The roar from the metro tunnel shook the street like a bomb going off underground.
Concrete burst outward.
Steel barricades flipped into the air as the massive fracture creature climbed fully into the open. Red lightning crawled across its body, pulsing through its limbs like veins of molten glass.
Dominion soldiers opened fire.
Heavy machine guns thundered. Rocket trails streaked across the sky.
None of it slowed the creature.
It slammed both arms into the street.
The ground exploded.
Ghost grabbed Mara and dragged her behind an armored transport as chunks of asphalt rained down around them.
Kade dove beside them.
"Please tell me we have a plan!"
Ghost peered around the vehicle.
The creature was easily fifteen feet tall, its body shifting constantly—sometimes flesh, sometimes something else entirely. Its head split into two halves that reformed seconds later, glowing eyes scanning the battlefield.
"It's anchored," Ghost said.
Hana ducked behind a barricade nearby, tablet glowing.
"I see it! There's a fracture seam under the station—huge energy spike!"
Rook drew his blade slowly.
"That thing is the gatekeeper."
Mara looked between them.
"You mean if we kill it—"
"More will come," Rook finished.
The creature roared again and slammed a Dominion armored truck aside like a toy.
Ghost didn't hesitate.
"Then we close the door."
Dominion Command Post – Two Blocks Away
Inside a mobile command trailer, Dominion officers watched the battle unfold on multiple screens.
Satellite feeds.
Drone cameras.
Thermal scans.
All focused on one figure moving through the chaos.
Ghost.
A tall woman in black tactical armor stood at the center of the room.
Commander Vasquez.
Her eyes never left the main screen.
"So it's true," she said quietly.
A technician nodded nervously.
"The anomaly spike matches the Kyrgyzstan event. Every fracture signal is reacting to him."
Another officer spoke.
"Should we authorize lethal force?"
Vasquez folded her arms.
"No."
She zoomed in on Ghost fighting the creature.
"I want him captured."
The officer frowned.
"Ma'am, the creature—"
"I'm not talking about the creature," she said coldly.
Her gaze sharpened.
"I'm talking about Simon Riley."
Back at the Metro
Ghost sprinted forward through the smoke.
The fracture creature spotted him instantly.
Its head twisted unnaturally.
Then it charged.
Ghost slid under a sweeping claw that tore through a streetlight behind him. He rolled to his feet and fired three rounds into the glowing seam along its ribs.
The creature screamed.
Rook leapt onto its arm, blade cutting a deep arc through red energy.
"Found the weak point!"
The creature thrashed violently, throwing Rook across the street.
He slammed into a car hood with a metallic crunch.
Kade winced.
"Oof. That looked expensive."
Mara shoved him.
"Focus!"
Hana's voice came through the comms.
"Ghost! The anchor is beneath it!"
Ghost looked down.
Through the cracks in the pavement he could see it—a swirling red vortex beneath the creature's feet.
The fracture gate.
Ghost exhaled slowly.
"Cover me."
Mara nodded instantly.
"On you."
She and Kade opened fire together, drawing the creature's attention. Bullets tore across its torso, forcing it to turn away from Ghost.
That was all he needed.
Ghost sprinted forward.
The creature noticed too late.
Ghost dove beneath it and fired directly into the ground.
The bullet hit the vortex.
Reality snapped.
The creature froze mid-motion.
Red energy surged violently up its body as the fracture anchor collapsed.
For a moment the entire street went silent.
Then the creature shattered into thousands of glowing fragments that dissolved into the rain.
The fracture seam beneath the station sealed with a low thunder.
The battle was over.
The Calm After
Dominion soldiers slowly lowered their weapons.
The red lightning in the sky faded.
For now.
Mara walked up beside Ghost.
"You just closed it."
Ghost nodded once.
"Temporary."
Hana approached, tablet still glowing.
"Actually… no."
Ghost looked at her.
"What?"
She turned the screen.
The fracture point that had been blinking over the metro hub was gone.
Not sealed.
Erased.
Hana swallowed.
"Simon… no one's ever done that before."
Rook stood up slowly, rubbing his shoulder.
"I told you," he muttered.
Ghost didn't answer.
Because something else caught his attention.
Dominion troops were surrounding them.
Armored vehicles rolled into the street.
Drones hovered overhead.
Weapons pointed directly at the squad.
Kade slowly raised his hands.
"Uh… guys?"
A Dominion officer stepped forward.
Helmet visor reflecting the streetlights.
"Simon Riley."
Ghost said nothing.
The officer gestured toward the soldiers surrounding them.
"By order of Dominion Command, you are to surrender for containment and study."
Mara raised her rifle.
"Try it."
The officer didn't react.
"Mr. Riley's presence is causing global fracture instability."
He nodded toward Hana's tablet.
"Your team already knows that."
Ghost's jaw tightened.
The officer continued calmly.
"If you come with us willingly, the Dominion will contain the anomaly."
"And if I don't?" Ghost asked.
The officer's voice remained perfectly steady.
"Then we eliminate the variable."
Dominion rifles clicked as safeties disengaged.
The entire squad stood frozen for a moment.
Then Rook chuckled quietly.
"Well," he said.
"That escalated quickly."
Ghost slowly raised his rifle.
Not at the Dominion soldiers.
But toward the dark skyline where faint red fractures flickered across the clouds.
He understood now.
This war wasn't coming.
It had already started.
And everyone wanted him at the center of it.