The clash of steel against steel tore through the air as Tihana Mercier vaulted over the collapsing walkway, her white tank top clinging to her as the heat from the nearby machinery drenched the fabric with sweat. Her black leather shorts glinted faintly in the azure glow of industrial lights overhead, the suspenders dangling loosely as she ducked under a whizzing pipe. Behind her, towering turbines churned with deafening roars, spewing sparks that illuminated her black elbow-length gloves. She gritted her teeth, her black knee-high socks sliding over the slick metal floor, and spun mid-dodge to parry a blade aimed squarely at her ribs.
“You just can’t leave it alone, can you?” snarled a figure emerging from the smoky haze—a man clad in a trench coat stitched with faintly-glowing artificial veins of blue circuitry, his face obscured by a metal mask. His weapon, a buster-like blade crudely crafted from salvaged iron, gleamed ominously in the lighting of the spinning turbine coils. Sparks danced as he dragged the edge along the grated floor behind him, a cruel smirk audible in his tone.
“You’re here for more than revenge, Delan,” Tihana retorted, her crimson headband whipping in the gusts of steam that hissed through the industrial maze. Her dark hair swayed behind her in defiance of the oppressive heat, her chest heaving as she steadied herself. “You want the Helion Core. Too bad—it doesn’t belong to you.”
The backdrop loomed like something out of a fevered dystopian dream: A colossal industrial plant, endless stacks of smoking chimneys feeding an unforgiving sky. Caution markings lined every surface, the black-and-yellow stripes warning of drops into bottomless pits below. The walls trembled faintly, as if groaning under the immense pressure from the machinery pulsating like veins in a beast too large to comprehend. The air reeked of scorched iron and crude oil, filling the lungs with a metallic tang. Somewhere far below, gears turned endlessly, deep rhythmic sounds reverberating like the heartbeat of the monstrous facility.
Delan chuckled, his voice distorting eerily through the mask. “It doesn’t belong to anyone anymore. Just like the rest of New Helindria. The world you’re fighting to protect doesn’t even know it’s already dead.”
In an instant, he lunged. Tihana raised her fists, twisting to narrowly evade the blade that carved into the air where her head had been a moment ago. The mechanical hum of the facility crescendoed, synchronizing with their heated fight. She struck low with a sharp kick—a move she often practiced in the shadow of her childhood mentor, back before the Syndicate toppled her village. Delan stumbled slightly, enough for her to leap onto a raised platform, but not before his hand snatched the hem of one of her suspenders.
Yanking her backward, he hissed, “Do you think I’ve forgotten? The girl from Calidor who torched our cargo ships? Breaking chains for people who won’t even say your name anymore?” He hurled her against a rusting control panel that sparked on impact. Winded, Tihana clawed back to her feet, shaking off the blood from her split lip.
Her eyes flared with fury. “They might not remember me, but they’ll remember this—when I destroy the cycle of control your Syndicate uses to rule them.” She slammed her fist onto the emergency override button on the console. Alarms shrieked through the expanse of the industrial canyon, red lights bathing the area in a pulsing glow.
“What did you do?!” Delan roared, whirling on her as panels in the flooring began to retract, revealing molten iron churning in red-hot vats below. The turbines whirled faster, pulling the overhead ventilation ducts into a chaotic frenzy. Tihana used the seconds of distraction to pull a small glowing cylinder from her boot holster. The Helion Core pulsed faintly, a miniature sun contained in smooth glassteel. Its heat seared faint marks into her leather gloves as she held it aloft.
“Our world dies if I don’t act. It has to be reset. Someone has to fight for something bigger than vengeance!” she yelled above the deafening roar of the collapsing chamber. Triumph flashed in her dark, expressive eyes for a fleeting second before she stashed the core into a small pouch adorning her belt.
With a feral growl, Delan gave chase once more, wielding his blade with destructive abandon. He slashed at pipes and bridges between them, forcing Tihana to dance precariously atop swaying catwalks. She could feel the heat intensify as the molten iron below bubbled higher, threatening to swallow the entire factory floor. Each strike came closer, forcing her toward a final precipice. A sudden burst of wind from the turbines knocked her off balance, and she tumbled backward, grasping at the threshold.
“It ends here,” Delan sneered, raising his blade for one final, downward strike.
But as the blade descended, Tihana rolled away, her hand launching a fistful of powdered reagents she’d taken from a nearby chemical debris pile into Delan’s masked face. He stumbled, blinded for just seconds—as all the time she needed. Summoning strength from the depths of her worn, battered body, she leapt onto a raised cargo elevator and slammed the lever upward. As Delan screamed curses below her, the elevator groaned to life, carrying her—and the Helion Core—into unknown heights.
She looked down at Delan. “You fight for control. I fight for freedom. And that’s why you’ll never win.”
His roars were swallowed by the mechanical cacophony of the collapsing factory as Tihana vanished into the industrial skyline, her silhouette embraced by the steam rising into the darkened heavens.
For a fleeting second, she rested her head against the cool steel of the elevator wall, fingers wrapping tightly around the pouch where the core pulsed. The backdrop shifted above her—blue haze, faint glimmers of stars between the smog, and cities sprawled endlessly across the horizon. This was her world to save, no matter the cost.
And she would.
Genre: Dystopian Sci-Fi/Action-Thriller
The Source…check out the article that inspired this amazing short story: Tifa Lockhart Cosplay Inspiration: Rock the Iconic Black and White Look
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