Chapter 15: The Last Stand

eter's body hit the ground hard, his breath knocked from him in an instant. The shockwave from the blast left his ears ringing, and for a moment, everything around him blurred. He shook his head, trying to clear the disorientation, but his mind kept racing. He had to get up. He had to stop this.

The machine above them hummed with an eerie, malevolent energy. The air around him crackled, charged with raw power. The lights in the facility flickered again, casting everything in a cold, unrelenting glow.

Henry's voice echoed through the chaos. "Peter! Get up! We don't have much time!"

Peter's eyes snapped open. Henry was already moving toward him, offering a hand. His gaze was steady, focused. Despite the chaos, Henry's demeanor was calm, almost unnervingly so. Peter grabbed his hand and was pulled back to his feet.

"Did you see that?" Peter gasped, his chest still heaving from the blast. "The machine—it's changing."

Henry didn't answer immediately. He was already scanning the room, his eyes darting between the core and Barrett. The maniacal energy that had once fueled Barrett's confidence was now absent. His cold, calculating expression told Peter everything he needed to know.

Barrett was cornered.

But the feeling of victory was fleeting.

"You think you've won?" Barrett's voice rang out, his tone low and mocking. "This... this is just the beginning. You have no idea what you're dealing with."

Peter narrowed his eyes. "No, Barrett. You have no idea what you've unleashed."

Without another word, Barrett moved toward the console on the far side of the room, his hands working quickly. The whole facility shook once more, and the energy around them seemed to build to a crescendo. The power core began to pulse violently, and for a brief moment, Peter felt as though the walls were closing in. It was as if the machine was alive—and it was fighting against them.

Isaac's voice broke through the tension. "I'm still working on it! I've almost bypassed the final layer of security! Just give me a few more seconds!"

"We don't have that long!" Henry shouted back. His eyes flickered to the core, then back to Barrett. "Peter, we need to shut this down now, before it's too late."

Peter nodded, his mind racing. He knew what needed to be done. He had to get to the core. But it wasn't just the machine he had to deal with—Barrett was still standing in the way.

"Isaac, can you give us a way to disable it?" Peter called out, his voice urgent.

"I'm not sure yet!" Isaac's reply was tight, but there was no time to argue.

Peter's pulse quickened. He looked at Henry, whose face was a mask of focused determination. Henry had a plan. Peter could feel it in his bones.

"Cover me," Henry said, his voice steady. He was already moving, stepping toward the central control console, where Barrett had taken up position.

"Wait—" Peter started, but Henry was already several paces ahead of him.

Barrett turned to face Henry, his eyes gleaming with malice. "You're too late," he sneered. "I've already initiated the countdown. You can't stop it now."

Henry stopped, his gaze locking with Barrett's. "It's never too late."

Before Barrett could respond, Henry darted forward, moving with the fluid grace of someone who had done this too many times to count. His hand shot out, grabbing Barrett by the collar and lifting him off the ground. "You've underestimated me, Barrett."

For a brief moment, time seemed to stretch. Peter watched, his breath catching in his throat as the two men locked eyes. Barrett's smirk faltered, replaced by something else—a flicker of doubt, just a fraction of a second too late.

But Henry didn't stop there.

With a swift motion, Henry hurled Barrett aside, sending him crashing into a bank of controls. Sparks flew as the panels shattered beneath the impact. Barrett struggled to get to his feet, his hand reaching for a weapon that was no longer in his possession.

The seconds ticked away.

Peter moved toward the core, his every instinct screaming at him to stop what Barrett had set in motion. He could see the patterns of energy spiking, escalating, each pulse stronger than the last. He wasn't sure what would happen if it reached its peak, but he didn't want to find out.

As he neared the central console, he saw Isaac furiously typing commands into his tablet. The data on the screens was moving faster now, the encryption layers beginning to fall apart.

"There! I've got it!" Isaac shouted.

Peter wasted no time. He moved to Isaac's side and grabbed the panel, pressing the command to initiate the shutdown.

But nothing happened.

Isaac's eyes widened. "What the hell?"

"Why isn't it working?" Peter demanded.

"I don't know!" Isaac growled, hammering on the device. "It's like the system's—"

Before he could finish, the entire facility trembled again. The core of the machine pulsed, sending a wave of energy through the room that knocked Peter off his feet. The temperature around them spiked, and the air was thick with the scent of burnt ozone.

It was too late.

The countdown had begun, and no amount of hacking or brute force would stop it.

Peter pushed himself to his knees, blood pounding in his ears. The energy was building rapidly. He could feel it, a violent surge of raw, unchecked power that threatened to tear the facility apart.

And then, Henry's voice cut through the chaos. "Get to the exit. Now."

Peter's heart pounded in his chest as he looked at Henry, whose face was shadowed by determination. There was no time to argue.

"Go!" Henry urged.

Peter glanced at Isaac, who was still working, but even he knew they had only seconds left. With a glance back at Henry, Peter sprinted toward the exit, his mind racing. The only chance they had now was to survive, to get out before the machine's full potential was unleashed.

Henry wasn't far behind. He, too, had no intention of letting Barrett's plans come to fruition. He was prepared to face whatever was necessary to ensure that.

The exit was just ahead.

But they were not alone. Barrett had one final trick up his sleeve.

And he wasn't about to let them escape without a fight.