The interrogation room was clean. Too clean. There was no dirt or crime on any wall, or surface for that matter. The white paint shined off everything, causing the man in the middle, to stand out more then he already did. His tattered blue suit was covered with spots of dark red. His face filled with cuts and bruises, with the most prominent, a deep cut along his jaw.
The most intriguing thing to anyone who saw him however. Would be how each cut was not bleeding, instead already scabbing. To anyone unaware you'd think a substantial amount of time had past since whatever brawl he took part in. However, Detective Harper knew different. It was only about an hour ago that he had arrested the subject amidst the most brutal massacre he had ever seen.
12 bodies, bruised and mauled as if by a rapid animal. Most of them government officials. 5 CIA agents. 2 members of the security council. A Watcher. This happening in his town would be hard enough to explain, had it not been for James Moonfall. Found crouching among the bodies, examining them in some twisted ritual.
"Harper, he's on file, what do you make of this?" Another detective said entering the room and passing a police file over to Detective Harper. He opened it and what he read would not help him make sense of what happened. "Jesus Christ" was all Harper would manage to say.
Countless aggravated assaults, DUI's, and several years in jail. As he flicked through the file which was wider then most he had ever seen, his eyes scanning the pages, he suddenly stopped. He had found his leverage. Present at the Battle of Atrepol. Military service. Harper moved towards the door of the viewing area swinging it open.
"So, Mr…Moonfall is it? Quite a rap sheet you've got, oh and…thank you for your service" Harper said deliberately, every word carefully picked to poke and prod at the insecurities of his main suspect. James looked up, his blue eyes gazing lazily through the strands of his black hair. His expression hardly readable, but a small smirk forming on the edge of his lips. "You here to throw the book against me Detective? I already told you I'm innocent"
"Yeah so did all of the perps I've put away, why don't you walk me through what happened?" Harper replied sitting down opposite him. James scoffed leaning back in his chair, pushing his hand through his hair, sweeping it up. The rattling of chains broke the silence in the room, as he placed his hands on the table in front of him. Moonfall licked his lips before leaning in closer. For a brief moment, Harper could have sworn his blue eyes shifted to a dark yellow, but the familiar blue had returned when James begun speaking.
24 Hours earlier…
Two men in suits stood overlooking the Manhattan skyline. The older man glancing through a classified document, the younger one picking at the skin on his nails nervously. "Excelled in practical exams, above average IQ, seriously gifted. Hell according to this the kids a prodigy, why haven't we picked him up yet Milligan?" The older man said looking at Milligan.
"The negatives sir. Issues with authority, police record, and there is the issue of Atrepol, serious PTSD according to his doctor," He would reply looking anywhere but the Directors brown eyes. Milligan wasn't even sure why he was the one presenting this file. It wasn't his job. He was a level one data clerk, didn't even have the clearance to be up here. But it had to be him. Order from the highest authority. Well now he was face to face with the highest authority and he could not find a way to relax.
"Milligan are you even listening? Issue an order for an acquisition squad. Delta should do." The director was not the type of man who liked his time wasted and this clerk was wasting too much of it. He wasn't even sure why he was sent, something about 'orders from a higher authority'. Whatever the hell that meant. The president was rarely clear these days. "Delta? Yes sir, Delta, right away sir," Milligan would step back and turn away almost running out the office.
Several blocks from them, in a small rundown bar on a corner of an intersection sat James Moonfall. He was halfway done with what would be his 8th glass of whiskey. His black hair lazily swept up, and his blue eyes staring emptily ahead of him. He stood out immensely, his blue suit amongst the sea of jeans and sweatshirts, made him the highlight of most people's jokes that evening. He didn't care.
"Woman or work?" The woman behind the bar asked looking over her shoulder as she wiped down glasses. James broke out of his trance, "Woman" he muttered downing his whiskey and motioning for another. The bartender walked over to him, bottle of whiskey already in hand. As she poured she smiled at James, "Yeah been there brother, it's fine you'll find another, plenty of fish in the sea for someone as handsome as you,"
"No, I highly doubt I'll find another woman like my mother" James responded, placing a hand on the glass, however before he could lift it to his lips, the bartender stopped him. He raised an eyebrow, and as her smile dropped slightly she continued pouring. "Shit, I'm sorry. Double: on the house." He nodded as he began downing the drink, "I know you don't wanna hear it but you should probably stop drinking, it won't help" she would continue watching him with pity.
James chuckled, she was right of course, but not for the reason she thought. However, he felt like telling her he was part of a largely hated minority would get him kicked out. Or worse. "Yeah, think I'll get going anyw-"
The door to the bar slammed open, as several men in black tactical gear stormed in. None of them held weapons, but the symbol on their chests explained any questions. An old wheel created by the body of a snake, the head of which was front and centre. They were Watchers. An acquisition squad. "James Moonfall. You're being called for enlistment. Come quietly" the large man at the front would say as the squad of 5 took formation behind James.
"No, no. Not in my house, I don't care who you ar-" The bartender was cut off as within a matter of seconds James had stood up his eyes glowing a golden yellow. Before the men could get another word in, they were blasted back by a yellow force. Several slammed into the wall, one tumbled over the pool table interrupting a final shot of the game. The large man flew back but caught his footing quickly, the force only managing to throw him back a few metres.
James turned round launching himself at the man, his punch connecting with a loud thud across the mans face. On the back of his neck a golden rune lit up out of thin air. The top of the mans body twisted with the punch, as he barely kept standing. The second punch was caught by the large man, whose eyes now glowed a deep purple. He retaliated. The sound of bones breaking echoed throughout the bar. Mostly everyone had left, except for the bartender who stayed hidden in the back room.
The large man wasn't done. He lifted James above his head and brought him back down with force. CRACK. He dropped James to the floor. CRACK. As Moonfall lay there groaning in pain, his eyes closed, the other men of Delta squad had managed to get back in formation. As they towered over their target they smirked, they were told this would be difficult. That he was to be considered Omega threat level. And now he lay limp on the floor like a common dog.
That was their mistake. Even when they were warned. Even when they were constantly reminded. They made the same mistake everyone makes with James Moonfall. They thought the fight was over when he was down. But the fight had only just begun. And soon. It would end.
James' eyes darted open, golden and furious. He flicked his hand across the large man, a blade, golden in colour materialised. Slicing the man's head clean off. What occurred then was utter chaos. As the bartender watched through the small glass window of the door to the back room. Her eyes widened in horror. This man. Or thing. Which had just lay on the floor with more broken bones then anyone should be able to survive. Now meticulously made his way through the remaining four men. Expertly deflecting any magical blast or weapon they summoned with a runic barrier. Whilst at the same time. Massacring their friends. There was little blood as each ampution, and decapitation was seemingly instantly cauterised.
A man who had just moments ago lay lifeless on the floor had just cleaned out a trained squad in a a few minutes flat. Whilst also seemingly healing from several broken ribs and a broken spine. As he stood there among the broken bodies, he turned round looking straight at the window the bartender was looking through. She gasped loudly and hid herself behind the door.
Every sound was magnified a hundred fold. She heard the shuffling of feet and broken glass along the floor. Getting closer and closer. There was the sound of something slamming on the bar before the sound of the man getting closer. When she heard him on the other side of the door, she covered her mouth. Not making a single sound.
"I've left some money on the counter. Should cover the damage. I'm going to go now," she didn't leave until she was sure he was gone. Not a single peep exited her body for what felt like hours. But when she finally left, she saw that he hadn't lied. Notes had been left on the bar, around two grands worth, added to that the bodies around the bar had been removed.
James Moonfall had exited the bar, and begun running to a new destination. One of the men's phones had recieved a text moments before they entered the bar. 'Warehouse off 5th, rendezvous.' It was time for Moonfall to finally settle everything with the Watchers. Tell them that he wouldn't join them. Not after what they did.
When he entered the warehouse, his suit tattered from his fight with Delta squad. His bones creaking and cracking under the pressure of moving. His connection to magic had begun healing him, but even that would talk time. Inside he saw the large gathering of men. CIA, Security Council, and a man who was clearly a Watcher.
"Delta squad was the best of the best and yet our recovery team…says they looked like toys in a rubbish dump by the time you were done" The Watcher at the forefront said. His voice gruff, his stance calm and relaxed. "We know your against our organisation, but a threat has emerged which needs the best, and you…might be the best of us all" he continued as James stopped a few metres ahead of the group.
"I know how you treat your operatives, give me the info, I'll look into it" Moonfall would counter, his blue eyes piercing the Watcher. The others remained quiet unmoving, just monitoring the encounter. As the Watcher pulled out his phone to ring someone, James watched the others, reading their expressions. His eyes focused on one of the CIA agents. His hand was twitching ever so slightly, looking further up he noticed that behind the dark sunglasses there was a slight red glow.
Before Moonfall could say anything, the CIA agent pulled his weapon, putting several rounds into James. As he fell back he heard a roar, screams, slicing skin. Gunshots were going off, James turned his head as he lay on the floor. His vision blurry, but he saw the deep purple of magic, and a dark shape that seemed hardly affected. That was the last thing he saw before passing out.
"When I came to, I wanted to figure out what happened to them, thus I was examining the bodies" James explained to Detective Harper, a small smile on his face. The detective sighed, looking through the report that he had just written up. The story matched an eyewitness from a report of a fight in a bar earlier that night. "Why wait for you to get there? Why not kill you when it had the chance?"
The door to the room swung open. "No more questions, I need to speak to my client" a young man said nervously, he stepped further into the room, he was picking the skin on his hand. And the mans words seemed foreign to him. James knew he wasnt used to authority, this was no lawyer. He smiled nervously at the Detective as he left before turning to James. "My name is Stephen Milligan, and I'm here to get you out. Please, please, follow my lead"