The moment Sven took the syringe into his hand, his expression changed.

Gone was the cheeky grin and relaxed air. His fingers clenched around the cold metal, and his eyes narrowed. The flickering light overhead caught the faint insignia etched into the syringe - a twisted emblem of a serpent coiled tightly around a golden crucifix.

The blood drained from his face.

"Shit…" he muttered.

Kai caught it immediately. "You recognise it."

Sven didn't even try to deny it. No witty retorts this time. He sighed, letting the syringe dangle loosely from his hand as he leaned back and rubbed his face.

"Yeah," he said, voice low. "I do."

Everyone leaned in. Even Amina looked up from her seat.

Sven took a breath and began explaining, his tone different now, flat, cautious, like someone describing a nightmare he hadn't quite woken up from.

"I rarely accept missions and tasks from the Mutant Outlaws - they're usually a drag and don't offer much. I'm a freelancer and would do anything for pretty much anyone as long as they made it worth my while."

They knew that about him already, but they listened intently as he continued.

"In my work, I've come across all sorts of freaks, factions, and weird-ass operations. Most of them were forgettable and easy to deal with. But there was this one guy I met once… just once. And it was enough."

His eyes scanned the group, making sure they were listening.

"They called him The Messiah."

That earned a few raised eyebrows.

Kai scoffed. "Bit of an ego, no?"

Sven didn't smile.

"Oh, trust me. That was the least crazy part."

The Messiah.

Once, he'd been just another casualty of the old world. A drifting man. Broke, hopeless, and alone in the world, already halfway dead before the virus ever touched him. He was the kind of guy who walked straight into a riot, not to fight or flee - but just to disappear.

But fate didn't let him.

The Z-Virus didn't turn him into a mindless monster or leave him comatose like the Withered. It gave him purpose. Or at least, that's what he believed.

His body changed.

Upon mutating and awakening his ability, light, golden and blinding, started pouring off him like liquid sunlight. Not fire. Not plasma. Something different. Something purer. It shimmered across his skin, making the air around him shimmer like heat waves on pavement.

At first, people thought it was harmless.

He initially seemed to be nothing more than a warm walking torch.

Then the bodies started dropping.

His mutant ability let him mimic the sun - and not just the light, but the heat, the pressure, the burning intensity of a celestial furnace. The longer he remained active, the brighter and hotter he became. Every second he fought, his body climbed toward solar noon.

And with that brilliance came power.

At low levels, his presence could disorient enemies. Blind them. Heat the air until it was too thick to breathe. But the longer he stayed in that state, the more he transformed into a walking inferno - able to burn through concrete, melt steel, and sear flesh from bone just by getting close.

Some said it was like facing a warrior of god.

He certainly thought so.

He named himself The Messiah and began preaching to anyone desperate or broken enough to listen. He claimed his mutation was divine. That the virus had chosen him. That the virus was purging the world of those who had sinned. That he was reborn not as a man, but as a saviour.

According to him, the world was ending because humanity had lost its way, and only the chosen, the mutated, were meant to inherit the ashes. In his own weird way, his beliefs were in line with those of Nyx, not that either was more sane than the other.

But he wasn't alone.

He gathered followers - mutants and people who either believed in his vision or were too terrified to speak against it. A cult of zealots, each more twisted than the last. They travelled in convoys, calling themselves the Cleansed, leaving behind scorched earth and shimmering ash.

Where they went, they brought death disguised as deliverance.

And at the heart of it all, the Messiah blazed.

Untouchable. Insane. Worshipped.

The Cleansed in recent times had taken a more underground approach, and with the rise of the Association, ironically descended into the shadows. But he has only grown more fearsome and deluded by his beliefs.

Kai blinked after Sven finished his description. "So he's the cross on the symbol. Then the snake is..."

"Yes, the snake is Dominique. The One-Eyed Serpent. She's one of his biggest allies, and they are partners of sorts. She handles some things, and he others. Most famously, he handles the trafficking - TEMP Z, weapons, and people. You name it," Sven said grimly, tapping the syringe.

Kai exhaled slowly and summarised what he had gathered from Sven's ramblings. "So he's a glowing lunatic sun mutant with a crazy cult and a supply chain of drugs that we need to look into."

Sven nodded. "And trust me - you don't want to meet him. I only did once, and it felt like my skin was peeling off just standing near him. He didn't even touch me. And aside from his ability, he's a real wacko."

"Coming from you, he must really be crazy," Kai commented under his breath, earning a chuckle from Amina and a glare from Sven.

Nadya tilted her head. "And he's working with Dominique?"

"Yeah. She's practical. Ruthless. Runs her operations like a queenpin and is well established in this city. They must have joined together specifically for these drugs that we're assuming Nyx produced."

"I'm guessing that they aren't the closest of friends, but she would do well to maintain their relationship... if she's still alive," Sven glanced over at Kai, who casually shrugged as if he wasn't the one who nearly killed her.

"Be it out of fear or simply mutual benefit, she and no one else dares to mess with the Messiah."

"Well, we dare to," Nadya stated simply. It wasn't like they had any other option but to if they wanted to get anywhere with the mission they were given.

"So she's the face," Kai muttered, "and he's the unstable nuke behind the scenes."

Sven nodded before adding, "And they have a bunch of mutants working for them. That Black Fang kid is just one of many who are spread across the city, hell, I wouldn't be surprised if they had mutants working for them around the country."

Nadya let out a low whistle. "And here I was thinking that fight club was the worst we'd have to deal with."

Kai's gaze dropped back to the syringe. His fingers itched with anticipation. "If they're distributing the drug, that means they've got access to the source."

"Exactly," Nadya said, cracking her knuckles. "Follow the trail, find the factory, smash the operation."

Sven pinched the bridge of his nose again. "Of course you're both in favour of running headfirst into a death cult."

Kai shrugged. "Better than sitting around."

"I was hoping we'd avoid this," Sven muttered. "They're not the kind of people you want to mess with for fun. They're dangerous, organised, unhinged. And we don't even know how many mutants we'd be facing."

"Well," Kai said with a crooked smile, "We're dangerous too."

Nadya burst out laughing. "It's great not being the only reckless one."

Sven gave a long, drawn-out sigh and flopped backwards onto the bed, staring up at the water-stained ceiling. "I'm going to regret this. I already regret it. Should've stuck to freelancing solo and taken that bounty on that mutant in Romania. After dealing with him, imagining all the fun and women I could have with the money I earned."

Despite his complaints, he didn't look like he was getting up to leave.

Kai caught it and smirked.

"You say that, but deep down, you're enjoying the company."

Sven groaned as Nadya pounced on him and began hugging him like an overbearing aunt.

"We know how much you like hanging around with us."

He finally managed to push him off her, and the tension in the room had eased up, at least slightly.

They now had a new direction and target, and somehow things had worked out.

But they weren't rushing in tonight.

They were tired. Bloodied. And if they wanted to take on mutant smugglers and the golden lunatic Messiah, they'd need rest.

"Let's just rest for now," Kai said. "We can plan tomorrow."

Kai then looked at Nadya with a deadpan expression. "Maybe we don't let you lead us this time."

She rolled her eyes before passing on the burden to Sven.

"He's the one who knows the most about these guys, so it's all on him."

"What? No, that's not how it works," Sven refuted immediately. Taking charge was troublesome, and he always liked to take the easy way out.

They all shared a tired laugh.

And for a moment, despite the insanity ahead, the broken motel room felt oddly peaceful.

Like the calm before the storm...

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