[center][img]http://i362.photobucket.com/albums/oo63/NMShape/coollogo_com-101751246_zpssjrrpnzb.png[/img][/center] [b]Little Sicily, Lost Haven[/b] The inside of Sergeant Harvey Smith and Corporal Sal Topp's police cruiser smelled like coffee. Coffee and, un-ironically, donuts. Harvey had a certain affinity for the snack, despite its adverse effects on his body. The coffee was mandatory given the fact that it was six in the morning. There had been an attack the night before at Lost Haven's local Roman Catholic Church of Saint Peter. The church sat on the outskirts of the city, in a little suburban neighborhood. Harvey had never been there, having grown up in the big city, but he'd heard only good things about the place. When the call first came in, everyone thought that the church had been ransacked as a result of the rioting. However, research had shown that the suburban areas were almost exclusively ignored by the rioters. So whatever happened to Saint Peter's is more than likely an isolated incident. Detectives were already on the scene, but Thunderbolt and his partner, Sal, had been called in for crowd control. He'd called his sister the moment he had heard about the incident. Laura and her photographer were already on the way when he did. Harvey took a sip of his coffee as he turned the corner and the church came into view. There was crowd of curious and concerned citizens standing outside, with only a single officer standing in their way. Police tape was already up, but that didn't seem to dissuade some of the more headstrong onlookers from getting in. Harvey parked the cruiser in the church parking lot, and stepped out. He quickly finished his coffee off before tossing it back into the cup holder. Harvey winced, placing a hand on his chest. He'd been severely injured during the riots, and had to spend an entire day in the hospital. His entire chest had been blown apart by a powerful explosive by that Gray Owl guy. "Let's get to it." Sal commented as she made her way towards the crowd. Harvey quickly followed suit, pushing through the people and crossing under the tape. The officer on the scene offered a reassured smile. "Glad I got backup. Not much to go around after what happened last weekend. All hands on deck with riot patrol." Harvey began waving people to step away from the perimeter[color=6ecff6]. "Yeah, well, the Commissioner seems to think that whatever's going on around here has something to do with the metahuman who attacked the Augusta Police Department."[/color] The other officer grew visibly nervous. "Not now, guys. We have a job to do." Sal Topp reminded each of them. Harvey, Sal, and the unnamed police officer continued to keep people at bay until they started to lose interest and leave. Many, probably family of the missing, only moved to the other side of the street and gathered into small groups. They were waiting for more information on the case, it seemed. Poor sods. They'd never see their family again, and there wasn't a thing the police or the superheros could do about it. A 2000 Honda Civic pulled up into the parking lot and stopped beside Harvey's police cruiser. Laura Smith and her photographer/partner, Terry Gibbs, stepped out of the passengers seat. The two sauntered over to the police tape and produced their Daily Watchmen press passes. "You're not covering the riots?" Sal asked as they all met near the front of the church. [color=f26522]"Everyone and their mother is covering the riots. The chief wants something different for the Meta section."[/color] Laura informed Miss Topp. "Picture?" Terry asked Sal, motioning with his camera. Sal nodded, and the two walked off and left the siblings to themselves. Laura turned to Harvey and the two walked into the church. Their was a single detective inside, sitting on one of the pews and holding a torn piece of shirt. He looked utterly perplexed. Laura turned to her brother. [color=f26522]"What's going on, Harv?"[/color] Harvey put his hands on his hips and sighed. [color=6ecff6]"This matches all of the disappearances that have been going on for the past two weeks. Torn clothes, destroyed property, but not a drop of blood or DNA anywhere."[/color] Laura pulled out a yellow notepad and wrote a few words down. [color=f26522]"Umbraxis the Destroyer, then."[/color] Harvey walked over to one of the broken pews and bent down, examining the floor at superspeed. [color=6ecff6]"Nothing. Not a sign that there was ever a human being here. Definitely Umbraxis."[/color] Just saying that son of a bitch's name made Harvey's skin crawl. Who could do something like this? Something so...terrible. Harvey had to grit his teeth for all he was worth not to scream in utterly livid rage. He'd seen the video from Augusta. Umbraxis had slaughtered countless police officers. And for what? He didn't want money. Or revenge. Umbraxis killed for entertainment. Senseless murder, for no other reason than his own sick enjoyment. "Stop it." Laura spoke in a voice that could command angels to halt in their tracks. "What?" Harvey asked, although he knew what she was going to say before she said it. [color=f26522]"You're thinking about how horrible this all is. Brooding never got anyone anywhere. It's self-destructive, not to mention selfish. Get over your feelings and focus on how we're going to find this guy and take him down."[/color] Harvey nodded his head in silence. She was right. Laura was always right. [color=f26522]"So, Harvey, tell me: how do we beat something we can't find?"[/color] Harvey began to think. His mind moved at impossible speeds as thought after thought passed through, with only the most important sticking around long enough for a millisecond to pass. [color=6ecff6]"We let him find us."[/color] Harvey said simply. His sister gave him an inquisitive "Go on" expression, so he continued. [color=6ecff6]"Umbraxis the Destroyer said during the video I told you about earlier that he came to earth to test what it has to offer. He wanted our best. He's here to fight superhumans."[/color] Harvey explained. Laura caught on immediately. [color=f26522]"We set up a scenario where Umbraxis feels obliged to show his face."[/color] [color=6ecff6]"A[/color] [color=f26522]press[/color] [color=6ecff6]conference.[/color]" The two said in unison. "We need to talk to Commissioner Valdez about this immediately." Harvey said. [color=f26522]"I'll go with you as Boom. She'll feel be more easily persuaded if she knows what metahumans are going to be there to help her."[/color] Harvey nodded again. [color=6ecff6]"As soon as we're wrapped up here, we'll meet in front of the station."[/color] --- [b]Later at LHPD Central in Little Sicily, Lost Haven[/b] It was late in the afternoon as a crowd of reports stood outside of Lost Haven Police Department's Central Bureau. Commissioner Jessica Valdez stood in front of a podium covered in multiple microphones, each from one of various news stations. Flanking the commissioner on her immediate left and right were two superheroes. The speedsters were dressed in blue, silver and black uniforms with their hands held professionally behind their backs. Standing beside those superheroes were a number of police officers carrying automatic weapons and semi-automatic shotguns. "People of Lost Haven," the commissioner began. "It is with deep sadness and regret that I have come before you. As you know, this city has suffered in recent times from any number of tragedies and displays of violence. Demonic invasions and city-wide riots have crippled our hearts and souls. We thought that nothing could drag us further into despair." Valdez put on a fake look of concern and sadness. "But a monster lives in our midst. An alien creature from another world walks among us, killing people for no logical reason. It doesn't want money. It doesn't want revenge. It doesn't even want to terrorize our proud city. No, this creature only kills for [i]fun.[/i]" She paused for affect. "This monster, calling itself Umbraxis the Destroyer, seeks to test us. It seeks out the best and brightest of humanity and slaughters it wholesale. But we will stop it. No self proclaimed alien god stands a chance in hell against this city's protectors. Lost Haven's finest have been working around the clock with it's metahuman population to prepare for Umbraxis' arrival; and now that he's here, I have only one thing to say to him... "...You will be beaten." The crowd clapped. One man cheered. The broadcast was being sent out to the nation, thanks to the mayor pulling some strings. They wanted Umbraxis to hear them. They wanted to goad out the alien into attacking them when their heroes were at the ready to defend them. Valdez continued. "Here is one of Lost Haven's local heroes, Boom, to speak directly to the metahumans of Lost Haven and the entire United States." Valdez stepped away from the microphone and Boom took her place. She moved with stoic purpose towards the podium, receiving applause from Lost Haven's reporters. [color=f26522]"Thank you." [/color] She started. [color=f26522]"Heroes of Lost Haven, and heroes of these great United States of America, I call upon you. I call you to take up arms against this threat and fight against the darkness. I know many of you are scared. I myself am terrified."[/color] A strategic choke-up to emphasize the point. [color=f26522]"But that doesn't mean we have a right to shirk our duty to the innocent people of this country. We believe that Umbraxis the Destroyer is responsible for dozens of disappearances that have occurred in the Northeast over the past few weeks. He has shown himself to be an insurmountable obstacle, massacring a large portion of Augusta's police with utter ease. He's killed countless people. I ask all of you, heroes, to put your money where your mouth is: come to Lost Haven, and stand against me with Umbraxis. He wants a fight? He wants to test our mettle? Let's give the son of a bitch a fight he'll never forget."[/color]