Their plan was simple, desperate, and almost childish—but sometimes desperation was the only fuel they had left.

Zeith dropped to the floor, clutching his stomach and groaning loudly. Mary pounded on the cell bars with both fists.

“Hey! He’s sick! He needs help—NOW!”

A guard muttered under his breath and approached, irritated. “Back away from the bars.”

Mary stepped aside.

That was his mistake.

The moment the guard came close enough, Vanessa shot her hand through the bars, snatching the keycard clipped to his armor. Before he could shout, Mary grabbed his helmet and slammed his head into the bars. He collapsed without a sound.

Vanessa swiped the card.
The cell doors unlocked—quietly.

They slipped out.

Their footsteps echoed through the metal corridors. Every corner they turned, every shadow they passed, Zeith whispered, “Clear.”

For a moment, the impossible seemed within reach.

Until the alarms exploded to life.

A crimson glow washed over the halls, and an automated voice boomed:

“PRISONERS ESCAPED. LOCKDOWN PROTOCOL IN EFFECT.”

They ran.

Cameron led them through tunnels, Mary scanned every branching hallway, Zeith lifted the still-unconscious Cameron on his back, and Vanessa brought up the rear, hand on her weapon.

They weren’t fast enough.

The Martian scientists stormed into a meeting room above them. One of them—Sabrina Law, head of alien research—slammed her hands onto a glowing console.

“They’re escaping. Get Levi out of the chamber. Hide him. Now.”

A hushed silence followed.

“Do you want them to find the Prime Supernatural?” she snapped. “MOVE.”

Levi opened his eyes to a blinding white light.

The purple fluid that had held him for weeks drained away, leaving him weak, disoriented, and barely conscious. His beard had grown in, his black hair heavy and long, dripping with residue.

He didn’t know where he was.

He didn’t know who he was.

A woman touched his shoulder gently. Sabrina Law.

“Levi,” she whispered. “Come with me. Hurry.”

He stared at her blankly. Her voice was the only thing he understood right now—so he followed.

She led him through a back corridor just as the facility erupted in chaos.

Cameron was the first to see him.

“LEVI!”

He sprinted forward so fast the air cracked behind him. Zeith barely had time to react.

Levi turned, confused—

Cameron grabbed Sabrina’s wrist.

The instant they touched, Cameron’s mind exploded with a vision—

A woman with short blonde hair…
Standing beneath a tree of shimmering fruit…
Each fruit glowing a different color, ripening in seconds, falling, and regrowing endlessly…

A voice echoing across the vision:

“The beginning… and the end.”

Cameron collapsed.

Zeith caught him, breathing hard. “He’s out cold—again.”

Mary’s eyes darted to the alarms echoing through the hall.
“We don’t have time for this. Move!”

They ran—Zeith carrying Cameron, Vanessa covering the rear, Mary leading them through maintenance tunnels.

Behind them, Levi stood frozen beside Sabrina, confusion clouding his green eyes.

He didn’t understand what Cameron saw.

He didn’t understand anything.

The team burst into a wide metallic hangar. A Martian jet sat in the center, wings folded, maps glowing on the console.

Vanessa slammed her hand on the controls.

“Destination locked: EARTH.”

The engines flared to life, shaking the ground.

“Hurry!” Mary yelled.

Zeith carried Cameron inside. Mary followed. Vanessa leapt in last.

The hatch sealed.

The thrusters ignited—
the jet tore through the underground tunnels—
and blasted toward the sky.

Toward Earth.

—

Levi remained on Mars.

Staring after the jet.

Left behind.

Alone.

And for the first time since waking, he felt something familiar in his chest.

A pain he didn’t understand.

A pain that felt a lot like being abandoned.