The air felt thin.
Sharp.
Like the city itself was bracing for something it knew it couldn't stop.
Loki stood at the front of the crowd, hands still in his pockets, rebels behind him in a silent wall of defiance.
Division Zero soldiers filled the square in perfect formation—
masks glowing with rotating digital sigils, rifles humming with null-energy.
The rebels were outnumbered.
Outarmed.
Outmatched.
But they weren't outwilled.
A commanding officer stepped forward—
visored helmet marked with a glowing 01.
His voice was amplified, cold, and official:
> "CITIZEN GROUP. LAST WARNING."
"SURRENDER THE INDIVIDUAL KNOWN AS LOKI."
"FAILURE TO COMPLY WILL RESULT IN TERMINATION OF PROTECTED RIGHTS."
Jax shouted back:
"Since when did we HAVE rights?!"
The officer didn't even look at him.
> "TEN SECONDS."
Axis whispered urgently to Loki:
"Okay. Okay. We can still walk away. A tactical retreat. A stylish tactical retreat. A superhero retreat even—"
"No."
Loki's voice was calm, barely above a breath.
"This is where they decide who owns the night."
Axis blinked.
"And if they choose wrong?"
"They will."
The officer raised his arm.
His visor flashed red.
> "FIRE—"
Before the command finished—
PZZZT—
A blast tore across the square.
Not from the rebels.
From Division Zero.
A rebel on the left—
a girl no older than sixteen—
took a hit directly in the shoulder.
She collapsed, screaming.
Jax roared, "HEY! SHE DIDN'T EVEN MOVE!"
Axis shouted, voice cracking,
"THEY FIRED BEFORE ZERO SECONDS— THEY CHEATED—"
Loki lifted his head slightly.
Something cold flickered behind his eyes.
The officer spoke, unmoved:
> "ESCALATION LEVEL: PERMITTED."
"ALL REBELS ARE NOW CATEGORIZED AS HOSTILE COMBATANTS."
Jax stepped forward, shaking with fury.
"You call children combatants?!"
The officer turned his visor toward him.
> "She stood behind Loki."
"She chose the consequences."
The rebels erupted in shouts.
Loki didn't.
He stayed silent.
Too silent.
Another soldier fired.
A nonlethal round—
but aimed directly at a kneeling man who was trying to drag the injured girl to safety.
He crumpled.
Blood pooled.
Axis froze.
"…Loki… they're not arresting us."
"No," Loki said quietly.
"They're erasing us."
Jax lifted his weapon—
a metal pipe—
hands trembling but eyes blazing.
"No more warnings," he snarled. "If they want to cross the line—"
"Jax."
Loki didn't raise his voice.
But Jax stopped instantly.
Loki took one small step forward.
A soldier aimed.
"Hold position!" the officer barked.
But the soldier fired anyway.
The shot hit Loki square in the chest.
CRACK—
And stopped.
Stopped.
Mid-air.
Hovering against Loki's shirt, crushed between his fingers.
Everyone froze.
Axis whispered:
"…He caught it."
Loki looked at the crushed shot capsule in his hand.
Then at the soldiers.
"Second warning," he said softly.
"You fire again…"
He closed his fist.
The capsule powdered.
"…and I answer."
The officer stepped back involuntarily.
His visor flickered.
"W-What are you?"
Loki raised his eyes.
Not glowing.
Not flaring.
Just… looking.
And somehow that was worse.
"Your mistake."
The soldiers shifted uneasily.
But the officer—
too proud, too trained, too stupid—
snapped:
> "ALL UNITS—FIRE AT—"
He never finished the sentence.
Three soldiers fired at once.
Three null-bolts streaked through the air.
The crowd screamed.
Jax flinched.
Axis ducked.
But Loki…
Loki moved.
Not quickly.
Not dramatically.
Just stepped forward and raised a hand.
FLICK—
One shot ricocheted into the pavement.
SNAP—
Another shattered like glass.
CRACK—
The third dissolved before touching him.
Axis's jaw dropped.
"What— what even ARE you, Loki?!"
Loki ignored him.
He looked at the officer.
"You crossed the second line."
He took one step.
"And the third."
Another.
Each step cracked the pavement beneath his shoes.
"And the fourth."
The soldiers backed away instinctively.
Jax whispered:
"…He's done talking."
Loki spoke—
voice low, almost bored:
"Now it's my turn."
Something shifted across the rooftops.
Lights flickered out.
Shadows changed direction.
More people appeared—
not rebels, not soldiers—
citizens from every corner of the district.
Some holding cameras.
Some holding weapons.
Some holding nothing but anger.
And every single one stepped behind Loki.
Even the ones who didn't believe in him.
Even the ones who were terrified.
Because Division Zero had shown something unforgivable:
It wasn't hunting Loki anymore.
It was hunting them.
Axis whispered, awestruck:
"…The city chose a side."
Jax smiled through blood and adrenaline.
"Told you. People are done being quiet."
Loki stared at the soldiers—
half a thousand rifles aimed at him and everyone behind him.
He exhaled once.
Almost disappointed.
"You had your chance."
The officer trembled.
"OPEN FIRE
---
The world snapped.
Shadows bent.
Air warped.
And Loki—
finally—
moved.
With the full intention of ending this.