The gym's fluorescent buzz cut through the stale air, mirrors reflecting Alex Thorne's hesitant stance like judgments from a dozen angles. He shadowboxed lightly, fists cutting air, but his mind was a loop of the Diver's cold depths—Mia's blistering arm from the spray, the way she'd clung to him in the van, her breath ragged against his neck. "You didn't have to do that," she'd murmured, her eyes searching his in the dim light, a mix of gratitude and something unspoken that made his pulse stutter. The love triangle wasn't a game anymore; it was a current pulling him under.
Jax lumbered in, towel over his shoulder, his grin wide as the ring itself. "Sparring time, lightweight? Or you still mooning over your girl troubles?" He tapped the heavy bag, the thud echoing like a challenge.
Alex lowered his gloves, wiping sweat from his brow. "Both, I guess. Enforcer op's tomorrow—gotta stay sharp."
The Enforcer's turf: a underground fight club masking Vortex's muscle trades, where the brute laundered comms for his boss. The squad's angle—Alex and Jax as "undercover fighters" to snag his device during the melee. But the system's prompt from dawn nagged, a blue ghost in his vision:
SYSTEM PROMPT: Mission Unlocked! Objective: Tag the Enforcer's comms with a tracker mid-bout. Reward: Unlock 'Close Quarters Combat.' Failure: 'Shadow Puppetry.' Tip: Let the crowd's roar cover your moves—don't let the heart play tricks.
Shadow puppets? The system's whimsy felt like mockery. Tracking meant getting in the thick of it, risking Jax, and the thought twisted with Mia's burn still fresh.
Mia poked her head in, her toolkit clinking, neon hair tied back. "Jammer's tuned for the club's signals. Don't let him pulp you, Alex." She tossed him a wristband gadget, her fingers brushing his, the touch lingering—a quiet claim that warmed him despite the guilt.
Lila followed, leaning against the doorframe, her workout tank clinging from a run. "Or me having to drag you out." She smirked, but her eyes softened, pulling him close with a look. "We talk after? About... everything."
Jax cleared his throat, exaggerated. "Save the mush for later. Let's see what Thorne's got."
The spar blurred into rhythm—Jax's heavy swings forcing Alex to weave, his implant sharpening reflexes. But doubts crept in: Mia's confession echoing, Lila's kiss a counterpoint. A stray punch grazed his jaw, Jax pulling it. "Earth to Alex. Fight like you mean it."
By the end, bruised and breathless, Alex nodded. The ring waited, but so did the choices.
The fight club throbbed under the city, bass-heavy music vibrating through concrete walls, the crowd a roar of bets and bloodlust. Alex taped his hands in the dim locker room, the Enforcer's rep hanging heavy— a wall of scars and fury, his comms belt a key to Vortex's muscle network.
Jax clapped his shoulder. "We got this. You distract, I smash."
Outside the ring, Mia and Lila blended with the crowd—Mia in a hoodie, her jammer humming, Lila's eyes sharp over a fake bet slip. "Stay safe," Mia texted, her words carrying that extra weight. Lila's hand squeezed his before he climbed in, her whisper hot: "Come back to me."
The bell clanged, the Enforcer charging like a freight train. Alex dodged, the system's Close Quarters kicking in—feints and hooks landing crisp. The crowd surged, bets flying, but the Dorks crashed the edge—Caleb shouting odds, Tessa's scanner whirring. "Thorne's going down!" Caleb jeered.
Finn tried muscling a bet, but slipped on spilled beer, bowling into Rico, who flailed like a startled cat. "Ghost fail!" Jax bellowed from the ring, drawing laughs even as he tagged in.
The Enforcer grabbed Alex, slamming him against ropes, breath hot with rage. "Vortex sends regards." In the crush, Alex slapped the tracker on his belt, the device beeping silent success.
Jax barreled in, his haymaker dropping the brute. The crowd exploded, but guards swarmed—the squad bolting amid chaos, Dorks scrambling in their wake.
Back in the van, adrenaline fading, Mia bandaged a cut on Alex's knuckles, her touch gentle. "You were amazing." Lila watched from the front, her smile tight, the air humming with what wasn't said.
The comms data unlocked a new thread—the Shadow Weaver's lair. But as Mia's fingers lingered and Lila's glance burned, Alex knew the real weave was unraveling around him.