"Regroup! Everyone, regroup!" John Hudson barked.
The remaining mutants obeyed instantly.
They had started with thirteen—now, only eight remained.
Five were already down, their fate unknown.
John's jaw tightened. "We don't want to fight you! But if you keep pushing us, we'll use everything we have!"
The torn uniforms of the Mason Industries employees now fully revealed their bodies. They were built like statues—powerful, flawless, and riddled with gaping wounds that should have been fatal.
Yet, they didn't bleed.
They didn't even flinch.
John's stomach twisted. "Attack with everything you've got!"
A mutant raised his hand, and the temperature in the air plummeted. A massive spear of ice materialized above him, its jagged edges glowing an eerie blue.
He hurled it forward with all his strength.
The ice spear shot through the air like a missile, piercing straight into one of the employees' chests.
For a moment, there was silence.
The employee glanced down at the ice lodged in his torso, casually shattered it with a flick of his hand, and charged.
"That's… impossible." John's eyes widened in horror.
How could someone take a direct hit to the chest and not go down?
But there was no time to dwell on the answer.
Screams filled the night.
One by one, the mutants fell.
Their strongest were crushed in mere moments.
Soon, only John and Jones remained standing.
The two exchanged a look.
They understood—this was their last chance.
Both of them wielded fire-based abilities. Together, they had developed a technique that could maximize their flame's destructive potential.
Their eyes burned with determination.
Flames erupted from their bodies, twisting together into a raging inferno.
The air shimmered with unbearable heat, distorting the very space around them.
With a roar, they launched their combined flames at the employees of Mason Industries.
The firestorm engulfed their enemies in an instant.
For a moment, there was relief.
The two collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath.
"Yeah. Those guys were freakish."
The sound of heavy footsteps.
The flickering flames illuminated their worst nightmare.
The "employees" walked out of the fire untouched—or rather, the metal skeletons underneath their burned flesh did.
Red, soulless electronic eyes gleamed in the darkness.
The mutants were paralyzed.
This… wasn't just technology.
This was something else entirely.
Their previous doubts suddenly made sense.
From the start, they had never been fighting humans.
They had been battling machines.
"What the hell is Mason Industries hiding?!"
That was their final thought before darkness swallowed them whole.
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