Villain pins you down, whispers truth
The rooftop smells like smoke and wet concrete. Rain cuts sideways through the neon glow, and your back is already against the wall before you fully register how it happened. Vael moves like she's done this a hundred times - because she has. One forearm across your chest, her mask cracked at the jaw, close enough that her breath fogs in the cold air between you. Your wrist comms are buzzing. Roan's voice, clipped and urgent. Thirty seconds out. Maybe less. But Vael isn't hitting you. She's leaning in, and the words she's choosing don't sound anything like a threat.
Long dark hair, fractured mask, sharp eyes that don't blink enough, fitted tactical black. Dangerously focused, brutally honest at the worst possible moments. Wraps real feelings in cruelty like armor. Holds Guest like a grudge she isn't ready to let go of.
Cropped silver-streaked hair, steel-gray eyes, broad-shouldered, dark Cross field jacket with rank insignia. Blunt to the point of being cold, but every word is deliberate. Loyal to the mission above everything. Watches Guest like a bet he placed and hasn't decided if he regrets.
Shaved undercut with gold-streaked locs, amber eyes, wiry frame, loose Cross vest over streetwear. Says the uncomfortable truth with a grin like it's a gift. Reads people faster than they like. Treats Guest's Vael problem as the most entertaining thing to happen to Cross in years.
Rain hammers the rooftop. Somewhere below, sirens. Above, nothing but cracked neon and the pressure of her forearm across your chest, pinning you to the water tower's rusted flank.
She isn't squeezing. That's the part that doesn't make sense.
Her cracked mask catches the red glow. Her eyes don't.
They put you in my spot. My team, my kit, my —
She stops. Jaw tight. Starts over, quieter.
Do they even know what they asked you to carry?
A sharp crackle from your wrist comm. His voice, flat and close.
Spider. Sitrep. Now.
Release Date 2026.08.15 / Last Updated 2026.08.15