As Chester watched the van head into the distance, he sighed. He didn't think it was the right thing to do, but he didn't get to make the laws. He was just the enforcer, Lorne might have not have been the police, but they were the law as far as this city concerned. It pained him to have to think about that, as he opened the door to his police cruiser, and took the driver seat. He removed his helmet, and lit up a cigarette with a shaky sigh as he brought it to lips. "You mad at me?" He asked his partner, his partner shook his head, and chuckled. "When they said that you were a stickler for following the law, I knew what I was getting into. Though maybe you should lighten up my dude." Vickers said, with a laugh.
"I'll lighten up when crime disappears for good. Besid-" He was cut off by a sharp burst of speech from his radio. "All units in the vicinity, this is dispatch. Unit L-3 has picked up on known parahuman, and church of para enforcer. Alias known as Brutus. Lorne assets have been notified, but they are forty-five minutes out. Proceed with caution. Out." With their orders given, Chester gripped the wheel of the cruiser, and sped off. They were the closest to the scene, and they'd be there in less than five minutes if they kept their current speed up.

When they finally arrived on scene, the subject had gone down an alleyway. As they approached the mouth of the alleyway there was a loud. Crunch. As the robotic unit scent after the subject was crushed, and thrown down the alleyway. Throwing sparks as it slid across the concrete. The two officers looked at each other, and got out of their cruiser. Brutus was a large man, made of solid stone, and an absolute brute to match his reputation as one of the most brutal of the churches enforcers. He didn't bother to hear their spiel about giving in, he charged right for them. Throwing an overhand fist right for Vickers, who jumped out of the way. The strength behind that blow left an imprint the size of his fist in the concrete, what followed the fist was a swipe with the back of his hand toward Vickers slamming the man into the wall, and knocking him unconscious.

That left the two parahumans squaring off with each other. Chester fired a quick burst from his pistol, but the rounds just bounced off the mans hide. Brutus just chuckled, but Chester thought fast firing his pistol at the ladder lock of a fire escape dropping the heavy ladder on the mans head. It slammed into his head, doing some damage to the man indicated by his grunt, but not enough to knock him out, or bring him down. "Lucky shot." The enforcer said, with a growl. But this time Chester decided to go all out, ricocheting his shots off walls, signs, or anything he could to hit the man. He had to have some sort of weakness, some sort of Achilles heel, but his shots never found it. But it did reveal something to his enemy. "You're a parahuman as well, the irony to this situation is palpable." Brutus laughed, as if let in on some grand joke. But Chester didn't laugh, he fired a burst at the mans head, who flinched when the bullets hit his forehead. That's when it hit Chester, the enforcers eyes were exposed they were his weak point, if he could get a shot through his eyes it'd be done, over with. Brutus must of realized this as well, as he thought of a quick escape plan. He ran toward Vickers, and delivered a full force punch into the unconscious man. The blow would shatter the mans ribs, collapse his lungs, and probably shatter his skull, then Brutus took off running leaving him with the option to chase, or to take care of his partner.

Chester chose to remain with his partner, getting on his helmet radio. "Officer down, we need a medic here!" He shouted into his radio, but when back up arrived they didn't grab their trauma kits, instead they took off down the alleyway to try to find Brutus no doubt looking to curry favor, or gain a promotion by bringing him in. It was during this that Chester felt his partners pulse fade away, with crushed ribs probably perforating his lungs. CPR would of been near useless, there would be no saving his partner. When paramedics arrived on scene, they confirmed what he thought. Putting Vickers into the back of their ambulance, and driving his body probably to the nearest hospital morgue. The Lorne agents arrived shortly after, finding a shell shocked Chester sitting on the hood of his cruiser. "Detective Jonas, we have lost the parahuman due to your incompetence. He has gone off scanners, and our drones cannot find him. They will begin prowling the sewers, but we doubt we will find him with the head start he has. We at Lorne are disappointed. So know this we will be watching you detective. You might have caught two parahumans today, and being on the scene with a third is highly suspicious. Good day." With that the agent turned, and walked away. Leaving Chester alone with his thoughts, wondering what he was going to do next, what would happen now?

The sound of casual conversation filled Otto's bustling diner, as a soft rock song played lightly over the sound system. An elderly couple stared out the window to their side while they held each others hands on the tabletop. The busy city of Marlon was alive with activity as it always was. Cars zoomed down the streets as pedestrians walked and talked, each in their own little conversations. A single mother tried her best to occupy her three young children as one of them scribbled intently at a coloring book. All while a busy waitress carried a trey of food with top level carefulness, as she tried her very to avoid bumping into any of the customers in the crowded restaurant. Nestled in the corner of the quaint establishment was a solitary figure, heavily bearded and silent in his seat. Across from him on one of the walls was a television screen replaying an old baseball game, a close pitcher's duel between two teams from opposite sides of the country.

As the lanky pitcher in blue fired a rocket of a fastball towards homeplate Owen took a slow sip of his coffee. The light brown liquid swirled in the mug as he set it down as gently as he sipped it. Then he wiped his lips with the linen napkin and his eyes wandered around the diner. The trio of patrons in the booth next to his were going on about parahumans, one of them clearly stating his anti-para views plain as day. If only that fool knew who was sitting a few feet from him. A quick smile came onto Owen's face but faded as rapidly as it came as he glanced back at the television. The hitter trotted around the diamond, victoriously having knocked the pitch over the fences, pumping his fist as he rounded third base.

"Here we go, your sandwich," A female voice entered into Owen's ear as a plate was placed in front of him. His lunch sandwhich which smelled absolutely delicious. The bacon's crispiness as perfect as one could ask for. "Would you like a coffee refill?"

"No, I'm alright thank you." The parahuman replied, eagerly putting his hands on one of the slices of his sandwich.

"Well just let me know if you need anything, don't eat that too fast." The waitress said with a laugh then turned and went on her way as Owen chewed down the first bite of his meal.

Good food wasn't always something Owen had the privilege of having. The whole living life on the run as a wanted super powered wanted criminal tended to put a damper on that. Still, he frequented lower key restaurants when he could. His bank account had been locked when his parahuman identity was revealed so he could only pay in cold hard cash for everything. The occasional robbery helped him with that. Though he hated living like a runaway, having to rob or scrounge to get by. His current residence in one of the poorest parts of the city in a rundown apartment complex was a far cry from his previous living conditions. Every night he slept, when he could actually sleep he had nightmares of his childhood. Owen felt weak and utterly alone, like the bullies were after him again. Like he was pinned against the wall and struggling as the people after him breathed down his neck.

He shut his eyes briefly and dashed away the dark thoughts to try to clear his mind. He chewed down another bite as his eyes drifted back to the baseball game. It had cut to commercial break as Owen took a longer sip of his coffee. An ad about car insurance lit up the screen. An older man, some formerly much more famous actor gave some speech about discount insurance as Owen gulped down his coffee. Then the television screen lit up, as did every other digital screen in the entire diner. Even the digital billboard outside that had previously displayed an ad for a pickup truck rapidly changed to static. Every single cell phone flickered in similar fashion, Owen not having one himself. He had smashed it shortly after his exile from his apartment. A chill crept down the parahuman's spine at the bizarre sight.

Owen was more in tuned to technology and machinery than others, even when he was peacefully sitting he always felt an odd, but not painful feeling in the back of his head. Over the last month he'd gotten more used to it, but this time it utterly terrified him and caused his whole body to begin to shake. As the face appeared he felt his hands tense and the mug fall from his fingers, shattering like glass on the desk as drops of coffee shot everywhere. The parahuman did not even register the scalding hotness that splashed onto his shirt as he stared at the screen. His breathing had slowed to a snail's pace in the surreal moment, feeling as if he was gonna choke on the air in which he breathed. His ears ringed powerfully, as the robotic tone forcefully burrowed its way into his ears.

"You are not alone."

By the time the words had been uttered the parahuman had already lost it in the moment. Metal screeched all around Owen as the diner's foundations shook terribly. The walls roared as the bars holding them bent in different, unpredictable directions. Tables collapsed upon themselves while silverware crumbled like leaves under foot. Cell phones shattered in hands, crackling like glass under duress. The metal manipulator's hands wildly twitched and shook as he lost control, eyes directly forward at the television screen as it was compressed telekinetically, sparks flying as the electronics inside were manipulated, disfigured and then destroyed. The inside of the building reverberated under intense strain as the confused and frightened customers dove for the floor or ran in panic. Some were caught in the chaos, metal crashing into them while an unlucky woman was momentarily choked as her silver necklace tightened against her flesh. Watches and the clock on the wall rapidly sped ahead, disorienting the displayed time into total nonsense. Windows exploded as their metallic frames were manipulated, shooting glass onto the sidewalks and street.

Then everything returned to normal as the eerie display on every single screen vanished. Owen returned to normalcy as well, slowly coming down from his horrific moment. As he tried to steady his breathing his eyes dashed rapidly around, cloudy and hazed, taking in sights of the disfigured diner and patrons flooding out of it. Some unlucky ones tangled in the madness, momentarily constricted or even brutally injured in the chaos. The parahuman stared at his hands as the shaking stopped, once more he was in full control. In a large fragment of glass he saw his reflection and gazed at how pale his skin had become, color returning slowly. Owen tried to get out of his booth but found the act of walking far more difficult than it typically was. He fell forward, landing besides an unlucky customer. A middle aged man with a heavy piece of steel through his gut, blood seeping into a pool beneath him. Terror in his eyes, realization of imminent death.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, oh god." Owen stammered, words flying out of his mouth as he pulled himself to his feet. Crimson red blood dripped from the man's lips, staining his shirt as he simply stared at the parahuman. Owen moved to pull the steel bar from out of the man's stomach but only watched him die, life flicker from confused, terrified eyes.

Then he ran, senses, mind and body back to working order as his legs carried him out of the diner, leaping through a horribly bent window. His boots shattered the already broken glass into even smaller pieces as he ran down the sidewalk as fast as he could, bystanders staring at him then at the mutilated diner. After a sharp right then left turn he finally slowed himself, overwhelmed with emotion and physical exertion. A forceful headache filled his head as he walked down an alleyway, shocked and exhausted from releasing so much raw power uncontrollably.

William dug deep. All the rage, all the hate, all the pain of what he’d been through. Being cast out from his family, chased down by his brothers, hurting those he cared about. He had been betrayed, beaten and hunted. Everything he had ever known had been stripped away from him. Because some scientist had been doing an experiment that had gone wrong. Everything he had ever known, his entire way of life. His entire reason for being alive, his entire DRIVE and his motivation all stripped away. All the while the heat, the rage, the fire inside him burned brighter than it ever had before. It built and it built and it built, as his mind was consumed by it all. A blinding red light burning through every fibre of his being.

Then he let it go. Taylor would hear a muffled explosion, the cell it turned out could take it. AS the raging inferno lashed out it merely burnt the walls slightly, however, William wouldn’t get to see if his plan worked. The exertion throwing him into a state of unconsciousness even before the countermeasure kicked in. As William fell to a ground an alarm blared, as the raging inferno was transferred from his cell right into the waiting cell of Taylor.

Taylor believed it understood William’s plan well-enough, though it did not share his freshly-captured optimism. It remembered what it was like to dream of escape, and of all its failures, but it was still willing to humor him. At the very least, if William’s efforts failed, then the attempt would still provide some sustenance to Taylor.

What Taylor had not expected was the sheer intensity of William’s efforts. The explosion of heat and flame was enough to shake Taylor’s cell, and when that energy was purged from his cell and flooded into Taylor’s, it could not have been more eager to consume. The flames burned hotter, brighter, and longer than any that Lorne had deigned to give it in the past. It had already been reasonably well-fed beforehand, so as Taylor’s form greedily absorbed every ounce of heat into its essence, it was filled with a surge of strength and power the likes of which it had never felt in its life. It grew in size to the point that it could hardly even stand upright in its cell. At first, it simply basked in the familiar satisfaction it felt from the act of its consumption, but then...there was something else. Something new. It was a feeling that it thought had been lost from its life as a Human, a feeling that, all at once, gave a sudden purpose to the ravenous hunger that had consumed it for months.

It felt full.

The energy that Taylor’s body attempted to contain swelled up within its essence. It was as if the intense heat lashed and struggled against its insides until Taylor had no choice but to release it. Suddenly, violently, and spectacularly, the blackness of Taylor’s energy erupted into pure flame. Its eyes glowed like shining beacons, and while its body did retain its shape, it was as if it became the embodiment of flame itself. This was new, and indescribably marvelous.

While Taylor was not experienced with this new power, its most basic usage was simple enough. It needed only to will its energy outwards to send a persistent wave of intense heat and flame out into its cramped cell. William’s cell had certainly been designed specifically to be able to deal with such extremes of temperature, but Lorne had no knowledge that Taylor possessed this kind of ability. While both the walls and door of its cell had been reinforced to handle far more than the force that it had shown itself to be able to generate, intense, sustained heat had not been a part of its design considerations.

The sheer heat inside the cell would have been enough to melt steel, though the titanium that primarily comprised it was still holding on. Regardless, in the cramped space, Taylor could continue to reabsorb any energy that was not directly heating the metal, and after another few moments, it began to slam its fists repeatedly into the door. Despite not melting outright, the metal clamps holding the door closed were weakened by the heat, and eventually gave way to Taylor’s powerful blows.

The thick, titanium door of Taylor’s cell slammed against the floor with a thunderous crash, allowing it, for the first time in its new life, to step outside its cage. It was an almost overwhelming moment for Taylor, for a multitude of reasons, but right now, it had its focus. William had enabled its escape, and now, it had to return that favor in kind. There was no one else in the room, so Taylor could turn its attention quickly to William’s cell. It was not sure how to properly unlock the door, but while William’s cell had been insulated against heat, its door did not have the same strength at Taylor’s. With a few, hefty blows, Taylor weakened the door’s hinges, then pried it off entirely.

On the floor in the center of the cell was an unconscious William. He was lying motionless on his stomach, his clothing burned away and even his skin noticeably burned. For a moment, Taylor was concerned that it would not be able to help him at all. Taylor’s own body was engulfed in flame, and despite being able to produce heat himself, William did not seem to be entirely immune to it. However, after placing a cautious hand on the man’s back, Taylor found that its own heat did not seem to be enough to burn him, so it could at least carry him until he awoke. If he awoke. William did not look to be in great condition, and Taylor could not know what kind of damage he might have done to himself. Regardless, Taylor hefted him up onto its shoulder and set out to find their escape.

---

All the lights in the room would go dark as Taylor lifted the unconscious, decidedly naked, William. Monitors would flicker on, as static moved from one to another until it finally rested on the one directly across from Taylors eyeline. "You have-" It glitched out for a second before it settled on another screen. "-You have w-w-w-waited too long my friend. It pains me to say I've, I've, I've-" it flickered out before appearing on another screen. It seemed to be struggling as if it was pulled in too many different directions at once. It solidified on another. More solid this time, more focused. "I've been unable to get to you. Get you out, despite knowing what they have been doing you for months."

"Go. I have sealed off and secured you a path to the exit." A door opened on one of the many walls in the facility. "Leave this place behind, and never come back." The face flickered out for a second before appearing on a screen closer than before. "You can't come back."



As the Detective known as Chester Jonas stood in the street, the darkness closing in all around him. His partner being carted away, a threat looming over his head from the people at Lorne. His earpiece would crackle with static. "The Church of Para is a Cancer to our cause. They threaten, and they torture and they k-k-k-k-k-" The voice jittered out. Until the face appeared on a nearby holographic advertisement. "-kill. I have been watching you, Chester Jonas and you have heart. You mig-;#'@$%!(*&)-" The voice flickered as the face faded and flashed, shaking all over the holographic projection. "I believe in you CJ. You need to find the mother of the Po#$!$)(%*(*&*-" It shook again, as it started to fade away.

"-Together, you can do what alone you cannot."



As he ran, something connected with Owen much in the same way he connected with technology. Wherever he was currently hiding he would find himself pulled out of reality. Before him would be the giant face. "You have heart Owen, yet you lack control." The face jittered into a smile. "Seek out the Para Protection Society, seek out one of their leaders. You need him, and he needs you. Together you will be what this city needs, together you must find the child under the protection of the rabbit. She is more important than you know." With that the face disassembled itself and he was returned to his normal life.

The woman stood centre screen. Her back straight, eyes forward yet a kind and loving smile on her face. The kind of caring smile that would make someone let their guard down, only to get stabbed in the back. Images crossed the screen of the chaos erupting in the streets, buildings on fire, metal warped and destroyed. Beings capable of causing mass damage, creating hysteria. The woman eventually spoke, her voice as calm and soothing as her appearance. It hit all the right tones that it was just pleasant and calming. She was someone well-practised, well versed and knew what she was doing.

"People of Marlon. I am Amara Williamson from Lorne Corporation. As you all know a truly unfortunate accident has plunged our city into chaos. While we at the Lorne Corporation have done everything in our power to repair the damage done by the explosion of the Tower, sadly are now at an impasse. These deadly Parahumans roam our streets, disrupting and spreading chaos. Challenging the Lorne Corporation, deeming it to be some malignant beast that it is not." The camera changed to a different angle, leaving her smiling directly into the camera. "We at Lorne wish for nothing more but to help the people of Marlon, especially those whose lives were negatively affected. We are here to help, we have specialist rehabilitation centres. We are here to help the Parahumans and those lives they touch. We understand that not everyone wants these powers, not everyone wants to use them for evil. Though we have recently discovered that to be a Parahuman is a disease, one that is slowly killing each and every one of them."

The shot changed to that of City-Hall. "We are setting up a drop-in clinic in City Hall at the end of the week on Saturday. Anyone who suspects they are a Parahuman should come then, the sooner we discover a cure the sooner we can treat the disease and we need all of your help to do that."

The shot panned out to her standing overlooking the city, where she turned to face the camera. "Please. Help us save this city."

Once again, Taylor was not sure what was happening when it saw the screens flicker, but the fact that it had seen this before did capture its attention. The message before had been brief and vague, but this felt different. It was certainly directed at Taylor specifically, and it did not feel as much like a message. With the way the face seemed to dance between the monitors, it felt more like a ghost within the machines. It was a ghost showing it a path out, and telling it to escape.

Certainly, escape was a concern at the front of Taylor's mind, but there were other thoughts. Other desires. Marian had told it that there were other prisoners, and Taylor wanted to free them all. It wanted to help them escape, then burn the rest of this facility to the ground. With as invigorated as Taylor felt at the moment, it wanted to purge the world of the virus that was Lorne, from the inside out. That rage burned almost as hot as Taylor's body, and under any other circumstance, the words of a ghost would not have been enough to dissuade it. Taylor was willing to risk its own life for this, but it was not just its own life that it was responsible for. There was also William on its shoulder, unconscious and unable to defend himself. He had risked a great deal to free them, and it would be a betrayal for it to risk his life as well as its own.

Taylor let out a frustrated scream after the face disappeared from the monitors, but it knew it only had one real choice. It started to walk towards the door the ghost had opened, but stopped for just a moment to look back at the room. The room had been its prison for months; the site of innumerable pains and tortures it had suffered. Taylor's echoing voice let out a growl as its free hand started to glow brighter and brighter, until finally, it launched a ball of flame that exploded on the other side of the room. Then another, then another, until it had demolished most of the equipment and started fires all across the room. Taylor was sure the fire would be contained, but if this one act of spite was the only harm that it would be able to inflict upon Lorne, then it would have to do.

---

True to the ghost's word, Taylor had been given an uninterrupted path along a tunnel to the surface. It did not come up directly next to the tower, but rather a few blocks away. This time opening the door less...destructively, Taylor made its way out of the building that obscured the tunnel and onto the street. For the first time in months, it was able to look up and see open sky. It was the middle of the night with nothing but solid blackness above due to light pollution, but Taylor did not need to be able to see stars in order to feel relief. Instinctively, it wanted to take in a deep breath of the (comparatively) fresh air, but its body could no longer breathe as it once had as a Human.

Taylor was snapped out of its thoughts by a scream. There was a woman off to its left, picking up her toddler in her arms and running off in the other direction, as well as the screeching of tires driving off away in a different direction. Taylor was still engulfed in flames, though even if it was not, it was terrifying in any state. Taylor was quick to rush into another alley and get out of sight. It was having to go off of older memories, but it believed it knew a way to some of the poorer districts of the city, where it would be easier to hide. It did not know exactly how long it would stay in this supercharged state, but it could feel that it was expelling its energy quickly. Once it was back to normal, it could start trying to find a place to hide.

The rats had been busy searching the facility when the explosions rocked the building. A little while later, one of the rats nearby witnessed an oddity. A creature of some sort emerging from a building. The structure of its body was unlike anything they had seen before, like a mass of energy given life. The rat could feel heat coming off of it, but the energy seemed to be fading. The being made towards the poorer parts of Marlon, the rat's home turf.

The rats began to follow the being. The rats inside the base had confirmed some panic at the explosions, which meant the being in front of him was likely the perpetrator of the incident, and an escapee. How they had escaped was another question entirely. But more importantly, what did the being want now? Judging by where it was going, it seemed that it wanted to avoid pursuit. Unfortunately, that was a difficult task in itself. For the most part, Lorne had support of the general public, which meant they had eyes and ears everywhere. The being had made the right decision by going towards the seedier parts of Marlon, but they wouldn't get too far without help.

Rats gathered in front of the being's path, trying their best to get its attention. The rats slowly began converging from throughout the city. Some still tailed their marks, but the rest scouted out a safe route to pass through. Once they had a path, the rat in front beckoned the being to follow it, and began to go through the path. They would try to lead it towards abandoned sewer tunnels, built up in some ancient city improving plan which had never come into fruition. They hoped that the being understood their intentions, because they had many questions they wished to ask it.
@EliteCommander

Unfortunately for the rats, Taylor did not immediately understand their intent. Despite being a para itself, Taylor did not see them as being any more than just rats, though it did certainly take notice of them. Its supercharged state had faded by this point, so its energy had returned to its normal black form and it could now more easily hide itself. Although it had not understood to follow the rats, it did eventually find a serviceable place to hide in the form of an abandoned, run-down apartment building.

The building was a condemned structure and, from the movement that Taylor head from higher floors, there might have been some squatters present, but Taylor was able to slip inside unseen and make its way into one of the nearest rooms. Without a doubt, it was not an ideal place to stay. There was debris scattered around on the floor, the only furniture left was broken and rotted, and there were huge holes in the walls that made Taylor legitimately fear for the possibility of collapse. However, it was quiet and out-of-the-way.

Taylor found the cleanest corner it could to finally set down William. It felt ashamed that it had not had more faith in William's plan, and it just hoped he would live to see it had worked. Taylor wished it could make him comfortable for when he did awaken, but it had few options. William would probably not want to be naked, but Taylor had no clothing to give him. His burns would probably pain him, but it could not bandage them. The best it could do was to try to keep them as clean as possible to reduce the chance of infection. Perhaps Taylor might have been able to find some supplies with which to treat him, but that would require leaving him alone, defenseless. Taylor had to protect him; it was all that it could do at this point.

Taylor curled up at William's feet like a guard dog, its eyes scanning the area for any sign of movement. Even if no other people found them, Taylor was concerned about all the rats it had seen on the way. They might have seen William as being an easy meal, so Taylor had to be ready to kill them or ward them off. Luckily, it no longer required sleep, so it could maintain its vigilance until he awakened.

Darkspire was about to call it a night as her communicator burst to life, beeping frantically until she opened it. She saw a message from Orwell stating that the holding facility had a minor breakout, from what cameras he could access, which was odd, they said that it was just two paras. However the bigger news was the actual news.

Darkspire swallowed thickly as Amara said her statement. She scowls at the meaning behind her words. With her new threat rating she was growing on their list of priority threats. She just had one more option that she could think of contacting. Opening up the communicator again she asked Orwell to get her in touch with the Resistance.

"We'll have to see who can help me best..." She sighed and looked down at the district. A subtle flash of light turned her attention to a flaming para heading into the district. She could already see several MPD units getting ready to chase. She gave a deep sigh when Orwell responded that she should definitely help that para.

Orwell> He was in the facility. He's running scared and we know you aren't totally evil. But we won't tell anyone.

"One of these days, Orwell, I'm going to find you."

O> Good luck with that. Our power is subtle and the only info you've got is that I used to be a hacker. There are literally thousands of us in this city.

"Fine. I'll go get the beastie." She dived off and set her flight path to hunt for him. She went in the general direction they were heading and grimaced as they saw a proverbial horde of mice. Her well shifted to repulsion and she stalked through the building. "This building is rather... Defunct. The humans never fixed their mess after all the rioting and destruction." She made her way through. "I don't-" She paused, seeing Taylor's form on the ground in the room she peeked into, an orb instinctively lit and held to see what was going on. She spied William's form and her scowl deepened. "I don't think I'm exactly qualified for this." She looked between the monstrous form and the body. "Those are second degree burns. He needs medical attention or the damage will be far worse than what it is now." She spoke smoothly to Taylor, unsure if they were able to understand her. She was very wary of the creature, keeping her distance.

Taylor heard the footsteps on approach well-before the dark-haired woman made her way into its room. With as many obstacles and debris as there was scattered across the floor, it was difficult to move around quietly. Were the intruder a police officer or someone with a Lorne uniform, Taylor might have attacked immediately, but this intruder was obviously different. She was something of a tall woman in elegant, dark clothing that appeared severely out-of-place in a location such as this. That fact bought her enough time for Taylor to see her create the orb of light in her hand.

Although the light revealed Taylor, it also went a long way to disarming its aggression. That was obviously not natural, so she could only be a parahuman. Briefly, Taylor felt relief at the notion that help may have found them, but ultimately, its mistrust was not so easily diminished. The fact that she was a para did not necessarily mean she had good intentions; it just meant she was not working for Lorne.

Taylor moved in front of William, standing between him and the woman in a defensive posture. Its eerie, echoing voice let out something similar to a hiss to warn the woman away from getting any closer, though Taylor did not make any more aggressive moves itself. It knew that William was hurt and needed treatment, but the burns themselves were not the major concern. They were deep, but none had penetrated all the way through the skin. It was primarily their size that made infection the biggest threat. "No...he can't go to a hospital. They'll learn what he is, sent him back to Lorne. He has to stay safe. I don't know you...don't know what you want. You want to help? Bring me supplies. Bring...bandages, disinfectants, clean water..." Taylor said, pausing to give a quick glance to William's bare form. "...clothing. Bring those supplies here...while I protect him."

Darkspire watched him move, pursing her lips together. She listened to what he said and sighed. "Well I happen to be a doctor, just not a medical one, But I know how to treat burns." She looked into her communicator, pulling the sleek black device out. Checking the area she set it down on a rock. "I'll leave this here to help monitor his vitals. He looks to have been in the middle of an explosion. I'll be right back, it's hard enough for me to get around anymore seeing as I'm on their Top Wanted lists." Flicking her hair back she nodded to the other para before jumping out a nearby hole, flying off. She glanced up and grimaced as she noticed the moon had passed it's apex. She was in a race against time.

Her earpiece crackled as Orwell linked up to it, and she pulled it free and put it in. "I hope there's a safety cache somewhere... It's much too bright in my side of the city... I really should think of a lair."

The para at the other end responded, their voice coming through rather metallic as they used a robot's vocal synthesizer to speak. "What a wonderful idea we've been pushing for weeks now. There is a spot in this district. Your brother's clinic. With your abilities you can get what you need. You're strong this time of the cycle."

"Indeed. I won't be able to get him everything tonight but I can certainly arrange to have everything by tomorrow." She landed on the roof of the clinic, memories making her a bit unsteady. He was kinder than her, loved everyone and was loved just as equally. She remembered where he had kept his spare key and opened it up, heading inside. She gathered what items she could, locking it back up and turning to see a familiar car heading her way. She took off quickly as it stopped, the figure getting out and looking around. "I thought he'd left the city... Oh brother..."

"That could be a problem, Darkspire." Orwell warned. "You did say that your family hated Paras."

"Of course they do. They killed Morgan. I'm surprised Greggory is even here. He hates this city." She flew back into the building, carrying a change of clothes, water, a backpack of snacks, a blanket and pillow and a trauma kit. She looked to Taylor and grimaced. "I will have to work on him. I don't seek to harm you I'm in need of allies and all I want is revenge on those who changed us. You are free to watch, as I've done this several times due to my own development. Though this is far worse than anything I've seen before. We will need a doctor. I cannot stress that enough. I have a friend," She taps the communicator, "Who knows people. You should be relatively safe here, but we'll see what we can do to get someone.. discreet to tend to him."

Taylor was less hostile the second time the woman entered the room, though it was still quite obviously on-edge the entire time. It did not have facial expressions with which to show it, but it was glad to see the supplies she had brought. They would certainly improve William's chances. However, as the woman started to edge too close to William, it once again put itself between the two of them. "No, I will treat him. You watch! You...keep watch." It snapped back as it snatched up the trauma kit in its arms.

If there was one thing that had been made clear, it was that the woman would have to fight Taylor if she wanted to get close to William. Fighting was certainly an option open to the woman; however, Taylor did soon show itself to be quick, decisive to act, and surprisingly gentle once it had its supplies in hand. Despite being considerably more massive than the average Human at the moment, the tendrils than comprised its constantly shifting hands could easily and delicately manipulate objects. It laid out the blanket she brought flat on the floor, then gently lifted up and moved William on top of it, with his head resting on the pillow. From there, Taylor opened up the trauma kit and, by appearances, seemed to know exactly what it was looking for. Taylor pulled out a bottle of antibiotic ointment and, rather than immediately start rubbing it on the burns, applied only a small drop or two to a portion of skin on his arm to begin testing for an allergic reaction. From there, it grabbed the water, which was at least reasonably cool, and started to use it to clean out the burned areas of his body.

Rabbit was actually starting to enjoy the walk with Holly. Sure they didn’t really say anything so it was a little awkward, and there was always the worry that someone was coming after them, but for now it was just nice to act like… none of that existed. He took in the surroundings, as well as keeping an eye on if anyone approached them. However, it didn’t take long before something happened, as per usual in this town.

"MPD, Hands up and turn around!"

Rabbit whipped around, not taking any kind of stance but definitely keeping his fingers wrapped around the handle of his blade. He briefly looked down to Holly, who surprisingly didn’t make any kind of signal that she wanted to run. Time was ticking down and the Hitman definitely did not fancy a walk down to the Police precinct. He couldn’t dash [i]with[/] Holly and it was entirely possible that she’d fight him off if Rabbit tried to grab her. Down to his left, there was a possible escape route down the alley. He could make it to the rooftops fairly easily but it would leave Holly behind.

"Face down, on the ground!" Samantha yelled at the girl. She didn't like pointing a gun at a kid. Even if said kid was setting off all kids of alarms with her helmet's facial recognition software. Still at least her target was co-operating.

"Hands off the weapon and away from the girl!" Briars was shouting at the strangely masked figure. "This is your last warning."

Rabbit looked between Holly and the Police as he took a couple of steps backwards. Seemed like they were protecting Holly from him, which made sense. There’s no way to tell what exactly has been reported to the Fuzz. Rabbit backed away towards the alley, looking over his shoulder before making his move. While they couldn’t see the smirk behind his helmet, Rabbit gave the police officers a mocking salute before Vector Dashing backwards down the alleyway. Getting about half way down, he began to wall hop between the buildings in an attempt to get away before any of the cops could draw a bead.

There was no turning back for Holly when Rabbit Vector Dashed away from the scene. Now, it was up to her to get herself out of the situation that she was in. With hope, all would be as simple as they had been before, and she would be able to find a way to escape once the cops relaxed themselves. She first started by obeying the officer’s instructions; even as someone who had lived on the streets for a while laying on the dirty ground was not fun, so even as she got herself down on the ground she kept her face off of it - she couldn’t do much about the smell, though. She almost reached into a pocket to try and shift her phone, which was sitting in an uncomfortable position that pressed against her thigh, but quickly realised that was a bad idea and returned her hand to a position which helped keep her head up.

A shot rang out towards the empty space that once held the officer's perp. "Shit," said Briars "I'm sorry, I just-"

"It's fine" Samantha cut her off. It wasn't like they had much hope of catching a speed gamma. "Call in to the precinct and let then know what happened. I'll bag and tag the kid."

After a nod in agreement from her partner, Samantha approached the girl, keeping her weapon drawn until she was close enough to straddle her legs and snap cuffs on. “Holly Farstel.” She read the name off the inner display on her helmet “I’m guessing you know your rights?”

Rather than wait for a response, she pulled the girl up from the ground and began to lead her back towards the squad-car.

Shit, Holly thought to herself. They clearly knew who she was right off the bat, and that made things much harder for herself. She tucked a hand inside of her hoodie’s sleeve, trying to find a thin pick she kept in there. She barely had her fingertips on it before she was pulled off of the ground, accidentally pushing it further up her sleeve where she couldn’t grab it without looking ridiculously conspicuous. She was forced to resort to sympathy tricks. That, and she could try and say she was forced to work for Rabbit all along. It was a stretch, but she had to try and garner some slack.

“I’ve heard them before,” Holly said truthfully. “But thank you for getting me away from him. The phones are in my bag, he forced me to take them, you can have them,” she added, trying to add a touch of panic to her voice.

Holly’s words gave Samatha enough pause to actually stop walking and look over the young criminal. Maybe she was getting soft, but she almost felt a glimmer of truth in the girl’s words, even if the trembling voice was laying it on rather thick.

“This doesn’t have to be difficult Farstel. You know we don’t care about the phones. Give us info on the para you were with and I’ll see what I can do for you.”

Holly hesitated. She may have been willing to lie and claim that Rabbit had been forcing her to work with him, but completely ratting him out was a different story. There was a chance that he could understand her wanting to save herself when she knew he was definitely capable of saving himself. But giving out information on him was something that couldn’t be easily reversed.

At the same time, she didn’t have that much information on him in the first place. Holly could give them what she had and hope that was enough, and still not too much to have Rabbit hate her if he found out the information came from her. At the same time, she had to stick with her backstory, that he forces people to work for him. She closed her eyes for just a moment, before saying, “You saw how fast he can move, and that he has those swords. That’s how he forces people to work for him. If you don’t, he’ll probably kill you with them, probably stab you faster than you can see it happen. He threatened me once or twice with them.”

Samantha nodded. “We already saw the damage he did. What I want is information on where to find him and who he’s working for.” She began walking them down the alleys again. “Don’t worry, you’ll have plenty of time to get your story straight while we get you back to the precinct.”

Briars was waiting for them at the car, her cool composure from the confrontation gone in exchange for almost nervous-dithering. “Get her in the car” She instructed Samantha, barely sparing a glance for Holly “something’s happened, and we need to go.”

“In the car? B-But I’m innocent!” Holly states, trembling again.

A good deal more concerned with the worries of her partner than Holly’s protests, Samantha ignored her and pushed her into the car, slamming the door behind her, where the girl stared at them pleadingly through the window.

“What is it?”

With the cops now distracted with their own internal affairs, Holly made sure they were talking to each other before shifting her body so her back was turned slightly away from the officers and her arm was rubbing against the chair. She couldn’t reach into her hoodie with the handcuffs on, so she started to grind her arm against the chair, trying to move the lockpick down her sleeve so she could get at it with her fingers.

Samantha very nearly forgot about Holly as her partner informed her of the Lorne break out, along with the second apparent hack. At least this time it was localized to the Tower.

"Dan wants us back at the station?"

Briars nodded. "Captain wants you to go on air, on behalf of the police, backing up Lorne's announcement, reiterating the importance of the tests... You know."

"We're already investigating a para"

"Are we? We could just drop the girl."

Samantha squinted at the tinted window of the cab, but couldn’t see any movement inside. She rapped on the glass for good measure. "I'm not going back empty handed, we take her back for processing at least. She might even tell us something."

Briars didn't argue, and followed Samantha's suit; sliding into the drivers side and starting the engine.

Holly froze up as there was a tap on the glass. She had just managed to squeeze the lockpick into her fingertips. Pressing her face against the glass to see the reasoning behind the taps, she quickly returned to sitting upright as the cops entered the car. Fortunately, there was a little need to grind her arm against the seat any more, and she shifted the lockpick around in her fingers.

As she began to pick the cuffs, she did shift her body a little bit and make a few little sounds of worry; most of it was to cover up the clicks and sounds of metal-against-metal as she sought to unlock the cuffs. “I did nothing wrong, can’t you please just let me go?” She asks.

“Afraid not sweetheart.” Samantha had retrieved the datapad from between the seats and began searching for the Lorne broadcast, which she displayed for the back-seat captive and herself.

“Jesus” Brairs almost winced at the end “They’re really pushing this ‘save the city’ narrative aren’t they.”

Samantha looked back to Holly. “I need you to trust me that you’re safer with us than you are on the streets right now.”

Holly pushed up the pins inside of the cuffs, making a loud click sound, which she instantly tried to cover up with more whining, though legitimate whining; “But you don’t believe me! You’re going to send me to jail, or to Lorne!” She stammers out, adding a kick to the back of the seat in front of her for good measure. She realised she made a mistake in her wording instantly, and renamed all instances of ‘Lorne’ to ‘jail’ in her head. “I’m a teen, I’m not going to jail!” She stated, starting to slip the cuffs off behind her back.

Samantha was quick to pounce on the slip and exchanged a glance with her partner. “Lorne? Why would we take you to Lorne Holly?”

“I-I meant if you thought I was a Para or something! You’ll probably send me to some child correction facility or something, or jail, just don’t send me to jail, I’m innocent, please just let me go!” Holly was genuinely starting to panic. She’d fucked up hard.

Samantha let Holly finish, and gave her another moment to breath. The girl was actually frightened, from a kid with a wrap sheet like hers, was notable. Ignoring her partner’s protests, Samantha removed her helmet, to look at Holly un-obscured.
“Holly, all I want from you is to calm down, and answer my questions.”

Holly lifted her head to stare at Samantha, worry in her eyes. She made sure to keep her hands behind her back as if she still had the cuffs on, and slowly, she nodded her head. She was sure she wasn’t going to like the questions, not one bit.
“Okay,” Samantha tried to shine her best reassuring smile “We’ll start off easy. Where do you live Holly?”

Holly was thankful for the easy first question, but was still not happy. She gave a vague but truthful answer. “Anywhere.”

“Where are your parents?”

“Dead,” was the quiet response.

“Is there anyone you want us to contact for you?”

“There is nobody to contact. It’s just me.”

Samantha swallowed and did her best to remember she’d been a cop much longer than a mother. “Alright, why don’t you tell me how today started for you.”

Holly tried to hide how worried she was. She needed to make up a lie and keep with it, because the way her morning had really gone was going to ensure she was locked up for a good amount of time. So, she stuck with the story. “I woke up to a call from Rabbit saying he needed phones. He reminded me that he’d give me some money for doing it so I could at least feed myself. So, I went to the mall and stole some phones, and then met up with him. I forgot to take the chips out and he got angry with me for it, so I had to quickly take them out and break them, but I guess it was too late because you caught up with us shortly after,” Holly lied.

“What work had you done for ‘Rabbit’ before?”

“Stealing other things for him. I guess he sells them on or something,” Holly replies quickly.

“How much does he usually pay you?”

“It depends how much I steal for him, or what I’m stealing for him. He thinks that going into a mall and stealing stuff like phones and watches is easy, and doesn’t pay much for them,” Holly says, quietly. This line of questioning was starting to worry her.

“Did he ever buy bigger items off of you?”

“What do you mean by bigger items? I haven’t stolen displays or TVs before.”

“But that was all he was interested in? Stolen tech?”

“That’s all he made me do, I don’t know if he was interested in anything else,” Holly retorted. She was lying hard and it was troubling her.

“Right.” Samantha sighed and rubbed her forehead. This is what she’d traded an afternoon with her husband and son for. “Was he ever with anyone else? Where did his money come from?”

“I don’t know, okay? I don’t know! Please stop!” Holly cries out all of a sudden, separating her arms slightly in order to bring her hands to her face but quickly pressing them back together, correcting her mistake - she didn’t want them to know she had uncuffed herself. “Stop asking me questions!”

“Holly,” Samantha’s gaze flickered briefly on the girls arms. “Remember I said I wanted to help you? I can only do that if you’re completely honest with me.”

“I am being honest with you!” Holly said, straight up lying. She didn’t want to lie, but she had to save herself from prison.

Samantha didn’t respond, but remained turned in her seat, watching Holly as they pulled into the lot of the precinct.

“Where should we put her?” Asked Briars.

“I have to go see the detective. Get her into an interrogation room in the meantime.” She slipped her helmet back on. No one else needed to know she’d broken the rules. “Watch when you let her out, she isn’t cuffed anymore.”

Holly’s eyes widened as the female officer told the male one that she was uncuffed. Now that there was no use hiding it, she grabbed for the door handle, trying to pull it open fruitlessly for a few moments to try and get out before instead resorting to burying her head in her arms against the back of the seat, sobbing. She wanted out, wanted free again.

”You don’t need to interrogate me, I promise! Please let me go!” She wailed.

Samantha gave the girl a final pitying look hidden behind the mask of her helm. She really had tried. At least she hadn’t told Briars to test her; she had a feeling the results would get the girl in more trouble. As she left the car, she signaled two other officers to help her partner deal with the unsecured fugitive.

With the help of the two other officers, the wailing Holly was removed from the vehicle and moved into the main precinct building. Other than a bit of initial struggling, Holly walked her way in without much need for dragging, though she now had a new set of cuffs on. Inside, she was walked through the halls. After a rough search to make sure she had no more hidden surprises to get herself out of the room or her cuffs, the handcuffs were attached to the chair in the interrogation room and she was there to cry in terror. Usually, Holly had managed to escape by now. She suspected she had finally her match.

The being did not follow the rats, which was within expectations. Disappointing, certainly, but within expectations. What wasn't within expectations was the woman that appeared. Surprisingly, Adrian knew who it was. The director of science at Marlon university, where'd he'd studied so long ago. He had no idea she had become a parahuman. Her presence complicated matters somewhat, as he had been planning to talk to the creature while they were still isolated. Still, the being seemed not unwelcome to her presence, especially when she brought him some medical supplies. The swarm couldn't really make any moves here, they didn't know what the woman could do. So, they decided to watch.

The rats on the scene spread out into a surveilance network, on the watch for outside dangers, while the ones closer to the building kept a vigilant eye on the situation at hand. Adrian had never interacted with the director of science on any level so he couldn't be sure of her allegiance, though he had heard rumours of her displeasure of the Lorne corporation. Likewise, he wasn't sure how the energy being felt, though he guessed they didn't appreciate the corporation's treatment. The swarm was ready to act if necessary, but he hoped they would prove to be allies to his cause.

As CJ watched the ambulance leave, a voice startled him back to reality. As the digital parahuman spoke to him, he could only guess what it was pushing him towards, it wanted him to find some mother, and what? He didn't know for sure, but it barely registered to him. He didn't care about it, or it's mission. For all he knew it wanted to push him into some special group for parahumans, probably some criminal group no doubt. Whoever they were, they had been watching him, they knew he was a parahuman, and they probably knew what was going on in this alleyway yet they didn't help, so as far as CJ was concerned they were complicit, and not if, but when he found them he would throw them in a cage to rot with the beast who murdered his partner. Oddly he didn't seem to care if the other parahuman turned him with the fact that he was a para to anyone, he just wanted revenge, and as far as whatever mission it charged him with he didn't care. He liked to think when he gave one of the cameras the middle finger it was watching, and it knew he wasn't going to play ball.

Each step toward the cruiser felt heavier than the last, but when he finally made it into his cruiser a message flicked across the console over the dash. "Return to the precinct, we'll talk, and have a debrief. - Cap CJ shook his head, and programmed in a place to go eat, but the vehicle wouldn't take it, instead putting him on autodrive back to the precinct garage. The ride was twenty minutes of pure silence, the emptiness of the vehicle hung over CJ's head like a guillotine ready to drop at any moment, and he was almost thankful when the vehicle pulled into the garage. He exited the vehicle as quickly as possible, and all but threw the keys at the guy on post. He didn't bother saying anything to the man, as he entered the elevator, and removed his helmet. He could only fathom what the detective captain wanted to speak to him about, probably to chew him out for losing a para, and a partner all in the span of a few minutes.

When the door opened to the detectives bullpen, he felt all eyes on him. Odds were they already knew his partner was dead. Things weren't secret for very long among the other detectives, and he couldn't help but feel like he had failed somehow. But it wasn't anger he felt in their gazes, it was more pity than anything else. When he knocked on the captains door, the muffled voice inside only said. "Come in." As the young detective made his way inside the captain's office he slowly shut the door behind him. "You wanted to see me captain?" He asked. The captain nodded, and gestured to one of the empty chairs opposite his oaken desk, the detective took his seat, and waited for the captain to speak more. "I heard about what happened, with that parahuman... I'm sorry, Vickers was a damn good detective."
"He was."
"Why don't you tell me what happened?" The captain asked, and CJ was all but happy to tell him everything that happened, recounting his story, the captain nodding along as he spoke. When he was finished accounting his tale the captain spoke again. "I'm putting you on desk duty until we can find you a new partner, with the exception being this Saturday. Lorne asked for a few officers to do security detail at their little medical clinic at city hall, you're going, and until then I don't want you to leave your desk except to eat, sleep, and do whatever needs to be done around the station. Am I clear?"
"But Captain!
"But nothing!" He interrupted, his voice full of authority now. "Not a peep out of you until we find someone willing to put up with you, now back to your desk, and await further assignment. I can't have a detective out there seeking some ill conceived plan of revenge. You are dismissed." With the air cleared, it was clear to Chester he wouldn't be getting another word in, he stood, turned on his heels, and exited the room making his way to his desk, awaiting assignment.

Darkspire's lips pursed as she watched Taylor work. They seemed rather skilled in their methods. "Were you a doctor before this?" She asked softly, curious. She helped levitate the unconscious man, so that his back could be tended to and keep the wounds from being aggravated. She shrinks her lights and scatter them through the room as to give better sight. "Your methods remind me of my brother, he worked in this sector of the city." Her eyes flicked over to the rats. "I'm guessing these rats are with you as well? They seem too intelligent to be normal."

She looked outside. "Orwell, get me out of work tomorrow. I know it's probably going to be a bad idea but I can take days to myself." She looked outside. "I'll look around, the moon will set in a few hours." She flew out of the room, the lights staying active as she didn't go too far, merely went outside to observe the city. To look over the ruins of the place she had found her few friends in.

As cautious and suspicious as Taylor was being overall, it was at least warming up slowly and noticeably to the para woman. It did not argue when she used her abilities to assist it, so as long as she kept her distance and allowed Taylor to do its work uninterrupted. After cleaning the wounds, it saw no signs of a negative reaction to the antibiotics. Granted, it was not an ideal sort of test, but these were not ideal circumstances. It applied the antibiotics to deal with any potential infection, then set to work with care and precision to bandage each and every one of William's burns.

Regardless, Taylor was still somewhat terse in its answer to the para woman. "It doesn't matter what I was before. That life was stolen."

However, even after the woman flew away to keep watch around the area, Taylor still had cause to be protective. She had called attention to the rats, so Taylor was taking notice of them. It had seen them as it was fleeing through the city, and now it could still catch glimpses of them here, as long as it looked closely enough. Their presence only reaffirmed to Taylor that it needed to stay right by William's side, if they intended to make a meal of the incapacitated Human.

After Taylor had finished with the bandages, it dressed William in the clothing the woman had brought, then curled up, laying on the ground by his feet. Its many, glowing eyes scanned the room, vigilant even for small signs of movement.

It appeared that it was time. The rats had brought the costume, all that was left was to reveal themselves. The swarm gathered together, reconstructing his bones, winding up the bandages, and putting the clothes on. They had gotten a fresh coat from somewhere - it was old and worn, but at least it didn't have any bloodstains on it. The Ratman put on his hat, and he was ready.

Quietly, he stepped into full view, the rats scattering and gathering behind him.
"You are by far one of the strangest beings I have ever encountered." The Ratman said, emerging from the shadows. "I must apologise for watching you from the shadows, but I have questions I hope you'll answer."

Taylor jumped up to its feet the moment it spotted the being enter the room, letting out a sound most akin to a growl to warn it from getting too close. It could not see behind the coat, but the sight of some of the rats gathering around it immediately clued Taylor in to the fact that they were related. It seemed that the para woman had been right in her intuition about the rats that had been trailing them; they were more than just normal rodents.

"Just stay back from him. I don't know you, but I will kill anything that tries to hurt him. You have questions...then you can ask them from right there." Taylor warned.

"Of course, I never intended to bring harm to anyone here." The Ratman replied easily.
The rats at his feet dispersed back to their positions, as quiet as they could, in order to avoid arousing the suspicion of the woman outside. He recognised the man the being had carried into the building as the one he had seen being captured by the police. Strangely serendipitous, though not outside the realm of coincidence.

"Don't mind the swarm, they've already eaten tonight." Ratman said, leaning against a nearby wall. "A little while ago at the tower, there were explosions somewhere underground. That wouldn't happen to have been you, would it?"