The night breeze whispered secrets as Zayden left the Phantom HQ. Every shadow felt louder. Every eye… suspicious.
He had crossed a line.
Not just disobeyed Drex — but flipped the mission.
And someone had noticed.
---
Drex's Private Office
Torch, the Phantom Crew's tech guy, stood by the door as Drex poured a glass of Hennessy.
> "He's not just going soft, Drex," Torch muttered. "He's turning rogue."
Drex smirked, swirling the glass.
> "Zayden was always wild. But now?
He's a wildfire. And wildfires burn everything."
Torch leaned in.
> "You want me to follow him?"
"No. I want you to set the trap. If he's hiding something… we make him expose it himself."
---
Meanwhile — Mariella's Room
The files were stacked on her bed — printed records, flash drives, digital backups.
Oreka's entire empire, wrapped in silence.
> "You sure we can trust Drex with this?" she asked.
Zayden hesitated.
> "No. That's why we don't give it to him."
Mariella raised a brow.
> "Then who?"
"The press. Anonymous drop. Let the world rip Oreka apart. Not gangs. Not guns. Just truth."
She smiled — not with joy, but with respect.
> "You're smarter than you look."
"And you're tougher than I expected," he said.
The silence stretched.
He looked at her sketchpad again.
This time, it was a lion — caged, but staring down its captors.
---
The Trap Springs
That night, as they moved to meet a contact from The Vanguard News, Zayden got a text.
Unknown Number:
> "You think you're slick?
We see you.
Run while you can."
He froze.
> "We're being tracked."
He grabbed Mariella's hand.
> "We don't stop now. No matter what."
But as they turned the corner into the alley —
BANG!
A shot exploded.
Zayden shoved Mariella down. His arm burned — grazed. Blood stained his sleeve.
Three masked figures emerged. Phantom Crew enforcers.
One raised a bat.
> "Drex sends his love."
Zayden stood, shielded Mariella.
His vision blurred.
But his fists?
Still solid.
> "You want a war?" he growled.
"Then let's start it."
---
End of Chapter 5
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Zayden and Mariella go underground. A secret ally appears — someone who knows what really happened to Jayden… and it's not what Zayden believed.