Arden pulled his mask further up his face, covering his mouth and nose in the process. If anyone saw him they would only see his green eyes. Of course, no one would be looking at him, he was good at his job.

He was sat on the roof of some millionaires estate, while below a party continued unaware of the chaos to come. Clicking his phone a few times he took a quick glance at the target, it was a balding man with a scar going down his left cheek.

He put his phone back into his pocket and aimed his gun down on the crowd, glancing in quick motions through the scope. He paused as he noticed a man that fit the description. Taking aim he steadied the gun and pressed the trigger, not even a noise came out of the gun as a slender bullet launched from it and struck the target through the head.

Arden took the impact of the shot easily and packed up his supplies, ignoring the screams and gasps below. As he launched himself from building to building he pulled out his burner phone and sent a short text to his client.

Done.

He then shoved it back into his pocket and focused on not falling off the towering skyscrapers. The city glowed in the night, lamps and building windows. He had always liked the glowing trees though, some danish scientist had created them. Used jelly-fish genes or something like that to make it, and they lit up the streets in vibrant colors.

Scaling up the last building he pulled himself through a window, the apartment was pitch black. Feeling his way through the room he pushed a button, the lights turned on slowly. His apartment was a cluttered mess of weapons and papers.

He pulled off his mask and tossed it on the table without a second thought, then walking over to his closet he slung his weapons into it. Marching over towards his kitchen he pulled out a bag of chips and fell into the couch cushion

Pushing a button the tv flashed on, it was playing some sort of reality tv show. He mutters under his breath but leans back tired after such a long day. Almost as if to play a trick on him an ad started to play immediately, the governor appeared on the screen. He stood in front of a podium, the clip had been taken from his recent speech.

He knew propaganda when he saw it, the convenient lies and extended truths politicians told to make people turn to his opinions. The way the governor explained and lied about facts, made him snarl.

"They are not human, they are an invasive species threatening our land. They threaten our families, homes, and jobs, and the only logical thing is to destroy them. So I ask this great city, not as a mayor but as a loving father, to vote for the elimination of these creatures-" Arden turned the tv off in a sharp movement. Cutting off the mayor's speech before he could continue, he had no interest in hearing this shit.

The whole city had gone to hell a few years ago when one of the DNA research labs let a few dozen people out of testing without fully seeing if whatever experiments they did had succeeded. This meant that a bunch of mutants with abilities had been released into the world, and all turned to chaos.

The public didn't respond well to this, and like every horror story, the abilities could be passed down through genes. So before the public even knew it there were hundreds of people with strange abilities.

These abilities were usually called disabilities, but he didn't care for such a title. Arden found them intriguing, the aspect that humankind had managed to alter their genetics and evolve.

Only a few powers had shone up, strength was one of them. The ability to pick up cars or throw a punch that could cause catastrophic brain damage. The elemental aspect was also impressive, they controlled the basic elements. Fire, water, rain, earth, and ice and depending on the person the strength of the gift differed. Then telekinesis, it was a rare gift but also one of the strongest. Little people had it, something to do with controlling black matter, except it was more... lethal. Then the last and considered the most dangerous, the shapeshifter. Able to restructure themselves into any animal. It's a tedious process though, they must first study the animal for years to be sure to place every bone, muscle, and organ correctly but once they have done it right once It's just a matter of muscle memory. For most people anyway.

Tossing the remote aside he reached over for his phone and grunted as he saw a new message.

His next target had been decided.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Published: April 17, 2020, 3:00 PM

Words: 871

Surprise! There are two main characters in this book!! How do you like Arden so far? We had so much fun creating his character and can't wait for you to get to know him even more! We love you all and hope you are all safe during this time- RiSaWa