Kara's chest heaved in the suffocating crevice, the chasm's sealed walls pressing against her broken body, the last of the geyser's heat searing her lungs as oxygen dwindled to a thin, scorching thread. The faint hum of OmniCorp's machinery vibrated through the stone, a predator's pulse growing louder, while Marcus's muffled cry faded into silence, buried under the rubble. Her dislocated elbow throbbed, the tendril's lingering burn on her throat a raw wound, and blood trickled from her scalp, pooling beneath her as the crevice's jagged edges dug into her flesh. The darkness was absolute, a living entity closing in.
A sharp crack split the silence—a hairline fracture in the wall above her, leaking a trickle of molten rock that hissed as it met her blood, scorching her cheek. The hum intensified, a drilling sound piercing the stone, and a laser beam sliced through, its red glow illuminating a drone's claw reaching for her. Kara's good hand flailed, snagging a loose rock, but her strength failed, the stone slipping as the claw grazed her arm, drawing a fresh gash. The crevice trembled, a secondary collapse imminent, and a slab shifted, pinning her leg, the pressure threatening to shatter bone.
The drone's lens whirred, scanning her vitals, and a mechanical voice intoned, "Target acquired—neural extraction commencing." A needle-tipped probe extended, its tip gleaming with a sinister light, inches from her temple. Kara twisted, the pinned leg screaming in agony, her free hand clawing at the wall, dislodging more molten debris that burned her fingers. The hum became a roar as the drone's drill bit into the stone, widening the crevice, but the movement loosened the slab, shifting it onto her chest, crushing the air from her lungs.
Marcus's voice, faint and distorted, broke through a crack in the rubble: "Kara… fight…"—but a cave-in silenced him, dust choking the air. The drone's probe jabbed, piercing her shoulder, a cold sting spreading as it injected a paralytic, her limbs growing heavy. The crevice's walls groaned, a new fissure splitting above, raining shards that gashed her forehead, blood blinding her. The drilling intensified, the stone cracking open further, and a second drone emerged, its claw snapping at her neck, missing by a hair as she jerked her head, the movement dislodging the slab onto her trapped leg, snapping it with a wet crunch.
The first drone's probe retracted, replaced by a neural extractor, its wires sparking as it hovered over her skull, ready to rip her mind apart. Kara's vision darkened, her heartbeat a sluggish thud, but a faint pulse—her comms—crackled: "Hold… help…" The second drone fired a tether, pinning her good arm to the wall, its electric jolt locking her muscles. The crevice collapsed inward, the walls grinding together, and the extractor's light flared, a countdown beep starting—10… 9… 8…—as the first drone's drill struck her side, drawing a scream that echoed into nothingness.