NEW ATLANTICS – NIGHT
The city is restless.
Emergency sirens echo in the distance. News drones hover above damaged streets left behind by Skybreak's attack.
Smoke coils upward between skyscrapers like the city itself is exhaling pain.
A digital billboard glitches briefly.
NEWS ANCHOR (V.O.):"…authorities confirm the unidentified metahuman threat vanished without warning. Casualty numbers are still being assessed…"
INN – CENTRAL COMMAND | NIGHT
The control room is dimmer than usual.
Not from power loss—intentional.
MADISON CONNOR stands with arms crossed, eyes fixed on a massive holographic map of the city.
Red markers blink sporadically.
CHARLES LIVINGSTON stands beside her, hands clasped behind his back.
Silent.
Analytical.
Concerned.
Agent Tom works rapidly at a side console, fingers shaking slightly—but his voice holds.
AGENT TOM:"Echo Team is down to sixty percent operational strength. Skybreak didn't just overpower them… she anticipated their formations."
Madison exhales slowly.
MADISON:"That's not instinct. That's direction."
Charles turns toward her.
CHARLES:"Or reconnaissance."
The room goes quiet.
A new alert flashes—ANOMALOUS ENERGY TRACE.
Not Skybreak's signature.
Not Neuro-Link.
Something else.
Tom looks up, confused.
TOM: Ma'am … this signal doesn't match any known spectrum. It's not extradimensional the way Skybreak's displacement was.
Madison's eyes narrow.
MADISON:Then what is it?
Tom hesitates.
TOM:…It's stable. Like it belongs here.
Charles steps closer to the display.
CHARLES:Pull the coordinates.
ABANDONED INDUSTRIAL ZONE – EDGE OF NEW ATLANTICS | NIGHT
Wind whistles through skeletal structures of unfinished buildings.
A single streetlight flickers.
Then steadies.
The air distorts—subtly, almost politely.
A figure stands atop a half-collapsed tower.
We don't see his face.
Only the silhouette.
A long coat, unmoving despite the wind.
Boots planted like gravity itself respects him.
This is ZENITH.
ZENITH POV
The city below appears… layered.
Energy flows visible only to him.
Residual echoes of Skybreak's power.
A faint, foreign footprint—not hers.
He closes his eyes.
The world slows.
Sound drops away.
Then—
A pulse.
Zenith opens his eyes.
ZENITH (low, calm):You're not from here.
STREET —
Zenith steps forward—
—and the distance collapses.
He lands silently on cracked concrete.
Same location where skybreak vanished
The ground still hums faintly.
Zenith kneels, pressing two fingers to the surface.
The energy reacts.
His expression changes—not fear.
Recognition.
ZENITH (quietly):A traveler… but not a wanderer.
He stands.
Looks toward the skyline.
ZENITH:You're hunting something.
A beat.
ZENITH:So am I.
JAXON STEEL'S APARTMENT | NIGHT
The TV is on.
Muted.
Footage of destruction loops endlessly.
JAXON STEEL stands by the window, city lights reflecting in tired eyes.
His arm—still faintly glowing blue beneath the skin—twitches involuntarily.
He clenches his fist.
Then releases it.
JAXON (to himself):I'm not ready… but neither is the city.
A sudden sensation.
Pressure.
Not pain.
Awareness.
Jaxon looks up—toward the sky.
Something just passed through New Atlantics.
He doesn't know what.
But he feels it.
INN – CENTRAL COMMAND | SAME TIME
Alarms don't blare.
Instead—systems hesitate.
Screens flicker as if choosing whether to obey physics.
Tom stares at his console, stunned.
TOM:Director… the anomaly just moved. No propulsion. No jump.
Madison's voice is steady, but quieter now.
MADISON:How fast?
Tom swallows.
TOM:Instant.
Charles exhales slowly.
CHARLES:That rules out Skybreak.
Madison nods once.
MADISON:And introduces a new variable.
She turns to the room.
MADISON (firm):Log this as a priority unknown. No engagement orders. No pursuit.
Charles looks at her.
CHARLES:You think it's hostile?
Madison shakes her head.
MADISON:I think it's watching.
ROOFTOP – HIGH ABOVE THE CITY | NIGHT
Zenith stands at the edge.
Below him, the city breathes—unaware of how close it is to something far larger than itself.
Behind him—
A faint distortion.
A footstep.
Heavy.
Not human.
Zenith doesn't turn.
ZENITH:You're late.
A clawed foot touching concrete.
A low, alien breath.
Zenith finally turns his head—just enough to acknowledge the presence.
ZENITH (calm, resolute):This world is already claimed.
The alien presence shifts.
Tension hums between them.
Not a fight.
Yet.
High above New Atlantics:
Skybreak moving toward Azrael Shen
Lopez, fully under Hydra's shadow
Jaxon Steel, fractured but unbroken
INN, divided and uncertain
Zenith, standing between worlds
Something alien, now fully here
The city looks small.
Vulnerable.
TO BE CONTINUED.