Location: Amazon Rainforest – ONYX CORE Site Zulu-9
Time: 12:17 PM
The jungle was on fire.
Not metaphorically. Real fire. Green leaves hissed into ash, trees split like toothpicks, and ONYX drones buzzed overhead like angry robotic mosquitoes.
"WE GOT EYES!" Ryan yelled, diving toward Holly and Faith as a plasma beam sizzled past.
Emily slid beside him, cradling the girls. "This was supposed to be a recon mission!"
"Yeah, well, ONYX forgot to mention the death spiders guarding the forest."
He pointed—and there she was.
DuskWidow.
The ex-ONYX agent, cloaked in tech and vengeance, stood in the smoke like an avenging spider goddess. Her eight cyber-limbs flexed as she surveyed the battlefield. Black armor gleamed. Her mask's red lenses locked on Emily.
"You brought your family," she said, voice distorting through her mask. "Brave. Or stupid."
Ryan stepped in front of Emily. "Try touching them. I dare you."
DuskWidow tilted her head.
Then, the moment shattered.
BOOM.
A plasma shell hit just behind Ryan. Time slowed. The force launched him backward.
He hit the ground.
And fell into the past.
FLASHBACK
Location: ONYX CORE Blacksite – 3 Years Ago
Time: Classified
He was in a training chamber—tied to a chair. Disoriented. No memory how he got here.
Then, she walked in.
Agent Vega.
Before she was DuskWidow. Before the betrayal.
She wore the ONYX tactical uniform. The one Ryan used to make fun of because it had "no real pockets."
"Wakey wakey, Rookie," she said, circling him. "Time for your real test."
Ryan blinked. "Why am I tied up? This better not be another advanced hostage sim."
"Nope," she smiled. "This one's real."
She pressed a button.
The lights dimmed.
Around them, walls revealed surveillance footage—Emily. Their daughters. Home videos. Birthday parties. Hidden cams.
Ryan's chest tightened.
"You've been compromised," Vega said. "Emotionally. Strategically. Fatally."
He struggled. "Shut that off."
"I can't. Because ONYX already made its choice. They're erasing you. Family man doesn't fit in the files."
Ryan stared at her, furious. "And what about you?"
She stepped closer. "I asked the same question. The answer? I died."
Her eyes darkened.
"Now it's your turn to choose: let them take everything—or burn it down first."
Then—she kissed him.
Hard. Cold. Final.
"I never wanted a partner. Just a weapon."
RETURN TO PRESENT
Time: 12:18 PM
Ryan gasped awake—covered in jungle mud and blood and betrayal.
DuskWidow stood over him. "Welcome back to the present."
Emily screamed—two ONYX troopers grabbed her.
Ryan's instincts kicked in.
He threw himself forward—knocking the goons down, grabbing Emily by the waist, and yanking her into a kiss so fierce it knocked her hair clip loose.
She blinked. "Was that a goodbye kiss?"
He pulled back, hand on her cheek. "That was a just-in-case-we-explode kiss."
Then he tossed her a drone disruptor and ran straight toward the chaos.
Time: 12:19 PM – Discovery
Smoke parted.
Holly was standing near a strange cylinder—glowing with ONYX energy, wolf symbols etched along its base.
It hissed open.
DuskWidow's mask twitched. "No—no, not now—"
Ryan shouted. "Holly, step back!"
From the pod, something rose. Something old. Something ONYX buried for a reason.
Cloaked in dark alloy. Eyes burning orange. It scanned them all.
Final Hook – 12:21 PM
MECHANIZED VOICE:
"IDENTITY: RYAN BRUCE. AGENT: TERMINATED.
DUSKWIDOW: EXPENDABLE.
EMILY BRUCE: PRIORITY INTERFERENCE."
Ryan aimed his weapon.
Emily whispered, "What is that?"
Ryan stared in horror.
"It's... me. Version Zero."
The figure stepped out.
PHOENIX PROTOCOL ACTIVATED.
(TO BE CONTINUED…)