Ren slammed the door behind him as he stepped into the apartment, the sound echoing through the small space.
『Fuck you, Noel. 』
He turned the TV on just for noise. Bright, meaningless chatter filled the room, anything to drown out the silence in his head.
『Izzy, you really think you’re gonna be different from all the other girls Noel’s run through? That’s so fucking stupid. 』
The system chimed softly.
[Points Balance: 3,000. Tier 1 Gear Store now accessible.]
[Ten minutes until scheduled live.]
Ren’s jaw tightened, a faint twitch rippling along the bone as he exhaled through his nose.
"Show me what’s available," he said, voice low and edged.
A glowing holographic display bloomed across the room, soft blue light spilling over the walls, turning the air electric. Two suits materialized in sharp, rotating holograms before him.
[The Bee Bulletproof Suit: 2,500 points]
[Golden Tire Suit: 1,500 points]
He pulled up the details.
[The Bee Bulletproof is the stronger option,] the system advised. [Includes deployable wings, enhanced mobility, and full weather resistance.]
Ren scrolled through the Bee suit. It was sleek, mostly black with a ridiculous pair of bright yellow briefs worn over the pants.
"I’ll take the Golden Tire."
『I’m not enough of a clown to wear underwear on the outside. 』
He opened the Golden Tire specs. Anti-gravity propulsion. Sticky palm grips. Bulletproof plating.
"Okay, I love it already."
A sleek black briefcase materialized on his nightstand. Ren flipped it open. The Golden Tire suit lay folded neatly inside, matte black with sharp gold accents.
He changed quickly. The material was heavier than it looked, hugging his frame with a solid, reassuring weight. He stood in front of the mirror and adjusted the mask, black with two bold gold stripes running from the chin up over the top, rigid plating, and two sharp, glowing eye lenses. Through them, the world looked sharper, clearer.
"This is insane," he muttered, voice slightly distorted under the mask.
A low chuckle escaped him.
The suit felt alive. Reinforced panels along his ribs. Two circular plates on his chest, one red, one white. The gloves and boots flexed perfectly with every movement.
He pushed open the rattling window and climbed out onto the narrow third-floor ledge. Cool night air rushed over him, city lights glittering in the distance.
Ren pressed the red anti-gravity button, then the white force button.
A powerful pulse of energy exploded from the suit. It launched him forward in a smooth arc across the gap between buildings. His gloved hands slammed into the opposite brick wall and stuck instantly, holding him flat against the vertical surface like a magnet.
Under the mask, Ren smiled for the first time since leaving Izzy’s house.
[Live in two minutes.]
『Let’s go. 』
****
Ashley Hunt sat behind the wheel, gripping it tightly. A small yellow car drifted lazily in her lane. She cut around it sharply and braked almost immediately.
The driver, a fat bald man in a loud cabana shirt, threw up his middle finger.
"Fuck you, bitch!" he shouted out the window. Ashley didn’t react.
She pulled forward, the expensive sedan smoothly opening distance on the little car, right up until the next light turned red.
『Fuuuck 』
She stopped. Her phone was ringing through the car’s speakers, the dashboard screen flashing, but she ignored both.
『This is taking forever. I am not missing Glitch. No. 』
The notification still sat pinned at the top of her screen: Glitch is going live in thirty minutes. It had appeared twenty minutes ago while she was at work, and she’d left on the spot. This time she wanted the whole thing, start to finish.
『This is taking for—』
BWAAAMP.
The loud honk yanked her out of it. The little yellow car had pulled up alongside her again. The fat man was now flipping both middle fingers.
"Aren’t you the Ashley bitch?" he asked, leaning out his window.
Ashley sighed and gave a small, tired nod.
"If we weren’t stuck in traffic I’d get out and rearrange that smug face. Who do you think you are, spreading lies about Flamebird?"
She’d heard it from a hundred guys exactly like him. She closed her eyes for a second.
BWAAAMP.
She opened them. The driver behind her was laying on the horn now. The yellow car was already pulling ahead.
"Calma. It was one second," she muttered, and pulled forward.
The sedan worked its way slowly through the thick Mayvel traffic until it finally reached her building. She parked crookedly, grabbed her phone before the engine had fully died, and opened TT.
Glitch had just started.
He was perched on top of a building in a sharp new suit, city lights glittering behind him. Ashley grinned.
『God is good. Not one second. I am missing nothing. 』
She got out, heels in her left hand, phone in her right, didn’t bother locking the car, and started up the stairs to her apartment.
The chat was already flooding. Glitch hadn’t said a word yet, just sat there in silence.
『Is that a drone? The shot is way too stable for a phone. 』
[the costume is INSANE]
[how did bro even get up there]
[Glitch I sent you a message and you left me on read 😭]
[say something to us king]
[I literally just clocked in for my night shift saw the notification and called in sick. worth it]
Ashley pressed her thumb to the biometric reader, eyes still locked on the phone, and stepped inside.
『You brought my career back from the dead. 』
She exhaled.
『Also, you need to stop looking like that in a new suit. Completely unprofessional of you. 』
She kicked the door shut with the back of her heel, a sharp thud that echoed through the quiet apartment. Her black work heels flew from her left hand, clattering loudly across the polished hardwood floor, one spinning to a stop near the coffee table.
In one fluid, impatient motion, Ashley peeled the long dress off her body, the fabric whispering down her skin before pooling at her feet. She stepped out of it without breaking stride, now wearing only a sleek black lace bra and matching designer underwear that hugged her figure.
She dropped onto the wide gray sofa with a soft sigh, the cool cushions pressing against her thighs and back. Phone still gripped tightly in her right hand, screen glowing against her chest, she stretched out comfortably, legs slightly apart, one arm draped lazily over the back of the sofa.
Her eyes never left the screen.
"Good evening, chat," Glitch said.