Explosion Aftermath, Uncanny Meeting

The Black Mechanica Gang's warehouse was eerily quiet.

Ceral Fitzgerald stood right in front of the television with his arms crossed and a venomous look on his face.

The only sound in the room was the low hum of the morning news playing on the TV, echoing through the large, open space.

"Earlier today, a large explosion was reported at an abandoned warehouse in an industrial zone of Metro City. Authorities say they arrived to find the building in pieces, with debris scattered across the surrounding area."

They cut to a clip of the scene: shattered concrete, twisted metal, flashing police lights bathing the broken landscape in blue and red.

The news anchor continued.

"Witnesses reported a masked vigilante on the scene… one who's been catching the public's attention lately. Social media is calling him Nightwatch, though his real identity remains unknown. He's been streaming his 'missions' online for viewers around the world."

The anchor shot a quick glance at his co-anchor and raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Now, call me old-fashioned, but that sounds like reckless entertainment to me. What do you think, Tanya?"

Tanya chuckled, shaking her head.

"Oh, I agree, Miles. My son's already talking about 'Nightwatch' like he's a celebrity. But there's a reason I don't let him watch those streams. We should leave this work to the professionals. Real heroes, real police officers… those who know what they're doing. This Nightwatch fellow could end up hurt, or worse."

Ceral scowled, but his eyes never left the screen.

"Idiots."

He tightened his fists.

The camera cut to Captain Bennett of the Metro City Police Department, standing at the edge of the blast zone. His tired, chocolate-brown face had that permanently annoyed look Ceral had seen too many times.

"Well, first of all… I wouldn't call this 'heroism' at all. Whoever this person is, they're either some foolish young man running around in tights, or an unemployed nobody with too much time on their hands. We had an operation underway to monitor the Black Mechanica Gang's activities here. We were gathering intel, making real progress… until Nightwatch came along and ruined it."

There was heavy disgust in Captain Bennett's voice.

He wasn't even trying to hide it.

The man furiously gestured toward the devastation.

"Now, my men and I are out here cleaning up after him, and the public thinks he's some kind of hero. He's not. He's a liability, plain and simple. And if he keeps this up, he'll inspire even more amateurs to put themselves in harm's way."

With that, Captain Bennett turned and shook his head as he joined his team.

… Grr!

Ceral gritted his teeth.

He grabbed the remote from the armrest and threw it down hard onto the concrete floor, breaking it into pieces.

"FUUUUUUUUCK!"

His face was red hot.

"A streamer in tights—making things hard for us? Us?! We're the fuckin' Black Mechanica Gang! We hold governments hostage, we don't—"

He cut himself off as his fists trembled with rage.

The gang members around him froze.

No one dared to look him in the eye.

Kane Vaughn let out a low chuckle and muttered under his cigar breath.

"So, the streamer bitch's getting under your skin, huh?"

But Ceral's glare snapped to him like a whip.

"Shut it, Kane!"

His voice was low and razor-sharp.

"Do you even understand what we've lost here? If I hadn't pulled the damn switch and leveled that warehouse myself, we'd be dealing with worse. We lost seventy workers, Vaughn. Seventy. And now, thanks to that clown, the police are breathing down our necks. They didn't have a damn clue before. Now they do."

He turned his back on Kane then took a deep breath to steady himself.

The room went quiet.

Now, only the gentle hum of machines could be heard.

━ ━ ━ ━

Scott sat hunched at the small dining table.

The morning news flickered from their ancient TV as he spooned the last bites of cereal from his bowl. His jaw was tense and frustration tightened his features as he listened to the anchors debate Nightwatch's "antics."

"Real heroes, real police officers… those who know what they're doing. This Nightwatch fellow could end up hurt, or worse."

Scott's face tightened even further as Captain Bennett's gruff voice cut in.

"…either some foolish young man running around in tights, or an unemployed nobody with too much time on their hands. He's not a hero. He's a liability."

Gwen glanced at Scott, noticing how he ate in silence.

His expression was as hard as stone.

Her fingers twitched, wanting to reach out and ease the look on his face, but before she could, Aunt Tess walked over with a milk carton and held it in front of Scott.

"Want more?"

She offered with a gentle shake of the carton.

Scott didn't say a word—just grabbed it, poured the milk, and took another quiet bite.

Tess clicked her tongue as she turned toward the TV, rolling her eyes at the screen.

"This is why I tell you both we'd be better off anywhere but Metro City. It's a zoo disguised as a city!"

She placed a hand on her hip.

"All the superheroes here… it's like they hate evil, infrastructure, and cars in that order. Blue Atom destroyed my old sedan by using it as a harpoon against some interdimensional alien warlord. I swear, it's a miracle if anything stays standing for a week around here."

She sighed, looking back at the screen.

"This Nightwatch kid is probably just some misled teenager making his poor parents worry. Or maybe some old man with absolutely zero things to live for."

Scott finished his cereal in one big gulp as his face remained expressionless. He stood up from his chair, not saying a word, and headed straight out.

The door clicked shut, leaving Aunt Tess looking lost.

"Did I say something wrong?" she asked, looking at Gwen.

Gwen forced a chuckle and waved it off. "Maybe he's a Nightwatch fanboy or something."

Aunt Tess snorted, shaking her head.

Gwen quickly finished up her own cereal, grabbed her bag, and rushed after Scott, skimming down the narrow stairs to see him already pedaling away on his bike far down the street.

『Son of a bitch didn't even wait for me!』

She set her skateboard on the sidewalk and kicked off, racing to catch up.

"Hey! Slow down, vigilante boy!"

Gwen called, smirking as she closed the gap.

Scott glanced back, a faint smile tugging at his lips.

"I should be used to this by now, what the media says… but I didn't think they'd go this hard."

Gwen sped up alongside him, moving like a shadow.

"Who cares?"

She teleported in a wispy blur to his other side.

"Besides, if this superhero thing doesn't work out for you, you could always use those skills for something else. I mean, a body like that?"

She nudged him with a grin.

"Get out of geek free card."

"Thanks, but I don't really think of myself as a geek," Scott replied, smirking. "Maybe more like… an outsider."

She rolled her eyes dramatically and skated further ahead.

"Ugh, do you have to be so edgy all the time?"

Scott just shook his head with a little laugh slipping out as he pedaled faster to catch up.

They got to school pretty quickly, and the big front lawn was already packed with groups of kids hanging out.

Gwen grabbed her skateboard and looked around, letting out a long, disappointed sigh.

Over by the entrance, the jocks in their leather varsity jackets were surrounded by cheerleaders; off in another corner, the nerds were gathered, busy with their fantasy card games; and here and there, a few kids were getting shoved around by the lockers.

"High school is so lame…"

Gwen muttered, folding her arms.

"I should be chilling at Met U by now, not here, stuck getting some stupid credits."

Scott locked his bike up nearby, shrugging. "Could be worse. I bet a lot of people would kill to relive senior year."

She huffed. "Make that a semester. Five credits and I'm out of here, thank you very much."

Scott raised an eyebrow, trying to hide a grin. "Five credits? In one semester? Only way you're getting that is if you add an extracurricular to your load."

Gwen shot him a look of pure dread.

"Ugh, really?"

She immediately regretted agreeing to coming back here, but Scott patted her shoulder.

"You could always join the academic decathlon with me and Jake."

She wrinkled her nose. "Uh, no. I'm not smart enough for that."

He raised a playful eyebrow. "Oh, I know. I was just wondering if you knew."

Gwen's jaw dropped as Scott bolted up the stairs, laughing over his shoulder.

She raced after him, trying her best to look angry as her lips fought a smile.

"You son of a—"

━ ━ ━ ━

Emma sat back in her chair, crossing her legs and tapping one of her manicured fingers on her cheek as she looked Principal Hayes up and down.

Beside her, Marcus sat slouched, his hands buried deep in the pockets of his hoodie as he stared shyly at the floor.

Principal Hayes adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat, fixing both of them with a stern look.

"Miss Graves, thank you for coming in on short notice. I'll get right to it. Marcus has been late to school almost every day this semester."

Emma's lips curled in amusement as she glanced over at Marcus, who shifted uncomfortably.

Principal Hayes continued, "When questioned, Marcus told us the reason was, well… because of you. He claims the, uh, number of parties you host at your house keeps him up late."

Emma raised a perfectly arched eyebrow.

"Mansion, actually."

She folded her arms as a smirk appeared at the corner of her soft, cherry lips.

The principal didn't look impressed.

"Right. Mansion. But is it true?"

Emma adjusted her hair, acting innocence.

"I'll admit, I host pool parties now and then, but I expect Marcus to be asleep by that point. Isn't that right?"

She shot Marcus a look, and he quickly looked away with a flushed face.

Principal Hayes adjusted his glasses again, clearly trying to keep his patience in check.

"Miss Graves, whatever the arrangement is, I suggest you take your role as his guardian a bit more seriously. Make sure your nephew is well-rested and here on time. If not, I'll have to consider speaking with his parents about relocating him somewhere more… conducive to his education."

Emma rolled her eyes but leaned over to whisper loudly to Marcus. "See what you got us into, dickhead?"

Marcus fired back, "Hey, you're the one who was up all night gushing over that vigilante streamer guy! Then you fell asleep and forgot to drive me to school!"

"Hm?" The principal's eyebrow shot up.

Emma's hand instantly whacked Marcus on the back of the head.

She forced a bright, slightly tense smile at Principal Hayes, tugging Marcus up from the chair by his hoodie.

"Won't happen again, promise~"

With that, she roughly dragged him out of the office, and the door clicked shut behind them.

They'd barely stepped into the hallway when everyone's attention turned to Emma, like a spotlight was on her.

Whistles echoed as students leaned out of classroom doors, eyes glued to her off-shoulder sweater that showed her soft, porcelain-like skin and high-waisted pants that hugged her figure.

"Wheeew, she's hot as fuck!"

"Emphasis on the last word. That's what I wanna do to her right now!"

"New girl?"

"Nah, definitely not, man…"

You could easily see the curve of her hips, the shape of her butt, and the thickness of her thighs.

She could almost feel everyone's gaze following the outline of her shapely body.

"Real original, guys…"

Emma muttered, tossing her hair over her shoulder.

"This place smells like a desperate sea of early-blooming testosterone."

Marcus ducked his head, embarrassed as the football team clustered at the lockers took notice.

They chuckled and nudged each other as they spoke.

"Yo, check her out. That's Marcus's aunt?"

"Nah, she's too hot for him to be related."

"Actually, that makes sense. Nerds usually have the hottest sisters or moms, kekeke…"

"You're watching too much of that orange and black site bro, chill the fuck out."

"Bet I could rizz her up."

"Bro, she's friggin' loaded. Look at her. Way out of your league, man."

"Yep. Older, rich, and way too classy. No chance."

Emma's face was plain.

They could admire her all they wanted, but that was as far as it would go. She wasn't about to give them the satisfaction of getting annoyed by their childish behavior… not even a look of disgust. Funny enough, some men actually thought that was a woman's way of flirting.

『Suckers. I bet Mister Vigilante wouldn't even be surprised by my body or looks. He'd probably just say I'm beautiful for what I can do, not for how I look. Whew, I can't wait for his next stream! I'll need to find a quieter place to watch it, though, just in case I do something weird when… never mind.』

Emma adjusted her bangs again.

Marcus's face was red as a tomato.

"Can we go, please?" he mumbled.

"Relax. Just don't get ideas, alright?"

His pretty aunt gave him a knowing smirk as they continued down the hall.

At the far end, Scott and Gwen were walking side by side.

Scott kept glancing down at his phone, as if he was expecting a message.

『She usually calls me around this time so we can have some fun in the science lab before classes begin.』

His face dulled even more.

Gwen noticed and tried to catch a glimpse, but Scott shifted the screen away.

"Something interesting on there?" she teased.

"None of your business…"

Scott pocketed his phone for a moment.

Gwen shrugged. "Fine, whatever."

Just then, Scott sighed and dialed Maya's number, but before the call could even go through, he felt a hand firmly press down on his head.

Startled, he looked up and saw himself staring directly at Emma Graves, who was quite a bit taller than him… mainly because of the heels she was starting to regret wearing.

The woman looked absolutely ravishing, but the irritation on her face was evident.

Her rich and undeniably expensive perfume tickled his nose as he watched her size him up, staring from top to bottom.

"Oh, you high school boys are all the same…"

Emma sneered as she folded her arms.

"Was this your plan? Just stare at your phone and pretend not to see me so you'd 'accidentally' bump into me?"

Scott blinked, taken aback.

"Why would I want to… bump into you?"

Emma scoffed, glancing down at her breasts and shapely body with a haughty look.

"Please. Don't pretend you wouldn't kill to get a little closer."

She looked him over, head to toe, with a smirk.

"All you boys are just blindly horny. It's lame."

Scott took a step back, still very lost.

"Uh, thanks, but I'm not interested in… your assets."

Emma let out a mocking laugh.

"Oh, sure. Keep lying to yourself."

She shot him a smug smile, clearly entertained.

Gwen calmly stepped between them.

"You're way too old for him to even care, you know that, right? What are you, like, 28?"

Emma's face flushed as her mouth dropped open, clearly offended.

"Excuse me, I am not 28! I'm way younger than that!"

Gwen snorted. "Yeah, you wish."

Emma clenched her teeth, muttering a string of curses under her breath as she yanked Marcus away, her heels clicking against the floor with an indignant stomp.

Gwen just waved, grinning smugly. "Bye, Grandma!"

As they disappeared down the hall, Scott gave Gwen a tired side-eye.

"You really know how to drive people crazy."

"Just a natural talent."

Gwen gave him a hard pat on the back.

"But hey, that lady really thought she had a shot with you."

Scott laughed sparingly. "Yeah, as if I'd go for someone like that."

"Not even if she paid you?" Gwen raised an eyebrow as she teasingly edged closer to him.

Scott shook his head. "Nope. I'm a one-woman guy."

"Maya's lucky, I guess."

When Gwen said this, her expression changed dramatically, and she looked so sad that it was hard to ignore.

But Scott didn't notice her sadness; he was too focused on his phone, looking a bit more hopeful after hearing what Gwen had said.