Too late. I felt alive.
Like, really alive—the kind that burns in your lungs and makes your heart forget how to beat properly.
Whoosh!
Another monster lunged out of the smoke, bigger, uglier, the kind of thing nightmares would file a complaint about. My body moved before my brain did—rolling through mud and rain, rod slicing through the air.
This time, the spark didn't fight me. It freaking answered.
Energy cracked off the tip, lighting up the storm in a violent flash before slamming into the creature's leg. It went down hard, splattering shadow like black tar across the dock.
Damian caught my eye mid-swing. No words. Just that unreadable stare of his—the kind that says he's getting it.
My hands were shaking, breath fogging in the cold. But my grip stayed firm.
For once, I wasn't just writing the story.
I was part of it.
'Hell Yeah!'
–––––––––––
The dock was a warzone.
Rain. Smoke. Shadows. Every second, something screamed—sometimes human, sometimes not.
Jade was a blur, carving arcs through the dark with surgical precision.
Damian's movements were heavier. Each step, each strike, crushed bones with his increased and precise gravitation, and the twisted shadow into the ground.
And me? My rod vibrated like it finally remembered what it was built for. Sparks burst against every swing, flashes of light slashing whatever menace I had hit.
Bang!
Gunfire.
The handlers—those trench-coat freaks who'd been hauling the crates—had pulled out weapons from under their coats. Not regular rifles either. These things glowed red along their barrels, every shot spitting out bullets that looked like burning shards of crystal.
They weren't shooting just at the monsters.
They were shooting at us.
A shot screamed past my head, hot enough to burn the air. I ducked, heart slamming against my ribs. "They're trying to kill both sides?!"
"Containment," Damian yelled, slamming a shadow beast into the pavement with a flick of his wrist. The ground cracked under it. "No witnesses. No cleanup."
"Great," I muttered. "Love being part of a cover-up."
Another burst went off, close enough to sting my cheek. Jade twisted midair, blades flashing, deflecting one of those glowing shards. She hissed, barely keeping her footing.
"Too many angles!" she shouted. "We can't keep this up!"
And then—lightning.
Not mine. Not the wild, unstable kind my rod spat out. This was cleaner. Sharper. Deadly.
Drumrolls...
A streak of white tore through the air. The next second—silence.
Every single handler froze.
Their guns? Gone. No—taken apart. Each piece hit the ground in slow motion—barrels, triggers, glowing cores—like someone had just told the laws of physics to take a coffee break.
And then I saw him once again.
Ryu.
Standing in the middle of the wreckage like some smug electric god, sword humming in his grip. His coat clung to him, soaked and heavy, but his grin? That stayed as always.
"You guys brought toys to a storm," he said. Voice smooth, almost bored. "Bad investment."
Seriously, who says that?
Before anyone could even roll their eyes, Ryu blurred.
One blink—he was gone. Next blink—he wasn't just one person anymore. He was everywhere.
A blur of white-blue light and raw motion. Fists, elbows, knees—all hitting harder than they had any right to. One handler went flying into a crate, another crumpled like paper. The rest didn't even have time to scream.
By the time I caught my breath, it was over.
Bodies. Everywhere. Guns in pieces.
Ryu stood in the middle of it all, blade balanced on his shoulder like this was a warm-up.
His grin widened when he spotted us, cocky and feral at the same time.
"Miss me?"
Yeah. Definitely manic.
–––––––––––
For a heartbeat, no one moved.
Jade was still poised to strike, blades dripping rain. Damian's eyes narrowed, scanning the mess Ryu had made. I could almost hear the calculations running in his head.
I just… stared.
The air around Ryu still hummed, faint arcs of static dancing off him. That same lightning smell clung to his coa. His smile didn't reach his eyes.
He looked alive—but not human.
Jade sheathed one blade, but her hand stayed near the other. "You took your time," she said, voice flat.
Ryu shrugged, running a hand through his wet hair. "Traffic."
"Traffic," Damian repeated, unimpressed. "You nearly blew the mission."
"Correction," Ryu said, gesturing at the unconscious pile of gunmen. "I saved the mission. You're welcome."
I could almost see lightning clash between them.
I stood there, gripping the rod, trying to steady my breathing. My pulse was still too loud in my ears. The energy hadn't faded completely.
'What the hell are we even doing here?' I thought. 'Saving people? Or just cleaning up what's left?'
I looked down at one of the fallen handlers. His eyes were open. Blank. The glow from those crystal bullets still flickered weakly in the mud beside him.
Something about that made my chest tighten.
This wasn't some comic panel anymore. These weren't background NPCs.
This was real.
"Ken," Damian's voice snapped me out of it. He was already moving again, pulling up the city grid on his wrist display. "We're not done. The shipment was only one part. Ryu sensei—please find the source. Jade, take the rooftops. Ken—"
"Yeah?"
"Stay alive."
Not exactly the confidence boost I needed, but I'd take it.
–––––––––––
The rain had eased into a steady drizzle by the time we pushed deeper into the docks. The streets were empty—too empty. Even the stray cats had disappeared.
Ryu led the way, his blade dragging faint sparks across the puddles. He hummed something under his breath, too calm for a guy who'd just killed a dozen people.
I couldn't tell if he was fearless or broken. Maybe both.
Jade's voice came through comms, low. "Movement on the east pier. Big one. I'm counting… five heat signatures."
"Monsters?" Damian asked.
"Not sure."
Ryu grinned. "Let's find out."
Before Damian could stop him, Ryu was gone again—one flash of light and he was already halfway across the pier.
Damian cursed under his breath. "He never listens."
"Should we—"
"Move."
We ran.
My boots splashed through the puddles, breath turning ragged. The air got colder as we neared the edge of the dock. I could feel it—the energy. The same pulse that came off the monsters, only stronger. Denser.
When we turned the corner, I froze.
There it was.
A circle drawn across the concrete in black ash, glowing faintly with veins of purple. Runes, symbols, all crawling and pulsing like veins.
At the center—an orb.
Dark, throbbing, alive.
Shadow energy.
Ryu was standing at the edge of it, eyes locked on the orb.
For a second, I thought he looked scared.
Then he smiled.
A slow, dangerous smile.
"Guess we found our source."
–––––––––––
Damian reached him first, grabbing his shoulder. "Don't touch it."
Ryu didn't move. "You feel that?"
"Yeah," Damian said through clenched teeth. "That's corruption. Back off."
Ryu tilted his head, eyes still fixed on the orb. "Feels like power to me."
My gut twisted. I didn't like the way he said it.
"Ryu," Damian warned. "I'm serious."
Ryu finally turned—and for the first time, I saw it. The faint flicker of darkness in his pupils. The lightning around him had gone darker too, tinged with violet.
He stepped closer to the orb anyway.
And smiled wider.
"Let's see how deep this goes."
The ground shook.
The orb pulsed once—twice—then exploded in a burst of light and shadow that swallowed the dock whole.
The blast hit like a freight train made of lightning.
Instinct, not logic, got me moving. I didn't even think—just threw myself forward, shoving Ryu down and covering him as everything went white and black.
The light wasn't just bright—it hurt. My skin buzzed, like someone poured static straight into my veins. My chest burned. For a second, I couldn't tell if I was breathing or falling apart.
Then it was gone.
Just like that.
The dock was smoke and rain again.
I coughed hard, the taste of metal thick on my tongue. "Ow," I wheezed. "Ten out of ten landing, Mercer. Real heroic."
Ryu stirred beneath me, pushing my shoulder with a low grunt. "You done using me as a mattress?"
I blinked, realizing I was still half-lying on him. "You're welcome for not dying."
"Didn't ask you to play shield."
"Yeah, well," I muttered, rolling off him, "your suicidal habits were getting old."
Damian was already there—mud splattered up his coat, eyes sharp as ever. He crouched next to us, scanning the both of us like he was running calculations in his head.
"You two idiots done?" His tone was dry, but there was a tightness behind it. "Because in case you forgot, one of you's supposed to be in charge, and the other's supposed to follow orders."
Ryu just smirked, sitting up and brushing soot off his arm. "We're alive. That's all that matters."
"That's not the point," Damian snapped. "You're supposed to watch over us, remember? Not jump into a damn explosion because it looked shiny!"
Ryu raised a brow. "You done lecturing me, Professor Gravity?"
Damian's jaw tightened. "No. Because your recklessness nearly got him—" He jerked a thumb at me. "—killed."
I opened my mouth to say something smart, then stopped. My hand was shaking. Not from fear. Something else.
There was… a pulse. Deep in my chest.
Like my heartbeat was out of sync with itself.
Ryu glanced at me, expression unreadable for once. "You good, rookie?"
"Uh—yeah. I think so." I flexed my fingers, watching faint static flicker between them before it vanished. "Just… dizzy."
Damian noticed. His gaze sharpened. "Hold still." He gripped my wrist, and the air around us rippled faintly—his ability scanning for something unseen.
A few seconds of silence passed. Then he frowned. "You shouldn't be standing."
"That's encouraging," I said, trying to laugh it off. "But I'm fine. See? Not glowing or melting or—"
"Ken," Damian cut in. "That orb was concentrated dark energy. You took the brunt of it. You're not fine."
I rubbed the back of my neck, forcing a grin. "Then why do I feel like I could run a marathon?"
He didn't answer, which… wasn't great.
Ryu stood up, brushing himself off. "If he's standing and breathing, he'll live. We'll get him checked back at base."
"Don't act like this isn't your fault," Damian retorted, "sir..." He added.
"Fault?" Ryu tilted his head, that grin back in place but thinner this time. "I didn't ask him to play hero."
"Maybe because you're too used to being one yourself."
That actually made Ryu's smirk falter for half a beat.
Before he could respond, a new voice cut through the comms—sharp and tired.
"Are you all done having your little moral breakdown, or should I come back later?"
Jade.
She dropped from the rooftop a second later, boots splashing into a puddle. Her hair was plastered to her face, one blade still dripping dark residue.
"What the hell did I miss?" she asked, glancing around at the crater that used to be a dock.
I exchanged a look with Damian. Then with Ryu.
We all said it at the same time.
"Nothing."
Jade's eyes narrowed. "Uh-huh."
She sighed, shaking her head. "Whatever. My nails are wrecked, I haven't slept in two days, and if I don't get hot water soon, one of you's getting stabbed. I don't even care who."
Ryu actually chuckled. "Good to see your priorities haven't changed."
"Keep talking, and you'll find out where my next manicure appointment's gonna be," she shot back.
Damian exhaled hard, rubbing his temple. "We're done here. Whatever this was, we'll get proper readings at HQ."
"Copy that," Jade said, already walking off toward the extraction point. "You boys can argue about who almost died later."
I sat by the ramp, staring at my hands. The vibrations under my skin hadn't stopped either—it came and went in tiny flashes, like static trying to crawl out.
'Probably nothing,' I told myself. 'Adrenaline. Or trauma. Or both.'
But deep down, I knew it wasn't either.
Something had changed.
And whatever it was… it wasn't done with me.