A large, dark room with a tacky grey carpet and gaudy decorations covering the walls. The room’s center has a brown mahogany wooden desk, with a group of six people filling in the black corporate chairs around it.
The six people are composed of three men, one woman, and two teenage girls. The girls are sitting to the left of the woman, who is dressed in a poofy black dress and two wristbands of a matching color. Her straight grey hair reached her shoulders. Her piercing green eyes narrowed at the others at the table, her lips slightly creasing downwards.
To her right is a pale-skinned man who is sitting slightly slouched, his hair a curly blond mess. Simply dressed in a solid color black T-shirt and sweatpants. His crimson eyes fluttering open and shut as if he’s trying to be anywhere else.
Next to him is a taller and bulkier man with darker skin who is sitting up perfectly straight. His bald head shakes in disbelief as his eyes narrow towards the unkempt blond man. He motions for the man sitting at the end of the table to leave.
The meeker and skinnier-looking man with greasy black hair who is wearing a button-up shirt and jeans promptly leaves.
The room goes quiet, and the first to speak is the bald man, who addresses the two teenage girls. Taking on a more gentle tone.
A small, soft, and somber smile grows on his face. “I understand if you want to leave for this next topic, I know the names brought up might bring you pain.”
The girl on the right looks nearly identical to the woman two seats right of her, aside from her shorter black neck-length wolf cut and her paler blue eyes. She is the one to respond. Taking on a firmer tone as she looks up at him.
“My sister and I are fine, Ironhide. It’s been a few years, we can handle it.” She taps her fingers under the table as her breath hitches and the rest of her body tenses.
The girl next to her, her sister, looks more akin to the unkempt blond man, but neater with her hair in a ponytail. She gently nods in agreement. Her hand moves up and soothingly rubs her sister’s back.
The woman in black spots this and snaps her fingers. “Elizabeth, Elaine. Out.” The girl who originally spoke, presumably Elaine, retorts, “But Mom, we can handle it!” The woman in black simply points her finger toward the door, and the other girl, Elizabeth, gently leads her and her sister out of the room.
The bald man, “Ironhide”, turns his head towards the woman in black. “Did you have to be so harsh to the girls, Elementalist? I mean, you haven’t even-“
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The woman in black, “Elementalist”, cuts him off: “They’re my daughters, Ironhide. You cannot dictate what I do, I am their mother.”
As Ironhide is about to respond, the unkempt blond man yawns and finally speaks, “Do we seriously need to use our hero names in this meeting? It’s just us three.” While Elementalist scoffs. Ironhide’s eyes widened: “It’s protocol, Paragon, you, as the number one hero, should know this.”
The unkempt blond man, “Paragon”, speaks rather dismissively: “Mhm… Anyway, you called this meeting Ironhide. While I have a good idea of what you’re gonna say with how you spoke to my daughters, you should spit it out already.”
Ironhide pauses. He pulls out a photo of a tall woman with brunette hair in a ponytail, she has a spotted chameleon tattoo on her neck, and she’s staring directly at the camera, smiling with a wolfish grin as if she knows she’s being followed and photographed. Ironhide takes a few deep breaths before speaking, “It’s about Claire Davis, the villain known as ‘Wraith’. She’s been sighted on the city streets. She’s active again.”
Elementalist’s eyes widen. As Paragon suddenly sits up straight, his mouth slowly curves upwards in a grin, “Wraith, you say? She’s been inactive for two years.” Elementalist cuts in “It was probably for the best I sent the girls out. Elaine probably would have flipped and tried to hunt her down.”
Ironhide nods, “Which would’ve been terrible. That violent and vile woman would have maimed the poor girl.” He sighs and continues, “I don’t have to say that she’s known for her brutality, especially against heroes.”
The room echoes with Paragon’s laughter, “Hell, it would probably take ten of me to beat her.” Suddenly, he grimaces, his mood flipping at the drop of a hat as he grumbles: “I’ll surpass her and kill her. I refuse to let that bitch be stronger than me.” As quickly as the mood shift came, it left. Paragon’s expression shifts as his eyebrows un-scrunch and his lips release their curve into more of a straight line.
Elementalist ignores Paragon’s temperamentality and turns her attention to Ironhide, “So, what has she done exactly? How do we know it’s her?”
Ironhide reaches under the table and reaches for a beige bag he had next to his chair. He grabs a few pieces of paper and lays them out on the table. He looks back up at the other two heroes in the room with him, “B Tier Hero ‘Mad Hound’ was found dead three days ago. Remnants of Wraith’s abilities were found as he had 32 large stab wounds as if he were drilled into.”
Elementalist grabs the papers and looks over them herself. Her eyes narrowed as she absorbed every word, growing more and more agitated as she read. After a long pause, she finally speaks: “Based on the file. It’s most certainly her. The only question I have is. Why now? Why come back after a sudden and abrupt two-year gap?”
Paragon’s expression shifts into another smirk as he responds. In a snarky manner, “Well, we obviously would have to ask her.”
Ironhide, sensing the tension, swiftly stands up from his chair and speaks up. “With that, this meeting is adjourned.”
The three heroes stand up and pack up their things, Ironhide hurrying himself, not wanting to stay to witness the spat. While Paragon and Elementalist pack up begrudgingly, not liking the abrupt end.
The three of them exit the room. Ironhide takes the nearby elevator as Elementalist and Paragon grab their two daughters and take the stairs down.
As they exit, the three heroes all have one thing on their minds…
“What will Wraith’s next move be?”
