Smoke curled from Trigger’s revolver, the faint blue-white glow of its barrel lighting the alley like a dying star.

  He stood over them — Lior motionless, Ayasha near the dumpster, Cael slumped against the wall. Three bodies beneath one shadow.

  Trigger adjusted his hat, revolver lowering to his side.

  “Reckon that’s over,” he said, quiet but certain.

  Ayasha’s eyes cracked open. The ache in her shoulder pulsed with each breath, but her focus locked on Cael.

  He was already watching her.

  No words — just a single nod, sharp and sure.

  They both knew what the other was thinking.

  Ayasha’s palm pressed to the ground, grit grinding into scraped knuckles. Blood ran warm down her cheek. She pushed upright, breath steadying into a harsh rhythm.

  Her skin shimmered. A faint glow bled outward — violent, alive, restless. Trails of light danced along her arms and legs like sparks caught in motion, each flicker leaving a fleeting afterimage.

  Crimson-orange wavered around her like heat above summer asphalt.

  Tension gathered — SHWOOM! — BAM! — like a vault door slamming shut.

  — Niche Activated: Kinetic Vault —

  Stores kinetic energy from movement and releases it in powerful bursts.

  Her fists clenched. Every skid, pivot, and impact fed the glow brighter — each step a fuse waiting to ignite.

  She exploded forward, fist driving into Trigger’s chest.

  BOOOOM!

  The shockwave rippled as dust and debris spiraled away in heat-warped arcs.

  Trigger’s boots slid, coat snapping in the wind of impact. His grin faltered slightly as he rolled his shoulders.

  “…That’s new.”

  He steadied himself, blood tracing the corner of his mouth. The faint orange shimmer caught his eye — Ayasha’s aura burning hotter, the air bending with heat.

  Trigger’s gaze narrowed beneath the brim of his hat. “What the hell…”

  Then, from the corner of his eye, he saw Cael — half-crouched, skin flickering with threads of green-gold light. Digital lines traced across his arms and temples, recalculating with each heartbeat, eyes locked on every shift of Trigger’s frame.

  — Niche Activated: Mindframe —

  Simulates outcomes in real time from movement, vitals, and emotions.

  Trigger’s hand froze mid-reach, cigarette ember glowing red. His voice dropped to a rough whisper.

  “Wait… how do you two have Niches?”

  Lior’s head snapped toward them, battered body shuddering for breath. His eyes widened; realization crashed through the pain.

  They… have powers?

  Cael’s focus sharpened, mind splitting into a dozen running predictions. The glow from his circuitry intensified, each pulse syncing to Trigger’s breath.

  He called out sharply, “Left hip — two seconds!”

  Ayasha adjusted instantly, vaulting sideways, boots cracking pavement as she redirected stored energy into a wide sweep.

  BOOM!

  The kinetic backlash sent Trigger’s coat whipping backward. He recovered fast, twisting with the momentum.

  “You kids just don’t quit, do you?” he growled, spinning the revolver in one hand.

  “You should’ve stayed down. You’re just collateral.”

  Cael’s aura flickered brighter, his breathing rough. “Not collateral,” he shot back. “Calculation.”

  Ayasha charged again, motion feeding her vault, every pivot building power.

  SHWOOM — BAM!

  A burst of compressed force sent pebbles scattering.

  Trigger blocked, staggered, then retaliated with a sharp elbow that grazed her cheek.

  Cael shouted, “Duck!” and she dropped low as another round grazed past her shoulder.

  CRACK!

  Trigger smirked. “Guess you two are a matched set after all — brains and brawn. Shame it won’t save you.”

  He stepped forward, revolver snapping up again, blue-lit rounds humming in the chamber.

  Cael’s pulse spiked; numbers and trajectories flooded his mind until his body trembled from the overload.

  His voice came low and strained as the flood of outcomes overloaded him — gift and cost, both relentless.

  I have to act, or we’re all dead — NOW!

  His arm snapped up, pointing at Ayasha with the precision of a commander on the edge of collapse.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  “Ayasha — !” He threw up signs signaling her to attack left.

  She nodded.

  The air trembled with her glow as she swung wide, feinting with a right hook that glowed like a brand.

  Trigger’s head turned, weight shifting to guard — and Cael burst from the other side, digital aura spiraling like collapsing data.

  The trap snapped shut.

  THUUM!

  Impact thundered. Cael’s shoulder plowed into Trigger’s ribs the same instant Ayasha’s fist slammed his flank.

  Trigger stumbled half a step, dropping to a knee. His breath rasped — a sharp grunt.

  “This is gettin’ personal…” he snarled.

  For the first time, his eyes blinked unfocused — a dazed flicker, the faintest trace of concern. For an instant, the predator looked human.

  The street was smoke and ruin. Lamps buzzed overhead; scorched walls shuddered in the night wind. Debris littered the pavement. In the distance, faint shouts grew louder — reinforcements closing.

  Headlights tore through the haze — then a van skidded into view with a shriek of tires.

  SCREEEECH!

  “Get in!” Kalu’s voice cut through the chaos, raw and urgent from the driver’s seat.

  Ayasha hooked an arm under Lior, dragging him. Sweat streaked her face; her breath came ragged. Cael flanked her, head snapping behind them for any sign of Trigger’s pursuit.

  “Ayasha… Cael…” Lior rasped, words catching. “We—”

  Gunfire drowned the sentence.

  RATATATAT!

  Dark silhouettes closed at the far end of the block, Potestas soldiers sweeping forward with rifles raised.

  The van door slammed open. They piled in, Ayasha and Cael bracing Lior between them as Kalu punched the accelerator.

  Bullets pinged off steel as the door screeched shut.

  CLANG!

  Inside, the world shrank to the engine’s pound and three frantic hearts. Lior slumped against the wall, trembling, breath broken into shallow gasps. Sweat trickled down his cheek as he turned to them.

  “Thank you…” The words barely there.

  In the mirror, Kalu’s eyes cut between the road ahead and the smoke behind.

  “We saw you… on the rooftop,” Lior managed.

  “You were surrounded. How…?”

  “Smoke grenades and a flashbang I grabbed from Rei. Was able to make it out clean.” Kalu’s voice was steady; his fist clenched beside him.

  “What about Rei and Carter?” Lior asked softly.

  “I haven’t seen them since we split.” Kalu’s tone steadied. “But I wouldn’t worry about those two. If any of us could escape, it’d be them.”

  Silence held. Not peace.

  How do you two have Niches? Trigger’s taunt echoed.

  Lior’s breath caught. Across from him, Ayasha and Cael exchanged a glance — quick, heavy. Neither spoke. Neither denied it.

  Lior moved to the passenger seat to talk more with Kalu, but as he sat, his eyelids sagged, exhaustion dragging him toward unconsciousness.

  They stopped. His head snapped up, breath uneven, shirt sticking to his chest.

  Where… where are we? Why was I so out of it? I know he didn’t hit me that hard…

  Kalu’s gaze met his, eyes hard, sweat beading.

  “It’s the safe house. And from what those two told me, you activated your Niche fully for the first time. Your body goes into shock.”

  Lior blinked, chest tightening.

  “Niche… what’s a Niche… and why do I have one?”

  “I’ll explain when we have time,” Kalu said with a faint smirk — the first calm since the explosion.

  The van rolled to a halt before a crumbling safe house, ivy choking the walls, windows black as hollow eyes. The air here was still. Unnatural.

  Lior’s voice came flat. Heavy.

  “So… you’ve been lying to me too?”

  Ayasha’s head dropped. Shoulders tensed; guilt etched every line.

  Cael turned away, jaw clenched.

  “It’s not what you think,” Ayasha whispered. “We—”

  ZIP — CRACK!

  Red burst across the windshield. Kalu’s head snapped back, then forward, the horn blaring under his weight.

  BWAAAAH!

  Blood streaked the glass. The sharp, acrid smell of gunpowder stung Lior’s nose, mixing with the cold night air.

  Time didn’t just slow — it stopped.

  The world shrank to the red and the body collapsing into Lior’s arms. His fingers dug into Kalu’s shirt, trembling, desperate to hold him against the impossible weight.

  “No! Kalu!!” His voice tore raw. “Please—!”

  Metal clicked through the haze. Through the fractured, spider-webbed windshield, a shadow moved on a rooftop.

  Trigger.

  He lay prone, calm as a man at rest, the long body of a sniper rifle braced against the ledge. One eye glinted behind the scope. His hand worked the bolt with mechanical precision.

  CHK-CHKT!

  “Down!” Cael’s shout split the moment.

  He and Ayasha yanked Lior back as bullets hissed into the frame. Together they pulled Kalu’s body from the van, ducking behind the wreckage — away from the nest.

  Cael pressed two fingers to Kalu’s neck. His face hardened; hope drained.

  “There’s no heartbeat.” His voice cracked but didn’t falter.

  Lior’s world blurred. His hands clung to Kalu’s collar.

  Not him… anyone but him.

  He was the anchor — the one who always stood tall. If Kalu could fall, none of them were safe.

  And then — he saw it.

  A small, pulsing green light flashing at the back of Kalu’s shirt.

  Lior’s breath left in a sob. His voice broke into a horrified shout.

  “They… they let him go. He didn’t escape…” Tears struck the dirt, hot and relentless. “…they tracked him.”

  Ayasha’s voice barely rose above the wind.

  “I’m sorry, Kalu.”

  Cael’s voice frayed to a whisper.

  “I didn’t see it… I didn’t see it.”

  The truth hit harder than the bullet.

  Kalu hadn’t just died — he’d been used.

  ?

  End of Chapter 6

  The night may fade, but the scars won’t.