The Watchwomen

Chapter 6 (Act I): Bringing Duncan Down

We last read Chapter 5, in which Monica Drevis a.k.a Voltara flies into the streets outside of the Tessa Gardenhigh Therapy Institute in response to a sudden attack orchestrated by a huge cybernetic flesh monster and a small army of four female assassins, all of whom seem to be aligned with a rather shady movement. Though Voltara manages to stop the chaos and apprehend the quartet, the flesh monster manages to escape down a sewer to parts unknown. The chapter ended with Voltara leaving an anonymous tip for the Mercury Heights Police Department regarding the recent events, before flying off to evade detection and resolving to gather the Paragons for a video meeting that night to discuss the situation.

This time, we watch as the superheroes decide what to do next. But they just might be blindsided by yet another problem.....

***********************************************************************************************

-Hailey a.k.a. The Viper's House, Mercury Heights, New York, United States-

Hailey a.k.a. The Viper had just returned to her hometown of Mercury Heights, New York about a few hours ago, following her daring, pulse-pounding, successful attempt to steal the Golden Monkey figurine from its opulent temple in the mountains of Lima, Peru. She had first stopped by a nearby hangar to drop off her glider, since it was only on rent, and then swung the rest of the way back to the house using her grappling hook.

Pretty much her entire dinner---which she shared with her mother Amy and her father Dean---consisted of her regaling them with the story of the day's events, while staying in her costume the whole time to reinforce that it was her who did it. Though Amy was undeniably proud of her daughter for pulling off such a one-in-a-million event, Dean was apprehensive, to say the least, constantly bringing up his suspicions about whether that was a good idea or not.

Of course, Hailey herself paid it no mind. Eventually, she finished her dinner and firmly placed the titular Golden Monkey figurine in the center of the table---for her parents to gawk at---before requesting that a place for it be found on the fireplace's mantle.

Then, she excused herself from the table early, to her parents' initial concern.

"You're heading upstairs already, sweetie?" Amy asked, with a slight bit of worry in her tone. "It's not even 6:00pm!"

"Gotta study for an exam!" Hailey fibbed as she continued making her way to the second floor staircase and started walking up. "I'll be back down if I get done early!"

However, that actually wasn't the case. Hailey had received an urgent text from Monica Drevis a.k.a. Voltara in the group chat which the Paragons shared with each other, and the other heroes had gotten it as well. Monica's message was short, concise, and direct all at the same time; it effectively just consisted of a link to a Zoom session, as well as an hour-long time slot, its Meeting ID, and password. Below it were a few choice words.

"Everyone needs to be available tonight at exactly this time," it said, with the words themselves running through Hailey's mind a second time after she pulled out her phone and double-checked it. "It's an emergency."

Of course, Hailey was just as worried as the others likely were, and given that the Paragons were technically banned from crime-fighting at the moment, that limited their options even further. She soon reached the top of the stairs and entered the second floor hallway, consisting of a long horizontal stretch spanning both her left and right sides which contained her bedroom, the master bedroom, their respective bathrooms, and an open loft.

Hailey made a beeline for her own bedroom, turned the knob, opened the door, and closed it---and locked it---once again once she was in. Then, she swiped the button on her watch to shed her costume and transform back into her normal self, revealing that she was dressed in a cobalt-blue collared shirt with very short sleeves and a pair of fitted black shorts. Afterwards, she hurriedly rushed over to her backpack, pulled out her Acer laptop, and hopped onto her bed, opening it and logging in.