Lee leaned against the creaking chair in the safe house, the weak overhead light creating jagged shadows on his wounded face. Maya sat at a makeshift workstation a wobbly table supported by old crates with her fingers racing over her laptop keyboard. Screens displaying IPC reports, encrypted communications, and surveillance camera feeds mirrored in her tired yet concentrated gaze.

  Taz ran furiously across the room, his trainers squeaking on the concrete floor. His fury was evident, like a storm rising in the cramped room.

  "This is insane!" Taz yelled, pointing violently. "In one day, we went from nobodies to the IPC's most wanted! And for what? "A glorified vigilante act?"

  Lee sat quietly, his face pallid but stoic. His public exposure weighed heavily on him. The sight of his visage on every news station remained a sharp pain in his stomach.

  "Enough, Taz," Maya hissed, not looking up. Her voice had a razor-keen edge. "We don't have time for your outbursts. Every second we spent fighting, the IPC creeps in on us."

  "You think I don't know that?" Taz responded, his voice raised. "But what's the plan, anyway? "We are sitting ducks here!"

  Lee lifted his hand hesitantly, his voice low but forceful. "Both of you, please stop. Fighting each other will not help.

  Taz breathed quickly, leaned against the wall, and crossed his arms. "Fine. But someone should come up with something quick."

  Maya turned to Lee, her stare gentler but as fierce. "He's correct, you know. We need a technique to keep you out of sight, at least for now. Staying with Lee Beckton is no longer an option.

  Lee frowned. "Well, what are you saying? Should I just cease being myself?"

  "Yes," Maya said frankly. "If you want to survive, you must disappear. The Skull Mask is already considered dead in the eyes of the world. It's time to let Lee Beckton die as well.

  Taz’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re actually suggesting he... what? Fake his death?”

  “No,” Maya said, shaking her head. “Not fake his death. Reinvent himself. A new identity. New look. Everything.” She spun her chair around to face Lee. “We can’t afford to take risks. If you want to keep fighting, you’ll need to do it from the shadows like a real ghost.”

  Lee considered her words, his jaw tightening. “And what does this ‘reinvention’ involve?”

  Maya looked inside her purse and pulled out a pair of scissors and a little hair colour kit.

  "First, consider your look. We're cutting your hair short and dyeing it sandy blonde. It's the simplest approach to render you unrecognisable."

  Taz let out a low whistle. "Man, you're really going all in, huh?"

  "Do you have a better idea?" Maya shot back.

  Lee groaned and nodded in reluctant assent. "Fine. Do it."

  Taz crossed her arms as bits of Lee's dark hair dropped to the floor. "This is surreal. One minute, you're the Skull Mask, battling Darris and saving the city. The next moment, you're... whoever this is.

  Lee looked at him in the mirror Maya had set up. "Whoever this is has to survive long enough to fight another day."

  Taz nodded grudgingly. "Fair enough."

  After the haircut, Maya prepared the hair colour and applied it precisely. The room filled with the harsh, chemical odour of the dye as Lee's hair gradually turned a sandy blonde.

  Hours later

  Lee emerged from the bathroom, his hair now a muted sandy blonde, cropped short and neat. The utility jacket fit snugly over his frame, paired with a grey long-sleeved shirt and dark cargo pants. The man who stepped into the room was almost unrecognizable ordinary, nondescript, unremarkable.

  Maya nodded approvingly. “Not bad. You could walk past your own mother, and she wouldn’t know you.”

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  Taz chuckled, but his tone was serious. “You look the part. Now let’s hope you can act it.”

  Lee glanced down at himself, adjusting the jacket’s collar. “I’ll figure it out. We don’t have a choice.”

  8th July Midnight IPC Headquarters

  Amir, sitting at the head of the room, reclined back in his elegant chair. His stance was relaxed, but his penetrating eyes revealed an intensity that appeared to cut through Darris' stern demeanour.

  "You look satisfied, Darris," Amir replied with a little grin on his lips. "I take it you're basking in your success?"

  Darris tilted his head slightly, the room's lighting reflecting the harsh angles of his face. "Exposing Lee's identity was an essential step. The city needs to see the truth: a vigilante posing as a hero.

  Amir's grin vanished, leaving behind a cunning face. "The truth?" He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table. "The reality is, you have cornered a predator. And a predator fights most fiercely when it is desperate."

  Darris' eyes tightened, his words icy. "Lee Beckton is not a predator." He's a naive fool who thinks his amateur theatrics will make a difference. "Now he's nothing but a cornered rat."

  Amir stood from his seat and approached Darris, his footsteps echoing through the antiseptic room. "And yet, this 'rat' has eluded our grasp for months. Do not underestimate him. Lee Beckton may be young, but he is resourceful. He will not run far. He will try to resurface to reorganise, perhaps even mobilise allies."

  "Then we'll crush him the moment he does," Darris stated firmly.

  Amir's expression clouded. "We can't afford any more slips. Deploy Skull Soldiers and IPC agents quickly. I want to observe every alley, rooftop, and subterranean hideaway in this city.”

  “Understood” Darris said

  The safe house was strangely calm after the previous intensity, the air dense with the weight of their next moves. Lee adjusted his recently chopped sandy-blonde hair in the dark image of a cracked mirror, preparing himself for what was to come.

  "We need to split up," Maya eventually murmured, breaking the stillness. Her tone was calm yet determined. "Luke Pierce is our sole leader. If anybody knows how to deal with the IPC or has information about their next move it's him. But he's obviously gone black."

  Taz raised an eyebrow. "You sure he hasn’t been nabbed already? The IPC isn’t exactly known for playing nice with their loose ends."

  Maya shook her head. "No. If they had him, they’d plaster it everywhere to make an example out of him. My guess? He’s hiding, just like us. The problem is, we need to find him before they do."

  Lee stepped away from the mirror, his face thoughtful. "Splitting up is risky. If any of us gets caught, we can’t help each other."

  Maya looked up at him, her gaze steady. "And staying holed up here is a guaranteed death sentence. We don’t have a choice."

  Taz pushed off the wall. "Alright, fine. But what’s the plan? We can’t just wander around shouting ‘Detective Pierce, come out, come out wherever you are.”

  The buzz of Maya's laptop filled the room, and the pale brightness of the screen brought her features into sharp perspective. Taz sat cross-legged on the floor, fumbling with a broken knife hilt. His forehead wrinkled in irritation. Lee was sat near the shattered mirror, his sandy blonde reflection looking back at him, strange and foreign.

  "I need to tell you both something," Lee remarked abruptly, his voice breaking the silence.

  Maya's fingers froze while typing. Taz looked up, his countenance cautious. "That doesn't sound good," Taz said. "What now?"

  Lee turned to face them, his mouth hard. "During the fight... with those criminals... Darris said something." He paused as if the words were physically terrible to say. "He claimed he took my blood."

  Maya grimaced and tilted her head. "Your blood?" "What do you mean?"

  "He... he stole a sample of it somehow," Lee said, running his hand over his freshly cut hair. "I'm not sure when or how, but he has it. "And now..." He paused, hands clenched at his sides. "Now he's like me."

  The weight of the revelation weighed heavily in the room. "Like you? "What the hell does that mean?"

  "It implies," Lee said, his voice tense, "he possesses my talents. The speed, the strength... maybe even more. I felt it throughout the fight. He was not just swift; he was faster. Smarter. "As if he could predict my every move."

  Maya sat back in her chair, her lips forming a narrow line. "That explains how he's been able to outmanoeuvre us at every turn."

  Taz rose up and paced the room. "So what?" "He's a walking, talking Skull Mask 3.0 now?"

  Maya's fingers trembled on the edge of her laptop, her forehead wrinkled with thought. Finally, she ended the stillness.

  "What if..." she began, pausing before proceeding. "What if Taz and I could use that power too?"

  The words echoed in the air like thunderclaps. Taz turned towards her, his eyes wild. "What?! "Are you serious now?"

  Maya's eyes did not waver, and her face was solid. "Think about it." If Lee's blood gave Darris such talents, why shouldn't it do the same for us? We are fighting an uphill battle here, Taz. The IPC, Darris, Skull Soldiers... they all outperform us in every aspect. "If we had even a fraction of Lee's power, we'd have a chance."

  Taz shook his head, and his voice rose. "Maya! You're talking about what? Injecting ourselves with Lee's blood as if we were in some kind of science experiment?"

  "It's not twisted if it works," she said. "Right now, we are simply targets. We are vulnerable. But if we even the playing field—"

  "At what cost?" Taz interrupted. "What if something goes wrong?" "What if it kills us or transforms us into something worse than Darris?"

  Lee eventually spoke, his voice low and steady. "Enough."

  The only sound was the quiet hum of the laptop, and the air between them became thick with unsaid strain.

  "You both need to understand something," Lee finally replied, his voice firm but tinged with caution. "This power isn't only about strength and speed. It is not a tool that can be picked up and set down as needed. It's more than just that. And it comes with a cost."

  Lee sighed and drew a hand across his face. "It's difficult to describe. It's not only physical; it's cerebral and emotional. When I use it, I feel a pull, as if something sinister is attempting to take control. A part of me wants to let go, to destroy. It is a never-ending battle to maintain control. And if you aren't powerful enough... He trailed off, his jaw clenched. "You risk losing who you are."

  Taz leaned against the wall, arms tightly crossed across his chest. "Yes, I see. Is that right there? That's precisely why this is a bad idea. We have enough issues without adding a potential split personality to the mix."

  "We can debate about my blood later," Lee remarked, his tone hard and piercing through the dense air. "Right now, we need to focus on what's in front of us finding Luke and staying off the IPC's radar."

  Maya grimaced and crossed her arms. "What happens if we don't find Luke in time? So, what happens next? Do we keep going till we die in a back alley?

  "No," Lee said firmly. "We're not running any longer. We are going with purpose. Every move we take now must get us closer to understanding how to halt Darris and the IPC. "If we don't, none of this matters."

  Taz threw out a low whistle and shook his head. "Big words for a guy who just got a makeover to stay alive."

  Lee gave him a glance but did not bite. He was aware that Taz's displeasure was not wholly personal.

  Maya closed her laptop with a quiet click. "Fine," she said. "But we are running out of time. Every hour that we sit here, they tighten the noose.

  All three rise to the ground,

  “Let’s go!” said Lee