Year 2060.

  Devil(#7) stepped into the shop, trenchcoat flowing behind him.

  He flashed his badge.

  "GDA routine safety inspection."

  The cashier welcomed them with a smile, then nodded.

  His team of 5 others walked in with utility jackets and tool boxes.

  Devil gestured.

  "We'll need to see the Heartlight regulator in the back."

  The cashier nodded again, promptly shuffling to the back of the store, Devil and team following.

  Devil glanced at the customers in the store.

  None of them looked surprised.

  One of them met his eyes, then looked away — annoyed, not curious.

  This was it.

  He was sure.

  Devil subtly clicked a clicker, which is what he used to communicate with the rest of the teams, twice in his coat.

  Yes.

  Crosshair(#11) and Team B on a distant roof received the message and clicked back twice in confirmation.

  Team C, posing as civilians nearby clicked back twice too.

  Devil and Team A entered a small room in the back.

  Bare concrete walls enclosed a floor scuffed smooth by boots. Two metal doors faced each other beneath buzzing white strip lights.

  No shelves. No crates.

  Nothing stored.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  A large black box sat in the corner, taking up nearly half of the room.

  The Heartlight regulator.

  Well that's what they were here for on paper.

  Their real mission is to launch a surprise attack on the mystery man.

  The one who was theorised to have been uniting the mafia families all over the world.

  The cashier closed the door softly behind them.

  Click.

  He locked it.

  Fuck.

  They knew.

  Devil threw up 3 fingers, signaling the others.

  The signal for danger.

  They opened the tool boxes containing their weapons, preparing for battle.

  Devil clicked 3 times on his comms to warn the other teams.

  Devil looked around again.

  The Heartlight regulator was gone.

  What—

  Suddenly an invisible force slammed them into the side of the room.

  The room distorted.

  Small, devillish creatures with horns and wings started crawling out of the wall, screaming, howling, wailing in the hundreds.

  They flew overhead like bats in a cave.

  Similar creatures sprouted from the ground, grabbing their legs.

  The guys in Team A slashed, stabbed and fired at them frantically.

  Devil slammed them with a wave of red sparks.

  The sparks passed through the creatures effortlessly.

  Huh?

  Suddenly the room shifted orientation, gravity was flipped.

  The room lurched. The floor became a wall. Then the ceiling.

  What's happening?!

  The concrete floor below opened up.

  They fell down into a secondary room below.

  A door opened.

  Then the unusual gravity in the room stopped and the imps disappeared.

  Bullets rained instantly into the room.

  They were defenseless, disoriented, distracted.

  They dropped like flies, one after another.

  Devil gritted his teeth, arms held up.

  A wall of red sparks formed to block the bullets.

  He'd been shot in his side.

  His arms were shaking.

  The wall of red sparks couldn't fall, there were still people alive here.

  Where were the reinforcements dammit!

  Some Divers wore armour, and yet that wasn't enough to stop the bullets.

  They must've been laced with Heartlight.

  He managed to get a glimpse.

  A large underground room.

  Dozens of men in suits, firing machine guns.

  A figure stood in the middle of the suits.

  He stood motionless among the gunfire.

  Devil instinctively knew.

  He was the mystery man.

  Mystery man's eyes widened when he saw the red sparks.

  Devil was thinking quick.

  Imps. Gravity.

  That was 2 abilities.

  And how did he know where we were?

  3 abilities?

  He mentally prepared himself to face off against at least 3 Bent users.

  Which Bent ability did the man have?

  And where were the rest?

  Only 2 others in Team A were still alive and breathing.

  One was bleeding out and the other was staggering from a leg wound.

  It's hard to escape with injuries like that.

  Devil realised they'd be dead if they didn't fight to kill.

  The others, fearful and afraid, but came to the same conclusion.

  A loud crash.

  The ceiling above the mafia men collapsed.

  Heavily armed Divers belonging to the Domestic Wing dropped in.

  Team C had arrived.

  Devil looked again.

  The mafia men were not crushed.

  They'd moved at least 20m further back in a split second.

  How?

  Valiant(#17), a melee with a sword and a shield, wearing a tech suit that allowed him to emit solar rays, led Team C.

  Valiant raised his sword, "Onward!"

  Team C charged towards the mafia men.

  Valiant's armour shone with bright light.

  Suddenly the gravity effect came back.

  Stronger than before.

  Even the mafia men were affected.

  Everyone dropped to their knees and started choking, the air refusing to enter their lungs.

  Everyone but the mystery man and Devil, who resisted the force with his red sparks.

  The mystery man walked to Devil, slowly, calmly.

  "A Bent user."

  Devil struggled to stand under the weight of the man's Bent ability.

  An orb of green energy formed in the man's palm.

  The same orb appeared above every non mafia member except Devil.

  The orbs detonated.

  Screams tore through the room.

  The orbs formed and detonated again.

  Again.

  Until the screams stopped.