Rule Breaker!

The makeshift bathtub-sled screeched to a halt at the mouth of a narrow alley, the sound of metal grinding against asphalt cutting through the night air.

For a moment, none of the women moved, their bodies still braced for impact, minds struggling to process the abrupt transition from freefall to stillness.

Zeta was the first to snap out of it. She vaulted over the side of the tub, her modified Taser clutched in a white-knuckled grip.

"We have to go back," she said, her voice raw with an emotion none of them had ever heard from her before. "We can't just leave him."

Ursula grabbed her arm, yanking her back with surprising force. "Are you out of your mind?" she hissed, but there was something off about her usual anger. Her eyes shimmered in the dim light, a telltale glaze that spoke of unshed tears.

"Let go of me," Zeta snarled, trying to wrench free. "That's Ned back there. Ned! We can't just-"

"We can and we will," Atara cut in, her voice steady despite the tremor in her hands. She climbed out of the tub more carefully, wincing as her feet hit the ground. "Ned knew what he was getting himself in. He sacrificed himself so we could get away."

Tinsley let out a choked laugh, the sound bordering on hysteria. "Neddy? Sacrifice himself? Come on, this is the guy who used me as a human shield during training."

"People change," Ember said quietly, her usual calm demeanor cracked, revealing a deep well of pain beneath. "Sometimes it takes the worst situations to bring out the best in us."

Paige, who had been silent until now, suddenly slammed her fist against the side of the tub. The hollow clang echoed through the alley, making them all jump. "This is bullshit," she spat. "We're trained agents, not helpless civilians. We should be fighting, not running away with our tails between our legs."

Raine placed a gentle hand on Paige's shoulder. "And what would that accomplish? That... thing back there, it's not human. You saw what it did to our headquarters. What chance do we have against it?"

"So we just give up?" Zeta demanded, her voice rising. "After everything we've been through, everything Ned's done for us, we just turn tail and run?"

Ursula's grip on Zeta's arm tightened. "Listen to me, you hotheaded idiot," she growled, but there was no real heat in her words. "Ned didn't throw himself at that monster so we could turn around and get ourselves killed. He did it so we could live. So we could fight another day."

"Ursula's right," Atara said, her gaze sweeping over the group. "Dying isn't an option if we want to avenge him. And make no mistake, we will avenge him. But first, we need to survive."

A heavy silence fell over the group, broken only by the distant wail of sirens and the crackle of flames from the burning headquarters. Each woman was lost in her own thoughts, grappling with the reality of their situation and the weight of Ned's sacrifice.

Tinsley was the first to speak, her voice uncharacteristically small. "What do we do now?"

Atara's eyes scanned the alley, landing on a lone car parked in the shadows. "We get out of here," she said, already moving towards the vehicle. "We regroup, we plan, and then we find out who's behind this and make them pay."

Ursula nodded, a grim smile tugging at her lips. "Now that's a plan I can get behind." She strode over to the car, drew back her fist, and smashed it through the driver's side window. The sound of shattering glass seemed to snap the others out of their daze.

As Ursula reached in to unlock the door, Zeta approached her, head bowed. "I'm sorry," she muttered. "You're right. I wasn't thinking."

Ursula paused, then awkwardly patted Zeta's shoulder. "Yeah, well... can't say I blame you. Just... don't do anything stupid, alright? We've lost enough today."

The others began to move, piling into the car. But there was a heaviness to their movements, a weight that hadn't been there before.

As Ember slid into the backseat, she found herself next to Raine, who was staring blankly out the window. "Hey," Ember said softly, nudging her. "You okay?"

Raine turned, her eyes unfocused. "I keep thinking... the last thing I said to him. I called him a self-centered bastard. And now..." Her voice cracked, and she looked away quickly.

Ember took Raine's hand, squeezing it gently. "Ned knew. Trust me, he knew how we all felt about him, no matter what we said."

In the front seat, Atara was bent over the steering column, working to hotwire the car. Her hands moved with practiced ease, but her mind was elsewhere. She couldn't shake the image of Ned's face in those final moments - the determination, the fear, the unspoken apology in his eyes.

"Come on, come on," Paige muttered from the passenger seat, her eyes darting nervously between the rearview mirrors. "We need to move."

The engine roared to life, and Atara allowed herself a small smile of satisfaction. "Alright, ladies," she said, shifting the car into gear. "Hold on tight. This isn't going to be a smooth ride."

As they peeled out of the alley, tires squealing on the asphalt, each woman was lost in her own thoughts. The weight of Ned's sacrifice hung heavy in the air, mingling with fear, anger, and a burning desire for vengeance.

Tinsley, squeezed between Zeta and Ember in the backseat, suddenly let out a choked laugh. When the others turned to look at her, she shook her head, tears streaming down her face.

"I just... I can't believe he's gone. Ned always seemed... I don't know, invincible somehow. Like no matter how bad things got, he'd always find a way to weasel out of it with that stupid grin of his."

Zeta nodded, her own eyes suspiciously bright. "Remember what we read in the files. About his mission in Budapest? When he talked his way out of an interrogation by convincing the guard he was a long-lost cousin?"

A ripple of laughter went through the car, tinged with sadness and disbelief. For a moment, it was almost like old times - swapping stories after a mission, ribbing Ned for his ridiculous exploit, even though, he was just a gamer back then.

But the laughter died quickly, leaving behind a silence that was somehow even heavier than before.

Ursula cleared her throat, her voice gruff. "We can't let this break us," she said. "Ned was... he was a pain in the ass, but he was our pain in the ass. And he'd want us to keep fighting."

Atara nodded, her eyes fixed on the road ahead. "Ursula's right. We're going to find out who's behind this, who sent that... thing after us. And we're going to make them regret ever messing with our team."

As the car sped through the darkened streets, carrying them away from the burning ruins of their old life, each woman was silently grieving. The memory of the man who had brought them all together was warring on each of their minds.

___

Speaking of... Ned laid in the ruins.

Darkness. Absolute and all-encompassing. Ned floated in it, untethered from time and space. Was this death? It didn't feel like anything he'd imagined. No pearly gates, no fire and brimstone. Just... nothingness.

He tried to move, to feel something - anything. But there was no sensation of a body, no limbs to command. Had he been reduced to pure consciousness? A disembodied thought drifting in the void?

'Well, this is bloody inconvenient,' Ned mused, surprised he could still form coherent thoughts. 'I always figured death would be more... final.'

Time passed. Or did it? Without any frame of reference, it was impossible to tell. Ned found himself pondering the nature of existence, which was rather out of character for him. He'd always been more of an action man, leaving the philosophical musings to others.

'Is this it, then?' he wondered. 'An eternity of floating in the dark, thinking about how I'm thinking?'

Just as the existential dread began to set in, something changed. A faint sensation, like a distant echo, tickled at the edges of his awareness. It grew stronger, more insistent, until Ned realized with a start that he was hearing something.

Sound. In death. That was new.

He focused, straining to make out the words. A voice, deep and gravelly, uncomfortably familiar. It took Ned a moment to place it - the voice of his killer, the Kratos lookalike who had dealt the final blow.

"...job's done," the voice was saying, tinny and distant as if coming through a bad phone connection. "Target eliminated."

'Well, that's just rude,' Ned thought. 'I'm right here, you know. Sort of.'

"...confirm termination of the Awakened known as Dildo Dawson."

If Ned had a living body, he would have choked.

"Understood. Returning to base for debrief. Quantum out."

Suddenly, the words hit Ned like a punch to the gut he no longer possessed.

"ME? AN AWAKENED?!"

[SYSTEM ALERT: User has successfully undergone a rather unconventional Awakening.]

[System recalibrating...]

A minute had passed with Ned shell-shocked at the sudden turn of event. And what came next was even more shocking.

[SYSTEM ALERT: System evolution complete. User's awakened status has rewritten system base codes. All previous status have been lost.]

___

[Current status...]

[Name: Ned Wyatt]

[Ability: Rule Breaker]

[Rank: High Card]

[Level: 1]

[EXP: 0/100]

[HP: 10/10]

[STRENGTH: 10]

[AGILITY: 10]

[STAMINA: 10]

___

[Advanced features...]

[Techniques: ????]

[Basic Principles: ????]

[Limitations: ????]

[Aspect: ????]

[User must reach level '10' to unlock advanced features.]

"Rule Breaker??!" Ned thought.

***