The Second Trial (Closed)

Chicago, the windy city. John stepped off the private jet and down to the concrete runway. He was here for another one of his trials. His target for this test was a costumed vigilante known as The Ranger. Hopefully this one would be more fun, the last test was boring. What else could you expect when the so called "hero" was a fourteen year old boy. This one should be better. These tests were just the period of trial and error. It was to insure that these so called "super heroes" would not be any trouble when he launches humanity into a new, better age. People are scared of nuclear war but every time there is a massive disaster that wipes out most of the planet, humanity grew stronger. The only way to get better was to endure a tragedy and that was what John was going to put the world through. Azazel was in the car that was at the edge of the landing strip. Climbing into the car, He ordered Azazel to start driving to an old company warehouse that he would use as a base of operations. It would be a foolish move to use his own mansion. The tires screeched as the car drove down the streets to the warehouse filled with armed mercenaries that would carry out any required acts or to protect John.

The car pulled into the warehouse and John got out of the car so that he could orchestrate his scheme from inside. As he walked to the break room so he could have privacy, he smiled at his plan. He would threaten the religious hero by threatening to blow up a church. The bombs were already in place and the night was falling. The Right Hand of Jesus will have to solve the puzzle by the morning or else he would blow up the church during mass. He opened up a black leather briefcase on the desk. Inside was the device he was going to use to hack into every TV in Chicago. He slipped on a black ski mask before punching in some numbers. Once he punched them in, he was on every TV in Chicago. "Hello Chicago, we interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for this important message. I am now speaking directly to you, Ranger. I have a little problem for you. Over the past few weeks there have been a series of letter bombings across the city. You are going to find the man behind this in 12 hours. Before Sunday Mass. Now, the reason for this is because I know I need to get you to move faster so I have a consequence. Two to be exact. One, I blow up a church during Sunday Mass. Two, I will tell everyone your real name. It wasn't that hard to find out, I'm surprised I'm the first. I hope you understand the stakes. Have fun." John shut off the camera after mocking the hero. Oh this was going to be fun. The letter bomber was part of his organization, his spider web. He knew how each and every thread dances and how to use them. The man in question had left the organization and decided to prove that he was clever and tried to threaten John. He would be sorry, very sorry. Once the vigilante brought him into the open, he would kill him.

Rey Miller was walking through Woodfield Mall looking for something to do and may be getting some more food as he ran out the last time Paine and Andree visited. Honestly with three super powered beings in the same household he should have gotten more food, and not the video recorder he was just goaded into buying, but he didn’t expect them all to be there at the same time and that was what eventually failed him. So, as he was walking into the food court to get lunch for himself before moving onto his shopping list all the TV’s in the room change to one channel and on that channel he sees something he hoped he’d never see. All eyes and ears stop to hear what this man in the ski mask had to say, all knowing whatever it was none of it was going to be good. Rey’s eyes flash knowing he is going to need to remember what he just saw so instantly he moves the video camera up and starts to record everything in case he needs to see it once more. The suspicions were confirmed as he rambles off about the bombings across Chicago, then Sunday mass tomorrow and finally Ranger’s secret identity though not said out loud. When that part is said Rey’s super human brain goes on over load keying in every little detail about the broadcast he just witnessed. The man obviously knows what he’s doing as there isn’t much to go by to find his location besides that of a desk and wooded room so it could be any old warehouse or construction building, or ay old building in Chicago for that matter. Hell if the guy was smart enough he wouldn’t be in Chicago anyway and as much as he’d like to go straight to the main source and deal with that problem while the rest of the Phantoms dealt with the bombes he knew he couldn’t do that.

So, after five seconds he contacts the Phantoms hoping one of them would answer, relaying what he just witnessed to them and takes off at Olympian human speed out of the mall to his Ferrari Enzo. Once inside he reeves the engine and takes off full speed down the road waiting for someone to answer his call, the car goes into auto pilot for a bit as he changes into his costume, camera in the quiver in case needed, then he pulls into an ally and locks it down leaving the car he gets out. A small roll of the neck to loosen the muscles and The Ranger is ready to go, ready to find out just what is going on and how to stop it.

As he whistled to himself in the dark room, John spun his cane around in circles. The next few hours would be boring but they would pay off in the end. All the steps to this plan were meticulously planned out days in advance. He may have been bluffing about knowing his real name but by the end of the night, he will know. Granted, he would likely make it tough for him but that's just the way he liked it. The letter bomber that he had sent him looking for would be in an apartment somewhere in the city, most likely working on another bomb. John made a motion with his fingers to Azazel who followed the silent order. He got into the blue small car and took off out of the old abandoned warehouse. He would trail the Ranger whom John would first find via security cameras before relaying his location to Azazel. Once The Ranger got the letter bomber outside, Azazel would kill him. That should teach him never again to mess with John. John always wins those games. Just like he'll win this game with this hero. He has potential to do worse to hamper his plans than the last ones could ever hope to achieve but John knew the outcome of this already, he was going to win. If the hero got far enough and John was able to find out his name, maybe he could bring in one of his family members. Just for a little visit. A visit in which they get rapped in Semtex and locked in an apartment building or force to ride the subways or sit in a church or maybe even a hospital. He'd decide that part later, plans could always be changed; especially when family is involved. Family. Family was a weakness in others that he did not share. The compassion for their loved ones. John had no compassion for his father, he had slit his throat after all, but he felt it towards his mother who was dead now so it didn't matter anyway. John decided to turn the video camera back on and hack back into the TV and radios. Once he had done so, he started to speak once more. "Now this'll be fun. Are you having fun little Ranger? I know I am. And would you like to know why? I have a little guest. Someone you would not like to lose. Someone you love very much and they love you back. It'd be a shame to hear the sounds of life leave them. I'm not going to let you hear or see them though, I'll leave who it is up to your imagination."