Across a sidewalk, Venn stood outside a normal hotel. Right on time, Aiden walked out and approached him. Venn could tell that Aiden was still feeling weary about Venita's death.
"Why are you so calm?" Aiden blurted. "She was your sister."
"She knew the risks," Venn replied, maintaining a steady gaze. "We all did when we signed up for TEC. You should understand that."
"Understand? It feels like we're all just supposed to accept it. You act like it's nothing!" Aiden looked down and clenched his fist. "Shade's just... I don't know what he is. You're okay with him?"
"He's trying to build something better than Kingston ever did," Venn countered. "That's more than enough for me to keep following him."
Aiden's anger calmed down as he accepted that answer. "True. It's not like Kingston cared about us… but still…"
Although Venita had indeed died, she wasn't the only one in TEC who met their demise. There were many others, especially under their former leader, who had died seemingly without a purpose. Under Shade's reign, things had only gotten better, and Aiden couldn't deny that.
"Let's just find Stanley," Venn said, attempting to redirect the tension.
The two signaled for a cab before a vehicle pulled up. They climbed in without another word, riding in with small talk toward the outskirts of the city.
As the cab navigated through suburban streets, Aiden stared blankly out the window, wondering how ignorant the residents were. It was quite the peaceful territory—fit for elders who wanted to get away from it all.
When they finally arrived at Stanley's house, they hopped out of the cab, and Venn led the way up the path lined with overgrown grass. He pressed the doorbell and waited.
They stood there with no one answering. After a moment, Aiden called out, "Stanley! We know you're home! Your car's parked right outside!"
The door then opened abruptly, and Stanley stood there. His features were marked by age and irritation as he snapped in a raspy tone, "What the heck do you two bozos want?! I quit being a Bandit long ago."
It really hadn't been that long. His middle-aged frame looked weary with graying hair around his bald spot. Venn and Aiden exchanged confused glances. That was because Stanley was still wearing his Band.
"What? This?" Stanley gestured to the Band. "It's a souvenir."
"Sure," Venn replied with a clear hint of skepticism. "We came for a reason, Stan. Can we come inside?"
With a huff, Stanley stepped aside and grumbled, "Fine. Come in. I was getting bored alone anyway."
They entered his modest home. It didn't look any different than what one would see from a single man earning a pension from the government. Practically everything was draped without much dust lying around.
They settled onto the sofa, and as soon as they were seated, Venn spoke up.
"Vanita's dead," he announced, his voice steadier than he felt. "We had her funeral not long ago."
Stanley, despite being the uncaring outburst type, felt remorse. He started at Venn for a second before clearing his throat and saying, "She was a great girl. I... I didn't know and would have attended if someone told me about it."
"We know," Aiden continued. "That's why we're here. We need you to come back and take her place."
Stanley abruptly stood up and rose his voice, saying, "Listen, my time as a Bandit was filled with danger. I had every corner to watch, and every moment was a chance that I could end up dead the next day. I couldn't wait to retire, let me tell you! All I do now is sit around and watch television."
Venn and Aiden just sat there, watching Stanley's sudden frustration.
"That's why we came looking for you," Aiden tried again. "You were the best—"
"Best at everything!" Stanley interrupted while wandering over to a closet. He grumbled to himself as he rummaged through old clothes. "Back in my day, I could take on half a dozen punks without breaking a sweat. Not that anybody appreciates that now! Nope! They're just giving Bands like candy to babies."
The two just looked at each other with not a single one of them needing to say what was on their minds: Stanley had become senile.
After a moment, the old man re-emerged from the closet, wearing his old TEC uniform—faded, but not entirely forgotten.
"You two gave me no choice," he said with annoyance. "I'll come out of retirement… just this once. But I want a bigger office and better pay than what I'm getting in the mail, ya hear?!"
Aiden was caught off guard by Stanley's sudden decision.
"We can do that!" Venn said, smiling.
"Wait… really?" Aiden asked, trying to gauge the sincerity.
"Good then," Stanley grumbled. "Just don't go making a celebration out of it just 'cause I'm comin' back."
They gathered their things, readying themselves to head back. And within the same day, Stanley stepped back into the TEC headquarters. It was a lot less chaotic than he remembered.
The place was remarkably cleaner, structured, and organized. Desks were neatly arranged, papers lined up in labeled folders, and, strangely enough, there weren't any fights.
"What's with all the cleaning?" he muttered under his breath, shaking his head. "It's like a library here!"
Venn and Aiden couldn't help feeling amused as they led him through the corridors and into Shade's office. Shade was seated at his desk, reviewing reports on a tablet. He glanced up as they entered. "Stanley… It's good to finally meet you."
Stanley raised an eyebrow, unimpressed that this new leader was hiding his face. "Let's skip the greetings. I don't do things your way. If you want me here, you need to get it through that mask of yours that I do things on my own terms!"
Shade first looked over at Venn and Aiden, who just shrugged. He then maintained his composure and said, "I appreciate your honesty. As long as you're consistent with whatever you're doing, you have free reign in TEC."
Stanley blinked, momentarily taken aback by Shade's calm demeanor. "Hmm. You're a lot less uptight than I expected."
"I only care about the outcome," Shade replied, leaning back in his chair.
"Well, then…" Stanley finished. "Glad we have an understanding then."
As the two finished their pleasantries, it soon became clear to Shade that Stanley was indeed a senile old man. What impressed him more was what the man's Band could do: stop time in a small space.
A Band like that was most certainly worth keeping around. It could help in a variety of situations, like stopping the enemy in their tracks. The only con was that it couldn't single out targets. Meaning if Stanley stopped time in one area, everything and everyone would come to a halt except for him.
It also had a time limit, meaning he couldn't maintain the time distortion for long—perhaps ten seconds at the most. That was still more than enough to make a difference in battle.