[IC] Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG (Closed)

[nitemare shape]

After having caught up with Dr. Franklin and Icon, Mr. White led the pair to another elevator. Mr. White pressed the button for the appropriate level and turned to Icon.

“This, I think is something that you need to see.” Mr. White said as the elevator took the trio to the facility’s sub levels.

Once he stepped out of the elevator, the sights that greeted Icon and the others looked as if they belonged in a horror film as opposed to a scientific laboratory. Icon saw various creatures, each grotesque in its own way, in glass cases scattered throughout the large dimly lighted room in which they stood. The oddities appeared to be in a various states of health, some appeared quite healthy, while others were very clearly dead or dying. Of the creatures that were living, some appeared docile while others pounded against their encasements, trying feverishly to escape their confines. Icon looked at the creatures and a wave of anger washed over him, an emotion that he struggled to contain.

“What are these Mr. White? More experiments?” Icon asked sternly.

“Unfortunately, yes. You see, after we ‘lost’ you, we did continue with our research. Unfortunately, we despite our best efforts we were not nearly as successful as we were with you. Though they weren’t what we had hoped for, we are responsible for them. These days we focus our efforts on keeping them comfortable, and giving them the best quality of life as we possibly can.” Mr. White said.

Mr. White motions for Icon to continue the tour. They make their way toward yet another door at the back of the laboratory. He opens the door and holds it open for Icon.

“After you.” He said as Icon stepped past him.

As Icon stepped through the door he immediately realized that something wasn’t right. There was no other door, and the room was empty aside from a small cot. Icon turned around just as the door slammed shut. Suddenly, the room was filled with a strange red light, and as Icon made his way toward the door, he found each step more difficult than the previous. When Icon did reach the door, he began pounding on it, only to find that it did no good.

“Don’t bother to fight, it will do you no good.” Mr. White’s voice resonated through the Spartan cell through an intercom system. “Do you feel that? What you are feeling is everything that makes you special being sapped away. We’ve developed a set of neural disruptors which will prevent you from accessing your special abilities. Welcome home Icon.” Mr. White said just as the red lights began to fade and were replaced by a nothingness. There was no sound, no light penetrated the darkness. For the first time in a long time, Icon felt truly alone.

Outside of the cell which held Icon, Dr. Franklin looked at Mr. White with pure disdain. The doctor had been under the impression that they owed it to Icon to show him where he had truly come from, and to give him the option of maintaining a relationship with them. He kicked himself for allowing himself to be fooled by Mr. White, especially when he had questioned the administrator’s ethics for as long as he had worked for him.

“You can’t be serious Ben!” Dr. Franklin barked at his supervisor.

“Deadly serious, I’m afraid.” Mr. White coolly responded.

“Ben, you can’t just-“ Franklin started to say before being cut off.

“I assure you, I can. He is nothing more than stolen property of the Valor Institute, and I have simply done what I needed to do to recover that property.” White explained.

“He’s not your property, he’s a person. He’s a hero.”

“Was.” White said coldly. “He is an asset of the Valor Institute, and he will remain here for the rest of his life. In other words Doctor, he is mine to do with what I want. If I decide that I want to cut him open to see how he ticks, you can bet your ass that I will. If you have a problem with that, you are free to leave. Just remember what happened to the last scientist who let her emotions cloud her better judgment.”

Dr. Franklin took the threat at face value. He remembered when Dr. Hill had discovered that the baby that would grow into the hero known as Icon was to be terminated. She had gone to great lengths to get the child out of the institute, and she had paid for that with her life.

“Mr. White, what will we do if he gets free?” Dr. Franklin asked, forcibly changing his tone.

“That won’t be an issue, between the neural disruptors and the sensory deprivation, he won’t be in any condition to put up much of a fight.”

[Dedonus]

Zac Wilson | Aubrey Adkins | Veronica Arthur
Zac did a quick search around the small corridor to which his and the two girls’ cell were attached. However, Zac did not see any other captives in the vicinity: only the two girls and himself. Therefore, once Zac completed his search, he led Aubrey and Veronica to the far side of the corridor until they reached a door.

On the other side of that door was a large chamber that was filled with machinery, which no doubt dealt with the meta-human serum. On the far right was a large sunken section of the room, which might have served as a retention pond if any of the machinery happened to malfunction and flood the room.

However, Zac was surprised to see who was present in that room and even more surprised by what they were doing. It was the four men who kidnapped both himself and Kelly and took them to Lost Haven. Without the timely intervention by the meta-human commonly called Icon, who knows what would have happened in that burning warehouse.

Eventually, the fire-based ‘man-in-black’ spotted Zac and the other two girls (he did not recognize the girls). As he approached the girls and Zac, Zac clutched his fists, forcing the obsidian-colored claws to protrude out of his knuckles. When he saw Zac’s aggression, the ‘man-in-black’ threw up his hands as if he was trying to convey that he was not there to harm either Zac or the two girls.

“Hold your horses! While we might not be allies in any way or fashion, we do have mutual goals.” When the ‘m-i-b’ saw confusion creep into Zac’s expression, he attempted to make himself clearer.

“Okay, so we use to be employed with this crazy doctor dude who runs his experiments here. But once he left us out to dry in the law courts and once we discovered his plan to give everyone powers, we knew we had to do something. I mean, if everyone had powers, were would we fit into society? We make a living off using our powers for hire. If the market becomes oversaturated with metas, how are we supposed to compete?”

Suddenly, a large, bulky man, whom Zac had seen before, Bruno being his name, emerged from the pit that dominated the right side of the room. Once he had reached the top, he ripped the ladder from the wall, allowing it to tumble down to the bottom of the sunken area.

“I’ve completed damming up the retention area, Red” the mountain of a man said. And the other two m-i-b’s did likewise, reporting the completion of his individual task. Once the four black-clad mercenaries had gathered together, the fire-based merc, Red, formed a ‘hand pistol’ and, when he pressed his thumb against his index finger, he launched three bursts of fire towards a set of machinery on the left side of the room, causing a green-colored liquid to gush out all over the floor. Then Red blasted a hole in the ceiling, creating an escape route for his team.

“Oh, and if you’re wondering how we’re not currently in jail right now, as I assume you are, when you are paid big money to get dirty jobs done, you can pay big time lawyers to get your wrist slapped.”

The wind-based ‘m-i-b’ created a vortex that steadily lifted the four black-clad mercenaries from the ground. Once they exited through the hole in the ceiling, a dirt-like substance began to cover up the hole. Immediately after this, the dirt seemed to harden due to an intense concentration of head was being applied to it.

“What jerks,” Veronica said, “They could have at least took us out of here.”

“I wouldn’t trust those guys as far as I could throw them. I feel much better that they are gone, to be honest.” Zac replied, knowing how poorly they treated both himself and Kelly.

“You all probably should have gone with them.” A familiar voice said, although there was something strange about that voice, as it was entirely monotonic. When Zac turned around, he saw Kelly standing behind them, unsure how she was able to sneak up on the three of them. She was wearing her old costume, or one that looked like it because she would have outgrown the last one due to her height change. Once he saw Kelly’s old costume, Zac now knew that he was probably wearing a replica of his own costume. Therefore, he felt more calm that whoever kidnapped them did not break into their house again.

“Kelly, I’m so glad we found you! Do you know the way out of this freakish place?” Zac asked his girlfriend. However, he was not going to like the response he would get.

“I’m sorry,” Kelly said in a monotonic voice, “Kelly’s not here right now. Only the Wasp is.” She picked Zac up by his neck and hurled him toward Aubrey and Veronica, knocking them down like bowling pins.

[Sabe]

Elijah was to be in need of some kind of brain...thing, bleach, scrub, something. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to go back into that apartment. He got the worst kind of shivers thinking about it. He was going to go to Mitch's, he had cable and silent neighbors. Not to mention there was a cold six pack in the fridge. He put one in before leaving and usually cracked it open after he got home from work. Eli was sure his best friend wouldn't mind if he had one. He'd just have one, that would be enough. After the beer he could go back to job hunting. He hated the job hunting, it was a long arduous process that had no assurance of success. He hated the uncertainty in that. He wanted, needed stable, certain things. He didn't do well without structure or form to lean on. He didn't need a job so much for money, but for sanity. His savings could carry him for a bit, that was something he had been good at, putting side money for a rainy day. He hadn't applied for unemployment, he wanted to make it on his own, as dumb of a decision as that may turn out to be.

He was almost there when he heard the scrape of loose gravel on asphalt and then was jerked into the alley on his right. One need not be psychic in any way to know that this wasn't a good way for his day to go.

"Cough up your wallet, man."

Elijah's head hit the brick wall behind him, that pain and the fuzzy picture his retinas were sending his brain let him know he wasn't kidding, and this guy meant business. And as his vision cleared, so did his 5 friends. A string of swears passed through his mind. Not a word came out of his mouth as his eyes wired shut, fingers fumbled for his wallet as he tried to keep his cool. The knife brandished by the apparent lead in this little band caught just enough sunlight to reflect it into his eye, he needed to squint, and then his blood turned hot and his eyes closed.

When he opened them he was home. Not Mitch's, or his mother's. His head hurt, and his nightmare bothered him. It was too real, there was blood,and guts,and gore.The thug from the alley and his friends, torn apart by something that wasn't human. Elijah would describe it like Bran Stark seeing through his Dire wolf's eyes on Game of Thrones (Mitch is to blame for that too, he was a fan and talked Elijah into watching it.) He was seeing it, he was doing it, but it was as if he were seeing through someone else eyes. A bad dream, a really bad dream.

He rolled out of bed at the knocking on his door, his head was killing him, as if someone were driving a stake through his skull repeatedly.
After coming to the door, he almost looked out the peep hole that wasn't there. He sure felt smart for that. The banging came again, this time accompanied by a voice, and it was one Eli knew well.

"Eli, man open up." If he banged that meaty fist of his on the door one more time Elijah was gonna kill him.

"Stop beating the damn door, Mitch," he groaned as he undid the lock on the door. He had yet to notice the lack of noise coming from his upstairs neighbors, but it was a good thing they had stopped whatever they were doing. Stoker was not in the mood now. Taking a step back as he opened the door for his buddy he did not even try to hide the tired look on his face.

"Well you look like sunshine and roses." He must have come by here right after work, he was still wearing his scrubs. Stoker found himself a place to sit, moving crap out of the way so Darwin could do the same.

"Happens when someone interrupts my beauty sleep," Elijah quipped. "You not been home?"

"Got a call from your mom to come check on you."

Now he remembered the fiasco that was his try to get a quiet place to sleep and maybe a hot meal at the cost of dil. "I'm fine. Scarred for life but I'm fine."

"Did you catch her with her boyfriend or something?" The glare Eli did more than tell him just how right he was, and he's smart enough to not push it. "So what you wanna do?"

"I don't know, what do you wanna do?"

"what we gonna do?"

"Now don't start that again." It'd been a thing since they were kids, exchanging those lines from the Jungle Book originally said by the vultures. It was just a dorky thing that they did. "But really, what you gonna do?" Elijah shrugged, he didn't have any job interviews lined up, he honestly hadn't tried for a day or two. He just wanted a break.

"I could try pulling a few strings, see if I could get you something."

"Back at the hospital? They kind of already fired me." Elijah was skeptical that they would hire him back, even in a position he would be more qualified for.

"I've got connections that you ain't even heard of, man." Stoker nodded to his friend, he'd take the help he could get.

[Raptorman]

“What the hell is this?” The words were uncharacteristically faint and subdued as Lieutenant Ferguson tried to take in the scene that was spread out before him. Sure he had heard that it was bad. The radio chatter had made it clear and now he was seeing first hand that the radio chatter had not been lying this time. But he hadn’t seen anything quite this twisted.

That was saying something, Lieutenant Ferguson had seen Col Ironside’s corpse, the blasted out hulk that was left behind when the museum of metahumans was hit a few months back. He’d seen men dissolved to the bone by Slugguth’s slime, or turned into a cancerous sludge of melting flesh by the touch of the Cancer. And that was just some of the sickening things that living and worse working for law enforcement in a city with so many supers had forced him to see, it didn’t even count the regular sadists and killers he had dealt with.

“Nobody touch anything until we get this all recorded.” The man barked, largely on autopilot as his gaze swept over the living room of the large family home in Olympia, Lost Haven. The place was well furnished and quite comfortable. But that wasn’t what someone noticed now. No, the blood, butchered bodies and carnage were what drew the most attention.

Blood spatter coated the walls and the furniture, along strewn body parts that had once made up the family of five, the Conner family, who had owned the home. But that wasn’t the worst part. Strips of flesh had been cut off the already torn apart bodies and pinned to the walls of the living room. Strips that made up letters and then words.

HELLO LOST HAVEN
1 OF 20
OR MAYBE I’LL STICK AROUND
RECRUITING
NIGHTMARE

The 1 and the 20 had been made from arms torn from the victims and with so much skin hacked and slashed away from the others it was easy to see why some of the responding officers had puked. There was popcorn scattered around, and several overturned bowls revealed that it had probably been a movie night for the family before the attack. This was way above his area of expertise but he knew some of the steps that needed to be taken.

“Make sure we keep the press from getting their hands on this.” He ordered somewhat shakily before a voice piped up from behind him. “Keep it from the press? You know you can’t really do that right?”

There wasn’t supposed to be anyone other than himself and the other officers in the scene while the investigators and techs were on the way and neither of the other officers was female. Lieutenant Ferguson turned to see a young woman in a suit with a mask that covered her face standing on the other side of the room with the video camera and inwardly face palmed. Not now, of all nights.

“Confiscate the camera and arrest her for trespassing in a crime scene.” He spat out the instructions with distaste.

“Not going to happen.” The woman replied and flickered out of the existence before any of the cops could actually do anything to stop her from vanishing.

“Fucking hell.”
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“In other news reports of a horrific attack on the Conner family from Olympia Lost Haven have been confirmed. While the police have attempted to keep a barricade of silence up and refuse to allow anyone access to the crime scene, and the FBI and STRIKE both have arrived on scene we have special footage of the inside of the crime scene.”

The man who was reading the news paused for a moment as the screen behind him began to change to show the footage. “Those with small children should turn off their television sets now or have them leave the room as the footage is not suitable for such audiences.”

The scene that unfolded on the television was graphic and horrifying, exactly as the police officers who had witnessed it would have seen. There was only the quick pan but the message on the walls and the carnage was clear to anyone watching. And such footage was shown again repeatedly throughout the day on various news productions.

[nitemare shape]

Director Alexander Anderson sat behind his desk, his eyes glued to the file that lay upon his desk. He didn’t have to read it, he knew the contents all too well. The subject of the file was an obsession of his, and had been for a number of years.

“Sir, you’re sure that this latest incident is him?” Agent Markin asked.

“Yeah, it’s him.” Anderson responded curtly. “I just finished going over Ryder’s field report, there’s no question about it.”

HELLO LOST HAVEN
1 OF 20

Alexander Anderson knew the modus operandi, he knew what was coming next, and he knew that he would do everything in his power to prevent it. However, something bothered him about the reports. Everything was the same, the theatrical way that he dismembered the bodies, the message broadcasting his plans, yet something was different.

OR MAYBE I’LL STICK AROUND
RECRUITING
NIGHTMARE

For as long as Anderson has been tracking the being known as Nightmare, the psychotic murderer had never once deviated from his pattern, a pattern that was repeated time after time. A pattern that Anderson, with the help of STRIKE had suppressed from the general public. However, this time, the monster had indeed deviated from his course. The very idea that Nightmare was here, in Lost Haven, with the intent of possibly recruiting others into his madness was enough to send shivers down the spine of the STRIKE Director.

“We also have other problems sir.” Markin added.

“Yes, the reporter.” Anderson said, acknowledging the stunning security breach which had resulted in the organization’s acronym being broadcast across the local airwaves, as well as the details of the slaughter of the family in Olympia.

Who the initial source of the story was, was a major concern. As was how this woman had learned the identity of the organization, an identity that Anderson as well as those who were aware of the organization’s existence had gone to a great deal of trouble to keep concealed. In fact, only a small number of people within the government even knew of STRIKE’s existence, and an even smaller number of people outside of the government. The fact that someone in the media had uncovered their identity was troubling, and it was something that Anderson would have to deal with personally, in due time. However, right now his number one priority was containing the threat that the being known only as Nightmare posed.

“Sir, maybe you should-“ Markin began before being cut off immediately by his superior.

“I’m not sitting this one out.” Anderson said emphatically.

“Sir, I’m just saying-“Markin was again cut off mid-sentence.

“I know what you’re saying Jim, and it’s appreciated, but unnecessary.” Anderson said. “This bastard killed my son, and I’m going to be there when we finally bring him in.”

[Raptorman]

Three days had passed since the first grisly murder had occurred, since the Conner family had been found slaughtered and used as macabre materials for a twisted being’s message. Three days had passed with relative peace, three days without another murder of that caliber. Lost Haven was not a small city and even something as horrible as the butchering of the family quickly became yesterday’s news. For the city was fickle. It didn’t help that the feds hadn’t turned up any leads, or if they had they weren’t talking and STRIKE’s searches turned up nothing as they almost always did and so it seemed that perhaps the man that had done this had moved on, at least to the people of Lost Haven.

But some few knew better, STRIKE knew the pattern, the way the man who called himself Nightmare always behaved. And on this third night after the Conners were butchered a monster was on the hunt again.
__________________________________________________________________________________________

Reggie Anderson surveyed the street from behind the tinted windows of the fortified limo. The sound of booming music and the small party that was taking place inside the vehicle was only background noise to him. He was paid for it to only be background noise, as after all it was his job to be a guard. Really though he didn’t see what the point was, it was well after midnight and the neighborhood wasn’t one that the other gangs dared to show their faces in.

But he wasn’t paid to do the thinking, he was paid to be a wall between his boss and the people who would like to see his boss dead and so the thoughts of how stupid it was to be on alert in the middle of night in the center of their territory was shoved to the side as he continued to look out the window.

But while he had been distracted something had changed, he could no longer see the streetlights out the right window. In fact he couldn’t see anything out that side but a think inky darkness. He began to lower the window, to see what was going on, had some kids thrown paint on the side in the moment he had been distracted? He couldn’t really think of any reasons for the sudden darkness. Before the window had lowered more than an inch or two something struck the limo with force sufficient to send it flipping over.

A chorus of screams sounded from the shocked people who had been drinking and doing other things before the impact as the large car rolled over twice before coming to rest on the sidewalk. Reggie could see holes in the side of the vehicle, long and deep in a pattern that looked almost as if they had been made by claws that cut straight through the metal. He reached for a gun even as the others continued to have hysterics before everything went black.

Blinking did nothing to banish the darkness and he heard the cracked windows shatter as something slammed against them, seemingly from every direction at once. He raised the gun and shot out the window in an attempt to hit whatever it was but aside from the harsh roaring of the gun there seemed to be no effect.

He heard several of the screams cut off with gurgling noises even as he felt what must have been a hand, but a hand with far too many fingers, and far too many joints in each finger close around his gun arm at the wrist and casually ripped it off of his body. It was then that he screamed himself, and he heard laughter, a terrible laughter that he couldn’t imagine had come from a human throat.

Still blind he could do nothing as claws slashed across his throat, severing his head from his body in a single neat motion and the world faded with that alien laughter echoing in his ears.
_______________________________________________________________________________

After the limo had been struck the street had been blanketed in darkness so thick that none of the few people brave enough to look at their windows at the sound of conflict and gunfire could see anything. But over time as the laughing and screaming replaced the barking of a gun a few of the people did eventually call the police, though it did take some time.

By the time the first police cars arrived the bodies had been dismembered and arranged. There were ten dead in all, their limbs removed and then cut apart at the knees and elbows before being arranged to spell out a message across the center of the road. Bloody letters that seemed to be written in the blood of the victims finished when the body parts of the slaughtered ran out.

HELLO LOST HAVEN
2 OF 20
SO SWEET
A BUFFET OF SCREAMS
STILL RECRUITING
NIGHTMARE

Set at the end of the message was a pile of heads belonging to the men and women who had been in the limo and lhe limo itself was in poor condition and covered in blood spatter, as was much of the area surrounding it. The right side was badly dented and what seemed to be 13 deep gouges that looked like deep claw marks that cut through the car’s side were in the center of the long dent.

Many of the responding officers lost their last meal as they saw what was waiting for them when they arrived. Frantic calls went back and forth over the radio lines and atop a rooftop one woman flickered into existence video camera in hand.

[nitemare shape]

Dr. Wesley Franklin sat alone in his office. His leg bounced up and down nervously as he planned his next move. He knew that what Ben White was doing was wrong, and that he couldn’t allow it to stand. However, he also knew that not only would making a move against White now would most likely be suicide, he also knew that it was in a way hypocritical. For years, he had ignored his own morals and followed White as he broke just about every law of both man and nature in his pursuit of scientific advancement.

However, he knew that his conscience could suffer in silence no more. He knew that he had to act, however, he was not sure what course of action to take. Suddenly, he had an idea. He knew that he would never be able to get Icon free from his cell alone, but didn’t know who he could trust, if anyone within the facility. Then he had an idea, and though he knew that it may blow up in his face, he owed it to himself, if no one else to at least try. After a moment’s hesitation, he reluctantly reached for his phone.

***

“You blew it, Scott.” said a familiar voice. “You have all these powers and you couldn’t even save me.”

Scott turned to face the speaker, and found that he was standing just outside his family home, the sun was shining down on the perfectly trimmed lawn. He could smell the fresh cut grass and he could feel the breeze on his face.

He didn’t need to look at the speaker to know who it was, however he turned to face the man anyhow. When his eyes finally fell on the speaker, he knew that it was impossible, that this couldn’t possibly be real. However, here he stood, face to face with his older brother Brandon, who had died several years earlier.

It was because of his actions that Brandon was dead. It was shortly after Scott had graduated from Boston College, he and Brandon were fooling around on the back roads behind the Hunter’s home. The roads were in bad shape, and in some spots had almost been completely reclaimed by nature. Brandon had just gotten a new Jeep and had been taunting Scott about how it would leave him “in the dust.” Scott was ever prideful and accepted Brandon’s challenge. Everything had gone according to plan. Scott had given Brandon a fifteen second head start, and when the fifteen seconds had ticked off the clock, he took off after the vehicle. It wasn’t until Scott had passed the Jeep that he realized there was trouble.

As Scott had raced passed his brother’s Jeep, Brandon had lost control of the vehicle. He sped off of the road and collided with a large pine tree. Scott had raced to his brother’s aid; however, there was nothing that he could have done. Brandon had been killed upon impact. Brandon’s death had been the impetus for Scott to leave home and get about as far away as he could from his family, and the memory of what he had done. However, it did little good, because although he had made amends with his family, Brandon’s death still haunted Scott to this day.

“You just had to show off.” Brandon said, growing angrier with each passing moment. “Then you left me to die. You could have saved me. YOU SHOULD HAVE SAVED ME!” Brandon continued, his face beginning to distort, until the flesh on the left side of his face had rotted away, exposing a yellowing skull beneath the flesh.

“Brandon, I’m sorry. I tried, there was nothing I could-“ He was cut off by his brother.

“LIES!” Brandon shrieked in an almost inhuman tone. “You could have saved me, but you held back. You LET me die!”

“That’s not what happened.” Scott said, almost pleading.

“Yes, that is exactly what happened…and now you go around the world trying to make up for that by saving everyone that you can. But it’s not enough. It will never be enough you petulant son of a bitch. Nothing you do will ever atone for what you’ve done, or what you didn’t do…as the case may be.” Brandon finished, his face deteriorating further with each word.

Before Scott could reply, the sudden explosion of light and sound forced him back into the here and now.

It wasn’t real. Scott thought to himself as a figure appeared in the doorway.

“Come on, let’s get you out of here.” A female voice shouted over the noise.

He looked up and immediately recognized the young woman who had led him into this trap into the first place. He didn’t trust her, but he could see that something was going on out in the hallway. People were running frantically up and down the hallway, shots were being fired, men and women were fighting, and dying just beyond the doors.

“Haze…” Icon growled weakly. “What’s going on?”

“The Doc wanted to make things right. We needed a distraction to get you out of here, so he opened the cages.” She said almost nonchalantly, yet something in her voice betrayed her regret.

She placed his arm over her shoulder and let him lean on her as she guided him out of the cell that White had locked him into. As he entered the hall and was out of the range of the neural dampeners, he began to feel his strength slowly returning. He didn’t know how long it would take for him to reach full strength, but somehow, that didn’t matter to him. Once in the hall, he looked around at the carnage that was strewn about and felt another pang of guilt.

All this was because of me. He thought to himself as Haze led him down the hallway away from his would be prison.

[nitemare shape]

Director Alexander Anderson hadn’t slept in three nights. Instead, he obsessively poured over reams and reams of files on the enigmatic psychopath known only as Nightmare. Anderson had been studying the tendencies of the killer for almost a decade after the monster had violently butchered his only son.

For a long time, Anderson was convinced that this killer was supernatural in origin, and his organization’s investigations into the slaying that he committed did little to dissuade that theory. However, with the sudden emergence of the so called meta humans, Anderson really didn’t know what he was dealing with.

His familiarity with the tendencies with the monster also allowed him to take certain precautions. Knowing that Nightmare generally strikes every three days once he has begun a cycle, he was able to personally organize STRIKE patrols all over the city in the hopes of preventing another slaughter. Unfortunately, the reports coming in over the wire indicate that once again, he’s failed to prevent this monster’s killing spree.

As soon as the scene had been discovered by the local police, Anderson had personally dispatched a small unit to the scene in order to keep the story under wraps, at least until he was able to get there personally. Marcus Ryder, one of Anderson’s oldest friends, and one of the best agents he had ever had the privilege to know was in charge of the operation.

Anderson could see the flashing emergency lights from over a half a block away. As he approached the scene, he saw a slew of police cars as well as his own agency’s vehicles blocking access to the area to any wandering eyes. Anderson was pleased with how quickly Ryder and his team had taken control of the scene. After parking his car and making his way toward the crime scene, he was stopped suddenly by a patrol officer who was guarding the perimeter of the crime scene.

“Sorry buddy, you’ll have to keep moving.” The cop said in a commanding tone.

“I’m Director Alexander Anderson, of STRIKE. Now, if you’ll excuse me…” The cop, an older man with graying hair interrupted.

“I don’t care if you’re The Pope, you ain’t going in there.”

“Hey! He’s with us. Let him through.” Came a voice from within the crime scene.

The cop looked toward the speaker and shook his head resentfully as Marcus Ryder made his way toward the two men.

“Fine. Go ahead.” The cop said dejectedly as he began muttering under his breath some choice words for “the goddamm feds” as the pair of STRIKE agents made their way into the crime scene.

“What do you have Marcus?” Anderson asked, already knowing the answer.

“It’s a f*cking massacre Alex. Bodies and body parts everywhere, we have what’s left of a limo that looks like it was beaten in with a sledgehammer and then scratched to hell. It’s pretty bad…even for him.” Ryder said, detailing what he had scene.

Ryder led Anderson to message which had been left by the monster for the city. When Anderson saw the numerous severed heads laying beside the message, he felt a renewed rage wash over him. He had seen this time after time, and he was beginning to grow tired of playing catch up to the killer.

“Document everything and get it filed. Then clean this mess up. I don’t want anybody to know what went on here tonight. I won’t let this city fall into a panic because of this sick freak.” Anderson ordered as he turned and made his way back to his car.

[Dedonus]

Zac Wilson | Kelly Brown | Aubrey Adkins | Veronica Arthur
Post Referenced
Zac’s head felt as if someone had dropped an anvil on his head, like what usually happens on old Looney Toons cartoons. Before he could even regain his senses, Zac felt a tight grip around his neck as Kelly held him off the ground. Zac had no idea why Kelly was acting so aggressive, let alone hostile, towards him. Was it being caused by what happened in the hospital, even though it was not what it seemed?

Before he could even further consider this, Kelly hurled Zac against a nearby wall. She immediately followed this several punches aimed at Zac. While Zac did dodge these attacks, he had to exert himself intensely, requiring all his attention. Once Kelly realized that her fists were not cutting it, she immediately pinned Zac against the wall, using her four arms to prevent Zac from using either his own arms or legs to strike back at her.

When Zac finally saw the barb emerged from Kelly’s wasp abdomen, he realized that his nightmare about Kelly that he had five months ago was finally coming true. Zac struggled to break out of Kelly’s grip, but her super-human strength prevented any such actions. Zac wanted to let out a cry for mercy, but no words emerged from his mouth. Sweat poured down his forehead as the sharp barb bobbed back and forth, feigning an attack here and there.

Then everything went black. Zac first thought that he had been knocked out, but he swiftly dispelled that thought when he realized that he could still move. In fact, everything was black because all the electricity within that room had been shut off in some way. In addition to this, Zac had fallen to the ground because for some reason Kelly had lightened her grip. However, Zac wondered one thing: where was she now?

“Zac?” Kelly said in a dazed, yet a non-monotone voice.

“Stay away!”

Nevertheless, Kelly ignored his command and placed herself in his arms, in spite of the fact that she towered over him by several inches. For the next several seconds, she just laid there, until she felt Zac’s arms wrap around her. After this, Kelly finally turned to Zac.

“Zac, I need you to do something for me.” But before Zac could response, Kelly grabbed Zac’s hands and pressed them against her own stomach. “I need you,” she said, pausing because she herself was afraid of what she was going to say, “I need you to withdraw your claws into my stomach.”

Zac was not ready for such a request, stunned that his own girlfriend wanted him to kill her. He ripped his hands away from her grip (which was not tight at all this time) and placed his hands on her shoulders.

“I am not going to murder my own girlfriend. How could I live with myself?”

“And you think it is easy for me? Once these lights come back on, this stupid collar will force me into doing the same thing to you. I don’t want to watch helplessly as my own body murders my boyfriend. Just, please get it over with. Please.” Kelly finally broke out into tears, pressing her face against Zac’s shoulder.

Zac considered what they could do about their predicament, knowing that killing his girlfriend was out of the question. Then an idea hit him. “Maybe we should try to break off the collar?”

“But it has a self-defense mechanism that will cause it to explode or something if someone attempts to remove it. They made that point quite clear before they placed it on me.”

“But since the power is out...” Zac started to say.

“The failsafe might not work because it could not receive the signal to activate”.

Kelly stepped back from Zac, hoping that the failsafe would only affect her. Placing her four hands on the collar, she prepared to pull off the one device that was standing in the way of both Zac’s and her own safety. Just as she was ripping off the collar, the power was suddenly restored, causing the the collar to reactivate. A surge of electricity flowed from the collar into Kelly’s body. However, she luckily had already begun to toss it out of her hands.

Nevertheless, the electric surge still had enough time to flow through her body, causing Kelly to collapse onto the floor. Zac rushed over to Kelly, although he did not attempt to touch her because he was unsure whether the electric current would still be present, which would put Zac in the same position as Kelly was in at that moment.

“Kelly?”

Kelly started to rouse herself from the electric surge, just like when someone was waking up from a long night sleep. Once she regained her full consciousness, Kelly immediately embraced Zac, who instinctively jumped back. However, once he realized that he was not shocked, Zac accepted Kelly’s four-armed embrace. Tears started to fall from Kelly’s eyes as she embraced her boyfriend. She reached up and kissed Zac.

“Um, guys?” Veronica said out of nowhere, or at least that’s how it seemed to Zac and Kelly, “I know you are having a romantic moment, but I think Aubrey needs some help.

Zac and Kelly looked over towards Veronica. Behind Veronica was an unconscious Aubrey, suspended from some sort of organic string that led into the ceiling. Something was pulling the string, along with Aubrey, toward him or her or itself.

Kelly placed a kiss on Zac’s cheek. Then she started to beat her wasp wings. Once she had lifted herself off the ground and into the air, Kelly turned back towards Zac. “I’ll handle this.”

[Raptorman]

Despite STRIKE’s best efforts they were too late the footage of not only the crime scene but the attempted clean up that they had engaged in was all over the news the next day. The second brutal attack and slaughter was enough to convince many people that something was actually going on and like it had before fear and tension reared their ugly heads across the city.

This time there was no feeling of relief as the days ticked away without another attack. It had been three days between the first two and many now began to suspect that the same thing was going to happen. Still the days passed without incident, though people were troubled by the sudden presence of patrols of combat ready men and women who seemed to have occupied the city. When night fell again on the third day since the last attack one would have expected the city to be quiet. Instead the city was still bustling, perhaps there were a few less people milling about, perhaps the nightlife was suffering to a degree but there was still a lot going on.

And one poor unfortunate soul was about to encounter the monster that now stalked Lost Haven. Cathy Brooks had been delayed. Her boss had kept her late and as a result she missed the last bus that would have taken her home. And so she had to walk home. She fumed inwardly as she walked down the streets.

Her goal was to get home as quickly as possible and minimizing the chances that anything bad would happen and so she turned onto a little traveled side street that would cut time off her journey home even though it was poorly lit. Her footsteps echoed down the deserted side street, little better than an alley really as she moved around a pile of boxes that had been left there. And then she paused, were those other footsteps coming from behind her?

She turned but couldn’t see anything back there, had it always been so dark? She thought that the streetlights had illuminated at least part of where she had walked before but in was suddenly pitch black. Turning away she began to walk forwards again when she heard a sound. It was wet and disturbing, a sound that was almost like something slithering but different in some subtle way. And that sound came from behind her as well.

Cathy began to run, but she had only made it a few paces when the entire street went dark and she could not see a thing. She kept trying to run and tripped over another set of boxes which sent her crashing to the ground. She tried to scramble back to her feet as the sound of breathing, loud and sounding like the infernal bellows of some demonic furnace drew closer. But then she heard a voice. It was inhuman and sounded thick and heavy while vibrating as if it was spoken through water, or perhaps a layer of some sort of slime. It was a voice that sounded like it came from something set lose from hell itself.

“Stop.” It said simply but with a tone that froze the young woman in the midst of her effort to get back onto her feet. “I know who you really are.” The voice continued, seeming to come from both in front of her and behind her.

“Wha- What?” Was her stammered response and even as she stammered it out she sensed she had done something wrong. A hand that felt wrong wrapped around her midsection and another gripped her arms, and yet another wrapped around her legs as she felt herself lifted up into the air. She felt a gust of hot air rush over her body, hot air that reeked of sulfur.

And the voice sounded again. “I know who you really are and I am making an offer. I know how you spend most nights Firestorm. Join me and this shall be your night. We shall slaughter with fire in your name.”

The young woman remained frozen in terror as the hands still gripped her and periodic waves of heat washed over her from the creature’s breathing. How did this thing know? And what did it mean about joining it? It was even worse because she couldn’t do anything without there already being flames. She could always say yes and then run when it let her go.

Cathy began to open her mouth to try and reply the creature when she heard the sound of men talking as they walked past the entrance to the side street. She recognized the sounds of commands and a brief hope seized her. “HELP!” she screamed before her body was ripped into three pieces and discarded. The last thing her fading mind heard was the creature saying “A pity” as gunfire erupted and men cried out in alarm.

---

It was a pity and as the shadows billowed outwards to meet the gun wielding agents of STRIKE the being within them spared a second for disappointment. He had rather liked the work that Firestorm had done, the torched buildings, the burning people; they had all had a certain flare to them. Still he had other candidates to approach.

Bullets bounced off flesh that was harder than steel and a thick tendril of darkness lashed out faster than the eye could see, within it was an arm and a hand, the claws of which beheaded one of the strike soldiers. Then the full mass of shadows struck them and darkness fell completely. In all the times the being had fought these soldiers he was surprised that they still hadn’t learned anything.

Soldiers were lifted up and as they fired their guns in vain the creature simply broke them apart with his hands and dropped them to the ground. One had the presence of mind to try another tactic and a flash bang fell from his hand to explode against the ground. The brilliant light temporarily blasted back parts of the dark but the light was too blinding and none could see what lurked within before the darkness returned and the last member of the team was slaughtered.

A hand cupped the helmet of one of the fallen soldiers, claws prying it away from the skull as the being raised it. On the film it would look as if thin air was raising the camera in the darkness and it would show nothing. And at the same time another hand did the same to another soldier.

“DIRECTOR ANDERSON. THANK YOU FOR THE MEAL.” The voice echoed as the being spoke and the cameras recorded the sound. “YOU HAVE PURSUED ME, YOU HAVE HIDDEN ME. NO LONGER WILL I BE HIDDEN. THIS IS MY TIME!” One of the cameras and helmet covered in gouges was placed down in the center of the slaughtered men and the monster went to work on the bodies, butchering them and preparing his message with haste for the sirens in the distance could be heard already.

When the cops arrived they would find yet another scene of slaughter and this time the message was simply written in blood, with the dismembered bodies stacked neatly around it.

HELLO LOST HAVEN
3 OF 20
RECRUITING
NIGHTMARE

[nitemare shape]

Director Alexander Anderson sat behind his desk, his eyes fixated on his computer screen. He watched, for the umpteenth time, the video footage that had been caught on the helmet cam of one of the agents who had been on patrol searching for the metahuman serial killer known only as Nightmare. He had hoped that his men would be prepared to eliminate the threat posed by the enigmatic killer, unfortunately, they were not.

Through the helmet cam footage, he was able to see the carnage of twisted corpses that looked to have been completely ripped apart, as well as the latest message left by the monster. Written in blood, the message was short and simple.

“HELLO LOST HAVEN
3 OF 20
RECRUITING
NIGHTMARE”

However, it was not the words written in blood that chilled the Director to the bone. He had seen this played out over and over again for longer than he’d like to admit. Instead, it was the inhuman voice that seemed to come out of thin air that gave him pause. The words were a direct message for him

“DIRECTOR ANDERSON. THANK YOU FOR THE MEAL. YOU HAVE PURSUED ME, YOU HAVE HIDDEN ME. NO LONGER WILL I BE HIDDEN. THIS IS MY TIME!”

“We’ve got to do something about this guy, Alex.” Said Marcus Ryder, who sat in a chair across the desk from Anderson.

“I know. We’ve been playing cat and mouse with this son of a bitch for way too long. Dr. Tashi seems to think that he has something that might help us catch this freak and bring him in.” Anderson said, a cool rage edging his voice.

“We catch him, then what?” Ryder asked, knowing full well that containing a creature like Nightmare would be next to impossible.

“Then I’ll put a bullet in his head myself.”

[Raptorman]

The next morning yet again it became apparent that the organization had failed in their attempts to keep the 'monster's' rampage from being documented and shown on the news. But this time it was far worse than the previous leaks.

---

"We ask that parents with young children please remove them from the room now as the content you are about to see is both graphic and highly disturbing." The suited man on the television screen declared in the normal practiced voice of a newscaster. "The outbreaks of violence continue and the killer that has become known as Nightmare has struck for a third time."

The screen shifted away from the man to show a video feed that the would be recognized by the STRIKE leadership as the same video that they had been shown through the helmet cam the evening before.The screams of dying men and the laughter of a monster in the darkness followed by the thunderous challenge issued directly to a man called 'Director Anderson'.

Then the screen shifted again to show photographs of the most recent crime scene as well as the clean up operation being undertaken by men who appeared to be government employees. "It seems that the government is actively covering up these murders and does not see fit to warn you. Who is this Director Anderson and why has he been covering up crimes of this magnitude? What is this STRIKE? And what freaking metahuman monster is behind these attacks? We will keep you informed as we know more."

[Dedonus]

Zac Wilson | Kelly Brown | Aubrey Adkins | Veronica Arthur

Kelly rose up towards the ceiling, where whoever was drawing in Aubrey lurked. She hovered below the opening in the ceiling, from where the web-line was suspended.

“Come out, who or whatever you are” Kelly said, plucking the web-line in order to send a vibration back to whoever was on the other end of the web. However, once she touched the web, Kelly discovered that she could not pull her hand away. The spider-silk that stuck to her hand held fast. No matter how hard she tried, Kelly could not release herself from the silk.

Nevertheless, Kelly struggled in vain, causing her to become entangled in the spider-silk. As she struggled to free herself from the sticky trap, Kelly felt a vibration pulse through the web, as if something, or someone, was coming. A humanoid upper body appeared from the whole in the ceiling. What followed, however, was anything but human. A giant, black spider body seemed to have been infused with the woman’s torso.

The woman descended on a dragline, until she reached Kelly. At that moment, the woman immediately started to wrap Kelly in a thick web cocoon. No matter how much she struggled, Kelly couldn’t move. Eventually, only Kelly’s head was visible. Suddenly, the woman popped her face in front of Kelly’s head. To Kelly’s surprise, she recognized the face of the woman. It was the girl at the hospital, who had hit on Zac.

“You bitch! Why I ought a...” Kelly began, but before she could finish, there was a vibration from below her. The woman progressed down the dragline, passing her spider abdomen over Kelly’s face, revealing a red hourglass. Sweat started to pour down Kelly’s forehead. A Black Widow spider could hospitalize a normal human. What could a giant one do? But before she could contemplate that idea, Kelly felt the webline jolt upwards and then fall back down.

“What did you do?” Kelly asked.

“Just released some dead weight” she replied. Once Kelly heard this, chills radiated through her body, knowing that this woman had just released Aubrey from the web, causing her to fall several feet to the ground. After a few seconds, Kelly heard something snap, along with a small splash.

“You’re a monster!”

“Takes one to know one,” the woman replied to Kelly’s insult.

The woman prepared to drop Kelly too, ascending the dragline so that she too would not fall with Kelly. Kelly knew that if she was going to act, now was the time. Kelly exerted all her energy into breaking out of the silk cocoon. Once she forced herself out, Kelly concentrated on her wings, preparing for flight. She swooped around and latched onto the woman’s spider abdomen, piercing it several times with the wasp barb.

Once Kelly’s wasp venom infiltrated the woman’s bloodstream, she began to go into a daze, resulting in her tumbling from the dragline. Kelly leaped off the woman’s spider abdomen, hovering in midair. However, Kelly had exerted so much energy in her escape and in incapacitating of the woman that she was starting to blackout too. Kelly attempted to fly down to where Zac was and she almost succeeded in it too, but once she started to slow her descent as she approached the floor, Kelly completely blacked out.

Zac lunged forward, catching Kelly’s hand at the last moment. Zac began to pull her out of the pit, but he suddenly remembered something. Something that the “dreamverse” Aubrey had told him. If Zac would just let go of Kelly’s hand and let her plunge into the dark green liquid, Kelly’s problem would be gone. Kelly’s wasp-like appearance would transfer over to Aubrey. Zac’s grip began to loosen, knowing that it would be the best for the both of them.

But another thought entered Zac’s head. That girl from the hospital had also fallen into the pool of the serum. Zac had no idea whether Kelly would inherit that woman’s spideresque appearance. Was that a risk Zac was willing to take in to even have the slightest possibility to have Kelly look normal again? Or would he rather take the devil he already knew rather than the one he did not?

Therefore, Zac immediately tightened his grip on Kelly’s hand and pulled her up. She was still unconscious from the energy she had just exerted. She was breathing, but still unconscious. Zac just laid her head in his lap, running his fingers through her hair. Would Kelly ever forgive him for even considering letting her fall into the liquid serum? Was he even thinking about her own wellbeing, or was he just selfishly thinking about his own needs and fears?

“Will she be alright?” Veronica asked, squatting down next to Zac. Zac looked over toward Veronica, only to see her drenched in sweat. Zac saw that there was a bandage wrapped around Veronica’s arm, something he did not notice until that time. Had their captors already injected her with the serum too?

“She’ll be fine,” Zac lied, truly unsure of Kelly’s true condition, “but what about you? You look like a mess.”

“I’ll be fine,” Veronica said with a fake smile, revealing that she was indeed in pain.

Suddenly, something emerged from the pool of liquid, frightening both Zac and Veronica. However, once they saw it was a blonde-haired girl, both Zac and Veronica could rest easily. Aubrey was desperately drawing in deep breaths in an attempt to catch her breath. Once she pulled herself out of the green liquid, Zac was surprised that Aubrey did not have the woman’s spider-like features. By no means did he wish that upon her, but expected to see eight legs crawl out of that pool, not just two.

“Aubrey? You’re, um, you’re alive,” Veronica said, her wavering voice clearing showing that she was in pain.

Aubrey looked down at the floor, attempting to steady her breathing by taking longer, deeper breaths. “I only remember everything going black before I hit the floor. The next thing I knew was I was submerged into some kind of liquid. I have no idea what happened.”

When Aubrey looked back up towards Veronica and Zac, she was only greeted with blank stares.

“What is it?” Aubrey asked, wondering what was happening.

“Aubrey,” Zac began, “the gash on your forehead. It, well, spontaneously healed.” Aubrey immediately rubbed her hand against her forehead, discovering to her surprise that there was not a single injury on her head, not even a scar.

However, their moment of bewilderment was interrupted when Aubrey bent over, grasping her head with both of her hands.

“What’s wrong now, Aubrey?” Zac asked.

“It feels like an anvil was just dropped on my head.” Aubrey replied. She looked up toward the door on the opposite side of the room. “It’s almost as if it’s trying to say something is coming from that direction”.

And just as Aubrey finished speaking, a sword jutted through the wall, cutting through it as if it was made out of butter. Whoever was behind the door kicked down that section of the wall, including the door, out from its former place, causing it to slide across the floor and stopping directly in front of the four captives.

A giant suit of armor emerged from the new opening in the wall. The Iron Knight slashed his sword through the air, making an “x” motion in the air. Then he suddenly sheathed his sword on his back. The Corinthian helmet that rested on the head of whoever was inside the suit turned its gaze toward the four individuals on the floor.

“I came here to kick ass and chew bubble gum.” The man in the mechanical armor said in a robotic voice. Immediately he stuck out his closed fist, as if he intended to show the four of them something. Once the Iron Knight opened his stretched out fist, several wrappers of bubblegum fell to the floor.

“And I’m all out of bubble gum.”

[nitemare shape]

Billy Peters lay in his bed unable to sleep. Over the past several days, the 13 year old child had felt uneasy, almost as if someone had been watching him. The feeling would come and go, in fact, there were times when it was the furthest thing from his mind. However, one the night fell and darkness descended upon the streets of the city of Lost Haven, the uneasiness would begin to take a hold again.

The eerie feelings he experienced did nothing but alienate him from his friends and family. An only child, Billy didn’t have any brothers or sisters that he could discuss his fears with, and when he tried to address the issue with his parents, they didn’t want to hear it and dismissed him as having an overactive imagination. Fearful of facing ridicule from his friends, Billy kept quiet about the matter around them as well, leaving him to deal with his fears on his own.

Today was the day that the anxiety that he felt had been at its peak. He could not explain it, however from the moment that he had awoke in the morning, to the time he had gotten to school, and for the remainder of the day he had felt as if someone were there, keeping a constant vigil on him as he went through his daily routine. Even as he sat in the windowless dining room during dinner, he was unable to shake the feeling that he was being watched. As he lay in his bed, the strange sensation only intensified.

As he lay in the dark, his imagination began to run wild. Every time the old house made a creak, each time a shadow ran across his wall, he imagined a monster or demon were running about with plans to “get” him. When finally he heard the sounds of something scratching at his window, he nearly jumped out of his skin.

Reluctantly, he looked up. He had hoped to find that again, it was simply his mind playing tricks on him. That the scratching and tapping at the window was simply a stray tree branch blowing against the house in the wind. However, what he found when he looked to the window nearly made his heart stop.

Instead of a tree branch, Billy saw a figure from his nightmares. A tall man dressed all in black, including a long black leather duster. His pale skin looked almost luminous in the moonlight. On his head was a black Stetson hat, the brim pulled down covering his eyes. Billy stared at the man for a moment, the blinked his eyes several times, hoping that the action would reveal that the man was nothing more than his imagination running wild. However, the man did not vanish as he’d hoped.

Billy jumped up from his bed, every instinct telling him to run out of the room, to get his parents, to show them the intruder. He wanted to prove to them that what he had been feeling was real, that he wasn’t imagining it. Yet, once he was out of his bed he didn’t move toward the door at all. Instead, he felt a sudden calm wash over him.

Before he knew it, Billy had moved toward the man at the window. Without realizing what he was doing, Billy found himself opening the window, almost as if he had been compelled to do so. He looked up at the pale man, and could see that he was smiling.

“Would you like to come with me Billy?” The man said in a strange voice, a voice that sounded as if several people were speaking through a window fan.

Immediately, Billy knew that the man at the window meant him no harm, and shook his head in agreement.

The man raised his head slightly, allowing Billy to see his entire face for the first time. When Billy looked into the man’s eyes, he saw that something was wrong. The man’s eyes were totally black. There were no pupils, the whites of the eyes were black as pitch. It were as if the man’s eyes were nothing more than shards of night, and even that did not give the young boy pause. Instead, he reached up and took the man’s outstretched hand and allowed himself to be lead out the window.

“My name is Fagan, and I am going to show you a whole new world.” The man in black said as he and the child vanished into the night.

[Dedonus]

Christopher Arthur III
Chris circled above the West Virginian countryside, scouting out what seemed like an abandoned factory or water treatment plant. However, the signal from Veronica’s tracker was coming from within that building complex. Therefore, the building must not have been as “abandoned” as it seemed.

Chris sent out an EMP towards the building in order to disable whatever defenses awaited for him within the remote structure temporarily. Chris then descended upon the building, blasting an opening in the roof so that he had access to the room adjacent to where Veronica was being held, or at least where his sensors told him where she was.

Once he had entered into the building, Chris located the wall dividing the room in which he currently stood and the room where Veronica was. Chris jabbed his sword into the wall, slowly cutting his way through. Once he had completed cutting an opening, Chris kicked the wall out of the way, sending sliding across the floor in front of him.

After he created his own makeshift door, Chris caught sight of four people in the next room. First, there was a young man of quite short height. He would have looked quite normal if his dinosaur-like tailed was not present, or his raptor sickle claw on his feet, or his costume that seemed more apt for a comic book rather than real life. In his arms was a tall young woman, who wore a similarly comic book-like costume. This woman had wasp-like features, including compound eyes, an extra pair of arms, and an insect abdomen. Unlike the man, this woman was unconscious. Alive, but unconscious.

Behind them was a second girl with blonde hair. She was drenched in some unknown green liquid. However, unlike the other two, she was wearing normal clothes and she did not have any weird, animalistic features. Beside her was a third girl, Veronica, his sister. She too was like the second girl, normal clothes and no animalistic characteristics. However, Veronica was covered with sweat and her face showed that she was under extreme pain.

“I came here to kick ass and chew bubble gum.” Christ announced. Immediately he stuck out his closed fist, as if he intended to show the four of them something. Once Chris opened his stretched out fist, several wrappers of bubblegum fell to the floor.

“And I’m all out of bubble gum.”

The three people in front of him gave Chris blank stares, probably because they were unsure whether Chris was being serious. Chris concluded that his opening words probably sounded better in his head than what the three people in front of him actually heard.

“Activate targeting system. Distinguish between civilian and metahuman using the most recent metahuman database.” Four white circles appeared over the four individuals in the room on Chris’ visual screen. The circles over Zac and Kelly’s heads immediately turned red due to their strong metahuman signatures. However, to Chris’s surprise, after a couple seconds, the circles over the blonde’s head and Veronica’s head slowly turned red, too.

Veronica suddenly stood up between the other three and Chris. “Stop it, Chris”, she said, “They didn’t kidnap me. They’re actually trying to help.”

Then something big hit Chris. All Chris could remember between now and when his half-sister beseeched him to spare her apparent “rescuers” was Veronica falling to the floor, clutching her sides as her skin turned a greenish tint. He remembered that the blonde-haired girl grasping her head, crying out that her head felt as if a marching band was stomping right on top of her. Finally, he recalled something hitting himself hard, enough to knock him back to the wall.

Before Chris stood a giant, muscular man, over six feet by his estimates. However, this was no normal man, if Chris could even call him that. The “man” had a shark’s head, probably a Great White’s to be exact, in place of a human head. Human eyes were the only token left of his humanity.

The giant “shark-man” charged again at Chris, pressing Chris down with his powerful arms while at the same time using his jaws in an attempt to crush Chris. Chris pressed his hands against his assailant’s face, trying to prevent himself from becoming fish food.

“I thought I was getting into someone’s secret base, not a psycho’s animal farm,” Chris thought. First a man with raptor features and a woman with wasp features, now there was a man with shark characteristics attacking him.

While under attack from the giant “shark-man”, Chris hastily pondered how to get out of the situation. What would be his attacker’s weakness? Then something suddenly hit him. He did not know where he heard it, but for some strange reason, Chris remembered that punching a shark in the nose would repel it. Now he only hoped that his assailant would also have this weakness.

However, the only problem was both of Chris’ hands were occupied holding back the man’s powerful jaws. How could Chris punch him in the nose without allowing his opponent to take a bite out of Chris? Or does Chris really need to use his fists for this action?

Chris immediately headbutted the “shark-man” in the nose, forcing him to take a couple steps back. Both of the combatants were dazed for a couple seconds, but Chris was the first to regain his senses. He drew his sword and delivered another strong blow to the “shark-man’s” nose. Although his blade did not cut or physically damage his opponent, Chris was successful at taking the upper hand against this marine villain.

The “shark-man” placed his hand against the side of his head, as if he was listening to an earpiece (if he even had ears). He quickly, but clumsily made a retreat from the room, still a little dazed from Chris’ attack. Chris normally would have gone after him, but he had to attend more important matters than chasing a “shark-man”.

He walked over to Veronica and picked up his unconscious half-sister. Her appearance had changed drastically since the beginning of his fight with the “shark-man”. Her skin tone and hair color turned green, while her skin changed into a hybrid between human skin and snake scales. A snake’s tail replaced Veronica’s usual lower body, easily reaching the floor and even coiling up in a circle. Chris reached down again and gathered his sister’s tail into his arms. Chris then turned around and started to leave, intending to depart through the same way he arrived.

“Wait!” Aubrey yelled out, “What about us?”

“Don’t worry. I have people coming for you.” Chris replied. He shot out a small canister from his armor, which spewed a cloud of knockout gas, rendering both Aubrey and Zac unconscious (Kelly was already unconscious).

[nitemare shape]

As I wait for an answer I keep replaying what the ma-Dark Possessed had said to me. What could it mean? I have never seen these things before a few days ago. Aside from my dreams but that is impossible, they are just dreams. Aren’t they?

I stare down at the masked man and sigh with relief when he says he is alright. I start to reply before I really hear him with my mind answering his question automatically with information I didn’t know I knew, "That was a Dark Possessed, they take." I stop talking for a minute as it hits me and my eyes widen behind my mask. It can't be, but the voice sounds almost exactly like his. "Kyle?" I ask incredulously.

Lyger picked himself up so that he was kneeling on one knee as the armored woman stood over him. There was something familiar about her, something in the way that she carried herself, maybe even a bit in her voice, but he just couldn’t place it.

"That was a Dark Possessed, they take..." The armored woman starts to explain before stopping suddenly. "Kyle?" She said with surprise in her voice.

Lyger felt a cold chill rush down his spine as he heard the young woman speak his name. His real name. At that moment, it was all clear, even if it didn’t really make any sense whatsoever. He knew where he recognized the armored woman from, and he couldn’t believe it.

“Addie?” he said in disbelief as he looked up at the armored woman.

I blink and tilt my head in confusion as he looks up at me and says my name. How could this be Kyle? He was secretly a vigilante? Emily will have a field day when she finds out that the one guy I finally have a relationship with is a costumed crime fighter. But I can’t tell her that, it wouldn’t be right to tell her his secret.

“Kyle, you” I feel myself struggling with it. “You’re Lyger?” The name finally clicks and I shudder as I realize what had almost happened. The creatures from my dreams had almost killed my boyfriend. I feel sick inside at the thought and in the distance I hear the wailing of police sirens.

Lyger slowly got to his feet Addie pressed him further about his dual identity. Every fiber in his being told him to deny it, but he knew that would be a pointless gesture. His girlfriend had discovered his biggest secret, and had given away her own in the process. He didn’t know what to do, his head was running in a million different directions, however, the sounds of approaching police sirens put an abrupt end to his indecisiveness.

“Let’s go.” He said, pointing toward Kaiju, the black super car glistening in the streetlight. “We’ve got a lot to talk about.”

I nod as he says we need to go. It probably isn’t a good idea to be caught and interrogated by the police, I know that for sure. I open up the passenger side door and brush broken glass off the seat before sitting down on the seat. I cringe behind my mask as I realize why the windshield is so damaged and see that the impression is human shaped.

I reach out with my left hand to touch his arm as he starts the car and the motor roars to life. I’m just glad I got here fast enough because he almost. No don’t think about that. I shove the bad thoughts away.

Lyger sat behind the wheel after he started the car, still in shock over the revelation that his new girlfriend was also a superhero. He felt her touch his arm as Kaiju’s engine raced before he pulled away from the crime scene.

He didn’t know what he was doing, or where he was going. However, he knew that he and Addie needed to talk about what had just happened. Then it dawned on him, Settler’s Clearing was just outside the city limits. Settler’s Clearing was a nature reserve that his father used to bring him to when he was a child. It was secluded, especially at night, and they wouldn’t have to worry about anyone overhearing their conversation. It was the perfect place for them to discuss what had just happened.

As Lyger drove Kaiju toward the York Bridge, which would bring them to Royal Park and Settler’s Clearing, he wanted nothing more than to say something to Addie. He had a million questions for her-How long had she been doing this? How did she get her abilities? He also knew that she had questions for him as well, and as uncomfortable this was for both of them, it could be a blessing to be with someone who they could each confide in. However, he remained silent. The sound of the wind whistling through the broken windshield was too loud for them to have a conversation, so he tried to clear his head and focus on the road.

[nitemare shape]

Finally, after the longest twenty minutes in his life, the skyscrapers and urban structures of Lost Haven finally began to give way to trees, and eventually the vast wilderness that is most associated with the state of Maine. Lyger steered Kaiju off of the main road into a small cul de sac surrounded by nothing but the forest. He knew that they could talk here without being disturbed.

He cut Kaiju’s engine and just sat there for a moment, looking out the shattered windshield of his car. Then, after taking a breath to steady himself he looked over to the armored figure of who he now knew to be Addie. After waiting a beat, he reached up and removed his mask.

“Yes, I’m Lyger.” Kyle said with uncertainty in his voice.

The silence was killing me. He wasn’t talking and I could not figure out how to break the quiet of the ride. When the car finally stopped in Settler’s clearly I breathed a sigh of relief hoping that we could talk now. I’m still worried though, this wasn’t something that I was expecting. Weird dreams are one thing; finding out my boyfriend is secretly a superhero is something entirely different

I watch as he reaches up and removes his mask and I see that it really is Kyle. I still hadn’t been 100% sure until I saw his face. Strangely I feel relaxed with the knowledge. Maybe it just is relief that I was right and that I had decided to listen to Emily and be a hero tonight. If I hadn’t, I shudder to think about it.

My hand lets go of the blade at last and it vanishes as it leaves my fingers. I hold my arm out slightly and close my eyes. My armor wavers and flickers a few times before vanishing and I open my eyes and look at Kyle again with a relieved smile. “And I’m the ‘knight’ from the news” I say sheepishly.

Kyle watched as the armor vanished before his eyes. He looked at Addie, and though he was having trouble processing everything that had just happened, he somehow felt more at ease. However, he did have questions for her, and he suspected that she had some for him as well. He had seen the reports of the so called knight on the evening news a couple of nights back. It had been quite the spectacle, and Kyle had to admit that he’d been impressed with the amateur footage that had been used in the report. He never would have guessed that the mysterious knight had in fact been his girlfriend…just as she probably never would have guessed that he spent his nights as a masked vigilante.

“What was that thing back there? You said something about ‘Dark Possessed?’” he finally asked.

I hear him ask about what a Dark Possessed is and for a second I do not know how to answer. My mind is suddenly full of tricks for combating them but I don’t know where the knowledge came from and it starts to fade again quickly. I open my mouth to say that I am not sure but that is not what comes out. “Dark Possessed are vessels for them to walk among us. They take control and use the people for” The trickle of instinct guiding my words stops suddenly. “bad things.” I finish lamely because I do not know what I was going to say.

“The man was possessed by pieces of them. He was a Dire Reaver but not in a corpse like they normally are.” another phrase slips out before I know what I’m saying. But it does make sense even as I massage the side of my head with a hand feeling a headache coming on.

[nitemare shape]

As she leaned in toward him after telling him that she was glad that he was alright, he returned her smile.

“So am I.” He said, half jokingly as he kissed her.

As I pull away after the brief kiss I think about the fight again. If they are becoming common Kyle could run into more of them. And he has no defense against them at all. I feel unease at the thought but then something clicks in my head again and I see a way to help. It won’t be the same as my own armor or weapons, I don’t know why it won’t but I somehow know it is true, however it will protect against possession for a time. I think his weapons can be made to work on them at least a little.

I clear my throat. “Kyle, I think I can make it so you can fight them and they can’t possess you.” I’m still trying to get a clear picture in my mind of what I need to do because the image is hard to hold onto.

Kyle felt a jolt of excitement when Addie told him that she may have a way for him to fight off the Dark Possessed, as well as avoiding possession himself. He knew that if he were to come up against another of these beings without something to combat them, the result would likely be the same, yet, the next time Addie may not be there to save him. Because of this, he knew that he would welcome anything that Addie could give him, in case he ever did come face to face with one of these things again, which he was beginning to think was more likely than not.

“What do you mean?” He asked, both excited but a bit nervous as well. “What do you have in mind?”

“Just hold still” I say reassuringly as I wrack my brain for the right words. I do not understand why I get these flashes of knowledge that I could not possibly know. My face changes to an expression of intense concentration before it clicks and I smile broadly again. “Don’t move.” I say again and raise my right hand up, stretching out my arm towards Kyle as I do so.

It should work, but I feel knowledge trickle in, only if his soul is strong enough to fuel it. I push the knowledge aside as I speak. “Aldras irl erent nath.” I finish and my hand begins to glow with the golden light as I press it to his face, covering his nose and mouth for a moment. I watch the light sink into his skin and as I take my hand away it fades but not before my odd guiding instincts tell me it was successful.

“I need your weapons too.” I say as I wipe sweat off my brow. It was not an easy spell to ca- wait, is this really magic? I decide to think about that later.

Kyle felt a sudden surge of energy wash over him as a strange golden light permeates his skin. He wasn’t entirely sure what to make of all this, after all, before tonight he never really believed in magic in the first place. However, he had to admit that he did feel different after the golden light washed over him, even if it only lasted for a moment.

He looked over to Addie after she told him that she would also need his weapons. He extended his retractable claws and held them out for Addie to see.

“Here you go.”

I watch as Kyle shoots out claws from his gauntlets. “Cool” I say with a smile as I reach out to hold my hands right over them. This time I don’t have to struggle to find the words and they just flow right out of my mouth as if I had said them a thousand times. “Aldrax ventir vo” I finish speaking and my hands glow with the golden light that sinks into Kyle’s claw-blades.

I see them glow for another few seconds after the light fades from my hands and I somehow know the infusions had taken and weren’t going to fade on their own.

With Kyle’s safety taken care of I find myself with questions of my own. Like where did he get such an awesome car? “Where did you get the car Kyle? It’s awesome.” I say with a big grin on my face.

After Addie had performed another mystical spectacle on his claws, he grinned as she nonchalantly changed the subject to Kaiju.

“Thanks,” He said in reply to the compliment. “The car was a gift from a friend.” He continued before pausing. “Maybe you’d like to meet him.”

"I'd be happy to." I say truthfully with a smile still on my face. Everything seems to be working out okay. I was worried and didn't know what to think when I first heard his voice from behind the mask but now everything seems good. Though, "Kyle is he going to be mad when he sees the windshield?"

Kyle was excited at the prospect of introducing Addie to Harry. Since he had started dating Adeline, Harry had given him a hard time about the relationship, though most of the time it was at least half in jest. Harry was a man who believed in hard work and dedication, and was leery of anything that could take away Kyle’s focus. Yet, at the same time, he knew that Kyle needed to have something that kept him grounded; which his relationship with Addie seemed to accomplish. Kyle thought that perhaps, if Harry knew that Addie was a hero in her own right, and a powerful one at that, that he might feel more at ease about the relationship.

When he heard Addie’s question about the windshield, Kyle began to chuckle to himself. Harry had seemed almost reluctant at first about allowing Kyle to take Kaiju out on his patrols, however, he realized that the car was essential to his mission as a hero. He knew that the car, as well as the cycle, as well as any other equipment that Kyle utilized was bound to be damaged in the line of duty. However, Kyle knew that he would more than likely hear about it when it did inevitably happen.

“Yeah.” Kyle said, still chuckling. “He’s gonna be pissed.”

"Well that's not good." I say sadly because it does suck that he's going to get chewed out about the car. But I can't be too worried because I'm mostly excited right now. I'd have never guessed that Kyle was secretly a masked vigilante anymore than I ever thought I would suddenly have these, I guess they really are magical powers. "But he should be happy it was the car that broke and not you." I tease and wink at him as I say it.

Kyle looked over to Addie and just smiled, then he placed his hand on hers in an attempt to reassure her.

“It’ll be fine.” He said, “I think he’s really going to like you.”

I smile back as he takes my hand in his and feel my face color a bit. "Thank you Kyle." I say softly and appreciatively. I do want to meet this sponsor of his, maybe because Kyle is speaking highly of him, but also because I do want to chew him out a little. He sent Kyle out with no way to deal with things like the Dark Possessed and that my mind is telling me is asking to die or worse. "So let's go and get me introduced."

Kyle nodded and smiled as he turned on the ignition, causing Kaiju to roar to life. He replaced his mask before putting the car in gear and then pulling away from the edge of the grass that bordered the roadway from the forest, then slowly, he steered the car out of the cul de sac that had sheltered them from prying eyes while they spoke.

[nitemare shape]

The trip from Settler’s Clearing to Harry’s took longer than expected, due to the poor visibility caused by the damage to the windshield. For most of the trip, the rode in relative silence, aside from random conversation, which for the most part, did not involve their heroic exploits.

Eventually, after nearly a half hour of driving from Royal Park to Brooksdale, they again saw the cityscape of Lost Haven succumb to nature, and the much less urban outskirts of the city. After about five more minutes, Kyle made a sharp turn down a dirt road and through a wooded area, unbeknownst to Addie, this led to the rear of Harry’s property, and was the safest route to the “Garage.”

The Garage itself us an unassuming structure from this vantage point, especially at night. It looked like any ordinary garage, aside from the fact that it was located away from the main house. Kyle steered the car up to the building, and the doors appeared to split open, allowing the car to make its way inside.

“We’re here.” Kyle said as he drove the car into the brightly lit structure. As he was parking the car, Harry’s vintage car collection, as well as the cycle that Kyle sometimes used instead of Kaiju, along with the work station that Harry used to fabricate Kyle’s equipment.

Harry himself was seated at the computer array, monitoring police radio signals while he looked into leads in the case of the missing children that he had been researching for Kyle. It wasn’t until the car came to a stop that he looked up and saw the damage to the windshield. He got up from his seat, and made his way over to the car.

“Are you alright? What happen-“ He cut himself off when he saw that Kyle wasn’t alone.

“Oh, hello.” Harry said when he gazed at the pretty blonde girl in the passenger seat. “I didn’t know you would be bringing a date.”

As the car trip continues and Kyle drives on in silence I sit there thinking and shivering a bit because it is cold with the windshield broken and the wind whipping in through the cracks. I'm nervous. I mean I only found out that I had powers a few nights ago and I just found out that my boyfriend is secretly a hero and that he is working with someone with so many resources. But if this man is so knowledgeable I do not understand why he sent Kyle out unprepared to handle 'dark possessed', the thought is slowly becoming natural and that scares me because I still do not know where it came from.

I watch as we drive onto the back of a large property and can't help thinking it seems a lot like a scene from one of those Batman movies. The sensation grows stronger as we pull up to a separate garage and the doors slide sideways instead of opening upwards. I can't help but be impressed by all the fancy cars too, whoever this is has quite a collection.

Then the car comes to a stop and I see the man that Kyle had been talking about. I hear him say hello but it sounds dismissive and I feel a little of my ire at how he put my boyfriend's life at risk come bubbling up. I slip out of the door of the car and summon my armor and the glowing blade into my right hand. "I'm not just his date." I say firmly.

Harry watched as the young woman exited Kaiju and a suit of armor materialized around her seemingly out of thin air. While quipping that she had not been just his date. He recognized the armored figure from the news broadcasts from several nights prior.

“Oh my.” Harry said in response to the sudden materialization of the armor. In his seventy years of life, Harry had seen a lot of things that he couldn’t explain. However, he had never seen anything quite like this young woman. He was also slightly annoyed with Kyle for giving up the location of their base of operations without consulting with him first, however, by the shape that Kaiju was in, he could see that there were extenuating circumstances.

“Welcome to The Garage, Miss…”He said, pausing as he looked beyond the girl to Kyle, who was now stepping out of the car himself. “What did you do to my car?”

"Got thrown through the windshield. Other than that, she's in tip top shape." Kyle replied jokingly. "Harry, this is Adeline. Addie, this is Harry.

"So you are the one who sent Kyle out unprepared to fight Dark Possessed?" I ask more than a little critically. "If I hadn't been there he would have DIED!" I probably shouldn't be exploding after all I don't normally have a temper but this was the one who seemed to be responsible here and it was my boyfriend who had almost gotten killed tonight. "He should be okay now, but why did you send him out not knowing?"

Then my eyes widen as I realize what was probably obvious with how shocked he looked at the armor and how surprised Kyle had been when I enchanted his weapons and gave him a seal. "You didn't know about them did you?" My head spins, if they aren't something people know about then why do I have all these thoughts?

[nitemare shape]

Harry and Kyle both looked at Addie in wide eyed astonishment at her outburst. Though Kyle hadn’t really known Addie all that long, he had never seen her so angry. Though he could see that she was angry, there was something else in her tone as well. At first, he wasn’t sure exactly what that was. However, soon he realized exactly what that edge in her voice was.

It was fear. Fear FOR him, for his safety. The attack on him by the Dark Possessed had truly frightened her. Though he had been a bit out of his depth, she had done something to him, he felt a slight change within him while she had chanted while they were in Kaiju, and he knew that he was now better prepared to deal with the Dark Possessed should they cross paths again.

Harry just stood there and listened to Adeline’s rant. As she berated him over Kyle’s preparation, he soon realized one thing…

He had absolutely know idea what she was talking about.

Normally, he would not have tolerated such insubordination, however, this was not a normal situation. This girl was speaking of things that he had never heard of. As a man who has spent much of his adult life as a special agent for British intelligence, he tended to dislike being in the dark on something, especially when it had the potential to impact his operations. So, instead of blasting the girl for her lack of decorum, he simply asked her one question.

“The Dark What?”

"The Dark Possessed, you know?" I say hoping that they really do know because the strange knowledge that pops into my head is all jumbled and mixed up. But I can see on their faces that they do not know and I feel awkward and foolish. "They are pieces of the Dark taking people as vessels to influence the world and spread their evil." I pause for a moment before another piece clicks in my mind. "I, I am supposed to fight against them." It is my duty, wait where did that come from? Since when do I have a duty to fight these shadow creatures? I'm becoming more confused as I try to think, I need sleep but sleep brings the dreams and I can't deal with them.

"Have you never heard of them?" I ask finally, still hoping that they might know what I am talking about because I still don't quite know.
“I’m sorry my dear, I’ve never heard the expression.” Harry said almost mournfully.

“Harry, I faced one of these guys tonight and he handed me my ass. If Addie hadn’t shown up when she did…you’d probably be picking up what’s left of me from the city morgue.” Kyle said darkly. Since he had taken the mantle of Lyger, he had been more than a match for anyone that he had come up against. However, whatever this “Dark Possessed” was, it had proven to be more than he can handle.

“I see.” Harry said dryly. He was rarely at a loss for words, but what Kyle and Addie were talking about sounded decidedly supernatural, and supernatural was something that Harry didn’t exactly believe in, let alone ever faced.

“But she did something to me, something to protect me from the Dark. She did something to allow me to fight it.” Kyle said with optimism in his voice.

"I gave you wards to hold off possession." I say helpfully as I struggle to explain what I somehow know instinctively. "But wards can't hold them out forever if they are persistent."

I'm hoping that everything I say is accurate as another thought flickers into my mind and I give voice to it.

"The blessings on your claws will let you hurt them, but if you aren't careful you will kill the host."

It isn't like my other blade I realize, maybe I should I have given the other blessing? Other blade? What other blade, I feel my head starting to hurt again.

Kyle and Harry listened to Addie as she explained exactly what she had done to him, and the repercussions that could follow if he misused his newfound weapons carelessly. As she speaks, Kyle watched her, and noticed that something just wasn’t right. She looked as if something were bothering her, as if she wasn’t feeling well.

“Are you alright?” He asked with concern in his voice.