“Numerous European news agencies have reported on the sudden de-aging of several important officials, businesspeople, and politicians throughout the political bloc. When asked to comment, they have universally reported a Non-Disclosure Agreement with their quote; ‘Physician’. There have been calls for these individuals to reveal the identity of the mystery physician but none have come forward,” The woman on the radio said.

Martin frowned, taking a drag on his cigarette. He glanced at his glove compartment and opened it, finding a note inside. He sighed and snatched it out, reading it before shaking his head, Damn it Carl, I need a drink.

“The Pandora Committee, originally established by the United States, has been adopted as the primary committee by the United Nations for investigating the effects of Pandora’s Flash six months ago. Numerous nations across the globe have established their own branches of the committee and are partnering with local law enforcement,” The woman continued.

“Current reports indicate that the number of monster sightings world-wide has steadily declined. This has not been accredited to the growing number of light-touched who are engaging the monsters, but rather to a currently unexplained phenomenon. Some scientists have reported that energy readings they have detected near monster sightings have not decreased despite the downward trend.”

Martin scoffed, “There’s no way it’s over.”

“The steady alleviation has not reduced unrest, however, and demonstrations worldwide indicate universal fears of something big coming.”

Martin clicked his tongue and looked out the window.

“ASTA Corporation, which has grown monumentally over the past few months, released a statement indicating their willingness to cooperate with military and law-enforcement agencies worldwide but require materials to produce additional armaments. Their anti-monster weapons are derivatives of monster corpses. The United States Government has refused to comment while several international groups have apparently reached out to the company and offered rewards to light-touched for monster remains.”

That woman again, Martin groused, She’s basically getting civilians to source her materials for her.

“United Nations Secretary-General Borris Kovac has made comments suggesting that a licensing program for light-touched to legally deal with monsters should be explored but has not elaborated further, more on the issue we have-”

Martin shut off the radio and let out a sigh, a cloud filling the car. He turned to the window and peered out into the alley before looking down at himself. He wore a set of black cargo pants and a button up shirt with a white queen chess-piece logo stitched onto it. He’d never seen the logo before, but he’d been presented it after working his way into the good graces of one of the local gangs. It had been pulling teeth to get this undercover operation to go ahead, and bouncing between the NYPD and the Pandora Committee had worn him out.

Finally, though, it had paid off.

He opened the door to his car and slipped out, putting out his cigarette and making his way out of the alley. He checked his watch and looked around. Just around the corner several more men and women in the same outfit came walking down. One raised a hand in greeting and he returned the gesture. They approached and stopped for a moment, the one who had waved at him was barely out of his teens. He had a coif of blonde hair and a sharp gleam in his eyes, he’d seen action before, probably monster hunting.

“Derrek!” The boy laughed, throwing out his hand and taking Martin’s own. Derrek was his identity as a member of this particular gang. “Glad you could make it!”

“Niko, good to see ya,” Martin grunted and glanced at the others, “Everybody’s here.”

“Course!” Niko chuckled, “Boss Shark is calling everyone in, all the gangs of New York in one place, it’s crazy. We even got these swank uniforms.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and nodded to him, “I wonder what he wants.”

“Don’t we all, you haven’t heard anything?” Martin asked as they started walking again.

“Nope! Apparently the security is crazy though,” Niko said, his voice dropping conspiratorially, “All the heavy hitters are here, not just Boss Shark’s light-touched bodyguards but some of the scariest power users in town.”

Martin swallowed, the statement sending a chill up his spine. Was this Boss Shark building an army? This was worse than he imagined. Even if this was a sting operation, he doubted that the entire NYPD would stand a chance dealing with all those freaks. He’d learned a bit about Boss Shark, apparently he could turn his body into some sort of fish-person and could control water at will. He’d drowned a man just by looking at him, so the stories say. What the hell am I walking into?

Niko clapped him on the shoulder, “No worries! This is friendly territory!” He chuckled.

“Right…” Martin exhaled as they approached their destination. He looked up and squinted, it was an old automobile manufacturing building. The structure was huge and built entirely out of opaque white concrete. Other groups were already filing into one of the doors on the side of the building, a man next to the door inspecting everyone before letting them inside. They fell into line and were permitted entrance without much more than a cursory glance from the guard. 

The interior was dimly lit with lightbulbs that were strung across the ceiling, the building had no power, probably, so they were using generators. They rounded a corner and passed through a pair of heavy doors and into a din of sound. It hit him like a wave and he had to stop an marvel.

Black uniforms, everywhere. There had to be thousands of people in here.

“Oh my god,” Martin breathed.

“I know right?” Niko grinned, “We’re part of something huge now.”

The other members of the gang mirrored his enthusiasm, chuckling and clapping one other on the shoulder as they made their way further inside. Gangs that had been historically at war with one another barely looked at eachother, there were faces from major crime families, ethnic gangs, local gangs, criminals from wanted lists. It was the who’s who of New York’s underworld. Suddenly Martin felt very, very small. He was surrounded by a small army that would turn and kill him if they knew who he really was.

“You good, Derrek?” Niko asked.

“Just a lot to take in,” Martin coughed, taking a deep breath and falling into step with the others. He was just another face in the crowd. He had to remind himself of that.

They came to a stop in an open space and he peered around, trying to get a view of where they should be looking. He eventually spotted the raised stage at the far end of the massive room. There were six men standing on the stage, their hands crossed in front of them in that pose that all security guards maintained. Each of them was huge. He’d learned that Shark surrounded himself with eight particularly powerful light-touched who were at his constant beck and call. The Eight Limbs.

“One of those guys could take out a whole gang in a night,” Niko breathed, “I heard they somehow got their powers gifted to them.”

Martin whipped his head towards Niko, “Gifted?”

“Yeah… no idea how though…” He trailed off, “Oh it’s starting!”

Martin turned back to the stage and saw three more men enter. Two of them were dressed like the other six of the limbs. The last one was a man in an expensive suit, he looked bigger than his guards. His skin was an ashy gray and his neck was so thick you could break a log on it. His eyes were small and hooded with strong brows. His hands looked like they were clawed. He approached the edge of the stage, the last two limbs parting to stand on the stage on either side of him. He held up his hands.

“Looks like you bastards made it!” He bellowed, his voice carrying over the entire crowd. Everyone fell silent.

“Boss Shark…” Niko breathed reverently.

The boss of all of these gangs, the veritable king of New York's underworld, Martin wanted to take a picture but didn’t dare risk it. He swallowed hard.

“First things first, boys and girls! I wanna thank you bastards, tonight, we celebrate the unification of New York’s Underworld! No more infighting, no more gang wars, only profit!” Shark bellowed, throwing his arms out wide. There was a roar of approval that answered him before he raised his hands to silence them, “But we aren’t stopping here. There are many gangs here with branches throughout the states, we even have connections overseas!” He laughed, “That’s you guys! Not even the NYPD can stand up to us!”

Another roar, Martin forced himself to join in.

“I’ve spoken with the leaders in the boroughs and we’ve made plans to expand,” Shark went on before holding up a fist, “We’ll be unstoppable!”

He lowered his hands and seemed to deflate a little, “However, we’ve lost a lot of good guys and we’ve worked hard. We deserve a reward, and I’ve seen to it. Today, you guys get your reward for coming over to the right side.”

Martin frowned, what kind of reward?

“We’re reorganizing the gangs, with the income we have now we can pay you guys a hell of a lot better. It’s time to spread the love!” Shark barked before the crowd could get rowdy again, even so, Martin heard the whispers of excitement spread through those present. “Second! I’m pleased to inform you all that you will be the very first to meet the person who is behind all of this,” Shark said and put his hand over his heart, “The person to whom I swore loyalty to and gave me the resources to start this whole thing.”

“What?” One person murmured, echoing the sentiment of everyone present.

Martin’s blood went cold, There was someone that Shark answered to?

“This will be her first public appearance, only the Borough Leaders and Myself have had the honor, but you boys and girls earned it,” Shark enthused. 

Martin glanced at Niko who was practically trembling with excitement. Why wouldn’t he be. Boss Shark was looked at like a god by some of those present. To think that there was someone powerful enough to put him in his place, it was mind boggling. The detective swallowed and looked up at the stage only to start when he heard his phone chime. Similar sounds went off throughout the crowd. He pulled out his phone and saw it was going through its shut-down sequence. Everyone else present reacted similarly, he looked up at Niko who was staring back at him with wide eyes.

“I’d like to introduce the world's first Supervillain! Ishtar!”

The crowd went dead silent as nothing happened for a moment. Then a wave of something indescribable washed over Martin. He felt a pressure weigh down on his chest that eased after a few seconds, it was like he’d been dragged down beneath water for a heartbeat. Everyone gasped, looking around before somebody shouted and pointed up towards the ceiling. He whirled and looked up. Someone was standing in the middle of the air, floating on what looked like a panel of hardened light.

The person took a step and another panel appeared, a bit lower, then another, and another. They were walking on light, descending as if from the heavens themselves. She wore all white, a combat jumpsuit from the look of it with an armored coat on her shoulders. Her head was entirely covered by some sort of helmet that showed nothing of her face. Hair that glowed like starlight hung down in etheric waves from the base of her head. Martin was rooted to the spot, it was like she was glowing. Ishtar? Like the goddess of war?

Then her voice came out, and everyone froze. It was raspy and terrifying, modulated by her helmet.

“There are people out there calling themselves Heroes, some aren’t so bad,” The woman began, “But you all know who I’m really talking about. The self-important greedy mongrels feeding off of the dangers that have appeared ever since Pandora’s Flash,” She continued her descent, everyone watching her from below.

“The Government is spinning its wheels. It won’t protect us, nor would it bother anyway. Scum,” She growled, “Trash, Human Filth, Gangbangers, The Lowest Rungs of Society,” She snarled, “That’s what they call you, don’t they?”

Despite the chill in the air, a few started to shout their agreement. More voices rang up, adding to the cacophony of agreement. These people felt like society had turned its back on them, thats why many had turned to a life of crime. It was their only recourse. Now a so-called goddess was here agreeing with them. Damn it! Martin’s fists tightened, This is really, really bad!

“I have another name for you,” Ishtar continued as she arrived at the stage and turned, nodding once to Shark who stepped back from where he’d been standing. She held out her arms, “My Children, my people.”

“Every hero needs a villain, it’s how stories work, right?” She raised her voice high, “As far as society is concerned, we’re the bad guys. So why not embrace it?”

“There are some among you who have the potential to be more than just criminals and gangbangers, to become the new leaders of the underworld in this new age. I have the power to see that potential and to transform you into a villain,” She raised her head high.

“Who wants to become a monster? Who wants to help me rule the world?” 

Martin watched on in horror as men and women threw their arms into the air. He looked down at his shirt again, at the white queen on it. The chants were rising, the cheers, the roars of greed and desire. This has been what he’d been afraid of; a light-touched powerful enough to organize the others, one with ill intentions. This was the birth of a nightmare for the world. Worse than any monster that appeared on the streets. One with charisma. He had to get out of here, had to tell the committee, he had to find some way to stop this. Were those so-called ‘heroes’ really the only option?

We are so screwed.

“ISH-TAR! ISH-TAR! ISH-TAR! ISH-TAR!”

–

Clouds billowed in the sky over Dharan, the small city drifting off into another peaceful night as the nightlife slipped off into a comfortable silence. Rain began to fall, scattering the last remaining pockets of those spending time outside. It was a peaceful night, water cascading off the lonely front of the Budha Subba Temple. Lightning flashed and the wind picked up. Small animals racing to find shelter amidst the increasing downpour.

The clocktower’s hand turned over and marked the hour. Three in the morning.

Just within the city limits, in a grove marked by the ruins of old Nepalise buildings, long forgotten by time and history, a crackle of teal light ripped through the air. It froze in place, humming and twitching amidst the ancient stones. The tear in space cracked open and tugged at itself just as an eye opened behind it followed by a low, bestial growl…

– Broker, Prologue: Origin of the Goddess –

– End –