Chapter 36: — "The Final Showdown: Part 2 — Reality War!"

The city lights were gone.
All that stretched ahead was the black-veined asphalt and the cold blue glow of the horizon. Wind roared past the cracked windows as Kaito slammed the accelerator, the Syntrix Umbra car eating the road like a beast reborn. My stomach pressed against the seat as the engines howled, the smell of ozone and gunpowder thick inside the cabin.

“Jiro,” Kaito barked into his comm. “Talk to me.”

Static, then his voice cut through, tense but steady.
“You’ve got two patrol trucks tailing hard. Another pair up ahead at three o’clock. Block the left lane and punch through. Don’t stop.”

“Copy that.” Kaito’s knuckles whitened on the wheel. “Brace yourselves!”

The next second, the car swerved hard right, tires screaming against the asphalt. I gripped the dashboard, heart slamming. The side mirror flashed with headlights, two military trucks, armor-plated, roaring behind us. Gunfire sparked against our rear plating. Rin shouted something but it was drowned by the engine.

The car jolted as Kaito flicked a switch on the dashboard.
Panels slid open along the sides, revealing twin mounted turrets.
He smirked. “Let’s see what she’s got.”

I felt the recoil vibrate through the seats as the turrets fired. Streams of tracer rounds tore through the darkness, shredding the lead patrol’s tires. The truck veered, spun, and exploded against the roadside barrier. The blast lit the road orange, reflecting off Kaito’s determined face.

“Holy shit,” Rin muttered, half-grinning as she reloaded her blaster. “Remind me never to piss you off again.”

“Then stop talking and shoot!” he snapped.

Drones zipped out of the treeline, sleek, black, needle-shaped. They moved fast, weaving through the smoke trails like wasps. I lifted my blaster, my hands trembling but steady enough to aim.

One locked on, its red targeting beam cutting across the windshield.
“Drone incoming, left side!” I yelled.

I fired. The laser pulse from my blaster hit dead center. The drone sparked, twisted, and crashed in a fireball that rolled across the asphalt behind us. Another came at a diagonal angle; Rin took it out mid-air with two clean shots. The car shook under another burst of bullets from the rear trucks.

“Yuzuki, right side!” Jiro’s voice came through again, sharp and fast. “There’s a roadblock ahead... three armored units. Take out their sensors or they’ll box you in!”

“I see it!” My pulse hammered. The shapes in the distance grew clearer, metal barriers, searchlights sweeping.
Kaito glanced at me. “Your call, Yuzuki!”

I switched the blaster’s mode to EMP pulse, aimed at the farthest turret, and fired. The blue surge of light exploded against it, frying the sensors instantly.
“Got it!” I shouted over the noise.

Kaito grinned for half a second before slamming the steering wheel to the right, barreling through the weakened barrier. Metal shattered like glass. The car jumped, then landed hard, suspension groaning.
Rin exhaled shakily. “Still alive. Barely.”

“Keep your eyes open,” Jiro said through the comm. “You’re getting close to the perimeter, they’ve got automated drone nests along this stretch. Ten, maybe fifteen.”

“Ten or fifteen?!” Rin barked. “Make up your mind!”

“Just drive,” he shot back. “I’ll handle the interference.”

Kaito gritted his teeth, eyes locked on the flickering lights ahead. “We don’t have time to wait. Hold steady!”

Another squad of drones appeared over the ridge. My hands moved before I could think. Shot after shot, blue flashes lighting the night. Every hit felt like lightning through my arms. One drone went down, then another, and another. Sparks rained over the car like fireworks. The air smelled like burning metal.

Rin whooped. “Nice one!”

I didn’t answer. My hands were shaking too much. I could still see the flash of a drone exploding, the echo of its destruction burning behind my eyelids. I hated it. Hated how easy it had started to feel.

Kaito’s voice cut through. “Focus, Yuzuki. You’re doing great.”

That small acknowledgment hit harder than it should have. I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat.

“Alright,” Jiro called in, “you’ve got open road for another two miles, then sensors pick up increased activity, probably their forward defense line.”

“Then we’ll break through before they know we’re here,” Kaito said. His voice was flat, calm, determined, the tone that meant he’d already decided how this would end.

I caught his reflection in the side mirror: jaw tight, eyes locked forward, face lit by the flashing console lights. This wasn’t just a mission. This was a path straight to something chilling.

The wind howled louder now. The open road had turned into chaos, flashes of gunfire, the scream of engines, the thundering echo of our tires tearing through broken asphalt. My pulse hadn’t slowed once since the tunnel.

“Jiro!” Kaito shouted into his earpiece, jerking the wheel to dodge a wrecked patrol car blocking the lane. “Talk to me! What’s up ahead?”

Static cracked, then Jiro’s voice rushed through, fast and nervous.
“Trip mines, scattered along both lanes! You’ve got maybe twenty seconds before you hit the first cluster.”

“Shit,” Kaito hissed. “Hold tight!”

The car swerved violently. My shoulder slammed against the door, the seatbelt cutting into my chest. Sparks flew as one of the rear wheels clipped a metal shard. I gripped the handle above me, watching the road blur beneath the streaking lights.

I caught the faint shimmer of glowing discs ahead, mines, half-buried and blinking red.

“Rin, top-left!” Kaito barked.

Rin didn’t hesitate. She leaned out through the window, bracing her blaster on the frame, and fired three precise shots. Each hit set off a small explosion, clearing a narrow path through the center lane.
“Got it! Go!”

Kaito accelerated straight through the gap, debris pelting the windshield. “Good work!”

“Don’t thank me yet,” Rin shouted. “There’s more of them... shit!”

An explosion to our right threw up a wave of dust and shattered glass. The car skidded sideways for a heartbeat before Kaito regained control. I could hear the grinding metal beneath us, the car wasn’t going to survive many more hits like that.

I swallowed hard, forcing my voice steady. “I—I can drop a forcefield if we take another direct hit. Just say the word.”

Kaito glanced at me, only for a moment, but his eyes said everything: "do it only if you have to."

“Yuzuki,” Jiro cut in again, “three more drones overhead. High altitude, scanning lasers. You’ll need to take them before they tag you.”

“On it!” I said, already lowering the window and leaning out.
The air outside slapped my face cold and sharp. I aimed up, squinting against the wind. My pulse synced with the blaster’s hum.

One shot.
Two.
The third drone jerked violently and spun out, its laser beam spiraling wildly before it crashed in a flash of sparks. The sky briefly glowed blue-white from the blast.

“Nice shooting!” Rin shouted from behind me. “Finally pulling your weight!”

“Not the time, Rin!” I yelled back, but I caught her smirk through the reflection in the glass, even in the middle of chaos, she couldn’t help herself.

Jiro’s voice returned, tighter now, no trace of humor. “You’re closing in on the perimeter zone. Sensors show a spike, heat signatures and automated turrets. The main gate’s within range.”

I felt my throat dry out. The air in the car shifted, heavier, thicker. The tension that had been humming in Kaito’s voice was now visible in every small motion he made: the way he gripped the wheel, the way his jaw locked with every bump in the road.

“Noted,” Kaito muttered. “Yuzuki, Rin... this is it. Get ready for whatever they throw at us.”

The words sat in my chest like stone.
This was it.
We were seconds away from the territory, Syntrix Umbra’s main base. Kouji’s fortress.

“Jiro,” Kaito continued, “when we breach the gate, kill every camera in the area.”

“I’m on it. Just… don’t die before you get there.”

Rin snorted. “That’s the plan, genius.”

I leaned forward, trying to steady my breathing. The hum of the engine filled the silence between us. My heart was pounding so hard it hurt. I looked over at Kaito, his eyes locked straight ahead, reflecting streaks of passing red lights.
He looked like a man who’d already decided he wasn’t turning back.

I didn’t blame him.

Jiro’s voice came through one last time, quieter but urgent. “Kaito… you’re less than a mile out. I’m reading heavy surveillance and defensive drones ahead. Be ready. This is where they’ll make their stand.”

“Understood,” Kaito said. Then, under his breath: “Everyone… hold on.”

I tightened my grip on the blaster, forcing my shaking hands still. Rin braced herself against the window, reloading her gun. I could see the faint orange glow ahead, lights from the perimeter defenses flickering in the dark, just beyond the last curve of the road.

The air grew colder, charged with static.

I didn’t need a futuregaze to know what was coming. I didn't want to know... I just wanted to get this mission over with

The car roared forward, engines screaming, the world narrowing into a single line of motion, us versus everything ahead.
And as we shot through the last stretch of road, Jiro’s voice broke through the comms, distant but clear:

“Brace yourselves… you’re almost at the gate—”

Then all sound was drowned out by the roar of engines and the flicker of red lights ahead.

We were heading straight into hell.
And there was no turning back.