The snow crunched loudly under the team's boots as they trudged along the steep mountain path. Vega lay unconscious on a makeshift sled, her frozen arms glimmering under the pale Arctic sun. Jack pulled the sled, his breath puffing out in white clouds. Beside him, Lena stumbled, her hands tucked under her arms to stay warm. Finch and Jax walked ahead, scanning Finch's tablet for the lab's location. Captain Rook trailed behind, her rifle slung over her shoulder, her eyes sharp with danger.
"How much farther?" Jax grumbled as he kicked a rock.
"Half a mile," Finch said, squinting at his screen. "But the signal is weak. This storm's messing everything up."
Above them, the green storm swirled like a hungry beast, with lightning crackling inside it. Lena glanced back at Vega again. "What if the lab is destroyed? Or there's no cure?"
"We'll figure it out," Jack said firmly, though his stomach churned with doubt as he spoke.
The sled suddenly jerked. Vega's frozen arm twitched, ice spreading up her shoulder. Her eyes flickered open, glowing green.
"Stop… the lab… is a trap…" the Revenant's voice hissed through her.
Jack froze. "Vega? Are you in there?"
Vega's face twisted in pain. "Don't… listen… to it…"
Her eyes then rolled back, and she fell still.
The Mountain Lab
The lab was carved into the mountain, resembling a giant ice cave. A rusted metal door hung crookedly, covered in faded warnings: RESTRICTED ACCESS – PROJECT PHOENIX.
"Phoenix?" Finch said. "Like… reborn from the ashes? Creepy."
Jax pries the door open with a crowbar. "Creepier if we get eaten by whatever's inside."
The team entered a dark hallway. Finch's flashlight revealed frozen bodies in lab coats, their faces frozen in screams. Lena gasped. "They tried to escape something…"
Captain Rook then checked a nearby room. "Computers are dead. Let's find the main lab."
They reached a massive chamber filled with icy machinery and glass pods. One pod was shattered, with frost covering the shards.
"Subject Zero's pod," Rook said, reading from a file. "He escaped here… and they sealed the lab."
Lena touches a frosty monitor. It sparked to life, showing a video log of the crew. A scientist with wild hair spoke.
"Project Phoenix was a mistake. We thought we could control the Revenant and use its power. But it's alive. It's learning. And it's angry."
The screen cuts to a security feed—Subject Zero breaking free and killing everyone.
"Cheerful stuff," Jax mutters.
Vega's Past Revealed
Finch found a file labeled VEGA, TEST SUBJECT 7. "Guys… look at this."
The file showed a younger Vega, maybe 12 years old, hooked up to machines. The notes read: "Subject 7 shows immunity to static. Possible cure?"
"They experimented on her," Lena had whispered. "That's why she survived the Revenant!"
Jack's fists clenched. "And they never told her."
A groan echoed from the sledger. Vega stirred, her voice weak and shaky. "Where… are we?"
"The lab," Jack said, gently. "They did tests on you as a kid. That's why the Revenant can't fully control you."
Vega stared at her frozen arm. "So I'm… a lab rat?"
"No," Lena said fiercely. "You're our friend."
The Revenant's Trap
Finch hacked into the computer. "There's a cure file! But it's locked."
A shadow moved in the corners. Jax spun, EMP gun raised. "Did you see that?"
"Too late…" the Revenant's voice echoed in the darkness.
Green static surged through the lab, reviving frozen corpses. Their eyes glowed as they shambled toward the teams.
"Zombie scientists? Seriously?!" Jax zapped one, but more kept coming toward him.
Vega struggled to sit up. "The cure… it's in the vault! Finch, code 7734!"
Finch typed frantically as he spoke "Got it!" A hidden door slid open, revealing a glowing, blue vial.
Jack grabbed it. "How do we use it?"
"Inject it… into my arm," Vega said.
"NO!" The Revenant's shadow bursts from the ceiling, forming a giant static monster. "SHE'S MINE!"
The Battle for Vega
The monster swipes at Jack. He ducked and slid under the table. "Lena! Distract it!"
Lena's hands glowed, but the light sputtered. "I can't… not enough energy!"
Vega's frozen arm cracked. "Do it… now!"
Jack stabbed the vial into her arm. Liquid fire spread through her veins, melting the ice. Vega screamed, her body convulsing.
The Revenant roared. "YOU WILL NOT TAKE HER!"
Captain Rook fires a grenade. BOOM! The monster staggered.
Jax tossed Lena a battery pack and she caught it. "Use this!"
Lena jammed it into a machine, channeling the power into her hands. A beam of light struck the Revenant, burning its shadowy form.
"CURSE YOU!" It screeched, dissolving into the static.
The Cure's Cost
Vega collapsed, her arm thawed but covered in angry red scars. "Did it… work?"
Lena checked her pulse. "You're alive. The Revenant's gone… for now."
Finch stared at the broken machine. "But the storm outside is getting worse. The Revenant's reforming."
A rumble shook the lab. Ice cracked overhead.
"Time to go!" Rook yelled.
The team ran as the ceiling collapsed, barely escaping into the snow-covered ground.
The Storm's Secret
Outside, the green storm formed a massive face—the Revenant, fiercer than ever.
"YOU CANNOT WIN…"
However, beneath its roar, another sound echoed: a deep, guttural growl. The ground split, revealing a pair of glowing red eyes.
"What is that?!" Finch cried.
A clawed hand burst from the ice, followed by a hulking lava-and-shadow creature.
Subject Zero's voice echoed from the storm: "MEET THE WARBRINGER… THE TRUE END OF ALL."
The creature roared, melting the surrounding snow.
The Choice
The Warbringer lunged at the Revenant's storm, tearing into it like a predator. The sky was filled with fire and static.
"They're fighting each other!" Lena said.
Vega stood, shaky but determined. "While they're distracted… we hit them both."
Jack grabbed her shoulder. "We'll die!"
"Then we die saving everyone else," Vega said. "But I have a plan."
She pointed to the wreckage of the lab. "There is a reactor below us. Overload it… and maybe we take them all out."
The team exchanged grim nods of agreement.
"Let's end this," Rook said.