“Empr… Empress, please come in… Emily, answer the damned comm!”

Emily bolted upright in bed, cupping a hand over her mouth as bile threatened to rise. A heavy dose of vitality had quelled the effects of last night's drinking, but she still felt breathless. Blinking away the spots in her vision, she surveyed the penthouse suite she currently called her hideout. It was adorned with the finest furniture, jewels, and technology one could steal—a stark contrast to the literal dump she’d inhabited just two weeks prior.

On the other end of the room sat a massive monitor, broadcasting a transmission. Groaning, Emily extracted herself from the silken sheets and padded over to the device. Picking up the comm, she placed it to her ear; the tiny device unfolded to fit snugly against her head. A small light screen projected in front of her as she opened the emergency channel.

“Fuck, Cosmo, you know I didn’t give you this channel to wake me up at god knows what hour…”

The speaker crackled, and the sound of an explosion echoed in the distance.

“God, finally! Do you know how long I’ve been trying to reach you? I had to use this channel or you wouldn’t have picked up. Don’t worry, I’m on a mission at the moment—the association won’t know I called you. Also, it’s midafternoon! And stop calling me Cosmo; it’s Captain Cosmic now!”

Emily rubbed her eyes, stifling a laugh.

“Yeah, yeah. Why are you calling, then, Cosmo?”

A grunt came through, accompanied by the groaning of metal.

“I called because I’m a hero now! The association drafted the whole squad, even Daina. I want you to come back and be a hero with me.”

Emily snorted at his childishness.

“That's not happening, Cosmo. Did you forget I killed someone? Granted, he was insane, but the association won’t accept a killer into their ranks. Plus, their version of retribution destroyed just about everything I had left in this world.”

Images of that night still seared Emily's mind, and even days later, she struggled to sleep properly.

The mic crackled again, and Cosmo’s voice turned softer, a hint of pity creeping in.

“Emily… what you did, you did to save me. I could talk to them—”

Anger flared in Emily's chest, and she laughed mockingly into the comm.

“Let’s get something straight. I didn’t do that for you; I did it for me. He was an asshole of a hero and deserved what he got. And you don’t get to use my true name—not when you never shared yours with us!”

Her breath came in ragged gasps as she glared at the screen, clutching her chest. Something was preventing her from taking a deeper breath, but she ignored it.

Cosmo’s voice came through again, strained and angry, accompanied by the sound of breaking glass.

“If you want to see who I am under the suit, I’m willing now.”

Emily pursed her lips.

“Too little, too late, Cosmo. If that's all, I’m hanging up.”

“Wait!”

His voice was filled with urgency.

“Do you remember the machinist who awoke a couple of months ago? The one who invented the advanced nanobots?”

Emily paused, allowing the question to linger. She did remember this particular invention—a postgraduate had awakened his gift, which involved the control of nanobots. His creations were leagues above current designs, capable of turning ordinary people into powerhouses.

“Well, it turns out he’s gone insane,” Cosmo continued, unfazed by her silence. “He’s calling himself the Metal Messiah and unleashing his nanobots to kill anything in their path.”

Emily hummed absentmindedly, her mind racing. Machinists were prohibited from programming self-replicating abilities for obvious reasons, but if he was ignoring the association's regulations, he was stepping beyond villainy into calamity.

When a hero or villain ceased using their powers to help or for personal gain, they became nothing more than beasts, consuming and destroying everything in their path. Even villains found that unacceptable, and it wasn’t unusual to see them teaming up with heroes to eliminate such threats. From what Cosmo described, this machinist was headed in that direction.

“Okay, Cosmo, so what do you want me to do about it?” Emily asked with a sigh, struggling to draw in a full breath.

A curse punctuated the comm before a strained growl followed.

“People are dying, Emily! I need your power to save them.”

She knew why he was asking. While her abilities weren’t the best matchup against lifeless machines, they were incredibly effective at keeping them at bay.

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“That’s not my problem anymore, big guy. The association made sure of that when they messed with our little team.”

“Emily, please!”

Her hand hovered over the ‘terminate call’ button, and she took a moment to gather her thoughts.

“Cosmo, I don’t care. I’m closing down this channel for good. The next time you see me in the city, don’t bother. We’re officially on opposing teams, and if you get in my way, I’ll kill you.”

Without waiting for his response, she closed the channel.

The burning in her chest intensified as she removed the comm from her ear and stepped out onto the balcony. The city stretched below her, sirens blaring in the distance. From this height, the skyline was magnificent—far more appealing than the stupid dump she had once called home.

Emily could lose herself for hours, gazing over the metropolis with its hundreds of skyscrapers and fantastical machinist inventions. She felt giddy with possibility. There was still so much to see and steal, and for the first time in forever, she felt free.

But then, bubbles began to rise from her mouth, tickling her face before scattering up into the sky.

The scene was baffling and beautiful, and as she stared up at it, a sense of foreboding washed over her.

With a start, Emily realized what was happening. Why was she remembering these things now? Was this her life flashing before her eyes? Panic gripped her as she swam towards the surface of the lake, her lungs begging for air. The last of Emily’s air escaped in a desperate rush, and she involuntarily inhaled the icy waters. She was almost there. She couldn’t afford to give up now, so pulling vitality from her core, she clawed her way toward the last few meters, driven by sheer will.

POV - Alexander

Alex rode through the harsh rain as it slammed into him as he held onto the crimson wolf’s pelt. Pain and vertigo thrummed through his body, but he’d already popped a tonic so he could only hang on now for it to take full effect.

The sounds of his pursuer had long since fallen behind them and Alex was certain it was due to whatever Emily had done to this beast. ‘Cupcake’ as Emily called her, had changed significantly since the last he’d seen her. The beast had grown in size and her white coat was all but dyed red, however, that was not what caught his attention, it was their speed. They had left Oscar and his wolf in the dust as they charged up the side of the mountain. The real problem now was that they had no real cover to hide behind, only the storm hid their trail at this point. Alex wasn’t even sure where they were heading, but the wolf had refused to listen to him.

Emily had somehow issued a silent command to the beast to carry him away. He would have much preferred to stand and fight by her side, but the dammed woman had never listened to him.

When he found her again he’d make sure to give her a piece of his mind.

If he ever saw her again.

Alex frowned. Emily was selfish, rude, and incredibly annoying at times, yet he found himself hoping more than anything that she'd get away. Marth was a deadly opponent—under normal circumstances, he’d assume anyone else facing him was as good as dead. But if there was one thing Emily excelled at, it was constantly exceeding his expectations.

If she could just hold out until he reached Kael, they’d be in the clear. Up ahead, Alex heard the groaning of trolls stirred by the landslide. These mountains were filled with dormant trolls, sleeping through the years, so when something woke them, the entire area turned into a danger zone. By the look of things, this particular landslide had unearthed dozens of the creatures. Fortunately, Cupcake was more than capable of dodging the beasts as she weaved through them with relative ease. Soon, they were back where all of this began. The rock bridge was completely empty, but Cupcake didn’t seem to mind as she scented the damp air before taking off in another direction.

Alex was impressed by the beast’s determination as it wandered through the rain in search of the pack. Soon, he started to notice troll corpses on the side of the road, which only made Cupcake more determined.

It took over half an hour to find the Wandering Fangs, who were still engaged with several trolls. Alex jumped into combat with Cupcake as the wolf viciously attacked the nearest troll. Running his hand along his blade, he imagined the ward he needed. The blade ignited as the ward took hold inside it and bit into the side of the same troll.

Kael saw them immediately and had several men move up to support him. Alex made short work of the troll he was working on, with Cupcake’s help—her speed was like nothing he’d ever experienced.

When all the threats were taken care of, Kael came toward him.

“Where are my two leads and Emily?” he asked.

Alex climbed down from the Rime wolf’s back and turned to Kael.

“Your man betrayed you and turned on us. He suddenly attacked us out of the blue. Emily gave me a chance to get away, but now I have no idea where they are.”

Kael’s eyes narrowed at Alex, and he grabbed him, dragging him off to the side.

“You’re lying. My man wouldn’t do that without reason.”

“Oh really? Then tell me, has he blocked your authority skill?”

Kael stared at him, but Alex was certain it would have been the man's first move.

Emily had once asked him if Kael would have any say over her actions, and of course, the answer remained no. But for sub-leaders, it was a different story. If they ever did something to endanger an active mission, Kael's title would trigger, and he would be informed of what they were doing. He could even sway their actions in some sense. The only way to prevent this was for Marth to get a skill or item to block the title.

Kael's eyes went distant for a second before refocusing on Alex. He wore a frown.

“He’s blocking my summons. Damn it, what’s going on?”

Alex nodded and turned back the way he’d come, searching the horizon.

“He and Oscar were planning on betraying you. When Emily and I discovered this, he tried to kill us. If you want proof, then you might want to find your entire team two, who are missing in action.”

Kael seethed as he glanced around.

“I’m going to get to the bottom of this, so you’d best tell me the truth now.”

Alex shrugged.

“I’m not lying, but you can ask around. They were already sowing rumors of your incompetence as a leader.”

It was the truth. Marth had planned to take over the mercenary group when he got the chance, but unfortunately, it hadn’t gone his way in the last life either. The rumor might be a little premature because Marth only started undermining Kael’s power months down the line, but he would certainly find proof of dissatisfaction in team two if he started looking now. And knowing Oscar, he knew this, so the likelihood that that snake would come back here was almost zero.

“I’ll work with you in any way that I can, but we need to go save Emily,” Alex said.

Kael shook his head.

“I can’t even afford to go back for my own man, let alone Emily. There are just too many of them back there. I told her to stop, but she wouldn’t listen, so whatever happens out there is on her now.”

Alex clenched his fists as he stared into the darkness. The hardest part was that Kael was right; going back there now meant suicide. Alex just had to hope that Emily remembered the plan and met them in Lorethil.

As he was staring off at the cold horizon, he noticed Cupcake was no longer by his side. Glancing about, he couldn’t see the red Rime wolf anywhere. It had to have gone back for her, but Alex found himself reassured by this rather than sad. He couldn’t help but quietly mutter to himself as the rain drowned out everything else.

“Emily, please survive so I can be angry at you.”