Astra Vale did not panic.
Panic was a luxury she had buried long ago along with grief, softness, and the version of herself that once believed Neo City could be saved without blood on its streets. She had traded innocence for vigilance, vulnerability for armor, and yet… a small, stubborn ember of her old self still flickered in quiet moments. Moments like this, when the city stretched below her in endless veins of neon and steel.
But she did tense. Every muscle in her body locked into readiness as she faced the figure across the rooftop, instincts screaming louder than reason. The wind whipped between them, tugging at her cloak, carrying the hum of the city below. Neon light crawled over the edges of his armor, outlining a silhouette that was unmistakably dangerous.
He hadn't approached quietly.
That alone unsettled her. No misstep. No echo of boots against concrete. No warning flicker on her peripheral sensors. He had simply been there, as if materializing from the shadows themselves.
"How long have you been standing there?" she demanded again, voice sharp, controlled.
He didn't answer immediately. Instead, he studied her openly, unapologetically. Astra hated that more than the silence. Most people flinched under her gaze, under the mask, under the reputation that clung to her like a second skin. This man didn't.
"Long enough," he said at last, voice smooth through the distortion of his mask, "to confirm the rumors were underselling you."
Astra shifted her weight slightly, angling her body so the wind favored her, fingers hovering near the grappling mechanism in her wrist. One pull, and she could be airborne in seconds or closing the distance in a heartbeat.
"Flattery isn't going to make me friendlier," she said.
"Good," he replied easily. "I don't trust friendly people in this city."
That earned a flicker of surprise she didn't bother hiding.
He took a step forward. The concrete beneath his boots didn't crack, but Astra felt it vibrate faintly through the soles of her own. His armor wasn't just advanced it was reinforced, power-assisted, designed for impact. Military-grade at the very least.
"Stop right there," she warned.
He did. Not because he had to. Because he chose to.
"Relax," he said. "If I wanted you restrained, we wouldn't be having a conversation."
Her jaw tightened. Arrogant.
"Then talk," she snapped. "Say what you came to say and disappear."
A faint chuckle slipped through his modulator. "Straight to business. I like that."
She didn't respond.
He glanced out over Neo City, as if savoring the view. From this height, the city looked almost beautiful towering spires of glass and steel, rivers of light threading between them, air traffic drifting lazily like glowing insects. Almost.
"You're efficient," he said. "Disciplined. You don't kill unless you're forced to. You don't stay long enough to be thanked. And you always vanish before the sirens get close."
Astra's fingers curled. She hadn't told anyone that.
"Stalking me now?" she asked coldly.
"Observing," he corrected. "There's a difference."
She lunged.
The distance between them vanished in a heartbeat. Astra moved fast faster than most people could track. Her fist came up, aimed squarely at his throat.
He caught her wrist mid-strike. The impact jolted up her arm, not painful, but solid enough to tell her one thing immediately: he was strong. Stronger than he looked.
She twisted, using his grip to pivot, bringing her knee up toward his ribs. He released her just in time, stepping back as her strike cut through empty air.
They circled each other slowly now, like predators sizing up prey.
"Good reflexes," he said. "But predictable."
Her eyes narrowed. "You talk too much."
"So do you."
She attacked again. This time, she mixed feints with real strikes, changing rhythm, forcing him to react instead of analyze. He blocked most of her blows, redirecting rather than absorbing, his movements fluid, controlled. Not flashy. Trained.
He countered once, a sharp strike aimed at her shoulder the one already bruised from the pulse round earlier. Astra barely twisted aside in time, the edge of his gauntlet grazing her suit. Pain flared. She hissed, then smiled beneath the mask.
"Found something?" she taunted.
He paused, head tilting. "You're injured."
"Congratulations," she said. "You have eyes."
"Which means you've already been in a fight tonight."
She didn't answer.
"You don't pace yourself," he continued calmly. "You take on too much, too fast. That'll get you killed."
The audacity of it stole her breath for half a second.
"Who do you think you are?" she demanded. "My handler?"
"No," he said. "Your equal."
That word landed heavier than any blow. Equal.
Her mind spun. Someone calling her equal. Not her enemy. Not an opportunist. Someone who could if given the chance meet her at her own level.
She moved without thinking, grappling line firing as she launched herself upward, flipping over him to gain higher ground. She landed on a ventilation unit, crouched low, cloak snapping behind her.
"If you're here to claim territory," she said, "you're late. This city already has a shadow."
He looked up at her, unbothered.
"I'm not here to replace you," he said. "I'm here because Neo City is escalating."
Her visor flickered as she scanned him again. No obvious weapons. No visible insignia. His tech signature was partially masked intentionally.
"Meaning?" she asked.
"Meaning the operations you've been dismantling," he gestured vaguely toward the docks in the distance, "they're symptoms. Not the disease."
She hesitated. Just a fraction. He noticed.
"You've felt it too," he said. "Smaller crews suddenly well-funded. Smarter. Better armed. Someone's organizing them."
Astra swallowed. Patterns forming where chaos used to reign. Criminals acting with coordination instead of desperation.
"I don't share information," she said carefully.
"I know," he replied. "That's your biggest weakness."
She fired the grappling line again this time not to escape, but to pull him toward her.
He reacted instantly, anchoring himself, the cable snapping taut between them. For a heartbeat, they were locked together, tension vibrating through the line.
"Last warning," she said. "Let go."
"Or what?"
She released the line. He stumbled forward from the sudden loss of resistance, just long enough for her to drop from the vent and sweep his legs out from under him.
He hit the rooftop hard. Astra landed on his chest, knee pressing down, baton humming as she held it inches from his throat.
"Or this," she said quietly. For the first time, his breathing changed. Not panic. Interest.
"Impressive," he murmured.
"You're done here," she said. "Leave."
His gaze flicked to the baton, then back to her mask. "You won't use that."
Her grip tightened. "You're assuming a lot."
"You didn't use lethal force in the warehouse," he said. "You didn't even threaten it. You're not a killer."
Astra hated how easily he read her. She pulled back, rising smoothly to her feet, baton lowering but not deactivating.
"Get up," she said.
He did, brushing imaginary dust from his armor like he hadn't just been pinned.
"Listen," he said. "Whether you like it or not, we're hunting the same enemy."
"I hunt criminals," she shot back.
"And I hunt systems," he replied. "The kind that create criminals."
Silence stretched between them. Far below, sirens wailed closer now. Astra glanced toward the edge of the roof. She'd stayed too long.
"I don't work with strangers," she said.
"Then stop being one," he replied.
She turned away, grappling line firing as she launched herself toward the next building. Behind her, his voice carried effortlessly across the gap.
"Next time we meet, Astra Vale," he said, deliberately using her name, "we'll talk strategy instead of fists."
Her heart skipped.
She landed hard, spinning to face him.
"How do you know that name?" she demanded.
The rooftop she'd left was empty. No armor. No silhouette. Nothing but moonlight and the hum of the city.
Astra stood there longer than she meant to, chest rising and falling, mind racing. Her name. He shouldn't have known it.
She activated her comm, running a rapid scan of the surrounding area. Nothing. No heat signatures. No energy trails. Clean disappearance.
"Damn it," she muttered. She moved again, faster now, leaping across rooftops with restless energy, replaying every word, every movement. He hadn't attacked her outright. Hadn't tried to capture her. He'd come to test her. To warn her. And to prove something. That she wasn't alone anymore.
She landed at last on a narrow rooftop overlooking one of Neo City's central districts, the noise below muted by altitude. She pulled off her mask, dragging in a long breath of cool air. The city stared back at her, indifferent.
Her mind drifted to the rival hero's words, weighing them carefully. Systems, not criminals. Patterns, not chaos.
"Equal," she whispered, tasting the word. She didn't know whether that terrified her… or intrigued her.
Across the city, in the shadow of a communications tower, the rival hero watched her disappear into the maze of lights.
"Soon," he murmured to himself. "You'll see it too."
And when she did Neo City would never be the same.