The cold wind of Upper Venosa sliced through the narrow alleyways as Franko, Irena, Savio, Caros, and the rest of the crew trudged along with Lucino wrapped in an old thermal blanket. The city had changed since the attack — not just physically, but in spirit. What once buzzed with the electric hum of floating transports and neon lights now lay quiet, flickering, like a ghost of what it had been.
They had taken refuge in an abandoned train station. The place reeked of rust and forgotten oil, but it was defensible, and more importantly — off-grid.
Franko stood near a shattered window, staring at the moon hanging low over the ruined skyline.
Irena (approaching):
"You haven't said much since we escaped. You okay?"
Franko:
"Not really. My whole life I thought I was just… nobody. But now I find out my father was part of Zacrota? That the crown is real? That I might be the key to something bigger?"
Irena:
"Truth doesn't always come with comfort. But it gives us power."
Franko gave her a half-smile. It faded quickly as he turned back to the moon.
Franko:
"And if I'm really the key… what happens if I break?"
Meanwhile, Lucino had regained some strength. He sat with Savio and Caros around a rusted table, sipping from a chipped mug of synthetic tea.
Caros (sniffing):
"This tastes like battery acid."
Savio:
"That's because it is battery acid. With lemon."
Lucino (weak chuckle):
"You boys haven't changed a bit."
Caros:
"Would've helped if we knew you were alive. You could've at least sent a postcard from your coma chamber."
Lucino sighed.
Lucino:
"I had no choice. The trap was meant to extract everything from me. My thoughts. My memories. Zacrota wanted to know where I hid the map."
Savio:
"What map?"
Lucino:
"The map to the Vault. The place where the Black Crown is kept."
Silence.
Even Caros stopped complaining about the tea.
Lucino:
"The Vault is beneath the capital ruins. Buried under a fortress called The Red Spire. Only a few knew about it — me, your old captain Luchini, and your leader, Marco."
Savio:
"But Luchini's dead…"
Lucino:
"Then we need Marco. We need him to remember."
At the same time, Franko rejoined the group.
Franko:
"If we go back to the capital, we'll be walking into Zacrota's trap."
Lucino:
"They expect us to come. But not how we'll come."
Caros (smirking):
"Oooh, are we doing one of those 'nobody would be dumb enough to try this' plans?"
Lucino (nodding):
"Exactly. We use the tunnels below Sector 9. Old train lines — Zacrota abandoned them years ago because of the mold outbreaks."
Savio:
"Mold? That stuff mutates electronics. Our gear might glitch."
Irena:
"Then we go analog. Old weapons, hard maps, nothing connected."
Franko paced in silence, thinking.
Then finally, he spoke.
Franko:
"We move at dawn. Tonight, we rest."
---
Later That Night...
Franko sat alone, sorting through his father's old notebook, which Lucino had given him earlier. Pages were filled with encrypted entries, sketches of robotic cores, diagrams of the crown, and most disturbingly — drawings of a masked figure wearing bull horns. Napol.
One page stood out. A message scribbled across the bottom in his father's handwriting:
> "The game ends where it began. Protect the pawn. The king is blind."
Franko (to himself):
"What does that even mean?"
Voice (softly):
"It means your father was smarter than all of us."
Marco stepped from the shadows, carrying a dusty sword.
Marco:
"He knew Zacrota couldn't be beaten head-on. So he left a trail."
Franko:
"And I'm part of that trail?"
Marco nodded.
Marco:
"You're the player he left on the board."
---
The Next Morning...
They prepared. Savio and Caros modified old firearms and fashioned crude explosives. Irena mapped out the sewer line from Sector 9 to the Red Spire. Franko practiced with the sword Marco had given him.
As they entered the tunnel entrance, the darkness welcomed them with a suffocating silence.
Caros (whispering):
"If I die from mold poisoning, I'm haunting everyone."
Savio:
"At least then you'll be useful."
Irena:
"Quiet. I hear something."
Distant echoes. Metal on metal.
Lucino (grim):
"Drones. We're not alone down here."
---
Deep Within the Tunnels...
The group stumbled across a massive chamber — a forgotten robotic repair bay. Giant mechanical arms dangled from the ceiling, long dead.
Suddenly, lights flickered on.
Napol's Voice (amplified):
"You come crawling through dirt and shadow… hoping to take what belongs to us."
From behind massive walls, two assault bots emerged — enhanced with organic muscle and nanotech armor.
Franko (to team):
"Scatter and hit hard!"
The chamber exploded into chaos.
Savio launched a smoke grenade, blinding the bots.
Irena fired EMP darts into one's leg, while Caros scaled the arm of another, planting charges on its neck.
Marco dueled with a third, sword clashing against clawed arms.
Franko ducked, rolled, and sprinted to reach the main panel where Napol's voice came from.
Napol (taunting):
"You are no king, Franko. Just a pawn wearing his father's shadow."
Franko (angrily):
"Then I'll become a knight."
He slammed the override button, and the ceiling collapsed partially on the bots, giving them time to escape.
Breathing hard, covered in dirt and grease, the team regrouped.
Lucino approached Franko and placed a hand on his shoulder.
Lucino:
"You're beginning to move like him."
Franko didn't respond. His eyes were fixed on the towering shadow of the Red Spire in the distance, barely visible through the cracked end of the tunnel.
Franko (softly):
"This ends with me. Or them."
And with that, the team marched toward the storm.