CHAPTER 52: CHAPTER 51: WHEN THE WORLD FELL

The alarms didn’t stop.

They screamed through every corridor, red lights cutting the lab into flashes of panic. The walls shook with the rhythm of wings.

Buzz opened his eyes to smoke. His restraints were half-melted, glowing faintly where gold had burned through them. The floor pitched under him. Screams echoed beyond the door.

He tried to move. Pain answered first, but his body obeyed. The hum in his chest pulsed faster now — not his own heartbeat, but hundreds. The hive was close.

A crash ripped through the ceiling. Dust and sparks rained down. A metal panel folded inward, splitting open. Something heavy dropped through — a hybrid soldier, half chitin, half alloy. Its wings hissed. Its eyes glowed bright.

Buzz pushed himself upright, claws trembling. "Took you long enough."

The hybrid turned toward him, head tilting. It didn’t strike. It just *listened*. The hum between them matched.

Buzz’s jaw tightened. "No."

He swung a claw through the air. The light flared gold and white. The hybrid screamed — a high, mechanical shriek — and fell twitching to the floor.

The hum broke. His head pounded with static.

The door burst open. The visor man stumbled in, uniform torn, weapon drawn. "We’re evacuating!"

Buzz laughed, sharp and bitter. "You don’t get to order me."

"Then die here!"

The human raised the weapon — a long rifle, glowing along the barrel. Buzz didn’t move. The man hesitated. The air behind him twisted.

A shape fell through the ceiling — larger, sharper, dripping gold. It landed on the soldier, tearing through armor like paper. The scream ended fast.

Buzz stepped back. "Told you."

The hybrid turned to him. Bigger than the others. Older. He recognized it.

"Queen’s Echo," he muttered.

The creature’s voice crawled into his head. *Return.*

"Still trying that?" he said, forcing a grin. "You really don’t learn."

The thing lunged. Buzz dove aside, the ground shattering where it landed. Metal bent like clay.

He moved fast, claws striking the pipes overhead. Steam burst out, filling the room. The hybrid swiped blindly. Buzz circled, grabbed its wing, and drove his claws through it.

It screamed — not mechanical this time. Pure pain.

He tore down, ripping the membrane apart. "Stay dead this time."

He turned toward the door, limping into the corridor. Sirens blared. Lights flickered. Every step echoed through narrow steel. He passed shattered labs, tanks full of broken shells, and the faint shapes of humans dragging each other toward emergency lifts.

One of them froze when she saw him. The doctor. Her mask was cracked. Blood streaked her cheek. "You’re still alive."

"Barely."

She pressed a hand to the wall, steadying herself. "You have to help us."

Buzz stared. "You tortured me. Cut me open. Why would I help you?"

"Because if the hive gets in, it won’t stop here. It’ll reach the surface."

He hesitated. The hum in the air thickened — close now. Too close.

"Where’s the exit?"

She pointed down the corridor. "Main shaft. But it’s sealed."

"Then unseal it."

She shook her head. "Power’s out."

Buzz exhaled slowly. "Then I’ll make power."

They ran. The halls bent inward, lined with flickering lights and dripping pipes. Shadows darted past — too fast to count. The hive was swarming inside now.

A door burst open ahead. A wave of hybrids poured through — smaller, crawling on all fours, jaws clicking in rhythm.

Buzz shoved the doctor behind him. "Stay close."

He lunged forward. Claws tore through the first creature, splitting it clean. The others pounced. He spun, using one’s body as a shield, flinging it into another. Metal cracked under his weight.

He moved like instinct — no thought, just motion. Every strike carried light. Gold spilled across the corridor, painting everything in strange color.

The doctor ducked behind a console, hands over her head. "You’re going to bring the whole facility down!"

"Good," he grunted, shoving another hybrid into the wall. "Saves me the trouble."

A heavy crash echoed from behind them. The floor split open again. A massive claw punched through the concrete. Then another.

Buzz froze. "Oh, no."

The Queen’s Echo climbed through, half its body burning, the other half glistening with new growth. It towered over them, wings cracked but still strong.

The doctor screamed. Buzz shoved her aside just as the creature slammed its claws down. The impact sent him flying into a wall. Pain flared white-hot.

He staggered up, breathing hard. The thing advanced, eyes locked on him. *You are incomplete,* it whispered. *Let us finish you.*

"Finish this instead."

He charged.

They collided in a blur of gold and metal. The ground shook. The lights blew out. The fight became flashes — claws, blood, sparks. Buzz struck the creature’s throat. It hit his ribs. They moved like one reflection splitting apart.

"Buzz!" the doctor screamed.

He ignored her. He twisted behind the creature, drove his claws into its spine, and ripped. The light inside it burst outward, scorching everything.

The explosion threw him back into the wall. He hit hard, vision swimming. When he blinked again, the Queen’s Echo lay still — half melted, gold veins dimming.

The doctor crawled toward him. "You have to move! The reactor’s overloading!"

Buzz looked at the cracked ceiling. Through it, faint sunlight pierced down — real light for the first time in what felt like forever.

He stood, shaking. "Go. Run."

"What about you?"

He smiled faintly. "I’ll catch up."

She hesitated, then turned and ran.

Buzz looked at the dead creature one last time. Its gold light flickered weakly, then faded. But something deeper moved beneath the floor — a pulse heavier than before.

He frowned. "That’s not you."

The hum rose again. Different this time. Not the hive. Not the Queen. Something new. Something watching both.

He turned toward the lift, chest burning. "What the hell did they wake up down here?"

The world came apart one scream at a time.

Ceiling panels dropped like shrapnel. Steel ribs buckled, bending under the weight of fire. The whole facility groaned as if it was alive and trying to shake them out of its body.

Buzz tore down the corridor at full sprint.

The air burned. His lungs felt full of smoke and metal. Sirens blended into one long howl behind him, and every step set off a new shower of sparks.

"Move!" the doctor shouted, close behind him.

He didn’t look back. "I *am* moving!"

A door ahead jammed halfway open. Buzz slammed through it shoulder-first. The frame caved, tearing his shell. He didn’t slow. The hallway beyond was a tunnel of flame.

Heat bit at his wings. He tucked them tight and kept running.

The walls burst outward—something massive ramming from the other side. A hybrid soldier clawed its way through the smoke. Its eyes burned gold. It shrieked and lunged.

Buzz caught it midair, slammed it into the floor, and ripped its head free. Ichor sprayed the walls. "Out of my way."

He grabbed the doctor’s arm and pulled her past the twitching body. The floor tilted under them. "This place is collapsing faster than I thought!"

"You *melted* half the reactors!" she shouted.

"Details!"

The corridor opened into a huge chamber. Machines sparked around a pit of blue light—reactor core, exposed and dying. The bridge across it had already cracked in three places.

Buzz didn’t stop. He jumped the first gap, landed hard, skidded across metal slick with oil. Behind him, the doctor followed, half-running, half-sliding.

Another explosion hit below. The bridge shook violently. Buzz’s claws dug in. "Keep going!"

"I’m trying!" she gasped.

The final section split in two. The doctor leaped. The metal gave way beneath her feet. She fell, catching the edge with one hand.

"Hold on!" Buzz dove, catching her wrist. The heat from the reactor washed over them in waves.

Her grip slipped once. He pulled harder. "You’re heavier than you look!"

"Thanks!"

He hauled her up and shoved her forward. The exit door loomed ahead—thick, reinforced steel. Red lights flashed across it: *LOCKDOWN ENGAGED.*

She stumbled toward the control panel. "I can override it!"

"You’ve got ten seconds!"

"Then stall them!"

Buzz turned. Three hybrids crawled through the fire on the bridge, wings burning, limbs twisted but fast. He spread his stance and raised his claws.

The first reached him. He caught it by the throat, threw it into the reactor pit. The second jumped from the railing. He ducked, sliced upward, split it open midair. The third hit harder, tackling him into the wall. Teeth sank into his shoulder.

He screamed and drove his claw through its chest, then kicked it free.

The doctor yelled, "Almost there!"

The entire bridge cracked down the center. Buzz felt it drop an inch under his feet. He staggered toward her, dragging his leg. "Anytime now!"

"Done!" She slammed her palm on the panel. The door jolted, grinding upward.

Buzz shoved her through first, then dove after her as the bridge finally gave way. He hit the floor of the next corridor just as the entire reactor chamber exploded behind them. A wave of white fire rolled out, chasing them down the hall.

"Run!" he shouted.

They sprinted. The blast caught up, pushing them forward, burning the walls to glass. Buzz grabbed the doctor again, wings flaring, and hurled them both toward the rising platform ahead.

They hit hard. The lift shot upward, groaning, shaking, metal whining under pressure.

The shaft around them filled with light—orange, gold, white. Everything roared.

The doctor clung to the rail, hair whipping across her face. "If this thing gives out—"

"It won’t," Buzz said.

"You don’t know that!"

He grinned through blood. "Then I’ll carry you up myself."

The lift shuddered, sparks raining down. The walls of the shaft buckled. A hybrid crawled out of a side vent, screeching. Buzz slammed it back with his foot, tearing its head off before it could climb fully through.

The platform lurched again. The top hatch came into view—faint sunlight pouring through the crack.

"Almost there!"

The doctor reached for the control. The lift jolted to a stop.

"What happened?" she gasped.

Buzz looked down. Gears jammed. Metal groaned. The floor cracked beneath them.

He didn’t hesitate. "Jump!"

"What?!"

He grabbed her and leaped.

The platform exploded below them. Fire chased them through the hatch. They hit the ground above, rolling across dirt and smoke.

For a second, the world went silent except for their breathing.

Then the facility below them collapsed completely. The ground heaved, dust bursting into the air. A sinkhole opened where the building had been, glowing faintly blue at the edges.

Buzz sat up slowly, chest heaving. His shell was cracked, his claws shaking. The doctor coughed beside him.

He looked at her. "You alive?"

"Barely."

"Good enough." He stood, staring at the smoking crater. The air shimmered with heat.

She followed his gaze. "It’s gone."

"No," he said quietly. "It’s changing."

From deep in the pit came a low hum—neither hive nor machine. Something slower. Smarter.

The doctor swallowed. "What is that?"

Buzz’s eyes narrowed. "Something you built and they finished."

He turned toward the forest beyond, gold light flickering under his skin. "We need to move. Before it learns to crawl."

The ground rumbled again, soft but certain.

Buzz offered her his hand. "You want to live, stay close."

She took it. "You don’t even know where you’re going."

He smiled faintly. "Away from this mistake."

Behind them, the crater glowed brighter — like a new sun trying to be born underground.

They ran toward the trees.

And the hum followed.