Renegade

Chapter 2

     Platinum Tower had, several months prior, been the pinnacle of architecture in the entire city. But when the terrorists blew it up and the billionaire vacated...well, the building clearly had seen better days.

     Ben could see its deconstruction from his grimy apartment room window. The charred-black structure looked like a stain on the city skyline to him, but not as much as the vigilante billionaire who had constructed the thing in the first place. Ben was disgusted by the man, despite the fact that in recent months he claimed to have turned a new leaf.

     He tossed the daily newspaper on to his creaky bed and cracked open a bottle of whisky. The headline was about another attack by the unknown assailant the media referred to as the "Silver Assassin". According to the newspaper, he'd killed off another drug cartel operation using a unique weapon seemingly of his own design. The article had read:

         "Yet another drug operation has been destroyed by the 'Silver Assassin'. Opinions are conflicted as to the nature of this hero or villain, and many are increasingly divided by the weapon of choice the vigilante seems to have...."

     His victims were turned silver.

     Nobody knew how, while some guessed that it was due to a unique gaseous element of artificial design. Nevertheless, attacks on drug cartels and gangs by the Silver Assassin had grown more intense in the past year. Many feared for their own lives, prompting several investigations by the police. Others paired him with the vigilante Desmond Pierce in their methods of operating outside of the law. As Ben drank his whisky, he remembered back to a news report he had seen a few weeks prior:

     "'How can American citizens feel safe in a world where evil people like the Silver Assassin, and vigilante billionaires like Desmond Pierce, operate outside the law? These so-called 'heroes' are nothing more than unhinged lunatics in our  society, and they must not be allowed any more freedom than they already have. We have to think on our own safety with these people running around, and also on the safety of our children. Who is to answer for the damage that they've caused?'"

     The world had been in a state of unrest since the Black Dragon threat, the reveal of Pierce's identity as a samurai-vigilante, and the increased attacks lead by the Silver Assassin. The consequence was an increase in protests and violence since the news hit the airwaves. Most of the people who protested were just afraid. The days of feeling security, or the idea that the world could be normal, were beginning to fade. When people crowded outside the White House, or made public declarations on the television, it was simply due to the fact that they didn't know what to do. They weren't just afraid for their children, they were afraid for themselves.

     Meanwhile, Ben had tried to keep out of it. Even though the world was getting a little stranger, that didn't mean he had to go lose his head like everyone else was. Instead, he just kept to his normal routine of stealing, selling, and killing. He had no real job, but that was because there was nobody that would ever hire him. Ben had been to prison so many times for heinous crimes that his record was stained nearly black.

     Ben stared over at the painting he had stolen and swallowed a mouthful of whisky. His throat burned, his vision wobbled, and a fire roared in his chest as he glared at the artwork. It represented his past, his present, and even his future. There had never been a time when he wasn't scavenging around for a decent dollar. His recent payment would have been the most in years, but instead it had been a complete sellout. Ben finished his whisky and walked over to the painting, feeling a growing sense of dread towards the work of art.