Dust swirled thick in the ruined street, clinging to sweat, masks, and fabric armor alike.
Disrupt and Tremblor climbed out of the jagged hole they'd torn into the ground, boots grinding over loose concrete chunks. They were opposite each other, though both on the same fractured side of the street.
On the other side, silhouettes emerged through the haze.
Four figures stepped forward, their matching fabric armor unmistakable—reinforced weave, name patches sewn in across the chest in bold white letters, each one's mask unique but battle-worn.
Sunstrike. Flashzone. Sparkler. Ript.
All wore bright red flags at their hips, visible even through the settling dust.
Sunstrike raised one gloved hand. In it was a rectangular red card.
"Heroes," he said simply, his voice cutting through the chaos like steel through paper.
Disrupt reacted almost automatically—pulling his own red card from his belt and holding it up high. His team was the same.
Two hero teams, staring each other down.
And the unspoken truth hung in the air like a storm cloud: Green team and Blue team are villains. Heroes should be allies.
But the weight of Ript's smirk shattered that assumption. The broad, heavy-set fighter stepped forward, smashing his fists together with a loud CLANG from the metal reinforcement in his gauntlets.
"We don't care about no cards."
The air shifted instantly—aggression replacing any false calm.
Sunstrike's expression was cool, but there was a knife-edge in his tone. "Let's rephrase that, Ript—we don't care about hero cards from a team with Disrupt and Amplify in it."
The words landed like a brick to the chest.
And just like that, Disrupt understood. This wasn't going to be some rules-bound standoff. This was going to be a fight.
He had warned his team this could happen, but hearing it confirmed—seeing it in Sunstrike's eyes—was worse. His brain clicked into fight-or-flight mode instantly.
No allies but ourselves.
That thought was enough to make his pulse spike.
Without hesitation, Disrupt slammed his hand into the broken pavement. The sound cracked through the street like a cannon.
BOOOOM!
The ground trembled violently as jagged fissures tore outward toward Sunstrike's team, ripping asphalt like paper.
Sunstrike didn't flinch. A blindingly hot yellow sphere formed around his fist, heat shimmering off it like a summer mirage.
He thrust forward, launching the orb straight at Disrupt.
The projectile cut through the dusty air, the sound a high-pitched WHUMMM that grew louder as it closed in.
Disrupt swung his arm up and smashed his palm into the incoming sphere midair. His Break ability shattered it—yellow light bursting apart into molten fragments—but not fast enough to completely protect him.
The heat seared his hand, stinging like molten metal pressed against skin. Pain shot up his arm, but he didn't have time to nurse it.
The shockwave from their clash brought down the nearest damaged buildings. Sections of walls, already cracked, gave way and collapsed.
The fissures Disrupt had created raced forward, tearing apart the street under Sunstrike's feet and weakening the foundation beneath them.
And then—
The world narrowed to a single sharp motion.
A boot smashed into the side of Disrupt's masked face.
CRACK!
The force sent him tumbling backwards across the fractured pavement, rolling hard until he skidded to a stop.
His vision steadied enough to see Tremblor standing where he'd been.
"Did you forget about me, Disrupt?" she asked, her tone edged but calm.
He pushed himself up fast. "Are you sure we should be fighting right now, Tremblor?"
Her stance didn't shift, but he pressed on before she could cut in.
"Sunstrike might be after my team now—but who do you think he's going to be after next?" His voice was sharp, almost rushed, the urgency cutting through.
Her brow furrowed beneath her mask.
"You couldn't beat my team," Disrupt continued, "so what makes you think you could fight mine and then turn around to fight his?"
That made her pause. Even through the dust, he saw the moment her confidence tempered into calculation.
After a beat, she spoke. "I won't help you, Disrupt. But… we have a temporary truce—if you give me Glide's flag back."
The spite in his chest boiled over. Without a word, he unhooked the flag and tossed it toward her.
"There," he said flatly, the edge in his voice enough to make the air between them heavier.
Tremblor caught it and immediately turned away.
Without another word, both broke into a run—back toward their respective teams.
---
The dust thinned as Disrupt's team came into view. Barrier, Shadowsmith, and Amplify stood together in a loose defensive formation, walking in his direction.
Shadowsmith's hand rested casually at his side, but his mask made his unreadable expression seem almost bored. Amplify's stance was more casual, though the half-mask hid whether he was grinning or just breathing hard.
As Disrupt closed the distance, something about Shadowsmith caught his eye.
A green flag, hanging from his belt.
He didn't ask. Not now.
Instead, he forced the thoughts out of his head and spoke sharply. "We need to move. Now."
Barrier turned toward him, brow creasing beneath her goggles. "Why?"
"Because," Disrupt said, "Sunstrike and his team might be heroes—but they only want our team."
Barrier blinked, the disbelief clear even through the mask. "No way. That doesn't make sense."
"It doesn't have to make sense," Disrupt said, voice low but cutting. "It's happening."
Her head turned slightly toward the direction of Sunstrike's team, as if she could see them through the still-lingering dust.
Before she could answer, movement on the edge of the street drew their eyes.
Tremblor ran past, her boots thudding against broken pavement. She didn't even look their way. Over her shoulder, two of her teammates followed—one carrying Glide, limp, her gear shattered, wings bent at unnatural angles. Clickshot, battered but upright, keeping pace.
They didn't stop. Didn't slow.
And for the first time in the fight, Disrupt saw something in Tremblor's posture—urgency that matched his own.
---
No one said anything as Disrupt's group turned and headed in the opposite direction, back toward their original biome. The ruined suburban street fell away behind them.
Every step was heavy, the crunch of broken glass and loose concrete the only sound for long stretches.
Barrier glanced over her shoulder once more before speaking quietly. "You're sure they're after us?"
Disrupt didn't answer right away. His eyes stayed fixed ahead, jaw tight beneath the mask. When he did speak, it was with the calm certainty of someone who already knew the outcome of the next move in the game.
"Yes."
The tension in that single word said enough for all of them.
---
The run back to their biome was nothing like the confident jog they'd made hours ago.
The air felt heavier now. Every footfall echoed against cracked asphalt and warped metal.
Overhead, the sky was a muted steel gray, the late-day sun trying and failing to pierce the haze left by all the earlier fighting.
Far ahead, the glass-and-steel towers of the Futuristic City Biome reached toward the clouds. Monolithic skyscrapers shimmered with faint holographic billboards that flickered from damage, neon signs glitching like broken smiles.
It looked like home base—like safety—but none of them felt safe.
Disrupt's breathing steadied as they hit the smoother pavement of the outer districts, and finally he spoke.
"Alright," he said, voice clipped but controlled, "get me caught up. What the hell happened while I was gone?"
Barrier was the first to answer, eyes forward. "Duskcoat's still stuck in there. Shadowsmith… bit him."
"That wasn't—" Shadowsmith started, but Barrier kept talking.
"He lost a 1v1 to Shadowsmith. That's how he ended up with the green flag."
Disrupt's gaze slid toward Shadowsmith. "You beat Duskcoat?"
A short nod.
"I fought Clickshot for a while," she continued. "Until Glide took Amplify up into the air. Then Shadowsmith stepped in and—"
"—damaged her mechanical wings," Shadowsmith finished himself, no apology in his tone. "Brought her down. Hard."
Amplify grinned faintly at the memory. "Yeah, Barrier saved me last second."
Disrupt kept running but let the pieces slot together in his mind. It was a mess—a tangled knot of grudges, debts, and burned bridges.
And it was about to get worse.
"Listen up," he said, voice dropping lower. "Everyone's going to want us gone now."
No one answered, but he felt their focus sharpen.
"Tremblor showed me her villain card during our fight," Disrupt continued. "Sunstrike showed his hero card when he showed up." He glanced back at them. "Which means Team Blue—Freezegrip, Jawline, Balloon, Sync—they're villains too."
Barrier made a sound somewhere between a curse and a laugh. "Great. Just what we need—more enemies."
Amplify glanced over. "So… what do we do?"
That shut everyone up.
The silence lasted several long seconds. Their boots slapped the concrete in unison.
Disrupt's mind wasn't silent, though. The answer had hit him moments ago, sharp and clean, sliding into place like a key in a lock. He didn't speak it aloud—didn't even hint at it—but it was there, growing roots fast.
This could work. It just has to be her.
He would need to meet with Tremblor again.
The thought barely had time to solidify before the world lit up to their right.
BOOOOOM!
A building just ahead erupted outward in a shower of glittering light and searing color. The explosion bloomed against its glass facade like a warped firework, showering the street with shards.
The sound hit a beat later, a deafening crash mixed with the tinkling rain of glass.
"Colorful as fireworks…" Amplify muttered under his breath. "That's Sparkler."
They didn't even get to adjust before a second blast went off behind them—louder, closer.
KAA-THOOOM!
The shockwave slammed into their backs, heat curling against their fabric wear.
More followed, each one rattling windows and echoing between the high-rises.
"She's narrowing the shots!" Barrier shouted over the chaos. "We gotta do something right now!"
"What?!" Amplify barked back.
Shadowsmith's eyes narrowed behind his mask. Without breaking stride, he stretched both hands out to his sides. Black smoke bled from his palms, curling upward in thick, oily ribbons.
The tendrils twisted wildly before he spun, hurling them back the way they'd come.
A dense wall of shadow roared into being—darkness so thick it looked like poured ink, swallowing the street.
The next explosion hit it dead-on. Instead of tearing through, the blast smothered in the mass, muffled like thunder in a storm.
The shadow wasn't just a visual block. The density of it actually pushed back against the force, breaking up the concussive wave before it could reach them.
"Won't last forever," Shadowsmith called. "Move!"
They pushed harder, shadows lashing out behind them to catch the last few blasts Sparkler fired.
Through the muffled noise, Disrupt's focus sharpened to a single point.
Tremblor. She's not far ahead. Probably hiding in a building, waiting for a chance to move.
He didn't know why the certainty was there—it just was. And if he could reach her first…
The group cut sharply left, slipping into an alleyway between two looming towers.
The shadows still coiled behind them, sealing off the street from view.
They slowed only enough to keep their footfalls quiet. The echo of explosions dulled now, though each one still rattled loose dust from overhead fire escapes.
When Disrupt finally spoke, his voice was quiet but firm. "I have a plan. But I've gotta find Tremblor again."
Barrier's head whipped toward him. "What plan?"
He shook his head once. "Can't say. The more people know, the more likely it is to leak. And if it does…" His gaze flicked to each of them in turn. "We're doomed."
Amplify frowned. "Then what are we gonna do?"
Disrupt didn't answer him. Instead, he looked at Shadowsmith.
"You can box us in? Just you and me?"
Shadowsmith nodded once, his mask giving the motion a cold precision.
"Do it."
The others didn't move as the two stepped deeper into the alley, putting a good twenty feet between themselves and Barrier and Amplify, who stayed back at the corner, keeping watch on the street.
Shadowsmith raised both hands and pulled them together slowly, as if dragging invisible curtains.
Darkness welled up around them—not a loose smoke this time, but a solid wall of black that folded inward, enclosing them in a perfect cube.
Inside, the air felt thicker, sound dampened to a low hum. No one outside would see or hear a thing.
Shadowsmith crossed his arms. "Alright, what's going on?"
Disrupt leaned in slightly, speaking low even in the box. His words didn't carry to the reader—just shadows on his mask, vague hand motions, the unspoken plan taking shape.
Shadowsmith listened without interrupting. When Disrupt finished, he tilted his head slightly, then smiled beneath his mask.
"Easily."
The word was confident—enough to almost cut the tension in the small space.
Almost.
Outside, the muffled thunder of another explosion reminded them both how little time they had left.