Hammer Fist and Tawny Owl

General Lee puts a hand in his pocket and cackles so loudly the man in black could do nothing but look on astonished. The corners of his mouth slowly arch down as his face turns completely black like coal.

"Enough of this nonsense Lee" he snarls.

The cackle slowly dies down as Lee looks him in the eye like a beast at it's prey "So you were going to kill him anyway, weren't you Karl? Gosh, how can I be this naïve? So what now? You are gonna kill me too?"

'What's with that look?' the man thinks before replying "What did you think Lee? That there would be no consequence of your betrayal? You were one of my favorites Lee, I didn't expect you to fallout like the others."

"No friends... no favorites... remember? Karl?"

"That was a rule you set for yourself Lee. You never really opened up to anyone. You never trusted anyone, not even your own men. That's your problem Lee, you never trust anyone." Karl yells.

"So you kill me. Is that it? I thought I was your favorite?" Lee says with a mocking smile.

Karl presses a gun to Lee's head. "You left us with no choice Lee. I gotta fulfil my duty"

"You really think… …that if I disappear, no one is going to notice?"

"You know better than to ask that Lee" he says with a head gesture. An android modeled like the general walks in.

"Yeah, way ahead of me, like always" the general says, keeping his mocking smile "So your big plan is to replace me with an android? I figured as much. You know, no matter what you do, he is going to find out…"

"Your soldier friend? Don't worry about him. Once you are out of the equation, we will bring him in.... Come back to us Lee. We could end all this, this suffering. What has this city done for you Lee? Lee please..."

"Karl, I'm not coming back. There are lots of good people in this city and what you are planning, I don't want to be a part of it. I would rather die, than be part of a bloody massacre"

"Ha! that's a relief" and just like a chameleon, Karl's mood changes to that of a cold hearted killer with an emotionless face. "Well I was getting bored of this whole touchy-feely theatrics. You got any last words? Not supposed to give you this chance but I'm doing it anyway, count yourself lucky". Five henchmen come in and surround the general as Karl withdraws

Lee's smile becomes broader than ever as he says "Before I got here, I encountered an abyss, and you know what it told me?" he cackles once more and continues "It told me that if I'm to die here, then I should bring you along with me". As soon as he is done speaking, he quickly removes his hand from his pocket and at the same moment, a bullet pierces right through his chest causing his finger to release from the switch he is holding. He smiles as he drops to the ground saying in a maniacal tone "Dead-man's switch, a little… …something I… …picked up from… …you".

The bomb strapped to him explodes, sending a wave of intense heat and debris, instantly killing the five men around him and sends Karl flying into a wall as he lets out a loud groan. The heat from the explosion causes the android to catch fire as it sends it crashing half way through a wall. Karl recovers from the blast and stands up slowly and lets out a furious growl. "Jeez Lee! What kind of monster are you?" he screams. "Is this guy really this unpredictable? If he was any closer, he could have killed me". He lets out a sigh and brushes the dirt of his clothes, then scans his surrounding and quickly leaves the warehouse with the half burnt android.

***

After repairing the android, it is sent to replace the general. It takes Lee's chopper and leaves and henchmen come in to clear the warehouse

MELANIE'S APARTMENT

2:15 PM

Melanie is sitting in a sofa, a building plan in hand, other documents and pictures scattered over the center table. "I wonder if he is going to let it slide after all the pleading I did the entire night" she thinks out loud as she makes indications on the building plan whiles looking on and comparing pictures. There is a knock on door and before she could respond, the door slowly creaks open as Ace stands in the doorway staring at Melanie as she stares back without uttering a word. He shuts the door and stands in front of her. "You know, for the record I am not in agreement with what you want to do. That doesn't mean I'm going to sit around and watch you get yourself killed either. If you still want to do this, then I'm coming too" Ace says.

"Does that mean I'm forgiven?" she asks

"Yeah".

She jumps up and gives him a hug. "Thank you" she whispers to him.

"So what is the plan?" he queries.

"Well..."

"Just get straight to the point"

"Right, we make our move on Wednesday, next week. This should be enough time for us to put everything together"

"Okay, so what Intel do you have so far?"

She lifts the lid of her laptop and pulls up a picture. "So I have been doing some scouting for a few hours yesterday and today and found out a few things. See this guy?"

"Yeah what about him?"

"He is the main night guard. He is really skilled from what I've found out so far. He may prove bothersome if we just leave him running around during the operation. Also he always buys coffee at CAD's. before getting to his night duty."

"So? What's him buying coffee got to do with anything?"

"Just let me finish.."

"Oh sure"

"Right so what I'm trying to say is... we drug him"

"Drug him? Why are you making it sound so easy"

"Because it is easy"

"And how exactly do you plan on doing that?"

"Simple, I go to the shop about an hour before he comes around to help aunt sell. Her kids come around 7:30 pm on Wednesday's and that's about the time he comes around. So I drop this in his coffee when he comes then leave when her kids return" she says pulling out a small bottle and placing it on the table.

"Wouldn't that knock him out earlier than expected?"

"No it won't. When ingested, it takes about an hour before the drug begins to take effect. So at about 8:30 pm, he should be out. Then we attack at that same time before those inside even notice what's going on outside"

"Not bad. Can say it's a good start"

"To add to that, there's a high probability more merchandise would be brought that night, meaning more men. So we have to prepare for the worst case scenario" Melanie says

"And how did you know about that?"

"I bugged the building, so I hear everything they say"

"Okay, that's fair" he says nodding in agreement.

"So you got something to wear?"

"That didn't even occur to me, but erm… I would find something once I get back to my apartment."

"Okay". Ace stares at her and smiles

"What?" she asks.

He shakes his head in response and says "nothing"

"Stop it, its creepy".

Ace laughs and asks "Want to take a walk?"

"Sure, let me just quickly clear this place"

"Okay".

WELLS MANOR

7:00 PM

Zarx descends to the lab with three blueprints of old armor designs in his hand. He drops them on a table and arranged them before saying "Alex, scan and project these for me" and making his way to another table. 3D models of the images on the blueprints appear behind him. The armors are distinct in design, size and overall look. Zarx presses a button at the edge of the table and double taps the screen, awakening it as the screen on the table lights up. He slides his hands from the bottom up and an on screen keyboard appears.

He types for some seconds and a map of the city is displayed with all routes marked. Nodding, he moves to the projected holograms.

"Okay Alex, separate the best parts of these designs from the rest. Let's make a hybrid."

"Right away" The best parts of each design projects next to it. He moves to the third design and pulls the chest plate out.

"This chest piece should do. The design should help minimize damages I take. It's a bit old fashioned, but we would work on it" he says staring at it. "Bring me the abdomen of the first design".

The abdomen detaches and moves to him. He turns it and removes a few bulky parts from it. He attaches it to the chest. He spins it. "Alex, which of these designs best protects my back?" Analysis bars of all three designs appears as they are being analyzed.

"Sir, the second but there is a 75% chance of having spine misalignment when using it, which can also result in several health issues"

"Don't worry it, we would work on that later. For now, let's just put the pieces together" he concludes and attaches the back, removes the arms of the first, the legs of the third, the feet of the second and attaches them as well. He adds the hips and groin of the third.

"I think we can work with this" he says spinning the holographic armor before him. "Now the only thing left is the helmet and neck. I think it would be better to make a new one instead" he says. "Sir, what about the old designs? Should they be discarded?"

"No, save them. They might come in handy. Also, correct all alignment issues in this one and modify it for easy movement during combat. Make the lower part of the helmet 'helmet mouth' retractable"

"Right"

"Contact Clifford Wang and ask him to send the rest of the suit designs". On a small section of the screen, a contact information is displayed. Zarx walks to the old suit in the pod. "What to do with you?" he murmurs

"Sir the design is complete"

"That fast? Alright I'm coming" he says and walks back to take a look at it. He spins it and then flips it with a smile. "I like it. Now let's add some color"

"How about purple? It fits perfectly with your name Rex"

"Fits my name? how is that?"

"Purple is a color that represents royalty, and your name Rex means King. So purple is a befitting color for a king, don't you think?"

"Purple huh? Let's see it". The suit is dyed all purple.

"We don't want to stand out too much. Let's put another contrasting color in there. How about black? Put a little bit of black in there and let's see" Zarx says. Alex puts in black as well. "A bit more" he adds. A bit more of black is added to the design. "Let's have a little dragon head marking on the chest as well as a few claw marks on the back of the shoulders". The adjustments are made. The armor has beautiful black patches on it, with the helmet resembling a dragon's head. The arms are well defined with beautiful stripes and the dragon head marking on the chest stood out.

"That's more like it. Modify the armor design so that it's foldable. Like into a backpack. A bit bulky"

"Sir, bulky might draw a bit of attention. How about something less bulky? Like this" Alex says displaying a backpack design.

"Let's just say I like attention but I think I like this one better." he looks back at the old suit "Alex, how long would it take to upgrade the old suit to make it foldable?"

"About 45 minutes".

"Ok. Do it I would be back in a moment" he says as he leaves the lab. A hatch opens and the mannequin in the pod descends in and comes back with no suit on it.

MELANIE'S APARTMENT

WED. OCTOBER 09

5:00 PM

Ace is sitting relaxed in a sofa wearing a pair of black jeans trousers and a blue leather jacket over a black round necked sweat shirt. Melanie walks in, in just a pair of jeans shorts and T- shirt with sneakers. "Didn't think you would be wearing that" she says with a smile whiles pointing to the blue sneakers with black strips on each side Ace is wearing.

"What? The shoes?"

"Yeah"

"And why would I not wear it?"

"I don't know. Maybe because you never wear any of the shoes you win at these competitions"

"Well I kind of like this one"

"Why the gloves though?" she asks Ace who is putting on a pair of black gloves.

"Are you seriously asking me that? You literally have gloves on your suit"

"Wanted to make sure you know why you are wearing them"

"...Don't want to leave my prints at the crime scene"

"Crime scene?"

"Yeah, we are going to commit a crime aren't we?"

"Fighting bad guys isn't a crime Ace"

"Well it is to the police and…" he pauses as he struggles to put on the last glove. "…You better get going if you don't want to be late" he continues.

"Yeah, yeah whatever" she says handing him a small glass case.

"What is this?"

"Night vision lenses" she says and throws him a mask.

"Here is your mask." She says as she walks over to the door. He stares at her as she leaves the room and mutters to himself "Why do I feel like she is angry?"

COFFEE SHOP

7:25 PM

The warehouse guard walks towards the coffee shop. His blue dyed hair sticking out of his cap as he rolled his eyes around from left to right as he by passes a towering man making him look quite short. He stands for a while noting Melanie as though to capture her image and store it up before he walks there. "Go...d ev...nin" he says keeping eye contact with her.

"Good evening"

"They usual"

"The usual?".

"Yes they usual"

She stares blankly at him before turning to her aunt and at the same moment the guard also stares at her then at Melanie's aunt then ask "Is she new?" with the 'is' almost inaudible.

"Oh, that's my niece, she comes from time to time" the woman says and turns to Melanie "Give him cappuccino with extra whipped cream"

"Okay" she replies and nods. A person is pushed from a group arguing behind and bumps into the man; distracted, she slips the drug into his drink and says in a calm enchanting tone "Here you go" whiles handing him the drink.

Ignoring the person who bumped into him, he receives the drink with a smile saying "Thanks".

"That was lucky" Melanie whispers. The woman's kids later arrive and take over before Melanie then leaves as well.

MELANIE'S APARTMENT

7:50 PM

Ace is fast asleep in the sofa when Melanie walks in. "Hammer Fist wake up" Melanie yells shaking him.

He jumps to his feet and looks around then sinks back into the sofa realizing nothing is a stake and yawns heavily before blurting out "Who is Hammer Fist?"

"You are"

"Me? Since when?"

"Since now. Pull yourself together it's almost time" she commands and leaves to get dressed.

"Jeez what's her problem??" he thinks as he stares at her disappear behind the door. "Code names huh?" he thinks to himself whilst helping himself with some juice from the fridge. Melanie walks out after 5 minutes wearing a tawny-colored full body suit with her hair held in a pony tail. A set of detailed designs like an ancient language could be spotted on the suit.

"I like your suit" Ace says

"Thanks"

"So, what do you call yourself?"

"Tawny Owl"

"Yeah you choose the cool name for yourself and you are calling me Hammer Fist."

"Got any better name?" "Yes, Doctor... erm... yeah… erm no"

"Then let's stick with that one for now shall we"

"Whatever" he says stretching. She fixes a mini camera to Ace's jacket.

He stands and walks to the middle of the room as the air from the fan in the room tosses his open jacket to and fro causing it to hide parts of Melanie's body as though it were a cape.

"It's time let's go" she says and they both put on their masks. Melanie's resembles the face of an owl and has a feathery feel. They walk over to the balcony outside Melanie's room.

"Wait, we are grappling?" Ace asks concerned.

"Yeah"

"Is that thing even safe?"

"Yeah, it is"

"Isn't there another way we can use? I really don't want to do this"

"You can use the stairs. I would meet you there"

"You are so not helping, at all"

"Can you stop whining? We are going to be late" she says strapping in, then continues "Beside this one is like a backpack. It would lower us and bring us back up when we return. See you down there" she says and jumps down without waiting for another word from him. Ace stares at the coil of cable unwinding on the wall then straps in as well. "You are okay, you are okay" he says repeatedly to himself, closes his eyes then jumps. "Don't dieeeeeee…" his words drown as he descends at a high speed.

WELLS MANOR

8:15 PM

Zarx is screwing a small red disc together with a tiny screw driver. He stands and walks over to a fortified glass chamber about the size of a crate. "Structural integrity, at 99.99%" Alex's voice echoes.

"Final test, disc grenade version 3.0" he says and drops it into the chamber after activating it. After a few beeps, it blows up sending several cracks through the chamber wall as white smoke from the blast fills the container. "Structural integrity, at 0.5%"

"Wow, man I was lucky. And that's also a lot off improvement. Alex, I need a new testing chamber. Increase fortification value to 20%"

"Sir, the current explosive power of the grenade may increase twice as much when it is upgraded. I advice the testing chamber fortification value be raised to 30%"

"Erm okay, also run further analysis on the grenades, I don't want them setting off on their own like last time"

"Very well"

"Now one more test to go" he declares as he picks a backpack from the table and continues "Time to test this suit. Let's see if you can still keep up" then leaves the lab. His mom is reading in the hall when he gets there. "Mom, I'm going for a walk"

She looks at him unconvinced then asks "At 8 in the evening?"

"Erm... yeah, there is this gallery that I want to checkout"

"Okay, just be back early"

"Okay ma, bye" he says as he walks out. He stares into the distant sky and exhales sharply. "Don't disappoint me" he whispers and starts off by jogging for a bit, then as he starts gaining speed, he puts his middle fingers in the strap rings of his backpack and pulling outwards, the armor spreads over his arms and begins to cover him from back to front. He jumps up and the armor covers his feet as the helmet molds over his head, revealing only the lower part of his face. He speeds past a stationed police patrol vehicle causing it to shake. "What the hell was that?" the cop in the car yells. He checks his LIDAR and it clocks a 100 miles/hour speed.

He steps out of his vehicle for a moment then hits the LIDAR to check if it is broken. He sits in the car and checks his computer for the image taken by the speed camera attached to his vehicle. The image displayed is a blurry image of a humanlike figure in red. He sits there completely baffled. He uploads the image. "Braden surveillance, please enhance the image I just uploaded and forward to the major" he says into the radio. "What in the hell did I just see. I'm I going crazy or what?" he whispers to himself.

Zooming towards a building, Rex finds a flag pole on the building. He then Jumps and holds it, then swings vertically up and forward, landing on the building's roof. He stands there for a while and scans the city. "I'm glad it worked. This will make it easier to respond during emergencies. Also the view from here is pretty amazing" he says and runs off.

WAREHOUSE 12

8:29 PM

"Hey! Bring that crate over here" a short man about 45 years of age and a bit thin compared to the others, who seems to be the gang leader shouts. A muscled man lifts a crate and walks towards the leader, his huge figure makes the leader look even smaller. There is a sudden thud on the roof which causes him to drop the crate and it comes crashing down with a loud bang, revealing the weapons in it and putting everyone on alert. Alarmed, everyone in the room arms himself with their guns pointing upwards at the empty roof.

From the roof Hammer Fist squats on the roof, then looking towards Tawny Owl utters in a low almost inaudible voice "I definitely thought I was going to die back there"

"But you didn't"

"It still baffles me why a warehouse has a skylight. Someone could just break in at any moment"

"I doubt anyone is stupid enough to break in here" Tawny Owl says and signals Hammer Fist who moves to the second skylight. They hammer the two skylights simultaneously, and the glass comes shattering down, causing every one inside to move back as the two looks at each and as if agreeing to something, both drop concussion grenades into the room from the roof. "Grenade!" a henchman shouts as he sees the grenades drop towards the ground which upon touch down explodes. The two jump in as soon as it explodes causing disorientation to all those inside. Looking up once more, the one who gave the warning could only see a blurry blue figure dropping towards him, then nothing as the world within his scope becomes blackened. Without a word they begin to beat up all those in there.

***

Rex is jumping from roof to roof, wall to wall and swinging from poles he comes across.

"Sir I'm detecting disturbances 2 blocks east" Alex's voice booms in his helmet.

"Where is that?"

"It's a warehouse registered in the name of one Scott Ryan…"

"Scott Ryan? Who is that?"

"Scott Ryan is an illegal weapons dealer. He was busted a few days ago by the military during a raid"

"And the warehouse? What's going on in there?"

"IR scans show, there is a gun fight going on in there"

"A gun fight? Why would they fight among themselves?" "Why would you assume they are?"

"Dunno?"

"They are not. They are being engaged by two individuals, a male and a female"

"What are these two thinking? Alright, let's check it out".

His speed increases as he goes over buildings and swings on more flag poles around moving so swiftly one could hardly hear him on the roof. Jumping high one more time, he lands on a building opposite the warehouse and immediately scans the building. He sees several bodies on the floor with the two individuals being cornered by 10 armed men

"This is what you get when you walk into the devil's lair" Rex says then continues "Record everything about these two. I want to know who they are"

"Right away"

"You know the interesting thing about electricity in this century? A single building can be taken off the grid with no problemo. Take the building off the electrical grid. Let's give them a little surprise".

***

The leader of the gang steps forward and roars "Who the hell do you think you are to crash into my home?". The two remain silent.

"I really shouldn't have followed her..."

"Won't talk? Then let's see that pretty face of yours" He says disrupting Hammer Fist's thoughts as he moves forward to remove their masks, but his fun is cut short as the lights go out.

"What the hell?..."

They all put on the flashlights attached to their guns and begin to look around but there was no sign of anyone, just then Rex comes crashing in through the wall causing them to shift their attention to him only to discover a huge silhouette with green eyes glaring menacingly at them from the rising dust as though they were being hunted in an abyss...