Malcolm King was walking on the streets. he hears gun shots and he goes to a bar in which he looks at many bodies on the floor. he asks what happen and someone answers by telling him that the dead guys belonged to different gangs and they killed each other. Malcolm looks at the clock on the wall. he whispers 'it is 8:00 p.m.'
Malcolm knows things are getting worse if this much violence is already happening this early. he is going to need to come back from retirement something that he hates a lot. he growls thinking that he might not even fit in his outfit. also he is a bit rusty.
he gets out of the bar and he keeps walking the dangerous streets of the city that he once swear to protect and while he was on duty he never failed to do his job until the day that he throw away the cape in exchange for something more peaceful.
"fuck, I went out early and I don't know what do now without work on my hands."
said Malcolm thinking of going back to the office.
earlier on the center of the city.....
Blind Thief is eating with the Stuntman inside of an okay restaurant. the Stuntman is waiting for Walter Grey and the Drainer to come (he send them a message to inform them that he is eating with a coworker) The Stuntman is drinking grape soda.
Blind Thief asked him about his friendship with those two. the Stuntman wanted to stay quiet until his drinking companions were with them. Blind Thief smiles feeling relief knowing that he has friends. Blind Thief explains how he felt lonely until he met his boss. he also said something about not having any purpose until he met his boss.
after some time Daisuke arrives (his clothes is cover on blood especially his shoes. he also seems to be beaten) Daisuke sits next to them and talks like if it is normal to walk like that to a meeting with 'friends.' later Walter Grey arrives with a camera. Blind Thief looks at the camera and there are some personal pictures of important people.
"do you guys actually meet like this to drink?"
asks Blind Thief incredulous.
"that is a code of drinking buddies. we don't judge each other and we are not even going to drink today."
explained Walter Grey while looking at the photos.
"is this even normal?"
asks Blind Thief once more.
"oh lord! you haven't seen anything with this two. for us today is normal."
said Walter Grey unable to believe himself the way in which they meet sometimes.
Blind Thief explains to the Stuntman that he can't talk about today's work. Stuntman starts to talk about other work that he has done. Daisuke talks about the small job he took a few hours ago. Walter Grey talks about the powerful people that he is trying to bring down.
earlier on the neighborhood owned by the Russian Mafia...
Biyu is walking alone inside of a house. she falls on the ground and she sighs feeling tired after all the fighting. she looks at a bullet wound on her stomach and she starts to feel a knife wound on her back. she was so busy fighting that she never saw or felt when she was wounded.
she stays on the floor and she turns around slowly facing the ceiling. she breathes slowly and she feels her eyes a bit tired. it has been a brutal fight against the organized crime but this is so far from over and she isn't going to stand up anytime soon. she ain't dying but she isn't fighting either.
the rage or the adrenaline that you feel at a moment can take you so far but there is always a limit to the human body and today Biyu has found her limit. she wants to move after hearing the screams of some of her friends but she isn't able to move at this moment.
Biyu moves slowly her head to the right and she sees with horror a man running on flames. he screams with horror and no one is able to put out the flames. subsequently he dies not for the burns but of a heart attack. a few tears are running around of Biyu's face and then the tears land on the floor.
there are some footsteps. there is a familiar voice. Biyu feels safe when she is able to see that Ray of Hope is carrying her outside of the building. he tells her that everything is going to be fine. he tells her to not worry. Biyu wants to say something but her throat is dry and she is out of words. she faints.
"don't worry I am here to rescue you. I can't let the best friend of my girl die.... not jet."
said Ray of Hope with a grin showing his superiority complex.
"she won't ever love you. she didn't, and she won't."
said Biyu while being unconscious.
a tear falls from Ray of Hope's eyes and he feels surprise to know that those words affected him so much. he never felt anything against words of hate, actually the opposite he always felt pride after hearing them. but now he feels wounded.
"you don't understand the way we love. my love might be seen as sick on the eyes of others but it is honest. her love might seem mediocre in the eyes of others but it is pure."
said Ray of Hope with a broken voice.
he leaves Biyu with the paramedics. Ray of Hope walks back inside of the building in which he found Biyu. he walks super fast and he hits in the vital points to every criminal that he sees on his path until the building is clean. he walks outside and he is told that Vladimir Petrov escaped with some scientist.
later on an abandoned house.....
Professor Barnett Villan, Aristide Bellucci, Ted Wayne Whitley and Vladimir Petrov are on a meeting together. the four of them agreed to meet in secret to talk about killing Alberto Esposito and Mark C. Miller Jr.
Aristide is tired of being the shadow of others when he is trying to build his own organization. Professor Barnett Villan only entered on this war for fun. this bloody war is nothing less than a fun game for the Professor to be distracted before finishing his little science project.
Professor Barnett Villan drinks hot lemonade without sugar. Vladimir Petrov is only in there to hear what the others have to say. he is not a talkative person and he is right now at the mercy of Professor Barnett Villan who has some dark ideas to exert. Vladimir looks at the Professor and he is trying to read his movements thinking that maybe he can learn that something that he is hiding from him.
Ted Wayne Whitley is a smart man who started an alliance with everyone on the city in secret expecting that sooner or later one of them is going to win and he would be save at his side. this is no longer about owning the city or being a big renown Villain in the city. this is about survival of the fittest or the smartest. a man like Ted Wayne would do anything to stay alive.
Aristide knows that Don Gratiano isn't the best family member out there but he doesn't want him dead either. Don Gratano is the only family member who has not turned his back on him. Aristide knows that Ted Wayne is a rat. Vladimir is a man of his word but at the moment he is losing power so his word has no meaning. but he doesn't know anything about the Professor who is the only guy who doesn't fit in this meeting jet, he seems to be the most important one.
the meeting ends after exchanging a few words. everyone else leaves, but the Professor stays in the building awaiting for someone to get out of the shadows. Lethal Stinger walks out of the shadows and he looks at the Professor.
"so are we having a meeting Professor?"
"you are the one who send the letter to me letting me know about the experiments of that Bandit Cadaver boy."
"I knew that a big brain like yours would know without a second thought. the truth is that I want to know what you can do to this city."
"what do you mean Mr Lethal Stinger?"
"don't play dumb, not with me. of course I am talking about turning this city into ashes."
"of course that is what you meant. let me see how far I can go and I will let you know about the outcome."
Lethal Stinger leaves flying away. Professor Barnett Villan uses a handkerchief to clean the sweat from his forehead. he stands up slowly and he leaves the house. his phone is ringing and he knows that things are about to become even more interesting.
later on the streets...
Night-Sight is walking dragging a bloody corpse that he throws on the air. he started doing his Vigilante thing at 10:00 p.m. earlier than usual. he has been working a lot. someone calls him by his name and he turns around ready to fight.
Alberto Esposito walks slowly towards him. Night-Sight is starting to get tired of seen his face everywhere every single time that he gets out of his base (not really always but yeah Alberto looks for him a lot) Alberto feels offended.
Night-Sight looks at the sky that seems so dark with no stars nor moon. he smirks feeling that the sky was making reference to him. the sky, the night everything about the darkness is beautiful for those who hold nothing dear towards their hearts.
is true that he has mixed feelings about meeting his ex lover once more, but the true nature of the man that he is now is so different from the shadow of the one who he was in the past. there are no lies that a man can tell to himself unless he intends on pretending that a masked lie is much more than just another lie.
Alberto understands how Night-Sight feels that his past doesn't belong to him nor the future, because that is also how he is feeling or has been feeling for a long time. there was a time in which Alberto was so different that if someone knew how he was back then they would never believe it.
the night is a strange beast that brings those who are victims of their past together to contemplate the inevitable realization that somehow we all are mortals living lives that belong to our actions and to the shades of our emotions.
"if you really love her then what are you doing in here killing insects when you could be with her on a date."
"I am afraid to not be capable of been a 'normal' human in front of her. it has been so long since the last time I had contact with someone who makes me feel things, good things."
"hell, oh hell. what are we if not idiots torturing ourselves over questions that can be answer without agonizing."
"this is the world in which we live. nothing was never easy, not even breathing so I don't know how can you not understand my situation."
"is because I do that I keep trying to help you to do what you are so afraid to do without even knowing that it isn't that hard. you are afraid of something that might never happen."
"damn. I fucking love that wonderful lady. let's go to have dinner before we keep arguing about being or not being."
later on a zone exclusive for Former Heroes.....
Malcolm King is walking in front of the door of his home. he sighs thinking in the days of his past. he opens the door feeling that something was off. he enters slowly and he yields letting know to the intruder that he is no joke and if he desires to fight it would be his death. he walks slowly inside of his own house with terror.
Chiko Suzuki is sitting on a red sofa of the living room drinking a beer (he took the beer from the fridge) Malcolm closes the door and he sits next to Chiko in another small sofa. Malcolm is thinking really hard in his next words unable to understand what is happening in the head of his friend and former partner.
"so how is my baby girl?"
"she is doing good. I assign her to her second case."
"okay, let me remind you that if something happens to my baby girl I am going to be angry."
"me too, who do you think I am? of course I care for my niece."
"learn to speak properly first. it is niece not my niece. because she is my baby girl, not yours. I also came to ask you about that foolish kid."
"he is doing better. for a moment I thought that I was going to need to get my hands dirty, but no need he is accepting his past and starting to live for his future as your slave... I mean what? no your son-in-law."
they look at each other knowing what is coming next. no one wants to continue the conversation but they have to say something. Malcolm is so nervous that he can feel his heartbeat for a moment. he wants to doubt what he knows is to be spoken soon.
"well the small talk ended just now. the real reason why I am back and nobody knows and why I came to you first. the reason I came here is simple and you know it. he is back."
said Chiko with pain on his glance.
"you can't be serious. he left with no trace of his whereabouts.... he give up on his quest to purge the evil of the world. he accepted it like it was nothing after that massacre that he left behind. you can't be serious."
at first spoke with fear Malcolm but then his voice turned violent and loud.
"we need to be ready. Lucky-Hit is back."
"this city can be already gone. there is no salvation from the chaos that a monster like that can do."
"I think he is after the boy. he wants to use the boy to fulfill his dream."
"but he is just a boy. he is just in his early twenties.... he can't do that to him. not after what we did to his father. not after what they did to his brother. he has suffer enough for our fault."
there is a moment of silence. someone knocks on the door. Malcolm trembles because outside from Chiko there is no one who visits him at any hour. Chiko walks towards the door. he opens it and he grabs a letter from the floor. he closes the door and he walks back to the living room.
no one knows this but Chiko knows a small group of people that are fugitives from the government that is right now working for him. he asked them to do some investigation for him. Chiko reads the letter and then he looks at Malcolm with a genuine smile.
"what is this?"
"I put a team to dig up on the dark past of this city. they found the prison in which they are holding Julio Aguirre prisoner and I am thinking of using some contacts to break him out of prison."
"that can't be. are you a madman?"
"we cause enough pain with our complacent silence. is time for some righteous justice to straighten this rotten world. I am going to do this with or without you old friend."
Chicko stands up and he leaves. Malcolm is looking around of his home trying to find a reason to not follow him. they gave up on their heroism the moment in which they accepted the ways of the world and did nothing to change it, so why now?
it would be a lie to say that none of them agreed with the real evil of this world because they did in order to stay alive and keep their reputations intact they accepted to get some dirt on their hands by seen what the world is capable of doing and pretending to not see a single thing.