The hardest part of being a hero isn't the bruising or the near-death experiences; it's the silence.
I sat at the kitchen island, staring into my cereal bowl. Every muscle in my body ached from the fight at the docks. Underneath my hoodie, my shoulder was a map of purple bruises where the drone had slammed into me.
"You're quiet today, Vic," my father said. He was in his full police blues, his badge gleaming under the kitchen light. He was sipping coffee, but his eyes-those sharp, detective eyes-were locked on me. "Long night at the internship?"
"Yeah," I lied, my voice steady only because I practiced it in the mirror. "We were running a stress test on a new server array. I'm just drained."
He set his coffee down and walked over, placing a hand on my forehead. "You look pale. And you're shivering. Maybe you should take the day off. West can handle one day without his star intern."
"I'm fine, Dad. Really." I shifted, and a sharp pain shot through my bruised ribs. I couldn't help it-I winced.
His expression changed instantly. The "Dad" vanished, and the "Cop" took over. "Victoria, take off the hoodie."
"What? Why?"
"You're favoring your right side. You've been doing it since you walked in. Take it off. Now."
My heart hammered against the Watch. If I took off the hoodie, he'd see the bruising. If he saw the bruising, he'd ask questions I couldn't answer. He'd look at the silver cuff on my wrist and realize it wasn't just jewelry.
Pulse. Pulse. Pulse. The Watch felt my anxiety. It wanted to protect me. I could feel the violet metal starting to itch under my skin, ready to manifest.
"Dad, it's just a cramp-"
"Victoria Vega, I am a detective. Don't lie to me." He reached out to pull my arm.
CRASH.
A window in the living room shattered.
My father spun around, hand on his holster in a heartbeat. "Stay behind me!"
It wasn't a villain. It was a Seeker Shard-a tiny, jagged piece of dark crystal, hovering in the air. It pulsed with a rhythmic, sickly red light. It was searching. It was a fragment of the Dark Multiverse, sent by Dementra to find the "Anomaly."
My father didn't know what it was, but he knew it was a threat. He pulled his service weapon. "Police! Drop... whatever you are!"
The shard didn't drop. It vibrated, emitting a frequency that made my teeth ache. Then, it lunged straight for me.
"No!" My father fired. The bullet hit the shard but shattered into dust. The crystal was made of matter from a universe where physics didn't apply.
I had no choice. If I didn't act, the shard would go through my father to get to me.
I didn't call the full suit. I just focused. Just the hand. Just a shield. The Watch flared. A green energy construct-a small, circular shield-snapped into existence over my forearm. The shard slammed into the light, rebounding across the room and smashing through the TV before dissolving into black smoke.
Silence returned to the house. The smell of ozone filled the air.
My father stood there, his gun still raised, his eyes wide with a mixture of terror and confusion. He looked at the shattered TV, then at me. More specifically, he looked at my arm, where the green light was slowly fading back into the silver cuff.
"Victoria..." his voice was a whisper. "What... what was that? What is that thing on your wrist?"
The secret was out. Or at least, the corner of it was pulled back.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. A high-priority alert from West.
ALERT: DIMENSIONAL BREACH DETECTED. SECTOR 4. DEMENTRA'S VANGUARD IS HERE.
I looked at my father. I wanted to tell him everything. I wanted to cry and tell him I was scared. But I saw the badge on his chest and the gun in his hand. If I stayed, I would bring the Dark Multiverse into our kitchen.
"I have to go, Dad," I said, backing toward the door.
"Go? Victoria, stop! Talk to me!"
"I can't!" I hit the button on the Watch. The violet thrusters ignited in my boots, blowing the kitchen rug across the floor. "I'll explain everything, I promise. Just... stay safe."
I crashed through the back door and took to the sky, leaving the only man who loved me standing in the ruins of our breakfast, holding a gun against a world he didn't understand.
🗺️ The Shadow of the Queen
Dementra doesn't send drones. She sends Wraiths. As I flew toward the West Corp coordinates, the sky over Sherwood City began to turn a bruised, sickly black. The "Dark Multiverse" wasn't just a place; it was an infection.
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