The sky was burning.
Ash fell like black snow over the ruined remains of the Genesis vault. Behind Lia and Kairo, Subject 00 lay still in its pod—unawakened, for now. The choice to open it would come later.
Right now, there was only one threat.
Caine.
He stood on the elevated platform, armor like obsidian, enhanced with tech that pulsed like veins across his body. Around him, Revenant soldiers dropped in like shadows—dozens, maybe hundreds.
But he didn't flinch.
Neither did Lia.
"We end this," she said, violet energy swirling around her arms like a living storm.
Kairo stepped beside her, blood dripping from a cut over his eye. "Together."
Caine raised his hand—and the Revenants charged.
The battle began.
Lia launched herself into the fray, her powers erupting in a burst of light and sound. She moved like fire—wild and untamed—striking with precision and fury. Her hands shattered rifles, her blasts split concrete. Soldiers flew like leaves in a storm.
Kairo was close behind, quiet but devastating. His crimson energy flowed like liquid through his strikes—blades of force slicing through the enemy. Every movement was calculated. Efficient. Deadly.
And then Caine moved.
Faster than expected.
He dropped from the platform and slammed into the ground, sending out a shockwave that tossed both of them back.
"You think this ends with me?" he growled, voice distorted. "I am Genesis. I am what you were built to become."
Lia rose to her feet, coughing. "Then we'll rewrite the blueprint."
She charged—energy focused into a single point, a lance of pure violet aimed at Caine's chest.
He caught it.
With one hand.
"Too slow," he said—and threw her across the battlefield.
Kairo caught her mid-flight with a blast of his own, softening the fall. He turned back to Caine, fury in his eyes.
"You don't get to touch her."
He launched upward, fists blazing red, slamming into Caine with a power that cracked the ground beneath them. They traded blows—each hit like thunder—until Caine finally staggered.
But he didn't fall.
He laughed.
"You still don't get it," he said. "You two are symmetry. Balance. Without chaos, balance dies."
Caine unleashed a wave of black energy, drawn straight from the Genesis core.
It swallowed the battlefield.
Lia screamed as the world seemed to twist—until she felt it:
Kairo's hand in hers.
Their energy flared together—violet and crimson—meeting the dark wave with a pulse of radiant force that shattered the sky.
Light exploded.
Revenants disintegrated.
Caine fell to one knee, his armor cracked, blood on his lips.
"You don't win," he whispered. "Because you'll never stop fighting each other."
Lia walked toward him, her eyes glowing. "No. We'll fight for each other."
And with one final blast, she and Kairo struck together—one strike, two souls—breaking through Caine's armor, through his power, and into the very core of what he was.
He collapsed.
Defeated.
The battlefield went quiet.
Ash fell again, but this time… slower. Softer.
Kairo turned to Lia. "It's over."
She looked back at him. "No. This was just the beginning."
And behind them, in the dark of the Genesis vault…
Subject 00 opened its eyes.