The smell of burning flesh and gunpowder filled the air.
Sentinel—once the city's beacon of hope—knelt in the ruins of his home, his trembling fingers coated in his wife's blood. Her lifeless eyes stared at nothing. Beside her, their son, no older than six, lay crumpled like a discarded doll. A bullet hole marked his forehead.
Sentinel's breaths came in ragged gasps. His mind refused to process what had happened. Just an hour ago, they were a family, laughing over dinner. Now, they were nothing but corpses, their warmth fading with every second.
The syndicate had done this.
The Crimson Vultures—Guardian City's most ruthless criminal empire. He had been hunting them for months, dismantling their operations piece by piece. They retaliated in the cruelest way possible.
A voice crackled in his earpiece. His former partner, Agent Lauren Chase.
"Sentinel, what's your status? We tracked a—"
"I'm done." His voice was hollow.
"What?"
Sentinel removed the earpiece and crushed it under his boot.
He was done being a hero.
A hero played by the rules. A hero held back.
They wanted a villain?
He'd give them one.
Sentinel died that night.
Only Shade remained.