Scene 1: The Street
The only sound to disturb the quiet of the meandering street was the flickering hum of a streetlamp. Shadows danced on the cracked pavement where Lee lay on his side, bound and bleeding. His face was swollen, his breathing was shallow, and his shirt was torn, with blood smeared with anger.
There were a dozen thugs around him.. Their leader, a massive man with a scar down one eye, squatted next to Lee and lit a cigarette with a trembling hand.
He clutched Alex's bloody hair and pulled his face up, whispering, "You boys think you're invincible." However, in this city? Being wealthy makes you a unstoppable man not poor"
Alex tried to respond, but his lips only produced a weak gurgle.
The leader stood and snapped his fingers. "Teach him what happens when you owe the wrong people."
A bat struck Alex's ribs. He gasped—if he could scream, he would have. Another blow followed. And another. Around the periphery of his vision, darkness pressed in.However, this was not the end.
Scene 2: The Ghosts on the Roof
Arya squatted low next to Jin, watching from the roofline above them.
With her eyes fixed on her brother's rumpled body, she muttered, "He won't be around for much longer."
With his face unreadable, Jin flexed his fingers. "Then we proceed."
They dropped into the alley like shadows falling from the sky.
Arya struck first. She caught one man before he hit the ground, and he gurgled as her blade slit his throat.Jin followed, silent and precise. A twist of the neck, and another thug dropped.Two more went down before the rest noticed the ambush. Panic bloomed.
"Wha—what the hell?!"
The scarred leader fumbled for his gun.
Arya lunged, slicing through his forearm. He screamed, weapon clattering to the ground.
"Who are you?!" he roared.
Jin answered calmly. "Just ghosts from your past."
Scene 3: Blood in the Alley
What followed was chaos.
The gang surged at Arya and Jin. Pipes swung, knives flashed.
Jin blocked a strike and countered with brutal precision—an elbow, a knee, then a knife to the chest. Another man fell.
Arya ducked low, swept a leg, and buried her blade into a throat.
But they were outnumbered. A pipe caught Arya in the ribs. She gasped, staggered.
Jin parried a knife but took a punch to the jaw. He reeled, vision spinning.
Alex blinked through blood and pain. He saw Arya stumble.
No.
With a primal scream, he threw himself forward. His restraints loosened—just enough. He tackled the scarred man to the ground.
"LEE!" Arya shouted.
The brute punched Alex hard, again and again. But Alex clung on, refusing to let go.
He wasn't dying here. Not while they fought for him.
Scene 4: Something Else
Then, the air shifted.
A cold presence swept the alley like a breeze from another world. Something was coming.
From the shadows, it emerged.
Tall. Lithe. Its limbs moved with unnatural fluidity, almost like liquid shadow. Its skin flickered between visibility and something unrecognizable, and its hollow black eyes locked onto the nearest thug.
The man tried to run.
Too slow.
The creature struck, dismembering him in a blink. Bones snapped like sticks. Blood sprayed.
Everyone froze.
The monster turned.
The gang scattered, screaming.
The brute barely stood before claws impaled his chest. He jerked, eyes wide, and then fell limp.
Arya stepped back, blades trembling in her hands. "What… is that?"
Jin said nothing. His face was pale.
The creature turned toward them.
And it smiled.
Alex, still kneeling, looked up at it with dread.
He muttered, "What the hell are you?"The cold, layered voice of the creature resounded everywhere and everywhere:
"The beginning of the end."