Tazer stepped casually through the shattered entrance of the mall, the air around him humming with a lethal, static charge. He barely glanced at the terrified hostages, his piercing blue eyes locked instead on the scorched crater, the incinerated corpse of his own subordinate, and finally, on Jayden.

A low, amused chuckle vibrated in Tazer's throat. "I have to admit, I'm impressed. Not many people can react fast enough to dodge a direct lightning strike from me."

Jayden stood at the far end of the atrium, his posture perfectly still, his mind working in overdrive. The pieces had rapidly fallen into place.

He had been lured.

Just as he thought, the Black Cobra syndicate hadn't attacked the mall to rob it or to make a statement. They had done it specifically to create a scene loud enough to draw the city's new vigilante out of the shadows. It was a baited trap, and the bait was a collision course with none other than Tazer. Which meant the syndicate, and Tazer, were actively hunting him... just as he was with them.

The Pioneer took a slow, deliberate step forward, the heel of his combat boot crunching sickeningly down on the charred remains of the dead man. He didn't even blink.

"I've heard a lot of whispers about you lately," Tazer called out, his voice echoing off the shattered storefronts. "I was incredibly curious to see just how powerful the phantom who took out Duke really was. But imagine my absolute surprise..." he tilted his head, a mocking smirk playing on his lips. "...when I found out it's just a kid."

Beneath the dark mask, Jayden's eyes widened. He knows? How the hell does he know?

But before Jayden's mind could spiral into worst-case scenarios, Tazer continued. "You're just a teenager, aren't you? I saw the way you looked at those three girls when you first stepped out of the shadows. You hesitated. You checked on them in a way that suggested you knew them more... intimately. And from what I could tell, they knew you too."

Jayden's hands slowly curled into tight fists, his knuckles popping. Tazer didn't know his exact identity yet. He didn't have a name or a face. But he had a demographic, and after seeing his interaction with Tasha, Jessica, and Cassandra, it wouldn't take very long to connect the dots.

Tazer had to die. Tonight. Now more than ever.

Jayden straightened his posture, his distorted voice cutting through the heavy air. "Are you here to talk," he said coldly, "or to fight?"

Tazer's smirk widened. "Very well." He turned his head slightly toward the trembling mass of hostages. "All of you. Get out. I don't need you getting caught in the crossfire and making a mess."

The crowd didn't need to be told twice. They scrambled to their feet, a chaotic stampede of terror fleeing toward the emergency exits.

Jayden subtly shifted his gaze toward the girls. He gave them a single, firm nod. Tasha, Jessica, and Cassandra understood the silent command. They nodded back, their faces pale but resolute, and melted into the fleeing crowd, disappearing into the safety of the night.

Within moments, the massive Galleria was entirely empty, leaving only the quiet hum of shattered neon signs and the crackle of ozone.

Tazer cracked his neck, the joints popping loudly. "Shall we begin?"

But as Tazer looked back, Jayden's spot was already empty.

With blinding speed, Jayden materialized directly behind the Pioneer, his fist rocketing toward the back of Tazer's skull. But the S-Rank mercenary's instincts were monstrous. Tazer twisted violently, smoothly evading the blow, and immediately countered. His fist, entirely engulfed in blinding, roaring blue lightning, swung in a devastating arc toward Jayden's ribs.

Instead of phasing to let the attack pass through, Jayden kicked off the marble floor, leaping backward and putting ten feet of distance between them.

Tazer caught the movement and chuckled, lowering his fist. "You're smarter than I thought," he said. "You know that little ghost trick of yours doesn't make you invincible against me."

Jayden exhaled a slow, controlled breath. He already knew that. Lightning wasn't a solid projectile; it was pure plasma. It was a volatile state of highly ionized matter. And because it wasn't bound by standard physical mass, it could bypass the vibrational frequency of his phased molecules, striking and superheating his cells directly.

Intangibility was entirely useless in this fight. Which was exactly why Jayden had retreated rather than taking the hit.

Tazer hummed. "Let's see if you can evade my lightening forever." He raised his hands, and the mall erupted in blinding light.

Tazer unleashed a relentless, rapid-fire barrage of lightning bolts. They tore through the air like artillery shells.

Jayden moved. He sprinted, leaped, and flipped across the atrium, his agility pushed to its absolute limits. Marble pillars exploded into dust, glass shattered into a million fragments, and the ground scorched wherever he had been a fraction of a second prior.

But Tazer was impossibly fast, his arms were a blur as he tracked Jayden's movements, giving him absolutely zero room to breathe.

"I can't win a ranged fight," Jayden calculated rapidly. "I need to get in close and deliver a direct strike."

But every time Jayden tried to close the gap, Tazer effortlessly glided backward, continuously laying down a suppressing fire of lethal electricity. It was almost as if he was reading Jayden's mind. Jayden needed a diversion.

Sprinting behind the ruined remains of a jewelry kiosk, Jayden activated his telekinesis. With a sharp mental pull, he yanked a massive, reinforced steel display case directly at Tazer's blind spot.

Tazer caught the movement from the corner of his eye and sidestepped to evade the flying steel. In that exact microsecond, Jayden triggered his invisibility, vanishing entirely from the visible spectrum.

Tazer frowned. He immediately stopped firing. The mall fell deadly silent. The Pioneer didn't panic; he simply planted his feet, closed his eyes, and let out a deep, steadying breath. He let his elite combat instincts and energy-sensing take over.

A split second later, Jayden—still completely invisible—lunged at Tazer's exposed flank, a lethal strike aimed straight for his temple.

Tazer's eyes snapped open. He spun precisely toward the exact coordinate of the attack. For a microsecond, his blue eyes seemed to lock directly onto Jayden's hidden gaze. With terrifying speed, Tazer's hand shot out, catching Jayden's invisible fist dead in its tracks.

The Pioneer smirked. "Gotcha."