TITANS 2150.3 - All Monsters War (Disney Monster Universe Phase 2 - Book 3)

Chapter 15 - A Hope from the Stars

_"...Serizawa... Mr. Serizawa, can you hear me? Please open your eyes!"

His hearing still troubled, the voice calling him seemed to him only like a muffled and distant echo. Senses numb, Henri Serizawa struggled to open his eyes, his vision still blurry. He was lying on his back, half buried under rubble, in the middle of the smoke and the council chamber totally devastated by the explosion of the bomb. Face covered in dust and bearing a few bloody scratches, the Monarch director barely looked at the Monarch soldier who was leaning over him and struggling to shake him for a reaction and seemed reassured to see him finally open his eyes. .

_"Guys, he's alive! Help him, come on!" quickly ordered the soldier, making signs.

Still confused and stunned by the explosion that had taken place, Henri Serizawa was dragged out of the rubble and supported by his men who helped him up and sit down, checking that he had no serious injuries or limbs. broken. Serizawa then stared in morbid silence at the devastation around him. The wave of the bomb had been destructive. Every member of the council without exception had been killed, all lying dead all over the room, their clothes and their bodies shredded.

_"Lewis... Where's Doctor Lewis?" Serizawa then asked, still confused.

_"Mr. Serizawa, I..."

_"I said: where is she?" the Monarch director insisted heavily.

_"I'm sorry, sir... Doctor Lewis is..."

The soldier couldn't finish his sentence but Serizawa immediately guessed, his gaze falling on Lewis's form. The young woman, one of Monarch's most fervent agents, lay lifeless among the other victims, killed by the explosion. Her face was frozen, her eyes staring into space. Serizawa's heart clenched in his chest as he pushed the soldiers aside and staggered over to his comrade's lifeless body, falling to his knees beside her and saw that she still held her weapon in her hand. Serizawa remained silent, but his face expressed all the sadness and pain as easily as words. It was he who had welcomed Lewis into Monarch when she was still a brilliant young biology student. She was his student, he had trained her personally within the organization which had become like his new family and like him she was a defender of the well-being and the essential role that the titans play on the world... He had been able to prepare her, to guide her, but he had failed to protect her...

_"I'm sorry... Forgive me..." Serizawa breathed sadly, a tear falling from his eye as he closed Lewis's eyes.

The soldiers stayed behind, not daring to say a word and felt sorry for their leader. Suddenly, another officer burst in in a panic.

_"The Hydra troops have succeeded in penetrating our defenses! Sector A is under siege!"

But despite the bad news, Serizawa didn't let himself be broken. Instead, his eyebrows furrowed, his face scowled, and without a word he took Lewis' gun and sat up.

_"Sir, you should evacuate." suggested one of the soldiers.

But the Monarch director's glare fell on him and answered a single sentence as he engaged the weapon's magazine.

_"No... it's time to fight back."

Confused at first but seeing the determination in their boss's eyes, the group of soldiers, also driven by a desire to avenge Lewis, agreed to take part in this fight and followed Serizawa through the corridors. It didn't take long for them to reach a strongpoint in which the rest of the sector soldiers had regrouped and barricaded themselves behind makeshift barricades made of desks and chairs and continued to resist against the forces of Hydra. Each man and woman fought fiercely, firing all their ammunition while keeping cover as best they could, even though several soldiers had already fallen to enemy fire.