In the Black Lotus Syndicate's penthouse, Lena "Ironclad" Voss tapped a tablet. Her cybernetic eye whirred as it connected to dark pool servers. "Taz's crew lost them, boss. Someone jammed the drones. Bots scour ShadowNet, but Wires is a ghost." Simon "Glitch" Lee flooded X and ShadowNet with #RumbleFell hashtags, tainting Brick's name. "Bettors love Raven," he muttered. Viktor spun to Zara "Vixen" Khan, her red nails glinting over the Crucible's bracket. "Rig it, Zara. Kira, Taz, Boris erase them." Zara nodded. "Raven's a symbol. Her win bleeds us dry." Marco "Silk" Reyes sipped bourbon. Nico "Shade" Reyes cleaned a pistol. Lila "Shade" Monroe twirled her garrote, her lips curling.
Viktor called Captain Elena Ruiz, voice like a razor. "Your SWAT failed, Ruiz. Jace Malone delivers, or your dirt's on ShadowNet." From her precinct office, Ruiz's voice was ice, Chief Harlan beside her. "Jace's team has drones, stingrays. Triple my cut." Viktor's grin was lethal. "Deal."
In a secret safehouse, a strong basement lies under an old gym. Brick, Raven, Eddie, Doc Weaver, and Tara "Blaze" Chen made plans. The air was heavy with sweat and steel, monitors flickering with ShadowNet. Brick's muscles burned, his scarred knuckles flexing. Raven, cheek bandaged, honed her knife. Eddie's laptop died during a failed upload. Now, it holds the syndicate ledgers and payouts to Ruiz, Harlan, and Jace. "No leak," Eddie muttered, rigging a safehouse terminal. "ShadowNet is set."
Brick's jaw tightened. "We strike first," he growled. Raven's eyes flared. "Like Hunters." Tara, tic steady, nodded. "Viktor's goons are biting. I planted a fake burner ping at the steel mill EMP mines, cameras, a kill box. Taz, Jace, and their crews walk into hell."
Doc, packing trauma kits, grunted. "Syndicate, Tara? Better not break." Tara smirked. "It's a meat grinder." Eddie pushed fake pings to ShadowNet. "They're coming."
Brick and Raven donned graphene-plated armor black, light-devouring, graphene-plated armor molded to their frames. Brick held an EMP rifle, while Raven had a pulse pistol. Their high-tech bike waited nearby. It was a sleek, silent predator with encrypted comms. They mounted up. Brick revved the engine, and the tires tore through the wet pavement. They raced to the mill, with neon fog swirling around them like a shroud.
At the precinct, Ruiz and Harlan watched Jace's tactical team feeds. The screens showed thermal drones and stingray trackers. "Jace has Officers Vega and Cruz," Ruiz said coldly. "Dirty, sharp." Harlan growled, "Viktor's goons better deliver."
The steel mill, a decaying shell of rusted panels and broken windows, was a trap. Tara had rigged it with EMP mines and cameras. Nearby, two travelers, Kai "Drift" Soto and Lena "Echo" Park, paused with their burner phones. They heard the roar of two syndicate vans.
"Trouble," Kai whispered. He started to record as Taz "The Bulldog" Malone arrived with fifteen goons. There was Grim, scar-faced with a shotgun; Pike, wiry with knives; Bull, a massive figure; Fang, the tattooed brawler; Ruin, chain-wielder; Slash, machete maniac; Vex, the grenadier; Thorn, sharpshooter; Iron, sledgehammer brute; claw-gloved psycho; Gore, axe-wielder; Blitz, taser-fisted; Shard, spiked-club thug; Maul, hammer-smasher; and Rip, garrote strangler.
. Jace, Vega, and Cruz joined, rifles primed, drones buzzing. "Ping's here," Jace said, tablet glowing. "Jones and Phantom are ours."
Brick and Raven, hidden in the fog, ambushed from behind, the bike screaming like a banshee. Brick's EMP rifle fired, sending out a shockwave. Drones and earpieces fried. Sparks fell like a meteor shower. Raven fired her pulse pistol, sending blue energy at Grim's shotgun. The barrel melted, and pellets flew off, hitting a van's tire and causing it to burst. The goons spun, chaos erupting.
Brick skidded the bike and vaulted off. He grabbed a crowbar from the ground and swung it, smashing Pike's jaw. Bone shattered, and blood misted like rain. Raven's Gravedigger whipped around, fist crushing Fang's nose. Cartilage pulped, his scream drowned out by the noise. Bull charged in, fists like anvils. Brick sidestepped, and the crowbar cracked Bull's knee. Sinew tore, and Bull collapsed, asphalt cracking beneath him. "Drive 'em in!" Brick roared. He fired another EMP pulse. Mines triggered, cameras fried, and Ruiz's screens went black.
Vega's rifle fired, sending dirt flying. Raven cartwheeled, her knife cutting his arm. Blood sprayed as his rifle fell to the ground. Jace fired a round grazing Brick's armor, graphene sparking like a welder's torch. Tara's pistol barked from a ridge, dropping Cruz, his body slumping, blood pooling. Eddie's jammer scrambled the last drone, its fiery wreckage painting the fog red. "Inside!" Raven yelled as she kicked the mill's door. The fight rushed into the dark space. Beams groaned, and dust filled the air like smoke.
Inside, the mill was a killbox. Ruin's chain lashed out, its links screaming. Brick ducked just in time as the chain crashed into a pillar, bending the steel. His crowbar smashed Ruin's ribs, bones snapping like dry twigs, breath wheezing. Slash's machete arced, Raven rolling, the blade cleaving a crate, splinters exploding. Her Gravedigger crushed Slash's cheek, skull caving, blood splattering on rusted gears. Vex's grenade rolled. Brick dove and kicked it back. The blast hurled Vex and Thorn into a wall. The metal crumpled, and their screams fell silent.
Iron's sledgehammer smashed a beam. Dust swirled as Raven's pulse pistol stunned him. His body jerked, and the hammer crashed down. Claw's gloves raked at Tara's vest. She countered, firing her pistol through his shoulder. Blood misted in the air. Gore swung his axe, but Brick parried with his crowbar. Metal shrieked, and sparks flew. Brick's fist slammed into Gore's throat, collapsing cartilage. Blitz's taser crackled as it grazed Raven. She spun and severed his wrist with a knife. Blood gushed out while the taser emitted sparks without effect.
Shard swung his spiked club. Brick dodged just in time, but the spikes grazed his armor. He heard the graphene screech as they brushed against it. His EMP pulse fried Shard's earpiece, eyes rolling as he staggered. Rip's garrote looped, Tara ducking, her pistol blasting his knee, bone fragmenting. Taz charged in, swinging his baton. It clipped Brick's shoulder, sending pain through him. Brick swung his crowbar, cracking Taz's collarbone. A sickening pop echoed, and Taz's roar faded away.
Jace, the last one standing, fired his gun wildly. Bullets pinged around him. Then, Raven tackled him, pressing her knife to his throat. Blood trickled down. "Stay down," she hissed. EMP traps detonated, comm's and lights dying, the mill a tomb of blood and steel. Kai and Lena's footage hit ShadowNet, cut short as the fight moved inside.
At the precinct, Ruiz cursed, screens blank. "Ghosts," she spat. Harlan slammed a fist. "Find them!"