Date: Monday morning - August 12, 2024

  Matt Kolton headed downstairs, clad in his gray hoodie, black shirt, and dark gray jeans. His mother, Stacy, had finished cooking some scrambled eggs as he entered the kitchen. Stacy was wearing most of her suit for work, sans her dark blue jacket. She smiled as she turned to see him.

  “The super sleepyhead wakes up,” Stacy said with a laugh.

  “Yeah, yeah. One of the rare times we get to have breakfast together since either you’re up early for work or I head out to do my thing,” Matt said wryly as he sat down.

  Stacy set the plates down on the table and both began to eat. After Matt finished his first bite, his mother spoke up.

  “How’s working with the Brightmark police going for you and your friends?” Stacy asked.

  “It’s going well. We’ve been learning a lot working with them,” Matt replied before taking a sip of orange juice.

  “Anything new for stories you’ve covered lately?” Matt asked.

  “Like the fight between Omega Woman and that woman who looked just like her,” Stacy said, knowing where Matt was leading with his question. “I haven’t heard anything new about that since last Thursday when I saw it taking place. Not even her opponent’s name.”

  Stacy leaned forward slightly, then asked: “Did Omega Woman have any updates for you?” Matt shook his head.

  “I have not heard from her in the past week when I saw her last,” Matt replied. Stacy nodded.

  “No problem. Like I always say, you can come to me for any information you need,” Stacy said softly.

  The two finished their breakfast in comfortable silence. Once both their dishes were cleared, Stacy quickly washed the dishes before going upstairs. Matt made his way up as Stacy stepped out of her room, now wearing her dark blue suit jacket.

  “Off to work for both of us,” Stacy said before she gave Matt a quick hug.

  Once they finished, Stacy walked downstairs while Matt headed into his room.

  Suited up in his costume now, Red Phoenix waited until his mother’s car left the driveway outside. When it was out of sight, he walked downstairs and out to his backyard before taking flight. Red Phoenix ascended before flying toward Brightmark. Coming to a stop in the air, he maintained a hovering position.

  “Hey, you guys up?” Blur asked through Red Phoenix’s earpiece.

  “Yeah, just up here getting a bird’s eye view,” Red Phoenix said.

  “Nice. I’m on a rooftop around the center of the city. I think I see you, actually,” Red Diamond replied.

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  “Where are you? We can meet up,” Blur chimed in.

  Red Phoenix and Blur arrived via flight and super speed respectively to the building where Red Diamond was standing.

  “You guys have probably heard about the story since last Thursday. Omega Woman went up against some evil lady that looks like her,” Red Diamond said.

  “She was putting up a fight for most of the battle and then…well, I’m not actually sure what happened by the end of the clip on Brightmark News. It’s like her evil twin suddenly threw the fight,” Blur added.

  “I asked my mom if she had heard anything else since seeing the battle while she was working. No new information since then, though,” Red Phoenix replied.

  “In other news, I got an interesting tip from Detective Knight. Remember when we helped bust Power Thief for trying to illegally claim that Neurorate stuff?” Blur asked. When her friends nodded, she continued. “She has reason to believe the Syndicate are going to try to make another attempt to get it.”

  “What for?” Red Phoenix asked.

  “No clue. She wasn’t given an idea of what it does. Either way, I’ll run on over to keep the Syndicate from getting it,” Blur replied.

  Lady of Wrath hovered high above Brightmark, keeping an eye on the trio of young heroes gathered on the rooftop. The Syndicate gave her three names: Blur; Red Diamond; Red Phoenix. She was confident in her ability to take on all three. However, she was also smart enough to know that taking them out one by one was also a valid strategy. Acting according to the latter plan left less chance for resistance.

  The trio of heroes finished whatever conversation they were having and began to move in different directions. Taking a quick glance, Lady of Wrath zeroed in on her intended target-then flew down.

  Red Diamond began using the strength of her legs to leap from one rooftop to the next as she headed north for her patrol route. One jump took her to the next building. A second jump forward, then a third consecutively. Red Diamond wasn’t even halfway through her fourth jump when she felt something moving fast grip her by the neck. Feeling the grip move to her jaw, Red Diamond looked up to see the face of the supervillain Omega Woman fought four days earlier.

  Red Diamond didn’t feel her opponent’s punch until after it connected. Even with her diamond form active, she still felt it. Her opponent hit hard.

  “This is Red Diamond! Omega Woman’s new opponent is-” Red Diamond was cut off by being slammed hard against the wall of a building as the evil woman holding her flew lower.

  “Omega Woman’s new opponent is in town! She’s dragging me around town!” Red Diamond shouted into her earpiece before her opponent threw her against a wall, flew forward, and did the same again at another building.

  BRIGHTMARK NEWS REPORT:

  August 12, 2024

  9:00 AM

  “Good morning, this is Victor Vex reporting live from Brightmark News. I am here in the studio with Stacy Kolton,” Victor said as screenshots began appearing behind him of Red Diamond being lifted into the air.

  “It appears Red Diamond has been ambushed by the same individual who went up against Omega Woman, Starfall and Mister Mystic less than a week ago,” Victor continued.

  “On my way here, I heard from our sources close to VALOR. This new supervillain goes by ‘Lady of Wrath’. According to the source, survivors of a recent attack against a VALOR base heard her introduce herself. What’s more, Lady of Wrath allegedly admitted to working for the Syndicate before starting her fight with Omega Woman,” Stacy said.

  “Lady of Wrath’s true intentions remain unknown. However, this does provide context to the two incidents she is connected to-the attack on the VALOR prison transport ship, and the destruction of a VALOR base last week,” Victor replied.

  “On that, we can agree. It was a matter of time before the Syndicate would start trying to make a comeback after the events a month ago at Sabre Bastion. It seems as if Lady of Wrath is the means they plan to use to make it happen,” Stacy said to Victor before looking at the camera again.

  “Circling back to Red Diamond being ambushed by Lady of Wrath, something tells me it won’t be long before Blur and Red Phoenix step in. On behalf of Brightmark News, I think they’ve got this,” Stacy concluded.