The G.E.E.K Con

"I can't believe I was dragged into this…" Xavier said with a slightly annoyed smile.

"Come on, it's going to be really fun!" Jayden said, enthusiasm could be seen riddled all over her face.

Jayden had explained to Xavier the new development from Exodus, at first Xavier wasn't really interested in coming with Jayden for the GEEK convention, but after giving Xavier a death stare, he immediately changed his decision to reluctantly come with.

Jayden and Xavier approached the grand entrance of the comic convention, a palpable wave of excitement filled the air Jayden adorned in her cosplay of her favorite anime character who surprisingly was that of a male protagonist making her to look even more boyish than usual.

Her eyes sparkled with anticipation, a wide grin plastered on her face, as she eagerly surveyed the bustling scene before them. In stark contrast, Xavier trailed slightly behind, his casual attire making him blend in more with background than standout. A hesitant smile played on his lips, his eyes scanned the overwhelming spectacle with a mix of curiosity and apprehension.

Jayden's excitement was infectious, but Xavier just couldn't quite match his friend's fervor. Dragging Xavier along, Jayden pointed out various attractions, her voice barely audible over the noise from the crowd.

Although Xavier didn't share Jayden's enthusiasm, he honestly couldn't deny the fact that he was actually enjoying himself.

"Hi, nice costume can I have a selfie with you?" A burly guy with well-defined muscles, who was wearing a maid outfit asked. This scene caused Xavier to raise an eyebrow 'Is this a normal thing here?' he thought, gaze falling on Jayden and realizing she was also wearing a boy outfit.

'Maybe it is.'

"Sure of course!" Jayden immediately walked over and struck a pose to take a selfie.

That's when a certain booth had caught his eye. The booth looked like most other booths but it differed with fact that above the canopy was a sign that read 'Who is the mysterious vigilante?'

'Not a vigilante though' Xavier thought while walking over out of curiosity not before glancing over at Jayden to see if she was still busy, only to realize more people had joined in to take a selfie with her most of them being guy.

Reaching the booth, the first thing he noticed was that it was unmanned another thing that caught his eye was that there was a screen displaying scenes of the 'mysterious vigilante' in action. The table at the booth was covered with multiple newspaper articles, magazine stories, and pictures related to finding his identity.

"Interesting isn't it?" a feminine voice spoke behind Xavier, causing him to turn around.

Standing behind him was a girl who was clad in fantasy inspired outfit, sporting dark brown hair and blue popsocks her elf ears made it easy to guess what her costume was based off on, as she stood a head shorter than Xavier.

"Y-yeah" Xavier replied, while wondering where he had met this person before.

She walked over to the opposite side of the booth's table pulling out a pair of glasses from under the table before putting it on and adjusting it with her index finger.

That's when it clicked in his head they go to the same school, he had met her at the dodge ball incident at school (refer to chp7) she didn't seem to recognize him though, but he wouldn't blame her, their interaction was only brief after she took a ball meant for him on the face.

"So what exactly would you like to know about him?"

"W-what?" Xavier replied surprised.

"Although most of them are just speculations from the general public and from things observed but they're still interesting to look at nonetheless" She explained with a chuckle.

"I'll just take a look at the articles here." Xavier said picking up a random article to read.

It felt really strange to him as he read about stories and urban legends based of him. They were write ups like 'Man or Alien?' or 'Silver mist spirit of justice' and so on… he was honestly starting to get really exhausted of all these. Sometimes he felt he should just reveal himself and stop all the absurd stories.

"That would be a bad idea though, not about to become a lab experiment." He mumbled.

"What was that?" she asked

"Nothing" Xavier quickly replied before putting down the articles.

[Attention all Exodite in the building! The cosplay event would be starting in an hour, all attendees should be present before the event commences.] A voice announced over the event Centre P.A system.

Leaving the booth, he could see Jayden was already done with taking selfies as they both headed to the event venue.

Although Xavier wasn't putting on a costume, he had a bag pack on that carried the blood onyx suit he was Jayden's model after all.

It didn't take long for Xavier to notice other people who were heading in the same direction as they were. Noticing this, Xavier reached into his pocket and brought out a black face mask to cover his face as an act of habit. But before he could put in on properly, Jayden immediately slapped it off his hands causing it to fall on the floor.

Xavier looked at her in confusion wondering why she did that.

"You idiot! You literally just left a booth that's obsessed on finding you, and you still wanna do something so stupid!" Jayden said in a whispering tone after pulling Xavier close to her, surprising him as she seemed to be paying attention even while in the midst of taking selfies.

"Most of the public display of what you're capable of was with a black face mask, what do you think would happen if that masked figure suddenly pops up in the midst of about a hundred people!" Jayden explained further in an exasperated tone.

Xavier gulped alongside a bead of sweat that rolled down from his forehead. "Ahem y-you make a valid point, good call." He spoke after clearing his tone.

Not long after, they had reached the event hall entrance but were stopped by a worker who asked for their participation ID, to which they both responded by handing theirs to the worker who quickly scanned it before granting them entry.

Entering the Exodus event hall, Xavier was overwhelmed by the sheer number of people who were present.

'It's amazing the sheer number of people they were able to gather despite the impromptu nature of the event.' He thought looking around while Jayden walked away to sign her attendance as a competitor.

*Chatter*

*Chatter*

They were instantly greeted by the combined chatter coming from the people in the hall, as Xavier wasted no time as he put on his noise reducing headphone knowing this was his cue.

The hall was dimly lit, specifically designed and decorated to host event as such. The air buzzed with excitement as enthusiasts from various realms of fantasy and science fiction mingled, their elaborate costumes ranging from armored knights to futuristic soldiers and mythical creatures.

Looking up, Xavier realized just how big the hall was as his gazed fell on the dwarfing ceiling that stretching far above.

Despite the festive atmosphere, there was a palpable tension as Xavier's field of vision landed on the individuals stationed at the critical and strategic areas throughout the hall. They all wore black jackets and jean trousers which made them look out of place similar to Xavier. Their most noticeable feature were the emblem positioned behind their jackets, a white circle placed inside the circle was a spider.

"Gangs…" Xavier mumbled with a solemn expression.

He proceeded to close his eyes before opening them again revealing his now glowing red eyes immediately enhancing his vision greatly as he spotted weapons which they all carried with them in various parts of their body.

'Probably here as guards or security' he thought while observing them.

Gang members hired as security or bodyguards wasn't out of place, with the increase in crime activities and government relentless efforts to mitigate it, some higher tier gangs had resulted to starting business organizations to evade investigations. They were mainly involved in businesses such as security services, restaurants, super markets and many other fronts.

Exodus had obviously hired a gang for protection since there were a strong deterrent than other security services. They had hired a well-known gang of Silvermist, 'The white spiders'. Their keen eyes scanned the crowd, ensuring the event's safety with a silent promise of swift retribution for any form of misbehavior.

[Registrations has ended and they competition will kick off in five minutes, all contestants are expected to be in their costumes before they are called up, to avoid immediate disqualification.]

Another announcement was sent out pulling Xavier out of his thoughts.

*****

(Somewhere else in the building…)

Inside a dark room, a group of people could be seen arming themselves with various weapons seemingly preparing for conflict.

"Are you sure about this boss?" one of the armed men asked with uncertainty.

"Your fear isn't unfounded, but if we manage to pull this off we could be set for life." Zecker a bald headed man who had a mean looking face replied. Hearing his boss's reply, the man's fear seemed to have been replaced with excitement.

"And the targets?" Zecker asked a man stationed with a laptop.

"According to our Intel, it seems to be two brats from two different massive corporations. The first who seems to be popular online, Stanley Hargreaves and the other, Jayden Hunter…"