The explosions had stopped, the students had nowhere to run.
Riva's portals had herded them together like cattle, teleporting anyone who tried to escape back into the killing zone.
Now they stood clustered in what used to be a warehouse loading bay, backs against a collapsed wall, surrounded.
Huey counted quickly.
Ten students left standing. Willy, bleeding from a cut above his eye. Josephine, one arm hanging limp. Suzie had her glasses cracked. Brick was barely conscious, with Jonas supporting him. Kenna, face pale from blood loss and Tamara, was breathing hard.
Marlo sat. silent and vacant, staring at nothing.
Her sister was gone.
Riva stood twenty meters away, flanked by spatial portals ready to redirect any attack.
Montez descended from a platform above.
"Well," he said, adjusting his glasses. "This was entertaining. But all good things must end."
His fingers twitched.
The ground beneath them began to glow.
Preset detonations, all around them, ready to trigger simultaneously.
"Wait," Huey said.
Montez paused, amused. "You wanna negotiate? How adorable."
"I just have a question."
"Well I suppose it wouldn't hurt."
Huey looked at Riva. "When were you planning to betray him?"
Silence.
Riva's expression didn't change one bit.
"Excuse me?" Montez said, his conducting hand lowering slightly.
"I overheard her earlier," Huey lied smoothly.
"Talking to someone over comms. She was planning to give you a fake key."
"That's absurd," Riva said, managing to control her voice.
"Is it?" Huey looked directly at Montez.
"You're working together, right? She feeds you information, you do the dirty work. But what's to stop her from keeping the real prize for herself? Selling it to a higher bidder?"
Montez's eyes narrowed behind his glasses. "An interesting theory."
"He's lying," Riva snapped.
"Trying to save himself. Don't fall for it."
"We didn't make any mention of the key before now, but he somehow knows about it," Montez said. "So why don't you prove to me you're not lying and show me the key."
"What? Now?"
"Right now."
Riva's jaw tightened. She reached into her jacket and pulled out the Nexus Key, holding it up.
"Satisfied?"
"Let me verify it."
He walked over, hand extended.
Riva hesitated for just a fraction of a second.
Then handed it over.
Montez activated the device, scrolling through the data.
His expression darkened.
"Huh, this is...."
Before he could finish his sentence, Riva had already pulled out a gun attempting to shoot him.
But the floor just in front of her exploded and she was pushed back.
"Did you really think, id be stupid enough to let my guard down" Montez said while walking toward her.
"Student profiles? Research data? Omega-potential assessments?" Montez's voice dropped to something dangerous. "None of that is here."
Riva's face went pale. "I can explain...."
"Where's the real key?"
"I don't have it. Someone must have switched....."
Montez grabbed her by the collar. "Don't lie to me."
"I'm not! I was set up!"
His hand moved to her throat, then paused.
Something at the hem of her collar. A small bulge in the fabric.
He ripped it open.
The actual Nexus Key fell out.
For a moment, nobody moved.
Riva lunged for it.
Montez was faster.
A spatial portal opened, and Riva tried to redirect his grab, but his other hand was already dancing.
The explosion caught her mid-portal.
She flew backward, slamming into a concrete pillar.
"You greedy little...." Montez advanced, fingers moving in complex patterns. "It's clear you initially planned to give me the real thing then switch it out at the last minute after you were done."
Riva opened portals frantically, trying to redirect his detonations, but he'd marked too many surfaces.
Every escape route led to another explosion.
She tried to teleport away.
He detonated the ground where she'd land before she even got there.
She crashed down hard, blood streaming from her nose.
"I gave you everything," Montez said, standing over her. "Power, information, an opportunity. And you thought you could betray me?"
"I wasn't...."
His hand came down in a sharp cutting motion.
The explosion point-blank was deafening.
When the smoke cleared, Riva lay motionless, her Arcanum uniform scorched and torn.
Montez pocketed the real Nexus Key and turned to the students.
They tensed, ready for the end.
He raised his hand
Then paused, looking at Huey.
Those blue eyes.
"You remind me of someone," Montez said quietly. "An Achusoi I met a while back. Just as smart, Resourceful and didn't know when to quit."
He lowered his hands.
"What was his name again, Marcus. Marcus Chen."
The world stopped.
Huey's breath caught. His vision narrowed.
Marcus Chen.
That name
"What are you...." Huey started.
"Doesn't matter now. He's dead." Montez adjusted his glasses.
He turned toward the exit.
"I got what I came for. What you do with her is your business."
"Wait!" Suzie called out. "You're just gonna leave?!"
"Look. I'm a professional at work, not a sadist who's gonna kill a bunch of college kids for the fun of it . The job's done."
He left in a flash, hands in his pockets. whistling a tune that might have been classical music.
The students stood in shocked silence.
Then Willy collapsed, and the spell broke.
"Medical supplies," Josephine said, trying to stand on shaking legs. "We need...."
Riva pushed herself up, her red eyes blazing and blood dripping from her mouth.
"If I'm going down," she rasped, "I'm taking you all with me."
Her hands moved, opening portals around the students.
Not for teleportation.
For detonation redirection.
Every remaining explosive Montez had set was about to converge on their position.
Ice erupted across the rift site.
Mira had returned, her eyes filled with fury.
The temperature plummeted in an instant and Riva froze mid-gesture, encased completely in crystalline ice.
The students exhaled in relief.
Huey noticed something again, he moved before anyone else did.
"It's over," Kenna breathed. "It's finally....."
"Move!" Huey shouted.
He tackled Mira, driving them both to the ground.
The ice sculpture that was Riva exploded.
Montez's final contingency.
Shrapnel and fire erupted where Mira had been standing, scorching the air above them.
When the debris settled, Huey found himself lying on top of Mira.
Her face had gone completely red.
Those silver-ringed eyes were wide, staring up at him from inches away.
"Um," she said.
"Sorry," Huey said, not moving yet because his ears were still ringing.
"It's fine."
"I should...."
"wow, You're very warm."
"What?"
Across , Josephine stared at them.
Her good hand clenched into a fist.
Her jaw tightened.
She looked away quickly, but not before Suzie noticed.
Huey finally rolled off Mira and helped her to her feet.
"Thanks" he said.
"You saved me for the second time today." Her face was still red. "So we're not even."
"You give yourself way less credit than you deserve, like how did you know it was gonna go off"
"Let's call it instinct."
Willy groaned from where he'd collapsed. "Is it over now? Can we please be done almost dying?"
"I think....." Tamara started.
The sound of rotor blades cut her off.
Everyone looked up.
A helicarrier descended through the smoke.
Black exterior, sleek design.
But this one had a different symbol emblazoned on its side.
A phoenix rising from flames.
Luce Nera.