Ryan Holland sits at his desk inside Ellis Law Firm, gently tapping a pencil eraser against the desk as he stares at his computer screen, where his report sits on Microsoft Word. He is struggling for words, and leaving a couple days ago to fight Black Sage and The Gorilla didn't help.
"Still struggling?" Clarice peeks over the divider.
"Yeah." Ryan responds with a sigh. "Might have to take a break. I'm almost done anyways." Ryan stretches. "How's the family?"
"They're fine, Ryan. Jezz' birthday is next week. Peter and I spent a bunch of money to get her some merchandise from Happy Paddy's Happy Hour. I've never seen a child so obsessed with the show. I tried to see if Happy Paddy took bookings, but there is no contact feature on his website." Clarice informs.
"I can give it a look if you want?" Ryan suggests, causing Clarice to smile widely.
"Would you?" Clarice asks. Ryan nods in response. "Thank you!" With that, Clarice writes down the website on a sticky note and hands it to Ryan before getting back to work herself.
Ryan opens his browser and types in the website. When the page loads, it's colorful and artful, showing why kids are drawn to it. A video appears on the front page, clearly a welcoming video. Ryan reaches into his pocket, pulling out a pair of headphones and plugging them in before pressing play.
The video begins as a joyful instrumental song plays and the camera pans across a neighborhood. After thirty seconds, the camera stops on a house. The two-story house is full of color, rather than just being one or two colors like the surrounding houses. It also has a beautiful garden in front of it and a nice white wooden fence. The camera goes inside to reveal a man wearing a cozy sweater, slacks, and slip on dress shoes. He is a fair skinned man with short, neatly combed brown hair. He has a lean physique. His eyes are a dark blue. He is clean shaven. He stands at 5'10". Surrounding him is colorful furniture, wallpaper, paintings, and more.
"Hi kids! Welcome to the Happy House!" He excitedly says, a big smile on his face. "For those of you who aren't in the know," The man leans forward and gives a big wink into the camera, "my name is Happy Paddy! If you have come to this website, you must be here to buy some beautiful merchandise, or to check the next airings of my hit TV show Happy Paddy's Happy Hour, or..." Happy Paddy gives an embarrassed smile, "maybe you just missed me! It warms my heart, kids! Either way, you will find all of the above here! Enjoy!" Happy Paddy excitedly waves, "Bye! Buh bye! Remember you matter! See ya!"
The video ends.
Ryan Holland chuckles as he finishes the video. Happy Paddy seems to be a new Mr. Rogers and, honestly, that's pretty neat. However, his smile leaves as he looks in the background of the final shot. He looks closely, seeing several figurines.
The figurines are of Blitz, Nightbolt, The Gorilla, and Black Sage. All of them are in positions they were in during their battle. "That's strange..." Ryan mutters, knowing that no news crews were allowed inside, so no one would've seen the battle.
"Are you watching a KIDS show?" Chad Riley antagonizes, interrupting Ryan's thought process. Ryan turns around and looks at him.
"Oh, I was just curious." Ryan responds.
"Hey, maybe they'll hire you when you get fired from this job. You would make an excellent clown." Chad says before laughing and walking away. Ryan rolls his eyes before turning back to his computer. He closes the website, making a mental note to keep an eye on Happy Paddy, before opening up the latest edition of The Tribune Chronicles. He scrolls through it before coming across an article by one of their newest and, at times, boldest journalists- Catalina Cortes.
Benetown's Breakdown
By Catalina Cortes
Once the central point of decency and respect, Benetown became the epicenter for destruction a mere four years ago. With supposed monstrosities filling the city and leading to the collapse of the Benetown Police Department, our own government, both federal and national, has abandoned the poor and defenseless citizens behind metal walls. I ask that any heroes do their duty as the morally good by helping these people and putting a stop to the onslaught caused by whatever lives within the city.
Ryan stares at this, contemplating it, before standing up for lunch break. He looks over to see Morgan Gates preparing to leave.
"No lunch today?" Ryan smiles at his friendly rival.
"Unfortunately, I have a prior arrangement. Maybe tomorrow." Morgan smiles back before leaving. Ryan nods in acknowledgment before leaving to find a discreet location to change into Nightbolt.
Nightbolt drops down in an alleyway beside The Tribune Chronicles building, a ten-story building with a giant statue of a man at a podium on the roof. Nightbolt walks down the alleyway and towards the entrance before looking in, causing the receptionist's eyes to go wide. Nightbolt enters and approaches the woman, who looks to be in college.
"Hello ma'am. Is Catalina Cortes here?" Nightbolt inquires politely.
"Y-yes sir! I'll get her!" The receptionist smiles excitedly before raising her phone to her ear and pressing some numbers. "Miss Cortes? The superhero Nightbolt is here for you... Yes ma'am." The receptionist hangs up. "She'll be down momentarily." Nightbolt nods before leaving the building, leaning against the wall. After a couple minutes, a woman steps outside, Catalina Cortes.
Standing at 5'5", Catalina is a Latina with piercing brown eyes. She has long chestnut brown hair in a ponytail. Her body type is a slim hourglass. She is wearing black jeans, a white t-shirt, a black jacket, an expensive portable camera around her neck, and a small notepad tucked into the breast-pocket of her jacket.
"Nightbolt." Catalina nods in his direction. "I'm glad someone else is listening to me." Catalina informs as Nightbolt narrows his eyes slightly and quickly at the else, as if he is taking a subtle note of it.
"It's lovely to meet you, Miss Cortes. I heard about your Benetown report and I would like to help." Nightbolt informs.
"Benetown has fallen into disrepair, like a ghost town that still has citizens. I'm tired of watching those cobardes in office act like they can't do anything. We elect them and they abandon those poor people." Catalina states, fire in her eyes. "It's bullshit."
"I'll be sure to take care of whatever plagues Benetown and restore it to its former glory." Nightbolt promises.
"It won't be just you. I have a friend who was already planning on helping me. I guess she got tired of listening to me rant." Catalina informs. "Her name is La Tormenta. She's one of the good ones. You can trust her."
Nightbolt gets a look of realization on his face when he hears the name. "Blitz has mentioned her before. I've heard plenty of good things." Nightbolt smiles.
"Then you should have no problem working with her. She'll meet you outside the wall." Catalina starts to walk away. "Good luck." Catalina waves over her shoulder.
Nightbolt stands outside the giant metal walls of Benetown. The sun has begun to set. Nightbolt begins to walk around the walls, looking for a weak point, but the walls are seemingly impenetrable.
"What are you looking for?" A woman asks. He looks over to see La Tormenta. The 5'5" La Tormenta is wearing a modest dark blue latex suit with light blue boots, a dark blue mask that lets her chestnut brown hair out, and light blue gloves. Nightbolt does a quick assessment of her appearance before speaking.
"Any sort of weakness in the walls." Nightbolt informs.
"I have an idea." La Tormenta looks towards a nearby pond.
"You have water powers, right?" Nightbolt inquires.
"Watch and learn, rookie." La Tormenta smirks before raising a hand, lifting the water. She begins to lift the water to the top of the wall before closing her hand, turning the water to ice. She then uses more water to stabilize the stairs that she created. "Do things the smart way, not the hard way." La Tormenta suggests as she begins to walk up the steps with surprising ease.
"Blitz suggests that I go in guns blazing, metaphorically speaking." Nightbolt informs as he tries to keep his balance on the ice steps.
"I don't have the time to get into unnecessary fights." La Tormenta says as they get halfway up. Suddenly, Nightbolt slips and begins to fall off, but La Tormenta waves a hand without looking, summoning water to catch Nightbolt.
"Thanks..." Nightbolt says, startled. "So...is there a Mr. Tormenta..?" Nightbolt tries and fails to be funny as La Tormenta looks at him with a deadpan expression. "Sorry..." Nightbolt scratches the back of his head as La Tormenta puts him back on the steps.
"Be careful." Tormenta tells him before they finish climbing the steps. The two get to the top of the wall to see a city that looks like a war zone. A couple small fires can be seen spread throughout the city, but no water. "Mierda." Tormenta curses in Spanish. "Guess I'll have to take some with..." She sighs as she pulls out a canteen that matches her suit. She puts some of the water into it before sending the rest back to the pond.
"So... Any ideas on where the monsters are-" Nightbolt starts, but Tormenta covers his mouth with one hand and points at a rooftop. Nightbolt looks at the rooftop, where two silhouettes are seen moving on all fours. They leap to the rooftop beside the current one, watching a group of people sitting around a fire, not noticing they are in danger. Tormenta meets Nightbolt's stare before nudging her head towards the citizens. With that, the two jump down to one of the roofs and make their way towards them, keeping an eye on the monsters hiding in the dark. "Any ideas on what we are dealing with?" Nightbolt whispers.
"Nope." Tormenta responds immediately.
"Great." Nightbolt sighs as he watches the two monsters continue to circle the group from above, like wolves surrounding deer.
"Let's go." Tormenta suddenly rushes forward. Nightbolt follows suit as Tormenta jumps down beside the group, startling them. "Stay down. The monsters are here." Tormenta warns, causing the citizens to begin to cower as they look around, panicked. Nightbolt jumps down and focuses on the shadows, seeing the monsters still circling.
Suddenly, they lunge for Tormenta and Nightbolt. Strangely, they aren't animals or hybrids...but two people. The first stands at 5'9", and has a lanky physique along with long, sharp, claw-like fingernails. He has a blur motion face that moves so quickly that not even a camera can catch it. His black hair is long and disgusting. His skin is pale.
The second stands at 5'4", and has a lanky physique along with long, sharp, claw-like fingernails. Just like the first, she has a blur motion face that moves so quickly that not even a camera can catch it. Her black hair is long and disgusting. Her skin is pale. Both are wearing torn up clothing and act feral.
The man tackles La Tormenta to the ground and tries to scratch her with his claws, but Tormenta kicks him off before back hand-springing to her feet, forming her fighting stance. Meanwhile, the woman latches onto Nightbolt, digging her claws into his shoulders, causing Nightbolt to let out a scream of pain.
La Tormenta summons her water out of her canteen and uses it as a whip to send the man crashing into a building. He lets out a screech of pain as Tormenta uses the water to whip the woman off of Nightbolt.
"Thanks." Nightbolt groans as he bleeds from his shoulders.
"Don't mention it." Tormenta looks around as the two return to the shadows. Nightbolt summons shadows of his own, solidifying them to make a physical whip of his own. The two get on either side of the citizens and circle, looking out for the two feral people. From the darkness, they hear clicking and other noises from the two.
"Who are they?" Nightbolt asks the citizens.
"W-we call them J-Jane and John Doe... We don't know anything else, I swear..." One of the citizens replies, crying.
"Stay down. We'll take care of them." La Tormenta smiles at the citizen. Suddenly, Jane and John Doe rush out of the darkness. John Doe tackles Nightbolt this time and slashes Nightbolt's chest with his claws. As Nightbolt screams in pain, Jane Doe latches onto Tormenta, digging her claws into Tormenta's stomach, getting a gasp out of the Latina. Tormenta tries to push Jane off, but Jane scratches up Tormenta's torso even more, before digging her claws into one of Tormenta's biceps. Tormenta can't help but fall to one knee.
Meanwhile, Nightbolt pushes John Doe away and tries to dodge the next slash, but John is quicker, causing Nightbolt's back to get cut open. Nightbolt charges a shadow ball, but John Doe sidesteps it and stabs his claw into the exposed palm, digging it in deep. With this, he forces Nightbolt down to his knees before wrapping Nightbolt's own arm around his neck and lifting, revealing the throat.
As this is happening, La Tormenta summons her water and forms it into a giant fist, punching Jane and freeing her from Tormenta's bicep. Tormenta sees John about to slice Nightbolt's throat, so she uses the water to punch John Doe as well. Jane and John Doe hit a wall before screeching again, followed by several clicks.
"Santa mierda..." La Tormenta mumbles, bleeding heavily.
"This is bad..." Nightbolt adds, taking several deep breaths as Jane and John get on all fours again. Suddenly, Tormenta falls to her hands and knees, her body giving out.
"Fuck..." Tormenta cries out. Nightbolt looks towards the citizens.
"Go! Run!" Nightbolt yells before charging two shadow balls, throwing them at Jane and John. They barely hit, but it's enough to send Jane and John scrambling. Nightbolt lifts Tormenta onto his shoulders and starts running away from Jane and John.
"Wha... What are you doing..?" Tormenta weakly asks.
"All I can do... These two haven't been fazed by any of our attacks." Nightbolt informs, disappointed in himself. As he runs, him and Tormenta hear footsteps chasing after them, as well as feral screeching.
"How are we gonna get out?" Tormenta questions as they reach the wall. Nightbolt thinks for a moment, looking around, before putting together a rough plan.
"Hold on tight." Nightbolt tells Tormenta before climbing up a house. As he reaches the roof, he gathers his strength and, with a running start, leaps to a higher building. He does this a third time before he can see the top of the wall. "Do you trust me?" Nightbolt asks.
"What are you about to do?" Tormenta responds, worried.
"If you can reach the pond, you can get us out of here. I'm going to jump and I want you to catch the top of the wall." Nightbolt suggests. Tormenta stares at the top for a moment.
"Fuck it. We don't have any better options..." Tormenta then adjusts her position on his shoulders. "Just...be careful, okay?" Tormenta adds before Nightbolt nods. He gathers his strength once again before running and jumping, pushing Tormenta up and off his shoulders. Tormenta manages to grab the top of the wall as Nightbolt begins to plummet to the ground. Nightbolt tries to land somewhere soft, but there isn't any haystacks or hills made of pillows.
As Tormenta pulls herself up to the top, Nightbolt hits the ground. Hard.
Tormenta looks back and sees him lying unconscious. In a move of pure worry, she summons water from the pond. Then, she notices Jane and John Doe circling the defenseless Nightbolt. Tormenta forms the water into a giant hand before swatting away Jane and John. Then, she uses the hand to gingerly pick up Nightbolt. As she begins to raise him, her hand begins to tremble.
"Not now! Hold on!" Tormenta scolds her body, trying to keep her strength. As the water begins to drain out from the bottom of the hand, Tormenta grits her teeth, holding on as tightly as she can.
Just before the water falls to the ground, she manages to get Nightbolt to the top. With that, La Tormenta finally collapses, staring up at the stars as the screeches of Jane and John Doe fill her ears. Tormenta then reaches into her pocket, where a pager sits. She presses the button before passing out.
After a couple hours, both Nightbolt and La Tormenta wake up in an improvised hospital room, definitely not at an actual hospital. Beside them is Blitz.
"How ya doing, kid?" Blitz asks Nightbolt.
"I feel like I died..." Nightbolt responds.
"Heh. You almost did." Blitz scoffs before looking at La Tormenta. "You doing good, Lala?"
"Don't call me that." Tormenta narrows her eyes. "I'm fine. I wish we could've done better."
"Did you identify the monsters at least?" Blitz inquires.
"Two feral people known as Jane and John Doe. They seem to have super resilience." Tormenta informs. "Their faces were literal blurs."
"Hmm. Strange." Blitz rubs his chin through his mask.
"Where are we?" Nightbolt inquires.
"The Doctor's house. He is a healer who helps Superheroes." Blitz informs. "Though, he is out of town right now. So his apprentice, Crimson Phoenix, healed you. She's still learning, so you aren't completely healed."
"That explains the pain." Nightbolt groans as he sits up.
"Head home, kid. Tormenta and I have things to discuss." Blitz stands up and pats Nightbolt on the back.
"Yes sir." Nightbolt nods before looking at La Tormenta. "It was great working with you. I owe you my life." He turns to leave.
"Just so you know, there isn't a Mr. Tormenta." La Tormenta teases him for his joke earlier. "It's hard to find a man who listens." She winks, getting an embarrassed chuckle from Nightbolt before he leaves.
"What was that about?" Blitz raises an eyebrow.
"Nothing." La Tormenta crosses her arms.
"Subject: Jane and John Doe." Ryan Holland starts out as he sits in his living room, bandaged up. "Ability: Possible Super Resilience. Notes: Jane and John Doe are vicious and possibly feral people. Not much seems to be known about their past, but they are more than just formidable, leaving Nightbolt and La Tormenta in a bad place." Ryan refers to himself in the third person. "It is unknown what weakness they could have, but it is vital that I discover it. They are two of the most dangerous adversaries I have ever seen." Ryan ends the recording before pressing it again.
"Subject: La Tormenta. Ability: Water Manipulation. Notes: La Tormenta is a unique ally who takes a very different approach from Blitz. I have a feeling she may be Catalina in disguise. They share some similar traits. I must discuss my suspicions with her when I have gained her trust. It would be unwise to risk an alliance with such a powerful hero." With that, Ryan ends his recording.