Veyron moved through the opposite wing of the lab, every step measured, controlled. The sterile white halls felt too clean, too quiet—like the building itself was holding its breath.
Behind him, Akari floated close, eyes sharp despite the fear humming under her skin.
Two guards rounded the corner ahead.
Akari reacted first.
Her butterflies burst forward in a sudden swirl—pink and luminous—filling the guards' vision. They shouted in confusion, hands flying up, stumbling blind.
That was Veyron's moment.
He flicked his wrist.
Thin sedative needles flew silently, striking necks and shoulders. One guard dropped instantly. The second staggered for half a second before collapsing face-first onto the floor, asleep.
Veyron exhaled softly."Clean."
They reached the security room moments later.
Veyron slipped inside first, Akari right behind him.
The room was small. Cramped. Screens lined the wall, each showing different parts of the facility.
One guard sat in the chair.
Sleeping.
Snorting.
Veyron didn't hesitate. He grabbed the chair and dragged both it and the guard aside. Black tape appeared in his hands—the same kind Rhett had used. In seconds, the guard's mouth, arms, and legs were bound tight. Veyron shoved him against the wall; the chair clattered softly as the guard slumped, helpless.
Akari stared at him, eyes wide.
Veyron turned back to the control panels, muttering to himself."Where… where would the power-off switch be?"
Akari tilted her head, then walked past him.
She pressed a small, unmarked button on the wall—hidden behind where the guard had been sitting.
Every screen went dark at once.
Cameras: offline.
"Yay," Akari said softly, a tiny smile breaking through.
Veyron turned, relief flooding his face. He crossed the room in two steps and hugged her tight.
"You did amazing," he said quietly.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scene shift.
Goro, Axel, and the woman moved deeper through the lab's opposite corridor.
They passed alongside the prison wing.
Behind reinforced glass and thick bars, sealbreakers filled the yard—some arguing, some fighting, some sitting in silence. Every single one of them wore a dark metallic ring around their necks, green lights pulsing faintly along the surface.
Axel clenched his jaw.
"It's different," he muttered. "But still the same hell."
Goro nodded, eyes hard.
The woman didn't react at all. No anger. No fear. Just focus—like she'd never been inside a prison like this before.
They continued on.
At the far end of the corridor stood a pair of reinforced double doors.
LOCKER ROOM.
A few guards stood nearby. They never had time to raise an alarm.
Moments later, the hallway fell silent.
As they approached the doors, Axel noticed something.
"All cameras are off," he said, grinning."It must be Veyron and Akari."
Pride flickered across Goro's face.
They slipped inside.
The locker room split into two sides—men's and women's. Without hesitation, all three moved into the men's side. Rows of blue metal wardrobes lined the walls, neatly labeled.
Axel pulled out the keycards they'd taken.
"Alright," he said quietly."Let's start with ten."
One by one, they began opening lockers.
#10.#11.#12.#13.#14.#15.
Somewhere among them—The IDs.The password.
They found them.
Five IDs, lined up inside the lockers. Each one marked scientist / high-class. On the back of every card, the same handwritten password. No doubt left.
This was it.
For a brief moment, everything felt light. The plan had worked. They finally had what Yuki needed.
Then the air changed.
A thick, black gas began leaking from thin vents along the ceiling. It spilled downward fast, swallowing the room. Goro coughed first, then Axel. Their lungs burned as the gas forced its way in, vision blurring, muscles weakening.
The doors slammed shut.
The woman vanished in a flash of light-green particles, leaving nothing but silence and fog behind.
Goro and Axel were alone.
The gas grew heavier. Breathing became impossible. Axel collapsed first, slipping into unconsciousness. Goro stayed upright for a few seconds longer, teeth clenched, trying to focus.
The doors opened.
Footsteps.
A man entered slowly, wrapped in a long black coat. Black vapor seeped from it as if the coat itself were alive.
"Wh… are… you…" Goro managed, barely audible.
The man tilted his head.
"Kairo Noctis," he said calmly. "Not that you would remember."
The words stretched and distorted as Goro's strength gave out.
Darkness followed.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Time passed.
When Goro woke up, his body felt heavy, restrained. Chains. Cold metal around his arms. His vision was still unfocused, but the room was unmistakable—walls filled with monitors, polished floors, double doors at the far end.
The Mayor's room.
Axel was chained beside him, barely conscious.
A figure sat comfortably in the Mayor's chair. Black coat. Black vapor.
Kairo Noctis.
"The Mayor and his right-hand man are away," Kairo said, standing. "But he'll be back soon."
He walked down slowly, stopping in front of Axel. From beneath his coat, he produced a metallic chain, faintly glowing with heat.
Axel screamed as the chain struck his ankles, pain tearing through him.
"In the meantime," Kairo continued, unbothered, "I was told to extract as much information as possible."
He leaned closer.
"While keeping you alive."
Axel tried to focus. Goro tried to summon gravity.
Nothing happened.
They noticed the collars around their arms—dark metal, faint green lights. The same suppressors from the old prison.
Reality sank in.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The scene shifted.
Veyron and Akari stood at the elevator room—the planned meeting point. Too much time had passed. No signal. No word.
Something was wrong.
Light-green particles shimmered behind a stack of white crates.
The woman appeared.
Veyron instantly stepped in front of Akari, protective, tense.
The woman raised her hands slightly, calm.
"I'm guessing you're with them," she said.
Veyron nodded once.
"They helped me escape," she continued. "So let's get them back."
She extended her hand toward him.
"Rin," she said. "Rin Asahira."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kairo moved methodically.
Axel and Goro were chained to their chairs, powerless, every attempt to fight back ending in nothing but shaking muscles and shallow breaths. Kairo struck without hurry—knees, forearms, across the face—never hard enough to kill, never soft enough to spare pain. He was precise. Practiced.
Then he changed tactics.
The black gas seeped from his coat again, rolling low and thick. It wrapped only around their section of the room, like a controlled cage. Air vanished.
Goro's chest burned. Axel tried to inhale and failed. Seconds stretched into agony before the gas pulled back—just enough air to keep them alive.
Again.
And again.
Kairo watched closely, studying their reactions, waiting for fear to break them.
Instead, they smiled.
Weak, defiant smiles—but real.
Kairo's expression twisted.
"You mocking me?" he asked, voice smooth, almost amused.
He lifted the heated chain, ready to strike again.
Light-green particles bloomed behind him.
Before Kairo could react, Rin materialized.
She grabbed him with both hands and hurled him across the room. His body crashed into the stairs, stone and metal breaking apart under the impact. The sound echoed violently through the chamber.
Rin was already moving.
A gas mask covered her face now. She rushed to Goro and Axel, pressing masks onto them, sealing them tight. Fresh air rushed in, sharp and painful but real.
Kairo recovered fast.
The chain snapped forward, catching Rin's leg. She cried out—but in one clean motion, she severed it with her glowing green blade. The chain fell uselessly to the floor.
Kairo stared at her for a moment, stunned.
Then fury replaced everything.
He turned and sprinted up the stairs. At the Mayor's chair, he slammed his hand down on a hidden button.
An alarm pulsed silently through the house.
Emergency protocol.
Guards began flooding the corridors.
Outside the room, Veyron and Akari pulled their own gas masks into place. The moment the doors opened, they rushed in.
Veyron pulled out a compact saw—old, reliable. He and Akari worked fast, sparks flying as the blade bit into the chains around Goro and Axel.
"Almost.." Veyron muttered, forcing calm into his voice.
The alarms kept spreading.
Time was gone.