Location: Echo Facility – Core Labs
The walls bent from the pressure.
Nova didn't hold back anymore. No witty remarks, no games. Her full power surged like a collapsing star—nanotech tendrils warping the floor, gravity around her flickering like a dying signal.
Kairo flipped over a twisted console, shouting, "She's rewriting the damn room!"
Lia skidded beside him, two blades glowing with her enhanced circuit energy.
Nova hovered slightly off the ground now, hair floating like she was underwater. "This is your final scene. Smile for me."
Then she struck.
A hundred metallic threads lanced from her arms—slicing through steel, embedding into walls.
Lia spun into the air, slicing two mid-flight, then flipping over a third.
Kairo unleashed an arc blast—Nova absorbed it through her palm.
"Cute trick," she whispered—and threw it back. The shockwave knocked them both into the far wall.
Coughing. Bleeding. Still standing.
---
Phase Shift – Nova's Upgrade
Her eyes flared—white-hot.
The ground cracked beneath her.
A shield of molten steel formed around her arms, nanotech fusing into her bones. Her voice deepened—echoing unnaturally.
"You want power? Let me show you the price."
She slammed into Lia with a sonic burst.
Lia's blades met her, sparks flying. She screamed as pressure built—but she didn't back down.
Kairo roared in from the side, charging full-force—
Nova grabbed him mid-attack, lifted him by the throat—
And Lia screamed, unleashing a hidden surge she'd never tapped before.
The air ripped open with violet light.
Nova reeled back—first time she showed pain.
Lia caught Kairo before he fell. They stood together.
"This ends now," Lia growled, voice shaking.
Kairo nodded, breathing hard. "Together."
---
Final Moments of the Chapter
As the two of them leapt forward one last time—Lia with blades glowing like dying stars, Kairo charging with everything left—
Nova smiled, blood in her teeth.
And whispered:
"Good. Now bleed for me."