Zero grabbed the Sabretooth Tiger's wrist and whispered urgently,"Victor, not yet. There are too many people in the playground."
"So what?" Victor replied, his face full of disdain."Do you think any of them can stop me?"
Zero fell silent.
Of course, no one could stop him. That wasn't the point. What Zero meant was that killing someone here, in front of so many witnesses, would only bring trouble.
"If anyone tries, we'll just kill them too," the Sabretooth Tiger muttered, his voice low and sinister.
"Victor, don't cause a scene. You know how much the commander cares about the plan. We'll wait until nightfall, when the place empties out."
Zero tried to persuade him as calmly as possible.
Victor's eyes narrowed."So you're using Stryker to threaten me now?"
Without warning, the Sabretooth Tiger grabbed Zero by the neck and lifted him off the ground with ease.
Zero gasped, his face turning red from the lack of oxygen.
"Don't... don't get me wrong," he choked out."I'm just... offering a suggestion."
Victor glared at him for a few seconds, then released his grip.
"Ahem! Ahem!"Zero staggered to the side, coughing violently.
"You're no fun at all," the Sabretooth Tiger grumbled in frustration, though he ultimately relented and stayed put.
Night was already falling, and it wouldn't be long before the playground closed for the day.
In the U.S., many businesses close early since people generally don't linger out at night—and playgrounds were no exception.
About an hour later, visitors began trickling out, and the shops inside the park started closing up.
Screech!A black sedan pulled up outside the gates. Eric and Rorschach stepped out one after the other.
"This is the place, right?"Eric looked around, then double-checked the address on the document in his hand to be sure.
The two of them headed into the playground.
By now, the place was nearly deserted—only a few staff were left cleaning up.
As they passed a roller coaster entrance, Eric approached an elderly man locking up.
"Excuse me, sir. Do you know where Bradley is?"
The old man eyed them with suspicion."Why do you want him?"
Eric didn't miss a beat."We're from the same country. Just here to deliver something."He lied with ease.
After asking around a bit more, they finally found someone who knew Bradley.
"Just head east. He's got a little setup down at the far end."
"Thanks, old man."
Eric and Rorschach followed the directions, and sure enough, they spotted a short man packing up his things in the distance.
It looked just like the guy in the photo—Bradley.
Rorschach silently thought they'd gotten lucky. Bradley hadn't been killed by Sabretooth yet.
But suddenly—
Eric stopped in his tracks. He sensed something and sharply turned his head to the left.
Rorschach followed his gaze.
Near the merry-go-round, two large men were casually smoking cigarettes.
Sabretooth and Zero.
Eric didn't recognize them, but Rorschach did.
No doubt—they were here for Bradley.
So much for being lucky.
Still, Rorschach didn't flinch. He calmly looked away. With his current power, neither of those two were a threat.
"Eric," he said calmly,"Those two don't look like staff."
"Ignore them. Let's go."Eric brushed it off."As long as they stay out of our way, I don't care who they are."
They continued on and approached Bradley.
"Excuse me, Mr. Bradley. I'm Eric. This is Rorschach. Mind if we talk?"
Bradley paused, eyeing them with suspicion."Do we know each other?"
"Not yet," Eric said with a smile."But we will."
With a small motion, Eric used his power—lifting a prop out of Bradley's hands with invisible force.
"You... you're one too?" Bradley stammered.
"That's right. I'm a mutant." Eric nodded.
Over by the merry-go-round, Sabretooth's eyes gleamed with interest.
"Zero," he said with a twisted grin,"Looks like we've got ourselves a bonus. How lucky is that?"
His mission lately had been to find and capture mutants for Stryker—dead or alive.
He hadn't expected two mutants to walk right into his lap.
Even better.
"Let me finish this smoke, and then we'll take care of all of them."
Victor's grin widened with anticipation.
Back at the trailer, Eric hadn't noticed the danger lurking nearby—his focus was on Bradley.
Seeing a fellow mutant changed Bradley's attitude.
"Come inside. Let's talk."
He hesitated but eventually led them into his trailer.
"Didn't expect to see my own kind in a place like this," he admitted after offering them seats.
He hadn't seen another mutant since leaving Stryker five years ago.
"There are more of us," Eric said warmly."And we want all of our brothers and sisters to stand together."
Bradley tensed slightly."Wait... You're with a mutant organization?"
His tone changed.
He had fought hard to escape that life. He didn't want to be dragged into it again.
He didn't want to be part of any organization—mutant or not.