On the beaches of Nueva España, a wounded man covered in burn scars limps to the mainland.
Huff, huff…huff
He drags a long scythe behind him in labored breaths as he trudges up the sand.
Huff
"Lefarious." A flaming visage of a woman appears before the man, but he doesn't stop walking. "Lefarious, you're tired. Come home."
"No." He huffs. "Not until he knows his." The man falls onto one knee before pushing himself up with the scythe, walking forward with it like a cane. Several other flaming visages appear before him, he continues to pass them by. "Now are any of you going to help me power through this or what?!"
The purple visage that spoke to him before catches up to him. "My child, your strength is our strength." She turns his head to the other visages that are slowly fading away. "And I'm afraid that yours is spent."
Lefarious breaks away from the ghost and continues forward. The sound of helicopters can be heard in the distance.
"The boy is in good hands. Do not burden this child with the cycle of pain our bloodline has suffered for generations."
The helicopters come into view. The sides read 'Propiedad de UMS' A foreign language barks at him from afar.
"And leave him ignorant!? Oblivious of his birthright?" Lefarious coughs up blood on the scorching sands. "Do you even hear the words you speak?" He says after wiping his mouth.
The sounds get closer. "Baja el arma e identifícate! Baja el arma e identifícate!"
"I can't rest without bringing him back." Lefarious trudges, hearing whizzes and snaps hitting the sands beside him. "I can't rest. Not when Axel is still out there."
The visage of the woman stops in front of him and holds his face. "Oh, Lef. I revere y-"
WHIZZ
A bullet passes through the visage and grazes his face. "Mother?" Lefarious blinks in confusion then zones in on the UMS helicopters actively shooting at him. "Oh right." Lefarious cracks his neck and spins his scythe, blocking the next battalion of bullets. One finally catches him in his side, crumbling him to the ground.
CAWWWWWW
Lefarious grits his teeth as a bird screeches. "Things can't ever be easy." Two flaming purple wings shield Lefarious from further gunfire momentarily as he stands up. "Let's fly one more time, shall we?" The winged flames spread and form the body and head of a majestic purple phoenix that caws again as it whisks Lefarious into the air.
A couple days pass.
The Superhero's Retirement Facility in NDC. Leo walked with a boot despite being told to rest, returning The Olympian back to his room.
"So then what did you do?" The Olympian excitedly asks.
"I jumped back and forth between the construction beams until I was fast enough to not be hit." Leo explains. "Then just when he thought he had me, I came from above him and kicked him all the way to the first floor."
The Olympian explodes in cheer. "Like a little pachinko machine! Marvelous!"
"I named the move Pinball too!"
"That's even better! I can't wait to see what else you come up with-" The pleasant conversation is cut short when Leo opens the door to The Olympian's room.
Inside sat a man in black and grey armor, with purple lines pulsing throughout and a featureless mask. The Nightrunner. "Hello, grandfather."
Leo felt a palpable shift in the air.
"Bradley!?" The Olympian questioned. "I hadn't expected to see you soon"
An exclamation point appears on the Nightrunner's mask highlighting his surprise. "Oh, grandpa, whatever do you mean? It's been well over a year since I've seen you last." He saunters over and hugs the Olympian. "Also, I've told you to please call me The Night. It's an alias, I can't go running around telling everyone my real name."
Leo rolls his eyes. "Well, considering you just told us twice that you're his grandson, I don't think it'd be too hard to figure out, Bradley."
The Nightrunner releases his grandfather then eyes up Leo. "…Right. And just who are you? It's obvious that this is a private matter, would you mind stepping outside for a moment?"
The Olympian quickly tries to intervene, knowing how this will undoubtedly unfold left unchecked. "Oh, Brad this is-"
"Leo Konza, and I'm oBvIoUsLy going to be faster than you one day." Leo says confidently.
"Leo Konza? What is that? Your hErO name? Sounds Cheap."
"I'm not a hero. And better than cheap, these hands are free, you want them? I'll even give you a free sample." Leo challenged.
"Sounds dirty, I'll pass. Then am I to suppose you are a villain? Posing as a simple-minded wretch, leeching off the sleeping giants of this facility. How despicable."
"Bradley!?" The Olympian called out but before he could continue, Leo placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Wrong again, but you're getting close."
"Aha! So a nobody." The Nightrunner says, followed by a tongue sticking out emoticon that pops up on his mask.
Leo grits his teeth and chuckles. "Yup! Getting reallllll close." The two stare at each other intensely. Despite the Nightrunner's mask, he and Leo were looking eye to eye. Leo throws his hands up and turns around to leave. "But I'll see myself out so you two can catch up."
"Ta-ta" The Nightrunner says with a shoo-ing hand motion.
"Plus." Leo side eyes him. "I'd hate to beat your ass in front of your gramps. I really look up to the guy. You should too." Then he steps into the hallway, closing the door behind him.
In the hallway, Dogman waited.
"You've yet to not surprise me, Leo. I was prepared to stop a fight, but you left before it started. Good Job." Dogman said gleefully.
Yeah, yeah." Leo sighs.
Dogman looks down to see Leo's fists are still balled. "Follow me. I'd like to show you something."
Leo takes a deep breath in and a deep breath out. "Got it." Then follows the man down the corridor.
The room was dingy at best. You could tell it was a supply closet beforehand, but Leo had never been picky on where he lays his head.
"What is this?" Leo says, looking around.
"This is your new room, Speedy." Dogman reveals, patting Leo's back.
"No fucking way, and where'd you learn that-" Dogman gut punches Leo for cursing but Leo catches his fist. "Not today, old ma-" Dogman reverses the hold and chops Leo in the throat.
"Language. And I learned a few things about you when I talked to your mother."
A hundred memories of wetting the bed and getting whoopings in the middle of the grocery store flood Leo's mind at the word. He falls to his knees and screams to the heavens. "NOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"Relax, Speedy. Your mother, Lucille, is a sweet woman and didn't reveal anything too embarrassing about your youth."
"When'd you guys even talk?" Leo goes to sit on the bed. "Wait, Momma Shokky's real name is Lucille? Huh."
"She called the facility after your little accident here." Dogman taps Leo's boot with his cane.
"I swear, I'm fine." Leo nervously chuckles.
"And she would like to keep you that way, so naturally she had a conversation with your employer. That just so happens to be me."
"Right, right. Continue." Leo nods along.
"We've decided the accountability tax will now go towards your room and board at accountability university." Dogman laughs.
Leo stares blankly back. "I have no idea what that means."
"You will." Dogman turns around. "Follow me, this isn't what I wanted to show you."
Dogman leads Leo down a set of stairs hidden in the Administrator's Office. It takes them to a facility within the facility lined with various training equipment including dummies, barbells, and treadmills. "Welcome to the Ark. Where old legends are forged anew."
Leo is amazed by the high tech gym that's been hidden underneath the retirement home all this time. He zips around and does a quick set on all the machines before excitedly dashing onto the treadmill, running until he taps out around 760 MPH. Leo rolls onto the ground panting as Dogman stands over him.
"This is where you'll train and study. No doubt, there's to be more trouble in your future. No use denying it. So let's mold you to be prepared for it. Shall we?" Dogman says offering a hand to Leo.
"Absolutely." Leo takes his mentor's hand and stands up, his eyes lock onto a pedestal in the center of the room. A golden hilted katana rests upon it. "What's that?" Leo says before zipping over to it. Upon further inspection, at the base of the blade it's signed 'Wang Lo.'
"Teeheehee." Leo chuckles childishly. "Wang Lo, Low Wang." He laughs before being chopped in the throat once again by Dogman.
"This…" Dogman picks up the sword and stares at it for a moment. Memories take him from this moment. He's a boy, riding on the back of his father's horse. "Oh father, father. When will we reach Hiroshima? I can't wait to show 'Kawa my sword. He's going to be sooooo jealous. I can already feel it."
"Patience, pup. We're still a ways away from Kyoto and Osaka. The Snake Clan estate isn't going anywhere." The boy's father said to him. "Also do your best to not tempt the young serpent for he may one day bare fangs in betrayal."
Sensing the stern wisdom the boy reluctantly calms down. "Yes, Father."
Another memory. He's a man, across the room from another. The room is covered in blood, as bodies scatter the ground. "ISHIKAWAAAAA!" He screams.
"Ginrō." Ishikawa says before slitting the throat of the last Okami Clan member.
"HOW COULD YOU?!" Ginrō tearfully screams, as someone grabs his foot. His father.
With blood gurgling from his mouth he says, "Ginrō…run…" then he dies.
"How could you butcher all of MY clan? We were brothers!" Ginrō yells, pulling out his blade and charging at Ishikawa.
"We were." Ishikawa says before meeting Ginrō's blade with his own.
As sparks flash, Ginrō is now older, weathered, handcuffed to a metal table across from the blue-eyed devil himself, Victor Caine.
"So, you're positive you have no relation to the Warlord, Clockwork Samurai? Real name, Horikoshi Ishikawa?" Caine says with a notepad in front of him.
"For the last time, no." Ginrō spat.
"And you no longer have any allegiance to your former country of origin, correct?"
"No." He paused. "No, I don't."
"So if Japan sought retaliation against us for the little gifts we dropped them, you'd support your fellow Americans, correct? Even if that meant wounding or killing former comrades."
Ginrō hesitated to answer but knew he had to, otherwise he'd be back in the internment camp. "Yes." Ginrō says sternly.
"Great. It's nice to meet you, Dogman. We'll take your measurements for your costume shortly." Caine holds out his hand, despite Ginrō obviously being handcuffed.
"Dogman? Costume? What is the meaning of this? I'm a samur-"
"You ARE an American Citizen, correct? If you want to live in this country then you are exactly what we'll tell you to be. You'd best not bite the hand that feeds you." Caine grabs Ginrō's katana and begins to leave. "...or you'll be put down in the back like the rest of you mangy mutts."
Ginrō shakes the shackles on his wrist trying to retrieve his sword. "WAIT! NO! I'LL DO ANYTHING! DON'T TAKE THE ONE THING I HAVE LEFT!" Ginrō's wrists begin to bleed as he pulls himself closer to the door.
"Don't worry, I think this will be a beautiful retirement gift to you in the future. You'll thank me later." Victor Caine says as he slams the door on the screaming man. The door shutting brings Dogman back to the present.
"This…this is an old friend." Dogman says to Leo.
Leo folds his arms. "I want a sword. This is so not fair."
Dogman laughs, wrapping an arm around Leo. "Once you beat me in swordplay, it's yours. All the knowledge and experience I've gained is useless, if I don't have someone to pass it onto."
"You really mean it?" Leo jumps in excitement. "Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!"
"Patience, pup." Dogman chuckles, leading him outside to a field. "First off is Focus Training."
"Ouu! Ouu! I've heard of that one before. It's about how fast you react to stuff." Leo says, following Dogman to the grassy area next to the facility.
"Good Job! But it's more to it than that. It's being aware of yourself and your surroundings to a degree in which others typically aren't."
In Roy's apartment, he and Skai rest in bed. Roy's eyes alertfully open, he doesn't move nor disturb Skai's slumber and yet she says. "You feel that too?"
"Yeah." Roy answers. "Something is off."
In the training field, Dogman throws his katana high into the air. "An example-"
"HEY OLD MAN WHAT ARE YOU DOI-" Leo is cut off.
"Amongst the higher rungs of Focus users, the pathway for precognition.." Dogman sidesteps his katana that falls down and would've skewered him otherwise. "...becomes unlocked."
In Murphy's office, a series of images flash into his mind within the matter of a second which causes him to gasp for air then reach for his throat before calming down. "Whew! Okay. 15 seconds to go."
Roy then receives a text message of a snake emoji from Murphy. He and Skai share an uneasy glance before Roy rushes out of bed and puts his clothes on.
The field. Dogman flicks a pebble at Leo that breaks his nose.
WHAM
Leo's nose squirts blood as he goes, "GAHHH! What the fu-" He stops himself. "Why would you do that?"
Dogman tries to stop himself from laughing. "You were supposed to dodge. You weren't focusing."
"Well, yeah! I didn't know you were about to throw something at me" Leo says with one hand covering his nose.
"I forget, this is the era where everyone informs you when they're about to attack. Pfft, children." Dogman says, before turning his back.
Leo looks down at the bloodied rock and hurls it back at Dogman who dodges to the side effortlessly.
"When you refine your focus, even when one sense is impaired the rest are heightened." Dogman teaches.
In Murphy's office a steel club flies through the door and smashes Murphy's desk. It's carried by a purple mist that constitutes back into its original form, Kema, the Seventh Serpent.
"Guess I won't be watching 'The Old and The Tiresome' anytime soon." Murphy says looking down at his shattered desktop. "So, what does Kema, The Ogre want with lil ol' me?"
"Craig Murphy. The American Serpent." Kema hissed.
"Former Serpent."
"More like formerly alive." Kema raised his greatsword and swung down onto Murphy who just sighed.
Murphy pressed the cap on his pen and the room exploded into a blue haze. Kema falls back coughing, swinging his club through the fog but Murphy is gone. He lazily sneaks up behind the "Ogre" and smashes a chair over his head. Kema cleaves with his sword but Murphy disappears into the mist once again.
During Dogman and Leo's training, Leo continuously struck faster and blindly as Dogman dodged with his eyes closed, responding in a mix of taunts and valuable lessons.
"You must feel the world around you. Feel the slight shifts in the air when your opponent throws a punch." Dogman says weaving back and forth through Leo's blows.
"Oh you're going to feel the world alright! Soon as you stay-"
"Still!" Kema yells as he swings his greatsword down onto Murphy who meets the blade with his own, revealed to be hidden within his cane.
Murphy grits his teeth as he braces Kema's strength, opting to slide beneath his legs in order to get a few cheap slashes at Kema's exposed backside. "Fine. No more hiding." Murphy clicks the pen cap again, activating a small vacuum that sucks up all the smoke in the room.
Kema smiles and drops the club, holding the greatsword with both arms. "Do you even know what I'm holding? A real Wang Lo! I have no clue what you did to this room so that I can't use my powers, but this is all I need for the likes of you."
"A stolen Wang Lo is like the Mona Lisa in the presence of a monkey. This." Murphy unsheathes his full blade. "Is a real Wang Lo. Earned, not taken. As for why your powers don't work. This." Murphy pulls out the pen again. "Is a Blue-Bottomed Ball Point Pen. Each blue bottom contains Reverted Godwinite which shuts off your powers for anywhere from an hour to a week. And since I don't have any powers to begin with, these are all I need for the dislikes of you. Now which do you prefer?"
"I don't know what any of that means, but I'll take your head instead!" Kema slices down that splits the office into two, but Murphy is nowhere to be found. "What?"
"You first, monkey." Murphy says from behind Kema, sheathing his blade back into the cane.
Kema turns around bewildered. "Wait, No! That's impossib-" The moment he takes a step forward a thin line of blood spreads across his neck and his head tumbles off shortly afterwards.
Murphy sighs, trying to move Kema's corpse out of the way of his chair before giving up and resting on the behemoth. Suddenly, a hand chokes Murphy up and into the air from seemingly out of nowhere. Murphy desperately claws for something, anything, but it's an invisible force holding him there. "Rei…ko…you…bastard."
The hand choking Murphy materializes, it belongs to a boy no older than Leo. He's blonde with freckles and green eyes.
"No! You..cant!..My.." Murphy coughs out.
"I can't hear you!" Reiko excitedly shouts, throwing Murphy against the wall. "Speak up!" The boy disappears again as the invisible force unsheathes Murphy's blade and drives it through his chest, pinning him to the wall.
"MY SON! RELEASE MY SON REIKO!" Murphy yells in a blood curdling scream.
"Well, since you asked so nicely." The boy seizes and his eyes drop before waking up in a panic.
He sees blood dripping onto his hands and his father on the other end of the blade that HE is holding. "Dad? DAD!? DAD WHAT'S GOING ON?! WHERE AM I?! ARE YOU GOING TO DIE?!!" The boy seizes again and the face of anguish switches back into a cruel smile.
"See! The boy is still alive and kicking! Can't say the same about his mother. You should have seen her, or what's left of her." Reiko pushes the blade in further as Murphy screams with tears in his eyes causing his prosthetic to fall out. "But I'm sure you've seen too much, am I right? Craig Murphy, a protege in his own focus, second to only Horikoshi Ishikawa himself. I'm sure you've seen this outcome in at least one of the futures you've seen right? Don't worry, you won't be seeing much soon."
In the confines of The Olympian's room. Bradley Burke, The Nightrunner, was in a heated debate with his grandfather. "But I've seen enough of the world! There's nowhere else to run, nowhere else to go, I've already been everywhere. But not everywhen! In your last battle against the Warden of Light, they say you ran so fast that you jumped forward in time 10 years but one of your legs was left behind."
"Hmmph. They say." The Olympian folds his arms.
"Even with all the speed I've acquired and technology to boost me, I still can't even stop time. Why are you hoarding your secrets, old man?"
"Why do you want it so badly, Bradley? You've said it yourself, you've been everywhere. You've run around the planet more times than the average person has been to a new city. Surely, there is one thing you can find that'll take your mind off this obsession?"
The Nightrunner looks out the window at Leo and Dogman training before taking off his mask. Despite his face being shown, his mouth and nose are still covered by breathing tubes. "It's what HE would've wanted, Grandpa."
"Bradley…your hair.." The Olympian softly observes.
"You like it? Ugly, I know. Shaved it a few months ago, not going to let this thing tell me what to do ya know?" Nightrunner chuckles and puts his mask back on. "Be honest, grandpa-"
"BRADLEY! YOU LOOK-"
"Do you think less of me due to my condition? Do I really deserve to be a Speed Hunter?"
The Olympian explodes into tears. "Bradley, you are my pride and joy! My successor! My heir! How could you say something like that?"
"We said the same things about Dad, remember? Son of the Olympian, Track Star leading America in another marathon for cancer. No matter how fast he ran, it still caught up to him didn't it?"
"Bradley, we don't know that!"
"Grandpa, WE DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!" The Nightrunner slams his fist against the wall. "My father, consumed with finding a cure, followed in your footsteps and ran so fast that he traveled to the future, but he hasn't come back. He's out there somewhere! And I'm going to find him." The Nightrunner begins to leave. "Before it catches me too."
"Bradley, please don't leave!" The Olympian pleads, grabbing onto his arm. "This is a marvelous world Brad. There is still a chance that the answers you seek reside in the present day, somewhere."
The Nightrunner sighs and removes his grandfather's hand, with a stern voice he says, "The answers I seek are right in front of me. And they refuse to speak. See you next year, if I'm still around that is."
Suddenly, the power goes out.
ZXXT
"See, a sign." The Nightrunner opens the door. "That's my cue to leave."
"Bradley.." The Olympian sobs.
Outside, Dogman notices the outage. "Bah! Looks like one of the generators blew a fritz. Come help me turn them back on."
"Wha-a?" Leo says all bruised up with one eye swollen shut. "But…I..was..just about to hit you.." He says in labored breaths.
"Pfft. Yeah, right. Ha!" Dogman laughs, leading Leo back into the facility. "Come on."
However, it wouldn't be a generator malfunction that caused the blackout, all around the city of NDC were receiving power outages.
The answer?
ZZXT ZZXT ZZXT ZZXT ZZXT ZZXT ZZXT
Roy, as a current of electricity, surged through the powerlines at lightning speeds to reach Murphy's office, pulling in energy from local businesses to increase his speed further.
"Do you have any last words, traitor?" Reiko says, pressing his thumb down into Murphy's good eye.
Murphy winces and grits his teeth as a series of images flash into his brain once more. "Yeah." He chuckles. "The next time you die, there will be no one to mourn you."
"Yeah! And who's going to mourn you?" Reiko asks, letting go of Murphy's bloodied face.
"The same person who's going to kill you." With two emptied eye sockets, a weak Murphy manages to lift his arm up to point. "Him."
"Who!?" Reiko turns around to see Roy with his arm cocked.
"ELECTROSHOCK!!!!" Roy hurls a ball of electricity at Reiko who grins, disappearing before it hits him. Roy growls and angrily puts up an ice wall at the door. "SHOW YOURSELF!"
"ROY!" Murphy bloodily spat. "He's already gone, Roy!"
Roy rushes over to Murphy and pulls the blade out of Murphy's chest, causing him to slide down the wall. "MURPHY! HOLD ON!"
"What's done is done." Murphy says as the light metaphorically leaves his eyes. Roy backhands Murphy awake. "Ouch! Mother..fucker.."
"YOU DIDN'T LET ME DIE! I WON'T ALLOW YOU!" Roy argues to Murphy to hold on. Medical knowledge wasn't Roy's specialty, but he had overwhelming survival instincts. Roy places a hand on Murphy's chest. "This is going to be uncomfortable, stick with me!" He says as he freezes Murphy's stab wound to stop the blood lost.
"Roy…"
"Nope. Nuh uh." Roy says, swirling his finger around as a ring of water appears above it. Roy places the water on Murphy's eyes, cleaning the wound.
"Roy!"
"Shut it, Murphy! I'm not hearing it." Roy stands up and pulls out his phone and calls the contact named 'Bastard.'
Across town,
BulletProof is on a date enjoying $2 margaritas at Pepper's. The margarita would soon be the only thing he was enjoying. Across the table sat a beautiful woman, in a glittery dress and high heels. Definitely not Pepper's attire, but BP wasn't complaining. She had hazel eyes, olive skin, and jet black hair.
"So tell me about your past relationships." The woman purrs, moving in closer to BP at the table.
"What's there to say? I gave this woman everything and she still threw me out like yesterday's trash." BP says while trying to sound cool.
"Surely, there were other factors leading up to it, right? Maybe your job got in the way of the relationship."
"Look, she has a job, if you can call it that, that's very similar to mine. I'm completely cool with what she does, why does she have to be such a bitch when I do my job though?"
"Oh so now, I'm a bitch?!" The woman says.
"What? No! I'm talking about my-" BP looks up to see Selene, in the glittery dress, and the heels, red hair and all. "Hi. Heheh." BP chuckles.
"I CAUGHT YOU AGAIN!"
"I KNEW IT WAS YOU THE WHOLE TIME!"
"OH YEAH? SO WHY'D YOU LOOK SO SURPRISED WHEN I CALLED YOU OUT HUH?"
"BECAUSE THE DATE WAS GOING SO WELL I STARTED TO THINK YOU ACTUALLY WERE SOMEONE ELSE!"
Zzzt, Zzzt, Zzzt….Zzzt, Zzzt, Zzzt
"I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!"
"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO TRUST YOU WHEN THIS IS THE SHIT YOU PULL?"
Zzzt, Zzzt, Zzzt….Zzzt, Zzzt, Zzzt
"SHIT I PULL? FUCK YOU!"
"FUCK YOUUUU!"
Roy paced around the room frantically. "You're really living up to that name you know, pick up! Bastard!"
"ROY!" Murphy calls out to him again.
"Shut it!" Roy retorts.
"I missed you so much!"
Mwah!
"Oh baby, I missed you too!"
Mwah, mwah.
Zzzt, Zzzt, Zzzt….Zzzt, Zzzt, Zzzt
BP and Selene who were just arguing were now passionately making out on the table in the diner, passerbys exchanging disgusted looks as they walked by.
"Hey, you guys need to-" Coming from the manager, who's now walking to their table.
"Try and die, motherfucker." BP says flashing the gun underneath his shirt. The manager puts his hands up and slowly walks backwards.
Zzzt, Zzzt, Zzzt….Zzzt, Zzzt, Zzzt
"Who's calling you?" Selene pulls back. "These aren't the vibrations I like." She whispers into his ear.
BP shivers and giggles back. "Don't I know it. Hold on baby, let Daddy check." BP pulled out his phone and immediately wished he didn't.
Selene laughs. "Who's Loser #1?"
BP angrily answers the phone. "What! You better have a good reason for-" He pauses, Selene can see that something is wrong. "What?!" BP jolts up and pulls out both pistols. "I'm sorry, but I have to go!"
"Work, I assume." She rolls her eyes. "I suppose I'll see you the next time you cheat on me."
BP grunts. "No. Come with me."
Selene's eyes shine like stars. "Lil ol' me? Really?"
"Let's ride, Clyde!" BP says running out of the diner and hopping onto his motorcycle. Everyone else in the restaurant is relieved that the dual wielding man has left the premises.
"Aren't I supposed to be Bonny in this scenario?" Selene sighs and follows along, getting on the back of the motorcycle with BP.