The late morning sun poured over the city, golden light reflecting off mirrored windows and casting long shadows that danced between the moving crowds. Aira walked briskly down the street toward the corner cafe, her notebook tucked under one arm and a pen stuck behind her ear. Her steps had a bounce to them as she could barely contain her excitement.

  There had been an incident last night at one of the power plant facilities—a building collapse, total system failure, something about a fuse core detonating. Officially, it had been ruled an accident. A spontaneous malfunction, nothing to worry about. But Aira’s instincts as a journalist prickled the moment she saw the news. The statements were too neat, too precise. Real chaos never came prepackaged with such clean explanations.

  So at dawn, armed with her camera and curiosity, she had gone to see for herself. The neighborhood was quiet, streets still damp with morning mist. Residents she interviewed described tremors and strange lights underground, colors they’d never seen before. When she finally made it to the security line, an officer had stopped her—then blinked in recognition.

  “Wait, you’re the journalist who runs The Skylight Scoop!” he exclaimed. “My daughters love your columns!”

  Ten minutes later, she was past the barriers, a badge hanging around her neck, escorted by two engineers who were more starstruck than suspicious. Inside, the damage was breathtaking—fractured supports, melted metal, and light burn marks that reminded her more of battle than malfunction. She had taken photos, asked questions, collected fragments of information until her notebook overflowed. By the time she left, her heart was pounding with certainty: this wasn’t an accident. It was a fight. A vigilante showdown, hidden beneath the city while everyone else slept.

  Now she just needed confirmation—or at least, a few sharp opinions. And she knew exactly where to find them.

  The cafe came into view, tucked neatly between two storefronts. Through the glass, Aira could already see the familiar trio seated at the far table: Akio on the left, calm and composed as ever, fingers wrapped around a steaming cup of tea; Gabriel to the right, casually flipping a card between his fingers, eyes glinting with mischief; and Damien in the middle, posture perfect, expression unreadable, radiating the air of someone perpetually unimpressed. The sight made her grin. If anyone could pick apart her theory—or unintentionally prove it—it was these three.

  She pushed open the door, the bell chiming overhead, and crossed the room with confident strides. The moment she reached their table, she dropped her binder and notebook onto it with a satisfying thud.

  “Hey,” she announced, leaning forward with a spark in her eyes. “You guys have a minute? I just had a crazy breakthrough and I need opinions.”

  The three looked up, mildly intrigued. Akio set his cup down, tilting his head in that patient, big brother way. “Sure,” he said, voice even. “Let’s hear it.”

  Gabriel rested his chin on his hand, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. “This should be good,” he murmured.

  Damien exhaled through his nose, folding his arms like a man preparing to judge a thesis defense. “You have our attention,” he said dryly. “Proceed.”

  Aira grinned wider. The bigger the audience, the better. Time to make her case.

  “Okay, so—last night there was an explosion at one of the power facilities that contained a fuse core device. It was all over the news this morning. The official story claims it was a system malfunction that triggered the blast, but after what I’ve seen, I don’t buy it.”

  She leaned forward over the edge of the table, eyes glinting. “I think vigilantes were involved. Specifically—the Twin Hounds and Echo.”

  The three in front of her barely reacted. Akio took a calm sip of tea. Gabriel absently twirled the straw in his drink. Damien arched one brow, unimpressed. They looked more like a group humoring a passionate classmate than an audience hearing breaking news.

  Undeterred, Aira pressed on. “I’ve been studying vigilante combat styles for years—you know that. I can recognize their techniques anywhere. When I compared the site’s blueprints to the photos I took, I noticed sections of the facility’s architecture had shifted slightly off axis, like something had rotated the entire frame. Only Echo could do that.”

  She flipped a page, showing a printed photo. “Then, the constructs and drones that were destroyed? Those cuts—I’d recognize the work of the Dawn and Dusk Hounds anywhere. It fits their pattern perfectly.”

  Her words quickened, excitement layering over confidence. “They were all there. It makes perfect sense—they’re enemies, and they always clash when their paths cross.”

  She paused, taking a breath to gauge their reactions, but all she saw were blank faces.

  “Reasonable,” Damien replied.

  Aira blinked. “That’s it? You’re not surprised?”

  Akio shrugged, stirring his tea with practiced calm. “Most of the time when you bring up vigilante incidents, they usually involve those three.”

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  She gawked at him. “That’s because they’re the three most famous vigilantes in the entire world! Nothing about them is ever small!”

  Akio gave a mild nod. “Fair enough.”

  Still riding her own momentum, Aira waved a hand. “Okay, but that’s not all. The official report claims the fuse core exploded and caused the collapse—but I don’t think it actually did.”

  Gabriel tilted his head, curiosity flickering behind his half lidded eyes. “Very compelling. Why do you think that?”

  “I talked to some of the researchers on site,” Aira said quickly. “They told me if the fuse core really exploded, the blast should’ve been catastrophic. What we saw was too small. One of them said it barely had enough output to collapse the building—if the core had gone critical, it would’ve leveled several blocks.”

  Damien adjusted his sleeve, his tone faintly lecturing. “That’s expected. The fuse core’s structure is built like an atom accelerator. If it detonated, the resulting chain reaction would release enough energy to vaporize the surrounding area.”

  Akio smirked faintly, glancing his way. “I didn’t realize you were interested in this topic.”

  “You’d be stupid not to be,” Damien replied, sipping his coffee with dry indifference. “Innovative energy technology of this scale has implications far beyond one city’s infrastructure.”

  Gabriel, tapping the rim of his glass with his straw, added lightly, “It’s the first design of its kind, really. Dual charge energy cycling—two polarities feeding off each other exponentially. Beautifully dangerous.”

  Akio nodded in agreement, eyes thoughtful. “Exactly. Hence the hourglass shape—it’s the most stable configuration for containing opposing charges. If it failed, the blast radius would have been massive.”

  Aira stared at them, exasperation creeping into her tone. “You guys know way too much about this. Why do I feel like you’re more interested in the fuse core than the vigilantes?”

  Akio calmly stirred his tea, expression unreadable. “It’s simply a fascinating piece of engineering.”

  Damien took another sip, voice smooth and cool. “Energy tech has more practical relevance than rumor chasing.”

  Gabriel poked at the ice in his glass, barely hiding a grin. “We just appreciate innovation.”

  Aira groaned and rolled her eyes. “My god, you’re all such nerds. Fine. But can you send me some of that research stuff so I can include it in my article?”

  “Of course,” Akio said, already reaching for his phone. “I’ll compile a few sources for you later.”

  Aira leaned over the table, fingers drumming on the polished surface. “Okay—so where was I? Right. If the fuse core didn’t explode, and it wasn’t recovered at the site, and both the Twin Hounds and Echo were there… that means one of them must’ve taken it.”

  She paused, frowning slightly, trying to align the puzzle pieces in her head. “But that doesn’t explain what caused the explosion. All the reports said it originated from the containment cradle itself, right at the core’s center. It couldn’t have been a bomb. If they wanted to steal it, destroying it would make no sense.”

  For a moment, her voice softened with curiosity. “If the fuse core were to explode… how would it even happen?”

  Akio set down his teacup with quiet precision. “The joint at the hourglass’ center holds the highest energy concentration,” he explained calmly. “That’s where the dual polarities converge—like a funnel point. If it were to rupture, it would begin there.”

  Gabriel leaned back, his grin tinged with amusement. “Kind of like a glow stick,” he said. “You snap the connection and the reaction triggers. Pretty, if you ignore the part where it levels a building.”

  Aira blinked. “So… you’d have to snap the fuse core in half?”

  Damien nodded slightly, his tone even and focused. “Essentially, yes. Though if you were to disrupt the energy exchange long enough, you could mitigate the buildup. That would explain why the blast wasn’t catastrophic.”

  Aira crossed her arms, lost in thought. She could feel their eyes on her—three of the sharpest minds she knew—each watching in silence as she pieced the fragments together. The air between them was calm, but charged, like they were silently daring her to reach the conclusion.

  And then she did.

  Her eyes lit up, the grin breaking through before she could stop it. “Okay—so here’s what I think happened.”

  She straightened, her voice growing brighter with each word.

  “Echo went in to steal the fuse core. The Twin Hounds showed up to stop him. They fought, and both sides got their hands on it at the same time—maybe Echo and the Dawn Hound. In the struggle, they snapped it in half. But because both of them were using their powers on the core, the reaction was tempered. The explosion wasn’t as strong, but it was enough to collapse the structure and trigger the alarms. After that, they all escaped before the facility locked down.”

  She placed one hand on her hip, the other gesturing animatedly toward them, confidence radiating from every word.

  “So, in theory, that means the Twin Hounds and Echo each have half of the fuse core right now.”

  The table went silent. Akio, Gabriel, and Damien all wore unreadable expressions—composed, thoughtful, but not dismissive. Aira scanned their faces, expecting skepticism, waiting for someone to poke a hole in her logic. Instead, they just looked at her with a quiet, almost impressed kind of stillness.

  “Well?” she pressed, her tone half playful, half anxious. “What do you think?”

  Akio’s mask of calm softened into a faint smile. “That’s remarkably convincing,” he said, voice steady but touched with pride. “I can picture it happening exactly that way.”

  Gabriel nodded, tapping his straw against his glass with an approving grin. “Same here. The logic’s airtight, and the facts line up. I’m sold.”

  Even Damien gave a slow, measured nod, his expression unusually sincere. “It’s a plausible reconstruction,” he admitted. “Most investigative journalists wouldn’t have pieced it together that cleanly.”

  Aira’s chest swelled with pride, warmth spreading through her as she looked between the three of them. Getting one of them to compliment her was rare enough—but all three? That was a historic event. She beamed, unable to hide her grin.

  “See? I told you this article was going to be good!” She snapped her notebook shut, her energy bright and infectious. Then she spun on her heel, her hair brushing her shoulder, and pointed at the trio with theatrical flair.

  “Just you wait. I’m going to unmask the Twin Hounds and Echo one day, and then you’ll all be even more impressed!”

  Akio chuckled softly, taking a slow sip of his tea. “I’m sure you will,” he said, his tone somewhere between indulgence and genuine admiration.

  Damien’s smirk was faint but unmistakably amused. “I look forward to it,” he murmured, his voice low and smooth, like he already knew something she didn’t.

  Gabriel leaned back in his chair, eyes glinting with mischief. “Have you tried asking them nicely?”

  Aira rolled her eyes. “Uh huh. It’s not like I can just sit down and have a chat with them over drinks.”

  Gabriel shrugged, all faux sincerity. “So true.”

  She huffed, though a small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth as she began packing her things. “Thanks for listening, nerds. I’ll see you later.”

  With that, she waved over her shoulder and stepped out into the street. She couldn’t stop smiling. Every step she took felt lighter. The thrill of discovery, the rush of piecing together a truth the world hadn’t yet seen—it was everything she lived for.

  And as she walked down the sunlit avenue, her mind was already spinning with headlines and theories, her heart alight with the simple, boundless joy of chasing the truth.

  ─ ? NEXT CHAPTER POV ? ─

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