POV: Third Person
Time: Night to Early Morning
Scene 1 – The Hunters Return
POV: Strike Team | 9:45 PM
In the back alley behind an abandoned garage on Detroit's east side, the strike team waited. The streetlamp above flickered weakly, casting a weak glow on the damp pavement below. Garbage cans were overturned. The smell of exhaust, piss, and stale fast food clung to the air.
Hex leaned against the brick wall, visor dimmed, hands behind his back. His fingers twitched, cybernetic digits flexing in perfect sync, running drills only he could feel. Breaker cracked his neck, arms folded across his massive chest, gauntlets glinting faintly.
"We strike. We finish," Hex said flatly.
"No mercy this time."
"Good," Breaker replied with a grin. "I'm done babysitting."
Mamba crouched on a nearby fire escape, silent, sharpening her knives with a rhythm like breath. Her green-tinted visor glowed faintly as she tested a blade on her palm.
"We know his habits now," Hex muttered, tapping his wrist-mounted console. "He always comes out between 10 and midnight. Solo. Eager. Predictable."
"Tonight's the night we clip Detroit's little shadow," Breaker grinned, smacking his fists together.
Scene 2 – Rooftop Silence
POV: Silas | 10:12 PM
The wind rolled over the rooftops like slow, quiet thunder. Silas stood perched on the ledge of a four-story apartment complex, eyes narrowed beneath his hood. His hands rested on his knees as he crouched, scanning the streets below.
Detroit was unusually quiet. He'd been out here for almost twenty minutes, yet not a siren, not a scream — nothing.
"Too calm..." he thought, tightening his grip on the ledge. "Something's off."
Then—
Clap.
A slow, mocking rhythm.
Silas stood upright slowly, turning toward the sound. He didn't need to ask who it was.
Scene 3 – Ambushed
POV: Third Person | 10:17 PM
From the shadows behind the HVAC unit, they stepped out.
Hex. Mamba. Breaker.
The three figures emerged in full gear, visors glowing like wolves' eyes under moonlight.
Hex spoke first, his voice sharp and clinical.
"I applaud your bravery… or should I call it arrogance?"
Silas didn't flinch. His fists clenched, and the air around his boots began to ripple, shadows leaking upward.
"You really came back for more?"
"We didn't come to spar," Breaker snarled.
Mamba said nothing, only tilted her head slightly and drew her curved daggers, spinning them once before settling into her stance.
Silas's eyes narrowed beneath his hood. His breath grew measured. The ground around him darkened — his shadow extended unnaturally, tendrils rising like smoke.
"No more games," he growled. "Let's dance."
Scene 4 – Blood in the Wind
10:21 PM
Breaker was the first to charge. He roared like a bull, the ground vibrating beneath each step. Silas dashed forward to meet him — no hesitation.
He ducked under a wild haymaker, slid across the gravel, and launched himself up with a flying knee that connected clean with Breaker's jaw. The bigger man reeled back, but caught himself quickly and swung wide.
Silas dropped to one knee, skidded back, and slammed a shadow-forged baton across Breaker's shin. The weapon hissed as it made contact, sending sparks and darkness outward.
Mamba came in next — fast, lethal, a blur of motion. Her first slash missed his ribs by an inch. The second nicked his side.
Silas turned on instinct, forming a pair of shadow knuckle-dusters on both hands, slamming a punch into her stomach. She gasped, but flipped backward and landed gracefully.
"Two-on-one now, huh?"
He didn't wait.
Silas lunged at Breaker again, delivering three quick punches to his face, ribs, and throat. He followed with a sweep, then a backflip to create space — just in time to catch Hex walking toward him.
"You're predictable," Hex said. "And you're bleeding."
Silas looked down. Blood soaked his hoodie from the slice on his side.
"You talk too much."
He threw out both hands — and the shadows shot forward like spears, aiming for Hex's chest. Hex deflected them with his gauntlets, then dashed forward and delivered a clean knee to Silas's sternum, knocking him across the rooftop.
Scene 5 – Brutality Unleashed
10:28 PM
Silas pulled himself to his feet, spitting blood. He clenched his fists, and this time, the shadow around his feet rose into chains — thick, heavy, laced with jagged barbs.
With a flick of his arm, he wrapped the chain around Breaker's leg — then yanked hard, slamming the man onto his back.
"NOW," he hissed, and the chain transformed mid-pull into a hooked shadow-spike.
Silas vaulted forward, grabbed the chain again, and drove the hooked end through Breaker's chin, impaling through the base of the skull. With a guttural roar, he ripped it upward — and Breaker's spine came with it, dangling in the cold night air.
He barely had a second to breathe.
Mamba screamed and lunged.
Silas hurled the grotesque trophy — Breaker's head and spine — straight into her. The impact staggered her, throwing off her footing.
Silas rushed her with a shadow-warped spear, sweeping low, tripping her. As she fell, he spun behind and decapitated her in one clean swing.
Scene 6 – Hex's End
10:31 PM
Hex stood alone now, blades deployed, stance perfect.
Silas was panting, bleeding, half-limping — but alive.
They charged.
Blade met blade. Silas blocked with a thick slab of shadow, then slashed low. Hex ducked. A cybernetic fist slammed into Silas's jaw, sending him spinning.
Silas vanished.
Hex looked left—nothing. Right—nothing.
Then—
Behind him.
A long black sword pierced through his spine, emerging from his sternum. Hex gasped.
"We... were just the first…"
Silas said nothing. He leaned close, twisting the blade deeper.
Then, with a flick of his wrist, he yanked the blade out, turned, and took Hex's head off in a single clean slash.
Silence.
Silas stood, drenched in blood, surrounded by corpses and shadowed steel.
"Send. More."
Scene 7 – Broken Quiet
POV: Amy & Devon | 12:03 AM
Back in the dorm, Amy sat on the edge of her bed, hands still trembling. Devon leaned against the mini-fridge, arms crossed.
"You okay?" he asked.
Amy shook her head. "No."
Devon exhaled, shaking his head. "He really did it."
"Yeah."
"You seriously okay with all this?"
She stood up slowly, pacing.
"He said we're just friends. So I'm staying in my lane."
Devon chuckled bitterly. "You keep saying that, but I swear you're the only one who believes it."
Amy glared at him. "Don't push it."
"Alright. But next time he walks in covered in someone else's blood, don't act like it ain't affecting you."
She didn't answer.
Outside, the sky remained dark. But the streets whispered with fear.
Because the Sentinel had shown his teeth