Zech Corporations; 'Guards' Building.
Ryan's car rushed in. As he got out, a man with unkempt hair and a rough appearance hurried to meet him.
"Sir, the Guards are on standby. Are we really not attacking? There have been a million calls about cybercrimes," Ethan said, exhaling hard.
Ryan only hummed softly as he walked past Ethan into the building.
Ethan watched Ryan's back and punched the air.
"I don't like that obnoxious guy," he whispered under his breath, then followed him inside.
"You know it's a meta, right?" Ethan muttered again, while Ryan waved at his employees with a smile.
The Guards' headquarters pulsed with activity.
Holographic screens flooded the wide hall with pale light, each one flashing reports of escalating breaches.
Everyone moved with urgency, yet Ryan walked calmly as if the chaos had nothing to do with him. He stopped to greet a staff member with a kind nod, his smile making the young woman blush.
At the central table stood Captain Mira Holt, her brown hair clipped close to her jaw, eyes fixed on a tactical projection of the city grid. Cold, precise, unflinching—she did not bother hiding her disdain as Ryan approached.
Beside her, Dr. Leon Varick, the Guards' chief analyst, tapped through streams of encrypted data. His voice was calm but heavy.
"The anomaly is no longer just cyber activity. It's a person. A meta with full control over the digital grid. Every hack, every breach—it's their hand moving through the system. If we let them grow unchecked, the city will belong to them."
Ryan's smile widened, his tone gentle yet suffocating.
"Then we won't let them. Let the child play in their little web. When they feel safe…" He clasped his hands behind his back, eyes glinting. "…we close the cage."
Mira's jaw tightened as the screens flared red with fresh alerts.
Ryan raised his voice, smooth and commanding. "Guards, prepare your gear. It's time to hunt."
The chaos in the building increased at his words. Ryan's smile broadened, no longer kind but devilish.
___
The bell finally rang at McReynolds High.
Kayne adjusted his glasses and slipped out quietly, intentionally evading Elina.
An announcement resounded through the school speakers and TV
[Breaking News: 'Guards' report pursuit of an unidentified meta in the industrial sector. Citizens are advised to remain calm.]
The message lasted only seconds before being swapped with a happy theme song.
Students shrugged it off, uncaring. Metas, 'Guards' and explosions was just another day in the city.
But Kayne noticed. Growing uneasy every second.His chest tightened.
The Guards again… always circling too close.
When he stepped into the school parking lot, he frowned.
The car wasn't there. The driver who never failed him had vanished.
Guess the meta hunt caused a delay.
Kayne sighed and tucked his hands into his pockets.
Maybe it's for the better. I could walk for once, breathe in the air, and sort out my thoughts.
The street past McReynolds was quiet, although lonely, it manifested the beauty of sunset perfectly.
Kayne couldn't help but take a deep breath as he let his mind wander.
Suddenly he felt unsafe.
From an alley, rough voices and heavier footsteps spilled out.
Five men with scarred faces, broken teeth, chains and pipes dangling from their hands.
At their lead, Jack the Junkie himself stood gazing at Kayne with a condescending gaze.
"Well, well," Jack croaked, grinning through his crooked jaw. "Look who we got here. The little prince himself. Steven said you'd show up. Guess he was right."
Steven? Kayne's jaw tightened.He should have known.
"Rich boy's got no driver today, huh?" one thug sneered, swinging his chain. "Bad luck."
Kayne sighed. "Walk away. I don't want trouble."
Jack laughed hard until he teared up. His hand dipped into his coat, pulling out a pistol. "Wrong street, kid. Trouble's already here."
The gang surged forward.
Kayne's body reacted before his mind did. Power rippled through his veins, and the world slowed.
The first thug swung a pipe, Kayne slipped past in a blur and slammed his fist into the man's stomach. Air rushed out in a choking gasp as the man fell.
Another lunged from behind. Kayne spun, elbow crashing into the thug's jaw. Knocking him out immediately.
The others hesitated. Fear flickered in their eyes.
"Cowards!" Jack roared and fired his gun.
The bullet shredded the air. Kayne's pupils dilated.
Time slowed down immediately, all things seemed to move at 0.1x even the bullet.
Kayne's body blurred aside, the bullet whizzed past him.
Before Jack could blink, Kayne was on him. His fist connected with Jack's chest.
The man flew, crashing against the wall with a sickening thud.
Silence….
The fight ended almost as fast as it began.
The thugs groaned on the ground, bloodied and broken. Kayne stood in the middle of it, chest heaving, fists trembling.
Damn it. I went too far.
He looked at Jack, knocked out cold, and at the others sprawled in the dirt.
What if someone reports this? I must get out of here.
He took one last look at his 'assaulters' and turned to leave.
Immediately he left, a figure came out from the shadows.
Elina smiled at the assaulters.
"No hard feelings, that boy just can't be exposed yet.…." she said, still smiling eerily.
"Who are you?" One of the goons helping Jack up queried.
Without replying Elina brought out a knife using telekinesis, her movement was so fluid that the preys were still captivated during their moment of death.
Cleaning her stained blade with the body of one of the dead men. Jack stared at her with a confused gaze as he gripped his bleeding neck.
"Who…arreee…y….", before he could complete his statement, life left him.