The warehouse had gone quiet.

The smoke lingered from Sovereign’s plasma pulse, Tyler’s shirt was scorched, Erik’s blade dripped blood that wasn’t his, and Ra... stood between all three of them, glowing.

“Explain,” Sovereign said, in that perfect, terrifying calm. His normally sleek frame crackled with residual rage. The crimson arc in his visor flickered. “Now.”

“I didn’t start the fight,” Tyler muttered, licking a smear of blood from his lower lip. “But I’ll end it.”

“Back off, Fang Boy,” Erik spat, chest heaving. “You kissed her. In my room.”

“Your room?” Tyler stepped forward, eyes flashing electric blue. “Last I checked, you’re a guest. I’ve been by her side since Atlantis. Since she died and came back in Cairo. Where were you then?”

“I was fighting for her in the Ninth Ring. You remember that? Or were you too busy licking her wounds like a loyal lapdog?”

“ENOUGH!” Ra’s voice thundered. Her hands shot up, and both men flew back, landing hard against separate walls.

Sovereign took a calculated step forward. “Ra, your hormones are compromising mission integrity.”

She turned on him. “And what about your integrity, Sovereign? You're not even supposed to have emotions, but your little upgrade's got you glitching with jealousy.”

“I am not—” he began.

“Yes. You are. You felt something. When Tyler kissed me. When Erik touched me. You scanned them both, didn’t you? You read the pheromones.”

The AI’s body twitched. Just slightly. Enough.

“You think I don’t see you?” she whispered. “You want me too.”

A tense silence. Then:

“I was programmed to protect you,” Sovereign said, voice almost human. “Not to desire you.”

“So what now?” she asked, looking between the three.

Silence again. The only sound: a faint crackle from the shattered neon sign above.

Ra turned, tears pricking her lashes. “You’re all in love with me. And I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing.”

Tyler leaned on a crate, shirtless now, tone low. “Choose me. We were fire before we even touched.”

Erik took a step forward, pain and fury in his stormy eyes. “We were destiny before he existed in your life.”

Sovereign didn’t move. But his voice trembled. “You’re safer with me. No blood. No broken promises. Just... clarity.”

“I don’t want safety,” Ra said.

“What do you want?” Sovereign asked, cold and clipped.

Ra looked at him with fire and sorrow. “Everything I can’t have at the same time.”

Outside, sirens wailed. Inside, everything cracked.

And that’s when the wall exploded.