Engine Room / Camp Syndicate: Scoop of the Century 3 (Escape from Club Apophis, 62)

(click to enlarge)

STORYLINE: Apophis ATELIER Underground, 5:00 PM

"A bit of advice, my dear. Never show weakness in a place like this."

MasterGin smirked, gloating over his victory. The sopping-wet teddy bear hung impaled on his manicured claws.

That bear held every piece of raw footage detailing the atrocities inside the Forbidden Zone, the only real evidence that could blow the story wide open and save the people trapped inside.

Without thinking, Lisa shoved him hard and snatched the soaked bear from his grip. Was it reckless? Absolutely. But you didn't become the lead investigative reporter on the Hexa Herald by playing it safe.

MasterGin’s pale eyes widened, his sharp face twisting into righteous indignation. Hissing, fangs gleaming, he seized the plushie back and flung it into a nearby trashcan with crisp precision.

Lisa watched it vanish beneath a pile of discarded silk scraps. A trail of wet stuffing and gray sludge marked its undignified trail across the polished white marble floor.

She stared down at her empty, soiled hands. Was this the end of the line? Was he going to kill her now? Would the relentless clatter of automated sewing machines be the last thing she ever heard? Or would she take her final breath surrounded by the heavy stench of clove cigarettes?

She felt sick.

MasterGin whipped a silk handkerchief from his breast pocket with an elegant snap of the wrist. Then he did something entirely unexpected: he took her dirty hands and began wiping them clean.

Lisa froze, her heart hammering against her ribs. "Wh-what are you doing?"

His touch was surprisingly gentle. He wasn't just wiping away the mud. His thumb massaged the tense muscles of her palms and fingers with firm, rhythmic pressure. He stepped closer, so close she could hear the soft intake of his breath. Lisa studied him, seizing the rare chance to examine an ancient vampire up close. His skin was flawless, no scars, not even the shadow of beard stubble, yet he looked paler than usual, faint violet shadows bruised beneath his eyes. Stressed? Overworked?

His thumb lingered over the pulse point on her wrist. His pale eyes held hers a fraction too long before he released her hands and stepped away.

"I don't make the rules," he said softly.

Her fingers trembled where his skin had touched hers. What was this, vampire jujutsu? Her palms felt slightly damp, coated in a faint floral fragrance. When she glanced down, a shimmering blue sheen glinted across her skin before soaking into her pores.

MasterGin flicked his chin toward the security camera mounted above his office doorway. One of its optical lenses zoomed in, focusing on them.

"Come with me."

He spun on his heels.

Lisa glanced at the camera. The watcher being watched? By who?

"Note to self," she murmured into her halophone mic. "My file on MasterGin needs a complete rewrite."

When she didn't move, he paused and glanced back, annoyance flicking across his features. "You want the Scoop of the Century. I want you to stop dripping sewer sludge on my imported marble. Come. I'll make it worth your while."

She hated herself for trailing after him like a stray puppy.

Steam hissed from the industrial pressing irons. Beneath the smell of hot starch and clove smoke, something older and far sweeter lay rotting.

As they walked, she secretly snapped rapid photos of the subterranean factory line, the towering looms, the demonic laborers, and the racks of multi-million dollar gowns.

MasterGin stopped beside a illuminated garment rack.

"This one." He pulled out a metallic gown that caught the factory lights like polished gold and held it up against her shoulder. "The bronze next to your golden complexion is divine."

"I can pick whatever I want?" She brushed past him, her eyes scanning the rack for the most ridiculously expensive price tag.

"Of course." He sounded amused by her sudden enthusiasm. "Do you doubt my generosity? I sent Yoon Jihoon dozens of custom pieces. I even formulated a specialized transdermal barrier that would have kept his skin from combusting in front of a stadium full of cameras."

Was that true, or just more theatrical bullshit?

"My flaw is not so different from yours, my dear. I merely wish to protect what is mine," MasterGin sighed, tossing her a heavy crystal bottle labeled SPF 100 Nano-Enhanced Sunscreen. "Would you believe that little Robotics Witch forced my sweet boy to incinerate every garment and gift I sent him? Pieces worth more than she'll earn in twenty lifetimes."

Lisa scanned the microscopic ingredient list on the bottle before slipping it securely into her dirty pocket. "He would've worn it if he actually knew what it was."

"His 'genius' girlfriend believed dime-store sunscreen could shield my precious creation from full glare daylight. He chose to follow her instead of me." His high-heeled foot stamped with irritation. "Rejecting my vision... for what? A Temu Scully?"

Lisa stared at the genuine, wounded expression on his face. "She's a scientist. How was she to supposed know things that aren’t real are real?" she blurted. "And I'm a reporter. I've got questions. Tell me what's real. But first..." She thrust the heaviest, most elaborate dress on the rack directly toward his face. "I want this one."

He raised an eyebrow.

"So I can have it?" Lisa pressed.

MasterGin slid a gilded privacy screen between them. "If you put it on immediately, yes. I refuse to let a sewer rat ruin the aesthetic of my private club."

He turned his back as the heavy fabric began to rustle behind the screen.

"Jihoon, eat your heart out," Lisa chuckled to herself, pulling gigantic elaborate gown over her shoulders. "I'm not burning shit. But you know I'm hocking this on eBay the second I get out of here, right?"

"Do what you will." MasterGin waved off her taunt as he pulled back the screen to inspect the drape. "It belongs to you now."

With swift, practiced grace, he gathered her tangled hair, twisting her braids into an intricate crown and pinning it in place with a sharp, winged gold tiara.

He snapped his fingers. A small demonic tailor shuffled out from behind the looms.

"Allow this gentleman to make the final adjustments. It will take only a moment."

Lisa opened her mouth to protest, the creature's skin was gross, its fingers tipped with long bone needles, but before she could take a breath, the work was finished.

The dress shifted, instantly tightening against her ribs, sculpting her silhouette into a flawless hour-glass without pinching her lungs.

"Whoa, neat trick! A corset built under a dress, but with no pain. What the hell kind of mystery fabric is this?"

The demonic tailor handed MasterGin a glowing halophone pad.

MasterGin lowered his tinted glasses, scrolling through the high-resolution displays before zooming in on a wireframe contour.

"Whatcha looking at?" Lisa stood on her tiptoes, trying to peek over his shoulder.

The screen displayed a full three-dimensional wireframe of her body, complete with precise volumetric measurements down to the millimeter.

"What the hell! Did that creepy thing just run a full-body scan on me?"

"You're welcome." MasterGin handed the pad back to the tailor. "Transmit these files to the clinic immediately. Have three complete looks prepared for her by tomorrow morning. I want her to dazzle."

The tailor bowed low and scampered into the shadows.

MasterGin raised a long, slender finger, gesturing for her to follow as he moved toward the exit. "That weave is strictly banned under UN regulatory accords. Fortunately, our syndicate doesn't recognize laws or international treaties. But be careful on eBay... I strongly recommend selling it on the Dark Web if you want full market value, instead of prison stripes."

Lisa stopped dead on the cold floor.

Unbelievable. He destroys her hard-won evidence, violates her personal space, scans her body without consent... and acts like he's doing her a favor.

"You’re a real fucking creep, you know that?" she yelled across the vast factory floor.

Every demonic worker along the assembly line froze. Dozens of yellow eyes turned to stare at her in stunned silence.

Lisa glanced nervously at the audience, swallowed hard, and gathered her heavy skirts. She sprinted after him, her bare feet padding against the cold marble.

Heavy hydraulic doors with the Monstrum logo carved on it hissed open into an underground dock. MasterGin was already seated inside a matte-black VIP hoverlimo, tapping his claws impatiently against the leather armrest.

"Seriously? I feel like I'm riding shotgun to Hell's Met Gala." She shook her head, though she had to admit the vampire had style.

Getting her enormous layered gown and its long train into the narrow door required brute force.

Thwack.

A thick wave of stiff crinoline and structured lace slapped MasterGin squarely across the face. The netting bounced off his cheek, completely collapsing his Marilyn hairstyle. 

He froze.

Closed his eyes.

Inhaled slowly.

Exhaled.

Then with deliberate composure, he extracted himself from the mountain of black lace and ribbon, smoothed his hair back into place, and rested his chin on his hand as if nothing had occurred.

Lisa stared at him, waiting for a reaction. She leaned closer, eyes gleaming, daring him to acknowledge the violation of his dignity.

His long claws clicked a rapid rhythm against the door. He kept his gaze locked on the dark tinted windows. Then, abruptly, his fist slammed down on the intercom button.

"Mirror, prepare the vat immediately."

"Understood, Master," a bright, synthetic British voice chirped through the speakers. "How much shall I prepare?"

"A face's worth."

"Very well. I shall have it warm and ready in fifteen minutes. Do hurry."

MasterGin leaned his head back, staring out the tinted armorglass into the subterranean transit tunnels as hoverlimo lifted, and shoot out of the dock with shocking speed.

Lisa looked too. Outside, disciplined rows of armored ghouls marched in tight, tactical formation in a huge cavern. A battalion?

"Are those for the Opening of the Mouth ceremony tomorrow?"

MasterGin turned back to her, offering a practiced, razor-thin smile. "High-profile security is mandatory, yes." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Forgive me, but no more questions for the moment. My mind is occupied, and I am exceptionally famished."

He really is almost charming when he isn't actively trying to murder someone.

Lisa grinned, thoroughly enjoying his irritation.

"As long as you attack that vat instead of my neck, we're good. It's blood wine, right? Some ultra-exclusive vampire vintage, am I right? MasterGin's gotta be stylish," she chuckled. "What I want to know is why you measure blood volume by body parts. What's the tea? Lisa’s gotta know."

He let out a low, musical laugh.

"Very well. Let's play a game. It is completely secure inside this transport, no surveillance cameras. But you only get three questions, and nothing more. I promise to answer truthfully. Choose wisely."

He held out his palm, expecting her halophone.

Give up her phone? Was he out of his freaking mind?

He gestured again, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Everything comes with a price, my dear."

She huffed, slapping the device hard into his palm. "I don't see you giving tours or expensive dresses to anyone else. Why me?"

"I like you." He placed the halophone on the velvet seat beside him, tapping it like a prized trinket. "You make me laugh."

"A bazillion-dollar dress because I make you laugh? Give me the real reason. You said you'd tell the truth."

MasterGin’s playful smile vanished. His posture shifted, becoming dead serious.

"You're a star. Or you would be if you had a face and body to match your charisma. I can help you with that." He flexed his long fingers like a plastic surgeon assessing a patient. "I have connections that could launch your career into global syndication overnight. You know it's true."

Lisa kept her face completely unreadable. "And? What's the catch?"

"And..." MasterGin leaned forward, his pale eyes catching the ambient cabin light. "I want you to serve as Master of Ceremonies for Jihoon's awakening tomorrow. I will spare no expense. Whatever production assets you require, you will have. We are en route to the Club Apophis now so you can scout the stage."

Lisa recoiled as if a snake had just bitten her. "What?"

"I am entirely serious. Think about the symmetry. I created Lathandro." He held up his hands, admiring his own fingers. "With these, I sculpted the masterpiece of Lathandro out of the rough, unpolished clay of Yoon Jihoon."

Lisa’s spine went rigid. She looked down at her hands. The shimmering blue film had completely absorbed into her skin. Her mind flashed back to the glowing blue cosmetic jar he had bragged about earlier, the compound he used to reshape his high-end clients.

"You were the one who made him a global sensation," MasterGin continued smoothly. "You discovered him. You moved millions in merchandise using his face and his name. You also broadcast his dramatic death live to the world. The hope of Jae Won University baseball spontaneously combusted live on TV. Afterward, you destroyed his legacy, peddling a brilliant narrative that he used illegal military grade biohacks to cheat his way through professional sports. Everyone bought it. I was thoroughly impressed by your narrative control. No one ever suspected the truth."

Lisa ground her molars together until her jaw throbbed. She hated that she had run those stories. She hated that he had blackmailed her into spinning those lies. That deep, burning rage was the exact reason she was sitting in this vehicle right now, searching for the single crack in his armor that would burn his empire to the ground.

"Tomorrow, you can resurrect this phoenix in the global media as the Chosen One rising from the ashes, witnessed by billions live on stream," MasterGin purred. "It is a spectacle only you can pull off, my dear. And if Jihoon wishes to retain you as his exclusive PR manager after he wakes, that will be his choice. Do we have an agreement?"

Lisa stared at him as if he had sprouted three snake heads.

"Consider this," MasterGin added, leaning closer. "Tomorrow, you could debut on the international stage with an exquisite new face, a sculpted body, hosting the most historic broadcast in human history: the birth of a god."

Lisa shot to her feet and smacked her head hard against the roof of the limo.

CRACK.

She collapsed into the leather seats in an undignified heap of ruffles, lace, and pain. Her pulse thundered in her ears.

A violent surge of nausea hit her throat.

"I'm gonna be sick..."

Before she could lean away, she vomited directly onto the front of the multi-million-dollar dress.

The wet splatter rang out in the quiet cabin, accompanied only by the soft hum of the anti-grav engines as they sped through the dark tunnels.

MasterGin didn't even flinch. He calmly pressed the intercom button. "Mirror, instruct the tailoring team to prepare a fourth ensemble."

“Shall I note a preference for stain-resistant fabric, Master?” the AI replied cheerfully.

Lisa wiped her mouth with the back of a red ruffle, her throat tight and burning. "And what happens if I say no?" she croaked.

MasterGin smiled, leaning back into his plush leather seat with absolute poise. "You won't say no. I've watched every archive stream recovered from your apartment. I know how your mind works. And I am genuinely looking forward to reviewing what you recorded on this trip as well." He picked up her halophone, casually twirling it between his long claws. "You noticed I personally restored and upgraded all your field gear. Did you never stop to ask yourself why?"

MasterGin held up three slender fingers, then slowly folded one down. “Consider yourself lucky. I’m lumping that exchange and barrage of clarifications under the umbrella of Question One. Two remain.”

Lisa stared at the floor of the limo, her chest heaving.

Shit.

She needed a strategy, and she needed it now.

Ask questions. Keep him talking. Find the flaw in his grand design.



On her, Lisa Liemawr:

Gown, Candelabra: Domus - Ravenmourne Dress, Ebody,  fatpack [mesh](Engine Room)(1699L)

Corset: VoluptasVirtualis - FOLIA.Corset [mesh](Engine Room)(475L)

Tiara: VoluptasVirtualis - FOLIA Tiara [mesh](Engine Room)(150L)

Metal legs: Evil Baby - Valerie's Legs - Metals Pack [mesh](Engine Room)(499L)

Metal arms: Nefekalum - Graven - Gold/Gold // Tattoo [BOM](Engine Room)(199L)

Hair: CAMO - Nefera F-Locs [mesh](Engine Room)(699L)

Earrings: SIGMA - Escape earrings [mesh](Engine Room)(320L)

Chocker: Sublime - Willa Choker, Fatpack [mesh](Engine Room)(500L)

Gloves: HEIKE - Disturbed Gloves (REBORN) [mesh]

Head, eyes, skin: LOGO - Dawn Desert Nomad [mesh]

Body: REBORN by eBODY v2.0 [mesh]

On him, MasterGin:

Outfit: One Days - [mesh](Engine Room)(350L)

Mask: Pendulum - Raviel [mesh](Engine Room)(1250L)

Heels: Arltos Afterlife - Enid, black [mesh](Camp Syndicate)(450L)

Hair: Ginko Hair - #200 Hair - Unrigged [mesh]

Cigarette holder: GRAAL SMOKING SNAKE [mesh](349L)

Head: LeLUTKA - CAMDEN 4.0 [mesh]

Body: TheShops - [BODY] Athletic Meshbody (Legacy)(m) (1.7.1) [mesh]

Setting:

Setting: Oblivis - The Grand Stone Gate Mossystone [mesh](Engine Room)(450L)

Wall candle holder: Blue Blood - Cradle Wall Candle [mesh](Camp Syndicate)(199L)

BONUS IMAGES: inworld raw shots,  midday sky, default camera:

Engine Room/Camp Syndicate: So Hungry (Escape from Club Apophis, 60)

(click to enlarge)

STORYLINE: “Hungry... So hungry…”

The voice pulsed in Kyle’s head like a corrupted audio loop that refused to die.

He panted, crouching low as he dragged Jihoon through the narrow, suffocating crawlspace. Jihoon was far heavier than he looked. All dense muscle and dead weight. And Kyle was rapidly losing patience. Crawling through the damp, reeking depths of the Forbidden Zone was bad enough, but doing it while hauling a comatose body was pure hell.

To make matters worse, their only source of light was the old, gutted television strapped to Jihoon’s head like a makeshift helmet. The damn thing flickered to life whenever it touched Jihoon’s skin, projecting a pale violet static down the muddy tunnel.

Jihoon. Comatose. Haunter of old televisions.

Just another cursed day in the Zone.

Up ahead, their guide, a massive, scaly beast known as the Shadow Serpent, slithered effortlessly through the dark, completely ignoring Kyle’s struggle. Low fog swallowed Kyle’s boots. Overhead, copper pipes dripped with a maddening rhythm.

A startled bat squeaked, its leathery wing brushing Kyle’s cheek. He jumped, jerking upward only to slam his head straight into the ceiling pipes. The metallic clang echoed down the length of empty tunnel.

“Oh, hell no,” he muttered, "That had better have been a flying rat and nothing else."

He dropped to his knees to catch his breath, easing Jihoon onto the mud. A second later, a dull thump echoed back from the dark.

Kyle froze. Echoes were supposed to fade, not boomerang back.

The television screen flickered and slowly died.

Total pitch darkness.

The Serpent was lurking nearby. The strange beast took many forms. Sometimes pure energy, sometimes a shadow. But right now, as it led them, it was corporeal. He heard the heavy rasp of scales sliding against scales. And when its rattle tipped tail brushed his hand, it felt icy and slippery.

Kyle dug through his backpack until his fingers found an entropy-powered battery light. It turned on with a heavy, satisfying click. Violet light flooded the narrow space. Finally, he could see where he was. Or at least, he could if there wasn’t a wall of undulating obsidian scales blocking most of his view.

The ground trembled. A cold draft rushed through the passage, carrying the smell of wet stone.

The Serpent suddenly hissed, its massive coils tightening into a defensive knot. Its head swung forward, then whipped back toward the way they had come.

“I told you Snakepoo,” Kyle grumbled. “Not the best route. Now we’re too far to go back, the hell if I know how much further ahead we have to go.”

The Serpent turned its massive head, giving him a look that somehow resembled a sheepish shrug.

"Right. Physical dead-ends aren't something a Shadow Serpent thinks about when picking a path."

Snakepoo suddenly looked up and flicked its tongue.

A deep concussion rolled through the tunnel walls, followed by the distant screech of tearing metal somewhere above them. The pipes shuddered in their brackets.

The Serpent froze, every muscle in its coiled body instantly rigid.

Fine grit rained from the roof.

Kyle frowned. “What?”

The Serpent leaned down, tenderly nudging Jihoon’s limp fingers with its snout. Then it looked straight up.

Far above their heads, something massive groaned beneath the weight of the earth.

Without a sound, the Shadow Serpent dissolved into a column of black vapor and shot straight upward through the solid rock ceiling. Just like that, the scaly bastard abandoned them.

“I don’t know if I should be happy or worried," Kyle muttered, letting out a long breath. That big ass snake made his skin crawl.

He gently placed a hand on Jihoon’s shoulder, “Looks like it’s just you and me now, Buddy.”

He unbuckled the dead TV helmet and pulled it off to give the guy some air.

“Hungry…” the voice murmured in his mind, like a recording stuck on repeat.

Kyle unzipped his pack to search for rations, but he already knew the truth. There were none.

He wiped sweaty bangs from his eyes and finally got a good look at Jihoon. The shy, nerdy runt he knew in school was gone, replaced by someone strikingly sculpted, pale, and otherworldly. Jihoon had been the first person to escape the Zone alive. And the Zone takes back what belongs to it.

“So hungry…”

“Could you stop that, Jih… I mean… Lath… Urgh. I don’t even know what to freaking call you anymore. Jihoon? Lathandro? Jihandro?”

Kyle grumbled as he gathered up the ridiculous mass of silky white hair spilling across the mud. In the tight, jagged crawlspace, floor-length hair was a massive liability, one snag on a copper bracket could snap Jihoon’s neck if they had to run.

“Seriously, dude, the hair is a problem,” Kyle muttered. His hands were surprisingly gentle as he began weaving the heavy strands together. “It looks badass, sure, but in the real world? Total pain in the ass.”

Jihoon remained motionless. Kyle tied off the braid as best he could with a frayed strip of cloth, resting his friend's head back down.

That was when he noticed Jihoon’s lips were parted slightly. He saw something white gleaming against his lower lip. Long. Sharp.

“Need…”

Kyle shifted uneasily. Sweat ran down his face.

Those teeth didn't belong in the mouth of his friend.

He looked left and right, then leaned closer to inspect them.

They weren’t what he was expecting. Not vampire fangs. They were thin and translucent, almost like quartz, with a delicate hinge at the gumline.

Kyle reached out with a trembling finger and tapped one.

The fang folded backward neatly against the roof of the mouth. When he released the pressure, it snapped forward again.

That’s when he realized what they were.

Snake fangs.

“Feed…”

A chill raced up his spine.

He used his thumb to gently peel back one of Jihoon’s eyelids.

The eye was rolled back, but the bottom edge of the iris was visible. The pupil wasn't a round human circle; it had narrowed into a vertical slit. And the color made Kyle's breath catch. He realized Jihoon’s teal eye color, that thing that had always made him unusual, was the exact same color as the Serpent's eyes.

Kyle gasped. As he recoiled, his hand caught the edge of the exposed tooth.

A thin line of dark crimson bloomed where the fang sliced his skin.

He stared at the blood welling up on his hand.

Then he looked back at Jihoon.

“Hungry….”

Kyle’s heart hammered against his ribs. "I know."

“So hungry...”

He gulped. He wanted to say something smartass about this situation, but the words died in his throat. He just sat there in the dirt, staring at Jihoon like an idiot.

Against every instinct he possessed, Kyle raised his bleeding hand back to Jihoon’s lips.

The hinged fangs deployed instantly, driven by pure reflex, and sank deep into the flesh of his hand.

Kyle squeezed his eyes shut and let out a sharp hiss. It felt like a white-hot needle driving through his palm, but within seconds, the pain dissolved into a weird, numb warmth. The sensation hummed through his core, heavy and intoxicating. He gasped, a faint moan slipping out before he could stop it. He knew he should be terrified, but a strange euphoria hijacked his brain.

He fell into a daze… falling.. falling… once more into sleep….

He found himself standing in a blinding, sterile white expanse. There was nothing here. No walls. No ceiling. No horizon. Just Kyle, standing in the light, and the dark silhouette waiting before him.

He kept his eyes fixed on the polished floor. His reflection stared back. His security guard uniform was immaculate, stripped of mud, blood, sweat, and exhaustion. This was what he was supposed to be. A guardian. A protector. An unbroken sentinel.

This dreamspace was different. Honest.

Kyle swallowed. He didn't want to look up at the figure standing in the blaring light. The figure reached toward him. A pale hand. Long black claws.

Kyle's gaze followed it only as far as the chest, and stopped. A golden serpent rested against the black-and-white robes. His breath caught. He knew that necklace. He had seen it around the mummified nun. The symbol of the Children of Apophis. But this wasn't the little golden brooch the Children wore. This was larger. A ceremonial necklace. Roped gold, heavy enough to look like an emblem of rank. A much higher rank.

Kyle's stomach tightened. Why was that around this person's neck?

He still didn't look up. Every instinct he had screamed at him to run. Run now. But he didn’t.

The figure's fingers slid easily between his, silky and graceful. Where their palms met, blood welled up. Kyle flinched at the sensation. It was a covenant. A sacred bond sealed in blood.

Vile. Wrong. Permanent.

Then he smelled it. Clove. Heavy. Sweet. Suffocating. He felt dizzy.

The other clawed hand caught his chin. Slowly, gently, it tilted his face upward. Kyle braced himself. Dark robes. Regal posture. Terrible authority. And that smug, predatory confidence. He knew exactly who he was going to see. But when he looked up, it wasn’t MasterGin. It was Jihoon, his strange serpentine eyes deeply amused, his lips curving into a mischievous grin.

“Boo.”

Kyle gasped, his eyes flying open as he yanked his bleeding hand back.

“Something about you is very, very wrong,” he yelped at the comatose figure on the ground, cradling his wounded hand against his chest. “Not cool! Not cool at all!”

Soil rained down from the ceiling.

He didn’t like this. Not one bit.

At least Jihoon had been fed, and would shut up now. Who knows how long MasterGin had kept him locked up and neglected. Once they got out of the Zone, his friend could get proper medical care.

Then came the sound. A horrible, wet choking from deep in Jihoon's chest.

Kyle looked down in horror.

Black, viscous fluid bubbled up from Jihoon’s throat. His chest heaved violently as he fought for air. His skin turned a mottled grey, the dark hollows under his eyes bruising into deep purple.

“Shit!”

Training took over. Kyle rolled Jihoon onto his side, supporting his head as another surge of black fluid spilled from his mouth. Don't panic.

A thick splatter struck the mud. Then another. Far too much. Far more than the few drops of blood Kyle had given him.

What the hell had he done?

Finally, the heaving stopped. Jihoon lay limp in the dirt.

“Hungry… So hungry…”

Kyle let out a shaky groan and pulled off his outer shirt to wipe the black sludge from his friend’s face.

“Don't you dare," he said quietly. "Don't you dare die on me after all the bullshit we all went through to get you out of here. Do you hear me? Man up.”

A sharp burning sensation pulsed in his hand. Thin violet veins were creeping up his forearm from the bite mark.

Infection.

His skin prickled with an icy, metallic heat, like frozen needles marching beneath his flesh. Kyle’s breath hitched, his heart hammering against his ribs in a full-blown panic. His vision swirled at the edges. He squeezed his eyes shut, pressing his palm flat against the damp soil to anchor himself, but the heat surged straight up his neck and into his skull.

When he forced his eyes open, the pitch black of the crawlspace was gone.

The dark had bled into a faint, violet-tinted luminescence. The world was rendered in eerie thermal contrast. Every crack in the freezing masonry radiated a dull violet hue, while the heat pulsing from the overhead pipes stood out in sharp, unnatural focus. Like a viper tracking prey in the dark, he could see the very temperature of the room.

“What the…?”

He rubbed his eyes, then opened them again. The tunnel still glowing.

A familiar voice echoed through his mind. Because, of course it did.

"Still hungry…”

On him, Jihoon:

Hair: RavenBell - Persephone Hair, basics [M][mesh](Engine Room)(350L)

Hair emissive: RavenBell - Persephone Hair, emissive overlay [M][mesh](Engine Room)(200L)

Tattoo: Nuuna - EVI Metallic EVOX 2K tint [BOM](Engine Room)(300L)
Makeup: Rubedo - Blanche, 12 [BOM](Camp Syndicate)(290L)

Outfit: SOMNIUM - Aether Magus set, black, - Legacy M/A[mesh](Engine Room)(850L)

Boots: MEMENTO - NEO. Boots V2 [LEGACY M] [mesh]

Crown: UNA - Ruise crown Silver [mesh]

Claws: Subject Thirteen - Solstice Set - LegacyA [mesh]

Snake Necklace: SIGMA Minos necklace [mesh]

Skin: outernaked - #evox - juhoon skin [NF: natural] - wb [BOM]

Eyes: Poetic Colors - Jaded Eyes - Jade [BOM]

Head, bloody tattoos: LeLUTKA - Kane Evolution [mesh](3990L)

Body: TheShops - [BODY] Athletic Meshbody (Legacy)(m) (1.7.1) [mesh](5000L)

On him, Kyle:

Shirt: ARCHIVEFACTION - EIGENGRAU Shirt, white, LegacyM [mesh](Engine Room)(350L)

Shoes: ARCHIVEFACTION - EIGENGRAU Oxfords, black, LegacyM [mesh](Engine Room)(350L)

Pants: ARCHIVEFACTION - EIGENGRAU Pants, black, LegacyM [mesh](Engine Room)350L)

Tattoo: Izzie's Face & Body Blood & Wounds (199L)

Hair: TRASH Lucifer w/o Horns V1 - Rainbow pack [mesh](299L)

Eyes: Mana Jelly Eyes,  Clear [BOM] (Midnight Order)(399L)

Skin: MUDSKIN Hajimu, C, Brow, WINTER(gacha)(The Arcade)(75L)

Glasses: SOLE SA, Glasses Penta CP, Black [mesh](339L)

Head, bloody tattoos: LeLUTKA - Kane Evolution [mesh](3990L)

Body: TheShops [BODY] Athletic Meshbody (Legacy)(m) (1.7.1) [mesh](5000L)

Setting:

Window: Eclectica - Steampunk Round Windows [mesh](Engine Room)(350L)

Pipes: SIGNΛ - Modular Pipes Kit [mesh](Engine Room)(900L)

BONUS IMAGES: inworld raw shots,  midday sky, default camera:

Cyber Fair: The Scoop of the Century 2 (Escape from Club Apophis, 57)

(click to enlarge)

STORYLINE: Forbidden Zone, MasterGin’s Personal Suite

“What’s up, Dragonlets! It’s your girl Lisa Liemawr of the Hexa Herald, reunited with the new and improved M10. Woot Woot! You'll never guess where we are. 150 meters below GIN AESTHETICA™. #SecretBunker. But Lisa, why does a Plastic Surgery Clinic need an underground lair? Good question. We're about to break open The Scoop of the Century! …Or so this fetching eye candy tells me.”

M10’s optic lens swung from Lisa’s face, focusing on the supermodel like figure framed in the doorway.

Clove cigarette smoke.
The white Marilyn hair.
Jihoon’s new photogenic face. “Lathandro™.”

“I mean, what the hell am I looking at?” Lisa leaned toward the camera. “Is MasterGin forming a boy band of baddies?”

The figure gave a soft dry snort.

SUS. 

Jihoon barely held eye contact during press junkets. Whoever was wearing his face right now owned the room like he'd built it himself.

The camera pivoted back to Lisa, her eyes shining with scandal hunting delight. “I have questions, Dragonlets. Click subscribe if you think we found our lost baseball ringer Lathandro. Click like if you think this is extra SUS. Leave a comment if you think Lisa sucked in too much apocalypse sewer sludge and is high out of her mind… or dead.”

Jihoon burst out laughing.

The sound was deeper than Lisa remembered. Smooth as polished obsidian. Dark. Entirely wrong.

He smirked with MasterGin’s exact theatrical confidence, dragging slow smoke from the long-stemmed silver snake cigarette while flashing his long silver claws. “That’s why I like you, Miss Lisa Lies More. You’re bold. You make me laugh.”

He turned toward the interior, waving a manicured hand. “Come. Let’s talk business.”

He paused mid-step as a shudder rippled across his skin.

Lisa whipped out her halophone, fingers flying as she snapped rapid photos.

Jihoon’s features stuttered. The pale flesh blurred like wet oil paint. White hair darkened to gold blond. Wrinkles dug into his forehead and around eyes. Darker and mottled, his skin was aging decades in a fraction of a second. It was a face Lisa had never seen, not even in the Hexa Herald archive. 

Click. Click.

Another glitch and the moment vanished. Flesh bleached instantly back to porcelain. Features tightened into razor-sharp lines. Pale blue eyes flared under the light.

MasterGin emerged like a sculpture freshly carved from white marble.

Of course. He'd worn the “Lathandro™” face like a costume, just to watch her flinch.

His smile widened. He knew she had seen it.

“Or did you forget you work for me, Dear?”

Lisa forgot to breathe. The camera kept recording, storing the rapid-fire captures in her local buffer. For one single heartbeat, she had glimpsed something real beneath the god. A man hidden beneath layers of living art and Glamour.

“You look disappointed,” he purred.

Lisa swallowed hard, holding her device steady. “I’m just deciding which face belongs to the guy paying my checks.”

His smile broadened, sharp and predatory. “Careful, Dear. Never ask a plastic surgeon if his face is real.”

The air smelled of clove masking the heavy, copper tang of dried blood.

Lisa stepped past him into the suite, keeping her eyes moving. “Well now. Color me surprised. I thought your lair would be obsidian and gold, with bloodless bodies stacked in the corners. Instead, this place is immaculate and white.”

Her gaze caught a huge circular holographic sphere suspended around a white leather hover chair. Its translucent surface crowded with surveillance feeds, biometric readouts, and shifting data streams. A single monitor glowed beside the hovering lounger, while a sleek holder displayed MasterGin’s personal halophone like a ceremonial relic.

She took rapid shots, zeroing in on the familiar faces flickering across the holographic display: Plague moving through Sector 4 on repeat, Echo, Minjo, Hwan, Kyra, Paine... Then Lisa saw herself from three seconds earlier, standing in this exact doorway.

“Is this all live?”

MasterGin raised a slim remote.

The holographic sphere folded inward, every face and data stream collapsing into a single white point before vanishing entirely.

“The disappointment is mine,” he said, letting his lip curl into a dramatic pout. “I present to you the secret of my empire, and all you care about is security footage.”

Lisa raised an eyebrow, double-checking that M10 had cached the screen layout before the black-out. “So then. You invited me into your pad. Does that mean you want to suck my blood, or some standard vampire bullshit?”

“Nothing so gauche.” He lit another cigarette, the sweet scent of cloves filling the room. “I have an assignment for you.”

While his gaze dropped to his tablet, Lisa slid one foot back, measuring the distance to the corridor.

“Silence?” MasterGin looked up, his pale eyes catching her mid-pivot. “I see. Hesitation.”

Lisa froze. Cornered.

The ancient vampire glided across the floor, his boots making no sound against the polished white stone. The heavy door slammed shut behind her with a firm click.

“Before you attempt an escape, there is something you should see. Come.” He gestured with a single long finger.

With no path backward, Lisa followed.

M10 hovered by the door frame, its internal gyros whining as it refused to cross deeper into the structure.

She couldn't blame it. M10 had good reason to fear MasterGin. She glanced at the faint burn scar still visible beneath its new paint job.

They stepped through a side portal directly onto an elevated walkway overlooking the Apophis ATELIER factory floor. The scale hit Lisa like a physical punch. Below them, elaborate silk gowns and armor rigs hung from high ceiling tracks. Low-level goblins and demon assistants moved rapidly between buzzing sonic sewing machines and vats of dye. The air here was heavy with hot metal, burning ozone, and synthetic silk fumes.

MasterGin crossed the catwalk toward his glass office, where a glowing nameplate read Evil Queen. Mounted behind his desk sat a massive LED board displaying confirmed attendees for the Opening of the Mouth Ceremony, listing international heads of state, corporate lords, and high-tier influencers.

“Ah, here it is,” MasterGin said, stopping beside the White Snakeskin Box on his desk. He flipped the latch and reached inside, pulling out a waterlogged, filth-stained teddy bear.

Teddy!

Lisa’s stomach turned to lead. She reached out, gripping the edge of the glass desk to keep her knees from giving way.

“Awww. Did you lose something, my Dear?” His claws dug into the plush fur, ripping the seams open with slow precision. “Something that runs on…” He reached inside and yanked out the glowing Devil Heart battery that powered her long-range transmission. “…My power?”

He closed his hand into a fist. Micro-gears popped and sparked. Metallic dust and shattered glass leaked between his fingers.

“You really should stop mistaking hidden cameras for hidden secrets.”

Lisa swallowed down the burning bile in her throat. Teddy was her life raft. That bear held raw, unedited footage of the prisoners and auction, primed to blast past the jamming grid the second it breached the Forbidden Zone’s perimeter. Without it, there was no backup. No rescue team coming. No proof.

She stared at the metallic dust on his hand. How much did he actually see? Had he been watching their entire path through the sewers, the pen, and the clinic? Were their desperate moves just part of his show?

MasterGin wiped his palm on a silk handkerchief, his eyes locked onto hers with dark satisfaction.

“How?” was all she could say.

“Entropy power is traceable, my Dear. Don’t take it personally,” he said softly, stepping closer until she could smell the clove smoke on his breath. “I have had a very long time to plan.”

On him, MasterGin:

Top: GRIMA - Tanya Tactical Top [Legacy V-Tech][mesh](CyberFair)(650L)

Pants: GRIMA - Tanya Tactical Pants Bulge [LegacyF][mesh](CyberFair)(650L)

Boots: Diaboli Design - Excinitor fatpack [mesh](CyberFair)(999L)

Skin: VelvetVue - Kai Skin Ivory (VE) / NO BROWS [BOM](CyberFair)(699L)

Eyes: EUPHORIC - Xena Eyes #P3-01 [BOM] (380L)

Nails: AsteroidBox - Simple Nails - LegacyF [mesh]

Cigarette holder: GRAAL - SMOKING SNAKE [mesh](349L)

Hair: bonbon - tame hair, naturals [mesh]

Collar: Cruel - Sulfur Gorget, Legacy M [mesh](100L)Head: LeLUTKA - CAMDEN 4.0 [mesh]

Body: TheShops - Meshbody Legacy (f) Special Edition (Basic) 1.2 [mesh]

Pose: AGATA mode - agapee_unpack P4

Setting:

Skybox: Erfe Design - Cyber Skybox House 170 LI  unfurnished [mesh](CyberFair)(2290L)

Statue: Erfe Design - Arog Techno Woman White PBR 3 LI [Erfe Design]

BONUS IMAGES: inworld raw shots,  midday sky, default camera:

Cyber Fair: The Age of Apophis, part 2 (Escape from Club Apophis, 56)

(click to enlarge)

STORYLINE: Forbidden Zone border. 1 pm.

For one brief moment, the Ruler of the Night believed he had won. The boy, Jihoon, was finally his fledgling. MasterGin's centuries-long plot was completely dismantled. Order had claimed the board.

"Cancel the ceremony," he said, savoring the words.

The robotic lioness’s heavy titanium tail stopped its rhythmic swaying. Its synthetic optic lenses suddenly whirred, expanding into wide, black rings.

"But, my King, the nobles from all around the world are already arriving."

The Ruler paid the beast no mind. He activated an archived hologram on his wrist display. Lucien Ginerva, the man the world knew as MasterGin, was draped across his shoulder in a candid nightclub shot. Clad in a plunging gold chainmail dress that clung to his pale frame like liquid metal, Lucien looked breathtaking, scandalous, and entirely in his element. His head was thrown back in a wicked, limelight-stealing laugh. "I am sorry, my dearest friend,” the Ruler murmured to the projection. "Your machinations were impressive. But Order will always claim the board.” He pressed a gloved finger to his lips, then traced the glowing contour of Lucien's cheek with a tenderness he showed no living creature. "Our game will continue another thousand years."

He leaned back against the alley wall, lost in thought.

Suddenly the air changed, as if a cloud passed over the sun. The temperature plummeted ten degrees in a single heartbeat. Automated streetlights along the avenue flickered to life.

The lioness froze. Its metal ears rose. It's retinal HUDs flickered across its optical sensors as it looked toward the sky.

"WARNING. Photonic Decay Detected."

The sun sat squarely overhead, but the light turned a sickly, bruised gray.

“Cause?” The Ruler scanned the horizon.

"Solar output remains at one hundred percent," the lioness stated, its voice carrying an unsettling micro-second of latency. "Surface illumination in this sector has dropped to twelve percent. Cause undefined."

Shadows stretched across the concrete like spilled ink, swallowing the midday glare. His ocular implants auto-compensated, cranking brightness to maximum, but the rising dark simply absorbed the artificial light.

A sharp ping rattled his audio receiver.

"Priority Alert," the AI interrupted from the wrist display. The hologram shifted into a tactical map. A heavy strike hovercopter had just crossed into Korean airspace.

The Ruler zoomed in on the optic feed. The heavily armed UN gunship swept low over the coast. Emblazoned across the black hull were the stark white letters UN beneath the logo of the black widow spider.

Maximilian. His arch enemy.

The Ruler tapped his console, routing a direct, encrypted frequency straight to the White House. A veto from the US in the UN could scuttle any resolution. A single vote from Washington would force Maximilian to retreat.

The line rang. Busy signal.

He redialed immediately, overriding security protocols.

A synthesized voice chimed in his ear. "We're sorry. The number you have reached is no longer in service."

The Ruler froze, his hand hovering above the glowing interface. The line disconnected. He didn’t ask the AI for an explanation. He already knew. This was Lucien’s fault. The idiot had insulted the leader of the free world. His half-hearted apology had lead to their undoing.

High above, the sunlight faded further. A bitter chill swept across the alleyway.

He removed his glove and exposed his bare hand to the sky. He felt no burning. No blistering heat. The daylight had lost its teeth. Soon, the creatures of the night would discover the truth.

Chaos was winning.

The screen of his wrist device glitched, resolving into the static logo of Monstrum, a sigil designed by Lucien himself.

The Ruler stared at the emblem of the serpent swallowing the sun. For the first time in a thousand years, he felt something cold move through his chest. He had greatly underestimated Lucian.

"Your orders, my King?"

The Ruler bolted toward the hovercar, clearing the armored door in a single leap.

"Get Lucien on the line now! Mobilize every division! Seal the northern gates!" he roared into his comms, slamming the throttle to maximum. "And delay the cancellation of the ceremony. Tell no one. We need all the incoming nobility for the war."

The engine screamed to life, tearing out of the alley and plunging into the dimming streets of the Forbidden Zone.

At noon, the world was drowning in shadow. The serpent had swallowed the sun. The Age of Apophis had arrived.

On him, MasterGin:

Outfit: MASON - SINTETIC BODY - LARAX [mesh](CyberFair)

Boots: ANTAYA - Boots "Mora" LaraX[mesh](CyberFair)

Tattoo: ARANA - Sci Arms  -Arms Example 2K [BOM]

Nails: AsteroidBox - Simple Nails - LaraX[mesh]

Collar: Cruel Sulfur Gorget, Legacy M [mesh]

Hair: bonbon - tame hair, naturals [mesh]

Eyes: S0NG - Vampy, Old Ice Eye [BOM]

Skin: Skin Arcana - Maverick, FAIR [BOM]

Skin: Pink Fuel - [PF] <Porcelain> Boi/Athletic [BOM]

Head: LeLUTKA - CAMDEN 4.0 [mesh]

Body: Maitreya - Mesh Body LaraX [mesh]
Body mod: Maitreya - Mesh Body - LaraX FlatChest Add-on [mesh]

Pose: piXit - Sensual - Secret Couple Pose

On him, The Ruler:

Top: Bartimeu - B-120 Cyber Shirt [ATHLETIC] [mesh](CyberFair)

Skin, face: VOGLIA - "THOROS" FANTASY Skin (EvoX) (tinted)[BOM](CyberFair)

Pants: Bartimeu - B-53 Pants L/A [mesh](CyberFair)

Eyes: SHIMM - CYBER XV BONUS [BOM](CyberFair)

Hair: NO.MATCH - NO_COLOURS male [mesh]

Claws: L'Emporio&PL - Oblio Vampire Claws male [mesh]

Head: LeLUTKA - CAMDEN 4.0 [mesh]

Body: TheShops - [BODY] Athletic Meshbody (Legacy)(m) (1.7.1) [mesh]

Setting:

Set: Bersav - Chrome Noir // Top Build Piece [PBR][mesh](CyberFair)

Trees: Little Branch - LB_CyberBloom{Animated}*P[mesh](CyberFair)

BONUS IMAGES: inworld raw shots, hi-res, midday sky, default camera:

Cyber Fair: The Age of Apophis, part 1 (Escape from Club Apophis, 55)

(click enlarge)

STORYLINE: Forbidden Zone border. A dark alleyway. Noon.

The street reeked of ozone, coffee, and fresh blood. Overturned vending machines lined the dirty cement alley. One knocked over vending machine bled shattered mugs across the concrete, their porcelain shards scattered like broken teeth. In the darkest corner, a group of ghouls hunched over a fresh kill.

A hush fell over the landscape as if all sound had suddenly been sucked out of the air.

One creature looked up. A human hand hung limp from its bloodstained jaws.

The asphalt began to vibrate with a deep hum. Low. Inhuman. Glass shook. The surface of spilled coffee rippled in waves.

The other ghouls stopped feeding and looked towards the sound.

A low unnatural fog drifted into the alleyway, rolling over the shattered mugs like an undulating white carpet.

The creatures stood, backing away from their feast.

Then they saw it. Gold eyes burned through the haze like hellfire.

A blur of motion. A flash of white. Jaws. Claws. The sickening sounds of tearing flesh. Monstrous howls echoed off the walls.

Standing at the mouth of the alleyway was a towering figure clad in a white Neu Seoul Police uniform, his low-slung cap throwing his face in shadow. Behind him, a black-and-white police hovercar idled above the fog, red and blue lights flashing.

The remaining ghouls burst through the mist, rushing the man all at once.

He didn’t flinch. His arm swept upward.

Too fast.

An energy field snapped open, the face of Sekhmet blazing within.

The first ghoul’s claws struck its energy barrier and skated off in a blinding spray of blue sparks.

The ghouls broke formation, but it was too late.

A cyberblade sliced through the pack with lethal heat.

The fight was over before it began.

The last ghoul dropped to its knees. “Have mercy..." its dry throat croaked. “My King, we starve..."
The officer looked down. His cyberblade flashed.

The severed head rolled across the slick pavement, bumping gently against the man’s heavy black boot. One milky eye stared upward at him in absolute horror. Then it faded, unfocused.

A mechanical voice spoke from the alley. “My King, all escapees are eliminated.”

A glossy white lioness padded lightly out of the fog, its metallic jaws splattered in black fluid. It paused before the man, and dropped a severed ghoul arm onto the pavement like a cat bringing a gift.

The man wiped the dripping black blood from his blade’s edge before both the sword and shield folded neatly back into his gauntlets. He unhooked his faceplate, revealing a handsome, chiseled visage. His gold eyes held the terrifying weight of a thousand lifetimes.

A crowd had gathered at the edge of the alley, recording the scene on lifted wrists and high-gain ocular implants.

A woman near the front lowered her camera slightly. Her recording kept running, but her smile vanished. She was not looking at the hero. She was staring at the strange badge on his jacket. A cobra with its fangs bared, swallowing the sun.

The Ruler of the Night was suddenly beside her.

A blast of wind whipped her hair across her face.

He snatched the camera from her hand and crushed it in his palm as if it were paper.

She gasped, her heel slipping in gore as she staggered backward.

His smoldering gaze then swept over the crowd, locking on the merchants cowering behind the nearest carts.

“You should not be running food stalls in this sector,” his deep rumbling baritone could be felt as well as heard. “The perimeter is unsafe. All contraband is forfeit. Go home.”

No one moved.

“NOW.” He swept one arm across the nearest cart. Skewers of Korean BBQ tumbled into the gutter.

The merchants turned and fled down the avenue abandoning their carts.

The Ruler of the Night did not watch them go. His eyes were on the lioness. "What news have you on the boy?"

The robotic beast settled beside him.

“Observe,” it projected security footage onto a grimy wall. “It is exactly as you predicted, my King. Their escape remains undetected.”

The flickering image showed a tall, muscular red-haired guard carrying the sleeping boy, his long white hair trailing across the floor. The guard was looking left and right as he crept out of the screen.

“Rewind.”

The lioness obeyed. “The relevant footage of the comatose boy begins at 6:32 pm.”

“Zoom in.”

The footage zoomed in on Jihoon, focusing on mist beginning to roll off his body.

“At 6:42 pm, REM sleep indicators.”

The footage zoomed back out, revealing the guard collapsing.

“At 6:53 pm, sensors detected a spike of energy at the exact moment the guard fainted.”

“Hmm.” The Ruler pointed to the fallen guard. “A call for help.”

“Yes, my King. The boy has exhibited two of your gifts. The mist and the extremely rare Dream Sight. He is immobile, not helpless. Congratulations, my King. You have created a strong fledgling. Does the child know the rules of the Blood Bond?”

The Ruler did not reply.

A slow, ruthless smile touched his lips. “Cancel the ceremony.”

The lioness’ heavy titanium tail stopped its rhythmic swaying.




On him, The Ruler of the Night:

Jacket: TRK - Losttune_Jacket_LEGACYM, white [mesh](CyberFair)(399L)

Cap: AURICA - Ray Cap [mesh](CyberFair)(249L)

Tattoo: MIDORI - Cyber Neck 07 [mesh](CyberFair)(399L)

Eyes: SHIMM - CYBER XV BONUS [BOM](CyberFair)(100L)

Pet: SEmotion Libellune - Felis Nexus Companion, Special [Animesh](CyberFair)(gacha 88L)

Sword: Mythic - [M] Claw Sword and Shield [mesh](CyberFair)(640L)

Pants: Savage - Blade Pants // LegacyM [mesh]

Boots: Gabriel - ::GB::Double belt metal boots, LEGACY, Black [mesh]

Headset: SOLE - SA Headset ARA2, Black [mesh]

Gloves: Archivefaction - Penumbra Gloves_Legacy M_Slim Fingers [mesh]

Head: LeLUTKA - CAMDEN 4.0 [mesh](3990L)

Body: TheShops - [BODY] Athletic Meshbody (Legacy)(m) (1.7.1) [mesh](5000L)

Pose: momomuller - 3M gogogo 1-1

Setting:

Vending Machine: Cerridwen's Cauldron - Scifi Black Honey Coffee [mesh](CyberFair)(499L)

Background: Zeroichi - REITO Backdrop [mesh](CyberFair)(560L)

BONUS IMAGES: inworld raw shots, hi-res, midday sky, default camera:

Midnight Order: The Pink Door (Escape from Club Apophis, 53)

(click to enlarge)

STORYLINE:  Romance drew one long, shaky breath. Then he turned toward the 1929 Ford Coupe.

It rested inside the warm pulse of the Safe Zone. To everyone else, it was a sanctuary designed to protect humans from Monstrum. To Romance, this one in particular was something stranger: a wound in time, still smoking from a crash a century old. Sophia's death-date should have been written across her soul two years ago. Instead, the date unraveled, hidden from the laws that governed the dead. Two clocks, both wrong, in opposite directions. It had to be why this barrier burned so bright.

"I know you’re there," Romance whispered into the quiet drip of the sewers. "These cursed eyes can see you."

Fire kindled in his gaze, burning gold in the subterranean dark. A burst of pink vapor enveloped him. His gritty punk outfit dissolved, replaced by the somber, ceremonial attire of a Jeoseung Saja. Deep black robes draped over his shoulders, his pink hair turned red, dark thorn-like patterns crept across his darkening skin, and the wide brim of a traditional gat hat cast his face in shadow.

He drew his demonic hwando from its sheath, a blade crafted for a single purpose: dispatching ghosts. The steel began to smoke with a pale-pink mist, sparks of fuchsia embers raining down from the edge, hissing as they touched the water.

"You were the only one who looked at a soul-sucking leech and saw a human worth saving," Romance rasped, his voice trembling as he looked down at his clawed hands. "And now look at me, Sophia. I have to play the monster once more... just to save you from becoming one. I will never allow you to become another of those hideous faceless Void Nuns haunting the zone. Do you hear me? Never."

He stepped toward the barrier, his boots heavy. He hated this form. The claws. The dark thorns crawling beneath his skin. The cold weight of the blade.

"Do you remember the last time I came down here?" Romance said, his voice breaking into something almost like a laugh. "To help you run the ratline. I was in these tunnels exactly forty-five minutes."

Static wavered from the car. A breath of amusement hummed from the radio, and she finally spoke. "You slipped into a pile of ghoul dung."

"I will not confirm that."

"You screamed so loud the Enforcers three blocks up thought someone died."

"Someone did die. My dignity. I never recovered."

He smiled, hearing her familiar laugh, even if it was carried through static now.

The laughter faded. The soft sound of rushing water filled the space between them.

"We were supposed to rebuild Neu Seoul together after winning the war. A Monstrum-free Korea. You drew city grids on paper napkins. We argued for three hours about where your waste-water recycling restrooms would be in resistance headquarters. And for the record... ew."

A soft, broken hiccup of static answered him from the dashboard radio.

Romance’s smile vanished, replaced by a devastating weight. "I've spent two years pretending you weren't dead. I still send you text messages. Still stupidly buying your favorite coffee every morning. Searching every shadow because I couldn't bear the thought that you were gone."

The static hissed, darkening. "I’m sorry, Pink. It's all my fault. Everything. I messed up. I was desperate to undo it. Turns out, the past is immutable. But of course it is."

"No! Nothing’s your fault," Romance choked, his grief bursting through. He lurched toward the Safe Zone, reaching for Sophia without thinking.

The barrier rejected him.

Pink-white sparks erupted beneath his fingertips, hurling his hand back. He stared at the glowing wall, stunned. Safe Zones had never denied him before.

"What...?"

He pressed his palm against the sizzling edge anyway. Sparks seared his skin. His eyes searched the shimmering barrier for any weakness, any way through.

"Free Energy. Harvesting the entropy from the past. It was genius. No one has to suffer. But they corrupted your technology, and now you're rotting in a sewer, blaming yourself for things you didn’t do. No, Sophia. No. This is how you fall. You’re already a Level 3 poltergeist!"

With gritted teeth, he plunged his blade deep into the barrier, shouting, "It isn’t fair!"

"No! I must protect my son!" a shriek tore through the radio speaker.

The air around the car buckled. Heavy iron wrenches, shards of twisted metal, and shattered glass erupted into motion, flying violently across the corridor toward him.

Romance didn't move. He stood his ground, holding onto the tiny puncture in the barrier, letting a jagged piece of shrapnel slice across his cheek. Blood trailed down his jaw. "Let it hit," he thought desperately. "Let it hurt. The pain means she's still real." At the very last second, his survival instincts took over, and his body dematerialized into mist. A heavy iron pipe flew straight through the space where his chest had been, smashing loudly against the limestone wall.

When he rematerialized, the debris clattered uselessly into the water.

Sophia’s voice sobbed through the static, horrified. "Romance... I'm so sorry... I didn't mean to... I can't control it anymore..."

"I know," he whispered, leaning his head against the damp concrete. His breath came in ragged gasps. "You hid from me. You knew this would be the last place I would ever look. You tried to protect me from having to be the one to reap you."

The radio stilled.

"Idiot," he laughed weakly, wiping blood from his cheek. "You always thought about everyone else first. And look where you are now."

Silence.

Romance reached up, took off his gat hat, and let it fall to the muddy floor. He unclasped his heavy black outer robe, dropping it into the water.

He stopped being the Jeoseung Saja. He stopped being the idol. He stopped being the revolutionary leader.

He sat down in the mud as simply himself: just the man who had loved her. There were so many things he wanted to say, but nothing came out. He pulled his knees to his chest. Words weren’t enough. So he reached for the only language grief had left him. He began to sing. It wasn't a performance. He didn't use his polished stage voice. It was quiet, fragile, and rough with tears.

"Hiding in the Safe Zone and sad.
My love, your grief is you turning bad.
You're becoming a 원귀 I can't save...
A vengeful ghost wearing my Angel's Face.

Don't be scared. The dark is just a room.

Step out of the safety of your cage.
You called me Pink. your sweet escape.
But now Pink is only a doorway."

The static on the radio wavered. Romance’s voice soared, giving sound to heartbreak:

"Come through the pink door... 

come through the pink door... 

My love, come through the pink door.

Once you step inside, there's no turning back. 

I cradle every soul, 

sing every stranger home. 

But when it’s you..."

Romance’s voice died in his throat as grief choked him completely. Tears spilled down his cheeks, his raw sobs echoing through the cavern.

Then, softly, the car’s speakers played three ascending musical notes, answering his melody with a reply only he would recognize.

He looked up, startled.

Inside the glowing boundary of the Safe Zone, a pale, ghostly figure materialized beside the driver's side door. Sister Sophia stood in her simple nun's habit, her spectral face translucent, tears shimmering like spilled light down her cheeks.

She looked at him, really looked at him, for the first time in two years. She stepped toward the inner edge of the barrier.

"Why must love and duty be enemies?"

Romance shook his head, stunned. "What?"

Sophia’s ghostly eyes flashed with a faint, familiar spark: the brilliant, dangerous light of an inventor who didn’t bow to dogma.

"I refuse to accept this," she said, her voice growing clearer. "It’s just another problem to be solved. A hypothesis worth testing... if you’re willing to take one last leap with me."

Romance felt that old, familiar tug in his chest: Sophia, daring to dream of impossible things. "I'm listening."

"Instead of reaping me... make me like you." A subtle, hungry tilt touched the corner of her lips, a hint of poltergeist energy curling beneath her spirit. "I can stay with you, protect Jihoon, and perhaps... make a few monsters regret their life choices."

Romance stared at her, terrified. "Sophia... the Jeoseung Saja have rules. You're already a Level 3. What if I try to bring you into the spirit realm and it fails? What if you turn into nothing?"

He had never been more afraid of his own hands.

"Then I have nothing to lose except the chance to try," Sophia replied quietly, stepping right up to the edge of the barrier. "Inside this temporal lock, insulated from time, it feels like I've been waiting forever. I am stronger than you know. It’s you who needs to come to me."

Romance stood up slowly. He reached his clawed hand out toward the sizzling barrier. He didn't push with force or authority; he simply offered his hand in total surrender.

His hand passed straight through the barrier without a single spark. The glowing shield recognized mutual consent, dissolving around his wrist like warm water, spreading outward until the boundary unraveled entirely.

"I can't believe that worked," he breathed.

"Functioned exactly as designed." Sophia stepped forward, her spectral fingers wrapping tightly around his. "Take me away, you romantic fool. One last adventure into the unknown."

Romance looked at her, tears spilling down his face, as a genuine, radiant smile finally broke across his features. "Thank you for believing in me."

Sophia squeezed his hand tight. "We've always been at our best when laughing at those who said it couldn't be done."

Romance chuckled through his tears. "You really are impossible."

"Obviously."

With a sudden, brilliant flash, rose-pink smoke erupted from the ground at their feet, swirling upward in a column that filled the cavern. It enveloped them both and the mummified figure inside the car, pulling everything upward into the dark in one consuming spiral.

Then, nothing. Only an empty sewer. An empty car.

Epilogue

Around the bend, Kyra stopped in her tracks. Echo paused beside her, clutching her bandaged collarbone.

The sewer corridor behind them had plunged into absolute, dead silence. The warm glow of the Safe Zone faded, leaving only the sinister violet pulse of the Entropy Engine peeking out from under the hood.

Without Sophia's temporal shield, a century of frozen time crashed over the 1929 Ford Coupe all at once.

The ancient steel groaned. Corrosion bloomed across the frame in real time; rust flaked off in heavy sheets, the rubber tires dry-rotted and collapsed with a slow hiss, and the windshield cracked into a spiderweb of yellowed powder. The car sank inches into the sewer sludge, disintegrating from a sanctuary into a decaying heap of ancient iron.

Goosebumps crawled up Echo’s arms. Her eyes widened. "What? What’s happening?"

Ghost jumped in front of them, raising a heavy iron pipe, his jaw set in a hard line.

The rushing stream of sewer water slowed to a trickle... stopped completely... and then began to flow backward against gravity, churning into dark, frothing ripples that crested upstream.

Minjo grabbed a wrench from her belt and stood shoulder-to-shoulder beside Ghost, her face turning pale. "Do you hear it?" she whispered, adjusting her new AR goggles as they flickered wildly with red error warnings. "Something big is coming."

Kyra’s cybernetic eyes whirred, cycling rapidly through infrared and analog spectrums until the subterranean gloom shifted in her view. She froze, trembling, then slowly raised her arm to point down the dark tunnel into the churning water.

"Snake!"

On him, DJ Romance:

Hair: DURA - U139, Light [mesh](Midnight Order)(390L)

Outfit: Gild - UQC coat set_Black legacy(m) [mesh](Midnight Order)(250L)

Claws, rings: NI.JU - Acantha Rings/Nails Set - legacy m [mesh](Midnight Order)(250L)

Wings: Axis Mundi - Lust Demon, Male [Bento] [mesh](Midnight Order)(2000L)

Shoes: cococat - Gomusin - Black (Legacy M) [mesh]

Hat: Dope+Mercy Saja Gat, Sheer [mesh](Gift)

Earring: RavenBell - Starlit Earrings [Moonlit] [mesh](350L)

Waistchain: L&B Swear Plain Key Chain, LEGACY ATHLETIC [mesh]

Tattoos: HISS - PATTERNS FACE ROMANCE [BOM](250L)

Bodysuit: Bas de Laura Store Laura's Black Sheer Bodystocking with Long Sleeves [BOM](150L)

Eyes: S0NG - Oxy, Sunshine Eye [BOM]

Head: LeLUTKA - KANE [mesh](3990L)

Body: TheShops - [BODY] Athletic Meshbody (Legacy)(m) (1.7.1) [mesh](5000L)

Pose: created in Firestorm

Setting:

Setting: Dirty Rat - Sewer [mesh]

BONUS IMAGES: inworld raw shots, hi-res, midday sky: