Ario rose from the floor and launched himself at Zaid once more.
"Finally," Zaid snarled, rage burning in his eyes. "I've been waiting for you, Ario. Are you ready to die? Sleep in hell."
They clashed again. Ario slammed Zaid like a rag doll; Zaid hit the ground hard and didn't move. His eyelids stayed shut. Panic flared among the squad.
Ruka, Barthood, Leo and Picuper fired Spine Doume into Ario's body—three volleys into the alien's chest. The weapon cut through his soul-carapace; blood and strange light shivered across Ario's face. Ruka shouted, "I'll finish him!" and lunged for his head.
Ario tossed her aside and closed in to kill, but at that moment Zaid's alien power surged. He barked orders in a voice that felt wrong and ancient, and lesser aliens swarmed to obey. Zaid intervened, grabbing Ario's hand and dragging him back from Ruka. He held Ruka close, trembling.
. "Why did you do this?" he sobbed. "If you had died—what would I have left?" His voice broke.
"Take care of Ruka," Zaid told Kuze. "Make sure she survives. If she dies, I'll tear the world apart. She's your responsibility now."
Lorya searched the battlefield with frantic eyes. "Where's Chucky? Did you kill Boxery?" she shouted as another soul-ball hurled from Boxery and struck soldiers. Bodies dropped.
Chucky appeared and charged. "Boxery!" he roared. "After everything you did—today I end you." With a single, brutal strike he tore into the alien's body, cutting deep. Boxery begged, "Please… don't kill me. I don't want this."
Chucky held his sword at the alien's throat. But before he could strike the head off, friends of Boxery rushed to save him. Chucky stared at the alien and felt a cold certainty: there was more to this than vengeance.
Boxery's words had claws — "If you kill me, you may never learn the truth about this world." The idea prodded Chucky's anger into uncertainty.
Lorya arrived, bloodied and breathing hard. "Stop!" she commanded. "Not now. We need answers before blood." Chucky clenched his teeth. "If you won't let me finish him, Captain—then I'll wait. But once we know the truth, he dies by my hand."
Lorya nodded. "Agreed. Learn first, kill later."
She turned to check the yellow door. Zaid hadn't closed it. Chucky rushed to him. "What happened? Why didn't you seal the door?
Zaid looked haunted. "If we close that door now, we'll all die."
Kuze, panting from the fight, arrived and spoke fast. "Chucky — Lorya was almost killed. Danielle was there, trying to cut her down. I told you."
Chucky ran, finding Danielle about to strike Lorya. He slashed at Danielle instead; the enemy's attack failed and, in the scuffle, Danielle's hands were severed—rendered useless. Chucky had saved Lorya.
Purple smoke rose—Kuze's signal. "Zaid, now!" he shouted. Zaid transformed again into his alien form and sealed the yellow door.
As he emerged, a fast-moving alien leapt up and pulled Zaid into its mouth, then vanished into the night. "No!" Ruka screamed, burning with fury. "I will kill whoever took him."
Lorya watched in horror as she realized Boxery wasn't who he seemed—the figure she'd been fighting was a false face. "He took away our main weapon—Zaid," she whispered, watching the place where Zaid had vanished. Chucky swore and prepared to give chase, but Ruka was already sprinting into the darkness.
The next part will came tomorrow as a chapter 7 .