The rain never stopped in Sector 13.
It poured from blackened clouds that covered the skies like a shroud. The buildings here were bones—broken, stacked, and barely standing. Rusted signs swayed like nooses, and every shadow whispered danger. To walk these streets was to gamble with your life.
And yet… someone danced through the storm.
A blur of motion streaked across the narrow alleyways, faster than the eye could follow. Feet skimming puddles. Breath controlled. Limbs like springs coiled and unleashed in rhythm. The figure shot forward—dodging thrown daggers, ducking a broken pipe swing, then twisting midair and delivering a spinning heel kick that shattered the jaw of a towering brute.
CRACK.
The man dropped like a stone. Silence followed. Then, screams.
"IT'S HIM! THE GHOST!"
"RUN!"
"HE'S JUST A DAMN KID!"
A group of ten gangsters fled in terror, abandoning their weapons, pride, and shoes.
The boy stood still now.
Dripping wet, shirtless, and barefoot, he exhaled slowly. Water traced every carved line of his lean frame. Black hair clung to his forehead. Lightning flashed in the distance, revealing his narrow, unreadable eyes.
His name was Ryo Kinezora.
And he had just cleared his fifth underground arena fight tonight.
---
Far above, on a broken rooftop, Lysa Voltaire watched with interest, her violet eyes glowing under her hood.
"Flawless footwork. Again," she purred, lips curving into a smirk. "You're not even using full Kineta. Teasing them, aren't you?"
She twirled a small bolt of electricity between her fingers.
"He's gotten better. Faster. But he's still holding back." She licked her lips. "How delicious."
---
Ryo crouched beside the unconscious man and searched his coat. Inside was a small box—a communicator with a blinking red light.
He clicked it open. A robotic voice crackled.
> "Sector 13 Resistance Report: Subject Ryo Kinezora. Bounty now raised to 500,000 Nether Crystals. Engage with caution. Confirmed user of Thanatos-Kineta variant. Potential to become Class S threat."
He crushed the device in his hand.
"I'm not a threat," Ryo muttered to himself. "I'm just trying to live."
His stomach growled violently. He winced.
Kineta was powerful. Every motion made him stronger—but it burned through calories like wildfire. He hadn't eaten in two days.
The rain masked his exhaustion, but inside, his legs trembled.
---
He made his way back through the alleys, avoiding gang checkpoints, electric wire traps, and blood-drenched walls that marked other failed fighters. Finally, he reached an old, crumbling shrine tucked between two broken buildings.
The doors creaked open. Inside, seven children sat around a fire made from broken furniture.
They looked up, wide-eyed.
"Big bro Ryo!"
"You came back!"
"Did you beat the Skull Rats?"
Ryo smiled faintly. "Of course. They won't bother us again."
The kids rushed him, hugging his legs, arms, anything they could grab. He dropped a bag of stolen ration packs.
"Eat. Slowly."
As they cheered, Ryo sat back against the wall and stared at the shrine's center. A tattered scroll hung above the fire. The symbols burned themselves into his memory even now—ancient letters from a forgotten language.
The Thanatos Scroll.
He found it ten years ago—covered in blood and ash, hidden beneath a statue of the God of Death himself. He never meant to read it. But when he did, it was as if his body unlocked something primal. His muscles screamed, his bones cracked, and his soul shook. He passed out for three days.
When he woke up, he was different.
Faster. Sharper. Hungry.
For motion. For combat. For understanding.
Kineta became his obsession.
"Movement is momentum. Momentum is power. Never stop."
Those words echoed through him every time he fought.
---
Suddenly, the shrine doors burst open, splinters flying.
Ryo stood in an instant, body already shifting into a low Kineta stance.
Lightning crackled—and a woman walked through the door, heels clicking on the wet stone.
"Good evening, handsome," Lysa Voltaire grinned, placing one hand on her hip. "Miss me?"
The children cowered behind Ryo. He didn't move.
"You followed me again."
"You make it easy. That Kineta aura of yours is like a flare." She winked. "Besides… I bring news."
Ryo's eyes narrowed.
Lysa's smile faded.
"Virex… has moved into Sector 12. He wiped out the Reapers in under five minutes. Every single one. Even their Aim Assisters."
Ryo tensed. "He's that close now?"
"Yes. And he's looking for Thanatos Heirs."
Ryo's jaw clenched. "Then I'll stay hidden."
"Sweetie, you can't. You've already lit a fire. Your name's spreading. He'll come whether you want him to or not."
He didn't respond.
Lysa took a step forward. "I came to help. I know people. Fighters. You can't stop Virex alone."
Ryo looked over his shoulder at the kids. Then back at Lysa.
"I don't care about Virex. I care about them."
Lysa tilted her head. "But Virex will kill them too. He's not after glory. He's after extinction."
The fire crackled. The rain intensified. Thunder roared like a warning.
Ryo finally spoke.
"If I fight… it's not for justice. Not for revenge. It's to protect what little I have left."
He stepped forward.
"I'm not a hero."
Lysa smiled slowly. "No, you're not."
"But," she added, "You might be the last thing that stands between humanity and annihilation."
---
Above the city, deep within a moving mechanical fortress…
Virex stood in silence, watching a hundred screens flash with footage of Ryo.
His voice, smooth and inhuman, echoed through the chamber.
> "Target identified. Kineta variant. High probability: Thanatos Heir."
He turned, placing a hand on a wall of swords—each one stolen from a dead master.
> "Initiating Phase Two: Cleanse Sector 13."
---
To Be Continued…