The fires had long been put out.
What remained were the smoldering edges of twisted metal and sizzling puddles of lab coolant.
Standing in the middle of the scorched concrete, Shadow had both hands up, palms open in a "hey-I-didn't-do-it" kind of way. In front of him, Rope Girl and Deathmark stood side by side, arms folded, eyes sharp, their sights locked on him like hawks circling prey.
Not far off, the Metro PD officers were packing up their gear, but they hadn't left yet. They watched the scene unfold like they were tuning into a late-night soap opera.
"Damn…"
"He's so lucky…"
"Right?"
The cop beside him replied with a slow nod.
"I know y'all can see Deathmark clearly. Look at all that movement back there…"
And just like that, every cop around them licked their lips slowly—like a bunch of dehydrated goblins.
Meanwhile, Shadow took a cautious step back.
Instantly, Rope Girl and Deathmark took a step forward.
He laughed nervously.
"C-, Come on, can you both calm down for a sec? I'm not Nightwatch. I haven't even seen that guy in real life, for real—! Can you stop accusing me already? I really don't want people getting the wrong idea!"
He waved his arms in frantic circles, like that would somehow erase the suspicion in the air.
Rope Girl cocked a brow.
"Or maybe you don't want people getting the wrong idea… because you are Nightwatch?"
She gave Deathmark a meaningful glance.
"Deathmark might be dumber than a rock, but if there's one thing she never gets wrong… it's her hunches."
Deathmark's face lit up.
She raised a proud fist and shouted—
"RIGHT!"
The grin on her face was radiant. Until it clicked.
"Wait—HEY!!"
She snapped and her cheeks puffed up as she turned to Rope Girl with an offended pout.
"I'm not dumb!"
She crossed her arms, brows crinkling like a kid waiting for an overdue apology.
Rope Girl rolled her eyes. "I'm not apologizing."
[Yo shadow LIVING THE DREAM 😤]
[HOW GREEDYYYYYY 😭]
[This the kinda greed the Bible be talking about 🤦♂️]
[Ohh snap 😭 Deathmark legit just got called dumb and celebrated it LMFAO]
[Wait, can we go back to the part where he says he's not Nightwatch? Like… bro. 💀]
└ [Tbh, Rope Girl would call The Peak Nightwatch if he wore black ONCE. She's just looking for who to blame as Nightwatch so she can merc them and it actually pisses me off. I don't know why y'all glaze her. 🤷♂️]
[Shadow's game is immaculate. Even Nightwatch never got THIS many baddies in a stream holy—]
･･･
Rope Girl's lip curled. "Enough of this."
She lunged. Her fingers shot toward Shadow's neck like twin spears—but he spun sideways just in time.
A split second later, her leg snapped up in a blur.
He barely dodged, falling back into a backflip.
Mid-air, she aimed a punch at his exposed stomach.
He disappeared in a cloud of darkness.
Then the darkness twisted around her.
Before she could react, Shadow rematerialized behind her with his arms around her waist in a hold that was definitely not battle-approved.
"OOOP—"
Shadow froze as his body registered something soft.
Her ass was… oh. Oh no.
The pressure.
The softness.
He was dying.
"I'm here to help!" Deathmark shouted, ready to charge.
"Stand down…" Rope Girl said coolly.
And with that, she tried to break free on her own as she jerked forward again and again. But each time, Shadow held her back, which made her butt press harder against his crotch. The soft, warm feeling made his legs go weak every now and then—it just felt way too good.
She threw her elbow into his side, aiming for the liver.
He took it. Twice. And then—
"AHHHHN~!"
Rope Girl moaned, shocked and winded.
Everyone froze.
Every single cop stared at her in slow, stunned unison.
Rope Girl's face crumpled in fury and embarrassment.
"I… I didn't mean it like that."
[NAHHH WHAT WAS THAT MOAN 🧐]
[Did she just tell Deathmark to stand down so she could grind for a full minute?!]
└ [Are we dead ass? 🥀]
[Shadow needs to drop the twitch link RN]
[No way this is not staged.]
[Shadow be pissing me off fr 😡 I'd have bent her over and given her backshots so hard she's gonna be in rehab for three damn weeks! How do you have a hottie like Rope Girl grinding her ass against you and that's all you do?! 🤬]
└ [Woah brother… relax 😕 that's why you ain't there.]
└ [Contain your lust. 💀]
･･･
Shadow still had her in a hold when—BOOOOM!!
The ground shook. A second explosion.
This one came from beneath the lab.
A terrified scientist stumbled forward.
"Oh no… They've reached the underground sectors!"
All three heroes turned to him like they were NPCs who'd just heard a quest unlock.
"There's a sector underground?" they asked in unison.
The scientist hesitated.
"Y-, Yes. It's… not for public tours. It's the only facility in Metro City that can process Mutagenium into all states of matter. We have excess amounts stored there. If it falls into the wrong hands—"
He didn't finish.
Shadow let go of Rope Girl. She looked back, surprised. Sёarch* The Nôvelƒire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
"What's this?" she asked.
He straightened.
"Maybe we put the fight on pause and deal with this Mutagenium problem. If intruders are down there, we better move. All three of us."
Deathmark fist-pumped. "Got it, Nightwatch!"
"Shadow!" he snapped.
Rope Girl stared at the lab.
"Don't worry about that, I know you're not him. His tech's completely different. I'm guessing you're backed by some shady private sponsor, right?"
Shadow blinked. "Wait… you knew I wasn't Nightwatch?"
She didn't even flinch. "Just testing you."
He laughed bitterly, hands on hips.
"I dodged everything you threw at me. If anything, I should be testing y—"
She walked off, holding out a finger.
"You should probably remove the micro-explosive I stuck to your back."
"… You're lying."
He reached back—and touched something he definitely hadn't felt before.
"… When the fuck did you—?"
[She must've thought that was cool. 🤦♂️]
└ [FR, I hate this bitch]
└ [She thinks she's hot stuff just because she has military training and combat experience. If Nightwatch wasn't on a hiatus I'm sure he'd send her ass back to the kitchen.]
└ [Holy incel 💀]
[They kinda make a cute couple, no? 🤔]
[Scientist just dropped a LORE BOMB and they still flirting]
･･･
Deathmark stepped up behind him.
Her hands rested on his shoulders gently.
"I got you…"
She said, then removed the explosive with ease.
"Oh—thanks! You're a lifesaver."
Shadow was about to walk forward.
But her hands stayed on his shoulders, gripping them lightly but not letting go. Her fingers started to move slowly across his shoulders in a way that could only be described as sexual—like she was trying to touch him in just the right way to make him feel something deeper from it.
She leaned closer, nose brushing his neck.
"I know you're Nightwatch…"
She whispered with crooked eyes and a wide, unnatural grin that made her look like a mad man.
"You smell the same. That scent you always have…"
Mmm~ ❤️
"I think I made a mess in my super suit…"
Then her hand slid down—and grabbed his ass.
"Hard to the touch… but soft when squeezed. Just like I remember."
Shadow froze.
Rope Girl turned back around. "Can we go already?"
Deathmark perked up like a puppy.
"Yes, ma'am!"
She skipped over.
Shadow just stood there, mentally rebooting.
Deathmark turned to wave at him, all sunshine and glee.
Rope Girl's stare was blank. Lifeless. Judging.
[Clip that 👀]
[No amount of context can save this stream 💀]
[Bro just got ass-grabbed by a girl who sniffed him]
[I kinda need Deathmark]
[This is either the greatest romcom ever or a workplace lawsuit waiting to happen]
["Stop assaulting me…" I whisper as I let her continue to touch me indecently 🗿]
[Can we talk about the Mutagenium and not the butt stuff for ONE SECOND??]
[Never forget: Shadow got jumped, clowned, moaned on, and sniffed in under 5 minutes.]
[Shadow got impeccable rizz]
└ [Fr, ME and Shadow gotta be stopped 😭✌️]
└ [Who is bro? 😭]
━ ━ ━ ━
The trio moved cautiously through the ruined husk of Volkner Labs, the once elite corridors now a scrapyard of twisted steel, shattered glass, and sparking wires that snaked like electric vipers through pools of water.
Each step crackled.
It almost felt like the building could collapse at any given moment.
Rope Girl clicked her tongue.
"We probably should've asked that scientist how to get to the underground sector before… sigh~"
Her tone was clipped.
Shadow nodded.
"Yeah, nothing we can do about that n—"
Whiiiiirrrr-bzzzzt!
A strange mechanical whine sounded in the hall.
"WHOA!"
Deathmark immediately launched herself behind Shadow like a damsel in a fairy tale and clung tightly to his back like a human backpack.
"SAVE ME~!"
Shadow twisted his neck to give her a dry look.
"You know damn well you're not scared you Gun Nut."
"Tee-hee~ ❤️"
She giggled, snuggling deeper into his back.
"I know, I know~ I just wanted to hug you!"
"Focus."
Rope Girl's voice cut through the flirting.
Her eyes narrowed as she scanned the corridor ahead.
"We might be dealing with something dangerous."
They crept forward… and then froze.
In the middle of the hallway was a battered robot — hips wide, torso twisted, wires exposed — pole dancing on a bent metal beam like it trained at a strip club.
And it was good. Scarily good.
Shadow raised an eyebrow.
"So this is what they meant by OpenAI?"
Rope Girl exhaled slowly through her nose, disgusted.
"I hate this place."
[They coulda cured cancer or sum shit and THIS is what they go for instead??]
[It's the Incel Pleaser 5000, I'm crying 🤣]
[What're scientists doing these days? 😭]
[LOOK AT SHADOW. He locked in. Man's probably thinking of ways to engineer some jiggle physics into that robot. I can't! I'm laughing so hard rn. 😭✌️]
･･･
They passed the robot and finally reached a suspiciously clean elevator door buried in rubble.
Rope Girl's eyes lit up.
"That's it."
"That's what?" Shadow asked.
Rope Girl gestured.
"That's a high-speed express elevator. It doesn't belong in a one-story building."
Shadow's eyes widened. "So it leads underground."
"Ding…" Rope Girl replied flatly.
"Whatever you guys say!"
Deathmark chirped, pumping her fists.
Shadow stepped up, cloaking his arms in inky darkness until they looked like massive armored gauntlets and then ripped the elevator doors open with a grunt.
Rope Girl gave a crooked smile. "Good boy."
Shadow frowned. "Don't… call me that."
She walked past him and patted his head twice.
"Too late~"
He clicked his tongue as she peered down the shaft in order to estimate the depth.
[I WOULD KILL to have Rope Girl call me that 😤]
[Look at Shadow acting like he ain't feelin it]
└ [He's too nonchalant for this 🤷♂️]
[This is the hardest my heart's beat since the season finale of that one show I can't remember 💀]
[Deathmark cute AND deadly? peak waifu]
[This whole trio dynamic is pure chaotic gold! 😭🔥🔥]
･･･
MEANWHILE – UNDERGROUND SECTOR
Trickshot relaxed like a gremlin king on an ergonomic chair, his boots propped on a console, liquor flask dangling lazily in hand as he watched the holo-screen.
On it was the trio.
He squinted as his voice spewed out—
"You idiots done packin'?"
He sounded like a drunk man after his nightshift.
"Uhh… y-, yeah, boss!"
Groaned a bald, bone-thin twin dragging a steel crate.
The twins, Cain and Jane, were somehow both sweating and pale.
They looked like malnourished vampires.
Trickshot chuckled and pulled out a remote.
"Our client said this'd come in handy."
Click.
A mysterious machine hummed to life.
It unleashed a shimmering energy field that rolled over the facility like an invisible tsunami.
･･･
BACK UPSTAIRS.
Shadow cracked his neck.
"Alright. I'll go first."
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: Foreign energy field detected. Nanite functionality compromised.]
"Huh?" Shadow blinked.
And then—
His entire suit crumbled.
Gone. Dissolved like dust.
His nano-fabric undersuit too.
Also gone.
The next second, he was standing butt-naked in front of the two women.
Face fully exposed. Body on full display.
And completely unaware.
The two heroines weren't even looking at his face, they had their eyes on the yam between his legs.
It was dangling from side to side like a pendulum.
Rope Girl blinked. "… uhm."
Deathmark tilted her head with a deranged grin.
"He's flashing us—?!"
[POV: you log into Twitch and get hit with surprise meat]
[When that cute Vtuber you've been gooning to finally does a face reveal 😔]
└ [Don't tell me you fell for that bro… 💀]
└ [He promised he was a girl 😔]
[SHADOW JUST BROADCASTED THE YAM LIVE????]
[That man's dick has better posture than me rn]
[His face is blurred out for some reason!]
[Rope Girl pretending she ain't lookin is FRYING me 😭]
･･･
Shadow finally looked down.
He saw everything.
"FUCK—!"
He slammed his hands over his face.
Rope Girl tilted her head up toward the ceiling.
"Aren't you gonna cover his penis too? Then again…"
Her eyes flicked downward.
"It's, uhm… well, big enough to pass for a concealed weapon. Let it hang."
Shadow panicked. "I forgot to cover it?!"
He made a move, hesitated — revealing his face or his dignity? He sighed in defeat.
Rope Girl crossed her arms and squeezed her eyes shut, but after a moment, she started peeking them open to steal a few quick glances. For some reason, she wanted a clear look—mostly to get a good idea of what it looked like… and how big it was.
『Why is it like that…? It looks so… and… like he just took a horse penis and slapped it on.』
Then, she realized she'd been looking too much.
『GASP! How indecent of me…!』
She smoothly cleared her throat like she hadn't been staring at his peen all this time.
"Look, you don't have to hide your face. We're all heroes. Secret identities are sacred. I won't say a word about you to the Hero Agency… even if you're unregistered."
She tapped her chest in a solemn gesture.
Grinning like the Joker, Deathmark said—
"I will tell everyone, though! Ehehe~!"
Rope Girl facepalmed.
[LMAO, imagine he asks for one of their panties to use as a mask 🤤 so good~]
[PantyMask arc is real. Let's GOOOOOOOO! 🔥🔥]
[YESSS, DO IT!]
[With a panty mask on he'll probably look like some Mexican porn wrestler called El Weiner 😭]
･･･
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: Loading…]
Shadow's blood froze up.
"No, no, no, no…"
He knew where this was going.
[Side Mission Unlocked: To strengthen your bond with your superheroines, form an unforgettable moment. Request one of their panties to use as a temporary mask.]
Shadow collapsed to his knees.
"No way…