Chapter 21: Five Seconds Too Late

There was one thing Rasheed hadn’t expected about becoming a hero.

It was exhausting.

Not the running.

Running was the easy part.

It was pretending nothing had happened afterward.

Saving people at midnight.

Then sitting through mathematics at eight in the morning.

Listening to lectures about quadratic equations while remembering the terrified faces he’d pulled from burning buildings.

It felt like living two different lives.

⸻

“Mr. Adewale.”

Rasheed blinked.

His mathematics teacher was staring at him.

“The answer?”

“…Sorry?”

The classroom erupted into laughter.

“You seem distracted today.”

“A little.”

“Then perhaps you can distract yourself by solving Question Four.”

Rasheed stood and walked to the board.

Normally, numbers came easily.

Today, they blurred together.

His mind wasn’t in the classroom.

It was on the message.

Don’t trust Kronis.

He is waiting.

Never open this door alone.

He solved the equation anyway.

“Correct,” the teacher said.

“You may sit.”

As Rasheed returned to his seat, Adesewa leaned over.

“You’ve been somewhere else all morning.”

“If only you knew.”

“I’ve been trying to.”

⸻

Lunch was quieter than usual.

Omar sat alone again.

His tray untouched.

Every few seconds he glanced at his phone.

A notification flashed.

HELIX MISSION BRIEF AVAILABLE

He locked the screen before anyone else could see it.

⸻

That afternoon, rain clouds rolled over the city.

By the time school ended, the streets were soaked.

Rasheed pulled his hood over his head and started walking home.

He had almost reached the market district when he heard shouting.

Not panic.

Anger.

A jewelry shop.

The front window had been smashed.

Three masked men ran into the street carrying bags filled with watches, cash and jewellery.

One customer chased after them.

“Stop!”

The tallest robber turned.

His right arm shimmered with a strange silver glow.

He punched a parked motorcycle.

The bike flew nearly twenty metres.

Rasheed stopped walking.

“…That’s not normal.”

The silver glow pulsed again.

Tiny fragments of crystal protruded from the man’s forearm.

Chrona crystals.

Small.

Unstable.

But definitely real.

The thief grinned.

“You want some too?”

He slammed both fists into the road.

The pavement cracked.

People screamed and scattered.

Cars swerved.

One little girl froze in the middle of the crosswalk, unable to move.

Rasheed didn’t hesitate.

The world slowed.

Raindrops hung motionless in the air.

He reached the girl, carried her behind a concrete pillar, then returned before anyone realized she’d disappeared.

The crystal-powered robber looked around in confusion.

“What?”

His partners froze.

“Where’d she go?”

Rasheed pulled his hood lower.

He couldn’t let them see his face.

One of the robbers swung a metal pipe toward an elderly man.

Rasheed intercepted it effortlessly.

The pipe bent around his forearm.

The robber stared.

“…Who are you?”

Rasheed didn’t answer.

He simply pushed the man backward.

Not hard.

Just enough.

The robber slid several metres across the wet road.

The crystal-enhanced leader laughed.

“So you’re the ghost everyone’s talking about.”

He cracked his neck.

“I’ve wanted to meet you.”

Rasheed frowned.

“You know me?”

“No.”

The man smiled.

“But someone said if we ever saw a red blur…”

“…we should kill him.”

Those words landed heavily.

Someone.

Who?

Helix?

Or someone else?

The robber lunged.

His crystal-coated fist smashed into the pavement where Rasheed had been standing.

Concrete exploded.

Rasheed circled behind him in a flash of crimson lightning.

He grabbed the duffel bag filled with stolen jewellery and tossed it onto the roof of a nearby police station.

The robber spun around.

“HEY!”

“You dropped something.”

The other two robbers panicked.

“Boss, the police!”

Sirens echoed through the streets.

The leader snarled.

“This isn’t over!”

The crystals embedded in his arm suddenly glowed brighter.

For a moment, his skin began to crack.

His eyes widened.

“No…”

The crystal overloaded.

A violent pulse of silver energy burst from his arm.

Rasheed reacted instantly.

He tackled the man away from the crowd.

The blast tore through the empty intersection, shattering windows for half a block.

When the smoke cleared…

The robber lay unconscious.

The crystals had crumbled into harmless grey dust.

Rasheed stared at the remains.

“They’re unstable…”

Police officers rushed into the area.

By the time they reached the unconscious thieves…

The red streak had already vanished.

⸻

Later that night…

Deep beneath Helix Dynamics…

The Director watched security footage of the robbery.

He paused on the frame showing the crystal-covered arm.

“So…”

“They’ve reached the streets.”

Dr. Sato looked concerned.

“Those weren’t our people.”

“No.”

He folded his hands.

“Which means someone else has started mining Chrona fragments.”

“That’s impossible.”

The Director’s expression darkened.

“It should be.”

He turned to Omar, who had been silently watching the footage.

“Your next mission begins tomorrow.”

Omar looked at the frozen image of the red streak.

“What is the mission?”

The Director answered calmly.

“Find the source of the crystals.”

He paused.

“And if the Red Pulse interferes…”

“…observe him.”

Not fight.

Not yet.

Just observe.

Some games were won by patience before speed.

If you find any errors (non-standard content, ads redirect, broken links, etc..), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible.