Page 195 of Villainous Rise

“You’re going to fucking die,” he snarled.

I drove my elbow into his ribs, following with an uppercut that snapped his head back. “You first, pretty boy.”

He caught my next punch and twisted my arm until something popped. Pain shot through my shoulder, but I barely registered it, my body already repairing itself.

Valor’s fist connected with my jaw, the impact sending me skidding across the rooftop. I tasted blood, spat it onto the concrete, and launched myself back at him. We collided in midair, a tangle of limbs and fury, crashing down hard enough to crack the reinforced surface beneath us.

“STOP IT!” Annie screamed, her voice cracking. “CIPHER, PLEASE!”

Something in her voice, maybe the fear or maybe the desperation, almost made me hesitate.

My suit’s HUD flashed red, warning signals cascading across my vision. Tower security, the secondary systems I hadn’t bothered to disable, were coming online. Automated defense turrets powering up. Containment fields initializing. Backup power routing to the rooftop.

Shit.

The Hammer pulsed in my forearm, a surge of power that felt like liquid lightning flowing through my veins. I didn’t have time to be precise as I channeled it outward, a wave of disruptive energy expanding in all directions.

Everything electronic within fifty feet died instantly.

The rooftop plunged into darkness and Valor’s glowing fist became the only light source.

Valor was already moving in for what looked like a killing blow.

I lunged at him. This ended now. He’d threatened Annie, degraded her, put his hands on her. Unforgivable.

Fucking unforgivable.

Valor’s face was contorted with rage, golden energy crackling around his fists. We were both going for the kill, fucking rules be damned.

“Stop trying to kill each other!”

Annie’s voice rang out, carrying an unfamiliar weight.

My body simply stopped. Mid-motion. Like someone had hit pause on reality itself.

I couldn’t move. Not my arms, not my legs. Nothing. My muscles refused to obey the most basic commands from my brain. I was frozen in place, suspended in the moment before impact with Valor.

Across from me, Valor stood equally immobilized. His eyes, previously burning with hatred, now stared blankly ahead, empty and glazed over, like the lights were on but nobody was home.

I tried to speak, to call out to Annie, but my jaw wouldn’t move.

A strange sensation was creeping through my mind, like fog rolling in over clear water. My thoughts started to slow, edges blurring, sharp calculations giving way to a pleasant, numbing haze.

I fought against whatever was happening, clinging to clarity with desperation as something tried to wrest control from me.

I’d spent my entire life fighting against those who wanted to control me. Doctors with their medications. Parents with their fear. The Alliance with their regulations. I wouldn’t surrender my mind now.

The pressure increased, like invisible fingers trying to reshape my thoughts.

Whatever this was, whatever was happening, I refused to submit. I would not be controlled. Not again. Never again.

I heard Annie scream, the sound cutting off with a choked sob. Something was wrong. Terribly wrong.

I fought against the compulsion with everything I had, focusing on the sensation of my own body, the subtle vibrations of my suit, the taste of blood in my mouth. Anything to anchor myself against this invisible current pulling me away.

The mental fog pressed harder, trying to overwhelm my resistance. A voice, not Annie’s, but something using her voice, whispered that compliance would be easier. That fighting would only cause pain.

Fuck that. I’d been fighting my whole life.