Late afternoon on the eighth day, the sky over Chicago hung low and gray, the kind of light that made everything feel washed out and tired. Leon trailed Nyx through back alleys toward a supermarket dumpster she'd scouted twice already.

  Her excited triple caw had promised tonight's discard would be good. Expired but sealed deli sandwiches, maybe some fruit.

  His stomach growled at the thought. Eight days of stolen fast food and cheap bottled water had kept him alive, but barely. The bnket was warm, the culvert dry, but the hunger never really went away.

  Nyx banked sharply ahead, circling once before darting higher.

  Then something exploded.

  A massive boom rolled through the streets. It was close. Three blocks at most.

  Windows rattled. Car arms screamed. A thick plume of bck smoke billowed into the sky.

  Leon sprinted to the nearest fire escape of a tall building, his legs unching him up the rungs two at a time. On the rooftop, he crouched behind an AC unit and scanned the chaos below.

  People ran screaming. Nyx circled high above the smoke.

  He focused on the source, a bank with its front wall blown open. Danger Rating hit him like a punch to the gut when he looked at the familiar armored figure with a cannon repcing his left arm.

  "Killcannon," he whispered, cursing his luck. "Of course it's fucking Killcannon."

  Lethal

  His stomach dropped as he ducked into the shadow of the AC unit, heart hammering so hard he could hear it in his ears.

  Memories from the show flooded back: the armored suit, the massive arm cannon that fired explosive energy bsts, bulletproof pting, and that backpack that powered the whole thing. Durable enough to take blows with early Invincible, but not enough to st more than a few hits.

  This was a supervilin with obvious weaknesses, but the bigger question was—could he win?

  Maybe.

  If he somehow disabled the cannon fast, got in close before the man could react, and repeatedly struck vital areas, he could win. If he dragged it out, he'd be dead. Those arm cannon bsts would turn him into ash.

  But if he was quick and dirty? Used Removal, Fight Mode, and everything he'd trained so far? Those upped his chances by quite a bit.

  He gnced at the holographic screen only he could see.

  [Total Gacha Points: 284]

  A real vilin takedown could net hundreds or thousands. Enough for multiple Gold pulls or Ptinums. Maybe even a Diamond. It would be enough to stop scraping by like a rat.

  Besides, he was tired of hiding. Without any knowledge about Mark's current situation, Omni-Man's rampage could happen any day now, and he could end up as one of the victims. If he remained passive all the time and deyed informing Cecil or Robot about what he knew, thousands of people could die. Maybe more.

  Leon stood, rolling his shoulders. Skin already prickling as the urge to activate Removal grew.

  "Okay. Okay…" He breathed out. "Let's do this."

  -x-

  Down the street, Killcannon strode out of the smoking bank like he owned the city, his battle armor scuffed but intact and duffle bag bulging with cash slung over one shoulder. He quickly snuck into the alleyway, hoping to lose any pursuers.

  Following him from the rooftops, Leon's skin flushed red and blood vessels bulged as Removal hit seventy-five percent. Fight Mode flipped on alongside it as the pounding of his heart reached a crescendo.

  Activating both makes me stronger, faster, and more resilient. But I can only hope it's enough.

  Nyx hovered above Leon on the rooftop, waiting.

  Leon whispered, "Distract him. Aim for his eyes."

  She dove.

  Killcannon yelped as Nyx raked cws across the reinforced gss, screeching as the man swore and swatted, unarmored right arm swinging wildly.

  Leon vaulted the rooftop edge into a flying knee drop. His hands grabbed onto his ankles behind him as he bent his knees and let gravity do the work.

  He nded square on Killcannon's back, knees driving down with every ounce of force from his fall. The vilin smmed into pavement. Cracks spread in a spiderweb around his fallen body.

  Leon spotted the thick tube running from the backpack-looking attachment to the arm cannon. A wild grin grew on his face. He didn't know if it was the Kure side of him, but the prospect of a real battle and inflicting pain upon his adversary made his blood boil with anticipation.

  Perfect.

  Both hands gripped it before he yanked with all his strength. He grunted, sparks exploding as the tube tore free with a metallic shriek.

  [Feat Achieved! Disabled Killcannon's weapon before he could use it against you. Reward: 750 GP]

  "Get off me!"

  Killcannon roared, bucking like a bull. Leon jumped off.

  The supervilin spun, cannon emitting a mechanical whine, then nothing. Just a sad sputter and flickering lights. Leon nearly smiled when Killcannon did a double-take at him and the cannon.

  "Shit! You're gonna pay for ruining my cannon!" Killcannon snarled. "Who the hell are you, anyway? Some wannabe superhero? You should've minded your own business. You don't even have a suit. That hood's barely hiding your face."

  Leon didn't answer. There'd be no point. He circled, silent, eyes locked on the supervilin's figure as he waited. Not long after, Killcannon charged and Leon met him head-on.

  The first punch struck straight to the helmet like a sledgehammer and the impact rang up his arm. But Killcannon barely staggered. A backhand swing from the cannon arm came in retaliation, but Leon weaved under it with ease. He countered with a swift kick to the thigh pte. The solid hit pushed the leg back a step and slightly dented metal, but that was it.

  He continued raining blows. Killcannon was incredibly durable, but slower. Far slower. Leon danced inside his reach, dodging every swing and kick with predatory grace, nding fast and brutal blows with every second that passed. And for a while, it seemed to work.

  A kick to the shin threw off Killcannon's footing. An uppercut to the jaw forced him to take his eyes off Leon momentarily, and a knee to the sternum followed.

  Leon felt like a level one pyer in a video game going up against a level twenty boss.

  But it didn't matter if his blows only counted as ant bites, he took every opportunity to disorient and knock Killcannon off-bance.

  Under his barrage of precise attacks, Killcannon's armor began to show noticeable, but small dents. However, Leon's fatigue continued to build. His strikes were no longer as swift, and his breathing grew rougher by the second.

  Removal increased strength, but it didn't do the same to his stamina.

  Killcannon's too fucking tough!

  He couldn't win like this. The guy was too durable. Too resilient.

  Come on, think! What can I do that could get through his armor?

  "Stand still, damn it!" Killcannon lunged, his massive arms sweeping wide like a bear trap. To Leon, it looked like a desperate, sloppy mistake. His mind was already a step ahead of the vilin's clumsy move.

  But as Leon side-stepped the grab, Killcannon's action gave him an idea that could work.

  Wait, I can grapple him!

  Leon exploded forward.

  With a burst of speed, he moved behind Killcannon and out of his reach. He surged up behind the man's back, his movements fluid and swift. Before the vilin could even register the change in weight, Leon tched onto him like a koa, his legs locking around Killcannon's waist in a punishing body triangle.

  His right arm snaked around the man's throat, finding the narrow gap between the helmet's base and the chest pte.

  Leon roared in his mind. Removal: 80%!

  His vision pulsed as his limiters snapped even further. His skin turned a deeper, bruised crimson, and his veins stood out like cords under his skin. He gripped his own arm, locking the Rear Naked Choke into a vice.

  Killcannon let out a muffled, panicked grunt. He thrashed, smming his back with bone-shattering force against a nearby brick wall to try and crush his hitchhiker. The impact hummed through Leon's teeth, but he barely felt it, his denser physiology absorbing the brunt of the trauma without issue.

  "Go... to... sleep!" Leon hissed, the words ground out through clenched teeth.

  Killcannon's movements grew sluggish. His only hand cwed uselessly at Leon's forearms, unable to find any leverage against the iron-hard grip. The vilin's knees buckled. With a final, heavy thud that cracked the pavement, the giant colpsed forward.

  Leon held the lock for a few more seconds, making sure the brain stayed starved of oxygen, before releasing. He deactivated Removal and Fight Mode instantly. The sudden drop in adrenaline hit him like a physical weight. He felt the micro-tears in his muscles already starting to itch.

  I… I did it?

  He took a step back and gasped from the intense pain the movement caused.

  Oh fuck. My body's going to be so sore ter.

  He stood over the unconscious vilin, chest heaving, as Nyx nded on a nearby streetmp and let out a triumphant caw.

  [Defeated Killcannon! Reward: 1,500 GP]

  [Feat Achieved! Defeated your first Supervilin with minimal colteral damage and zero civilian casualties. Reward: 500 GP]

  [Total Gacha Points: 3,034]

  Leon stared at the shimmering screen, a tired, lopsided grin forming on his face. Over three thousand points. That was a total game-changer.

  "Nyx," he rasped, wiping sweat from his forehead. Spotting the duffel bag of cash, he grabbed as much as he could put into his pockets. "Forget the culvert. We're finding a real bed tonight."