Kael woke to the sharp bite of hunger gnawing at his stomach.
The cold metal sheet above him did little against the rain, and his clothes were soaked through. The air smelled like rust and filth.
He curled tighter, his fingers brushing the golden coin hidden beneath his shirt. It was the only thing he had left.
He hadn't eaten in days as he slowly, Kael sat up. He sucked on the last stale piece of candy he had found in his backpack, but it wasn't enough. The ache didn't go away.
Kael walked on the road as cars rushed past him as he attempted to cross the road.
No one cared. His tiny feet carried him through the alleys, his breath shaky.
Then he saw it—a half-eaten sandwich in an overflowing trash bin.
Kael hesitated it smelled rotten. Flies hovered over it.
But his stomach hurt so much. A rat scurried past, its beady eyes glinting in the dim alley light.
He didn't care, Kael grabbed the sandwich and stuffed it into his mouth.
A deep voice boomed behind him. "HEY! That's mine!"
Kael flinched, spinning to see a filthy, bearded man towering over him.
His heart slammed against his ribs. "D-didn't know…" Kael's voice trembled.
The man lunged forward as Kael ran. His small legs pumped as fast as they could, the half-eaten sandwich clutched in his tiny hands.
"Mama!" Tears streamed down his face as he darted through the maze of alleys.
By the time he stopped, his chest was panting heavily, and his hands trembled.
He sat against a dumpster, eating the sandwich with shaking fingers.
He swallowed the last bite and let out a choked sob.
**********
The next day, Kael sat near a crowded street market, pressing his knees to his chest.
He watched people—how they moved, how they held their belongings, how they ignored kids like him.
Then someone noticed him. A boy, around nine, with messy brown hair and sharp eyes.
He grinned. "You hungry?"Kael hesitated but nodded.
The boy tossed him a piece of bread. Kael grabbed it, shoving it into his mouth without question.
"Got a name?" the boy asked.
Kael swallowed. "Kael."
The boy smirked. "Name's Rook." Kael's eyelids grew heavy as he hadn't slept all night as he was fearful, but feeling a sense of reassurance his head swayed.
******
Kael jolted awake as he bread was gone.
His coin was gone. His hands scrambled to his chest, feeling for the pendant that wasn't there.
"No, no, no—" His father's coin. The last thing he had of him
He ran as fast as he can trough the alleys, pushing past people, searching—
Then he spotted him, Rook stood with a group of street kids, laughing, tossing Kael's coin in the air.
Kael rushed as he lunged his small hands forward and hit Rook with everything he had.
He clawed, bit, kicked—anything to get his coin back.
Rook yelped. "Get him off me!" The other kids shoved Kael away.
Rook stumbled back, his ip bleeding. He scowled. "It's just a coin, idiot."
Kael panted, his fists clenched. "It's mine."
A figure stepped between them a girl who was no less than 16 years old , Juno. She glanced at the coin in Rook's hand, then at Kael.
"Give it back," she said. Rook grumbled but tossed the coin.
Kael caught it, holding it tightly to his chest.
Juno smirked. "You fight like a rat. That's good." Kael said nothing.
"Come with me," she said.
Kael wrinkled his nose as the girl—Juno—led him deeper underground.
It was dark, damp. But not empty.
Kids huddled in corners. Blankets. Bits of food. Low whispers.
Juno stopped, crouching in front of him.
"Rule one: Don't trust too much."
Kael swallowed hard.
"Rule two: Hide your stuff."
He clutched the coin tighter, shoving it under his shirt.
Juno smirked. "You'll figure out the rest."
Then she walked off as Kael stood there.
*******
Weeks passed, Kael barely spoke.
But he watched and Learned. Juno saw it—the way he studied people, the way he never let his guard down.
Korn, the biggest kid in the tunnels, saw Kael as weak.
He had already stolen Kael's food, shoved him around, threatened him. But the thing he really wanted was the coin.
This was Juno's world. She wasn't the biggest, nor the oldest, but she was the one who led.
And in the tunnels, leadership didn't come from words, it came from action.
Juno had survived too long, fought too many times, and outsmarted too many threats to be questioned.
She knew where to find food. She knew who to steal from. She knew how to keep the enforcers blind to the kids lurking beneath their feet.
The others followed her not out of loyalty, but out of necessity. Without her, they were just rats in a maze, waiting to be crushed.
The law was simple: Take what you can. Defend what's yours. If you can't fight for it, you don't deserve it.
And if someone stole from Juno? They didn't get a second chance.
Kael learned this his first week. He saw how Juno handled a thief—how she dragged him before the others, how she stared him down without blinking as she decided his fate.
She didn't need to raise her voice, Didn't need to threaten.
She only said one thing: "Weakness gets you killed."
Then she left him to the others. Kael never saw that boy again.
That was the moment he understood—the tunnels had no room for the weak.
The tunnels were quiet that night. Too quiet.
Kael was alone when the shadow fell over him.
"You think you can keep it from me?"
Kael barely had time to react before he was grabbed and slammed against the concrete.
"Where is it?" Korn growled, shaking him.
Kael struggled, kicking out, but a fist slammed into his ribs.
"You think you're special?" Korn hissed, hitting him again. "Where is the gold coin?"
Kael's world blurred as he felt small and Weak.
Just like that night in the penthouse.... Just like when the bad men came.
His fingers clenched as he immediately spotted a rusted pipe lay near his feet.
Kael reached for it, he had learned what death looked like. He had been too small to stop it.Too weak....
But this time? This time, he could stop it.
Korn wasn't a faceless killer in a mask.
But in that moment, it didn't matter.
In Kael's mind, Korn became one of them—one of the monsters that took everything.
And Kael…Kael wasn't the helpless little boy anymore.
He was something else now.
He finally reached out for the pipe as he feel to the ground and immediately he swung it.
Korn barely had time to react before it crashed against his ribs.
He stumbled back, snarling in pain.
Kael didn't stop....He struck again....And again....And again.
Korn fell, gasping, Kael climbed on top of him, gripping the pipe with both hands.
Blood splattered as his vision blurred and the tunnel faded away as he fainted on the ground.
Korn had stopped moving. Until there was nothing but silence.
Footsteps could be heard as Juno approached the scene, with everyone clearing out of her way.
She took in the scene—the body, the blood, the wild look in Kael's eyes she was unconscious on the ground
"Now, he is truly one of us," she smiled, bending down to scoop little Kael into her arms while picking up the coin that had fallen from his pocket.
**********
Thirteen Years Later...
The wind howled through the Nova City as Kael sprinted across the rooftops. Rain fell as it dropped on his boots.
Kael was no longer the starving boy in the tunnels. At seventeen, he had grown six inches tall and had a well defined muscular figure.
His black hair, which was once unkempt, was now cut short, swept back in a way that made him look sharp, dangerous.
His black hoodie billowed behind him as he vaulted over a vent, then landed in a crouch on the ledge of a high-rise building. Below, through the maze of was streetlights and alleyways, as he watched his target move. A man in a gray mask. The same mask from thirteen years ago.
Kael's breath came slow and steady.
Kael was now known widely in Nova City, He had no official title...No known employer..No traceable identity. Just a calling card. They called him The Coin Flipper.
Not because he left his mark. But because after every kill—as the body hit the ground, as the last breath escaped—he would flip a coin.
No one knew why. Some said it was to mock his victims, to remind them that fate had turned against them. Others believed it was a ritual, but one thing was certain:
If you saw the glint of a coin spinning through the air—death had already found you.
Kael stood atop the darkened rooftop, his eyes locked on the distant skyline. With a flick of his wrist, he tapped his watch. A soft click. The mechanism whirred to life, unfolding seamlessly. Metal plates shifted, components aligned, and within seconds, a sniper rifle extended into his grip.
He knelt, pressing the weapon against his shoulder, peering through the scope.
Kael adjusted the sniper scope, his finger resting lightly on the trigger.
The man in the mask walked into the warehouse below, disappearing into the shadows.
His comm crackled. "Target confirmed," a voice said and it was Juno.
Kael exhaled slowly, his grip tightened.
"Thirteen years," he whispered. His eyes locked onto the target.
His finger pressed down.
The shot rang out.
*Paaaaahh!* A single, perfect kill, The body crumpled.
Kael reached into his pocket, fingers brushing against cold metal. The coin.
He flicked it high into the air. The silver glinted under the city lights, spinning—turning—falling.
When it landed, he was already gone.
"Tonight, the coin flips."