in hand. Blocks the Enforcer's punch.
The impact sends sparks.
AURORA: "Not so fast."
She sends an electric jolt through the staff into the Enforcer's fist.
Then
Kick to the face.
Staff trip.
Enforcer falls.
Kick out the room.
She lands hard in the hallway. Doesn't get up.
Aurora turns.
Dusts off her hands.
Looks at Kiro.
AURORA: "Have fun, Mayor Kiro."
The whole building shakes.
A violent shudder runs through the walls. Cracks spider across the ceiling. Dust rains down.
Then a deafening roar of wind.
The roof peels open like a tin can.
Daylight floods in.
The battle is no longer contained.
MOMENTS BEFORE — THE CLASH
The Paladin stands in the center of the storm. His blade spins. Faster. Faster. A vortex of steel and wind swirls around him.
The air howls. Debris lifts off the ground. The walls tremble.
His voice cuts through the roar.
PALADIN: "This will end you, swordsman."
He thrusts the blade forward
The vortex expands. A tornado of wind and pressure. Hungry. Unstoppable.
Raiji doesn't step back.
He plants his feet.
Both blades in hand.
He looks at Red Death. Then at Elemental Slayer.
His voice is low. Serious. Like a man speaking to a partner.
RAIJI: "Don't fail me now. You swords."
A pause.
"If I go... you go too."
He closes his eyes.
"So listen."
He begins to spin.
Counter-clockwise.
Opposite to the Paladin's vortex.
His body becomes a blur. The blades bend to his will straining. Resisting. Then
Fire erupts.
Red Death ignites.
The flames spiral around him.
A fire tornado.
Opposite to the wind.
The two forces collide.
Wind meets fire. Pressure meets heat.
The air itself screams.
*BOOM. *
A shockwave explodes outward.
Walls shatter. The roof rips open. Debris flies in all directions.
Daylight pours in.