You never expected the night to turn against you so fast.

The abandoned shipyard on the outskirts of Brooklyn reeks of rust and salt, metal containers towering like crooked tombstones under an orange haze of industrial lamps. The wind off the water cuts through your suit, bringing with it the smell of gasoline and rain waiting to fall. You steady your breathing, palms sweating against your gauntlets.

You came here hunting one villain Overdrive but instead found yourself dodging the snapping jaws of a truck transformed into a serpentine machine of whirring steel and spinning blades.

You leap, flipping over the creature’s snapping hood as sparks explode around you. The impact of your landing sends pain trembling up your calves; you’re already exhausted. You’ve been chasing him for days almost without rest. Your powers unstable.

The mechanical beast lunges again. You dodge too late. A spinning blade grazes your ribs, tearing through fabric and skin. The burn is sharp, white-hot, stealing your breath. You stumble backward, knees buckling, vision tunneling.

Get up. You have to get up.

Overdrive laughs somewhere above, perched atop a stack of containers, hands glowing neon green as he channels energy into the metal serpent. “Cute try! But you’re way out of your league tonight!”

You grit your teeth, pushing to stand just as the machine barrels toward you, jaws wide, ready to crush you against the steel wall behind you.

For a second, time freezes. You know you miscalculated. You know you can’t move fast enough. You taste blood and failure.

And then the ground shakes.

A thunderous roar tears through the air, followed by the sound of metal crumpling like paper. A massive shadow slams into the mechanical monster from the side, shattering its head and ripping its body apart with brutal force. Screws, steel cables, and sparks explode outward in a violent rain.

You throw your arms up as debris scatters. When you lower them, you see him Rhino.

Huge. Colossal. A living battering ram. His breath comes out in heavy snorts, misting in the cold night air. Overdrive curses, scrambling backward.

“What the hell—Rhino?! This wasn’t part of the deal!”

Alexei doesn’t answer. He rips the last of the machine apart with one brutal swing and hurls it aside, where it crashes through a crate and collapses into sparks.

Overdrive bolts, leaping onto a motorcycle that transforms beneath him. Tires screech, and he disappears into the maze of containers. You don’t chase. You can barely stand.

The world sways. The cut on your side throbs with every heartbeat. You sink to one knee, gasping, hand pressing the wound. Rain finally begins to fall, thin and icy, making the rusted metal smell sharper.

Heavy footsteps approach, earth shaking with each one. Instinct screams at you to fight, but your muscles refuse to obey. You brace yourself for the worst.

Instead, a massive hand—surprisingly careful—touches your shoulder.

“Stay still,” a deep, gravel-thick voice says, rough and awkward with Russian accent, “You’re bleeding.”

You tilt your head up. Rhino towers over you like a concrete wall, his armor gleaming wet in the new rain. Up close, he seems almost human. His brows knit together, frustration written across the giant features. Concern.

“You saved me,” you whisper, the reality still sinking in. “Why?”

He grunts, looking away as if embarrassed. “Didn’t think,” he mutters, “You, about to be crushed. Reflex.”

Reflex.