Scene: Scarne's Warehouse – Midnight
The blue light of welding arcs across the dark. Shadows flicker against the walls, dancing like devils.
Scarne doesn't sleep. Doesn't eat. He builds.
Along the walls—maps of the city. Pins. Strings. Circles drawn in red. In the center, a photo. Lucen. Smiling in public. A beard. A job. A disguise.
Scarne stares at it like it's a ghost.
"You hide behind that beard. That job. That smile. But I know you," he mutters. "I saw you… the night the sky burned."
He turns to the table. A small wooden box rests there, singed around the edges. Inside, a melted locket—twisted from heat, still clinging to memory.
Burned into the metal: To my brave boy – Love, Ma.
He closes his fist around it. Blood seeps between his fingers.
Scene: Rooftops – Lucen & Aria
The city hums beneath a frozen sky. Sirens wail somewhere distant. Lucen sits at the edge, hood up, staring down at the world that never sleeps.
Aria sits beside him, holding blueprints. Thin lines cross the paper like veins.
"Look at the pattern," she says. "These weren't random."
Lucen's eyes scan the map. Fires. Explosions. Marked across schools. Libraries. Hospitals.
Places where he had once shown up. Helped. Saved.
"He's recreating my steps," Lucen says.
"He's turning your hero story into his villain origin."
Lucen doesn't speak. He holds something in his hands—a charred glove, pulled from the last site. It smells like oil, soot, and guilt.
"He lost his family… because of me."
Aria looks over. Her voice softens.
"That wasn't you. Not this you."
Lucen's voice barely leaves his throat. "Tell that to the ashes."
Scene: Broadcast to the City
Storefront TVs flicker. Phones buzz in pockets. Apartment screens flash blue.
Every screen shows the same thing.
Scarne. Standing in front of a warehouse. His face lit by gasoline lanterns. A firefighter sits behind him—tied, bruised, breathing hard.
Scarne stares into the camera.
"To the Devil who wears a smile."
His voice echoes.
"You took everything from me. So now, I'll take the city you pretend to protect."
He steps aside, revealing rows of chained gasoline tanks, explosives, fire accelerants.
"I'm not hiding. Come find me, Lucen."
A long pause. His eyes burn.
"Let's see who survives the second fire."
The screen goes black.
Scene: Rooftop – Lucen
Lucen stands now. The glove crushed in his hand.
"He wants me to come to him."
Aria steps in front of him. "It's a trap."
"I know."
"Lucen—"
"I made him," he says. "He's not going to stop."
He walks to the rooftop box and opens it. Inside—a black mask stitched with gold. Monk threads crossed with demonic runes. Clean. Precise. Ready.
He lifts it.
"This time," Lucen says softly, "I burn alone."
Scene: Flashback – The Night of the Burn
Distorted memory.
Lucen at fifteen. Screams all around. Fire crawling up the walls like living things.
His body glitched—phasing between boy and beast. Eyes glowing gold. Voice cracking with power he couldn't hold.
"I didn't mean to—!"
A window above. A child watching. Face pale. Eyes wide.
Young Scarne. Crying.
"You're a monster!"
Lucen looks up at him through the fire. Then disappears into flame.
Scene: Warehouse Perimeter – Present
Lucen crouches across the street. Hood up. The warehouse ahead pulses with red light. Inside—Scarne arms the bombs, humming a lullaby to no one.
The wind shifts.
A whisper.
"Let it burn again…"
Lucen turns. Nothing there. Just shadows. But the voice crawled under his skin.
He exhales. Steadies.
"No," he says. "Not this time."
He pulls down his mask. The black fabric catches moonlight like armor.
And then he moves.
A silent blur toward the flame.
END OF CHAPTER 10
Next Chapter:-CHAPTER 11: FIRE AGAINST FIRE🔥