Ashes of Our Flame
by RapwizzyDebaron
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Episode 98: "The Flames Within"
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The roar of twisted creatures filled the night air like a storm of nightmares unleashed.
In the war room, alarms wailed, red lights pulsing against the walls. Kara's eyes flickered with determination as the feed from the perimeter drones showed the mutated horde closing in — bone fused with steel, eyes blank with submission, programmed to obey only one voice.
Vane's.
But Kara's voice didn't shake. "We hold them here."
Adrian slammed a fresh cartridge into his rifle. "We'll never last through sheer firepower. We need a plan."
Shade leaned against the wall, scanning infrared maps. "Tunnels run below the south wing. Collapsible entry. We lure them in, blow it. Create a grave."
Tessa glanced at the monitors. "Too risky. We go down with them."
Kara stepped forward. "Then we adapt. We draw them close enough to trigger the trap—then fall back. I'll hold the breach point."
Zero, pale but steady, shook his head. "You won't survive that alone."
"I'm not alone," Kara whispered. "Not anymore."
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Minutes later, the team armed the south corridor with charges. The weight of the moment settled on everyone like gravity pulling at their souls.
Tessa handed Kara a small device. "Detonator. Two-second delay. Enough time to get clear… if you're fast."
Kara took it silently, slipping it into her belt.
Adrian caught her arm. "Don't be a martyr."
"I'm not trying to be anything," she replied. "Just someone who finishes what they started."
Their eyes locked—brief but electric. There was so much unsaid. So much stolen by war, time, and lies.
"Come back," he said.
She nodded. "If I can."
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The horde came like a black tide.
Claws scraping metal, cybernetic limbs crashing through walls, voices distorted with static screams. Kara stood at the front, every breath sharpening her focus.
Adrian covered her from the catwalks, Tessa sniping from the far ridge, Shade managing the charge timing from below.
Kara moved like flame — swift, ruthless, precise. Every swing of her blade was a memory purged. Every step forward was reclaiming her identity.
They pushed forward. She pulled back.
Step by step. Beat by beat.
Until she reached the final marker.
She clicked the detonator. The corridor lit up with a soft red blink.
Two seconds.
She turned—
And saw him.
Not Elias Vane.
But his echo.
The clone. The cybernetic V-1, walking through fire as if it bowed to him. His eyes were not just red. They glowed with knowing.
"You were always the most promising, Kara," he said. "Too bad hope is your greatest flaw."
The charges exploded.
The tunnel caved in.
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Darkness.
Then light.
Coughing, rubble shifting — Adrian's voice shouting her name over and over.
"KARA!"
She emerged, bloodied, limping—but alive.
"Did we get them?" she asked.
Shade gave a weak smile. "Enough of them."
But Tessa pointed to the main screen.
A transmission was overriding the feed.
The V-1 clone's face appeared, half-burned, still alive.
"I am Nemesis. I was born in death. And I will rewrite the world in fire."
Then the signal cut.
Kara looked up, breath shallow, fire reflecting in her eyes.
"This isn't the end."
"No," Adrian said, standing beside her.
"It's the beginning."
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To be continued…
🔥 The monsters are not just outside. Some are born from within. The w
ar has evolved.
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Every choice burns. Every truth cuts deeper.