The day was waning. A girl in her late teens wheeled herself down the streets. Normally if Carol was out and about she would be heading home by now. But she had something to do. It wasn't very long ago that she discovered that her wheelchair had become a magic or power object. How it worked exactly didn't matter as much as the effect. The first transformation was an accident and she nearly destroyed her room with the surprise and sudden increase of strength. This part of town was not the greatest, but most people left her alone most of the time. She had tried to pick out a place that others wouldn't see her.

Stopping outside a warehouse she had some trouble sliding the unlocked door. Thankfully she didn't have to use her arms to control the wheelchair. Once inside it seemed that it was empty. There were quite a few old machines that looked like they hadn't been used in years. Any other day this would sound like a horrible place to be. Closing the door it was time to turn her wheelchair into the armor. Again, how this action occurred wasn't quite known to Carol but as she thought about it she floated into the air.

The object she had been sitting on flexed and warped. Pieces coming apart they seemed to undergo an impossible transformation. Fitting to the girl's body the pieces became durable gold and blue armor. Carol herself underwent minor changes as well. Her messy brunette hair became less wild and turned a faded blonde color while her brown eyes became gray.

Lighting on the ground she nearly fell over. Strength or no it had been seven years since she stood on her own two feet. Carol might have to spend some time just getting used to walking. Landing against a barrel when she tried to push herself back up with her legs she sent the drum and herself flying across the the room. Crashing into the side of the building it left a sizable dent in the corrugated steel walls. It was also none to quiet given her armor slamming against the sides. Holding her breath a bit she more carefully picked herself up. Strangely the impact hadn't hurt and a quick check showed no signs of injury.

Lexx sat down again and smiled. "Every moment that passes you impress me ever so further." He said with an amused tone. He looked around wondering where the snipers were, but they certainly were hidden well as he couldn't pinpoint their location. "I'll go with right hand man option since you, so politely, offered it." His tone then changed to a far more serious one and he turned his head to face Ved before narrowing his eyes at him. "And I'll expect you to share information with me at that point."
Lexx stood up again completely disregarding the laser dots on his chest. "I should probably kill you for threatening me with snipers, but then again, I am the one who said you were too trusting of others. For your next meeting, with whomever it might be, I highly suggest you bring more than just mutants with good accuracy. Because that isn't enough!" Immediately after Lexx, rather loudly, spoke the last word he vanished in a puff of black dust that dispersed all around where he stood moments ago. He reappeared far away form Central Park in an alleyway. He had left a shard of dark matter there which he used to essentially extend the range of how far he could move before having to shift his body back to a normal state. Luckily only the number of times he shifted his body's properties would affect his health, not the distance he traveled in that state, but the further he was form the point where he initially shifted the more he risked not being able to shift back at all. That's why he needed a beacon of sorts.

Lexx then left the alleyway and began walking down one of the main streets which was rather crowded. We'll talk again soon, Ved, he thought. Twenty minutes later he was at the building that was still burning. Emergency services had already arrived at the scene and the area was off limits to civilians.
Lexx intended to go inside the building, but at this point it was already burning too fiercely to be safe. For some reason the manhole cover nearby drew his attention and he walked right to the edge of the restricted are to get a closer look, but on a closer inspection it turned out there was nothing unusual about.
Lexx wondered why that manhole cover made him feel so uneasy at first sight but in the end he sighed in defeat and prepared to head home. Tomorrow I'll have another talk with Ved and regardless of the outcome of that, I'll then head for the JTech building. I think it's time to pay Mr. Moth a visit.

Amelia certainly hoped it didn't smell as bad in Grayshire, though she had a feeling there may be a trade-off with the odors. Still, being out of the actual sewers would be a welcome reprieve, and she wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. Momentarily caught off-guard by John's question, she took a moment to gather herself, her home in her mind's eye. "We were right by the post office, which was an easy commute for my mother," she responded with a small half-smile. "Not so much for my dad at the auto shop, though."

With a small jump over something particularly nasty, Amelia opened her mouth to question where John was from, when something unusual reached her ears. Coming to a full stop, she stood and turned her head to the side, listening carefully. A footstep outside theirs, and a small splash, she was sure of it. Not wanting to cause any major alarm, she slowly turned back to her newfound companion, picking up her pace to walk beside him, rather than trailing a little behind him.

"Someone else is down here," she whispered, muscles tense. Maybe she'd been right about someone following them before they went down the manhole. At the very least, she was pretty confident that if she couldn't do anything against their mystery company, John looked imposing enough to hopefully deter a large altercation. Jerome needed medical attention, and they couldn't waste much time dealing with an interested party. Whether or not they were hostile was a whole other issue altogether; following them down here was enough to put Amelia on edge.

John gave Amelia a surprised glance when she jumped. "take him and get behind me," he said as he turned to face their uninvited tag along. It could be the man from earlier. A fight right now wouldn't be good. John couldn't tell Amelia to run. She wouldn't know how to get into Haven, and he was pretty sure he wasn't strong enough to handle him yet.

He still had to do something though. Dropping into a combat stance as he spoke, "whoever you are you have five seconds to identify yourself, and to give me a reason not to rip you in half." If this person was a threat he would have to make sure that Amelia got Jerome out of here. In a lower tone now, "if this comes to blows I need you to run, and find a place to wait for me."

The interior of the old building Carol was in had seen better days. After getting a handle of standing and walking she took a moment to think over things. Clearly she did not come out of Grayshire unscathed by the chemical bomb. Or as it turns out her wheelchair didn't. How did that even work, it was made of metal? "Alright Carol, deep breaths. You've got to be dreaming." That's about all that made sense right? This kind of thing was never mentioned in the news. Not that Carol ever payed much attention to the news. Perhaps she should.

After testing her strength a little bit she could see that it was getting late. If she didn't get back before too long then people would begin to wonder where she'd gone off to. It was time to turn back to normal. Changing last time was done with just a thought. And that was exactly what she tried to do. But honestly, given the circumstances who would want to go back to normal so quickly?

When that didn't work Carol had a bit of a panic. She couldn't go out there looking like she did. No way to hide. She would stick out like crazy and probably look crazy on top of that. Maybe she should call so no one would worry. It then occurred to her that her phone had been in her pocket and now she had no pockets. After fumbling around she managed to find that her phone was trapped under one of the plates on her hip. At least it wasn't crushed or something, but she was going to have to figure out how to get to it before long.

Opening the door she peaked out. The streets weren't all that busy but walking would definitely get her spotted. Maybe she could jump onto the buildings? She really didn't think this through and about now Carol wanted to kick herself. But not able to think of many other options she exited the building when there was an opening and crouched down. Pushing off the ground Carol launched herself into the air. Easily clearing the three story building she flew to the height of a ten story building. After the initial surprise there was amazement, and then the realization that she had gone over the building and tumbled into street on the other side. "Oh crap!"

Failing miserably at being stealthy an armor clad girl fell from the sky right into traffic. Up immediately, Carol was met by the grill guard of a truck. While the impact didn't entirely hurt it did knock her into the next car. Well now that that plan was ruined it was time to run. It was still a bit awkward for her but she managed, getting spotted by far too many people. In the chaos she dashed into an alley and tried the jump again. Coming a little short this time was okay because she was able to lift herself up and over to the roof. Pretty sure she was out of sight she stopped to catch her breath. Carol's heart threatened to beat out of her chest. By now she was hoping that she would just wake up. So much for keeping her powered self a secret.

The sound waves of voices aren't very loud, but for Elijah the can be heard from a mile away if he wished. Whispers were hard to detect, and so they are hard to amplify, but in his current situation, Elijah wasn't taking any chances. As he ran silently down the stone path underneath the streets of New York, he was able to make out the footsteps more clearly. The sound waves that were coming from their footsteps changed patterns, and eventually stopped. Something was going to happen, but he didn't know what just yet. Elijah slowed to a fast paced walk through the mucky sewers, moving silently like a cat in the night. When their footsteps stopped, so did Elijah.

The tension that built in the few moments of rest was almost unbearable, the young man who could manipulate sound was about ready to turn tail and run. The only thing that stopped him was the stern voice that came from the two's direction. The man made it clear he was aware of Elijah's presence and was confident enough to be hostile without worry. Elijah started to panic. His heart beat felt like a hammer on his chest, the sound of his heart in his ears sounded louder than a bass drum. Elijah couldn't think straight, and all of a sudden everything seemed louder to him.

The sounds were coming from everywhere, which only added to the anxiety he was feeling in this moment. One thing, louder than all the sounds of the sewer, that distracted him, was the sound of John's voice again. He said something to Amelia, about getting her to a safe place if this came to blows. However, it wasn't the words that caught his attention, but the tone, the sound waves fluctuation. He was also nervous. Thoughts ran through Elijah's mind, and all of a sudden he had a make-shift plan to deescalate the situation. But, he needed to calm his voice in order for it to work. Elijah didn't have room to make mistakes, if this went wrong, he would surely suffer the consequences.

Elijah took a few breaths, and focused all his power into one area. The surrounding area around both Amelia and John. All the sounds that entered this area, or were in this area now seemed surround sound, making them seem like they are everywhere. Now, all Elijah had to do, was speak and it would seem as if He was everywhere. Leaving Elijah no real option, he spoke in hopes to both confuse them and secure his own safety. Elijah spoke his most calmest of tones, "You wont kill me... You're not a killer." He paused to add dramatic affect, than continued, "I know you, John Gruger, and I know your partner, Amelia Kersey."

Elijah paused, to see if he could detect any sound coming from them, and than he continued. Elijah squeezed his eyes shut trying to remember everything they said about their personal live in order to reinforce his plan. He continued to speak in his low monotone, "Both lived in Grayshire, Amelia living by the post office with her mother and Father, and you John Gruger, Oh Mister 'Dr. Stigma'". Elijah tried to recall everything John revealed about himself, but he couldn't remember anything John said that may have been to persanol. So he bluffed it, like he was with this plan.

"Don't even get me started on you, John..." Elijah felt like he'd said enough, anymore ambiguity might give away his plan, and spoil his motives. "I know both of you. Rip me in half? I doubt it. John, you're one of the good guys. It's why you're carrying Jerome Owens, Brother of the vice president of Jtechs, to haven." Elijah, didn't know if this was going to work, but he needed it to be believable. So he decided to incorporate some more 'reinforcement' .

Elijah looked around frantically trying to spot something that was making noise, he spotted the nasty sewer water. He was willing to risk his hygiene in order to solidify the response he was trying to capture. Elijah dipped his hand in the water, and amplified the sound waves of the flowing filth. He didn't making the flowing water louder, instead he made the sound waves lower, creating a serious vibration that shook the ground. It shook underneath their feet. Unfortunately that Was the Extent of Elijah's power so he needed to wrap things up quickly. He spoke again, a bit rushed this time, "Don't try to find me. I can make this whole sewer coming crashing down." Elijah said sternly, bluffing about the sewer. "Just continue to Haven...." Eliajh was starting to feel the affects of of the continuous use of his powers. Elijah Stopped using his power, and waited, hoping they would just continue walking.

@Amelian Draco@Wisp

Ved

He smiled softly, taking a look down at the pizza he had been eating, and wondered what color the nano chips would have been if looked at under a microscope. Having complete control over electronic technology had some genuine perk, including access to every nano-chip and explosive in the world, as well as the ability to create them with ease as long as he had the parts, which were easy to get and plentiful, he just had to feed them into a hyper-accurate 3-d Nano printer he had built. He had a small army of the devices, enough for every person in the planet to be fitted with seven hundred chips all of which only took up the same amount of space as a brick would, and all of which were spread throughout his home, and surrounded him in a protective swarm with a count number of about 3 billion. With these chips he was near unstoppable, as his personal escort of chips had healing factors, and were capable of interacting with the world around him.

Looking at his wrist, he sent an activation code, causing the chips that Lexx had consumed to awaken, and begin spreading throughout his body. They focused on major areas, about 800 attaching to his brain and activating a connection that would be considered psychic if it wasn't caused by science. "You can't leave me Lexx." He whispered into the mans head through the comm setup the chips had created.

Amelia took Jerome from John without complaint, taking a moment to make sure the unconscious man was still breathing. Though he wasn't stirring, his breathing was steady enough, and she hefted him over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. It was a bit different, carrying him without moving, and she shifted her own weight accordingly so she wouldn't topple over or drop him.

"Understood," she responded lowly, a small nod reinforcing her agreement.

A voice echoed around them, and Amelia cringed at the volume of it. She couldn't identify the direction it was coming from, but it was clear this person had been listening in on their conversation - she quietly swore under her breath at that. Still, if this person was really as omnipotent as they were trying to sound, they would've known about her brothers - and with no word on them, she knew they'd simply been eavesdropping. With a frown etched into her features, she once again shifted her weight to steady herself when the sewers trembled. Was the other guy trying to bring them down? She was tempted to pass Jerome off to John again and just backtrack; it wasn't like she couldn't find her way back to John, after all.

Still, it seemed safer to let John call the shots for now, though she shuffled back a bit, adjusting Jerome when he started to slip from her grip. "I don't like this," she muttered, just loud enough for John to hear.

Hearing this person's voice from every direction only seemed to annoy John. It seemed that the person tailing them might not be was dangerous as he feared. Everything he's done has just felt like a fear tactic instead of an actual threat. Though he felt his only choice was to use his eye in this situation as the color change from red to gold when the sewer started shaking.

John nodded his head when Amelia spoke, "nether do I." He kept his voice down not sure if the other person could hear him or not, "I have an idea, hopefully I don't pass out after it.
" Sudden it felt as if John could hear everything. The rush of water, the cars above him. He could even hear the heartbeats of Amelia and Jerome. John fell down to a knee, breathing heavily. He couldn't stop, there was one last heartbeat to find. Straining, he did his best to reach out to find it.

ba-dum

He found it. "You know nothing of me!" breathing heavily John reached out his hand as a shadow shot out towards the person. For a moment it seemed as if it would go through the person, but instead rapped around his chest. John made sure to be gentle as he pulled the person back.

His eye change back to red, and he was breathing and sweeting heavily, and only spoke thus words to the person in front of him. "You have five seconds." Even though he sounded agresive. He let his shadow go from around the person.

There was silence in the sewers for a brief moment, only for a few second, in those few second Elijah could only imagine his plan worked. The noises around him started to quiet down until the only thing he could hear was the flowing water and the faint pulse of the two super humans before him. Elijah tried some breathing exercises to regulate his heart beat, using his power so much in such a short time took it's toll. He feared that even if this plan worked, they would hear his heavy breathing. The sewer was silent for a brief moment. The moment of silence and hope shattered like a pane of glass falling on concrete, that moment when he'd heard John's voice, louder than ever. His voice projected to Elijah like megaphone, and when Elijah heard his words, he knew his plan had failed.

Elijah gave it no thought, but his instincts kicked in and he tried to run. He may have gotten a single step in before something grabbed him. This grip was intense, and it was cloaking him like a blanket. He could move his arms through this grip but his body seemed trapped, he started to get pulled in the direction of the two he was following until he was finally in view. From the rooftops of his building, it was hard to make out the details of their faces, but they were clear as day now. Elijah started to panic again, he feared for his life. That theory about them hunting people with powers was the only thing he could think of, this was his anxiety acting up again. John spoke again, Elijah's ears nearly popped as it was amplified by Elijah power. "I-I-I'm no one... Please! I was just trying to scare you guys." Elijah said, glancing over to Amelia who was carrying Jerome, "I s-saw you guys a few blocks from the burning building, where he's from." Elijah kept talking, "I know you guys are different. Like me! I heard you guys were going to Haven and I wanted to know what was there." Elijah, the more he talked the more he calmed, the idea of these two being a part of the group who was hunting supers started to dissipate. Elijah thought, if they knew he was just a teenager, they would leave him be.

The other person, little more than a silhouette to Amelia, was breathing heavily; had that show of power taken so much out of them? Sure enough, when John did his...thing, it was clear their stalker had used a lot of his energy in the bravado he'd put on. Once he was closer, she realized that this was just a kid - maybe around Terry's age, but that was just a kid, really. She frowned and listened to him babble, moving Jerome from her shoulder to rest him against the wall. If there was no need to run, she wouldn't strain herself or put Jerome at risk unnecessarily. Holding a medium-sized dog was different from holding an adult man, and she couldn't keep that up.

"You should've just come forward," Amelia told him, crossing her arms in disapproval. She was pretty sure she was using 'that' voice - the one she used when she scolded Terry or his friends - and stepped towards the stranger. "You know our names from your eavesdropping - what's yours?"

Though the kid hadn't given them a solid reason not to trust them outside of the eavesdropping and general creeping, Amelia knew that trusting anyone who wasn't straight-forward was a risk. If she at least had his name, that gave her a better chance to find him later. Even in the dim light, she could make out his features easily, too; if he tried to run, she'd probably catch him no problem, too. She'd like to see him try to outrun her, honestly. It would be laughable. Still, whether John would bring the kid with them to Haven was up in the air. given how little they had to go on as it was. Sure, it was cynical to not even trust a teenager, but she was already putting her faith in one stranger today, and she wasn't exactly eager to do it with another, regardless of the circumstances.

Lexx was just arriving at his so called home when he heard Ved’s voice in his head. A faint smile crept on his face. I wasn’t planning too, he thought to himself. He walked down the abandoned hallways the ones he had gotten so accustomed to over the weeks. He didn’t waste much time and went to bed. He had to be rested for what awaited him tomorrow.

The next day just before noon Lexx was standing in front of the JTech building. Through the windows of the lobby he could see a woman sitting at the central desk in the lobby. There was also an elevator to the right of the entrance. Lexx waited outside until the elevator doors opened and someone stepped out. As soon as that happened he went it and headed straight for the elevator. Of course he didn’t think it would be that easy. What Lexx assumed was a secretary at the desk in the center of room called him out.

“Uhh, Sir? Do you have an appointment with someone?”

Lexx stopped in front of the elevator. His eyes darted to the left and right to check that no-one was near him. He then held out his palm and a tiny shard of dark matter formed in his palm. He then threw it into the elevator just as the doors closed and then turned around and went to the secretary.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware I needed an appointment to check up on a friend who works here.” Lexx said with a smile. “It doesn’t matter, the issue can be resolved over a phone call. I’ll be going now.”

“Of course. Have a nice day, sir.” The woman replied.

With that Lexx exited the building. Now we play the waiting game, where everybody loses, he thought, slightly amused. He stood outside the building and pretended typing a message on his phone. In fact he was observing the elevator. A few more times it arrived at the lobby and few people left the elevator. Unfortunately every time one or more other individuals entered it. Lexx waited patiently for about an hour when an opportunity showed itself. Some had just left the elevator in the lobby but nobody else entered. The elevator doors than closed, no doubt being called up to a different level of the building. Lexx went around the building and into a secluded alleyway with a brisk walking pace.

As per usual he vanished into a puff of black dust and a moment later he was standing in the moving elevator. The elevator stopped at one of the levels and a JTech employee entered it. He pressed the button for one of the higher levels.

“New here?” The man asked.

“No just delivering something.” Lexx replied trying to avoid too much conversation.

“I haven’t seen you around before. What happened to the usual delivery boy?” The employee further inquired.

Some people just don’t know when to mind their own business, Lexx thought rather annoyed.
“Sick.” He replied without offering further details.
Finally the elevator stopped and the JTech employee left the elevator without saying anything further.
Lexx then presses the button for the upper most level and such the elevator takes him there without further stops. As the doors opened a rather short hallway was revealed in front of with a quite secure looking electronic double door in front of him. There was also a camera on the wall with the elevator and Lexx turned towards the camera and smiled faintly.

“It’s safe to assume you know I’m here thanks to your nanites. And assuming I’ve got the nature of your powers right, you’re watching me right now. . .” Lexx paused for a moment. “. . . Ved.”

Lexx knew it was gamble, since he might not be watching after all. But he also knew Ved was apparently trying to keep close tabs on him. And being JTech building wouldn’t be without reasons. So if he Ved was as vigilant as he proved earlier, he WOULD be watching. Lexx knowing this continued. “I’d rather not go to the hospital afterwards due to internal bleeding, maybe I’ll explain to you later why that would be the case. But right now, why don’t you do us both a favor and have these doors unlocked. The information I’m trying to get might benefit is a both.” Lexx smiled as he said that.




“Shall we begin?”