The guards fled, running for the exits now that their master had abandoned them. The mind-controlled students began collapsing as Blood's influence faded with distance, his telepathic range finally exceeded.
And ten people were dying.
Hikaru pressed his hands against the first victim's chest. Divine light flowed from his palms. The light entered her body, seeking the poison, and purging it from her system.
She gasped as the seizures stopped, dark liquid expelled from her mouth—glowing faintly with residual divine energy as it left her body. Then she went limp, unconscious but alive.
Nine more to go.
Hikaru moved to the next victim—a teenage boy, lips already turning blue from oxygen deprivation. The healing light flowed again, draining Hikaru's energy reserves with each pulse. The poison was designed to kill quickly and resist conventional medicine.
But divine healing could counter it.
If I'm fast enough.
Third victim. Fourth. Fifth.
His hands were shaking by the sixth. He wasn't used using his healing ability on others. The divine energy depleted with each victim saved. Sweat dripped down his face.
Students who'd regained consciousness watched in silence, the auditorium eerily quiet except for Hikaru's labored breathing.
Seventh victim. Eighth.
"What can we do?" someone asked quietly, voice breaking.
Hikaru didn't look up, focusing everything on the healing light. "Get them outside. Fresh air, and call for a medic."
Students moved immediately—carrying the healed victims toward exits, calling emergency services on their communicators, helping however they could. Not because they had to.
Because they chose to.
Ninth victim. Hikaru's reserves nearly exhausted. But he pushed through, pouring everything into purging the poison from her body.
The girl gasped, alive.
One more.
Hikaru crawled to the final victim. The poison had been in him the longest, his body already going still and cold.
Hikaru pressed both hands against his chest, wings spreading wide in response to his emotions. "Come on."
The divine light flowed, weaker than before but still there. Hikaru felt exhaustion pilling up.
"Come on!"
The poison broke. Dark liquid purged from his mouth in a rush, and he gasped—a desperate, life-affirming breath that was the most beautiful sound Hikaru had ever heard.
He's alive.
All ten victims stable.
Hikaru collapsed beside him, chest heaving like he'd run a marathon.
Blood got away. But everyone's alive, he thought. That's what matters.
Hands helped him sit up—the same people he saved earlier.
"You saved them," David said, voice thick with emotion. "All of them."
"That's what heroes do," Hikaru managed, words coming through deep breaths.
Students surrounded them—not attacking, not hostile. Just watching with expressions that ranged from trepidation to shock to awe to something that might have been respect.
Then the alarm blared—lockdown protocol, harsh and urgent.
"Reinforcements coming," someone said. "Blood's calling in more guards. You need to go."
Hikaru struggled to his feet pulling himself toward a side corridor.
He made it three hallways before Jinx appeared.
She stood blocking the corridor, pink energy crackling around her hands. Hikaru stopped, too exhausted to fight effectively but raising his hands anyway out of pure instinct.
"Jinx," he said.
She studied him—exhausted, wings drooping. Her expression was impossible to read, pink eyes scanning every inch of him.
"I don't want to fight you," Hikaru continued. "Not after everything."
Silence stretched between them. Footsteps echoed from nearby corridors—guards searching, getting closer with each second.
"So this was your secret." Jinx's expression shifted. "What Blood tried to do..." She paused, something vulnerable flickering across her features. "That's not what I signed up for."
"Then help me."
"I can't just—" She looked torn, conflicted, listening to the approaching footsteps. "The Five, my friends—"
Jinx closed her eyes briefly. When they opened, her decision was made.
"This way." She opened a hidden panel in the wall with practiced ease. "Security doesn't watch this corridor."
She led him through maintenance passages and secret routes that bypassed the main security systems. Hikaru followed.
"You saved them," Jinx said quietly as they navigated the narrow passages. "All of them. Even after Blood poisoned them."
"That's what heroes do."
"Is it?" She glanced back, pink eyes reflecting the dim emergency lighting.
"Yeah. We protect people. Even when it costs us everything."
Jinx said nothing for a long moment.
"I've never met anyone like you," she admitted finally, voice soft. "Someone who actually means that."
They reached a service door—access to the surface through a disguised maintenance exit. Jinx pushed it open, revealing a dark alley outside the condemned building that served as H.I.V.E.'s entrance.
"Go," she said.
Hikaru paused at the threshold, turning to face her despite the urgency. "Come with me."
"What?"
"Leave H.I.V.E. Leave Blood." He met her eyes, ignoring the pain radiating through his body. "You don't belong here."
"I—" Jinx looked away. "My friends are here. Mammoth, Shimmer, Gizmo, See-More. I can't just abandon them."
"Yes, you can. It's scary, but you can choose differently."
"It's not that simple—"
"It is. You just have to choose." Hikaru reached out, fingers brushing her arm lightly. "Choose to be better than this place."
Footsteps echoed from the passage behind them, dangerously close now. Guards, closing in.
"Just go!" Jinx pushed him toward the exit, genuine fear entering her voice. "Before I change my mind."
Hikaru stumbled into the alley, turning back at the last moment.
"You know," he sighed, managing a slight smile despite everything, "your name doesn't do you justice."
Jinx frowned. "What?"
"You just might be my lucky charm."
She blinked, then blushed—actual color rising in her pale cheeks, visible even in the dim light. "That's the worst line I've ever heard."
"Made you smile though."
"Get out of here before I hex you!" But she was smiling, even as she pushed him fully into the alley.
Hikaru laughed despite everything. He spread his wings, and took flight.
Behind him, Jinx watched from the doorway, visible only as a shadow against the interior lighting. Their eyes met across the distance.
She didn't move to stop him.
A small nod—acknowledgment, understanding, maybe even respect or something more complicated.
Then she was gone, disappearing back into H.I.V.E.'s corridors.
Hikaru flew into the night, the communicator heavy in his pocket, intel secured, mission accomplished at the cost of his cover.
And in his mind, he could still see Jinx's surprised smile, her blush, the way she'd looked at him in that final moment.
As he flew, he pulled out his Titans communicator.
"This is Seraph, Mission complete."