1:33 AM. MVL headquarters.Everyone was either asleep, pretending to sleep, or duct-taping Lightning to a wall for snoring too loud.
The servers were quiet. The screens hummed gently. Chains was in the basement playing chess against himself, losing terribly.
Then, the lights flickered.
The music stopped.
And every screen in HQ turned red.
A distorted voice echoed through the speakers.
"Nice network, Blizzard. Shame if someone… poked around a bit."
Blizzard sat up straight. "That's not one of ours."
Selene bolted in, gun in hand. "We're compromised."
Jade, chewing on a glow stick, mumbled, "If this is another prank where Fathead plays Rickroll, I swear I'll break his elbow."
Fathead peeked in from the hallway, sweating. "Wasn't me this time."
The screens shifted to flashing code. Then:
"MVL… the underworld clowns. Let's see what's behind the mask."
The Hacker Strikes
File after file started downloading — MVL user data, drug routes, locations of safehouses, even Jade's suspiciously large Hello Kitty folder labeled "Legally Not War Crimes."
Selene jumped into action, typing furiously. "I'm locking him out."
Blizzard crossed his arms. "You won't. He's already in."
Jade kicked a chair across the room. "Well, this is rude. I was in the middle of a BuzzFeed quiz called 'Which murder method suits your vibe?'"
Chains ran in with a machete and zero context. "What's happening? Do I stab the router or the Wi-Fi?"
The Young One emerged from the shadows like a silent, murderous cryptid.
"Give me a name. I'll find his throat."
Lightning, hanging upside down from the duct-tape prank, muttered, "...anybody gonna get me down or...?"
Digital Duel Begins
Selene's fingers flew across the keyboard, launching firewall after firewall.
"He's smart. Like, actual smart. Not Chains-says-he-hacked-Google smart."
Chains: "That was one time and I clicked a pop-up, leave me alone."
The hacker's final message blinked across every screen:
"I'm inside. Your secrets are mine. Tick tock, Blizzard."
Then — blackout.
Total silence.
Blizzard stood in the dark, face lit by a single dying monitor. "He just declared war."
Jade leaned in. "Can I declare it back with nunchucks?"
Selene cracked her knuckles. "We need to find him. And when we do..."
The Young One finished her sentence.
"...we erase him. Digitally. Physically. Historically."
Lightning raised a hand. "Can I come too? I have snacks."
Everyone stared.
"And bombs. I also brought bombs."
Blizzard smirked. "Good. Because in 48 hours, we find him. And we burn everything he loves."
Post-Crisis Aftermath
Later that night, Silent Boy held up a sign:
"Step 1: Hacker. Step 2: Beat. Step 3: Ice cream?"
Chains nodded solemnly. "Revenge calories are still calories."
Selene was back at her terminal. "He spoofed five VPNs, tunneled through three dead servers, bounced off a military satellite, and cloaked his IP under a fake weather site in Sweden."
Jade blinked. "That's hot. I mean, dangerous. But also hot."
Fathead: "You're into cybercriminals now?"
"Only if they code in C++ and cry when I kick them."
Back in Blizzard's Office
Blizzard stared at the red blinking light on the wall — a sign their internal system had been breached.
He muttered one name to himself:
"Cypher."
Selene entered behind him. "You know him?"
"Used to. Before he vanished. Now he's back... and working with someone."
Selene's voice dropped.
"You think it's the FBI?"
"Worse. He's working for himself. That makes him dangerous."
Jade popped her head in. "We blowing something up or just talking ominously in the dark again?"
Blizzard turned slowly, eyes cold.
"Get the team. In 48 hours, we hit back."
Final Scene: Somewhere Unknown
A dim room. Screens. Servers. A single figure in a hoodie.
Typing.
Watching.
Smiling.
He whispered to himself:
"Let's see what MVL does when their secrets go public."
A wall of photos showed Blizzard, Selene, The Young One… even Jade, mid-split-kick, holding a muffin like a grenade.
The figure cracked his knuckles. The screen flashed:"OPERATION: EXPOSE MVL" – 48:00 countdown begins.