*Closers*
————————————
| Vanguard Tower |
Bullet-Man stands at a podium in front of the entrance to Vanguard Tower. Nyx and Backwardo both stand next to him while cameras continuously flash at them. Bullet-Man looks out at the crowd that’s waiting for a response from him, regarding the recent video’s people have posted of him attacking someone at the Diamonds. He clears his throat before he begins.
Bullet-Man: I would just like to start by saying thank you. To all of you here today, whether you’re here to support me, or not. Thank you… As you all saw the video, it was made out to look like I was the aggressor. The man in that video, who I pursued, his name is Weston Tiberius.
*A picture of Wes gets projected on a screen behind him*
Bullet-Man: Media has been floating around a nickname for this man. They call him ‘The Projector’. He has the ability to warp reality; To make us see whatever he wants… This man has done this publicly on a few occasions, by operating ‘charity’ events, which he runs under a fake nonprofit organization, called ‘The Diamonds’.
*Bullet-Man turns to look at Nyx for a moment, then turns back to the crowd*
Bullet-Man: Weston has also made multiple attempts to lure in my colleague, Nyx and try to exploit her powers in hopes to find a weakness in her… This brings us to the video that I’m sure you have all seen. I attacked this man while he was making an attempt on Nyx’s life… Now, if anyone sees this man, call the police immediately. Do not approach him, or even try to reason with him.
*A couple of people walk out of the tower with the donation bin that Wes had at The Diamonds. The cameras below turn to the donation bin and start taking pictures of it.*
Bullet-Man: Finally, we would like to reimburse everyone who donated money at this fake charity event. If you were there that night and donated money, come to the tower and please, take it back… Whatever isn’t recollected, will be donated to the people of Seattle that were affected by the recent attack on Daybreak. Again, thank you all for joining me today.
Bullet-Man walks into the tower with Backwardo and Nyx following behind him.
————————————
*Later That Night*
| Hell’s Angels Warehouse, Central District |
It’s a pretty quiet, peaceful night outside. Sean sits inside the warehouse by himself, sharpening his knife. He has headphones on his head and is listening to some of his favorite music he used to like when he lived in Mexico with his brother, Daniel. Other members of Hell’s Angels are fixing up their bikes or having some drinks together off to the side of Daniel.
Outside, NovaStar slowly levitates over to the warehouse. She looks down at the building, slightly shaking her head at it. She takes a moment before suddenly tensing up in preparation. Her eyes light up in the darkness of the night as she charges herself up. After taking a breath, she lets loose on the warehouse.
Like nothing, Hell’s Angels has been burned down to the ground. Everyone inside the warehouse is now dead. Sean is burned harshly everywhere, as he wasn’t prepared for the attack and was caught off guard. Sean very slowly crawls on the floor with the one arm that isn’t completely charred off his body. He stops crawling when he sees his target in sight. It’s a photo of himself and Daniel as young kids. He uses the last of his energy to reach out for the picture, but sadly, his body gives up on him before he can grab onto the photo.
NovaStar looks down at the warehouse as it is completely destroyed, engulfed in flames. She looks over in the distance, seeing lights from fire trucks approaching from afar, and flies away, going back to the tower.
————————————
| Seattle Hospital, Pediatric Ward |
Hisea walks through the halls of the hospital, despite not being on the clock at this hour of the night. There aren’t too many doctors or nurses in the pediatric ward due to many of the children there being asleep. Hisea rounds a corner to get into the Head of the Department’s office. She turns to the office door and uses a key she must’ve snatched earlier to get inside. The keys work to perfection and the door unlocks. Hisea does a little whisper yell to herself
“Yes!”
She scurries in, lightly shutting the door behind herself. She looks around the dark office, navigating herself to the computer in the middle of the room. Once Hisea successfully finds the computer and desk, she takes a seat, logging into the computer. As soon as the desktop opens, the office door opens lightly. Hisea does a little yelp as she gets jump scared by this, then hides under the desk.
Piper walks into the room, looking around. Her eyes immediately gravitate towards the computer that is on in the dark room.
Piper: Hello?
Hisea pokes her head out from the desk, looking at Piper. Piper takes a step back, thrown off by this surprise.
Hisea: Piper?
Piper: … Yeah? Yeah, that’s me… What’re you doing here?
Hisea: Uh. Probably the same as you… Just logging into patient files that I shouldn’t be looking at.
Piper nods at her and heads over to check out the computer as well.
Piper: Okay, just making sure.
They both look at the computer as Hisea starts opening up the unedited files of their patients. Their eyes widen and jaws slightly drop as they read each one. There seems to be something similar about most patients.
Piper: My god…
Hisea: Piper… Most of these people are in the hospital because of Bullet-Man.
Hisea continues to scroll through the files as Piper places a hand over her own mouth in disbelief. Hisea reads out Bullet-Man’s name whenever a case related to him shows up on the files.
Piper: I knew his collateral damage issue was bad, but… The amount of people that suffer because of his recklessness? This is just hard to believe. How is this not being addressed?
Hisea shakes her head, shutting off the computer after having seen more than enough.
————————————
| Daybreak HQ |
Austin and Boris sit in their meeting room. The emptiness is starting to set in. They haven’t gotten any update on new recruits or an update from Nyx after her conversation with Boris. Austin is being all cute, scribbling on a piece of paper to keep himself busy. Boris flips through the monitors on the wall, looking for something to do.
Boris: You really think we shouldn’t go help with that fire in Central District?
Austin: Nah. I heard over the fire departments radio that the Hell’s Angels were screwing around with their bike engines and started a gas fire. It’s being handled.
Boris nods then looks down at the remote he has for the wall mounted monitors. A couple seconds of background police radio noises go by before someone bursts into the meeting room.
Austin and Boris both look over at the door, seeing a bloody and battered Echo stumbling into the room. Boris gasps while Echo takes a couple steps in, holding his abdomen tightly. Echo makes a grunting noise before collapsing to the floor…
————————————
| Vanguard Tower |
As if nothing happened earlier, NovaStar casually walks into the Vanguards meeting room, where the team is all sitting. Nyx is looking down, frowning and not really wanting to be there, while morgan and Backwardo sit next to each other. Garmanarnar sits on Morgan’s lap and plays with a chicken bone. Bullet-Man doesn’t do his smile and greet to the team that he usually does. Instead, he is sitting there, doing paperwork… Backwardo looks around the room, breaking the overpowering silence.
Backwardo: Uhh. So how’s the museum holding up, Nyx?
Nyx: Awful.
She replies immediately in a snappy tone, causing Backwardo to look down and stay quiet from now on. Bullet-Man places his hand on his forehead and closes his eyes, thinking about the couple that Wes showed running the Diamonds. Bullet-Man opens his eyes and looks up at the team.
Bullet-Man: What were the names of the two people Weston showed running the event?
The team eyes Bullet-Man, confused by his question. Usually he only asks relevant ones.
Nyx: I believe it was Jack and Emma Diamond? They were both illusions.
Bullet-Man looks down, placing his hand on his head again. Morgan looks back and forth very awkwardly, having no idea what is wrong with Bullet-Man. NovaStar is minding her own business, and Backwardo blinks, thrown off at seeing this new side of Bullet-Man right now.
Bullet-Man: I need the room…
Backwardo: … Are you- are you okay?
Bullet-Man: I need the GOD DAMN room!
With that, the team all give him some nastY looks. Garmanarnar looks scared and burrows into Morgan’s arms for protection. They all exit the room, and Bullet-Man sits there by himself, thinking back.
•Flashback•
| Vanguard Tower, 2010 |
A bright eyed, young Bullet-Man sits in the Vanguard Societies meeting room. He looks up as his teammates start to exit the room. Nyx walks past and gives Bullet-Man a little smile, as he was still relatively new to the team and she was much more welcoming to him.
Bullet-Man remains seated at the meeting table, along with another teammate of his. Bullet-Man looks over at him, the man is wearing all black clothing and black sunglasses. They call him Sixth Sense, as he has super enhanced senses, to the point where he can hear and feel a heartbeat from a mile away.
Bullet-Man: What’s up S.S? You wanted to talk?
Sixth Sense whips his Head to look over at Bullet-Man. He always acts this dramatic, so it wasn’t anything weird to him.
Sixth Sense: Yes… I found us an opportunity. A chance for you to get some real action.
Bullet-Man: Yeah? What’s that?
Sixth Sense stands up, looking down at Bullet-Man
Sixth Sense: A boy. I detected some strange energy within the city… I scoped it out… The parents are trying keep the boy in hiding… We have the green light to go get him.
Bullet-Man smiles and stands up, ready to go
Bullet-Man: Really? What’s so special about him?
Sixth Sense: He creates… Illusions… And uses crystals to manifest powers…
Sixth Sense clicks a button on a remote and a picture of a man, woman and child show up on a screen that’s mounted to the wall.
Sixth Sense: The parents are Emma and Jack Diamond. The child’s name is still unknown. How about we go and politely ask them for more information on the child?
Bullet-Man smiles at Sixth Sense, his eyes lighting up in excitement for this job opportunity.
To be continued…
