The Last Pawn Moves

The survivor’s words lingered in Jessica’s mind. You’re not alone. A distant sound—metal against stone. A shift in the air, barely perceptible but enough to set her pulse racing.

Jessica turned sharply, her grip tightening around the 1911. The hallway behind them stretched into darkness, the old walls pressing inward. Something was moving.

Leanna lifted her rifle, scanning the corridor. Olivia backed up toward the survivor, her breath shallow, fingers poised over her tablet.

Jessica took a slow step forward, her boots barely making a sound against the concrete. She strained to hear past the rush of her own heartbeat.

Then, a voice—low, controlled, cutting through the stillness.

“You were never supposed to make it this far.”

Jessica’s breath caught. The words weren’t meant as a threat. They were a statement of fact.

Yuki stepped from the shadows.

---

Jessica didn’t lower her weapon. Neither did Yuki.

Leanna moved to cover the side, but Jessica lifted a hand. “No. This is mine.”

Yuki’s expression was unreadable. “You should’ve walked away.”

Jessica exhaled slowly. “You work for him.”

The silence stretched between them, thick as the mountain air outside. Yuki didn’t deny it. Jessica felt the pieces clicking into place. Yuki had never been Vanguard’s pawn. She was Mr. Black’s.

Jessica took a step closer. “You’ve been leading us from the beginning. Not to stop Vanguard. Not to find the truth.” Her voice hardened. “Just to get me where he wanted.”

Yuki didn’t speak.

Jessica took a step forward. “You were never chasing the masks. You were leading me to them.”

Yuki’s gaze darkened. “They were never meant to be found.”

Jessica’s grip on the 1911 tightened. “I know about Ryan.”

For the first time, Yuki’s expression shifted.

“You were married to him,” Jessica said, quiet and even. “And he was my handler.” A bitter breath. “The man I loved was reporting on me. Every smile. Every breakdown. Every...” She caught herself, “You were part of it, weren’t you?”

Yuki’s voice barely rose above the hum of the generators. “Ryan didn’t want you to find out.”

Jessica laughed once, dry, broken. “Yeah, well. Too late.”

Another step closer. “Did he ever tell you what it was like? Being rewritten? Waking up in a body that wasn’t mine? Did you care what they did to me?”

A beat passed.

“I knew what they were capable of,” Yuki said. “But I also knew he loved you. That was real.”

Jessica’s mouth went dry. “Then why didn’t he stop it?”

Yuki looked away. “Because he thought he could protect you. From the inside.”

Jessica’s breath caught. It sounded like the kind of lie people told themselves to survive.

“And what about you?” she asked. “Is that why you’re here now? To protect me?”

“No,” Yuki said. “I’m here to finish what he couldn’t.”

Jessica stared at her, heartbeat thudding in her ears. She didn’t know what hurt more, that Ryan had betrayed her… or that Yuki had done it for him.

Then Yuki moved.

The first strike was fast. Yuki closed the distance in a blink, her movements precise, calculated. Jessica barely deflected the blow, stepping back, twisting to avoid the follow-up.

Gunfire erupted behind them, Leanna and Olivia engaging unseen enemies. But Jessica had no time to look.

Yuki feinted left, then pivoted, sending a sharp kick toward Jessica’s ribs. Jessica took the hit, rolling with the impact, using the momentum to bring up her own counter.

Her body moved before her mind could catch up—fluid, instinctive. Had they trained her for someone like Yuki? Or worse… had they trained her with her?

Jessica shoved the thought aside. Focus.

She twisted Yuki’s wrist, forcing the other woman to drop her weapon. Yuki retaliated with a sharp elbow strike, forcing Jessica back. Both of them breathing hard. Both of them knowing how this had to end.

Jessica caught Yuki’s gaze. There was a flicker of something beneath the surface. Regret? Or calculation? For a split second, Jessica could have taken the shot. Could have ended it. She didn’t.

---

Yuki stepped back, breathing hard, her eyes still locked on Jessica’s. “You still don’t get it, do you?”

Jessica wiped blood from the corner of her mouth, her heart still pounding. “Get what?”

Yuki exhaled. “You think you were chasing the truth. You were being delivered to it.”

Jessica’s mind reeled. Mr. Black had orchestrated this. Every step, every clue, it had all led here. But why the masks? Why now?

Then she saw it—a glint in the darkness. The final Oni mask, sealed in an old display case, its surface dulled by time and dust.

Leanna spotted it too. “Jess!”

Jessica turned back to Yuki, realization crashing over her. She had never been trying to stop them. She had been making sure they got here. Because Mr. Black didn’t need the mask. He just needed the truth buried.

Yuki’s voice was calm. “You don’t have to give it to me. Just don’t let them have it.”

Jessica’s grip on her pistol tightened. A choice. A trap. Somewhere behind them, an alarm started to wail. The facility was coming down. Jessica made her decision.