"I didn't want it to be like this," Axel said, as if the words mattered. "But I have orders."
And then, he moved.
Fast. Too fast.
Selena barely dodged his first strike, her flashlight clattering to the ground and plunging the room into near-total darkness. A flash of fire lit the room. Ryan, blasting heat forward, forcing Axel back.
"GET BEHIND ME!" Ryan shouted.
Beth yanked Alex down behind one of the overturned benches as sparks flew.
Axel was relentless. Calm. Deadly. Every move was precise, no hesitation, no emotion.
Selena launched herself forward, fists swinging, trying to create an opening, but Axel swept her leg and sent her crashing into the wall.
"You're not going to hurt him," Ryan growled, fire blooming along his arms.
Axel didn't answer. He lunged again, and this time—
Ryan caught his punch with both hands, heat flaring so intensely the metal in Axel's glove began to warp.
But Axel didn't flinch.
He headbutted Ryan squarely, sending him staggering back, stunned.
He turned toward the bench, toward Alex.
And Alex stood up.
Shaking. But standing.
Axel's expression flickered again. Something almost human behind his soldier's mask.
"I didn't want to do this," Axel said.
"I don't care what you want," Alex said, his voice cracking, but his fists clenched. "You don't touch my friends."
Power surged across Alex's skin, faintly glowing. His body was starting to harden, the same defensive ability he was still learning to control. But now, fear and rage sharpened it.
Axel took a step forward.
So did Alex.
And then, a door exploded open behind them, and Bob stormed into the room, eyes blazing with fury, clothes singed from the ongoing battle above.
"I fucking knew it..."
The crash of Bob's punch echoed through the emergency room like a thunderclap. Axel's body flew backward, crashing through a table, smashing into the far wall. The force of the hit left a crater in the concrete where he landed, groaning but alive.
Bob didn't follow up.
Because something else had just shifted.
A low hum began to pulse through the air, unnatural, vibrating through the bones of everyone in the room.
From the far wall, a portal ripped open.
It swirled like liquid glass, violet energy crackling at its edges, warping the air with a low, ominous drone. Sparks rained down from the ceiling as the ground trembled slightly beneath it.
And then, one by one, they stepped out.
Five figures.
Each of them moved like they owned the room.
The first, a woman cloaked in crimson, hair floating as if underwater. Her very presence caused the lights to flicker, and her eyes glowed with a psychic storm. Telekinesis.
The second, a tall, armored brute with no helmet, his skin dark as obsidian and arms wrapped in molten chains. A heat shimmer danced off him with every breath.
The third, slim, twitchy, eyes darting, electricity danced across his body like living snakes. Sparks leapt from his fingers to the floor, crackling.
The fourth, silent, masked, dressed in pure white with two massive blades across his back. The moment he stepped out, Beth gasped. Something about him was wrong.
And the fifth, the last to emerge, stepped through the portal with calm authority. He was dressed sharply in black and silver, not a hair out of place. No visible weapons. But his mere presence froze the air in the room. Ice.
Bob stepped forward.
"Figures," he muttered, glaring at Axel's unconscious form. "You opened the door for them."
He turned his head toward the kids, his tone sharper now commanding.
"Get out. "
Selena looked at him, wide-eyed. "We can fight—"
"No." His voice dropped an octave, power rumbling underneath it. "If you stay, I can't use my power without hurting you."
Alex's mouth went dry. "What… is your power?"
But Bob didn't answer.
He turned to the invaders, and his eyes began to glow black, streaks of darkness trailing from the corners like ink dripping upward. The air grew heavy. Thicker. Cold.
The lights dimmed, no, the shadows grew.
Then—
Lena burst into the room from the opposite hallway, rifle slung across her back, breath short. She saw the portal, saw the Order.
And then she saw the look in Bob's eyes.
She didn't hesitate.
"Everyone with me. NOW!" she barked.
"No!" Ryan growled, his fists igniting again. "We can help him!"
"You'll get in his way." Lena was already grabbing Alex and Beth, pushing them toward the side exit Bob had just opened with a punch. "MOVE!"
Selena hesitated.
"Selena!" Lena shouted. "You like him? Then live."
That worked.
The group reluctantly ran, pulled away from the forming battlefield, Ryan yelling curses the whole way. Alex looked over his shoulder once more, just in time to see Bob's shadow stretch across the floor like a living thing, swallowing the walls, reaching toward the five intruders.
Fear. Raw, primal, unshakable. It poured off Bob like a wave. The air screamed with it.
And as the door sealed behind them—
The last thing they heard was the voice of the calm, silver-clad enemy from the Order.
"Ah," he said. "There he is. The God of Wrath."