In a wrecked corridor within Nyx's facility, the red lights still flickered, casting eerie shadows over the carnage. The air was thick with the stench of blood and burnt flesh, along with the constant blaring alarm.
The floor was littered with corpses - guards, failed subjects, shattered machines - all swallowed by the chaos.
Isaac stumbled forward, dragging Kai's limp body behind him.
His legs barely held him upright.
Every step was a battle. His head pounded, his vision swam, and the weight of exhaustion threatened to crush him.
But he clenched his teeth and kept moving.
'M-Must get out of here.'
After everything planned had gone to shit, the only thing on his mind was getting back alive with Kai in tow.
But as if doing so before the facility blew up to smithereens wasn't hard enough already, he just had to stumble upon Nyx's mutant guard squad.
Isaac's heart immediately sank.
Irina led the group, gliding over the ground with unnatural grace, her every step smooth and precise, as if she were skating on ice. Behind her, the two hulking mutants rumbled forward, the ground quaking beneath their weight. And atop one of their broad backs perched a smaller figure, her eyes sharp and unreadable.
Isaac clenched his teeth and was ironically frozen in place after locking eyes with Irina.
Using his ability now would be a struggle. Even at full strength, he wouldn't stand a chance in a confrontation against a single one of them. And with Kai weighing him down, he could barely move, let alone fight.
But he couldn't leave Kai behind. Not just because Nyx had ordered him to take him - but because if Kai truly was the first successful artificial mutant, then he was too valuable. Too dangerous to leave in Nyx's hands.
If that lunatic figured out how to replicate him...
Isaac shuddered.
An army of mutants.
That single thought sent a chill down his spine.
And to top it all off, the mutant guard squad looked mostly unscathed.
Which meant his companions likely weren't - not that he was in any position to be worrying about others.
'I've never even seen Takeshi injured, let alone beaten, so I'm sure they're safe,' he reassured himself, shoving the thought away and focusing on what was right in front of him.
His body tensed, and his breath hitched, expecting an attack...
But the mutant guards rushed straight past him and barely spared him a glance.
Irina's gaze had flickered over him and Kai, recognition in her eyes.
Kai - the subject Nyx favoured. And Isaac - one of Nadya's rogue mutant allies.
Her lips curled in distaste.
'I can never tell what that crazy bastard is thinking.'
There was no way Nyx had let them go out of the kindness of his heart.
No. If anything, this was just another one of his games.
Let them savour their escape. Let them think they had got away before making them despair even further.
Irina clicked her tongue.
'Not that it's my problem. As long as he keeps his word...'
Without another thought, she and the others continued toward the evacuation point.
-
After rushing through the facility, they finally arrived at a vast hangar deep within the facility.
The air was thick with tension as Nyx's subordinates - scientists, researchers, and mutants alike - hurriedly prepared for departure.
At the centre of it all was a massive, sleek aircraft - its metallic frame humming with energy, a mobile lab integrated within its very structure.
Nyx smirked, stepping onto the platform leading toward it.
'Glad I had this prepared for me. Moving between facilities will be much easier now. And I can always get some more underlings to run my errands.'
He barely spared a thought for those he had lost, nor did he care much about the facility itself.
All the important data was stored within the augmented system in his left arm, and anything else valuable was somewhere only he could access.
Trust? Reliance?
Those were for the weak.
Control.
That was the only thing worth having and was exactly what he maintained.
As the mutant guard squad arrived, Nyx greeted them with open arms.
They were important for his research and even more so for his protection.
Irina strode past him without a word, her expression cold.
The others, however, each received something from him.
Brutus - the massive brute who had fought Takeshi - was trembling, his muscles spasming uncontrollably. His mutant ability tormented him, sending unbearable cramps and pain throughout his body.
Nyx injected him with a stabiliser.
He shrunk in an instant - his towering, muscle-bound form deflating into something almost comically thin.
His once-mighty presence was now reduced to that of a twig.
He let out a shaky breath of relief, though his face burned with embarrassment.
Vera - the girl with laser eyes - stood frozen, her hands clenched into fists. Her powers had never been in her control, her lasers firing at the worst moments, leaving her in constant fear of blinding or killing someone unintentionally.
Brutus, still recovering from his transformation, grabbed her trembling hand. She hesitated before allowing him to carefully apply a soothing liquid to her eyes.
Nyx then handed her a pair of specialised glasses, which she slipped on. Her shoulders immediately relaxed as she squeezed the hand of her now scrawny companion.
Then there was Rocko - the dull-eyed, sluggish oaf.
His mutant ability fried his mind, reducing his intelligence to that of a dimwitted child. When his body is encased in hardened rock, he is durable and powerful but incapable of feeling anything or controlling his body adequately. He also struggles to deactivate his ability.
With a pill from Nyx, the stone crumbled from his body.
From within the rocky exterior emerged a bald, round man - completely naked.
He blinked sluggishly, scratching his stomach, before scurrying around the hangar like a confused rodent.
Irina sighed.
"Rocko. Clothes. Now."
She shoved a uniform into his hands, scolding him like an exasperated mother dealing with a misbehaving child.
One by one, the mutants boarded the aircraft.
After one final brief sweep of everything, with a satisfied and twisted smile, Nyx said, "Let's set off."
Pressing a button on his left arm, the ceiling of the hangar split open - a massive passage leading toward the outside world.
The cold, snowy winds howled into the chamber as the aircraft hummed to life.
Then, with a powerful thruster ignition, they took off.
The facility shrank beneath them as they soared into the sky...
Moments after, a deafening boom echoed through the air, followed by multiple more.
The mountain, and everything within it, was consumed by a violent cascade of explosions.
Smoke and debris billowed into the sky. The ground trembled. The once-imposing structure collapsed in on itself, reduced to nothing but rubble and dust.
Nyx leaned back in his seat, watching the destruction with a satisfied smirk.
"Such a shame," he muttered, voice laced with mock sorrow.
Then his smile widened.
"But this is just the start and was bound to happen eventually. Now for Phase 2."