The wind howling across the mountains between Leilani and SolThanor wasn't just weather; it was a warning. It screamed through the skeletal canyons, a haunting, mournful sound that turned every crevice into a mouth and every shadow into a threat.

  It was a new day in the graveyard of SolThanor. The trio had finished mapping the necropolis, seeding the rotting town with colorful marbles of forged energy. A thousand eyes for a town with no soul.

  Inside one of the abandoned homes, Angelo sat slumped at a dust-covered table, his eyes closed. He wasn't sleeping; he was drowning in visual data. Through the mental link, he, Red, and Blue were scanning every empty street, every broken window, every collapsing roof.

  "Agh," Angelo groaned, the sound scraping his throat. He yanked his consciousness back to the physical world, rubbing his temples. "How do they expect us to find anything and keep watch? There are hundreds of structures. It's a needle in a rotting haystack."

  "Cry about it, princess," Red snickered from within, his voice vibrating with manic glee. Unlike Angelo, Red was thriving. His chaotic mind processed the rapid-fire image feeds like a kid flipping through channels on a sugar high. "I'm seeing everything. A rat three streets over. A door hinge rusting in real-time. It's beautiful."

  "I understand the physiological strain," Blue hummed, his voice cool and detached. "However, locating clues is secondary. The primary objective of this exercise is to act as bait. We are the worm on the hook, waiting for the fish to bite."

  "Yeah?" Angelo snarled. He flicked his wrist, sending a tether of orange energy to rip up a section of floor tiles. Nothing but dirt and darkness underneath. "Then I'm done playing detective. I'm sitting right here and focusing on guard duty. If GHOST wants us, they know where to find us."

  "I suppose Sol simply wishes to be thorough. I appreciate his methodical nature," Blue countered, unfazed by the outburst. "But if the cognitive load is too substantial for you, feel free to relegate the complex tasks to us."

  Angelo's eye twitched as Red cackled at the passive-aggressive jab. He forced himself to exhale, pushing the anger down. "If you think your mind games will work on me, you are sorely mistaken."

  "Whatever could you mean?" Blue feigned innocence with expert precision.

  "Nope. Not biting." Angelo leaned back, kicking his boots up onto the table and crossing his arms. "I'm on guard duty. You two handle the detective work."

  While Angelo resigned himself to static surveillance, Neiva was fighting her own war against boredom and arachnids in the crumbling residential district.

  "Agggh!" She let out a frustrated noise, frantically brushing at her hair. "Stupid spider webs!"

  The silk strands caught the dusty light filtering through the boarded-up windows, glistening like silver tripwires. Neiva moved through the abandoned master bedroom, yanking drawers open in quick, violent succession.

  Bang. Bang. Bang.

  "Nothing, nothing, and even more nothing!" She slammed the last drawer so hard the wood splintered, jamming it shut. "At first, this place gave me the creeps. Now? I'm praying for a zombie. Just give me something to hit."

  She kicked a rotted chair, watching it break. "Sol and his stupid confirmation bias... Who says GHOST actually is here? We could spend weeks opening drawers and find nothing but mold and dust."

  She sighed, the fight deflating out of her shoulders. "How long are we going to keep this up?"

  Reluctantly, she turned back to the vanity, ignorant of the fact that her privacy was nonexistent.

  Back at the base, Red watched her through the Trinergy headband she wore. "Looks like Sugar-Tits is hitting her breaking point," Red commented to the internal gallery. "Maybe she's right. Maybe pretty boy detective is just seeing ghosts where there aren't any."

  "The probability exists," Blue conceded. "If GHOST is operating here, their concealment methodologies are statistically—"

  "Shut up!" Angelo's voice cracked like a whip in the physical room.

  Blue let out a scholarly huff. "Well, that is hardly a polite or constructive—"

  "No, seriously. Be quiet!" Angelo stood up so fast his chair clattered backward. His heart rate spiked, a cold sweat breaking instantly across his skin.

  "What got your panties in a twist, Angie-boooohhh—" Red started, but short circuited as he shifted his focus to Angelo's feed.

  The chaotic noise of their shared mind vanished. Even Blue was struck silent.

  To the naked eye, Angelo was staring at a blank wall. But through the energy vision, they saw it.

  Drifting above the streets of SolThanor was a thing that shouldn't exist.

  It twisted and flowed like smoke caught in a draft, yet maintained a distinct, humanoid shape. It was a blur—a glitch in reality. As it moved, each of Angelo's alters perceived it differently. Angelo saw an orange blur. Red saw a crimson specter. Blue saw an azure phantom.

  It didn't walk; it glided along the howling wind, passing over the ruins like a stain on a photograph. Loose signs rattled in its wake, not from wind, but from proximity to its presence.

  It stopped mid-air.

  Slowly, the figure turned its faceless head toward a surveillance marble stuck to a roof's corner. It drifted closer. Its ghostly face blurred into a fractured, broken smile. A spectral arm extended, reaching out to touch the sensor.

  Angelo felt his heart hammering against his ribs. He had fought criminals, terrorists, and man-made abominations. But this? This felt wrong. Primal.

  Then, the figure snatched its hand back, as if realizing the marble was forbidden fruit. It snapped its head toward the north—directly toward where Neiva was stationed.

  "Wh-wha-what is that?!" Red's mental shout rang in Angelo's skull, loud enough that Angelo instinctively covered his ears. "We came here hunting for GHOST, not actual ghosts! What the fuck is that?!"

  "R-Ridiculous," Blue stammered, his composure shattering. "There is no evidence for ectoplasmic entities. It... it must be a trick."

  "Yeah?! So what? Should I stop believing my lying eyes?!" Red shot back, his voice edged with genuine panic.

  "There has to be an explanation..." Angelo thought, but his internal voice lacked conviction. He watched the figure accelerate, moving in a jagged, deliberate zigzag.

  "Wait," Angelo shouted aloud. "Where is it?!"

  The three of them frantically scanned the feeds, jumping from marble to marble, tracking the anomaly.

  "Found it!" Blue's voice was sharp. "It... It is homing."

  "Homing on what?" Red demanded.

  "Neiva," Blue replied, the realization cold as ice. "It is moving with optimal efficiency toward her anchor point... But how?"

  Red materialized in the room, his crimson aura flaring violently. "We gotta go save her!"

  Angelo's orange aura ignited, heat radiating from his skin. "Move!"

  "Stop!" Blue materialized in their path, arms extended.

  "Are you out of your mind?!" Angelo snarled, the Angel of Death surfacing in his eyes. "Get out of the way!"

  "Calm down! You are thinking irrationally!" Blue shouted, holding his ground. "We cannot reach her physically in time. But we can protect her from here. That is why we gave her the headband!"

  Angelo froze. The logic cut through the panic.

  "Second," Blue continued, speaking fast, "this entity is exactly what we were luring. If we rush in physically, we risk driving it away. We capture it now."

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Red held Blue by his collar. "You're going to use the kid as bait?!" He spat, his voice dripping with venom.

  "Enough, Red," Angelo said, his breathing ragged. He lowered his fists.

  "You too, you little shit?!"

  "I said enough!" Angelo roared. He turned to the wall, staring in the direction of Neiva's position. "Think. You saw its energy signature. It's power level. We can block it."

  "But what if we can't—"

  "We can." Angelo cut him off. "We use Trinergy Mode. Remote projection. Do it. Now!"

  "Grr..." Red growled, but he nodded.

  Red and Blue took positions on either side of Angelo. They closed their eyes, their physical forms remaining unpowered, devoid of any aura. They became conduits, silent batteries funneling their raw essence directly into Angelo's connection.

  Angelo closed his eyes. His aura exploded outward, shifting from orange to a blinding silver. He merged his consciousness with Neiva's headband, shifting his focus. He waited there, poised for the inevitable unknown.

  The wind kept its mournful song as the ghost glided through the open front door of the house Neiva was searching.

  It made no sound on the floorboards. It cast no shadow.

  Angelo felt his pulse thumping in his ears like a war drum. Miles away, his mind was already at the precipice, a coiled spring of readiness demanding instantaneous action.

  All the while, he was relentlessly tormented by questions that simply wouldn't let up:

  What if I miscalculated? What if this thing really does have supernatural abilities?! Have I just doomed another student?

  The furniture in the house vibrated slightly as the ghost floated up the stairs. Neiva was on the second floor, humming a tune, blissfully ignorant of the horror rising to meet her.

  The ghost reached the landing. It drifted into the room, hovering directly behind her.

  Neiva straightened. She dusted off her hands, turning around to face the center of the room.

  She walked straight through the ghost. It offered no resistance, only a sticky, clinging sensation of walking through invisible spider webs.

  "Again?" She muttered, shivering as she frantically brushed at her arms. "Stupid webs..." She walked toward the stairs, her back fully exposed.

  Angelo's sweat made his shirt cling to his back.

  The ghost slowly drifted behind her. It raised a spectral arm, the air shimmering around its limb like heat haze.

  With a swift, silent motion, it slashed at Neiva's neck.

  SWOOSH.

  "KYAHHHHH!"

  Neiva screamed as a violent gust of wind exploded behind her, whipping her hair into a frenzy. She spun around, eyes wide, to see a shimmering, Trinergy shield floating in empty air, sparks flying where something had impacted it.

  "Don't let up!" Red shouted.

  The ghost, seemingly confused by the sudden barrier, danced in the air, winding up for another strike.

  BOOM!

  A second heavy shield slammed into place, cracking the hallway walls with its force.

  Realization hit Neiva like a physical blow. Her yellow aura flared instantly, as she pulled her Trinergy swords.

  "We're under attack!" She yelled, spinning in a tight circle, slashing at the empty air. Her blades passed uselessly through the space where the ghost hovered.

  Realizing its element of surprise was gone, the ghost abruptly shifted tactics. It blurred, shooting past Neiva and blasting out the second-story window.

  "Don't let it get away!" Red hollered. "Capture it!"

  "How are we going to do that, genius?!" Angelo shot back, his mind straining to keep up with the entity's speed.

  "Same way that bitch captured me!" Red retorted, recalling his humiliating capture by Veronica. "You can't stab smoke! You have to box it in! Walls! Domes! Catch it!"

  The ghost fled toward the town's edge, moving with impossible fluidity. Suddenly, a wall of silver energy slammed into existence in its path.

  The ghost didn't stop; it tried to break straight through the construct.

  ZZZTT!

  Sparks flew as the entity collided with the solid energy wall. It recoiled violently, its gaseous form destabilizing for a split second.

  "Hah! It worked!" Red opened one eye, grinning. "It can pass through wood, but it can't pass through us! Get 'im!"

  The ghost recovered instantly, banking hard left. Angelo, eyes glowing silver in Trinergy Mode, fired again. A massive silver box materialized in the air, dropping like a guillotine.

  The ghost weaved at the last microsecond.

  CRASH!

  The silver construct missed the target and slammed into a two-story residential home. The impact annihilated the structure, turning wood and stone into a cloud of splinters and dust.

  "You missed!" Red snapped, his grin vanishing. "Lead your target, dummy! You're lagging!"

  "Shut up!" Angelo gritted his teeth, sweat pouring down his face. He fired again—a silver barrier meant to cut off the escape route.

  The ghost dipped low, skimming the pavement. The silver wall materialized too high, shearing the top floor off a general store. The roof collapsed with a deafening roar, debris raining into the street.

  "High! You aimed too high!" Red barked, frustration leaking into his voice. "Are you even trying?!"

  "He's too fast!" Angelo strained, firing another silver dome that missed by inches and crushed a row of rusted cars into scrap metal.

  "You're just wrecking the whole place!" Red yelled. "If you can't hit a moving target, what good are you?!"

  "I said shut up!" He concentrated, eyes squeezing tighter. "Let's see how it likes this: Trinergy... ZONE!"

  The ghost accelerated, turning into a streak of silver blur. Silver smoke materialized surrounding the streaking silver blur. The blur initially seemed oblivious, but the smoke abruptly hardened, forcing the target to writhe and contort in a desperate effort to break free before it was completely trapped.

  "Pathetic," Red sneered. He opened his eyes fully, breaking his concentration. The energy flow to Angelo snapped. "I'm done watching you fail."

  "Red, wait—" Angelo gasped as Trinergy Mode collapsed. The silver aura vanished.

  "Move over!" Red didn't ask. He stepped away from Angelo, his own body exploding into crimson flame. "Blue, you take right. I'll take left. Angelo, try not to trip over your own feet."

  "Very well," Blue announced, stepping back and igniting his azure aura.

  Now, the ghost wasn't dodging single silver constructs. It was weaving through a chaotic, multicolored storm.

  The ghost swerved toward a dilapidated townhouse. Suddenly, the front wall of the building exploded outward. A massive crimson hand burst through the brickwork, expanding from a marble hidden inside the living room.

  Debris sprayed across the street as the ghost barely slipped through the fingers of the construct.

  "Slippery little shit!" Red roared.

  In a different sector, Sol was methodically checking a basement, completely focused.

  An exclamation mark made of azure energy materialized in mid-air right in front of his face.

  Sol's eyes widened. "Blue? Did you find anything?!"

  The construct shifted, morphing into a glowing arrow pointing north. Sol didn't hesitate. His silver aura exploded, and he launched himself through the floor above him, shattering the wood and racing toward the signal.

  From a distance, he could see it. Colorful flashes of light illuminating the ruins—Orange, Red, Blue—all converging on an unseen point.

  "What the hell is going on?" Sol shouted.

  Meanwhile, Neiva was leaping from rooftop to rooftop, her Force aura propelling her in massive arcs.

  "Dammit!" she cursed, squinting against the wind. "I want to help, but I can't see what we're fighting!"

  She watched the trajectory of the exploding constructs. A plan formed.

  "Hey! Hey, you guys! Can you hear me? Give me a sign!"

  A blue orb popped into existence inches from her nose.

  "Blue! Listen, I have an idea!"

  The chase continued, leaving destruction in its wake.

  Blue took the lead. Azure geometric barriers materialized from the air, slamming down like dominoes. One, two, three—collapsing a stone fence and blocking the left flank. The ghost was forced right.

  "Funnel it!" Angelo commanded, his orange aura flaring as he joined the barrage.

  An orange wall materialized, cutting off the next intersection. The ghost was running out of road. It juked into a narrow alleyway, denied any room to expand.

  The ghost hit a dead end in the alley. It paused, swirling like trapped smoke, vibrating as if calculating—blast forward? Seep through the cracks in the wall?

  Before it could decide, a scream tore from the sky.

  "HAAAA!"

  A blue blur slammed down from the heavens. Neiva aimed for the ground; she slammed a massive metal dome down into the alley, sealing the ghost instantly. She landed perched on top of the structure, her metal aura driving the steel rim deep into the earth to create an inescapable seal.

  "I caught it!" Neiva yelled, stomping triumphantly on the metal shell.

  CLANG.

  A dent appeared on the metal from the inside.

  "Oh oh,"

  CLANG.

  The metal buckled.

  "Shit!" Neiva braced herself.

  Suddenly, blue forged energy coated the dome. Then red. Then orange. The trio's remote power reinforced the trap, layering Trinergy over the steel.

  "Together!" Angelo commanded.

  The banging from inside grew frantic, then rhythmic, then stopped.

  They waited, a few moments of tense silence hanging heavy in the air as they braced themselves for anything. But the silence remained unbroken, and nothing happened.

  "We did it!" Neiva jumped back, breathless but triumphant.

  Angelo, Sol, and the twins converged on the spot seconds later.

  "What the hell is going on?!" Sol shouted, his silver aura wild. "Who are we fighting?!"

  "We just caught your ghost, pretty boy," Red winked.

  Sol blinked. "You... You what?" He looked at the silent, tri-colored dome. "You're saying... inside that..."

  "A living, breathing ghost," Red said proudly. "Well, don't know about living, but definitely annoying."

  "As I stated earlier, ghosts are scientifically improbable," Blue added, adjusting his glasses. "There is a rational explanation for this entity."

  "Wait, wait." Sol held up his hands. "You saw a ghost? An actual ghost?"

  "I saw it too!" Neiva chimed in. "Well, I didn't see see it, but it tried to kill me!"

  "Whatever it is..." Angelo said, staring grimly at the dome. "We need to neutralize it. It's too dangerous to let loose." He glanced at Sol.

  Sol was smiling. A wide, giddy, terrified smile.

  "What are you smiling like an idiot for?" Angelo frowned.

  "Sorry, sorry," Sol wiped his eyes, the grin refusing to fade. "It's just... I've been waiting so long for this. Actual proof."

  "Can you see inside?" Sol asked, stepping closer.

  "The thing cracked Sugar-Tits' metal," Red said, his eyes closed as he focused on his construct. "Think I should be able to look inside..."

  He shifted his perspective, sliding his consciousness into the energy that filled the fracture in the steel. He peered through the gap, ready to gloat.

  The trio went dead silent.

  Sol felt a shiver run down his spine that had nothing to do with the wind. "No... No, no, no, NO!" He turned to them, panic replacing the euphoria. "Don't tell me..."

  The trio slowly pulled back, nodding their heads in deep, collective shame.

  Sol stared at the dome. Then at the empty air. The world turned red.

  "AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

  His scream tore from his throat. His silver darkness flared, uncontrolled and violent, slamming into the Trinergy dome.

  BOOM!

  The explosion shredded the metal and energy, sending a shockwave of dust rolling over them.

  "What the hell is wrong with you?!" Neiva shouted, shielding her face.

  Her rage died when the dust settled.

  Sol stood in the center of the crater, his chest heaving, blood trickling from bruises on his face. He looked utterly defeated.

  The dome was empty.

  Angelo walked over, placing a heavy hand on Sol's shoulder. "Come on. Tomorrow's a new day. Now that GHOST knows we're here... they won't let us off the hook. We need to prepare for war."

  Sol let out a shaky breath, offering a weak, hollow smile. "Yeah..."

  "What's this?"

  Red's voice was sharp. He was crouching in the center of the crater, staring at the ground where the dome had sat.

  They all huddled around him.

  There, perfectly hidden beneath the dirt, was a distinct, circular hole leading deep underground.