A heavy silence settled over the corridor, broken only by the irregular clicking of the mantis' blades tapping against the floor.
Adam's breathing grew heavier by the second, every muscle locked on the creature in front of him. His forearms throbbed, warm blood sliding down his skin. He swallowed hard.
If that had hit an artery… I'd be dead.
The clicking quickened. The mantis shifted, its movements growing sharper, more erratic, like a spring winding tighter and tighter.
Adam felt it in his gut — the next attack was coming.
"Marie," he whispered, never taking his eyes off the creature. "At my signal, run to the entrance as fast as you can and call for help. I won't be able to protect you while I'm focus—"
The mantis moved.
It didn't leap — it exploded forward.
A blur of green shot toward him, blades flaring open. Adam barely had time to blink before the creature vanished from his line of sight and reappeared behind him, clinging to the wall with a metallic scrape.
A burning sting tore across his arms.
"Adam, are you—"
"GO. NOW!" he barked, cutting her off.
Marie froze for half a heartbeat, stunned by the raw intensity in his voice. Then instinct took over. She spun on her heels and sprinted toward the entrance with everything she had, tears blurring her vision as fear and adrenaline crashed through her chest.
Adam barely had time to turn back toward the creature before it exploded forward again, giving him no space to think, no space to breathe.
Then the storm hit.
The mantis didn't slash like a fighter — it darted. It ricocheted through the narrow corridor in a blur of green, each micro‑sprint ending in a vicious passing cut. Blades flicked out as it shot past him, each burst of speed followed by another, faster one, the creature bouncing off walls, floor, ceiling with impossible precision.
Adam reacted on pure instinct, his body moving before his mind could catch up. He pressed his back against the wall and snapped into a tight boxing guard, elbows tucked in, forearms shielding his neck, his eyes, his torso. He minimized every exposed inch of skin, tightening his stance into the most compact, defensive shape he knew.
Each pass left a fresh line of fire across his arms. Each slash carved another trail of blood down his skin.
But he held. He endured. He stayed on his feet.
Another sting bit into the back of his hand — dangerously close to his face.
I can't keep this up. One clean hit and I'm finished… maybe not dead right away, but useless. If it cuts a nerve, a tendon, or hits the same spot one time too many… I won't even be able to lift my arms.
The pain began to blur, fading into a distant, pulsing heat. His breathing steadied. His heartbeat slowed. The panic receded, replaced by a cold, focused clarity.
He wasn't safe — far from it. But he was still standing. Still thinking. Still fighting.
And that meant something.
He realized, with a grim sort of acceptance, that he could take it — not forever, not without consequences, but long enough. Long enough to understand. Long enough to find an opening.
The creature became all he could see now — a streak of green, a flash of blades, a pattern of motion repeating faster than thought.
And little by little, as he focused and his body absorbed the punishment, he saw it.
A rhythm.
A flaw.
I see… it needs a one ‑ or two‑second break every few bursts. No matter how strong it is, it's still a mantis. They're built for explosive speed, not endurance. Even enhanced, it can't cheat physics.
He continued to observe, with a quiet, predatory calm, how the mantis' bursts were getting fewer. Its pauses grew longer. Adam began to count them, to feel the rhythm between each brief stillness and the next burning sting across his arms.
And slowly, he started to shift.
Not enough to dodge — the creature was far too fast for that — but enough to soften each cut, to angle his body so the blades grazed instead of carving deep. With every pass, he grew a little more precise, a little more efficient, a little more in control.
Then the mantis paused again.
Longer this time. Almost… thoughtful.
It clung to the opposite wall, antennae twitching, its body trembling with restrained energy. Adam stayed tense, but something inside him shifted. The adrenaline that had been flooding his veins began to ebb, replaced by a colder, sharper focus.
It's now or never.
He saw it — the telltale lowering of its body, the coiling of its legs, the exact same pattern as before. His muscles reacted before the thought even finished forming.
He stepped wide to the left, pivoted hard, and saw the mantis reappear on the wall beside him in a blur of green.
His left arm swung out in a brutal arc.
The impact jolted through him as the creature slammed against the wall. A sharp sting shot up his forearm — the exoskeleton was harder than he expected, the serrated blades scraping his skin — but he didn't stop.
With a raw, primal snarl, he grabbed the mantis with both hands and squeezed with everything he had, teeth clenched, muscles burning.
Pop.
The creature burst under the pressure, its body collapsing in a spray of greenish fluid that coated his palms. Adam let out a ragged breath, hurled the twitching remains to the floor, and stomped down hard — once, twice, again — until nothing recognizable was left, just scattered fragments crushed into the tiles.
Adam breathed hard, his gaze still tense and filled with murderous fury. Only the rise and fall of his chest echoed in the still corridor.
But as the adrenaline slowly drained from his veins, the fire in his eyes dimmed. His focus shifted back to the present — to the streaks of green fluid smeared across the walls, to the crushed remains of the creature at his feet.
Then the pain hit.
A sharp, searing wave tore through his body all at once, ripping a groan from his throat. His legs buckled and he dropped to one knee, clutching his arm as the cuts across his skin finally made themselves known.
Warm blood dripped steadily from his forearms, shoulders, even the side of his thigh — places he hadn't even realized had been hit. A small pool had already formed beneath him, dark and growing.
"Shit…"
His breath trembled as he looked down at himself. The slashes weren't deep enough to kill him outright, but there were too many. Far too many. His skin throbbed with every heartbeat, each pulse sending a fresh sting through the open wounds.
He pressed a hand against the wall to steady himself, but even that simple movement sent a jolt of pain up his arm. His fingers curled, nails scraping against the tile.
The corridor felt colder now. Quieter. And he felt… smaller.
The mantis hadn't been intelligent. It hadn't been strategic. It had just been fast — monstrously fast — and that alone had nearly carved him apart.
If Marie hadn't run when she did…
He forced the thought away and tried to stand, but his legs trembled beneath him. His muscles were still locked in the aftershock of the fight, twitching with leftover adrenaline and pain.
He exhaled slowly, forcing his body to obey.
With one hand pressed against the wall, he pushed himself upright, swaying for a moment before finding his balance. Blood dripped from his fingertips, pattering softly onto the floor.
"Marie…" he muttered, voice hoarse.
Thinking of her — and whether she was safe — he started walking. As he grew used to the pain, he managed to accelerate little by little. Every movement sent a sharp ache through his body, but as the door drew closer, something inside him reignited. Determination became the engine driving his steps.
"Marie… nothing must have happened to you…" he muttered, his voice cracking from pain.
When he finally reached the door, he pushed it open. One hand braced against the frame as he tried to steady himself. Remembering the mantis from before, he scanned the reception. It looked just as desolate as when he'd arrived, the lights still flickering with that unnerving rhythm.
The absurd normality of it all made him huff a laugh.
"It's weirdly reassuring not seeing anything trying to kill me— haha—" He winced mid‑laugh as a jolt of pain shot through his ribs. "Okay… no laughing. Got it."
Suddenly, he froze. Footsteps — fast, urgent — echoed from the entrance.
Then he saw Oliver burst in, gun drawn, seriousness etched across his face as he charged through the entrance with the kind of resolve that looked ready to face death. And right behind him, close on his heels, was Marie.
Relief washed over Adam the moment he saw her safe and sound. The tension holding him upright snapped, and his legs buckled. He dropped to his knees, hands slapping the floor to keep himself from face‑planting.
"Adam!" Marie cried out, her voice breaking with shock and fear.
She rushed toward him, dropping to her knees and pulling him into her arms, tears welling in her eyes.
"Adam! Are you okay?!" she cried, her voice trembling with panic as she took in his condition and felt the blood flowing from his body.
Seeing her like that, Adam couldn't help but tease her.
"I'm fine… but I might not be anymore if you keep screaming right into my ears, haha," he said with a crooked smile. Just seeing her safe made the pain feel a little less sharp.
Marie froze for a second, stunned by the familiar tone. His confident smile hit her harder than any reassurance could. Relief surged through her, loosening the tight knot in her chest even as tears kept spilling down her cheeks.
"Haa… how about I go find you another mantis to fight then?" she snapped back, her voice dripping with annoyance despite the tremor in her body and the tears still running down her face.
Adam couldn't help but think back to the mantis — the way it moved, the way it blurred like a ghost. The memory sent a shiver down his spine.
"Ha, I really loved it. Five stars for the service. But unfortunately, I have other things to do, so I'll have to respectfully decline your offer," Adam said as if he were leaving a review for a restaurant.
Marie couldn't help but smile hearing him like that.
"Huh, we really need to bandage him. He might bleed to death if we don't…" Oliver suddenly said, reminding them of his presence.
Marie snapped out of her reverie. She wiped her face with the back of her hand, forcing herself to calm down. Then, looking at Adam's condition, she took a deep breath and focused.
She gently lowered him onto the floor, supporting his head with her hand. Then she dug through her handbag, pulling out a handkerchief and some tissues. Without hesitation, she tore apart his already shredded shirt and ripped a strip from the hem of her own dress to use as makeshift bandages.
While working, she didn't forget Oliver.
"Could you call an ambulance? He needs immediate treatment," she said, still tearing fabric with quick, precise movements.
"I already called one while you two were fooling around," Oliver replied instantly, sounding both annoyed and relieved.
Marie didn't answer. She was fully concentrated now, her hands steady despite the tremor in her shoulders. She carefully wiped the blood from Adam's wounds, cleaning each cut with gentle, practiced motions. Then she wrapped the strips of cloth around his arms and torso, tightening them just enough to stop the bleeding without hurting him more.
Adam watched her work, feeling at peace.
Oliver, seeing this, shifted his focus to their surroundings. He had no idea what Adam had fought, but he knew one thing for sure: he didn't want to meet it. He kept his gun raised, scanning every corner with tense, jerky movements.
Time passed as Marie finally finished bandaging him. She let out a long, exhausted sigh — the ordeal had taken a heavy toll on her. Leaning back against the wall, she gently rested Adam's head on her lap and asked:
"How long until the ambulance arrives?"
"Mmm… it should get here in about forty‑five minutes. We're pretty far from a hospital," Oliver said in his naturally steady voice. Then, glancing at Adam, his tone deepened. "But seriously… what exactly did you two run into to end up like this?"
"I… I'm not even sure," Marie said, still shaken. "It moved like a shadow — really fast. I couldn't track its movements at all." She paused, gathering her thoughts. "But it looked strangely familiar. A gigantic mantis… and I feel like I've seen it before. It might be one of the specimens we studied, something that… developed far beyond what we observed."
"It was a mantis," Adam added, his voice low but steady. "Just taller — and qualitatively different. It was like every one of its predatory traits had been pushed to the absolute maximum. Thinner, stronger, faster… and sharper."
Silence settled over the room.
Oliver eventually broke it, his expression tightening. "Is there any chance that… there are others like that in this place?"
Marie and Adam froze. The thought that there could be more hit them like a bucket of cold water.
They exchanged a look, and in that instant, they both understood the other's intention.
Adam pushed himself up with difficulty, Marie immediately supporting him. "We need to leave right now," he said. "It's too dangerous to stay here."
Suddenly, the lights flickered — once, twice, three times — before stabilizing completely.
zzzz
A sharp crackle broke the silence. The sound came from Oliver's belt: his walkie‑talkie.
"Oliver, can you hear me? The situation is advancing on our side. The emergency can be terminated — we resolved the main issue — the power's back on. It was caused by some of our rats… Anyway, did anything happen on your side?" It was Melody's voice.
Oliver grabbed the device quickly and pressed the button to respond.
"I can hear you. But what exactly happened?" he asked, glancing at Adam and Marie.
zzzz
"Well, a lot of the specimens we were studying escaped somehow. So we called in as many people as we could to track down every rat, insect, and other— wait a second." Melody's voice cut off abruptly.
A brief pause followed.
"Sorry, a cat was scratching an intern. So, like I was saying: some rats managed to gnaw through a few of the main cables in our lab. But we caught them, and we managed to stabilize the situation. However, we still have quite a lot of escapees running around," she continued calmly.
"Right… did anybody arrive yet? Like I said, we'll need some helping hands to catch the rest," she added.
Adam and Marie's jaws dropped at the absurdity of what they were hearing. Marie snapped. She grabbed Oliver's walkie‑talkie and shouted:
"Why didn't you tell us?! We almost died!"
On the other side of the facility, Melody and her team were sweeping through rooms and labs with every tool they could find when Marie's voice blasted through the speakers. Everyone turned toward Melody at once.
Melody froze. Marie's words hit the room like a slap — everyone turned at once, waiting.
She pressed the button and answered, her voice clipped but controlled:
"I'm on my way."
She released the button without another word, handed her clipboard to the nearest intern, and walked towards the entrance.