🌆 Evening – East Sector, Ikari District
The streets buzzed like normal.
Ren ran down the sidewalk, hoodie up, eyes darting left and right. Kiyomi and Zephyr were behind him, silent and tense.
Aya was missing. No one remembered her.
Literally no one.
Her name wasn't on the school roster.
Her desk was gone.
Her photos, her voice messages — gone from every device.
Everyone just said, "Aya who?"
Except for Ren.
And that terrified him.
🧠 Zephyr's Theory
"It's a high-level Rift seal," Zephyr said. "They didn't just capture her. They erased her trace."
Kiyomi growled. "Like she never existed."
Ren clenched his fists. "We're getting her back."
But they didn't know that the Mirror Vessel was already walking through the city.
Wearing R
en's face.
📺 Trouble on the News
> "Breaking: Violent teen attacks random civilians in Shinka Plaza!"
Footage played on every screen downtown.
Ren's face.
Ren's hoodie.
Ren's powers.
Tossing people through glass storefronts. Destroying light poles. Laughing.
Kiyomi stared at the screen in disbelief.
"That's not you."
Ren's voice was dry. "Doesn't matter. It looks like me."
"Someone's framing you," Zephyr said. "And people are
going to believe it."
🚨 Suddenly, sirens.
And the city responded fast.
Drones in the sky. Police with mana-resistant gear. News vans. Civilians recording.
They were in the center of a manhunt — and Ren Kaido was public enemy number one.
Kiyomi grabbed his arm. "We need to split. Now."
But Zephyr's rings pulsed red.
"Too late."
A crowd had already formed.
> "There he is! The one from the video!"
> "He destroyed the café!"
> "I saw him fight that cop!"
Ren stepped back.
"I didn't do
this…"
But it didn't matter.
⚔ Fight on the Metro Tracks
They escaped to the underground metro system.
The city above boiled with chaos. Rumors spread fast. And worse — so did fear.
That's when they heard it.
Footsteps.
Ren turned… and stared at himself.
The Mirror Vessel smiled. "Nice hoodie."
It stepped forward, and the light flickered.
Zephyr pulled Ren back. "You fight him — the city thinks you're attacking a civilian."
Kiyomi didn't care. "Let them think that. I'll burn this fake a
live."
The Vessel raised a hand — blue energy flaring in a perfect copy of Ren's pulse.
> "You're not ready to face what's coming, little seal."
> "You barely remember your father's screams."
Ren's Mark flared violently.
And in that moment —
he charged.
💥 Mirror vs. Original
They collided mid-track — blue shockwaves slamming into the tunnel walls.
The Mirror taunted him with his own voice.
> "You're weak, Ren. You only survived the crash because someone else paid the price."
> "Let's see how many others have to die for you this time."
They fought fast, brutal — fists, energy, memory echoes.
The Mirror used pieces of Ren's mind against him — illusions of his mother's voice, his sister's laugh, Aya's scream.
He faltered.
But then — he heard another voice.
> "Renny… I believe in you."
It was Aya.
For a second — the Rift faltered.
Ren unleashed.
💥 Finisher Move – Skyborn Flashpoint
His Mark overflowed — light cutting through illusion and sound.
He slammed the Vessel into the tunnel floor, eyes glowing blue-white.
"Get out of my skin."
BOOM.
A shockwave ruptured the tunnel — the Mirror Vessel exploded into shards of light, disintegrating.
But not before whispering:
> "You're st
ill too late."
🔚 Aftermath
They stood in the dust.
Police above. Media chaos.
The name "Ren Kaido" was already trending for all the wrong reasons.
Zephyr's rings scanned the remains. "It was only a projection… The real Vessel is still out there."
Kiyomi grabbed Ren's hand tightly.
He didn't pull away.
"We find Aya," he said. "We fix this."
"And when we do…" Kiyomi added, "We burn whoever's behind this
to the ground."
🧊 Meanwhile – Aya, Inside the Rift Crystal
She floated in silence.
Memories flickered around her like TV static.
She whispered, "Ren… I'm still here."
But her voice made ripples.
And something in the Rift turned to look at her.
It smiled.
And it had K
iyomi's face.
🔥 Chapter 17 Teaser:
> With Ren's identity in question, the team must go into hiding. But Ren begins receiving broken visions from Aya — and she's trying to show him something. Meanwhile, Jin receives a visitor from the past: a man who should be dead. The one who passed the Mark on the plane… return
s.