Zeke immediately began to bark orders at his scattered non‑mutant crew - men who'd fled when the supernatural fighting began. He then picked up a battered phone and dialled the number he had carved into his mind. The name on the other end would shake most to their core.

It rang twice.

"Dominique," Zeke said when she answered, his voice tight as a wire. He could hear her frown through the sharp, dangerous line. He only ever said her name when things were serious. "Boss. You need to sit down."

There was a flurry of noise from Dominique's end before she said. "Tell me everything. And goddammit, Zeke, stop being dramatic."

He inhaled and painted the scene - how their shipment came with an unexpected package, the fight, and Kai's demand. He braced for the volcanic fury he expected from her.

She exploded. "What the - you're going to help them? Those monsters - why are you helping those fuckers?" Her voice had steel behind it, a serpent coiling, ready to strike.

Zeke's hands trembled as he answered. "Not by choice. I… I pretty much have to. He-he's strong, boss. Stronger than before. I don't think there are many active mutants that can face him."

On the phone, he could hear Dominique flinch. Kai had been the closest she'd ever been to death; whatever Kai was now, it had unsettled her. Her voice wavered just a fraction as she tried to steady herself.

"Don't smash the office again," Zeke pleaded, trying to defuse the call as much as the situation. "It's inconvenient to replace."

There was a long silence, a hiss of breath. Then Dominique's tone shifted - practical, sharp. "Alright. You cooperate. You tell me everything you can learn. Stay smart. Benefit where you can. If this goes south, bail and come straight back. Understood?"

That was the best course of action - neither of them wanted Kai coming after them, as such, they didn't have much of a choice but to help him.

Zeke exhaled and nodded into the phone. "Got it, boss."

He hung up and looked back at Kai. "I'm in, just give me a little more time."

Kai smiled. He had got himself an additional mutant to help him for free, purely out of fear of what he would do to them otherwise. And did he feel guilty about it? Not in the slightest.

It wasn't like he was on the best of terms with them anyway. He was sure he could get some use out of Zeke, but it wasn't like he was planning on relying on him.

"Good," Kai said, voice low. "Don't leave us waiting too long."

Zeke sprinted off, already barking into a phone, orders fraying across languages. Nadya watched him go, folding her arms like a cat watching a mouse take a leap. Lenny and Amina pressed in closer to Kai, admiration and nerves mixing in their wide eyes.

Kai stretched lazily as he gathered his thoughts. He felt lost in a world of endless possibilities, but their course was set.

He smiled - the kind of smile that meant the storm was only just beginning...

-

Zeke returned faster than expected, the screech of tyres echoing off the cracked concrete as a sleek black limousine-like vehicle rolled to a stop before them. Its tinted windows gleamed under the dying sun, and the sight of it drew a few raised brows from Nadya and Amina.

Without Sven, they were planning on hustling their way across the country as they had done in Romania, but subduing Zeke made things much easier.

"Well," Nadya muttered, "at least we'll be breaking into the Pentagon in style."

Kai gave no response, his gaze sweeping over the car before flicking to Zeke, who stepped out of it. The younger mutant looked pale, jaw set tight, his bruises still dark against his skin.

He then turned to Amina. "Can you heal him? We need him alive if he's going to keep up or be of any use."

Amina's eyes glimmered faintly. "I can. But it's up to him."

Zeke hesitated, glaring at Kai for a moment before sighing through his teeth. "Fine, and... thanks, I guess."

He was grateful she could heal him, but it didn't change that it was Kai who had put him in that state.

Amina smiled softly and pressed her hand against his shoulder. A soft warmth pulsed through the air, threads of pale light weaving through his veins. His torn skin began to close, the swelling on his jaw fading until only faint scars remained.

The tension in his muscles loosened as the pain melted away, and now he didn't feel like his body was made of broken glass.

He exhaled slowly, then climbed into the driver's seat. "Guess I'm your chauffeur now," he muttered.

"Good," Kai said, climbing into the back with Nadya, Lenny, and Amina. "Drive us to DC."

The ride would be just under four hours, the hum of the road beneath them broken only by the quiet murmur of conversation and the sound of wrappers tearing. The back of the car smelled of fried food and exhaustion.

Amina and Lenny devoured whatever Zeke had picked up from a roadside diner; even Nadya ate in silence for once.

Kai sat with his head tilted back, eyes half-closed, the rhythmic thrum of his heart faintly audible to those near him. Every so often, his gaze would flicker to Zeke through the rear-view mirror.

"Tell me about Dominique's connection to the Association," he finally said.

Zeke tensed, his fingers tightening around the steering wheel. "I'm not sure myself," he said carefully. "And I'd rather die than betray her."

The words came out steady, but his pulse spiked. Fear quickly crept into his tone. He and his boss had barely survived their encounter with the Bloodweaver, and he knew if Kai wanted him gone, no one could stop it.

Still, Zeke forced himself to continue. "I don't have any loyalty to the Association. The Messiah was the middleman for the drugs, not us. Dominique's deal with them was simple - she kept mutant crime in her territory under control by dragging troublemakers into her fight club instead. Fights, blood, and entertainment kept the streets quiet. In exchange, the Association stayed off her back."

"So that's why you didn't want to drag her into this," Kai murmured, eyes glinting faintly in the dim interior. "Smart. If she's seen going against the AMC, which is an arm of the Association, she'd lose everything. No allies, no protection."

Zeke nodded grimly. "Exactly. She's rebuilding right now. The last thing she needs is another enemy."

He swallowed hard, glancing at Kai through the mirror. "So, yeah. I'll take the fall for this one. Let her stay clear of it. Maybe we can pick up the pieces after."

"Now she's trying to re-establish herself," Zeke added bitterly, "thanks to some people crashing her centre of business."

Nadya snorted, leaning back. "That hippo could've just answered my damn questions without starting a massacre and a riot."

Zeke's knuckles whitened on the wheel, but he said nothing. He couldn't defend his boss now - not with these monsters sitting behind him. He just drove, jaw locked, eyes fixed on the road ahead.

Kai's gaze lingered on him for a long moment before shifting to the window. The lights of the highway flickered past like veins of gold in the dark.

'Makes sense, the Messiah and his wacky cult were the ones who dealt with Nyx,' he thought. 'Dominique, the Scalpel… they were just distributors. Pawns in someone else's experiment.'

A familiar, simmering anger coiled low in his chest.

'Guess I'll have to face that golden lunatic again at some point.'

He glanced at Lenny - the blond teen quietly munching fries, trying to look invisible - and a faint smirk tugged at Kai's lips. As young and inexperienced as he was, without him, Kai's battle with the so-called Messiah would have ended very badly.

'If we survive this, maybe I'll train the kid. Out of all of us, he's got the most potential. To think we found him while robbing his damn apartment for clothes.'

Kai chuckled quietly to himself. Lenny froze mid-bite, feeling a cold shiver crawl down his spine as Kai's red eyes briefly met his.

The laughter faded, replaced by silence. The hum of the engine filled the air again, heavy and tense. Everyone of them knew what lay ahead. Breaking into the Pentagon wasn't just a mission - it was suicide wrapped in steel and secrets.

And yet, no one said a word. They just stared ahead, the glow of DC's skyline flickering faintly on the horizon.

Meanwhile, across the world from them, Isaac and the others had a very different kind of encounter...

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