Cruz's eyes shoot awake to the usual noise outside, teenagers yelling, laughing, music echoing between buildings.
He turns and stares at the ceiling for a second, he then rubs his face and turns on the lamp beside his bed.
He reaches for his golden watch and checks the time.
"9:12 PM."
"Damn, I'm late. Fuck it."
He exhales slowly.
"Time to get to work." He says to himself as he straps the watch on.
Cruz gets up from out of his bed and heads into his bathroom.
He washes his face, brushes his teeth, and changes into grey jeans and a black sweatshirt.
He checks himself in the mirror once, expression flat, then turns the light off.
He opens his bedroom door slowly and quietly.
From the living room, the TV plays loudly in the background.
"Authorities continue to search for the suspect known as the 'Roxanne Killer.' The mayor is urging residents to remain vigilant while the police conduct a thorough investigation into the case." A reporter says from the TV.
Cruz tries to slip past quietly.
"Ah! There you are, Luis, come here."
He stops and mouths "Fuck." before walking toward his mother.
"Hey Ma… what are you watching?" Cruz says as he kisses her on the head.
"Oh, just the news on TV, it's horrible. You be careful out there! I don't want you getting hurt!"
Cruz nods exhaustingly.
"Ma, nothing is gonna happen to me, alright? Just go to sleep, I'll be fine."
"Are you going out again? I made soup, it's in the fridge."
He rubs the back of his neck.
"Yeah, I have to go to work, sorry Ma, I don't have time."
His mother frowns.
"But you have to eat, mijo, I don't like you running around hungry at night…"
Cruz sighs.
"I'm fine, Ma, you know me… anyways, don't stay up for me like you always do. You should get some rest."
She stands up from her seat slowly.
"You don't think I know what you're doing when you're out 'working'?"
"Ma, we've spoken about this." Cruz says, putting on his jacket.
"Luis, go to school, you still have time. Your…- your cousin Cloud is graduating soon."
"Good for him, I gotta go now. Love you."
He leaves before she can answer.
Outside, Central Chuq City is alive like always. Street vendors yelling, music playing from speakers, people crowding the sidewalks.
"Aye, what's good, Cruz?" someone says, dapping him up.
"'Sup."
He moves through the market comfortably, greeting people he's known for years.
He stops when he sees a crowd forming around his usual stand.
"Yo, what's going on?" he asks one of the people in the crowd.
"The police are giving Chamacito problems."
"The police?" Cruz says, confused.
He pushes through the crowd.
His friends are on their knees, arrested and restrained with their heads down.
Chamacito spots him immediately.
"CRUZ, RUN!"
The SWAT team turn their heads at the same time.
Cruz immediately dashes and runs off.
'What the hell? Why were they just detained?!'
He cuts through vendor tents, knocking over hanging clothes and plastic crates as he runs. Three SWAT members chase him down.
'Fuck this!'
He cuts into an alley, plants a foot on the ground and leaps easily over a tall metal gate to keep moving.
"Get him!" one of them shouts.
'Should I use it?! No, they probably have Mana readers.'
On a rooftop, a SWAT soldier in white armor watches through a scope.
"He's on the run now. What's the move? Over." He says into the radio transceiver.
"Keep him running straight. Those regular officers will never catch him. He knows these streets too well. Like a rat. Over." The other voice commands.
"Copy. Over."
Police cruisers block the side streets.
Officers start flooding the intersections, forcing Cruz out of the alleys and into open roads.
'Why are the police intervening? They usually never bother us, we're in Chuq City?!'
Back on the roof, the white armored SWAT focuses his sight on Cruz's back.
"Captain. I have a clean shot. Should I take it? Over." He says, aiming at Cruz's back as he runs.
"Target confirmed. Engage. Over." The other voice says.
Cruz sprints across the street, then suddenly-
A shot shoots and plants itself in his back.
Electricity violently starts flooding into his body instantly.
His muscles lock and collapse as he drops hard onto the pavement, shaking violently.
The officers on standby close in while the electricity fades away.
"Luis Cruz, you're under arrest."
A mana restraint chair is summoned. His arms and legs are locked down. A cover clamps over his mouth.
Cruz's vision fades in and out as he recovers from the assault.
Suddenly, a man in a black suit wearing a skeleton mask walks up to him. The white-armored SWAT sniper stands beside him.
"Finally, we got this piece of shit. Sweet, scan him." Vandenberg says.
Sweet pulls out a scanner and runs it over Cruz's body.
An officer approaches and bows slightly.
"Mr. Vandenberg. A pleasure to meet you."
"Ugh, spare me. Just get this over with already, I can't stand being in this city for another minute."
Sweet finishes the scan and hands the scanner over.
Vandenberg studies the results.
"Magnificent. You probably could have escaped if you were to have used your technique."
Cruz's mind clears slightly.
'Who the hell are these fuckers?'
"Oh, there you are. Finally, Sweet, bring them up."
Other SWAT members drag Cruz's restrained friends forward.
'No! What are they doing?!'
"Cruz! What is going on?!" someone in the crowd shouts.
"Now, Mr. Vino has let you criminals run around freely here for some time. But now things are going to change… understand?"
Cruz tries to get up but struggles against the restraints.
'Change?! I can't activate my technique! These restraints!!'
"Don't worry, Cruz! These pigs can't do shit to us!!" one of his friends yells from his knees.
Vandenberg laughs.
"Sweet. Do your thing."
Sweet nods in his white mask, he rotates his sniper and grips the barrel with both hands.
He then revs the rifle once and slams it down hard onto Cruz's friend's head causing immediate trauma.
The body drops lifelessly while the crowd gasps in silence.
Blood spills across the pavement. Some splashes across Sweet's chest. Some splashes onto Cruz's face.
Cruz blinks rapidly, breathing hard through his nose, panic building fast.
"See, that's what lowly criminals deserve." Vandenberg chuckles.
"But not you, no-, you're not a lowly criminal. You- you're going to do something for me, whether you like it or not."
Cruz can barely hear him over the panic in his head.
'Angelo… no way…'
"I know what you do for a living, I know that without your support, your mother can't live comfortably."
Cruz finally looks up at Vandenberg, shock in his eyes.
"Because you- heh- yes you, you're talented. You'll be of great use to us. But, enough chatting. Sweet, take him to Cymbal Cells. Talk soon, Cruz."
Vandenberg steps into a black SUV and the door shuts.
Sweet steps up to Cruz.
The last thing Cruz sees is Sweet knocking him out cold with his sniper rifle.
…