Tony Franklin had been on his way to the Xanatos Enterprise building for a meet-up with his sister. Violet and he had been working to close the gaps in their relationship, and that of the relationship with their estranged father. That evening, they'd planned another pizza fueled movie marathon.
The bag he carried bumped lightly against his leg, the reminder making him smile a little even as he hunched inside his rain slicker for protection from the coming storm. Inside the bag, there was a new science fiction movie that Violet wanted to see, and he was sticking with the classic manly-man movie, "The Terminator".
It was close to closing time for her, and he was determined to see that she actually left the lab for a bit. She'd been tied up in a few projects, and he wanted to make sure that she made time to relax once in a while.
He was a block away when a police officer stopped him. Frowning, he stopped at the officer's request, only to tense up as the sound of gunfire, lasers, and small explosions met his ears. Holding a hand up to shield his eyes from the rain, he squinted to try to see past the flashing caution lights of the roadblock barricades and police vehicles.
"Sir," a male voice called out, his tone deep and official, "You need to find an alternate route."
Tony turned to the voice and found him standing in front of his future boss with the NYPD SWAT. "Hey, Eagle," Tony called.
Eagle shielded his own eyes. "Franklin. What are you doing out here?"
"I was going to visit my sister," Tony said. "She works at the Xanatos building."
"Not tonight you're not," he said firmly. "Go back home, Franklin. Call your sister later, but go back home."
"What's going on?" Tony shot back, concern in his voice. There was a loud crashing sound as a small chunk of wall came crashing down to shatter on the street.
Eagle seemed to hesitate, then said, "Go home, Franklin."
There was another boom and crack as one more piece of wall fell, and as Eagle ducked for cover from the falling debris, Tony dropped the bag with the DVDs and ran.