THE TAKE OFF

Nhia barely dodges the bullet just in time, feeling the sharp sting as it grazes his ear. Jasee catches a glimpse of the fury in Nhia's eyes, and suddenly, a magical doberman bursts forth from him, biting into her arm. Blood spills as Jasee drops the pistol, a look of shock crossing her face.

"Hold it still!" Andrew shouts, raising his rifle to shoot the doberman. But before he can pull the trigger, a knife flies through the air, embedding itself in his neck. He gasps, collapsing to the ground.

In a desperate move, Jasee uses her magic to teleport the doberman into the horde of zombies. She screams in pain, but her eyes widen in horror as she sees Nhia has snatched the pistol off the floor. He aims it at her, his voice trembling with hurt. "After everything I've been through, I never expected you to turn out like this! This isn't the Jasee I knew from all our conversations!"

With a steady hand, Nhia fires the pistol, and the bullet hits Jasee squarely in the head, causing her to fall backward. Suddenly, a magical cat head emerges from her head, gagging and spitting out a magical fur ball. A number above the cat's head changes from 3 to 2 and submerges back into her forehead.

Jasee gasps, coming back to life. "You took away my new powers!" she exclaims, but as she does, her face begins to dissolve, revealing another face underneath. Tattooed cat ears peek out from her temples.

"I'm what they call Copycat," she declares, grinning. "Copycat of the Cat Devils from the Undercity. I've always wanted to kill the son of Dober!"

Before Nhia can react, a few of her armed men rush in, firing their rifles. Nhia dives for cover, narrowly avoiding the bullets. Copycat laughs mockingly. "Jasee's form was too much for me to handle anyway. She consumed too much magic to use her abilities."

Nhia, fueled by anger, emerges from his cover and takes down two armed men with swift precision shots. He glares at Copycat with the pistol aimed at her. "Where is Jasee? What have you done to her?"

Copycat smirks. "Jasee was part of the survivor group at the airport. Once we reached the top floor, we realized she was a powerful magic user who wanted to help everyone escape by using her powers. But instead when we demanded too much, she ran away. I was lucky to make contact with her long enough to copy her body and her weird abilities."

She pauses, her expression turning menacing. "Throughout my life, I started with nine lives, but now I only have two left. You're going to pay for what you've done!"

With that, Copycat transforms into Mr. Direct! 

Nhia stares in shock as Copycat morphs into Mr. Direct, wielding his familiar powers. Nhia fires off a series of shots from his gun, but she effortlessly redirects the bullets with a flick of her magic-covered hands, each bullet ricocheting dangerously close to Nhia. He narrowly dives out of the way as Copycat lunges forward, grabbing him by the neck. Her magic surges through him, covering his entire body, and with a sinister grin, she hurls him into the air. In one fluid motion, she redirects him downward with her magic, smashing him into the ground with brutal force. Nhia gasps as he hits the floor, blood spurting from his mouth.

As he struggles to recover, Copycat's gaze shifts upward, catching sight of the fierce battle unfolding in the sky. Massive magical explosions illuminate the clouds as Adam clashes with the zombie pilot, now transformed into a jet zombie. Copycat watches with twisted delight, murmuring, "She was right.... Their battle will destroy this entire city."

Suddenly, she spots several missiles shooting from the jet zombie, streaking toward the plane hangar. Springing into action, she leaps up, extending her hands as her magic flares to life, redirecting the missiles just in time, steering them away from the hangar and sending them spiraling into the distance.

Copycat orders her remaining men below, "Get the plane ready now!" Her armed crew finishes fueling the plane as a few members rush to start its engine. One of them reports, "We need a clear runway if this plane's going to take off."

Copycat glances around, watching the incoming missiles and a magic-infused projectile streak through the air from Adam's battle. She extends her hands, and with a wave of her magic, redirects the deadly onslaught into the horde of zombies crowded along the runway. The explosions tear through the masses, temporarily holding back the swarm, but more zombies emerge through the smoke, relentlessly advancing.

She quickly scans the sky, hoping to redirect more resources from Adam's battle, but her heart sinks as she spots Adam and the jet zombie flying higher and higher, beyond reach. Turning to her men, she commands, "We're out of time— we'll make our own path!"

Just then, her gaze shifts back to Nhia, who's still lying on the ground, defiantly with his magical doberman by his side. Copycat's eyes narrow. "Kill them both," she snarls, pointing to Nhia and his companion. Her men immediately aim their rifles, but suddenly, a sniper shot rings out, taking one down before they can fire. Chaos erupts as they scramble for cover.

To their horror, a nearby drone appears, hovering menacingly overhead, its minigun whirring to life. Bullets rain down, mowing down more of Copycat's men. She clenches her fists, eyes blazing with frustration as her forces dwindle.

Two of Copycat's men fire at the drone, hitting it until it crashes to the ground in a twisted wreck. Suddenly, another sniper bullet cuts through the air, grazing Copycat and ripping a piece of her ear. Hissing in pain, she dives for cover, scanning her surroundings, but she can't spot the sniper's location. Frustrated, she signals her men, and they fall back into the shelter of the plane hangar.

Across the battlefield, perched on top of the RV, Ezzy lowers her sniper rifle after reloading. She watches through her scope and mutters, "I saved Nhia just in time." Her earpiece crackles as Mai's voice comes through. "They took down one of my drones!" Mai reports, frustration evident in her tone.

Ezzy taps her mic, scanning the scene around Nhia. "Anyone able to get out of the airport and save him before the zombies gets to him?"

Megan's voice comes through the earpiece, confident and steady. "I'm on my way. Just wrapped up my battle. Hang tight."

The airport floor is littered with bodies of fallen zombies, and among them, the janitor zombie lets out a mournful sigh as he collapses. "All I wanted was to keep everything clean..." he mutters. Before he can say more, Huey, the ever-hungry slime monster, surges forward at Megan's command, engulfing the janitor zombie. With each bite, Huey swells larger, devouring incoming zombies in waves, his gelatinous form expanding and absorbing whatever undead creature crosses his path.

Suddenly, a loud crash reverberates through the air as Michael bursts out of the airport in a storm of lightning, the kangaroo zombie hot on his heels. Megan watches in awe as Michael and his undead opponent engage in a blindingly fast battle on the plane tracks. Their explosive clashes send shockwaves and lightning-ignited sonic booms across the area, creating deadly ripple effects that obliterate zombies unlucky enough to be nearby.

Her gaze shifts to Nhia, lying vulnerable on the ground, with a few stray zombies beginning to close in on him. Megan taps Huey, saying, "Don't worry, I'll cleanse you later." With a focused breath, she uses her wind magic to propel herself off the ground, leaping from the airport with a burst of speed, her sights set on reaching Nhia before the zombies can.

Kiren rises from a mound of fallen zombies just in time to see Megan gliding gracefully outside, dispatching any undead in her path with swift strikes from her thin sword. Feeling a pang of envy, Kiren strides toward a broken window, mumbling to himself about wanting his turn in the spotlight. But before he can leap into action, a pained roar echoes through the airport. Turning, he spots Huey struggling against the relentless grip of the enormous fat zombie, which is greedily devouring chunks of the slime monster, muttering with delight, "This magical jelly tastes divine."

With a gleeful smirk, Kiren bounds onto Huey's squishy surface and catapults himself toward the fat zombie's face, delivering a powerful blow with his hammer that sends it hurtling backward. The fat zombie crashes into a wall and groans, complaining, "I just wanted a bite..." Kiren crosses his arms, taunting, "You've spent your whole zombie life eating everything in sight, but tell me, have you been eaten before?"

On cue, Huey expands his gooey form and opens a massive, glistening mouth. In one swift gulp, he engulfs the fat zombie, trapping it within his viscous stomach. Kiren watches with satisfaction as the fat zombie dissolves into nothing, leaving Huey visibly more formidable.

As he surveys the airport, Kiren realizes the number of zombies has dwindled dramatically. Striding across the blood-streaked floor, he spots Rune sitting atop a veritable mountain of slain zombies, calmly cleaning his weapon. Before long, the eerie figure of the money zombie shambles out from another pile of corpses, hands outstretched, demanding in a raspy voice, "Money... I need more money!" 

The money zombie trudges across the sea of corpses, and with each step, stacks of cash rise from the fallen bodies, swirling around him in a frenzy. "Money is everything! Money is power!" he bellows, his aura flaring wildly as he directs the floating bills into a cyclone around himself. Rune matches his energy, his own aura crackling and growing in intensity, and with a sudden burst of force, they collide. The impact of their clash sends a shockwave across the airport, pushing Kiren back. Watching in awe, Kiren mutters, "Rune's strength—it's like he's leveled up again!"

The money zombie laughs maniacally as he launches tornados of money toward Rune, each blast tearing through the air with deadly precision. Rune dodges with swift, calculated movements, each step avoiding the paper onslaught. Then, with a single powerful swing of his butcher blade, he disperses the tornado of bills. His heavy boot presses into the money zombie's chest, and he leans down with a cold glare. "If money is true power, then how does a broke man like me crush you so easily?"

The money zombie snarls, rage twisting his features, and with a final scream, he summons every last bill from the airport, condensing it into a massive, spiraling drill aimed directly at Rune. But Rune's calm gaze never wavers. "This power is nothing compared to what I've faced," he says, his voice steady. He raises his blade, and with one precise, sweeping slash, a wave of energy carves through the air, slicing the money tornado apart and scattering it to the ground. With a final downward swing, Rune cleaves through the money zombie, destroying both its brain and heart. The once-mighty creature crumples, and a rain of shredded bills flutters down, blanketing the floor.

Kiren, stunned by the display, claps with admiration, only for Rune to appear before him in a flash, his blade at Kiren's throat. Eyes blazing, Rune takes a deep, steadying breath, finally recognizing Kiren and lowering his weapon. "I thought you were another enemy," Rune mutters, stepping back.

Kiren lets out a slow breath, exhilarated and awestruck. "Your instincts… are razor-sharp, even at the slightly sound of a clap, you were on point to react so fast, If you were in the Rider's ship instead of me, you'd have destroyed everyone in the arena."

Rune gives a faint nod, his gaze intense but respectful.

Meanwhile outside, Megan quickly cuts down the zombies around Nhia as he's still on the ground, her blade glinting. She glances down, noticing his tears, and for a moment, her hardened gaze softens. But a surge of violent energy quickly pulls her attention to the battle beside them—Michael and the kangaroo zombie are locked in a brutal exchange, their movements too fast for the eye to follow. The kangaroo's feet kick at blinding speeds, meeting Michael's punches with equal force, lightning sparking at each impact.

In a fluid motion, Megan channels her wind magic and sweeps toward them, slicing across the kangaroo zombie's chest with her blade. The strike breaks their clash, and the kangaroo zombie staggers back, releasing a guttural scream of rage. It dashes in circles, furiously.

Michael, breathing heavily, nods gratefully at her. "Thanks, Megan. That thing's been taking every hit I throw at it."

Megan lands beside him, steadying her blade. "You need help? I thought you was stronger?"

As Michael and Megan stare at the kangaroo zombie's open chest wound, they're shocked to see a twisted, snarling zombie face emerging from within. Michael clenches his fists, a new resolve lighting his eyes. "I've got this," he says, glancing at Megan. "I finally understand how to beat this thing."

With a surge of energy, Michael dashes forward, lightning crackling in his hand as he forms a powerful bolt. He hurls it skyward, and the battle resumes, his punches and the kangaroo's kicks clashing in an intense, electrified dance. As he fights, Michael thinks about the past, thinking of Frank and that fierce battle against Simon—the way he strategized instead of relying purely on raw strength. Feeling reinvigorated by his friends' strength and intelligence, Michael realizes that he needs to engage his mind just as much as his fists, that maybe if he is more thoughtful in a fight then maybe he'll be less scared. 

As the lightning bolt arcs back down, he times it perfectly, slamming the kangaroo zombie in the ground just as the bolt strikes. A blinding explosion erupts, and with a final throw, Michael sends the creature hurtling across the plane tracks. He races over, grips the edge of its kangaroo hide, and pulls it off, revealing the twisted, grotesque zombie hidden beneath.

As Michael catches his breath, Megan glances at him with concern. The walls of the airport shake as the swarm of zombies from the city relentlessly push through, drawn by the clash in the sky and the scent of fresh battle. Rune steps forward, blade in hand, eyes blazing with determination. "I'll hold them off," he declares, sprinting towards the horde, cutting a fierce path through the zombies with each powerful swing.

Meanwhile, Kiren rushes to Nhia's side, kneeling down to steady him. "Did you save Jasee?" he asks urgently. Nhia's shoulders shake as he whispers, "She's… she's not here." His face twists with pain, and tears fall freely. Kiren looks down, speechless for a moment, feeling the weight of Nhia's loss.

Their somber moment is broken by the sound of the doberman. They turn to see Copycat and her men driving the plane down the tracks, Copycat smirks from the cockpit, meeting Nhia's tear-filled gaze, taunting him. 

Kiren's eyes widen as he spots Adam hurtling down from the sky, surrounded by thousands of missiles tailing him like a swarm of deadly fireflies. The missiles lights up the sky, their fierce glow casting an ominous light over the plane tracks and airport. The entire battlefield goes still for a moment as everyone registers the chaos plummeting toward them.