Blaze didn't sleep that night.
He tried. He lay there staring at the ceiling of his apartment, the dim blue reflection of Veridion City spilling through his blinds, humming like a quiet warning. His body was tired. His mind was not. Every time he shut his eyes, the Aurion Capital proposal flashed behind them. The stipend. The training facility. The biomechanics upgrades. The so called "performance adjustments".
And the clause he knew instantly was designed to own him.
He tried to tell himself this was a blessing. He tried to repeat it like a mantra.
He had always dreamed of becoming more than the street kid who clawed his way into the Titans roster. This was a chance to evolve. To keep the team competitive. To not be a liability while recovering.
But no matter how many times he recited that, one truth kept rising to the surface.
Something in that contract felt like a collar.
