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^{A collaborative post between @Chulance & @Xandrya}

Jace was irate with the event with Adam that just took place. He thought today would be a breather compared to the day before but it seemed the universe hadn’t agreed with that assumption. No, not in the slightest but perhaps the meeting with this Russian agent could fix that. At first he’d assumed sanzhar was the one behind the call he’d just received only to be confronted by a voice he’d never heard in his entire life. But now a small minuscule part of him pondered if anya herself was connected. After all it was a bit strange that the first day he agreed to work with her people he was being threatened with extortion.

The irony in all of this was that he was in the process of going after Lionel for Nikita’s mother when that agonizing call was made to him. If he didn’t comply with the demands, just like in the opening words of will smith fresh prince show his life would indeed be turned upside down. Regardless of all the potential or her to be involved he showed up. But he wasn’t happy maybe she wasn’t tied into this, hopefully that was the case. But perhaps if she wasn’t she could be of some use to resolving this situation. In which case she’d have his undying loyalty & co-operation.

“There he is,” Anya added with a smile as she saw Jace approach. They were approximately two blocks away from one of the safe houses they used for bringing new sources in, “just in time as we agreed on. In our line of work, timeliness is something we take very serious.” Once he was next to her, Anya began walking in the direction they were heading. She had noticed that Jace wasn’t in the best of moods. That could have been due to a number of things, but as long as he hadn’t changed his mind, they would still proceed as normal. “Everything alright?”

In the past, Anya had asked that same question of a potential source. During their walk, he went on and on about his current life and how everything seemed to be turning upside down. Anya was attentive and engaging, even going as far as offering some advice to the guy, but in the end, he just decided not to pursue the deal they had agreed on earlier that week. And in a rather rude manner, she may add. ”No, fuck this shit, and fuck you!" He had then pushed past her and walked back to wherever he came from. But that didn’t look to be the case now, not with Jace. She got the impression that he was upfront for just about anything.

Jace didn't share the bubbly energy Anya as she mentioned him being on time. "Yeah well I try not to live up to the stereotype of black people being late." Jace responded plainly showing that he was indeed not in a good mood due to the events that had just transpired prior to meeting up with her. " And no it's not, I'm hoping your not involved." He simply took out his phone clicking the private youtube link that showed footage of his encounter with the nine foot mutant in the streets. The clip ended with him throwing the creature into a parked SUV and rushing over to his backpack to slip his Shade mask on. At the conclusion of the video he slipped his phone back in his pocket and sighed. "That's a private youtube video and unless I kill some people for the owner, he's going to release that footage to the world so you can see I'm not having the best day right now." Jace muttered fully explaining why his mood was dampened.

Silently glancing over at him, Anya’s expression changed. She looked over the video and realized why he wasn’t in the best of moods. Whoever had captured the footage was now framing him, and disobeying the demands came at a high price. “I can assure we had nothing to do with that. I’d actually offer a hand, but the way this person operates, I’m guessing they want you specifically to carry out the killings.” Anya had mentioned helping him as a sign of good faith, but she was afraid there was a lot to lose on the line. Whoever the individual was that recorded Jace might not only go after him, but her as well, and given she was already handling a few other sources, she did not want to get involved too deep in their business. “Nonetheless, if you need anything from behind the scenes, you’re more than welcomed to come to me for help.”

The two arrived at the safe house. It was a townhouse identical to the neighboring homes, and nothing about it stood out. “Come on it, maybe we can figure something out after your meeting.

Jace eyed Anya to gauge her reaction to being shown the footage to try to determine if he was going to maintain the idea that she might be associated with the recording. However he'd already agreed to work with her without any sort of manipulation or blackmail so he partially presumed her innocent. "Yeah you don't gotta get involved this is my problem to handle, I'm hoping at least the targets he has for me are people whom I can justify killing at least." Jace replied hoping the targets weren't innocent people that he was being blackmailed into killing. Being able to justify the killings as people whom he would normally slaughter would at least clear his conscience on what he'd most likely have to do in order to protect himself.

The second video included footage of Sanzhar, but he didn't seem like the ruthless type. He seemed to have already accepted being turned into a fugitive, so that alone meant he probably wouldn't be down to murder people to keep that from being a reality. He'd rather accept Anya's help with this task then him but it was day two of there partnership so he wouldn't ask her to move mountains for him. "Perhaps we can but if not like I said I'm gonna do what I gotta to keep my life." Jace's demenour partially changed as they arrived, he was the type of person who didn't allow situations from his life to interfere with anything business related. Right now the primary focus was ensuring he secured this alliance with Anya & the FSS, not whatever Adam wanted to use him for.

“Alright, essentially it is up to you, of course.” Anya then approached the door, knocking three times in a certain pattern before inserting the key and turning it. “Right this way, please.” She went in and held the door open for Jace. Inside the home, not much could be described in detail. The walls were an off-white color, and the furniture was kept to a bare minimum. After Jace stepped inside, she closed the door behind them and motioned for him to follow her into the living room which was immediately off to the left from the main door. “Mr. Williams, I’d like you to meet Ivan Morozov. He will be conducting your interview today and thus asking you some questions.

Ivan stood up, offering a hand. He had been sitting on a plain gray couch right across a coffee table with various equipment on it. Ivan was wearing a black suit and tie over a white dress shirt. The other man standing by the wall was dressed in a similar fashion, though he remained quiet with his hands crossed in front of him.

"Hello Mr Morozov pleasure to meet you." Jace said in his most professional voice and extended his hand to take the one Ivan offered. He wanted to be cordial, there was no sign of any anoymsity or frustration he had when he first met with Anya. True to his character he had put that to the back of his mind to make his first impression to Anya's people a good one. There was no need to let issues from one problem in his life spill into another sector especially to the russians whoo could prove valuable allies in the trying times ahead for altered humans in America. "So what's the first step sir? " Jace took notice of the other similary dressed yet quiet man who hadn't spoke. Usually he'd initiate contact but it seemed he didn't want to speak yet for a reason that he decided not to pry about.

“Please, sit,” Morozov motioned for Jace to make himself comfortable; the thick Russian accent unmistakable. It was then he nodded to the man standing by the wall before looking over at Anya, and she knew it was time to go wait outside.

“Well, we’re going to have a conversation while attached to this little machine.” The unnamed man then took that as his cue to start the process. First, he fitted Jace with a head strap, that which had a camera attached to it. The camera focused on the right eye, leaving the vision from the left eye unobstructed. The man then moved on to the next piece of equipment which was usually what one would be strapped to when taking a lie detector test. It included a chest wire, a sensor for the pointer finger, and a pressure cuff which was placed around his upper arm. Lastly, the man placed a small microphone on Jace’s collar. After Jace was hooked up, the man pressed some keys on the laptop on the opposite end of the coffee table. After a few moments, he nodded to Morozov.

“Alright, let’s get started, shall we? First, were you coerced into working for the FSS in any way?"

Jace noticed that Anya had departed from the room, and figured this portion of the process would involve him only without the perso who recruited him. Huh all me now, what they got going on they acting like this is an exam and she might help me cheat to pass These thoughts occupied Jace as he was hooked up to the machinery. "Alright yeah let's go, and naw I wasn't coerced I'm here on my own free will."

"Perfect," Morozov responded, looking over at the man who quietly nodded. "Do you currently hold less than desirable opinions towards our organization or Russia or its people?" He went on, studying Jace.

"Nope no anonymity towards your organization, or Russia or the people who live there." Jace answered truthfully having no ill towards any of the above he was questioned about.

Once more, Morozov received another nod. So far, Jace was being truthful. "Okay Mr. Williams, so far so good. Next question, are you going to take advantange of any of the resouces the FSS is willing to offer you for your own gains?"

Jace raised an eyebrow at the phrasing of the question, wasn't the point of every partnership for the mutual benefit of both parties. "Only to the extent that I'm allowed to without making my relationship with the FSS parasitic, or in violation of the terms i agree too." Jace answered after a few seconds of careful considerable thought, he wasn't here to outright manipulate them of course but Anya had peaked his interest in collaborating with them in exchange for Liberty intel intertwined with occassional financial compensation.

The man sitting across from him stared at the screen and then back at Morozov. For the first time, he smiled slightly. Jace had been honest during his very brief questioning as the software hadn’t picked up observable or non-observable changes in response to the questions.

“Very well, Mr. Williams, we just wanted to verify your intentions were good.”

During the next few moments the man removed the equipment, freeing Jace to do as he pleased. “From this point forward, you’ll be briefed by Ms. Donovan prior to each and every mission as she’ll be your point of contact. If for some reason you don’t ever hear from her again, expect the worst. At that point, the relationship between you and us is severed. Anything else can be clarified by Ms. Donovan herself. Pleasure meeting you, Mr. Williams.”

After standing up for a brief handshake, Morozov left the room, adjusting his suit jacket as he went. The man stayed behind to put away the equipment and Anya walked back into the room.

“See, that wasn’t so bad; guess he was in a hurry today."

Jace breathed an internal sigh of relief that he’d passed the testing or whatever, but like Morozov said it wasn’t really that bad. It was them being cautious in who they did business with which made sense for spies. It was just the whole thing made him recall memories of job interviews which he always got a bit of butterflies before doing.

“Oh is it usually worst” Jace joked the first time he’d done that since waking up today, especially since Adam soured his mood with talk of extortion & blackmail. “So then whats next “Miss Dononvan” Jace replied in a cheeky tone using the name he’d heard the men refer to Anya as.

“Next...we wait,” Anya added, walking away to the kitchen. "Let me offer you a drink, take the edge off. We don’t need to rush into anything, but I have a feeling we may need you soon."

Jace followed after Anya listening to what she was saying. "Yeah I'll take you up on that offer I need a fucking drank." Jace replied between Adam's threats & Lionel pressing Nikita's mom he needed to sip something before he hit something. "By the way can I ask a favor, yesterday I got into a fight with a 9 foot mutant monster thats when that footage i showed you earlier got took by the dude blackmailing me. I had a...friend who jumped in to help me out, he threw on a mask early in the fight but at first he didn't have one one. We ended up getting chased by the cops & national guard after killing the mutant, is there any way you can access that footage or find out if the cops or liberty managed to get his face without the mask hell mine too might as well ask since i got some nut tryna extort me with his own personal recording." Jace added remembering Sanzhar's request & the reason he let him stay at his safe house.

“Well, I don’t see why not. Let me just make a phone call.”

Anya finishing pouring some vodka for Jace and then she did the same for herself before putting the bottle of Russian Standard away. “Here,” she added, sliding the glass over to him. After a quick toast, she pulled out her work cell phone.

“Matthews, hi, it’s Donovan. Listen, I need a favor...” Anya took a sip as she turned around to lean on the counter. “Yesterday’s fight with the mutant, does the footage from that block show any faces? It’s my understanding that there two Altered fighting the thing.” There was a pause. “Yeah, sure, I can wait.”

She had called one of the analysts at Liberty, one who she made friends with in order to be able to ask favors of him.

“No? You sure? So there’s no footage anywhere?” Another pause. “Okay, thank you.”

Anya then hung up the phone and turned around. Well, you heard it for yourself, they have nothing,” she smiled, taking another sip of the drink.

Jace was relieved at the news Anya had delivered, it removed a great deal of tension from him. "Thanks, I can toast to that." Jace raised his glass to hers before downing some of his drink. Usually he went for dark liquor but he wasn't going to turn down what she offered. Instead he used his powers to weaken the strength of his taste buds to the point they were almost non-existent allowing him to take sips of the russian standard with no discomfort. Oh yeah, I'm starting to like this power more and more everyday Jace thought to himself in satisfaction. Now Adam was the only thing jeopardizing his privacy, once he got rid of him & Lionel he expected to life to return to a much more manageable state. In the mean while it paid to have friends in high places, as well as russians in secret ones. "Mhmmm thanks for the drink, it really is just what I needed." The vodka served as a deterrent to te swarm of negative thoughts that soured his meal & morning earlier today.

“Glad I could be of help,” she added with a little smile, gulping down the remaining liquid. Anya then went ahead and pushed her glass aside, looking over at Jace. “I should get going now, you’re welcomed to stay and finish your drink. Dmitri there will hand you a key to this place as this is where we’ll meet from now on unless I specifically say otherwise. As always, pleasure doing business.”

Anya then headed out, not wanting to be late to work.

Time: Early Afternoon
Location: San Francisco, Liberty Head Quarters
Interaction:

---

Jonah was still rattled from what happened, the man he’d killed in Oakland had a wallet on him. Digging through his wallet he obtained his license, his name had been Tommy Ford. He’d driven himself & Angela back to liberty with Tommy’s body in the back. After dropping Angela off and having Liberty agents escort her to the medical infirmary he decided to handle Tommy. For the same reason he murdered him was the same reason he didn’t want this killing to be reported to Liberty.

The new rules Forrester passed could potentially affect him, and his people not just minorities. That was something he couldn’t allow, his mind was racing. Up until now he assumed his kind couldn’t be tainted with the curse of the altered but now he was reeling with confusion & doubt. The seeds of uncertainty had been planted within the confines of his mind. This information was something he didn’t even dare pass along to Nathan Forrester.

He didn’t see the powers of the altered humans as gifts, but genetic anomalies that belonged in the hands of second class citizens. Growing up he’d never been a fan of Superman, but had immense respect for Batman. Superman at his core may have looked like the people he grew to adore & respect as the superior first class citizens but the case. Superman hailed from the planet krypton, and alas even though Clark Kent appeared like him he was an alien. An alien posing as an American, an extraterrestrial violator of America’s immigration policy. Not only that he wielded unworldly powers that tipped all scales of power in his favor. Such power that wasn’t attainable by the masses and those that could truly be trusted was scary.

As a young lad one movie that had particularly affected him in a bad way was War of the Worlds. The whole concept of an alien invasion, other worldly creatures descending from the skies with superior weaponry & intelligence to impose their will & carnage on humanity terrified him. While the flick wasn’t intended to be a horror movie it had that effect on him. Hailing from a family who for generations were against all forms of interracial intertwining, he was taught of his inherent superiority to those whose color was not of his own. He whole heartedly believed that, and felt the statistics of blacks & other races committing more crimes among other negative behaviors in America proved he was in the right.

In his eyes Tommy was no different than Clark Kent. A foreigner, an outsider who had the appearance of the master race while parading around with characteristics that were not of it. Which could only mean one thing, he was NOT of them. The altered were a curse that only America had been unfortunate enough to be accosted with the same as the energy storm & energy plague that preceded it. The best thing about these new rules the President had passed was it reminded him of a greater era his father had longed for a return to. The time of great policies such as Segregation & Jim Crow, a far cry from the true glory of the world before the civil war that he regrettably never got to experience.

But it was something that was in the back of his mind as well as other intelligence agents that thought like him. While there were many in minority communities who felt these powers were a blessing from God, or a reward for enduring endless suffering for centuries at the hands of there so called oppressors he did not share those same beliefs. ”I don’t know what you are, but I won’t let you tear down everything that I’ve worked for. I won’t let you destroy the goodness the Forrester’s have put into action, to ruin the great era the Forrester Administration is trying to usher upon this country.”

Jonah was addressing Tommy’s corpse in the trunk of his car, as he was headed towards his destination. He regretted informing Angela of Super Punchs true ethnicity, she was a loose end. Because of his rambling his partner was now a liability that had to be repaired. She’d been loyal to a fault, and had been at his side faithfully since the start of Liberty’s formation. His mind raced to figure out an answer, a solution to the predicament he’d put himself with by informing her of what he saw underneath the mask.

Still the utter shock he’d been put through had caused him to just say what he saw. The sound of Siri informing him that he arrived at his destination caused him to snap back into focus. He emerged from the vehicle and took a look around to ensure he wasn’t followed. Then he set about with phase one of his own solo project, operation cover-up. He’d went to a graveyard that was not close to downtown. He dug up a grave of someone who’d been long dead & dumped Tommy’s bad back in before burying him again.

Once it was all said and done, and making sure there was no one around watching he left back to HQ. Tommy’s body was six feet under, and for now there was no trace of the white altered. Once he was back in the HQ had Patricia request Kalina to come to his office. She’d been with Liberty for a little over five weeks, a Nigerian woman in her late 20’s. She’d attended college out here & ended up getting work as a therapist/councilor allegedly wanting to help others overcome mental trauma as that was something she & her siblings dealt with immensely in her childhood.

“Director Hanes” Kalina addressed him as she stepped into the office, and closed the door behind her. Due to the nature of her ability she had been working with the director quite frequently since her recruitment to Liberty.

“Just the person I was looking for, come I need you to purge the memory of my partner in the liberty medical center. She overheard some news that’s quite troubling, and I don’t want to share this burden of awareness with her.” Jonah spoke implying he waned her memories of the recent confrontation wiped away.

“I see…it must be quite imperative if you want her memories of the entire assignment you two just worked cleaned away.”

“Yes but that’s for me to know and you to do. After all you get paid to follow instructions, not question them, come o we need this done now, and do not speak of this to anyone you understand, or there will be SEVERE consequences for you & your future with a position here will most certainly be terminated.” Jonah responded knowing how much she valued the benefits for working for Liberty versus her previous work.

Shortly after the two were seen in the medical room where Angela was laying in a bed bandaged up and heavily sedated after her first round of treatment by Liberty’s doctors. Kalina placed her hand on Angela’s forehead and unleashed her power. The memories of the conflict against Tommy were swiped away, then the memories of going to Oakland to confront Super Punch, and finally the memory of being assigned the case at all. Kalina hummed almost in-audibly as she deleted the memories from Angela’s mind, “It is done.”

“Good job.” Well that’s that, the body is buried, Angela has no memory of the assignment & Kalina won’t talk if she wants to keep her job & her life for that matter. Now I have to figure out what the deal with Tommy was, as well as the altered Green stupidly helped obtain more powers. The mystery continues to deepen with no sign of a final unraveling in sight.

“Yes sir, as always working with you is a pleasure.” Kalina shot back at Jonah and took a slight bow as Jonah had always instructed her to do when finishing an assignment. It was somewhat demeaning but this is the highest salary she’d ever achieved in her life. Far more then she made addressing other damaged people such as herself in hopes of helping them heal, something she herself had still not yet done.

“Right let’s get out of here, we’ve got work to do.” Jonah escorted Kalina out the room, and flipped the light switch off before gently closing the door. After Kalina returned to her post, Jonah informed the Liberty Doctors that his brief visit with her was short and had ultimately proved un-productive. As the doctor had instructed him that Angela wouldn’t be waking up with the pain medication flowing through her body, this worked out even more in Jonah’s favor.

Despite the many curve-balls he was being thrown, he still was trying to catch as many of them as possible. He recalled Tommy’s dying words about how he was on the wrong side & that Oakland would go up in flames. Now he had more then just Lori Martinez to focus on, the mystery of Tommy had his attention as well.

---

---

The voices of the deceased whispered evil thoughts to Karagoz, tormenting him in every minute and second as he walked through a alleyway in outer San Francisco. Where exactly? He couldn't remember. Karagoz can't even recall what he did yesterday, not without a bout of narcotics.

"Shush." Karagoz hissed at his demons, kicking a bag of trash out of the way. "Shut up! I did... what was right."

He had no direction. No purpose. But it seemed that someone will give both of those things soon enough...

His videos were stirring up controversy & sowing discord in different communities. Which was fine to him, he’d always liked Malcolm X’s message more than MLK.

It resonated with him more, after all what would peaceful protesting accomplish. Nothing except making them open targets and target practice for vicious biased officers.His primary mission now was to grow his reinforcements and further add to his team. Only by working together as one single unit, co-ordinating their unique abilities & background skills could the hope to emerge vicious against the vast modern empire that the United Stats had evolved into.

Expansion, that’s exactly what he was up to now. Thanks to his unique blessing from the energy plague he could find other altered who sympathized with and supported his cause just by being near them.

That was exactly what he was doing now. His day was already off to a good start with the woman he’d ran into & asked out to dinner that very same evening/night. He’d uncovered some very pertinent information about her with his own innate talents that made him eager to reunite with her later this evening. But now he had other matters to attend to, as he’d unearthed the thoughts of another altered who not only thought like him but was in full support of his righteous cause.

Oh I like this one Reaper thought to himself, he’d been walking around without his mask on. But now it was time to don his infamous head-gear that had taken the internet like a storm. Entering the same ally s Karagoz he decided to make his precise known.

“Hello Mr. Karagoz, it’s a pleasure to meet you, I could’t help but overhear the interesting inner-workings of your tortured soul & mind.” Reaper spoke calmly, before using his power to speak to Karagoz’s mind directly. How would you like to strike up an alliance, my name is Reaper

"Oh, you're that guy." Karagoz crossed his arms, the voices ceasing, if only for this single moment. He eyed the masked man, looking at him from head to toe.

Judging from how he heard Reaper's voice in his head rather than through his ears, it seemed that he was telepath, a mind reader. Hopefully he didn't control minds as a puppet master, but that didn't seem to be the case.

"An alliance...?" Karagoz' brows raised at the proposition. He had nothing to lose, either way. He had no one now. "Colour me interested."

Karagoz nodded. "I've always found... inspiration in your speeches. On how we should strike back..."

One of the voices roared in protest, but he silenced it. "What assurance do I have that I am not a tool, but a partner?"

Reaper found it most interesting that he heard more then one voice rattling around in his head, truly the sign of a fragmented psyche, many would be wary but all that mattered to him was that the dominant mind was in agreement with his mission.

“I heard” Reaper said with an amused tone when Karagoz mentioned finding inspiration in his speeches, having peered into the scorned veteran’s mind before approaching him.

“What assurance, truth be told there is no assurance I can give you. If I said otherwise that would be a lie, how many people assured you of things in your past that never came to pasy? The military for example what they assured you your life would be like after serving versus what actually happened? Assurence’s are issued by men who lie to there allies as a quick fix to the cold hard truth that trust must be built through action and not thinly veiled words pr promises.” Reaper finished most eloquently and paused.

“However I advise or rather request you to take a chance on what I’m saying. Help me help you, myself, and all of us. As minorities we’ve always been ostracized in this country, always seen as second best and sometimes worst then that. But now that we’ve been given these powers, if there is a God It’s clear who he’s truly deemed as the superior race is it not?” Reaper poised the question to Karagoz leaving the ball in his court for a response. He preferred to lay out the facts to people rather then try to entice them with promises he couldn’t fulfill and lies that sounded too good to be true.

"Superior race..." Karagoz nodded slowly. The council in his head convened, screaming at each other. It was clear, however, that his own mind was the one that dominated the congress of voices in his head. No matter how much evil or protest the others might raise, his own voice was still the one in charge. Barely. "Indeed. I see. I concur. We concur."

Karagoz nodded again, and extended a hand. "If you're the Reaper, then I'll be the Dragon that burns all that stand in our path."

Reaper extended his own hand to meet and grasp Karagov's. He was happy to accept the soldier as an ally of his, the more the merrier and he found his powers quite deadly. "I must say the name is quite fitting of your capabilities, and will surely strike fear into the hearts and minds of our enemies."

Reaper had smile stretch across his face that the veteran couldn't see under-neath his grim reaper mask.

"You couldn't have come at a better time, there are things going on which the president does not dare speak about, but will happily announce in time. For every thing he announces to the public, it is several leagues behind what is already being done in the dark. There is an organization known as Liberty, that is tasked with tracking, monitoring, detaining & killing us at there discretion and there's alone. As we speak those of us that are deemed too dangerous for society are being rounded up and placed into underground prisons known as Tartarus Compounds, and that was before the giant one stomped through the city yesterday, can you imagine what there plans are now?"

Reaper reflected in an inquisitive tone granting Karagoz access to the information he knew about what was being done to altered in secret and what more might follow after Lori's attack yesterday

"They would burn the skies to see us all annihilated." Karagoz replied succinctly. "I fought as a soldier once. I know that this government has no issue with killing whoever gets in the way of their interests. And to combat that..."

Karagoz took out a lighter, and ignited a little flame, one that he could turn into a massive blast if he willed it. "To defeat evil, one has to take in evil as well."

"That is very well true, but in this scenario we are the victims not the aggressors." Reaper spoke softly pointing out they had been mistreated and targeted by the government first.

"Then everything that we will do is justified." Karagoz replied. "So, where do we begin?"

"Exactly, that's the mindset we must have not only to keep us going but because it is the truth." Reaper responded firmly, the ex soldier was someone he could get use to working with. The views they shared were similar in almost every way, and thus he held his words in high regard. Nothing suited the radical better then being around other altered who shared his exact views on their situation & status. "I believe the first step should be to gather the others, the ones who are the most oppressed among us currently, as they will readily join us having already experienced the pinnacle of America's hatred toward us." Reaper responded ecstatically, the first phase was simple free any altered already captured in the Tartarus Compound and elsewhere to add them to their ranks as they'd be burning with a desire to get revenge on their captors.

"Then it shall be done." Karagoz replied. "When do we start on our quest?"

The room was white. Or perhaps it was more accurate to say that the world was white. Rafael couldn't see any walls or any ceilings. It was just a colorless void in which he stood.

"H-hello?" he stammered, calling out to anyone or anything that could possibly hear him. "Where is this? Where am I?" His questions went unanswered. Slowly, subtly, the bright whiteness of the world began to dim. "This is super weird...!" he stated with an upward inflection. Darker and darker the world grew. Then, in the distance, he saw something. A silhouette of sorts. Small, almost oval with what appeared to be slight appendages. It began moving toward him. Slowly, at first, and then with an eager speed.

"Holy shit, yo! Stay the fuck back or I swear to God, I will-" Suddenly the lights were out. The world was just blackness. The silence was deafening. "Yooo!" Rafael shouted. "This is bullshit! YooOOoo!"

His skin felt a shift in the air as if there was a displacement of mass. As if something or someone stood close. He could see nothing, but he could feel it. He was afraid to move, afraid to breathe. In the darkness, two orbs began to illuminate. Within them were multicolored rings and swirls that encircled little black holes. These weren't orbs... These were...

"Get the hell away from me!" Rafael shouted, his heart beating louder than a drum. The eyes in the darkness finally saw fit to respond. The single syllable reverberated in his cranium, sending him into a fit of vertigo:

"WEH!"

---

Rafael sat up in a cold sweat. He tried to scream, but his throat was parched. Instead, he let out a distressed wheeze as he shielded his face with his arms from any would-be attackers. Slowly he began returning to reality. It was a dream, he assured himself. Just a weird, fucked up dream.

His head was pounding. The bender last night was the culprit, no doubt. Rafael took in a deep breath before exhaling slowly, trying to calm himself and find his center. Shortly after, he managed to pop some Advil, drink a glass of water, shower, and finally throw some clothes on himself.

He moved quickly through the apartment and out the front door. There was plenty he needed to get done today but, at the forefront of his mind, was to get an understanding of his new abilities. He also needed to at least attempt to make amends with Dave. And it seemed like there was something else he was forgetting. What all did he even do last night? He paused for a moment to consider, but all he could recall was going out for drinks, getting wasted, and then something to do with a Zebra...

---

---

It was time, Nyssa had been given the message to her private phone from her driver that he was waiting outside for her. She had since finished her drink, gathered her bag and paperwork before making her way out of the room to her security detail. She took once more glance into the room she had been staying in before closing the door and turning to Vincent, her head of security, he had been her protector since she was little and Nyssa trusted him massively. One of the security detail had already left to get the second armoured Cadillac SUV in which the security would follow the one she would be in that Mr Hayes would be using.

Shortly after Nyssa and her security detail had made it down to the main lobby, once again she was on her phone talking to someone from the camp that had been set up, it sounded quite serious, it appeared some of the supplies that were meant to be delivered had been delayed because of the checkpoints that were being set up all over the place, it was not a disaster just yet as supplies were not running out just yet, but it would a be problem that would need solving. With her sunglasses on the walk through the lobby had some people look at the group as they were leaving but nothing out of the ordinary.

As they came outside the second armoured SUV had pulled up behind the one Mr Hayes was in as Vincent opened the rear passenger side door for Nyssa to get inside, once in and secure the door would close. The front passenger door would open briefly for Vincent to make Hayes aware the security detail would follow him, normal procedure really, he nodded to the driver before he would close the door, going back to the second vehicle and getting in. soon the little convoy was ready to try and make its way to their destination. Once Nyssa had finished on the phone she would take a deep breath before smiling at her driver. “Morning Micheal.” Away from the public eye Nyssa was more formal and didn’t mind the use of first names. “Today we need to get to the security depot which has been turned into a refugee camp, and if you can get us around those checkpoints the better please”

---

---

---

It had been a couple of hours since Sarina had lost her target in the suburbs, to say that she was pissed at Caitlin was an understatement and the chance for the target to come in quietly was now of the table. The bleeding of her had since stopped and a plaster was over the small cut on her face, least it won’t be a permanent scar. Plus, back up was needed for this one as Sarina had formulated an idea which she only hoped would work, thoughts of setting her target on fire crossed her mind but that would be to easy, so she had an idea on how to disable her target.

To make his work however she would need her target distracted to get close enough to do it, Sarina wanted to go medieval on her targets ass. It brought risk of killing said target but it all worked out right, she could disable her target and keep them alive. She had the back-up she requested, several Liberty agents where now in on the hunt, they weren’t altered like herself, but all they needed to do was keep the target distracted enough and not die in the process. Reacquiring her target had put herself and her small team back in towards town.

The chase was back on, Caitlin had encountered a check point where she resisted, no one was harmed from what the radio chatter was claiming, she refused to get tested and fled. Now she was wanted by the local authorities, capturing Caitlin now became a higher priority than before, up until now, the woman had never harmed anyone until she attacked Sarina, hence why the Latina was trying to give her target a chance to come in quietly. The small team had tracked Caitlin down, she had kept mostly hidden without the alleys, out of sight as best she could, and had stopped to probably figure out her next move in her panicked state it gave the team a small window to operate.

The team had the female surrounded, waiting for the right moment, the plan was to coerce the target to move in the desired direction towards Sarina who would be lying in wait hiding. Within moment the trap was sprung and several agents began their attack, guns drawn they moved in on the target, Caitlin immediately retaliated, attacking back with sonic screams, it was like a run and shoot scenario, the team was pressing on, forcing Caitlin to keep on the move, several trash cans and even an agent or two went flying, sure they be hurt but nothing life threatening, the woman just wanted to be left alone.

The plan was working, slowly but surely they were forcing Caitlin towards Sarina, sure the fire based agent probably could have used her powers and end it right there, and no doubt having some agents injured might piss of the boss, but the job was getting done. Deliberately the team left a gap for the desperate woman to take, she never hesitated now she was trapped between Sarina and the other agents without even realizing it. A few more sonic screams were still directed at the other agents as Sarina snuck up behind her target, thank god her suit was bulletproof as the odd shot was still going off and she be pissed to be hit by friendly fire. “LEAVE ME ALONE!!” Caitlin would shout at the other agents.

Once close enough Sarina pulled out a switchblade, ready to attack, “Hey” is all the agent would say as Caitlin spun round, but as quick as she did, Sarina swung the blade in her hand with surprising accuracy, slicing her targets throat before she could use her sonic scream again. Caitlin had stumbled to one side, unable to make a sound. “No,no,no,no” Sarina quickly grabbed hold of Caitlin, helping her down to the floor carefully and immediately put pressure on the wound she had just caused. “Why couldn’t you of just come quietly” She pleaded, regretting her action the moment she did it. She shouted at the other agents. “Hurry up and get some help over here!” She demanded.

“Come on, stay with me.” Sarina pleaded keeping pressure on the wound as some other agents secured the area around her, they didn’t seem to really care as a minute later a black van with blacked out windows pulled up to them with the side door immediately opening to reveal more agents. They took Caitlin out of Sarina's hands and into the van, they would not let the Altered agent in however as the others got in. “You make sure you bloody keep her alive” Sarina told the agents angrily before the door was slammed shut in her face, the van took off leaving Sarina to her own thoughts. She looked down at her hand covered in Caitlin's blood, the odd tear forming on her features. “FUCK!!!” she would yell out in pure anger as she hit a fireball out at a trash can setting it alight, her eyes having a fiery glow for a second when she did so.

Picking up the switchblade, Sarina quickly looked around, it appeared she had not caught anyone’s attention. Wiping of the blade before concealing it upon herself, she would quietly make her way out of the alley and back towards her Durango, she got a few glances from people who noticed the blood on her hand before she unlocked and got back in her vehicle. Taking a few moments to collect herself she got the first aid kit out to sort out cleaning herself up, opening her target file one more time looking at it for a moment, she didn’t bother wiping away the tears that fell down her cheeks. “Please make it.” She said softly before taking the picture out and closing it back up.

Time: Early Morning
Location: On the road/ Astraea Refugee Camp, San Francisco
Interaction: [@Damo21] Nyssa

---

Seeing Nyssa and Vincent approach, caused Michael to quickly jolt up, sitting up straight and lowering the music he had been playing. While waiting, he took the time to adjust the sound quality in the vehicle's settings, increasing the bass. Once Nyssa entered the vehicle, Michael gave a nod and smile to her through the rearview mirror. Vincent followed up by informing him about the trail vehicle.

"Got it." He winked as he gave a two-finger mock salute to Vincent. Once the door shut, Michael smirked as he turned the music up. Playing something that was somewhat tamed, Starboy by the Weeknd. It was louder but low enough that he and Nyssa could maintain a conversation. She greeted him and mentioned her preference of not wanting to run into checkpoints. Yeah, fuck that. I have powers now. He simply believed Nyssa wanted to avoid the slow-moving traffic and having to stop at a checkpoint.

"You read my mind miss. I've been dodging the checkpoints all morning. If we hit the freeway, we should be fine. It's a detour but, it's exactly what you're looking for!" He smiled through the rearview before shifting the transmission to drive and initiating movement to the refugee camp. He covertly used a newly developed phone app to navigate around the testing checkpoints called Don't Test Me!

Songs by The Weeknd, Kid Cudi, and Drake played until the two-vehicle convoy reached the destination, but as they approached something problematic occurred. As the convoy entered the refugee camp, some old deranged woman suddenly crossed in front of them.

"Whoa! What the fuck are you doing?!" Michael shouted as he slammed on the brakes, but at the moment, sparks discharged from his hands into the steering wheel. Michael raised an eyebrow at the involuntary use of his powers. "Uh…" The brakes momentarily released, causing the SUV to bump into the elderly woman, nearly knocking her down. Michael slammed on the breaks once more, realizing his grave mistake. FUCK! He didn't even dare face Nyssa as the two had just had a lengthy conversation about helping the less fortunate people affected by the Energy Storm and Energy Plague. There was also the Lorizilla incident which everyone wanted to forget. It wasn't easy though. If he had powers and others were using them for selfish or destructive purposes then it was only natural that he had to do something about it.

Uncle Ben did say with great power comes great responsibility. Michael assumed Nyssa didn't see his powers malfunctioning and prayed she didn't see him bump the only lady with the front bumper of the vehicle, but he did broadcast the moment. Welp, I better start looking for a new job. She either saw that I'm Altered or that I can't pay attention to an elderly woman crossing the road… But she just walked out! I swear if I lose this job… damn….

---

^{A collaborative post between @Chulance & @Xandrya}

Floyd could’t believe he could fly, of all the powers he’d ran Into so far this was one of the best. Saving Amelia had been shocking but he was glad he did that. The day was changing rapidly as he got a message from Rita that she was in the hospital after being caught in a gas station explosion. He was alarmed and wished he’d had a vision about her getting hurt rather then some random lady.

“I gotta help Rita.” Floyd was putting his new flying skill to use, heading to the hospital Rita was at. Adora had wiped out the local one downtown so she was farther out and with traffic the way it was he didn’t eat to risk taking too long to get to her. He wanted to tell her about sleeping with Amalia & potentially starting a relationship with her but now he didn’t want to risk that.

As he moved through the sky, he heard the blaring of police sirens and the whirring of chopper blades. “Oh shit” Floyd exclaimed not wanting to get caught by the cops as a flying black man and zoomed downwards landing behind some bushes. The last thing he needed was to get caught using his powers in public after the new laws the President passed. Luckily at least no one saw him, right. He took out his pone to let Rita know that he was close, and checked his GPS it was a 19 minute drive from where he was at. Maybe it was better to call an Uber since he’d ended up leaving his own car at the parking garage of his condo having foolishly opted to fly not thinking about cops & soldiers patrolling the air.

Having just received very upsetting news over the phone, Anya had to take a moment for herself. She sat on a bench and thought about what she would do next. She wouldn't be able to fly back to Moscow even if there were available flights, and for her to quit at this point would ruin her. Not because she couldn't find another job, but because the Russian government would make sure she could never leave Moscow again. At that point, her best bet was to suck it up for the moment being.

Getting up, Anya put her phone away when she noticed something that caught her eye. An Altered was flying down and landed not too far from her. In response, Anya quickly rushed over to the individual, drawing her weapon and pointing it at the man.

"Do not move, you understand? You so much as take a step and I will shoot."

She carefully approached him, and when she was within reach she holstered the gun and knocked the man off balance with a leg sweep, directing him to the ground with one hand on his wrist and the other one on his elbow.

"Put them behind your back, let's go!" Anya wasn't being the least bit friendly. Her day had just been ruined and she didn’t care to restrain herself. She put her weight on the man as she reached for a pair of handcuffs. “Are you that fucking stupid that you think you can fly around without being spotted?”

After securing the cuffs, maybe a bit too tight for comfort, she began to pat him down. “Mind telling me what type of trouble you’re causing around here?"

Ah fuck…my first time flying ever and I’m going to fucking jail. I been moving pounds getting away with this shit and I’m getting locked up for super powers

Floyd’s heart was racing, an impending sense of doom came over him. One that only appeared when put into a position of powerlessness at the hands of Law Enforcement. Getting arrested was one of the worst feelings in the world, and something he’d hoped to have never experienced again. But between worrying about Rita being in the hospital and filled with joy about being able to fly he’d messed up again. That’s how it always was for him, getting arrested was always something that happened at the most unexpected moment from something he never expected to get in trouble for.

Fuck I’ve got that fake ID on me that says I’m not altered fuck fuck fuck The ID Amalia created for him with her powers was causing his anxiety to spike. He had no idea what would happen if the laws caught him with it, but was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to vote in the next election.

“Yoooooo I..” Floyd really had nothing to say to defend himself, he knew about the new laws but hadn’t put much thought into the dangers of flying until hearing sirens & choppers nearby.

“Look I’m not doing nothing, my..my business partner is in the hospital, I was just trying to beat traffic I I didn’t even know I could fly” Floyd lied that was the only thing he could do. “IT was an accident I was just walking then I wasn’t forreal ma’am this just happened. I was actually gonna go get my blood test right after the hospital ya know since I have powers and I was never gonna fly again either, I..wouldn’t lie to you.” Floyd said lying nervously his entire day had just took a turn for the worst, all these damn visions and he didn’t see this coming.

“God shut up, you’re so full of shit!”

Anya knew everything he was saying was a lie. She’d heard that same line a dozen times before. ”I wasn’t gonna do it again, I swear!" or ”I didn’t even know!" The fact that the guy thought she was that stupid pissed her off even more.

“Come on, get up!” Anya roughly pulled him up by the arm, barely giving him any time to get to his feet. “Do you have a wallet on you? What’s your name, huh?"

“Jeez what died and crawled up your ass”

Floyd replied rudely almost by instinct but instantly regretted it, but felt like he was already in deep shit. All he’d tried to do since he woke up this morning was do the right thing, fix the horrible things he saw in his visions and now he was hand-cuffed for admittedly & stupidly flying around in broad daylight.

He groaned as Anya jerked him up by his arm, the tightness of the cuffs gnawing at his skin as he was pulled up.

“Floyd” He answered about his name, the first truthful thing he’d said since he was cuffed. “So now what? You cart me off to jail huh, all because I’m different. Oh yeah let me grab my wallet, oh wait I can’t.” Floyd shot off at the mouth, allowing his emotions to get the better of him forgetting about his ID in his wallet that said he wasn’t altered. Damn it, this would be the perfect time for another mystery trick to kick in, teleportation would be great about now or walking through wall Floyd pleaded internally wishing he could just spin a wheel and get a new power to get him out of this situation, and starting to regret ever getting mixed up with Rita Salzaras in the first place.

The fact that Floyd kept running his mouth made Anya want to smack him, but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of losing it in front of him. Instead, she felt around for his wallet and reached in his pocket to retrieve it. Once she flipped it open, she saw that his driver's license did not indicate he was an Altered. Cute.

"So Floyd, I have a couple of questions for you," she pushed down on his shoulder to force him to sit down. "First, tell me about your power, and don't spare me any details. Second, you're going to tell me who you got this fake ID from."

Floyd felt his stomach drop when she brought up the fake altered ID he'd gotten from Amalia. Yesterday it had relieved his stress about the blood tests, today it caused more. He groaned as she applied force to his shoulder practically forcing him to sit down as she interrogated him. "My power, you claim you saw me flying right?" He shot back at the agent who had cuffed him.

He was scared to confess his actual power to the agent, especially after the Lori attack on the news. "Fake ID?! It's real, I told you I just started flying I was normal until this moning I..I..I...got tested two days ago! So you can see this in an accident, you gotta let me go I'll do whatever you want, I have money!!" Floyd announced in a last act of desperation

"You know what, save it! My boss will be glad I found you. And if I can't get you to talk, you'll definitely change your mind by the time you end up dealing with him." The agent then turned Floyd to face away from her. She pulled out a disposable zip tie and secured it around his wrists before removing her steel handcuffs.

"Sit down," she ordered, watching him do as commanded. Anya then took a few steps away from Floyd, keeping him in view but out of earshot. Jonah was going to be glad she found a lead regarding fake IDs, that which was a rising issue by making their jobs just a little bit harder. The agent pulled her phone from her pocket, not aware of the approaching Altered nearing their location.

“The boss ah shit.” Floyd grumbled when she brought up the person she worked for. He figured that she was in some trouble, he’d gotten in trouble before but it was the first week of the power laws being passed & he was already being nabbed for it.

He almost let out an ahh when she switched the cuffs from the steel to the zip tie. Still it wasn’t like she snapped some new cuffs made of paper on him. That didn’t stop him from trying to wiggle his way or break out the new ones hoping he’d be more succesful. I thought that would be easy, fuck teleportation I’d settle for super strength right now He knew he was in some deep shit, not only getting caught up for powers but for fake altered ID’s. He figured the ID’s might even end up being a bigger problem, since e wasn’t caught using his powers to commit any other crimes except for the fact that he blatantly used them in public.

Luke spotted the scene from a few miles away, he’d noticed the flying man. As a supporter of the Reaper he was trying his hardest to find new recruits, until a plains cloth officer had nabbed him. He’d kept his distance to peep the scene and decided now was time to act.

Seeing the agent wasn’t paying attention the agent sprung forward unleashing his power on her, emitting a microwave blast to boil her skin and blood. “TAKE THAT YOU FUCKING PIG!” As he yelled out he shot out a second microwave blast to melt her gun.

“Oh shit!” Floyd yelled out seeing the altered who came out of nowhere attacking the agent from behind with some type of slightly visible red beam.

“You, Leave Now!!!!!” Luke used his microwave emission power on Floyd’s zip-ties causing them to melt but also inadvertently sizzling some of the flesh on Floyd’s arms causing him to yell out at his “Rescuer”s painful escape method.

Damn that shit burned I’m free I’m free, oooh “Yooo preciate it!!! You need a ride.” Floyd instantly levitated ignoring the painful sensation in his wrists.

“Sure, but first this bitch has to die!”Luke yelled hands glowing with microwave energy.

“Wait! You ain’t gotta kill her bruh”

“What?! You got stock home syndrome or something?! She dies!!” Luke yelled out about to fire another microwave blast at the agent not wanting her to recover only for Floyd to instinctively launch a blast of fire deflecting the microwave beam from hitting Anya.

Reacting almost immediately, Anya barely managed to get away from the attacker that had seemingly popped out of nowhere. She was hit on the shoulder, causing her to drop her gun, and then almost immediately after the fact she was knocked off her feet as she was blasted on the leg. Anya looked behind her at the Altered, her heart about to burst from her chest as he announced she was about to die. Both her shoulder and her leg were on fire, so she wasn’t so sure she could get away to find cover.

Fuck...

Anya looked around, just then catching a glimpse of Floyd who was floating above them. Had his friend come to his rescue? Anya wasn’t sure anymore, the adrenaline rush suddenly dulling some of her senses, making it hard for her to hear them. It was then she witnessed Floyd deflect the Altered’s attack. Had he just saved her life? And how? Where did the additional ability come from?

Instead of trying to find answers to her own questions, Anya reached for her second gun with her non-dominant hand and fired two shots at the Altered, hitting him once on the chest and once on the arm. Her hand trembling, she lowered the weapon, waiting to see if she needed to shoot again.

This just wasn’t Floyd’s day, he went from being rescued into an all out fight with bullets, laser beams & fire balls flying around. He didn’t have any love for law enforcement especially the lady that just tried to arrest him, but he didn’t see the need in killing her in cold blood.

Bullets whizzed past him and into the would be rescuer who seemed more obsessed with killing the agent then actually getting him to safety. “Shit…shit…”

“Aaahhhh.” Luke yelled out stumbling backwards from the two shots, only to rip off his shirt revealing he was wearing a vest. Still his arm had been a direct hit which was now gushing with blood. “Fuck it, you can die with this bitch you fucking idiot!!!!!” Luke screamed out causing his other arm to didn’t have a bullet lodged in it to pulsate with energy followed by his whole body.

“Oh my fuck!!! Bruh I’m trying to keep you going getting life in prison for killing cops and now you gonna just kill everyone, did you fail rescue 101????” Floyd noticed the man glowing violently and massive energy starting to being emitted from his body widely in every direction. Oh shit he’s about to blow himself up, fuck

“FOR REAPER”!!!!” Luke yelled as he went to self detonate himself with microwave energy. Floyd lunged forward grabbing Anya and flying upwards into the sky just barely getting out of the way of the man’s self detonation. The aftershock of the blast almost caused Floyd to loose his grip on both Anya & himself for that matter in the air.

DamnLooking down he saw a small mushroom cloud of smoke and heard sirens going towards the direction of the blast. Still carrying Anya he flew back towards the ground landing near an empty parking lot and quickly setting her down as his wrists were still sizzled from getting microwaved. “Fuck, I didn’t mean to save you too.” Floyd retorted which was half true, and half because he didn’t know if he’d get in more trouble if she got blown up.

She was still shaken up, but at least she was back on the ground. Her leg was still throbbing, and Anya knew she needed medical attention, and fast. She settled down on the ground and lifted her pant leg to inspect the damage. “Thanks,” she added, not bothering to look up at Floyd. A few minutes ago, she was ready to hand him over to Liberty so they could do whatever they wanted with him. “I owe you one.”

Her voice was now calm, not at all agitated like it was previously. “Well...to be honest there’s not a lot I can do here at this point. I mean, I can’t bring you in and let my boss deal with you, it’s just not in the cards for me today. I do find it interesting how you have more than one ability, just like that giant woman from yesterday..."

She checked her pockets but her phone was gone. Of course it was, there was no way she subconsciously tucked it away as she was being ambushed. Anya then slowly got to her feet, staring at Floyd. “Would you mind telling me about that? Off the record, of course."

Floyd wasn’t in the business of working with people who tried to arrest him, but he wasn’t ready to be responsible for a dead federal agent. “Oh yeah your super welcome.” He added in somewhat sarcastically, as his flying antics had prevented Anya’s life from being ended in Luke’s apparent suicidal explosion.

Now she owes me one, but I trust her about as far as I can throw herHe noticed the hostility in her tone had mostly evaporated, but he still was on guard somewhat. The biggest lesson he took from this whole encounter was not to fly around recklessly as it almost ended with him in custody if not for the enraged altered who was itching to put agents of the law in a body bag.

“Oh yeah off the record? Well I can’t turn into Floydzilla if that’s what your asking clearly, and I ain’t related to her either.” Floyd made sure to stress that he had no relation to Lori Martinez which was true he didn’t want to be tied to her. “Honestly I want her dead before her actions get all the altered hunted & killed, but if you really wanna owe me a favor look the other way on the ID, unless you want the whole world to get wiped out. You won’t believe me but I’m trying to stop the end of the world, and having the authorities hunt me down might make it harder.”

"What do you mean the end of the world? What do you know?" Anya inquired, trying think back to the previous briefings she's had at Liberty. Nothing to this extent had ever come up, not that she could remember at least. The agent then reached in her pocket and gave back Floyd's fake ID in good faith. Maybe he would tell her some more information, maybe he wouldn't, but it was a start. "Here, I won't have a need for this," she added, having already memorized his name and address. If that was correct, it'd be useful for the future. "I meant what I said, honestly. I jumped the gun back there and I do recognize that. I mean, you were just flying, not destroying the city..." Anya caught herself as she went off on a tangent, clearing her throat. "Floyd, who told you all this?"

Floyd sighed knowing that talk about the end of the world made him sound crazy as well as how he found out even if it was true. He happily accepted is fake ID back slipping it into his wallet. No doubt she probably memorized this shit, now I gotta be even more careful with the drugs & actually selling ID's..

"No one told me, you brought up the multiple powers thing right, well the first one and the worst one I ran into.....lets me see glimpses of the future..."

Floyd's voice trailed off even with all these powers he felt silly talking about seeing the future. After all it didn't stop him from almost getting arrested but the power wasn't that easy to manage

"I've been getting visions of everyone on the planet dying about a year from now, and something to do with some Operation KIVA. To be honest I don't know if it's weapons or powers or both, but I'm guessing all the people who matter and can stop this shit like the feds or the strongest altered are either unaware or too wrapped up in there own problems too care." He’d whipped out his phone & went to his Uber app to type in the address of the hospital Rita was at. Anya had gotten one point across for sure, he wasn’t about to go flying again.

"Operation KIVA," she whispered to herself. Anya hadn't heard of the term before, but she would bring it up to Jonah. Maybe, just maybe he could have heard about it through the grapevine. "That's, um...that's big. I need to look into this..."

It was then Anya reached into one of the inside pockets in her jacket and handed Floyd her business card. It didn't have much on there other than her contact information under her alias, Jennifer Donovan. "I would love for you to stay in touch. I'm going to dig around and see what else I can come up with and I'll let you know. We can work together on this, keeping Liberty out of it. In fact, I have some resources of my own so I don't need to go through official government channels..."

And with that, Anya turned around to leave. She had a slight limp, and she pulled out the small radio magically still attached to her belt in order to get a hold of Jonah.

Floyd just nodded his had in agreement as she repeated the name of the world ending project that haunted his precognitive nightmares. Although his roommate Mike was aware of the visions themselves, so far he’d only divulged the apocalyptic nature of them to Amalia & now this government agent who only moments ago tried to take him down the road for the super-powered equivalent of being black while driving.

Wait maybe I shouldn’t be going around just saying shit about this or I could fuck up time, nah fuck that I’m dreaming about every city getting roasted like my auntie’s slabs on the 4th of July this shit GOTTA change Floyd instantly pulled away from any thoughts of trying to shy away from the violent gritty facts of the future his powers were allowing him to witness. True enough most of his knowledge on the future, & tampering with time or events yet to come came from NBC’s Heroes, X Men Days of Future Past & Back to the Future but at the risk of 7 billion lives getting incinerated he was willing to take his chances, he’d played with worst odds in the past & made it through just fine.

Without any further fuss he took Anya’s business card and slipped tin his wallet. ”Thank you”
His first connection with an form of agent, maybe it would be beneficial. Her final words interested him the most, and he pondered if she had a darker side. Cuffs aside he was always thrilled by a strong pretty woman with a secret. “Hmm your own channels huh, we might need them fa’sho.” He added before seeing his Uber was less than five minutes aw ay taking his attention away from the gorgeous Russian agent limping away to parts unknown.

Time: Afternoon
Location: Oakland, Hospital
Interaction:

---

Uber it is, that was the way to get to the hospital Rita was at. After the harrowing experience with Agent Donnovan Floyd’s son of krypton moment was over. Flying in broad light in plain sight was not the smartest experience. As he emerged from the black Camry and slid the driver a twenty the thought dawned on him to combine it with invisibility. [I]Yo that was a common ass solution and my black ass ain’t think of that[/]I

Floyd grunted he was new to this power thing, and he was surging with so many emotions. Excitement over the life long dream to be airborne without wings or a jetpack, as well as his dream ability manifested in reality. It all started with frightening dreams of violent events, he thought he could the short end of the staff power wise. Being Mama Petrelli in real life wasn’t fun, nights full of cryptic terror wasn’t worth the 50 grand he’d gotten off that lucky predicted scratch off ticket.

Well as far as financial compensation goes especially with his luck & history in life it kinda did. But, that was aside the point he got what he really wanted. Well at least it had seemed that way for the past two months with these emerging powers. Now it seemed the financial empire he tried to fiercely consolidate with his new abilities was starting to rapidly crumble before his eyes. All at once, which was a typical occurrence in his life when it came to his times of plight & traumatic occurrences.

There wasn’t any more time for racing thoughts about the situation. Not now at least is what he thought as he stepped into the hospital room Rita was in. He rushed over to see her layingi in the bed and placed an arm on her own. “Rita…” Floyd trailed off seeing her laying down there attached to different medical apparatus.

“She’s lucky to be alive son, with everything going on there’s not that many blessings going around town.”

Floyd turned to see an older white gentlemen in a white coat. He clearly recognized this mysterious man as a doctor or nurse, perhaps the one providing over his girl laying in the bed. He fought back against a lump in his throat, and just nodded his head in agreement. An entire gas station explosion, the national guard was snooping around the area asking questions & detectives had already been through to grill Rita for questions. No doubt her powers were what allowed her to survive the blast relatively unharmed, but that’s something Floyd didn’t want the authorities or the doctors to figure out.

“Yeah a blessing huh, well your right Doc can you just give me some space please.” Floyd requested from the older gentlemen Clearly wanting to be alone with Rita for now and question her in private.

“You got it son, I can see the worry lined into your face. I’m sorry, just trying to offer some good news after what happened yesterday it feels like any moment this place can come toppling down.” The Doctor retorted with some fear & sadness in his voice. Floyd instantly felt bad for being somewhat snappy towards the medical professional as he realized he was talking about the hospital that was wiped out in downtown San Francisco yesterday during the Lorizilla incident.

After a few moments he was alone with Rita and leaned down to kiss her on the forehead then the lips. There was no way he could spring what happened with Amalia on her, not now. He felt so bad for even thinking about mentioning it. That was of course before he knew what had happened to her. He jumped back startled when Rita’s hand shot out to reach his own and her eyes flickered open. “Rita!”?”

“Floyd…your here…damn it.” Rita groaned in pain as she sat up and strained a bit raising the Frame of her body against the pillow behind her.

“Of course I’m here baby, you don’t gotta get up, we’re at the hospital, you were in an explosion and.”

“Damn it you know I’m fine, I mean I’m roughed up a bit and some hell of a shock, but you know what I mean. Those flames barely licked me, my clothes got more fried than me, but right before everything went boom there was some bitch yelling about me & going to hell, she hopped out a fucking car that rolled towards a pump with some kinda bomb in it.” Rita explained describing the events she witnessed momentarily before the whole gas station went up in flames, courtesy of there mutual enemies.

“What the fuck?!” Floyd gasped and then shook his head. For a second there he was beginning to feel like he was in way over his head. Powers or no powers getting involved with the Salzaras Cartel & trafficking narcotics on this level was beginning to have a venomous effect on the rest of his life. “Jesus, what-“

Boom Pow Pow

The window of Rita’s room shattered, glass exploding. The roaring sound of a gun-shot rang through both of there ears as Floyd had ducked to the ground. Rita instinctively raised up a pillar of flame that consumed part of the wall and set part of the room ablaze. “Oh shit what the”

Pow Pow Pow

Three more shots rang through the wall causing commotion to start in the nearby rooms. Rita immediately hopped out the hospital bed and rushed out the room with Floyd. In the hallways people were beginning to panic as a bullet soared through and lodged into the neck of a nurse who was strolling up to the narcotic peddling couple. “OH shit, that’s for us.”

“We gotta go now!” Rita exclaimed with fear in her voice, now the realization fully settling in for both of them that someone was shooting at them.

Floyd knew it was time to act and not to make the same mistake again. He grabbed Rita, and caused both of them to become invisible. Scooping her up in his arms he leapt into the air with her in tow taking flight soaring through the hallway to get them away from the hospital room that had just been under siege by a mysterious marksman trying to finish the job the gas station explosion Rita survived had started.

In the distance Paige lay on a roof top belly flat holding a sniper rifle. She had some binoculars in her hand that she then set down next to her and slammed her fist down. “Damn it, these bastards just won’t die huh. So there like me explosion didn’t kill the bitch, and before I could test out if shells would finish the job Banker made him & his Bonnie bitch vanish. Okay then so I’m guessing the whore’s got some power tied to fire & Banker’s Nightcrawler or an invisible man.”

Paige was frustrated that the sweetest part of her revenge was becoming the hardest part to extract. With her newfound powers she had a rush flowing through her, a feeling of invincibility. Albeit due to the specific powers she inherited it made sense. She slid up from her position and slung the gun over her back-side. The wailing of sirens approaching was an indication that it was time to get going from the roof and ditch the firearm she’d just used. “Oh well Banker whether your bitch can breath fire and you can pull a Casper, I’m fairly certain a couple armor piercing shells to the head should do the trick because your not like me. Oooooh yes time to pay the home a visit, and your not gonna like what the energy storm gave me.” Paige elicited a sinister smirk as she descended into an open stairway that had taken her to the roof in the first place to get her vantage point.

Time: Noon
Location: Starbucks
Interaction:

---

The gritty former Liberty agent sat quietly at a table within Starbucks, enjoying a tall bitter black cafe americano. Fitting.

Marcus managed to purchase a new phone and got his contacts and number back in order. He mentally cursed Jennifer Donovan for upsetting so much that he neglected it in the process of using his powers.

The instance presented a flaw in his power use that he had shrugged off for far too long. If he was going to work alone, he needed to get a grip on how much heat he generated. He needed to do something he hadn't done in a long while.

Train.

Time: Late Morning
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada - Corinthian Hotel Lobby
Interaction:

---

“Ladies & Gentlemen in desperate times, there’s such a thing as desperate measures which take place to ensure our continued survival.” Nathan Forrester was seen addressing the public in an expensive Armani suit. He’d netted a interview on Fox News in regards to everything going on that he was tied to as a result of his family running the country the Forrester Administration.

His public approval & support ratings were widely varying in the past few weeks & months which was to be expected with his brother being the president of the United States. That and him federally legislating the use of their own family’s products to enforce new laws being instilled to handle the altered human situation. He was making this address in a well designed media studio/station not far from the Corinthian Hotel he was still staying at in in Vegas, Nevada.

“I know many American citizens are concerned with everything going on. It seems to be in these past few months we’ve suffered one tragedy after another. The “Energy Storm” itself that began all this followed by the energy plague & now the altered. There are many sectors & communities within our first world capital of freedom who are opposed or even divided by the new stipulations mandated by the emergency altered act. I’m here to say that although the Forrester Family may not have always be seen as heroes or “angels” to the public, that our goal is to re-distribute our wealth to those who need it. To monetize our ideas & companies now just to line our pockets or those of our family immediate & otherwise but to showcase my support for the American public & the monstrosity of a menace we are facing I Nathan Forrester am here to offer the public a solution.”

Nathan’s voice trailed off, as a flurry of reporters & other media employee’s hands shot up to either further inquire into Nathan’s proposition or aim to further discredit it. After a brief Q&A session which was rife with conflict and disagreements on both sides the older Forester brother finally & fully revealed his offer. “As many if not all Americans are nowhere, the national guard has been deployed to all fifty states to help with the enforcement of the blood tests. In order to support our troops & police across the country, the Forrester Corporation will be offering a $15,000 cash reward for information & whereabouts on any & all unregistered altered humans starting seven days from now.”

Nathan flashed a smile to the crowd as they went wild, if there was one thing that people loved in the land of the free it was cash. Money made the liberty obsessed continent spin around and around like the earth’s spinning. He’d thought on settling for ten grand a person, but felt fifteen was an adequate middle in between ten & twenty to get the ball rolling and of course this wouldn’t take place until a week after the testing. Already he’d donated some money in a pool with other Liberty backers & others whose financial interests thrived with anti altered activity to back these cash reward payments.




Time: Morning
Location: Downtown San Francisco
Interaction:

---

Dean was worried about Paige, with her loosing her job for planting drugs on Floyd. The SFPD had a file on Floyd Banker as a suspected drug dealer & ties to the Salzaras Cartel. Some of their informants had heard of rumors that he might be involved with the cartel leader Hector Salzaras sister, but those rumors were unreliable & not based on any factual evidence.

From what he could dig up on paper about Floyd, this cat was from Atlanta & worked in the media, music & marketing industry. Of course that was ripe for crime as were many industries tied to hip hop & rap so that didn’t exactly make him presume innocence. Still there were other issues that were absorbing the majority of his focus in the department. Primarily the heavily overlooked rapidly rising kidnappings of females in Oakland & LA. For some reason San Francisco hadn’t had nearly as many women swindled from existence & uprooted from their lives.

Dean figured that it was easier to target women of minorities to raise less of a fuss. While the state was progressive, LAPD itself was still very corrupt & not exactly the most pro black police department in the country. In some ways there police force unit moved likee a gang, and it’s one reason he stuck with the SFPD. “Hmm maybe this will provide some answers.”

Dean was doing some more research on his laptop, going over the files of the missing girls. It was then Kenny his hispanic officer friend had came to sit down next to him and set some food on the table. “Tacos, beef, tomatoes, lettuce, sour cream, cilantro, three for me, three for you, and I got the good stuff.” Kenny reached for another bag pulling out a six pack of some bud light platinum cans.

“No not for me man not now, honestly not ever.” Dean admitted, he didn’t want to engage in the consumption of any alcohol on the job. Even if he was on the office & it was oe of the rules officers could easily skate as long as they weren’t caught racing around in their cruisers drunk looking for perps. His own nasty growing habit that he was ashamed of made imbibing on alcoholic beverages a potentially lethal idea. But of course he was’t going to advertise to other cops in his department that he was struggling with a budding addiction to prescription pain killers.

“Suit yourself, I admire you man I don’t know how you do it. Pouring over all those files about those chicks and your too holy for a drank, shit you might deserve to crack it, but me I deserve to crack this.” Kenny retorted with a laugh as he posed the cap off ad chugged some of his beer.

“Yeah I know I know, big bitch, Reaper, blah blah but that’s not shit I can do anything about right? We’re suppose to be dealing with drugs not Grim Reapers & Godzillas, hell the public is always saying we’re too militarized as it is, what kind of grants & equipment you think we’ll need to fight that kind of shit, then what will the nay-sayers say.” Dean replied with irritation as he begrudgingly began devouring some of the tacos. He was already keeping his body cleansed of everything besides the pills he was hooked on, he was going to eat some damn good tacos calories be damned.

“Rivers you’ve got someone who wants to talk to you.” A female officer had popped in, a caucasian woman named Lisa in her early 30’s. She had long Lucious brunette hair tied in a neat pony tail, and had a wonderful fragrance as her perfume. Lisa had transferred to LAPD three years ago from Atlanta, and had been with SFPD for a little over a year now. She was one of the more flirtatious officers in the force, and she had a passion for the job as her family was loaded.

“Oh really, who” Dean asked?

“Man you asking who, your out here playing super detective, you’ve got more perps coming down to the station “Just to talk” then anybody else. I won’t be surprised if you find the altered who melted the checkpoint, Lorizilla, and nail the Salzaras all while busting at least three truckloads full of dope by the end of the week.” Kenny shot back jokingly referring to Dean’s extensive work ethic.

“Yeah well I’m not officer Rojas huh, I didn’t suddenly get an ear for all sorts of mayhem going around town anymore then usual, just my same eye for detail. Come on I think I know who it is, wanna tag along Kenny?” Dean requested of the cop as he got up from his seat to follow Lisa.

“Nah you should spend some quality time with Lisa, you two make a good team, besides these tacos are calling my name.” Kenny replied clearly more interested in the taco’s and texting his tinder women then the case.

“Yeah well I’m taking my food Fat Kenny.” Dean interjected grabbing his bag with the remaining two tacos and following Lisa out into the hallway. Going around the corner they were led into the interrogation room. It was just as Dean had suspected, an old acquaintance of his Lester Hines. He was a renown African American geneticist and former star employee at the Forrester Corporation. Apparently he was working on a top secrete black-site project that was going to change the face of the United States Military & Law Enforcement around 18 months ago before the DIA said enough was enough.

“Officer Rivers.” Lester said calmly and held out a hand. Dean took a seat at the other end of the table and extended his own to shake it. Lisa decided to take herself a corner of the mostly empty room and lean against a wall.

“Forgive me for being rude, but I’m not much of a fan of the perks of being a wallflower. I agreed to speak with you Officer Rivers…Alone. That was the arrangement, but if you can’t honor that perhaps I can take my concerns to another department.” Lester retorted glaring at Lisa briefly before turning his attention back to Dean.

Lisa rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders. “Fine, I’m the nice one, but if you just want the bad cop so be it, I’m thirsty anyway. I’m about to grab some sprite you want one Dean.” Lisa asked as she made her way out the interrogation room sliding the door closed after Dean nodded in agreement.

“Alright the she’s gone, what’s going on Hines? I assume this isn’t a social event, life ain’t been the same since the Forrester well ran dry for you huh. You ain’t listen when I said to just drop that shit, so if your about to give me another rambling about the evils of the Forrester Corporation & Forrester Administration welcome to corporate America & the politicians it controls. Not to mention I don’t have the juice to swing anything that way.”

“Oh Dean please, I no longer harbor any negative feelings towards the Forrester’s, at least mostly. But I will admit this has something to do with my research, I believe someone out there has perfected it or rather developed an effective draft, and there right here local in California, San Francisco, Oakland & LA to be exact. I’m not here to pitch or encourage my previous work, I’m here to make sure it’s not being used to enhance the nightmare this country’s in and see if it ties to any of your ongoing cases that are turning this into Nightmare Frisco.”

Dean had both of his hands intertwined & folded in-front of him. As soon as Lester got to the point of the conversation, his interest in this meeting shifted into higher levels of concern. He knew some about Lester’s research, but figured most of it & the project was always going to be purely theoretical especially after the Forrester’s pulled the plug. “San Francisco can’t take much more & Oakland & LA were already filled with bright colored shady characters without altered powers. “Alright I gotta admit I thought this was mostly gonna be a. Bunch of baloney, I’m here cause you’ve always been a friend before all this shit. What’s going on Hines, speak to me” Dean asked with concern.

“Ah old friend I thought you’d never ask.” Lester said with an insidious glean on his face as the two old “friends” reunion continued.




Time: Late Morning
Location: Downtown San Francisco
Interaction:

---

Adora had throughly enjoyed her time with Joe, there was always time to enjoy pleasure in her life. Even though she had to take Andrea’s form to get him to re-arrange her guts, it was the easiest way to get the pleasure she wanted from him since his girl was dead downstairs.

But all that exercising left her famished, fueling both her thirst & hunger for a multitude of things she sought to satisfy her urges. She slid out the covers where Joe lay on the pillow against the bed’s head-board unconscious. The pussy put him to sleep, may have been Andrea’s body but I know how to utilize the kitten better then her Adora smirked as she slipped off the robe she was wearing & changed into some more comfortable clothes. Shacking up in the early afternoon might have left some tired or satisfied for the day but not her, especially with her new ear for different occurrence’s taking place across the city.

“Awww you look so cute in your wittle sleep Joe, honestly that was some quality pipe. I dunno If I should give a quick death in your sleep, keep you as a toy or engage in some post sexual destruction, all three options are just as riveting & diabolical” She spoke with a soothing voice as she placed an arm on exposed chest rubbing softly. Whilst admiring his physique she tapped into her new ability to draw in sounds from various events & conversations around the area.

Focusing on the memories she plucked from the LAPD detective’s head allowed her to pull from her memory banks so to speak on how to properly utilize the power. Well at least to the same extent Andrea had, she was good but Adora wanted to get better with this power in particular.

As she was honing her hearing she caught wind of a conversation taking place in a drug house in Oakland that caught her immediate attention and caused her to plop down on the bed to pour her full attention into the conversation.

Inside there was a man sitting in business casual, a light skin individual smoking a very large cigar addressing a group of people. Although Adora couldn’t see the scenery of the location, she could hear every word they were discussing. It appeared the head honcho of the group was addressing them and his name was Cain Rodrigez

“Listen fuck Lionel & his metal skin. I heard he whooped some altered’s ass at TAP yesterday over bread, but I don’t give a fuck. Don’t forget he ain’t the only one whose gotten abilities from this thing, my talents ain’t nothing to shit on either. Plus my man Juan here has an explosive surprise in store for Lionel’s boys, and most importantly we got the juice & I’m working on getting either sole rights or primary custody of Salzaras drugs in Oakland, then LA, then the rest of the state is easy pickings.”

“Ehh see I agree, they won’t know what him literally, it’s gonna be a boom.” Juan said making a childish explosion noise that caused some amusement from some of the other thugs that was gathered. “What’s wrong with you Ricardo don’t tell me you scared of Lionel”

Another hispanic young male was seen in the corner smoking a stuffed backwood, the one known as Ricardo who seemed to be well within the confines of the conversation but had some unspoken doubts. “I mean yes we have power, but Lionel has power too, and we have no idea if he has others with him, we know what we can do, and what we can take, but what about them? How the hell we know they don’t got the juice to huh? We needs to be keeping that shit on lock more than bricks.”

Cain walked over to Ricardo and lifted him up with ease before slamming him into a wall. Ricardo grunted as Cain used his superior strength to easily overwhelm Ricardo. “You know what with I do, I can rip off your limbs like I’m pulling apart some toilet paper to wipe my ass, and I don’t have to turn my skin to metal to do it. Your doubts are one thing, but your fear that’s insulting Ricardo, this is a new day for the Latin Kings in Oakland, the Black Disciples will fall, Lionel will fall, and if that stupid motherfucker Shade gets in the way, I’ll leave his damn corpse in the shade mask on or mask off no different to me, long as his guts are spilled.” Cain spoke with a voice that commanded power that seemed to only increase Ricardo’s fear towards him but lessen his willingness to speak about it.

Juan interjected clearly having some loyalty to Ricardo and not wanting his leader Cain to squash his head like a melon.” Fuck all that, the juice is ready, and I got the scoop on there next drop, 20 bricks, and 30 bags in less then a hour. We hit em where it hurts, after we done fucking up Lionel we going run the drugs and snatch up his bribery shit.” Juan exclaimed with eagerness.

Cain clapped applauding his right hand man’s bloodlust & disregard for any potential failures in combatting Lionel. “That’s what I like to here, get ready, get that shit and let’s head out. And while where at it let’s make sure Hines knows this is an exclusive deal if he wants to remain both very well paid & very much alive.” Cain finished.

Back in the bedroom Adora sat on the bed rubbing her hands through the covers at the edge of the bed while taking precursory glances back towards Joe with lust in her eyes. It seemed she’d stumbled upon something very interesting that was in the makings in Oakland. Oh now that’s just juicy pun intended, If I can get the scoop on this Lionel character too that’ll be even better, and the Salzaras are in town & the only big game drug wise with the border closed, seems to me like all sorts of unsavory groups are trying to fill their ranks with altered, the wise ones at least, oh this is going to be fun Adora was giddy with excitement as she went to the bathroom to wash her face and look at herself in the mirror. Getting herself psyched up for the next phase of her psychotic plan to bend the world to her knees.

“Seems the next move is Oakland then huh” Adora was still speaking softly to herself as she weighed her options. She was coming down from the high that came with mass destruction & murder yesterday. Yet she still wanted her urges to be satisfied, so many. For violence, for power, for drugs, all sorts of consumption ran through her mind non stop. She’d always been an overtly greedy woman & desire heavy human being but something was changing.

Feed you must feed, be satisfied. Consume it all, every entree is needed. Power, Flesh, Wealth, Knowledge.

Adora winced feeling/hearing a slight “Whoosh” sound that came from her temples & oozed into her ears. Placing a hand on her forehead she held tight keeping her eyes closed & teeth clenched as the echoes of distant voices in her head recited those four wants again. “Power, Flesh, Wealth, Knowledge. ” Finally some violent electric arcs emerged from her hands and collided with the ceiling lights causing them to explode.

The explosion of lights was what finally awakened Dean causing him to shoot up sitting upwards and pushing the covers off his upper body. He turned to see “Andrea” sitting on the edge of the beat seemingly giving herself a message. “What the hell was that, you okay Andrea” Dean poised the question with sincere concern as he fully emerged from the bed and walked over to the edge to sit by Adora.

“Oh I’m doing better then okay it’s just…”Her voice trailed off, here she was about to confess a potential growing problem with someone who only wasn’t her enemy yet because they hadn’t found out about their dead fiancee rotting on the kitchen floor downstairs.

“But what? Come on talk to me.” Joe stated back not relenting on trying to see what was going on with his newly fired fuck buddy which occupied the curious side of his mind more then being woken up by exploding ceiling lights. [I]Cheap ass bulbs, I knew I should have gotten better quiet lights.”

“Joe it’s just there’s nothing to talk about, it’s probably just loosing my job getting to me, and the things I hear around us and not just from the “Bad” side of town.” Adora mused indicating that her enhanced hearing wasn’t a picnic walk. While it made her a stellar ease-dropping tool she had to keep working on only raising the effectiveness of the sense of hearing when she actively wanted or needed to use the power, rather the suffer from brief bursts of an uncontrolled passive version of the power.

“Well if you need to talk about anything I’m here.” Joe said as he patted the bat over slowly causing Adora to raise an eyebrow.

“What the hell are you doing?” She said with confusion in watching what looked like Joe going around the bed giving it a soft massage.

“Umm exposing ceiling light, woke me up from my dream, kinda wanna make sure we don’t lay back on glass.” Dean stated indicting why he was waltzing around their shared bedroom to feel for any shards. “Hmmm nothing its like the lights blew up, fried or just got vaporized…”Dean answered with a few fingers tapping at his chin as if trying to call forth more mysterious about what happened from the recess of his mind.

“Well I have places to go, I would say see you later, bur our time is up baby. I gotta go but it was fun.” Adora replied getting up from the bed and stretching a bit. Joe’s life meter was starting to run slower & slower the closer he spent with the impulsive blood-thirsty and damn near thirst level famished power hungry woman.

“Places to go you just got fired, look I had a good time last night. Why don’t we just relax at least one or two more days, I mean c’mon” Joe finished showing that he didn’t Andrea to ditch him at his place with everything going in the country.

Adora made a hmmm noise as if thinking about something before shrugging her shoulders. “Well Joe-“

Before she could continue a loud scream was heard, and Joe instantly rushed over to the drawer to grab his gun, while Adora tensed up using her newfound ability to hear what was going on, in the midst of their conversation. The door had been unlocked, she heard foot-steps which will focusing on them with her new ability was like a band marching. OOooh talk about unfortunate timing, oh well

“Andrea stay down here I’m going to see what’s going on!” Joe rushed to open the front door and bolt downstairs before Adora could tell him to stop. Then shook her head as she made some sparks of electricity sizzle through her finger tips. “Wow this is just great” Right as she said that she heard Joe screaming as well.

“Mom is dead!! What the fuck did you do!” A voice rang out, it sounded like a teenage boy, then another teenage boy was speaking.

“Oh my god you killed her, you killed our mom you fucking bastard!!!!” The second teenage voice spoke.

Then a third voice this one was female and she sounded the most distraught. “Oh my god miss Rojas, your a fucking maniac, boys let’s get out of here! I’m calling the cops” The third voice said, and going through Andrea’s memories allowed Adora to deduce that was Melissa whom Andrea’s sons had been staying with. Peaking down the blinds she noticed a new vehicle was parked outside a silver car, and inside was a guy smoking a marbolo.

“What the fuck is taking them so long, oooh don’t worry Tom it won’t be bad we only have to keep them for 2-3 days. There friggin 16 and 17 there barely gonna be in our hair, give em some beers and they’ll be too distracted to notice us fucking like rabbits. But you had to be the “Cool” adult and drink with them,

“I didn’t kill your mother! What?! She’s upstairs right now I don’t know what the fuck is going on, Melissa put the phone down, this is nuts!!!?” Joe was yelling back at Melissa & the boys.

I’m glad I don’t have super smell, well I mean the bitch can’t smell that bad she ain’t been laying there for days or nothing, but I guess I should just go clean it up. Damn it Andrea your brat sons and the horny bitch you had keeping her fucked up my time with Joe Adora was ticked off at how the situation was unfolding, the conversation downstairs growing worst by the second. But in some ways she was enjoying the eavesdrop Melissa had dialed 911 and slipped her phone in her purse after Joe insisted not to call, now Tom had finished his smoke & was marching to the front door to figure out what was taking so long.

“Why would you do this Joe!!!! I told mom you were a freak and not to trust you!!” The sixteen year old was speaking, seemingly about to well up in tears about his mom lifeless on the ground.

“You fucking monster!!!!” The older kid had enough with words and charged towards Joe trying to wail down blows on the much older & more structured physique Joe had. He easily knocked the kid back sending him sprawling into a wall, while Tom entered the fray and yelled himself upon seeing they were all tussling in the kitchen because of Andra’s lifeless body slumped against the fridge.

“Maybe I shoulda left her body like under the guest bed room, or in the bathroom or just shrunk it, forget it now there all getting on my nerves. I can be listening to something way more interesting with my hearing, ooooh I’ve got a wonderful idea perfect.” Adora placed a hand on a desk nearby and used her power to see the recent history of the desk. This power caused her mind to flood with images of the desk’s history the past few days before removing her hand. “Eureka!”

With that she used her TK to cause the closet doors of the room to flip open and a camera came flying out into her hands. Pressing a button it turned on, and she saw it was on 76%. Not too shabby Using her super hearing again she picked up on a police cruiser with sirens blaring racing towards the home from about 16 minutes away. Using her TK she caused the camera to be lifted into the air, and she shape-shifted back into her Lori Martinez form.

“Hello ladies & gentlemen, my name’s Lori and many of you especially in San Francisco may have seen the grand old jolly time I was having yesterday. Anyway I’d like to welcome you to my NEW blog series, where I will record & detail some of the many fun & violent acts I’m going to keep committing against regular humans, until President Forrester repeals these discriminatory laws towards our people. Now you may be like but nooo Lori killing people will make it worst for us altered, to that I say stop being a pussy. It’s two options repeal the laws and allow us the same freedom or we trample your government & take your freedom basically making you switch with us. Honestly either end result will be all sorts of fun. Anyway I killed some stupid LAPD officer & her family’s throwing a fit downstairs let’s join them.”

Adora used her mass powers to alter the density of herself & the camera phasing both through the roof and into the kitchen where Andreas two teenage sons, Joe, Melissa & Tom where all having a go at each other about the officer’s lifeless body on the ground. Of course seeing the most feared killer in California phase through the roof with a floating camera nearby had caused a sudden silence in the room & drew all the attention to her.

“Oh please do continue, I don’t like to get into arguments myself, but I’m quite a fan of listening to others bicker. Here’s the thing leave poor Joe alone, I’m the one that killed the bitch not him.”

“Wait who the fuck?! Where’s Andrea?! What the fuck?!!!!” Joe for the first time since he’d come downstairs was completely shattered. Seeing Adora come through the roof literally while staring at Andrea’s lifeless body & confirming that the dead body of Andrea on the ground was the real Andrea caused him to fall to his knees in fear.

“Yo everyone run!!!!!” The sixteen year old screamed, as Adora’s eyes surged with red energy and she used her optic beams to blast a hole clean through the youngest son’s neck causing blood to splurt out onto his brother & Melissa who were standing nearby screaming.

The four survivors went to run off in different directions but Adora used her telekinesis to snatch all of them with an invisible force and forcibly pull them back into the kitchen. Then waved her hand back towards her causing four chairs to slide into the room and using TK to push the four into the chairs holding them down as Adora flew down to the ground and stood now fully physical.

“My brother!!!! My mother!!! You bitch, you stupid bitch!!!! You killed them!!!!!!!” The younger brother cried out, while Melissa was breaking down into tears remembering the girl from the news. Joe was still completely distraught as it was starting to click for him who he’d really slept with, and Tom was shaking with so much fear it looked as if he might have a heart attack.

“Oh shut up there’s no one coming to save you” Adora exclaimed right before some knocking was heard on the door. “Oh I was wrong looks like the cops are here?”

“HELP!!!!!!!! HELPP!!!!!”
“WERE KIDNAPPED!!!!”
“SAVE US!!!!!!!!!””

Adora rolled her eyes & used TK to force their mouths shut as the sound of the door being kicked in rattled her a bit. Two officers rushed into the kitchen guns drawn seeing the four sitting in chairs, then looking up to see Adora. One of the cops dropped his gun as his jaw dropped. “Yo..Yo..look it’s her?!” The first officer exclaimed pointing at Adora, while the second one filled with fear & pumping full of adrenaline pulled the trigger firing.

All four bullets the cop fired were suspended in mid air before Adora caused his gun to sling forward out of his hand and in-front of her. Adora then elongated her mouth and ate the gun biting through it like a hamburger. She quickly chewed up the gun and gulped it down before sending the four bullets back into the chest of the cop who fired at her causing his body to drop.

“Now we’re back at five, are you gonna point your pea shooter at me too officer or have you realized that this is utterly pointless and you will die. I had to kill him, honestly I’ve eaten better testing guns, there was way too much sweat on that one like geez way to announce to a super killer that you’re a bitch.”

“I need backup!!!” The remaining officer yelled into his device not even responding to Adora who launched a blast of electricity at him shocking him and burning his skin, eliciting screams from everyone inside. The cop fell to the ground bleeding but alive before Adora unleashed a massive stream of electricity on the remaining officer filing his skin and leaving him a chiseled dead officer.

“Oh my fuck, well that’s my cue to leave he just called back-up, so you four get to live, but I have to take EVERY chance I can get to kill the cops I truly and utterly hate them all with every breath in my body.”

“Me too!” Joe replied in a fanfic tone, agreeing with Adora immediately after she spoke.

“My My your a smart man, the first thing you said since you realized wha was going on, was agreeing with me. It’s not often I run into smart people this calls for a celebration, shots.” Adora said extremely cheerfully and hovered over to the counter while still keeping the four survivors trapped in their chairs. The intense fear they had was rising rapidly with the two dead officers & Andrea dead on the ground around them.

“Yo what do you want!?! Please you don’t have to do this, I won’t tell anyone. I hate Andrea’s kids, I hate Melissa, and I don’t know this other dude.” Tom spoke up claiming that he had no love for any of the survivors which elicited a laugh from Adora. It always interested her to see the lengths individuals would go for the preservation of their own lives even at the cost of others. With the bottle of Honey Jack in hand she took a double shot straight from the bottle enjoying the soothing burn.

“What I want? I want lots of things, mainly power, although panic & fear is a great one too. But, I’m not a picky bitch I don’t discriminate on the type of power I want. The powers of Altered, the power of affluence, the power of influence, the power of connections, political power, all those things just get my panties wet. So come on then make me an offer, I’m not in the mood for more back-up on the way, so before I murder you all and go on about my day? Do any of you four have anything to offer in exchange for your lives? Anything at all, if so speak now or forever be well deceased hahahaha, Going once, going twice.”

“Wait” Joe interjected causing Adora to pause and turnt to Joe as she reached for a shot glass not wanting to take her next drink straight from the bottle. “I’m plugged in with drugs, I work in the music industry full time on paper, but I’m working with the Salzaras Cartel. There moving mad weight in California, Texas, hell all over the country even with the border closed, rumor is there working with Altered’s to get it done! If you want power I can help you, I’m a manager putting people in position to win is what I do! Just let Andrea’s son & her sister go please.”

“Yo what about me?! What the fuck” Tom protested only for Joe to shoot him a glare as he’d just tried to throw them all under the bus for his own survival. “Fuck that look my brother is Altered, he works with Reaper tons of altered, and my dad’s a Senator! I’ll give you my life savings 200K we can go pull it out the bank right after I kill them! My offer’s better!!!!”

Adora paused as she took her third shot and set the shot glass down. Her boosted hearing letting her know that three cruisers would be in Andrea’s drive-way in less then ten minutes. “Okay this game is actually pretty fun, what about you two sis, auntie any deals?”

“You murdered my sister, you killed one of my nephews you can go straight to hell you evil bitch!!!!!!!” Melissa protested in-between tears welling in her eyes. “And TOM you spineless fuck, and a liar!?! Your dad’s not a fucking senator!!!! You work for Enterprise you lying fuck!!!!!!”

The kid just looked down staring motionless at his younger brother’s body blood oozing from the neck of the corpse, and his mother’s lifeless body propped against the fridge. He could no longer fight the tears rolling down his eyes, and Adora just laughed at the speechless kid.

“Well well well.” Adora said clapping as she picked up the bottle to pour her fourth and final shot. “Ladies & gentlemen the results on Final Offer have just come in, the verdict is oooh…..oh my this is unexpected…it seems everyone…dies.” Adora laughed evilly as they struggled against the invisible pressure holding them in their chairs except for Joe who seemed to realize it was futile.

“Maybe next time you’ll win, I mean if your reincarnated.” Adora used her powers and caused all four including the chairs to shrink down. Wagging her index finger back she caused the four shrunken captives in chairs to fly over to the counter up close to Adora, and with her hearing she could still hear them all crystal clear. They’d all broken into a symphony of tears except for Joe who stared at the granite of the enlarged counter defeated as if his final trump card hadn’t earned him anything but sinister laughter from the vicious altered.

“I knew I shouldn’t have come here fuck you Melissa, fuck your stupid sister, fuck her stupid kids, and fuck you too Joe, you stupid dumb motherfucker. How the fuck didn’t you know that Andrea was dead down here, you were up there fucking that god damn freak!!!!!!”

“Freak?!” Adora exclaimed for the first time getting upset by what Tom said. Using her TK the door to the microwave swung open and she used her powers to flick Tom across the room and into the microwave. Using her mind moving powers she made sure to set him down gently before causing the chair to shoot out the microwave and using said power to shut the door. Tom screamed as Adora used her TK to turn the microwave on to two minutes and pressed start watching with glee in her eyes as the rudest & most treacherous of her victims was brutally murdered in the same fashion that was used to heat up left-overs.

“Sorry I really wanted to give him a more slow death, but now I’m short on time, and being able to watch & hear someone be MICROWAVED to death was just fucking riveting. When I get this footage edited I’m going to need to add some slow mo I mean did you SEE the way he popped & burst while sniveling for his life. News Flash by the way I can hear pretty damn well, so I knew he was lying about all the shit he was saying Melissa, a spineless bastard you sure know how to pick em.”

The 17 year old was no longer motionless and was screaming in terror, same with Melissa and even Joe had to fell to his knees overwhelmed by the pure sadism & horror of the situation they were in at the mercy of the most violent reported altered thus far. “Alright then it’s about that time, I really enjoyed this. Honestly trashing cities is fun, but there’s just something more about having a small or medium sized group to brutally kill. The privacy of it alone makes it just so much more riveting, but say your prayers to your maker, atone for whatever sins you’d like because your lives have reached a conclusion. I gotta admit tho Melissa, your piss poor excuse of a man was right about one thing. Had you just kept her sons a day or two longer, you might not have ran into me. Depending o how long I was shacked up with Joe of course.”

“Oh my god….oh my god.” Melissa’s face was starting to loose it’s color as she hugged Andrea’s last living son holding him tight.

“Oh my me you mean, well anyway toodles.” Adora reached out for the last three miniaturized captives lightly pushing all three of them to ground of the counter with utter ease. As they all got back up she did It again before lifting up the last two members of Andrea’s family and dropping them In the shot glass with a splash. She laughed more as the two struggled to stay a-float in what felt like a pool full of jack. Joe stared at the shot glass his friend’s sister & son were now treading liqour in.

“Your a monster, a fucking monster!!!” Melissa yelled out in-between gasping s she tried to stay a-float. Adora used TK to lift the shot glass and took the shot with Andrea’s family members being alone for the ride. She then proceeded o pour fifth shot while staring down at Joe the final survivor and letting out a belch.

“Ahem excuse me, wow my burp taste like glocks, sweat, humans & liquor, that’s a weird combo like Mcdonalds onions on a Big Mac but then you add Zax sauce & honey mustard for an extra flavor.”

“So now you kill me huh?” Joe seemed lifeless, the depravity of the situation had fully settled on. He’d watched this “Woman” slaughter them In so many different ways the it seemed resistance was futile.

“Well yes & no. I’ve got three minutes before the cops get here, so here’s your options. Join your dead bitch’s family on the gullet slide, get fried, electrified or…..orrr…put me in a position to win. One of those nifty tricks I’ve got up my sleeve let me confirm your story, and I’m also biased because of the sex I’ve got to admit your talented. Don’t get me wrong that’s not enough to keep you alive, but I have a very personal interest in the Salzaras Cartel if you will, so what do you say job or jaws?” Adora smirked at the sole survivor of her bloody rampage as she used TK to flip the camera off to stop recording, causing it to hover over and into her pocket.

Joe looked up at her in shock, not knowing if this was some final pure sick joke before he too would be brutally killed. “Job….” Joe’s voice trailed off as Adora held out her hand motioning for him to walk onto her palm.

“Alrighty then, oh and please NEXT TIME say it with your chest. I’ll let you off the hook because I DID say I was going to kill you all, but really everyone was just getting on my nerves.”

“R..Right I understand, are..you gonna fix me or..” Joe paused for a second seeing Adora glare at him again as if she was debating on whether she was making a mistake or not. As if on cue the sound of the sirens blaring had reached max volume as the cruisers were now outside.

“Last warning, if your this scared to piss me off that you can’t work then I think I’ll have to make other arrangements.” Adora said as she used her other hand & TK to readjust her hair.

“No!!! I can do my job, take me to my office and fix me now! I’m the damn best at what I do, C’mon.”! Joe spoke with some bravado returning to his tone. Internally he was filled with fear, but he knew already figured that letting that show wouldn’t contribute to any further longevity in his life. Andrea & her folks were dead. Fuck it, it’s one thing to have LAPD on my side, it’s another thing to have friggin Supergirl. I can make this work, I have to make this work, forget Hector with her I’ll be running shit

“That’s more like it, alright hang tight.” Adora scooped up Joe and set him in her pocket before altering her density to become intangible as well as invisible before taking flight through the roof of Andrea’s home. Looking down at the cops emerging from the cruisers below her eyes surged with energy before raining down beams of death that tore through the cruisers & bodies of the LAPD back-up. Following the explosions of the police vehicles & bloody screams of the officers she jetted off into the sky onward to her next destination and to her continued pursuit of power.

---

^{A collaborative post between @Chulance & @Xandrya}

Jonah was almost in need of an urgent therapy session a this point. Everything that had happened in the past 24-72 hours alone had been stressful. The surprise Tommy had under the mask of course had been the most frightening & shocking of them all. Still he’d done everything within his power & sphere of influence to quite literally bury that evidence with Kalina & her powers playing a role in that as well of course.

While thoughts of Lori & Tommy plagued his mind, Anya’s radio contact broke him out that repetitive negative thought loop about the new demons he was facing in the form of the Forrester’s new laws affecting his kind. Something about almost bringing In some flying black dude then a violent altered spotting them & turning himself into a biological bomb. Just what I need now exploding criminals, sheesh. Some racist rhetoric flowed through his mind but he didn’t go about spewing it. The people he trusted the most in the office like Patricia either knew or even better shared his views about the altered’s devious nature that they had long before powers.

He returned Anya’s message saying he was on the way, and would take her to Liberty’s medical center. Since Lori’s attack had wiped out the hospital downtown, he figured Anya had a better shot being escorted to Libery’s medical bay. Within fifteen minutes he’d taken black truck from Liberty’s base and went out to get Anya. He located & flagged down the limping agent and pulled up next to her quickly rolling down the window. “Donovan?!”

Jonah exclaimed in shock & worry seeing her condition. Like Angela she’d had a rough go of It today, but surprisingly she was in much better condition. Of course his long time field agent partner had been pummeled by a car jacking altered with super strength. “Christ, get in the car now, I’m taking you to Liberty’s medical bay. What the fuck happened to you?!” Jonah inquired with true concern for his agent as he pressed down a button to unlock the passenger side door of the truck for her.

Anya gave him an expression that indicated she wasn't pleased with her situation. The agent opened the passenger door and reached up to grab the handle in order to pull herself up with her good arm. Once she settled herself on the seat and buckled her seatbelt, she turned her head to face Jonah.

"Some idiot tried to kill me as I was taking an Altered into custody. He launched a couple of energy waves at me and I got burned as a result." Anya turned her arm so that Jonah may see the damage. "Lucky for me he committed suicide... He was one of those coked out radicals, you know the type. Honestly the world is better off without him." Anya breathed a sigh of relief, leaning her head back on the seat and closing her eyes. "Needless to say, my detainee got away."

Jonah could tell Anya was disgruntled whatever she encountered on the field hadn’t been pretty or pleasant that was plainly obvious to the Liberty director. He would have expressed some concern about her bleeding on the seat but luckily this was a company truck. Besides what was more important her imminent survival or the aesthetic quality of this vehicle’s leather seats.

“Fucking suicidal altered launching laser beams, just great. Godzilla Bitch wasn’t enough for San Francisco.” Jonah muttered angrily. His rage was growing more & more by the second but not towards his agent. No if anything he was mad at the condition her confrontation with the vile altered had left her. “Well at least your okay that’s what matters, you and Angela seem to have both almost bit the bullet in life too early today.” Jonah expressed spooked at the idea of loosing two of his best female agents in the same 24 hour period as a result of relentless violent altered humans.

“Well I ain’t happy one of the bastards got away, but at least your alive & one of them offed themselves trying to make sure you weren’t. Damn it Donovan your one of our best agents, these things are powerful and I hate to admit it.” Jonah retorted startled as he pressed his foot down on the gas and started heading to the medical bay. “This day just keeps on getting worst, the altered are becoming a worst plague than the energy.” Jonah remarked with immense hatred & dislike for the newfound superhumans flooding the United States.

Even though she maintained her composure, Anya enjoyed watching her supervisor get so bent out of shape. Yes, the threat they faced was real, but she also had a job to do, and that took precedence, at least for the moment being.

"Trust me, I ain't happy about it either, but they'll get what's coming to them," she added, trying to make him feel better if only for a second before dropping another bomb onto his lap. "Listen, Hanes, I also have something else to tell you... I'm not sure if it's just me jumping to conclusions or if I'm even allowed to butt into your personal life like this but recently, I saw the yard guy going into your house. Amelia invited him inside and I know how you feel about the Altered, especially after everything that’s happened to us, to all of us. I’m only bringing it up because he’s Hispanic and who knows what abilities he has, or why he wanted access to your home. I may be out of line speaking here but please be careful, you know the Altered like to mess with our minds in order to get what they want.” Anya shook her head, agreeing with her own statement to an extent even though a portion of it was fabricated. "I care about you, and this entire situation is taking a toll on all of us.”

Jonah was becoming less & less sure that the battle, no war against the altered humans was a sure-fire victory by the day. These thoughts as unsettling as they were didn’t deter his focus on the drive to the medical bay nor did he allow them to flourish infant of his wounded agent.

“Your right Donovan, there gonna get there’s even if we have to dish it one by one ourselves if Karma’s on vacation.” Jonah muttered this time toning down the aggression in his voice, not wanting to alarm Anya or have him think any of this fury was directed towards her personally. The the next bomb shell she dropped on Jonah literally caused him to briefly loose control of the truck. Angrily uncharacterstically cursing like a sailor as he swerved and bobbed in between lanes nearly colliding with a ford Taurus & a silver Camry before regaining control. “The what?!” Jonah grumbled and took in a deep breath before stopping at a red light much to the chagrin of drivers blowing there horns behind them.

“I’m so mad, I could hop out the car, throw away my whole detective career & blast everyone behind me honking. I don’t even know where to start whether to wring your neck or hug you. NO Yard man or any man should be entering my wife’s house for ANY reason, I don’t give a damn if it’s a blizzard or a solar flare outside. But I’m still partially in my right mind even if it’s about to crack and I do NOT appreciate you spying on me or my family, or checking up as you might call it I got them handled okay. Look this altered bullshit is fucking with all of us I…I…can understand we’ve had two trusted agents go rogue in less then a week, but not only am I your superior but I’m good. Lastly and above all else….t…thank you…” Jonah’s anger subsided entirely towards the altered & transfigured into fear of the unknown with the story Anya was spinning to him about his wife. Sure they’d had there fights recently but he couldn’t imagine her committing the ultimate act of betrayal against him. “But for future reference when the world is falling apart, IF and that’s a big IF you know something that might crumble my home life tell me once the city stops burning.” Jonah answered.

Usually he’d have more rage both about Anya’s peaking behind the blinds of his life, but also her insinuations. But with Amelia’s friend in Altered lives matter as well as being black & everything going, he was starting to wonder if maybe he was trusting the wrong people and doubting the right ones.

As she was listening to Jonah give his speech, Anya thought that her plan would have to be scrapped. Knowing that he thought she had crossed the line was a chance she had to take in order to plant that seed of doubt in his mind. Unfortunately, the next phase couldn’t be carried out by her as she would be in the clinic getting patched up. She wouldn’t use Jace; for all she knew he would probably still be drinking. Besides, using him right after he’d had the meeting with Morozov was a foolish move for more reasons than one. Anya would simply call one of her sources to take care of what was yet to come.

“Yes, I understand,” she replied solemnly, making it look as if she too was affected by the news. “I do truly apologize for crossing your boundaries, I know I had no right and I will make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

The tone of sincerity in her voice sealed the deal on her lie, and Anya made sure to change the subject in order to avoid getting into any more detail.

“Angela will be fine though, right?” Anya inquired with a hint of concern. She liked the woman, and it was unfortunate that she too had gotten hurt.

Jonah frowned. “Angela will live, but she got beat up pretty bad. She won’t be in field condition for at least a week or two I’ll need a replacement till then.” It could even be three weeks the way those cracks sounded Jonah kept that last part to himself, he wanted to remain optimistic about her speedy recovery.

“Anyway I….I…can accept your apology, like I said I’ll look into it.” He didn’t offer too much emotion with that response, but the seeds of doubt were clear in the fact that despite his fiery temperament he didn’t try to further chew Anya out. That in tandem with loosing good agents was making him more flexible with agents mistakes & even there priorities somewhat as long as they had the same general outline as his own. Jonah took the time to peek at his phone and see they were about fifteen minutes out from liberty’s medical infirmary.

A slight smile was all Anya offered in response. Given she had lost her phone, Anya would now have to wait until she was dropped off to make some of her phone calls and get the ball rolling to complete the last half of her plan. If everything worked according to expectations, Jonah and Amelia's demise shouldn't that far away.

“These burns...they hurt, but it’s not like I have to be confined to an office. San Francisco is falling apart, and I’m not going to let a small inconvenience get in the way of my work. Brown is still out there and who knows what sort of trouble he’s brewing up for us."

“Well Thank God for that, not your burns but the fact that there not critical enough to keep you down for long. I gotta admit Donovan when you first joined I was wary of you, really everyone even Patricia and I’ve had her as a secretary in the CIA for two years before this.” Jonah admitted.

He didn’t know why this was rolling off the tongue so easily now. Perhaps it was because Anya was starting to make him comfortable, or he was starting to get attached to Liberty agents who were fully human & the most effective. So far she’d put the most work into tracking down Shade & even made some suggestions on how to handle the progression of his case that he agreed with.

After the 15 minutes passed Jonah had parked the vehicle & gotta them to Liberty’ medical bay so Anya could get examined. Taking out his key card he led them into the facility from the basement entrance then had them board an elevator directly to the infirmary. “Come on let’s get you checked out, and see the extent of the damage that got caused to you by the suicidal energy wave freak.”

Anya followed Jonah into the building, her pace slow due to the limping. A couple of staff members and as well as agents they passed by stared at her as she went, though not in a bad way but rather, they stared with concern. The two headed up the elevator to the clinic, the ride there silent. Eventually, once the door opened, Anya spoke once more.

"Thank you for the ride, I appreciate it. I'm sure you were terribly busy but you're the only one whose number I have memorized." That much was true, at least for Liberty personnel. Outside of the agency, the list was much longer. "If you have to get back to work, go, I should be fine from here on out," she added with a small smile.

Jonah took notice of the stares from other agents as they strolled the hallways to get her some help. Oh yeah just stare at us, that’s making yourself real friggin useful He frowned a bit at his own internal commentary which ironically just like the motionless nosy agents did little to aid & abet the situation they were in currently.

“Don’t mention it, least I can do is give you a ride after your out in the streets fighting monsters for us.” Jonah remarked not wanting Anya to feel any personal debt towards him for what he simply saw as doing his job to help out other Liberty agents in the field. “Uh Yeah yeah I do gotta get back, got some weird shit going down in Oakland I need to follow up on, you get better though your a hell of a fighter Donovan, those altered are gonna quake in there boots when your back on your feet.” Jonah teased in a friendly non antagonistic manner.

She couldn’t help but laugh a little, legitimately this time. “Alright, see you around Hanes.”

Once he started heading back, Anya turned around and went to see the lady at the front desk. “May I use your phone, please? It’ll only take a minute and then I’ll check in.”

---

---

Jace had a nice buzz from the vodka he got offered by Anya back at the safehouse. Plus he picked up a nifty key which meant he now had three locations to go including his main residence. After reverting his alcohol tolerance back to normal he'd hopped in the charger and headed back to the safehouse he dropped Sanzhar at. They were in the clear with the police, but now the only problem was Adam who wanted to blackmail them into murder. Now I need to figure out whether i tell Magneto Kent about the blackmail murder for hire or just go handle these bozos myself Jace pondered when an idea ran through his head, one that might be a solution to the problem and still get Adam off his back. "oh Jace you sly bastard." He said to himself with a grin as he pulled up to the safehouse and parked his charger. A plan was flowing through his brain, a way to get revenge on Adam without having to turned into his extorted killer for hire. He'd consult Sanzhar on the logistics of the plan, after all this was the last thing they needed to deal with in order to be free. He put the key in the door and opened it stepping into the safehouse. "Yo I'm back, I got good news, and bad news about the footage, I spoke to my friend." Jace said referring to Anya.

"Okay, tell me the good news first." Sanzhar turned around from his seat, eyeing Jace. He still had his metallic ballpoint pen scribbling on the notebook on the table, while the breakfast that Jace left behind was completely annihilated. Sanzhar even went as far as wash the dishes.

Jace noticed the pen in his hand & notebook he was writing in. He knew he was a journalist but didn't want him writing about his hidden identity as Shade. "Aye you not writing about me like my vigilante shit right? I ain't trying to get locked up or have reporters banging at my door." He added with some aggressiveness in his tone not threatening his friend but giving him a warning. "The good news is you ripped up your phone for no reason, the footage didn't catch your face, no cops or government agents managed to snag a look at you during the monster fight or the chase." Jace finished telling him the "Good" news.

"Don't worry, Jace." Sanzhar winked. "I know not to spill secrets. I'm only cataloguing how the law chased me down for saving people."

Then Jace continued on. Apparently he was safe. There was no footage of his face, and thus, nothing to worry about when he got home. "Ah... that is indeed good." Sanzhar nodded, his writing pausing for but a moment. "Thank you for confirming it... heh, now I have to get a new sim card... so, what's the bad news then?"

Jace noticed Sanzhar’s wink & shuddered in response as it made him a bit uncomfortable. So your gonna publish a story about getting chased AND escaping the authorities, oh brother

Jace had no time to really ponder on Sanzhar’s self incriminating writing. “Yeah you do, probably shouldn’t a ripped it to shreds but I can’t blame you for being cautious. Hell the bad news is Half the reason I don’ blame you look at this” He took out his phone and went to the second private youtube video Adam had sent him. It showed Sanzhar without his mask briefly using his powers. “Some dude named Adam got footage of you & me using our powers without masks and unless we kill two people he owes money to he’ll show the world.” Jace remarked informing Sanzhar of the bad news.

"Kill people?" Sanzhar shook his head. "No way! No, no, no! I can't even crack a rat's spine, much less a person!"

Sanzhar frowned. Just as he thought he was free, some idiot made this thing... because he had a debt or something. Oh, bother!

"Killing... you can do it, but I can't. Best I can do is lockdown..."

Jace sighed it seemed Sanzhar wasn't taking the news well which is pretty much what he'd expected. "It ain't a good situation trust me I know, but you see the video. That leaves you well us with two options kill these people and keep our freedom or let them live, become wanted fugitives, risk our family getting killed by anti-altered extremists or arrested for being related to us oh and us ending up in prison ourselves if we get caught." Jace concluded pointing out the series of negative events that would follow if Adam exposed the footage of them using their powers to the public. "And hey! I ain't no heartless killer, I only target violent criminals not innocent people, he didn't tell me who the people he owes are but if there innocent." Jace paused morally conflicted about their choices "I don't know if I'll be able to spill their blood either." Jace added pointing out that he didn't want to spill innocent blood.

"Maybe we should hope that these people he owes money are the big fat cat drug lords here in the city." Sanzhar chuckled, attempting a bit of a joke to soften the situation. It probably didn't work.

"Maybe I should ask my IT brother to pull a DOS attack on that guy's internet..." Sanzhar mused. "If we can trace his IP address... Bah, he'll just switch or do a more direct approach."

On that subject, he had an idea. A big maybe. "You know any Altered with technological powers? Digital manipulation, hacking, anything that could delete files remotely...?"

Jace shook his head and looked down to the ground. “No I don’t, Your the FIRST other altered I’ve spoken to since getting my powers. It’s not like I joined a Facebook group for Altered.” Jace frowned thinking about how few altered people he actually knew.

“What the hell is a DOS attack? I ain’t no tech guru, outside of uploading videos to youtube & teaching courses on zoom.” Jace pondered on what exactly Sanzhar was suggesting his “IT Brother” do to help them & an explanation for what he was recommending they do.

“I get that your trying to lighten the mood, so if the people he wants us to kill are scumbags then what we kill them? I can live with that, my only concern for going down that road, is what if it don’t end there, how can we guarantee he’ll get rid of the footage after that instead of trying to get us get rid of “one more person” Jace mused on the potential that this Adam figure might go back on his word and use the evidence hanging over them to force them into offing more people afterwards.

"A DOS attack pretty much stops someone in the afflicted internet address or device from accessing the internet." Sanzhar responded sheepishly. "Say, someone trying to get into a YouTube while being afflicted by such an attack will just have an error page in front of them..."

People are creative. Adam would just use emails.

"Then maybe we cut the head of the snake." Sanzhar nodded as Jace was concerned that he'd be used an improvised attack dog. "If that happens, we'll have to deal with Adam himself... whatever that means."

Can he kill anyone? No! Not yet.

"Hmm I see where you going with that but I can still see some potential problems. "Jace admitted not exactly having the same line of thought that originated from sanzhar. He stil had some idea of how a DOS attack or anything of that nature similarly might not get them entirely out of the water with Adam's extortion scheme. "I'll go ahead & make contact with Adam then, I don't like sitting around waiting. In the event that the targets are real innocents I rather have time on our hands to take alternative measures pre-emptively." Jace took out his phone and went to his recent calls to examine the mysterious number Adam had called him from. "As for cutting the problem off at the head that's something I wish we could do now, but honestly wouldn't mind if we could just get rid of some scumbags in exchange for learning a lesson about being more careful using our powers in the open." Jace concluded

"... Okay." Sanzhar sat back on the chair, rubbing his forehead, a sure sign of stress. "I... ugh. I don't know anymore. Everything sucks."

Jace let out a laugh at that response. "Shit man, not everything but a lot of it does. Alright well at least we gotta plan now, I'm going to get in touch with Adam & let's get this show on the road." Jace wasn't entirely satisfied with the arrangement of the outcome they reached, but at least it was something. A chance to salvage & maintain the secret of their abilities without comprising on morality. "I need a damn drink." Jace muttered to himself going to the fridge to retrieve a beer and going to take a seat whipping out his phone to make contact with Adam to inform him of being ready to proceed & comply with his demands in return for the footage.

---

---

The journey had taken longer than she had planned but it was a necessity to avoid the checkpoints being setup by the police and military forces, thankfully her driver never questioned it and agreed, Nyssa had to admit that Mike was exceptionally good at doing this and considered him to probably be her most efficient driver she has had yet. Still when she started looking at messages and emails, she couldn’t argue with his choice of music, it was different.

She enjoyed the conversations they were having, although she wouldn’t reveal all, it was nice to talk about helping people out where possible as California seem to be coming apart bit by bit, well at least San Francisco is so far. Nyssa was thankful for the tinted windows however; no matter how desperate people would react to seeing some rich individual rolling into town. Her thoughts were disrupted by the sudden slam of the brakes which normally would illicit a sudden what the fuck, but looking ahead and hearing Mike sudden outburst it was clear to see why.

To her surprised an old lady had stepped out in front of them, luckily the slow speed meant that the incident would not have been fateful thankfully. A couple of workers had quickly come out profusely apologizing several times towards the vehicle as they came to the aid of the lady and quickly helped her back inside to care for her, it was clear they had their hands full and Nyssa couldn’t really tell if contact was made with the lady or not. However, that was not what caught her attention the most, she had to keep a calm look about her, the sudden breaking and the… sparks did have her jump a bit from the surprise, but she chose not to show it at that moment.

“Are you alright?” She would ask calmly before she would tell him to proceed carefully past the homes that had been setup, of course there was a very low speed limit for obvious reasons, people where everywhere getting sorted and it was crowded. But once the two vehicle convoy had safely reached towards where some of the ambulance were parked by the back doors to the rear building Nyssa got her things together before addressing Michael. “Thank you My Hayes, feel free to stay a little if you wish and freshen up, I will be here for a while so you will be free for the rest of the day.”

Nyssa smiled at him as she opened the back door to leave but paused. “Oh and Mr Hayes, before you do leave the premises if you choose to do so. I want to speak with you in my office shortly, there are a couple of things I want to discuss with you.” After a moment of hesitation, Nyssa stepped out of the armoured SUV with her security detail and close they closed the door behind her, soon she was swamped by several people giving her an update of the current state of the camp.

"Breakfast," Rafael repeated. It was a good idea, especially after a night of drinking. He also noted mention of a hospital. "Alright, Z-Man, since you insist, I'm happy to let you treat me to some grub," he announced, choosing his words carefully. "And then, maybe after, we can-" Rafael was shoulder was checked by a passerby going in the opposite direction on the sidewalk. "Ow, bro! Watch where you're going," he shouted back at the pedestrian who appeared to ignore him entirely as he continued on his aggressive stroll.

Rafael rubbed his arm, trying to dull the smartness of the pain. As he did so, a gradual realization crept upon him. That hurt. A car hitting him at full speed did nothing yesterday, but a shoulder check from some asshole on a walk inflicted pain. It was becoming very clear that Raf's pool of knowledge, in terms of understanding his new abilities, was incredibly shallow.

"Huh," he grunted at the realization. "Anyway, I'll follow your lead, Z-Man."

---

---

"Breakfast," Rafael repeated. It was a good idea, especially after a night of drinking. He also noted mention of a hospital. "Alright, Z-Man, since you insist, I'm happy to let you treat me to some grub," he announced, choosing his words carefully. "And then, maybe after, we can-" Rafael was shoulder was checked by a passerby going in the opposite direction on the sidewalk. "Ow, bro! Watch where you're going," he shouted back at the pedestrian who appeared to ignore him entirely as he continued on his aggressive stroll.

Zeke chuckled a little bit as the pedestrian just bumped Rafael without so much as a word of apology. Ah, well. This wasn't Canada where people apologize all the time. This was America. They either smile at you even if they're strangers, or ignore you completely. It depends, really. "Come on, now, we have to eat something for our famished stomachs." He remembered that Rafael said that being hit by a car didn't hurt him at all, but this morning, bumping into a pedestrian apparently elicited his pain receptors. Huh. Either he was drunk or his strength powers only work at night. Or... ugh, never mind. Neither of them know.

Zeke sighed. He still had a lot of savings left over from the past five years, and it wasn't like his siblings and parents were just going to let him starve. They'd have to give him an ample weekly allowance while he looked for a job to replace the one that literally got smashed into pieces when a titanic woman knocked over the building where it was happening. He was pretty frugal, too, and wouldn't spare more than a dollar for the average meal. He had his ways of compressing his budget, like avoiding picking up vices and taking the cheapest options, even if it were a little bit inconvenient. He'll manage.

Since he was the one leading the way, Zeke eventually got them to the nearest restaurant. It was just your average dining place, with options for steakd, fries... basically fast food. Though they also had salads and mashed potatoes.

Zeke quickly ordered the two of them the same thing; steaks with fries, with a side of mashed potatoes. They were soon seated across from each other, knives and forks at the ready. Zeke whispered a quick prayer before beginning to eat, though his phone rang, and interrupted his breakfast.

"Yes...? Oh, Mrs. Kontis?" He recognized the voice of Leon Kontis' mother. She had a thick Greek accent, and was very, very loud. He had to turn down the volume just not to get deafened.

"Uhm... yes, yes, I'll pay him a visit today. No, as far as I know we're the only ones... yeah. Okay. Bye."

Hanging up, Zeke dug into the food again. "So, you said that being hit by a car didn't hurt at all, yeah?" He asked Rafael. "But when you got bumped by that random pedestrian, you looked like you were hurt and irritated. Does that... shed any light on what you can do?"

Huh, shed light. Right when his powers can make the darkest place shine as bright as morning.

---

---

"Hello, Father."

"For the last time, I'm not-"

"Forgive my choice of words, I have yet to be accustomed to the circumstances upon we have been placed..."

Lysander shook his head, sighing softly. He looked up towards the seven foot tall fire dragon, whom he had neglected to give a name to just yet. He hadn't even named it when it was still a little stuffed toy hanging on one of the zipper handles of his backpack. He hesitated to name it... him. Did gender even apply to it? It was a being made from woven cloth, stuffing, and magic flame. It did have a rather deep baritone voice, though. And it definitely identified as male.

Lysander did, after all, almost have a son. Almost.

"Alright. What I was trying to say was... you shouldn't come out every time someone is threatening me. I mean, if it's just school bully, you shouldn't show yourself! I'd get... very bad things. Very bad things will happen if a lot of people see that I'm an Altered. What with what is happening in the last few days..."

Instinctively, he held his hand pretty close to the dragon's snout, feeling the warmth of the eldritch flames that encompassed the beast of war.

"Fa-, Lysander, err, Yongzheng." The dragon said, lying down on the stone floor of the warehouse. "I have no knowledge of the events that had come to pass in the outside world. All I have known was that your dreams forged my souls from the deep, sending me into this vessel. And then I knew when you needed aid..."

"A giant Altered woman killed tens of thousands of people yesterday." Lysander replied. "And now... I think I have to be extra careful. And you too."

"Who is this woman that you speak of?" The dragon demanded. "I must seek her out, purge her from this world, so that her evil may no longer stain your kind. What do you say?"

"Don't even get me started." Lysander frowned. "I don't want to do anything big, you know? I just want to finish college and get a job..."

"You do not treasure our companionship?" The woven fire dragon pouted. "That wounds my heart."

"No, no, no! That's not what I meant at all..." Lysander shook his head. "You're... very kind. And will do anything to protect me, yes?"

"If my annihilation ensures your safety, then that will be how it goes." The drake answered wholeheartedly. "You are my maker. My directive is to protect Shen Yongzheng, or as the others call you, Lysander Shen. Though it saddens me that I have yet to be given a moniker to go by."

"Ehhh..." Lysander look away. "I just don't know what to name you... You can pick your own, I guess?"

"My own?" The dragon nodded. It remembered something faintly. A memory of the long last, a figment left over from Lysander's own mind. It had been his dreams that forged its soul and consciousness, after all.

"Then I'll go by Shenron."

Lysander blinked. "Shenron? As in the dragon in Dragon Ball?"

"I know not what is this Dragon Ball you speak of, but Shenron sounds like a mighty name, doesn't it?"

Lysander shrugged. "Shenron it is. Now, Shenron. You gotta turn back into a plushy. I have to study soon..."

Sure enough, he'll soon be out, walking towards his morning classes in San Francisco State College. As he strode the streets, he prayed that there won't be another titan woman, or else...

Michael had been a bit on edge since hitting the old woman who had crossed so suddenly in front of the SUV. He was quite quiet, at least until he was addressed by Nyssa after parking and exiting the vehicle. He had been planning on leaving and grabbing a meal, so talking to Nyssa in her office right now was the only option he had. Michael had wondered what Nyssa wanted to discuss. Worst case, he got fired and would have to go to his roommate Floyd for a new side gig. He'd survive, right?

"Sure, we can talk now." Michael answered. The two, with the security detail, made their way to Nyssa's office.

Nyssa had to admit she respected Michael for wanting to get on with it straight away, plus it was a nice temporary distraction from the mess going on around her. Well, it wasn’t all bad, and considering the short time frame, everything was going better than even she expected. Vincent, her head bodyguard, led them to her temporary setup office. She could catch up with the situation at the camp once she had spoken with Michael first. Once they arrived at the office Nyssa asked the security detail to wait outside as she wanted to speak with Michael in private. Resting her hand on Vincent’s left shoulder she reassured him it would be okay to just wait outside the door and make sure no one would disturb them. She trusted him implicitly for he had been protecting her since she was little.

No guards? So maybe I'm not getting fired. Why would I anyway?

Once the room was cleared of her guard and Vincent shut the door, Nyssa went round to the side of her desk before delicately going through some paperwork from her case which was in a folder. Looking towards her driver.

“I have a couple of things I would like to discuss with you, but I will get straight to the point with the first one, I saw what happened in the car…” Nyssa paused for a moment letting out a soft sigh, it had been a tough few days for her. Michael's eyes widened some, first wondering what Nyssa could b Le referring to. At least until the second question was shot off.“So I want you to be honest with me, how long have you known?” After asking this she found the folder she was looking for and put it on the side of her desk. Her gaze was fully back on Michael at this point.

It was a little intimidating, but he kept on a confident face. There was no use acting stupid, but would he just tell his employer he had powers.

"Can you be a little more specific Ms. Devout? If it's about the music, I can switch up the playlist. Go with some Faouzia or Katy Perry. Anything really." He tried to plead. Maybe it was about that and not his screw-up with his powers.

Nyssa was not totally impressed with his response, Of course, she knew how he felt, especially after all the laws the president pumped out. Little did he know that she knew exactly how Mike would feel. She had powers too and is also part of a powerful corporation. Leaning back against her desk and folded her arms. “Don’t play coy with me, Mr. Hayes, I will get straight to the point, I saw your little sparkle display.”

Shit! It was written on his face. And then came the lowered gaze of defeat.

"Okay… you got me, but listen. I just got my powers today. Literally this morning." He looked behind himself at the door and then took a big step forward and made his voice a bit quieter. "If you could just keep this between us. I'll get some more control and the sparkle display will never happen again."

There was a moment of silence from Nyssa, gauging him as she thought. “I believe you.” pausing for a moment, she surprisingly never backed away when her driver had stepped closer. ”I apologise if I was to forward with you Mr. Hayes, I can understand your situation with being Altered and with the passing of those laws will have you exceptionally concerned, especially after what happened in town yesterday.” She relaxed a little. “Should anyone ask about… your newfound gifts, I will deny having any knowledge of what you are, however, If you can’t avoid the accidental display of your abilities in public, of course, it will be much harder if others know.”

"Okay… and thanks. Trust me, I won't go around trying to be a superhero… or villain. Driver by day and driver by night." He appeared to have calmed down, especially since he was keeping his job.

Nyssa had finally cracked a smile during the whole conversation. To her it felt like Michael had a pretty good grasp on his current situation, she was thankful for that as she too had to come quickly to grips with things herself. “Good.” she would reply before unfolding her arms and turning around to pick up the folder she pulled out earlier before facing him once more. “So the second thing I wanted to talk about is your job Mike.” Once again she became more formal within the privacy of the office.

Nyssa handed over the folder to Mike for him to look over. He eyed it but did not open it. Most of his attention was on Nyssa. “You see, despite what stupid laws our dear President Forrester put in place, I already saw a loophole, Astraea Corporation does not fall under the category for occupations or professions that an altered is banned from, and as such you won’t be losing your job.” She allowed that to sink in for a moment.

“In that folder is a new contract, plenty to look through, but the gist is the pay is pretty much the same, however, Astraea will cover your medical expenses should for any reason you get hurt while working, and considering it is San Francisco, I have also thrown in hazard bonus pay, however, you don’t have to sign or anything like that straight away, take it with you and go through the paperwork and give it some thought before you decide okay.”

He opened the folder slightly, glimpsing a very wordy document at the top of the rest. No doubt the rest were just as wordy, but a long read was worth the prospect of essentially a bonus… well more than that. Hazard Pay and medical coverage while on the job was a big step up. He briefly smiled before his face showed a slight wariness.

"Things are going to get more serious aren't they? Or you at least predict things will." He shut the folder.

Nyssa moved over to the window to look out of it for a moment, overlooking the makeshift prefab camp she pushed to get set up once again crossing her arms, it was probably obvious that things were weighing heavily on her but she would do her best to keep her focus, but even she could tell things were going to get harder by the minute. “I mean look at this.” she pointed out of the window. “When I pushed to get Astraea into humanitarian aid to help others, I never imagined in my lifetime I would have to be giving here, I think things are already serious Mike. I won’t lie, I fear yesterday was only a glimpse of things to come. I only hope to god I am wrong.”

"You and I both… But she's still out there. People like her and Forrester are gonna make things tough. Especially people like me." He knew he stated he would become a superhero, but what else can stop an altered like Lori except another altered?

Nyssa was tempted to hint she was like him, but refrained herself, the fewer people that knew the better for now. Instead, she adjusted her suit before turning to Michael. “I agree, If one is not careful, power can corrupt.” Nyssa paused before a smile crept onto her lips. “I just remembered something my mother told me once. She said 'I believe there’s a hero inside all of us, that keeps us honest, gives us strength, makes us noble'… It's a fond memory, but I believe in it. Despite the evil things happening out there.” Michael smiled back at her.

"It's a good thing to believe in. To hold onto." He gave a few self-assuring nods and shut the folder in his hands. "I'll look this over today and tell you what I think, Nyssa. Wouldn't want to keep you from all this good you're doing." He nodded at Nyssa,

“I appreciate it, Mike. I am only doing what I hope anyone else would do” Nyssa smiled. “Take your time, I honestly don’t see myself going anywhere in a hurry, but you know where to find me or contact me, But for now, I shall let you go. It looks like I got a busy camp to run, when you leave can you tell Vincent to come in and Mike, Stay safe out there okay.” Nyssa nodded.

Michael backed away with a bright smile. Nyssa had to be the greatest boss he ever had by far.

"Sure thing. And you take care too, Nys." He returned the nod before turning towards the door. After opening it, he made his exit. Vincent was eerily close to the door, making Michael slightly jump. "Oh! Uh… she wants to talk to you." Michael informed with an uneasy smile.

Vincent nodded in response, his face stern as usual. Michael was sure the man had a high body count. He wouldn't ask though.

Time: Noonish
Location: In anneighboSan Francisco
Interactions:

---

"Eeeyy mami, wanna have some fun?”

Michele looked behind her to see a couple of guys leaning against the edge of the building on the entrance to an alleyway. “No thanks,” she replied sweetly with a slight shake of her head. Various thoughts were running through her mind as she remembered the time she lived back in Brazil. People, especially women, had to have a good head on their shoulders to avoid the everyday bullshit they had to put up with. Here in the states, it was nowhere near as bad, but that didn’t mean you didn’t come across an asshole or two every now and then.

She continued walking and not a moment later she felt a tug on her arm. One of the guys had approached her, with a rather strong grip at that. ”C’mon, we promise it’ll be fast," he smirked, motioning at his friend to join him. ”This is mi amigo, Jorge, he’s looking for a pretty girlfriend like you."

It was then Michele decided enough was enough. With her free hand, she reached inside her purse to pull out a switchblade. Jorge noticed what was going on in time and kicked her hand, knocking the weapon down to the sidewalk. He then grabbed that same wrist while his other hand wrapped around her neck to push her against the building. By then, his friend Miguel who had done all the talking had let go of her.

”Oh you think you a bad bitch, huh? Well we worse," Jorge added in a threatening voice. Michele attempted to kick him but he pushed himself against her to avoid being hit.

"Whoa! What the fuck is this!" Michael's angered voice boomed as he approached briskly. Miguel quickly put himself between Michael and Jorge.

"How bout you back up and mind your fuckin' business! Keep it moving moreno!" Miguel nodded his head in the direction he felt Michael should be moving while keeping his eyes on him.

Michael clenched his jaw as he looked past Miguel.

"Move!" Michael attempted to forcefully push past Miguel who grabbed him and in that instance electricity discharged from his body. It wasn't lethal, but enough to make the man release him all while falling backward to the ground due to the sudden jolt to his muscles.

Jorge looked behind him, seeing his friend taking a fall. He got enraged, the palm of his hands warming up until they became hot enough to burn. Michele took the chance while he was distracted and kneed him in the groin, taking him by surprise. The man took a few steps back, curling in pain and that's when Michele punched him in the face with all her might. She didn't hesitate to duplicate herself, and Jorge's eyes widened when five bodies were suddenly on him. Michael had also been taken aback by the sudden appearance of Michele's duplicates. He kept his distance, unsure what to do next, something he might regret later

Michele then picked up the knife and with one knee knelt by his shoulder. "Vá para o inferno," she whispered about to fatally stab him in the face.

"Wait!" Michael called out instinctively, with his hand outreach. "Huh?"Witnessing sudden electrical sparks danced across his fingertips caused him to stop in motion, recoiling from the sight of his newfound powers.

Someone called out to her. Michele turned her head and noticed the man who had arrived to help her. The look on his face was...interesting, almost as if he were surprised by his abilities. Confident her clones would take care of Jorge, she handed the blade to one of them and stood up to face him.

“Thanks for your help. Are you—“ Michele stopped, realizing just then her wrist and her neck felt like they were on fire. “Ow! What did he do?” She looked down and noticed the red mark on her wrist. Was the bastard going to burn her alive?

"It's not a problem. I was just uh… wait, what the hell… did he do to you?" Concerned, Michael took a step toward Michele, noticing first-degree burns in the shape of the thug's hands on her neck and wrist. "He's an altered…" Michael said softly, almost as if he was commenting entirely to himself as he glanced f at the man at the mercy of the woman's clones. "You are too…" Michael wasn't sure what he should do now, but staying here wasn't a good plan. He looked around and noticed a few onlookers.

"We should get out of here. Walk, drive, or skip, I don't care either way. The cops aren't going to be cool if they show up and I find us… in this." He motioned his hand towards the clones and the two men on the ground.

"I agree.”

One of her clones then got up, smiling at Michele as she handed over the weapon. She hadn’t stabbed the man, merely held the blade against his neck. Still smiling, she simply disappeared from sight as so did the rest. “In here,” Michele motioned towards the alley, having Michael follow her. She could see the other side led into a street that wouldn’t have so many prying eyes on them. “You saved me back there, I owe you.”

"It was nothing. You and… the others did most of the work." He commented humbly.

As she walked rather briskly, Michele was holding her injured wrist, feeling the heat radiating to her hand. “What’s your name? I’m Michele.” She looked behind her to see if anyone was following them, but no one had entered the alley.

"I'm Michael…" He furrowed his brows as he kept up with Michele. "Do you need to ice it?" He looked around as if he was going to find a mystical pallet of ice bags.

"I probably should, yeah...”

They walked some more until they reached the other end of the alley. Michele looked both ways, seeing business going on as usual. “Alright, we should be okay for now. Come on.”

She then headed in the same direction she was heading before. “Care to come to the store with me? I feel like I might need more than just ice."

"Sure thing." He had no reason to decline. He wanted to help, and this was the first altered he had met outside of Floyd, Rita, and Luna. He gave her a warm smile before the two headed to the store. The cashier had stared frequently at Michele, wondering how she received those burns. The cashier also had stared at Michael, wondering if he was the culprit. Like any other large city, people minded their business, so wondering was the most the cashier did outside of cashing the purchase of an ice bag, two blue gatorades, and a pack of spearmint gum. Michael paid, not giving Michele a chance to retort. He was deliberate about it.

Once the two exited the corner store, Michael took a swig out of one of the gatorade bottles before dumping both out. He then filled the empty wide-mouth bottles with ice from the large ice bag. He offered one of the bottles to Michele.

"Use this for your neck and give me your wrist." He aimed to help her out ice on both spots at once. "Is home close?"

Michele extended her arm while putting the bottle up to her neck. Upon contact, she winced a little in response to the pain. “Yeah, it’s not that far, just two blocks away. I’ve never even seen those guys before,” she added, shaking her head.

A while later, the two arrived at Michele’s apartment. As soon as one entered, the kitchen was off to the right and the living room area to the left. There was a dining table in between the two spaces near the balcony, that which was straight ahead, taking the entire length from wall to wall. Her bedroom would be off to the far left corner as the balcony extended to the bedroom as well, and the bathroom was off to the right behind the kitchen. It wasn't on the scale of Floyd's condo, but the place was nicely set up. Tidy, like a one-bedroom ought to be.

“Come on in.” She held the door open for him, inviting him inside. His eyebrows raised, but he didn't hesitate to take the invitation to enter. He shut the door behind him and followed Michele into the living room area to take a seat on her chocolate brown sectional couch. He sat adjacent to her, giving her a clear viewing of the now black television screen.

"Powers… I still can't believe it. I got into a superpower fight. If you can even call it that." Michael chuckled trying to make light of the very bizarre situation. Knowing powers existed and having them was like night and day.

“They’re something alright,” Michele went on, “it’s just a matter of getting used to them. And to think, had I been back in Brazil I would have never had my own. Not that I can fly or walk through walls,” she added with a bit of a laugh, “but it’s definitely something to get used to. If I may,” Michele pulled away the bottle of ice to give her neck a break. She also repositioned herself to make herself more comfortable, "I think you need to figure out how to control your power and you also need to figure out just how powerful it can be. I heard there have been numerous cases of Altered accidentally killing themselves because they weren’t aware of their own strength." Michael winced at the thought of that happening to him. Dying from his own powers would be horrible.

"It's like a weapon in a way…" He took a pause, knowing Michele's words were the hard truth. "You seem to have a good grip on yours. Mine aren't the same, but there should be some type of likeness, right?" He held his hands out, cupping them. Michele backed away just the slightest, a bit preoccupied as to what would occur. "If I focus on my hands, I can make it…" bluish-purple electricity started to course and gather in his palms. "There!"

“See, that’s good! You concentrated on what you needed to do and you made it happen. I’m not gonna lie, it took me a while to get the hang of it."

"The only problem is, Sometimes I do it without trying to. During that scuffle… and at work which almost made me lose my job. Did your powers ever go without you trying to?"

“They did, yes, that’s how I found out about them. But the learning process shouldn’t take all that long, you just need to find a safe place to practice.” It seemed easier said than done for Michael, but what else was he meant to do. His powers weren't that crazy anyway. He basically had taser hands.

"So kind of like anything else in life. Practice makes perfect." It was then Michele realized something. “Oh, um, I’m sorry I didn’t ask you before, do you want anything to drink by the way?"

"Sure, what do you have? You take me as the exclusively water type of person." He jested.

She got up, laughing a little. “I’ve learned not to judge people too quickly,” Michele added, walking over to the kitchen, “so if you want juice, I have that. If you want something a little bit stronger, I have too,” she smirked and he smirked back.

"I'll take stronger for sure. What's your poison?" He was glad to have met Michele? She was friendly and was someone he saw himself spending time with.

“Unfortunately, I don’t have just one...rum, wine, tequila, or vodka?”

Michele poured herself some wine, not wanting to drink anything too heavy this early in the day. She then walked over to Michael and handed him his

The previous night...

---

^{A collaborative post between @Chulance & @Xandrya}

Reaper had a devious grin on his face underneath his mask. He was poised & ready for what he was about to do next. Earlier today he'd been walking around San Francisco in his civilian guise & happened to run into Olivia whose beauty had caught his eye. What started off as harmless flirting had become so much more when he got an inkling of who he was actually dealing with. Or rather who he would be dealing with if his plans for her went off without a hitch. And so after uncovering this pertinent information the stage was set, and he'd offered to take her out on a date that very night. In the end was receptive to his flirtatious behavior and agreed to meet up with him that evening. She found herself wooed by his game that was so good it was almost as if he was reading her mind.

Of course a romantic night out was not the real reason he'd offered her dinner, no his purpose for luring her out was for more sinister. He was parked in his car, a 2013 silver camry hybrid across the street from the place he'd invited Olivia to. Unlike earlier when he met her, he was dressed in his full reaper garb & heavy tint was applied to the windows so no one could see into the vehicle. He was smoking a cigarette as he awaited Olivia's approach, also checking his phone just in case he messaged her. As soon as she got to the restaurant he'd make his move and the games would begin.

The Altered incident from the previous day had Jack Damore on edge. He threatened Olivia once more, demanding she return home but she wouldn’t have it, not caring what he nor what the rest of her family had to say. Olivia was actually excited despite the chaos surrounding her. She was going on a date for the first time in a while; nothing fancy, just a nice dinner to get to know each other and talk. She liked first date dinners as she was able to get to know the guy a lot better versus having to sit in silence at a movie.

Heading to her car, Olivia tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She had on a floral dress and red heels. Maybe a bit too much for a dinner date, but she was dressed to impress. Turning on her vehicle after getting inside of it, she set her GPS to take her to the restaurant. On the way there, Olivia listened to a variety of songs from her phone. She preferred listening to her playlist rather than listen to the radio as their commercials were annoying most of the time, especially those involving injury attorneys.

The spot was on the opposite end of town from the catastrophe from the previous day. After maybe 15 minutes, Olivia arrived. She put the car in park and texted Alex.

I’m here.

Putting the phone away, Olivia turned off the vehicle and grabbed her purse. As she was stepping out, she noticed the parking lot was a bit deserted save for a few cars, but given what had occurred, that didn’t seem out of place.

As he was ashing his smoke in the holder his phone buzzed. Perfect Timing He thought to himself as he shot her a text that he was here. A brief stretch of his neck and a satisfying popping noise after he was ready to get going on his mission. Looking out the passenger window he spotted Olivia and she was dressed down. A smirk crept across the edge of his lips as he looked her up and down. He briefly entertained following through with the actual date and maybe whatever came after. No, as sexy as she is I can't allow that to interfere with my mission, there's too much at stake.

Reaper followed dismissed any thoughts romantic, sexual or otherwise involving himself & Olivia. A switch went off within him then he was locked into his mission. Turning the keys he started the car and drove to the other side of the street the parking lot was on. He pressed down on a button to partially roll down the driver side window slowly. “Olivia!” He called out in his voice as Alex as he pulled up next to her.

Right as he did that the street lights near her as well as all the lights in the restaurant turned off & two muscular man rushed out the restaurant tackling her against the car hard. A third man emerged from the restaurant with a gun in hand. He approached Olivia and pressed the cold barrel of the gun against her skull. Reaper pressed the button again now mostly rolling down most of the window. Reaper unleashed his power on her causing her sight/vision to b replaced by pitch black, & also cause his voice to sound extremely loud, distorted & demonic.

“Olivia listen to me closely if you want to live. Do not fight, do not struggle, or you will be shot dead.” Reaper barked orders at her, while one of the first two men who initially bum rushed her against the car took out a pair of hand-cuffs & attempted to cuff them around Olivia’s hands/arms.

Her phone went off. A moment later she also heard her name being called out. Olivia looked behind her, smiling. They had arrived together it seemed, but her smile faded as the lights suddenly gave out with no warning, startling her a bit. She then heard some shuffling which confused her as she was sure she was alone in the parking lot. The young woman turned towards the noise, and her eyes widened when she saw the outlines of two figures rush her. She didn't have any time to react, being unable to brace herself immediately before being slammed into a car. In the heat of the moment, Olivia dropped her purse with her cell phone and her wallet in it.

"What are you—"

Olivia then felt something being pushed against her skull, and given what was transpiring, it wasn't hard to guess it to be a gun. "Please, I can give you money!" Her vision then went black, and an inhuman voice addressed her. She was at a loss for words as she listened to the instructions, her heart nearly about to burst through her chest. She wanted to push back and defend herself, get away from whoever these monsters were, but she feared for her life. Once she felt the cold, hard steel come in contact with her wrists, Olivia tensed up. She didn't struggle, but nonetheless they weren't gentle, forcing her arms together to handcuff her. The fact that she was practically blind and unable to see her attackers was really scaring her. "What do you want from me?" she asked in a shaky voice.

"Your soul, hahaha no just your life." Reaper chuckled he couldn't help but to threaten her soul with the demonic voice he was using. He had a sick twisted sense of dark humor, He had the men open the door and shove Olivia inside the car before getting two of them got in the vehicle with her in the back-seat, while the third man took a seat in the front passenger seat.

Reaper went to his apple maps on his phone, and put an address in. Siri’s robotic monotone voice was heard and began giving instructions. Reaper pulled off from the restaurant and began heading towards the location an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town. “We don’t want your money bitch, we want you! If you follow my instructions you may end up being able to keep your life. Of course much of that depends on your father, and his willingness to comply with our demands. You know him best, what do you think matters more to your father his precious daughter or national security?” Reaper poised to her trying to drill into her that she was being taken because of her father & his position. He felt a rush as he sped through the streets in the car, having snatched the daughter of the head of the CIA.

"Oh, you're using me to get to him", she responded with a slightly bitter tone. She was still a little scared, but the initial shock was beginning to wear off. A couple of years ago, prior to her father's promotion to the position he was currently holding, Olivia, along with her mother, were instructed to watch a safety video. The content highlighted various topics such as what to expect being related to someone in her father's position. Thinking back, Olivia should have paid closer attention to the video, though it probably would not help change her current situation for the better. "I think he would do just about anything to get me back. Of course, that depends on the manner in which you're willing to conduct business..." she trailed off, wondering to herself the lengths her father would be willing to go to get her back. In a lot of instances, he tended to put his job ahead of a lot of things. "If you lay a damn finger on me, you and your goons are dead, and he'll make sure of that."

Reaper laughed at Olivia's commentary and at a red light reached back to slap her as hard as he could before getting back to driving. "Listen here BITCH, a LONG AS your still BREATHINg your in good enough condition for me to bargain with your father." Reaper growled after saying that wanting Olivia to know he was not going to treat her humanely if she irritated him or talked back. He didn't have to give her any sort of majestic treatment either, he wanted her father to know that she was suffering in order to truly motivate him to listen and give into his demands. Soon they arrived at the warehouse, and Reaper parked out back. The goons in the back opened the door and tugged/pulled at Olivia to bring her out the car and follow Reaper into the warehouse.

The slap stung, and she bit her lower lip to prevent herself from screaming obscenities while struggling against her handcuffs. But instead of fighting a losing battle, Olivia took a few deep breaths and thought of something to say. "Look, I'm not saying my father will play fair, but he's been involved in enough hostage negotiations to know when he's going to lose." That last bit was a lie. Her father was never a cop nor a detective, but no one else knew that. "If you harm me and I'm barely breathing, he won't concede. Trust me, I want to get out of this alive...it's my life, not his."

She was then roughly pulled out of the vehicle, nearly losing her footing. "Wait, do you have my belongings? Please, just give me my sight back!"

Reaper rolled his eyes under his mask as she complained about her purse & phone. "Are you really worried about your damn stuff, yeah we have it." Reaper announced seeing that one of the guys actually had her stuff although. hewonderd why he even cared considering her situation.

Once they made it inside the warehouse, he decided the least. he could do was honor her last request. Focusing his power on her he caused the darkness to dissipate, as well as removing the distortion caused by his voice. Even with her sight restored the abandoned warehouse waw as dimly lit building. "By the way don't bother lying to me, I knowwhen your lying it's kind of me thing if you will. But if you don't believe me you can put me to the test if you want me to help you realize that I can know all your lies." Reaper announced as he went to sit down in a chair and took out his phone. Now the next step was to contact her father and let him know that he had Olivia.

Reaper had the three men standing around Olivia where she was now sitting. He picked up her cell phone and walked a few steps away from her. He went to her contacts and texted Olivia's father. We have your daughter, if you ever want to see her alive again, call now.

The young woman blinked a few times as her vision returned and the darkness surrounding her slowly dissipated. She wasn't surprised to see that those who had taken her were wearing masks in order to protect their identities. Olivia sighed, realizing the little bit of leverage she had was useless at that point. Out of all the Altered she could have encountered, it just so happened to be she was kidnapped by one able to read minds.
___

The text Jack received nearly paralyzed him, especially since the message was sent from his daughter's phone. With a shaky hand, Jack placed the phone call, bringing the device up to his ear as he waited for an answer. He simultaneously got up from his desk to close the window blinds of his office, wanting to have complete privacy as to what was about to occur.

Reaper had the three men standing around Olivia where she was now sitting. He picked up her cell phone and walked a few steps away from her. He went to her contacts and texted Olivia's father. We have your daughter, if you ever want to see her alive again, call now

A sly grin formed on Reaper's face underneath the mask as it dawned on Olivia that any lies to him were a fruitless antic. "Alright time to speak with dad and see how he feels about his wittle girl being gone." Reaper had mockingly used a baby voice tone to further antagonize her. He made a mhmm hmm sound of satisfaction as the face-time call he placed to Olivia's father went through. Sliding to the right the call was accepted, and after a few moments said connected. The call went through and Reaper flipped the camera phone to to be facing Olivia.

While two goons stood guard of Olivia, the third guard approached Olivia and pulled out a taser. Reaper gave him a nod and the third goon proceeded to use the taser on her, while Reaper held the phone still wanting her father to be able to see his men harming his daughter. "How do you like the view Mr. Damore? My name is Reaper you might have heard of me with your profession, although I'm sure your people are focused on finding that rather large woman Lori Martinez. I assure you that while I can't grow big and step on your daughter, i can do so many other horrible things to her like dousing her in gasoline and "dropping" a match, plucking her hair out with tweezers or even better her teeth, or maybe just slowly beat her to death among other things, all of which you can prevent if you co-operate." Reaper said the last part slow but steady anunincating his words to indicate he had no qualms with bringing serious harm to his daughter

Her body suddenly tensed to the point where she could not do anything but scream in pure agony in response to the pain spreading through her body. The feeling was truly indescribable, and her hands were unintentionally struggling and pulling against the handcuffs to the point where her wrists would be bruising later on that evening.
___

The video didn't seem real and Jack could only stare as his daughter was tased for what felt like an eternity by some asshole twice her size. However, he found his words relatively quickly.

"Alright, enough!" he barked, barely able to maintain his composure. "Tell me your demands and I'll do the best I can to make sure it gets done, just please don't hurt her."

Reaper's hands clapped at the screams of agony being emitted from Olivia. Hearing the pain & suffering from a regular human with ties the CIA was music to his ears. He had developed an intense hatred for anyone involved with and related to the government since they'd chosen to persecute his kind. "I'm glad you understand the gravity of the situation sir, most importantly I need to procure the location of the Tartarus Compound. From what I hear it's a secret underground prison facility for altered humans & the numbers of hostages you have has rising rapidly the past two months." With access to Tartarus he'd be have access to hundreds or more altered who were already suffering the worst fate at the hands of the America Government. "A cash stipend as well wouldn't hurt, I mean what's 200K for your daughters immediate release?"

A lump caught in his throat. The cash was not an issue, but the exact location of the Tartarus compound was something he did not have access to. Not because of a lack of security clearance, obviously, but he was not on the access list for the facility and thus he didn't know exactly where it was. That was handled by another branch altogether.

"I can get you the cash right away, you just need to send me the details so I can get that to you immediately. However, I need to speak to someone to find out the location of the facility as I don't know exactly where it is"

Reaper wished he could extend his power through visual chat but as well as that would be he required close physical proximity for his talents to take effect. Unlike Olivia it was very unlikely he'd be able to approach her father so easily. "As I said sir the cash is a welcome ADDED bonus, the icing if you will but Tartarus is the cake, and I much prefer the cake if i HAVE to pick." Reaper made a hand motion to the taser carrying goon.

The goon set the taser down and slipped on a pair of brass knuckles. He clenched his fist and after making sure the camera was focused on Olivia the goon threw four hard blows to Olivia’s chest. “Speak with them fast, lightning speed if you will, next up is boiling water or slowly cutting her fingers & toes off, I need the location of Tartarus right away otherwise I’ll be mailing your daughter to you in pieces.” Reaper spat back with venom, a sick twisted joy could be heard in his tone as he was taking pleasure In drawing out Olivia’s torture. It was a power trip to cause pain & agony to the daughter of a man in the same government that abused & violated the rights of altered humans with no regards for there well being.

An unknown amount of time passed by, but eventually, Olivia stopped screaming once the pain vanished. It was gone instantly, and she looked around scared before noticing a figure standing in front of her. Olivia looked up only to see the man’s fists coming down on her. The few blows he delivered were enough to knock Olivia off of the chair. She fell over with a loud thud, her chest heaving up and down as she was finding it hard to breathe. Unable to speak, Olivia lay there with tears rolling down her cheeks and a thousand yard stare expression on her face.
___

Jack gasped, seeing what was happening to his daughter. “I’ll get you what you need as soon as I possibly can, just please don’t hurt her anymore! I will start making my phone calls right away!"

"Hit her again!!!!!! In the face!" Reaper yelled as the goon was about to punch her in the face. "Stop" Reaper commanded the goon right before he punched her in the face with the brass knuckles. "I think you understand the seriousness of your daughters plight and hopefully for her sake you act in accordance. You have one hour to give me an update, hopefully you have the location by then, but I'm not an entirely unreasonable individual. However I'd be a shame for her if no progress has been made by update time. Talk to ya soon pops." Reaper hung up and put her phone in his pocket.

Reaper waltzed over to Olivia who was now sprawled out on the floor. He put the chair back up-right and motioned for the goons to help her up back into the chair. “Olivia I want you to know I’m many many things but a liar is not one of them….most of the time. If your father gives me what I want you will live and regain your freedom. However if he doesn’t, the taser and brass knuckles is just the warm up.” Reaper said In a sinister yet smooth tone.

Jack hung up the phone, slamming it down on his desk as he rubbed his eyes with his free hand. He would have to find a way to give Reaper the location of the facility or else Olivia was as good as dead. Unless...

Being the head of the CIA had its perks. Jack phoned the San Francisco Police himself, speaking directly to the SWAT supervisor to let him know of his plan. Yes, just about anyone who had a gun was busy that evening, but this took precedence. While the team was being rounded up and debriefed, Jack contacted one of the analysts to pin down Olivia's cell phone's exact location. It didn't take long for the results to come back to some warehouses quite a ways from downtown. Jack video called the SWAT supervisor to give him the location of the warehouse. They discussed possible entry methods with the least risk possible to Olivia. As time went on, Jack was mindful of his deadline.
___

Her hair was a mess as it was matted to the sides of her face. The mascara and eyeliner she had put on earlier that evening was streaking down her cheeks. Her chest was on fire, and Olivia was breathing slowly in order to avoid worsening the pain she already felt. With her head down, anything she said was barely audible. "So are you really going to kill me if you don't get what you want?"

Reaper brushed at Olivia's hair while humming. It wasn't a violent action but it was one that was no doubt unwanted from the man who'd kidnapped her & had men harm her on his command. "If you want me to be brutally honest, then it's a 95% possibility I will murder you if he does not comply. Otherwise I risk my future threats not being taken as seriously, the remaining 5% is the small chance you have something else to offer in light of your father's failure that compensates for his lack of co-operation." Reaper answered plainly remaining honest as he told he was.

She recoiled as the man who had caused her so much pain in so little time began to play with her hair. The fact that she would never see the light of day sunk in, and Olivia started sobbing. "I-I don't know what to offer you! I don't have anything of value with me, no information..." She then stopped, looking up at him. "I know the password to my dad's work laptop. He keeps it in his study but if I can somehow get my hands on it, you'll be able to access a ton of files obviously not meant to be seen by anyone else." The sound of desperation was obvious in her voice as she clung to what little bit of hope she could.

One of the three goons left the open part of the warehouse they were in and returned with a wireless speaker. Reaper took out a third cell phone, & went to his notes clicking a saved mp3 audio recording. He pressed pause before the pre-made recording played & connected the phone to speaker via blue-tooth. He had the goon who fetched the speaker place it in the corner of the room they were in. He made no commentary about what the purpose of this tactic was and simply continued stroking Olivia’s hair for a little bit until stopping.

Reaper was giddy with twisted excitement at causing her to be uncomfortable, the feeling of having power over another person was addictive. Reaper rubbed his fingers together underneath his gloves while considering what she said. Unfiltered access to the computer owned by the CIA Director? That could prove to be invaluable "Well well well you are certainly full of surprises, that last ditch effort to preserve your life is amusing. Of course with the skill I have, I technically don't need to keep you alive anymore." Reaper said tapping his head jokingly to refer to his own talent. "I want you to know I am not evil, men like your father are evil, and unfortunately your collateral damage as a loved one of an evil man. If you were on my side Olivia you'd already be free, there is NO information, career or money I'd put ahead the life of any of my family or people, yet here we are still which likely means your father isn't planning on giving me what I want." Reaper added pointing out that while he was a violent extremist he valued the people he loved more then anything else unlike her dad.

"He's not giving you what you want but I am! Clearly like you said, my dear father isn't gonna do jack shit to save me. They know me at his job, I have Level 1 unrestricted access meaning I can come and go into his office as I please. Wouldn't you want someone like that on your side?"

Olivia was jumping through hoops to save herself, and she meant it when she said she'd be willing to betray her father to save herself. He'd just done the same to her. In fact, what he did was way worse, and she hated him for it.

"Hmmm perhaps you have a point after all." Reaper considered what Olivia was saying, of course fearing for her life was a powerful motive. Unlike her father she had relented giving up his secrets, and he'd clearly chosen the security of the nation & his career over that of his daughter's own well being. "Well then Olivia you've just saved your own life, welcome aboard to the revolution." Reaper clapped his hands together as he was now fully sold & on-board with utilizing Olivia as a vital tool for the war brewing against the Altered.

She finally managed to breathe a sigh of relief, looking around the warehouse. “Thank you, it’s much appreciated,” she added, never having been so honest in her life. The goons were still around, and Olivia didn’t know how she felt about them just yet. "So, uh...can you take off these handcuffs? They're starting to hurt quite a bit.”

Reaper debated on what she said internally before fishing the keys out his pocket. Without a moment's wait he unlocked the cuffs & released her.

Within thirty minutes it was on, SWAT had been dispatched to the warehouse. Luckily Reaper had the ability to detect them long before they had arrived at the door of the warehouse & adjusted accordingly. As the warehouse was two stories, he’d taken them to the top floor. As the first SWAT team burst in, the radio was playing a recorded message. “Everyone shoot yourself In the head, kill yourself you have NO reason to live, come on everybody let’s go, shoot yourself in the head if you not a hoe.” A recording of Reaper’s voice was playing.

His power was infused with the message, causing the SWAT agents who’d burst in to fall under his spell. The agents were stripped off there willpower and put their guns to their head. Within seconds gun-shots went off as the agents that had entered had all killed themselves. Up on the second floor Reaper had head-phones covering his ear, and had given head-phones to Olivia as well as the three goons on the second floor to prevent them from falling under the mind-controlled message on the speaker. The speaker was still replaying the same message over and over ready to trap any other agents who entered.