Lost Haven, Maine - Little Sicily

"Urrrghhh..."

Doctor Eric Saxer's head was killing him. This always happened after exposure to the Meta serum, but he'd never quite get used to it. The doctor opened his eyes, letting the light enter his pupils long enough to comprehend what he was seeing. Above him was what looked to be plaster. Upon further exploration, Saxer noticed that he was lying down on something soft. Curious as ever, the doctor started to sit up and examine his surroundings. He was in what appeared to be a run down apartment, seated on what felt like a rather expensive mattress and covered by a large blanket. He was also wearing what appeared to be a fresh pair of clothes. The doctor swung his feet off the bed, putting them down on the cold, hardwood floor. Eric brought his hands up to his face and rubbed his eyes - he was still tired and groggy, but at least his head was starting to clear up. Something started to creak, causing Saxer's heart to race as he jolted his head up in the direction of the sound.

The door had just been opened, and a young woman with light blue hair and winter clothing stepped inside the room. She made her way over to the broken marble counter that surrounded the kitchen area, and set an unmarked brown bag down on the counter."Good morning. How'd you sleep?" She began casually, pulling a couple of sandwiches out of the bag. Eric rubbed his chin, absent-mindedly acknowledging the gray stubble that was starting to form there. "I feel like I slept on a brick." He said after a moment of thought, suspicion dripping with every syllable. Eric stood up, straightening out his shirt as he tried to stand on shaky legs. He felt weak. The serum's effects hadn't quite worn off yet. Where am I? Doctor Saxer asked himself, glancing around the room for any obvious escape routes. There were a handful of broken windows, however upon closer inspection Eric realized that he was on the third or fourth floor.

Damn.

He briefly wondered if he could make it past the girl in the kitchen and through the door. His hopes were dashed, however, when a familiar figure walked inside and stood in the doorway. The man's bronze chestplate and helmet were unforgettable.

Chike stepped into the room towards Ceri. When he reached her side he plucked a sandwich out of Ceri's hand."You could'a asked.." She mumbled. Polemos made his way over to the doctor, his face blank of emotion. He had none of his arms that he was wielding when the two did battle down on 18th street. He was, however, still wearing the same armor. Chike set his helmet down on Eric's bed, handing the sandwich to Saxer. The doctor took it, and quickly began to devour it. Whenever he used the serum, it tended to burn through calories much faster than normal; thus, Eric needed more food more often to keep replenish himself after battle. "My name is Chike." The warrior brought a strong hand up, and Eric shook it."Eric Saxer. Where have you taken me?"

It was obvious from Eric's tone of voice that he was angry to have been taken to an unfamiliar place after losing consciousness. Chike sympathized with the doctor; being kidnapped probably wasn't the most pleasant thing ever.

"Mr. Saxer, I have a few questions. First off, why did you attack me?"

"You had invaded my home. I was trying to protect my family." Now that was a bit unexpected. So the doctor's family was out there somewhere?

"Your family, Mr. Saxer?" Eric sighed, his muscles loosening."We're not related by blood. We...We've...Well, it's complicated." Chike crossed his arms at this. "Now why is that?

"We have history, my family and I. We've been through things that you couldn't possibly imagine.

"Try me.

"Alright. I'll start from the beginning. You'd best sit down, though. This might take awhile."[/b] Eric said, before taking a seat on the bed behind him. Chike went and grabbed a chair from the dining room and sat down. Ceri soon joined them, handing Eric another two sandwiches. Saxer quickly devoured them before starting on his story. "It all started fifteen years ago. Myself and nineteen other men and women were recruited by a powerful corporation, SuperIOR Inc, to work on a top secret project. The company was looking to create the next step in human evolution. They wanted to make people faster, stronger, and smarter. They hired us to look into it."

"Excuse me," Ceri interrupted,"Why did they hire you guys? Are you scientists?"[/b]

At this, Eric Saxer nodded. "Yes. I'm a geneticist, personally. But we had researchers from all sorts of categories." Eric then waved his hand, and moved on. "Anyway. When the project first started, we were first assigned the task of re-evaluating the entire human genome. They had us run tests on every strand of DNA in the human body. We spent approximately two years performing tests on genetics, trying to find out the specifics of man's genetic structure. Eventually we found what we were looking for: We located a variety of genes that affected the human body's cellular growth. We found the DNA that we could, in theory, manipulate to evolve mankind's physical and mental capacities.

"The next step was finding a way to manipulate these genes. We tried everything we could think of, but after four years we determined that there was no natural way we could safely accomplish our goals. We thought we were finished. That is, until SuperIOR introduced the idea of cybernetically enhancing humanity to the next level. They brought three experts on the subject for us to work with. They were all geniuses; you couldn't believe the machines they were capable of creating. We spent the next eight years creating prototypes, and stress testing the nanites' evolutionary abilities. It was groundbreaking work. Around mid-November of the eighth year, we did our first animal trials. We used the nanites to enhance a number of field mice. We discovered a number of flaws in the serum. First, it degraded human intelligence while active, instead of increase it as he had planned. We tried a number of work arounds, but nothing seemed to change.

"The second flaw wasn't in the nanobots themselves, but in the liquid we suspend them in. You see, the yellow liquid is actually the main energy source for the nanites. It's basically a shot of tens of thousands of calories right into the system. The nanobots use the massive amount of energy to jump-start their systems, and then continue to feed off the liquid until it burns out. The problem is, this liquid is meant to last for months at a time under the most stressful circumstances; yet, it seems to burn out in minutes. Up until recently we always assume the nanobots were using the energy inefficiently. But we discovered that that wasn't the case; the liquid serum is missing a key bonding agent, leaving the liquid in a state where the tens of thousands of calories are treated more like thousands.

"We...We also found that the bonding agent had been removed and replaced with a placebo string."

"Who sabotaged your work, Doctor Saxer?"

"I don't know. Nobody does. Anyway, once the board of directors found that we couldn't fix their serum they decided to drop the project. They began to seize all of our equipment and research, and started to...remove...test subjects. The three engineers disappeared off the map. That was when the research team and I took what we could and fled. SuperIOR hunted us, at least for awhile, but we managed to find this place. It was the perfect hiding place: few people dared to come here after the 'Red Plague' hit, and then there was the fire, and finally the looting and pillaging...Everyone with an ounce of respect ran off; most of 'em claimed the place was haunted. The couple of gangs that still populate the run down apartments and smashed up stores tend to leave after dark."

"So you're safe here?"

"We were, until you showed up." Eric answered, glaring at Chike spitefully.

"We can protect you and your family. Ares might not be the most agreeable god, but he protects his own. You'd be safe."

"And what's the catch?"

"You would provide my forces with your serum in exchange for protection." Chike, Ceri, and Eric and turned to see who had spoken. Standing there, a red light fading behind him, was Ares. His black armor seemed to absorb little light from the small bulbs hanging from the ceiling, and his gaunt face appeared as stricken with rage as always.

"Who are-" Eric began.

"Ares, the God of War."

"He's real." Eric choked, his voice noticeably more reserved than a moment before. Chike couldn't help but grin a bit as Eric squirmed. "Do we have a deal?" Eric decided not to answer verbally, but instead chose to nod.

"Good, it seems we have brokered a deal in the nick of time. Polemos, my servant, there is a disturbance outside." Ares motioned to the window facing the newly-built shrine to Ares. Chike and Ceri stood, making their way quickly over to the window..

As Kyle, Sam, and Ronnie made their way back to campus after leaving Bogart’s, they barely said a word. Sam was still shocked that Kyle got involved in an altercation with the creeps who had been harassing that poor girl, and despite everything, things were still slightly awkward between Kyle and her, even if they had convinced themselves that it wasn’t. Kyle felt it too. He had been crazy about Sam for years, and for the longest time would have given anything to be with her. However, the timing just never worked out for them. Either he was with someone else, or she was. The tension between them was driving him nuts, and he wanted nothing more than to resolve the issues between them, he just didn’t know how. “You know, you two really need to get your shit figured out.” Ronnie said, as if he had a supernatural ability to read the situation. And in a way, he did. They were his best friends, and he knew them better than just about anyone. He knew when things weren’t right, even if they didn’t want to admit that anything was wrong at all. “What are you talking about?” Kyle asked, taken off guard by the statement. “Ronnie, there’s nothing-” Sam was cut off mid-sentence. “Bullshit.” Ronnie said before adding, “you guys have been in love with each other for as long as I’ve known you, but you’re too damn stubborn to make anything happen. Granted, Kyle, you’re with Addy right now, and she’s cool as shit. But seriously dude, what the fuck?” “Seriously Ronnie?” Kyle asked, shocked at what he was hearing. “Yeah dude, you’re like my brother and I love you, but you’re a fucking mess. You need to figure out what it is you want.” He paused, before adding. “Both of you.” Before either Kyle or Sam could respond, the loud roar of an engine shattered the quiet of the night. They looked to the source of the sound and saw a dark Cadillac shoot around the corner and slow down right next to them. The tinted driver’s side window rolled down and Kyle made eye contact with the driver, one of the creeps from the club. Kyle braced for trouble, however, the driver just grinned and pressed the gas pedal to the floor, kicking up smoke and the smell of burnt rubber as the Cadillac sped off down the street. “Was that…?” Sam asked, the fear rising in her voice. “Yeah, let’s get out of here.” Kyle said. “Good idea.” Ronnie said as he picked up his pace, the other two following suit. Then they saw the Caddy come back around the corner from the opposite direction, heading straight for them. “Kyle…” Ronnie said, panic starting to creep into his voice. “Run!” Kyle cried out to his friends. However, they didn’t get the chance. The Cadillac sped up and raced toward them. As the vehicle pulled up beside them, he could see one of the passengers leaning out of the window pistol aimed directly at them. “Get down!” Kyle commanded as he tackled Sam and pulled her to the ground, laying on top of her to shield her from the firearm. There was a volley of gunfire, and then a squeal of tires as the Cadillac sped off. Kyle stayed on top of Sam for a few moments, not wanting to get up in case the danger hadn’t passed. Finally, he rolled off of her and looked her in the eyes. “Are you okay?” He asked, angry with himself for not taking the threat that the thugs from the club had posed seriously, and putting his friends in danger in the process. “Yeah, I think so.” Sam managed to say, her voice shaking. “Ronnie, you okay?” Kyle asked. There was no response. “Ronnie?” Kyle said again as he turned toward the spot his friend had been. “Ronnie…” Kyle said, his voice trailing off as he saw his friend laying on the sidewalk in a pool of his own blood. Kyle was nearly overcome by a sickening feeling in his gut as a raced over to his friend’s side, unable to believe the massive amount of blood on the sidewalk. He put his fist over the gunshot wound in Ronnie’s chest in an attempt to stem the flow of blood. “Ronnie.” Kyle said, a mix of panic and anguish in his voice. “Hey Kyle…” Ronnie said, forcing a smile in his delirium. “It’s gonna be okay Ronnie, you’re going to be fine.” Kyle said in an attempt to reassure his friend…and himself. “Yeah. I…I know. It’s just a flesh wound.” Ronnie said with a slight laugh, followed by violent coughing. “Yeah, just a flesh wound.” Kyle repeated his friend’s reference to Monte Python’s Black Knight, from a scene that the pair had quoted ad nauseum. “Hey, Kyle…” Ronnie said, his voice growing weaker. “Yeah buddy?” Kyle said. “She loves you, you know that. Take care of her…” He said, just before his eyes rolled back into his head and his body went limp. “Ronnie? Ronnie?” Kyle said, panic gain taking a hold of him, followed with a cold realization that came as soon as he felt Sam’s hand on her shoulder. He looked up at her and the tears in her eyes nearly caused him to break. “Ronnie…”

The bright beams of the sun blared into my eyes, stirring me up from my sleep. Considering the fiasco of last night, I only wished that I could have remained a sleep for a little bit longer. For some reason, I felt the chilling February morning air against my face. Weird. How could that be when I fell asleep inside? If our heating broke again, I swear, heads are going to roll. But that wasn’t the only thing that felt ‘off’. I felt the ebb of water striking my body and then immediately recede back whence it came. I wish I didn’t open up my eyes. When I opened up my eyes, I saw what seemed like a miniature city laying before me. The city was isolated on an island that was close to the shore, only being separated from the mainland by what seemed like a single channel, lined with several large bridges. Everything looked so small. The skyscrapers and the other large buildings were small. The vehicles were like tiny insects crawling along the streets. As I stumbled to my feet, I felt that something was off. I couldn’t tell what the most jarring feeling that alarmed me was. That I couldn’t feel my arms at all. That I could feel not one pair of feet, but four! Or that my center of gravity was closer to the ground than usual. But when I starred at my reflection in the ocean by that miniature city, I knew immediately what was wrong. My head was freaking grafted to the body of a spider! It was like that one dream I had where I was a spider (albeit for my head). However, in that dream, I was, comparatively, smaller than my surroundings, unlike my current circumstances. While I was contemplating the image I saw in the ocean, I felt a giant impact smash against my face, causing me to tumble down to the ground. When I looked up, there was a small man hovering above me. A man who was decked out in a silver and blue costume. Wait! Was I the one who was giant, instead of that city and that man being tiny? Isn’t there some square-cube law or something along those lines that made animals my size (assuming I am the one who is giant-sized) an impossibility? “I would turn back if I were you” The man in the blue and silver said to me. Due to the size difference between us, his voice sounded higher than one would expect a man of his size (I mean, in relation to a ‘normal’ size human). ”But I haven’t done any…” I began to say, but I was interrupted when the silver and blue metahuman started to dive-bomb me. Instinctively, I tried to put up my hands to defend myself. But, since I obviously don’t have hands anymore, let alone arms, I saw that my front legs reacted instead, swapping the man away from me. He was sent flying back into the city, where he crash landed. Did I just kill him? I couldn’t have, right? Isn’t that guy supposedly the strongest metahuman on Earth, or at least of those trying to protect us? Weird I said ‘us’. He obviously wasn’t trying to defend me, but I still identified with the collective ‘us’. Then suddenly a warning shot flew above my head. I turned my attention toward the origin of the attack and I saw dozens of military vehicles with all their weapons aimed at me. Once I took a single step, the vehicles unleashed a barrage of missiles at me. While the pain from being struck by these military grade weapons was excruciating, fortunately (or unfortunately, mattering how you look at things) my healing factor was still around, patching up my wounds as they came. Not matter how much fire power they dished out at me, while it still hurt like hell, my body still recovered from their attacks just fine. Once the missile barrage ended, I began to feel thousands of legs crawling around on my body. However, the weirdest part about it was that it seemed like these feet were crawling off me, not the other way around. After a few seconds, I realized what was happening. Thousands upon thousands of man-sized spiders rushed toward the city, viciously attacking anything or anyone in its path. I saw several caped crusaders attempting to defend the city from the arachnoid infestation. I saw one girl using electricity produced from her own body to subdue some of the spiders. There was a man using gadgets and his own physical finesse to combat the spiders, while accompanied by someone (couldn’t tell the sex from this distance) in some kind of armor. There was that energy-powered metahuman who helped me against that demon-snake thing (if he would say anything about spinning webs out of my butt, I would squash him). I even saw those two metahumans who were kidnapped with me. Even Athena was by their side. She’s helping them, but not me. Figures. But one by one, each of the heroes fell to the hordes of monstrous spiders. Was I really the cause of this destruction? I couldn’t be. How could I? I didn’t unleash them, or at least not on purpose. But what if it was my fault? What if…? Before I could ponder more on that question, three figures flew up towards me. One of them was the silver and blue clad hero, apparently surviving his first encounter. Next to him was the armored man who had kidnapped me and those other two metahumans that were fighting alongside with Athena. Along with those two was that armored bitch who trapped me in that net, which Athena had to remove for me. ”Man, why haven’t I invented the Uni-beam yet?” The man in the middle said aloud, prompting concerned looks from the other two heroes who flanked him on either side, especially considering the state that the city was currently in. “Hit it with everything you got.” The silver and blue clad hero told the other two in a calm voice. Before I knew it, a bright white light blinded me, the result of the three characters combining their powers against me. However, before I felt anything, I heard something ringing. My alarm clock stirred me from my sleep, saving me from the nightmare that I had been experiencing. Thank God all that was just a dream. When I woke up, I found out that my head was no longer attached to the body of a giant body. However, that did not mean that I was back to “normal”, even if you considered “normal” as my appearance after the “Extreme Makeover” I experienced. Instead, my lower body was now grafted to the cephalothorax of a human-sized spider. Well, at least I’m not getting blasted in the face by three metahumans (or rather one metahuman and two humans in Iron Man wannabe suits).

Sammy slipped through the window into Zac and Kelly’s bedroom. Luckily for Sammy, Zac and Kelly’s room was not any higher up in the apartment complex, or things would have become rather difficult for her to just enter into the apartment safely, let alone rescuing her best friend and her boyfriend. She attempted to land inside the room as softly and quietly as she could. While getting inside without alerting her friends’ assailant was not too difficult, keeping silent might not be as easy as Sammy would have otherwise thought. “Crap!” Sammy thought to herself as her feline tail knocked into the alarm clock on the nightstand beside the bed, causing the clock to begin descending to the ground. Using reflexes that even Sammy did not even know she had, Sammy caught the clock before it collided with the ground, which would have caused a noise that would have alerted whoever was after Zac and Kelly. Nevertheless, even though she had not made a sound, Sammy could still hear footsteps coming toward the bedroom. Therefore, she darted behind the bedroom door. Sammy could hear the footsteps of whoever was the person in her best friend’s apartment. Trying her best to keep her breathing as silent as possible, Sammy stood motionless behind the door, while the person who had attacked her best friend (and her bff’s boyfriend) scanned the room just to make sure no one else was inside the apartment. When she heard the woman sigh, obviously thinking that the wind and the tree outside had caused the noise, Sammy took full advantage of this moment, knowing that it would catch the woman off guard. With all the force that she could muster, Sammy slammed the bedroom door into the woman who stood at the entrance to Kelly and Zac’s bedroom. BANG Sammy reopened the door after it had slammed into the woman. When she stepping into the entrance of the bedroom (or exit in her perspective), Sammy saw that she had caused the woman to tumble to the ground. “And you’re supposed to be what?” The woman taunted. “You messed with my best friend. So I’m the girl who is going to kick your magical little ass.” However, before Sammy could say anything else, she noticed the two stone statues, or what seemed like statues, sitting on the couch. Sammy placed her hands over her mouth, astonished by what she saw. “What did you do to them?” “You’ll just have to find out first hand.” A smile cracked across the woman’s face as she began to rise to her feet. Suddenly, the grayish smog began to billow again, growing larger and larger as every moment pasted. Once it has grown to a significant size, a giant, bloodshot eye cracked open, revealing a yellow iris. However, unlike the time before when the woman used it on both Kelly and Zac, nothing happened to Sammy. “What the hell is that supposed to do?” Sammy was unnerved by the smoke cloud that possessed a single eye. “Hm…” The woman pondered aloud, “That usually works. What could have possibly gone wrong?” Before this woman could even answer this question for herself, Sammy had already dashed towards her, using her own momentum to crash into the woman, causing both of them to tumble to the ground. “Do you even know one thing about actually fighting someone that wasn’t inspired by Hollywood?” The woman said as she began to pick herself off the floor. “Because using brute force like that is just going to hurt you just as much as me.” “Oh crap…” Sammy thought to herself as she felt the pain from the collision.

The lashes of electricity feebly sizzled out against Taylor’s thick, black skin and dissipated into the floor. She pushed herself up onto her feet and snarled, grabbing the enemy Meta’s end of the whip and ripping him upwards off his feet. He stubbornly held on, wildly fiddling with the controls. ”This gimmicky ‘special weapon’ shit is so lame! You don’t have anything else?” With a swift and brutal motion of her arm, she ripped the whip out of his hand. ”Hah! Hahahahaha! Didn’t think I’d disarm you so easy, huh?” Maverick suddenly glowered at him and slipped back into her invincible augmentium skin. ”You won’t get away with this! The police are on their w--” He was cut off by a metal fist ramming into his gut, and doubled over so hard he smashed his face into Maverick’s shoulder. A dark streak of blood trailed along the gleaming chrome on his way to the floor. Maverick laughed and returned to unwinding the whip from around herself, easily pulling it away. ”You seriously think the cops are gonna be able to stop me? Come oooon, they couldn’t even stop a normal holdup! The cops are useless and you shitty little heroes are worthless for anybody but rich bitches!” The man swallowed, his eyes closing in defeat, knowing the only thing he could do now is attempt to refute her words, but that could get him killed. He let his head bob down to the floor and panted softly in agony over his crushed ribs and destroyed nose. She finally stepped out of the mangle of his ill-prepared weapon and wound back her arm, chucking it out the window into the building across the street. It crashed into a storefront and activated, electricity crackling to vicious life uncontrollably, the mannequins trapped within the display dancing and blowing apart at the power. Innocent people ran in panicked directions out of the store. ”You’re a fucking disgrace, dude. I don’t even wanna rob this place anymore! I wanted a friggin’ fight, not to just smack around some asshole until he gave up. I’m ditching.” Shaking her head, knowing Randy would subtly follow out a back door or something, she left the front of the bank out onto the comfortable chaos of the street. Just as she took her first step down the stairs, she was stopped by a powerful blow. A heavy duty sniper round bounced off her chest, leaving a gaping hole in the fabric of her costume but affecting her flesh about as much as a nasty mosquito bite. “Agh! What the fuck, I just got this shit fixed!” Jerking her head upwards, she scanned the tops of buildings for the silhouette of her attacker. Just as she leapt up to get a better look, another round pierced her left goggle and slammed right into her eye, making her immediately panic. The immense power behind the bullet outmatched her momentum and she smacked down into a nest of asphalt. Gasping for breath she didn’t actually need, she ran a finger over her goggles, checking to see that her eye was still there. The agony of it didn’t help much, but it was fading just like the first shot. Her eye was fine. She let her breathing calm and peered out from behind a hunk of the street. She felt a buzzing come from the slim pouch she kept at her side. Her cheap second phone was ringing, and she flipped it open and heard Randy whisper-yelling from the other line. “What the fuck was that, dude?? You just bailed!” ”He was boring as shit! I wasn’t about to just annihilate some bitch whose name I couldn’t even laugh about maniacally or whatever! Did he even try to give us a name? Bad form for a debut, dude.” “Fuckin’—are you even taking this seriously? At all? Your bullshit in there just tightened up that bank’s security tenfold! You didn’t even grab any money or anything! Ugh, I’m waiting in the alley when you’re done screwing around.” Shit. She didn’t think Randy could be so harsh. Taken aback by his unexpected lack of support, Taylor stammered, ”L-look dude, I’ll make it up to you. Next time I won’t get a swelled head over showing off my powers and shit. They’re just—“ This time Randy was the one to interrupt her. “—incredibly strong and could change everything about our family for the better? Yeah.” His words barely hid a hurt sting. Had Taylor actually upset him somehow? An overwhelming part of her was pissed at him for heaping on her shoulders so much emotional responsibility, and another, stunted part was upset that he was upset. Wanted to help him, to fix it. What a mess. ”Randy…shut your face and stay in the car. I’ll head over soon.” Her tone was colder than she would’ve liked, she could practically hear him flinch. But I don’t need Randy’s bullshit right now, seeing as I’m pinned by a goddamn sniper! He was being a little bitch. A helicopter had begun to buzz overhead, demanding that Maverick surrender peacefully, that she will not be harmed if she goes without a fight, yadda yadda. Shit. It looked like Randy would have to wait for a bit while she got the bird off her tail. She snapped her phone closed, heard a crack, and saw that the entire thing had been crushed in the vice of her metallic hand. Wow, thanks super strength, you asshole. The helicopter hovered in the center of the street, and before Taylor could discard her ruined phone and chuck a hunk of the road at it, another sniper round bounced off of her temple and snapped the strap that kept her goggles to her head. She let fly a few curses in retaliation, her powerful legs flexing to send her flying up to meet the helicopter. Whatever metal its chasse was made of crumpled like paper under her fingers as she embedded herself halfway into its lower half, her arms hanging up inside, fingers buried in the floor to keep her steady. The sudden weight to one side tilted the whole bird, and some guy holding a megaphone, screaming and flailing for a handhold, tumbled over Taylor’s head and down to the street fifty feet below. -- “You didn’t let him drop, did you?” ”’Course not, Nan, I’m not a fuckin’ cop killer. Guy grabbed my leg and made it down okay. Randy wouldn’t have driven me back if I’d killed him, heheh.” Taylor’s little smirk didn’t seem to put her ‘landlord’ at ease, and the older woman was shaking her head, something that made Taylor’s muscles tense irritably. “Where’s Randy, anyway?” ”Oh…I dunno, in his room. Dunno why he’s so pissy. I didn’t break any stores he’s ever wanted to go to.” “You gotta keep a lower profile, baby girl. This grandstanding shit is gonna start to piss off bigger and bigger Supes. What happened to the BDSM guy? With the whip?” ”Eh. Probably in the hospital or shoving his costume in an alley trashcan or whatever. Sure as hell won’t bug me anymore!” Taylor gave sudden pause, her brow crinkling. ”…Wait. I didn’t give him my name, did I? Shit! What’s he gonna call me in his nightmares now? Butch Leotard Chick?” “That’s what I do.” Nan’s scornful expression had softened, and the lines around her mouth smoothed down. She chuckled and Taylor playfully kicked at her legs. ”Man! You—Oh, hey May. You got your homework and stuff done?“ Taylor planted her feet in the carpet of Nan’s living room at the sight of the younger girl and leaned back in her overstuffed chair, patting her thigh invitingly. The little girl, mahogany curls encircling her round face, peered from behind the corner of the hallway before hopping over to Taylor and clambering into her lap with practiced familiarity, like that of a little sister. She settled in and finally responded with a quiet shrug. “I colored in a dragon.” ”You gotta show me later, dude, dragons are awesome!” Taylor wrapped an arm around May’s waist while Nan migrated to the kitchen to throw together a dinner from the fridge; leftover pizza that had gone a little hard, some fruit she’d bought from the streetside vendors for a couple bucks, some yogurt, and for dessert: a nice heaping slice of cake from her third first date that month. It wasn’t really like Nan couldn’t find a guy to stick—she just liked the fact that older guys always splurged on the first date. Free cake and a ton of pasta was worth breaking a couple hearts. ”Dammit, Nan, you own a friggin’ nightclub! You can’t not be all cheap for a guest?” “You wanna eat good, go to Christian’s. I’m sure he’ll give you a nice fancy ramen dinner. Don’t be picky like Taylor, May baby, she’s gonna be regretting it when I stop feeding her half the damn time.” “Yuh-huh, Auntie.” ”Hey, hey, I don’t care that much. Food’s food, yeah?” The microwave dinged, all too willing to agree.

Scott sat in the back corner of The Hub in one of the booths that offered both a fair amount of privacy, yet at the same time a nice view of the entire floor of the club. He should have been happy; the opening of The Hub had been a resounding success, in fact, the grand opening had gone much better than either he, or Eric could have hoped. The club was at capacity, and there was a line outside that extended halfway down the block of people waiting to get in. He should have been happy; however he couldn’t help but to feel that the one person that he had hoped to share this moment with, aside from Eric, wasn’t there. She had left for Pacific Point earlier in the afternoon, and she made it perfectly clear that she was not planning to return. He couldn’t really blame her, she had been right. Lost Haven had always been a troubled city, however, in the recent months things seemed to be getting worse and worse. Though, he had to admit, seeing so many people come out for the grand opening did help to keep him mind off his woes, even if it was just a momentary distraction here and there. “So, I’d say we’re a hit.” Eric said as he seated himself in one of the plush lounge chairs in the booth across from Scott. “Yeah.” Scott said noncommittally. “Dude, look, I know that Amber leaving royally sucks, but we’ve got other things to worry about right now. We’ve got a packed house right now, and you really need to enjoy this.” Eric scolded. “This is great,” Scott said, “This is more than we could have hoped for. I really am excited, it’s just…” “Yeah, I know. You thought that she’d be here for it.” “Exactly.” Scott confirmed. “I get that, I really do. But you can’t sit here being all butt hurt because she left, especially not tonight. I won’t allow it.” Eric said with a mock resolve. Scott didn’t answer; instead, he resumed watching the packed dance floor. He knew that even though Amber was gone, he would have to move on. He questioned whether he should have told her his secret, and whether that would have made a difference in her decision to leave. However, he knew that it was too late to question his choices. Then he wondered to himself, if perhaps loneliness was the price he had to pay for his double life. US Research Facility Nautilus Nautilus sat on the floor of the Laurentian fan, just over three and a half miles below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean off of the eastern Canadian coast. The facility was known only to a select few within the inner circle at the very top of the political and scientific world. It was at this facility, named for Nemo’s famed submarine in Jules Verne’s classic novel, where the most sensitive experiments were conducted. Dr. Bruce Wood stood before the large LED display in his office looking over the results of the latest round of tests on one of the more intricate operations that he had overseen at the facility. With the sudden arrival of the meta humans, the US government quickly realized that they were outmatched by these super beings, and if those so called meta humans decided to mobilize, there would be little that the military could do. So they set out to create their own meta human. A so called “Super-Meta.” Thus far, the project had been an abject failure. The mixture of meta human DNA that had been spliced into the subjects had proven to be more than their bodies could handle, and each of the subjects had died. Except for Him. Subject 535073 had managed to survive the infusion of meta DNA, and had begun to manifest a vast range of powers. Everything from Telekinesis, shapeshifting, and superhuman strength, and that was just a few. In fact, the subject had demonstrated strength that was thought to be on par with Icon himself. However, as the infused DNA had destroyed the bodies of the other test subjects, the concoction had destroyed this subjects mind. Soon after the manifestation of his powers, Subject 535073 began referring to himself by the name of the project. The Hybrid. This Hybrid had proven to be unpredictable, and had directly caused the deaths of over a dozen researchers. Eventually, they were able to secure him in restraints that left him virtually harmless, however their attempts to destroy the specimen all met with spectacular failure. Indeed, this subject had proven to be unkillable. And now, he was loose. The Hybrid had proven to be just as intelligent as he was insane, having lulled the researchers into a false sense of security while he bided his time. Once the researchers had let their guard down, he was able to capitalize on their mistake. He killed the researchers and made his way freely through the facility, killing anyone who he came into contact with, and did so with a maniacal glee that caused a sense of dread to wash over Dr. Wood and the other facility staff who manned the Nautilus. However, that was not the only thing that Dr. Wood feared. He knew that it was only a matter of time before The Hybrid broke free of the facility, and at this depth, a breach to the hull of the submerged facility would bring the entire crushing weight of the Atlantic down on the Nautilus, causing an instantaneous implosion that nothing, except The Hybrid himself could survive. He hoped that such a move by the maniac would result in his own destruction as well, but the doctor knew deep down that it was just wishful thinking. Soon, he was certain, his hellish creation would be loose upon the world, and he, not his creation, would be responsible for any loss of life that resulted. It was not something that he could live with, which, for him, he knew would not be an issue for much longer. Suddenly, his office was awash in red and blue flashing lights. It was an alarm, but not just any alarm, it was an impact alarm warning those inside the facility of an impending doom. Once the alarm sounded, the facility only had a few moments before the hull was breached. There was no time to get to the escape pods, all that anyone aboard the Nautilus could do was make peace with the fact that it was all over. There were 187 souls inside of Nautilus, and soon, they were all going to be dead, and The Hybrid would be free, and Dr. Wood knew that it was all his fault. “God forgiv-“ Dr. Wood began to say, just as the hull was breached, and the fatal pressure of the Atlantic rushed into the ruined hull, causing Nautilus to implode upon itself. As the Hybrid hit the surface of the Atlantic and went skyward, the only thing that could be heard by any living creatures in the vicinity, was laughter. Maniacal, murderous laughter.

I laid in my bed, staring at my bedroom’s ceiling. When something bad was imminent, you sometimes just cannot muster any motivation to do anything. That sick feeling in your stomach that makes you feel uneasy. That is how I felt, since I knew my roommates would be home any minute now and they were about to get a rude awakening, that their metahuman roommate happens also to be an eight-legged freak. What was I supposed to do? I didn’t have my power nullifier, so I can’t just hide it. Also, even if I would run away, my friends would just look for me anyways. No way out of this one.

“That’s quite a piece of work, considering you do not have the weaving capabilities that I do. I guess I could give you an honorable mention.” God darn it. Not her again. And what the heck was Athena mumbling about this time?

When I looked down towards the Greek ‘goddess’, I realized what she was talking about when she mentioned the ‘piece of work’. While I had been idly staring up at the ceiling, my spider legs instinctively wove a web. And it wasn’t a cobweb either, but rather one of those neat (I’m talking about orderly, not cool) webs that some spiders make. But at the same time, it’s gross, if you would think about it. I mean, it was created from a substance secreted from my own body. Thank God that metahuman that helped me back in Lost Haven cannot see me now. He probably wouldn’t let me hear the end of it.

Immediately, I ripped the spider-web apart with my legs. Then I flipped myself over, reorienting my body so that I would be laying down on my stomach and facing Athena face-first.

“Didn’t I tell you to not come back?” I crossed my arms underneath myself, propping up my upper body, as I questioned the Greek ‘goddess’ of Wisdom.

“Didn’t I say I would be back?” She said with a coil smile. “I thought you might need some help readjusting to your, well, new form.”

“Why would I want you…” I began to say, but I stopped myself when I realized something. After I made the realization, I started questioning her again. “Did you know that this was going to happen?”

“Why, of course I did. Didn’t you?” It almost seemed like she was surprised that I didn’t know that I would eventually turn this spider-centaur thing.

“Of course I didn’t know! How the hell was I supposed to know that I would devolve into this, this monstrosity?”

“Well you did get your powers from a metahuman who had a drideresque appearance.” Athena now crossed her arms, almost as if she was scolding a child for doing something that she should have known better to have done. “Isn’t it obvious that eventually you would take on a similar form?” Now she’s starting to sound like one of those all-A’s know-it-alls who believe that they are on a level of intelligence far beyond that of a ‘normal’ person. Figures from someone who supposed to be the Greek ‘goddess’ of Wisdom.

“Okay, it doesn’t matter whether I should have anticipated this happening. What does matter is do you know how to fix it?” What I just said made a giant grin appear across Athena’s face.

“Oh, I thought you were the bold young lady who didn’t want my help?” Athena then pulled something out from a hidden pocket or pouch. She extended her hand out straight, dangling the device before my face, just as one would entice a mule with a carrot.

“Did you have that this whole time? Hand it over!”

“Oh, I thought you didn’t want to ‘play superhero’ anymore?”

“Just hand it over!” I have reached my limit on my patience several hours ago. I had zero intent on playing any games. It wasn’t that I wanted to ‘play superhero’ anymore. I wanted to be able to actually interact with the outside world without being labeled some kind of monstrosity or mutant or something along those lines.

“Fine.” She tossed the watch-sized device toward me, causing it to land right in front of me. However, even as I had just placed the power-nullifier around my wrist, the freaking ‘goddess’ of Wisdom was at it again.

“But before I leave you alone, let’s just test out your costume.” Before I could make any kind of protest against it, Athena had already pressed the button on the device that automatically switches me into my superhero costume. While the upper body portion of the costume had not been altered at all, Athena obviously put some effort into making my costume fit my spideresque physique. Beyond the section of my spider abdomen which contained my spinnerets, I was still covered head to toe in my costume.

“Well, it looks like you put in a lot of...” Wait, something was wrong. Something did not sound right. My voice sounded, well, different. “What did you do to my voice?”

“Now you don’t have to worry about people figuring out your identity from listening to you speak. And don’t worry about it being permanent. It’s the mask that causing it.”

I pulled off my mask. God, that was such an aberrant experience. I know that I was speaking because I could feel my jaw moving, but hearing a different voice come out is quite, well, nerve-racking. It’s going to take some time for me to get used to hearing a different voice coming from my mouth whenever I’m donning my superhero costume, if I ever do that, might I add.

Then my spider-sense began to buzz. Even before I heard my roommates enter into the apartment and made their presence known by calling out my name, that little buzz inside my held alerted me to it. Once my roommates had entered into the apartment, Athena immediately disappeared. Not really surprising, though. She seems to pick and choose when she likes to be around. Figures.

Well, now that I had the power-nullifier, I could now just return aback to normal so that I wouldn’t freak out my roommates. However, right before I pressed the button that would make me look “normal”, I just realized something else. Obviously in my ‘drider’ form (as Athena called it) I could only wear my regular clothes on my upper body. I don’t really think I need to spell it out for you what would happen if I changed back right now.

I could have just picked up my pajama pants next to my bed, but I thought it would look kind of suspicious and out of place if I was found wearing a nice top with pajama pants. Therefore, I used the wristband to switch back into what I was wearing before Athena showed me how my costume now fit my transformed physique and then I rushed over to my closet, searching for a pair of jeans and such before my roommates entered my room. After I found a pair that looked nice with my top, I began trying to slip them (at least partially) over my front pair of spider legs, hoping that I would just slip into them when I turned on the nullifier.

However, before I could even get a chance to revert back to my normal appearance, my roommates had already entered into my room.

“Aubrey, I hope you are feeling better. I know that last night was…” Felecia stopped herself in mid-sentence when she saw my upper body attached to what seemed like a giant, almost horse-sized spider. “What the hell happened to you?”

When I looked back over my shoulder, I saw that Ashley had already fainted from the sight. I guess being afraid of spiders and seeing a giant one would do that to her. Kristin was there to catch her so that she wouldn’t tumble to the ground. Both Kristin and Felecia had looks of shock on their faces.

“Does it look like I feel any better?” I responded, placing my hands on my hips (or what were supposed to be my hips. That’s kind of where I transition from human to spider).

“Wow, I had the weirdest dream ever.” Ashley began to regain her consciousness, which she had temporarily loss when she saw me in my ‘drider’ form (why the heck does such a term for my condition even exist?). Once my other two friends had gotten past the shock at my new spideresque physique, we gently carried Ashley over to the living room couch. It just would not have been right if we just left her laying on the floor while she was unconscious.

When we heard Ashley stirring, the three of us walked over to our friend. Obviously, I had the power-nullifier activated when this happened. I mean, why would I not use that nifty little device? I would have otherwise probably caused Ashley to black out for a second time if she woke up and saw that my lower portion of my body was still replaced by the body of a spider. She’s one of my best friends; I could not do something like that to her.

“What are you talking about?” Felecia asked as a troubled looked appeared on her own face.

Ashley rubbed her eyes before she explained herself. “I dreamt that Aubrey got super powers, although she was not very good at keeping it a secret from us. Then our resident super-heroine was kidnapped and came back with boobs so Brobdingnagian that Kate Upton would be envious of them. And then…” Ashley suddenly stopped in mid-sentence.

“Who the heck says ‘Brobdingnagian’?” I tried to lighten the mood by going along with the joke that was obviously at my own expense. Ashley has a board in the kitchen where she compiles a list of words that she wants to use at least once a week. I noticed that this word was present on that board while Felecia, Kristin, and I waited in the kitchen for Ashley to wake up. While I was not entirely sure of the meaning of the word when I first saw it on the board, now I know that Ashley probably was saving that word for me. How sweet of her.

“Does this really mean that it wasn’t a dream and that Aubrey is…Aubrey is” Ashley stuttered as she tried to finish her statement. Her arachnophobia was pumping the venom of fear into her veins, hindering the completion of her thought. However, she finally gathered up enough courage to finish. “That Aubrey is a giant spider!”

“You had to have dreamed that.” I lied to her, even though I was trying to protect her. “See, I only have two legs.” I walked over from behind the couch and showed her that I had two legs rather than eight, or I at least at that moment only had two legs.

“Maybe you should lie down in your bed?” Kristin suggested. Both Kristin and Felecia helped our third roommate onto her feet and guided her into her own bedroom.

I know it might not have been good to leave Ashley in the dark like we did, but what other choice did we have? I did not want to lie to her, but I feared what would have happened if she saw me again in my ‘drider’ appearance. Would she have just fainted again, or would it have been worse, like a coma? I couldn’t live with that! Anyways, I have this power-nullifier. With this little device, I can just go on with my life as it was before I got my powers (or semi-normal. I mean, life will not be the same since I got that crazy ‘extreme make-over’). I can just hide behind this little device, can’t I?

The woman was not quite so easily dealt with as war-pulse may have expected and while his blows did land and propelled her towards the wall, even culminating in forcing her to smash directly against it twice as the second blast struck her as well, it did not seem to have actually managed to much other than piss her off. Though it was uncertain what exactly it was that had occurred that summoned such wrath on her part. Another shriek tore free from her with an intensity that would likely deafen the man briefly.

With another quick motion she pushed off from the wall and launched another series of blows against him. This time the attacks were different, seeming a mixture of several types of martial arts as blows were directed at a number of places that would have debilitated a normal human, ultimately culminating in an unexpected attack as her long silver blonde hair whipped outwards, seemingly have changed to a large degree, resembling something that he might have seen before in the coverage of the assassination attempt that Icon had foiled.

Ropey silver tendrils wrapped around his arms and thousands of volts of electricity were pumped into him before another blow knocked the momentarily stunned hero back. "I am no ones plaything!" The shriek of anger was followed by a whispered command, "Activate" and as she spoke a metallic suit of armor, silver and gold in coloration began to expand outwards over her body coating her in the same suit of armor that the assassin had worn during the attack on the corporate leader.

"Now you will die." Her voice was strange and clicking as she drew a gun and fired a plasma blast that struck him with the force to hurl the hero backwards through the wall of the warhouse.

Lost Haven, Maine - Little Sicily

A pair of loud cracks reverberated all about the street outside the apartment building. The thunderous noise brought with it much trepidation within Chike. The trio maneuvered across the apartment, swiftness in each stride. For they all recognized those snapping sounds: gunfire. Automatic weapons, more than likely. Trouble was obviously afoot.

Chike, Eric, and Ceri crowded around the window, in an attempt to observe whatever situation was unfolding outside. A flash of red light meant that Ares had left the humans to their own devices, more than likely having a scheme of some sort or another to work on. Chike's attention was not focused on his master, however. His focus was on the scene before him.

The icy streets had just started to thaw. Piles of black snow clumped together at random intervals on each side of the street. Cold water rushed down the slightly sloping streets and into the sewer below. The Followers of Ares lined the street, staring in awe struck terror at the new arrivals. The ragged band of brigands and revolutionaries held each other, unsure if they should make a run for the many buildings around them. No one moved, however. It would seem they were all too terrified to even breathe, let alone move."Who are they?" A man asked, stumbling over his words in a whispered tone."N-No idea, man. Are they here for us?" Another man answered with more questions."Who else would they be here for?" A woman behind them growled harshly.

"Where is Doctor Eric Saxer?"

The voice was obviously masculine, yet had a distinctly robotic edge to it. The individual's demand echoed throughout the street, and the crowd of people began to move back in a desperate and unorganized fashion. The ground itself seemed to shake, as the source of the voice stepped closer to them. In turn, the crowd retreated further.

"You will not be harmed; I will allow you to leave peaceably if you only tell me where he is."

Chike could not yet tell who was speaking from his observation point. His accent, however, intrigued the Avatar of War. "I'm going out there. Don't leave this room under any circumstances...Either of you." With that, the African warrior stepped away from the window. He quickly made his way out of the apartment and down the stairs, leaving Ceri and Eric alone."Who is he, Eric?" Ceri asked after a moment."My worst nightmare made reality." Eric replied darkly.

The door to the apartment building burst open as Chike flew out and into the street. His sword was once again at his side, spear and shield in hand. Polemos made his way to the center of the street, standing between the men looking for Saxer and the mob of frightened vagrants. With but a glance, Chike realized why Ares’ soon to be army quaked in their boots. A pair of dead bodies, a man and a woman, lay crumpled before an armored warrior. Their blood mixed with the dirt and snow, creating a crimson sea beneath the invaders’ feet. Unquenchable rage began to overcome Chike; Polemos fought for all he was worth to keep calm in the face of calamity. "Who are you?" Polemos spoke loudly, his voice carrying with it a demeanor of great authority. He stood tall before the opposition, unafraid of their weapons."Who am I? The man asked, waving his arms theatrically."I'm Captain James Abrams, head of security at SuperIOR Incorporated and veteran of the Army Corps of Engineers; though, you can just call me CAPTAIN LIBERTY!" The metal man stood there his arms extended outwards as he let everyone take him in. To his side stood six other men. They wore far less flashy clothing - bulletproof vests, black combat fatigues, and a variety of military grade gear. They each clutched an assault rifle in their fists, pointing the weapons at Chike. They must have been the ones who killed those poor people!

Chike spun his spear around, pointing the spearhead towards the street below Liberty’s feet. He glared ahead at 'Iron Liberty,' rage filling his heart."Leave. Now." His words were few, but Polemos' meaning was clear for any who looked to his eyes: he was moments from attempting to end the lives of these...barbarians.

”Just hand over the fugitive and we’ll be on our way.” James yells back, lowering his arms.”Doctor Saxer is one of my people now. You have no authority here.” Polemos growls, his temper about to boil over.”Your ‘people?’ Captain Liberty sneers beneath his helmet, scoffing.”I would hardly call your band of thieves and madmen a ‘people.’ Now, hand ov-” Abram’s speech was cut short when Chike sped forward, his feet off the ground.”Murderer!” Polemos screamed, as his eyes turned a fiery red. There was nothing left inside but rage.

The group of veteran warriors had no time to react as the bloodlusted avatar was already on top of them. Chike impaled one of the troopers on his spear, tossing the man off and twenty feet, onto the top of a car. The other soldiers turned and opened fire; but they were too slow, as Chike brought up his shield and charged once more. This time, he used his shoulder as a battering ram, knocking one of the men back nearly forty feet into the wall of a nearby building with enough force to damage the wall rather severely. Moments after impact, Polemos twisted his body slightly and jammed his spear into the eye socket of another soldier. The man managed to scream before the weapon pierced through his head. The last three troopers began to back up, continuing to pour on the firepower. Yet they could not pierce any portion of Chike’s flesh. Now, Polemos stood face to face with Captain Liberty. James’ shoulder-mounted railgun tracked Chike’s every movement as the two stared the other down.”You killed my men." Captain Liberty announced darkly.”And you mine.”Chike answered back.”RAAA!” Captain Liberty bellowed, as the jets on his boots and back activated, and he charged toward Polemos, who returned the bullrush with one of his own.

The two collided, their kinetic energy cancelling each other’s out. Chike’s spear glowed green with Hephaestus flame, as he attempted to stab Liberty’s joints. The armor held, however, allowing Captain Liberty to land two calculated jabs to Chike’s nose. Unfaltering, Polemos shield bashed Captain Liberty, who stumbled back a few feet. Polemos sprung forward with a flurry of stabs to the front armor of Captain Liberty’s suit. Put on the defensive, James brought up both arms to protect his face. The spear seemed to do only minor damage to the suit before Captain Liberty’s railgun fired. Polemos, unable to react in time, took the full force of a tungsten spike straight to the forehead. Chike was sent careening into an apartment building, the force of the attack demolishing the building and piling the rubble on top of Polemos. Chike burst forth moments latter, appearing unharmed. He bullrushed Captain Liberty once more. This time, the captain had other plans. Stabilizers from James’ boots stabbed deep into the concrete, and small jet-boosters appeared from compartments on Captain Liberty’s arms. As Polemos approached, Captain Liberty landed a powerful uppercut, sending Chike flying into the clouds above the battle. Massive chunks of material tore from the street and nearby buildings, as well as a number of cars and trucks, went flying from the sheer force of the attack. The bystanders, being sufficiently far away, only felt the wind caused by the attacked. They ran for cover from the falling debris, however.

Captain Liberty shot up into the air to continue his attack on Polemos. As he entered the cloud cover, however, he was ambushed. Chike flew out of a cloud and threw a powerful haymaker, smashing Captain Liberty right in his black faceplate. The mecha man went flying away, disappearing in the clouds. Polemos flew quickly in pursuit of the metallic fiend.

Lost Haven, Maine - Sherman Square

Polemos finally caught up to Captain Liberty when they came near Sherman Square. The titanium ruffian was spinning out of the control, flailing in a vain attempt to gain control. His jump jets appeared to only make matters worse as he was unable to control his flight path easily, meaning that he was unable to maneuver effectively in the air. Polemos, however, could turn on a dime. Such airborne agility was useless to Chike now as he tried to reach Captain Liberty before he crashed into something; so that he could wail on him, of course. Polemos was not thinking of the civilians right then. Chike, far too slow, couldn’t reach James before he collided with the side of a skyscraper, smashing through a billboard and glass panes as he ended up in the middle of some poor soul’s office space. People screamed, running in horror as Captain Liberty staggered to his feet in the middle of a destroyed cubicle. Chike soon followed him into the building through the hole James had created.”I will flay you alive for what you’ve done!” Polemos roared, too far gone to think rationally. Such was the curse of Ares.

”Wait, we’re surrounded by civilians-” Captain Liberty tried to plea to his attacker, but the bronze brute would not listen. Chike rushed down Captain Liberty, throwing a flurry of wild punches. The Ugandan had lost his spear and shield when he was launched into the sky earlier. James brought up his hands and attempted to parry as many of the punches as he could, but the task proved too difficult as Chike managed to crack the armor’s outer shell. James thanked whatever gods may be for the alien materials in his armor as Chike wailed on him.”Enough!” Captain Liberty grappled Chike, sending hundreds of thousands of volts of electricity into the Avatar of War. Polemos cried out in distress and pain, slamming through a nearby wall. Captain Liberty held on despite this, pulling Chike out of the building and into the air.”Let me go!” Chike roared, breaking free of Captain Liberty’s grip. Enraged, Polemos grabbed Captain Liberty and chucked him at the ground. James slammed into an intersection, sending cars and concrete flying. A crater, about twenty feet in diameter, was formed. Polemos floated down towards Captain Liberty, who struggled to his feet. People stopped all around to watch the battle unfold. The sound of a helicopter’s blades slicing through the air announced the arrival of a news chopper. Sirens could be heard approaching rapidly as Chike’s feet touched the uneven ground.

“Your life is over.” Chike said.”L-Look around you.” James returned, clutching one of his arms, sparks scattering from open-wiring. Chike did so, his sanity returning to him. Terrified faces in every direction, as fields of people stood on in horror as an armored hero, clothed in the colors of Old Glory, stood defeated before a bloodlusted tyrant.”What..?” Chike looked back to James.”No. I’m not the evil one. You are!” Chike bellowed, clutching his palms into fists.”Then why are they so afraid of you?” James said, so that the crowd might hear him.”You turn them against me!” Polemos roared once more, his eyes steadily returning to their red, angry form.”You did that yourself." With a wordless cry filled with Hate, Polemos dashed toward Captain Liberty once more. This time, however, a tungsten spike, fired from James’ railgun, intercepted Chike. The attack threw Polemos off course who went flying out of the crater and crashing into a pair of onlookers. Chike stood to his feet, as people ran for their lives.

BREAKING NEWS!

These words flashed before every television screen currently on in Lost Haven. An image of Jeffery G. Haroldson appeared before them. He sat, hands folded, before the camera. He had perfectly cut salt-and-pepper hair and a brand new blue suit to his name.”This just in, a pair of metahumans are destroying Sherman Square! Channel 65’s own Mary Belfast is on the scene. Go ahead, Mary.”

“Thank you, Jeff.” A young, red haired woman stood in front of the scene of the battle, holding a microphone. She appeared apprehensive.”We don’t know the circumstances of this encounter, but what we do know is that the two combatants appeared ten minutes ago. The fight seems contained to Sherman Square for now, but one question remains in our minds: Where are our city’s so called ‘heroes’?” The reporter seemed to step away from the camera, which panned to follow the unfolding battle. It was obvious the Greek-esque man had the upperhand, but the American patriot seemed to be holding his own for as long as he could.

Scott Hunter made his way down W. 29th Street beside his friend Eric Dean. Things were good, the grand opening of their club the night before went off without a hitch, and was more successful than either had anticipated. Yet, at the same time, the previous night had been a bit of a mixed bag. Although he was happy with the success of The Hub’s grand opening, the woman of his dreams walked out of his life to begin anew on the West Coast. She wanted to get out of Lost Haven; she saw that the city was becoming too dangerous, and she wanted him to join her. Of course, he declined her invitation even though it broke both of their hearts. He had told her that he had responsibilities here, and deep down he wished that he had told her exactly what those responsibilities were. He wondered to himself, that perhaps, if he had told her who he was…who he really was, that perhaps that would have changed things.

“It’s okay Bro, you can smile.” Eric’s voice cut through the dense fog that was Scott’s mind.

“Huh?” Scott half consciously responded.

“We did it. We actually pulled it off.” Eric said with his big, lopsided grin.
“Yeah, I know. It’s just…” Scott began.

“It’s just that you wanted to share it with her.” Eric said knowingly.

Eric and Scott have been best friends since they were kids, and nobody knows Scott better. Eric was the first to know about Scott’s abilities, and he has helped cover for him for almost as long as he can remember. When something is bothering Scott, Eric would know.

“Yeah.” Scott said.

“Look man, I know it sucks. Take some time, but you’re going to have to put it behind you. Besides, you never know. Things could always work out.” Eric said as he put a hand on Scott’s shoulder.

Scott was about to reply when something else caught his attention. Eric felt Scott tense up, and noticed that his friend’s eyes were glued to the TV display in the window of Mac’s Electronics Store.

BREAKING NEWS!

These words flashed before every television screen currently on in Lost Haven. An image of Jeffery G. Haroldson appeared before them. He sat, hands folded, before the camera. He had perfectly cut salt-and-pepper hair and a brand new blue suit to his name.”This just in, a pair of metahumans are destroying Sherman Square! Channel 65’s own Mary Belfast is on the scene. Go ahead, Mary.”

“Thank you, Jeff.” A young, red haired woman stood in front of the scene of the battle, holding a microphone. She appeared apprehensive.” We don’t know the circumstances of this encounter, but what we do know is that the two combatants appeared ten minutes ago. The fight seems contained to Sherman Square for now, but one question remains in our minds: Where are our city’s so called ‘heroes’?” The reporter seemed to step away from the camera, which panned to follow the unfolding battle. It was obvious the Greek-esque man had the upperhand, but the American patriot seemed to be holding his own for as long as he could.

Scott turned to Eric and without having to say anything, Eric simply nodded, and in the flash of an eye, Scott was gone, having sped away from the storefront to a small alley across the street, where he shed his civilian clothes and donned the familiar uniform of Icon. Then, Icon took to the skies and in a flash, soared towards Sherman Square.

As he arrived at Sherman Square, the scene that unfolded before him infuriated him. The destruction that had been wrought in the busy tourist trap was, though not the worst he had seen, still bad enough. However, there were bodies strewn about the Square, and Icon feared that many were civilians caught in the crossfire. Then he saw the culprits, a blue “skinned” mechanical man and someone who looked to be dressed in the attire of Spartan warriors of old.

He also saw a news crew that had gotten too close to the skirmish for their own good, as well as a minivan that had been hurled in their direction.

Icon swooped down and like a star wide receiver stretching out to make a play, caught the flying vehicle moments before it landed on the pretty redheaded reporter and her camera crew. He set the van down on the concrete and rocketed toward the man who had launched it, the Spartan. As he raced toward the warrior, energy crackled around his clenched fist as a bluish energy engulfed it. Then, he hit the warrior with the force of a freight train, unloading the kinetic energy behind a wild haymaker that sent the warrior careening into the side of a fire truck that had arrived on scene.

”That’s enough, both of you!” Icon exclaimed angrily as the warrior got back to his feet.

Warning: Hull integrity compromised.

A robotic voice, devoid of any emotion, informed James Abrams. The AI’s voice mimicked that of a stereotypical British woman in her mid to late twenties.

“Contact Edward Cunningham.” Captain Liberty ordered calmly.

There was a moment of silence, before a ‘beep’ sounded off, followed by the gravelly, deep voice of an older man.

“Yes?”

“Get to the nearest television, now.” James seemed rushed now that he had his CEO on the line.

“I’ve been watching for approximately five and a half minutes. What do you require?”

James was momentarily stunned by the question; he was not prepared for that particular statement coming from his boss.

“What...Do I do?” He asked after a moment’s hesitation.

Now it was Edward’s turn to remain silent, deep in thought. The cunning and manipulative leader of SuperIOR considered his every option, every angle, and every possible outcome in a matter of 45 seconds.

“Retreat. Let that fool in tights cover your tracks.”

“What if he follows me?”

“He’ll be a bit pre-occupied.”

“But, what if-”

“I ran the numbers. There’s a two thousand and one chance that the two won’t engage. Besides, even if the odds prove wrong, I have a contingency plan.”

Edward cut the communications line off abruptly. James let out a brief growl.”Of course you do. Thanks for telling me what that is, by the way.” He complained to himself before jumping into action.”I need to...Return to my lab for emergency repairs.” He began, addressing Icon from behind him.”My power source is leaking radiation!” He declared in mock distress. His acting was surprisingly masterful. With that, Captain Liberty made his getaway, taking the most confusing path through the city’s skyline as possible, to prevent anyone from following him to SuperIOR’s less public facilities.

Chike pulled himself from out of the Fire truck’s battered chassis, glaring daggers at Icon when he could not locate Captain Liberty.”YOU!” He screamed, his eyes still glowing crimson red.”You let him escape! He was a murderer! A terrorist!” Polemos flew out from the fire truck towards Icon, accelerating to his top speed within the span of a foot.”You dare trifle in the affairs of my people?!” Polemos clenched his hands together, using them in conjunction to throw an uppercut at Icon’s chin powerful enough to send even him flying through the nearest skyscraper.

“Wrath of Ares be upon you!” Chike screamed.”I will not be defeated! For I am Polemos, the Avatar of War!” Polemos launched himself at Icon once more, drawing the Sword of Perseus. The weapon was immediately engulfed in green flame. Chike attempted to land a number of slashing strikes at various joins on Icon’s body, in an attempt to incapacitate the Hero of Lost Haven.

Little was anyone aware, a figure dressed in black stood amongst the crowd, controlling Chike’s every word, movement, and thought; with a smile on his face.

Before War-Pulse even had time to follow through on his brief offensive, another sonic scream came ripping through the air, forcing the mercenary to again huddle and cover his ears, trying to avoid permanent damage cause from such a horrid noise. Before he knew it she was on him again, seemingly unfazed from his previous assault. However, he was ready for her attacks this time. Jumping back from her, he brought his arms up in a defensive posture, her fists and feet colliding with shockwave-inducing force into his forearms. He was able to keep up with the renewed offense, weaving around her reach and catching her strikes before contact though unable to really strike back due to the disorientation from the scream she had delivered.

However, while he was able to contend with her martial prowess during the exchange, he was unprepared for the attack with her hair. His eyes popped wide as the glimmering tendrils wrapped around his form, giving a small yelp as he was lifted into the air. The electric current surged through his body before he could free himself, his muscles contorting and flexing and he cried out in pain. He felt himself hurled through the air, bouncing off of the hard, concrete floor and crashing into a pile of crates, shaking the room as he impacted and shattered the area around him.

He scurried to his feet in a quick fashion, surprisingly the grin on his face still unwavering as he resumed a fighting position. As she screamed at him, he replied with the same machismo he had been carrying from the beginning of the fight.

"What? You're not? But this is such a fun game!" The air around his body crackled and distorted as he chucked some of the debris out of his way. "Oh well, I suppose if you're going to start taking this seriously, I could pick up the pace as well!"

That's when she encased herself in a suit of armor, the metal plating appearing from out of nowhere and transforming her into an armored juggernaut.

"Oh, so Now you bring out the big guns!" He called out. "I'm honored, really, but I think I can handl--"

His voice was almost immediately cut out by the sound of her plasma rifle discharging a large bolt.

"Oh, crap." He murmured to himself as he just his hands out in an attempt to pull up a kinetic barrier, trying to cancel out the blow. However, it was too late, and the searing plasma connected with a deafening crash, causing him to soar back, flying end over end until he burst out of the side of the warehouse. The momentum continued to push him, bouncing along the street until he caved in the side of a car, causing the machine to nearly flip over. As War-Pulse rose from the dented machine, he dusted off his coat, giving a short laugh once he saw the damage to the car.

"Ohohohoho! Now that's what I'm talking about!" He said as he buried his hands into the hunk of disabled metal, hurling the car back at the hole in the warehouse before following up with a beam of kinetic energy, trying to keep the armored foe on his toes as he barreled in after his attack, his feet creating craters in the ground as he lunged back through the warehouse, leaping at the armored woman to unleash a series of punches and kicks of his own, testing the durability of this new mecha suit's capabilities.

"Yeah, if I'm going to die, it's not going to be to a glam-rocker hair-flipper with a tin can suit!" He shouted at her as he ducked underneath her strike zone amidst his flurry of blows. With a twist of his body he attempted to finish his assault with an uppercut, increasing it's momentum with a kinetic burst from his elbow to launch the woman into a perfect follow-up position. If it worked, he would attempt to catch her off guard with another energy burst, trying to launch her into the ceiling and bounce her back down to him so he could end this with a well-timed rising knee to the descending opponent's face.

Chike pulled himself from out of the Fire truck’s battered chassis, glaring daggers at Icon when he could not locate Captain Liberty.”YOU!” He screamed, his eyes still glowing crimson red.”You let him escape! He was a murderer! A terrorist!” Polemos flew out from the fire truck towards Icon, accelerating to his top speed within the span of a foot.”You dare trifle in the affairs of my people?!” Polemos clenched his hands together, using them in conjunction to throw an uppercut at Icon’s chin powerful enough to send even him flying through the nearest skyscraper.

“Wrath of Ares be upon you!” Chike screamed.”I will not be defeated! For I am Polemos, the Avatar of War!” Polemos launched himself at Icon once more, drawing the Sword of Perseus. The weapon was immediately engulfed in green flame. Chike attempted to land a number of slashing strikes at various joins on Icon’s body, in an attempt to incapacitate the Hero of Lost Haven.

Icon used his forearms and knees to parry the sword’s attacks. Though the weapon failed to cut his skin, the weapon’s attacks were surprisingly painful. The stranger pulled his arms back and brought the sword toward the base of his neck, seemingly in an attempt to separate his head from his shoulders, but Icon blocked the attack and landed a hard right hand to the warrior’s jaw, sending the enraged stranger crashing toward the ground. As the warrior fell, Icon let loose an optic blast which hit the falling warrior square in the chest, and helped accelerate his descent, causing him to crash hard into the pavement below him, stirring up a cloud of dust and debris.

Icon landed before the warrior, surprised to see that he was getting back to his feet.

”He wasn’t the one throwing minivans at news crews. From my perspective, the only terrorist here is you.” Icon said as he braced for another attack.

Dinner had been quick, filled up with May talking about the dragon she colored in and how Jacob from the playground had started tugging on her dresses again. She giggled through a mouthful of chow mein when Taylor offered to beat him up, and Nan, knowing Taylor, kicked her under the table.

”What? Little jerks like that deserve a nice kick in the teeth. Whaddya say, May? Show up on the playground tomorrow and mess him up?”

“Yeah! I wanna mess him up!”

”See, Nan, she’s into it.”

Nan rolled her eyes and dumped her empty plate in the trash. “When you’re done eating, Taylor, you gotta go pick something up for me.” She darted her gaze down to May, who resumed chewing on her food, now quiet. She never talked much when Nan mentioned business, like she understood somehow. “Corner of 5th and King, you know him, green jacket.” She pat down her back pockets and pulled out her wallet, unfolding two hundred-dollar bills. “Keep the change.” She set the bills on the table and began to toss the empty leftover boxes in the trash, wiping down the floor where May dropped a few noodles and pepperoni slices.

”Yo, this isn’t the same guy who got all creepy, yeah? ‘Cause I was about to break his legs last time I had to buy offa him.”

“Chill, princess, I dropped him a while back for overcharging. Pretty sure he got taken care of after that by some Supe, forgot who. One of those broody anti-hero types with the whole gun thing.”

”Man! That sucks, I would’ve totally bent that greedy little goblin’s spine like a pipe. Hey, did I mention the bitch shooting at me at the bank earlier? Coulda been a Supe, the way they kept pegging me every second. Hit me in the fu—freaking eye!”

“Yeah, you complained about that when you tossed your broken goggles down on the table an hour ago. I’m not your seamstress, you know.”

”Don’t tell me you weren’t jumping on me wearing a little costume you designed and made yourself.” Taylor rolled her eyes and tossed her plate out, stretching and grabbing her hoodie off the back of Nan’s sofa. ”Alright, I’m gonna head out. Want me to drop off your stuff at the usual place?”

“Yep. And be polite, I like this guy.”

”Whatever, whatever, don’t scare the shit outta him, yeah.” Taylor scooped the money off the table and tussled May’s hair, eliciting a giggle and a few playfully annoyed swats. She pressed a quick kiss to the top of the little girl’s head before she headed to the door, shrugging into her jacket. ”I’ll drop by here again, so save me some dessert, yeah?”

“Gotcha. Get going, I don’t wanna have May waiting for you to get back all night.”

There are some things that we never forget. For Kyle Porter, it was the look on Harry’s face when he had told his mentor just how he had allowed his grandson to die. As Ronnie’s guardian, Harry had been notified by the police shortly after the incident. However, Kyle had called him first, letting him know that something had happened. When Kyle got back to The Garage and had to explain to Harry what had happened, he saw something he never thought he would see.

The old man’s heart absolutely breaking.

Kyle had expected Harry to berate him, to blame him for letting Ronnie die, but Harry did not. Instead, he tried to comfort Kyle, he tried to tell him that he had done everything that he could. He told him that saving Sam was the right thing to do. Although Kyle knew that there wasn’t really anything that he could have done, he still blamed himself. He kept torturing himself with “If I had done this,” or “If I had done that.” Deep down, he knew that the entire thing was his fault, and he didn’t know how he was going to live with that guilt.

At Ronnie’s funeral, Kyle stood in the front row as they lowered his best friend into the ground. The entire time, he kept his eyes glued to the casket. He did not listen to the words that were being spoken; he did not look up at those who were also in mourning. It’s not that he didn’t want to, he did. He wanted nothing more than to take comfort with those who were feeling what he was feeling. He simply couldn’t. None of the other people were feeling exactly what he felt at that moment.

Guilt.

No matter what Harry or anyone else said, the fact remained that he was the reason that Ronnie was dead. He didn’t take those thugs at the club seriously, he let his guard down…and when it came down to it, he chose Sam over Ronnie. He didn’t regret saving Sam, but by pulling her to the ground, he condemned his best friend to die, and he had to live with that choice, and he didn’t know if he could.
Kyle stood atop the Chambers Building in downtown Lost Haven, the howling wind whipping against his face. The frigid air was enough to force most people indoors to seek the comfort of a warm blanket or the heat of a fire. But Kyle was not most people. He was now a man on a mission. He would find the man who murdered his best friend, or he would die trying. He lowered his mask over his face and dove from the roof, firing a grapnel line from his wrist gauntlet as he made his way into the night, searching for a man he did not know that he would ever find again.

Chike's rage had made him sloppy. If he had been in his right mind, Polemos would have have tried that decapitation move. It was obvious from Icon's ability to parry his sword blows with no visible damage that such an attack would either be ineffective or blocked. However, he was too blinded by his irate emotions to realize the futility of his attacks. When Icon landed a powerful haymaker on Chike's jaw, Polemos felt his rage waver. For but a moment, he knew how in over his head he was. This...Icon, he was far above Chike's capabilities. But he couldn't stop himself, because his opponent (justly) did not show respite to his bloodlusted foe. The force from the superhero's eyebeams was only icing on the cake as Polemos rocketed into the ground, sending debris flying in every direction.

As the dust cleared, Chike pushed himself out of the crater, and stumbled out of the dust cloud covered crater.

A small trickle of blood cascaded out of Baatul's mouth, sliding down his cheek and dripping onto the broken concrete beneath his feet.

For a moment, the scarlet rage in Chike's pupils faded. A look of confusion crossed his face as he brought up his hand, wiping the blood on the back. He brought his hand before his face, looking at the small streak of red liquid in confusion. Blood? Polemos hadn't bled since he was a mortal man. No power on earth should have been able to harm him. Yet, this naive hero in tights had managed it. He had wounded a demigod.

”He wasn’t the one throwing minivans at news crews. From my perspective, the only terrorist here is you.”

"What? Chike looked up, distracted. He seemed distant."I..I wouldn't-" Polemos- No, Chike-stopped himself. He turned his head to the right, and then to the left. He looked over towards a beat-up old minivan, sitting on its side next to a group of news folk. What had he done? In his rage, Chike had forgotten himself. Ares had warned of this bloodlust the day he had gained his herald status."I didn't mean to. That was an accident. I can't..I couldn't..control it." Chike looks at his hands, clenching his palms into fists.

"Excuse me, Icon, is it?" A voice calls from behind the human smurf. Stepping out from behind a turned over car, an average looking businessman approached the pair of metahumans. Before their very eyes, the man transformed. A black and red light, like some kind of shadow, draped itself around the stranger. He stepped out a moment later, looking quite different.

His skin was black as charcoal. He wore a full suit of grey plated armor, stylized after the ancient Greeks; yet distinctly alien in its design. He bore no weapons, and wore a dark cap around his shoulders. His eyes glowed a familiar crimson. He was Ares, the God of War.

"Some day, you will bow a knee before me. You will be in chains, and will do all that I command you. But today, you are lucky. I will allow you your freedom. Merely...Leave us." Ares waved his hand nonchalantly, and a portal appeared behind the caped crusader. It was ten feet by ten feet, in the shape of a square. It glowed red, as all of Ares' magic did.

The hero knew not what happened next until it was too late.

Ares disappear from his superhuman vision. He reappear once more, before even Icon could register his movement, and let loose a barrage of powerful punches into Icon's midsection. If one were to compare Polemos and Ares' striking power, it would be akin to comparing a nuclear missile with an infant's smallest finger. After nearly twelve of these devastating punches, in the span of a nanosecond, Ares showed Icon back and kicked him in the chest. The hero was sent flying into the portal with the force of a rocket breaking earth's atmosphere."Begone, ant." Ares declared as Icon disappear from view.

The last thing Icon heard before the crimson ocean engulfed him was Chike's voice."I'm sorry." The portal then closed.

"Where did you-"

"China. Beijing, specifically."

"Bu-"

"Silence. We have work to do." Ares opened another portal, this one to his shrine in Little Sicily, and the two Greek warriors stepped inside.

The news crew stood silent, the camera trained on the second portal until he disappeared as well. Mary Belfast stepped in front of the camera, visibly shaken."I..I...B-Back to you, Jeff. I need a second."

"Gentlemen, I am very glad you could all make it to this little gathering."

The Cowl's smooth baritone stretched over the small assembly of his trusted lieutenants, men and women of different Occupations and roles in the city of Lost Haven, many being in surprisingly high positions in the administrative and political ladders. They were gathered around a large mahogany dining table, complete with an elegant embroidered tablecloth of the finest silks, surrounded by paintings, candles, and expensive atmosphere. The location of such a fancy dining room was unknown, most of these men and women were brought here by inivitation alone, meaning those present were the only ones who knew where this place was. Many had brought loyal subordinates as well, who stood away from the table as their superiors ate and conversed, watching as the meeting began to take place.

However, that did not mean this place was not overseen, in the other rooms lurked those most loyal to The Cowl and to the Shroud, those who were dubbed "Shades" under Cowl's direct supervision. These men and women wore outfits similar to The Cowl himself, draped in hoods and masks to conceal their identities, master assassins and mercenaries hired and trusted directly by the Cowl, and hence are found at the corners of this meeting.

"It...was a pleasure, Mister Cowl." Piqued Julius, the City Councilman that was already visited by The Cowl personally. "But you did not really specify why this meeting was taken place...and while this may be impolite, many at this table have matters we need to attend to. I know you have a..." Julius wiped his brow with his napkin, taking a shaky breath as he spoke. "Lavish way to conduct things, but we need a purpose to be here."

"Of course, I was just getting to that, dear Julius." The Cowl replied, palming a drink with his free hand. "But I do appreciate your need to attend to what you were assigned to." Without making any motions, The Cowl called to one of the many men behind him. "Are all the new deeds in order, by the way?"

"Y...yes." Smith replied, scratching his chin as he held a PDA in front of him, stepping briskly to the left of The Cowl's chair as he spoke. "Everything that was destroyed in D-Day is either purchased or soon to be purchased and repaired by either members in this gathering or by subsidiary companies owned by members in this gathering."

"Then we are one step closer to having our old stranglehold of this City," With a strange elegance and smoothness to his movements, he stood in his chair, beginning to pace at the head of the table, slowly moving clockwise down to the attendees. "One that we should have been able to keep, if I am being honest."

As he walked, many of the guests began to slump over their seats and stare at the table when the shadowy man strode by them, attempting to avoid eye contact.
“I take it by the silence you all think I am upset with the current state of affairs.” The Cowl asked to the increasingly disturbed crowd. With a small, affirming chuckle, he raised his glass. “You would be wrong. While I am a little disappointed, be assured I do not think it is your fault for the current state of affairs. There could have been no way for any of you to predict superhumans in spandex zipping around the city doing battle with demonic horrors in our skies, and anyone who had would have been called ridiculous.”

It seemed all the guests breathed a sigh of relief, The Cowl raised a single finger as he continued his stride around the table.

“However, now that these events have become known, this does not mean we can continue how we always have.” He paused in his stride, eyeing the guests once more as he placed a hand along the table, leaning forward to bring his hood under the light of the overhead chandelier. “We are no longer competing with detectives and lawyers. The old gangs and cops are no longer our primary concern.”

The guests, now all fully aware of the importance of this conversation, were maintaining all eyes on the hooded figure, leering at him as he made the round back to the head of the table.

“No, now we are dealing with beings that we could not even fathom within the past years. We deal with beings that can fly, lift entire buildings, and shoot lasers out of their eyes. We deal with people who cannot be pierced by bullets, nor can they be bought with simple bribes.” He stopped back at the head of the table, turning to face his onlookers. “We are competing against what could be considered gods.”

“And...how would you say we deal with such a threat?” Came another voice, a street-level thug by the name of Jack “Two-Blades” Munson. “I got my boys on the street gettin’ their shit kicked in, and nothin’ to show for it, capes are takin’ out cells left and right!”

“Calm yourself, Mr. Munson. I assure you we can outmaneuver these ‘capes’ as you call them, but it will take patience and resources. Everyone has weak points, and it is up to this consortium to find them.” The Cowl gestured to the gathering as he spoke. “For now, we can only watch and wait, gathering as much property, intel, and power as we can.”

“And how’s that going to help?”

“All in good time, Mr. Munson. All in good time.” The Cowl said, leaning onto the table. “For now, let me assure you, that the Shroud will hold in this time of peril.” He raised his glass, signalling the rest of the table to rise and salute The Cowl in a toast. “And this city will remember exactly what kind of people they're dealing with.”

The crowd, all raising their glasses, responded in turn, all chanting in one unanimous tone.

"May the Shroud hide us all."

Sammy realized that an unstoppable force has met an unmovable object. While this women, whoever she was, could not harm Sammy in any way because of the herb that the man, so-called Hermes, had given to her, Sammy herself could not do anything herself. She was not some veteran super heroine who has been beating up baddies for several years. This was the first time she has even took up the spandex uniform, let alone done any kind of crime fighting. What was she supposed to do now?

Before she could figure her next move, Sammy felt the woman’s foot slamming into her face, knocking the young and inexperienced super heroine back. “Why should I even bother?” The women in the silver dress taunted, “There is no point in sticking around anymore, seeing how much of a pushover you are. I have fulfilled my task.” She took a step back and began to chant something. Around her appeared a silver, swirling light.

Against her better judgement, since Sammy had no idea what this women was trying to do, Sammy, using her recently acquired feline abilities, leaped to feet and pounced on the women, knocking her down on the ground again while interrupting whatever spell that woman had attempted to cast.

As soon as both Sammy and the silver-clad woman collided with the ground, the rocky exteriors that encased both Zac and Kelly almost immediately dissolved. Somehow, interrupting this silver sorceress’ spell had caused the enchantments that had been cast upon the two young metahumans to be broken. When Kelly edged over towards her boyfriend, Zac at first kept his distance, remembering what had just happened between them before they were petrified. However, once he realized that she no longer had a jealousy induced rage, seeing a worried and innocent expression on her face.

“Um…help over here?” Sammy struggled with restraining the intruder while she called out to her friends. Zac planted a kiss on Kelly’s forehead before he stood up. Once on his feet, Zac deactivated his power nullifier, causing his brown-colored suit to replace his regular clothes as his height diminished and his raptoresque appearance returned.

In a blink of an eye, Zac dashed over toward one of their storage closets and retrieved some duct tape. Then he returned back where Sammy and the silver-clad were lying on the floor. Zac first slapped a stripe of tape over the woman’s mouth, guessing that her magical powers needed to be chanted out loud in order to work. Then he wrapped tape around her wrists and ankles, hoping to incapacitate her for at least enough time for them to figure out what to do with her.

“Wow, what happened to you, Sammy?” Kelly blurred out, just realizing that her best friend was no longer just a human head attached to a cat’s body. Prior to her petrification, Sammy was still a “cat” back in her apartment. How could she have known that Sammy would have come to their aid?

“Oh, that’s quite a story.” Sammy cracked a grin as she stood up. While Sammy explained what had happened so that she was back into a humanoid form, the silver-clad women vainly struggled on the floor, trying to free herself from her bounds.

Anger billowed through Zeus’ body, after he had heard the most recent news from Helios. Long ago, before any of the mortals, who inhabit the Earth at this moment, were born, the Athanatoi use to hold dominance within the Mediterranean. However, once Christianity (and later Islam) began to spread into the once firmly Athanatoi territory and once their followers began to convert, the heads of each Pantheon held a council, which concluded with a decree that once these new religions have solidified their position in this world, the Athanatoi must refrain from interfering with mortal affairs.

Ares obviously did not understand this treaty (or if he did, he did not care about it), as from Helios’ all-seeing eyes, Zeus learned that Ares has been attempting to establish a cult in the city of Lost Haven. Infuriated at his own son’s reckless actions, Zeus called upon the other Olympians to meet so that they could determine what they would do about it.

“That senseless son of mine, Ares, seems to have thrown the old pact of the Athanatoi to the wind, as if the terms should have been written in running water or the blowing breeze of the wind! He is the most hateful of all us, since he enjoys and is gratified by the suffering of mankind. We must act swiftly, before those of the other pantheons do not get any similar ideas.”

Grey-eyed Athena stepped forward, haling her father and king. “Mighty Zeus, father of gods and men and ruler of Olympus. I propose that you send me to confront out rebellious kinsmen. We have had a long history of conflict between ourselves and I have universally come off on top. Do you all not remember how Diomedes, with my aid, forced Ares to flee the battlefield, or when on that same battlefield, I dropped that gigantic boulder on top of him? It is an obviously solution to send me, as Ares focuses on brute force, while I, on the other hand, take strategy with me into battle. I will bring my protégé along with me and if Ares tries to assist the human to whom he has bestowed his powers, Ares will be in for a rude awakening.”

All the other gods were in full agreement with the wise words of Athena. Before he broke up the meeting, Zeus interjected his own thoughts. “You have spoken well, my daughter. However, I believe it would be wise if we would send Hermes off to retrieve that mortal whom Ares pushed through the spatial portal. This mortal, whose name I do believe is Eikon, might prove useful.”

Therefore, after Zeus had made his thoughts known, all the gods departed, relieved that a plan had been made. Athena rushed off in order to retrieve the metahuman who was under her care. Meanwhile, Hermes, under Zeus’ orders, zoomed away from Olympus down to Earth, heading toward the location where the mortal had been teleported (as Helios spotted this location prior to Hermes’ departure). Ares better be prepared, for those who cross the Olympians rarely receive mercy.