On the rooftop of one of Flourish’s most prominent bars and gambling establishments, the triad discussed the extraction of Solar Reign. It was well known in the criminal underworld that the Reigns were affiliated with the Seeking Angels. The Vine higher ups also understood quite well that Solar was currently serving out his sentence at the Iron Nexus. They too suspected that the media sensationalized all of Solar’s supposed wrongdoings as something it surely wasn't. Sake said to her uncle herself “if anything it’d be best if Solar was free, having a soldier boy like him as an ally could create new connections with the Angels and even make the casino shakedown easier if he’s so dangerous to lock away in maximum security to begin with. The government fears him! If ya ask me that just means we need em." Many shared Sake's sentiment along with similar ideas knowing Solar was surely having a hell of a time being held captive for something he likely hadn’t even done. Being dehumanized, tortured, degraded, and experimented on all while having his ego whittled down to less than nothing. All the perks you could expect when you're a guest of the world government.
In a shady area of the bar Mori cracked open a nice cold beer with foam white as snow, then began to rerun bits and pieces of the plan to Santi from their first meeting, if that's what you’d deem it as. Mostly incoherent, mainly inconsistent. Couldn’t keep him on track really at all. He had more schemes in mind than Santi did dreams. The guy was crafty. That much was clear, but everything else wasn't quite transparent. Guy also hadn’t a clue either, if you let Santi deem so. The more Santi pressed Mori, the more it began to dawn on him that Mori’s trying to promise the Moon and maybe even the stars too if he could. Santi’s face seemed to morph itself into a sigh. All he could think as Mori spoke was “ A real happy Wanderer Chasing Fool’s Gold. Couldn’t give you a straight answer if ya gave em a straight question.” Santi ruminated pessimistically.
From the bits and pieces santi could make out from Mori’s wandering discussion, he tried to contact Solar’s associates but was respectfully told to fuck off. He wanted to recruit some fella, Cain of the Draven family , in order to utilize his mutation to shapeshift into a high ranking guard. Bribe said guard and dispose of him when no longer useful. There was more to it but Santi stopped listening when Mori began mentioning something about hacking and ear pieces.
Santi’s thoughts unraveled with paranoia as he mulled over Mori’s plan and how he had gone out of his way to propose this fanciful idea to grapevine. It was good but not GREAT. “See Iron Nexus is operated under POM, Big Brother, Motherless bastards. Wicked shit goes down when you cross footfirst in the dirty hands territory. Last thing we need is the all seeing eye on us, shining light on all sorts of shady things, getting caught in their stifling web. Just before things have even truly begun. “ Santi thought.
~1~
“Look. Sake and I aren’t just gonna stick our necks out on the chopping block for nothin’. We’re leaving this job with something and then some from the looks of how you describe things. You’ll need to be at the location on time.” Santi started. Mori vehemently interrupted “ Of course! Same time I was here. Same time I’ll be there. Just as early, with Cain…but knowing him maybe a bit later than my standard versions of early.” Mori said so manicly and paused indefinitely waiting with vigorous patience for Santi's response. “Perfect.” Santi answered. “But listen boul. This. And I repeat. THIS cannot be seen as what it is. There has to be plausible deniability, in order for the vine to safely and willingly look the other way. Understand?” Mori was clever but Santi was just as cunning as well. He knew that it was best that this whole operation was grasped as being a victim of fate by outsiders and potential onlookers. Plausible. Conceivable. In every possible sense they could allow it to be when pulling off this job.
Santi began again asserting Mori grimly. “There will be victims, but in this sense you’ll have to see them as acceptable casualties.” Mori listened intently while shaking what was left of his beer and locked in sharply as Santi explained the necessity behind it, but Mori couldn't quite see past the importance of those two combined words and uttered. “ But what does it matter if we clip a few hairs?” Mori said, motioning his finger into a pistol with one eye closed. Mori continued. “ They're all criminals anyway. Hell if we're getting technical here, I’m sure I share a trait and track record or two with a few inmates myself. Means no difference to me if I slice one too deep or if your lizard just so happens to roast one too crispy. We gotta do what we gotta do to get this job done and that's that cowboy, no need to cushion MY CONSCIENCE I know how this goes. Santi stood quietly as he listened attentively to Mori's perspective. “I’d figured but I’m just letting it be known that to cover our asses this is the way to go. I just can't look past it and move forward without addressing it.” Santi capitulated.
Mori sat across from where Santi stood with his arms crossed and sipped his beer with a laissez faire attitude. The cold refreshing taste of the brew seemed to sharpen Mori and Santi ever more as they conversed with one another and gave way to Santi’s thoughts on the upcoming job. It was gonna be a risky one with great reward and Mori wasn’t willing to back down. In truth Mori was quite excited and intrigued by the cover up story to derail suspicion from them. He only wondered as to why it bothered Santi so much. Mori was both completely willing and fine with the purposeful violence towards “pawns” being knocked over if it meant making everything look more realistic. Mori's reasoning remained difficult to quantify.
“Aye man I’ll admit it's not pretty but it’s the cost of doing business and I wanted to run it by you in any case.” Santi said with a beer in hand raised to the air, perceiving and perceiving well he did. Mori raised his beer as well, clanking it along the side of Santi’s.
~2~
Truth be told, Mori showed up with Cain on time—though admittedly later than the version of “early” they had discussed. He must’ve went for a piss or whatever the fuck he did to get himself to the location at that time to start the unlawful activities that were planned.
Cain, Mori, Santi, and Tsuyo gathered together to prepare for the prison break. Mori looked at the prison island as he readied his disguise and tinkered with his modified collar. He had studied the stolen chitin blueprint and carved out the inner workings that subdued mutations. In place of the inner workings he had pushed in cloth and cotton rendering the collars primary function obtuse and obsolete. Mori then dug into the captured soldier's equipment vest and handed out ear pieces to both Cain and Santi. As Mori said aloud” Well this wasn’t my first idea or approach to this big caper but it’ll work and it should be fun.” He reassuringly told his fellow colluders.
Cain's ears perked up in surprise “ Whatchu try first bro?” Mori rubs his chin sighing ” Ah fuck man. I tried reaching out to Solar’s people. Went back to the dead drop and found a severed hand stabbed into the wall. Piece of paper nailed under it just said ‘No’ written in blood. And the damn hand was flipping me the bird too wouldn’tcha know it” Cain winced in confusion mouthing “ What the fuck?” with a soft disgusted reaction. “Yea,” Mori said shrugging his shoulders and preparing, “real polite way to tell me to tell me to go fuck myself huh?” Mori understood the message well enough—and admired the delivery
Santi chimes in “Are you two ladies done talking so we can get on with this shit or what? My time is precious too y'know!" Cain replies “Don’t get your panties in a bunch, little man.” Cain snatched the badge from the captive soldier. Darkness tapered around him like strips of velvet cloth, reshaping his features until he mirrored the tied-up guard beside Mori. Mori closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He fastened the collar around his neck, rubbed his chin, stood, and dropped into a Slavic squat in front of the PoM soldier.
The soldier was exhausted as he was bloodied. He lay crumpled in the government boat bound by handcuffs and strong cable wires, gagged by a dirty cloth. He looked as though he were a wilting flower. Nothing short of Mori’s craftsmanship. Mori looked at Santi then at the guard as he was chuckling to himself. “Dude I am SO sorry. Oh my gosh it’s just. YOUR fAcE. You’re sitting there thinking wow one minute I’m on the phone taking dead drop bribes then BAM! Jesus, man. I fucking love that look. That's the look of “Wow, it's all really happening. I'm at the end of the line. Last bit of rope to tug on.” ” Mori laughed again, but deeper. More heartily with a venomous disposition.
~3~
“Can't leave too many loose ends…also I’d really rather NOT have you come after me after I had been intentionally giving you bogus bucks.”
Mori’s fake sadness cracked into a wicked grin. As he then snatched the soldier's keycard then pushed the soldier off the boat and watched as he sank into the expansive murky waters of the Iron Nexus so much so like the dead bodies of prisoners discarded by scientists. As Mori laughed while wiping a tear from his eye and saying “Yeah I’m ready. Let's get this show on the road. Whoo! That was too funny. Cain did’ja see his face, it was all!” Mori tried recreating the face of horror on the dead soldier's face with cartoonish accuracy.
High above, Tsuyo circled the trio until Santi finally signaled him. Santi raised one arm in the air while shaking his head and saying to Mori “Man you're sick. Something's not right in that matta of yours. Just listen for the roar so your ass don’t get left where you belong.” As Tsuyo swiftly swooped in, allowing Santi to grab on and climb up the dragon and onto its back. As Santi and Tsuyo took flight above the menacingly wispy clouds they awaited Mori and Cain to dock and infiltrate the Nexus.
The murky waters surrounding the Nexus churned beneath them as the boat sailed further to the Iron Nexus’s docking station. The docking station was a massive steel gate that opened from the middle with a platform that hoisted the boat up above the water and onto the Iron Nexus’s platform. Cain and Mori dock leaving Mori marveled and wide eyed at each part of the prison island's entrance mechanism. He had never imagined this is how high tech the stronger outposts owned by PoM would look from the inside. “For a prison outpost this place ain't so bad.” Mori muttered at the checkpoint. Cain kicks at Mori's leg causing him to stumble then yanks Mori from behind and puts him in an armlock with handcuffs. Mori jerked back and fell forward in shock and surprise. “What th-!” Mori sighed with quiet anger. Cain jerked Mori around by the cuffs standing him straight in a demanding grunt. “ Make your way to processing mud blood! You didn't come here to gawk and stare at your surroundings. “ Cain ushered and pointed Mori further and showed his badge to a PoM officer on duty. Cain gripped Mori once more and shoved him toward the processing chamber.
The processing chamber was wide but devoid of life. On both the left and right sides there were holding cells. Cells that held individuals young and old. Some visibly mutated with genetic anomalies, and others not so much. As Cain gripped and tightened his force around Mori the two trudged forward into the Nexus. Mori kept his head down, though his eyes darted sharply beneath his dreads and simmered with anger. He was almost certain that not all of these people in the containment collars could’ve possibly committed substantial crimes warranting them to be on the island. “Mmm. I agree with Santino’s approach, but fuck me. Now the bastards got me growin’ a conscious peering at these poor shmucks.” The thought sat poorly in his stomach.
~4~
“Halt! Identify yourself.” A soldier called out as Cain continued forward with Mori. “I said stop you bastard!” The soldier called out once again. Cain paused and grabbed Mori’s cuffed hands before chucking Mori to the ground with great force. Cain then turned his head behind him as Mori lay disgruntled on the ground. Laying on his side, face full of dreads covering his eyes and upper face. Cain fixed the corporal with a burning red stare. “Do you know who I am son?” the soldiers eyes widened as Cain pressed the issue rather than bend a knee. “Well-” “Before you even think of opening your mouth Corporal just know you're talking to a Chief Warrant Officer and that I can either make or break your time in the nexus. So whatever you’ve to say, better be good if I’m a bastard like you say I am. “ Cain said, tapping his badge and name plate as he stepped toward the Corporal. “Sir I had no idea; you just glazed through protocol !” Cain's face became hollow with villainy. “Oh yeah? I just glazed through protocol? Cain said, waving his hands in the air sarcastically. “ Next time you see me walk my ass through these processing chambers, hell even the halls of the nexus, just know that I AM PROTOCOL as far as you're concerned. Now go back to your post before I contact your commanding officer. Cain turned toward Mori, then paused and glanced back over his shoulder. “Or keep running ya mouf and see I wont do somethin that fucks your shit up forever. I’ll have ya dumbass scrubbing toilets like these damn muties we’re overseeing. “
Cain continued to use his disguise and perceived seniority to usher Mori through the remaining parts of processing with little resistance. He shoved Mori forward through one checkpoint after another, patting him down roughly while stripping him of his civilian clothes in exchange for the dull prison jumpsuit handed to new arrivals. The whole performance was ugly but convincing.
Mori grimaced as Cain tightened the cuffs.
"Easy wit' allat damn manhandling." Mori muttered. Cain shoved him harder. "Shut up and keep walking mutie." The correctional staff paid little attention. To them, it was routine. Another genetic anomaly entering the Iron Nexus. Another body swallowed by steel and procedure. Cain kept his posture rigid and authoritative while inwardly counting the steps of the operation.
“Step one. Infiltrate the complex.” Cain thought, focusing on the next objective.
~5~
The final checkpoint led into a narrow corridor lined with reinforced steel and humming ventilation shafts overhead. Two correctional officers stood nearby speaking idly while monitoring intake records through a mounted terminal.
Cain instinctively slowed his pace. This was his opening. He jerked Mori sideways and barked toward one of the officers. “You.” The officer looked up. “Sir?” “This prisoner’s paperwork is fucked.” Cain said while yanking Mori closer. “Who processed this mutie? Looks like negligence if you ask me.” The officer stiffened like a tree and approached the terminal. “What? Lemme see-”
That was all it took, damn it.
While Cain buried the officer beneath fabricated complaints and bureaucratic hostility, Mori lowered his head and slipped away from the exchange. His fingers worked quickly at the weakened vent plate overhead. The metal had come loosened with practiced ease like a child pulling open the back of a toy robot to change its batteries. One second Mori stood in front of the vent. The next-gone. By the time the correctional officer finally glanced back, Mori had vanished entirely. Cain had remained perfectly calm.
The officer groveled. “Eh sir… where’d the prisoner go?” Cain scoffed. “You askin’ me or askin’ yourself?” The officer swallowed. Cain stepped closer. “Maybe if y’all spent less time squawkin’ and more time doin’ your damn jobs I wouldn’t have to supervise basic intake.” The officer hurried to check the records. Cain used the confusion as a cover and departed toward the elevator system without another word.
The deeper levels of the Nexus waited below. Meanwhile, Mori crawled through the ventilation with entirely too much enthusiasm. “Now THIS…” Mori whispered to himself. “This is more my speed. I'm in their walls. I'M IN THEIR FRICKIN WALLS!”
Dust coated his hands and knees. The prison breathed around him through steel lungs and humming machinery. Beneath the vents he caught glimpses of prison life unfolding below.
Scientists.
Guards.
Prisoners.
Containment.
Pure misery.
~6~
The deeper he traveled the more his grin sharpened from ear to ear. Eventually the ventilation shaft opened above a secured systems chamber. Mori peered downward like a creepypasta character. A correctional technician sat lazily at the mainframe terminal dozing off as he tried to stay awake reviewing security feeds. Poor bastard.
Mori dug into the lining of his altered collar and retrieved a small metal canister. He weighed it in his hand.
Then dropped it.
The canister bounced across the floor like a marble. The technician blinked. “What the hell-” Gas erupted violently. The man coughed and staggered in his chair before collapsing unconscious against the console. Mori landed moments later with catlike precision cloth draped around his nose and mouth. “Oof. “ Mori muttered, " Yeah, that looked unpleasant for the last guy too.“ He nudged the unconscious technician aside with his boot and politely pushed him from the chair. The body hit the floor with a heavy thud.
Mori claimed the seat.
He fitted the earpiece into place and cracked his knuckles outward dramatically.
“Step two. Compromise their defenses.” He thought to himself sitting at the terminal
His fingers danced wildly across the terminal. “Camera feeds? Nope. Don't need those.” Security windows blinked out one by one. “Containment failsafes...” Mori hummed. “Yeahhh, let's ditch those babies too.” The keyboard clattered beneath his hands. “Elevator access?” His grin widened. “HAHA—better get them steps in boys. BLOCKED.” Communications. Mori rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Definitely don’t need no one phoning a friend but us, now do we?” The Nexus unfolded before him like exposed nerves begging to be pinched.
Through the cameras Mori spotted Cain entering an elevator bound for the underground sectors.
"Got eyes on ya cowboy." Mori murmured bitterly.
Several correctional officers attempted to board alongside Cain. "Nah nah nah." His fingers danced across the keyboard. The elevator doors shut early. Only Cain descended.
The confused officers outside pounded uselessly against steel doors already carrying Cain into the lower depths. Cain touched the earpiece. "I'm moving below. Looking for the Star." Mori monitored the security map. "I got eyes on Solar. Pod C. Remember the code phrase." Cain cracked and stretched his neck. "Copy."
~7~
Mori finished his work with a satisfied grin spreading across his face. Containment. Security. Prison controls. All accounted for. He leaned back in the chair. Static crackled.
"I hope you party people are ready..." Mori said over comms. "Because the show's about to begin." Then Santi answered overhead. "Ready when you are." Mori rose from the chair and produced a grenade from the unconscious tech's coat. He rolled it in his palm thoughtfully while staring at the maze of blinking controls before him.
Rows of containment systems, security access, surveillance. Every miserable nerve ending of the Iron Nexus laid bare beneath his fingertips. His grin widened. “Y'know..." Mori muttered while weighing the grenade in his palm. "For a buncha world-runnin' geniuses, you government types sure do make sabotage easy."
His fingers danced across the keyboard one final time.
Containment authorization, Override accepted. Biological containment grid suppressed. Collar synchronization. Corrupted. Then he pressed the final command. Cell block security. Released.The terminal flashed warning signs across its display. Mori slipped the earpiece snugly into place.
The Iron Nexus shrieked.
Alarms erupted throughout the prison with violent intensity. Red emergency lights flooded the halls. Steel doors groaned. Then- CLANG. CLANG. CLANG. The sound echoed like iron thunder. Across the Nexus, reinforced cell doors unlocked and slid apart. Pod after pod. Level after level. The prison opened its jaws. Correctional officers froze in disbelief. Prisoners stared through widening gaps. And around their necks- The containment collars began malfunctioning; sparks burst violently from the chitin restraints. Some flickered while others split apart entirely falling from the necks of captives.
The suppressive mechanisms shorted into uselessness. For a brief moment- silence. Then power returned. Mutations surged back into living flesh as the Iron Nexus exploded into chaos. A prisoner engulfed himself in flames and tackled a correctional officer to the floor. Another warped steel bars with mutated limbs. And another pinched at officers with…crab hands?
Screams echoed through corridors as guards scrambled for weapons and prisoners rushed forward like flood water bursting through shattered pipes. The facility descended into bedlam!
~8~
Mori watched through the security cameras with wide-eyed fascination. His laughter slipping out almost involuntarily. “Oh dear.” He leaned closer towards the screens with one hand over his mouth daintily. “There it is! Money shot!!!” Gunfire erupted. Smoke flooded portions of the prison. Containment teams shouted conflicting orders over fractured communications. A hulking inmate with stone-like skin smashed through a barricade while another disappeared into shadow and dragged screaming officers into darkness with purple and yellow tentacles.
The Iron Nexus had become a slaughterhouse.
And Mori- Mori looked almost moved. He dropped the grenade and rose from the technician's chair. “Guess that means my shift is over.” His voice sharpened through the earpiece. “Hola muchachos! The cage is open.” Static crackled. Far below, at the lowest level of the nexus Cain pressed two fingers against his earpiece while moving through the underground corridors. “I hear it.” Mori twirled his dreads and grinned before dropping into a frown. “Good. Then Move.” saying so as he began sprinting from the system's chamber. Behind him the alarms continued blaring. The prison shook beneath pounding feet and distant explosions as inmates and correctional officers collided in brutal confusion.
Mori rushed through the corridors with reckless speed, vaulting over debris and ducking beneath emergency shutters beginning to malfunction. He had no interest in sticking around for the control room's fiery finale.
Then-
A thunderous roar split the heavens. Mori smiled instantly. “There you are, you big gecko.” Outside the Iron Nexus, storm clouds twisted around the immense shape circling above the prison island. Tsuyo descended forcefully. Massive wings battering the air. Flame and ember glowing between draconic jaws. Upon Tsuyo’s back stood Santi as they closed in toward the Nexus. Wind whipped against Santi’s face as he overlooked the unfolding chaos before him.
Smoke. Gunfire. Escaping prisoners. Panic. Exactly as intended. His eyes narrowed. “Step three. Reign fire.” Tsuyo opened his jaws. The dragon exhaled. A massive fireball screamed through the air and crashed directly into the systems chamber Mori had just abandoned. The statement seemed insignificant then. It wasn't.
The explosion shook the nexus.
Steel warped. Glass burst outward. Flames swallowed the room entirely. Inside, the unconscious technician never even had time to wake. The fire had consumed him along with every trace of Mori’s presence. Security logs, fingerprints, terminal activity, all evidence reduced to ash. The blast wave chased Mori through the corridor. Heat slammed into his back.
~9~
Mori stumbled forward laughing. “THAT’S what I’m talkin’ about!” Above the prison Santi steadied himself atop Tsuyo. “Good shot,” he muttered. But Tsuyo wasn’t finished. Fireballs rained from the sky like hellfire. One tore through a watchtower. Another detonated against an exterior defense platform causing sirens to howl louder. The Iron Nexus didn’t just simply burn, it was scorched, and beneath dragonfire and revolt alike- the prison collapse had truly begun.
The Iron Nexus descended into beautiful ruin. Sirens hollered. Smoke crawled through steel corridors.
Emergency lights pulsed crimson across walls stained by soot, blood, and panic alike. Prisoners surged through shattered containment wings like floodwater escaping a broken dam while correctional officers desperately fought to regain control.
Deep below the prison island, Cain moved through the underground levels with renowned purpose.
The disguise had served its role. Now it was a liability. Darkness peeled from his body like strips of living velvet. The borrowed face distorted. Melted, then vanished. Cain Draven returned. His crimson eyes blending in between the alarm lights as shadows twisted around his arms and shoulders.
Ahead—gunfire.
A squad of PoM correctional officers rushed through the corridor. "There!" one shouted. "Mutant!" Cain sighed. The shadows answered first.
Dark tendrils burst across the corridor and lashed violently toward the advancing officers. One man's rifle vanished into blackness while another was dragged violently off his feet. The hallway erupted as Cain surged forth.
His fist collided with a soldier’s jaw and darkness followed through the impact like a second strike. Bone Cracked. Another officer raised his weapon. “Far too Slow.” Cain noted. The shadow man twisted aside and drove shadow through the man’s flooring, sending him crashing into steel flooring before planting a boot against his chest. The gunfire ceased.
Cain adjusted his stature as darkness rippled across his frame. For a brief moment his silhouette flickered, reverberating like a distorted reflection beneath black water before settling once more around his body. No celebration or lingering. Only Movement. He pressed two fingers against his earpiece. “Mori.”
~10~
Static then followed laughter. “Little busy cowpoke!” Cain continued moving. “I’m approaching Pod C.”
“Good,” Mori answered between distant screams and gunfire. "He's there. Or he WAS there before I turned this place into an active volcano." Cain ignored the remark as he sprinted through the halls.
The lower prison sectors looked different from intake. Worse. Laboratories replaced administrative halls. Containment chambers lined reinforced corridors alongside observation windows, medical restraints, and experiment records scattered across overturned stations, and the deeper he moved, the more the Nexus resembled a laboratory masquerading to be a prison. Cain’s thoughts drifted. Lumi's face flashed through his mind.
Cain picked up speed.
Then- IMPACT.
A body crashed through reinforced glass ahead. Cain stopped. A PoM experimenter crashed through the reinforced observation window and skidded violently across the floor, shards of thick security glass scattering around him as he clawed desperately at his bruised throat.
Behind him, the shattered containment chamber gaped open like a wound in the corridor wall. A large bloody hand gripped the twisted metal frame. Then another.
Solar hauled himself through the broken window, boots crunching across the fractured glass as he climbed over the jagged remains of the reinforced barrier. The overhead alarm lights painted him in flashes of dark crimson as he stepped into the corridor, shoulders rising and falling with controlled fury. Tiny cuts from the shattered glass marked his arms, but he seemed not to notice.
The experimenter scrambled backward in terror.
Solar followed.
Slowly. Deliberately.
Each step echoed through the corridor until he finally stopped over the fallen man, casting a long shadow across him.
Standing over him—
Solar Reign.
~11~
The prisoner looked nothing like his media portraits. He looked worse.
His prison uniform hung ragged across a scarred frame marked by restraint bruises and fresh injuries. Rage burned behind exhausted eyes as he seized the experimenter by the collar and slammed him against shattered containment glass
"You like observin' shit so much?" Solar snarled. "Then watch close. This is what happens when the monster finally gets free of the cage."
The experimenter gasped.
A second containment squad rounded the corridor with weapons raised. Cain moved instantly as darkness surged around him. The first officer disappeared with black tendrils around mouth and throat. The second struck steel after Cain swept his legs.
Solar looked up sharply. For a moment both men fought wordlessly. Solar moved with brutal efficiency. Not refined. Not elegant. Just overwhelming violence sharpened by captivity and fury.
Cain covered his flank spewing darkness shards while Solar tore through the remaining correctional officers. Then an opening. Cain stepped close and uttered.
"The tree has taken root."
Solar froze. Recognition flashed across his face. His eyes widened slightly as the meaning settled deep within Solar's thoughts .
“Step four. Secure the star.” Solar’s eyes widened with the realization.The experimenter slipped from his grasp during the scuffle. For one brief moment the prison noise faded beneath memory and implication.
Then Solar nodded.
"Lead the way."
Cain turned.
Behind him Solar followed. The two moved. Not as allies. Not yet. But as men sharing necessity.
They fought their way toward the upper sectors of the Iron Nexus while alarms and dragonfire shook the prison around them.
Elsewhere—
~12~
Mori was having the time of his life.
He burst into a larger, more open prison wing and nearly stopped dead as a sprawling scene of chaos unfolded before him like a masterpiece brought to life. Beneath flickering alarm lights and drifting clouds of smoke, correctional officers were overwhelmed from every direction while mutants fought back with desperate fury—some carving paths to freedom, others hunting their captors, and many simply struggling to survive. Gunfire echoed through the cavernous space, bodies collided in violent clashes, and Mori could only stand there grinning as he took in the destruction.
And somewhere inside that violence—Mori felt alive.
Entirely euphoric.
"Holy cannoli..." Mori panted.
A correctional officer vanished beneath a group of enraged inmates in a circle. Another fled while flames swallowed part of the corridor behind him. Mori watched with longing almost as if time slowed down around him. The destruction he'd unleashed spread further than he ever imagined.
A flicker of motion near the edge of the chaos caught his attention returning his perception of time to normal. His grin faltered.
An inmate with brownish blond hair and distinctly serpentine features fought desperately nearby. He moved defensively against several attackers while trying to avoid falling debris.
Mori tilted his head. "Hm?" Above the serpent inmate steel groaned. Mori's eyes widened. " JESUS CHRIST—" The ceiling collapsed. Without thinking Mori lunged forward and tackled the stranger clear of the falling debris.
The two hit the ground rough. The serpentine inmate landed beneath Mori. Dust exploded outward as metal crashed in front of them. Mori groaned. "You alive or what?"
The stranger shoved him away and rose quickly. Mori stood too. The two found themselves back-to-back as attackers closed around them.
Mori cracked his neck. "Y'know for a snake dude your survival instincts are kinda dogshit." The inmate hissed. "Didn't ask for help." "Oh excuse me for not being afflicted with Kitty Genovese syndrome—" Mori shot back as mutants and officers rushed them. The brawl began. Mori moved first. A correctional officer swung wildly.
~13~
Mori sidestepped and buried an elbow into the man's jaw before kicking another attacker in the knee and suckerpunching him in the nose.
The snake inmate fought differently. Every movement seemed to flow into the next with an almost predatory grace, his body weaving and twisting through the chaos as though he were slipping between blades of grass. He stayed low, avoiding direct confrontations whenever possible before striking with startling speed. One moment he would be retreating from an attack, the next he would lash forward with a vicious elbow, a sweeping kick, or a clawed hand aimed at a vulnerable opening. There was something instinctive about the way he fought—coiled tension constantly building beneath the surface before exploding outward in sudden bursts of violence. His serpentine features only made the style more unsettling, his sharp eyes tracking every threat while his body seemed to bend around danger itself. For several frantic moments the two fought together without trust, planning, or coordination. They weren't partners or allies; they were simply two survivors caught in the same shitstorm, forced by necessity to watch each other's backs as attackers closed in from every direction.
Mori laughed as he ducked beneath a baton swing and drove his fist into an attacker's crotch. "You gotta be more careful than that, man!" he shouted, earning an irritated snarl from the snake-featured inmate. "You always talk this much?!" the stranger snapped. "Only when I'm enjoying myself!" Mori responded. Together they fought off the remaining attackers until the corridor finally cleared, leaving only drifting smoke and the distant sounds of chaos. For a brief moment they stood in silence before Mori flashed a grin. "Well, try not to die ugly, ciao!" Without waiting for a response, he turned and jolted away. The snake inmate watched him disappear into the hazy crowd before heading in the opposite direction, while Mori charged deeper into the collapsing Nexus, exhilarated by the violence unfolding around him.
A jagged shard of broken metal found its way into Mori’s hand as he tore through the crowd. He wielded it without hesitation, carving through anyone foolish enough to stand in his path before discarding it for a wicked piece of shattered glass. The alarms screamed overhead, blending with the sounds of gunfire, collapsing steel, and desperate cries as he darted through the burning corridors. Every obstacle became part of his twisted game. He vaulted over fallen debris, slid beneath twisted support beams, and lashed out with reckless precision, his grin only growing wider with each new burst of violence.
Eventually, Mori armed himself with a pair of discarded firearms and became truly unrestrained. Gunfire erupted wildly from both hands as he sprinted through the Nexus, firing with little regard for accuracy and every intention of causing mayhem. Muzzle flashes illuminated his face in brief bursts of orange light while smoke and shellcasings swirled around him like a tornado. The prison groaned and buckled under the weight of its own destruction, sections collapsing as riots and dragonfire tore through its foundations.
~14~
Yet Mori never slowed. Soot blackened his warm caramel skin and smeared across his clothes, mixing with streaks of blood that weren't entirely his own. Crimson blotches and flecks dotted his face and chest while ash clung to his hair, giving him the appearance of something dragged from the center of a firestorm. Wild-eyed and grinning like a mad man, he looked less like a man escaping a prison and more like a demon reveling in its collapse.
Laughing beneath the wail of the alarms, he ran straight through the dying heart of the Iron Nexus, thriving amidst the ruin he had helped create.
The prison island was dying.
What had once stood as a beautifully constructed fortress of steel, discipline, and government authority had been reduced to fodder. Flames consumed its outer structures while smoke poured into the heavens above. The Iron Nexus was no longer a symbol of control.
It was a casualty.
The Nexus had lost control and everyone knew it. A thunderous roar split the air cementing the truth of the occasion. The sound rolled across the Nexus like a natural disaster. Mori looked upward immediately. A grin spread across his soot-covered face. “There he is!” Mori squealed like an imp from Hell.
The dragon circled above the prison island, enormous wings scattering smoke clouds as he rushed through the air. The earpiece crackled. Santi's voice followed shortly after. "Alright ladies and gentlemen. Shows over."
Gunfire echoed in the background.
"Tsuyo and I are heading to the rendezvous point. If your asses ain't there in time that's between you and God." Mori laughed. "Aye aye captain." "Don't aye aye me. MOVE." The transmission ended.
Several levels below. Cain and Solar continued forcing their way through the upper sectors of the Nexus. The situation had deteriorated beyond recovery.
All inhabitants were in disarray. Political Prisoners, correctional officers, mutants, even scientists.
~15~
Everyone seemed to be fighting everyone or scrambling to cling onto dear life. Solar drove a fist into an attacker's face and kept moving. "How much farther?" Cain glanced upward. "Not far."
The building trembled violently. A distant explosion shook loose dust from the ceiling.
Solar looked around at the chaos consuming the prison.
Weeks of captivity and forced experimentation for something he hadn’t even done. It was humiliating being held as a government plaything for months. Pain enveloped Solar's heart. Not only did the taste of freedom push Solar forward but all that tormented him was burning around him.
Part of him wanted to stay.
Part of him wanted revenge.
Part of him wanted to watch the whole island sink.
Instead he followed Cain. The mission came first. The rest could wait.
Mori meanwhile had become horribly lost. Not actually lost, more so distracted. "Oh man." A nearby explosion lit up another corridor. "Yippee!" A collapsing guard tower crashed through part of the facility. Mori pointed excitedly. "THAT WAS AWESOME!" Another section of the prison began caving in. Mori watched for approximately three seconds too long.
Then had remembered something. "...Wait." His eyes widened. "THE RP!"
Mori immediately spun around and started sprinting.
"Oh no no no no no no—"
The rendezvous point sat near the upper exterior of the prison island. One by one they arrived. First Cain. Then Solar.
Tsuyo waited, flapping his wings above a massive rocky outcropping overlooking the sea. The dragon's scales glimmered with the firelight. Santi sat calmly upon his back.
Solar stopped in amazement seeing Santi. For a moment neither spoke.
~16~
The wind moved between them. The prison burned in front of them. And Solar realized something. He was free. Not transferred. Not relocated. Not reassigned. Free, truly free.
Santi observed him quietly before greeting him.
"Nice to see you again, twinkletoes."
Solar looked toward him. Santi shrugged before looking away to survey the Nexus. "Don't make it weird." Solar almost laughed. Almost. "Where's Mori?"Cain said, looking around.
Santi sighed immediately. "God damn it."
Far above them Mori burst through a collapsing section of the Nexus. The floor beneath him gave way as steel and concrete snapped around him. Fire erupted behind him as Mori looked down then forward then down again. “...Well.” He grinned. “This is either gonna be legendary or incredibly fucking stupid.” An explosion screeched behind him. “Eh, probably both.” Mori sprinted then jumped as the collapsing structure carried him forward. He planted a foot against a falling support beam then jumped once more launching himself into the open air. Wind exploded around him. The prison island rapidly disappeared beneath his feet. “LETSSSS GOOOOOOO!”
The group noticed Mori’s decision. Tsuyo’s eyes widened, Cain stared, Solar blinked, and Santi buried his face in his hands. Mori flailed through the sky like a hurled grenade landing directly atop Tsuyo with a crash, tumble, roll, yelp, and a curse. Mori slowly stood. “...Nailed it.”
“No you didn’t.”
“Close enough.”
“You’re insane.”
Santi immediately pointed forward. “GO.” Tsuyo obeyed. The dragon launched from the island using his massive wings to beat against the night air. The Iron Nexus grew smaller behind them. Smoke rose into the heavens as fire illuminated the dark watery horizon. For several moments nobody spoke, they simply watched. Watched as the prison disappeared. The impossible become reality. Allowing for the freedom of Reign.
Solar stood near the edge of Tsuyo’s back and stared silently toward the small dim orange light that was the burning island.
~17~
Cain folded his arms.
Mori sat cross-legged with the biggest smile imaginable.
Santi guided Tsuyo onward.
The mission was complete. The star had been secured and somewhere far away, the world government would soon discover a truth they desperately wished wasn’t real.
Solar Reign had escaped. There were simpler explanations for what happened. None of them were correct.