BOOM! BOOM! CRACK!
The night sky above the estate became a canvas of violence. Zareth and Vanderznak traded blows at speeds that blurred the vision of anyone foolish enough to watch.
Zareth kicked the empty air. Blue fire erupted from his soles and acted as thrusters to propel him through the sky with jagged, unpredictable movements. He was a missile of black scales and holy fire. On his back, the boy clung tightly to the H.A.D.E.S. dragon head while the serpent hissed and snapped at the rushing wind.
Vanderznak shouted in frustration. He swung his remaining good wing and unleashed a barrage of compressed wind blades.
SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!
"Die, you pest!" Vanderznak screamed.
Zareth didn't dodge. The dragon head on his shoulder opened its maw.
FWOOSH!
A torrent of purple fire intercepted the wind blades. The clash of elements created a blinding explosion of steam and heat.
Vanderznak shielded his eye. "You cannot block everything!"
But Zareth was already moving. He burst through the wall of fire and smoke. He caught the scientist completely off guard.
"Got you."
Zareth clenched his mutated left fist. Electricity arced between his knuckles. He drove the punch directly at Vanderznak's head, but he shifted at the last second.
SPLAT!
The impact to his left side was catastrophic. It obliterated the shoulder joint and tore the leathery wing from its socket in a spray of ichor.
"GAAAAH!" Vanderznak shrieked and spun uncontrollably in the air.
It was clear to both of them. Zareth was a seasoned executioner who had spent a lifetime dismantling monsters. Vanderznak was a scientist who had merely acquired a powerful suit. He had the strength, but he lacked the instinct.
"I cannot win this," Vanderznak realized through the haze of pain.
He saw Zareth charging for another strike. Vanderznak improvised. He lashed out with his tail. The limb coiled around Zareth's ankle and yanked him off balance.
"Get off!" Zareth shouted.
Vanderznak used the moment of confusion. He reached out with his remaining hand and snatched the boy from Zareth's back.
"The variable is mine!"
Vanderznak spun his body like a typhoon. He used the centrifugal force to hurl Zareth toward the earth.
WHOOSH!
Zareth plummeted.
Vanderznak didn't wait to see the impact. He looked toward the main gate and saw the dust settling from Carl Blackthorn's escape.
'That fat coward fled,' Vanderznak thought bitterly. 'The Blackthorn protection is gone. If I stay, the Convent will descend upon me like vultures.'
He clutched the boy tight against his chest and dove toward the roof of his laboratory.
CRASH!
He smashed through the skylight and landed in the center of his office. The floor tiles cracked under his weight.
Vanderznak didn't waste a second. He scrambled to his desk. He swept piles of parchment, blueprints, and vials of experimental serum into a large leather satchel.
"My life's work. Ruined by a single Priest."
He shoved a notebook filled with genetic sequences into the bag.
"Years of partnership with the Blackthorns... wasted. I had everything here. Resources. Subjects. solitude."
He strapped the bag across his chest.
"No matter. As long as my genius mind survives, I will find a way. I will rebuild."
He grabbed the boy, who was dazed from the flight, and sprinted into the main lab.
He nearly collided with two figures in the hallway.
"Whoa!" Beltrom jumped back. "That scared me. We thought it was the Priest."
Hunter looked at the battered scientist. He noted the missing arm and the torn wing.
"Boss? Is the old man dead yet?" Hunter asked.
Vanderznak stopped. He glared at them. "I wouldn't be packing up shop if I had killed that bastard. Move aside."
He shoved past them and marched toward a control console filled with levers and dials. He stopped before a large red lever labeled 'Stasis Flush.'
Vanderznak looked at the rows of pods where the pregnant women were secured. He sighed.
"Such an immeasurable loss. But I cannot leave evidence."
CLUNK.
He pulled the lever.
Inside the pods, the clear suspension fluid began to drain. A dark, noxious liquid rushed in from the bottom valves.
Hunter watched the fluid rise. His eyes widened. "What is happening? What is that black stuff?"
"I am exterminating the specimens," Vanderznak said coldly. "We are leaving. Nothing survives."
Hunter froze. He looked at a woman in the nearest pod. Her belly was swollen with a child that carried his own mutated DNA. Like Carl, Hunter had been granted breeding privileges. These weren't just test subjects to him; they were carrying his legacy.
"No."
Hunter wasn't as heartless as the scientist. He felt a pang of fatherhood cut through his loyalty.
Hunter rushed forward. He grabbed the lever and slammed it back to the 'Off' position.
CLUNK.
The black liquid stopped rising.
Vanderznak turned slowly. His face twisted into a mask of pure fury.
"You... what are you doing?"
"I won't let you." Hunter stood between the console and his master. "Only over my dead body will I allow this to happen."
"If you insist."
THWACK!
Vanderznak's tail lashed out. The bone stinger pierced Hunter's chest and pinned him to the console.
"Gah!" Hunter coughed blood.
"I am in need of replenishment."
Vanderznak began to drain Hunter's vitality. His torn wing stump bubbled and stretched as new flesh knit together.
Beltrom stood frozen at the side. He was too terrified to intervene.
Suddenly, Vanderznak stiffened. The golden eye dilated.
'He's coming.'
Vanderznak sensed the incoming threat. It was a massive, hot aura approaching at high speed.
SQUELCH.
He withdrew his tail from Hunter's chest. He had only managed to regenerate his wings, but his arm was still missing. It would have to be enough.
"I have no more time for you."
Vanderznak pushed the bleeding Hunter aside. He slammed his fist onto a glass-encased button on the console.
BEEP-BEEP-BEEP.
"Self-destruct sequence initiated," a mechanical voice droned. "T-minus two minutes."
Vanderznak raised his fist and punched the control panel.
SMASH!
Sparks flew as the electronics shattered.
"Try turning that off," Vanderznak spat.
He tightened his grip on the boy with his arm and dashed down the escape corridor.
"No!" Hunter slid down the console. He clutched his bleeding chest and tried to reach for the destroyed wires. "We have to... stop it..."
Beltrom finally moved. He grabbed Hunter by the shoulder.
"Leave it! We have to go! This whole place is going to blow!"
"But... the women..." Hunter reached out a trembling hand toward the pods. "I can't... save anyone..."
"You can't save them if you're dead!" Beltrom dragged him away.
CRASH!
The tiled cracked behind them.
A nightmare had landed.
Zareth stood there, breathing heavy puffs of purple fire. His H.A.D.E.S. head scanned the room like a radar dish. His black scales seemed to absorb the emergency lighting.
Hunter and Beltrom fell to their asses. They scrambled backward until they hit the wall.
"Where is he?" Zareth asked. His voice was a low rumble that vibrated in their chests.
Beltrom couldn't speak. He simply raised a shaking finger and pointed down the dark corridor.
"He... he went... that way."
WHOOSH!
Zareth didn't say another word. He vanished down the corridor and left a trail of smoke and terrified mutants in his wake.