Leon was right. Not about creating his own page, but making a difference. Now that he thought about it, he had no way of taking these corporate agencies down, physically anyways.
If he wanted to take them down smartly, what better way was there than to expose the truth about the Gene Matter Serum? And to make the public lose fate in these false heroes?
[NightHunter: @leon_lionheart: You have a solid point... I think I just might.]
He left his fan page, went to his main profile and there it was. It didn't even pass three hours since he posted the video, and he already had a thousand plus followers — most likely from the same number of comments he got from his video.
He stared at his empty profile. The only thing there was the date he uploaded his profile picture. "Aw man, I didn't think I'd become this popular overnight, now I gotta fill this up."
He clicked his bio and stared at the blank note.
"Alright, I'll start with this. But I've got to keep it short and simple. Short and simple... Let's see."
An idea popped up, and he filled the empty space immediately.
[Night Hunter]
[Truth and justice through the shadows.]
"Perfect. But I think to truly launch this account, I need to do sorta like, an introductory video or something. Meh, I'll do it tomorrow, it's already late."
He muted his phone — he still received multiple notifications from his video and he simply couldn't stand it. Then he went to bed.
..
The Next Morning
A jet cut across the bright morning sky, its silver body gleaming in the sunlight as a thin white trail stretched behind it.
The hum of its engines echoed faintly, steady and strong, like a mark of speed against the calm blue sky above.
Within the jets were two individuals — the manager to Lady Impulse. And finally, sitting across him — Vanessa Reginald.
She held her phone impatiently, staring at her screen with intense focus. Almost as if wherever popped up next decided her fate.
Shawn picked up a cup of his favorite coffee, sipped it, then glanced at Vanessa. "Vanessa. Is there any problem?"
"Um... No not really." She squeezed her phone tightly in her hands. "It's just, I feel bad for lying to all my friends and leaving unannounced. And now I don't get to see them anymore." She muttered under her breath.
"Vanessa." He chuckled, then glanced out the windows of the jet. "Look out the windows. Now tell me, what do you see?"
She turned to the windows and stared out, but all she could see was the clear, blue sky they flew across. "The sky?"
"That's right, it's rather lovely this morning isn't it? That's what I call utopia. An Utopia created by the very people you are about to become like. Friends, family, associations. There's no need to worry about them when you're about to make the world a better place for them to live in." He took another sip of his coffee.
"Yeah but."
"No buts Vanessa, you know how it is. Nothing is given for free in this world, not even protection. Sometimes you've got to make sacrifices in order to protect the ones you love."
"..." She didn't know to say. At first thoughts, he was right. "By the way, where are we going?" She asked, now that she thought about it. He never did say where they were flying off to.
"A place of wonders. A place where heroes are born. We should be arriving..." He stared at his watch. "Any seconds from... Now."
From outside the window, they could see it clearly.
A building that rose high above the plains outside Nova City, a towering structure of stone and steel that seemed to touch the sky itself. Its walls gleamed with polished surfaces, marked with intricate emblems of knowledge and strength.
Wide archways and tall spires gave it a commanding presence, while the sprawling grounds around it held training fields and courtyards, built for discipline and growth. From afar, it stood like a fortress of learning—unyielding, proud, and built to shape those who entered into something greater.
The jet descended slowly, and it's wheels retracted as it touched the grounds of the large compound with a soft screech.
"We are here." Shawn rose from his seat and guided Vanessa toward the jet's doors. As the metal frame shifted and unfolded into a set of stairs, he turned to her with a calm smile, and extended his arm forward. "Welcome to New Nexus, a secret academy that builds and trains superheroes. The world's top heroes, Lady Impulse, Blaze. They all passed through here."
"W—Whoa..." Vanessa stammered. It was indeed a sight to behold. It was purposely built large to house all the various rooms and locations within it — ranging from the various dorms and rooms — to the gym — central core and lastly, the cafeteria.
It's training grounds were large as well. And it was created from materials that weren't known to the world yet, making it sturdy and unbreakable — the perfect place to go all out in training.
"But first things first." Shawn snapped her out of her thoughts. "Your phone."
"Huh? Why?"
"Here at New Nexus, communication with the outside world is strictly prohibited. I'm sure you would have realized it by now, why we couldn't let you tell any of your classmates about this? It's a secret government facility, if anyone should know about this. The future generations of heroes will be in danger."
He stretched out his hand. "So you're to submit your phone."
Vanessa sighed. With no other choice, she submitted her phone to him, then stormed down the stairs, upset.
"Hm?" He glanced at her screen, and apparently she forgot to lock it. It showed a specific chat [My Love😫💦 ❤️] and he understood immediately.
The last texts were from her. She called him several times throughout the night, but there was no response. She sent several voice notes, but still no response.
"So this is what she was worried about. Mason huh? I can't let a lowly kid get in the way of Vanessa's bright future."
He typed.
[After everything's that's happened, I think it's time for us to move on in our lives. Get a life Mason, find a fucking job before you end up in the streets, that's if you haven't already. It's over between us.]
He hit send, then blocked and deleted his number before switching off the phone.
"Good grief, why do I always have to be the one to be saving this generation of kids?" He sighed. Then climbed down the stairs after Vanessa.