1:25 PM – Same day, across the river.
Amid the bustling swarm of tourists...
"..."
"What are you staring at, Sera?"
Jody, dressed in a pale blue jacket, nudged the British girl lightly, though she already knew Sera had been glancing at Syd Barrett every few seconds. As if something about him was nagging at her.
"Hmm... Have you noticed Syd's shirt?"
"His shirt? What about it?"
"Nothing, just... how do I put this..."
"He likes red. I've seen him wear it all the time."
"I know that. I mean the design on the shirt…"
"The design?"
"Yeah… I think it's kinda badass, honestly. Like… weirdly strong looking. Look at today's one. A bison skull? Seriously?"
"..."
Jody glanced at Syd's shirt too.
"Not sure it's a bison…"
Neither of them knew what the red bird and skull symbol was supposed to be, nor could they read the Thai characters printed across it. But even if they couldn't read it, they had to admit—it looked pretty cool.
Only the tiny English print beneath the logo gave them any clue:
"Energy drink."
"Looks like some energy drink brand logo or something?"
"Energy drink? Never seen it before."
"Me neither. Never seen it in the States. Maybe it's something from his country?"
"Whatever it is, that logo's sick. I want one."
"Why? You want one to wear?"
"More like I want it for my collection."
"Why don't you ask him for it?"
"Are you insane, Jody? He'd roast me all the way to my funeral. I'll just tell my people to find one in the next two days."
"You won't find it. It's limited edition from some event. Practically impossible to get now."
Roxxy Barrett's voice chimed in beSyde them, startling Sera—she hadn't even noticed her standing there.
The smallest girl in the group said nothing else, merely glanced up at Jody with an unreadable expression as her fingers tapped across her phone screen.
"Syd's not exactly the 'open' type. If you've got any sense of decency left, please try respecting his boundaries."
"..."
Jody didn't respond.
Roxxy handed one of her AirPods to Sera.
"Put this in."
"Okay…"
"Hey. Fatty. Come here."
Syd's voice rang out from behind.
"Excuse me?!"
Sera knew exactly who he was talking to—and of course, it set her off.
But things were getting serious, so she grudgingly stomped over to where Syd and Toshi were waiting.
"What, seriously?! What if it's some other thief? You guys gonna take responsibility if my bag disappears?!"
Sera kept ranting while Syd nonchalantly planted a tiny GPS tracker into a few folded banknotes, stacking them up before handing the bunch to her.
"Looks convincing, right?"
"Yeah. Super clean."
The two guys worked like seasoned pros.
The plan: Sera would act as bait, playing the part of a rich, clueless tourist. Meanwhile, the rest of the team would pretend to be unrelated tourists scattered around her.
"That kid's got a unique enough look. Shouldn't be too hard to pick her out."
Toshi added helpfully.
"You better be right."
Sera sighed and tucked the wallet back into her bag.
Roxxy would monitor the GPS signal from the tracker. If the wallet was swiped, she'd know instantly.
Meanwhile, across the river…
A pair stood watching the crowd—man and woman, dressed sharply in contrasting black-and-white suits. Their eyes scanned every passerby.
The man: green hair, cocky grin, short-tempered charm—Fitz.
The woman: a beautiful East Asian girl with brown hair streaked with icy blue highlights—Soo-min.
Both were [Hitmen], sent on assignment under direct orders from The Boss.
"Hey."
"What?"
"Seriously, though. How the hell are we supposed to find this kid in a crowd like this?"
It was Soo-min who asked the question.
"Boss said the kid's got two-colored eyes, right? So if we just look for an elementary-aged kid with heterochromia, shouldn't be that hard?"
"You really don't know a thing, do you?"
"What now?"
"There are over 7 billion people on this planet. Less than 1% of them have heterochromia. Hell, maybe even lower than 1%. Let's be generous and say 1.5%—still stupidly rare."
"So?"
"Do the math. Forty million people pass through this place every year—"
"If it's 1%, that's at least four hundred thou—"
"You idiot. That's not how it works! What about area? You have to factor in density, genius! You ever heard of population density?!"
Fitz clutched his head as Soo-min smacked it.
"I'm not Asian! You're better at math than me—ow!"
Smack.
"You don't have to be Asian to know that's not how stats work, moron."
"…Okay, okay! Whatever. We just need to bring the target in alive, right?"
"Boss said the kid's a power user too. When we approach, we need to keep our guns hidden real good… The kid can see through stuff, apparently."
"Seriously? What kind of ability is that?"
"Something like X-ray vision, from what they said. Come on. Let's get moving."
"Yeah."
13:40
Grab.
Sera constantly checked her wallet while keeping one earbud in, pretending to stroll around the Eiffel Tower taking pictures.
"Ugh... damn it! It's so hot. Is this even gonna work?!"
{The way you're dressed, even someone across the street would notice you, Sera. Hang in there.}
So she kept walking around, taking selfies here and there, avoiding direct sun when she could. At one point, she even walked right past Fitz and Soo-min—completely unaware of their presence.
Time passed…
And right when the kids made their move to pick her pocket—
"Hey, hey, hey!"
Fitz nudged Soo-min repeatedly from the bench.
The Korean girl turned her head—and immediately locked eyes with the target.
"You think it's her?"
"....."
Soo-min held up a photo and compared. As trained hitmen, the two of them could recognize a target in seconds.
"That's her. Definitely."
They rose from the bench and began tailing the three children slowly.
But then… after following the orange-haired girl for a while…
They both realized—they weren't the only ones sent to retrieve her.
"Wait a sec…"
Soo-min was the first to pick up on it.
"You feel it too?" Fitz asked.
"Yeah… we're not the only ones after that kid."
Soo-min glanced at the crowd weaving around them.
"Then let's watch and wait. Once they move—we'll snatch her."
"Good plan."
And so they kept their eyes on the girl.
Until Syd Barrett showed up.
"Who the hell is that guy?"
Whoever he was, he wasn't alone. They counted five of them—all teenagers.
The boy in red. The blond European. The Asian guy with dark blue hair. That scowling little girl. And the pink-haired princess.
"Doesn't matter who they are. They're after the same target. And they've got more people. We take them all out in one strike. Now, Fitz."
The orange-haired girl was already slung over the redshirt's shoulder. If they hesitated, they'd lose her.
"Here? Right now?"
"Yeah. Right now."
"But today…"
Fitz looked up at the sky.
"Winds aren't steady. I can't use the usual trick."
"Then drop something heavier. Wind won't matter."
"..."
"Got it."
A bright green aura flared around Fitz. A screen lit up on his forearm, like a hi-tech device fused to a green-gloved hand, showing a familiar map—an aerial view of the area. It looked almost exactly like a satellite view from Google Maps.
Fitz carefully tapped the screen.
"Let's make this count…"
It was like a video game interface. He selected a parked car on the other side of the river.
As soon as he tapped it, a message popped up:
[Please select drop point.]
"Don't hit the orange-haired one. Just the ones nearby."
"Yeah, yeah. I got it."
Fitz touched the area where two of the kids were standing, watching their friend being taken away. And in the real world—
The car he tapped vanished in an instant, as if Thanos had snapped it away.
Then it reappeared a full kilometer above ground, plummeting earthward under the force of gravity—
—aiming straight for the group where Jody Johansson, Roxxy, Toshi, and both the little pickpocket gang and the older one had gathered.
KRRAAASSHHHH!
A shockwave of dust exploded outward from the impact. The force of the fall obliterated everything nearby.
The car was crushed beyond recognition. Headlights shattered, pieces scattered, black smoke billowed up. Not even the car alarm had a chance to go off—it had been destroyed on impact.
The scene caused immediate chaos.
Including among the agents.
"What the hell?!"
Syd and the girl still calling herself "Misha" were both stunned, momentarily frozen by the sheer absurdity of what had just happened.
Only Roxxy remained standing next to him, completely unscathed.
"You okay?!"
"I'm fine…"
On Sera's side—she had squeezed her eyes shut, convinced she was about to die. But when she felt nothing, she slowly opened them. She was fine. And Jody was right beside her, also unharmed.
Jody lowered the arm she had raised to protect her face. No crushed bones. No impact. But—how?
"You still in one piece?!" Syd Barrett called from across the plaza.
"We're good!" Jody shouted back.
But confusion was spreading.
"What… wait. I wasn't standing here just now!"
Sera noticed first.
Her words made Jody's eyes go wide.
That's right—where they'd just been standing, was the exact spot the car had landed. And they were absolutely sure they hadn't moved. There hadn't even been time to blink, let alone step back two whole steps.
"How did we end up here? There's no way…"
"It's not that we moved," Jody said. "We were pulled."
"!?"
"Someone yanked us out of that spot. Just in time."
And both of them knew instantly who it was.
The one person standing quietly behind them…
Toshi Ishii.
A calm gray aura flowed from his body. But no visible symbol appeared—meaning this wasn't some special power. This was something else.
It was martial arts. Witthayayut.
"Toshi…"
When Jody turned to look, it was exactly who she expected. He'd dragged them both out of the blast zone.
The playful, goofy kid from earlier was gone. His face was cold, precise—calm in the face of lethal danger.
"That was you… You pulled us out? In that split-second?!"
"That's my Witthayayut," the Japanese teen said.
"Witthayayut: Kalaveki."
Kalaveki… a title once given to those who could walk swiftly through time.
That was Toshi's martial art.
"Focus on the enemy," he told them.
"What about the kids?!" Sera spun to look around just as the dust began to settle—revealing the devastation.
And all of them saw it at once—especially the orange-haired girl Syd was carrying.
She looked at the wreckage… and saw a blood-soaked sleeve… and a leg bent the wrong way, trapped beneath the rubble.
"..."
Toshi shook his head, a bitter expression on his face.
He hadn't been able to save all four kids.
Chacha and Niccolò… hadn't made it out in time.
The girl's hearing cut out. Her brain blocked out sound. The limbs beneath the wreckage didn't twitch.
They were still.
"Cha… Chacha… Ni… Niccol…"
Sally couldn't even imagine what the rest of their bodies looked like beneath that twisted metal. Her face turned white. Tears spilled uncontrollably.
"Aaaah… AAAAAAHHHH!!!"
She snapped. Completely lost control—thrashing in Syd Barrett's grip.
She wanted to run. To flee this place. Far, far away. Screaming and sobbing.
Syd, strong as he was, had to tighten his hold just to contain her. Thankfully, his body had reinforced with steel-like density—otherwise he might've lost grip already.
But there was no time to calm her down.
"Shit… the enemy! They're trying to take the kid too!"
Syd shouted.
Then—
THWIP!
Something pierced through his hand from above.
Roxxy saw it too.
When Syd looked down at his palm—
drip… drip… drip…
There was a hole. Clean through. About the size of a coin.
At his feet, a steel dart—thin as a pen—was lodged in the concrete, red with his blood.
"What… what the hell?!"
Sally saw it too. The man holding her—bleeding.
"Shit! It's coming from above!"
They all looked up.
Something else was falling.
A light pole.
Syd didn't wait—he launched himself sideways instantly, dragging Sally with him. The others did the same, scattering in every direction.
Syd, Sally, and Roxxy veered off to one side. Jody, Sera, and Toshi split in the other.
The team had now been split into two.