Chapter 23: Shattered Promises

The rain never stopped.

By morning, the streets glistened beneath gray skies.

Rasheed stood outside the school gates, staring at an ambulance parked across the road.

Two police officers spoke quietly with several students.

Something had happened.

Again.

“What now?” Adesewa asked, joining him beneath her umbrella.

“I don’t know.”

One of the teachers gathered everyone in the courtyard.

“Listen carefully.”

“The young man involved in yesterday’s Riverside incident is in critical condition.”

The courtyard fell silent.

“He wasn’t a criminal.”

“He was a victim of an illegal substance currently under investigation.”

“If anyone approaches you offering strange crystals, experimental drugs, or promises of easy money…”

“Report it immediately.”

Students exchanged uneasy glances.

Rasheed lowered his eyes.

The city was changing.

Faster than anyone realized.

⸻

During lunch, whispers spread through the cafeteria.

“My cousin said people are paying thousands for the crystals.”

“They call them Fragments.”

“I heard they let you punch through concrete.”

“I heard they can kill you.”

Omar listened quietly from across the room.

His mission echoed in his mind.

Find the supplier.

⸻

That evening, Rasheed returned to Riverside.

The market vendors were rebuilding damaged stalls.

Broken glass had been swept away.

Life was trying to move forward.

The roasted corn vendor spotted him.

“My young friend.”

“You came back.”

“I wanted to check on everyone.”

The old man smiled sadly.

“That boy…”

“He buys fruit from me every Saturday.”

“He always looked after his mother.”

Rasheed clenched his jaw.

“He deserved better.”

“So do many people.”

The old vendor looked toward the crowded street.

“But desperate people believe desperate promises.”

Before Rasheed could respond—

A terrified scream echoed from the next block.

⸻

A convenience store exploded outward.

Windows shattered.

Customers fled into the street.

A massive man stumbled through the smoke.

His entire right arm had transformed into jagged silver crystal.

Fragments protruded from his neck and chest.

His breathing was ragged.

His eyes were bloodshot.

“I…”

He slammed his crystal fist into a parked van.

The vehicle flipped onto its side.

“…can’t stop it!”

People scattered.

Police drew their weapons but hesitated.

One officer whispered,

“That’s impossible…”

The man’s name was Musa.

A construction worker.

A father of two.

Three weeks earlier he’d lost his job when the company went bankrupt.

Yesterday, someone had offered him enough money to feed his family.

All he had to do…

Was test a crystal.

Now it was consuming him.

Rasheed stepped forward.

“Musa!”

The man turned sharply.

“How do you know my name?”

“I heard about you.”

“Then stay back!”

Crystal spread farther across his shoulder.

“I’m hurting people!”

“I don’t want to!”

Another pulse erupted.

A nearby building cracked.

Children screamed inside.

Without hesitation, Rasheed became a crimson streak.

He evacuated the entire daycare center in less than two seconds.

Teachers blinked in confusion as every child suddenly appeared safely across the street.

Musa stared.

“You…”

His breathing steadied for just a moment.

“…you’re Red Pulse.”

It was the first time anyone had called him that to his face.

Rasheed looked up.

“I’m here to help.”

“You can’t.”

Musa’s voice trembled.

“It’s inside me.”

The crystal reached his heart.

Rasheed remembered his father’s notes.

Raw Chrona fragments amplify emotion before power.

Fear.

Despair.

Regret.

The crystal was feeding on them.

“Listen to me!”

Rasheed shouted.

“You have to stay calm.”

Musa laughed bitterly.

“My children haven’t eaten properly in days.”

“My wife thinks I’m working.”

“I lied to everyone.”

“How exactly am I supposed to stay calm?”

The words hit harder than any punch.

Rasheed had no easy answer.

Then he remembered something his mother used to say after difficult shifts at the hospital.

“Sometimes people don’t need you to fix everything.”

“They just need to know they aren’t alone.”

Rasheed took another step.

“You don’t have to carry this by yourself.”

For a brief second…

The crystal stopped spreading.

Musa looked up.

Hope flickered across his face.

Then—

A gunshot rang out.

Everyone froze.

A masked sniper stood on a distant rooftop.

The bullet wasn’t aimed at Rasheed.

It struck the crystal embedded in Musa’s shoulder.

The fragment shattered.

A violent surge of Chrona energy exploded from his body.

“No!” Rasheed yelled.

He reached Musa just as the blast erupted.

Red lightning wrapped around them both.

The explosion lit the entire street.

When the smoke cleared…

Rasheed was kneeling in the middle of a scorched intersection.

His prototype gloves had burned through.

His arms trembled from absorbing the impact.

Musa lay unconscious beside him.

Alive.

Barely.

The crystal was gone.

On the rooftop, the sniper had already disappeared.

Only a small metal casing remained.

Rasheed picked it up.

Stamped into the brass was a familiar symbol.

A blue spiral.

Not the ancient Chrona spiral.

A modern one.

A corporate logo.

He didn’t recognize it.

But somewhere across the city…

Omar would.

⸻

Deep beneath Helix Dynamics…

The Director watched the failed assassination through satellite footage.

He turned to an aide.

“Retrieve the casing.”

The aide swallowed.

“What if Red Pulse already has it?”

The Director smiled faintly.

“Then he’ll start asking the right questions.”

He looked toward the city skyline.

“Exactly when we want him to.”

The game had entered a new phase.

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