Draton moved like a nightmare with weight. No wasted motion. Just raw mass and intent.
The hallway exploded as he charged, walls crumbling behind him. Harper dove to the side. Andy stayed still, aiming the weapon.
Kaila whispered to herself, eyes glowing faintly, "Stay in control... stay..."
"Ready to burn?" Draton said in a voice that sounded like dead wires.
Andy pulled the trigger.
The Defuser fired.
A beam of white light burst out and hit Draton square in the chest. The force cracked the air with a pop. His body shuddered. For a second, it looked like it was working.
His left arm bent inward. Metal plates peeled back. Spinat-flesh boiled off.
Draton let out a scream.
Not a mechanical sound. A human one.
Real. Broken.
It didn't stop him.
He powered forward and slammed Andy with the back of his fist. Andy hit the wall hard, blood in his mouth.
"Andy!" Kaila screamed.
Draton stepped toward the Defuser, reaching for it with fingers that had already regrown.
"Incorrect calibration," he growled. "Protocol incomplete."
Scene: Skate Responds
Kaila stepped forward.
Her eyes flared with violet light. The world around her began to warp. Floor tiles twisted. Walls bent like they were painted on paper.
The Skate reacted like a heartbeat. Faster. Faster.
"Protect him," she said.
"Do you accept connection?" the Skate replied, voice in her skull like silk and static.
"Just a little."
Her hand raised. The air shimmered.
She opened her palm and spoke.
"Vanish."
Draton froze.
For just a second, he actually stopped.
His body glitched. His legs staggered. A ripple of unreality spread through his armor.
Then he roared.
He pushed through it.
He reached for her.
Scene: Harper's Shot
Harper, bleeding from her leg, crawled over the rubble and pulled her sidearm.
"Come on... come on..."
She aimed for Draton's knee and fired three times.
The first two ricocheted. The third hit something soft. He buckled.
Andy, barely conscious, lifted the Defuser again. Blood dripped from his forehead. His hands were shaking.
"Eat shit," he muttered.
He fired again.
This time the Defuser beam hit the center of Draton's spine. His whole body arched. Light surged through the cracks in his armor. His scream became static.
The metal began peeling away like it was being unstitched.
Kaila raised her hands again. Her voice cracked.
"Stay down."
Draton collapsed to his knees.
The light swallowed him whole.
He didn't explode. He just stopped being there.
Gone.
Scene: Silence
The room was still.
Harper sat back, panting, gun shaking.
Andy dropped the Defuser and collapsed next to the wall, coughing.
Kaila stood alone in the middle of it all, her hands still raised, fingertips glowing.
She looked down at the floor where Draton vanished.
Just a burn mark.
Just silence.
Scene: Aftermath
They didn't speak for a long time.
Harper finally broke it.
"Tell me that was it."
Alaric's voice crackled through the comms.
"Was it a success?"
Kaila nodded slowly.
"He's gone."
"Good," Alaric replied. "Get back. You've done enough."
Kaila looked at Andy. His lip was split, eyes dazed.
She walked over and pulled him into a hug.
He didn't argue.
He just held her tighter.