Rewriters [Completed]

Chapter 1: Good Morning

Kaleo was never a morning person, but on this particular day, he found himself preparing to leave his suffocating apartment for a leisurely stroll around his neighbourhood. With his usual maroon jacket draped over his shoulder, he made sure not to forget to take his pair of white headphones before locking up.

The neighbourhood was deserted; silence was its only visitor. Being one of the least populated areas in Vale, combined with the fact that it was six in the morning, it was not surprising, and in fact, what he was hoping for. He could use a calm atmosphere to settle his shaken heart and to ponder what he had left in his future.

Letting his mind and body to wander, Kaleo found himself walking down a street occupied by a row of stores. They were mostly closed, but he couldn't help but glance at them, trying not to drool at the sight of delectable pastries featured on the menu.

Cakes and other treats aside, there was something else that caught his eye.

Ever since the beginning of the era of supers, the news and media industry exploded. The once placid town was, more or less, flipped into a haven of widespread discussion and debates of various forms. The air was rich of excitement, so the media took advantage of it. They were the knife spreading butter and their audience was the bread, plus with more butter than ever to use.

But he wasn't here to recount the events of the past, especially those of the media, so he turned to the object that captured his attention - a stand of free newspapers at a bus stop.

If there was something he would give the newspaper companies credit for, it would be their commitment to have their paper delivered even before the crack of dawn.

Kaleo picked the top set - free things are always welcomed - and scanning through the first few lines.

'A fire broke out in an old building by the Cerulean Coast yesterday. Police are appealing for eyewitnesses.'

Cerulean Coast? That's not far from here.

Kaleo was not particularly worried though. That area was full of long abandoned factories and warehouses - he always wondered why nothing was done about them - so oil probably leaked out of something and caught fire somehow.

Whatever the case, he was not planning to spend the entire morning reading news. Intending to take another quick glance before he continued his aimless stroll, he flipped to the next page, only for a set of pages to slide out.

What is this?

To his confusion, it didn't look like it belonged in the newspaper he picked up due to the stark difference in the colour of the paper.

Bending down to pick it up, he froze midway. Typed in big, bold letters, the main headline read, 'Superheroes: friend or foe?'

Calmly, Kaleo stood back up, one side of the paper crumpled in his hand. A closer look confirmed it; it was a paper published by a different newspaper company, tucked in between the pages of another slyly.

A foul taste burst in his mouth as he screwed up his face in disgust. The gaze of neutrality in his brown eyes was wiped clean, replaced by a deep darkness that hid, yet revealed everything.

Even so, he continued reading.

'It has been almost a year since the esteemed superhero group, the Vanguards of Vale, pursued the notorious supervillain, Harbinger. Yet no progress has been made, with only failures added to their name.'

Any level headed person would have gotten rid of the shady paper by now, but for some reason, Kaleo did not stop.

'The only thing they accomplished is the interference of justice. Their actions contaminated the crime scenes which severely hampered the ongoing investigations led by the police. Vale would have been better without their existence.'