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By: OrderNerd
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The night in Jump City roared beneath distant thunder. The wind carried sirens and the whir of helicopters, but from the rooftop where they had emerged, Ethan saw nothing but the darkness pulsing around him.
His clenched fists trembled with restrained fury. He raised his hand and, in a low and icy tone, commanded:
" Spread out, find him."
The shadows obeyed.
From the ground, from the air, from the cracks, the shadow army took form: humanoid specters leaping from rooftop to rooftop. Within seconds, Jump City was flooded with invisible eyes.
Raven remained at his side, her black attire rippling in the wind. Her violet eyes reflected concern, but Ethan did not look at her. His expression was a mask of stone.
With a gesture, he opened the System. The invisible interface gleamed in his vision.
The response was immediate.
The black overcoat materialized upon his shoulders, like smoke solidifying, falling heavy down to his knees. Dark pieces of armor adjusted themselves across his body, pulsing with energy that seemed alive, and the Monarch's sigil flared for an instant upon his chest.
Raven drew a deep breath.
"Ethan…"
He did not answer. His eyes were fixed on the horizon, as if the entire world had ceased to exist until Sophia was found.
Minutes dragged on. From the bond, images came like echoes from another reality:
A Hellpride sprinting through narrow streets, following the scent of gunpowder and steel.
And then, a guttural roar from Cerberus tore through Ethan's mind. He saw through his eyes.
An old building.
Its broken façade still displayed the faded letters of a once-famous fashion brand. The windows were boarded shut, the street around it drowned in silence. Behind the side entrance, abandoned in the shadow, stood a yellow school bus.
Ethan gasped, his breath burning like fire inside his lungs.
He clenched his fists, and for an instant the very air seemed to vibrate with the intensity of his rage. Raven turned her face toward him, apprehensive.
" They've found it." Ethan said, his voice low, like thunder held back.
His gray gaze flared beneath the storm's light.
And for the first time that night, there was no longer any room for hesitation.
For a few seconds, Ethan did not move. The shadows still whispered around him, but only when he turned his gaze to Raven did she see something different within him.
It wasn't anger. It wasn't fury.
It was sorrow.
A fleeting spark, buried at once by the hatred that returned like a violent tide.
"You stay here." he said, his voice firm, leaving no room for reply.
Raven stepped forward, her violet eyes pleading.
"Ethan… please."
She reached out her hand, but he averted his gaze, and a single word slipped from his lips like a blade.
Switch.
The shadow swallowed him whole. Raven was left alone, with only a humanoid silhouette of darkness that dissolved swiftly into the night.
⚫
When Ethan reappeared, he stood before the building.
The façade rose like a corpse of concrete—broken windows, the faded letters of the old fashion store. The silence of the place was broken only by the distant growl of the storm.
His eyes were immediately drawn to the school bus parked at the side. The door hung slightly open as Ethan approached, every step weighing heavier than the one before.
Inside, the small body of a child.
An Asian boy, his face still marked by panic. Dark bruises ringed his neck—fingerprints of an invisible hand that had strangled him to death.
Ethan shut his eyes for a moment, his fists trembling. A shadow of Sophia crossed his mind and his stomach lurched, as though he might vomit right there. But the hatred burned stronger, searing from within.
Without hesitation, he pressed forward.
⚫
The building's interior was a labyrinth of horrors. Dark corridors lined with broken mannequins leaning against the walls, their twisted arms pointing in random directions. Their cracked heads caught fragments of faint light, as though mocking anyone who passed.
And among the mannequins… bodies. Children end teenagers.
Some lay sprawled over pools of blood, knives still buried in their small torsos. Others had fallen in positions that spoke of pursuit—one head crushed beneath a slab of concrete, another body slashed deep across the back, as if hunted for sport.
The stench of iron and decay invaded every breath. Ethan clenched his teeth until his jaw ached. His vision darkened at the edges, his heart pounding like a war drum in his chest.
He wanted to stop. He wanted to scream. He wanted to vomit.
But he didn't.
He only ran.
His body moved with brutal speed, a black blur rushing through corridors, smashing down doors, sweeping through every room. The shadows burst in all directions, sniffing, searching, breaking the silence with the sound of footsteps that belonged to no one.
⚫
On the top floor, Ethan found him.
The room was wide, filled with mannequins arranged in rows, like a silent audience. At the center, a rocking chair creaked in a slow, macabre rhythm.
Toyman sat upon it.
His back turned to Ethan.
In his lap, the body of a teen girl.
The rocking creaked.
Forward.
Back.
Forward.
Back.
For some seconds, Ethan did not move. He only watched.
A drop of blood slid down the child's limp arm and fell to the floor with a dry plop. Another followed. And another. The sound echoed in the morbid silence, louder than any thunder.
The scent of fresh blood struck Ethan like a blade. His eyes locked onto that fragile, motionless arm.
He didn't know who it was.
He didn't know if it was Sophia.
But the possibility crushed him from within.
His chest tightened, his breath turned into a caged roar.
And then, the rage broke free.
Like a shattered dam.
(Continue...)