The ruins were quiet.
The fire had gone out.
The Black Bloom pulsed slowly, fading like it was mourning.
Dive soldiers lay twisted and broken across the floor, their bodies torn apart by Xin's rage hours earlier.
Now, there was just silence.
And blood.
And her.
Kaila's torn limbs were wrapped in a sheet.
Her necklace, cracked in the middle, sat in Xin's fist.
He hadn't moved for hours. Not even to breathe properly.
Scene: Xin Alone
Harper approached slowly, holding her side where she'd been cut. Her boots crunched over ash and glass.
"Xin," she said.
No answer.
"Xin, we need to move. We don't know if Andy will come back."
Still nothing.
Harper crouched next to him, glancing at the sheet. Her voice softened.
"I'm sorry."
Xin whispered, so quiet it was almost a breath.
"He was supposed to protect her."
Harper looked down. "He thought he was."
"No," Xin said, standing slowly. "He thought she belonged to him."
Scene: Tara Returns
Tara limped into the hall, bandaged, eyes cold and alert. She looked around the wreckage. Looked at Xin. Said nothing.
She placed a bag on the floor.
"Rations. Meds. What's left of our gear."
Xin didn't turn. "He took her."
Tara nodded once.
"Then we get her back," she said.
"He sliced her in half."
"Then we take what's left of her and bury him with it."
Xin finally turned. His eyes were sunken, bloodshot, and lifeless. But deep inside them, something had begun to burn. Not grief. Not sadness.
A quiet fire.
Scene: Underground Decision
Later, in the underground garage, what was left of the Resistance gathered.
Harper stood before them, arm in a sling. Tara by her side. Xin leaned against the wall in silence.
Alaric brought up the map.
"Andy's mutation has grown. The Black Bloom is now reacting to him, not vice versa. He's no longer Spinat-enhanced. He's… something else."
"We knew this was coming," Harper said. "What we didn't know was that he'd turn on us."
"We don't know that," a voice argued.
Xin stepped forward.
"He butchered her."
Silence fell.
Harper pointed at the map.
"He's heading north. Toward the Crater Valley labs. That's where Skate came from."
Tara frowned. "The Dive facility's abandoned."
"He's going there to finish what he started."
"Which is?"
Xin clenched his fist. "Becoming a god."
Scene: The Choice
Harper looked at the group. Half of them injured. All of them tired.
"We can run," she said. "Or we can follow him."
No one spoke.
"I'm not running," Xin said.
"Not until I return the favor."
Scene: Final Flashback
That night, alone near the ruins, Xin lit a fire.
He placed Kaila's necklace in the flames.
Not to burn it.
To purify it.
He whispered into the smoke.
"You gave everything. You broke yourself to protect me."
He pulled the necklace out and wore it.
"I'm sorry I was too late."
He looked at the sky.
"I am really sorry sis. I wish I was there."