The strobing emergency lights painted the ruined lab in flashes of red and stark white, turning the advancing Scyther Broodlings into jerky, nightmarish silhouettes.
Their chitinous hisses echoed off the broken equipment, a soundtrack to impending doom.
Axel's heart hammered against his ribs, a frantic drumbeat in the sudden, suffocating silence from their side.
"Alright, bright ideas are officially on backorder," Axel panted, his knuckles white on the bent metal rod he now wielded. His shoulder ached fiercely from his earlier collision.
"Plan B: creative screaming and running?"
"No exit," Mia stated, her voice tight but remarkably steady.
Her eyes darted around the lab, her Kinetic Intuition probably screaming at her about the lack of viable escape routes.
The doorway they'd used to enter was now effectively Scyther central. "We have to make one."
Kai, leaning heavily against a workbench, grimaced.
"My… uh… Force Affinity is running on fumes. I can manage small bursts, maybe a weak shield, but nothing like that conduit blast again." His usual optimism was visibly strained.
[SYSTEM ALERT: Cohort Member Kai – Power Levels Critical (18%). Recommend conservation. Cohort Member Mia – Stamina Low (35%). Chancellor Axel – Stamina Low (27%), Minor Injury (Left Shoulder – Contusion). Combat Viability of Current Trio vs. Three Scyther Broodlings (Optimal Condition): 22%. Current Viability: 9%.]
Nine percent. System, your bedside manner is appalling, Axel thought, a flicker of his usual gallows humor surfacing despite the terror. But noted.
The Scythers spread out, their movements unnervingly fluid in the strobing lights, clearly intending to flank them.
Their multifaceted eyes seemed to drink in the erratic light, making them hard to focus on.
"Those eyes…" Axel muttered, an idea – desperate, probably stupid – forming.
"They're weird in this light. Mia, can you… knock over that big equipment rack? The one with all the shiny bits? Towards them, create a visual mess and some noise!"
Mia followed his gaze. A tall, unstable-looking rack of glassware and polished metal components stood near one of the advancing Scythers. She nodded, her face pale with effort. "Trying!"
With a grunt, she thrust her hands out. The rack teetered, then crashed over with a cacophony of shattering glass and clanging metal.
One Scyther leaped back with a surprised hiss, its attention momentarily diverted by the glittering, cascading debris.
"Kai, now!" Axel yelled. "Short burst at the one on the right! Aim for its legs! Don't try to stop it, just knock it off balance!"
Kai, understanding the need for precision over power, thrust out a hand. A focused shimmer of kinetic energy shot out, not a massive blast, but a sharp, targeted shove.
It struck the rightmost Scyther's foremost leg just as it was lunging. The creature stumbled, its attack trajectory thrown off, giving Axel an opening.
He surged forward, metal rod whistling, and slammed it down on the Scyther's exposed neck joint where it met its thorax.
There was a wet, chitinous crunch, and the creature shrieked, blackish ichor spraying. It wasn't dead, but it was definitely inconvenienced.
[CHANCELLOR NURTURING PROTOCOL (Synergy Exploit): Axel's Improvised Tactics + Mia's Telekinetic Diversion + Kai's Focused Kinetic Push = Vulnerability Created. Exploit Window: 2 seconds.]
Thanks for the play-by-play, System!
The third Scyther, however, was undeterred, charging straight for Mia.
She yelped, trying to backpedal, her telekinetic focus broken.
"Mia!" Kai, seeing her danger, instinctively threw up a shimmering kinetic barrier between her and the creature. The Scyther slammed into it with brutal force.
The shield buckled, visibly cracking, and Kai cried out, clutching his head as a wave of feedback hit him. But it held, for a crucial second.
Axel saw his chance. The lab was filled with chemical benches. He grabbed the nearest intact wash bottle – distilled water, according to its faded label, but the bottle was hard plastic.
He hurled it at the Scyther currently trying to shred Kai's failing shield. It bounced off its head, doing no damage, but making it twitch its antennae in annoyance.
Distraction is good. Need more. His eyes landed on a fire extinguisher, miraculously still mounted on a far wall, near what looked like a reinforced service door partly blocked by a fallen cabinet. An exit?
"Mia!" Axel yelled, pointing with his rod. "That door! Can you move that cabinet?"
Mia, recovering, saw it. She nodded, her focus returning. The heavy cabinet began to scrape and groan across the floor, away from the door.
The Scyther Axel had initially injured was back on its feet, clearly enraged. It lunged for him. He barely managed to deflect its barbed limb with his rod, the impact jarring his already aching shoulder. Pain shot up his arm.
"Kai, I need a path to that extinguisher!"
Kai, seeing Axel in trouble and Mia working on the door, made a desperate choice. Instead of a shield, he thrust his hands forward, unleashing the last of his kinetic energy in a wide, unfocused shove.
It wasn't powerful enough to damage the Scythers, but it was enough to send loose debris, broken glass, and even the smaller Scyther (the one attacking Axel) skittering back a few feet, creating a momentary clear lane.
Then Kai slumped against the bench, panting, his power utterly spent.
Axel didn't waste it. He sprinted, grabbed the fire extinguisher, and spun, facing the two Scythers now advancing on him and the nearly-drained Kai. Mia had the cabinet almost clear of the door.
Okay, Chancellor. Time for some more 'Improvised Tactics.'
He aimed the nozzle and unleashed a massive cloud of CO2, directly into the Scythers' multifaceted eyes and sensitive antennae.
The effect was instantaneous. The creatures shrieked, recoiling from the sudden cold and suffocating cloud, frantically rubbing their eyes with their barbed forelimbs, completely disoriented.
"Mia, door!" Axel bellowed through the dissipating white fog.
With a final telekinetic heave, Mia ripped the last obstruction away from the service door. It had a simple latch handle. She threw it open. Darkness beyond.
"Kai, move!" Axel grabbed the depleted Kinetic Defender by the arm, hauling him towards the opening. Mia was already urging them through.
They stumbled into another dark, narrow corridor, Axel spraying the last of the fire extinguisher back into the lab to cover their retreat before slamming the service door shut.
There was no lock on this side.
They didn't wait. They ran, blindly, deeper into the unfamiliar passage, the enraged, disoriented hisses of the Scythers echoing behind them.
They were alive. They were out of the lab. But they were also deeper in unknown territory, Kai nearly powerless, Axel injured, and the Scythers undoubtedly still hunting.
Axel leaned against a wall, gasping for air, the empty fire extinguisher clattering from his numb fingers.
"Well," he managed, a shaky grin plastered on his face. "That's one way to clear a room. Anyone got a map for… wherever the hell we are now?"
Mia was looking back at the door, her expression grim.
"That won't hold them for long if they want to get through."
The adventure, it seemed, was far from over.