Hannah heard the explosion first — a wet, thunderous crack that shook the laboratory walls and sent shards of glass skittering across the floor. Then came the sound she would never forget: the heavy splatter of blood and the sharp snap of bones breaking like dry twigs. She cracked the door open no more than an inch, one eye pressed to the gap.

  What she saw turned her stomach to ice.

  The corridor had become a slaughterhouse. A river of blood snaked across the tiles, thick and glistening under the emergency lights. Guts hung from shattered consoles like grotesque streamers. In the centre of the carnage stood John, chest heaving, staring down at his own hands as if they belonged to someone else.

  For one heartbeat, his face was human again — wide-eyed, horrified, lost.

  Then the madness snapped back into place.

  He shot upward with a sonic boom. His body punched straight through the ceiling, concrete and steel exploding outward in a fountain of debris. He rocketed through floor after floor of HEX HQ, a crimson streak tearing toward the sky.

  Above the clouds, John floated motionless. Blood and gore dripped from his clothes in slow, heavy drops. His eyes were empty, staring at nothing. The wind whipped around him, but he felt none of it.

  ---

  Down below, Benjamin groaned as consciousness returned. Aya stirred beside him, then Milo, Mitch, and Emma. They all turned toward the cracked laboratory door where Hannah stood frozen, one hand still gripping the frame.

  "What's happening…?" Mitch rasped, voice thick with pain. "Did we win?"

  Hannah didn't look at them. Her voice came out flat, hollow. "We need to get the fuck out of here. John's gonna rampage. He's… he's strong. Very strong."

  No one argued. They rose on shaky legs, supporting one another, and slipped out through the side corridors while the alarms above continued their frantic wail.

  ---

  On the surface, the Death Parade was in full, grotesque bloom.

  "Mom! Death Parade is about to begin!!" a child squealed, tugging at his mother's sleeve.

  Crowds pressed against the barriers, faces bright with anticipation. A massive digital timer hovered over the parade route, glowing red numbers ticking down.

  30 seconds.

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  Sovereign watched from his private tower, arms folded, expression untouched by the excitement below.

  "Worthless scums…" he murmured, fists tightening until the knuckles whitened.

  Ashley stood three steps behind him, silent as marble.

  Cheerful, bombastic music exploded from hidden speakers as the parade gates swung open. A colossal animatronic Sovereign rolled out first, poor bodies dangling from its arms like macabre ornaments. Next came a cartoon lion, its jaws stuffed with more corpses. Then a golden barge piled high with the dead, workers flinging bodies into the air like confetti.

  "Welcome to the Death Parade, ladies and gentlemen!" the animatronic Sovereign boomed, voice syrupy and bright.

  The rich opened fire. Heads exploded in fountains of red. Laughter rang out — delighted, carefree, as if they were watching fireworks.

  A pendulum swing carried more bodies back and forth; bullets tore them apart mid-arc. Five dancers in bright costumes twirled forward, tossing spare ammunition to the crowd like candy at a carnival.

  It was obscene. The poor were nothing more than living decorations for the amusement of the powerful.

  Then — BOOM.

  One of the lead floats detonated in a fireball, killing dozens in an instant. Screams cut through the music. The crowd scattered.

  Floats began collapsing one after another, torn apart by something moving faster than the eye could track. Rides and castles exploded before they even reached the street. Workers and performers died where they stood, bodies hurled through the air like broken dolls.

  Alarms blared. Evacuation orders screamed over every speaker. Even the superpowered elites couldn't stop whatever was coming.

  "GET DOWN!!" a security executive shouted.

  John slammed into him before the words finished. They fought for three brutal seconds. Then John ripped the man's head clean off.

  "YOU'RE ALL MONSTERS!" John roared, voice cracking with fury as he tore through the park, smashing through castles and rides, flying in blind, destructive arcs.

  Finally, one figure stepped forward — the only one who could end it.

  John struck first. Knox Maiden dodged, drove a knee into John's back, and slammed him into the ground. He hauled John up by the throat and punched him so hard the younger man rocketed through three parade buildings in a trail of debris.

  "My arm finally healed," Knox laughed maniacally, "and I'm rewarded with you! Thank you for this! It's time I finally had a real fight! A real challenge!"

  John thought, just for a split second, "He's way stronger than that woman…" Then the madness swallowed him again.

  They traded blows — hooks, uppercuts, kicks that shattered concrete. Knox's smile never faded.

  "As I expected," he panted, blood on his teeth, "you're very strong…"

  "I'll kill every single ONE OF YOU!!" John screamed.

  A shadow fell over them both.

  Knox looked up and his grin faltered. He took one step back.

  "Seems like this is where you die…" he said, almost gently. "You put up a good fight."

  Then he flew away.

  John turned.

  Sovereign hovered above him, arms spread, coat flapping in the wind like a conqueror's banner. The King of the World had finally descended.

  "You…" John whispered.

  For the first time since his mind had shattered, real fear pierced the rage.

  "Hello, John," Sovereign said, voice smooth and amused. "It's my first time seeing you face-to-face."

  Sovereign grinned, thoroughly impressed. "You have been utterly decimated. Nevertheless, you remain remarkably vigorous."

  Sovereign spread his arms wider.

  "You aspire to obliterate everything, slaughter everyone. Then do it."

  John let out a guttural roar and shot upward, every ounce of remaining strength, every drop of fury, every last fragment of his broken soul poured into a single punch.

  "DIE!!"

  The impact was cataclysmic. Wind howled. Walls cracked. The ground trembled.

  John looked up.

  Sovereign hadn't moved an inch.

  A small hole smoked through the front of his button-up shirt. Nothing more.

  John's eyes widened in disbelief.

  Sovereign's fist moved once.

  John's world turned black.

  His body rocketed backward through the entire parade park, smashing through rides, castles, and floats in a trail of blood and debris.

  "Don't kill him," Sovereign ordered calmly.

  "Understood, sir," Ashley replied from the tower.

  She descended, collected John's broken form, and gestured for the workers to approach.

  A sonic boom split the sky. Sovereign was already gone.

  ---

  The instant Sovereign dropped to a dead stop, physics revolted. The hypersonic wall of air he'd been dragging slammed into his back like a physical hammer, detonating in a concussive boom that pulverized the ground. The blood didn't just blow; it atomized, transformed into a red mist that exploded outward in a jagged, crimson halo.

  Sovereign looked at the carnage, at the broken bodies and shattered dreams of his perfect parade.

  Instead of fury, a slow, genuine smile spread across his face.

  "This is beginning to get interesting."