With the anniversary of the White War nearing, presidential hopeful Amy Bedford conducted a rally to preach her message of world without Neo-Sapiens to her zealous constituency. It was then that she was shot; blood sprayed from her chest and chaos erupted in the stadium. Cameron Kirk, ever ready, turned his camera man around to catch the image of a blue-headed Lodestone, casually leaving the scene of the assassination.
In Turtle Bay, at the headquarters for the Vindicators, Maria Espada watched the live feed with a terrified expression. She rose up and headed for her boyfriend’s room, only to find his positive side asleep in bed…
The scene shifted to that morning, the day after Patrick Goodman was laid to rest in the memorial gardens on campus. Many students have left the school to join Hikari’s group, leaving few behind. Even some of the teaching staff have left the school; Fathom and Frostbite both defected to Hikari’s side. With Hourglass in mourning and Jetstream terminated, the newly appointed headmaster (Doctor James Howell) began seeking out a new instructor for the New Vindicators squadron. Securing Michuru Bradshaw’s return to the school, Doctor Howell took a chance and placed Chienne Bedford in charge of teaching the New Vindicators.
Given charge over Boson, the Damned, Fluke, Gabriel, Kitten, Orbit, Savant and Stockholm, Chienne commanded them to suit up and meet in the Wreck Room for a training exercise. The perimeters of the test were simple: last man standing wins. The Damned skipped such a test, pestering Portal instead. Still, he managed to have an effect on the exercise by having Portal override the holograms through the armor’s datalink abilities.
Ultimately, Boson triumphed over all the others, though Fluke had made it to the very end. It was then that Chienne told them the test had been to determine which of them would make for the best leaders and gave the reigns of command to the pair.
Meanwhile, Bulwark, still devastated by Hikari’s ominous prophesies, left the school in hopes that he could change his destiny and avoid being the first to die. Unbeknownst to him, his departure had upset Christmas Clark, causing her to ask the Iron Curtain and Jessica Martin to leave the school with her in an effort to find Bulwark and convince him to return and fight the future alongside her.
Bulwark ended up at a roadhouse where he met Chelsea Burk, a girl on the run from her own looming future. She told him of the fate the black eyed children told her of and showed Bulwark her radiation powers. Still, all Bulwark could see was the resemblance to Oscillator. Not understanding the mechanics of the gestalt, Bulwark delved into solipsism syndrome, perceiving that he had somehow been pulled into the comatose Oscillator’s dream (given that he doesn’t sleep, thus it could not be his dream).
Together, the two left the roadhouse to try and find clues on where to go next…
Meanwhile, Hikari gathered his forces and proceeded to tell them his intentions for their training. Given that Hikari had fought alongside Chronos Aeon and Firn, he believed himself capable of training Frostbite and Suicide King in their temporally-founded powers. Meanwhile, Renewal revealed herself able to touch Wilt without suffering the negative effect his powers have and Dipole learned he was capable of using his powers to amplify Bluetooth’s range.
It all culminated when Portal found a wounded Forrest Bedford approaching the school. The armored warrior easily dealt with the human, despite the bigot’s unusual aptitude for martial arts. Still, the intruder insisted on speaking with Patrick Goodman and actually appeared sorrowful to learn of his death. Still, Forrest begged to be shown to the headmaster and was delivered to Doctor Howell’s office as the news broke on Senator Bedford’s assassination…
It was then that Forrest Bedford introduced himself as Silvia Jorgenson- the former Vindicator known as Xianbei and as the second Chimera. “I thought I could destroy the Church of Genetic Purity from inside by mind swapping with Bedford,” the chimera admitted sorrowfully. “I was so arrogant and foolish… I handed Forrest Bedford the morphing abilities of my husband and the power of Atlas.”
And then Silverback understood: with the power to look like anyone and utilize Atlas’ powers, Forrest Bedford could easily pose as Lodestone and set his wife up as a martyr…
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