[Velmora — Black Market Strip]
The market smelled like smoke and metal—no spices, no warmth, just ash-dusted food rations, rusted tech, and eyes too tired to hope.
Kiro moved through the crowds with a lowered hood. He didn't need the System's sensors to feel the tension in the air—workers glancing over their shoulders, drones hovering too long, and the low thrum of Copper patrols sweeping the strip for trouble.
Then he saw him.
A **boy—maybe eighteen—**skinny, wild-eyed, a faded scar along his jaw, bolting through the press of bodies. Behind him, three Coppers in full suppression armor tore through the crowd with stun lances raised.
"You! STOP!"
The boy knocked over a stack of stolen thermal coils, diving between two carts, but a drone locked onto him from above.
Kiro moved without thinking.
With a flick of his hand, Blood Venom bloomed in his palm—an orb of seething crimson liquid, pulsing like a living thing.
He hurled it toward a Viora-infused oil transport just as the boy darted beneath it.
KA-THOOM!
Oil and black mist exploded across the strip. The Coppers were instantly drenched, their armor crackling and hissing. One screamed as the mixture forced its way into his vents.
"Contamination alert! FALL BACK—!"
Kiro lanced a spear of blood into the sky, bursting the tracking drone mid-spin.
Through the chaos, the boy looked back—stunned—and caught only the shimmer of a red cloak disappearing into the smoke.
[Velmora — Abandoned Factory Zone 12]
The hideout was an old automaton assembly plant, its bones rusted and hollow. Machines stood like corpses among shadows, and rain whispered through holes in the ceiling.
The boy crouched beside a warped coolant pipe, panting hard. "You didn't have to save me, you know."
Kiro stood silently at the broken window, watching for movement. "You were about to get fried."
The boy laughed, bitter. "Yeah, well… wouldn't be the first time."
He leaned back and let out a breath. "Name's Pablo."
Kiro glanced at him.
The boy smirked.
"Pablo El'Vertigo."
The name struck like a cold nail.
"…El'Vertigo?" Kiro's voice was suddenly low, sharp. "The ruling house of Velmora."
Pablo's smile faded. "Yeah. My father's the one who runs this mining prison in a cape and crown. Those Coppers? They weren't chasing some street rat. They were coming for the prodigal son who 'accidentally' destroyed a million-dollar artifact mid-transport."
He shrugged like it meant nothing.
Kiro's expression darkened. Blood pulsed into his palm, coiling into a fresh Blood Venom spike.
"You're one of them."
Pablo's eyes flickered.
Then he vanished.
In a blink, he reappeared behind Kiro—teleportation laced with smoke and static.
His fists ignited.
Dark Viora.
Midnight energy, twisted and raw, engulfed Pablo's hands as he drove a punch straight into Kiro's spine.
WHAM!
Kiro's breath left him. His vision fractured.
Another blow smashed into his ribs—then his jaw.
The world spun.
The blood spike in his hand fizzled.
Darkness rushed up to claim him.