The sirens only sounded when the city was already lying to itself.Ari heard them from three blocks away, thin and metallic over the rain, and knew the eastern wall had failed again."Of course it has," he muttered, pulling his hood tighter as a convoy of sleek black S.U.P.E.R. vehicles screamed past. Rich people in armored glass. Clean boots. Perfect hair. Perfect panic.Above the city, the sky flashed white.Then came the sound no one ever got used to: the Terido cry. Not a roar. Not a howl. Something sharper. Hungrier. Like metal dragged across bone.Ari broke into a run.By the time he reached the boulevard, the crowd was already scattering. A vendor cart lay split in half. A supe in a silver cape hovered uselessly over the street, one arm hanging limp, staring at the damage like the world had personally insulted him. Across the plaza, the Terido moved.It was all wrong angles and motion. Long limbs. Too many joints. A body built for speed, not mercy. Its head twitched as if listening to the blood in every human throat.People screamed and shoved each other harder.A child fell.Ari swore under his breath and sprinted straight into the chaos."MOVE!" they shouted, dragging the child up by the collar and shoving them behind a broken fountain just as the Terido slammed into the pavement where they had been standing. Stone exploded. The impact rattled Ari's teeth."Non-supe, get back!" someone yelled.Ari did not look back. "Busy!"A second Terido dropped from the rooftop, claws scraping sparks from the street.So there were two.Great.Ari reached into his jacket and pulled out a CX injector, the small silver cylinder cold enough to bite skin. They stared at it for half a second, jaw tightening.Temporary power. Random outcome. Possible death.Typical luxury service from the future.Another scream. Another body down.Ari pressed the injector into his arm and hit the trigger.Fire punched through their veins.The world lurched.For one terrible heartbeat, Ari thought his body was tearing open from the inside. Then the pain sharpened into something usable. His hands flared with pale blue light, and the air around them thickened like glass.The nearest Terido lunged.Ari caught it mid-swing.The force nearly broke both arms.His feet slid across wet pavement, sparks and rain hissing around him, but he held on.And then he felt it. Not power exactly. Something stranger. The Terido's next move existed in his mind a half-second before the creature made it weight, angle, intention, all of it readable like words on a page.The Terido was shifting its weight wrong before every strike. Predictable. Reading the shoulders. Reading the breath.Ari smiled, grim and wild."Oh," he whispered. "You're not a miracle. You're just fast."Then the second Terido screamed and came in from the side.And somewhere above the city, a "perfect supe" finally decided to descend. The shadow overhead did not land like a hero.It dropped like a verdict.A streak of gold tore through the rain and hit the street between Ari and the second Terido with enough force to crack the pavement in a perfect ring. Steam hissed upward. Light spilled across the boulevard in a clean, blinding fan.Kentaro rose from the impact point slowly, almost lazily, as if the whole city had arranged itself for his entrance.His coat barely moved in the wind. His expression was calm, practiced, almost bored. The kind of face people trusted because it had never once looked afraid in public.The Terido lunged at him.Kentaro lifted one hand.A translucent barrier snapped into place, bright as polished glass. The creature slammed against it and recoiled, claws shrieking across the surface. Kentaro did not flinch. He only tilted his head, like he was evaluating bad architecture."Central district," he said into the storm, voice carrying unnaturally well. "Contain the civilians first. Then deal with the beast."The Terido struck again, harder this time. The barrier held, but only just. Kentaro's jaw tightened for the first time. Ari saw it then: the micro-shift in his stance, the tiny crack in the performance. Not fear exactly. Pressure.Too much pressure.The third hit came from behind.Ari saw it a second before Kentaro did. "Down!"Kentaro moved on instinct, dropping low as the Terido's claws sliced through empty air. Ari sprinted in, seized the fallen street sign beside the fountain, and drove the metal pole into the beast's side with everything he had.It turned on him instantly.Fast. Violent. Personal.Ari was thrown backward across the wet stone, pain flashing through his shoulder. The injector's power still buzzed under his skin, unstable and bright, but he had what they needed now: one weak point, one opening.Kentaro saw it too.For one split second, their eyes met....Then Kentaro moved.He shattered his own barrier into a shower of gold shards, each fragment turning sharp in the air. The pieces hit the Terido's joints, cutting into the places it had been protecting. The creature staggered. Ari was already up by then, grabbing the broken sign, planting his feet, and driving the point up under its ribs.The Terido convulsed.Silence hit the street like a slammed door.Rain. Breathing. Distant alarms.Kentaro stared at Ari, and Ari stared right back.Up close, the supe looked younger than the broadcasts made him seem. Tired, even. Haunted in a way the cameras never caught."You are not supposed to be here," Kentaro said.Ari barked a laugh, breathless and sharp, "Yeah," Ari said. "Funny how that keeps happening when you guys show up late.""You read it," Kentaro said. His eyes moved over Ari. "The pattern. You saw it."Ari opened his mouth "I just.. I pay attention."Then suddenly the ground beneath them trembled.The dead Terido twitched.Once.Twice.And from the dark alley beside the boulevard, something else answered with a deafening screeching cry.
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