Ashes of Our Flame
by RapwizzyDebaron
Episode 25: "Smoke in the Blood"
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They didn't sleep that night.
The safehouse buzzed like a war room—voices sharp, movements precise, adrenaline thick in the air. Maps lay scattered across the table, red circles drawn around strategic locations. Screens flickered with surveillance feeds. Phones buzzed with whispers from allies hidden in the shadows.
Kara stood by the board, staring at Marcus Vale's portrait.
"We don't need to kill him," she said. "We need to erase him."
Adrian sat in silence, his fingers wrapped tightly around a chipped coffee mug. "He's already made himself a god in this city. Erasing him means tearing down every shrine built in his name."
Tessa leaned back in her chair, exhaustion clinging to her like a second skin. "Then we start with the foundations. Financials. Offshore accounts. Properties. Every dirty contract."
"I'm already tracing them," she added, tapping a few keys. "But we need something stronger. Something emotional. Something the public can't look away from."
Kara turned slowly. "What if we show them the cost?"
Tessa frowned. "What do you mean?"
"We've been telling them Marcus is a monster. What if we show them the people he destroyed?"
Adrian looked up. "Survivors."
"Testimonies," Kara said. "Real faces. Real pain."
---
The plan came together like puzzle pieces soaked in gasoline.
They reached out to former patients from the asylum. Families of victims. Whistleblowers long buried in fear.
And slowly, the ghosts started speaking.
Ronan organized a filming setup in the basement. A black backdrop, a single light, and a camera.
No filters.
No scripts.
Just pain.
Kara sat in on the first recording—a woman with gray eyes and trembling hands.
"My brother was taken at sixteen," she said, voice thin as thread. "They said he was dangerous. That he needed treatment. I never saw him again."
A tear slipped down her cheek. "Three months later, they sent a box of ashes."
Adrian watched from the shadows, fists clenched.
Each story chipped at something inside him.
Each face reflected the kingdom his father had built—on broken backs, buried truths, and fear.
By the fifth testimony, even Ronan had to step outside for air.
---
That night, Kara found Adrian on the rooftop again.
The sky was dark, but the city glowed beneath them like embers refusing to die.
She handed him a flash drive. "The first batch is ready."
Adrian took it without a word.
"You okay?" she asked.
He gave a hollow laugh. "Do I look okay?"
"No," she admitted. "You look like a man at war with himself."
He nodded, staring at the horizon. "Because I am."
Kara stepped closer, the breeze catching her hair. "You don't have to do this alone."
Adrian turned to her, his eyes softer than they'd been in days. "But what if I burn you too?"
She smiled faintly. "Then we burn together."
For the first time, he let his guard fall.
He pulled her into his arms, and this time, the kiss wasn't stolen—it was surrendered.
A silent vow.
---
By the end of the week, the first video dropped.
They didn't release it through major networks. Just one anonymous upload, shared across encrypted channels, dark web forums, and eventually—mainstream platforms.
The video was simple. Raw.
A montage of faces. Voices. Scars.
No music. No edits.
Just truth.
Within hours, it trended worldwide.
#ValeTruth
People marched. Others cried. Some denied.
But no one looked away.
---
Marcus Vale responded exactly as expected.
He called it slander. Accused foreign agents. Offered money for information on the "cyber terrorists" spreading lies.
But the cracks had started to show.
News outlets that once praised him now hesitated.
A few even began digging into his past.
For every lie he tried to spin, ten new truths surfaced.
And yet—
The man still held power.
Too much power.
---
A week later, they hit the first facility.
An abandoned lab on the outskirts of the city, guarded by hired guns and lies.
Tessa disabled the security.
Ronan led the breach.
Adrian and Kara went in with body cams and flash drives.
Inside, they found cold rooms.
Empty beds.
Files.
Evidence.
Children's names scratched into walls.
Kara almost broke.
Adrian held her hand the entire way out.
They uploaded everything that same night.
And this time—there was no denying it.
Even the authorities had to act.
Arrest warrants were filed.
Probes launched.
The empire bled.
But not enough.
Because Marcus Vale vanished.
Just like that.
Gone.
---
Two nights later, Adrian received a message.
An unmarked envelope slid beneath the safehouse door.
Inside: a photo of his mother.
And a single line.
"She died for loyalty. Will you?"
His hands shook.
Kara read the message and stepped back, eyes wide. "He's baiting you."
"No," Adrian said. "He's warning me."
"Then we change the game," she said. "Make him the hunted."
Adrian looked at her, the flames back in his eyes. "Let's end this."
---
Down in the basement, Tessa traced a signal.
A shadowy transaction.
Offshore to local.
An old warehouse near the docks.
A perfect hiding place.
A perfect trap.
Ronan checked his gear. "One last dance."
Kara nodded. "Let's burn his last refuge."
Adrian gripped his pistol, the same one he once pointed at his father.
"No more running."
---
Outside, the rain began to fall again.
But this time, the city wasn't crying.
It was preparing.
The fire had started.
And nothing would stop it now.
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To be continued…
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