"Get on," Lenny said, lowering himself. His voice was deeper now, echoing faintly in his massive ribcage. "We've got attention to draw."

Amina climbed onto his back, settling in behind the ridged scales. "Remember. Rampage. Loud. No dying."

"No dying," Lenny echoed, already bunching muscle for launch.

Nadya cracked her knuckles and rolled her shoulders. "I'll explode my way over once you land. Don't hog all the fun."

"Fun?" Zeke was still reeling from Lenny's transformation and the insanity of what they were about to do.

And then came the jump.

No countdown.

No dramatic pause.

No deep breath before impact.

Just raw reptilian physics punching upward like gravity personally offended him.

Lenny launched into the air, a hundred metres in the air in a single violent leap, aiming straight for the centre of the Pentagon's open courtyard.

If stealth had a funeral, this was the eulogy.

Wind screamed past Amina's ears, flattening her hair against her head. The world had blurred beneath her - fences, vehicles, watchtowers - it was all useless against the giant creature she rode.

Amina clutched a torn strip of Lenny's coat that was somehow still draped over his scaled shoulder. 'Don't puke. Don't puke. Don't puke,' she chanted in her head, jaw locked.

She wasn't built for infiltration, she wasn't built for front-line combat, and she sure as hell wasn't built for air travel via lizard catapult. But she was built for one thing: keeping idiots alive when their plans inevitably detonated in their faces.

Which would come soon, she could feel it...

Meanwhile, orange explosions flared from Nadya's hands, as she exploded into the air after them, moving through the air like an erratic orange missile.

BOOM - BOOM - BOOM.

Each detonation acted like a propulsion burst, throwing her higher and higher in staggered arcs. She twisted mid-air, hair whipping like wildfire caught in a hurricane. Her orange eyes burned with that familiar gleam of a lunatic.

Kai stood upright slowly, brushing twigs off his shoulder like a man wiping crumbs off a table before flipping it. His red eyes flicked upward, tracking Nadya's ascent with a precision that was almost terrifying, considering he looked like someone who lived exclusively off bad ideas and blood manipulation.

Then he glanced sideways at Zeke.

Zeke was rigid. His jaw clenched so tight it looked like it might snap from sheer stress alone. The Black Fang was well-versed in combat, but infiltration alongside lunatics? That was new territory.

Kai slapped him on the back and gave him a wink.

"Ease up, this is the fun part. We worry about things after, just don't die, and all's good."

Zeke nodded once. Slow. Heavy. Resigned.

'Somehow I got roped up into this, but fuck it,' he thought, marks firm, pulse spiking. He bolted forward, feet pounding the ground. Mud splashed behind him.

With a grunt, he unleashed a shockwave from his soles.

WHUMP.

The ground rippled beneath him like a pond punched from below. The invisible force surged outward, rebounding off the metallic perimeter fence, amplifying, then snapping back like recoil. Zeke launched over the barricade, mimicking Nadya's movement technique.

Within minutes, the chaos had already begun, giving Kai the perfect cover to find what he needed.

Kai exhaled. Not in relief, but anticipation.

'Time to get answers,' he thought. 'Fifteen minutes in and out.'

He was outwardly completely calm, but the same couldn't be said for all the others.

'I'm breaking into the Pentagon, I'm breaking into the Pentagon. This is crazy,' Zeke was losing it as he ran towards the corner of the Pentagon that was closest to him.

But he couldn't help but feel confused.

This felt too easy.

There weren't many guards. There weren't any visible energy barriers. No automated drone turrets lining the outer corridors. No shimmering hex dome overhead, which was an open secret of sorts.

It was the AMC's pride and joy, which blocked all intruders and kept their headquarters safe.

But today?

Nothing.

It was like a dragon's hoard left unguarded.

Like a trap wrapped in a gift box.

Zeke skidded behind a barrier, cracked from the impact of his own landing. Dust settled around him. He peeked over the edge, eyes twitching.

"What kind of military facility is this lax?" he muttered aloud, heart hammering.

Then again, he was sure that green freak was keeping them occupied.

-

Moments earlier, Lenny landed in the clearing at the centre of the pentagon.

A five-sided garden courtyard, a lush open centre usually shielded by a rotating security dome. Today it was exposed - grass trimmed, flowerbeds arranged like someone expected a VIP visit, and a fountain bubbling peacefully in the centre.

Lenny hit the concrete rim at terminal velocity.

CRASH.

Cracks webbed outward like frost crawling across glass. Stone shards skittered like ricocheting bullets.

Alarms detonated into life - red lights spinning, sirens screaming, the entire base jolting awake like someone kicked a sleeping bear in the ribs.

Amina slid off his back, dropping to the grass. The impact rattled her, tears streaming from the wind. Her stomach twisted like someone wrung it out.

She staggered before scrambling toward a cluster of hedges, ducking behind them for cover. To ease her nausea after her wild mode of transport, she used her ability on herself.

Meanwhile, her companion began drawing attention.

"Aaaahhh, I'm a big green monster!" Lenny shouted, arms flailing slightly as soldiers immediately began fanning out around him, weapons raised.

His attempt at appearing threatening was… questionable at best. It came off like a toddler pretending to be a T-Rex. But it worked. Because the AMC soldiers took any monster-shaped toddler seriously.

Rifles were levelled.

The same rifles they'd used against Kai in Dominique's fight club.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

High-powered rounds designed to eliminate most mutants in a single shot. Bullets that exploded on impact, delivering maximum trauma, maximum cavity, maximum damage.

But against Lenny?

Ping. Ping. Ping.

The bullets bounced off his scales like confetti flicked against a tank.

Lenny blinked. Yellow slitted eyes wide. "Er… ow?" he muttered, rubbing a scale. "Was that meant to do more?"

He was confused.

Which made the soldiers more confused.

Which made the situation perfect for Nadya.

A streak of orange fire and instability tore through the sky.

Nadya slammed down seconds after him, boots skidding across the grass, hands already forming volatile orange orbs. Explosive spheres the size of grapefruits, humming with unstable nuclear irritation.

She didn't bother monologuing.

She just started flinging them.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The courtyard was no longer serene.

It was no longer well-kept.

It was no longer an architectural statement.

It was a war zone curated by Nadya's personal demons.

She weaved between falling debris mid-air—shockwave ripples from Zeke's ability trembling the ground, soldiers stumbling, equipment crashing off walls.

She dodged every bullet like it would cost her life.

Because it would.

'Kai better find what he's looking for fast,' she thought with a manic grin. 'Because I'm not sure how long we can keep this up.'

Then the ground shook harder.

Not metaphorically.

Literally.

RUMBLE.

The earth quaked like a monster awakening under the world. A deep oscillation. A sustained tectonic tantrum.

Zeke's doing.

Zeke closed his eyes, focusing deeply, palms vibrating with effort. He'd never channelled his ability on this scale. The shockwave was normally a mid-range combat pulse, a defensive burst, a physical force of pure kinetic rebellion.

But this?

This was a 7 on the Richter scale.

Enough to disorient. Enough to topple shelves. Enough to make elite anti-mutant operatives trip over their own bootlaces and question their career choices.

It was like a vibration that carried itself through the earth. He had to start it, then maintain it, letting the tectonic plates themselves feel the ripple and carry it onward like a runaway train.

'Bloody hell,' he thought, sweat forming despite the cold. 'I'm actually doing it.'

It strained him.

But he was doing it.

Which made it even more terrifying.

AMC soldiers stumbled, rifles wavering, shouting orders that were swallowed by explosions and seismic fury. The entire base was now an orchestra of panic, confusion, and the occasional soldier screaming because Nadya's explosive orbs.

It was the perfect cover for Kai to get started.

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