Different [A Superhero AU] - Book One

Chapter Fifty-One - A City Gone Silent

Mark, in all of his years living in San Francisco, has never seen the city go silent. It's been more quiet than usual before, but this is a new kind of stillness. Not a single person walks down the sidewalk; no cars drive down the streets. It's eerie in a way.

"This is bad," Ken says, his eyes trained on the window. "I've never seen anything like this."

"Everyone is either dead or in hiding," Matthias states, tapping his phone. "On top of that, most media outlets are down. The only news getting out is the stuff the N.A.I. wants everyone to see."

"Geez," Phil mumbles.

Mark glances at his fellow teammates. Like him, Felix has chosen to remain silent, instead staring out the window with a cold expression on his face.

"Hold on, guys." Matthias raises his device once again as the New Age Institute seal flashes across the screen. "They're broadcasting again. Look!"

The heroes immediately gather around, viewing the same brunet man as before. Although he exudes confidence, his eyes reveal a certain exhaustion and pain that Mark finds all too familiar. He's seen it in Jack.  He sees it in Felix every single day. 

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen of San Francisco. This morning, your government buildings were destroyed. It was a pity and has caused us to come to terms with the fact that a city cannot function without leadership. So, it is our honour and duty to take the role of government and allow this city to function more effectively than before."

"That's total bullshit," Ken grumbles. "They're the ones that destroyed the buildings!"

"But the regular citizens won't know that, will they? Especially if the N.A.I. is monitoring news outlets," Matthias replies. "Now shush."

"Our first step as your new leaders is to make sure that the police force is not controlled by an enemy group. Curatrix has always been a corrupt agency, so now we will take the police under our control and get rid of their leader," Matthew continues. The camera pans to a burly man with a gun and the head of Curatrix, who's tied up and gagged. All the heroes gasp, their jaws dropping open and their eyes widening.

"They're gonna kill her," Ken mumbles, covering his mouth.  "How'd they manage to get her in the first place?!"   

The head of Curatrix, a middle-aged woman by the name of Samantha Lewis, stares at the camera with fear in her eyes. The man, whom Mark recognizes as one of the men who kidnapped him and beat up Jack, raises his gun to her head. All the heroes shut their eyes as the shot goes off, ringing in their ears. Matthias, horror written all over his face, raises his free hand to his mouth.

"With the police force under our control, San Francisco will be a better controlled, safer place to live. Citizens, remember that compliance to the law and our rules will be rewarded. The new world is here. Goodnight."

Matthias' phone screen goes dark and the sound fades away, leaving stunned silence between the heroes. Mark glances to the streets again, the stillness becoming more and more eerie.

"With Mrs. Lewis gone and the police force taken from our control, we're on our own. I'm only a missions coordinator, but I can take control for now. We may have one more push against the villains before all is lost," Matthias says, tucking his device into his pocket.

"Wow, that transition was just peachy, Matt," Felix grumbles, crossing his arms.

"If we lose, what do we do? We can't stay here," Phil asks, effectively ignoring the Swede's comment.

Matthias' eyes flick over his team. "If we win, we take control of the police force again and hopefully get to a point where we're able to fight back against the N.A.I. If we lose, we'll probably go into hiding."

"So, to put it simply, the odds are stacked against us," Ken states.

Matthias pulls his lips into a tight line. "Yeah, pretty much."

Mark averts his attention from the window for a moment to look at the other heroes. "In the case that we do win, what happens to the villains?"

"The public will probably decide," Matthias replies. His blue eyes fill with pity as he observes the hero. "That's not certain yet, of course."

Mark nods, looking down at the tile. "Yeah, I got it. I understand."

Somewhere in his heart, he always knew that the whole situation with Jack wouldn't end well. From the very beginning, they were on opposite sides of the same battle. He's a villain, Mark's a hero. They were never allowed to be together, and that's a fact that Mark doesn't want to accept. Despite everything, the hero wanted to believe that the world would be forgiving.  He stopped seeing Jack as a villain a long time ago. Couldn't everyone else see him like that as well?

"In a week, we're going to do one last push," Matthias states. "Is everyone okay with that?"

The heroes glance at each other before murmuring their agreement. As they go their separate ways, Mark heads towards the doors. After a good night of sleep at home, he'll do what he has to do.