Chapter 8: The Struggle Against the Doom's Tide

The bastard Smith smirked, his finger hovering over the trigger of that damnable energy weapon. My blood turned ice-cold. We'd just discovered his creatures' weakness, and now he was about to unleash something even more terrifying.Just as I was bracing for another burst of that infernal energy, a squad of heavily armed guards stormed the scene, led by a grizzled veteran with a jawline that could slice through glass. Captain Johnson."Smith! Stand down!" Johnson's voice boomed, reverberating through the cavernous space. "This madness ends now."A flicker of hope kindled in my chest. Backup. Finally. And not just any backup, but the city guard.Johnson glanced at me, a flicker of understanding in his steely eyes. "We may not agree on much, Ace," he said, "but we both concur that this… this isn't right. This is a line we don't cross."A grim smile touched my lips. "Glad to have you on the right side, Captain."With renewed determination, I charged towards Smith, disregarding the throbbing pain in my side where his energy blast had grazed me."You're going down, Smith!" I roared.He merely laughed, a cold, detached sound that made my skin crawl, and fired another shot.I dove to the side, the energy scorching the air where I'd been a second before.Damn, that was close. Way too close.Luna's cry of alarm rang in my ears."Ace! Are you alright?""I'm fine!" I yelled back, already scrambling to my feet. "Just a scratch!" I wasn't fine, but I wasn't about to let that psycho Smith see me break a sweat.He unleashed a trio of mechanical guards, sleek and menacing, whirring towards me with blades extended.I dodged and weaved, narrowly evading their razor-sharp attacks.This guy was seriously getting on my nerves.Where did he even get these things?Just as I was starting to feel overwhelmed, Aria darted in, a blur of motion, disrupting the guards' attack patterns with some sort of electromagnetic pulse device."Go, Ace!" she yelled, "I've got these tin cans!"Seizing the opportunity, I smashed the head of one guard with a salvaged pipe, then kicked another into the still-dissolving puddle of black goo left by Smith's creature.The third one, however, managed to land a swipe at my arm, leaving a searing gash.Gritting my teeth, I ripped a chunk of metal from the deactivated guard and hurled it at the last one, short-circuiting its systems.But while I was dealing with the robot guards, Smith had slithered over to Sergeant Tom, who lay bleeding and unconscious.The sick bastard held a knife to Tom's throat, his eyes gleaming with a twisted sense of triumph."One more step," Smith hissed, "and your friend gets it."My heart plummeted.We were so close, yet so far.Tom groaned feebly. "Don't… don't listen to him, Ace…" he mumbled. "Just get… get out of here...""Shut up, Tom!" Smith snarled.My mind raced, frantically searching for a solution.We couldn't just abandon Tom, but we couldn't risk his life either.We were at an impasse, trapped in a terrifying game of chicken.Then, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed... something.A flicker of movement."Smith," a voice said, cold and hard as steel.It was Eve.She'd somehow managed to circle around behind Smith while the rest of us were distracted.The bastard's eyes, momentarily drawn to her like a moth to a flame, widened slightly.Just a flicker of distraction, but it was all we needed.Max, bless his loyal heart, seized the opportunity, bursting forward with a roar and tackling Smith like a linebacker.The knife clattered to the floor, skittering across the grimy concrete.I wasn't about to let this chance slip away.I lunged, grabbing Smith's arm and twisting it behind his back with a satisfying crack.The guy yelped, a high-pitched, girlish shriek that I definitely wouldn't mention to his face.Between the three of us, we managed to wrestle him to the ground, pinning him down while he thrashed and spat curses like a rabid weasel."You… you can't stop me!" he shrieked, his voice strained. "You fools! You've doomed us all!"I pressed my knee harder into his back, silencing his tirade."Shut it, Smith," I growled. "It's over." I could almost taste the victory.The weight on my chest, the constant pressure of impending doom, it finally started to lift.We'd done it. We'd actually won.We hauled him to his feet, his face a mask of rage and… fear?Something about his expression didn't seem right to me.It was a strange blend of defiance and terror, like a cornered rat baring its teeth.He started to chuckle, a low, unsettling sound that echoed in the cavern."You think you've won?" he said, his voice laced with a chilling amusement. He laughed louder now, a manic, unsettling sound that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. "You imbeciles! You haven't won a damn thing!""What the hell are you talking about, Smith?" I demanded, my grip tightening on his arm.His laughter died down, replaced by a chillingly calm tone."Let's just say I've taken… precautions. A little insurance policy, if you will." He looked at us, his eyes gleaming with a disturbing sense of triumph. "If I die… so does this entire sector. I've activated the failsafe. A self-destruct sequence." He smirked, a cruel twist of his lips. "Tick-tock, heroes."He gestured vaguely towards the ceiling, his eyes filled with a sickeningly sweet satisfaction."It's already started."