Emergency strobes spun red across the underground bunker as the reinforced doors creaked open.
Ella turned slowly—Kira at her back, trembling, one hand on a hidden weapon.
Footsteps echoed down the glass corridor.
Measured.Confident.Unhurried.
And then—
Leon appeared.
No longer in a suit.
No mask. No guards.
Just a black combat shirt soaked in someone else's blood, and those same eyes—haunted, inhuman, yet locked only on her.
"Hello, El," he said softly.
Like he was greeting her in a kitchen on a rainy morning.
Not after burning the world to the ground.
She wanted to scream.
To cry.
To run.
But none of those would help her now.
Because she realized, with terrifying clarity—
This man wasn't hunting her anymore.
He wasn't even angry.
He was… waiting.
For her to say it.For her to choose.
And worst of all—
For her to forgive.
Leon stood like a cathedral wrapped in vines—beautiful, decaying, and entirely designed to pull worship from the unwilling.
And Ella?
She was no longer the worshipper.
She was the match someone had dropped at the altar.
Burning down what was sacred.
Even if it killed her.
"I read the files," Ella whispered.
Leon tilted his head."And?"
"You were made to love me."
His smile was soft. Sad."No, El. I was made to destroy anything that tried to love you."
He stepped forward.Kira raised her gun.
Leon didn't blink."Put it down, little sister. This isn't your war."
Kira didn't move.Ella did.
She walked straight to him.
Only inches apart.
And whispered:"Then end it."
He blinked.
Confused.
Heartbreaking.
"I can't. You're the lock."
"The lock to what?"
He leaned in, forehead nearly touching hers.
"To my humanity."
Suddenly, the lights died.
The bunker went dark.
Over the intercom—static.
And then a woman's voice, unfamiliar.
"This is not your experiment anymore, Subject 00.""Authorization revoked. Elimination in progress."
Kira paled.Ella froze.
Leon?
He smiled.
"Looks like they've sent the original mother of the program," he whispered.
"She created me, Ella."
He reached for her hand—bloodstained fingers trembling.
"Now I need you to help me destroy her."