Evermend felt it before she saw it. A low vibration through the tower's frame. Then the distant flash of orange against the skyline outside her office window.
She was already moving.
Dispatch was chaos when she arrived. Screens lit every wall, feeds switching too fast to track. Sirens wailed somewhere deep in the building. Analysts spoke over each other until one voice cut through.
"Quiet! Panicking solves nothing."
Claire stood at the center console, hands moving fast across the display. She looked up as Evermend approached. "Multiple villain sightings," she said. "Almost simultaneous. Every quadrant. No clear pattern yet."
Evermend folded her arms. "Emergency protocols?"
"Fully active. Citywide." Claire gestured to the screens. "Every agency's deploying. Us, Circuit Alliance, Blue Federation. Anyone breathing and licensed is on the move."
Evermend watched the feeds. Fires. Collapsed streets. Heroes are already engaging. "This isn't random," she said. "It's too clean."
"That's my read too," Claire replied. "But there's more."
Evermend looked at her. "Go on."
"Fantastica's team reported contact earlier with escaped convict Dio Under." Claire hesitated. "I haven't been able to reach them since. Their comms are dead."
Evermend frowned. "Dead how?"
"Not jammed. Not overloaded. Completely offline." Claire shook her head. "Every other team is still transmitting."
The pieces clicked into place. Evermend's expression hardened. "Decay."
Claire stiffened. "You think this is a diversion?"
"I know it is." Evermend turned back to the screens. "They're flooding the board. Drawing resources. They want eyes everywhere but where they matter."
"Which is?"
Evermend didn't hesitate. "Emerald Atlas."
"Brother Kaine, he's done waiting," Evermend said. "This is his move."
Claire checked another screen. "I can pull someone back. Maybe reroute a squad."
"No," Evermend said. "Everyone out there is already committed. Pulling them costs lives."
She exhaled once. "I'll handle it."
She turned and left Dispatch without another word.
The changing room doors slid shut behind her. Moments later, she stepped out in her suit. Reinforced spandex. Shoulder guards locked into place.
She activated her comms. Static answered.
Evermend clenched her jaw. "Hold on," she muttered.
She launched from the tower, breaking into the sky in a burst of force. Below her, Haven City burned. Somewhere ahead, Kaine was closing in on his goal.
Back at the scene with Dio Under, Fantastica had his back turned.
He was mid-sentence, one hand on Dio's shoulder, when the shadow struck. A spike tore up from the pavement and punched straight through his stomach. Blood sprayed from Fantastica's mouth as the force lifted him off his feet. Dio slipped free and collapsed away.
"Fantastica," Justin shouted.
Liza and Braxton moved at the same time, dropping to Fantastica's side as Justin spun, scanning the street. Shadows clung too tightly to the alleyways. Nothing moved. Nothing obvious.
"Stay with us," Braxton said, hands hovering uselessly over the wound.
Fantastica tried to breathe. He was struggling as blood soaked through his suit.
Justin's chest tightened. "Who did that?" he snapped, eyes burning as he searched again.
The answer didn't come from the ground. Something massive crashed down from above.
Braxton barely had time to look up before a towering figure slammed into him. Thick gray hide. A horn like a battering ram. The impact drove Braxton headfirst into the pavement, concrete shattering around his face.
Luther straightened, towering over him in his humanoid rhinoceros form, nostrils flaring.
Liza lifted off instinctively. A scream of air cut past her.
Another of Kaine's agents, Harpy, dropped from the sky, talons slashing toward Liza's face. Liza twisted hard, barely avoiding losing an eye as claws scraped across her mask. She kicked back, sending Harpy spinning before the two of them shot upward, colliding midair in a flurry of wings and strikes.
"Braxton," Justin shouted, torn.
Braxton pushed himself up with a growl, blood streaking his forehead as Luther charged again. Justin took a step forward.
Slow clapping echoed from the alley. A figure emerged from the darkness, polished shoes clicking against broken glass. A tuxedo. A cane. A hat tilted just enough to cast his eyes in shadow.
Brother Kaine smiled.
"Such a mess," he said calmly. "All this effort. All this noise."
Kaine's eyes locked onto him. "It's time to pay what's owed."
He lifted his cane slightly. "And I've come to take your head, Emerald Atlas."
Justin knew the second their eyes met.
"That's you," he said, voice low. "Brother Kaine. The one who tried to scare my parents. The one who sent The Cleaner. All of this." He glanced at the burning street, the chaos unfolding around them. "It's all been you."
Kaine smiled faintly. Didn't deny it.
Justin's hands curled into fists. "Believe me. I want to smash your face into the pavement, but there are more important things to handle right now."
He didn't wait for a response.
Justin scooped Fantastica up, careful despite the urgency, and kicked off the ground. Air rushed past as he pushed for altitude.
Shadows surged. A wall rose in front of him, solid and sudden. Justin swore and twisted hard, barely clearing it as the darkness tore past his shoulder. He dropped fast, boots slamming into the street as he skidded to a stop.
Fantastica coughed, blood spotting his chin. "Relax," he said through clenched teeth. "He got me good, but nothing vital. I can hold for a few minutes."
Justin shook his head. "You shouldn't be talking." Fantastica grabbed his sleeve. "You should be fighting."
Justin hesitated. Then nodded.
He set Fantastica down behind a parked car, shielding him as best he could. Fantastica pressed a hand to the wound, breathing slowly.
"Take this son of a bitch down," Fantastica said.
Justin straightened and turned back.
Kaine stood where he'd been, cane resting lightly in one hand. Shadows crawled up his body, layering over his suit like living armor. The air around him felt heavy. Pressurized.
Kaine tilted his head. The shadows finished forming, dark and seamless.
They faced each other in the ruined street. Eye to eye, as nothing else mattered but the intense hatred that filled the air between these two.