Specter

Prologue, Part 4: In The Heights

This is Part 4 of the Prologue for "Specter". Last time, Moody and her father, Henry, were packing up their things and preparing to leave their longtime home after Naomi, Moody's grandmother on her mother's side, officially disowns the two of them following a tragic car accident orchestrated by Henry's criminal enemies that resulted in the death of Henry's wife and Moody's mother Brigitte. Moody vents her frustration and disbelief to her father, who can only say that they have to accept it, while pointing out that, where one door closes, another may open. Eventually, she succeeds in helping her father finish packing the last of his suitcases, and leaves him to load the car while she bids one last farewell to the rest of her family.

Naomi instantly turns Moody away in grief, leaving her to seek out Naomi's husband Benito, who is also Moody's grandfather on her mother's side. She tries to convince him to talk Naomi into letting them stay, but Benito sadly declines, stating that Naomi's mind is practically unchangeable, and that once her mind is made up, it stays that way. Their conversation is then interrupted by a grieving and hysterical Bonnie, who pleads for Moody to stay, to no avail. The two siblings do draw parallels to Bonnie's earlier story about the twin dragons who were split apart, which does help Bonnie come to terms with Moody's departure.....at least for a while.

The chapter ended with Benito, Naomi, and Bonnie looking on as Henry and Moody leave for parts unknown, with Bonnie making a futile attempt to run after the van in the process. Henry then tells Moody—whom he affectionately addresses as "Lil' Red"—that they are heading for Mercury Heights, New York.....which is the future home city of Hailey, also known as the famous superheroine called The Viper.

This time, we catch up with Moody several years down the road, and watch as she endures yet another tragedy.....

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-2017 (Eighteen Years Later)-

-Knuckle Bob's Boxing Club, Mercury Heights, New York, United States-

Moody, now in her mid-20's and having more or less grown accustomed to her new life in Mercury Heights, New York, pushed open the double doors to Knuckle Bob's Boxing Club, a wide single-story building where she had requested her father Henry to sign her up for fighting lessons so she could properly defend herself.

Recently, she had learned of the famous superheroine known as The Viper, who had just began officially operating that same year. She was a snake-themed action hero who was an unstoppable force for good; not only that, but for the most part, she never killed her enemies, and at most, she only paralyzed them with her Toxin Blade before leaving them to the authorities. For the time being, she also only operated at night, allowing the Mercury Heights Police Department to handle emergencies that arose during the day.

Moody knew that she would be safe because of her clean record, but a small part of her always worried for her father, who had returned to his criminal ways following their departure from San Diego, California. After Naomi had disowned them from the family, he and Moody were disconnected from the family's finances, so poverty had forced Henry to reconnect with his old gang to commit crimes and "make" enough money—albeit illegally—to regularly support his daughter, whom he genuinely loved very much.

Moody knew that the job of the heroes and the police was to apprehend criminals, but she couldn't help but feel a little put off by how quickly they set themselves to the task, often not bothering to listen to things from their point of view first. Instead, they slapped the handcuffs first and talked later, if at all.