The world was fire; the floor cracked like bones; the air rippled with heat and vengeance.
And in the middle of it all—Three broken girls. One ghost from the past.
The Woman in White raised her hand again.
Lilly didn't blink; Ava didn't flinch, Sam held her stance, even though her knees wanted to buckle.
"You've made your choice," the Woman in White said, eyes on Lilly."But so have I."
Boom.
The blast came fast—pure energy, spitting lightning and hell.
Ava dove first, taking the brunt of it. She screamed, dropped to a knee, coughing blood.
But she didn't fall.
"You want a target?" Ava spat, rising with a twisted grin. "I've always been the villain. Try me, bitch."
Lilly moved next, flanking left, fire dancing in her eyes. Her movements were feral, sharpened by grief, by guilt, by a past she could never wash clean.
She tackled the Woman in White from behind, slamming her into the ground, Fists, Elbows, Fury.
"You used me," Lilly screamed. "You turned me into a monster."
The Woman in White didn't even grunt.
She grinned.
And headbutted Lilly hard.
Lilly reeled back. Sam caught her,and then Ava was there, knife in hand, blade catching the light like a promise of retribution.
"You want revenge?" Ava said, circling. "Get in line."
The Woman in White's laugh echoed—low, jagged.
"You think this is revenge?" she said."This is foreplay."
Suddenly—
She activated the device again.The ground beneath them erupted.
Concrete cracked.Steel screamed.They fell—all three of them—into the dark.
Underground.Smoke-choked.Bleeding.
Lilly groaned, eyes fluttering open.Sam was beside her, cradling her head, whispering.
"Ava—""I'm here," Ava grunted, limping toward them.Still alive. Barely.
But the Woman in White?She stood on the far side of the wreckage, untouched.
"You're so predictable," she whispered. "So fragile."
Her eyes locked on Sam.
"And that's why she's going to break first."
She lunged.
Lilly snapped.No time.No thoughts.
Just instinct, Just rage.
She tackled the Woman mid-strike, teeth bared, voice a scream torn from the soul:
"YOU DON'T GET TO TOUCH HER!"
They rolled across the floor—claws, fists, fury.Blood hit the walls.Bones cracked. It was chaos—no style, no finesse, Just war.
And through it all—
Ava was laughing.
Not mocking, Not cruel.
But manic, Wild, Free.
Because for the first time, she wasn't the most dangerous girl in the room.
Not anymore.
Lilly had surpassed her.
Sam scrambled up, eyes burning, hand trembling on the grip of her gun. She raised it—
The Woman in White looked up—
And smiled.
"Do it," she dared.
But Sam didn't shoot.
Lilly did.
Bang.
Right into her shoulder. Enough to stop. Enough to hurt.
"You're not worth the kill shot," Lilly said, panting."Not yet."
The Woman in White snarled, bleeding, staggering to her feet.
"This isn't over," she hissed.
Lilly just stood tall, Ava flanking her left, Sam at her right.
"No," Lilly said.
"This is just the beginning."