Hello again. I think its been a week that I haven't updated this story. Again, some of the chapters of this story are long, so updates will be also slow. Just a reminder in case if you don't remember why. Anyway, the reviews from the fans:
Von the Unstoppable - Thanks. Although, to be honest, he won't be clashing with some heroes this time. This story is basically focusing on him. So I wasn't planning to put any heroes in it.
Rawtoonage press - Thanks. This next chapter will interest you.
NiteOwl18 - Yep. The suit thing was a good idea to add. Even the villain. It was planned out perfectly.
A guy with a big imagination - Yeah, basically, this is like the 2002 Spiderman, but again, it was inspired to create this origin story. So some of them are not exactly like the rest of the scenes in the movie.
Anyway, enjoy.
Four years ago…
It was a quiet and warm Friday afternoon. The doorbell rang, and Rita walked her way to answer it. "I wonder who could that be?" She opened the door and gasped in surprise. "Dad, you made it, and just in time too!" she hugged her dad.
Standing outside was no other than Pop-Pop himself. "Well, I couldn't miss my granddaughter's celebration when she entered a hero program. I'm so proud of her that she almost made it." He stated why he came. "Also, I also came here to see my look alike. Where is he anyway?"
"Oh, Lincoln's at the couch. Watching some hero fight or something." Rita chuckled. "Why don't you come in, and I'll call the rest to come back since you arrive so we can start the party."
"Sure. I can wait. I'll spend time with little kiddo anyway." Albert smiled as he walked his way to Lincoln. He may be different from his daughter and his other grandkids, but Albert is a man who doesn't play favorites. And it's obvious that he loves spending time with his grandson more often when he shows up.
"Hey, kiddo. Mind if I scoot over?" Albert greeted.
"Sure, Pop-Pop." Lincoln moved aside to let him sit beside him.
Immediately, Albert noticed that his grandson wasn't that happy like his usual self. Usually, when he visits by, the first person that he encountered was him. "Hey, everything alright there, Lincoln?" he patted his back. "You don't seem jumpy this usual."
"It's fine, Pop-Pop. It's just a long day in school. Got a lot to handle." He replied back, but that's not the case. "Believe me, it's really just that."
"Lincoln, I can tell what's been bothering you, and that's not it for sure." Albert corrected. "Now school problems are normal thing to have in your age. But the way how I see it, you're basically doing well in school. So, tell me, what's been really bothering you."
"I don't know…"
"Come on, I'm your grandfather. You can tell me what's bothering, so I can fix it."
The boy was hesitant to tell otherwise. But since he knows his grandfather well, he took a deep breath, and finally say what's bothering him.
"It's about Lori getting into a hero school." Lincoln started. "I heard everyone talking about it downstairs when she came back. They were proud of her, and even me. So, I head down and excitedly told her some stuff she needs to know. From her powers and her costume. I made it myself." This made Albert smiled. His creative skills will never disappoint him.
Lincoln's face formed a frown afterwards. "But the others intervened. They told me to stay out of it, since I was 'ruining' her big day. I mean, I wasn't even trying to. I was only helping. I tried to reason with them, but Mom and Dad just told me to stop, since Lori can handle it on her own. They think it was some sort of issue."
"So, you're telling me that you tried to help Lori by giving some advice that you know?" Albert repeated.
"Yeah. I even made a sketch about her costume, and some power moves I come up with." Lincoln said.
"Well… I don't about the power shtick, but I do want to see that costume you're talking about." Albert was interested to see the drawing. "Come on, kiddo. Show your grandpa what you got. I won't judge."
Lincoln grabbed his sketchpad, and handed it to him. He didn't even hesitate to do it, but he knows his grandfather that much. Albert began to observed the drawing, and his reaction was a very intriguing expression. It really caught his eyes.
"Well, well, Michaelangelo." Albert started. "This is some good art you made. This will totally make Lori feel like a real hero. It really did sell me, but we know I'm not Lori. That's for her to decide." He chuckled.
"Yeah…" he muttered. "But I wouldn't call myself a hero. I don't even have powers, skills or anything." He glanced at the other side. "I'm just a nobody…"
Albert placed his hand on his shoulder, and looked at Lincoln straight in the eye. He starts to give him a wise lecture as he starts. "Lincoln, I know that you weren't born to be a hero in the future because of your habits. I know that you didn't get or had anything special, but there is one power you have: A good heart."
"My heart?" Lincoln was confused. "I don't understand."
"Your heart has this ability to gain the trust of others. Superpowers, weapons, gadgets, skills – they're all common nowadays. But you, have an even better and stronger power among all those, and that's your good heart." Albert explained. "You understand me, kiddo?"
Lincoln nodded. The white-haired boy understood what his wise grandfather has to tell him. "Yeah. I do understand what you mean." He showed a smile to reassure it all.
"Now that's Lincoln I know." The grandfather of eleven ruffled his hair while chuckling. "I heard that your sister's coming back. How about you go get yourself ready so we can enjoy your sister's great day, okay?"
"Sure, Pop-Pop. I'll do that." Lincoln smiled back, and head upstairs to get ready. Albert is a man that would guide Lincoln to a right path.
The next day, in the present, Lincoln entered the hallway around the first morning of school. He just passed by the other people in the hallway where they do their usual stuff like always. Despite the villain's first appearance from yesterday and White Raptor stopping him, they still all head to school, as if nothing horrible will happen.
As he was walking his way and minding his own business, he can overhear everyone talking about White Raptor from yesterday. It's like he was already known in the entire Royal Woods, even it was only like one week ago.
So far, he just smiled. Smiled at the comments about White Raptor trying to effortlessly tried to stop the villain. Some of them were also talking about the villain's name. Huh, the villain had a name all along? What was it?
"Hey, Loud." The voice of Vince called out. The local jock was with his friends at the other side of the hallway. "You better watch your ass there! Black Taurus might kill you first!" he gloated, as his friends were laughing.
Lincoln didn't mind about his insult, but he focused on that name. The Black Taurus? Was that the villain that he fought yesterday during the event? The one where he was flying and holding a gun and sword? He overheard what the other students have to say.
"I swear, this Black Taurus guy is big news. He could be the guy that destroyed those laboratories." One student theorized.
"White Raptor definitely kicked his ass that time. Maybe he flew away cause he couldn't take it. Heh, chicken." A bald student mocked.
"Shouldn't we be worried? The real heroes should be dealing with this."
"Uh, hello, we got White Raptor. He can stop that guy. I think."
"Now for some reason, I don't feel like I wanna be here. A guy with a mask like that means trouble."
"A sword, a gun, a jetpack? Now a weird name?! Jeez, can't the world even be normal for once?"
They were really talking about him. Sums about right.
Lincoln finally approached both to his friends. "Hey, guys. Whatchu up to?"
"Well, me and Daniel were talking about yesterday's villain. And basically, Black Taurus has a nice catch to it." Wendy smugly stated as she glanced back at Daniel.
"Well, you can keep talking about the name whenever you want, but I for once, think that Black Taurus guy will be stopped anytime soon." Daniel theorized. "Why? Because we have White Raptor."
"That, I can agree on. But do you honestly think changing the subject will stop it. Besides, you were talking about the title of the newspaper." Wendy chuckled.
"What title?" Lincoln asked. He was curious about it.
"Oh, Rossman gave the title of the newspaper. Look." Daniel showed his best friend the title on his phone. "I mean, can you believe it? He was trying to make White Raptor look like a bad guy, but he isn't." he angrily said. The title says: WHITE RAPTOR AND BLACK TAURUS, TERRORIZE CITY TOGETHER.
Lincoln was in disbelief. Who would know that the chief-in-editor was against a hero in the first place. Ironic that he was actually a fan of many known heroes too. "This is ridiculous. White Raptor saved the day that time. He wasn't even doing anything wrong. That's slander."
The bell rang. Everyone was now starting to head to their classes, and so as the trio. "If I were Rossman, I would talk back and say that Slander doesn't fit well, I would resent that." She said, not after pulling a smug look. "But I know I wouldn't say something like that. Rossman's just jealous."
"Well from the sound of it, he just doesn't trust anyone." Lincoln stated. He was already jumping to conclusions, but it sounded right.
"Well, I bet he won't be trusting his barber soon enough." Daniel joked. "Still, I'm still gonna give him some kudos for the name. Black Taurus. Sounds like a real villain name to me."
"Yeah. A real villain name alright." Lincoln muttered. He was also wondering what will the 'Black Taurus' do next. Even if he run away from the fight yesterday, the white-haired boy was still focused with many questions about his next plot.
In the Greenville mansion, Edward, in his robe, was the only one who woke late, but was the only one in his house. Since his son is at school, he has the house all to himself, where he decided to ready himself in case he has to go to work again.
To start his day, Edward was drinking a coffee and enjoying an Eggs Benedict that one of the chefs prepared. Also, to entertain himself, he decided to watch some television in the living room. As the Greenville business man sat down on the couch, and turned the tv on.
When things were going well, he suddenly heard a voice echoed on his head, which made him startled. His face shifted to confusion, all he heard was a voice that echoed from the hallway. He was curious why was there's a sound that caught his attention.
Edward followed. As he entered his lounge, he realizes that the room was filled with many exotic treasures from his travels. Since he is a rich man, he gathered and collected all of the fascinating things that his two eyes saw. One of them were ancient weapons and headgear.
Edward started to search each headgear that was displayed on the walls. From a WWII helmet to a tribal Hawaiian mask, he kept searching and searching, but it was only like a game.
But something caught his surprise. It even got his attention.
It was a helmet, and it looked familiar, but not to him. It looked metallic looking too. The helmet was designed to cover the half of its head, and not the lower part of it. The details on it had a bull's horn on it, a long slit on the eye area for vision, and it was colored in black and red.
"Finally…" The voice came back again. Edward flipped behind the mirror only to be confused.
In the Greenville man's eyes, he saw a full body version of himself. The reflection of him had him wearing the Black Taurus' attire. As the reflection removed the mask, his expression was different from his. It was a menacing and sadistic glare. An expression of anger to where it reached its boiling point, like a bull seeing red.
A reflection of the soul, the monster within given shape.
"Who are you?"
"I'll give you a hint: Bang. Slice. And fly away!" the Taurus reminded. As if they were like a wake-up call.
Edward's expression was in a mix of confusion and fear, he even raised his eyebrow as a sign. "What?"
"I'm you! A vision of what you are now. You may see me as a reflection, but I'm inside you as long as we both live." He dropped the mask on the floor, as he kept his eyes on Edward.
"What do you want?" he fearfully asked.
"To say what you won't. To do what you can't! To remove those…" he showed him a copy of the Bulletin Chronicles that he has with the whole time. "…in your way."
Edward immediately read the headline of the newspaper. The headline reads GREENVILLE'S BOARD MURDERED. He was confused to what he saw.
He widened his eyes. He was horrified at the news. "You… you killed them?"
"We killed them." The Taurus made it clear.
"We?"
"Remember the experiment? You wanted to test it on to yourself. Right?"
Edward's eyes widened.
He recalled back in the laboratory. He injected himself. He was feeling sick and uneasy. He yelled on the top of his lungs. He even murdered Dr. Peters in front of him, and he did alone.
He glanced at a vault-like room. He smiled as he slowly walked his way inside it, preparing what he is about to do.
Back to reality, Edward's eyes widened. "TS-1."
"That's it." The Taurus congratulated. "Me? That one thing you created." He reminded. "You hated heroes. You were worried about your career and future. You wanted to improve the world. You wanted power, power beyond your wildest dreams… and it's just happening…"
"No…" Edward desperately denied. "No! That's not what I wanted! You don't know me!"
"What part of 'I'm inside you' you do not understand? Of course, this is what you wanted." The Taurus smiled. "Thanks to what happened, we became what we always wanted. We wanted power, and we wanted it so bad, we have to make it difficult for ourselves."
Edward was now convinced. He didn't truly understand, but he was seduced to his dark side immediately.
The Taurus frowned. "Although. There is one catch." He stated a flaw. "There's only one person who can stop us."
The man's eyes widened. Who was it? Who is this person that will stop him? That was, he realized who: Him.
"White Raptor." He muttered.
"BUT we can fix that." The Taurus had an idea. It gave the attention to Edward. "What if we convince him… to join us?" he explained. "Think about it."
Edward looked back at his plan. He knew it might work. He knew it will work. He just went with it.
"How do we start?"
WHITE RAPTOR
CHAPTER 10
THE BLACK TAURUS
The day has shifted to 11 AM. One more hour and it's the afternoon classes, which will end in three hours. Surprisingly, the class was doing a group work together in the gym for their science class to make and present a project of their choosing. Somewhere in the corner that has a science project placed on a table, the trio paired themselves together, obviously, and began to work together on their work.
"Well, it says here we need to dissect the frog here in the middle, then we start checking what's inside, and –" Wendy stopped when she heard snoring. She looked at Lincoln, who was past asleep and snoring loudly on the desk. She began to be annoyed so she shook the white-haired boy. "Lincoln! Wake up!"
"It wasn't me! I'm not him!" Lincoln yelled all the sudden. Daniel and Wendy just paused for a second at his sudden reaction.
"Uh, yeah… I think it's pretty obvious that you were taking a nap, while we're busy doing our project." Daniel pointed to their work: A potato connected to an iPhone with a charger and other wires connected to it. Classic, but with a change, project.
"Lincoln, this is basically the first time you slept in our group projects." Wendy scolded. "What were you doing back home anyway?"
"Uh… you know, the usual stuff." He tried to reason out. She wasn't clearly buying it.
"Like what?"
"Binge watching hero news attacks." He gave off a forced smile, in hopes she'll buy it. "Come on, you believe me, right?"
"Oh yeah, I do believe you alright. But I will definitely believe you if you can do this simple job." Wendy handed him a stack of reading cards. "Since you basically did some research on last week's seatwork, I decided that you might wanna read a couple of words about our project." She explained and instructed. "What do you think? Sounds easy for you, tough guy?"
"Yeah. Yeah, yeah, I can do that." Lincoln grabbed the reading cards and read one of them. "Why are they so short?"
"It's a four-minute presentation."
"Oh."
Then, the doors opened, revealing the principal of the school, Principal Ramirez, Rossman, and a couple of other employees and writers from the Bulletin. The class were immediately disturbed afterwards.
"Sorry to interrupt class, but the members of the Bulletin Chronicles, and R. Tucker Rossman, are just here to write about some of the best and still standing schools in Royal Woods." Principal Ramirez stated. "Go on, students. Just do your work and pretend as if I, or we, weren't here in the first place."
The class followed and head back to their task being dealt with. The Bulletin employees continued to snap photos and write whatever they'll jot down on their notepads. They're like a paparazzi, or the typical annoying news reporters who are looking for a juicy story.
"So, where is he?" Rossman asked Ramirez.
"Pardon?" Ramirez asked.
"White Raptor. You said that good-for-nothing of a vigilante would be here to do some harm." Rossman reminded. "So, where is he?"
"I'm afraid that he won't be showing up for today, Mr. Rossman." Ramirez apologized. "Besides, I didn't say that he'll be here."
"What?! You never said that? Is this true?" the editor-in-chief faced one employee who whispered that it is the truth. "Oh, I was the one who planned that. Well, it doesn't matter. White Raptor will eventually show up, and he'll start to attack the whole school. Then we can make that as a huge scoop for today." He smiled gleefully at his idea.
Meanwhile, at the back row of the seat. "Geez. The never on that guy…" Daniel muttered in disappointment.
"Relax, Daniel. Sooner or later, Tucker will just forget about his hate on White Raptor, and he'll realize that he was wrong this entire time." Lincoln hoped. "Trust me. It just takes a lot of patience."
"Patience? I say right now is the time. It's do or die, Linc. Somebody has to do it." Wendy declared.
"Well, I don't know if that's gonna be a good idea –" Lincoln was interrupted when someone yelled.
"Hey! Rossman!" One student called out. Ramirez was now nervous, while Tucker had his full attention. "Why are you so against White Raptor so much? He didn't even do anything wrong in this city."
"Yeah, he's a hero. Not some menace." Another student agreed. This time, about five or ten other students agreed.
"Yeah, I agree with everyone here in this room." Daniel joined in.
"Yeah. It's like you don't trust him." Wendy scoffed. "Heck, you don't even trust anyone at all."
"Well, I do trust my barber. And few other people in this city." Rossman snickered. "Besides, if he has a problem with it, he can try either suing me out of business. Now that's what he should do!" He chuckled.
"Hey, White Raptor is a hero!" Vince defended. Who would've known that the arrogant jock would be a fan of the hero of Royal Woods.
"Ah, zip it, kid. I already heard that for the gazillionth time, and I'm still not impressed. Besides, what's gonna even happen? He'll magically show up and save the day again?" he scoffed once again. "That's just a load of –"
Without a warning, he was suddenly interrupted when the Black Taurus blew up the wall of the gym, creating a large hole and sending some of its pieces to one of the projects. Everyone immediately panicked as they all jumped back to the other side of the gym, even Lincoln. Although, some immediately ran away.
The Taurus grabbed one of the Bulletin Employees and was thrown off at Rossman, using this is an advantage to grabbed him by the neck. "Rossman, you fool!" he began to take out the life of Rossman when he tried to grasp for air. "I know that you hate White Raptor as much as I do. Tell me where he is so can I find him!"
"I don't know where he is! Believe me!" Rossman quickly said. "One of my photographers are just doing their job!"
"You're lying!" The Taurus chocked him even harder.
Rossman gasped. "I swear!"'
"If you hate him so much, then you must know him. You know his identity!"
"No. I don't know who he is!" Rossman honestly said. He was running out of air too. "Please!"
The Taurus growled, raising his fist. "You are useless! You sorry excuse of a – "
"Set him down, tough guy!" Lincoln, in his White Raptor suit, descended from the air as he kicked down the Taurus to a science project display, making him let go of the White Raptor hater. He immediately brought him to the rest of the crowd.
"You alright, Tucker?" White Raptor asked in concern.
"Get your dirty hands off me, you threat!" Rossman bitterly replied. "I know you two are behind this –" he was immediately cut off by White Raptor.
"Okay, that's nice to hear, Junior." He looked at the rest of the crowd. "Everyone, get out of here! I'll take care of this. Now!" He instructed as everyone started to leave the room.
The Taurus stood back on his feet, drawing out his energy-fired channeled sword. "I've been expecting you, Raptor."
"Well, I doubted that you would say that, so I showed up instead." White Raptor confidently said. "By the way, are you here for another rematch? Cause I'm so gonna kick your butt."
Taurus immediately made three, rapid, straight fire-energized slices at White Raptor, who immediately dodged all of them in time. White Raptor was surprised when he jumped out of the smoke, and attempt to strike him out. Eventually, the vigilante was able to blocked the sword. Although, when the two locked weapons at each other, Taurus headbutted him, and sucker punch him the at face, blinding him.
The Taurus grabbed him, and flew away from the gym. He was going to bring him somewhere private. Suddenly, the White Raptor struggled to let go as he tried to attack him, but it didn't work once Taurus was now irritated by his actions. Taurus drop him off on top of a rooftop somewhere in the city, only for the young vigilante to break his wrist in the process, and somehow damaging his batons slightly.
Ignoring the fall from what he did, Lincoln stood back up from his feet, preparing himself for battle. The Taurus was hovering above him, without his weapon on his hands.
"What do you want?!" he demanded.
"Calm yourself, White Raptor. I not here for a fight." He hovered himself gently to the ground, walking towards slowly and stopped. "I captured for a reason: to talk instead. Like mature men." He explained.
"Huh?" he said confusingly. Why would a villain talk to him?
"You see, you're an amazing hero Raptor, I'll give you that." The villain complimented. "People admire you. People see you as a beacon of hope. But there's catch: we're like both animals roaming everywhere we go. You and I are not so different."
"I'm not like you." Lincoln denied his observation. "You're a murderer."
Taurus narrowed elsewhere and sighed. "Well, to each his own…" he admitted. "I chose my own path. You chose your path… of a hero!" he snarled. "People see you as a real hero that this city doesn't have."
His mouth formed a sad frown. "But… the one thing that they love more than a hero, is to see a hero fail, fall, and die trying." Honestly, those words are considered flaws of being a hero. "No matter how pure your heart is, you'll still be judged by others. You're fighting for nothing." he made a fist. "You're even blind to see it. Why still do it?"
"Because what I'm doing… is right!"
"Wrong! You're not even seeing the real truth!" he snatched his Boom Stick and started to burn it with his powers. "There are thirty-five thousand residents in this city, and the one thing that they all wanted is a hero to protect them and the city from crime."
But there's just one problem… no hero has ever come into this city, and this city was one of the few others that's ridden with crime, despite the globe having thirty percent of them. People never view them as false heroes just because they're famous, and heroic. But in my eyes, they're nothing but arrogant, selfish, and useless saviors, desperate for attention!"
"That's not true! They risked their lives to save others!" Lincoln reasoned. He replied back when Taurus pointed his gun, now charged with his powers, threatening him. He calmed down and lowered his weapon. A villain with common sense.
"You're not making sense, boy!" the villain lightly slapped him on his head. "This is the reason why I captured you, so we can be partners. You and I are exceptional. I can teach you something even more than you were taught now."
Taurus gripped his shoulder tightly, while having his charged shotgun aimed at his abdomen. "I can stomp on you like the prey you are. But it won't happen, if you accept my offer." He released him. "Join me, and imagine what we can all accomplish together. Just forget about being a hero. Forget about saving the lives you cared so! Forget about your purpose."
"Or, you can still live up to this life of yours, saving countless lives, stopping possible villains, and still keep going until you die on your feet! Honestly, you're still young, and you still need a lot to learn, but that's up to you. Tell me, isn't that what you wanted? To be a hero, and die young?!"
White Raptor didn't answer. He just stood there, and was possibly glaring at him under his mask. He would never accept such an offer from a villain in his new life. He just couldn't.
Knowing this would waste his time and knowing that the answer is obvious. He hovered in the air as his jetpack was activated. "If you won't answer… then you already know what will happen next." He coldly said as he flew away from the area.
Later at the Black Bunker, a news report was broadcasted in the screen of its computer. The news report was about the Black Taurus' sudden attack, who is now on the hunt by the RWPD, along with White Raptor. But that didn't matter since it's about Black Taurus, according to some civilians being interviewed. Since it was loud enough to hear, a recovering Lincoln was on the couch, where his hand was already treated with a bandage.
The voice of Taurus still rang on his head as reminder of what he is been doing since his first day. He tried to shake it off, but it was like a long-termed reminder of some sort.
"Looks the news is finding you after what happened." Hudson said as he got up from his seat, and grabbed a drink from the mini fridge. "Did you even tried to stop him?"
"Well, with my weapons broken, I don't think I can ever catch up to him when he escaped. I can't even fly and chase him. Powerless remember?" Lincoln retorted, as he pointed himself. "I still can't believe he tried to make a deal with me."
"Well, by my standards kid, I'm just glad you didn't accept his little offer. Otherwise, it's either the police starts killing you, or you'll finally realize that everything you been through was a waste of time." He noticed that Lincoln was dumbfounded by what he said. "Too much?"
"No, it's just sounded… weird for you to say that." Lincoln slowly shook his head in disagreement. "But now that you mentioned it, I think I got a new mission of my own now: Stop that Taurus guy myself."
"No way you're doing you're doing that, kid." Hudson denied his idea. "There's no way in hell, I'm letting a twelve – "
"Thirteen."
"Year old, go out there on his own, and stop a villain who has powers, which you don't." Hudson finished. "Besides, if anyone's have to deal with him, it's gotta be me instead."
"But you're not even go crime fighting anymore. You said it yourself." Lincoln reminded. "Also, how's that job of yours as a substitute?"
"I get to be called in school for about three weeks, or if the principal's gonna call me." Hudson told him. Seems like it wasn't that special. "Look, I know this Black Taurus guy seems like a threat, and I know you're willing to protect the city from him. But you have to understand this. You just can't fight him off on your own. You need me, or someone out there to stop him."
"But, I was born for this –"
"You are, but not for that. Your job is to be a guardian to this city. Not a full-time superhero. Besides, you don't have any special ability or powers in you. Except that I trained you to be a vigilante. That's all. Please, for your sake, don't try to stop him on your own. I won't risk it." Hudson lectured. Lincoln obviously can tell that he isn't ready to tackle a villain with dangerous superpowers.
Lincoln didn't talk back, but just nodded his head. "Yeah. Sure. I'll agree with you."
"See, now you have a common sense after all." Hudson chuckled a bit. "Forget about stopping that Taurus guy. Just go home, kid. Get some rest. There's no huge crimes for tonight. You're free."
"Yeah, about that. I was wondering if I can get some repairs for my weapons." Lincoln brought his damaged Boom Sticks from his bag. Hudson lift both his eyebrows in surprise. "They… uh… got broke when I fell."
"Well, seems like you're a clumsy kid." Hudson observed the weapons. "There's nothing bad happening here. Since it's just an internal damage, it can be repaired. Although, I would recommend some upgrades, or another form for your weapon. Just like mine." He remarked. "Any suggestions?"
The white-haired boy understood his remark, and replied with some ideas. "How about something that I can shoot. And something that I can blind anyone with. And can I change the grappling hook into something more… like a rubber or something."
"Good ideas. Sounds good to me, kid. Now…" he handed him back his broken weapons to him. "… all you have to do is make those upgrades yourself."
"Sounds easy." The white-haired boy smiled, eager to do it.
"It won't be. It's gonna take you for a long time for them to get them done." Hudson told.
"Oh."
"And you need to learn how to shoot, since you wanted something to 'shoot' with."
"…Oh…"
It's gonna be long time for him with the repairs and upgrades.
Three days later…
It's another night to go out again, and save the day like usual, starting at ten in the evening. Two days ago, there wasn't even a single crime that was stopped by White Raptor, but the RWPD managed to their job. Despite letting a few criminals escape and letting the police look like they're doing job. Despite that, they still won't let vigilante do it, since they 'had it under control' according to some reports.
Tonight, is another time to stop another crime that must be stopped by the White Raptor only. Along with a few upgrades.
Hudson gave Lincoln another task to deal with. A group of criminals counterfeiting some weapons in order to sell them to the government with some cash as a reward. With that said, they have with them a person who's also good with making illegal weapons.
The employee was named Fredrick Durlin. He is an engineer and one of the science division members of another company. After the old company he worked at was bankrupt, decided to create his own business by creating weapons of his own. And hoping that he will be able to join the black-market business.
Somehow, he managed to make a deal with a group of small-time criminals who used to have jobs. In return, they have the same equal share of money once their operation is a success. The criminals were this fast to agree with him. They even managed to get to work, with some knowing how to craft.
Inside in a large warehouse somewhere in the city, Frederick Durlin entered the room as he observed the room, which looked like a large workshop, and watched as the workers are making the weapons. The weapons looked like they're real, but the parts are different and its color has a little bit of a grey shading, which can't be that seen. M16s, SCARs, M-14s, they were all being crafted.
As Durlin observed each worker do their job, he noticed that there was one that was doing his job in a bad way. This made Durlin irritated. He was going to pay a useless worker for nothing. He marched his way down to his work area, and stopped him. "What. Are you. Doing?" he coldly asked.
The worker stammered. "I'm just trying to detach the –" he tried to explain but was interrupted.
"No. NO! You do not detach the internal piece when it was already placed in." Durlin said right before he snapped. "You're going to repeat from the start! Again and again!"
"I-I'm sorry, okay? I-I was just –"
"'Doing your job? I was doing my best.'" Durlin mocked, and went back to his normal voice. "Ugh! What am I paying you for anyway?! You said it yourself – You know how to build one! Do it right this time!" he walked off in anger. Surely, Durlin is a man who won't like a person to fail. Otherwise, it'll be too soon to recognize.
He walked his way to another worker who's working on an assault rifle. This time, he was amazed by his work. "And what do we have here? Surely you made this weapon to fire a perfect shot, correct?" he asked with a smile on his face.
"Yes, sir. I already some of the finishing touches, too." The worker pointed out. He was really putting some details for the rifle. "But I haven't tested it yet if it works."
"Oh, I'm sure it will work. May I?" he grabbed the rifle from his table. He aimed it at the useless worker, and fired a bullet straight to his arm. The shot worker stopped as he was critically injured. Why would he do that?
Durlin pointed at him, and began to lecture the rest. "This! This is a lesson why all of you shouldn't make a gun be rebuilt again and again. Why? Because you'll end up like him!" he warned. He snapped his fingers to signal a guard to execute him. And it really happened.
One guard approached the cold business man. "Sir, the delivery truck arrived. We can now start delivering the weapons while we still have the chance."
Durlin chuckled. "Well, I'll be damned." he said in delight. "You and the rest can take the guns inside the truck now. I think we're ready for a full shipment.
BANG! PUNCH! POW!
The sound of two men getting hit and shot alerted Durlin and the rest inside. Durlin was now nervous of what was that noise. He hoped it wasn't the vigilante. He just hoped to his life it wasn't him.
That was until a guard, who managed to arrive, came in hurriedly. "Boss! It's him! It's White Raptor!" he reported. "He found us!"
"What?! How?!"
"I don't know! I think he followed the van somehow. I thought he just stops us on nights."
"No, that's not it." The voice of White Raptor caught the attention of everyone inside the room. "I just learned about a 'fake weapon business' or whatever you guys called it, so I drop by instead." It was never clear if he is joking or really serious. He just came in to stop him.
Durlin was now irritated, so he yelled at his men. "What are you standing for?! Kill him already!"
The workers were armed with their guns that they had with them. Some of them grabbed some from the weapons crate. They don't mind if they are ready for shipment. What matters most to them is that they have a reptile to shoot.
But things turned around all the sudden when White Raptor threw his baton to the ground. He wasn't aiming one of the armed workers. One worker looked down at the beeping baton. He was confused. Typically, he was an idiot who didn't do anything about it.
When the beeping became fast, it already created a stun effect that electrocuted some of the armed workers that were surrounded by said baton. Once they were stunned, they all dropped their guns and fell to the ground unconsciously.
The rest were shocked to see what happened. They never knew that White Raptor had an upgrade. Durlin just saw what happened. Like a deer who was caught by headlights.
"So, I bet you guys don't like the same treatment." The vigilante joked. He jumped of the open window ceiling. "Look, all I want is to talk to your boss, and we can settle this like normal and civilized people."
Durlin immediately pull out his gun, and fired some of his bullets at him, but just missed. "Don't let him get any closer! Kill him if you have to!" he started to run away. "I don't care!"
The workers followed. They were eleven left. They all started to go guns-a-blazing at White Raptor. The vigilante somehow managed to take cover, only to throw again his second Boom Stick at them. The second baton stunned the workers once again, but this time, they didn't fell to the ground. Weird.
White Raptor came out in the open, with his arms up. They still have their weapons aimed at him. "Alright, you got me. I surrender." His tone was a bit off.
One of the workers pulled the trigger, but nothing. No bullet was fired. It made them confused like a bunch of kindergarteners.
"W-What?! My gun's not working!" one worker said. "What did he do?!"
"I don't know! But I knew that these crafted guns were destroyed anyway!" another worker complained, only to be met with an electric stun from the vigilante's baton.
"Electric shockwave. It destroys the guns you were using." White Raptor retorted. He managed to grab his baton, and prepared himself as one of the workers put away their guns, and ready themselves to attack him with fists and anything that's not a gun as their last resort.
The first one who attacked was a worker with a baseball bat. He was about to swing it at him, but the vigilante made the first swing first with his right Boom Stick. Another worker attempted to kick him, but his leg was grabbed and was roundhouse left kicked after.
The eight remaining workers attempted to attack him altogether, in hopes that he will be stopped. But White Raptor immediately escaped as he jumped across another worker's back. He even grappled the behind him and kicked him, sending him to a table to get knocked out.
Somehow, the vigilante noticed that the rest of the workers that he didn't deal with grabbed another set of guns in a crate. How come he didn't notice that. Before they opened fire, Lincoln quickly pulled down the hammer lock of the Boom Sticks, which somehow transformed into a pair of Colt revolvers in a matter of seconds. It was another upgrade that he added when he repaired his batons.
With just training how to use its revolver mode in three days, Lincoln managed to shoot one worker with an electric-infused bullet blast from the baton's power source to knock him out. The impact was like a punch, but twice as powerful as it was because of its speed and force. Despite testing the revolver mode on the sparring robots, it managed to knock out the worker that easily.
As Lincoln managed to shoot two more, he immediately took cover after realizing that they already opened fired at him. Now they're just wasting bullets at a table that Lincoln is hiding from. Of all the sudden, they already went out of ammo.
"I got a plan, fellas." An armed worker said. "Let's circle around that tables he's hiding. He won't think about a thing or twos to know since we gots guns with us."
Another armed worker chuckled, liking the idea. "Yeah. Let's do it."
The armed workers put their idea to a go. They are ten feet away from him. White Raptor peek his head to see where they are, but was almost shot when an armed worker fired his gun.
"What's the matter, Raptor? Too chicken to face us with faster guns?" he gloated. "You won't be able to stop us anytime."
Remembering the first moves that he did with his upgraded batons, Lincoln thought of an idea that might just work. He threw off his other Boom Stick at their position, which alerted them. They expected that it will create another shockwave which affected the rest, but it didn't.
Since they don't know it's a trap to distract them, White Raptor managed to pop out in the open and shoot two of the armed workers quickly. Another armed robber aimed and tried to open fire, but he was disarmed and kicked to the gut. The last one was received with an uppercut punch that knock him out.
"Hold on, there's one more left. I could've sworn I saw…" White Raptor noticed that another worker was attempting to find a gun in the same crate. He was panicking and panting loudly, so he was easily heard. "Seriously? I thought you had time limit." He just fired another electric blast at him.
Now that they were taken care of, all he has to do is find Durlin, and another night is saved once again.
"Hudson." The vigilante called.
"I know. Looks like the new upgrades were that effective all along." Hudson sounded surprised. "Alright, according to the schematics in the warehouse you're at, there are a lot of rooms inside the hallway. Each door has the same color, so you won't be able to find Durlin."
"I think I know how to find him." Lincoln said as he heard a car's ignition getting started, which was outside the warehouse.
Outside, Durlin, who was now panicking, tried to start his car so he can leave the area. He didn't care about his future business or the workers he hired getting beaten to pulp. The only thing he cared about is that it's every man for itself. But it was exactly the cowardly way to do.
"Come on, come on." He begged as he tried to ignite his car. For the last attempt, his car managed to work in the end. As he gets ready to drive off, he heard a noise on top of the roof, and was met by White Raptor when he saw him at his windshield. He even let out a scream.
"Hey, I heard your car was out of juice. So, I decided to help out." He charged both of his Boom Sticks in a very powerful charge. He stabbed both of his batons on the engine hood as it electrocuted the car battery, which already shut down the car itself due to its powerful charge.
White Raptor jumped out of the scene as he escaped, only to notice that a couple of police cars are on their way. Once they parked outside the warehouse, the boys in blue got out and aimed their handguns at Durlin, who rest his head on the steering wheel in defeat.
Day has risen once again the city of Royal Woods. A new copy from the Bulletin was delivered out in the city about White Raptor's success in stopping the weapon counterfeiting issue last night. Another thing added was that Durlin was now sentenced in prison for two to three years, but will be doubled if he ever does it again.
Edward, who read the news paper in his study in the afternoon, scowled at the news about White Raptor saving the day again. He remembered that that he was this close to let him join him by his side as the Taurus, but he didn't since he refused his offer.
Now, after reading about him now, Edward was now growing a lot more frustrated by this. He was thinking it as an absurd report that a vigilante is still doing his heroic job. He thought that people would give out their biggest hate about him. But it didn't happen ever since he existed.
His biggest goal to make sure the city doesn't need to rely on superheroes, like him, was now slowly crumbling away. But once he became mayor of Royal Woods, it will all be over once he starts to set out his plan to –
"RNNNNNGGGG! RNNNNNNNGGG! RNNNNNG…"
The Greenville business man had his phone ringing and vibrating from his pocket. As he picked up the call, he then asked. "Hello? This is Edward Greenville speaking."
"Mr. Greenville, I have some bad news."
"Ah, Rachel. What's the matter?" Edward asked. "If it's about the company being sold, don't worry about, it was taken care off." One thing that is certain is that Rachel didn't know about his secret identity as the Taurus.
"Sir, about that. It's not about the company." Rachel corrected. "It's… something far worse."
"Well, I hope this 'something worse' won't be that bad at all." Edward stated calmly. "I'm sure whatever it is, it will be fine. Spill the news to me."
"It's about your mayoral campaign. They're kicking you out already."
Edward's eyes were now surprised and he frowned afterwards. "I'm sorry, they kicked me out?"
"Yes."
"Who on Earth would do that?"
"The committee did." She answered. "They said that you already missed out on some of your mayoral campaigns and speeches. They didn't have no other choice but to kick you out instead. They think you're just wasting your time on focusing so much on your career."
"They can't do this! I-I was present during the other times – They just can't!" Edward was now desperate. "Is there another way for me to get back?"
"I'm afraid not, sir. They already made it clear that you won't be able to go back." She stated. "But if you are ever to going to run again, they will make sure that they won't let you in. They said it's for your own good. I'm very sorry sir."
Edward was silent for the meantime. "No. It's fine… Rachel." Edward reassured. "I have to call you later again, Rachel. I need to… take care of things." He ended the call.
Edward was now put into deep shock and confusion. How come he didn't notice that? How come he didn't know that he will be kicked out in the campaign? He just didn't know. He was now scared that all his hard work was now put into the drain. His hopes and dreams are now wasted, the goal that he wanted to fix Royal Woods, was now all gone. If there was one person he should blame, its –
Of course. He knew exactly who to blame for his demise for being mayor of Royal Woods. It was right in front of him already.
White Raptor.
It's his fault that he ruined his chances. Its his fault that he put one of the board members in their graves. It was his fault for attacking him the other time, and for declining his offer. It was also his fault that he existed in the first place.
"White Raptor…" his voice shifted to the Taurus' voice. "Whoever you are, or how came here. I'll make sure, you're dead to me. Forever."
And that's the end of the chapter. Edward is now going to get revenge on White Raptor all because he blamed him for everything. Also, just a heads up, this story is almost nearing to it's end. I don't know how many chapters, but I'll tell you this, this story is almost ending to it's final act. And this story won't be updated by next week, since I'll be busy in my computer, writing the final chapters. Anyway, please leave a review, and I'll see you next time.