Jayden closed the faceplate of his mask, concealing his face once again. Then he continued walking, Penelope following closely beside him.

They moved with lethal synchronization, a pair of apex predators stalking through the neon-lit underbelly of the city. Within minutes, they reached the coordinates.

Crouched on the edge of a low rooftop, they peered over the parapet. Down below, at the entrance of a dead-end alleyway, stood Frost. She was talking to a burly, heavily scarred man with shaved hair. Frost gave the man a firm nod, shook his hand, and they both proceeded deep into the shadows of the alley.

Jayden and Penelope exchanged a glance and silently dropped down from the roof. They slipped into the alley, following after them, while sticking perfectly to the shadows.

The alley was long, bordered by towering, windowless brick walls. It was completely empty. Frost and the burly man had vanished, having already emerged on the other side of the streets.

"Keep your eyes open," Penelope whispered, her hands beginning to faintly glow with latent thermal energy. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

They walked briskly, trying to catch up, but as they reached the midway point of the alley, they froze in their tracks.

From the far end of the corridor, a flood of men poured out from behind a concealed heavy steel door. There were sixteen of them, all clad in scuffed black leather and heavily armed with plasma machetes, spiked bats, and modified energy pistols. At the front of the pack stood the burly man Frost had just spoken to.

But their most defining feature was the crimson bandanas tied around their foreheads and biceps, emblazoned with a stark, laughing skull emblem.

They were part of the Red Skulls. A notorious, vicious street gang that ruled the Carmine City streets.

Jayden frowned behind his mask. It was a trap. Frost had known she was being followed the entire time.

Right on cue, the sound of slow, sarcastic clapping echoed from above. Standing on a rusted fire escape directly above the gang was Frost. She leaned over the railing, looking down at them with a mocking, icy laugh.

"Well, well, well," Frost sneered, her voice dripping with amusement. "If it isn’t the infamous masked vigilante, and the Former Prime Minister of Beta herself. To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

Jayden wanted to say something but Frost wasn’t done. She raised a finger to halt him then reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out the microscopic tracking bug Jayden had put there. She scoffed, crushing it casually between her thumb and forefinger.

"Did you really think I wouldn’t know I was being followed?" Frost called out to Jayden. "I didn’t even realize you’d put this little toy on me until I felt your presence at that warehouse. I also got the security reports that you paid a little visit to my penthouse earlier this evening."

Jayden furrowed his brows. She hadn’t connected the tracker back to the seventeen-year-old kid at the bar. She assumed the vigilante had planted it on her at some point during the day, probably even at the bar since it was too recent. But she was reading it as an opportunity she’d created rather than a meeting she’d had. Her mind simply refused to believe that the masked vigilante was actually the teenager she chatted and shared drinks with.

But what really baffled Jayden was the fact that she had felt his presence earlier while he was stalking her at the warehouse. He was completely invisible so for her to have sensed him was simply a testament to her incredible capabilities.

"Now," Frost sighed dramatically. "As much as I love a good fight, two incredibly powerful people teaming up against me just doesn’t seem fair. So, I decided to invite some friends of my own." She smirked, gesturing to the sea of armed thugs below her. "The Red Skulls have been very cooperative this evening."

Penelope’s eyes narrowed into terrifying, glowing slits. She was getting impatient. "I am going to wipe that smug smile right off your face."

Frost smirked, her breath pluming in the cold air. "Come and get me, Your Highness." She offered a mock salute. "Have fun, boys!"

With a blast of freezing wind, Frost turned and vaulted up the fire escape, disappearing onto the rooftops.

Before Jayden or Penelope could pursue, the sound of heavy boots echoed from behind them.

Jayden turned. From the entrance of the alley they had just walked through, fifteen more men poured in, blocking their only exit. They wore the same red skull bandanas and wielded the same brutal weaponry.

Jayden and Penelope were completely boxed in. Thirty-one armed gang members in a tight, claustrophobic corridor.

Penelope rubbed her temples, an aura of blistering, superheated plasma beginning to crackle around her fists. "I don’t have time for this."

"Go after Frost," Jayden said, his voice distorted and cold through his mask. "I can handle these guys."

Penelope glanced at him, then at the sea of thugs. She nodded. "Don’t take too long."

With a sudden, explosive burst of energy, Penelope leaped thirty feet straight into the air, landing gracefully on the lip of the rooftop. Without looking back, she dashed across the skyline in pursuit of the Ice Queen.

Jayden watched her go. It was a perfect matchup. Two extremely skilled, high-level elemental users facing off. Penelope was vastly more experienced and better suited for a drawn-out elemental duel than he was.

Jayden turned back, angling his body to keep both sides of the alley in his peripheral vision.

Thirty-one men.

Shouldn’t take too long.

He activated his Dragon Eye, quickly scanning the crowd. As expected from a street gang, they were incredibly weak. Most of them hovered around Levels 15 to 20. Only the burly leader registered as Level 30.

Jayden had no idea why the Red Skull gang was taking orders from a Black Cobra Pioneer, but honestly, he didn’t care. If they were standing between him and his target, they were just another obstacle to be crushed.

He cracked his knuckles, the sound echoing sharply in the quiet alley. A feral, deeply satisfied grin spread across his face beneath the mask.

"Come on then." He whispered.

"Kill him!" the burly leader roared.

With a unified, bloodthirsty scream, the thirty-one men charged all at once.