Leon POV
"RUN!"
My voice echoed through the air, slicing through the chaos as the alarms blared around us. The deafening sound of metal slamming into place, the sharp whining of mechanisms locking down as everything in the prison was going into a full-blown lockdown. Hermes lay crumpled on the ground, barely conscious, his smug grin wiped off his face as blood trickled from his mouth. I wasn't sure how much longer he'd stay down, but it didn't matter now. We had no time.
I sprinted forward, my lungs burning with adrenaline. Around me, the entire prison buzzed with a violently loud alarm as guards, prisoners, and skeletal legions began to converge on our location. Artemis had been caught in a massive net, struggling against it, her eyes flashing with anger and embarrassment. Her goddess strength wasn't enough to break free, and she was cursing under her breath, trying to tear at the ropes. I then thought of a very good idea.
While she's still in the net, I decided to take her hostage, if the myths were right, she would not break out of that unless we helped break her out of it from the outside, which even we don't know how. I lifted her up and threw her over my shoulders as we all bolted for the west exit. As we ran, the ground suddenly began to tremble a bit, I turned and saw that the massive Cerberus started to chase after us and the distance was going to be shortened soon.
"Mike, take her!"
He took her and ran away as the whole group covered for him. Cerberus is closing in at a very good rate, only Mike would be able to get away at this rate, so I gotta get rid of it. As the gap between Cerberus and me was shrinking by the second, my muscles tensed as instinct took over and spun around. I launched myself at the beast with all the strength I could muster. I hit the ground running, then leaped high into the air, fists clenched tightly. As I descended, I brought my fist down, aiming squarely for the creature's middle head.
The impact was like an explosion. The sound of bones shattering reverberated through the air, and Cerberus let out a piercing howl of pain. Its enormous body slammed into the ground with enough force to send shockwaves rippling through the stone floor. The middle head was crushed beneath my blow, the skull caving in under the force, blood spraying across the ground in thick arcs. Dust and debris flew everywhere as the ground cracked beneath us.
One of its other heads snapped at me, but I was already moving, spinning midair and landing another devastating punch on its side. The prison floor cracked beneath us, splitting open in jagged lines as the Cerberus fell. Dust and rock flew into the air, but I didn't wait to see if it fell completely as I hit the ground running in the direction of the west exit.
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Hopefully, Sasha incited a riot as planned...I tried so hard to convince her to come, but that woman rejected it completely again and again, saying that she killed too many people by exploiting their trust, so she'll just stay here, though that riot would easily add an extra 50 years to her sentence.
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3rd Person POV
The prison was in complete anarchy. As the alarms blared, prisoners rioted, flooding the corridors in a mad dash for freedom. The skeletal guards were overwhelmed as their numbers were insufficient to quell the tide of chaos sweeping through the facility. This was part of the plan, the live prisoners were more than ready to revolt, needing just the right spark to ignite their long-brewing resentment. Leon had provided that spark. Sasha helped throw oil in the fire too.
Sasha would instigate a few fights here and there, she would also drop a few weapons near the more dangerous prisoners, and would then make a few false rumors, with the alarm ringing and the guards having to be a bit more forceful than usual to keep everything in check...it didn't take long.
Corridors turned into battlegrounds. Cells were ripped open, furniture overturned, and every able-bodied inmate was throwing themselves at the guards with the fury of years of pent-up frustration. The staff, many of them prisoners themselves, revolted as well, seeing their chance for a reprieve from their own sentence of eternal servitude. They fought viciously, knowing this might be their only shot at freedom. They had nothing to lose because even if this failed, all the blame would be placed on the people who made the prison go into lockdown.
And if they die in the process, they wouldn't lose much as they were sentenced to be here for at least a few centuries, only to be sent back to a world that would be too strange to them as changes happen. The guards were formidable but unprepared for this level of defiance. Normally, they could contain the chaos, but now they were overwhelmed as most went in Leon's direction, cornered at every turn by a flood of prisoners hungry for revenge.
Through this chaos, Leon and his group ran, weaving through the chaos as they pushed toward the exit. Cerberus' thunderous roar in the distance behind them raised concerns as it meant that it healed. Once he saw the guards charging in to block him and his group. But Leon had one more card to play. He saw that some of the nearby prisoners tried to charge at the guards, and it was the perfect time to activate his second ability.
A surge of energy radiated from Leon, invisible but palpable. It spread like a shockwave through the prison, reaching those fighting on his side. Prisoners would glow for a few seconds and suddenly feel stronger and faster. Their movements became more coordinated, their strikes more powerful. Skeletal guards that had seemed insurmountable just moments before were now falling like brittle statues under the renewed ferocity of the riot. Even the most battered prisoners stood straighter, their wounds forgotten as newfound energy coursed through their veins.
"Couldn't you have done this earlier?!" John shouted through the chaos.
"I could have, but I get really tired after a bit, so let's get to the exit fast, this riot would last a few more minutes at best!" Leon retorted.