Date: Monday evening - August 5, 2024

  The plan was ready to proceed, everyone was on the same page. Captain Snyder brought Omega Woman and her younger super companions to a rooftop overlooking the coast of Brightmark. Ahead of them was the location of the Syndicate deal-an abandoned warehouse with a garage. According to the intel Serena provided in the office, the Syndicate were expecting a trio of doctors from New Eden Medical. Captain Snyder and Serena decided to capitalize on this.

  Pulling up a laptop playing live surveillance footage of the area, Captain Snyder’s screen was showing Serena on the ground. Alongside her were two other officers, and all three were dressed in doctor uniforms.

  “We’re in position,” Serena said in a whisper, holding an index finger up to her earpiece. Lowering her hand, the detective and her two companions approached the abandoned warehouse. Two Syndicate soldiers, armed with their standard M4 rifles, stepped to the entrance. They performed a quick pat-down on Serena and her two fellow disguised officers.

  “You’re clear. Go inside,” one of the men in the Syndicate outfit said flatly.

  Detective Knight and her colleagues were escorted to the middle of the warehouse. Glancing around, there were at least two dozen Syndicate soldiers patrolling the inside. After a few moments, a familiar figure emerged from around the corner where some large crates were stacked to the ceiling. Power Thief walked closer until he was standing directly across from Serena.

  “Thanks for coming on time. Do you have the Neurorate?” Power Thief asked.

  Serena made a mental note of the medicine’s name-this was the first she heard it. She nodded and handed the briefcase in her hand to the supervillain. Power Thief opened the case to inspect the vials inside, which contained a light green colored liquid within them. One of the Syndicate soldiers, holding a briefcase in his hand, approached Serena and crouched to set the case down at her feet. He opened the suitcase up to reveal the money inside before closing it again.

  “As we agreed, two million dollars for the Neurorate,” Power Thief said. To play along, Serena gently picked up the briefcase full of money and nodded.

  “I do have to know, will this stuff have the effects we’re looking for? You and your colleagues assured us the Neurorate could meet our requirements,” Power Thief continued.

  Serena was caught off guard by the question, but she didn’t show it. If she didn’t answer, the Syndicate would catch on.

  “Would you be interested in testing one of the vials in that case? I can say it will pack quite a punch,” Serena replied. Power Thief nodded, which meant he bought it.

  On the rooftop where Omega Woman, the other heroes and Captain Snyder were positioned, Omega Woman glanced back at the others.

  “That’s our signal. Move in!” Omega Woman exclaimed.

  As Power Thief picked out one of the vials in the briefcase, he turned around as he heard the Syndicate soldiers accompanying him raise and aim their M4s toward the doorway. Omega Woman, Blur, Red Diamond and Red Phoenix made their way into the warehouse in a matter of seconds.

  “What the hell?” Power Thief asked in surprise. When he glanced over to Serena-the ‘scientist’ who handed him the briefcase, he saw a police badge in her hand.

  “Brightmark police! Power Thief, you and your lackeys here are all under arrest!” Serena exclaimed.

  “Like hell I am!” Power Thief said before attempting to leap toward Serena with his enhanced physical agility. As he got halfway across the room, Power Thief was intercepted midair by a strong beam of flame released by Red Phoenix, which sent him flying and colliding with a wall. Meanwhile, Omega Woman flew toward a few Syndicate soldiers as they wasted the ammunition from their M4s trying to stop her. Knocking out a few, Red Diamond was wasting no time taking down a few more since her diamond skin was too strong for their rounds to pierce. Blur, though she wasn’t bulletproof like her friends, had the advantage of being too fast for the Syndicate’s gunfire to hit in the first place.

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  Serena and her fellow officers ran over to the unconscious Syndicate soldiers, proceeding to begin putting handcuffs on each of them. On the opposite side of the room, Power Thief got up to find himself being confronted by Omega Woman and the three other heroes with her.

  “Power Thief! What’s up, man? You could save yourself some trouble if you surrender right now,” Red Phoenix said casually as he and Omega Woman hovered above the ground.

  “Ain’t going to happen,” Power Thief said before leaping onto a crate behind him and then propelling himself upward from there.

  Omega Woman held out her hand to release a mid-range beam of light to knock Power Thief back to the ground. Power Thief got up, using his strength to pick up a crate with one hand and tossed it toward Blur. The young speedster was too quick for such a thing to connect, dashing out of the way. Blur stopped elsewhere in the room and aimed her arms forward before spinning them really fast and creating a small whirlwind that disoriented Power Thief. Taking the chance, Red Diamond sent a trail of red crystalline rocks along the ground before causing one to jut upward and knock Power Thief down, causing him to fall forward.

  Power Thief rolled to dodge an oncoming flame stream from Red Phoenix and jumped from the floor, back to his feet. He held up his index finger to an earpiece as he avoided another fire shot from Red Phoenix.

  “Technomancer, are you there? I need-” Power Thief began to say. However, he was interrupted by two simultaneous oncoming fast punches. One from Omega Woman in front of him, the other from Red Phoenix behind him. Once the attacks ended, Power Thief stumbled a few feet. His enhanced durability was not enough to stand up to their combined strength and Power Thief soon fell forward onto the floor, unconscious.

  “Thank you guys so much! We appreciate the help,” Serena said to Omega Woman as the latter descended near where Power Thief fell. “I will have the captain pass along anything we learn about the Syndicate’s latest activities to you.”

  Omega Woman nodded and said, “Thank you for bringing Power Thief’s presence in town and this deal to my attention, detective.” Before anyone could say more, Omega Woman felt her earpiece vibrate in her right ear.

  “Omega Woman, do you copy?” asked Phantom Archer via her earpiece.

  “I read you. We just wrapped up here with Power Thief,” Omega Woman replied.

  “Alexander Fox reached out to tell us there’s an urgent situation to bring to our attention,” Phantom Archer said.

  Omega Woman furrowed her brow before responding. “Acknowledged. I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

  Captain Snyder and the other officers on the roof earlier made their way down to the ground and began to cordon off the area. He walked toward Omega Woman and the others as they and Serene reconvened.

  “It was nice to work on an operation with you again, Captain, but I have to take off,” Omega Woman said. Captain Snyder nodded.

  “I get it. Your team needs you,” Captain Snyder said curtly.

  “We’ll be around in case you need us to help you and your officers out with anything else,” Blur said to Snyder.

  After giving brief goodbyes, Omega Woman ascended from the ground and then flew forward on the horizon.

  EXTRAORDINARY ENCOUNTERS RADIO BROADCAST:

  August 5, 2024

  5:15 PM

  “Welcome to the Extraordinary Encounters radio show. My name is DJ Witness, and this is the show where I give you the chance to call in and share stories of encounters with Extrahumans and other unusual situations out there,” DJ Witness said, starting off his show with the usual introduction.

  “Reports have been coming in since earlier this evening of a skirmish between the Brightmark police and the Syndicate. Omega Woman was seen assisting our city’s finest alongside Blur, Red Diamond, and Red Phoenix. The only supervillain reported to be there on the Syndicate side of things is Power Thief,” DJ Witness continued.

  “Now I don’t know all the details, as the police are keeping the full investigation details close at hand as one would expect. What we do know is Power Thief and the men and women with him were arrested following the battle. This is the first time since the battle at Sabre Bastion back in July that anyone from the Syndicate has been caught,” DJ Witness added.

  “Now I want to hear from those of you out there who are listening. The lines are open,” Witness said before opening the phone lines.

  “Hello, Witness. My name is Wyatt. I was heading out of work and I guess everything was over by the time I stepped outside. I got a slight glimpse of Omega Woman going up into the sky before flying away. I wish I had more for you than that,” DJ Wyatt said.

  “Hey, it’s no problem. A sighting of Omega Woman in the sky is never a bad thing. Thank you very much for the call, Wyatt,” DJ Witness replied.

  “Sure. Thanks for having me,” Wyatt said before hanging up.

  “That does it for our story right now, but I will follow up with all as and when I hear anything more,” DJ Witness concluded.