The eastern gate groaned open, and Vex’s Greenday fighters poured through like water through a broken dam. Eclipse soldiers scrambled from their barracks, half-dressed, weapons fumbling in their hands. The courtyard became a chaos of gunfire, screams, and the wet sound of bodies hitting the ground.

Julian stood at the gate’s threshold, watching.

His instincts prickled. The Eclipse soldiers were disorganized, yes, but they weren’t running.

"Emma," Julian said quietly. "Shields up."

Emma didn’t question. Flames rose around them in a half-dome.

Fey’s eyes scanned the rooftops. "Movement. Three o’clock."

From the shadow of the central spire, figures emerged.

Twelve figures, walking in perfect formation. They wore no armor, only black coats with crimson trim. Their faces were uncovered, each one distinct, each one carrying the weight of countless kills.

The Crimson Reapers.

And at their head, walking with the easy grace of a predator who knew she was the most dangerous thing in the yard, was Carol.

Her long black hair swayed with each step. Her red eyes gleamed in the dawn light. Her body, full and curved, moved with a dancer’s precision beneath her fitted coat. She stopped twenty meters from Julian, and the Reapers fanned out behind her.

"Ghost," Carol said. Her voice was low, almost pleasant. "We meet at last."

Julian didn’t respond. His dark blue eyes moved across the Reapers. A woman with no pupils. A man whose arms were too long, knuckles scraping the ground. A figure wrapped entirely in bandages, like the one from Reinhardt’s team, but more refined. Others, harder to read.

Carol smiled. It didn’t reach her eyes.

"Twelve of my best," she said, gesturing lazily behind her. "Darwin wanted to greet you himself, but..." She tilted her head. "He’s preparing a proper welcome. In the meantime, I’m to entertain you."

Emma’s flames crackled. "We’re not here to be entertained."

"No." Carol’s smile widened. "You’re here to die."

She raised one finger.

The woman with no pupils stepped forward. Her eyes were white voids, but when she looked at the Greenday fighters, they screamed.

One clutching his chest. Two more collapsing, their hearts stopped mid-beat.

"Dori," Julian said. "Close your eyes."

Dori squeezed her eyes shut. Zoe shifted into her beast form, relying on smell and sound. Julian himself met the woman’s gaze without flinching.

[Indomitable Body].

His heart stuttered, once, twice. Then resumed its steady rhythm.

The pupil-less woman’s brow furrowed. "You’re still standing."

"I’m still standing," Julian agreed.

Carol laughed. A genuine sound, warm almost. "I like him. Kill him slowly."

The Reapers moved.

The long-armed man lunged, his knuckles dragging furrows in the concrete. His arms extended mid-strike, joints dislocating and reforming, reaching for Julian’s throat.

Emma threw a fireball. The man’s arms twisted, blocking the flames with his own flesh. His skin blackened but didn’t burn. He kept coming.

Fey raised her hand. Liquid from the courtyard’s broken fountains surged, wrapping around the man’s legs. He stumbled, but the bandaged figure behind him raised a hand, and the liquid froze solid, then shattered.

"He’s got a counter for everything," Fey muttered.

Julian stepped forward.

[Gravity].

The long-armed man slammed into the ground, pinned. [Lightning]. Blue arcs coursed through his body. He twitched and went still.

Carol’s smile didn’t waver. "One down. Eleven to go."

"Not eleven."

Zoe’s golden eyes tracked a Reaper who had tried to flank them, a wiry man with too many joints, moving like a spider. She intercepted him mid-leap, her jaws closing on his arm. He screeched, but his other hand reached for her fur.

Emma saw it. [Pyrokinesis]. A focused jet of flame, white-hot, severed two of the hands. The Reaper fell, screaming.

Dori fired her pistol. Three shots, three Reapers who had been circling closer. One took a bullet to the shoulder and kept moving. One dodged. The third, a woman with metallic skin, let the bullet ricochet off her forehead.

"More," Carol said calmly. "They’re just warming up."

Julian’s eyes found her. "You’re not fighting."

"I’m supervising." Carol’s red eyes glittered. "Darwin’s orders. Observe. Report. Don’t get my hands dirty unless necessary." She examined her nails. "But if you get past my Reapers, well..." She cracked her neck. "I suppose I’ll have to step in."

The bandaged figure finally attacked.

He moved faster than anything that size had a right to. His bandages unraveled mid-stride, revealing not skin, but layered scales, iridescent, shifting colors like oil on water. His hands ended in claws, not metal, but bone, grown specifically for killing.

He swung at Julian’s head.

Julian ducked. The claws sheared through a concrete pillar behind him, clean as a blade through paper.

[Shadow].

Spikes erupted from the ground, from the walls, from the shadows beneath the bandaged man’s feet. He danced between them, his movements liquid, almost beautiful.

Then Fey slammed her palm against a water pipe.

The pipe burst. High-pressure water, aimed at the ground beneath him. The concrete turned to mud. His feet slipped.

Emma was there. A fireball, compressed to the size of a marble, shot into the mud. The water exploded into superheated steam, scalding, blinding.

The bandaged man screamed.

Julian walked through the steam. His hand found the man’s throat.

[Domination].

"Sleep."

The bandaged man’s struggles ceased. He crumpled.

Carol clapped slowly. "Three. You’re efficient, Ghost. I’ll give you that."

Julian turned to face her. Behind him, the remaining Reapers circled, but they were hesitant now.

"Send the rest," Julian said. "Or come yourself."

Carol’s red eyes narrowed. For the first time, something other than amusement flickered across her face.

"You’re arrogant."

"I’m busy."

She laughed again, but it was shorter this time. Colder.

"Fine."

She raised both hands.

The air around her shimmered. Her shadow stretched, twisted, and from that shadow, copies of herself stepped out. Each one with the same red eyes, the same curved body, the same smile.

"Seven of me," Carol said, her voices overlapping. "Guess which one is real."

Emma’s flames flickered. "That’s new."

Fey’s data-slate beeped frantically. "I’m reading seven identical skill signatures. No differentiation. They’re all real."

Zoe growled, her hackles raised.

Julian didn’t move. His eyes swept across the seven Carols, studying their posture, their breathing, the way they held their weight.

"They’re all real," Julian said quietly. "But not all of them are her."

He raised his hand.

[Lightning].

A web of blue-white arcs spread across the courtyard, jumping from Carol to Carol. Six of them flickered, their forms glitching like corrupted video files. One of them absorbed the lightning, her red eyes glowing brighter.

"The real one has a conductivity limit," Julian said. "The copies don’t."

Carol’s smile vanished.

"Clever," she said. "But clever doesn’t save you."

She lunged.

Her hand, wreathed in shadow, reached for Julian’s chest. He sidestepped, but her other hand was already there, slashing across his ribs. Blood sprayed.

[Regeneration].

The wound knitted closed in seconds, but the pain was real.

Julian twisted, grabbing her wrist. [Gravity]. He increased her weight tenfold, twentyfold. She stumbled, but didn’t fall. Her body adapted, muscles bulging, bones creaking but not breaking.

"You’re strong," Carol admitted, her red eyes inches from his. "But so am I."

She headbutted him.

Julian’s vision blurred. His grip loosened. Carol pulled free and kicked him in the chest, sending him skidding across the courtyard.

Zoe lunged at Carol, but the remaining Reapers intercepted her, five of them now, coordinated, desperate.

Emma threw fire. Fey sent waves of liquid. But the Reapers had adapted too, dodging, countering, using the environment.

Carol walked toward Julian, who was already rising, his eyes clear despite the blood on his face.

"You’re good," Carol said. "But you’re tired. You’ve been fighting for days. Your reserves are low." She cracked her knuckles. "Mine aren’t."

Julian wiped the blood from his lip.

"You talk too much," he said.

[Boost] + [Lightning] + [Gravity] + [Shadow].

He moved.

Carol’s eyes widened. She raised her hands to block, but Julian was already behind her.

His hand closed around the back of her neck.

[Domination].

"Kneel."

Carol’s body shook. Her knees buckled. For a moment, her red eyes went blank.

Then she roared.

"No!"

Her shadow exploded outward, throwing Julian back. She stood, gasping, her coat torn, her hair wild.

"No one makes me kneel," she snarled. "No one."

The remaining Reapers gathered around her, forming a protective circle.

Julian straightened, his breathing steady despite the exertion.

"Then stand," he said. "And watch."

He raised his hand.

Three crimson lightning bolts shot into the sky.

Vex saw the signal from across the courtyard. She was pinned behind a barricade, her rifle empty, her knife bloody. But she understood.

"Push!" she screamed. "Push now!"

The Greenday fighters surged again, driving the Eclipse regulars back toward the central spire.

Carol’s red eyes darted to the signal, then back to Julian.

"What are you doing?"

Julian smiled. It was a thin, cold expression.

"Opening the door."

From the eastern gate, reinforcements poured in.

The remaining Crimson Reapers looked at Carol, waiting for orders.

Carol’s hands trembled. For the first time, fear flickered behind her red eyes.

"Fall back," she said quietly. "To the spire. We hold the inner sanctum."

The Reapers retreated, covering her escape.

Julian let them go.

Emma stepped up beside him. "We’re not chasing?"

"Let them run to Darwin," Julian said. "We’ll follow."

He looked up at the central spire, still pulsing with crimson light.

"The Cradle is underneath. And I’m going to burn it to ash."