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"Jack…!"
Teri's scream cut through the smoke and metal dust like a knife.
Jill's face went rigid; her lips parted as if to speak, but no sound escaped. The air itself seemed to hold its breath.
Then came the roar.
"ROAR!"
Nemesis bellowed with a voice that rattled the walls, his massive frame rising from the debris. The mutated titan turned his gaze toward Alice, who sat sprawled on the cracked floor, trying to gather her strength.
"Matt…" Alice whispered, horror and grief colliding in her voice. She scrambled backward on her hands, dragging her heels against the concrete. "Matt, it's me—please!"
But Nemesis no longer heard her. Humanity had long been burned from his eyes.
With a sickening squelch, three slick tentacles burst from his arm, whipping through the air and lashing toward her.
Alice rolled aside, barely evading the strike. The tentacles slammed into the floor, cracking the tiles like glass. "Matt! Wake up!" she cried again, desperation trembling in every syllable.
"Roar!" Nemesis took another heavy step forward. His fist—huge, grotesque, and armored in flesh and steel—rose into the air. If it landed, Alice would be reduced to a smear of blood and bone.
Alice stared upward, eyes wide, watching death fall toward her.
Bang!
A circular shield slammed into Nemesis's chest. The force sent the monster staggering backward. Though the shield was small, the impact was devastating, echoing like a cannon blast.
Nemesis roared in pain, his massive body thrown through the air. He crashed past Alice and tumbled across the floor, tearing a trail through shattered glass and rubble.
Jack stepped out from the smoke, catching the rebounding shield in his hand. His eyes were cold, his movements precise.
"Useless," he said calmly. "He's a monster now. And monsters… only kill and consume."
Alice's breathing slowed as she tried to stand. Behind her, the others were watching—L.J. gaping, Carlos clutching his wounded arm, Jill frozen mid-step.
"Man," L.J. muttered, "I don't know if that guy's human or what, but he's built like a damn tank."
Jill shook her head, her expression grim. "He's not human, L.J. Not anymore."
Carlos struck the floor with his fist, wincing from the wound in his shoulder. "We didn't even kill that thing…"
Alice finally steadied herself and looked straight at Jack. Her tone was wary, confused. "Why did you save me?"
Jack didn't even look at her as he replied. "Because you can't die."
Alice's jaw clenched. "Don't think I owe you anything. If I ever get the chance, I'll kill you."
Jack gave a faint smirk, rolling one shoulder. "If you've got the skill, go ahead and try."
A deep rumble shook the air.
Nemesis roared again, rising to his feet. Blood and dark fluids dripped from the gash in his chest, but his fury burned hotter than ever. He charged.
Jack's eyes hardened. "Time to send you back where you belong."
His shield split apart in his hands, merging and reshaping until it formed a long, obsidian blade that shimmered with energy.
Nemesis swung first. The ground cracked under the sheer force of his punch. Jack vaulted over the strike, twisting midair. The black sword flashed—a streak of cold light cutting through the haze.
Jack landed lightly behind him, sword still humming.
For a heartbeat, everything went still.
Then Nemesis shuddered.
A jagged fissure opened from his shoulder down to his waist. His massive body froze, then slowly split apart, collapsing in two smoking halves.
Alice gasped. "Matt…"
Jack turned, his expression unreadable. "Better this way," he said. "A monster with memories only knows pain."
Alice's eyes filled with fury. She stood, trembling. "You… it's because of you! All of it!"
Jack looked almost bored. "Maybe. But what difference does it make now?"
The black sword in his hand shimmered, metal folding into itself until it became a sleek silver syringe. He knelt beside Nemesis's corpse and plunged the needle into the creature's heart. Blue liquid—brilliant, glowing, alive—began to flow upward.
"This essence can't be wasted," Jack murmured, watching the syringe fill. The light danced across his face, making his eyes look almost inhuman.
When the extraction finished, he pulled it free and smirked faintly. "I'll make good use of this."
"Jack!" Alice shouted. "I'll kill you, I swear it!"
Jack looked up at her, unfazed. Then his gaze sharpened. Her hair was rising, drifting as though pulled by static electricity. The air around her shimmered.
"So," he muttered, "I've awakened your psychic power."
Alice's pupils widened, darkening until her irises twisted into a black, triangular pattern. The glow spread outward, spiraling like a kaleidoscope.
"Ahhh!" Alice screamed as energy exploded from her.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
The shockwave erupted outward. The ground rippled and rose in waves. Concrete splintered, and fragments of metal spiraled through the air. A rolling storm of dust and pressure surged straight toward Jack.
L.J.'s jaw dropped. "Man, she just went full superhero!"
Carlos blinked, disbelief painted across his face. "She actually has that kind of power…?"
Dr. Ashford's voice trembled with excitement. "It's the T-Virus! That's the virus's power—manifested through her!"
Bang!
The blast hurled Jack backward. He slammed into a steel door, bending it inward before collapsing inside the wreckage.
"Ahhh…" Alice moaned, clutching her head. The energy around her flickered violently, like an overloaded generator. Her knees buckled as she fell, her face pale and sweating.
Carlos limped toward her. "We need to get her out of here—now!" His voice cracked with urgency. "To the helicopter! Move!"
Jill and L.J. rushed to Alice's side, each taking an arm and pulling her upright. Her body trembled with exhaustion.
Behind them, Teri stood frozen, staring at the broken door where Jack had disappeared. "Jack…" she whispered.
L.J. shot her a glare. "Forget him! He's not one of us!"
Teri shook her head, tears brimming. "No. He saved us. In my heart, he's… he's not a bad man."
L.J. exhaled sharply. "Fine. You stay here and write him a love letter. I'm getting out alive."
Because of his paralyzed legs, Dr. Ashford struggled to move. His daughter, Angela, tugged desperately at L.J.'s sleeve. "Please! Help my father onto the helicopter!"
L.J. gritted his teeth. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming!" He darted back, lifting Ashford with visible effort. "You better owe me for this, Doc."
Engines roared overhead—the helicopter's blades slicing through the dust-filled air. The wind whipped at their faces as they hauled Alice and Ashford toward safety.
But then—
A voice cut through the chaos. Cold. Calm. Deadly.
"You can all leave," it said. "But he—he stays."
The group froze. Slowly, every head turned toward the shadow near the twisted steel door.
Footsteps echoed.
Jack stepped out, battered but very much alive. His jacket was torn, blood streaked down his face, and yet his posture was unbroken. The dim light caught the edges of his eyes—still sharp, still unyielding.
Carlos's breath hitched. "How… how the hell is he still standing?"
No one answered.
Even Nemesis's bisected corpse twitched faintly, as if acknowledging its master's will one last time.
Jack wiped a streak of blood from his lip, his gaze falling on Alice. "You think power makes you human again?" His tone was flat, almost weary. "You're wrong. It only makes you more like me."
Alice met his eyes, her expression a storm of hatred and pity. For a moment, the battlefield went silent—only the rotor's thunder filling the void.
Then Jack smiled faintly, the kind of smile that hid a thousand ghosts. "Don't waste the chance I gave you," he said. "You'll need it."
He turned his back on them, stepping toward the ruins. Flames flickered around him, shadows bending in unnatural shapes.
No one dared move.
Teri's lips parted as if to speak, but Jill grabbed her arm, pulling her toward the helicopter. "Don't," Jill whispered. "Whatever he is… he's beyond saving."
As they lifted off, the scene below shrank—Jack standing amid wreckage and fire, Nemesis's corpse at his feet, the syringe glinting in his hand.
The city burned around him. And somewhere in that inferno, Jack almost smiled.
"Monsters," he murmured to himself, voice barely audible beneath the roar of the flames. "We were all monsters long before the virus."