"Miss Militia, I might have something for you about Erebus" Hannah heard from her earpiece.
"Yes?"
"There has been a report of an assault on a gang 40 minutes ago; it has been moved to us after the gang members described who attacked them as a man in black Armor controlling shadows. I am sending you the location now"
"Very well" Miss Militia replied. She quickly changed her route according to the directions provided. She still remembered the Armor that sprouted when Micheal fell so this was a useful lead to follow.
'This is definitely the result of Parahuman's power use,' She noted as the warehouse entered her sight. Whoever attacked was not subtle in the slightest; there was a hole in the wall as if a truck slammed into it.
The insides were not spared either, ignoring the PRT personnel all over the scene. Tables were shattered, chairs tossed seemingly randomly; Hannah also noticed how the apprehended drug makers were beaten to the point that most of them wouldn't be leaving the hospital for months.
"Miss Militia, what do you think?" One of the PRt agents approached her, Jonathan, that was his name.
"One of the minor gangs right?" She asked, not noticing the ABB colors, the E88 decorations, or the elaborate setups Coil's mercenaries had.
"Yes, this was just a small gang from what we had gathered, mainly active in these neighborhoods before they were attacked earlier this morning." He said to her while handing her a file of what they managed to gather on such short notice.
She quickly skimmed through it or attempted to do so at least. Suddenly her earpiece flared again "Miss Militia, Erubus spotted, Velocity is on his way to the location, I am sending you as backup"
"Understood"
...
Velocity raced through the streets in his red custom at fast speeds at maximum speeds, which translated roughly to 190 mps. As things stood at the moment, that was necessary, the mass death of the prisoners had left almost the entire city on edge, and so the PRT had to be on top of this case to keep their PR clean and, more importantly, keep the citizens from falling to panic.
That was sadly pretty hard to do with a Cape capable of said mass death running unchecked.
A sharp turn to the left and bam, Velocity could hear shouts and a sound akin to a banshee wailing coming from his target building, police cars were already on the scene. Velocity nodded to the officers who stayed out of the Cape shenanigans and entered the building through a hole in the wall eeirly similar to the one Miss Militia saw.
It was as if who made the whole wanted to be found.
Velocity entered, and his eyes darted around to a scene of chaos, tables flipped while some shattered, bodies on the floor...dead bodies everywhere. Others were maimed howling in pain.
Less unfortunate ones were so utterly maimed only their torsos remained intact; if not dead, they would be getting there quite soon.
Velocity narrowed his eyes while his thoughts raced in analysis 'The method of death is the same, a horrific decaying effect identical to the prisoners. Which means...'
Erubus, Micheal James Duncan was a murderer.
Velocity nearly sighed; the PRT has been trying to spin the tale into an unfortunate incident in which Micheal was out of control of his powers. Of course, that was the truth, but most of the public didn't see it that way; all they heard was that a Cape killed half of the prisoners, many of which committed minor crimes.
That was without mentioning the guards and the warden.
"Armsmaster, I can see at least 6 dead corpses; 2 are maimed and near death. I can also confirm that they belong to ABB; send the police inside to get them out. I am going further in," Velocity stopped for a second and said. He didn't wait for the reply as he went inside.
Each room he looked at appeared the same, decaying corpses in all places while few lived in agony. The more he went in, the more it appeared the gang members attempted resistance, however short-lived it was.
As the screams drew close, Velocity finally saw the fighting or, more accurately, the slaughter. Azen Bad Boys gang members shot, ran, screamed, struggled, and died. Fast Shadows raced through the floor and the walls and the ceiling encompassing all directions, leaving no escape as they launched themselves at their poor victims, anyone touched would start to rot and decay.
Worst of all, Velocity didn't know what to do to stop the shadows; aside from his speed, he was just a human at the end of the day. And sure, they were gang members that answered to Lung from all people, but they didn't deserve to die like this, no one did.
"HEY YOU STINKY SHADOWS" Velocity shouted at the top of his lungs, he couldn't affect the shadows in any meaningful way but he could try to distract them "WHY DON'T YOU FIGHT SOMEONE YOU OWN SIZE"
Fortunately, it seemed his plan worked. Unfortunately, it seemed his plan worked. Dozens of black shadow beasts changed their target and moved far faster than a human toward him who in turn turned around and kept running into the depths of the warehouse.
He saw three other 'battlefields' on the way, and he used the same strategy each time.
'This is a horrible idea.' Velocity knew that, yet he did it anyway because he was a hero. Even though Armsmaster was screaming in his ears to fall back...somehow now that acidic dark shadows blocked his way in.
Finally, Velocity saw him in what used to be an office. Sitting on a desk, casually reading some papers, a man in pitch-black iron armor that was undoubtedly Micheal, the wall behind him was black, as well as the floor at his feet, the only thing in the room left with some color was a door to his left.
'I am surrounded, and I can't keep running.' In front of him were shadows while many more existed behind him; there was no way out unless Erubus decided to spare him.
'I suppose I could try to jump and knock him out, but again, if I did that, those shadows may not go down and instead go on a frenzy again.' Velocity used his accelerated perception to come up with a plan, yet nothing came to mind. It was still being debated if the shadows would go insane every time Erubus was unconscious, or if the incident in prison was a 1-time affair. Eventually, he simply stopped at the edge of the room.
A moment passed in silence as the shadows in the back caught up to him and...stopped an inch away. Velocity peeled his gaze slowly from them to Erebus sitting at the desk. He was looking at him now, casually, too casually, he put the papers aside and spoke to him.
"Huh, I didn't expect you to be the first one coming," He said, his tone slightly troubled. "Frankly, I would have preferred Oni Lee or Lung to find me first. Whatever, I suppose you'll do."
Velocity heard instructions coming from his earpiece, he had a camera on his Visor so Armsmaster and whoever else was with him could see what he saw. Velocity didn't see any reason to disobey what he heard, so he said, "Villain Erubus, it's not too late; all that happened at the prison and earlier can be attributed to a mental breakdown after you were attacked. As long as you come back with me, the Protectorate can promise lenient punishment in the form of public service as a member of PRT heroes"
"Huh?"
Velocity could hear the confusion, and he mentally cringed; indeed, all that death and destruction, in the end,, Erubus would be dealt a light hand as long as he surrendered and joined the PRT.
"Interesting proposition, let me think about it," Erubus said with a light chuckle, he took a second only to say "I refuse"
Velocity tensed, and Erubus continued, "Anyway, you're not exactly in a position to negotiate here, are you dear?"
The Villain stood and walked to the door on his left, he opened it and walked through, his voice echoing "Follow me, Hero, I have something to show you, don't worry about the shadows on the floor, they are harmless"
'Harmless, my ass, ' Velocity thought when suddenly; the shadows from behind extended beneath his feet; he almost recoiled, but they didn't do anything, harmless.
"Follow him; he doesn't seem to want a fight; that is good for us; stall as much as you can. Miss Militia, Assault, and Dauntless are on their way," Armsmaster's voice came through, and Velocity complied.
He walked rather slowly for the degree of speed he was capable of, but then again, who would want to walk a path that could actually become lava?
"Why are you still back there? Come along, hero," Erubus said; Velocity sighed loudly and followed him.
Inside was much like the outside, decaying bodies, only this time everyone was dead. "These crimes of yours will firmly put you with likes of Lung and Hookwolf in the public's eyes, is that what you want to be known for?"
Erubus glanced back at him as he replied "It doesn't really matter to me much at the moment, and stop repeating whatever you hear, it is getting annoying hearing it twice"
Velocity flinched and Erubus continued casually "You know, I actually like you Velocity, you were always one of my favorite official heroes when I read about you guys, it is indeed a shame that we will be at odds in the future"
"I see, so you have decided to be a villain even before this?" Velocity said. He ignored the disgusting smell and horrifying sites as they walked.
"Not really" Erubus shrugged "I am a good guy at heart, it is simply that my definition of justice is quite different from the PRT standard"
"I did like that you guys named me Erebus, though, after the Greek god of shadows, right? Very cool" Velocity noticed he weirdly enphasised 'cool'.
"Good guys don't go around killing people" Velocity replied.
"As I said, we have different definitions of justice"
"And what's the difference the difference? Prey tell"
"You'll see, we have arrived anyway," Erebus said with a serious tone Velocity didn't expect.
They were in front of a giant iron door; Erebus waved with his hand, and the shadows all around surged at the door like starved hounds, inflicting acidic decay and reducing the door to liquid nothing in less than 10 seconds.
Velocity's heart was heavy, reminded once more that he was at death's door with a freshly Triggered Parahuman.
Erebus entered and signaled for him to follow.
After he entered the door, all that was visible was faint light for a moment before his vision cleared and Velocity saw exactly what Erubus wanted to show.
Robin's eyes contracted as he caught sight of the inhabitants of the room. The girls, young girls, the oldest close to 17, if that. They wore scandalized clothes with vacant expressions, seeming defeated and without hope.
That was until something Velocity didn't expect to happen; Erebus erupted with a jovial voice, moving about with silly movement, "HI! Heroes have come to the rescue, don't worry, we will get you off here in no time"
The girls of various ethnic backgrounds turned to them, most with a cautious gaze that made Robin's heart hurt, yet some with a distant light of hope in their eyes.
"Who are...you?" The eldest one of them stepped out and asked trying to seem strong.
Erebus raised his hands to his head and did something that made the petrified Velocity even more anxious. Erebus removed his black helmet and showed a great radiant smile "Hello, my name is Micheal, or as you would come to know me in the future, the most awesome villain in the whole wide world, The GREAT Erebus!!!"
"Do I hear applause?" Micheal put his hand to his ear in a listening gesture "Hmm? Nothing? You guys are boring"
He seemed to deflate before he slowly put his hand to his face in an exaggerated manner "Anyways girls, me and my partner here"
Micheal put his hand around Velocity's shoulder and pulled him in "Have cleared the path for you, go straight up, don't worry about those bad guys, we took care of them, oh and in room number 6, a little lady called Miya, sweet little thing, is resting, fetch her on your way"
The girls looked stupified.
"Come on, come on, don't you want to go back to the city and have some ice cream? It will be my treat!"
Slowly, some of the girls left the room, and soon after, all of them were running out.
Velocity turned to Erubus.
Micheal winked at him and dissolved into shadow.