The night air was thick with smoke and the pulsing hum of sirens. Kael stood on the edge of a collapsing overpass, peering down into the chaos below. Fires burned in the distance, their orange tongues licking the sky, casting shadows that danced across shattered windows and panicked faces.
His hood was pulled low, the midnight-black cloak of his vigilante persona—Equinox—fluttering with the wind. The media had begun whispering his name. Some praised him. Others warned of him. But no matter the chatter, Kael knew he couldn't keep this up forever.
"How much longer can I do this?" he muttered.
Civilians fled from the wreckage of nearby buildings. Children screamed. Parents called names that were lost in the noise. In the center of it all, Kael spotted a familiar figure—tall, scarred, and standing in front of a flickering overturned streetlamp. Ryken.
Behind him stood two others. One was a woman with neon-green eyes and dreadlocks that coiled and floated unnaturally—her Quirk flaring as energy flickered off her body. The other, a hulking man in a white coat that was now stained red, exhaled steam from his nostrils like a beast. Kael didn't need introductions to know they were dangerous.
Ryken smirked when he saw him.
"There he is," he said, stepping forward. "Equinox. Or should I say… the reason everything we built fell apart."
The civilians scattered. Some ducked behind ruined cars. Others ran into buildings that Kael knew wouldn't protect them for long. He narrowed his eyes and stepped onto the cracked asphalt, raising a hand as shadows curled around his arms.
"You did that to yourselves," Kael replied, voice even. "All I did was stop you from hurting more people."
The woman beside Ryken rolled her shoulders. "Then we'll return the favor," she said. "Only this time, we'll make it permanent."
Kael surged forward. The fight began in a blink.
Flashstep activated. His body flickered out of sight, appearing inches from Ryken. A shadow whip lashed out—Darkbind snaking for his arm.
Shimmer.
The familiar shimmer of Ryken's Quirk—Reflector—lit up his skin just before the bind hit. The shadow rebounded, whipping back toward Kael, who ducked under it instinctively.
"Still has perfect reaction time," Kael thought. "No direct attacks…"
The other two were already moving. The woman's dreadlocks lashed outward, each acting like energy-conductive tendrils. Kael sidestepped, but one grazed his arm, sending a searing bolt through his nerves.
The larger villain charged with brute force, fists glowing orange. A single punch shattered the road beside Kael.
Kael backflipped, Flashstepped above the crowd and spotted a family frozen in fear. The dreadlocked woman had noticed them too. One of her tendrils arced toward the boy.
Kael dove.
"Move!" he shouted, grabbing the kid and Flashstepping behind a building as the tendril detonated against the concrete.
Smoke filled the air.
"I've got to split them up," Kael muttered, putting the child down. "They're not letting me get close enough to touch them. They know."
He turned to the mother. "Run west! There are pro heroes coming!"
Elsewhere in the city…
Mount Lady stomped a minor villain into the ground with a thunderous boom.
"Make sure evacuation routes are clear!" Kamui Woods called out as he swung through debris, binding stragglers in wooden tendrils.
Ryukyu, half-dragon form engaged, roared into a cluster of armed mutants, tossing them aside with controlled fury.
Manual sprinted through crumbling tunnels, water swirling around his feet as he directed civilians through emergency flood paths.
Best Jeanist flicked his hands, threads bursting from nearby garments and pinning three robbers against a wall.
"We've got dozens of minor-level villains taking advantage of the chaos," Edgeshot said through comms, moving like a silent blade through the shadows. "Keep them off the main streets. Someone else is drawing all this attention."
Back near Kael's battle, sirens wailed, but no heroes had reached his position yet.
…
He panted, ducking behind a burned-out bus. A tendril lashed over the roof and snapped it in half.
"This isn't working," he thought, blood dripping from a graze along his temple. "They're coordinated… Ryken's baiting while the other two hit wide."
Kael Flashstepped again—this time aiming for the rooftops. He landed behind the energy user and launched a burst of shadows straight at her legs, not her body.
No shimmer. No reflection.
The shadows tangled around her legs—Darkbind taking root.
She hissed and charged her dreadlocks with a discharge, but Kael was already moving again—Flashstep sending him behind the brute now. The big man raised both fists, slamming them into the roof as Kael ducked under and threw a wave of shadow chains at his eyes.
It made him flinch—just enough.
Kael formed a blade from Darkbind and slashed low, then high—forcing the brute backward, off balance.
But then—bam!
A shimmering wall burst between them—Ryken, arm extended, Reflector ready.
"I said not to let him touch you!" Ryken snapped at his allies. "He's trying to steal your Quirk. That's his game."
Kael growled under his breath. "They're too cautious now…"
Suddenly, the brute grabbed a civilian girl from the crowd and lifted her by the collar. "One wrong step, and this one's gone."
Kael froze.
"No…" he whispered. "Taking hostages? That low.."
Ryken laughed. "Oh? Didn't think this would get dirty?"
Kael's heart pounded. "I need to end this. Now."
He narrowed his stance. Shadows surged around him. Flashstep blurred his form.
He appeared behind the brute, inches from the girl. The villain turned—just as Kael wrapped a Darkbind whip around his neck and jerked.
The hostage slipped from his hands. Kael caught her mid-fall and vanished again, retreating into a shadowed alley. She was crying, gripping his shoulder.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
She nodded, sobbing. He gently set her down and vanished once more.
Back on the street, the villains had regrouped.
"You're fast," Ryken said, "but not invincible."
Kael stepped into the firelight. "Neither are you."
The battle was far from over.
…
To be continued in Chapter 22…