The elevator finally stopped and opened the door, revealing a hallway full of streaming pipes, engulfed in darkness. John could smell a high stench of radiation. The entire corridor was polluted, but Lena and he were immune to it. At least their regeneration kept them immune.

Straight ahead, a dozen shadows stood in the middle of the hallway. John guessed they were all possessed, probably contaminated by the leak. They may be in the way, but they won't stop John from saving the planet.

"Let's blast them through!" John roared.

Lena aimed her pulse shotgun at the flock. "Ready when you are, baby."

The possessed turned toward John and Lena. Their eyes glowed red, and their green skin melted over their deformed bodies. Their bodies might be dead, but their demonic spirits aren't.

One fat ugly bastard screamed while charging, and then the others followed him. Some were prisoners and power plant maintenance staff, all mutated into abominations after the demons turned them into their own bodysuits. 

John took the lead as he blasted his Gatling arm guns. Lena moved behind him, blowing a few targets back, who got close. They kept charging as if they didn't care about getting shot. Maybe the radiation poisoned their intelligence, or they were just plain stupid.

Everybody fell to the floor, giving the werewolf and the zombie girl enough room to run. They had no time to waste!

When they reached the core chamber, the computer voice announced another warning. "Attention! Critical mass at ninety percent! Attention! Critical mass at ninety percent!"

"Shit! We must split up to activate the coolers!" John shouted.

"On it!" Lena rushed to the right while John sprinted to the left.

The floor shook below his bare feet as the heat turned his eyes blurry. He couldn't let the radiation melt away his mind.

He approached the first pillar and spotted the lever below a label saying "Cooling #1."

"This better be a piece of cake!" He grabbed the lever and yanked it down.

A loud hiss of icy stream roared beneath the pillar. Some of it escaped through the vented floor, chilling off John's toes. 

He dashed toward the second pillar and pulled the lever. Like last time, an icy stream hissed at the bottom, which should eliminate the heat.

John stared at the last pillar. "Lena! Are you at the last one?"

"Almost!" The zombie girl approached the last pillar, immediately pulling the lever down.

"Cooldown Initialized!" the computer shouted. "Repeat, cooldown initialized! Radiation levels now dropping!"

John took a deep breath and let it all out. The power plant was very close to destroying the entire planet. That was why he doesn't agree with power plants being used on colony worlds. No matter if the power was free, risking an entire world with nuclear power was stupid as it can be. Maybe they don't care because Hades was highly populated by prisoners who weren't worth living. And those who weren't part of the convicted were just expendable people. Good thing John was no longer in prison. 

"Is it working?" Lena asked.

Before John could answer, something knocked him to the floor near the nuclear core. He looked up and saw an enormous shadow looming over him. 

As the creature stepped closer, John noticed his new attacker was a tall, muscular man in a yellow sleeveless radiation suit, wearing a radiation shielding helmet. His skin appeared to be covered in green fungus with bumps across his buffy arms. He probably grew big while he still wore his suit, which couldn’t hold on to his new size. While marching toward John, the possessed brute held up a flame thrower gun, connected to a fuel tank backpack. He blasted flames up while laughing like a clown.

“Ah, shit!” John leaped before the possessed shot flames toward him. The cyborg werewolf could survive fire, but he doesn’t want to get burned. And anyone knew getting burned hurts like hell.

He picked out a grenade and tossed it toward the flamethrower brute. The possessed stared at the grenade and kicked it. 

John dropped his mouth. "What the-"

The grenade exploded toward him, pushing him back into the wall. After he fell to the floor, he groaned as he rose. He found shears of sharp shrapnel sticking through his chest, and black burn marks spread across his upper body.

Damn, that hurt like hell!

It was like a giant baseball bat coated in nails smacked him while burning his skin. But the pain faded as the grenade pieces fell off his chest. The scars disappeared and his tiny wounds closed. He would have died if he weren't a werewolf.

Lena charged toward the freak, but she stopped and jumped back as the possessed blasted flames toward her. Even intelligent zombies were afraid of fire. 

While the possessed's back faced John, he transformed his arms into guns and blasted. However, his shots bounced off the cylinder gas tank. Plasma proof?

The possessed turned toward John and laughed. He aimed his flamethrower, preparing to fire again.

Before he pulled the trigger, a purple energy ball smacked his head and exploded. Then the possessed fell to the floor, headless.

John glanced at Lena. "You did that?"

The zombie girl shook her head. 

The werewolf gazed around until a woman stepped into the chamber. Long purple hair, glowing purple hands, beautiful body…..

John winked his white eyes. "Alexia?" 

The space witch grinned at him, wearing a black security armor suit. It looked kind of too bulky for her, but it seemed to fit her well. "John!"

She rushed toward him with excitement, holding out her arms. When she reached him, she wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed his muzzle. Feeling her lips sent a shock through his body. Weird, she was kissing his wolf face, but feeling her passionate energy felt wonderful. 

"Um-hum!" Lena approached Alexia, glaring.

The space witch widened her eyes and released John. "Oh!"

She turned around, glancing at Lena in shock.

The zombie girl held up her shotgun as if she was preparing to attack Alexia.