Ashes of Our Flame
by RapwizzyDebaron
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Episode 63: "Burning Shadows"
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The air inside the crumbling lab was thick with smoke and electricity, the remnants of Kara's unleashed power still crackling like wildfire. Her chest heaved as she stood amidst shattered glass and twisted metal, the afterglow of her transformation fading into a simmering ember beneath her skin.
Protocol K-0 lay on the floor, twitching but not defeated — a wound only fueling the monster's rage.
Adrian and the others rushed to her side, faces etched with awe and fear. They saw not just the girl they knew, but something reborn: a blazing force with the weight of a world on her shoulders.
"You did it," Adrian whispered, reaching for her hand.
Kara pulled away sharply, eyes wild. "No," she said, voice trembling. "I just became the target."
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Outside the Tunnel
The night air bit cold, but something worse crawled in the shadows. The distant hum of engines echoed, not from their team, but from reinforcements closing in — Lazarus's elite strike squad, fast and lethal.
Ronan checked his comms. "They've tracked us. We have maybe minutes."
Tessa frowned. "We need a plan. Fast."
Calen's jaw tightened. "The lab's collapsing. We can't stay. We need to fall back—"
"No," Kara interrupted, her voice cutting through the chaos. "We're not running. Not now."
Adrian stepped up beside her, ready to fight or fall together.
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Inside the Lab
Kara's mind reeled with the memories locked away — the manipulation, the falsehoods, the twisted experiments. Every moment she reclaimed felt like a razor across her soul.
"I'm not just fighting for myself," she told the team. "I'm fighting for every lost soul they turned into weapons."
Her eyes locked with Tessa's, fierce and desperate.
"Help me find the original Lazarus files. The ones they tried to bury."
Tessa nodded, pulling up encrypted folders on her tablet. "I'm in. But this might expose things even we're not ready for."
The room shook. Dust rained from the ceiling.
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Down the Hall
Protocol K-0 groaned, struggling to stand. Its red eyes blazed with a new hunger—an unyielding drive to hunt down Kara, not as an enemy, but as a twisted counterpart meant to extinguish her light.
"It's over," it growled, voice cold as ice. "You can't run from what you are."
The hybrid's footsteps were thunderous, echoing through the hollow tunnels like a harbinger of doom.
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The Team's Escape
As Lazarus's strike squad closed in, gunfire erupted, ricocheting off concrete. The team fought with grim determination, covering each other's backs as they scrambled through the maze of tunnels.
Adrian caught Kara's arm. "We're almost there — the extraction point."
But Kara hesitated, eyes scanning the walls covered in faded warnings and chemical stains.
"Wait," she said. "We need proof. Something they can't erase."
She sprinted into a side chamber, the others following. Inside, the air was stale, filled with broken crates and discarded files. Tessa's fingers flew across a dusty terminal, hacking through layers of forgotten firewalls.
The screen flickered to life, revealing a video log.
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The Confession
The face of Dr. Emory Kell appeared—worn, haunted.
"The Lazarus Project was never about healing," he said quietly. "It was about control. About weaponizing human essence. They used us as puppets. They experimented on children, soldiers, anyone who could be turned into the perfect soldier… or weapon."
He swallowed hard, eyes moist with regret.
"But something went wrong. Kara—Subject K-7—she wasn't just an experiment. She's the key. The Phoenix."
Suddenly, the screen went black.
A warning flashed:
INTRUDER ALERT: SYSTEM LOCKDOWN INITIATED
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The Final Stand
The strike squad was moments away.
Kara clenched the data chip tightly.
"This ends now."
Adrian nodded. "Together."
They braced for the storm — a final battle where past sins clashed with future hopes.
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Outside, the city slept — unaware that a war for its soul was raging just beneath its feet.
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To be continued…
🔥 The truth is a burning brand—will it ignite rebellion
or ash? Kara's fight has only just begun. Stay with Ashes of Our Flame by RapwizzyDebaron — the flames roar louder every day.