"You're insane!"

He laughed over the roar of wind. "Better than being caught!"

They darted through narrow corridors and under scaffolding, sharp turns barely missing dumpsters and hanging laundry. She squeezed her eyes shut as a clothesline snapped past her head.

The Robots followed, wings folding in tight, diving after them. One clipped the edge of a vent and exploded in a burst of sparks against the alley wall.

Another smacked into a corner, crumpling like a soda can before falling to the street in pieces.

But three still remained—relentless.

She gasped, watching one shift its arms. "They're changing formations!"

"Yeah," the boy muttered, "and they're learning."

The alleys were getting tighter, the board vibrating under their feet with every hairpin turn.

"They're still on us!" The fox yelled, her voice ragged.

"No kidding!" the boy growled. "Time for one last trick—hold tight!"

Before she could ask, they blasted out of the alley and onto a crowded street.

She barely had time to scream.

Cars screeched. Horns blared. The hoverboard weaved recklessly between vehicles, scraping mirrors and dodging bumpers. A scooter flipped behind them as they rocketed through a tight lane, sparks flying from The boys board skimming a parked car.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" The girl shrieked, arms locked around him.

"Improvising!!"

Then—a wall of white.

A cargo truck barreled around the corner ahead of them. Too fast. Too close. Too late to stop.

The girls instincts kicked in.

Her hands flared with a sudden static buzz. A pulse surged through her body, like lightning from her chest out to her fingers. The world froze for a split second—colorless and silent—then exploded into a wave of blue-white static.

BOOM.

An EMP-like shockwave burst out of her, cracking nearby streetlights and stopping the truck mid-roll—its tires locking up as the engine died.

The boy shouted, jerking the board into a wild sideways drift. The board kicked out from under them with the force of the wave, launching them forward.

WHAM!

She hit the sidewalk hard, rolling into a pile of scattered newspapers and signs. The boy landed a few feet away, tumbling across the pavement with a grunt.

Behind them, the remaining robots collapsed mid-flight — wings shorting, systems overloaded — and crashed hard into the asphalt, sparks flying.

For a moment, silence.

Cars screeched to halts. Pedestrians stood frozen in shock. Smoke curled from cracked pavement where the shockwave had hit.

She groaned, dazed.

The boy staggered upright, grabbing his board with one hand and Crystal's wrist with the other. "C'mon—move, move!"

They ran, stumbling through a narrow alleyway.

Once inside, he yanked her close and gently but firmly pressed a hand over her mouth. He pulled her against the wall, keeping his breath shallow.

Heavy clunks echoed behind them. The remaining robots had regrouped, scanning the area. One knelt beside its downed unit, fingers tapping rapidly across its visor.

Then—
A beep.
The lead bot's red visor dimmed.
"Target lost."

The units turned.

They left.

He exhaled only when the last mechanical footstep faded.

The alley was quiet now — dim, lined with graffiti-tagged dumpsters and the hum of a flickering neon sign above a backdoor bar. The boy finally let go of Crystal's wrist, letting out a long breath as he slumped against the wall, still clutching his beat-up hoverboard.

"Okay..." he muttered, wiping sweat off his brow. "You mind telling me what the hell that was back there?"

She leaned against the opposite wall, eyes wide, still visibly shaken. Her tail twitched nervously.

"I... I don't know."

He gave her a look. Not angry — just exhausted and confused. "You don't know why those metal freaks were chasing you? You didn't do anything? Steal something? Blow something up?"

"No!" she said quickly, eyes widening. "I didn't do anything—I swear. I don't even know what they are."

He blinked. "Wait. You don't know what WASPs are?"

She shook her head slowly.

The boy ran a hand through his floppy ears, groaning. "Okay... wow. Okay. Uh, right. WASPs—Wired Automated Surveillance Patrol units. Basically law enforcement, at least the corporate kind. Built by Cipher. They don't chase people without a reason."

The girl looked away, visibly uncomfortable.

His brow furrowed. "Alright, then. The hell was that blast thing you pulled off? You fried a truck. You stopped the bots. I've never seen tech scramble like that outside of military-grade gear."

"I didn't mean to," she said quietly. "It just... happened. Like something inside me snapped open. I don't... know what it is. Or how I did it."

There was a pause.

He stared at her, searching her face for something—some sign she was lying. But what he saw only deepened the frown on his face.

"Okay..." he said slowly, finally shifting the board to his back. "Then who are you?"

Her lips parted slightly, but no sound came out. She looked down at her hands, still faintly buzzing with the memory of the power she unleashed.

"I... don't know," she admitted.

"...What?"

"I just woke up today," she said. "On a rooftop. I don't remember anything before that. Not my name. Not where I came from. Nothing."

The words hung heavy in the alley air.

He took a step closer, eyes narrowing a little. "You seriously don't remember anything?"

She shook her head. "I swear."

He paused. His expression was skeptical — but not cold. Just... unsure.

Then he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Damn. That's... heavy."

He looked at her again, this time with less suspicion, more concern. "Okay. My name's Emilio. Emilio Reyes. And you are...?"

The girl hesitated.

"...I don't know."

He stared at her for a long second, then offered a crooked, half-hearted smile.

"Well... that's gonna be a problem."

She cracked a weak, confused smile of her own.

Emilio motioned down the alley. "Come on. I know a place. It's not fancy, but it's safe. And you probably need to sit down before you collapse."

She nodded slowly, still overwhelmed, but grateful.

As they walked, she asked softly, "Why are you helping me?"

Emilio shrugged. "You looked lost. And I know what it's like to feel like the world just... doesn't make sense."

He glanced back at her. "Besides. You just EMP-blasted a squad of corporate death machines. I kinda wanna know more about that."