C99 Born In Blood, Bound by Iron

Yin moved through the maze with painstaking caution, her muscles burning as she twisted her body around the electrified wires.

Every movement felt like a gamble, but she couldn't stop now, not after everything they'd been through.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of navigating the maze, Yin reached the end and collapsed onto the safe floor, gasping for breath.

Yang, Morgana, and Catherine followed soon after, each of them dripping with sweat and relief.

"That was brutal,"

Yang said, her voice hoarse.

"But we're not done, are we?"

Just when they thought they might get a moment to rest, the recruits were forced into the final challenge: a decompression chamber simulation.

The corridors bulkheads suddenly lowered down on either side, and the red lights overhead began to flash more urgently.

Dracula's voice crackled over the intercom.

"This is your last test. The decompression simulation. You'll have limited oxygen in here, and the air pressure will drop fast. Your goal is to get through the other side before your oxygen runs out. Move quickly, or you'll suffocate."

The recruits stared at the room in disbelief. The ship's systems were designed to simulate the effects of decompression, thinning the air, making it harder to breathe, and reducing oxygen levels rapidly.

Yin's lungs already burned from the tear gas and smoke, but now she had to force herself to breathe even less.

The pressure in the corridor immediately dropped, making their ears pop painfully.

"Move!"

Yang gasped, her voice strained as she tried to suck in what little air was left while pinching her nose and blowing out air to equalize the pressure In her ears.

The recruits staggered forward, their bodies weak and shaking from exhaustion.

Every breath was a struggle, the thin air barely enough to keep their lungs functioning.

Yin could feel her vision darkening around the edges as they pushed forward, each step more agonizing than the last.

Catherine stumbled, her legs giving out beneath her.

"I... I can't... breathe,"

She wheezed, her face pale.

"Get up!"

Morgana shouted, pulling Catherine to her feet.

"We're almost there!"

Yin's head pounded as the lack of oxygen made her feel lightheaded, but she forced herself to keep moving, her body screaming in protest.

The door ahead seemed so far away, and every second felt like a battle against her own body.

With a final surge of strength, Yin threw herself against the door and hit the emergency release.

The door slid open, and the recruits stumbled out into the oxygen rich corridor, gasping for air as the pressure normalized.

They collapsed onto the floor, their chests heaving as they took deep, desperate breaths only for more PT to follow such as push ups, squats, sit ups, crawling and anything else that the demons managed to think off with those sick minds of theirs.

Finally after hours the recruits some barely walking, others out cold getting carried In fireman style or just dragged through the ground by their legs by others finally reached the hangar bay.

As they did they collapsed to the floor and lay there, motionless for what felt like hours. The entire Iron Forge had pushed them beyond their limits, both physically and mentally.

Yin's body trembled as she stared at the ceiling, her mind barely able to process the fact that they had made it through.

"I thought I was going to die in there,"

Yang whispered, her voice weak.

"I couldn't... breathe."

Catherine nodded, tears filling her eyes.

"I almost gave up... back in the electric maze. I thought... I couldn't do it."

Morgana, too exhausted to speak, simply reached out and grasped Yin's hand.

It was a silent acknowledgment, they had made it through hell together.

The four women only In their underwear covered In mud, cuts and sweat lay there in silence, their bodies battered, their minds on the edge of collapse.

But they had survived. They had proven themselves in the In the Iron Forge.

They were one step closer to becoming true Iron Fenrirs.

As the recruits slowly began to come to their senses, the familiar voice of Dracula flanked by his grinning while smoking cigars battle brothers echoed through the hangar bay.

"Congratulations, younglings."

His voice was filled with a strange mixture of pride and expectation, but also that edge of hardness they had all come to know so well.

"From this day onward, you are no longer fenrir younglings, you are full-fledged Iron Fenrirs."

A ripple of emotion spread through the recruits at those words, the weight of what they had achieved slowly sinking in.

Yin, her body still trembling, felt a surge of something powerful well up inside her, a sense of pride, of belonging.

They had earned this. They had survived the fire.

Dracula paused, letting his words hang in the air, and then he began to speak again, his voice growing louder and more passionate with each word.

"Being an Iron Fenrir is not just about strength. It's about loyalty. It's about sacrifice. It's about facing the darkest parts of yourself and refusing to surrender to them. You are wolwes now, part of a pack that will stand together in battle, bleed together, and if need be, die together. There is no place for weakness in the Fenrirs. You are forged in blood, tempered by pain. From this moment on, you are bound to each other, and to this pack, for life."

Yin felt her heart pounding in her chest. As exhausted as she was, she could feel the surge of energy coursing through her veins.

The weight of Dracula's words filled the room, like a current of electricity that sparked something deep within each of them.

She could see it on the faces of the other recruits, determination, pride, and something primal hidden deep In their genes that had been awakened inside them.

Dracula took a deep breath, his eyes gleaming with something fierce.

"We are the Iron Fenrirs!"

He roared, his voice echoing off the walls of the hangar.

"And In Death We Live!"

The words ignited something in the recruits, their instincts suppressed by current society and time kicking in.

They had been trained for this, molded into warriors who knew nothing but the fight.

Yin felt the energy surge through her limbs as she forced herself to sit up, her heart swelling with pride.

She locked eyes with Yang, who had already begun to rise to her feet, her body battered but her spirit unbroken.

"Iron Fenrirs!"

Dracula bellowed, his voice like thunder.

The recruits, though still weak and exhausted, let out a collective howl, the sound guttural and raw.

It wasn't perfect, it was broken and uneven, but it carried the weight of their journey. They had come too far to falter now.

"Iron Fenrirs!"

Dracula shouted again, even louder this time.

The recruits responded again, this time stronger, their voices growing louder as they forced themselves to stand, their bodies shaking but their hearts burning with the fire of triumph.

Yin gritted her teeth, using every last ounce of strength to rise, her fists clenched as she let out the howl with everything she had.

"Last time!"

Dracula commanded, his voice full of pride, full of challenge.

"Give it everything you have Iron Fenrirs!"

The recruits roared back to the point they strained their vocal cords causing their temples to feel like they were about to pop, this time with a deafening howl that shook the walls of the hangar.

The sound was deafening, a chorus of voices that carried all the pain, fear, and struggle they had endured.

It was a sound of defiance, of victory. They were Iron Fenrirs, and nothing could break them now.

As the final howl echoed into silence, the hangar's fire safety system activated.

The sprinklers overhead burst to life, but instead of water, thick, red liquid rained down over the recruits, fake blood mixed with Draculas and his battle brothers.

It soaked through their underwear, staining their skin and hair, running down their faces like war paint.