In a well guarded, private office inside the Superhero Association, American Northeast branch.
"Are you sure this will be ok, sir?" Yvette North, an attractive blonde and Executive Assistant Director Smith's personal assistant, asks.
Director Smith replies, "Of course Alien Axe will be suspicious, but ultimately he's loyal to the Association, he'll do what we say. We'll use him to remove the stronger villains, their champions, then send the Cleansers in. Plus, if there really is a vampire hiding in the criminal underworld, this will flush it out."
"Sorry sir," Yvette elaborates, "I mean how many heroes would be willing to go incognito and become Cleansers? We just can't ask them directly; they'll probably think we're joking or testing them."
Director Smith stands. Turning his back to Yvette, he looks out of his room's artificial windows; artificial because his office is located deep underground, and the 'windows' are actually high definition LCD panels connected to strategically placed cameras.
"Of course it's not worthwhile for a lot of heroes... and it'll be costly, especially if they get exposed."
"Still. I have a short list of candidates," Director Smith explains, "more... zealous heroes from other parts of the country; heroes who feel *restricted* by the Association, heroes who are more than willing to eliminate certain *unsavory elements* in society. Of course, we have to work hard during this time; we have to direct the police and local heroes away from the Cleansers; but I have utmost faith in our Coordinators."
"My God!" Yvette says, "The plan is feasible! I can see it now, if we control the racket, we can use it to improve the lives of ordinary citizens!"
Director Smith chuckles, "Yes. But no.. We still need to restrict opportunities so that enough people would choose criminal careers."
"Wha-why?" Yvette asks, "Don't tell me it's for a stupid reason like 'if we completely eradicate crime, we'll be out of jobs'."
"Not quite, my dear. As you touched upon, many people become criminals because they lack opportunities," Director Smith asks, "But have you ever considered why we never solved the crime problem despite having access to superpowers?"
Yvette shakes her head slowly, "No."
Director Smith explains, "The vast majority of criminals only commit crimes because they lack opportunities. If we create utopia, the only criminals would be the criminally insane, the fallen idealists, and those who commit 'crimes of passion'; we wouldn't be able to develop and maintain new superheroes. Which means we, America, would fall behind Eurasia and other regions that have access to magic and the supernatural."
-----
Monday evening.
The Lower East Side of New Amsterdam City, at a bar called Sans Souci.
Sans Souci, affectionately known as the Sewer to the locals, is a little dive bar with a large outside smoking area in the front; the inside is dark, the weekend bands fun, and most importantly, the drinks are stiff and inexpensive.
Although Monday is typically a slow night, both indoors and outdoors areas are currently packed because of the guest singer - the former Successor contestant known as Snow Lily.
On the stage, as the random background music plays nonsensical lyrics, "boots n cats, boots n cats", Snow Lily raps the following:
"They say I'm lil big. why? related to my gig.
I know you don't give a crap, but I'm here to emo rap.
Ran into a man without a mask.
Wouldn't put it on, even though I asked.
He whistled, and said 'hi dear'.
I said, 'what? I can't hear you clear'.
He said, 'hey, wanna be my sugar baby'?
I said, 'no. sorry. I'm a lady.'
He wasn't too small and he wasn't too big.
Ah, I think I'll just call him Mr. Pig."
As the audience listens attentively to Snow Lily, a scrawny man walks toward the bar.
The bartender has a black eye and half his face swollen from the stitches in his cheek.
Looking at the bartender, the scrawny man asks, "What the hell happened to you?"
The bartender shakes his head and replies, "Don't want to talk about it."
"Hmmp," the scrawny man slides the bartender a twenty, "I need two guys."
The bartender pours a Double Jameson. Adding a single ice cube, the bartender slowly and softly says, "Sorry. Can't."
Taken aback, the scrawny man asks, "wha- why not?"
The bartender slides the drink over, puts the twenty in the till, and looks around before whispering, "Orders from new management."
-----
Saint Anthony's Church, 38th street. New Amsterdam City.
"Master, why are we here?" The Ring of Murkem asks, "This is boring."
"Saint Athanasius…..," Redd prays, "guidance…"
The Ring of Murkem complains as Redd prays, "This is boring.. Boring. Boring.. Why these useless prayers?"
"I'm praying for the Saint to intercede on my behalf," Redd whispers, "I'm a good person, but sometimes I have to make tough choices."
"Pah… *cough*," the Ring interrupts, "Why not wish upon me?"
"Wha.. What do you mean?" Redd asks.
"The Ring of Murkem is all-powerful, Master." The Ring hypes itself up, "What you see is the mere tip of what I can do for you."
Standing up, Redd asks, "Can you truly do anything? Can you?"
Redd continues to inquire as he walks out of the Church, "Can you reverse the flow of time? Restore the dead…"
The Ring warns Redd, "Duck."
"Wha..," before Redd finishes his thoughts, the Ring of Murkem flashes red - causing Redd to double over.
Parts of the wooden door shatters as a bullet whizzes over Redd's head.
"Shit! Sniper. Where is he?" Redd asks as he quickly scans his surroundings.
The Ring quickly responds, "Third story on the gray building in front."
"Thanks Ring…" Redd says as he runs the other direction- weaving an unpredictable pattern.
-----
In the corporate headquarters of Coin-O-Matic Distributors.
Brigadier Natsagdorj Bimbaev hangs up the phone and curses, "Damn the Hidden Empire! They backed out of the contract and gave us a full refund."
Natsagdorj addresses his guards, "We're leaving. Now."
As Natsagdorj and his entourage make their way to their vehicles, his bodyguard Dzhambul asks, "Why the rush?"
Natsagdorj responds, "The Hidden Empire is money hungry. They *never* give refunds."
Natsagdorj continues, "Someone, or something, has gotten them spooked... and anything that can scare the Hidden Empire is something *I* don't want to mess with."
Getting into his armored car, Natsagdorj directs his driver, "Take us Upstate."
Natsagdorj's decision proved prophetic, as the Karoleks avoided the "supervillain attack" that demolished the corporate headquarters of Coin-O-Matic Distributors.
-----
Alex stares at the smoking ruins of a warehouse in New Amsterdam City.
Hitting his communicator, he says, "Thames, what's going on? Where did the supervillain go?"
After a few moments, Thames replies.
"Bzzt. Sir. According to eyes, the supervillain came and flattened it in less than three minutes."
Thames continues, "Sir, you should be made aware that this is happening all over the underworld; the Scars, Karos, Bermudas, Irregulars, Twisted, everyone who's anyone - regardless of affiliation - is being hit... practically at the same time. Also, it's getting harder to hire 'help'."
"Harder? Why?" Alex asks.
"Bzzt. Someone. Someone *big* is muscling in." Thames replies.
"Fuck!" Alex curses.
-----
Nathan "Ben" Roberts has always made bad decisions.
To hear him speak of it, it all started from 7th grade when he attempted to bully a smaller kid, but ended up getting his assed kicked before he got suspended; he would later claim that the suspension prevented him from applying to a 4-year university.
Nathan got tattoos despite multiple family members warning him of adverse reactions to tattoo ink; he is now deadly allergic to avocados, his once favorite fruit.
Nathan dropped out of community college in order to work more hours at his minimum wage job. When he dropped out, his mom cut him off, forcing a huge reduction in his previous standard of living.
All throughout his life, Nathan has taken advantage of people trying to help him, burning bridges and friendships wherever he goes.
These poor decisions eventually led to Nathan joining the cult called the "Embrace of the Night". Nathan struggled with forming deep relationships throughout his life, so when he heard how close-knit the members were, he became interested.
Cults are skilled at knowing whom to target, often focusing on those new to an area, or those who have recently undergone some personal or professional loss; loneliness and a desire for meaning can make one susceptible to friendly people offering "community".
Sometimes, people just want to connect with other people who share the same interests; and a cult provides instant community, friendly camaraderie, and a common language/jargon that everyone speaks.
Like many cults, the "Embrace of the Night" has created new jargon for their members; for instance, they would call feelings like anxiety and fear "limiting beliefs", call their common members "acolytes", and call their leader the "Alpha".
Cults discourage critical thinking, making it hard to voice doubts; especially when everyone around you is modeling absolute faith. The "Embrace of the Night" has taken advantage of this to create a "pack mentality", with their" acolytes" doing their best to please the "Alpha".
And now, the Alpha has directed her acolytes to acquire "super-powered items".
This has led Nathan to grapple with one of the hardest decisions of his life.
Thanks to his uncle, Nathan had gotten a job as a member of the janitorial staff for the Waygan Research Institute. It's a somewhat thankless job, with all the custodial work taking place after normal working hours.
And this evening, as Nathans performs his duties in the level 2 Restricted Area (RA), he comes across an unattended apparatus testing Evilron's left forearm; the hunk of black metal seductively lures him. Nathan knows that if he presents the forearm to the Alpha, he would immediately gain the awe and respect of the other acolytes.
Although Nathan should *technically* be escorted whenever he's in the RA, the guards of the Research Institute have gotten lax in the ten plus years that Nathan worked for the facility.
As the guards chat, joke, and laugh, Nathan sweeps the unattended apparatus along with Evilron's left forearm into his 50-gallon rolling trash bin. He then dumps more trash on top of it.
Although the theft would eventually lead to Nathan's incarceration, it's just another bad decision in Nathan's life.
-----
Late at night.
The Tierra Leona estate, on the outskirts of New Amsterdam City.
Although it is called the Tierra Leona estate, it is secretly where Paul Scaramuccia, the leader of the Scaramuccia crime family, resides.
And tonight, Paul is not happy.
"Those damn Carols." Paul Scaramuccia curses, "How dare they blow up Don Peppe?!? That restaurant has been in my family for generations."
"We need to hit them where it hurts", Paul rants, "and I mean where it really hurts."
*Bratatat! Bratatat! Bratatat!*
The sounds of light machine guns interrupt the conversation.
Thomas Gravano suddenly rushes in, "Mr Scaramuccia, sir. The mansion is being attacked by a super, we need to go *now*."
"Those damn Carols!" Paul curses as his bodyguards escort him toward the garage, "How dare they! Those damn Carols!"
-----
At the same time, inside Malger Manor.
In his personal entertainment room, Alex is getting acquainted with two of his more *enthusiastic* female fans when an intercom buzzes.
"Sorry to interrupt, sir", a pleasant female voice remarks, "The neighboring Tierra Leona estate is getting attacked by a supervillain."
Alex groans before responding, "Thanks Marsha. Have Nigel prep my costume."
"Aww do you really have to go?" Kimberly Aeston, a blonde supermodel in her late 20s, pouts.
Katie Takragon, a raven-haired enchantress in her late 20s, turns to the side slightly; revealing new and provocative poses.
Katie holds out a slim, perfectly sculpted hand and seductively whispers, "I was just getting started... Please stay."
Kimberly quickly agrees, "Yes. Please stay. I'll do *anything*."
Alex found it impossible to concentrate. Both ladies were beautiful beyond compare, and their smiles took his breath away.
Alex was tempted, really tempted. But, if word got out that a neighbor got attacked and Alex had the opportunity to intervene and chose not to...
Reluctantly ignoring the scent of perfume, Alex tears himself away, "Sorry ladies, duty calls."
-----
Back in the apartment that serves as the hideout of the 34th street Irregulars.
The other Irregulars do their best to ignore Redd as he mutters seemingly to himself, "What other powers do you have? And how can I use them?"
The Ring whispers into Redd's mind, "The Ring of Murkem is all-powerful Master, but there is a price to unlock the more *advance* powers."
"Let me guess…" Redd pauses dramatically before muttering, "Souls?"
"In a manner of speaking." The Ring responds, "Pain for pain. Time for time. Life for life. I merely help facilitate the exchange."
"So if I give you enough time...." Redd begins to say.
"Yes master, I can reverse time itself." The Ring answers affirmatively before asking, "What would you wish for?"
Entranced, Redd voices his dearest wish, "I want to see my little Jenny and Samantha again. I want to go back seven years and change the past so everything now didn't happen. And I want power… enough power to protect all that is dear to me."
"I can grant your wish," the Ring begins to say, "but I'll need…"
"Yes, I know, Ring." Redd interrupts, "And you shall have it. Help me and I will give you all you want."
Much to the amusement of the Irregulars, Redd adopts a sloppy cross-legged posture and closes his eyes.
Vinny- one of Redd's longtime lieutenants, hesitantly asks, "Boss?"
Redd, with his eyes shut tightly, waves his concerns away.
After a few minutes, Redd suddenly opens his eyes and says, "Boys... someone betrayed me. And that unlucky person is…"
"Him." The Ring projects a face into Redd's mind.
"Him." Redd says pointing at Joseph. "And the price of betrayal... Is..."
"Have mercy!!!" Joseph screams, "I didn't mean to..."
"Who did you tell?" Redd asks.
"It's my girlfriend…" Joseph begins to stammer out excuses, "They threatened her, you see.."
"Who did?" Redd presses for answers.
Joseph quickly offers up a name, "Silver Eagle."
"The hero?" Redd inquires.
Joseph nods, "The same."
"Uhum… the price for betrayal is Death." Redd continues, "But you may pass in ecstasy and with dignity. Farewell… "
Joseph watches to his horror as his hands involuntarily grabs some pills.
"No…" Joseph says in a trembling voice, "No…"
Hands trembling, Joseph does his best to resist, but is unable to prevent himself from popping the pills and injecting over 20 mg of heroin into his veins.
Redd coldly watches Joseph overdose on drugs before turning around saying to the rest of the Irregulars, "Vinny and Glen... take half of our liquid assets and go to my mom's house, the rest of you... grab Joe and come with me."
-----
Slipping on his customized armor, Alex jumps into the "Vehicle of Judgement" and quickly approaches the Tierra Leona estate.
Ten drones, operated by Alex's support staff, buzz around the vehicle.
Approaching the estate, Alex notices that the iron gates that separate the estate from the public roads have been melted into slag.
The sounds of gunfire can be heard in the distance.
"Are you getting this?" Alex asks.
"Yes sir," replies one of the drone operators before asking, "Do you want us to start livestreaming?"
Alex responds, "No need for now. Just gather footage."
As the vehicle drives up the long winding road that leads toward the estate's manor, the drones record the fallen corpses of numerous guards; their bodies burnt and mangled.
Alex narrates in front of a camera, "The guards of the Tierra Leona estate died unjustly... I will bring the perpetrators to justice!"
Alex continues as the camera captures footage of the corpses, "You can't tell from the screen, but the stench is overpowering. There's a distinct coppery smell in the air, plus the scent of cooked meat; the smell of burnt liver, mixed with fried beef, fatty pork, and rotten eggs. Whoever, or whatever, did this has a flame or energy power."
"How was that?" Alex asks the drone operators.
The operators respond with variations of "it was great, sir", "perfect, sir", and "awesome."
The "Vehicle of Judgement" pulls up in front of the Tierra Leona estate's manor.
Hopping out, Alex tells his men, "have six drones follow me, the rest can scout and monitor the premises."
-----
In one of the Tierra Leona estate "secret" underground garages.
Paul Scaramuccia huddles in fear behind a pillar as his men valiantly attack the intruder - a masked muscular man wearing a jet-black spandex costume.
Handguns, semi-automatic weapons, full-automatic weapons, and even grenades have proven ineffective against the dark-clad villain.
To make matters worse, the entrance and exit to the garage has been blocked off, thanks to strategic energy blasts.
"Damn it!" Paul curses, "Where the hell is Dionysius?"
"He got captured by Alien Axe," one of Paul's bodyguards replies as he reloads his weapon.
Suddenly, there is a roar of an engine as an armored van rams into the supervillain, running over him.
Paul and his men universally cheer with variations of "yes!", "finally!", and "take that bitch."
As Paul and his men celebrate, the supervillain gets up; their cheers dying as the supervillain dusts himself off.
"Fuck this!" The armored van driver curses as he attempts to run over the supervillain again.
In response to the approaching vehicle, the supervillain holds up two palms in front of his chest. A massive energy blast erupts from the palms and strikes the armored van, blowing it apart; the force of the explosive flinging shrapnel and debris all over the area.
Paul and his men wail and cry with variations of, "No!", "Damn", "Fuck this, I'm out."
The supervillain walks toward the Scaramuccias, synthesized voice ringing, "None of you will live."
-----
Twelve-hundred miles from his parent's home in Arkansas, Philip Mutt walks the dark alleys, veins bulging at his temple, anxiously gripping himself as the pangs of heroin withdrawal intensify.
Philip is a homeless Army veteran; Philip needs the euphoria provided by heroin in order to mask the terrors he experienced during the war. Consequently, Philip is forced to live on the streets because the City's homeless shelters refuse to take in drug addicts.
Homeless and dope sick on the streets of New Amsterdam City, the 39-year-old considers stealing from a nearby store – anything to scrounge up the cash he needs to get drugs.
"He'll do." Redd says as he points at Philip.
The Ring of Murkem flashes with a blood red light as Redd says to Philip, "You're not an addict. You are Redd Johnson. Boss of the 34th Street Irregulars."
The Ring of Murkem flashes as Redd points to Philip and says to his men, "He is Redd Johnson. Boss of the 34th Street Irregulars... and you have no recollection of the past hour. Don't forget to 'take care' of Joe."
With new roles assigned, Redd quickly flees into the night.
-----
Alex and his drones arrive at the "sealed" entrance of the underground garage.
The mangled and burnt corpses of the guards, along with multiple detached body parts, lie strewn around the premises.
Suddenly, an energy blast erupts, blowing a hole in the sealed entrance.
Out steps a masked muscular man wearing a jet-black spandex costume. The man seems surprised upon seeing Alex, but quickly recovers.
A synthesized voice sings, "Ah. The Judgementor, it's a pleasure to finally meet you."
"Who are you?" Alex asks.
The synthesized voice echos, "My name is unimportant, but know that I have cleansed the land of the Scaramuccias."
The man touches his left ear with his left hand and a synthesized voice warbles, "Alien Axe will be here in ten minutes?!? I'll need help withdrawing, Judgementor's here."
"You wiped out the Scars?" Alex asks, "Was this one of their safe houses?"
The man turns his attention back to Alex and a synthesized voice croaks, "This was the primary residence of Paul Scaramuccia, and his body is behind me."
The man motions toward the garage he exited from.
"You're under arrest for murder." Alex says as he gets into a combat stance.
"No." the synthesized voice intones, "No. I don't think so."
The supervillain holds up a palm to his chest and an energy blast erupts from it toward Alex.
Alex dodges and charges toward the supervillain.
Clenching his fist, Alex ionizes the air, causing the supervillain's clothing to uncomfortably cling and ride, and causing numerous fabrics from the dead guards to fling themselves toward the supervillain.
The supervillain fires numerous energy blasts to incinerate the offending items.
A synthesized voice begins to echo, "An interesting application..." before glitching and continuing in a human's voice, "... of electrical power."
Streams of crackling electricity envelop Alex's fist as he takes advantage of the supervillain's distraction and punches him in the stomach.
The supervillain gets knocked back into a wall.
"You can't hurt me." The supervillain says as he staggers up, "I am invulnerable."
The air is thick with ozone as Alex rains blow upon blow on the supervillain, knocking him into sofas, tables, furniture, debris, and walls.
"Stop that," the supervillain says as he throws a punch.
"Wha.." the supervillain continues as he loses his balance, his clothes pulling him forward.
The Judgementor knees the supervillain in the face, discharging wave after wave of electricity into the supervillain's body.
"This is annoying," the supervillain says as he reaches for Alex, hands glowing with power.
As Alex avoids his grab, the supervillain begins randomly firing energy beams.
These beams blow apart furniture, paintings, walls, part of the roof, and other miscellaneous Scaramuccia property.
As Alex dodges the energy blasts, the supervillain takes the opportunity to recover.
Suddenly an auto-tuned voice sings from above, "Do you need help with him?"
Looking up through a hole in the roof, Alex sees a masked muscular man wearing a jet-black spandex costume hovering up in the sky.
"No." the first supervillain replies, "We need to get out of here before Alien Axe shows up."
Alex concentrates, creating a large sphere of static electricity over the masked supervillains. The sphere quickly collects particles of dirt, dust, and lint into a large cloud.
"Why did..." the hovering supervillain begins to say in a synthesized voice before the synthesizer errors out.
The hovering supervillain finishes with a human voice, "... you do that?"
"Fuck!" the first supervillain says, "Your voice! We have to get rid of him."
"It'll be worse if Alien Axe catches us," the hovering supervillain replies, "Judgementor won't recognize us, but Alien Axe will. We have to get out of here now!"
The hovering supervillain swoops down, braving the dust cloud to pick up the first supervillain; together, they quickly fly off.
Alex stares at the retreating supervillains before asking his men, "Did you get their real voices?"
"Affirmative, Sir." one of the drone operators responds .
"Good," Alex says as he enters the underground garage.
Entering the garage, the overwhelming stench of cooked flesh assaults his nostrils as he sees the burnt corpses of the Scaramuccias.
A booming voice rings in the distance, "Beware my Alien Axe!"
Alex sighs and shakes his head before going out to greet Alien Axe.
Upon seeing Alex, Alien Axe says, " You did this? Your unlicensed vigilantism comes to an end tonight! You're under arrest, fiend."
Alex sighs, shakes his head, and replies, "Stop blaming me! Again, I'm not incompetent and I'm not a criminal. I'm not responsible for all this... and I have footage to prove it."
"And what took you so long?" Alex asks, "You're slipping, old man."
Alien Axe turns beet red as he responds, "There's been some issues with the Association's staffing and equipment. The gang war is overloading our resources; we're not meant to handle this many cases per day."
-----
Back in the apartment that serves as the hideout of the 34th street Irregulars.
Not knowing why he's so grimey and being somewhat forgetful, Philip/Redd took a shower and changed into a comfortable set of fresh clothing before holding court.
"I seem to have gaps in my memory." Philip/Redd says, "Tell me again what businesses we're in?"
As Ricky starts filling in Philip/Redd, Jeff nudges Gary and whispers, "At least he's no longer talking to himself."
Gary whispers back, "I'm not sure if memory loss and absentmindedness is better."
The sounds of screams and gunfire suddenly erupt.
Panting and out of breath a guard says, "Boss, there's a super here. We got to go *now*."
As Philip/Redd begins to stand, a masked muscular man wearing a jet-black spandex costume barges in and starts massacring the Irregulars in the room.
"Waste the freak!" Philip/Redd orders as his men unload their firearms onto the super.
The man easily shrugs off the bullets as he fires energy blasts from his hands; each blast blowing large gaping holes in the apartment or the Irregulars...
"Damn it!" Philip/Redd curses, "Where the hell are the cops and supers?"
-----
After reviewing the footage in the "Vehicle of Judgement", Alien Axe leaves; but not before giving Alex with another warning for "unlicensed vigilantism".
"Vigilantism isn't illegal", Alex mutters under his breath, "as much as the Association wishes it were."
"Fuck!" Alex says, "It was such a good night too. I should have stayed home."