"Some fires never go out… they learn to walk."
---
Scene: Scarne's Warehouse – Midnight
Scarne is lit by the hum of blue welding fire.
He doesn't sleep. He doesn't eat. He builds.
Along the walls—maps of the city. Pins. Strings. Circles.
One photo in the center—Lucen's face in public from a few weeks ago.
> Scarne (to himself):
"You hide behind that beard. That job. That smile. But I know you. I saw you… the night the sky burned."
He turns.
A small wooden box rests on the table.
He opens it—inside, a melted locket. Burned into the metal is the faint engraving:
> "To my brave boy – Love, Ma."
He clenches it in his fist until it cuts him.
---
Scene: Rooftops – Lucen & Aria
The city hums. Cold wind. Lucen sits at the edge of a rooftop with Aria beside him, holding blueprints of bombings over the last 2 months.
> Aria:
"He's not picking random spots. Every fire connects. Look—schools, libraries, hospitals... places where you showed up to help."
Lucen's jaw tightens.
> Lucen:
"He's recreating my steps."
Aria:
"He's turning your hero story into his villain origin."
Lucen stares at a charred glove pulled from one of the sites. It smells like oil, metal, soot. And guilt.
> Lucen (quiet):
"He lost his family… because of me."
> Aria (softening):
"That wasn't you. Not this you."
Lucen:
"Tell that to the ashes."
---
Scene: Scarne's Camera Footage – Broadcast to City
Suddenly, TVs in storefronts flicker. Phones buzz.
A live video appears—Scarne, standing in front of a warehouse filled with chained gasoline tanks.
Behind him, a captured firefighter is tied to a chair.
> Scarne (on video):
"To the Devil who wears a smile.
You took everything from me.
So now, I'll take the city you pretend to protect."
"I'm not hiding. Come find me, Lucen.
Let's see who survives the second fire."
He clicks off.
---
Scene: Back to Lucen – Heart Racing
He crushes the glove in his hand.
> Lucen (low):
"He wants me to come to him."
> Aria:
"It's a trap."
Lucen:
"I know. But I made him. And he's not going to stop."
He stands. Pulls up the hood. Opens a case—inside, his black monk-demon hybrid mask.
He puts it on.
> Lucen (to himself):
"This time… I burn alone."
---
Scene: Flashback – The Night of the Burn
Lucen, age 15, in a distorted memory. Screams. Fire climbing walls. A child's hand reaching out.
He sees Scarne… as a boy, watching from a window as the world outside collapses in flame.
Lucen's younger self stumbles through the street—eyes glowing, body flickering like a broken signal—Eldritch and confused.
> Young Lucen (screaming):
"I didn't mean to—!"
Boy Scarne (crying):
"You're a monster!"
---
Scene: Warehouse Perimeter – Now
Lucen stands alone, overlooking the building. Inside—Scarne arms the bombs.
A whisper.
> Voice (dream-like):
"Let it burn again…"
Lucen turns—but nothing's there. Morpheus's influence is leaking into his waking world.
> Lucen (to himself):
"No. Not this time."
He leaps down toward the warehouse—
END OF CHAPTER 10
Next Chapter:-CHAPTER 11: FIRE AGAINST FIRE🔥