The steady clatter of wheels on the rails made the train tremble in an almost empty hush.
Pale lights flickered above Leo's head as he sat by the window, eyes lost on the slow‑passing desert. His earbuds were plugged into an old phone with a cracked screen, playing a sound he was barely listening to.
A muffled voice leaked through the static, drowned beneath the rumble of the tracks.
"The world is holding its breath after the events of April 27, 2024… In these images, you can see a massive beast seemingly facing a young girl with silver hair…"
Leo clenched his jaw but didn't look away from the window.
"The Army was forced to intervene under the direct command of Secretary of Defense William Campbell, who is with us today. Good afternoon, Mr. Secretary—the American people are waiting for answers."
A second voice, calm and official, filled his ears.
"Yes, you're right—the events of this historic day left all of us speechless, myself included. Well, as the footage shows, our armed forces intervened and successfully neutralized these threats…"
Leo drew in a slow breath.
His hand tightened around the phone.
"Along the way, we managed to arrest a large number of the terrorist activists responsible for the 2017 data leak—yes, the so‑called NoName group. Although their leader remains at large, it's a major step forward."
Static cut off the sentence, then another, more excited voice jumped in:
"Wait, wait… I think what our viewers really want to know is about that unprecedented event. Some are calling it the coming of a new Jesus!"
Leo closed his eyes for a second.
"Do you realize what you're saying? That's absurd."
"We all saw that man standing on water."
Silence, broken only by the rhythmic clacking of the train.
You could almost hear the Secretary swallow through the microphone.
"Well… we are studying the phenomenon, but we can't confirm anything for now."
"Could those supernatural events that occurred that day be linked to the orphaned children from the Zero Program?"
William stayed silent. Somewhere thousands of miles away, in a studio, he glanced at the production director—who silently shook his head off‑camera, unseen by the audience.
"Well, as you know, those are only rumors following the massive 2017 leaks," Campbell finally replied. "Nothing has yet proven those documents to be real. But as I said, we're investigating."
The voice faded for a moment, covered by mic interference.
"Leo… I know this is hard for you, but I promise we'll find her."
This voice wasn't a reporter's anymore.
It came from inside the phone, but it was different—younger, closer.
Leo didn't take his eyes off the window. His jaw tightened even more.
"You say that while you're hiding safely in there…" he said, his tone cold as ice.
The carriage was almost empty. An old woman dozed off three rows away, her head resting against the window. No one was paying him any attention.
Silence.
"I—"
"Forget it," Leo cut in sharply.
His hand gripped the cracked phone as if he meant to crush it.
A bluish spark suddenly leapt from the screen. Electricity crawled up his fingers, then spread through the air like a luminous web.
The lightning coalesced, twisted, and took human shape in front of him.
In a second, Gwen was there, standing in the middle of the aisle, hair tousled, eyes red, a faint glow of light still crackling around her.
She shot a nervous glance at the empty seats, then at the carriage doors. Being in a public place always made her uneasy. Her shoulders rose and fell, her body already shaking.
"I… I know losing track of your sister is… it's awful," she stammered, "but you don't have to take it out on me! It's not my fault, Leo. I did my best… just like you."
Her fingers clutched at the fabric of her jacket, her legs slightly unsteady. The outside world still terrified her, especially when she hadn't had time to mentally prepare herself before leaving the network.
Leo slowly turned his head toward her.
His eyes were ringed with dark circles, empty, as if he hadn't slept since Los Angeles. He looked at her without really seeing her, drained, dazed.
Silence.
The train kept jostling their bodies in time with the tracks.
Still trembling, Gwen forced a fake smile. She held his thug stare, chin raised, even as silent tears were already gathering at the corners of her eyes.
"Say something," she whispered, barely audible.
Leo exhaled, a long breath that sounded like it was dragged from deep inside his chest.
"You're right…" he said at last. "No one could have seen a disaster like that coming."
He turned back to the window, to their warped reflections in the glass: him hunched over, her standing behind him.
Gwen didn't move, still staring at him like she wanted to both shake him and pull him into her arms.
"Hm… sorry," he finally muttered, voice low.
The words were there, but his tone stayed cold.
He didn't try to touch her, didn't cut the sound right away. In the background, you could still just make out, faintly, through his earbuds:
"…authorities urge the population to remain calm. Operations are ongoing after the Battle of Los Angeles. We will keep you updated…"
The train slowed sharply. A mechanical voice rang out through the carriage speakers:
"Welcome to Las Vegas."
Leo pulled out his earbuds.
The journalists' voices, Campbell's, the images of his sister being torn away from him in the middle of the chaos… all of it cut off with a single motion.
He shoved the phone into his pocket without looking at Gwen.
Once off the train, Leo crossed the station hall without a word.
Gwen walked at his side, clinging to his arm as if the slightest contact with the crowd might make her implode.
"You should dematerialize," Leo muttered without looking at her.
She squeezed his arm a little tighter.
"I'll be fine… I don't want to let you face this alone. I'm here to—"
She broke off abruptly when she met his gaze.
His eyes no longer showed just exhaustion, but something darker.
"Dammit, I told you to—"
He never finished the sentence.
A brutal blow to the back of his skull cut him off.
Everything went black.
Gwen barely registered the rifle butt that struck her a second later.
Her hand slipped from Leo's arm and she collapsed onto the station's cold tiles.
A few hours later.
The world came back to him as pain first.
Fire burned at the nape of Leo's neck, ropes searing his wrists. He blinked several times, blinded by a white light reflected off the water.
Rough hands yanked the canvas sack from his head.
The brightness of a luxury hotel hit him all at once: marble floors, towering glass panels, decorative palm trees, and, dominating it all, a large private pool shimmering in the artificial night of an elevated terrace.
He was tied to a metal chair at the edge of the water.
Around him stood several men in dark suits, wearing sunglasses indoors, guns openly holstered at their waists.
Facing him was a massive man in his fifties, slicked‑back black hair, a perfectly tailored light‑colored suit, amusement glinting in his eyes.
"Leo, right? Or would you rather I call you 'the Hero'? That is what they call you around here, after all."
Leo ground his teeth.
He had known where he was the second he'd smelled chlorine mixed with expensive cologne.
"Don Javier."
The man's smile widened, baring all his teeth.
He glanced at his bodyguards.
"He's not that stupid, the kid. You see that?"
The men burst out laughing, like someone had just pressed a button.
Then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, Don Javier's smile vanished.
"You and your superhuman bitch of a sister cost me a hell of a lot of money. You realize that?" he asked, voice low.
Leo pulled against his bonds, the rope biting into his wrists. He tried to spit in Don Javier's face, but a guard struck his shoulder, throwing him off‑balance.
"So where is she?" Javier went on.
Leo clenched his jaw, answering only with a murderous glare.
"I would've loved to kill that little silver‑haired freak myself…" Don Javier sighed. "But it looks like I'll have to settle for your girlfriend."
He gave a nod.
Two guards brought Gwen in.
She could barely stand, hair plastered to her face, clothes stained. A stench of gasoline clung to her skin. Her bare skin glistened in places, soaked in a liquid that definitely wasn't pool water.
"Leo…" she whispered.
Don Javier had set up surveillance cameras in the train carriage as soon as he heard Leo was coming back to Las Vegas. When he saw Gwen burst out of a lightning bolt, he realized immediately she wasn't "normal." He had doused her in gasoline—calmly, methodically—explaining every step as he went. Any attempt to use her power would turn her into a human torch.
Despite her supernatural abilities, Gwen was neither seasoned nor a real fighter. She hadn't held out for long. Now her legs shook, her hands were tied behind her back, and silent tears traced streaks down her cheeks.
"I'm sorry…" she whispered, not daring to lift her eyes.
"Well, now that we're on the same page, we're going to play a little game," Don Javier announced, sitting back down at the edge of the pool.
He took a sip from his glass and set the crystal down on a low table.
"You know, I'm a pretty observant guy. And one thing's for sure: you've got balls, kid. Big ones."
He motioned to a guard, who drew a gleaming handgun.
"Here are the rules. Either you die and she works for me. Or she dies… and you start working for me again. How's that sound?"
Leo froze.
"No, wait. I've got something better," Javier went on with a smile. "Here's a gun. You're going to be the one to put her down."
The guard pushed the pistol into his hand.
They loosened only one of his arms, leaving the other tied to the chair. Leo's fingers closed around the cold grip.
He slowly raised his eyes to Gwen.
She was still crying, but in her gaze there was more than fear now. There was a strange kind of acceptance.
"It's okay…" she sobbed. "If it's you, I can live with it."
Leo felt his throat tighten.
"You know, I haven't exactly done nice things…" Gwen went on, her voice shaking. "I deserve this. Unlike you, I've taken lives before. More than you can imagine. I was lost in a bottomless darkness…"
She drew in a breath, trying to keep Leo in her line of sight.
"But you… Your stubborn refusal to take a life no matter what… You were my light. I was there when you lost Maria. I was there when you stole, when you… fell. I'd been there far longer than you realized. You gave me the strength to fight my anxiety, the strength, one day, to finally show myself to you."
She smiled, a broken smile.
"I love you, Leo. So don't blame yourself."
Leo's hands were shaking so hard that the barrel wavered in the air.
Scalding tears blurred his vision.
"I'm sorry…" he whispered.
Gwen closed her eyes.
The gun barrel steadied, aimed in her direction.
With a sudden motion, Leo swung the weapon toward Don Javier and pulled the trigger.
Click.
Nothing.
He pulled again.
Click. Click.
The magazine was empty.
Leo didn't even have time to process it.
Don Javier burst out laughing as he got to his feet, this time holding a real gun.
"You think I'm stupid?" he spat.
A gunshot split the air.
Gwen screamed.
She saw Leo thrown backward, the chair tip over, his body slam into the ground and then slide into the pool in a great splash.
"No!"
Time seemed to stop.
Leo's pendant snapped free from his neck, flung into the air. The chain broke with a metallic chime. Tiny shards of metal skittered across the tiles, bounced, then dropped into the water with muted plunks.
Ripples shivered across the surface of the pool.
Don Javier stepped up to the edge, eyes fixed on the still‑stirring water.
At his feet, on the wet tiles, a small platinum plate glinted.
He bent down, picked it up between two fingers, turned it in the light.
His eyes widened. His hands started to shake—not from fear.
"Boss?" one of the guards called out.
Don Javier didn't answer.
He flipped the plate over. On the metal, engraved in a script he knew all too well, was a single word:
Andrea.
He went rigid.
The laughter, the mask of the confident kingpin—everything was gone. He had just realized, too late, that he had unknowingly gunned down the only son he thought he'd lost.
The pool kept quivering gently.
Still bound, gasoline dripping from her hair, Gwen screamed Leo's name until her voice broke.
To be continued...