Maverick was in danger—but he had no time to realize it.
His fingers dug into the metal seams, locking around the silver mechanical serpent's throat. His entire body bore down on it, muscles strained like taut wires, eyes fixed on its cold, glowing electronic gaze.
The machine writhed violently, its body spasming in erratic jerks, shrieking with metallic friction. Jets of burning-hot air blasted from its vents, searing Maverick's cheek like the breath of a dying beast.
But its apparent struggle was just a façade.
Its true weapon lay in wait.
Maverick was too focused, too determined—he didn't notice the serpent's tail creeping beneath him, slowly unfurling like a viper coiling for a strike.
A thin, gleaming steel needle slid out from its tip, trembling slightly, poised like a venomous fang.
It aimed for the back of Maverick's skull.
Its kill shot—silent, swift, and absolute.
Maverick had never faced such a monstrosity before.
He didn't know what he didn't know.
And ignorance came with a price.
The tail retracted slightly, pulling taut like a bowstring about to snap—
Then—
A sharp crack.
A dark blur crashed down.
"Bang!"
A thick branch slammed onto the mechanical serpent's tail, pinning it down.
The steel needle twitched erratically under the force of the blow, blindly stabbing at the ground.
"Are you insane?!" Dr. Chan gasped, gripping the branch with both hands, veins bulging.
"Do you treat your life like a rechargeable battery?!"
Maverick barely heard him—his focus was on the serpent's frenzied body.
Only now did he realize—its thrashing head was a distraction.
The real control core had to be elsewhere.
His fingers skimmed over its freezing metal plates, searching for a hidden seam—an access point disguised among the layers of armor.
"Hold it down!" he barked.
"I'm trying! If this thing keeps thrashing, my knees will break before it does!" Dr. Chan growled, pushing harder against the branch.
His knee pressed against the serpent—but its tail convulsed violently, lifting the branch despite his full weight.
"You're _still_ delicately taking it apart?!"
Dr. Chan's eyes widened in disbelief.
"We're not fixing a damn coffee machine—just smash it to pieces!"
Maverick's eyes sharpened.
"I can't. Stainless steel plating."
He inhaled deeply.
His fingers tightened over a ring-like device—a miniature electric drill.
He had spent a month's salary on it.
Its tip spun furiously, humming with intensity.
Maverick knew—this drill had only one minute of battery life at max speed.
In sixty seconds—either the serpent would die, or he would.
"You can't dismantle that—it's advanced tech, not a child's toy!" Dr. Chan insisted.
Sweat was now pouring down his forehead.
With each metallic clang, parts of the serpent's armor peeled away—revealing the core beneath.
"Hisssss—"
The machine's screeches deepened into an enraged hiss.
Its tail bucked wildly, nearly throwing Maverick off as if he were trying to tame a beast gone mad.
Despite the chaos—
Maverick remained focused.
His hands were unwavering, as if chasing the moment fate would shift in his favor.
He had trained his mind for this.
Years of meditation had honed his ability to focus under pressure.
Dr. Chan, meanwhile, was struggling against the serpent's relentless thrashing.
His knee had already been torn open, streaked with blood from the sharp edges of its plating.
"I—can't—hold—this—!"
His voice strained, muscles burning under the effort to keep the branch pressed down.
Maverick had reached the midsection of the serpent.
He clamped his legs tightly around its slippery metal body—enduring the deep cuts against his arms and thighs, staining his clothes with blood.
"The control core… the control core…"
He repeated the words in his mind like a mantra.
The serpent sensed the danger and convulsed harder.
Maverick felt it—
His drill was slowing.
"Dammit. Battery's drained!"
"Forget it!" Dr. Chan yelled.
"We're out of time!"
Maverick gritted his teeth—
And hooked his finger under the edge of a steel plate.
At that moment—
His body twisted midair in a near-impossible maneuver—landing back onto the serpent's back.
"Bang!"
The last metal panel flew off in a violent jolt.
"There—!"
Sweat blurred his vision.
The final circuit board was exposed—
Its surface engraved with laser markings.
The heart of the beast.
Maverick slammed his drill into the chip slot—
With a single forceful hit—
"Hissss—!"
The entire serpent convulsed.
Its red lights blinked wildly.
Alarms shrieked.
Dr. Chan's face turned pale.
"Shit—IT'S ACTIVATING SELF-DESTRUCT! RUN!"
The serpent's tail erupted in a blast of overheated vapor—
It had lost all control.
BOOM—!!
A blinding flash exploded before Maverick's eyes—
Everything slowed.
Slowed.
Maverick's head snapped around—
In the distance—a boy, clutching a ragged backpack.
He held onto it like a lifeline.
His sister's dirty hands reached in—yanking away a water bottle.
She reached for the biscuits next—but came up empty.
The boy's eyes burned.
Starvation and desperation gleamed within them.
Ignoring the wreckage of war—
He turned.
And ran—
Straight into the purple mist choking the jungle.
Vanishing.
"Come back!"
Maverick roared.
But the boy didn't turn.
Wrong direction.
Maverick's stomach dropped.
Ice crawled up his spine.
Dr. Chan's broken coughing snapped him out of his horror—
He was thrown clear, lying against a snapped tree trunk, blood pouring from his shoulder.
The siblings were nowhere to be found.
Maverick crawled toward him, shaking his limp frame.
"Chan! Wake up!"
He slapped his cheek, desperate.
Dr. Chan groaned—
"Quit shaking me… I'm alive… just bleeding…"
Maverick froze—then exhaled sharply in relief.
Dr. Chan smirked weakly.
"You really gonna die saving some brat who robbed you blind? You think you're the protagonist of some Nolan film?"
"Sorry." Maverick muttered.
His voice was calm again.
He hauled Dr. Chan up—the man barely able to walk.
Step by step, they stumbled forward, leaving the battlefield behind.
The purple mist thinned.
They neared the forest's edge.
"You hear water?"
"Yeah. Water means civilization."
"Yeah. Almost out."
Then—
Two small figures burst from the mist, fleeing in terror.
Their screams tore through the air.
And behind them—
A deep, icy hiss.