3 Issue #3

Mount Sinai Hospital- Manhattan, NYC

"How's her condition?" Asked Will standing in a hospital room next to Valerie.

"Luckily the bullet just grazed her arm, nothing serious and might take around three weeks to heal. Although when she fell she hit her head pretty hard on the ground. The doctors aren't sure when she'll wake up." Said Valerie as she and Will stood over a hurt Ashley Voss who was lying in a hospital bed with bandages around her head and right arm.

"Ughh... What a disaster, I should've been there. I could've done something." Said Will as he rubbed his head.

"Will, none of us expected that attack. Like you said, you were out in the open separated from us and you needed to find cover. What were you supposed to do? Take the time to look around to find us and risk getting shot? I don't think so, you did the best you could, Will." Said Valerie as Will looked over at her.

"She got hurt and it's my responsibility... If I was there-" Will was cut off.

"You would've been shot too, and what would Knight Corp. do without it's illustrious CEO? Besides, it was probably better someone with as a luxurious lifestyle like you who's most likely never been in a fight wasn't there to get beat up or killed. No offense." Said Valerie with a bit of a smirk as Will nodded his head.

"Yeah, sure."

"Let's just count our blessings that the majority of the workers only came out with injuries. And that even after all that, General Trigger-happy never got the authority to actually confiscate our tech." Said Valerie.

"But still, people died because of these men. And they somehow got into the highly secure lab containing high grade equipment. The access codes don't just fall into those men's hand magically." Said Will as he started to pace.

"We both talked to the police and the FBI agents, they're doing their best to find out how those jokers got in and where they took the Tempest." Said Valerie as Will paced his way to the other side of the hospital room, turning back around.

"Yes, but their best isn't going to be good enough. You saw the weapons they had, they were manufactured by Knight Corp., and not only do they have one of the several prototype flight battle suits in existence, but they also managed to steal the Tempest. I have a feeling things are only going to get worse before they get better." Said Will.

"Yeah, bu-"

(Buzz!) (Buzz!)

"Sorry, hold on." Said Will as he pulled out his phone and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Yes, Will! You need to come back ASAP!" Said Elise on the other side on the phone, with a urgant and fearful tone in her voice.

"What do you mean?" Asked Will.

"I tried to stop them, but they forced their way-" Elise went on with a panicked tone.

"Slow down, Elise. Tell me clearly, what is going on?" Asked Will, trying to calm the butler.

"The NYPD came up to the door and just barged in, they say that they have evidence that the weapons that a few bands of criminals were using came from Knight Corp, along with several other pieces of evidence. They are taking everything that isn't nailed down!" Said Elise.

"Okay, calm down. I'll be there." Said Will as he hung up the phone and turned to the door.

"Wait! What's going on?" Asked Valerie as Will stopped his walk towards the door and turned back to Valerie.

"The NYPD are raiding my house because of some guns those thugs used." Said Will.

"I'm coming with." Said Valerie as they both headed towards the door, but before leaving Will stopped and looked back at Ashley who was still lying in the hospital bed as a nurse approached. Will turned to her.

"Excuse me, please keep me updated on the conditions of Miss Voss and all of my other injured employees. Okay?" Asked Will.

"Don't worry, Mister Knight. We'll keep you updated." Said the nurse as Will nods with a smile before walking out the hospital room and into the hallway with Valerie tagging along.

Knight Manor- Manhattan, NYC

A red expensive looking sports car drove up the road and towards the gates that surrounded the manor. Usually like any other day the gates would be closed so the illustrious Billionaire Will Knight would have some privacy, from both paparazzi and possess the best security money can buy. But unfortunately for Will, as he was driving towards his mansion, the gates were wide open and as Elise said, there were several police cars and vans surrounding the entrance of the mansion as police were seen walking in and out of the mansion, carrying Will's stuff and putting it in the vans. And even more annoying and concerning then the police raiding Will's house, was the media outside with several news vans and dozens of reporters scattered across Will's lawn. All of them being blocked off from the police by cop cars, some police tape, and several cops standing guard to make sure no news reporter or journalist sneaks in.

Yet even though the reporters were restricted and told to leave multiple times by the police, they were very persistent.

"Excuse me! Excuse me! Kim Lyons of the Daily Eagle! Are the accusations of the famous billionaire; Will Knight is true? Is he really selling weapons to criminals and terrorists?" Asked one female reporter who tried to interview one of the guarding police, as others followed her example.

"Is the Knight family legacy built on lies?" Asked another.

"How long has this been going on?"

"Is Will Knight to blame for the string of crimes that have been occurring in NYC?"

"Everyone! Get back and get out of here! This is a police investigation and there is NO JOURNALISM OR REPORTERS ALLOWED. Please leave the premises!" Said the police as the reporters ignored the policeman's sentence and just bombarded him with more questions.

The red car past the gates and slowly drove up to the mansion.

"Fantastic, not only do we have the cops to worry about. But also the media." Said Valerie sitting in the passenger seat.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure we can straighten it out. Obviously there has been some kind of mistake." Said Will.

"Straighten it out or not this is going on the news, and I don't think It'll be a good image for to see the CEO's mansion being raided by the cops. Heck, it's already on the internet." Valerie pulled out her phone and scrolled through all the reports and accusations by several reporters and news stations, all saying that Will Knight is allegedly guilty of selling weapons to criminals.

"These are nothing but rumors, we both know that this is completely fake and never has and never will have any record of illegally selling weapons and technology to scum."

"Probably some fired intern putting his creative writing minor to some use. Besides, I'm sure we can straighten this whole rumor fiasco out. All me and the interns will need is a bit of time. The hard part is going to be to straighten this out with the police, especially with the recent chief of police." Said Valerie.

"Yes, I understand where your coming from. Police Chief Adrian Finch is definitely known to be more... directive with his methodologies and arguably ruthless. But from what I've seen, his still a good cop that does his job. I'm sure we can talk this out." Said Will trying to sound a matter-of-factly, but had noticeable anger under the surface.

"Well, be prepared to do your job to properly represent while your on the cameras and being questioned." Said Valerie as the car halted as it reached near the entrance of the house and parked right in front of the police tape. And as if the moment the car was set into park, the journalists, cameramen, and news reporters crowded around the red car, waiting for Will to come out.

Will and Valerie exited the car as the reporters started bombarding him with questions.

"Excuse me! Mister Knight! Daily Eagle Kim Lyons! Is it true that your selling weapons to criminals? Is all your money soaked in blood?" Asked the head reporter.

"Mister Knight! Do you value making a few extra bucks rather then value the safety of the citizens of NYC?"

"How long has this been going on? Have your parents sold weapons to criminals as well?"

"This is nothing but rumors! Pure and utter fiction. always has and will NEVER endevour into criminal dealings!" Said Will in a commanding voice, trying to stifle his growing frustration.

"Yes, our sources tell us that there is indisputable evidence that you have been selling dangerous military weapons to criminals in NYC that have been connected to a string of crimes!" Said another reporter.

"And who else has received this "evidence?"" Asked Will.

"The Daily Eagle, the Rostrum, the Daily Scoop, all of us did." Said one reporter as all of them continued to assault Will with questions.

"Alright, we're done here. Turn those cameras off and leave, NOW." Said Will as he turned and walked towards the entrance of his house, moving past the police tape and walking in. But as the reporters tried to follow along, Valerie stood in front of them and yelled out.

"Your all trespassing on private property! Pack up your things and leave now or I will call security to ASSIST your to leave!" Said Valerie as Will walked up to the double doors of his mansion and let himself in. Looking around he saw that there were police everywhere and everything Will had that wasn't nailed to the ground is or was being taken as a cop passed Will who as carrying a valuable vase out the door.

"Hey! Hey! Be careful with that!" Will looked to his right and saw a cop leaving with a box of files. "Put those back now!"

Will walked up to the middle of the front of his mansion with two large spiral staircases leading to the second floor. "None of you have a right to ta-"

"On the contrary, Mister Knight." Will looked over to see Adrian Finch, the police chief walk up to him and stuck a warrant in Will's face. "I believe we do have the right."

Adrian was a man around his late 50's, having white combed hair and beard, several faded scars across his head, and was wearing a bit of a raggedy police uniform with the suit jacket open and a black tie. All with years of experience on his face.

"There's some kind of mistake. This can't be right." Said Will as he took the warrant from Adrian and inspected the piece of paper.

"Sorry Mister Knight, but we have a job to do. Apparently, I'm sure you already heard, there is evidence and allegations against you. Charging you for selling weapons to criminals and terrorists." Said Adrian as Will continued to inspect the warrant.

"Yes, of course. That's why just a few hours ago those very same loyal customers of mine using my technology broke into one of my labs, killed my employees, and stole an advanced piece of hardware used for warfare." Said Will as he handed the warrant back to the chief of police.

"That's being investigated as we speak, we'll have answers soon enough on that. But for now we still got to do our job." Said Adrian as Elise walked over to Will who was still facing Adrian.

"Elise, make sure they only take what's absolutely necessary." Said Will turning to Elise for a moment. With the woman nodding and walking away. Will then turned and walked towards one of his rooms where cops were walking in and out, as they carried boxes full of files.

"Look, this isn't anything personal. I personally don't believe you'd do anything like this, but I still have a warrant along with some evidence to back it up. All we want are all files concerning . Including your place (excuse me) places of residence being searched for files." Said Adrian following Will into the room.

"Evidence? What evidence?" Asked Will as he made it into the room and stopped walking.

"We do have a few open crates of weapons that were signed for approval by you." Will turned back to Adrian.

"I never signed a thing concerning selling weapons to anyone. It has to be a forgery." Said Will crossing his arms.

"Well, we really can't be sure until the forensics come up with some answers in the lab. But until then, your on our list. Sorry." Said Adrian as Will turned around and scanned the room the two were standing. Almost everything, including items with the possibility of containing some kind of information concerning Will Knight and has been gutted. Will turned back to Chief Finch.

"Who approved of this search? Who authorized it?" Asked Will.

"It's validated by the man on the top, Mayor Graham. He calls the shots around here." Said Adrian.

"Throughout Mayor Graham's carrier as mayor, he's never been... quite the shining figure of morality." Said Will.

"Nothing but rumors, but if any evidence of him breaking any laws did pop up, there is no political position he could be in in the world for me not to slap a pair of cuffs on him." Said Adrian.

"Beats me how you got on Mayor Graham's bad side, but here we are."

"Mayor Graham is involved in this somehow. He's either being bribed or threatened to cause this trouble for me. Don't you think it's odd how right as all of these allegations popped up against me and my company along with the string of crimes involving my products occurring, Mayor Graham would immediately jump on the bandwagon and try to take me down? He wasn't even involved in this." Asked Will.

"Yeah, a bit odd. Almost everyone in the city knows how you really feel about him, and I can't say I disagree. But without any hard evidence to prove Mayor Graham is really aligned with these terrorists, my hands are tied." Said Adrian shrugging his shoulders.

"Let's just hope those allegations against you are about as fake as you say they are." Adrian then turned around and walked away as the last cop carrying stuff walked past Will and out the room. Will scanned the room, seeing that every single solitary object, not just folders containing Knight Corp information, but every item containing or possibly containing Knight Corp information taken away. Only a few photo frames, tables, a few statues and books, and several other pieces of furniture still remained.

Will then spotted a photo of him and his parents, one of his most looked at photos with him at age 6 standing with his parents. All in proper attire wearing suits and his mother wearing a dress. Will walked over to the photograph sitting on the table nearby as he picked it up and looked at it. Remembering that awful moment when they died, or more specifically when they were murdered.

He started developing his unnatural abilities when he was at the age of 12... Scared, but he knew he had to keep it secret. For his sake and his parents, he was even terrified of it. But, one night a group of robbers managed to break into the mansion. Will had the power to stop them, even though he was afraid and confused of his new powers, he knew that if he used them he could stop the robbers. Instead of attacking, he was completely paralyzed with fear. He allowed his fear to control him, as he heard those life-scarring loud pops from the other side of the house. When he dashed over there, he saw his parents lying dead on the ground with Elise holding her bleeding arm... All he could remember after that was blackness...

All he remembered after that was blood all over him, the room in taters, police sirens blaring outside and shining through the windows, tears streaming down his face... And Elise with her arms wrapped around him...

As Will's thoughts were drifting away, his train of thought was interrupted.

"Will? Are you alright?" Asked Valerie from the door frame as Will placed the photo back down and turned around to face his assistant.

"I'm fine, Valerie. Is everything taken care of outside?" Asked Will as Valerie nodded her head and stepped into the room.

"Don't worry, the vultures outside are finally starting to clear up. And from what I saw, the cops seem like their finally starting to leave." Stated Valerie as Will nodded his head in understanding.

"Good. *Sigh*..." Stated Will as he rubbed his forehead with a stressed out sigh as Valerie walked up to him.

"Are you alright?" Asked Valerie in a concerned tone of voice.

"No, no I'm not, Valerie. Things have never been this bad for my family. The company will no doubt take some serious hits because of this scandal. And as much as I hate to say it, I have a feeling those people who broke into the lab are connected somehow. And god forbid of someone gets hurt because of those weapons getting out..." Trailed off Will as Valerie placed her hand on Will's shoulder. Will turned around and looked back down at his assistant.

"Will, things WILL get better. We both know all of these allegations and "evidence" are nothing but lies. And for the people who attacked the lab, I'm sure the cops and the FBI will track them down and bring the stolen weapons back to us in no time. We just gotta keep our heads high and damage control whatever we can." Stated Valerie's as Will developed a concern expression on his face and shifted his gaze to the ground for a moment, before looking back at Valerie.

"We can't just play damage control Valerie, Mayor Graham is also tied up in all of this. He's the one who gave the NYPD the warrant to search my home. Possibly because I openly supported against him last election, and how I don't run by his questionable... morals." Stated Will before looking towards the door frame and started to walk out.

"I'll make sure to have a conversation with "Mr. Mayor" when I can, make sure the company doesn't fall apart because of this mess, and find a way to prove my innocence. Valerie, do what you can and make sure to keep the media and the authorities under control." Stated Will as he started walking through the door.

"Will do, boss." Replied Valerie as Will finally left the room and started walking down one of the halls of the massive mansion. As he continued walking, he passed by Elise who was standing by and started to walk with him.

"Sir?"

"I'm not going to let whoever this is destroy my company and family's name, if the police won't do anything, DragonMan certainly will." Stated Will as the pair continued to walk.

The Dragon Lair- Miles off of Knight Manor Under Water, NYC

Will sat at his larger then life computer as he started to look up whatever information he needed to find the people he was looking for. Will sat back in his chair as he scratched his chin, trying to think of some sort of link that would connect the criminals who've stolen his technology with whomever is pulling the strings. Someone who is smart enough to orchestrate all of this so skillfully.

"Hmm... Still nothing... Maybe looking over what was stolen once more can clue me in on at least what they might be up to." Spoke Will aloud to himself as he leaned forward and started typing away on his super computer. As he did, he pulled up a cigar to his lips as he placed it in his mouth and lit up the end of it. As Will finally pulled out the files he leaned back in his chair as he let out a puff of smoke from his lips.

"So, if you don't mind me asking... Have you come up with anything yet?" Asked Elise who walked up behind Will with Will still having his eyes locked on the primary screen of the super computer.

"I'm going over all the stolen equipment that's gone missing over the last few weeks... All of it decommissioned due to the risk and danger that all pose." Stated Will as Elise raised an eyebrow.

"Hmm, at least we now know there is indeed a traitor among your employ. What could they have possibly stolen to make the situation even more dangerous then it already is, anyhow?" Asked Elise as Will leaned forward in his chair once more before pulling his cigar out of his mouth and breathing the smoke out through his nose.

"Besides what I already faced with SnowStrike in front of the bank, it seems that the head of the heist back at Knight Labs is the leader of whatever group of thug or mercenaries broke into my Lab. My guess is that this individual, 'Thunderbird' is behind everything that's going on. He was using the TB-004 armor, increases speed, strength, and durability to an immense degree along with the ability of high altitude flight, combat-designed razor wings that can cut through a tank, the ability to manipulate electricity, and more. And that was just the prototype, it scares me to think what might happen if the future plans for the armor are stolen." Stated Will as he puffed his cigar once more.

"'Thunderbird', Master Will? It seems that everyone has a gimmick now-a-days. Now, what about those other pieces of stolen tech declared too dangerous again?" Asked Elise as Will clicked on one of the files, showing a chart of information.

"LD-27 is a performance enhancing drug designed to apply superhuman conditions to soldiers. Thank God it was never tested on humans, the lab rats the drug was tested on showed signs of madness, heart complications, permanent nerve damage, and internal bleeding. Although, it did grant the lab rats with unbelievable speed, strength, reflexes, and even durability. Several even gained the strength to break out of their cages. Although, they all died off later on..." Stated Will as he moved onto the next file.

"The Knight Enhancement Armor 2DLK or KHA-2DLK is a mech suit designed to grant increased strength, speed, and durability to a human being for both combat and manual labor. There is not much particularly dangerous with the suit, unless if fell into the wrong hands. Besides that, the suit has malfunctioned in testing a majority of the time and has proven unreliable and dangerous, even with improvements and repairs made..."

"Ahh yes, I remember the testing of THAT suit..." Stated Elise.

"I haven't even mentioned the Battle Avian, robotic birds disguised to appear as regular birds designed for infiltration and warfare, the lightning rifle, the wind rifle, magnetic blades, and more..." Uttered Will as he leaned back in his chair once more and breathed in a puff of smoke from his cigar before pulling it out of his mouth and tapping the end of it into a nearby ash trey.

"So, since you looked over all of these pieces of Knight Tech like you've stated before... What is the next step of your plan?" Asked Elise as she placed her hands behind her back as Will spun around in his chair to face her.

"After doing some digging, I discovered that the stolen pieces of tech were stolen from Knight Corp warehouses spread throughout the city. Whoever the traitor employee is, they knew how to disable the security and allow their men to sneak in and take what they wanted without detection. I changed the security systems, so all I have to do now is sit back and wait until-"

(Beep! Beep!)

Will spun back around in his chair to see that the beeping was coming from the computer. The screen flashing with 'SECURITY BREACH' in large lettering before pulling up a live video feeds of cameras inside and outside of a storage warehouse where several men were breaking in and stealing equipment.

"Well, speak of the devil... It seems that THEIR night is about to take a bad turn..." Stated Elise as Will spun around in his chair once more as he stood up and started to walk off.

"You can say that again..." Uttered Will walking away in his skin tight black suit, as he slowly started to get bigger. His hair started to shrink away in his scalp, his skin became scaly, he started to grow wings on his back, his teeth became razor sharp, and his eyes turned into orange slits. After fully transforming, he walked up to a nearby displayed suit of armor, Will reached out to his helmet on the display as he picked it up and placed it on his head.

Warehouse- Manhattan, NYC

DragonMan flew through the night skies of New York City, dodging and weaving in between the buildings like a bird but with the speed of a jet. Eventually after a bit of soaring, he headed to the darker half of Manhattan where many warehouses were spread out and all around the area. DragonMan finally came to a stop and landed on top of a dark building that oversaw a warehouse only across the street from it.

DragonMan only had to squint his eyes to see the warehouse he was looking for and see several white vans were parked in front of it to see several men walking in and out of the warehouse with equipment in hand.

DragonMan narrowed his eyes and toned his enhanced senses to hear exactly what the thieves were talking about. He narrowed his eyes at two of the men who were talking near one of the trucks.

"So, are you sure the boss said that the security system is taken care of? Because the last thing we need is the cops to come along and bust us." Stated the first thief as the other one laughed in response.

"Of course, man. Besides, even if the cops DID show up, with all the weapons that we got from the boss AND the weapons we're stealing, we'd slaughter them before they could even draw their guns." Replied the second thief as both started to laugh. DragonMan was about to ready himself to leap out at them, but then stopped as he looked over and saw a man walking over to them with what seemed like a touch pad in his hands. A touch pad with no doubt loads of information he could use.

The man walked up to the first two thieves as both turned to face him.

"What's the status?" Asked the first criminal.

"Everything's almost loaded up, we're almost ready. But judging by what our "boss" might do with all of this stuff... A lot of people are going to end up hurt or even dead... I swear if-" But before the third thief could finish his sentence, the second thief stopped him mid-sentence as he grabbed him by the throat and pushed him against the van with serious force.

"We're not asking you for your thoughts or opinions... we have a job to do buddy, and we don't care what we have to do to get it done... And if you become a problem, we won't hesitate to snap your neck? Get it?" Asked the thief as he tightened his grip around the third thief's throat who was struggling for air.

"Okay... Alright, I understand!" Choked out the third thief as he was finally let go by the first thief and fell to the floor. He gasped for air as DragonMan raised himself up from his crouching position as he leaped off of the building.

The thugs were completely unaware of DragonMan's incoming presence. But as one of the thugs looked up, it was already too late as DragonMan dashed down from the air, grabbing one of the thugs by the face and slamming him into the ground and dragged his head on the pavement with such force, it knocked many of the other thugs back. But DragonMan wasn't finished as he lifted the thug up by his head once more before tossing him at another nearby thug who was still standing.

"It's DragonMan! Get him!" Yelled another nearby thugs as all the thugs involved in the robbery ran out of the nearby storage buildings and other areas as they pulled out their rifles from crates and the back of vans.

"Shoot him! KILL HIM!" Yelled one of the thugs as all the criminals started opening fire on DragonMan with a hail of gunfire.

(BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! POW! POW! BAM! POW! BAM! POW! POW! BAM! POW! BAM! POW! POW! BAM! POW! BAM! POW! POW! BAM! POW!)

But all the bullets from the rifles simply bounced off of DragonMan's armor as he dashed into battle. Moving far faster then any average human as he started easily beating down all the thugs with one blow. Knocking them all around as he tossed several into nearby windows and punched others sending them flying back.

Within moments, the battle was over as DragonMan looked around to see that every thief was lying on the ground in pain or just knocked out. DragonMan heard the sound of timid footsteps behind him as he turned around to see the same man who had the touch pad standing behind him. The two men stared at each other silently for a moment before DragonMan spoke up and broke the silence.

"Arn't you going to attack me?" Asked DragonMan in a confused tone.

"After seeing what you did to my co-workers... I don't think that's a good idea..." Said the man as DragonMan shifted his combat ready position to a more subdued position.

"That isn't the only reason, is it?" Asked DragonMan as the man turned his gaze down and away from DragonMan.

"Your in charge of cataloging everything your boss is stealing from . And you also know your boss isn't planning on selling them..." The man didn't respond as DragonMan continued talking.

"Your not the typical sociopath or punk like your friends here... You feel like you don't have any other choice. You have a family, don't you?" Asked DragonMan as the man lowered his head and looked away once more.

"... I need to provide for my family, if I don't do this we'll be on the street... I might even loose my son..." Replied the man in a saddened and shameful tone as he looks back at DragonMan to see that he was holding out his armored clawed hand.

"Then do the right thing. You know your boss is going to hurt a lot of people with those weapons. Do you want to be a part of that? And be responsible for others to go through the same exact kind of pain you fear? Or, do you want to do the right thing and hand me that pad?" Asked DragonMan as the man looked up at DragonMan then back at the pad. But before he could hand the pad over to DragonMan... DragonMan's eyes widened as he heard the sound of something large fly through the air...

(Crash!)

DragonMan caught the flying object on his back which happened to be one of the white vans, digging his claws into it he held the van up behind him and protected the man with the touch pad who looked on with wide eyes. DragonMan groaned as he tossed the van aside and turned around to see three thugs standing there.

The one in the middle was in the Knight Enhancement Suit with two men beside him, DragonMan saw that the men were carrying injection devices in their hands.

"Roy... When we're done with the Dragon, we'll be bringing you to the boss! After she's done with you, she'll cut you up and send your severed body parts to your family in the mail one at a time... Then we'll kill them..." Threatened the man in the armor as DragonMan stood tall in front of Roy.

"Get on the floor and put your hands behind your head, or else the next suit you will be wearing is a full body cast." Threatened DragonMan as the man in the suit laughed and turned to the men on either side of him.

"Boys... Go ahead and show the freak what we're made of." Stated the man in the suit as both men on either side of him smirked and stuck themselves in the neck with the injection devices. After that, both men fell to the floor and started to scream and convulse, as their bodies started to grow far bigger and far more muscular. To a disgusting extent they became hulking beasts of colossal muscles and veins as they dwarfed even DragonMan.

"Do you two morons even know what you injected yourselves with?" Asked DragonMan as the two superpowered thugs smiled and cracked their knuckles. DragonMan slowly got into battle position as the two bulked up men started to rush DragonMan. The first man charged in and started swinging his fists at DragonMan who held his arms out and started blocking the man's attacks, but it also started forcing DragonMan back as the man swung at him. But the second DragonMan pulled his arms down to get a swing of his own, the man punched him across the jaw.

But DragonMan went along with the force of the punch as he spun around and hit the man with his tail. Making the man flying to the side and crashing into the storage building.

(Crash!)

But as the other man dashed in, DragonMan spun back around to trade blows with the bulky giant who seemed to be evenly matched with DragonMan. But that's when the giant got in a few good hits on DragonMan, but when he was about to hit DragonMan with another punch DragonMan catches it and headbutts the giant, making him fly back several feet.

But suddenly before DragonMan could even turn his head up to look at the giant he knocked back.

(Bam!)

DragonMan was sent flying back again, but luckily landed on his feet and looked up at his assailant. He saw the man in the armor smiling as he ran up to DragonMan again. As he reeled back his arm for another blow, he started to mock the hero.

"HAHAHA! Your the fierce DragonMan I've been hearing so much about!? I have no idea why the boss was so scared of-"

"Hold that thought." Interrupted DragonMan as he upper-cutted the man in the suit and made him fly high into the sky. Screaming the entire way.

(Pow!)

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!..."

"Dragon!" Yelled a voice as DragonMan looked over to see one of the enhanced thugs charging at him and holding up a traffic light pole like a baseball bat that he tore out of the ground. But as he was about to swing it at DragonMan, DragonMan quickly thrusted his arm forward and shot a stream of flame that immediately melted the traffic light pole.

(Froosh!)

(Swoosh!)

The thug looked puzzled as he saw that DragonMan was still unharmed and that a large potion of the pole was melted off with what remained was glowing molten metal. But as the thug tossed the object aside and charged at DragonMan once more, DragonMan quickly blasted the man back with a ball of fire.

(Froosh!)

Making the enhanced man fly back and on the ground. The thug growled and picked himself up to charge at DragonMan, but was caught off guard as DragonMan charged straight at him at supersonic speeds as he started wailing on the enhanced man with a series of vicious punches and kicks. But as the thug swung his fist forward, DragonMan caught it and swung the man over his head, smashing him on the road behind him. DragonMan only inspected the body for a moment, to see that indeed, the man was knocked out.

Suddenly out of nowhere, the voice of a screaming man started to appear as it got louder and louder.

"... aaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

'I almost forgot...' Thought DragonMan as the thug from before fell out of the sky and was falling fast to the ground. As the man was only a few feet away from hitting the road, DragonMan whipped his tail and knocked the man back. Causing him to fly back and crash into the wall of a nearby building.

Only a few moments later, DragonMan is using a light pole to wrap around the two unconscious enhanced men and the unchanged thug. Wrapping them up tight just for the authorities. After DragonMan finished tying them up, he turned around back to the van and made his way over to it. There behind the van, Roy was sitting on the ground with one of his hands was cuffed to the door of the van. The man looked down ashamed as DragonMan stood over him.

"The tablet." Spoke DragonMan as the man nodded and handed the tablet to DragonMan. DragonMan turned the tablet on and quickly skimmed through it, confinement that it had everything he was looking for.

"You know, I have a kid at home... His name is Junior, he's a teen. We don't always get along, but... I love him more then anything else in the world. When I was laid off, I couldn't find much else. No other job I found paid enough to support my family. This was the only job I could find. I was just someone to keep track of supplies, I didn't want to hurt anyone, I just..." He remained silent as DragonMan looked over at him.

"... I don't want him to grow up without a father..." Stated Roy in a mournful tone as DragonMan kept his gaze trained on him.

"Then do what you have to do to see him again, you know what you have to do... Never stop fighting for him..." Spoke DragonMan as the man solemnly nodded, as police sirens could be heard in the distance.

As police cars finally started to drive into the crime scene, police got out of their cars and look around the scene. The man named Roy, looked back up from starring at the ground to see that DragonMan was gone from his original spot. Looking up, he saw the shadow of a winged man flying away.

The Dragon Lair- Miles off of Knight Manor Under Water, NYC

"I'm sorry, can you say that again, Master Will? I think I had something crazy in my ear. You let him go?" Asked Elise as Will plugged the touch pad into his computer and started to browse through it.

"The man had no other choice, it was either working for them or being murdered and buried in some ditch somewhere." Replied Will, keeping his eyes trained on the touch pad.

"He helped these thugs break into one of your companies warehouses. One of your PARENTS warehouses, and your just going to let him go like-"

"He has a family! And I'm not going to be responsible for a kid loosing his father just because he got involved with the wrong people!" Exploded Will as he and Elise remained quiet for a moment as Will stopped working on the touch pad.

"Elise, I-"

"Forget it, it was your call, sir. Let's just find out who's behind all of this." Stated Elise as Will silently agreed and pulled up everything the Ipad had on it to the big screen computer.

Will and Elise's eyes widened as they saw everything that was concealed in the touch pad. Mountains and mountains of information about , including all of it's dealings, projects, deals, weapons, supplies, warehouses, locations, employees, and more. Something that only a employee with top security clearance would know. Will continued to skim through all of this as he tried to find a name or a clue he could use to connect this to. More specifically the employee who's behind everything.

"This is insane. Right under our noses, and whoever this traitor is did all of this without anybody knowing. Stealing the companies supplies, information, and on top of all that trying to ruin you and your families name." Stated Elise as she and Will continued to skim through all the information on the screen.

"There has to be a clue here somewhere. Even if they knew not to leave a paper trail behind, there has to be something here..." Stated Will as he continued to skim through the nearly endless information about . But as he and Elise believe they hit a dead end, they saw a name that both recognized.

"Wait, is that Mayor Thomas Graham? I'd like to say I'm surprised but... lying was never my forte." Stated Elise as Will began to dig deeper and investigate how he has his hand in this.

"Look at all of this, Graham is practically best friends with these people. Giving them access to the cities highest security codes and funding, all to take away. And as we suspected, he signed the search warrant to go through my house and hopefully getting me put away. That's not all, apparently there's a mountain of other crimes the Mayor of NYC has committed that'll put him away for life if it ever gets out. It's insurance for these people, just in case the mayor doesn't keep his end of the bargain." Will said as Elise crossed her arms.

"That's no surprise. Considering your one of the only people in the city powerful enough to be a threat to him and his career. With your company and money being taken away, along with soiling your families name, he will be able to do whatever he wanted. And if he's partners with these people-" Elise was cutoff by Will who finished her sentence.

"Then that means that he must know the traitorous employee and the person who's been playing the puppet master." Will said as he stood up from his chair and walked over to his suit of armor.

"And, what will you do if you encounter this self-proclaimed 'ThunderBird' again? From what I heard, your last battle with him didn't go so well." Asked Elise as Will opened up the glass case.

"Now I know what to expect."

New York City Hall- Manhattan, NYC

"Set my meeting for 5:00 o'clock tomorrow. Then set my next meeting for Friday at 1:30. Make sure to set my next meeting with the community board at 2:00 on Monday, I got enough of those morons crawling up my ass as it is." Grumbled Mayor Thomas Graham as he marched down one of the halls of city hall to his office, as his disheveled female assistant attempted to keep up with him as she wrote down on her writing board frantically.

"Yes sir. I'll make the calls and inform them." Stated the woman as she frantically wrote down on the paper on her writing board.

"What about my meeting at 1:00 o'clock sharp tomorrow I told you to schedule yesterday?" Asked the Mayor as the assistant developed a shocked expression as the two came to a stop in the middle of the hallway. The Mayor rubbed his face in annoyance, already knowing what's going on.

"You didn't schedule it, did you?" Asked the Mayor as he turned to his assistant with an angry expression.

"I-I'm so sorry, sir! I promise I'll fix it as soon as I-"

"Mrs. Greene, do you know what I hired you for?" Asked the Mayor in a condescending tone.

"Uhh, to be your assistant and schedule your meetings?" Stated the assistant in an unsure voice.

"Yeah, that's right. Now let me ask you another question, do you like spending time with your family? Your husband? Your kids?" Asked the Mayor.

"Uhh... Yes, I-I do." Replied the assistant.

"How would you like to spend every day with them, AT HOME? Or, would you rather do your damn job and schedule my appointments and get paid?" Asked the Mayor.

"... Get paid..." Replied the assistant in a more timid voice.

"Good choice. Now, go make my schedule for tomorrow at 1:00 like I asked. Oh, and while your at it, do something right for once and get me some coffee. Black." Stated the Mayor as the assistant nodded and shamefully walked away. The Mayor shot a snobbish smile at the defeated assistant before turning around and entering his office.

As he closed the door, he walked over to his chair and sat down. As he started shifting through the papers on his desk. But as he started to straighten out several papers, he heard a voice that shocked him to his very core.

"Graham. We need to talk." Said a deep voice as the Mayor jumped in fear and looked over to see the armored vigilante from the news standing only a few feet away from his desk with his arms crossed.

"H-HOW DID YOU GET IN HERE!?" Yelled the Mayor as he fell off his chair and quickly picked himself back up.

"Your going to tell me everything you know about the terrorists who attacked ." Growled DragonMan as he slowly took several steps forward.

"Your insane!" Yelled the Mayor as he looked over at the phone on his desk as he picked it up. But before he could dile for help, DragonMan simply flicked his finger that cause a small spark of fire to shoot forward and cut the cord to the phone.

"Your completely nuts if your think I'm gonna corporate with- Ugh!" The Mayor wasn't able to finish his sentence before DragonMan suddenly dashed forward and grabbed the Mayor by his collar. lifting him off the ground.

"Your working with the terrorists who were responsible for the bank robbery a few days ago and the raid on the facility. I have a file that belonged to them with YOUR name all over it. So what is this all about? Money? Power? Or just getting rid of your enemies?" Asked DragonMan as Graham struggled against DragonMan's iron-like grip with no success.

"I-I don't know what your talking about, you lunatic! You think you can just walk into my office and throw me around demanding answers? What else did that group tell ya? That Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny are having a party? Now if you know what's good for ya, put me down before I- AHH!" Graham wasn't able to finish his sentence as he was tossed across the room and into a large portrait of himself. Cracking and knocking down the portrait in the process.

As Graham attempted to get back up, DragonMan walked over as he grabbed the Mayor by the collar once more and lifted him off the ground.

"I don't want to resort to less civil methods of interrogation, but if you keep avoiding my questions, you will force my hand." Growled DragonMan as the Mayor's eyes widened to the size of saucers.

"Okay! Okay! They came to me and offered to reward me and get rid of all my troubles if I helped them. They offered me a chance to get that spoiled billionaire Will Knight to be discredited and even thrown behind bars and my approval ratings to go through the roof! Will Knight is one of the only punks out there who's a legitimate threat to my campaign, he needed to be taken down so I can keep my position!" Stated Graham fearfully as he was held above the ground.

"Keep talking!" Growled DragonMan as she shook the corrupt Mayor.

"Ahh! I just gave them some funding and lifted certain restrictions for them. Turning the blame on Will Knight for their involvement and keeping the police department off their trail!"

"WHO ARE THEY?!" Asked DragonMan as Mayor Graham started to reply.

"I swear, I don't know much about them! But the leader is someone who will do anything to achieve power. And the bosses name is-"

(CRASH!)

Before DragonMan could get the name of this mysterious boss, there was a loud smashing noise that shook the room, causing DragonMan to drop the Mayor as he and the Mayor looked up to see a massive hole smashed through the wall. As the two looked on in shock to see a massive robotic mech, peering through the hole with one big red eye.

As the crimson eye peered around, it locked in on DragonMan as it spoke.

"Hello, DragonMan! Come out and play!" Stated the machine in a very human-like voice as it reaches it's mechanic hand in the building and grabs DragonMan. As the robot then flings DragonMan out of the building and causes the hero to smash straight through the Jacob Wrey Mould Fountain and skid along the grass ground of City Hall Park.

As DragonMan picked himself back up, the mech leaped off of the building, leaping high through the air before landing in front of DragonMan with enough force to shake the ground. As DragonMan got a better look at the mech, he saw that it was around 20 feet tall with a missile launcher on each shoulder. The machine glared down at DragonMan with it's red eye as it lifted up one of it's robotic hands. As it suddenly swung it's mechanical arm down and tried to crush DragonMan.

But DragonMan quickly leaped out of the way of the robots attack as the robot suddenly swung down it's other arm. But it only managed to damage the ground, as DragonMan quickly spun around and struck the robot with his tail. Causing the robot to stand back up and stumble back a few feet. As the robot regained it's barrings, DragonMan leaped at the robot to try and get in another blow. But as he did, the robot kicked DragonMan and caused him to fly back and smash through several trees in the park.

(CRASH! CRASH! SMASH!)

As DragonMan pushed the broken tree trunks off of him and stood back up, his eyes widened as he saw three heat seeking missiles coming his way. As the missiles rushed through the air, DragonMan instantly threw three blasts of fire from his hands as they collided with the missiles and blew them up.

(BOOM! BOOM! KABOOM!)

But as DragonMan leaped forward and got closer, the mech swung one of it's massive fists forward and sent DragonMan flying through the air at high speeds. But DragonMan spread his wings while in mid-air and divebombed the mech. The mech saw this as it started firing it's machine gun turrets at him. But the bullets simply bounced off as DragonMan punched the mech, sending the massive mech flying several feet back, and finally landing on it's backside.

DragonMan wasn't finished with his assault, as he once again flew straight as the colossal robot and prepared another blow. But before he could punch the robot, the mech reached out it's massive hand and grabbed DragonMan by his head and upper torso.

"Hehehe... Try to muscle your way outta this..." Quipped the pilot in the mech as the robotic fingers started to crush DragonMan. The hydraulics were at full power as DragonMan started to struggle. But as it appeared like the mech was going to crush DragonMan, there was a loud sizzling noise, like something was being torched. That's when a red hot spot on the back of the mech's hand appeared. And only a second later it was blasted apart by a beam of fire.

(KA-FROOOOOSSSHHHH!)

DragonMan's face plate was gone as he continued to ravage the mech with his highly concentrated fire breath. The mech stumbled a few steps back as it grabbed at it's torso with it's remaining hand. In a fruitless attempt to keep his robotic torso together.

As DragonMan stopped and his facemask automatically slid back into place, he pulled out his sword and leaped at through the air at the mech. As the mech swung it's undamaged arm as an attempt to stave off DragonMan, it was useless as DragonMan swung his mighty sword and cut the robots arm off.

(SHING!)

Before swinging once more and slicing the mech's torso open.

(SHING!)

DragonMan landed on the devastated mech as he started tearing away at all the armor and wires to the man inside. As DragonMan tore away the last chunk of machinery, he saw the thug sitting in the control seat with a terrified expression on his face.

"S-Stay back!" Yelled the thug as he pulled out a pistol and aimed it at the hero. But before he could fire, DragonMan swiped it out of his hand with enough strength to snap his wrist. The man groaned in pain as he grabbed at his broken wrist, before DragonMan grabbed the man by the colar and lifted him over the destroyed battle armor.

"Who sent you!? Who is your boss!?" Yelled DragonMan as the man started to flail around in fear.

"O-Okay... Look, I was just-"

"Tell me, or being ripped out of a mech and breaking your wrist will be the LEAST of your problems..." Threatened DragonMan as the look of fear on the man's face intensified.

"I-I don't know who! They didn't show their face or anything! He gave me a whole bunch of cash to do this! He called me by my phone and that's it! That's everything I know!" Screamed the man in terror as DragonMan stared at him and sniffed the air, he heard his heartbeat, and examined his facial expressions with his amazing sight. He wasn't lying.

"Good. Now you can stay here and wait for the police to pick up the trash." Said DragonMan as he dropped the thug back in his control seat and grabbed a metal bar as he bent it and twisted it around the thug. Preventing him from escaping, but before DragonMan took off, he looked back at the thug. Before reaching down and taking the thugs phone out of his pocket.

'At least I could track the caller's ID...' Thought DragonMan before he turned around and flew back to the gaping hole that was the mayors office.

As DragonMan entered the office, he looked around to see no sight of the corrupted mayor. "Damn, he's gone!"

That's when suddenly, the police broke in the door with guns ablaze. As the police saw DragonMan, they pulled out their guns and aimed their weapons at him.

"Hey, you! Put your hands in the air! Don't move or we'll fire!" Yelled one of the cops as they had their guns locked on the superhero.

"Stop! You have the wrong person!" Replied DragonMan as he held his hand up defensively.

"Put your hands in the air! Last warning!" Yelled one of the cops as DragonMan turned around and was about to fly out the window.

"FIRE!" Yelled one of the cops as both began to fire at DragonMan who flew out the window and away from the scene of the crime.

But as DragonMan continued to fly away, he looked over at where the giant robot laid destroyed with the pilot still trapped in his seat by the metal pole. DragonMan was about to fly over there and snatch him up for more interrogation. But his eyes drifted and saw dozens upon dozens of police cars coming in. He narrowed his eyes in disappointment before landing on top of a nearby building.

"I need to track down this maniac before they can cause any more damage... If they are bold enough to send in a giant mech to dispose of me, what else is this boss capable of?" Asked DragonMan as he continued to stare at the damaged city hall and nearby park.

The Mayor's House- Manhattan, NYC

In a large dark bedroom, Graham was sweating and panting heavily as he moved around his room and tried to pack all his clothes in a suit case. The room was in taters with clothes, jewelry, and more of the mayor's and his wive's stuff scattered everywhere.

He continued to haphazardly pack everything he could get his hands on, as if his life depended on it. He didn't have that much time left, he sent the hitman to stop DragonMan from getting Graham to blab. Knowing the lengths the man will go to keep his plans intact and stay secret, Graham knew he was next on the list. He was technically of no more use to him... He will be after Graham no doubt...

He needs to pack as much as he can, get his wife and leave town before he shows up. As he attempted to shut his overly stuffed suit case, his cell phone went off as he picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Thomas! What's going on? The message didn't make any sense! What's going on?" Asked the woman frantically on the other line.

"Wanda, someone is after us! They are very dangerous people, we need to leave town and get out before they find us!" Replied Thomas.

"What!? Who's after us!? Why!? Just call the police!" Replied Wanda in a terrified tone.

"The cops aren't going to be any help! Just get in the car with the driver and he'll drive you to a safe place! I'll meet you there!" Exclaimed Thomas before immediately hanging up the phone before his wife could get in another word.

But before Thomas could focus on packing again, Thomas noticed a shadow that began to grow with the light that was projected on the floor of the room. Before Thomas could turn around to see what was making the shadow, the window was shattered as shards of glass flew everywhere.

(Krash!)

As Thomas shielded the flying shards with his arms, he looked up to see ThunderBird in his blue armored flight suit hovering over him light an angel of death. Thomas looked up in absolute terror as he waited for ThunderBird to speak.

"Mr. Mayor, I've heard you spoke with DragonMan. What did you tell him?" Asked ThunderBird.

"Look, I swear to you! I SWEAR I didn't say a THING to him! Your hitman took care of him and I ran out! That's all!" Said the Mayor of NYC as ThunderBird silently hovered down to the ground, where he then walked over to the cowering Mayor.

"Mr. Mayor, are you telling the truth?" Asked ThunderBird as the Mayor practically got on his knees and swore to the supervillains.

"Yes! I swear I am! I didn't tell that freak any- UGH!" The Mayor wasn't able to finish his sentence before ThunderBird grabbed the man by the throat with his vice-like grip and held him over the ground. The Mayor gasped for breath as he hopelessly fought against ThunderBird's unbreakable grip.

"I don't like liars, Mr. Mayor. I know when people are lying, you split your guts to him and blabbed to him. I admit, I don't know if you told him EVERYTHING you know... But it doesn't matter. My plan is unstoppable at this point. But... I still need to cut a few loose ends before I proceed..." Said ThunderBird in an ominus tone as the Mayor's look of fear vastly increased as he looked into the helmet covered face of ThunderBird.

"I have an idea, Mr. Mayor... How about we go on a little flight?" Asked ThunderBird before suddenly extending his massive blue mechanical wings and jetting straight through the roof of the Mayor's massive house and into the sky.

(KRASH!)

The Mayor was covered in head to toe in blood, cuts, hundreds of splinters, and bruises as ThunderBird continued to fly higher and higher. Until the Mayor's massive house looked like a pinprick.

ThunderBird stopped his ascent and continued to hold the struggling mayor by the neck as he continued to thrash around.

"ThunderBird! I promise! I won't say anything! I'll give you anything you want! And I swear I will never tell anyone about you! You'll never see my face again!" Begged the Mayor through choked gasps as ThunderBird silently looked at him. Even though he wore a helmet that concealed his face, it was obvious ThunderBird looked at this man with zero emotion on his face.

"Well... Your at least partially right." Said ThunderBird before letting go and dropping the man. Thomas Graham screamed as he fell through the air and all the way to the ground. His body moved out of sight for ThunderBird as he continued to look down with an emotionless expression.

"At this point, nothing will stop what I have planned..." Said ThunderBird before flying off.