Baltimore, Maryland.
Dark clouds covered the sky, and the heavy rain washed away the sins of the people.
On the rooftop of The Wexford Grand Hotel, tiny raindrops fell on a black umbrella held by a man hidden in the shadows.
Larry, dressed in a black suit and wearing a completely black fabric mask, stood on the rooftop staring at the hotel across from him.
"Yes, the report is complete. The real killers are dead, so they can release Dr. Williams." Larry finished sending this message before focusing on what he was doing.
Larry, naturally calm, was now excited.
He had seen the look of terror on his first prey's face in this city when they received the package announcing their death.
"Zz… Boss, we are ready to start. The live broadcast team is prepared to hijack all news channels."
Since entering a world filled only with death and suffering, Larry had made connections with highly intelligent people too cowardly to take revenge themselves.
He offered them a place in a group led by him, where they would all believe in the perfect way to bring justice to this world.
The laws would become obsolete—there would be only justice for the people.
Men whose children were murderers or abused, children of parents guilty of crimes they didn't commit, victims of laws that failed them—all accepted to work with Larry to bring justice to this world.
And in just five years, they created a special broadcast team.
This is a smart tracking camera that can be easily used by one person. Its intelligent selection of the most precise angle allows streaming both day and night. It withstands storms, heat, cold, and any adverse environment.
It stabilizes transmission with ultra-high-definition images and offers the audience a live experience never before seen on their screens.
Thanks to current technology, Larry had never done this before, but now that he had made great advances and had the perfect equipment, the time had come to act.
Also, running out of time, Larry had to become the predator he swore to be before Sergeant Doakes started looking for him, if he was lying.
"Zz… We start when you give the order."
Larry suddenly heard a voice but wasn't surprised. It was his assistant—one of many who would help him kill the most wanted criminals.
That death list they had created would be the target of their group: the media assassins.
Punishing evil by judging the guilty, they would receive the glorious reward for their hard work.
All who had lost everything would take their revenge.
"Zz… We are connected to all servers. Anyone with an electronic device will see us."
Hearing this, Larry calmly whispered, "Let's begin the trial."
"Zz… The countdown to the live broadcast begins in three… two… one… We're live!"
When the countdown reached one, the live broadcast appeared on the home pages of YouTube, news channels, and other streaming platforms.
The screens in major cities, once dark, suddenly showed an image of a hallway. Hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide used the broadcast channels Larry's team had hijacked.
At that moment, Dexter, at home with his girlfriend Rita watching TV, noticed the channel suddenly going completely black.
"Is the TV broken?"
"I don't think so, it must be the channel." Rita tried to change the channel, but a red symbol appeared in the center of the black screen.
Dexter recognized the symbol from notes Larry always carried. "It can't be…"
"What?" Rita was alarmed seeing Dexter's serious expression and refocused on the TV where red words appeared on the screen:
"Today's trial is for rape and murder."
Seeing the title, Dexter got excited. "The title is way too fake. How can this be on the air?"
Despite his hesitation, he watched what was probably the coolest thing he had ever seen.
"Am I stuck? Why is the screen frozen?"
The live channel froze on a single frame: a hallway inside an office building.
"Is this happening on all channels?" Dexter grabbed the remote and switched between channels, always seeing the same.
Rita soon received a call from a friend asking exactly the same question.
Dexter called Masuka and asked, "Are you watching the news?"
"At this hour? I was about to put on a movie."
"Put on the news."
"What?"
"Now."
"Alright, god, what's going on?"
At that moment, the channel's broadcast changed. The hallway lights suddenly went out and began flickering.
A middle-aged man standing in the hallway casually flicked the light switch twice, and the lights returned to normal.
"Damn! That's kinda scary! What VHS is this?" Masuka got excited seeing the scene unfold.
"That could be a rapist and a killer. The TV channels were hijacked by someone else." Dexter began telling him everything he knew so far about what was happening.
The watermark in the corner stated that the author of the broadcast called himself the Media Killer, a judge of death.
The brief introduction only had one simple phrase: "The scales of death will weigh your sins. Do not enter if you suffer from hemophobia, heart disease, or faint at the sight of blood."
"For God's sake, what do we do?" Masuka paced nervously in his room.
"Wait! Do you know who that guy is? It's Malcolm Derenford, the majority investor of Derenford Energy, the hydrocarbon company! Though his name doesn't appear much in the media, his fortune rivals that of the tycoons always topping the wealth rankings."
Dexter didn't know what Masuka was talking about, but if he said so, it was probably true. "What kind of person dares to do something like this?"
Just as they spoke, the camera switched, and they saw Malcolm being followed to the bathroom by a figure dressed in black.
In the scene, Malcolm had his back to the camera. He was unbuckling his belt and beginning to urinate. The broadcast channel played the clear sound of flowing water.
At that moment, all the lights in the comfort room went out, leaving only the flickering light above Malcolm's head, as if about to go out at any moment.
After that, a deep, cold male voice sounded from the stereo.
"Hello everyone. I am your host, the man who will bring you true justice. Welcome to today's live execution broadcast."
Hearing the man's words, Malcolm's pupils violently contracted. He couldn't hide his fear. His body trembled. He even wet himself. However, that wasn't what mattered most at that moment.
It all started that morning.
Someone had placed a black package on his desk.
Inside was nothing but a simple piece of black cardboard.
Written on it were the crimes he had committed.
Death Notice!
Name: Malcolm Derenford
Crime: Rape and murder.
Victims: Fifteen.
Trembling with fear and ignoring his wet pants, Malcolm ran to his office and pressed the stereo's power button to turn it off.
Malcolm couldn't comprehend the strange phenomenon. The flickering bathroom lights and the voice of an unknown man on the stereo were terrifying.
Malcolm sat heavily on the couch and sighed in relief.
"Today we are going live…"
However, the voice continued. Malcolm's hairs stood on end.
This time, the voice seemed to come from behind him!
It was right in his ear!