The first man never saw her.
His neck snapped in the dark stairwell, body lowered gently to the concrete like he was being tucked into sleep. Emma took his keycard, his sidearm, and his jacket.
By the time the security cameras looped—
She was already inside.
---
THE SAFE FLOOR
St. Arclight Medical Tower rose above the city like a blade of glass, sterile and untouchable.
Level 14.
Private wing. No records. No visitors.
Emma moved through the hall dressed as hospital security, footsteps steady, pulse calm.
Every step was war.
She disabled the first guard with a chokehold behind the nurse station. The second went down silently in the supply room.
No witnesses.
The words echoed in her mind.
---
JAMES
James lay in bed, awake.
His eyes widened when he saw her.
"Emma?" His voice cracked. "Am I dreaming?"
She closed the door behind her and crossed the room in three steps, kneeling beside him.
"I'm here," she whispered. "I've got you."
Tears slipped down his face.
"They said you were dead."
She swallowed hard. "Not yet."
She began disconnecting the monitoring equipment.
James grabbed her wrist weakly.
"They're watching."
"I know."
---
THE TRAP
The lights cut out.
Red emergency strobes ignited the hallway.
A calm voice filled the room through hidden speakers.
"You're predictable, Emma."
Victor Kane.
Her blood turned to ice.
"You came to save your brother," Victor continued. "Just like I knew you would."
Emma stood slowly, eyes scanning.
"Where are you?"
"Everywhere," Victor replied.
The door slammed shut and locked.
The windows polarized black.
Then—
The floor vents hissed.
Gas.
Emma yanked her jacket over James' face, ripping open an emergency oxygen canister.
"Breathe," she ordered.
The door exploded inward.
---
NYX RETURNS
Nyx Kurohana stepped through the smoke, blade glowing faintly blue.
"You should've joined us," Nyx said calmly. "You'd be unstoppable."
Emma cracked her neck.
"I already am."
They collided.
Steel rang against steel, sparks tearing through the darkness. Nyx moved faster than before—adaptive, calculating.
Emma took a cut to the thigh.
Nyx smiled. "You're slowing."
Emma kicked the hospital bed into her.
Hard.
Monitors crashed. Alarms screamed.
Emma drove her knife into Nyx's shoulder.
Nyx gasped—but laughed.
"Good," she whispered. "Again."
Security flooded the corridor.
Emma grabbed James' chair and pushed him toward the emergency exit.
"GO!" she shouted.
Nyx lunged—
Emma fired point-blank.
Nyx dropped, smoke rising from her coat.
Not dead.
But done.
---
ESCAPE
Sprinklers activated, water raining down like static.
Emma wheeled James through the chaos, bullets tearing through glass behind them.
A black van skidded to a halt at the exit.
Adrian stepped out, rifle raised.
"Took you long enough."
Emma smirked despite everything. "Traffic."
They loaded James in and sped away as the hospital burned behind them.
---
ENDING SHOT
From a distant room, Victor Kane watched the live feed end.
His smile faded.
"So," he murmured. "You choose war."
The screen reflected in his eyes.
"And war remembers you."