Night settled over the city like a heavy blanket, but inside the abandoned warehouse the Vex Crew used as their hideout, silence wasn't peace — it was pressure. It felt like the walls themselves were holding their breath.
Ragna's defeat had fractured them.
And now the cracks were widening.
Half the crew paced nervously, whispering about what they saw the last time Ragna walked into the streets like a monster. The other half argued loudly, still trying to convince themselves that their leader wasn't gone — just "missing."
But fear didn't care about loyalty.
Not anymore.
Jex sat at the center of the chaos, his elbows on his knees, hands locked together. His eyes wouldn't stop replaying the moment Ragna vanished. His voice shook when he finally spoke.
"Look… we need to decide. Right now."
All eyes snapped to him.
He swallowed hard.
"We can't pretend things are normal. Ragna changed… and someone changed him. And if we don't figure out who it was, we're next."
A few members cursed under their breath. Others shivered. The truth was uncomfortable, but none of them dared deny it.
Then someone shouted from the back:
"I'm done! I'm not dying because of Ragna's mistakes!"
That one voice sparked an exodus.
Three members grabbed their bags. Two more followed. Voices overlapped:
"I'm out."
"This is insane."
"I'm not fighting whatever beat him."
Feet rushed toward the exit like rats escaping a sinking ship.
Jex didn't blame them.
He almost stood up to leave too.
But something inside him tightened — a mixture of fear, pride, and the leftover shadow of loyalty to Ragna. He couldn't walk away without answers. He couldn't let someone else pull the strings of their crew.
And he definitely couldn't forget how Ragna looked when he came back with that strange power burning around him.
When the room calmed, only five remained — the ones too stubborn, too angry, or too desperate to run.
They looked at Jex like he was supposed to lead them.
He exhaled slowly.
"…We find whoever changed Ragna," he said. "We find the source. And we take that power for ourselves."
Their eyes widened — not in fear, but in hunger.
That was all they needed.
---
Miles away, in his hidden facility built deep beneath the city, the Architect leaned back in his hovering chair, observing the warehouse through his drone's lens.
He didn't see gang members.
He saw variables.
Moving pieces.
Tools.
His mechanical eye flickered as it zoomed in on Jex.
"Predictable," the Architect murmured. "Fear divides them. Pride guides them. And desperation… desperation opens the door."
The drone shifted viewpoints as the Vex group left the warehouse in the night, heading toward an abandoned industrial district.
Perfect.
Exactly where he wanted them.
-----
In the Architect's control room, machinery hummed like a sleeping beast. Shadows danced across coils, reactors, and screens glowing with unknown equations.
A tall figure — his second-in-command — approached.
"They're moving," he said. "Just as you predicted."
The Architect tapped a screen. The blueprint of a large machine pulsed in red.
"Good. They will arrive soon."
"And when they do?" the second asked.
The Architect smiled, sharp and calculating.
"We give them a taste. Not true power… but enough to keep them blind."
"Why not eliminate them entirely?" the second whispered.
"Because pawns are useful," he replied. "And until Kayden is fully awakened, we need distractions. Observations. Field tests."
He paused, eyes narrowing at the glowing sigil data streaming across a monitor.
"And they will serve."
---
Jex and the remaining Vex members moved through the industrial ruins, guided by nothing but rumors and the strange mechanical markings they found days ago. The more they followed the trail, the colder the air felt.
As if the city itself warned them not to continue.
One of them whispered:
"Jex… this place feels wrong."
"I know," he muttered. "Keep walking."
Then they saw it.
A metal door built into the side of an old steel factory.
It wasn't old.
It wasn't rusted.
It wasn't normal.
Before they could knock, the door slid open on its own, revealing a long, dim corridor glowing with white-blue light.
One member took a step back.
"…Jex, man, I'm not sure—"
"Move," Jex said. His voice carried more determination than he actually felt.
They walked inside.
The door slammed behind them with a metallic echo that felt like a sentence
---
At the end of the corridor, the Architect waited — hands folded behind his back, coat trailing like a shadow, mechanical eye piercing through each one of them.
None of the Vex Crew could breathe normally.
Jex's voice came out hoarse.
"You… You're the one who helped Ragna."
The Architect didn't deny it.
He simply nodded.
"You seek power," he said calmly.
"You seek strength."
"You seek relevance."
Every Vex member stiffened.
How did he know?
How did he see through them so easily?
"You can't replace Ragna," the Architect continued, walking slowly around them. "But you can become… more."
The lights dimmed.
Machines around them activated.
The floor vibrated.
Jex's heart pounded.
"So you're saying… you'll give us what you gave him?"
The Architect stopped in front of him.
"No," he said quietly.
Silence.
Then he leaned closer.
"I will give you something far more… controlled."
Jex felt the meaning behind that word.
But he also felt the temptation.
The power that took down Ragna was real.
And if this man could create it…
Jex clenched his fists.
"We accept."
The Architect smiled.
Not warmly.
Not kindly.
Just knowingly.
"Good," he said.
"Then let us begin."
The metal restraints rose from the floor.
The machines unfolded.
Lights ignited like awakening stars.
Some Vex members hesitated.
Some wanted to run.
But it was too late.
The choice had already been made.
The chapter ends with the Architect lifting a hand toward the machine controls and saying:
> "Remember… every power has a price."
The room goes dark.
And the screaming starts.