POV 3rd Person
Sitting at a table by his lonesome was a young man appearing to be studying for his college exams, and spread out in front of him were numerous textbooks, creating an elaborate ruse that allowed him to show up at the café daily.
This had been the cover story for Ryan Bishop, codenamed Overwatch Low, as he went about his regular public surveillance of Jennifer Rowing.
Although the woman wouldn’t show up every day, when she did come to the Mammoth Café, Ryan would generally be sitting nearby, watching, waiting, and unknown to the others of his group or the constant randomly arriving Returners…protecting.
The nickname that Taylor had given his group wasn’t that far of a stretch from the truth, as Ryan could definitely be considered a Rowing Groupie.
Being a smart man, Ryan was well aware there would be more than a few Returners seeking Jennifer’s head. As he greatly looked up to the woman, and he was even from Edinburgh originally, upon returning to the past, he began acting as her secret guardian in the shadows.
It didn’t take a sophisticated genius to figure out they could earn a large chunk of income by taking over large future franchises, so the moment Ryan reached Alpha-Rank, he began his protection mission.
Protecting the sanctity of the Book series, which had been one of the few constant things in his life during the Origin Timeline, Ryan fought tooth and nail to stop the evildoers who wished to slaughter the damsel he had grown to idolize. However, fighting was the easy part when compared to doing recon and low-key protecting the target.
Due to his obsessive nature, Ryan’s whole life revolved around following Jennifer’s every move, sleeping…who needs that? He was a ranker; his body required less sleep.
Eating home-cooked, nutritious meals, meh, junk food is still calories.
Had he not been in the Alpha-Rank, his physically fit body would have been nothing but a faint dream thanks to the heaps of unhealthy beverages and snacks he constantly consumed on a regular basis.
Not to mention, if it weren’t absolutely disgusting, he probably would have even gone so far as to wear adult diapers so that he wouldn’t need to break his line of sight with Jennifer.
It was a road filled with multiple battles, sleepless nights, and thankless endeavors, but being so close to his idol made it all worth it in the now-young man’s mind.
Eventually, over several months of non-stop fighting, a truce was formed between himself and the two other High-Rankers who had been winning back-to-back skirmishes.
Checking his watch and noticing it was almost time to check in, Ryan picked up the headphones that were resting around his neck and placed them over his ears.
Even in the past, it wasn’t something uncommon as most teenagers carried around CD players or cassette players, so wearing headphones in public was pretty standard.
Only, his weren’t attached to a device that played music; instead, they were connected to his Walkie-talkie. Reaching under the table, he carefully reached into his backpack, withdrew the device, and covertly placed it in his lap so as to not draw suspicion; then…he waited.
And waited…
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The seconds ticked by as their regular 30-minute check-in came and went without a single response from the others.
Now, this wasn’t necessarily unheard of, especially with how lazy Overwatch High was when compared to Mid and himself. However, even still, when the second unresponsive minute passed, Ryan’s eyes narrowed.
A feeling of uncomfortable dread permeated his mind as he gave up waiting for a response from the others and decisively clicked the talk button three times.
Krrrssst…..krrrrrsssstt…krrrsssst
With each press of the trigger style button, Ryan held it down for exactly two seconds, filling his headphones with white noise, until his third call was finished and the silence replaced the static sounds.
It wasn’t until almost a minute later that the familiar static took over his headphones, and Ryan sat up slightly, ready to hear something about a fight between Overwatch High or something to that extent.
What he WASN’T expecting was for a creepy American Accented Childish voice to come through the Walkie-Talkie.
Krrrrssst…"Where once was three"…Krrrsst…. "there’s now only one"…Krrssstt…"A poor little groupie"...Krrssstt… "who should have learned when to run"…Krrssstt… "Sitting alone in the Mammoth Café"…Krrsssttt…"The poor little groupie should come out to play."
Ryan felt fear and chills as a faint ringing invaded his ears, and his vision darkened. The childish voice used to sing what could almost be considered a nursery rhyme was reminiscent of horror movies; it just didn’t fit the intensity of its tone or words.
His heart rate accelerated, and sweat began trickling down his spine as Ryan’s eyes darted around the room anxiously.
Thoughts of someone strong enough to eliminate not only Overwatch Mid but also high, two people he struggled to fight for over a month until it eventually was considered a stalemate, invaded his mind.
His thoughts raced as he tried to make sense of the situation, attempting to trace back and remember every little detail of the day. That was when the dots connected, and something clicked into place.
He distinctly remembered a small child wearing a black hoodie drenched from head to toe coming in earlier with what he thought was the child’s mother.
What set this kid on Ryan’s radar in the first place was how out of place he seemed.
While it wasn’t necessarily uncommon for a child to come into the Café with their parents, this kid gave him a weird feeling because they seemed too intelligent for someone who should only be four or five years old.
Kids at that age are usually unruly and hyper. Yet, this one was dead quiet and only seemed to be occupied by observing his surroundings, even going so far as to take a table in the corner of the Café with his back against the front door so that he could watch all the people as if searching for someone.