The simulated neighborhood sat silent and still—eerily still.
Team Paragon moved cautiously down the main street, its cracked pavement winding between near-identical houses, each with fake plastic lawns and static mannequins posed in frozen domestic bliss. An artificial breeze stirred the trees, leaves rustling softly as if whispering secrets. Disrupt walked at the front, Barrier and Amplify flanking slightly behind in a protective triangle formation.
High above, drifting between the shifting shadows cast by power lines and chimneys, Shadowsmith watched them. His body folded into the darkness, impossible to see to anyone untrained. His whisper came through their comms.
"Three contacts. Moving parallel to your position. Get ready."
That had been several minutes ago.
Now, as they walked, the team saw nothing—no enemies, no motion. Just stillness.
Disrupt narrowed his eyes, his voice low as he scanned the surroundings. "Why haven't we seen anyone? Shadowsmith said three dead ahead, not long ago…"
He trailed off, eyes darting left, then right. Plastic families stared blankly from behind windows. A mannequin boy held a frisbee mid-throw, mouth open in silent laughter. Too perfect. Too wrong.
"A trap, maybe," Barrier offered, tightening her fingers slightly. Her aura flared faintly, her barrier magic stirring just beneath the surface.
Amplify clicked his tongue. "Or maybe they got spooked. Ran the other direction."
Disrupt's voice was colder, more certain. "Could be. But my money's on a trap. Something's off…"
His foot hit the pavement—and the ground shuddered violently.
Before he could react, he heard a sharp click.
BOOM.
A focused blast of compressed air—like a bullet the size of a bowling ball—shot from a alleyway, slamming into him and sending his body careening across the street. He rolled hard, momentum grinding him across the pavement until he came to a skidding stop.
"Disrupt!" Barrier yelled, already forming a dome of light around him just in time to deflect another incoming attack.
Above them, a shrill whirring sound cut through the air.
Glide.
Mechanical wings spread wide, jet engines humming at her back. She soared downward in an arc, trailing smoke. Small shocks of gravity rippled around her boots as she surged toward Disrupt.
But the moment she got within range—Barrier's shield closed in.
Glide slammed against the dome and bounced off, flipping into the air again with a growl of frustration.
Glide's power was small-scale gravity manipulation—just enough to lift herself, slow her falls, or shift midair—but she wasn't flying with it alone. The wings on her back were tech-based, clearly customized, making her agile and unpredictable in aerial combat.
Disrupt rolled to his feet, nodding at Barrier. "Thanks." She dropped the dome instantly.
The ground shook again, a second tremor racing beneath them.
Click.
Disrupt didn't hesitate this time. He dodged hard right just as another air bullet exploded from the alleyway infront of him. It barely missed his left leg.
From the far side of the street, a man stepped out of cover—tall, narrow build, pale tan jacket with reinforced gloves.
Clickshot.
His fingers clicked rapidly.
Disrupt slammed his fist down into the asphalt.
Cracks spiderwebbed out, racing across the pavement in jagged patterns. They surged toward Clickshot like lightning strikes—and when they reached him, the ground collapsed beneath his feet, sending him plunging into a sinkhole of rubble and dust.
Before Disrupt could catch his breath, he felt a surge of power run through his body—his muscles vibrating with raw kinetic energy.
Amplify.
He raised his hands in the distance, fingers crackling as he projected his strength into him.
From above, Glide dove again.
Disrupt launched into a forward flip, avoiding her swooping claws. As he did, he grabbed one of the mechanical wing hinges on her back, twisting mid-air. When he landed—hard—he dragged her down with him, slamming her body into the ground with the enhanced force Amplify had granted him.
The pavement cracked under the impact.
The tremors stopped. The ground finally still.
But only for a moment.
The shadows twisted nearby—elongating unnaturally.
Duskcoat emerged in a blur of motion, leaping from the darkness with a blade of black energy forming in his hand, targeting Disrupt.
But Shadowsmith rose from the very shadow Duskcoat leapt from—materializing behind him with a massive hammer formed from writhing shadowstuff, its head as wide as a trash can lid.
With a wordless yell, Shadowsmith swung the hammer in a wide, devastating arc.
Duskcoat barely turned in time, seeing it out of the corner of his eye.
He vanished—turned into shadow, flowing like black smoke across the street.
But he didn't go for Glide.
He went for Amplify.
Duskcoat burst up from the ground right in front of him, fist first. Amplify barely raised his hands before the backfist caught him clean across the jaw, sending him flying into a parked, rusted truck with a sickening clang.
Barrier charged forward.
Duskcoat, overconfident, turned toward Amplify to follow up. He didn't see her coming.
Barrier's punch cracked across his face.
It sent Duskcoat flying—much further than Amplify had been hit. He smashed through a picket fence and tore through the side of a single-story house, vanishing inside in a cloud of splintered wood and drywall.
Shadowsmith melted into the shadows, pursuing without a word.
Disrupt looked down at Glide's unconscious form, then reached down and tugged the green flag from her belt. He clipped it to his waist, and as he did—
Click.
He ducked, instinct taking over. A shot missed his head by inches.
But dodging put him right in the path of someone else.
The earth cracked again.
From the side of the nearest house, a figure stepped out.
Muscular. Fierce.
Tremblor.
She'd been underground the whole time—causing the tremors, waiting until the right moment to strike.
She lunged forward and drove her fist into Disrupt's ribs.
The blow lifted him off the ground and launched him into the air, sending him crashing through a brick wall and into the kitchen of a ruined suburban home. Plates shattered around him.
Tremblor calmly stepped through the hole in the wall, cracking her knuckles.
Outside, Clickshot reemerged, now facing both Amplify and Barrier, who stood side by side in the middle of the cracked street.
A moment of stillness passed.
From the shattered window of the house across the street, Shadowsmith peered down at Duskcoat, who pulled himself to his feet inside the living room—dusty light filtering through.
"Round two?" Shadowsmith asked.
Duskcoat chuckled. "I was hoping you'd show."
Both formed weapons—dark matter versus deeper dark.
Across the street, Clickshot gave a lopsided grin to Barrier and Amplify.
"Well, this is a little unfair," he joked. "Two on one?"
Barrier raised a hand, a dome flickering just above her palm.
Amplify rolled his shoulders, energy crackling between his fingertips. "You want us to wait for backup?"
Clickshot's grin widened.
"Nah. I like the odds."
Back inside the ruined house, Disrupt climbed to his feet. His arm ached. Tremblor waited at the other end of the kitchen, cracking the tiles beneath her with each slow step.
"Hero or villain?"
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a blue card.
Villain.
She nodded once. "I don't care who wins. I just want a good fight."
Disrupt narrowed his eyes. "Well… we're heroes."
Tremblor smiled, stretching her neck with a loud crack.
"Then I hope you hit hard."
They stepped forward at the same time—
---
For a few seconds, there is silence.
Then—motion.
Shadows stretch unnaturally along the walls, crawling like snakes. Two figures blur through them. Shadowsmith emerges from the left wall, his body forming from black mist. Across the room, Duskcoat surges from the shadows beneath a shattered dresser, blade of inky darkness drawn.
They clash instantly—steel and shadow hammer crashing, the room quaking under their force.
Duskcoat twirls away, his body fluid, evasive. "You're slower than me."
Shadowsmith's reply is quiet, but laced with certainty. "But I'm smarter."
He swings again—his massive hammer arcing in a wide, terrifying sweep. Duskcoat dodges by melting into the floor, reforming behind him, slicing at Shadowsmith's back.
Shadowsmith blocks—just in time—by forming a shadow buckler on his forearm. It ripples like oil under pressure.
"You're predictable," Duskcoat whispers as he backs away, fading again into the shadows. "Brute force. Big shapes. Heavy swings."
"And you're overconfident."
Suddenly—needles of shadow shoot from the walls. Duskcoat dodges, flickering between beams of light, his form merging and unmerging with every step. A dance of darkness.
He throws a shadow disk, spinning like a buzzsaw. Shadowsmith deflects it with his hammer—but the impact tears into the wall behind him.
Duskcoat circles, laughing. "You don't get it. You can't hit what you can't catch."
"Don't need to catch you," Shadowsmith mutters.
He raises both hands, summoning the shadows around the room. The environment changes. Dozens of humanoid shadow puppets begin to crawl out from the walls and floors—silent, emotionless silhouettes. They don't move like people—more like flickering memories.
Duskcoat's smirk falters. "That's new."
"They're not meant to beat you," Shadowsmith says. "Just to guide you."
Suddenly—the puppets rush him, forcing Duskcoat to leap, vanish, flicker, twist—backpedaling, avoiding, slicing them apart—but unknowingly following a path.
He bursts through a doorway, shadow-dashing to escape them—and steps into a darkened bedroom.
Click.
Shadowsmith was already waiting.
In the center of the room, he had formed a massive iron maiden of shadows—like a sarcophagus, its inside bristling with barbed dark constructs.
Duskcoat had just enough time to widen his eyes before shadow vines snapped around his limbs.
"No—!"
WHAM.
The coffin slammed shut.
Inside, the barbs didn't pierce skin—they jammed into pressure points, paralyzing Duskcoat instantly. Conscious but completely immobilized.
Shadowsmith walked forward, breathing heavily. "I knew you'd take the path of least resistance. You always do."
The shadows released a soft hiss as the coffin faded.
Duskcoat slumped to the floor.
Shadowsmith knelt, tugged the green flag from Duskcoat's belt, and attached it to his own. His eyes remained calm, but his fingers flexed with adrenaline.
Fight won.
---
Amplify stood just behind Barrier, hand placed on her back. His pupils flared, glowing faintly as a low hum passed from his palm into her body.
"Ready," he muttered.
Barrier nodded, her aura flaring wide.
Clickshot raised his hand like a pistol.
"Bang."
A blast of condensed air fired from his fingertip. It screamed through the air.
Amplify sidestepped, barely avoiding the hit—it shattered the road behind him, throwing debris skyward.
Barrier launched forward—faster than Clickshot expected. Her feet cracked the ground under each stride, propelled by Amplify's buff.
Clickshot's smirk faltered. He tried to fire again, but she was already on him.
Her fist collided with his forearm, throwing off his shot.
He pivoted, dodged low under her next swing, and backed off—his movements sharp, evasive. He wasn't strong—but he was quick.
Barrier kept coming. Left hook. Right elbow. Knee to gut. She flowed like a trained martial artist with the force of a truck.
Clickshot ducked and weaved, using bursts to accelerate dodges or reposition instantly. He clipped her jaw once—barely—but her momentum never faltered.
Then she missed a punch.
Clickshot spun, put his fingers to her gut like a fake gun—and fired point-blank.
FWOOOOOM.
A cannon of air slammed into her stomach, lifting her from the ground and throwing her backward. She rolled three times before skidding to a stop.
Click.
Another shot incoming.
Barrier's shield flared around her, catching the air blast like a shockwave hitting a dome. She gasped, clutching her stomach.
Then—a scream.
Barrier turned to her right—Glide was awake.
The villainess' wings were stuttering slightly, but she had managed to lift off, grabbing Amplify by the arms and soaring into the air.
"Amplify!" Barrier shouted.
He flailed, trying to free himself—but they rose high above the buildings.
---
Tremblor lunged forward again, fists swinging wide. Disrupt blocked, then countered with a short, snapping punch that caught her jaw. She staggered back, laughing.
"Damn, you hit like a train."
"You're not bad either," Disrupt replied, circling her.
His eyes scanned the room. He couldn't use Break on her—not directly. Too lethal. Same for Tremblor's seismic power—bringing the house down would bury them both.
Hand-to-hand. Raw strength.
"You're the second-best," Tremblor said, cracking her knuckles. "Guess that makes me the measuring stick."
Disrupt's body shimmered—his enhanced DNA gifted him much better power than the others, but yet nobody knows why.
They charged.
Disrupt slammed his elbow into her ribs, followed by a sweep kick.
Tremblor flipped, catching herself, and answered with a low uppercut that knocked the air from his lungs.
They grappled, pushing against each other, straining.
Crash. They smashed into a wall, knocking down picture frames and breaking through a bookshelf.
Tremblor flipped Disrupt over her shoulder, sending him through a coffee table. But he grabbed her ankle as he went and yanked, pulling her down.
They rolled, trading wild strikes. She slammed him into the ground with an overhand smash. He threw her off with a two-foot kick.
They were laughing.
"I haven't had this much fun in months," Tremblor said, blood on her lip.
"You need better hobbies," Disrupt grunted, rising.
He backed up to a wall, placed his hand on it—and cracks exploded outward. They raced up the wall, across the ceiling, and then right over Tremblor's head.
She blinked, then looked up.
CRACK.
The ceiling caved in.
Rubble fell like hail, dust exploding everywhere.
Silence.
Then a low growl.
Tremblor stood up, bruised but alive. She cracked her neck, eyes blazing.
"You wanna use abilities, Disrupt?"
She raised her foot—then stomped.
BOOOOOOM.
A wave of seismic energy ripped through the house, tearing up the floorboards, splintering the walls. The house trembled violently.
Disrupt widened his stance, raising his arms just as the ceiling and second floor collapsed above him.
The house fell.
And everything went dark.