LOCKED AND LOADED

Van, now cloaked in the Silver Bullet armor, is examining his body. The metal plates lining his palms clink off of one another as he clenches and reopens them, testing his mobility. Large blades stick out from the ulnar side of his forearm, and he rotates his arms to take a look. A shrill whistle cuts through Van's eardrums as the blade gracefully slides through the air, seemingly slicing it in two. Stretching his neck as far as possible, he twists his head to check out his back. Airfoils extending from either side of his shoulder blades block his vision, and out of curiosity, he thrusts out his butt to check it out. Within the armor, Van's mouth is agape in shock as he tries to process what is going on.

"Even my…uh…parts are armored?" questions Bullet. "What...the hell...is this!?"

Together...one...impulse. Forever...Silver Bullet...

"...neat…thanks disembodied voice."

A loud grinding noise snaps Bullet out of his daze, and his eyes rapidly shift upwards. Enormous slabs of debris from the building are rapidly hurdling towards the gathered crowd. No one is paying attention, all focused on the gleaming, metallic knight in front of them. Van's eyes go wide in realization.

Move...

"I can't! There are people here! Everyone, run! Please!"

Attack...

"Huh? How do I attack?"

With his fist pointed at the ground, he clenches his hand. Van's right arm opens to reveal a metal plate, which slides over his fist. Thrusters within the forearm armor roar to life, gleaming with a bright, green aura. His right arm rockets straight into the ground, his body following suit. He screams in pain.

"Arghh, damnit!"

Aim...

"No kidding!"

He quickly pushes himself up from the shattered concrete, and shakes himself off. The armor still appears undamaged, and the remaining gravel falls off of the plates.

"Thanks for telling me that AFTER! Okay, round two!"

Van aims his right arm at the falling beam, and clenches his fist. The thrusters roar to life once again. A pop is heard as Bullet disappears in a flash of speed, and a pulse of air ejects as the sound barrier breaks. The windows nearby on both cars and buildings alike explode outwards. Bullet launches at the beam, his fist colliding with it, sending it back into the falling building, causing the rest of the debris to fall harmlessly to the other side. He notices another falling beam, and repeats the attack, firing it into a nearby car, away from the pedestrians. Bullet is idly hovering, examining his right arm.

"Okay, that I can get used to. Wait, hell yeah, I'm flying!"

He wiggles his feet in mid-air beneath him.

"Cool."

Slipping...away...one...together...impulse…

"No, don't go!"

Hibernate...regenerate...forever...Silver Bullet.

In the distance, the ambulance is approaching for Sarah, the workers, and any injured pedestrians. Sarah is still on the floor, unmoving, clearly in severe shock. Bullet looks down at her, then shoots off into the sky. Everyone nearby is staring wide-eyed at the events that just occurred.

Far away, in a military-looking compound, a technician is surfing on the internet, watching live news feeds on six different screens. It is talking about a war over in Asia, against the U.S. The newscast is in Mandarin, but the teleprompter reads in English subtitles at the bottom of the screen: "Death toll rises with U.S. interference in Chinese Weapons Shipment. Arson outbreaks rampant in Tokyo." Suddenly, a breaking news feed runs across the screen of the bottom, middle screen. The picture reveals the crane collapse.

"Uh, sir?" the technician says hesitantly. "There are reports of a man in a suit of armor saving civilians from a disastrous crane collapse."

In the back corner of the room, a clean-cut man is doing a Sudoku puzzle. His short, dark chocolate brown hair is styled forward, and neatly combed as best as the waves allow. Taut muscles stretch the fabric of his grey t-shirt, and several faded scars appear to grace his forearms and biceps. A sharp jawline leads into narrow, focused eyes, with furrowed eyebrows as he scans the screen. The puzzle is nearly completed, with the difficulty reading 5-stars, and a nearby timer reads 00:00:45. On his right hand is a black, fingerless glove, with a red, brightly polished, metallic star object inlaid into the material.

"So…" the man says. He sounds intrigued. "A new wielder, huh?"

He stands up, places the puzzle down, and walks over to the monitors. The technician clicks a button on a remote, changing all six screens to the scene of the construction site.

The clean-cut man grunts. "Leave it to a large group of civs to play on their phones all day, yet when something incredible happens, not one of them can record or take a picture of it."

"Like Bigfoot," chimes in the technician. The man rolls his eyes at the technician, then lets out a long sigh, and rubs the area between his eyes. Looking back up at the screens, his eyes narrow, like a hawk that just spotted its prey.

"Check the roster of everyone that was working that construction site. More likely than not, it was one of the workers caught in the wreckage. The amulets are triggered by danger. Also, the collapse happened at 3:45pm, so exclude all morning shift workers. Zoom in on the locker area, and focus on the worker's necks and wrists. Find any pictures of them you can, look for any accessories that stand out to you."

"Will do," says the man at the computer, almost too enthusiastically.

"You really need to lay off the espresso."

"Yeah sorry, my sleep schedule has been a mess lately."