The Falklands were cold.
Not the kind of cold that bit at your skin—the kind that sank into your bones, that made the air itself feel heavy and wet. The wind whipped across the grey landscape, carrying salt and ice and the distant smell of the ocean.
Black liquid pooled on the ground, rising, forming shapes. Wolfen stepped out first, his boots crunching against the frozen earth. Shadow followed, immediately pulling his coat tighter, his teeth chattering.
"It's cold," Shadow said, his voice tight.
"It's windy."
"It's cold."
Wolfen raised a hand. A small fireball flickered to life in his palm, hovering beside Shadow, radiating warmth. Shadow leaned into it, his shivering lessening.
"Thanks," he muttered.
Wolfen didn't answer. His eyes were closed, his head tilted slightly, his body still. He was listening. Feeling. Searching.
The island was small. The wind was loud. But beneath it all, there was something else—a presence, a weight, a wrongness that didn't belong.
"I found him," Wolfen said quietly. "He's near us."
Shadow looked around. "Where?"
"Under us."
The ground rumbled. A crack appeared at their feet, spreading, splitting the earth. Wolfen's eyes snapped open.
"Wait—"
A portal ripped open in front of them. Green light, wrong and sickly, spilling across the frozen ground. Angstrom stepped through, his bald head gleaming, his green tubes pulsing faintly, his smile wide.
"Well, well." His voice was smug, delighted. "Look who it is."
Wolfen said nothing. His hands were still at his sides, but his muscles were coiled, ready.
Angstrom's smile widened. "What's wrong? You look tense. Afraid?"
"Nah."
Wolfen vanished.
He appeared in front of Angstrom in the same instant, his hand reaching for the man's face, fingers spread, ready to grab.
Angstrom's smile didn't waver. His thumb pressed a button on a small device in his hand.
The ground exploded.
The entire island shattered beneath them—not a crack, not a tremor, but a complete collapse. The earth fell away in great chunks, sinking into the dark water below. Ice and rock and frozen soil tumbled into the sea.
Wolfen's hand was inches from Angstrom's face when he heard Shadow fall.
He turned. Shadow was gone, the ground where he'd been standing now just empty air.
Wolfen moved. He dropped, caught Shadow by the arm, hauled him back up, and landed on a small piece of remaining rock—just large enough for both of them. The water churned around them. The cold bit harder.
Angstrom stood on a floating platform of green energy, hovering above the wreckage, still smiling.
Wolfen looked past him.
Something was rising from the shattered earth.
Twelve feet of grey-black muscle and scar tissue. Orange veins pulsing beneath cracked skin. White-hot eyes that burned like the heart of a forge. Jagged bone spurs lining his spine, growing as he rose, extending as he stood.
Vulcan.
His claws scraped against the rock, tearing grooves into the stone. His body was the armor. His rage was the weapon.
Angstrom turned to the creature, his voice carrying across the chaos. "The Architects kindly gave him to me as a thank-you for all my work. You see, they—"
Vulcan's hands closed around Angstrom's head.
One smooth motion. Two palms, massive and scarred, squeezing. A wet crack that echoed across the water.
Angstrom's body went limp.
Vulcan opened his hands. Angstrom's head—what was left of it—fell into the sea. The body followed.
Vulcan turned to Wolfen.
Wolfen looked at the body sinking into the dark water. Then he looked at Shadow.
"Take his body. Get it to Sasha. Now."
Shadow's eyes were wide. "What about you?"
"I'll deal with this."
"Wolfen—"
"Shadow." Wolfen's voice was calm, but there was something underneath it—something hard. "I would really appreciate it if you got Angstrom's body to Sasha as quickly as possible. Before the cold makes the blood useless. Also don't take anyone here, this thing is too strong even for eva so don't bring here."
Shadow looked at the sinking corpse. At the massive creature standing between them. At Wolfen.
He nodded.
Black liquid rose around him, pulling him under, swallowing him whole.
Wolfen was alone.
He turned to face Vulcan.
The creature was still. Waiting. Its white-hot eyes fixed on Wolfen like he was the only thing in the world that mattered.
Wolfen cracked his neck. Rolled his shoulders.
"Alright," he said. "Let's see what you've got."
Vulcan's spine spurs grew longer. His veins burned brighter. The air around him started to shimmer with heat.
Wolfen didn't smile.