The rain thickened, falling in heavy sheets that blurred the neon world of Bluefall into streaks of blue and white.
Loki didn't mind the rain.
Rain hid movement.
Rain erased tracks.
But the presence above him did neither.
He looked up.
A silhouette crouched on the rooftop edge — tall, cloaked, unmoving.
Their coat fluttered in the wind, but their body stayed perfectly still.
Only their eyes glowed.
Red.
Sharp.
Focused entirely on Loki.
Loki narrowed his gaze.
Not threatening.
Not afraid.
Just calculating.
The figure dropped from the rooftop without a sound.
Not even a splash when they landed.
Interesting.
Loki's hand hovered near Silent Edge, but didn't grip it.
A small, measured hesitation — enough to show awareness but not vulnerability.
The stranger gave a faint, knowing smirk —
not playful,
not mocking,
but precise, like someone who understood the world through angles and logic.
"You've awakened," the stranger said.
"Just as expected."
Loki remained silent.
Their boots stood inches from the puddles, yet not a single raindrop touched them —
an invisible pressure field bending water away.
A high-level user.
Not a street thug.
Not random.
The stranger studied Loki, mirroring Loki's calm.
"I've observed you for a long time," the stranger said, voice smooth and steady, almost analytical.
"You see patterns others can't see. You calculate faster than you breathe."
Loki didn't respond.
The stranger raised a hand slightly, as if acknowledging Loki's silence.
"I am Axis."
The name carried weight.
Not loud weight — structural weight.
A name you'd give to someone who stands at the center of shifting events.
"I'm here to deliver something important."
They reached slowly into their cloak — measured, deliberate movements —
and pulled out a metallic emblem.
A broken circle
with a single vertical line through it.
Carved into dark steel.
Axis tossed it lightly.
Loki caught it between two fingers without effort.
"That emblem," Axis said, "belongs to an organization called Division Zero."
Loki examined the object.
Heavy metal.
Cold precision.
No obvious weakness.
Axis stepped closer, red eyes narrowing.
"They're hunting people with awakened perception.
People like you.
People whose minds move differently."
A subtle tension ran through Loki's fingers.
Just a fraction.
Axis noticed, of course.
"They already know you exist, Loki.
They've marked you."
Silence. The rain hit harder.
Axis leaned forward slightly.
"And they're coming tonight."
Loki's ability flickered, activating instinctively.
Mindveil Perception.
The world slowed.
Every raindrop hung suspended.
Distant footsteps echoed — heavy, organized, numerous.
Twenty… maybe more.
Axis stepped back.
"I'm not here as your enemy," Axis said quietly.
"I'm here to keep you alive."
Loki finally spoke, voice steady, quiet, surgical.
"Why?"
Axis's lips curved into a subtle, sharp smile — not friendly, not hostile.
"Because Division Zero has plans.
And you standing here… breaks their structure."
A flash of blue lightning ripped across the sky as Loki unsheathed Silent Edge.
Axis turned toward the rooftops.
"They're here."
A harsh spotlight burst from the far end of the alley.
Armored figures dropped from rooftops in coordinated formation.
Helmets glowing.
Weapons humming.
Voices buzzing through filtered static.
"TARGET: LOKI.
INITIATE CAPTURE PROTOCOL."
Axis stepped back into the deeper shadows.
Loki's blade fully unsheathed.
Mindveil ignited.
Raindrops began falling upward.
And with quiet certainty, Loki whispered:
"Let them come."