Chapter-1: unknown

The night air was thick, suffocating, as if the world itself had frozen in place to witness the chaos unfolding in the small apartment. Just minutes ago, David had been sitting on the couch, eagerly watching the Pokémon Masters Tournament with his mother. Now, the living room was a battlefield.

The moment the tournament broadcast had been interrupted, Maria had tensed. David had noticed how her fingers had twitched against her lap, how the warmth in her smile had dimmed ever so slightly. He had been too young to understand why.

Then the pounding on the door came.

It wasn't the polite knock of a visitor, nor the hurried rap of a neighbor. It was forceful. Demanding.

Maria had known.

David had seen it in her eyes—the flicker of resignation, the unspoken knowledge that this moment had been inevitable.

The door exploded inward. Black-clad figures flooded the room, rifles raised, their laser sights painting crimson dots across Maria's chest. The sound of their boots hitting the wooden floor sent tremors through David's small frame. He had never been more terrified in his life.

And yet, his mother… she remained calm.

"I understand," she had said softly, her hands rising into the air, her voice carrying the weight of someone who had already accepted her fate.

David clung to her, his little fingers gripping the fabric of her sleeve. His mind was a storm of confusion. Who were these people? Why were they treating his mother like this?

Gordon, the officer in charge, stepped forward. His face was unreadable, but there was something in his posture—a slight stiffness, a cautious restraint—that hinted at the fear he wasn't willing to show.

"This is her," one of the masked officers confirmed. "She's a match. It's Hunter J."

David blinked.

The name meant nothing to him.

It was just a jumble of sounds, a meaningless title.

But the way the officers reacted… the way their grips tightened on their weapons, the way they looked at Maria as though she were something other, something monstrous…

It planted a seed of unease in his heart.

Maria sighed. "So… you finally found me."

David looked up at her, his small fingers still clutching at her sleeve. "Mom… what's happening?" His voice was barely above a whisper.

Maria didn't look at him.

She couldn't.

Because for the first time in five years, she saw the past catching up to her.

She had been careful. She had erased every trace of Hunter J, buried her sins beneath a new identity, a new life. She had played the role of Maria—the tired but loving mother, the woman who ran a small clothing store, the woman who had left the shadows behind.

But the past never truly died.

The illusion had been shattered.

Gordon's gaze flickered toward David, his expression darkening with something dangerously close to pity.

Maria caught it.

Her jaw clenched.

She hated that look.

"Take her," Gordon ordered. "Now."

Two officers moved toward her, and before Maria could react, she felt the cold bite of steel around her wrists as they snapped the handcuffs into place.

Then, something snapped in David, too.

"No!"

His small fists pounded against the officers, his voice breaking with raw desperation. "Leave her alone! Don't take my mom!"

His words were knives in Maria's heart.

She turned her head just enough to catch a glimpse of his face—tear-streaked, red with frustration, his little hands curled into fists too small to do any real harm.

And then the officer hit him.

The slap rang out like a gunshot.

David's small body crumpled to the floor. His vision blurred, the taste of iron pooling in his mouth. The world tilted sideways.

Maria moved.

Faster than thought.

Faster than anyone in that room could have anticipated.

The officer who had struck David barely had time to register his mistake before her foot connected with his stomach, lifting him off the ground. He gasped, choking on his own breath as he collapsed onto his knees.

Maria wasn't done.

Before he could recover, her boot slammed down onto his face with a sickening crunch. His body went still. Blood pooled beneath him.

The room erupted into chaos.

More officers surged forward.

Maria twisted, moving with a deadly grace that no mere shopkeeper should have possessed. She ducked beneath one officer's outstretched arm, pivoted, and drove her knee into his gut. He collapsed with a strangled gasp.

Another officer lunged at her from behind. She caught his wrist, twisted hard enough to break bone, and sent him crashing into the wall.

Gordon swore under his breath.

He had known this wouldn't be easy.

This woman wasn't just dangerous—she was something else entirely.

"Restrain her!" he shouted.

More officers piled onto her, struggling to hold her down. Maria snarled, a sound so primal it sent a shiver down Gordon's spine.

Then, in one fluid motion, he raised his tranquilizer gun and fired.

The dart embedded itself in Maria's neck. She stiffened.

Her vision swam.

She fell.

The fight drained from her body as darkness crept in at the edges of her vision.

The last thing she saw before her world faded was David—his tiny form still lying motionless on the floor.

No.

She tried to reach for him.

Then, nothing.

Gordon exhaled heavily, running a hand down his face.

That… had been too close.

He glanced down at David's unconscious form, his small body barely moving. His cheek was swollen from the slap, and the sight of it made something ugly churn in Gordon's gut.

One of his officers knelt beside the boy, checking his pulse.

"He's alive," the officer confirmed. "Just unconscious."

Gordon nodded stiffly. "Take him to the hospital. Make sure he's alright."

"And J?"

Gordon looked toward the van where she had been loaded. Even unconscious, she radiated a presence that unsettled him.

"Take her to headquarters," he ordered. "Maximum security."

But even as he said it, a deep, unsettling feeling coiled in his gut.

This wasn't over.

People like Hunter J didn't just disappear.

And children like David…

They didn't forget.

As the van carrying Maria disappeared into the night, the masked figures who had been watching from the shadows finally moved.

One of them, a woman, lowered her hood and pulled out a phone.

"She's been taken."

The voice on the other end was calm. Unbothered.

"Understood."

A pause.

"And the boy?"

The woman's lips curled into a small, knowing smile.

"He's exactly where we need him to be."

The line went dead.

In the distance, the city lights flickered, as if the world itself was holding its breath for what was to come.