The transition from the peaceful, sunlit rooftop to the luxurious interior of the Dover private bus was seamless.
It was late Wednesday afternoon.
Chloe was sitting beside Airis, scrolling through her tablet and excitedly listing off the final catering options for the Spring Gala.
"Okay, so we have the miniature beef Wellingtons, the truffle mushroom tarts, and... Airis, are you even listening to me?"
Chloe asked, nudging her.
"Truffle mushroom tarts sound perfectly adequate, Chloe,"
Airis murmured, resting her cheek against the cool, tinted glass of the window.
The bus was cruising smoothly along the elevated highway that bridged the commercial district to the affluent hills of Riverdale.
The sun was beginning its descent, casting long, golden shadows across the plush leather seats.
Airis closed her eyes, letting the gentle hum of the engine lull her into a state of absolute relaxation. Her slow-paced life was firmly on track.
Then, the universe decided to test her patience.
It didn't start with a shout or a warning. It started with a violent, ear-splitting CRUNCH of metal.
The heavy private bus swerved violently. The tires shrieked against the asphalt, filling the cabin with the acrid smell of burnt rubber.
Chloe screamed, her tablet flying out of her hands as she was thrown against her seatbelt.
Airis's eyes snapped open.
The Aegis Bioskin instantly flared to life beneath her skin, absorbing the kinetic shock of the sudden stop perfectly.
She didn't so much as suffer a strained neck muscle.
Before the driver could hit the emergency intercom, the reinforced pneumatic doors at the front of the bus were blown entirely off their hinges.
They didn't just break; the thick metal warped and twisted outward as if hit by a localized explosive, clattering onto the highway.
Three figures vaulted into the bus.
They moved with a desperate, frantic speed that completely defied human biomechanics.
All three possessed striking, pitch-black hair and wore dark, tactical-looking clothing that was scorched and torn in several places.
"Get on the floor! Now!" the lead figure roared.
He was a tall, lean man with a jagged cut across his cheek.
But what caught Airis's eye wasn't the weapon in his hand—it was the fact that faint, dark-purple electricity was visibly arcing between his fingertips.
Supernatural beings, Lin Ye's corporate, analytical mind immediately deduced, watching the purple sparks.
Confirmed. The hidden world is real.
"Drive!" the second hijacker, a woman with wild, soot-stained hair, screamed at the terrified driver.
"Step on the gas or I swear to God I'll boil your blood in your veins! They're right behind us!"
The driver, pale and trembling, slammed his foot onto the accelerator.
The bus lurched forward, speeding erratically down the highway.
In the back, Chloe was hyperventilating, tears streaming down her face.
She grabbed Airis's arm in a vice-like grip.
"Airis... Airis, what's happening? Who are they?"
Airis looked at the hijackers.
Internally, she was perfectly, absolutely calm.
The System hadn't even bothered to sound a warning chime.
The Aegis Bioskin rendered her completely immune to whatever purple lightning the man was throwing around, and with a single, microscopic exertion of her newly acquired 'Absolute Psychokinesis', she could flatten all three of them into the floorboards without lifting a finger.
But externally?
I am a seventeen-year-old, sheltered heiress, Airis reminded herself.
If I sit here looking bored while lightning-wielding terrorists hijack my bus, Chloe will realize I'm not normal.
My parents will realize I'm not normal.
The government will realize I'm not normal.
It was time to act.
Airis took a sharp, gasping breath. She widened her sapphire eyes, forcing her pupils to dilate.
She let her jaw tremble slightly, and channeled the memory of how she felt when she was Lin Ye, standing in the cold, facing eviction.
"I... I don't know,"
Airis whimpered, her melodic voice cracking perfectly.
She wrapped her arms around Chloe, pulling her best friend down so they were both huddled behind the leather seats.
She expertly forced a light sheen of tears to gather in the corners of her eyes.
She was delivering an Oscar-worthy performance of a terrified teenage girl.
"Shut up back there!" the third hijacker barked, pointing a gloved hand toward them.
The air around his fist seemed to shimmer and distort, radiating a sudden, unnatural heat that wilted the floral arrangement sitting on the bus's center console.
"Please don't hurt us!" Airis cried out, burying her face in Chloe's shoulder, her shoulders shaking with fabricated sobs.
Internally, Lin Ye sighed. This is incredibly undignified. And my uniform skirt is going to get wrinkled.
"We don't have time for hostages, Kael!"
the woman hissed, looking frantically out the shattered doorway at the empty highway behind them.
"The Wardens are going to catch up. We need to ditch this transport at the next overpass and take the subway tunnels!"
"I know!" the man with the purple lightning, Kael, snapped back.
He grabbed the metal partition separating the driver from the cabin. With a sickening screech, his bare hands crumpled the reinforced steel as if it were aluminum foil.
Airis watched through the gap between the seats.
The display of supernatural strength was objectively terrifying, but through the lens of her own abilities, it was almost quaint.
It was like watching a toddler proudly break a crayon while you secretly held the launch codes to a nuclear arsenal.
[Ding!]
[Host Environment Compromised.]
[Threat Assessment: E-Rank (Negligible).
The hostile entities possess minor elemental and physical augmentations. They are incapable of penetrating the Aegis Bioskin.]
[System Advice: Maintain cover. The entities are in a state of flight and will likely vacate the premises shortly. Engaging them directly contradicts the parameters of a slow-paced life.]
Thank you, System.
I am well aware, Airis thought dryly, continuing to stroke Chloe's hair while feigning a perfectly timed hiccup of fear.
"Take the exit! Take the exit now!"
Kael commanded the driver, pointing toward an upcoming off-ramp that led into the denser, industrial sprawl below the highway.
The bus swerved violently again, tires screaming as it descended the ramp.
Airis kept her head down, but her mind expanded.
The invisible, emerald-green aura of her Esper psychokinesis flared to life within the confines of her consciousness.
She didn't manifest it physically, but she stretched her sensory awareness outward.
She could "feel" the three hijackers. She could feel the erratic, panicked beating of their hearts.
She could feel the strange, dense energy pooling in their bloodstreams—the source of their supernatural abilities.
And then, she felt something else.
Far behind the bus, moving at a speed that easily outpaced the heavy vehicle, were two more entities.
Their energy signatures were colder, sharper, and far more disciplined. The Wardens, she deduced, recalling the woman's panicked words.
This wasn't a random mugging. This was a supernatural faction war spilling over into the mundane world.
"Stop the bus! Right here!" Kael roared as they entered a dark, concrete underpass beneath the interstate.
The driver slammed on the brakes. The hijackers didn't even wait for the bus to fully stop.
The woman kicked the emergency exit window, shattering the safety glass with a burst of unnatural heat, and vaulted out into the shadows.
The other two followed instantly, disappearing into the labyrinth of concrete pillars and service tunnels.
Silence fell over the bus, save for the idling engine and Chloe's ragged sobbing.
Airis waited exactly ten seconds to ensure the coast was clear.
She released her telekinetic awareness, pulling her mind back into her physical body.
"They... they're gone," Airis whispered, her voice still trembling for effect.
She slowly sat up, peeking over the top of the leather seat.
The driver was slumped over the steering wheel, clutching his chest, breathing heavily but unharmed.
The front doors were a mangled ruin of steel.
"Are you okay?" Airis asked, turning to Chloe.
She gently wiped a tear from her best friend's cheek.
"I thought... I thought we were going to die,"
Chloe gasped, throwing her arms around Airis in a crushing hug.
"Did you see his hands? He bent the steel, Airis! He b-bent the steel!"
"I saw," Airis said softly, maintaining her facade of shock.
"It's okay. It's over. We're safe."
As she comforted the terrified girl, Airis looked at the melted steel partition and the scorched floral arrangement.
Her heart rate was perfectly normal. Her breathing was steady.
She had just survived her first encounter with the hidden, supernatural underbelly of the city.
She now knew for a fact that people with extraordinary, lethal abilities existed in her world.
People who were likely connected to the very same organizations that had killed Lin Ye's parents.
But as Airis patted Chloe's back, a profound, unshakeable sense of calm settled over her.
Let the hijackers run.
Let the 'Wardens' chase them.
Let the secret world tear itself apart in the shadows.
She was Airis Dover.
She was utterly invincible, armed with the power to crush cities, and armed with the absolute determination to remain an ordinary girl.
She would not be pulled into their plot.
"Driver," Airis called out, her voice slightly shaky but clear.
"Please call my father's security team. Tell them we need a new ride home."