The new guards' jaws dropped open as they surveyed the chaos in the room.

"More of them!" Rix called as he reached the top of the pile of rubble he was scaling. The strand of web hovered a few feet above his hands.

In his zone, the guard finally broke free of its wrestling match with the weaver and threw himself towards Rix, his face twisted in rage. Rix thrust his palm out, activating [Sunspot], and the blinding flash of light sent the man staggering once more.

Rix jumped.

His hand closed around the makeshift rope. The web had begun to set now. It had the texture of cooling resin beneath his fingers, firm and a little sticky. Though he was now at least twenty feet above the wall, he still felt the effects of that strange gravity pulling him back down. So, he began to climb. As he pulled himself up one foot and then another, he felt the burden upon his body lifting until he, too, drifted in that strange weightlessness a few feet below Luna. He pulled the web back up and out of reach, so the guard below couldn't easily follow.

The third fade, meanwhile, had reached the zero-gravity zone and, like its sibling, it seemed to display no real understanding of the room's strange circumstances. As such, it didn't hesitate at the threshold — it simply barrelled forwards, suddenly finding itself weightless. It let out a screech as its gait carried it into the air, but still, it had only eyes for one thing.

Now close enough, it reared back slightly, unleashing two more jets of web directly at Rix. He was gripping his anchor tightly, his staff tucked under his arm, but in zero gravity that wasn't technically necessary. He didn't need to hold himself in place at all.

Whipping his staff up, he let go of his support altogether, leaving himself simply hovering there in the air, his staff spinning in a circle in front of him. [Wind Blade] hummed from either end as it slashed both streams clean in half.

With no gravity or point of contact, even the small momentum of the jet drove both Rix and the fade back. He had the instinct to reach out and grab the makeshift rope once more, anchoring himself. The fade was not so clever. The force from the attack sent it spinning backwards, rendering it temporarily unable to launch a further volley.

"Plan?" Luna asked.

"I don't know," he replied, taking in the scene.

The two new guards were walking cautiously forwards. They reached the threshold to the low-gravity section and hesitated, seemingly uncertain.

There were enemies on both sides. Hanging as they were, it was difficult for Rix and Luna to get momentum to move anywhere. It was a deeply unsettling sensation, to simply drift. They might be able to eventually scramble their way towards the front third of the room where the gravity was normal, but they'd be carrying themselves straight onto the blades of their enemies. And while the Iron Hand were on solid ground, Rix and Luna would be fighting weightless. Rix had no idea how to battle in that environment. There was no way to plant or push off for a strike. Everything his body did here felt strange. Taking on their enemies in that state was a death sentence.

There was one other path out, but it was terrifying. Up above them, the piece of web they were tethered to was stuck to the crumbling ceiling, which ended just a foot further along. At that point, there was only open sky above. They could theoretically pull themselves up to that gap, but he had no idea how far the gravity shift extended. It could continue for miles up into the sky, and once they found themselves up there with nothing to grab onto, one wrong move could leave them drifting endlessly.

But there was a way to test it. Floating nearby was one of the rocks he'd lobbed in his first attack against the guard. Seizing it, he hurled it up through the gap and toward the sky. The rock shot past the roof and kept going for perhaps fifteen feet before slowing and falling back down. That was all he needed to see. The shift seemed to be localised around the entropy field. Gravity reasserted itself at some point outside.

Luna had watched his experiment and seemed to understand his plan. "Up we go," she said, and they began climbing.

The guard Rix had blinded had recovered now and somehow finished off the fade that had crashed into him. "He's got the pearl!" he called to his gang mates, who were still lingering on the outskirts of the gravity shift. That seemed to wipe away their uncertainty, because the two men looked to one another and then prepared to leap forwards. Rix unleashed another two [Sunspots] at their faces, causing them to stumble, throwing off their trajectory and pace, but they still managed to launch themselves and began tumbling through the air towards Rix and Luna.

They weren't going to make it to the top before the men slammed into them.

Luna seemed to realise it too. "Hang on tight," she cried. "I have an idea."

Rix opened his mouth to question her, but was already moving, spinning so her back was facing the gap in the roof. The world lurched again, and the web was suddenly whipping upward through the air. By the time Rix's senses reoriented, they were now floating upside down above the temple. Around them was only open sky. The rope had swung in an upward arc one hundred and eighty degrees and now pointed straight up to the heavens.

He stared down incredulously at Luna.

"[Wind Dash]," she said with a grin.

"Fucking hells," he said. "That was clever." In zero gravity, [Wind Dash's] momentum had been enough to drive the whole strand, with both of them attached, in a giant half circle up and out the gap.

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"I have my moments," she preened.

Judging by the way the rope curled back on itself a foot above Rix's boots, they were right at the threshold where the gravity shift ended. Still, the easier path was to just pull themselves downward. In a few moments their feet were touching the top of the domed roof. It arced down in front of them in a gentle curve before eventually hitting the wall, and it was then a twenty-foot drop to the ground.

From below, Rix could hear the guards arguing and cursing, no doubt trying to work their way free.

"It'll probably take them a bit to get out of there," Luna said.

Rix couldn't help himself. "Nice of you to trap yourself so thoroughly for us," he yelled into the gap, throwing Han's words back against his own men. He didn't know if any of them had been with Han in their last encounter, but it didn't matter. It made him feel good.

From within, more curses followed, but Rix and Luna were already moving. By dropping onto their butts, they managed to scoot down the roof with something that vaguely resembled coordination until they hit the part of the entropy event where gravity shifted ninety degrees. That accelerated them suddenly, pulling their weight forward and virtually hurling them down the remaining space and off the edge. Thankfully, their Martial Soul bodies lent them the dexterity to stick the landing unhurt.

Luna beamed at him. "That was fun!"

Rix chuckled. "It had its moments." Despite his pounding heart and throbbing head, she had a point. The thrill of a heist was undeniable. And though things would have been significantly smoother if they'd gone to plan, part of him liked that they'd been discovered. Now Han knew it was Rix who robbed him. That salt in the wound brought Rix such joy.

"Shall we get the egg home?" Luna asked.

"Let's do that," Rix replied.

They pushed back through the jungle, heading for safer territory. A short while later, they stumbled upon two Shadow Runners engaged in a fight with a group of fades. One of them was Huan. The man smiled when he saw them. He was accompanied by another woman, and they were facing down three of the spider fades.

Rix briefly considered stepping in, but it seemed like the Shadow Runners had things under control, and he assumed that taking essence where it was not required was bad form for a new member. Within thirty seconds, the fight was over.

"Success?" asked Huan, shaking some of the fade's black blood from his blade.

Rix grinned and produced the pearl. "You could say that."

Huan's smile widened at the sight of it. "Oh hells, Han is going to be pissed."

"I hope so," Rix replied.

"Any trouble?" asked the other woman. She was tall and lean and wielded a thin straight blade that almost mirrored her form. It looked mostly designed for stabbing; a rare weapon, as far as swords went.

Rix looked to Luna, who raised an eyebrow. "You could say that," he replied. "Why don't we go find Wing, and I'll tell you about it?"

Huan led the way. Wing was a Peak Whisper in her own right, but she was currently diving the High Whisper zone, waiting for news of their escapade. As they trekked in search of her, Rix told the Shadow Runners their story.

Huan let out a whistle when they were done. "You two did well. Entropy events are no joke."

"Definitely the weirdest fight I've ever been in," offered Luna.

Rix nodded. "For sure."

Soon enough, they found the Shadow Runner leader. She was hunting with another man, one of those from their initial meeting in the storeroom.

"Look at you, not dead and everything," she said, straight-faced. "I'm guessing that means you got it?"

Rix removed the pearl from his pocket and handed it to her. "Mission accomplished."

Her lips quirked up, and she gave a slow approving nod. "Yes, it is." She held it up close to her eye, as though inspecting a jewel. "Damn, that's a fine-looking treasure. I'm not one to get sentimental, but it's almost enough to bring a tear to the eye." The wolfish look on her face was directly at odds with her words.

She looked between Rix and Luna. "You've held up your end of the bargain. So, it's time I held up mine." She shook the pearl. "Whatever trouble comes of this, it'll be worth it now. Welcome to the Shadow Runners."

They received a round of congratulations from everyone, and the warmth on their faces seemed genuine. For better or for worse, he was one of them now. Part of him still hated that his hand had been forced, but in that moment, it felt good to be safe.

"Speaking of trouble," he said, "I wouldn't mind an escort back. I expect Han's got the news right now, and he might be a touch upset."

Wing chuckled. "A touch, indeed. Don't worry, we've got you now. That thug comes at you, he comes at us all."

That line was eerily similar to Han's justification for pursuing Rix in the first place, but it was a common attitude in such circles. Loyalty had value where shadows ran deep.

It was nearly the end of the dive anyway, so nobody had any objections to heading back. The group made their way towards the portal, collecting a few other Shadow Runners as they went. Everybody gave Rix and Luna at least a nod of acknowledgement.

At one point, Wing passed the pearl off to one of her lieutenants, along with a few whispered words. "He'll make sure it gets out safe and sound," she said to Rix, with a wink.

By the time they arrived back at the dive site, their crew was fifteen strong, and that was a good thing because the full might of the Iron Hand had formed up by the portal. The air grew tense as the two groups drew close. All around the canyon, gang members were steeling themselves and testing the weight of their weapons.

Han and Wing both stepped to the front of their groups like storybook generals.

The Iron Hand leader's sneer could have cut glass. He dragged his gaze over the Shadow Runner group before finding Rix in the back of the pack. His eyes nearly bulged out of his head.

"You," he growled. "You think you can get away with another insult? I'll have your head!"

Maybe he was emboldened by the army at his back, or the rush of his recent victory over the man, but something about the threat just made him laugh.

"You said that days ago," he replied. He tapped the side of his skull. "Seems to still be mine so far."

The man snarled, and all around Rix heard the rustle of weapons being raised. But then both Wing and Han suddenly clutched their heads and cried out in pain, dropping to their knees, and from behind the circle came the sound of someone clearing their throat. Several guards, including the Divemaster, waded through the group.

"I understand most of you might not pick things up particularly fast on account of your gutter upbringing," said the Divemaster, "but I'm getting sick of repeating myself. This shit needs to end."

He must have punctuated that last line by pushing a little more mana through the tether, because Wing and Han both let out another sharp cry. The Divemaster let them suffer for another few seconds before seeming to pull back, leaving the two gang leaders red-faced and disoriented on the ground.

"Next time either of you try to start anything in my realm, it'll be straight to solitary." The guard swept his eyes over the wider group. "Now get back through the portal. The storm's coming."

People began to filter through while the two leaders recovered. They both looked haggard, their faces slick, their breath coming in short, sharp bursts.

Despite the punishment, Han dragged himself up and addressed Wing. "You've made a mistake here," he said, his voice hoarse.

Wing met his gaze. There was something on her face — a flicker of uncertainty, maybe? "We'll see," she replied.

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