The Rift opened wrong.
Isaac felt it before he saw it—pressure behind the eyes, a deep vibration that crawled up his spine like static. The air twisted, folding inward, screaming without sounnd
Then it split.
Red-black light tore through the street, shattering asphalt, ripping cars in half like paper toys. Gravity buckled. Sirens died mid-wail. People ran—some fast enough, most not.
"SOLS CONFIRMED," came the command through their comms.
"FIELD CLEARANCE GRANTED."
"ENGAGE. NO SURVIVORS."
Isaac's heart slammed into his ribs.
This wasn't the arena.
This wasn't controlled.
This was real.
Lisa cracked the air with her fist, summoning her weapon—the glass-like fracture of space blooming outward as she dragged steel from the other side. Lane followed, black water bleeding into existence around her arms, writhing like something alive.
Isaac hesitated.
Then Vance punched reality itself.
The crack was louder than anything Isaac had ever heard. Black flame erupted from the rift as Vance pulled his weapon free—heavy, brutal, dripping with condensed Black Force. The ground beneath him cratered.
"Formation," Vance ordered calmly.
The first Sol came through screaming.
It was tall—too tall—its spine bent backward, ribs exposed like blades. Its head was split vertically, jaws snapping independently as it crawled forward on too many limbs.
A civilian tripped.
The Sol didn't pounce.
It threw its own arm.
The bone-spear punched through the man's chest, pinning him to a wall. He screamed once before the Sol ripped the rest of him apart with its teeth.
Isaac moved.
He punched the air.
Reality shattered like glass.
His blade came free mid-step.
He didn't think. He didn't breathe.
He cut.
The Sol's head came off in a wet spiral, black blood spraying across Isaac's face and chest. The body twitched, convulsed, then collapsed into itself like rotten scaffolding.
Isaac stood over it shaking.
"That's one," Lisa said, already moving. "Don't freeze."
More Sols poured out.
Fast ones. Crawlers. A massive quadruped with a mouth in its stomach that swallowed a screaming woman whole—her legs kicking for three seconds before disappearing.
Lane screamed—not in fear, but fury.
Black water surged forward, touching the creature's hide.
It dissolved.
Flesh peeled away in seconds. Bone followed. The Sol collapsed into screaming sludge before vanishing entirely.
Isaac stared.
"Eyes up!" Vance barked.
Too late.
Something hit Isaac from behind.
Claws ripped into his shoulder, shredding muscle, spinning him into a wall hard enough to crack concrete. Pain exploded white-hot. He screamed as something bit into his side.
Lisa was there instantly.
Her weapon came down.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The Sol didn't get a fourth breath.
Chunks of it slid off Isaac's body, leaving raw, bleeding gouges behind.
"Get up," Lisa growled, hauling him to his feet. "You die here, you stay dead."
Blood poured down Isaac's arm. He couldn't feel his fingers.
Vance walked past them.
Didn't slow.
Didn't look.
He met a Sol twice his size head-on.
It swung.
Vance let it hit him.
The blow crushed buildings behind him—but Vance didn't move. Black flame erupted from his chest, crawling up his arms, burning into the Sol's skull.
He grabbed its head.
Squeezed.
The skull collapsed inward with a sound like wet stone. The Sol screamed as its brain liquefied, black fire pouring out its eyes and mouth.
Vance dropped the corpse.
"Area's not clear," he said calmly. "Stay sharp."
Isaac swallowed blood.
This was his brother.
This was Death walking.
The last Sol tried to run.
It made it three steps before Vance threw his weapon.
The blade pinned it to the ground, Black Force eating through its torso until nothing remained but scorched earth.
Silence followed.
No cheering.
No relief.
Only smoke, blood, and the sound of distant screams from places they hadn't reached in time.
Recovery units moved in.
Body bags followed.
Isaac sank to his knees, hands shaking, staring at the blood coating his skin—human and Sol mixed together.
Lisa crouched beside him. "You okay?"
He nodded.
He wasn't.
Lane stood apart, staring at her hands, black water slowly retracting back into nothingness. Her face was pale.
Vance turned toward the Rift.
It wasn't closing.
It pulsed.
Watched.
For a moment—just a flicker—Isaac thought he saw something on the other side.
Not a Sol.
Something looking back.
Then the Rift sealed.
That night, Isaac couldn't sleep.
Every time he closed his eyes he felt claws in his flesh. Heard bones snap. Smelled burning blood.
And beneath it all—
A whisper.
Faint.
Amused.
"You felt it," the voice murmured from nowhere. "Didn't you?"
Isaac shot upright.
The room was empty.
But his chest burned.
And somewhere, far beyond GRIMM's reach, Evil smiled.