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"Move your hand and I'll take the finger with it," Roxie hissed, her chest heaving. She had the medical chip gripped tight in her fist, her eyes darting between Kaelen and the shivering kid behind him.
Kaelen didn't even blink. He leaned back against the rusted railing of the bridge, the metal groaning under a sudden, invisible weight. "You're fast, little bird. But you're not faster than gravity. Give the girl back, and maybe I won't flatten you into a pancake."
"Not happening," Roxie snapped. She stepped back, her boots sparking against the asphalt. "This chip is the only thing that gets my brother out of the lab. I don't care who you are or what kind of freak power you're rocking. I'm leaving."
Kaelen felt the gravity core in his chest pulse—a dull, aching throb. He was leaking energy, his vision blurring at the edges, but he let a thin, predatory smile curl his lips. "You think you're the only one with a deadline? Look up."
Before Roxie could retort, the sky screamed.
A sonic boom shattered the remaining windows of the nearby warehouses. A streak of chrome and white slammed into the center of the bridge with the force of a falling star. The impact threw Roxie sideways, her speed failing as the shockwave ripped through the air.
Dust and concrete shrapnel exploded upward. As the haze cleared, a mountain of a man stood there. He was encased in Vanguard-grade power armor, polished chrome reflecting the smoggy Ironport sky. In his hand was a massive, thermal-edged battle axe that hummed with a lethal, high-frequency vibration.
"Target identified," the Juggernaut boomed, his voice distorted by the helmet. "Mina Cross. Recover the asset. Eliminate the anomalies."
"Anomalies?" Roxie spat, scrambling to her feet and wiping blood from her lip. "I'm a contractor, you oversized toaster!"
"You're a thief," the Juggernaut replied. He didn't wait. He swung the axe in a horizontal arc, a blur of white-hot energy that cleaved through the bridge's primary support cable like it was wet cardboard.
*Snap.*
The sound was deafening. The entire section of the bridge groaned, tilting violently to the left.
"Kaelen!" Mina screamed, her small voice barely audible over the screeching metal. She lost her footing, sliding toward the widening gap in the asphalt.
Kaelen reacted instantly. He didn't run—he shifted the world. He slammed his palm downward, creating a localized gravity well that pinned Mina to the ground, stopping her slide inches from the edge. But the effort sent a spike of agony through his ribs. He coughed, a spray of crimson hitting the gray concrete.
"Damn it," he muttered, his voice rasping. "Still too weak."
"Hey!" Roxie yelled, glancing at the Juggernaut, who was already charging again. "If we don't move, we're all going down with this heap!"
"Help her!" Kaelen roared, gesturing to Mina.
Roxie hesitated. The chip was in her hand. The girl was the ticket. But the Juggernaut was a wall of death coming straight for them. She blurred into motion, a streak of neon light, snatching Mina from the ground just as the Juggernaut's axe slammed into the spot where the girl had been.
The bridge buckled further. Another cable snapped. Now they were on a precarious slab of concrete, tilting forty-five degrees over a three-hundred-foot drop into the toxic river below.
"Great. Now we're trapped," Roxie panted, holding Mina tight. She looked at Kaelen, who was barely standing, his hand pressed against his chest. "You're the big shot, right? Do something!"
"I'm doing," Kaelen gasped. He reached out, his fingers trembling. "The chip. Give it to me. I can use the energy signature to stabilize the core for a second—just enough to get us across."
"Like hell!" Roxie barked, stepping back. "You're lying. You just want the leverage."
"Look at the bridge, you idiot!" Kaelen shouted. "The leverage is about to be us hitting the water at terminal velocity!"
As if on cue, the Juggernaut roared, raising the axe for a final, crushing blow. But he wasn't looking at them. He was looking at the device strapped to the side of the bridge support—a Vanguard demolition charge, designed to erase any evidence of the skirmish.
*Beep. Beep. Beep.*
The timer on the bomb was glowing a vivid, menacing red. Three minutes.
"Wait," Roxie whispered, her face paling. "Is that a—"
"A tactical wipe," Kaelen finished, his voice cold. "They aren't just coming for the girl. They're erasing the whole sector. Including us."
"We have to jump," Roxie said, her eyes wide. "I can carry her, but I can't carry you and her. You're too heavy."
"I'm not jumping," Kaelen said. He stepped forward, his presence suddenly overwhelming, the air around him thickening. He grabbed Roxie’s wrist—not gently, but with a grip like iron. "We make a deal. Right now. No more stealing, no more running."
"Get off me!" She tried to yank away, but he didn't budge.
"Listen to me!" Kaelen leaned in, his breath hot against her ear, his voice a dangerous low rumble. "I can stop that bomb. I can hold this bridge together for exactly ten seconds. But I need a tether. Someone to pull the girl out of the blast radius the moment I let go. You do that, and I'll give you the chip. I'll even give you the names of the people who can actually cure your brother."
Roxie froze. The air between them was electric, charged with the scent of ozone and desperation. She could feel the heat radiating off him, the sheer, raw power fighting to break through his broken shell.
"Why?" she whispered. "Why help me?"
"Because I hate the people who built that armor more than I dislike you," Kaelen replied. He tightened his grip, pulling her inches closer. "Do we have a deal, or do you want to see if you can outrun a thermobaric explosion?"
Roxie looked at Mina, then at the ticking clock. "Fine. Deal. But if you screw this up, I'm coming back from the grave to kill you."
"Fair enough," Kaelen smirked.
He let go of her and stepped toward the edge. He didn't look back. He threw his arms wide, and the world seemed to shudder. The groaning metal of the bridge stopped. The tilting slab leveled out with a violent jolt. The Juggernaut, caught mid-swing, was suddenly slammed into the ground by a force of ten Gs, his chrome armor cracking under the sudden, impossible weight.
"Now!" Kaelen screamed, his voice straining. "Get her out of here!"
Roxie didn't hesitate. She grabbed Mina and blurred toward the far end of the gap, her feet barely touching the crumbling concrete.
But as she reached the edge, the Juggernaut let out a metallic screech. With a burst of emergency thrusters, the armored giant surged upward, defying the gravity well for a split second. He didn't go for Kaelen. He swung the axe downward, slicing through the final support beam holding the section where Kaelen stood.
*CRACK.*
The bridge didn't just tilt this time. It vanished.
The entire section collapsed, plunging Kaelen and the ticking bomb into the abyss.
"Kaelen!" Roxie yelled, skidding to a halt at the edge of the remaining ledge.
Below her, in the swirling gray mist of the river, she saw a flicker of violet light. Kaelen was falling, but he wasn't screaming. He was staring up at her, his hand still outstretched, clutching the medical chip.
And then, the bomb hit the zero mark.
An explosion of white light erupted from the depths, a pillar of fire that roared upward, consuming everything. Roxie was thrown back by the blast, her ears ringing, her vision white.
As the smoke cleared, she looked down. The bridge was gone. The Juggernaut was gone.
And there, standing on a jagged piece of floating debris in the middle of the burning river, was Kaelen. He was drenched in blood, his clothes scorched, but he was looking at his phone.
He looked up at Roxie and held up the screen.
It was a city-wide alert. A holographic bounty poster had just been blasted to every screen in Ironport. There were two faces on it: Mina Cross, and a grainy, blood-streaked image of Kaelen Vane.
Underneath their names, the reward was listed in a number so high it made Roxie's heart stop.
Kaelen yelled up to her, his voice carrying over the roar of the fire, "Hey, little bird! I think we just got a raise!"
Just as he spoke, a fleet of Vanguard dropships emerged from the clouds, their spotlights locking onto them like predatory eyes. One of the ships opened its bay, and a voice boomed over the loudspeakers:
"Kaelen Vane. You are under arrest for the murder of a corporate asset. Drop the girl, or we level the block."