Continuing from Sera and Mickey's perspective…
Priya hadn't been onstage long. Barely two minutes had passed before her secretary returned to the waiting area.
"…Madam President is here."
Right after she said it, the Indo-Swedish woman herself walked in with open arms.
"Sera~!"
"Priya~!"
The two embraced warmly.
Mickey:(So this is… the hug of capitalism…)
"Never thought I'd see Idris's daughter here! What a surprise."
"I wanted to see you, Auntie. Flew in just yesterday just for this~."
While Sera chatted and subtly stalled for time, Mickey pretended to watch the two women with a polite smile, but he was actually mumbling quietly into his comms—to Toshi.
The "camera" in the reader's imagination zooms away from backstage and into the main hall, where influencers gathered for photos and product showcases.
Leaning casually against a column, Toshi Ishii surveyed the models on stage. He got the message from Mickey.
[In position.]
"…Alright…"
Toshi pulled out his phone, thumbing through to the detonation app.
"…Power outage in… five… four… three…"
His finger hovered above the trigger.
"Two… one…!"
Backstage with Mickey and Sera…
"Come on, Sera~! The view upstairs is amazing, let me—"
BOOM!
Before Priya could finish, a muffled blast shook the floor beneath their feet. Lights flickered above them, the entire staff room shuddered—and then…
Darkness.
The towering skyscraper that had once bathed in golden light now stood black and silent against the night sky, its only illumination the blinking red and green lights on the rooftop.
"!!!"
Everyone in the event space gasped and looked around in confusion. Screams rang out near the stage, followed by a thunder of feet as people started running.
"Fire!!"
!?
The trio of undercover CIA agents—Blanchette, Euclid, and Bell—snapped to attention.
"…An explosion!? From the basement!?"
Euclid barely finished speaking before the entire building went dark.
"!?!?!"
"The other group—it's them! They made their move! Dammit… they actually blew the power room!?"
"Backstage! They're going for the targets!"
At Blanchette's command, the group split immediately. Euclid and Blanchette pushed through the panicking crowd toward backstage, while Bell peeled off to intercept any escape from outside.
Back inside…
"Wah!? What's going on!?"
Sera feigned surprise in the darkness. Truthfully, she couldn't see anything either.
Mickey stepped out of the shadows and tapped Sera's shoulder twice.
A silent signal: I'm here.
Sera immediately pulled her pistol—already primed in her hand—while Mickey reached beneath his suit jacket and drew his weapon. He moved straight for Priya and then—
Clack!
"…Lucky me. Backup power still works in here…"
Fred flipped a switch and turned back—only to freeze at the sight of his wife, Priya, held in a chokehold by Mickey, gun pressed to her head, forced into a crouch.
"?!?!?!"
Priya had been grabbed!
"Hey!! You bastard!! What the hell are you doing!?"
"Sera."
Mickey gave the cue—time for Sera to draw on Fred Wetton. She moved into position, ready to flank him.
But…
Mickey couldn't feel Sera's presence at all.
"…Sera?"
"..."
Something was wrong. When he turned back—
He saw a man in a white-and-black suit, with silver hair and green eyes choking Sera from behind.
It was Don.
Sera couldn't move. The white aura radiating from Don's body crushed her with overwhelming pressure. Sweat streamed down her face, her eyes trembled in fear. She looked at Mickey, pleading silently for help.
How had he gotten so close without anyone noticing? Not even Mickey heard a thing.
"…Hrk!"
Just as Mickey had made his move on Priya… Sera had been caught by Don.
His grip on her neck tightened—Sera's face began to turn pale.
"SERA!!"
Mickey swung his gun around to fire at Don—but froze when he saw that Don also had a gun pressed to Sera's head.
"…You!! You're with them!!"
Fred had drawn his own sidearm—aiming directly at Mickey.
The situation was unraveling fast. Mickey was now caught in a pincer—guns on both sides.
Sera didn't want to be a liability. Nor did Priya. But neither could act with weapons pointed at them.
Upper Floors – Elsewhere
"…Tch."
Trigone gripped her pistol tightly. A part of her pride was stung.
Who the hell just hijacked her mission?
"…A frontal approach would be suicide. We'd be riddled with bullets."
Using the tiny drone she had deployed earlier, Trigone scanned every corner near the server room. There was only one possible entry…
The air vent.
Of course. No matter how secure a room, it still needed ventilation.
Suddenly, a neon blue aura began to shimmer around her. Two horizontal ovals glowed on her body—a signature of her ability.
Inside the Server Room
Jody stood with arms crossed, watching the security monitors. Suddenly, her ears twitched—catching something off.
"…!?"
Her instincts flared. She spun around—but saw nothing.
Still… she knew.
"Roxxy…"
"…?"
"There's someone here with us…"
"…!"
Even Roxxy tensed.
"…Are you sure? The elevators are locked."
"I heard footsteps. Soft. Couldn't tell where… but it was real."
Jody pressed her fingers together—summoning spiraling air bullets to hover at the ready. She slipped next to the door, ready to fire point-blank if anyone entered.
Roxxy raised her pistol too, glancing between the entrance and the monitors.
She could see Mickey and Sera had made it backstage. They were on the couch, waiting.
"How many?"
"…One, I think."
Silence enveloped the room.
All they could hear was their own breathing… and the hum of the machines.
Then—
Tok…
!
Footsteps. From outside.
The sound of dress shoes clicking softly… circling just beyond the door.
Tok… tok… tok… tok…
And then… the steps stopped.
Right in front of the security room.
From the weight of the steps… the intruder wasn't large.
Roxxy's grip on her gun tightened.
The two girls waited in tense silence.
"..."
"..."
Come on… just open the damn door. Your brain's gonna be plastered across the wall.
But no sound followed. The footsteps had stopped… and then—nothing.
"...?"
"..."
They glanced at each other, ears perked, but heard nothing—only the eerie silence that followed.
"...What's going on…? Why did they just stop?"
Jody echoed what Roxxy had just been wondering. But then—she heard it.
A faint whirring sound… coming from above.
It was the mechanical hum of a remote-controlled toy—very subtle. So quiet even Roxxy hadn't picked it up. But Jody did.
"!"
The American girl turned toward the source—and saw it.
Above her was an air vent. And in that vent, a small black drone… was watching them.
Her eyes widened.
Whoever was outside—they knew. Their location had just been exposed.
"!!!!!!!"
Jody had to warn Roxxy. But the moment she turned to do so—
A human hand emerged from the wall behind Roxxy through what looked like a glowing oval-shaped portal.
That hand had a silenced pistol aimed directly at Roxxy's back.
"Behind you!!!!"
"!!!!!!?????"
Jody shouted at the top of her lungs and lunged forward.
The hand pulled the trigger—flash and suppressed impact thudding like a fist against a punching bag.
Roxxy was tackled just in time, shoved backward out of the bullet's path—by Jody.
A second later, a splatter of blood hit Roxxy's cheek.
THUD!
Both of them crashed to the floor. Roxxy lay beneath Jody, who had shielded her.
"Jody!?"
She took the bullet for me!
Roxxy hadn't activated the metal plate Syd had given her.
"...Ngh…!"
Red soaked into the blue fabric of Jody's dress, blooming from beneath her ribs.
The shot had landed just under her left breast.
Luckily, thanks to the buff from Syd, the bullet hadn't pierced through her lung—only got stuck in her rib.
Still hurt like hell, though.
Jody slowly pushed herself up, grimacing—then looked toward the glowing oval portal… but the hand was gone.
"It's gone! Whoever was there vanished!"
Roxxy didn't wait. She pulled out the black metal square from her pocket—and the red aura of Syd washed over her body, layering it with the durability of steel.
Jody wasn't done.
She snapped her gaze to the air vent—the drone was trying to retreat.
No way in hell she was letting that happen.
She pointed upward and unleashed a barrage of air bullets toward the vent, like a hailstorm.
She didn't know the drone's exact location, but two of the shots found their mark—shredding the tiny spy drone into pieces.
Kzzzzt… tssss…
Trigone's phone buzzed with static—its drone feed reduced to glitchy black and white, then nothing.
She holstered her silenced pistol against her chest.
"…Tch…"
The enemies had reacted faster than expected.
Now that they knew—they couldn't be allowed to live.
She raised her left arm, revealing a blue wristband embedded with high-tech circuitry. This was the device that fired the glowing oval portals.
Fwoosh!
She fired one toward the floor ten meters ahead—an electric purple oval lit up on the ground.
Then she pointed her arm upward—at the wall above her.
Zap! Another portal fired—this time neon blue.
Inside the Security Room
Jody could still move—barely. She clutched her side, blood staining her fingers crimson.
"..."
Roxxy said nothing. They needed to stay focused on the new threat.
"...That thing... was it a power? Or a technique?"
Jody asked while reloading her next round of air bullets.
"...A power."
Suddenly—they heard the sound of someone sprinting away from the security room.
Thudthudthudthudthudthud!
"!?"
Roxxy didn't hesitate—she kicked the door open.
BANG!
She peeked left, Jody peeked right—and Roxxy spotted their target.
"There!"
A figure in a black dress bolted down the hallway.
No doubt—it was an enemy.
Both girls opened fire—rounds rang out. But then, the woman dived forward onto the ground.
Like she was jumping into water.
And then—she vanished.
"She disappeared!?"
But there was no time to process—Roxxy was suddenly struck from above!
The woman in the black dress had dropped straight down from the ceiling.
Jody saw her clearly—a short-haired woman with one eye covered, dark-skinned, glowing with a blue aura.
She fell from the ceiling!?
How!?
Jody's answer came within a heartbeat.
She looked down the hall—ten meters away was a purple portal on the ground.
Above her own head—a blue portal.
And when she peered into that blue oval… she saw the floor from over there.
These portals… they connected!
She registered it in a fraction of a second.
Jody aimed at Trigone—but she was too late. Trigone had already raised her gun.
Thwip!
The bullet struck Jody clean—sending her sprawling across the floor.
She cried out in pain.
But Trigone didn't care.
With one down, she turned to finish Roxxy.
"...You—!"
But this time, the tiny girl was ready.
Unlike the taller blonde, Roxxy knew how to fight.
And she could go toe-to-toe with Trigone.