Rosaline Bent returned to her small apartment late at night. It was ten by now, and his brother had long passed out on the couch after drinking some booze he stole that day. Tired and hungry after a long shift working a part-time job at a convenience store, she still took time to check up on her brother and stashed away the empty cans to sell them for recycling.
As she worked, she thought about what the boy said, she never got to know his name, but evidently he knew enough of her to approach. After the near miss of dying in a restricted area from another student she really wasn't in the mood to trust another student.
But that boy seemed to be a bit different. For one, he held an actual license that gained access to any dungeon or tower. But that by itself was suspicious. Most students couldn't get one of those, yet a first year F-rank had one. Clearly he was hiding something about himself. Though with a valid license, that also meant he was trusted by the adventuring association which had to mean something.
He wants to meet in a public area. Rosaline argued with herself. It wouldn't hurt to just see. She decided as she continued to try and clean the living room.
***
As Archer Griffen opened his phone, he quickly read through a news report regarding new rifts appearing in a certain area of the city. Thankfully some brave new heroes managed to intervene before any civilian was injured. Quickly closing the report he dialed a number and waited for it to be picked up. After the third ring it finally got picked up and Phil Doyle was on the other side of the line.
"Archer, is something the matter?"
"Hello, good night we're having." Archer greeted, "About the gear I received, the shirt is good, though only the t-shirt? What about my long sleeve and rash guard?"
"Again Archer, you're going to have to be patient. The WDO mentioned how they would only offer you back your full equipment if needed or if you proved responsible."
"Am I not responsible enough?" Archer complained, "Well, as long as you keep them black. Besides what's with my mask?" Archer said as he held out a balaclava. It was a white mask with no visible eye or mouth holes. The top of the mask was a realistic wig of a shaggy hairstyle.
"Is it not your mask?" Phil asked confused.
"Yeah, my old mask. I switched to a helmet." Archer said.
"Well the helmet needs to wait, make do for now. I promise you everything will be delivered in a week or so." Phil assured him.
"Fine, I guess I can work with what I have." Archer said.
"I imagine you're going to go out later?"
"I have someone I need to see again."
"Just stay safe and remain discreet."
"Of course." Archer said hanging up the phone as he stared at his mask. Where do I get a jacket?
***
Edgar Clancy, a large, tattooed man, made his way out of the police station and down towards the car waiting for him. As he ignored the dirty looks that the officers shot his way as he spotted a car waiting for him. He recognized the model and who the driver was.
"Edgar." The driver greeted, rolling down his window.
"Liason, you posted my bail?" Edgar asked.
"Actually the boss did, get in, he's waiting for you." Liason, a man with a thin pencil mustache said. Edgar squeezed his way into the car and they drove away from the parking lot. It was a quiet ride as they made their way to a bar a distance away from the station.
The Glue Gun's Way was a bar that while popular, was often visited by allegedly the seedier folk of the city. Plenty of illegal dealings occurred inside this structure. The police and even superheroes tended to stay away from the place.
Obviously filled with criminals, it was both too dangerous and would be too messy for them to deal with. Besides it wasn't as if the rich and politically influential don't on occasion have connections with the place. Simply put, places like these were left alone as the news wasn't too hot on them.
Parking in front of it the two gang members exited out the car, past the bodybuilder of a bouncer in a leather jacket and into the bar. Very quickly Liason guided Edgar over to a table where their boss, Fucidin, sat enjoying a meal.
"Ah, Edgar, finally out. You're welcome for the bail by the way."
"Thanks boss. What happened to the brat?"
"No idea, I was advised to leave them alone. Not like they know anything." Fucidin said with a shrug, "Drink?"
"No thanks, not in the mood." Edgar said, "Did you find out who the shooter was?"
"No, and our mercenary seems to be out of action for the time being. We're behind schedule too. So vengeance comes second." Fucidin said looking annoyed.
"But they killed my pet."
"I'll get you another one, bulletproof this time. We need to discuss business first."
"Fine." Edgar spat after a moment of anger as he sat down on an open seat, "Get me a drink."
"That's it." Fucidin said smiling, "I have a meeting in a few days with some of the other boys, I'll get us some more money to pay for the expenses we'll need."
As the trio sat down to enjoy drinks, a group of young men roamed near the nightclub, already a few drinks in, laughing with one another. Perhaps getting too close and being too disruptive, the bouncer shouted out at them.
"Leave now!"
"What? We're just walking." A man wearing a flat cap hiccupped out.
"Yeah, what are you going to do about it!" Another friend drunkenly yelled and the others laughed.
Without another word, the bouncer pulled out a gun and pointed it at them. The immediate reaction from the group was to panic and run away. The man with the flat cap fell to the ground momentarily and lost his hat before picking himself up and drunkenly running away.
The bouncer gave a hearty laugh as he stored his gun away and stood back on guard. All the while the wind blew the hat over to a dark alleyway where a man with no face grabbed it with a gloved hand. Examining it, the faceless man put it on. A few seconds later he stood next to the bouncer.
"Say." The faceless man said in an inhuman voice. Like an old broken machine trying to mimic human speech, it was like metal being ground down, "Nice jacket."
Whatever mood was inside the bar quickly shifted as the bouncer came sliding through the door, completely laid out. The room fell into a stunned silence as they saw the bouncer unconscious on the floor. They then saw someone enter the bar.
He, or at least they thought it was a man, wore a large black jacket that hid their true frame, he had no face, and beneath the flat cap they could see messy curly black hair. Their face was something odd, it was bleached white and well, had no face. No eyes, no nose, no mouth. Simply a completely blank face.
"What the hell is that thing?" Some shouted right before the lights went out.
Panicked screams then erupted as there were demands for someone to turn on the lights. The bartender could be heard yelling for security, followed by the cry of someone in tremendous pain.
One of the superpowered gang members created an orb of light. He immediately wished he hadn't, as the first thing he saw was the strange intruder holding down the bartender by the throat over the countertop as a metal stirrer was being jammed down his throat.
As the gang member's eyes adjusted to the light, he saw the faceless man look up and stare at him directly. Panicked, the gang member momentarily lost concentration and the light flickered off. Quickly, more scared of the darkness than ever, he relit the orb. Only this time the faceless man was right in front of him.
Before he could even react, a gloved hand grabbed his face and he let out a stifled cry as the light went out again. In the corner of the bar Fucidin and the others began to try and get away. Using the light from their lighters they tried to navigate their way to the fire exit while ignoring the screams of pain.
They didn't get far before Liason felt something grab him, and he found himself being launched into the air and smashing into the roof of the bar. Fucidin at this point screamed out towards Edgar.
"Get me out of here!"
Edgar couldn't say anything as he was currently being smashed through the dining table they had been sitting at earlier. Fucidin held his lighter near him and pulled out his displacement revolver. A firearm strong enough to leave a hole in even the toughest of superheroes.
He never got a chance to use it as it was wrenched out of his hand and then something struck him, and everything went dark. As he slumped onto the floor, the faceless man left him lying there as he went back over to the bar.
A woman noticed him approach through the darkness, and with a flick of her wrist, a blade popped out of her bracelet. Surging forward she tried to stab him only to have her arm caught. She struggled with all her might to try and free herself from the faceless man's grip to no avail.
The power, the strength, it was as if she was stuck in place. Without a word the faceless man while still holding onto her bladed arm, began to push it closer to her face. Panicked, she began to thrash, trying to hit him with her offhand. It was alarming as none of her blows made any contact, it was as if he was phasing in and out reality.
"Stop! Stop! Stop! Please, I'm sorry!" She managed to cry out as the edge of the blade grazed her face. Then in one sudden motion, as she was sure that she was about to lose an eye, her arm was then forcefully yanked to the side and a loud pop could be heard as the faceless man snapped her arm by the elbow.
"You bastard! My arm!" She screamed out as she collapsed to the ground in pain.
The faceless man ignored her as he moved over to the bar. Reaching under the counter, he pulled out a blowtorch and turned it on. It seemed that the constant noise of gas being burned and the faceless man's blank face being illuminated again caused the panicked screaming to pause.
"Scum of Astron." A terrible voice scratched out from the faceless man. The barkeep laid across the counter, and customers littered the floor in front of the bar, "You believe in an easy life of crime." He said slowly as everyone stared at him, not daring to speak out.
"You do not seem to understand. One cannot simply drown their sins, they will reemerge. They will show up and you must pay. The sinners shall be punished, the scum will be cleaned. You cannot fight it. You cannot run from it. You are not safe, for I am here." The faceless man said as he had the flames lick the back of the countertop and the shelves of booze, all ignited.
For several seconds a bright blue flame burned behind this unmoving figure without a face casting a long shadow over them. Then within seconds, the alcohol burned up and the room was plunged into darkness again.
After another moment of darkness the lights flickered back to life again, and this time the faceless man was gone. For the first time those still standing and unhurt were able to appreciate the horror that the faceless man left. There were several people strewn across the ground, a few still awake and groaning out in pain. Some injuries were worse than others, from bruises to broken bones.
The faceless man was now gone and the first thing everyone inside decided to do was to save themselves. Quickly people began to pour out of the place and onto the streets. Everyone was too busy thinking about saving themselves to notice that, along with the intruder, now missing was Fucidin.
Elsewhere in a dark alley, Archer Griffen, still wearing the white faceless mask carried Fucidin into it. He then dumped him face-first into a shallow puddle of dirty water.
"Blarghh!" Fucidin sputtered out, being jolted awake, "What? What the hell?"
"Fucidin Tekson." Archer growled out causing Fucidin's head to snap straight back towards him, cowering in fear.
"Who the hell are you? What do you want?" Fucidin shrieked in fear.
"Member of the Canolia gang." Archer hissed out with his distorted voice, "There are things you will tell me."
"Who-Who the hell do you think you are? Some kind of hero? You ain't getting-" Fucidin paused as Archer grabbed him by the face and began to apply pressure.
"You are alone." Archer said slowly, "You are weak. You do not matter. You are pathetic. No one will care about you." He said, his white mask was cold and expressionless.
Archer could feel the man trembling in his grip and as he pie-faced the man back into the puddle he demanded, "How long has your kidnapping spree been occurring?"
"They'll kill me if I tell you."
"Dying is easy, it's what happens before that makes it difficult. How do you want to spend your last moments?" Archer threatened.
Fucidin closed his eyes and gave and swallowed, "S-six months. That's when me and four others were tasked with gathering low-level talents."
"Names."
"We all work for Revista Valta."
Archer looked down at him curiously, Revista Valta, one of the three lieutenants of the head of the Canolia gang. One of the infamous gangs that exists around the country. Though at the very least they stayed within the borders for now. They had a competitive foothold in Astron, and no one really knew who the actual leader was.
"What were the people used for?" Archer asked as he loomed over Fucidin.
"I-I don't know, some sort of experiment with dungeons. We take them into the restricted area into a hidden lab. I don't see and they never tell me anything more!" Fucidin said as he brought his arms up to protect himself.
Archer paused, he didn't doubt that his man quaking in fear was telling the truth. It was unlikely that Revista would tell any of her subordinates anything more than what was strictly necessary. In case situations like this came up.
Archer wasn't really after anything else from Fucidin, so he took a brief second to think of what to do. Fucidin was already a wanted man for other crimes, so he could bring him in. That would also cause a headache with the Canolia's having one of their higher-ranked men locked up momentarily.
Though that would also act as a warning sign to Revista, who more than likely will have her men be on alert already. There was also the case of the bar, who knows how many gangs were actually in there. The bar itself was owned by another gang, word of mouth is also likely to spread to not only the crooked underbelly of the city but also those above as well.
A new superpowered freak causing issues with the criminals? Well he wasn't the first, at least with that swordsman running about, but Archer was thinking that maybe he perhaps could've been quieter with his introduction. Ah well, what was done was done and besides, Archer was more than fine with having his alter ego's presence known. Though before that he would need to know where this lab was.
"Location of the lab now." Archer demanded.
Archer loomed back down towards Fucidin and reached out to grab him. As he did so, Fucidin shut his eyes and screamed out in fear as Archer once more grabbed him.
***
Detective Helio happily packed up his things and was ready to head out for the night. If he hurried his favourite restaurant would still be open by the time he got there. Leaving the police station with his car keys in hand he whistled a happy tune before pausing.
His smile dropped as he saw what was in front of him. Another wanted criminal was currently tied and unconscious to a lamppost. This time he didn't need to wonder who this person was. He recognized Fucidin, a wanted criminal of the Canolia's.
Helio glanced around, he was the only officer outside, but taking him in and getting the arrest processed would take time. The restaurant would be by then. Though Fucidin was tied up and likely wasn't going anywhere. Maybe someone would pick him up. But then again, getting credit for arresting him would be nice. Giving a disappointed sigh, he proceeded to approach the unconscious criminal to officially detain him.
***
"Who did what to my bar?" Tao Chow, better known as The Astro Crippler, roared into his phone hearing the report. The large muscular man with skull tattoos across his arms was currently beet-red as he heard his underlings report to him on his phone. Sitting in the back of a limousine his other hand angrily crushed a cigar he was holding.
"S-s-some demon thing busted in and wrecked the place!" A shaky voice called back, "The bartender's injured.
"Demon, what are you talking about?"
"I don't know, it wasn't human! It just came in and threatened everyone!"
"Demons don't go around bars idiot. Send me the damn security footage and you'd best hope I don't decide to kill you!" Tao screamed.
"Yes boss, right away boss!" The other voice screamed.
Tao hung up and threw his phone across the limousine, "To the Glue Gun." He ordered the driver as he clenched his hand into a fist. Could there really be a monster that roamed its way in? If it were a person, well whoever they were just made the worst decision of their lives.