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It had been a slow night for Jonathan Mikantish as he sat in his office going through papers and filing documents. The office was his fortress of solitude, he often joked to himself. The room was littered with various memorabilia that didn't adorn any shelf of his personal home nor anywhere else for that matter. This small sanctuary was where he liked to come when it was 3 in the morning and he couldn't sleep. The paper's on his desk were always well oragnized and neat and the computer sat dormant unless he booted it up to do some work.

As he sat there on this night, Jonathan decided it was time to do some evening rounds. He liked visiting patients often stopping to talk and chat with them in what he hoped they found pleasant subjects. Grabbing his clipboard and a pen he exited the office and into his hallowed halls.

<< Previously

Anthony awoke in a daze, He wanted more than anything to take the mask off and rub his eyes but knew the risk. He must be with Oual still, and from the looks of it they had reached the hospital. Wordlessly Anthony mustered the strength to get out of the car and walked towards the hospital. "Thanks for the ride," Anthony muttered. He seemed to be evening out a little, the pain in his shoulder was a dull throb and his various other aches and pains were almost unnoticeable. "Mikantish, Never thought I'd wind up here," He said to no one in particular.

Dr. Mikantish happened to glance out the window when he saw the squad car. His vision quickly drifted to the figure who seemed to be drunkenly ambling towards the door and was dressed in odd garb. Eyes wide with realization he quickly headed out of the room he had been attending and bolted to the service doors the led to the stairs. Skipping several stairs at a time the man moved with agility he hadn't seen or thought himself capable of in years. Busting through a side door he caught up with the figure.

"Please let me help you, I'm Dr. Mikantish," He noticed the bullet wound and his adrenaline made the blood rush past his ears sound like a freight train. "Goodness, we need to get you inside and off your feet at once!" Draping one of the super heroes arms over his shoulder he helped him hobble to the door. Once inside they had the young hero on a gurney and shortly after that into a bed. They carefully removed the tunic and examined the wound.

Jonathan Mikantish let out a huge sigh of horror as he realized: "The bullet's still inside him, Get him to O.R. now!"

<<

The Chief Detective should have known that Ghoul was going to be stubborn. The hero was intent on walking himself into the hospital. Oual started after him, but wheeled around sharply when the trunk of his car opened and closed by itself. The car was relatively new, and underwent routine checks. Nothing was faulty, and there could be no forgetting this mysterious event.

The man checked his trunk very briefly, feeling around to make sure nothing had gotten in. It was as if the event had not happened. Oual shook his head and filed the suspicion away for now. He jogged after the hobbling Ghoul and, as he caught up, was pleasantly surprised by Dr. Mikantish himself. “Doctor,” the somewhat flustered officer called. “It’s Oual, Chief Detective. We met at the unveiling of your super wing. This is Ghoul – he and a partner are true heroes tonight. They’ve incapacitated numerous members of two rival gangs in the downtown area. Ghoul has suffered multiple injuries. Sir, I don’t mean to make you nervous, but there is something suspicious happening here. I do not believe it is dangerous, as it has not attacked – but it could have other motives. I don’t know what it is – or even if it is anything, but please be alert. Please let me stay with you while you look at Ghoul to stand guard. Let me know if you need anything.”

Oual still had not taken a breath. He was on the move, keeping an eye on Ghoul, speaking to the respectable doctor, and keeping the other eye out for whatever had caused his trunk to open.

Operation? Sentinel moaned in his thoughts. This was going to take much too long. He needed to be out on the streets, fighting crime, not stalking some other superhero in order to speak with him. Sighing softly, Sentinel began to walk out of the building and towards the parking lot. Still under his cloak, he activated his iPhone and tuned into the police radio. As he was stepping out of the building, nothing seemed to be happening.

He started to take the long walk towards his motorcycle, which was around five blocks away now. Traversing in alleyways, Sentinel shut off the camouflage, since it needed to recharge after such an extensive use. Now the young hero wished he could fly or something. Maybe a jetpack or jetboots could be worth looking into, but not now. His motorcycle was enough for now. Still, he needed a homing device for the motorcycle.

Finally reaching the bike and mounting it, an interesting report came over the police scanner. Something about a museum alarm going off, and people calling in saying that they heard gun shots from... what was the name? The Museum of Really Rather Recent Stuff. What an interesting name for a museum. Still, Sentinel revved up the engine and set off for the scene of the disturbance.

<<

About a half an hour ago, Oual’s radio had buzzed and he received extremely troubling news about two simultaneous situations. Someone had opened fire on the Museum of Really Rather Recent Stuff. The second call was about some sort of an attack at Bergman’s. Yes, Oual’s place of work! Admittedly, this call worried him even more personally. His staff kept him updated. The body count was not confirmed yet, but the names of dead officers brought tears to his eyes. This was the doing of a Super – which Oual knew would not encourage cops to join the ‘Hero Cause.’ The Bergman attacker had fled, though, and it was only a matter of cleaning up the scene. The staff told Oual that there was little he could do there anyways.

He decided to stay where he was. He had another squad go to the museum. The Chief Detective buried himself in his hospital chair, drying his face as he dwelt upon the lost lives as of late – The Mastermind – and how for every hero, there seemed to be a more powerful villain. In spite of the total devastation, Oual clung to his new mission against the Mastermind. With the criminal out of the way, and Laura Listerine leading the police force, Oual hoped that this crime wave could be contained.

It was a fool’s hope, he knew. The police force was depleted, the villains were unknown, and the Mastermind was untraceable. Though glorious was the picture of the future, Oual knew it was impossible. No longer could anything be done. The police were nearly powerless.

“Excuse me, Detective Oual, Dr. Mikantish would like to speak with you.”

A pleasant voice cut into Oual’s thoughts. He glanced at the time. A half hour! He leapt from his chair. He knew that Laura needed to be alerted, but he put that on hold. He would wait for a report on the squad’s success at the museum. For now, Ghoul needed to be attended. The Chief Detective followed the kindly nurse, though his mind was elsewhere.

After turning one last corner, Oual came face to face with Dr. Mikantish. Ghoul was laying on a bed near the doctor. At least the hero seemed like he would be okay. “Um, doctor, I – hate to be curt. There’s been a situation at the station – a massive shooting… and… never mind. There’s… I’m just distracted and…” The officer drifted over to Ghoul’s bedside. “How did everything go with him?”

<<

"There's not much to say, doctor," Oual began. "I was on patrol in the darkside of the downtown area. Ghoul was fighting alongside another super. they had taken out about twenty members from tweo rival gangs together. The gangs fight with anything they can find - usually clubs, knives, pistols. His partner did not talk and chose not to come with me here, but Ghoul was too beat up. You saw his injuries. He was passed out in the car on the way here." Oual sighed, understanding that his answer may not have been the most sufficient. "I did not see most of the fight." The detective glanced at Ghoul. "So is he free to go whenever he wakes up?"