Episode 54 The Lazarus Core
Ashes of Our Flame
by RapwizzyDebaron
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Episode 54: "The Lazarus Core"
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A distant rumble echoed through the jagged mountain range as Kara, Adrian, Ghost, and the mirror-eyed girl emerged from the tunnel's edge. The last remnants of the safehouse crumbled behind them, sending plumes of ash and dust into the night sky.
Kara clutched her side, bleeding but still standing. Her eyes, once filled with hesitation, now carried only steel.
"Ember?" she asked quietly, staring at the destruction behind them.
Ghost's jaw clenched. "She bought us time. That's all we can hope for."
Adrian wrapped his jacket around Kara's shoulders. "We'll come back for her… if there's anything left to come back to."
The girl stepped forward, her voice a soft murmur in the cold wind. "The core is below all of this. Buried beneath Lazarus's first failure."
Kara turned to her. "You keep talking about it. What is the Lazarus Core?"
The girl's eyes shimmered like broken galaxies. "Not what. Who."
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Underground – The Ruins of the Omega Chamber
Deep beneath the rubble, Ember's eyes fluttered open, barely glowing. Her breath was ragged, her body broken.
And yet… she smiled.
Through the cracks in the floor, golden threads of light seeped upward, forming intricate veins along the walls.
A heartbeat pulsed in the dark.
Thump.
Then another.
Thump.
It wasn't Ember's.
It was something far older. Far angrier.
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On the Road – Inside the Abandoned Transport Van
The van sped through the forest, its engine growling as Ghost drove with military precision. The girl sat silently in the back, her knees tucked to her chest, watching Kara without blinking.
Adrian leaned forward. "If we're going to survive this, we need to know what we're dealing with."
Ghost didn't look back. "The Lazarus Core was the first subject—Subject One. They tried to create immortality, not power. But it… changed. It became something else."
"Something they buried," Kara added.
The girl finally spoke. "And it dreams beneath the surface. It feeds off every memory, every echo of pain. You woke it up, Kara."
Kara's blood ran cold. "Me?"
"You're its match," she said. "Its reflection."
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Flashback – Lazarus Archives
Black-and-white security footage flickered on an old monitor. In it, a child sat in a glass room, surrounded by scientists.
They labeled her: Subject Alpha.
She cried out, curled in the corner, her hands glowing faintly. The door burst open. Another child entered—older, covered in metallic restraints.
Labeled: Subject One.
Their eyes met.
And the world screamed.
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Present Day – Makeshift Refuge in the Forest
The group stopped to rest beneath a canopy of trees. Kara paced near the edge, watching the moonlight shimmer through the leaves.
Adrian approached. "You okay?"
"No," she whispered. "But I can't stop. Not now."
He reached for her hand. "You've changed. You're stronger."
She looked at him, emotion flickering. "I don't know if that's a good thing."
Before he could reply, the earth shook.
Not a tremor.
A warning.
The girl stood. "It's coming. The Core has sent its voice."
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Meanwhile – Elsewhere in the City
Dr. Elias Vane watched the seismic monitors spike.
He leaned forward, his breath fogging the screen.
"Subject One is stirring," he muttered.
An assistant paled. "Should we initiate Phase Omega?"
Vane shook his head. "It's already begun. All we can do now is watch who burns first."
He turned to another monitor—one that showed Kara's last known location.
"She'll lead him right to it."
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Forest Clearing – Moments Later
The ground erupted in front of the van.
A black figure rose from the earth, taller than any human, formed entirely of writhing ash and memory.
Eyes like obsidian glass stared into Kara's soul.
It wasn't Subject Zero.
It was Subject One.
And it remembered her.
"You left me," the creature growled, voice layered with echoes of the past. "You chose the fire."
Kara stepped forward, trembling but unyielding. "No. I was made from it."
Subject One extended an arm, and shadow tendrils whipped through the trees, slicing bark and stone. Ghost tackled the mirror-eyed girl out of the way while Adrian pulled Kara back.
"We need to move—now!"
But the girl shook her head. "You can't run from memory."
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Inside Kara's Mind
Suddenly, Kara's vision blurred. Time fractured. She was a child again—inside the Lazarus facility. Voices screamed. Fire crackled.
And then she saw him.
Subject One, not a monster but a boy, chained to the floor, eyes pleading.
"You promised to stay," he whispered.
She gasped, the memory crushing.
"I was taken—"
"You forgot me."
And in that moment, she realized the truth.
Subject One wasn't just Lazarus's failure.
He was her brother.
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Back to Reality
Kara collapsed, her scream echoing through the clearing. Adrian caught her before she hit the ground, cradling her.
"Kara!"
Ghost fired pulse rounds at Subject One, but they passed through him like smoke.
The girl knelt beside Kara, whispering something in a language none of them understood.
The flames in Kara's blood ignited.
And she stood.
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Kara's voice was steady, shaking the trees.
"You're not just a monster. You're part of me."
Subject One tilted his head. "Then burn with me."
Their powers collided midair—light and shadow, fire and memory—exploding into a shockwave that leveled the forest clearing.
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To be continued…
🔥 Secrets unravel. Flames ignite. And family is not always what it seems.
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