It was a real pain in the ass not having a car! Fortunately, with her rank, Sonya was able to score them a ride.
A black sedan with tinted windows rolled up on the crimescene. It stopped, and the back doors opened. Sonya stepped out, with her sniper rifle hanging off her back, and her tongue flopped out from in between their lips. Ah... the streets were nice and humid for her. Just like she remembered Verthaven being. Maria stepped out of the other side of the car, in her original form. A five-five Spanish woman with brown dreadlocks, and wore the NEST armor. She had on sunglasses.
Sonya was the first to walk up onto the crimescene, she put her hands on her hips, before gazing upon it. She kept a smile on her face as she said. "This is not good." Maria stood at her side, and then shrugged.
Like Grue said, the VPD got here before NEST could. They already had the area locked down. Police tape, and Cora's body already had a cloth over it. Sonya could smell the blood from all the way over here. The man who discovered her body was being questioned. Only problem was that Cora was a registered Metahuman. That means that they should be passing it off to NEST.
Looks like Sonya has to put her foot down. The two Mayfields walked up to the scene, and then she was stopped by a VPD detective that put his hand up, saying, "This area is closed off by the VPD."
"Ummmm...." Sonya quickly put her head down, and looked at her obviously NEST suit, and looked back up at him, saying, "We're NEST. We recieved word that a Metahuman was murdered."
"Yeah, but we have this." The detective said.
Maria took a step forward and said, "You at least have to let NEST take a look."
"No. This is VPD business."
"Come oooooon." Sonya said.
"It's fine, I'll settle it." a voice addressed from behind. Cass waved his colleague away with a gloved palm and nodded to the the two agents as he looked them over.
"I'm Cassius Taylor, Robbery and Homicide Division," he unclipped his badge and gave them a moment to check out his credentials. "I take it you're here for the same reason as us?"
Sonya leaned in and took a hard look at his badge. Well, he checks out. She had to thank him for stepping in. "Thanks. It's great to meet you." Sonya nodded her head. She figured that she'd do the same. She reached to her suit, and presented her badge. "Sonya Mayfield. NEST Special Operations and Reconnaissance." She said with a smile, nodded her head.
Maria did the same, and presented her badge. "Maria Mayfield."
"We heard that a registered Metahuman was murdered and NEST sent us." Sonya said. "So, can you give us the 411?"
"We arrived on-scene about half an hour ago and found our witness by the victim's body, my colleague's still taking a statement but he's still worked up about it." He thumbed towards the two.
"This is no good." Sonya said. "Maybe me and my partner need to have a word with the witness." Sonya looked around, and her sharp eyes spotted a camera hanging off from the bank across the street. From the way it was positioned, it could easily get a good view of the alley. She pointed at the camera. "And we're gonna need to have a look at that camera."
"If it helps I'll see about pulling the surveillance footage, but you might want to check out the victim's body before talking with the witness. Whoever did this, based on the witness' statement, it looks like the work of something you're probably used to dealing with."
"It isn't going to be good, isn't it?" Sonya peered over to the cloth that was draped over Cora. She knew that this wasn't going to be good - but good was never really apart of the job, now was it? She let out a sigh. An unnecessary gesture like she breathed through her skin. She stepped over to the cloth - leaving Maria behind - and knelt down. She grabbed the cloth - stopping for a second when she hesitated.
Then she just yanked it upwards. She had to wretch. It had to be horrifying as it got. The woman's jaw just ripped off, blood dripped down what was left onto her cold body. Her tongue was flopping out. And that wasn't even the worse part. Her chest was ripped open. Just like something reached in and pulled it open. She had to lean in a little closer to see that organs were forcibly torn out. Her heart was gone. Her god damn heart. Taking a closer look at her face, it looked familar. Like one of the people Henry was talking to at the Charity Ball.
Despite being a sniper, things like this always got to her. Sonya shook her head, and dropped the cloth. She stepped back over to Maria and said,
"She got torn to pieces." Sonya said. "Reminds me of one of those cult rituals I seen back in Black Fall." She shook her head. "If it was a Meta, I think it had to be a Bestial-type from the way it tore her up. Besides, they're the only type strong enough to do damage like that and get away fast enough."
Maria nodded her head, she turned to Cass, and said, "We're going have to talk to the witness - do you know his name?"
"Marcus Rowland. He said he works at the cafe just around the corner and was on his way to work when he cycled by, heard the scream and found the victim."
"Grue," Sonya said into the comms, "Can you get us any information in Marcus Rowland? Is he a Metahuman?"
"Let me dig up some information..." Dana trailed off, typing away on the computers. She came back a few seconds later, after apparently opening up his file. "Correct. He's a Regenerator and a Osteokinetic. An army veteran. Works at a Cafe in Union Point Hills."
"Good, thanks Grue."
"Anything for a RAVEN." Dana said.
"And while you're at it, can you get me footage from the Tricia Romani Credit Union on Hush Willow Road?" Sonya also asked.
"I'll need a few minutes."
"Sure, take your time." Sonya smiled. "I'll just have a word with our witness in the meantime. Merryday out." She brushed her hands off, and faced Cass and nodded. She looked around, her ears pointing her in the direction of the men that were interogating Marcus. Merryday walked up to them, and pulled out her badge, displaying it to the VPD Detectives. "Agent Sonya Mayfield of NEST Special Operations and Reconnaissance. I'd like to have a word with him." She threw a thumb in the direction of Maria. "She'll answer any questions you have."
Marcus was at the entrance of the alleyway, shifting about nervously as the cops and NEST did their thing. He'd seen the woman with the sniper rifle and her companion enter the alley to check out the body, but he really wanted to get back to work and away from this...horrible scene.
Sonya walked up to Marcus, and gleefully said, "Hello, you're Marcus Rowland? I am Sonya Mayfield, and I'm with NEST investigating the murder. That man over there said that you saw something? Can you tell me everything?"
"Well, uh...a couple minutes ago, right, it was raining real heavily? And I was on my bike, um, heading towards Haven. Then as I got across that bridge there, I heard a scream, and uh, I pedaled my way here and I found her like that. There was a, um, thing, that I saw for just a second, it disappeared up the side of the building. Long arms, short legs, um, like kinda like a guy of sorts. And its eyes, man, I think they were glowing. Then I lost sight of it. It was, like, blazing fast, didn't see any more than a glimpse. Then I found her like that..."
Oh dear. This isn't good. N.
He sighed. Seeing Cora like that, it wasn't easy.
"She was a regular in our cafe. Caramel latte. Extra caramel and cream. Always, without fail, every day after a photoshoot."
Oh dear. This isn't good. Not only did he find a body, but it had to be his friend. Sonya understood the man's grief - but there was another problem. Going off his account, she assumed that he was talking about a creature or something. The killer obviously was a Metahuman... Only problem was figuring out what kind of Metahuman. Or if the Hands have something to do with this. Of course, if the VPD was handling this, they would have shafted Marcus and accused him of being the killer. Sonya believed him, he seemed to be legitimately shocked... That, and she was listening to his heart beat, his breath - sniffing the hormones he gave off. He was telling the truth (Or was a damn good liar).
"Sorry to hear that woman was your friend." Sonya hung her head. "But, I'm going to find the person responsible for this. I promise you, and her friends and family, that." However, Sonya figured that she did the heroic speech a little too early. There were lots of questions she had to ask to narrow things down. They were already fairly narrow, but NEST needs things to be simple as possible.
"Do you know if Cora, or her family, have any enemies?"
"Um...I'm not too sure. I mean, like, she only visited our cafe a whole lot. I didn't really get to know her that well. She did a lot of photography though. Always came in with her camera and a bag."
Sonya figured that this shouldn't be the extent of her questions. "Did she mention anything like a bad boyfriend, or getting stalked?"
"Mm...not really. But is there anything I can do to help?"
"Appreciate it, but Ieave this to NEST." Sonya said, nodding her head.
This was the moment Grue contacted them again. "Agent Merryday. I have checked the bank's cameras; apparently it dragged Cora into the alleyway, where it came out several moments later. It went north via rooftop. Also, several other cameras caught Marcus at the exact moment that it was leaving. So that crosses him off."
Sonya turned to Marcus and said, "Well, looks like we found your alibi." She turned to the VPD Detectives. "Let him go, boys."
Sonya started laughing. "... Looks like we got a lead."
"In that case,he sooner we move, the better," Cass added.
Most NEST Agents would simply tell Cass to buzz off and let NEST handle this one. Fortunately, that was not Sonya Mayfield.
Shizuka closed his eyes to force down the rising annoyance of his current situation. Okay, so far so good with making some acquaintances on their first day in this seaside city (he mentally tagged Trevor as "that shameless booty hunter" and Cindy as "that brown - not black! - chick"), and the usually awkward Haruka was able to hold his own conversation with their new 'friends' surprisingly well.
The silver-haired twin moved to a window. Peering out of the glass, his eyes were greeted by the sight of another heavy downpour. Ever since the Takashiro brothers had arrived at Verthaven, Shizuka never felt at ease, only unknowable dread. Something was bothering him, but he didn't know what, and why. All his gut feeling told him was that it might have something to do with this weird weather.
Haruka's irritated voice pulled him out of his thoughts. "Earth to Shizu---" Following the gaze of his brother, the elder twin stopped short at the rain. "I guess they do have flash showers in non-tropical areas like Verthaven."
"...It's more than that. Don't you feel something off about it?"
"What do you mean?"
Shizuka raised his left hand to eye level. "Oh great. Now I'm back to normal." He placed the palm on the window, his skin registered the hard and cold surface the moment his fingers came in contact with the glass. He tried with his right hand. As solid as how it should be. He wondered if it's the stress from anxiety that caused him to lose his control momentarily.
A look of relief flashed across Haruka's face for a brief second, but that wasn't enough for him to drop the main topic. "What's wrong with this rain?"
"It feels...unnatural. Like, someone is purposely causing this rain, either to relay some sort of message or to cover up some really bad stuff." He rolled his eyes at Haruka's odd expression. "What?"
"I think you read too much psycho manga."
Cindy was wiping off the counter to the bar. Ah, it was like she's a bartender! Though, the twin's conversation really hit her. She was thinking about how...weird, all this rain was. "No, no, I think he's on to something," Cindy injected. "Someone probably is behind this. I don't know what they're up to, but I'm hoping that NEST gets to the bottom of it."
Trevor, lounging in one of the booths with his hands behind his head, just went, "Pttf, ya'll worry too much." He shrugged. "Someone just got a little tired of all the sunshine."
Shizuka arched an eyebrow. It's the second time he heard that term today. "What the hell is this 'NEST' anyway?"
"You two really must be new here." Cindy said, raising an eyebrow. Now she was further convinced that these two were newcomers to the city. Like the whole damn city's full of NEST - because it's full of Metahumans. "...You heard of Metahumans before, right?" Now here's the question that would decide whether or not Cindy would feel comfortable discussing powers.
Haruka nodded. "Yeah, I've heard that on our way here. People with superpowers." He cast a quick glance at Shizuka, who simply shrugged in response.
"NEST is basically cops for Metahumans. They're really anal about superpowers, and you have to register if you have any, and do these annoying ch---" Cindy caught herself when she realized that she was sounding a little too personal. "But, yeah, they only go after Metahumans who do crimes. Ya'll ain't got anything to worry about...unless you two are up to no good."
The twins exchanged looks - Haruka, a worried face; Shizuka was merely amused. The older Takashiro shuddered at the thought of separation from his Metahuman brother if anyone found out about his 'phasing' ability - Shizuka was the only person in this foreign place whom he could trust. Sure, there's still Aunt Akemi around, but he knew nothing about her other than being their mother's sister.
The sound of engine made the twins looked out of the window again. A car pulled up along the road before the door of the club; two feminine silhouettes got out of the vehicle, and one of them was running towards the club. Probably another one of Trevor's friends.
"...What's up?!" Meifeng said as she barged into the Club. She immediately looked around, and saw Trevor, Cindy...and some two fucks she didn't know.
"Heeeey!" Trevor shouted, raising his hands up into the air.
"Glad you made it, Meifeng." Cindy said.
The girl who entered was just like how Trevor has described (minus all the sex jokes): Asian - obviously Chinese, even if her name wasn't mentioned - and bigger than the twins. Haruka made a mental note to never get on her wrong side: he could spot many scars all over her arms and legs, and her basketball gear made her look almost like a jock, this time a female. He could only hope Shizuka would have the sense not to provoke her with his smart mouth.
Unfortunately, that was the least of his worries - he could try to put a leash on Shizuka, but he had no power to stop the other party from making the first move.
"But...I wanna know..." Meifeng said as she walked over to the twins. Her attention immediately went to Shizuka, and she walked up to him. Standing right over him. This boy was like a little twig - not as sissy as Trevor, but still pretty fruity. Hell, Meifeng was wider than he was. Only problem was his hair... It was dyed grey - nothing cool like silver. Like he was some old-ass man. What lil' weirdo would dye his hair grey?
Meifeng had to find out! "Yoooo, who are you? And the why the hell did you dye your hair grey? Like, it's already bad enough that a boy dyed his hair, but grey? Like some old ass man? Aw, I can't look." She mock-winced, covering her eyes with her hand.
Before the younger twin could make a comeback, Haruka stepped before his brother. Not that he was feeling brave - he wasn't in a mood for a brawling session that might happen. "I'm Haruka, and he's Shizuka. The gray hair is natural."
"Don't lieeeeeeee!" Meifeng moaned, loudly laughing. "You like - what - my age? How the hell did you get naturally grey hair?"
"Have you heard of a genetic condition called 'premature graying'?"
Meifeng shrugged. "Genetics ar---"
"Don't bother." Shizuka waved a hand at his brother. "No need to give this gorilla girl a science lesson - she probably doesn't have enough brains to understand your oh-so-awesome lecture, nerd." He poked at Haruka's glasses playfully.
"Shizu." The elder twin slapped his hand away. "Be. Nice." And threw him a warning look: are you trying to look for a fight?
"... Gorilla?" Meifeng put her hand on her hip as she looked at him. Okay, this boy was about to be taught one hell of a lesson. She took a step over to him, and shoved him by the arm. "Hey, hey, hey, you better watch it." Meifeng put her hand up, staring down Shizuka, "Because I'll karate chop your dick off if you get smart with me, boy."
He knew that this would happen; Haruka forced his twin's head down by the back of the neck and looked up at Meifeng. "Sorry about my little brother's rudeness." He knew Shizuka well enough that he wasn't a deadly competitive type even if he could hold his own ground, and there was another issue about possible accidental display of his power. That was the last thing he wanted - it wasn't about the trust with a bunch of teens they only just met, but the fear that his brother would be taken away from him for good if his ability was found out by NEST.
Shizuka probably sensed Haruka's uneasiness through his tightening grip around his neck - he mumbled a barely audible apology, still looking down.
"Come on." Meifeng smiled, leaned forward, and pointed one finger up into the air. "Long as the little dude watches his manners, we'll be cool. Think we just got off to a bad start with the whole weird grey hair, thing, right?" Meifeng clapped her hands together. "I'm Meifeng. Your names?"
Before they could reply, Cindy rolled her eyes, and called out, "Yeah, ya'll better not get into a fight in the club. I was cleaning up after the last one for months..." She rolled her eyes again.
"Oh, uh, Cindy." Meifeng turned over to her friend before. "My mom wants to speak with you outside."
"Oh?" Cindy peaked out the door, and saw that tall behind woman leaning up against the car. "Guess ya'll can excuse me for a few minutes..." She got from behind the counter, and started walking towards the door. Right before she stepped through the door, she poked her head back in, with a dry look on her face, and said, "Don't destroy the club, please." Before the door closed.
"Alright!" Meifeng clapped her hands together, and faced the twin. "Where were we?"
"Our names," Shizuka said, rubbing the back of his neck. He pointed at his brother and then back to himself. "Haru, and Shizu."
"Oh, nice to meet you two... Your names sound more Asian than mine! You Japanese or something?"
A grin broke out of Shizuka's face, the tense situation from before all forgotten. "Yeah!" Haruka nodded, the tension had left him rather drained now.
"That's great." Meifeng said, putting her hands on her hips, looking around. She shrugged. "Now what? I'm bored."
"Oh!" Trevor raised his finger up into the air, getting everyone's attention. "I wanted to do this for a little while, and now seems like a great time!" He hopped his way out of the booth and started walking over to the three.
Meifeng rolled her eyes. "...No, Trevor, we're not having an---"
"No, no, no, it's not that." Trevor waved his hands at them. Before he stood straight up, putting a smug grin on his face. "Are ya'll up for a little adventure? A little danger?"
"Like I said, no---"
"You're not even listening." Trevor said. "Know that spooky part of the city, the 'Ghost Town'?"
"The part that's probably full of maniacs and monsters?" Meifeng noted.
"Yeah. How about we go give it a lil' look?" Trevor said, putting his hands on his sides. He then leaned in towards the twins. "If ya'll are man enough?"
Shizuka rolled his eyes. "Definitely more man than you are, Trevor." Haruka could only facepalm, resigning to his brother's unparalleled cheekiness.
"Well, I'm a woman." Meifeng put her hands on her hips, and rocked back and forth.
"More man than me?" Trevor mocked shock, putting on an 'O' mouth. "You're going to be eating those words after I show you how man I am." He snickered.
Shizuka laughed in response. "I'll be looking forward to that!"
"Well, lemme put it like this." Meifeng shrugged, her hand hovering over her chin. "This is a dangerous trip that could get us all in trouble, or brutally murdered. Not even the squatters have the balls to go in there." She then shrugged again. "Without Anna, I don't have much else to do. So sure."
Before Haruka could make a protest, the younger twin slapped a hand over his brother's mouth. "And you can count us in too. Now this is real sightseeing around Verthaven."
"Yeah, the parts no one actually wants you to see or go to," Meifeng said, shrugging.
"But before we go, I need to run back to my house and grab my archery equipment." Trevor nodded his head. "Show off that little talent I told ya'll about." He flashed them a confident smile.
"Well, can't help you with that, I was dropped off."
"Crap." Trevor thought about it for a few moment, then it came to him. He ran out the door of the club, shouting, "Cindy!"
"Huh?" Meifeng followed him right out.
The twins fell in behind Meifeng out of the clubhouse, exchanging looks of bemusement.
Cindy Keagan, & Lihua Vuhong.
Cindy cleared her throat when she approached Lihua Vuhong. The woman was certainly intimidating - but Cindy felt that she had an idea of how to deal with her. She stood before her, and she had her arms crossed. "Yeah, Ms. Vuhong?"
"First," Lihua started off, before she closed her eyes. "I have to apologize for the lack of communication. Things...haven't been going so well on my part, and I've been forced to stay home for the past week."
Oh, okay. Cindy understood that fully. She refrained from asking, because she's smart enough to know when she's not going to get a straight answer. "'Kay. That's all?"
"No, no, no..." Lihua groaned. "I'm going to be gone for a little while, so can I ask you to do a favor for me?"
"Yeah, what is it?"
"Can you keep an eye on Meifeng for me? That girl has been getting into all sorts of trouble... She's apparently friends with this disrespectful little slut, and I'm curious about what sort of things she might be getting into."
Cindy put her hand behind her head, and scratched it. she wasn't sure if she wanted to act as a snitch. Betraying her best friend's trust. The one who hooked her up with this job in the first place. "Well---"
"I'll pay."
"Okay."
"Look," Lihua put both of her hands up vertically. "All you have to do is text me when she's up to something, and I'll handle it."
"Well...wouldn't it be obvious?" Cindy questioned.
"I'll handle it, I promise." By that, Lihua meant that it was up to Cindy to solve her own damn problems.
"Alright." Cindy was going to place her trust in Ms. Vuhong. She nodded her head.
"Good. Now, you kids stay safe." Lihua said as she opened the door and slid inside halfway. "...There's monsters out there." The kind of monsters Lihua cannot possibly let live. She got into the car, and drove off a few moments later.
"...Yeah, monsters."
Right when Lihua left Trevor ran in, he ran up to Cindy, and nearly came to a skidding stop. He said, "Hey Cindy, can you take me back to my house for a second?"
Raising an eyebrow, Cindy shifted her weight to one hip as she crossed her arms. "Wait, why?"
"Alright, well..." Trevor, for a moment, stumbled on how to explain it, before he just spontaneously said, "We're going to the Ghost Town!"
Cindy facepalmed and shook her head. "...And get our asses beat by the cops when they realize we're there?"
"No, no, it'll go better this time." Trevor put his hand up. "I got Meifeng and the others on board."
Well, if the others were on board, then maybe Cindy would consider it. "Ugh, get on, Obott. You owe me for this one." She got on her motorcycle, and put her white helmet on. "I'll come along, just get on."
"Neat." Trevor walked up, and got on the back of the scooter. In a few seconds, they were off.
"...Good grief." Meifeng said, closing her eyes, and shaking her head. "They left us behind." She turned around, and clapped her hands. "But, that shouldn't stop us! We should go ahead of them." Going along with them ahead wasn't that bad of an idea. She didn't think too highly of them in the physical department. She bet that she could kick their teeth in before she even had to fall back on her power.
As for the twins...
Haruka stiffened at the thought of being left alone to deal with a brawny girl and a saucy brother for company. Shizuka, on the other hand, was completely unfazed - he simply stretched out an arm before him and stared at the Chinese. "Lead the way then, Mei."
Her car was approaching the headquarters, and Lihua was getting little anxious. She reached down to her phone, and decided to ignore a few laws when she looked up Maximilian's phonenumber in her contacts. She pulled over to an empty spot, and waited as it ringed. The dark clouds above her quickly informed her of impending rain. "Again?" She mouthed right as Maximilian answered.
"Maximilian Cornell speaking." Lihua could hear the car rolling, that means he was on the move, and possibly away from (Or heading to) Headquarters. She wasn't going to let that stop her.
For a second, Lihua was unsure of how to go about this. Certainly shameful, she's a woman. She should have certainty and confidence in all of her actions. "I know I've been suspended, Maximilian..." Lihua trailed off, her accent was very apparent.
"What is it Agent Vuhong?"
Lihua closed her eyes, and then sighed. "... Can we meet in person? There is something I wish to discuss that we cannot do over the phone."
"I'm currently out... I'll be back soon."
"I'd prefer that we'd do it soon as possible." Lihua said. "Can I have access back into Headquarters?"
"I don't know what you're on about..."
Lihua shook her head in irritation. "Look, there's something on my mind about our new little friend I need resolved." She voiced. "I know you do trust me, and I trust you, all I'm asking you is to hear me out. Just for a moment."
Maximilian was silent for a moment.
"Head over to HQ, RAVEN will certainly hear you out."
Well, better not disappoint. Lihua nodded her head as she said, "Alright, goodbye, Maximilian." She hung up the phone, and kicked the car into motion.
Heading towards the building that pierced the skyline.
Her heels loudly tapped against the floor of the NEST Headquarters, as she was forced to wear a disgraceful visitor pass. Lihua shook her head as she stepped into the lounge. Scattered around. The lounge was a square medium-sized room, with plenty of sofas, and on one side of the room, there was a large counter with a coffee machine, sink, and refrigerator. The sofas were facing a widescreen TV - and various members of RAVEN were in the room. This was apparently Task Force RAVEN's private lounge - and Lihua was only let in because she was a high-ranking member of NEST, and she had matters concerning RAVEN. Helena was sitting on the sofa, adjusting her nails with a filer, Leon was lying down on another sofa, with his hands over his chest, And Adam was reading a book.
When Lihua walked in, he looked up at Lihua, "Oh hey." He greeted her. "Say Hello to RAVEN, Agent Vuhoooooooong." He started laughing. Helena rolled her eyes as she kept filing her nails.
Adam dramatically closed his book and stood up. He put his hands behind his back, and walked up to her. "Agent Vuhong, Maximilian told me you had something to discuss, and to hear you out in his place."
Lihua closed her eyes for a moment, and cleared her mind. It felt much better talking to someone up close. "We still have PR-1 in custody?" Lihua asked.
"Containment." Leon finger quoted in an attempt to mock correct her.
Adam shot him a aggravated look, before he faced Lihua, "Yes, why do you ask...?"
"There is something about it... What do you believe it is?"
"Scary robot man." Leon added, before he doozed off. "Hard as hell to tell, because it hurts like hell whenever I try looking into it."
"No... I think there's something more to it. It feel it's human. No different from the rest of it." Lihua said. "It's words have been haunting me for far too long. I want... need some confirmation."
"And what are you suggesting?" Adam asked, raising an eyebrow.
"An interrogation. An interview."
"What?" Helena immediately pipped up. "Are you even more insane? We have that thing locked up, and it's not going anywhere-"
"Alright, alright, alright, Helena, we know. You're worried Terminator will go on another rampage." Leon interrupted, laughing as he clapped his hands up into the air. "We got that thing locked down... and from what I can glean, it knows a lot. A little bit about the Big Hoss we're looking for." Leon shrugged. "We're in the middle of fucking Headquarters. We ain't got nothing to worry about..."
"The Fiends got in and tore up the building."
"That was an isolated incident."
"Be quiet you two." Adam turned towards Leon, raising a hand up into the air. He then focused onto Lihua. "It knows something, and more importantly, we're not getting anything important from the REAPERS." He nodded his head. "I'm all for it, but this is a matter we should leave to Maximilian."
Helena scowled - before she just threw her hands in the air, and stood up, "I can't believe this." She then marched out of the room.
"Wonder what her problem is." Leon shrugged. "I'd be glad to help, too. You know I can see the truth."
"Grue," Adam pressed his earpiece. "Can you patch me through to Maximilian, please?"
"Sure." Dana said, nodded her head.
"This is Agent Cornell speaking."
"Agent Vuhong suggested an interrogation of our special subject. However, since you are acting director, we will not go ahead with the plan without your explicit permission."
Squinting his eyes against the flickering exposed bulb that was lighting up the concrete stairwell leading up the government subsidized apartment building he currently owed his residence too, Wyatt somberly climbed the steps up to the third floor. Ignoring the sounds of domestic squabbles coming from the floor below his, the expletives had become nearly daily occurrences in that 'happy' marriage, he turned the key in it's lock before letting out a long sigh.
"Emilia... Why are you in my apartment again?"
True to his words, a mousy looking young woman was seated on the middle of his rug. She couldn't have been more than five and a half feet tall, standing on her tip-toes. Currently wearing one of his old hoodies and over-sized sweat pants, she could even be considered 'cute' in a low effort kind of way. Sadly, this effect was ruined by the fact that she had her face currently smooshed against an absurdly sized bong.
Blinking away water in her overly irritated eyes, she only looks up after he said something. She grinned widely, showing off a set of unnaturally sharp looking teeth and a very pronounced overbite, before blowing a big cloud of smoke in his direction. "Sparky! You're home so early, I was thinking I might have to spend the whooooooole night alone again! You are such a big meanie, always just leaving me and walking around the city."
With a sigh mirroring the one he let out just moments ago, Wyatt did his best to ignore the girl that had snuck her way into his room. He just occupied himself with looking around the living area to see if she had -done- anything to it.
His apartment honestly looked rather un-lived in. His only furniture in the rather dark room that served as his 'living' area was a large dusty red rug that was situated off-center in the middle of the floor and a single wooden dining chair sat next to a half broken wooden table. That single seating area was set back against the only window in the whole apartment on the northern wall and upon that window sat the only source of light for this entire room; a lone candle.
Seeing as his search for tampering only included these few areas, he was quite content to seat himself upon the wooden chair and take the top book off the large stack sitting on the table to his left. The only reason he couldn't drown out his sorrows in the sweet-sweet words of Stephen King was the woman now crawling across the carpet to him on all fours; bong abandoned to the wayside.
"Sparkster! C'moooon. You are so cold! I just want to know about your day... and maybe we could even talk about fixing this place up! I mean really... I know you and electronics don't mix, but think about me! I was here all day with no TV, no Internet, not even a radio or something! Imagine if weed required an outlet, I would be sooooo bored!"
"You could always just - you know - go back across the hall to your own home. Where you have all those eminites you are whining about; trust me I can feel them from here."
"Just c'mon cutie! Taaaalk~ with me."
With what a boring day it had been so far, he honestly was pondering humoring the woman. Closing the book, he was certain that this was always the time he pushed her out of his apartment and wiped his hands of this mess.
She was one-hundred percent bonafide crazy, that much he was positive of. She was always breaking into his apartment and acting like they were lovers, or something like that. Honestly, he wasn't sure if she was just always baked out of her mind on some concoction of drugs or what. She normally attempted to have small talk with him before a very clumsy seduction, but it didn't often come to that as she was out of the door long before then. But not this time, it seems.
"Okay Emilia work with me here. I will humor you, but, you need to stop doing the crazy stuff like breaking into my apartment. We are -neighbors- and potentially friends; not estranged lovers or anything like that."
She met this latest statement with a pout as she finished crawling up right to my legs and seating herself right there. "You're no fun Wyatt, why won't you accept me? But if you aren't kicking me out... I suppooooooose~~ that is progress."
Ignoring the twitching in his eye as she calls him Wyatt. I still have no idea how she found that out. Just one more reason she is nothing but trouble. He attempted to respond neutrally, "Okay... So if you were asking about my day; it was pretty straight forward. The scattered rains kept most people inside while I was out around town. On top of that, I got off work early and grabbed chinese food for lunch, nothing interesting really."
Despite the normality of the statements, she seemed absolutely ecstatic that she was hearing his words. "Wowzers! Ms. Akemi let you off work huh? That doesn't happen often! We should celebrate!"
Before she could even finish un-zipping his old hoodie, Wyatt was already up out of the chair and pushing her out of the apartment. "How did I know this was going to end in sexual harassment. You couldn't keep it together for -five- minutes to have a normal conversation. Jeez.."
The only answer he got was a pathetic whining from the girl as she struggle to dig her feet into the rug to keep him from escorting her out of the apartment. This was easily answered by Wyatt calmly removing his black electrician's glove and poking her in the back of the neck with his index finger, causing an abrupt jump from the woman as the latent static electricity he always was so unable to get rid of leaped from him, through his finger, to her.
"Owchie! FINE. Big ol' jerk. I'll be back, you hear me Sparky? I'll be back~~~!"
With that her further musings were easily cutoff by the door slamming in her face. Her cartoonish exit was one he was quite used to by this point, he was content to leave it be for now. Ignoring her forgotten bong still resting on his rug, surely to give her cause to bother him sometime in the future, Wyatt couldn't help but mutter to himself as he slowly dragged his feet back across the room to his chair, "What a joke."
His bad mood was only matched by the soft pattering of rain against the window at his back and the darkening of the room as the sun was obscured by the clouds of this sudden if not un-expected storm. He turned himself around in the chair and brought his still un-gloved hand up to the candle, concentrating on the wick, he let a small concentrated spark of energy leave his body through his finger. Though leaving the tip rather irritated, the small bolt was enough to ignite the wick. "I guess not needing a lighter is the sole saving grace of this damned power.."
Content enough to spend his now freed afternoon reading a few chapters of his book, he pushed any thought of his power behind him. Though it had its uses, it always made him crave delving down the dark slope of energy consumption and that was the last demon he wanted to be fighting tonight.
Cindy's scooter came to a stop in front of the Obott household. Trevor hopped off, as he gave Cindy a happy look as he ran up the steps. Cindy herself shook her head as she put one leg on the ground. Rainfall began again. God damn it, she wasn't going to catch a damn cold in the middle of the summer. She ran up the stairs, extending her hand as she shouted, "Hey, wait, Obott! I'm not sitting out here in the rain!"
Trevor quickly slid his keys in through the front door, and left it open for Cindy. He didn't have a second to waste! "Just comin' back to grab something, Titty Monster!" Trevor shouted as he ran up the stairs.
Brushing some of the rain off her head, Cindy stepped inside, and kicked the door shut behind her. Shouting, "Someone gonna break in your house if you do shit like that Obott!" She shook her head. Some people are just so careless with what they have. When she stepped inside, she wondered where Lucy was. You see, since the battle against REAPER, Cindy and Lucy have been getting a bit closer. Saving her just caused her friendship to bloom. "Hey, uh, Lucy, you here?"
"I'm in the kitchen!" Lucy shouted as she washed dishes. She had cooked these delicious omelets with pumpkin she had learned from her mother. "What you guys are doing here? Where's big sis?"
Cindy nodded her head, and walked into the kitchen. "Heeeeeey!" Cindy greeted her. "What are we doing? Well, to start off, Trevor-" She put her hands on her hips, and rolled her eyes. "-Found these two Japanese kids, and he wants to show them around the city. And by that, I mean he wants to have a look at the Ghost Town."
"W-what?" Lucy stopped washing the dishes. "You lost your mind?"
"I know, it's dumb." Cindy shrugged. "But he got Feng on board, and it looks like a lil' bit of fun."
"Last time I went to that shithole something chased us." Lucy shrugged paying no attention.
"What chased you?" Cindy smiled, raising an eyebrow. "A dog? What? You scared of dogs, too?"
"I just don't want to be caught." She replied with a sigh. "Well, okay, I go. But before, someone want omelette? There's leftovers in the fridge." She smiled.
"Naaaaaaaaaah... I think we should eat after our little adventure. Just in case we have to do some running." Cindy smiled. She was happy to have Lucy along. So it won't just be Meifeng bickering with the twins, or Trevor sexually harassing everyone.
"Of course! Exercise the thighs!" She waved her hands. "Just what I don't need... Let me get my phone." She said going up the stairs to her room.
"Yeah, yeah... I'll be out here if you need anything." Cindy turned around, and pointed her fingers up into the air.
"Now I'm more concerned about my safety." She teased with a big smile.
"Don't worry, I got you, girl." Cindy replied, smiling widely at Lucy.
".... Yeeeah, Lucy, she'll protect you." Trevor said as he ran down the stairs, snickering like a fool. Slung over his shoulder was a gym bag - the gym bag he always used to hold his bow and arrow, knife, and other hunting equipment. His foot hit the bottommost stair, and he looked at Cindy.
"Oh, you shut up, for just one second." Cindy threw her hands up in the air.
"What? Is Titty Monster coming along with us?" Trevor grinned widely as he looked in the direction of the kitchen.
"I'm going! I'm going!" Lucy yelled from first floor.
"Then wait, we got here on Cindy's scooter..." Trevor said as he ran his hands through the air. "How will Lucy come with us?"
"Oh?" Cindy left her mouth open for a second, as she put her hands on her hips and tilted her head. "I got nothing, unless ya'll wanna stack up on the scooter?"
"Staying next to Trevor? No, thanks."
"Bus?" Trevor shrugged.
"Yeah. Better get going then."
"Actually, Obott." Cindy flashed Trevor a smirk. "You can take the bus. I can take Lucy to the Ghost Town on my scooter." She started laughing.
"Awwww, you gonna do that?" Trevor shrugged.
"Better hurry or you'll miss the bus." Lucy winked to Trevor.
"Well, gosh darnit." Trevor kicked his boots at the ground, and crossed his arms. He was going to wait until they leave so he can lock up.
"Now, shall we?" Cindy walked out the door, and ran down the steps of the beach house. Getting onto the scooter, and sliding up a bit so Lucy could get on. She turned back around, and patted the spot where Lucy could sit. "You getting on?"
"It sure beats the bus." Lucy smirked, before sitting on the scooter behind Cindy.
With a confident grin, Cindy sped off into the streets of Verthaven, unobstructed by the idiotic rain. She was heading back to the club.
Sonya could smell the rain. A puddle splashed underneath her froggy foot. She was heading there on foot - normally, she and Maria would have taken to the rooftops, but she was was trying to stick to the sidewalks just because they had a little guest with them! He wasn't blessed with Metahuman abilities like they were - and they had to respect that. Sonya did a little hop to the corner, before she put her fingers on her earpiece. "Grue, can you check out any...." Sonya trailed off when she realized that rain was dropping. The storm had returned.
"Christ!" She said, as she immediately reached for her pistol. A Glock 17, loaded with taser rounds - though that wouldn't be all that useful here. "Inky, stay in human form. You know what rain does to you."
Maria nodded her head, and reached for her own glock.
"Cass, we should be on guard - because I think the rain has something to do with it." Sonya was no rookie to NEST - she had a great deal of experience in knowledge in the world of Metahumans. "My theory is that our target can control weather - or is working with someone who can - to cover his tracks like the little bugger he is."
Cass threw them a nod, resting a hand on his holstered sidearm. "I'm familiar with the concept. Back in '94 when NEST wasn't what it is now, I worked a case where a group of professionals had someone on their crew who manipulated the weather to create thick fog, then use it as cover to hijack security trucks. We're moving on their terms, now."
"Good." The rainstorm had picked up, and Sonya looked upwards. She pressed her comm-piece's button, "Grue, it's raining." There was a thin layer of fog forming. Nothing that would obstruct the average human's eyesight (Especially not someone like Sonya). "We need eyes."
"Alright, I'll see what I can do." Dana said. "I can tap into a few camera feeds, but that's just about it."
"Keep me posted." Sonya nodded her head. She took in two deep whiffs of the air in order to get a scent... and all she could smell was rain, and the usual scents of the city washed down by the rain. A good thing about all this rain was that it was keeping her layer of slime nice and moist. So she doesn't have to worry about-
Sonya's superb hearing picked up a loud splash coming out of the nearby river. It called for some further investigation. Sonya hopped high up into the air, and attached herself to the side of the building. She quickly crawled her way up, and hopped up onto the roof of the building. She immediately grabbed her sniper rifle and looked through the scopes. She scanned the area... Everything looked clear. She was searching corners, nooks, and crannies.
A glowing eye.
Attached to a silhouette obscured by the fog. It was staring right at Sonya. Almost like it somehow knew she was there. It quickly climbed up the side of the wall and used it's powerful arms to carry it like a gorilla, and Sonya wished that she had Inky here to spot it.
"Shit...." Sonya muttered to herself. She called down to the people below her, "I got eyes on it!"
Meanwhile... Marcus Rowland and Audrey Novalik
Marcus cycled to Haven, still disturbed by the events that had just occured. The incoming rain didn't bother him as much as the death of their customer. Why would she just die, out of all the people in the city? It was just so...random.
The thoughts stayed with him all the way to the counter, where Audrey caught him staring into space, slightly zoned out by his thoughts. A quick slap to the back of the head woke him.
"Oy, lazy blyat, what are you doing?"
"Oh, I uh, um..."
"Marcus, what's on your mind?"
"Huh?"
The question caught him off guard. It wasn't like Audrey to ask something like that. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
She thought for a moment and nodded in recognition.
"Da, da, yes I remember. Caramel latte, yes?"
He nodded and sighed.
"Well...she's dead. Killed. By a...monster or something. NEST was there, but I couldn't do anything."
"Mmm. I think you should take five from register. Go take break."
With a weary sigh Marcus left the register and went out to the back step, apron draped over his shoulder. He gazed out over the beach, empty as it was in the wet of the afternoon. The rain was starting again, the large drops making little divots in the sand from the storm that was rolling in, and the sounds made his mind wander. His thoughts drifted back to Cora, and her seemingly senseless murder. NEST were quick to respond yes, but...
An idea began forming, and almost immediately he went straight for his phone and dialed a number.
"H-hello?"
"Yo Cole? I need you to do me a favour."
Sonya pointed across the buildingline, and the creature they were after hopped up to the roof of the building. Maria looked up, and saw that it hopped to another rooftop. "Crap!" Maria said as she ran towards it. She wished that she could use her ink-form in all this rain - she could keep up with Sonya in her alternate form - but she'll have to stick with Cass. "Follow me!"
On the rooftop, Sonya leveled her rifle at it. She tried to line up a shot, but it moved out of the way, it fell down into one of the alleyways. "Damn it!" Sonya hopped from one roof to another, keeping up with Maria and Cass, shouting, "It ducked into one of the alleyways!"
Maria picked up the pace. She quickly reached the alleyway, and turned around the corner, aiming her gun. She couldn't see anything - the fog was just too damn thick! She saw the figure's glowing eye facing her, and she shouted, "FREEZE!"
It didn't oblige. It launched itself at her. Maria immediately - it was very difficult not turning into ink on reflex - rolled to the ground. She turned her head, and saw it perched on a car like a vulture, before it hopped off to the next roof. She leveled her glock at it, and fired a few taser rounds. All of them missed.
"Leave the shooting to me, hun!" Sonya shouted. Thanks to the wifey, she got a clear shot at it! She saw it hopping from roof to roof, she leveled her Barrett at it, before squeezing the trigger. A taser dart round came flying out at it, and pierced through the air. It hit the beast in its back, it let out a screech as it convulsed as the electricity rocked its body. It fell down, and hit the ground out of sight.
"Nailed it!" Sonya fist pumped.
"Good job, ace." Maria said through the comms. "But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Confirm it."
"Oh, yeah," Sonya climbed down, and stood besides Maria. "After you." Sonya pointed her sniper ahead for a second in a sweeping motion. Before the two ran off after the monster. They came up around the corner, and it felt very inconvenient... the fog was so thick that it was hard to get a good look at things. However, they were right in front of a river.
The creature, in one last desperate move, pulled itself into the water.
"Wait!" Sonya shouted before she heard the splash. "Damn it! Shit!" She cursed. God damn it, they probably lost it for good. She pressed her earpiece, and communicated with Grue, "Grue, I nailed it with a taser dart, but the bastard just crawled into the water."
"These waterways go all over the city," Dana noted. "Your target could reach any part of the city."
"Well, loooooooooooks like there's only one thing to do...." Sonya immediately reached for her sniper rifle, and handed it to Agent Inkshade. "Looks like I gotta go after 'em. Rifle ain't waterproofed." She shook her head. "Only one that can swim, after all."
"Um..." Maria was at a loss for words of encouragement. "Be careful."
"I will..." Sonya stepped over the edge, and retracted the webbing in between her fingers and toes. She smiled, perfect for swimming. She took a step - before stopping. Oh! Looks like they forgot all about their VPD buddy. She faced Cass, throwing him a wide, disarming, smile, "Oh, thanks for the help, Cass. But looks like this is where we part ways for a second." Putting her hands on her hips with a tilted head, Sonya continued with, "As you can see..." She put her webbed hands with her bulbous fingertips, "... I'm a lil' beastie, so I think I can handle this part a little better. But don't feel sad, you have Maria to keep you company!"
Sonya turned back towards the river, and dove inside, with her hands together. She pierced through the water and felt that splash. Her eyes opened, and she didn't even have to hold her breath. She was now breathing through her skin. She quickly unsheathed her knife, and looked around, Where is that bugger...? She thought to herself.
She saw a purple light moving away.
Ah! There you are!
Meanwhile... John Cole Sykes
"Y-you want me to what?!"
"You heard me right Cole! These guys, these NEST chicks? I think they're looking for leads on Cora's death, and I want you to get into their databases and show me what they got!"
"B-but that's illegal!"
"Beside the point! Point is that whatever that thing is, it's out there, and I ain't dreamin'! And if it's out there, I can chase it! Just get online, get me information on that thing, and let me get some vengeance on this asswipe!"
Seated on his bed, John sighed. It was raining out, the perfect weather to stay inside and play some games on his laptop. Today he'd taken a day off from work to just relax and unwind, to try and isolate himself from the streams of data that wove through Verthaven's sky. The streams from his laptop and phone gently roiled and twisted in the air, filtering through his window as they joined the masses outside, but he didn't care much for them. His attention was on the call he was having.
"S-so what do you need me to do, Marcus?"
"I need you to get into the NEST network, okay? Those chicks had phones and stuff, they have to be communicating somehow. You gotta find that network, get into it, then feed me whatever information they got on this thing so I can track it."
With a weary sigh, John nodded, even though Marcus couldn't see the gesture through the phone.
"A-alright, Marcus. But you better tell Audrey that I'll be in sick for another day or two after this. How will I find you after I get what you need?"
"My phone's with me. You find them, you'll find me. Listen, I'm heading back to where I found the body, gonna start from there. They couldn't have gone far."
"B-but Marcus- "
"Just get your computer stuff done and get back to me, alright? Now's not the time for questions!"
A blip of sound indicated Marcus' message coming through, and in a second John had the address committed to memory.
"A-alright. I'm going to jack in now. I'll see you in a bit."
He laid his phone down on his bedside table and sprawled out on his mattress, getting comfortable as he settled in for a long haul journey through cyberspace. Then, with a hand lying on his phone screen, he closed his eyes and jacked in. The real world rushed by him in a whoosh of sound as his consciousness converted itself into raw data and surged into the datastream connected to his phone, and soon he was in the data world, floating as an angel of light above a bright highway of data that extended from his phone outward into the skies above Verthaven. With a look in the general direction of his address, he set out along the highway of light and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
In the cyber world, John flew on wings of data, speeding along the highways of data that led West, towards Haven and the beach. In a matter of seconds, he'd found the correct address and latched onto a route there. The journey would take less than a minute, and yet would leave him as exhausted as a five mile run. The physics of his powers, he could never explain, but at least they were useful.
As soon as he reached the mobile tower in the vicinity of the given address, John stopped. Here was where the work got difficult. Somewhere in this sea of data were three unique data signatures that led back to NEST, and they routed through this tower. With a nigh infinite amount of time on his hands, he began to search, using his hands to spread and search each and every data stream that came into the tower for specific keywords or audio signatures. To the common computer user, a search this deep would take hours, but for John? A matter of seconds was all it took for him to locate a data stream of a...Sonya Mayfield. NEST field agent, marksman and metahuman, and currently on the case of Cora's death and the monster they were hunting. The hunt was just underway, but with this information and access into the datapad she carried, Cole could follow her and her team's progress through the whole hunt.
And, right on time, a new blip emerged that routed into the tower, a stream that Cole handily identified as Marcus.
Now for the chase.
Marcus Rowland
I have the info you need Use the attached app Will display GPS info on your phone screen - JCS
"Awesome."
Marcus grinned and tapped the new icon that had just arrived on his phone's screen. In a second, the app expanded into a small map of the area, with a collection of blips. The green blip, he recognised as himself; stationary at a street junction. The other three blips, the ones in blue, were the NEST agents he'd seen earlier, and they were moving. The last blip, a purple one, he didn't know, but he guessed was the monster. This one was moving quicker, and it didn't have a positive GPS position, only a circle that covered the general river area without any solid blips.
But he knew where it was.
Time to hunt.
He clipped his phone to his upper arm, sat astride his bike and began pedaling for the river. With his strength and cycling ability, he'd be sure to catch up to the pursuants easily enough.
As he cycled he watched his progress on his phone, which was still on. His blip moved steadily along the river's bank, albeit just behind the blue blip and purple circle.
The second Sonya caught sight of the target, she immediately went right towards it. Swimming through the water with the speed and finesse of a fish. The light narrowed, and then swam in the other direction fast as possible - but Sonya was right on it's tail. She wish that she'd seen this ahead of time, just so she could grab her waterproofed rifle. The creature swam to the bottom of the little river hoping that it would deter Sonya, but she was essentially made for this. Only problem for Sonya was that this thing was moderately fast itself.
The chase went upwards when the creature decided that it wasn't going to lose Sonya underwater. It tripled speed in it's ascent, and hopped out of the water like a god damn fish. Creating a massive splash, which caught the eyes of many people trying to avoid the rain. It grabbed onto the nearest roof, and hoisted itself up. Sonya popped her head out of the water, and grinned. Looks like he lost the natural advantage just like that!
Sonya hopped out of the water, and landed on the sidewalk. Earning hereslf looks from the passerbys. She looked at them and said, "Official NEST business." Before she hopped upwards right onto the side of the building, she clung to the red brick building using her sticky fingers. She climbed up the side of the building to the top, and instinctively reached behind her for her rifle - then remembered that she gave it to Maria. "Damn it!" Sonya hissed.
"Inkshade, where are you?" Sonya asked Maria through the comms. "Gonna need my rifle back!" Her large eyeballs picked up the creature's movements. You're not getting away from me that easily.
"I don't know, let me use the datapad...." Maria looked at her wristpad. Fortunately, Grue linked their pads together. "Alright, I found you, I'm on my way!" Maria started running, holding Sonya's sniper behind her as she ran after her.
In the meantime, that meant that Sonya could only hopelessly chase after the beast, and hope to grab onto it. Sonya hopped from one roof to another, her eyes were keen on finding it. She was glad that no damn gang member decided to roll by, because she was in the heart of Union Point Hills. Even with the Fiends gone, that would be a problem. Sonya made another hop, before the beast jumped down.
Sonya jumped to the edge of the building, and looked down. Only to loudly sigh, and proclaim, "Of coooooourse...." Her target rammed his way into an abandoned factory. Closed down not too long ago, and set to be demolished. Sonya hopped down, and was quickly joined by Maria, who handed her the rifle.
"Looks like we're going in...."
The rain was pouring hard, and Sonya held onto her rifle as she, Maria, and Cass walked up the building. It smashed it's way inside somewhere, and she just needed to find it. Indoors, it should be easy to get a solid trace of it. Her enhanced senses are good enough to pick up it's sound, and scent. The trio circled around the building, until they found a boarded up window that was smashed down.
"Looks like we found our way in." Sonya put her rifle behind her as she hopped in through the broken window.
Maria did the same. Except - the moment she was out of the rain - she turned into her black ink form, and hopped through the window as a puddle of ink. She reformed into her true form, a large and tall woman made out of ink, with all of her organs and bones visible through her transparent skin. Functioning.
"Um... You can say that the both of us are... weird." Sonya shrugged as she said to Cass, nervously looking at her feet.
The three moved in. Lead by Sonya, who had a trace scent of the beast.
Meanwhile, outside, Marcus screeched to a halt just at the entrance to the factory. On his phone, the three blips of the NEST agents had moved inside, and the purple circle had expanded to include the whole factory area. He got off his bike and moved into shelter, unclipping his phone from his arm so he could message Cole.
cole ty for map heading in now
With his phone back on his arm, he allowed his arm bones to overgrow, twin blades extending from his forearms as he stalked into the factory. He kept behind the agents, but made his own path, running up stairs and keeping to the high ground and away from the ladies that he was pursuing.
His green blip slowly drew closer to the blue blip.
His footsteps softly echoed through the abandoned factory, alongside the agents.
Sonya took in a strong whiff through her nose, and smelled the beast... Smelled a lot like rain, with other beasty scents. Sonya and Inkshade pushed in a little harder, until they reached one large room. It was dark, and hard to hear with the rain hitting the roof of the building. Thankfully, Sonya had some amount of nightvision. Nothing perfect... When she stepped into the room, she immediately looked right, then left. No sneak attack. Sonya looked up and...
The beast was right there, hanging from the ceiling.
It released it's grip.
"Move!" Sonya immediately rolled out of the way, holding her rifle tightly as she immediately turned around, holding her sniper in hand.
Inkshade turned into a puddle of ink, and threw herself across the room. Hitting the wall like paint, and reforming halfway and staring at the beast.
Now... Now, Sonya could get a good look at it. It had strange dark-grey skin, that was rough - on top of that skin was what looked like a layer of water. It had a long snout like a Goat's skull, with rows and rows and rows of nasty sharp looking teeth. It's arms were long, and thick, like a sloth, topped off with nasty sharp looking claws. It's legs were stubby enough to understand why it used it's hands to do all the moving. It's single eye glew purple brightly as it stared at Sonya.
Sonya shouted, "Freeze!" To no effect, the monster didn't even recognize her statement. It rushed her headon, and Sonya had to roll her eyes up into her head. She leaped high up into the air, pulling out her knife as she attached herself to the ceiling. The beast braced itself on the ground, and leaped through the air powerfully at her. Sonya's tongue shot out of her mouth, and it attached her to the wall to the side, and slung her through the air. She pulled onto it tightly, and hit the wall. The beast went right by her and hit the air.
She landed on the ground next to Inkshade, both drawing their sidearms as they pointed them at the descending beast.
As Marcus drew up on the group, he saw the beast perched on the ceiling, and it dove straight for one of the agents. She lassoed out of its way as it flew through the air, and as it impacted the ground, he struck.
From his perch up in the catwalks, he drew some bone shards from his hands and slung them straight at the beast, keeping himself hidden but aiming to incapacitate the monster before it went anywhere else.
The bone shards hit the beast in the shoulders, and knocked it off course. It looked behind it to see Marcus. However, the two NEST Agents unloaded a barrage of taser darts that hit it's front, and sent electricity coursing through it's body. It hit the ground, bracing it's arms for the impact. It hit the ground with a thud, growling loudly as the two Agents leveled their arms at it. It looked around, and saw an empty crate. It grinned as it's hand latched onto it, and swung it around it's front - deflecting the taser darts that were just fired - before letting it go. Turning it into a high impact projectile.
Naturally, Sonya jumped over it, and Maria dodging it was as simple as turning into a puddle of ink.
It used it's distraction well, by flinging itself upwards towards the catwalk that Marcus was on. It's claws attached to the side of the catwalk, and it hoisted itself up. It didn't waste a second in rushing Marcus, using it's arms as legs like a Gorilla.
He barely had the time to stand up straight before the beast was on his level, barreling down at him on the catwalk. With his arm blades out he charged straight ahead, growling as he dove forward with arms out, blades set to stab the beast in its shoulders.
The blades hit their mark, unfortunately, this left Marcus open. The beast slashed it's claws wildly towards Marcus's midsection.
"The hell is he doing here?" Sonya asked as she looked up. She recognized his scent and the clothes he was wearing... was he... was he following them? Either way, Sonya was going to help him. She hopped over in order to get a good angle on him. She leveled her sidearm at it, before pulling the trigger a few times. Shooting a few darts that hit the beast in the side.
It convulsed and gave Marcus some breathing room.
He hissed as the beast's claws opened up deep gashes in his middle, bleeding crimson all over the catwalk, but as his wounds began healing he kicked the beast away, his bone blades stuck inside its shoulders as he readied two more. With those in his hands, he charged forward and swung, aiming for its chest as he chopped the two blades together like a pair of scissors.
Still stunned by the tasers, the blades pierced through the beast's stomach, spilling blood. It grabbed it's chest, as it let out a cry of pain. Before it rushed Marcus, throwing it's weight at him.
"Oh, that isn't good." Sonya said as she watched from above. "Looks like we gotta help the poor bastard, Inky. Let's go!"
Inkshade turned into a puddle of ink, and climbed along the walls until she was on the ceiling. That's when she dropped down, and reformed, gun in hand
Taking a more direct route, Sonya jumped into the air, and shot her tongue out, grabbing onto the catwalk. She hopped up on it. She sat on the railing, and grinned as she pointed her glock at the beast's back, and squeezed the trigger three times - releasing a barrage of taser darts - once she squeezed it a fourth time, no taser round came out.
The creature howled as it raised it's hands up into the air, shaking. Leaving itself open for one final blow....
The thing was on top of him, trying to get him dead. But he had other ideas. As the thing shook from the taser shock, he grabbed it and hugged it tight.
"This is for Cora!"
Spines and spikes of bone burst from his arms, hands, chest, even face, impaling the beast in a bloody iron maiden.
The creature let out one last cry as it died.
"... Dude!" Sonya loudly shouted. "We needed him alive!" Sonya pulled her blonde hair. Now they can't bring the bastard to justice! At least they can examine the body.
"You realize if he was a Metahuman..." Maria noted, facepalming.
"This thing killed Cora! Damn well better make sure it dies and stays dead! No metahuman would go around killing people and mutilating them like that anyway!"
He shook himself dry of the beast's blood and dusted himself off, pushing the corpse off his arms as he stood.
Sonya put her hands on her small hips, and gave Marcus a narrow glare. "I understand how you feel... but you should have left it to us NESTies, we had the situation under control, and Agent Inkshade here was about to disable 'im." Sonya said, "Which brings up another question: how the hell did you track us all the way here? I swam through a goddamn river for christ sake."
"Well first of all, it didn't look that way, and secondly, I have my ways."
He harrumphed and folded his arms, examining the tatters of his tank top in resignation.
"Your... ways?" Sonya leaned forward, putting her hand up. "Look, buddo, I really appreciate the help and all - but if you're doing anything funky, then we're going to have a problem, mister Rowland." Sonya huffed.
Maria on the other hand, knelt down to examine the monster. She was going to disturb this thing as little as possible so the boys-
"... It's dissolving." Maria calmly noted as the beast did just that.
"It's dissolving." Sonya shrugged, almost like she shrugged it off. "IT'S DISSOLVING, BLOODY HELL!"
In a few seconds, what was left of the creature was nothing but a puddle of sludge on the catwalk that dripped to the ground floor.
"Holy fuck- "
Marcus recoiled as the creature's corpse dissolved into a puddle of sludge that dripped through the mesh of the catwalk, momentarily shocked by it's sudden dissolution.
Sonya immediately clenched her nose, wincing. "Holy hell, it stinks, too!"
"That's going to be a problem." Maria shrugged. "Let me call this in. We'll get a crew out here to clean this up." She immediately turned away from the group, and pressed her earpiece. "Grue, Agent Inkshade here. We have tracked down the killer and..."
"And what?" Dana asked.
"Marcus Rowland, the witness, jumped in and killed the target, and before I could examine, he dissolved into a puddle."
"Oh? Well..." Dana shrugged. "I'll send a team to your location to clean it up."
"... In the meantime." Sonya pointed a finger at Marcus. "You're not going anywhere."
"Alright, Agents, just keep an eye on..." Dana trailed off, when several alarms went off behind. "Oh no..." She winced. "Agents! We have an escape in p-" Comms went off when power was cut to Headquarters.
"... Dana? Dana? Dana?!" Maria repeated over and over and over again.
"Wait, what the hell is going on at HQ?" Sonya asked.
"I don't know... but we need to get there."
"... We don't have a car, and comms are down." Sonya shook her head. She then turned to Marcus, and said, "Alright, buddo... we have business to attend to - we're going to talk to you later."
"Well, if you take me with you, I have a BMX bike. Just outside the factory."
Marcus shrugged and stood around. Might as well be useful since these people "needed" him for later.
Sonya scratched the back of her neck, and faced Maria. The two spouses nodded at each each other before turning into a liquid ink form, and jumping onto Sonya's armor. Getting underneath it.
It was a strenuous effort, despite Helena's best protests to leave well enough alone, to transport PR-1 to the Questioning Room. He was coated from the neck down in containment foam that would be a task for even the strongest Super-System type to break, and had a power suppressant collar around his neck. Carried into the room via a special hauler. PR-1 was placed up against the interview table - with the Agents that hauled him in immediately leaving the room. Those Agents left the room to form the squad that was waiting outside the door should PR-1 attempt to escape.
Lihua stepped up to the two-way mirror, and put her hand on her chin as she watched. She knew that they wouldn't let her question it - and, given how angry she made it when she threatened it's research, it was probably for the best. All she had to do was stand and watch....
Sitting across from the table was Adam Blackmore, adorned in standard NEST armor. It should be resistant to any electrical attacks by the superweapon. A telekinetic Agent in the other room popped the collar off, and Adam leaned into the table, neatly folding his hands on the table.
"Hello," Adam started off. "I am Adam Blackmore, and I will be conducting an interview with you today."
PR-1 sat there seemingly unresponsive, and did nothing in reaction the the collar being popped off. There was the sensation of consciousness slowly returning to him, but Adam's voice was little more than distant, blurry muttering to him. He felt a slight tingly warmth slowly filling up the cold cavity in his gut. His last memory was letting himself be entrapped in NEST's containment foam, and as they approached him with the collar... there was nothing after that.
He made a strange warbling metal sound as he muttered to himself, "makes perfect sense, really... shut off the powers and all my senses and processes go blank. Will take note of that in the future..."
Adam couldn't quite understand the mumbling. He perked up, and tried to listen, but ultimately, decided that wasn't relevant. "Can you tell me your name?" Adam asked.
"Hm?" Lihua mouthed the sound. "What did he say?"
"... Somethin' about how shutting down his powers does... ah, screw it, it turns his metal ass off." Leon said as he walked into the room. He faced Agent Vuhong, and threw a thumb behind him. "Sorry, taking a piss." Lihua only gave him a narrow look.
The moment Adam voice sung out, PR-1 felt its vibrations against his face as static began to run through his skin again, and his head jolted upward. "My name?"
PR-1 made a high pitched squeak sound that could be interpreted as him scoffing, but it was typically hard to tell. "Now that's hardly worth anything to you, isn't it? Surely you'd rather know more about the Hands of Science."
"Just a formality." Adam calmly noted. Something was definitely off about PR-1. Adam wasn't trying to go straight to the questions about the Hands just yet - rather not tip him off. "If you would rather we cut to the chase, then can you tell me about the organization - the Hands of Science - you work for?"
"You simply surprise me." PR-1 responded. "The simulations were much more straight to the point, but I suppose that is why the Fiend suppliers in Cuba would fall so easily."
Adam quietly grunted. Simulations...? He wondered what sort of preperations this thing went under before the Hands threw him at NEST.
"Lost for words?" PR-1 asked. "Allow me to clear the air for you: the assault on the Changeling's perpetrators was only my first assigned mission."
"And it will be your last. NEST won't let you cause anymore damage." Adam confidently noted, raising an eyebrow. "Now, who gave you this "assignment"?"
"The Hands of Science."
"... Who specifically in that organization? Dr. Cross?" Adam asked - hoping to get more information of the Hands of Science's leader.
First assigned mission...? Lihua thought on it for a second. He was implying something but she didn't know what. Personally, a part of her thinks that they should melt down PR-1 immediately after this interview - but she's suspended, so her guidance doesn't matter.
"Can we lock this thing back up, already?" Helena broke Lihua's reverie, as she was anxiously leaning up against the wall with her arms crossed. "This thing creeps me the fuck out."
"In due time, Helena." Lihua said.
""In due time" that thing will kick our ass." Helena scoffed at Lihua, earning a look of ire from the older woman. "... And it'll be on you."
"... Now you listen here-"
"Okay, okay, ladies." Leon stepped in between them, with his hands up. "Let's not tear up the whole building. Let's focus at the task at hand."
The two women crossed their arms, and faced away from each other.
"Hm... perhaps you were right. It would be easier for NEST to understand with context. If you would allow me - from the beginning?"
"Very well, you may proceed."
PR-1's chiding tone balanced out and sounded deeper as his voice grew serious. "PR-1 is my designation. I was born Peter Brooke. Agent...?"
"Blackmore." Adam nodded his head. Peter Brooke... He was certain the boys in the other room would be searching up everything they can find on that name. It could be a start.
"Doctor Peter Brooke." Peter said even louder, as if to address the people watching personally. As if to make it easier on them. He turned back to Adam. "Born in Maine."
Lihua's fingers went to her ear... in some attempt to press a button on a earpiece she didn't have. It was such a habit that she didn't notice. "Look up Peter Brooke immediately. Born in Maine."
Both Leon and Helena gave her a curious look.
"... You know you don't have an earpiece." Leon said, playfully laughing. "Suspended and everything. Hehe..."
Lihua angrily growled at him.
"Alright, alright..." Leon pressed on his own earpiece. "Grue, can you look up a dude named Peter Brooke, says he's a doctor and born in Maine if that helps ya' narrow it down?"
"I can hear him, Leon." Dana rolled her eyes before she just went to work. She immediately searched through every database possible, until she found what they were looking for. She brought up the smile and looked up the file on Peter Brooke. "Peter Brooke. He's a Maine-born doctor that is a veteran that was honorably discharged after losing his arm in the service. He's a Pharmacologist, and Medical Engineer. Really good at what he does."
"Alright, thanks, Grue." Leon turned to Lihua and repeated everything that Dana just said...
Adam nodded his head. "You're a veteran?" Adam was personally wondering how he managed to make the leap from a disabled Veteran to cutting down droves of NEST Agents.
"I came from a very poor family, you see." Peter explained. "So I was unable to directly enter the field of medicine, and I saw joining our nation's military as a viable option. I was deployed on Operation Desert Storm many years ago. Before ever entering the battleground, our truck hit a land mine. I lost my arm, and I was the only survivor of the wreckage."
Peter paused.
"That operation was twenty-five years ago, wasn't it? I was only twenty years old, then. Doesn't time just fly?"
"My God..." Lihua muttered to herself. It all made sense now. It's a Metahuman, just like her. All that casual scoffing that it was just an aberrant... it was all wrong. Lihua's breath rate sped up a little bit. She was finally getting confirmation that she needed.
"... Need some water?" Leon said, handing a small paper cup full of water to her.
"That is very unfortunate..." Adam adjusted his glasses. "And when did you... manisfest?" He asked.
Peter smiled. "We're getting there." He made a brief discharge of electricity, but there was something in the foam that blocked it from entering the air, or connecting him to the ground. For all intents and purposes, he was blinded and immobile. Only able to hear his questions, and see the faintest outline of Adam from the static in the air that emanated from his head.
"After that fateful incident, I decided I might as well go back to school, and use what I can from the veteran's compensation. Except that never came. My already poor family put themselves into poverty trying to help me through school, despite all my pleas and begging. After earning my doctorate, I made and researched the development of medicine until my studies had shifted my aim toward stem cell research. As a regenerative stem cell doctor, I worked within Rockefeller University and coordinated with Planned Parenthood and other medical organizations until I conducted my work independently."
Fascinating. All of this was fascinating. He, for a moment, wondered about all the medical breakthroughs he has made - However, he knew that the second he affiliated himself with the hands, he used that knowledge for all the wrong reasons. "... And where do the Hands come in?"
"After years of isolating myself from the world, focusing only on my work, I struck an impasse. A lack of funding and peer-review brought my research to a plateau. Even as a doctor, I had nearly bankrupted myself. My work is something... precious to me. It is unfathomable an idea to let anyone tamper with it. Too risky. Unable to proceed, I hit a pit of despair. The Hands of Science contacted me one evening... before I had finally decided to... how does it go? Eat a bullet?"
Adam uncomfortably cleared his throat. So, the Hands contacted him once he had no other options and gave him an option. It seems to be a common way organizations like this get fresh meat. Just recruit the people desperate enough to do the unthinkable.
"The choice I was given was easy." Peter mused. "I could proceed as I have been - a miserable one-armed wretch with no future. Or I could test their completed prototype serum - PR-1, or prototype one - which could either give back what I've lost, or kill me. I was fine with either result. As you can see, neither one of those happened."
A buzzing sounds similar to that of a sigh sounded from him. He tensed his body, and felt a little bit of give in the foam. He made no acknowledgement of it.
"So there was another option I had after I gained enough control of this... power--" Peter spat the word power as though it were a joke, "--they'd freely provide me with funding and resources if I agreed to continue as their test subject..."
This means that the Hands might have the capacity to create more Metahumans along the lines of Peter. The mere thought of a squad of them worried Adam. This just meant that they had to eliminate the Hands of Science before they could proceed any further in their research. Adam wondered how much information they'd actually be able to glean from Peter. He seems to be so dedicated to the Hands, and his research, that he'd be fully willing to die for them.
"...that alone did not get me to agree, however."
"Then what did...?" Adam asked.
"While, certainly, the proposition was tempting, I was too entranced by my depression and misery to give much care. My body was made of metal, and any chances of regeneration was permanently out of the question. The disability maddened me throughout my life and the serum had disillusioned me from my work. Neither was I happy with being a human experiment of two-bit mad scientists."
Peter's stiff upper lip curled into a smile.
"Society, in the end, is what did this to me. To keep the low down low while the high got higher. No circulation in the balance of wealth. It was what forced me to take drastic measures to make a living. It was what damned me when I came home crippled and deserving of compensation, but never got it. They offered it as a chance at revenge. I couldn't ignore the logic of the proposition. It was weighed in my favor."
"Revenge wouldn't solve anything." Adam noted. It was exactly what he thought, Peter had no choice. Give up his passion, or... give up. Adam wished that there was more that could have been done to help him - but, like he said, society. Though, they were getting off track. This information tells much about Peter... but little of anything relevant of the Hands of Science, and what NEST can do to take them down.
"We will do what we can to help you." Adam said.
"Oh, it's far too late for that." Peter mused. "My rage subsided in time. It's simply not in my nature to be angry or disdainful for very long - grudges exhaust me. I had found new purpose in my research. I may not directly benefit from it myself, no, but I could advance the medical field's progress for the sake of others like me. Those who had part of themselves taken away, people who had no choice. In the depths of their despair. I can guarantee you that there is no chance I would let anybody do anything to slow me down or get in the way."
Adam narrowed his eyes. He had a sinking feeling that Peter is warning them of REAPER breaking him out - just as Maximilian theorized would happen. Well, that isn't going to happen. "If your research is so important to you, then why did you launch an attack - alone - on several squads of powerful and heavily skilled Agents...?" He asked, skeptically.
Peter leaned his head forward, quiet for a couple moments.
"Because you can't hold me down."
On cue, there was a sudden amalgamation of several electrical streams beneath the surface of the containment foam. The overhead lights were flickering from the sudden interference. He concentrated the field between his body and available arm. The foam bulged and cracked, before the overwhelming force of the magnetic repulsion forced the foam to burst. The sudden release of the magnetic field spread across the whole room, and repelled the table they were seated at away from him, and knocked Adam backwards. The entire room lit up in his eyes, and he could even see the electrical wires within the walls.
'Don't these poor fools realize already? I can think a thousand times faster than they can. I've already accounted for hundreds of variables and counter-measures.'
"Now..." Peter muttered to himself. "Where is former director Miranda Caryl?"
Lihua Vuhong, & Task Force RAVEN, vs Peter Brooke.
...Adam narrowed his eyes. He had a sinking feeling that Peter is warning them of REAPER breaking him out - just as Maximilian theorized would happen. Well, that isn't going to happen. "If your research is so important to you, then why did you launch an attack - alone - on several squads of powerful and heavily skilled Agents...?" He asked, skeptically.
Peter leaned his head forward, quiet for a couple moments.
"Because you can't hold me down."
On cue, there was a sudden amalgation of several electrical streams beneath the surface of the containment foam. The overhead lights were flickering from the sudden interference. He concentrated the field between his body and available arm. The foam bulged and cracked, before the overwhelming force of the magnetic repulsion forced the foam to burst. The sudden release of the magnetic field spread across the whole room, and repelled the table they were seated at away from him, and knocked Adam backwards. The entire room lit up in his eyes, and he could even see the electrical wires within the walls.
"Ah, damn it." Leon's expansive eyes went wide as he pressed his finger to his earpiece. "We got a problem! PR-1's out!" He shouted into his earpiece. "And he's about to fry the old man! Get your sprayers and push in!"
"God damn it!" Lihua hissed in Chinese. This isn't how she expected this to go - but looks like there's no choice but to fight. Sure, she's suspended - but Metahuman or not she's not going to stand by and let Peter rampage through Headquarters.
"Shit! We need to get Adam out of there!" Helena shouted, she was shaking as her blue eyes fixated on PR-1. She quickly turned to Lihua, and pointed at, "This is... this is all-"
"Yeah, yeah, save that shit for later, rookie." Lihua hissed. "We have to get Adam out of there right now. And I have an idea." Then she remembered what PR-1 could do, and it's uncanny ability to hear. "I need you, Helena. No time to think about it, you do it or he dies!"
Helena had no idea what crazy scheme Lihua was up to, but it better fucking work. This was all her fault.
"Okay." Lihua quietly sighed to herself. She stepped into a sideways position, and raised her fist up into the air. She brought her fist back, and violently pulled the concrete around the two-way mirror enough so that it shattered.
In the split second, Helena knew exactly what to do. This was going to hurt like hell, though. Right as the glass was falling, Helena flash stepped into the room, and grabbed onto Adam, who was already pulling himself up. She then flashstepped back into the observation room.
Only problem was that it could get at them now.
"Agents!" Dana shouted - through the building's speakers, opposed to the comms. "We have an emergency! A dangerous Metahuman has escaped from containment! All noncombatants evacuate the detention center immediately, and all other Agents, head to there to engage lockdown procedures! This is not a drill!"
Helena entered Peter's field of awareness, and reflexively shot a bolt of electricity at her location almost instantly. However, during the battle in Ghost Town, she had a very small impact on its outcome. He did not think to recall her and her ability. Her instant travel outpaced him, and there was just a scorch mark where the pair was before. 'Interesting'. The field expanded to fill the new space, allowing him to see Lihua again, and all the others in the observation room. This brought on a smile in Peter - she was the one that threatened his work, was she not? Now she was indoors. Whether she realized it or not, she was in his domain.
Without having to look up, he already sensed the metal beams in the ceiling. With the aid of magnetism, he launched himself toward the ceiling stuck to it, attracting himself to the beams in the frame of the room. He moved closer to the lights. Punching a hole through the wall, he grabbed the electrical output for the room's lights and began draining away at the power, charging himself more and more until everything went black. The lights flickered away, and all that was left was darkness.
Agents charged into the room, armed with containment foam sprayers. They immediately began spraying wildly into the room at all directions, hoping to contain Peter. They only had flashlights to give them guidance.
Peter wasn't interested in the mooks. Perhaps last time he was in order to demoralize their leaders and to drag out the conflict, but now he had a clear goal and didn't intend to waste time. He launched another punch at the ceiling, making another gaping hole, before pulling himself through between the levels. He continued to hammer above him until he finally digs his way to the floor above this one.
Of course, once PR-1 started moving, the Agents instinctively hauled ass out of the room - suspecting he was going to go straight for them. They heard crackling in the room behind them, then darkness. They stopped outside the room.
"God damn it!" Helena shouted. "I told Max we should have destroyed it while we had the chance!"
Leon just shrugged. "Y'know, I kinda had a feeling this would happen." He stood there. "Max is out. Sonya is out. Henry is out... Most of RAVEN ain't even here." He shook his head. "Shit ain't lookin' good for us last RAVENs."
"Shit!" Helena hissed, before pointing at them, moving her finger across. "I told all of you this would happen!"
"Oh pipe down." Lihua said to Helena. "We'll just have to stop him ourselves."
"How will we do that?! It nearly killed you and Max last fight."
Lihua grit her teeth as that scene flashed before her eyes. Her heart starting racing - but her will stopped her from breaking down immediately.
"Same way he was apprehended last time." Adam said, putting his hands behind his back. "We have no choice but to attempt to spray him."
"Hmmm...." Lihua put her hand on her chin. "Miranda.... he's going for Miranda - but it doesn't know where she is." She noted. "Which means it's unlikely to leave this area until it has completed it's objective.... Afterwards, it'll be free to tear apart headquarters."
"Which means we'll just have to box it in to the Detention Center." Adam slammed his fist onto an open palm. "In close quarters like this, it'll have a harder time dodging the containment foam."
"... And I think it just broke through the floor." Leon raised his sunglasses a bit, his power couldn't accurately work in the darkness. Which was a pain in the ass, but he could hear.
There was a moment of silence.
"... God damn it." Lihua said.
Peter's hand erupted from the tile floor, an array of ceramic shrapnel flying every which direction. Peter could sense the panic in the building, but this spot must have been the one of the sections with the greatest condensed non-combatants in NEST headquarters. There was no one around. Naturally, this would mean Miranda wasn't here, but that doesn't mean this place can't be useful. He pulled himself out from the floor and scanned the area around him. Like he suspected, this was investigation and file keeping. No armories or detention centers or anything of the sort. But there were computers. They were on NEST's network.
He marched down the hall toward the nearest office, and closed the door behind him. None of the Agents could see in the dark except for specialized meta-humans, but Peter could see everything as far as his range would allow him and more. He faced a monitor on a desk and raised his hand to touch the computer, discharging electricity from his body. In the midst of the power outage, he brought the isolated computer to life and the network routers beside it. The outage was devastating in more ways than one. They lost all of their intel. All outside communication. Any compounding numbers were halted. Theoretically, they'd have to re-synchronize everything, assuming their HQ was left in one piece.
It won't be.
Finally booting up the machine, he put the proper input in to navigate its programs. The screen blinked around madly before it met with a particular window, asking for a passcode.
Peter smiled.
It would only be a matter of time. Thousands of variations and possibilities ran through his head, and he entered them into field, receiving "invalid" after "invalid", blinking on and off like a strobe light. It could take a dozen minutes. Much less if he was lucky. But between the darkness, no way to know what he was doing, where he could be - he figured time was on his side. They wouldn't find him soon enough with the entire headquarters to look through.
"Good grief." Lihua muttered to herself as she shined a flashlight ahead alongside Adam. Helena and Adam were behind her, watching their six. Though, she had the total feeling that he could pop out of nowhere, and - while she would never admit it - it terrified her. She had to stay strong, and hope that Leon could find it.
Adam quickly deployed his own Echo. A golden tinted copy of himself that shined a light throughout the hallway - appearing like a hologram - that could only be seen by a fellow Metahuman. It might be giving themselves away, but, far as it can tell, he'll know exactly where they are.
"Leon, have you found it yet?" Helena asked, shaking her flashlight.
"Not yet." Leon was worried. He couldn't hear anything through the comms. He pressed onto it, "Grue, are you okay? Grue? Grue?!" Getting no response. "I hope Dana's okay. Hate to lose the little girl."
"She can handle herself, just find it so we can lock it back up, already." Helena quickly yipped.
"Good grief, woman, get a hold of yourself." Lihua hissed at Helena. "You're damn near ready to piss yourself."
"Wouldn't you?"
"Of course not, because level heads prevail."
"Can you two stop your sitcom bickering for one second?" Leon raised his finger up into the air. Okay, he needed to focus. In the darkness, he couldn't see Peter - but he can always hear him. Which meant that, when using that All-seeing eye of his, he has to listen extra carefully. He projected his vision onto the enviroment again, and slowly scanned the hallways where PR-1 could have went... Until he saw some light. He immediately focused on that area, and caught sight of PR-1 mashing away at a computer.
"Uh, oh."
"Wait, what is it?" Helena said, coming to a stop.
"Caught eyes of our little metal friend. He's trashing computers in I&I."
"Good grief!" Lihua slapped her hand onto her forehead. "All my work... No, we have to focus."
"A plan of attack is in order." Adam noted.
"Helena could catch...." Leon tried to suggest, before getting cut off by Lihua.
"Don't bother." Lihua said. "I have a plan in mind... it's going to be a huge risk."
"What is it this time? Want to nuke Headquarters?!" Helena said.
"The four of us can't take him on our own. I could last a few minutes in a fight against him. Adam could, too. Only problem is that we'd only be able to delay it." Lihua shook her head. "It's after Caryl, so we have to lay a trap for it."
"What kind of trap can we lay for that damn thing?" Helena raised an eyebrow.
"Aren't the cell resistant to every type of damn power out there?" Lihua asked no one in particular.
"Yeah, how's that going to help us? Think we can get him into a cell?"
"No, no, I have a different idea." Lihua noted. "His abilities have to be electro-magnetic. He has some sort of extra-sense related to it. Our only hope is to hide outside of it's senses for the perfect time to strike."
"So you want us four to dip inside the cells?" Leon put his hand up, and then shrugged. "Then what? It kicks our ass as always?"
"Not just us, we'll grab as many Agents as we can."
"With the comms down and shit?" Leon scratched the side of his head.
Adam took a step forward, and faced them. "I have a telepathic ability currently replicated. And NEST has several other telepaths in it's employ."
"Good. Me and Adam can gather some Agents." Lihua said. "Dana did tell our combatants to gather in the detention center."
"Good plan and all..." Leon crossed his arms, looking off to the side. "... How the hell do we get him in the trap?"
"He'll walk himself into the trap. He's after Miranda." Lihua grinned wryly. "As I recall, leading up to Miranda's cell is a long hallway straight to it. Even if he bursts through the ground, he'll have to get into our line of fire."
"Good plan, but... it's basically hoping that we can catch him off guard, and hoping we can foam him." Leon raised a finger into the air.
"Look. Vahan." Lihua looked Leon right in the eye. "We don't have too many plans that don't involve throwing ourselves at it senselessly until it kills each and every one of us. There's a large margin for failure - but, this might be our only feasible plan."
"Agent Vuhong is right, it utterly blindsided us." Adam nodded his head. That was the problem with NEST, they were only good when they had time to prepare. No one could prepare for an attack of this scale. "However, I feel as if we could make a few... changes to the plan. Make it less obvious that he's walking into a trap."
Leon shook his head. "Got no other ideas."
"Alright, Adam." Lihua turned to the older gentlemen.
Adam's version of Echo faded away, as he switched to Telepathy. He tilted his head downwards, before he closed his eyes, and sent out the telepathic message to as many NEST Agents as possible. All Agents, this is Adam Blackmore. I am sending you telepathic directions for a meetup point... We have a plan.
Adam nodded at Lihua, before Leon says, "Alright, I'll keep an eye on it from a distance."
The four Agents went to action.
After some time to meet up and explain the plan, all Agents were positioned. In the hallway leading up into Miranda's cell, several Agents (Including Lihua and Adam) had formed a little defensive line. Lihua had used her ability to create concrete spikes that point down the hallway. There were multiple concrete barricades, each with some Agents - armed with containment foam - standing behind. Lihua was standing in front of the cell door, with a cold face. Adam had deployed his own shining Echo.
Agents were positioned in the empty cells as planned. This was a gambit, but they had to do something to stop Peter.
Now they wait. Lihua was good at waiting... but Peter could show up at any moment, in the most unexpected way. And they all were prepared.
Peter's password scans finally came to an end when the the result, "passcode verified" finally popped up on the screen. He was redirected to cells in the detention block, where he dug deeper and deeper and search through isolated chambers. High-profile meta criminals, but the most isolated of all was the ex-director's cell. If they had any idea what Peter was up to, they'd mount a defense there. The map showed him which area in which level - at the end of a long hallway. Apex containment, a very costly cage. He may not be able to easily force his way through by breaking through walls.
Worst comes to worst, he'll want to disguise his approach.
He discharged excess electricity into the computer, overloading it until it was finally fried. It sizzled, and a small flame flickered from the vents. The smoke began rising. Peter tossed a folder of documents - he had no care whether they were important or not - to fuel it, and walked out as the fire slowly began to envelop this section of NEST's headquarters. As they caught, a larger flame emerged. Within moments, a smoke detector went off.
One isolated beeping sensor went off, and a few seconds following, alarm bells across the facility began going off loudly. He may have cut the power, but emergency systems always operated on an independent grid. Seconds after the alarms went off, sprinklers from the ceiling began dousing headquarters with water - along with other levels. It was a fail safe to prevent fire from spreading to other floors. With the sound of bells and rain smacking against tile floors, their senses should be further disrupted. There was just one more thing Peter wanted to take care of before he hunted down Miranda Caryl...
He walked towards the hole he had carved from the floor and jumped down it, landing solidly on the ground with his five hundred pounds of weight. The room lit up behind his eyes. Looks like they retreated. Perhaps it was as he suspected, and they mounted a defense. A bulwark, all for a woman. It was fruitless... he never intended to rescue her.
He marched out of the destroyed observation room, the water pooling on the floors splashing with each of his steps. He marched deeper through the high-risk cells of the detention block - with the water everywhere, he could expand his field of vision effortlessly. He could see around corners and down halls. He came across a guard, who was unable to see Peter coming and had a hard time even hearing him coming amongst the chaos. Peter wrapped his hand around the agent's neck, choking him and rendering unable to call for help. He charged a magnetic field within his hand before releasing it - in an instant, his fingers were pulled towards his hand. In an instant, the agent's throat and neck were crushed. Blood seeped between Peter's fingers, and tossed the agent to the side like dirty laundry. He bent over and lifted a key from the dead man's pocket.
On the other side of the cell was a man, hunkered over a corner. Peter touched the locked cell door, created a field, and unlocked the mechanism inside. The door slid open, prompting a curious look from the prisoner inside.
"You the one they been talkin' about, ain't ya?"
Peter didn't answer his question, instead, he threw the key to his collar at his feet. "All you have to do to pay me back is to release all prisoners above priority code seven. I suspect that many... important agents have barricaded themselves at the entrance of the maximum security cell block. Do what you will with this information."
"Anything to get out of this shit-hole." The Prisoner said as he unlocked his collar. It dropped off his neck, and he stood up. He balled his fists, before they were engulfed in orbs of light. "Looks like we got ourselves a prison break."
"For the record..." Peter added. "You may do as you like, but consider the idea that the more agents you take out of commission, the less likely you are to be captured again."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, boss." The Prisoner said as he quickly darted past Peter out of the cell. He immediately went to work releasing every dangerous Metahuman that NEST had captured. Eventually, they had themselves a little crowd. Comprised of thieves, murderers, rapists, psychopaths, and any of the sort. The Prisoner raised his fist up into the air, and shouted to his crowd, "Alright boys and gals, I'm Dante! And I think it's time that we bust out of this dump!" He started laughing. "Fuck up NEST in any way you can."
The crowd loudly cheered before they went to work
"The exit is down the longest hallway." Peter lied. "There might be a blockade waiting for you."
They quickly rushed down the hallway, searching for blood.
Lihua Vuhong, & Task Force RAVEN, vs Peter Brooke.
Do you have eyes on him? Lihua sent out the thought to the little mental network Adam set up. Since the comms were down, this was the best thing they had, so they have no choice but to make good use of him.
Leon was leaning up against the walls of the cell with a containment foam sprayer in hand. You're gonna be reeeeeeeeal pissed....
You lost him.... Lihua sent a mental groan. God damn it!
Yeeeeeeeah, I'll find him. Just gimme a minute. Leon nodded his head as he scanned the area, he immediately went down the hallway - he heard a bunch of footsteps splashing within the darkness. Oh?
What do you mean "Oh?" Lihua replied.
Think we got boogies...
What- Lihua thought - before she saw a red light down the hallway. She and Adam immediately ducked as a red orb of energy went over her head, and left a black scorch mark behind her.
"Shit! They let out the level-sevens!" One of the Agents shouted as the hallway erupted in a hail of gunfire and shouting. Powers were getting used left and right.
"Why the hell are they coming down here?!" Lihua shouted through the chaos, before it hit her. He was turning them into fodder! To weaken their defenses. Clever, but when they spring their trap, it won't matter. She looked down the hallway that had many cells leading down it.
Should we come out? Leon sent the mental messages.
No, no, the plan is still going on... He just added a little twist to things.... Lihua replied, narrowing her eyes. If we let him think his plan worked, then our plan will be twice as effective.
"Adam." She nodded at him. "Looks like we gotta get a little blood on our hands."
"No mercy." Adam nodded. "These men and woman are the worst. They have long renounced their humanity."
Lihua put her hand out, and clenched it into a fist. She gathered sharp concrete blades into an orb with a blade sticking in every direction. Before she raised both hands in the air, and pulled many concrete shards out of the ground, and created several more of these bladed weapons. Before she sent them flying down the hallway - the first one hit someone in the face, and pierced their skull before it exploded and sent heavy concrete shards all over the place. Damaging every escapee in the process. The rest rolled on the floor, and got deep into their ranks as possible.
"Run!" Dante gave Lihua the satisfaction of making him shout - before it exploded and a shard went right through his skull. The rest of the blades devastated everyone else that didn't have a resistance to physical damage. Many were standing, but several had fallen.
Adam was going to fix that soon as possible - he sent his Echo out at high speeds, and it punched someone square in the face. Breaking his skull instantly. Adam aggressively barraged them with a hail of fists and fury to keep them suppressed. Punches and kicks were countered with instant speed.
One final punch sent a man flying right back into the darkness of the hallway
"Keep an eye open for him!" Lihua said.
There was a brief moment of silence in the dark hallway, or as quiet as it could be with the splattering water and ringing alarms. A sudden sensation of static enveloped the agents, more noticeable due to the wet surface. Over the metal cell doors and walls, the smallest noises from inside vibrated against the doors and caused a disturbance and interacted with the static that they were conducted with. Agents were hiding. Something was hiding.
'Pincer formation. Clever idea... but you can't hide from me.'
Only Leon could hear the brief sound of a metallic click. The sound of a repetitive gunfire rang through the dark hallway as a hail of bullets ripped through the air towards Adam.
There was barely time to react before the bullets hit Adam. Once in the thigh, another in the forearm, another in the shoulder, and so on... Adam fell backwards after letting out a loud yell. Bleeding.
"Blackmore!" Lihua shouted, reaching out towards Adam. "Christ!" She turned back towards the hallway, and pulled the concrete that was acting as a bulwark off the ground, and made it float up in the air to act as a shield for herself, and Adam. This presents a problem. Now they couldn't message the team hiding in the cells for the sneak attack. Which meant that she'd have to find an alternative means of messaging him.
Her head peaked out from behind her shield slightly, and the first line of defense fell to the escapees. Which meant that part of her blockade was no longer needed. She pushed her hand out, and shot the concrete spikes at the very front of the barricade out. They impaled two escapees, but the rest went into the darkness.
The Agents were fighting with all they had to keep the escapees out. Which was a lot harder without Adam and his Echo suppressing them.
'One down'. This was all too familiar to the last operation - Agent Blackmore had the same shadow-man ability as the agent leader before him. It was just as annoying as before, and like before, he was the first one apart from NEST's mooks to fall. To avoid the results of their last skirmish, he had to play it safe. Now, as for the rats hiding in their holes...
Peter removed the magazine clip from the assault gun, using his teeth when needed. He emptied it of its bullets, allowing them to drop to the ground, before attracting them into the air with his hand. Infusing them with a charge, the repelled one another, and they levitating in the air. They were calmly sent through the air, in a circular pattern, using the electrical field on the ground to keep them in place until they were in the center of the hall.
Peter felt himself struggle. 'A-ah... so it looks like this test is useful after all. I'm at my limit - centering a field where I am not the focal point is... a lot harder than I expected.'
Peter took a few paces forward to extend the range of his next maneuver. He preferred being in their blind spot, but some things were unavoidable. Following a spinning halo of bullets, he reached the edge of their field of vision, and their lights revealed a faint glimmer as they reflected off of his skin. As he walked, forward, each door he intersected with had a heavy clicking sound. Doors he walked past locked themselves as he closed in, which allowed him greater finesse with his ability to magnetize objects. Doing it as he aimed his weapon was something of a task however.
The lights shone over the spinning halo of bullets. Lihua and Leon were already deathly familiar with it.
Hmph. Things aren't looking too good. Lihua shook her head. All this defense in the name of someone who ratted out her conspirators? Hmph. Lihua knew it was just as likely he was coming to tie up a loose end than liberate the former Director. At this point, Lihua found it hard to care what happens to the bitch. Truthfully, it was more than just Miranda. It was stopping Peter. He is simply too strong to live - regardless of what little humanity he holds onto. Lihua was foolish for letting all this happen, but, once again, she was going to do everything to set it right.
Can I? Lihua asked herself.
"I think he's there!" An Agent called out, pointing at the glimmers.
Time to find out, shall we? Lihua pulled back the myriad of concrete shards she sent at the prisons at high speeds. They were cutting through the air, and prisoners, until they'd hit something that'd stop them. It wasn't to damage him - if anything, it would further injure the prisoners - but it was to confirm Peter's location.
A cacophony of screams erupted in the darkness, but there was one gratifying result amongst the horror - a sharp metallic ping, and the sound of stone clicking as it fell to the ground. A moment of silence had followed, and Peter retaliated. The magnetic field around the bullets repelled them, and they immediately shot them forward, focused mostly at the agents apart from Lihua as she had her wall to hide behind.
Fortunately, most of the Agents were using the concrete barricades that Lihua erected as shields. However, a few were pierced with bullets, their armor couldn't stop it.
"It's here..." Lihua narrowed her eyes. They're going to need a plan soon. The loud clicking of the cells meant that Peter just locked the Agents in as he walked by. Irritating. Peter was easily the most annoying opponent that Lihua had ever faced. By the sheer virtue of everything they could throw at it being ineffective save for containment foam.
Though that meant they had to be creative
The lights had finally flickered back to life, a bright white light filling the hallways and slightly blinding anyone who had adjusted to the dark. Peter looked around, noticing the sudden return of electricity. Pools of blood mingled with the water on the ground, and the entire surface was red, soaking the feet of all the remaining agents.
"Your technicians work quickly." Peter commented.
"We have the best of the best." Lihua retorted. Now, at least they have some chance, but that still presented a problem. They needed to get the Agents behind Peter out. And that would be a feat.
Peter faced his head down at the dent the subsonic rock Lihua shot at him made on his chest, on top of the left pectoral. He had known about this the moment it had happened. He figured he might as well mention it to his enemy, so that he might discourage them further. "Nice shot."
He raised his palm over the chest, and streams of electricity were visibly arcing between his hand and his body, before the massive magnetic force finally forced the metal of his body to fit his form and was undented. He lowered his hand - his chest was sculpted back to normal.
He was probably waiting for this, but Lihua knew that they had to slow him down until reinforcements come. She gathered more rocks, and made them float in the air in front of her shield. While he was repairing himself, more rocks went flying at him in hopes that he would be tripped. Then she'll try to foam him herself. It's the only thing she can do now with her forces taken out.
The first stone hit Peter's shoulder, and given its impact, it was enough to let Peter take Lihua's attacks seriously. The rest of them Peter was able to react to with sharp reflexes. Peter composed himself and began pacing down the hall toward the blockade, wading through the blood soiled water.
"We have been through this before." Peter warned. "Give up. You know what will come of you if you insist on getting in my way."
"You are correct. We have done this only twice, and I am so tired of this routine." Lihua willed two pieces of stone to step on. This is one risky gambit, and she knew that she had to have her guard up. She let out a sigh as she dropped the containment foam sprayer, and crushed it underneath her shield. She held her hands up into the air. "This is simply a fight I cannot win. We have expended all options, and I simply don't care enough about Caryl. She's served her purpose." Lihua folded her hands behind back.
"If you would allow me to pass, I'll stay out of your way."
"You were behind the glass. You know who I am." Peter said dryly, continuing to pace forward. "How stupid or gullible do you think I am?"
Hmph. "I have two daughter, Brooke." Lihua mentioned. "I have far too much to lose to continue this fight." God damn it, just let me pass. Lihua thought to herself. She realized that maybe she'll have to do this the hard way. She kept that shield of concrete up.
"Prove it." Peter demanded. "Open the cell. Take your comrade's gun. If the Director has outlived herself, then prove it to me by killing her."
The cell block was the most protected spot in the entire facility. Made to hold any measure of meta-human. Peter suspected that if he were to step foot in there, it would be over for him.
"You see... Brooke..." Lihua said. For Blackmore's gambit to work, Peter has to get in there. "Only a certified and high enough ranking Agent can get in there." She shrugged. "Remember that woman from the night you attacked us...? The one you were using as a shield against Cornell's Echo?"
She was just bluffing. Buying time. She gathered as much spare concrete as she could, and tried to form a drill through the floor. She just needed to buy a little bit of time.
"If that is the case, then you wouldn't be allowed here after risking her life just to land a hit on me." Peter commented. "I am getting annoyed. What did I just ask? How gullible do you think I am?"
Lihua tore the visitor pass hanging off her chest off, and threw it across the floor for Peter to look at. "Visitor. I'm just here to get some confirmation...." Lihua trailed off. "I have to say, your trick was fooling us into thinking that you actually retained some humanity." The drill was still doing it's work, it was getting taxing holding up this shield. Since it appeared that Peter wouldn't let her go by easily, she stepped off the rocks she was floating on, and added that to the rock drill.
"How foolish I was to start all of this...."
"Humanity?" Peter asked. "Subjective. Not black and white. It is what kept me from killing a mother on a whim, but you are stalling for time. If you keep me much longer, I will be rid of you, then your comrades, and then I will throw a grenade at the Director's feet. When I am done, your children will be next, and I will let them know you were the reason why they are going to die."
Lihua had to keep her cool, she knew exactly what he was trying. He was trying to get her to do something rash. Even if he "throws a grenade" in there, that room is armored to the tits. Just like Blackmore said, it takes a few moments for powers to disable - which leaves a super-system Meta with enough time to toss a few punches. The drill was almost threw, she just needed. One. More. Second.
Lihua laughed like a noblewoman. "That is such a disgraceful tactic an Aberration like yourself would resort to. Threatening a parent's children?" She scoffed. "Our conflict is between the two of us, and it should stay that way."
"I. Don't. Threaten." Peter said gravely, his voice sinking into an inhuman tone - more robotic than anything, Peter raised his hand, creating a field between him and the wall behind Lihua, pulling himself as quick as an arrow towards his target. His arm punched a hole through the wall Lihua hid behind and grabbed for her throat - the impact his body made on the wall made it crack along the whole surface.
Lihua was expecting this. She knew that she could only buy a few seconds. So, once he punched through the wall, Lihua stepped to the side using reflex alone. She let out a sigh. The drill she made finally pierced through the floor, and gave her a perfect exit. She gave Peter a bored look, raising her hand.
".... You should know by now I'm no beginner."
She swiped her hand, and what was left of the wall she made detached from the ground and went flying down the hallway (Hopefully with Peter with it). Then, she turned around and hopped into the hole. With the drill forming a patch for the hole that she recently created. She pulled two rocks from the ceiling, and made them float under her feet. Riding them far away from Peter as possible. She didn't know whether or not he would pursue, but reinforcements should be closing in any second now
The wall tossed his weight a bit, but he quickly magnetized his feet to the ground - mostly pointless, as the wall crumbled and fell apart the moment it met resistance. He looked down the hole - it dug down the the level below the detention block.
He looked back to the Director's door. Change of plan. He assaulted the door with dozens of magnetized-aided punches, denting it and breaking parts until he was able to grab the door itself and yank it open, ripping it from its hinges. Looking inside, he saw nothing. A dead spot. Someplace his field couldn't reach. He had no way of knowing if there was another door between layers.
'Won't risk it.'
Peter grabbed onto the door he tore off and threw his arm back, charging his body and ready to throw the door with all of his might. He tossed it, and heavy chunk of metal shot like a bullet. Aimed at the edge of the door, by the lock, he forced the second door open with pure force, breaking the lock inside.
There was no way he could see Miranda inside the cell. His field couldn't reach. All he could do is pretend he was on her side. For all she knew, she still had information on NEST the Hands could use. Better than to be locked up in isolation, right?
"Director Miranda Caryl," Peter called, "the Hands of Science sends their regards. I am to escort you to our headquarters immediately. We can discuss what you've learned during your time here once we return."
"That's Former Director to you." Miranda said, wryly. Sitting down up against the wall. She looked unfazed by the door opening. "Surprised you bastards didn't go the simple route and just sneak some poison in my food." She shrugged. She stood straight up, and looked through the hole at her "savior". A tall metal bastard. She has no idea what, or who, it is.
"You possess intel on NEST that cannot be compared to a handful of scientists with an overnight cram session." Peter explained.
Miranda quietly laughed. "Even after my failures pulled the cover on the Hands?" Miranda scoffed.
"That is to be discussed. Your... honesty is what kept you alive, yes? There will be terms and conditions regarding our continued cooperation."
"If you're worried about me leaking anything about the Hands, don't bother. I kept my lips sealed." Miranda lied to the Metal Man, she told them everything in hopes that NEST would be able to stick it to the Hands. "Before I even consider leaving this cell, I want Dr. Cross' given word that I'll be kept alive."
"As I said," Peter reassured, "you are a valuable asset. Dr. Cross personally assigned me this mission. NEST wants you contained. If we want to survive their reinforcements, I suggest you follow along with me before they arrive."
"Better than sitting own my ass all day...." Miranda groaned, there was a part of her that knew that she was going to die. Might as well face it with dignity rather than waiting for him to come and tear her to pieces. She slipped through the hole that Peter made through the door, and stepped into the field. She sighed as she paced forward towards Peter until she was close.
"For now, you are a hostage." Peter explained. "NEST shouldn't make any moves if they can't guarantee your safety. They value your intel on the Hands, too."
He slowly wrapped his hand around Miranda's throat. "It'll be much more uncomfortable if you struggle too much. Try to relax and I'll be sure we both escape."
Miranda felt he was going to break her neck. She nodded her head as he did so.
There was a point where Lihua decided that Peter was not pursuing her. Lihua stepped off the rocks, and nodded. She had to figure out what to do from here. Leave the Headquarters and let it out to destroy the city (Or kill her daughters), or try to join the resistance? All plans they pulled against it had failed miserably. Their only hope is to box... Wait. Lihua had another plan.
Lihua heard a mass of footsteps, and she quickly ran towards it. It was a squad of NEST Agents, with Maximilian standing in the midst of them. "Age- Lihua." Maximilian said, as he faced her.
"I'm ready to face scolding."
"No. This is my fault." Maximilian said. "I should have destroyed it while I had the chance."
We both made a mistake here. Lihua replied.
"I have an idea. Do we have enough men to fill the floors above and underneath the hallway to the Apex Cells?" Lihua said.
"I don't know."
"He has enhanced senses. If we foam him, he won't be a threat." Lihua said. "He is strong enough to break through the floors. If we can surprise him during his escape, we'll have him fully foamed."
Maximilian put his hand on his chin, before he swiped his hand in the air. He put his finger on his earpiece, fortunately, they got the comms back online after the power. "All Agents, take position on the floors above and below the Apex Cells."
"Yes sir!" Almost every Agent said in unison.
"Also, he locked the Agents in the cells. You can use your Echo to quickly unlock the door-" Lihua was cut off when Maximilian handed her an earpiece.
"For you. You may be suspended, but I know you want to stop it as much as anyone else."
Lihua nodded her head as she slid her earpiece in. She would savor this moment if she wasn't fearing for her life.
"Agents on the fourteenth floor are in position." The comms went alive with Dana's voice, who, thankfully, stayed hidden until the power and all the security systems went back online. "Agents on the sixteenth floor are getting into position."
Maximilian grabbed his foamer. "Let's go. I guess we're going to be in the hallway."
Let's just pray we don't get another repeat. What happened here... oddly reflects what happened a week ago. Lihua thought to herself.
Maximilian and Lihua marched down the Apex Cell with a squad of Agents. Maximilian immediately called out his Echo, and he handed his shadow the key. Echo immediately went to work unlocking cell doors to let the Agents out.
Helena near instantaneously flash stepped out of the room. She looked down the hallway at the bleeding Adam. "Adam!" She flashstepped to him, grabbed him, and flash stepped out of the way.
Leon stepped out of one of the cells. "Oh boy, hope ya'll gotta plan." Leon said.
"Don't we always?" Lihua asked.
"... And don't they always fail."
"Nothing ventured, nothing gained..." Lihua groaned as she walked down the hallway, now joined by Leon and the Agents in the cell.
Echo stood above Maximilian with his arms crossed as Maximilian aimed his foamer at Peter. "Give up, PR-1." Maximilian called out. "We have you surrounded!"
"Peter." He corrected as he held Miranda in the air by her throat. "Don't waste my time with bluffing. You haven't executed her yet because you need her and the secrets she has. I can react in a hair of a second. Try anything and she dies."
He did not even wait for a response before he started walking toward the crowd. Neither did he seem to be taking very great care of the former director as he held her aloft, and none of their raised weapons seemed to do much to falter him.
"Maximilian, you have to make a choice," Lihua whispered, pleading with Maximilian to see the light. In Lihua's eyes, the Director was useless. "We let a Metahuman superweapon walk out the door, or we risk the woman who isn't even of any use to us."
"I-" Max was cut off by Peter.
"Fantastic logic, agent." Peter commented, not even slowing down. "It'd seem your lesson wasn't as impacting as you claimed. Some lives aren't as equal as others?"
This thing can hear her. Right. She forgot. Lihua utterly ignored what Peter said. That didn't matter. They needed to stop Peter here and now before he becomes a long-term problem. This morality over common-sense bullshit was going to bite them in the ass.
"I am literally fifteen feet from you and counting, and you still aren't out of my way yet." Peter warned.
"There's a choice, Max. Either sacrifice one life, or lose a thousand more Agents." Lihua said. "You have to make the choice."
"Agents on the sixteenth floor are in position." Dana noted.
Maximilian looked down at his foamer. This... this was not an ideal situation. There were so many things going on, Maximilian's breath sped up. Let the Director die and forsake morality. Or preserve morality, and become the organization that people believe they are. Logic or emotion.
"Maxi," Leon called Maximilian by that little pet name Sonya gave him. Facing him with the foamer in hand. "I know what's going on in your head, but I think if you're going to make a choice - ah, know what? I'm on your side, regardless of what you do - but you gotta make it now."
Peter stopped in front Maximilian with Miranda in hand, looking down at him. Without a real face, it was difficult to tell, but it wasn't hard to guess that Peter was getting impatient.
"The Hands are not my friends. But I've a choice to make as well, and I chose to ensure the futures of the wretched." Peter told him. "Be a man and make your choice."
Sweat was trickling down Maximilian's head with every word Peter said - what everyone said was making this decision so much harder. God damn it! He's the Director! He's supposed to be good at these situations. How would the world feel if NEST casually discarded lives to achieve results? How would NEST feel if he let a killing machine continue to cut them down? His hand was shaking, and his breath started to get heavy.
Everyone was right.
There was a choice to be made here, and it'll change him as a person - more than anything else he's seen while on duty.
"Agents..." Maximilian said, closing his eyes. "I have made my decision." He nodded his head. He took in one breath, before he exclaimed,
"Spray him down! Do not let him esca--"
Peter's hand clenched around Miranda's throat instantly, causing the former Director to spray blood everywhere from her mouth. Foam began to envelop him from all directions as Peter once against felt the cold grip of depression strike at him again. Years of work, of research, and all of it was going to waste as he would be put asleep for an indeterminable amount of time. 'If only I had a chance to know where I first went wrong... my first wrong turn... then maybe I would've found a way.'
Maximilian immediately dropped to his knees, holding his hands onto his head. He was staring at the floor. It was over, PR-1 was detained again. The sound of Miranda's neck cracking played in his head over and over and over again. "What...." Maximilian trailed off. "... What did I do wrong?"
"You..." Leon put his hand on his chin, looking at the bloody cadaver getting engulfed in foam. "... made a choice." He put his hand on Maximilian's shoulder. "Now, if you ever want to talk about anything, I'm here."
Lihua grimaced. To be so cold hearted and merciless... It was unforgivable. She felt a twinge of sympathy for the former Director... but then realized that this is the culmanation of her sins. "The results..." She said, "The world only needs to know the results" She faced Maximilian. He was taking this hard - but, it was the right thing to do. So what she was being cold... she had to think of the longterm. And morality is oh so short term.
"However, I am responsible for what happened here." Lihua turned sideways, facing Maximilian. "I truly am a selfish, selfish, woman." Lihua sighed. Coming to terms with her words and misdeeds was merely the beginning. She knew that she couldn't hold the moral high ground, and didn't even want to try at this point.
"Get him into the Apex Cell...." Maximilian groaned.
The Agents nodded as they ran back to grab a hauler.
"... And don't ever let him out."
Maximilian turned around, squeezing his eyes shut, marching down the hall and pushing his way through the crowd, giving none of the agents a second glance. As he finally squeezed his way out, he somberly looked down at his feet as he walked, catching a glimpse at his hands. He stopped. The gloves he had worn... they were drenched with Miranda Caryl's blood from that moment she died. He turned back around and watched as agents hauled... Dr. Peter Brooke away. Somewhere, in all of that foam, there was also a dead woman that he could have saved. This is what it meant to have control over lives.
Henry Olin, Trevor and Scarlet Obott & Maximilian Cornell
"... Okay, you're telling me that he's not here, either?" Maximilian said, barely containing his growing rage. He was shaking, his fists were clenched.
"Yeah, I told you, he ran off to go grab some shit with Cindy. He'll be right back." Meifeng said, leaning up against the wall with her arms crossed. She told the twins to stay inside because she got this. She speaks NEST! "What the hell did he do to get the "Acting Director" and Godzilla on his case?" Meifeng shrugged.
Henry beat his chest and gave the peace sign to that statement.
"We just need to have a word with him." Maximilian nodded his head.
Meifeng shrugged. "Yeah, "a word"." The teen fingerquoted.
"If he's back at the house, he might already be on his way back." Scarlet said. "I don't think we should chase after him."
"Yeah, just hold your horses."
Maximilian turned away and put his fingers on his earpiece. "Grue, can you track Cindy Keagan's phone number?"
"Easy. I'll-" Dana was cut off by the alarms going off in the background. "Oh no."
"Grue, what's wrong?"
"He got out." Dana said, before she pressed a few buttons. "Agents!" Dana shouted - through the building's speakers, opposed to the comms. "We have an emergency! A dangerous Metahuman has escaped from containment! All noncombatants evacuate the detention center immediately, and all other Agents, head to there to engage lockdown procedures! This is not a drill!"
"Oh, oh no." Maximilian's eyes opened wide. Now they have to deal with that thing again. His heart started racing - but he had to remain strong. They beat him once, they can do it again. "Henry, I have to get back to Headquarters!" He shouted, running down the street, before he started floating upwards. He looked behind him as he relayed the orders, "Find Trevor - but don't bring anywhere near Headquarters until the coast is clear!"
Henry rubbed the bridge of his snout in frustration. Fucking-
"HNNNNNNNNNNNNG~"
His groan was loud. Of course this shit would happen at this point when his plan was going so well. One thing after another. Great. Just wonderful.
"You called?" Eli said over his own speaker. Eli, being ever prepared, was in a different building than Dana, but had the same equipment that Dana had. Making him just as useful, but not as cool.
"I owe you lunch. Can you track Cindy Keagan's phone?"
There was the crackling of a bag of chips on the other side of the com unit, and Henry grinned.
"Yeah, I'll get right on that."
"... Haha! I did it!" Trevor shouted as he ran up, hoisting his gym bag over his shoulder as he ran up with a wry grin on his face. He couldn't believe those assholes just left him behind - especially Cindy! She brought him here. That's just coldblooded to just bring him here, only to make him take the bus. Especially with all the people trying to steal his gym bag. Whatever, he's here... Wait, why is Henry here? Trevor came to a stop, and looked up at Henry.
"'Eeeeeeeeey." Trevor said, putting his gym bag full of weapons behind him. "Haven't seen you 'round these parts lately, Henry. How ya been?"
"Trevor, well..." Scarlet put her hand behind her head. "Think I'll let Henry explain."
"Hey, what did I do?"
"Uh, yeah, no." Henry said, being incredibly unused to things actually working out in his favor for once. "No, you're not in trouble, just... just follow me. We're gonna take a ride."
And with that, Henry helped Scarlet and Trevor gather their items, ignoring the smell of gunpowder that was literally all over Trevor, and piled the two of them into his car. As he pulled out and got onto the road, Henry took a deep breath.
"You two aren't gonna like this, but NEST Task Force RAVEN, I.E me and a bunch of other high ranking NEST memebers need your help on a big operation we're about to push for. I'll explain this to you, but I will warn you both that if anything escapes your lips about this, you will not only be criminals, but you will be targets that need to be... disposed of, by our target. Are we clear?"
"Uh..." Trevor immediately raised an eyebrow. Okay, NEST business? He wasn't very sure of that. He was just a teenager with simple needs (The booty)! He was no hero! And this ain't no place for no hero. "I don't-" Trevor cut himself off when he realized all the things he could get out of this! NEST is a very important organization, after all. He could definitely score some... favors (No, not those kind of favor). "Well, what is it, Lizardman?" He said with an eager smile.
"I'm only a Private...." Scarlet scratched her hairbun. She was afraid of this. If this is Task Force RAVEN, then it has to involve the Hands of Science. She looked over to Trevor, who seemed to be more interested, and let out a sigh. "Well... I'll hear you out."
Henry's eyes trailed to a McDonald's on an exit not far from them and turned to get off on it's exit. But he still listened to his two guests.
"So essentially we're storming the castle. 'Gonna sweep the leg right out from under REAPER." Henry said, punching the air with one hand while the other remained on the steering wheel. He took a breath. "The problem is, it's their home turf and their building. A lot of casualties could occur... but we have you two, and an AC unit that circulates air through the building... Get what I'm saying?"
"You want me to drug an entire base?" Trevor immediately picked up on what Henry was saying. Raising an eyebrow, he wasn't very confident in his ability to drug an entire base. "I... Don't know... can I actually produce enough of this stuff?" Just to demonstrate, Trevor outstretched a finger, and a clear, thick, liquid appeared on his fingertip
"And you want me to help because I have Trevor's power?" Scarlet asked.
"Exactly." Henry said. "Over the next few days I want you to try and sythesize as much liquid tranquilizer as you can and store it. Absolutely do not push yourselves, but every little bit helps." Henry advised. "You'll be saving dozens of potential lives.. You'd be under surveillance and protection the entire time and in no way will you be put into the line of fire... Plus, you could end up working up close and personal with Adam Blackmore."
"I have no idea who that is!" Is the first word that Trevor said. He thought about it for a bit, and another question popped up in his head, but Henry rolled down the windows to order some food.
"I would be honored, sir." Scarlet said, nodding her head.
Henry then proceeded to roll down the window as he approached the McDonalds drive through.
"Yes, hello, I'd like... five orders of the number six please. Large drink. Dr. Pepper please... And could you make those fries without salt? Thanks."
He turned his head around to face Scarlet and Trevor.
"It makes sure you get the freshest fries. You two want anything?"
"No, I don't eat fast food." Scarlet said, raising her hand.
"Uh, yeah, I'd just like some french fries...." Trevor scratched the back of his head with every nervous word he spoke. "You do know that my magical drug does other stuff than make people woozy? Like hallucinations, and heal 'em and shit?"
"Trevor!" Scarlet said. "Watch your mouth."
"What? You mom now?"
"Just act proper for once in your life."
"Oh yes, we're very well aware that does that. They're drugs, after all." Henry commented, driving forward to pay for his order.
"But if they're out of it when we're on our A-game, those hallucinations might distract them, and any pain dulling or minor healing that occurs isn't going to stop a bullet to the skull." he said. The cashier opened the side window and passed Henry his order with wide eyes. Henry, being himself, winked at the woman and then passed Trevor his fries.
"What we're asking is, are you in, or are you out? Because we need your help. A lot more people will be more likely to go home to their families safe and sound if you can. But if you're truly not comfortable or do not feel you are ready, we understand."
"I well..." Trevor scratched his neck again. He would gladly help people, especially the hot ones. Only problem would be that, well, he's going to be in the line of fire (And probably literally set on fire). On the other hand, he'll have enough protection from all of RAVEN to protect him from those crazy REAPERs. However, he wanted to make sure that he comes out on top of this little mission.
"... If I do this," Trevor said, giving Henry a confident smile. "I want some favors. The terms and conditions, shall we say."
"Oh lord..." Scarlet facepalmed.
"First," Trevor started smirking. "I wanna freepass whenever I get in trouble with NEST - yeah, my own Get-Out-of-Jail-Free card. Maybe... ten?" He waved his hand around. Because Trevor will do anything in the pursuit of booty, he tends to get in a lot of trouble. "I'd love unlimited cards, if you don't mind. I'm thinkin' of startin' my rampage soon." He started laughing.
Making Scarlet shake her head.
"Second, this RAVEN sounds kinda cool. I'd love to meet them...." Trevor trailed off, letting his words hang in the air. "... In a all expense paid trip to Applebees. With every member." He wanted to go to Applebees, but that shit expensive. With NEST's unlimited budget, they should be able to do anything (Even buy a small country!).
"Third," Trevor raised a finger with a wide smile on his face. "I want one of those cool little lockpicking kits - no, not that I'm going to break into houses. Sometimes I sneak out at night, and Scarlet or Lucy locks all the god damn doors. Know how hard it is sleeping on the front porch?"
"Fourth," Trevor was having too much damn fun with this. "I know we're supposed to keep this a secret and all - but I wanna tell girls that I'm a Secret Agent. Whenever I need it, I'll phone you up and you're going to tell them that I am, in fact, a Secret Agent." That could definitely come in handy.
"Fifth, Neon Indian's tour is going to come through Verthaven. Tickets please."
"Sixth," Trevor made a finger gun, and looked down his 'sights'. "I wanna come in your fancy dancy NEST shooting range, and shoot your fancy guns."
He was scratching his head as he was thinking of more terms. "And, actually, for that matter; seventh; I want a tour around the NEST Headquarters, and take selfies all over it."
"I can guarantee ten get out of jail free cards if I, myself am the one to arrest you." Henry stated. He would still totally take Trevor in, and have Scarlet pick him up. He just wouldnt go to jail.
"The second one's easy. I'm sure they'll be all for it."
"Third... You can find that on Thisiswhyimbroke.com. Like honestly you dont need us for that. If you need thirty dollars for a kit then shit kid I have it in my wallet right now."
"Fourth... I'll conceed to that." He would totally just have Eli code him a number that will play a recording of him saying Trevor was a secret agent.
"Fifth, I'm going to that myself. So you'll be my plus one. None of the bouncers fuck with higher level security."
"Sixth... I'll have to talk to someone about that just because our guns aren't super special. The ones that are... are really expensive."
"Seventh... Yeah, I think we can do that. Just... nothing of significance can be taken onto the internet. You wont be taken to jail for that. You'll be forced to watch a recording on last year's NEST Christmas party."
Henry put a whole burger in his mouth and chewed. "That about it?"
"Uh...." Trevor thought about it for a second. "I also want twenty dollars. That's it! I'm on board, partner." Trevor laughed from underneath his scarf. This coming week was going to be awesome.
"If you're willing to go through all that just to get Trevor, then I guess I'm on board." Scarlet shrugged. Utterly dumbfounded that Henry agreed to this. Whatever NEST is planning, it must be big. She'll be glad to play a part in all this. Just to bring down the Hands, and make sure that they don't hurt anyone else.
"Alright. Sounds good. I'll alert you when the date comes. Dont worry about your contact information, I'll find you." Henry said, giving them the thumbs up, putting another burger in his jaws, and promptly turning up the radio.
After getting to the Headquarters... situation didn't look good. Looks like their good old friend PR-1 got out. Thankfully, NEST pulled together and put him back in. Unfortunately... they lost far more than they gained. At least Maximilian will consider destroying Peter like they should have did in the first place. Well, Sonya really wished that she could have helped in that fight - but there was something else she had to handle.
Now, after the trio made it back to Headquarters, the first thing that they did was put Marcus in one of the interviewing rooms... Unfortunately, it was wet because of the fire sprinklers. The floor had a layer of water on it, and the table was absolutely drenched. Fortunately, she managed to swap out one recorder for another. This didn't bother Sonya, who was sitting across from Marcus, even in the slightest. Due to her preference for wet places. Of course, that meant that Maria couldn't come anywhere near here.
Her oddly large green eyes were fixated on Marcus. "Hiya!" Sonya said, with a cheerful smile on her face. "I wish we can skip the introductions, but we gotta repeat it for our tape recorder!" She said. Pointing at the recorder on the table. Of course, she was just bullshitting while she waits for Leon to show up and "see the truth".
"Marcus Rowland. Barista. Work at Haven, cafe down at the beach. But you already know that, don't you."
Marcus folded his arms as he sat back in the damp folding chair. The interrogation room wasn't exactly the most comfortable of places to sit and "have a chat". He'd been in worse, across the ocean in Afghanistan. There he'd talk in pressure like this.
"Yup, and as you know, I am Sonya Mayfield of NEST Special Forces and Reconnaissance." Sonya said, her head tilting off to the side slightly. "Now, let's begin; what you said when I confronted you in the abandoned warehouse - what was it? Oh, "I have my ways" all dark and broody." Sonya started laughing to lighten the mood. She then faced Marcus, that smile turning into a frown. "Well, think we should address the elephant in the room; what are "your ways" oh kind sir?"
"You need me to be honest? Cause I kinda like the way things are. Dark and mysterious."
"Well, a little honesty never hurt anybody." Sonya said, squinting, and putting two fingers together.
"And what if I just don't tell you? What happens then?"
"Well..." Sonya shrugged. She was wondering why the hell Leon hasn't done the thing yet. Is he taking another piss? "Technically speaking, we're only questioning you, and you technically haven't been arrested." Sonya put both hands on the table sideways. "Technically." She repeated. "Only thing we wanna know is how you were following us so carefully. I was underwater, and everything! There's no way you could have tracked me that easily." Every word Marcus said made her more suspicious.
"... Oh yeah, sorry, taking another piss." Leon said through the comms as he walked up to the observation window. "I can't believe all you guys need my ass to do is "see the truth" and "what did that asshole do", and never "Hey, Leon, wanna get some drinks". Disgustin'." Leon complained through the comms.
It was difficult interviewing Marcus and talking to Leon through the comms. Sonya hunched over, and whispered into the comms, "You know that I'll always take another Marksman out for some drinks - but you need to focus."
"Focus on that booze."
"The mission. Silly."
"Oh? This a mission now?"
"Yes- no - Leon..." Sonya found herself getting a little more annoyed with Leon. Enough that she shouted, "... JUST DO THE THING!"
"Fine, you don't have to shout." Leon's eyes started glowing a bright white color from underneath his shades. He grinned as he looked into Marcus. Ah. It was exactly as Sonya thought. "Yeah, yeah, he and his buddy have been been tapping into NEST tech. His little phone is tapped into NEST systems right now. Jackass forgot to take himself out."
"Do the what now?"
Puzzled at her sudden outburst he sat back in his chair. He knew the "mirror" was a two-way window into the interrogation room, and there definitely was someone there.
"Oh, thaaaaaaank you Leon!" Sonya said into the comms with a smile on her face. She turned to Marcus, and folded her orb-tipped fingers on the table. "Gooooood news! Well, for us - but definitely not for you." Sonya's long tongue flopped out of her mouth, and landed on the table. Gently twitching to get up some of that delicious water. "Our... techies exposed "your ways"-" Sonya fingerquoted, before folding her hands again. "-And your little phone has been tapped into NEST networks - Oh, that kinda rhymes, now does it?"
She smiled - before that smile turned into a frown as she said, disappointed, "I suspected this, but I was hoping you'd come clean. But err'body thinks they're slick around these parts!"
He smirked. Oh how wrong they were.
"Yeah. You got me. Go figure. Was too easy. You guys should really beef up your security."
Within the mobile tower close to the NEST HQ, Cole floated within cyberspace, watching and listening the conversation unfold through the interrogation room's cameras and embedded microphones. He had a view on Marcus too, along with the room behind the one-way glass, but he stayed silent. Everything was being recorded on a databank somewhere in the HQ building, but at this point he was too concentrated to find out where. The fact that they'd found the link was unsettling, but they would never trace the break-in to the mind of a currently unconscious young man back in Uni Row.
Exactly what Sonya expected. She rolled her eyes at his comment. "... I hope you realize that you're in a world of trouble right now." Sonya said with a level of seriousness that she hasn't displayed before. "Tapping into government systems is a very, very, serious crime now now."
"Oh yeah, his "partner" is John Sykes." Leon said, giggling a bit like a British schoolgirl! "Dumbass just thought about it."
"... Oh, and we just found out your partner." Sonya smiled widely, tilting her head.
"Mind reader. Interesting. Used to have one as a customer at Haven. Asshole wanted to steal our till earnings after we closed shop, can you believe that? And you'll never get John. He's invisible."
He smirked again and shook his head. What he'd seen overseas paled in comparison to this, although the factor of metahuman powers did add a certain...flair to room interrogations.
"... Okay, can you dial it back just a wee bit?" Sonya raised her hand in the air, and put two fingers very closely together. "You don't get it! Nope. Not one bit. You've just committed a very serious crime, and you're acting all smug? Don't you realize that you walked right into my trap!?" Sonya started laughing.
"That thing killed my friend. You're with NEST. Don't tell me you haven't lost a friend or a comrade to one of these inhuman asswipes and not felt a need for vengeance."
"I certainly lost many friends." Sonya shrugged with her eyes closed. "But, you gotta learn that you shouldn't let that need drive you to stupid things like this." She had to shrug again. "Me and Inkshade - I mean Maria - had the whole situation under control."
"It didn't look that way. You almost lost the damn thing. It even looked like it was hunting you two, not the other way around."
"Almost lost the damn thing?!" Sonya said, baffled at this man's stupidity. "You wouldn't have found it in the first place if it wasn't for us."
"Admittedly, yes. But it was still hunting you. Tasers weren't going to do jack squat against that thing anyway. Should've shot its ankle out. Taken out its ability to run. Bullets work so much better than those stupid things."
"And look who's suddenly an expert. Coming from the guy who forgot that NEST has a load of telepaths!" Sonya rolled her eyes. "This whole "I'm better than you" nonsense was fun, but... I'm serious."
Cole watched the exchange from within the cameras. He had to do something.
With a brief examination of the room, he found that the lights and cams were all hard-wired into an electrical grid local to the current block of the building. With a quick dip he had all control over the power grid, and a mere thought made the lights in the room flicker a few times.
Marcus caught the flickering lights and smiled to himself. Cole was here, and he was watching.
The flickering certainly irritated Sonya's sensitive eyes - the sudden slight differences didn't allow her to take advantage of her nightvision. She was wondering what was causing this - damage done to the system by PR-1, or...? Wasn't important. Sonya reached for her gun, just in case Marcus tried anything - if he did, he'd find how out effective these darts are the hard way.
"Me? I think from what happened out there, and apparently in here, there are things out there that require more of your attention that just me."
He leaned forward, elbows on the table.
"Besides, I could help. You saw how I could track you and your target. Send me someone's way. Someone you really, really dislike, maybe. Working at the cafe's getting kinda droll lately anyway."
"You can help by giving us your partner." Sonya said, narrowing her eyes at him. "He's clearly a powerful technopath that can help us." She had an idea.
"Well, I can, if you don't tase me first. I'm just going to reach for my phone and place it on the table in front of you, okay?"
"After that, I wanna see your hands."
Complying, he nodded and reached behind him and pulled his phone from his jeans pocket, placing it and his hands on the table. Then he looked up at the camera, gave it a wave and then pointed at the phone.
A moment later the device vibrated as it received a text message from an unknown sender.
Sonya's tongue shot out of her mouth at lightning speeds and latched onto the phone. She caught it with her hand.
"Ew man! Gross! Aw man my phone!"
"Just wipe it off." Sonya said, as she looked at the text.
Hello? - JCS
Her eyes went upwards towards Marcus. "JCS... that your parter?" She asked. She didn't want to send a text back before getting confirmation.
He spread his hands and nodded as another text came in.
Y-yeah, that's me. - JCS
"He always communicates like that when he's in the zone."
"... Which means he's literally still tapped into NEST systems as we speak." Sonya dryly noted, getting very irritated at this turn of events. These boys are making NEST look like chumps. Just casually looking into NEST systems. "Now, let me say this now, if you tap into NEST databases and share anything, you'll become a target, lad. And I don't care how well you can hide - We have our ways." Sonya was mostly talking to their little ghost in the room. She gave Marcus a sideways glance.
N-no way, agent Mayfield. The Academy taught me that messing with NEST was a bad idea. - JCS
"... Then why are we having this conversation?!?!" Sonya loudly exclaimed, putting her hands on the side of her head. Almost losing her shit. She was two seconds away from tasing Marcus in the dick, and sending Henry to beat Cole to an inch of his life.
B-because I needed to help Marcus - JCS
Sonya let out a sigh - again, only to convey body language - as she realized that there was no point in trying to tell them what they did was a bad idea. Emotions were flaring when Marcus found their dead friend - and honestly, Sonya would have likely done the same thing. Sonya put her hands on the table.
"Look, I'm going to level with you two," Sonya closed her eyes, as she shrugged. "Both of you are looking at a very long time in jail." She said. "However... I have a deal - but the first term is that I get John here in person." She narrowed her eyes at Marcus. "If you really want to help your friend, I advise that you show up here soon as possible. Hell, I'll even arrange a ride." Sonya pleaded. She didn't trust either of them to discuss her deal over flimsy systems he was hacking.
His phone vibrated again.
B-but I'm already here. - JCS
"No..." Sonya massaged her temples. "I want the real John. Right here. Not hiding behind... whatever the hell you're tapping into." She raised her head, and just came out and said, "Look, we got our own technopaths. Far stronger than you. They're not in Verthaven, but it's easy as one phonecall to hit them up, and a lot of them are long range. If you don't come, we'll find you." It was a bit of a bluff just to get Cole to come along. NEST did have Technopaths, but not one the scale Sonya described. But they don't need to know that.
A-alright but you'll have to come find me. My powers knock me out for hours at a stretch. Once I return to my body I'll be out cold for the rest of today. - JCS
"Give us an address."
After one long trip to pick up Cole (And a "stress relieving" session with Maria), Sonya had both Marcus, and Cole in the interviewing room. They were on the same side of the table, while Sonya was on the other. However, just for security purposes, they were outfitted with power nulification collars, and handcuffs. Sonya's smile had returned as she folded her hands on the table.
"Hiya!" Sonya said, smiling widely. "Now that I'm far more calm, we can get down to business!" She started off. "First, before I begin, the little offer I presented requires confidentiallity from both of you! Meaning, if you tell anyone, you'll be in a way worse position than you started! And I mean, very, very, bad. They'll be squads after you!" Sonya followed that with a "teehee" as she waited for their reaction.
"No problem."
"Uh..."
Nervous and a little giddy from being woken so severely like that, Cole had his head in his hands on the table as Marcus relaxed in his folding chair. A soft groan issued from the poor young man as his head throbbed in pain and lack of sleep.
Sonya reached over to the tape recorder and flicked it off. "Have either of you fine gentlemen heard of Task Force RAVEN? Or the Hands of Science? Or even REAPER?" Sonya asked.
"Wasn't RAVEN that thing you guys came up with to fight those bad dudes? The, uh..."
"H-Hands of Science?"
"Yeah yeah, those guys. All over the news. Sure yeah, heard of 'em."
"Yup!" Sonya said. "Then you must have some idea as to where I'm going with this...?"
"You want us in RAVEN?"
"No, no, no, something else." Sonya said.
"So, here's the little deal I have in mind, both of you are in a lot of trouble - How-ever, I never officially made any reports, or any formal arrests. At all. Buuut, I'd figure that we put your friendie here's little superpower to good use." Sonya started laughing. "We're going to do a little raid on their homebase, and finally put a stop to those bastards once and for all. But, security is, understandably, tight, and we could use a Technopath if you know what I'm saying...." Sonya started spinning her hand in the air.
"Well, let me just cut to the chase! John, if you assist RAVEN in this raid by using your ability, then we will forget about this little... mishap. It wasn't even that important to begin with..." Her eyes fell on Marcus. "... but your lad here was being a jackass." Sonya just had to note.
"Done."
"B-but Marcus- "
"John, this'll be easy for you, man. Plus I can finally go home and, y'know, rest. Do stuff."
Marcus sighed.
"Great! You're going along with it! I'm certain we'll be great friends!"
"Wish you had a use for me though, agent Mayfield. Who knows what stuff you might get in that raid? You could use a regenerator."
"Unfortunately, we have all fields covered... and we don't want to use no amateur in the raid, now do we?" Sonya's long tongue flopped out of her mouth again.
Then something came to mind, "Oh, yeah, one last thing. Two of you are going to have to stay in Headquarters until we pull the raid. Sorry, but, it's for security reasons, since you two have demonstrated your ability to work outside the lines! That's great! But I don't want our friends at the Hands getting their surprise party spoiled." Sonya started laughing. She raised a finger up into the air.
"Oh! Operation: Surprise Party! I'll have to shoot that one to Maximilian."
Two decades had passed by since Akemi Shinoda left Japan for America, all alone to a foreign land where she couldn't even speak their native tongue. All just to be free, to get out of the suffocating mental cage in the presence of Asami - the gem of the Shinoda family. From looks to brains - Akemi was inferior to her perfect older sister in almost every aspect save for her big heart, a contrast to the iron fist Asami. Sure, she was a little jealous alright, but it was quickly gone when she went to elementary school and spent more time with her friends than her family. She neither hate or like Asami - in fact, she never felt any sibling love for her sister, viewing her as a mere acquaintance staying under the same roof.
Shortly after she settled down in the sunny city of Verthaven, Asami sent her a card - an invitation to her wedding.
She didn't attend.
A few years later, Asami and her husband turned up suddenly at her shophouse - she laughed at her younger sister's grimance. "It's a little punishment for not showing up at my wedding!" When Akemi didn't respond, she dropped the plastic smile and shrugged. "Okay, I'm here because Yuu wants to see you. He keeps going on about how it's not polite not to meet the family members on my side."
The young man stepped out from behind his wife at the mention of his name. "I'm Yuuichi Takashiro." He gave Akemi a short bow.
She returned the greeting. "Akemi." The husband was pretty in a masculine way, and she swore her heart did skip a beat when their eyes met. She closed her eyes to regain her composure. "As you can see, my place is quite small---" She shot a look at Asami. "---So I'm afraid I don't have any room to accommodate the two of you."
"That's a pity---" Yuuichi began, but Asami cut him off. "Of course, my dear sister. We're not going to trespass your little haven longer than necessary, so we'll now take our leave." With that, she dragged her confused husband out of the shophouse.
That was the last time she saw Asami Shinoda - or rather, Asami Takashiro.
She continued to keep in touch through Yuuichi for a short while, but they stopped when he hinted to her that his wife was suspecting him of cheating. His last reply was only a photo of his children - twin boys - with a note that said, "Asami's a little disappointed that the kids took on my appearance and not hers, haha".
"Haruka and Shizuka," she murmured to herself. "'Faraway' and 'silence'." The thought of their names made her jerk her head up from the chopping board and rushed out of the kitchen. "Boys?" she called out, but only her echo greeted her back. Where could those two go, especially during such a dangerous time...
Making sure she had turned off the stove and oven, she removed her apron and headed down to the door, and soon she was out on the bustling street, glancing up at the darkening sky with a worried expression.
Where could they have gone to...
"Can I get you another drink, Sir?" "Oh, Sure. Same one as always."
As the middle-aged bar man moved to the large collection of liquors to mix Wyatt his drink, Wyatt had the chance to really size up the only other two people in the bar. Taking care to be at least a little subtle with his observations.
The Bartender was a middle-aged asian man that, although polite, wasn't especially charismatic. He was dressed in a black button-up shirt and matching slacks, a very mute choice that reflected the way he often delt with customers. Assuredly the owner of this establishment, he seemed to cater to an older crowd than most of the bustling vaguely asian-'ish' bars you normally find around Chinatown.
Despite the fact that Wyatt had been coming here for about half a year now, him and the barkeep never really held a long conversation. This silence proves beneficial for people that need to drink without all the pestering often received in the more mainstream bars. Once Wyatt had watched a man drink himself to near death and the Bartender didn't question it for one moment, his impassive face offering no visible judgment.
Even though that one evening was quite interesting, Wyatt was quite glad that the bar was more quiet this evening. The only other patron besides him was a well dressed man off in the corner of the establishment, nursing his fourth drink of the evening. Because of the distance between them, Wyatt hadn't gotten a chance to overhear what he is talking on the phone about, but it seemed to be a contentious topic.
The building itself was a bit out of the way. When asked the name of the establishment after first coming here, as it couldn't be found written down anywhere, the Bartender responded quite curtly, "Shu's". Shu's was sandwiched between a nondescript office building of some sort and an antique shop. With no large signs or colorful lights, like many of the other bars around this area, it would be incredibly easy to miss it if you didn't have previous knowledge that it existed. Even being an almost literal hole in the wall, the inside of the building was very clean and had plenty of seating for it's normally small number of clientele.
Wyatt actually first came here after being invited by his current employer, Akemi Shinoda, not long after he began working for her. It became a little routine for the two of them, often going out every other week or so and grabbing a few drinks before talking for most of the evening. It is a shame that Akemi wouldn't be making it tonight, she probably will be pretty tied up with her nephews now that they are down. Almost in spite of himself, he had grown to really enjoy these evenings with Ms. Shinoda. It was something fun to look forward to in the slog that is normal days.
Wyatt was roused from his thoughts, noticing that the bartender had snuck his drink in front of him while he was otherwise preoccupied, when a third customer arrived through the rather squeaky door.
Good grief. That was a complete shitstorm. After it was all over, the first thing that Lihua did was go out the front door fast as possible, and make a beeline straight for the Chinatown district. She could have found a bar in Knightdale - but like hell she's going to sit around in a bar full of overachieving hipsters now of all times. There was this bar, Lihua never went there before, but there's a first time for everything. Lihua stepped through the front door, and looked around. Bar didn't even look half bad. She'd have to test it's liquor. She immediately went to the bar, taking large, and slow steps. She firmly sat herself down on the stool, and raised her finger.
"Please tell me you have Baijiu here..." Lihua groaned at the bartender. He nodded his head, and Lihua followed it up with, "Just bring me the whole damn bottle. I don't care how much it costs. I need to forget the last two hours..." He went in the back.
Wyatt kind of 'felt' her more than saw her after she walked in. Strangely enough she had a very small electric charge clinging to her, like she was recently in a power plant or some other highly charged environment. This oddity was probably unbeknownst to her or normal people, but it stuck out to him like a sore thumb.
If the slight electric charge wasn't strange enough, the rather tall asian woman was wearing a long black dress and seemed to have a light coating of some kind of dust on her. Akin to small shards of rock or concrete. Even more frightening than whatever caused the mess all over her was her bearing. She seemed to be exuding intensity from the way to marched up to the bar or to the look on her face. She was truly terrifying.
It seems tonight still has a chance to be interesting afterall.
The bartender came back with the large bottle of Baijiu. The bottle was clear and she got a good view of it's contents. He dropped it on the bar counter with a cup, and Lihua didn't even think twice when she poured herself a cup, before drinking it down. And then pouring herself another. She almost immediately felt the buzz - but she needed more.
Wow she is really going to town. He knew that she was going do something rather strange the moment she showed up to the bar covered in dirt. A whole bottle for a starter course certainly fits the bill. He was sure to let her get another cup or so in before approaching the woman and sitting to her left.
"Don't take this the wrong way, But anyone who needs an entire bottle to forget their night might need an ear to hear their problems. If you want me to fuck off though, just say so."
Lihua's eyes shifted towards the newcomer, and immediately looked him down. She was honestly wondering if he was old enough to drink. He looked like one of the gangmembers around here. Normally, Lihua would have told him to go away, but she honestly couldn't muster the hostility. She shrugged.
"I can't really share details, but let's just say my whole life is starting to slip." Lihua started off, taking a long sip of her alcohol. "Everything I worked so hard to build is starting to slip right through my fingers... No matter how hard I try, the world just seems hellbent on taking it away from it." It was the alcohol that was making her so talkative.
Wyatt scratched at his gray beanie while under her scrutinizing eyes, her approval obviously wasn't very high. He took a long drink from his own long island iced tea before even attempting to respond. "I would make a bad joke about you going through a mid-life crises but considering whatever you were doing involves leaving you looking like a demolition crew; I will skip on that. In all honesty, I can really only offer the fact that things surely can't get any worse if they are that fucked up, right?"
"I just wish it was a midlife crisis...." Lihua raised her glass, and shook her head. Look at how far she's fallen, sitting in bars, talking about her life to people half her age. Good grief. She really needed to pull it together before she finally falls apart. If what Baron - Or Jean - said is true, then she has no choice but to. Or let the other side win. "Keep the jokes to yourself. I honestly don't know. Whenever the hell I get a good grasp of things, it just slips." Lihua shrugged. "So, what's your name, boy?"
Opening his mouth, he had to actually take the time to think about which name to use. Seems the booze was making him want to be more talkative too. "Abe. Abe Watson, just a nobody compared to whoever you are. Maybe If you try to scale things back a bit, get to the base of things you can start to get a handle on things again. If the problems are at work or home or whatever, maybe try to fix it from the ground up instead of grasping at whatever is really egging you on. Sorry if that is super unhelpful, the vagueness of the conversation is pretty rough." he tried to end on a laugh, but his social graces -really- aren't what they used to be as it sounded pretty forced.
The glass she was holding was gently placed back on the counter, and the matriarch found herself groaning. She stared at the glass for a second, and swirled around the contents momentarily. Maybe she should dial back on the alcohol. Meifeng had a point (And if she spends all her money on alcohol, she won't be able to buy anymore). She let out a sigh.
"No, no, you're fine, Abe." Lihua noted, shrugging. "I'm not helping by refraining from sharing details - but, the problem is not just that I don't want to talk about it, I can't." Lihua noted. "It's... confidential, shall we say."
Wyatt couldn't help but tense up a little bit, Confidential work in Verthaven is most likely Metahuman business. That means NEST. No matter how interesting she was, she certainly got a lot more intimidating. "No problem with that on my end. Can't have you breaching any contracts or trusts because of a silly night with alcohol. Here, What is your name? Fair is fair."
Hmph. Lihua was glad that he understood... or he was planning something later on. The woman was going to make sure that she kept her gun in grabbing distance. For now, she was going to give him the benefit of the doubt. "Lihua Vuhong." Lihua calmly said her name. It's unlikely that every street-level thug would know that she's with NEST.
Meanwhile...
Akemi stopped before the bar, panting heavily. Two hours has gone by since she left the house to look for the twins; she had searched the whole of Chinatown but couldn't find any sign of them. She bit her lower lip - a habit she had when she felt anxious - and rubbed the bridge of her nose. It took her many years to finally convince her stubborn sister to put the children under her care in the States, but now she lost them on the very first day. She could care less about getting a mouthful from Asami - she was more concerned about letting Yuuichi down.
With a loud sigh, she pushed open the door to the bar. A quick glance around and her eyes fell on the back of her part-time employee Abe Watson (Wyatt Abrahms). Next to him was a Chinese lady who seemed vaguely familiar, but at the moment she couldn't recall where she had seen her before.
"Abe?" She walked over to him. "I wasn't expecting you to come here after I gave you an early day off."
Lihua immediately looked over her shoulder at the newcomer. Short, Asian, around her her, and had brown hair. Hmph. It was funny that she was the largest person here between the twig Abe here, and this newcomer. She was going to stay out of this conversation - but it was clear that the woman was this fine young gentleman employer. She would have to keep an eye on her. Anyone who'd hire someone like Abe is up to any good.
The last voice Wyatt was expecting to hear at that moment was Akemi's. Though to be honest, he had gotten a bit over his head with the current conversation. Even though he was glad to find an easy out in the current conversation, he was visibly confused to see Akemi. "Oh heya. Yeah I thought it was as good as any way to cap off the day, even if you weren't able to show. Honestly why are you here? The boys too much trouble?"
Akemi sat down on the empty seat besides Abe (Wyatt). She shook her head. "I...can't find them anywhere - they're probably out of Chinatown area. The usual please," she added, and the bartender gave her a curt nod before he began to mix her drink.
The bartender placed an old-fashioned glass filled with clear, red liquid adorned with a piece of orange peel before the Japanese. "Negroni, with an extra shot of gin."
She thanked the bartender, distracted, her thoughts still on the twin boys. She frowned at the woman on the other side of Abe (Wyatt). "Seems like you have an important conversation with her. Should I move to another table?"
"Oh, I thi-" Lihua was quick to say before Abe cut her off. Hmph. She didn't want to interrupt anything. Well, she might as well stick around. Just to glean some information from both Abe and this Asian newcomer. Whether or not they're up to something.
Wyatt glanced over to Lihua to gauge her reaction before ultimately shrugging at his current boss. "I don't think it would be a problem if you joined us. We were just getting to know each other a little bit. But before I get sidetracked on that, what were you saying about your nephews?"
"They ain't in Chinatown - I've asked everyone I know here, but no one had any idea where they were." Akemi raised the glass and downed half of its contents in one swing. "I come here to sober up a little before I go and look for them again." She set the glass down and tapped a finger on the cup. "I can only hope they didn't get into trouble. A lot of bad things have been happening in Verthaven lately."
Upon hearing that last statement, Lihua immediately downed the rest of her cup, and leered at Akemi. Resisting the urge to say, "You don't know the half of it".
"Huh. It is getting rather late and you are certainly right about how dangerous things get. I am sure they probably just got caught up wandering such a new and strange city. If you want I can help you look after you catch your breath a bit. It's the least I could do."
Akemi gave the young man a small smile. "That would be of great help. Did you meet them when they came over to the shophouse? I think I have their recent photo somewhere..." Unfortunately she didn't bring it along with her; there was only a handful of cash and a identification card in her otherwise empty purse.
Wyatt tilted his head to the side a bit as she dug through her purse for a photo. "Honestly only saw their backs on my way out to give Mr. Oliver his delivery for the day. So I think I got a rough look at their size at the very least. Can't say I would be able to spot them out of a crowd to be perfectly honest."
Akemi let out a short laugh. "You should be able to spot them easily - Shizuka has white hair, and it's rare among young people, I'd say."
Wyatt took a long drink from his glass, draining the last of the liquid from the container before turning to Lihua and offering a shrug, "It might seem crazy, but maybe a romp across town might get in your mind off things. Long shot and pretty silly but it might be a bit of fun."
There was a bit of sympathy within Lihua - the kind that she normally keeps suppressed - for Akemi and her situation. There was a similarity in the situations she found herself with Meifeng a few weeks ago. Lihua poured herself some more alcohol and took a sip. While Lihua was violently against taking help due to her pride getting in the way... she was never against lending her immense talents.
"Good grief," Lihua started off, putting the cup down on the bar counter with a loud ting. Looks like she's going have to put that NEST training to good use. "If you want to them find, you have to narrow it down. Do they have cellphones? Do they know to stay the hell away from Union Point Hills? Do you have any enemies within the city?"
After hearing Lihua begin to address the rather distraught woman to his left, Wyatt scooched back in his chair and kept his yap shut to allow them to trade information. He spent this time looking sadly at his now empty glass and awkwardly scratching at his hat.
The corners of Akemi's mouth turned down once more at the Chinese lady's questions. "...I don't think so." This lady's voice triggered something in the Japanese's mind.
"Good grief woman..." Lihua trailed off, rolling her eyes. "You just sent two teenagers out into the city - that they barely know - with no real way to track them. They could have been beaten to an inch of their lives by Iron Cross - and you wouldn't know a thing." Lihua shrugged.
Akemi narrowed her eyes at the lady. There's something in her tone that greatly irked her. "I remember who you are - Ms. Vuhong from NEST, right?" Her grip around the cocktail tightened. While she had no resentment towards NEST, she didn't like to get involved with them either. Well, now she could use their help to get the boys back - at the moment that's more important than her personal issues with the largest Metahuman organization in America.
That was odd. Lihua gave Akemi a curious look as she immediately became much more suspicious about the woman. A part of her thought that this was some ploy to appeal to her humanity, to kill her. However, if that is the case, they're in for a rude awakening. Because Lihua didn't last this long by being easy to kill. She looked down at her cup, and took another sip.
"It seems my reputation precedes me...." Lihua muttered underneath her breath, outside of their ears. She was certain that it wasn't a good idea to announce it out loud, but Akemi already knows enough about NEST to know about her. "So what if I am?" Lihua turned towards Akemi, "What of it?"
Akemi could easily think of a long string of curses she would love to throw at NEST - whether it's about how they treated her the first time she was tested positive and was thrown into this whole Metahuman shit, or all the nasty events that had snowballed into the scandal of their involvement with some Meta-terrorist syndicate (well, at least according to what the media had released to the public - knowing NEST, they probably lied about half of those and the rest were what they always called 'classified stuff')... No, she wouldn't want to lose her temper at some woman right here; her mind kept telling her to prioritize the twins' safety - her pride wouldn't save the boys from whatever horror they might get into. She drained the remaining alcohol in her glass and set it down a little harder than she intended. "Back to you, miss. So what if I know you're with NEST? In fact I think that it's something good to know, isn't it? Should be a breeze for the Metacops to hunt down a couple of lost teens... Sorry. My anxiety seems to be getting the better of me." She waved off the bartender's offer to give her another drink.
Lihua gave her a sideways look. Yeah, that's just what I thought. She thought to herself. "Very well, then."
After hearing the revelation that Lihua was in fact NEST, Wyatt was both glad that his intuition had proven correct on this occasion and a little apprehensive about her authority in said organization. Like Akemi, Wyatt fought to keep his personal feelings about the organization out of the way in order to defuse this situation a bit.
Setting out specifically to defuse the current situation, Wyatt used a specifically lighter tone. "H-hey now, Me and Akemi here are just clothes washers. Civilian style stuff! It's pretty crazy that you are in NEST and it must be a demanding job on you. I think we are getting a bit off topic though. Don't you think it is a little unfair to be so divisive on the 'parenting' aspect of this, Lihua. I know you have had a shitty time of it recently but lashing out at strangers seems a bit petty. Not to mention, I don't even have kids and I know mistakes are made all the time."
Yeah, clothes washers. The woman hasn't heard that front for a criminal organization - but she was less concerned with that, and more concerned with his little criticisms. Lashing out...? Lihua thought to herself. She was doing no such thing. She was merely standing here ground like a righteous woman would. Hmph. Some people just take her actions a bit too far. All she was doing was being blunt. However, Lihua just took another sip of her alcohol. At this rate, she'll definitely run out.
"I was not lashing out." Lihua calmly noted. "Perhaps I'm being a bit rough but not unnecessarily - but I'll keep further criticisms to myself."
Wyatt had begun losing steam near the end of his small spiel, his unassertiveness really creeping it's head. Regardless, he took a moment to reassemble his thoughts afterwords before continuing. "I think we did kind of get off topic, maybe we can get back to finding the boy-os?"
A part of Lihua wanted to just say no, and send them on their way as she keeps drinking her damn kidney away. Though, she felt that she was being a tad hypocritical. She was in a similar situation with both daughters. Though, she insisted on handling it herself.
"I'll lend my services." Lihua calmly said - before she warned, "But make no mistake, I'll certainly be on my guard." She'll leave what she meant in the air.
Akemi shrugged at Lihua's defensiveness. "Understandable that you're suspicious of us - after all, we've only just met, and Verthaven is no longer a haven now." She payed for her own bill and stood up. Since the boys weren't in Chinatown, she would have to go out of the neon lights district to look for them.
Noting Akemi begin to gather herself to leave once more, Wyatt followed suit and payed his bill. Strangely the fact that he felt a bit 'better' than before began to bug him, he quickly glanced upwards at the light fixtures above the bar and stopped his subconscious drain on them. They visibly flickered before returning to a previously unreached level of brightness.
As the light pleasure of the ambient electric current was cut off from his system, He couldn't help but feel a bit more down about the whole situation and muttered to himself, "it's not like we are going to mug you or something. We're just normal people."
"That's what the last man said." Lihua said in response to Abe. "... Before he robbed me."
"Don't take it personally - but I wouldn't have lasted this long by being gullible." Lihua noted, hoping this was the last time they bring that up. Of course, if she helps Akemi out with her kids, they won't have to discuss her passive aggression, or stand-offish personality. Now, Lihua put it in perspective. The two boys Akemi is looking for are supposed to be in Chinatown. They have no cellphone so Lihua can't phone up one of her little NESTies. People around Chinatown haven't seen them. Union Point Hills is to the west - and far too easy to wander into. And the three has tens of thousands of acres of Verthaven to search.
In other words, they have no good damn leads, and too many places to look. Ah, this was almost like doing an investigation.
Except, somehow, even more irritating.
Lihua raised her finger in the air, and paid for her own drink... a little costly, but she . "Unless you want to spend the next three months of your life aimlessly searching, we need a lead."
Wyatt kept to himself the fact that aimlessly roaming around Verthaven had become a bit of a specialty of his. Really that wasn't a skill he though would better his image between the two women. He resigned himself to taking a step back and letting the two of them hash out where the boys had gotten off to.
Of course, Akemi was coming to that part. Even though she didn't have the hard lead with her now, there was something that should work as well as an actual photograph---
"Do you have a photo?" Lihua asked, as she reached into her purse and pulled her out her cellphone. Her other hand was open for the photo.
Akemi stared down at Lihua's open palm with a raised eyebrow. "I'm sorry, but there's none with me right now. They shouldn't be difficult to spot - as I've already told Abe just now - twin teenage boys, and one of them has graying hair. Most people wouldn't have white hair at such a young age anyway."
Only lead they have is a vague definition. Excellent. Akemi here is definitely accounting for every teen that dyed their hair. She was going to, at the behest of Abe, keep this to herself. "Good grief..." Lihua quickly muttered under her breath as her attention when to her phone. She quickly sent a text out to Meifeng and Cindy:
I'm looking for a white haired boy. Asian, likely Japanese. He should be with a twin.
Right when Lihua was putting her phone away, she received a text from Meifeng - she caught her daughter's name on the screen. She calmly sighed as she put in her (overly complex) password, and went right to Meifeng's text. An image, and it immediately made the matriarchal woman roll her eyes.
It was simply a text of Meifeng taking a group selfie with Cindy, and the twins. Meifeng was, first and foremost, holding the phone with a smile on her face that almost made Lihua forget about the scars, her other hand had two fingers out. Cindy was giving a cool and collected smile from the back. Shizuka had a wide grin on his face and ruffled the hair of Haruka, who seemed rather grumpy under the mop of black mess on his head. All in the Candy Club that Lihua was literally at little while ago.
Lihua calmly presented the phone to Akemi. "... Are these the children you're looking for?"
Akemi widened her eyes, her mouth opened slightly to let out a soft gasp. "Yes, they are, but..." What were they doing? Who were those girls they were with? She looked from the phone back to Lihua. "How...?"
"Such a small, small, small, small, world we live in... yes?" Lihua said with a satisfied grin. "In case you haven't realized the resemblance, the one holding the camera is my daughter." She was speaking a bit more emotion when she referred to Meifeng. Almost like she was the light shining through her stoic facade. "With one message, I can have them back here." She said. Maybe it's time for me and Meifeng to return home anyway. I'm... I just have a bad feeling.
Akemi noted a hint of affection in Lihua's tone when she spoke of her daughter. She nodded, the coldness in her tone from their previous conversation was gone, replaced by similar softness now that she knew her nephews were alright (she would save the reprimandation for later when she get them back home), "Y-Yeah, that would be great. Thank goodness... And thank you, Ms. Vuhong."
Wyatt couldn't help but whistle softly at how quickly this was resolved. He took this time to pay his bill to the barkeep and make sure he had everything on him to head back home. "I was expecting some kind of great detective chase to find the boys. Suppose real world doesn't quite work like that. Don't get me wrong, glad that we found them so quick-like."
Lihua quickly wrote up a text
My associate would like them back in Chinatown - and you, I think it's time for you to go home, anyhow.
u ruin all the fun, ill be right back
You can go to Chinatown with them. I'm there now.
sure sure
Stay safe.
Lihua sent the last affectionate text message. "They should be heading right back to Chinatown right now... Who would have known that my daughter was spending time with your nephews." Lihua shrugged. "...Next time, give them phones. This was mere coincidence." Lihua turned towards Akemi, before she gave a warning, "Next time... you won't be so lucky."
"Thank you," was all Akemi could reply to the stern Chinese lady. Seemed like there were a lot of things she needed to sort out with the boys...
"You're welcome." Lihua calmly said.
Wyatt couldn't stop the goofy grin on his face after this, "Regardless of how easy this was, we accomplished our task. I am sure I will meet you again, Ms. Lihua Vuhong. Hopefully you can manage to at least partially fix the things that ail you. Also I will see you tomorrow for work, Ms. Shinoda."
As much as Lihua would like to brush off the comment about seeing Abe again - this is Verthaven. A very strange city, where there are little absolutes... She let out a sigh. "I will get better. Do not worry about me." She started off. "And I'm certain we will."
Before forgetting he made a little finger gun and 'fired' it at his dust covered acquaintance, "Also if you need to get some of that... whatever... out of your clothes. Our shop isn't far from here. Akemi's Cleaners or something real close to that."
Of course, they're trying to get business. She wouldn't let no normal cleaners touch her clothes - this was top quality stuff! "I'll give it a look." She said - She wasn't saying that to be polite...she was legitimately going to look into the cleaners and both of them the second she gets her job back.
Akemi gave Abe (Wyatt) a nod, but pursed her lips at him for advertising her shop to the NEST agent. She then left the bar hurriedly, losing herself in her own thoughts.
Brown eyes lazily drifted in the direction of Akemi, before Lihua shrugged. She was more relaxed and composed about this. She was going to stick around in the bar for a bit. At least until Meifeng hits Chinatown. It's not like she has somewhere better to do.
"RAVENs assemble..." Maximilian weakly said as he sat in his chair. Face in his hands.
The members of Task Force RAVEN that weren't injured sat down in the meeting room. Sonya had clung herself to the ceiling again. Sonya's eyes drifted off to the side because she knew that something was off about Maximilian. She heard about the reports soon as it happened - and it was gruesome. The former Director got dismembered by that damn PR-1. She felt a bit bad for not being here. Maybe she could have helped.
"So, uh..." Sonya scratched the back of her neck. "I just got us a hacker!" Sonya cheerfully said, and smiled widely. "Found the two bastards dicking around with NEST tech - one was a Technopath and all that noise - but me and Leon got to the bottom of that one, didn't we?!"
"Mhm..." Leon said, with his arms crossed. He gave Sonya a wry grin, as he looked at her. "Though, I'm surprised you didn't blast 'em. God damn, you looked like you were ready to explode in there."
"Oh! I-" Sonya yipped, before she covered her mouth with her hands. "Nevermind. Cut 'em a little deal. If their techie help us in our little storming the castle, they don't have to suffer years of getting a little too comfy in those nasty Meta prisons."
Leon laughed.
"Take that Henry! I can get some help from civilians, too!" Sonya playfully stuck her tongue out.
Henry snorted, and crossed his arms. But he did give Sonya a smile. Looks like he was rubbing off on her some. One NEST agent at a time, they'd get their reputation back.
Dana, also known as Grue, wheeled up to the table. "Sorry I'm late, I was helping get the systems back online." Dana started off. "Thank God that the databases are on a separate grid, or else we would have been in some serious trouble...."
Daphne Hope - usually known by her callsign 'Holly' - followed behind Dana quietly, her green eyes studying the members of the team she would be joining in with interest. She had been briefed before she came in here, but seeing them up close gave her a different feel than merely looking at the photos in the files.
"Thank God." Sonya echoed, she looked over to Maximilian, almost tempted to say something - but decided to keep her mouth shut about it. "So, how about Adam? Is he okay?"
Sonya Mayfield - callsign 'Merryday' - one of NEST's best snipers, and her extensive knowledge on firearms is probably second to none, Daphne recalled what she had read from the files. Seemed to be the mood-maker in the team, in which her bestial appearance allowed her to achieve that with minimal effort. Bullseye was Daphne's personal name-tag for her.
Helena sighed. "We got healers on him, but he was almost dead. I can't believe the old man is still alive."
Helena Page - 'Supersonic' - her power is just as her callsign says: instant movement faster than the speed of sound, Daphne mentally recited the description from the files. She had heard a handful of lower-ranked agents calling her a 'stuck-up bitch' behind her back. She name-tagged her as Thunderstruck.
"He's still very pissed off, though." Leon said, laughing. "So, uh, Henry, how is your grand plan coming along? Shit's not going according to plan around here, so I'd love some good news, heh."
Leon Vahan - 'All-Seer' - another one of NEST's marksman who is capable of using guns like they are simply an extension to his hands. Daphne also noted that he had a bit of similarity with herself (in particular their easygoingness). Her name-tag for him was Peeking Tom.
Turning to the largest man - or rather, lizard or even dragon - in the room, Henry Olin (callsign 'Dragonfly') had no need for a file. Daphne was not sorry at all that she immediately thought of Rex from the Toy Story franchise, only that Henry was way cooler than the cowardly dino toy from the movies - which was also the first name she thought of associating with him.
"Okay, so I have some good...ish news." Henry began, sitting up straight in his seat. "Both of the Obotts are in, but Trevor has some...conditions that he wants met once the whole thing's over."
Henry sighed and drummed his claws on the table, no doubt leaving prick marks where his fingers impacted.
"Some of them I've already met from my own wallet, but the others I'll need RAVEN's help with." Henry began. "He wants to meet us all... formally, after the whole thing's over. He also wants an all expense paid trip to Applebees with all of us as his guests. He also wants to be able to call us at any time to have us confirm that he is in fact a secret agent. Eli, Dana, you'll probably need to help me set up an Auto-voice messenger for that." Henry said, looking to the wheelchair bound woman. Eli, who was in Black Fall, heard over the comms and sighed from his end.
"He also wants to use our shooting range...and wants a tour of the NEST Verthaven base. And a selfie will all of us in it." Henry finished, giving them group a sheepish smile. "All of which I already agreed to so...no one die, okay?"
"Greeeeeeeat," Helena rolled her eyes as she leaned back in her chair. "We have to play VIP with a teenager..." She groaned, she wanted to say more - but she knew her complaints would fall on silent years.
Quentin reclined against his seat, rubbing his jaw for good measure with an amused snort. "Nothing like a bit of good old fashioned child labour, I'm sure."
Quentin Taylor - 'Counterpoint' - a power replicator who'd not been with NEST for long and by several accounts had a questionable story, Daphne had to raise an eyebrow at his file. In particular, the rest of his family were VPDs, and the VPDs had a love-hate relationship with NEST whenever it concerned with how to deal with Meta-criminals. One glance at her mobile made her thought of the name-tag Powerbank.
"Oh!" Sonya said, putting her fingertips together. "I can show him some of my trickshots!" She loudly declared, her tongue flopping out of her mouth.
"You've been playing too much Call Of Duty. I knew it was a bad idea to get you an Xbox for Christmas..."
"It's hard to play it, though," Just to demonstrate why, Sonya rubbed her fingers together, and a trickle of her slime connected her fingers. "The controller keeps slipping out me fingers! Hahaha!"
"...Whatever gets him to go along with the mission. It's no real problem, Helena." Maximilian let out a sigh. "Just play along with it just this one time."
Helena looked at him, before letting out a sigh of her own.
Sonya raised her hand up into the air. "Also, if you don't want anyone to die, then don't put Leon on the mission! Have you seen the man's record? He shot twenty NESTies!" Sonya put her hands on the side of her head. "...In one mission!"
"Oh yeah," Leon said. "Last time I ever huff canned air."
"Sounds like our last Christmas party." Henry commented, re-crossing his arms and frowning. Actually, he thinks, that was AT the Christmas party. Damn.
"...We attack in two days." Maximilian said as he stood straight up. Everyone stared at him as he walked to the door. "We're going to finish this, once and for all. With the arrest of Dr. Cross, and the destruction of The Hands of Science."
Sonya raised her hand. "Can we call it Operation: Surprise Party?"
"No." Max said as he walked out the door. "RAVEN dismissed."
"Aw."
As Daphne left the room after the dismissal, she counted off the last - and the most important - member in the team: Maximilian Cornell, A.K.A. 'Praetorian', currently acting director of NEST. (Let's not talk about the former and now dead director Miranda Caryl. Long story.) According to the files, he had some sort of thingy - called Echo - in him which he could bring out to get more work done quickly (or do all his work for him?). There was a footnote mentioning his sub-ability to fly or levitate, which led her to name-tag him as Martian.
With that, the chloropath looked forward to work with RAVEN, a special task force formed with the (sole) intention of bringing the Hands of Science down, once and for all.
...
It was almost time.
The darkness of the sewers hid her figure from sight. Not a soul had an idea that she was here.
Or what she was doing.
Anyone foolish enough to walk through the sewers would be attacked by them. In the darkness around her, purple eyes started glowing brightly. Growling, grunting, and scratching the ground - ready to kill. They were all hers...her brood. Her army. The instruments of her revenge. What this power gave to her was something that the world would fear. She was confident in them. She never felt this strong in her life. Being stepped on by everyone. Her family, the police, the gangs, NEST...
But at what cost?
Humanity was long gone, and she was unsure of whether or not she could ever get it back. Her hands...these were not the hands of a woman.
But a monster.
The monster that would get revenge against this world. This city...for taking her Jason away. For turning her into this in the first place. The Hands of Science...they were supplying the Fiends with the serum that turns a man into a God. NEST was just as guilty as those bastards. And Sarah... No, no...that was no longer even her name. She abandoned it when she took the serum. She didn't even know what to call herself anymore. A monster? A demon? Both were good since she was now a demon meant to haunt this world, and the world would only remember here as a monster, and she didn't care.
Every passing day, she grew in power. She could feel it. In three weeks, she already felt powerful enough to destroy this city. But it wasn't time. She'd let the Hands of Science and NEST squabble, then she'd destroy both of them to serve as a grim reminder to this world. She needed to be strong as possible, her armies weren't big enough to threaten this city sufficiently.
One of her beasts crawled through the shadows, and handed her a heart. She held it in her hands, before it dissolved and she felt a power high rush through her body. Yes... A metahuman's heart. It'd make her powerful.
Once she's ready...
The rain above the city intensified. Sarah looked up as rain poured into the sewers.
...She'd wash away this bloody paradise with rain.There would be nothing left. But distant cries of pain that would warn the rest of the world.
Two days later... 10:23 PM.
Dr. Cross, & Ignatius.
It was here. The night of the grand meeting that she was waiting to arrange for far, far, too long. Dr. Cross spent the last hour in front of a mirror. Adjusting the front of her black suit. She'd prefer a suit over a dress at a time like this. Suits were more serious and imposing. She needed to discuss the future of the organization, and hoped that they could resume their endeavors in hope that they could save the world from the path it's going down. Because it seemed NEST, and the rest of the world, seemed well intent on preserving the status quo.
While she was adjusting her tie, she stopped.
Ignatius.
"You look great in that suit." Ignatius complimented as he stepped behind Cross, looking at her reflection in the mirror. He stood at her side, rubbing his hand through his faint beard.
"I hope you're ready for this, Ignatius. I want REAPER's general front and center."
"Oh, I am ready." Ignatius put a wry grin on that earned him a look from Dr. Cross. "...What I want to know is how all of this started?" He asked, and made Cross pause for a moment as she thought about it. Ignatius started walking a circle around her. "There must have been someone out there that thought "Hey, these...Metahumans contain the secrets of the universe, I should share their power with the world!"." Ignatius slammed his fist onto an open palm as he stopped.
"I..." Dr. Cross started, stammering. Before she composed herself. "I don't know who they are, but the Hands were formed by a family that might have died out decades ago." Dr. Cross shrugged. "They elected the first group of Chairmen to run the organization for them...and then they...vanished."
"Hm..." Ignatius put a finger on his chin, before raising it into the air as he realized something. "Who says they vanished?" He started laughing. "They might still be in plain sight. As you said, you don't know who they are... Or waiting to reap the rewards of the Hands."
"I'm not sure if they're leading the organization from the shadows, or could be one of the chairmen." Dr. Cross shrugged. "That isn't important - what is important is that, whether or not they're around, we continue what they started."
"All I have to do is kill their silly little RAVENs before the world gains confidence in them, and that's the end of that." Ignatius shrugged.
"It won't be that simple." Dr. Cross said. "Think of it like chess..."
"PR-1 would have destroyed NEST if it wasn't for their...containment foam." Ignatius shrugged. "If we threw an army at them, NEST - or any of our enemies - wouldn't stand a chance, and we'll be able to do as we please."
"I'm very hesitant to create an army of them." Dr. Cross bluntly said. "They turn against us, and we'll have a problem. They could usurp the Organization with ease, or form something much worse."
"Failsafe." Ignatius playfully said.
"It'll take me a little bit to work one in." Dr. Cross said.
The sound of wheels rolling up heralded the arrival of Stephanie, Dr. Cross' assistant waiting at the doorway. She looked into the room, and nodded at Dr. Cross. "Everyone's in the conference room, waiting for you."
"We're on our way." Dr. Cross did the final adjustments to her tie and walked out the room, followed by Ignatius. The three walked side by side, and at the end of their hallway was a pair of wooden doors. They three stepped into it, and were immediately assaulted by the bright lights of this massive room. A round auditorium that was set up like a coliseum. There was a ring in the center of the room, with rows and rows of seats right above that (Doors were leading into this area). With several balconies far above the seats for the Chairmen, and right off the bat, she could recognize a few. Dr. Cross walked up to her balcony, and stepped over to the microphone. With Ignatius and Stephanie at her sides, she said,
"Hello, fellow men and women of science...."
Trevor, & Scarlet Obott.
Hours earlier...
"... Secret, agent man!" Trevor sung along to the radio, which his iPod was connected to. He was shaking his behind rhythmically as he filled a black canister - given to him and his sister by NEST to store his drug - with the drug. He was standing in the living room of his house - in front of the table where he and Scarlet stored all the canisters they filled the last few days. It was at least a few dozen. Fortunately, Trevor had the ability to produce a limitless amount of the drug. Unfortunately, he could only produce it at a certain "pressure" shall we say. So it was a pain in the ass to fill up one.
But Trevor was going to work for those favors!
"Trevor, focus." Scarlet said, filling up her last canister. "Actually, maybe how about we work together to fill up the rest? It'll go faster."
Trevor nodded, and scampered over to Scarlet, and put his fingers into the canister. Just like Scarlet said, it filled it up faster. They quickly went to the next one, and had it filled up soon. In an hour, they had the rest of the canisters ready.
"Phew!" Trevor wiped some sweat, before he carefully wiped it on his shirt. "Just in time. Henry should be on his way now...." He trailed off. "Well, I ain't carryin' none of this stuff." He said before he flopped down on the sofa, and took a nap. Scarlet on the other hand, just sat down on the table, and pulled out a book. Ignoring Trevor's snoring.
Scarlet got a text message from Henry. He was at the door. She quickly ran up to the door, and opened it, seeing her lizardman friend.
"Let's go." Scarlet said.
The Changeling Unit
"God damn it, Luis, I'm sick of your shit." Heartbreaker hissed into the phone, talking to the Changeling Unit's mysterious "boss". She was leaning up against the wall of the hallway leading up into the conference room. Her hand safely rested her face. "Look, Dr. Cross, the bitch you met a thousand god damn times, just wants you in this stupid conference for one night. One!"
"Look, Heartbreaker, I'm busy in Toronto." Luis said, sultry. He was going to follow it up with another sentence, but Heartbreaker quickly followed it up.
"Look, Luis," Heartbreaker venomously said. "I'm doing what you told me to do; make nice with these Hands of fuckers. And I just need your presence because I need the big three on deck."
"Know what the rest of the Unit is doing?"
"I know it can be put on hold. Just have Flashbang teleport you here."
A few moments of silence passed as there was some footsteps. Luis muttered something, before a man screamed, "LEAVE ME ALONE! I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING"
"... As you can tell, we're having a swell time with NEST in Toronto." Luis said. "We're after a special Metahuman, and these NESTies won't tell us what we want to know. So we have to pull a...double-shift." There was a brief pause as Heartbreaker thought of ways to murder Luis. "Hugs and kisses!"
"Luis-" Heartbreaker shouted, just as Luis hung up the phone. She let out a screech of anger. "Well... Dr. Cross is going to be pissed."
The Mannequin leaned into Heartbreaker, his eye twitching. "We'll have to make due." His monotone voice spoke. "When will we kill Blackbird? I've been waiting to preserve his daughter."
"With NEST on his ass, we'd only give ourselves away. I bet they got a nice little trap laid for us if we go in now." Heartbreaker said. "Wait for the right moment...and, he's dead. Then you an do whatever weird thing you want to that little girl." Heartbreaker shrugged. "Well....guess it's just the two of us. Let's get in there."
Mannequin nodded before, the two walked into the room. Assaulted by the light, they stood on the balcony with Witch Mother, and Fig, standing behind them.
Sonya Mayfield, Henry Olin, Trevor Obott, John Cole Sykes, Quentin Taylor, & Task Force RAVEN.
Wednesday night...the day of the Raid. Task Force RAVEN was arriving on the outskirts of the base driving three disguised vans. Maximilian was standing in the back of his van, holding onto the cabinets on top of it. Behind him was Leon, Henry, and their two "guests", Trevor and Scarlet Obott - holding their drugs in the special containers NEST gave them. Disguised in black NEST Armor... Henry's idea. Just in case this went wrong, their identity wouldn't be compromised. Not that it would, with NEST's finest being present.
Maximilian turned around to the siblings, and nodded his head.
"Are you two ready for this?" Henry asked. "Because there's no going back now."
Trevor was practically shaking. Now that they're on the way...this didn't seem like too good of an idea - even if he got some favors out of Henry. "Y-yeah, I'm...ready."
"Don't be nervous, Trev." Scarlet put her hand on Trevor's shoulder.
"She's right, you know?" Maximilian said, "You have NEST's finest on this mission, keeping an eye on you. And Leon and Henry will be personally escorting you." He nodded at Henry. "...They're two of the best Agents I know."
Leon wryly grinned. "Heeeeey, that totally goes against that time you called me the worst Agent ever back at the Christmas par-"
"Stop. Mentioning. THAT." Maximilian's pectoral muscles almost exploded in rage. He pressed his comm piece, "Does everyone remember the plan?"
"What? The Christmas party plan or...?"
"Henry, shut up." Maximilian hissed. Prompting the reptilian man to give him one of his signature shit eating grins.
"Yup!" Sonya said.
"I remember the plan perfectly." Adam said.
"Well, kinda." Leon said, scratching his head. "By that I mean, not at all. Could you repeat the parts after 'Listen carefully'?"
"Well, I'm sure as hell not repeating it on Comms," Max said, rolling his eyes.
"D'oh!" Leon shouted.
Earlier that day..
The RAVENs were gathered in their meeting room with their entire team, and their guests were in the room too. Maximilian was the only one standing up, and he was holding a pointer in one hand, and a remote in the other. A projector was displaying images of the base on the wall.
"Alright, here is the plan." Maximilian pressed a button that displayed the Hands base from a bird's eye view, the streets leading up to it being the focus of the image. "We are going to show up at the Hand's base via three disguised vehicles." He pressed a button, and the images changed to simple delivery trucks. "Once we're there, Trevor and Scarlet will be escorted by Henry and Leon to the AC units - while Agent Mayfield-"
"Um, which one?" Sonya said, with a silly grin on her face as she leaned back in her chair with her tongue flopped out of her mouth.
"Both." Max said, annoyed. "Both Mayfields will get into position ahead of the team - here." He pressed a button, and the image displayed a hill that overlooked the Air Conditioners, obscured by bushes. The perfect place for a sniper. "You'll cover the Obotts, and the Agents. While Agent Swarm Queen will be going in there, and using her control over insects to monitor the entrance, and activity throughout the factory itself. If anyone comes out, you're our first warning."
The small Korean woman sitting in the corner of the room, skin was a pronounced light-yellow color that was heavily white. She was thin, but what she had was solidly built. She looked up, nervously. She was Agent Swarm Queen, an agent that was a former vigilante. Very rarely did she use the name Nikki Biyung.
Henry, at one time, thought the code name was lame. Swarm Queen thought Henry should get stung by wasps. Henry never commented on it again.
"Uh, yeah, I'll do it." Nikki said.
Max then turned to Cole, "Meanwhile, Cole will be in one of the trucks with one of our high end laptops, and he's going to tap into the Hands of Science's systems. I want you to get into the systems, then disable the security systems on my mark." Max made it very clear. because turning off the security systems too early would definitely tip them off. "While you're waiting, I want you to extract as much information about the Hands as possible. Look for anything that could lead to other facilities, or a member database."
Max crossed his arms. "Agent Blackmore, and Agent White Leopard will be guarding you."
"A-alright, sir."
From his little chair, Cole nodded. Seated in a room full of tough, hardened types made him extremely nervous, moreso than his classes at the Academy had ever made him. His role in all this was simple though: inside that van, he'd jack in, tap into the Hands' security systems on their mark. After that he had free reign with the system, but strict orders to sap everything from their databanks. Easy stuff.
Maximilian nodded his head. "Everyone else will be on position within the base's grounds, waiting for the go ahead. If anything goes wrong, Olin, Vahan, tell us on the comms. We'll be there in a second, and while we're engaging the threat, you and Vahan will get the Obotts out of there."
A lightbulb went off inside of Max's head, he raised a finger. "Once we're deployed, we're to use codenames - and - only codenames" Maximilian said. "We are to refer to Trevor and Scarlet as the Panacea, and Cole as Cyber to protect their identities from any possible REAPER counterattack. Am I understood?"
"Yup!" Sonya cheerfully said, whilst Quentin acknowledged it with a simple thumbs-up.
Dana rolled up in her wheelchair. "Just a reminder," She started off, "We're the only people who know of this operation - for security reasons. Squads will be on standby and briefed once Henry's plan has succeeded." Daphne, who was next to her mentor (or senior, but she suspected that Dana probably didn't remember her anyway), did another quick scan of her new team members before she nodded, to reaffirm Dana's words.
"Which it will!" Henry interjected.
"...After the base has been drugged, we will extract the Panacea, and we're going to push into the base." Maximilian said, raising a fist chin level...the same fist that was holding the remote. He pressed the button, and displayed a map of the underground Hands base. The layout meant that there was two ways to go from one singular nexus. "Once inside, we'll split into two teams. Each team will go into another part of the base. If the Obott's drugs are effective, then the scientists, guards, and prisoners, should be incapacitated."
"...Most of them." Helena noted. "We don't know how well that drug will work - it could take out a chunk of them, or none at all. And what if-"
"Ptttttttttf," Sonya scoffed. "Stop being so negative. If we take out even a small amount, that'll make a difference!"
"Agent Mayfield is right." Maximilian said, and Helena scoffed.
Leon raised a finger, "Before you ask, the left half has shit like labs, operation rooms, and this big ass conference room - while the right half has prisoners, REAPER shit, and...more shit." He flicked his sunglasses, with a smile on his face. "I checked."
"If what Agent Vahan reports is true," Maximilian placed the pointer on the big conference room. "This is where the Chairmen will be, and this is where I'll personally go. I want to be the one who puts an end to this madness." Maximilian slammed a fist on his palm.
Henry came in again. "Just be careful in there everyone. We dont know what they're packing in those labs of theirs. Lets make this easier on them than our last one!"
"Just so long as they feel what's coming to them." Quentin finally added.
"Operation: Surprise Party is in motion!" Sonya shouted through the comms with a smile on her face. Maximilian groaned. She could hear Henry laugh over the comms. She was in her vehicle, sitting down with her black painted Barrett in her lap. Agent Inkshade was sitting right next to her. Cole, Adam, and Savannah were in the truck with her. Fortunately, their vehicle was a bit ahead of the others so that Sonya and Inkshade can get off.
Sonya grinned as she looked up at Cole. "You ready for this? Sorry I couldn't stick around with ya', but duty calls." She smiled widely - exposing her long, needle-like, teeth. "But, at least you'll have Adam, and cat lady with you."
Adam merely gave Cole a stern look that just said, "Don't fuck this up".
Savannah was trimming her claws with a nail filer, hopefully she won't have to use them. What was distinct about Savannah was that her normally Caucasian skin had patterns consistent with White Leopards on her sides. Without a hint of fur on her. Her eyes were vertically silted like cats, and her pronounced canines and claws were apparent.
She didn't say a word however - because when she was, the truck came to a stop.
"Oh! That's our stop, let's go Inky!" The back doors swung open, and Sonya turned invisible, hopping out the doors. Inkshade did the same - using her ability to turn into Ink to camouflage herself. She was practically as hard to see as Merryday.
Adam grabbed the laptop, and pushed it into Cole's chest, saying, "You best get to work."He sternly ordered.
"W-well, o-okay, s-sir."
Cole grabbed the laptop and took a seat in one of the tiny office chairs in the truck. He popped it open and booted it up, waiting past the familiar screens before the thing arrived at a desktop. With a sigh, he sat the laptop down on one of the ops tables, underneath a bank of monitors, and sat back in the chair.
"I-I hope this truck's fortified... You guys b-better stay here, cause once I jack in I won't be in my physical body any more."
"We got you covered," Savannah assured him, putting her hand on Cole's shoulder.
"I'll make sure nothing happens to you." Adam said, crossing his arms as he sat down in the chair. "They put me here to defend you for a reason."
"T-thanks.."
That being said, he tried to make himself comfortable, focused his gaze on the laptop monitor and jacked in. Immediately the truck around him rushed away and sank straight into the background, as data streams turned into highways of light that wove webs all around him. His body went limp in the chair as his consciousness turned into data, and the systems all around him shone brightly in his newfound vision.
He followed a data stream out from the truck and up into the air, halting mid-stream instead of following it all the way through. From here, he could see into the entire complex; the factory complex that sat dormant above the whole facility, glowing brightly in the dark of the night. A long tunnel that led downwards into a huge, circular chamber that had two paths extending from it. The wing on the left glowed brighter than the right wing, and from the looks of things the architecture and electrical grid were wired for work. Equipment, projections, lights, weird things that he couldn't put his finger on at first glance. The right wing glowed less, but its grid was more uniform; lights spread out equidistance from each other, wiring that led to doors spaced equally apart, central hubs and other things. The prison wing that the telepath had mentioned.
Cole diverted his attention from the facility and focused on finding a way in. Thankfully the facility drew so much power that generators weren't enough, and as such the factory's landline power grid was still connected and functional. With a quick hop from a nearby payphone into Verthaven's computer-monitored electrical grid, Cole rode an information highway straight into the Hands' facility. Once in, he extended his senses, looking for concentrations of information throughout the whole facility, specifically imagery and audio data. The security hubs in the prison stood out, but the biggest one was a huge octagonal chamber deeper in the facility. In a split second Cole was there, and he just had to smile.
Jackpot.
Before he did anything, he looked for the RAVEN ready teams; who were situated outside the factory walls. Using the facility as a conduit, he sent a data burst through their power wiring, through Verthaven's power grid, up into a mobile tower and down into Max's datapad. It would vibrate, and this message would show up on its screen.
I'm in. - Cyber
Good. Keep up the good work. Max returned the message.
Once done, he focused on the task at hand. The main security hub was totally manned with people. Through the cameras within the hub itself, he could see at least two dozen men and women scattered around, watching camera feeds, monitoring cells and other miscellaneous things. The system itself was easy; from the main hub, wiring led to virtually hundreds of cameras all throughout the facility. Those could be disabled with a thought. The alarms were something else though; placed throughout the whole facility were biometric sensors that he found would sound if they detected someone without...something from the Hands in them. All he could gather from them was that they could distinguish between one of the Hands and anyone else, say one of the prisoners. The sensors were also wired to alarms, obviously, and an automatic system that overrode all current processes with a hard reset that locked all doors and began an automatic wipe of all data within their databanks.
Databanks, that was right. He needed to find those. The security systems were easy to disable with a hard wipe that would knock out every system at once, but to stop the data wipe he had to secure those databanks. He flew the streams of data that wove through the whole facility, finding the main server room in a heartbeat.
Databanks found. They have a data wipe worm in them, in case someone trips an alarm. Getting a handle on security. - Cyber
Make sure you disable alarms, and all ways for them to communicate with each other. We don't want them alerting each other.
Yes sir. - Cyber
Another message wove its way towards his handler's datapad as Cole exited the databanks and flew back towards the main security center. It'd take split-second timing, but he theorised that he could perform a complete blackout of all security by shunting all the power inside the base out into the factory compound, all of it save for the server room. It would knock out all the lights, alarms and door locks, but the ready team would be in total darkness.
Another idea that sounded better was that he'd stay in the server room, ready to tap into the banks as soon as he disabled security. Trip the locks on their doors, trap them in their hub room while disabling all other door locks and severing the main alarm connection outwards from the hub. Then he'd wait for the data wiper to kick in and destroy it as soon as it showed its ugly face. Comms were easy to disable; a swift kick to the centralised landline system in the facility would knock out every radio, PA speaker and landline phone inside.
He took a few seconds to formulate the plan, cemented it in his head and then sent it off to Max.
Plan: Step 1) Disable security Step 2) Lock security forces in hub room Step 3) Sever alarm connections Step 4) Disable landline comms Step 5) Disable data wiper Step 6) Retrieve data
Cyber ready to proceed.
He floated in cyberspace within the server room. All he needed now was a cue from Max.
Good. Just wait for my cue before you do anything. Like I said, we can't tip them off unless Olin's plan is finished.
Yes sir. On your go, sir. - Cyber
The truck carrying Maximilian, and the first group came to a stop a little bit of a distance away. Maximilian and Leon shared nods as the latter stepped out. Leon immediately put his all seeing eye powers to good use. He immediately surveyed the area. Now, as the earlier pictures showed, it was a factory. Only problem was that there was a big field leading up to it. It had tons of shrubbery - mostly consisting of bushes, and trees. It obscured a direct view at the factory, and the few paths in there lead straight to the factory. The field wasn't exactly flat land, either. There were tons of hills, and inclines. Which could be hard to traverse. The Hands probably picked it so that they could catch anyone trying to sneak up - or cover up whatever sinister things they're up to.
It was no James Bond villain's lair, but it was definitely somewhere Leon wouldn't suspect. Hell, up until the Hands were discovered, all they were probably worried about was a teenager sneaking in, or some gang burying a body.
That all-seeing eye of his didn't pick anyone up. "Yo', I don't see anyone." He spoke into the comms.
"As Agent All-Seer says, there is no one around the exterior perimeter of the factory," Daphne drawled through the comm. "The plants have told me so."
Leon reached to his hip, and pulled out his Smith & Wesson 686 from his holster. "Ya'll ready for this?"
"I don't think we have a voice in the matter at this point." Henry commented, cracking his knuckles and loading his LSAT. He was the big gunner. Always had been and always would be.
Quentin shrugged as he loaded the last few shells into his Remington 870, remarking before glancing up to them and throwing the sling over his shoulder, asking "Would it make a difference if I wasn't?" before waving them off without waiting for an answer.
"After you, green man." Leon stepped off the back of the car after Henry. He needed to be on guard. He was observing the plains using his power. He couldn't see any snipers - but that would attract too much attention. Leon figured that the Hands were just relying too much on stealth.
Henry slid off the side of the car and immediately moved to the building's wall, an began to camouflage against it. His exo-suit was built for this- to change with his skin. His gun had been meshed as well to add to it's effects. He was still very much visible up close, but if someone wasn't looking for him or didn't know he was there, they'd miss him.
"I'm in position. Send the Panaceas in. I have eyes on the AC units. All's clear. Heatseek's picking up nothing."
On cue, they started moving in out of the vehicle. Trevor found it hard to move with his leg shaking uncontrollably. Scarlet was much more collected, being a trainee and all. They eventually made it over to Henry. "We're here." Scarlet quietly said.
"Thanks for telling me. I didn't notice." Henry replied.
Trevor playfully punched Henry in the side.
"That's swell, because Agent Merryday is in position!" Sonya said through the comms, excitedly.. She was on the hill, she was kneeling down, hidden well by the bushes and trees around her. Looking through the sights of her sniper rifle at the AC Units. Agent Inkshade was right at her side, crouched down. Looking through the binoculars for potential threats.
"Please. Be louder. I don't think the opposition heard you. Here, I'm sure there's a megaphone around here somewhere."
"Well, with all these overwhelming odds against them, maybe we should try to make things a little a fair." Sonya playfully said.
Henry looked Scarlet and Trevor. "This is the NEST Elite. Task force RAVEN. Now go earn your pay and breathe."
"Heeeeey, maybe I might join NEST after all." Trevor shrugged as she spoke to Henry. "They sound like my kind of people. And frog lady's kinda cute." He chuckled.
"I heard that, Panacea." Sonya said. "Appreciate the comment - but don't piss off a sniper. Might be the last thing you ever do!" She playfully said.
Henry turned the corner looking down the barrel of his gun, and thankfully the many forms of sight had not betrayed them. They were met with unguarded AC units. Perfect. Henry moved quickly over to them and using the claws on his fingers unscrewed the metal side of the box. Leon moved up to his side and handed him a prevision scalpel, which Henry used to cut a hole in the air uptake pipes.
"Panacea, there is an Oxygen mask in your vest. Move over to me and put them on." Henry instructed, extracting two hoses from his own vest and attaching them to a connector, which conjoined the two tubes into another, wider tube. He slipped the connecting piece into the hole he cut into the pipe.
Trevor had no god damn idea there was an oxygen mask on this super suit! He reached down, and grabbed it, putting it on quite well. Those NEST examiners always make him wear a stupid mask whenever he goes for his check-up. They're afraid of what he'll do. But what is there to be afraid of with Trevor Obott?
Scarlet put her mask on quickly as possible.
"All-Seer, tape."
"Bossy." Leon commented, handing his reptilian friend a roll of ductape. Henry cut a piece off, once again using his claws, and closed up the hole he had cut in the air uptake. He sat back on his haunches and admitted his work.
"Heh. Whaddaya know? Dragonfly. NEST Agent. Black Ops. Handyman. Panacea, you two have your masks on?"
"Wait, just as a reminder, which one of us is Panacea again?" Trevor said as he put the last strap on.
"You're both Panacea. Now hand me your tubes. All-Seer, reminder, masks on just in case of a leakage." Henry said, hitting a button below his jaw that caused the biometrics of his suit to shift to cover his snout. He reached forward with his open hands waiting for the siblings to give him the tube endings.
Both of the Obotts handed Henry the tubes without a word. Henry wordlessly attached them, and gave them the thumbs up.
"Ah, don't worry about me," Leon started off. "This won't be the first time I got high on the job."
Henry rolled his eyes.
"Alright you two, time to save some lives. Breath normally. We'll be here for a bit. Anyone wanna play some cards?" Henry said, pulling a deck from his vest in offer. Something to do as they waited for the drugs to really kick in. Could be an hour or more. Only time would tell.
"Sure." Trevor said.
"Well, got nothin' better to do," Leon said, "Oh yeah, I gotta watch ya'll." He quickly used his power to observe the area around them.
"Lame."
"We'll be keeping watch, too." Sonya said. "And don't worry kids, if Henry cheats, I'll shoot his cards!" She had to resist the urge to start laughing.
"Agent Swarm Queen, in position." Nikki said in the bushes. Her NEST armor was a bit different. It involved a helmet, and a spider masquerade-like mask. Nikki's armor was covered in insects, and she immediately deployed them. They quickly pushed out, going into the factory. Taking position in each and every part of the abandoned factory - specifically the entrances. Which were trapdoors with wheels on them. Which Nikki put plenty of bugs on. With her ability to tune into insects, she should be able to sense vibrations - which would be someone coming out. Then she can alert everyone else. Though, she had to focus.
Maximilian walked up behind her, and put his hand on her shoulder. Almost making her shudder. He calmly pressed his comm-piece. "Agent Praetorian, Agent Supersonic, and Counterpoint are all in position."
Maximilian nodded at Quentin. He crossed his arms, and stood in the bushes overlooking the base. "And now we wait. I pray everything goes well for us."
Quentin seemed to share the notion, remarking "Never thought I'd say it, but I've lost sleep at the thought of these bastards getting off the hook. You're not the only one."
Maximilian nodded. "Long as RAVEN is in action, there won't be anything left of the Hands when we're finished."
"All's going well for us, and there's anything I've learned it's the karma has momentum." Henry said over the comms. "Take it slow. Try and fuck as many up without them realizing as possible before hell breaks loose. You know, the usual Tuesday afternoon op." Henry said. The comms fell silent again before Henry piped up again.
First, the good news: the twins made it back to the shophouse safe and sound. (Thank NEST for putting the Ghost Town Adventure on hold and Haruka was saved from being sandwiched between a temperamental Meifeng and his smart brother.)
As for the bad news: he had no idea how to face their positively livid aunt - he had half the mind to push all the blame on Shizuka, but those words just wouldn't come out of his mouth. (Curse his soft, 'big brother' heart.)
"So," Akemi began, her piercing eyes traveled from the older twin to the younger one. "Where have you two been?"
Shizuka spoke first. "We were strolling around the streets of Chinatown, then we met some dude around our age who showed us around, and he brought us to meet his friends. They were all pretty nice peeps." Haruka was surprised at his brother's words, but he kept his face blank and nodded, agreeing with Shizuka.
Their aunt took a step forward, her face moving closer to Shizuka's. "Nice people, you say?" Haruka could feel her voice going colder with each syllable. Shizuka's answer was a mere shrug, and said nothing.
Akemi closed her eyes. "Did you know that one of those kids is the child of a NEST agent?"
Both brothers gaped a little. "No, we don't know about that," Haruka said slowly, frowning. "Which one of them, anyway?"
"The Chinese girl."
Shizuka raised an eyebrow. "Meifeng?" He exchanged a look with Haruka. "Her mum works for the Metacops?"
Akemi sighed. "I won't interfere with who you two make friends with in this city, but...just stay away from NEST. Promise me this."
Haruka stiffened. Why would Aunt Akemi warn us about NEST? Shizuka was less jittery. "Uh, why? The NESTies have no interest in normal people like us."
Akemi gripped the younger twin's shoulders. "Just. Stay. Away. From. NEST." Shizuka winced at the pain, but nodded along with his brother. Their aunt relaxed, satisfied with their response. "You boys must be hungry from your little adventure." Haruka swore he felt a chill in the word Akemi emphasized on. "Dinner is almost ready, so go and freshen up yourselves. And both of you are grounded for the rest of the week."
"W-What?" "Eeeeeeeeh?"
"No buts. I'll go through the ground rules in greater detail over the table later..."
Dr. Cross's voice boomed through the speakers, attracting the attention of every person in the room. Every Chairmen, every scientist worth their mettle... They were all here before her. Heavy footsteps came from behind her - she turned over her shoulder to see the Wendigo and Snowblind taking position behind her. Excellent, all of her Generals are present.
"I have gathered you all here today because the path we have been sent on is being threatened." Dr Cross started off her speech. "The masquerade we once had has been pulled from underneath our feet by NEST, and their allies. Which is why we have no choice but to discuss how we are to handle this new threat so we may resume our research without being obstructed."
The crowd started chattering. Discussing what Dr. Cross just said between themselves.
One of the men on the balconies, a European man in his thirties with prematurely grey hair, and a rockin' suit, stood up to his microphone, and spoke, "With all due respect Dr. Cross, the reason why we have this issue in the first place is that you let the scientists under your control run outside of your control. We would have never ran into this problem if you were competent enough-"
Dr. Cross narrowed her eyes at the man. "Nathaniel." She hissed his name, cutting him off. She knew that he was one of the fellow Chairmen of this organization (The Western Canadian Branch). "If you were to let me finish, I was going to explain that someone betrayed us. Every Hands base has a self-destruct function in case it was discovered - and the system was mysteriously destroyed."
Dr. Cross pressed a button on the panel that she was standing out, and a orb at the center of the room projected an image of a tall woman with blue eyes, red hair, and wearing rather modest attire. "This is our "rat"." Dr. Cross announced - well, they suspected her of being the rat in their organization, but it didn't matter. Long as she had a convenient scapegoat. "Megan Jervious. A former woman of science, and Metahuman. We lost track of her after the first lab fell. Only problem is that her ability allows her a complex and powerful form of Shapeshifting. She could literally be anyone."
Ignatius rudely pushed his way over to the microphone, and spoke into it. "REAPER is searching for her...." Searching a look of ire from Dr. Cross. "And we will murder her."
"... But how does this relate to our current predicament?" Another chairmen spoke up, a thin, African-American woman (Seemingly Egyptian with a bit of Sudan) that wore a purple suit similar to Dr. Cross. Eliza, that was her name. Head of the South-Eastern Branch of the Hands of Science. "All I've seen you do so far is try to excuse yourself, instead of discussing how we're going to deal with this. I don't care who ratted us out - NEST is pushing in on my operations, and a group of vigilantes destroyed one of my best labs in Florida." Eliza narrowed her eyes. "I. Need. That. Handled."
Dr. Cross nodded her head. "In these dark times, I feel as if the real problem is that we are so separate." She started off, pausing to let the words hang in the air. "There are seven Chairmen, and we all act like we're our own islands."
"What are you getting at, Cross?" Nathaniel asked.
"We've been treating our grand goal of introducing a new age of super-science as some sort of race." Dr. Cross said. "A stupid little school science competition - Tell me, how many of you have made any major breakthroughs, or otherwise done more than stroke your scientific egos...?"
The question went unanswered.
... That is, until he spoke.
"I am close to making a breakthrough that will change the very face of the world of Metahumans." Another chairmen spoke - but he was one of the few Chairmen insistent on keeping himself mysterious. He wore a suit, and a mask over his face with a snake-symbol on it. The Chairmen of the North-Eastern Branch. "And once I am finished, it will help the world, and save lives."
"... You don't have to stroke your scientific ego, Suan-Ni. We all know what you are working on." Eliza said, bored.
"That isn't my point, either." Dr. Cross said, rolling her eyes. "The point is that, if we are to survive, we have to unite, and put all our resources towards destroying all threats to our organization. We have REAPER, and they're on par with NEST." Dr. Cross shrugged. "However, they have assembled an elite Task Force here in Verthaven, and they have proven themselves to be effective in countering us. With every battle, they get stronger. They garner more support, and they learn much more of our tricks. While our scientists are getting put in cells. Our REAPERS being put in morgues."
"Uniting..." Eliza trailed off for a moment, almost sounding like she was scoffing it off. "You wanna know why we're so separate. Our scientific egos is really what's keeping us apart." Eliza started laughing. "You know, thank you for introducing that phrase to me. I love it."
Dr. Cross thought about throwing the Wendigo over to her balcony - but that, while hilarious, would only cause even more divide in their organization. "... We have no choice but to swallow our prides, Eliza. This might go against our plans, but we need to work towards destroying NEST. Our secret alliance is no longer profitable, so they must go."
"What do you suggest, Cross?" Suan-Ni said. "We make weapons? I for one, refuse. I want to help people - not destroy them with weapons."
"It's a bitter obligation to science, Suan." Dr. Cross noted. "We have to make compromises and sacrifices to achieve results. I know this more than anyone." She sighed.
"... So, who's with me?"
Lihua Vuhong, & Meifeng Vuhong.
Next few days after the climatic breakout of PR-1 - or as he would prefer to be called Peter Brooke - Lihua has been... relaxing. Trying to sort out her life and her problems. While she hated to admit it, she was looking up a few therapists - for herself, and Meifeng. They both needed help, and they both needed to swallow their pride. The mature woman was sitting in her kitchen, enjoying a little bit of alcohol - the rest of that Baijiu. It was expensive, so she was going to enjoy it. She turned her head towards the window, and sneered. It was almost ten o'clock and it was raining cats and dogs outside. Something's behind all of this, but she appreciated the break from the bright and sunny days. It reflects her glum mood. She took a another sip before she realized that she was joined by another person.
Meifeng, wearing a T-shirt, and a pair of bright-red boxer shorts. Lihua instinctively adjusted her white bathrobe, tying it shut before her daughter could see her with her bra out. She perked up, and gave Meifeng a curious look, asking her in their native language "Meifeng, what can I help you with?" She was hoping.
"I just wanted to, uh... talk you about something. You know." Meifeng shrugged as she sat down on the table across from Lihua. "We haven't had one of those in a little while." She shrugged again.
If this has anything to do with my alcohol consumption, I'll hit her with a sock of batteries. Lihua thought to herself. She was going to give Meifeng a chance, at least. She placed the glass of alcohol on the table, and perked up. "Yes? I'm listening."
"Just a... what's been going on lately." Meifeng scratched the back of her neck. "And I don't mean your drinking problem. Heh. I loooooong came to terms with the fact my mom's an alcoholic." She started laughing as she put a wide grin that bared all her teeth - even though her teeth were also scraped by that aberration's claws.
"I am not an alcoholic."
"Sounds like something an alcoholic would say!" Meifeng teased.
Getting a little annoyed with her daughter, Lihua implored her to get to the point, "Can we get to it, already?"
"Alright, alright... relax." Meifeng put her hands up as her smile went flat, and her eyes closed. "I've been wondering a little bit about Anna... She hasn't talked to me after...." She trailed off a little bit. It did hurt the girl deeply that Anna would cut ties with her like that.
"Your lesbian moment." Lihua dryly inserted.
"Well, no - I thought it was like that." Meifeng shrugged. "Guess it doesn't work out like I hoped."
This was certainly a... less than comfortable topic for Lihua (Given that if her daughter is gay, it'll stop her glorious genes from spreading), but she was going to give her full support. "All I can say is that you should try to talk to her through other means. If she truthfully doesn't want anything to do with you - then, oh well. Her loss."
Meifeng nodded her head. "Oh yeah, I forgot to ask you about those two Asian boys that Trevor found. Why were you asking about them?"
"Hmph." Lihua grunted, looking blankly into her glass. "Some woman I met in Chinatown was looking for them - but here's the time, that basketcase set them out into the city with zero way to track them." She shrugged. "It was by chance that you were with them. And they weren't grabbed by the Hands."
Meifeng wryly grinned, baring her teeth again. She shrugged, and kept her shoulders shrugged up. "Hey... this is Trevor we're talking about. Like they're that much better off with him than the Hands."
Lihua snickered. "True. But, with all the trouble you get in, I wouldn't say you'd be any different."
"Oh, you're so mean."
"Speaking of all the people you choose to associate yourself with...." Lihua remembered. "I know can't control who you talk to, but I suggest that you stay away from that red haired wrench." Lihua took a sip of her alcohol.
"Look, I know you and her had that little spat-"
"It has nothing to do with that. She seems like the type who'd get in trouble - and drag you down with her." Lihua shrugged. "I have gotten you out of NEST punishment before... but if you're determined to join NEST, you need as little marks against you as possible."
"I do, but..." Meifeng tried to answer, but realized that there was little point in talking to her adamant mother about it. She would still give Reyna a chance. She nodded her head, and stood up. She walked towards the door, casually speaking, "Alright, mom, I'm going back to my room."
As she watched her daughter walk up, there was something that she wanted to get off her chest. "... Before you go," Lihua started off, getting Meifeng's attention. "There was something I wanted to talk to you about."
"Yeah, what is it?" Meifeng turned back around and firmly planted her behind back on the chair.
"Let me tell you a little story from the job..." Lihua said as she downed what was left of the Baijiu, and loudly tapped it on the table. "I can't share too much about it. I'll get yelled at if I tell a teenager confidential NEST information. But let's say there was a very bad man-"
"... You don't have to say it like I'm five, mom." Meifeng put her hand on the side of her face, and rolled her eyes.
"How about you listen for once in your life?" Lihua hissed, and earned zero response from Meifeng. Which she took as listening. She grabbed her glass - but it was empty, she forgot. She sighed. "As I was saying... There was a very bad man. Who hurt a lot of people, and was going to hurt a lot more. NEST stopped him - but he lied his way out of our grasps, and hurt more people. And when NEST cornered him, he had one last person in his grasps." She paused for a moment. "So, we were hit with a choice. We either let him go, and save that person - at the cost of hurting far more people down the line... Or we stop him for good at the cost of one last life."
"Is this why you haven't been going to work...?" Meifeng asked, sounding a little somber.
"I wasn't the one that had to make that choice," Lihua was quick to inform her, "but that isn't the point. Tell me, Meifeng..." She dramatically slammed her glass on the table.
"... Was there a right decision in that situation?" Lihua asked the question.
"Um... Can I know more? Like who was this 'bad man' and who was he going to hurt? I gotta-" Meifeng asked.
"No." Lihua harshly cut her off. "Not for confidential reasons. Only because I want you to make your own conclusions." Lihua held the glass by the top, gently swishing around the last drops of her drink, and watching. "The person responsible could be a mass murderer, a terrorist, or even a man with the greatest intentions, but employs ruthless means to achieve success..." Lihua trailed off. "And that last person could be a saint, your best friend, or someone just as bad... but I want to know if you think there was a right decision."
Meifeng thought about it really hard. Her eyes were drifting across the room - noting how harshly Lihua's eyes were staring into hers. Almost like her gaze was piercing through her. This caused a little bit of a conflict in Meifeng. If you save one person, he could kill a lot more. At the same time, should you play God and sacrifice one person just to bring an end to this all? Is it worth it? Meifeng didn't notice it yet - but Lihua did - but a small trickle of sweat dripped down her forehead to her cheek. What situation forces someone to make a decision like this...?
"I..." Meifeng trailed off, awkwardly turning her head to the side. "... I don't know. I can't say that there was."
"Exactly." Lihua said, and a half-smile formed on her face. The child was finally starting to get it. "In life, you won't always be presented with a clear right decision or wrong decision - nor will you always have a third decision. You'll have to make your own decision, and you'll wonder whether or not you made the right one. Some people will have you for it, but it's the price you have to pay."
Okay, mom's acting a little weird now. Meifeng thought to herself as she listened to Lihua. A part of her wanted to brush it off, but she couldn't. There was something in her telling her that she'll have to listen. "What?" Meifeng shrugged, bringing her hands to shoulder-level, palms up. "You're giving me life tips now?"
"Yes." Lihua matter-of-factly answered. "Think about it."
"Um..." Meifeng trailed off, feeling conflicted about this whole change in conversation. "... I think I'll go now." She said as she pushed the chair back and stood straight up. She walked out the door without another word, from herself or Lihua.
"Life is full of blurred lines, and there are very few absolutes." Lihua said to herself.
"... You'll understand that some day."
Cindy Gabrielle Keagan.
All this god damn rain. Like Jesus.
Cindy wanted to play some god damn tennis for once.
She let out a sigh, as she started playing her violin. It wasn't perfect, but she wanted to practice. Which she was doing for the last few hours. Just out of sheer boredom. This rain was starting to get annoying. Though, it was ten at night, not like anyone wanted to do anything at this hour. Cindy loudly sighed, before she kept going. Right now, she was in her room, she lived in an apartment in Knightdale Rows with her father - their mother was somewhere else at the moment because of... family issues.
"Hey baby girl," Cindy's father, Jackson Keagan, poked his bald head into the room.
"Dad! Knock." Cindy was quick to note, as she stopped playing the violin.
"Oh, sorry." Jackson said as he walked into the room, and leaned up against the wall. "Great to see that you're still practicing you're violin."
"I'm just practicing it because there's not much else to do with all this rain." Cindy shrugged.
"I know." Jackson shrugged. "There was something I wanted to talk to you about..."
"Yeah, what is it?"
"Heard that two NESTies came by the club a few days ago lookin' for somebody." Jackson noted. "Don't know the details, but they were pretty important."
"Yeah, they were looking for Trevor about something." Cindy nonchalantly said, followed by a shrug of her shoulders. "I don't know what the hell that white boy get into... that's why I don't ask." She started laughing.
Jackson's face didn't show a hint of emotion. "Look... I know some of your friends are, uh, associated with NEST, but try to keep away from them until this whole mess is sorted out." He shrugged. "I hate for anything to happen to you, or you get in trouble for something you didn't do, and get sent back." It was his greatest failure, letting his daughter get sent to a prison like that. If only he was more attentive.
At the thought of getting sent back, Cindy cringed a little. "I know, I'll be careful." The two exchanged nods, before Cindy looked around for her phone. She thought about it for a moment, before she angrily exclaimed, "Shit-"
"Baby girl!" Jackson chided her.
"Oh, sorry." Cindy said. "I just left my phone at the club." She said as she put down her violin.
"I can - go get it?" Jackson said as he threw a thumb over his shoulder.
"No, it's cool. It's right around the corner." Cindy said, getting up, and looking down. She didn't take a shower yet - so she was still wearing the same outfit she was wearing all day. Long blue jeans, a leather jacket, and white button up shirt with a striped red and black tie. It was cold, because of all the rain - so the girl could get away with wearing heavier clothes in the winter. "I'll just go grab it and head right back." She said as she ran out the door.
"Yeah, stay safe." Jackson said... Just as a precautionary, he called Cindy's phone. Hm. He didn't hear her ringtone.
Okay, this was not a smart idea.
Cindy was rolling down the street on her scooter in the middle of a rainstorm. Rain was hitting her, and soaking her outfit - but that didn't matter. It was like it would literally kill he if she was separated from her phone for too long. She just needed to head right there, and head straight back. She quickly made it to the Candy Club, and unlocked the door, running in. She flicked the lights on, and looked around. Okay, she just needed to remember all the places she was sitting down. However, the phone's flashed with a light indicating that it was being used... Cindy walked over to it, feeling as if she just walked into some shitty horror movie. She looked at it, and realized that the screen was on because her dad just called her. She rolled her eyes, and put her phone in her pocket.
That's the end of that, I guess. Cindy thought to herself, before making a note to run out the door fast as possible. She got on her bike, put on her helmet, and sped off. Cindy barely noticed the purple light on the roof of the building...
Everything was going to plan (Relatively speaking). All she had to do was get back to the apartment... While she was scrolling down the street - the lights went out. All the street lights went dead, the lines in every other building also went dark. Only thing that was illuminated was the lights of her scooter. First instinct was to slow down a little bit, and take a look around. Streets seems oddly dead at this hour... Cindy turned the high beams on. Either way, she was going to head back to the apartment fast as possible.
She was careful, but she looked at the darkness behind her, and decided to speed up a little bit. Little did she know, there was a human-shaped silhouette in the middle of the street that Cindy just barely noticed. "OH SHIT!" She shouted as she instinctively swerved out of the way. Her eyes were wide open, and she was praying to whatever God would listen that she would come out of this alive. She was going right for the sidewalk - but she, on reflex, created glass over the right side of her upper body. Creating a shield that would barely work against a high impact crash. However, the girl came to a swerving stop, hitting the back end of her scooter against the front of a car. Creating one hell of a dent, and smashing one of the headlights.
"Sweet lord..." Cindy muttered in relief as she looked over her shoulder. Okay, minimal damage done to her scooter. However, her relief turned into scathing rage as she stepped off the scooter, and took heavy stomps over the place.
"Yo! Are you fucking stupid or something!?" Cindy shouted at the person, taking slow steps forward with her fists clenched tightly into balls. She slammed her foot onto the ground. Jesus Christ, some of the people in this city are stupid as fuck. Standing in the middle of the street where the power went out?! "Why the hell are you standing in the middle of the fuckin' street, yo?! In the god damn dark! That's grade-A stupid, yo! You almost made me crash, you dickhead!" Cindy unleashed the torrent of her rage.
A glowing purple eye shined through the darkness of the street.
“Sometimes I just want to tell them to shut up, to go away, that I am ok, just because I can’t… walk doesn’t mean I can’t think…”
Alice looked momentarily guilty, “and then I feel bad for thinking it. Especially to my Mom and Dad. It doesn’t change that it’s how I feel though, and I just get angrier and angrier cause I can’t say it, and I don’t want to say it.”
The psychotherapist nodded thoughtfully, “these are not unusual feelings Alice, but you have to remember that for your parents everything is different too. For everyone, you need to be more honest with them for them to understand that’s how you are feeling.”
Alice sighed and stared into her lap, “I know… but it’s just so hard to… to talk about it…”
The meeting continued for some time, with little actual progress being made, truth be told. Alice wasn’t being entirely truthful with her therapist either, how could she? It was even harder now for her to get out of bed, not when dreaming allowed her to run and leap across the city as Alabaster, or even lumber or hobble as Knarr or Septimus. It was better than being stuck in that damn chair, of having people think she couldn’t do things. She’d helped, fought alongside other Metahumans to stop a rampaging pair. She’d felt free, and powerful, so much more powerful than she had ever been.
Yet she couldn’t tell anyone about it, she didn’t have a real problem with NEST, not in the way that many did, but she’d been injured by the Fiends. They’d been working with NEST, or for them, or for someone NEST was working with, she didn’t really know. There hadn’t been many details made available to the public, and she’d been either unconscious or in the hospital while much of it had been happening and coming out.
Not that she felt she’d missed out, not until that night a week ago, the night she’d fought the metahuman. Of course there was no way anyone could have known that the strange figure was her, it was preposterous, more likely a metahuman with enhanced reflexes and agility. It had felt like being a god. Not simply seeing that character on a screen performing these amazing, impossible feats, but being the one to perform them, almost without thought, without effort.
She’d been going out almost every night, and slowly but surely the forums were starting to blow up with reports of the characters of Vorpal coming to life in Verthaven. She’d commented herself a few times, feeding the fire, making sure that she didn’t seem suspiciously absent from the discussion. There were so many different theories, some a little wilder, the idea that it was in fact cosplayers who had somehow developed the same abilities as the characters of the game was obviously unlikely. The theory that it was one shapeshifter posing as different metas was a little closer to the truth, though it wasn’t exactly fair to criticise her creativity. Alice had tried, but as far as she could tell, forming entire new personas and forms was hugely difficult, if not impossible.
Jen hadn’t been too talkative either, they’d texted a little, but it seemed she’d been pretty busy, Alice wasn’t surprised, she’d seen her with Meifeng at the beach. She didn’t know what shit she’d been going through, but if the scene at the beach was anything to go by, it was some pretty scary stuff. She couldn’t imagine what it must be like for those who were identified as metahumans as children, to grow up alongside these people who could do amazing and terrifying things, did it numb you to it? Alice didn’t think she could have fought if she’d actually been there, even as a projection she’d frozen up, and the fight had nearly concluded before she’d done anything to help.
But she had helped. And almost as much as she delighted in using her ability to run free, she had learned the satisfaction of doing something right, even if it was only small. Maybe she should contact NEST after all. Alice rubbed her eyes on her way out of the therapists office. That was a decision for another day.
It was nice to talk to someone about how she was feeling, but he was still just doing his job, and she wanted something more than that. She needed a friend to talk to. Maybe she would find someone who understood…
Trevor asked, sitting down with his legs crossed. Holding a bunch of poker cards in hand. Scarlet was sitting across from him in the same position. Jesus Christ monkey balls this is so boring. He was literally sitting here breathing into this stupid ass mask, waiting for his ass to go numb. This wasn't the secret agent stuff good old Trevor wanted. Oh well. He'd rather get a bunch of favors by sitting on his ass, than fighting supervillains.
"Wish I could come down here with you and play," Sonya said into the comms, sounding bored as Trevor. She was just sitting in the bushes with Maria, waiting for Henry's plan to get put in motion.
"Hey man, I said the plan'd work, not that it'd be a ton of fun," Henry commented. He turned his gaze to Trevor and have him a strange look. "We're playing Blackjack, Trevor. Not Go Fish."
"I know - but I was losing, so we're playing goldfish now." Trevor noted.
"I wanted to shoot someone, damn it," Sonya said. "I can't sleep unless I shoot one person a day."
Leaning against the wall, Leon's attention was more on the surrounding area than the three. Not that anything would sneak up on them with all the agents here keeping an eye on things. He had to stay on guard. He didn't want to get yelled at in case something did go wrong.
"Might have a problem..." Swam Queen spoke into the comms.
"What is it?" Maximilian asked.
"Some people are coming out. I don't know how many," she answered.
"Oh, that's not good," Sonya said. "Inkshade, spot 'em for me." Inkshade turned to Sonya and nodded, before looking down the sights of her binoculars.
"Tag them," Maximilian ordered. "I want to know how many, and where they are."
Nikki nodded, and focused a bit. She had to be stealthy, because she was certain that REAPER knew about her ability from earlier encounters. She willed away the insects that were keeping an eye on the entrance. Making them scatter into the shadows and creeks of the building. She put flies on their pants, and shoulders - three of them. Going off the position of the rest of the insects in the factory, they were heading right out the door. There were some faint conversations.
"We got three of them - don't know where they're heading - but keep your eyes open."
Quentin quietly flexed the fingers on his right hand for good measure, keeping a firm hold on his 870 as Max kept in touch with them over the comms. Even with the regenerative properties he'd gained back in that hellhole, he could still feel where those leeches had dug in and had to alleviate the stiffness somehow.
Henry moved his hand to his secondary weapon, which was his own Remington 870 with a Salvo-12 suppressor. It was simple, but it would be better in thise close range setting that his LSAT, and much quieter with the suppressor. His claw toyed with the safety, flicking it on and off in a nervous habit.
"Oh." Trevor said to himself as his heart started racing. "I... Uh... Think I just pissed myself a little." Okay, Secret Agent bullshit was starting to seem scary the second the villains showed up.
Leon quickly caught sight of the trio just as they walked out the building. He zoomed in on them, having a random conversation about getting some drinks after the job, and shit. However, one of them said, "Hey I'm going to take a piss." Before heading around the corner...towards the AC Units.
Daphne chuckled through the comm. Talk about coincidence. She stopped quickly before she might get caught by Dana.
"Oooh, this isn't good," Leon said. "Oh wait, I guess it's fine, but not ideal. Two dudes are heading Max's way, and the other one is going to take a piss - headin' towards the AC units, but I don't know."
Maximilian nodded his head, he turned towards Helena and Quentin. "Alright, we can't let anyone leave the base, so here's what we're going to do." He started off, before going onto the next part of his plan, "We're going to take positon in the bushes, and once they get close enough, we quickly attack from two directions, and catch them off guard." He nodded his head. "Weapons free."
Slinging the 870 and retrieving his suppressed P226, Quentin returned the gesture and slowly moved into position. Granted, he knew a shot wouldn't exactly be a silent wisp as they'd always shown in the movies, but at this time of night, outside, anyone could've mistook it for the sound of a bottle falling off a dumpster in the distance or a car door slamming shut.
"Let's go." Maximilian reached down and pulled out his suppressed Berretta 92. He quickly moved ahead as Helena pulled out her own suppressed ACR rifle. Helena quickly moved ahead of the group, and when they reached the pathway that the men were walking down, Helena flashstepped to the other side. It only made a distinct sound that was hard to differentiate from wind. She appeared on the other side, and put her hand up, Maximilian nodded his head as he and Quentin got into position as well.
The two men came up on their little ambush, and Maximilian put his hand up, and raised three fingers. Counting down as they got closer. Signalling for Quentin and Helena to get ready. Maximilian lowered his last finger, and pointed his index and middle finger ahead.
Helena opened fire with her ACR, whilst Quentin quickly lined up a shot with the other and squeezed back firmly on the trigger.
Daphne cringed at the chorus of telepathic feedback she received from the plants about the guntshots - she was forced to close off her mental link with the floras for a few seconds before their excited voices flood her mind.
When the shots stopped, the two scientists were dead.
"Targets eliminated." Maximilian said into his earpiece. He quickly said, "Good work, RAVENs."
"Oh, you three-" Sonya started off, before her best friend, The Allseer, decided to politely cut her off!
"Hey, you forgettin about me?"
"Le- I mean Allseer, don't make me tase your dick again." Sonya warned through the comms. "Me and Inkshade got this. Best shot in NEST, after all. Just stay calm and...." Sonya leaned forward a bit, and looked down the sights. Inkshade was looking through the binoculars, and the man came in sight. She immediately marked the man, and Sonya grinned.
Sonya turned her sights towards the man. At this pace, she could easily snipe a great big hole in his chest! But Sonya didn't feel the moment was right. She focused a bit, and raised her hand into the air. Wind movements were off a little bit. She could tell by the plant-life moving on it's own. Thrown off by all the rain. She needed to wait for the right moment. Or else she would end up hitting the wall, or something, and he's going to run screaming back into the base. And NEST can't have that, now can they?
Only sound Sonya made was taking in a great deep breath, and going in focus. She had her sights lined up, only waiting for the moment when he wind stopped. The man was getting closer to Henry and the others. Jesus Christ. Does he take a piss on the air conditioning every night-
When the wind stopped, Sonya didn't waste a second. She pulled the trigger, and she immediately heard the satisfying wisp of her Barrett. It tore through the air faster than the speed of sound, and hit the man in the chest - literally before he knew what was going on. He stumbled a bit, before looking down, and falling over.
"Well, he's not getting up." Sonya said to himself. "Target eliminated."
"Nice shot!" Maria complimented.
"All in a day's work, after all."
"This is agent Dragonfly, requesting the emergency evac of both Panacea." Henry radioed in. He turned his attention over to the siblings. "Unhook yourself. We're pulling you both out." Henry stated, cutting the connecting tubes with his index-claw. He passed his shotgun to Scarlet, and grabbed his final weapon, a holstered Remington, and tossed it to Trevor.
The second he got handed a weapon, Trevor got moist. This wasn't any other shotgun - it was a bloody Remington. Underneath that mask of his, he grinned. This should take out anybody.
"Cover's blown. Crash course- safety off. Aim at the target, pull the trigger, try not to close your eyes." Henry instructed, his voice very much rushed. "Car should be pulling up any second and we're gonna load you in and get you to a safehouse for the next twenty four hours. You see anyone that gets in between you and that car, you shoot at them. Do you both understand me?"
Scarlet nodded her head. Like Trevor, they both had experience shooting. Scarlet was also one that got herself some NEST training.
"Yeah, I got this." Trevor nodded his head. Smiling. "And it's great ya' remember my gun shootin' hobby, Dragonfly."
"There's a difference between shooting and getting shot at." Henry said, standing to his full height and grabbing them both by their shirts, pulling them off the ground and shoving them forward. "Ride's a block from here. Now move! Merryday and Inkshade will cover you, me and the others are going in." Henry said, cocking his LSAT.
"Yes, yes I will." Sonya said, putting her sights on the area. She turned to Inkshade, who threw her a look of disapproval. "Oh, I mean we will. Don't worry lads!"
"I'll assist in securing the retreat route," Daphne spoke through the comm. "The shrubs and bushes around will be your cover, and the trees shall be your eyes. Just keep running...and focus on shooting whoever in your way before you."
"Trees will be my eyes...?" Trevor asked. What was this... No what, nevermind. He and Scarlet didn't waste any time in getting the hell out of here. They immediately ran for the bushes, before they disappeared.
"Oh, looks like it's tiiiiiime." Leon said with a wry grin. "I was waitin' to get back at those bastards at the Hands ever since what they did to Max n' Adam." He grinned. Henry scoffed and cracked his neck.
"Entrances arent too far from here. Front or side?"
Maximilian's fingers went to the comms. "You and All-Seer take the sides. Me, and the others will be going in through the front." He nodded his head. Looks like it's showtime. "All-Seer, how is it looking in the base?"
"Lemme take a looksies..." Leon immediately projected his eyes downwards, and peaked inside their rather fancy lab. Scientists were passed out, or they were getting a little drowsy. Perfect for the taking. "Looks clear, but...." He saw some REAPERs running through the base. "... I think they're just starting to notice."
"Just make sure you wear a gas mask, assholes." Henry said, his skin shimmering to match the color and texture of the building wall.
"Nah, I think I'll snort some tee- I mean airborne drugs!" Sonya joked as she followed the Obotts from a distance.
"Keep and eye out for me. We dont want want to repeat last time and I definitely dont want another FRIENDLY bullet. Au revoir!" Henry said, saluting them and then moving away to an entrance, more than likely to wait for the signal to break into the building in unison.
Maximilian sighed. He reached down to his datapad, and sent Cyber a message.
Cyber, enact the plan at once.
Got it.
With a flick of his wrist, Cole enacted his plan.
Step one. Within the facility's power grid, Cole searched for and found the mains that lent power to the security functions; alarms, door locks and cameras, and turned them off. Almost immediately, cameras all over the base began blacking out and turning off, along with the alarm systems. Mag-locked doors unlocked, and the prisoners within the prison block were treated to their first real taste of freedom.
The guards within the security hub reacted immediately, just like he anticipated. The doors within the hub were still powered by some auxilliary supply, which helped him enact step two. Another thought, and the doors of the hub locked themselves tight. One of the guards slammed into the locked door and swore as he struggled to get it open. Step two done.
Now, for step three. With the power temporarily disabling all security systems, he searched for the connections the alarms made with the main hub, a bundle of data cables buried within a wall. He took those connections and, with some measure of force, broke them entirely. The cables themselves suffered no physical harm, but all incoming and outgoing data bursts would be immediately stopped.
Step four. Landline communications were handled by a routing room within the facility, which was still operational. He solved that problem by shunting all power from that room outside into the main factory aboveground. That would result in some lights and perhaps some of the old machinery turning on in the factory, alerting RAVEN that something was up.
Step five: handling that pesky data wipe worm. Cole was already stationed in the main server room, waiting patiently for it to strike. And, right on cue, it did. A swirling crimson mass grew from a terminal to one side of the room and immediately attacked one of the servers, slowly devouring its bright blue glow. Cole swooped in and threw a punch to fend off the worm, knocking it aside as he accessed the servers and immeidately started throwing every single byte of data down the data pipelines towards NEST's servers.
Step six was on its way to being handled. Cole focused his attention on the wiper worm as data flowed from the server room to NEST's servers. Locked in combat, Cole had time to send one brief message before he had to defend himself against the worm.
Systems down, data transfer in progress, busy fighting data wipe. On your own for now. -Cyber
Keep watching him, Allfather, White Leopard."
Now that Cyber disabled their systems, it's time to get into position. Maximilian quickly moved into position, with his squad behind him. They quickly moved in with the rest of RAVEN moving in. They reached the door into the warehouse that lead into their stronghold. Each RAVEN taking position by the door, Maximilian considered calling out his Echo, since they're going to be going up against baseline humans - but in the case they're not, he just gave away their position. He firmly grasped his pistol.
He nodded his head, and placed his fingers on his commpiece. "Agents, this is the big one. The day where we remove the Hands of Science as a threat once and for all. When we get in there, I want you all to hit them hard and fast. Eliminate all threats, weapons free, and disable any scientists you come across."
"Got it." Sonya said. "Think I'm going to need to swap out with an ACR."
"Let's just get this over with." Helena said, bored.
"Aw snap, it's on." Leon said, far more excited.
"Just don't get hurt or anything." Nikki noted.
"Boom! Clap! The Sound of my gun! The shots go on, and on, and on, and on, on!" Henry sing songed into the comms.
Quentin only deigned to answer that by tugging on his sling.
"This will be the end of their perversion of science." Adam sternly noted. "I'll be moving in once Cyber is out of range."
"I'll be alerting the teams on standby." Dana said. "Just promise me you all won't do anything stupid."
"Alright RAVEN, I'm cooking a flashbang. Give me a countdown." Henry stated.
"3, 2, 1..." Maximilian counted down.
Henry cracked the door on the side of the building he was on, and tossed about three flashbangs inside. He quickly shut the door behind him and turned his head in the opposite direction.
"And a one, and a two, and a one, two, three, four!"
There was a very loud bang, and an ever more painful flash followed closely by several others from other various parts of the building being stormed by other agents. Henry turned around and in unison with the others in RAVEN rushed through the doors and open fired on anything with a heartbeat.
The RAVENS formed a line, and they immediately opened fire on what was a group of REAPERS coming out to investigate. They were cut down, slaughtered quickly. After the flash faded, all that was left was a few dead bodies (And some dead rats).
Sonya walked over, and kicked one of the dead rats. "Looks like we solved their rodent problem while we were at it, heh?" She joked - which went ignored as RAVEN pushed onto the door.
Maximilian stood before the metal door that lead into the tunnel that lead straight into their base. He reached down to his vest, and put on a gas mask, and he ordered the rest to do the same, "RAVEN, put on your masks now."
That earned him a thumbs-up as Quentin tugged at the mask dangling from his belt, flexing the straps on over his head before letting them snap against him whilst the filter and goggles covered his face, sarcastically adding "Hope they washed this before dumping it in the armoury."
"Come to think of it, would that stuff even do anything to me and Inky?" Sonya questioned as she put her own mask on. Which went with the rest of her little suit. She shrugged.
There was heavy gunfire from Henry's side of the mic when he piped up. "You're an amphibian. You're more at risk to being under the influence than all of us with that pereable skin." Another round of gunfire. "I dont know about Inkshade, but I dont think now's the time to risk it. Excuse me-" Henry was then cut off, but you could hear him yelling about something. There was a loud burst of crashing noises followed closely by 'Excuse me?! Excuse me?!" and then the sound of shattering bone and slamming sounds.
Many NEST agents who were listening cringed.
The crowd of footsteps quickly approached behind them as the team that Dana had on standby appeared in the building. "The squads have arrived." Dana noted.
"Yup. Didn't hear 'em rushing in here like a horde of Gorillas!" Sonya snarked, sticking out her long tongue. "Thanks for the reminder."
"Alright...." Maximilian called out Echo, and his shadow floated towards the door, and opened it. Before fading away.
Aunt Akemi was pretty thorough with keeping to her word - the twins were shut in their bedroom right after dinner, literally grounding them at home. For the first few days, Shizuka was quite obedient - at Haruka's call he helped with unpacking their bags and personalizing the room, making their new place a little cozier. Unfortunately, the younger twin wasn't the type who could stay indoors and laze around on the bed, letting the rest of the week passed by just like that.
He couldn't take it anymore. "I'm so bored!" He threw off his sheet. "And the night is still young!"
"Shuddap, Shizu," Haruka slurred from under his blanket. "You're noisy. Just lemme sleep."
Shizuka narrowed his eyes at his brother. He moved over and pulled Haruka up sharply. "You. You're gonna help me with something."
"H-Huh?" The elder twin rubbed his eyes. "Wha---"
"Cover for me, in case Aunt Akemi comes in to check on us."
That got Haruka's full attention. "Wait, you're sneaking out? Where the heck are you going anyway?"
Shizuka had already changed out of his pajamas. He was now wearing a navy-blue hooded windbreaker over a red polo shirt, a pair of dark jeans and black waterproof boots. "Out, obviously."
"I can see that," was Haruka's irritated reply. He jerked his chin at the window. "Didn't you say that this rain is bad news?"
"Yeah I know I did, and that makes me even more determined to go find out what the hell is going on out there." Shizuka gave his twin a brohug. "We didn't come to Verthaven to die."
"But---"
"No buts," Shizuka made a crude imitation of their aunt. He stood up and took a deep breath. He would have to go down one floor before he could leave the walls of the shophouse - one, it would be stupid to phase out of the second-level bedroom and hover above the heads of the busy crowd on the streets outside; two, at current level he's nowhere skilled enough to use his ability to actually walk on air. "Here I go."
Haruka knew that nothing else he say would change his stubborn brother's mind. "Be...careful."
"I'll be back."
The older twin rolled his eyes. "Stop that Terminator joke. Not funny."
With a wave, Shizuka sank into the carpeted ground and disappeared.
Shizuka jogged down the road - the rain was pouring even harder than before, every drop hammering down on his head heavily. He was getting better with his power - largely thanks to his physical prowess - and nobody battered an eye when he popped out of the red-brick wall of the shophouse and slipped under the mass of umbrella-wielders.
... ...
He didn't know for how long he had ran; the crowd on the streets was thinning, and the Asian-looking shops were soon replaced by taller, classier buildings. He slowed down to a walk, his hands in his pockets. His uneasiness grew with each step - he had a feeling that someone was watching, but watching who? From where? And why? As he was mulling over it, the streetlights suddenly went out, and a deafening sound pulled him out of his thoughts:
"...You almost made me crash, you dickhead!"
An angry voice made him stopped in his tracks. Even though it was a voice he had heard just today, it was still fresh to his ears, fresh in his memory. His eyes was beginning to adjust to the darkness - he turned round a corner, glass pieces crunching under his feet...
And he saw the back of a familiar figure.
By this point, Cindy had pulled out her phone and turned on the flashlight. It gave her enough vision to look around. The second she heard glass breaking (the perk of putting broken glass everywhere was that it stopped sneaky motherfuckers from coming up on you), she turned towards it and shined the light on the person. Instead of being a rapist or someone...it was that Japanese kid - yeah, the one with the weird-ass grey hair (well, in this city, that's like, literally, the least weird thing you could have - but still pretty damn weird).
Shizuka shielded his eyes with his hand at the sudden bright light. "Cindy?" he called out, squinting as he rushed towards her. "Hey, you okay?"
"Shizu? Yeah, I'm fine, boy," Cindy said, raising an eyebrow. She had calmed herself down a bit with the presence of her friend - she took in a few deep breaths before looking ahead. "...But this stupid motherfucker won't be in a second if he keeps standing there like a dumbass!" Like a coin, Cindy flipped right back into her state of heated rage. It was almost like Shizuka could feel it emanate.
The Japanese teen followed Cindy's gaze and his curious eyes fell on a strange purple light not far from them. Before he could make out of what it was the light disappeared, then reappeared for a moment - before it charged at Cindy in an erratic zig-zag. Moving with speed and precision unlike any animal.
"Oh shit!" Cindy shouted as the glass that was scattered all over the street started floating into the air. She put her hand up, cellphone flashing forward. "Stay back!" She said as she took steps back. Shizuka did the same at Cindy's order. He needed to know exactly what kind of monster they were dealing with - otherwise he couldn't really see how they could fight back this thing blindly. Especially when they were at a big disadvantage now.
When...it didn't stop, there was little choice left in Cindy's mind. Warned you. The thoughts ran through her head as she sent the flurry of broken glass at the figure blindly. There was a demonic screech as the purple eye came to a stop. It jumped high up into the air, the light perching itself on one of the streetlights.
"Why does everything in this damn city want to fight you?!" Cindy asked as she grew glass off her arms...before she realized that she has no real stake in this fight. "Screw this!" Cindy sent off the glass she had around her wrists at the beast, which made it loudly screech.
She quickly turned around and ran back towards her scooter. "Get on! Unless your ass wants to get friendly with him!" Cindy loudly ordered Shizuka to get on the scooter as she immediately hopped on it, and revved it.
Shizuka obediently hopped on behind Cindy, his hands automatically around her waist, all his attention on the creature to spare any thoughts about the lucky skinship with a girl he only just met today. "I heard ya. Let's go!"
Cindy didn't waste a second in speeding off in the other direction - but the creature quickly gave chase. It hopped from building to building, chasing after the pair, it's purple eye leaving a glowing purple trail.
"Thank God!" Cindy shouted. feeling relieved that she managed to get away from it. "Welcome to Verthaven, kid! Where the weirdest shit goes down daily!" Cindy shouted over the sounds of her scooter's engines.
"Weird?" Shizuka yelled back. "This is awesome! I haven't had so much fun in ages!" Well, he had a killjoy idiot for older brother, duh.
"Boy, you must be loony as Meifeng!" Cindy loudly shouted, rolling her eyes. Before another question hit her. "Hey wait! Before I even get ahead of myself; is that thing after us?" She couldn't look for herself, otherwise, she'd kill both of them.
Shizuka turned his head around. The violet glow was becoming bigger, brighter. "Of course it is! Can this bike go any faster? That thingy behind us is gonna catch up soon!" He thought he caught a glimpse of its appearance - something that had many feelers or tentacles - but it was too dark to tell.
"It's a scooter, genius! Does it look like a crotch rocket to you?!" Cindy gritted her teeth as she slammed her foot on the gas pedal. The scooter sped up, but the beast was giving chase. The girl could only afford to give one glance, and saw that it was barely behind them on the roof. She shook her head. This wasn't good - if they stopped for a second, it'd plow right through her and kill both of them. "Don't say you got any ideas as to get out of this! Cause I got nothing!"
Shizuka's jaws tensed as the scooter picked up speed. Okay, Cindy had made it clear that they were probably not going to outrun the monster on her scooter, and from the looks of it the beast wasn't going to let them go so easily either. "Sorry gal, at the moment I've got none!" Damn, at this rate we are really going to be killed.
"Screw it!" She grew glass on her right arm until her arm was encrusted with emerald-green glass. She swiped her hand at the beast, and triangle-shaped shards of razor-sharp glass came off her arm. Floating in the air for a moment, before Cindy willed the glass to fly at the beast one after the other. In the darkness, she had very little reference as to where that damn thing was other than the purple light she could only look at for a moment. Most of the glass hit the building that it was one than the creature. Only one shard hit the beast, and it didn't even yelp - Cindy had no idea if her attack even did anything.
Shizuka whistled when the glass popped out from Cindy's arm. So this chick's a Metahuman. Unfortunately, Cindy's cool attacks didn't work that well against the monster. He was a bit torn about a thought he had, but with the little discovery just now he had made his decision. "Guess it comes down to this, huh?" he muttered (in Japanese) to himself. Then he spoke louder (in flawless English), "Okay, this idea might sound crazy, but we really have no chance to fight head on against something we don't even know what it is."
"Yeah, tell me something I don't know." Cindy hissed in response to what Shizuka said. She was hoping that she could get out of this fast as possible. "If you got something cooked up in that head of yours, now's the time!"
"You'll have to crash your scooter."
"OH HELL NO!" Cindy shouted almost immediately. "Might as well just stop and let that thing tear us a new one instead of breaking my bike for no damn reason!"
"We have to distract that thing then I can do something to get us out of this shit," Shizuka replied in a rush. "If you don't want to die you'll have to trust me just this time!" He then shouted even louder, the unwillingness was clear in his voice. "Fine, I'll even pay you a new bike, dammit!"
Okay, the options were: trust this loony kid and his stupid plan, or get brutally murdered by the purple-eyed monster. God damn it. Cindy just wanted to grab her damn phone and head back to the apartment, not engage in a shitstorm. Cindy let out a sigh. Give this boy a chance, and if it ended horribly, then she'd just scoop his eyeballs out with a glass spoon. "You fucking better pay for this shit - if you don't have some sort of superpower that gets us out of this, it's going to be your fuckin' head I'm going for!"
"That depends on how long you can hold your breath later!" He seriously didn't want to break the promise, but dire situation called for dire measures. He mentally waved off the image of a furious Haruka from his heated mind.
Time to enter the depths of madness, and go along with this abnormally retarded plan. Every part of Cindy was telling her to find some way to put some more distance, but there weren't too many options. There was a wall that belonged to a bar. Cindy closed her eyes and kept going straight, even as her scooter hit the curb and drove towards the wall. She felt oddly disconnected - like she trusted Shizuka. She didn't realize it yet, but green glass was coating her skin.
Shizuka tightened his hold around Cindy's waist and braced himself (he was careful not to hug her too hard - he felt like he's going to break her if he did). When the bike hit the wall and threw them off into the air, he said into her ears, "Now hold your breath! And keep your eyes shut!"
"Holy sh---" Cindy screamed, and was regretting every second of listening to this dumb ass boy. Though, he ordered her to hold her breath - which was hard as fuck given the fact that they're getting flung through the air. This kid some sociopath or something? Whatever. Cindy did her best - slammed her eyes shut, and held her breath to the best of her ability.
Shizuka focused his thoughts on Cindy - expanding his power to every part of the girl, and they ghosted through the wall, the tables and chairs...all the solid objects that were in their way. He finally switched off his ability and gasped; they crashed onto a flat platform, his back bumping into a drum set while shielding Cindy from the impact with his body. "Ow..."
"Oh God..." Cindy panted, repeating those two words over and over again as she looked around. Eventually managing to calm herself down as she realized that she was in a god damn bar. She wasn't in heaven, but she was still alive! Looked like that crazy boy knew what he's doing after all. Maybe. The first thing Cindy did after she came to was put distance between herself and Shizuka - sliding forward out of his grasp, then standing straight up.
Shizuka winced as he got up also. "Ah, sorry." He swore the sound of clanging cymbals was still ringing in his ears. His fingers brushed the broken face of...the bass drum. He pondered about what he should say to her, but Cindy beat him first.
"It's okay, uh..." Cindy scratched the back of her new as she looked around the dark room. "Thanks." She said before she whipped out her cellphone, and turned on the flashlight function. She looked around, and saw a bar... a bunch of chairs. She saw a light switch and ran over to it, but when she flipped it up, nothing. Oh yeah, there's a blackout. Jesus Christ, this day kept getting weirder and weirder.
"Oh my God... My scooter better be okay...damn thing was a Metropolitan." Cindy said to herself. She turned back towards Shizuka, "Okay, we should probably wait for..." When she looked forward, she saw the purple light peaking in through one of the windows. Getting a more clear look at the beast, it was tall...it had a multitude of tentacles, and a big orb for a body. It had one purple eye, the same eye that was stalking them.
First instinct had Cindy break the window that it was looking through, and the storm of glass shards at it. It let out a screech of pain as it hopped through the window. Coming in clear view of Cindy's flashlight. It's armored grey skin, surrounded by a layer of a liquid...almost like water. It stood up high in the air, raising it's tentacles into the air.
Rather than worrying about the exposure his power, this beast was the more pressing issue right now. Shizuka narrowed his eyes at the hideous creature beyond the window - he guessed this was probably the thing that had been giving him goosebumps ever since he arrived at Verthaven...wait, what if this thing was only a minion of a much larger main body, the central commander of more of such monsters? What if this one called forth more of its comrades here? Shizuka shook his head at the thought of the worst-case scenario.
Cindy took steps back. Creating more glass. "Oooookay..." she said, her arms were covered in thick gauntlets of glass. "Um... Think we gotta scrap with this thing!" No choice, really. It chased them all over Knightdale.
Shizuka raised a hand, reaching for Cindy's shoulders. "Hey, I got your back." And he meant what he said. Now that it was clear they had no way to destroy this beast - at least not in their current state - it's down to him to make sure they could get out of this crisis all in one piece with his 'secret weapon'.
"... And if we participate in this project?" Nathaniel said, putting his fingertips together.
"We could very possibly eliminate NEST, and have free reign to do whatever we please." Dr. Cross grinned. "Look, we barely have options left. We relied far too much on our anonymity, and look what happened when we lose it? We literally were pushed to our last leg. It won't be long until NEST knocks what's left of us."
"It seems that way..." Eliza groaned, sounding strained. She started feeling odd. Like, really good. Pleasure was creeping it's way onto her body, and her vision was distorting. "Has the air been contaminated?" She asks.
Dr. Cross could smell it, too. She looked down, and realized that the scientists that were taking seats below started passing out, and weren't looking good for wear either.
The first thing she did was put on a mask that she (and most other members of the Hands) held on hands at all times. The REAPER Generals did the same in a few moments after her. "Damn it, which one of you amateurs caused...." Dr. Cross hissed, and ultimately trailed off as she realized that something wasn't right here.
"Dr. Cross," Stephanie started off, turning towards her wheelchair bound assistant. "Communications are down. Security systems are down. Someone is actively hacking us, and pulling information out of our systems!"
"What?!" Dr. Cross said, surprised. "That means... RAVEN..." She groaned.
A bright flash of red light, followed by a pop, heralded Revenant appearing on the balcony. "Dr. Cross, Task Force RAVEN has breached the base." The Revenant nodded her head as she explained. "And we can't properly mount a defense; they put a drug in the air system, and half the damn staff is unconscious."
"God damn it!" Dr. Cross shouted.
"This is your stronghold, and you can barely keep it defended, Cross." Eliza rolled her eyes from her balcony. "I guess this meeting is over."
"Eliza, now is not the time." Dr. Cross hissed at her fellow woman of science, looking over her shoulder at her. "Chairmen," Dr. Cross turned back around towards them. "Take the emergency exits at once."
They wasted no time in running out behind their balconies.
"Same goes for you, Stephanie." Dr. Cross nodded at Stephanie.
"But, Dr-" Stephanie tried to plead.
The Dr put her hand on Stephanie's shoulder, before cooly explaining, "This base is now becoming a warzone, and I hate to lose you in all this madness."
Stephanie nodded. "What about you?"
"I'm going to stay behind, and lead an offensive."
Stephanie, once again, nodded, and started rolling off. "Stay safe, Dr. Cross."
With the Chairmen heading out, it was time for the REAPERS to mount an offensive. The four of them stood before her, with attentiveness. "Revenant, I need you to go through the base, and alert everyone that's still standing of the breach, and tell every scientist to preserve as much research as they can, then tell them to start breaking computers, the memory wipe might not work, so we have to go for the next best thing. After that help mobilize a counter-offense against RAVEN."
Revenant nodded her head, before she disappeared in a flash of light.
Dr. Cross turned to her Generals... The Witch, The Demon, and the Killer... Some of the most powerful REAPERS - being natural Metahumans. "You three have to buy some time for the other Scientists." Dr. Cross said, "All three of you are powerful enough to put up a major fight. Kill as many NEST Agents as possible."
"Hehehehe..." Ignatius laughed as he put his hands up, creating twelve knives - six in each hand - out of a dark-red energy that was similar to hard-light. It was seemingly surrounded with a roots that were of a lighter shade of red. "It's time, boys! It's time that we remove those assholes at RAVEN from the equation!" Ignatius was just itching to fight Maximilian.
The Wendigo slammed his two gauntlets together, creating a loud boom on impact. He loudly growled like a lion as he stood tall. "No mercy." He growled.
Snowblind created a large, snowflake-shaped, ice construct in between her fingers, and grinned. "Understood, Cross."
"... Could we be of assistance?" Heartbreaker said, cockily, as she hopped from one balcony to another - landing on Dr. Cross' balcony with flawless grace. She sat down on the railing, and pulled out one of her revolvers. Twirling it around her fingers. "You know, ya'll save our ass back there - how about us Changelings return the favor?" Heartbreaker laughed.
There was a solid, dark-green, pane that Fig and the Witch Mother walked down to get on Dr. Cross' balcony. The Mannequin fell down from the ceiling, landing flat on the ground. He pulled himself up almost as if he was being pulled upwards by strings. He stood straight up, and faced Dr. Cross.
"Gang's all here, and we'll be proud to lend a hand!" Heartbreaker said, with a wry grin.
"Of course." Dr. Cross said. "Do all you can to assist my REAPERS."
With an impressive squad here to battle REAPER, Dr. Cross nodded her head. "Move out, we don't have a lot of time."
First problem that Cindy always had in a fight was location and preparation. At least at the beach Cindy had a large amount of glass to create. Here, at best, she has a few windows. She'll have to grow some glass. When the freak charged her, Cindy gathered all the glass, and created a pane, putting her arms against it. When it's tentacles impacted the shield, it pushed Cindy back a little bit, causing large cracks within the shield. It still held steady.
Their current situation was not looking good at all. Shizuka had thought of dragging the monster down and getting it stuck halfway into the ground but he didn't have the confidence that it would work on this thing (too much work to make sure all those tentacles were rendered immobile). He threw himself against the glass, lending his strength to Cindy; he knew the pane wouldn't hold out for long. Too bad his power wasn't as cool as this girl's - he was prepared to grab her hand and phase out of this goddamn place when the need arises. "So, offense is out of the question?" There's nothing on him at the moment that could put him on the offense - his ability was more for defense.
"Long as it's attacking like this, yeah!" Cindy shouted over the sounds of the creature barraging her shield. Both of them were being forced to take steps back. She was holding onto the shield like this so that she could create glass, and put it inside the shield to repair and reinforce it. If she got enough time, she could make this very tough to break. "Hey, run out there for a second and do a dance - anything - just distract it!"
A distraction? Shizuka couldn't help grinning. "Yes, ma'am - and how long do you need?"
Why is he asking these damn questions? This thing is about to break through her shield any second now! This is a "do it or you die" situation. "... Long as you can!" Cindy shouted over the creature's glass assault.
Shizuka sighed. He hated to do the extra work, but now wasn't really a time he could complain about that. He walked through the glass pane and faced the beast. "Yoohoo! Right here, buddy!" It worked - the creature turned its attention to him, and that was exactly what he needed. The beast began to redirect its assault on him, but the tentacles passed harmlessly through his incorporeal body.
How the helll...? Cindy noted as the boy just walked right through the glass. She knew he was a Metahuman after that last incident - but this just further convinces her. Whatever, there were more pressing matters. Like stopping this damn thing from killing them! When it turned away, Cindy expertly changed her shield into a lance - but subliming the glass into a liquid state, and cooling it down until it was solid again - and sending it at the creature at high speeds, spinning through the air.
Out of the corner of his eye, Shizuka saw that Cindy was done with her preparations. However, he knew he wouldn't be able to dodge the glass spear no matter how good his reflexes were - he had to go into phased state again and let the glass pass through his body, where it continued to sail towards the beast.
While the creature was distracted, it didn't even notice the lance until it already pierced it's body, and started digging deeper and deeper. The creature stumbled over, using it's tentacles to brace itself. Before it turned it's head right towards Cindy.
It's eye narrowed.
Cindy took this moment she needed to continue her barrage. She can't let it get back up. She generated her green glass from her hands, and pointed both palms at it. Shooting off shards of arrow-head shaped pieces of glass at it. Shooting it out like a barrage. Each of the shards hit the beast, and dug their way in deeply. She stopped for a moment, and created a large chunk of glass - large as her head - with a very pointy tip. Cindy shot the shard through the air, and it pierced the beast again.
Knocking it right on over. Cindy wasn't sure that it was dead. But she was feeling a little tired. She noticed that bits and pieces of her skin were turned into glass. Christ, she needed to tend to that soon as possible. Her whole shoulder was glass! She put her hand over her shoulder, and converted it back into flesh. She let out another sigh as she turned the rest of her body back into skin before it could break.
The creature was already dissolving. Which meant that Cindy's barrage killed it.
Shizuka wasted no time and rushed back to Cindy's side. "Let's go!" He held out a hand. He wasn't sure if there would be reinforcements coming after them - they would need to get as far away from here as possible.
Yeah, Cindy thinks that getting out of here would be the smart thing to do in this city. The girl ran outside with her friend in tow. She was immediately assaulted by the rain. She had no idea what the hell that thing was - and she didn't want to find out. It was dissolving, which meant that it was dead. Though, she had little idea of whether or not there were more - or if it would get back up.
Cindy pulled out her cellphone, and shined it on the area in front of her. They needed to get the hell out of here fast as possible. Cindy thought about something... which might not be that bad of an idea - but she needed to be quick. Cindy gathered glass from the surrounding area - including some from the building they were just in - and gathered it together. It reverted to it's near-liquid state (Which was a bit harder to do with all of this rain cooling it down prematurely), and Cindy created a multilayer pane of glass.
The girl stepped on it, and it started floating with her on top of it. "Get on!" Cindy said.
Shizuka jumped onto the floating glass. "This is really cool. Where are we going now?" He shrugged off another bad feeling deep down inside him - he was probably being overly sensitive.
"Anywhere but here!" Cindy said, as the glass flew above the building line. "Just hold still, and whatever you do don't jump. I never tried this with more than myself before!" First time for anything. Cindy was going to head back to her apartment fast as possible, and wait out the night. Because this shit crazy.
"Well I'm honored!" He sat down on the glass, enjoying the view. "Verthaven has a great nightscape like any other cities I've been to."
"Boy, we were just attacked by a fuckin' jellyfish monster, and you are talking about the view?" Cindy turned her head halfway towards him, and raised an eyebrow. "You truly are kooky as hell." She rolled her eyes.
However...
... There were a few glowing lights on the buildings behind them.
The last door that lead into the entrance of the base was opened, a shining golden figure appearing on the other side. Echo. The door was opened merely because Leon said that there wasn't anyone in the entrance hall... that was coherent, of course. When RAVEN and NEST stepped inside, there were a few people lying about. There was a squad of Agents that went in before the task force.
"All clear." Maximilian said.
"Phew," Leon said as he looked around. "Nice place." It honestly didn't feel like they were in some evil lab - it felt like they were inside a mansion. Nice interior design, and everything! Leon has to ask who designed this place. Just so he can get Headquarters remodeled.
Sonya took in a deep breath through her mask. It was the only way she could breath - other than her suit. "Was expecting a line of REAPERs." Sonya noted as she looked around.
"Mayfield," Maximilian said, as one of the Agents passed him a ACR. He grabbed it by it's top, and tossed it over to Sonya. Who expertly caught it. "Figured that your rifle won't be as useful down here."
Sonya laughed, closing her large, frog eyes. "A crackshot is great with any weapon. Bet you can throw me a slingshot and I'll take out a fool from a mile away!" She shrugged with that carefree grin on her face.
Nikki stepped inside, and the insects that were resting on her armor spread out. Going deep into the hallways - only problem was that the airborne drug was messing with them a little bit (It seems like Trevor's drug seems to be more effective against mammals). She couldn't control them as well as normal - and when she tuned into their senses, she could just smell the drug. Along with them flying around a little erratically. Which meant that the Agent wasn't going to be as effective down here.
"Damn it," Nikki started off. "My bugs are spazzing out a bit."
"Can you work with it, Swarm Queen?" Maximilian asked, Echo floating valiantly behind him.
"Yeah, might have to shoot a little bit more."
"Alright," Maximilian said, and he pressed his comm-piece, "Grue, we've breached the base."
"Excellent." Dana said. "Going off this layout, you have two ways to go. The left path will take you to the labs, and conference rooms, and the right will take you to the prisons."
Maximilian nodded his head. "Excellent, Grue. We'll be moving out now."
"I'll keep you posted."
Adam and Savannah walked in through the door, and Maximilian acknowledged it. "All of RAVEN is here now... Just as the plan dictates, we're splitting off into two teams."
"Um..." Sonya said, as she hopped up to Maximilian. She put her hand up to shield her eyes from the golden light of Echo. "Me and Inky decided to go out and get the prisoners. I want to make sure that girl the Hands grabbed from a few nights back. We're going to lead the team that infiltrates the right end of this hell-base, and gets them out of here." She balled her fists
"Understood." Maximilian said. "I'm going to be personally heading into the Hands conference room with a team."
"You sacks of shit!" Henry said, throwing one poor REAPER through a desk full of equipment and into another, effectively pacifying them both. He crossed his arms and huffed at his seared tail feathers. Those took forever to grow back.
"I hope the afterlife is terrible." Henry huffed, pointing his gun down and putting a two bullets into each of them. Shoot twice - Something he had learned from his years in the military. He allowed his gun to hang against his vest and with his right hand he pulled up his radio. "This is agent Dragonfly. All clear where I am. Awaiting orders."
"Agent Dragonfly, you will be accompanying me." Maximilian spoke into the comms.
"Location? I'm on the left building entrance."
"We came in through the main entrance." Maximilian said.
"You vanilla motherfucker." Henry said into the mic. "I bet you only do missionary in bed to." He finished. "Moving to your position now."
There was more gunfire and screaming over the comms as Henry made his way through the building to Max's position, and when he finally entered the room his group was in through a previously closed door he was covered in blood and in general looked like something out of a monster movie.
"Special delivery for agent asshole." He stated, lifting his gun up and lazily spinning his arm. "Woo- wooo. Lets get the pain train going. Lead the way, Max."
Maximilian rolled his eyes. "Agent All-Seer, Super-Sonic, White Leopard, with me. We're going after the Chairmen." He nodded his head as he turned his way over to the left tunnel. "Everyone else, you will be accompanying Agent Merryday and your objective is to secure that end of the base, and liberate their prisoners. Weapons-free, eliminate all threats, and hit them hard and fast."
He started walking, with his squad behind him.
Sonya nodded her head. "You all take care now!" Sonya shouted after them.
"... Merryday, be quiet." Maximilian said over the comms
"Oops, sorry!"
"We're literally firing guns and throwing flashbangs I'm pretty certain she's not gonna alert them any more. It's a miracle the alarms haven't gone off as it is."
"You can thank Cyber for that, Henry!" Sonya said, grinning. She turned to her own group, which consisted of Inkshade, Counterpoint, All-Father, Swarm-Queen, and herself of course! "Looks like we're going to have fun!" She clapped her hands together, grinning. "We can't fail. We got Adam on our team!"
Adam nodded his head. "I figure that I'd be best if I help getting innocent people out of the way."
Sonya hopped up, and attached herself to the ceiling. Her tongue flicking out for a moment.
"Well, let's go!"
Henry Olin, Maximilian Cornell, & Task Force RAVEN.
Written in collaboration with [@MrAllenJ]
Maximilian's all-star squad was heading down towards the conference room. Each holding their weapons in hand. The halls started seeming more like labs, as the group passed more and more double-doors, and signs that said "Operating rooms". Maximilian was at the head of the group - his Echo wasn't deployed just in case it gave away their position to more REAPERs - eyes open for danger. "Leon," Maximilian asked the man literally right next to him, "Are we heading the right way?"
Projecting his vision forward, Leon peaked through the halls of the base, and it wasn't long before they found the grand conference room. "Yup..." Leon trailed off.
"What is it?" Maximilian picked up on it.
"Oh nothing..." Leon said. "... Just that they made a little bulwark ahead."
Maximilian stopped. "... and why didn't you tell us this sooner?"
"Just noticed it - whoever they got left standin' doesn't want us reaching their little conference room."
"God damn it." Maximilian said. "Give us details."
"Well, for starters, it's right around the corner." Leon immediately projected his all-seeing gaze ahead again. Some REAPERs, and some scientists with guns, had gathered some metal boxes, and medical tables, and created a little barricade. Each of them ready to open fire on whoever steps down the hall. "Just your usual barricade made out of scraps. Metal boxes, those little metal tables with wheels, etc."
"Leon," Henry spoke up. "Any idea how thick those walls are?"
"Uh, like, a few inches I guess?" Leon shrugged. "Do I look like a wall expert to you? Just use your dinosaur strength to find out, god dayum."
"You look like the type that would use a glory hole. Thought I'd ask." Henry said, shrugging.
"Uh, me and glory holes don't get along." Leon said. "Last time I tried one, I got a special scar."
Maximilian facepalmed.
"So that's how you were circumcised..." Henry said, chuckling. "As Leon said, if you all want to... ya know, pull a switcheroo on them and make ourselves a new entrance I can arrange that." Henry said, cracking his knuckles.
Now that the idiocy that Leon induced is over, Maximilian had cooked up a plan of his own. He reached to his vest, and pulled out a grenade. In close quarters like this, a grenade would tear them to piece. "Hmmm... I have an idea of my own," Maximilian stated. "It involves this grenade, and Echo... Say, do any of you watch baseball?"
"Max, who the fuck watches baseball anymore?" Henry said disbelievingly. There is NO WAY Max, who he thought was a generally okay person and good guy, was that much of a deviation from normal society.
"... I do."
"And people call me strange..."
"Know what? I'm going to have Echo throw this grenade at them. He's pretty much bulletproof, so it won't bother him in the slightest." Maximilian said, gritting his teeth. Because Henry is insulting his passion!
"Lazy ass. Back in Desert Shield we threw our own grenades." Henry said, leaning up against the wall. He undoubtable had a stupid grin behind the mask-muzzle he had on. "Just toss the nade to we can raise our K/D ratios."
"I'd rather not risk getting shot at - and Echo will be able to get the grenade in the center where it'll hurt." Maximilian said. He'll have to remember to shove a grenade up Henry's ass later. Max would have threw "his own grenade" there. "After I throw the grenade, you break through the wall, and flank them. Me and All-Seer will be pushing down the hall. It'll be a perfect pincer movement."
Henry turned around and lifted his fist, and promptly smashed it through the wall right behind him, and then dragged his arm downwards. He ripped his arm out, and then kicked a large portion of the wall inward with his foot. Several of the agents gawked at Henry's show of strength. It was like he was tearing through paper. This did however, create an entrance to the adjacent room. Henry moved down to the end of the room and lined himself up with the wall that the REAPER agents were on the other side of.
"When you toss the grenade, dont jump right out. I dont want to shoot any of you." Henry said over the comms to them. He didn't want to shout it and risk the REAPER's hearing it.
"Whenever you're ready, Max."
"Alright," Maximilian said. Deploying Echo, his golden form shined a light that was invisible to a baseline human. "... Here we go."
He tossed the grenade to his golden shadow, and Echo flew down the hallway. Fortunately, they weren't Metahuman (Nor taking the REAPER Mutagen) - so all they saw was a floating grenade. Echo flew at high speeds, pulling the pin, before tossing it down the hallway. "Frag out!" Maximilian shouted over the comms.
The REAPERS scrambled, panicking, before the grenade exploded and ripped through them. Killing several of them, and sending their barricade flying. However, that wasn't the end. Maximilian sent his Echo flying down the hallway, unleashing a barrage of fists, and furry. Punching several of the REAPERS so hard that they died on impact.
Henry, in the mean time, smashed through the wall and hailed bullets on the remaining REAPER agents to finish off any that hadn't already been killed by Echo. Once he ran out of targets, Henry stopped firing and lowered his gun.
"Clear!"
"... We weren't even needed." Helena said, clearly impressed by the display of power demonstrated by both Maximilian and Henry - but was trying to hide it. She stepped up over the bodies, followed by Leon, and Savannah.
"Sorry about that." Maximilian said as he walked up. Henry grumbled some form of apology but was too busy unwrapping and eating what looked to be a cheerio bar. Which Maximilian ordered Echo to smack out of his hand. Very nonchalantly. "Leon, where to next?"
"It's right down the hall... All I see in there is high scientists - hehe, some of them are doing it, too." Leon answered, and made Maximilian facepalm.
"Alright, Agents, let's go..."
The Agents kicked down the door into the conference room. Standing in the very center of it. There, like Leon said, weren't any combatants other than the people that were high. Maximilian clenched his gun tightly as he looked around.
"Leon, where's the chairmen?" He asked.
"Looks like they caught on, and skedaddled." Leon shrugged.
"Well, find them. We have every entrance locked down, they couldn't have gotten far." Maximilian said.
"... On the contrary, we have plenty of exits, as well." A feminine voice came from one of the balconies, as three people walked up. Dr. Cross, with her hands folded behind her back. Wendigo and Ignatius by her sides. Ignatius looking cool, while Wendigo looked ready to jump down there and tear their legs off.
"To my knowledge, women only have one back door." Henry commented, looking genuinely befuddled by Dr. Cross' statement.
All of RAVEN groaned - except for Leon, who was tempted to mention the one chick that had three assholes. Yeah, that was nasty, but hardly appropriate in this situation.
Dr. Cross ignored the statement, because it was completely retarded.. "The other chairmen are on their way out."
"It's over Cross. I don't see why you stood behind." Maximilian said.
"Because I'm no coward, and I personally want to oversee the death of Task Force RAVEN, and all hopes NEST has of stopping us."
"Can I have the zombie one? He looks like he'd be fun!" Henry said, aiming his gun upwards at Wendigo. "Pow! Haha! Pow pow!"
"... Think she's buyin' some time monologuing." Leon whispered.
Henry didn't need any more permission and promptly open fired on all three of them.
The bullets cut through the air towards them - and they seemingly stopped in air. Surrounded by a dark-red aura. "... Rude." Ignatius said. "Honestly, lizard man, you think we'd be standing here if we couldn't stop your little pea-shooters?"
"Oh no, I'm just distracting you while you monologue."
Maximilian sent his Echo flying at the balcony at high speeds, already unleashing a barrage of fists. The Wendigo immediately ran up, and kicked the railing down onto the floor. He braced his body, dropping his weight, and every punch that Echo delivered hit with such insane force that it sounded like an explosion. However, the Wendigo stood his ground almost as if he was getting tickled. He cocked his fist, and punched Echo so hard it sent it flying across the room. Echo faded before he could hit the wall.
Helena had flashstepped upwards, and aimed her gun at them. Opening fire with her ACR. Savannah slammed her hands on the ground, and created a path of ice that lead up to the balcony. While Leon thought about shooting them.
Once again, the bullets were caught in a dark-red aura, before falling to the ground. "Alright, then, can we cut the bullshit and get right to the action, then?" Ignatius created dark-red knives in his hand, grinning impishly.
"Kill them all." Dr. Cross said, turning around and walking away.
"Likewise!" Henry roared, beating his chest with one hand.
"Your orders!" Ignatius threw the knives at the RAVENs, his blades cutting through the air at high speeds. Before he hopped down, he started slowing down-mid way, and didn't even land with a thud.
The Wendigo turned around, and grabbed a door, yanking it off it's hinges. He hopped down with the door in hand - and when he hit the ground, he left cracks.
Echo spawned right in front of Maximilian, and he immediately started punching knives at light speed. While Savannah created a dome of ice to defend herself, and Leon saw their path and made sure he wasn't there. "Alright, RAVEN, here are your orders." Maximilian said. "Super-Sonic, White Leopard, All-Seer - Go after Dr. Cross!" He ordered.
"Right!" Leon shouted. "... Uh, we'll have to get up there, though."
"Just have Supersonic fly you up there," Maximilian said.
Helena flashstepped next to Leon, and then flashstepped up into the air.
"Oh no you don't!" Ignatius shouted, throwing his energy knives - However Echo got in the way, and knocked the knives out of the way. Helena flash stepped Leon up onto the balcony, and they ran off, Savannah also jumped up there, and climbed her way on. And she was behind them.
"Agent Dragonfly," Maximilian said, raising his fists. "... Mind lending me a hand with this? I don't think I can do this without you." He asked, grinning halfway.
"Nah fam I'm totally just gonna let you have all the fun." Henry said, cracking his neck. "Which one are you calling?"
"... Well, I think I'll have Maximilian to myself, if you don't mind!" Ignatius shouted as he created a flurry of energy knives, and threw them at Maximilian. Maximilian responded by having Echo punch them off course - but Ignatius created another wave, getting closer and closer.
The Wendigo, wielding a door, blindly rushed over to Henry, his heavy footsteps barely drowned out the growling. Using his momentum, he spun around, and threw the door - but he kept running.
Henry howled with laughter as the door completely missed him. His hands fell to his knees and he propped himself, trying not to double over in laughter.
"You-" Henry said in between breaths. "You feeling alright buddy? Drugs kicking in some? How many fingers am I holding up?" He was very much aware that Wendigo was still coming his way, but he tended to do this.
The Wendigo swung a fist strong enough to punch a car in half at Henry. Completely ignoring the banter in favor of his blind rage.
Wendigo was much faster than Henry was expecting, but Henry was already lower than usual due to his hunched position. He pivoted on his heel and pushed his body upwards at an angle, going under Wendigo's arm, which slid across his back- leaving some nasty rug burn. Because Wendigo had made the rookie mistake of throwing all of his momentum into a punch, his back was now exposed to Henry. But instead of aiming for the body, Henry lifted his foot and delivered a very fast kick to the side of the Wendigo's exposed knee. It only takes fifteen pounds of force to destroy every tendon in the knee in a regular person. Henry was banking on the idea that it would be... comparative on the Wendigo.
Henry had forgotten that the Wendigo just took a barrage from Echo's fists as if it was nothing. While the blow did hurt a little, it didn't do nearly as much damage as Henry had hoped. He was knocked forward a little bit, and that was it. The Wendigo snorted. Before he dropped his weight again, and marched towards Henry. Not throwing another attack - but hoping to counter another.
Henry's reaction to this was rather simple. Rather fight someone who's endurance was much greater than his own, Henry would play it smart. He reached on to his vest and grabbed two cans of containment foam sprayer. He looked up to Wendigo, who was nearly upon him now.
"Suck a dick!" Henry said, raising the can to face them.
However, the Wendigo was much faster than Henry thought - with a short burst of speed, Wendigo had closed the distance, and pushed the sprayer aside, and delievered a punch to his side.
Henry's breath left him, but his other hand, which was also armer with a sprayer, came up and pressed down on the trigger. The foam went literally all over the Wendigo's head and chest. Like, I'm not talking no chicken and gravy, bitch. Like, all over that fucker's skull. Henry flew to the floor, coughing and in pain, but fairly okay. He turned his head to face his adversary to see how they were fairing against the foam. In case he needed to... reapply.
The Wendigo was sprayed in the face - he was thrashing around with the foam covering his face. Fortunately for him, he still had free control over his arms. He grabbed onto the back of his head, digging his fingers into the foam with all of his strength. He pulled it right off. Standing right up.
Henry was upon the struggling giant almost instantly, and boy was Henry pissed now. He matched Wendigo in strength, he knew that for sure. It was the endurance that Wendigo had over him- but Henry knew for a fact that Wendigo relied on that. He didn't have the finesse or fighting experience. It was time to draw this out some. Henry dropped one of the cans to free up one hand as grabbed the Wendigo by the neck and forced downward, using his leg to kick the Wendigo's out from beneath him. Effectively slamming the meta back down on the ground. He left go, and raked his claws across the meta's face as he pulled his arm back. While his claws didn't do much to his mask besides create sparks, it did cut his gas mask.
Wendigo immediately pushed off the ground, and tried to drive his fist into Henry's chest. A Metahuman like him would naturally have a resistance to such drugs, and he'll make sure that he has Henry's head before it even does anything.
Henry had no time to move out of the way, and took the full brunt of the blow. He was lifted off the ground by the force of the punch, and his sternum had definitely been in better shape. His armor had taken... most of the force, but any more punches like that and he'd be dealing with some badly broken bones. Which would be bad. Very bad. Henry reached to the other side of his vest and grabbed about three Anti-meta canisters, and drove a hole in them with his claws. The result was an explosion of red gas the filled the room, and Henry camouflaged into the now misty red room.
While Henry was doing his thing Wendigo heard Ignatius say some words, and leaped off towards him.
Meanwhile, Maximilian was engaging Ignatius. Who was throwing knives, while getting closer and closer. Eventually, Ignatius threw the knives out the window, and created a giant sword out of the energy that had to be over fifteen feet long. He swung the sword almost as if it weighed as much as paper. Echo caught the blade, and tried to pull Ignatius - but the sword had disappeared as Ignatius took advantage of the situation by creating an overly long rapier and thrusted it right on through Echo. The tip of the blade pierced even Maximilian. Who let out a groan of pain and surprise.
"What is it, Max?" Ignatius said as he pushed the blade deeper and deeper. However, Echo raised his hand up into the air, and slammed it down so hard that it snapped the Rapier in half. Quickly following it up with a barrage of blows - that Ignatius countered by creating a shield. Every heavy fist left an impact - and Ignatius pushed the shield outwards to give himself distance from Echo. Which created a noticeable gap. Ignatius created two, thick, swords, and ran at Maximilian.
He started stabbing forward with the blades, moving at speeds that were comparable to Echo. Echo quickly started throwing punches to keep up with the mad barrage of blades. Echo grabbed the tips of the blades, and threw them across. Before Ignatius could react, Echo had delivered a kick that sent the man flying backwards.
"Nice one." Ignatius grinned, seemingly unharmed by the attack. He flipped over, and quickly ran over to Maximilian, dodging a kick from Echo. He closed the distance, and swiped his sword right at Maximilian's head - leaving the agent no choice but to duck. Echo reformed right in front of him, and threw a kick that Ignatius shielded with a energy shield.
Ignatius jumped high up into the air, creating a barrage of knives that Echo once again deflected - however, Ignatius used that as a distraction to get around Maximilian. He had created two spears, and lunged at Max - who flew to the side. The spears hit the ground, but Ignatius immediately pulled them out of the ground, and swung them. The tip of the spear cut Maximilian's chest.
The man groaned in pain.
Ignatius took a few steps back, putting his hand on his chin. Grinning like a fool. He was told by Dr. Cross to "kill them", but the actual mission was to buy as much time for the Hands as possible. Killing them would be fun. Taking them out of the equation now. The room was being filled with gas. An annoyance. He looked down, and saw some unconscious scientists. "Oh, Wendigo!" He said, earning a look from his partner in crime. "It's time."
The Wendigo grinned as he hopped jumped so high in the air, he almost touched the ceiling. He landed not too far away from Ignatius. He then walked over to the unconscious scientists, and knelt down. He went absolutely ape-shit. He started eating their bodies. Pulling them apart, and gnawing down on flesh and organs almost like he hasn't eaten in years. Blood was getting splattered everywhere. As he ate, a layer of grey smoke came off his body, and his eyes started glowing red.
Standing in between him, and the RAVENs, was Ignatius. He was standing tall, clapping. "I'll give you one chance." He said, smiling. "One chance to kill yourselves, because it's all over, now." He started laughing. He had his eyes on both of them. All he had to do was shield the Wendigo. Make sure that he has all the time he needs to get hungry.
Ignatius created a large shield dome around himself and the Wendigo - that kept the gas out, fortunately. But at the same time, it kept the current gas in. He hoped that the blood craze would be enough to counteract the depressant.
"This is Dragonfly coming in. I'm feeling weird man." Henry whispered into the coms from the ceiling. "Any ideas, guys?"
"I can't see in here," Maximilian said, his eyes squinting through the shadows. Echo was providing enough light to see figures. "We might have a problem - I think they're up to something." He wished that Henry gave him a bit of forewarning - now Maximilian can't see a thing. He hoped that the same applied to them.
"Well," Henry said, groaning some and putting his hand to his chest. Wendigo had hit him harder than he thought. "If worst comes to worst, it's been an honor, guys."
"... Don't give me that, Ol- Dragonly." Maximilian hissed. "Alright, I suggest a tactical retreat." He said. They might go after the rest of RAVEN - but they can't stay in this room. "We can't see a thing, and I don't want to be in the center of this when they make their moves. Understood?" Maximilian started moving backwards, with Echo hovering in front of him - acting as a shield in case any of the others show up.
"Look, I can lend a hand from all the way over here." Leon said.
"Don't worry about-"
"Shut up, Max." Leon said. "Like hell I'm going to stand - well, run - while you two get demolished." Leon came to a stop, and the rest of the RAVENs that were pursuing Dr. Cross stopped too.
"Leon, what the hell are you doing?" Helena asked, "She's getting away."
"You're enough to catch her." Leon said. "It just doesn't sit right with me letting Max and Henry die like this." Leon focused, and immediately projected his sight into the room. It was hard to see through the mist - but he managed to spot Ignatius and... Jesus Christ. The Wendigo was eating bodies like it was nothing.
"I don't know what's going on, but that big guy is going to town on some dead bodies. Eatin' 'em." Leon said.
"What?!" Maximilian said.
"Yeah, he a cannibal or something." Leon answered.
"That's what a Wendigo is, lore wise." Henry said over the comms.
"Guess he lives up to his name." Leon said, shrugging. "He gotta be doing that for a reason... Stay on guard, guys."
"Yeah, we'll be fine... Just catch Cross." Maximilian said.
"Yeah, sure, All-Seer out." Leon said, before his trio began pursuing Dr. Cross once again.
Maximilian made it to the wall, and he had Echo start punching the wall until he created a hole. He wasted no time in going right through it, leaving the room. Hoping that Henry did the same.
Back over to the REAPERs. "... Yes." The Wendigo said, his voice was even more demonic than before. He stood straight up, his eyes were glowing brightly through the red mist, and he was producing a grey smoke off his body. "Flesh... Flesh! I NEED MORE!" Wendigo loudly shouted through the mist. He was shaking uncontrollably, his head looking around for the next dead body. He reached up to his mask, and literally tore it all off. Revealing his rotted, and decayed face. Like a zombie. He had no lips, and his eyes didn't have an iris at all. It only glowed a bright color now.
"I must consume, I am Famine!"
"Hahahahaha...." Ignatius loudly laughed. "... Have fun, Wendigo. I think I'll sit this one out." Mostly because, in this state, the Wendigo was savage, and barely in control of himself. Ignatius didn't want to risk getting attacked, so he'll come in and sweep up the rest. He also wanted to head over and kill those RAVENs that were going after Cross. So Ignatius hopped up on one of the balconies, and ran off after them.
The Wendigo ran out the door after them. He immediately ran through a wall. Surveying the room, he started punching wildly, smashing any object in his way. He ran through another wall.
Henry was struggling at this point. Every movement he made, his chest hurt. Like, really hurt. He was worrying that internal bleeding was getting the best of him. He crawled towards the exit, attempting to move through it the same way Max had, when his body cramped up, and he fell from the wall with a rather loud crash.
"Fuck me!" Henry roared in a combination of anger and rage. Great. Fucking wonderful. He was going to die in the dumbest way possible. And he was sure he wouldn't get better this time. He pulled his body inward into the fetal position and remained like that for a few minutes. He could hear the carnage in the building of Wendigo going beserk, but was unable to do anything about it.
Maximilian was walking down the hallway, fortunately, the gas wasn't following him, so he could see just fine. He was bleeding from the wounds that he had recieved - briefly tempted to take off the mask so he could take a whiff of Obott's drug. He decided against it when he remembered he needed to be at his mental peak in order to get out of this alive. He kept walking - until he heard a noise. Something had burst through the wall, and it sounded like it was... eating.
Maximilian peaked around the corner, and spotted the Wendigo eating another unconscious scientist. It was horrifying to see up close... then the Wendigo turned around, with his demonic face. Staring him right in the eyes. He immediately rushed towards Maximilian - who had no choice but to deploy Echo. Echo delivered his usual series of blows, but the Wendigo responded by swinging his fists around widly. Somehow managing to overwhelm the speedy barrage. The Wendigo threw one last punch that sent Echo flying again - sending him right into Maximilian. Maximilian hit the wall with a thud, and he screamed in pain as a cracking sound filled the air. He looked down, and saw that his arm was broken by the elbow.
The Wendigo's demonic laughter became the only thing Max heard as he ran up. Licking his lips. Max deployed Echo again, and let out a heroic shout as Echo delivered another series of high-speed punches to the Wendigo's chest. This time, empowered by Maximilian's will to live, they hit harder than ever before. Sending the Wendigo back with each punch. Maximilian stood up, and kept up the barrage that the Wendigo could only block. Maximilian let out one last yell as Echo cocked his fist, and delivered a powerful punch so hard that it sent the Wendigo flying.
The Demon went through a wall at high speeds, and disappeared in a cloud of dust. Which was enough for Maximilian to limber off. "RAVENS!" Maximilian loudly shouted into the comms. "I need help! Immediate backup!"
"Um..." Dana said. "Merryday and her team are dealing with problems of their own...." Dana trailed.
"... We're on our way." Leon said, ready to stop the chase for Dr. Cross and turn back to help Maximilian. "Just stay alive. I can find you, Praetorian! Where is Dragonly!?"
The response Leon got was the sound of a large amount of banging and popping coming from the comms, sounding like many tiny explosions. Whatever it was, it quickly cut off.
Suddenly Dragonfly, who was quite literally hauling ass on all fours, flew through a pair of doors and through a few walls, losing his footing he tripped and smashed through another few objects before coming to a skidding stop in front of Max. His face mask had been... melted somewhat. As if acid had been taken to it. His scales on his snout were also red and irritated. His eyes were huge, like, the size of dinner plates. Me made several 'mffph!" sounds and made several hand motions, which were erratic and generally unreadable.
"What...?" Maximilian asked, until he looked down the hallway and saw that the Wendigo was coming back around. "Oh shit." He said, deploying Echo yet again.
Henry shook his head and turned his head to looked at the raging monster. Out of habit, he roared, and along with his traditional saurian scream, a jet of two liquids shot out from his jaws into one stream, that effectively hissed and exploded as the powerful chemical reaction occurred. The napalm-esque liquid connected and stayed on Wendigo, hissing and burning the meta human, creating a rancid smelling gas that smelt of burning flesh and fur. Henry turned and ran down the hall, hoping to god Max was following.
The Wendigo cried in pain as he desperately wiped the liquid off his eyes. After it was off... he was mad.
Maximilian was running down the hallway after Henry, but he soon realized the Wendigo would catch up any second now. With both of them obviously injured, it won't be long until they fall. They won't be able to defeat the Wendigo in direct combat - even with backup. He knew that if they can't beat the Wendigo, then the rest of the group would get slaughtered. So it was down to them, basically. However, Maximilian had a plan that was so crazy that it had to work. It was all or nothing at this point - and Maximilian was willing to take the risk.
While running alongside Henry, Maximilian started off, "Henry, I don't know what the hell you did back there," He paused for a moment to take a few breaths. "And I don't care - we need to head back to that barricade - I have an idea, but it might get everyone here killed."
They could hear the Wendigo's footsteps behind them.
Henry didn't audibly respond, because he had no clue how to not fire this caustic shit, but he made it apparent that he heard and understood. Henry grabbed Max with one of his massive arms and double timed it, using his size to cover more ground. But he was tiring quickly, both from the power mutation, and from general exhaustion created by injury and otherwise. As they approached the barricades, Henry skidding to a stop and put Max down. He panted some, but didn't open his mouth much. He nodded his head to Max in confirmation. If they died, so did everyone else. And if there was any chance of them getting out alive, it was by them doing... whatever Max had planned.
When Max was put down, he willed Echo out. Max could still hear the Wendigo coming behind them - which was good, because they needed the Wendigo. When the demon ran up on them, and Maximilian ordered Echo to pick up a body. His ghostly shadow flung a dead body right at the Wendigo. Who caught it.
"Eat up, you bastard." Maximilian said. This better work... or else they would have made the problem, far, far, worse.
The Wendigo grinned as he tore the head clean off the body, and crushed it, shoving it into his mouth. Before he went to town on the rest of the body. Eating it up in a minute. There was barely anything left of it, other than a few scraps that the Wendigo wasn't desperate enough to eat... Yet. There was still that hunger. The hunger for more.
"More... I must consume!" The Wendigo shouted, as he looked over to Max.
"Well, Wendigo," Maximilian had to hiss in pain. "Here's an all you can eat buffet. Prepared just for you." He half-grinned. "Let's get out of the way, Dragonfly." Maximilian said as he took steps back.
"Yes... And when I'm done with my feast, you'll be next." The Wendigo loudly laughed as he went to town. Devouring each and every one of the many bodies. Every time, the Wendigo became more and more frantic. Until he was just blindly shoving bodies into his mouth. His armor was drenched in blood, and guts. He crushed the last skull in between his jaws... and was still as hungry as ever. He needs more. Wendigo felt so powerful right now... he can take on the world now. The Wendigo flexed, and started laughing like a maniac.
"... You two are next." The Wendigo demonically groaned, as he began a charge after them.
"Let's hope this works...." Max muttered to himself. He called out Echo.
"He keeps saying that but-" Henry began to speak, only for more of the caustic substand to fire out from his mouth and go off with another loud banging sound.
When the Wendigo got close, Echo threw a powerful punch using what was left of Maximilian's strength. The Wendigo caught it, laughing maniacally, as he threw Echo with all of his strength. The Wendigo raised his fists in the air, and slammed on the ground so hard that Leon's dick got hard from a mile away and the ground shattered on impact.
"So much power..." The Wendigo laughed. "I... I WILL ENJOY THIS FEAST!" He started laughing as he ran forward. Ramming his hand into the wall, and pulling down the wall as he ran.
Echo got back up, and delivered a final barrage of fists, that the Wendigo took without struggling. "... It's pointless!" The Wendigo said. "I have achieved Godhood! And I will not stop until I consu-"
Henry came from the slide and body slammed Wendigo, the two giants rolling to the ground with Henry pinned at the bottom. "MOtheR FUCKER!" Henry screamed, more of the caustic shit launching up into wendigo's face again.
The Wendigo was knocked over, and took the caustic liquid, except he was still laughing. He was on a power-high like no other. Nothing hurt him. he was a God.
"... If you wanna eat..." Maximilian trailed off, as he stood tall, with Echo holding another unconscious scientist... It was a morally bankrupt thing to do, but this is the price they have to pay. For survival. The Wendigo was unstoppable otherwise. Echo threw the body at Wendigo, which the demon happily chowed down on.
The Wendigo's muscles had buldged, and he started laughing into the heavens. Hands pinced up into claws. "Yes! Feed me!" The Wendigo screamed.
"Oh?" Maximilian said, cockily. He had to hold back his own laughter. "I think you had enough, big man. Heh..." The plan worked flawlessly.
And then, for Henry, it clicked.
"Huh..." The Wendigo looked at his hands... ash was falling off him. He felt a stining pain like no other. His red eyes were fading. "No..." The Wendigo said. "... No, no, no!" He continued, as his hands were falling to pieces. "You bastards! You bastards did this to me!"
"I made you ash." Maximilian said. "It was your own fault, really." He shrugged. "You should have remembered that there's a certain amount of power a body can hold at a time. And you pushed yourself far beyond your limits." Maximilian explained. "It was a matter of exploiting your endless hunger."
Henry stood up to his full height. Maximilian was undoubtably nearly out of it himself with all of his Echo usage. He stalked forwards and lifted his claws, grabbing the Wendigo by his shoulder and pulling him forward into his his open, clawed hand. He pulled it back, and while turning on his heel, threw the dying demon to the ground in front of Max.
Maximilian stood right over the Wendigo, with Echo deployed, all it would take is one last blow to be rid of this thing for good.
"You think my death is the end?" The Wendigo spat out the words. "It's just the beginning. I served my debt to science. Dr. Cross and the Chairmen must be miles from the base by now."
"... Hey, we're here!" Leon said, with Helena and Savannah right behind him. He walked over, and looked down at the Wendigo - who was asking. "Oh? What happened to him?"
Maximilian facepalmed. "... Excellent timing, Leon."
"Ignatius and Dr. Cross will kill all of you." The Wendigo said. "You may have won our base... but we have a weapon that will win the war for us. So... revel in your victory...." The Wendigo groaned.
Maximilian had enough of this freak. Echo cocked his fist, before sending out a powerful punch that caved the Wendigo's skull in. Killing him. His body faded into ashes not too long afterwards.
Henry breathed heavily and rumbled. He looked around to the newcomers and, seeing that they had seemingly won, gave them them thumbs up. His plan worked. There was.. very little loss of life. So far, so good.
Seeing the everything was in working order and that he wasn't in any danger any longer, Henry then promptly passed out.
"I'm not carrying him." Helena joked.
"What about Dr. Cross?" Maximilian said.
"She got away." Leon shrugged. "She's fast as hell for a little old lady... and we had to stop chasing her to come back here and save your ass."
Maximilian sighed. Just as Wendigo said, Dr. Cross probably escaped by now. "This is Praetorian, I am injured and I need immediate assistance." He said into the comms. "Agent Dragonfly also needs assistance."
"Understood, sending medics to your location at once." Dana buzzed.
