CHAPTER 33 – The Ashes of Vengeance
Rain kept falling without pause, soft now, almost weary. The forest no longer thundered with battle; it only breathed, steam rising from torn earth and smoking bark.
Jack lay on his side among the wet leaves. His chest rose and fell unevenly, every breath dragging through pain. The cut across his ribs burned, but the quiet hurt more. He could still see flashes of the fight—lightning, a hand catching his punch, the sharp blur of a kick that sent him through a tree.
He turned his head. The clearing looked as though a storm had torn it apart from the inside. Branches hung broken, the soil split open in narrow seams where energy had burst. He could taste iron and rain.
When he shut his eyes the memories crept in—the warmth of old campfires, shared jokes, the clatter of weapons being cleaned after missions. H.I.M. had once sat beside him, calm, careful with his words, a man who smiled rarely but meant it when he did. They had believed they were building something good.
Then the order had come. The night raid.
Jack still heard the screams. He had followed orders then; he hadn't thought, only acted. He had watched the flames climb the walls of that small house, felt the heat, heard the child cry once before the roof fell. After that, nothing was ever right again.
He whispered into the rain, "I made you what you are."
---
In the city miles away, dawn struggled to rise through smoke. Liberty City's center was scarred, the Presidential Hall nothing but twisted steel and drifting ash. Searchlights carved slow circles through the fog as drones hummed overhead.
Detective John Stellman stood among the responders, coat soaked, boots black with soot. He moved carefully between medics and officers, his face blank, eyes tracing the crater that had once been marble floor.
Gina came up beside him. "They say it was a power core explosion," she said, voice hoarse.
John shook his head. "A power core doesn't leave radiation like that. Someone built this."
A soldier ran toward them. "Sir, we found residue from Code Black compounds. Matches the banned experiment logs."
John's jaw tightened. He looked toward the horizon, where the sky still glowed faint orange. "Then he's back," he said quietly.
He didn't have to say who. Gina knew. Everyone in the old division did.
---
Back in the forest the rain slowed to a mist. A shape moved through the trees, steady, deliberate. H.I.M. emerged, coat torn, one sleeve half-burned, yet he walked as if untouched.
He paused near a fallen trunk, breathing evenly. His eyes caught the faint shimmer of water pooled in the mud, and for a moment his reflection looked human again—tired, haunted—but then the red glint returned and the illusion broke.
He knelt, touched the wet ground where Jack's blood had mixed with rain, and rubbed it between his fingers. The crimson faded to brown against his glove.
"You still hesitate," he murmured to himself. "Even now."
He rose and glanced toward the distant city lights. In the silence he almost heard the sirens. "They think they understand consequence," he said softly. "They don't."
He opened his hand; a small metallic shard rested there, cracked and blinking weakly. He studied it before letting it fall, the tiny flash of light fading as it sank into the mud.
---
Jack stirred again, groaning. H.I.M. turned slightly.
"You should have stayed down," he said.
Jack's voice was thin. "Killing me won't fix anything."
H.I.M. walked back and crouched beside him, rain sliding down his face. His tone was calm, almost gentle. "Fix? No. Nothing fixes. We just balance the weight."
"You'll drown in it," Jack rasped.
"Then I'll drown," H.I.M. replied. He stood, took one slow step back. "But you'll live. You'll watch what happens next."
He turned and walked away through the mist until the forest swallowed him.
Jack stared after him, rain filling his eyes. "I'm sorry," he whispered, though the wind carried the words nowhere.
---
By evening, Stellman's team reached the forest. Flashlights swept across the wreckage. They found Jack slumped against a tree, barely conscious, pulse faint.
"Jack!" Stellman knelt beside him, checked the wound. "Stay with me."
Jack opened one eye. "You… can't stop him," he breathed. "He's not after us anymore. He's after everyone."
"Tell me where he's going."
Jack's lips curved faintly. "You already know." Then he slipped into unconsciousness.
John stood, the drizzle turning to fog around them. The air still hummed with leftover static, the faint echo of something enormous.
He looked out through the trees toward the faraway city lights. "Then we move before he does," he said quietly.
---
On a ridge above the city, H.I.M. watched those same lights. The rain had ended, leaving only wind. He pulled his hood over his head. The world below shimmered in reflections—glass, water, fire.
Somewhere behind him a voice—soft, dark—broke the quiet. "You've started the fall."
He didn't look back. "Not the fall," he said. "The reckoning."
Lightning flickered once across the sky, outlining his silhouette against the storm-washed world.
---
End of Chapter 33 – The Ashes of Vengeance
CHAPTER 33 – The Ashes of Vengeance
Rain kept falling without pause, soft now, almost weary. The forest no longer thundered with battle; it only breathed, steam rising from torn earth and smoking bark.
Jack lay on his side among the wet leaves. His chest rose and fell unevenly, every breath dragging through pain. The cut across his ribs burned, but the quiet hurt more. He could still see flashes of the fight—lightning, a hand catching his punch, the sharp blur of a kick that sent him through a tree.
He turned his head. The clearing looked as though a storm had torn it apart from the inside. Branches hung broken, the soil split open in narrow seams where energy had burst. He could taste iron and rain.
When he shut his eyes the memories crept in—the warmth of old campfires, shared jokes, the clatter of weapons being cleaned after missions. H.I.M. had once sat beside him, calm, careful with his words, a man who smiled rarely but meant it when he did. They had believed they were building something good.
Then the order had come. The night raid.
Jack still heard the screams. He had followed orders then; he hadn't thought, only acted. He had watched the flames climb the walls of that small house, felt the heat, heard the child cry once before the roof fell. After that, nothing was ever right again.
He whispered into the rain, "I made you what you are."
---
In the city miles away, dawn struggled to rise through smoke. Liberty City's center was scarred, the Presidential Hall nothing but twisted steel and drifting ash. Searchlights carved slow circles through the fog as drones hummed overhead.
Detective John Stellman stood among the responders, coat soaked, boots black with soot. He moved carefully between medics and officers, his face blank, eyes tracing the crater that had once been marble floor.
Gina came up beside him. "They say it was a power core explosion," she said, voice hoarse.
John shook his head. "A power core doesn't leave radiation like that. Someone built this."
A soldier ran toward them. "Sir, we found residue from Code Black compounds. Matches the banned experiment logs."
John's jaw tightened. He looked toward the horizon, where the sky still glowed faint orange. "Then he's back," he said quietly.
He didn't have to say who. Gina knew. Everyone in the old division did.
---
Back in the forest the rain slowed to a mist. A shape moved through the trees, steady, deliberate. H.I.M. emerged, coat torn, one sleeve half-burned, yet he walked as if untouched.
He paused near a fallen trunk, breathing evenly. His eyes caught the faint shimmer of water pooled in the mud, and for a moment his reflection looked human again—tired, haunted—but then the red glint returned and the illusion broke.
He knelt, touched the wet ground where Jack's blood had mixed with rain, and rubbed it between his fingers. The crimson faded to brown against his glove.
"You still hesitate," he murmured to himself. "Even now."
He rose and glanced toward the distant city lights. In the silence he almost heard the sirens. "They think they understand consequence," he said softly. "They don't."
He opened his hand; a small metallic shard rested there, cracked and blinking weakly. He studied it before letting it fall, the tiny flash of light fading as it sank into the mud.
---
Jack stirred again, groaning. H.I.M. turned slightly.
"You should have stayed down," he said.
Jack's voice was thin. "Killing me won't fix anything."
H.I.M. walked back and crouched beside him, rain sliding down his face. His tone was calm, almost gentle. "Fix? No. Nothing fixes. We just balance the weight."
"You'll drown in it," Jack rasped.
"Then I'll drown," H.I.M. replied. He stood, took one slow step back. "But you'll live. You'll watch what happens next."
He turned and walked away through the mist until the forest swallowed him.
Jack stared after him, rain filling his eyes. "I'm sorry," he whispered, though the wind carried the words nowhere.
---
By evening, Stellman's team reached the forest. Flashlights swept across the wreckage. They found Jack slumped against a tree, barely conscious, pulse faint.
"Jack!" Stellman knelt beside him, checked the wound. "Stay with me."
Jack opened one eye. "You… can't stop him," he breathed. "He's not after us anymore. He's after everyone."
"Tell me where he's going."
Jack's lips curved faintly. "You already know." Then he slipped into unconsciousness.
John stood, the drizzle turning to fog around them. The air still hummed with leftover static, the faint echo of something enormous.
He looked out through the trees toward the faraway city lights. "Then we move before he does," he said quietly.
---
On a ridge above the city, H.I.M. watched those same lights. The rain had ended, leaving only wind. He pulled his hood over his head. The world below shimmered in reflections—glass, water, fire.
Somewhere behind him a voice—soft, dark—broke the quiet. "You've started the fall."
He didn't look back. "Not the fall," he said. "The reckoning."
Lightning flickered once across the sky, outlining his silhouette against the storm-washed world.
---
End of Chapter 33 – The Ashes of Vengeance