The darkness embodied us whole. For a second, all I could hear was my own breathing. Then—click. A flashlight flickered on, cutting through the black. The unconscious kidnapper goons were just lying there like they were on an unpaid break.
Javi exhaled sharply. "Okay. I don't know about you guys, but I am not dying in a creepy-ass warehouse."
I scoffed. "Relax, Frodo. No one's dying. At least… not us."
Levi rattled the door handle. Locked. He sighed. "Figures."
"Fantastic," Ralph muttered. "We're trapped."
"Tell me something I don't know" I responded, distracted.
The flickering lights had been annoying before, but now I noticed something else—the ventilation shafts. Too small for all of us, but…
"The kid," I muttered.
Jacob frowned. "What about him?"
I turned to Javi. "You saw him before they took off, right?"
Javi blinked. "Uh… yeah?"
"He wasn't tied up, was he?"
Javi hesitated. "No, just sitting there."
I pointed dramatically. "Exactly! What if he wasn't kidnapped? What if he was planted here?!"
Then silence followed. The kind that makes you think, welp, maybe I just uncovered something very, very dark.
"Aight why the fuck is everyone silent? I just said something didn't I?" I shouted
"You're saying… this was a setup?" Javi asked.
"Geez, what was your first clue? What else could be saying? Whatever" I yelled in response to his unnecessary question.
"Think about it!" I threw my arms up. "These kidnappers are weak as hell. And the ugly pig ran away without us noticing. Prolly took the kid with him. Now we're conveniently locked inside?" I glanced around. "Someone wanted us here."
Levi's face got ugly. "Those wealthy fucking pigs…" He clenched his fists. "If your kid gets kidnapped, who do you call? The Blessed, right? Not a bunch of us. Unless… they didn't actually want a rescue."
Ralph groaned. "Great. So we walked into a trap. Love that for us."
Jacob rubbed his face. "Alright, fine. If that's true, then where the hell are they now?"
I grinned, stretching. "No clue. But what if they're watching…?"
I noticed Kunal's music, his vibe, buzzing through the air like an overplayed radio hit. Everyone had one, and his was obnoxiously loud. I looked up and— oh, would you look at that?
There he was, standing above us on the roof, we could see him through the transparent warehouse rooftop. But who's that next to him? That must the the so called "wealthy man" who hired us. I supposed he's in on this too. But there's something about his music...
"Well, well, well," he said, smug as hell. "What do you know? They're actually smart. They figured it out."
I squinted. So this is the guy who hired us? No wonder he never showed up before now—he looked just like the ugly pig Kunal
I pointed at them. "Wait. You guys twins or something?"
Jacob stepped forward, cracking his knuckles. "Let me handle this." He looked up to face them, smirking. "Hey, Olsen twins, how about you let us go now so we won't have to punch you in the face?"
He's funny.
Levi cupped his hands around his mouth like he was hyping up a fight. "I'd listen to him if I were you. Guy's really tough despite his young… handsome face."
Ralph and Javi both nodded in agreement.
"Ah, gay!" I turned to Levi, shooting him a look.
"Shut up, Lyra," he shot back.
Up top, The wealthy man, Jamal, sighed dramatically. "You miserly cursed creatures have no idea what you're dealing with—"
They both busted through the ceiling to continue the talk. Jamal continued "There are forces in this world—"
Oh, great. A villain monologue. And worse, he was trying to fake a British accent.
I groaned. "Oh man, not this again. I'm leveling his ass. Levi!"
"Lyra, don't—" Jacob started, but Levi was already clapping his hands together, warping time before Jacob could even try to stop me.
I blinked, now standing behind Jamal. "Too slow," I taunted, swinging the Echomaker flat across his cheek. I was fully expecting him to go flying across the room and go mop about his life choices in the corner.
But guess what?
Dude. Didn't. Budge.
His assistant, the same Jamal (wait—Kunal? Whatever his name was) that I had beaten the brain out of earlier, came at me, stronger than ever. He smacked his hand against my chest and shoved me aside like he was slapping a talking drum.
What a perv.
And also—how the fuck did he get so strong?!
But you know me. I landed on my feet, because I'm like that, beat it! I'm just built different. I'm Lyra fucking Feldman. Still hate that surname tho.
I dusted myself off and shot him a glare.
"Did you just slap my chest, you fucking perv?"
The whole area was a mess—Levi and I were going at Kunal, Jacob weht straight at Jamal, and Ralph and Javi.... Eh, They're side characters. They'll be fine. Probably.
I swung the Echomaker straight at Kunal's head, fully expecting to send him flying into animation, but the bastard just tanked it. Didn't even wobble. Levi, moving fast, sent a brutal elbow to his ribs right after, but Kunal barely flinched. He should be panting, shaking, struggling—but no. This dude was fresh as hell.
"What the actual—" I ducked as Kunal's fist came flying at me.
Just when I thought I could breathe for like... five seconds, some of their goons showed up. Outta nowhere. Like they had nothing better to do than try me today. Like... aren't the side characters supposed to deal with them?
Those dumbasses actually came at me like they had a shot. Like.. can you believe their asses?? Like… why can't they just go touch emselves someplace. Like—did they really think… Damn. You know what? They're making me talk too much. I'm supposed to be a chill character through this chapter. I'ma just ignore em..
Just as expected, Javi slides in like some low budget superhero—"Don't worry, we'll take 'em out"—and he and Ralph jump in like they've been waiting their whole lives for this side quest.
I mean… of course you're gonna "take em out". That's why you're in this book. Do I look like I'ma waste time on some freaky lowlifes? Ugh! Side characters, am I right?
Now back to kunal–"Pow!!!" His fist hit my face, and I went flying. Wtf??? I hit the ground but somehow managed to land on my feet. Classic me. Levi teleported in behind me, like some backup superhero ready to save the day.
"Aww, you okay??" he asked, all concerned.
Levi grinned "This dude just got strong outta nowhere."
"Enough talking, more fighting. Duck!!" I shouted, barely managing to deflect Kunal's punch from hitting Levi.
"Hey! I thought you could manipulate time, how come you're losing it?" I yelled, ducking under another swing.
"I can't manipulate time, I can only do a few tricks with it" Levi shot back, his voice breathless as he teleported out of the way just in time.
"Duck!" I shouted again, blocking Kunal's punch for him.
Dude was relentless, like the type of guy who lived for a good fight. Kunal was all vibes, literally all vibes. And it was so damn annoying. I hit him with everything I had, my Echomaker swinging across the air like it was going out of style, but his damn vibes just tanked it all. Every swing, every strike, just got tanked by that weird glowing armor he was covered in, that I couldn't even touch.
Levi, meanwhile, was moving like lightning, bouncing around the battlefield faster than I could blink, but every time he got close enough to land a punch, Kunal just shrugged it off like it was nothing. He wasn't even flinching. What was this guy, a tank? No, worse. A tank with a glow-up.
And that wasn't even the worst part. Every time Kunal hit me, it felt like the ground was shaking under my feet. My muscles burned, my head was pounding, but no, I couldn't stop. I was NOT about to go down by some ugly-ass, glowy loser who thought he was the boss of everything.
"You gotta be kidding me," I muttered, leaping over Kunal's next punch and rolling to the side. "This guy's like a battery on steroids."
Levi wasn't doing much better. He was zipping around, teleporting and dodging like his life depended on it, which, uh, it kind of did. But every time he got close enough to land a clean shot, it was like Kunal's glowy thingy didn't even feel it. The dude wasn't even sweating.
Levi teleported behind him, hoping for a surprise attack, but Kunal turned around too fast, catching him mid-air and slamming him into the ground with a sickening thud. Dammnnnnnnn!
"Levi!!" I shouted, trying to reach him, but Kunal was on me before I could blink. He threw a punch that caught me right in the ribs, sending me flying. Not me tooooo!
I hit the floor hard, the wind knocked out of me. The moment I tried to get up, Kunal was already there, towering over me like some kind of unstoppable beast. I barely had time to react before his fist slammed into my side again, knocking me back down.
"Damn," I spat, rolling away just in time to avoid a stomp that would've turned me into a pancake.
I could feel the sweat pouring down my face, the sting of my cuts and bruises adding up. This fight was taking everything I had, and I hated it. I was better than this.
Meanwhile, Jacob was absolutely murdering Jamal. Heavy punches, clean strikes, the works. But something felt… off. Jacob was hitting him, but the damage wasn't sticking. Every time Jamal took a hit, he just stood up straighter, like he was soaking it all in.
Levi finally backed up, panting. "Yo… this dude's a battery."
"What?" I asked, barely dodging a punch.
"Think about it," he said, breathless. "We've been hitting Kunal non-stop, and he's still going. He should be dying, but he's not even winded."
I looked at Kunal, then back at Jamal. Jamal, who was just eating Jacob's attacks without a care in the world.
"Oh, hell no," I muttered, realization smacking me in the face. "That motherfucker's charging him up."
Levi blinked. "Jamal?"
"Yeah! Who else?" I confirmed. "Every hit Jacob lands, he just absorbs it—then he passes all that energy to Kunal."
Levi groaned. "Oh, great. So basically, we've been wasting our energy on this motherfucker?"
"Yup."
"Well, that's fucking stupid."
Kunal cracked his neck, grinning. "Are you two done talking?"
Levi and I exchanged a look.
"…Okay, new plan," I said. "We hit him." I pointed at Jamal.
Levi nodded. "We hit him."
Jacob, overhearing, scoffed. "Could've told you that five minutes ago."
Kunal lunged. I swung the Echomaker.
Levi clapped his hands, and in the blink of an eye, we were gone. Kunal swung at empty air, blinking in confusion.
By the time he turned, Levi had already finished circling Jamal and Jacob, stopping with a smug little hop.
Jamal tried to shake it off, but something was wrong. His fingers twitched, likke he was trying to do his little vibe-transfer trick, but nothing was happening. No energy was flowing to Kunal. His eyes widened.
"What…?"
Levi grinned. "Yeah, that's not gonna work anymore, big guy."
Jamal glared at him. "What did you do?"
Levi dusted off his hands like he just finished a day's work. "Oh, nothing much. Just set up a little time bubble while I was running around you."
Jamal's eyes narrowed.
"See," Levi continued, stretching like he had all the time in the world, "anything that happens inside the bubble stays inside. No leaks. No transfers. No cheating. It's basically a little pocket dimension where time is frozen to the outside world."
Jamal's jaw clenched.
Levi clapped his hands together. "Which means, my guy, you are officially out of service."
Jacob grinned, cracking his knuckles. "And that means we can really start throwing hands."
Jamal had about two seconds to process that before we jumped him.
The real fight had just begun.