CLANG.
Revenant's fist met Lengaza's block. The impact shook the entire chamber.
Nyra rolled to her feet, panting. "You're not winning this alone!"
But Lengaza didn't hear her. His eyes were locked on himself.
Revenant grinned—feral, unhinged.
"This is what they feared. You. The version that remembered pain too well."
He struck again.
Lengaza flew back, skidding across the steel floor. Blood stained his jaw.
"Why are you doing this?" he growled.
"Because I'm the part of you they couldn't break," Revenant spat. "And now I'm free."
Meanwhile.
Inside Raya's mind.
The memory thread flickered like static. A field. A name. A voice.
"Len…ga…"
The white-eyed man watched from the control room.
"She's fighting it."
His assistant frowned. "That shouldn't be possible."
"Strength of emotional bond. Unexpected. Increase the override."
Wires sparked. Raya cried out in pain.
But deep within her—
She saw him.
Standing in the rain.
Arms open.
Smiling.
"Don't forget me."
Her eyes shot open. The wires snapped. Sparks flew.
"What?!"
She ripped free from the machine.
And whispered—
"Lengaza."
Back in the chamber.
Lengaza dodged a kick—barely.
"You're not me," he hissed.
"I am what they made you forget," Revenant screamed. "And you'll never be whole until you accept me."
Lengaza paused.
Heart pounding. Breathing ragged.
He remembered…
The facility.
The cold cell.
The choice: mercy or power.
He had chosen mercy.
But they punished him for it—erased the part of him that resisted.
And now—it stood before him, furious and alone.
"Then stop fighting me," Lengaza whispered.
Revenant froze.
"What?"
"You're not my enemy. You're my wound. And wounds… need to heal."
He stepped forward.
"I remember now."
"I left you behind to survive."
Revenant's eyes flickered.
He dropped to his knees, screaming—not in rage, but release.
And then—
Raya burst into the chamber.
"Lengaza!"
His head snapped up. "Raya—"
She ran to him, tears in her eyes.
They didn't speak.
They didn't need to.
He held her.
And the world went quiet.
But in the shadows—
The Collector stood watching through the surveillance screen.
"So… the failed memory soldier remembers."
He turned.
"Activate Protocol XIII. If he won't die… we'll use him."