"Come out from there now! Or, we're going to shoot!!"
In front of a shop in New York, several police officers stood between their patrol cars, aiming their guns at a man in a bakery. The man, a Caucasian in his forties or fifties, looked like a father picking up his daughter from school, with a pink backpack on his shoulder that didn't match his age.
He kept waving his hand back, telling his daughter, who was picking out bread inside, to stay put. He raised his hands and asked, "What's the matter, officer? What happened? What did I do wrong?"
"We received a report that you're using your mutant special abilities and putting the safety of the children in the community elementary school at risk. Put down whatever you have in your hands, squat, and do not move. We need to search you!"
"Special abilities of a mutant?" The man showed a bewildered expression. He said, "My special ability is just to produce a bit of glue from my fingernails. How could that harm anyone?"
"Dad, I've picked out our bread, can we go now?" From behind him, a little girl in a skirt wanted to approach, but the man immediately pushed her back, saying, "Eliza, wait, don't come out here! I need to talk to these guys!"
"Officer, you must have made a mistake. I don't have any powerful mutant abilities, and it's impossible for me to put any child in danger. Today is the school's Open House, so I just went to my daughter's school to help her with arts and crafts…"
"Shut up! Put your hands on your head and squat now! We received reports from other parents that you're endangering their children's safety. Get in the car with us!"
After saying that, the cops held their guns, handcuffed the man. At this moment, another police car arrived. Chief George got out of the car, and asked the officers, "Which precinct are you from? Do you have an arrest warrant? Who is your superior?"
Although George is somewhat elderly, his years of service have not dimmed his authority. Like a lion still possessing its might, he scanned the faces of the few officers, he said: "Without an arrest warrant, on what grounds are you arresting him?!"
"We received a report…"
"You're arresting him because you received a report? Is that how you learned the rules? Release him now! I don't want to end up talking to your superiors!"
At this point, George heard the sound of camera shutters, several reporters rushed out from the crowd, aiming their microphones at the key people involved, first to be interrogated by the press was the man squatting on the ground.
"Hello, sir, are you a mutant? What's your view on being reported? Have you obtained the consent of the school and other parents while using your dangerous mutant abilities at the community school?"
"But I didn't…" The man's words were not finished when another reporter chimed in, "The police said you've been reported by other parents. Have you thought about the harm this would bring to your daughter?"
"Eliza, your name is Eliza, right?" Another reporter rushed into the bakery and addressed the little girl, "Why do you think your father has been reported by other parents?"
The young girl, holding the breads she just picked, was obviously startled by the intensity of the situation. Given her attire, she appeared to be from an ordinary wage-earning household, without elite education, and she was at a loss as to how to respond to the reporters' questions. All she said was,
"Today is the school's Open House, our teacher asked parents and students to work on a small handicraft together. My dad's fingernails can secrete glue, so he's really good at arts and crafts. That's why we went to school together..."
"So you're saying that your father utilized his mutant ability to cheat at school, completing the handicraft ahead of time, which led to other parents reporting your father?"
"No, not at all, we only built a small house, there was no cheating... what does that mean?"
"Your father didn't explain his mutant ability to you? Has he been deceiving you all along?"
Chief George immediately stepped in, telling the reporters, "Everyone, get out, don't surround this place, you are disrupting the order of the neighborhood..."
"We're just reporting the truth, Chief. Are you trying to stop us journalists from monitoring your law enforcement?"
"I certainly am not..."
George had wanted to refute, but the remarks from the reporters had already been transmitted out. The onlookers were whispering amongst themselves. Some claimed the father disrupted the fairness of the school, others feared he might poison the water with his abilities…
The pressure from the remaining officers and reporters increased. George was left on his own to handle the escalating situation. With the journalists' endless questioning, and his desperate need to stop the officers from taking the man away, he quickly found himself overwhelmed.
The father, upon realizing that the officers had started paying attention to his daughter, immediately grew anxious. Instinctively, he stood up, but was pinned down by three policemen within moments.
The excessive force caused him to cry out in agony. Yet, with the reporters surrounding George, he could not get to him. Suddenly, as the man's head hit the ground, a commotion came from the corner of the street.
Everyone turned around only to see a monstrous creature with fangs and a wide-open mouth appearing at the corner of the street.