The rain hadn't let up.
Riku sprinted across the slick rooftops of downtown Tokyo, his senses dialed in. The sound of a scream sliced through the evening fog—sharp and desperate. Without hesitation, he leapt down into the alley it came from.
A tall, wild-haired man in a jagged, bloodstained cloak raised his hand toward a terrified woman shielding her young son. Crimson Essence flared in his palm like a dagger of flame.
"Not on my watch."
Riku hit the ground hard, his fist driving into the rogue's face with a sonic crack that echoed down the alley. The rogue flew back, smashing through a dumpster and skidding to a stop.
The woman gasped, clutching her son.
She looked up, eyes wide at the teen in the rain-soaked hoodie."I think we just found you a new dad," she whispered to her son, half-joking, half-awestruck.
Riku blinked, caught completely off guard."Huh?"
He smirked, rubbing the back of his neck. "That's… new."
But the rogue warrior was already back on his feet, blood dripping from his mouth, grin wide.
"You're Riku Hayashi," he snarled. "I was hoping I'd run into you."
Essence erupted from the rogue in a burst of dark energy, swirling like a storm around him.
Riku's eyes narrowed. "Then you're already having a bad day."
He stepped forward as lightning crackled from the clouds above.
The fight began, power clashing in waves through the alley—intense, fast, and brutal. Riku matched the rogue strike for strike, deflecting flame-laced jabs and launching counterblows with pinpoint precision. The air trembled around them.
But the battle was far from over.