VECTOR IN DC

The mushroom cloud suddenly converged and another sort of shockwave was released.

“Get down!!” Fang yelled out as he noticed another wave headed their way, hitting him and Charlotte, almost knocking them off the roof.

Fang immediately morphed the silver rings he had in his fingers into customized claws as they dragged along the ground, releasing sparks and leaving a trail of claw marks along the ground until he was finally able to dig them into the ground, firmly burying more than half of his fingers. He noticed Charlotte struggling to get a grip as she used her flames to try and steady herself but was forced off her feet.

He let go for a second, headed her way, he grab Charlotte mid air as she was about falling off the rooftop, then dug his claws into the edge of the roof.

“What the fuck was that?” Charlotte yelled out with one eye closed as she struggled to open the other due to the wind, shocked and pissed at the same time.

“I don’t know.” He replied, throwing her back up unto the rooftop, while he utilized his silver chain to go beneath his shoes as it served like a chain size hover board. 

“That was one heck of an explosion, it seems the explosive effect occurred twice and with a come back double the size of the first shockwave.” Fang analyzed, watching as the buildings at the distance was a blaze and the air filled with thick black smoke.

“Let’s get out of here, there’s no way he’s surviving that.” Charlotte said with an irritated expression on her face as she looked upon a torn part of her brand new gown.

“Yeah, let’s get out of here” Fang replied, looking down at the array of  ambulances, firefighters truck and police vehicles which pulled up to the scene.

The explosion was so vast that it covered several blocks, bringing instant death to the ignorant citizens who were simply going about their day to day life and minding their own business. 

That’s probably how life is, shit happens without a warning and this incident was one of them. Families ended in a split second, businesses and life’s burnt to a crisp.

The only ones spared from that horrific incident were those fortunate enough to be within Tom’s radius. 

“Holy shit!” Leo exclaimed, “There’s something you don’t see everyday.” He commented, taking in the grisly scene.

Jason was speechless as he looked around the burning buildings and bodies scattered around the place. Then he looked around their immediate surrounding and noticed the cars near them were unscathed.

“Help…!!!”

“Somebody help!!!”

The cries for help filled the air outside the vehicles as the sound of crumbling buildings dilated the cries of the few survivors who weren’t affected by the explosion but had parts of their bodies cooked out.

The sound of sirens from both series of ambulances accompanied by police vehicles, and that of firefighters, filled the agonizing and pain filled air as it signified to them that help was here.

“Good thing you were in the premises Tom, we all would have been barbecued if it weren’t for you.” Leo remarked, looking at Tom through the rare view mirror.

Tom just let out a sigh of relief, he had sensed the top speed projectiles which headed to their direction and was quick enough to extend his deflective field around his immediate radius. 

This was the widest he had extended his deflective field, and the thought of what if he hadn’t taken note of the projectiles at that moment, what if he disregarded it as nothing too dangerous and just chose to ignore it, Leo and Jason would have been dead that minute.

“Let’s get out of here.” He said to Leo who found a way to maneuver their vehicle through the commotion and out the chaotic scene.

…

Later that evening after they had freshened up, the trio sat across the living room as they stay tuned to the news channel for more information. 

The news reported another terrorist attack and confirming that Gotham City had become a target for terrorists and are ignorant as to their demands for they haven’t reached out to the police or media as to why they were doing this or what they hope to achieve from it all.

There’s been word from the Commissioner of police reassuring the safety of the citizens but the wise would evacuate the city while they still have their lives. 

“Even the Joker wasn’t able to pull off an explosion of this scale, this was a cleverly planned attack.” Jason said, spreading a map of Gotham City across the table as all three gathered round.

“These points are where the explosions originated from, and I suspect those tankers were purposely parked at these designated locations.” He deducted as he alighted the points with a marker, connecting them with a small triangle.

“This was our location at that time.” He added.

“Don’t tell me it’s what am thinking.” Leo chipped in.

“Yes it is, I was the target and the innocents all fell victim to this attack.” Tom emphasized, looking back upon the TV screen which showed the remains of the nightmarish  scene.

“If only we knew how the explosions were triggered and from what point they were, maybe we could figure out the people behind it.” Jason said with a hint of wonder in his tone.

“Who else but the Sparrows.” Leo firmly commented, “But an info on the point of origin might be of help.” He added. 

“Actually, I think I can help with that.” Tom chipped in.

“And how do you intend on doing that?” Jase curiously asked, wondering how Tom could possibly locate the launching point when it all happened so quickly.

“Right before the explosion I noticed three projected objects that  could easily be mistaken for bullets but they were faster and moved synchronically  like they were locked onto their targets and were to make contact simultaneously.” He took a brief pause  as he recalled the instant.

“I noticed all three headed our way but one in particular appeared to make contact not too far from our vehicle.” Tom briefed them, but was cut off by Leo.

“So you’re going to trace its trajectory or what?”  Leo asked with an air of sarcasm, unsure if Tom could possibly trace them back to their launch positions.

“That’s exactly what am going to do, it shouldn’t take long to trace it back. One thing I noticed was that all three objects came from one point of origin and maybe we could find clues to locate the shooter, lets head out.” They headed for the garage, dressed as their alternate identities as Tom got into his gear as Ace.

….

A few minutes later they arrived at the restricted area which was the eye of the explosion, sealed of by the police with yellow tapes and barricades as the  occupants of that area had evacuated the premises, many of them were hospitalized while the fortunate ones appeared to have been away when it happened.

Without needing to go through the barricade, Tom triangulated the pathway the objects traveled through and tracked it back to an high up roof top of which he telekinetically carried both Leo and Jason through the air and unto the rooftop. 

As they landed upon the rooftop, they all began investigating the scene and there was indeed no trace of bullet or some kind of C4, but something did catch their attention. “Over here.” Leo called out, squatting to reach for the ground as they quickly made way to his position. 

“What is it?” Tom asked as they closed in on him. “Scorch marks.” He replied, revealing to them a sign of fire marks upon the floor. “From these markings, I’d say it’s a meta.” Jason analyzed. 

“There’s something else.” Tom said, directing a dim light to a region of the rooftop which had claw marks which scratched along the concrete floor and seemed like all five of them had punctured the ground.

“Yup, definitely a meta.” Jason confirmed as he looked upon the scene, his tone carrying an air of sarcasm. 

“Who could….Rather, what could make claw markings like this? See how deep these marks go.” Leo observed, taking a closer look at the floor.

“There’s more.” Tom announced, telekinetically pulling up a silver coin into his gloved hand. “What does a coin have to do with any of this?” Jason asked as Tom tossed him the coin.

“That explains the objects I sensed which made contact with the tankers.” 

“What do you mean? How could someone cause an explosion with a coin, and from this distance at that?” Jason curiously mused as he flipped the coin over, taking a closer look to see if there was some sort of explosives embedded in it.

“Not just anyone, a meta.” Leo commented. “Looks like you figured it out.” He added, looking at Tom who just stood at the edge of the rooftop, staring at the eye of the disaster.

“Yeah, it’s an old trick but this time two metas are involved.”

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