Ashes of Our Flame
by RapwizzyDebaron
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Episode 55: "Bloodlines and Betrayals"
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Silence settled over the clearing, thick with ash and disbelief. Where trees once stood tall, only scorched earth remained. Kara knelt in the center, her hands trembling, her breath shallow. The air buzzed with remnants of power — hers and Subject One's — colliding, repelling, binding.
Adrian stumbled toward her, coughing through the smoke. "Kara!"
She looked up, dazed. Her hair floated around her like a halo of embers, and her eyes shimmered like molten gold.
"I saw it," she murmured. "He's not just Lazarus's monster. He's… he's my brother."
Ghost froze mid-step. "What?"
The mirror-eyed girl nodded, confirming Kara's truth. "Twins, separated before memory. Created for balance. Fire and shadow. Pain and control."
Adrian knelt beside Kara. "That means Lazarus… they never told you."
"No," Kara whispered. "They lied. They turned us into weapons. Split us so we'd never be whole."
Subject One had vanished into the shadows again, but his presence lingered — watching, waiting. For the first time, Kara didn't feel fear. She felt the ache of abandonment, of recognition too late.
"His name," she said, "before they gave him a number… it was Calen. I remember now."
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Flashback – Twelve Years Ago
A small child clung to a railing, crying in a white-walled lab. Another child, locked behind glass, reached for her. They couldn't touch, but they mirrored each other's pain.
"Don't leave me," the boy whispered.
"I won't," the girl promised.
But then came the alarms. The men in suits. The screams.
And the promise shattered.
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Present – Moving Camp
Ghost reinforced the van's shield system, welding layers of scrap metal over weak points. Tension was rising. They were being hunted, not just by Lazarus — but by Calen himself.
"We need to change plans," he said to Adrian. "If Subject One's tied to her, and he's unstable, we need containment."
"No," Kara interrupted. "We need truth. The real files. The original Lazarus plans. They're still out there."
The mirror-eyed girl pointed toward the horizon. "The Arkive."
Adrian's brow furrowed. "That's a myth. A digital vault buried beneath the sea of glass."
"Not a myth," the girl replied. "It's where they stored everything they couldn't destroy."
Kara stood, fists clenched. "Then that's where we go. If we want answers, we take the fight to their past."
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Meanwhile – Lazarus Headquarters
Dr. Vane stood before a glowing tank. Inside, a form floated — human, but not. A backup.
"Begin Phase Rebirth," he ordered coldly.
His assistant trembled. "But sir, the Core—Calen—he's unstable. If he fuses with Kara—"
"He won't," Vane snapped. "That girl is a threat to the new world order. We end this before the balance tips."
He turned to the screens. Dozens of prototype agents—cold, emotionless, enhanced—prepared for deployment.
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Journey Toward the Arkive
The team trekked across ruined highways swallowed by time. They passed skeletal cities, broken by greed and experiments gone wrong.
Kara stared out the window, the mirror-eyed girl beside her.
"Why did they spare me?" Kara asked.
"They didn't," the girl answered. "You escaped. They just didn't know it yet."
Suddenly, alarms wailed in the distance. Drones—Lazarus-issued—swooped through the sky like mechanical vultures.
Ghost cursed. "They found us."
The van swerved violently as pulse cannons rained down. Adrian returned fire from the roof hatch, while Kara and the girl jumped out into cover.
"Split up!" Kara shouted. "Regroup at the southern gorge!"
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Chase in the Ruins
Kara darted through the skeletal remains of an old tech mall. Her boots pounded glass and wire. Behind her, a hunter drone burst through a wall, scanning for thermal signatures.
"Subject Alpha. Terminate."
She spun, fire spiraling from her palm. The drone burst in a shower of sparks — but not before sending one last signal.
Somewhere far away, Calen paused mid-step. He turned toward the west, eyes glowing.
"She's calling me."
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Southern Gorge – That Night
The group reunited under cover of darkness, bruised but alive. The van was gone — lost in the chase — but they still had each other.
Kara stared into the fire. "This can't be a coincidence. My brother… Calen… he's tied to the Lazarus Core. And I'm tied to him."
Adrian placed a blanket over her shoulders. "Then we stop running. We find the Arkive. We end this."
The mirror-eyed girl nodded. "But be warned — the Arkive doesn't just reveal the past. It tests those who seek it."
Ghost smirked. "Perfect. I've always liked a good pop quiz."
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Unknown Location – Calen's Lair
Surrounded by whispering shadows, Calen sat cross-legged in a circle of ancient symbols. His body crackled with unstable energy, as if time itself warped around him.
"She remembers," he murmured. "But does she forgive?"
Behind him, figures formed — shadows with eyes.
"She will return," he said. "And when she does, we will finish what they started."
He opened his eyes.
They burned the color of fire.
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To be continued…
🔥 Truth bleeds
into memory. Family becomes fate. The Arkive awaits.
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