The Shadow Leech Pt.4

Vesper never needed anyone. He was a predator, and predators hunted alone.

For years, he had operated in the shadows of cities across the country, taking what he needed and leaving nothing behind. Power, strength, abilities—it was all just fuel to keep moving forward. But even predators eventually found themselves hunted.

The first time he heard the name Harbingers of Doom, he didn't think much of it. Another group of metahumans tried to carve their place in a world that didn't want them. He had seen it before—villains forming alliances, warlords staking their claims. They all ended the same way. Power struggles. Betrayals. Death.

He wanted no part of it.

But the Harbingers weren't just another group. And when Mr. Magnetic came looking for him, Vesper realized he didn't have a choice.

It started in Los Angeles.

By then, Vesper had already gone underground. After uncovering the truth about himself—the Revenant Initiative, the serum in his blood, the government's failed experiment—he had spent the last few months disappearing. The more he learned, the more dangerous his existence became.

He had stolen files, interrogated people who knew too much and drained the lives of the ones who tried to stop him. He was becoming something bigger, something beyond human.

And someone had noticed.

It began with a feeling.

He was used to sensing people before they saw him, and his awareness heightened beyond normal limits. But this was different. This was something else, something pressing against him as the air itself had shifted. A distortion in the magnetic field. A pull, subtle but undeniable, like the city itself was warping around an unseen presence.

He wasn't alone.

He kept moving, never staying in one place too long, but the presence never left. Someone was watching.

Then one night, as he stood on the rooftop of an abandoned high-rise in the ruins of downtown LA, the presence finally revealed itself.

Mr. Magnetic stepped out of the shadows.

"You've been making quite a name for yourself," he said. His voice was smooth, unshaken like he had been watching Vesper for a long time and already knew exactly what to say.

Vesper didn't move. He had already scanned the area, and I already knew that the man in front of him wasn't alone. But others were close. He could feel them, waiting.

"You're not the first to come looking for me," Vesper said.

"And yet, you're still standing alone," Mr. Magnetic replied, stepping closer. "That should tell you something."

Vesper let the silence settle between them. The wind howled through the skeletal remains of the city below, neon lights flickering in the distance.

He could take Mr. Magnetic's strength right now if he wanted.

Could reach out, pull the energy from his body, and leave him as nothing more than an empty shell.

But he didn't.

Because he was curious.

"I don't do teams," Vesper finally said.

"You don't," Mr. Magnetic agreed, nodding. "But you do take. And what we're offering? It's more than power. It's purpose."

Vesper smirked, tilting his head slightly. "That supposed to mean something to me?"

Mr. Magnetic didn't flinch. He simply gestured to the skyline, to the sprawling city full of parasites, criminals, and kings who thought they were untouchable.

"This world is already dead," he said. "It just doesn't know it yet. You've seen it, haven't you? How everything in this place is rotting from the inside out. And no matter how much power you take, you're still feeding off the same decay."

Vesper didn't answer.

Because Mr. Magnetic was right.

Power was a cycle, an endless loop of predators and prey. And even though Vesper had made himself the strongest hunter in the game, the truth was that the game itself was broken.

"So what, you want to burn it all down?" Vesper asked, his tone skeptical. "That's your plan?"

Mr. Magnetic smiled. "We don't just want to destroy it. We want to rebuild it. But not the way the weak would. Not the way the cowards who run this world would. We rebuild it in our image. With our rules."

Vesper exhaled, amused. "And what exactly do you need me for?"

Mr. Magnetic's smile widened like he had been waiting for that question.

"You take power," he said simply. "But what if I told you there's more? That there's something out there, something bigger than even you, waiting to be claimed?"

Vesper studied him, searching for the lie.

"There's a force coming," Mr. Magnetic continued. "One that will either consume the world or reshape it. And you—whether you realize it or not—are a part of it."

Vesper narrowed his eyes. "You're talking about the nexus."

Mr. Magnetic nodded.

Vesper already knew about the nexus.

The metahuman whose abilities defied everything. The one whose existence was tied to something even deeper than raw power. The one everyone was watching, and waiting for.

Vesper wasn't stupid. He knew that if the Harbingers were moving now, it meant something had changed.

Something was happening.

And if he didn't claim his place in it, someone else would.

"You expect me to follow orders?" Vesper asked, raising an eyebrow.

Mr. Magnetic chuckled. "I expect you to take what's yours."

Vesper turned his gaze back toward the city, thinking.

He had always worked alone.

But maybe, just this once, it was time to see what happened when he stopped hunting in the shadows and started moving in the open.

Maybe, just this once, it was time to step into something bigger.

He looked back at Mr. Magnetic and smirked.

"Fine," he said. "Let's see what you've got."

And with that, Vesper joined the Harbingers of Doom.

Not as a soldier. Not as a follower.

But as a predator waiting for his moment to strike.