LURE

Gunfire erupted once more as the battlefield roared back to life. The eerie silence that Myst had commanded shattered, replaced with the relentless hum of drones and the synchronized march of enforcers.

The Clan braced themselves, exhaustion gripping their bodies, but the fight was far from over.

Flux moved first.

His vision flickered—shadows stretching, movements slowing, then snapping back into terrifying clarity. The static around him crackled violently, violet sparks licking at his fingertips before fading just as fast.

His AI pulsed in warning, but he ignored it. There was no time for caution.

Myst stood at the eye of the storm, her presence bending the battlefield to her will. She didn't flinch as Flux lunged toward her, his body moving faster than it ever had before. Their blades met, the impact shaking the ground beneath them.

For a moment, it was just them. Their battle, their clash, their war.

She was stronger than before. Smarter. Unrelenting.

Flux barely dodged the next strike, rolling away as Myst's energy lashed out, cutting through metal and stone like paper. He gritted his teeth. She wasn't holding back. Not anymore.

The Clan, meanwhile, fought to survive. Blaze and Razor worked in tandem, cutting down enforcers while Shade provided cover fire. Nyx and Echo stood near Cipher, tossing away those who come for him.

Cipher's fingers blurred over his interface, forcing a drone out of the Government's control. "I can give you two minutes before they re-sync! Use it wisely!"

"Two minutes?" Blaze barked, slamming his rifle against an enforcer's visor before firing point-blank. "Might as well ask for a damn miracle!"

Razor parried an incoming attack, his muscles screaming from fatigue. "Then we make two minutes count!"

Myst tilted her head as she met Flux's gaze. Her lips curled into something between amusement and intrigue. "You're slipping."

Flux snarled, gripping his blade tighter. "And you're stalling."

She laughed—a cold, empty sound. "Am I?"

Flux cursed, lunging forward, but Myst moved faster. In an instant, she was beyond his reach, her form dissolving into blue-tinged light before solidifying atop a fallen transport.

Too fast.

"You're distracted, cutie." she mocked, arms outstretched, as if daring him to try.

Flux's breath was ragged, his fingers twitching as the static returned, crawling under his skin. It wasn't just the fight—it was her. She was in his head, seeping into the fractures of his mind, pulling at something he barely understood.

"Quit playing, Myst." he muttered out.

She vanished again, reappearing behind him in a blink. As soon as Flux turned around, her hands hooked around his nape. The soft touch sent him frozen on his feet.

Ah, shit.

"Oh? I thought we were both playing," she murmured, voice honeyed and teasing. Her lips part, her eyes looking at him like a siren who just found her new victim.

Silence.

His heart pounded. He should shove her away. He should break free. But the touch froze him, not in fear—but in recognition.

Because it was her.

Not Blue Rose. Not the Government's weapon. Liora.

And for the briefest second, the war around them blurred.

But she was waiting. Testing him. He saw it in her stance, in the way her breath hitched just slightly. She wanted to see what he'd do. If she still had control.

After a while, Flux's fingertips hover on her figure as they make their way to her waist. The other still climbing to her neck. He felt her body tense under his touch, felt the silent question hanging between them.

You're getting so bold, huh?

The other hand trailed to her throat—light, but firm. She didn't pull away.

He shifted closer, heat suddenly radiating between them, his breath lingering her ear. Myst's eyes widened.

His lips barely brushed her skin, and for a moment, he let the tension simmer, let her anticipate. Let her fall into the trap.

Got you.

"Then I just won, sweetheart." he whispered.

Purple static surged through his fingers, tightening their hold. His eyes flickered electric violet—unstable, charged, consuming.

Myst's breath faltered. Her body tensed, and then something shifted.

A strange, unfamiliar pulse surged through her. Like a crack in her programming. Her irises flickered blue, then back to their natural shade, wavering between the two like a glitch.

Flux barely breathed. He felt it. He just figured out how he can pull her back.

He just had to give in to his own.