{"sf1_id":737921,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Arc 2 Prologue: The Aftermath","author":"Volcan MacAingeal","words":7103,"posted_at":"2014-08-01T11:02:00.000Z","tags":["Crime","Gangsters","Heroes","Lightning Hawk","Phoenix","Sparrow Hawk","The-Os-Nadarra Sentinels","chaos","police"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/737921-arc-2-prologue-the-aftermath","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/737921","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=737921\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"The Os-Nàdarra Sentinels Prologue: Aftermath -Unity Falls, June 3rd,\n2010             Volcan stared down at the streets below, eyeing some of\nthe damaged buildings with some melancholy as he reminisced on the cause of\ntheir damage. This particular building, formerly a simple diner on the edge of\nC-Plaza; a diner that had been in the territory of the Organization, and even\nthough the smaller syndicate did not run an extortion racket, the Sylvia\nSyndicate, the largest one in the entire city, had decided to use the place to\nsend a message to the gang leader of the organization, and had bombed the\nlittle restaurant.            Countless people had been injured in the explosion;\nnobody inside of the diner had survived, and people outside, near enough to\ncatch the blast, had been torn up by broken glass, metal fragments and shattered\npieces of tiling, along with flames and explosive force burning flesh and\nbreaking bones. No one standing within spitting distance of the diner had\nsurvived, and the Sylvia's had gotten away with it...It\nwas hard to believe that only a month had passed since the Unity Falls gang war\nhad ended; a bloody conflict, started by the various criminal factions that\ndominated both sides of the city. As the only existing border city in Canada\nand the United States of America, Unity Falls, despite its name, was a haven\nfor criminals, using the border to run from cops and pursue conflict with one\nanother. Soon, gangs on both sides were making grabs for territory on the\nother, trying to establish a foothold, and the city's downtown areas became\nbloodbaths.Even\nthough the conflict was over, damage was still being repaired. Volcan felt\nsickened by the actions of the gangsters; they had destroyed many businesses and\neven homes in their conflict, many of them just to 'send messages' to their\nrivals. The particular store he watched had been wrecked by the largest\norganization known as the Sylvia Syndicate, led by a woman with a tremendous\nsuperiority complex and a chip on her shoulder and hundreds of enforcers with itchy\ntrigger fingers.The\ngang war had only carried on for a week before Volcan got so tired of it, he\nhad jumped in, particularly when the group of punks known as the 5th\nStreet Brawlers had tried to shake down his mother for 'protection' money at\nher own diner -thankfully not the one he was staring down at. He and his friend\nPavan had gone after the Brawlers at their 'base' on 5th Street -the\nsource of their name, which was nothing more than a rundown bar that had been\ncondemned almost a year ago, and the gangsters had claimed it as their own.That\nwas, until Volcan plunged through the roof and collapsed the place on top of\nthem.He\nchuckled as he remembered that day, seeing the faces of the gangsters who had\nbeen spared from the falling rubble, and there he had given them his warning;\nto stay far away from his mother's diner, or their next base wouldn't be\nsmashed, it would be burned, with them in it. As a phoenix, he was more than\ncapable of carrying out such a threat. Although, it still hadn't stopped them\nfrom trying to jump him a few times but, their so-called 'brawlers' were\nusually pretty weak, cowardly, and would run as soon as the odds were no longer\nin their favor; they were the easy ones to handle.But,\nafter that, before he'd known it he was part of the war. That act had not been\nhis last; before long he found himself fighting gangsters all across the city,\ntaking up vigilantism, or helping the police whenever he could by protecting\npeople who were in danger. Most of the cops knew it had been him, but they had\nbeen so preoccupied trying to keep their own people alive, they couldn't spare\nanyone to try and arrest him. Even if they could, he was doing a much better\njob than they were; most willingly looked the other way when they saw him...\nkeyword being most.In\nthe aftermath of the war, the city decided they had owed him some favors, the\nfirst of which, charges against him were dropped. So far he'd found no reason\nto call on any of the other ones, and hopefully wouldn't need to. The city was\nmostly peaceful again, except for the occasional street brawls between gangs\nwith some lingering animosity, or the street crews, racing across their new\nterritories when the police were distracted. Fortunately, the city still had a\nguardian angel watching over it.And\nthat was Volcan.Helping\nthe city in such a way had felt good, and he wanted to keep doing his part. He\nkept the morale of the citizens up with his career as a musician, and helped\nkeep the city streets safe at night with his patrols. He could have stopped at\nany time; nobody was actually asking him -let alone paying him- to do this... but\nhe liked to. He loved his home; Unity Falls had its problems like any city, and\nwith a population in the hundred thousands, it was bound to keep having more,\nbut the city wasn't just a large community; it was a symbol, to the allegiance\nbetween two countries. It was the only city in all of North America built right\non the country border, each side bound by the laws of the respective country it\nwas physically part of, with a few additional laws, giving the city a very\nindependent feel.            Volcan liked it here; he had grown up here, and the city\nhad always done right by his family. Now, he felt like he was returning the\nfavor. Besides, he thought... there are some threats the cops just could not\nhandle; he was a phoenix, an elemental with supernatural powers. He was more\nthan twice as strong as the strongest mortal men on Earth, he could control\nfire, was immune to fire -even at temperatures hotter than a blast furnace they\nonly energized him and caused him no injury. Powers like that were good for\nsomething, and he had found exactly what.            He was broken from his train of thought by his phone\nringing. Lifting his leg off of the ledge he stood on, he instead sat on said\nledge, plucking his phone from his pocket and looking at it, seeing the face of\nhis Wind Phoenix friend, Pavan, on the phone. He tapped the 'accept call'\nhighlight, and held the phone to his ear. \"Yep?\"            \"Hey, Volc; how you\ndoing?\" The caller asked.            \"Not too bad Pav; what's up?\" He asked.            \"Eh, bored out of\nmy skull. I'm looking forward to our gig tomorrow night though,\" returned\nPavan. Volcan heard a crunch through the phone, recognizing it as the sound of\na potato chip or maybe crackers being broken. \"How about you; ready for it?\"            \"Totally,\" returned Volcan. \"Compared to what we went\nthrough over the spring, playing heavy metal music for two hours straight might\nas well be a day off for us.\"            \"You said it,\" agreed\nPavan. \"So on the topic of 'days off',\nwould you consider taking one tonight?\"            Volcan hummed slightly at the thought. \"Eh, maybe;\ndepends on the incentive, or if the city's actually quiet tonight.\"            \"Well Brent and I\ndug out some old movies from some of my dad's stuff; some classical stuff I\nthink you'd like and plenty of good action films too!\" Pavan explained,\nsounding excited. \"I didn't know my dad\nwas such an action-film lover but he's got whole collections of some kickass\nfilms here, man!\"            \"Do I hear Pavan Stevenson actually suggesting doing\nsomething other than running around the city like a lunatic, riding on air\ncurrents and singing 'Youth Gone Wild' by Hammerfall as he does hummingbird\nimpressions fast the financial district?\" Volcan inquired, legitimately\nsurprised; he'd known Pavan his whole life, and the Wind Phoenix was not\nsomeone who liked to sit still.            \"Even I have lazy\ndays, bro,\" returned Pavan. \"Besides,\nBrent also picked up some of our favorite snacks too.\"            \"Oh really? He happen to get some cheddar and jalapeño\nchips?\" Volcan asked.            \"You bet! Got you a\nbig bag of the things! And, Tsume's comin' out too; was pretty interested when\nI told her these movies had some good-lookin' guys in it,\" said Pavan,\nfollowed by a chuckle. \"Though they got\nnothin' on me.\"            \"You still haven't asked her out yet?\" Volcan asked.            \"Just waiting for\nthe right time, my man.\"            Volcan pretended to gasp. \"Oh my fucking ancestors; I\njust heard Pavan use the word 'wait'. I think my brain just launched itself\nthrough my skull; totally mind-blown over here,\" he teased, suppressing a\nchuckle.            \"Oh for fuck sakes;\nand you guys call me a bag of wind!\" Pavan retorted. \"So, you in or am I eating all these cheesy chips myself?\"              \"Yeah, I'm in; I'll be out there in a bit,\" he said.            Almost as if on cue, he heard a crash in the alleyway,\ncoming from alongside the building he was on top of. \"Oh, hold that thought,\"\nhe said, grudgingly as he stood up from the ledge, walking over to the other\nside and peering over into the alley, where he saw four figures, three of them\nstanding over a fallen anthro who lay curled up and pleading for his life in\ntheir shadows. Volcan peered out towards the street where he saw a couple of\ncars parked by the curb; a car with chain decals in the side, running from the\nfront of the car to the back, a car rim without a tire resting on the door,\nfastened to and tangled in the chains.            The Chained Rims.            Grimacing, Volcan spoke into the phone again. \"Check\nthat; going to be a few minutes.\"            \"Ah damn... need a\nhand? I can get out there real quick.\"            \"Nah, just three Rim jockeys poundin' on someone in an\nalley; won't take me long,\" he said as he leapt up onto the ledge. \"See you\nsoon.\" And with that, he hung up the phone, returned it to his pocket and leapt\nover the edge, flaring open his wings and bathing the alley in more shadow as\nhe fell; the sudden increase in darkness caught the attention of the gangsters,\nand they looked up to see the phoenix dropping at them, instinctively\nbackpedalling in a rush to get out of his way before he landed on them. Out of\nhis path, the phoenix landed hard on the ground, withstanding a full that\nwould've broken the legs of a normal person, but shrugging it off like he'd\nstepped off of a stool.            Now between the gangsters and downed man, he glared at\nthe three gangsters. \"So who wants to explain this before the fists and fire\nstart flying?\" He asked, crossing his arms as he eyed them scornfully.            \"Stay outta it, Skilerain,\" one of the gangsters, a male\nwolf, growled. \"This is between us and the Orphan there.\"            \"Orphan? You mean one of the little gangs from the\ndowntown area?\" Volcan asked. \"These guys are barely even half the size of your\ncrew; what interest you got in him?\"            \"His crew mates have been moving on our turf lately, and\nyesterday one of our drivers, Lenny, suddenly up and vanished!\" The wolf\nreplied. \"We know it was these punks who did it; we're trying to find out where\nour boy is.\"            Volcan looked over his shoulder at the gangster behind\nhim, who was currently in a fetal position, eyeing the phoenix in terror. He\nglared back at the Rim gangsters again. \"You took a moment to look at his face?\nHe's terrified; if he knew anything he'd have told you,\" stated the phoenix.\n\"Furthermore, the Orphans don't go picking fights with other gangs; it's not\ntheir way and they especially wouldn't be going after the biggest street crew\nin the city.\"            The wolf eyed Volcan, looking over his shoulder briefly\nat the other two with him. Both actually seemed to agree with what the phoenix\nwas saying, or maybe they were too afraid of Volcan to dare try fighting him;\nthere may have been three of them against one, but a phoenix was kind of an\nodds-breaker, especially fire-type ones.            \"Alright,\" the wolf said, looking at Volcan. \"Say we buy\nthat; what do you suggest?\"            \"I have nothing to suggest,\" said Volcan. \"Nothing you'd\nbelieve anyway, but either way you're going to walk out of this alley right now\nwhile your legs are still whole enough to do so. Or,\" he put his clenched right\nfist into his left hand, audibly cracking his knuckles. \"I can show you three\nhow I sent your boss to the hospital a month and a half ago.\"            That gave them pause. Without another word, barring a\nscoff from the wolf, the three turned and left the alley, getting into the cars\nand driving away. Volcan waited until they were gone before he turned to the\ndowned man; black cat, fairly thin and hardly intimidating, like most of the\nOrphans. The phoenix offered him a hand, and the cat accepted.            \"Thanks,\" he said, shakily.            \"Don't make me regret it,\" warned the phoenix. \"Now,\nthere's not anything to their claims, is there?\"            He shook his head. \"No, there isn't; we'd never mess with\nthe Rims, man, honest; we ain't been making any moves on their turf neither.\"            \"Either,\" corrected Volcan. \"So you know nothing about\ntheir disappearing member?\"            \"Not a thing, man; first I'd heard of it. Don't know who\nwould go messin' with the Rims,\" the cat replied.            Volcan, deciding he believed the cat, stepped aside and\noffered to let him pass. \"Get going. But consider a different line of work; I\ncatch you and your pals causing trouble, I know where to find you.\"            \"Respect man; you got it,\" the cat returned, before he\nstrode out of the alley, leaving Volcan to ponder what he had just learned.            \"Maybe my old buddy Gregory Vinson can shed some light on\nthis subject,\" he said aloud, before he opened his wings and leapt into the\nair, the strength of his limbs launching him out of the alleyway, where in two\nbeats of his wings, he was airborne, and flying over the buildings as he headed\ntowards the nearby Police Station.             ~~~~~             Gregory shifted through the stack of papers, sighing as\nhe propped up his arm on his elbow and leaned his face into his clenched fist\nas he read over the report. Gang violence had dropped drastically since the\nannouncement of the gang war's end a month ago, but it was still at a record\nhigh, and the UFPD was stretched thin trying to settle things back down again.\nIt was starting to overwhelm the already over-tired police chief.            He knew his wife would be displeased with him staying\nafter work again, not to mention he began to wonder if his children felt\nneglected, but there was too much for him to do to go home yet; if he fell\nbehind on work again, it'd just get bigger. After he finished reading the case\nreport in his other hand -a report on an assault that had taken place a few\ndays before that had been solved promptly, he set down the paper half-heartedly\nand reached for his coffee mug, only to find it empty when he lifted it to his\nbeak, and groaning when he spotted another case file next to it.            \"Why does being a cop have so much paperwork?\" He\ngrumbled, standing up from his chair and walking out of the office to go get\nanother cup from the staff lounge.            Along the way, he encountered Obsidian, the newest member\nof the team; Obsidian had been transferred to the Canadian divisions from the\nAmerican in regards to the higher crime rate being on the Canadian side of the\ncity. Since joining, she had proven herself a capable police officer; Gregory\nwas glad to have her, and was certain Lieutenant Hernandez liked having another\nwoman on this branch; nearly all of the officers were men, young and old alike.\nHe waved to her as she passed, but her nose was in a case file she was reading\nand she didn't notice his wave. Shrugging\nit off, the chief kept walking up the hall, pulling his wing aside to let\nanother officer pass on their way out of the staff lounge; he walked over to\nthe coffee pot sitting on the counter by the sink, and found there was a fresh\nbatch inside. He filled his mug, adding a sugar cube to it and starting another\nbatch for the next person wanting a cup before he left the lounge, returning to\nhis office. But when he got there, he heard his intercom buzzing; a call coming\nfrom the front desk. He pressed the receiver button, and spoke.\"Vinson,\"\nhe said.\"Hello chief; it's front desk. I have young\nman here who wishes to speak with you?\"\"Did\nhe say who he is?\"\"Volcan Skilerain, sir.\"Gregory\nblinked after hearing the name, and then, \"Send him to my office,\" was his\nreply. He sat down in his chair, setting the coffee cup aside where it couldn't\nspill over his computer or his papers, and waited.A\nmoment later, a large red and gold avian filled the office doorway; Gregory\ndidn't know why he expected anyone else, as Volcan was the only phoenix in the\nentire city besides his mother. Someone like him was unmistakable, especially\nsince his face was often in a the news anyway, regarding concerts or new album\nreleases in his music career. Although,\nmore recently, most of the city knew him for his actions during the gang war,\nwhere he had openly opposed the gangs and criminal syndicates, resisted them,\nand even ended one of the most dangerous gangs -a group led by three Super humanoid\ncriminals called The Mana, who had been on the city's most wanted list for\nyears, but the police, consisting mostly of regular folk, had never been able\nto apprehend them. Super humanoid beings were rare; species born inherent with\nsuch powers, such as Volcan, were equally rare. Even\nif Volcan had been charged with vigilantism during the gang war, his actions\nhaving done more good than the entire police force had managed led to him and\nhis friends being cleared of the charges, mostly at the demand of the city's\npopulation... and Gregory himself had been among them.\"Good\nto see you, Volcan,\" said Gregory.\"Hello\nchief,\" said the phoenix, smiling in greeting at the middle-aged hawk before he\nsaw the stack of papers on his desk, gawking at how much there was. \"Oh shit...\ndid I come at a bad time?\"\"Nothing\nthat can't wait a moment,\" lied Gregory; he really couldn't spare much time,\nbut he needed a break from the paperwork too, and faced Volcan, folding his\nhands across his lap. \"What can I do for you?\"Volcan\nsat down in the chair across from Gregory, tucking his wings so that he\nwouldn't sit on his feathers. \"A little while ago, I jumped in on what looked\nlike a shakedown by some of the Chained Rims, going after a member of the\nOrphans.\"\"You\nstopped them?\" Gregory asked.Volcan\nnodded. \"Yeah. No punches were thrown, but they were going after the guy for\ninformation apparently,\" explained Volcan.Gregory\ntilted his head curiously. \"Information about what?\"\"Apparently,\na member of the Chained Rims disappeared a while back,\" explained Volcan,\nrepeating what he had learned from the Orphans gang member. \"The Rims seemed to\nthink The Orphans were behind it, so they were trying to find out how, but the\nOrphans guy clearly knew nothing about it so I stopped them from beating on the\npoor guy. Would you happen to know anything about someone named 'Lenny' or\nsomething close to that disappearing recently?\"\"Let's\nsee,\" said Gregory, turning to his computer and bringing up a search bar for\nthe city case files, typing in 'Lenny' to narrow down the long row of ongoing\ncases the page revealed. Only one appeared. \"Here we are; Lenard 'Lenny'\nFrankston, a suspected member of the Chained Rims; he disappeared from his home\nthree days ago.\"\"Anything\nyou can tell me?\"\"Well,\nbased on the case file, the Orphans were probably not involved,\" said Gregory.\n\"Did you encounter anyone during the war who had tremendous strength?\"\"Besides\none of the bosses of The Mana, no, and he died during the fight when his heart\nexploded,\" replied Volcan. \"Why?\"\"Someone\nor something literally ran through the wall of the house from the outside,\nthrough the living room and out the back again. The house walls were made of\nbricks, and the hole left was too narrow to have been a vehicle, and no\nevidence of a bomb or tools being used\"Volcan's\neyes widened. \"Even I couldn't do that,\" he said. \"Not without breaking my arm\nor dislocating my shoulder anyway.\"\"The\nhole was too big to be caused by you anyway, which is why you weren't a\nsuspect,\" informed Gregory. \"That, and your mother, who I contacted, confirmed\nyou were at her diner that night, with your friends.\"Volcan\nnodded. \"I was,\" he replied. \"So the culprit is clearly someone with superhuman\nstrength.\"\"Yes.\nWhat is more interesting however is that Lenny himself is a suspected Super\nhumanoid,\" said Gregory. \"He's exhibited signs of being able to throw\nprojections of light from his hand, capable of blinding people; he's done this\nto get away from police officers before. Yet, despite this, there were no signs\nof struggle at the scene.\"This\ncaught Volcan's attention. \"Wait, hold on; someone knocked down the wall of\nLenny's house and he didn't try to fight back?\"\"If\nhe did, he was beaten effortlessly,\" replied Gregory. \"Absolutely no traces\nbesides a mild blood spatter -blood that belonged to Lenny, we confirmed, was\nfound at the scene. It was like whoever broke into his house simply grabbed\nhim, ran through the back wall and then knocked him out on the porch where we\nfound the evidence. After that, though, there's not a single trace of where he\nmight've gone.\"\"How\ncould someone that powerful simply disappear?\" Volcan asked. \"Didn't the\nneighbors see anything?\"\"They\nsaid they heard a pair of crashes, but not much else; nobody actually saw the\nattacker break into Lenny's house -or back out again for that matter, or saw\nwhere they went. It was quick, clean, and left no trail to follow,\" his\nexpression faltered somewhat.\"There's\nmore, isn't there?\" Volcan asked, noticing the grim look on the hawk's face.\"I\ncan't say any more,\" said Gregory, turning to Volcan. \"What I've told you so\nfar would be enough to get the mayor biting my head off.\"\"Greg,\"\nVolcan stated. \"If there's more to this, you should tell me,\" he said with\ninsistence in his voice. \"You know I'm out almost every night; I could spot\nsomething.\"Gregory\neyed the phoenix with consideration for a moment, before he leaned forward on\nhis desk. \"Close the door,\" he whispered.Volcan\nlooked over his shoulder at the office door, and leaned over in his chair,\nreaching back with his wing to push the door shut with a dull click, before he\nturned back to Gregory and leaned forward onto the desk as well, listening as the\nhawk spoke to him in a low voice.\"This\nisn't the first kidnapping that has taken place since the gang war ended,\"\nexplained Gregory. \"There have been two others, very similarly done.\"\"Meaning?\"\"All\nof the victims who disappeared are registered Super Humanoids,\" said Gregory.\n\"Whoever is doing this is targeting them specifically, attacking them in their\nhomes or while they're away, leaving without a trace or signs of struggle. The\nprevious victim was Pyrokinetic, like you; I'm only using you as an example,\nbut I don't believe it's even possible that anyone could attack a Pyrokinetic\nand there aren't clear signs of them fighting back, so whoever is doing this,\nthey're doing it without their targets getting a chance to even defend\nthemselves.\"Volcan's\neyes widened again, this time with realization. \"They're attacking super\nhumanoid citizens,\" he said.\"That's\nwhy I'm telling you this, because I fear you may become a target,\" explained\nGregory. \"You, or others...\"Volcan\nscowled. \"My friends...\"Gregory\nnodded to him. \"It may be best if all of you stay together as much as possible,\nor if necessary, get out of the city and hide somewhere. Whoever is behind\nthese kidnappings is worse than the Sylvia's or The Mana; if they could take\nthree super humanoids already without a trace, they may be too much for even\nyou to handle.\"Volcan\nwas not fond of that idea. At the end of the war, he'd made an oath; an oath\nthat he would stand against threats like this one Gregory was talking about.\nThreats like The Mana and other dangers the police simply could not handle on\ntheir own. This sounded like one of those threats, and he knew leaving the city\nwas the last thing he could do; even if he got to safety others would be\ntargeted, others who did not know these kidnappings were even happening, when\nhe could possibly have been there to prevent them.\"I\ncan't,\" he said, without another thought.\"What\ndo you mean you can't?\" Gregory asked. \"You can't leave the city?\"\"I\ncan't run away from this,\" replied Volcan. \"Especially not after you told me;\nif I become a target, I'm expecting it, and I'll stand a better chance of\nstopping it before anyone else gets hurt.\"\"Volcan,\nyou...\"\"Gregory,\nwhen the war ended, I promised this city I would help protect it,\" the phoenix\ncontinued. \"Threats like this is just what I want to protect it from. I joined\nthe conflict because my mom and brother were threatened, but when that was out\nof the way, I knew I could make a difference, and I still can. Long as that\nfact remains, I can't run away, not when someone else could be their next\ntarget. My friends and I will be ready for these bastards when they come\nlooking for us, and we'll put an end to them then and there.\"Gregory\neyed the phoenix, and rubbed his eyes in frustration after staring at him for a\nbrief moment. \"I don't know what it is that makes me not want to get irritated\nwith you, but... I can't force you to do anything or stop you from looking for\nthese guys, now that I've told you about them, and if these kidnappers attack\nyou, you'll have every right to defend yourself.\" He pulled his hand away from\nhis eyes. \"Just promise me you'll be careful; this city really can't afford to\nlose someone like you.\"Volcan\nirked an eyebrow at him. \"Someone like me? But I'm not that special; I mean...\"\"You're\na hero to these people, Volcan,\" interjected Gregory. \"Not just for your\nactions in the war, but you're loved for your music as well. People are\nmotivated by you and what you represent by both your actions and your songs;\nyou inspire confidence in others, and you entertain the masses, taking their\nminds off of their everyday stresses. If you were lost, I fear the city would\nfeel its impact as a much greater tragedy than the gang war itself had been.\"Not\nonly that, but I depend on you,\" the hawk went on. \"I shouldn't; I'm a cop, you\nshould be counting on me to protect you, but like you once told me, there are\nsome things not even I or my officers can handle, yet you can, and you're\nwilling to do so voluntarily with justice as your only reward. Threats like The\nMana still exist in this city, but I love this place; it's become a home for me\nand my family. I don't want to leave, but I want to make sure this city can\nremain a safe place for my children -my son and daughter, to grow up in, and I\nbelieve that you are the one who can ensure that. All I ask is that you not\npush yourself too far or take on something you're not ready for, so that dream\ncan be realized.\"The\ntwo avians stared at each other for a while, their eyes meeting. A silence\nstretched out longer than either was comfortable with, evident by how their\nwings fidgeted behind their backs. After a moment, Volcan stood up from the\nchair, and held out his hand to Gregory, his eyes never leaving the hawk's.\"For\nyour children then,\" he said. \"I'll make sure to call you for help and keep you\ninformed if my team and I find anything.\"Gregory\nnodded back and grasped Volcan's hand. \"I can't officially sanction this... but I\nhope that with your help, we can stop whatever menace is causing these\ndisappearances before it becomes worse.\"\"We\nwill,\" promised Volcan. \"Together, we will.\"With\nthat, both released the hand of the other, and with a last goodbye, Volcan\nstepped out of the office and departed from the police station. Gregory watched\nhim until he was out of sight, worried for the phoenix's safety, but confident\nthat he'd be able to weather the storm the hawk felt was coming. Volcan was\ncapable and willing to do what was best for others, with his life on the line\n-he had even done such, having been killed once during the Gang War, only to\nreturn to life and return to the fight all over again like nothing had\nhappened. That steely determination and selflessness always served to remind\nGregory of what being a police officer really meant...His\neyes fell back to his paperwork, and then at his watch; it was already an hour\npast his shift, but there was still much work to do. Still, Gregory had his\nfamily to consider as well; he couldn't spend all of his time away from them\nanymore than he could forsake his duties. He reached for the next case file\nreport. \"Last one, then I go home,\" he said. \"Might still make it in time for\ndinner, be able to help Victor with his homework and put Rachael to bed.\" ~~~~~ Volcan\ntouched down outside of Brent's trailer after a short flight from the city,\nlanding on a hilltop property ringed with trees, just outside of city limits.\nThe property wasn't overly remarkable, consisting mostly of gravel up to the\ntree line, but with three separate buildings -including the trailer, a metal\nQuonset serving as Brent's workshop with a large garage door, but no windows,\nand the covered parking garage, which rested alongside the workshop and was\nwide enough for four vehicles, but only two were there at the moment; Brent's\nblue Silverado, and a brighter blue Dodge Avenger, which Volcan recognized; it\nbelonged to his friend Tsume.He\nthought back to when he'd first met Tsume; The Mana had been trying to shake\ndown her father, a wealthy citizen of Unity Falls, for 'protection' of his\nproperties in their territory. Tsume had no taken kindly to crooks threatening\nher father, and so joined Volcan's fight against the gangsters. She had proven\nherself a dependable ally with her impressive repertoire of skill and\ndiscipline, although sometimes he wondered if may she'd had a little too much fun hurting them...Shaking\noff the thought, Volcan approached the trailer, knocking on the door to\nannounce his arrival before stepping inside. \"Hello?\" He called.The\nliving room, to his immediate left, housed his friends; Pavan poked his head up\nfrom the couch and turned to Volcan. \"Hey, what kept you?\" The light-brown Wind\nPhoenix with red, diamond-shaped markings on his forehead and neck, asked.\"Stopped\nto see Gregory on the way here,\" replied Volcan. \"Some shit going on in town\nhas the gangsters all riled up.\"Tsume,\na green and brown earth phoenix, glanced over from the other end of the couch\nwhere Pavan sat. \"It's the aftermath of a gang war; what do you expect?\" She\nasked. \"Hostilities will remain for quite a while.\"\"I\nknow that, but what Gregory told me,\" the phoenix explained, \"it seems there's\nsome kidnappings happening in the city, and the targets appear to be people\nwith supernatural powers, people like us.\"\"Except\nme, you mean,\" Brent chimed in from his armchair; the hyena, light brown with\ndarker highlights around his muzzle and for his scalp hair, was the only one\namong the four in the room who didn't have any sort of powers, although he did\npossess an inventive mind and an excellent grasp of mechanics and advanced\nelectronics.Volcan\ngrimaced at Brent. \"You know I didn't mean any offense.\"\"I\nknow; was just saying, I'm not at risk,\" he remarked, humorously. \"But, joke\naside, the cops have any leads?\"\"None\nyet,\" replied Volcan. \"But he wants us to be careful; he's worried one of us\ncould become a target for... whoever's doing this. At the same time though I\nintend to try and find them myself, too. You guys have my back on this?\"\"Always,\"\nreturned Pavan, giving Volcan a thumbs-up. \"I didn't run out on you during the\ngang war; sure as hell not going to now!\"\"I'm\nin too,\" added Tsume. \"I could use a little excitement; it's been pretty damn\nboring lately.\"Brent\nlooked unsure. \"Don't know how much help I could be, but I'll do what I can\ntoo.\"Volcan\nnodded. \"Knew I could count on you guys,\" he said, gratefully. \"Although, this\ndoesn't mean I'm going to go looking for trouble, or...\"\"You\nbetter not,\" a voice spoke from behind the phoenix, making him jump slightly at\nthe unexpected intrusion.Volcan\nspun around abruptly, turning to face the doorway, where yet another avian,\nthis one with a body of electric blue feathers, bright yellow eyes, and a very\nathletic build to his form, stood, arms crossed facing Volcan. The avian bore\nsomething of a resemblance to the fire phoenix, beside their eye and feather\ncolours, and the blue avian being shorter, but physically they were quite\nsimilar. Although the blue avian was much more unkempt than Volcan; he wore\ntattered, light blue jeans, dirty with motor oil and soil, and a black tanktop\nwith a tear on the lower right, revealing some plumage beneath, along with a\nminor cut that looked fairly recent.\"Lighris?\"\nVolcan asked, recognizing his brother in less than a second. \"What're you doing\nup here?\"\"Followed\nyou,\" replied Lighris.Volcan\ntilted his head curiously. \"What for?\"\"I\nsaw you coming out of the police station,\" replied Lighris. \"And, I've been\nlistening in on the conversation a bit; I heard someone mention something about\nkidnappings?\" His expression hardened. \"Are you getting yourself into something\nthat's really not your problem again, bro?\"Volcan\nreturned his brother's scowl. \"If the kidnappers decide to come after me or\nyou, it'll become my problem,\" he\nsaid, thought quickly added as he gestured to his friends behind him. \"Our\nproblem. The kidnappers are targeting super humanoids like you or me; with how\nwell-known my name already is, it's only a matter of time before I fall into\ntheir sights.\"\"When\nthat happens, be ready but don't go chasing after these guys,\" stated Lighris.\n\"It's not your problem; you already did enough of that bullshit in the gang\nwar, and that's over now, so get on with your life and drop the hero bit, will\nyou? You're going to get yourself hurt, or worse, killed again, and we might\nnot be able to resurrect you.\"Volcan\ncringed as he remembered that incident... as a Phoenix he was semi-immortal; he\naged much slower than other species, and even if he was killed, by being\nexposed to his element -in his case, having his body burned by a large, hot\nfire- would allow him to return to life, but only if his body was not mutilated\nor badly decomposed. It had to be fresh, and Volcan had been lucky the first\ntime; dying in the aftermath of his fight with The Mana and falling through\ndarkness until he felt himself return to his body.And\nwhen he woke up, he'd been in excruciating pain; the act of coming back had\nbeen worse than dying, but despite how horrific it had been, nearly causing\nVolcan to give up on his vendetta against the gangs of Unity Falls, he\neventually bounced back when the opportunity to end the gang war presented\nitself; the opportunity to drive off the Syndicates and stop the street crews,\nand rather than cower, he took the initiative, and returned to the fight. He\nbeat the leader of the Chained Rims, and with help from his friends, he took\ndown all of the top lieutenants of the Sylvia Syndicate and the enigmatic\nOrganization.It\nhad been a long, harsh road, but he had done some real good. In the end it'd\nmade his death and return to life worth the excruciation. \"Sorry bro, but\ndespite your insistence, I can't just hide from this,\" he stated, defiantly.\n\"If the opportunity to find these kidnappers and put foot-to-ass on them\npresents himself, there's not a force on Earth that's going to stop me. I did\nsome real good in the gang war; I want to keep doing my part to keep Canada\nsafe, even if it's only this one city. And that's final.\"Lighris\ngroaned, rubbing his eyes in frustration with his brother's stubbornness; he\nrespected Volcan's wanting to do something good with the gifts he had been born\nwith, but it still worried the Lightning Hawk. \"One of these days bro, you're\ngoing to get yourself into something too big for you to handle,\" he stated.\"Not\nif I have a good, reliable team at my back,\" replied Volcan, looking over his\nshoulder. \"As I found out during the gang war, nothing's impossible if you have\nthe right people at your back.\"Lighris\nlooked past Volcan, eyeing Pavan and Tsume. \"If that's your definition of the\nright people then I'm even more scared.\"\"Hey!\"\nThe two phoenixes barked, glaring at Lighris.\"So,\"\nbegan Lighris. \"When some real danger comes your way, like a demon or a big\ndamn robot, or even just a pissed off phoenix,\" he smiled at his brother. \"You\nbetter make damn sure you call me, because nobody's going to mess with my kid\nbrother.\"Volcan\nstared blankly at Lighris for a moment. \"First you try to talk me out of being\na... crime fighter or whatever... and now you're saying you'll back me up?\"\"If\nI can't stop you I might as well get your back,\" returned Lighris. \"About the\nonly way I can think of to keep you from getting killed again.\"Volcan\nfrowned at Lighris. \"I lived with you for fifteen years and I still can't\nalways figure you out, bro.\"Lighris\nshrugged. \"Back at you.\"\"Well,\nlong as you're here,\" said Volcan, and stepped aside as he looked at Brent.\n\"Mind if he joins us for the movie night?\"Brent\nshrugged. \"Okay by me, long as he doesn't raid my fridge and drink all of my\ncola again.\"\"Aw,\nwould I do that?\" Lighris asked sarcastically. ~~~~~ Into\nthe darkness of the strange, metal, Lenny was dragged by his arms, too weak to\nresist his captors as he was hauled against his will. They had beaten him,\ndrugged him, even broken one of his legs to keep him from trying to flee, and\nblindfolded him for their journey to the unknown place. Even if he were to\nfight back now, he had no idea where he was or where to go to get out of there.\nNot to mention, with one broken leg, he'd never get far.Suddenly,\nhe was thrown to the floor, one guard standing with his gun pointed at Lenny's\nhead, while the others hoisted him up once more, forcing him to eye level with\na human standing in front of him; an elderly man with balding white hair, a\nneatly-combed full beard, light brown eyes, and a frail figure, forcing him to\nlean on a cane as he stared daggers into the young anthropomorphic male wolf\nstanding before him.             The wolf looked at the man, a pleading expression on his\nface. \"Look man, if you work for Sylvia, I was just comin' to pay her back!\nC'mon man, let me...!\" He was interrupted by a fist striking him across the face\nby one of the guards. \"God dammit, I'll pay her already; just let me go!\" He\ncried.            \"I'm not here to collect for some gang boss, boy,\"\nreturned the elderly man. \"And, you need not worry about those anymore, because\nas of now, you no longer exist.\"            \"Say what?\" Lenny asked.            \"As of today, you are nothing more than a test subject\nfor the Intelligence Team of the Unnatural and Extraordinary; forget your old\nlife, because you no longer have one,\" stated the man.            \"Whoa what the fuck, man, why do you want me?! I'm\nnobody; I'm just a fucking street racer, not some mutant!\"            \"You're a super humanoid; you have unnatural powers,\"\nsaid the man. \"And our mission is to rid the world of people like you. Now,\nyou'll assist in that endeavor.\" He stepped aside. \"Cells.\"            \"On our way,\" returned the guards as they dragged away\nLenny, the wolf kicking and screaming through the base; his struggles became so\nenthusiastic that one of the guards bludgeoned him again, knocking him unconscious\nto cease his struggles.            \"Another piece of filth off the street,\" stated the\nelderly man.            One of the retrieval team members, Observer One, he was\ncalled; the second-in-command of the first retrieval team, and the eyes and\nears of Jacob Rex for the squad, turned to the man. \"What is our next\nobjective, sir?\"            \"I'm glad you asked, Observer One,\" replied Rex. \"There's\na phoenix in the city; one that could pose a threat to our work.\"            \"You are referring to Volcanoran Skilerain, sir?\"            \"Correct; you are indeed worthy of your title\n'Observer',\" complimented Rex, turning to the masked figure fully. \"You're aware\nof his 'hero' title, I presume?\"            \"Of course; he's been in every newspaper, web site and\nlocal networks for weeks,\" returned Observer One.            \"Well, we both know it is a façade; he's poisoned their\nhearts, making them trust him so that when the E.B's make their move, the good,\nnormal people of the world will never see his betrayal coming,\" he tapped his\ncane on the floor. \"The police will be watching for us, so we must bide our\ntime for the moment, but in one week, maybe more,I want you to round up a standard\nsquad, and retrieve him; I want him here laid across a lab table for dissection\nwhere his kind belongs.\"            Observer One nodded to Rex. \"I will do so, Doctor. I'll\npersonally make certain we bring in the phoenix.\"            Rex nodded. \"To a purified world,\" he said.            \"May the day of the purge come swift, and thorough,\"\nreturned Observer one.            ","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/845916-arc-3-chapter-1-the-spawn.json"}