Time: Early Evening
Location: Downtown Oakland,
Interaction:
Jonah was ready & willing to work with Lana. She’d gotten some cream of the crop information, and not the typical warehouse either. The enemy was using residential properties to store boost, and in a affluent neighborhood. The problem they faced was that Lionel had both the police & altered ran gang teams patrolling those areas. Both because that’s where their boost was stored and because they extorted the richer residents of Oakland for premium protection from the chaos his war with Cain was generating as well as his own men & any other violent third parties acting out purge like behavior in the chaos that had befallen Oakland.
The Military had went underground or left Oakland entirely. They were aware of Boost & how outmatched it made them against Cain’s forces, Lionel’s forces & even third party enemies privy to the superhuman enhancement drug. The superiors wanted to get their hands on it, but the higher ups had left Liberty in charge of that operation thanks to Chloe’s manipulations. Little did the know Chloe had called in the Collective to secure boost providing them the same intel she’d received with her connections to the military, homeland security & even Liberty.
“What’s on your mind bossman, you hate riding in the minivan that bad? We’re trying to blend In.” Lana spoke to break the silence. She’d procured a minion and hot-wired it for their vehicle of choice, stashing Jonah’s real car to avoid attention. It was nerve wracking riding around without the standard bulletproof glass that came with liberty’s combat vehicles, but they’d stick out like a sore thumb on the way to their destination in that. Not to mention bulletproof glass wouldn’t hold a candle to violent super powers or people on boost.
“No I just wish we could have gone back to headquarters to get Karlina or some more appropriate weapons. But I’ve gotten word that Agent Hamazuro is in the area & brought down some enemy altered. We sent in an extraction team to detain the criminals, and I’ve instructed them to bring Jaden to us at a drop off location a couple miles away from the target.” Jonah explained taking out his phone to examine the preset route on the GPS. The mansion Lana uncovered had an ample supply of boost in it was the final destination, but the drop off point was the first stop
“So that’s good news right, I mean sure he’s not the best of the best with countering powers but it’s better then fists and fire-arms alone.” Lana encouraginly pointed out while still focused on the road as she was driving.
Before long they reached the back of an empty Chinese restaurant where Jaden emerged from an armored vehicle with liberty agents inside. “Ooooh straight to the bossman on short notice, this must be important, I hear you don’t like people l ike me huh but desperate times call desperate measures.” Jaden responded with some distaste as he approached the director & his fellow liberty agent not exactly happy he got called in simply because Karlina was out of reach.
“You don’t waste any time trying to make a guy hate you more do you. I don’t have the slightest clue about what you mean. I do know that this mission is serious, no doubt this supply will be well guarded, and we need to get our hands on it. This is our first chance to figure out the chemical that enemy is using to terrorize all of Oakland, and put a stop to it at the source Jonah deflected acting oblivious to his well known racism biting his tongue & surprising his hatred of Jaden’s people in light of the assignment’s gravity they were facing.
“Alright hop in get in the back.” Lana blurted out with team-work in mind only for Jaden to roll his eyes as he slid open one of the van’s doors and hopped in.
“Of course that didn’t last long, first you deny being a bigot then you tell the black guy to hop in the back and I’m the only one in the car with powers. Typical I’m the most important, but I gotta ride bar-seat. Damn so if some raging altered attacks and I’m siting on her side, I might only be able to use my powers to save me and her director, I mean maybe I could save you as well but not with this vantage point I have from where I’m sitting now, oh well your a good shot right.” Jaden mocked knowing that his position in the car played a minimal role in whether or not he could use his nullifying powers to save any or all of the occupants,
“Shut the hell up your boarding on disobedience as the director I have no problem reprimanding you I happen to know you don’t have the raw power to be talking that way to me or I’ll beat your ass, so you better keep me alive if you wan to see your quarterly bonus ever go up.”
“Why you..” Jaden groaned but decided to stop talking. He thought back to the advice Karlina gave him, as well as the information about Agent Donovan. This only caused him to smirk and figure this was why it was so easy for the Russians to infiltrate him.
Ya know I suddenly don’t want to expose Donnovan, I wanna see how badly she can fuck up Liberty’s chain of command while Director Hanes in charge, a fuck up like that goes public and his best job will be a garbageman, then someone like me a trustworthy altered can take over and from there racists dickwads like him won’t be able to go after innocent altered just cause were minorities, I’ll play the long con Jaden thought to himself. “I apologize, let’s proceed with the mission boss.”
“Hmph came to your senses huh, so you’ve got some sense in that monkey brain of yours, alright Lana let’s go.” Jonah barked out orders and with Jaden putting on his-seat belt the three headed out while the armored truck went to park at a different vantage point ready for their members to jump in during the raid as soon as they were needed or called upon.
Chicago, Illinois - Scheduled ExecutionGeorge Sanchez was a dead man, he had the power to manipulate earth. He was 17 years old a month ago, but he’d turned 18 two days ago. The state wanted to try him as an adult, but with the nature of the crime that was a given. He’d been teased & bullied relentlessly for years, for one reason or another. His parents being hispanic he was always the victim of cruel high school jokes often tied to his cultural standing from things like ICE, to his family not being able to vote, and of course the immigrant jokes. He bore the brunt of those taunts with his head up wanting a better life for him & his family.
His parents had sacrificed everything to get him & his little sister to America. They’d done everything the right way, they weren’t illegal immigrants. Hell his first name was George & his sister’s first name was Linda after all, their parents named them knowing they would eventually migrate to the United States. However his life had taken a dark turn in light of the energy storm and the chaotic events that transpired afterwards.
At first he was ecstatic to gain powers, the only good thing that happened to him considering their entire subsidized living was wiped out by the storm. They’d all moved in with their grandparents who unlike them were illegal immigrants who were co-owners of a convenience store in the area. Thanks to his godfather the one who helped them open up the store they’d managed to skate by all this time, George’s life was uprooted in a matter of weeks, and the earth powers were only the start of that. The bullying grew worst for him & others when it came out that minorities were the only ones getting powers. The cruel jokes became worst & he became further ostracized as rumors spread about which minorities had powers.
Like many typical rules spread around in these grades of school they weren’t true, but these weren’t simple accusations as sleeping around or doing hard drugs. They were labeling people as the worst and most distrusted set of society around currently. George who mainly kept to himself to repel the intense violence he felt towards his peers was one of the many who were accused. The irony behind the rumors spread about him was that he was altered & his family knew. They urged him not to speak, and at one point even went as far as to withdraw him from school. Finally his mother relented and said such a thing might actually be all but confirmation that he was an altered.
He was instructed to practice his powers every night to get a grip on them, more so upon learning they could be triggered & affected by his emotions. Knowing that everything was on the line for multiple generations of his family he did just that. But then the worst happened his little sister Linda was brutally murdered, a victim of Purity. Purity was a cross national militant group that was constructed to “purge” the country of the “mystical demons” that plagued it. Purity’s beliefs stated that the Altered were false prophets and whores of Babylon sent to mingle with society and perform fake miracles to lead people astray from God & into the pits of Hell.
Purity believed the Energy Storm was a sign of the end of days and altered humans were the first wave of demonic omens the world would face under satanic attacks. Purity was heavily inspired by the words of fanatic Pastor Tristan, although he denied any & all ties to him in public. Still he preached a message of religious intolerance & hatred towards altered that many adopted into the tenants of Purity. To that end they utilized the website opened to out altered & altered activity as well as other sources to track down altered. From there they would kidnap them, beat them, and ultimately Lynch them. There were some unconfirmed rumors that some of the more fringe members of Purity made the kidnapped altered they eliminated undergo more horrific inhumane punishment such as rape and pointless excruciating torture.
For every altered they killed, they left a mark in blood next to their victim. The symbol was one that meant to identify evil, and the same mark had been found by Linda who was found dead hanging from a tree. The event had made the news, it seemed Purity had connections to the media as they managed to get their gruesome actions reported. Although officially the Government all the way. Up to the Forrester Administration condemned Purity, there was no organized militaristic or law enforcement action being taken against them. Forrester himself had said that while Purity was a threat to society & more vulnerable people in the nation, the military had to focus on the likes of newfound superhuman criminals like Amara & Reaper.
This enraged him, plain unrelenting aggravated racists had easily mingled & intertwined within the ranks of Purity. Their murders were supposed to be altered only, but they took tips from things like the altered cutting website which didn’t strictly regulate the facts of what was uploaded. Leading to some targets being killed being just regular minorities who were accused, beaten & murdered in a racially appalling way over what amounted to a glorified over-spread internet hate rumor. Minority business’s were targeted, windows shattered, shelves pushed over, merchandise stolen or destroyed, properties burned. His grand-parents lost their shop, and worst the insurance claim they failed had been reversed accusing them of destroying their own store leading to his grandparents being charged with insurance fraud.
The Chicago police had pressured his godfather, a white man to lie and claim that his grandparents conspired with him to commit insurance fraud. Thus they were sitting in jail elderly awaiting trial, and had taken a loan out on their house to afford exuberant legal fees combined with their savings. His father had contracted the energy plague & was fighting for his life in the hospital. Meanwhile his mother had become a full-blown alcoholic with everything that went on, but still managed to go visit his father in the hospital almost daily, mainly to see her sickened husband and to have somewhere to sleep at night.
George had bounced around at his cousins place, getting exposed to and surrounded by their drug dealing for survival antics. Finally he had enough and after a particularly bad spout at school where some of his main bullies took it too far and mocked his dead sister he wiped out the whole school. Now he was in jail along with his grand-parens, except he was being held in a maximum security prison constantly injected with sedatives & other drugs to suppress his abilities. He was going to be given the death penalty, and with all the outcries for the lives lost at the high school he was to become the most rushed criminal to get the penalty in chicago legal system history.
Today was the day he was scheduled to die, and the prison staff hadn’t even given nor offered him the traditional last meal which was afforded to even the worst rapists, & murderors. “So this is how it all ends, bunch of putas. I’ll see you soon Linda.”
A few tears rolled down George’s eyes in solitary confinement, everything his parents, his family had worked for over several generations had been destroyed. Eradicated by the rampant racial division that plagued this country like the destructive virus that rummaged the nation. He hugged himself trying to keep warm in this immensely cold cell with nothing but his jump suit. Laying on the steel slab that was suppose to be his “Bed”. The only good thing about being drugged up was all the chemicals actually allowing him moments of escape by being able to sleep so much. Something that would surely be impossible if not for all the incapacitating substances prison officials had ordered to be implemented into his body. That was of course for their protection but they made bullshit statements about how it was mutual.
He knew the reason, so he would’t use his powers and tear apart the prison liberating himself & maybe even more of Chicago’s finest. They were right though, as he’d more than tried a few times. The regimen of drugs they’d given him was a powerful cocktail that rendered him unable to call upon the mental faculties he needed to draw his powers. He figured that it was the same across the country in different prisons, jails & detention centers holding altered. They had no concern for whether any of these medications had any potentially fatal interactions, as long as it kept them out of their gourd enough to be powerless.
“It all ends today, I finally get to leave this hell, I hope I don’t end up in another one.” George muttered to himself as he tossed and turned on the slab. His last dose of heavy duty drugs was starting to wear off, but he was sure they’d be there shortly to give him another. In between doses the most he’d been able to do is make a small tremor, although once when they forgot to dose him for 12 hours he almost caused a chasm of earth to open besides his cell.
After that he got a brutal beating from the guards and they made sure not to miss any doses, in fact they upped the dosages once again with no contact with medical professionals to see if any of this was safe. He’d come to wish multiple times that they’d make a mistake and give him a mixture sting enough to let him drift off peacefully to sleep never to awake again.
“Fuck it one more nap.” George muttered and leaned back closing his eyes. He was happy to know the this was one of his final naps. The next one when he got the injection would be the very least, and this tortured prolonged existence he experienced as the scum of the chicago prison system would finally be over.
Or so he thought he awoke to loud noises, alarms were blaring, people were yelling. “What the fuck” Brtttt Brttt,he heard gun shots going off. Prisoners were yelling along with guards, his survival instincts kicked in and he moved to the back of his cell near his cold almost overflown in-operable metal toilet. “The hell.”
Boom, an explosion went off not too far from him. He shut his eyes to shield himself and cowered in the corner against the unsanitary prison walls ignoring the intense cold. Smoke shuffled into the hallway of solitary he was in, other prisoners were banging on the walls in frustration & fear tr ring to figure out what was going on. He heard guards yelling not to let up, then grunts, groans & yells then rapid gun-fire.
Finally to his shock he looked up to see a man, another person who looked like him with the keys to his cell opening them. That man was none other then Niko, behind him where soldiers working for the Salzaras Cartel. They were speaking in Spanish but George was able to understand them but he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Not getting a response from the disgruntled mystified death row prisoner Niko switched to English.
“So you don’t speak our language kid, get up if you don’t want to die. My boss would like to have a word with you, offer you a second chance at life.”
“What the fuck?! What are you talking about, who are you?! This has got to be some kind of dream, do you know who I am?! George yelled back in disbelief wondering if this was some sort of elaborate last minute psychological torture the prison guards had put together to celebrate his send off to hell.
“Far from it.” Niko slid the door open with the key then opened a portal stepping through it and appearing on the top metal bunk sitting. George quickly drew his make-shift shank only for a smaller portal to swallow the shank and make it appear in Niko’s hands. “I’m one of you, and my boss is Hector Salzaras, even in here I’m sure you’ve heard of them and what they’re up to.”
“The cartel that’s taken over the drug game all over the country working with altered, I mean I don’t want to die, but I’ve los everything, and there’s no such thing as a free lunch, I’m scheduled to get the shot in three hours.” George protested still so many things flowing through his mind. “Your telling me you guys want me some who sank a high school, you want more heat from the feds?”
“More heat? Listen up kid, I used my powers to bring Salzaras forces here, we fought our way through this prison to get to you, killed several guards and plenty cops & SWAT outside, not to met ion freeing lots of prisoners & using our portals to scatter them across the city. Now we don’t have much time, it’s either you come with us or get ready to deal with the consequences for the shit-storm we left you. We can get you out of here, I took the liberty of already freeing your grand-parents, and took your parents to our finest medical facility in Mexico. I can’t bring your sister back obviously, but if you’ll do something for us, I’ll give you the next best thing. Revenge & Riches.”
George was shocked listening to everything that this Niko figure was telling him, and peaked out into the hallway to see pools of blood from dead guards including one guard he particularly hated who took pleasure in mocking him. “I…”I…”George stammered as it was all overwhelming to th earth manipulator. “What the fuck do you need me to do.”
“Ah so your listening to reasoning heh kid, well for starters we’ll need you to a dig a tunnel, more then one but let’s start with one, among a few other things. All of which will include handsome pay and plenty of chances to use those powers of yours to escape this punishment at the hands of these gringos what do you say? Save what family you have left, become wealthy & unleash your gifted weapons upon those who did the to you? “
George looked to the left and the right, then ripped off the inmate shirt he had on leaving him in just the jumpsuit pants and walked over to Niko. “Fine if what your saying is true I can’t refuse, I just…never thought I’d be given another chance, but seeing that Paul’s brains are bashed out you’ve made an impression on me, let’s go.”
“Congratulations and welcome to the winning team, everything you seek and more will be yours, now that you’re apart of the Salzaras. LISTEN UP WE ARE LEAVING EVERYONE COME OVER HERE ITS TIME TO GO” Niko yelled out opening a portal that George reluctantly walked through followed by several Salzaras militia soldiers and then Niko himself before the portal closed. And just like that Sanchez life which had only been given three more horrid hours by the American Justice System, had been extended for a life time by the actions of the notorious Hector Salzaras.
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