The weight of Vex's words hung in the air like a death sentence.
"If you don't run, you'll be next."
Riven forced himself to breathe. To stay in control. But his mind was racing.
The Hollow Monarch wasn't just erasing heroes—it was undoing them. Erasing every trace of their existence, rewriting reality so that no one even remembered them. And somehow, he was still here.
Which meant something had gone wrong.
Or worse—he was next.
A sharp beep from one of Vex's monitors shattered the silence.
Vex's face went pale. "No. No, no, no—" His fingers flew over the console. The screens lit up with cascading lines of code, glowing red.
WARNING: UNAUTHORIZED TRACE DETECTED.
SIGNAL COMPROMISED.
Riven's pulse spiked. "What does that mean?"
Vex cursed under his breath. "It means I was too stupid to hardline the system. We just broadcast our location to whatever's out there."
The temperature in the room seemed to drop. The static on the monitors thickened, warping the images. And then—
The screens all went dark.
Except for one.
The same faceless figure appeared, its body shifting, breaking apart and reforming as if it was struggling to exist.
The Hollow Monarch.
"You were never real."
The voice wasn't sound—it was a pressure in Riven's skull, like reality itself was trying to crush him out of existence.
The walls groaned. The lights flickered. Something was coming.
Fast.
Vex slammed a button on the console. "We gotta go. Now."
The door burst open.
A black-clad enforcer stormed in, a sleek rifle already raised. Riven reacted on instinct—he lunged.
The first punch cracked armor, knocking the enforcer off balance. Riven grabbed the rifle, twisted it sideways, and used the momentum to slam the soldier into the nearest desk. Equipment crashed to the ground.
More footsteps pounded down the corridor.
Vex was already moving, shoving a portable drive into his jacket. "Back exit! Move!"
Riven grabbed the enforcer's weapon and sprinted after Vex. The alarm blared, red lights flashing as they barreled through the underground hideout.
A side door slammed open, and another squad rushed in. Three of them.
Riven ducked behind a pillar as a pulse round sizzled past his head, scorching the wall. He spun out and fired—one precise shot to the lead enforcer's knee. The soldier collapsed, yelling.
The second one charged, a stun baton crackling with energy. Riven pivoted, catching the attacker's wrist before he could strike. With a brutal twist, he snapped the baton free and drove his elbow into the enforcer's visor—shattering it.
The third enforcer hesitated. A mistake.
Riven closed the distance in two strides. He grabbed the soldier by the chest plate and hurled him through a stack of monitors.
"Go!" Vex shouted.
They burst through a maintenance tunnel, sprinting into the shadows. The city above was waiting.
---
The Streets: A Dangerous Hunt
The moment they surfaced, Riven knew the fight wasn't over.
The city had changed. There were drones in the sky now, scanning the streets, searching. And worse—no civilians.
It was a trap.
Vex cursed. "They locked down the district. We're boxed in."
Riven tightened his grip on the stolen rifle. "Then we break out."
They stayed in the shadows, moving quickly. The distant whine of approaching patrols echoed through the streets. They had to be fast. Invisible.
Vex led the way, guiding them through a series of alleys and backstreets. Riven kept close, watching every corner, every rooftop. The enemy wasn't far behind.
Then—a voice.
Cold. Mechanical. Coming from the nearest drone.
"Riven Steele. You do not exist."
The air rippled.
Something shifted in reality.
For a split second, Riven's vision blurred—as if the world was trying to forget him.
He gritted his teeth, forcing himself to hold on. "Vex, whatever you're doing—do it faster."
Vex was already working, fingers flying across a handheld device. "Trying to kill the grid. Buy me thirty seconds!"
Riven turned. The first strike team was already moving in—black armor, high-tech weaponry, moving with ruthless precision. No hesitation.
He clenched his fists. Time to give them something to hesitate about.
The first enforcer raised his weapon. Riven was already moving.
He dropped low, sweeping the soldier's legs out from under him. Before the enforcer hit the ground, Riven snatched his gun midair and fired—one clean shot to the next attacker's shoulder.
The last one charged.
Riven spun behind cover, but the enforcer was faster, slamming into him, sending them both crashing against a parked vehicle. The gun skittered away.
The enforcer's baton sparked to life. One clean hit would knock Riven out.
But Riven wasn't planning to let him land that hit.
The enforcer swung—Riven caught his wrist and twisted. A sickening pop echoed as the soldier's arm bent the wrong way. The baton clattered to the ground.
Riven didn't stop. He grabbed the soldier by the armor and slammed his head into the pavement.
Silence.
Then—the hum of a drone overhead.
"Vex!" Riven shouted.
"Almost—got it!"
The city lights flickered. The drones glitched, their signals scrambling. The lockdown faltered.
Vex grabbed Riven's shoulder. "Run. Now."
They sprinted toward a maintenance tunnel, disappearing into the shadows just as the enemy recovered.
They had escaped. For now.
---
Final Scene: The Next Step
They didn't stop running until they were deep in the city's abandoned metro system. Finally, Vex doubled over, catching his breath.
"That… was too close."
Riven leaned against a wall, his pulse still hammering. "They know we're here now."
Vex nodded. "Yeah. And it gets worse."
He held up his portable drive. Plugged it into his wrist console. A projection flickered to life—a map of the city, covered in glowing red zones.
"These are the places where people have disappeared."
Riven scanned the data. His stomach dropped.
"That's… almost everywhere."
Vex exhaled. "It's spreading. Faster than I thought."
Riven looked at him. "Then we don't have time to hide."
Vex hesitated. "So what's the plan?"
Riven's expression hardened.
"We find the next one before they do."