Season 2, Episode 13 — Dockside Graves
⸻
Opening — Aftermath of Dock 17
The city didn't sleep after Dock 17 burned. News choppers circled like vultures, headlines guessed at "gang wars" or "terrorist cells," but Zack knew better. Everyone he saved was proof, and everyone he didn't was a scream he still carried.
He stood in a ruined laundromat across from the hospital. Clothes still spun in dead machines, water dripping from broken pipes. The neon sign flickered 24 HOUR in pink, mocking him. He wiped blood off his knuckles with a rag that smelled like detergent and gasoline.
Luna leaned against a dryer, axe across her lap, chewing gum like the world hadn't ended. "You look worse every fight, chrome-teeth."
"That's the point," Zack said.
Silas lounged by the window, coin flipping between fingers like it weighed the world. His silver eyes watched Zack, sharp and amused. "Dock 17 was theater. The real work's underground. Marrow's catacombs. Riverside."
"Bodies?" Zack asked, already knowing.
Silas nodded. "Storage. Processing. Recruitment. You want to understand his economy? You start where he banks his dead."
Zack spat red into the sink. The HUD flickered at the edge of his vision:
LEVEL 15
EXP: 0 / 1000
OATH VECTOR: Active (Hearthbreak Vow)
Objective: Destroy Marrow's Catacomb Route
He muttered, "Prestige or die."
⸻
Act I — Descent into the Catacombs
The entrance wasn't hidden. That was the worst part. Just a rusted storm drain on Riverside, reeking of rot. The grate was wide open like an invitation. Blood-stained footprints led down into the dark.
Luna wrinkled her nose. "Smells like every bad decision I've ever made."
"You made worse ones," Zack said.
She smirked. "Yeah. You."
They descended. Water dripped. The walls shifted from brick to bone. Not metaphor — bone. Skulls cemented into the walls, femurs stacked like bricks, ribs bent into arches. Every step echoed like walking on coffins.
The HUD pulsed:
MARROW ZONE DETECTED
Threat: Severe
Population: 200+ Shades, Priests, Surgeons
Captives: 40+
"Busy place," Silas said softly, coin vanishing into his sleeve.
The chanting started low — a susurrus of broken prayers. Torches flared ahead, blue fire painting the tunnels.
Zack's veins lit, steel humming. "We cut them out."
⸻
Act II — Shadows of the Catacombs
The first chamber was a slaughterhouse. Dozens of gurneys lined the walls, each with a body strapped down. Some alive, some already Shades-in-waiting. Surgeons in bone masks moved between them with syringes that glowed black.
One Surgeon looked up. No face. Just bone. "Inventory breach."
The Shades shrieked.
Zack didn't wait. Hearthchain snapped—two lines, silver-bright, latching onto the nearest gurneys. He yanked, dragging screaming captives across the floor into Luna's arms. She hacked straps, swearing.
Silas slipped forward, touched a Surgeon's mask with two fingers, and its skull folded inward like paper.
Zack was already in the middle of them, fists raining like a storm of anvils. He smashed a Shade against the wall so hard its face left a crater. Another lunged; he caught it mid-air, bit down, and tore its throat into sparks and ichor.
+150 EXP
EXP: 150 / 1000
Three Surgeons circled him, syringes glowing. They jabbed. Zack crossed his arms, sparks spraying as steel skin turned aside the needles. He headbutted the first, shattered the second's mask with a punch, and ripped the third in half by its spine.
Blood drenched the floor. The captives screamed, half in fear, half in hope.
The HUD pulsed:
+300 EXP (Rescues)
EXP: 450 / 1000
"Keep moving!" Zack roared. "This whole place is a nest!"
⸻
Act III — The Bone Choir
They pushed deeper. The tunnels opened into a cathedral carved entirely of skulls. Rows of Hollow Priests knelt, throats open, black fire spewing as they sang. Their voices shook the walls. Every note made Zack's steel ache, veins rattling like chains.
Silas frowned. "Resonance curse. They're singing the city apart."
The Priests rose in unison. Stitches tore. Their mouths yawned too wide. The HUD screamed:
BOSS ENCOUNTER: The Bone Choir (Lv. 30 Equivalent)
Special: Sonic Resonance — area damage, oath disruption
The first wave hit like sound turned into fists. Zack staggered, ears bleeding. His HUD glitched static. His mother's voice flickered in the noise, whispering: "Don't lose Zack in the metal."
"Fuck you," Zack growled, blood running from his ears. "That voice isn't yours."
He triggered Surge.
The world slowed. His fists blurred. He tore through the first line of Priests, each punch crushing skulls, spraying black flame. Hearthchain lashed out—click—snaring two civilians strung up on hooks above the altar. He yanked them down, rolling them clear as the Priests' fire ignited the ceiling.
Luna swung her axe in arcs of gore, screaming curses drowned by the Choir's hymn. Silas whispered a word and probability bent—the flames curved away from captives, licking only the Priests.
Zack grabbed one Priest by the jaw and yanked until its skull split like wet wood. Black fire died in its throat.
+250 EXP
EXP: 700 / 1000
He roared, fists raining until the last note cracked into silence. The Choir collapsed into a pile of corpses.
The HUD blinked:
+400 EXP (Choir Neutralized)
EXP: 1100 / 1000
LEVEL UP → 16
Bonus: STR + SPD | Hearthchain Duration +1
Zack stood in the gore, panting. His ears still rang. His steel veins hummed with fire.
Luna kicked a corpse. "If this is just the opening act, I want a refund."
⸻
Act IV — Marrow's Whisper
The walls pulsed. The skulls shifted. And then his voice — Marrow's, filling every bone.
"Ah, Zack. Season Two begins with ambition. Forty lives against my empire? Generous. Futile. Every save you make buys me two more."
Zack's steel eyes burned. "Come down here and say that."
"Oh, no," Marrow chuckled. "Not yet. You need to learn what it feels like to fail again. Otherwise, where's the drama?"
The walls cracked. Bone dust fell. A pit yawned open beneath the altar.
From it crawled a Shade General—three times Zack's height, plated in bone, with a ribcage shield and claws like railway spikes. Its roar shook the catacombs.
HUD screamed red:
BOSS: SHADE GENERAL (Lv. 40 Equivalent)
Threat: Extreme
Zack spat blood. "Prestige or die."
⸻
Act V — The General
The General lunged. Zack dodged, barely, the claws shredding through skull walls. He countered with a flurry of punches, denting armor but not cracking it.
The General backhanded him across the chamber. He hit the wall, ribs screaming.
VITALITY: 48%
Overclock Heal: Ready
Luna leapt in, axe biting into the General's shin. Sparks. No blood. It kicked her across the chamber; she hit the wall hard, coughing blood.
Silas blurred, palms striking weak points, but the General barely slowed.
Zack triggered Overclock Heal. His ribs knitted with sparks, pain organizing into purpose. He roared and charged.
Hearthchain snapped—click—latching onto the General's ribcage. Zack yanked, dragging himself up its body, fists slamming into its skull. Sparks flew. Cracks spread.
The General shrieked, grabbing him in one claw. It squeezed. Steel creaked. His veins glowed white-hot.
VITALITY: 22%
System Stress: Critical
Zack bared his fangs. "You're not enough."
He bit into the General's eye socket, steel crunching bone. Sparks and gore sprayed. The monster screamed, stumbled.
Luna surged back in, axe burying into its knee. Silas flicked his coin, and probability cracked—the monster tripped, crashing to the floor.
Zack roared, fists raining, breaking its skull into shards.
The HUD exploded in light:
+800 EXP (Boss Kill)
EXP: 1500 / 1000
LEVEL UP → 17
LEVEL UP → 18
New Trait: Surge Endurance ↑ | Hearthchain Split (3)
The General collapsed, body dissolving into ash.
Zack stood smoking, bloodied, chest heaving.
⸻
Closing — Season 2 Tone Set
The captives sobbed, freed from hooks. Luna hacked the last straps loose, sweat and blood mixing on her face. Silas stood silent, coin balanced on his knuckles, watching Zack like a man studying a storm.
The HUD whispered across his vision:
Oath Objective Progress: Catacomb Route Destroyed (1/3)
Next: Firehouse Route
Marrow's voice lingered in the walls. "Good. Keep digging, little oath. Every grave you empty, I'll fill two more. Prestige quickly — you'll need it."
Zack spat blood onto the bones. His eyes glowed steel-white. "Prestige or die. And I don't die."
The catacombs shuddered, collapsing. Survivors scrambled out into the rain. Zack followed, steel veins burning, vow humming louder.
Above them, the city wailed with sirens.