Lenny froze like a scolded child, claws mid-air and his snout stained with powdered sugar. His big yellow eyes blinked rapidly, awe and fear swirling together as he stared back at the dark figure who had just ripped a hole in reality and walked out like it was normal.

Kai smirked. "That's Lenny. He's a friend of ours."

There was a beat.

"Another honorary member of your little group," the red-eyed mutant continued.

Shadow glanced around the room. Nadya shrugged. Sven gave a half-hearted thumbs up. Isaac didn't even blink.

They had accepted it.

"He played a big role in fighting that Messiah guy," Kai added, tossing a biscuit in his mouth. "Helped save my life. So... useful lizard."

Shadow didn't argue. Not because he agreed, but because, frankly, he was too tired to care. If the lizard had survived this long and helped out as they claimed, that was good enough for now.

Lenny beamed. Or tried to. It looked more like a snarl, but the intent was there.

Shadow gave a small nod, the barest of acknowledgements. "Fine. He can tag along for now, but this group is already large enough. So no more stray mutants."

That seemed to satisfy everyone.

But even as they settled back, a heaviness lingered in the air. A question unspoken... until now.

"So overall, you achieved your objective?" Shadow asked, arms crossed as he leaned slightly against the shadows behind him.

Kai sat up straighter. Nadya frowned.

"We stirred the hornet's nest and got samples at least."

"But the drugs are likely still being produced," Nadya added. "We can't stop the supply."

Kai exhaled through his nose. "Not unless we get into another run in with Nyx and make an even bigger enemy of the association."

Shadow's gaze lingered. He didn't look disappointed. Just thoughtful.

"So... a partial success," he finally said.

"Considering the crap we went through?" Sven raised a brow. "We'll take it."

But even that wasn't the reason they'd called him here.

Shadow knew it. The air shifted again as silence fell between them.

His dark eyes scanned the room. Counted heads.

There was one missing.

"Takeshi," he said at last, his voice quieter. "He's not here."

They didn't answer right away.

He'd seen part of the broadcast that night. The grainy footage - buildings sliced in half, entire streets shattered like glass. Takeshi versus Thundercutter. A duel on an entirely different tier of power.

And yet... the silence that followed told him everything.

"He's gone?" Shadow asked softly. He had assumed after his battle, Takeshi had returned to the others, but that didn't seem to be the case...

They had no way to confirm or deny, though they hoped and believed that their blindfolded friend was fine.

Now, he understood why they'd faked a death.

It wasn't just to hurriedly give him a report of what had occurred, but it was to help find Takeshi. He had so much he was juggling across the globe that it was hard to keep track of all the members of the outlaws, and it left a sour taste in his mouth.

Shadow didn't speak again for a long time.

He just stood there in silence, the shadows around him curling inward like clenched fists.

-

Eventually, Shadow stirred. The haunted look in his eyes didn't disappear, but something shifted, like steel being forced back into shape after bending under pressure. He exhaled, long and low, the shadows around him twitching as if they too were waking from a daze.

Guilt. Worry. Stress. It was hard to read someone whose face was half-swallowed by darkness, but the weight in his voice said it all.

"I've got Spatial Markers on all of you," he reminded, his tone clipped, like he hated saying it out loud. "I could've used it. I should've. But I didn't."

He didn't explain why.

He didn't have to.

They all knew Shadow. Knew he had a habit of letting them figure things out on their own - sink or swim. But this time? This wasn't a lesson. One of them might have drowned, and for it to be Takeshi of all people...

Kai leaned forward slightly. Nadya's smile was gone. Even Lenny stopped chewing.

"I obviously heard," Shadow continued, "about the fight. Takeshi… versus Thundercutter."

Everyone tensed.

Only a few names in the world made seasoned mutants suck in a breath. Thundercutter was one of them. A powerful mutant, one with control of thunder and lightning.

There weren't many mutants alive who could go toe-to-toe with Takeshi.

There were even fewer who could actually endanger him.

But Thundercutter was undeniably one of them. He was alongside the Messiah as a mutant who surpassed logic. They were no longer mere supernatural creatures; they were on an entirely different level.

"I understand why you faked the broadcast," Shadow said at last. "You needed to know. And so do I."

He turned, the dark mist peeling away from him like it had business elsewhere. A ripple in space began to form behind him, edges writhing, gnashing, hungry. The beginnings of a Spatial Rift.

"This should take us directly to the marker."

"Wait," Isaac said, standing up. "Are we sure we're ready for this?"

"No," Shadow replied. "But we're doing it anyway."

The room fell silent again.

He faced them fully now, his voice harder and sharper. "Prepare yourselves. There are two bad possibilities: we could step through and find Takeshi's corpse... or we emerge in the middle of an Association facility where he's being held."

A chill passed through the group. Isaac was already packing up, his expression unreadable. Lenny blinked rapidly, glancing at everyone for a cue. Even Kai was suddenly, unusually serious.

"Can't you... peek through?" Sven asked quietly, hopeful.

But Shadow shook his head. "This isn't a window. I'm folding space, not opening a door. I can't just stick my head in and check. That's how people lose their heads."

"Literally," Isaac added.

Shadow nodded. "Once it's open, it's all or nothing. My body, my presence - it has to pass through entirely. No half-measures. That's suicide."

They all stood now, staring into the swirling Rift forming like a black eye in the middle of the room.

It pulsed once. Twice.

Kai cracked his knuckles.

"Well," he muttered, "if it's a facility, we burn it down. If it's a corpse... we bring him back."

Shadow didn't reply.

But the Rift widened, enough for them to pass through one by one.

And without another word, he stepped forward, into the unknown.

-

One by one, they stepped toward the swirling Rift, each hesitating for just a heartbeat before vanishing into the dark. There was no grand flash, no dramatic wind or sound - just a subtle warping of space that swallowed them whole, like they were being devoured by an unseen maw.

Kai went last, pausing only long enough to glance at the now-empty conference room behind them. Half-eaten biscuits still lay on the table. Lenny had left one mid-chew. Figures.

Then everything collapsed inward.

It felt like being yanked through a blackhole. Every sense was stripped away, squeezed tight into a tunnel of nothingness. Kai couldn't breathe, couldn't blink, couldn't even think, and then, all at once...

He could.

His feet hit solid ground.

And he wasn't in the conference room anymore.

"Where the fuck is this...?" Nadya muttered, the first to speak.

Kai turned slowly, his eyes scanning the alien stillness around them. Isaac adjusted his coat, his left sleeve dangling beside him. Lenny looked like he was trying not to sneeze on the pollen-heavy breeze.

This wasn't New York.

Hell, this wasn't anywhere close to the concrete chaos they were used to.

No sirens. No skyscrapers. No smog.

Instead, they found themselves standing on a narrow dirt path that wound along the edge of a grassy hill, overlooking a peaceful valley painted in deep greens and pale pinks. Cherry blossoms floated lazily in the air. The sun hung low, casting a golden hue across the sleepy village nestled below. Small, old-fashioned wooden homes with tiled roofs dotted the landscape.

Even the air smelled different - fresh, clean, almost sweet.

"This... this has to be... Japan?" Isaac said finally, sounding half-certain and half-bewildered.

"Yeah," Kai said, furrowing his brow. "And not Tokyo or any of the big cities either. This is the sticks. The real countryside."

"How the hell did Takeshi end up here?" Nadya asked, squinting toward the village.

Shadow remained silent. His gaze was locked ahead, scanning the horizon with dark intensity.

Kai couldn't blame him. This wasn't just a scenic detour. Takeshi's Spatial Marker had led them here. Which meant that Takeshi was somewhere around here. He could even be buried under the very ground they stood on.

And if that wasn't unsettling enough... the peace around them was almost too perfect.

No movement. No voices. No smoke from chimneys. Just the sound of distant wind chimes and the rustling of leaves.

Something felt... off.

Kai clenched his fists, his instincts prickling like static along his spine.

"Keep your eyes open," he muttered under his breath. "This place looks like paradise... but it almost feels like a trap."

However, what they found was anything but a trap...

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