On the far side of the slums, a gentle rain started to fall. Fii took off her helmet ahe drops roll down her face. She looked around. No one was watg her. Everyone else was busy fighting or fleeing from the Adrenomancers and soldiers who'd stormed into the slums.

  Just one minute...

  She just needed just a mio clear her head. She breathed in deeply. The rain tasted sweet. She wiped her brout her helmet ba. Theuro the chaos.

  Fii unched herself off a dumpster and bounced off a building, gaini before she fell. trolling the vector of gravity had gotten easier and easier as the hours went on. With the adrenaline pumping through her veins and the ay of the battle, she didn't even have to think about it anymore. It was like sed nature to her now.

  As she approached a nearby street, she spied a squad of soldiers closing in on a group of slummers huddled in the shadows.

  ize on how to deal with them.

  She pulled them through the air until they reached her elevation, then shifted their local gravity's magnitude aor to smash them into the side of a building. They crumpled to the ground in a mangled heap.

  The slummers scurried out of hiding and ran in different dires, some looked at the corpses with horror—ave her the same terrified look.

  She fli the tter but pressed on.

  I'd be scared of someone who do that too...no matter who they are.

  She flew towards the sounds of battle and skated across the sides of buildings and dowreet to save energy. The rush of adrenaline helped focus her attention as she kept sing for trouble. In the distance, a tall tower of smoke rose into the air from the site of an explosion. Fmes licked the side of a nearby building.

  Fii slowed and crouched atop a rooftop to survey the area. From her vantage point, she spotted several pockets of resistaill holding out against the invaders.

  From their get-up and ons, they were from the Ironcd Legion. Their fortress wasn't too far from here either. It seemed like they were putting up a good fight, at least for now.

  She looked towards the epiter of the fighting where she could make out the distinctive form of "Hammer" Kareem, t over the rest. His massive bulk shoh a metallic sheen, his body transformed into living armor. He wielded a huge two-handed hammer that seemed to weigh nothing in his hands.

  As he swung it in wide arcs, the air around him shuddered with the force of a small explosion. Adrenomancers and soldiers alike fled in his wake, scrambling to avoid his devastating blows.

  The impact of his hammer left deep craters in the ground a debris flying in all dires. One soldier who was unlucky enough to get caught i radius was tossed into the air like a ragdoll. He hit the ground with a siing ch, his body twisted and broken.

  As Fii watched in awe, Kareem took another swing at an advang Adrenomahe man mao dodge the blow but wasn't fast enough to avoid the follow-up strike. The hammer smashed into his chest, g it in with a resounding boom. His body flew bad smashed into a nearby shanty. It colpsed on top of him, burying him beh the rubble.

  Fii gulped. Just o from that thing would crush her to a pulp. She shook her head and pushed the thought away. Right now, they should be on the same side. Fii gathered her ce and raced towards the fighting.

  She nded on the ground beside Kareem. His armored form towered over her as he pounded another Adrenomancer into the pavement. She winced as she heard the ch of bone and flesh uhe impact. She wao retch but swallowed the bile rising ihroat.

  Kareem's head sowards her, his eyes gleaming with the same manic light that reflected off his metallic surface.

  "Axion! The hell you want?" he grunted as he smmed his hammer into another soldier. The ma flying and crashed into a nearby building.

  Fii flinched but didn't back away.

  "I'm here to help!" she shouted over the noise of battle.

  Kareem gave her a once-over befrunting in approval. "All right, theo it. Backfire vouched for your power st time, so you best not disappoint. Just don't get in my way."

  He spun around and smmed his hammer into an ining wave of soldiers. Fii jumped aside to avoid getting hit by the flying debris. Theurned her attention to the advang enemies.

  Her hands flew out in front of her as she began maniputing the gravity around them. They filed about helplessly as their bodies became weightless and floated into the air. With a wave of her hand, she sent them flying off the battlefield.

  Kareem gave her an appreciative grunt before turning back to the fray. He charged forward and smashed through anroup of soldiers with ease. His armored form was like a tank plowing through a row of paper targets.

  "A shame you decided to waste your time and ambition pying the role of a Super," Kareem shouted over his shoulder as he bashed in the skulls of several soldiers. "You would have ruled these streets had you been willing to ally with us from the start."

  Fii bit back a retort.

  She had to focus on keeping the enemy at bay for now. Her eyes darted around as she searched for more targets. A dozen soldiers approached from behind, their rifles trained on her. She raised a hand and they were pulled off their feet. They soared towards her before being smmed into the ground with enough force to crack the crete. They y there unmoving.

  Fii jumped into the air and shot herself towards anroup of enemies. She somersaulted over them and nded in their midst. Before they could react, she extended both hands towards them and turned up the local gravity. The soldiers groaned and colpsed uhe increased weight. They tried to lift their guns but couldn't even move their arms.

  While she kept them there, the other Ironcd Legion fighters shot them from a distance.

  Fii grimaced at the bloodbath but kept going. She leapt through the air, boung from building to building as she used her powers to disrupt enemy formations and open holes in their defenses. All arouhe Ironcd Legion took advantage of her efforts and rushed into the gaps she created.

  However, her exhaustion began to creep in. As her adrenaline faded away, so did her trol over her abilities. It wasn't much longer before she misjudged her trajectory and lost trol. She tumbled onto the pavement with a heavy thud. The nding jolted her brain, making her vision blurry.

  She staggered to her feet and took a few unsteady steps forward. Everything spun around her. Her legs gave way beh her and she colpsed again. Her chest heaved, trying to catch her breath. But the effort only made her cough and wheeze. Every muscle in her body ached.

  Grittieeth, she pushed herself upright.

  As stumbled towards a nearby wall and leaned against it for support, a soldier with a wicked scar running down his face appeared out of nowhere and swung his sword at her head. Fii stumbled back but the bde nicked her helmet. She mao dodge the sed strike but wasn't fast enough to escape the third. It sliced into her shoulder a a deep gash.

  She gasped in pain ao one knee.

  The soldier raised his sword high above his head and brought it down with full force. Fii threw herself sideways, narrowly avoiding the bde. She rolled away from him as he took another swing at her. She scrambled backwards until her back hit a wall. The soldier advanced on her slowly.

  I just need him to stop...

  Drawing upon her gravikinesis, Fii attempted to manipute the gravity around the soldier. Her i was to pin him to the ground, to immobilize him just long enough to make her escape or mount a terattack. She visualized the gravitational pull intensifying around him, like an invisible hand pressing down with inexorable force.

  Her mind, clouded by pain and fatigue, struggled to mold the forces at her and. She pushed harder, her mental grasp slipping, until finally she let out a scream of frustration aion.

  But as she trated, somethierribly wrong. The e was too deep, too forceful.

  She opened her eyes just in time to see a visible distortion rippling around the soldier as the gravitational pull tered directly on him. His eyes widened in horror as the forcreased expoially, far beyond what Fii had aimed to jure. The grouh him cracked, debris floating upwards as the localized gravity field turned chaotic.

  The soldier's body tort unnaturally. The sound of crag bones filled the air, followed by a wet tearing noise. His eyes widened in shod pain as he began to crumple inwards, his limbs twisting unnaturally. The sword fell from his grasp, cttering against the rubble-strewn ground.

  He screamed in agony before his body gave way and imploded in on itself with a siing ch. Blood and viscera sprayed from his ruined form in all dires.

  Fii froze in horror at the sight. Pieces of gore spshed across her visor and g to her suit. She stared bnkly at the soldier's crumpled remains lying before her.

  This wasn’t what she intended—not like this.

  She looked down at her hands, which trembled untrolbly. Tears welled in her eyes as she struggled to prehend what had happened.

  As if triggered by her mistake, a massive wave of fatigue smmed into her. She could barely keep her eyes open as she sank to her knees. Everythi bd her body slumped forward onto the crete.

  Voices and sounds drifted in and out of her mind...voices calling out her name...hands grabbing her arms...her body being lifted up...a dull thudding sound in the distahen nothing but darkness.

  Mirage walked briskly beside Edith, keeping a close eye on the geicist as they navigated through the byrinthireets of the slums. The woman seemed unfazed by her predit, her expressioral and calm as she took in the sights around her. She carried the reinforced briefcase that Mirage assumed tained her research materials, tightly gripped in her hand.

  She's a tough one...maybe too tough.

  As they walked past a row of abandoned shanties, Mirage he subtle shift ih's demeanor. Her pace quied slightly, and her gaze shifted towards the alleys and rooftops around them. She seemed to be on edge.

  "Not thinking to escape, are you? That would be unwise," Mirage warned. "You might be a genius in your field, but you're no mate."

  Edith shrugged. "I'm not stupid enough to try to outrun you. I'm just worried about the Gully Rats showing up."

  "Gully Rats?" Mirage asked, unfamiliar with the term.

  "The gang that runs these parts," Edith expined. "They're known for their brutality and their obsession with territory. If they see us passing through their turf without permission, they won't hesitate to attack us—especially at night. And since we're both women..." She trailed off, leaving the implication unsaid.

  Mirage sighed inwardly. Just what she needed: another plication to deal with. "Well, we're not crossing into their territory...are we?"

  She had a vague uanding of the yout of the slums, but she couldn't be sure they were staying within the boundaries.

  "We just did. Why do you think I'm worried?" Edith replied. "I'd like to keep my virtue intact."

  Mirage's gaze swept over their surroundings once more.

  "I'll hahem if they e after us," she said with fidence. "I've dealt with far worse than a bunch of low-rent thugs."

  Edith gave her a dubious look but kept quiet. They tinued walking in silence for several minutes. Mirage noticed that Edith's grip on the briefcase tightened as they passed a series of dimly lit alleys. A few more steps and they emerged onto a wider street lined with dipidated buildings. It was surprisingly empty.

  Mirage checked her GPS for the rendezvous point with the operative in charge of transp Edith to Salvatore's facility. It wasn't too far away now. Just another few blocks.

  "This way," she said, gesturing for Edith to follow. They crossed the street and headed down a narrow alley between two tall structures. It was dark and cluttered with debris and garbage. Mirage pulled out a fshlight from her belt and clicked it on. She shohe beam ahead of them as they walked cautiously through the narrow passage.

  Suddenly, they heard a faint rustling sound from behind them. Mirage spun around and poihe fshlight back towards the entrance of the alleyway. The light illuminated a small group of men standing there.

  They wore tattered clothes and carried makeshift ons. Their faces were smeared with dirt and grime. One of them had ad scars c his left cheek. Another held a long pipe in his hand. The third man was slightly shorter thahers.

  The two stared at each other for a moment before the shorter man spoke up. "Well, what do we have here? A couple of pretty dies all alone in the dark?" He sneered. "Funny pce to be wandering around at night."

  The oh the eyepatch ughed and he short man. "Looks like we hit the jackpot tonight, boys."

  Mirage raised an eyebrow.

  Three thugs. No oh firearms.

  She pulled out her silenced pistol and unceremoniously shot the three in quick succession. The muffled gunshots echoed through the alleyway. They fell to the ground without a sound. She stepped over their bodies and motioned for Edith to follow. The geicist gave her a nervous look but did as she was told.

  They tinued walking down the alley until they reached a parking garage at the end of the block. Mirage sed the area befesturing for Edith to proceed into the darkness ahead of them. The womaated briefly but plied.

  An armored SUV awaited them in the garage's interior. Its doors were open, and a man in an ill-fitting suit stood beside it. He wore sungsses and had his hands tucked into the pockets of his jacket. He regarded Mirage with a stoic expression.

  "You're te," he said curtly.

  "Had some issues along the way," Mirage replied. "Nothing I couldn't handle."

  The man nodded and motioned for her to hand over Edith. Mirage led the geicist towards the SUV and handed her off to the operative.

  "Good work," the man said. "Boss'll be pleased. We'll take things from here."

  He grabbed Edith's arm roughly and shoved her into the backseat of the SUV. The door smmed shut behiheuro face Mirage once more.

  "Boss has one more assig for you before you're doh this pce," he said.

  Damn it. How much longer did she have to stay in this dump?

  "What is it?" she asked relutly.

  The man reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small tablet puter. He tapped on its s a few times before handing it te.

  She looked at the tablet's dispy and sa of the slums with a blinking red dot indig her current location. There was a message i fshing oht er of the s. She tapped on it ahe tents.

  Head to the Aether id extract all data you find regardih Weiss's research. Once secured, eliminate all witnesses aroy the facility.

  Mirage frowned as she stared at the s.

  Shit. This was going to take a while…