The library lights buzzed low as Dre stared at the security footage on his cracked laptop screen. Elric had looked straight into the camera—directly at it. No hesitation. No fear.
Dre leaned back, exhaled slowly, and clicked pause.
"He's not here for school," Dre muttered to himself.
He started pulling strings together—memories, glances, and vibes he'd ignored until now. Elric didn't move like a student. He didn't speak like one. He spoke like someone trained, someone placed.
And then it clicked.
Elric's father didn't work in cyber defense.
He worked for The Grid.
A branch of a powerful underground network that used kids as eyes and ears in schools to monitor upcoming threats. And Dre—Dre had made enough noise to be noticed.
He snapped the laptop shut, stood, and walked out. No words, no expression—just purpose.
---
Back In The Streets
Dre returned to the old block, the one where the pavement still carried the scent of spilled blood. Where kids never made it past seventeen. Where his brother bled out on a rainy night under flickering street lamps.
He needed answers.
Trix met him at the corner near an old tyre shop. Trix hadn't changed—same torn hoodie, same gold tooth, same knife behind the belt.
"You finally crawled out of that prep-school fantasy, huh?" Trix grinned, but his eyes weren't smiling.
"I need a meeting with Kane," Dre said.
Trix's grin faded. "Kane don't talk to ghosts."
Dre stepped forward. "I'm not a ghost. I'm the storm coming."
---
Kane's Warehouse
The warehouse stank of oil, gunpowder, and sweat. Kane, the current kingpin of the East Block, sat shirtless on a throne made of crates and car parts. Tattoos danced across his chest like battle scars.
Dre walked in alone.
Kane smirked. "Didn't think you had the stones to come back."
"I'm not here to beg," Dre replied. "I came for truth."
"Truth died with your brother," Kane spat.
"No," Dre said calmly. "Truth just changed its face."
He dropped a flash drive onto the ground. "That's Elric. One of yours. You planted him. I want to know why."
Kane's eyes narrowed.
"You've been playing detective, huh? Let me make this clear—Elric ain't one of mine. He works for them. The new breed. Digital gangsters. Silent killers. They're not about drugs or money. They're about power. Info. Control."
"So why is he in my school?" Dre asked.
"Because they think you're a threat. And so do I."
Dre smirked. "Then maybe you should be scared too."
---
Later That Night
Dre stood on the rooftop of an abandoned complex. The city lights burned like fireflies. Everything had changed.
This wasn't just revenge anymore.
It was war.
And he wasn't the only player on the board now