The darkness inside the drainage tunnel was so complete it felt like a solid thing, pressing in on them from all sides and making it hard to breathe. The only sounds were the steady drip, drip of dirty water, the shaky sound of their own breathing, and the quiet, helpless sobs coming from Kaito.
The glow from the laptop screen was a tiny, lonely point of light in the city's underbelly, revealing their faces, which were smudged with dirt and wet with tears.
By any measure, they had won. The news headline on the screen was clear and undeniable: OMNICORP CEO VANCE STEPS DOWN AMIDST MOUNTING SCANDAL. They had destroyed a powerful man's life's work and forced a billionaire out of his job. This should have been a moment of wild celebration, of hugging each other and feeling the warm, proud glow of a hard-fought victory.
