Looking Glass (Darkest Secrets Volume 2)

Part 1 - Origins

Falco was bored and distracted. Bored enough that he was fooling around with his throwing knives. Distracted enough that the fastest man alive slipped up like an amateur.

Whatever the captain made these things out of, they were sharp enough to slice. A small pool of blood rose on his index as he watched how his skin closed around the tiny wound, then he sighed. He put the knife back in its holster. Maybe it was time to go for a run.

"Reset settings." He said aloud, standing and sheathing his weapons.

The furniture melted back into the floor. Falco sighed to himself and looked out the window one last time. From 13,000 feet above the ground, the colorful warm sunset over the Canadian Territory's wilderness was usually enough to help him relax, but not today. Lounging in the panoramic penthouse restaurant of the Sentinel's Spire was always calming, but sitting all day on a plush red leather couch and watching the sun and clouds float across the sky had left him restless.

He frowned while looking down toward the empty cafeteria; the majestic central staircase and chandelier were ornate enough to have graced the Titanic. Still, the automated room almost looked sad not to have guests to cater to. The hall was large enough to fit a few hundred Heroes of assorted shapes and sizes, and the IntelliFloor - a system of nanobots that could turn into any number of objects - was currently set to a beautiful sapphire color.

The platinum Spire in the middle of North America once served as the world headquarters for The Republic Sentinels. Since the events of Neo Paolo two months ago, the Republic had defunded their Sentinels and started absorbing them into the rank and file of the increasingly militarized police force. The Spire had been vacated, and of the Shield - the greatest Heroes - only Dr. Atomic remained.

Thousands of Sentinels had resigned.

All in all, it was a solemn day during an especially solemn time. Today was the anniversary of the first MechaBlitz invasion. Viewers would rather not think about the Blitz, so tv stations cashed in on sensationalism instead.

For Falco, however, it also meant something else. Something he had never shared with anyone. The precise answer to the mystery the media focused on every year for the last 15 years.

He'd seen the exposé enough times from enough stations to know the ins and outs of the years-long investigation by heart. Not enough evidence, a few camera stills but nothing clear enough to name any suspects. The perpetrator simply moved too fast.

Over the years, a few names had cropped up on forums - given that only a speedster could have committed the crimes. Some even claimed to be the killer, but no one could prove it. Either the villain in question had an alibi, or they just couldn't reach the speeds needed to pass Advanced Detection cameras unnoticed. Revealing possible suspects had become almost a twisted holiday pass time in itself.

The mystery of the Munich Massacre still captured the attention of millions of viewers every 5th of November. Falco tended to avoid people on this day, but this was the first year he'd had to hide. The funny part was that he wasn't hiding from his enemies. He was hiding from his family.

His team.

Why did he have to hide? Because he just never felt like talking on that date, and silence was so out of character for him that his newfound friends would know something was wrong. They might see his broken pieces.

He didn't want to have to explain why. The team would ask too much, and it was too painful to put into words. He barely had memories of the event, save the last words he said to his parents.

The elevator on the first floor of the massive dining hall dinged as he approached it, and Falco disappeared.

It was a little-known fact that a Speedster could turn invisible if they knew how to shake their atoms in just the right way. Speedsters didn't talk about it either - better to let everyone think they were just good at running. The problem was that the trick didn't work on everyone. Telepaths could still know where he was, well them and people using crazy tec; People like Gabriel, his Captain.