Two years later.
The hum of life-support machines filled the once-proud Kurogane estate — now a sterile fortress of blinking monitors and medical equipment.
Karl sat near the window in his motorized wheelchair, pale and thin, skin stretched tight over the bones that refused to keep pace with his mind.
The brilliant prodigy who had defied nations now looked like a ghost tethered to a dying body.
Reginald stood silently beside him, a cup of tea trembling faintly in his old hands. "The doctor said your vitals are… holding, sir," he murmured.
Karl smiled weakly. "Holding. That's just another word for waiting, Reggie."
He turned his gaze to the window, where the skyline shimmered in the late afternoon haze. "Funny, isn't it? I built a car that could outlive humanity, but I can't even keep my own heart from giving out."
Reginald tried to reply — but the TV suddenly blared to life.
The broadcast overrode every channel, flashing with emergency alerts and panicked anchors shouting over sirens.
"Breaking news! A phenomenon of unknown origin has appeared across multiple continents — the sky itself has fractured! Giant cracks are opening above major cities—"
The camera shook violently as a terrified reporter turned her lens upward.
Through the static, Karl and Reginald could make out a massive, black fissure spanning the horizon like a wound in reality.
Then — something fell from it.
Dozens of things.
Dark shapes poured down from the heavens like ash made flesh — creatures, crawling, slithering, spreading.
Screams filled the airwaves. Buildings burned.
Karl leaned forward, his breath catching in his throat. "What… what the hell is that…?"
The reporter's voice broke, trembling as she looked up again.
"They—they look like—oh God—creatures, demons—"
Behind her, a shadowy silhouette emerged — humanoid, but twisted. The figure's claws dragged sparks along the asphalt as it loomed behind her trembling form.
Reginald's hand covered his mouth. "Sir—"
Then the feed cut to black.
The TV hissed with static. No sound. No signal. Only the faint mechanical heartbeat of Karl's life-support monitor echoed in the silence.
Karl stared blankly at the screen, his reflection staring back — eyes wide, full of disbelief and fury and something else… recognition.
For the first time since his parents' deaths, he felt the same weight in his chest — that sense that the world had just broken in a way that couldn't be repaired.
"Reggie…" His voice was barely a whisper. "Get me to the lab. Now."
As the elevator descended toward the underground lab, Karl and Reginald caught their first true glimpse of the world outside.
Through the shattered windows of the skyscraper, the horizon burned.
The city that once glittered with neon life now roared with flame and chaos. Streets were rivers of fire. Shadows slithered across walls, tearing through crowds that scattered like ants. Distant explosions echoed like a war Karl hadn't started this time — but one he knew he'd have to finish.
Reginald's voice cracked. "My God… what have they done…"
Karl's pale face was lit by the inferno outside, eyes reflecting the destruction like mirrors of steel. "No… the question, Reggie… is what I'm going to do about it."
When the elevator doors opened to the lab, Karl forced himself out of the chair. His knees buckled instantly — but he didn't stop.
Hands trembling, he crawled across the polished floor toward the far wall, where the Erevos Prototype's containment chamber waited like a sleeping titan.
Reginald rushed forward, alarmed. "Sir! Please—your condition—!"
Karl cut him off, wheezing but smiling faintly. "Reggie… I was born dying. You've kept me alive longer than anyone had the right to. But this…" he gestured to the screen feeds showing the city collapsing, "…this isn't a world that needs hospitals. It needs monsters that can fight back."
He reached the terminal, pulling a small silver key from his pocket — the master control for the Erevos prototype. His hands shook as he pressed it into Reginald's palm.
"Take it. Go. Get as far away from here as you can."
Reginald's voice trembled, tears welling. "Karl, no… I will not leave you. I swore to your parents—"
Karl chuckled weakly, cutting him off again. "To protect me, right? Then do that one last time… by living. I'll leave everything to you. Every credit, every patent, every blueprint — if money still means anything in this hellhole."
Reginald shook his head, desperate. "You're not thinking clearly! You'll die if you go near that machine—your heart can't take it!"
Karl looked up, eyes fierce now — that same defiant brilliance that had once shaken governments.
"At my best, I've got what? A few days? A week, maybe? Sorry, Reggie… but I'd rather die a hero, like my parents, than fade away as a coward."
He began limping toward the reinforced safe at the far end of the room — each step a visible battle against gravity, against his own failing lungs.
Reginald moved to block his path, spreading his arms.
"Please… don't do this. I can't watch you—"
Karl stopped just inches from him, eyes soft but resolute.
"Then don't watch. Just… remember me as the man who tried."
He smiled faintly — a sad, nostalgic thing — before placing a trembling hand on Reginald's shoulder.
"Thank you… for being the family I never had time to have."