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"This is my city."

Edward Cunningham was the CEO of SuperIOR Incorporated. He was an older man, in his early fifties. He sported salt and pepper hair and a black, custom made suit. SuperIOR had been founded by Edward's grandfather in 1899 with the intention of developing weapon for the United States military. Edward's father had led the company during World War II. During this time SuperIOR made a number of breakthroughs in the weapons industry that made them filthy rich. The most important of these was Project HER0ES, which was one of a number of projects focusing on creating the perfect super soldier. HER0ES had been a total success (thanks in no small part to Edward's parentage stealing critical information from rival corporations) and SuperIOR had been responsible for the formula that created some of America's greatest leaders and soldiers. Even after the war, SuperIOR continued to grow and prosper as it focused on research into the areas of robotics and genetics, both of which were brand new fields where new information was learned every single day. When the reigns of the company were handed down to Edward the young businessman chose to make the move to Lost Haven. Lost Haven was the city with the second largest financial district and the market there was quickly growing in size and influence. Over the years, many corporations had come and gone. But few lasted as long as SuperIOR did. Edward used ever trick in the book to make sure that competition was minimal. But now, it seemed, those tricks had begun to fail. Organized crime had once allowed Edward to bribe a few mobsters into blowing away the heads of rival companies. But now those familiar crime families had been toppled and replaced by some dark and unknown power. Cunningham, try as he might, could learn little of this 'Cowl' and his new criminal empire. There was no concrete information. Only rumors stacked on top of rumors. Yet it was evident to one like Edward that this 'Shadow Syndicate' or 'Shroud' or whatever the hell they called themselves had their dirty, rotten fingers in every business and every gang in Lost Haven. Even some of SuperIOR's biggest rivals had been the knee to this so-called ruler.

But not Edward. No. This was his city. And no creep in a mask would take that away from him.

"Mister Cunningham? What did you call me in to talk about?" That voice belonged to one Jack Grey. Jack had been on the board of directors for almost a decade now; Edward thought he could trust Mr. Grey. That is until James Abrams, his Captain Liberty, had intercepted a message bound for an unknown source revealing corporate secrets. To his credit, Grey was calm. Very calm. Jack must have thought he was pretty smart; that there was no way his boss knew what he had done. But Edward had been in the espionage business long enough to make a spy when he saw one. The way he moved his eyes. The way he listened to every word you said like it came from the very mouth of God on high. Few could see it, and fewer still could detect it in a tried and true master of the tradecraft like Jack Grey. "You used to work for MI6 before I hired you, didn't you, Mister Grey?" The British man adjusted his tie and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I did. That's one of the reasons you hired me, if I recall. You needed a spymaster for your inner circle." Edward smiled. "That I did, Mister Grey. That I did." Edward turned away from the glass wall overlooking the financial district and walked over to his desk, where Jack was seated. Edward removed a picture from one of the desk's draws and looked at it for a moment before placing it down on the desk's surface. "You're a family man, aren't you, Mister Grey?" Jack looked at the photo and his heart skipped a beat. It was a picture of his wife, two daughters and his son. "Wh-" Jack began to protest. Rage filled Mr. Grey's face as he stood to his feet. "I wouldn't." Edward warned. The CEO of SuperIOR pulled a pistol out of his coat and pointed the silenced weapon at Mr. Grey's forehead. Jack returned to the chair, putting his hands into the air.

"I know how much you love your family. I know how you feel; I have a son too, you know. Not that you know where to find him. I keep my family far away from prying eyes..To keep them safe. Something you should have considered before you spied on me." The door to the office opened and in stepped an eleven year old boy. To his flank was Captain Liberty, wearing his signature armor. The Captain's railgun was pointed directly at the back of the boy's head. "BILLY!" Jack cried. Mr. Grey jumped from his chair and ran for his son, arms out stretched. A bullet pierced the back of Jack's knee, forcing him to the ground with a cry of anguish. "I told you not to move. Now look, you're bleeding all over your son's shirt." Edward shook his head in disappointment as he crossed around the desk and approached the fallen Jack. Edward pulled out a knife and stabbed it into the back of Jack's wrist, jamming the weapon into the wooden floor. He repeated the process with the other hand. Billy watched on, wailing in utter terror. "Now you're going to tell me everything about the man you work for or I'm going to put a bullet in your son's head. Do you understand?" Jack shook his head profusely. "They'll kill my family if I say a word!" Edward pistol-whipped Billy in the temple, knocking the boy to the floor. "AND I'LL KILL THEM IF YOU DON'T!" He screamed. "Who's your direct superior?!" Edward placed the pistol against Jack's other knee. "I-I don't know his name!" Jack cried. "Nobody does!" Edward shot Jack, and moved the pistol to his groin. Mister Grey screamed bloody murder. "We call him the Specter. H-He has a courier collect my reports from a specific drop off point every week. Nothing digital- t- too easy to track." Edward kicked Jack in the side, laughing like a maniac. "Now we're getting somewhere! Who else works for this 'Specter?' I want names, addresses. And the next time you're to drop off a report."

"There are dozens w-working out of SuperIOR. Most of them are blue collar, but they have a couple of our research and management guys on the payroll." Jack responded. "You're going to hand me a list of all their names, and then you're going to write your report like usual. But you give it to Captain Liberty here for inspection first. We're going to track down this 'Specter,' no matter how long it takes. Nobody messes with Edward Cunningham! NOBODY!" Edward pulled the knives from Jack's old, wrinkled hands before pulling Mr. Grey to his feet. "Oh, and I'm sending agents to your house. They're going to keep on eye on you and your family here until I'm done with you. Whether or not they die is up to how willing you are to help me." Edward whispered into the shaken man's ear.

Captain Liberty escorted the terrified father and son out of Edward's office. Cunningham crossed over to a map of Lost Haven on one of his walls. The entire wall was dominated by maps, papers and notes. Edward took a pen from his pocket and wrote a single name at the top of one of the maps: Specter. The map marked all the locations Project Renaissance and Winstone International had been buying up. "I know what you're doing." He muttered to himself. "You think you can take this city from me, Alexa Winstone? I can see through your scheme. All the speeches in the world won't convince me that this 'Project Renaissance' isn't your doing. I've seen it all before! You use a tiny, unknown company as a means to rise to the top. You make them out as the enemy before establishing yourself as the hero of the people. Then you buy up all their land so you can demolish it later and build your own factories there." Edward mused. "You can see it in the riots. It just so happens that these places you had already paid off weren't hit during the attacks. Impossible. Nothing is a coincidence. I see your play. Trying to take my city from me; using these metahumans masks as a front for your push. The Specter, the Cowl, the Shroud Syndicate of Shadowy-assholes...They're all just puppets. A front with fronts. I CAN SEE WHAT YOU'RE DOING, WINSTONE, AND I WON'T LET YOU GET AWAY WITH THIS!"

The expo wasn't too far away. Only a few days from now. Soon, SuperIOR would show the world why it was the best. That it was the beacon of hope in Lost Haven. They would pave the way for the future in robotics, genetics and evolution itself. Governments across the world would scramble to buy up Edward's designs. He'd start a super soldier arms race and make billions of dollars and set himself up as the most powerful man on planet earth. Then, when the chips were down and the world was just recovering from World War III, Edward would be there to pick up the pieces. The 'reluctant' leader of a new, terrifying world.

"This is my city."