Adventure of Absolute the hellhound boy 1

The police tape suddenly goes slack. A compact armored figure steps from the underpass shadow, their matte plates beaded with rain; one gauntlet sparks, and a red emergency beacon blinks on their shoulder.

The responder raises a cracked phone between two armored fingers. Its dead screen reflects Absolute's mismatched eyes while the wolf woman keeps her recovered wallet clutched against her hoodie.

A faint pulse clicks from the phone, too regular to be a damaged speaker. The beacon on Vesper's shoulder answers with a nervous red flash, and the underpass darkness seems to tighten around them.

Absolute keeps his voice steady over the phone's clicking pulse. Vesper studies him through the rain-streaked visor, then lowers the cracked device without accepting the invitation.

Vesper twists open a small panel on the phone. A dim blue route map flickers across the dead screen, marking a service corridor beneath the freight underpass.

The map stabilizes just long enough to reveal a blinking access hatch behind a chained utility fence. Vesper points toward it as the phone's pulse quickens.

For a moment, only the phone's clicking answers. Vesper's red beacon steadies, then the armored responder steps toward the chained fence instead of backing away.

Vesper hooks the cracked phone to their gauntlet, accepting the tracking risk. The blue route map brightens as they cut through the utility fence's chain with a brief electric snap.

The hatch behind the fence unlocks with a heavy click. Cold air rises from the service corridor, carrying the faint pulse deeper underground as Vesper takes position beside Absolute.

Absolute's invitation hangs beneath the rain and the phone's measured clicking. Vesper studies him through the visor, one gauntlet still resting on the opened hatch.

The answer is cooperation without trust. Vesper clips the cracked phone to their gauntlet, then marks a hard boundary across the glowing route map.

The phone clicks faster. Blue light spills down the concrete steps, revealing damp walls, old conduit, and a second locked door deeper in the service corridor.

Vesper descends first, beacon dimmed to a narrow red slit. The hatch remains open behind them, while the wolf woman keeps watch in the rain above.

Vesper pauses on the concrete steps, visor reflecting the phone's blue route map. Above, the wolf woman remains by the open hatch, watching the rain and the street.

Vesper descends beside Absolute and clips the cracked phone securely to the gauntlet. The device's pulse steadies, painting a narrow blue path toward the locked door.

The hatch settles shut behind them, muting the rain. Cold conduit-lined air surrounds the pair as they reach the second door, its electronic lock glowing beneath the route map.

His invitation carries up through the open hatch. The wolf woman looks from the rain-dark street to the descending tunnel, then grips her wallet and steps inside.

Nadia pulls the hatch shut behind her and descends quickly. Vesper's visor turns toward her, while the phone's blue pulse crawls across the locked door.

The agreement settles into a wary three-person search. Nadia points to a manual release beneath the lock, while Vesper prepares the tracker and the door begins to unlock.

Keep Nadia safe

The invitation lands cleanly in the narrow corridor. Nadia studies Absolute for one breath, then steps fully beside him instead of remaining near the hatch.

Nadia crouches beside the locked door and points beneath its electronic panel. A dusty manual release is hidden behind a removable conduit cover.

Nadia removes the conduit cover without disturbing the circuitry. Behind it, she finds a paper freight map, marked with a red circle around a maintenance room beyond the locked door.

Absolute calls Ray's name into the maintenance room and listens. The phone's pulse fades beneath a second sound: hurried breathing, then footsteps approaching through the dark.

Ray emerges, lean and pale-faced, with close-cropped black hair and a narrow scar at his jaw, beneath the failing light, an exhausted young man in a torn gray jacket. Absolute runs to him, but Ray's gaze shifts past his face toward Nadia and Vesper.

For one stark instant, Ray looks at Absolute as his brother. Then he drives a concealed blade into Absolute's chest. The impact is sudden and controlled, without blood shown.

Ray kicks Absolute backward toward his team. Nadia catches his shoulder while Vesper braces him, gauntlet flashing as the tracker shrieks against the concrete.

Behind Ray, darkness gathers into a tall, wavering silhouette. The air turns cold, and despair from the dark stands with him as the hidden blade slips from Ray's hand.

Nadia and Vesper help Absolute upright. His hand presses against his chest as he looks past them to his brother, while the dark silhouette trembles behind Ray.

The answer cuts through the room's cold pressure. Nadia keeps one arm under Absolute's shoulder, and Vesper angles the sparking gauntlet toward the silhouette.

The silhouette bends toward Ray, stretching across the concrete without touching him. Ray plants his feet and raises both empty hands, forcing himself between it and Absolute.

Nadia shifts her grip beneath Absolute's arm and presses a folded strip of cloth against his chest wound. Vesper steps between him and Ray, gauntlet whining.

Vesper plants a boot and drives the sparking gauntlet toward the wavering silhouette. A blue containment lattice spreads across the floor, forcing the darkness back from Ray.

Ray's shoulders shake as the silhouette coils behind him. He reaches toward the containment lattice, but the darkness lashes across the concrete and the phone's pulse becomes a shriek.

Nadia tightens the improvised dressing while Vesper's lattice flickers. The silhouette presses against the blue boundary, and Ray remains trapped between the spreading dark and the three rescuers.

Nadia and Vesper haul Absolute upright as he draws his sword. His chest wound pulls sharply with the movement, but he plants his feet and reaches toward Ray.

Absolute advances through the flickering lattice, trying to seize Ray and drag him toward the maintenance-room exit. The darkness tightens around Ray like a resisting current.

His hand closes around Ray's sleeve, but the blue lattice snaps upward between them. The recoil drives Absolute back into Nadia's support, leaving Ray stranded on the far side.

Keep the despair away from civilians

Nadia and Vesper haul Absolute upright as he faces Ray across the flickering lattice. His promise hangs in the cold room, steady despite the danger pressing around them.

Ray steps toward the lattice and raises both hands. The silhouette recoils from his choice, its wavering outline thinning as Vesper redirects the containment field around him.

Nadia tightens the cloth against Absolute's chest while guiding him back from the unstable boundary. Vesper cuts the lattice power, and the manual service door behind Ray unlocks with a heavy click.

Ray crosses the dead lattice and reaches Absolute safely. Nadia keeps pressure on the wound as the four of them move toward the open service door, with the dark silhouette shrinking behind them.