Kiro's eyes fluttered closed. His world went blank. With the last shred of his will, his fingers fumbled on his phone, hitting the call button for Veyra.
KIRO: (Voice a weak, slurred whisper) "Vey...ra... I'm... sewer..."
The phone slipped from his grasp. He tried to move, to get away, and tumbled from the roof.
BANG.
He landed hard on the ground below, and everything went black.
NEO: (Peering over the edge of the roof at the motionless body) "Good riddance."
He turned and walked away, vanishing into the night.
TIME UNKNOWN
Kiro's eyes opened. His vision was a blurry haze of pain and confusion. He could feel himself moving, bouncing. He was slung over someone's shoulder. He caught a glimpse of familiar orange hair.
VEYRA.
His eyes closed again, surrendering to the darkness.
They opened again. He was on a cold, metal table. Bright lights shone above him. He heard voices, distant and echoing as if through water.
VEYRA: (Voice tight with panic) "Doc... is he going to be okay?!"
doctor : (A calm, clinical voice) "He's stable, but he's in critical condition. The poison... it's a miracle he's not dead. His body is fighting it in a way I've never seen."
The world faded to black once more.
LATER
Kiro's eyes opened. He was in a sterile, white room. The lights were dim. He was bandaged heavily, his body screaming with pain.
KIRO: (Voice raspy and weak) "Where... am I? Who... are you?"
A man in a doctor's coat stepped into his view. He had a kind but weary face.
DR. BROWN: "I am a doctor. You can call me Dr. Brown." He turned towards the doorway and raised his voice. "VEYRA! Your man is alive and well!"
VEYRA: "You're up. How are you doing?"
KIRO: (Groaning as he tries to sit up) "Sore... but okay." He looked around the empty room. It was filled with medical supplies and advanced equipment. He was lying on a med-chair that hummed softly. "What happened?"
VEYRA: "I found you out cold, badly damaged. There was a hole in your chest, your arm was a mess, and your hand was nearly off."
KIRO: (He looked down at his hand, flexing his fingers in disbelief) "But... it's here. How did you find me?"
VEYRA: "You called me. Do you remember? I was following you, just keeping a slow pace to back you up."
KIRO: "Oh... I can't remember that. I must have been bad off to call for help."
VEYRA: "So I brought you to Doc Brown. He's a... trusted family doctor to me. Only one. But he does shady stuff."
DR. BROWN: (Calling out from across the room where he was organizing tools) "That's me, son. You were in bad shape. Must be that Cube that healed you," he added, nodding at Veyra. "She told me."
VEYRA: "So, tell me. Did you find anything out?"
KIRO: "Yes. This Neo guy met up with a shady guy, like a rat. Name was Grieg, by the sewers. He does black market stuff. Sold him four knives. Two for his target, two for... me. He knew I was following."
VEYRA: (Letting out a frustrated sigh) "Oof. My bad, Kiro. Sorry, I forgot you don't go out much. He's an elf his ears are sensitive to sound. That's probably why you lost the element of surprise." Her expression then turned stern. "So why did you lose the fight?"
KIRO: "He attacked me with these shadow elf illusions. Then he used them as cover and tricked me. The blades were poisoned and explosive."
VEYRA: (She reached over and gave him a light, frustrated slap on the back of the head) "Kiro! You should have known better! The bigger the bounty, the more dangerous they are! And you... you know you just rely on that Cube now!" Another light slap. "I watched one of your old fight videos from the pits. You were good before the Cube! Martial arts! A genius in battle! That's for being stupid and making me worry!"
KIRO: (Rubbing his head) "Ouch! That hurt... Sorry. It won't happen again."
KIRO: (Holding up his perfectly healed hand, confused) "So my hand is back... but you said it was badly damaged. To the point it was off."
DOC BROWN: "Oh yes, it was, son. Front and back, the skin was almost gone. I could see the bone even saw a few missing pieces. Then I saw it... your bone was coming back. Which is impossible." The doc shook his head in awe. "So I took some skin grafts and patched it up, bandaged it, and hoped for the best. Threw in a few plates, some cyberware for the future... in case I need to upgrade you later."
KIRO: "Upgrade?"
VEYRA: "Oh yes, Kiro. You owe me big. But I'll take the money later, later. So I bought you a health check... and an eye tracker. One of those fancy ones. You can check anyone's Cube, bounty, or public info now. Take a look at Doc Brown."
Kiro focused, and his new cybernetic eye flickered with a soft light. Text appeared in his vision:
[DOCTOR , SURNAME: BROWN , GIVEN NAME: NULL , CUBE: NONE , HEIGHT: 5'11" , AGE: 58]
KIRO: "Nice! This is cool! Wait, wait... Veyra, you're being a witch again. How did you"
DOC BROWN: (Clearing his throat loudly, cutting him off) "I know something of your investigation. The 'Sewer Rat.' That's what they call Grieg on the streets. Even real rats go to him for illegal tools. He's got connections to the entire black market. Even offered me medication once high-tier stuff and cyberware. I refused." The doc leaned in, his voice dropping. "You can find him. At night. In the sewers."
VEYRA: "One more thing. You can see your own health condition. It's a low-tier function, so it's just a number. Like a game. Right now, it's at... 85%, I think? Because you're still healing."
KIRO: (Focusing inward) "Oh, that's the number I see every time I activate it. Yeah, it's 85 percent." He shifted, the seriousness returning. "So what's the plan with Neo and Destripador? Do we hunt down the rat, or wait for Friday?"
VEYRA: "Bad news. You slept so long we're almost out of time. It is Friday. So, I will go after the Sewer Rat."
KIRO: (Surprised) "Are you sure? Wait, you're going? But you're a"
CH-CHINK.
Before Kiro could finish his sentence, Veyra had already taken a bullet, tossed it into the air, and in a blur of motion, drawn her pistol and aimed the unloaded gun directly between his eyes.
CLICK. The hammer fell on an empty chamber.
VEYRA: (One eyebrow raised, a dangerous smile on her lips) "Care to repeat that? Want to spare me?"
KIRO: (Eyes wide, hands up in surrender) "No! No, ma'am! You're scary! Message received!"
VEYRA: "Good. Okay, I'll go for the meeting place. But which one?"
DR. BROWN: (Calling out from his workstation) "There are three other doctors in the area. The only suspicious one is the one next to the sewer by the gym. Down that road, in the alleyway. They're normally closed... except for VIP clients."
KIRO: "Sure. I'll start there."
With a determined nod, they split up. Veyra headed into the shadows toward the sewers, while Kiro moved toward the dubious alley clinic, his new cyber-eye already scanning for threats.
Kiro found Raiji at their usual gym, already finished workout and wafting outside.
RAIJI: "What's up, man? The loser wakes!" He laughed, giving Kiro a hearty slap on the back.
KIRO: (Wincing slightly but smiling) "That fight caught me off guard."
RAIJI: "Yeah, 'off guard'." Raiji reached over and gave him a light, brotherly slap on the back of the head. "You know we fight a lot of guys who fight dirty anyway. Good to have you back. Veyra sent me a message. 'Keep an eye on him. Help him.' So here." He tossed Kiro a piece of sleek, dark tech. "A tool. Put it around your arm. While it's on, you'll be as silent as a leaf and nearly invisible to scanners. Or so she says."
Kiro caught it. It was a big, round bracer made of a dull iron-like alloy. He strapped it to his forearm. A soft holographic display lit up on its surface: ACTIVATE STEALTH PROTOCOL? [Y/N]
KIRO: "Let's go. So, Veyra filled you in?"
RAIJI: "Enough to know we're hunting a slippery elf. Let's move."
They moved out, not to the streets, but to the rooftops. Within minutes, they were perched above the alley next to the suspicious clinic, waiting silently for Neo to appear for his 5 p.m. appointment.
MEANWHILE, IN THE SEWERS…
The air reeked of stagnant water and decay. Brown sludge and dirt coated everything, and long roots hung from the ceiling like veins. Veyra crept forward, her footsteps echoing through the narrow tunnel.
VEYRA: (muttering to herself) "This place stinks... Kiro, you owe me big for this. A lady like me shouldn't have to wade through this mess."
Up ahead, a suspicious wooden door stood slightly ajar. Light flickered from within. Veyra drew her kinetic pistol, moved silently to the side of the door, and glanced inside. A short, hooded man was shuffling through crates.
She entered slowly, her hands raised in a fake surrender.
In a flash, the man spun and hurled a gas grenade.
Veyra didn't flinch. She shot the grenade mid-air before it could hit the ground. It exploded harmlessly against the wall in a cloud of dissipating smoke.
As the man blinked in surprise, she slid across the wet floor, avoiding the three knives he threw in panic. They clattered against the stone behind her.
VEYRA: "How cute. Knives."
She activated a small energy shield from her wrist device, deflected another blade, and used the momentum to leap cleanly over his head. Before he could turn, she landed and pressed the barrel of her gun against the back of his neck.
VEYRA: "Are you the dealer?"
STRANGE MAN: (voice trembling) "What dealer, lady? I-I just need supplies for my shop!"
VEYRA: "I'm looking for illegal blades. Guns. Cyberware. The good stuff."
The man slowly raised his hands, a sly grin spreading under his hood.
STRANGE MAN: "Ohhh… business. Well, why didn't you say so? The name's Grieg. I'm the supplier. The middleman. The Sewer Rat."
Veyra smiled a cold, sharp, evil smile.
VEYRA: "Yeah. I know. Got you."
IN THE SEWERS - PRESENT DAY
GRIEG: "Ok, ok! What do you need to know?"
VEYRA: "Who is Destripador? Why is he killing rich women? And what are you supplying him for?"
GRIEG: "That's a hard question" THWACK. Veyra knocked his head with the gun. "Oach! Fine! You know the Sky City, right? Well, 15 years ago, he was there. In that government lab. They were illegally testing... Project White."
VEYRA: "Project White?"
GRIEG: "His mom was a maid for one of the clans. The Lady of the house sold his mom into slavery... and sold him to the lab. Because of his—"
VEYRA: "His strength?"
GRIEG: "No. His high IQ. They wanted to see if intelligence could be weaponized. If it could make him a battle genius."
[FLASHBACK - 16 YEARS AGO - THE LAB]
A 16-year-old boy is strapped to a chair in a cold cell. A scientist injects him with a glowing white serum White V3.
His body seizes. His hair begins to turn white at the roots. He screams, and with a surge of unnatural strength, he breaks the restraints.
He bursts from his cell, a whirlwind of calculated fury. He takes down two agents with precise, efficient blows, using their momentum against them.
The leader of the security team, a man with iron fists, steps in. He moves faster than the eye can see. A single, brutal punch to the gut. The boy collapses, vomiting, all the fight gone out of him.
ONE YEAR LATER - FLASHBACK
The same boy, now 17, looks years older. His hair is almost completely white. He sits hollow-eyed in his cell.
The Leader looks down at him through the glass, speaking to a scientist. "Keep working on those White V3 formulas. Better than V2. We need him battle-ready."
BACK TO THE SEWERS - PRESENT DAY
GRIEG: "He never forgot. He never forgave. The rich women he targets? They're all corrupted. The clan that ran that lab. He's not just killing them... he's on a vendetta. And he change since then
ON THE ROOFTOPS - PRESENT DAY
KIRO: (His cybernetic eye zooming in on the alley below) "Raiji... that's him. That's Neo."
Neo emerged from the shadows, right on time for his 5 p.m. appointment.
Neo entered the dimly lit room of the shady clinic.
RAIJI: (Whispering on the comms) "Sending in an invisible drone. Fly-size. Going inside."
The tiny drone zipped through a vent, giving them a view of the room. The same Tall Guy from the club was there, along with a third, imposing figure.
TALL GUY: "Here's the info you wanted." He slid a data chip across the table.
The third figure, Destripador, picked it up. His voice was calm, cold, and precise. "Very nice. Everything is in order. The tools are set. Tonight, I can kill the Duchess one of the Green Dragon clan heads, an executive. Let's move, team."
BOTH MEN: "Yes, Destripador."
KIRO: (On the roof, seeing enough) "That's it." He jumped down.
RAIJI: (On the comms) "Wait! Come on, why me?!" He sighed and followed, leaping down after his friend.
CRASH! Kiro kicked the door in, splintering the frame.
TALL GUY: (Stumbling back in shock) "You! You're the one... Neo killed you!"
NEO: (Eyes wide with disbelief) "You should be dead!"
DESTRIPADOR: (Didn't even flinch) "A new player to this game." Slowly, he reached up. He pulled off a sleek black wig, revealing stark white hair underneath. Then he removed his colored contact lenses, revealing piercing, unnatural white eyes. "Let's see if you can keep up."
Kiro didn't wait. He lunged forward with a superhuman punch.
But Destripador moved. It wasn't blinding speed; it was something else precise, economical efficiency. He dodged with a minimal movement, letting the fist breeze past his face. He seemed to analyze the motion almost before it happened.
DESTRIPADOR: (His voice still eerily calm) "Boys. Take out the trash. This time, make sure he knows. He can join us... or you know he's got to go."