Greed horizon

The group arrives at the storefront and exits the van one by one. Leon catches up to Mike and walks next to him as they proceed to the front door.

“I have to admit, I wouldn't have expected this location. It’s a good hiding spot. It has some of that shady drug house charm to it as well,” said Leon.

“It's not by choice; it's more of a budget constraint than anything. Funding isn't exactly as good as you'd expect. Everything we make gets dumped into new equipment, and it's not like we can maintain another job or anything,” said Mike.

Leon opens the door for Mike, and they enter. “I'm glad you helped with Gage, but that was not what I had in mind when trying to capture a bank robber. You guys sure do things differently. Guess I would too if I were like you, but I'm just a regular old guy with a gun.”

“Like me? What do you mean by that?” said Mike.

“The alien power you got—I wasn't born with anything special. Save the good looks,” Leon says while combing his hair.

“You aren't born with these abilities, Leon, everyone has power and mana inside of them. It's just a matter of manifesting it. While you may have different abilities than me, you may have some untapped potential inside of you.” Mike holds his hand up, and small sparks begin to fly off his fingers. “I've learned some of the more advanced forms of my power, but it is different for everyone. Nathan can use his mana to enhance his speed, strength, and durability to inhuman levels, but he's never been able to use any sort of elemental ability. Brody is the least proficient here. He really has only been able to enhance his durability, but with time, I'm hoping he gets a grip on the rest. The truth is that magic lies in all of us. Ever since people realized that we had to deal with more issues like this, Power corrupting people isn’t just a movie trope, once the villains got a handle on it pretty much straight away, it was used to commit robberies, bank heists, and overall bad behavior. It was to blame for most of Japan’s large crime boom in the past few years.”

Brody yawns and looks over his shoulder. “That training is tough, not to mention unfair. Some people are born with the ability to use specific magic that nobody else can. Some people have an affinity for different types like you with lighting. Meanwhile, I can't seem to be good at anything.”

“Still time young one, it wasn’t long ago that I thought I was a fire user. I nearly burned the whole parking lot down and burned myself pretty badly.”

“Sounds like a drag to learn,” said Leon.

“Right? See, I'm glad somebody gets it!” Brody says enthusiastically.

“Look, I just want to know who that guy was. Also, Brody, is the visor totally busted? We may be able to get footage off of it if the drive isn't smashed.”

“It's pretty banged up.” Brody reaches into his bag and pulls out the smashed visor, tossing it to Mike. “But Hinako and Jerry may be able to get it working again.”

Leon's phone begins to ring, and he answers it casually. “Ashford speaking. Woah, calm down. Jill, slow down. Explain. Central station? Ok. Alright, we will head over, but we aren't in the best shape.”

“What’s going on, Leon?" Asks Mike.

“You aren't going to believe this. Somebody attacked the trade building at the central station. Not your everyday attack either, it's bad,” said Leon.

“Who in their right mind would do that? It's the area of the city with the most police presence,” Mike exclaimed.

"Somebody is trying to make a statement. We watched a guy in a mask absorb a criminal today. Would this be so surprising?” Nathan said calmly.

“I don't know, but I need to go. I know it's a risk for you, but would you be willing to tag along?” said Leon.

Mike turns to Brody and asks, “Are you gonna be okay?”

“I'm good to go if we need to, mission priority, I know the drill,” Brody said.

“Then yes, Leon, we are good. Let's move out.” Mike walks behind the counter and presses a small button on the desk, speaking into a mic. "Hinako, wake up, I need you to do this. Take Brody's visor and try to get any footage off of it that you can. We need information on the guy who attacked us.” Mike turns to Brody. "Brody, grab your spare visor before we leave.”

The intercom sparks to life, and she rings through, “Attacked? What happened?”

Mike slams the button. “No time to explain; now we have to leave. The visor is on the desk.”

“We can take my car this time, let's move!” Leon exclaimed.

***

The team is inside Leon’s car, driving to Central Station. Leon speeds up and is darting in and out of traffic.

“Leon, you are in the agency; what on earth is going on with all these random attacks all over the city?” Asked Mike.

“You are about as informed as I am on this. I’m just trying to stop them, but as of right now, we have no idea why they are happening so frequently. Something tells me that the enraged Luchadore back there may know something about it,” said Leon.

“I have a feeling you are right, but who was he? Nothing in our data book matches his description,” asked Mike. Mike's phone rings, and he answers. “Hinako, what’s up? Do you have something on this masked man?”

"Yeah, not much, but maybe some info you’d like to hear. I barely got anything, but Brody's visor was recording until the moment it got smashed. Whoever this guy is, he’s wicked fast, and according to the scan, his power is on another level, too high to even read. He’s no slouch.”

“The highest you've seen? Of course, right when we deal with one criminal, we have another twice as difficult to deal with'' Mike cursed under his breath, shaking his head.

"Yes sir, it’s hard to believe, but after hearing about what he did to you guys I think it’s accurate,” said Hinako.

“Not to interrupt, but we are here, so you gotta hang up. We can do the math on this later. Right now, we need to get civilians out of here,” said Leon.

“Agreed, I’ll talk to you when we get back.”

Mike hangs the phone up, and the crew exits the car at Central Station, a high-end train station on the upper-class side of the city. Restaurants line the streets leading up to a large community building leading to the indoor train station. The normally bustling social area lay in ruin, and the usually calm citizens were screaming to escape the danger. A police line setup where citizens would be lining up to buy ice cream.

“Leon, you work on getting the innocent people out, Brody. I want you to help with that. Nathan, come with me; let’s see what we are up against. We have a duty to hold up here, so let's get it done,” Mike said.

“Damn it, Leon, why did you bring those punks?” Asks an officer.

“Shut up, we need all the help we can get. We are spread thin, you know that. Suck it up and deal with it.”

The team splits off as Leon and Brody begin rallying civilians to back up and move towards the police line. Mike and Nathan charge towards the scene of the crime to investigate. When they turn the corner, it’s like night and day. The grand triad central station was completely leveled, and fire was spreading everywhere. It was clear that whoever did this was extremely powerful. All of a sudden, a tall, lean woman with white, ashy hair and a cowboy hat walks out of the building casually, holding a high-tech repeating rifle. She seems unaware of the two heroes until she gets closer. She looks them up and down and lets out a smirk.

“Tozuki, been awhile. You said you’d write,” she said.

Mike's face tenses up, and he thinks to himself. “When I heard the triad trade center was being robbed, I didn't expect it to be somebody I knew. Ashlyn Gray, The psycho renegade criminal I happened to go on a date with before finding out that she was in fact a psycho renegade criminal. Emphasis on the psycho.”

Mike calls out to her, “I planned to, but you forgot to mention the fact that you were the leader of one of the largest gangs in North America. That’s something you tend to tell somebody on a first date, don’t you think?”

“Excuse excuses, how’s your wizard girl?” Ashlyn yelled.

“I didn't take you as the jealous type, Ashlyn. What are you trying to do here?”

“I'm not jealous, just curious, what does she have that I don't?” She says softly.

"Well, for one, she didn't kill innocent people, so that's a start. Look, enough with the small talk. Come with us before you get hurt. This isn’t a small-time bank robbery, you have the entire city on your ass,” said Mike.

“I didn't kill anyone, I just blew up the building. I'm a robber, not a murderer, god, and why would I come with y’all? I got this under control,” she said confidently.

Ashe laughs, and her eyes shift upwards. A flash of light comes down in a large burst from the sky as a figure is flying in at Mach 1.

“Downburst!” A voice screams, ”

Mike sees this and leaps backwards, stumbling. As the figure hits the ground, a large explosion goes off as the earth shatters beneath him, sending Mike flying back. The man stands up and stares at Mike. It is a tan-skinned man who towers at 6'7". He is extremely large, and on his right hand, he looks like some sort of large mechanical fist with all kinds of weapons and gadgets attached.

“I should have known you could never have caused this much destruction by yourself,” said Mike while catching his breath.

“What can I say? I could always use some help. This is Akande; he's a new recruit,” she said.

Nathan blazes past Mike and charges Akande, engaging him in hand-to-hand combat and clearly beating him out in speed. Nathan is lightning-fast. He pushes off the ground and sends a spinning kick at the large man, who dodges. Mike tenses his hand and charges, emitting a large blue lightning stream from his right hand as he charges to assist.

“Lightning Magic, Lightning Shiv!" He yells.

He aims to hit Akande straight in the chest, but before the impact, he dodges, and Mike misses flying straight past him, stumbling. Coming from the right, Brody and Leon run up and lay down cover fire on Ashe, who ducks behind a destroyed pillar. Nathan slides and gets under the brute. He kicks up, sending Akande into the air.

“Leon, backup I got this,” Brody shouts. Brody clicks a button on his weapon, and it expands into a larger rifle. He prepares to open fire on Akande. But before he can a man approaches him and Leon from behind. It is a short, stocky man in a wife beater and sweatpants. Leon noticed the man and approached him to help.

“Sir, we need to get you to safety. This isn’t a good area to be in right now. Come with me,” Leon says. The man looks at Leon straight-faced and charges him. He grabs Leon and tosses him aside, now running towards Brody, who aims his rifle at the man.

"Sir, backup or I will shoot!” Brody yells firmly.

The man continues to run and grabs Brody, taking him to the ground. Nathan turns to look, and Akande sees this as a chance to attack.

“Do not turn your back on me, boy!” Akande grunts.

Nathan turns back, but it’s too late. He barely gets his guard up, and the large man slams his gauntlet into Nathan’s arm, sending him sliding back. Akande charges up his gauntlet and aims towards Nathan, ready to charge. Mike takes off quickly, lightning emitting from both hands, to attack the charging monster from behind. Akande sees this and turns his aim towards Mike. Mike jumps as Akande charges, but his gauntlet edges Mike, sending him spinning. As Mike spins through the air, he manages to connect with one of his lightning attacks. Stabbing into his left shoulder. They both jump back and check on themselves.

"Are you alright, nut?” Asks Mike

"Yeah, my arm might be broken, but I’m ok. At the very least, I'm alive,” said Nathan.

“Brody, get that guy out of here; we need help!” Yelled Mike

“I'm trying, but he won’t get off me,” Brody said while shoving the man who is holding him down. Nathan charges the civilian and knocks him off Brody. The man gets up and laughs.

“This city is about to become a war zone. You can’t save it. Just give up,” says the man. The man runs off in the other direction, and Nathan goes to charge him. Leon puts his hand on Nathan’s shoulder.

“We need you here, let him go.”

All of a sudden, Ashlyn begins to open fire. Leon and Nathan take cover behind a parked car. Brody puts his visor down and starts to scan. Akande eyes Mike and is ready to go back on the attack. Brody is still scanning the area when he sees something. on the tall building next to the trade center. His eyes look alarmed, and he calls out to Mike, who is about to square off against Akande.

"Sir, I hate to be the one to bring this up, but there is another target over on that building watching us; it would appear,” shouted Brody.

“The boss is of no concern to you.” The man cranks his large gauntlets and says, "II am your enemy right now.”

“The boss? Brody, can you make it to that building?” said Mike.

“I will need cover against her, but with my grapple, I can get there,” said Brody.

Mike nods his head and motions. “Go investigate; we will handle this.”

“You are going to fight me alone? You are a fool!” Screamed Akande as he began charging the group.

“Nathan and Leon cover me. Let me handle this guy. I have a plan. The truth is, this guy is pretty strong, so a fair fist fight isn't gonna cut it. The best bet might actually be going at him as if I'm trying to kill him,” said Mike.

Leon aims his gun at Ashlyn. “As if I have a choice, I got you; don't worry.”

Mike begins to channel as a force builds around him. He charges up the energy around him, and sparks begin to fly. An aura of electricity forms around him, lighting the air with a dark blue hue. He charges Akande with great speed. He seems surprised and prepares to defend himself. Meanwhile, Brody takes off towards the building nearby to investigate the figure in the distance. Ashlyn sees this and focuses her fire on him.

“Oh no, you don’t!” She yells, opening fire on him.

“Tactical defense matrix activated!” Brody bellows, engaging a device on his vest that forms a field around him, deflecting the bullets. He runs and leaps, shooting a grapple into the air, sending him sailing onto the nearby building. Brody pulls out his radio and phones. “Mike, I'm on the building. I'll pursue the target now.”

Mike and Akande exchange blows, but something has changed. Akande dodges left, and Mike lands a right hook. He tries to swing his gauntlet, but Mike leaps back, dodging it, and charges, landing another large hit on Akande. The large man stumbles backwards and puts his hands up to guard once again. This time, Mike begins to channel and points his hand towards Akande. Suddenly, a beam of lighting almost as if forming a solid object, flies forward from Mike's hand. The blade is short but solid.

“Lightning magic thunder stream!” He screams. The blade stabs Akande again in the left shoulder. Akande shrugs in pain. Mike swings his arm up and then down swiftly, tearing off Akande's arm. Akande screams out in pain. Mike looks satisfied with his victory, but not for long. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Brody being held off the edge of the tall building. Mike looks close. The masked man has Brody by the neck and is taunting him, ready to throw him off the building. Nathan sees this too and goes to help Brody, but Ashlyn opens fire and stalls him in place. Meanwhile, Akande stumbles and pulls a large needle out of his pocket. He injects himself with some sort of serum and springs to life. He begins to convulse and yells in pain. His eyes widen, and he locks onto Mike, meeting his gaze. Within a second, he charges faster than ever. Almost double the speed he was before. He lunges, and Mike attempts to dodge, but it's too late. He lifts him off the ground using his large gauntlet, lifting him up over his head. He slams Mike into the ground viciously, and blood goes flying from his mouth. Leon runs to assist Mike, and Ashlyn once again opens fire, holding him in place. Akande stands up and smiles, and prepares to kill Mike, who is unable to move. He leaps into the air.

“Downburst!” He screams. His words are now slurred and distorted. As Akande comes down, Mike braces for impact. All of a sudden, a flash of light appears, and just like that, Mike is teleported 10 feet away. Akande lands, smashing the earth beneath him. He jumps to his feet and looks confused, as Mike has disappeared. Mike looks up to see a girl standing over him, her hand resting on his chest. As his vision steadies, he sees her. Lena Oxford, his old teammate, just in the nick of time. Ashlyn sees this and intends to open fire on the two of them, but again, out of the corner of his eye, Mike notices another figure. This time, an older man in a red jacket was clearly well armed.

“Not on my watch; I hope you're ready for a real fight,” he says. The man slams a button on the side of his helmet and shoots a fast-traveling rocket towards Ashlyn. It hits, and on impact, it blows up her cover and sends her flying.

Mike looks up and smiles. “You guys have the best timing, impressive as always.”

Just in the nick of time, friend. Saving your ass as always,” Lena says, laughing.

“As always, I owe you one,” said Mike. He thinks to himself. “Lena Oxford. City guardian. She took the opposite approach from me. Went straight to work for the government's enlisted heroes after our team split. Loved by all and the youngest city guardian in Japan’s history,

“You already owe me, so I’ll add this to your tab,” said Lena.

Nathan waves his hands, running over. “Not to interrupt your reunion, but Brody needs our help, and we have a problem to deal with here.”

“Mike, she is making a run for it!” Leon screamed with authority.

Ashlyn takes off in the other direction, trying to escape. Mike turns to Lena. “You got it from here?”

“We got this. You go after Ashlyn, we will handle Akande and save your friend.”

Mike takes off after Ashlyn, Akande sees this and goes after him, but the rifleman lays down supporting fire. Lena sprints forward rapidly and pulls out a small orb from her pocket. After a moment, it begins to glow and expand, and she whips it at Akande, sticking it to his chest. She flips backwards athletically, pushing off her hands and landing, throwing up a peace sign. Akande attempts to get the device off, but it’s too late. It blows him up and drops him to the ground. He staggers, barely keeping himself upright, balancing on one knee. Meanwhile, Mike is catching up to Ashe, as she’s injured and cannot run. He gets close and tackles her, and puts her in handcuffs.

“Get off of me, you jerk!” She grunts.

“I told you to turn yourself in. I didn't wanna do this. Now I have no choice,” said Mike.

“Come on, let me out of these cuffs. I’ll make it worth your while!” She begged.

“Tempting, let me think. No chance.”

“At least let me explain myself, you owe me that.”

“I don't see how I owe you, but fine, talk.”

“I was forced to do this. Do you really think I’d pull off a job of this scale willingly? I never get caught because I know my limits, but it isn’t me calling the shots at the moment. I was backed into a corner.”

“What do you mean?”

“I take it, you know the-” She pauses, biting her lip.

“what? Spit it out. I don't have time for this.”

“The dude in the mask,” she said, clearing her throat. “He came to me and asked me to join his crew. Of course I said no; I never much liked not being my own boss. So he. Well, he executed half my men and asked again. I basically had no choice. Then he told us to do this to lure the police out.”

“Why lure them? For what reason?” Mike said, his voice quivering.

“I reckon you will find out soon, if I were you, I wouldn’t be here when it goes down. I know you're strong, but he’s no joke. You guys don’t stand a chance. You know I ain’t afraid of anything but that guy. He scares me. After what he said he was gonna do to Gage and what he did to the other deserters, I was afraid to run.”

"Well, we won’t let anything happen to you by his hand, once I take you in, you will be in high-security prison,” said Mike.

"Well, can’t you let me go? I told you some helpful information, and you know I ain’t gonna come back. I’ll owe you in the future. Hell, I’ll even tell you more about this masked man if you can keep him away from me. I didn't kill anybody; I just destroyed some public property. Not that bad, right?”

“No chance, you know I can't do that, now come with me.” Mike yanks her up and walks her along. He heads back to the scene to see Akande on the ground and the masked man flying over the fighters. He hovers in the air, holding Brody.

“Here catch!” The man yells. He throws Brody like a football, and the soldier dives to break his fall. They both stumble and slide across the pavement. The masked man floats down, hovering above the spectacle. “Now that I have your attention, so-called heroes of this pathetic city, Listen up, because I’m not gonna beat around the bush. I’m gonna get right into it.”

“Didn’t he say that last time?” said Nathan.

The masked man looks down on them and beckons, “You all sit here consuming and living your greedy, disgusting lives. Stained by your consumerist habits. Buying thousand-dollar phones, expensive, overpriced cars, and luxury items. While the weak grovel and starve. Well, that’s coming to an end. I’m taking a stand against these prices. and these corporations. I will not stop until they are gone, and I will kill anyone that gets in my way. Feeding in to this system is just as bad as being the ones who created it.”

Nathan growls with anger and yells at the man. “What a great way to get your point across! You're a psycho! Killing your own men when they differ from your cause. Killing innocent people!”

“Nobody who participated in the current system is innocent. Not you, not your friends, and not your little robot pal either. Now I have an offer for you. Join me, or be crushed. You and your group stand for justice and what's right. If that is the case, help me. Use the power you have to help me dismantle the current system from the top down to create a new utopia. That works for the common man and the true inheritors.”

Mike shakes his head and barks at the man. “You know, the sad part is that I see the purpose of your idea, but we would never join the likes of you. Good thoughts don't excuse awful execution. You're a terrorist, not some savior!”

The masked man looks down with disappointment. “Suit yourself. I really hoped you wouldn't be so stubborn, but what can be done?" The masked man looks at the police picket line and holds his hand out. He charges, and a clear, rippling force emits from his hands. The ground begins to rumble lightly with increasing ferocity. The magic channeling increases, and the man fires. He sends out a massive flashing shockwave, sending cars, people, barriers, and everything in that direction flying. As cars crash, they explode under the impact of the magic, and mass chaos ensues. Then the masked man looks to the left and lets out another blast, this time knocking over the remaining ruin left of the train station. The building crumbles, kicking up dust and debris as the man levels the earth. “Now you know what you're up against. Good luck. Oh, before I forget Akande, the failure." The masked man leaps down and once more digs his hands into the man's flesh. Consuming him just as he did Gage. Akande doesn't even fight back, as he is too strained. He slowly fades away, and the man laughs sickly. The man then flips the middle finger to the crowd and flies off quickly.

“Should we go after him?” Asks Lena

“I don't think it would do us any good. We don’t have the force to stop him even if we could catch him,” said Mike.

"Well, then what do we do?” Leon Asks

“Leon, we are deep into this now, and I want to help. Please convince the FBI to allow us to help. I know we aren't registered, but all things considered, I know we can be useful. Do me this one favor," said Mike.

“I think I can make that happen, all things considered,” Leon says.

“Good, thank you. I think I’m gonna have to call some old friends. Team, let’s roll out back to base. Lena, Junpei. Tomorrow morning, you should stop by our base and reconvene. Leon should report back to the FBI, and Jill will want to know about this. Call me when you have more information. We have a job to do, and it's gonna take all of us.”