A/N : I've been very lazy lately. Especially since I started to play Duel of Fate and Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 (for the 20th time). And also, I found so much interesting comics (superheroes of course!) and decided to read it instead of writing this...
I'd like to say thank you to : Ember Hinote and ChildofStorms for favoriting (is that a word?) this story. And to Anne Fatalism Dilettante, fluffyfun91, Dark-nesey, CactusNoir, and ChildofStorms for reviewing this story. To Lars Solheim and N and S and F (look how many 'and'!) for following this story.
Disclaimer : I own nothing.
Warning : Grammatical errors (feel free to point it out), and ummm... fluff? And ummm... light swearing, and ummm... crappy fighting scene.. and umm... what else? OOC-ness and also Cliffhanger at the end (you probably need an ice pick and a certain mohawk Scottish *head slap for Call of Duty reference).
I think this chapter make the whole story clearer right now (or make it more confusing), and this story won't be very long (maybe just two or three more chapters), but don't worry! I'll make sequels (notice the 's') and prequels (another 's') in this AU.
On with the story (that was one helluva A/N, don't you think?)
Chapter 3
THE SAVAGE
Northern Tower
Goodhaven City
Three hours ago
Many things going on in his mind, as Arthur prepared his sniper rifle. His last conversation with Alfred didn't go well, as he remembered storming off from the room before he let Alfred explained any further. Did he really have no heart just like everybody said? Sure, Falcon could always been seen as the dark brooding character among the Nightfallers, since he barely speaking with anyone except for Gilbert, Ludwig, Katana, Fire Dragon, Observer (because he needed to), and also The Conductor and Fightress. But other than them, he just spoke as little as possible.
Arthur never felt guilty about something. No he never felt guilty. But this time, as he saw the expression on Alfred's face, he knew he'd done something wrong to the young scientist. He had hurt Alfred.
"Falcon, can you see anything?" Gilbert's voice could be heard from the comm.-link.
"Not yet, Silver Storm," said Arthur. He slapped himself to not thinking about personal problem when he was on a mission.
"Something's bothering you, Artie?" asked Gilbert.
Damn him. That name… Alfred used to call him with that name.
"Nothing, Silver Storm. I'm fine."
"You sure?"
"Yes."
Kirkland Enterprise
Goodhaven City
Four months ago.
"Arthur? Professor Jones here wants to see you," said Lily Zwingli, sister of Vash Zwingli, entered Arthur's office on top of Kirkland Enterprises. Arthur glanced from his paper and smiled at the quiet girl.
"Thank you, Lily."
Lily left and came back followed by the familiar grin of Alfred F. Jones. Arthur returned the smile and asked Alfred to sit in front of him. After exchanging greetings, Alfred gave the report of the research and their progress.
"There was a small problem in the laboratory though. I'm stuck there, while the radiation levels reached the dangerous level and my anti-radiation suit wasn't working properly. I was trapped though, and I think I've been exposed to the Ferusine. After my colleagues opened the door, they rushed me to the hospital and got the doctor check on my condition. They said beside the sleep deprivation, I'm perfectly fine. It seems like the suit kept protecting despite the condition wasn't good," Alfred explained with a small laugh.
"Are you sure you're okay?" asked Arthur.
"I'm perfectly sure, Artie. Don't worry."
Arthur let out a relieved sigh. He didn't know why, but he hated to think that Alfred might put his life in danger because of this research. He felt a slight attraction to this young scientist in front of him. This thought, though, causing him to slightly blushing. Arthur had to slap himself before it got worse. He was the Falcon, for God sake!
"Actually, Arthur… I want to ask you something…" said Alfred.
"Shoot."
"Would you like to go to a lunch date with me?"
Arthur felt his face warmed at the question, and he was blushing like crazy.
"I… I don't…" he stopped himself. "I-I mean… w-why not?" he answered in bright red face.
Alfred smiled at him and gave him a quick hug.
"Thanks, Artie! I'll pick you up at lunch break!" said Alfred as he stepped out of the room, leaving Arthur with his deep red blush.
Nightfallers HQ
Goodhaven City
"So, you're telling me that you're dating him?" Gilbert asked as he put on his blue boots and glanced at Arthur. It was a quiet day in the HQ. Behind his dark goggle, Arthur threw his death-glare at Gilbert.
"We're not discussing this matter here, Gil," said Arthur.
"Says who?"
"Just stay out of Arthur Kirkland's life!" Falcon hissed at the superhero in front of him. "I might not have that freaky power of yours, but I assure you I can break you right now in at least twenty different ways."
"What's with the cranky mood, Falcon?" asked Gilbert teasingly.
Arthur shrugged him off as he went out of automatic door of the Monitor Room and walked up to his quarter. He needed time to be alone right now. Arthur sighed as he reached his quarter, he took off his balaclava. He felt an urge to call Alfred right now. Somehow, the cheery mood of the young scientist could give him a soothing effect.
So, Arthur connected his comm.-link into the Kirkland Manor before called Alfred. He waited until he had the cheery voice of Alfred picked up the phone.
"Hi, Artie! I see you called…" said Alfred.
"Hey, Al," said Arthur softly.
"What's up?"
Main Avenue
Acropolis City
Four months ago.
"The monster has destroyed almost everything in the street and threatens the citizens of Acropolis' life. The authorities have deployed their special team, but until now to no avail. The attack raised a question among the citizens, 'Where are the Nightfallers?' This is Feliciano Vargas, reporting live from Acropolis City."
"Feli, look out!"
"Eh?"
Feliciano Vargas looked at the direction where his cameraman pointed at, and as he saw it, he eyes widened in fear. There was a car already thrown at his direction. He couldn't move an inch from fear.
Instead he closed his eyes and prayed.
Not like this…
After awhile, he couldn't feel the impact. He opened his eyes slightly and stood in surprise as a blue costume blocking his view. He stared at the man wide eyed before whispering the name.
"Iceberg…"
The superhero had built an ice wall to trap the car in it. At ease, he made an ice path and flicked his feet until a snowboard appear and he started to slide away to help his fellow superheroes. Feliciano could also see Silver Storm, The Conductor, and Figthress fighting.
The monster was humanoid. With the height of at least more than 6 feet, almost 7. He skin was thick and the color was slightly blue and he was strong as hell. His strength almost matched Fightress' if it wasn't more. The Conductor was hovering beside Silver Storm as they tried to find the monster's weaknesses.
"Where the hell did he come from?!" yelled Silver Storm slightly annoyed.
"As if I would know!" the Conductor yelled back. "Observer, I need more information about this thing," he said to his comm.-link.
"I can't find any," said the Observer. "I'm watching the footage from, like, ten different channels and I'm like…"
"Uhm, Toris? I think you've been hanging out around Felix too much lately," said Iceberg.
"Damn."
"We have to stop him!" said Fightress.
"No shit, Sherlock!" Gilbert shouted as he summoned the lightning. The sky was getting darker as the dark clouds appear. Silver Storm smiled as he looked at the creature down there. Now, time to bed, fuck head.
"Silver Storm!"
He heard the Conductor yelled his name as he turned around and saw one of the cars already flying at him, ready to hit him when Roderich rushed to him. The Conductor flicked his baton and suddenly, the car was thrown another way. The Conductor could see the sounds as projections of colors and control it to attack the enemy. He had the power to manipulate sounds. It was a very useful power, especially in battle.
"I'll hold him off, you prepare that attack of yours!" said Figthress.
"This is gonna be AWESOME!"
The Conductor used Gilbert's voice and manipulated it as a high pitched sound to attack the monster. Fightress was ready with her fist as the girl jumped from the ground until she reached a good height and let gravity accelerated her fall and swung her fist into its head with a force that caused the road around them cracking and caused a crater on the road. No use. The creature stood there as if nothing had happen and kept destroying the city.
Iceberg trapped him in ice, but the monster seemed to radiate the heat which melted his ice. It almost seemed like this thing was invincible. The only hope was Silver Storm's lightning would serve him good.
That was the time when Gilbert had done with his attack.
"Take that, shithead!"
He yelled as he controlled the lightning to strike the monster.
It hit him. Great!
The monster grunted in hurt, but the lightning didn't do much as he broke out from it. The monster ran away before the superheroes could catch to him and disappeared in an alleyway. There was nothing they could do now, except hoping that he had hurt enough for not returning to the city.
Nightfallers HQ
Goodhaven City
"The local news called him The Savage, due to his nature to destroy almost everything," said Gilbert.
"No shit," muttered Arthur sarcastically. "What do you need?"
"I need you to find out more about this creature. Where did he come from, his powers, weakness, anything."
Arthur pulled out his minicomputer which attached to his goggle and connected directly to his computer in his hangar in Kirkland Manor. He knew that Vash was probably on his duty in front of his super computer right now to assist Arthur's night activity.
"Pull out the footage of the battle with Savage, two days ago, Acropolis City," said Arthur to the computer. "Analyze."
The computer analyze the footage to find any particular disturbance in the air, but only found an extensive heat emerge from his body. Arthur kept watching the footage for awhile, didn't say anything but muttered his command to the computer. Gilbert sighed as he walked to the corner of the room and pulled out his cell phone and pressed his speed dial four.
"Hey, Birdie," Gilbert greeted softly.
"Gil! I've been waiting for you to call me!" the sound of Matthew Williams was putting him at ease.
"I know, Mattie."
"I've been worried when I saw what was on the news that a monster attacked Acropolis when you were there… I'm worried sick. I mean, you're okay, right? You weren't hurt?"
"I'm fine," said Gilbert.
"Thank God," said Matthew. "Are you in Goodhaven now? We could go out for dinner tonight."
"Sure. Sounds fun. Should I pick you up?"
"Nah. We'd better meet up at the restaurant."
"Sure thing, Birdie."
Gilbert closed his cell and glanced at Arthur. He was still busy with his computer, pulling of some file and muttering the command. Gilbert watched him in silence. It was always amazed him the way Falcon worked. Gilbert and Arthur had been friend since they were in the high school, up until now. When Gilbert realized his ability, Arthur had been developed his skill in weaponry and martial arts. When Gilbert was a superhero, Arthur decided to play the anti-hero or a vigilante, even without any special power; only with his skill, willpower, and courage among other things, though Gilbert never really knew about his true motive of playing vigilante.
"How's the result, Artie?" asked Gilbert.
"I'll go back to The Hangar to pull out more data. Why don't you contact me sooner? I can retrieve more evidence from the scene faster. Right now, there's no hope there're much left."
"I've been awesomely busy," said Gilbert.
"With your Little Birdie?"
"Yup. Among other things."
Arthur snorted as he walked out of the room to his motorcycle. Without a word, he drove off into the night, to The Hangar in the basement of Kirkland Manor.
Ocean Call Café
Goodhaven City
Three months ago.
"Artie!"
Alfred called to him as he waved his hand excitedly. Arthur smiled at the childish scientist. He gave Arthur a small hug and a quick peck on his cheek (which caused Arthur to blushing like crazy for a public display of affection).
"Sorry I'm late, Alfred," said Arthur after he took a seat. Alfred smiled softly.
"No problem, Artie. It is my fault really, to give you sudden notification," said Alfred. "But I can't help it since I'm in this city, and I know you're here too."
"I'm glad though," said Arthur.
They ordered their foods and chatted for awhile. Most of it about Alfred's work on his research on Ferusine and what was he doing in Goddhaven in the first place. Alfred eagerly explained about all his research and experiments. Arthur asked about his condition and Alfred explained it that he was doing alright.
"How about you, Artie? You seem tired," said Alfred as he saw that Arthur was slightly paler than usual. There were dark eye bags, and he seemed thinner than the last time Alfred saw him.
"I'm perfectly fine," said Arthur. "Anyways, lately I've been reading the news papers and saw that Acropolis is under the terror of a monster. I'm a bit worried."
"Ah, yes. The Savage as they call it. Fortunately, I rarely leave the lab and my house is in the outskirt of the city. You probably had read it on the news paper that S.T.R Lab had been attacked by that monster, right?"
"I got your report about the damage."
"Yes," said Alfred. "It was horrible though. Fortunately, most of my researches are saved."
"Glad to hear it."
They kept talking and talking about other things, including Alfred's family (he lived alone. His parents die and he didn't have any sibling) and Arthur's (he had two brothers. His older brother served as an S.A.S soldier before declared Missing In Action and his younger brother went to private school in England).
But not even once, Arthur realized about the bandage that wrap Alfred's right hand.
The Hangar, Kirkland Manor
Goodhaven City
Three days ago.
Arthur had managed to find more evidence from the Savage last crime. He had to fly his advanced fighter plane called Falcon Wings to Acropolis to retrieve more evidence. He sighed as he watched the destruction of that place. After he thought he had enough, he climbed up his plane, and fly back to Goodhaven.
And after spending at least a full week in his hangar going through the evidences (only stopped for eating since Vash and Lily forced him, and also took a bath), Arthur manage to pull out some footage of the battle when an idea hit him.
"Computer, zoom in on this section," said Arthur as he tapped on the screen. "Enhance the image." The picture became clearer. It was Savage's hand. All of his fingers were perfectly faced the camera, and Arthur smiled. "I only watched this on TV and don't know if I could do it in real life…" he mumbled slightly. "Zoom in. Enhance."
With that, he managed to get fingerprints. Arthur smiled at his victory. Now, all that he had to do was to run this fingerprints through the database. Any database he could find. It would need a lot of time though, but Arthur was slightly satisfied with his work, although there was a slight nagging feeling in his heart.
When Arthur ran the fingerprints, Vash had already come downstairs with a tray of tea and cookies for Arthur. He watched the program that had been running on the monitor of the Hangar.
"You think you will find him?" asked Vash.
"There're millions of people in this country, Vash, and I tried to match his fingerprints with every possible database I could reach. This might take a long time, though. I could probably let the computer work for days or something—"
Arthur's words stopped as he heard a slight beeping sound from the computer.
"Found it already?" asked Arthur in disbelief. The computer opened the file and showed a photograph with also the personal data of the person.
His eyes widened as he saw the picture and the name. His tea cup fell from his hand as it hit the floor of the hangar in a loud crashing sound. Vash saw the monitor in disbelief. He glanced at Arthur as the young man was grabbing the armrest of his chair tightly.
"Arthur…?"
Arthur didn't answer that. Instead, he let out a dark chuckle.
"I knew it," he said quietly. "Damn."
A/N : And... cut! I hope this is good enough... Please, review!
