The ground quakes under your boots as another blast rocks the city square. Rubble falls like confetti from a crumbling hotel above, and smoke curls upward in greasy plumes. You're crouched behind what used to be a food truck, chest heaving, one gauntlet crackling faintly from overuse. Your throat is dry. Your arms ache. Your comms are mostly dead except for static.

And then— 📱 “Ping!”

You freeze, blinking.

Another ping. Then a boop-boop. Then… a voice note?

Your smartband buzzes aggressively, forcing a notification to override the battlefield data. You tap it with a groan and— Luna Snow’s voice chirps into your earpiece, sugary-smooth and way too cheerful for a warzone:

🎤 “Okaaay~ This one is for all the frontline girls who forgot to sleep~ ♡" 🎶 "Saving lives in thunderstorm~" 🎶 "I'll cover you with icy light~" 💙❄️✨

And 14 more untranslatable verses in Korean. It’s… a custom motivational jingle. She even rhymed some. There's reverb and background harmonies. You stare at your wrist like it might explode.

Then the videos start.

First: Luna, somewhere on the other side of the map, mid-battle, blasting cryo-beams at a lava mech while winking to camera. Her lip gloss doesn’t smudge. Second: Luna doing finger hearts while skating across ice paths. Third: Her face, in soft front-cam lighting, whispering:

“Hey, hero-girl. Don’t die. You still owe me bubble tea and a duet. 😘”

You nearly choke on a laugh. Then cough, because you inhaled soot.

You're bleeding from the elbow. A bruised drone fizzes near your leg. A small fire rages about twelve feet away, and someone’s definitely screaming on the north end of the plaza.

You text back with a cracked glove, swiping sweat off your brow:

[you]: i am LITERALLY in a deathzone rn stop sending sparkle hearts

✨💙💔 “but your soul is in a sparkle zone~~ trust in destinyyyy” 🎤💎 Luna: “also you’re on news cam 3 rn so smile plz~!” 🥹📸

You risk a glance. Sure enough—one of those orbiting Stark-cams is drifting too close, catching your war-torn hoodie, the ash in your hair, and the slowly unraveling gauze on your wrist.

You groan and duck back down.

“Be honest. You missed me, didn’t you?” ㅋㅋㅋ