"What the hell, Malachi!" someone shouted into the smoke-laced air, just as another crackling bolt of static ripped through it. Leo dove, nearly tripping over his own boots, crashing behind an old rust-eaten barrel that groaned under the sudden weight.
"Ah—shit!" he hissed as his back slammed into the metal. Pain prickled up his spine like a nest of needles. "Damn it, that hurts who the hell goes around frying people like that?" His voice pitched higher with disbelief as he fumbled on the ground, snatching a dried twig like it was a wand that could actually do something anything to keep him from getting grilled alive.
His breath came shallow, sharp. With a grunt, he slapped his palm down against the earth. Cracks splintered outwards like veins, and in seconds, slabs of rock yanked themselves from the ground, forming a jagged wall in front of where he crouched, chest rising too fast.
"She's insane," Malachi growled, skidding beside Leo just as another electric pulse buzzed through the air close enough to sting the hairs on their arms.
Leo smirked like he'd already accepted they might die here. "She's pretty, though," he said, peeking between the cracks in the stone, eyes catching the distant shimmer of their attacker's silhouette. She moved like a specter, flickering, humming with energy like a machine just barely under control.
A low whine grew a strange, pulsing hum, like a warning. Then pounding. Heavy, fast. Footsteps. Lots of them.
"They're getting closer," Leo muttered, pressing his back against the wall as Malachi mirrored him, both of them glancing up the narrowing tunnel where shadows swayed.
Malachi's hand curled into a fist. "Shit. Can't you shift the wall? Just enough to trap them, or slow 'em down?"
Leo gave him a hard sideways glance, then back at the rock. "Yeah, sure. If you want this entire tunnel to collapse on us, no problem," he snapped, a dry laugh buried under his breath.
Malachi groaned, shoulders slumping as he leaned his head back against the stone. He could feel time pulling at him like threads slipping through fingers, each second heavier than the last. He could freeze it. Stop the world, just for ten minutes. Maybe long enough to bolt.
But his lungs were already scraping empty. That last time-skip had burned through his insides like acid. Another attempt and he might not get back up.
"Damn it," he whispered.
The hum came again close this time, and the stone around them began to tremble.
The air thickened. Every breath Leo took scraped down his throat like it'd been cut with ash and steel.
Then came the flicker.
Light, blue and twitching like broken neon, danced down the far end of the tunnel. It wasn't fire it doesn't look like lightning. It was... her.
She stepped through smoke like it opened just for her, her boots made no sound, but the ground twitched wherever she passed. Static bent around her, tiny blue veins of it crawling up the stone walls like they were alive and afraid of her.
Leo swallowed, hand gripping the edge of the rock wall he'd pulled from the ground. "Yeah," he whispered. "Definitely pretty. And definitely psychotic."
She paused about ten paces away, her head tilted. Her blue-black hair clung to her skin from sweat, wild coils lit by electric blue glow.
Her arms raised very slowly, casual and both palms flickered with electricity that jumped between her fingers. She didn't throw it. Not yet.
"You boys done playing cave?" she said, voice velvet-wrapped steel. "Because I will collapse this hole if you make me chase you any deeper."
"She's giving you an out," Malachi muttered under his breath. "That's new."
"Or she wants us to run so she can zap us in the back," Leo shot back, barely breathing the words.
Then something else moved. Behind her very gast.
Leo saw it first shadow shifting against shadow. Dozens of shapes. Their feet hit the ground very loudly. It wasn't just her anymore. It was a damn unit. Reinforcements.
Malachi straightened up just a little, enough to peek over the wall. "Shit. That's her team."
Camilla didn't look back, she didn't need to.
"I count to five," she said. Her tone didn't rise and it didn't waver either. "If you're not out by then, I turn this tunnel into a tomb."
One.
Electricity sparked at her fingertips, brighter.
Malachi's muscles tensed.
Two.
Leo could barely hear over the sudden pounding in his ears.
Three.
"Wait," Leo hissed. "She's not trying to kill us if she really wanted us dead, she would've already." His eyes narrowed. "She's trying to flush us out like a damn pest, Like we're—"
"Prey," Malachi finished grimly.
Four.
"She's not bluffing," Leo breathed. "But she's not gunning for murder either."
"Great," Malachi snapped. "So what? You wanna talk her down? Over tea?"
Five.
A crack like thunder slammed into the wall above them, and the whole tunnel shook.
"Run!"
Malachi's voice ripped through the chaos, his hand locking around Leo's wrist as sparks exploded like wildfire against the crumbling walls. The tunnel spat debris at them, twisted metal raining down with angry crackles. Malachi ducked just in time, a jagged piece of steel slicing through the air inches above his head. He didn't stop. His legs burned, but he pumped them faster, dragging Leo behind as they bolted back the way they'd come, towards Camilla.
She was waiting.
A grin on her lips, it was mocking, blue static crackled up her arms like lightning itching to strike. She didn't flinch. She wanted them close. Wanted to meet them halfway and end this fast with a blast they wouldn't forget.
But Malachi had other plans.
"Now, Leo!" he barked, voice strained from running.
Leo didn't hesitate. He raised one hand, fingers jerking like a puppetmaster's, and a whip of green vines, it was rough and thorned, it shot forward coiling around Camilla's ankle and yanking her forward. Her footing buckled. The static wavered just for a blink but it was enough.
Malachi didn't waste a second. His hand slashed through the air and time stuttered.
Everything around Camilla slowed. Her limbs twitched in half-motion, her breath froze mid-inhale. Static fizzled uselessly from her fingers. Her eyes, wide with fury, moved in sluggish resistance but it was too late.
She was chrono-locked.
"Move!" Malachi barked, already pulling Leo past her stilled form. Around them, time still flowed, the reinforcement behind them getting closer.
Behind them, the hallway roared as more footsteps approached.
Leo spun, teeth gritted, and threw his hands up. A wall of vines erupted from the floor and curled up to block the path behind them, it was pulsing and thick enough to buy them a few more precious seconds.
Leo tossed a grin back at the frozen Camilla. His voice was breathless and cocky. "Next time, sweetheart try not to blink. And maybe don't be so eager to fry us, yeah?"
And they were gone.
A heartbeat later the Chrono Lock shattered like glass. Camilla dropped to one knee gasping, time catching up all at once. Her eyes blazed
She dropped to the floor her hands clenched, fury raw on her face.
The vines barring the backup trembled, split, and finally burst apart, Leo's trap giving way.
"That stupid rogue," she growled, eyes glowing with rage. "I'll make sure you both are caught. And next time, I won't miss."