Jace's voice cuts through the tension like a blade: “Then why don’t you show us, Lucian?”

  Before Lucian can react, Axel slams both fists together his gravitational aura flares outward, thick and distorted, warping the very air. In a burst of movement, Jace surges forward, faster than Lucian can track. Every step is guided by Axel’s gravitational manipulation, turning Jace into a living missile.

  Lucian barely blocks the first hit, skidding back from the impact, suit sparking. His eyes widen with shock. Jace keeps coming—left, right, a brutal uppercut. Lucian staggers. But then, he snarls, slamming his fist into the panel on his forearm.

  The room hums.

  Six heavy-duty drones drop from concealed ports in the ceiling, their plating twice as thick as standard models, each armed with multi-barreled pulse cannons. Red sensors lock onto Axel.

  Lucian in a frustrated tone . “Let’s even the odds.”

  Axel pivots, raising a hand—gravity intensifies around the drones, sending two crashing into the floor. But the other four adjust midair, fanning out and opening fire. Axel leaps into the fray, ripping the floor upward as a barrier and shouting, “Jace, finish him!”

  Jace turns—bloodied, battered, panting. His muscles ache, his body wants to shut down. He swings at Lucian again, but his punches have lost their earlier force. Lucian smirks, the right side of his armor shattered and sizzling, his eyes wild.

  “Running on fumes already?” he taunts, stepping forward, metal hand raised.

  Jace stumbles, drops to a knee.

  Lucian raises his arm, preparing to bring it down like a hammer—“This is where it ends, freak.”

  Then Jace’s eyes snap open.

  He catches the blow with both hands.

  For a second, Lucian’s expression freezes. Jace, teeth gritted, lets out a roar and rips the metal arm clean from its socket. Wires spark. Lucian screams, clutching the ruined stub, stumbling backward.

  Jace slowly rises. “No… this is where you fall.”

  Lucian turns and runs.

  Jace follows, limping, blood dripping down his face, a phantom behind a man unraveling. They reach a lower chamber—a containment wing, dim and sterile. Four enhanced prisoners sit chained behind reinforced glass. One of them: Blaze, the pyrokinetic Jace once fought at Pantheon Laboratories, still scarred from torture.

  Cornered and desperate, Lucian slams his remaining hand onto a release panel.

  The doors hiss open.

  “You want freedom ?” Lucian pants. “Destroy him.”

  But instead of attacking Jace, the four figures glance at one another—then turn on Lucian.

  Blaze is the first to move—flames swirling around his hands, but instead of unleashing hell, he kicks Lucian in the stomach. The others join, pummeling him to the ground.

  ......Some weeks earlier

  The room was dim, lit only by the flickering red emergency strips along the floor. Thick reinforced glass separated Jace from the four enhanced prisoners inside—criminals, each one, dangerous and broken in their own way. Blaze sat on a bench, arms scorched and wrapped in metal restraints, his smoldering eyes locked on Jace the moment he stepped in.

  Jace took a breath. “There’s a storm coming.”

  No one responded.

  He stepped closer, hands slightly raised. “.“I’m not here to pretend you're innocent and I don’t expect you to trust me. Hell, I know I’m not your favorite person here.” His eyes locked briefly with Blaze, who narrowed his own in reply.

  “But I’m not here to play hero,” Jace continued. “I’m here because things are shifting. "The CDE is beginning to crack and I might need your help" his tone becoming more serious. " I'm not saying you should do it for me but for yourself, even though you all did something bad to be here you guys deserve a chance to be from the the clutches of the CDE , especially from the torture and experimenting" allowing the words to sink in, "I hope when the time comes you guys will make the right choice"

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  Back in the present—Lucian screams, curling into himself, his pride and power crumbling beneath the fists of those he caged.

  Axel, breathing heavily, finally defeats the last drone. He lands near the scene, eyes narrowing. “Stand down,” he orders, hands raised in a controlled stance, the pressure of his power warping the floor beneath him. “All of you.”

  The criminals hesitate… then drop to their knees, heads bowe to surrender,

  “Good,” Axel mutters. He clenches his fists and the gravitational field intensifies, pinning everyone—including Lucian to the floor.

  Moments later, footsteps echo through the corridor.

  Zara and Kai enter first, weapons ready. Rob and Steve follow behind each of them with bruises and injuries but nothing too serious

  Axel gesturing to them to help with restraining the prisoners

  Kai and Zara round them up, applying looser restraints—just enough to show it's not revenge, but order. Rob and Steve cuff Lucian last, no longer with a hint of respect.

  Jace, swaying on his feet, finally speaks. “Is it… over?”

  Kai turns, cracking a rare, small smile. “Yeah, kid. Everything is under co—”

  Jace collapses but he is caught by Kai, his mind slipping into the familiar ethereal dark void of unconsciousness.

  A faint beep echoed in the distance. Slow. Steady. Steady like a heartbeat. The world around Jace was a blur of white and dim warmth, like sunlight through thick clouds. His eyelids felt heavy, but he managed to open them. A blurry ceiling. A dull hum in his ears. Something strapped to his face—cool, plastic.

  He blinked and raised a trembling hand. That’s when he saw it—his entire arm was wrapped in a bulky cast. Not just one. Both arms.

  A quiet gasp escaped him. He reached up clumsily and pulled off the oxygen mask, blinking rapidly as the haze in his mind started to clear. That’s when he heard it. A soft sniffle. He turned.

  His mother sat beside him in a chair, half-asleep and slumped forward, one hand loosely holding his casted wrist. Her hair was messier than usual, her clothes looked slept in, and her face—God, her face—worn by worry. She stirred the moment he moved.

  “Jace…?” she whispered.

  He didn’t answer right away, his throat dry and cracked but the moment their eyes met, hers widened.

  She gasped, leapt to her feet, and bolted out of the room, shouting, “Doctor! Doctor! He’s awake!”

  Moments later, the door swung open and Dr. Meyer strode in, flanked by Jace’s mother. Her hands were over her mouth, tears spilling freely now. The doctor quickly removed the oxygen mask and helped him shift to a sitting position, adjusting the bed’s controls.

  Jace winced as his ribs protested, but when he looked at his mom again, his voice cracked from both emotion and the strain, “Hey… Mom.”

  She couldn’t help it. She threw her arms around him gently, mindful of the casts and buried her face into his shoulder, trembling with joy and relief. Jace closed his eyes and let the moment wash over him

  An hour later

  The door hissed open again, and in stepped Axel, now in a formal suit. Behind him were Zara and Kai, both unusually quiet, and then Rob and Steve, who gave Jace a subtle nod .

  Axel approached the foot of the bed. “Good to see you conscious, Jace,” he said with a faint smirk, though there was something solemn in his eyes.

  Zara crossed her arms. “About time, Dynamo.”

  Kai gave a rare, respectful nod. “You scared us kid.”

  Jace tried to smile, but his body still ached too much. “Nice to see you all too.”

  Axel stepped closer and folded his arms. “Let’s get you up to speed. You’ve been in a coma for three months. All the major bones in your hands and legs were broken with almost every muscle in your body torn . You’ve been recovering in a secure medical wing of a special CDE facility.”

  Jace blinked. “Three… months?”

  “A lot’s changed and is still changing” Axel continued. “While you were out, the existence of enhanced individuals was revealed to the entire world. At first, there were riots, panic, fear, even hate and soon after, governments all over came clean. Some other countries followed, admitting they had enhanced citizens too.”

  “The world lost its mind,” Zara added quietly.

  “The government here,” Axel resumed, “admitted to keeping secrets. Claimed it was all to protect the public. To regain trust, they revealed the CDE to the world. No more hiding. No more secret bases. We're official now—sanctioned under national and international law.”

  Jace’s eyes widened. “So… people know?”

  “Yeah,” Axel said. “They know something. But not everything.”

  He paused, his voice darkening slightly. “The government blamed the CDE’s worst actions—the kidnappings, the experiments, the illegal raids—on a faction within. They said it was orchestrated by two people Lucian, and Markyov.”

  "Officially Markyov is in a medically induced coma due to injuries he sustained probably in a disagreement with Lucian,” At that, Axel’s eyes lingered on Jace. He didn’t say anything directly, but the subtle change in his tone made it clear—he knew Jace had something to do with The Maker’s condition. “Lucian is now rotting in the same high-security prison I was in.”Axel said calmly

  “Fitting,” Kai muttered.

  “Their soldiers, their inner circle—they’ve all been branded as part of a terrorist group called GORE. The public swallowed the story. For the most part.”

  Zara spoke up. “There’s still division. People afraid of enhanced, others calling for peace… but most of them? They’ve rallied behind someone.”

  Jace looked confused. “Who?” Axel gave a small smile. “They call him Valiant. Some mysterious enhanced who risked his life to save the city and took down the ones responsible.”

  “They’re actively looking for him hoping he's still alive,” Rob added. “Socials, news outlets, even weird fan forums.”

  “And the CDE?” Jace asked, throat tightening.

  Axel shrugged. “We’ve denied any connection. As far as the world knows… Valiant is a rogue.”

  “But we know the truth,” Kai said, Zara nodded. “Only us in this room truly know who Valiant is”. "And Leo,” Jace said softly, Axel gave a firm nod. “And Leo.”