Boss raised his hand, commanding silence. The murmurs slowly died down, every masked head turning to face him as he now stood on the small stone stage at the center of the mansion’s backyard.
"Now, I know many of you have been wondering where all your investnt has been going," he began, his voice clear and theatrical, carrying effortlessly through the open night air.
A few n chuckled, clearly part of the inner circle.
"Your resources, your connections, your money... What have we been doing with them, hmm?" Boss asked rhetorically, his smile sharp.
Then he extended a hand and pointed to one of the n beside him. "Show them."
The man nodded and stepped forward.
As he moved into the open space, Boss continued speaking to the crowd. "So of you already know what’s going on beneath the surface of this city. Your ears are sharp, and your networks run deep. You’ve heard the rumors. The whispers of strange things—unexplainable things. Powers."
Liam narrowed his eyes. He had a bad feeling about what was coming.
The man in front suddenly raised his arms.
And then it happened.
A surge of light flashed in his palms. Sparks hissed, and then—without warning—flas erupted, swirling around his hands like living creatures. The fire danced and twisted, curling up his forearms and flickering like it was alive.
"Jesus Christ!" soone in the crowd shouted.
"The fuck is that?!"
"Is he on fire!?"
A wave of panic hit the audience. People jumped back. A woman shrieked and nearly tripped over her gown as she backed away. A tall man in a gold-lined mask grabbed his partner by the arm and dragged her behind him.
Liam quickly pulled Vanessa closer and shifted them both back as the crowd broke into chaos.
"What the hell is going on!?"
"He’s burning! Sobody help him!"
"Get water!"
"No, wait! He’s not... he’s not screaming..."
"Wait... it’s not hurting him."
"What?"
A brief silence followed as realization began to set in. The man wasn’t screaming. He wasn’t in pain. He was calm—almost serene—as the fire curled gently around his arms. He stood there in the middle of them all, unbothered. Controlled.
The chaos began to quiet as awe replaced fear.
"He’s not burning," soone whispered.
"What kind of trick is this?"
"It’s real... it’s real fire, but it’s not burning him."
"Holy shit..."
Boss chuckled and spread his arms wide. "Relax. This isn’t witchcraft."
"It sure as hell looks like it!" a woman shouted from the left, clearly shaken.
"Then what the fuck is it?" a man in a black and red mask demanded. "How is this possible?"
Boss smiled as he looked around. "This... this is the future. The next step in human evolution."
"Evolution?" soone echoed in disbelief.
"Yes," Boss said with full confidence. "No more guessing. No more wishing. No more waiting on fate to decide who is strong and who is weak. We are taking control."
The flas around the man dimd slowly, fading until nothing was left but thin wisps of heat. He bowed his head and stepped back behind Boss.
"Let ask you sothing," Boss continued. "What has science done for you lately? What has politics done? What have the police done?"
He paused, letting the silence hang.
"I’ll tell you what they’ve done. They’ve lied. Covered up what’s coming. Denied that evolution is already here, hiding right in your streets."
"Bullshit," soone mumbled. "Powers don’t exist."
Boss’s expression sharpened. "Then how do you explain this?" He gestured again to the man with fire. "Or better yet, how do you explain this?"
He turned slightly toward the crowd. "Many of you heard the rumors. That I was dead. That Lilith and her dog shot point blank in the head. "
Liam’s jaw tightened. "Dog?" he muttered lowly, his voice almost a growl. Vanessa heard it and glanced at him.
Boss didn’t stop. "And they were right. I was dead. Gone. No pulse. No breath."
He paused.
"But I ca back."
Gasps spread like wildfire.
"I didn’t just survive—I was revived. And not as the man I was before... but as sothing more. Sothing better."
People began murmuring all around them.
"He really did die?"
"What is this, so Frankenstein shit?"
"This is insane..."
"Wait, is he saying he has powers now too?"
Vanessa leaned toward Liam and whispered, "This is bigger than I thought..."
Boss raised both arms. "You see, your investnt didn’t just go to buying weapons and bribes—it went into research. Into science the world was never supposed to touch. Into a serum that changes everything."
Liam’s body tensed slightly.
Boss turned in a slow circle, addressing everyone. "What you saw just now is only a glimpse. There are more... dozens more like him. Stronger, faster, deadlier."
"Where do we get it?" soone from the crowd called out. "How do we get powers too?"
That voice was joined by several more.
"Is it available now?"
"What’s the cost?"
Boss smiled wider. "Patience. All of that will be explained soon. But first... I needed you all to see it. To believe it."
He paused dramatically.
"To believe in what’s coming next."
The crowd stared at him, so in awe, others in disbelief, but none could deny the fire they had seen with their own eyes. None could ignore the impossible.
Boss looked out over them all and raised his glass.
Vanessa’s sharp eyes scanned the crowd. The murmur of voices had swelled into a chaotic blend of disbelief, excitent, and fear. Even though so were still recovering from the shock of seeing a man control fire with his bare hands, a large portion of the guests were visibly thrilled. Their eyes glead with greed, ambition, and the raw hunger for power.
She tugged at Liam’s sleeve gently. "This is bad," she whispered, her voice tight with unease.
Liam blinked as he turned to her, pulling himself out of his trance-like focus on Boss. He nodded slowly. "He’s completely lost it... He’s planning to sell the serum," he muttered under his breath, eyes flickering with growing intensity.
Vanessa rubbed her forehead, trying to process the gravity of the situation. "If these people get their hands on that serum, Liam... this city won’t survive. They’ll tear it apart trying to gain the upper hand. Politicians, businessn, celebrities... criminals." She paused, her voice lower now. "It wouldn’t take long before the whole world finds out about people with powers."
Liam’s jaw tightened as he glanced back toward Boss. "That’s exactly what he wants," he said, his voice calm but weighted.
Vanessa’s eyes widened as she looked at him. "What?"
Liam nodded once, slow and deliberate. "Look at his face."
She followed his line of sight and stared at Boss. He stood proudly beside the fire-wielding man, waving at the crowd, smiling like a man who had just played his final card. There was sothing about his expression... a kind of satisfaction that ran deeper than just the applause or the gasps. He wasn’t just showing off—he was laying a trap. And everyone in that backyard was stepping right into it.
Vanessa’s stomach turned uneasily. "You’re right," she said softly. "That look on his face... he’s expecting this to blow up. He wants it to."
"But why?" Liam asked, frowning. "What does he gain from the world knowing about people with powers? He’s not just after the money. That can’t be it."
Vanessa looked around at the crowd. "Maybe it’s influence. Control. Think about it—if every rich idiot in this city gets their hands on that serum, Boss becos their god. The one man with the keys to power."
Liam didn’t respond. He just stared back at Boss, his mind racing with possibilities. Everything about this was starting to feel wrong. The Crimson Hand wasn’t just a criminal organization anymore—they were turning into sothing else. Sothing global. Sothing dangerous.
And Boss was right at the center of it all.
Then, Boss clapped his hands again, drawing everyone’s attention back. The murmurs died down, and all eyes turned to him.
"My friends," Boss began with a wide grin, "the night is still young. Let’s not spend the whole evening talking business."
There were a few chuckles, and so relieved laughs.
"I’ve prepared sothing special inside," he continued, motioning toward another entrance leading deeper into the mansion. "Drinks, music, and pleasures of all kinds. Let us celebrate the dawn of a new age!"
People erupted into applause, their previous hesitation lting away as the promise of luxury and entertainnt seduced their senses. They followed Boss eagerly, the crowd beginning to pour through the wide doors into the grand hall inside.
Liam took a step forward to follow—but then a hand grabbed his.
"Wait," Vanessa said, her voice low.
He turned and looked down at her. Her hand was firm around his wrist, her eyes calm but determined.
"Now isn’t the ti," she said. "We can’t let emotion get the better of us. Not here. Not now."
Liam clenched his jaw, his entire body tense with restraint. The sight of Boss standing there so smugly—still breathing after everything he had done—was eating at him.
But she was right.
They had co here for answers, for information, and there was still ti to learn sothing before the night was over. He gave a slow nod, his hand relaxing by his side.
Vanessa let go of his wrist and straightened her mask. "We need to see what kind of guests are here. If this many powerful people are backing Boss... we have to figure out how deep this goes."
Liam looked at her. "You lead, I’ll follow."
With that, they turned and rged into the wave of masked guests heading into the mansion. The crowd around them was loud again, clinking glasses, making jokes, and already discussing the mysterious fire-wielder. Everyone was intoxicated by the promise of what the future held—a future they thought they could buy with the right price.
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