CHAPTER 4: RIKO AMANAI

The scene was set: an old, run-down parking complex just at the edge of a sleepy urban district. Grey concrete stretched under a half-clouded sky, and wind carried the stench of smoke and steel.

Gojo and Geto stood before the towering, rust-covered gate of the warehouse where the Star Plasma Vessel had been hidden. They could feel the cursed energy like humidity in the air—dense, malicious, and heavy. The Q Army had made their move.

Gojo stretched his arms above his head, nonchalant as ever.

"I expected a better hideout," he muttered. "Maybe some trap doors, motion sensors—hell, even a tripwire."

Geto adjusted his sleeves calmly. "Expect less. That way, you're never disappointed."

As they stepped inside the main hall of the warehouse, their eyes fell upon two men standing like statues amid broken metal and shattered crates.

The Q soldiers.

Both of them wore full-body combat suits laced with cursed runes, their eyes shielded by visors that glowed faintly red. One was huge, almost bear-like, holding what looked like a cursed hammer the size of a car bumper. The other was leaner, faster-looking, his fingers twitching with cursed energy that crackled around his fists.

"Well, well," said the bigger one, stepping forward with a laugh. "Jujutsu High sends children now?"

The leaner one chuckled, pointing at Gojo. "One of them's blindfolded. Is this a joke?"

Gojo just smiled beneath his bandaged eyes. "We're not kids."

"We're your end," Geto added flatly.

The larger soldier took a step forward. "You gonna hand over the Star Plasma Vessel peacefully, or do we break your backs and take her anyway?"

As if on cue, the door behind them burst open, and from it, a girl was thrown—Riko Amanai, unconscious, limbs slack like a puppet. She soared through the air.

"Dammit," Geto cursed, reacting instantly.

A huge mouth of curses formed in midair from his technique, gently catching her before she could hit the ground.

"Got her," he said, setting her down softly.

Gojo sighed as he cracked his neck. "And I was really trying to keep things clean."

He raised his hand—and with barely a flick of his finger, the world collapsed.

"Cursed Technique: Lapse—Blue."

A thunderous vortex exploded outward from Gojo's palm, distorting the space around them. The gravitational surge twisted steel beams and shattered windows as the two soldiers were thrown back like rag dolls, their bodies smashing into the walls with a heavy CRACK. The shockwave crumpled the upper floor of the warehouse like paper.

Silence.

And then… a soft groan.

Riko stirred.

She blinked awake, disoriented, and stared at the two figures standing over her.

"Huh?" she murmured, then sat up quickly, blinking at Geto who had just helped stabilize her. "Hey—HEY! Hands off, you perv!"

Geto looked genuinely offended. "I just saved your life."

Gojo grinned widely. "Oof. Tough crowd."

Riko looked around frantically, then stood up and pointed at Gojo. "And you—you're a creep with a blindfold! What's with that smile?!"

Gojo bowed dramatically. "Gojo Satoru, strongest sorcerer. At your service."

"Unbelievable," she muttered. "I wake up surrounded by lunatics."

Geto sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "This is going to be a long mission."

"Yup," Gojo said cheerfully. "But at least she's got spirit."

"Spirit?" Riko shot back. "I don't even know you people!"

"You'll get used to us," Gojo said with a wink.

As debris settled around them and the unconscious Q soldiers twitched on the ground, the trio—one unconscious moments ago, two unfazed by violence—stood amid the ruins.

It was only the beginning.