In the Main Meeting of Super Island, home base of the Super Society, the Supers held a meeting to bring everyone up to speed on various events across the country.
And Major Payne, second in command of the Super Society, was furious.
Why?
His boss, Canman, had invited criminal scum into these sacred halls to present some kind of case.
Not only did this bastard call the head of the Super Society by his real name, but also cursed in the Main Hall as well. Canman will pay dearly for defiling this great hall with the presence of filth.
"You see, this mysterious boss isn't so mysterious. Calls himself Sharkman. And you won't believe this. He's an Atlantean." He said, causing the crowd to gasp and start murmuring.
"He appeared in the bounty hunter game a couple of weeks ago. Don't know why, but he got pretty notorious in the criminal underworld for a while."
Atlantean? Now Payne was worried. Atlantis and Commonwealth had not been on the best of terms after Rocket let that Atlantean girl reside in Empire City.
Now this?
"So he got a job working for this top-tier mob boss called King Kobra of the Kobra Klan. Basically the only gang strong enough to challenge the Dragon Clan."
"They got in a fight recently over a broken peace agreement and Sharkman ripped one of the high-class Dragon Clan members in half. What was his name again? Lao G? Anyway, Kobra trusts him way more after that and lets him be his right-hand man. They even host a big party. Some of your government douches appear there. But that's a whole other can of worms."
He paused for a moment. The crowd was silent in anticipation. Having such insight into the criminal underbelly was a rarity even for them.
Payne gasped. This level of defamation of the government was worth life in prison. Yet he gets to say all this with no consequences.
Disgusting.
"So then Sharkman calls for a meeting for all the big gangs and your super team, Guardians, appears trying to gather Intel. They get mutilated and the Kobra Klan has a pretty great reputation in the criminal community. Soon more gangs hear of this and start allying with the Klan for protection from the Clan."
"So now we know of this… Sharkman. Now we can take him down," Payne interrupts, much to the annoyance of Canman.
"Not now, Payne," Canman said, making Payne slam his thigh, causing the ground to tremor slightly.
"As you were saying, Archer?"
"Yeah, so now here we are. Recently the Klan started making deals with some unknowns and came across some tech that's allowing them to be more of a problem to us…"
"Us, he says."
"Enough, Payne!"
"Anyway, it seems they have portal projectors, a sh*t ton of blasters and guns, and just the other day, I heard Sharkman carried a trident that allowed him to shoot lightning! Now more and more gangs are allying with the Kobra Klan."
"I see. And what happens if we leave the Kobra Klan unchecked?"
"Why are you asking the perspectives of a lowlife…" Payne interrupted.
"I said shut up, Payne!"
"In short, you leave them for long enough and give their dealers some time to arm their customers to the letter, then this could lead to a full-scale war. And the Kobra Klan is at the center of it. Even heard a rumor they have a nuke. Civilians will become collateral soon."
The entire meeting room was still silent.
"Is that all, friend?" Canman finally broke the silence.
"Yeah. I'm done. But can I say something?"
"Of course."
Payne did not like where this was going.
"The fact that you all let this escalate so quickly. The fact that you all are letting a war break out from under your noses, hell, the fact you all need me to tell you all this says a lot about why vigilantes like me exist in the first place."
"You listen here, scum!"
Canman raised his hand. Payne couldn't help but shut up. He hated this. He hated how weak he felt. And he hated that most of the Super community was watching him.
"I hear you, Archer. I really do. But we're caught up in a lot of events right now. The death of Mr. E a week ago. The Demonoid incident at Bellium. The attack on Bay Harbor City…"
Major Payne didn't even know about any of that.
"We've had our hands tied for a while now. I know it doesn't excuse our actions but it helps to know our weaknesses. Thank you for your help."
At that moment Archer raised his robotic arm towards the ceiling. The surrounding Supers immediately tensed up. Amazo started approaching him slowly.
"No, thank you."
Upon saying this, a small arrow left the arm through a small compartment in its wrist. Once the arrow hit the ceiling, it let out a large cloud of yellow smoke that blinded everyone.
It took five minutes for the smoke to clear. In less than one, Archer was gone. The Supers searched for him but to no avail. Some left the hall and began searching the island.
Canman got off his seat and started leaving the hall.
Payne grabbed his arm.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?"
"The meeting is over. I'm leaving."
"No it's not. We've got a ton of sh*t to discuss. What the hell is the demonoid incident? Mr E is dead?! Who killed him?Why do you know about that and I don't? And why did you let a criminal into our sacred hall?"
"Sacred? What do you think we are? Gods that deserve some shrine? This is a hall for meetings. Anyone can come here and speak their mind as long as it's a help to us. You need to get off your high horse. All of you. Maybe then you'll see why so many humans are refusing to join our cause."
Canman pushed Payne's hand to the side and left. Forest Fire quickly followed.
"Ugh… Canman, sir… I needed to ask you something." Forest fire said as she left her seat, brushing away some of the smoke.
"Can it wait, Fiona? I've got a lot on my mind right now."
Canman was the only one who called her by her real name. Canman never understood why.
"Actually, it can't. It's the only reason I attended this thing in the first place. You got a call from the President. He needs to talk."
Canman grimaced.
Upon hearing this, He bent down and threw one of his shoulder cans to the ground.
It enlarged to the size of a surfboard, and he carried her on top of it, causing her to stumble and her cheeks to turn red again.
He then jumped on after her and bent down again to tap it. Once he did that, an ignition was set and the can flew out of the Hall through the open gates.
Major Payne watched them leave the hall. With the remaining Supers still running around searching for Archer, he now had the task of organizing them to talk about the other business of the day.
"Great…"
But he had a feeling.
A small one that started to grow over time. This was a sign of something bad approaching. He didn't know when or what it even was, but he knew something was coming.
Something that would destroy the Super community as he knew it.
And Canman would be at the center of it all…
To be continued…