PROLOGUE

5 Years Earlier...

The huge mushroom cloud rose high above the city. Its smoke and flames engulfing the streets. The earth trembled beneath the heroes feet as the buildings around them began to crumble and buckle under the pressure caused by the tremor. Screams echoed down every street as civilians of Veridian City ran for their lives. This was beyond anything any of The Crusaders had witnessed. Even this was beyond their abilities.

As one building shook, another would crumble. The surroundings became unpredictable and unstable. Bodies lay motionless and littered the walkways. Sirens could be heard whining throughout the skyline. The city was beyond help. In one push of a button, the city was no more. Gone. demolished as if it was nothing. Everything the people of Veridian had known had been taken away from them in one blast. All the hard work and effort to make the city a glorious place to live had all been undone due to one man and his mad plan for world domination.

Who was going to stop Dr.Ivan Wolfgang now? The Crusaders were gone. Spread out across the city. Presumed dead. Nighthawk, the leader has vanished. Officials believe him to be buried alive by the wreckage. As for the rest of them. Who Knows? But we can only assume the worse. Who will save the city now?

Present Day

"On this day, we remember all those who were lost. We will never forget them. They will always remain in the heart of Veridian City" announced Mayor Briggs as he stood behind his lectern with the medias eyes on him. Today is the anniversary of the attack on the City. Crowds of people gather to the streets to remember. Its now been 5 years since and The Crusaders are no more. The city has been lacking authority since they have gone. Poverty has hit the city in certain areas and crime within these areas are at an all time high. The Veridian Police department are pumping tons of resources into these areas to try an rebuild what was lost and gain some form of control again. The work the Crusaders did in their time in the city was phenomenal and it seen the city grow into the great Metropolis it was always deemed to be. Now that is all undone and it is now Mayor Briggs who was voted in as mayor of the city to bring it back to its glory days.

As the crowd applauded the mayor and stood remembering the fallen, the Mayor motioned for the applause to quiet down as he had one more thing to say.
" I would also like to take this time to also remember those few individuals that we owe our lives to. Without these people we would not have a city left worth saving. So I ask you to join me in a minutes silence as we remember The Crusaders who gave their lives for this city and paid the ultimate price in doing so."
The mayor clasped his hands down by his waist and bowed his head as he remembered the cities heroes. The gathered audience followed his lead and bowed their heads also. Silence flooded across the street. It brought back the eary sensation that was there on that night after the last building fell and the dust cloud settled.

The silence was killing him. He couldn't take it no longer. People look too sad.
"Time to make my big entrance." said Streak as a huge grin ran across his model like face.
Streak ran as fast as he could down the towering sky scraper that stood over the mayor and his followers leaving a blue stripe following behind him. He was seen as a distant blur before skidding to a halt next to the Mayor.

The Mayor turned to look as his jaw dropped in disbelief at what his eyes was seeing. There he was, stood in full costume with his hands on his hips in a typical superhero pose.

" TA DA!!" Streak shouted to break the silence.
" It is I, The Mighty Streak. Returning from my very long vacation to come and sort out this mess."

The medias cameras immediately turned to him and zoomed their lenses in to show the rest of the world who had returned to save the city. The crowd look on in shock. A murmur of voices began to spread across the crowd and get louder and louder before finally a cheer erupted amongst the sea of people.

" Bu...but you are dead. We all watched you die." claimed the mayor who still had a great look of disbelief on his face.
" I will fill you in on the details later boss. But I'm alive and well and faster than ever! Now smile for the cameras and lets give back these people some hope." replied Streak as he put his arm around the mayors shoulders and flashing a thumbs up to the cameras.

These astonishing images were broadcast live across the nation as one of the worlds most famous super heroes had returned from the dead and had come back to save his city. Although his identity still remained a secret from the public, at this time nobody cared who the Speedster really was, all they wanted to know was what he was going to do to sort the city out once and for all.

"Thats right folks you heard it first here on channel 7 news, I'm Carrie Barns reminding you that Veridian City is safe, once again"

The TV clicked off and Kevin threw the remote onto the couch cushion. It bounced off the faux comfortable material and landed with a soft thud on the stained and derelict carpet. The smell of sriracha and soy permeated the halls of his apartment, as he grabbed his keys, and made his way for the door. What, he thought were some goody two shoes hero's going to do for his neighborhood. Nobody cared about the Silk Sticks before the collapse of the city, and they damn sure haven't since

The door met its jam with a solid thud. The latch and lock affirming his “stuff” was “safe”. As he made his way downstairs to street level he could hear the shouts in Cantonese as the food was chopped and fried to perfection. Mr. Fong was a crotchety old man who owned the building that housed both Kevin and the restaurant; as well as most of Mr. Fongs' extensive family. As Kevin walked past the front door he met eyes with Fongs' daughter Kim. She shot him an awkward smile as he briskly passed the window and meandered across the street among the mass of pedestrians. As he cut through back alleys and over fire escapes he quickly made it across the slums of Veridian. He contemplated wither or not he really wanted to have his powers known. after all he just learned of them himself not too long ago. Plus, who wants to be in some government database? Not this guy, definitely wasn't his style.



As Kevin exited his favorite comic book store, he witnessed some thug stealing a very nice bike from another citizen. Although in public, Kevin figured he could risk it, he concentrated on the concrete in the path of the bike and with a little breath and hand motion, froze the oxygen molecules in the air and cause the bike thief to lose control and bail on the bike. Kevin figured he made a clean getaway, however unbeknownst to him someone with a camera phone caught a video of Kevins cryokinetic abilities.

The park belonged to Thorn...this much was made clear by the massive amount of plant life that grew abundantly there. She had grown her vines and massive flowering plants and trees to allow people to still walk through and enjoy the park but most of it was now overgrown and given into nature. When the city had tried to cut down the foliage it only continued to regrow until the city eventually gave up. Massive tunnels made from trees and plants made up the walk ways for the people down below. But deep in the wilderness near a lake...there grows the most beautiful Jungle plants, massive flowers and amongst them rests Thorn. She had been here like this for a long time ignoring the human world outside. Her only remaining connecting to the world outside was her cellphone...which she only kept charged by a solar panel she had taken with her from her job when they fired her. It was through this cellphone that she saw the revealing of The Streaks survival...Thorn made no attwmpt to move or even think of leaving her garden...if he truly was back to save this city he would come to meet her in time.

The sun was warm as it streaked in through the half completed drywall of the under construction apartment building's fourth floor. For the most part the construction area was empty, with only few tools here and there left over the weekend, but as the midday sun stretched further inwards into the room a dark shape was exposed in the recently put in rafters, laying on a large piece of plywood. The shape rolled slightly, till it came to the edge of the plywood, where it stopped abruptly, before teetering and falling through the gaps in the beams.

With a startled shout and long string of swears, the shape of Us sprang into action, any leftover drowsiness chased out by the coming sudden stop. Almost without noise, save for the rustling of the cloth of the shirt, the near ever present tendrils lashed out to anchor themselves in the beams through which the pair had fallen in the first place.

Dull thunks answered the motions as the tendril's razor sharp claws sank easily into the treated wood. Not a moment too soon as well as Us jerked to a stop a good foot from impact. With a few short grumbles, Us swung their feet down and stood up, letting go of the beams as they did so. After brushing themselves off they looked up with a sigh, seeing that the day was already well underway. Stretching slightly they walked over to one of the tarped up holes in the wall, moving the tarp the walked out on the scaffolding that now sat empty. Working their way down it hand over hand, Us was soon over the alley which contained not only the back door to a in city convince store but also where the employees would sneak out for a break. Even now it contained a couple of the employees, each eating some fruit that probably couldn't sell and listening to the small portable TV that sat across from them on a upturned trash can.

Hooking their feet on the side of the scaffolding Us hung themselves upside-down, and using one of their tendrils quietly snatched a ripe apple from behind the employees, just as the announcement of The Streak surviving came over the TV. With only a small moment of pause the two employees burst into grins and oddly, yet promptly hugged each-other. Us on the other-hand also grinned but didn't join in on the hug, preferring a light "interesting over the physical contact.

Of coarse this drew the attention of the employees, who upon seeing the dangling tendraled man, shouted and alarm and ran inside. Swing themselves down Us only sighed as they took a bite of their apple and began walking towards the street. Perhaps the employees would try calling the authorities, perhaps they wouldn't, Us didn't care. Instead they put their head on a swivel, as life and excitement in this city had a way of sneaking up on you "Perhaps we should visit the part, never a dull moment there.."

Streak continued to wave at the on looking audience as he basked in his own glory. He was back. And what an impression he has made already. He hadn't even tackled any thugs yet and already he was the city saviour once more. It felt great to be back but the hole inside of him still lingered in the back of his mind. As he stood with his ego soaking in all the euphoria of his return, he couldn't help but think about his team mates. Nighthawk was like a brother to him, even if he did have fun annoying him. He missed his mysterious nature. How he would walk off without saying a word. Nighthawk never was a man for conversation. Unlike Kadabra, oh how he missed her. Her innocent smile. Childish personality and the was she seen good in everyone and everything. Kadabra had powers he had never encountered before but those powers definitely saved his life that day.

He wondered what dimension she was in at this moment in time. He pictured her skipping along swinging her brown bag "Basket" in a candy filled land with bright flowers and rainbows. His mind suddenly switching to the chaos and destruction as the Crusaders watchtower crumbled before his eyes. That was the end of his friends. Or so he thought. He knew from that moment as the dust kicked up from the ground as the tower collapsed that The Crusaders was no more and that a definitive hole would form a void in his day to day life. He had to get away. Take a vacation and rethink things. He knew where to go. He would go to London and visit his ballerina girlfriend that he met at a film premiere 5 years ago. She always understood Matthew. Knew how to comfort him and take away his arrogance.

It was while he was away that he decided to return to Veridian and start the team again. With new people. Bringing a breathe of fresh air back to the city. Now here he was with the medias eyes on him. Now was the time.

" I am Reforming The Crusaders. We all lost some good people that day. Some who will never be replaced. However, I am calling any Meta Human out there who wants to kick the back side of evil to step forward and join me on a brand new Crusade! I will be in the centre of Veridian Central Park in....well.... 1 minute and 34 seconds flat. I will stay there until the sun goes down, or at least until I think I am wasting my time. Any person who believes they can bring back our city. Meet me there and let's get this party started!"

At this moment, Streak took off with a high velocity. Kicking up litter and dust into the air and sending the mayors tie slapping over his shoulder. The crowd cheered once more. But louder than before. People were hugging each other and crying. The belief was back. Or at least it was for now.

Thorn watched the last of the interview over her phone, The streak was coming to her park. To have a meeting, here he would bring together his new team. She stretched slowly letting her feet dip into the lake and taking in a good amount of water before rising to her feet and beginning to walk amongst the jungle to the center of the park. With a wave of her hand the plants began to move and create a path directly to the center of the park from the street outside, as soon as it was done the plants around her grew into a massive red flower throne right in the dead center of the park and Thorn took her seat to await the heroes.

-----------------------

"This city needs control...This city needs regulation...someone to look up to...someone to make the decisions that will affect them all...This city needs a god..." The air around Apocalypticus whipped and pulled at his dark red cape as he floated high above the city. In his hand he held a stone shaped like the world, with his laser vision he etched in the continents as he spoke, "And all those who stand in the way of the progress machine, will be crushed in its gears." He looked over the city as he listened to the last of The Streak's speech to the people coming from the massive screens in the city square, "And you...Heroes...you should have stayed a thing of the past...because today...you will be erased." He crushed the stone in his hand to dust and crumbled it over the city, "A new beginning for this city...a shining example of the future...Today will change the world tomorrow."

Streak darted through the city streets weaving between the stand still traffic that flooded the roads. The sounds of beeping horns became distant just as soon as they were heard. Within seconds he was at the Park gates. He entered. Central Park looked different since the last time he was here. It used to be one of the darkest places in the whole of Veridian. With drug addiction and anti social crimes being a central hotspot in the park. This time it was different. No homeless people swigging from brown paper bags pushing shopping trolleys, no gangs of teenagers littering the pavements. No rapists prowling in the bushes. Instead the park looked pretty well kept. Pleasant flowers and bushes filled the areas within the high fences. Nature was showing at its best. "Kadabra would of loved it here" Streak thought as he now came to a halt at the meeting point.

Maybe nobody would turn up. But yet again, maybe people would. He hoped so. This was going to be a tough task if he was having to do it alone. If only the parks pleasantness could spill out on to the streets. From what he had seen so far, the park was the nicest place in the city. Whoever was responsible for making the park a beautiful place definitely had the right idea of the goodness the city needed.

The huge red flower he could see was by far the biggest flower he had seen. It's colour was so bright. It's huge leaves embedded into the ground. The petals were a perfect shape. He moved around to see it from all angles. It was then that he seen her.

A young girl sat in the centre of the flower. He skin a pale green colour. Her hair a beautiful blonde which contrasted with the red of the flower. Yes the girl was green, but there was something about her that made Streak attracted to her for some reason. She had a rare kind of beauty. He kept that part to himself. He was doubtful that even his best chat up lines would work on this girl. She was clearly here for the same reason he was. To join forces. He approached the flower and girl.

"Hi, I'm Streak. And you are?".........

"I already know who you are Streak..." Her voice was soft and inviting with sweet overtones, "As for me...I am the forest...The trees...The life upon which all things live...and I am that which protects it...I am Thorn." Thorn rose to her feet to stand in front of streak, her amber eyes seeming to glow amongst the plant life, "I have heard your call to arms...you request the help of heroes...I will aid you...on a condition...that plants be allowed to flourish throughout the city...that life be planted and this city made beautiful...Nothing invasive of course...but many of myy babies need more space to grow..."

The walk was not what one would consider long from the alleyway to the park, yet it took the Symbiote a touch longer than expected as the city buzzed all over, the collective sound of it's inhabitants anticipation a dull roar as near everyone crowded around any electronic shop they could find. Still, reach the park they did, hugging the grey hooded jacket they had collected from their hide and now wore closer to them, the Parasite's tendrils tucked well away beneath.

A grin parted the pair's lips as they passed from the concrete and metal, into the overgrown jungle the park had become. It was beautiful in a way that few would understand, the well of life that now grew here speaking to the part of their mind that was once the Parasite. Breathing deeply Us set off further into the growth, a lightly hummed song breaking the peaceful silence around them. So absorbed they were in their walk in their humming, they didn't realize until far far too late that they had wandered into a clearing, and right by a couple of people, probably interrupting with their humming. At first they stopped to turn and apologize, but just before they did they caught themselves with a thought

"Didn't I see one of them on the TV this morning?"

Zero walked casually down the sidewalk, street clothes donned trying to be "normal". Although he wasn't even sure he knew what normal felt like. The city was, as always a bustling metropolis with all colors and characters prancing about. The street-side hot dog vendor was filling the air with a delicious aroma. Although he had the day off Zero always enjoyed walking the streets and people watching, and in all honesty someone with his unique "gifts" never really had a day off. Unaware of the awkward glances and penetrating stares by passers by Zero kept his head down and feet moving forward. The whispers started subtle enough, however soon the chatter rose to an audible level and the staring became almost a non-verbal assault by the strangers on the street. One large and somewhat poorly put together man approached Zero as he turned a corner onto a side street.
"Yous' one of dem freaks aint ya?" the hulking figure pondered aloud. "I know cause I was you what on the internets...." This man was clearly not one of high level intelligence however his sheer bulk seemed to slightly diminish Zeros' size. "We don't want none of your kind 'round here, you muties should be ended, all of yous'"
Zero shot the man an awkward, almost offended glance. He was still getting used to living in his own skin after recent events left him with powers he himself didn't fully understand. This was precisely the problem Zero was trying to avoid, just stay out of the spotlight and try not to get involved with any stupid, scared "normals".

"Listen fella, I don't want any trouble.... I'm just a regular guy like you, trying to make his way..."
This thought only seemed to enrage the lumbering oaf in front of him, turning the furrowed brow from one of confusion, to one of anger.
"I ain't no freak yeah?, I should pop your scrawny neck for that"
With that said a bowling ball sized fist came hurling toward Zero in the form of a right hook.
Zero quickly ducked as the large man followed through with his strike decimating a stack of wooden pallets next to him.
As wood chips flew into the air Zero took off back down the street, fleeing from this rather aggressive man who was now charging after him.

He skillfully took a corner and headed toward the large park in the center of the city, narrowly avoiding a large crate that came screaming over his shoulder, the bumbling mass of rage and human still in tow. The large man was screaming obscenities and calling Zero a freak as he pushed over on-lookers in pursuit. Zero pulled his hood over his head and quickly dove into a set of thick, overgrown bushes that bordered the park. Rolling through the brush he was sure he slipped his pursuer, and now catching his breath he sat in awe at the massive plant structures that seemed to dominate the landscape in the center of the city. He never noticed how beautiful and wild this place looked, then again in Veridian City it helped to never notice much of anything, ever...Things were simply safer that way.

Zero stopped as roughly 40 yards away he saw what looked like a large red throne made of plant life, and seated upon it was a strikingly beautiful creature that Zero couldn't be sure was even human. Standing in front of it was the cocky cheese-ball Streak. They seemed to be conversing although he couldn't hear what they had been discussing. There was a third figure though he couldn't make out who...or what it was. Zero wanted no part of this, however, he seemed to have gotten himself turned around and now could not find his bearings on how to exit the park.

As he shifted his weight *SNAP!* a branch broke underneath his feet. SHIT!,
he thought....
maybe they didn't hear that?
He stood frozen hoping he could remain unnoticed.