by T5, I'm Not Mister Mxyptlk, Chewy Walrus and The Eurostar
The car containing Agent B and Agent D drove into an ordinary suburban parking lot just outside a normal-looking, suburban, two-floor house, with a nice small garden. The light from the kitchen window revealed a family eating a late dinner.
The agents walked up to the door and rang the bell. The door opened, and a typical suburban male in his thirties opened the door and greeted them. They all went inside.
A prison in Mandelovia:
It was late at night, and most inmates were sleeping... except two, who happened to be brothers.
"This is all your fault!" one of them said.
"Whatever do you mean? The fault is not mine, but yours!" the other replied.
"The fault is yours, indeed! If it wasn't for your foolish behavior, I wouldn't have to put up with this embarrassing situation!" the first one added.
"How dare you blame, you... foolish... fool?" the second one yelled.
"I dare to do it because it's nothing but the truth, and there is no lack of honor in telling the truth!" the first one said.
"That could only be the truth inside your disturbed mind, brother! If it wasn't for those meddling freaks, I wouldn't be forced to stay here next to your pathetic presence!" the second one replied.
"Gentlemen, please," a third voice said.
"Do not tell us to be quiet, cellkeeper! We already told you we will not--"
"Once again you have proved your foolishness, brother, by failing to notice that that voice did not come from outside this cell, but from inside it. Your hearing is as unrefined as your brain."
"Why, you--"
"GENTLEMEN, PLEASE!"
"Who are you, mysterious one, and why have you decided to join us inside this dark cell?" asked one of the Scorpion brothers.
"I'll tell you all you need to know about me, if you agree to come with me."
"And why would we want to join you?" asked the other.
"Besides the fact that you are trapped here? Well, I can give you something that I know you want."
"Oh? And what is that?"
"Revenge."
Elsewhere:
"These 'people' are madmen!" a man at the head of the table said, his fingers steepled and held before his face. "A menace to all we stand for!"
"They are surely not 'people,' you forget," a woman sitting to the man's immediate right said soothingly.
"Yes," said the man to the first man's left. "They are monsters."
"Good point," the man at the head of the table said again. "After the damage we've sustained at both TriVext, the MCCA headquarters, and the Zoo... no other word quite works like 'monsters.'"
"The metahuman community is a menace to society at large!" the fourth man at the table said, slamming his fist on the tabletop.
"You will find no dissenting opinions here," the first man said, pulling a file folder from his coat. "We are currently using a certain branch of the metahuman research field to our advantage. The name of the organization is the EPS. They are, to be sure, quite powerful, whether or not they know it yet. All information they get is ours, and every discovery made is one that we will exploit. Now... about these Revolutionaries?"
"Sir, through the organization you mentioned, we have obtained a plethora of information. We also have new incomings from Malvan-X from one of their members... the bio-adapt," the female said, handing a printout to the first man.
"Very good," he said, reading the page. "Begin Phase Epsilon."
The President of the United States sat behind his desk. "General Forrest, you said that the Malvan-X problem was about to be... solved."
"Yes, Mr. President," said the gray-haired man, standing in front of him, his chest full of medals. "I'm here to inform you that the operation has begun."
"Good," said the man behind the desk, turning one-hundred-and-eighty degrees on his rotating chair to look through his windows to the distant horizon.
Continued in Chapter 28: To Be Outside the Law, You Must Be Honest