Chapter 22: — “Into the Umbra: Part 3 — Follow, Point, Shoot and... Being Dragged?!”

The deafening roar of the engine grew closer. Kaito twisted against the rock pinning his leg, clawing at it, shoving, anything, nothing worked. His throat went raw from shouting.

“HEY! STOP! FUCKING STOP! YOU PIECE OF SHIT!” he bellowed at the incoming truck, but the driver didn’t even flinch. The truck rammer’s floodlights blinded him, turning the world into a blinding white glow of death speeding toward him.

Kaito’s pulse hammered in his ears. He yanked at his blaster, fired straight at the windshield once again, but the reinforced plating just sparked and spat the bolts back at him. “Shit shit! That’s obviously not gonna work!”

His eyes darted wildly, searching for anything, just anything. That’s when he spotted a massive steel cargo box half-buried in the shadows a few meters away. Heavy enough. Dense enough. Maybe…

“Alright, box… you’re my miracle ticket.” He ripped his grappler from his belt, aimed with trembling hands, and fired. The line latched, but the damn thing barely budged.

The truck roared closer. The ground trembled under his body.

“COME ON, COME ON, YOU STUPID FUCKING BOX!” Kaito screamed, yanking the grappler with every ounce of strength left in his arms. Sparks from the truck’s headlights licked his skin. It was only meters away now, seconds before it crushed him into pulp.

Finally, with a groan of metal, the steel box lurched forward. Kaito roared, dragging it into position, and with a desperate heave he shot it across the ground right into the truck’s wheel path.

The impact was immediate. Instead of flattening Kaito, the rammer lurched violently upward, riding up the angled surface of the steel box. The driver slammed the controls, but the heavy machine was already climbing like a beast over the obstacle, the undercarriage scraping sparks.

Kaito had no time to celebrate. He ducked, flattening himself under the chassis as the massive truck thundered overhead. The sound was deafening, gears grinding and steel shrieking above him. The stench of oil and exhaust filled his lungs.

Pinned no longer, he ripped at his trapped pants leg, tearing off a chunk of fabric. “Goddammit... that was favorite pair too,” he muttered bitterly, tossing the torn cloth aside as he scrambled free.

He dove behind a concrete wall just as the truck rammer slammed back to the ground with a violent crash. Dust and sparks rained down around him.

Panting hard, his chest rising and falling like a drum, Kaito pressed his back against the wall. His palms were slick with sweat, his heartbeat pounding through his skull. He stared at the box that had saved him.

“Lucky fucking bastard I am,” he muttered to himself, half in disbelief, half in mock gratitude to the hunk of steel.

If it hadn’t been there… he would’ve been nothing but red paste on the asphalt.

Kaito pressed himself harder against the concrete wall, eyes darting as the massive truck rammer groaned behind him. The engine shifted into reverse, tires crunching over debris.

He peeked around the edge, and froze. Behind the truck was a massive trailer, guarded by armed men moving cargo boxes, tapping on devices, clearly coordinating something. Kaito’s stomach dropped.

“…Should we go after the kid?” one guard asked, voice casual.

The driver, leaning against the rig, waved a dismissive hand. “He’s not worth it. Let him run.”

Kaito’s pulse spiked. Relief… only fleeting.

The driver continued, speaking to himself now, “Better head toward the basement. Gotta check if anything’s missing, make sure nothing’s stolen.”

Kaito’s eyes widened. The basement. Rin and Yuzuki. They were already on their way. If that truck rammer made it down there…

He slammed a fist against the wall. “No! NO! THEY’RE GONNA—” His voice cracked.

He muttered under his breath, pacing behind the wall. “Think… think… THINK, DAMMIT! THINK!”

Every second stretched into eternity as he weighed his options. He had to stop the truck, or at least divert it, before the girls got squashed. The adrenaline surged, every nerve screaming.

Kaito’s brain fired on overdrive, scanning the area for anything he could use. A piece of debris, a nearby vehicle, a dangling chain… something.

“Think, Kaito… THINK!” he muttered again, jaw clenched, eyes locked on the moving death machine heading straight for the basement.

Kaito heard the engine roar, and before he could react, the truck lurched forward. His eyes went wide.
“Shit, shit shit shit—”

He snapped the grappler up and fired at the back of the trailer. The hook locked onto the frame with a heavy clang. For a split second, relief flickered, then the cable went taut.

And Kaito was ripped off his feet.

“AAAHHHHH, FUCK!” His body scraped against the ground as the truck dragged him like a ragdoll, sparks flying from his boots against concrete. Pain shot through his arms, gravel tearing into his clothes and skin.

Guards on top of the trailer spun around, pointing. “Driver! The kid’s hooked on! He’s being dragged with us!”

Through the side window, the driver spotted him, and his expression twisted into disgust. “Don’t just stand there, SHOOT HIM! He’s dead weight, drop him already!”

Bullets rained down. Sparks and concrete chips exploded all around Kaito. Somehow, every shot missed. Kaito gritted his teeth, blood on his lips, screaming through the chaos.
“Is that all you assholes got? My grandma’s aim was better than this,and she’s been dead for ten years!”

A guard swore. “What the hell... he’s taunting us?!”

Another ducked behind a crate, fumbling to reload. “This brat’s being dragged at sixty kilometers an hour and he still has better aim than us!”

The driver banged the steering wheel. “SHOOT THE FUCKING KID OR I’LL KILL ALL OF YOU MYSELF!”

Through the blur of pain and adrenaline, Kaito staggered onto his feet while still clutching the grappler cable. His body screamed in protest, but he refused to let go. He raised his blaster with his free hand and fired wildly.

Blue bolts sizzled through the night air. Most went wide, but not all. Two guards fell back screaming, clutching burns across their shoulders.

Kaito smirked through bloodied teeth. “Hah! Who’s the amateur now?”

The driver’s eyes bulged. “Are you shitting me?! He’s better than you idiots while being dragged!?”

He yanked the wheel hard. The truck veered right, tires shrieking.

“WHOOAAAHHH!” Kaito’s body flung sideways, smashing into a stack of cargo boxes. Wood splintered, water-filled cylinders bursting around him, soaking him through. His ribs flared with pain. His grip nearly broke. Nearly.

“LET. GO. DAMN. IT!” the driver roared, jerking the wheel left, then right.

Kaito swung wildly back and forth like a pendulum, crashing into barrels, crates, anything unlucky enough to be in the truck’s path. Each impact tore more of his clothes, blood streaking his arms and legs. But still, impossibly, his hand clenched the grappler like iron.

The guards, sprawled across the trailer, groaned in dizziness from the swerving. One rolled over and shouted weakly, “How… the fuck… is he still holding on!?”

The driver slammed his fist on the dash, face red with rage. “HOOOOWWWW?! You useless sacks of shit! GET UP AND SHOOT THE KID! HOLD HIM OFF!”

Kaito coughed, dragging in a wet breath, then spat blood onto the ground as he swung. His voice cracked but still carried venom.
“You’re all pathetic. A truck, a dozen guards, a trigger-happy driver, and you STILL can’t take down one goddamn teenager?!”

He laughed through the blood and grit. A laugh that made even the guards hesitate.
“Keep trying, assholes. I’m not letting go until every one of you dies.”

The driver yanked the wheel one last violent time, and Kaito felt the cable jerk. His eyes went wide.

“No, no, no—!”

The grappler’s claw screeched free from the trailer. Momentum flung him across the air like a broken kite. He smashed onto the roof of a nearby building with a bone-rattling thud.

“FUUUCK!” he screamed, clutching his ribs, spitting blood onto the rooftop gravel.

He staggered to his feet, dazed. The truck wasn’t far. Its massive frame rumbled down the road, heading straight toward the basement entrance. His chest tightened. Yuzuki. Rin.

“This is it,” he muttered. “Last shot, or I’m fucked.”

Kaito raised the grappler, hands shaking. He took a breath. “C’mon. Steady… steady…”

He fired.

THUNK!

Bullseye.

The claw didn’t just latch onto the truck, it speared clean through a guard’s torso and buried itself in a cargo box. The guard screamed in agony, flailing as blood stained his uniform.

Kaito grinned, savage. “Perfect.”

The grappler reeled him in, hurling him across the gap. The other guards noticed, panic flashing in their eyes.

“HE’S COMING BACK!”
“SHOOT HIM! SHOOT HIM!”

They opened fire, blaster bolts slicing the air. Kaito’s body blurred past, too fast, too unpredictable. He gritted his teeth as shots whizzed by his ears.

“Can’t even hit me when I’m flying at you? PATHETIC!” he roared.

He slammed boots-first into the screaming guard still skewered by the grappler, kicking him hard against a cargo box. The man collapsed, twitching. Kaito rolled onto the trailer, landing crouched with his blaster already raised.

PEW-PEW-PEW!

Three guards dropped before they even knew where to aim. Kaito dove behind a stack of crates, heart pounding.

Two left, he thought, reloading. Let’s make it clean.

He popped out of cover and blasted the remaining pair, their bodies dropping against the steel bed of the trailer. Silence. Just the rumble of the truck beneath his feet.

Kaito exhaled, then turned toward the writhing guard impaled by the grappler claw. The man was gasping, blood dripping from his lips. Kaito leveled his blaster.

“Sorry, buddy. Nothing personal.” PEW.

The guard’s body went still. Kaito yanked the claw free.

But then, movement. A shadow behind him.

Not again, Kaito thought, spinning.

Another guard, knife raised, lunged from the blind spot. Kaito barely caught his wrist in time, the blade inches from his throat. They grappled, grunting, teeth bared. Kaito twisted, forcing the guard’s arm down, but the man kicked Kaito hard, sending him crashing into a crate.

The guard dove for a fallen blaster, scooping it up and aiming.

“Say goodnight, kid!”

Kaito, breathless, whipped up his own blaster and fired first.

PEW!

The shot tore through the man’s chest. He dropped, weapon clattering uselessly to the floor.

Kaito stood over him, panting, his blaster still smoking. “Nice try, asshole.”

The trailer was quiet now. Bodies sprawled across the steel floor. Smoke, blood, the stench of ozone. Kaito’s eyes flicked forward, only the driver remained.

“Alright,” Kaito growled, spitting blood as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Your turn.”

The driver’s knuckles were white on the wheel. Sweat ran down his temple as he glanced at the trailer mirror, nothing but bodies and smoke. He muttered under his breath, “Where the hell did that little bastard go?”

Then a voice cut through the roar of the engine.

“HEY, ASSHOLE!”

The driver snapped his head up. Kaito was crouched on top of the truck, braced against the wind, eyes blazing.

The driver cursed and fumbled for his blaster, raising it just as Kaito pulled something from his belt.

Not a blaster.

A grenade.

“You’ve had your fun,” Kaito growled. “Now it’s my turn.”

He yanked the pin and dropped it through the trapdoor. The driver fired wildly, bolts sparking against the steel roof as Kaito slammed the hatch shut.

“No, NO, NO, NO!” the driver screamed, throwing himself at the door. He shoved the handle, pounded against the glass, kicked at the frame, but nothing gave. The doors were sealed.

“LET ME OUT! GODDAMMIT, LET ME OUT!”

Outside, Kaito already had his grappler out. He aimed at the nearest building and fired. The claw latched, the line went taut, then the world behind him went white-hot.

BOOOOM!

The truck erupted in a fireball, the explosion shredding steel and tearing the vehicle apart mid-road. Shockwaves rattled the territory as debris rained across the asphalt.

Kaito swung wide, boots slamming onto the building rooftop. He rolled hard, skidding across gravel, his jacket singed, his arms scraped raw, but alive.

He crouched at the ledge, staring down at the burning wreckage. The truck was gone, the guards gone, the driver gone. All of them reduced to ash in one violent heartbeat.

“Eight on one,” Kaito muttered, blood dripping from his lip as he smirked faintly. “And I’m still standing.”

His comm buzzed. He answered.

“Kaito?” Rin’s voice. Calm, steady. “We made it to the basement.”

In the background, Kaito could hear me shouting into the line, frantic: “Is he okay?! Tell me he’s okay!”

Kaito’s jaw tightened. He sighed. “I’m fine. Relax. Just had a little… fight.”

“What kind of fight?!” I demanded, my voice shaky, angry, terrified all at once. “Are you hurt? Did you almost die? Kaito, you—”

“Enough,” he cut me off sharply. “Stop worrying. I said I’m fine. Leave it at that.”

I tried again, voice breaking: “But—”

“Yuzuki,” Rin interrupted, more firm than gentle. “He’s fine. Drop it.”

“Don’t you tell me to drop it!” I snapped back, my voice spiking through the comm. “I’m worried, okay?! Why am I the only one who gives a damn if he—”

The line clicked. Call ended.

Kaito clipped the device back to his belt, muttering, “Always too many questions…” He spat blood over the edge of the building, then took off running.

Across rooftops, from one structure to the next, he moved fast, using the grappler to sling himself over gaps. His eyes stayed locked on the path ahead, following the blinking icon on his HUD, the phone location tied to Yuzuki.

He didn’t bother with stealth anymore. He couldn’t. Alarms still wailed across the territory, and cameras had caught enough glimpses of him that squads of guards were already mobilizing, hunting him through the maze of buildings.

Kaito pushed harder, every leap carrying him closer to the basement. Closer to them.

Behind him, the fires of the exploded truck lit up the night, black smoke curling into the sky like a warning.

The game was no longer quiet.

It was war.