[22:45]

A young woman waits in line outside of a famous nightclub. She stands out of place for two reasons; the first is that she's naturally too beautiful. Her skin is white with a light brown tan, her hair is long brown with natural red highlights at the ends, and her eyes are light green with the ability to mesmerize any man or woman who gazes into them. The second reason is that she's wearing 'normal' clothes. At any party or nightclub in Midcity, most women and men like to fancy themselves wearing something either modern streetwear aesthetic or something extremely futuristic, with no in-between. Though wearing a cool-looking shirt or a nice revealing outfit is common ground. Evident in how everyone behind and in front of her is dressed. This pretty woman looks like she just got off work wearing a white long-sleeve dress shirt, with only the top two buttons left unbuttoned and the shirt tucked adequately in her black jeans.

The line shifts again, finally making her first in line. In front of her, two security guards stand. One is big in muscle, and the other is smaller and skinnier with an electronic tablet. The two look up and down at the beautiful woman, and perverse thoughts cross their minds. Anyone could tell what they are thinking, yet, this woman is utterly oblivious to the obvious.

Guard One- "Identification please."

The big guard standing without the tablet said it subtly flirtatiously, pronouncing every syllable with a horny emphasis. She pulled out her McID that she bore ready in her pocket and pulled it out. The guard with the tablet grabs it from her hand and checks it.

Guard Two- "Age nineteen and… Brooklyn Royce."

Brooklyn gives a closed-mouth smile to silently confirm it's her. The security guards were dumbfounded yet, at the same time, flustered by her smile.

Brooklyn- "Was it a hundred to get in?"

Guard Two- "All Royces enter cost-free, Vicino policy."

Guard One- "Especially Brooklyn Royce."

They both had respectful tones.

Brooklyn- "Ah thank you, I'll give Veno my thanks if I see him inside."

They move out of the way, allowing her to go inside. She has a smile on her face as she walks in. A smile that makes the two guards smile themselves.

Brooklyn- 'Lucky I ain't have to spend anything. I can put this towards groceries.'

Outside the club, the only clues people can tell that the place is active are its lights and the sound of the building's vibrations. The sound of music and people are next to silent. However, inside the club, the vibrations are two times stronger, the neon disco lights are sporadic, and everywhere yet darkness reigns supreme on the ground floor, and the sounds of music and people are loud. Despite the constant cooling air conditioning, it's still hot. It is not Brooklyn's first time at a party, but it is her first time at Vicino. She didn't know that the club's lighting was so chaotic. People are everywhere, turning different colors while dancing, and a bright flash keeps hitting her face. It would not be a surprise if someone had an epileptic seizure in such a place.

Brooklyn keeps it moving, making her way past the dense and physically active crowd. She eventually finds herself inside the casino. Where people in casual and formal attire play traditional casino games and such. Almost a new world in comparison, it is much quieter, and none of the music or vibrations from the party room could be heard. She takes out her phone and calls her friend Olivia.

Brooklyn- "Liv?"

Olivia- "Brooklyn!!!!!!"

It's clear as day that her friend is clearly under the influence, the usual on these late nights.

Brooklyn- "Where are you?

Olivia- "Where am I?!?! Where are YOU girl?!"

Brooklyn- "I'm in the casino."

Olivia- "Damn, you far as hell. We at de social lounge. Make yo way back to the dance floor and go… left… no right… no north. One of dem compass routes."

Brooklyn- "Ok. I'll see you in a bit."

Olivia- "Bet. Hurry up too, I got dis one girl I wanted you to meet. She da new roommate you been looking for."

Olivia ends the call right after.

Brooklyn- 'She sounds fun already. But the only reason why I'm here is for a roommate. And a bathroom.'

She has only come to this place because she is in need of a roommate. She was searching for one previously, yet they were literally just about everyone she came across, and the only qualifier was if they seemed friendly. Her definition of friendly is very inclusive as well. Then her best friend, Olivia, considerably rejected this strategy altogether once she found out about it. She offered (practically made her) Brooklyn to come to the Vicino at such a late time to meet new friends that Olivia specifically trusted.

Brooklyn makes her way to the other side of the building. The building is shaped like a bowl with a ceiling. It has a smaller base; the further up, it gets wider, up to six stories tall. From the outside, most people new to the city believe it's an arena or an amphitheater of sorts.

After some time, she finally makes it over and finds her friend. Inside the lounge, the music and vibrations are heard but not as loud to where speech is hindered. People are either sitting or standing, making conversation with each other. Olivia right away sights and hugs onto Brooklyn, who can smell the alcohol from her friend. Olivia is of Viatnamese descent, a pretty girl with long black hair with blonde strands within it and pretty brown eyes. Olivia ends the hug and begins to introduce her friends.

Olivia- "Guys, this is my friend, THE Brooklyn Royce."

Brooklyn shortly waves with an open, genuine smile.

Olivia- "This is Lila."

She is a cute blonde with short hair and blue eyes.

Olivia- "This is Chessie."

A more mature-looking adult woman with black hair.

Olivia- "This…"

Brooklyn- "Sorry Liv but I need to go to the bathroom really bad, I've been holding it in."

Olivia- "Oh yeah o'course, right around dat corner go ahead, we'll wait for ya."

Brooklyn enters the bathroom, and after she's done, she comes out to see Olivia and her friends gone.

Outside the Vicino on the street, a white box truck turns its engine on. It drives out of its parking spot and continues to accelerate. It runs past a red light, prompting a police car to turn on its sirens and chase after it. The truck does not pull over. Instead, it continues to accelerate without regard for property or human life. In a straight path along the street divider, it bumps and rams smaller cars out the way and swerves around vehicles close to its size or bigger. Vicino comes ahead in the truck's sights as it sits at the end of the street. Before running into the building, it makes a complete one-eighty-degree turnaround in an intersection and reverses into the building with about two city blocks' distance worth of acceleration. Luckily, no one nearby was hurt when it crashed into the nightclub. The truck didn't go fast enough to break through the building's wall.

Civilians nearby look at the distance of the crash. A couple of brave people come close to the truck to investigate. However, the doors are locked, and the windows are tinted to the point where it seems that the owner simply painted them black. The police car has finally caught up. The policeman gets out of his car and quickly questions a nearby civilian, then tells everyone to stand back and far. Everyone obeys and stands a street away.

The policeman puts in a call for backup and then tries opening the door using all his might. It fails, so he breaks the driver's side window with the bottom of his gun. Inside, a person wearing all black is sitting in the driver's seat. The policeman, pointing his gun, orders the person to exit the vehicle and tries to get a closer look at his face. The person wearing all black turns his head and looks at the policeman. Their face is covered by a white gas mask with black eye lenses. Before the policeman can even react, the truck explodes.

The explosion immediately sent a shockwave knocking down and injuring people nearby. The explosion dug into the Vicino, heavily damaging the building's northern side. The loud blast could be heard a mile away. Even farther, it rings the ears of Denarrow Ace.

He looks in the direction that he hears the explosion. As he stops, everyone around him continues to walk as if nothing happened. He closes his eyes and then hones his senses, hearing screaming and sirens in the same direction he heard the explosion. Most people in this instance either go further away, or some may go to the active scene out of curiosity. Ace opens his eyes with an excited look, deciding to go not just because he is curious but because he is itching for something to happen. Finally an opportunity to see and do something. Though touring the city was satisfactory, any longer for him and it would turn boring.

To ensure he isn't late for whatever is happening, he leaves the busy sidewalk and goes into the middle of the street. He then sprints full speed down the road. He runs in the middle of the two-way street, passing slow traffic on the right and left. He consistently keeps the pace, just above twenty miles per hour. He arrives at the site of the explosion in about six minutes. While running, he did not take a break, slow down, or even break much of a sweat. When he stopped, he didn't need a moment to breathe either.

At the scene of terror, debris, miscellaneous junk, paper scraps, and human scraps are spread out. Chaotic screams can be heard in every which direction. The sound of suffering, panic, sirens, and utter chaos would make it hard for most to concentrate. Yet Ace stands still and calm. He analyzes what's before him.

The interior of the building is exposed, revealing its structural skeleton of multiple floors. Firefighters and first responders are on the scene but do not have equipment ready to go to the higher floors. It would take too long to go around the building, and they focused primarily on putting out the small but the expanding fires already before them. Fortunately, Ace can sense the lives of people fading away with each second passing. He gets to work and makes his rescues. He goes past the firefighters and into the destruction. He makes his way to the second floor by simply jumping up and grabbing onto the floor with one hand, bringing himself up with ease.

Inside, he listens in closely, trying to hear those around who are still alive. He walks and stops by a dead body. He looks down at the corpse, whose body appears mildly scarred. Ace's sleepy expression does not change, and he moves on. He does not bother physically checking the corpse, sensing the heartbeat is already gone. In the space around him, there are a couple of people that need saving; few are actually conscious yet immobile due to injury or debris placed on their limbs.

The first person Ace decides to save is a woman with long brown hair. One of the factors that played into this decision was that he believed she belonged in a critical saving category. Ironically, he is no expert or student in emergency medicine, so his assessment isn't very accurate. Another factor being that she's beautiful.

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As he picks the unconscious woman up, he doesn't realize her white long-sleeve shirt is stuck by some debris; consequently, he unintentionally tears half of the shirt from her body. Then, knowing that outside the building would be colder, he removes what’s left of her shirt fully and puts his own on her. His shirt ends up covering more than three-fourths of her small and slender body.

He picks her up again, carrying her princess-style, and leaves the building. His first save took a couple of minutes, and the successive twenty saves would take around thirty seconds each. Finally, some responders and civilians took notice. Halfway through his heroics, the first person he saved woke up.

The medic kept asking Brooklyn medical questions, which were being answered surprisingly fast. Most people who experience trauma are too scared, distracted, or distressed to respond efficiently and effectively, such as her. Brooklyn is worried and stressed, not knowing where Olivia is, but she has the natural ability to work and respond under stressful and difficult situations. Finally, the medic cleared her, letting her go. She was about to go home until noticing the crowds and the press behind the police line. There is a police perimeter in a one-block radius around Vicino. Thousands of people, including the press, stand at the perimeter gates, curious.

Brooklyn then sees a familiar face, Captain Jacks, heading her way.

Captain- "Ms. Royce, how are you feeling?"

Brooklyn- "I'm alright Mister Jacks, my back is a little sore and my head hurts though. How're you doing?"

Captain- "Was doing fine, wit my wife and kids and then dis happened. I didn't know you went to these type o'places."

Brooklyn- "I don't, usually I'm invited to smaller and less organized places."

Captain- "Invited?"

Brooklyn- "My friend invited me. But I don't know where she and her friends went."

Captain- "You don't think…."

Brooklyn- "I think they're fine, they weren't near me and were probably far away when the explosion happened."

She says with staggering confidence.

Captain- "That's good to hear.”

Brooklyn- “By the way, can you not tell my family I was here tonight?”

Captain- “Yes, I’ll try my best to keep ya out the rumors. But I'm glad you're safe though."

Brooklyn- "Thanks, and thanks to the firemen who found me."

Captain Jacks- "Firemen? It wasn't the fire department who found you, it was a civilian."

Brooklyn- "Huh."

Captain Jacks- "And I think you're wearing his shirt."

Brooklyn then realizes and connects the dots. She noticed earlier that she was wearing a different shirt but didn't think much of it, wearing an all black top doesn't fit her style all too well. This one in particular doesn’t fit her at all. She had also seen a man wearing nothing but white pants just earlier but didn't think much about it either. She then witnesses him coming down with his twentieth save.

Ace's hearing became more scrambled with many more people around. With more heartbeats, it's a little harder for him to pinpoint who else needs help and if there is anyone else. Right before he calls it a night in his head, he hears a loud heartbeat and sighs, a bit lazy to go along with it. He senses the person is on the fourth floor. The explosion was big, but it did not do too much damage to the upper floors. Prompting Ace earlier that he did not have to go up there. Before a fireman could tell Ace that his service was no longer needed, Ace was already on the move.

He scales through the destruction once again swiftly. He arrives on the fourth floor to see most of it is intact. The only part that isn't is the floor, with half of it missing and the other half only cracked. Otherwise, the room's walls and ceilings only face scorch marks.

Denarrow- 'This room must be important if it's still standing like this.'

Standing lightly on what's left of the floor, he finds a middle-aged man on the other side of a desk. The desk itself is a very eye-popping object for it being completely undamaged, and its shiny bright wooden material proves evident. Nonetheless, it's tipped over and stuck on top of a man's left leg drifting in and out of consciousness. Ace attempts to lift the desk with minimal effort but realizes it's heavier than he initially expected. He lifts the desk with some added strength and pushes it back on its legs. It then shortly slips and falls down to the street. One could say that the road was more damaged than the desk when the two forces met.

Denarrow- 'Strong ass desk, why would you even need that?'

Ace picks up the semi-unconscious man and puts him on his shoulder. He looks down to the street, trying to figure out a path.

Denarrow- "Damn, I just have to jump on this one."

His words wake up the man on his shoulder. Ace takes a few steps back and then closes his eyes. The man over his shoulders then feels a familiar sensation; it fully brings him into consciousness and causes goosebumps down his spine. Ace jumps off the building four stories down, touching down on his legs. His legs stay sturdy on landing, avoiding any collapse or fall from him. Then two medics with a stretcher immediately come to get the body from him. As they put the man on the rolling stretcher table, they keep glancing back at Ace, who's walking unscathed and uninjured. Flabbergasted that his legs weren't wholly shattered from jumping four stories high and landing feet flat.

Medic One- "He must be a Valial."

Medic Two- "Most likely, but this man needs to go to Ace Med immediately. His leg's existence is under threat right now."

The medic’s phone rings in their pocket.

Ace is approached by a policeman who looks slightly above the average cop. In particular, he has a black and blue colored straw hat that definitively distinguishes him from any cop he has seen so far. The police officer introduced himself and then asked Ace a couple of questions regarding the explosion, which took some time.

Captain Jacks- "That should be it, we're finished. But again, thank ya for your service as a civilian. Ya sure you wouldn't want a medal? I could get something goin with the Commissioner and Mayor."

Denarrow- "No, I don't want a medal."

He says in a monotone voice, slightly highlighting his irritation and wanting to leave.

Denarrow- "But do you know where this is?"

He reaches into his pocket, pulling out the poster he collected earlier. Captain's eyes open wide when Ace unfolds and shows the sign.

Captain Jacks- "Do you have business there or something?"

Denarrow- "I'm looking to stay somewhere for a night or two and came across this."

Captain Jacks- "I don't know about just stayin for a night but that young lady over there will know somethin."

Denarrow- "Thanks."

Ace walks over to a woman who's leaning against the trunk of a cop car. He recognizes her and his shirt.

Brooklyn looks up and feels relief. Her friend Olivia finally texted back. Well, Olivia's friend did.

Olivia- "This is Lila Rose, the one with the blonde hair. Olivia's fine, and the rest of us are fine and on the way home. Glad you're safe. And Olivia asks if you need a ride cause your car is in the shop???"

Brooklyn- "Thanks and no thanks on the ride. I'll get to the safe alright."

Olivia- "I'm assumin safe means home then. Sorry, I’m not originally from the city. But, get there safely, then. -Lila"

Brooklyn looks up and sees a shirtless man coming toward her. The man's physique is that of a super soldier, yet his muscles aren't exaggerated but rather lean. She does not stare at his muscular body but rather makes the observation solely to understand how this man could scale buildings and save lives so quickly. Once he comes close enough, she speaks first.

Brooklyn- "Thank you for rescuing me. Do you need your shirt back? I can find something else to wear."

Denarrow- 'Thank god, I thought her voice would be annoying.' "You’re welcome and you can keep it. But…"

He then shows the poster and puts it in front of her face.

Denarrow- "The cop over there told me that you know of this place."

Brooklyn- "That's a pretty old poster. Probably couldn't find it when I was recollecting them. But yeah, I'm the owner of The Holladay Hostel."

Denarrow- "Perfect."

Brooklyn- 'Is he tired? He's not physically exhausted, I think.'

His upper eyelids are consistently relaxed, and his tone is boringly monotone. Not a drop of sweat and he stands straight with energy.

Denarrow- "How much per night?"

Brooklyn- "Per night?"

She looks back at the poster seeing that the word 'leasing today' was cut down to just 'le' due to the poster's material wear/decay. And additional information that was at the bottom looked to have just been ripped off in some way or form.

Brooklyn- "Ahh, do you think this is an actual hostel."

Denarrow- "Yeah, I thought it was a hotel."

Brooklyn- "That's not the same as a hostel."

Denarrow- "What's the difference?"

Brooklyn- "Hotel rooms accommodate one to four people; hostel rooms accommodate ten to thirty people."

A lot of people may run out of patience explaining something of such simplicity and of common knowledge during such an inconvenient time, being that she's not on the job. Brooklyn Royce is the opposite. She never runs out of patience and is always up to the task where and whenever. This is evident in her youthful engaging voice and active eye contact.

Denarrow- "But it's not a hotel either?"

Brooklyn- “Nope, its Hostel.”

Denarrow- “But it’s not a hostel either.”

Brooklyn- "Nope, it's an apartment building and all units are currently leased out."

Denarrow- "Oh."

Then a thought crosses her mind as Ace's face expresses irritated hopelessness.

Brooklyn- "Actually, do you want to be my roommate? It's cheaper than anything else around."

Denarrow- "Sure."

Most people would think about or further question the offer before deciding on it. Nonetheless, she backs off the car's trunk and puts her right hand out.

Brooklyn- "I'm Brooklyn Royce, nice to meet you."

She could hardly hold back her smile.

Denarrow- "I'm Denarrow B. Ace."

He didn't know why he said his middle name, but he did.

Brooklyn- "B.?”

He looks to backtrack his words.

Denarrow- "B as in… Beethoven."

It was a clear lie with evidence pointing to his voice reaching a higher pitch.

Brooklyn- "Oh. Nice to meet you then, Denarrow Beethoven Ace."

Denarrow- 'I like her.'

Captain comes in between the both of them.

Captain Jacks- "Do you still need that ride, Miss Brooklyn?"

She nods.

Captain Jacks- "Him too?"

A man in a black trench coat and fedora enters the scene. As he walks, he observes the destruction.

Vivian- 'The explosion was shown to be caused by a truck. Placed perfectly beneath the office of Handu Brazee.'

While walking, for a moment he acknowledges a shirtless-looking teenager with short black hair talking to one of his friends in blue. He makes a turn and enters an ambulance he had personally called to hold up its trip to the hospital. Vivian looks at Handu, noticing the smile on his face as he looks back. Vivian sits down across from him, and the automatic doors close.

Vivian- "Why you in a good mood?"

No answer.

Vivian- "If I'm not wrong, your nightclub was attacked, wasn't it?"

Despite his rhetorical sass, his voice is of seniority, balanced in tone, and rough with each syllable.

Handu- "I was just thinking, detective. The future will be interesting won't it…?"

Vivian- "Right, I guess...? My bad for withholding your visit to the hospital.

Handu- "If my leg is gone because of you, I'm going to need a fusion cell worth of compensation."

Vivian- "But onto the matter of hand, is there anyone you think that would attack you?"

Handu's expression turns from happy to profound anger. The ambulance starts moving.

Handu- "Not too long ago I was met by a terrorist."

His voice is old, rough, and has the tone of an old pissed-off southern Amerigan meth head.

Vivian- "Not surprising, continue."

The conversation had a feel to it that these two had been in similar situations in the past. Therefore, being quite acquainted with each other.

Handu- "It was Hate."

But it was this name that separated this conversation from any other one in the past. Vivian's expression did not change, but it was his speech. Usually, after someone responds to him, he instantly responds right back, but nothing comes until seconds later this time.

Vivian- "Hassen?"

Handu slowly nods.

Vivian- "Why target you?"

Handu- "You're the detective."

Vivian- "And I detect you know. You did say you met with it and you’re still alive right now."

Handu- "It wants everything from me, everything I have, and I just be a puppet."

Vivian- "What you say?"

Handu- "I said 'no'. I'm not givin that thing shit."

Vivian- "I don't know him or it too well, but I can tell that thing doesn't take no for an answer."

Handu- "So, what's the plan then? The guard, the military, lockdown, martial law… Oh wait, it's Midcity, the Code-Level Lockdowns."

Vivian- "Further investigation and then I will converse with Ava. For now, keep quiet."

Handu- "And how will you know that I'll keep to that?"

Vivian- "Please."

Handu- "Will do then, since you're so polite."

The ambulance is only just a few minutes away from Ace Med.