Rouge was summoned to the laboratory.
As he stepped inside, he found a group of scientists gathered around a containment chamber, their eyes fixed on something glowing within.
"What is it?" Rouge asked.
One of the scientists stepped aside.
"You should see this for yourself, sir. It's... beyond extraordinary."
Rouge approached the reinforced glass and looked inside.
His eyes widened. "What... is that?"
Resting in the center of the chamber was a large crimson crystal. It shimmered with an eerie inner light, casting deep red reflections across the room.
The lead scientist adjusted his glasses. "It formed from Monarch's blood."
Rouge looked at him in disbelief. "Monarch's blood? Explain."
"We were conducting routine experiments on the samples we collected. Without warning, the blood began crystallizing. Within minutes..." He gestured toward the chamber. "...it became this."
Rouge remained silent, studying the crystal from every angle.
"What does it do?"
The scientist shook his head. "We honestly don't know. We've never seen anything remotely like it."
A long silence settled over the laboratory.
Then Rouge smiled. "Take it out."
Every scientist turned toward him.
"Sir?"
"It hasn't been tested yet," another scientist protested. "It could be unstable... or contagious."
Rouge never took his eyes off the crystal. "We're taking it to Monarch."
The room fell silent.
"If this came from his own blood..." Rouge said with a faint smile, "...then I think we may have just found the answer to our biggest problem."
The scientists exchanged uneasy glances. After a hesitant moment, they nodded.
---
John sat alone inside his chamber, absently tapping his forehead against the reinforced glass.
Days blurred together. Maybe weeks. He had long since stopped counting.
He sighed. "I wonder how everyone's doing..."
His thoughts drifted to Jacob, then to his parents.
He quickly pushed them away.
Thinking about them only made the loneliness worse.
Footsteps echoed through the corridor.
John looked up.
Rouge approached with several scientists and a squad of soldiers in hazmat suits. Two of them carefully carried a sealed glass container.
John rolled his eyes.
"What now?" he asked with a tired sigh. "You gonna tase me? Knock me out again? Honestly... I don't even care anymore."
Rouge stopped outside the chamber. "Then why ask?"
John groaned. "Fair enough..."
A soldier stepped forward and opened the containment case.
Inside rested the crimson crystal.
Even through the glass, it seemed to pulse with a strange, unsettling glow.
The soldier tossed the sealed pod into the chamber before quickly backing away.
It landed with a dull clink.
John frowned.
He picked it up and turned it over in his hands. "The hell is this?"
He held it closer to his face. "What, am I supposed to play with it? Is this your idea of entertainment?"
Without warning—
BOOM!
The glass pod detonated, exploding into hundreds of razor-sharp shards.
John didn't even flinch.
The fragments struck his skin and shattered harmlessly against him.
He laughed. "Seriously? That was supposed to kill me?"
His smile faded. A burning sensation spread through his hand.
He frowned. "What...?"
The pain intensified.
It raced up his arm like liquid fire.
John stumbled backward as blisters erupted across his skin.
His breathing became ragged.
The pain grew far worse.
His entire body felt as though it were being burned alive from the inside out.
He collapsed onto one knee, screaming. "AAAAAAAHHHHH!!"
He clawed desperately at his own skin, but nothing stopped the agony. "MAKE IT STOP!" His voice cracked.
"PLEASE!" He slammed his fists against the floor. "I'LL DO ANYTHING!"
Outside the chamber, the scientists stared in stunned silence.
"It... it actually works..."
"No way..."
One by one, they stepped farther away from the viewing window.
Then the chamber doors hissed open.
Rouge calmly walked inside.
The scientists froze.
"Sir!"
"You can't go in there!"
"If it's airborne—"
Rouge ignored them. He continued toward the crystal.
Nothing happened. He bent down, picked it up, and stood there completely unaffected.
The scientists watched in disbelief.
"It isn't affecting him..."
Rouge slowly turned toward John. Still clutching the crystal, he walked forward.
Each step sent another wave of unbearable agony through John.
John screamed louder. "STAY AWAY FROM ME!!"
Rouge stopped only a few feet away.
He studied John's twisted expression with quiet satisfaction.
"So it really is poison to you."
With a casual flick of his wrist, Rouge tossed the crystal out of the chamber.
The instant it left John's chamber the pain vanished.
John collapsed onto the floor, gasping for air.
His entire body trembled.
Sweat poured from his face.
For several seconds, the room was silent except for his ragged breathing.
Then John slowly lifted his head. His eyes burned with hatred. "I'll kill you..."
With a furious roar, he lunged at Rouge. His fist slammed into Rouge's jaw.
Rouge didn't move an inch. John's blows might as well have been raindrops.
Rouge chuckled. "Just as I suspected."
He placed a hand on John's head. "You're mine now... Monarch."
He turned his back without another word.
The chamber doors sealed shut behind him with a heavy metallic hiss.
John stood alone. Breathing heavily, staring at the door.
---
Jacob slept peacefully in his bed, a faint smile resting on his face.
Down the hall, Father lay awake beside Mother, gently holding her close.
He sighed. "I wonder what John's doing right now."
Mother smiled and rubbed his arm. "He's going to be fine. He's a superhero, for God's sake. Who could possibly hurt him?"
Father chuckled. "Yeah, I guess you're right. He'll come back." A small smile crossed his face.
Suddenly, the front door exploded inward.
Heavy boots pounded across the floor.
"GO! GO! GO!"
"Move! Clear every room! Eliminate the parents! Retrieve the child!"
The captain's orders echoed throughout the house.
Father and Mother shot upright.
"W-What's going on?!" Father shouted.
Before either of them could leave the bed, the bedroom door burst open.
A squad of armed soldiers stormed inside, rifles raised.
Mother instinctively stepped in front of Father.
"Please!" she cried. "What did we do?!"
A gunshot rang out.
Her body jerked backward before collapsing onto the floor.
Father froze. With a roar of grief, he charged at the nearest soldier.
Three shots echoed through the room.
He crumpled beside her.
Blood slowly spread across the bedroom floor.
A soldier kicked open Jacob's bedroom door.
Jacob jolted awake. "W-What's happening?!"
The soldier grabbed him by the arm and dragged him out of bed.
"No!" Jacob struggled wildly. "Let me go!"
He was dragged past his parents' bedroom.
His eyes wandered inside. He saw them. Motionless. His entire body went numb. Tears welled in his eyes.
"John..." His voice trembled. "John... Save me... Please... Save me, John..."
John gasped as he bolted upright.
"Jacob!"
His chest rose and fell violently.
His eyes darted around the chamber before reality slowly settled back in. "A nightmare..."
He let out a shaky breath and lowered his head. "Thank God..."
Silence returned, then came the guilt.
His thoughts drifted back to home.
He imagined Jacob laughing. His mother's warm smile. His father's terrible jokes that somehow always made everyone laugh.
The family dinners. The holidays. The little arguments that never lasted. Every memory reminded him of what he had lost.
A tear rolled down his cheek. "I need to go back..."
His voice was barely a whisper. "They need me."
Something stirred inside his chest. Determination.
He slowly stood and looked toward the reinforced steel door.
It was midnight. Most of the guards are asleep. The cameras would still be watching. The automated defenses would still be active.
But none of that mattered anymore. John clenched his fist.
"Screw it... It's not like they can kill me."
Without another thought, he drove his fist straight through the reinforced steel door.
The facility erupted into chaos.
Red warning lights bathed the corridors as emergency protocols activated. Steel blast doors slammed shut throughout the facility while soldiers poured into position, rifles raised.
Automated turrets descended from the ceiling, locking onto John.
He stepped through the shattered remains of his chamber door without slowing.
The intercom crackled to life.
"Monarch." The voice was calm, almost emotionless. "We advise you to return to your chamber immediately."
John looked around the hallway before stopping beneath one of the surveillance cameras.
"And if I don't?"
"We will be forced to neutralize you."
John stared at the camera for a long moment.
Then he laughed.
It started as a quiet chuckle before growing into genuine laughter.
John let out a loud laugh. "You all actually thought I never knew how strong I really was!"
He looked straight into the nearest camera. "But you never really knew everything about me."
"I heard every conversation. Every meeting. I know everything about this operation!"
"'Monarch could likely overpower an entire nation.'" John smiled as he recalled the words. "From the moment I heard that... I realized I was never really held captive."
"I was just playing along with your little game to see where it'd go."
John slowly rose above the ground.
"And now..."
His smile widened.
"The game is OVER!"