The Brotherhood: Shadows IC(Darkdrago & Nuada RP)

[Darkdrago666]

1
"One must guide those that seek to harness magic to the light"
2
"One must slay beasts twisted by the corruption of magic overused"
3
"One must not overuse their power, as the consequences are exile"
4
"Once you become a Beast, death is your only salvation"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

New York City, a diverse metropolis that attracted countless lives from all walks of life either to live within the city, or passing through on a vacation. Underneath all of the so called "glamour" the city offered to everyone, lies a darker side, a side only known through fairy tales and stories, a side that has existed even before the City was even thought of. This can be said for countless cities, ruined or thriving. Berzerkers, creatures born from corruption that threaten life's existence, through gluttony and death. These nightmarish beasts are frightening to behold, and as vicious and powerful as any known savage monsters that crave human flesh, especially those touched by magic itself that have not been corrupted. Mindless and savage, rare is a Berzerker of a higher intelligence than that of a wild animal, but they do exist either in seclusion or as part of the "Leviathan" a group of "Berzerker like" humans, often named demons by an organization founded specifically to hunt these creatures down. The Brotherhood was founded by three powerful magic users, a Channeler using his blade to channel his magic and guardian into and slay the nightmarish fiends with power, a Conduit who's body acted as a beacon to call forth his own guardian as a weapon itself, and finally the sage, a master of hand to hand combat using his magic as a weapon itself by calling fourth his own guardian to infuse his body with power. As the Brotherhood grew, Leviathan was pushed back into the shadows. After the leader, "Lusca" was defeated Leviathan shifted into state of hibernation, rarely coming out to cause havoc, but waiting for its old master to return and carry on their goal.


Night was drawing closer, rain was slowly becoming heavier by the hour. Jacob Estrada, famed member of the Estrada Family, five generations worth of Brotherhood Agents that has served the organization well. Living up to the family reputation was Jacob's goal, and so far he didn't disappoint, being three of the youngest to pass into a fully fledged Agent Status by the age of sixteen. That was 11 years ago, and since then he has served his Brotherhood well, often the model agent for younger brotherhood trainees to become. But Jacob knew he was far from perfect, a bunch of personal demons that still haunt him are his evidence in the matter, manipulation from a "Demon" using him as murdering tool. This haunted him every so often, but he could live it, it might be hard times but he knew that giving up was not the answer, not for himself. Forgetting his umbrella Jacob quickened his pace towards the decrepit church, the raining hastened it's speed. Jacob had not been in the city a full week before his superiors ordered him to meet up with a senior agent for a briefing of a new assignment. This only annoyed Jacob more since he was looking forward to a weeks break from his usual commitments, however if his duty called upon then he better answer.


The doors were as old as the rest of architecture, a testament to it's sturdy nature since the church must have been at least one hundred years of age. Both large doors were unlocked, and slightly ajar as Jacob sighed entering the large structure, unwillingly knowing that whoever was sent would no doubt assign him a partner. Jacob didn't work well with partners since most of previous ones were inpatient and unwilling to work together, though this could be him justifying his lazy nature. Inside was more decrepit looking, but slightly lit by a few candles burning near the altar. The church, it seemed was used for "satanic" rituals since its abandonment but it did not worry Jacob the slightest. As Jacob suspected, one of the elders was here, suited up and holding what looked like to be files of sorts. Jacob hastened his pace, meeting the man in the middle. "Brother Jacob, so good to see you...it must've been 5 years now, how was your assignment in Germany?" Jacob just sighed, both hands in his pocket. "'I'm not here to play buddy with you Father Aldo.....sir..." Jacob's apathetic expression dodged Aldo's question.

"I'm not sure if you've heard, but there's been an increase of Berzerker activity in New York for some time now..." Aldo started his explanation of the situation, the capture of a Leviathan follower. "You think Leviathan are on the move again, right? We both know I took down their last leader five years ago...if anything they will be disorganized at most." Aldo listened attentively, all the while waiting for Jacob's plight to do this solo. "If they are on the move again, I need to do this alone, I work faster, and I fight better without babysitting." Jacob explained all the while Aldo shook his head. "No...this is a new method we are experimenting with, we feel that rookies would benefit some on the field experience, it's damn well better than being stuck in a classroom all day...She should be here soon..we gave her the exact location" Jacob's interest perked up. "Girl?...Do I call her sister?" Jacob joked. "Yes...I believe you will get along with her." Aldo smirked slightly looking back at Jacob.

[Nuada]

Switchfoot. The Used. Taylor Swift. Train. Pink. Dishwalla. Verve Pipe.

Green eyes thoughtful, her thumb paused, lingered, over the previous button on the stirring wheel as the sound of guitar strings being plucked sailed from the stereo of her car. She watched red taillights blurred by the increasing momentum of the rain, taking note of the specific instructions she set on her GPS. An old church in Brooklyn. She was to meet with Father Aldo and another agent.

“Think of this as your on-the-job training,” said one of the instructors a week earlier – with a wink. Maxene didn’t like the feel of it. She was not too fond of surprises. It was why she planned – to minimize surprises – and yet there she was driving after office hours towards an abandoned place to meet some stranger whose name she probably haven’t heard of.

We were merely freshmen…

Maxene hit previous and smiled. Angels and Devils by Dishwalla. She always liked the song.

”This is the last time that I’m ever gonna come here tonight,” it sang. Her fingers tapped the stirring wheel, following the rhythm of the song. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she was still wearing office clothes, baby blue button-up shirt and black pencil skirt, but the jacket she wore that morning was sitting quietly on the passenger seat. She still had time, she thought as her car crossed the Brooklyn Bridge. No need to hurry.

A year and a half into the Brotherhood and she was already questioning whether she did the right thing, picking up where her brother left off five years ago. Maybe she should just let go and live a blissful life of ignorance like she did the past twenty or so years of her life. She was good at what she do in her normal day job, why complicate life?

I’m always gonna worry about the things that could make us cold…

Max was dead. No number of Berzerkers will be able to bring her twin brother back to life. She had always thought that she was not the vengeful kind, but death did have an effect on her. If he was still alive she wouldn’t have thought of entering the Brotherhood. But she was the one with the innate talent, not Max. Their father said so, when he was trying to gauge which of his twins would better carry their name into the Brotherhood. When he endorsed both to early training camps, she excelled, but gave it up. It was not for her. Her twin brother, upon the insistence of their father carried on then died. She remembered the funeral and the white casket lined with gold. It was closed, the body too damaged to be displayed.

When she turned to the 5th avenue, the weather was not friendly anymore. The light drizzling had turned into torrential rain. It was only 6:30 PM and yet it felt like it was half past midnight. She drove on, relying on her GPS, thankful that there was barely a car on the streets. The rain had probably discouraged some to go out of the house. She checked the road on the screen, watching out for the next turn. Then a loud thump like a log crashing on her roof almost made her scream. Her car screeched and swerved on the slippery road. If a traffic officer was watching, she expected to see red light flashing behind her, calling her to pull over. There was none. Nobody seemed to be behind her car. She let the car slow down, let herself look up to the upholstered ceiling curiously. She lifted a hand to touch the light inside the car, but halfway sharp pain on her lower arm told her brain that something was very wrong. What her eyes saw next confirmed it – claws. Maybe a foot long, and there were three of those sharp claw-like blackness sticking out from her car’s roof. It was there for a second then it was gone, replaced by rain water vengefully soaking the inside of her car. She drove faster, ignoring her right arm. Another set of claws punched through the roof, barely missing her shoulder. As it withdrew, she hit the break hard.

A slender black shadowy figure was tossed from her roof to the road in front of her. It gracefully rose on hind legs. The arms were long and thin, its back hunched, and its face lit by those calm glowing green eyes. Not the first that she saw. She hit the gas, accelerating. The car sped forward, and it was a mistake. The creature leapt and met the vehicle head on. It was caught in mid-flight, mouth gleaming with sharp jagged white teeth, by the windshield. The glass shattered on its thin arms crossed in front of its face.

Maxene had the presence of mind to eject herself from the car in the last possible second. A hand gun on one hand, she rolled to her feet and wiped the rain from her face. She could see the silhouette of the meeting place from where she stood. One of her shoes lay three feet down the road and she stood on literally uneven footing, quickly firing three rounds to the half-stuck body of the creature on her car. It jerked and then remained prone. She thought she was always better with swords, but guns work too if she hit the correct spots. With a helpful boost, of course. It looked like she was lucky that night.

She turned her back on the wreck and ran towards the church. Earlier she planned to be presentable, to impress her to be partner and the elder, looked like it wouldn’t work.

“I apologize for my tardiness, I had a… umm… A technical difficulty,” she announced, her back straight though she was soaked from head to toe. The men turned to face her. One she recognize as Aldo, the other face was familiar, both looked puzzled at her.

And then the awkward silence followed, the three of them gaping at one another. She wanted to hide the flush she felt was spreading on her oval face, but there was no way it was possible without further embarrassing herself. It was Father Aldo who broke the silence by clearing his throat. “I told you she will get here. Maxene Colbert, meet Mr. Jacob Estrada. You two will be working together from this point until the Brotherhood considers otherwise.”

[Darkdrago666]

"Well...It's a nice change from people trying to impress me, that's for sure" Jacob smirked Wryly. He moved closer to Maxene, checking her over. "Althetic build, a handgun in one hand, not bad looking, and Blonde...interesting partner for myself, Aldo, I'm definitely surprised." Jacob's tone in his voice had an air of uncertainty, either being genuine, or just making light of the situation. "I'm not one to take first impressions seriously, so your tardiness is okay." Aldo coughed once more, clearing his throat to grab the attention of Maxene and Jacob. "Like I said before, you will be partners for the time being." That's when Aldo gave Jacob the files. "A young man, one of ours has gone missing, a Conduit Agent" Jacob looked at Aldo with a narrow of the eyes. "We suspect it was a "Demon" though we don't rule out a random Berzerker attack, but that's why we asked you two for this assignment." Aldo briefed both of them. Jacob was unsure of this, it felt like some little bits of information were left out. "And this is all you got? some photos, strange markings on the walls to go on? if you're not telling us something, we will find out, Father Aldo" Jacob warned the elder. Any other agent would've been immediately reprimanded by that statement, but Jacob was not an average agent.

"look, I was asked by the High Father himself to specifically ask you to lead this assignment, he also insisted that you would be partnered up...I'm being truthfully, the files are all we have on this situation." Aldo insisted looking over both Maxene and Jacob. "I'll leave this to you two...Deduc Bene, Frater(" Lead Well, Brother")" Aldo shook Jacob's hand and nowed slightly to Maxene, leaving the old Church, and the Agents behind to begin their investigation.

Jacob looked towards Maxene with a lazy smile "you can call me Jack, most do." He retorted as he then cracked his knuckles. "so what do I call you? Maxie? Maxene? Max?" Jacob looked over the files once more, sighing heavily. "Well all we have is this vague peice of shit, giving to us by Father Aldo, a guy who likes to lick the High Father's boot clean." Jacob rambled out loud, not caring if the Father himself could here. "I'm sorry, I'm just thinking out loud, shall we had to the Scene of the crime?" Jacob was smiling once again, as if he almost enjoyed this.

[Nuada]

Earlier that day, Maxene Colbert had the choice to wear either flat shoes or three-inch pumps. She chose the latter and regretted it. The feeling of her feet wet and struggling inside the shoes distracted her as much as the squishy sound her shoes made with every step. It wasn’t enough that she came in late for her appointment, she had to come in disheveled and soaked by the rain. What an impression she should have made for Jacob. The Jacob Estrada.

Save for the mismatched color of his eyes, he didn’t look as intimidating in pictures. She had always thought that the famed Mr. Jacob Estrada would be quiet, serious, and completely dark, with only the thoughts of killing Berzerkers running in his mind. However, from the way he seemed to inspect her like he was buying fish from the supermarket, she guessed he was as human as every man can be. And yet there was something off about him. Not the color of his eyes, for she had seen his face more than enough from reports to instagram. He was quite a celebrity in their little secret world, but she thought he needed to control his tongue.

She bowed slightly in respect for the elder, Father Aldo, as he walked past her. She admired how he kept the calmness on his face as Jacob tossed him more and more of his attitude. The old man might be in his fifties or so, a celebrated agent in his younger years, but Jacob was correct when he said that Aldo was an ass-kisser. He liked asses so much he bought one for himself. Rumor had it that he kept his donkey in his house in Kansas. Despite her misfortune, Max smiled, even for only a quarter of a second.

“Max will do,” she answered, placing down her gun on one of the pews. She sat and heaved a relieved sigh even as the wet material of the skirt pressed on her thigh. She shivered in the cold. “The files, please. I would rather arm myself with what little knowledge I can get with this morsel of information before we run to the crime scene.”

A clump of blonde hair strayed from where she tucked it behind an ear. She pushed it back, while thoughtfully reading through the report. James Yu. She stared at the photo of a black haired man wearing rectangular glasses, trying to recall if she ever had an encounter with him. Twenty three years of age and was assigned in Russia for a few months before he was in New York. Not a remarkable agent, but pretty decent. He had been off the grid for about a week, no attempt to communicate with any of the agents.

Maxene looked up from where she was seated and was met by those mysterious eyes of her partner. Words were caught in her throat then were dissolved. She had thought of herself immune to the oddities of the world, because of her trainings, but his eyes were a different kind of weird. Even though he was smiling as he leaned against the pew, she felt fine tendrils of fear crawling at the edges of her consciousness, sounding alarm to her brain regarding the man. She suddenly forgot how uncomfortable her feet felt inside her shoes.

“Um…” she started, handing him back the files. He was just a man, just another man who bleeds. She needed to compose herself if she would be working with him. She needed to forget the reputation, the stories of inhuman killing efficiency, the coldness and the irritating laziness he had managed to earn. Above all, she needed to learn to ignore the aura he was giving off, the feeling that there was something dark hiding behind that friendly smile. Everything would be fine. He was just a man.

“I need a phone.” She cleared her throat and held up a hand. Jagged red lines peeked from the cuff of her sleeve. She pulled it back, the pain registered in her brain after being reminded of how the Berzerker clawed at her wrist. Max held out her left hand instead. “Phone, please. My car is out there on the street. I need to report it and have it towed. It will only take a little while. Then we can go to the scene. I doubt we will find anything useful, but let’s get there.”

[Darkdrago666]

"Max it is then" Jacob replied, taking a glance over the large chamber that sheltered them from more rain. Jacob felt uneasy in abandoned places, from as small as a house to as big as a hospital, they were all potential hives for Berzerkers. Jacob regained his focus, handing the files to his young partner Maxene. He was rather surprised that she didn't speak up when he gave his thought about Aldo out in the open. Most of his previous partners gave a lecture on how Aldo was a living legend and deserved the respect he should be given. "Maybe he if he stuck with field work instead of filing papers I would give him more respect" His inner thoughts raced inside his mind. "This is the seventh partner now...why do they insist in this course of action?...well she's not half bad at least". Jacob moved closer, inspecting the files as Maxene handed them back. James Yu, the name rang a bell, but he knew inside, this was not just some Berzerker rampage incident, this must involve Leviathan, and Jacob was more than ready to face whatever comes their way.

“Phone, please. My car is out there on the street. I need to report it and have it towed. It will only take a little while. Then we can go to the scene. I doubt we will find anything useful, but let’s get there.”

Jacob broke from his thoughts. Reaching down into his pockets he took out his cellphone. An older model, possibly discontinued, but this was given to him as a present from a friend, and it seemed Jacob would need to contact him again for this assignment. He handed the phone over, but hearing something land above them with a thud. Jacob's instincts kicked in, keeping a close hear above, listening out for other such noises that followed. the slight sound of footsteps above, not just any kind, the animal kind, like a large animal walking on all fours. Jacob readied himself, moving slowly around, following the footsteps.

That's when they ended near the large doors that lead to pouring rain outside. Another loud thud echoed, only this time it was on the other side of the door. looking back to Maxene, Jacob took his coat off, tossing it to the side. adrenaline pumped fast into his body, he cracked his knuckles, anything could happen at any minute. He turned back to Maxene. "I'm going to check outside..." he then placed the files down near his coat, and readying himself once again. "I'll count to three, I'll open the doors, and you shoot whatever is behind the doors...ready?" Jacob reached grabbing hold onto the handle. "one....two.....THR-" not waiting any longer the beast broke through the door, and grabbed hold of Jacob, tossing him outside into the rain. Jacob bounced, landed face down in floor, raining hitting him fast and hard.

Slowly getting up, Jacob groggily looked at the large beast. He was near bones, skinnier than most. This meant he had not eaten, and this only made Berzerkers more feral and wild to deal with. The beast then leaps forward, going in for the kill. It would've, if it wasn't an Agent, especially if wasn't Jacob. Jacob's Aura energized, a black mist circulating his body. As the beast's claws came down, Jacob quickly sidestepped out of the way. His aura moved to his fist, giving a forceful jab to the beast's head, pushing him back a good 3 feet away. Jacob got ready, as if enjoying this fight. "About time I get take down a berzerker tonight!" The Beast's deathly roar would've scared any other. His swipes came in fast but Jacob managed to dodge them, if narrowly. The beast left himself open on his, Jacob followed his instinct with a thrust kick into the leg, shocking the creature as it tried to gather it's strength from the surprise attack. Jacob followed up even further, a body strike, then a Right hook straight to jaw, the beast felt the last strike and moved back slightly to rethink it's style of attack.

Jacob saw Maxene and winked at her, a smile etched onto his face.

[Nuada]

Amusement tugged at the corners of her lips upon seeing the mobile phone being handed to her. Once upon a time owning such a mobile device was cool. But of course Max took it, curiosity bugging her. She lifted the phone to a better lighting, turned it over, and observed how the light bounced off on the plastic housing and the various scratches on the screen. “Vintage,” the young agent finally commented. “The Brotherhood might have omitted from your files that you like old, antique, stuff. I haven--”

Jacob’s attention was stolen from her. His head snapped to a certain direction. She heard it too, the sound of metal crunching against the pressure of steps. Not from somebody walking on two feet, for sure. With the phone on her right hand, she armed herself with her gun on her left. Calling can wait a little longer. She made sure that the gun was loaded then cautiously followed her partner towards the arched door of the abandoned church.

"I'm going to check outside,” he said, placing James Yu’s files down. "I'll count to three, I'll open the doors, and you shoot whatever is behind the doors...ready?"

“Always.” She raised the gun.

” one....two.....THR-”

“Jacob!” And then the rain was upon her again, accompanied by the cold winds. She ran after Jacob who was hurled helplessly into the night. The Berzerker made no mind of her and casually strolled to the darkness for its prey.

By the time she got to the doorway, Jacob was on his feet, though looking a little shaky. The rain smoothed down his tousled dark hair down to his head, but he seemed to not notice. In fact, he seemed to have forgotten that she was around. Perhaps that was the difference between a rookie like her and a celebrated agent like him. He fought with a dangerous grace that she guessed she still lacked. Every movement of his body looked natural, as if he was born fighting.

He smiled at her. She realized that she was gaping and quickly shut her mouth and brought the phone to an ear, looking utterly cool on the outside. Her gun was lowered. It looked like he didn’t need her to help after all. Max leaned against the doorframe then called out to him, “Scream if you need my help.” Truth was that she didn’t want to get in his way.

“Simon,” she said when the other end of the line connected. “I’m in Brooklyn. I need a ride, please. I’ll text in the address. Can you make it here real quick? Thanks.”

Next, she contacted somebody who would tow her car to be repaired, requesting for an official receipt. The Brotherhood better reimburse the cost of repairs. She wasn’t a rich kid and the paycheck wasn’t that good.

*****

Not too long, the Berzerker was disintegrating into the atmosphere as most of its kind did after it died. Maxene was still standing by the doorframe, watching Jacob as he casually walked back to the shelter. He looked as satisfied as a kitty with warm milk. He had what might have been the after-fight glow.

“First order of business for the night – dry clothing,” she started as he entered the threshold. “I called a cab to drive us to my apartment. I can loan you something, I think. It’s a bit weird for two people to be loitering around the city drenched in rainwater.”

Max turned her head as headlights illuminated the street. “Ah, there he is. Don’t you love it that NYPD has below average reaction time? My cab guy is even more punctual. Let’s go.” She ran towards the cab and sat on the passenger seat.

“Nice to see you again, Max. Got yourself in trouble again, I see.”

She just smiled at him. “So sorry to call you with a very short notice. Let’s get to my apartment. I'm itching to get out of these shoes.”

[Darkdrago666]

Berzerkers were always hard to study, especially since after death they broke down, disintegrating away to nothingness. This made the choice even harder for other agents, capture one alive or try and kill them, both having their pros and cons. Jacob didn't care, a dead berzerker was the only berzerker he wanted to know about. Then came the buzz he waited for, that feeling of victory that he liked so much after every fight, human or non-human However, thinking back to the appearance of the recent beast, it's body was very sickly thin. This brought up two questions, why was it frail in the first place? and was it under the command of another guy, maybe pulling the strings, wanting to see how this encounter would plan out. If so, Jacob would want to meet this person and give him a punch straight to the face. He never always used to think that way, at one point he was a rather average skilled agent but through rigorous training and mental conditioning his skill right now was definitely more than exceptional. He noticed his clothes were wet, almost drenched enough to be unbearable to wear, he wasn't going to complain however, walking up to Maxene, and the shelter the arch gave from the rain itself. looking inside, he picked up both his coat and the files. "One of the few perks of being a Sage Type, we are given phyiscal enhances from our Guardian, though mine can be a little hard to work at times." he said looking down at the ground while Maxene made the call she needed to, a friend of her's named "Simon" from the sounds of things he was a Cab Driver.

"Not a problem Max, who's ya friend?"

"Names Jacob Estrada...I'm an old friend" Jacob replied holding the files in his hand.

"what's that you're holding?" the Cab Driver Simon asked curiously.

Jacob just shrugged it off, looking out to the rain, after what seemed like forever, the rain was slowing down. "I'm a Private Investigator, been hired for a job, these are just evidence." Jacob hoped that this quelled Simon's curious appetite.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Three Hours Later

James Yu's apartment, the young man's room was clean, despite the obvious struggle that showed itself amongst the furniture that was toppled over, the red markings on the wall, and the large claw and teeth marks found on the door and walls of his apartment. Finding him would be even harder, finding him alive? more so. "so I'll check around in here, investigate his room, he may have a hidden message, or maybe a straight answer to why he's been a target of "Leviathan" forget I said that last part, The Brotherhood thinks they have disbanded" Jacob checked around the apartment lounge room. The Markings bearing the same Leviathan symbol as before, his thoughts on their involvement quickly turned to hatred by the single thought of them, Like before Jacob was definitely the sort to investigate, and to think through plans before rushing ahead, but this disappearance played on his mind more so than any other. Seeing the other strange symbol, different in colour and marking. This one seemed like an older, more primitive compared to the other symbol. Jacob's suspicion grew even more.

"Hey Maxene, any idea what this could mean?" he shouted, his mind in deep thought about this symbol. If it was ritualistic in nature, Jacob feared they could be too late.

[Nuada]

By the time they were at James' apartment, the rain had already stopped, leaving the city with a moonless sky and pavements glimmering under the soft light of the street lights. They weren't met by any trouble accessing the agent's living space. His neighbors don't even seem to notice that the occupant of room 304B was missing, or that something happened in the said room. The sad part in living in such a fast-paced world was that everyone was too busy to care about their neighbors.

Visible signs of struggle decorated the otherwise neat single bedroom apartment. She walked around the perimeter first, surveying the claw marks and symbols drawn hastily like a morbid abstract mural. If James was found alive, he would have a lot of explaining to do, not to mention the cost of repairs that will be charged to him.


"Hey Maxene, any idea what this could mean?"

Max walked to where her partner was examining another symbol. She had spent hours endurung history classes about Berzerkers and the club their more intelectual cousins formed, the Leviathan. Those classes were meant to familiarize her with what she will encounter on the field. And yet, as she stared at the symbol on the wall, it was familiar, but she couldn't quite place where she saw it. If it was of Leviathan, it was not one that was frequently used. She knew that because she familiarized herself with common symbols - they taught that in class.

"It means we're knee deep in Berzerker shit, honey," she said so softly it might have been just her thoughts carelessly escaping her mouth. Without looking at him, she fished her phone from her jeans and took a photo of the symbol. "I'll ask google to identify this for me. There is still a possibility that we're overreacting and that our friend is just a fan of--" She frowned, raised her face to look at him. "No match found."

She showed the screen of her phone to him before she got up and took pictures of the entire room. "The Leviathan is dead. There must be some explanation behind these." She gestured around the room. "I'll take this up to my instructor tomorrow and ask permission to dig into the archives." She shook her head. "You killed the last of their leaders, didn't you?" But didn't wait for his answe as she opened the door to the bedroom.

It was in the same state as the other room, with the bed undone and his belongings scattered everywhere - even his laptop. Max picked it up. The charger, she found under the bed. There might be something she could find in his latest comminications. It was a long shot, but might be worth to try. She returned to the living area with the laptop on her arms. "I'll try to hack my way to this tonight and see what i can find."

[Darkdrago666]

Looking upon the phone seeing for himself that no matches were found, he sighed. "Figures...I'll just take a photo of it to Lee" his thoughts echoed within his mind. Lee was an old friend of his, a Conduit Agent and the heir to the wealthy and powerful corporation "Arikami Labs", a development of advanced sciences, an investor and partner to the Brotherhood, giving them high tech gadgets to help with the protection of the world from Berzerkers. He always trusted Lee, hell in good faith, his friend gave Jacob a Warehouse alongside the storefront, down near the docks in New York. That reminded him, he would need to give Maxene his address for tomorrow. He thought of giving a call to Lee in the morning, a chance to catch up and to have some more help from an old friend on this new case.


For a rookie, she was definitely not as air headed as the others. Her composure during the encounter with the Berzerker, and her assertiveness during this assignment was a breath of fresh air. "it's nice to know the New York Branch are not a total screw up with their recruitment" Jacob smiled to himself. Looks like this partnership would take an interesting journey, for as long as needed it would seem.

"You killed the last of their leaders, didn't you?"

Jacob turned to Maxene, but before he could answer her, she was already heading into the bedroom. Jacob sighed, the thoughts rushing back into his mind. He did not kill the Leviathan Leader, because at the time it was his older brother, Leo Estrada. The man he looked up to all his life, the agent he yearned to become and followed, the brother he loved dearly, how could he kill family? He stopped Leviathan's plan, that's true, however he was unclear if his brother survived the fall of the Leviathan's base of operations, from what he learned and heard of, Leo was one of the best, always a plan in motion for when things went wrong, and a plan for when that plan went bad. Even now, if his brother did survive, he would have an array of mixed feelings, proud, shame, the urge to stop him before he could put any wheel motion, fear for how powerful his brother would've become. He wasn't going to lie to himself, he still truly loved Leo, he would willingly sacrifice himself to bring him back to his normal self without hesitation, but seeing his brother falling into a downward spiral of insanity and darkness, he knew that to atone for his mistake he would have to kill him if by the small chance he is alive.


Maxene then headed out of the room, back into the living quarters. carrying a laptop, Jacob assumed it was James' whilst he then took out a small camera, a disposable one. He took a picture of the Symbol to show Lee in the morning.

"I'll try to hack my way to this tonight and see what i can find."

Hacking, Jacob was familiar with the term. bringing back memories of when he and Lee during their tests would try and hack into the archives in search of answers for their tests. They both passed with flying colours, it was always a good idea to make sure they were right. He smiled slightly before returning to a serious demeanor.

"I think we've probably picked this place dry seeing there was not much here anyway...I think it's best we call it a night, we can get some rest and at 110% percent in the morning." Jacob said heading out with Maxene. Taking a small notebook and a pen from the inside of his coat, Jacob wrote down his address, handing it to Maxene. "We will gather our findings, hopefully an old friend of mine will be their too to help us out, and my number just in case you run into trouble." Jacob feel his head starting to ache, moving his right hand on his forehead. These aches again, he was unsure why he was getting them all of sudden. He passed it off as lack off sleep.

~~~~~~~

"Are you certain you can take them on? He's become the ever skilled agent, like his brother" A masked man stood from a rooftop peering down to James' apartment, the voice seemingly coming from the shadows behind him. " I may need help, I personally can take down Jacob, it's the pretty thing of a girl with him, I'll need to have her busy whilst I beat the shit outta him" The Masked Man replied, his tone thick with excitement and impatience. "Very well...Grandis will accompany you...he'll make sure she won't interfere in your job" the voice almost inhuman to the tone.

the Masked Man kept his gaze upon Jacob like a hawk watching his pray.

[Nuada]

It was at the end of the uncharacteristic hallway, in front of the elevator, that Max turned to her partner and took the piece of paper. With James’ laptop cradled on one arm, she hit the elevator button twice before leaning against the frame. “Thank you,” she replied almost thoughtfully, then reached in her back pocket to retrieve her phone. Max jabbed the screen with her thumb a few times then Jacob’s phone was vibrating.

“That is my number, I suppose.” Her green eyes were bright and her blonde hair like a halo framing her face when she looked up at him and continued, “Just in case you’re lonely tonight.” The woman held his mismatched gaze for a second longer, her eyes alight with undeniable mirth, and then the elevator door slid open with a loud, resounding, DING!

**********

An hour later, when Max was surrounded by the inviting aroma of freshly brewed coffee, she realized that teasing Jacob the way she did might not be a good idea after all. She managed to keep her cool throughout the 5-storey elevator ride and through their casual goodbyes, but she doubt she was almost sure that he would make it an issue one way or another. What was she thinking? Perhaps, she wasn’t thinking at all. Stupid. These words just kept pouring out her mouth when she was either nervous or excited. Back then in James’ apartment, she was both.

“Max, Max, Max. Always the one to call urgent meeting, aren’t you?”

Maxene averted her eyes from the spreadsheet of James’ personal finances, which she was mindlessly scrolling up and down for some time already. She was greeted by a sheepish smile of a fair-haired guy lounging on a chair opposite her. Between them was a round coffee table, where James’ laptop was together with Max’s phone and two caramel frappes. It was thirty minutes after ten in the evening, and yet there were no free table in Starbucks. Max was lucky to have spotted an empty booth at the far end of the store when she got there an hour earlier.

“Thank you for answering the booty call,” she casually retorted as she tossed him a smile that would have disarmed Starbucks’ guard at any time. “How will I live without you, Ben?”

Bennett Shaw just smirked. “Caramel? Is this mine?” But he took a sip anyway. Bennett was agent two or three years older than Max. He was a tall pleasant man with dark brown eyes and a slight streak of genius. He worked as a field agent for only three years, but was requested to the Intelligence arm of the Brotherhood because of his propensity to remember almost everything. Max had known him because he spent his spare time lecturing new recruits on the basics of the History of Leviathan and The Brotherhood.

“I ran into some problems, which I think is your expertise.”

Ben put the plastic cup back down on the table. Caramel was his favorite. It was obvious how his dark eyes lit up at the sight and scent of caramel frappe and then darkened when she flipped her phone over to show the picture of the symbol she took from the wall – the one symbol that neither she nor Jacob recognized.

His voice was hard when he asked, “Where did you get these?”

“So is it something familiar?” she asked back while swiping the screen to show more images. She was not a good character judge, but just then she thought that her friend’s aura changed. It might have been just his curiosity kicking in. Hopefully it was just that.

Then again, when Ben looked up at her through his lashes and said, “Nope,” all his pleasant self was back. He leaned his broad back against the back rest carelessly and took a sip of his frappe. “Did you finally get assigned to a real field work? Not like the mock ones we do in the institute, I mean.”

“Ben, you don’t forget. You must have seen this symbol before. From the Leviathan, perhaps?”

“The Leviathan is dead, Max.” There was finality in his tone that she cannot argue with. She didn’t dare. “However, if you want, I can search the archives with you tomorrow morning.”

Maxene smiled and shut the lid of James’ laptop. “That is the exact reason you got me out here, isn’t it?” Ben raised his brows. A grin was starting to tug at the corners of his lips. “To gain access to the archives.”

“Only a select few can grant permission,” the young agent admitted. “No offense, Ben, but you are among the low hanging fruits.”