The screen glowed in the dim safehouse, illuminating the faces of the thirteen thieves known as the Tovas. A single post dominated every social feed:
URGENT CHALLENGE: The documents in Arena 7 Tomasko are a myth. Prove us wrong, Tovas. If you dare.
"Sixty million views in thirty minutes," Akari whispered, her voice a mix of awe and dread. She was the 9th-ranked thief, their master infiltrator. "The comments are a chorus of dares. They're baiting us."
Renjiro, the 5th-ranked and their best combat specialist, leaned over her shoulder, his brow furrowed. "It's a trap, Akari. Arena 7 is a black site. You enter, you don't leave. That's the whole point of its reputation."
"Exactly," said a cool voice from the doorway. Tatsuya, their enigmatic 1st-ranked leader, entered, not even glancing at the screen. He already knew. "Its reputation is the point. And now, ours is on the line. If we ignore this, we look weak. If we succeed, we become legends."
"And if we fail?" Renjiro challenged.
Tatsuya's smile was thin and sharp. "Then we prove the internet right. The choice is already made. The two of you are going in."
Now
The air inside Arena 7 was cold and still, smelling of sterilized metal and silence. Akari's lock picks clicked softly in the immense quiet, the final tumbler of the reinforced door yielding to her touch.
"We're in," she murmured into her comms, the words swallowed by the cavernous, empty corridor ahead. "Place looks deserted. Too deserted."
"Intel said the vault is on the sub-level," Renjiro replied, his hand resting on the grip of his concealed pistol, his eyes scanning the shadows for the guards that had to be there. "Let's move before this quiet starts feeling like an invitation."
They had taken only five steps when Akari's commlink buzzed—a private, encrypted line. Tatsuya's ID flashed.
"Akari. Renjiro. Stand down," his voice was calm, almost bored.
"Tatsuya? We're inside. What's wrong?" Akari asked, a knot of unease tightening in her stomach.
"The mission is a farce. The documents you're risking your lives for are already in my hand. I retrieved them from a decoy vault three hours ago."
Renjiro froze. "What? Then why are we here?"
"The views, Renjiro. The engagement. The world needed to see the Tovas enter the unenterable. They didn't need to see us leave. Your part is now to provide a… compelling diversion."
The line went dead. In the echoing silence it left behind, a new sound began to wail.
The alarm.
It pierced the stillness of Area 7, a sonic blade shredding the air. Red lights strobed along the steel corridors.
"We've been sold out," Renjiro snarled, his weapon now in his hand.
"Later!" Akari snapped, her mind already racing through blueprints. "Right now, we run!"
But as they turned, a phalanx of guards erupted from the doors behind them, armor clattering, weapons raised. Renjiro's instinct was to stand and fight, but Akari's cooler head prevailed. She grabbed his arm.
"Look up," she said, nodding to a ventilation shaft high above. The open grate was a promise of escape. "We can't win this fight. We have to be smarter."
They clambered up into the tight, dusty space, the shouts and bootsteps fading below. The metal was slick, the ascent agonizingly slow. Finally, they burst out onto the rooftop, gasping the cold night air.
It was a fleeting relief. The sky erupted with light and noise. Three helicopters descended like mechanical raptors, their spotlights pinning the two thieves in a blinding cage.
"Don't move!" a voice boomed from a loudspeaker. "You're surrounded!"
Akari's heart hammered against her ribs. They were trapped. Renjiro, however, looked strangely calm. He met her gaze, a fierce determination etched on his face.
"Go," he said, shoving her toward a rusted fire
escape.
"Ren, no—!"
He was already moving, a sleek, black handgun with a silencer appearing in his hand. "You're the brains, Akari. We need you to plan the payback for this." He aimed not at the guards pouring onto the roof, but at the sky.
"Now go!"
He fired a single, precise shot. The bullet sailed over her head, shattering the glass door behind her and finding its mark in the cockpit of the lead helicopter. The aircraft shuddered, its spotlight spiraling wildly before it listed sideways and plunged to the ground in a fireball.
Akari didn't waste his sacrifice. She sprinted for the escape, the metal stairs clanging under her boots. Chaos erupted above—more gunfire, the thunderous explosion of a second helicopter meeting its end.
She risked one look back. Renjiro stood silhouetted against the fiery chaos, facing down the third gunship. He raised his weapon for one final, defiant shot.
The crack of the sniper rifle was unmistakable, a sharp, final punctuation to the night's cacophony. Akari saw Renjiro stumble, the gun falling from his hand. His eyes found hers for a split second before he was thrown backward by the impact, his body falling from the roof and vanishing into the darkness below.
A silent scream died in Akari's throat.
A black car screeched to a halt beside her. The tinted window slid down to reveal Kazuki, the 12th thief, his expression grim. "Get in!"
The car tore away as the third helicopter, pilotless, crashed into the Arena in a final, earth-shaking boom. The sirens faded behind them.
"Where's Renjiro?" Kazuki asked, though the answer was written in the ash on Akari's face and the hollow look in her eyes.
Akari could only shake her head, tears finally blurring the inferno in the rearview mirror. "He didn't make it."
The rendezvous point was a dim, damp tunnel where the rest of the Tovas waited. The sight of the returning car with one less passenger sent a wave of palpable dread through them.
Akari's voice was raw as she recounted the betrayal, the setup, and Renjiro's final stand. Anger and disbelief rippled through the group.
"He was a fool to play the hero!" one thief spat.
"He was the only hero tonight!" Akari shot back, her grief sharpening into a blade. "He knew the plan had changed. He chose to save me so I could tell you all the truth. Tatsuya sold us out for clicks and views."
A heavy silence fell. Shizuka, the 10th thief, stepped forward, her eyes glistening. "He was our friend."
From the shadows, their leader, Tatsuya, emerged. His face was unreadable. "He was a Tova," he stated, his voice low and carrying. "And his death will not be in vain. We now have a new mission. We find out who behind that post truly set this in motion, and we make them pay."
Back at their hideout, Akari stared at a map of Arena 7, but all she could see was Renjiro's final, determined look. The grief was a cold stone in her chest, but around it, something hotter was growing. A need for answers. A thirst for revenge.
The game had changed. It was no longer about theft. It was about war.