She didn’t remember anything about her past, not even her real name. In fact, she remembered nothing from before she was freed from that jai cell by her new family...except for the few snippets that Nightmare wanted to remember. He had not only liberated her from the jail cell, he had liberated her from the pain and heartache that she had felt, he had liberated her from her failures, from her fears. The day that Nightmare and the rest of her family broke her out of that jail cell, they had truly freed her.

She grinned as her demonic metal constructs cut through several more of the fleeing protestors. The woman now known only as Bathory had a bloodlust rivaled only by her namesake, and by the other members of her “family.” The sickening sound that accompanied her construct’s razor sharp blades cutting into the soft flesh of its victims, cutting through bone and muscle was like a symphony to her, the cries of the dying lending vocals to the opera of carnage which played out before her.

“That’s enough. You’re done.” Said a voice coming from behind her.

It was a voice that she remembered, one that she would never forget. One of the few recent memories that Nightmare had not freed her from, a painful memory that helped to fuel her hatred.

“Lyger.” Bathory growled as she spun around to face the man who had been responsible for her humiliation…For her incarceration.

The mere sight of Lyger made her blood boil. Although she did not remember the exact circumstances of her last encounter with the vigilante, the outcome was something that would haunt her until her dying day. However, her hate filled scowl began to curve upward into a crooked smile. At last, she would have her revenge on the man that had sent her to rot in a jail cell.

“Oh, I don’t think so. You’re done.” Bathory snarled as she sent her metallic assassins toward him.

Lyger dove and twisted away from the pair of demon-like constructs, barely avoiding their razor sharp blades. However, he had only just regained his footing when the drones came back around for a second attack. It was an attack that even he couldn’t avoid.

However, a sliver and blue blur flew past him, landing directly in the path between Lyger and the metal constructs. Lyger heard the sound of the demonic metal constructs shattering on Icon’s chest as they made impact with the hero.

“Like he said, you’re done.”

Right on cue, the other heroes of Lost Haven appeared to challenge Nightmare and his allies. It was the usual bunch of heroes that Chris had seen during the last two crises that happened in Lost Haven. Lyger and Icon were there, along with a third hero whose name Chris could not remember. If these heroes kept meeting up in these types of circumstances, people might start thinking that we’re actually some sort of a time. And if he actually had any time to think, Chris would have thought that forming a team might not be a bad idea, especially since the alarming occurrence of metahuman events in the past few months.

The third hero, the Aquilifer, seemed to have gotten himself into a pickle. While he was approaching towards Nightmare and company, the Aquilifer had landed not so quietly on the roof of a Sudan. The noise from crunching of the roof attracted the attention of the metahuman serial killers, putting the Aquilifer in a precarious position. The first villain that made his move was the skeletal monster known as the Cannibal King. The monster pulled out a bone spear from himself and aimed it at the native Lost Haven hero. However, before he could throw it at the Aquilifer, the Cannibal King was struck with the force of a red-colored energy pila.

“Skeletor, I know that you love throwing things at people. How does it feel being hit back!” Chris taunted the skeletal monster. After he made his attack against the Cannibal King, Chris scanned the area. At the moment, the forces were balanced at four a piece. However, Chris knew that, if his fellow heroes would try to ‘do their own thing’ to defeat these villains, there was a chance that the metahuman murderers could divide and conquer. Therefore, Chris needed to regroup with the others so that they could at least have some sort of a battle plan.

Flying up into the air again, Chris landed in front of the Sudan that the Aquilifer was standing on, activating his shields as soon as he was earthbound so that he could block any more projectiles that the Cannibal King might throw his way.

“I hope you’re fine with flying.” Chris muttered to the Aquilifer as his deflector shield stopped a bone javelin in its tracks. Then, Chris quickly deactivated his shields and took a hold of the Aquilifer. Then, before the Cannibal King could throw another projectile, Chris launched himself and his fellow hero into the air, arcing over to where Icon had blocked Bathory attack against Lyger. Once they neared the ground, Chris released the Aquillifer, allowing him to land softly on the ground.

“Gentlemen.” Chris addressed Icon and Lyger. “Nice seeing you two again, although I wished it were under better circumstances.”

The Arizonan air felt unusually warm for this early March day. But this would be totally expected when the average low for this month in Phoenix is higher than that of Lost Haven and Columbus. I can actually walk around outside while wearing a dress without worrying about hypothermia. With the sun blazing in the sky, you might be fooled in believing that spring had come early.

After Athena dropped me off outside of Will’s apartment, we set off to the nearby Catholic church that was located near his college campus. Everything went without a hitch, or at least it did until the liturgy came to its sign of peace portion of the mass. Usually, during the sign of peace, parishioners would offer a handshake with the people seated around them. However, when I turned to Will, I questioned whether offering a handshake would be misinterpreted as ‘you’re in the friend zone’. On the other hand, I didn’t want to look like I was going ‘too fast’ by kissing him at the beginning of the date.

Knowing that I was definitely over thinking this, I just told myself to screw it and take the middle road. Even though it seemed as if he was going to offer a handshake, I instead just wrapped my arms around him and gave him a quick hug. Nothing too prolonged, though, because I didn’t want to make the people around us feel too uncomfortable by a public display of affection. But when I took a step back, I realized that Will’s face had become flushed with a red tint.

For the rest of the mass, I felt this tense atmosphere of awkwardness between the two of us. Luckily for us, we could just sit through the mass with our attention focused on the liturgy. We may have glanced at one another a couple times, such as at Communion, but otherwise we’re lucky that we were not standing together in an awkward silence, grasping at straws for anything to talk about.

After we had left mass, Will and I headed towards this little, locally run Greek restaurant, called Apollon, that was located just a short walk away from the nearby college campus. Inside, immediately when you entered into the building, there was a small open space where a couple circular tables were located. Beyond that was the cashier counter where you would make your order and additional seating down what seemed almost like a hallway.

Then we approached the front counter to place our orders. Since Will had been to this restaurant a couple times prior to today, I just ordered the same thing he did: a chicken wrap along with a salad and potato chip-like fries (God knows who thought that having some fresh veggies would counter the unhealthiness of some fried potatoes). Thank goodness for my superhuman metabolism.

“We only have Pepsi products. Is that fine?” The cashier asked after I ordered a coke as my beverage. I just nodded to signal my indifference. Sure, I would prefer Coca-Cola, but not enough to just flat-out refuse any Pepsi products. Along with our drinks, the woman handed us a little sign with the letter ‘Mu’ printed on the attached placard so that one of the servers could bring our food order to us.

After we picked out a table for two and took our seats, I thought it might be a good opportunity to address that elephant that was still in the room.

“I’m sorry about what happened back during mass.” I began, not quite sure to how else to address it besides the direct approach.

“Don’t worry about it.” Will replied. His laconic response was not quite what I was expecting or hoping for. However, before either of us could say anything else, a server came by and placed our orders in front of us.

“Would you two like to have a complementary fortune cookie?” The young looking man had long blonde hair under a hair net inquired.

“Wait. Are you appropriating a Chinese restaurant’s gimmick?”

“The Greeks had oracles and prophecies.” The man mentioned in response to my comment.

“We’ll take a pair.” Will said so that we could move on with our lunch before I got any further into an argument with the server. The man then set two packaged cookies on the table before he walked away from where we were sitting.

“Do you want to open them up first?” Will asked me as he passed one of the cookies over in my direction.

I picked up the package and ripped it open. Once I cracked open the cookie, I pulled out the small piece of paper so that I could read what was written on it.




“You didn’t’ set this up, did you? Because I never heard of a Greek-styled restaurant giving out fortune cookies.”

However, when I looked up to see what was Will’s response, I discovered that he had a puzzled look at what was printed on his ‘fortune’. He decided to hand over the little scrap of paper so that I could see what it had on it.






Well, this probably answered my question. Unless he was faking his reaction to the text printed on that tiny sheet of paper, it seems like this was not some sort of elaborate scheme to complement me.

“That is probably the most complicated way to say don’t drink and drive”

“On a kind of unrelated note, spiders can become intoxicated on caffeine because their metabolism cannot break down that compound.”

I then peered down at my three-quarters full glass of pop. “You don’t suppose that, because of well you know what, that can happen to…”

I pointed towards myself, trying to as subtly as I can not to reveal my superhuman identity.

Inside, there was quiet for the space of a moment before the back wall of the warehouse exploded inward. The men inside, consummate professionals, quickly and precisely filled the now-open hole in the wall with a rain of bullets. Sadly, it didn’t help them very much. Small, coffin-shaped flying drones rocketed into the interior of the warehouse, tagging mercenaries and jolting them with electricity, dropping them to the floor. Within seconds, the sounds of shooting stopped as everyone within the warehouse was knocked unconscious. A moment later, Gabriel walked through the hole he’d blown in the wall, flanked by six of his LEGIONnaires.

Alright, Daedalus, full scan. What are we dealing with here?

difficult to say, sir. the heat and whatever devices or arcane interference may have been planted within makes it difficult to get an accurate read. i can say that I am detecting signs of life, armed, by my estimation. there is something of a blind spot in my readings that i can likely attribute to arcane interference- a hole in my awareness. i will take some time later to study items of this nature more extensively. for now, exercise caution, sir- we cannot know for sure what awaits us inside.

Understood. Gabriel used his other selves to clear the floor away of unconscious mercenaries, crossing over to the middle of the floor. He could feel them in here, feel the heat on his sensors. And he knew Racheli would be within, as well. He took aim with his Hex-Feathers, configuring them for ARTILLERY configuration.

Hold on, Rach. I’m coming for you. And I’ll make all of them pay for what you’ve been through. His Hex-Feathers focused on the space before him, charging with blazing green light before firing, blowing a massive hole in a nearby wall. He walked forward, then over to the side. There was a brief pause before the Feathers began charging again and firing, blowing a hole through another wall, choosing to avoid the passageways and head straight for the target.

Just hold on a little longer… The Ironworks shook with the force of each blast from Gabriel’s weaponry.

Rach’s head jerked up. Her eyes were blurry and watery, through much of the tears had evaporated away after the noise had died down. After hearing the boom rattling through her cage walls, she crawled to her hands and knees with a wobbly movement. Heat wafted through the walls of her prison causing her to become drenched in her own sweat, losing what little fluid remained in her body as she moved across the smooth floor. It seemed to shift in an unstable way underneath her creating issues crawling across its surface, her stomach feeling queasy with each movement. Her healing factor seemed to have become exhausted when the heat become overwhelming and tried to suffocate her.

When she reached the wall, her hand fisted then slammed against it. Bam. Bam. BAM! With each hit, she put more strength into the effort and made the next hit louder than the first as it echoed back in her small prison. She screamed, her throat already raw, in a harsh whisper. “Justine! Gabe! SOMEONE! I’m in here!”

The Cowl, meanwhile, waiting in his nest he built for himself, the barrel of his rifle barely peeking through the glass. He could see the crackling and sparking of a wall on the ground floor on their way into the manufacturing room. Someone was trying to get in, probably the metallic man from the videotape he had seen earlier. He could start firing now, but that would only give away his position and he wouldn’t necessarily hit Icarus through the wall. The rifle had the power, but with the lack of visual confirmation he knew he’d have to wait.

That being said, there were still many other concerns rushing his mind. He was not a fool, he knew this sniper rifle would unlikely actually kill the target, even with its impressive stopping power. Already he was developing counter-strategies in his mind. What if his opponent saw him immediately? What if it cut off his exits? What if it went straight for him instead of going after Racheli like he predicted it would? He had put her in plain sight, hopefully distracting any opponent from himself, but he could not guarantee that. Everything relied on chance and probability, and the Cowl could wind up a dead man if too many plans fell through.

However, even with the concern rushing through his mind, the man himself was as calm as ever. There was no shaking breaths leaving his lungs, no cold sweat down his face. His eyes locked on the soon to be opened wall with absolute determination. His finger resting on the trigger with no hint of prematurely spasming into a false fire, the rifle never leaving its lock. Only when he knew it would hit would he release a round, hopefully to the surprise of his unwitting foe.

Gabriel sent his Hex-Feathers ahead again, tagging another group of mercenaries, sending them bonelessly to the ground, unconscious. His LEGION kept scouting further ahead, subduing non-lethally when they could, or waiting for Gabriel and his Feathers to catch up. Gabriel himself stomped inexorably forward, locked on to the blind spot on his sensors that he assumed Rach was located within. He finally reached the section of wall directly across from said blind spot, and faced it, Hex-Feathers spinning into ARTILLERY formation again. With a loud roar, they fired, blowing a hole clean through the wall. He took a step forward…

...And proceeded to take a Raufoss Mk. 211 multipurpose round to the chest, exploding out of his back in a shower of green-and-black gore, blowing him back through the hole and against the wall. He choked, trying to gasp, grateful for the fact that he didn’t actually need the lung he’d just lost. Through his pain, he directed his six LEGIONnaires to advance through the entryway he’d made as his metallic flesh knit itself back together, as he took in the room within. He glared even more fiercely as he saw Racheli’s… accommodations. He growled, the sound coming out raspy due to his mangled chest.

Those MORONS. Don’t they know she’s vulnerable to heat? Are they really this stupid, to dangle their prize over MOLTEN IRON just to try and prevent us from getting to her? Daedalus, I’m going to run interference, try and confuse the shooter. In the meantime, if he fires again, track the bullet’s trajectory- try and find the source.

acknowledged. do try and be careful, sir- though it won’t kill you, the damage caused by those rounds will be unpleasant for the both of us.

Yeah, that’s the understatement of the year, he thought as the hole in his chest closed completely. He took a deep breath, then charged into the room, flanked by his drones, making a beeline for the dangling container where, presumably, Rach was being held. He reached it, directing his Hex-Feathers to enter SNIPER configuration, as he leaned close to the strange coffin and tried to make himself heard.

”Rach! Rach, can you hear me? It’s me, Icarus! I’m here to save you, just hold on!”

Rach raised her hurting arm then wiped against her forehead. She expected there to be sweat, but it was already evaporated when she tried to clear her eyes and worry penetrated her deep down. Her head snapped up when she heard the gunfire. The power behind it was loud enough it seemed to vibrate her very cell causing panic to seep through her. Immediately Racheli’s pounding increased and without thinking about Cowl’s monologue, she pressed her hand against the surface. Nothing happened.

She cursed at her luck when she realized she was too overheated to do anything, her weakened frame leaned against the burning wall. Rach didn’t care if she hurt herself in the process of thinking, the pain that she deserved made her feel gradually better, until she heard Gabriel’s voice on the other side. Perking up, she shouted back.

“Yes! Ga-Icarus, I can’t get out. Every time… shit, I’m not doing so good fly boy.” She promptly stopped when her stomach clenched causing her to curl into a ball, crumbling from the wall. She then added in a whisper. “Please… help me.”

The Cowl had hit his target, he knew he made a solid hit against his opponent. Yet the man still stood, something that ordinarily would be impossible considering the round he put out. Of course, the Cowl already expected that his shot would not put the metal man down, but he was surprised to see that the bullet did not ricochet or deflect, but actually did go straight through his target. From what the Cowl could gather, he had actually taken damage from the shot, and under normal circumstances the man would be dead with a solid hole through his chest, but the metallic figure pressed on as if it was merely injured. To make matters worse, the man was already repairing himself from the shot, his flesh mending itself as he made his way to Racheli, now covered by robotic drones filling into the room. Self-repair was a worrying trait to have in an enemy, it made for exceptionally long and risky fights.

Of course, that did not stop the Cowl, who was already planning ahead. By now he was aware that if he took a second shot he would be obliterated by the drones, who were most likely looking for him.

Which is why he was not the man who was going to pull the trigger on the second shot. After he took the shot, the clever crime lord left his perch, taking his fire extinguisher and darting back out of the control room to the nearby hallway. As luck would have it, he walked out right as one of the few mercenaries left was darting by him.

“You there,” The Cowl barked, grasping the man by the shoulder as he passed by, causing quite a start in the goon. “I have a job for you.”

“Y-yes sir?” The Merc asked, his eyes wide in the throes of panic, the cold sweat running down his face reflecting the situation.

“There is a anti-material rifle in the control room, pointing at an intruder looking to take what we worked so hard to acquire.” The crime lord ordered. “I want you to take the rifle and provide cover fire while I go down there and try to deal with him.”

“W-what?” The thug said, confused. “B-b-but that man...he’s torn through us like tin foil! He’ll kill you! What makes yo--”

“Are you questioning me?” The Cowl said, the tone in his voice flattening out as his eyes pierced into the man with a cold glare.

“No sir!” The goon whimpered, his attention now fully focused on the crime lord before him. “I’ll go take the shots sir!”

“Excellent, now be quick about it.” The Cowl said, pushing the man back towards the control room while he began to head back downstairs, already calculating a new strategy.

”Don’t worry, Rach. That’s exactly what I’m here for,” said Gabriel, four of his Hex-Feathers floating strategically to each corner of the box that his friend was sealed in, aimed at the nearly-imperceptible seam of the prison’s seal. He steeled himself for any traps or inconveniences that his next actions would take.

”Rach, brace yourself- I don’t know what countermeasures are built into this box. I can get you out very soon, but it’s gong to be uncomfortable until then. Just sit tight, we’re getting you out of here, now.”

Daedalus, low-power laser fire from the Hex-Feathers, minimum penetration depth so I can tear this lid off its hinges when we’re done. I stress minimum penetration- I don’t want to risk putting a hole or a gouge in Rach’s limbs or worse because we overshoot.

it will be difficult to accomplish, sir- what i am assuming are arcane readings are interfering with my sensors. i can compensate, but it will take more time.

Gabriel opened his mouth to respond, then cried out as another explosive bullet blew into his shoulder, nearly blowing his whole arm off. Grimacing, he whirled around, picking a likely location for whoever had shot him to be hiding. His Hex-Feathers configured into ARTILLERY mode, charged briefly, and fired, blowing one of the offices along the upper area of this room to smithereens.

He didn’t take time to figure out if he’d succeeded or not- he directed his Feathers back to the specifications he’d laid out before flying away from Rach’s box, trying to keep the shooter’s attention on him, or anyone else who was down here. His Feathers went to work, laser-cutting the lid off of Rach’s prison, slowly.

He directed two of his LEGIONnaires under the crate, to hold it up above the molten crucible below, in case the chains failed, or some other tragedy. He scanned the area as his shoulder knitted back together.

All right, you stupid fuckers. You want me? Come get me.

Poor fool. The goon who took the shot was probably incinerated instantly from the laser blasts that took the control room. The Cowl had overseen the scene from behind a nearby doorway, armed with a Desert Eagle magnum he had picked up from a cabinet within one of the hallways on his way back to the first floor. It did not have the same stopping power as the rifle he had been previously using, but at this point he was no longer willing to take any chances.

However, he was far from willing to directly engage this foe head on, as he was already outnumbered by the drones, as well as the man being physically evidenced to be his superior. He had to think outside the box, calculating the advantages he had now that he was down at the man’s level.

To his fortune, he could see that the man was underneath one of the large crucibles hanging on the suspended cables. Though not the one he currently suspended Racheli over, it still contained a vat of molten iron to be processed, which only provided opportunity for the Cowl. If he could switch the emergency hatch, the iron would come spilling out of the bottom, hopefully onto his intended target.

The only issue was the control room was currently in cinders, and the ground floor backup panel was on the other side of the room. If he stepped out now, he would surely be incinerated by oncoming laser blasts.

However, that was what the fire extinguisher was for. Waiting patiently until the drones were occupied, the Cowl burst the door he was hiding behind open enough to throw the fire extinguisher directly at Icarus, if the trigger-happy opponent did not take a shot at it, the small explosive he set to detonate on it’s hull went off. Hopefully this would cause enough of a smokescreen, or at least startle the cybernetic man enough for him to make the break for the control panel.

Gabriel flinched as he saw something headed toward him, a projectile of some sort, and quickly fired on reflex from one of the two Hex-Feathers that still floated near him.. He flinched again when said item decompressed explosively, releasing a blinding cloud of mist all around him. He rolled his eyes, and switched to thermal vision, though the already scorching heat in here made things difficult to perceive. Still, he should still be able to see motion, at the bare minimum.

”Cute,” he announced to the room, contempt dripping from the single syllable. He directed a number of his drones to begin patrolling, also on thermal and motion tracking. ”You think a smokescreen is going to distract me, human? I can still see- I can still find you. And if I do, it will be… unpleasant. But I can compromise- run now, leave me to my present business, and I never have to find out who you are and kill you. No one else has to die today- just let me take Rach, and we can… well, maybe not forget, but I’ll be less inclined to ram a monofilament blade down your throat.

“Well? What say you? Do we have an agreement?”

The man was goading him to speak back, to give away his positioning, thinking he was a fool who would respond to simple barks of machismo and threats that would be a blessing for a lesser man. Though the kingpin was quick to make note that the drones were starting to hunt for him, covering for their master’s current state of temporary blindness. Of course temporary encountered barely a few seconds before the man began to get his vision back. The Cowl could only assume that the man possessed more than traditional vision, though that would not be a stretch for a robotic man with a hive mind of drones who were also disengaging from freeing Racheli to look for him. Nevertheless, he had not been located yet, which meant his strategy was working.

A burst of movement during the initial rush had gotten him about halfway across the room, he was now hiding underneath a workbench, a few feet away from the control to release the molten iron, he would have to risk the second break while the automated foe was still searching for him.

Gabriel sighed after the lack of response, then perked up when he saw someone through one of his LEGIONnaires, and he raised the drone’s hand to fire.

”Last chance, human. Stand down, or I will fi--”

The rest of the sentence died on his lips as a signal flew through the air, directed at the crucible of iron suspended just above his head. He had just enough time to dismiss a couple of his drones- including, unfortunately, the one that had his enemy dead in his sights, by random chance- and direct his concentration upward before a torrent of molten iron descended upon his head.

A green haze stretched out between him and the molten metal, and the metal cascaded down and around it, showering around him and his improvised barrier. It was difficult going- liquid metal was SO much harder to manipulate via ferrokinesis than something more solid. A number of times a splash of burning liquid would drop past his defenses and scorch his armor, even his superhuman durability not affording him enough protection to emerge unscathed.

He shuddered to think of what might happen if he hadn’t gotten the ferrokinetic barrier up in time. Even he might not have survived in his current ARTEFACT Mode.

Eventually, the torrent of boiling metal subsided, and Gabriel could finally let his concentration broaden again. He summoned back the drones he’d dismissed and set them to patrol again, but there was little point to it- the precious seconds he’d wasted trying to avoid his own demise was probably enough for whoever was at that control panel to escape. Especially considering the fact that he had to dismiss quite a few drones in order to bring more power to bear against the iron. As much as he wanted to rip out that man’s spine and beat them to death with it, he had other priorities at the moment.

Racheli was close to passing out. Her eyes closed and breath shallow, the stifling heat surrounded her within the cage was wearing away at her. The fighting outside was muffled and difficult to hear what was happening while she worried that Gabe was in trouble. Her body curled into a ball near the wall, the only thing she could do, and wait. Sizzling sounds happened as the Hex-Feathers started to basically blow torch the cage open, the edges of the entrance was being severed along the hinges causing it to weaken.

The weaken woman started to crawl to the hole, despite the edges having yet to cool, and smacked the door. Her desperation driving her on though she was likely to pass out at any point. ‘Hurry...Gabe, hurry the fuck up.’

A signal from his Hex-Feathers informed him that the structural integrity of the coffin’s lid was sufficiently compromised. He floated over, taking firm hold of the lid and ripping it fully from the container. And there she was- looking a lot more worse for wear, but that would change soon. Racheli would survive. He reached out slowly, carefully, almost tenderly, bringing Rach out of her prison.

This would be the perfect time to strike again, thought the Cowl, who had not in fact left the building, but was now hiding within a hidden passageway he had made inside of a supply closet, usually used to hide contraband during police raids. He had repositioned himself to be closer to the pair, looking through a nearby grating at the two. He could toss the EMP device he was palming in his hand and drop the man helplessly into the large pot.

But the act would come at too high of a cost, as he could not risk Racheli dropping with the unnamed intruder and lose his contract with GeneCo. Not to mention as soon as he made himself known again the drones would act accordingly, as the Cowl could now gather the robots were linked to the leader’s consciousness. They responded to his whims with no need for gestures or motions, acting upon his thoughts and alarming him when Racheli would be freed with no need for verbal confirmation. The Cowl was outmatched and outgunned, there would only be so many more tricks he could pull even in his own home before this man drove a laser through his skull. It pained the Cowl to admit it, but he could not currently compete with a man who could survive and manipulate molten metal, as well as heal from anti-material rounds. At this point, he could only watch as Racheli was freed from her prison.

All was not lost, however. At the very least he could glean the relationship between Racheli and this metallic man. Maybe something more valuable could be gained from patience and observation rather than direct action at this juncture.

Rach hated the weakness in her body as she was pulled out. Her arms wrapped about his neck, or where it should be, and hung on to him for dear life. The metal suit was cooler than within her prison, her chest inhaling with a fresh breath making her cough. She couldn’t help the comment that followed with an irritated tone. “Took you long enough… shit.”

Gabriel nodded sadly. ”Yeah. Took me way too long to get you out of here. But it’s okay now. I’m here. I got you out. You’re safe now,” he whispered. He handed her to one of his LEGIONnaires, with orders to bring Rach to the Forge, where she’d be safe.

Rach stiffened when he put her in the arms of one of his drones. “Gabe, no I’m fine. I can walk and I don’t need fucking... “ She started to move and pain flooded her senses, her teeth gritted to stop the scream rushing in her raw throat, her body immediately forced back down.

So Gabe was his name? The Cowl silently balked at the revelation. Most of these cretins in capes go by heroic titles rather than names, how interesting that she referenced him by a personal name. Perhaps these two had a deeper relationship than their flashy costumes? The Cowl continued to listen from his hiding spot.

Gabriel flinched as Rach seized, trying to keep her stable in his arms. ”Rach, you’re not fine. You’ve been in high temperatures for too long- you’re falling apart almost as badly as the night I met you. Please, just let me take you somewhere safe. And then, once you’re better… then we can take these bastards down. I’ll hold ‘em down, you take ‘em apart, but to do that you need to go. Now. You won’t survive otherwise.”

“Fuck that. I’m not leaving you the hell here to fight my battle, they pissed me off when they kidnapped me. So I’ll be damned if I’m sitting on the sidelines during this. Not happening.” Rach protested.

Gabriel was about to rebut her statement, when Daedalus alerted him to an anomaly behind him. A very vast, dangerous-feeling anomaly. He turned at the spike of inscrutable energy, like a burst of void on his sensors. He looked to see the source and--

...Well. Fuck. The magician girl stood at the entrance, glaring at him like she was trying to glare a hole straight through him. Given what he knew about her abilities, she might be able to do just that. Fucking magic.

So Odette remained, to the surprise of the Cowl. Apparently she had more of a grudge against this group than he originally imagined. She was not one to usually stay after a job was complete, the idea that she was still around was quite revealing, just how much had these fools ruffled her feathers? The Cowl began to realise his answer was coming quite soon, so rather than make his escape, he made a point to stay as long as he could. Perhaps he could get some insight into the weaknesses of this ‘Gabe’, something he could exploit at a later date when he had to re-acquire Racheli.

Every man has his Achilles’ Heel, after all, and The Cowl was a master of manipulating weakness into strength. All he had to do was watch and wait, he’d escape when it became absolutely necessary.

”No time to argue, Rach. I’m sorry. Daedalus, get her out of here- NOW.” At that, the drone holding Rach took off like a shot, Rach herself screaming curses and obscenities at him as fiercely as she could as the drone flew off. Gabriel then turned toward the mage girl fully, and braced himself for a battle he was thoroughly not going to enjoy.

This is gonna suck.

_{banner credit to Hellis}
---

Time: Present
Location: Inside Ironworks

The time it took to jog to the kilns seemed to stretch as the noise of destruction rattled the ground. The air sprites flittered around The Ambassador while Bach hung onto her shoulder wearing a expression hard as bark. One last push to drive off the metas from Racheli.

In truth she was feeling the exhaustion, the band-aid fixes and snacks weren’t holding up anymore. Facing down the Ouroboros was draining but she had no choice, showing weakness would be her undoing. Losing to a gaggle of nosey pests was simply not an option. The amount of time and work she invested in the day could not go to such spectacular waste.

The temperature rose again, the large door to the kilns was blown off it’s hinges the haze from spilt molten iron made the human sorceress squint. She caught sight of Racheli, hearing her curse and protest against her arrival. A drone carried her away presumably to safety through the gaping hole. The Cowl was nowhere in sight.

Rage boiled in the pit of her stomach, her teeth chewed slowly at the inside of her cheek. Words of Power started as whispers. She took menacingly slow steps towards the molten iron. Bach and the sprites stiffened in fear at the sight of it. The hazy heat thickened about her person, the air touched with hints of blue. No longer feeling the need to hold back or take care with her power output the cold blue magic enveloped her body. The volume of her words grew, bright blue lines parted the molten iron clearing the way as steam plumed from the raw material cooling almost instantly.

Lifting her hand she gracefully gestured out to Icarus then placed it over her heart casting her icy glare at the man in metal. The magic settled around her and she spoke calmly betraying the anger she felt in her bones.

“I would kindly ask you return Racheli to us, but I feel as if I would be wasting my time, metal man. I suppose I will have to settle for tearing you limb from limb. Similar to tearing the wings off from a fly.”

Gabriel grit his teeth, glaring down at the mage girl with as much contempt as he could manage from a faceless mask. He could deal with legions of bad guys, a supervillain made out of thermite, and having molten iron dumped on his head. But arrogance? That crossed the line. He’d had a bad enough day without Princess here talking down to him.

”Don’t underestimate me, little fairy girl. I admit, you and your arcane bullshit may have caught me off guard on our first encounter, but that just shows me I have a lot more to learn. I’m a scientist, little one- and I’m very good at what I do. So unless you’d like me to blast off some limbs, vivisect your still-breathing chest cavity, then pin your remains to the wall like a chloroformed butterfly, you’ll step aside. First and only warning, mage- I’m no longer playing games with you and your ilk.”

Odette smiled at his threat and his obvious anger would be easy enough to provoke. “How… graphic. You should have seen the way I nearly ripped Racheli’s tongue from her mouth for the very same foul language.” Odette sighed softly, he assumed she was a faerie. Joseph did well to give her an edge. “Scientifique? There is little science has done to unravel the mysteries of magic, metal man.” She paused then clicked her heels. “Allow me to demonstrate!”

Springing above Icarus in a back flip, she shouted in French, “Saigner!”

Blue mist spread out from her open palms gently settling over the suit, clinging to the surface. As soon as it made contact the mist turned pitch in color oozing thickly. The spell was meant to bleed magic, life energy and this case strength. She landed amongst molten iron it cooled instantly leaving a couple feet of uneven ground to stand on. Rapid fire French were the beginnings of a ward spell, while the first layer had successfully wrapped around her hands she was hit with a very inconvenient blow of exhaustion flipping her stomach in nausea.

Not now…!

Gabriel flinched as the mist turned to ooze on his suit’s surface, then grit his teeth in rage as he noticed his power levels start to dip. Just like before, with the plants.

Not this time!! he thought, enraged, building power in his core, then releasing it in a flare of plasma all around his body. The spell, or whatever it was around him, swelled grotesquely as it tried to consume the massive influx of power, then began to wither and die in a verdant blaze. Slowly, but it was happening. He turned his awareness to one of the drones near him that he still had left, aiming his attentions toward the magician, who seemed to be… distressed, somehow. Perfect, he thought, bringing in another drone, both aiming their palms at the girl, electricity crackling up and down their arms.

”I suppose I should thank you for giving me more mileage out of what I’m going to do to you,” said one of the drones, aiming steadily. ”Cutting out someone’s tongue? And you call me barbaric. Let’s see how you like when I return the favor!!”

Green lightning arced forth from the two drones’ palms, striking down toward the mage girl. It wouldn’t be lethal- he still had some questions he wanted to ask- but it would be quite painful, indeed.

Clutching at her stomach trying to suppress her gag reflex, the green light brightening her pale features. Bach all but shouted at her to move forcing her hands up to protect herself. The ward absorbed the lightning knocking her clear across the room, the pain spasming up her arms. Stiffening her shoulders unwillingly bracing against the fall. She squeezed out a shout as she skidded across the floor rolling onto her side. She struggled to regain composure, her arms shaking from pain and electrical shock.

Her hands were blistering red, the weak ward obliterated by Icarus’ attack. Her heart was beating hard against her ribcage. The adrenaline bringing her surroundings into sharp focus. Bach had hopped off her shoulder was now in the palm of her hand, his hands glowing green trying to heal the damage quickly.

Icarus was behind her with his drones, possibly believing the fight was over after one lucky shot. Exhausted, angry and willing to pit her show stopping gambit against the metal man. Odette pushed herself to her knees staring down her pact partner, Bach. Standing at 9 inches, worry etched into his Fey features radiating all the magic she would need to end this.

“Possess me, Bach. I need your help to end this.” She spoke in Common Fey rage warping her accent. “Now.”

“My Lady, are you sure? When we have done this in the past, removing myself always tilts you dangerously to the edge. We have what we came for-” Bach was cut off sharply by Odette’s near bark.

“I am not letting them win!”

Bach bowed his head, “Very well.”

Odette stood chanting and Bach returned to his regular size chanting as well. Grasping her hands with his own, the tree tattoo on her back glowing through her clothing. A green circle of light spread out from their feet, etching the yew tree symbol into the concrete. As the magic grew around them Bach became visible to the likes of Icarus. Still chanting he stared past Odette, smirking mischievously at their enemy.

“Ready?”

Odette nodded taking a deep breath squeezing her eyes shut.

Bach shimmered and disappeared in whirlwind of leaves, they plastered Odette’s body from head to toe. Her grunts of pain during the possession was the only indication of her extreme discomfort. His invasion of magic and soul was usually not such burdensome experience but that’s when she has her fair share of magic to cushion the arrival of her partner’s soul. Being so depleted, it made this a rather unbalanced case.

“Aaaaaahhhh!!” The sound ripped out from her throat turning around crouched over her hands healed in green light, blood dribbled at the base of her forehead steaming off as soon as it ran past. Two horns pushed their way through her hair. Her skin turned a greenish tinge while her hands streaked with bark. Standing back up right, the distinct crack and pop in her ankles broke the silence.

...Oh, that can’t be good, thought Gabriel glumly, watching the transformation take hold of the diminutive magician girl. He hated magic, he decided. A lot.

“Now, the fun begins.” Her voice sounded a twinge bit different, a more masculine tone at the edge of her words.

Gabriel tried not to back away from the sight on his sensors. Or, rather, the lack of sight. What he got from the girl was… nothing. A whole lot of nothing, in fact. So much that whatever energy he couldn’t read being exuded from the girl was blanking out every other reading he would normally be getting. Thermals, sonar, hell, even the radiation from his own drones- all blacked out under this massive veil of nothingness. Gabriel swallowed. Hard. ...This is where I pay for that “chloroformed butterfly” comment, isn’t it?

i would assume so, answered Daedalus, sounding a little nervous himself. Gabriel pulled the last of the previous spell off of his shoulders, then sighed.

Well. If this is how she wants to play this game, then fine. Let’s play.

“Access code: Wyvern. User override. ARTEFACT Mode-03, engage.”

The warehouse rippled in the shock of his transformation, caving slightly inward as his ferrokinetic powers spiked, levitating molten iron from the floor, unconsciously. Gabriel landed on the ground in his draconic form, claws raking the ground effortlessly, enlarged Hex-Feathers spreading like great wings behind him.

He raised a hand- or claw- toward the transformed girl, not wasting any time with wordplay before firing a globule of plasma from his palm, streaking toward her.

A sharp toothed grin she sprang up away from the plasma ball, landing gracefully up in the rafters perched preciously above the metal man now a metal dragon. She huffed irritably, “Witches and now metal dragons. However will I survive?” Some of Bach’s sarcasm peeking through.

Laughing, in her open palm seeds sprouted growing within seconds. The mastery over Earth magic was possibly the most convenient feature of possession. Elemental magic often took a fair bit more concentration and power but that was due largely to her skill level. While Bach’s was that of a master.

Stepping off the rafter’s beam she dropped like a tonne of bricks onto Icarus’ back throwing the seeds over the surface.

Gabriel barely felt the transformed magician’s impact as she landed on his back- improved durability was definitely a plus to phasing up in power- but he definitely felt whatever leeches or draining implements she’d tossed onto him, leading to the third time in two days that he noticed his power levels trying to go into freefall.

No, he thought simply, sweeping out a wing and exuding green plasma fire in a wide wave around him, hot enough to re-melt some of the iron on the floor. The roof of the warehouse sagged a little more from the heat. He turned to where the girl had deftly leaped off of him, safely out of range of his plasma wave maneuver, infuriatingly.

”Plants, plants, plants- all I’ve ever seen you do is those leeching spells and plants. Don’t you have anything more original? Come on, mage girl- excite me!!” He punctuated this by raising both clawed hands, launching a particle beam as wide as his shoulders at the girl at blinding speeds.

Ducking throwing her hands over her head a ward bubbled around her bolstered by layers of bark. The plasma cut through the bark like butter but the ward sustained itself, it crumbled again around her at the sheer power of the beam. She thought, troublesome...

As the ward crumbled her right hand glowed blue and her left was green. The mist floated around her casting an illusion next, the Words of Power mixing generously with Bach’s magic.

Several clones, little more than a dozen appeared around the warehouse, all identical to the next. Simultaneously their hands grew as dark as stone, grey and heavy. The hardened hands seemed to flow like water as they lashed out at Icarus. Wrapping around his limbs restraining him for a few seconds, long enough to allow the real Odette to leap again overhead digging her hands into the back of his head. Chanting Words of Power, meaning for her illusions to overpower his mechanical senses.

Gabriel growled viscerally at this invasion, of both his freedom of movement and his mental faculties. The illusions were powerful, even with his senses repeatedly dumping the interference and reloading. He felt the intrusion, like crawling fingers through his psyche. Disgusting, really. He roared, coating his arm in green flame and lightning, ripping it from the now-ashen grasp of the clones, then reaching back for the girl, who, once again, was too quick for him to snatch.

He rolled his eyes, then leapt into the air, where this form had the most advantages, ripping free of the rest of the clones who were trying to restrain him. The air around him pulsed, then rippled, then burst into plasma fire, surrounding him in a corona of verdant energy. He turned back toward the ground, seething in more ways than one.

”You test my patience, fairy girl,” he said, the metal around him warping and distorting from his sheer presence. He reached out with both claws, and the iron splattered around the warehouse flared green, floating up toward him and orbiting around him, warping and heating up as they came in range of his manipulations.

”I didn’t want this to end ugly. But you are pushing me too far!” He slashed a hand down, throwing a burst of semi-molten iron, steel, and other such metals at the mage like an oversized shotgun burst.

Fear quickened in her heart at the sight of the iron, Bach’s overwhelming fear bleeding over into her emotions. She dipped her hands down wrist deep into the concrete pulling it up as a few feet thick wall, it did little to protect her against the burst of metals. It ripped through the cement like wet tissue paper. The semi-formed metal racking Odette’s body leaving ugly marks along her arms and legs while she protected her face.

A sharpened spike embedded in her shoulder, she shouted in pain the iron searing her skin and making her blood weep with poison. Yanking the spear out from her shoulder she concentrated, whispering a spell to pull the iron free from her blood. Left unattended the wound would fester fast and permanently injure both Bach and Odette. Breathing heavily she spoke to distract him, “You keep issuing this threat about being pushed too far, metal man. It rings hollow now that I know what it is you fear.” She had glimpsed a little of his mind when she was rooting through his psyche. Metal or organic a mind was Odette’s playground.

Edging to the side of her concrete wall she looked up at the draconic Icarus, “You are truly afraid of unleashing your full potential. You have a soft little human heart holding you back from wreaking destruction and losing control.” She laughed.

“The witch that helped you today, he lost control.” She began. “I set his own creature against him, breaking a foolish little summoning seal. The Ouroboros he summoned did not take kindly to being forced to abide by his blood. Turned on him the second it was free.” She snapped her fingers for emphasis. “Dead within a few moments.”

Getting a second wind, her shoulder generally healed. The scrapes and burns along her body were dangerous reminders of the drawbacks to possession. Moving away from the edge of the wall her finger traced the Yew tree symbol. It glowed green when she blew on it. Drawing back her fist she punched the wall, spikes of cement shot out by the dozens at Icarus.

Gabriel simply floated in midair, not even flinching as the spikes of cement washed over him, shattering harmlessly against his metallic body. He glared down at the mage girl, though he wasn’t sure she could tell. No matter- the sentiment had already been expressed, and would be again. He clenched his fists, his wings rotating around, pointing their narrow ends at the fairy girl.

”...You claim to know what I fear. And in a way, fairy girl, you are right. I am afraid of… overreaching. Overextending, doing something I can’t take back. But not for my sake- I would survive. I would endure.”

The enlarged Hex-Feathers began to glow brightly, sparks of light descending from them and scorching the ground. More iron and metal was drawn into the orbit of Gabriel’s influence, melted bits of the roof flowing toward him.

”I fear losing control because I could hurt someone- a lot of someones- from using my powers carelessly. I fear out of empathy, not cowardice, which is a preferable state of being to someone like you. And I don’t need to look into your head to know you, mage. You’ve told me enough about your cruelty for me to paint a picture.

“I wanted to avoid fatalities, little fairy girl. But I’ve already screwed that up. One more won’t weigh too heavily on my conscience, least of all someone like you. Goodbye, mage girl- it hasn’t been a pleasure.”

With that, the Hex-Feathers shot out, impaling themselves into the ground in a ring around the magician, sparking briefly before exploding with electricity, electrifying the space between them. As that happened, Gabriel directed his attentions toward the roof, slashing downward with his claws. The roof, already weakened by his antics before, finally came loose, crashing down toward the fae girl’s head.

Fear flitted through her expression, little bits of humanity pushing up through Bach’s fear of iron and her rationalization. It was irritating. The cage of Hex Feathers was impassable while the ground around her feet was splashed generously of iron and steel.

“Zut.”

With only a few lucky seconds to react, extreme desperation forcing her to push past the inherent fear of iron at her feet. Singular Words of Power formed around her hands and she dipped back into the ground coming into direct contact with the iron, the pain immediately apparent. Hissing through her teeth she casted her eyes back up. Light was swallowed up casting the sorceress in the shadows of debris.

The roof came to a spectacular crash around the Hex Feathers, the noise was deafening. The air was filled with dust while the noise slowly filtered out. As more loose debris fell in large pieces settling on the pile of destruction. The air sprites left zipped in and out of the debris calling out for the Ambassador.

Gabriel clenched his claws, which began to recede back into green motes of light as his body shrank to normal sizes. He wasn’t sure if the mage girl was still alive under the debris he’d brought down on her. And frankly, he didn’t care. His Hex-Feathers shrank down to their normal size, extracting themselves from the ruins he’d just made and taking their place in the air around him.

Gabriel stared at the wreckage, contemplating vaporizing the heap with another particle beam, but frankly, there wasn’t much point. For one, there were already more reinforcements headed toward the warehouse, according to the last impressions he’d gotten from the drones outside before they’d been dismissed. Furthermore, whether she was dead or not, she had lost- Gabriel had what he came for. More fighting was merely a distraction from the real priorities here.

However, let it never be said that he couldn’t indulge in some petty taunting every once in a while.

”If you’re still alive down there, little fairy girl… if you can still hear me, wherever you are… then consider this a warning. Stay away from me, and my kind. If there is a next time, I will be far less lenient.” And with that, he sped out of the hole in the roof, just as the mercenary reinforcements converged on the building. A few took potshots at him, but he was very soon far outside of their reach.

sir, we are approaching the forge. awaiting your return.

Thank you, Daedalus. It’s been a long day, for sure, but… we all finally get to go home.

there will be repercussions to these actions, sir. i fear we have made powerful enemies today.

Oh, I know. And if they want to try and make me pay for this, let them. I’ll send ‘em all packing. No one touches my friends and family while I’m around.

if you say so, sir. if you say so...

Location: At the Forge
Time: Several days later after the event at the Ironworks.

Rach held out her arm, watching Gabe take another blood sample to examine. He inserted the needle which barely stung and drew the black blood through the needle, shortly filling tube one by one. The scientist had been doing this for weeks as more information was collected. They both had learned her saturation levels, her blood to nanite ratio, was at about 89% compared to the 35% back at the CDC. A gradual increase thanks to her experience from the kidnapping and seemed to concern Gabe somewhat, or so she thought. There was nothing they could do now as the virus had settled into her genetics and already altered it to something beyond human now.

It was a bit unsettling due to her own inner fears causing her to twitch inside, realizing it wasn’t the nanites causing. As the blood was drawn, her mind summarized the rescue in a nutshell. After Gabe cut her out of the cage, she was passed over to a LEGION drone and immediately taken through the traps, thugs, and worst to the exit. Escape wasn’t easy. After all of them got out, they regrouped at the Red Devil tavern. An unpleasant surprise was waiting there for them. While she didn’t the man, Rach felt guilty he was killed in the attempt to rescue her which seemed to draw a little amusement from the tavern owner. He then delivered something they would all reflect upon in the future. When her thoughts tried to recall, she shrugged it off and shuddered as she noted Gabriel wrapping up his task. When each of the tubes had little more than-than an inch at the bottom, he pulled out the needle and untied the tourniquet at her upper arm. The human computer, as she referred to him, retreated to analyze the substance in one of his machines, letting Rach regenerate her blood.

Rach flexed her muscles a bit. She noted a dark drop well from the puncture then quickly retreat back into her flesh. She shoved her sleeve down over it and stood upright, her feet too restless to remain sitting. When things calmed within Lost Haven, she aimed to investigate into the crime lord that had her kidnapped. Then she would deal with Gene Co.

With that thought in mind, Rach started to punch the heavy and letting the sting melt away the irritation spreading through her.

Jacqueline
Location: Within her own home

Jacqueline’s bedroom mirrored her tastes and habit of pampering herself. She was brushing her hair for what felt like the sixth time that day then rose from the wide, wrought iron vanity near her balcony windows. Her figure paused long enough to snatch up a large profile folder and casually strolled to her bed, her long legs shifted from underneath the red, thigh-long satin robe. Her fingers traced the see-through canopy drapes covering her king size bed before finding the place they parted. Crawling into bed, she wasn’t aiming at sleeping. Instead, she would lucubrate all night then sleep in during the day since her presence wasn’t needed tomorrow, a rarity she aimed to exploit to examine the paperwork in front of her.

Since Ms. Desdemona's disappearance, things had gradually gone from a minor annoyance to a slight headache for Jacqueline Freeman. From Tristan’s collected insight into her ally’s performance during the loss of their property, she was starting to reflect deeply about the Cowl’s worth to her company’s progression. Namely, if her own respect and appreciation of his company were starting to affect her business sense. Her focus was strictly upon how much dependence she held on his muscles, from subtle sabotages over her rivals to collecting intelligence or data, and how well she could recover from each failure.

She picked up the nearest manilla folder and held it open with her palm, her other hand flipping through the documents until she discovered what she was looking for. A large stapled packet detailing the information from the Ironworks event. A few of her men, which was little surprise, had lost their lives during the confrontation. Their bodies cremated then disposed of since according to the world they didn’t exist when they officially entered the Black Project Branch department. It was a requirement and resulted in loyal employees that were easily erased, making it easy for people not to come looking mostly. However, occasionally some spouse or close family member would manage to track the individual down then have to be disposed of. After all, no system was perfect and to expect it to be such was foolish and lazy. In addition to the loss of men, there was the issue of the serum’s progression.

It was fortunate that one of the Cowl had managed to obtain a sample of the woman’s blood for their labs to examine. She let her eyes wander over the lab reports after examining the blood. Though she had done so numerous times and knew the results, it still fascination her over how quickly the virus had changed to ensure its host would survive. Sighing at the loss, she moved onto the overall review concerning her partnership with the Cowl and the history.

The most recent failure had been the most detrimental one to date since she began this little deal. Unlike several local syndicates, he understood the inner works and the difficulty in running a business by one’s self. A fact that made it easier to work with and so, he rarely asked for unreasonable requests. In the sense of things, she viewed the relationship more positively than harmful. A matter that satisfied her mostly.

However, a few board members disagreed highly with her.

In their eyes, the Cowl was a blight that should’ve been removed ages ago from the company’s reputation. What these board members failed to understand was the fact without an illegal source to test their products at their most critical and out of lab situations, there was no way to accurately determine what needed improving. At least her way prevented a direct trace back to Gene Co as long as the Cowl did his job correctly.

Her face frowned, creating slight creases around her mouth as she spied the Salamander file. It was a reminder that her buyers would be expecting a new ‘model’ of SES soon and she couldn’t quite deliver due to losing the host. All she could do was delay until the Cowl located and retrieved Ms. Desdemona (or at least a piece of her) then shipped it back to Gene Co. While Jacqueline preferred the subject alive, she had informed the Cowl that Ms. Desdemona being unharmed was no longer necessary and likely safer for his men. Shipping the woman in pieces, with her brain was kept alive by machines or other means was perfectly acceptable. To aid in the recapture, despite his failings, Jacqueline provided a large shipment of nine crates filled with the meta suppressant improved by the blood sample received. If any meta, similar source, or Ms. Desdemona were hit by the suppressant than any offensive abilities would be nulled for a good six hours which would give the Cowl or herself a window of opportunity.

For now… it was only a waiting game until Ms. Desdemona cropped up again within Lost Haven.

“Well, I guess it’s time for you to head back home.” Will finally admitted. We had been sitting on a bench right outside of his apartment for maybe a half an hour. We just talked about whatever was on our minds, just to delay this moment. “Especially since you’re going to have to travel halfway across the country to get home.”

“I guess so.” I said to him. Even as we stood up, the two of us still dawdled there. It was like one of those times when you were a little kid when you would ask your parents for ‘just ten more minutes’ before you had to go to bed.

“Maybe we should do something like this again.” He suggested as he peered at the ground, although he looked back at me when he spoke again. “But maybe something more exciting than church, like putt putt or a baseball game or something.”

“Church was fine. I’m just glad someone in our generation is still going to church”

Before either of us knew it, instead of walking away on our separate paths, we instead had been inching towards one another. If this had been a few months ago, I probably would have already leapt back by now. However, something inside me, some passion, drove me forward to meet his lips long before he got to 90 percent or whatever number that silly Will Smith movie suggested.

It only lasted a couple of seconds, but it nevertheless felt as if my heart was fluttering in my breast as each second melted away. When it had ended, Will’s face was redder than the color of my costume. I had noticed that he was acting pretty skittish throughout our date, probably because he was working so hard not to screw something up, at least in his mind. I can’t imagine how he felt after kissing the girl he has had a crush on since God knows when. Probably better if I don’t find out.

“OOOOOOOHHHHHHHH” Someone from one of the upper floors of Will’s apartment had shouted out of his window, “SOMEBODY’S GETTING LAID TONIGHT!”

“No you’re not.”

“I don’t know that person.” He quickly replied in order to defend himself. “And I’m not that sex obsessed. No, I mean I’m not sex obsessed.”

I didn’t think it was possible, but after that little slip of the tongue, Will’s face turned into an even darker shade of red. Things must have felt as if they were going so well for him until that moment.

“GET ‘ER DONE, WILL! GET ‘ER DONE!” After that comment from whoever was shouting from the upper section of the apartment, I could tell that all that Will had wanted to do was to curl up and hide under a rock or something. Just so that he would not melt where he was standing, I gave him a quick hug.

“Text me?” Will just nodded, learning from his first mistake so that he would not put his foot in his mouth again. We walked back to the entrance to his apartment, where we finally went our separate ways.

Before Athena had dropped me off, she had designated a location where she was going to pick me up. She had selected a spot that had enough trees and buildings would block most bystander’s vision so that their little disappearing act would not be such a spectacle. As soon as I arrived there, Athena instantly appeared before me.

“It’s time to go.” I could tell from Athena’s voice that she was still not enthralled by the idea of this little excursion. And since Will and I dawdled for a while, she did have some reason to be a little impatient. But for all the crazy things that she has gotten me into, I think I deserve it.

“I guess…” Looking over my shoulder, I sighed. I felt this unsettling sensation in my stomach that was like being both hungry and full at the same time. However, my heart almost skipped a beat when I saw someone running towards us.

“Wait!” The voice said from a distance. I wasn’t so much fearful of who was approaching, but rather what Athena might do if someone other than me discovered her existence. Sure, she revealed herself to Icon, but I would assume that there could be some doubt that she’s just another metahuman fighting the good fight. But considering her track record in Greek Mythology, I would be fearful of what she would do to a regular bystander who happened to walk on us.

“You forgot,” Will stopped to catch his breath, since he had been frantically searching for me, “your purse???”

He was bewildered to see that the Greek Goddess of Wisdom was standing there before him. Just to be on the safe side, I immediately leaped in between them, just in case Athena was about ready to do something rash, like blind him or even turn him into a girl or something.

“Let’s just stay calm so no one does anything we’ll later regret.”

“Athena was always my favorite god in Greek Mythology she always seemed to be able to keep herself above the usual bickering that the others would do I would always pick you in the Classical Age even though Hermes was technically the better choice I don’t know why I blabbering like this but it is not because I scared silly, even though I am.”

For the first time, I saw the goddess’ sternness washing away from her face. I could not quite decide whether that was a good thing or not, but for the moment now, I guess it was. “I guess if he can keep quiet about this, he has nothing to fear.”

Nothing like a veiled threat hidden in an attempt to seem generous. But I’m not surprised at all.

“So, I still have those fortunes from lunch. Do you want me to keep them?” Will asked me. However, this comment made Athena raise her eyebrow.

“Didn’t you go to a Greek restaurant?”

“For some bizarre reason, they were handing them out.”

Athena immediately snatched the two small scraps of paper out of Will’s hand and began to read through them.

“I see she is still trying to rub in that whole Judgement of Paris fiasco in my face. But guess who won the Trojan War.” She straightaway pointed at herself, since the Achaean forces were able to capture and plunder Troy. “But this second one is quite precarious.”

“I don’t know. It sounded like a fancy way of saying Don’t Drink and Drive”

“On the contrary.” Athena corrected me, “It is the prophecy that was given to Aegeus when he was having troubles begetting children. I really hope you two are bright enough to connect the dots here.”

“But those things are just fake fortunes that restaurants print out as their little gimmick.”

“Then test it at your own risk.” Athena bluntly told us. “But now we must go. We have delayed long enough.”

I turned to say one last word to Will. However, when I did rotate around, I realized that I was back in my room, alone. She wasn’t kidding about being in a hurry. Sometimes that woman just drives me crazy. But one question stuck in my head.

What have I gotten myself into?

"Ungh."



"Huaahnnt?"



Unconsciously it became clear to Might that the noise was that of a heart monitor, but the question remained. Why was he hearing a heart monitor? Wasn't he just passed out for a nap after saving What's-His-Name? Why was there a tube in his throat?

It was an almost comically fast opening of his eyes as the realization struck him. That wasn't just some short nap, he'd been carted off to the hospital. 'Oh god, please tell me I've only been out a few hours.' He sat bolt upright and searched the room with his eyes, looking for some kind of calendar. A shudder ran up his body when he found one. It had been more than a few hours.

That's an understatement.

He snapped his fingers when he remembered the man's name. 'Joheness Burgess.' Then immediately his mind focused at the problem at hand, he was a very recognizable face in a very unknown hospital. He had no idea where he was, and right now he probably owed thousands in medical bills.

Thump thump. Went the man's heart when the pain of sitting upright finally caught up with him, those proximity burns were long healed up but painfully sore. Thin pink skin where once burns had been were aggravated by the sudden movement, as one's wounds are want to do when you move for the first time after being unconscious.

The next few moments were frantic scrambling from his bed to find the nearest bathroom, unhooking all of the wires and tubes from his body as he pulled away from them. Just before reaching the bathroom he tore the tube from his throat in one incredibly and smooth tug. Moments afterwards he was on his knees by the toilet heaving his guts up, a sight the nurses were none to happy to walk in on as panicked as they were.

When he had pulled away, he triggered the heart monitor to release that droning 'EEEEEEEEEEE!" indicative of a flatline. As he vomited he tried to apologize, only to be interrupted by another wave. Being fed through a tube never really sits well, on top of that was pain and confusion. It was no wonder he couldn't keep the liquid lunch down.

It was a few minutes, a cleanup, and a redressing later when Might finally was ready to actually accomplish anything today. Might, the mightiest hero of all was on a quest to. . .

Talk to the receptionist and see what his bill was.

Eva had decided that she needed to return home, too many hours had passed since she left to join the fight against the Mad Doctor in the midst of world changing events of terrorism. Numerous missed calls from her Aunt filled her phone's’ screen; hectic texts for her worried Aunt. Knowing that she couldn’t explain she ran off to fight crime she simply lied. With the deftness expected of a typical teenager her text was short but to the point.



Aunt Briley rarely dug deeper than that but she still felt she would have questions once she got home from work. But however fast Aunt Briley was Eva could still pop home before she even knew she was gone. Clever right. Sometimes this teleporting door thing can be useful, but first Arthur and Merlin were waiting for her return. Out in the abandoned field where the Doctor's’ facility was there lay a half broken section of wall with a door yet clinging to it’s hinges despite the derelict building crumbling around it. Her ring allowed for this lone door to have purpose once more as it opened unto the expansive Library. “You did well, for the most part, although the Drider woman would likely feel differently.” Merlin said her nose deep into various maps spread across the table while an Orb floated just to her side. As Eva stepped further into the room dust began to flow past her feet and into a corner. As if the room was beginning to clean itself.

Arthur floated in from a back room alit with dozens of candles. “It would seem Excalibur was having difficulty discerning who the Spider imposter was. Naught much we can do about that nevertheless you performed excellently. Your form was nigh perfect, you left yourself open a time or two but that was to be expected when dealing with that shapeshifter.”

“Made a few contacts,” Eva said referring to Thunderbolt and Boom, and the White Witch. “Hopefully I can start looking into the murder of my friends.”

“And while you do that.” Merlin interjected.”We’ll be tracking down magical anomalies and artifacts. Anything that could help us as it were.”

“Sure, I guess but it doesn’t help me find this Shock Jockey. Anyways need to get back home, and do something with this.” She said holding up Dickens.

“That. Is your problem.” Merlin monotonly said. “I’ll be here researching for now.”

Eva stashed the diminutive Dickens into her hoodie’s pockets and after reaching the door opened it revealing her room. As she settled in for the next few hours until her Aunt came home from work.

The house was quiet, Dickens lay curled up by Eva’s bed as she worried what she could do with him before her Aunt pulls up, but as she dug through her closet looking to hide Dickens there it was; a group selfie of her deceased friends stashed away in the corner. Eva stopped and sat staring at it before she was stirred by a car pulling into the driveway. “Shite. I still don’t know what I plan on doing with you.” She said with a sigh; standing up her hoodie falls to the floor as Eva walked across the dark blue carpet towards the window to see her Aunt walk out of her car holding a bag of groceries a giant bundle of celery sticking out the top. “This seems Dodgy.” Eva said as she changed out of her dirty top and slipped on a white shirt with a red cross running down the entire length of it.

Eva hoofed it downstairs leaving the tuckered out Dickens to sleep in her room, as she greeted her Aunt Briley at the door. ”Hey. Crazy day yeah. Bloody dangerous outside.”

“More some for those Heroes who had to unravel this mess. Like a certain Monster toting sword wielder.”

Eva choked up as Briley could hear her throat swallow a lump. ”I. Yeah, I guess. I should probably head off to Bed, yeah.”

A hand stopped her just as Eva turned to head upstairs. ”I”m in Bloody hot water ain’t I.”

“Quite. Young Lady. Into the Kitchen with you, picking up Vigilantism isn’t what I had in mind when I wanted you to do something with your life. There’ll be much to talk about, but first dinner.”

Ramsey sat at an intersection the low humming of his car’s engine and his furious tapping of the dash were drowned out amidst the honking of Motorists trying to feverishly speed away even as they remained locked in gridlock as numerous cars tried to get away. If Ramsey had listened to the news, the Metahuman Nightmare had begun making his move yet again and people were not willing to wait around to be viciously murdered. And it wasn’t until a Blur came speeding by through the air, most wouldn’t had seen it, and Ramsey himself barely caught a glimpse of it but he saw enough. “Icon” he muttered with bated breath. Ramsey hopped out of his car and picked it up carrying it like a boulder until he stashed it down an alley. “Whatever Icon’s up to it’s gonna be a whole lot better than hanging round here, besides I got a few tricks I wanna try out, maybe on Ol Blue Wonder or whatever he’s racing towards.”

Bounding after him over the cars packing the roads leading away from Nightmare’s latest attack Ramsey continued in the direction he had last seen Icon flying towards unsure how far he’d have to travel, thankfully he wasn’t far off from the action only four blocks away from the biggest fight he’ll see for some time as he slid through the street as Icon was floating intimidatingly, failing to come to a complete stop his right smashed into the side of a SUV but he remained largely unharmed.

Icon and Lyger both looked to Iron Knight and his passenger. Icon nodded in acknowledgement to his statement but wasted little time in going after Nightmare, while Lyger looked to end things with Bathory. The last time Lyger had met this woman, he had been hesitant to hit her, however, due to the new allegiances she has formed since their last meeting, that would no longer be an issue.

The bloodthirsty young woman focused on the shattered remnants of her demonic metallic constructs, and as she did so, the shards began to levitate and take on the same demonic shapes as the previous constructs. However, before she could direct them at any targets, Lyger bounded toward her, landing a hard right hand across her jaw, knocking her to the ground. She hit the ground with a thud, and with her mental connection to the constructs broken, they fell harmlessly to the concrete.

“Stay down.” Lyger told her as he bound her hands with a set of cuffs, then set out to face off with the skeletal figure known as Cannibal King.

Dennis, feeling somewhat overwhelmed and underqualified for this fight with only limited training in his role as the next Aquilifer, decided to focus on keeping the crowd safe from the powerhouse fight that was beginning to break out. Using the Golden Rod he scooped away bystanders with basic energy constructs and attempted to lend a hand with brief shields and blasts where he saw necessary.

This was tough enough for him. It turns out superhuman fights happen extremely fast, and his reflexes still weren't fast enough that he could lend an efficient hand instinctively.

“Aquilifer?! I thought you died?” One of the people asked as Dennis, unaware that he was referring to his brother. The Golden Rod had always had a way of protecting the identity of its wielder.

“I got better.” Dennis mumbled back.

“What was that?”

“Don't worry about it.” He said, as he dropped the citizen off behind cover and flew back into the fray.

He'd have to work on his banter. Or at least speak up with it, apparently. Nothing about this came easily to the younger Connolly.

In the center of the square, the corpse-like being Nightmare stood among the carnage and watched as the arriving heroes confronted his minions. The demonic monstrosity felt a great sense of satisfaction in the destruction he and his compatriots had wrought upon the city. He also felt something that he hadn’t felt in generations as he watched the heroes descend upon his family.

Excitement.

Suddenly, a blue and silver streak flashed in his periphery, and before he knew it, the familiar form of Lost Haven’s hero, Icon floated before him several feet off of the ground. The mere sight of the hero standing before you would be enough to cause many to give up their cause, if only temporarily. However, a toothy grin spread across his decaying face, as he saw a second chance to put an end to the hero.

“I was wondering if I’d ever see you again.” Nightmare said with confidence. “Our last encounter did not end well for you.”

In fact, the last time Icon had met Nightmare, he was overmatched in his weakened state. After having spent several days in a sensory deprivation chamber and having his powers sapped by the Valor Institute, Icon was in no condition to confront the demon in the first place. Nightmare had inflicted injuries on Icon that would take days to heal. However, try as he might, Nightmare was not able to break the hero, and that never set well with him.

“That was then." Icon told him. “I’d love to see you try that again." Icon said just before he rocketed toward the undead killer.

“I see that our battle plan is ‘attack’. I can work with that.” Chris said as both Icon and Lyger had immediately confronted Nightmare’s allies. Since Lyger and Icon had picked out the Cannibal King and Nightmare as their targets, it looked like Soulfire was the only one remaining for Chris to target. While Bathory was still alive and well, Chris thought that their newcomer could deal with her.

Once his armor’s targeting system had locked onto the fiery woman, Chris let fly a missile that rushed towards her direction. Chris would normally not use quite that much lethal force against human criminals, but these guys were playing for keeps. The kid gloves were definitely not an option here. However, when the rocket zeroed in on her position, Soulfire just waved her hand and the flying projectile disintegrated in a burst of flames before it could hit its mark.

“That was cute.” She taunted the Iron Knight, “Let me show you some real firepower.”

In seconds, Soulfire launched a wall of flames that darted towards him. As it billowed in his direction, the flames expanded until it would have engulfed the armored hero entirely, if he, or rather his armor’s computer systems, had not activated his personal shielding. However, even though it was protecting him at the moment, Chris did not know for how long it could resist Soulfire’s barrage of fire. At that moment, Chris began to regret not letting the Aquilifer take Soulfire on.

Radiance didn’t know what she was doing.

She had seen the massacre in Little Ulster on television and rushed out to do something. The fact was that she hadn’t yet recovered from the beating that she had taken during the fight with Dr. Diplodoc’s henchmen in West Virginia, and she shouldn’t be doing what she was about to do, but she couldn’t just stand there and do nothing. So she got into costume and headed out to stop Nightmare and his gang. It was an act that she thought would no doubt get her killed, but she just HAD to do something. Her ribs ached, her knee was swollen and her back felt like it was on fire, but she was determined to do what she could to stop the carnage once and for all.

As she approached Central Avenue, she could see that other heroes had already beaten her to the scene of the slaughter. She could make out Icon, who was going toe to toe with a big rotting corpse, who she assumed was Nightmare himself. Lyger was taking on another of the nightmarish figures. There were two other people that she hadn’t seen before, and Iron Knight was doing battle with a woman who looked to have the upper hand on him.

A lump formed in her throat as she watched the woman practically engulf Iron Knight in some sort of flame that she was manufacturing from her hands. She was out of her league and she knew it. During the conflict in West Virginia, she had been given the beating of her life, and this woman was clearly a step above anything that they had faced there.

What am I doing here? She thought to herself.

Then, as she made her final approach, all of her self doubt melted away, and she unleashed a chain of lightning unlike anything that she had ever managed before, and struck the woman square in the back, sending her tumbling to the ground.

“Looks like you boys could use a hand.” Radiance said to Iron Knight, mustering all the confidence that she could manage.

“I totally had that under control.” Chris said even though it was quite to the contrary of the actual situation, “Or at least eventually it would have been.”

Chris then planted the sole of his foot into the back of Soulfire. He drew his sword, driving it into the ground just inches away from her face.

“I would stay down if I were you.

“Who to fight, who to fight.” Ramsey said as he finally walked into the fray right behind Radiance. “Lookin a little weak kneed there girly. But so many heavy hitters, and a scary looking dude with a ass for a face. I almost can’t decide If I should punch them or you all.” With a mischievous smile Ramsey tore out the nearest parking meter and hurled it like a javelin towards Nightmare. “I suppose I’ll focus on that big guy over there, out of everyone here, he looks the most fun to fight. I’ll leave fire gal to you Iron Princess.”

Ramsey said as his foot tore through the asphalt and he propelled himself towards the big nasty himself with the strength capable of knocking Icon to his ass landing a solid hit in the process. How much it affected Nightmare Ramsey did not know.

“How could this day get any worse?”

Nightmare was staggered from the mighty blow that the newcomer had landed, but it was due more to the surprise of the interloper than anything else. The macabre maniac soon steadied himself and looked to Icon, and then the interloper and a grin crossed his decaying face.

“Isn’t that nice, fresh meat.” Nightmare taunted as Icon swung at his head with a wild roundhouse right. However, the punch did not connect. Nightmare’s form began to darken and take on a wispy, cloud-like form, which caused Icon’s fist to pass harmlessly through the villain’s head. No sooner had Icon’s blow missed its mark, did Nightmare return the favor, hitting Icon hard in the gut with a powerful kick that launched him into the side of a parked news van several dozen yards away.

Nightmare turned to face Ramsey, and as he did so the shadowy killer’s body shifted and changed, and then what could only be described as a wall of shadow emerged from his arms, assaulting the intruder like a powerful torrent of blackness. At first Ramsey tried to resist, but fighting against the assault was much like fighting against raging floodwaters, and he too was soon overtaken by the darkness.

There was a crack as Ramsey sent a wave of electricity stored within his body radiating outward, every living being created electricity few had the proper ion channels to reverse the polarization and thus emit any substantial shock and while the thundering clap that shook windows gave Ramsey a moment of respite from the encroaching darkness it was not something he could keep up. “Whoa there.” He said as he took the second to jump back. “No getting intimate on the first date.” Shit guess a brute force assault ain’t effective against his type.

Bathory watched from her spot on the pavement as Icon and newest interloper battled Nightmare, while the Iron Knight, the electromancer, yet another unknown interloper and the hated Lyger battled her brother and sister, Cannibal King and Soulfire. The heroes certainly appeared to have the upper hand. She seethed as she watched her family get beaten back by the heroes while she was unable to do anything to help them.

Then there was a sudden realization, followed by a brief moment of amusement.

When Lyger had subdued her, he had used metal handcuffs to bind her, and that could be used to her advantage. She closed her eyes and began to concentrate on her bindings which began to shift and move. Within moments, the binding pulled themselves apart, freeing her arms in the process. The cuffs then came back together and began to twist and mold themselves until they resembled smaller versions of the larger demonic constructs that had been destroyed earlier in the battle. She then got to her feet and directed the constructs toward Lyger and the others.

Dennis had gotten all of the visible people off the streets. Unseen people in buildings and bigger vehicles might be possible, but would take too much time to safely check and evacuate. He couldn't run from it anymore. It was time to get directly involved. There was another struggling young hero he could sense was a little out of her depth as well. He'd had to throw a few more energy shields her way than any of the others, but she seemed to have tremendous power if given enough time to “charge up”.

Making a snap decision he decided to help her out. Maybe the two could be far more effective helping each other out, than they were struggling on alone. Dennis landed next to her and concentrated to use the Golden Rod, making a solid energy sphere around them both.

“You want to…” his words came through gritted teeth as he concentrated to hold up the shield against heavy attack “...see if you can light up tall... dark and smoggy over there.” he grunted. “They seem to be having trouble laying fists on him.” he opened up a hole in the spherical construct to create a clear path for attack, before turning his attention to a strangely dressed female fighting by Nightmare’s side.

“Right.” Radiance said as she turned her focus toward the source of all the fear panic that had haunted the city for weeks, and then sent a single bolt of lightning dancing toward the nightmarish menace, striking it in the chest. She held the assault on Nightmare, increasing the power of the bolt of electricity until it was not just a single bolt, but a chain of pure blue electricity that struck the undead demon, bringing Nightmare to a knee.

Just as she was beginning to pour it on, she she felt a sudden, crushing pain in her side as something hit her hard from behind, sending her crashing to the ground. When she looked up, she saw Cannibal King standing over her with a broken stop sign post in his hands.

“Now, what do you say we have some fun?” He said as he stepped toward her.

Cannibal King reached down and grabbed Radiance by the throat and lifted her into the air, before slamming her hard into the concrete. She lay there stunned, gasping as she tried to regain her breath, her body racked with pain from the sudden and brutal attack. She rolled over to her stomach and tried to force herself up, however, a bony fist impacted her jaw, knocking her face down into the street.

“Is that...all you’ve got?” She asked, spitting blood before meeting her attacker’s gaze.

As Chris turned to face the metal constructs that Bathory had created, he began to hear numerous creaking noises originating from his armor. Before Chris knew it, his armor began to collapse into itself due to Bathory’s Metallokinesis, just as if it were an automobile being smashed in a car crusher. Chris would have been just a mangled mess of flesh and bones, if Aphrodite had not been keenly watching over her avatar. Invisible to the combatants below, the daughter of Zeus swooped down and ripped Chris out of his compromised mechanical suit and shrouded the immediate vicinity with a thick mist.

“Wait-- Noooo!” the Aquilifer yelled, thinking he'd seen another hero die. He threw up an energy construct where he was, but the suit was now scrap.

Chris was bewildered once this whole ordeal was complete. One moment, he was helping the other heroes of Lost Haven combat Nightmare and his allies. The next, he was sitting on his bed in his quarters at Sherman Center. He had no idea how he had been teleported back to Sherman Center, let alone that some divine intervention saved him. However, Chris knew that a victory over Nightmare and his followers would not have been that easy. There was still a fight going on and he needed to get back out there. Chris was fortunate that he still had a spare set of armor that was left over after he built an upgraded version.

I wonder if we have any tranquilizer darts laying around here. Chris thought to himself as he scrambled to get himself ready to rejoin the fray.

Meanwhile, back in Little Ulster, the fight between the heroes of Lost Haven and Nightmare’s allies raged on.

“Blue Wonder! Looks like Iron Princess over there got crushed like a tin can, I say that however there’s a distinct lack of blood. Our Dance Partners are no joke with this one here having an aversion to lightning or maybe more the light aspect. Don’t know. I’m inclined to try them both again but Lightning Gal is a little indisposed at the moment.”

Ramsey gauged the distance between him and the Goon standing over Radiance; the gap was too far to cover without this Nightmare thing possibly butting in. An Idea struck right out of the pages from a Comic. “Hey Blue, how about a Fastball Special?”

Icon hit Nightmare in the face with an energy blast, which staggered the wraith-like madman. Then he looked to the newcomer who had called to him. He had been so focused on Nightmare, that he had lost track of the others. He couldn’t see Iron Knight, and Lyger and the newcomer with the staff were dealing with Soulfire. Then he saw Radiance, with Cannibal King standing over her seemingly sizing her up to finish her off. He nodded at the newcomer and dashed toward him, grabbing him and throwing him directly at Cannibal King, striking the skeletal murderer square in the back, knocking him from his feet.

Icon used the distraction to swoop in and grab Radiance. He looked down at her as he held her in his arms, and realized just how badly she had been beaten. Her mask had been knocked off, and blood oozed from the corner of her mouth. He suspected that she may have suffered internal injuries, but had no way to know for sure. He set down at the edge of the battle, hoping that he had created enough distance for her to recover or flee.

“You’ll be alright.” He told her before rocketing back toward Nightmare.

“Thanks for the save.” Radiance said as she watched him zoom away while she tried to regain her bearings.

“Excuse me for butting in, but my last dance partner was a little too grabby. I like a few dates before we get intimate yah know.” As Icon did his Hero thing Ramsey spoke back, “Get that Lighting Gal to do what she does best while she’s in the back lines.”

As Ramsey looked back towards the Cannibal King he spoke mockingly.”Shame wanted a crack at your boss back over there, what was your name Cabbage Patch? We haven’t been introduced, names’ Ares. Not that it’ll matter much to you. Now how’s about I,” as Ramsey spoke he dashed in with his fist while he was down. “Introduce you to my right hook. Unlike Ol’ Blue I ain’t got no Hero like qualities to hold me back, so we can go all out what ya say Cabbage Patch.”

Nightmare was not prepared for the quickness or ferocity of Icon’s attack. If he had been, he would have made himself immaterial and allowed the hero’s fists to pass harmlessly through him. However, being taken by surprise allowed Icon not only make contact with the demonic killer, but the attack caused Nightmare to feel something he hadn’t felt in several lifetimes.

Pain.

Icon was unrelenting, hitting Nightmare with a flurry of punches and energy blasts that originated from the hero’s hands. The furious attack knocked Nightmare to the ground,and left him struggling to get up. The attack had weakened Nightmare, in an effort at self preservation, the fiend attempted to shift into his back, smokey form in order to flee, however, he was not able to do so. Unable to flee, barely able to stand,Nightmare found himself in a position that he had truly never been in before...fight, or perish. Only in this instance, to fight meant certain death.

The devilish fiend used all his might to stand, and when he achieved this feat, a toothy grin crossed his decomposed face as he knew without a doubt, that he would soon grind the corpses of those who opposed him into dust. He then closed his eyes and began focusing on those who held a piece of him within them, his allies...his closest friends.

His family.

Bathory closed in on Lyger, determined to make the vigilante pay for humiliating her yet again. She had thought herself invincible due to her relationship with her new family, yet once again he had proven that just a fantasy. Now, in this moment, she would finally have her vengeance. Except, for Bathory, that moment would never come. Instead, she was completely overwhelmed with pain as she could feel her body being pulled apart, almost on an atomic level. Her skin became an ashen pale color as her body began to change into a strange substance which most closely resembled dried clay, which then began to crumble away as it was drawn to the monster which had enhanced her powers in the first place, Nightmare. The process made the demonic killer stronger, and was repeated twice more, as he absorbed the very life force of his two oldest allies, Cannibal King and Soulfire. To Nightmare, their sacrifices were a small price to pay for ensuring his victory over his enemies.

“Now you see…”Nightmare said, his very voice shaking the foundations of the buildings surrounding the battlefield. “That I cannot fall. Now you know why those that I have let live to serve me feared me more than the wrath of their gods.” Nightmare continued, standing to his full height which now was more than seven feet tall.

“Now you know that I am eternal.” He finished.

“Let’s test that theory.” Icon said as the heroes gathered to face the reinvigorated madman.

Almost if he had timed it on purpose, Iron Knight, now dressed in his back-up armor, leaded beside his fellow heroes.

“Alright, where’s that chick who can manipulate metal? She wrecked one extremely expensive piece of equipment and I have a nice little tranq dart here to…”

Dennis looked stunned. The Iron Knight was still alive and well. And cracking jokes! Nobody else seemed surprised though, and remembering the tales his grandfather would tell of near misses and close shaves he began to realize this kind of thing must happen all the time. Another thing which he couldn't seem to get used to just naturally.

At this moment, Chris realized that the only villain standing before them was an even larger version of Nightmare. Obviously, he must had missed something extremely important while he was gone, although it probably was for the best so that he did not have to see Nightmare absorb his other allies into himself.

“Well, I supposed dumping a bunch of tranq darts into him will do much, right?”

“Welcome back princess. Nightmare here fed off of all the little guys, and just after my Cabbage Patch comment too. Well. I’ll never know if that Cannibal guy liked it. Right now I’m peeved, so I’m going to use him like a punching bag.”

“Go ahead. We’ll be right behind you, after a few rounds that is.” Chris gestured with both hands towards Nightmare.

“Don’t mind if I do then.” Ramsey said barreling towards Nightmare building up his strength arm pulled back so that he can move into a high powered jab. As he closed what distance there was he unloaded everything into a single punch, using all the momentum he gathered speeding over grinning as it connected with the giant. Unsure of what it would do to the monster, although positive he would be able to knock him over.

“Well, that was easy. So, how long should we wait until we jump in, too?” However, Chris’ comment only drew blank stares from his fellow allies. “It was a joke, guys. Can’t anyone take a joke these day?”

Icon didn’t wait a moment longer. He charged headlong toward Nightmare, landing several hard punches that knocked the maniac back several steps. However, the attack seemed to do very little to slow the monster down. Nightmare’s massive form began to turn into a black mist-like state, while his arms grew to be proportionally much larger than they had been moments before. The killer grabbed Icon around the waist with his over-sized fist and slammed the hero hard into the pavement. He then picked the blue and silver clad hero up again and smashed his body into Ramsey, much like a batter would swing a baseball bat at a fastball, and sent him careening into the side of an abandoned news van.

Lyger knew that he had to do something, but he was not sure what he could do against a threat such as Nightmare. He had just watched the demonic mass murderer dispose of both Ramsey and Icon. He wondered to himself exactly what he hoped to accomplish against this monster.

Maybe I can buy them some time. Lyger thought to himself as he stepped toward the demon. However, as he got closer to Nightmare, something unexpected began to happen. A yellow energy slowly began to engulf his body, the glowing energy seemed to grow stronger with each step that he took toward the maniac.

Addy’s anti-demon charm. He suddenly remembered the spell that his ex girlfriend had imbued him with on the night that they had discovered each other’s secret identities.

Lyger quickened his pace as he approached Nightmare, drawing the demon’s attention. Nightmare reached back with his left arm and when he brought it forward, several shadow-like daggers shot forth directed at the felinesque hero, however, when they made contact with the glowing yellow shield, they simply dissipated. Shocked by what he saw, Nightmare began swinging his massive arms at Lyger, however, each time they would make contact with him, they to would dissipate like smoke being blown into the air, only to reform.

“I told you…” Lyger said as he continued toward the villain, extending his claws. “That I was going to end you.” He finished as he leapt toward the massive madman. As Lyger sunk his claws into Nightmare’s shoulders, the yellow field that engulfed him intensified and grew, encircling the both of them. Lyger locked eyes with Nightmare, and for the moment that he stared into the hollow sockets that passed as Nightmare’s eyes, there was a strange sense of quiet, of peacefulness. Then after what felt like an eternity, but in reality only amounted to seconds, the yellow aura exploded around them.

When the dust settled, Lyger stood face to face with Nightmare, who seemed transfixed on the young hero.

“What...what did you do to me?” He asked. For the first time in his existence, Nightmare was terrified.

“I kept my promise, you son of a bitch.” Lyger said as he bounded away from the killer. As he got clear of Nightmare, something felt different. He no longer felt the presence of Adeline’s charm within him, and it was in that moment that he knew that it was gone, having been expended when he came into contact with Nightmare.

“Take him down, before he recovers!” Lyger yelled to his allies.

“Hit him with everything you’ve got!” Icon shouted as a blue energy crackled around his fists, just before he assaulted Nightmare with a sustained energy blast.

“You don’t have to tell me twice!” Since he was now in a different suit of armor, Chris’ energy pila was immediately ready for his disposal. Just like he had done against the Cannibal King, Chris hurled the projectile straight towards Nightmare, striking the murderer in the center of the chest. The impact of the energy weapon caused Nightmare to take a step or two back.

Radiance stepped forward and stood shoulder to shoulder with Icon and Iron Knight, and as she did so, she joined the heroes’ assault by striking Nightmare with several massive bolts of lightning. Then, as the others poured on the attack, she pulled back. Radiance closed her eyes and began to focus on every electrical device in the area. Even with her eyes closed, she could “see” the electrical currents that ran through everything within Central Avenue. She could sense the electrical currents that ran from the overhead power lines that lined the area, to the circuit breakers inside. As she reached out with her senses, she could see and feel every wire that lined every apartment building and retail store, the underground wires that ran beneath her feet, she could even feel the charges in the batteries within each vehicle that lined the streets. She was even aware of the currents that ran through the circuits of Iron Knight’s power suit. This was the moment that she realized that she was able to consciously decide what sources to tap into and draw from, and which sources not to. With Iron Knight’s suit of armour being the sole exception, she drew upon it all. Just overhead, an electrified blue cloud began to form as she collected the energy from the area into a single source of power.

Once she had collected enough energy overhead, she unleashed it. A massive bolt of electricity struck the ground, and slowly began moving toward Nightmare. As the bolt drew closer to him, it overturned cars and damaged buildings as the single massive bolt grew in size. As it approached Nightmare, it had expanded from a single large bolt, to what only could be described as a wall of electricity, which scarred the ground and destroyed everything in its path. Nightmare let out a great cry as the wall of electricity struck him right where the Iron Knight’s energy pilum was. He writhed in pain as he could feel his insides frying from the power of the attack. To Nightmare, it felt as if his joints were being pulled from their sockets as his limbs were broken.Though it was an effective attack,Radiance struggled to maintain it. She began to sweat, and her arms became heavy and her legs wobbly as she held the wall of electricity on her target; until finally, she could no longer hold it. Her knees buckled as the wall of electricity dissipated, and she found herself in a crouching position, unable to stand. In fact, she was so drained from the attack, she could barely even hold her head up to watch as her allies continued to bombard Nightmare.

The heroes’ attack threatened to completely overwhelm Nightmare. The demonic killer knew that he had to do something, or perish. While the bombardment persisted, Nightmare’s body began to change. He became somewhat less corporeal as his upper body began to transform into a smoky black mist. He began to push back against the heroes’ attack, the darkness that emanated from his body repelled the energy attacks that had assaulted him. Nightmare put everything he had in a last ditch effort to overcome his foes. His darkness spread outward toward the heroes,not only beating back their assault but threatening to overtake them.

“Don’t quit now. Keep pushing!” Icon said as he intensified the power of the energy blasts that he used to punish Nightmare. Nightmare had proven to be much more than a typical enemy, and so Icon had been forced dig deeper and use his powers in a way that he had never had to before.

For the first time in his life, Icon didn’t need to hold back.

As he pushed against the darkness, Icon stepped toward Nightmare, blasting away at the killer’s attack, forcing the darkness to retreat back toward its source. As Icon advanced on Nightmare, the others also increased their assault, striking Nightmare with an unprecedented show of force. The Aquilifer dropped another energy construct over them all. With it set, he then began toshrink the sphere.

“There's nowhere you can hide. Not from us. Not this light. Not this fight.” Dennis heard himself say, in a voice he barely recognized as his own. The beast was trapped and weakened in a cage that couldn't be escaped.

Nightmare tried to push back against the heroes, however, he was losing. The darkness that he had attempted to overwhelm the heroes with was itself being turned back toward him. With each passing second, Nightmare grew weaker. His power stores had been depleted and he had very little fight left in him. He knew that for the first time, he had been defeated. Yet, he did not give up. He continued to fight until he could fight no more, and he was overcome by the heroes’ assault.

Nightmare could feel it from within. The unrelenting energy that the heroes had assaulted him with were reminiscent of the purging fires that had long been the bane of his kind. Nightmare was burning from within, and those fires were beginning to make themselves known. Small bursts of flame exploded from Nightmare’s body, first his chest and arms. Then the fire began to burn from within his own head.

“......” Nightmare tried to speak, but no words escaped his lips. Then the pain intensified. It felt as if his very soul, if he had one, was on fire. He looked down at his hand, and it was no longer the massive black mass that it had been mere moments before. Instead, his arm was withering before his very eyes and to his disbelief, it appeared as if it was turning to ash. The strange affliction quickly spread throughout Nightmare’s body, and before anyone knew it, the boogeyman who had terrorized the entire city stood silent, and all that remained was the ashen remains of a monster. Then, with a slight shift in the evening breeze, the macabre monument began to crumble and blow away in the wind.

Dennis dropped to the ground in exhaustion and sucked up air. There was certainly something in what his grandfather had told him about the Golden Rod working with the wielder’s fitness. He immediately realized just how out of shape he really was.

“Finally..” Icon said as he turned to face his comrades, “It’s over.”

As Ramsey stood back up after getting knocked aside before Radiance’s brilliant flash of lighting walled off the sky and scorched Nightmare within an inch of his life. He looked upon the scene with utter disappointment. “That, was anti climatic. I was expecting more of a leveled city effect, you know full on meteorological impact event. Bones are sore but not much else.” While Ramsey had taken a beating his regenerative powers had made short work of any internal damage leaving slight bruises as the only proof he was even fighting. He walked up as the ashes blew away scattered by the winds.

“Well. That was not as fun as I was hoping it’d be. Still in one piece and everything, unless Ol’ Blue here wants to go a few rounds with me I’m out. Gonna get drunk, and embellish the story of; WHEN NIGHTMARES ATTACK!! Eh. I might work on that.”

Ignoring Ramsey, Chris turned to the other heroes. “We got to be careful about these team-ups lest people start thinking that we’re some sort of team or something. Unless that what you all want.”

He then turned away as he prepared to launch into the air for his homeward voyage through the sky. However, before that, he turned his head back to give one last comment. “Unless you guys need me, I’ll be heading back home, where crazy metahumans don’t seem to threaten the existence of the city every two weeks or so.”

After this, Chris soared up into the air, leaving the other heroes standing in the wake of Nightmare’s defeat.

Icon walked over to Radiance, who was still struggling to stand, having used her vast stores of energy almost completely. He offered her a hand, which she took, and got to her feet.

”You did good.” He said with a smile.

“I hate to say it, but Arthur’s right. We might want to think about the whole ‘team’ concept. It definitely helps when we have…this.” She said, waving her hand at the vast destruction that surrounded them.

“I tend to work better alone.” Icon said as he lifted off, “But I’ll be around. Icon finished as he rocketed away out of view.

Ramsey looked up as Icon vanished out of sight. “Man. Flight would be so handy right now. Unlike the Boy Scout I don’t mind team ups, but I swing both ways don’t count on me being Hero twenty four seven, shit ain’t fun always being the good guy. Might wanna visit a Hospital soon though, I know a thing about broken bones and internal injuries. And you look all sorts out of whack kiddo.”

“Yeah, I think you might be right.” Radiance said to her companion. “But first, I think I need a drink.”

“That I can agree with.”

“Care to join me? I know a place a couple of blocks that way.” Radiance motioned eastward as she began to walk in that direction.

Ramsey followed along, nodding.”Just need to pick up my car, if we’re lucky we can stir up more trouble. There’s always something that needs it’s ass kicked. What about the other guys though, if we’re doing this Hero Team up after party we’re gonna need a Posse.”

Then there were two…

Dennis gradually struggled to slowly get up, taking a knee he looked up at the Dark Cat. He soberly posed the question he was almost too scared of the answer to ask, peeking out from under his low hanging fringe.

“Tell me-- was that. Was that people? Did we just… do that, to people?”

Lyger watched as the others walked off down the street, which left him alone with the newcomer who wielded the golden staff. He didn’t know who this guy was, but he was impressed with how he handled himself in this particular situation. He could tell by the way he carried himself that he was new to the hero business, but he handled himself well nonetheless.

“Good work.” Lyger said as he fired a grapnel line from his wrist gauntlets and took to the rooftops.

The fourth Aquilifer threw his lunch up all over the street.

Scott sat in the back corner of The Hub in one of the booths that offered both a fair amount of privacy, yet at the same time a nice view of the entire floor of the club. He should have been happy; the club had been THE hot night spot almost from the night it opened, each night there was a line outside that extended halfway down the block of people waiting to get in. On top of that, the city had been quiet in the days since the Pax Metahumana terrorists and Nightmare had been defeated. For the first time in weeks, he had been able to relax, and he knew that he should enjoy it while he could, because he knew deep down that it wouldn’t last.

He should have been happy; however he couldn’t help but to feel that the one person that he had hoped to share this moment with, aside from Eric, wasn’t there. She had left for Pacific Point just after D-Day and she made it perfectly clear that she was not planning to return. He couldn’t really blame her, she had been right; this city was not for everyone. Lost Haven had always been a troubled city, but the fact that Amber had been right in her decision to leave Lost Haven and him, didn’t make it any easier.

“So, I’d say we’re a hit.” Eric said as he seated himself in one of the plush lounge chairs in the booth across from Scott.

“Yeah.” Scott said noncommittally.

“Dude, I know that you still haven’t gotten over Amber leaving, and it totally sucks, but we’ve got other things to worry about right now. She’s been gone for weeks and we’ve got a packed house right now, and you really need to enjoy this.” Eric scolded.

“This is great,” Scott said, “This is more than we could have hoped for. I really am excited, it’s just…”

“Yeah, I know. You thought that she’d be here for it.”

“Exactly.” Scott confirmed.

“I get that, I really do. But you can’t sit here being all butt hurt because she left, especially not tonight. Look at this crowd, for the first time in a long time people are out and enjoying themselves without having to worry about being dismembered by a serial killing demon and his Manson Family minions. You can’t just sit here and mope, I won’t allow it.” Eric said with a mock resolve.

Just then, Eric’s attention was diverted when he saw a stunning brunette make her way from the dance floor to the bar, where she took a seat and just seemed to watch the other club goers. There was something about her that caught his eye, it wasn’t just that she was beautiful, which she was, but there was just something about her that drew is attention to her, he seemed to recognize her, but he couldn’t quite place her.

“Dude…hottie at 9 O’Clock.” He said to Scott, motioning to the woman.

“Have you been walking around with your eyes closed? The place is full of hotties.” Scott replied, teasing.

“Scott, seriously…not like this one. This chick is sex on a stick, you owe it to your self to check her out.” Eric said in a tone that made it difficult to tell if he was joking or serious, however Scott knew that the truth was somewhere in between.

However, Scott followed his friend’s advice and looked in the direction that Eric had been motioning toward, and his heart nearly stopped. Scott couldn’t believe that the woman that Eric had been so eager to point out to him was the same woman who he had just fought side by side with in West Virginia and again against Nightmare.

Radiance.

When they had fought Nightmare and his followers, he had seen her unmasked, and he knew without a doubt that this was the same woman.

“I don’t believe it…” Scott said as he got up from the booth and made his way over to where the Radiance sat.

As he approached her, he slowed his pace and relaxed. To anyone in the club who might have been watching, he looked like just another guy with possibly a bit too much confidence as he strolled up to his next conquest. He didn’t want to startle her, but she had given everything she had during their recent battles, and she had taken a beating. The least he could do was to buy her a drink.

When he finally reached the stool where Radiance had taken residence, he simply sat down in the seat beside her and smiled as he noted the absence of a glass or drink of any kind in front of her. He motioned to the bartender to get her a drink of some sort as he turned to her.

“Let me get you a drink.” He said as he waited for her to turn to face him, not knowing exactly what to expect. “I’m Scott, this is my place, and you are?”

Alexa sat on the stool, which she found surprisingly comfortable given that every part of her body currently ached. She had taken a beating at the hands of Black Widow, and again just a couple of days later from Cannibal King. She was aware of someone approaching her, and when he introduced himself as the owner of the club, something inside of her wanted to tell him to get bent. But there was something about his voice, something familiar, and she chose not to. Instead, she turned to meet his gaze, and when she did she honestly could not believe here eyes.

“I’m Alexa.” She said with a smile and a note of recognition in her voice. “Iconic, isn’t it?” She asked.

“Excuse me?” Scott asked.

“Ironic that out of all the places I could possibly walk into, I walk into your bar.”

“I think you have me-” Scott started before being cut off.

“Mistaken for somebody else?” Alexa finished for him. “No, I don’t think so. I can see why people don’t get it, you’ve got a good cover. Nobody would suspect you. But when you get as close to…’him’ as I was, when you get the chance to get a good look at ‘him’ as up close and personal as I did, there’s no mistaking it.” She explained.

Scott felt his heart sink. He had gone out of his way to make sure that nobody ever figured out who he was, and now he was sitting face to face with someone who had done just that after two brief encounters. He leaned in close to her and began to speak, softly so nobody would overhear.

“Well, what do you want to do now?” He asked, suddenly unsure of himself.

“Well, first I’m going to buy you a drink.” She said with a smile as she locked eyes with him, “and then we’re going to get out of here.”

Isaac sat in silence aside from the occasional light tapping of keys on his laptop keyboard. He sat towards the rear of the library at LHU, his back to a wall; allowing a clear line of sight to any and all people who might wander his way.

He adjusted the thumb drive, checking it was properly connected and lowered his eyes to the screen. He’d been puzzling over the old man in the hat for days now, ever since he ripped the surveillance footage from the factory he’d trailed Pax Metahumana to. The factory Doctor Diplodoc had made his video in. He hated loose ends, and knowing that one of their number – Effigy, no less, someone who could mimic appearance and powers of anyone he came across – was still at large didn’t sit well with him.

He opened the video file with his laptop’s video player as he had so many times already this week, he knew the events by heart. There was no audio, but he didn’t think it would help anyway.

Diplodoc went to the massive sliding doors, two of his “associates” pulled open the giant doors revealing an old man with glasses and a hat carrying a large box, with a loop of cables on top. Isaac recognised it from on top of the Chalmers building as one of the devices. Diplodoc took it from him and offered him an envelope. The old man put his hand up and shook his head, presumably refusing payment and walked away.

He’d pulled fifteen hours of footage altogether, and nothing that would help him lead to the location of capture of Effigy, but it was this 20 second bite that bothered him most of all.

There were other unseen players involved. Or at least one, and when you—

“Isaac?”

Boss key.

“Hmm?” Isaac looked up from his screen, blank-faced, trying to remember the name of his (much younger) fellow student currently standing over him.

“The Dean wants to see you.” Brian—Braydon—no, Brandon. It was definitely Brandon—said to him.

Isaac fought off the urge to say “What the hell did I do now?” and turned off his laptop and disconnected the thumb drive.

He’d seen Brandon only once or twice. The few occasions he’d jumped on the field and scrapped in one of their impromptu rugby games out on the practice field. Brandon was a stalwart regular. Isaac, unsurprisingly, given his… other activities, was not.

“I know where the Dean’s office is. I don’t need you to hold my hand.” Isaac grumbled as he finished packing his stuff.

“Ha! No, I’m supposed to go over there too.”

Isaac racked his brain trying to think what this could be about. They didn’t really share classes. Brandon, he thought, was chasing an Econ major… or at least was taking a very different curriculum path than Isaac whose classes were largely set around law.

The pair walked into the Dean’s office and closed the door.

Half an hour later, Isaac walked out, closing the door reverentially behind him and strode off with new purpose…

…for about five metres…

Then, brow furrowed, he began to wonder what the hell just happened in there and what he just got himself in for.

This was not part of the plan at all.

The Golden Lotus was one of the best Chinese Restaurants in Washington D.C. The rooftop dining area, which in the cold winter months was sheltered four removable glass walls as well as a temporary roof, offered some of the best views of the capitol in the entire city. Director Alexander Anderson sat at a table along the western wall of the rooftop dining room, which gave him an unobstructed view of the Capitol Building. However, Director Anderson wasn’t alone. Sitting across from him was Michael Newcastle, one of the rising stars within the ranks of STRIKE’s administration, and a young man who Anderson had taken a bit of a liking to. Newcastle may have been young, but he was ambitious. He saw himself one day replacing Anderson as Director, and if the truth were known, as far as Anderson was concerned, if Newcastle stayed on his current course, he may be the one to succeed him when he decided to call it a career.

“….in Lost Haven, Mr. Arthur along with Icon and several other heroes took care of our ‘Nightmare Problem.’” Newcastle said, concluding his report on recent metahuman activities.

“They caught him?” Anderson said, genuinely surprised.

“No sir, they killed him.” Newcastle corrected.

“Heh.” Anderson chuckled as he shoved a fork-full of General Tso’s Chicken into his mouth. “I didn’t think Ol’ Blue and the tin man had the balls for that. Good for them.” He paused for a moment as he reflected on how the monster known as Nightmare had destroyed his life the night that he had dismembered his son.

“Of course, I’d rather to be the one to put a bullet in that bastard’s skull myself. But hey, so long as the deed is done.” Anderson said wistfully.

“It would seem that the fates favor us, though. With the Pax Metahumana organization being brought under heel, and the end of Nightmare and his cult, things are looking up. Though, we still have the problem of Vorian von Traupitz.” Newcastle told him, clearly uncomfortable mentioning the industrialist.

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry too much about the doctor. We’ve already handled it. We’ve frozen his assets and rounded up or killed the remaining members of the AV, and we’ve destroyed all of his…experiments. As soon as shit went south, the coward did what all the good Nazis did headed down to Argentina. I suspect that he’ll be dead much sooner than later.” Anderson said as he took a sip of rice wine.

“Director, STRIKE can’t…we can’t assassinate him, he’s too big—” Anderson cut him off.

“Don’t be foolish. Could you imagine what the reaction in the streets would be if the people of this country found out that Vorian von Traupitz was The Good Doctor…a maniac that everyone thought was killed during World War II, and he tried to put a virus into the Lost Haven water supply that would turn everyone’s insides to liquid shit?” Anderson said.

“Fucking pandemonium.”

“Exactly, Sir. So you understand my concerns about having STRIKE—”

“STRIKE isn’t going to take him out. We’re not in the business of assassinating heads of multinational corporations, not even terrorists like The Good Doctor.” Anderson assured him.

“So, may I ask…what are we dong about him?” Newcastle asked.

“He’s made a lot of powerful enemies, Michael. I sent Vorian’s current location, as well as his itinerary for the next couple of weeks to an…interested party.” Anderson said with a grin.

“You don’t mean?”

“STRIKE couldn’t get its hands dirty with this one, so I may have tipped of the mercenary’s information broker, what was his name? Oh yes, Warden.” Anderson took another swig of rice wine.

“How much did you have to pay him?”

“Nothing. Sometimes, just sometimes…revenge is its own reward.”

Silence fell over the two men as Anderson continued to devour his meal. However, the Director could tell that Newcastle hadn’t raised all of his concerns. The man was uncharacteristically shaken, and he had barely touched his food. Anderson looked to the man’s plate, and then to Newcastle himself.

“Is there something else, Michael?” Anderson finally asked.

“Sir, what are we going to do about…?” He trailed off for a moment and looked around to make sure that nobody was within earshot. “The anomaly, sir.” He said, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Nothing.” Anderson said in a matter of factly.

“But Director, Sir…shouldn’t we warn the President? The American people?” Newcastle asked, perplexed.

“Are you stupid son? The President already knows. The prick doesn’t know what to do with the information, but he knows. And as far as the American people…well, the less they know the better.” Anderson told him.

“But sir, we’re potentially looking at an unprecedented crisis.” Newcastle said.

“Yes, we are…and I’ll tell you what my daddy always told me, never…ever, let a good crisis go to waste.”