Atomic Abyss

"Oh, all of you are here today. What's the occasion Regent Squadron?"

Albert Moore stood at the counter in the Protector's Rest bar. He was cleaning the counter with a cloth.

Regent Squadron were gathered around the counter, each sat on a barstool. Mei and Claire in the middle, Claude and Michael on either side.

Mei yawned and nodded at Moore. "We beat Ranger Ranger..." She looked down at the counter, a small smile on her face.

He stopped cleaning, a surprised expression crossed his face. "You finally did it? That's good news, means you managed to keep the promise you told me about after all." He chuckled. "Well then, since you four managed to beat a guy like Ranger Ranger not only is a congratulations in order, drinks are also on the house this time. Just the first round though. I gotta make money somehow. Plus Charlotte isn't here at the moment so I'm short staffed."

He turned to Claude. "Charlotte told me what you did for her. Thanks for freeing her from The Monarch's control."

Claude nodded. "I didn't think I'd be able to do it to be honest. She's really strong."

The door to the bar suddenly creaked open, cutting off the conversation. Ranger Ranger walked into the room with Ranged Ranger following just behind him.

"I apologise for my interruption. I bring urgent news."

Moore nodded at Ranger Ranger from behind the counter. "Ranger Ranger, it's been a long time, too long."

"Indeed it has old friend, unfortunately I'm unable to catch up right now. Though someday soon I'll make sure to stop by again, when the situation isn't quite so dire."

Moore stopped cleaning and focused on the group.

"I know the drill. I'll head out back for a bit. Knock on the door when you're done discussing your hero business. As a retired hero it's not my place to get involved anymore."

Ranger Ranger watched Moore walk into the back, closing the door behind him. He waved Regent Squadron over and they all stood in a semicircle around him.

"Ghost is going to explain alongside me, please allow her access as usual."

Everyone nodded in unison and tapped their earlobes lightly. Ghost's voice rang through their minds. "Heya heroes. Me and Ranger Ranger are gonna explain this one together. It's a big one... 'kay so... there's no easy way to say this but things have taken a drastic turn."

Ranger Ranger nodded. "Violet Arhke is back! She's changed her appearance, speech patters, everything. As such we'll be updating her wanted poster at HQ. I have already notified Mr Draven, who confirmed Violet is still the priority target."

Michael spoke up. "Violet Arhke is back? Why now after four years?"

Ghost chimed in. "We discovered she was back a few weeks ago. Arhke police with my intel set up an ambush. The plan was to eliminate her during a meeting she was set to have earlier today, which I learned about through monitoring phone calls. Unfortunately the mission failed... Ranger Ranger was the backup plan. Which also failed..."uld that happen best case scenario is we'd have a lot of battles and arrests on our hands, worst case scenario innocent people die and the public begins to lose faith in the Hero Organisation."

Ranger Ranger shook his head. "I'm not entirely sure how she got away. I had her cornered. It's as if she simply disappeared."

Claude turned to Ranger Ranger. "Is it possible she deliberately revealed herself? After all, she's remained hidden for four years, but for some reason you were able to trace a call relating to her now of all times? That seems suspicious to me."