Chapter 22: Fragments
1 week ago · 4 min read
The next morning, the city buzzed with rumors.
“They say one man threw a motorcycle across the road.”
“My cousin saw red lightning.”
“It wasn’t lightning.”
“It was Red Pulse.”
The story changed with every retelling.
Rasheed quietly ate his breakfast.
His mother folded the newspaper and sighed.
“Crime’s getting worse.”
He glanced at the headline.
MYSTERY HERO STOPS MARKET ROBBERY
No photos.
No names.
Just eyewitness sketches of a crimson streak.
“You’ve been leaving the house more lately,” she said.
“I’ve just been… walking.”
She smiled knowingly.
“Your father used to go for long walks whenever he couldn’t solve a problem.”
Rasheed chuckled.
“I guess I got that from him.”
She reached across the table and squeezed his hand.
“You got more from him than you know.”
Those words stayed with him long after he left.
⸻
After classes, Rasheed headed for his father’s workshop instead of going straight home.
He spread the gray dust he’d collected from the robber’s shattered crystal onto a workbench.
It looked ordinary.
Like fine ash.
But when he brought the silver pocket watch close…
The dust began to glow faintly.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
The watch trembled.
“So you’re reacting to Chrona energy…”
He reached for one of his father’s notebooks.
Hours passed as he compared notes, diagrams, and old research.
Finally, he found a passage written in the margin.
Raw Chrona fragments are unstable. Exposure amplifies emotion before it amplifies power.
Rasheed frowned.
“So that’s why he was so aggressive…”
The crystal hadn’t just made the robber stronger.
It had made him reckless.
Someone was handing these things out without understanding what they could do.
Or…
They understood perfectly.
⸻
Across the city, Omar entered Helix Dynamics’ tactical command center.
A holographic map floated above the table.
Red dots blinked across different districts.
Dr. Sato enlarged one.
“Every red marker represents an illegal Chrona fragment incident.”
“There are this many?”
“We believe there are more.”
Omar studied the map.
“They’re spreading.”
“Exactly.”
The Director stepped into the room.
“We’ve recovered only fragments.”
He looked at Omar.
“We need the supplier.”
“And if I find him?”
“Bring him in alive.”
Omar nodded.
“I’ll do it.”
As he turned to leave, Dr. Sato stopped him.
“Omar.”
He looked back.
“Remember…”
She hesitated.
“…people under the influence of Chrona fragments aren’t thinking clearly.”
His expression softened.
“I know.”
“For their sake…”
“I hope you do.”
⸻
That evening, rain soaked the old Riverside District.
A neighborhood known for repair shops, street food, and narrow alleyways.
Rasheed liked it because life felt slower there.
He bought roasted corn from an elderly vendor who greeted him every week.
“Back again?”
“The best corn in the city.”
The old man laughed.
“You always say that.”
Before Rasheed could reply—
A terrified scream echoed through the market.
People scattered.
A teenage boy stumbled from an alley.
Blue veins pulsed beneath his skin.
A jagged Chrona crystal protruded from his shoulder.
“I…”
He clutched his head.
“…make it stop…”
The crystal flared.
A violent shockwave erupted.
Market stalls overturned.
Glass shattered.
The boy collapsed to his knees, crying.
“I didn’t mean to…”
Rasheed immediately understood.
This wasn’t a criminal.
This was a victim.
He rushed forward.
“It’s okay!”
The boy looked up, terrified.
“Stay away!”
Another pulse erupted.
Rasheed planted his feet, shielding nearby civilians from the blast.
The force pushed him backward, but his prototype suit absorbed most of the impact.
People fled in every direction.
The boy sobbed.
“They said…”
“They said it’d make me strong…”
His voice cracked.
“I just wanted enough money to help my mum…”
Rasheed’s heart sank.
Someone had preyed on desperate people.
He slowly raised both hands.
“I’m not here to hurt you.”
The boy shook violently.
“I can’t control it!”
“I know.”
“You don’t understand!”
“I do.”
For a brief moment…
Rasheed saw himself.
Scared.
Confused.
Terrified of powers he never asked for.
He took another careful step.
“We’ll figure it out together.”
The crystal pulsed one last time.
Then—
It shattered.
The blue veins faded.
The boy collapsed unconscious.
Sirens approached.
Rasheed quietly lifted him onto a blanket someone had brought and disappeared before the paramedics arrived.
⸻
From the rooftop above…
A blue streak watched the entire exchange.
Omar remained hidden in the rain.
He had arrived in time to stop a threat.
Instead…
He had watched Red Pulse save someone who wasn’t a villain.
He looked down at the unconscious teenager being loaded into an ambulance.
Then at the empty street where the crimson streak had vanished.
“He didn’t fight him…”
Omar whispered.
“He saved him.”
For the first time, the image Helix had painted of the mysterious Red Pulse no longer matched what Omar had seen with his own eyes.
A seed of doubt took root.
Far below the streets, inside an abandoned subway tunnel, a hooded figure placed another glowing Chrona fragment into a metal case.
Around him stood frightened teenagers and desperate adults.
Each had been promised money.
Each had been promised power.
The figure smiled beneath his mask.
“Tomorrow…”
He said softly.
“We make the city notice.”
The case clicked shut.
Inside, dozens of unstable Chrona fragments pulsed in unison like beating hearts.
⸻
End of Chapter 22
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