Second Strike

Chapter 5: The Spark Society

Light can be seen at his house at night, going through some old pictures. 

In some photos, he is seen next to a large group of people, while in others, he is alone with a woman. His bruised hands delicately touch the picture where he is with the woman. Suddenly, there's a knock at Light's door, and when he looks through the door hole, he sees Cloke standing there with his mask in hand. 

Light opens the door, and Cloke enters, holding his mask.

"I have a business proposition," Cloke says, his tone determined. Light, curious, allows Cloke to come in. They sit down at the table, and as Light sips his coffee, he remarks, "Thought you stopped being Zeus, kid."

Cloke responds, "I did too, but I got myself into this, and now I have to finish it." Intrigued, Light asks, "So, what's this proposition about, kid?" Cloke places his coffee down and boldly says, "Help me become a Master Spark!"

Light chuckles and tries to explain, "Kid, Spark users can't just become Master Sparks. They have--" Before Light can finish his sentence, Cloke uses his powers to make the coffee in his cup float and writes "please" in the air. After a few seconds, the "s" falls, causing a spill on the table. Cloke apologizes, smiling at Light.

Light is left speechless, realizing that after decades, a new Master Spark has been born. "I knew you were an inner, but... an outer too? Since...since when do you know?" he asks in astonishment. Cloke responds while cleaning the mess, "Since the warehouse, before you arrived. I had some kind of awakening when I was close to dying."

Light places his hand over his mouth, realizing that this is the opportunity they've been waiting for to fight back. "Zeus, you always wanted to be a hero," Light says, standing up. "This is your chance to truly be one." Cloke stands up too, smiling, and replies, "Let's do this then!"

They both shake hands, mixing their energies and releasing teal-like sparks around their hands. Light smiles and says, "Meet me tomorrow at Vacuum R Us; we will start from there." Confused, Cloke asks, "Vacuums?"

From Hefesto's office, the city looks like a sky full of stars at night. 

He sits on his chair, gazing through the window while sipping wine, his mask hanging on the shoulder of his seat. Suddenly, someone enters his office – a man wearing a big green jacket and a blue beanie stands in the middle of the room. Hefesto places his glass cup on the floor and picks up his mask. As he stands up, he asks, "If you made me stay up so late, it's because you have good news, right, Jonathan?"

Jonathan chuckles and replies, "That's right." Hefesto walks toward his desk after putting on his mask, saying, "Is that so?" He sits down and opens his notebook to take notes. Jonathan starts talking, "Your message was sent successfully, the officer is alive." Hefesto writes it down, and Jonathan continues, "It was really easy, just waited till he got out of work and beat the shit out of him with a bat; he didn't see it coming."

Hefesto places his pencil on the desk and looks at Jonathan, questioning, "You beat an officer in front of the police station?" Jonathan takes a moment to think and admits, "Okay, maybe it wasn't smart, but I was under the influence. That's the only way I can do that kind of thing."

Hefesto closes his notebook and stands up. "Sloppy job, Jonathan. I was clear with my instructions," he says while walking toward one of his collectibles, a gold skull. Jonathan responds, "Yeah, yeah, the job was done anyways. Now pay up for YOUR dirty work."

Hefesto starts emitting orange sparks, anger rushing through him. Jonathan gets a bit scared and takes a few steps back. After a minute, Hefesto calms down and says, "My 'dirty' work is the one thing keeping this city together, but people like you who do anything for a few bucks keep dirtying it up with those spark users."