As the guard brought down the baton, I watched the bolts of electricity crackle around my arm. Though the sensation latched onto my nerves, I didn’t drop my arm, narrowing my eyes as I shoved off the guards attack, grinning as I pressed my hands to the armored chest plate. “You got it baby,” I said with a smirk. I felt the energy within my arms charge for only a moment, releasing a fraction of the power in an electric pulse. The guard flew back as the shockwave exploded from my palms, knocking all the guards off their feet and disabling their suits and weapons. The force obliterated the bars of several cells, prisoners flooding into the corridor as they raced for the doors, desperate to be free. 

I swore, charging forward as I shoved through the crowd, praying no one thought to turn on me in the chaos. “You couldn’t have disabled these fucking alarms?” The blaring made it hard to think. 

“Too much of a power drain- besides, pretty obvious when a whole sector loses power that something’s wrong. Now, stay focused.”

“Fair enough. Which way do I go? How much time do I have?” I asked, shouting over the other raised voices as I made my way out of the cellblock in a rush. 

“You need to head for the front entrance; I can take down the security gates on the way there, but I have to disable them one by one. If I try to control too much, they’ll track my signal faster than I can get you out. I’ll give you as much time as I can before the system ejects me.” Destry sounded tense and preoccupied, a frustrated sound cutting through his words before he said, “Follow my instructions closely, run as fast as you can- and don’t let anybody get in your way.” 

I didn’t answer him, listening to his sharp directions of which corridor to turn down, when to wait, when to charge ahead. As I diverged from other inmates, avoiding those that were frantically trying to find a clear path out before being hunted by the guards, I found myself falling further into anxiety. Each door unlocked and passed meant I was closer to freedom than I had been in five long years. The guards in my path didn’t last long as I activated my biomods, pulses of energy deactivating their threatening suits. Still, I could feel the toll on my body each time I used the machines meshing with my nerves.  “What’s your limit?” I asked as I hopped a railing and descended a flight of metal stairs- asking to know how much time I’d have ‘til Destry was booted out of the system…and how much longer I’d have to endure the ache in my bones. 

“You have about sixty seconds,” Destry’s short words ran a shiver down my spine. “The front gate is a straight shot from where you are, and I’ll make sure it opens for you. But I have to focus on keeping the system from tracking me down, so I can’t talk you through it. Get out, and head for the buildings across the street; I’ll meet you on the ground floor of the abandoned hotel and escort you to Synchro.” He paused, and I could hear his teeth grinding as he cursed under his breath. “Go- I’ll see you soon.” Whether it was a promise or a threat, it was followed by a sudden silence as the earpiece disconnected. 

As I got to the bottom of the stairs and into the main corridor I swore under my breath. There was a wall of prison guards waiting for me, the main gate just beyond them. They brandished shields and electric batons, some even pointing at me with pulse rifles.

One of the guards stepped forward, my stomach twisting as I realized who stood in my way. The warden almost never left his office- in all my time in Purgatory, I had only seen him once, when a riot had gotten out of the guards’ control. His armor was higher quality, the thick metal plates polished to a shine. Bands of neon blue wiring glowed with energy, powering the electric baton in his hands. “You’ve had it easy so far, Wescoff,” his voice was a growl, his steps heavy as he approached me, “But I’ll handle your punishment for this personally, and I look forward to seeing you suffer.” A sharp crackle followed his words as the baton in his hand sparked with a new intensity, and I knew he had set the power to lethal.