📌 Tags: Action, Urban, Superhero, Antihero Protagonist, Vigilante, Crime Investigation, Dark, Mature, Thriller
⚠️Authors Note - Mature Content
"This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, nations, corporations and events are products of the author's imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real events or persons is coincidental."
Date - 07th December
Character Name - Near
Location - Promise City, Ct
District - Owl Mansion, The Stretch Coastline Bay Entrance
Time - 0320 (03:20AM)
The Owl lazily leaned against the bannister, she exhaled the last strand of smoke and flicked the stub without a second thought to the dinner hall below. The night dragged on, and now she was tired.
'Talk, now!' Near stepped forwards, his broad body bloodied.
'What do you want to know?' The Owl cooed, dragging out the end of her sentence.
'Everlyn Silva… tell me now.'
The Owl scoffed.
'What is there to tell? She's dead.'
She continued, every word as spiteful as the last.
'The girl was found in a trash pit deeper in the Stretch. My crew brought her up to the surface and gave her to the Bridgerton Precinct.'
Thud Thud Thud
Near stepped closer. His black metallic boots striking the concrete ground.
Close enough to read her expression…and watch her mouth twitch with slight amusement.
'That explains the residue in her fingernails.'
'Exactly, my Angel.'
'Ice Thorn Princess. Who is she?'
For a moment, there was a pause. A momentary silence that filled the stale cold air. The Owl, despite her previous bravado, was serious. She was not smiling. She was stone faced. As if she was done with the world taking from her.
'No.'
'What?' Near said, moving even closer.
'I said, no. You do not get to ask anymore questions-'
The Owl closed the gap between them, pulling Near close, intimately. Her small chest squished tightly, pressed up against Near's chestplate.
'My son, the Corps took him.'
'Which one.'
'BlueJet.'
The biggest developer of aircraft and space technology for the United States of America. Also one of the biggest military contractors of the US military. Their most successful innovation? The "Enercell Nuclear Battery"
'Stealing kids isn't their thing, Owl.'
'Oh trust me, it wasn't "official business"...' The Matriarch continued, she clicked her tongue, and rolled her brown eyes. But she wasn't bored, she was desperate, this was a battle she had been losing for the last year.
'It was one of their executives, you know the dicks in suits?'
'What happened.'
'Well, my son was sick, so naturally I took him to a hospital.'
The Owl smirked but it was hollow.
'They cited a "paperwork error"... before I knew it he was taken away.. Naturally I did not take it lying down…-'
Nears eyes widened, his breath hitched.
'YOU. You're the one who has been bombing BlueJet company assets.'
'WHAT THE F*CK DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DO?! IT'S REVENGE! THEY THREW ME IN THE MUD THAT NIGHT!' The Owl roared.
'That WONT bring your son back-'
'NO IT WONT… but it sends a message.' The owl calmed her rage, and once again that mischievous smile returned.
'Then, you arrived.'
Near scowled.
The Owl continued, but the bravado was gone. Now it was pure desperation. Her pride? Gone. The Owl doesn't beg, she never pleads. But tonight? She did. Not openly, but the small pools of tears that formed under her eyes said everything.
'I want you to get him back, to me.'
Near's eye twitched, his heart felt heavy. He hated these moments. They weighed him down. His moral code screamed for him to reunite a mother and their child, yet the mask of Near demanded justice. It felt like an eternity. He asked himself, what would Eddie do?
And that was all he needed.
'Give me the name of the executive.'
'I expect the name of the Ice Thorn Princess when I return.'
Near spun around, his cape trailing behind him.
'And give me Brady. I'll need his help.'
'You think he would help?' The Owl asked stunned, shocked he would even suggest a police officer.
Near turned back to her, his eyes lighter than usual, not the stoic crusader who burst into her lair, but the boy behind the mask, who the underworld talk about like a myth.
'As YOU said, he's one of the more REASONABLE officers.'
'His name was Julian Asanta.'
'Understood.'
The Owl stood stunned, her jaw ajar, shocked from the revelation that the man she was going to have killed would aid her in her time of need. She snapped her gaze away from the vigilante who in a swift motion, aimed and fired his grappler gun to the vent he entered previously.
Date - 07th December
Character Name - Near
Location - Promise City, Ct
District - Opposite the Owl Mansion, Galleon Warehouse 54
Time - 0405 (0405 AM)
The snow-slick streets outside of the Stretch. Brady limped beside Near, shivering in his torn jacket. He reached into his deep pockets, pulling a cigarette and lighting it with a flick of his lighter's lid.
'So, what did you enlist me for?'
'To help me find the Owl's son.'
'And it's my responsibility? Why?'
Detective Brady stopped dead in his tracks, planting his black shoes in the thick snow. He cast his gaze into the Bay. Near stepped besides him. The cold windy breeze lightly brushed his icy cape.
'It's your responsibility as a Detective.'
'The crazy b*tch tried to kill me.'
'That happens all the time, Brady.'
Brady dragged on his cigarette and with an exhale, streams of smoke flowed into the wind.
'What name did she give?' Brady asked as if his world ended.
'A BlueJet Executive.' Near continued. 'Julian Asanta'
'F*ck. Guess we need to get in there.'
Brady stubbed out his cigarette.
'And I don't know how.'
'I do.'
Near said typing on his wrist comlink.
'Go on.' Brady muttered.
Date - 07th December
Character Name - Julian Asanta
Location - Promise City, Ct
District - Promise City, BlueJet Administrative Building, Central District
Time - 0921 (0921 AM)
News Reel: PCNN Promise City
"BlueJet has officially crossed the $2 trillion valuation mark, becoming the fastest corporation in history to breach the milestone."
"Analysts say today's surge was driven by record quarterly earnings, explosive consumer growth, and aggressive expansion into aerospace and AI sectors."
"BlueJet's market capitalization now exceeds the GDP of most nations, placing the company among the global elite mega-corporations."
"Shares closed at $5,842-up nearly 9% in after-hours trading-triggering waves of investor confidence across Promise City's tech sector."
"The Five-Star Party declined to comment, but sources inside Treasury call the valuation 'geo-economically significant'."
"In other news, the People's Republic of China reached an unprecedented milestone as its population reached 2 Billion spanning its occupied territories and mainland, with its advancement in- ."
The broadcast ended.
The city was frozen, literally. Buried under two feet of snow, iced over and shrouded by a blizzard. The sky was as clear as day. The sun gleamed on, The BlueJet Administrative Building is a one hundred storey tower, the shape of a blue glass shard, it sits in the middle of the central district, the financial hub for the city. Sitting beside most of the city's tech giants, the megacorp owns the Central District, with few rivals, if any. It dominates artificial intelligence, IT and robotics development. A company that both Kodoma and the LawGroup are mindful of during business transactions.
The inside of the tower was bright, its vast walls lined with glass windows. Offices populated every level within the structure, independently-thinking robots roamed about following their already pre-programmed duties. The aroma inside the tower smelt of sweat from the workers labour and coffee beans from the endless amounts of coffee the company requires to maintain its operation.
In one of the towers many dark offices sat several shadowy individuals. On a giant screen mounted on the wall, a projection of the company's profit trend. This meeting was one of many between executives of the Promise City Division. They were secure, hidden from the public eye, classified to the highest levels of the corporation.
'Colleagues, head office has decided our operation will be expanded… this meeting was scheduled in advance.'
'By how much Mr Asanta?' a businesswoman asked.
'$100 Billion.'
'Woooo!' One of the businessmen clapped.
'Christmas bonus is gonna be good this year!'
'I am sure our employees will appreciate the extra 5c an hour.'
'As they should.' Another scoffed.
Julian began to type on his Corporation issued touchscreen laptop, holograms depicted files upon files of numbers, graphs and government policy.
'The asset abduction was… needed, our friends in the government agreed to turn a blind eye in exchange for meta-humans for the military…'
'The US government has given us our new "orders".'
'Go on Julian.'
'Use the child acquired by… yours truly…' Julian smirked.
-to create the next generation of Meta humans…'
'We've been entrusted with a great responsibility ladies and gentlemen.' Julian continued.
'Let us serve our nation.'
The shadows rose to their feet.