Chapter Text
The alarms always started the same way — shrill, panicked, desperate.
To GameMaster, they were applause.
Red lights flashed across the marble floor of the Riverside Diamond Exchange as she ducked under the first security beam. Her reflection streaked across mirrored cases, half-shadow, half-smirk. Every motion was calculated — every breath, a move in her personal game.
The guards weren’t expecting her tonight. No one ever was.
The first drone zipped into the aisle, lights scanning.
“Unauthorized presence detected,” it barked in a tinny voice.
“Oh, please,” GameMaster sighed, flicking her wrist. A ripple of violet energy pulsed from her glove, snaking across the floor and catching the drone mid-spin. Its lights flickered, then froze.
She grinned behind her black masquerade mask.
“Now you work for me.”
Her eyes glowed faintly purple — just for a second — and the drone jerked to attention, awaiting her command. A marionette on invisible strings.
“Guard the door,” she murmured. The machine obeyed, whirring off to block the entrance as alarms blared even louder.
GameMaster stepped deeper into the vault corridor, humming to herself.
“Third time this month,” she muttered. “They really should start installing better puzzles.”
She reached the main vault and crouched. Layers of lasers danced across the keypad in an intricate web. She traced one gloved finger through the air, redirecting each crimson beam with flickers of manipulated energy — her second power, her favorite.
“Energy flows, patterns shift…” she whispered. “And… unlocked.”
The door hissed open. Inside: glittering stacks of diamonds and sapphire necklaces worth more than most apartments in Riverside.
She plucked a single diamond the size of a plum, held it up to the flickering red light, and smiled.
“Perfect symmetry. I’ll call you Level One.”
A shout came from behind.
“Freeze! Hands where I can see them!”
GameMaster didn’t even turn. Her eyes flashed again — deeper, more dangerous. The guard’s breath hitched as his limbs stiffened, hands rising against his will.
“Now,” she said sweetly, “why don’t you point that flashlight somewhere else?”
He obeyed, dazed.
“There we go.”
She tucked the diamond into her pocket, slid a red playing card onto the vault door — a stylized “G” inked in metallic paint — and sauntered past the guard as he stood frozen, blinking like he’d just woken from a dream.
By the time the police sirens echoed outside, GameMaster was already on the rooftop, sitting on the ledge with her legs swinging. The Riverside skyline glittered below her — neon signs, traffic, chaos.
She opened the carrier beside her. Bowtie, her tuxedo cat, blinked up at her with patient judgment.
“Successful run, as always,” she said, feeding him a treat. “No Portia, no Via, no backup. Just me.”
The cat meowed softly.
GameMaster leaned back, smirking at the flashing lights miles below.
“Relax, Bowtie. The heroes need the practice.”
She held up the diamond, letting it catch the moonlight.
“Round one goes to me.”
A pause. A quiet laugh.
“Your move, Riverside.”