That voice didn't echo in the air. It bloomed inside Kael's skull, an intimate and terrifying violation. It was clear and innocent like a silver bell, yet it carried the cold, ancient wisdom of centuries.
Kael and Gryphon stood frozen, their weapons suddenly feeling laughably useless. All their plans, all their tactics, had been built on a false assumption: that this girl was a victim.
"You are the most interesting new toys Hunnigan has brought me," the voice resonated in their minds again, while the girl's lips remained perfectly still. Her deep black eyes studied them, not with fear, but with the curiosity of a scientist observing insects in a jar. "Strong. Resilient. And very unpredictable."
"What... what are you?" Gryphon stammered, the composure of the seasoned commander shattering for the first time.
"I am the beginning. And the end," the girl replied simply. "I have felt your presence for a long time. I opened the doors for you. I wanted to see what you could do."
She tilted her head slightly. "And now, it is time for the final test. Let's see how my toys play with the new ones."
She didn't need to give a command. Kael could feel it, an invisible wave of psychic energy radiating out from her.
And in response to that wave, the steel door they had just come through was torn from its hinges as if it were made of paper.
Kante stood there, in the darkness of the hallway, his amber eyes glowing. Behind him were the four remaining members of his "death squad." They were no longer soldiers. They were puppets, and the puppet master had just appeared.
"Fight!" Gryphon roared, yanking Kael out of his stunned silence.
They opened fire at the same time. The roar of their rifles in the enclosed space was deafening and ferocious.
But Kante and his men didn't charge in foolishly. They moved with inhuman speed and coordination. They fanned out, using the lab tables and medical equipment as cover.
One Plagas super-soldier leaped onto a table, dodging Gryphon's burst, then launched himself at him like a panther. Gryphon stepped back, using his rifle butt to parry its clawed strike. Metal scraped against talons, sending sparks flying.
Kael rolled behind a large centrifuge, avoiding a stab from Kante's secondary limb. The sharp metal appendage sank deep into the machine, leaving a gaping hole.
"They're too fast!" Kael yelled. "Don't fight them head-on! Keep moving!"
The lab transformed into a deadly arena. Kael and Gryphon weren't trying to kill them. They were just trying to survive. They overturned heavy metal tables to create makeshift barriers. They shot at chemical containers, creating smokescreens to obscure the enemy's vision.
Gryphon threw a flashbang, and it detonated right between two of the super-soldiers. They staggered, disoriented for a moment. Gryphon seized the opportunity, firing a burst into one's leg, causing it to buckle.
Kael, meanwhile, was in a deadly dance with Kante. He was too strong. Too fast. Every swing of his secondary limb forced Kael to leap back, his heart pounding. He couldn't find an opening to attack.
And all the while, Subject Zero just stood in the corner of the room, watching with a cold fascination. She wasn't a victim caught in the crossfire. She was the audience, and this was a performance staged just for her.
He needs the serum. Hunnigan's words echoed in Kael's head. His gift is unstable.
That was the key. Kael realized he couldn't beat Kante with strength. He had to make Kante beat himself.
"Is that all you've got, Kante?!" Kael yelled, dodging a punch that shattered a concrete wall. "Is this all a 'god' can do? I've seen Lickers in Raccoon City that were faster than you!"
The taunt worked. A flash of rage lit Kante's amber eyes. He roared and charged, his secondary limb lashing out more wildly. He was no longer using tactics, just brute force.
"That's it! Just like that!" Kael continued to provoke, backing away while firing at non-critical points on Kante's body to make him even angrier. "Show me your power! The power that killed innocent soldiers in South America!"
Gryphon, who was struggling with two other super-soldiers, immediately understood Kael's intent. He changed his tactics too. Instead of trying to shoot them down, he started to bait them, forcing them to make energy-consuming leaps and attacks.
The fight turned into a deadly marathon. A war of attrition. Kael and Gryphon were the matadors, constantly dodging and provoking, while Kante and his men were the bulls, slowly exhausting themselves in their own fury.
Kael could see it. A slight tremor was beginning to appear in Kante's limbs. His breathing was becoming heavier and more ragged.
The plan was working.
"My serum... I need... the serum..." Kante mumbled, his voice no longer smug, but filled with the panic of an addict in withdrawal.
The degradation was beginning.
Black blisters started to form on his gray skin. His secondary limb twitched uncontrollably. He looked at Kael, but his eyes had lost their focus. He was fighting the demon within himself.
"What's happening to him?" Gryphon yelled, kicking away a staggering super-soldier.
"He's self-destructing!" Kael shouted back. "His body can't handle the parasite's power without the stabilizer!"
Kante's instability seemed to spread through the neural link. Two of the remaining super-soldiers also began to convulse. One started clawing at its own face. The other fell to the floor, its body beginning to swell grotesquely.
Only one super-soldier seemed to remain stable. It looked at Kante, then at Kael and Gryphon, confusion clear on its distorted face. For the first time, it looked like a trapped soldier, not a monster.
Kante let out one final roar, a roar of desperation. He was no longer looking at Kael. He charged towards a metal cabinet where he knew the serum was stored.
But he never made it.
Halfway there, his body seized up. A sickening CRACK echoed as his spine bent backward at an unnatural angle. The chitinous plating on his back split open.
Slimy, black tentacles burst forth from the cracks, writhing in the air. The Plagas parasite, no longer under control, was destroying its host from within.
Kante fell backward, his body convulsing violently. He screamed, but it was no longer the scream of a man or a monster. It was the sound of something being torn apart at a cellular level.
Within seconds, he had become a misshapen, weakly pulsating mass of flesh, before dissolving into a pool of smoking black liquid.
Kante was defeated. Not by a bullet. But by his own ambition.
The last super-soldier, seeing this, dropped his weapon and fled the room in terror.
Silence fell again, broken only by the ragged breaths of Kael and Gryphon. They had survived.
Kael turned to look at Subject Zero. She was still standing there, not a flicker of emotion on her face. She looked at the pool of liquid that was once Kante, then she looked at Kael.
In his head, the voice came again, not as a threat, but as a cold observation.
"Interesting. This toy is broken. Perhaps... you will be more durable toys."