Conner was in the kitchen of his penthouse apartment on the top floor of the A.T.E facility, spreading strawberry cream cheese on his french toast bagel. The television was tuned to the Federation News Network morning report.

Announcer: “Does Oed V have a new protector? That story coming up next on FNN’s morning report.”

He poured a cup of coffee and with bagel in hand, took a seat on the couch in front of the floor to ceiling screen, just as the news anchor returned to the screen.

Announcer: “For the past month, there have been reports from Oed that there is a new hero in town. A masked, hooded, some would say ‘vigilante’ has been doing his part to reduce Oed’s amount of crime. So far, this vigilante has been responsible for stopping over 15 crimes, from burglary, assault, and drug deals. Again, these are the only reported crimes. Has he, or she, had a hand in stopping more that have gone unreported. So far, surveillance video and news reporters have been unable to catch this person on video. Some people think he is a new urban myth, created to strike fear into the hearts of petty criminals, yet this eye witness says his guardian angel is real.”

Witness: “I was out taking my dog for a walk, y’know, and I guess I made a wrong turn and ended up on the wrong side of town. All of a sudden, these three guys jumped me, wanted my leather coat, and Jordan 44’s. They was beatin’ me pretty bad, y’know, I had to go to the hospital and get this fixed up (he points to a slash wound on his cheek). Anyway, all of a sudden, I hear this voice, almost like a whisper but loud enough to hear, like, it says, ‘Back off’. Next thing I know, somthin’ hits on of them goons and he drops like a sack of wet cement, down an’ out. I look up and this guy is standin’ at the end off the alley, and he’s holdin’ a staff about 6-7’ long. But this ain’t no ordinary staff. I can see it shinin’ like it’s made of metal or somethin’. Nest thing I know, he’s holdin a bow and shootin’ in another guy. Drops this one, as sure as the first one. But as soon as the guy hits the ground the arrow disappears. . . .the third guy sees this and just takes off. Another arrow goes singin’ past me and that guy drops.”

“This guy in the hood comes over to me and I can see he’s wearin’ this midnight blue outfit with a mask and goggles coverin’ his face. He looks at my wound and he tells me it’s only superficial , whatever that means, but I should still get it checked out for any infection. I noticed his bow are gone, right, no staff, either, but he pulls out this club, like a billy club the cops use, from a holster on his hip. He points it up to the sky and something comes flyin’ out the end and pulls him into the sky an’ out of sight. I might be dead, or worse no coat an’ shoes if this guy doesn’t show up.”

Annc: “Who is this new player in the game. His actions so far, say he’s one of the good guys, but. . . he wears a mask. What is he hiding? Does he wear a mask because he was burned by acid or something like that? Or is it for a more sinister reason? That’s this mornings new. Have a great dane, everyone.”

Locksley (ATE)