CHAPTER 4

Back state side and Jericho is preparing all of his weapons for battle when he hears on the police scanner of an officer down from a bank robbery two miles east of his location. Loading up, he puts on a bullet proof vest and one of his many hoodies then masks up and departs towards the bank. The bank is being robbed by five masked and heavily armed thugs. Three are watching the hostages while the other two have one of the bankers take them to the vault. Jericho arrives unnoticed and makes his way to the roof but is spotted by one of the SWAT snipers. Jericho drills into the roof and leaps inside before the sniper can even get a clear shot. Breathing heavy behind his mask, Jericho moves through the building towards the shouting and screaming and peeks out to see the vault. He spots the two thugs pointing their rifles at a young woman, who is beyond terrified and struggling to put her code in for the vault, but Jericho can tell despite being terrified she is stalling and purposely putting in the wrong code. One of the thugs threatens to kill her if she does not open it and when the other turns back, he is met face to face with Jericho, who impales him with his knife in the gut. As his partner turns back, he is met with a fist to the face. Hearing the screams, the three can only listen as gunfire goes off but the screams stop. The leader of the gang orders one of his men to go check it out but the two bodies of the other thugs are tossed into the lobby, both dead and Jericho steps out of the shadows. The sniper watches from his scope as the three thugs turn their attention and informs his supervisor of the situation. The three thugs open fire, but Jericho moves at superhuman speed, disarms them and begins to throw them around the bank. Officers and bystanders can only listen to the crashing and screams as the three thugs are thrown around like ragdolls before they are thrown out the door and into the streets, severely wounded but alive. Soon, the hostages are freed by Jericho, and he informs them to remain calm and leave in an orderly fashion so they will not startle any of the officers. They do as he instructs, and despite being shaken and terrified, they all walk outside to the officers and are taken in to be treated and comforted while Jericho retrieves the female banker from the back, who is balled up in a corner. He carefully helps her to her feet and gives her the same order and she nods to him before thanking him and leaves. Jericho then leaves the same way he came, and he watches from a different rooftop to see the scene unfolding as officers enter the bank and a coroner arrives to take the two deceased bank robbers. Jericho fixes his eyes on the banker he had rescued, and she turns to see him there, but says nothing. Instead, they lock eyes and Jericho departs the scene before being spotted.

As the night arrives, Jericho leaps from rooftop to rooftop, keeping a sharp eye on the happenings of the city as he listens to everything. An identity of unknown proportions, but the abilities and powers that are not of an ordinary human. His skills range from heightened hearing, superhuman strength and speed, endurance, stamina and is able to withstand near mortal wounds although bullets can weaken him. He hides his true face behind a mask and hoodie as the experiments on him in the past have deformed his facial features and every night, he is haunted by the nightmares of the torture he endured. His history with Railer dates back to when they were kids and used in these experiments, but when they were strong enough they killed the ones who tested on them including the sinister lead doctor and were taken in by a kind hearted man they simply called "father" but as they got older, Railer became wreck less and started to use his powers for evil ways and one day he snapped and killed father and abandoned Jericho. Since then, Jericho made it his own mission to stop Railer at any means necessary to prevent him from doing more harm but has failed in every phase as the body count became higher and he eventually created the Hakim terrorist group, providing them with the knowledge as well as technology to create high advanced weapons that has allowed them to push and gain control of a majority of the Middle East. However, unbeknownst to the United Nations, Railer has been creating a very powerful weapon that could wipe out the entire Asian and African continents even parts of Europe, Australia and the Americas. A weapon so powerful those in the blast zone will be annihilated instantly. Remembering his time as a child and how he trained himself since the death of their father to better his powers, he decided to use them to protect the innocent despite them marketing him as a monster, a killer, a savage and has been nearly captured numerous times, but has managed to escape every time. 

Railer: You question them.

Jericho turns around to find Railer standing there as he jumps down from the ledge he was kneeling on. Looking past the mask and into his brother's eyes, Railer can sense the hurt and pain in them.

Railer: It doesn't have to be this way, Jericho. You and I can take them all and rebuild this world as a better one. No more being labeled as monsters. Killers, destroyers, mutants.

Jericho stands there in silence as Railer walks to the edge of the roof and looks down below at the people walking around.

Railer: Look at them down there. They will never understand what true power is until they have it. But you and I do. We were given this for a reason, brother. They wouldn't have done the things on us if they knew we would not be able to survive. That's why I had to kill father.

Jericho closes his eyes when Railer brings it up. 

Railer: You truly believe that at some point in our lives, he was not going to turn us over and have us sent back to be experimented on again? I could see it in his eyes every single day. I laid awake most nights wondering when they would come barging into our rooms, tie us up and take us away. 

Jericho: Stop.

Railer: Search deep into your mind, Jericho. You know this to be true.

Jericho: Please. Stop.

Railer: Why else do you think they fear me? Why won't they bother to approach me? They go after the ones they see vulnerable! Vulnerable like you!

Jericho: STOP!

In a fit of rage, Jericho uses his power to knock Railer down and has his knife drawn. Shaking with anger and rage, Railer laughs as he stands to his feet, brushes himself off and fixes his coat.

Railer: You, see? Unlike you, I control my anger. My rage. You, on the other hand, as I said before, you have much to learn. 

A portal suddenly opens as Railer walks towards it, but before he walks through, he turns back to Jericho and winks to him then proceeds on and the portal closes. Jericho looks at his knife, the same knife father gifted him before he died. He leaves to return home and now knowing what he has to do, Jericho begins to load every rifle and gun with ammo.