Null hit the ground hard.
No dramatic fall. No final words. Just the dull thud of an unconscious body meeting concrete, limbs sprawled at awkward angles.
Lana's mind went blank.
One moment her brother had been walking beside her. The next—gone. Dropped like a puppet with cut strings.
She spun.
Leo stood behind her. His hand still extended from the injection. Another syringe already aimed at her neck.
"I know all your tricks now," he said. Voice flat. Eyes harder than she'd ever seen them.
Lana's hand moved before thought. She slapped the syringe aside.
"What is wrong with you?!" Her voice cracked. "We've been searching for you for so long—and the moment we find you, you do THIS to my brother?!"
Leo's arm dropped.
Something shifted in his expression. The hardness crumbled. Doubt crept in. Then recognition.
They're real.
She's real.
And I just...
"I'm sorry." The words came out small. Pathetic. He'd wasted one of the injections. On Null. On his best friend.
"Sorry?" Lana's voice trembled. Tears were already spilling down her cheeks. "Do you think 'sorry' cures everything? Do you think 'sorry' makes this okay?"
Leo's chest tightened. Those tears. That look on her face. It carved something hollow inside him.
"I'm sorry," he said again.
"Why do you keep saying that? Again and again? It doesn't make my brother ALIVE!"
Silence.
Leo blinked. "Alive?"
He looked down at Null's crumpled form. Then back at Lana. Then back at Null.
"Oh. Oh no. Lana, I think you misunderstand."
He crouched beside Null's body. Gestured vaguely.
"He's not dead. He's just unconscious."
Lana stopped crying.
Sniffled.
Wiped her eyes with her sleeve.
"...Are you sure?"
Leo felt a laugh building in his chest—completely inappropriate, completely unstoppable. "It was actually kind of funny that you directly assumed he was dead."
"Can you stop saying it was funny?!" Lana's voice pitched high. "Do you even realize how scared I was? You think this is a joke?"
The laughter died in Leo's throat.
Right. Not the time.
"Sorry. Please forgive me."
"No."
"Why?"
"Because I hate you."
Leo winced. Fair. Completely fair.
"But I still apologize."
"Why do you do that?" Lana's eyes were red, but her glare remained fierce. "Why keep apologizing when I already told you no?"
"Because the person hunting us can shapeshift now. Into anyone. I've encountered so many fakes tonight—people who tried to kill me the moment I got close. When I saw you..." Leo's voice faltered. He lowered his head. "I thought you weren't real."
A pause.
Then he bowed. A full bow. Hands at his sides. Head low.
"I'm so sorry for doing this to Null. Truly. I know words aren't enough."
Lana looked away. "Stop apologizing. It won't get you off my hated list."
"I understand."
Leo straightened. Reached into his pocket. Pulled out the four remaining syringes.
"Take these."
Lana stared at the needles. "Why?"
"You need to inject them into Null."
"WHY?"
"These injections increase magical energy. They'll boost his ability. It'll help us fight."
Lana's hands didn't move to take them. "And what about you? What are you going to do?"
"I'll keep him busy."
"How? HOW are you going to do that alone?"
Leo opened his mouth. Closed it. A thought struck him.
Wait. Lana has levitation. That could help. If I could copy it...
"Lana." His voice shifted. More focused now. "Can I copy your ability?"
She blinked at him. The tears had mostly dried, leaving clean tracks through the grime on her cheeks.
"Hmm. Okay. If it helps you."
Leo closed his eyes.
Darkness.
Then—something.
Not darkness anymore. A stone. Floating in the void behind his eyelids. Glowing pink. Soft. Warm. It pulsed with a gentle light, like a heartbeat made visible.
Come closer.
The stone drifted toward him.
"Leo. Leo. What are you doing?"
Lana's voice. Distant. Strange.
"And why am I in the sky?!"
Leo's eyes snapped open.
Lana hung suspended in the air. Her body limp. Eyes closed. Unconscious.
No. No, no, no—
He caught her before she could fall. Lowered her gently to the ground. His heart hammered against his ribs.
Then her eyes fluttered open.
Leo exhaled. Thank god.
But something was wrong. Something had changed. He could feel it.
He raised a finger.
Lana stopped moving. Completely. Frozen mid-breath.
He lowered his finger.
She gasped. Blinked. Consciousness flooding back into her eyes.
Does that mean... I can lift consciousness from living beings?
"HEY!" Lana's voice shattered his focus. "What are you doing with my body?!"
"Sorry! Thank you! Bye!"
Leo ran.
His feet pounded against concrete as he disappeared into the darkness, mind racing faster than his legs.
This is great. If I'm right, we can defeat him. Please let this work. Please.
---
Lana watched him go.
"I think he has some kind of mental illness," she muttered.
A groan from behind her.
Null was stirring. Pushing himself upright. Hand pressed against his temple like his skull might crack open.
"Hey. What happened to me?" His voice came out rough. Gravelly. "Why does my head feel so heavy?"
Lana knelt beside him. Told him everything. The injection. Leo. The apology. The syringes.
Null listened in silence.
"But how can he do this alone?" he asked when she finished.
"I don't know either. But it looked like he had a plan." She glanced at the syringes in her hand. "He said I have to inject these into you."
"Why?"
"I don't know. He just said they'll help us defeat the person hunting us."
Null reached out. Took one syringe from her hand. Studied the clear liquid inside.
"Fine. If he said this helps us, then it helps us."
He plunged the needle into his arm.
Nothing.
The seconds stretched. No light. No pain. No change at all.
"Maybe it takes time," Lana offered.
Null grabbed another syringe.
"Brother!" Lana grabbed his wrist. "You already injected yourself once!"
"Don't worry. Nothing happened. And if something does happen..." He met her eyes. A ghost of his usual confidence flickered there. "You're here to help me."
"You're becoming too overcon
fident," Lana said quietly.
But Null wasn't listening.
Second injection. Third. Fourth.
All four emptied into his veins.
For a moment—nothing.
The silence stretched like a held breath.
Then something shifted.