Janko's roar echoed off the steel walls of the factory, reverberating like thunder through the darkened chamber. The tools from the fallen crate clattered around his feet, mixing with blood and grit. He shoved the broken container aside, eyes blazing as he tore the remnants of his shredded shirt from his torso. His muscles gleamed with sweat and fury, but beneath the surface, Ely could see it, the limp in his left leg, the slight tremor in his left arm. He was breaking.
But so was Ely.
His breath was ragged. His ribs throbbed with every inhale. One of his shoulders hung just slightly too low, a bruise turning purple beneath the sleeve of his tunic. He crouched on the overhead scaffolding, watching as five more gang members spilled in through the northern door, weapons drawn.
Ely's heart sank.
"Reinforcements?" he muttered under his breath. "This wasn't in the plan."
Below, Janko wiped blood from his mouth and bellowed, "Kill him! Now!"
The men didn't hesitate. One hurled a chain upward while the others scattered beneath the scaffolding, boxing Ely in.
Think. Think fast.
Ely dropped a second flash charge over the edge. It burst in midair, blinding the attackers and buying him seconds. He leapt from the beam, twisting midair, and landed on one of the thugs below with both feet. The man collapsed with a grunt as Ely rolled forward, snatching the man's baton mid-fall.
The second gang member rushed him with a jagged knife. Ely blocked the strike with the baton, twisted the thug's wrist, and sent the blade skittering across the ground. He followed with a knee to the gut and a sharp elbow to the jaw. The man dropped like a sack.
But there were more.
Another lunged, swinging a fire axe with brute force. Ely sidestepped, but not cleanly, the blade grazed his thigh. Pain erupted through his leg, hot and sharp. He screamed and stumbled but turned the fall into a roll, barely dodging the axe's return swing.
He had to end this. Fast.
Ely ripped the last shock pellet from his belt, one of Herod's prototypes. Not fully tested. Might short-circuit or just fizzle. But he didn't have the luxury of doubt.
He hurled it at the three remaining attackers. It burst in a crackling net of blue energy, stunning all of them momentarily. Ely pushed forward, slamming the baton into knees and ribs with controlled, efficient strikes. He moved like the wind,his pain forgotten in the storm of adrenaline.
Janko snarled, then charged again.
Their second clash was louder. More brutal. Ely met him in the center of the room, ducked under a massive punch, and countered with a savage strike to Janko's ribs. The gang leader grunted and drove his forehead into Ely's brow.
The crack of skull on skull sent Ely staggering, stars dancing in his vision. Janko followed with a tackle, slamming Ely into the concrete wall. Ely gasped as the air was driven from his lungs.
"You're running out of tricks, boy!" Janko growled, fists pounding down.
Ely deflected one blow with the baton, but the next struck his ribs. He heard something crack. His legs wobbled.
He needed space. Now.
He twisted his body and used Janko's momentum against him, dropping low and throwing the larger man over his shoulder. Janko hit the ground hard, but rolled to his feet, laughing through the blood.
"You fight like a cornered rat!"
"I fight to survive!" Ely snapped.
Then he saw it.
The pill.
It had fallen from Janko's pocket during the tumble. Dark, pulsing with an eerie glow. Ely's senses screamed. He couldn't explain why, but the moment his eyes locked onto it, his entire body tensed. The pill wasn't just a drug, it radiated something… wrong.
Janko noticed his gaze.
"You don't know what that is, do you?" he grinned, crawling toward it.
Ely took a shaky step forward. "Don't."
But Janko snatched it and, with a triumphant smirk, tossed it into his mouth.
"No!"
Too late.
Janko's body convulsed. He dropped to his knees, clutching his stomach. His veins darkened beneath the skin, pulsing black. The air around him grew heavier, like the world itself recoiled from whatever he'd ingested. The gang members who were still conscious stared in horror.
Ely took a step back.
"What... what is that?" he whispered.
Janko's eyes snapped open, no longer just bloodshot, but glowing with a demonic red light.
His body swelled, muscles thickening, skin steaming as if boiling from the inside out. The scar on his face split open, exposing raw, unnatural flesh.
He roared Like an animal, a inhuman sound that echoed into the night.
Ely's dagger trembled in his hand.
This wasn't part of the plan. This wasn't even part of his worst-case scenario.
For the first time since entering the factory, Ely felt something he hadn't allowed himself to feel,
Fear.
He didn't know what that pill was, but he knew one thing for sure.
Janko was no longer human.