WHA Headquarters was located in A City. From there, Nexus-5 boarded a train bound for K City.
At first, everything felt ordinary—almost boring. The train cut through the rails smoothly, conversations hummed softly, and nothing seemed out of place until they reached O City Station.
More passengers stepped inside.
Among them was a man wearing a hoodie.
The doors shut. The train departed.
Moments after it took off, the lights flickered—once… then again. Subtle. Easy to miss. But Charlie noticed.
Something felt wrong.
The others sensed nothing.
Charlie stood up and began walking down the aisle, her eyes scanning faces. As she passed the hooded man, she slowed. Instinct screamed. She kept walking—then turned back, slower this time, watching him from the corner of her eye.
When she passed him again, clarity struck.
She threw a punch.
The man dodged—cleanly, effortlessly—moving at a lightning-fast speed that left only a blur behind. He reappeared in the middle of the aisle, calm, unfazed, as if he had been expecting this.
Dark Knight Didn't think you'd find out.
Kael and the others instantly went on alert, tension snapping through the air like a live wire. The man straightened and spoke again.
Ryker: Name's Ryker. Codename Pulse. And I've been sent to eliminate you.
Without warning, Ryker raised his hand.
Electricity erupted.
The bolt struck Charlie head-on, blasting her backward and slamming her into the side of the train. Sparks danced across the metal as the lights flickered violently.
Charlie hit the floor—then pushed herself up immediately.
Charlie: (muttering)He uses electricity, and he's fast. Possibly aster than me.
Her jaw tightened.
Charlie: This guy…is dangerous. Good grief.
Ryker attacked again, unleashing another surge of electricity. Leona reacted instantly, raising her barricade just in time to block the strike. The impact echoed through the train, metal groaning as the energy dispersed.
Civilians screamed.
Panic spread like wildfire. Passengers clutched one another, some dropping to the floor in terror. Kael moved fast, raising his voice and forcing calm into the chaos, directing civilians away from the fight while the others focused entirely on Ryker.
The attacks kept coming.
Each strike was stronger than the last. Even Leona's barricade—normally unshakable—began to crack, thin fractures spreading across its surface.
Diego watched closely. He didn't blink.
Diego: There! That's our window. Every time—right before he attacks, there's a brief opening.
He turned to Charlie.
Diego: When I give the signal, grab me and throw me straight at him.
Charlie nodded without hesitation.
Ryker raised his hand again, electricity building—
Diego: Now!
Charlie grabbed him and hurled him forward with everything she had. Ryker reacted instantly, canceling his attack mid-charge and stepping back at light-speed, trying to create distance.
But he was too late.
Time stopped.
In the frozen instant, Diego closed the remaining distance and drove his fist straight into Ryker's face. In the same moment, he activated the band WHA had given them, snapping it at Ryker's wrist.
Time resumed.
The impact sent both of them crashing down, bodies slamming into the floor. Diego cried out as pain exploded through his shoulder—dislocated from the force of the collision.
His team rushed to him immediately.
Leona dropped to her knees and began healing him at once, channeling her energy despite the strain. Charlie spun back toward Ryker, launching herself forward with a punch.
Ryker laughed.
A sharp, mocking sound.
Ryker: You're too late, alll of you!
His eyes flicked toward the screaming passengers.
Ryker: You're going to die here, along with every single one of them.
Charlie froze.
Ryker's words echoed in her head, and in an instant, she understood what he meant. Her eyes widened as she sprinted toward the control room.
The sight confirmed her fear.
The systems were wrecked.
Panels were dead, controls unresponsive—nothing was working. Charlie ran back immediately and reported the situation to the team. Kael reacted fast, telling her to slow or stop the train while he contacted HQ.
Charlie didn't hesitate.
She rushed to the front again, leapt out, and planted herself against the moving train, pushing with everything she had in the opposite direction. The metal screamed under the strain. The train slowed, but it didn't stop.
Not enough.
Kael activated his watch and contacted HQ.
Kael: We're on a train heading toward K City. We encountered a threat, but we neutralized him. The train's been hijacked and we can't stop it.
HQ responded quickly.
HQ: Understood. We've tracked your location. Help is on the way. Until then, keep the train as slow as possible. In a few minutes, it'll pass through a town. Casualties will be unavoidable if it doesn't stop.
The weight of those words settled heavily over the team.
Then—movement.
They spotted a man on the right side, running across ice, matching the train's speed as he closed in. He shouted for Charlie to move out of the way.
She didn't argue.
Charlie slipped back inside the train just as the man raised his hand and fired at the tracks. Ice spread instantly, reshaping the rails, forcing a diversion. A moment later, he froze the path beneath the train, creating an icy track of his own.
The screeching metal finally went silent.
The train stopped completely.
As the train finally came to a halt, Charlie hurried back to check on the others.
Everyone was safe—but Ryker was gone.
He had hidden himself inside a small compartment near the engine, convinced he had escaped unnoticed. He was wrong.
With a single punch, Charlie smashed straight through the compartment, grabbed Ryker, and tossed him out like discarded scrap. Ryker staggered, dazed and furious.
Ryker: How the hell did you find me?! That compartment was hard to find!
Charlie cracked her knuckles and replied calmly,
Charlie: Looks like those bands were more useful than I thought. The GPS activates once they're in use. I tracked you through my watch and found you precisely.
She paused, tilting her head slightly.
Charlie: Now… where was I? Ah, right. I was about to beat you up, wasn't I?
Before Ryker could respond, Charlie grabbed him again and launched him upward, unleashing her AstralBarrage.
Her fists came down relentlessly, each strike faster and heavier than the last, slamming Ryker into the ground without mercy.
The others soon emerged from the train, and the man who had stopped it approached them, asking if everyone was alright. They confirmed they were safe and asked who he was.
He gave a relaxed smile.
Shimmer: My name's Shimmer. But you can call me Frostbite. S-Class. Rank 10.
The words hit like a shockwave.
Every one of them froze. It was the first time they had ever met an S-Class hero in person.
Charlie casually walked over.
Charlie: I've heard S-Classes can accomplish missions even when they work alone. Looks like they wasn't wrong.
Shimmer shook his head.
Shimmer: Nope. If you hadn't slowed the train, I wouldn't have made it in time. I should be the one thanking you.
He extended his hand.
Charlie took it—and immediately blushed at the compliment.
Meanwhile, Diego looked on from the side, clearly unimpressed. He crossed his arms and pulled a disgusted face as they shook hands.
Charlie glanced down at Ryker-
Charlie:So… what do we do with this guy?
Shimmer raised an eyebrow.
Shimmer: So you guys haven't figured that out yet?
They all exchanged looks.
All: Know what?
Shimmer nodded and explained-
Shimmer:There's an icon on your watches labeled CTP. Press it.
Charlie did exactly that.
Charlie: Now what?
A spiral-shaped hole made of cosmic energy tore open in the air, swirling silently.
Shimmer: Toss him in.
Without hesitation, Charlie grabbed Ryker and threw him straight into the vortex. The hole snapped shut the moment he vanished.
Shimmer: That was a wormhole created by Magnus—or as most know him by his codename, Cypher. S-Class. Rank 8. CTP stands for CriminalTransferProtocol. It's used to transport inmates directly to the Ice Box through that wormhole.
Hearing this, Kael and the others finally understood. Everything clicked into place.
They invited Shimmer to join them in their search for the Dark Light leader. Since they were already in Q City, and Shimmer had planned to investigate the city himself, he agreed—though only for a short time, while they remained there.
From a distance, unseen eyes watched them.
Someone stood quietly with a camera, capturing the scene and transmitting the photos directly to the Dark Light leader. The man behind the lens smiled.
DarkKnight: Can't wait to see an S-Class splattering blood… begging at my feet. This… will be fun.
He chuckled softly, stepped behind a pillar—
—and never emerged from the other side.