Location: The Bruce Home – Time: 7:03 p.m. (Same Day)
The Bruce living room looked like the aftermath of a family reunion hosted inside a fireworks factory.
Ryan sat on the couch with an ice pack on his ribs, holding a juice box labeled "Super Grape!" like it was a whiskey tumbler. Emily sat beside him, feet up, wrapped in a burrito blanket, casually cleaning marinara off a taser.
Faith was dancing on the coffee table in her glitter-stained tutu yelling, "AND THEN I BODY-SLAMMED A MAN INTO A BEAN DISPLAY!"
Holly sat cross-legged on the floor with a diagram made of string, tater tots, and ketchup. "According to my math, we survived because Tony hacked the animatronic Abe Lincoln to tackle a goon with liberty and justice."
Tony the Tortellini beeped proudly from the floor, wearing a doll-sized fedora. "MISSION SUCCESSFUL. SNACKS DEPLETED."
Ryan groaned, stretching. "Can we all agree: no more field trips this month?"
Emily raised her juice box in mock toast. "To fewer explosives in educational settings."
Location: Channel 7 News – Time: 8:17 p.m.
Cut to the newsroom. Emily's pre-recorded story played across the evening news. Behind the anchor desk, her co-worker Janice leaned toward the camera with concern.
"In today's top story: mafia figure Don Alberto Castini has been arrested following a deeply educational brawl at the Louisiana Museum of Historical Weirdness."
Footage flashed on-screen: Don Castini being pulled from a vat of gumbo while screaming about "respecting the marinara."
"Authorities are investigating Castini's connections to the international crime ring known as the Red Ladle Syndicate. Sources say—"
Suddenly, the broadcast glitched.
Static.
Black screen.
Then—
A wolf's head. Glitching. Flickering.
The same symbol that haunted Emily back during Larsen's hacks.
It snarled silently.
Then disappeared.
Janice returned to the screen mid-sentence, unaware anything had happened.
Location: ONYX CORE – Remote Command Node – Time: 8:22 p.m.
A red warning lit up across a sleek wall of screens. The Glitch Wolf pulsed briefly in the system logs.
"Unauthorized system breach detected," said an emotionless voice.
In the shadows, a technician removed their headset and whispered, "It's back."
Location: Bruce Backyard – Time: 9:04 p.m.
Ryan stood alone on the porch, looking up at the stars.
Emily came out in her robe, holding two mugs of cocoa—one with extra marshmallows, the other with a toothpick dart sticking out of the foam.
"You saw it too," she said.
Ryan nodded slowly. "The wolf. Again."
Emily sipped her drink. "I thought we ended this with Larsen."
"We did," Ryan said. "But this isn't him. This feels bigger. Smarter. Hungrier."
Tony rolled out onto the porch, blinking. "SOMETHING BREACHED ONYX CORE. SOURCE: UNKNOWN. SUGGESTION: PANIC RESPONSIBLY."
Emily sighed. "Great. The wolf is back. The mafia's in shambles. Faith thinks she's a glitter ninja. And I have marinara in my ear."
Ryan looked down at her and smiled. "So… a normal Thursday."
Location: Unknown Prison Transport Van – Time: 9:44 p.m.
Inside the back of the van, Don Castini sat cuffed between two silent guards.
He smiled.
A moment later, the lights in the van flickered. The screens embedded in the wall glitched.
Glitch Wolf. Again.
Castini leaned back, smug. "He's coming, ragazzo. And this time, even you won't be laughing."
The lights died.
The doors blew open.
[TO BE CONTINUED...]