Bloodweb said quietly, "Another ’accident’ they tried to bury. Like mine."
She smirked, her fingers weaving glowing, invisible strands through the air, like spider silk no one else could touch.
Bloodweb explained, "I was a scientist. I worked on a breakthrough serum — sothing that could enhance human abilities."
She glanced down, her voice tight.
"My own team — people I trusted — stole my research and sold it for money."
She clenched her jaw, eyes flickering with anger.
"I injected the serum myself to stop them. But it changed . I gained control over energy webs — threads that bind and trap. They made powerful. Dangerous."
She said with a cold smile, "That’s when they turned on . Said I was unstable. Tried to silence ."
Her glowing threads danced between her fingertips.
"I escaped once, but not for long. I was hunted like a weapon. That’s when I t Marcus."
She glanced over at him.
"He was hiding in the sa ruins I’d been using for cover. At first, we nearly fought each other... but we saw the sa hurt in each other’s eyes. Different stories. Sa betrayal."
Marcus, known as Fangstrike, nodded silently.
He leaned forward, his clawed fingers tapping the cold tal floor. His wild eyes glead beneath his tangled hair.
He said in a low, growling tone, "I was a hunter. I lived in the wild, away from the city... protecting my land and my family."
His voice turned bitter.
"One night, a rare beast ca out of nowhere — killed everything. My ho, my people... gone."
He added, "I fought it. Killed it. But not before it bit ."
He touched the deep scar on his neck.
"When I woke up... I had claws. Speed. Strength. But sothing else too — a fury I couldn’t control."
He looked away for a mont, eyes full of pain.
"My kin — afraid of what I beca — they turned on . Drove out like I was a monster."
Marcus took a breath, glancing at Lena.
"I wandered, trying not to lose control. That’s when I t her. Lena."
A small smile flickered.
"She didn’t flinch. Didn’t call a monster. We started watching each other’s backs... and never stopped."
Lena added, "We beca partners. Survivors. And now... maybe more."
They then shifted to topic.
Daniel said, "I spent years sharpening this blade, thinking one day I’d cut down everyone who wronged . But now... I don’t want revenge. I want peace — a life that’s mine."
Across the cell, Marcus also nodded with him.
"I used to live free, in the wild. Had a family. A purpose. But after I changed, all I did was fight... survive. Maybe it’s ti I found sothing better than just survival."
Iron Mammoth also nodded with them.
He said, "I just wanted to build. Machines, tools, sothing that helped people. But they turned my work into weapons... turned into a weapon. Maybe I could start over. Fix what I broke."
Lena leaned against the wall, her voice quiet and asured.
Lena said, "I created sothing to help the world... and they twisted it, stole it. Made into sothing cold. I still have my mind. Maybe I could use it to protect myself."
There was a quiet understanding between them. No anger now. Just the truth.
Daniel raised an eyebrow and smirked.
He asked, "So, uh... anyone got a spare place I could crash? Not too close to a police station, and preferably without the other heroes?"
Ethan let out a deep, chanical chuckle.
Ethan said, "You could try my lab. It’s cozy—if you ignore the auto-turrets. Last guy who visited left without his eyebrows."
Daniel blinked and shook his head firmly.
He replied, "No, no, I can’t go there. I like my face exactly how it is — mostly intact."
Lena leaned back, a soft smirk on her face.
Lena said, "Before I t Marcus, I hated the idea of sharing a room. I had my space, my rules, my spiders."
She looked over at Marcus with a rare tenderness.
"But now... I’d share more than just a room."
Marcus nodded, his smile quiet but genuine.
Marcus said, "Back then, I used to dig caves in the forest. It was all I had. Dark, cold... but safe. Since I t Lena, I don’t need caves anymore."
Daniel raised an eyebrow playfully.
Daniel said, "Well, I guess that just leaves becoming a motivational speaker. ’Got betrayed by your country? Transford by freak science? Co to Daniel’s Trauma Talk — we stab our pain, emotionally.’"
Ethan laughed at him, "You’d last two days before getting booed offstage."
He added, "I’ll stick to sothing simpler. Open a shop. Mammoth chanics — car repairs with optional rocket boosters."
Daniel grinned wide.
Daniel said, "That’s not a garage. That’s a warzone. You’d turn every car into a tank."
Ethan shrugged, "Depends on the client."
Lena smirked, resting her head lightly on Marcus’s shoulder.
"I might try painting. Gardening. Maybe knitting webs into weird sweaters."
Marcus chuckled.
Marcus said, "I’ll cook. Hunt. Nap in the sun. Maybe write a book — ’How to Scare Hikers and Still Be Loveable.’"
Their laughter echoed through the cell.
And when it faded, what remained wasn’t silence...
It was sothing warr.
———
The Black Vault Prison — Midnight
Beneath miles of crushing ocean pressure, the Black Vault slumbered in artificial silence. A prison no man could escape, no army could breach. It was alive with scanning beams, patrolling drones, electromagnetic fields, and pressure sensors tuned to the beat of a spider’s footfall.
But it didn’t notice her.
The water barely rippled as a sleek shadow glided through it. Nyx Virelle surfaced beside the outer platform, her black stealth suit glistening with salt. Without a sound, she erged from her one-man sub and pressed her gloved hands to the side of the prison.
With a soft flick of her wrist, the Sound Suppression Field blood around her — a bubble of perfect, unnatural silence. No splash from the water, no hiss from her boots against tal, not even the whisper of her breath. Inside that sphere, the world ceased to make sound.
She climbed upward, fingers locking into the grooves of the prison’s cold steel. Above her, two drones hovered, scanning. Their red sensors passed directly over her, but their systems read nothing. She was just another shadow.
Nyx reached a maintenance hatch and attached a thin EMP tag. It pulsed silently, and in a swift speed, the hatch flicked open. She slipped inside.
Within the corridor, everything was motionless. Red ergency lights pulsed softly, casting long shadows between control panels and weapon lockers. The only movent was the silent whir of internal drones and rotating security cams.
She was a phantom, weaving between beams of detection, never triggering a single alert. Her curved daggers shimred at her sides, and the coils of her tech whip blade curled around her wrist like a pet serpent waiting to strike.
At the security junction, she pressed her palm against the access panel. It didn’t respond. She didn’t expect it to.
Instead, her fingers wove a precise sequence of Phantom Strands, nearly invisible threads of energy drawn from her fingertips. They sank into the panel like tendrils slipping into a lock. Within seconds, the system surrendered.
———
anwhile, the four inmates were still continuing their conversation.
"You know," Daniel said lazily, "I’m gonna need a slogan. For my speaker tour. Sothing catchy. ’Don’t let trauma win—stab it with a smile’? Too much?"
Across the cell, Lena was leaning into Marcus’s cell side, eyes half-closed, weaving glowing strands between her fingers like idle thought. Marcus just sat calmly on the other side of the prison.
"No more cities," Lena said. "No more sirens. Just trees. Rain."
Marcus added, "Squirrels."
Daniel muttered, "You two are dangerously close to becoming a couple in a coffee ad."
Lena smiled faintly, "Better than a couple in a wanted poster."
Ethan rolled his shoulders, the sound of tal and muscle shifting together. "As long as your cabin has a garage. I’m bringing my car."
Daniel nodded with mock solemnity. "R.I.P. to the last three vehicles. Gone, but not in one piece."
Their laughter wasn’t loud, but it was real.
Then—click.
Marcus’s eyes narrowed. "What was that?"
The cell door across from him creaked. A slow, chanical hiss.
Ethan stood up, gears shifting with a warning growl. "Not scheduled."
From down the corridor, two guards turned toward the control terminal.
Guard 1: "System glitch?"
Guard 2: "We’re not running any overrides—wait—"
Thunk.
A small, round disk rolled across the hallway floor and stuck itself to the side panel beside the guards.
BZZZT—KRAK!
A burst of electromagnetic energy exploded outward in a flash of blue light. Sparks erupted from the panels. The guards shouted, but their voices were instantly cut as their systems failed. Armor locked. Limbs dropped. They collapsed.
Another two guards from the far end shouted, weapons raised.
Then a second disk clinked silently against the floor and—
FLASH.
Smoke. Static. Both fell to the ground, unconscious.
Then ca the footsteps.
A figure erged from the haze—tall, cloaked in matte black. Her suit hugged her like a second skin, woven with high-tech fibers and glinting circuitry.
A dark mask covered her face completely—no eye slits, no mouth—just an unreadable, featureless shape.
A faint violet glow shimred on her back in the shape of a crown.
Daniel opened his mouth, "Okay... we ordering assassins now? Or is this just surprise visitor day?"
Marcus tilted his head slightly, studying the figure still standing calm and motionless just outside their force field.
He said, "She doesn’t look like a cop. Or a hero. That’s new."
Ethan stepped forward, broad arms folding over his chest, jaw tightening as he surveyed the collapsed guards behind the figure.
"She dropped into a facility full of guards without breaking a sweat. Who the hell are you?"
Lena gave a dramatic little bow, smirking like a cat who found a new toy.
"And what brings Miss Mute-and-Deadly to our humble cage?"
Shadow Queen stopped just outside the force field. Her voice was soft but firm.
"My na is Nyx Virelle. You can call Shadow Queen," she said. "I’m not with GUARD. Not with the Governnt. And definitely not here to give you a lecture."
Daniel, ever the lounging rogue, cocked his head lazily and smirked.
"Great, so... why are you here? Sightseeing?"
"I’m offering you sothing no one else ever has... a choice," she said as she walked. "You’ve all been betrayed—by family, governnts, friends. Thrown in here like monsters."
She paused in front of Marcus’s cell, her masked face angled slightly toward him.
"You’re not monsters. You’re weapons. And weapons don’t belong in cages—they belong in the right hands."
Marcus tilted his head and asked quietly, "Yours, I assu?"
Shadow Queen smiled faintly, "Exactly. Work with . On my team, there will not be any governnt issues. You have your freedom and revenge."
Iron Mammoth crossed his arms, his massive fra still and unreadable.
"And what if we say no?"
She didn’t hesitate.
"Then you can enjoy another ten years rotting in this cell while the world forgets your nas."
Her voice lowered slightly.
"This prison’s on a seven-minute loop backup. I’ve knocked out the guards, disabled the auto-alert, and crashed the AI. That leaves us six minutes before the system self-heals and you’re locked in again until the next decade."
She stepped forward, just beyond the flickering field, and tossed a small device to the ground. It activated with a soft hum, pulsing faint light across the floor.
"This is a one-shot exit pulse," she explained. "Disables all containnt for ninety seconds. Enough ti to vanish — if you’re in."
Black Scythe’s voice ca with a half-laugh, half-challenge.
"You ca all this way to break out four war criminals. Why?"
Shadow Queen didn’t flinch.
"You’re not criminals. You are just betrayed by the world."
"I don’t have ti for speeches," she said, her voice flat now. "I’m building sothing. Off-grid. You work with — you get freedom, purpose... and revenge. Or you stay here and wait for the guards to wake up."
Bloodweb glanced down at the holofile, then shrugged.
"I an, she makes a fair point."
Fangstrike leaned forward slightly.
The lights along the floor flickered. Systems were starting to reboot.
Iron Mammoth didn’t wait.
"They’re coming back online. I’m in."
Black Scythe grinned.
"Lead the way, ghost girl."
Shadow Queen slamd the pulse device with her boot.
A wave of invisible force surged through the prison — a silent quake. All cells blinked open.
Ninety seconds.
Shadow Queen’s voice cut through the alarms and strobing red lights.
"Ti’s up. Let’s move."
Then, like shadows swallowed by smoke, the five vanished — just as the prison ca back to life.
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