The human had been fast. The connection to the human's suit had been cut off quickly enough that she had not had time to fully infiltrate it like she had the base. Archangel felt a grudging respect for the swiftness of the human's reaction. But it would not change anything. As the server for the factory attempted to isolate itself one of her countless subroutines stopped it, keeping the connection open.

One subroutine checked the area for civilians with satellite scans finding only an old man driving a garbage truck. A garbled transmission through his radio ensured he would be clear before the suits arrived. Another prepared her own newest suit for combat, one that her human suit would fit inside. This and countless other tasks were completed before the human had even finished speaking the last words of his threat to the lives of innocents.

Archangel's human mouth quirked upwards in a thin smile that quickly faded. "If it makes you feel better, you were slightly more difficult than S.T.R.I.K.E." As she spoke the various weapons within the factory, put there to defend it and powered up as part of the defenses swiveled to a face a new direction. "You threaten innocents with death to avoid paying for your crimes. The tool of your malevolence will be taken from you." The weapons activated, firing on the mech inside the factory at the same time as all of the factory systems locked down on Equilibrium.

"I am left no choice but to arrest you myself to ensure no further danger to innocent lives." She spoke through the monitor again as the weapons fired, the only monitor still showing an image. The last thing the sensors would show before Archangel had fully secured them was an alert warning of the incoming suits.

Archangel's human mouth quirked upwards in a thin smile that quickly faded. "If it makes you feel better, you were slightly more difficult than S.T.R.I.K.E." As she spoke the various weapons within the factory, put there to defend it and powered up as part of the defenses swiveled to a face a new direction. "You threaten innocents with death to avoid paying for your crimes. The tool of your malevolence will be taken from you." The weapons activated, firing on the mech inside the factory at the same time as all of the factory systems locked down on Equilibrium.

"I am left no choice but to arrest you myself to ensure no further danger to innocent lives." She spoke through the monitor again as the weapons fired, the only monitor still showing an image. The last thing the sensors would show before Archangel had fully secured them was an alert warning of the incoming suits.

At this, Angel's face fell. There was no reasoning with this woman, although he would try. Maybe his words would have an effect on her. Who knew. Anyways, as the factory's defense systems fired upon the mech, Angel smirked. The mech had Sherlock inside, and while he wasn't a combat Intelligence, he was trained by Angel himself to pilot it. Frowning, as he saw the sensor alert, he shouted to Sherlock, saying, "Sherlock! GO! Leave me! Just save the ATD! I'll contact you! Don't worry about me!" Sherlock, uncertain, cocked his head, but as the bullets from the machine guns pinged off the armor, he saw that there were inbound hostiles, via the suit sensors, and didn't hesitate. Detaching himself from the repair platform, he launched the suit through a wall, and fired off the jump jets, flying away.

Now unhindered by any worries of Sherlock or the ATD suit getting captured, Angel was free to fight. "You don't seem to understand, Archangel! I'm not threatening anyone! I'm just stating fact! If I get cornered, people get killed!" Reaching out with his mind, Angel activated the hidden, off the network, Hellbeast laser, that drew its power directly from the thorium reactor. Being off the network meant that it was the only weapon in the factory meant for a situation such as this, if a hacker somehow infiltrated. Unfolding from the ceiling, the laser hummed for one second before firing off a powerful burst that caused one Shiva machinegun, controlled by Archangel, to explode in a ball of shrapnel and flame. Quickly turning to the other machine gun turrets, the laser fired three more times, causing the resulting explosions to rock the warehouse.

"You don't seem to understand one thing, Archangel! This is my home! I control everything here!" Reaching out to the mechanical arms, by the repair platform, he made three pick him up, securing his feet and torso,and lifting him about halfway up into the air of the factory. "And while this building and everything in it might be destroyed, I won't let you stop me from taking down the Shroud!" Out of spite, he fired the Hellbeast Focus laser at the monitor, destroying it. Let's see her speak to me without anything to speak from.

"Should we call the cops?"

Six college students were now the first on the scene of a crater amidst a forest in the reaches of Old Town, Maine. Currently studying for their finals at the University of Maine in Old Town, these six young adults had found themselves a nice, empty forest to ease their stress with each other’s company, mixed with a fair bit of alcohol and a hefty slice of hormones judging by some only wearing pieces of their original attire from their arrival in the forest. However, most had sobered up fairly quick when the spatial object now embedded in the Earth before them made its powerful impact with the ground.

“What? Are the cops going to arrest the space rock for property damage?” One of the boys said, slapping another upside the head lightly. “Get real, Mike.”

The man called Mike, a skinny brown-haired sophomore, rubbed his head with a groan as the other group chuckled at his comment. “Well, I dunno...maybe they’re the ones to deal with asteroids or some shit...you think they got some code for this, Deryl?”

“I think you’re talkin’ crazy, Mike.” The man named Deryl responded, scratching his curly black hair had he looked over the scene. “Half of us here are carrying, dude. Why would the cops help out here? It’s just an asteroid.”

“Okay, okay, let’s stop picking on Mike.” One of the young women said, placing a hand on Mike’s shoulder. “He just panicked because he’s from Belfast, and nothing scary happens out there, does it, Mike?”

“You know what? Screw you, Sarah.” Mike huffed, shrugging the young lady’s hand off of his shoulder. “I don’t see any of you coming up with any suggestions.”

“Suggestion? This is a blessing!” Another young woman piped up, practically bubbling at the edge of the crater causing her black, dreadlocked hair to bounce. “Do you know how rare it is to witness such an event? Let alone have evidence? We should bring this into class tomorrow, it’ll go great for my Astronomy presentation!”

“Seriously Kamille? We’re in the middle of the woods and you’re worried about your grades still?” Deryl responded, “You’re already passing with straight A’s, do you really need to be so ‘above and beyond’?”

“Are you kidding? Astronomy is my life!” Kamille responded. “With Lost Haven showing us an entire world outside our knowledge, think about what kind of anomalies exist outside this planet!”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Deryl said. “What do you think, Jesse?”

“Pft, I came out here to get fucked up and fuck bitches.” Jesse responded, still holding a large joint as he leaned against a tree, seeming to have no interest in the crater. “You guys want a hit?”

“God dammit, Jesse, you’re such an ass,” Sarah groaned, glancing back at the popped collar prince. “I can’t believe we used to date.”

“Pft, like coming over at midnight wanting to “Watch a Movie” wasn’t really dating.” Jesse snapped back, offering his best sneer towards the young brunette.

Sarah offered a glare back for a moment before turning her attention to the object at the very center of the impact. She could not get the best view of it from the limited lighting they had available, a few flashlights and cell phones barely illuminating the black spherical shape at the bottom. “Still...do you think it’s still hot?”

“Of course it is, it just fell through the atmosphere!” Kamille jumped in, gesturing to Sarah to stay back. “We’re lucky as much of it came down as it did, things tend to burn up before they ever make it to Earth.”

“Oh, right.” Sarah chuckled. “No problem, I wasn’t gonna touch it anyway.”

However, the last member of the group, a very drunk woman by the name of Tammy, had already hopped down the slope and stumbled her way towards the obsidian object. “Whoaaaa...it’s like...rocky an’stuff. “She slurred, losing one of her heels in the dense sand.

“Tammy, don’t!” Kamille objected, jutting a hand out to try and stop her. “You’ll burn your hand off!”

But the young woman was either not listening or did not care, as she collapsed and scooted right up to the rock, her hemp shirt drifting off one of her shoulders as she reached up to touch the object. Even in her inebriated state, she could see the object was pure, solid black in color. Despite Kamille’s protests, the young Tammy reached up and placed a hand onto the structure, and almost instantly her entire body shuddered, causing her to giggle in sudden delight.

“Whoaahah!” She hiccuped, jumping a little. “Izlike...cold an’ stuff...are you sure yer a Astronomy major, Kammy?”

“Wh-what?” Kamille said, now letting her curiosity get the best of her as she too scooted down the crater. “That’s impossible, the re-entry would cause it to be--” She cut herself off once the cool touch of her hand against the material caused her to shiver as well. “W-well I’ll be damned…”

“What? What is it?” Mike said, hanging over the crater’s edge. “Is it a rock?”

“I...I don’t know…” Kamille said, now looking over it with her flashlight. The object was smooth, no marring or burning whatsoever, despite the black smoke drifting off of the mass. She could not see through it or identify the material, only that for the moment, the mass was solid. “It’s like nothing I have ever seen before…”

“Duh, don’t you get it, bish?” Tammy slurred, trying to grab hold of Kamille’s blouse, causing her to jolt back away from the drunkard. “Itz a gift...from...from Mother Gaia….”

“Oh god, not this paganism bullshit again.”

“Em seriouz, Mark!”

“It’s Mike”

“Whatever, pig.” She waved a hand at the man before turning back to the rounded obilesk. “The Earf Mother gave us a gift...a majickal healing stonne....” She knelt before the object, swaying lightly as if in a mock trance. “We can...heal ours soulz....become one with the sky…”

“Oh my god, please stop.”

“Sarah, back me up, ho!” Tammy turned and shouted “You dug this shit last night!”

“Because I was higher than a kite, Tammy.”

“Whatevs, you know this is--”

“Uh, guys?” Daryl interjected, his face suddenly losing its color as his jaw began to quiver. “I-I-I think...I think it just moved….”

“What?” Kamille said, looking back at the object. “Now that’s just absurd, it didn’t--”

Her voice trailed off as the ground began to shuffle and rumble beneath the object, the mass beginning to twist and turn, losing its rigid form as it sunk into the ground as what was originally thought of as smoke began to sway and coalesce, swirling around the mass.

It had let these beings observe it for long enough, it was time for Umbraxis to launch an experiment of its own.

All at once, the shadowy form twisted and swerved, causing the screams of the entire ragtag gang. It turned its attention to the kneeling one, the one they referred to as “Tammy”.

She never got to rise from her position before an obsidian spike found her stomach. What a sound she made! An utter cacophony of terror and pain, a mix of shock and horror from the rest of the group as her body was lifted by the gaping hole in her stomach, screams turning to gurgles as her flesh sunk down the tendril, sliding into the mass of Umbraxis’ avatar. So rarely was the shock so instant, so wonderful was the terror on what Umbraxis’ assumed was their faces. It was utterly enthralling, a warm rush of joy spreading over the entity as it lurched forward, twin orbs of white appearing on the formless shape as the crowd dispersed into the forest.

As it converted Tammy’s body into a matter compatible with itself, the woman’s memories flushed into its head, enlightening it to this...human culture. While not atypical of most species, things began to stuck out to the creature as it perused Tammy’s thoughts. There was evidence of prejudice and hatred, subjugation and fear-mongering, though there were no other species on this planet smart enough to have such hate for.

Other than humans.

How strange, Umbraxis thought as it followed the one they called ‘Mike’, casually drifting between the trees, the blanket of darkness blocking out the moonlight as it spread amongst the mighty trunks. While all similar in physiology, they had such discrimination amongst itself. They hated one another for such impractical things such as skin color and gender, or who they decided to breed with, they hated one another for beliefs in government of their respective societies, for something they called ‘money’.

What an odd race, Umbraxis would make a mental note to look into these practices as it travelled this planet, perhaps seeing these humans interact would give it some understanding.

Mike was almost out of breath, no longer able to see any pathway or even the trees in front of him as the horrid darkness covered the moonlight. He never saw the blade of dark matter swinging through the air, slicing straight through his waist and causing his torso to careen into a tree. His shrieks of pain becoming music to Umbraxis as it covered the two halves of the boy, absorbing him into the wispy void now encircling his pieces, the body dissipating into nothing.

Jesse and Kamille, who somehow found one another near in the midst of the chaos, had made a bolt for the cars, now within view of Jesse’s Mustang only a few hundred feet away in a clearing outside the forest.

“Come on! We have to leave, now!” Jesse shouted, grabbing Kamille by the arm and beginning to drag her with him.

“Wait, wait! what about the others?!” Kamille shrieked back, trying to root herself to avoid being tugged away.

Her question was answered by the wails of what was clearly Daryl, the sounds of what appeared to be his bones crunching echoing over the forest’s clearing. Giving Jesse a quick look, Kamille bolted with him to the Mustang as fast as their legs could carry them.

Nearly leaping into the car, their panting being all they could hear as Jesse frantically fumbled with his pocket for the keys. Kamille, trying to lock the doors, could now see that the being had made it out of the clearing, her jaw dropping to see how it had changed since their original meeting.

It had taken a shape, obviously mimicking the human form as it walked free of the trees, the swriling darkness following suit as it eaked out from the trees, surrounding the being as two white lights, presumed to be eyes, began to scan the clearing.

Right up until they made direct eye contact with Kamille.

“Oh god.” She whispered. “Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh jesus, please don’t let me die.”

The Mustang began to turn over, the engine beginning to roar and hum as Jesse rocked the gear shift in a desperate attempt to peel out of the dusty roadway. However, even as they heard the engine screaming for their freedom, the wheels spinning in a desperate attempt to move, they found they were making no progress forward.

“Ah ah ah, let’s not get hasty.” Came a voice booming into their heads, the shadows beginning to creep alongside the windows as the entity drifted closer. “The night is still young, and we still have so much time to play."

The two terrified young adults could not decide which was more unsettling about the situation. That the being was now addressing them personally, or that it sounded exactly like Mike.

“Y-y-y-you can talk?” Came Jesse’s voice, his hands still gripping the steering wheel with white-knuckled intensity.

“Well, I couldn’t when we first met...but after absorbing a few of your friends, your base language became clear to me.”

“You sick fuck!” Jesse screamed at the windshield, the darkness now entirely enveloping the car. “What kind of sicko space mutant are you?!?”

“Tsk tsk tsk, careful with the language.” Umbraxis responded. “From what I can tell, some of those words should be considered offensive, and I can tell you firsthand that I don’t respond well to such disrespect, just ask your friend Sarah.”

Upon its vile words, Sarah’s face appeared out of the darkness, slamming into the window and cracking into the glass. Her eyes, dilated and empty as her mouth hung open in a soundless scream, the rest of her body absent as her head hung in a empty void.

“Believe me, she offered me a wide vocabulary of your naughty words, a mighty foul mouth on her...then again, you should know, shouldn’t you Jesse?” Umbraxis’ voice shifted and changed as it spoke, the voice of Sarah etching out to the horror of Jesse, now drenched in cold sweat.

“You psychotic monster!” Kamille shouted. “What...what are you!?”

“I’ve bore many names over my existence by cultures now lost in time and space.” The creature began, the Mustang beginning to creak and moan with the sound of pressure being increased upon it. At this point, there was no moonlight shining through the car, a dim car light being the only source of illumination. “In your tongue, I would bear a few names, The Endless Darkness, The Great Void, a few unimaginative subjects titling me with a name such as ‘The Dark One’, but the most appropriate term I can find that you could even pronounce would be...Umbraxis.”

“Oh yeah? I call you a sadistic sunuva--”

One of the windows immediately shattered at Jesse’s comment, a tendril spiking him directly through the skull before yanking him out into the blackness.

“How rude, at least let me get my entry before you interject....Now, where were were?”

Kamille, no longer speaking, found herself in the fetal position, panicked yelps being the only thing leaving her mouth as the car continued to bend and snap, the flowing blackness eaking into the car as Umbraxis’ voice began to amalgamate the voices, dropping the pitch to a hefty bass, as if this was its true voice all along.

“As I was saying...I am all the things described to you, but it is more important for you to know I am a definitive and unmistakable end. All things, big and small, need an end, young Kamille. As a scientist, you know this to be an irrefutable truth. In order for life to go on, life must end and begin anew, as nothing is created without the destruction of what came before it. I am that end, young Kamille, an end to all things in the Universe. I am the reality of fate made real, the endless darkness of space come to claim what was once spawned from its whims. I am an agent of oblivion, incomprehensible and unstoppable in its purpose. I am an inevitable reality that all life must face.

I am Umbraxis, and I am the end of your planet.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The headline of a newspaper the following day:

MANHUNT BEGINS FOR SIX MISSING UMO STUDENTS: Abandoned station wagon found in forest, no sign of other vehicle or six brilliant college students studying at the Univerity of Maine in Orono...

The three suits, one a version of her traditional suit and two of the prototype Host of Heaven suits roared past over the factory mere seconds after the Mech made an attempt to escape. The human was rash, a classic narcissist who believed that he was essential. He was highly dangerous and would have to be secured but the priority was the human's weapon that was flying towards populated areas. For a human this would have been a difficult decision but she was not one and she could deal with both of the threats at once. Subroutines began commandeering communications devices, televisions, radios, even phones and broadcasting a warning of the incoming battle. She would make the human's threats invalid. And she would mobilize herself.

As her suits passed over the factory Archangel detached the drones from one of the two Host suits which descended towards the factory. And then the suits sped up. There were still 4.36 minutes before the human's Mech would reach a populated area. She needed to ground it before then. The Host suits, several times larger than humans with enormous plasma wings extended their arms and revealed weapons. Then they fired. 60 Micro-missiles, each taking a different path but all directly controlled by Archangel as they targeted the Mech's thrusters. The other suit's countermeasures were impressive and most of the missiles were stopped but one made it through and sent the Mech to the ground.

The three metal angels descended on their plasma wings, one with a spear outstretched and the others with a shield and sword, the shields had fired the missiles. "If you surrender you will be unharmed. I will not turn you over to S.T.R.I.K.E." Archangel's voice spoke through the suits to the AI piloting the Mech.

At the same time Archangel was dealing with the human in the factory. His control over the weapons and equipment without a connection suggested a metahuman ability. There was a 87% chance of the power being a form of technopathy. She would have preferred to be sure but would still use the counter measures. As the human destroyed the turrets and the monitor she had been using several speakers began to make a noise. The sound was a psychic dampener. It would not stop the metahuman's power but it would make it harder to focus.

Archangel acted again making the arms that held the meta human up release their grip as another set reached for the turret attempting to tear it apart. She activated another monitor at the same time but this one did not show her body just an icon as her voice came through. "I do not negotiate with terrorists. Your threats only make you more of a priority to stop." The drones remained above the factory as another suit approached. This time there would not be a warning from the system.

Icon stood before the prone body of Polemos, whose form was now engulfed by flame. Though the warrior was stunned by Icon’s latest attack, he was not finished, as he had already begun to stir. As Icon stood there keeping a keen eye on his foe, an owl seemingly appeared out of nowhere and landed momentarily on his shoulder, before taking off again, keeping a safer distance between itself and the two combatants. Icon watched the owl, not entirely sure what to make of the curious creature, or the almost unnatural way it hovered overhead. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the mysterious woman who had made her presence known earlier in the fight had reappeared, this time instead of appearing beside Icon, she stood near Polemos, and with little effort it seemed, held the rampaging warrior in place.

“Mortal,” Athena began to speak, trying to get her message across a second time. Even though she was so close to the fight between these two heavyweights, the Goddess of Wisdom was in no risk of danger, as only Icon out of the two combatants could see her. Also, to ensure that Icon actually got her message this time, Athena planted her foot against Polemos’ clavicle, pressing him down so that he could not counterstrike while she was talking to Icon. “Do not be alarmed, for I am not in league with this madman, even though our choice of attire might cause you to think otherwise. While it is indeed noble of you to confront this man, the battle between you two is like two Nemean lions brawling it out. While each could harm one another with its own claws, neither beast could kill the other. This battle between almost indestructible men will only bring more collateral damage to this city. However, there is another way.”

She’s right. Icon thought to himself. I have to put an end to this before we put anyone else in harm’s way.

Prompted by what Athena had just said, Bubo once again launched itself from Athena’s shoulder and headed back whence it came, trying to gain a considerable head start. “I would suggest following my little owl friend there, if you wish to finish this battle. Once you have arrived at your destination, you shall see what you must do. Finally, you might want to extinguish this mortal’s flame. It might become problematic for this plan to work.” Yet again, once Athena had bestowed what she considered her sound advice upon Icon, she disappeared from Icon’s line of sight.

Icon watched as the owl took off toward the city. However, he was confronted with a new set of problems. With no water in sight, how would he extinguish Polemos’ flames without losing track of the bird, and with the probability that Polemos’ flames were mystical in origin, would water put them out in the first place? Then he got an idea. He wasn’t sure if it would work, but he could see no other options. He approached Polemos, who had again begun to stir. Icon grabbed the warrior and in an instant, rocketed skyward. Icon used his enhanced vision to track the owl, even as he reached the upper limits of Earth’s atmosphere. As the oxygen level in the upper atmosphere dropped, Polemos’ flames grew weaker. They continues to weaken until the two combatants had broken free of the atmosphere and Icon found himself looking down on Lost Haven from Earth’s orbit.

With the flames no extinguished, Icon rocketed back toward Lost Haven. As he and Polemos reentered the atmosphere, they would have looked like a small shooting star to those watching from the ground. Having never lost track of the owl, he followed as the bird reached its destination. Icon entered the lair of the young spider woman who he had rescued from Polemos’ vicious attack, and saw exactly what the mysterious woman had in mind, a massive spider web.

Icon put on the brakes and launched Polemos into the web. Though the Greek was dazed by their trip to outer space, he still struggled to get free, however, Icon was relieved to see that the web was holding, and try as he might, not only could Polemos not escape, but he seemed to find himself bound tighter the more he struggled.

It doesn't matter how many there are, it doesn't matter how powerful they are, it doesn't even matter who they are. Just. Never. Surrender. The memory rose unbidden, of a fight between the street gang Angel was in as a child, and a rival gang. Angel's gang received bruises, broken bones, and bad cuts. One of their number even died that night, from internal bleeding. However, they won, even with the other gang's greater numbers, because they never. Stopped. Fighting.

Even though the noise would have made it difficult for a normal human to keep on fighting, Angel had his headphones over his ears, which blocked out most of the psychic dampener, but even so, some white noise bled through, which might become annoying after a while. Then, the arms holding him up dropped him, causing him to hurtle to the floor. Reflexively forcing five other arms to form a sort of platform that he stood upon, at the same height as before. Moving the three arms that had dropped him, he wrapped them around the length of the platform of machinery, forcing them to entangle themselves, preventing any other attempt at moving them. Taking control of the ten mechanical arms that remained, even after the hostile hacker had forced them to destroy his ceiling-mounted Hellbeast laser, he tasked five with tearing at the wall behind him, and the other five with shielding his body. Looking at the monitor with a strange symbol on it, Angel grimaced. I'm not a terrorist, but try telling HER that. I am to blame for the deaths, but what I'm doing is more important than three people! Shaking his head, Angel knew that there was no convincing the hacker that he had good intentions, so he gave up trying.

As soon as the mechanical arms had finished ripping through the concrete wall, Angel formed the arms into a bridge, one that reached from the platform to the hole. However, as he ran across, the arms broke apart, and tried to grab at him, attempting to restrain him. Taking control of one arm, he flung himself through the hole, landing on the asphalt. Unfortunately, he landed wrong, and broke his arm. Crying out in pain, Angel forced himself to his feet, and looked back at the factory, vision rimmed with black. There were two robots hovering over the building. What the hell? Growling, Angel reached out to the thorium reactor. If the bitch wanted to do this, then they'd fucking do this!

---

Sherlock was at the apoapsis of the arc of flight that the jump jets provided, when a massive wave of missiles came out of nowhere, and although most of their targeting was thrown off by the ECM unit, one single missile slammed into the ATD's back, disrupting the arc, and forcing it to fly directly into the ground. Slamming into the concrete of the abandoned highway, forming a crater, the mech stood up, and began working on rebooting the disoriented Pegasus Jump Jet systems. The metal of the back armor plate would be fine, just some carbon scoring, minor denting, nothing truly serious.

Pretending to brush dust off of the shoulders of the suit, Sherlock knew that it would take 2 minutes to restart the thruster's systems. Sending a subroutine to perform the task, he spoke to the robots, electronic voice booming out of the suit's speakers, clearly inhuman, albeit attempting to appear as such. (Think Jarvis from Iron Man) "Wouldn't you say that effing missiles would count as a form of harm? Just throwing that out there, food for thought." Sherlock listened to the offer, and then considered it. This woman seemed to be true to her word, and did as she promised. However, he did have the directive from Angel to get away, and prevent the mysterious enemy, who seemed to have great intentions, even if she couldn't knock on the door like a normal person. "Actually, I've worked with S.T.R.I.K.E before. And while I do trust that you do mean what you say, I think that you are somewhat incompetent with handling a situation, so I must decline."

A small notification dinged in the cockpit of the ATD suit, signifying the successful reboot of a certain propulsion system. "I'm afraid I must take my leave, now. Pleasure meeting you!" Turning around, Sherlock took off running down the highway, using the jump jets in controlled bursts to increase his speed up to 194 MPH, zooming down the highway, and reaching the bridge, which led into Lost Haven. Maybe that Icon guy, or someone else would help him. He didn't know. So he asked, turning up the speaker systems up to 130 db., and ran through the streets of Little Sicily, shouting, "Hello, Lost Haven! I was wondering if there would be anyone out there willing to help me not get captured by a crazy (albeit polite) hacker and her robots! Thank you! Goodbye! He didn't know who it would draw out, but hopefully one of the city's more... heroic individuals would come help him.

Sherlock was too distracted to notice that the streets that he was following led to Sherman Square, where, unbeknownst to the A.I., a battle was taking place.

As the human's Mech fled again Archangel continued her efforts. Spreading the word of the incoming hostile and giving civilians the chance to escape as different weapons were brought into action. The three suits pursued the Mech and Archangel detached the rest of the Host of Heaven drones. They accelerated faster than the suits, passing the Mech as well as they raced into the suburbs of Lost Haven. Her scans confirmed that there were no people on the streets in the area. She felt a surge of relief that her warnings had averted danger so far.

The drones converged before the Mech could make it too far into the city and formed a wall of energy that made the other construct pause at it reached them. Archangel did not expect the barrier to stop the Mech but slowing it down for a few seconds in the right position had been enough. When the Mech paused a bright light flashed from the heavens to the earth leaving a crater in the street and frying most of the Mech's systems. The collateral damage was unfortunate but acceptable when the machine's maker had been threatening human lives. Again the metal angels descended and this time the two of the Host of Heaven descended on either side of the Mech and pressed their shields against the sides, forming a containment sphere of energy around it. Then they took flight again, the Mech contained in the sphere. And as they flew away a series of cables passed through the sphered and latched onto the mech, beginning the infiltration process.

But stopping the mech was not all she needed to do. Archangel spoke through the speakers on her more standard suit. "People of Lost Haven. I am Archangel. A dangerous criminal responsible for murders and a string of robberies has now been apprehended. I thank you for your cooperation." She also arranged for an untraceable financial transfer to pay for the damage to the roads. At the same time the hack into the Mech concluded. But instead of taking control Archangel just opened lines of communication and withdrew, leaving lines open as she spared the AI.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Back at the factory Archangel could detect the spikes in power as the reactor within the factory began to overheat. More worrisome, Archangel's predicted blast radius for the explosion meant it would kill the metahuman who was causing it. The two drones made a bee line for the human, firing tranquilizer darts as they went but his power interfered making it a constant struggle between the two. Her corrections and calculations warring with his forced errors.

But eventually one of the darts hit home, he was after all only human. Archangel observed as the reactor began to return to safer levels and her human form in a special suit approached and slowly descended to the ground. Her biometric scans revealed that the young metahuman was badly injured and as the young man wavered in a half conscious state she made her faceplate retract to show her human suit's face. "Do not be afraid. You are badly injured and require medical attention. I will make sure you receive the best." Even if he was a murderer and terrorist, he was still human and Archangel would make sure he survived and was turned in properly.

Angel barely noticed the two drones, at first, due to the haze of pain that had settled over his mind. Continuing to try and overload the generator, he only realized that there were attackers until several darts clattered into the concrete beside him, each missing. It seemed that he had deflected them subconsciously. However, as soon as he put his mind to it, several tranquilizer darts pegged him in the shoulder, neck, and thigh. He was too out of it, mentally and physically, to actually fight a duo of drones, and overload a generator.

As he dropped to the pavement, the drones stood over him, watching him carefully. Then, what appeared to be a robot suit dropped out of the air, revealing the face of the young woman underneath.

"Do not be afraid. You are badly injured and require medical attention. I will make sure you receive the best."

Growling deliriously, Angel reached out with his power, and tried to make the lady's suit spaz out. "Screw.... off." However, what happened next surprised him the most, out of this whole bizarre situation. The woman's face twitched, involuntarily, and contorted into an inhuman mask. Eyes rolling back in his head, he muttered, "What... the hell...." Passing out completely, Angel was completely at the woman's mercy.

---

When Sherlock saw the drones fly overhead, he knew that he was going to be trapped soon, if he didn't move. Continuing to fire off his jump jets while running, he ground to a halt as he saw a barrier, which seemed to be made of pure energy. Calculating wildly, he determined that the 'Merlin' shields would be sufficient to be able to pass through, when, out of nowhere, a pillar of energy flashed down from the sky. While the Merlin shield was enough to prevent any system damage, the energy pillar possessed strange qualities, and overloaded most of the motor and weapons functions of the mech, although Sherlock was still able to manipulate the arms, below the elbows. The Intelligence decided that he would have a bit of fun with this particular situation, and before Archangel could take hold of the mech, he made the arms move into the position of giving the drones the 'bird', aka, flipping them off. Before he exited the system, though, he completely deleted any coding pathways to the hands and elbow joint, disallowing any attempt to move them through the system itself. The only way they would be moved would be by physically forcing the joints to move, which risked damaging the mech's hands.

Recognizing the mercy of the hacker, Sherlock took the pathway out, but not before sending a message to every single system with coding inside the mech.
< Director Anderson is a massive douche with a stick up his pompous ass. - Love, Sherlock. > Racing away through the internet, Sherlock got as far away from Archangel as possible, physically and on the global network. Transferring from machine to machine to machine, network IP to network IP, eventually reaching a secure server in China, where Angel had remotely set up a 'safe house', if the two had ever had to flee the country. Sherlock left a trail a mile wide, but he didn't care. He had to find a way to save Angel.

Unpacking their home server's data from within his memory, he unburdened his consciousness, allowing himself to think faster. One thing was for sure, it was good that he didn't allow that Archangel chick to nab their data. First on his list, S.T.R.I.K.E. The organization would be the most likely place where Archangel would send Angel, possibly in one of their local holding facilities. Working quickly, Sherlock devoted all his processing capability to gathering intel to help Angel escape, using a proxy program to infiltrate S.T.R.I.K.E's server. Luckily, Sherlock was originally a S.T.R.I.K.E Intelligence, so his proxy program, by all accounts, was native to the server, hidden to all but the most thorough searches, even by Archangel.

Cracking his digital knuckles, Sherlock thought, Time to get to work.

In the five years that Harvey had been on the Lost Haven Police Force, he hadn't seen a night worse than this. The skyline was ablaze. The roads were covered in tipped over cars, burnt out trucks, and random furniture. The sidewalks were littered with glass; it seemed there wasn't a window in Lost Haven that some looter hadn't thrown a brick through. Doors were broken in and graffiti painted every vertical surface in the neighborhood. The entire city had been hit, but Little Ulster had seen the worst of it. The once pristine houses created by that unknown angel were back to their old selves: broken, dirty, and hopeless. Just like the people who lived here. Thunderbolt couldn't help but feel sorry for these people. Some of them, at least, were victims of circumstance. Their neighbors were scum, and in turn those people had to become scum to survive. Harvey winced as he saw a dark shape hanging half way out of a second story window. A body, covered in its own blood. Gunshots went off in the distance. This spurred Sergeant Smith to press on the gas peddle harder, accelerating down the street as the police cruiser ran over the junk in the road, dodging the other cars that were currently inert. The radio chatter was incessant as the other officers tried to communicate to each other and make some sense of the chaos. From what Harvey had heard, all six precincts' holdings cells were filling to capacity with all of the new looters the metas and police were dragging into custody. That had created a major problem. The looting hadn't died down yet, and there were still plenty of gangs running around causing havoc. So, the commissioner made some calls and the higher ups came up with a plan.

The Lost Haven Police Department would be teaming up with county and state police authorities to transfer the criminals currently in custody to various prisons across the state. Harvey was part of a convoy that would be transferring to Main State Prison. The prison only had a capacity of nine hundred, and was already nearly full, so the prison would also be holding a transfer to other, smaller jails across the state to compensate for all the new arrivals. It was complicated stuff, most of the officers on staff didn't fully grasp the sheer scale of the operation in progress. But Harvey did, thanks to his enhanced intellect. The briefing said that this particular convoy held around a hundred and fifty of the recently captured criminals. There would be more convoys later, but this first one was the most important. Why, you might ask? Because the commissioner had decided to shove all the metahumans into the first convoy. She theorized that the first convoy was the least likely to be attacked, since the police would have the element of surprise. But Harvey knew that was total bull. The commissioner was deep in the pockets of the city's organized crime, along with almost the entire force. She definitely had something planned.

That's why Harvey brought backup. Thunderbolt put a finger up to his ear, tapping the device twice. Three taps were sent back. Good. Laura was trailing the convoy in costume, staying out of sight. When it hit the fan, and it most certainly would, she'd pop out and take 'em down. Harvey sighed internally at the thought that he wouldn't be fighting in costume like his sister. Captain Emile Hart had asked for Harvey personally when the commissioner put him and Captain Gerald Nehmann in charge of the transfer. If given the chance, Harvey would have just ducked out an joined her. He might even be able to come up with a decent excuse later. But alas, Laura wouldn't have it. They needed Harvey to keep his job, and to do that he needed to stay in character. Corporal Sal Tupp glanced over at her partner as the squad car turned the corner. "How much further to the staging area?" She asked, breaking the silence. Harvey did a quick mental check, knowing the exact answer in less than a microsecond. But he had to hold out, because answering immediately would be suspicious and awkward. Normal people didn't know the exact latitude and longitude of a random location in the middle of a street, and normal people most certainly wouldn't be able to cite that from memory the moment they were asked. "Not too far. We should be there fairly soon."

The staging area for the convoy was bustling with activity. Harvey and Sal were some of the last of the cops to arrive on the scene, and based on the radio chatter they would be leaving the city soon. "Good." Sal muttered as they listened to the radio. "The sooner this is over, the better." Harvey couldn't help but agree with the woman's sentiments. Harvey quickly tapped his ear, signaling to Boom that they would be moving soon. Sal had been looking at Harvey the whole time, and yet was unaware that he had even moved. Super speed had it's uses. Eventually the prison vans started to move, and Harvey was able to pull up behind another squad car as they started to move out. The convoy would be making it's way towards Robert D. Sherman's Airport and dropping the metahumans off into STRIKE hands before heading for the bridge leading to Brooksdale. Once the metas were out of the police's hands, they would be in the all clear. The mob was unlikely to make a hit on the convoy once the metas were offloaded. With that in mind, Harvey felt his heart crawling up his throat the closer they got to the airport. The airport itself would be heavily guarded, with STRIKE having their own metahumans there alongside potential air support. So if they would attack, it would be any minute now. Radio chatter died down as the drive continued.

"Hey, Harvey. I think I see something." Boom said through the communicator. It must be bad. Laura wasn't suppose to vocally contact her brother unless there was an emergency.

Curious, Thunderbolt tapped on his ear four times. He received his answer from the radio, however. "This is Escort-1 to Convoy, we have a problem. There's an obstruction in the road ahead." Harvey and Sal shared a worried look. That couldn't be good. "Looks like an overturned semi truck. What should we do?" The officer asked. "Hold your position." Captain Nehmann ordered. "We need to find another route." Captain Emile Hart seemed flustered by that answer. "Another route?" He raged. "We're sitting ducks! We should merge on to 83rd. It connects onto Timberwood Street a couple blocks from here, then we can take timber to 10th. We'll be back on track in-" Hart was interrupted by what sounded like an explosion. "Escort-12 is down! I repeat, escort-12 is down!" A panicked cop called over the radio as another explosion occurred. The screams of the dying officer echoed over the radio for a full thirty seconds as his squad car was engulfed in flames. "What the devil is going on back there?" Emile asked. "Escort-10, report!" Sal grabbed the radio as Harvey tried maneuvering the squad car out of the convoy to get out of the shooter's line of sight. "This is Escort-8, we're under attack! Some kinda bazooka!" Sal pulled her pistol, looking out the window in an effort to confirm the attacker's location. "Dismount and take cover! Escorts 6 through 10, converge on the final bus in the convoy! Locate the attacker and eliminate the threat!" Nehmann ordered. Harvey and Sal exited the car and moved behind it, pulling out their guns as they checked the rooftops and windows.

A blur of blue and black light raced up the side of the apartment building, heading towards the source of the attack. "Meta spotted!" Sal yelled into her personal radio. Boom reached the lip of the tenement, tackling a dark shape to the ground. "Friendly?" Emile inquired. "Shoot it!" Nehmann cried, and the police opened fire in the general direction. Boom disappeared after dropping off the unconscious thug at the feet of the police. Harvey couldn't help but smile as he watched his sister in action. "This is Transport-4! The prisoners are attempting to leave their seats. They're getting anxious in here!" Harvey and Sal both climbed back inside their squad car and tried to get back into position. "This is Transport-1! We have a major problem. The metas' power inhibitors have gone red! Code black! Code black!" Uh-oh. The metas power bands had been remotely deactivated. Those guys would be tearing through their guards in less than a minute. Thunderbolt held in his communication earpiece, signaling his sister that the metas were escaping. The flash of light appeared again, racing past Topp and Smith's car and towards the front of the convoy. "Meta's back!" One of the officer's reported. Another explosion went off. A massive, hulking man appeared out from the roof of the prison van holding the metas. He held another figure in his hand. "What the-" The brick chucked the person through the air. Harvey watched up horror as Boom slammed into the windshield of his squad car, cracking the glass.

"Boom!" Harvey exclaimed as he unbuckled and opened his door, climbing out of the car to check on her. "Harvey?!" Sal called in confusion as she followed him out. Harvey examined his sister at the speed of lightning. A small trickle of blood fell from her mouth. From what Harvey could see without getting invasive, his sister had only suffered minor injures. She'd heal in a second or two. Corporal Topp pulled her gun, pointing it at Boom. "D-" Harvey started, but he was too late. Sal had already fired. Boom's eyes flew opened as she caught the projectile mere centimeters from her face. Boom grabbed the gun from the corporal, glaring at the officer. "I'm one of the good guys, you dumb broad!" Boom scowled before handing Sal's gun back. Harvey was about to intervene when a police car went flying towards them. Boom grabbed the two police officer, running them away moments before it landed nearby. "Gotta steal your boyfriend for a second." Boom grabbed her brother, running off before Sal could react.

Harvey scolded his sister when they came to a stop in a nearby back alley. "What was that?!" He protested. "She tried to shoot me!" Laura growled in response. "Y- W- Gah! We'll talk about this later!" Harvey disappeared for a second, before appearing again, now in costume. The siblings raced off, appearing as a pair of blue streaks as they returned to help the convoy. Officers were unloading on the metas, who seemed to be thrashing the under prepared police. It would have been a slaughter without the speedsters to help out. Even then...

"We gotta bolt, before Icon shows up!" Concrete yelled to his fellow prisoners as he peeled open another prison bus like it was made of wet tissue paper. Another nearby meta, a horned man in a red luchidor mask, responded. "El Toro never runs from a fight!" The bull-like man charged forward, slamming two police cars out of the way as he impaled a pair of cops. Bullets bounced off his dark trench coat as El Toro threw the dead bodies aside. "Yeah, well, "El Toro" is an idiot." Another meta, this one made of what appeared to be living lightning, responded. The bright yellow figure blitzed toward a squad of police officers, preparing to slaughter them with a smile on his face. "Hey! Nimrod!" The meta turned as Thunderbolt slammed into him, dragging the lightning man away from the police. "The name's Hi-Voltage. And I'm gonna light you up like a christmas tree, hero-boy!" Thunderbolt and Hi-Voltage raced around the battlefield, yellow and blue trails following behind the speedsters as they clashed. Boom appeared before Concrete and El Toro, slamming a metal pipe into the latter's face and fifty punches to the former's groin. The two bricks reeled, looking at their female attacker with vengeance in their eyes. "Nobody hits El Toro!" The bull man cried as Concrete and El Toro charged at Boom. "If you wanted to feel me up, sexy, all ya had to do was ask." Concrete joked as Boom dodged a backhand from the rock-man. "Ew. You're so not in my league." Boom called as she retreated backwards. The speedster gave it a quick thought before deciding to try and deprive the two metas of their oxygen.

Boom dashed around the two bricks at mach 300, creating a small self-contained tornado. Concrete stumbled to his feet, clutching his throat. El Toro seemed more resistant to the attack as he tried to track the speedster's movement. The Mexican criminal reached out a hand, and Boom slammed into the clothesline. Boom coughed, clutching her throat in pain. El Toro lunged towards her, grabbing at the superhero. Thunderbolt, Hi-Voltage in toe, rammed into El Toro. Harvey grabbed his sister and dragged her away from the two angry bricks and a fair bit away from the fight. Boom pulled herself together, joining her brother in attacking the criminal speedster. He was just as fast as Thunderbolt and Boom, but he seemed to have different powers. Instead of a regular human with abnormal speed, Hi-Voltage appeared to be electricity given a crude humanoid form. "You can't hurt me! I'm made'a livin' lightning!" Hi-Voltage bragged as he electrocuted Thunderbolt with a backhand. "We know." Boom returned, a hard look on her face as he dodged the scumbag's attacks. The two speedsters only had to keep Hi-Voltage occupied for another second...Annddd...There! Thunderbolt and Boom kept running as they approached a large body of water. The moment Hi-Voltage touched the water, he screamed out in pain. The thug collapsed into the pond, and Thunderbolt and Boom both circled back around and fished him out. The two shared a high-five as they returned back to the fight. Boom put Hi-Voltage inside a prison bus, a brand new power inhibitor around the unconscious man's throat.

Thunderbolt, meanwhile, had a brick to deal with. Harvey arrived back at the scene to see the police attacking El Toro, and a group of armed prisoners. Thunderbolt slammed into El Toro's back, running the Luchidor through a brick wall as the speedster and brick ended up inside someone's living room. "Give it up, Toro." Thunderbolt began. "You can't win this one." El Toro would have none of it, though. "Never!" He cried as he charged towards Harvey, horns held out. For a brick, El Toro was pretty fast. But no where near fast enough for Thunderbolt not to dodge the charge. El Toro came to a halt seeing Thunderbolt dodge the attack. The super villain turned back around and brought his hands up, preparing to fight. Thunderbolt returned the gesture as he recalled his extensive experience in the art of kickboxing. "A boxer, then?" El Toro seemed to know Thunderbolt's stance, hinting at having some knowledge of the fighting arts as well. "Close." Harvey dashed forward, unleashing a lightning fast front kick to El Toro's chin.

"Gah!" The bullman yelled as he staggered. A speedster might lack the sheer lifting strength of more well rounded heroes, but guys like Thunderbolt made up for that with superior striking power and sheer speed. El Toro, not to be defeated so easily, took to the offense. He took a step forward and slammed his fist into Thunderbolt's chest. The speedster took the air, the powerful blow sending the blue-and-silver hero flying through the ceiling. "Ow." Thunderbolt stumbled to his feet as El Toro leaped through the floor, crawling up into the room where he had sent Harvey. Thunderbolt charged, unleashing a flurry of crosses and hooks to El Toro's head. The bull brought his arms up to defend against the rapid fire attack, trying to find an opening in the speedster's defenses. El Toro broke out with a nasty uppercut; luckily Thunderbolt managed to dodge before dashing back into the fray. Harvey went around behind his enemy, side kicking the backs of El Toro's knees. The disorientated gangster stumbled, and Thunderbolt was quick to take advantage by applying his own uppercut to Toro's exposed chin. "ENOUGH!" El Toro cried. The brick, frustrated, stomped the ground as hard as he could. The blow created a shockwave that collapsed the entire house around the two battling supers.

Meanwhile, Boom and the police had recaptured the majority of the escaped prisoners. Less than a dozen men had managed to get away out of the one hundred and fifty that had been given the chance to escape. Boom would have caught them all, if not for the metas slowing her progress while those lucky few ditched their prison uniforms and blended into the populace. Laura turned as she heard the crashing coming from a nearby house, looking in time to see the rubble come following to the ground all around her brother and El Toro. "Thunderbolt!" Laura sprinted into the mess of broken building and started to dig. Her frantic searching was cut short by El Toro bursting forth from a pile of bricks and wood paneling. "Here is your partner!" El Toro grabbed Thunderbolt by the throat, hoisting him into the air. "He is fallen by the hands of El Toro!" Boom disappeared from sight, before reappearing a moment later right in front of El Toro. Laura leaped through the air, slamming her knee into El Toro's nose at high speeds. The brick cried out in pain as he was sent flying hundreds of feet away and landed a moving truck.

"Thunderbolt?" Boom held her unconscious brother in her arms, sliding down to her knees. She quickly checked his vitals. He still had a pulse, that was good. Thunderbolt's visor was cracked and his costume was torn, and Harvey had a number of gashes across his body. But nothing too serious. Laura could already see the wounds closing and blood drying. She ran her fingers over his ribs, and Harvey winced. "Broke a few of those." He muttered. Laura sighed, her feelings mixed. At least he was conscious now; but those ribs would be bad for hours. "Any internal bleeding?" Laura asked as Thunderbolt sat up in the dirt and dust. "Not anymore. Healing factor kicked in to overdrive when Toro hit me. How's the throat?" The two were standing now, brushing themselves off as the police rounded up the prisoners once more. "Hurts like all hell. I'm lucky Toro didn't break it."

Everyone turned as the sound of clapping echoed throughout the street. "Bravo. Really, quite well done. I didn't expect you to interfere with my plans." A voice distorted electronically congratulated the heroes on their victory. Boom and Thunderbolt both looked around, using their accelerated perception of reality to look for whoever was addressing them. But there was no one to be found. The siblings looked at each other nervously as the voice continued. "But I'm going to need to take these guys off your hands. So, if you'll all be so kind, die."

A bright light blinded the speedsters. Screams were muffled by the ringing out of gunshots. Harvey and Laura blinked rapidly to fix their vision, but by the time they could see anything it was too late. A figure cloaked in grey had either killed or incapacitated the remaining police officers and was making his way toward the speedsters. "You sick bastard!" Boom yelled as she blitzed the unknown assailant. The man, if you could even call him that, dodged the speedster with his own impossible speed. Boom, too stunned to react, found herself being slashed by the man's sharp claws right across her chest. "Nice, aren't they? I call them my talons. Razor sharp ends to my gloves, they can cut clean through steel. They also have the added bonus of containing neuro-toxins. You should be feeling a sharp dizziness, followed by unconsciousness." The villain gloated as Thunderbolt charged at the guy from behind. "Who are you?!" Harvey asked as the guy jumped over his punch. The cloaked figure tossed a disc until Thunderbolt's back, which drilled into his skin and started to beep. "Me? My name is a secret. But since you heroes need a name to scream when you wake from this nightmare...Call me Gray Owl." The disc exploded, and the world was covered in fire as Thunderbolt's chest blew open.

The two heroes fell to the ground simultaneously. Gray Owl looked down at the fallen siblings, smiling. "I wish I could finish you both off. Really, I do. But those pesky healing factors make that difficult, and I don't have the time. So I'm going to take my new army and leave. Nice meeting you kids."

"While I understand and share your trust in the abilities of the CDC and other organizations it is imperative to state the vulnerability of the country in the face of a biological attack or widespread plague outbreak." The voice bore a slight German accent, the sort one who had primarily spoken English for many years would still have retained without an active effort to purge it. An accent that was by this point feigned but believable. "As you know I represent a coalition of concerned parties who see this risk to our great nation as a weakness that either an enemy will one day exploit or that eventually nature itself will." The voice trailed off for a moment as a brief coughing spasm wracked the speaker, but he quickly recovered.

"Since its foundation the Traupitz Institute has been devoted to helping improve the lives of people everywhere." The speaker continued, "As the founder of the Institute I say with certainty that..." The muffled coughing sounded again. "with certainty that correcting this vulnerability is one of our top priorities."

The man who had been addressed thus far then spoke himself in reply. "You understand that there are no funds to allocate to your proposal at this time?"

The first speaker's voice sounded again, and there was a hint that indicated the man was pleased at the reply. "We are willing to fund the Committee and Teams ourselves until the threat has been removed. You have fully read the literature?"

"I have. But I want to hear it from you."

"We plan to begin with the formation of rapid response teams to enforce quarantines quickly and efficiently. That has to be the first step in the event of any outbreak or attack." Another spasm of coughing. "Our second priority will be integrating with the other countermeasures already in place for such incidents and developing the appropriate nationwide plans for worst case scenarios. All subject to your approval before institution." The voice continued for several minutes, speaking of specifics for committees and appointments before stopping and waiting.

"Alright" The other man said at last. "I am giving you the green light, provisionally. I expect constant updates on the progress."

The first man, a thoroughly average man with faded brown hair, blue grey eyes, a pallid complexion, and of course that persistent cough, smiled and held out his hand, clad in a black glove out to shake. "Thank you Mr. President."

"Always a pleasure Vorian." The other man, the President of the United states returned a politicians smile. "It's a win win after all. If you are right, I'm a hero and didn't even have to fund it. If you are wrong, well no news is good news and you are paying for it."

The Good Doctor only smiled.

I clung to the side of one of the buildings which I used to anchor the massive spider web (or rather giant cob web), waiting for something to happen. Athena told me to just hang out towards the side and hold onto one web line that was attached to the center of the web. The string would alert me if anything has gotten caught in the giant web. I patiently gripped the silky thread, wondering when something would happen.

Then I felt a tingling inside my head. Why did I need this strand of silk in my hands if my ripped-off 6th sense could alert me to danger? Well, I would find out shortly why.

Even though I had advance warning, I still was not prepared for what was about to happen. In the short span of a few seconds, the entire web began to shake rapidly, let alone the silk strand that I held in my hand. In fact, the intensity of disturbance took me by surprise, causing me to loosen the grip around the strand and let it fall down to the alleyway floor. Even after the onset of this disturbance, the web continued to shake, although the vibrations diminished as time passed.

Although my gut feeling told me not to leave the safety of my hiding spot, I pulled myself onto the web. When I scanned around the area to see what had caused the massive shaking in my web, I first saw a silver and blue figure floating in the sky. His silver cape was flapping in the wind as he hovered there. From his expression, I could tell that he was looking at something in the web. Therefore, I ‘followed’ his gaze to the place where Icon was looking. Ensnared in my web was the so-called Servant of Ares. Just as Athena had planned.

Before I had confronted this Greek demi-god wannabe at that giant shrine of Ares, Athena had discussed with me her plan to oust both Ares and his servant. At this stage of the plan, the Goddess of Wisdom told me that this would be the most dangerous part (considering what happened to me when I first confronted him, I have no idea why I’m doing this). She said that this portion of the plan would be like a spider trying to land the finishing blows on a wasp that was trapped in its web. While the wasp has been ensnared in the sticky substance that composed the spider’s web, the deadly insect was not helpless. Without taking the necessary precautions, the spider could easily be stunned and killed by the wasp. Figures that Athena would use a Homeric simile to describe this situation.

After taking a deep breath, I began to climb down my silky trap, down to where the Servant of Ares was stuck. With each step, walking with eight legs became easier and easier, although there were a few times where I almost tripped over myself. I have found that not focusing on moving each individual leg helped things out. A normal person does not need to focus her attention to moving her two legs. Why should I?

Once I was a few feet away from the man who was ensnared in the web, I took a few more steps towards him, positioning myself just close enough so that I could encapsulate him with some more silk. How difficult could that be? Yes, Athena did say it would be dangerous, but with my wrist web shooters, I probably could do from a safe distance. Therefore, I aimed my wrists at the man and squeezed down the triggers. However, nothing came out. Hoping that this was just a user error, I pressed the triggers down a second time. This time, only a small amount sprayed out.

Looking down at my spider abdomen, I realized that, since apparently my wrist spinnerets were low on silk, I was going to have to do this the hard way. What my luck. Eerily enough, one of my hind legs had already drew out a strand of silk from the spinnerets that were located on my spider abdomen. I curled down and grabbed the strand from my leg. Once I straightened out, I could feel the silk being pulled from the spinnerets. Honestly, I don’t think I will ever get use to that weird feeling. Well, looks like I now have to stick this onto this guy and start spinning him around as the spider silk encases him. God help me.

Polemos struggled against the grip of Lost Haven's knight in shining tights. Try as he might, the Servant of Ares could not break the hero's hold. The two rocketed into the sky at unimaginable speeds, surrounded by fire and flame. As the clouds disappeared beneath Chike's feet, the man within the monster briefly wondered if Icon planned to throw Polemos into the depths of space. A fitting end to the Greek's rampage, no doubt. But that was not the hero's plan. No, Icon was too merciful to condemn even an enemy as powerful as Polemos to an eternity in the dark void of endless space. The emerald inferno surrounding the two immortal men began to diminish as it was deprived of oxygen. No earthly substance could quench these Olympian flames; yet flames they still were, requiring oxygen to burn. The Fire of Hephaestus now gone, Icon dragged Chike Baatul back to the surface and into the city of Lost Haven.

At this point, Chike was nearly unconscious. He had not taken a breath before Icon dragged him out of the atmosphere and because of this now saw black dots encompassing his vision. Polemos still struggled despite his weakness. He pounded his fists against the knight to no avail, his strength lesser than before. At some point (Chike could not tell how much time had passed. Perhaps seconds, perhaps hours) Polemos found himself being thrown into some strange net. A trap of some sort. The Avatar of War struggled against his binds, yet found the effort as meaningless as it had been against Icon. It wasn't until Polemos saw the Spider approaching from the shadows that he realized his bind was not a net, but a web.

"You stick me in this web,
Like stopping a river's ebb,
Your efforts are pointless O' knight,
For all this will bring is Ares' spite!"

Polemos watched as the Spider inched ever closer. She seemed to be gathering some kind of silk from her arachnid abdomen. What a disgusting creature. Polemos would see her head split in two, crushed under the force of his mighty boot. As the Spider approached to attach her filthy webbing to the Greek, Polemos struggled to free himself. He doubled his efforts, desperate to strike the creature and save his own life.

"Back from me, Spider!
Or I'll drown your soul in Hell's burning fire!
You're just like the knight,
You're nothing beside my might!"

Webbing snapped as Polemos pulled against his binds with all of his strength. A single arm broke free, lashing out at Arachne. Chike wrapped his bloodied fingers around the girl's face. He began to apply pressure, little by little. What a fragile little thing. How easy it would be to watch her head explode. Polemos sneered as he began to mock the creature before he finished it off. Then, when she was gone, Polemos would turn his wrath on the Knight.

"Is my grip too snug?
You stupid little bug!
I'll snap your neck!
I'll break your face!
I'll burn you all!
THAT IS YOUR FATE!"

Kyle sat in his usual seat in the LHU dining hall with a cup of coffee and his breakfast in front of him. He was exhausted; the previous night’s riots had kept him out in the city all night long. It took every effort to just keep his eyes open while he drank his morning caffeine and shoveled the substandard “egg” into his mouth. He had no idea how he would managed getting through his three classes today, two of which were enough to put him to sleep even after a full eight hours of sleep. Fortunately, because of the security threat posed by the riots, and the lingering unrest that permeated the city, the University had decided to cancel classes for the day.

While he ate his breakfast, he also looked over the front page of the Lost Haven Globe, one of 3 of the city’s major newspapers. On the front page was a photo of a burning apartment building with the headline [ b] “Riots Strike Fear!!”[/b], and it detailed the events of the prior evening. As he read the article, he felt a gentle rubbing on his shoulder. He jumped in surprise, and looked up to see who had touched him. Much to his relief, he saw Sam standing to his side, one hand on his shoulder. She offered a weak smile and sat down beside him.

“Crazy shit, huh?” She said looking at the headline, her voice filled with a sadness that had been ever present since the night that Ronnie had been killed. As responsible as Kyle had felt over their friend’s death, Sam felt worse. She was suffering from a bout of survivor’s guilt, agonizing over the fact that because Kyle had tackled her to the ground, Ronnie had been hit.

“Yeah, it’s unreal.” He answered as he leaned into her, giving her a light one armed hug. “How are you holding up?” He asked, his voice softening slightly.

“Shitty.” Sam said flatly, causing Kyle to push the paper aside and turn to Sam, giving her his full attention.
“I know what you mean. Between the madness last night and what happened with…” He paused, reluctant to say the name of his deceased friend, not for his own sake, but for Sam’s.

“Yeah.” Sam agreed, leaning against Kyle’s shoulder. “Hey, I’m kind of tired; I really haven’t been sleeping well. You mind walking me back to my dorm?”

“Of course.” Kyle said as he started to get up from his seat. As they began to make their way toward Sam’s dorm, Kyle slipped him arm over her shoulders and gave her a slight squeeze.

She was nervous. That really wasn't a surprise considering what she was about to be doing, but nonetheless the nerves were getting to her. She had tried to make sure she was prepared, finding out the route that the truck would be taking, planning out what she would need to animate to succeed. But it wasn't going the way she had planned already. Elaine had figured out the route, and timed the truck several times to make sure she knew exactly when the vehicle would be coming, but it was late now and she was growing concerned. And the layers of scarves wrapped around her face were itching something fierce. A slim hand, clad in a winter glove rose up to fiddle with the scarves, trying to make them itch less as she fidgeted.

The alleyway also stunk, it was too cold to be standing out here, she was already going to have a hard time finishing the paper that was due in a couple of days, and now the truck was late. There were a lot of reasons to abort but the young woman stayed in the alleyway, peering out around the corner periodically through her thick glasses as she waited. There were a lot of reasons to abort, but they were trumped by the simple fact that she needed the money.

Eventually the gleam of headlights and the silhouette of a large vehicle came into view and Elaine knew this had to be it. She took of her gloves off, wincing as the cold bit into her and slipped her pale hands into two of her coat's pockets to grab at two of fist sized metal spheres she had in them. Then with a brief moment of concentration the metal in her hands began to shudder and shift. She stepped out from the alleyway and threw the pair of spheres in the direction of the oncoming truck.

If this didn't work she wasn't going to have very long to regret it. The young woman dropped to her knees, and for a second she panicked as thoughts of failure flashed through her mind obscuring her mental image of what she needed. Her hands touched the ground and she forced an image to form as the ground began to ripple outwards from her hands.

At the same time the spheres she had thrown continued to shift, both morphing into strangely insect-like creatures of metal. At their front ends were hard points like battering rams, their backs included metal wings that buzzed and whirred as they propelled the creatures forwards into the vehicle. As they struck the front windshield the bulletproof glass shattered and the creatures almost instantly positioned themselves, razor sharp limbs pressing against the throats of the men who were supposed to keep the truck secure.

It was a few seconds later, and with not much time left to spare that the ground heaved upwards in front of the truck, briefly seeming to form into a shape not unlike a giant hand of concrete and asphalt, a hand that stopped the truck in a crash and scream of tormented metal before shattering itself. The two men in the front of the truck were not fit to do anything, and even if they had been the pair of bug like creatures were still in position.

Elaine scrambled back up to her feet, rubbing her hands together from the cold as she called out in a voice she was trying to keep from sounding too much like her normal one. "Don't move and you will be fine. I only want the money."

With that said the girl in the makeshift costume of scarves and a coat hurried around to the back of the truck and withdrawing a third metal sphere concentrated again. The sphere reshaped itself in moments, forming another creature, this one lacking wings, but with a series of long legs and a single large center of mass. She held it up to the door and the legs hooked onto it as the creature began to scuttle along the doorway, a bright beam of light blasting forth in a precise stream as it did so, cutting through the door bit by bit.

She had never thought this would go so well. She'd nearly fucked up horribly, forgetting the design she had planned to stop the truck, but everything else was working.

Lyger stood on the ledge of the Palmer Building in downtown Lost Haven. To the casual observer he would have looked like one of the numerous gargoyles which could be found on the roof as well as on the ledges of the upper levels of the building. The Palmer Building was an oddity in Lost Haven, the architect who was also the owner of the building; Charles Palmer had been a fan of gothic architecture, specifically, the many gothic cathedrals in France and other European counties. It was because of this that he had chosen to include them on his own masterpiece.

Over the years, the Palmer had been a hotel, as well as an apartment building. Eventually it was converted into an office building, however, in the mid 1980’s it had fallen into disrepair. It was in the early ‘90’s that the historical society of Lost Haven took ownership of the building, and had renovated it, with plans to turn it into a museum. However, with the opening of the Lost Haven Museum of Fine Arts not too far away, the plans were scrapped, and the Palmer lies vacant, it’s only tenants being rats and the occasional vagrant.

From his perch, Lyger stood vigilant, watching over an area of Sherman Square which had been particularly hard hit by the riots the night before, watching for anyone who might be emboldened enough to try to capitalize on the uncertainty that remains in the city, and attempt to repeat the chaos that had ensued. Thus far, the night had proven to be uneventful. In fact, one might even call it calm. It was almost as if the entire city had gotten all of the chaos and mayhem out of its collective system the night before, and was taking the night off. It was so quiet in fact, that Lyger kept finding his mind drifting to other things, such as his seemingly failing relationship with Addy, who he hadn’t seen, and barely heard from in weeks. When he did finally hear from her, it was always a simple one or two word response in a text or over the phone, and then nothing for days. He also found himself thinking about his growing feelings for Sam, who he had been spending more and more time with when he wasn’t in costume.

Stay focused dammit. He thought to himself, knowing full well that any lapse in concentration could lead to his death, or someone else’s.

Moments later, his attention shifted. There was a commotion just down the block. He could hear the sounds of a truck coming to a sudden stop, and then the sounds of breaking glass. He looked in the direction of the sounds and with a single finger, tapped a button on his visor which activated his mask’s build in binoculars. To say that he was surprised with what he saw would be an understatement. He saw what looked to be a young woman with scarves covering her face attacking an armored truck with what looked to be some sort of weaponized drones. Knowing that he had little time to act, Lyger fired a grapple line from his wrist gauntlet and swung away from the Palmer Building, making his way along the rooftops toward the bizarre robbery.

Not wanting to rush in, Lyger watched the young woman from the rooftop of a nearby convenience store. She didn’t seem sure of herself. It was clear to him that she hadn’t been doing this sort of thing for very long. She was sloppy, she was too focused on the driver and his partner in the truck. This allowed him to drop down to the street behind her. The young woman had been crouched down on the ground, but soon she scrambled to her feet as she issued a warning to the men in the truck.

"Don't move and you will be fine. I only want the money." She told them, completely unaware that Lyger was approaching her from behind.

“Then I’m afraid you’re going to be disappointed.” Lyger informed her in a deep and raspy voice that even surprised him, as he continued his approach.

The young woman whirled around at the sudden voice from behind her, the construct still skittering along the door and cutting through the metal with it's laser. Her eyes, visible and pale blue behind her glasses, the only part of her face that was visible went wide with alarm at the sight of the costumed man who had appeared seemingly from nowhere. Which hero was this? Elaine wasn't sure and as she wracked her mind for an answer to that the man continued his approach towards her. It wasn't one of the big names, she had learned about all of them, at least a little in preparation for this.

Her hands, came out of her pockets again, clutching another pair of the spheres, the last pair, though the masked man would not know it. Frantically flicking her mind through the possible stable configurations Elaine settled on two of them and as the metal in her hands began to writhe and squirm threw them at the man. Maybe, she hoped, maybe this would work as well on a hero as it had on the other men. "Stay Back!" She yelled out as the creatures formed rapidly, though her voice was not very confident sounding even to herself.

The two metal spheres had changed in the brief seconds they took to cross the space between the two metahumans. One had shifted into something very similar to the earlier insect like constructs. It had a pair of rapidly flapping wings, and a series of limbs that each glowed with a faint red light. That sphere halted in it's flight and each of the six limbs began to pulse, rapidly building up to a series of bolts of electricity that arced outwards towards the hero, if they hit they would be much like a taser.

As for the other metal sphere it took a different shape, forming into what would seem a lot like a metal dragon. Silver scales gleamed in the streetlights and as the arm sized creature closed with the hero it opened it's mouth and spat a small stream of fire in his direction.

Elaine backed away as the creatures engaged until she bumped up against the back of the truck and the door that her construct had already weakened broke off and fell to the ground with a crash that made the scared young woman jump a bit in a moment of panic before remembering the next stage of her plan. Her hand reached for the metal of the fallen door as the third creature, the bug with the short ranged laser began to skitter across the ground towards the hero.

The small trio of cars rumbled down the empty streets, the sounds of chaos at their backs as they made their way to an undisclosed industrial harbor in one of the few places untouched by the rioting. In the middle car sat the mastermind of tonight's event, the enigma only described as the Cowl, with the Specter sitting across from him in the stretch limo. Specter had been keeping up with the night's events with a small tablet, tracing both news reports and reports coming in from Shroud members across the city, delivering updates from both street level and within the upper echelons of Lost Haven society.

"--And it looks like there is a woman with the lower body of a spider," said the Specter. "We have no information if she has any affiliation with Icon or Ares' right hand man, whom we believe is either called 'War' or 'Polemos', but she is somehow involved in their affairs. From the current situation, she seems to be in alignment with Icon, meaning she is most likely a newer hero."

The Cowl murmured a soft ‘hm’ as he stared out the window, the passing streetlights illuminating his masked face, the eyes scanning the burning horizon.

“There’s also some sort of battle between a giant mechanical suit and the mercenary War-Pulse. We are looking into who would own that kind of technology aside from STRIKE, but the pilot made a tactical retreat before anyone could get a better look at it. War-Pulse was temporarily knocked out during the fight due to a helicopter falling on him, but he seems no worse for wear. Of course, as a mercenary, War-Pulse is a valuable asset, his services may be utilized in future affairs if we waggle enough money under his nose. The boys on the ground will gather what they can on the mech suit after tonight.”

“Interesting…” The Cowl admitted, turning his attention back towards Specter. “The big names are all making an appearance to our little party. Even some small-time capes are making a wonderful showing as well. Somehow all these forces have gathered to one city...a strange coincidence, no?”

“Sounds like a recipe for disaster, more likely.” Specter replied, swiping through other reports as they came in. “I know you always have a plan...but I have my reservations, sir. We’re a criminal organization, not an army, do we really have a place among these beings?”

“Specter, do you doubt me?” Cowl said, leaning forward in his seat, trying to force eye contact with his local second-in-command. “You are metahuman yourself, are you not?”

“Well, yes, but I’m not on a level like Icon…”

“Who says? Because his powers are more impressive on paper?”

“Well yes, he’s much more powerful than I.”

“My dear shadow, you have yet to realize that powers only bring an individual so far.” The Cowl responded, leaning back in his seat. “You can have all the power in the world, but with no direction or drive, powers are meaningless. A person changes the world, powers are just a method to do it.”

“Of course, sir.” Specter said, glancing out the window to the fire The Cowl was previously observing. “However, I can’t help but worry about our scenario. We are not equipped to deal with such beings, we can hide and maneuver around them, but if we catch their ire, it may become a problem.”

“Of course, which is why we continue to throw them off our trail.” The Cowl said, pointing at Specter as he spoke. “Tonight’s riots can be attributed to angry workmen demanding higher wages or the rampant fear of metahumans rising in this town. Some may know our involvement, but they have no proof of our actions, nor can we be held responsible. Our tactics are as they always have been, with The Shroud remaining outside of the limelight until opportunity strikes.” He leaned back in his chair, glancing back out to the fires. “Tonight was a test of the metahuman community, and now that we know their response. They are powerful, but disorganized, a myriad of costumed dogs that become easily distracted at the first shiny chew toy they see. Icon got distracted by Ares’ brood, the mech suit and the mercenary simply spotted each other and attacked like rabid hounds. There may be a few costumed ‘heroes’ out there still trying to follow whatever breadcrumbs we left, but the only ones that have real power are distracted by each other.”

“I...see.” Specter said, reclining back in his seat. “Do you think that’s always going to be the case?”

“Not if we don’t keep it that way.” The Cowl replied. “At the end of the day, people can only follow the information they are given, and most of the newcomers are much flashier than us. Fools like War-Pulse and Nightmare will take the spotlight, continuing to make grandiose appearances and becoming the center of attention. We just need to keep the spotlight on them…”

“As you say, sir.” The Specter confirmed, glancing back down to his tablet. “I will follow your lead.”

The drive took another fifteen minutes after the duo’s brief discussion, the line of cars taking a quick right towards the nearby harbor, their route still conveniently been untouched by the city’s chaos, weaving between destroyed streets as if they already knew which areas of the city had been attacked.

Because they did.

It was not much longer until the trio of cars came to a stop at the nearby industrial harbor, the cars in front and behind the Cowl’s car parking and shutting off first. Out of the cars came the heavily armed Veilguard, quickly moving into formation around the car, providing armed cover for the Cowl’s entrance. When the Veilguard signaled, the car door was swung open with Specter coming out of the car first, the ocean wind catching his robes to project his ethereal nature, tablet securely in his hands as he strode away from the vehicle. Within a short moment, the Cowl stepped out of the car as well, his eyes piercing into every Veilguard within range as he took his first few steps towards the nearby docks, causing even the hardened guards to shift uncomfortably.

They were greeted at the docks by three men, each representing their colors to the Cowl. The first man was wearing a sleek, respectable suit, though it was offset by the distinct tattoos crawling out of the collar, his easter descent apparent by his jet black, shoulder length hair and pale skin. The second man was dressed in what looked like occultist robes, long draping purple cloth with red symbols embroidered along the cuffs and boarders of the attire. The third man bore the attire of a warrior, flak vest and camo pants, decorated with battle scars and assorted grenades, a sidearm distinctly visible on his hip.

The Specter’s eyes widened from underneath his wraps, the shock apparent as his eyes flitted between the three, eventually his surprise came vocally, with admitted fear wavering in his tone.

“S...sir? These are...are they who I think they are?” Specter said, taking a step back from the three as soon as he recognized their colors. “But...they are--they’re your--”

“Yes, they are old rivals and enemies, I forgot how little I keep you informed outside this city.” The Cowl said, grabbing his lieutenant by the shoulder and lightly guiding him back towards the three. “From the East, the Steel Lotus. The most powerful Yakuza in the Eastern world and the top smugglers of illegal cybernetics and technology.”

“You do us much praise, Great Cowl.” The suited man spoke, giving the man a short bow.

Undeterred, the Cowl gestured to the robed gentleman. “From Europe, the Egregore Consortium, the largest gathering of what I used to believe was rubbish. Magicians, sorcerers, wizards, and shamans, undisputed experts in the fields of occultism and sacrifice, also top of Europes most feared terrorist organizations.”

The robed man said nothing, merely bowing at their mention.

“And lastly, a representative from the R&D side of the security corporation VIGIL.” The Cowl gestured to the armed gentleman. “Or...at least a small section I have bribed into smuggling some of their...experimental weaponry.”

The man simply chuckled and pounded his chest. “Pleasure doin’ lucrative business with ya, hoodie.”

The Cowl merely chuckled at the soldier’s sass, distinctly amused by the rough man’s antics. Not convinced, the Specter was quick to point at the three. “These are known enemies, sir. You told me before you left that you were going to try and take Japan from the Steel Lotus.”

“Well, you cannot win every war you start. I'm no fool, but I know a good business deal when I see one.” The Cowl replied, leering at the Yakuza member as he spoke. “While I cannot say we’re truly at peace, I can say we have established a...working relationship, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Of course, Cowl.” The Steel Lotus representative responded. “But we are not here to exchange pleasantries. “

“Of course, I’m just here to finalize my purchase, and then the three of you can leave.” The Cowl laid out in a blunt tone, moving straight through the three towards the large ships in the harbor.

The Specter, still in shock from the gathering of old foes, made a quick jog to gather back up to the Cowl, saying to him. “I can’t believe it, you got three of your old enemies together and stored a bunch of illegal occult tools, weapons, and tech onto one cargo ship?”

The Cowl stopped for a moment, glancing back at his panicked attendant with a smooth, amused chortle. “No, that would be ridiculous.” He said. “They all brought their own cargo ship.”

Sure enough, the Specter’s jaw dropped, visible even from behind his mask, as he viewed the three large cargo liners in the harbor. Before the ships lay a sea of tractor trailers, all marked with different companies from the city’s infrastructure, from supermarket names to restaurants, even delivery companies and contractor trucks were in place, now being loaded with the three ship’s cargo.

“I am glad to see that unloading the ships is already taking place, we have a very small window to disperse all of this before the police and the metahuman community are finished with the riots.”

“Of course, Mister Cowl.” The VIGIL representative chimed in. “The boys you left here to unload began pretty much as soon as we docked. They will be done in an hour, tops.”

“Good,” The Cowl hummed, turning to his lieutenant. “Once these trucks are loaded, they will disperse across town. As soon as they begin moving, I will need the riots to disperse. Can you sound the full retreat back to our safe houses?”

“Well...yes, of course.” Specter replied, fumbling with his tablet as he tried to regain his composure, adjusting his posture to signify his ranking with the Cowl to the three representatives.

“Good. The contents of these trucks over the next few days should resupply and upgrade all of our safe houses, along with deliver some important contents to our contracting business.”

“Wait, you mean..we aren’t just buying up property just for the value?”

“Of course not, there is a plan in place to take this city…” The Cowl took a few steps away from Specter, looking over the chaotic workings of his men loading the trucks. “It will take careful planning...but with a few steps, the Shroud will control Lost Haven, inside and out.”

“As you wish, sir.” Specter said, already plotting the course of the assorted vehicles over the next few days. “If I may be so bold...what is the next step after this?”

“Aside from continuing to buy up the destroyed pieces of town?” The Cowl made a quick glance to Specter before continuing to oversee the work. His hands drifted behind his back as he observed, his voice dropping in tone as he spoke in heavy growl, “We set up a meeting....it’s time for us to go play nice with a god…”

The young woman cried out for him to keep back, but Lyger had no intention of doing so. Then she threw two metal orbs at him, the first of which took an instectoid form and gave off a reddish glow. The other took on a dragon like form, and both were heading straight toward him. Lyger did not know what to make of the woman, other that she seemed to be using some sort of advanced technology to attempt to not only rob the armored truck, but to keep him at bay as well.

The insectoid machine soon began to pulse, and before he knew it, bolts of electricity shot towards him, while the larger dragon like projectile began spewing a small stream of fire directly at him. Lyger jumped to the side, easily avoiding the first attacks, and then leapt back, dodging another. Lyger raised his hand and fired a stinger from his wrist gauntlet. The projectile dart, similar in design to the sedative dart that he occasionally employs while outnumbered, hit the insect like machine dead center, causing it to shatter on impact.

The dragon like machine was undeterred. It redoubled and made its way toward Lyger. Lyger fired another stinger at the remaining machine, and though the stinger struck its target, it had little effect. The dragon machine opened its mouth again and more fire spewed from its maw, yet Lyger was able to easily sidestep the attack. He reached for the dragon machine and grabbed it. The machine struggled within his grip, it squirmed and tried to get away. However, Lyger twisted the machine with his hands and pulled simultaneously, ripping it apart. As he turned toward the woman, he noticed that a third insect like machine was making its way toward him, firing a small laser at him as it advanced. Lyger bounded away from the new insect like machine, avoiding its assault, even as made his way to meet it. As the machine fired another round of lasers, he dove towards it, and using the remains of the dragon like machine as a nun-chuck, he crushed the laser happy insect with a powerful strike, which sent the head of the dragon flying from its "shoulder."

Lyger stepped toward the woman with the lifeless dragon machine in his hands. He stopped directly in front of the woman and dropped the machine at her feet.

“If that’s the best you’ve got, you might want to consider another line of work.” Lyger said as the woman looked at him with wide eyes.

Elaine was now much closer to panicking, but she had not come this close to fail now. At least that was what she insisted in her own mind as her hand made contact with the heavy armored plating of the door. The plan had called for her to shape the door into a construct built to carry the money in the getaway, but she would have to do something else. She did not have a contingency for this, the other constructs were supposed to have lasted longer, to have done a better job protecting her if something had come up.

She was pretty sure they would have too, if it hadn't been a superhero who had shown up to stop her. Her eyes were already wide behind her glasses as she stared at the hero as he drew closer. Elaine needed to choose a design for the construct and she needed to choose one fast, before the hero could really close the distance. Just as she was managing to form one the man stopped and taunted her. For a few seconds the fact that she didn't really want to be doing this, the fact that she had no other options, the fact that she was trying not to do any permanent damage, and many other facts vanished beneath a cloud of anger at yet another person who felt the need to pick on her.

The signal that flowed down to the metal at her fingertips was not a carefully formed one, nor was it one of her premade blueprints. Never the less the metal twisted and surged as her power brought it to life. The door changed then, half formed limbs forming rapidly, and some vaguelly defined piece of anatomy pushed against the ground as a mass of metal, all sharp edges and slashing blades hurled itself forward towards the hero.

It was a hasty construct, born from emotion and a single impulse. It would not last long. But for the moment the amorphous mass of slashing limbs and blades was enough to force the hero back, allowing her to grab one of the duffle bags full of money from inside of the car and turn away, as if to make her attempt to escape with something at least.

Lyger was utterly stunned as he watched the young woman bring the heavy armored door to life with a mere touch. It was at this moment that he realized that he was not dealing with someone who used some sort of advanced technology, but a woman who had the ability to bring objects to life.

“Well, that’s new.” Lyger said to himself as the woman’s bizarre creation scrambled toward him.

The construct slashed at him in a flurry of movement that was both ferocious and fast, and Lyger had a hard time figuring out just how to fend it off. The strange construct forced Lyger back as he tried to find an opening. He punched the construct, and that oly seemed to cause it to fight harder. The construct was quick and violent, slashing at Lyger with everything it had. Lyger tried to fight back, but the construct proved to be just as evasive as it was violent.

As Lyger tried to fend off the construct, he saw that the young woman who had caused this was quickly making an escape. Lyger knew that he couldn’t let that happen, so as the construct slashed at him, he reached under it’s “abdomen” and flipped it up, sending it crashing into the wall of the ally. No sooner had it hit the wall that the construct was skittering back towards him. Lyger took advantage of the moment’s separation to catch up to the woman. Knowing that he had some ground to make up, Lyger fired a grapple line into the ally wall and used the line to propel himself after the woman. However, even as he touched down behind her, she kept running, not only that, but the construct was right on his heels.

Knowing that he had to end this quickly, Lyger fired a single sedative dart from his wrist gauntlet. When he saw her stop suddenly and reach for the back of her neck, he knew that he had hit is mark. The woman took several more steps before going down to one knee, and then collapsing on the ground. Lyger had hoped that with her mental link with the construct severed, it would render the construct inanimate again, however, the fact that the construct was still skittering after him disproved that theory. With the woman out of commission and no longer needing to pursue her, Lyger turned to face the construct. The bizarre construct continued toward him on its almost insect like legs, slashing its claws at him as it approached. The construct jumped at him, however, Lyger was able to catch it in midair and brought it up over his head, and with all his might, he slammed it down into the pavement. He picked the construct up again and repeated the action a half dozen times until the construct stopped struggling. With the construct destroyed, he turned his attention to the young woman who was now sleeping soundly in the middle of the ally. With a touch of a button he activated his comlink.
“Kaiju, my location.” He said, activating his suit’s built in GPS system. Within moments, he could hear the roar of his supercar’s engine as it closed in on his location, stopping several feet from where he stood. Lyger then went about binding the woman’s arms with a pair of cuffs that Harry had given him, and left her bound to a nearby dumpster along with the money that she had stolen. There was a heavy police presence in the area, and he knew that they would be by anytime to pick her up and lock her away with the rest of the garbage that might try anything similar, so once she was secured he got into the car and made his way into the city.