Chapter 21

Arc 1

Charge HQ

The "Black and Blue" Hero returned back to his base of operations with a smile on his face. The more he helped people and rescued them, the more confident he got. Confidence in his abilities and confidence in himself as Charge. To him it was great that he was no longer in the shadows having to hide just who the hell he was. He still had a secret identity of course but now he was able to be the hero he was always meant to be. Even when he didn't have his abilities, he was still acting as a hero. He was just a hero without powers and now he was.

Cedric walked into the HQ still in his suit with his smile. He saw Dr. Hart sitting in the living room with her face deep in a newspaper. The article she was reading was the famous: "I Spent The Night With Charge" article that gave him the name he had taken great pride in having.

"I can see you've taken an interest in reading."

"And I can see your ego has been boosted tremendously. So much so that you put your friend in danger at the cost of boosting it."

"I'm sorry, run that by me one more time?" He asked as he frowned up clearly annoyed at the statement she just said.

"You heard me. You wanted to boost your damn ego so bad that you put Kala in harm's way."

"The hell are you talking about!" He said, raising his voice almost as a shout.

"I'm talking about you. You don't get it. By giving her this exclusive, giving her this interview with you, making her the first person to talk to you, it can be inferred by anybody that wants to hurt you that she has a connection with you. So anybody that wants to hurt you will go after her to get to you. And they will."

"No they won't."

"Yes, they will. She's not bulletproof like you."

"They won't get to her. I can protect her."

"You say that but what happens when the rest of the world is in trouble and you have to save them."

"Then I'll find a way. I can protect the world and her."

"So it's that simple huh?"

"It is. Doc, you know me better than anyone else. You know when it comes to the people I love, I will always protect them. Now if you'll excuse me, I got a job to do." He said rising up to his feet and walking out of the living room area with Dr. Hart watching as he walked away. She sighed and shook her head as she closed the newspaper and sat there looking off into space.

(!)-(!)-(!)-(!)

Sunstone City Herald

Cedric walked into his workplace about 20 minutes later than he was scheduled to come in. Everything that Dr. Hart had said it was still ringing in his head. He was now questioning in his head: did he do the right thing when he gave Kala the exclusive? And if the time came, which one would he choose: his bestfriend or the world?

His thoughts were cut off when the 5'4 woman that turned his world upside down came running towards him with a Cup O'Joe cup in her hand making him smile as he saw the cup of coffee. If there was anything that made him cheer up it was definitely coffee and his best friend and of course the occasional pizza or cheeseburger.

"Morning bestie." She smiled handing him the cup.

"Kala, I've known you for a long time. And the only time you refer to me as "bestie" is when you want something."

"I was wondering if tonight we could go see a movie, go bowling, get pops and frozen yogurt afterwards."

"Damn girl you want a lot."

"Well we don't get to hang out much like that anymore especially since you've gotten that girlfriend of yours, Madison."

"Again with the name. And yes we can do all that if that's what you want."

"Yay!" She said as she wrapped her arms around him giving him a hug making him roll his eyes on the outside but smile on the inside.

"Harvey. Rose. I'm not paying y'all to stand around. Harvey, fix the damn printer!" Sigman shouted from his office making the two quickly scurry off in separate directions to go work as they wired to do so.

(!)-(!)-(!)-(!)

Undisclosed Location

Miles Maverick, The Billionaire CEO of Maverick Industries sat in the backside of a black Cadillac Escalade that his personal security guard were driving. He was on his way to handle some Monarchy "Business". He was currently on his phone chatting with the President of the United States, David Alleyene regarding a weapons contract between the US and Maverick Industries for 45 BIllion Dollars.

"Alright, Thank you Mr. President. It's a pleasure to do business with you. I'll be flying in tonight after I finish up on some business here."

"I-" Miles was saying until the man on the other hand interrupted him, making him roll his eyes in response.

"Yes, sir. Okay, I will. Goodbye sir." Miles said hanging up the phone with a fake smile on his face. He threw his phone down on the seat and rolled his eyes as he picked up the glass of scotch from the cup holder and took a sip.

"That's the idiot America chose to run the country. I could've done better." Miles arrogantly said as the car came to a complete stop in the middle of an empty field of grass.

"Well, well, well. Look at this. It must be my birthday. I got two people that think they can screw with me and get away and I get to teach them a listen."

"Please. Mr. Maverick." said a man who looked to be in his 40s who stood up on his feet with his wrist tied behind his back with zip ties. He ran towards Miles only for one of the security guards to catch him with a fist to the jaw knocking him down.

"Did you really think I was about to let you get close to me? So stupid." Miles said chuckling as he watched his men put the man that crossed him back on his knees next to a man looked to be in his early 20s with dirty blonde hair.

"Now the both of you are in a pickle. You both owe me money and not just a few hundred dollars. You Mr. Cool owe me about 25,000 dollars after you tried to steal from me." Miles said pointing to the man in his 40s getting a sigh from him. "And you Mr. Brown owe me just about everything but your life. I gave you a means to support your family and what do you do with it, you screw me over. And for that you will pay." Miles said

"Now I could kill you both right here, right now but where's the fun in that?" He asked rhetorically, giving off a chuckle with a slight hint on insanity in his tone.

"We're gonna have a bit of fun. And by we, I mean me. One of you will die and one of you will live, but the kicker is I won't be picking which one. No, you two will." Miles said before being handed a 9mm pistol that was locked and loaded with ammo.

"Whoever has the balls to take a life in exchange for theirs will walk away. Now, let's see who has a set." Miles said, throwing the gun down in front of the two. There was a bit of silence at the moment, no one moved or said anything.

"So no one has balls?"

"I won't kill a man that has a family. I'm not your little-" Mr. Cool was saying until he was cut off by the younger man making the older man frown. The 40 year old man watched as the zipties were cut off the 20 year old.

"Please, don't do this. Please, I got a granddaughter on the way. I just want to be able to hold-" He was saying until the 20 year old swiftly picked up the gun and shout in directly in the heart making his now lifeless body fall back. The 20 year old sighed as he looked down at the older man watching him bleed like a hog.

"Good but there's been a change in plans." Miles said reaching into his suit pocket pulling out a small pocket pistol. "Neither of you are leaving alive." He said raising the pistol up at the 20 years old and quickly pulling the trigger. He was able to close his eyes in time enough so he didn't get blood on his face. Miles opened his eyes and looked down at his victims with a smile on his face.

"You'd think people would learn. Don't screw with my money. It's simple, don't screw with the mula and you'll live." He said speaking to his crew.

"Mr. Maverick, I gotta ask why'd you choose this spot and not the usual place." Miles chuckled as he heard the question and turned to answer the person that questioned him.

"Randy, you know I hate being called that. And to answer your question, this field is between counties and directly where we are standing is the separator between the two. And these counties, Blaire and Wardwiick, have huge, massive egos and don't believe in sharing. So when it comes to something like this, they won't share any details or how the victims have similarities. Egos should truly be considered the killer of men. You guys know the drill, check their pockets whatever they have keep it for yourselves. I'll be waiting in the car." Miles said as he walked back to the SUV while his employees walked to the now lifeless bodies. Miles entered in his SUV and pulled his phone dialing a number.

"Adam, Tonight's the night. You know the plan, leave no survivors." Maverick informed before hanging up his phone and turned to look out of the window at the scene before him.

A/N: So I haven't updated in a long ass time and I originally planned for this chapter to be a lot longer than it is but seeing as that I haven't updated in a while I thought now would be the time for it rather than wait another few weeks to update. But the next chapter will be the night out amongst the best friends and the plan that Miles spoke off as well as the arrival of the mystery man on the bike so the next chapter will be a pretty big chapter. Also I'm gonna be trying to work on Guardian and get that out.