Funeral

Disclaimer

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

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[▪︎Arlington State Cemetery, Arlington▪︎]

[▪︎30th March 2003▪︎]

It's in the afternoon here in Arlington. The whole place is eerily quiet, the gentle wind dancing around the leaves to make them rustle being the only sound at the place.

The whole atmosphere or ambiance of the place is that of melancholy and sadness.

Around me, seated in wooden chairs, are funereal heroes from all parts of America.

Brit and Britney, Capes Inc, Invincible, Damian Darkblood, Art Rosenberg, and some other teams are seated all around.

Further ahead—at the front row seats—are normal humans of different ages wearing black suits, each person sadder than the next.

There are six sky-blue rectangular pillars a few meters away from the front row and on each of them, the names of the Guardians of the globe are engraved on them boldly.

The pillar with Immortal's name has a model of the globe drawn on it with 'Guardians Of The Globe' right on top of it.

In front of those pillars also—directly facing the rows of seats—is a raised platform with a wooden podium. A sad Omni-man is standing before the podium.

This is the memorial service of the Guardians who died four days ago.

The last few has been chaotic to say the least. When the news came out, everyone was shocked and almost all of the civilians were terrified and sad.

People were alert thinking that someone or something would come out and take credit for this and use that chance wreak more havoc but even the villain community was silent.

Predictably, Holly was incensed and tried to search for the perpetrator but I managed to calm her down by promising to find the culprit.

I wanted to take Immortal's blood sample but I didn't see the need for it anymore so I threw that thought away.

So the only benefit I got from their death is when I went to 'console' Aquaria, this time a little publicly since most people know how close I am to the Royal family and in a way this stunt boosted my image.

At the moment, I'm sitting at the last but one row in my superhero getup beside Holly who is wearing her new suit—it looks exactly like the one I destroyed but slightly techier.

Her face is stoic like mine but in her eyes, you can see her hidden rage.

I gently grab her and put my hand on hers in a comforting manner and she turns her head, flashes me a wry smile, and turns back to face Omni-man.

"We are gathered here to remember the greatest team of superheroes the world has ever known. That I've known...

I've been working with the Guardians of the Globe ever since I came to Earth. They were like mentors to me when I started my career."

He pauses in a sad tone.

We need to give this guy an Oscar...his performance is too real. In hindsight, I guess being a millennia-plus-old man has its perks.

After a minute of letting the words sink in, he continues.

"The Immortal, Darkwing, Aquarus, The Green Ghost, Martian Man, and The Red Rush. These are names we'll never forget, names that will go down in history. Legends taken before their ti——"

Suddenly, he stops and gazes at the back as The Mauler Twins—clothed in black suits—walk towards empty seats.

"What are you guys doing here?"

He asks calmly, his eyebrows raised with a serene face and the rest of the heroes look behind them with wary gazes.

Holly looks at me but seeing me shake my head nonchalantly she ignores them and continues brooding.

"Please continue, we aren't here to make a scene."

One of the twins remarks softly.

"We are just here to pay our respects to a worthy adversary, nothing more nothing less. We will not interfere with the proceedings."

The other twin who has a pierced nose adds as they take a seat.

"Dad, I'll keep an eye on them. I don't think they will cause any trouble with all of us here."

Invincible stands up and says assuredly and I can sense the Twins staring at me.

Hearing this, the heroes ignore them and focus back on Omni-man who clears his throat and continues.

"As I was saying, the Guardians ar——"

<Boom!>

All of a sudden, the main pillars explodes—sending stones and debris flying everywhere and from the fire, an old balding light-skinned man wearing a golden power suit with flaming thrusters around the ankles emerges.

"No, they were mine! Mine!"

He screams angrily as the heroes stand up in attention.

"Sanford? What are you doing?"

Black Sampson looks up and asks in disbelief as the heroes immediately start evacuating the civilians.

So that's his butler and he's the one who stole his suit. A few days ago, Sampson commissioned a suit from Art—the guy who creates most of the superhero suits and costumes—but it was stolen.

I didn't bother finding out who...since obviously, I don't care, and by all means, the person will reveal his/herself.

And it seems I was right...

"They can't die! I need to have my revenge! I need to pay them back for what they did to Sampson!"

He screams righteously—pointing at the pillars and the battle-ready heroes.

...Sigh, just how stupid can someone get.

Relaxed in my seat, I turn my head as Holly grits her teeth with rage and breaks her chair's armrest, and stands up.

As the flight-capable heroes go up to meet Sanford, she blurs and appears above Sanford, and strikes him with an axe kick to the neck.

Almost instantaneously, he hits the green grassy ground—cratering it—and Holly calmly descends near him with a cold face.

The whole place becomes silent, everyone looking at with shock, as Holly calmly walks to me.

"Sanford!"

Sampson shouts and dashes to his butler's fainted body and hugs it while a frowning Omni-man and some of the heroes gather around them.

"Let's go, if I stay here any longer I might break a few things."

Holly says as she comes to my side.

"Sure, it's ended anyway."

I shrug and stand up as ahead people were either looking at us—especially Omni-man—or were chatting with themselves while an ambulance approaches from the distance.

Just as we are about to leave the cemetery—in front of the main entrance—I sense something and so I turn to a nearby tree.

"What do you want Cecil?"

I ask as Holly and I stop. Cecil walks out of the shadow of the tree, all dressed up professionally, his hands in his pockets, and comes to us—his face stoic.

"Prime, we need to talk?"

He says—his tone and eyes more serious than usual—as he stops a meter away from us.

I ignore him and glance at an unhappy Holly.

She looks back at me, sighs, and nods as she mutters a code and disappears.

"What seems to be the problem Cecil?"

"We should go someplace quiet. Grab my shoulders."

His eyes dart around with suspicion as he says this.

Amused, I nod in response and grab his shoulders.

He taps his earpiece and mutters a command while from the distance, the heroes are walking towards the entrance and with a bright flash of light, we disappear and appear inside a room.

The whole place is white—pure white—with nothing around, not even walls but with my senses I know this is just a chemically induced visual effect.

"Interesting place Cecil, but tell me, why am I here?"

I smile as I look around, playing my part in this 'game' while Cecil steps back to a suitable distance.

"Virgil Prime, why did you kill the Guardians Of The Globe?"

•☆•

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