Neo-Vatra’s central district was known for its tall buildings, many of which were either the headquarters of powerful corporations, or high-rise living spaces for the wealthy who owned them.
One building in particular stood out among them, and though it wasn’t the tallest in the city, one could argue it stood out the most thanks to the gigantic emblem displayed on its higher floors, which depicted a majestic shield surrounded by raging flames.
The emblem and the building itself belonged to Flame Guard, Neo-Vatra’s protectors. From the vantage of its top floor, the valiant heroes keep watch over the city, ready to face any evil or disaster that might threaten the peace. Or so it should have been.
One of the heroes was there, sure, and she was indeed watching over the city, but she was far from a battle-ready state. She wore nothing more than a gray crop-top and dark blue shorts, leaving most of her flawless white skin exposed, and how messy and disheveled her leaf green hair was, one wouldn’t be wrong to assume she had just come out of bed. Because that was the exact truth.
Huntress stared at the dazzling night cityscape while moving a toothbrush through her mouth, boredom filling her eyes. She opened her mouth to yawn then turned around and spat directly on the floor. A second later, a small disc-shaped device appeared and passed over the stain on the floor, wiping it clean.
"For fuck’s sake, Huntress!" Someone yelled from the other end of the spacious room. "How many times do I have to tell you!!? Don’t spit on the fucking floor!"
The green-haired woman shrank under the loud reprimanding voice. She turned around, her expression warping into a scowl as she glared at the one who disturbed her peace.
"And how many times do I have to tell you..." She raised the cup in her left hand and took a sip.
Ignoring the man’s warning, she rinsed her mouth and spat the contents right then and there, leaving a white splatter on the once pristine floor.
"Don’t tell me what to do."
The man held his head with both hands and screamed, and as he did, the lights in the room flickered on and off. One would think that he had witnessed one of the most disturbing crimes happen right in front of his eyes, but the cleaning bots were already at work wiping the stain away.
"Chill, Strike." Said the green-haired woman. "It’s not like it will leave a mark."
"It’s still disgusting!" The man yelled back. "How about you use your goddamn bathroom for once!!?"
"But I like it here." She replied. "The view is nice."
"That’s not the fucking point..."
As if finally giving up, he let his shoulders slump and sighed. Raising his right hand, he snapped his fingers and turned the lights on. The man was a hero as well, and though he didn’t have his costume on as well, the suit he wore showed that he wasn’t lazing around, at the very least.
"Going somewhere?" Huntress asked.
"Back from somewhere, damn it." Thunder Strike replied, sounding dejected. "Someone has to handle things during the day."
"Did something happen?"
Keeping his silence for a few seconds, Strike walked over to one of the nearby sofas and plopped down.
"They had another debriefing at the HQ." He said, pulling on his necktie to loosen it. "We got new leads on Catalyst, but..."
Strike jumped from his seat and landed on the other side of the room. He then turned to the sofa and squeezed his eyes shut, having seen the shadowy figure sitting right next to where he was a second ago.
"Fucking damn it Erebus! I even turned the lights on!"
"What?" A voice came from the human-shaped darkness, the two white spots it had for eyes bending as if to show a raised eyebrow. "I was here the entire time, you know?"
"Nobody is buying that, shit-stain. I-" Huntress’s voice vanished mid-sentence, as if she had been muted during a call.
Staring at his shadowy teammate, Strike couldn’t help but sigh.
"We didn’t make much progress." He said. "The gang handling the distribution vanished. It’s almost as if the bastards never existed."
"Huh... nothing new, I guess."
A bare foot came flying toward the shadowy figure’s head, and though it appeared to sink into it, he went flying an instant later. Standing on the sofa, Huntress crossed her arms and turned to face the blonde man.
"What about the kid?" She asked. "Did you find out who killed her?"
Just as he was about to explain, Strike watched as his green-haired teammate suddenly turned away. He would have thought she was ignoring him if not for the disturbed look that took over her face, and realizing that she must have sensed a danger of some kind, he followed her gaze to the glass wall overlooking the city.
An instant later, something hit the building’s top floor like a meteor, shattering the tempered glass and shaking the entire building. Despite that, not a single sound left the area of the impact, and only those who were inside sensed the quake.
Huntress had retreated to one corner, a bow having appeared in her hands at some point. Strike was on the opposite side, tendrils of golden lightning dancing around his body. Erebus, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen, but no one cared about his disappearance as their focus was on the thing that had crashed into their living room, turning the entire place into a giant crater.
Wind blew into the spacious room and quickly chased the veil of dust, revealing the form of the visitor who had let himself in without an invitation. He slowly rose into the air, his yellow cape fluttering gently behind him. The blue fabric of his suit clung tightly to his body, accentuating all of its masterfully sculpted muscles, and the gold from which its large belt and shoulder guards were made glinted under the room’s illumination.
As he stared at the intruder, Strike’s eyes slowly widened, his face growing paler than it already was, his lips trembling as he spoke the man’s name.