Evolving Infinitely From An E-Class Hero-Chapter 64: Hero Hunter

President Viola didn’t reply. Her gaze shifted to the files stacked beside her, sealed reports of unregistered monster appearances , heroes going missing, data breaches in the ISA’s lower Sectors. There was a pattern here, but it was so extremely elusive, shifting like sand through her fingers not allowing her to grasp the situation.

Then, the atmosphere in the room changed.

It was as sublime as ever, a ripple of gravity but so faint it wouldn’t make a sound.

Shhrrrruuu!

The reinforced double doors of the room opened without a sound, then he stepped inside.

The Apostle.

Dressed in a perfectly pressed black suit that reflected no light, he moved like a shadow given form. Smooth, precise, and silent, not even his footsteps were audible.

A pair of black glasses covered his eyes even indoors, and his expression was carved like it was in cold marble

Dr Tancredi shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Even he m, who had stared down genetic aberrations and dissected countless creatures, found himself avoiding The Apostle’s gaze.

President Viola, however, regarded him with unflinching composure. "You’re late."

The Apostle walked forward and bowed slightly at the waist. "My apologies, Madam President. I was gathering... Evidence."

President Viola’s eyebrow immediately shot up into an arc after hearing the Apostle speak. "Evidence of what?"

The Apostle reached into the inside the pocket of his suit and withdrew a slim, matte black tablet. He placed it gently on the desk and tapped the screen twice.

The image that manifested froze the room.

A bloodied concrete floor. Burnt debris scattered around, cracks lined the pavement like spiderwebs and at the very center of it— drawn with surgical and artistic precision, was a snowflake.

It wasn’t drawn nor painted it was engraved right into the pavement with clean lines and crisp symmetry.

A perfectly crafted six pointed star surrounded by smaller, intricate factals. It was beautiful and haunting at the same time like the artist’s signature at a crime scene.

Dr. Tancredi leaned forward with curiosity plastered all over his eyes.

"Where is this?"

"Ahem..." The Apostle coughed slightly.

"What remained at the of a hero. A-Class Hero — Crimson," the Apostle answered with a sharp tone. "Reported missing thirty hours ago during a reconnaissance sweep mission in Northern Sector G. His tracker signal suddenly stopped transmitting twenty seven minutes after entry. We sent a response team of agents. No trace of him was found, except the destroyed tracker "

"He just disappeared into thin air, just like... "

"...Tempest Wolf..." President Viola said, cutting The Apostle off.

Her lips pressed against eachother into a tight line. "And this symbol?"

"Left at the scene," he replied. "No witnesses. No camera feeds. Everything scrambled within a hundred meter radius. Like something blanketed the area with a technological and psionic dead zone."

Dr Tancredi’s fingers twiched. "Snow flake pattern... That’s new. You think it’s a signature? If it is, then why wasn’t there one when Tempest Wolf went missing?"

"Probably not the same perpetrator..." The Apostle replied. "Possibly. Whoever did this wanted us to know they were there."

President Viola studied the image in silence. The snowflake pattern was chilling in its perfection, almost poetic in its own cruelty. Was it a calling card? An invitation?.

Or a warning?.

"We’ve had two high ranked heroes vanish in the last six weeks," she murmured. "But this... This is the first time they’ve left a message." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Dr Tancredi swallowed. "You think this is connected to the Calamity Creatures?"

Silence.

President Viola stood up from her seat, her hands braced against the edge of her desk.

"Looks like we’ve got some kind of ’Hero Hunter’ on our hands."

"And we have to take care of this matter before more heroes go missing... " She said, her voice drooping low to a whisper.

***

ISA Tower C

Sector C.

"Please Mr. Secretary, this is precisely why I insisted the we hurry!"

Two men sat at the opposite sides of a long conference table in the middle of a dimly lit room, they both had beautifly tailored suits on with glasses to go with the attire.

"I agree with you, but all we can do is wait... They’ll arrive soon." The first man replied.

"We’re hopeless! How much longer must we wait when more lives are being lost this very second as we speak!?" The second man yelled in frustration as he jammed his fist on the hard surface of the conference table. Glass cups chimed as they bumped into eachother.

Suddenly, the door creaked open.

"They’re here..."

Two figures walked into the conference room, a female and male. Both had on tight spandex combat gear on they had no bright colors.

The female, an S-Class hero. The first of her kind, the first female S-Class hero in the world— Sonia Pope, aka Lady Phoenix.

She was the only female member of the Guardian Corps, an elite group of S-Class Heroes who were called upon only during the worst of the worst cases.

Out of the Thirty nine known S-Class heroes in the world, she was the only female above the Rank 10 as she scored high with a Rank 6.

Standing right next to her, a subordinate of hers. A young man, with red hair and crimson coloured iris. He stood tall and mighty like a brick wall— Jayden Fox aka Liquid Crystal.

He was a new recruit from the assessment day and had only just been given a B-Class as a result of his overall levels of fitness and abilities.

Jayden was assigned to stand at Sonia’s’ side and assist her on missions, it also presented an opportunity to learn a few tricks from her as she was experienced in the field of battle, whether it was dealing with terrorists, monsters or drug cartels— she was very competent.

The two of them stepped into the light to reveal their faces, the two men at the conference desk immediately rose to their feet to address them.

"Time is of the essence, I’ll brief you on the way — but to make it short, this may very well be the greatest Calamity attack you have ever faced yet".

One the men in suit spoke up with intense focus and grit.

Sonia furrowed her eyebrows, "The greatest Calamity attack?" She intoned.

"I am agent James Clark. At this moment, a cruise ship named The Whistling Derrick is sailing the Atlantic Ocean. It carries over 4000 passengers and crew, it has been attacked by Calamity Creatures in the middle of the ocean".