The Orphans tried to slow the bounty hunters down, dropping anything they could from the rooftops. But the Gloves weren't amateurs. They recovered fast, securing their target while letting the rest escape. The girl screamed as she was dragged away, the heavy iron doors of a transport wagon slamming shut behind her.
Thomas's fists tightened, every muscle in his body ready to move. But he didn't. This wasn't his fight. Not yet.
The Gloves hauled the cage away, leaving the Orphans scattered and hiding in the shadows. They had failed, some limping, some bruised, but the fire in their eyes hadn't gone out.
Beyond the city walls, the Pink Fog hung thick and heavy over the ruins. Moving quietly through the mist, the Orphans followed the trail of the Gloves. They knew where their sister was being taken, and they were not going to lose her again.
The girl, an Elf Glint, had been delivered to the Hooks' holding site, a fortified outpost hidden deep in the Pink Fog, just outside the city's edge. Unlike other outposts, the holding site had no White Fragments, no protection, no safe zone. This was where the Hooks ran their black market deals, where they could reveal and verify Glint forms freely. Inside, captives waited in cages, each one already priced and waiting to be sold.
The Orphans knew if they waited too long, she would be gone, sold like an object, never to be seen again.
Tonight, they were not going to let that happen.
With their hearts pounding, the Orphans spread out and took their positions. There were fifteen of them, and they had formed a plan the moment they learned about the scheduled exchange. Each one had taken on their Glint form, heightening their speed, strength, and senses for the fight.
One became Shadow Strider, assassin-like Glint built for silent kills in the fog. Another turned into a Feral, werewolf-like form made for brute strength and fast recovery. Another transformed into Gale Runner, cheetah-like Glint capable of sudden, lightning-fast bursts of speed.
The plan was simple: strike fast, strike hard, get her out before the Hooks even realized what was happening.
But the Hooks were ready.
The moment the Orphans attacked, chaos erupted in the fog. Steel clashed, bodies crashed against debris, and shouts filled the air. The Hooks, armed and experienced, countered instantly. They moved with precision, breaking through the Orphans' formation with practiced ease. These weren't street thugs. They were seasoned traffickers who knew exactly how to capture Glints.
One of the Hooks, his skin covered in glowing red cracks, stepped forward and swung a molten fist. The hit sent a Feral crashing through a broken wall. He was a Lava Brute, a Glint built for strength and endurance, his body radiating heat and shrugging off physical blows with ease.
Another Hook flickered in and out of sight, his form shifting like a mirage. A Reaper Glint. He moved faster than the eye could follow, appearing behind an Orphan and slamming him face-first into the dirt before vanishing again into the mist.
"You little rats really thought you could just walk in here?" the Reaper sneered, dodging a charging Gale Runner and throwing him down with a thud. "You're out of your league."
"We're not here to fight you," one of the Orphans growled, his Shadow Strider form blending with the fog. He slipped from a Hook's grip, his blade flashing. "We just want her back."
A Hook with a scar running down his cheek let out a low laugh. "Yeah, we figured. That's why we came prepared."
The Hooks held more than the girl. They controlled the entire fight. Every strike and counter pushed the Orphans back, step by step. The traffickers moved with precision and patience, letting the kids wear themselves out while they waited for the right time to strike.
The Orphans moved fast and fought with everything they had, but the Hooks stayed in control. They knew exactly how to handle Glints, and it showed in the way they fought. Every attack the Orphans made was easily countered and shut down. To the Hooks, this wasn't a rescue attempt or a clash. It was just another job, and she was the prize.
Figures emerged from the fog, the bounty hunters. The Gloves had arrived, just as the Hooks planned. They weren't ordinary hired guns. They knew how to take down Glints, moving with sharp, practiced movements that left no room for mistakes. Their job this time was simple, to secure the merchandise and make sure nothing got in the way.
What they didn't know was that Finn had already warned Thomas's crew about the exchange. By the time they reached the outpost, the bounty hunters were closing in on the Orphans, sure of their victory, unaware that someone else was watching from the fog.
Nevin sighed. "These kids again. They really don't know when to stop."
Thomas rolled his shoulders, cracking his neck. "Good thing we don't either."
"Bryan, Iris, help the kids!" he shouted, already moving. "Nevin, we take the Gloves!"
The tide turned the moment Thomas's crew joined the fight. The Orphans were no longer alone, and what had been a desperate struggle became a real battle.
Bryan soared into the air, his wings slicing through the mist, while Iris charged forward, her duel aura bursting outward and scattering the Hooks' formation.
The Orphans didn't know who these newcomers were, but they saw whose side they were on. That was enough. They fell in beside them, matching their pace and fighting with renewed strength.
Thomas clashed with the first bounty hunter, his punch slamming into a reinforced armguard. Sparks flew as both were pushed back. The Gloves moved with skill and power that showed they were trained Glint hunters.
An Earth Golem stepped in Thomas's way, his stone-like body taking every hit before countering with a punch that sent Thomas sliding back. Nearby, a Shade Dancer flickered through the fog, striking at Nevin before disappearing again into the mist.
After only a few clashes, something changed in Thomas. A faint pink glow began to spread across his body, the energy leaking out like mist. The Earth Golem hesitated, unsure what he was seeing.
"Hey… are you stage two now?" Nevin called out from across the field.
"I think I am," Thomas said, feeling a rush of energy flow through him. It was like transforming all over again.
He suddenly remembered how Nevin had once explained his energy ball technique. When the crew asked how he did it, Nevin simply said he imagined it. Thomas had tried before, but he could never picture the first step, gathering Fog energy inside his body and forcing it out. Now, he didn't need to. The energy was already spilling out of him.
He focused, doing what Nevin said. He imagined a weapon forming in his hand. The leaking aura reacted, swirling toward his arm and condensing into shape. In seconds, it solidified into a massive club that fit perfectly in his grip. Before this, no weapon ever suited his size, forcing him to fight with whatever junk he could grab. Not anymore.
"Isn't that too easy?" Nevin shouted, wide-eyed. It had taken him days to form his first energy ball, yet Thomas had created a Fog weapon within seconds of hitting stage two.
Nevin didn't realize that Fog weapons were something usually reserved for stage 2 Glints. For someone like him, still at stage zero, creating one at all had already been a huge achievement.
The fight exploded into chaos, a blur of strikes and counters. With his new Fog Club, Thomas quickly gained the upper hand, smashing through enemy defenses like they were nothing.
Nevin refused to be outdone. He hurled his modified energy ball, now shaped like a boomerang, at a Shade Dancer. It sliced deep across the man's side before returning to his hand. He wanted to brag, but Thomas's sudden leap to Stage 2 made anything he did look small in comparison.
Above them, Bryan tore through the fog, slamming down waves of force that scattered the Hooks. Iris charged through their broken lines, her duel aura cutting through their defenses and throwing their formation into chaos. The Orphans saw it and fought harder, their courage rekindled. For the first time, they could match the Hooks blow for blow.
Amid the confusion, one of the Orphans slipped through the fray and reached the cage. The lock clicked open.
The Elf Glint girl stumbled out, eyes wide with disbelief. She was free.
The battle wasn't over, but the balance had shifted. The Hooks and Gloves were no longer winning. They were falling apart. One by one, they backed off, dragging the wounded or vanishing into the mist.
They weren't wiped out, but their control over the operation was gone. Tonight, they had lost.
The Orphans regrouped among the ruins, the rescued girl sitting quietly beside them, still in shock. They had won her freedom for now.
Bryan watched the city in the distance. "The Hooks and the Gloves won't just let this go."
One of the Orphans, a young Feral with matted fur and sharp eyes, grinned. "They'll have to catch us first."
Thomas cracked his knuckles and looked back toward the city. "Where's the fun in running?"
As the sun rose over the City of Graves, word spread quickly. Thomas's crew had stepped in where no one else dared, and in doing so, they disrupted the fragile balance of power that held the city together.