The rooftop garden buzzed with chatter and rolling wheels as the Dance family arrived—contestants showing off beneath the morning sun.

The host, Black Wings, had rented the space for the weekend competition and hired a few officers to stand watch. Rows of hedges and flower beds ringed the area, giving the rooftop an oddly peaceful backdrop for a skate event.

Concrete paths cut through the greenery, and benches were scattered around for spectators. Somewhere above the crowd, a speaker blared the event lineup.

Vin scanned the setup. Smooth ramps, rails, and a half-pipe gleaming under the morning sun. He could already feel the rush in his legs.

Then a voice broke the crowd's chatter.

A tall, scrawny man stood on a stack of crates, arms raised to the sky. His trench coat looked two sizes too big, and the tin foil hat perched on his messy brown hair flashed in the sunlight.

"The aliens are coming!" he shouted.

Vin blinked. Security didn't even try to stop him.

"I spoke with them myself! They've accepted me as Earth's leader!"

A few people laughed. Others backed away, but some actually listened.

The man's wild eyes darted across the crowd. "You all have a talent they do not! You will be the new leaders when they take us to their world!"

Vin rolled his eyes but couldn't look away. For all his madness, there was something behind the man's voice—fear? Hope?

The stranger lowered his arms, speaking softly now. "They'll revere us. I promise."

Vin shivered. It was creepy, but kinda sad.

His attention wandered away from the stranger until he spotted someone across the plaza—Lynn.

She stood near the edge, hands buried in the pockets of her hoodie like she wanted to vanish.

He remembered her being insanely pale, but skating in the sun had given her a honey-like tan. She wore teal glasses and had her short, light brown hair pulled too tightly into a ponytail.

The last time they'd met, he'd untied her shoelaces mid-race out of pure frustration. She'd eaten concrete hard and started wearing shoes with buckles instead of strings.

He'd been waiting ever since for a chance to apologize.

Now she looked up, noticed him staring… and turned away.

Figures.

Before he could follow, his mother's voice called out, light and commanding.

"Try and get along with the other kids. You're going to high school soon, so you may end up in classes with some of the teenagers here."

Vin sighed. "Tried that. Didn't work. Be easier to just focus on skating."

She smiled—the kind of smile that disarmed every argument. "You're still young. One day, you'll be greater than your father. But for now… let yourself live."

Vin frowned. "How can I be greater? Dad's already done everything."

Her hands rested gently on his shoulders.

"Why are you chasing his shadow, Vin? When you can be your own sun."

He wanted to argue, but her warmth cut through him.

For a fleeting moment, everything felt simple again—family close, sunlight warm, the day ordinary.

Then came the snickers.

"Aww, mommy's boy!" a kid jeered.

Vin glared and flipped them off.

"Vin!" Hellen scolded, swatting his head.

"Okay, okay!" he muttered, backing away.

He began walking away when a gust of wind swept across the rooftop. Then another—stronger, unnatural.

He stopped moving. The air pulsed.

Something about the world itself felt different...

Wrong.

The next instant, a blinding light erupted behind him. White swallowed everything.

He spun around, eyes squinting against the flare. No fireworks. No warning. Just a crack in the world itself—a jagged tear in the air like frozen lightning, humming and shifting colors.

When the light dimmed, half the crowd was gone.

Vin's mind emptied.

His mother.

His father.

Macy.

Gone.

The space where they'd stood shimmered—empty, wrong, silent.

His board hit the ground with a hollow clack, and the sound echoed like the world itself had stopped breathing.

His family—the people he called home—was gone.