The door hissed open.
Two guards in black armor stepped inside, rifles slung across their backs. Between them walked Director Hargrove, her heels clicking sharply against the polished floor.
The sound echoed through the containment chamber.
My throat tightened.
"Where am I…?" I rasped, lifting my head to look at her.
My voice sounded dry. Weak.
"Containment wing," Hargrove replied briskly. "You're lucky you're alive, kid."
The words made me flinch.
The memory slammed into me like a hammer.
The chamber.
The flames.
Storm.
Her lifeless body in my hands.
The floor stained red.
My chest tightened violently and the chains rattled as I thrashed against them.
"Where is she?!" I shouted, my voice cracking. "Where's Storm's body?!"
Hargrove's eyes flickered.
Just for a moment.
Then her expression hardened again.
"…Disintegrated."
The word shattered something inside me.
"No…!"
My voice broke.
"No, no, no—you assholes—!"
Hargrove cut me off coldly.
"She threw her life away for a foolish decision."
Her gaze stabbed straight through me.
"You should be the one dead, not her."
"It's all your fault."
My vision blurred with tears.
"She was trying help me!" I shouted, my voice trembling with fury.
Hargrove's lips thinned.
"She allowed sentiment to cloud her judgment."
"Hydros was right about you."
"Your just a flame devil Who burns anything it touches...."
The guards shifted slightly behind her.
"You're not a girl anymore," she continued calmly.
"You're a containment hazard...."
Her voice lowered.
"And we plan to turn you into a lab rat for our upcoming experiments."
The words cut deeper than the chains biting into my wrists.
"My sister…!" I shouted hoarsely. "Where is she?!"
Hargrove gave a small, almost amused smile.
"Don't worry flame devil..."
"We won't do anything to your sister."
Her grin widened slightly.
"But she was completely devastated after hearing that her sister died from touching the Tesseract and was responsible for storms death....."
My breath caught.
"And your father?" Hargrove continued casually.
"He had to leave work early after hearing the tragic news about his stupid daughter."
A quiet giggle escaped her.
"Right now, they're probably preparing your funeral."
"They have no idea…"
"…that you're about to become our experiment before Hydros executes you for your crime."
Something inside my chest twisted violently.
I shook my head, flames flickering weakly around my wrists.
"I'll kill you…!!!"
Hargrove didn't react.
"You touched something forbidden," she said coldly.
"The core reacted to your stupidity...."
She folded her arms behind her back.
"But the real question is why."
"Why did the Tesseract awaken your power?"
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"It hasn't done that in over two hundred years."
"There must be a reason for such a phenomenon."
The guards shifted uneasily.
Hands drifting closer to their weapons.
" no matter... We'll answer those questions," Hargrove continued calmly.
"…with experiments."
"While you're still alive."
My tears slid down my cheeks.
But the moment she touched the blue flames around my skin—
They sizzled.
Evaporating instantly.
Only fire remained.
"…No…"
My voice was barely a whisper.
"…I can't die yet."
Slowly, my head lifted.
My eyes burned like molten gold.
"Storm tried to reason with him…"
My voice trembled with rage.
"…and he killed her....."
The guards tensed.
Blue flames crept across the chains wrapped around my wrists.
Metal began to glow red.
"He called me a monster…"
My breathing grew heavier.
"She died trying to protect me…"
My flames surged brighter.
"And now…"
I glared at Hargrove.
"…you're locking me in a cage to run your stupid experiments?!"
For the first time—
Hargrove stepped back.
"Restrain her—!"
The chains exploded apart.
Fire erupted from my body in a violent wave.
Blue flames swallowed the chamber in a roaring torrent of heat.
The mirrored observation glass spiderwebbed with cracks.
ALARMS SHRIEKED.
The guards staggered backward as I rose slowly from the floor.
Flames swirled around my body like a living cloak.
My voice tore from my throat.
Raw.
Broken.
"I'LL KILL YOU!!"
But before I could move—
Something outside the chamber exploded.
Through the cracked glass I saw flashes of chaos.
Screaming guards.
Burning corridors.
Collapsing ceilings.
The smell of charred steel drifted into the room.
Then—
Something else.
A strange green smoke began seeping under the door.
It spread quickly across the floor.
The door suddenly burst open.
The smoke flooded the chamber.
A figure stepped through it.
Hands casually tucked in his pockets.
I barely had time to react.
The smoke already filled my lungs.
My vision spun.
My knees buckled.
The flames around my body flickered violently.
Then died.
I collapsed onto the floor.
Through blurred vision, I watched the figure bend down and pick up one of the guards' rifles.
Two gunshots echoed through the chamber.
BANG!
BANG!
The guards' bodies slumped lifelessly onto the ground.
The man walked passed Hargrove slowly toward me.
He stopped right above where I lay.
Looking down at me.
The last thing I saw—
Was his shadow stretching across the floor.
Then—
Darkness swallowed everything.