Still steaming, the silver appendage brought back flashes of the escape from Iodine when Quantum cut off Lucian’s arm - no, not Quantum, Holmes. That lunatic didn’t deserve the name. Gabriel would never think of him as Quantum again - all the memories of idolizing the Republic’s greatest hero in fan art forums now left a sour taste in his mouth.

Sounds of the battle had ceased, but before securing his brother’s cherished psionic dampener, Gabriel had to secure himself. There were no signs of movement outside the field Holmes put up earlier, but the greyed tint of Zero’s time freeze was fading away. Lucian’s words echoed in his brain - “Zero will need help in about ten seconds” - he realized those ten seconds were almost up. Hiding his brainwaves, he carefully moved towards the dampener.

Before collecting the metal arm, Holmes appeared next to the deactivated portal in a flash - hefting Zero by the neck.

Zero pried at Holmes’ grip, but it was clear the Sentinel was done fighting. The darker black coating now looked like a moth-eaten quilt - tiny patches of skin and civilian clothing were visible through gaps in the oily protection.

Holmes fired twin green lasers from his eyes - straight into Zero’s face. When the light faded, Zero was unharmed, but Gabriel noticed the fractures in the darkness grew; ever so slightly. Small motes of energy floated away from Zero as if evaporating.

“Hit me all you like.” Zero’s voice sounded hoarse and tired. “Nothing gets through my shell.” He gave a weak smile, but his breath ran too ragged to pull off that kind of bravado.

Holmes sneered and poked a finger into a gap in the oil-like covering, eliciting a wince from Zero. “Your dark matter armor will last a few more hits - at most. Now be quiet while I figure out what happened here.” He pointed the finger at Zero, and another searing beam hit the Sentinel.

The amorphous energy shield shifted to defend, but the protection was wearing down against the continuous laser; there was barely enough dark matter left to cover Zero’s torso. In a few moments, the defenses would lose out, and the world would lose another champion; unless Gabriel did something.

A plan was beginning to form, but with the odds of success, there was something he needed to do first.

Alfred. Can you text Jimmy for me?

His partner’s understanding flowed through their link; these last few seconds might be the last chance Gabriel would get. Your message?

The words flowed from Gabriel’s mind in an instant.

I’m sorry for not reaching out earlier - I don’t know why I didn’t. Maybe I got caught up in all the hustle and bustle at the Spire… or maybe I got lost in it. Either way, my lab isn’t the same without you peaking over my shoulder with sandwiches and comics - I miss you.

I’ve made some friends, some pretty incredible ones, at that. I’ll make sure you meet them if anything happens to me tonight. I know you haven’t heard from me since we left the lab, and the next thing you know, I’m saying goodbye (maybe)? I’m probably the worst son.

This might not surprise you too much. You know what I was made for and how much I hated it, but tonight is the night - my time to save the world. Like I always dreamed as a kid.

Remember how you always hid my Sentinel drawings from the other scientists when I was little? Thank you for never crushing that dream, and thank you for sneaking me crayons. You were my light in the dark.

Wish me luck.

Your adopted lab-rat-turned-Sentinel,

Gabriel

Then, he sent a final request to his team’s wristpads, asking them to meet with Jimmy should he disappear.

Holmes was busy evaluating the deactivated portal with a disappointed half-frown. Lucian’s prosthetic floated up towards his face, and he shook his head. “If I hadn’t cut off that arm… it’s like I foiled my own plan.” All this time, he kept the laser from his finger tracing lazy loops around Zero’s chest, burning off the remnants of his power.

Zero chuckled. “It’s almost like Karma is real, wouldn’t you say?”

The timing couldn’t have been better to start broadcasting fear. Gabriel released a tiny pulse of terror, just enough to be felt but not noticed. Keeping his mind hidden

Holmes’ eyes drifted for a moment. “...maybe.” The laser stopped. “If you can really see it. What is my Karma like?”

The sadness on Zero’s exposed face was so gentle Gabriel almost lost concentration - Zero’s joking facade melted away to reveal the bond these men once shared. “You wouldn’t like what I have to say.”

Gabriel sent out a firmer pulse of fear.

Holmes gulped, narrowing his eyes. “Try me.”

Zero didn’t react to the pulse, though he looked like he was about to give a family member a cancer diagnosis. He took a deep breath; Holmes even loosened his grip to let him.

“To tell you the truth, I’m amazed you stayed alive this long with all of that on you.” He looked around Holmes’ body as if he was looking at an aura. “I figured I had this in the bag, but it looks like I was wrong. Either way, Janus - I’ve never seen someone with that much negative Karma survive more than a few days. I’ve seen it grow tonight. You don’t have long.” He awkwardly shrugged around Holmes’ chokehold.

Gabriel upped the intensity of the fear, sending repeating pulses as he moved behind Holmes.

Holmes’ eye twitched. “You’re just trying to frighten me.”

It was almost comical how close to the truth he was.

Zero just sighed. “At this point, it might not matter what I tell you anyway. From what I’ve seen at this point, your past actions are actually ruining your plan. The skeletons in your closet are coming out to play.” Zero’s eyes locked with Gabriel’s over Holmes’ shoulder when he raised the fear another level.

Holmes glanced over at Calamity; by now, Zero’s time freeze was normalizing. Rocks were flying out of every surface of the cavern from the aftermath of the battle. In slow motion, the scene was beautiful, almost like it wasn’t about to crush everything in sight - the instant the time freeze finished fading.

“I understand we never discussed these things, but it’s time to choose between friends and revenge,” Zero said seriously, still staring at Gabriel.

The moment to act had arrived. Alfred, we’re helping Zero. Prepare the fear module for overload, Alfred. Use as much of the processing power you can spare to emulate the signal. We’re going to make what this did to Atomic look like child’s play. I’ll handle the antimatter.

I don’t have to remind you about side effects, do I? Or how reckle- I mean stupid, it is to experiment with technology we’ve handled once before, right?

Gabriel ignored the comment; instead, he sent a code string to program his antimatter gauntlets to go full blast the instant he started moving.

Holmes responded, oblivious to the true meaning of Zero’s words.“A choice? Fine, I choose to get rid of one more skeleton. Karma won’t be able to touch me without you in the picture. I will save this world, even without Calamity. Remade in my image. I’m sorry you won’t be there to see my triumph, Dante, but I can never let this happen again.”

Holmes’ entire arm up to the elbow morphed into a high-intensity energy blade. The shapeshifter brought his arm back for the final blow.

Gabriel stopped hiding his brainwaves and shut off the invisibility. “This won’t ever happen again, Professor. I guarantee that.”

Gabriel emptied his antimatter reserves into one concentrated blast. The energy was so dense that Gabriel’s gauntlets melted away, along with parts of his palms. Luckily the force of the burst was enough to spear through a lung and exit just below Holmes’ heart.

Holmes took the wound better than expected, turning towards Gabriel in complete and utter shock as the blood began to stream.

Then the fear module kicked in.

Calling it a pulse wouldn’t do it justice - this was a tidal wave. A tsunami of terror flowed from Gabriel into the surroundings. Through blurry eyes, it almost seemed like the cavern itself was pulling away from him.

Holmes froze but managed to release Zero and slice desperately at Gabriel’s midsection - but Gabriel wasn’t there anymore, he had already gravitated into a horizontal position around knee height, and the blade whizzed by his face.

Thanks to training with Falco, and their experience against Red Global in simulation, Gabriel could detect and react to attacks at these speeds before they started. Holmes might be faster, but with enough data, Gabriel could be quicker. The pure panic that filled the area didn’t hurt either; Holmes flinched minutely with every movement Gabriel made - the plan was working.

It was the heat warnings on the HUD that might end up being the real problem.

Holmes proved slightly faster than Red Global’s simulation - even under the effects of the fear - but Alfred adjusted the calculations accordingly. With all the biological and technological power at his disposal, Gabriel planted his feet back on the ground and did something he never dreamed he’d do in a million years.

He punched Quantum in the face.