An old house is seen on the outskirts of Reaverfall City. It looks worn out and almost abandoned, at least on the outside. It certainly doesn't help that the grass looks like it hasn't been cut in years. A couple of the windows are covered in wooden boards. Three college students approach the building.
The first has an almost fair skin tone, along with long, messy light brown hair. She has sky blue eyes. She has a slim pear body shape and stands at 5'4". Her name is Emilia Spencer and she is wearing a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie.
The second has pale skin and a scrawny physique. He has messy, eye length black hair. His eyes are dark brown, near black. He always has dark circles around his eyes due to insomnia. He also stands at 5'4". His name is Cody Brooks and he is wearing old jeans and a t-shirt with a couple holes in it.
The final one stands at about 5'3" and has wavy blonde hair and green eyes. She has pale skin and is slim. She is wearing a band tee and ripped skinny dreams. She is Cami King and she is in the center of the other two, clearly the group leader.
"I don't think this is a good idea, Cami…" Emilia mutters, feeling uncomfortable about being here.
"Nonsense, Emi. We can do this," Cami smiles. "Also, I'm pretty sure word would spread fast around RCU about us chickening out of going into a haunted house. Now...if only there was a way in." Cami smiles at Cody, who takes a walk around the yard in response, looking for something. Within the heavy grass, Cody manages to find a large and thick stick. Cody twirls it in his hands as he approaches one of the windows that only has a couple boards on it. He uses the stick to break the glass before pushing the stick through the window and back out it, putting pressure against the boards from behind. Cami and Emilia grab the stick as well and help Cody pull. Eventually, the boards budge and come loose, sending all three careening to the ground. They groan in pain before they begin to stand up, looking at the now completely open window.
"Lady and Gent. We are in." Cami smirks.
Ryan Holland is seen sitting in the diner, picking at his food with his fork. Even though him and Wings caught some of The Mad Dragons, he can't help but feel miserable about failing to capture The Faceless Ones. On the brightside, it didn't turn out as poorly as his attempt to capture Jane and John Doe, nor Iron Paragon.
"You good, Ryan?" Morgan Gates asks as he sits down, opposite to Ryan. Ryan looks around to make sure no one is close enough to listen in before leaning forward.
"We got some of The Mad Dragons arrested, but we failed to capture their associates: The Faceless Ones." Ryan whispers. When he mentions The Faceless Ones, Morgan's eyes go wide.
"That's not good." Morgan grumbles. "I've heard a lot about The Faceless Ones. Tormenta and I have been trying to figure out...anything concrete about them. Right now, we only know rumors."
"What do you want me to do?" Ryan inquires, crossing his arms as he rests them on the table.
"La Tormenta and I were supposed to do some recon tonight, but I got a possible lead in the Iron Paragon case. I need you to take my place in tonight's recon." Morgan informs.
"So...me and Tormenta?" Ryan gets a little smile.
"Try not to get too excited." Morgan teases with a rough chuckle. Morgan reaches into his blazer, pulling out a pen before grabbing a napkin, writing something down on it before sliding it to Ryan. "Here's the location and time. Don't keep her waiting." With that final line from Morgan, Ryan takes his leave.
Back at the haunted house, Cami King, Cody Brooks, and Emilia Spencer are searching through the house with a flashlight. At every little noise, Emilia jumps while Cami looks unsettled. Cody, however, remains unfazed.
"They say a vampire or werewolf lives here." Cody informs calmly.
"Shut up, Cody. That's not funny." Emilia hugs herself, terrified.
"It's hilarious." Cody deadpans as Cami opens a door, causing a dozen bats to fly out. Cami and Emilia duck down as Cody throws himself against the wall beside the door, out of the bats' way.
"Screw you, Cody." Cami says from the ground, now starting to look a bit scared.
"They're just bats." Cody shrugs before entering the room. Cami and Emilia follow suit, albeit hesitantly. Inside is a giant bed with a man sleeping in it.
"Hey! Are you dead?" Cody yells as Cami's and Emilia's eyes go wide. The man grumbles before sitting up. He is 5'9" and has pale skin. He has sandy blonde hair in a bun with a few loose strands, along with red eyes that have plus sign shaped pupils. His ears are pointed and he has noticeable fangs. He has a bulging gut. He also has a huge scar on his back.
"Go away." The man growls before laying back down.
"Come on, chubs." Cody mocks.
"That's not nice." Emilia scolds.
"CHUBS?!" The man suddenly shoots up and gets right in Cody's face, though Cody remains unfazed.
"Cool contacts." Cody says as the man narrows his eyes.
"H-Hi, Mister. I'm Emilia… This is Cami. That's Cody." Emilia nervously introduces her and her friends.
"Cassius." The man coldly says as he continues to glare at Cody.
"Are you a vampire?" Cody calmly asks.
"No." Cassius says as he moves past Cody, now hovering off the ground. The three follow him downstairs and to the kitchen. He opens the fridge and pulls out a slice of pizza.
"Really?" Cami responds, all three noticing him hovering.
"Don't you have anything better to do other than harassing me?" Cassius grumbles as he takes a bite of his pizza.
"Not really." Cody shrugs.
"I want you especially to leave me alone." Cassius says to Cody with a mouthful of pizza.
"Are you sure you aren't a vampire?" Emilia hesitantly asks.
"Yes." Cassius raises an unamused eyebrow as he continues to hover.
"Okay…" Emilia accepts his answer.
"Get out of my house." Cassius demands lazily.
"Or what?" Cody crosses his arms.
"I really don't like you." Cassius glares down at Cody.
"And I really wish I didn't have to stare at you." Cody rolls his eyes.
"I am about to beat you." Cassius narrows his eyes.
"Oh really?" Cody scoffs.
"Really." Cassius' glare intensifies.
"Yeah?" Cody antagonizes.
"Yeah." Cassius hovers higher, staring down at Cody.
"When?" Cody smirks. The two hold their glare for a minute before Cassius responds.
"Later." Cassius takes another bite of his pizza as he lowers to the ground once again.
Nightbolt is perched on a building rooftop on the outskirts of Arcstein. Unlike Reaverfall City's modern design, Arcstein is a futuristic looking city with dozens of skyscrapers that pierce the skies. Nightbolt has only been to Arcstein a couple times. Back in college, he took a couple trips to Arcstein to sit in on some intense trials and see how the lawyers handled the cases.
"Zoning out?" La Tormenta asks as she crouches down beside him.
"Oh, uh, yeah. A little bit." Nightbolt chuckles nervously, caught off guard. "It's nice to see you again."
"Okay, cara linda." La Tormenta rolls her eyes playfully.
"What's that mean?" Nightbolt inquires, curious.
"Stupid." La Tormenta causally lies. "Why are you here?" La Tormenta looks at the city in front of them.
"Blitz got a possible lead on Iron Paragon, so he asked me to take his place tonight." Nightbolt looks out at the city as well.
Tormenta nods before speaking, "I heard you and Wings saw The Faceless Ones."
"We found out that they were working with The Mad Dragons. Wings and I defeated a couple of Dragons, but The Faceless Ones escaped." Nightbolt informs.
"Did you see any defining features?" Tormenta inquires.
"The one who did the deal was tall and lanky. Maybe about 6'2"-6'5", if I had to hazard a guess." Nightbolt says, thinking back.
"We've seen him before. What did he sound like?" Tormenta looks towards Nightbolt, intrigued.
"He sounded cold, like he was disinterested with the conversation." Nightbolt meets her gaze.
"That sounds like The First." Tormenta sighs. "We've heard drug dealers refer to him by that name. He seems to be the one who handles any deals for The Faceless Ones. He practically has Arcstein's criminals by the balls."
"Ouch." Nightbolt scoffs.
"Yeah. They don't act without him knowing it." Tormenta informs. "I've heard rumors of them meeting with some small drug gang tonight, but I'm not sure."
"Wanna check it out?" Nightbolt stands up and offers his hand. Tormenta stares at it for a moment.
"Yeah." Tormenta stands up by herself, but she smiles. With that, Nightbolt and Tormenta begin running across the rooftops, looking into each alleyway, trying to find any deal going on.
Cami and Emilia sit at the long dining table with Cassius as Cody snoops around.
"You better not touch my stuff, boy!" Cassius screams.
"You better not touch my stuff, boy." Cody mockingly repeats.
"Does he always do this?" Cassius narrows his eyes at Cami and Emilia.
"He...grows on you." Cami informs.
"I don't believe you." Cassius crosses his arms. "Look, if it gets you out of my house, I got shit that needs to get done. I'll pay you for your troubles."
"Wait, really?" Cody pops out from out of nowhere.
"Yes." Cassius glares at Cody.
"What do you need?" Cami inquires.
"Some rude people have been breaking into my house lately. Sound familiar?" Cassius looks at the three.
"No." Cody sarcastically responds.
"Shut up." Cassius swats his hand at Cody, who narrowly avoids it. "If you three can take care of them, I'll pay you for each one."
"How much?" Cody raises an eyebrow.
"$20 each." Cassius states.
"$50." Cody argues.
"$30." Cassius narrows his eyes.
"$40." Cody narrows his eyes as well.
"Fine." Cassius sighs. "I have some pictures of them. Let me grab them." With that, Cassius leaves the room.
"You think this is safe? What if they are supervillains?" Emilia nervously asks.
"We can take them!" Cami punches her fist into her palm.
"I could use the money." Cody shrugs. Cassius returns with several polaroid photos. "Polaroids?" Cody scoffs.
"Do you ever shut up?" Cassius glares. He shows them two photos.
The first shows a woman, lean and short. She has long and messy bluish-black hair and is wearing a White Rabbit mask with red eyes, covering her actual eyes. (Reference picture: Fallow White Rabbit by Piotr Sokołowski, beautiful picture!). She appears to have been captured by a hallway camera in the house.
The second shows just a simple word on the wall, painted in red. The word is OMEN.
"Wow! That helps!" Cody yells, annoyed.
"There was a man standing in front of it in the original picture. Where the hell did he go?" Cassius looks at the photo intently.
"So, $40 each?" Cami inquires.
"Yes. Arrest them, break their legs, kill them, I don't care. Just keep them out of my house." Cassius waves his hand.
"Maybe not the last two…" Emilia pokes her index fingers together.
Nightbolt and La Tormenta come across an alleyway where a man is being sold drugs. "Should we..?" Nightbolt inquires.
"No. The cops can handle this." Tormenta shakes her head and the two move on, neither noticing a man walking through the shadows, towards the drug dealer and his client.
"This city is so big… Bigger than Reaverfall." Nightbolt says, awestruck. "It's…stunning." Nightbolt looks at the glowing city with wide eyes.
"Yeah, it really is." Tormenta smiles. "So… Is there a Mrs. Bolt? Daybolt?" Tormenta teases.
"Unfortunately, there is not." Nightbolt chuckles.
"Interesting." Tormenta smiles once again before a blood curdling scream is heard. Both their heads snap towards the direction of the scream, the alleyway they just passed. They rush back over, looking down into the alleyway to see the dealer and his client, covered in their own blood as their throats have been slit.
Nightbolt sees a man entering the shadows. "Let's go." Nightbolt quickly says as he jumps down. Tormenta follows suit and Nightbolt chases after the man as Tormenta notices something on the wall beside the two corpses- The word OMEN painted in their blood. Tormenta sees that Nightbolt is gone. With that, she reaches into her suit and pulls out a black portable camera, not much bigger than her thumb. She quickly takes a picture of the crime scene before following after Nightbolt.
She catches up to Nightbolt as he stares at something. Tormenta follows his stare to a black van. In front of it stands The First, recognized by his 6'4" height and his lanky physique.
"Ah. So the mouse found the cheese." The First coldly says, facing towards them.
"Why did you kill those two?" Tormenta calls out.
"Kill? No, that wasn't us." The First responds. "You have been searching for us for a while, haven't you… Catalina Cortes." The First puts emphasis on the name, causing Tormenta's eyes to go wide. "Why isn't Morgan Gates with you?"
"Morgan Gates?" Tormenta's eyes squint, confused.
"You know him better under the alias of Blitz." The First responds.
"How do you..?" Tormenta's voice cracks as it shakes slightly. Whether it's because of fear or anger, who can say.
"We are always watching. We are always listening. This is your warning." The First steps closer. "If you continue to investigate us, we will take you and everyone you love out. It may look like an accident, or a cult. Who would know the truth?" The First coldly threatens as Tormenta is frozen still. "Stand down."
La Tormenta clenches her fists, filled with anger. Begrudgingly, La Tormenta takes a step back.
"And you…" The First looks at Nightbolt. "I do not know your identity yet, though we have some leads on that. Give me another day or two and we'll know. Do you really want to risk your loved ones too?"
Nightbolt grits his teeth, not wanting to quit. However, much like when Nightbolt stopped Tormenta from chasing after Iron Paragon, Tormenta places her hand on Nightbolt's shoulder. When he looks at her, she shakes her head and Nightbolt takes a step back.
"Good." The First crosses his arms behind his back. "Then I trust we will have no further disturbances. You may deal with all the villains you like, so long as it does not interfere with our business." The First commands before turning and entering the black van, which drives off afterwards. Tormenta and Nightbolt watch as The Faceless Ones leave before Tormenta drops to one knee and punches to ground, angry.
"DAMMIT!" Tormenta screams. Nightbolt kneels down beside her and rubs her back supportively.
Back in Reaverfall City, Nightbolt and La Tormenta perch on top of a building, staring up at the stars.
"So… Catalina..?" Nightbolt sighs, feeling sorry for her.
"Yup." Tormenta sighs, feeling crushed. "I saw a lot of people ignoring the lower class, so I used my water powers to fight crime. It started in my neighborhood, then… It kinda just kept building. When Benetown locked up, I used my job as a journalist to try and find someone to help. I...I didn't think I could handle the problem by myself. Clearly… I couldn't."
Nightbolt is silent for a minute, seeing Tormenta looking depressed. Then…
"It's nice to meet you, Catalina. My name is Ryan." Nightbolt says as he pulls down his hood and removes his mask. Tormenta stares at him for a minute, caught off guard.
Then, Tormenta removes her mask. "Nice to meet you too." Catalina smiles sweetly. The two share a smile for a moment.
"You know… If you ever want to get some food or something-" Ryan starts out before Catalina holds out her hand to him.
"Give me your phone." Catalina calmly demands.
"You aren't gonna throw it, right?" Ryan jokes as he reaches into his suit and pulls out his smartphone.
"Might." Catalina teases with a smirk and a tilt of her head. She takes the phone and opens it. She hands it back to him so he can put in his password before taking it back. She types something in before putting her mask back on. She hands his phone back to him. "Later." La Tormenta winks before jumping off the building, using a small pond to summon enough water to catch her and let her fall safely.
Ryan looks at his phone, where he sees Catalina's name with a heart next to it, followed by a phone number. Ryan smiles and even blushes a bit before putting his mask back on. With that, Nightbolt heads home.
Ryan Holland sits on his couch with his tape recorder.
"Subject Name: The First. Ability: Unknown. Notes: The First appears to be a high ranking member of The Faceless Ones. He is cold and calculating, able to figure out our secret identities. With many unknown variables, it's impossible to plan for him." Ryan ends the recording with a sigh before he opens his phone, seeing a text message.
Have a good night.
-Catalina 💙
A/N: I hope you all enjoyed! Please leave a review so I know how you felt! Thanks!