LOCATION: SYSTEM ARENA – ENCOUNTER STILL ACTIVE
Time Remaining in Proxy War: 5 Days, 17 Hours, 29 Minutes
Status: Critical
---
Ash Nine stepped over broken metal, gun raised.
Smoke around him. Heat behind him.
Me?
Bleeding on the floor. Not moving and barely breathing.
"You should've stayed in your hospital bed," he muttered.
"This'll be over quick."
He aimed at my head.
Bang. Bang.
Shots missed.
Marcus.
Marcus opened fire from the upper ledge. Rounds slammed into the wall beside Ash Nine, forcing him to duck and vanish behind cover.
"Move!" Marcus shouted. "Get up, Lex!"
I crawled.
Barely.
Found cover behind something that looked like a rusted vent. Or maybe a crushed vending machine. Didn't matter.
Marcus was crouched behind a stack of broken plating across the arena. We could see each other, but we weren't close.
> ⚠️ SYSTEM WARNING: BLOOD LOSS CRITICAL
⚠️ CORE STABILITY: FAILING
⚠️ MOBILITY: 22%
⚠️ REBOOT RECOMMENDED: USER MIGHT BE AN IDIOT
My hands were shaking, my vision blurred and every heartbeat hurt.
Ash Nine's bullets kept coming and only Marcus was firing back.
Bang. Bang. Click.
"What are you doing?" Marcus yelled. "Shoot!"
I didn't.
"I'm scared," I whispered.
"Now? Of all times, you choose now to get scared?"
The System kept blinking red. Every notification yelling louder than the last.
> ⚠️ HEMORRHAGING
⚠️ NERVE FEEDBACK
⚠️ EVERYTHING IS ON FIRE PROBABLY
❌ STYLE RATING: 2/10
"I don't wanna die," I said, voice shaking.
Marcus ducked, fired again, moved forward like death wasn't his problem.
"Well, you're gonna if you don't get off your ass!"
Ash Nine shouted from somewhere behind the smoke:
"And this... is the great John Wick? The System's glitchy golden boy? What a joke!"
Marcus fired twice, clipped a pipe that sparked out.
"You think John would sit on the floor like some sobbing baby who lost his goddamn toy?!"
I didn't reply.
I Couldn't. Didn't know how.
Then Marcus said it low and sharp. It Meant to hit deep.
"Get up, John Wick."
"But I'm not…" I choked. "I'm not him."
Marcus shot back.
"You are now."
---
Then—
Everything slowed.
The System blurred. Red lights froze.
And standing right in front of me, where no one had been a second ago—
—was him.
Black suit. Tie. Blood on his collar. Eyes cold.
John Wick.
He didn't speak. Didn't move.
Just nodded once. Then the world bent.
Sound stretched out like a slow violin.
And suddenly I could hear everything.
The drop of my blood hitting the metal.
The click of Marcus reloading.
The whistle of bullets tearing past my ear.
A bead of sweat rolled down my face.
I closed my eyes.
Took a breath.
Held it.
Opened them.
"Yeah…" I said, slow. Quiet.
"I'm thinkin' I'm back."
---
TO BE CONTINUED.