The air outside the underground lair was cooler, sharper, almost sobering after the fever that had just gripped the den. The four of them walked together—Miles, Chen, Nina, and her brother—masks still on, the neon spill of the city above cutting strange shadows across their faces.Nina’s brother, still giddy, turned toward Chen and bowed slightly in gratitude. “Thank you. For the opportunity. I won’t waste it. I promise, I’ll put everything I’ve got into this.”Chen gave a short nod, his tone calm, measured, the kind of voice that carried weight without trying. “Don’t promise me. Prove it. Skills matter more than words. If you rise, rise clean.”The boy’s chest swelled, and he nodded again, more fiercely this time.Nina extended her hand. She wasn’t trembling now—she looked him straight in the eye through her mask. “I’m not a hacker. I was just here to cheer my brother on. But thank you—for treating him like he mattered tonight. People don’t always do that.”Chen shook her hand once,

Donald’s words dripped like poison in Gary’s ears. We made her kneel.Gary’s chains groaned as he strained against them, his muscles burning, veins bulging blue under his skin. He wanted to leap, to tear their throats out with his bare hands, but the residue of their drug clung to him like wet cement. Whatever that substance was, he needed to know its content.Evelyn’s lips parted, as if to speak, but her voice cracked into silence. Her eyes were full… full of something Gary couldn’t bear to name. Shame? Fear? Or was it despair?Gary’s chest broke open with grief. “You animals,” he hissed. “She was carrying my child. She was our future. And you —you dared put your filthy hands on her?”Williams tilted his head, feigning innocence. “Ah, the child. Yes. That was… an unfortunate complication.”A cold blade slid down Gary’s spine. His voice thundered. “Where. Is. My. Baby? Where is my fucking baby?!!”Silence. Heavy, thick, suffocating.Donald smirked, his pistol glinting as he raised it c

The lawyer arrived within minutes — smug, freshly shaven, and still in his robe as if the Lancaster estate was his second home. His name was Victor Petrovic, and he carried himself like a man allergic to humility. His gait was lazy, arrogant, every motion deliberate as though even gravity bowed for him.He didn’t knock. He didn’t ask to be seated. He simply walked in, chin high, scanning the room until his gaze landed on Dorcas.“Ah,” he said, his lips curling into a small, dry smile. “So, you’re the famous intruder.”Dorcas didn’t flinch. “Chief Dorcas James, NYPD. I’m here on official warrant…”“I’m aware of your name,” he interrupted smoothly, waving his hand as though brushing off dust. “You’re the one they replaced Banks with. The… lady.” The word came out drenched in mockery.Madam Ann hid a smile behind her wine glass. Donald smirked from the couch.Dorcas’ jaw tightened, but her voice stayed level. “Yes, the lady who took down a corrupt Chief and saved this district from rotti

Gary’s eyes snapped open, his heart pounding like a fist against his ribs. For a split second, he figured it was just another bad dream—the kind that left him soaked in sweat, staring at the ceiling back home. But no. The flicker of that single candle on the rickety table wasn’t some trick of his mind. The air down here in the basement smelled like rust and mold, thick enough to choke on. And those chains around his wrists? Yeah, they were real. Biting into his skin like they owned him.He took a ragged breath, then another. The air scraped his throat raw, like swallowing gravel. His head throbbed from whatever they’d dosed him with earlier—some crap to keep him down. But now... something shifted inside him. A spark, faint at first, like a match flaring in the dark. His power. It was trickling back, not the full rush he remembered, but enough to make his fingers tingle.Gary flexed his hands, testing it. The chains groaned under the pull. He yanked once—nothing. Twice—still holding. T

Evelyn responded, “No.” Her eyes flew open, wide and pleading. “Don’t... don’t say that. Not yet.”He nodded, swallowing the fury. “Okay. Okay. What else? Tell me. Get it out.”She took a shaky breath, like steeling herself. Her free hand drifted to her belly which was flat now, but he knew. He envisioned her stomach full, round, the glow on her face when the baby kicked. Their little girl. He imagined her thinking of pretty names for their baby while he was away in China, playing the superhero while he would not save those dear to him.“The baby,” she said, and her voice shattered on the word. Fresh tears streamed down, unchecked. “She.. she was coming early anyway. I could feel it. But they... they wouldn’t wait. They brought some um… some alley-way doctor, the kind who does shady stuff for cash. They…” she broke down in tears again, “They said I didn’t deserve to keep her. That she’d be tainted, like me. They said they wouldn’t allow me have a child for you, a loser!”Gary’s world