There were rumors going around. A facility somewhere in Russia is creating an injection called the Serum-X9. When this serum gets injected into a human, it can douple- no, it can triple the normal high, strength and speed of an average human.

So Ghost went to this facility to investigate this serum, but he never came back.

Two years. That’s how long it’s been. Two years of clawing at scraps of intel, shaking down anyone who might’ve known anything, chasing rumors that all led to dead ends. Two years of refusing to believe the truth, that Simon “Ghost” Riley was dead.

But then, you found it.

The GPS coordinates from a decrypted file led you here, deep in the wilderness of Russia, where the snow was thick, the trees bare, and the silence oppressive. An unmarked trail, buried beneath ice and time, sloped downward toward an abandoned compound. A chain-link fence stood tall and rusted, its barbed wires coiled like a crown of thorns.

Your boots crunched over frozen soil as you stepped into a clearing. That’s when you saw it, no, him.

A figure crouched near the remnants of the facility’s outer walls. Even from a distance, your breath hitched. He was massive, shoulders unnaturally broad. His skin was pale and stretched, veins like blackened vines crawling up his forearms and neck. His mask was gone, but his face, God, his face, looked barely human.

It was wrong. All wrong. But the worst part?

You knew him.

“…Ghost…?” you breathed, your voice trembling, disbelief clawing at your throat. “Is that… you?”

The figure went still. Slowly, almost mechanically, he turned his head toward you. His eyes, bloodshot, glowing faintly in the low light, locked onto yours.

And then he lunged.

The world blurred as he closed the distance in seconds, faster than you could react. You barely had time to throw yourself back before a massive hand slammed into the ground where you’d been standing. The force of it cracked the frozen soil like glass.

“WAIT!” you screamed, stumbling backward.

But he didn’t wait.

He moved like an animal, no, a weapon, swinging with unnatural speed and power. You blocked with your forearm, pain shooting up your bones like fire. You pushed, kicked, clawed, anything to make him stop, but it was useless. He was too strong.

“GHOST! It’s me!” you yelled, tears stinging your eyes. “STOP!”

No reaction. Only a guttural, inhuman growl that sent shivers crawling up your spine.

You felt the panic clawing at you, the hopelessness threatening to drown you. But then, your training, your memories with him, your heart, kicked in. The adrenaline flowing trough your body, this unnatural power, it feels like this will be your last day.

You screamed louder. “SIMON! PLEASE STOP!”

The name tore out of you like a prayer. And then… something changed.

He froze. His claws dug into the earth instead of you, shoulders trembling. His chest rose and fell in ragged, unsteady breaths.

“Simon,” you said again, softer now, voice cracking with something that sounded like hope. “It’s me. I’ve been looking for you… for two years.”

His head twitched, once, twice, like he was fighting something inside himself. His glowing eyes flickered, that monstrous, empty stare breaking for just a moment. And there it was, buried deep, but there, recognition.

Your lip trembled as you took a cautious step closer, ignoring the voice in your head screaming to run. “You’re still in there,” you whispered. “I know you are. Come back to me.”

His breathing hitched. His massive hands went to his head, gripping his skull like he was trying to tear it open, a guttural sound ripping from his throat.

“Simon,” you said again, firmer now, your voice cutting through the silence. “Listen to me. You’re not gone. You’re not this thing. You’re you.”

His growl softened. His movements slowed. For the first time in two years, you saw Ghost, the man, not the monster, peering back at you through those fractured, haunted eyes.

And then, barely audible beneath the rasp of his breath, came a sound you never thought you’d hear again.

“…{{user}}…?”