The alley behind the old warehouse district was usually silent at night, but tonight it was suffocating.
The wind felt thick, like it was carrying something heavy.
Something dangerous.
Naze felt it before he even saw anything.
His footsteps echoed strangely against the cracked pavement as he made his way home, replaying the warning he'd received the day before:
"Someone's following you."
He didn't believe it then.
But now—
A soft, electric crackle behind him made every hair on his body rise.
Naze froze.
Not breathing.
Not thinking.
Just… frozen.
He turned slowly.
A figure stepped out from the shadows.
No sounds, no hesitation — just a silent outline walking with certainty.
Jex.
Electric sparks crawled across Jex's fingers, his eyes glowing with a cold, inhuman hue.
Every step he took had the confidence of someone who knew he couldn't lose.
Naze's heart collapsed into terror.
"J-Jex…? What happened to you?" he whispered.
Jex didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
He raised his hand.
Lightning danced.
Naze barely had time to gasp before a sudden shock surged through him — not enough to kill, but enough to freeze his muscles.
His knees buckled.
Jex stepped closer, voice low and chilling.
"You ran," he said, "so you'll be the first."
Just as he charged his hand with a lethal electric burst—
A shadow dropped between them.
Silent.
Instant.
Like reality itself bent for a moment.
Naze stared, eyes wide.
The person stood tall, calm, masked in the same metallic black faceplate that shook the city only days ago.
The Masked Boy.
Kayden.
But neither Jex nor Naze said a word at first.
The air itself paused.
Kayden slowly turned his head toward Naze, voice low behind the mask.
"Run."
Naze didn't question it.
Didn't argue.
Didn't even breathe.
He RAN.
He sprinted so fast he barely felt his own legs moving, disappearing through the alley corner.
The moment Naze vanished—
Kayden turned fully to face Jex.
---
Jex froze.
"You…" he whispered.
"You're the one who fought Ragna."
Kayden didn't confirm it.
Didn't deny it.
He just stood there, calm as stone.
Jex's expression twisted.
"But you're finished now. Ragna isn't the weak guy you knocked out in school anymore. You don't know how much stronger he is. You don't know what he's become."
Kayden spoke for the first time.
His voice was calm, steady.
"That's Ragna's path. This—"
He raised his fist slightly.
"—is yours."
Jex smirked, sparks flaring across his arms.
"Then test my capability."
And like a blue streak, he shot forward.
--
Jex moved with lightning speed — no hesitation.
A blur of light.
A streak of static.
His fist cut through the air toward Kayden's ribs—
Kayden shifted just half an inch.
Jex missed.
He spun, attacking again — a kick this time, followed by a burst of electricity from his palm.
Kayden ducked, weaving through every strike.
Jex wasn't just fast — he was unnaturally fast.
His footsteps cracked the ground.
Static trailed behind him like a comet tail.
"Stand still!" Jex shouted, frustration rising.
He rushed in again, delivering a barrage of lightning-charged punches.
Kayden blocked three.
Dodged five.
Redirected two.
The last punch grazed his mask, sending sparks flying.
Kayden slid back slightly, boots scraping the ground.
He raised his guard.
The fight shifted.
Now Kayden attacked.
He moved with a precision Jex wasn't ready for —
a calculated punch to the gut,
a sweeping kick to the ankle,
an elbow strike that barely missed Jex's jaw.
Jex stumbled.
He regained balance immediately, lightning exploding from his shoulders in a burst.
"Don't underestimate me!" he shouted, surging forward again.
The two collided — fists, kicks, bursts of power clashing in the narrow alley.
Walls cracked, sparks flew, trash cans exploded.
Kayden's mask flickered faintly with the sigil's glow.
Jex saw it and hesitated.
That tiny hesitation cost him.
Kayden swept in with a fast combo — a hook to the jaw, a strike to the chest, and a final heavy punch straight to Jex's stomach.
Jex flew back, slamming into the ground, air knocked from his lungs.
He groaned, clutching his ribs.
Kayden stood over him, breathing steady, not a hint of fear in his stance.
---
"Why did the rest of you choose the dark?"
Kayden's voice echoed quietly through the alley.
Jex didn't move.
Didn't respond.
Kayden stepped closer.
"You all had a choice. Why walk into something that would destroy you?"
Still nothing.
Kayden crouched slightly.
"Jex… why?"
Jex's eyes twitched.
He wasn't beaten yet.
While Kayden questioned him, Jex's fingers quietly sparked — a tiny flash of light hidden behind his palm.
Kayden didn't notice.
Jex gritted his teeth.
"Don't—"
He spat blood to the side.
"—act like you care."
And then—
Jex struck.
He thrust his glowing hand toward Kayden's chest —
Kayden dodged, but the lightning exploded against the pavement, forcing him to leap back.
Jex used that tiny moment to escape.
He bolted away in a flash of blue lightning, vanishing into the labyrinth of alleyways.
Kayden didn't chase.
He simply stood there, watching the direction Jex ran, as the darkness swallowed him again.
"Good," Kayden muttered softly behind the mask.
"He'll live."
He turned and checked the escape route Naze used, making sure the boy was truly safe.
When he confirmed Naze had made it far away, he disappeared back into the night.
---
Deep inside the Architect's hidden base, alarms beeped softly as the doors hissed open.
Jex stumbled inside.
He collapsed to one knee, breathing hard, clutching his side.
Blood trickled from a cut on his cheek.
Sweat dripped down his jaw.
Workers flinched when they saw him — this wasn't the confident, upgraded Jex they knew.
Then a metallic door slid open.
The Architect stepped out.
Cold.
Silent.
Watching.
His eyes narrowed the moment he saw Jex.
"What happened to you?" he asked, voice flat and dangerous.
Jex swallowed hard.
"The… the masked boy…" he breathed.
"Kayden. He did this."
The room froze.
Even the machines seemed to fall silent.
The Architect stared at him, expression shifting slowly into anger and calculation.
He stepped closer.
"How," he said quietly, "did that happen?"
Jex had no answer.
The Architect's voice rose.
"I TOLD YOU—"
His glare swept across the workers.
"—to monitor him. To track him. To analyze him."
The workers trembled.
"Now he defeats one of my soldiers AND threatens my mission?"
The Architect slammed his fist against a console, cracking its surface.
His breathing grew shallow — not from fear, but from restrained fury.
He turned sharply toward the holographic display of Kayden's masked silhouette.
A long silence filled the room.
Then he spoke with an angry voice
Show me the footage of where he was before the encounter of him with jex
.....