Mars Time: 22:30, February 17, 2295

  The Slumbering Mantis Inn, Lane 37, Alfalfa Street, Dragon District, Xing Hong

  Everything happened at once.

  Xin's hand moved to the modified 10mm in his jacket even as his mind screamed that this wasn't his fight.

  H?kon had already made the choice for them, tiny claws extended, a low growl rumbling from his chest.

  [Weapon drawn: Jade, 10mm Magnum, Imperial Islander Variant]

  "Bheda Atisīmā." Xin whispered in Devavā?ī, the words coming from memory of late-night study sessions.

  [Void Spell Activated: Pierce Beyond - Weapon Enhancement]

  [Jade (10mm Magnum) - AI Targeting Engaged]

  His emerald green gun suddenly felt alive in his hand, the neural interface connecting through his black-rimmed glasses, overlaying targeting data directly onto his vision. Red wireframes outlined the four attackers, calculating trajectories, weak points, optimal firing solutions.

  The lead man's 10mm was already rising—

  Jade moved Xin's hand before his conscious mind could react. The gun's weight shifted, pulling his arm into the correct alignment.

  His bullet caught the man's gun hand, sending the weapon spinning away. The scarred man roared, clutching his bleeding wrist.

  Beside him, Jabari had already drawn a Moonstone Cutlass's pearl-bronze blade as he flowed into motion. "Guess we're doing this!"

  The second attacker rushed Jabari with a silverite knife, but the Griot sidestepped easily, his cutlass's pommel driving into the man's solar plexus.

  "Rakta Unmāda — Pravartatām!" Fuuka's voice rang out, her hands weaving complex patterns as crimson energy gathered around her fingers. Then her Spirit Lantern's glow shifted to match.

  [Eclipse Spell received: Blood Frenzy - Friendly-Target Enhancement]

  The spell washed over Jabari and Xin, and suddenly everything felt sharper, faster. Xin's muscles burned with borrowed strength, his reflexes heightened to an almost painful degree.

  A thin line of blood appeared on Fuuka's palm where she'd sacrificed a tiny nail to fuel the enhancement.

  The third attacker's shock baton swung toward Xin's head. He tried to dodge, but even with enhanced agility, he wasn't fast enough—

  "SKJ?LD!" H?kon's tiny voice boomed with surprising volume.

  [Lunar Spell received: Little Moon Barrier]

  A shimmering blue shield materialized to envelop Xin just as the baton connected, the electricity dispersing harmlessly across the barrier's surface. The attacker stumbled back, shocked.

  "Good dragon!" Xin's Jade guided his aim again, the AI calculating the perfect shot through the dissipating barrier.

  The man went down screaming, baton clattering away.

  Meanwhile, Fuuka had drawn the fourth attacker's attention. The man fired wildly at her, but she moved like smoke, her kimono flowing as she dodged with grace.

  "Vyālī? prajvala!" Her hands traced fire in the air.

  Xin listened to the incantation. Understanding the syntax. Serpentine Flame. It was a signature Mirage spell he'd seen in one of the Extranet spell archives.

  A serpent of violet flame erupted from her outstretched palm, coiling around the shooter. He screamed, dropping his weapon as the violet fire burned, overwhelming him with agony.

  The enemy's leader, clutching his wounded wrist, pulled a backup piece—a sawed-off shotgun hidden in his coat. He aimed it at Xin with his off-hand.

  The world slowed. Xin saw the barrel swinging toward him, saw H?kon's scales shifting to terrified brown, saw his own death in the man's eyes—

  Then two things happened simultaneously.

  Jabari's cutlass swept, the Moonstone blade humming as it severed the shotgun's barrel, rendering it useless.

  And Jade pulled Xin's finger on the trigger three times in rapid succession, the AI guiding each shot.

  The scarred man looked down at the spreading red on his chest before he collapsed.

  "Chen and Bo were my brothers!" The man with the shattered knee pulled a grenade from his vest, desperation overriding pain.

  Everyone moved at once. Jabari dove for cover, pulling a patron down with him. Xin grabbed H?kon, shielding the little dragon with his body. The grenade's pin rang against the floor—

  Fuuka didn't move. She simply smiled.

  "Darpa?a Māyājāla."

  Xin didn't understand this one, but he didn't need to.

  Suddenly there were two Fuukas, both moving. The wounded man's eyes darted between them, unable to determine which was real. In his confusion, he held the grenade too long.

  "Down!" Jabari shouted.

  The explosion was smaller than expected flashbang, not frag. The man had grabbed the wrong one in his panic. White light and deafening sound filled the inn. When Xin's vision cleared, blinking away afterimages, the attacker was on the ground, knocked unconscious by his own device.

  The remaining two—the one Jabari had winded and the one writhing from Serpentine Flame—looked at their fallen comrades, then at each other.

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  "Buddha's balls, fuck this—" one gasped, and they both ran for the door.

  Jabari moved to pursue, but Fuuka raised a hand. "Let them go. They'll spread word that the Worm Witch has allies. Fear is more useful than corpses."

  The inn had mostly emptied during the fight, patrons fleeing through doors and windows. Only a few remained—the truly drunk or the professionally unimpressed. Iron Roach hadn't even stopped polishing his glass.

  Xin's hands shook as he holstered Jade, the AI-targeting powering off. His shoulder throbbed where two bullets had struck his puffer jacket during the chaos, the ballistic weave having absorbed the impacts. He reached for the Medi-Vap in his pocket, pressing it to his lips and inhaling deeply.

  [Health Replenishing → Restored]

  "Pappa okay?" H?kon nuzzled against his neck, scales slowly fading from brown back to their usual blue.

  "Yeah, buddy. Thanks to you." Xin stroked the little dragon's scales. "That was an amazing shield."

  "HAW-koon protect Pappa!" The little Diabolisk declared.

  Fuuka surveyed the carnage with the same calm she'd shown throughout. Two bodies lay still, blood pooling on the inn's worn floorboards. She raised her hand, speaking words that made Xin's skin crawl.

  "Aage aao, guda krmi."

  Something moved beneath her kimono's sleeve. No, not beneath—through, as if the fabric were merely a gateway. A sinuous form emerged, vine-like but wrong, its black surface glistening with an oil-slick sheen. The carrion worm was as thin as Xin's arm, but easily three meters long, with no visible eyes or mouth until it split open like a flower made of meat, revealing rows of grinding yellow teeth.

  The worm went to work with horrifying speed, consuming the bodies plus every trace of blood, bone fragments, even the scattered brass casings from the fight. Within a minute, it was as if the violence had never happened. The floor was cleaner than before, the air somehow fresher.

  The worm turned toward Fuuka, and for one terrifying moment, Xin wondered if it would eat them too. But it simply slithered back up her sleeve, disappearing into wherever such things dwelt when not needed.

  Xin couldn't help staring at her kimono, wondering where exactly on—or in—Fuuka's body the creature resided. The thought made him queasy.

  "There we are," Fuuka said brightly, like she hadn't just commanded an eldritch horror to devour two corpses. "Much tidier, desho?"

  They returned to their table, where their meal waited, somehow untouched by the violence.

  "Not bad for a civilian." Jabari commented as he sheathed his cutlass, sitting down. "Though that AI-targeting did most of the work, I bet."

  "I have H?kon, too." Xin gestured to his left shoulder.

  "HAW-koon strong!" H?kon puffed up, scales going proud gold. "Protect Pappa!"

  At his words, Fuuka raised her Nucleus Watch to scan the baby Radi-Mon. Soft violet light wrapped around H?kon harmlessly before fading.

  "Flower Lady do more magic?" H?kon tilted his head.

  "Studying you, cutie." Fuuka said gently as she focused on her watch's holographic readout:

  [Species: Diabolisk, Age: 3, Status: Healthy (Note: Unexplained stunted growth), IQ estimate: 130]

  "Three years old with the cognitive capacity of a human child three times that age." She lowered her wrist. "But his growth is severely stunted. A Diabolisk this age should be the size of a large dog."

  "Is that bad?" Xin's hand tightened protectively on H?kon's small form as he lifted the hatchling from his shoulder to gently place him on the table.

  "Unknown. I've never heard of it happening before." Fuuka's tone was clinical, but not unkind. "He may simply be a late bloomer. Or something in his early development went wrong. Either way, he's healthy now."

  "That's what matters." Xin returned his attention to his tofu, appetite returning now that the adrenaline was fading.

  H?kon yawned, a tiny squeaking sound, his scales flickering between curious azure and sleepy gray. "Flower Lady smart," he mumbled, nestling deeper against Xin's jacket, claws gripping it.

  "Tired, buddy?" Xin stroked his scales.

  "No tired. Just...resss-ting." Another yawn. "HAW-koon listen good."

  Jabari leaned forward, his earlier humor replaced with serious intent. "Listen, Xin. About that High-Grade Zephyrium bounty—"

  "I know what you're going to say."

  "Then you know you shouldn't take it." Jabari's finger tapped on the table. "The entrances are outside city limits. The Karma Moor is crawling with Fenris scouts. You're not equipped for that kind of operation."

  "Bad place?" H?kon's head drooped, scales dimming further to gray. "Pappa...no go bad place..."

  His tiny claws loosened their grip on Xin's jacket as his eyes started closing.

  Xin placed a hand protectively over H?kon, letting him rest. "Dangerous, yes. But the money—"

  "Isn't worth dying for. Trust me, I've seen what's out there." Jabari's voice carried weight of experience. "Those abandoned tunnels are too much for people like you. Civilians who think intelligence alone will keep them alive."

  Fuuka sipped her tea, watching the exchange. Meanwhile, H?kon was dozing, the little dragon's scales in sleepy gray.

  "So…you think you'll survive?" Xin asked.

  "I'm confident I will. Maybe borderline stupid, but confident." Jabari's grin returned. "I have abilities you don't. Training you don't. Experience you don't."

  "So I should just give up?"

  "I'm saying there are other ways to make money that don't involve becoming Bone Fiend food." Jabari pushed back from the table, standing. "Think about it. For H?kon's sake, if not your own."

  The little dragon mumbled something unintelligible against Xin's arm.

  Shazmeen appeared then, collecting their empty dishes with practiced efficiency. "Settling up?"

  "Put it on my tab," Jabari started, but Fuuka raised a hand.

  "Allow me." She produced a credit chip, pressing it to the payment terminal Shazmeen offered. "Consider it a thank you for the entertainment. That AI-enhanced shooting was quite impressive."

  "You don't have to—"

  "I insist." Her smile was genuine, if enigmatic.

  The transaction completed, Shazmeen nodded and withdrew.

  Jabari collected his things, checking his belt. "Well then. I should be going. Early start tomorrow if I'm going after that Zephyrium myself."

  "Good luck," Xin said, meaning it.

  "Luck is for amateurs." Jabari's grin was confidence incarnate. He headed for the door, and as it opened, Xin heard him whistling—a cheerful, complex melody that seemed at odds with their conversation's seriousness.

  The door swung shut, leaving Xin alone with Fuuka and a sleeping H?kon.

  "He's right, you know." Fuuka's fingers traced the rim of her teacup. "You'll die if you try."

  "Maybe."

  "Definitely." She leaned forward. "But you're going to try anyway, aren't you?"

  Xin looked down at H?kon, feeling the little dragon's tiny weight against his puffer jacket's fabric, the trust implicit in that weight. Fifty thousand credits. A real life. A future.

  "I haven't decided yet."

  "Liar." Her smile held no judgment. "You've already planned three different approaches and discarded two as too risky."

  She wasn't wrong.

  H?kon stirred, yawning widely enough to show all his tiny teeth. "Pappa...go home now? HAW-koon sleepy..."

  "Yeah, buddy. Let's go home." Xin stood carefully, adjusting his grip on the drowsy Diabolisk.

  "A wise choice." Fuuka remained seated. "At least for tonight."

  "Thanks for dinner. And for...everything else."

  "My pleasure. Truly." She raised her teacup in a small salute. "Try not to die, Xin. I'd like to see what you do next."

  He wasn't sure if that was encouragement or curiosity, but he nodded and headed for the door.

  Iron Roach looked up from polishing his eternal glass as Xin passed. The cyborg's expression was unreadable, but something in his posture suggested approval.

  "The witch paid your tab," Roach said without preamble.

  "Yeah. She mentioned."

  "Good. You'll need the money for your funeral."

  Xin couldn't help but chuckle. "Everyone keeps saying that."

  "Because it's true." Roach returned to his glass. "But you've got spirit. I'll give you that."

  Outside, Mars's twin moons—Phobos and Deimos—hung in the rust-colored sky. Xin walked home through Dragon District's winding streets, H?kon a warm weight against his chest. The little dragon mumbled in his sleep. "Shiny treasures bring maah-ny. Buy meat buns. Good good eat…"

  "The best buns, buddy." Xin said to the Diabolisk, stroking his tiny back.

  He thought about Sigrun out there in the darkness, heading toward those same tunnels. Alone. Determined. Dangerous.

  He thought about fifty thousand credits and what they could mean. Real food. A better apartment. Maybe even proper medical care for H?kon's growth issues.

  He thought about Jabari's warning and Fuuka's certainty that he'd try anyway.

  "Alright, boy," he whispered to sleeping H?kon. "Let's go home and see what we can figure out."

  The little dragon's only response was a soft snore that might have been agreement.