Madelyn and Micheal had never truly known fear before. They had always been the fearless psychic twins. The silver haired kids were only 15 years of age but their shared ability of telekenisis and telapathy had them pegged as future heroes. Micheal and Madelyn had the ability to meld their minds together to become many times more powerfull. They had aquired fame and admiration among their peers when they had stopped a particulary nasty rogue telepath. This time however, the two were helpless and confused. The presence that was intruding defied sense, shining like a sun in their minds but wrapping eveything in Darkness.

"Is it gone" madelyn asked shakily as they could no longer detect it. They couldn't detect any thoughts at all beyond the door. Only 30 minutes ago, there had been 8 different telepaths beside their own. Some more powerfull then others. More then one of them had held their own against the darker forces of the world. And now it was all quiet. Like the psychic equivalent of a tomb or a grave. A chill ran trough theirs spines. They reached out tentively with their mind, probing the psychic atmosphere. Nothing. Not a trace. It should be impossible, something so powerfull nad great a mind should leave psychic fragments as if it was nuclear fallout.

"He's gone" Madelyn spoke. And then, reality shifted and screamed and tore itself apart as a man stood before them. Dressed in white, with a grin that promised nothing but then the Parasites mercyless devouring.

"GET BACK!" Micheal focused every bit power into his mental punch. It smashed a against a strange cobweblike resistence. No, not cobweb. To his horror he realized it was like shedding light on a broken mirror. His thoughts shattered and fragmented like a laser hiting a broken prism. He glimpsed strange and twisted realities where cratures beyond comprehensiom. To late he realized tendrils of psychic energy was wrapping around him. As if the mans mind was so powerfull he could gather enough energy to

"Brother!" Madelyn called out as she used her telekenisis to slam a table across the creatures head. It blinked and looked at her wordlessly. In that moment, she knew that body was just more psychic projection. She never encountered a mind so powerfull it could create a entire body out of pure psychokinetic energy. The bein turned its head to her and suddenly, a malignant swarm of impressions fluttered across her mind. She screamed and scrambled away as the strange intelligence seemed dredge up dark primal fears out of her, past all her many mental barriers.

Micheal trembled, but the lack of attention served him well. He lashed outand severed the telekinetic tendrils holding him in place. The creature seemed suprised by this, turning back ot him.That mean it wasn't as strong as it appeared. They had achance. "Madelyn!" He grabbed his sisters hand. "Lets link!"

His mind reached out, melded together with his sisters. Only.. There was nothing there. Nothing of her anyway. His eyes grew wide as he slowly turned his head towards her. Big, lifeless eyes stared back at him. The light gone. Yet something in her hollowed out out mind clung to him, forced the link to remain open as the same darkness began to leak into his own mind. Micheal screamed and he cried as the parasite in place of his sisters mind consumed his mind as well..

Parasite just watched silently, smiling.

The second team came up to a crossroad and, while for a moment they were trying to decide among themselves which way to go, a crack or pop could have been heard as something teleported in, landing on Arachne. While the spider-themed heroine struggled against him, Effigy had nevertheless managed to copy her appearance and powers. As they entered into a scuffle the two had switched places, which caused a particular problem, since none of the others heroes was able to keep track of ‘their’ Arachne. The hero known as Raptor, or at least Eva thought that was his name, made an important remark. Which Arachne was the real one?

The Vigilante tried to resolve this enigma when he began to use his grapple gun to hit one of the Arachnes’ legs. Then he tossed as stun grenade at the feet of the other. The black-clad man seemed confident that he had flushed out Effigy since he ordered Raptor to grab the first Arachne that he had attacked and get her out of there. However, Raptor was hesitant to follow those orders because he was not quite sure how what Vigilante did proved anything. In fact, all he really did was probably piss off the real Arachne.

“And how again did you decide that this one is our Arachne?” Raptor questioned Vigilante’s order that he had barked at the young metahuman. However, before the Vigilante could say anything, one of the other heroes standing there tried to diffuse the situation.

I’ve not tried this on a shapeshifter, but it has worked on thugs before. Okay so I may have only used it once before, Eva thought as she quickly unsheathed Excalibur casting a blinding light upon any she deemed her enemy.

Before Eva unsheathed her divine weapon, one of the Arachnes, whose senses were in overdrive as a result of the Vigilante’s stun grenade, already anticipated the danger that the sword posed to her. There, this Arachne turned her head away, in addition to covering and closing her eyes beneath her mask. However, the other Arachne, whose ‘spider-sense’ had not warned her about the blinding light probably because she had just been called the real Arachne, took the full brunt of the magical attack.

“What happened to my eyes? I can’t see!” The second Arachne panicked as she tried to clean off the lenses of her mask with her costume’s sleeve, hoping that her visual impairment was caused by her mask. However, when that did not fix anything, she began to pull of her mask as she kept muttering to herself that there had to be something wrong with the mask.

But when she had removed her mask, everything was still dark for her. “Why can’t I see.” Tears began to roll down her face while this Arachne inched towards the nearest wall, holding her hand out so that she knew when she was there. Once her hand touched the wall, she smashed her hand against it, denting it in the process.

“Wasn’t that a little, well, I don’t know, excessive?” The other Arachne said as she saw the fate of the first Arachne.

“Oh, God.” Kelly muttered under her breath as she placed her top set of hands over her mouth. “What was that?

”That. That’s only temporary. Probably. Look I’ve only done this once before but it’s like some kind of blinding spell. Should wear off. But that’s our fake, since it only affects those perceived by Excalibur as my enemy.”

Then, from around the corner, from the direction which Kelly had noted as the way that they needed to head down next, a blue cloud hovered above near the ceiling. While this mysterious whisp zoomed by the heroes, part of the cloud broke off and darted towards both Arachnes. Once they struck the two driders, the vapors rejuvenated the Arachnes.

“WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT?” The unmasked Arachne, who had been blinded by Eva’s sword, chided the heroes.

Eva stepped back looking towards Vigilante wondering what to do next. Someone needed to act and it was highly likely that the unmasked Arachne was the evil one. Or at least she was mostly sure she was, he was. ”I kinda already explained that, you’re kinda the bad one here. If you’re done being a Wanker could you stop Faffing about yeah.” With that she charged in her sword drawn to slice down the fake Arachne’s midsection or was it, with a flick of her wrist it swung around last minute as she hoped to catch Effigy off guard with a feint.

“What in God’s name is wrong with you all? We have this, um, double problem and your only solution is to use use lethal force? No wonder we’re all a bunch of loners and solo acts.” The Arachne, whom Eva had begun to attack, complained to all the heroes present.

”Well then, how about we go for round two, this time.” Eva said as she quickly sheathed her sword and drew it again for another blind, as she held Excalibur up she took one of her hands and reached for a sleeping Dickens, who being the ever cheeky enigma somehow managed to sleep through this mess and tossed him in the air expecting something. Yet he fell to the ground dazed as to what’s going on, with a squeak he stood up in his diminutive size. ”That. Didn’t go as planned.” As she proceeded to swing away changing her angle mid slice hoping to catch her opponent off guard.

“I just called us all out on our violent tendencies and what do you do?” This Arachne chided Eva while dodging the several attacks that Eva made with her sword. “You attack me and toss out whatever the hell that thing is!”

While she attempted to prevent herself from being sliced and diced, this Arachne noticed that Eva’s attention was focused mainly on her swordplay. She needed to disrupt Eva’s onslaught. And she saw how she could do it. Therefore, Arachne shot two weblines at the swordswoman’s feet and yanked them from underneath her.

“We need to stay calm or else we’ll do something we might regret.

”That thing, Is bloody monster when he’s angry. ANY TIME NOW!.”

The thoughts that ran through it’s mind were simple inquisitive things, it took interest in the room it’s design and the meat things in it. It noticed there were two of one thing and it stared at them puzzled until one it’s Alpha was attacking trip her up. As it heard her speak out towards it - it couldn’t comprehend the words she was speaking so it ran up to nuzzle her.

”Bloody Hell, I should’ve guessed as much. I need you big, grow already you dumb beast.” As she placed her hand on it’s head and shoved him back Dickens must have realized what was happening as he began to massively expand within seconds his body morphing until a solidified tail swung to whack the assumed Doppleganger into a wall. ”And Bob’s your Uncle.”

“Did you not hear what I just said?” Arachne said as she picked herself off the floor after she had been knocked into the wall by the monster that Eva had just unleashed.

“We can figure this thing out without beating each other up.” Kelly tried to diffuse the situation away from where all the action had so far occurred. “We could ask them questions which only the real Arachne could answer.

“But at least get that thing away from her. We don’t want two of those things here, especially when one would have human intelligence.”

”It’s Probably fine he has some sort of crystal thing. I guess. Didn’t think that through entirely. Gotta say, she, it brings up a good point, right so here’s the thing I don’t quite know how to call him back. I guess no one make any aggressive moves?.” Eva said nervously.

”Though how do we know who is telling the truth, let alone if the doppelganger has the others’ memories? It might just be easier to continue on as planned finding Doctor Giraffe head than dealing with this mess.”

“Actually, that’s a good idea.” Raptor said, “We can just leave these two behind and we’ll know who’s the shape shifter if one tries to stop us. Although you might want to stay behind to make sure that thing doesn’t cause any trouble.”

Eva shrugged as Dickens gave the stupidest look as he tilted his head not understanding what was going on, the twin Arachne thingy had stopped moving and stopped attacking and it perplexed the beast.”He should be okay. I mean yeah he’s a giant tentacle monster but he seems docile enough. So long as no one does anything aggressive I suppose. He behaved on the plane after all.”

Then suddenly, everyone felt a massive shockwave that, although it did not topple the walls around them, definitely shock them. The heroes braced themselves as the quake pasted. When everything was still again, there was only one question in the heroes’ minds. What just happened?

The pain in the Silver Sorceress’ head felt as if a freight train had bulldozed through her. While she suffered through the slowly dissipating headache, the sorceress looked around and saw the havoc that War-Pulse had caused. Lying before her was her sister, who had taken the brunt of War-Pulse’s attack so that she could save her older sister. In a fraction of a second, if the other heroes were looking, they would have seen a moment of tenderness from the Silver Sorceress towards her younger sister. She took Sumac into her arms and cradled her. She even shed a tear over her sister’s critical condition.

But when she looked up where War-Pulse was standing, her sorrowful expression melted away and only anger was left. In her rage, she continued her spell. However, the fury that drove her accelerated and strengthened the spell. While her spell again absorbed the light within the immediate vicinity, just as a black hole would, three vapor-like clouds, similar to the rejuvenating spell that they had just used, appeared and zoomed away towards three of her allies. One departed out of the facility towards Kansas, where Thunderbolt had left Jaws. Another darted down one of the hallways, definitely heading towards Effigy. Finally, the last one went towards Black Widow. When the cloud encompassed the drider, it teleported her away from the facility to another location.

Once the Silver Sorceress had absorbed all the light in the room into a translucent orb between her palms, she finally unleashed the final stage of her spell, sending out a shockwave composed of magical energy. Unless the combatant had some sort of resistance against magic, the shockwave would cause that person to fall into a deep, living nightmare, just like the one that Lyger had suffered before War-Pulse attacked the Silver Sorceress and her sister. Whatever was their greatest fears, the images they would see would seem almost as if they were actually playing out in front of their own eyes.

This endgame spell took almost all the energy that the Silver Sorceress had. If Doctor Diplodoc needed her to do anything else, the Silver Sorceress would not have been able to carry through with most offensive or defensive spells at her disposal. However, she remembered her prior encounter with War-Pulse. She reached out her arm and sent out another vapor spell that was identical to the one used on Black Widow.

“I know that you go boom when you go crazy, so I’m doing everyone a favor by doing this.”

Once the vapor dissipated, War-Pulse had been teleported into a nearby lake so that all the metahuman would do was make an explosion in the water. Then, no with all her energy had been exhausted, took her sister in her arms again before she blacked out, leaving the room silent and still.

---

Meanwhile, Team Two was trying to sort out their doppelganger situation. When the rejuvenating spell had been unleashed, it had affected both Effigy and Arachne so that the charm would not give away Effigy’s cover. However, since this second spell would teleport Effigy away from the facility, blowing his (or her?) cover would not be an issue any longer. This second magical mist was attracted over towards the ‘Arachne’ who still had her mask on and had not been violently interrogated by the team and who was the one that Vigilante had originally marked as the impostor.

Before he had completely teleported away, Effigy pressed his hand against his lips and blow a kiss at the second team, taunting them as he got away. Before anyone could do anything, Effigy was nowhere to be found.

After Effigy had escaped, the real Arachne just crossed her arms and glared at her so-called teammates. She could have yelled and screamed until she lost her voice, but she knew that it would not be worth it. Arachne just gave them a glare and the silent treatment. After she thought that she had shown enough of her displeasure, Arachne pulled her mask back on.

Now that this problem was fixed, at least partially, it was now time for the second team to confront the mastermind behind this entire crisis. While they did not know whether the doctor had been teleported out or not, once they have reached the command center of this facility, they will find Doctor Diplodoc waiting for them.

"...you are a danger to those around you..."
“...Take no heed of the destruction you leave behind, the easy option, so to speak...”
“..those doctors are evidence that you are not safe around people…”
“,,,Your attempt to kill me on sight is evidence enough...”

“You’re daddy’s little girl.”

All around Rach, Silence’s words followed shortly by her father’s echoed. Each syllable vibrated within her inner core. The sensation sent a sudden, icy shiver down her spine and no matter how much the woman wanted to ignore it, she realize those words weren’t far from the truth. She was born from a monster which gave her his desire to kill and so she must’ve been one. Like father, like daughter. At least by the world’s standards. Rach’s anger building at the sense of inner rejection as she wanted to lash out, to hit whatever made her this way and bash it out of existence because accepting just hurt that much more. In a different way than Rach was use to or could handle.

However, in this situation it was useless. She was plummeting downward at nearly neck breaking speeds as her awareness began to emerge, her hair whipped back against her skin. Rach opened her eyes. They squinted from the pressure thanks to her descendent into oblivion while she glanced about. Seeing nothing but darkness swirling in the background, her mind focused on her anger to burn away the creeping fear. Rage might’ve been most comforting for her to default to, fear wasn’t impossible to feel.

A sickness twisted and curled within her middle, tightening up into her chest enough to be a stone. Shortly, a pale light came into view. It shined much like the first time she spotted it and when she drew closer, details started to make themselves more defined and clear. On instinct, Rach’s body kicked forward. Her legs curled and feet braced for her landing to come soon, her soles ready to touch down. She bent them for the impact when the force rattled through her leg. At hitting solid ground, she paused a moment to collect herself then carefully rose upright. Her figure unharmed as she expected within the dream realm she was currently stuck in. Brushing herself off, she panned the area instinctively.

Once more the scene had altered and this time it wasn’t a vast scenery of desert or wilderness. In fact it was the opposite.

Racheli had felt like she had walked into the sci fi set of some strange horror flick. The corridor she resided in had thick, plexity glass windows on both sides of her and pristine white metal became the the very squarish ‘ribs’ supporting it. A faint glow drowsed her image within its eerie glow to light the scene. Rach’s head turned to the surfaces, spying movement from her peripheral vision, before meeting the reflecting image of herself in the glass’ surface. Her eyes studied it a moment. Casually she stepped toward it, her hand reached out to touch the smooth surface and absorb her appearance. She was bleeding across her arm where the concrete had rubbed harshly against the skin, breaking it enough to draw the black, thick ooze that was now her blood. Bruises were seen through her temporarily hospital pjs as faint, slightly darker patches across her pale skin. For a moment she liked like the very dead herself. Empty, guideless, and unwanted.

Her fist busted into the surface, letting the pain swallow the depression edging into her mind completely. It was so much easier to deal with after all. Rage, pain and hurt was something Rach knew how to tolerate and accept as a fact f her life. This was something she could handle rather than fact the mixed up jumble of other emotions stirring in her head.

The scent of sterilizing cleaner burned her nostrils with its stench as she pulled her hand away from the glass. Her knuckles were bleeding, the blood dripped carefully down her fingers. There was a subtle spike in her beta waves.

Carefully Rach started to follow the strange corridor though she didn’t know where it led. One step, then another and she was set into motion, her figure cautiously navigating the darken scene. Around each corner, she carefully peered around before she continued. Somehow, she knew something or one was waiting for her at the end and this was what drove her on.

Gradually, a man came into view.

Rach slowed her pace and narrowed her eyes in question, through her feet never stopped. On approach, her expression to melt into anger then tighten in fury. It was Michael, her virus in his worse form. His appearance had altered to fit the odd scene, crisp and bizarrely clean when compared to herself. The lanky form was dressed in a simple single pocket shirt, mid-length lab jacket, dark slacks and finally dress shoes, making him blend all too well with the overly clean environment. In his right elbow he held a data pad and the hand grasped a cup of coffee in his fingers.

His brown eyes fixed upon her with a thin, patient smirk crossed his lips, his voice breaking the frustration thickening the air. ”You and I both know you can’t hide what you are. What I can’t understand…”

The man stated, his hand gesturing for her to follow him as he turned on heel and began walking down the hallway. Leading her obviously somewhere he felt they needed to be. ” ...is why do you allow a world that will never accept you as you are, to go on existing?’

Rach didn’t answer. Instead her eyes looked away and focused ahead as she ignored his presence. For several minutes her feet propelled her forward into the darkness ahead. Her vision shifted to spy the blurry images of laboratories through the glass ‘cages’, most standard and seemed rather repetitive in nature. A large metal table with various materials within it. Staff was moving from counters on each side, some were reaching into the refrigerated storage units to mixing the contains on the table then examining them. Each wore hazmat suits that made them disfigured and lumpy in appearance. They seemed unaware of Rach or her virus passing them by and moving deeper into the high security facility.

“Another fucking memory?” She asked, unsettled by the lacking acknowledgement of their presence. Deep down she knew the answer even before he answered.

“Yes…One more recent this time.” He said with cocky and secretive look. His figure then paused at a single, wide window to face it.

Curious, Racheli edged closer. Her arms crossed over in front her chest as her hips slanted, watching the scene unfold inside. A blond haired, blue eyed man was strapped to cold operation table as he jerked once to test the restraints. The scene made Racheli’s insides swirl in dread, her vision absorbing even the finest details surprisingly well and she hated it.

Information poured out of Michael’s mouth, background noise to the experiment playing out. “His name is Jacob Riley, my first attempt for a host.”

Rach made no acknowledgement she was listening but she heard every word. Her eyes watching the two scientists, their figures moving and shifting to a small, metal box that was propped wide open. Frozen mist wafted up through the opening as it snaked its way up and upon touching warmer air, sank back down. It settling near the edge while the tongs shifted deeper into the fog for something.

Carefully, the man heaved a small, metallic like rock from its depths. The moment Rach spotted it, she knew something was dead wrong. She could feel it and the sensation coiling within her stomach pit grew, wrapping tightly about her middle. It seemed to suffocate her as it traveled into her core making her shiver slightly as her temperature dropped more than it had that day she merged with the virus. Michael smiled knowingly at the rock shown and Rach’s reaction, but said nothing. They watched while the rock was pressed to the man’s arm, his skin seemed to sizzle from the touch. He screamed as if someone had pressed a hot coal to his bare skin.

Rach froze in place upon seeing the reaction. Movement flickered from the rock and jumped to the man, her eyes jerked to focus on it. Acting like high quality, enhanced camera lenses, the woman had instinctively zoomed into the source and realize what had created her dread: her virus’ origins. The very organism that would shortly Riley and already bonded with her was crawl its way from the crevices of the rock and sink into the man’s flesh, popping out of sight into the pores like any normal virus. Her breath caught in her throat for a moment in what she expected would’ve been the worse wait of her lifetime. Michael merely monologue on, enjoying her reaction, to give more details about the man.

“Twenty-four years old, arrested for arson, attempted murder of his ex-girlfriend, rape charge for her sister, and some off the records drug dealing and usage. He was one of many subjects that Gene Co had been using within their little side projects. Would you believe he volunteered for this?”

Her teeth clenched tighter the longer she watched. Her fingernails digging into her flesh until it hurt, almost drawing blood, while trying to understand why anyone would subject themselves to such a thing willingly. Her nostrils flared a bit, her chest rattling with her breath and she couldn’t tear herself away from the sight. No matter how hard she tried. Michael raised his hand then pressed it to the glass, applying energy to it. Immediately the scene fast forwarded, his hand stayed there and clearly creating the effect until finally he released it. The scene stopped, returning to normal time. The clock in the distance now read about four to five hours later. Riley was now exhibiting stage two symptoms, his wavy hair plastered to his sweating skin and body completely slack in the restraints.

The leather quickly dug into his wrists until they were redden by the pressure. His eyes lazily noted the female scientist carefully enter when the sealed doors, her hands pushing along a trolley with several syringes and tubes. She pause at his laid out body and took his blood, noting the blackening tint to it. Promptly she contacted her senior with the news while still collecting another tube. Already Racheli knew he was exhibiting the same symptoms as she suspected she might've during her transformation. From the fever to the darkened blood, she wondered how Justine must've thought about it and why they didn't consider ending her misery. Then again… Maybe they did and she never remembered.

The woman turned her head and looked away, her heart thrumming in her chest harshly. Her voice was firm with a request, her eyes fixed upon the virus as she spoke. “I don't want to watch anymore.”

“This was only my first host of your species and not even the best part yet. However… As you wish.” Michael stated with a hint of pleasure in his voice. His figure turned then started to walk down the hall, edging deeper into facility. Racheli knew it was a bad idea to follow but her desire to escape the scene playing in front of her was enough to motivate her. Their feet echoed throughout the corridor and the scene shifted, shimmering around them into a different laboratory. It was sterile to an extreme level pouring a familiar and harsh chemical scent into her nostrils. Still she kept walking in the virus’ wake, idly examining the scenery once more and how it had changed.

“Where are we now?” Racheli said, her tone short of a growl. She wasn't look of the place when her eyes settled on the numerous scientists roaming about the tables then shifting to another, each one hustling in excitement. She edged closer to their project only to pale when she spotted the football size tube of thick, tar like blood.

It was too obvious the man hadn't survived the rest of the stage...

Integrated Dimension Research Group Pyramid
San Maria, CA

The white, sterile lights above him turned on at the same time that they did every night before final inspection. Normally, the blinding brightness would force him to cover his eyes, but tonight he was ready. There was a plan to carry out, and he was its most important piece. If he failed, his brothers and his sister would never get out of here. That was something he could not allow. Even if he died tonight, he would make sure they escaped. They deserved the happy life he promised them.

Reverberations from the footfalls of the guards reached the sensitive pads on his hands and feet. He steeled himself, ready for what was about to happen. He had the training in his mind, but he had never really used it before. A momentary flash of self doubt entered his mind, but was erased by need. He couldn’t afford to be nervous.

The guards stopped in front of the door to his cell. They looked in, seeing him where he normally was. The men were dressed in the normal, white and red armor of the IDRG guards. Their faces were covered in balaclavas. It spoke to the sinister nature of the place that the fully-armed security team never allowed their faces to be seen. It made the frog boil with anger. Even the people who worked for the company recoiled in terror when these stormtroopers walked by.

The guards turned back to the keypad to swipe in. When they did that, the frog concentrated and activated his camouflage reflex. His green-grey skin turned to the color of the colorless, antiseptic floor below.

“I can’t believe I had to work this weekend,” the one guard moans as the door begins to open. “But at least it got me away from my kid’s recita-”

“Where the hell is he!?” the other guard yells as the frog’s camouflage does its job.

He swipes out with his leg, catching the first guard with a sweeping kick. The man slams down hard on the composite floor. The second guard tries to retreat from the room to lock it down, but the frog lets loose with his tongue. The long, sticky appendage caught the second guard’s ankle, and with a whip-like motion from the frog’s head, the man came flying back into the cell. The frog delivered a hard clothesline to him in midair, and his helmeted head cracked against the floor, knocking him out.

The frog took the guards’ keycards and made his way towards his larger brother’s cell. Before doing so, he locked the first two guards in the cell he had spent his entire life.

Once he reached his destination, the frog swiped the card through the slot. The door slid open, revealing the hulking, green mass that was his bullfrog brother. The first nodded to the second, and they went to work.

The bullfrog mutant grunted as alarms began blaring and more guards stormed down the hallway. The big frog cracked his neck and rolled his wrists in preparation. They let loose with tasers, but his thick hide didn’t feel a thing. The bullfrog smiled down on the assembled group, grabbing the nearest two by the face. They squirmed in his grasp, but he was far too strong. He raised them over his head and tossed them at the other guards. They all crumbled into a heap under the impact.



It was late. Angel Akilah knew that without even looking at her watch. The city was quiet, even as far downtown as she was. But she liked this time of night. It was easier to get the pictures she wanted, and no one ever bothered her before. Her parents would have had a cow if they knew she was exploring her new home at such a later hour, but she moved across the country to escape them for a reason. Allison, her roommate, may be worried, but not enough to do anything.

No, Angel had the run of the city, and she felt alive.

She pulled her bike up outside the Integrated Dimension Research Group Pyramid, marveling at the giant skyscraper. The company had done a lot for the city, at least it had seemed to. The police force was better equipped than nearly every other city’s in the country. They had public wifi covering the entirety of the city, and the most advanced public transportation in America.

Still, the building had always given her the creeps. How clean it is and how secretive the company was had always given her major 1984 vibes. In San Maria, Big IDRG was always watching.

Suddenly, around her and the building the lights turned up to 11. She shielded her eyes as they adjusted to the brightness. Once she could see again, she saw that the IDRG building’s alarm was going off.

A broad smile came across her face as she took out her camera, “It’s time to get a story, Angel.”



The stream of guards had turned into a torrential flood. The white armored troopers were rushing the big bullfrog in packs, and all were rebuffed. The frogs, during their battle conditioning, had learned of the 300 Spartans who held an army at bay using the correct terrain. That’s exactly what their largest brother was doing now. The natural choke point made sure to limit the amount of men that could attack him. Still, as big and strong as he was, he was tiring.

Luckily, his siblings leapt into the fray. The other two frogs had been rescued by the first, and were ready to fight for their freedom. They landed in front of their large brother, and the first escapee grabbed the unfired taser off a guard’s belt, spun out of the way of another’s firing line, and shot the weapon into another guard’s neck, the only part of their bodies that were unprotected.

The smallest brother was a blue and yellow blur on the battlefield. His small stature and speed were his paramount skills in a fight. He could dish out some damage, but making sure he didn’t take any was his focus. Plus, he was annoying enough to draw attention.

Their sister, however, was a more calculated fighter. She waited for her opportunity to strike, usually when the youngest brother had their opponents confused. She saw an opening, and lept into action. She flung one opponent into another with a headscissors takedown, before rolling into an uppercut to another.

Before long, the guards were incapacitated, and they made their way towards their exit. There was a delivery door on the floor below. It was the closest exit, and hopefully the least guarded. The procedure, as the frogs had noticed from drills, was to focus on the front entrance. The frog just hoped nothing had changed between drills.

When they got to the floor below, there were only two guards at the docking bay. The leader kicked off the wall closest to them, delivering a spinning roundhouse kick across both their chins. The strike caught them unawares, and they crumbled to the ground. The leader frog nodded to his sister, who began inputting a code to unlock the loading bay door.



Angel was crazy. She had to be. She watched as IDRG guards came out in waves, setting up along the main entrance of the building. They were armed with what looked like taser rifles, and had set up in a defensive perimeter along the street. In the distance, police sirens could be heard advancing on the location. This was nowhere to be snooping around, but she couldn’t help herself.

She began narrating the footage she was shooting with her camera phone, “This is Angel Akilah outside the IDRG building, where something seems to be going down. A battalion of guards has surrounded the front entrance. I’m currently heading around the back to see if I can get another vantage point.”

Angel ran around towards the service entrance of the building, hoping she’d be able to see something else. Instead, she ran directly into a squad of guards.

“Stop right there!” the closest one yelled and raised his weapon. She wanted to run. She wanted to scream for help. But she was frozen with fear. The guard spoke over a commlink, “Sir, we have a girl out here. Yes, a civilian. Sir, I don’t think that’s-Yes. Okay. Understood.”

With his orders received, the guard motioned to his comrades, “Take the girl. The Director wants to deal with her personally.”

The approached, and one snatched the cell phone from her hand. That finally snapped her out of her stupor, “Hey! That’s mine! Freedom of the press!”

“That doesn’t work here, girl,” the guard responded.

Angel backed away slowly as the masked menaces closed in on her, she braced to be taken prisoner, wondering what the heck she’d see inside.

Instead, however, the most amazing thing happened. A giant, human-like frog jumped in between her and the guards. Its green-grey face turned to her, gave her a small smile, and said, “Run, girl.”

And so she did.



“Run, girl,” the lead frog croaked to the human girl who had somehow gotten tangled with the IDRG guards. When the words came from his lips, the guards recoiled in fear.

“It can talk!” one of them yelled in surprise. It had been the first time any of the four had ever used the human form of speech. They had been able to do so since their mutation, but chose not to do so. It kept their plans secret from the scientists, and made them seem dumber than they really were.

“Yes, human,” the frog snarled, “we can talk.”

“And we can fight!” the bullfrog roared as he barreled through the group of guards. His anger was getting the best of him, the leader could tell. He was pounding into the guards far too harshly. Any more and he would certainly kill one of them.

“Enough, brother,” the leader put his hand on the big one’s shoulder.

“Why?” their sister asked. “They imprisoned us. Tortured us. Made us suffer. Why should we not kill them?”

“Yea man,” the smallest agreed. “They deserve it.”

“That might be,” the leader nodded thoughtfully. “But by not killing them, we show that they failed. They did not create weapons of war like they had hoped. We show them that we are better than they are. That we can save our world without resorting to any means necessary. That is why we do not kill. To show we are superior.”

“Makes sense to me,” the young one shrugged.

“Better...I like it,” the bullfrog grunted.

“It...is logical,” the female nodded.

The leader smiled at his family, “I’m glad we’re in agreement. Now, come on. We need to disappear.”

And with that, they disappeared into the night.

Little Thailand, Lost Haven, Hernandez Residence and street clinic.

“Is she going to be ok?” While James had seen Milo cut up before, he was a regenerator. IT was pretty evident that Kaya was not. Her face was pale, and a sheen of sweat covered her forehead. Her breathing had stabilized since she had been brought in but they all knew the next 24 hours would be critical. Hernandez had stopped the bleeding, and she had been lucky the stab had missed both livers and kidneys. But the blade had caused massive tissue damage none the less and she had lost a whole lot of blood.
“I am not sure.” Hernandez spoke solemnly at the two men had tea. On a bed right next to them laid their mutual friend and ally. That she had stayed lucid and aware for the entire trip to his clinic was a miracle in itself. Now all they could do was to pray. And Hernandez was not the praying kind.
“I knew she’d bite off more then she could possibly chew.” The combat medic spoke as he sipped the warm, soothing concoction that was earl grey.

“For how long has she been doing this?”

“She been doing this since she returned from Burma. So she’s been at it for the better part of two years.” Hernandez confirmed. “Coming back to the knowledge that her entire extended family was dead, and that the neighborhood that helped raise her was turned into yet another Triad stronghold. Kayas tough. Tougher then anyone I ever met. But man. The shit she has seen.” Hernandez said, his eyes seemed to betray that he was as haunted if not more so then this friend. “Her first week back, she found one of her old friends dead. He had been given a bad batch of heroin and died on the toilet of his own apartment. Nobody had been by for a month. God the smell…”
“That’s awful…”

Hernandez shook his head. “He had issues ever since he and kaya first met as teens. But Kaya had worked really hard on pulling him out of the habit. He was clean when she left for the army. Turns out that when the Triads moved in, they brought upped the heroin trade.” He put down the now empty mug and poured himself some more tea. It was eerily reminiscent of a alcoholic pouring another drink.
“And actively targeted old abusers they found in the old corner boys contacts. Skinned of everything they have. They own all the pawn shops in the area to, so they undercut the junkies on the deals. It’s just one big racket.” Hernandez voice dropped into a dark, hateful his.

“Jesus. What’s the police doing?” James eyes widened.

“Not a damn thing. They can’t. Syndicate ties help steer the police towards other things. The Triads bribe most of the local beats.” Hernandez answered. “Yeah, so we are pretty much fucked. People like Kaya are our only hope.”

As if on cue, Cabbies eyes opened and she sat up screaming with fire bursting out of her eyes and finger. She let out a unholy scream and then went back to unconciusness. The two men stared at each other wideyed.

-----------Inside Kayas mind----------------

There was fire everywhere. White, angry and holy fire. Kaya had slipped back into darkness the second she had seen Hernandez at the clinic. And now she found herself stuck in a sea of flames. Sitting on the sole part not covered with white fire was the woman from before. She looked down at Kaya with a smile on her lips.

“Good. You almost woke that time. I can feel the fires of life reignite inside you” The woman said with a grin like a Cheshire. She had been with Kaya all this time, coaxing her, talking to her in a stern but supporting manner. A maternal kind of presence all about her that put Kaya to ease.

“I don’t understand. Why can’t I wake up” she inquired confused.

“You are still wounded. Your friends have stopped death from seizing you. The rest is up to you and your will to live. Now, let us do the mantra from bottom to top.”

------
Back at the Clinic.

She awoke with another scream. This time her eyes stayed open. Staring at Hernandez tired but now wide awake eyes she gave him a smile. “Never have I been happier to see your ugly mug Hernandez.” Hernandez response was to all but crush her in a bear hug “Ooof! Ease up man, I am still wounded.” She wheezed out as he let go of her with a sheepish smile on his lips.

“You’ve been screaming your throat hoarse. I thought it was fever dreams and was afraid you were slipping away from us.” He explained. His eyes narrowing critically as he took her in. “For a human sish kebab, you look pretty good.”

“You won’t get rid of me that easily. You know that.” She shot him a weak grin. “And I would have you know I always look great post-stabbings.”

“So what do we do now.”

“We?”

“There is no chance in hell I am letting you run solo like this. You almost got killed.”

”Well. First I need to get better. Then we are gonna look up how to fight a bitch with a sword…”

Gabriel flinched as the kidnapper shot the unconscious individual in the ambulance’s cab, gritting his teeth at the man’s threat to do the same to Racheli should he not back off.

Like what happens if I let them get away will be any better. Daedalus, talk to me- any sign of his “associates?”

unfortunately, sir, the interference from earlier is still active. i cannot differentiate any better than you can. i’m afraid we’re rather flying blind at the moment.

Of course we are, thought Gabriel, rolling his eyes. He stared down the criminal in front of him, clenching and unclenching his fists, pebbles scattering away from his feet. We do this the hard way, then.

He chuckled, a dark mirthless sound. ”Oh, no, you're certainly not burdened by morals, I can see that- kidnapping an injured, ill girl, that’s low. But it’s not your morals I'm worried about, kid. It’s your sense.” He took a step forward- carefully, so as to not spook the kidnapper, should his threat be genuine.

”Y’see, you're not just kidnapping any normal girl. There’s something inside her- something someone wants. And I have it on pretty good authority that if she dies, so does what she’s carrying. And something tells me you're not the type to waste all of this hard work like that, are you?”

He took another step forward. "And furthermore… if you kill her, then there’s nothing stopping me from tearing all of you apart, limb from limb. Hollow victory or not, at least I’d be ensuring the poor girl rested in peace. So… you want to reevaluate your position, friend? Or does this have to get ugly?”

He stomped forward another step, the ground cracking and melting under his foot.

”Let. Her. Go.”

”Ms Ambassador, please shoot Miss Desdemona in the knee cap, it seems our friend here is hard of hearing.” Lekh looked thoughtful for a moment. “Oh, wait, it slipped my mind that she prefers to use horrifying magic. Well, I am sure she will use her imagination.” Lekh tilted his head, showing he was smiling beneath his mask.

”Now it is time for you to use your ‘sense’. If we hand the girl over to you, we lose everything regardless. I happen to have taken a sample of her blood, so frankly if forced I will see her dead, cut my losses, and take the risk that you can overcome me and my associates rather than give her to you.” He shrugged, the flippant gesture somehow ominous with the loaded pistol in his hand, dripping water onto the puddle at his feet.

”See, I will let you in on a secret. I do not care what happens to Racheli after this, I suppose she will be transported to whoever our client is. What I can assure you is that whoever the client is, they pale in comparison to me and my associates. We will not be there, and so you will not be faced with a man holding a loaded gun to your friend’s head. Consider that very carefully. I would rather not have more blood on my hands for one day.” He tilted his head one more time. "It really is an awful nuisance to wash off.”

The hero and the villain faced off with one another, neither making a move, all the while time ticked away. At great cost, Silence had bought the necessary time for his magical associate to create her portal. Having to shoot and kill a man in cold blood was not an easy thing to do. Though no one said kidnapping someone would be easy, it really shouldn't have been this hard either. Still, the Polish criminal stood with his pistol in his hand, his aura saturating the puddle at his feet and water dripping from his clothes. Despite all that, it looked awfully like the bad guys were going to win this one, could it be a new turning point in the superhuman history of Lost Haven? For perhaps the first time, things were looking bleak.

The frogs quickly made their way out of sight from the IDRG Pyramid. They had gotten out, sure, but the scientists and guards would be quick to start sweeping the area for them. The frogs were the research facility’s prize success. They weren’t going to allow them to get away easily. Considering the virtual stranglehold they had on the city, their personal army would be patrolling the streets within the hour.

The problem was they had nowhere to go.

They had spent so long planning on how to get out, they had spent little time on anything else. The idea had always been to make for the sewers, but was that a viable option? The scientists and guards would certainly look there first. Was it worth the risk? The four of them were huddled around a

“We don’t have any other choice,” the female frog pleaded with her brothers. “Yes, they’ll look down there. Yes, they may even find us. But down there we’ll have the upperhand. We were made to fight. We just showed we could. So why be afraid?”

“She has a point,” the bullfrog croaked.

“Because we caught them off guard,” the leader responded. “They have too many resources at their disposal for us to assume it will always be that easy. Nine times out of ten, with preparation, they’re going to take us down.”

“He’s got a point,” the young one shrugged.

The leader knew his sister was confident, overly so. It made her a great teammate, but it also could lead her astray. She was the smartest of them, but that also led to her acting superior. The four of them evened one another out, but he more often than not had to be the voice of reason, even if he didn’t want to be.

“I know we want to pay them back. All of us,” he looked into his siblings’ eyes. “They put us through hell for all our lives. For that, they deserve to pay. And they will. We’ll bring them down, and lay waste to their sick sciences. But we have to be ready. To be ready we have to survive. To survive we have to get out of here and hide. For now.”

The other three looked at one another and considered his words. They all seemed to nod in agreement, but before any of them could say anything, a voice comes from behind them, “That was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.”

The frogs turned to find the girl that they had saved from the IDRG guards. She was astride her bike, smiling broadly at them. Her olive skin and dark hair were illuminated faintly by the single, dim lightbulb that gave the alley what little light it had. Her dark brown eyes looked at them not with fear, but with wonder.
“You are not afraid?” his sister asked her.

“No way,” she shook her head. “We’ve seen way scarier things than you in the last few years. But you helped me. That’s enough to tell I shouldn’t be afraid.”

“I like her. She’s cool,” the young one smiled.

The eldest frog looked at her, amazed at the bravery she had already shown tonight. There was no hint of fear, or of revulsion. There was a deep seated curiosity behind her expressive eyes. This was one that wanted to know how the world worked. One who searched for knowledge. It was a good trait to have.

“So, instead of trying to hide in the sewer,” she smiled mischievously, “ why not come hang out at my place?”



IDRG Pyramid

Director Dyer sat stoically behind his desk, looking over the security footage of the subjects’ escape for what felt like the millionth time. This was an unparalleled disaster, and something he honestly never thought would happen. They had trained their security to be the best in the business, and applicants already had to have the highest recommendations to even be admitted to their staff. They had every failsafe in place.

Yet the test subjects had still managed to escape.

In a way, their prowess in battle was a testament to the years of work he had put into this project, but it meant nothing if they could not replicate the successes. So far, even with plenty of samples of the creatures’ DNA, they had been unable to do so. There had been some near successes, but nothing on their level.

He needed them back, and he needed them back as quickly as possible. Time was of the essence.

“Director,” a voice drew his attention to the doorway. There stood Dr. Morris Dyson, one of his most brilliant engineers. The thin, black man wore a baggy lab coat over slacks and a button-up shirt. Thick-rimmed glasses hung on his nose. Dyson had been poached from one of the biggest defense contractors in the world. Dyer considered it a personal triumph that he managed to get him to switch sides. “You wanted to see me?”

“I did,” the director responded haughtily. “Is the Searcher project ready?”

Dyson shifted uncomfortably on his heels, “We have six prototypes. They’ve passed all the trials, but I’m hesitant to let them out into the cit-”

“I don’t very much care what you hesitate to do,” Dyer responded cooly. “I want my animals back, Doctor. I’ll take any chance to do so. The mayor and the people of this city are mine. They will deal with any...complications along the way. These creatures are everything to me. Without them this was all for naught.”

“I…,” Dyson hesitated. “Understood, sir. I’ll have them ready in the morning.”

“See that you do, Doctor,” the Director smiled. It was a nearly-robotic gesture, not one that Dyer displayed often. After the engineer turned and left, the look was wiped off of Dyer’s face and he went back to watching the security footage another time.



The lights sprung to life on the inside of Angel Akilah’s apartment, and she came to the window to allow the frogs egress. They had climbed the side of the building up to her floor using their sticky finger pads.

Once inside, the four of them were taken aback. While the space wasn’t abnormally big, the sights, smells, and colors of the place overwhelmed them. It seemed, to the lifelong prisoners, to be a representation of pure life. They walked around, inspecting everything while Angel closed all the drapes.

The leader was slightly startled when a cat hopped off a set of drawers and landed in front of him. He knelt down and held out his hand, which the cat happily accepted in a pet. The frog smiled as the human girl came up behind him, “That’s Thebes. He likes you.”

“I like him,” the frog responded. “You and him are the first two beings that have not looked at us like science projects.”

She took a seat next to him and also began petting the cat, “What...are you guys, if you don’t mind me asking?”

The other three took a seat on the comfortable chairs that lined the main room. While they were amazed at how soft they were, they needed to focus on telling their story.

“The first thing we all remember is a horrible, blinding pain,” their sister started. “It was the transformation from our natural frog forms to what you see now. Our bodies and minds went from infant to adolescent in a matter of days. The stimuli would have driven most insane.”

“It did drive the rest insane, sis,” the young one pointed out. “We were the first successful tests they had.”

“Then, daily they’d hook us up to computers that taught us everything,” the bullfrog continued. “Combat, battle strategy, human history, and anything else IDRG thought was useful.”

“This all sounds awful,” Angel gasped.

“It certainly wasn’t a cakewalk,” the youngest chuckled.

“But why?” she asked in horror.

The four of them looked at one another. They had talked about this between each other, but knew it was not part of their training.

“The computers never told us,” the leader started. “Neither did we ever overhear it from the scientists. But...but when we were asleep, when we dreamed, we all dreamed of the same thing.”

“What were the dreams?”

“Darkness,” the sister said.

“Decay,” the bullfrog croaked.

“Disease,” the youngest added.

“And an army of unspeakable horror,” the leader finished. “We don’t know where it came from, but it always felt like a warning of what was coming. We never asked to be made. For all we know the scientists don’t know about the Darkness. But we know we were brought here to stop it, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Before Angel could respond, her cell phone rang, erupting in familiar music. She scrambled to pick it up, “Hello? Oh, hey. What’s up? You will be? Okay great. Yea, I’ll clean some while you’re away. Have a good time.”

The frogs, still jarred by the music, must have looked awkward. She squinted at them, “That was my roommate. She’s with her boyfriend this week at his cabin. So you guys can stay here as long as you want. Why do you look like you saw a ghost?”

“That music is familiar,” the leader answered. “They played it before we slept.”

“It’s Mozart,” she chuckled. “I have a thing for classical music.”
“Mozart,” the leader smiled as he said the name. “Yes, I recall from our learning.”

“You...don’t have names, do you?” the girl asked.

“No,” the female responded. “They never gave us that luxury.”

“Bastards,” the bullfrog clenched his massive fists.

“Could...I name you?” Angel asked sheepishly. “You’re free now. You deserve your own names.”

“Sounds like a plan to me!” the youngest one hopped up excitedly.

Angel smiled and patted him on the shoulder, “Since you all seem to like classical music, let’s go with a motif. You’ll be Bach.”

“Rad,” the newly minted Bach grinned.

Angel walked up to the biggest frog, “You can be Ludwig. A good, strong name for a good, strong frog.”

“Ludwig?” he nodded. “I like it.”

“And you, my fellow fighter with girl power, will be Clara,” she smiled.

“It certainly has a ring to it,” the newly minted Clara nodded.

“And the one who saved me tonight...you’ll be Mozart.”

Mozart. The maker of that wonderful music. The frog didn’t think he was worthy of such a title, but if Angel believed it was so, he had no reason to doubt her. He looked at his brothers and sister, and saw that having names, and a home, however temporary, had transformed them. They had always talked about how they were family, but tonight it was solidified.

“Yes...Mozart,” the frog said graciously. “Thank you, Angel. For everything.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” she replied with spunk. “We still need to figure out what this darkness is and stop it. Then we’ll have some thanks.”

It was nearly a week since Riley and Mina arrived in Lost Haven, and while the ongoing Metahuman Crisis still loomed over the city and by extent most of the United States like a great storm cloud, things at least began to settle down a bit for the ex-scientist and her half-alien friend. Arbalest was a busy place with people coming and going all the time, but since there was always someone higher up the chain like Hoxton or Smokey around, the girls both felt at least a little safer then she had since they fled from the UK, although that didn't stop the neurotic scientist from scouring the internet for any shred of evidence that Darrow was on the prowl before she fell asleep. Sure it may have been awkward essentially camping out in a private security company's base with people marching in and out every hour of the day, but for once the world seemed to be giving Mina and Riley a little bit of peace and they were both intent on using that peace to their advantage.

Holed up in her room, Mina hummed contently to herself as she thumbed through one of the messy binders she had packed with her on the trip. In between hanging out with Riley and some of the other Arbalest leaders, she had been spending the majority of her time catching up on old projects that she had neglected since working for Darrow. She had already completed a mathematical proof, a couple schematics for cleaner vehicle engines, and the new game plus mode in Shovel Knight, and she was eagerly looking for something else to work on when her hand slipped and an all too familiar sheaf of papers slipped out from the binder. Feeling as though a cold hand had gripped the back of her neck, Mina's eyes crossed from the crossed hammers in crimson ink over a black anvil stamped in the upper corner to the words on the cover of the report.

Darrow Engineering Division BPE
Project: Forethought
Project Head: Dr. Alaric Gaster
assisted by Dr. Mina Seidel

A odd pang of amusement mixed with her revulsion at finding the report again, as she remembered how she scratched her own name off the cover after finding out what Gaster was planning for his 'subject'. Tentatively, Mina flipped the cover page over and looked over the first few pages of Gaster's notes covering the alien that was recovered from Corsica. Her stomach gave an unpleasant lurch every time her trembling fingers crossed over another gruesome detail of the firefight with the alien, until she came across a photo of a mangled corpse so revolting that she collapsed on all fours and started dry heaving, the sheaf dropping to the floor in a crumpled heap. Mina internally scolded herself for her curiosity as she desperately tried not to lose her lunch all over the floor. After what felt like years, Mina regained control of herself and sat up against the well, breathing heavily. Rubbing her eyes beneath her glasses violently to try and stop the tears welling in them, she glanced back at the crumpled report on the floor. She could still remember how Gaster had pushed the pictures on her when she first started having second thoughts on the whole experiment.

"Don't you see what this power is capable of?" he had told her. "There can be no barriers to our study of this power, otherwise all of this can happen again. Wouldn't you agree?"

The fact that she did made her even more disgusted then the report on Corsica did. She had followed Gaster around like a puppy, too blinded by his manipulations and her own pride to see what was going on, and what that man was capable of. What was her own conscience compared to all the lives she would save, she had decided. What was morality and self-respect when the fate of the world was hanging in the balance? Surely the enslavement of a creature created in a lab was a small price to pay for the greater good!

Now she just wanted to strangle the old Mina for even contemplating thoughts like that. Shaking with cold fury, Mina's hand shot out and roughly tore the Corsican report from the top of the stack, half of the papers ripping apart as she pulled. Violently crumpling the Corsican report and throwing it into a pile of refuse in the corner, Mina moved to tear the rest of the report to shreds before something stayed her hand.

Blinking angry tears from her eyes, she took a second look at the medical report now sitting on the top of the papers, filled out in her own handwriting. The date was familiar to her, she realized. Wasn't it when...?

With one hand, she turned over the sheet to look at the back. Scrawled on the back were two stick figures drawn in purple crayon, one with round shapes resembling glasses over their eyes, the other with squiggly lines coming from the figure's head. Beneath the figure in glasses, written in crude, childlike handwriting, was MINA. Under the second figure, a name was written in pen, matching Mina's handwriting from that day.

'Riley'

Her fear and anger melted away in an instant as Mina held the report close to her, as if to share some of the warmth she was now feeling with it. Maybe this report, in spite of all of its bad memories, would be useful to keep around after all.

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSS!"

Mina gave a startled yelp at the sound of Riley shrieking and stumbled her way towards the door and out into the rec room, her eyes darting back and forth for any signs of trouble. She quickly found Riley standing on the sofa with her arms outstretched in triumph, looking perplexed at her sudden appearance but nevertheless overjoyed.

"What on earth are you yelling about?!?" Mina demanded, still utterly confused.

"A most joyous occasion!" Riley cried out triumphantly, leaping gracefully down from her perch to pull her friend into a tight hug. "The Serpent Wyrick is performing with such excellence that I could not help but become excited over this splendid showing of talent!"

"...what?"

"Wyrick just scored another goal," Sokol, the only other person in the room, explained from his reclining position on the opposite sofa. "He's forward for the San Maria Serpents."

"Oh, the hockey team!" Mina confirmed, relieved that it wasn't an actual emergency. "I didn't know you liked it, Mina. Or even knew about it, come to think of it..."

"These...'hockey' occurrences are simply amazing, Miss Mina!" Riley declared, jumping back on top of the sofa to keep watching the show throwing a few excited punches as a fight broke out on the ice. "Such fast paced activity and brief bursts of close quarters combat...it is just such a delight to partake in!"

Mina was never much into hockey, or any sport for that matter, but there was something about Riley's overabundance of enthusiasm about it that made her smile and want to enjoy the experience too. Needless to say, if Riley was this crazy about hockey, Mina was sure that she and Jordan would get along like a house on fire. If she ever got here, of course.

Mina almost sat down to watch the game herself when Smokey floated into the room, followed by his accompanying cloud of tobacco smoke. Tactfully passing by the hyperactive half-alien and taking a seat in a cushy recliner, the enigmatic Dutchman quietly turned his attention to the sketchpad in his hand.

"Mr. Smokey!" Riley shouted again, bouncing off and landing next to him. "Is that my new thing?"

"What new thing?" Mina asked, though by the time Riley puffed out her chest with her hands on her hips Mina was afraid she knew that answer already.

"My superhero outfit of course!"

Being the neurotic overprotective one of the pair, Mina still wasn't 100% behind Riley's attempts to be one of the superheroes. Part of that was because of the threat of Darrow looming behind them, but a great deal of Mina's concerns were centered around Riley's powers. Despite the best efforts of Darrow's cronies, humanity's knowledge of the power and capability of psionic energy was flimsy at best, and nonexistent at worst. The last thing Mina wanted to do was put her foot down and keep the half-alien girl's ambitions bottled up, but the pictures from Corsica were hard to forget, and she already knew what happened the first time Riley lost control. Mina was sure Riley could protect herself from Darrow or whoever tried to hurt her...it was the lingering fear of Riley accidentally hurting someone with her powers cared about that bothered her.

Still, like with everything Riley did, her infectious optimism won out and Mina gave her blessing to let her at least plan something out before she went off to rescue cats from trees or whatever superheroes did. Luckily, the multitalented Smokey had a bit of an artistic design flair and was willing to help out in his usual, laid-back way.

"I've sketched this out with armor and fabric made from a new type of infused Kevlar, should be light enough for you to move around without sacrificing too much protection," Smokey droned on as he made a few remaining scratch marks with a colored pen before handing it off to Riley. "The boss'll need to give the nod since it's kind of pricey, but it's a pretty solid build for what you're looking for. Of course I don't regularly design these things, so...grain of salt, I guess."

The half-alien squealed in delight at the sketching, bouncing up and down on the toes of her sneakers as she took it in. Too excited to speak coherently, she held out the sketchpad to show Mina the colored illustration, which she had to steady with one hand and physically remove from Riley's grip so she could get a good look.



Mina looked between the illustration and Riley, who was letting out a highly pitched squee and rocking back and forth so excitedly that she was starting to float a little above the ground. Sokol, with an exasperated movement that suggested he had been doing this a lot lately, reached over and gave the back of her hoodie a slight tug with one hand to bring her down to Earth again.

"Ohmygoshitssoamazingitseverythingiwantedimgoingtosaveallsortsofpeopleandmeetall-"

"Deep breath, slow down," Smokey interrupted her, raising a hand and lowering it down gently to make his point. "And tell me what you think."

"Alright, alright," she replied, taking a few short breaths before she began again. "It's a super nice design and ooh I'm just so in love with it, but I don't really know about the thing on my head here."

"Yeah," Mina interjected. "The headgear does look a bit, uh..."

"Gimpy?"

"Constricting," Mina continued sharply, shooting a dirty look at the interrupting Sokol.

"Indeed, it does not look comfortable...maybe something a little less...er, what is the word for something that hides something? Concealing?"

"Well you do need some sort of method to hide your identity," Mina argued, not noticing Smokey casually wandering off mid-conversation. "Though come to think of it you kind of have been already..."

"But superheroes usually have some sort of concealment, so that they are recognizable by people. If I am to be a superhero, I would very much like to b-WAAGH!!"

Riley yelped and flailed her arms around in a panic as Smokey came up behind her and threw an old purple scarf he procured from places unknown around her neck, wrapping it around her neck and the lower half of her mouth. Effortlessly dodging her wild movements, he took a pair of dark tinted motorcycle glasses and put them around her head with a slight snap.

"How about this then?" he asked, holding out a compact mirror for Riley to see how she looked.

"Hmm...yes, I do like this! Although it is quite...dark..."

"Where did you get this stuff from?" Mina asked Smokey with some suspicion as Riley fiddled with the tinted goggles a bit and wandered around to find where the lights went.

"My ex was a biker, left a few of this things lying around when he left. Figured it would come in handy one day."

"And this is the same color as my psionic ability too!" Riley squeaked excitedly, tugging on the scarf happily while feeling the walls for a switch. "Could you make the rest of the outfit this color too?"

"Sure, I think I can get some eye wear that'll fit better on you too, those look a bit snug."

Riley was beside herself with glee. "This is so wonderful, I'm going to be a superhero and save people, but first I'm going to find out where the lights went!" The others watched with some amusement as Riley stumbled into the next room, running her hand across the door frame briefly before stepping through.

"I won't tell her if you won't," Sokol said mischievously, earning another dirty look from Mina, who ran off after her to go help, leaving Smokey to work on the drawing and Sokol to enjoy the game in peace.

"That Riley is something, isn't she?" Sokol remarked lightly. "You think she can make it as a cape?"

"I like to think so," Smokey said, leaning back and taking a drag on a fresh cigarette. "Messed up world we live in, and more people like her might make it worth living in."

"Heh, didn't know you were the sentimental type, Smokes."

"I'm full of surprises."

_{banner credit to Hellis}

---

Location: Lost Haven, Maine - Tyburn Avenue
Timeline: Present

The portal was nearly complete, the rift in the Arcane Stream blazing brightly lighting up the underpass. The precious minutes Lekh bought The Ambassador allowed her to concentrate uninterrupted by the intruders.

Odette had mostly ignored the conversation Lekh was having with whomever was on the other side of the van but her name caught her attention briefly, “Ms Ambassador, please shoot Miss Desdemona in the knee cap, it seems our friend here is hard of hearing.” Lekh paused continuing his bluff “Oh, wait, it slipped my mind that she prefers to use horrifying magic. Well, I am sure she will use her imagination.”

Odette’s invocation continued without pause while she listened. Lekh seemed to not hold any reservations regarding her magic at least in accepting as it was.

Sweat beaded at Odette’s brow visualizing her final piece of the portal, the door. The golden doorknob formed first the sparkling sheen lost in the overwhelming light. Thick dark wood grew from the doorknob panelling out in all directions the arch curving the top of the door. The light dimmed considerably behind the newly formed door still shining brightly out of it’s edges. The hinges latched onto the left side now complete. Odette huffed out a long breath pulling out a energy bar from her purse unwrapping it to snack a few bites. Not necessarily needing it immediately, but ate out of habit.

Finishing the bar quickly casting an eye at Joseph and the new woman. She reeked of magic and had a tacky costume to match. Odette ran a judgemental eye over the pair of them.

Marie looked from one scene to the next, overwhelmed by the amount of commotion over one girl, at least, that’s what she assumed this was over. Thanks to Lekh and Gabriel’s bickering, she had gained slightly more insight, but was still entirely unfamiliar with all present. She looked to Joseph, who only shrugged.

“This is about as far as I got last time . . . with a few additions,” he replied, noting the newcomers, one of whom had taken the form of a large, metallic being that threatened to level the entire underpass. The pair backed away, moving closer to Odette. Joseph turned his attention to Odette, whose presence he recognized. “Her,” he pointed, “she’s trouble. She conjured some faery beast to take me out and was no doubt responsible for the wards and traps around this place.”

Marie looked Odette up and down, sizing up the sorceress. She sensed a second presence, a lingering shadow about her, no doubt that which gave her a connection to her powers. She turned to the now finished portal, composed of an energy reminiscent to the Silver Sorceress’s magic, power drawn from the Arcane Stream. Marie had proven that she could efficiently counteract arcane powers, as could Joseph, so this portal should prove just as simple to close.

“The portal,” Marie turned to her side to Joseph, “I don’t know exactly what they’re doing or what it’s purpose is here, but we stand a better chance at getting answers if we take it out.” For perhaps the first time since she became the White Witch, her mind was clear. She wasn’t anxious, wasn’t afraid, wasn’t overly cautious; she just wanted answers quickly so that she could return to her comrades in West Virginia.

With an outstretched arm, Marie began to chant. She called on a banishing spell used to rid oneself of tricky fey and spirits. With the streak she’d had going on today, she figured it’d be enough. Joseph joined in, crossing his arms with the blasting rod in his right hand. With a simple hand gesture on Marie’s part and the uncrossing of Joseph’s arms, the two sent forth a powerful dispelling force that would be enough to banish most mystical annoyances . . . but they had severely underestimated their opponent. When their spell made contact with the portal, it caused only a shimmer, then fizzled out.

Odette scoffed at the poor attempt to dismantle her portal, “You two really haven’t a clue of who it is you are tangling with.” Pointing a manicured finger at Joseph, “I will be back to tear you apart. You poisoned the Archon. I do not let such actions go without consequences.” Odette threatened venomously.

Beckoning to Lekh, “We really must be going, Silence. We’ve wasted enough time entertaining these uninvited guests.”

Silence turned for just a moment, backing up slightly from the puddle at his feet as Odette called him. The portal was prepared, though it looked like a strangely lit door to his untrained eye. It was only then that it dawned upon him that his only avenue of escape was through that very same portal. He was putting a lot of faith in the Ambassador. Too much. Unfortunately, he was confronted by magic and machinery from each side, so his options were limited to say the least.

“I believe you may be right.” He replied, with exaggerated coolness, as he suddenly turned and fired towards the two newcomers behind him, emptying his remaining magazine into the magic users as he began his retreat. He kept one eye on Icarus as he backed up along the side of the ambulance, looking in both directions rapidly before dipping behind the back of the transport vehicle. His weapon was out of ammunition by that point, so there was little else for it but to trust the fae hadn’t decided to remove him from the equation, drop his debilitating aura and holster his weapon. He legged it, basically. Racheli was still on the ground before the portal, and the Ambassador was better equipped to keep their many foes off his back. So, as he passed, the Polish criminal scooped their victim up in a fireman’s lift and yanked open the magical door.

Marie tuned in to Lekh’s shots just in time to deflect them, however, not before the first managed to skid past Joseph’s left arm, leaving behind a tear in his clothing and a few droplets of blood.

“Whenever you are ready, Ms Ambassador.” He informed her, preparing to step into the unknown.

Hydro groggily raised himself from the puddle looking around he caught a fleeting glimpse of Lekh firing his gun. Hydro watched with anger as the man then disappeared out of his sight. Reforming himself he bellowed with rage in the direction of Lekh. ”Screw you!”

Hydro looked around at the empty area populated by only a handful of people. Gabriel seemed to be motionless whatever had happened to him had stopped him in his tracks.
”Hey buddy? You okay? Doctor? Hellooo?” No response, what had happened to him?

Meanwhile, Marie took the opportunity to part Racheli from Lekh’s grip. With a single hand flourish, she took control of the girl’s body, removing her from his person as delicately as possible and placing her closer to the ambulance. She couldn’t let these two get away with her, whoever she was.

Lekh held onto Racheli as he felt her body being manipulated by afar. The criminal wasn’t weak, even in a world populated by the superhuman his strength was impressive. If Marie intended to yank Racheli from his grasp she wouldn’t be doing it delicately, Rach would suffer injury as the force required to escape Lekh’s vice-like grip would break bone. Still, Marie intended to pull her from his grip with sheer force alone, presuming she could do that with magic, so what damage was done was ultimately her fault. That’s how Lekh would justify it, anyway.

“Ms Ambassador, could you please deal with this magic?” Lekh requested as Racheli was yanked from his grasp and floated up into the air. He staggered from the effort of resisting the magic, while taking the time while his hands were free to quickly reload his pistol with his remaining magazine. He fired at the duo of magic users, determined to make them work to defend themselves so Odette could gain an advantage despite being outnumbered. He was growing frustrated with the situation, it seemed like everyone was getting involved in his business, and he had half a mind to find these people on their own when they least expected it and deal with them personally. That would have to wait though, once he was done and had time to calm down such murderous thoughts would leave him, they usually did. He tried to maintain his composure as he walked back over to Racheli’s new position, hoping Odette would prevent further magical interference he could do little about.

Odette huffed at the levitation spell being cast over Racheli, their intruders had ample warning to turn and leave.

“You have really left me with no choice.” Odette said not entirely disappointed. “You have inserted yourself into our business rather rudely. Now I’m forced to deal with you.”

Her hand drifted up to the floating Racheli then quickly spoke a spell to counter Marie’s levitation. When the magical grip on Racheli was released she fell limp. Odette stepped forward past her portal and Bach obediently followed at her side, eyeing the iron ring on Joseph’s hand still. Wary for very good reason.

Odette didn’t have the time to erect a ward to protect them but knew of a few nasty illusion spells that had worked on Joseph and could very well have the same effect on Marie. Odette’s hand glowed misty blue and the illusion spell came with articulate force behind her words, the spell itself took form in silver needles meaning to surround her target’s heads.

Still unnerved by his previous experience, Joseph eyed the floating needles with genuine fear. His perception of reality had been heavily distorted, he hadn’t the mind to discern such illusions, especially without Holt to aid him. Marie, on the other hand, was uncharacteristically brazen today. Something stirred deep within her, filling her with strength and clarity. She looked momentarily at the needles, then to Joseph, who had begun to cower down.

“Illusions,” she said aloud to calm Joseph and spite Odette, “nothing but illusions. Don’t let her fool you again.”

Joseph breathed deeply. He closed his eyes to will the needles away, Marie’s voice aiding his focus. The two remained unscathed. Acting quickly, Marie waved an arm, sparks leaping from her fingertips and sprouting thick flames where they touched the ground. She was careful with their placement, ensuring that they were kept away from Lekh and Racheli. The fire began to encircle Odette, drawing ever closer to her person with each passing moment.

“You two are rather fond of fire. How cute.” Odette snarled as Bach huddled closer at the sight of the fire. Odette lifted herself on the tips of her toes preparing her next offense, a circle of blue light ringed a few inches outside where she balanced on her toes. Bach recognized what she was about to do then casted himself to a much smaller size to be stowed safely away in her pocket. In a flourishing pirouette the blue circle grew in size the sand and dirt of the underpass being swept up in her dance. Words of Power beat against the rings of light, the sand picked up frightening amounts of speed extinguishing the flames. Odette locked eyes with Marie then without another second the dirt whirlwind shot forward with the momentum and speed directly at Marie and Joseph.

Not wanting to be swept away by the onslaught of sharp sand, Marie began to whistle and beat her broom handle against the ground. Joseph joined in, whistling a sharp note and holding his blasting rod in front of him. The wind reacted to their calling, gaining speed and clashing with the wave of dirt and sand. The underpass became a violent torrent of wind and sand, Marie and Joseph’s counterspell keeping the sand at bay while also throwing stray particles in all directions. It became difficult to see, but Marie and Joseph still had a lock on Odette, and she on them.

Odette kept the sand going with little strain dancing away at the center of the circle then shouted at Lekh, “Leave! Now!”

He didn’t have to be told twice, having caught Racheli with his right hand and fired at the two magic users with his left only for his bullets to do literally nothing, the Pole was feeling a little out of his depth. He turned back on his heel, pistol in hand, girl over his shoulder, and went for the door he’d half opened. Magic was all around him, but he kept his head down and his grip on their target tight, hooking the slightly ajar portal with his right foot and dragging it open. He looked at his stolen security issue pistol for a moment and then threw it over his shoulder beneath the ambulance. He’d been wearing gloves, and the weapon was tied to one of the other guards at the CDC. Only Bobby had known he’d been involved in the transport, and he was dead. That lead was cut.

“As you say.” He replied, letting the Ambassador know he’d finished his job and stepping into another world, Racheli in hand.

Stopping rather abruptly with a new spell in a single aggressive flourish of her hand to bring the dance to an end the sand pulled back, reshaping itself into a dangerously sharp spear rearing up near Marie and Joseph’s feet to strike at Joseph.

The wind roared violently, eldritch verses echoing off the stone walls of the underpass. Marie looked in horror at the spear of sand launching itself toward Joseph, who was painfully unaware. He relied on Holt to be his second set of eyes, and without him present, he was practically blind. Marie, however, had senses heightened by an innate gift of which she was not yet aware. With a similarly violent sweep of her hand, a gust of wind intercepted the grainy spear. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. The spear began to break through the protective barrier of wind. In response, Marie pushed Joseph out of the way, allowing the spear to strike her instead.

“No!” Joseph shouted as he fell to the ground, Marie lying still where he once was. Luckily, the spear had been weakened by the heavy winds, but it packed enough force to knock the breath out of Marie, who was now unconscious for the second time that day . . . but not because of force or exhaustion.

“Dammit, Marie.” Joseph muttered as he neared her rigid frame. He turned her over to inspect the damage. The front of her dress was tattered and dirty and pieces of her mask were falling off, but she sustained no major injuries. Upon further inspection, Joseph smiled. Marie’s eyes had turned white and her body was stiff. She had crossed the hedge, her spirit wasn’t in her body.

Above the battlefield she flew as a spectre, surveying the area and assessing the situation. As a spirit, her powers were uninhibited, but her body was susceptible to harm. In response to this, Joseph formed the SATOR square, placing a protective barrier around Marie’s physical form that would shield her from baneful magic. Meanwhile, Marie charged towards Odette, unseen to all mundane forces on the field. Her ghostly visage became engulfed in flames, setting fire to the surrounding area as she marched forward. The wind too responded to her ghastly call, flowing with increased strength and spreading her spectral flames.

Odette grinned in triumph as Joseph retreated behind his ward with the witch downed. She could plainly see Marie wasn’t dead but it was enough for Odette to escape. Slowly she took a few steps back eyes still trained on the witches. Light above her from the spectral flames drew her attention and her eyes widened at the sight.

A small ward cast in her hands swept up to protect her person but in the resulting force was pushed to the ground on her back, skidding backwards away from the portal. Her arms struggled behind her hastily casted ward glaring up into the fiery spectre. Her arms shook with strain, teeth clenched against the force. Fire was licking up her barely protected legs drawing a shout of pain from Odette. Worse still, her outfit was ruined.

“Bach!” Odette snapped out between her casting, speaking in French. “I need your help!”

Bach poked his head out from inside her pocket fearful of the flames. His own hand glowed green, “Right away, My Lady.” He replied in French.

Bach’s magic reinforced the ward giving it a rather green tinged light mixing with the distinct blue of Odette’s. His Fae magic was just the trick to bolster a retaliation. The ward grew in size its edges encapsulating the ghostly fire, effectively allowing Odette to stand back up and push back. Thoroughly singed, burned and increasingly enraged Odette stepped back away towards her portal again. Glaring down the spectre of the witch. Her hand groped behind her for the doorknob.

Finding it she opened the door then beckoned for the floating Archon to move ahead of her. With the Archon safely through the threshold so to did Odette follow not sparing a final look at the intruders. When the door closed behind her the portal disappeared in a blink of an eye.

Racheli, Odette and Lekh had escaped. Leaving behind a statue still Icarus, small powerless Hydro and the pair of witches still reeling in their attempts to stop a new magical foe. Racheli unconscious and unaware was pulled deeper into Gene Co's grasp.

_{banner credit to Hellis}

---

Location: Unknown
Time: A few moments later......

He couldn't help it, walking through the portal with Racheli over his shoulder the Polish kidnapper closed his eyes. It was a childish reaction, and he berated himself for it, but magic was just too far out of his personal experience and he wasn't comfortable with what was about to happen. Of course, little could have really prepared him for literally entering another world, if that was even the right term for it, the place where spirits came from. Lekh wasn't very much in touch with his people's mythology, but every child grew up fearing the spirits of the forest, and he'd just walked right into their home!

Eventually, mustering his courage, he took a deep breath through his mask and opened his eyes, somehow oddly surprised to find it was still nighttime in this strange world. Despite that, the moon was unnaturally bright and he could see that before him was a great yew tree, larger than any he had ever seen before. Glancing around he realised he was in a meadow with a forest before him. It was so diffferent to his location just moments prior that he took a moment to get his bearings, almost panicking for just a second before he got himself together, which roughly coincided with Odette's arrival. Her passing through the portal drew him from his reverie and set his focus back on work, though his adrenaline was still shooting through the roof.

"Ms Ambassador." He greeted her, oddly, considering they had only been apart for moments. There was something about the strange distance he had travelled to enter this place that made the greeting appropriate.

Odette looked as if she'd been jumping over lit candles with the way her dress was singed and ruined by spectral fire. Red, angry burns were up the length of her legs and calves. While her white jacket was now several shades of brown from being dragged through the dirt on her back. Closing the portal door behind her she took a deep breath in of home. Relieved they made it without being pulled back by the intruders.

Lekh's greeting was pleasant and his expression had the lingering first impression of entering the Faerie Realms that so commonly affected every newcomer. Wonder and curiosity being difficult to hide.

Pointing the Archon to float on into the forest where they could recover under the safety of the trees in the darkness. Pixies came racing to her side and flittering up along the Archon guiding them away. Bach poked his head out and then vaulted from her pocket. In a burst of autumn leaves Bach returned to his normal size looking about as relieved to be home as Odette was. Bach stepped up to Lekh casting a rather judgemental look.

"I thought we were heading straight to Ironworks." He said to Odette not breaking eye contact with Lekh.

Hobbling past the pair Odette headed for the Yew. "Come, Lekh. We shall make a quick stop to catch our breaths then I will create a portal for wherever you need to go."

Lekh, for his part, looked only slightly surprised when a tiny person popped out of Odette's pocket and returned to his full size. He was quickly becoming accustomed to his ally's invisible friends. He gave her burned and disheveled appearance a worried glance however, the last he had seen of her she had been fine, apparently the other magic users were a bigger threat than he had thought.

"Well?" He called out Bach, who was staring at him awkwardly as if forcing a challenge of some sort. He turned his attention away from the fae for a moment as Odette used his name.

"Yes, I believe I have fuliflled my end of our bargain, Ms Ambassador. As you are well aware I am somewhat at the mercy of your whims in this place, so lead on, if you will."

Leading the way she announced to the Yew, "Please excuse us, I humbly invite our guest Lekh into our home." She spoke in Common Fey, satisfying the magical protection spells that prohibited strangers from entering their home.

The inside of the Yew was walls and floors of pale polished word, the warmth rolled over her as she entered. They had entered the living room, cozy couches and furniture to match the same colour of wood from the tree itself. Removing her shoes and shuffling them to the side sorely removing her jacket as she entered with an expression pinched by pain.

"Please make yourself at home, Lekh." She said cordially.

Lekh was taking in the sights, so to speak, though despite the unearthly beauty of the place it unsettled him greatly. This was not a place for an ordinary man, and though he was not exactly normal himself, he felt almost a sense of forboding. That was until his host apparently spoke to a tree in some strange language, after which the feeling diminished somewhat.

In turned out the strange woman with even stranger friends lived in that same tree, which doubled as a home of sorts. He probably should have expected as much, the Ambassador hadn't really told him what to do with the girl he was holding so he carried her inside, his eyes taking in the tasteful furniture and neat interior decor. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, to be honest, if he had learned anything about this world as of yet it was that it constantly defied expectation.

He nodded, wishing he could take off his shoes at the doorway but with Racheli over his shoulder he was a little burdened. The Pole walked across the room and deposited the girl on one of the cozy looking sofas, so that he could properly look around.

"Are we still on schedule?" Lekh asked, trying to return his thoughts to the job at hand and maintain his professionalism, difficult indeed when standing around in what could only be described as a magical tree-house... house tree.

"We are. We have a few hours left before pick up. Do not fret we won't be here long. I'll need to prepare the area prior to presumably, the Syndicate's arrival. I do not doubt that the intruders from earlier will simply let her go." Odette said plainly taking a seat on one of the lounge chairs as gracefully as she could manage with her legs ringing with pain. "Lekh, Bach was rather rude to not properly introduce himself. He is rather petulant in regards to revealing himself to humans. Bach is my partner, he is Faery. Earth Fey to be specific."

"Bach, fetch me cold wash cloths and refreshments." She said waving the indignant Fey away.

"I see." Lekh replied, somewhat awkwardly. "I suspect you may be right in that assumption, the amount of interference we encountered tonight was... troublesome." Lekh shrugged, sitting down next to Racheli, letting his aura seep out just enough to contain her. He was under no illusions that she wouldn't shrug off the sedative just like before. "Even Ms Desdemona here was a significant nuisance, I would suggest sedating her further or containing her in some other fashion. In the right conditions she could be exceptionally dangerous." He smiled, hidden behind his mask, the reason for it being that he had been reminded of the extra sample of her blood he had acquired.

Bach returned shortly with two wash cloths in hand gently laying them over the burns on her legs whispering healing spells into the cloth glowing briefly with green light. The burns resisted the minor healing spell, the injuries imbued with spiritual energy. Bach decided to change tact instead of a spell he spoke directly to the spirits lingering in her skin. It took a little convincing but the spirits lifted and so the wash cloths were able to work away the burns.

"Merci, Bach." Odette said gratefully.

Bach nodded replying with, "You're most welcome, My Lady." Disappearing into the kitchen to grab presumably glasses of water for their guests.

Sitting forward keeping her legs straightened while the wash cloths worked away healing her. "I have a few ideas of how to hold her captive once you carry on. Her apparent ability to manipulate metal is troublesome, indeed." She agreed with him pulling out her phone tapping away notes, no cell signal could reach through realms and dimensions. Typing away everything she noticed from their little excursion.

"Until moments ago we were working very much in the dark in regards to the information we had. In spite of my attempts to be prepared it was barely enough to slow down the intruders. The Archon being poisoned in the process was unacceptable." Odette's features darkened considerably as she clenched her hands around her phone glaring at the screen.

Her tone changed when she spoke next, "Your abilities however, were imperative to our success, Lekh. You have more than earned your payment for your help today. Along with a token of my friendship, you may count me as an ally." Reaching through her purse she removed the small container of healing salve.

"This belongs to you now." Placing the container on the coffee table between them.

Lekh nodded in response to the compliment, accepting the reward graciously but hiding his excitement behind a mask, both physical and mental. He looked at the salve for a moment, before reaching out and grabbing it in one smooth motion and looking at it closely.

"I am pleased to have you as my ally then, Ms Ambassador, and about what you may have learned in regards to my... gift, I would appreciate it if that information would remain between us." The thief guarded the secret of his psychic powers jealously, it was only an ace when his enemies knew little about it. The more one knew, the better chance they had of finding ways around it, the less effective it would be in future endeavours.

"Now, about this salve, what are the limitations in regards to its use? Can it only be applied to physical wounds on the surface of the body?" Lekh seemed unusually eager to hear about the limitations of the magical item, uncharacteristically so, considering he had escaped with no injury himself.

"Physical injuries. It has the ability to close wounds from bullet holes to stab wounds. It however won't regrow lost limbs. I find if swallowed it can rid the body of poisons but not cure the common cold. Though the taste is rather... unpleasant. It is easier and recommened to seek an antidote as opposed to relying on the salve." Naming off the capacity of the salve on her fingertips.

"So it has no capacity to fight say, disease?"

"Disease is tricky. It can heal areas affected by disease much like applying ice to sore muscles. It cannot remove it completely." Odette answered carefully, to make the sure the distinction was clear. "You can heal and soothe the skin affected by leprosy but you cannot stop the disease from taking over the area once again."

"I see." For a moment, Lekh sounded dissapointed. "Still, it is a powerful gift, I thank you for it." He tucked it away in his top pocket without further inspection, nodding slightly.

Odette smiled at his acceptance. "Your secret is safe with me."

Peeking at her own injuries they had all but disappeared. Removing the cloth and balling them up. She stood back up then excused herself, "I must quickly change from these rags and then we shall depart."

Bach arrived back into the living room holding two glasses of water while Odette brushed by heading up the winding staircase to the upperfloors.

His yellowish green eyes tracked Odette until she disappeared then turned back to Lekh. "Impressive, indeed." He said with a snort then placed the glass of water in front of Lekh.

The horned head of the Fey tilted at the sight of Racheli sleeping with a face contorted only by what he assumed was nightmares. "You would do well to keep the extent of My Lady's abilities to yourself as well."

"Protective, are you not?" Lekh looked at Bach as he spoke to him, wary of the unknown. "Though you presume that I even understand the extent of your Lady's abilities." Lekh shrugged and leant back into the couch, giving Racheli a glance to ensure she wasn't about to awaken and restart the whole process of kidnapping her. He wouldn't put it past her, even with his abilities keeping her down.

"Protective would insinuate the need to protect My Lady. I wouldn't hesitate to lay down my life for her however." Bach said icily at the sound of Odette's descent back down the stairs Bach quickly hissed, "You have already have had enough of a glimpse behind the curtains."

Odette arrived back to the living room dressed in pale pink skinny jeans, a dark brown t-shirt with a collar of white lace. Another white jacket was on her shoulders while on her feet were black laced leather boots. "Ready to head back to Earth?"

"Eager." Lekh stood up suddenly, and then to soften the implied insult. "You have a lovely home, Ms Ambassador, but I believe I am right in thinking this is not the place for me." He looked at Bach as he said it, then he turned and gestured towards the sleeping girl on the chair behind him. "Will you still be needing my assistance in transporting Ms Desdemona?"

Walking up to a hallway mirror hung by the door she reapplied her lipstick glancing at Lekh in the mirror, "The Faerie Realms are not for everyone. Humans often have the most difficult time adjusting to it." Fixing little bits of her hair next, "I can restrain her before we depart in case your presence was the only factor in keeping her asleep. I will open two small portals one for Racheli and I then one for you wherever you choose to go. Once we are back on Earth I plan to contact The Cowl with an update. Give him trouble for his utter lack of information regarding Racheli's connections."

"I wish you the best of luck in that endeavour, perhaps I will look into some of our new enemies myself." There was an ominous tone to his voice, not unlike that which he had used shortly before killing a man only a short while ago. "If you could open your portal to my apartment, that would be best. It is the only place where I am assured there will be no one around to see my unorthodox arrival."

"A block away would be best. The light from the portal is rather conspicious unfortunately." Odette suggested turning to face him fully.

"You are the expert, whatever you think is best."

She nodded then with a flick of her wrist at Racheli, "Se Soulever." Her body lifted weightlessly. Opening the front door she walked over the threshold Bach and Rahceli following behind her.

Odette proceeded to cast a quick spell vines and grass from the meadow moved to her will wrapping snuggly around Racheli's chest, torso, thighs and finally her ankles. A final touch Odette had grass wrap around Racheli's eyes as well.

"I would like to see her escape those restraints." Odette said smugly. Then within the span of ten minutes did Odette create two separate portals both back to Earth. Dabbing away the sweat at her brow she pointed to the door on the left.

"That door is for you, Lekh. This is where we part ways." Stepping up to Lekh she held out her hand expectantly, "There is one last thing I will give you. I am not always easy to reach due to my time spent off Earth's plane of existance."

Lekh removed the glove from his right hand and reached out to accept Odette's offered hand-shake with a nod.

She shook his hand then turned his wrist up saying lightly, "If you want it I can give you a mark that will alert me to your location when you use it. If you should ever need my assistance."

He weighed up the offer for a moment, and decided if he was going to survive in this super-human world he needed allies more powerful than himself. The Ambassador was probably the only reason their little kidnapping had succeeded, so at the risk of there being some other purpose behind the gift, he chose to accept it, perhaps foolishly.

"I would be a fool to turn down your help, Ms Ambassador, I accept."

Her thumb pressed to the soft tissue of his wrist Words of Power binded the mark well to his skin and soul. Glowing blue across their hands and the mark highlighted with white light. When the binding was complete the light faded and revealed a pink thumb print.

"Press your thumb against the mark and speak my name clearly. I will know your location and be able to come to your aid. My name is Odette Favre, nicknames do not work." She said releasing his hand grinning.

"Well, mademoiselle Favre, it has been a pleasure working with you. Until we next meet, I bid you adieu." With his words mirroring those of their first meeting, Lekh strode over to his portal and threw open the door, trying not to think about the mark on his wrist or how he might have just sold his soul to the fae. Happy thoughts were crucial.

Drifting silently through the crypt Mortis admired the coffins around him. People paid so much for being placed in such nice places even when they had no real need of it. Mortis enjoyed graveyards the stench of death was heavy in them and filled him with energy. If he had a heart it would skip a beat at the idea of visiting a mass grave. Alas he would be hard pressed to find such a thing in such a civilised city.

Gesturing to one of the coffins it rumbled silently. There was a loud clunk then a hiss as stagnant air escaped the confines of the coffin. Two arms raised out of the coffin using the edges of the coffin to lift it out and onto the floor. The slightly decomposing body looked up at Mortis, the eyes on the dead face were like those of a drunk. Bending down Mortis breathed into the man’s face. The body instantly stood to attention groaning with effort as it did so.

“What?! Who’s there?!”

Mortis watched the man in silence his dark robes concealing him in the darkness of the crypt. ”Reginald I Dominus Mortis have brought you back to life so that you may share with me the secrets you once had while you lived. Tell me who you sold the murder journal to.” Mortis’ voice was raspy and deep, his voice echoing around the crypt as he spoke.

Reginald turned to face Mortis looking at the Mortis with fear. “Are you the devil? Is there any way I can repent my sins? I want to be with my wife in heaven!” The man was on his knees hands clasped together waving them towards Mortis.

Mortis growled angrily. ”ANSWER ME AND I SHALL RELEASE YOUR SOUL! WHO DID YOU SELL THE MURDER JOURNAL TO?!” Reginald scuttled backwards towards his coffin, his hands still clasped together and his head now scraping across the floor.

“If that’s what you want oh benevolent lord of the underworld I will tell you. I sold the journal at the pennsylvania auction to a man who owned some big business in Lost Haven."

Mortis silenced the man with a wave of his hand, watching with mild interest as the man’s soul left his body. Catching it before it floated from his grip he brought it to his face and breathed in its energy. A cruel smile was etched across his face as he felt the spirit being absorbed into his body fueling his magic. Leaving the crypt he looked up at the moon above. The moonlight lit up his features causing his rotting and sunken face to dance with the shadows of the light and all the glories of his robbed body.

He took in the smell of death one last time and departed the crypt. He had a city to tear apart after all, he could feel his phylactery calling to him a low throb in the back of his mind. Thanks to the man he knew it’s general location and he could start tracking it down.

The world was three minutes old when GE-04 encountered her first human.

She had no words for anything she was seeing, only stumbled toward the light of a gas station on unfamiliar feet. Filth and dust caked her clothing from sprinting through miles of countryside, and her approach was met with screeching tires as cars at the pumps peeled away, too familiar with what trouble in Lost Haven dressed like.

The building looked empty, but the lights were on, and through one of the posters plastered over every inch of the windows she could see a silhouette. Instinct told her it was dangerous. But it was the only thing she faintly recognized in her newly born world: others like her.

She couldn’t figure out how to get into the building, and didn’t care, considering her full-force charging through trees and small boulders during her escape had left her without a scratch. She stepped right through the glass and walked, barefoot, across the shards to where the clerk stood.

The man--no, boy--scurried far to the back of his glass box and cowered there, away from GE-04. She didn’t understand his fear. Didn’t understand anything, really, but the look in his eyes was more confusing than anything she’d ever seen in the four minutes of her life. She grunted, lost, and raised her trapped hands toward him.

The boy made noises in a language she couldn’t understand, and she only responded with more fervent grunting. She raised her cuffed wrists higher and stalked towards him, desperate for his help. Why couldn’t he help? She smashed the counter in front of him to punctuate her question.

They were close enough to touch, and she grabbed the front of his shirt to drag him closer, out of the box. He wiggled desperately, and grabbed her arms in an attempt to loosen her grip. At the contact, bright light flashed from his eyes to hers, before her eyes rolled into the back of her head.

Words sprung from his mind and into her own, a flood of knowledge both conscious and subconscious. Nausea shot through her core. She grit her teeth and threw herself back, brain reeling with the influx of mental images stolen from him, before the maelstrom began to settle, and her face relaxed. He was begging for her to not kill him. In English, she now knew. She was just outside of Lost Haven, in America, on Earth. Humans like the boy controlled the planet. His name was Tyler.

“Tyler,” She monotoned. The boy paled. “Take these off.” She jabbed her hands toward him a third time.

“Oh god, how do you...? P-please, I don’t know--”

GE-04 grunted sharply, taking a step closer. ”Take these off.” Panic bloomed in Tyler’s eyes. His entire body shook, but GE-04 had no pity for him. She opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off.

“G-get away from him!” A man, much older than Tyler, appeared at the back of the station, leveling a shivering handgun her way. She eyed the gun silently, recalling Tyler’s knowledge on guns: they killed people. GE-04 supposed she was a person. She backed away, lowering her hands. The man’s voice shook, just like his gun. “Now get out! Out, now!”

GE-04’s face turned stony, and she raised her hands towards him. “I need to get these off.”

“That’s not our problem, freak, just get out of here!” Sweat was pooling on the man’s forehead.

Now she bared her teeth. “I need these off! Now!” She began to step closer when the gun fired. She expected to die instantly, as the noise was enough to kill anyone, but when she opened her eyes, she was standing, unscathed, a step closer.

“Oh, Jesus,” The man whimpered, before she charged.

Her arms were high above her head, poised to swing down and smash the man’s head. Two more shots rang out in that time, the first crumpling against her skin, the second bouncing off her wrist cuffs. She was overcome with pain and light, and fell to her knees with a scream. The man and the boy disappeared, and distantly she heard the screeching of tires.

The world was thirteen minutes old when the agony subsided. Beyond the gas station was an endless expanse of darkness, and she was alone.

_{banner credit to Hellis}

---

Location: Ironworks, Lost Haven
Time: Present - 9:16 PM

Watching Lekh’s back disappear through the portal it was Odette’s turn to leave as well. Odette was genuine in her appreciation of Lekh’s help but couldn’t believe how easy it was to trick him. He accepted her conditioned reward unaware of the nature in which it worked. Then willingly accepted her boon, allowing her to mark his soul. Perhaps a part of him was more willing to see his soul marked than to offend her. Admirable but horrifically foolish. He would prove to be a worthy investment and relationship in the future. Turning the knob on the door she ushered Racheli through first then followed behind with Bach on her heels.

A brief flash of light and they arrived to the work yard of Lost Haven’s Ironworks. Bright flood lights lit up the yard masking the impossibly bright light of the portal’s appearance. The noise of the refinery hard at work despite it’s employees long gone for the day was nearly white noise once Odette grew accustomed to it. Steam billowed from the 4 storey tall brushed steel towers and impossibly long lines of steel pipe crisscrossed in all directions connecting the towers. The perfect place for a metal manipulator to take advantage of.

Odette shook her head disapproving of the choice in drop off location. As far as she was concerned another poor choice made by lack of information. Certainly a great place for any other kidnapping switch off but for a metahuman the likes of Racheli, it would prove to be a terrible choice if she deemed herself a nuisance all over again.

Crossing the yard with a Racheli floating behind her, Odette escaped the harsh lights meaning to wait inside where she could possibly hide or properly prepare a smaller area for intrusions. Checking her phone now back within reasonable distance of a cell tower her phone’s clock readjusted to the strange time jump switching from 7:02 PM to 9:16 PM. Their arrival was about an hour or so early for the exchange.

Racheli’s mind started to pull into awareness. Her eyes rolled underneath her eyelids and edged open, only to see darkness in her vision. This was followed by her arms shifting against the tightened bindings cocooned around her figure. Her struggling increased slightly, unsure if she was gaining her captor’s attention, causing Racheli to bite back a snarl of frustration. She muttered a curse under her breath at her current situation. The way the air moved across her skin, she could easily tell someone...or thing, was carrying her. A strange observation was that she didn’t feel a thing holding her up save for the wind pushing her forward.

It didn’t help this position was making her feel queasy though her stomach held nothing to toss up after the last time. Michael didn’t appear but she could hear him hissing in her head, quietly. “Well, seems we have some breathing room again. Currently it seems you’re no worse for the wear save that your ankles appeared fractured from pulling force and spine a bit toss out of alignment. However I’m currently working on fixing those.”

“What the fuck happened?” Rach almost screamed in her head at the virus’ statement.

“If I knew, don’t you think I would’ve said so? I’m only stating the damages and my own ideas about what caused it, other than that… it’s all theory. I suggest you start working past that headache to focusing on your abilities in order to escape. Else, things might get worse.”

Rach relaxed, grudgingly, for a moment while her mind tried to push aside the thumping within her head. Her muscles flexed and stretched against the plant fibers restraining her. She tried to feel out for any metals and noted several that surrounded her, her mind reaching out gradually to them. Staples, bindings and other things metal started to rattle a bit at her tapping into them.

Odette’s ears perked at the sound of rattling office supplies then spoke prudently. “Ah, ah. Awake for less than five minutes and already starting to cause trouble.” Odette tsked, “Restreindre.” The bindings pulled tighter against Rach’s body painfully. Odette finished tapping away a message on her phone barely looking up.

In a short message to The Cowl she sent, ‘Arrived a tad early, we will be waiting for you. Use the backdoor. I’ll be the one in blue <3.’ Purposefully keeping it rather vague for security. It was just too dangerous to be sending text messages with pertinent keywords that could easily be flagged. Something she learned in her time with the Syndicate.

The blood beneath Racheli’s skin resisted the cut in circulation but her skin paled further in spite of the nanites resistance.

“Fuck!” Rach uttered while she felt her body being slowly crushed. Her bones managed, barely, to withstand the pressure applied as her veins seemed on the verge of bursting. Her focus was interrupted almost immediately causing the items to cease their rattling then drop back to their form position, stilling at once. Without missing a beat, Michael popped into existence alongside Odette.

His own expression filled with pain through the irritation underneath was well hidden when he gritted his teeth, speaking through them. “Continue doing that… then I can’t repair the damage.”

Odette looked up from her phone regarding the apparition with disdain upon hearing Racheli swear. “What do I care of damage being repaired?” With a flick of her wrist the restraints eased up back to their original pressure easing off considerably. Bach’s expression was that of shock at Odette’s immediate response to loosening.

“Considering you’ve had every chance to kill us, but haven’t, I assume you want us alive at least. So logically, too much damage, especially internal, will result in her dying. I might be a virus, but she’s still mostly human.” Michael admitted, his eyes narrowed on Odette with studying eyes. His arms folded behind him and didn’t react to Odette releasing her crushing grip over her bindings and allowing Rach to breathe again.

“You would do well not to push your limits. Silence was the comparatively reasonable one in applications of pain against helpless captives. I rather relish another opportunity to exert that fact.” Odette said tapping away more notes onto her phone confident in her abilities to restrain Racheli with divided attention. Flicking her blue eyes at the apparition pointing her camera on her phone at Michael snapping a photo then staring at the empty frame. “Interesting.” She said then showed Bach her phone as well. He squinted at Michael.

“Are you aware of me?” Bach asked Michael pointedly.

“Yes.” Michael stated calmly while he turned to address Odette. “Unfortunately not pushing our limits… That’s easier said than done as my host is a rather...stubborn individual and even I can’t get her to listen. It’s part of the reason she managed to survive the process and not die. Now, continue and kill her… well, I’ll instinctively latch onto the closest human host available.”

He partly wondered if she was smart enough to realize what he was warning her about and if she was willing to risk it. After all, he already had numerous victims under his history and adding another wasn’t much of an issue to him, especially when the said victim didn’t listen to him.

Odette scoffed at the poor attempt at a threat, “Your virus speaks more than you do, Racheli. Very informative. I pegged you a survivor the moment I laid eyes on your photograph. I do not underestimate my captive’s abilities or their desperation... Especially after your dramatic attempt at escape earlier.”

“Bite me, bitch.” Rach said, coldly. Her eyes sharpened with hatred after her last attempt as she banefully glared at the pair currently conversing, her vision unable to see Bach. She considered trying to manipulate the surrounding metal again while the woman distracted, but it would’ve been stupid to attempt it so soon.

Odette squinted at Racheli when she cursed again, her skin crawling with distaste.

Michael flickered a brief, unsavory smile at the mention of the escape. His eyes flickered with knowing but his lips weren’t uttering the secret as he continued on the subject of survivor. “You have no idea. Her history speaks for itself and it helps her mentality fits my own, syncing in a way few have actually managed.”

“How… incredibly unpleasant. You are rather chatty.” Odette pulled a face. Her attention still trained on Racheli. Moving with the grace of a ballerina despite having chosen heavy leather boots for footwear. Odette moved to the window peeking out into the yard looking for signs of movement. Reminding herself now would be a good time to set some traps for the entourage Racheli attracted. Bach could easily keep an eye on her while Odette worked.

Bach approached Racheli next speaking as if examining something clinically. “Fascinating. Metahumans have and continue to baffle scholars. Easy enough to manipulate but their very existence changes the definition of so many pre established thoughts and theories whenever they pop up.” Bach slipped so easily back into the role of an academic when presented with new subjects. It made it difficult to keep up the appearance of a creepy unknown when opportunity to study something arose.

Racheli could feel something watching her, her skin tingled and flickered with goosebumps as she shivered inwardly. Something unsettling was seeping into her flesh causing her teeth to grind tighter. She tensed against the restraints, instinctively trying to shift out from them through with more caution than before. Inside her body, Racheli could feel the little nanites working away at her insides to repair what damage had been done. Their legs tingling along the inside of her veins and made her disturbingly aware of what was happening inside her that she could tell where they focused on the most, giving her idea where the most damage had been done.

Michael made no note over Racheli’s more cautious nature at the moment, his attention forcely turned to his captors while he spoke. “I wouldn’t say they are easy to manipulate. Evolution takes an interesting route when it comes to humans, as I’ve recently discovered, and metas are one stage for them. However, as your associate here proves, not all humans become metas and remain weak.”

Bach’s grin was rather menacing in his reply, “Wrong, humans are easy to manipulate and it will be a long time until they, as a whole, prove to be stronger than their petty needs and wants.” His hand hovering above Racheli’s forehead noting her apparent discomfort and relishing it.

“Bach, please keep your distance from her.” Odette warned her partner.

The virus’ image tensed and his expression darkened, his eyes studying Bach with a venomous, silent warning. He was about to say something when he heard Odette warning toward the Fae. His eyes narrowed and stared a moment to registered the reasons, then asked a simple question. “What’s to worry about when you have the situation under control?”

Bach’s hand retracted hesitantly at Odette’s warning, “Yes, My Lady.” Odette ignored Michael’s note. He was poking for chinks in her armour or confidence. Stating or drawing attention to her actions calling them as he would to unnerve her.

Michael noted that Bach seemed to obey, through he was hesitant over it. As if he was slightly wary of his partner and that made the virus curious, realizing that Odette was ignoring him causing him to smirk. His gaze turned to her and carefully observed her actions.

Odette took a step away from the window then pressed her hand against the window sill a small mark of a Yew tree burning into the side. Words of Power trailed out trapping the window to shatter and burst on first contact. Odette proceeded to do the same with the doorways to the open yard, leaving a Yew tree mark behind. If found she could escape further into the factory to lose any pursuit.

Kneeling by the floor at the door whispering another trap spell, this one was an illusion. Her finger trailed in light of a spell circle tracing lines from memory. Her hands brought up the light seemingly in the shape of a bluish bubble with a mirror like sheen to it. Liquidity webs shot out from the bubble binding it to the doorway before it shimmered away only leaving the circle on the floor.

“There. You were saying something, apparition? Something dull I have no doubt.” Odette remarked drily.

“Naturally. Though I’m not sure you should be concern with barring yourself in as worrying about you’re trying to keep contained.” Michael stated, his eyes turned to Rach. The nanites were already saturating, the stress from earlier was already increasing it, as he watched her skin flicker silver briefly. Like a silver fish darting through water, Rach started to twist about again against the restrains and the vines creaked from the stress.

Odette snapped at Michael growing rather tired of his chatty visage, “Do not pretend you know what I am able to do.”

Bach’s eyes narrowed at Racheli watching her move, the restraints being tested again this time with a stronger force. “Something is different.”

The sorceress let out an irritable huff her hand clenched into a fist pulling again on the pressure of the restraints. “I’m sure you can live without feeling your hands or feet. Restreindre.”

Rach gritted her teeth, feeling the vines twisting and tightening about her muscles. Her eyes scrunched up in her focus and her breathing increased as her blood tingled, the nanites tossed into an active buzz. Black blood seeped through her pores then hardened into spine like blades, cutting away the vines. Her limbs became thinner and more skeletal, allowing her to slip through and rip the grass from her eyes. They were completely black and alien looking.

Bach took several steps away when Racheli’s body changed, rejoining Odette on the other side of the room. He grasped her shoulder shrinking in size climbing snuggly to sit on her shoulder disappearing in a cloud of autumn leaves once again. “My Lady, I would suggest something more sturdy to restrain.” Slipping back into Common Fey. The pair often communicated in Common Fey or French when in a fight keeping their enemies unaware of their plans.

Michael merely smiled while he watched his host escape her binds. “I think she disagrees and I wish you good luck.”

Slowly, Rach raised upright and looked between Michael and Odette. The black ‘spikes’ had hardened and remained, unable to pull back for the moment giving her a menacing look. Her hand touched the metals while she edged closer, brushing it and her skin dulled in color. In moments it became a steel coating which shined through the peering light casted past the blinds of the office. She stopped a short distance from Odette then spoke in a gravelly voice compared to her normal one. “Move.”

Straightening her back and clicking her heels activating the jump enchantments along her feet. “You will severely regret challenging me, Racheli.” Odette’s bright blue eyes matched the ferocity in the pair of pitch alien eyes glaring at her. Chanting long enchantments in French the sound of her voice building choosing to try a physical restraint calling to the earthy stone concrete floors.

Rach spotted everything running at a slower speed. Her ears caught every single detail and stored in her memory for later when her feet began to move forward. Immediately she raised a fist and ready to toss out a jab at Odette’s throat, only to come to an abrupt stop. Rach’s head darted to look at the concrete wrapping about her ankles like thick, heavy quicksand which shortly hardened. Her nostrils flared as she glared at the woman.

Odette teeth clenched at the frightening speed Racheli moved at her fist coming within inches of hitting her directly. Flinching taking several steps away.

“What’s the point in regretting when you can’t change the past?” Her voice echoed through the office while Racheli’s fist turned downward and slammed into the stoney surface. Steel protected her interior from getting damaged as she punched one than another down into the ground, over and over, causing chunks to fly away. Her legs could move but her movement didn’t cease, her focus intending to drive herself down into the basement. With a few more thrusts she would make into the basement then bolt for the nearest wall, plowing through it and possibly escaping.

Flapping her hand at the dust clouds of concrete Odette didn’t hesitate to follow her captive through the trail of destruction. Landing gracefully through the floor her jump enchantments softening her landing considerably on floor smooth as ice her eyes saw the glint of steel beneath her feet. The frantic shape of Racheli searching for an exit through the limited light provided by the hole in the ceiling. The long hallways of steel pipes and machinery lined the walls. Dashing after Racheli readying another spell this time an illusion, if physical restraints couldn’t slow her down then her mind could very well be what stops her. Instead of the aggressive needles she chose to intimidate the witches earlier the form of her illusion took shape in small leathery blue wings fluttering toward Racheli.

The blue wings surrounded Racheli, touching her ears, her eyes and finally grasping at her forehead. Shifting her perception and therein giving Odette a window into what she was about to orchestrate. She could feel the overwhelming adrenaline from Racheli and tender notes of fear. In Odette’s palms felt the tingling of power unrestrained and completely raw. The spell lent itself to connecting the victims to the caster by their perception and senses. While the caster, with enough will could make the victim perceive whatever she wanted. Illusion was her favourite tool of the trade and without a well measured dose of human empathy, a mind in Odette’s hands was simply a tool to pulling the victim apart at the seams. For now, it would be in the name of crippling Racheli back into submission. Ripping away her agency once again.

While Bast was trying to comfort Lyger, the explosion that War-Pulse had created rattled the room. When the small shards of glass began to shower the floor, Bast clung close to Lyger, trying to shield both herself and Lyger from the broken glass. Not long after the first shock wave, a second one, created by the SIlver Sorceress, went off. However, since Lyger was already affected by the Silver Sorceress’ spell and Bast was protected by the Moly herb, this shock wave did not affect the two metahumans.

“I’ll be right back, Lyger.” Bast tried to reassure him, even though she was not sure whether he could even hear her, “I just need to see if everyone else is okay.”

She stepped away from Lyger and went around the corner to where the rest of the action had been happening. When she saw the aftermath of both War-Pulse’ explosion and the Silver Sorceress’ spell, Bast placed both hands over her mouth in shock of what she saw. It almost looked as if a bomb had gone off in the middle of the room: broken glass, equipment thrown around, and a scorched floor where the epicenter was. The only good news, if it could even been called that, was that all the heroes were still alive, although in a state similar to Lyger’s.

“Guys, we have a problem,” Sammy said as she activated the earpiece that Chris had supplied to all the heroes involved in this operation. “Whatever the Silver Sorceress did, it incapacitated everyone on Team One.”

Bast continued to walk around the room to see what else had happened. “The Silver Sorceress and the plant girl seem to be out cold, too, although War-Pulse and the evil spider lady are MIA.”

“Thunderbolt should be bringing Radiance and the White Witch back soon. Sit tight until they arrive. Chris responded from the Sherman Center back in Lost Haven.

This, however, would be easier said than done. Right after she had finished speaking with Chris, Bast thought she had heard something moving behind her. When she turned around, Bast didn’t find anyone there. She exhaled a deep sigh, hoping that she was just hearing things, in spite of weird things she had already witnessed here.

But when she turned the corner to return to where Lyger was, Bast discovered that she was not just hearing things. Before her stood a giant of a man. If someone was not astonished by the man’s height, he would have been by his lionlike appearance. In his monstrous claws, this lion-man, Leo, held Lyger off the ground by the neck. His lion head growled at the incapacitated Lyger.

“Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?” Bast blurred out without thinking about the consequence. Leo, in response to Bast’s demand, if anyone could actually call it that, turned to look towards the young catgirl. He released Lyger from his grasp, letting him to fall to the floor. Then, he took a few steps towards Bast, who also backed up in response.

“Oh, I didn’t mean me! I’m smaller than Lyger over there. Maybe we should wait until someone else, like Icon, comes back.”

While Leo was approaching, Bast was frozen in place, paralyzed by both the guilt of leaving Lyger behind with this man-lion and the fright of the large metahuman in general. By the time she was able to muster the strength and courage to turn and run, Leo was barely within arms reach, which allowed him to grab hold of her tail and yank her back.

Bast was held off the ground by Leo in a similar way as he had done to Lyger, except that he pressed the young woman up against the wall. She tried to squirm her way out of the man’s clutches. While she flailed, Bast’s own feline claws scratched Leo’s face. As a result, she fell to the ground while the man-lion roared in pain.

However, as she caught her breath, Bast realized that all she did was infuriate Leo ever more than he already had been. Although she was able to roll out of the way of a punch that was aimed for her back, she felt his heavy foot slam down on her. Before she knew it, Bast felt herself collide with the wall after she had been thrown into it. When she tried to pull herself up off the ground, Bast was struck on the back by Leo.

“Lyger!” Bast called out to the nearby metahuman, hoping that he would snap out of the spell that has so far incapacitated him.

“Hold me Kyle, I’m so cold.” Sam said weakly, her voice hoarse as she struggled to speak. Every instant that passed, the color drained from her face, her eyes grew dull.

“I’m here Sam, I’m not going to leave you. You’re going to be alright, you have to be alright.” Lyger told her as he cradled her limp body. Her breathing was weakening, her heart was slowing. She was slipping away. A rage began to burn within him as he came to a heart-wrenching realization. He was going to lose her.

Sam was going to die, and there was nothing that he could do about it.

“Kyle…” Sam said as she took her last breath. As her body relaxed in his arms, her flesh became ashen and began to flake. At first it was slow, but then, with a sudden gust of wind Sam was gone, her body blowing away in the wind.

Kyle just kneeled there, his arms fixed as if they were still holding her, yet he was completely overcome with grief.

How did this happen?
“Lyger!”

He heard a voice calling to him through the darkness, begging him to come back, and suddenly it was as if he had awoken from a terrible nightmare. He found himself back in the warehouse in West Virginia, and he knew instantly what had happened. The Silver Sorceress had somehow gotten into his head and made him live out his worst fears.

He felt utterly violated by what she had done to him, and he was pissed. However, when he saw what was going on around him, he knew that payback would have to wait. The entire team was down, in fact, everyone was, minus several combatants who were currently MIA. Then he saw what, or who, had pulled him from his nightmare.

His rage was refocused onto a large meta that he had not seen before, and that he didn’t recognize from Arthur’s briefing. This “man” was larger than most of the others, and appeared to be a human/lion hybrid.

And he had been absolutely brutalizing Bast. He had been slamming her head first into the wall, while pounding her with punishing punches and kicks. Lyger could see that she was bleeding from her nose and mouth, as well as a gash on her forehead.

“Why don’t you try that with me?” Lyger said as he launched himself at the large meta, driving his foot into his back.

Leo had to brace his hands against the wall in order to keep his balance after Lyger’s kick connected with the lion-man’s back. Turning to face the previously incapacitated hero, Leo snarled as he sized up Lyger. While Lyger was taller than the average person, Leo still looked down upon the hero.

Before Leo could retaliate against Lyger, Bast yanked on Leo’s tail. When Leo turned his back on the young metahuman, he had thought that she was out for the count. However, her action surprised him, which caused him to momentarily pause. This short hesitation gave Lyger an opening for another attack.

The massive Man-Lion snarled as he turned his attention again to Bast, the momentary distraction gave Lyger the chance to pounce. He dove toward the cat man, delivering a hard right hand to the side of his head.

“I said, ‘try that with me.’ Leave the lady alone.” Lyger said as he delivered another hard punch to Leo’s head as the Man-Lion spun to face the hero. Lyger ducked a wild swing from his larger opponent and landed several body shots hoping to knock the wind out of the man beast. Lyger dodged and countered Leo’s attacks, culminating with a hard shot to the Man-Lion’s jaw, which only further enraged the beast.

Lyger moved in on Leo, perhaps getting slightly overconfident as he easily avoided the larger meta’s attacks while landing his own. However, Leo swung at Lyger, hitting him with a wild backhand that sent the hero flying through the air, landing in a heap several feet away. He was momentarily stunned, but quickly got his wits about him and got back to his feet, just in time to sidestep a leaping Leo.

As Leo landed just feet from Lyger, he stepped behind him, connecting with a kick to the back of the Lion-Man’s knee. Leo cried out as he began to go to the ground, but Lyger did not relent. As Leo was on his way to the ground, Lyger followed up with an elbow to the face, as he straddled the prone cat man, and landed several hard punches to the face, then an open hand strike to the chin, before finishing him off with a headbutt to the bridge of the nose.

When Leo no longer struggled, Lyger climbed off of the larger man and made his way over to Bast, who was barely able to stand. He knelt down beside her and put a hand on her shoulder.

“Are you hurt?” He asked, not needing her to answer to see that she was. She had a nasty gash on her forehead and another on her cheek, and she was also bleeding from her nose and mouth. As he saw the condition of the young woman, anger again washed over him, this time the anger was directed at Arthur. Bast was smart and resourceful, and she had done well, but she hadn’t been ready for something like this. Indeed, he and Arthur would have words, but now wasn’t the time. The time for that would come later, once this ordeal was over.

“You did good.” Lyger said, his voice softening slightly as he helped her to her feet.

Bast’s legs felt like rubber as she was helped up to her feet by Lyger. She clung close to Lyger, resting her head against his shoulder. She wanted to ask him how he was doing. Although she had no idea what Lyger had experienced while under the Silver Sorceress’ spell, Bast could guess that it was not pleasant, especially since she already knew what the Silver Sorceress could do. She wanted to ask who this ‘Sam’ was that he was muttering his is bewitched state. However, she felt too weak to ask. All she could do was hold onto the man who saved her.

Location: Maine, The Street Just Across From The Red Devil
Alias: Evergreen

Anyone who has ever watched a Walt Disney movie would get the impression that Fairies were these tiny, sweet, slightly mischievous winged creatures who could make all your problems go away with just a few words and a magic wand. That they were the gateway to a world of wonder and adventure and whom would always keep you safe and be your bestest friends no matter what you came up against.

However, if you can look past the glitter, the bright colors, the sweet words, and everything else, and actually do your research...you'll quickly realize just how much of what you thought you knew was nothing more than an elaborate hoax. The truth is, these creatures, the Fae? They were not your friends. They were monsters, plain and simple. They lured innocent humans, sometimes even children, into their world and once you're within their grasp...they would never let you go. You would remain their slave for the rest of your days, and if you tried to escape...well, you better pray for a quick death because with their powers, they could do far worse things than just kill you.

Humans were little more than playthings in their eyes...and Jaden was aware of this fact all too well. This was why he now stood here, outside of the place he had been led to by Gaia herself.

It had been just a night like any other. He'd gotten back from another night of crime-fighting, shutting down another drug cartel, and had collapsed on his mattress with a bag of potato chips and one of his comic books, intending to just kick back and take it easy for a bit.

At least until the glowing green orb had flown in his window and started kicking up a fuss, ranting about "stupid fae" and "magical activity off the charts" and a few other things he couldn't catch. When he finally realized it was actually Gaia, or more like an avatar she was using, speaking to him he finally got her to calm down and explain the situation properly.

From what he gathered, Gaia had sensed an unnatural amount of magical activity emanating from a town called Lost Haven. She had traced it back to the source...and quickly found out it was the work of a very powerful Fae. The moment he heard the word "Fae" was the moment Jaden finally got serious. It was especially worrying considering he had not long ago been browsing the internet and had come across several news reports of various incidents occurring in a location also named Lost Haven. Still, this was the final straw for him. He needed to make use of what he had been given and help as many people as he could.

With that, he packed his bags, shared one final good-bye with his Aunt and Uncle, and boarded a plane that flew him to Lost Haven. Not long after arriving and getting settled away, Gaia had guided him to a place she knew of where they could gather more information: The Red Devil.

Now, here he was. About to cross the threshold between the real and the unimaginable. Somehow, he got the feeling that the moment he walked through that door, any chance of a normal life would be well and truly gone. Still, he had come this far, he wasn't backing out now.

"So, this is the place, Gaia?" He had the floating green sprite next to him as he pulled his hood up over his face.

"Yes, but do try to keep a low profile, alright?" The orb floated around him, "For now, your job is simply to observe and gather info. You might run into a few fae while you're in there but don't worry, they're harmless...as long as you don't provoke them. You still got that iron on you?" The figure in the hood nodded, "Good. Keep that close at all times and you should be...relatively safe." It was obvious that even if these Fae were harmless that the spirit still didn't like the thought of being around them.

"Oh, and one more thing? Don't let anybody know I'm with you. Let's keep that a surprise for now," Her warrior nodded again, "Well then, let's get moving." The orb-like creature then vanished into the cloaked figure's chest and was gone.

The figure took one last deep breath...and walked across the street, feeling a cool breeze all around him and rustling his cloak. If one looked closely, they might've noticed a flash of a green eye-mask but nothing else. He stopped before the door and opened it slowly, stepping inside...and for a moment, he swore he had traveled back in time to a bar from the medieval era. After taking a gander at the place and its occupants, the figure walked over to an empty table and took a seat.

As of now, Evergreen, Champion of Gaia, was in town.

<sub>Disclaimer: Graphic Gore Content Within.


banner credit to Hellis</sub>

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Location: Ironworks, Lost Haven
Time: Present - 9:35 PM

Rach jerked and clenched her fingers, her nails clawed at the sensation of the wings touching her face. They were cold, blinding and made her skin literally crawl at the feeling touching her. Her voice roared in frustration. It rippled through the room and made the metal piping rattle from the vibration, her body twisted to stop her dead bolt. There was too much raw power into it that she felt her shoulder slam into the nearest wall and chunks crumbled to the floor, breaking into pieces. She left behind two gouged holes from her side impacting, about double her size, while she tried to keep upright.

Naturally Michael wasn’t pleased about the dirty tactic and frowned at Odette. His figure already had reappeared on the same floor as Rach, his voice warning against the aggression. “I might suggest backing off. She’s a bit of a power house and you haven’t any idea what a pesky thing evolution can be…”

“You still haven’t a clue of what I am capable of…” Odette said taking slow predatory steps closer to Racheli. “I recall…” Odette’s voice because soft and velvety, echoing at the edges of her prey’s mind where the notes of fear lingered, “the conversation you held with my associate earlier.”

”No, but I know what she is capable of.” The Virus said.

Racheli’s blood went cold. Ice flowing through her veins while she stopped clawing at her eyes, her head turned to the wall where she thought the voice had originated. Her breathing was raspy and harsh, trying to collect air into her lungs with each breath. The darkness seemed to have swallowed up her vision creating a sense of discomfort which kept growing the longer it remained. Her fingers had started to dig deeper into her brows and forehead, causing droplets of blood to bead. The black coloring fell across her flesh then dripped down to the concrete. Its sound didn’t reach her ears making more dread pile into her heart.

Her teeth snarled in reaction to Odette’s threat, her spine shivering at the villainess’ silky smooth voice echoing in her head. Slowly, her eyes started to clear revealing an almost blinding light to the direction she was looking at.

The blue orbs on the tips of the sorceress’ fingers pointed to the wall of steel pipes, Rahceli had gouged making her see the bodies of the security team tumble out by her feet. “Your future is rather bleak dear Racheli. Monstrous in your endeavours at escape.” Odette continued, whispers fluttering by Racheli’s ears. “Monstre de métal. You only deserve a life in chains.”

A sourness edged into her throat back upon seeing the corpses topple to the ground, their empty eyes stared at her. Accusing almost. For a moment, she wasn’t sure if their deaths were on Odette or her. Her body stepped away from the sight while her mind grew numb, unable to think or consider the truth, and fixed in a guessing state of mind.

Michael stiffened immediately at the sight. His eyes widened and lips pressed in concern, his head turned to Odette. “I suggest stopping this. Now.”

Blood of the guards seeped out of their bodies in the illusion, pooling at Racheli’s feet. The bodies moved like puppets grappling at Racheli’s feet eyes hollowed out begging for mercy through withered lips. Begging her to surrender for their sake.

Rach fought the sickness in her middle, her feet retreating from the crawling corpses and forced her backwards. Fear, worry and anxiety were the strongest at the moment as they filled, twisted and drowned her in the moment. “No… I didn’t… I couldn’t... “

Her voice choked on the words being forced out with each movement. Her sight fixed on the image before her and unable to tear her attention away.

“It’s such a simple choice, Racheli.” Odette whispered tenderly ignoring Michael’s warnings they rang hollow as Odette relished the waves of emotion Racheli was riding through. “It will only stop when I have you.” Holding out her hand invitingly to Racheli casting the illusion to herself now. Showing herself as clean, free of the death and decay. The corpses continued to try and crawl their way up Racheli’s body hot waves of blood splashed up her legs, threatening to pull her under.

“Listen to me. Stop this, now. You don’t understand, this won’t end well.” Michael stated, becoming insistent with his words. His image was paling by the second while he watched Rach’s predictable reaction. This wouldn’t end well for anyone.

“This can’t be real…” Rach stated over and over, her body crumbling to her knees and her hands clasping her head tightly. Her eyes closed to block out the corpses edging closer and not realizing Odette had made them vanish. Her mind became dizzy with the anxiety building and clouding her judgement as she activated her magnetism. Pipes rattled and shook, their forms gradually twisted from their fastenings then struck out against the corpses. Unknown to Rach, her powers were magnified unlike before and pipes from all around her struck out randomly. Including those near Odette.

The pipes rattling near her were unnoticed as Odette clawed her way into Racheli’s senses, the only warning she acknowledged was from Bach.

“My Lady!”

Blinking at the steel pipe ripping from the wall, it hit Odette’s torso directly breaking her concentration. Illusions disappeared the second the connection was severed. Thrown against the opposite wall Odette fell to her knees coughing as the breath was thoroughly knocked out of her.

Bach immediately grew in size throwing up a hasty ward against the flailing steel pipes protecting Odette from further harm. Steam filled the area from the pipes and machinery being pulled apart, humidity sent the temperature up and luckily though the pipes seemed to be moving erratically, they had not to have been targeting Odette. Odette continued to cough trying to regain composure and her defence. Without the ability to speak she couldn’t cast spells.

“I warned you.” Michael’s tone was venomous in his reply, distaste laced each syllable uttered. His figure walked toward Rach, passing through the flailing pipes and into her keening figure. The pipes were still moving about as Rach was slow to pick up that the illusions weren’t real and already ceased.

“Perhaps a change in tactics, My Lady.” Bach suggested. “As she is right now we can’t restrain her nor trick her. Too much energy.”

Odette coughed and wheezed in French, “Y-you may be right. I-I found when tapped into her senses they are acutely…” She coughed breathing deeply, “Sensitive.”

“My Lady?” Bach asked curiously unaware of what she was thinking.

Standing back up she quickly dug through her purse searching rather frantically as Racheli began to recover her senses. Pulling out a flashlight flicking it on then her eyes searched the ground for anything she could hit the pipes with. Finding a rather crude strip of metal torn from the pipes she picked it up in her other hand. Blue light from her thumb seeped deeply into the flashlight, the light flickered hesitantly as Odette worked the spell then a beam of light strong enough to make even Odette squint in pain. She pointed it directly at Racheli then proceeded to hit the pipes exposed and hollowed out from being torn off the walls.

“You want to run wild!” Banging the strip against the pipes the loud sound echoing along the length of the hallway, “Then come get me you Monstre de métal!”

Bach’s mouth hung open, “Not what I had in mind…”

Rach’s vision was a blurry white when the light hit it. Her head jerked away and fingers scratched the concrete, creating a few grooves. Her feet pushed her upright then rushed at the source on impulse. Her fist out and punched out to hit Odette’s head, possibly knocking her back. However with the light still shining and the noise rocking her ears, her aim was off.

Side stepping Rach’s attempt at an attack she blindly charged forward, the light detailing her face rather harshly. Racheli’s black eyes were wild and her lips pulled back over a vicious snarl. Odette was reminded that Rach’s wild impulse and actions could be compared to that of an angry bear.

Good!

Taking another heavy swing at the pipe closest to Rach creating more noise. Running backwards away from Racheli making noise all the while. Bach had returned to her shoulder reminded of a time before Odette was known as The Ambassador when it was just the two of them facing down every challenge the Fey could throw their way.

Racheli felt her fist impact the steel, the sound echoing out, as she flung her arm in Odette’s direction. At least the one she assumed was the bitch’s direction as metal screeched again and pushed outward, the walls extended by the magnetic push. Her body crumbled for a moment trying to recover from the sound giving her a throbbing headache that pounded against her temple. Her breathing had increased drastically, growing harsher with each pain pulsing through her very being. It felt like the vibration was rippling through her and cracking her from the inside out.

Michael chirped in, his figure standing beside her. “You’re just pissing her off.”

“Shut your filthy mouth!” Odette snapped back at Michael, hardly able to tolerate either of them swearing. Missing the second strike by a few hairs. “You are possibly the most useless companion I have ever seen.”

Shining the light again directly into Racheli’s eyes hoping that finally she’d be angry enough to chase the ballerina.

Micheal’s eyes slid to Odette, his mind sizing her up from what he had observed, then commented. “It’s not my fault you didn’t heed my warning.”

The virus sighed, inhaling quietly as he stepped back. Racheli was already quickly recovering, her head shaking and jerking about to overcome the noise ringing in her head. He merely continued with a smirk. “As for being useful, you’ll know that’s not in a virus’ nature after all.”

Rach flinched away at the light shining in her eyes, her arms raised to shield her face.

Rolling her eyes at Michael Odette continued her slow retreat backwards smashing anything metal now, her arm growing sore at the consistent vibrations. “You,” Striking a pipe, “look like you're struggling, hng!” Odette swung back to the right powering through the aches.

“For a presumed power house a little noise and a flashlight shouldn’t slow you down... How weak and pathetic.” Odette timed the swings to emphasize her words, condescending in the worst way. “I’m the only thing standing in your way and you continue to fail.”

Through gritting teeth, Racheli spoke. Her voice strained and her arm pushed to brace herself upright against the wall, steam starting to flood the area from where her power had collided with. The pipes were warped and twisted, the stone blown apart from the impact and much worse littered the work area where employees had once tread. Now their existence was thankfully absence to spare them from the chaos.

Racheli’s head focused on Odette, her temper getting hotter with each sound. “Fuck you.”

With that, her eyes closed and her power extended. Pipes screeched causing her own ears to bleed, the black blood oozing forth and dripped along her neck causing her to wipe and flick it away. Michael’s words entered her mind and gained her attention, drawing her eyes toward the ‘ghost’ in her head. “Before you go off the handle, it might be more ideal to leave. You can go through walls with 50% saturation. Through if you’re not careful, you’ll wear yourself out.”

Rach snorted in his direction, her fingers gripped the wall tighter. She then focused on the wall’s weak point then pushed in, the stone cracking like spiderwebs at where her hands pressed against.

Odette threw the metal piece she had been swinging around at Rach demanding her attention, seeing Racheli decide to try and escape again her captive unceremoniously dropped the f-bomb.

That is enough!

The woman flinched when the bar smacked her, her focus distracted for a moment.

Bringing her elbows in close hands gnarled open, shoulders squared rigidly, speaking to the concrete again the very same that Rach was trying to break through. Blue balls of light centered in her hands then floated between her fingers casting a cold hue over Odette. They shot forward embedding the light into the concrete. It twisted with life reforming the cracks oozing over Racheli’s hands, climbing up her arms heading for her neck. Bach stood at her side readied for another wave of attacks to knock Odette’s concentration off.

“Piéger.” Odette casted the concrete surrounding Racheli’s neck squeezing her windpipe. It didn’t change in consistency neither truly hardened or liquid.

Racheli felt the wall become mobile and fluid like, the heavy element wrapping about her arms. She jerked back with a surprised expression as it climbed over her muscle and encasing her head in the thick rock like liquid. It was like breathing in cement with each inhale and her legs crumbled, bring Rach to her knees. Her fingers tried to claw the muck away. Her fingers seeping through the substance, her flesh altering from organic to steel then back again. Her body curled into a ball, completely encased now, while she listened to words speak to her.

“I will be honest.” Odette said quietly stepping up to Racheli’s watching her struggle to breathe. I tried very hard to pass the time peacefully. I would have been satisfied playing Candy Crush on my phone while you slept. Maybe even update my twitter with a cute selfie I took last week.”

Her cold blue eyes narrowed, “Instead I have to fight you and be forced to listen to you curse.”

She shook her head then her hand darted grasping Racheli’s jaw pinching her fingers into the divots of her jawline. Forcing her mouth open. “No better way to test that reparative ability of yours then to draw it into extremes.”

The blue haired bitch crouched down then seized her jawline painfully, pulling her head up from her down position. Rach’s face contorted in pain and anger while her mouth was forced open, Rach’s arms moved against the restraints and her head tried to pull out of her captor’s grasp. Her eyes glared at the woman partly daring her to do her worst. For once, even Michael was quiet when he watched the proceedings through his expression was filled by distaste at the subtle threat.

Holding Racheli’s mouth open with her left hand, her right held up to Bach, “Bach, gloves.”

Bach quickly went through Odette’s purse finding latex gloves. Pulling them free he slipped it over Odette’s right hand. “My Lady?”

“I am about to teach you a valuable lesson. You will find that I am not fond of cursing or other such vulgar language.” Odette hissed her words melding back into French invoking pure power to surround her gloved hand. Tilting Racheli’s head up Odette carefully passed through Rach’s lips with her index and middle fingers searching for her tongue. Racheli struggled against her grip understanding what the sorceress intended to do.

Finding the soft tissue of her lashing tongue did Odette slowly begin to cut the flesh free from Rach’s mouth. Black blood fountained splashing over the hand holding Rach’s face still. A scream ripped through and gurgled in Rach’s throat. Not daring to remove her grip. She would neither deny nor confirm that cutting cursing tongues loose was indeed her favourite form of punishment. Her precision was unwavered despite the heat wrapping around her gloved hand.

Rach squirmed as the pain surged through her tongue. The cool sensation spilled over her lower lips, staining her lower jaw and neck. She could feel it slipping back into her throat, gagging her, while she coughed to breath. It was Michael that spoke the very words screaming in her mind and in a politer form. “Stop… You made your point. You’ll kill her if you’re not careful and even I can’t revive the dead.”

That last bit wasn’t fully the truth, Odette didn’t need to know that. His figure edged beside Rach and stared emotionlessly at the human currently ripping Rach’s tongue out.

Squinting coldly hardly acknowledging Michael, when Odette finally approached the other edge of Racheli’s tongue did she remove her hand leaving the muscle hanging. Pushing Rach’s face away as she resumed to stand. Stripping the glove free and tossing it aside whispers of more magic turned the bloody glove aflame while little harmless burns scorched away the blood splashed over her left hand and arm.

Racheli’s jaw finally released, she vomited up her own blood. The ooze slide across the floor and seemed to quiver with life then fell still. She was breathing deeply to recover as she shivered. Her mouth could feel the muscle slip and slid across her teeth drawing a sickening sensation within her stomach, sweat collecting across her skin. The curses in her mind never made it to the air due to her inability to speak and scream them to the bitch that had caused her so much pain.

“You have difficulty reviving the dead you say? You simply do not know the right people.” Odette said lightly. Grasping the back of Racheli’s torn collar Odette began to drag her, cement solidified to trap her arms and hands.

“If you ever saw my victims when it was over… you might come to the conclusion it was pointless rather than contact the right people. Insides being liquified tend to make them useless.” Michael replied, not expecting an answer while he followed Odette. His connection to his nanites informed him they were already at work, the blood in her mouth slowly knitting together her severed muscle tissue and veins. They collected materials within her body from food and other materials then gradually altered their state into something more organic.

“So… now what? You simply go back to playing your Candy Crush while we simply wait for whoever paid you for the kidnapping?”

“Asking nicely isn’t going to get you anywhere. When will you learn that you only know what I want you to know? While you try and fail at gathering information I’ve learned volumes more about the pair of you due largely to your running mouth.” Odette replied jerking Racheli over some debris from her clumsy attacks. No longer afraid to do damage, Racheli was far from fragile despite what Michael would insist. She learned especially now that Racheli was still conscious even by all rights she should have passed out from shock.

”And you give away more than you seem to think…” Michael countered, not phased by her rough treatment of Rach. Rach flinched at being dragged, her teeth fighting not to finish what Odette had started. Her skin flickering a metallic color to prevent her flesh from being shredded against the stone.

“Nothing useful I can assure you.” Odette snapped dragging Racheli back to the hole in the ceiling where they had dropped through. Bach had been walking a foot shy of where Racheli’s ankles dragged watching their captive like a hawk while his partner spoke with Michael choosing to remain a safe distance from Racheli. Bach’s curiosity was boundless after displaying near miraculous healing and stabilization Bach wanted to tear her open and find out what made her and this virus tick.

A little magical boost sent Racheli sprawling back onto the floor of the office and Odette followed next and Bach brought up the rear. Picking up the back of her collar up again Odette dragged Racheli further into the refinery feeling an uncomfortable change in temperature as the heat soared from the nearly comfortable temperature of the offices.

Rach grunted, her back feeling the harden concrete press into her back when she slammed into the floor. The wood made a creak in protest at the weight of the woman, her collar nearly choking her when Odette grabbed it again. Her figure dragged past the office and through the refinery doors. The nanites slowly stalled out as their inner workings were affected by the change in temperature. With their work half done, Rach’s skin paled quickly and her body started to shake from the shock of her blood loss. Michael snapped, not caring for politeness, at Odette. “Cool her down now or you’ll be sending your buyers a literal corpse.”

Odette dropped the spasming woman pulling her lip at her sudden drop into shock. “Heat is your weakness then? How interesting.”

Michael glared, his eyes fixed on his captor. Memories, unwanted, filled his mind and Rach’s too from the time Gene Co had made serious efforts to contain him within the underground levels of their hidden laboratory. He screamed for hours but no human ears could ever hear or understand him. Why did she take them here of all places? The question bothered him as he tried to logically reason it out, first without any connection to the only possible source that still of it.

“Why did you pick a Ironworks of all places to keep your prey?” His words seemed to hint at accusing her of knowing something she shouldn’t have.

Her hand glowed blue using the sweat beading along Racheli’s body changing the temperature of the water cooling it immediately. Misty cool air rolled over her body Odette drew a small circle on her forehead where the cool air continued without the need for consistent casting. Then resumed dragging her into the refinery going deeper.

Odette’s head tilted at that question, “That is where we are both ignorant. I rather frankly thought this was chosen out of lack of information. But…” Casting an eye back at Michael shifting her look to Bach. “I can see why now with the way the heat affects you, virus.”

“I think in this case…I’m less ignorant than you. I know who hired you and I will not allow them to tear me apart again.” Michael spoke in a icy, emotionless way. His figure ceased walking while he stared at Racheli without blinking, mentally debating his options and ticking at which were more likely to succeed. He was already conversing to his host quietly in her weakened mind. He increased, through it wasn’t easy with the heat, the work on her tongue. The bad part, the healing was visible on her face as the bruises and markings from their earlier clash started to knit themselves together back to their original state.

Odette casted a wary eye at the apparition, the cold calm statement was enough to give Odette pause. There was no way Michael would know exactly who is signing Odette’s paycheck but he seemed to know who wanted their property back through the Syndicate’s hand. The mutually beneficial relationship The Cowl was referring to sharpening her memory. The conversation she had with him where he purposefully omitted a name.

“Evolution takes time, my dear. There’s often road bumps along the way that have to be driven over before they are forgotten.”

Odette replied when silence stretched, “Congratulations you have no way to prove for whom it is I work for.”

“I don’t need proof, after all who would listen to a fatal virus even if I did? However, I do know one thing… it won’t end well for any of us.” Michael answered with absolute confidence in what he was saying.

Great story. Happy to reading :) My flashlight story is here.

It was all a blur.

Literally.

One moment Radiance was standing inside Sherman Center with Iron Knight, and then, when he had excused himself to meet with Icon on the roof, someone, who she assumed was Thunderbolt, grabbed her and zipped her out of the building in a flash. They zoomed around the city, zigzagging through the streets, and then racing from the city into the country side, and at one point, she even thought along the highway, but she wasn't able to tell for sure as everything was one big blur. Eventually, she found herself standing in the middle of the warehouse in West Virginia where a rag tag team of heroes had gone to confront Dr. Diplodoc and his army of metahumans.

The entire trip had only taken moments, however, due to the sudden violence of the trip, the dizzying speed at which they had moved, and what may or may not have been an accidental slip of the hand, it had seemed like an eternity.

She stood in the center of the warehouse and saw that she had apparently missed quite a bit of action. Most of the heroes, as well as the terrorists were down. Lyger was assisting the cat girl, Sammy, and they were standing over the prone body of a large lion man.

Finally, when her head had stopped spinning, and the contents of her stomach no longer threatened to reemerge onto the cold, concrete floor, she finally spoke up.

"Looks like you've all been busy. Now, what do you say we wrap this thing up for good." She said, even as her injured ribs screamed in pain.

Icon touched down on the roof of the Maine Supermax Prison Complex, known to most as simply Tartarus, or Tartarus Island. If Iron Knight had been right, Dr. Diplodoc had used some sort of device to shield the prison from the effects of the meta dome, and if he had done so here, he had probably done the same thing in other prisons around the country. Iron Knight had surmised that if they could get one of these devices into the proximity of the source of the domes, then perhaps it could be used to deactivate the domes altogether. Icon didn’t know if Arthur was correct in his assessment, but he hoped against hope that he was.

Arthur had suggested that Diplodoc would hide the device where it would go unnoticed amongst the staff as well as inmates. He speculated that the most logical place to pull this off would be in the prison’s mechanical room, which is where Icon would look first. Fortunately, his arrival on the island prison hadn’t gone unnoticed. Prison spotlights were focused on him, and several guards as well as the prison administrator, Robert Dale, met him as he approached the prison’s rooftop entrance.

“Icon, what do we owe the pleasure?” Mr. Dale said as he approached the hero with his hand outstretched.

“Warden.” Icon said as he accepted the man’s handshake. “We believe that the Pax Metahumana terrorists somehow smuggled a device into the mechanical room to shield the prison from the domes. We hope that this device is the key to shutting down the other domes across the country. I need access to the mechanical room to see if we’re right.” Icon told the man.

Robert Dale stood silently for a moment as if contemplating what Icon had told him. While he doubted that anyone could smuggle anything into the prison under his watch, if there was any chance that there was something here that could bring an end to this nightmare, it was at least worth investigating.

“Of course.” Dale agreed. “Jones, take Icon down to the mechanical room, see what you can find.” He told one of the guards standing beside him. The officer, Jones nodded in compliance and motioned for Icon to follow him.

When Jones and Icon reached the mechanical room, Icon wasn’t sure what he was looking for. The room was filled with generators, water pumps, and electrical panels. Then he saw something that didn’t quite seem to fit in. It was a large cylindrical object, about the size of the hood of a mid sized sedan.

“Have you ever seen this before?” Icon asked Officer Jones as he approached the device.

“No, this shouldn’t be in here.” Jones confirmed, and with that Icon grabbed the device, which was heavier than it looked. Knowing that he didn’t have much time, Icon left his feet, crashing through the ceiling as he took to the skies toward Philadelphia.

“Arthur, I’ve got the device. Now what?”

“Okay, Icon. Take the device to one of the tallest buildings in Philadelphia,” Chris paused from speaking in the communicator as he did a quick search for potential sites, “such as the Comcast Center. It’s just east of Penn, across the Schuylkill River. There are also several other tall buildings around that area, so they shouldn’t be hard to miss.”

“While you fly there, I’ll remotely alter the machine’s parameters so that it’ll have a large enough range so that it can get rid of the dome. Also, let me know when you land. I’ll be able to detonate the device remotely, so you don’t need to worry about activating it.”

Icon didn’t respond. Instead he rocketed off in the direction of Philadelphia, only leaving a sonic boom as he broke the sound barrier in his wake. The trip from Maine to Philly only took a few minutes on account of the extra weight he was carrying. As he approached the City of Brotherly Love, he was taken aback by what he saw. He knew that the city had been encased inside of a massive dome, but actually seeing it in the flesh was something else altogether. However, the sight of the dome wasn’t enough to deter him, he pushed forward and carried out Arthur’s instructions and touched down upon the roof of the Comcast Center.

At first, nothing happened.

Dammit, it isn’t working! Icon thought to himself. However, after a moment the device made a series of beeping sounds, and then he heard a slight hum. Then a series of lights suddenly came on which made the device appear to be enveloped in a soft green light as if came to life.

“Iron Knight, something’s happening.” Icon said into his commlink. If Arthur had responded, Icon didn’t hear him. Instead, he watched as the emerald dome which encased the city began to slightly warp in response to the activation of the device. Then, after several long moments, the dome was gone, having blinked out of existence as a result of the opposition from the device.

“It worked. Now for the others.” With the dome gone, Icon finally exhaled in relief.

“Was there ever any doubt that it wouldn’t?” Chris boasted to Icon after he had gotten confirmation that the modified device was able to disperse the dome that had surrounded Philadelphia. “But don’t get excited yet. We still have five more domes to remove. I have already alerted local authorities about our operations. They should have located the devices by the time you have arrived.”

Icon took to the skies again, repeating the process five more times. He raced across the country collecting the dome dampening devices and placing them in the highest points in the cities. Soon, the domes began to fall one by one. Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago, Seattle, and finally Los Angeles saw the domes that had encircled them vanish, allowing millions of their inhabitants finally breathe freely.

Icon stood atop the unfinished construction site of the Wilshire Grand Center, what will be the tallest building not only in Los Angeles, but West of the Mississippi. He looked out over the usually vibrant city of LA and noted the unusual stillness that had gripped it.

“It’s done. The domes are down.” Icon said into the commlink. “Get ready for the final assault, I’m on my way back to the facility. We’re going to end this, once and for all.”

“I’ll arrange for some backup to help transport Doctor Diplodoc and his allies to the proper authorities.” Chris told Icon. “Also, I’m not suited up, so you don’t have to be all formal! Call me Chris or Arthur. Either is fine.“